Flood devastates
St. Louis area
This week in sports
Page 3
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The News Source For Webster University
THE JOURNAL
Volume 69 Issue 8
January 21-February 4, 2016
websterjournal.com
Webster expects fourth shortfall
University projects $7 million budgetary shortage
By Kavahn Mansouri
Editor-in-Chief
Webster University expects a
budget shortfall of around $7 million, President Elizabeth Stroble
told faculty Tuesday. She said the
university will have to make budget cuts during the remainder of
the spring semester.
This is the fourth consecutive
year Webster's budget has come
up short. Stroble attributes the
university’s latest shortfall to decreasing enrollment, a trend that
has been present in each year of
shortfalls since 2012.
Stroble said the university’s
loss of students came primarily from outside of the Webster
Groves campus at extended campuses. She said recultivating declining enrollment at some locations would be difficult.
At a 2014 faculty assembly,
Provost Julian Schuster said 75
percent of Webster’s tuition revenue comes from graduate enrollment, while undergraduate
students make up the remaining
25 percent. He said 95 percent of
Webster’s total revenue comes
from tuition dollars.
In December, a preliminary enrollment report showed
Webster’s total student head
count dropped by more than
1,600 students this academic
year compared to last year. The
drop marked a continuation of a
five-year decline in enrollment,
according to preliminary enrollment data at the time.
Graduate and undergraduate
enrollment dropped by 9.5 percent and 6.2 percent respectively
this year, compared to the previ-
ous year. Graduate enrollment
fell by 1,348 students, and undergraduate enrollment dropped
by 305 students, according to a
publicly-available disclosure to
Webster’s bondholders.
In the past five years, Webster’s combined undergraduate
and graduate enrollment has
declined by 4,166, or 23 percent.
Graduate enrollment has fallen
by 3,904 students while undergraduate enrollment has dropped
by 262.
Stroble and Schuster discussed several concerns at a
meeting of the faculty assembly.
Stroble and Schuster also did a
question-and-answer with faculty to respond to their concerns
they may not have gotten to during their initial discussion.
The faculty assembly provided a handout with seven areas
of concerns and 39 specific topics the faculty asked Stroble and
Schuster to touch on at the meeting.
Stroble said the university
will be taking a close look at its
budget in the next month and
needs to do strategic restructuring of its academic programs.
After announcing shortfalls
in previous years, the university
listed areas where it would tighten budgets. In late 2014, during a
$12.2 million shortfall, the university made several cuts which
included:
• Vacant positions would not be
automatically filled. Future
vacant positions would have
their funding put into a central budget pool.
• Reevaluated and restructured
extended campuses to make
them more financially viable.
• Looked at long term changes
as opposed to balancing that
year’s budget.
• All units within the university were expected to finish
the year on funds already
distributed
The university has not released any official information on
specific budget cuts for the spring
semester. In fiscal year 2013 2014, after a projected shortfall,
Webster was able to balance
its budget by making cuts and
avoiding a shortfall by the end of
its fiscal year.
A faculty member raised
concerns about several “risky investments” Webster has made,
including the Interdisciplinary
Science Building (IDS) and the
Arcade renovation in downtown
St. Louis. Stroble assured faculty
these investments were important for attracting new students.
She said the Webster way is to
take intelligent risks, rather than
to stay stagnant.
Stroble said without the IDS,
Webster would be turning away
students wishing to study science and technologies due to
Webster’s current facilities. The
Arcade Building, she added, was
essential to the downtown campus because the university did
not see the value of extending its
lease in the Old Post Office for
another 20 years after 2019. The
Arcade Building’s renovation was
completed in early January and is
the university’s newest edition to
the downtown Gateway campus.
During Tuesday’s meeting,
faculty also questioned Webster’s
By Brian Ruth
Staff Writer
JORDAN PALMER / The Journal
Webster University President Elizabeth Stroble speaks at the Webster’s
spring Convocation on Jan. 15.
spending decisions regarding the
Susan Polgar Institute for Chess
Excellence. One of the faculty’s
concerns about the team was how
it balanced in comparison to the
university’s athletics program. It
was listed under the strategic
spending category at the meeting.
Stroble said the chess team's
operational cost was well under
the operational cost for Webster’s
athletic programs.
Editor’s note: At Faculty As-
sembly Meetings, The Journal is
allowed to attend as long as reporters agree not to directly quote
speakers without their consent.
President Elizabeth Stroble told a
Journal reporter she did not want
to be directly quoted at this meeting. The Journal will update this
story as it develops.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
University opens new downtown campus
Newly-rennovated Arcade Building welcomes students
By Kavahn Mansouri
Editor-in-Chief
JORDAN PALMER / The Journal
Webster University opened its new downtown campus at the renovated
Arcade Building on Olive Street. This marks Webster’s third downtown
location.
Webster University’s new
downtown Gateway Campus kicked off classes for the
spring semester in early January. The Gateway Campus is
located in the Arcade Building
on Olive Street across from the
Old Post Office. Renovation
of the Arcade Building began
in 2014. This marks Webster’s
third downtown location.
Spring classes started the
first week of January. The
grand opening Jan. 11 offered
tours of the building and a
presentation from President
Elizabeth Stroble.
“Today is the fulfillment
of what is Webster’s long
standing and unique commitment to downtown St. Louis,”
Stroble said.
Provost Julian Schuster
said the newly-renovated Arcade Building is the next step
in a vision for downtown St.
Louis. He said Webster’s commitment to downtown St. Louis is a priority for the future of
the university and the city.
“We are on the forefront.
The forefront of the vision of,
not only expanding Webster
University’s impact in downtown St. Louis, but to also
bring more and new ideas to
St. Louis,” Schuster said.
The Arcade Building has
19 stories. Webster will be on
the ground level, in the mezzanine and in the second story.
Webster’s space in the building
Webster
to merge
Orlando
campuses
takes up 54,000 square feet.
The university also has a
parking agreement with the
parking garage at Olive and
Ninth Street, less than half a
block from the building.
Inside the Gateway Campus:’
• 11 classrooms
• Three computer labs
• Art museum
• 130-seat auditorium
• 25 private offices
• Cafe
• 38 underground parking
spaces
• More than 200 studio
apartments
Gateway Campus Programs:
• Master’s degree in cyber
security
• First responder courses
• Master of Business Administration program and
other business courses
• Undergraduate
degree
completion program
Stroble said Webster’s newest downtown location will
reinforce the university as an
anchor in the downtown community.
“Webster is the university
that has been downtown and
committed to St. Louis for over
41 years,” Stroble said.
In 2014, the Arcade Building project was estimated to
cost $116 million, with Webster contributing around $6.1
million. Although the university could not confirm exactly
how much Webster contributed to the project, University
Spokesperson Patrick Giblin
said the project finished under
budget.
Board of Trustees Chair
Amelia Bond said the board
was excited when Stroble and
Schuster brought the project to
them, and that she looks forward to seeing Webster contribute further to the downtown community.
Webster opened its first
downtown location in 1975 at
Broadway and Locust. In 2006,
Webster began offering classes
in the Old Post Office, a building across the street from the
new Arcade Building. The Arcade Building was originally
one of the first indoor shopping malls in the United States.
All of Webster’s offices and
classrooms in the Old Post Office were moved to the Arcade
Building as per the plan for the
downtown campus. According to a press release on the
Arcade Building, any empty
space in the Old Post Office
will be subleased to local businesses and organizations.
In 1980, the Arcade Building was named a St. Louis
landmark and was listed on the
National Register of Historic
Places in 2003.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
Webster University will be
merging its two Orlando, Fla.
locations into one space in
downtown Orlando. The project is similar to that of St. Louis’ new Gateway campus. These
changes come from Orlando
undergoing a massive effort to
revitalize its downtown area.
“We’re going to be very
well situated in the middle of
the activity and energy of the
city,” Nicolas Spina said, regional director of Florida operations and director of the Orlando campuses for Webster.
The new Webster location
is about four blocks from the
former site of the Amway Arena in downtown Orlando.
“Orlando has been known
as a travel and hospitality center, but is in the process of a
rebrand as a tech center,” Spina
said.
The university has had a
presence in the Orlando
See Orlando Page 2
Provost
announces
lowered
discount
rates
By Kavahn Mansouri
Editor-in-Chief
At Webster’s Spring Convocation, Provost Julian Schuster announced a decrease to
the university’s dispersal of
grants and discount rates.
When discount rates are
lowered, universities give out
fewer and smaller institutional grants. In some cases, this
means students have to pay
more out of pocket.
“We know that we are
holding steady in our undergraduate enrollment, while
also we are bringing down our
discount rate,” Schuster said.
“We made tremendous strides
in lowering the discount rate
in the last two-and-a-half
years, and we are going to continue that.”
Private institutions often
offer discount rates on sticker
prices of their tuitions to entice students into enrolling at
the university, according to
Inside Higher Education. In
an August 2015 issue of Inside
Higher Education, discount
rates at private universities
were reported to be growing
nationwide.
According to Association of Governing Boards of
Universities and Colleges, the
practice of raising discount
rates is not financially responsible because it has the potential of chipping away at operational costs.
Schuster said lowering the
discount rate while attempting
to raise student enrollment can
be a juggling act.
The university did not
comment on the discount rate
decrease by press time.
Inside Higher Education
also reported that universities
with decreasing student populations and declining revenue
continued to increase discount
rates on tuition to attract new
See Discounts Page 2
Page 2
NEWS BRIEFS
News
Jan. 21 - Feb. 4, 2016
Webster Forensic and Debate team win big in
two tournaments
The Webster Forensic and
Debate Team walked away
with good placings after the
Stateline Tournaments hosted
by John Brown University and
the University of Oklahoma,
according to Webster University News.
The team’s weekend success landed a fifth place overall
spot for the weekend.
Freshman Angela Meng
was tournament champion in
the novice division of International Public Debate Association debate. She also had a
fifth-place finish in After-Dinner Speaking at the Oklahoma
tournament.
Speech communications
studies major MacLain Naumann qualified for the elite
National Individual Event
Tournament hosted by the
University of Florida in April.
MacLain also teamed up
with fellow speech communications studies major Brooke
Villhard for the runner-up
spot in the Duo Interpretation
category in both tournaments.
MacLain finished the Oklahoma tournament with a third
place finish in Dramatic Interpretation.
Sophomore game design
major Kirby Weber garnered
fourth and seventh place in
After-Dinner Speaking, along
with a sixth-place finish in
Impromptu Speaking at Oklahoma.
Freshman honorees were
film production major Eva
Moentmann, who placed
fourth in Programmed Oral
Interpretation in Oklahoma.
International relations freshman Olivia Potter also contributed with a .500 win/loss
record in her first tournament.
With Webster up against
larger and more experienced
teams, program director Scott
Jensen said the results were
a testament to the team’s talent and hopes the tournament
showings set the tone for a
spring semester of growth and
success.
Reporting by Livie Hall and
Brian Ruth
SARA BANNOURA / The Journal
Former Webster University Chief Financial Officer Greg Gunderson dons pirate gear at his farewell party Jan. 13. Gunderson was hired as Park University’s newest president late in the fall semester.
Webster Groves campus to host 3EC
Buzzwords Conference
Webster University will
host the 3EC Buzzwords
Conference presented by the
Experimental Education Exchange on Sat., Feb. 13 in the
University Center.
Also known as “3EC,” the
Exchange is a group of local
and regional educators, business professionals and active
citizens who sponsor city- and
county-wide events in order to
foster experimental, hands-on
and authentic education in different ways, according to the
group’s Facebook page.
The program at Webster
will focus on what 3EC calls
the “newest trend” in education this year: buzzwords. The
conference will help attendees
define and explore three different buzzwords this year –
“grit,” “mindset” and “project-
based learning.”
A speaker at the event
will be Brandi Cartwright, an
educational consultant and cofounder of the Raintree School
in St. Louis. Also scheduled
are Maplewood Richmond
Heights Middle School Principal Michael Dittrich and head
of St. Louis’ New City School,
Dr. Tom Hoerr.
The event is scheduled
from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets
are $75 for general admission
seating and $40 for students.
Early bird and group rates are
also available at Eventbrite, the
ticketing portal for Webster
events.
Reporting by Brian Ruth
CAMPUS
CRIME LOG
Jan. 14
Vandalism
17 S. Old Orchard
Piano Damaged
Closed - No further action
needed
Jan. 14
Medical Assistance
Staff member became ill
Closed - No further action
needed
Jan. 19
Peace Disturbance
East Academic Building
Student became disruptive
in class
Closed - Referred to
Student Affairs
Gunderson bids farewell to Webster
By Nikki Waller
News Editor
In a room filled with
well-wishers made up of faculty, staff and administration,
Webster University President
Elizabeth Stroble said a bittersweet goodbye to Vice
President and Chief Financial
Officer (CFO) Greg Gunderson as he moves on to a new
position as President of Park
University in Parkville, MO.
The farewell gathering held
in the EAB Building was filled
with friends, family and colleagues who have worked with
Gunderson over the years.
“I just can’t say it enough.
Thank you for the integrity, the
character, the optimism and
the humor that you brought to
the role of CFO,” Stroble said.
“Park University has no idea
what they’re in for, and they’re
the lucky recipients.”
Gunderson made his way
to Webster University in 2011
as vice president and chief financial officer serving Provost
and Senior Vice President Julian Schuster by leading all
functional areas of finance and
general accounting, resource
planning and budget, along
with several other responsibilities.
“If there’s any way to describe Greg, he is a people’s
CFO,” Schuster said. “Greg is
not our traditional CFO. He
realized that the people are
more important than numbers, and that people are more
important than issues.”
“I can’t walk across this
campus without thinking
about everything the finance
administration has been able
SARA BANNOURA / The Journal
Former Webster University Chief Financial Officer Greg Gunderson accepts a farewell gift at his farewell party.
“
Thank you for the integrity, the character,
the optimism and the humor you [Gunderson] brought to the role of CFO.
Elizabeth Stroble
Webster University President
to do and not feel pride, and I
know I’ll feel that way a decade
from now,” Gunderson said.
Director
of
Procurement Services Maria Hein has
worked closely with Gunderson during her years at Webster. She was a part of Gunderson’s team since he arrived in
2011. Hein said his humor
Discounts Orlando
FROM PAGE 1
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students.
Schuster said focusing on enrollment and retention is an essential part of Webster’s current
strategic plan.
“We will be not only focusing on bringing in new students,
but taking the best possible care
of our existing students,” Schuster said. “To new students, we are
going to provide a promise, and
to existing students we need to
leap up to that promise in order
to increase our graduation, retention rate and number of students at all of our campuses.”
Schuster said an increase in
enrollment is the only way to address the challenges Webster faces, although he was not specific
as to what those challenges were.
“With an increased number of students, we will have an
increased revenue. With an increased revenue, we will be able
to address something that is on
everyone’s mind. But as you can
see, there is no shortcut to that,”
Schuster said.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
FROM PAGE 1
region for 25 years and has
been searching for a new location for the past year.
The current proposal is
to turn a 68-acre mixed-use,
transit-oriented, urban neighborhood into an area for hightech companies, colleges and
universities. Webster has leased
37,000 square feet of space
on the fourth floor of the HD
Supply Building on W. Church
Street in this area.
“The Orlando campus will
make up about 22,000 square
feet of that and for the balance
we are looking to sublease to
business and industry partners
in the tech-area who are invested in cybersecurity,” Spina said.
The new Major League
Soccer (MLS) stadium will be
about two blocks away from the
Webster location and the Creative Village educational hub,
spearheaded by the University
of Central Florida and Valencia College, will be about four
blocks away.
Once completed, the space
”
and generosity have left a lasting impression on her.
“Greg was always available, and always there to share
his wisdom and insights when
you had an issue. He was very
generous with his time and
knowledge,” Hein said.
A nationwide search is
underway to fill the opening
will have 11 classrooms, two
computer labs, two conference
rooms and up to 10 offices.
“We’re trying to take advantage of the strengths that we
do have, which includes enrollment growth, and place ourselves where there are going to
be more students,” Spina said.
Spina also said that the extra 15,000 square feet of space,
while not an “official” incubator, will provide an opportunity
for IT and cybersecurity students to work hands-on with
companies that will share the
space with Webster.
Programs that initially will
be offered at the Orlando campus include a Master’s degree
in cybersecurity, a degree that
is also offered at the Gateway
Campus.
Webster Director of Public
Relations Patrick Giblin confirmed the Orlando project will
be led locally in St. Louis by the
Kwame Building Group and
administrative departments at
the Webster Groves campus.
Spina said the new management team is getting ready
to pick the contractors for the
build-out phase of the project.
Giblin said last Friday that
no contractor has been selected
for Orlando yet.
Gunderson is leaving behind.
For the time being, an interim
CFO will be put in place. No
announcements have been
made on who will serve as interim CFO.
Gunderson brings more
than 25 years of experience to
Park University with him. The
independent, private institution has 41 campus center locations in 21 states and online.
Contact the writer:
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The university expects to
move into the space in May and
will offer the first classes at the
site in June.
“The grand opening won’t
be there, but the campus will
be open in time for the summer
term,” Spina said.
A Jan. 11 news brief in the
Orlando Business Journal stated
that the estimated cost of the
project is not yet known.
Contributed Photo
The Webster University campus
in Orlando will now be at the HD
Supply Building.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
Jan. 21 - Feb. 4, 2016
Rain, rain, go away
News
Page 3
Flooding affects St. Louis area
By Randi Hammor
Business Manager
Nearly half a million tons
of debris had to be removed
from homes and businesses
after recent record flooding
in Missouri. That is around
500,000 Mini Coopers worth
of debris for comparison. The
flooding caused at least 15
deaths in Missouri and around
7,100 damaged buildings, according to Missouri Governor
Jay Nixon.
“This was a severe and
extremely damaging flooding
event, and we are continuing
to help flood-affected communities recover and rebuild,”
Nixon said.
Webster University senior
Dylan Stevens lives in one
of the affected areas and had
trouble getting to and from
his home in Eureka. Stevens’
brother Brandon had to evacuate his home when the floodwaters reached the basement.
“They were out of their
home for a week and a half,”
Stevens said. “(Flooding) is a
risk he’s going to have to deal
with for as long as he lives in
Eureka.”
Stevens said his brother
had flood insurance because
he lives in a rental property,
but his parents’ home did not.
“You just don’t think about
that,” Stevens said. “People
don’t think it’s going to happen
to them. But it obviously can.”
As of Jan. 14, MODOT
listed 47 roads closed due to
flooding. By comparison, 285
roads were closed when the
rivers were cresting, according
to Senator Claire McCaskill.
Moving forward, residents
like Stevens hope emergency
response will be faster and
more efficient.
“It’s weird to see where
all your friends lived in high-
school underwater,” Stevens
said. “[Missouri] didn’t really do anything until after the
fact. There needs to be more
sandbagging and more evacuations more quickly.”
Relief funds of $1 million
dollars were provided by the
U.S. Transportation Secretary
and Federal Highway Administration. The funds were provided to clean up and repair
roads where it was needed
most.
Nixon requested a federal
emergency declaration Jan. 2
and as a result a curbside debris pickup program called
“Operation Recovery” was implemented for those affected
by the flooding.
Patrick Giblin, Director
of Webster University’s Public
Relations said students had
troubles with travel during
the peak days of flooding, but
no home damage has been reported. For more information
about flooding and Operation
Recovery, visit the official Missouri State Website at http://
www.mo.gov/flood-recovery.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
PHOTOS BY EMILY VAN DE RIET / The Journal
Bad weather brought severe flooding to St. Louis and the surrounding areas. Businesses and homes were affected by the water damage. Highway 141
in Fenton was shut down for a period of time, as well as Interstate 44.
Opinions
Page 4
Letters
&
Commentaries
The Journal welcomes letters to the editors and
guest commentaries. Letters to the editor must
be fewer than 450 words. Guest commentaries
must be between 450 and 750 words, and guest
writers must have their photograph taken to
run with their commentaries. The Journal will
edit all submitted pieces for grammar, style and
clarity. If there are any substantial revisions,
the writer will be notified and allowed to edit
his or her own writing.
Submit all letters to the editor and
guest commentaries to
websterjournal@gmail.com by 2 p.m. on
Monday.
The
Publication
Board
The Publications Board acts as the publisher
of The Journal, a designated public forum for
students, faculty, staff and administrators at
Webster University. The Board, chaired by
Murray Farish (314-246-4294), meets at noon
on the first Friday of every academic month in
Room 153 of the East Academic Building. The
meetings are open to the public. Please bring
us your comments and concerns.
The next meeting is Friday, Feb. 5.
Our Vision
To consistently provide the Webster University
and Webster Groves communities with the
most current and contextual information using
both print and multimedia, while serving as a
learning platform for our staff and a forum for
our readers.
Editorial: another shortfall hurts students
Program cuts not the answer to Webster University’s problems
By The Journal Staff
With the revelation of Webster’s
fourth consecutive shortfall, it is more
important now than ever that Webster
and its administration stick to a promise it made to its students during this
year’s spring convocation: keep students’ best interests in mind. Webster
students’ best interests are not the cutting of academic and extracurricular
programs they came to Webster for.
In the past four years, every shortfall has meant one thing for students:
the programs they love are going to be
cut, sometimes drastically. This year
the administration has to take a hard
look at what programs are important
to this university, and which are not.
Instead of relying on the word of
deans and faculty, Webster needs to
ask its constituents, the students, what
they want and need from this university.
With the university expecting
around a $7 million shortfall, the university will be forced to once again
make tough cuts all around to make
ends meet. But a shortfall comes as
no surprise when the school is in its
fourth year of financial shortfalls and
still spends like a university that has
money to spare.
The addition of several global
campuses, a new addition to the down-
town campus and a nearly $40 million
science building are an important part
of attracting new students, and providing some newer students a year-ortwo with some new facilities, but does
not do much for current students.
The Journal staff recognizes the
“
The Journal
decisions the university has to make
in the coming months will be difficult,
but urges it to not punish the students
who pay to attend this university by
cutting the programs that are imperative to their learning experiences.
Webster should invest in its current programs, big or small, instead of
dreaming up new opportunities and
buildings. The message students get
when potential students are deemed
more important than current students
is, “thanks for your money, but we
have to think about who is going to
pay us after you’re gone.” Kavahn Mansouri Editor-in-Chief
Emily Van de Riet Managing Editor
Editorial Office
(314) 246-7088
Nikki Waller News Editor
Livie Hall Opinions Editor
Bill Loellke Lifestyle Editor
Jacob Claspille Sports Editor
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(314) 246-7575
Sarah Blankenship Graphics Editor
Amber Williams Graphics Editor
Jordan Palmer Photo Editor
Sara Bannoura Multimedia Editor
Jessica Karins Copy Editor
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(314) 246-7538
Don Corrigan Newspaper Adviser
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Groves campus.
years that is exactly how students have
felt.
If the the reason Webster’s facing
another shortfall is based on student
retention and enrollment, why is the
answer to cut existing programs and
then offer little transparency to the
students affected? In the past, the cuts
were made and few questions were answered about those cuts.
A semesterly Delegates’ Agenda
is not hearing the students. It certainly cannot be described as hearing students when the answers to the
concerns raised by the Delegates’ are
Livie Hall
Opinions
Editor &
Social Media
Manager
The News Source
for Webster University
Website
www.websterjournal.com
”
met with “we’ll work on it,” or “we
disagree,” which was the theme of last
fall’s Delegates’ Agenda.
Secondly, the administration
needs to hear the faculty. The Journal
believes Webster should trust the faculty in knowing what is best for their
students. They interact with us on a
day-to-day basis and they hear us everyday.
Bolster the programs that exist,
treat students like they matter and do
not encourage students to leave Webster by eliminating the reasons they
came here to beging with. Scorned
students are not especially inclined
to suggest Webster to other potential
students.
Most importantly, Webster needs
to be truthful and open with its students in the coming months. Students
need to know what is happening at the
university, plain and simple.
Webster boasts itself on providing
a place where students can be “You,
Unlimited.” When our programs are
cut and we are treated like numbers
instead of students … well, that limits
us quite a bit.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
Politickin’ me off: Obama on gun reform
THE JOURNAL
Photographers
Dan Carcione
Julia Peschel
At the spring convocation, Provost Julian Schuster said the university needs to focus on new student
enrollment and current student retention. Students are not inclined to stay
at Webster University if they feel like
they are not important, and in the past
In the past four years, every shortfall has
meant one thing for students: the programs they love are going to be cut, sometimes drastically.
Produced by The Journal
Editorial Board and Business
office, Summer 2014
Staff Writers
Khadija Alzadjali
Brian Ruth
Dan Carcione
Jan. 21 - Feb. 4, 2016
Illustration by Sarah Blankenship
On the night of Nov. 26, 2012,
I had just gotten off work at Chickfil-A and was ordering a peppermint
milkshake from my friend Lydia. I
remember every detail. I remember
my phone ringing and it was my best
friend, Jill, frantically crying, desperately trying to get the words out.
“Pat’s been shot.”
Pat was my best friend, my middle
school boyfriend and long-term confidant. He was dead. After a night of
drugs and partying, one of his friends
thought it would be a good idea to
play roulette, and with the utmost ignorance, held a revolver to Pat’s head,
lined up with a chamber thought to
be empty.
It was not.
I lost one of the most important
people in my life that day and did not
finish my milkshake. Instead I drove
like a runaway prisoner to my boyfriend’s house and watched the news,
waiting. I was praying I did not get
the phone call from the hospital confirming his death. That call came later when I was at home, laying in bed.
As I fell to the ground in tears, my life
momentarily fell apart - all because of
a gun.
Obama’s new gun law is a breath
of fresh air for me. Are guns bad? No.
However, bad people that have them
are. People die from guns every day.
People get angry and pull a trigger.
People get stupid and pull a trigger.
People accidentally pull triggers.
I understand a good majority of
people will fight for gun rights, for
both hunting and protection. The
idea of killing animals for fun is another topic in itself, and most protection is from other guns. Seems to me
like they are both pretty pointless reasons to own firearms.
Obama is making a lot of lastditch efforts to do as much as he can
in his last months in office. While it
is a little too late, I applaud him on
trying. It throws a lot at the current
candidates for debates and revising
campaign platforms, and these are issues the American people need to be
addressing regardless.
I grew up in a gun-toting town. It
is totally normal for everyone to have
a rifle for hunting and a handgun for
protection, usually hidden in a closet
or displayed proudly in the back of a
truck.
I never thought anything of it
and even wanted a hunting license
for myself. However, after losing Pat,
watching live footage of the San Bernardino shootings and Sandy Hook
(to name a few), it seems to me that
guns are something we just simply
can do without. Say what you want
about Obama, but he hit the nail on
the head with this one.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
Unity in the name of freedom in Palestine
Sara
Bannoura
Multimedia
Editor
In the midst of violence, destruction and ugliness, beauty and unity
are still found in the Occupied Territory of Palestine.
Being brown-skinned and browneyed, people that meet me almost always assume I am an Arab and a Muslim. Telling them I am a Palestinian
Christian brings a shock to their faces. Most of the people I met in the last
two years of being in the states were
not aware of the Christian population
in The Holy Land of Jesus.
Christian Palestinians make less
than one percent of the population,
but the shared land, culture and language are what bring them together
with the Muslim majority.
I recently met Sajeda Issa, who is
a Palestinian Muslim and a student at
Webster University. We shared experiences and she explained her point of
view on Christians and Muslims living together in the Holy Land.
“There’s no boundaries with living with Muslims and Christians in
Palestine,” Issa said.
She explained how her grandpar-
ents are old-fashioned Palestinians
who are traditional in their way of
thinking and tied to their religious
culture. She said she has never seen
them differentiate between Palestinians according to religion.
“I’ve never heard them having any
conflicts whatsoever with Christians.
If they are to label people, it would
be according to the village they come
from, not by religion,” Issa said.
Growing up in Palestine as a
Christian minority grants me a few
privileges. The most significant one
is the ability to get a permit to cross
checkpoints between the open prison
of the West Bank and the rest of the
occupied Palestinian land.
Christians receive permits for all
Christian holidays as well as summer
vacations, whereas Muslims receive
less permits to cross the border and
visit the land. Most importantly for
Muslims to visit the Holy City of Jerusalem which holds their Holy AlAqsa Mosque and the Dome of The
Rock.
This act of discrimination between Christians and Muslims is
intended to create inner conflict between the Palestinian people.
The occupation causes daily
struggle for the Palestinian people as
a whole, and there is no escape from
oppression, tyranny and deprivation
of rights. The oppressor knows no
face. The bullet knows no religion.
The existence of the Israeli occupation of Palestine plays an external
force which makes the connection
between both sides stronger, Issa and
I concluded. We are all targeted, and
if one falls, the other offers a hand as
a human being not under the label of
religion.
In protests and such, we stand together, Muslims and Christians, we
come together as Palestinians,” Issa
said.
We are the people of the land,
people of different beliefs but same
values. People of different worship
homes but people of prayer. People of
a wounded land.
We are all human, each different
and unique, but looking at the bigger
picture as part of a group living in a
country facing persecution and inequity, these differences melt away in
the name of unity and resistance, for
our human rights and dignity.
It is the moment when Issa and
I shed tears and hugged one another
where our different colors created a
ray of light that touches the essence
of humanity.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
SARA BANNOURA / The Journal
Opinions
Jan. 21 - Feb. 4, 2016
Page 5
Letters to the Editor
The real world was built by the strength found in safe spaces
By Alexandria Lenzi, Webster University student
I found the recent op-ed
“Safe spaces are unnecessary
– the real world is not a safe
place for anyone” ignorant
and unfounded. The writer’s
idea of these groups seems to
cumulate in the opinion that
they are shelters from reality
and somehow responsible for
their own problems.
However, he bases his
opinion on an uninformed
perspective of the struggles
minority Americans face.
These issues are not opinions,
they are statistical, sociological realities. You must have an
understanding of them in order to build a valid argument.
In the op-ed, the writer
seems to equate his experiences in society with everyone’s.
But the inequalities and dangers at present are more complex than simply saying everyone is equal and should never
defend their differences.
Is it really “coddling” to
recognize that some people
struggle with issues like racism and misogyny that deeply
complicate and even endanger
their lives? The writer touches
on an aspect of the world we
all know to be true: it is not a
safe place.
The world is full of enemies, real or subconscious, especially for victims of violence,
psychological trauma, and
prejudice. Oppressed people
have specific concerns, anxieties, and rights that relate to
their individual and shared experiences of this unsafe world,
which differ substantially from
the dangers white straight men
face.
The writer claims solitude
is the only safe space, as if in-
dependence works as a coping
mechanism for everyone. But
for some, not even the mind
is safe. Coming together with
similar people is how some
heal and empower themselves.
This alone attests to their firm
grasp of what the writer calls
the “real world.”
In the real world, isolation
kills. To disqualify this copying method professes ignorance to the disparity between
the world he experiences as
a privileged person, and the
reality of living as one who is
oppressed. The real world was
built by the strength of communities.
In the case of racism and
its intersection with misogyny,
it is not “uncomfortableness”
that causes oppressed people
to seclude themselves into
groups, it is fearing for their
lives, their children’s lives,
their financial and work stability and their freedom, and
desiring one place where they
have more control over this. It
is another life—one the writer
is not informed enough to
judge.
As a straight white man, an
identity that holds disproportionate social and legal power
in America, the writer disqualifies his argument as soon as
he implies that safe spaces for
underprivileged groups somehow exclude or “segregate”
him.
He has never experienced
the fear of being the only one
of his race or gender in the
room. He has never had his
rights denied because of his
identity. Society was built for
people like him, and that is
the problem. Should we really
trust the majority to take care
of minority needs if they cannot even understand them?
African American men
and women of all races won
the right to vote against a
Constitution that privileged
white straight men over every
other American, and it took
decades for women of color,
especially, to express this freedom long after it was legally
given to them. They achieved
this through special interest
groups, originating in secret,
safe spaces, where they could
voice their opinions and empower each other, creating
a force for change driven by
the unity found among themselves, unsilenced by their oppressors’ voices.
The Abolitionist movement and the Women’s Suffrage movements could not
have achieved their goals if
the issues had been left to
dominant society. Their roots
stretch back to the original allblack safe spaces or all-women
meetings necessary to the creation of strong, comprehensive missions that could not
be hijacked by privileged “concerns.”
The Civil Rights movement and the Women’s Liberation movement continued
these efforts for a more egalitarian nation, revising perspectives, laws, and constitutional interpretations to reflect
the realities of inequality in
modern society. The current
Black Lives Matter movement
and fourth wave feminism are
extensions of these historic
processes, evolved to fit the
times and address intersectional issues.
Because of recent revolutions by specific groups, police
brutality, systematic racism,
LGBTQ discrimination, poverty, and reproductive rights
are no longer unquestionable
issues. They are dialogues
about issues that exclusively
affect certain people in order
to create changes which ultimately improve the safety of
this world for everyone.
The sovereignty of these
groups is necessary to preserve the focus of their goals.
Because of safe spaces, movements that would change
American history took root in
extremely oppressive environments. Due to these efforts,
our government and national
identity constantly evolve to
create a more equal and inclusive society.
All are not equal until we
decide the voices of oppressed
groups are valid. Safe spaces
are not examples of “reverse”
segregation, they are a defense
against racial segregation and
other forms of discrimination that still exist today—the
kind the writer perpetuates
with his misguided sense of
“inclusion.” He calls racism
unchangeable. This is because
he rejects the very groups who
hope to change it.
We do not live in a utopia,
but our world and our views
are not static. Our strength lies
in our ability to defend our diversity, not pretend we are all
the same.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
Illustration by Amber Williams
Marletto’s is really stepping up its game
Jacob
Claspille
Sports Editor
There was once a time
where Marletto’s Marketplace
went by the name of “Marghetto’s,” or “Ghetto’s.” It is safe to
say that there is nothing “ghet-
to” about Marletto’s anymore.
Marletto’s got the nickname from the very, let us say,
questionable food choices they
offered. You could not tell if
the meat was turkey, pork or
some new kind no one had
heard of. You did not know if
the pizza thad been sitting out
for a week, and let us mention
the “fresh” cooked food you
knew they used the day before.
Marletto’s was the main
dining choice for my group of
friends and I since I have been
going to Webster. It was the
healthier option compared to
eating all the fried food at the
UC Crossroads, because the
“freshman 15” is real.
There would be nights
where we would have to go off
campus to spend some of our
own money on a meal or just
not eat at all because the meals
that Marletto’s was serving
were too unappealing. There
was a point I believed the only
time worth going to Marletto’s
was for breakfast and their
make-your-own omelettes.
Marletto’s has stepped
their game up for sure this
year. It seems like the new
management has put more of
an effort into their food choices and the quality of the food
they serve. Instead of hoping
Marletto’s will have something
good to eat for lunch that day, I
am curious as to what they will
have, this time knowing it will
be good.
It is a bonus that Marletto’s
is serving good food. Freshly
cooked food is much healthier
than the fried food. Marletto’s
appeals to the vegetarians on
campus with its strictly vegan
section, and the custom paninis are a great change of pace
every once in awhile.
I am happy to eat on this
campus now because I do not
feel the need to eat unhealthy
foods and I have plenty of
options to choose from. To
me, “Marghetto’s” is no more.
Rather, it is a place where the
entire student body can sit
down and enjoy a meal with
friends.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
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Illustration by Amber Williams
Guest opinions from Webster University faculty are welcome
Sports
Page 6
St. Louis Soccer Park flooded
Home of the Gorloks washed away by the Meramec
By Jacob Claspille
Sports Editor
Flood waters over winter
break reached as high as 20
ft., which almost completely
covered the bleachers at the St.
Louis Soccer Park in Fenton,
the home of Gorlok soccer.
Repairs to the damaged
turf, bleachers and equipment including damages to
the park’s main building are
going to cost an estimated $1
million, according to reports
from St. Louis Scott Gallagher,
a soccer club in the St. Louis
area.
In an interview with KMOX,
St. Louis Football Club and
Scott Gallagher Soccer Club
Executive Director Pat Barry
said the soccer park did not
have any insurance that would
cover the cost of flood damage. With the facility being in
a floodplain, the cost of insurance was too expensive.
Scott Kilgallon, athletic director at Webster University,
said the university is not responsible for covering any of
the damage to the facilities,
but that he is willing to help in
any way he and the athletic department can.
“It would kind of be like
Webster Worldwide. It would
be volunteer,” Kilgallon said.
“We would get some people
together. Whatever they need
- painting, cleaning, stuff that
we can do that’s not putting
our kids and coaches in harm’s
way.”
Webster is responsible for
covering the cost of any of their
equipment that was damaged
inside the park’s main building. Kilgallon noted items such
as chairs in the locker room,
athletic training equipment
and the storage shed that were
washed away.
Luigi Scire, head coach of
the women’s soccer team, kept
up with the flood levels over
break. The day before the park
flooded, Scire removed all the
team jerseys, saving them from
DAVID CARSON / St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Flood waters covered the entire field of the St. Louis Soccer Park along with most of the bleachers.
Jan. 21 - Feb. 4, 2016
Webster SPICE “B” team qualifies for Final Four
By Jacob Claspille
Sports Editor
Webster University has dominated the Pan-American Chess
Championship since Susan Polgar left Texas Tech and became
head coach of the Webster chess
team in 2012, but they were
knocked off their top spot in
2015.
The Webster University “A”
team finished in fifth place and
did not qualify for the Final
Four of College Chess. The University’s “B” team finished in a
quadruple tie for first place, according to bworldonline.com.
The team consisted of Grandmaster (GM) Ilya Nyzhnyk,
GM Alex Shimanov, GM Andre
Diamant and GM Manuel Leon
Hoyos.
Texas Tech’s “A” team, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s
“A” team and Columbia University’s “A” all finished tied with
Webster University. According to The Washington
Times, Texas Tech won in tie
breakers over the other three
teams.
Webster’s “A” team had never
lost a match under Polgar until
this year. They drew with Texas
Tech and lost to underdog University of Texas at Dallas’ (UTD)
“B” team.
Webster University has won
the last three national championships. Two of the three were
against the UTD team than upset
them in this year’s Pan-American
tournament.
The Pan-American Chess Championship took place in Cleveland,
Ohio, Dec. 28-30.
In the tournament, 42 chess
teams around the world compete
to qualify for the final four national championship, also known
as the President’s Cup.
The tournament got its name
from the countries competing
in it. They are considered the
Pan-America area, consisting of
North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
The Final Four Championship is scheduled to start in April.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
Webster University, Vianney High
School reach verbal facility agreement
By Jacob Claspille
Sports Editor
J.B. FORBES / St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The flood waters washed away the lose turf from the soccer park, which they were in the process of replacing.
water damage.
The soccer park was in the
process of removing some of
the turf when the floods came,
washing away any loose areas
of the pitch.
If the fields are not repaired
in time for the upcoming season, Kilgallon said they have
other options lined up to avoid
playing all away games, but
did not want to disclose any
locations until the decision of
playing somewhere else absolutely needs to be made.
St. Louis Scott Gallagher
is fundraising to help support
the rebuilding effort. Kilgallon
also said they would be willing to take any other volunteers to help in the rebuilding
of the home of the Webster
University Gorloks.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
Webster has reached a verbal agreement with St. John
Vianney High School to allow
the Gorloks to use the high
school’s track and field facility.
Talks on a formal agreement are still in the process.
The plan is, in exchange for
the usage of the track, Vianney would be allowed to use
the Webster University Center pool.
The agreement solves part
of the problem voiced by the
athletic department due to
lack of space. Scott Kilgallon,
athletic director at Webster
University, noted the large increase in numbers of the track
team under head coach, Dan
Graber.
The team has increased up
to almost 40 participants.
Vianney plans to resurface
the turf to a new synthetic
field, resurface the track and
add improvements to the stadium area. Vianney President
Mike Loyet said the improvements are part of the $7 million plan to improve academic
programs around campus in a
statement on the school website.
The statement said that the
original track had reached the
“end of its life” and needed to
be replaced.
The renovation plans are
thought to start in May and
end in August for when the
school year starts.
Keep up with The Journal
for further information on the
completed agreement with Vianney High School.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
This week in Webster University athletics
Webster men’s basketball
went 0-2 this week in conference play.
After a quick start by the
Gorloks and junior guard C.J.
Moore, Webster trailed Westminster at halftime 33-29.
Turnovers were the story of
the second half. The Gorloks
committed 19 total and were
unable to grab a lead against the
Blue Jays in the second half.
Westminster’s senior center,
Matt Murphy, dominated in the
second half. Murphy scored 10
of his 12 points in the second
half using his size mismatch
(6’8” 250 pounds) against the
smaller Gorlok lineup.
The final score of the game
was 67-61 in favor of the Blue
Jays.
The Gorloks’ second conference game was against Spalding
University.
Webster trailed 36-21 after
an 11-0 run going into halftime
by Spalding. The Golden Eagles
led by as many as 23 points before the Gorloks attempted a
late-game comeback.
In the end, Webster lost 7667 to bring their season record
to 7-8 and 4-4 in the St. Louis
Athletic Conference.
Reporting by Jacob Claspille
DAN CARCIONE / The Journal
Webster’s mens basketball performs their team pregame routine before their home game against Westminster.
DAN CARCIONE / The Journal
Johnathan Odjo goes up for a left-handed, fast break layup. Odjo scored five points in the game.
DAN CARCIONE / The Journal
Hunter Ward pulls up for a free-throw line jumper in the face of Westminster’s Jimmy Villalobos.
Jan. 21 - Feb. 4, 2016
Behind the Screen:
Lifestyle
Page 7
All-white Academy nominees
reveal bigger industry problem
By Bill
Loellke
Lifestyle
Editor
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed
the nominees for the 88th Academy Awards, but the talk of who
was not nominated grabbed
headlines in the aftermath.
For the second year in a row,
the four main acting categories
(Best Actor, Best Actress, Best
Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress) contained all
white actors. This year’s nominations announcement prompted critics to resurrect the trending Twitter topic from last year,
#OscarsSoWhite.
Last year, the Oscar nominations received criticism when
Martin Luther King, Jr. biopic
Selma only received a Best Picture and Best Original Song
nomination. David Oyelowo,
who portrayed King, did not receive a Best Actor nomination.
More famously, Ava DuVernay,
the African-American female director of the film, did not receive
a Best Director nomination.
Last year’s ceremony was
the first time since 1998 that
the acting categories have been
made up exclusively of white
actors.
This backlash caught the attention of Academy president
Cheryl Boone Isaacs (an African-American). In an interview
with the Associated Press, she
said the Academy was working
to diversify its organization.
In June 2015, the Academy
announced several new members to the organization, which
included people of color such as
Kevin Hart, Common, Dev Patel, John Legend, Gugu MbathaRaw and even snubbed Selma
actor Oyelowo himself.
With a more diversified organization, it looked as if people
of different ethnicities would
be duly represented on Hollywood’s biggest night.
That is, until Thursday’s
nominations.
It is ironic that the Academy asked Hollywood giants
such as Guillermo Del Toro, a
Mexican director, and Ang Lee,
a Taiwanese-born director, to
help announce the nominees. It
is telling that the awards they announced did not include the acting categories.
Boone Isaacs even said she
was disappointed by the fact
there was very little representation for people of color when
interviewed by Deadline.
So, what happened this
year? In 2014, a Los Angeles
Times survey of the over 6,028
Academy voters revealed that
nearly 94 percent of voters were
white and 77 percent of them
were male. African-Americans
made up about two percent of
the organization, less than two
percent were Latino and less
than one-half percent were of
Asian and Native descent.
The median age was 63.
While these percentages have
changed over the years, it has not
been enough to shift the patterns
of the Academy drastically.
This year, Michael B. Jordan did not receive a Best Actor
nomination for his critically acclaimed work in Creed. The only
nomination Creed received was
Sylvester Stallone’s nod for Best
Supporting Actor. The film’s African-American director, Ryan
Coogler, also did not receive a
Best Director nomination.
In another controversial decision, N.W.A. biopic Straight
Outta Compton received only a
Best Original Screenplay nomination for Jonathan Herman,
Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge
and Alan Wenkus (all of whom
are white), despite critical and
commercial success.
Other “snubs” could include
Benicio Del Toro for Sicario,
Will Smith for Concussion and
Mya Taylor for Tangerine. There
are, I am sure, many more we
could make arguments for.
Is the Academy regressing back to the old days? No.
If it were, Lupita Nyong’o, a
Mexican-born Kenyan actress, would not have won for
her performance in 12 Years a
Slave, which also won Best Picture. There were also wins for
Halle Berry, Denzel Washington, Sidney Poitier, Whoopi
Goldberg and Jennifer Hudson
in previous years.
I do not believe that the
organization on the whole is
against people of color. If that
were the case, these actors would
not have gotten these wins.
In fact, the first AfricanAmerican to win an Oscar was
Hattie McDaniel in 1940 for
her role in Gone with the Wind.
She was required to sit at a segregated table for the ceremony,
but despite the color of her
skin, she still won her muchdeserved award.
What is it about this and last
year? The Academy has some
fixing to do. I believe Boone
Isaacs is on the right track with
diversifying the organization
and should keep on it. Her priorities are certainly admirable.
The problem, though, goes far
beyond the awards.
The problem is this:
where are the roles for people
of color?
Hollywood needs to stop
thinking about casting people
of color only when a real-life
character needs to be portrayed.
There are great fictional characters out there, but most of them
are going to white people. Yes,
there are people of color in fictional roles, but most of them
are supporting roles. Where are
the leads?
If one were to make a biopic about Martin Luther King,
Jr., one would have to cast an
African-American, like David
Oyelowo. If one were to make
a biopic about Latino superstar
Selena, you would have to cast
someone of Latino descent,
such as Jennifer Lopez. To not
do so would be an outright disrespectful way to represent the
lives of these real-life figures.
What about the fictional
roles? When J.J. Abrams cast
African-American actor John
Boyega as the male lead in Star
Wars: The Force Awakens, it was
considered big news. Since fictional roles are mostly given to
white people, many people of
color are missing out.
It is at this point that studios should start to look to
Abrams for inspiration. Boyega did receive criticism for his
casting because of the color of
his skin, but Abrams defended
his casting during an interview
on The Howard Stern Show.
“I think the people who
are complaining about that
[Boyega’s casting] probably
have bigger problems than
‘there’s a black stormtrooper,’”
Abrams said.
Again this year, the Fantastic Four reboot cast Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch, a character that
is white in the comic books.
There is change happening,
but not enough.
Even fictional characters
of different ethnicity are given
to white actors. There were
two instances of this in 2015
alone. That year, Emma Stone
was cast as a character of Hawaiian and Asian heritage in
Cameron Crowe’s Aloha, a
problematic casting choice she
herself has admitted was misguided. Rooney Mara was cast
as Tiger Lily in Pan, a fictional
character typically portrayed
as Native American. Mara is of
European descent.
How are people of color
suppose to be recognized at the
Academy Awards if the roles
are so few and far in between?
I suspect that there will be
change in the Academy. It has
happened before and it will
happen again. Before change
can be made in the Academy,
change has to happen in Hollywood in general. Let us give
people of color more fictional,
developed characters to play.
In the meantime, we will
have to wait and see what hilarious insight Chris Rock will
give Feb. 28, when he hosts the
Academy Awards, or, as he calls
them, “the White BET Awards.”
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
SARA BANNOURA/ The Journal
Former Conservatory student Caroline Amos has a laugh during stage combat rehearsal for Hamlet. Amos said she is happiest when she is performing
Shakespeare.
Amos
FROM PAGE 8
boy becomes man,” Battles
said.
She said she sees many
feminine qualities in the character.
“He’s so thoughtful,” Battles said. “The way that he
really breaks down the problem…lends itself to a more
feminine quality as well.”
Battles gave Amos advice while she was a student
at Webster, but did not work
with her to the extent other
directors have. When Amos
auditioned for the role, Battles
knew she was the right choice.
“Caroline is starting to
become quite the Shakespearian actor,” Battles said. “She
really understands the language. She really makes sense
of it and is able to bring a lot
of herself to it.”
during her freshman year. She
also served as Amos’ academic
advisor for that year.
They reconvened senior
year when Singleton served as
the director of Amos’ Senior
Showcase, where Conservatory seniors head to New York
to present their work to professionals in the industry.
“Getting in here [Conservatory] is a tough deal,” Amos
said. “She has a lovely commitment to the process.”
She said that work ethic Amos has is what makes
her succeed particularly as a
The draw of acting
Amos said having free time
is the worst thing for her, such
as the two weeks between her
last gig and her current work
with the Festival.
“You have an attraction to
something [acting] that is just
indescribable,” Amos said.
Amos said she is particularly drawn to period dramas
and has an interest in the past.
She believes Shakespeare
is still studied today because
the characters are incredibly
relatable even years after they
were conceived.
“In Shakespeare, characters say what they mean and
mean what they say,” Amos
said.
Amos said that her parents said she should consider
just minoring in acting. As
she acted more, her parents
believed she could double major in acting.
They eventually saw that
she wanted to act full time.
“My dad always says, ‘If
you’re just going to be an actor, you may not be rich in
money, but you’ll be rich in
happiness’,” Amos said.
Passionate people
Amos said acting helped
her form relationships with
people in much more caring
environments. She worked a
catering job for a short period
of time after participating in
the Great River Shakespeare
Festival, which she described
as “the worst time of my life.”
She wondered why she
could not be happy with the
present moment. Then, she
realized what it was. She was
missing relationships where
“everyone is invested in every
little thing you do.”
“I found it so unfulfilling because I’m someone who
feeds off of working with passionate people,” Amos said.
Conservatory professor
Kat Singleton taught Amos
Shakespearian actor.
“There’s a lot of work to be
done in a contemporary piece,
but there’s even more work to
be done in a classical piece,”
Singleton said.
Amos said, after these next
four months of touring, she
will have a better idea of where
she would like to move and
settle down.
She is torn between Los
Angeles, Minneapolis and
New York.
“That’s going to be in the
back of my mind for a long
time,” Amos said.
Amos said that she is just
going to focus on the here and
now, working on the art form
that compels her most.
“I take a step back and realize just how incredibly lucky
I am,” Amos said.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
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Lifestyle
‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ come true
Jan. 21 - Feb. 4, 2016
Page 8
Former Conservatory student joins Shakespeare Festival St. Louis Education Tour
By Bill Loellke
Tour is not the only experience
Amos has with Shakespeare.
She previously performed in
Webster University gradu- A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ate Caroline Amos’ dream for the Repertory Theatre of
came true when, after graduat- St. Louis in the role of Hering from college, she was cast mia and for the Conservatory
as Hamlet in Hamlet and Puck of Theatre Arts in the role of
in A Midsummer Night’s Dream First Fairy.
She also participated in the
for the Shakespeare Festival St.
Great River Shakespeare FestiLouis Education Tour.
Amos first saw the tour per- val’s productions of Romeo &
form when they came to her Juliet as Juliet and Much Ado
middle school. She saw them About Nothing as Ursula.
Amos joins four other aconce again in high school. The
tour’s purpose is to travel to tors from around the Midwest
multiple Missouri schools, per- for the tour. She will take her
forming Shakespeare plays. She productions of Hamlet and A
Midsummer
became fasciNight’s Dream
nated with the
to
differplays and ShakeIt [performing
ent schools
speare.
Shakespeare] takes
around MisAmos said
souri begina good deal of courone of her faning in early
vorite
things
age, a good deal of
F e b r u a r y.
about
Shakecuriosity and she’s
The tour will
speare is the
[Amos]
got
both.
last for four
language. She
months.
believes ShakeHead of
speare’s
writthe
Conservaings are meant
Bruce Longworth
tory’s Perforto be translated
Head of the Conservatory’s
mance Pro, something she
Performance Program and
gram Bruce
has studied for a
Amos’ former director
Long worth
long time.
previously
“I
really
love when a bunch of people directed Hamlet for the Festival
get together with a ton of books back in 2010. He also directed
and we spend 30 minutes argu- Amos in the Conservatory proing about what a word means,” duction of The Country Wife.
He said a keen appreAmos said.
ciation
and strong affinity
Amos said that Shakespearean language is a puzzle for language is the key for to
that she enjoys solving. She performing in Shakespearean
said the many resources made plays. He said actors also have
about what his language means to be up to performing “life or
has challenged her in ways that death” plays such as this.
“It takes a good deal of
modern text has not.
courage,
a good deal of curios“I find it [Shakespeare]
ity
and
she’s
[Amos] got both,”
easier for me than most other
Longworth said.
art forms,” Amos said.
Amos said it is exciting
for her when people ask about
what role she’s playing in HamHistory of Shakespeare
Joining the Education let, because people assume she
Lifestyle Editor
“
”
SARA BANNOURA / The Journal
Actor Caroline Amos practices stage combat choreography as she prepares to play the role of Hamlet for the Shakespeare Festival St. Louis Education
Tour. Amos graduated from Webster’s Conservatory of Theatre Arts in May 2015.
is playing the female role of
Ophelia, and not the typically
male role of Hamlet.
She said Hamlet is the
dream role for any actor.
Amos said there are many
great male roles out there that
she has a particular interest
in. In this version of the play,
Hamlet is “equal parts male and
female,” according to Amos.
The Conservatory’s Assistant Professor of Voice and
Speech Joanna Battles is the director of the Education Tour’s
production of Hamlet. She
said that audiences often have
a fixed image of what Hamlet
should look like.
“I know that we’ve often
seen Hamlet as a man most
likely in his late 30s or so,” Battles said. “I think that is done
because it is such a monster of
a role.”
In Battles’ mind, she pictures
Hamlet as a lot younger, prob-
ably a freshman in college. She
sees him as someone who is very
sheltered and has not been able
to develop as a human being.
“To make him younger
opens up that moment of when
See Amos Page 7
Discovering her passion for fashion
Webster graduate sells and models different brands of clothes for her online fashion store
By Livie Hall
Opinions Editor
Avery Ross went to college
to pursue a degree in broadcast journalism. She graduated
a fashion entrepreneur, starting
her own online fashion company
called Bed of Eden.
Ross graduated from Webster University in May 2015. She
transferred from Mizzou.
Ross found her passion for
style when she was in high school.
“I was scouted to start modeling when I was 15 by two scouts
here in St. Louis, and signed with
Ford Models up in Chicago when
I was 16,” Ross said.
Her junior and senior year of
high school consisted of traveling between St. Louis and Chicago. She later commuted to college in Columbia, Mo. to study
broadcast journalism. After taking a year off, she found her way
to Webster.
“I left Mizzou and took a
year off to work and take time to
find out what I really wanted to
do and pursue in my life,” Ross
said. “I then started back up at
Webster and really liked the
smaller, more focused class and
felt it was a better fit for me.”
At Webster, she continued
her journalism degree even
though her love for fashion had
followed her wherever she went.
Professor Larry Baden had Ross
as a student in his Fundamentals
of Reporting class and said he
knew she had potential.
“She had a lot of natural
skill,” Baden said. “I would say
she was the best natural writer
in that class. She’s also extremely
creative, and so I felt that she had
the potential to do very well.”
Baden said he and Ross had
talked during her time as a student and both decided she was
not very passionate about the
stories she was working on. Ross
said she realized that she needed
to follow her dreams and do
what she really wanted to do.
She said people need to have
careers they are passionate about.
One of the best parts of life, Ross
said, is the ability to change one’s
pathway. She does not consider it
time wasted when students want
to change their major.
“I think life is way, way, way
too important to not have a passion and an interest in something
that you want to wake up every
day and you’re super inspired,”
Ross said.
Ross wakes up like that
every day with her career. Bed
of Eden is an online fashion
store where she sells clothing,
jewelry, handbags and other
accessories for women. She
launched Bed of Eden on June
26, 2015, just a month after her
graduation. However, running
a business has not always been
easy-going. Ross said she has
learned to be self-motivated
and flexible.
“At first I thought I needed
to control everything, but I really learned to let Bed of Eden
grow and change how it’s meant
to and now I just work really
hard and roll with it,” Ross said.
An average day for Ross is a
busy one, but she looks forward
to it. She said each day is different in regards to a schedule, but
they all start out with checking
email and looking at shipments.
After that, she updates the
Bed of Eden website, Facebook
and Instagram. Much of her time
is spent buying products and
thinking a couple seasons ahead.
While most customers are thinking of sweaters and coats this
time of year, Ross is already looking at spring and summer.
Not only does Ross own
and run the entirety of the business, her modeling background
catches up with her when it is
time for photo shoots. She models all of the clothes herself, with
a little help from her friends.
They offer their time to help
model, as well as take photos.
Ross then edits them.
“I do everything on my own,
AVERY ROSS / Contributed Photo
Webster graduate Avery Ross models the clothes, handbags and other accessories for her fashion website, Bed of Eden. Above is a screenshot of the site.
which is great, but I am also responsible for keeping myself in
a focused and positive frame of
mind,” Ross said. “I don’t have a
boss or coworkers to tell me what
to do, it’s all on me. The passion
and exciting future I envision for
Bed of Eden is what keeps me inspired and loving what I do.”
The image Ross hopes to
achieve is for women who are
busy, but also social.
“They can use the clothing,
maybe dress it up for work, but
then can wear it out and go get
drinks with their friends later,”
Ross said. “[It is] super versatile.”
In the coming months, Ross
hopes to have more inventory
and customers, and even go international with the company.
As for long-term plans, she said
she wants to see her business
grow, open stores, produce catalogues and have runway shows.
Baden said this did not surprise him. What did, however, is
how quickly she dove into her
entrepreneurship.
“Most people put their
toe in first,” Baden said. “She
jumped into it head first and it
takes a lot of courage to do that
because she’s putting everything
into that. Obviously, I hope that
she’s really successful with it.”
Ross markets herself by using social media and keeps a
hoard of business cards in her
purse at all times. At a grocery
store, she ran into a mother and
daughter, told them about the
website and they were shopping
on it later that day.
“Marketing really knows no
bounds, obviously, and isn’t a nine
to five opportunity,” Ross said.
“Having a wide range of products
gives me the opportunity to target
many demographics.”
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com