YEAR IN PHOTOS! GREAT FINAL WORDS Check out Student Life’s SPEECHES Graduating staffers ggive photo coverage of the year. The Cadenza staff provides excerpts final insights on their WasWash.h. PAGE 7 from their favorite commencement U. experiences inn Forum. speeches. PAGE 3 PAGE 10 Sthe independentTUDENT newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis LIFE since eighteen seventy-eighty -eight Vol. 130 No. 83 www.studlife.com Monday, May 4, 2009 MATT MITGANG| STUDENT LIFE 2 STUDENT LIFE | NEWS News Editor / Kat Zhao / [email protected] MONDAY | MAY 4, 2009 Senior year: Debate, election and an ill economy Dan Woznica dorms and area houses to register edge of national and international winter break, hundreds of students looked to the new president to help a nail-biting national championship News Editor voters while Bon Appétit started politics. gathered in the Danforth University alleviate the nation’s fi nancial pres- of its own. selling political party-themed el- Following the debate, just over a Center to witness the historic swear- sures and sustain a job market for Following David Banner’s ephant and donkey sugar cookies. month remained before the election. ing-in of President Obama. Stu- outgoing seniors hard-pressed to performance at fall Walk In, Lay The year began with the open- The excitement culminated on Students focused on campaigning dents at the event enjoyed watching fi nd employment. Down, students gathered in the ing of the Danforth University Cen- Oct. 2, when thousands of media for various political issues includ- the carving of an Obama ice sculp- March Madness saw the men’s Quad on the last day of classes to ter, Washington University’s new personnel converged on campus to ing Proposition M, a referendum to ture and a large-screen projection basketball team celebrate its sec- listen to spring headliner The Black LEED Gold-certifi ed sustainable cover the vice presidential debate. increase the St. Louis County tran- of the inauguration ceremony. With ond consecutive NCAA Division Keys and celebrate the end of what student center, and Seigle Hall, a During the day, students rubbed sit sales-tax by half a cent in order the nation’s economy continuing III National Championship, while was a historic year at the Univer- new law and undergraduate build- shoulders with well-known journal- to fund operating expenses for Met- to spiral downward, students now the women’s basketball team lost in sity. ing on the west end of campus. On ists, politicians and media personal- ro and to support future expansion the South 40, construction began on ities, including Katie Couric, John of the light-rail system. two new buildings, the new Wohl Oliver from “The Daily Show,” The proposition did not pass, Center and new Umrath Hall. Howard Dean, Rudy Giuliani and despite the efforts of University Soon after students arrived on Joe Lieberman. students in showing up at the polls campus, then-Sen. Barack Obama, A large crowd of students gath- in record numbers on Election Day. D-Ill., announced via text message ered behind a stage set up outside The night of the election, campus that then-Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., Graham Chapel, where MSNBC erupted into spontaneous celebra- was to be his running mate in the fi lmed live news coverage and epi- tions as the nation’s fi rst black presidential race. One week later, sodes of “Hardball with Chris Mat- president was voted into offi ce. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., sur- thews.” Several students entered After the election, fall semes- prised the country by picking Sarah into a heated argument with some ter ended on a more somber note. Palin, the little-known Republican non-students in the crowd carry- Later in November, Chancellor governor of Alaska, to be his run- ing McCain-Palin signs, which the Mark Wrighton announced that due ning mate. students felt deliberately misrepre- to the ill economy, the University’s Palin was transformed into a ce- sented the views of the University’s endowment had fallen about 25 lebrity almost overnight, ensuring student body. percent in value. More bad news that the vice presidential debate on The night of the debate, more came when rising crime near cam- the University’s campus in Octo- than 400 students with winning lot- pus reached a tragic new height af- ber would become one of the most tery numbers entered into the Ath- ter University City Police Sergeant exciting moments in the year’s his- letic Complex’s ultra-secure debate Michael King, a University alum- toric election cycle. hall, where PBS newscaster Gwen nus, was shot and killed on the Del- In the weeks before the media Ifi ll moderated the debate between mar Loop. On the last day of fall stormed campus, the University Biden and Palin on matters of do- semester, a drug related search took saw a surge in political awareness mestic and foreign policy. After the place at the Sigma Alpha Mu frater- and activism among students. Stu- debate, the general consensus from nity house, resulting in the Univer- dent Union allocated $55,000 for politicians, pundits and students on sity’s removal of the fraternity from student programming related to the campus was that both candidates campus at the beginning of spring EVAN WISKUP | STUDENT LIFE election. Students from all ends of had argued well, and that Palin had semester. More than 400 students won tickets through a University-run lottery to attend the vice-presidential debate in the the political spectrum canvassed succeeded in proving her knowl- Not long after returning from University’s Athletic Complex on Oct. 2, 2008. Junior year: Construction, championships and controversy Johann Qua Hiansen as Lupe Fiasco headlined Fall that academic year. team took third place at nationals, Olin Library. posed and were baptized in a trial Senior Sports Editor W.I.L.D. and George Clinton came Politics played a large role at the the highest fi nish in program his- Mother Nature continued to by fi re with the 2008-2009 budget in the spring. Other notable per- University as the school was select- tory. The women’s cross country fl uctuate throughout the year as the controversy. Several student groups formers were Stars, who played at ed to host the 2008 vice presiden- third-place fi nish and men’s soccer University was blanketed in over 6 mobilized their supporters to make This school year started with an the fi rst WUstock, and Cascada, tial debate in November. Chelsea team sixth-place fi nish also matched inches of snow in March. Classes their voices heard as the budget was uproar by many students over the who gave a brief performance that Clinton led a question-and-answer their best performances at their re- were not canceled despite the snow- passed by Treasury only to be re- Student Technology Fee rate hike. disappointed many. Girl Talk’s session at Kayak’s Coffee, while spective national tournaments. storm. St. Louis was then rocked by jected by the Senate. The deadlock As the year progressed, tensions performance in the Gargoyle was many students were dismayed to Sustainability rose to the fore- a magnitude-5.2 earthquake in the was broken with only three minutes cooled as Student Technology Ser- overshadowed by a student getting fi nd that the University would not front as groups like Green Action middle of April, surprising many to spare at a joint session of the vices backed off and wireless in- tasered by Washington University allow then-Democratic presidential led the charge. Dining Services members of the community. Senate and Treasury in April. ternet gradually became accessible Police Department (WUPD) after candidate Barack Obama to speak started offering silverware at Bear’s Dance Marathon broke re- Controversy continued to the around campus. he resisted arrest. on campus in the run up to Super Den, and the sustainable garden cords as other successful student last second of the school year with October brought racism and WUPD had its hands full this Tuesday. This sparked the creation created by the Burning Kumquat led events such as Relay for Life, hundreds of students and professors other forms of discriminations school year as multiple break-ins of the Student Civic Initiative, took root. Green Action’s Sustain- Diwali, Lunar New Year Festival, protesting the awarding of an hon- to the forefront as a student’s car were reported over winter break in which aims to increase campus in- abilitree joined the ranks of vari- Thurtene Carnival, and Carnavale orary doctorate to conservative ac- was vandalized with a racial slur. Myers and Hurd dorms. The mug- volvement in politics. ous works of art done on campus, continued to unite the community. tivist Phyllis Schlafl y during com- Student groups continued to lobby ging at gunpoint of a freshman Online war came to Wash. U. as including the bubble wrapping of The Student Union executive mencement. for a sexual assault coordinator but outside Park/Mudd made many stu- hundreds of students battled over Bowles Plaza and the bed outside board was mostly elected unop- were successful in establishing an dents more conscious of their sur- the Danforth Campus in a mas- LGTBQIA coordinator. Connect 4 roundings. sive GoCrossCampus game. Other was created to address various dis- Several infl uential professors Web sites like Facebook were in criminations and hosted its fi rst fo- have changed their roles at the Uni- the spotlight for gathering users’ rum on racism in November versity. Professor Richard Smith, personal information and selling it The school hosted several fa- who taught Introduction to Human to companies.