The Quad 108-3

RAMS GO PINK AT ANNUAL PLAY4KAY EVENTSTORY ON PG 2 | COLLEEN GOLDHORN/ ASST. PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

WCUQUAD.COM VOLUME 108, ISSUE 03THE STUDENT NEWS SERVICE OF WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY

FEB 2015

09

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

WITH NIA ANDREWS!

READ MORE ON PG 15

Photo by: Ilana Berger

NEWSPage 2 February 9, 2015

[email protected]

By Brittany DonaldPracticum Writer

West Chester University’s annual Play 4Kay event took place over this past weekend as many or-

ganizations and students participated in raffles and games to raise funds and awareness for the Kay Yow Foundation.

The event was hosted by West Ches-ter’s women’s basketball team in the Hollinger Field House on Saturday, Feb. 7.

Play 4Kay supports the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, which is an organiza-tion that is included in finding an an-swer to fighting cancer for women and support women’s cancer research. The Kay Yow Cancer Fund was founded on Dec. 3, 2007 by Sandra Kay Yow, a for-mer women’s basketball head coach for North Carolina State University. Yow was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987 and passed away from the disease in 2009.

Play 4Kay is a day for West Chester University students and faculty, sports teams, organizations, and the entire community to come together to help fight breast cancer. The basketball court was a place that felt like home to Yow, so the court is the place where every-one can come together to support a

great cause and to acknowledge Yow and her foundation.

To show support, WCU’s basketball gymnasium bleachers were decorated with pink ribbon, pink balloons lined the stands, the tables had pink table-cloths, and everyone was wearing pink t-shirts in the stands. The cheerleaders also supported the basketball team with bright pink pom-poms.

While warming up, the entire basket-ball team had on pink headbands, pink socks, and pink shirts that spelled out the word “HOPE” and the “O” was re-placed with the Ram sign.

Tim Shearith and Paul Rosenberg were two individuals recognized at the beginning of the event in addition to a pink basketball being used for the tip off.

The event raised awareness by using flyers that promoted the involvement in a marathon on Saturday, April 15, 2015 in West Chester, Pa.

Before the game, the National An-them was sung by 12 students of one of West Chester University’s a capella groups.

The Pink Zone was located behind the bleachers where the games, activi-ties, and raffle tables were advertised. Fans visited the Pink Zone during half-

time of the women’s basketball game. Raffle ticket sales included one ticket for $1, seven tickets for $5, and 15 tick-ets for $10. Funds were raised through face painting and selling raffle tickets, breast cancer t-shirts, hot dogs, pink hair extensions, and tattoos. Food of-fered included popcorn, pink parfait, pink cake pops, cookies with pink ic-ing, pink cupcakes, pink macaroons, and pretzels in the shape of the breast cancer ribbon.

The raffle baskets ranged from small baskets that contained candy and pop-corn to large baskets that contained West Chester University hoodies and t-shirts, gift cards, and Bath and Body Works lotions and perfumes. There

were a total of 34 baskets and some of the basket names included “Gottaha-va,” “Hoop Gear,” and “Dinner and a Movie.” The “Gottahava” gift basket in-cluded a $30 gift card donated by Zeta

Tau Alpha sorority. The “Hoop Gear” gift basket included a WCU basket-ball hoodie, a drawstring bag, athletic shorts, and two t-shirts donated by the women’s basketball team. The “Din-ner and a Movie” gift basket included a $20 Landmark gift card, two popcorn bowls, a movie pass to Regal Cinema, cotton candy, and Hershey kisses do-nated by the WCU field hockey team.

After the game, Play 4Kay had a so-cial at Barnaby’s of America Restau-rant and Sports Bar from 6 to 9 p.m. The specials included $30 dinner and drinks for anyone 21 and over and a special for anyone under 21, which included a $20 dinner and soft drinks. The event successfully raised a lot of money in collaboration with the Office of Alumni Relations, Aramark, Habitat for Humanity, the WCU Golden Ram Marching Band, the Women’s Center, SSI, Colleges Against Cancer, and Zeta Tau Alpha sorority. All the proceeds benefited the Kay Yow Cancer Fund to fight breast cancer.

Students interested in Play 4Kay should save the date for next year and join WCU for a day of fun while sup-porting and donating to women’s can-cer. Donations to the foundation can also be made online at www.play4kay.org/goldenrams.Brittany Donald is a fourth-year student majoring in

English. She can be reached at [email protected].

“Play 4Kay is a day for West Chester students and faculty...to come together to help fight breast cancer.”

WCU HOSTS PLAY 4KAY TO BENEFIT CANCER RESEARCH

Colleen Goldhorn/Asst. Photography Editor

Colleen Goldhorn/Asst. Photography Editor

February 9, 2015 Page 3

WEIRD NEWS

Firefighters in northern California rescued a horse named Phantom that got stuck in an out-door bathtub. The Fire District Capt. said the

horse was dancing around in her stall to protect the bathtub used as her food trough when she suddenly fell in. The horse was stuck in the bathtub for about 25 minutes with her feet up in the air. Between firefight-ers and the owner’s family, they were able to prop the bathtub on its side and pull Phantom forward onto her feet. The horse was uninjured.

Oregon officials are warning early morning jog-gers and park visitors in the state capital Salem to watch out for an angry owl who has been

terrorizing joggers. The bird apparently has an affin-ity for hats after at least four people were attacked in a month. No one was seriously hurt in any of the in-cidents but several people have lost their hats to the owl’s talons.

An underwire bra saved a woman’s life after she was struck near the heart by a stray bullet. The bullet lodged in the underwire of her bra

and prevented her from a potentially life-threatening wound.

CIRCLE K TO HOST VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT

Casey TobiasStaff Writer

In order to raise money for the Elim-inate Project, West Chester Univer-sity’s Circle K will host its seventh

annual volleyball tournament on Sat-urday, Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. in the Hollinger Field House.

Kiwanis International and UNICEF partnered together to create the initia-tive known as the Eliminate Project in 2010. The goal of the Eliminate Project is to eradicate maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT).

The Eliminate Project website de-scribes MNT as a “deadly disease that steals the lives of nearly 60,000 babies and a significant number of women each year” and that it has excruciating effects in which “tiny newborns suffer repeated, painful convulsions and ex-treme sensitive to light and touch.”

According to the Eliminate Proj-ect’s Facebook page, they have raised $74,995,155 as of Jan. 25. This will help protect over 41 million and their future babies from MNT.

The Eliminate Project website states that more than 100 million mothers and their future babies need to be im-munized to achieve their goal. The website explains that “this requires vaccines, syringes, safe storage, trans-portation, thousands of skilled staff and more,” which will take a total of $110 million. All proceeds from the vol-leyball tournament will be donated to this cause.

According to Circle K Vice President Theresa Kelly, her favorite part of the tournament is “how tangible the char-

ity is.”“There’s something really special

about playing volleyball for an after-noon and knowing that you’re saving babies’ lives,” said Kelly. “In the 21st century, it’s really a shame that moth-ers and children are still dying of such a curable disease. For $1.80, you can literally change someone’s life.”

Circle K Editor Stephanie Frasca hopes that this year’s tournament is just as profitable as it was the year prior.

“Last year, the event was a success. We were able to raise $1,000 for the Eliminate Project,” said Frasca. “It was really rewarding to see Circle K’s hard work pay off.”

The members of Circle K began pre-paring in December by breaking into different committees. The committees were comprised of public relations, en-tertainment, teams and registration, service projects, and fundraising.

While the public relations commit-tee handled duties like designing the T-shirt and flyer, other members con-centrated on tasks such as going to lo-cal businesses to secure raffle items or donations.

One such member is freshman Alys-sa Thomas, who is enjoying her first year being involved with the tourna-ment.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how many people come out for the cause,” said Thomas.

There will be food, a DJ, raffles, and various in-service projects throughout the tournament.

So far, the raffles include a $50 Weg-mans gift card, $25 Más gift card, and a Kiwi gift card. There will also be a canned food drive, and for every can of

food you donate, you will receive one raffle ticket.

According to Circle K President Amanda Sloan, some of the service projects are making art kids for hospi-talized children and non-slip socks for people in nursing homes.

The games will be single elimination bracket style, and each game will run for about 20 minutes. Circle K accepts a maximum of 24 teams. There can be six to eight people per team, and the cost is $5 per person.

Those who registered by Feb. 5 are guaranteed a free t-shirt, and for those who sign up after this date, T-shirts are on a first come, first serve basis.

The deadline to register is Tuesday,

PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT THE ELIMINATE PROJECT TO ERADICATE MNT

“Last year...we were able to raise $1,000 for the Eliminate Project. It was really reward-ing to see Circle K’s hard work pay off.”

Feb. 17. Registration tables will be lo-cated in Sykes Student Union on Feb. 10 and Feb. 16 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., as well as Feb. 11 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The registration form can be found at http://tinyurl.com/p3yfl2j. Partici-pants do not need to be students at West Chester University to compete in the tournament.

If students have questions about the registration form, they can email No-elle DiBlasi at [email protected] or Sarah Walker at [email protected] Tobias is a first-year student majoring in

women’s and gender studies. She can be reached at

[email protected].

Page 4 February 9, 2015

SGA HOSTS COUNCIL OF ORGANIZATIONS MEETINGBy Dylan

MesserschmidtSpecial to The Quad

The Student Gov-ernment Asso-ciation, along with

representatives of every recognized group and club on campus, gath-ered on Feb. 3 in the Sykes Theater for the Council of Organiza-tions.

The first order of busi-ness was the new spring commencement model, which was discussed by Vice President for Advancement and Re-search and Sponsored Programs Mark Pavlov-ich. He explained that the old commencement model took too long (last year’s was five and a half hours), limited person-alization, and was often mired by bad weather. In response, the uni-versity president called together a taskforce to create a new and better

commencement model. What they came up with is a series of college-based ceremonies that will take place over three days, including the grad-uate ceremony, in Hol-linger Field House and Asplundh Concert Hall.

This new model will be more personalized, significantly shorter, will involve more stu-dent engagement, and may be less expensive. Pavlovich admitted that it will have its share of challenges, the main one being that tickets will now be needed for those who want to attend. There will be no charge for them, but the number of tickets each student receives will be based on the number of graduates in a given college. For those who have two ma-jors in different colleges, they are able to attend both ceremonies. Volun-

teers are currently being taken for this spring’s commencement.

The next person to take the stage was Para-dise Transit owner and founder Jared Savitski. He stated that crime in West Chester has been rising steadily over the years and that his com-pany’s main objective is to make sure people can travel safely between town and campus. He went on to say that stu-dents often do not use the transit because they either are unaware of how it works or because it costs money. What he proposed was a subsi-dized model so students wouldn’t have to pay to use his buses, but only wants to do so if students think it is a viable source. The model would involve adding six dollars to ev-ery student’s tuition.

Members of the audi-

ence were then encour-aged to ask questions or voice comments. There were a number of stu-dents that seemed to be for the subsidization, as well as a number that were against it. One stu-dent remarked that it is not fair to add to every-one’s tuition because there are students who commute and would never use the transit. Savitski responded by saying that every stu-dent pays for transpor-tation (referring to the shuttle buses that run from North to South Campus) whether they use it or not.

When asked if it were possible to instead im-plement a Ram Bucks system to avoid forcing everyone to pay in, Sav-itski said, “Ram Bucks wouldn’t be a viable model. Six dollars to me seems like a no-brainer

when it comes to safety.” When one student asked where he got his state-ment about West Ches-ter’s crime rate rising, Savitski replied, “I have no statistical proof. It’s been through hearsay.”

From there, the coun-cil consisted of more questions and com-ments regarding the legitimacy of Savitski’s plan and presentation, since he had a Power-Point presentation that consisted of nothing but a picture, and it was clear that he sometimes did not have a straight an-swer for some of them. Conversations amongst crowd members, as well as laughter at some of the questions and re-sponses, began to sug-gest a communication breakdown between the young businessman and his target audience. A few people were seen

leaving well before the meeting was over. The questions, both positive and negative, continued for an hour as the audi-ence collectively became restless and impatient. Savitski ended his pre-sentation by mentioning a petition that is up for those who support the idea of a Paradise Transit subsidy.

The SGA officers then gave their reports and put an end to the meet-ing that ran well over its intended time. The only other announcement to come of this was the start of the leadership award nominations. Stu-dents who want to nom-inate a club officer can now do so on the website for the Office of Student Leadership and Involve-ment.Dylan Messerschmidt is a third-year student majoring in communication studies. He can be reached at DM837837@wcupa.

edu.

OP–EDFebruary 9, 2015 Page 5

[email protected]

253 Sykes Student Union West Chester, Pennsylvania 19383610.436.2375 ■ [email protected] ■ WWW.WCUQUAD.COM

THE STUDENT NEWS SERVICE

OF WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY

ADAM FARENCE | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF [email protected]

EDITORIAL BOARD

JOSE MESTRE | PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

CLARE HAGGERTY | NEWS EDITOR

DREW MATTIOLA | OP-ED EDITOR

THERESA KELLY | FEATURES EDITOR

MOLLY HERBISON | ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

RYAN CALPIN | SPORTS EDITOR

EDITORIAL STAFF

COLLEEN GOLDHORN | ASST. PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

AJ ARCAINI | ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

COLLEEN CURRY | ASST. NEWS EDITOR

STEPHANIE LOEH | COPY EDITOR

JEFFERY HOLMES | COPY EDITOR

TIMOTHY GRENTZ | DISTRIBUTION

ANDREW RUFO | ONLINE EDITION

DREW SCHMITZ | BUSINESS MANAGER

ASHLEY CANTASANO | ADVERTISING MANAGER

DR. PHILIP A. THOMPSEN | FACULTY ADVISOR

SUBMISSIONS POLICY

DISCLAIMERS

Guest and opinion columns, letters to the editor, political or social commentary, and artwork

is accepted during the academic year. All material may be sent to the attention of the editor

in chief, The Quad, 253 Sykes Student Union Building, West Chester University, West Chester,

Pa. 19383, Material may also be dropped off in our office, Sykes 253 or e-mailed to quadeic@

wcupa.edu. An electronic copy of all work is necessary for publication and should be sent to

the aforementioned e-mail address.

All submissions must include a name and at least two forms of contact information, such as

an e-mail address and phone number, for verification purposes. Students should include in-

formation such as an on-campus address, class standing, area of study, and/or organizational

position. Material is only published if the author/artist can be confirmed as a standing member

of the University. Such distinctions include students, staff, faculty, administration, and alumni.

We do not accept submissions from members of the community who are not associated with

West Chester University.

Letters to the editor should not exceed 250 words; columns and commentaries should be be-

tween 500 and 1,000 words. All material may be edited to adhere to our policies, AP style, and

space restraints. We do not edit for content unless it is libelous, excessively profane, or harmful

to a particular individual or group thereof.

Opinions expressed within the letters to the editor, columns, and commentaries are those of

the author and not necessarily those of The Quad, its editorial board or the student body,

faculty, or administration of West Chester University.

The deadline for all Op-ed submissons is the Saturday before Monday’s publication by 2 p.m.

Copyright ©2015 The Quad. No work herein may be reproduced in any form, in whole or in

part, without the written consent of the editor-in-chief. Opinions expressed within the let-

ters to the editor, columns, and commentaries are those of the author and not necessarily

those of The Quad, its editorial board or the student body, faculty, or administration of West

Chester University.

Founded in 1932 as Quad Angles, The Quad was re-named as such in 1975. The Quad is the

independent, student-run newspaper of West Chester University of Pennsylvania. The Quad

is published on 10 Mondays each academic semester and has a weekly newsprint circulation

of 3,000. The Quad is funded primarily through advertising sales and, although we receive a

budget through SGA and the student activity fee, The Quad is run solely by students and is not

edited or altered in any way by University faculty, staff, or administration. The University has

no prior review of the content.

Rates and mechanical requirements for display advertising can be found on our website at

www.wcuquad.com. Inquiries may be placed at the addresses or phone numbers listed above.

Classified advertising may be purchased on our website at www.wcuquad.com. The Quad

reserves the right to refuse any news items, letters, or advertising thought to be offensive or

inappropriate.

The Quad exercises care to prevent omissions and factual errors. Corrections for any pub-

lished error will not exceed the space or prominence of the error that occurred. Claims for

adjustment must be made within five days of publication.

The Quad is printed by Journal Register Offset in Exton, Pa.

TWEET US @THEQUADWCU

LIKE US @FACEBOOK.COM/WCUQUAD

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @THEQUAD

Adam FarenceEditor-In-Chief

Hello! Hello!

This week, we are proud to announce that our google calendar is now online and visible for everyone to use. We want to provide students at West Chester University a comprehensive calendar

for anyone looking for something to do. We would like for clubs and organizations to send us the events they have planned, we will then add them to the calendar free. Email [email protected] for calendar events.

We would also like students to send us photographs of events and/or cool things going around on campus. We want to generate an online photo gallery titled “last week in pictures” for the website. We want to highlight how diverse and active the West Chester community is, and we would like your help in doing so. If you would like to see your pho-tographs online, email [email protected].

As always, this news service exists for the student body and the fac-ulty. Any student can get involved with the news service and we en-courage all to do so. Anyone who is interested in getting involved should email myself at [email protected].

Until next time!


So It Goes.By Rachel Alfiero Staff Writer

College CornerBy Ashely Cantasano Staff Writer

I had a revelation of sorts this past week. It didn’t occur during

one singular moment. Rather, this revelation was made out of a string of moments that hap-pened over the course of a few days. What I thought at first was just a hodgepodge of good days turned out to have an underlying meaning. So it goes.

The factor that tied all of these instances to-gether was the fact that they all had to do with my classes. I came to the realization one day last

week that I actually thor-oughly enjoy every sin-gle class that I am in this semester. When I recog-nized that fact about my schedule, I was prompt-ed to think about how much being in classes that I enjoyed affect-ed my overall attitude about being in school. I thought about this topic for a little bit and came to the conclusion that

taking classes that I find worthwhile make all the difference in my life.

It all kind of makes me question college as a whole. Maybe it’s different at private or non-profit schools, or maybe it’s just the same everywhere you go. My perception of college is that students get the opportunity to “test the water” with all of the di-verse courses, majors, and minors that a school has to offer. And that freedom to try anything that you feel you might have an interest in re-ally seems comforting to me. The idea that I can discover what it is that I truly have a passion for is pretty exciting. But the fact of the matter is that things don’t always work out that way. There is a structure to being a col-lege student that I think most of us find restrict-ing.

What comes to my mind is the general edu-cation requirements that every student at West Chester has to complete in order to graduate. For example, last semester I had to take a gen. ed. class taught in a huge lecture hall. It was a kind of class that made me question why I even bothered showing up every day. I’m sure al-

most everyone that has gone, is going, or will go to college will expe-rience what I’m talking about. Fast forward to this semester, and I’m in a similar lecture-hall class. But this time I’m

actually excited to go, partly because it’s part of my major, but also because the professor makes the environ-ment interesting and fun. And I get that feel-ing of excitement to learn in each one of my classes this semester.

I have to say that be-ing in classes that I ac-tually care about keeps me motivated to do homework and other assignments, and it’s making life seem a lot easier both in and out-side of school. Hope-fully this feeling of en-thusiasm carries me through the next two years of school.

So I’ll end this col-umn with a piece of advice: try as hard as possible to pick classes that you know you’ll love. Perhaps you’ll stumble upon one that you knew you’d hate, but maybe you find one you didn’t even know you were look-ing for. Till next time, so it goes.

Rachel Alfiero is a second-year student majoring in communication studies. She can be reached at [email protected].

Last year, I wrote an article about the much antici-

pated annual Budweiser Clydesdale commer-cial. I explained its sig-nificance and growth throughout the years, how it once started as a simple advertisement, and has now positioned itself on the market as essentially its own brand. After the Super Bowl is over, you don’t talk about Budweiser beer, but about the Bud-weiser beer commercial. This year’s commercial, “Lost Dog,” tugged at our heartstrings, as always. Our favorite Budweiser pup finds himself lost, and winds up in the woods at night, face to

face with a coyote. His friends, the Budweiser Clydesdales, show up in the nick of time, saving the day and bringing the pup home where he be-longs. This happy end-ing is an expected and familiar end to the com-mercial.

However, what was unfamiliar this year were other advertisements. Companies tried differ-ent tricks to make sure their products would be memorable, whether scaring everyone half to death or making us sad. I truly believe this year’s commercials were the best I have ever seen,

as companies have to become more creative in order to make them-selves stand out. A lot of these advertisements show marketing at its finest.

Right before the games began, Americans all over the world nearly choked on chicken wings, knocking over tables in order to get to the television faster and make sure the cable was working. Chevro-let really knows how to make a gameday en-trance. As the screen went blank, a voice came on overhead, asking, “What would you do if your TV went out right before the Su-per Bowl?” This genius example of marketing was used to advertise that the new Chevy Col-orado includes built- in 4G LTE Wi-Fi. After the scare they gave, some people may be less in-clined to buy a Chevy, but nevertheless, the ad-vertising was spot on.

Kim Kardashian’s commercial had viewers either loving or hating T-Mobile. Regardless of your feelings toward it, T-Mobile accomplished exactly what they set out to do; make a memorable Super Bowl commercial. Even if they are being talked about negatively, T-Mobile is still being talked about more than they were before the game.

Clash of Clan play-ers in the room stopped what they were doing and stared at the screen as Liam Neeson ap-peared, speaking in an angry tone to his smart phone while waiting for his score to appear. The

commercial was so pop-ular because it starred Liam Neeson, and it took a real-life scenario that many players experi-ence on a daily basis and brought it to life.

Of course, we all know about the Nationwide “Make Safe Happen”

commercial. It begins following a little boy and all of the things he does throughout the day, and ends with a bathtub full of water, telling us to watch our kids. It is similar to the Kim Kar-dashian commercial in that people may not have talked about it or liked its seriousness, but they are talking about Nation-wide.

As a marketer, I find it so interesting what is going on in the world makes such a difference in the type of commer-cials aired. The scandal with the NFL made a lot of companies have to rethink/ re do their typi-cal commercial strategy (lack of girls in the Go Daddy advertisement, anyone?). Here’s to next Super Bowl, and what its commercials may bring!

Ashley Cantasano is a third-year student majoring in marketing and adverisement. She can be reached at [email protected].

“It all kind of makes me question college as a whole.”

“The idea that I can discover what it is that I truly have a passion for is pretty exciting.”

“Kim Kar-dashian’s com-mercial had viewers either loving or hat-ing T-Mobile.”

TNS

TNS

Help prevent financial HOLDS by setting up Authorized Users!

Whether it's your Parents, Grandparents, Aunt or Uncle: Authorized Users can view and pay your WCU bill online.

The Bursar's Office does not suggest asking your cat to pay your bill. The Bursar's Office does not suggest asking your cat to pay your bill.

1) Log into your MyWCU.

2) Under the heading Student Financials (Bursar) click on the link to Quickpay ePayment & eBill.

3) Select Authorize Payers from the menu.

4) Fill in the form and you're done! You can add up to three profiles.

For more information go to http://www.wcupa.edu/bursar/

1) Log into your MyWCU.

2) Under the heading Student Financials (Bursar) click on the link to Quickpay ePayment & eBill.

3) Select Authorize Payers from the menu.

4) Fill in the form and you're done! You can add up to three profiles.

ENTERTAINMENTPage 8 February 9, 2015

[email protected]

UP-AND-COMING PA. BAND, THE DISTRICTS, RELEASES LATEST ALBUM

Tyler AsaySpecial to The Quad

There are few bands these days making powerful yet hon-

est rock and roll music. There are even fewer bands that are mak-ing powerful yet honest rock and roll music that sounds modern at the same time. The problem with bands these days is that they are either over-ly simple or overly ambi-tious to the point that the music sounds bland and regressive.

The Districts are a four-piece rock band from Lititz, Pa., located outside of Lancaster, that are making powerful yet honest rock and roll music. Their new sopho-more album, A Flourish And A Spoil, presents a collection of thick and gritty rock that sounds not only classic but mod-ern at the same time. There are zero points on this record that are either simple or bland, a debut that this young band can be proud of.

The Districts, who are all between 19 and 20 years old, are made up of vocalist/guitar-ist Rob Grote, drummer Braden Lawrence, gui-tarist Pat Cassidy, and bassist Conor Jacobus. They began to attend Temple University be-fore they were signed to Fat Possum Records last

year after their first al-bum, Telephone. Making a similar decision that most would, they decid-ed to drop the college life in exchange for a life on the road. Since touring the world this past year, The Districts have built a strong following around their live show, which I have yet to see, but am very eager to. They re-corded this album with John Congleton, who has produced records for St. Vincent, The Walk-men, and Modest Mouse, along with many others. In the near future, The Districts will be among those names as one of indie-rock’s captains of industry.

The production work and performance on A Flourish And A Spoil is nothing minus incendi-ary. The band explodes out of the gate with “4th and Roebling,” which is apparently named after a street corner in New York City. “I was walking from the station just to meet you in the morning,” the singer repeats as a freight train of guitars rolls down a mountain. The rollicking, foot-stomp-ing number recalls some of their older songs, such as “Funeral Beds,” which drew them comparisons to folk revivalists such as The Lumineers and Mumford & Sons.

This is not the type

of band The Districts are, however, which is proved on A Flourish And A Spoil. The entire record sounds like it’s punching through an-cient speakers, but in a way that feels fresh and new. An ear-rippling guitar tone is intro-duced in the climax of “Roebling” that carries through the album as a musical theme, espe-cially in rockers such as “Peaches” and “Sing the Song,” a driving an-

them dedicated to really understanding the mu-sic you are listening to, which is what A Flourish And A Spoil really asks from us.

As always, the hype for new up-and-coming bands becomes stress-ful for both the band and their listeners when it comes to a debut album, with expectations com-ing from either side. At first listen, I understood Flourish to be an artis-tic and outlandish effort that still rocked pretty hard despite its lack of

the catchiness that I knew they had in them. However, after multiple listens in different envi-ronments, the hooks ap-pear like a fish.

Rob Grote, the vocalist and lyricist for the band, uses unique imagery to conjure up a sinister, free-falling remorse for relationships gone sour, and takes the blame in his hands. Grote phi-losophizes with clever wordplay on songs such as “Peaches,” where he

sings, “I don’t want to write God’s name into my will.” In “Hounds” he sings, “Hounds in my head, does that make you feel right?” through muffled reverb and fuzz so deep that Wooly Wil-ly’s entire face would be covered. As the album progresses, he moves on to topics that re-ally should not be taken lightly.

My personal favor-ite song on the record, “Suburban Smell,” serves as both an acoustic cen-terpiece and a turning

point of the album. With simple instrumenta-tion of just a lonely gui-tar and vocals, the song reflects the high school experience of witness-ing the popular kids pick on someone who is mentally handicapped. “There’s 16 homes on every street, that all of course lie in the neat-est rows,” Grote sings about being a social out-cast while realizing the negativity that comes with suburban life. This is reinforced with lines such as, “There’s a party at the rich kid house, but I get stoned in base-ments.” As the cho-rus goes, “And all the kids with money laugh, clapping for the retard dance,” he calls them out by saying, “I am not like them” and that he is “sick of the suburban smell” and the terrible things that can happen there. This heartbreaking tale brings these issues up and throws them right in your face. Well, The Dis-tricts won’t have to deal with that smell anymore.

In his article for The A.V. Club, “Radiohead and ‘The American Ra-diohead’: Filling the R.E.M. Void,” Steven Hyden, my favorite mu-sic writer, said, “Looking at the most important indie-rock bands of the past decade, many of them can be classified

as either a Wilco or a Radiohead.” He goes on to explain that after the demise of R.E.M., Nir-vana, and the alt-rock boom of the early 90s, most bands either went on to becoming “Wilcos” or “Radioheads.” He says that bands that “play around with American music forms and are-na-rock influences in a somewhat off-kilter or moody fashion are Wil-cos,” while “bands that deconstruct their songs and piece them together in ways both beautiful and anarchistic in order to challenge the tradi-tional rock band format while at the same time pointing toward new possibilities for that set-up are Radioheads.”

I believe The Districts do a good job of chal-lenging this idea by be-ing both a “Wilco” and a “Radiohead.” On Flour-ish, they sound like both Wilco’s AM, with tough-as-nails down-home swagger and bindles on their back, on songs like “Roebling” and “Chlo-rine,” and Bends-era Ra-diohead, with abstract song structures along with Yorke-ian croon-ing. They even add drum machines on “Bold” and use the studio not only as a tool but as a weapon,

“THE DISTRICTS” cont. on pg. 9

“[The Districts] are making their move up the ladder of rock and roll’s pres-ent hierarchy.”


UP-AND-COMING PA. BAND, THE DISTRICTS, RELEASES LATEST ALBUM

as either a Wilco or a Radiohead.” He goes on to explain that after the demise of R.E.M., Nir-vana, and the alt-rock boom of the early 90s, most bands either went on to becoming “Wilcos” or “Radioheads.” He says that bands that “play around with American music forms and are-na-rock influences in a somewhat off-kilter or moody fashion are Wil-cos,” while “bands that deconstruct their songs and piece them together in ways both beautiful and anarchistic in order to challenge the tradi-tional rock band format while at the same time pointing toward new possibilities for that set-up are Radioheads.”

I believe The Districts do a good job of chal-lenging this idea by be-ing both a “Wilco” and a “Radiohead.” On Flour-ish, they sound like both Wilco’s AM, with tough-as-nails down-home swagger and bindles on their back, on songs like “Roebling” and “Chlo-rine,” and Bends-era Ra-diohead, with abstract song structures along with Yorke-ian croon-ing. They even add drum machines on “Bold” and use the studio not only as a tool but as a weapon,

similar to how Radio-head creates a complete-ly different world around their music that can sometimes distance it-self from listeners. How-ever, The Districts still sound so personal in the times of crisis that pop up all over Flourish. All of these bands are known to delve into hefty studio experimentation along with masterful execu-tion, which is one one of the reasons that makes The Districts’ new record so modern and enthrall-ing. They are making their move up the ladder of rock and roll’s present hierarchy.

Out of all of these new songs, one echoes their earlier work more than others.. “Young Blood,” the second to last track, is not a new song; one can go on YouTube and find great videos of the band playing this song going back a couple years ago that proves they grew popular based on their live show. At the same time, it fits into the rest of the tracklist like a reverb-soaked glove. “Young Blood”’s runtime (a little under 10 minutes) seems to fly by as you can hear each individual member

“THE DISTRICTS” cont. on pg. 9

“THE DISTRICTS” cont. from pg. 8 THE HOTELIER DEBUTS

FIRST ALBUM

RIYL: Joyce Manor, Foxing, Somos, The Front Bot-

toms, You Blew It!Home, Like No Place

is There is the debut al-bum from The Hotelier, a pop punk group from Worcester, Mass. The first song on the album, appropriately titled “An Introduction to the Al-bum” is one of the most impressive openers I have heard from any art-ist last year. An engulf-ing atmosphere is cre-ated right away as your ears become flooded with white noise and a lone synthesizer note. As soon as the vocals and finger-picked guitar come in, you quickly be-gin to realize this band isn’t filled with your av-erage sappy teen-angst musicians. As the song progresses you begin to feel the singer ready to snap at any moment. “An Introduction..” soon turns into a beautiful crescendo of explosives

guitars coupled with heart-wrenching back-up vocals. Alongside its continuing buildup, you begin to hear his voice crack more and more with defeat until he explodes with “I had a chance to construct something beautiful and I choked.”

The lead singer, Chris-tian Holden has a voice that allows this album to shine above almost all other pop punk releases from 2014. Nasally, sin-cere and surprisingly raw at times, he is able to bring out real emotion that most artists his age seem to lack. Collective-ly, the album focuses on several tough-to-swal-low subjects. Holden dives into death of pets, his father leaving, and even not being able to make it to a close friend’s funeral. Throughout the album you receive a front row seat to all of his emotional developments and the rest of the band knows exactly what to play to keep you listen-ing.

Coming in at only 37 minutes, the nine-song album is able to be abra-sive at the most suitable times, like on “Life in Drag,” subjectively the heaviest song on the album. When the time comes to be emotional, they manage to bear it all, specifically on one

of my personal favor-ites, “Your Deep Rest.” The first chorus puts its heart on its sleeve as a light guitar strums over Holden singing “I called in sick from your fu-neral. / The sight of your body made me feel un-comfortable. / I couldn’t recognize your shell.” Feeling almost invasive by the sheer honesty of these lyrics, Holden gives you some time to breathe until the second chorus. This time, his words are nearly being screamed in your face, as if he wants anyone, anywhere to hear how he feels.

“Dendron,” the album closer shows – what seems to me – the most emotion. Opening with

Zach RitzSpecial to The Quad

of the band playing their instruments. The song creates the illusion of a live show right in your living room. As the song grows to its climax, it breaks down into a mess of white noise and ther-emin before returning at full force with intertwin-ing guitars and a driving rhythm section. As Grote sings, “It’s a long way down from the top to the bottom, it’s a long way back to the high from where I am,” you can almost hear the crowd cheering.

A Flourish And A Spoil drops Feb. 10, but you can currently find it streaming on NPR’s website. The Districts will be playing in Lan-caster on Feb. 13 and in Philadelphia at Union Transfer the next day. This summer, they will be making the festival circuit, playing Bonna-roo and Governor’s Ball along with many more, so make sure to check them out if you get the chance.

The Districts have an exceedingly bright fu-ture, and I’m excited to see where it will take them. Tyler Asay is a third-year student

majoring in communication

studies. He can be reached

at [email protected].

nothing but clean vo-cals, the guitar, bass, and drums slowly pick up and it begins to turn into a fairly basic pop punk song. As soon as this happens, Holden swoops in to save it with his voice as he screams, “Wake me up.” Once the latter half of the song comes in,

intelligent song writing and brilliant lyricism in-tertwine, and this song abruptly ends before you can truly understand what emotions you’ve been put through. Help-less, hurt, and exposed, Home, Like No Place is There is a matured al-bum. Instead of being an album comprised of ex-girlfriends and bad breakups, Home is not an album to be taken lightly, and they’ll make sure we know that.

Rating: 8.9/10 Favorite Songs: “An

Introduction to the Al-bum,” “Your Deep Rest,” “Dendron.”Zach Ritz is a second-year student




“As soon as the vocals and finger-picked gui-tar come in, you quick-ly begin to realize this band isn’t filled with your average, sappy teen-angst musicians.”

deadformat.net


LATEST “SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS” MOVIE RETURNS TO FORM

Rob GabeStaff Writer

Ever since Stephen Hillenburg stepped off as the show-

runner of “SpongeBob Squarepants,” Nickel-odeon’s multi-million dollar animated televi-sion series has been a greasy spoon without him. But now, in 2015, he’s thankfully returned to take charge once again with the sequel to 2004’s “The Sponge-Bob SquarePants Movie” with “The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water,” a follow-up that offers an equal bundle of undersea giddy fool-ishness. It is, generally, a return to form for fans who, like myself, only care for the first three seasons and the first feature film. It’s also one

of the trippiest and most bizarre animated kids’ films to come of the Hol-lywood studio system in years, (Think 1971’s “Willy Wonka” boat/tun-nel scene). The new film soaked up $15 million domestically this Fri-day and is estimated to take the week at number one with a well-earned $52 million, causing the The Wachowskis’ sci-fi space opera “Jupiter As-cending” to plummet. To boot, Mr. SquarePants’ second feature film managed to finally re-move Eastwood’s biopic war drama “American Sniper” from the top spot to No. 2 after holding it for a four-week run.

When Plankton’s evil plot to once again steal the Krabby Patty secret formula is foiled, anoth-er sea-roaming adver-

sary (voiced by the super Antonio Banderas) steps in to abduct Bikini Bot-tom’s greasy, delectable treasure for himself. Leaving the underwater citizens in a apocalyptic Mad-Max-esque uproar bent on rampage in part of ill-supplied cravings for burgers, it’s up to Spongebob and Plank-ton to pursue the bandit and take back the recipe themselves, if only they can do it in time to save their world from raven-ous, barbaric barnacle heads. Along the way they float through time, meet a extra-terrestrial dolphin named “Bub-bles” who (in the future) oversees all of space as some type of time-lord (this is by far the most absurdly funny gag in the film), and get trapped in one of Spongebob’s

molasses candy-sweet dreamscapes.

With some reserva-tions, “The Spongebob Movie: Sponge of Wa-ter” is mostly a success. Firstly, the marketing campaign is a big, fat lie. The advertised 3D live-action CGI segments only take up an incon-sequential 15 minutes tops. The rest is tradi-tionally hand-drawn, 2D animation. A small mi-nority will be saddened to hear that (most will be alleviated), but this is one of the few times I was completely relieved by a misrepresentation of what I thought the film would be. Truthful-ly, the live-action crawl is plodding, dull, and gimmicky. Even when Squidward starts us-ing his mediocre clari-net playing as a shock-wave superpower, the impulse to return to the beautifully done anima-tion remains persistent.

Furthermore, the film catches wind of a smelly-smell surreal-ism that’s caught me off guard, at times delv-ing into multiple head-scratching digressions, including rap battles and illuminati implications. Random loopy sequenc-es play out in 60s acid trip vistas that can only be ascribed to being un-der the influence. The narrative might sound like a square-shooting rehash, but by the time the film reached its con-clusion, I could barely recollect the anarchical silliness of what I had just witnessed. It has all the makings of a poten-tial cult film, even out-side of sheer fandom,

arising from its offbeat strangeness. Pre-2004 Spongebob has always been as much for adults as it is for children, pro-viding slightly edgier, subtle humor for the

older crowd. That same cross-generational nau-tical nonsense is pro-vided here, if only not as firmly grasped as its unsanitized, ridiculous television series coun-terpart. For the first time in forever, Spongebob is quotable again. Dis-appointingly, there are some secondary char-acters who only have small cameos, or don’t show up at all, but even the 2004 film suffered from this.

While it may never reach the heights of the first 2004 film, “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water” managed to, for the first time in over 10 years, make me love Sponge-Bob again. In many ways it feels like vari-ous episodes stitched

together to fit a 92-min-ute runtime, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It has been deemed, “Not lame!” by my stan-dards. It’s still up the air just when the series will

return (we know Hillen-burg will be returning with it), but its impend-ing arrival has caused even more excitement since this movie is a considerable bounce-back from the drastic decline of post-2004 episodes. It won’t con-vert anyone who isn’t already a fan, and its weird dedication to re-main thematically bare-bones is a mystery, but it’s a picture that goes beyond nostalgia, for the most part bringing back the glory days of what made the original-run work. That, in itself, is a sweet victory.Rob Gabe is a fourth-year student




“‘The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water’ managed to, for the first time in over 10 years, make me love SpongeBob again.”

TNS


CLASSIFIEDS To place a classified ad in The Quad, just visit wcuquad.com and click on the link for “classifieds.” You may pay for your ad with any major credit card. Your ad will appear on our website, published in print and in our mobile edition. Rate is 30 cents per word, min. of 20 words ($6 min. charge). Deadline is 11 a.m. Sunday before publication.

EMPLOYMENT FULL TIME

SALESLocal distributor of heat-ing and air conditioning equipment looking for energetic, motivated indi-viduals to join our grow-ing sales team. Great entry level sales opportunity that could turn into a promising career. Call today! 610-389-7842 or email [email protected].

Fill in the grid so that each of the numbers 1 - 9 appears once and only once in each row,

each column, and each 3x3 square.

THE QUAD SuDoKu

THE QUAD CROSSWORD

Last issue’s solutions

Solutions will appear in the next issue.

Across1 Monday Night Foot-

ball regular until 19837 Gobbled, as a turkey10 Site with a “Buy

It Now” option14 Mecca’s peninsula15 In the bath16 “__ Rock”17 Hires a new crew for18 Styled after19 Shot up20 Confounded Brit-

ish illumination?23 Jamaican genre24 Walkway material25 Meter or liter29 Med. plan option31 “Twin Peaks” co-

creator David34 White House maid-

en name between Pierce and Welch

37 Dr. J hairstyle39 Lone Ranger and

Tonto, e.g.40 Confounded Brit-

ish posies?43 First __44 Horner’s find45 Have a strong desire (for)46 Things to fulfill48 It’s on the streets

50 Flanders river51 Vinegar vessel53 Dangerous snake56 Confounded Brit-

ish residences?62 Actor Bean of

“Game of Thrones”63 Aegean __64 Give one’s word65 Stock options, e.g.66 WWII intel agcy.67 Look through partially

open curtains, say68 Round components69 Vague degree70 Flowed in circles

Down1 Prep for a mara-

thon, with “up”2 N.L. Cy Young Award

winner three years after Dwight

3 Nordic language4 “Voice of Israel” author5 Rory McIlroy’s milieu6 Big name in vi-

sion correction7 Like an excited puppy’s tail8 Takes to task9 Web business10 San Francisco-to-

Teaneck interstate

11 Round servers12 Iowa State city13 Swerve from a course21 “I’ll pass”22 Clumsy sort25 Citified26 “Cross my heart”27 “Bless my soul!”28 Howe’er30 Molten rock32 Bend33 Car wash em-

ployee, at times35 Excites36 Wire thickness unit38 “Kidnapped” au-

thor’s monogram41 Most eccentric42 Manner47 Round components49 Cloth remnant52 HP competitor54 Configure55 Prepared for a shot56 Texture57 “I don’t mind eels /

Except as meals / And the way they feels” poet

58 Previously driven, say59 TomKat’s daughter60 Lake at one end of

the Niagara River61 Final email step62 Place for a pedi

6 7 9 5 8 3 4 2 18 1 2 6 4 9 7 3 53 4 5 7 1 2 6 8 91 3 6 4 7 5 2 9 84 9 7 8 2 1 3 5 65 2 8 9 3 6 1 4 72 5 3 1 9 7 8 6 47 6 4 2 5 8 9 1 39 8 1 3 6 4 5 7 2

Difficulty level: Easy - 3

6 7 9 5 8 3 4 2 18 1 2 6 4 9 7 3 53 4 5 7 1 2 6 8 91 3 6 4 7 5 2 9 84 9 7 8 2 1 3 5 65 2 8 9 3 6 1 4 72 5 3 1 9 7 8 6 47 6 4 2 5 8 9 1 39 8 1 3 6 4 5 7 2

© Philip A. Thompsen, Ph.D.

1 3 7 5 6 8 2 4 92 4 6 7 9 1 8 5 35 8 9 3 2 4 6 7 14 1 5 8 3 7 9 6 26 7 2 9 1 5 3 8 43 9 8 2 4 6 7 1 57 5 3 4 8 9 1 2 68 2 1 6 5 3 4 9 79 6 4 1 7 2 5 3 8

Difficulty level: Hard - 8

1 3 7 5 6 8 2 4 92 4 6 7 9 1 8 5 35 8 9 3 2 4 6 7 14 1 5 8 3 7 9 6 26 7 2 9 1 5 3 8 43 9 8 2 4 6 7 1 57 5 3 4 8 9 1 2 68 2 1 6 5 3 4 9 79 6 4 1 7 2 5 3 8

© Philip A. Thompsen, Ph.D.

Brewster Rocket: Space Guy by Tim Rickard

Bliss by Harry Bliss

February 17th, 2015Sykes Ballroom11:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m.

WITH MORE THAN 80 GRADUATE PROGRAMS TO CHOOSE FROM AT WCU,

YOU’RE ALREADY IN THE PERFECT LOCATION TO CONTINUE YOUR EDUCATION.

JOIN USTO LEARN MORE!

Register at: wcupa.edu/grad

GRADUATE STUDIES OPEN HOUSE

RECEIVE A $50 APPLICATION

FEE WAIVER FOR ATTENDING!

Quick when you’re sick.

No-appointment, no-waiting care

for everything short of the ER.

At Pioneer Urgent Care, you’ll fi nd experienced doctors.

Evening hours, too. And we’re backed by the strength of

the Crozer-Keystone Health System. Find out more at

UrgentCare.CrozerKeystone.org.

610-459-FAST (3278) | 1572 West Chester-Wilmington Pike

West Chester, PA | M-F 9 a.m. - 9 p.m., S&S 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.

UrgentCare.CrozerKeystone.org

Quick when you’re sick.

No-appointment, no-waiting care

for everything short of the ER.

At Pioneer Urgent Care, you’ll fi nd experienced doctors.

Evening hours, too. And we’re backed by the strength of

the Crozer-Keystone Health System. Find out more at

UrgentCare.CrozerKeystone.org.

610-459-FAST (3278) | 1572 West Chester-Wilmington Pike

West Chester, PA | M-F 9 a.m. - 9 p.m., S&S 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.

UrgentCare.CrozerKeystone.org

CALENDARPage 14 February 9, 2015

EMAIL [email protected] TO SEE YOUR EVENT HERE

Weather OutlookRain / Hi 35 / Lo 27

Ongoing New GalleryThe 24/7 Project By Darcie Goldberg and Rhoda Kahler on exhibit at the New Gallery in the E.O. Bull Center for the Arts through Saturday, Feb-ruary 28 For more info see www.wcupa.edu/cvpa.

Ongoing Knauer GalleryFather and Son Law-rence Welker III and Law-rence Welker IV on exhibit at the Knauer Art Gallery in the Swope Music Building through Saturday, February 21

10 AM Sykes 255LGBTQ Ally Training A one hour training session that provides LGBTQ 101 “gradu-ates” with the understanding and resources to be an advo-cate and ally to LGBTQ stu-dents, faculty, and staff. Allies are provided with an on-line manual and door sticker to identify them as an LGBTQA Ally. Please email [email protected] to scheduled.

7:30 PM Main Hall 168How your childhood SHAPED you Learn all about the different media influ-ences we grew up on and how they influenced our body image and sense of self. Hosted by Sister to Sis-ter Peer Mentors for Eating Disorders Awareness Month wcupa.edu to scheduled.

7:30 PM Madeleine TheaterFaculty Recital Kimberly Reighley, flute

Weather OutlookPartly Cloudy / Hi 39 / Lo 22

3:30 PM Sykes 225SAC General Meeting All WCU students are invited to the Student Activities Coun-cilice’s weekly meetings

7:15 PM Sykes 115SGA General Assembly-Meeting All WCU students are invited to this weekly meeting of your Student Government Association.

11 AM OnlineTruth Teacher Services Online Info Session Truth Teacher Services, work with schools all over the world to find certified teachers for K-12 subject classes, Early Childhood Education, ESL, and SAT test prep. We recruit certified teachers as well as non-certified teachers, as long as they love teaching. We also work with top-tier university graduates, whose university name is impres-sive to schools overseas. Currently, we are planning to conduct an online infor-mation session on the 10th and 13th of February 2015 at 11 am EST on “Teaching in China and Korea”

3:20 PM Main Hall 413English Internship Session Internships offer a crucial boost to seeking employ-ment after graduation. If you are interested in pursuing an internship (and all BAs in English should aim to do so), now is the time to learn how to find internships and how to earn credit for them. Drs. Scheffler and Shevlin, with Amanda Mitchell of the Career Center, will host an information session on internships for all English Majors and Minors. Topics include Ram Career Network and other resources for find-ing internships ¨ Procedures for receiving credit for an in-ternship ¨ Resume and cover letter tips

8 PM Sykes Open Mic Night Do you love to perform? Do you sing, write poetry, perform comedy, etc.? Come to Eng-lish Club’s monthly Open Mic Night. Anyone can per-form or watch, simply show up.

Weather OutlookClear / Hi 38 / Lo 29

11 AM Lawrence CenterTarget Information Table Stop by for an informal chat with this employer! Learn more about this organization and the opportunities avail-able!

1 PM Lawrence 225Ask An Employer Drop-in Hours with recruiting ex-perts. Select Wednesdays, 1-3pm A great way to ask employers your career re-lated questions in a no-pres-sure setting. Featured Guest: Target Details in Ram Career Network

5:30 PM HollingerWomen’s Basketball vs. Bloomsburg University

7:30 PM HollingerMen’s Basketball vs. Bloomsburg University

8:15 PM Madeleine TheaterFaculty Recital Kimberly Reighley, flute

Weather OutlookSnow / Hi 40 / Lo 14

11 AM Sykes 209Diversity 411 Workshop Based on Dr. Maura Cul-len’s, “35 Dumb Things Well-Intended People Say That Widen The Diversity Gap,” and gives the student an op-portunity to engage in diver-sity dialogues, build healthy communication alternatives, and broaden their perspec-tives about diversity issues. This workshop is open to all students. For more infor-mation, contact [email protected].

7 PM Sykes TheaterCrime and Justice Lecture/Film Series:The Anony-mous People WCU’s De-partment of Criminal Justice presents this feature docu-mentary film about their 23 million Americans living in long-term recovery from ad-diction to alcohol and other drugs.

7 PM Philips LibraryCreative Writing Talk & Reading Cristin O’Keefe Ap-towicz will read and discuss her newest book, Dr. Mütter’s Marvels: A True Tale of In-trigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine (Gotham/Penguin, 2014). For more info: [email protected]

8:15 PM Madeleine TheaterNew Music Concert Direct-ed by Drs. Adam Silverman & Van Stiefel


11 AM OnlineTruth Teacher Services Online Info Session Truth Teacher Services, work with schools all over the world to find certified teachers for K-12 subject classes, Early Childhood Education, ESL, and SAT test prep. We recruit certified teachers as well as non-certified teachers, as long as they love teaching. We also work with top-tier university graduates, whose university name is impres-sive to schools overseas. Currently, we are planning to conduct an online infor-mation session on the 10th and 13th of February 2015 at 11 am EST on “Teaching in China and Korea”

6 PM Ware Recital HallSenior Recital Raymond Mallari, violin

9 PM SykesSykes After Dark Sadie Hawkins Dance: Present-ed by Black Student Union A night of dancing, mock tails, and hors d’oeuvres. Come dressed to impress. Doors open at 9:30PM and the event starts at 10PM. For more information contact: [email protected]

7:30&10PM Sykes TheaterSAC Movie of the Week The Best of Me. A pair of former high school sweethearts re-unite after many years when they return to visit their small hometown. Directed by Mi-chael Hoffman

SATURDAY

Weather OutlookCloudy/ Hi 26 / Lo 8

10 AM SturzbeckerMen’s Diving vs Towson University

10 AM SturzbeckerWomen’s Diving vs Towson University

12 PM Ware Recital HallSenior Recital Kelsey Mills, clarinet & Sarah Rayne, flute

1 PM SturzbeckerWomen’s Gymnastics vs University of Pennsylvania and University of Bridgeport

2 PM Ware Recital HallSenior Recital Shannon Jar-vis, bassoon

SUNDAY




[email protected]


NIA ANDREWS SPEAKS ABOUT MISS WCU EXPERIENCE

Adam FarenceEditor-in-Chief

Last week, Nia An-drews received the prestigious title of

Miss West Chester Uni-versity. At the Play for Kay game on Saturday, Jan. 7, she gave an inter-view to The Quad about her experience at the pageant, as well as all the practicing, encourage-ment, training, and hope that went into getting ready for the competi-tion.

Nia first involved her-self with Miss WCU last year. She was part of the dance team for the 2014 competition and per-formed several of their dances for that pageant. It was there where she first seriously began considering entering the Miss WCU competition in 2015. Last year’s win-ner, Emily Sharp, as well

as her close friend Ilana Berger, encouraged her to enter the competition.

In order to get ready for the competition, Nia had to attend multiple group training sessions as well as several mock-interviews. In addition to the mandatory train-ing, Nia and her family spent many hours prac-ticing on her own. “It really was a group effort. My mother and my boy-friend, Shaquan, were very encouraging.”

A week before the event, Nia traveled to Disney World with the dance team. “We got to dance and ride the rides.

It was a great way to keep the mental stress down.” When Saturday arrived, though, Nia was ner-vous beyond all rea-son. “I was worried when it came to the question session that I would freeze. How-ever, Ilana and Em-ily both told me, on separate occasions no less, to just ‘speak from the heart.’ So I did.”

And it worked. At the end of the com-petition, Nia An-drews received the crown and sash for

Miss West Chester Uni-versity 2015. “I couldn’t believe it, I still can’t believe it.” She added, “When I realized I won I was breathless, I was so happy, I hugged every-one.”

All contestants had to present their platforms to the judges and au-dience. As part of her platform, Nia advocated Camp Dream Catcher. This camp, based out of Kennett Square, sup-ports children between

the ages of five and 17 who have HIV/AIDS. The Black Latino Greek Council provided vol-unteer opportunities for Nia’s sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, at Camp Dream Catcher and was touched by the camp’s mission to make the children’s lives easier through support and fun activities.

One activity in partic-ular, the “Wishing Log” ceremony, is an activ-ity in which the kids are asked to write a wish on a piece of wood and burn it, supposedly sending the wish to the heavens to make it come true. “Some kids wish to be rid of the disease, oth-ers wish for their par-ents to be rid from the

disease, and others with for their parents to come back.” Nia recounted one young girl, who said that her wish had already been granted. Now all she wants is for her sis-ter’s wish to come true.

Nia plans to continue promoting Camp Dream Catcher, as well as mov-ing on to other pageants. She has already looked into the Miss Philadel-phia competition, and

“I couldn’t be-lieve it, I still

can’t believe it.”

some of the judges from the Miss West Chester University pageant be-lieve she can do it. She also wants to join in on more community events. Nia can be reached at [email protected], and can be fol-lowed on Instagram with the same name.

Nia thanks everyone who came out and sup-ported her at the pageant on Saturday, as well as

her friends and fam-ily who saw her through until the very end. She encourages anyone with any reservations about anything, whether it be applying for Miss WCU, applying to enroll at West Chester University, or even a job, to “just go for it.” She added: “You won’t know until you try. Even if you are unsure of yourself, just go for it.”Adam Farence is a fourth-year

student majoring in history

and French. He can be reached


Photo by

Photo by: Ilana Berger

Ph

oto

by

: Ilana B

erger


GO ABROAD TO FIND YOUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME

Lady Gregory once said, “I feel more and more the time

wasted that is not spent in Ireland.” She couldn’t have said it better, for not being in Ireland is torture knowing that at any moment in time people are crossing the River Liffey, others are cycling the farmlands of the Aran Islands, and the best poured Guinness in the world is at the lips of someone else.

Ireland is my home away from home, and it couldn’t have been with-out venturing across the Atlantic Ocean for the first time two years ago. As I sit across from Dr. Lordan of the commu-nications department, his face lights up and his eyes come to life at the thought of returning to Ireland this summer. “I cannot wait to get back,” he says.

Dr. Lordan is credited with my first trip to Ire-land, two years ago now. Along with 11 other stu-dents, I partook in his Media in Ireland course. By the time we boarded the plane back to the United States, I knew I would return to live in Ireland. And I did, for eight months this past fall. I’ll return again soon, but this time as an Irish citizen. It all began with taking that first leap of partaking in a study abroad course.

This summer, Dr. Lor-dan will once again re-turn to Ireland with West Chester students. This time around, the Media

By Colleen Cummings

Staff Writer

in Ireland course will lead students from Lim-erick and Galway, in the west of Ireland, all the way to Dublin in the east.

The trip featured will be field trips of a life-time that a tourist alone wouldn’t gain access to. Students will go to TG4’s studio--Ireland’s only television station broadcast in the Irish language. They will sit on the edge of the Cliffs of Moher, sip on a Guin-ness at the Guinness Storehouse, find their ancestry at Ancestry.com’s headquarters in Dublin, find out just what the words “coppers” and

“pennys” mean, amongst a thousand other experi-ences that are priceless.

Eight students are al-ready signed up, and there is plenty of room for more.

The International De-partment on campus is partnering with Mary Immaculate College (MIC) in Limerick. Even-tually, West Chester Uni-versity will exchange 12 to 16 students each year with MIC. This spring, we have on campus our first Irish student from MIC, Hollie McDonnell.

McDonnell worked with the director of MIC’s international of-fice to determine the best school for her in the U.S. WCU very quickly rose to her No. 1 choice. While there was compe-

tition among students applying to universities that could only host one international student, McDonnell found that by being honest and ex-pressing her strong de-sire to come to the States she secured her spot at WCU.

“I’m one of those peo-ple that does something 100 percent,” says Mc-Donnell. If she was going to go to America for an extended stay, she was going to go on her own for the full semester and to the perfect college. West Chester Univer-sity was a small college that focused on history,

her major at MIC. Fur-thermore, the campus is beautiful, and Pennsyl-vania itself is full of early American history.

“I don’t know if I’d live in America,” she said, laughing. “I’d miss the [Irish] chocolate too much.” However, she’d definitely visit again, citing West Chester as a great location with peo-ple that have been noth-ing but kind and sweet to her. But Ireland is always home to McDonnell. “Níl aon tinteán mar do thin-teán féin,” she says, “It’s Irish for ‘there’s no place like home.’”

According to Dr. Pe-ter Loedel, Director of the Center for Interna-tional Programs, WCU is currently “increasing the number of interna-

tional students coming to WCU, and developing additional partnerships and exchange agree-ments such as the one in Ireland.” They are also working with the Col-lege of Education to in-clude programs for stu-dents seeking teaching opportunities who have a stricter schedule here at WCU. “It is an exciting time to be at WCU if you are interested in study abroad or doing some-thing international,” says Loedel.

McDonnell and Dr. Lordan emphasized the same idea, if you have the opportunity to study

abroad, do it! It is the best experience one could have in their college ca-reer and there is no way to realize it without tak-ing that leap. And who knows, maybe you’ll find your own home away from home.

If students have any questions about study-ing abroad, you can reach the Center for In-ternational programs on the third floor of Mitch-ell. To reach Dr. Lordan for inquiries on his Me-dia in Ireland trip, email him at [email protected] Cummings is a fourth-

year student majoring in English

and minoring in graphic design

and journalism. She can be

reached at [email protected].

See WRITING p. 17

By Samantha Mineroff

Special to the Quad

LETTER WRITING REMAINS

NOSTALGIC

There’s something about a letter that beats any e-mail or

text.When you read a letter,

you don’t just read it. You feel the paper beneath your hands, the ink that ran from the pen and the accidental crumpling. It has personality, char-acter. You can touch the places where the writer

touched. The words are expressed like the per-son, either with swirls or straight lines, small or

big, off the lines or per-fectly straight. There can be handmade pictures and doodles, little mark-ings and underlines. The paper itself brings out the type of person of the writer, whether it is planined and lined, bright pink, or a soft pale blue. The choice of pen color, the stamp, and

even the envelope can tell a lot about the writer.Everything about a letter comes from the writer.

With a computer screen or a text, you don’t get that same per-sonality. Sure, you can change the text size and color, but anyone can do that. No one has the same handwriting as someone else. And the computer or phone you type on is a duplicate. With paper, there are

hundreds of types that you can choose from.

Not only does the per-sonality shine through right beneath the read-

er’s fingers, but the idea of waiting for something so special and sincere is beautiful. Today, it seems like we’re always checking our phones for e-mails and/or texts. We look for a response not five minutes after we sent a message. We get

“Ireland is my home away from home, and it couldn’t have been without venturing across the Atlantic Ocean for the first time two years ago.”

“There’s something about a letter that beats any e-mail or text.”

Photo by Antonio Litterio via Wikipedia


CREATIVE WRITING CLUB PRESENTS: 8 DAYS TO SANCTUARY

By Veronica Mattaboni and Alecc Costanzi

Copy Editor and Special to the Quad

DAY 1 : ANYAIt was so cold

that steam rose from my nostrils with every exhalation. I was getting a brain-freeze just from breathing; it felt like a punishment for still being alive. So far, we were still in win-ter’s good graces. There hadn’t been more than an inch of snow since before New Year’s, and that was a while ago. If nothing else, the weath-er acted as the world’s largest freezer section, keeping our perishables fresh while we made the journey to Linvalley.

It would’ve been more useful if we were bring-ing meat with us, but after Farmer’s Flu hit the university, none of us could trust raw meat. All processed meat been re-called from the grocery stores months ago any-way.

I remember my moth-er calling to warn me. She asked me not to buy or eat any meat products for a while; the govern-ment was giving warn-ings on the five o’clock news.

“Since when do you watch the ‘disaster channel?’” I teased her, highlighting class notes for my Public Health Nu-trition exam.

She laughed at our old joke. “Yeah yeah, Anya, I know. Just humor ya motha’, okay? It could be E coli or something. I’m just assuming the worst.”

We soon found out just how bad the worst could get.

When Oxborough University went down,

Moira, Kathryn, Izy and I holed up in our apart-ment in town for a while, living off frozen meals and water-bottles. It didn’t take long for Moira to invite Devon into our home. It took even less time for Devon to start making decisions for the group, and Izy to fight him on every one.

But we didn’t have much trouble until we

decided to head for Lin-valley Hospital. They called the refugee center there a sanctuary, and that was enough to make our mouths water. Lin-valley was only a couple towns over, but without a car, it would take us some time to get there.

“We’re going the wrong way,” Izy insisted, pushing ahead of Devon and pressing on further down the street. “If we make a left here we can get back on track.”

The muscles in Dev-on’s jaw clenched, his taut skin going white. “You’re wrong. We’re not going that way. We keep going straight.”

“But that’s stupid! We’re going in the opposite di-rection. We should turn left here,” she pointed to the street corner. I pulled my scarf tighter around my neck and shivered. In this moment, I regret-ted having cut my hair so short.

“Ya know, I’m get-

ting real sick of your piss-poor attitude,” Dev-on grabbed a fistful of Izy’s jacket and pulled her back. The rest of us slowed our pace, coming to a stop in the middle of the street.

“Don’t touch me, you creep!” Izy screamed, her wild jet-black hair flying every which way as she ripped herself from his grip.

“Babe…” Moira plead-ed, crossing her arms uncomfortably.

“What the heck is

your problem?” Kathryn yelled, puffs of steam ris-ing from her words.

Devon’s glare dart-ed from roommate to roommate, and when his gaze landed on mine, I felt a shiver in bottom of my gut. Those were the eyes of a desperate man.

The glare only teased Izy’s ego.

“You got something to say to me?” she said, moving into his personal space.

I glanced warily from Devon to Izy, then back again. Hanging back, I reached into my jacket pockets, fingering the latch of my switchblade through my gloves. In the times since Farmer’s Flu started, I liked to be safer rather than sorry. Especially with death and uncertainty right around the corner.

“Just this,” he said.Then Devon’s fist flew

across the gap between them and connected

with Izy’s face. His puffy grey jacket caught drops of blood from Izy’s nose.

We stood stunned as Izy hit the ground with a sickening smack. Devon stood immobile over her, wide-eyed. Then he re-gained his composure and crossed his arms.

“You made me do that,” he said, brushing off his coat.

Izy curled up into a ball and began sobbing silently. Moira shrunk back, well-rehearsed with Devon’s anger, and

looked like she was go-ing to cry herself.

Devon turned to the rest of us.

“Anyone else want to be the leader?”

His eyes found my blade griped tightly by my side. He looked from the blade, to me, then back again. He smirked.

And without another word, he walked up the nearest driveway and straight into the house it connected with. Kath-ryn shot me a worried glance, but Moira be-gan to move toward the house, her eyes finding nothing but the pave-ment. With a sigh, Kath-ryn and I scooped up Izy headed into the house.

Devon refused to let us travel any farther that day, despite knowing we would lose half a day’s distance. He insisted we stay there for the night.

I sat by Izy most of the night and listened to her labored breathing. She

had hit her head pretty hard, and she had been weak to begin with. I tried to clean the blood off her face with the sleeve of my sweater, but it didn’t do much.

Sometime after Dev-on was asleep, Kathryn came to me.

“We need to leave, Anya. It’s not safe here anymore.”

“But what about Izy?” I turned to the struggling girl.

“You know she’s not going to make it.” Kath-ryn was right, and I knew it. Still, I couldn’t help but tear up as we left. We packed all the sup-plies we could find and took off into the night. We walked for four hours before snowflakes began to drift from the sky, and we took cover in a back-yard toolshed.

I awoke the next morning with the feeling of dust in my eyes. Kath-ryn wasn’t up yet, but the sun was. We overslept.

“Kathryn,” I said as I shook her shoulders, but she didn’t move.

“Kathryn,” I repeated, lifting her head. A thick lump dropped into the pit of my stomach as I lifted my arm from her ear and saw blood on my fingers. Kathryn was dead.

(To read “Day 2,” pick up the next issue of the Quad.) Veronica Mattaboni is a third-year

student majoring in English

writing with a minor in creative

writing. She can be reached


Alecc Costanzi is a third-year

student majoring in English

writing with a minor in creative

writing. He can be reached


WRITING contin-ued from p. 16

antsy, send more texts, or type up another e-mail just in case the re-ceiver didn’t get it.

By changing up our usual routine, we learn to be patient. We may look in the mailbox every day, but we don’t send out another letter. You sit and wait. Go through the day and sometimes forget about it. Then af-ter three long weeks, on a rainy, bad day, you open up the mailbox; pilfer through the end-less coupons and adver-tisements, and there, in a perfectly sealed enve-lope, is the letter.

You can open up a let-ter after years and years and it will be more deli-cate and dusty and dirty than ever, but it will still be that letter.

It could be the first letter of a relationship, the last letter of a fam-ily member, a letter that says everything that the writer needed to say but couldn’t do it out loud.

Writing helps us, it soothes us, it angers and stresses us out. But read-ing something written by someone, who did it with care and emo-tion, changes us. Written words are physical, un-like the words we speak. We can tear them up into pieces or plaster them on our walls or pin them on our bulletin boards.

A quote from one of my favorite films of all times, “Midnight in Par-is,” has always stuck with me:

“That’s the problem with writers. (They) are so full of words.”

That may be true. but most of them are writ-ten.Samantha Mineroff is a

first-year student majoring in

English. She can be reached


“There’s something about a letter that beats any e-mail or text.”

“But we didn’t have much trouble until we decided to head for Linvalley Hospital. They called the

refugee center there a sanctuary, and that was enough to make our mouths water.“

SPORTSPage 18 February 9, 2015

[email protected]

The Lady Rams were looking for a spark to bounce back from

a tough loss to Kutztown over the weekend and they found it in Serifat Junaid.

Juniad carried the Golden Rams with an impressive double-double performance at Hollinger Field House on Wednesday night.

The opening half was eerily similar to that of West Chester’s game just a few days ago at Kutztown. Lock Haven scored on the first four possessions of the game, including a deep three-pointer from Rachael McDaniel as the Bald Eagles jumped out to an 9-3 lead early.

Dallas Ely got things going for the Golden Rams with a three-pointer of her own and soon West Chester was back within one.

The Bald Eagles were physical from the get-go, racking up five fouls in the first seven minutes of play and forcing a number of jump balls on West Chester possessions.

Both teams traded leads in the middle portion of the half McDaniel carrying the brunt of the load for Lock Haven with the Rams’ Serifat Junaid doing the same.

At the 10-minute mark, with West Chester down one, Mariah Powell hit a mid-range jumper to put the Rams in front and, following a Lock Haven turnover, Sicinski drove to the paint for an easy lay in and just like that West Chester was in front 18-15.

For a few minutes afterwards, however, the Bald Eagles would find a way to break West

By Cullen WrightSpecial to The Quad

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL VS SHIPPENSBURG JOSE MESTRE/ PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR


LADY RAMS CONTINUE TO WIN; 7 OF LAST 8

The Lady Rams were looking for a spark to bounce back from

a tough loss to Kutztown over the weekend and they found it in Serifat Junaid.

Juniad carried the Golden Rams with an impressive double-double performance at Hollinger Field House on Wednesday night.

The opening half was eerily similar to that of West Chester’s game just a few days ago at Kutztown. Lock Haven scored on the first four possessions of the game, including a deep three-pointer from Rachael McDaniel as the Bald Eagles jumped out to an 9-3 lead early.

Dallas Ely got things going for the Golden Rams with a three-pointer of her own and soon West Chester was back within one.

The Bald Eagles were physical from the get-go, racking up five fouls in the first seven minutes of play and forcing a number of jump balls on West Chester possessions.

Both teams traded leads in the middle portion of the half McDaniel carrying the brunt of the load for Lock Haven with the Rams’ Serifat Junaid doing the same.

At the 10-minute mark, with West Chester down one, Mariah Powell hit a mid-range jumper to put the Rams in front and, following a Lock Haven turnover, Sicinski drove to the paint for an easy lay in and just like that West Chester was in front 18-15.

For a few minutes afterwards, however, the Bald Eagles would find a way to break West

Chester’s full-court press and find open looks in the corner including a three- pointer from McDaniel. She would finish with 10 points in the first half.

Porsche Speller would score the next five points for the Golden Rams to cut Lock Haven’s lead to one with 4:20 to play in the half. A Junaid lay up out of the media timeout then put the Rams in front by one.

Behind a strong half from Junaid and timely shots from Speller, the Golden Rams went into the locker room at halftime with a 36-32 lead.

In the second, Junaid picked up right where she left off in the first, making the opening basket and then dominating the glass.

The beneficiaries of

West Chester getting good looks in the paint, both Junaid and Anna Kuntz were able to capitalize with some early buckets and the Golden Rams jumped out to a 44-35 lead three minutes in.

At the height of a dominant defensive second half for West Chester, Lock Haven went a full five minutes without getting even a decent look at the basket.

“We were still doing

the same stuff we did in the first half,” Coach Wooden said. “We were still pressing and playing zone (defense) but I think we played man-to-man defense with a more concerted effort in the second.”

Meanwhile, Lock Haven simply had no answer for Serifat Junaid.

The senior forward would finish with an dominating performance with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and seven blocked shots to cap off the double-double.

“She just played awesome. She gave us a presence not only on the offensive end, but also the defensive end, blocking some shots and getting some rebounds,“ said a noticeably proud Wooden. “[Junaid] had great energy

and she played with a lot of it tonight.”

West Chester’s bench players also contributed nicely with Porsche Speller and Mariah Powell, each contributing 10 points of their own.

“Our bench is deep, it’s just some days we’re inconsistent - but when they’re on, they’re on,” Wooden commented.

It was an all-around better performance from the Lady Rams, who

would ride Serifat Junaid’s double-double and a dominant defense to a 68-

55 win at Hollinger Field House.

The Lady Rams and Lady Raiders put on quite the show for the crowd at Hollinger Field House on Saturday, with a contest that came down to the final minute of play.

When it was all said and done, West Chester would walk away with a hard fought victory on their home court with a great effort from their star players and, of course, a little bit of luck when it counted.

Nauer led the Red Raiders in first half scoring with nine points and three rebounds, making things difficult for West Chester in under the basket.

West Chester was able to keep the contest close with Anna Kuntz and Chikisha Steele-Hook able to counter Nauer with seven points and 10 rebounds between them in the first half.

While the battle raged in the lane, Sicinski and Ely were able to find some open jumpers of their own.

The only drawback was that the Lady Raiders were also heating up on offense.

Logan Snyder and Colleen Young were constant threats from the perimeter for Shippensburg with the two combining to put up 13 points in the first half.

Over time, it looked like West Chester was getting a comfortable lead. Snyder

or Young seemed to always find open shots in either corner for a timely three-pointer to tighten things up again.

It looked like Chikisha Steele-Hook put the Golden Rams ahead by five at the half with a nice three-pointer from the top of the arc, but Lauren Gold drove quickly down the left side and step backed for a clutch three-pointer of her own to make it 35-33 West Chester at halftime.

For a game marked by efficient shooting from both sides in the first half, there was a renewed emphasis from each team in the second half to win in the paint.

Again, it was West Chester starting fast in the scoring department with Kuntz and Sicinski teaming up to find open shots underneath for the Golden Rams.

It wasn’t long before Morgan Griffith of Shippensburg found her rhythm in the paint as well. Griffith, who was held scoreless in the first half, quickly got involved to keep the Red Raiders hot on West Chester’s heels.

The slugfest continued as the clock reach the 10- minute mark and both squads were going tit for tat on the scoreboard with WCU maintaining a slight advantage, 52-48.

Ely did her best to pull the Golden Rams out in front for good with timely buckets down the stretch, but Steph Nauer and Lauren Gold refused to let Shippensburg fall behind for long as the spread was down to just four points at the two-minute mark.

Logan Snyder then found Nauer underneath for a timely bucket that pulled the Red Raiders to within just two with under a minute to play.

Brittany Sicinski, who had been relatively quiet in the second half, came up clutch with a strong drive to the basket for a lay up that put West Chester up by four with 20 seconds on the clock. Not to be outdone, Lauren Gold made her a quick layup to make it a two-point game once again.

On the following inbound play, the Red Raiders surprisingly did not foul to force a one-and-one from West Chester and wasted valuable seconds while Dallas Ely was fouled on a shot attempt only and knocked down both foul shots to finally put the Golden Rams ahead for good.

After a hard-fought contest, West Chester was able to outlast Shippensburg 69-64 in front of a raucous crowd in Hollinger Field House.

The win improved the Lady Rams to 18-4 on the season and 13-4 in PSAC play.

The girls get back at it Wednesday against Bloomsburg at Hollinger Field House.Cullen Wright is a third-

year student majoring in

communications. He can

be reached atCW830391@

wcupa.edu

By Cullen WrightSpecial to The Quad

“She just played awesome. She gave us a presence not only on the offensive end, but also the defensive end, blocking some shots and getting some rebounds, “

Jose Mestre/ Photography Editor


WEST CHESTER TRACK AND FIELD SHINES

GOLDEN RAMS SHATTER SCHOOL RECORD

Last weekend, the West Chester University track &

field squad travelled to Bucknell University to take part in the 17th Annual Bison Open & Multi’s.

The men’s 4x400 meter relay team won first place with Ricky Bruno, Chris Stancil, Alex Foulke, and Shawn Young clocking a time of three minutes, 25.47 seconds.

Miles Ransom also grabbed a first place in the 60-meter hurdles and fifth in the pole vault as a part of the heptathlon. Colin Vannicolo also participated in the

heptathlon, finishing in second place in the pole vault, third in the 60-meter hurdles, fourth in the 60-m dash, sixth

in the long jump, seventh in the 1000 meter, tied for eighth in high jump and 10th in the shot put, good for a fourth in the overall event.

Young grabbed second place in the 400 at a time of 50.38, 0.6 of a second off from first place.

Ghassan Dix added a second place finish in the 200 with a time of 22.76.

The women’s side also showcased their talent at Bucknell with three first-place wins. Devan Kerecman won the pole

vault and Kayla Owens won the weight throw and finished second in the shot put to lead West Chester. Eisman also took first place in the 3000.

Kerecman cleared 11 feet, 3 ¾ inches to take the win. Owens continued the Golden Rams’ success in the field by throwing the weight 53-4 ¼ inches to win that event and put

the shot 43-9 ¾ inches. Eisman crossed the line with a time of 10:13.92.

Janna Wilson placed third in the 400-meter dash, leading three teammates to the finish line, who placed fifth, sixth, and seventh. Moira Fox was fifth in 1:00.41 while Allison Lewis earned sixth in 1:00.81 and Amira Warrick came in seventh in 1:01.01.

Wilson also helped the distance medley relay to a runner-up position with a time of 12:25.41. Leigh Manning-Smith, Emily Dusellier, and Amanda Eisman made up the rest of that team. Dusellier was also sixth in the 800 with a time of 2:22.08.

West Chester’s 4x400 relay “A” team was second overall with an impressive time of 3:59.86. The Golden Rams “B” team earned third with a time of 4:06.36.

Freshman Sarah Kosenske finished with a tie for eighth in the long jump, leaping 16-6, while also placing fifth in the triple jump with a mark of 35-11 ½.

Overall, it’s been a great start for the Golden Rams who are coached by Jason Kilgore. A 2005 graduate from West Chester University, Kilgore has coached seven All-Americans, 22 PSAC champions, 24 NCAA Division II provisional

qualifiers, 65 All-PSAC student-athletes, and three PSAC record holders.

“Our goals are always to improve and get better”, said Kilgore. “We would like to continue where we left off last season and improve our standards in the PSAC, but to do that we worry about the pro-cess. There are things that each athlete in each event group must get better at daily in order for the team to reach a higher finish at the PSAC championship meet.” Gianna Seeney is a third-


communications with

a minor in journalism.

She can be reached at

[email protected]

By Gianna SeeneyStaff Writer

West Chester g y m n a s t i c s continued to

show talent and strength as a team on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015 in a quad-meet at Towson University inside the SECU Arena. The Rams (3-5) finished in fourth place as a team with a 188.025 under the Division One College of William & Mary (190.900) and University of North Carolina (195.35). The host, non-league Towson Gymnastics, placed second with a team score of 194.525.

Sophomore Majesta Valentine of Wilmington, Del., scored a strong 9.725 on the vault to place fifth while scoring a 9.75 on the balance beam to finish in seventh. Valentine placed fifth overall in the all-around

with a 38.350. Freshman teammate Rachel Blair was 11th on the vault with an outstanding 9.6 performance. Sophomore teammate Selena Swanger posted a 36.525 in the all-around competition.

“It was a really great atmosphere with strong competition,” said pleased co-captain and senior Cassandra Ringer. “It was a great experience for our team!”

On Sunday, Feb. 1, West Chester’s gymnastics team traveled to University of Pennsylvania to face Ursinus College, Cornell University, and University of Pennsylvania.

The Golden Rams women’s gymnastics team set a new school record with an overall team score of 190.725 and finished second Sunday afternoon inside the Palestra at University of Pennsylvania. The

girls came very close to Division I University of Pennsylvania in the team standings. The host Penn won the meet with a 190.900. In fourth place was non-league foe Ursinus College (190.475).

Third place behind the Lady Rams was Division I Cornell with a 190.625.

WCU started their competition again on the uneven bars. They had a strong start with five out of six girls on the line-up hitting their bar routines. Junior Meghan Brannon, of Seminole, Fla., led the crew on the uneven bars recording an outstanding 9.7.

The Golden Rams were able to keep their

momentum going and remain high in the standings after a team effort on the balance beam. Swanger had the team high score on the event for the Rams with a 9.7. Behind Swanger,

teammates Lindsay Knapp and Cassandra Ringer both posted scores on the event above the 9.55 mark.

For the third rotation, West Chester headed to the floor exercise where they had an outstanding performance. Sophomore Valentine was the standout with a strong 9.825 performance. Behind Valentine, freshman teammate Madison Brent, of Waxhaw, North Carolina, tumbled her

way to a well-deserved 9.7 performance.

To wrap up the quad-meet at the Palestra, WCU gymnastics finished on the vault with a record-breaking 48.275 performance.

The record-breaking line-up included Rose Wortman, Meghan Chan, Rachel Blair, Selena Swanger, and Majesta Valentine. The girls got off to a strong

start with Wortman’s seventh place 9.65 performance. Teammate Swanger showed her strength on the event with an outstanding 9.7 performance. Valentine displayed her confidence and poise on this event in the anchor position leading the team with a record-breaking 9.8 performance.

“It really was a great all-around team effort by all the girls today,” excited

WCU head coach Barbara Cordova said. “We look forward to carrying our momentum through the remaining meets in the season!”

Overall, the girls did an excellent job staying posi-tive and mentally strong throughout the meet re-gardless of the action and excitement occurring around them. West Ches-ter will head home for their next competition hosting a quad-meet inside Stur-zebecker Health Science Center on Saturday Feb. 7, against Ursinus College, Rhode Island College, and University of Bridgeport. Things get under way at 4 p.m.

Lauren Bilenki is a fourth-year

student majoring in accounting

and finance. She can be reached

at [email protected]

By Lauren BilenkiStaff Writer

By Dylan HarrisonStaff Writer

“Our goals are always to improve and get better”

“It was a really great atmosphere with strong competition”


WEST CHESTER’S PRO TALKONE FOR THE AGES

WCU head coach Barbara Cordova said. “We look forward to carrying our momentum through the remaining meets in the season!”

Overall, the girls did an excellent job staying posi-tive and mentally strong throughout the meet re-gardless of the action and excitement occurring around them. West Ches-ter will head home for their next competition hosting a quad-meet inside Stur-zebecker Health Science Center on Saturday Feb. 7, against Ursinus College, Rhode Island College, and University of Bridgeport. Things get under way at 4 p.m.

Lauren Bilenki is a fourth-year

student majoring in accounting

and finance. She can be reached


All signs leading up to Super Bowl XLIX pointed towards

the match-up between the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots being a thriller for the ages, and it certainly did not disappoint.

On one side of the game, all attention was focused on how the Patriots would react to “Deflate Gate.” On the other side, media at-tention circled around the always-entertaining Marshawn Lynch and his “I’m just here so I won’t get fined” comments. All questions aside, it was the final NFL game of the sea-son for all the marbles in front of a crowd of 70,288 in Glendale, Arizona, and a record setting 114.4 mil-lion US viewers tuning in to watch the big game.

After defeating the Indianapolis Colts 45-7 in the AFC Championship Game, Tom Brady led the Patriots to the Super Bowl for the sixth time in his career, bringing a record of 3-2 into the matchup, with both losses coming at the hands of Eli Manning and the New York Giants. After a thrilling 28-22 overtime victory over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game, Russell Wilson led the Seahawks to their second straight Super Bowl appearance in his young three-year career, trying to make a repeat of last year’s 43-8 victory over Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos.

It didn’t take long for the

game’s first big play, as Tom Brady drove the Pa-triots down the field dur-ing an eight-minute drive. Jeremy Lane picked off Tom Brady at the goal line with a leaping intercep-tion, and kept it knotted up at 0-0 late in the first quarter. It was Lane’s first career interception, but unfortunately for the Se-ahawks, he was out of the game following a grue-some wrist injury, after being tackled by Julian Edelman following the interception. He was re-placed by Tharold Simon, and Brady made sure to exploit that for the rest of the game.

Russell Wilson and the Seahawks could not capitalize off of the interception by Lane, as he did not complete a pass in the entire first quarter. Brady opened up the scoring in the game with his 50th post-season TD pass, on an 11-yard throw to Brandon LaFell, who was guarded by Simon. The Seahawks called upon the bench to get some offense going, and receiver Chris Matthews was up to the task. Matthews made his first career reception on a 44-yard throw from Wilson, setting up Lynch for a three-yard rush to knot it up a 7-7. Like clockwork, Brady drove the Patriots down field and found Rob Gronkowski in the end zone with 29 seconds left in the first half to put them out front 14-7. In a serious turn of events, Wilson drove the Seahawks downfield to the 10-yard line with six seconds remaining in the half. Seahawks Head Coach

Pete Carroll wouldn’t be pleased with a field goal, and went for it all, and it paid off. Wilson found the unsung hero Matthews in

the end zone to tie it up 14-14, capping off a five-play, 80-yard drive. In a half that was completely controlled by New England, the Seahawks could not ask for a better score heading into the half.

The third quarter was a completely different story. Wilson and the Seahawks stormed out to a 10-point lead in the third, thanks to a Steven Hauschka field goal and a Doug Baldwin TD catch. The touchdown put Seattle up 24-14 with 4:54 to go in the third, and

New England followed that up with a three-and-out. Seahawks had two chances to seemingly put the game out of reach,

but failed to do so when Jermaine Kearse dropped a lob pass on the New England 20, and then followed that up with an ugly three-and-out on their next drive.

The game was now in Brady’s hands, and he really had to dig his team out of a hole to come back in this one. The Patriots were left with 12 minutes to score twice, coming off a pitiful performance thus far in the second half, going interception-punt-punt on their first

three possessions in the half. They were trying to become the first team to win the Super Bowl after being down by eight or more in the fourth quarter. Brady started the comeback when he found Danny Amendola on four-yard touchdown pass to bring New England within a field goal 24-21.

After New England’s defense stopped Wilson and the offense, Brady started a drive from his own 36-yard line with 7:00 remaining in the game. With a few short passes to Shane Vereen and Amendola, the Patriots were quickly in Seahawk territory. Next play, Brady finds Gronkowski for a 20-yard gain to put the Patriots in field goal range with 4:47 to go. Two minutes later, Brady found Edelman for the go ahead three-yard TD pass with 2:02 to go. Brady had broken history in more ways than one during the game, he passed Joe Montana for all-time Super Bowl TD passes with 13. On his last two drives, Brady went 13-for-15, 124 yards and two touchdowns. “He’s Tom Brady,” Edelman said. “He’s the greatest quarterback on the planet.”

With the game on the line, Wilson started the final drive of the game on his own 20. Driving into Patriot territory, Wilson threw up a 33-yard bomb to Kearse and he made one of the greatest catches of all time. A pass that seemed to be broken up, bounced on Kearse while he was lying on the ground and ended up in his hands and the

Seahawks were on the Patriots five-yard line with 1:06 remaining. After Lynch ran to the one-yard line, Seattle opted not to call timeout with second-and-goal with 26 seconds remaining. In one of the most unlikely play calls in recent memory, Pete Carroll opted to throw the ball on the goal line. On a quick slant to Ricardo Lockette, rookie Malcolm Butler jumped the route and made an incredible game-winning interception.

“I knew what was going to happen. I don’t know how I knew. I just knew. I just beat him to the point and caught the ball,” the rookie Butler stated on his interception. Nine times out of 10 that ball is probably intercepted, and 10 times out of 10 the defense would think Lynch would pound the ball in on that play. “It’s the worst result of a call ever. The call would have been a great one if we’d caught it,” Carroll said of his controversial play call. Brady took a knee and secured his fourth Super Bowl victory in six attempts. He now all but secures his spot as the G.O.A.T.(greatest of all time) when it comes to quarterbacks, and he’s far from done. Brady was named Super Bowl MVP, his third time receiving the honor. “It’s been a long journey. It’s just a great win. We left it all on the field,” Brady said.Dylan Harrison is a third-


communications with a minor

in journalism. He can be reached


By Dylan HarrisonStaff Writer

Photo by: mctcampus.com


GOLDEN RAMS CONTINUE HOT STREAK

Never give up. Never ever give up. In

the words of the late, great, Jim Valvano, the West Chester men’s basketball team honored his words on the court on Wednesday.

Coming off a thrilling 4 overtime win against Kutztown last week, West Chester had to refocus for a tough matchup at home against Lock Haven. Even though Lock Haven’s record is not the best, it does not dictate the amount of talent they put on the floor every game. Especially when it comes to Lock Haven’s superstar Wali Hepburn, who is the second leading scorer in the PSAC averaging just over 18 points a game.

West Chester figured out just how good he is right from the start, as Hepburn had five quick points, and West Chester knew they were going to have to do something about Hepburn if they wanted to have a chance to win this game.

Throughout the entire first half, the game was back and forth, no team really able to take control of the game or the pace, and at halftime Lock Haven took a two-point lead into the locker room, 33-31. At halftime Hepburn had 11 points, five assists, and four rebounds, and he was officially on a triple-double watch. As for West Chester, Avery Brown had eight, and

Mike Wilson had seven, while point guard Parrish Grant was on the assisting end of six baskets for the Golden Rams.

Coming out for the second half, it was a little bit of a different story. For about nine minutes, the game continued to go back and forth, but with 11

minutes left in the game and Lock Haven leading 49-48, West Chester got stuck in mud. For the next five minutes of gameplay they did not score one point until 5:54. Not a free-throw, as they missed three, not a lay-up, or a jumper, or a three-pointer. They did not score a single point for five minutes and five seconds, and Lock Haven was able to balloon the lead to 14, 62-48. The difference in the game was Lock Haven failed to put West Chester away during their drought. Lock Haven missed free throws, and turned the ball over, and allowed West Chester to stick around and believe that they still had a shot to win this game, with over five minutes left. Could West Chester mount a comeback?

For the next three minutes West Chester was able to find a way to put the ball in the hoop again, the only problem being so was Lock Haven. West Chester gained no ground, and the score stood at 72-58 with just over two minutes remaining. And at this point Hepburn had recorded

Lock Haven’s first ever recorded triple-double as he finished with 22 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds. However, he only shot 7-12 from the free-throw line. Could that come back to haunt the Bald Eagles?

Down 14 with 2:13 seconds left to play, West Chester needed a hero. They needed someone that could make plays and, maybe try and win this game that West Chester needed to win so badly. Parrish Grant was that person. As West Chester took the ball down the court with two minutes remaining in the game down 14, Grant fired a pass to Mike Wilson who hit a tough three-point shot in the Lock Haven defense. Then a turnover by Al Blount of Lock Haven led to a lay-up and a foul on the

other end for Parrish Grant. He converted on the lay-up, missed the free-throw, but a huge offensive rebound by Cory Blake led to a three-point attempt by Parrish Grant right in the defender’s face, and he knocked it down, and suddenly the lead went from 14 to six in a matter of 30 seconds. The next possession was déjà vu for Blount as Cory Blake and the West Chester defense forced a turnover, which led to a Ben Mingledough layup on the other end, and now the lead is four, and it had become realistic for a comeback.

After the two teams traded buckets, and Hepburn went one for two from the line, and the score was 75-70 with 1:10 remaining in regulation. After the free-throw miss, Hep-burn committed a bad foul, which stopped the clock and put Grant on the free-throw line,

and knocked them both down. On the other end West Chester forced a missed jumper and Wil-son came down with the rebound, and Lock Ha-ven fouled Grant again, and again he knocked them both down. West Chester was now trail-ing 75-74. As Lock Hav-en came down the floor looking for a bucket, they got the shot they wanted as Hepburn was open for three, but he could not knock it down, and Blake came down with the rebound. Who would West Chester turn to, down one with 20 seconds remain-ing? Lock Haven made the decision for them, as they fouled Grant for the third possession in a row, and he knocked them both down, go-ing 6-6 from the line in the final minute of the game. Now West Ches-ter had the lead and had to play defense for one possession. It was going to be Matt Wiseley, West

Chester’s best defender against Wali Hepburn. Wiseley did a fantastic job as he forced an air ball, but Theo West of Lock Haven came down with the offensive re-bound and got a good look at the basket. How-ever, he could not get it to go, the ball was tipped out to Blount with two seconds remaining as he had to chuck up a tough fade-away three-pointer, and it was just off the mark, and the buzzer sounded.

West Chester ended the game on a 17-4 run in the final two minutes of regulation to pull off one of the best come-back wins in WCU his-tory. Grant finished the game with 19 points and 9 assists, as he was one of the main reasons they came back and won this game. But a great overall team effort led West Chester to their

Athlete of the Week: Parrish GrantThis week’s Athlete of the Week is Golden Rams point guard Parrish Grant. Grant led the Rams comeback win against Lock Haven Wednesday night with 19 points and nine assists including the game-winning free throws.

wcupagoldenrams.com

“We have really been coming together as a team, and

everyone is stepping up and playing a big part in the recent success that we have had, and we just hope we will be able to continue it down the stretch.”

jump to page 23

Ryan Calpin Sports Editor


Look for the Peace Corps Information Table

at the West Chester University Spring Career Fair

11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.Stykes Student Union | Ballroom

Choose Where You Serve. Apply in One Hour.

peacecorps.gov - 855.855.1961

Peace Corps at WCUWednesday, February 25

Peace Corps

By Austin ZelenakSpecial to The Quad

The Golden Rams took on the Leba-non Valley College

Dutchmen in hopes that they could come up with a big win for their seniors on Senior Night. Their ef-forts fell short, losing the game 5-1, despite the fact that they put up a fi ght until the very end of the game.

West Chester came out to a fast and furious start, applying lots of pressure on LVC, whose goalie Chase Wilson made all the big stops early for the Dutchmen.

It was LVC that got on the board fi rst with a goal from Jake Thomas, who beat West Chester goalie Michael Rice. Poor passing is what led to the three-on-two breakaway for the Dutchmen.

It appeared as though the referee was going to let the teams play in the fi rst period, not call-ing many penalties. However, West Chester fans were irate when he missed about four pen-alty calls against LVC in a two-minute span. This span included LVC center Russ Armbruster inter-fering with Rice, leading

to a scrum on the ice, but no penalties called.

Fans and players alike grew even more unhappy when shortly after this sequence a penalty was called against Joseph Opdenaker for West Chester. This led to a power play goal by LVC, giving them a 2-0 lead after the fi rst period of play.

Things didn’t get much better for the Rams in the second period, as they

surrendered two more goals under fi ve minutes into the period, with one goal coming with LVC having a full two-minute, fi ve-on-three advantage.

After Adrian Case of West Chester was called for a kneeing penalty, leading him to lie hurt on the ice, a scrum ensued just 53 seconds into the period, leading to 32 penalty minutes.

LVC’s Joey LaBonte was given a 10-minute misconduct penalty, while Charles Case was given a two and a 10-minute misconduct penalty while also being ejected from the game.

West Chester came back strong after surrendering one power play goal while killing o� the other minor penalty, playing with lots

of determination to try to get a goal on the board before the period came to an end. However, the damage was already done with a four-goal defi cit at the end of the period, making a comeback almost impossible.

With the sloppy pass-ing of West Chester mixed with the strong stick checking of LVC, it looked as though more of the same could be expected in the third period of play. Frustration had set in on goaltender Rice, who hit his stick on the glass be-fore leaving the ice.

The Rams had another strong start to the third period, getting a goal from senior captain Jimmy McKee just three minutes into the period. How-ever, that was as close as the Rams would come, as Jake Thomas added another goal for LVC to give him a hat-trick in the game.

West Chester will look to extract revenge in their matinee match-up against LVC on Satur-day, but will have to do so without leading scorer Justin Finnerty, whose season ended early in the fi rst period when he suf-fered a broken collar bone.

West Chester had a pre-game ceremony to honor their seniors Adrian Case, John Albanese, Zach Jensen, Ryan Evans, and Jimmy McKee, allowing their parents to come onto the ice with them before the game started. You can catch the seniors in action, as well as the rest of their teammates, on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 7:45 p.m. as they take on Lehigh University in what will be their fi nal game of the season.Austin Zelenak can be reached


GOLDEN RAMS CONTINUE HOT STREAKfi fth straight victory.

A thrilling victory for West Chester, but another game had to be played on Saturday, and they would need to refocus as a good Shippensburg team was coming into town, and it was another must-win game for the Golden Rams if they wanted to stay in competition for that number two spot in the PSAC East.

Coming into the game, West Chester would have to worry about Dylan Edgar, who averages 16.5 points per game, and 9.3 rebounds per game. If they could contain him, they would have a good chance to win this game.

Contain him is exactly

what they did, as he was in foul trouble all game and only fi nished with six points and fi ve rebounds, as West Chester took the win 56-52. The score did not dictate how West Chester was able to control the pace throughout most of the game. Shippensburg did make a run late in the second half, as Justin McCarthur did everything he could to keep them in it, but in the end Avery Brown and Cory Blake led the way for the Golden Rams as they were able to capture their sixth straight victory and get ready for Bloomsburg to come into Hollinger Field House on Wednesday. Brown and Blake had 14 and 10 points respectively in the win. Junior Matt Wiseley said of his

RAMS STRUGGLE ON SENINOR NIGHT

team’s play as of late, “We have really been coming together as a team, and everyone is stepping up and playing a big part in the recent success that we have had, and we just hope we will be able to continue it down the stretch.”

West Chester has four more games in the regular season, with three of them being at home, including a huge game against East Stroudsburg on Feb. 18. But for now they will prepare for Bloomsburg on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Ryan Calpin is a third-


communications with

a minor in journalism.

He can be reached at

RC784188@wcupaedu

Continued from page 22

Photo by: Austin Zelenak

WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY GYMNASTICS TEAM BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD

STORY ON PG 20 | PHOTOS BY:BERNIE BRONSBERG

Documents

The Quad 108-3