Students escaped the cold and rushed into the seats of the Brady Educational Center auditorium for the “Be Visible” event, presented by Invisible Children on Saturday night.

PULSE and Dance Club partnered to fund raise for the Invisible Children organization’s Schools for Schools campaign, and to help the chapter on campus spread the word about war-torn Uganda.

To enter the auditorium, students flashed their “tickets” for admission, which were homemade bracelets made of twine and cloth with the words “Be Visible” written on them.

Educating the audience

While waiting for the dancers to take the stage, the audience saw a slide show of photos that featured pictures and facts about the war between the Government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army. One slide read, “Just celebrated your big 2-1? The war has been going on longer than you have been alive.”

After the background music silenced, a short film was shown telling the story of the Invisible Children and the war that has left nearly two million innocent children caught in the middle.

Junior Kamal Mohamed, the event’s emcee, then took the microphone and extended a thank you to everyone for attending. Throughout the evening he introduced performances and informed the crowd of the situation in Uganda and the daily struggles that the children face.

Taking the stage

Dance Club and PULSE alternated gracing the stage with routines that brought energy to the room, using different styles of music, dance and expression. A wide variety of costumes, including some with masks, gave personality to each performance and in the end left the audience cheering enthusiastically.

“It was very good,” said junior Nicole Neverman after the show. “They put a lot of work into it and the powerful cause behind it showed their creativity … It was inspiring to see so many people get so passionate about it.”

Because tickets were sold prior to the event, Dance Club Co-President Lexy Wolf, said attendance was a concern but the turnout was better than expected.

“It’s a Saturday night and we still almost had a full house,” Wolf said.

Audience members were not only happy to attend for the PULSE and Dance Club performances, but for the purpose of donating to the Invisible Children organization.

“The best part for me was that this event raised money,” senior Reggie Evans said. “When you do something that can actually create change, that’s always a plus.”

A moving performance

PULSE had the last performance of the night in which it depicted a boy who was kidnapped from his home by members of the Lord’s Resistance Army. He was enslaved as a child soldier who is taught to kill and in the end was forced to murder his own parents. The powerful representation of Uganda’s situation made an impression on many audience members, including Wolf.

“I really enjoyed the ending, which was probably most people’s favorite,” she said. “I hadn’t seen that dance yet, which was choreographed by PULSE’s Derek Porter. It was super intense, but they choreographed it just for Invisible Children. It was moving.”

The groups plan to continue working together in the future and for each that means progress.

“Without the help of Dance Club and PULSE, this event wouldn’t have been as big as it was,” said Invisible Children group member, Channing James. “It was ridiculously awesome. It was a success.”

Sally Schreiber can be reached at sfschreiber@stthomas.edu

Quidditch, the game of scoring, dodging and flying on broomsticks, played by Harry Potter, has now become a wildly popular club sport for hundreds of schools across the country.

Beginning as a small intramural league at Middlebury College in Vermont in 2005, the unique game has quickly caught on and the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association was formed two years later. Today, the organization boasts 226 college club-level teams, and earlier this year hosted its third World Cup.

Viewers will not find St. Thomas listed as a participating school on the IQAs Web site because St. Thomas has not joined the pack quite yet.

But for quidditch and Harry Potter enthusiasts, proposing the idea for the new club sport would not be difficult.

Junior Ann Ziegler, Undergraduate Student Government vice president of administrative affairs, said any group that wants to start an organization on campus first needs to find 10 people who are interested.

“They need to show that there is an interest on campus,” Ziegler said. “And they would have to create a constitution. From there, it’s just a voting process.”

Although only 10 people are needed to form a club, 14 players, or seven per team, are required for the adapted style of earth-bound quidditch currently played by college club teams. The full-contact, co-ed game can be thrilling and may attract students, such as senior Marta Radcliffe.

“I would consider playing it, just for the novelty I guess,” Radcliffe said. “If people got into it, I’m sure I could find myself getting caught up in it. The way I picture it in my head, with people running around with broomsticks between their legs, seems really funny.”

In an attempt to describe why she enjoyed reading about the unique game in the Harry Potter books, Radcliffe noted that quidditch is a combination of many different sports.

“There are the people that hit balls at you, so that’s like baseball,” she said. “Then you have to shoot a ball through hoops, so that’s like basketball or soccer. Then you have to catch stuff like the seeker does. I’ve never thought about that before, but that’s interesting.”

Sally Schreiber can be reached at sfschreiber@stthomas.edu

A 452-mile trek to Monmouth, Ill., to support the Tommies in the first round of the NCAA playoffs was no big deal for the devoted fans that make up "Caruso's Crew." (John Kruger/TommieMedia)

For ordinary sports fans, traveling 452 miles to cheer on their home team may be out of the question. But for a special group of dedicated St. Thomas football fans, it’s loyalty over a long car ride.

The seminarians who form “Caruso’s Crew,” sporting hard hats, faux-mustaches and oversized handyman tools at each game, would not let a seven-hour drive stop them from taking purple pride on the road for the first round of the NCAA playoffs.

At 3:15 a.m. Saturday, the alarm clocks in St. John Vianney Seminary sounded as these fans, led by their rector the Rev. William Baer, piled into a pickup truck and a 16-passenger van to make the trek to Monmouth, Ill.

“It was a long day, but it was worthwhile for a victory,” said senior seminarian, Patrick Cooley. “As Father Baer always says, loyalty is very important to us as a seminary. So, staying loyal to the Tommie football team, to coach Caruso and to all the players is very important to us.”

With playing cards, good conversation and general anticipation for the game, some managed to stay awake while others, like senior Jim Rolph, couldn’t keep their eyes open.

“It was a beautiful day for football and for driving, but I slept most of the way,” Rolph said.

Arriving just as St. Thomas started playing in its first NCAA playoff appearance since 1990, the seminarians were right on time.

“We had to go slightly above the recommended speed to make it on time, but we did make it,” said Rolph. “It’s okay, we prayed beforehand.”

Coach Glenn Caruso hams it up with his "Crew" after St. Thomas' 43-21 win Saturday over the Fighting Scots. (John Kruger/TommieMedia)

Hoisting one another in the air and waving their tools in support of Caruso’s program built on a hard-working mentality, “Caruso’s Crew” of seminarians stayed energized throughout game. St. Thomas’ game-changing plays and unstoppable defensive performance in the second half kept the fans wound up.

“We’ve been supporting the team all year and we feel that it’s a big part of what we do here at the seminary – supporting the local teams and groups on campus,” said Rolph. “We really want to be a part of the life on campus, and we feel a big part of that is supporting the football team, especially with the big turn around that they’ve had.”

While the seminarians attend each game out of loyalty to their Tommies, they always know they are in for a good time.

“Let’s be honest, it’s just a great time at the game,” said Cooley. “We love getting the crowd involved and trying to help out on defense by making some noise. It was a blast, and we’re looking forward to more rounds.”

Sally Schreiber can be reached at sfschreiber@stthomas.edu

On Friday, Nov. 20 the St. Thomas literary club hosted a poetry slam in Scooters to raise student awareness about the February installation of a stained glass window in the O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library honoring author Zora Neale Hurston.
This is the first stained glass window dedicated to a female African-American author in the library.

Students could choose to read either their own poetry or favorite poems written by other authors. Because there was a low turnout of student participation, no prizes were given away.

The literary club, who organized the event, is made up of students majoring in English. Group participants also include members of the English honor society, Sigma Tau Delta, as well as students who simply enjoy reading and writing.

The literary club, advised by professor Alexis Easly, will be planning other events to raise awareness of the new stained glass window.

Sally Schreiber can be reached at sfschreiber@stthomas.edu

St. Thomas continued its playoff success with a win over Luther in the second round and play Saturday in the regional championship. (File photo-Josh Kleven/TommieMedia)

The women opened the match with a 21-12 lead in the first set and held on to secure a 25-18 win. St. Thomas showed signs of trouble in the second set as the Tommies trailed late in the game 22-20. After a timeout called by coach Thanh Pham, the Tommies fought back, putting away the set at 27-25.

St. Thomas dominated in the third and final set and earned a 25-20 victory over the Norse. The win ends Luther’s first postseason appearance. St. Thomas advances to the regional finals for the third time in five seasons.

The Tommies outhit the Norse .222 to .088, with 44 kills to Luther’s 29. Junior Tori Jones led with 13 kills and junior Jill Osbourne added 10 as well. Senior Kyley Crotty contributed 14 digs and junior Emily Foster tallied 30 set assists.

Sally Schreiber can be reached at sfschreiber@stthomas.edu

St. Thomas took care of business in the first round against Whitewater. (File photo-Marc Lane/TommieMedia)

With set scores of 25-19, 25-23, and 25-17, the Tommies advanced to the second round and will play Luther College at 4:30 p.m. Today in Oshkosh, Wis.

St. Thomas was eliminated by Whitewater in the 2006 and 2007 regional playoffs but only trailed once the entire match on the way to this year’s first round win. This was the first time since 2004 the Warhawks have been eliminated in the first round, drawing its 22nd tournament appearance to a close.

The Tommies were led by senior Kyley Crotty and junior Katie Bonine with nine kills each, helping St. Thomas post its fifth consecutive 25-win season. Junior Alesha Nelson contributed seven kills and junior setter Emily Foster added 30 assists and eight digs.

In today’s semifinal round, the sixth-seeded Tommies face seventh-seeded Luther, which is making its first tournament appearance in school history. The Norse are coached by 2004 St. Thomas graduate Jane Gibbs, who was named 2009 Iowa Conference Coach of the Year. As a setter at St. Thomas, Gibbs was a two-time All-American and MIAC Player of the Year her senior season.

Luther players to watch include sophomore All-Conference hitter Emily Cory, who has 852 career kills, and senior libero Grayce Hamlin.

The winner of today’s match will play the winner of the Eau Claire-Oshkosh match. The final game of the eight-team regional will be played Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Sally Schreiber can be reached at sfschreiber@stthomas.edu

Junior Katie Bonine serves up the ball in St. Thomas' loss to St. Olaf Nov. 5. (Marc Lane/TommieMedia)

The Oshkosh Regional features seven matches, with four scheduled for Thursday, two for Friday (Nov. 13) and one for Saturday (Nov. 14). The winner of the Oshkosh Regional joins seven other regional champions in the quarterfinal round of the 62-team NCAA Division III Championships on Nov. 19 in University Heights, Ohio.

Making St. Thomas’ 11th tournament appearance, the Tommies are in a bracket that includes six teams ranked nationally by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Junior Carlie Waibel said her team is aware of the challenging teams they may face.

“You have Oshkosh, who has consistently been number one in the nation, and other talented teams like Eau Claire,” captain Waibel said. “Every team is ranked high, and they’re good.”

The Tommie’s first opponent, Wisconsin-Whitewater, is making its 17th consecutive and 22nd overall NCAA playoff appearance. While Whitewater knocked the Tommies out of the 2007 regional finals and 2006 semifinals, Waibel said her team’s main goal is not necessarily revenge, but playing its best.

“It’s been the overall theme of the season, not to worry about the other team and instead play our game and accept the responsibility,” she said. “Our coach stressed that this is a second chance, because we didn’t get the automatic bid. It’s a huge opportunity and really, we have nothing to lose at this point. We’re just going out there and having fun.”

The College of St. Benedict shared the MIAC regular season title with St. Thomas and will be playing seventh-seeded Luther College in the 3 p.m. match on Thursday. If St. Thomas and St. Ben’s both win, the two teams could face each other for the third time this season.

Regional Tournament Schedule:

Thursday, Nov. 12

12:30 p.m. No. 3 Wisconsin-Whitewater (31-6) vs. No. 6 St. Thomas (Minn.) (24-7)

3 p.m. No. 2 St. Benedict (Minn.) (26-5) vs. No. 7 Luther (Iowa) (25-11)

5:30 p.m. No. 4 Wisconsin-Eau Claire (30-7) vs. No. 5 St. Olaf (Minn.) (27-4)

8 p.m. No. 1 Wisconsin-Oshkosh (35-2) vs. No. 8 St. Norbert (Wis.) (24-9)

Friday, Nov. 13

4:30 p.m. Winner of Match No. 1 vs. Winner of Match No. 2

7 p.m. Winner of Match No. 3 vs. Winner of Match No. 4

Saturday, Nov. 14

7 p.m. Winner of Match No. 5 vs. Winner of Match No. 6

Sally Schreiber can be reached at sfschreiber@stthomas.edu

The No. 9-ranked St. Thomas volleyball team lost in five sets to No. 21-ranked St. Olaf in the semifinals of the MIAC playoffs Thursday. The Tommies fell 26-24 in the deciding set at Concordia University in St. Paul.

While the Tommies jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead after the first set, the Oles fought back and went on to win sets two and three. In both losing sets St. Thomas trailed throughout, knotting up the score but never recovering the lead.

St. Thomas fell behind 10-16 in the fourth set, but then scored seven of the next eight points to tie the game at 17-17. Junior Molly Stanton’s ace and a kill by junior Jill Osborne chalked up two more points, giving the Tommies a 19-17 lead and the strength to hold on and win the fourth set.

With renewed energy, St. Thomas started the fifth set with a 5-1 lead, but attacks by St. Olaf’s Katie Wolfram kept the Oles in the game, bringing the score to 10-8. St. Thomas took its last lead at 14-11 and the Tommies seemed to be on a roll, but a call was overruled and St. Thomas lost the point. The Oles gained control thanks to St. Thomas’ errors and then Ole Kim Smisek’s kill gave St. Olaf the win.

St. Thomas junior middle blocker Alesha Nelson said the level of excitement was high in the fifth set, but things just didn’t fall into place.

“We came out pretty strong, but we messed up a couple big plays,” she said. “Having that last call about the ball being out really just changed our momentum and we didn’t have time to pick ourselves back up.”

The loss brought the Tommie’s five-match winning streak to an end.

“We have to hope that we get a bid into the playoffs, and then if that happens we need to really get our act together,” Nelson said. “All the things we need to fix we can definitely do better. That’s a good sign. We have to play better and execute better.”

St. Thomas will find out Monday at 10 a.m. if the Tommies make the NCAA playoffs with an at-large bid.

Like usual, senior Kyley Crotty had a big game racking up 13 kills and 25 digs. Bonine had 10 kills and nine digs, junior Jill Osborne tallied 17 kills and junior setter Emily Foster recorded 52 assists and nine digs.

Earlier this week, Foster was named 2009 MIAC Player of the Year, and teammates Crotty and Osborne joined her on the 18-player all-conference team.

The Oles hit .195 as St. Thomas hit .155. St. Olaf was led by Kim Smisek, who had 26 kills and 18 digs. Kelly Prunty added 54 assists and 11 digs, Katie Wolfram had 15 kills and Alyssa Williams dug out 34 balls. St. Olaf advanced to Saturday’s finals at top-seed St. Ben’s.

Sally Schreiber can be reached at sfschreiber@stthomas.edu

This is News in :90 for Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009.

Trayless Tuesday won't be weekly anytime soon as Director of Dining Services Todd Empanger said he wants more student input about the process. (Marc Lane/TommieMedia)

“Not at this time,” said Director of Dining Services Todd Empanger.

Dining Services has asked the St. Thomas Green Team to work with the Residence Hall Association and the Undergraduate Student Government in gathering and understanding student opinions on a trayless cafeteria.

Empanger said because on-campus students make up about 90 percent of the cafeteria’s business, those students should be involved in the decision making process of continuing Trayless Tuesdays.

This week’s trayless event was organized by the Green Team in an effort to educate students about reducing food waste in addition to saving water and energy.

Abigail Yeomans, a Green Team member and this week’s Trayless Tuesday leader, explained the importance of informing students and creating a conscious mindset.

“I feel it’s important to have this tangible activity, where you’re thinking about how much you’re taking and how much you’re wasting,” she said. “So it all clicks.”

Elimination of trays causes other necessary investment

While the environmental benefits are difficult to ignore, other factors that make a trayless cafeteria possible may or may not be completely beneficial. Although the trays are being eliminated, investment into other components might be necessary, Empanger said.

Without trays, there are more spills, meaning it costs more money to staff and run the dining services. Purchasing larger cups so students do not have to carry multiple small cups would also be costly.

“We’re not set up for a trayless operation no matter how you look at it,” Empanger said. “Is it beneficial? That’s the question we don’t have answers to yet.”

Sophomore Ben Wills said going trayless helped him reduce waste.

“It made me consider my choices a little bit more when I walked up,” he said. “I usually get a salad and then don’t really eat it, so yes, I did conserve more today. It made me more thought-conscious about what I was going to get.”

Trayless possibilities in Anderson Student Center

Green Team member Abby Yeomans hopes the new Anderson Student Center dining hall can be trayless for Tuesdays and Thursdays and then completely trayless. (Marc Lane/TommieMedia)

The possibility of going trayless in the new Anderson Student Center dining hall is still up in the air, Empanger said, and no decisions have been made yet.

Yeomans said she hopes a gradual trayless transition may lead to a completely trayless cafeteria in the new student center. The plan was to make Trayless Tuesdays a weekly event, so next year it could be Trayless Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then finally no trays at all.

“When the new student center is done we’d have a trayless cafeteria there,” Yeomans said. “That was my goal. It is still my goal. I have to work a little harder now.”

In a Trayless Tuesday experiment conducted last year by RHA, it was reported that going trayless reduced food waste and water and soap consumption by 30 percent.

Sally Schreiber can be reached at sfschreiber@stthomas.edu