A Farewell Blog!

By Brittany Jones

I thought I would take the time to write my last blog about the amazing Seniors that I have been lucky enough to work with this year. So join me in taking a look at who are (in my opinion, of course) some of the seniors that will be most missed on campus!

First of all let me see a sad goodbye to the women’s basketball seniors. Kathlyn McClain, Erin Hanneman, Elizabeth Carney, Maureen Downs, and Angie Bush.

Kathlyn (Mac)- An All-American guard for the women’s basketball team. She was often the girl we looked for to be clutch in close games. We will really miss this go-to girl. She is a Sociology major who hopes to go to Northwestern for graduate school. Good luck!

Erin Hanneman: An All-American post player who was constantly carrying our 2nd ranked team to victory this year. I learned a lot about modesty from Erin as she never wanted praise or fame for her amazing achievements. She hopes to go into Physical Therapy one day. Good luck!

Elizabeth Carney: One of the biggest team-players I have ever met. She taught me about team-work and how to always have a positive attitude. She wants to go into the medical field. Good luck!

Maureen Downs: She was the team comedian who always kept everyone laughing, even when we weren’t supposed to be. She was also always there if you were having a rough time. I think she still has a few classes to take and then she will be out in the business world being successful no doubt. Good luck!

Angie Bush: Angie was one of the best shooters I have ever played with. She also had the endurance of a horse! Angie also was the president of the American red cross club and held many successful blood drives this year. She will be a doctor one day! Good luck!

Mark Piper/ Liv Rossi / Chanice Lohman / Leeza Steward: These are the seniors graduating from the successful Student Government association. These four are responsible for the rebirth of an SGA here on campus, and thanks to them there is a working link between the students and administration. All of these four served as student leaders for this university and are each personally responsible for the continued success of SXU. Mark is doing a year of service, Liv will be a lawyer, Leeza is going to teach in inner-city school districts, and honestly I don’t know what Chanice is doing, but with her leadership background she will do great things! Good luck seniors!

To all of the rest of the Graduating class of 2010, Congratulations! You made it, and good luck in all that you do in the future!

To everyone else! SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!! Have a safe, and wonderful summer! Until next time… GO COUGS!

Brittany Jones is a sophomore I/O psychology major from Tinley Park, IL. She is a Student Government Association senator, Vice President of the American Red Cross Club, and a forward on the Women's basketball team. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

Study Skills for Finals

By Brittany Jones

Hey Cougs!
Although I have written in my last two blogs the importance of enjoying the fresh air, and attending school activities in order to take breaks from studying I am fully aware that you do need to focus in these last two weeks of school. It is so stressful to think that you could spend all of those countless hours in a class listening to lecture and at home working out papers and homework and your grade could all come down to this last week. In one of my classes 50% of my grade is coming from the last two days! So I looked up some of the best tips that the experts can give for studying for finals.

I know that your goals are not only to ace your exams, but also to do so with a minimum number of mental breakdowns! Using some of these tips your sanity will stay intact and your grades will stay impressive.

• Manage your time! Before finals week arrives, make a calendar with a checklist for each day. If you schedule your goals for amount of time on each subject and or project you will be most likely to stick to it and not let yourself get distracted.
• Prioritize: when making your checklists make sure you put things in the order of importance that they get done. The problem happens when people have a checklist and do all of the easy or more enjoyable things first and check them off while continually putting of the hard important things.
• SLEEP! I know you’re thinking “yeah right I’ll sleep the second week of May, but it is proven that you will do much better during exams if you have good solid sleep. Your brain can also function much better and retain information.
• Study groups: Do not study with that kid that is ALWAYS texting you asking you questions and asking for your homework. Instead study with someone that is at the same caliber as you are so you don’t end up tutoring instead of studying.
• Don’t schedule other activities. Your mom may want to do lunch the day before your final and you may think that you will be in good shape by then and could use the break. When the day actually comes you will probably feel stressed and feel obligated to keep your plans with your mom, who would have understood in the first place if you told her you had to postpone a few days.
• Put things in perspective. When giving presentations, don’t be nervous- just know that you prepared the best you could. What is the worst that could happen? Nobody really cares if you stumble, so just laugh at yourself and keep moving. With finals, ask yourself what your goals are. and if it is to get a B in a course and you have a high B, you may only need a C on the final in which case you are stressing as if you need an A+ in order to graduate!
  

I hope these tips help! Until next time… GOOD LUCK COUGS!

Brittany Jones is a sophomore I/O psychology major from Tinley Park, IL. She is a Student Government Association senator, Vice President of the American Red Cross Club, and a forward on the Women's basketball team. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

What to do when you aren’t cramming for Finals!

By Brittany Jones

Hey Cougs!

Did you know there are only 11 days of classes left?!? Sounds crazy, right? So instead of reading that and freaking out about your finals, take a look at some of these awesome end-of-the-year activities!

RHA’s Spirit Week is next week with four fun-filled days of activities. A dorm war will be going on during each event, so bring a non-perishable food item and the community with the most food will win a special prize!

• Mon., April 19 is COUGAR CLASH: A game of laser tag where the residents will take on the commuters from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Shannon center
• Tues., April 20 is Spring into Spirit with Tie-Dye t-shirts in the O’Malley quad (outside SXU diner) 11am-3pm
• Wed., April 21 Cougar Carnival filled with many food, games and prizes in the Schmitt Quad!
• Thurs., April 22 Grill out with the Girls at the Softball game! You have to head out to get a few hot dogs at 3 p.m.
  

Tues., April 20 also is the All Campus Excellence Awards ceremony. Anyone involved in a student organization is welcome to come just RSVP to Tammy in Campus Life. They have great food, great speakers and you can maybe even be nominated for an award!

SAB is hosting the year-end SXU Formal on Fri., April 23! Last chance to ask that cutie from your class out for a romantic night downtown!!

I wanted to tell you guys about all of the fun stuff going on this week because if you are a senior, these are your last 11 days to enjoy SXU. Trust me, when you get to next fall and have to go to work, you are going to be wishing there was a carnival outside your apartment building.

For all the other SXU community members, I want you to pleeease try to attend these events. All it takes is you getting up and getting there, and you are guaranteed to enjoy yourself way more than cramming or watching some lame TV show. Get some fresh air and if your friends see you having fun they will probably stop by and join in. I really hope to see you all at some of these really fun events coming up next week!

Until next time! GO COUGS!

Brittany Jones is a sophomore I/O psychology major from Tinley Park, IL. She is a Student Government Association senator, Vice President of the American Red Cross Club, and a forward on the Women's basketball team. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

How to take advantage of the warm weather!

By Brittany Jones

Hey Cougs,

With Spring FINALLY upon us, we have to take advantage of it! I know what you are thinking – “Has this girl been outside…? Its raining cats and dogs!” Well my answer to you is TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!

Remember when you were a kid and you were sitting in your house looking outside at the rainy weather and begging your mom to let you do SOMETHING outside in the rain? We didn’t care if it was just jumping from puddle to puddle! Imagine how fun a game of dodge ball or kickball in the quad would be. There is something freeing about deciding to play outside in the rain with your friends. Try it… mom and dad aren’t here to yell at you and what is the worst that can happen? You throw your clothes in the dryer and towel dry!

Although this week has been rainy, last week was sunny and beautiful and we have more nice days on the way. I can’t help but get in a better mood when I am walking home from class and see people playing a game in the quad. Especially when I have the time to join in that game. Here are some ideas to get you outside in the fresh air: Frisbee, Frisbee football, good old fashioned catch (football, softball, baseball…), color with chalk, hackey sack (even if you are not very good!), bean bags or jogging.

Hate running? Rollerblade!, No rollerblades? Get a good friend to go for a walk (I have had some of my best talks on a nice long walk), get a big game going on in the quad… football, softball, dodge ball, kickball… Anything! You would be amazed at the amount of people who will want to join in. Attend an SXU baseball or softball games, you can get your fresh air while showing some school spirit. Just sit at the tables outside and eat your lunch.

We have been cooped up studying for the past seven months. With finals on the horizon, I have no doubt that we will be back in the library very soon. Take advantage of the next few weeks to get outside and break the routine. Instead of taking a “study break” to be on Facebook, take your break outside, you will be amazed at how refreshed and reenergized you will be with a little fresh air!

I hope to see you all outside soon! Until next time… GO COUGS!

Brittany Jones is a sophomore I/O psychology major from Tinley Park, IL. She is a Student Government Association senator, Vice President of the American Red Cross Club, and a forward on the Women's basketball team. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

SGA Elections

By Brittany Jones

Hey Cougs!

I hope you all are enjoying some family time this during long weekend whether you choose to celebrate Easter or not! Personally, I am super excited to be home, because for me this is the one and only break that I am allowed to stay at home for and am not required to live in the dorms.

I don’t know if you have seen some of the flyers that are starting to pop up, but it is Student Government election time at SXU! This year is an extremely important year for elections in my opinion. The induction of President Wiseman for next year, and a fresh exec board for Student Government Association could result in some big and exciting changes for SXU. Flyers don’t give you all the details you are looking for so let me give you a little background about who is running.

I, Brittany Jones, am running for SGA President and am extremely excited! Some of my biggest hopes for next year are a Student Union or Student Space, better communication between administration and students and an increase in SXU pride and support.

For Vice-President, we have our only contested position. It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you choose the best candidate and vote this year!

First up is Amanda Modelski. She will be a senior next year and is currently the President of Resident Housing Association. She has served on SGA for one semester but has a ton of experience from RHA working with students and administration to create change.

Second, we have Alexis Ware. She will also be a senior next year and is currently the Vice President of Financial Affairs on SGA. She has served on SGA for three years so has a lot of experience on how a student government is run.

We also have the following uncontested executive board positions:
Vice President of Commuter Affairs: Amanda Werniak SO.
Vice President of Public Relations: Kelly Knudsen SO.
Executive Secretary/Treasurer: Darryl Brown JNR.
Vice President of Financial Affairs: Amanda Bock JNR.

It is a very exciting time for all of us at SGA and we hope that you will take the time to stop in the SXU Diner when we return from break April 5 and April 9, and vote for an Executive Vice- President. Just a reminder we have an office in Campus Life and a table in the diner that you may stop by at any time to leave a comment, suggestion, or ask a question!

Until next time… Go Cougs!

Brittany Jones is a sophomore I/O psychology major from Tinley Park, IL. She is a Student Government Association senator, Vice President of the American Red Cross Club, and a forward on the Women's basketball team. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

Basketball is over… What do I do now!?

By Brittany Jones

Hey Cougs! I am sad to report that the women’s basketball team and I are home from Jackson, Tennessee and we fell a short of our ultimate goal of national Champs.

But don’t be too quick to tear up for us because we had a record-breaking season. We were the first team in SXU history to have over 30 wins (31). We are the highest-ranked team in SXU Women’s Basketball History (2). AND, we were the first Women’s Basketball team to make the Elite Eight in the National Tournament.

Still, we can’t help but get choked up thinking about our last game. It’s tough being back on campus and getting congratulated on a great season by so many wonderful people. We appreciate it SOOO much but it is still hard to see the good when we feel as though we fell a little short. It was an amazing trip though and one that I will never forget.

I hope you all were able to follow with the SouthtownStar's Rolling with the Cougars blog I linked last week. Everyday, including Monday morning, we had full coverage in the newspaper… What an honor.

This is my last blog regarding Women’s basketball so I will end this segment with a sincere thank you to all of you that supported us and followed us. Even those of you that don’t know or care about basketball that took the time to say good luck, or congratulations! You don’t know how much those kind gestures mean to an athlete. Good luck to Men’s Volleyball, Baseball and Softball as they get into the bulk of their season!

Although I was out of town I heard there were some great events going on for the Haitian relief efforts last week. The one that caused the most discussion was the documentary on Haiti. I have heard that it was extremely eye-opening and the discussion was wonderful.

I still now and forever will encourage you all to go to events like these. Be open to new experiences because like I have mentioned before because you never know where you will be inspired. If you still are interested in Haiti Relief Efforts (forgive me for not knowing all of the details) but there will be a video game tournament that is currently being advertised that will accept donations for Haiti. The school does not allow Student Organizations to charge to get into an event so PLEASE PLEASE do not tak advantage of this and attend the tournament without making a donation.

Well, without basketball I hope to be at many more events this year supporting all of the students that have supported me, so I hope to see you there! Until next time!

Brittany Jones is a sophomore I/O psychology major from Tinley Park, IL. She is a Student Government Association senator, Vice President of the American Red Cross Club, and a forward on the Women's basketball team. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

Welcome to Jackson, Tennessee Cougars!

By Brittany Jones

This week I will be writing my blog from the NAIA National tournament in Jackson, Tennessee. I am a sophomore on the team so this is my second time being here for this tournament and although last year was fun; this year reached a whole new level! We are being treated like royalty after our number two ranking coming down here. We were met with treats from the alumni group on the bus, and care packages from our moms. When we arrived at the hotel our doors had our numbers with a cougar basketball on them and we found lots of presents in our rooms! With our new sponsors being what they call “Super Sponsors” we received fruit baskets, umbrellas beach balls, first aid kits, and a ton of other hair and body care supplies to last us the week. We were all like kids in a candy store with all of our new toys! The next morning after practice we went to a lunch hosted in the hospital by our sponsors “West Tennessee Health Care” where we received a standing ovation and an extremely warm welcome by the staff at a reception just for us. We are truly being treated like celebrities. Everywhere we turn we are given a gift or bought lunch it is really amazing. We also have a SouthtownStar photographer traveling with us at all times who is like the paparazzi! He is also keeping a blog on all of our activities! Check it out at here! The NAIA threw all of the 32 teams a big banquet with a great buffet and many speakers. It was here that Erin Hannemann was named to the 1st team All- American… She is a stud!

Our first game will be at 6:15 tonight vs. Evangel University. They come into the tournament as an 8 seed and we are a 1 seed so we have high hopes to get past the first round. We have hit one road block on this great trip though. Junior guard Shalonda Young who is our third leading scorer and one of the four main starters sprained her ankle in Tuesday’s practice. We are lucky to have the athletic trainer Kate with us to tend to her, but we won’t be sure if she can play or not until game time tomorrow. Cross your fingers Cougs!

I am sad to report that the men’s basketball team lost today in their 4:30 first round game in Kansas to number three seed Oklahoma Baptist University 96-72. The guys made an impressive run to get to the tournament and end with a 23-10 record. Congrats on a very good season guys!

I hope that the next blog I write will be as a national champion! If you want to follow our games you can do so at NAIA. Until next time! GO COUGARS!

Brittany Jones is a sophomore I/O psychology major from Tinley Park, IL. She is a Student Government Association senator, Vice President of the American Red Cross Club, and a forward on the Women's basketball team. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

Campus Resources Worth Knowing About

By Brittany Jones

Today, I would like to talk about a couple of campus offices I found very helpful this year. I hope they help you as well!

Last year, I was contemplating studying abroad for summer 2009. I saw a sign outside of the Andrew conference center saying that the Center for International Education was inside. I never saw anyone at that front desk and asked the switchboard along with a couple other resources for a number to call. I was told the head lady was on maternity leave and therefore I could not get a hold of her. I was very bummed because I was missing out on an opportunity of a lifetime because we could only rely on this one lady to make it happen? I was wrong!

I stumbled upon offices towards the back of the ACC, behind that big “study abroad” desk. That is where there are MULTIPLE people that can help you discover other countries. I had basically forgotten about the idea of studying abroad until I poked my head into one of the offices and began talking to her about my options. I am SOOO excited to say that this summer I will be studying for one month in Florence, Italy with my best friend! If you are thinking about doing it, I highly recommend at least talking to one of them and looking at your possibilities… It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Another random office I found helpful here at SXU was the Counseling and Career Services office. I honestly never thought of going into this office until I had to have my resume checked as part of a student leadership application. So … I was forced!

But I am so glad I was because the lady that sat down with me read over and marked up my resume with a ton of very professional and great ideas. She was extremely nice and didn’t keep me there all day. I really think going over your resume with a professional who knows what employers are looking for is a great idea. It’s quick, easy, painless and, best of all, free.

While I was in there I took the opportunity to be blunt and said “soo... what do you guys do here?” She laughed and said that they can help you find internship opportunities, part-time jobs, or full-time careers. She said you can go in there with things like cover letters and personal statements and they will help you fix em up so they are just right. Lastly they can help you with grad school or job applications. I hope you use my advice and take advantage of a great opportunity for free professional help and guidance!

Good luck women’s and men’s basketball teams at their national tournaments this week!!! I hope you all take advantage of the beautiful weather while you wait patiently for my next post. ; )

Brittany Jones is a sophomore I/O psychology major from Tinley Park, IL. She is a Student Government Association senator, Vice President of the American Red Cross Club, and a forward on the Women's basketball team. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

Women's Basketball Senior Night - Congratulations Seniors!

By Brittany Jones

With a great gathering of fans to back them, our six women’s basketball seniors made quite the showing on Tuesday night to beat conference opponent Robert Morris University! This was one of the best senior nights I have ever been a part of and I’d argue that our fans and seniors Erin Hanneman, Marquita Smith, Elizabeth Carney, Kathlyn McClain, Maureen Downs and Angie Bush felt the same way!

Not many senior nights conclude a 27-1 season. What an amazing note to end on for these girls and a true pay-off for all of their hard work these past four years. For the fans, it was nothing but entertainment as SXU jumped out to a 17-4 lead. The game was over at this point and the rest of the night was nothing but celebration.

There are six seniors on our team this year and most of which have played quite a few years together at SXU and a few even competed against each other during high school. There is a lot of history, and a lot of talent between these six girls. With the game decided in the first five minutes of play, all the seniors got a lot of playing time for their last official home game. They accounted for 61 of our 88 points! The four-year members of SXU (Hanneman, Carney and Bush) have an exceptional 86% winning percentage in their four years at SXU.

Coach Bob Hallberg gets a lot of credit for the night as well. Beside the fact that he is the coach of the current No. 2 ranked team in the nation, Wednesday’s game was his 250th win at SXU. He also made a lot of ruckus during the game when with about five minutes left and all five of the players on the court being seniors he made an unlikely substitution.

I guess it was not a substitution but instead an addition as he added the sixth senior into the mix. As the players and fans were trying their best to tell him he had six players on the court, Coach Hallberg stood his ground and insisted that they were all supposed to be in the game. With the call of a technical foul on SXU the announcer enjoyed announcing that for the first and last time all six of our seniors were on the court together at the same time. A memory that I know will endure with our seniors forever!

After the game we all enjoyed pizza and pop while celebrating our first place conference title. Our seniors received gifts and a little frosting to the face from some underclassmen players armed with cupcakes. Overall it was an honor to be a part of and I think an experience many seniors, players, coaches, parents, and fans were lucky to have had. So although we still have a tough battle ahead of us in our NAIA conference tournament and in Jackson for nationals, Wednesday was a great end to a great season and career for some!

Brittany Jones is a sophomore I/O psychology major from Tinley Park, IL. She is a Student Government Association senator, Vice President of the American Red Cross Club, and a forward on the Women's basketball team. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

Professors

By Brittany Jones

I want to take a week here and talk about professors. I personally have had an eye opening experience this semester when it comes to them and I feel lucky to have had it!

I am a sophomore and am a little ahead in my studies thanks to AP tests and CLEP exams (tests the university offers to students to test out of many gen ed requirements). I am a psychology major with marketing minor and had no idea what I wanted to do with it. I knew that I wanted to go to grad school and that I wanted to continue school as far as I could before stopping (statistics show that most that stop don’t ever return), but I didn’t know for what. My mom always told me that I would be a teacher but that was the farthest thing from my mind. But I have been inspired!

I started with Professor Baker in Psych Statistics last semester and thought it was cool that he taught us an applicable skill for using SPSS to do statistics. There was very little busy work, and not a lot of emphasis on people and history that you would never know again. Most of the class was applications and I feel like I could work for someone crunching numbers if I wanted having taken the class. Even though I am only a sophomore, I liked the teacher so much I took Experimental Psych with him this semester. Almost all of the students in the class are seniors, and I’m almost positive I am the only sophomore. So he (teaching us again about applicable things) had a discussion with us about grad school. I learned more in that 20 minute discussion than I have learned in entire semesters from most professors. That one talk helped me to figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life.

I think general education classes are doomed to make students fall asleep, and professors resent teaching. If you would have asked me last year I would tell you that the last thing on Earth I wanted to do was be a college professor. But thanks to the Psychology teachers I have this semester (my human motivation teach France is really good also). I have decided to go for my Ph.D in Psych and teach students about things that they actually can use in life!

My wish for you all is that you keep your eyes and hearts open for moments of inspiration and run with them because they are few and far between and found in unlikely places! For any professor out there I hope you take 10 minutes out of your time-packed schedule of curriculum to teach these students something that they will use long after their next final. Lastly if you have been inspired by a teacher, let them know so that they keep up the good work!

Brittany Jones is a sophomore I/O psychology major from Tinley Park, IL. She is a Student Government Association senator, Vice President of the American Red Cross Club, and a forward on the Women's basketball team. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

Big News for Women's Basketball!

By Brittany Jones

As I mentioned in my first post, Women’s basketball on campus had one loss to St. Francis University of Illinois. Back then, the lady Cougs were 17-1. And five games later, we are 22-1! The Cougars could have had a perfect season at the end of this tunnel if it weren’t for the St. Francis setback. The good news is we have a chance at redemption! This Saturday, Feb. 6 at 1pm we play them on OUR court this time!

Currently, the Lady Cougars are #3 in the nation and #2 in conference! It has been a long time since we have gone into a conference match up as the underdog with a first place in conference title on the line. St. Francis is undefeated in conference and if they win on Saturday, the Cougs will be out of the running for first and will therefore lose home-court advantage going into the conference tournament!

I cannot overemphasize how important Saturday’s game is! You are probably thinking if we win, then we will tie for first. You are correct; each of us having one loss will have us tied. However, the tie-breaker is a comparison of “common opponents” and since we are undefeated outside of the conference we will win the tie-breaker and therefore earn a first place seed for the tournament and home-court.

Good news on the national spectrum for the Lady Cougars is #5 ranked Vanguard (California) upset #2 ranked Point Loma (California) Tuesday night! This puts Union Tennessee in the #1 place with one loss (which was against SXU!), Point Loma at #2 with two losses and SXU at #3 with only one loss. The next rankings do not come out until Feb. 8, which is after our Saturday match up. It is absolutely crucial for us to win Saturday’s game to go into the rankings with a better record than Point Loma. This is the only chance we have at moving back into the #2 spot.

What does this all mean?? In a nutshell, Saturday’s game is a huge one on many different levels for the Lady Cougars and we are begging you to come out and support us! If you have been putting off coming to a game and things keep coming up, make it a necessity that you show your support on Saturday. Even if this is the only game you come to all year, we will be very appreciative for the support and encouragement!

I hope to see you all there at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6 in the Shannon Center! Go Cougs!

Brittany Jones is a sophomore I/O psychology major from Tinley Park, IL. She is a Student Government Association senator, Vice President of the American Red Cross Club, and a forward on the Women's basketball team. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

SXU lends a helping hand

By Brittany Jones

Hey everyone! As you will learn, I love to hear about and participate in projects that help people. In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, there have been multiple calls to action on campus.

If you attended either women’s basketball game this week, you would have seen a table collecting money for the Haiti victims. The American Red Cross Club, which is in its second year on campus, spearheaded the effort.

In an operation that has involved more emergency response teams than any other single-country disaster in global Red Cross history, the American Red Cross has so far spent or committed more than $67 million to meet the most urgent needs of earthquake survivors in Haiti. The Student Government Association joined the American Red Cross Club and donated 50 cents for every dollar collected at the games. We raised $123 at the games and with SGA’s donation of $61, the American Red Cross will receive our donation of $184!

Good job everyone, and thank you to the Athletics Department, Coach Bob Hallberg and Jen Kjos-Quinlan at the Shannon Center for allowing us to set up our collections table!

There was a meeting on Tuesday for all the student organizations to band together to come up with another fundraiser. There were many great ideas brought up, such as a benefit dance and penny wars. Campus Life will sell shirts to support the cause starting on Monday, Feb. 1. I believe that they will be $10 each and all the proceeds will be donated to the Haiti relief cause! I applaud the efforts of Campus Life and the student organizations. I urge everyone to chip in and support the effort!

If you know of any other relief efforts happening here at SXU or in this community, please e-mail me at Jones.b04@mymail.sxu.edu and together we can rally support for this devastating tragedy.

Keep up the good work, SXU!

Brittany Jones is a sophomore I/O psychology major from Tinley Park, IL. She is a senator on SGA and Vice President of the American Red Cross Club. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.

Welcome back!

By Brittany Jones

Welcome back to school everyone! I hope everyone’s classes started well and not too many teachers kept you for the whole hour during your first classes. (I hate when they do that… it’s like “come on, it’s the first day!”) A lot has been going on here on campus while you all were relaxing in front of the Christmas tree.

First of all, the basketball teams were stuck here practicing and playing all break. As of coming back, the Women’s basketball team was still undefeated at 17-0. The program has never been undefeated at this point. We are ranked #2 in the nation, and have beaten the #1 team Union Tennessee. That’s why it was devastating Tuesday to lose to our unranked conference rival University of Saint Francis.

With the loss of our all-American guard Kathlyn McClain to a broken nose, and an absolutely ice cold shooting night in the first half, we were down 19 at the half. We showed character with a great comeback to bring it within 3 points in the last minute. The deficit proved too big though, bringing us to 17-1. Not to worry because we plan on going 12-0 for the rest of the season and still holding a great position going into nationals. This could be a historic year for the program, so please come out and support us!

Chartwells also was hard at work with SXU administration to make some improvements on campus. It is no secret that campus food service needed some work last semester. Some good news is the build your own salad bar is back! So you go right ahead and have a side salad instead of a huge one. Some may be bummed about the loss of Maurice’s, but it will benefit the school’s financial situation and in turn help the students.

Lastly, the Student Government Association is looking into making Rhubarbs more like a convenience store. I have high hopes for this because then quad students would no longer have to spend cash on essentials like toilet paper and toothpaste! Wish us luck.
Come support your women’s and men’s basketball teams and raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake on Saturday at the Shannon Center. The women play at 1 p.m. and the boys play right after.

The American Red Cross club and SGA have teamed together to try and raise money for Haiti at these games. Bring some of your change and donate it because for every dollar we raise at the game, SGA is going to donate 50 cents up to $100! Hope to see you all there!

Brittany Jones is a sophomore I/O psychology major from Tinley Park, IL. She is a senator on SGA and Vice President of the American Red Cross Club. Consideration for the student bloggers is provided by Saint Xavier University.