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BY DALY TONGRENSTAFF REPORTER

The second presidential candidate student open forum was held on Feb. 26 in Congress Lounge with Dr. Gail Simmons.

Simmons, who cur-rently serves as the pro-vost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Manhattanville College in New York, addressed students and held a dis-cussion about the current state and future of Roos-evelt University.

With a B.A. in biology and a Ph.D. in genetics, Simmons said her goal was always to be a sci-entist. Upon landing her first faculty position at the City College of New York, she began instead on a career in the field of higher education.

Her years at the City College of New York are-what Simmons says was a very diverse and urban setting, similar to Roo-sevelt’s, that have in-fluenced her decision in wanting to become presi-dent of Roosevelt.

“When I read the pro-file for Roosevelt, I felt

like, this feels like home. This feels like the place where I started my aca-demic career, and it would be a great privilege to be able to lead it,” Simmons said.

Simmons took ques-tions on community, resi-dence life, retention rates and administrative com-pensation, among others–all of which she claimed to understand as some of the most important parts of student and faculty life.

She also expressed in-terest and understanding of the school’s social jus-tice mission and indicated wishes to see the school receive more recognition across the country.

“I would like to see Roo-sevelt known as a national leader for the kind of edu-cation that it provides. I think that Roosevelt’s his-tory, its story, the kinds of stuff you are doing, it deserves to be a national name. It deserves to be an exemplar,” Simmons said.

When asked what she saw as the university’s biggest selling point, Simmons mentioned the student energy she had taken in while on a tour of

the campus the previous day. In the same question, she was asked to address what she viewed as the school’s biggest hurdle, to which she responded that the school needed to find a way to market its strengths to prospective students as something unique to this institution alone.

“The question is to de-fine: what is Roosevelt doing for people that they can’t get anywhere else? What are you doing bet-ter than anybody can do it?” Simmons said. “What groups, that need an edu-cation, could get it from someplace else, but won’t succeed as well as if they come to Roosevelt? That’s what Roosevelt really has to figure out.”

Simmons, who has spent years in the field of education, briefly dis-cussed her battles with sexism in the professional world.

“I’m one of those people who believes that femi-nism is another name for equal opportunity and a level playing field for ev-erybody,” Simmons said.

Student turnout for

Vol. lXXI ... No. 22 rooseVelttorch.commoNday, march 2, 2015

The Roosevelt TorchoffIcIal studeNt Newspaper of rooseVelt uNIVersIty • chIcago • schaumburg

Joe Harks leaves behind memories of basketball at RUPAGE 12

Blame the parents, not Jackie Robinson WestPAGE 7

Blaze celebrates seven years back on airPAGE 4

BY MEGAN SCHULLERCOPY EDITOR

With class registration about to open this week, the College of Arts and Sciences held the second annual Exploring Majors fair on Feb. 26, to help students learn more about majors within the college.

Tables were set up for every major in the Col-lege of Arts and Sciences, and students were invited to speak with professors and fellow students about majors, minors and other program options. Repre-sentatives from Academic Advising, Career Develop-ment and the Counseling Center were also present to answer questions and advise students.

Catherine Campbell, as-sociate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the event is to help unde-cided majors sample each program and know they have resources available to them as they find their major.

“The undeclared majors are the third largest major in the college. It’s a large group of students, so we are trying to do different types of programming to help people through their journey, figure out what they want to do with their lives and get them into an academic home when they’re ready,” Campbell said.

Ashley Soto, a senior in-tegrated marketing com-munications major, dis-

cussed why she switched majors when she came to Roosevelt University. Originally, a business and marketing major, a meet-ing with an adviser and chance encounter with an IMC student led to the switch.

“Talking with my ad-viser and seeing how pas-sionate the student was about the program, made me want to major in IMC,” Soto said. “I’m glad I went with it. I never thought I’d be interested in adver-tising, and now it’s some-thing I really want to do.”

The college wants to continue this event annu-ally since there was a lot of student interest.

“You don’t always get one-on-one time with

people from every depart-ment that the college has to offer. This is an oppor-tunity to rotate to each department and let them tell you what their majors do and what their courses are like,” Campbell said.

Jennifer Wonderly, di-rector of Career and Pro-fessional Development, shared her own personal story of how she decided on her major as an under-graduate. After starting out as an international business major for her freshman year, Wonderly realized she didn’t enjoy it and visited the career services office at Bowling Green State University where she found what ma-jor suited her interests.

“I remember sitting

with the counselor, think-ing I would really like to do her job. I never knew this job existed until I got to college. I think the best thing about going off to school is getting exposed to things you never knew

were out there,” Wonderly said.

Wonderly also advised students to be active with deciding your career.

“Career and education

College of Arts and Sciences helps students explore majors

PHOTO BY MEGAN SCHULLERStudents and teachers of the College of Arts and Sci-ences discuss career and major options.

Second presidential candidate speaks about issues facing the university

PHOTO BY BREANNA WALSHDr. Gail Simmons spent two days visiting the Chicago and Schaumburg campuses from Feb. 26 through 27. ...cont. on page 2

...cont. on page 2

2 | The RoosevelT ToRch | MaRch 2, 2015

News

BY JOELLE TATTERCONTRIBUTING REPORTER

The Student Government Association hosted guest speakers on Feb. 25 to dis-cuss ways in which the group could get students more connected to the uni-versity. The development of a new phone app for Roos-evelt University students and an open forum with President Charles Middle-ton were discussed, too.

A part of the agenda for the SGA meeting was to en-sure open lines of commu-nication between student organizations on campus.

Gianna Chacon, a junior and co-coordinator of RISE, explained why having a “good relationship” is ben-eficial to both student orga-nizations.

“As students, we have to realize our university is basically the first real in-stitution where we learn to go about the democratic process…so I think SGA, as the student government of our university should be making sure it is, which we are. RISE has a good relationship [with SGA] so far, in communicating with each other and mak-ing sure we’re on the same page,” Chacon said.

Guest faculty members that spoke included: as-

sistant vice president for technology administration, Elizabeth Thomas, chief information officer, Neeraj Kumar and senior business analyst, Christy Hoke.

The guest speakers dis-cussed with students any ideas of how the new phone app could be used.

Kumar addressed why feedback from students was important.

“So, we thought we would all be here [and] understand your needs...this will be a university wide effort from all areas. It’s always great to have direct feedback from you–the students–be-cause our focus is on you, and what we deliver for you. So, you can have it on your mobile devices, your smart-phones and what have you.”

Kumar, Thomas and Hoke opened the floor for people to suggest ways in which the app might be used once it’s fully devel-oped. Some suggestions of-fered up included the app being a directory of differ-ent departments and phone numbers, a calendar for student events and as a list of items that teachers have posted on blackboard.

One key difference that was made clear was that it wasn’t going to resemble the Roosevelt website.

“If it exceeds 10 percent of

what the website has, that’s probably too much,” Kumar said.

The final item on the agenda was the upcoming student meeting with Pres-ident Middleton, which will be held on March 3 in the Congress Lounge.

Senior and president of SGA, Rachel Pieczura, ex-plained what the meeting would entail.

“It’s discussing with him things that are happening on campus, something stu-dents may want to cover. It is a registered event, so

students had to submit [their question] to our link that’s on our Facebook page,” Pieczura said. “So, of course, the open part is for students who want to ask open questions. It’s bet-ter to be registered, we al-ways stress that. He’ll get to those questions as priority.”

The deadline to submit a question is on Monday , March 2.

Weekly SGA meetings are on Wednesdays at 5 p.m. in the Spertus Lounge and are open to all students.

SGA discuss new phone app, meeting with President Middleton

PLEASE SEND MAIL TO The Roosevelt Torch, 18 S. Michigan Ave., Room 515 or [email protected]. • Letters to the editor may be shortened to fit available space.

312.281.3242

@RUTorch/roosevelttorchnews

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Shawn Gakhal MANAGING EDITORCourtney Clark LAYOUT EDITOR Emma IglesiasPHOTO EDITORBreanna Walsh

COPY EDITORMegan SchullerWEB EDITORAustin SlottGRAPHIC EDITORPook PiyatidaSTAFF REPORTERSLauren GrimaldiJoshua M. Hicks

Rachel PopaDaly Tongren

BUSINESS MANAGERTom CiceroASSISTANT BUSINESS MANAGER Efe IyareTORCH CONSULTANTEric Hahn

FACULTY ADVISORBilly Montgomery

CONTRIBUTING REPORTERSKatherine GageJoelle TatterElisabet Bernard

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERNaomi Obahor

PUBLICATION POLICYViews expressed are those of the authors and are not an expression of Roosevelt University policy. The Roosevelt Torch prides itself in its dedication to addressing news that affects the Roosevelt community while uncovering stories that both enlighten and entertain. All advertising is subject to acceptance.The business department can be reached at [email protected]

Roosevelt toRch staff CONTACT US

UIC STUDENT REPORTEDLY SAYS ‘FIFTY SHADES OF GREY’ INSPIRED HIM TO ASSAULT WOMAN

A student at the University of Illinois at Chicago has been charged of sexually as-saulting a fellow female student in the campuses dorms on Feb. 21, police said. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, authorities say the man made comments during questioning that alluded to the book adapted into a movie, “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The Cook County attorney’s office con-firmed to sources that the man allegedly wanted to recreate scenes from the popular book. Mo-hammed Hossain, 19, is being held on $500,000 bail for aggravated criminal sexual assault. He allegedly attacked the woman he is said to have known personally in a dorm located at the 900 block of West Harrison, per authorities.

MAN ACCUSED OF STALKING TEENAGE GIRL NEAR WEST LAWN

Residents of Chicago’s West Lawn area are be-ing warned after police say a man had been stalking a teenage girl, according to authorities. According to DNAinfo.com, a man that has yet to be caught approached a 16-year-old girl and offered her a ride in his car. Authorities also say the man told the girl that he’d been watching her. The separate incidents occurred at the 6600 block of South Spring-field Avenue and 6300 block of South Spring-field Avenue. The man is said to be Hispanic and around 38 years old. Sources say he was driving a black SUV with an Illinois license plate. The vehicle is believed to be a Jeep that has a Chi-cago Blackhawks’ logo on the back of the right window, police said.

TEEN FACES DUI CHARGES AFTER LAKE SHORE DRIVE CRASH

A 17-year-old boy is facing DUI charges following a morning car crash at 2100 block of South Lake Shore Drive on Feb. 21. Following the crash, the boy was in critical condition and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, ac-cording to DNAinfo.com. Police said he has also been charged with three counts of driving under the influence. He has also been ticketed for failure to reduce speed, failure to carry a driver’s license and operating a vehicle without insur-ance, police said.

CAR CRASHES INTO WOMEN’S HOSPITAL

According to DNAinfo.com, a valet crashed a car into the front entrance of Prentice’s Women’s Hospital in Streeterville on Feb. 25. At around 2:45 a.m., authorities say the man accidentally accelerated at the time of the incident instead of braking. He crashed the car into the doorway of the hos-pital located at 250 E. Superior St., police said. There was minor damage done to the property and no reported injuries, per authorities.

CRIME BLOTTERThe Roosevelt Torch crime blotter serves to in-form students about recent crime activity in and around the Chicago area, with a specific focus on those that could closely affect college students.

— Lauren Grimaldi, Staff Reporter

GRAPHIC BY POOK PIYATIDA

‘Second presidential candidate speaks about issues effecting RU’cont. from page 1

the second student open forum was slightly higher than the first session, but the majority of chairs in the room were, again, left empty. Student feedback on each candidate is being collected via an online sur-vey, and the Presidential Search Committee plans to take this information into account upon making their final selection.

“After viewing two candidates, I’ve realized Roosevelt does have op-

tions. Each candidate in-troduced new ideas and programs to improve Roo-sevelt and being able to hear these options as a student gets me hopeful for the future,” said Jes-sica Naber, a junior.

The third and final open forum with presiden-tial candidate Dr. Isiaah Crawford will take place Monday, March 2, begin-ning at 1 p.m. in Congress Lounge.

‘CAS helps students explore majors’cont. from page 1

are linked. A lot of times students come in as fresh-man and think that’s too far down the road, but you really need to start planning sooner rather than later,” Wonderly said. “Students need to start self-reflecting on what they want to do, start having conversa-tions with people who are in the areas they might be interested in and should be taking classes that they’ll enjoy.”

Danette Schulz, assis-

tant director of Academic Advising and Career De-velopment at the Scha-umburg Campus, sug-gested students check out the “What can I do with this major?” resource on the Roosevelt website ca-reer development page. While it was published by the University of Ten-nessee, the website lists general majors, profes-sional associations and strategies to achieve suc-cess in that major.

PHOTO BY NAOMI OBAHORSGA discusses moving forward with creating a phone app, and the upcoming meeting with President Middle-ton.

BY LAUREN GRIMALDI STAFF REPORTER

Jon Stewart announced on Feb. 10 that he will be stepping down from his job as host of “The Daily Show” after 16 years.

He took over as host of the show in 1999, re-placing Craig Kilborn and slowly transformed the show into what ev-eryone sees it as today. Few can match what he brought to the show, and how he was able to change it into the comedy powerhouse it is today.

However, speculation as to who will be behind that desk following Stewart’s departure began almost immedi-ately once he announced he’d be leaving.

Current “The Daily Show” correspondents Jessica Williams, Jason Jones and Samantha Bee have all taken them-selves out of the running for the position, despite much enthusiasm from those who want them to take over as host.

Williams said that she’s not ready for such a role, while Bee and Jones are off to make a sitcom for TBS. Former correspon-dent, John Oliver, said he will not be the replace-ment, as he just signed a

contract with HBO to ex-tend his current program “Last Week Tonight.” Of course, there are still plenty of opportunities for promotion from within. Jordan Klepper, Aasif Mandvi and Al Madrigal would make for interest-ing choices for the job.

That leaves a wide-open field for Stewart’s eventual replacement. Perhaps, a good choice would be comedian Aziz Ansari. To be the host of the “The Daily Show,” one has to be smart, funny and personable. Ansari undoubtedly pos-sesses the wit needed to host such a show. But of course, it’s just pure spec-ulation as to whether or not the comedian is even being considered for the job. Still, he’d be a great option to fill the hole that Stewart’s departure will leave in the program.

After their years of suc-cess behind the “Satur-day Night Live” weekend update desk, it’s no sur-prise that many are clam-oring for Tina Fey or Amy Poehler to take the job.

Fey and Poehler are both smart, funny and it would be refreshing to see a woman in such a vital role on an espe-cially popular TV show. Still, it’d be quite the

surprise if either of them were actually hired. While they’d most likely receive the acclaim and fan support, it isn’t likely that they’ll take over.

Live tapings of “The Daily Show” are espe-cially difficult to air each day. It’s been compared to putting on a miniature version of “Saturday

Night Live” every day. So, it’s going to take a while to transition from Stewart to someone new. However, if the next host is as intelligent and

funny is Stewart is, “The Daily Show” will have no problem remaining one of the more relevant late night shows on TV.


On any given Tuesday night, students passing through the South hall of the sixth floor of the Audi-torium Building are able to hear a series of in-sync voices floating through the air, as they practice their latest hymns.

Proclaim Choir, a Christian worship and singing group on campus, is a modestly sized stu-dent organization that brings a large amount of passion to their work. The choir, mostly made up of students with back-grounds in some sort of vocal performance, fuse together their faith and talent to cre-ate harmonious sounds with one another.

“It’s bringing two things I love together, gospel and music. I couldn’t miss out on the opportu-nity,” said Gabe Evans, a second-year Proclaim

member and sophomore at Roosevelt University.

Evans became involved with the group soon after arriving to Roosevelt as a freshman, where he says he was accepted into a community of like-minded people, who were very open and accepting of everyone’s religious backgrounds and shared his love for music.

Evans was not the only one to find comfort in the community that Proclaim provides its members.

Junior Kylah Eat-man joined and stayed with the group for the same reasons.

“Sometimes, when people go off to college, you aren’t able to make it to church every Sun-day like you used to,” Eatman said. “It’s like a home away from home. It’s a group of people on campus that believe in what you believe in, and they love the same things you love.”

In the past, Proclaim has held concerts and per-formed at various events on and off campus. Most recently, they sang at the Black Student Union’s Fifth Annual Black His-tory Month Celebration.

Proclaim, currently holds about six to eight members, which ac-cording to Eatman, is a considerable differ-ence in numbers than when the group started just a few years ago.

According to Eatman, Proclaim used to practice in the open, which at-tracted spectators and prospective members alike. She attributes the lull in membership in the past years to the switch to a more hid-den practice space.

In order to remedy the low numbers, the group has begun planning out promotional efforts in order to showcase to stu-dents that they exist on campus, for anyone who

is interested in gospel and song. Although, many of the members are up-perclassmen, their con-cern for the future of the organization is evident.

“We want Proclaim to continue to grow because in a few years, we’ll be gone and we want it to carry on,” said Eatman.

Proclaim will be

opening up the Night of Worship service at stage two, a Columbia College Chicago space on March 5 from 6:30 p.m. through 9 p.m.

The RoosevelT ToRch | MaRch 2, 2015 | 3

featuresProclaim Choir creates community through praise

COURTESY OF PHIL VELASQUEZ/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/MCTJon Stewart announced on Feb. 10 that he was leaving “The Daily Show” after 16 years.

Jon Stewart leaves an open void at Comedy Central

PHOTO BY DALY TONGRENMembers of the Proclaim choir rehearse their music.

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features

BY JOSHUA M. HICKSSTAFF REPORTER

Roosevelt Universi-ty’s radio station, the Blaze, hosted a birth-day bash on Wednes-day, Feb. 25 in the Fainman Lounge to cel-ebrate the station’s sev-enth year in business.

Tyler Olmsted, a sophomore and di-rector of the station, discussed the signif-icance of the event.

“Today was a special event for us because usually we have to promote people to come to our events and come find us normal-ly in [the] Congress [Lounge],” Olmstead said. “This time, we picked the [Fainman Lounge], so we could really grab their atten-tion,” Olmsted said.

Sophomore Stephen Kaplan, one of the hosts for the station, discussed the purpose of the birthday cel-ebration and talked about raising aware-ness for the radio station on campus.

“The point of this event was to raise awareness about WR-BC-FM and the Blaze’s existence. Instead of telling people to come to our events, we decided to put it in their faces, so they can really see us. We had free food, free music and games to have fun. This was more of a promotion stunt for the Blaze to help recruit others to join us,” Kaplan said.

There are plenty of benefits to joining the Blaze, as students can choose to host any type of show they want, with the benefit of using professional equip-ment, per Olmstead.

“We have a real stu-dio set up with all the professional equipment and licensing, and it is ultimately the best way for a student who is interested in broadcast or journalism to have a real opportunity to work in that,” Olmstead said. “People can also do whatever shows you want. If you are inter-ested in music, you can have your own music show. Same with sports, news, etc. It’s a chance for people that are re-ally interested in stuff like this to really make it your own and see if it’s something [that] you really want to do.”

One of the benefits of joining the radio station is the diversity that it offers, Kaplan says.

“There is a pretty sweet community in the Blaze,” Kaplan said. “It is pretty a diverse mix of people that are interest-ed in different topics like sports, music etc. As far as student organizations go, music is a pretty sweet thing to have. We get to do a lot of cool stuff like interview cool people, and other people that are listening to your show. It is also a great way to express yourself.”

Sophomore Philip Crawford, a host for the radio station, discussed his experience with the station, and how he became involved.

“My experience with the Blaze is cool. I have a radio show with a co-host named Ericka, and she came to me one day and asked me to have a radio show with her. She

had a radio show in Flor-ida before coming to Roo-sevelt. We host a show every week, and we talk about politics and some music,” Crawford said.

Crawford explained the ways he has ben-efited from working with the station.

“[The Blaze] benefits me because I like to get involved,” Crawford said. “I like to talk about politics and get things off my chest. I read a lot of political things, and I get an opinion on it, and then I will save it and bring it up on the show and debate and discuss it with my co-host.”

The Blaze had been an university institu-tion since its founding, but it was barely used until the radio station was revived in 2009.

For more informa-tion on the Blaze, students can email [email protected] or call 312-853-3939.

The Blaze celebrates seven years back on the air

BY KATHERINE GAGECONTRIBUTING REPORTER

Anonymous: “Dear Kat, my best friend and I have been super close since junior high. I’ve never been religious. Recently, she found a passion for Christianity and has been immers-ing herself in a religious group on her campus. Through this she has found a large number of new friends, which makes me very happy. She went to school far away from where we grew up and has been a bit of a loner up until now. I love the sense of community and happiness she finds in this new lifestyle, but I find that I strug-gle to relate her now. I respect her choices and don’t want to seem like a bad friend, but I’m really having a hard time adapting to her constant religious sort of justification in our everyday conversations. How do I become more accepting of something that makes my friend so happy, but I’ve always felt distaste for?”

Kat: Hey anony-mous, perhaps a talk is in order for you and your friend. While you

respect her choices and are happy she found a school and a path that makes her feel at home, you just have a difficulty relating to her religious beliefs. Let her know how you’ve been feeling, and that you want to strengthen your friendship. You don’t mean it personally or with disrespect. You just want to be on the same page as your friend and have the same perspec-tive sometimes. It’s OK to not relate with every-thing, too. Differences are what make things interesting, and it’s always good to broaden your perspective and understanding–even if it’s on something that you don’t practice or feel is meant for you.It’s important to keep in mind that relationships feel a strain at points. With distance involved, things can get compli-cated. Especially when you go through college, find new interests and things that make you happy, you learn about yourself and grow in ways that benefit you. Friend-ships always change, but what brought them together in the begin-ning, and their history of memories and support for each other is always

set in stone. Sometimes, when a friendship starts to feel strained, it’s great to go back to the times that built it into what it is today. Since you men-tioned that she goes to a school not close to you, perhaps you can try a Skype chat and talk about some of your favorite memories or how your friendship began. When you two are reunited, you can spend an afternoon driving around and catching up, while taking a tour of how your friendship started. Go to the place where you became friends, where you two would hang out and spend your summers together. Celebrate your friendship and do the things you love to do together. Make your intent clear that you want to strengthen your friend-ship and make it better than what it is, not strain it or make it un-comfortable. While you respect her beliefs, your friend should recipro-cate that same respect toward your own values as well. Thank you for sub-mitting your question and good luck with everything.

PHOTO BY NAOMI OBAHORStudents stop by the Fainman Lounge and take part in the Blaze radio station’s birthday bash festivities.

Dear Kat


Come to the Roosevelt Torch meetingsand pitch us your ideas.

New writer meetings o�ered, no journalism experience required.

Meetings are every Monday at 5 p.m.

in the Gage Building, room 515.

Roosevelt Torch

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‘THE MARTIAN’In this sci-fi novel by Andy Weir, an astronaut named Mark Watney who is the first person to walk on Mars finds himself in dire peril after a dust storm forces the rest of the crew to leave him for dead. He then has to rely on his ingenuity to survive, that is if he doesn’t starve to death or perish from human error first. Despite all that, Mark doesn’t lose the will to live and refuses to give up. Much akin to the sci-fi survival story of “Apollo 13,” “The Martian” explores themes of human resilience and the drive to survive.

pop culture radarBY RACHEL POPA | STAFF REPORTER

‘FUNNY GIRL’Set in the 1960s and written by acclaimed author Nick Hornby, “Funny Girl” follows the story of a young woman who wants nothing more than to be a TV star like Lucille Ball. “Funny Girl” is both humorous and heartfelt and is much like reading an entire TV series contained in one novel.

Movies & TV

‘TRIGGER WARNING’Award-winning and bestselling author Neil Gaiman wrote a book of short stories and prose titled “Trig-ger Warning.” The book explores the masks that people wear on a day-to-day basis. Also in “Trigger Warning” is an eclectic mix of sci-ence fiction, ghost stories and fairy tales.

BOOKS

‘THE SLAP’This NBC miniseries is based off a novel and Australian TV show of the same name. The show follows the aftermath of what happens when an adult male slaps a misbehaving child who is not his own at a birthday party. Each episode features different perspectives of the event from the eyes of a different character. “The Slap” premiered on Feb. 12.

‘THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS’A man named Tom Shelbourne and his wife Isabel, become keepers of a lighthouse on Janus Rock in Australia. Isolated and cutoff from the rest of the world, they attempt to start a family but are consis-tently unsuccessful. One night, Isabel hears the sounds of a baby’s cries on the wind and goes to find a dead man with a child in a boat by the shore. Tom and Isabel take in the child as their own, naming her Lucy. When Lucy turns two years old, the family returns to soci-ety, facing all the challenges of doing so. Soon to be a major motion picture, M.L. Stedman’s “The Light Between Oceans” is a gripping and emotional tale of family and morality.

‘BIRDMAN’This Academy Award-winning film for Best Picture is about a washed-up actor, as he struggles to prepare for his role in a Broadway play. He battles his ego in order to be ready by opening night, all while he tries to reconcile with his family and save his career.

‘HOT TUB TIME MACHINE 2’ In this sequel to “Hot Tub Time Machine,” the crew of the previous movie find themselves 10 years in the future. They have to figure out a way to survive in the future while at the same time saving the present. “Hot Tub Time Machine 2” was released on Feb. 20.

‘FASHION POLICE INSULT ZENDAYA’When talking about the recent Oscars’ red carpet, fashion police host Giuliana Rancic insulted recording artist and actress Zendaya’s dreadlocks saying that they “probably smell like patchouli oil.” Offended by the rude remarks, Zendaya took to Twitter to make a statement. She said, “There’s a fine line between what is funny and disrespectful.” She noted that assuming that anyone who wears dreadlocks and smells like weed and patchouli is a racially-charged stereotype, and that de-spite those stereotypes, a lot of successful people have dreadlocks. She pointed out that Ava DuVernay, director of the Oscar-nominated film “Selma,” has dreadlocks. Twitter users also pointed out the hypocrisy Rancic showed by dissing Zendaya’s dreadlocks when she earlier called Kylie Jenner’s dreadlocks “edgy.” Rancic has apologized since the incident, agreeing that she had

gone too far with her comments.

‘THIS IS WHAT I LEARNED FROM WEARING CEREAL-FLAVORED LIP BALMS FOR ONE WEEK’If you’re ever looking for a humor-ous break from your reading for your classes, look no further than this breakfast food-infused tale of a writer from Buzzfeed’s experience with cereal flavored lip balms. The weeklong lip balm adventure is both entertaining and informing. If you’re thinking about buying cereal-flavored lip balm, reading this story first is a must.

‘THE LAZARUS EFFECT’From the people who produced “Insidious,” “The Purge,” and “Sinister,” comes “The Lazarus Effect,” a horror film about two re-searchers who achieve the impossible—they are able to bring the dead back to life. How-ever, the team has only brought animals back to life, not humans. After one of the researchers’ wives is killed, they decide to see if she is able to be brought back to life. After she is resurrected from the dead, the researchers come to find that she’s not acting like her normal self.

internet

‘IF DISNEY PRINCESSES WERE HISTORICALLY ACCURATE’Yet another gem from Buzzfeed that shows us what our favorite Disney princesses would look like if they existed in real life. The video is visually stunning, informative and fascinating.

FASHION FOCUS

Terry Pernell,graduate student.“I don’t know if I have a favorite part. It’s prob-ably the bow tie. I like bow ties - they make me stand out.”

PHOTO BY SAM MARTIN

Efe Iyare,IMC graduate student.“I think the Tommy Hilfiger scarf because… you know… it just makes me look stylish and like a boss.”

PHOTO BY JOY POWELL

Gabriel Evans,sophomore, criminal justice.“My favorite part of my outfit is my cardigan because it is a Christmas present from my older brother.”

PHOTO BY JOY POWELL


BY RACHEL POPASTAFF REPORTER

Even though Presi-dent Barack Obama has continuously vetoed the Keystone XL pipeline, multiple parties have been lobbying for it since it was proposed in 2010.

The Keystone pipeline connects oil sand fields in Canada to various parts of the United States in-cluding Illinois, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas, according to CNN. The oil sands that the pipeline would carry produce 17 percent more carbon emissions than standard oil and aren’t as efficient as other means of energy, includ-ing other types of oil.

One of the main argu-ments for the pipeline is that it would create jobs. However, the jobs it would create are only temporary construc-tion jobs, not resulting in lasting and mean-ingful job creation.

So, why is this pipeline

even being proposed when it doesn’t appear to have very many benefits?

In short, it’s a very profitable proposition for oil companies. Oil sands don’t cost a lot to trans-port and refine, result-ing in a high profit for oil businesses. However, their gain is our loss.

The pipeline won’t lower gas prices and it has the potential to be an environmental hazard. If something was to go wrong with the pipeline, it would spill oil into land that contains an abundance of fresh water supply. Not to mention that the pipeline runs through land belonging to several Native American tribes, which marginal-izes them and their sov-ereignty over their own land. If something was to go wrong, the very little land that they own would be ruined, which isn’t fair or just at all.

This pipeline has very little benefits, and only fuels the greed of

big oil companies.In my opinion, the

resources being put into this pipeline should be invested in green en-ergy alternatives. The oil sands that the pipeline would carry are a very dirty and harmful form of energy—one that should be avoided for the sake of our future well-being.

This country needs to start straying away from nonrenewable re-sources because they simply won’t last forever.

An investment in solar or wind power would last many generations to come since it is renewable. In my eyes, there are very few downsides to green energy alternatives other than that they cost a lot to implement at first. However, it’s worth it to invest in these forms of energy because they end up costing less money than oil and natural gas over time. The only ob-stacle is the the greedy oil companies that hold so much power and influ-

ence over the economy. That’s why the Key-

stone pipeline is such an important issue to be against. If the pipeline is able to be completely struck down, that’s a win for the people for a green-er and more secure future and a loss for oil compa-

nies. Such a win doesn’t happen very often, so it’s very crucial that the pipe-line be axed completely.

On Tuesday, Feb. 24, President Obama vetoed the bill for the pipeline’s construction. However, it doesn’t seem like the proponents of the pipe-

line will be calling it quits any time soon.

It is vital that we keep opposing this pipeline because after Obama leaves office, the next president may not be on the side of creating an energy secure future for generations to come.

Keystone XL pipeline only fuels greed of big oil companies

BY LAUREN GRIMALDISTAFF REPORTER

Jackie Robinson West became a feel-good story that not only captivated the the Chicagoland area, but the entire country as well. These young children played with heart and were able to earn themselves a Little League World Se-ries title. The team had fun while playing, they were excited to win, as most children would be, and it was refreshing to finally hear a good story about children from the South Side of Chicago.

However, the team has had its title stripped because of choices that their adult coaches made. Their coaches and other adults in charge of making sure every kid in the team lived within the boundaries, falsi-fied residency records for the members of the team in order to retain better players overall.

So all of the chil-dren’s hard work, effort and time was wasted because of the lies of adults who should have

known better. These children looked up to their adult leaders. Now, it turns out that those who helped them the most ended up hurt-ing them in the end.

This is obviously be-yond sad. Even if the children knew that their teammates lived beyond the boundaries, there wasn’t anything they could do about it because adults are sup-posed to set the example for these young chil-dren. They were only there to play the game as well as possible.

It’s important to real-ize that they can still look back on how the team played proudly. None of what happened was the boys’ fault. The team played with grace and ignited the passion of a city that needed it. Likewise, I’m sure that they can’t help but be discouraged by the criticism and scrutiny they now face because of what the adults did.

I hope that these boys realize that what they did was truly special and won’t be forgotten. De-

spite all of the mistakes the adults made, JRW is still a championship team in my eyes as well as many other people’s across the city. I don’t condone what the adults did whatsoever, but the children still deserve to be praised for their accomplishments, even

if their title has been taken out of their hands. The adults should be ashamed of themselves for making the children go through all of this.

This doesn’t take away any of the talent these children have either. If they continue working hard, the possibilities

for them are endless. How great would

it be to see one of these children be-come a professional ball player one day?

It would undoubt-edly inspire a future youth generation.

The adversity that they’re facing right

now is an obstacle no doubt, but hopefully it won’t discourage them from keeping up the good work they’re do-ing. At the end of the day, they’re still chil-dren that have a lot of talent and potential and no one can take that away from them.

Blame the parents, not Jackie Robinson West

edItorIal & opINIoN

COURTESY OF OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/TNSThe main premise behind the construction of the pipeline is fueled by greed.

COURTESY OF OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/MCTJackie Robinson West was stripped of its Little League title because team officials redrew district lines, which allowed for players outside boundary lines to play on the team.


BY RACHEL POPASTAFF REPORTER

Sometimes, I wonder if I would have the same insecurities if lived on an isolated island with no-body and nothing to com-pare myself to. Being in the media-centric society that we live in, it’s hard to ignore the “ideal” body images that get shoved in our faces on a daily basis.

For instance, it’s hard to go out and not see an ad with a scantily clad, rail-thin model plas-tered on it—especially in a city like Chicago.

The truth is that an average woman does not look like a model that you see in advertise-ments, but that doesn’t stop the comparisons from happening.

It seems as if from a younger and younger age, children’s self-confidence in their body image has begun to hit an all-time low.

Kidshelp.org reported that 30 to 50 percent of adolescent girls are concerned about their weight or are dieting. While it is normal and positive to want to stay

healthy, overdieting can be extremely harm-ful and unhealthy.

A good way to gauge if you’re at a healthy body weight is by using a body mass index calculator.

According to the Mayo Clinic, a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is healthy. Anything above that is consid-ered to be overweight or obese, and anything below is considered to be underweight.

Despite whatever BMI you might be at, it’s important to set real-istic and proper health goals that won’t be det-rimental or harmful.

Realizing that maga-zine and TV ads aren’t realistic depictions of bodies is also a good idea. Ads on TV and in magazines are heav-ily edited or “photo-shopped,” meaning that the people who are in the ads don’t actually look like that in person.

It’s essential to accept your individuality and to not strive for what soci-ety says you should look like. There’s only one of you in the world, and no magazine has the right to make you feel like

you’re not good enough.That being said, it’s

important for the media to promote a better body image. Since the media is so prevalent in our lives, it needs to have a more positive impact.

Dove has been a big proponent of the positive body image movement. Its recent message has been one of accepting your inse-curities and treating them as unique quali-ties that set you apart and make you unique.

One commercial that its created that I par-ticularly enjoyed was one where they interviewed young girls with curly hair asking them if they liked their hair. Most of the young girls said no, and Dove set out to change their minds. They got a bunch of curly haired women together, and they performed a song for the young girls about loving the hair you were born with.

It’s so vital to pro-mote love for the quali-ties you are born with, rather than promoting that they be changed.

In the ads In person

The media needs to promote a better body image

edItorIal & opINIoN

GRAPHIC BY POOK PIYATIDAWhile poor body image may not necessarily stem solely from the media, the media can do a better job promoting positive body image.



Pop and hip-hop fusion artist Mat Kearney re-leased his fifth studio al-bum, “Just Kids,” on Feb. 24 via Republic Records.

The record, which was made largely through a portable studio that Kearney brought with him on tour over the last year and a half, sounds a little different from past releases, but the subject matter remains the same.

The production value on “Just Kids” is impres-sive. Kearney’s creation of a more electronic sound that derived from mak-ing his own beats, gives the album a higher qual-ity sound in general.

Content on this release is not much of a departure from the rest of Kearney’s discography. Listeners are exposed to the same street corners and towns Kearney has been writ-ing about for years. He explores issues of love, growing up, leaving home and dealing with fame in the style of pop music with a sometimes spoken word delivery, as only he can really get away with.

Kearney approaches this overlying theme of nostalgia in a unique way. It’s something he’s done

before, but has shown he is quite good at–so keep-ing with it makes sense and makes the whole concept of the album flow with an endear-ing familiarity instead of a repetitive drag.

The opening number, “Heartbreak Dreamer,” begins with an auto-tuned Kearney sing-ing along to the song’s melody. The track is an ode to lost ideas and re-vival of hope. The song ends with a clip from a poem entitled, “Shake the Dust,” by Kearney’s friend, Anis Mojgani. This short excerpt from Mojgani holds a power-ful message and serves as a sort of basis for the concept of “Just Kids.”

The title track is a slowed down, sentimental look into the same setting of Kearney’s hometown of Eugene, Ore., and past re-lationships that he’s been telling us about since the debut of “Bullet” in 2004.

“One Black Sheep” is a highlight of the album, that with its lighthearted, upbeat guitar picking, is reminiscent of his 2011 critically acclaimed and most financially suc-cessful album release to date, “Young Love.”

“Los Angeles” is an introspective view into

how Kearney has been handling the long awaited recognition he has worked toward as a musician.

“I think that’s Letter-man; he just said my name/Check the crowd at the House of Blues, like they’re cardboard fakes,” he sings on the track.

Kearney is known by most music fans for his handful of hits, which over the past decade have made their way onto the soundtracks for several TV dramas, making them some of the most discernible of the radio unfriendly pop tracks in recent years.

While “Just Kids” doesn’t hold a full proof track listing (see: Let It Rain and Billion), it does prove that Kear-ney, while more widely known for his singles, is more than capable at creating an entire album that holds some weight.

Kearney sticks to a recognizable motif on “Just Kids.” What he lacks in diversity in con-tent, he makes up for in production ambition.

“Just Kids” is a friendly reminder that Kearney still knows how to make good pop music and will continue to have a role in shaping its ever-changing landscape.

Mat Kearney keeps pop alive on ‘Just Kids’

BY ELISABET BERNARD CONTRIBUTING REPORTER

First published in Japan last year, “Kino” is a part of Haruki Murakami’s collection of short stories titled, “Men without Women.” Though the collection, in its entirety, has yet to cross over onto U.S. soil, the New Yorker published “Kino” in its February 2015 issue.

“Kino” tells the story of Kino, a humble and quiet man. After catch-ing his wife in bed with his colleague, Kino quits his job and leaves his condo located in the heart of Tokyo. Buying out his aunt’s property in the smaller neigh-borhood of Aoyama, Kino converts the first floor into a bar and names it after himself.

At the bar, Kino encounters a mysteri-ous customer named Kamita. Kamita’s presence encourages Kino to look beyond what he has known and found comfort-able in his surround-

ings. With an almost supernatural twist, Kino is ejected into a world where he is con-fronted with thoughts he had suppressed and feelings he never thought he could feel.

Murakami’s depiction of Kino is a man who was oblivious to ev-ery negative situation around him. He would have never known of his wife’s betrayal had he have not come home one day early from a business trip. Mu-rakami portrays Kino as a man who “never spoke much himself, and didn’t find it hard to remain silent around others.” It was with this isolation that made Kamita and his rela-tionship a special one.

Murakami’s use of vivid and color-ful language is what makes this short story one that rivals lengthy novels. In a few short paragraphs and minimal dialogue between characters, Murakami focuses on the importance of cap-

turing the character’s innermost thoughts. By allowing the read-ers to become more psychologically con-nected with Kino, the story becomes alive, weaving the readers in

and out of his mind.When Kino is forced

to take an unexpected trip, Kamita and his presence are not left far behind. The situa-tions are puzzling and make Kino, and the

reader, question wheth-er the world he is living in is actually a reality.

Unanswered ques-tions can leave read-ers feeling empty, but Murakami’s prose eloquently dispels

any notion of empti-ness, and instead, leaves the reader feel-ing full. Magical and creative, Murakami’s “Kino” shines.

Haruki Murakami’s ‘Kino’ transcends language barriers

edItorIal & opINIoN

COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIAMat Kearney showcases his pop abilities on “Just Kids.”

COURTESY OF FACEBOOK/HARUKI MURAKAMIHaruki Murakami’s work has been translated into about 50 languages worldwide.


photo pollQuestion:Morgan Freeman recently said in an interview that he does not believe that we should have

a Black History Month, but that culture should be celebrated every month and not confined to just one. What are your feelings on what Morgan Freeman said?

Pritika Chetty, senior, actuarial science major. “I agree with Morgan Freeman that they shouldn’t alienate February for Black History Month because that would leave out other races, like Indians. We don’t have a month, and that would also mean that every other month is white history month.”

Eriel Frazier, freshman, biology major. “In my high school, we did not celebrate Black History Month [or] Hispanic Heri-tage... So, I thought that was kind of un-fair how our school always talked about how we should be more universal and be open to all cultures, but a lot of the times the main cultures we focused on were European. I personally believe that we should have Black History and Hispanic Heritage Month...This gives those who may not have had it in their schools a chance to learn it in other ways.”

Martin Hayford, junior, math major. “I think Morgan Freeman brought up some valid points. He’s a very smart guy obvi-ously. I do still believe that having some-thing like Black History Month to discuss issues we have had in the past and contin-ue to have is a good idea. Its also valid to bring other cultures into the mix with other months. The idea of bringing other cultures throughout the year in different ways is a good idea.”

Answers:

ILLINOIS COLLEGEPRESSASSOCIATIONCONFERENCE

The Roosevelt Torch Newspaper staff attended the Illinois College Press Association convention from Feb. 20 through 21. The editors and staff attended workshops, tai-lored for specific journal-istic categories and were taught by professionals in the field.

Following the awards ceremony on Feb. 21, the Torch staff received three awards. Shawn Gakhal, the editor-in-chief of the Roosevelt Torch, earned third place in the sports column category. The staff, as a whole, received third place for advertise-ment and earned an hon-orable mention for overall excellence.

BY MEGAN SCHULLERCOPY EDITOR


thIs week at ruPHOTO BY NAOMI OBAHOR

The Blaze radio sta-tion had its birthday party on Feb. 25, 2015 to celebrate seven years on air.

PHOTO BY MEGAN SCHULLERThe College of Arts and Scienc-es held the second annual Ex-ploring Majors fair on Feb. 26, 2015 to give students an oppor-tunity to learn more about ma-jors within the college.

PHOTO BY DEVIN JONA-THAN

Participants partook in the Black History Trivia event on Feb 23, 2015.

PHOTO BY DEVIN JONATHAN

During the Black Histo-ry Trivia event on Feb 23, 2015, the S.I.S.T.E.R.S. held a special performance.

PHOTO BY SAM MARTINA Montesquieu forum held on Feb. 19, 2015, where Michael Valdez Moses, professor of Eng-lish at Duke University, gave a lecture to Roos-evelt students.

PHOTO BY DEVIN JONATHAN Students participating in the Proclaim Choir rehearsal on Feb. 24, 2015.

PHOTO BY DEVIN JONATHAN

Walter Podrazik, a pop culture historian, gave a lecture on Feb. 25, 2015 entitled “From Ding Dong School to Spongebob SquarePants.” The lecture honored former COE professor Frances Horwich, who hosted the TV show “Ding Dong School” as Miss Francis in 1952.

PHOTO BY SAM MARTINStudents at the Montes-quieu forum held on Feb. 19, 2015, where Michael Valdez Moses, professor of English at Duke Uni-versity, gave a lecture to Roosevelt students.


sports

BY JOSHUA M. HICKSSTAFF REPORTER

Playing college basket-ball isn’t an achievement that every athlete can ac-complish, but for 6-foot-3 senior guard Joey “Joe” Harks, his dream became a reality.

Harks recalls his re-cruiting experience in high school, and how Roo-sevelt University became one of the schools pursu-ing him.

“I was first introduced to Roosevelt when the men’s basketball head coach Joe Griffin came

to my higschool basket-ball game, recruiting another player,” Harks said. “While watching the game, he became inter-ested in me and started coming to more games...after a couple of games, [Griffin] came up to me after and introduced him-self and the school. I had never heard of Roosevelt before that.”

Although recruited by other colleges, Harks chose Roosevelt because of two reasons: the oppor-tunity to play college bas-ketball and the location of the school.

“The location of Roo-sevelt was the deciding factor over other schools I was interested in. I love the city and being able to experience it every day in and out of class was a blessing,” Harks said. “Being able to play the sport I love for an addi-tional four years while attending Roosevelt was exactly what I wanted to do. I did not want my bas-ketball career to end after high school so getting the chance to play here was an experience I will never forget.”

Lakers’ assistant head

coach Aaron Rolle talked Harks as a prospect and his achievements in col-lege basketball.

“I was not involved in Harks’ recruitment, but I know that he was overlooked as a young prospect, and he turned out to be a steal,” Rolle said. “He is a very well respected player around our league, perhaps one of the best players in the country at our level, with recently winning honor-able mention to our all-conference teams.”

Senior guard Tyree York, who came to Roos-evelt with Harks as part of the Lakers’ 2011 re-cruiting class, explained the “steal” that the uni-versity received in the re-cruitment of Harks.

“I would definitely say Joey was worth recruit-ing. He was so under-rated as a player when he was coming out of Glen-bard South [High School]. Joey and I have been playing together since we were in seventh grade, so I knew the talent he had at a young age. Get-ting Joey to come to an up-and-coming Roosevelt University men’s basket-ball team was a steal in my opinion,” York said.

Since Harks’ arrival, he has helped the Lakers

make great progression in the program, leading the team to its best sea-son since the program was revived a few years ago with a 17-12 record in the 2014-2015 Lakers’ season.

According to Roosevelt University athletics’ mod-ern records, he is the only men’s basketball player to score 1,500 plus points in his collegiate career at the university. At press date, he is currently sit-ting on 1,572 points and has also just been named honorable mention by the conference.

Recently, Harks played the last home of his ca-reer against Saint Xavi-er University on Feb. 18. Harks summed up why he felt “surreal” about the situation.

“It’s a surreal feeling. It is crazy to realize how fast these past four years have gone with basket-ball and school. I have been practicing and play-ing games in this gym for the last three years so having my last game and potentially my last prac-tice there ever is truly sad,” Harks said.

Coach Rolle said the team will have a hard time replacing Harks on the Lakers.

“Life without Harks

will be interesting. He has had a way of hitting some bail out shots and been very tough and consistent throughout his four year career as a Laker. He will be tough to replace be-cause of how reliable he has been,” Rolle said.

York, a close friend of Harks, said that Harks’ big play ability and lead-ership has been an inte-gral part of the team’s recent success.

“Joey and I have been playing together since freshman year. I share so many great memories with him,” York said. “Life without Joey would mean our team not be-ing in the position we are at now, which is in the playoffs with the poten-tial to go to the National Tournament,” York said. “He has made so many big plays for us when we needed them, and he has been a leader for our team on and off the court.”

With games still to be played, Harks and the Lakers are competing for a National Tournament berth through the Confer-ence Tournament.

Harks is set to graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in marketing.

Joe Harks reflects on memories of basketball at Roosevelt

COURTESY OF ROOSEVELT LAKERSSenior Joe Harks is the all-time leading scorer in the history of Lakers’ basketball.

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