Common Ground

As more and more people accept the presence of homosexuals in our society, more gay rights groups pop up. IIn recent weeks, there's been a ton of coverage on whether or not Chicago will have a gay high school. The story even made national news when CNN's story made headlines. So how does Common Ground feel about this? There are several GLBT staff/faculty members at DU. Are they involved with Common Ground? I will be following this up with an interview with Common Gound's Vicki Whooper. Stay tuned!!

Photo source: cnn.com/2008/US/10/13/gay.friendly.school

IMPACT....is a "Life-Changing Experience"

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Those were the words of Dean of Students Trudi Goggin on the 24-hour self defense class, IMPACT. Students are encouraged to enroll in the class to learn the necessary tools to escape a possible offender. Rob Babcok and Diana Costanzo will be teaching the class this weekend, Oct. 25 and Oct. 26, and next weekend, Nov. 1 and Nov. 2. The self-denfense instruction will take place in the rec room of the residence hall commons. Goggin said every woman should enroll in the class. Goggin herself attended a session a few years back and said it was a "life-changing experience."

Interested? Good, I think all women should enroll in self-defense. I did a self-defense class a couple years back and learned a lot. So if you're considering the class you should keep in mind a minor detail. This detail is the fact that the course costs $800!!!!

That's almost a Chanel bag! BUT would a Chanel bag save your life in a threatening situation? It could...but I don't think the average attacker would want the bag. So, yea, as a former self-defense enrollee, I suggest that all chicks should take some kind of self-defense class.

Blood Drive

According to MyDU there will be a blood drive on October 30 from 11am-4pm. This will take place in Crown 002/003. You can make an appointment but walk ins are also welcome. I know blood drives are for a good cause but a blood drive the day before Halloween...Dracula anyone? Maybe it's just me.

Men's Soccer

The Dominican men's soccer team is kicking their way towards another appearance at the Northern Athletic Conference Championships. The Stars have an overall record of 14-2-0 and a conference record of 10-0-0. If the Stars go all the way this year, they'll be making their SEVENTH consecutive appearance at the Division III National Championships...can you believe it? Hope for the best and cheer the soccer players on as their season is ending soon. The Stars have two home games left. Go to the West Soccer field Oct. 26 at 1 p.m. and Oct. 29 at 3 p.m.

Controversy Last Night?

Last night Stephen Kinzer was part of a panel of journalists leading a discussion about the nature of reporting. I heard in my political science class that some of the journalists (not Kinzer)made some controversial statements about reporting and the government. I would REALLY like to know more about what was said. If anybody was there and knows more about it, please let me know.

Hispanic Heritage Reception

On Friday, October 24, OLA will be hosting their annual Hispanic Heritage Reception.
The reception started 5 years ago. This is organized event to raise money for The Latino Educational Support Grant which is awarded every year to Hispanic undergrad students. Also, this is an opportunity for DU undergrad students to meet professional alumni of Dominican University. All Dominican students and Alumni are welcome! There is no entrance fee, but donations will be accepted at the door. Also we will be selling tickets for a raffle so come prepared.

Into the Woods

The Fall show, Into the Woods is a play about fairy tales but with a twist. Senior Amy Dettman is the Baker's Wife and spilled some secrets about the show.

"My character is the Baker's Wife. Her fairy tale is a little bit different than the other ones. She is a very take charge character. To sum of the show, the underlining meaning is to be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. It is a commonatary on the human condition. Even after you get what you want, you will always want something else. Essentially, everyone must be careful what they wish for," Dettman said.

The show will be Friday, November 14, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, November 15, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, November 16, 3:00 p.m. in the Lund Auditorium.

TV...It's Pretty Fun

I just wanted to follow up with what Natalie said about Concordia's TV station. Not only do I agree 100% that Dominican should have its own TV and radio stations, but I also think that any journalism/communication student should really check this out. I think it's really valuable experience and it's also pretty fun. I got to dress up like a REAL TV newscaster and read a sports story in front of the camera (after Natalie showed me how to not look "nervous" on TV of course). So if you're interested at all in this sort of thing, come check it out. There'll be more info to come on when we'll be taping next.

Thank You Letters for Soldiers

According to MyDU "The Adopt A Soldier Letter Writing Party is a bi-partisan event aimed at putting aside our political differences and writing Thank You letters to our soldiers serving overseas." This event is taking place tomorrow from 5-7pm in the Lewis Lounge. I think this event sounds great and I really like the fact that it mentions that this is not a political event. It might be hard to forget about politics right now, and we all know how charged a political discussion can become, but an event like this shows that it is possible to put aside our differences for a good cause. So check out this event if you want to say thank you for the men and women of the military.

On the Dominican home page, there is a link to an article in the Wednesday Journal about Judy Collins' performance. According to the article, many people were extremely excited for her to perform:

"Collins' talent will be on display this Saturday, Oct. 18 in River Forest, when she appears in a much-anticipated concert at Dominican University's Performing Arts Center. Leslie Dominguez, who curates the Performance Center's season, said, "Judy Collins has been on my wish list since I came here. I grew up listening to her music. I think I know every word of every song."
Dominguez and her boss, Dominican President Donna Carroll, both of whom have previously witnessed Collins' virtuosity, are delighted she's coming."

I work phonathon at Dominican, and one alum told me that she was not donating to Dominican this year because Collins is extremely open about being pro-choice. She said she was disappointed in Dominican for inviting Collins to a Catholic institution.

Does anybody have any thoughts about this?

Trick or Treat...Career Center Style

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For many students, the Center for Career Development is ready and willing to help prepare resumes and assist with other services in order to prepare students for the real world. For me, Career Development helped me polish my resume when I applied for an internship at NBC. I plan on going back to Career Development to polish my resume again when I begin to apply for jobs in the next month or so.

On Wednesday, Oct. 29, the Center for Career Development will be hosting a session in order to help students build resumes. Students will be able to learns some TRICKS while enjoying some tasty TREATS from 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. in the Caughlin Mulit-Purpose Room. Based on my experiences with the Center for Career Development, I encourage you all to stop by with a first draft of your resume as you will learn a lot!

Midnight Madness

Since I was a Dominican cheerleader for my freshmen and sophomore year, I performed at Midnight Madness every year. This is my first year not performing because Dominican does not have a cheerleading squad anymore.

Midnight Madness promotes school spirit, but in my opinion but it is more stressful than fun. My freshmen year I had to leave night class early in order to make my call time. Last year our squad had to learn a cheer quickly since our tryouts were in mid September. The pep rally is early in the year, so it is hard putting together a cheer or a dance with new members. For cheerleaders, perfecting stunts, a dance and cheer could take months. It is difficult to put a routine like that together in only a month and a half. Also, the rally goes until 1 a.m. I know that if Midnight Madness was on a Friday night there would be less of a turn out, but it was always hard for me waking up for my classes the next day.

However, Wednesday night is the 10th Annual Midnight Madness pep rally. Both the mens and womens basketball team will have a scrimage to kick off the new season.

Think Pink

In my family, my Aunt Angie and my cousin Kim are both breast cancer survivors. Since breast cancer has affected my family, I am very passionate about supporting different causes to find a cure. There is nothing more devestating than seeing someone you love sick and weak. It is also hard to know that many other women are suffering from the same sickness. According to the American Cancer Society, about 182,460 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. And about 40,480 women will die from the disease this year. However, there are now about two-and-a-half million breast cancer survivors in the United States.

On October 22, 2008 Dominican invites you to wear pink to honor those who are fighting or recovering from breast cancer. It is also to support further research and awareness. Information and give-aways will be available at the Lewis Alcove on 10/22 from 10am – 2pm.

Let's wear pink to support a great cause!

DU's POTENTIAL MEDIA CENTER?? ATTN: DU ADMINISTRATION

Tonight, my fellow DU students....Joe Nava and Lisa Wieczorek....and I filmed our first ever WCGR News show. The show was an over all success. I wish DU had or own TV station so that my friends, peers and fellow Dominican students would be able to view our newscasts on a campus TV station. Unfortunately, only Concordia students will see us on their cable network. While DU students will be able to view us via the website...which will come at a later date.. I really hope that the administration at Dominican will seriously CONSIDER adding a MEDIA development program IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

CU's media equipment is SERIOUSLY out of date and I feel that DU should invest money in a news station. Writers for the STAR are not all journalism majors. I believe that many students, irregardless of their declared major, would be interested in a DU News/TV STATION. Please consider this, blog readers, as it is something very dear to me. I feel that this should be taken seriously by the deans as they may have some input as to whether or not DU will have a potential media center.

Thank you.

Breast Cancer Awareness

Next Wednesday, October 22, the Dominican Benevolence Committee is encouraging everyone to wear pink to raise breast cancer awareness. Stop by the Lewis Alcove from 10am-2pm that day for information and give-aways. This is a great way to raise awareness and show support.

(Photo courtesy of Blogspot)

Judy Collins?

Sorry if I'm ignorant, but who is Judy Collins? Is this someone that students at Dominican really want to see? I would think that a college campus would want to cater to maybe...the college-aged audience? But then again, I'm sure there's a lot of students who wouldn't know who the Rolling Stones are if they were coming here, so maybe I'm just underestimating Judy Collins' popularity. Anyway, if you're interested check out MyDu for more info.

BULLS TICKETS!

That's right Bulls fans, Student Involvement is selling Bulls tickets for only $10. Tickets will be sold tomorrow from 3:00-6:00pm and Thursday from 9:30am-1:00pm. The tickets are for the November 1 game against the Memphis Grizzlies. So if you're a basketball fan and want to see the Bulls' #1 pick Derrick Rose, get your tickets while you still can.

(Photo courtesy of NBA.com)

Concordia TV

I just wanted to also talk about the TV station at Concordia. I think it's a great opportunity for Dominican students who want experience in broadcasting. This is an especially good opportunity for communication students who hopefully have found our blog. It should be fun putting this newscast together, so come join Natalie and I at Concordia.