Hey y'all! I'm back at home now! And I already miss Tulane sooo much! The end of the semester was so jam packed with activities that the end of my sophomore year sneaked up on me! I cannot believe I'm half way done with school. It's wild! Anyway, let me catch y'all up on the end of the year.

1. FORMALS!
Formal season is definitely a highly anticipated time of year (at least in my book, it is!). A lot of different organizations on campus have formals (it's not just a Greek thing!). Many organizations, mostly fraternities, go away for a formal weekend to a nearby beach. This year I got invited to SAE formal in Destin, Florida. It was soooo much fun! And such a treat to have a whole day on the beach.


The night of formal, we went out to dinner to a nice Hibachi steak restaurant (delicious) and then went to a really cool place called McGuire's, where there was an awesome live band! It was really, really fun! Up top is a picture of me and my dashing date, Morgan. And to left is a picture of the devilishly handsome men of SAE. Yes, they're that handsome.

Then, that following week, I went to my formal for Pi Phi. We went to the Cricket Club on St. Charles. The venue was so cool (and, of course, very classy). We had a great DJ and dance floor... so needless to say I was cuttin' some rug the entire night! There I am with my friend, Michael, working it on the dance floor... naturally! Yeah, we're pretty cute! And below is a picture of (some of) my Pi Phi family... 3 generations. It's a beautiful thing! My Big, Lindsey, is in the middle, and my Little, Vicki, is on the right.

2. Student Affairs Town Hall
As the new VP for Student Life, I inherited a project from the old VP to better communication between the school administrators and the students. What we came up with was a Town Hall, where administrators from both academic and student life oriented realms participated in an open panel with students. The goal of this event was to reflect on the year, and allow students to voice their concerns and suggestions in order to make Tulane even better for next year. Also, it allowed administrators to give students an inside scoop as to what changes or improvements have been made in certain departments. Overall, the panel was very successful! And I, along with other enthusiastic administrators, plan to make this a semesterly event, where we can recap on the semester/year as well as look forward to the next semester/year, working as a team, administrators and students side by side. It's pretty unique that school administrators are so in touch with the students! I guess the saying holds true... "only at Tulane!"

3. Panhellenic Extension
As I said before, Tulane is open for extension... no, we're not acquiring more land; we're adding a new sorority! The Panehllenic Extension committee, after three days of presentation watching, hours of application reading, and reviewing Greek members' evaluations, the committee came to a unanimous conclusion: Phi Mu is the perfect sorority to (re)colonize at Tulane. They were a member of the Tulane community back when Sophie Newcomb College was an all woman's college, and they are so excited to have their charter back at Tulane. They will be having Recruitment for upperclassmen in the Fall, and will be joining the Spring Panhellenic Recruitment for freshmen, along with our six current sororities: Alpha Epsilon Phi, Chi Omega, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, and Sigma Delta Tau. We're all very excited to welcome Phi Mu back to the community! If you're an upperclassmen and interested in Fall Recruitment for Phi Mu, go to for more information.

4. FINALS
Finals seemed to consume more of my life this year than in any other past semester. I was studying SOOO much for my exams! Luckily, Tulane has a lot of quiet places to study. Anyway, it was such a relief when finals were finally over! I went out to a nice dinner to celebrate (try Irene's in the French Quarter... yummy) and then slept for a long, long time! Finals wears everyone out!! All and all, the semester ended quite well, though. I'm just excited to start up new classes next semester! It's a nerdy feeling, but I feel lost without any work to do for school!

5. FAREWELLS
It's always hard to say goodbye to people at the end of the year because everyone finishes their finals and leaves at different times. This year was particularly hard to say goodbye to my friends, though, because a lot of them are going abroad in the Fall, meaning I won't see some of them til January... or even next year!! It was really sad to say goodbye. But my friends and I have a secret facebook wall where we all catch each other up on the events of our lives. It's a little corny, but it's a GREAT way to stay in touch! I already miss my friends sooo much, but I know that, for the group of people that are coming back to Tulane for the Fall semester, rather than going abroad, it's going to be an amazing semester! I have so much to look forward to, including NOLA, where I will again be an Orientation Coordinator. I'll get to come back to school around the 10th, move into my new house, and meet lots of new freshmen before school starts! I cannot wait. In the meantime, I'll be interning at Target and spending my free time visiting friends and family. I've got a full summer to keep me occupied 'til I can finally return back Tulane!

Stay tuned for updates over the summer, my loyal readers, and for those of you who are going to Tulane next year, or for those of you that have any questions in regards to Tulane, please don't hesitate to e-mail me! HAVE A GREAT SUMMER! And Roll Wave!

Hey y'all! I'm back at home now! And I already miss Tulane sooo much! The end of the semester was so jam packed with activities that the end of my sophomore year sneaked up on me! I cannot believe I'm half way done with school. It's wild! Anyway, let me catch y'all up on the end of the year.

1. FORMALS!
Formal season is definitely a highly anticipated time of year (at least in my book, it is!). A lot of different organizations on campus have formals (it's not just a Greek thing!). Many organizations, mostly fraternities, go away for a formal weekend to a nearby beach. This year I got invited to SAE formal in Destin, Florida. It was soooo much fun! And such a treat to have a whole day on the beach.


The night of formal, we went out to dinner to a nice Hibachi steak restaurant (delicious) and then went to a really cool place called McGuire's, where there was an awesome live band! It was really, really fun! Up top is a picture of me and my dashing date, Morgan. And to left is a picture of the devilishly handsome men of SAE. Yes, they're that handsome.

Then, that following week, I went to my formal for Pi Phi. We went to the Cricket Club on St. Charles. The venue was so cool (and, of course, very classy). We had a great DJ and dance floor... so needless to say I was cuttin' some rug the entire night! There I am with my friend, Michael, working it on the dance floor... naturally! Yeah, we're pretty cute! And below is a picture of (some of) my Pi Phi family... 3 generations. It's a beautiful thing! My Big, Lindsey, is in the middle, and my Little, Vicki, is on the right.

2. Student Affairs Town Hall
As the new VP for Student Life, I inherited a project from the old VP to better communication between the school administrators and the students. What we came up with was a Town Hall, where administrators from both academic and student life oriented realms participated in an open panel with students. The goal of this event was to reflect on the year, and allow students to voice their concerns and suggestions in order to make Tulane even better for next year. Also, it allowed administrators to give students an inside scoop as to what changes or improvements have been made in certain departments. Overall, the panel was very successful! And I, along with other enthusiastic administrators, plan to make this a semesterly event, where we can recap on the semester/year as well as look forward to the next semester/year, working as a team, administrators and students side by side. It's pretty unique that school administrators are so in touch with the students! I guess the saying holds true... "only at Tulane!"

3. Panhellenic Extension
As I said before, Tulane is open for extension... no, we're not acquiring more land; we're adding a new sorority! The Panehllenic Extension committee, after three days of presentation watching, hours of application reading, and reviewing Greek members' evaluations, the committee came to a unanimous conclusion: Phi Mu is the perfect sorority to (re)colonize at Tulane. They were a member of the Tulane community back when Sophie Newcomb College was an all woman's college, and they are so excited to have their charter back at Tulane. They will be having Recruitment for upperclassmen in the Fall, and will be joining the Spring Panhellenic Recruitment for freshmen, along with our six current sororities: Alpha Epsilon Phi, Chi Omega, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, and Sigma Delta Tau. We're all very excited to welcome Phi Mu back to the community! If you're an upperclassmen and interested in Fall Recruitment for Phi Mu, go to gophimufacebook.com for more information.

4. FINALS
Finals seemed to consume more of my life this year than in any other past semester. I was studying SOOO much for my exams! Luckily, Tulane has a lot of quiet places to study. Anyway, it was such a relief when finals were finally over! I went out to a nice dinner to celebrate (try Irene's in the French Quarter... yummy) and then slept for a long, long time! Finals wears everyone out!! All and all, the semester ended quite well, though. I'm just excited to start up new classes next semester! It's a nerdy feeling, but I feel lost without any work to do for school!

5. FAREWELLS
It's always hard to say goodbye to people at the end of the year because everyone finishes their finals and leaves at different times. This year was particularly hard to say goodbye to my friends, though, because a lot of them are going abroad in the Fall, meaning I won't see some of them til January... or even next year!! It was really sad to say goodbye. But my friends and I have a secret facebook wall where we all catch each other up on the events of our lives. It's a little corny, but it's a GREAT way to stay in touch! I already miss my friends sooo much, but I know that, for the group of people that are coming back to Tulane for the Fall semester, rather than going abroad, it's going to be an amazing semester! I have so much to look forward to, including NOLA, where I will again be an Orientation Coordinator. I'll get to come back to school around the 10th, move into my new house, and meet lots of new freshmen before school starts! I cannot wait. In the meantime, I'll be interning at Target and spending my free time visiting friends and family. I've got a full summer to keep me occupied 'til I can finally return back Tulane!

Stay tuned for updates over the summer, my loyal readers, and for those of you who are going to Tulane next year, or for those of you that have any questions in regards to Tulane, please don't hesitate to e-mail me! HAVE A GREAT SUMMER! And Roll Wave!

PS-- for incoming Freshmen interested in NOLA, go to: orientation.tulane.edu/NOLA.html

Hello Tulane-prospectives/enthusiasts!! Sorry to leave y'all out in the cold! But I didn't forget about my loyal readers. In fact, I have a lot to share with all of you!

The Spring season has not only brought beautiful, sunny weather to New Orleans, the Spring season has also brought CRAWFISH SEASON! And boy does Tulane know how to celebrate that. Two weeks ago, Tulane had a campus-wide crawfish boil and music festival. The event is called Crawfest, and this year it drew a crowd of over 10,000 people (both Tulanians and locals). We had 16,000 pounds of crawfish (FREE for students) and 11 bands that included... (see right!). I think the numbers speak for themselves, but in case you couldn't tell, this event, though only in its 3rd year, is making history at Tulane.


It was an awesome day full of food and fun in the sun. It was such a great opportunity for all of my friends to be together at once. Actually, the whole campus united; even graduate students attended the event. Here are some more pictures of me and my friends enjoying the festivities...


My friend and suitemate, Becky, is on the Crawfest Committee as the Concert Chair. She had a VIP pass at Crawfest and was even able to get some of my friends on stage!









But Crawfest is just one of MANY crawfish boils on and around campus. The TU Administration has a crawfish boil last night for its newly elected leaders on campus! All of the Associated Student Body Executive Board members (with Graduate and Undergraduate Student Governments) were invited to join Dr. Cowen and Dr. Cherry (and other Student Affairs Administrators) for dinner! It was such a nice opportunity to connect with administrators in a relaxed setting. Plus, we got free crawfish... again! A lot of organizations also host crawfish boils in order to raise money for different philanthropic efforts. Needless to say, students here at Tulane, regardless of where they are from, have adopted the great New Orleans tradition of crawfish!

Just a little Greek update... Pi Phi had its first date party of the semester two weeks ago, the night after Crawfest. The theme: Phistock. It's Pi Phi's spin on Woodstock and it's so much fun! Everyone got really into it! And the venue was really fun. We even had a live band!!! All and all, I'd say it was a pretty successful date party. And right around the corner we have Pi Phi formal... so stay tuned!

Another exciting event happening in the Greek community here at Tulane: Panhellenic is open for extension and we are looking to add a new sorority. This week we have had three separate presentations from three different sororities and on Friday the Panehellenic Extension Committee (I'm Pi Phi's Rep. on the committee) will be making its final decision on who to invite to campus for colonization next year. It is a really exciting time for everyone on campus!

Also, as the new Vice President for Student life, I have been working very closely with the Student Affairs Administrators and Dining Services Administrators to set up a lot of open forums for students to talk openly about their thoughts on the year and how to make even more improvements for next year. I'm really excited to facilitate these opportunities for students!

That's all for now! But keep checking in, as there is a lot more to come before the semester comes to a close!

The communication department, the gender and sexuality studies program and the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women are hosting a colloquium, "Representing Women, Women Representing," this week.

The events will bring together female filmmakers from around the country whose work deals with a variety of topics, ranging from race relations in New Orleans to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to sexual identity.

New Orleans Hillel held a bone marrow drive 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday in the Lavin-Bernick Center. The drive was designed to collect samples of DNA to put in a global bone marrow registry, in order to ease the process of finding a match for those who need transplants.

Students gathered this week to support Tulane athletics in the third annual Green Week, themed "I haven't been this green since?" The Undergraduate Student Government's Tidal Wave committee organized events each day this week.

USG Vice President for Student Life-elect Lauren Aronson worked on the Green Wave committee last year and now helps Tidal Wave organize the event.

Student Programs, a division of the Office of Student Affairs, currently has a deficit of approximately $13,000. The Office of Student Affairs intends to solve the budget shortage by July 1.

The deficit began when the Associated Student Body voted to deny the Office of Student Affairs $40,000 in cost recovery last spring.

A Tulane student was abducted, robbed and raped at approximately 5 a.m. Feb. 24 near Tulane's campus. The Mardi Gras rape was the fifth rape officially reported to the Tulane University Police Department since August. Six other rapes were confidentially reported to a campus authority other than TUPD, such as the Center for Educational Resources and Counseling, during the past seven months.

After the most recent off-campus rape, students and services around campus are taking extra precautions to stay safe. Saferide, the shuttle service for students, recently extended its hours to run until 6 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

"It was the right thing to do," Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Erica Woodley said.

Intensive Tulane and Tulane V-Day 2009 will present a benefit production of "The Vagina Monologues" this weekend. The play opens 7p.m. tonight in the Woldenberg Art Center's Freeman Auditorium and will run through Sunday.

The V-Day movement grew out of performance artist, activist and playwright Eve Ensler's play "The Vagina Monologues.

More aid for New Orleans
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and FEMA have announced plans to allocate more funds toward the long-term recovery of New Orleans. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that the department plans to allocate $438.

The New Orleans Police Department arrested two men, aged 18 and 20, Feb. 24 for shootings during Mardi Gras parades. The shootings occurred at 1:40 p.m. along the St. Charles route near Second Street as Rex passed. Suspects fired nine shots, injuring seven people.

The Vagina Monologues
Newcomb Student Programs is hosting a production of "The Vagina Monologues" 7 p.m. tonight, Saturday and Sunday at the Freeman Auditorium in the Woldenberg Art Center. Tickets are $8 for students and $10 for the general public. Proceeds will benefit local organizations working to end violence against women.

Tulane Media Board planned programs this week for Media Week to raise student awareness about campus media. Media Board includes representatives from each campus media organization and focuses on helping the organizations cooperate and strengthen their campus presence.

The Freeman School of Business held its 16th annual Symposium on Business and Society today from 10 --11:30 a.m. in Dixon Hall. "Leadership and the Eye for Innovation" focused on how the decisions business leaders make affect society and how scientific innovation can be used as a tool for progress.

Concert canceled because of band's support of Tibet
British rock group Oasis says the Chinese government has canceled its concerts because guitarist Noel Gallagher appeared at a "Free Tibet" concert in the United States. The Chinese government told the band Feb.

Writer Claire Messud will visit campus next week as the 24th Zale Writer-in-Residence, hosted by the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women.

Messud will participate in public events Monday, Thursday and Friday, and meet with literature and creative writing classes throughout the week.

Hit and run
Two Tulane University Police officers were dispatched to the corner of Willow Street and McAlister Drive in reference to a hit and run. Officers observed that the light post at that corner was no longer in the upright vertical position. Witnesses described the vehicle as a yellow Nissan Xterra.

The Hullabaloo understands that for some stories, it's senior editorial staff is sometimes faced with conflicts of interest and inseparable biases; this is why our cover story on Student Affairs was written by James Gilbert, a young reporter with no past ties or grievances to air.

To whom this may concern among the Bruff staff:

I am a sophomore here at Tulane. I have indulged in the Bruff experience for about two years now and, over the course of those years, I have seen Bruff go through many changes - for better and for worse.

I tried writing comment cards, and they did actually work, for a time, but now I realize I have a lot more to say than can fit on those symbolic squares of "free speech.

Harry hopes that all of you, like Harry, enjoyed Mardi Gras. Harry drank enough Bud heavy to qualify for Belgian citizenship and enough Jack to form the world's largest glass pyramid (eat your heart out, Luxor). Despite his drunken stupor, Harry was keeping his eyes peeled to convey some important facts to you, the loyal Hullabaloo reader(s).

It's the Internet phenomenon most know and some love. Among all the social networking sites, from Myspace to Twitter, the one created by some college undergrads at Harvard is currently the most popular, and it continues to gain members at an unprecedented rate.

Several evolutionary psychological studies take headlines like "Men like pornography, while women like romance novels." They say men and women have their innate preferences for what turns them on and how they spend their private time. Men prefer explicit visuals, variety and a sense of anonymity or disposability, while women prefer context, a familiar character and intimacy.

On the way to the Hullabaloo office, I walked past a fantastically colored PT Cruiser with the logo of some local news station. The text on the side of this vehicle, which is perhaps the station's motto, informed me that they were "on my side."

On one hand, I was delighted that men with "investigative" mustaches were on my side when it came to contractor fraud, but on the other, I knew the old guard of newspaper journalism view their blunt populism and advocacy with disgust.

There has been quite a bit of controversy in the sporting world over the past two weeks. I have to say, though, that there is one controversy I am so taken aback, I feel obligated to write about it.

The Michael Phelps "bong scandal" is the most dramatized and overblown event the sports world has seen in a long time.

It's been a rollercoaster start of the 2009 season for Tulane Baseball, and nine home games in two weeks have left the team with as many questions as it started with.

The Green Wave opened the season Friday, Feb. 20, beating the LeMoyne Dolphins 6-1 in a strong offensive showing and an efficient pitching outing by sophomore righty Conrad Flynn, who gave up one run and five hits while striking out seven in seven innings pitched.

As the weekend quickly approaches, Tulane's baseball team must move on from its mid-week games versus Northwestern State and focus intently on defeating the No. 34-ranked USC squad. USC leads the all-time series 5-3, so this weekend will be a crucial opportunity for the Green Wave to regain ranking points and bragging rights.

Sports are supposed to be our safe haven. No matter what problems occur in the world, sports are there for us, allowing us to forget our troubles and escape reality. Sports, though, are a part of the real world. And sadly, the effects of the recession are slowly starting to seep into our leisure activities.

I.No matter what NFL affiliations you may have, you've got to feel some remorse for Dallas Cowboys fans.

Since the end of the 2005 season, the Cowboys have not made it past the first round of the postseason, despite showing major promise in regular season action.

Before looking back on Champions League action last week, we must first examine the curious case of Liverpool.

While the north London element of the "Big Four" (Chelsea and Arsenal) has had its struggles this season, Liverpool's dramatic story rivals soap operas.

Free agency may have started just over one week ago, but many stars have already found new teams as the trading season officially begun. While it is still early in the process, there are already some early winners and losers in free agency. This article will explore who is off to a good start and who has left fans scratching their heads.

Video game adaptations haven't fared nearly as well as their comic book counterparts. Whereas movies like "The Dark Knight" ride enormous waves of success, movies based on video games, like "Doom" or "Resident Evil," hardly make splashes. Arcade mainstay "Street Fighter," in all of its iterations, has always had a high-quality pedigree on its side (with the exception of the terrible first "Street Fighter" movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme).

New York recently said goodbye to the fall/winter 2009 fashion week, which has prompted me to look back at the spring collections, shown back in the fall, in anticipation of the never-ending warm weather that is just around the corner.

Sep. 5, 2008 marked the launch of New York's eight-day Fashion Week where around 100 designers unveiled their collections for spring/summer 2009 to the public.

As a beautiful spring quickly approaches and midterms finally come to a close, it's almost inevitable that partying will pick up its pace. But, without the excuse of Mardi Gras and, soon, spring break to fall back upon, whatever will we do to continue our active avoidance of the label "raging alcoholics"? Sure, there's always the beyond-clever parties of the Greeks, with themes like "CEOs and Corporate Hos" or "Barbie and G.

Genre: Alternative Country
Label: Anti
Released: March 3, 2009
Grade: B+

Neko Case Stirs Things Up With Middle Cyclone

The next time you find yourself drinking a café au lait at your favorite neighborhood coffeehouse, don't be surprised if you hear Neko Case's "Middle Cyclone" humming from the speakers.

Knit a Scarf Out of the Beads

Turn your tacky tangle of plastic beads into an even tackier and useless garment. Using size 17 needles and garter stitches, knit yourself a scarf that will probably be too flashy, gaudy and heavy to wear in public. But it will give you something to do for a while (as the precision needed to weave the strings together will take much patience).

To Watch and Be Watched

Director: Gary Gordon

Genre: Drama/Dance



There is something to be said of a play with many moving parts. Sometimes a production with so much motion can be confusing, drawing the viewer's attention away from the central theme and distorting the play's meaning.

Hello readers! Sorry it's been awhile. The beginning the Spring semester has been so incredibly hectic! But I have so much to share....

1. Recruitment: Tulane has delayed Rush, which means students have all of Fall semester to decide if they want to participate in Greek Life. Then when everyone comes back after winter break, Recruitment begins. On average, the school is about 30% Greek. It was such a great couple of days... and Pi Phi got an amazing pledge class!! Not to brag, of course, but I love my babies! A week after Bid Day, Greeks participated in a big tradition: all the new Fraternity pledges rotated between the different sorority houses to serenade the new Pledgies!! It was soooo much fun! The boys sang some great songs too, including Britney Spears songs and Backstreet Boys songs!! Here are some of the New Pi Phi members outside the our house. After that... we all went to the "Fly" (the levee). It was like the biggest mixer... with all the Fraternities and Sororities hanging out together! Here are a bunch of my friends (in different sororities) at the Fly... enjoying the 75 degree weather in January!!

2. Home Sweet Home: I went home to visit my sister this last weekend. It was sooo much fun. I surprised her on Valentine's Day at her basketball game... and she was sooo shocked when she saw me that she almost cried right on the court! I'm REALLY bad at surprises and keeping secret, so I am really psyched that I pulled that off!! But I was glad to come back to Tulane, seeing as I always hate missing out on stuff here!

3. Elections: We had Undergraduate Student Government elections for the Executive Board last week. I decided to run for something other than Senator this year, and ran for Vice President for Student Life... it was an overwhelming week of campaigning, but I ended up WINNING!! I'm so excited. We have such awesome Executive Board-elects. I cannot wait to get started in my new position!!

4. MARDI GRAS: Mardi Gras was a non-stop party this year! For those of y'all that don't know, we get a Carnival Break at Tulane... most schools/business have the same break and the city pretty much shuts down and opens up Mardi Gras-specific business... food and drinks and nightlife galore. It was SOOO fun this year... because I had two midterms right before Mardi Gras, which means I was totally able to have a care-free weekend with my friends! I went to parades Thursday-Monday and loved every second of beed-catching, parade route-walking that there was! I barely slept... but as the saying goes here... "You can sleep when Mardi Gras is over." Here are some pictures of me and my friends during the festivities.




Basically, it was the best five days ever!!! You can wear what you want, hang out with whoever you want, sleep, eat, and be merry whenever you want! It is a great tradition of which Tulane loves to be a part! Tulanians stick together on the parade routes... and stay uptown on St. Charles on the neutral ground (the middle ground where the street car normally runs). We sit on couches and eat jambalaya and chat with the native New Orleanians around us. It truly is the best time! I hate that it's over, but am already thinking ahead for next year :)

In the meantime... Tulane has great stuff coming up! The third annual Green Week is less than a week away!! Basically, it's like a big Spirit Week in the Spring... kind of like Homecoming in the Fall. Everyday there's free food and lots of free give-aways (trucker hats/blankets/t-shirts)! We also have great tailgates for all of the baseball games! I cannot wait. I'll keep y'all posted! Take care until next time!

Roll Wave!

Learn to use RefWorks
The Howard-Tilton Memorial Library will host a workshop about the RefWorks program from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. March 2 in room 309 at the library. RefWorks is a Web-based citation manager that allows you to save, format and include citations in writing.

The Tulane University Office of Admissions hosted Louisiana Week this week as part of the administration's continued efforts to encourage Louisianians to attend the university. The event is hosted biannually, and welcomes high school seniors in the fall, while focusing on high school sophomores and juniors during the spring semester.

Tulane's Undergraduate Student Government proposed a referendum on USG representation on this week's ballot, which passed last night. Before the vote, however, USG arranged a town hall meeting to debate the referendum, inviting students to express their opinions and ask questions.

Tulane Emergency Medical Services has spent much of this year working to better inform students of their services. TEMS, which is staffed entirely by Tulane students, has revamped their Web site and posted flyers around campus advertising the campaign.

TEMS also began responding to calls from Loyola University New Orleans early this year.

Tulane To-Do brought student leaders together Feb. 15 in the Lavin-Bernick Center. Leaders from several types of student organizations attended, including members of student government, Greek leaders, community service volunteers, the Honor Board members and Student Conduct Board representatives.

Tulane fraternity Zeta Beta Tau is preparing to unveil a new house on Broadway Street in early March. Their last house burned down in a January 2007 fire.

The new house is designed by Wayne Troyer, who designed Wall Residential College and the Lavin-Bernick Center.

The Tulane University Office of Admissions hosted Louisiana Week this week as part of the administration's continued efforts to encourage Louisianians to attend the university. The event is hosted biannually, and welcomes high school seniors in the fall, while focusing on high school sophomores and juniors during the spring semester.

Public intoxication
A maintenance worker at Sharp Residence Hall called the Tulane University Police Department 8 a.m. Sunday to report an intoxicated student who insisted on helping the worker with her cleaning duties. Despite being informed that her services were not required, the student continued to follow the worker insisting she be allowed to help.

Tulane Students For Life kicked off their spring speaker series Tuesday with a lecture by Austin Ruse, a United Nations negotiator and the president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. C-FAM is an organization based in New York, N.Y. and Washington, D.

Recall effort begins
Approximately a dozen black ministers and their supporters have begun an effort to recall newly elected New Orleans Congressman Anh "Joseph" Cao. They say that his vote in opposition to President Barack Obama's stimulus package was a vote against the creation of jobs and infrastructure in Louisiana.

Michael Jones, a 23-year-old Loyola University alum, was pronounced dead 7:54 p.m. Saturday in Buddig Residence Hall at Loyola. His memorial service took place today between 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. at the Loyola University seal.

The Orleans Parish Coroner's office ruled the death accidental, pending results from a toxin screening, said Meredith Hartley, Loyola's director of public affairs and external relations.

Students, faculty and Dining Services staff constructed a 335-foot king cake Wednesday on the Lavin-Bernick Center quad, beating Louisiana State University's record 182-foot cake.

Dining Services members, including pastry chefs, managers, Johnson and Wales University interns and hourly staff, worked together last week to ensure that there would be enough two-foot sections of cake on the day of the event.

Can I get a holla from all my classicist peeps out there?

Nothing. Again.

For well over a thousand years, being truly educated meant being grounded in the lives, works and ways of the noble Greeks and Romans. Today, that is most certainly not the case. This leaves me in a classroom of about a dozen people poring over lines of deeply engaging and moving Latin or Greek texts, while I bemoan the fact that there are so few who wish to bask in this most ancient of glories.

According to our constitution, the Hullabaloo's purpose is "to provide Tulane University's community with a journalistically sound newspaper." This is a responsibility we take seriously, and it involves disseminating the impartial truth on relevant, sometimes-controversial topics to the Tulane community.

There are some parts of our society so rife with the evils of insatiable greed, perverse sexual acts and even physical aggression that not even Harry can stomach the thought of them for very long. They represent the absolute worst aspects of the human race - no sane person would ever foray into these foul and dark corners of our culture.

As the dust continues to settle from the 2008 elections, one thing is certain - the Republican Party has lost its place. Washington now faces single party leadership in the executive and legislative branches - it may only be a matter of time before liberal nominees for the Supreme Court start to arise.

"If you think health care is expensive now, just wait until it's free" is a well-known quote referring to the high taxes and ironically low quality of care that exists in Europe and Canada. But change has come to America: If you think college is expensive now, just wait until it's free.

You probably don't know what a professor of practice is. I didn't. They're full-time non-tenure-track faculty that earn less, teach more and can't vote in University Senate.

They were originally conceived as instructors with special non-academic expertise or "practice.

After weeks of anticipation, the Tulane men's rugby team finally faced off against its most challenging opponent to date, the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, last Saturday.

Due to rainstorms, Tulane was forced to move the match from the Lavin Bernick Center quad to a pitch at a local field in Gretna.

Tulane Baseball opens up its regular season with a four-game series against the LeMoyne Dolphins this weekend. The Green Wave, ranked #34 in one preseason poll, appears to be on a different level than LeMoyne, who only competes in Division I for Baseball and Women's Lacrosse.

Despite holding an 11-point lead in the first half, Tulane men's basketball once again failed to close out the game, losing 76-70 to the University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers Wednesday night at Fogelman Arena.

The Green Wave saw a particularly strong showing from junior point guard Kevin Sims, who scored 20 points and reached the 1,000 point mark for his career.

Volleyball: After 14 years with the Green Wave volleyball program (as a player, assistant and head coach), Liz Kritza is returning to her home state of Colorado. Kritza accepted the head coaching position at the University of Colorado Feb. 10 and began her duties there immediately.

International matches and domestic cup games dominated this past weekend with relatively low levels of excitement.

The United States continued its domination of Mexico, beating El Tricolor 2-0 in a physical match typical of a U.S.-Mexico competition. Midfielder Michael Bradley scored both goals, putting to rest some of the criticism of the U.

The 81st annual Academy Awards, hosted by Hugh Jackman, will air Sunday. From critically acclaimed blockbusters like "The Dark Knight" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," to independent films that snuck up on us all, filmmakers certainly challenged moviegoers to think beyond the surface and examine unexpected walks of life from new angles.

"Milk," a controversial and brilliant movie, has been nominated for an impressive eight Academy Awards. With director Gus Van Sant leading the wonderful biographical drama, it is sure to win at least a few awards on the long-awaited Oscar night.

"Milk" tells the story of Harvey Milk (Sean Penn), an openly gay camera shop owner who falls into politics after becoming popular with San Francisco's gay community.

When my best guy friend and his buddies read my article about why women should give hand jobs, their reaction was pretty surprising. The conversation went like this:

Adam: We don't want hand jobs. We really can do it better than girls, anyway.

Me: So what do you want me to do? Write an article about why women should give head instead?

Boys: (in unison) YES!

Talking to this table of hulking football players got me thinking about men and their "oral" fixation.

"Wall-E" has earned six nominations in the upcoming Oscars, including best animated feature and original screenplay. "Wall-E," a children's movie that was released last year, is a fictional story about Wall-E, a robot that lives in the distant future, and his adventures.

Norm MacDonald, famous for his anchoring of "Saturday Night Live's" Weekend Update, performed his stand-up act at Tulane Feb. 16. The arcade had the honor of speaking with him after the show.



TH: So when did you get into New Orleans?

ND: Just landed today.

There is something uncomfortably raw about Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler." It might be the staples plunged into sweaty, muscular bodies, or it could be the oozing blood, gashes, screams and moans. It's the account of a washed-up, has-been wrestling star, played by Oscar- nominated Mickey Rouke, who is drifting between isolation and tenderness.

Gerald Wilson, a bus driver for the Center for Public Service, died Tuesday from a heart attack while taking 10 students to their service learning site.

The Center for Public Service has placed a memorial book in 327 Gibson for students to sign until this afternoon, so that students can "offer [their] condolences to the family and share [their] insights about Jerry," according to an e-mail Vincent Ilustre, the executive director of the Center for Public Service, sent today.

Now that Krewe du Vieux has kicked off the carnival season, prepare for Mardi Gras to be in full-swing. Here are a few popular parades, most of which are within walking distance from the Tulane campus. And don't forget to check online at http://www.nola.com for even more parade schedules and information.

Christopher Koski, the Undergraduate Student Government executive vice president, resigned Feb. 5. Though procedure dictates the need for a pro-tempore EVP, President Margaret Walker decided not to appoint someone because executive elections will be held Tuesday.

At the Feb. 2 Lavin-Bernick Center Advisory Committee meeting, the committee discussed the possible need for a night manager in the building.

Because the LBC is open 24 hours a day, many also use it as a late-night hangout spot. Some students to do work in the lounges, while eat at der Rathskeller and others socialize in the building.

Tulane Dining Services implemented Simply-to-Go this week in Bruff Commons in an attempt to reduce crowds and allow hurried students to get lunch conveniently.

The system allows a student to use Bruff swipes to get the new meal options available for carryout only.

The Tulane University Police Department reported a number of on-campus burglaries Jan. 27 - 29, including burglaries at Warren House Residence Hall and theft and attempted theft at the Modular Building, Richardson Memorial and the Woldenberg Art Center.

Between the night of January 27 and the morning of January 28, "unknown person(s)" entered one of the modular classrooms and attempted to steal a mounted projector.

The Tulane University Broadcast Entertainment television channel is currently working to get students involved in the production and presentation of original programming. Several projects are in the works that involve TUBE staff members and independent students who have expressed interest in creating programs.

Envoy arrives in Afghanistan

Richard C. Holbrooke, President Barack Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan, arrived in Afghanistan yesterday. He arrived after suicide bombings that killed at least 20 people Wednesday at government sites across the capital of Kabul.

RecycleMania, an intercollegiate recycling competition, began its third year at Tulane last week.

To encourage participation, the Office of Environmental Affairs has instituted a Tulane contest. Students can form groups and compete against each other to bring in the greatest weight of recyclables.

Tulane attorneys have filed suit demanding that activist organization The Future of Newcomb College stop using the name and logo of Newcomb College.

Newcomb College, which was combined with Tulane College after Hurricane Katrina as part of the university's Renewal Plan, has been associated with the school since 1886.

Off-campus armed robbery
A Tulane student was robbed at knifepoint by two persons claiming to be Loyola students Feb. 6. The victim got into a vehicle with the men, who said they would bring him back to campus. The men then pulled out a three- to four-inch lock-blade knife and demanded that the victim remove his pants and hand over his wallet and phone.

Amnesty International held a screening of the film "Darfur Now" Tuesday night in der Rathskellar, to increase attention on the ongoing genocide in Sudan.

The screening was meant to promote Amnesty International's main annual event, Camp Darfur, which will take place in early March, said event organizer Laney White.

The electoral process for the 2009-10 executive board of Undergraduate Student Government began this week.

The USG executive board sponsored information sessions for interested students Monday and Tuesday in the Student Organizations Center of the Lavin-Bernick Center.

Lawmakers suggest closing state colleges
Due to a looming budget shortfall of $2 billion, State Senator Mike Michot has recommended the closure of some of the state's four-year schools. A growing coalition of lawmakers believes the state's system of higher education is inefficient and should be streamlined.

The Tulane Art Committee has begun finalizing plans for the purchase and display of artwork in the Lavin-Bernick Center.

Currently, "nothing identifies the building as [a part of] Tulane. It is stark, sterile and white," said Ross Kelley, the Undergraduate Student Government Vice President for Student Life.

The Newcomb-Tulane College Office of Cocurricular Programs is offering a new $2,500 scholarship for students enrolling in a Newcomb-Tulane Study Abroad Program.

The Corasaniti Study Abroad Grant is available for students majoring in political science, economics, political economy or a modern foreign language.

CACTUS presents crawfish on the quad
The Community Action Council of Tulane Students is hosting a crawfish boil from 3 - 5:30 p.m. on the Gorson Porch of the Lavin-Bernick Center. The event is in celebration of CACTUS Week, a weeklong series of events designed to inform students about the organization's work.

The Tulane Honors Program hosted Francine Prose where she addressed the Tulane community 6 p.m. Feb. 5 in Cudd Hall. She is the president of the PEN American Center and author of 15 novels.

"It's great to get someone of her literary prominence to come to New Orleans," said Thomas Luongo, dean of the Tulane Honors Program.

Sunshine laws, the best known being the Freedom of Information Act, allow citizens - from journalists to students - to request and receive government documents (including those of public universities) that do not threaten national security or other, specific exemption criteria.

Life's lonely for some people here at Tulane. Harry sees them sometimes when he's downloading porn to the library computers. They're the folks turning pages like there's a crack rock at the start of the next chapter, and Harry says that all work and no play makes John Q.

I'm not a whore, but I do work on Bourbon Street. I won't tell you which of the many seedy bars I work at, but I'll tell you it is one that you have definitely seen before.

You know the sad, ambiguously aged woman in the bathroom that sits there all night and hands the drunks paper towels, asking for a tip with her tired-looking eyes? That's what I do, metaphorically speaking.

These pages have hosted different perspectives on the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), so we would like to return to the "precise language" of our Supreme Court. Without analysis of potential abuses of FOCA, we ignore the model for how a bill is debated in Congress.

Death is a topic college students don't deal with much. We seem to be fascinated by the subject, though, if only because we are unfamiliar with it.

Unfortunately, I've recently become more familiar with it than I would have liked.

In the last month, I have watched a grown woman bury her father, comforted by the fact that he had led a rich, full life.

If you believe the media, flashing is as much a part of carnival as beads, brass bands and alcohol poisoning. Girls Gone Wild infomercials and suspicious church groups agree: The wanton flashing of girly parts is a veritable epidemic here in New Orleans, an unstoppable festival-season force.

A week after its impressive showing against Louisiana State University, the Tulane men's rugby team once again established homefield dominance on the pitch, soundly defeating Loyola 48-17.

Though at times Saturday's game was admittedly a "sloppy one," the Green Wave never relinquished the lead, securing the win by jumping to an early 27-0 lead.

The Green Wave men's basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with an impressive win against East Carolina Wednesday.
It was a much-needed morale boost for head coach Dave Dickerson's squad, which had lost seven of its 10 games played in 2009 prior to Wednesday's win.

Luckily for me, I have the best roommates a girl could ever ask for and even more luckily for me, they recently surprised me with an enormous box of Frosted Flakes with my crush Michael Phelps plastered all over it. It was probably the last batch of Michael Phelps Frosted Flakes I will ever own, however, as Kelloggs just yanked his sponsorship after an incriminating picture of the celebrated swimmer smoking weed at a University of South Carolina house party made its way into a London newspaper.

Manny Ramirez may be the best right-handed hitter of our generation. Year after year, Ramirez proves himself to be one of the top hitters in the game. His lowest batting average since 1995 was .292, and at the age of 36, this past season may have been one of his most dominant to date.

If you've ever been to a movie theater on Valentine's Day, you've probably been in one of the two groups that dare enter a Hoyts or Regal Cinema on this holiday: You're either part of a couple or a troop of single girls, vowing not to let the lack of boyfriend ruin their night.

Favre's Final Farewell?

As one of the most exciting, frustrating, disappointing and crowd-pleasing athletes in sports history, Brett Favre has once again announced his retirement.

Favre's first ever NFL completion encapsulates the dynamic and unpredictable player he was.

I can't begin this article in good conscience without letting you, the reader, know one thing: I love the Boston Red Sox, and I am therefore obligated to hate Alex Rodriguez.

Of course, I've never had much trouble fulfilling this prerequisite for acceptance into the Red Sox Nation, as Rodriguez has graciously provided a steady flow of ammunition for fellow haters everywhere: the limp-wristed slap at Bronson Arroyo in 2004, the bailout-sized contract and his late-night exploits with Madonna are just a few of the more notable examples.

Heading into the international break, European soccer leagues reminded us why they closely resemble a sports-oriented soap opera by giving fans yet another drama-filled week.

After being held to a scoreless draw at home to newly-promoted Hull City, Chelsea fired World Cup-winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari after just half of a season into his four-year, 18 million pound contract.

It seems, like many other eccentric aspects of Mardi Gras, king cake is one of those items people accept, enjoy and look forward to without knowing the story behind it. Like beads and bizarre floats, king cakes are an emblematic staple of this season's festivities.