The Creighton softball team dropped a Missouri Valley Conference doubleheader to Drake University on Tuesday at the Bulldogs’ Buel Field in Des Moines, Iowa.

A close 5-4 loss in the series opener followed by a 9-1 defeat in game two puts former conference-leader Creighton (13-6) in a first-place tie with Drake (14-7).The rivals lead third-place Illinois State University by one-half game heading into the final week of conference play.

Creighton totaled 13 hits on the evening, as eight different Jays connected on swings. Junior outfielder Ellen Homan led the team at the plate with three hits, including an extra-base hit, a triple and four drawn walks. Sophomore infielder Liz Dike added three singles and senior infielder Amy Baker recorded two. Despite a strong presence at the plate, 20 runners left on base limited the Jays’ scoring.

Three singles in the first by the Bulldogs pushed Drake to an early 1-0 lead. However, Creighton was able to answer with two runs in the bottom of the frame. Dike capitalized on a Drake throwing error, and a Baker single brought Homan across the plate for the 2-1 lead.

After a scoreless second inning, Drake notched a two-run home run to regain the lead in the third. Homan walked at the bottom of the inning and advanced to second after a sacrifice bunt by senior utility player Sammy Snygg. Baker took a walk to first and a single by junior infielder Alexis Cantu loaded the bases for the Jays. Sophomore catcher Bri Lingl connected on a single to deep left to tie the game at 3-3 before Baker was thrown out at home to end the inning.

Drake extended its lead to 5-3 in the fifth inning after a lead off walk and home run over the wall in right field. Creighton answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth. A Homan triple lit a spark for the Jays and freshman utility player Ringle took advantage of a Drake error to cut the lead to 5-4, the final score of game one.

In game two, Creighton posted the first run on the scoreboard — their only run of the game. Back-to-back singles from Dike and Homan started the rally and a ground out advanced them to scoring position. Dike later scored on a wild pitch to put the Bluejays up 1-0.

Drake responded with two runs in the bottom of the first and took the score to 4-1 by the end of the second inning. Three singles, a Creighton error and a home run led the Bulldogs to their 9-1 victory.

Creighton finishes the regular conference season against Wichita State University this weekend at the CU Sports Complex. Three Bluejay seniors will be honored before the Saturday doubleheader, which begins at noon. The teams will finish the series with a noon game on Sunday.

Competition can be seen as  good or bad. It can make people strive to be more determined and diligent or it can make people aggressive and do whatever is necessary to get to where they want. In a world where nothing is set, it can only make the process that much more difficult.

Since there is so much opportunity that people talk about for graduates to have, it is important that they are able to get a job. If it does not happen soon it causes their view to change. There are so many people reaching with the same goals or expectations for themselves that it creates a huge impact on the job market and where they end up working.

Competition can help generate many bright students to push themselves farther, but for others it can make them use different means to get ahead. For that reason, making sure that as students, they have been able to be well-rounded and have acquired skills that can set them apart and make them more appealing. This can contribute to their confidence and allow them to stay true to who they are and what they want.

There is only so much a person can do when it comes to getting a position he or she wants, but if he or she stays positive and sets up different plans for his or her self, then it could help in the long run. Finally setting foot into the real world will allow for tremendous growth; the only issue is how one deals with the obstacles to come.

The manner in which people everywhere will be putting themselves out there, sets an example of how much it means for them to succeed. In this world of dealing with competitive natures, It is also about finding out how well they can do under pressure. It is about challenging themselves to get better. The ability to compete allows people to succeed and be the best they can be, it also is important and is needed in order to make it, without feeling like there is nothing else to do and give up.

It is through this competitiveness that an individual can be best judged and demonstrate what serves his or her interest and makes him or her happy. This will show the contribution that his or her work ethic will offer to the places to which he or she applies. Being apart of the working class and finding the job that is needed and being able to maintain it will require a lot. Although it may seem like competition is not good, it can push people to work better and improve as individuals.

And very brave in the attempt certainly describes the many contestants as they competed throughout the day Saturday during the East Regional Athletics meet at Boys Town.

For those unfamiliar with the Special Olympics track and field setup, it is very similar to most other track meets, with a wide variety of both walking and running events with modified field events as well.

The East Regional meet is a qualifier for the statewide Summer Games in May in the Omaha area.

While the times may not have all been personal bests or blazing fast, the Special Olympics offered a fresh reminder that it isn’t always necessary to be victorious to have a truly special day; rather, the point is to enjoy the opportunity to compete and challenge oneself to become better. The tone the meet sent across was celebratory, from celebrating the accomplishments of a local team competing at the World Games in South Korea to celebrating the athletes and their events.

The meet had plenty of touching moments, including a competitor in the 200 meter walk finishing last in his heat but still finding the inner joy to celebrate his accomplishment. As soon as he crossed the finish line he ecstatically shouted yes, pumping both arms high in the air, and high-fived all of the volunteers and spectators nearby.

Volunteers also held a rope for a woman in the 50 meter walk who was blind, allowing her to hold on and to guide her toward the finish line without losing her way, finishing to cheers.

The entire day marked several different landmarks in the lives of the athletes as they proved just how much adversity can be overcome. Some of the coaches expressed their concerns about finding facilities and training, stating usually they only had access to a track in poor weather conditions. The athletes themselves overcame remarkable challenges as well, not letting what could be deemed as incapacities from preventing them from racing.

However, instead of complaining about the adversities, the athletes seemed only to focus on the positive aspect of being able to compete in a nice venue, with fans to cheer them on. The focus never shifted to the struggles each person faced in his or her daily life, but instead to the dominating spirit obstacles that are placed in life to be conquered.

A personal best wasn’t needed in order to have a successful day, or even finishing first in the race. The competitors had more at stake than a shallow trophy or win.

The Special Olympics not only had a significant impact on the competitors, but the volunteers as well. Many were able to interact with the competitors, to cheer them on and to get to know each other better. The true heart and nature of perseverance of the athletes left an unforgettable impression on the volunteers, including Arts & Sciences sophomore Steven Raimondi and freshman Garrett Kenyon.

“Every single competitor out there had a smile on their face during every single race,” Raimondi said. “To see all of them like that was pretty amazing.”

“They have the strongest hearts because whether they get first or last they show thankfulness for being able to compete,” Kenyon said. “I was simply humbled to see joy by simply cheering on and being positive. It taught me whatever I do in life there is no reason not to show joy.”

The Special Olympics meet not only offered the athletes a great chance to compete and advance to the Summer Games, but stood for so much more. Whether it was the camaraderie of the teams involved and the joy and excitement of getting to compete at the nice facility in front of fans, or finishing with a personal best or simply finishing at all, the Special Olympics lives up to its name of being special.

While there has been fuss all over Omaha about Johnson’s departure, there are even more moves that have somehow slipped under the radar. Just this weekend, I learned that Jeff Gal already left the Creighton men’s soccer team for a spot at the University of Virginia.

If you don’t recall or don’t care about soccer – either is inexcusable – Gal was instrumental in Creighton’s run to the Final Four last season. His loss is devastating, even if Alex Bolowich proves to be an above average replacement.

Beyond these two losses, even more rumors are swirling about departures.

This is just a part of the new Creighton culture. We asked for it and we got it.

This is no longer a university with scrappy sports teams trying to make a name for themselves. Creighton now has major programs, and there will be more transferring to come.

These kinds of things are just a side effect of major college sports. I think Johnson summed it up perfectly, “At the end of the day, it’s a business.”

The illusion of looking out for for an athlete’s education is just another casualty of this. Kids, 19- and 20-year-old kids, have to pack up their studies and move because of what the NCAA wants to paint as an extra curricular activity.

It’s an extra curricular activity that makes boatloads of cash for the university and dictates which buildings get to be built unreasonably close to the soccer stadium, but that doesn’t matter. These are students, man. How dare you suggest otherwise.

I guess the point I’m laboriously trying to drag out is that Creighton is now part of the NCAA problem. We have to drop the student-athlete facade and accept that we are now dealing with the idea of cash cow-athlete-students.

Transfers, both in and out, will become commonplace as kids try to find a place to expand their brand. This is especially true of this transition period. We have to weed out anyone (try to remember that these are people) not worthy of making the leap to the Big East.

The kids we bring in aren’t looked at as students or people, either. They’re assets. Just this week, Justin Edwards was on campus after deciding that he wanted to transfer from the University of Maine. I asked my friends that go there what they thought about him.

As expected, every answer was basketball related. I can’t tell you anything about him as a person or student, but I can certify that he is “nasty” on the court. If you were wondering, that’s one step below “wicked nasty” and two below “wicked [The FCC says it's okay when David Ortiz says it,] nasty.”

Try to forgive me for hopping up on the soapbox for this last column of the year. I want to entertain, I really do. It’s just that I really hate the NCAA for what it does to these kids.

That’s what I took away most from the Nevin Johnson interview. The whole time I could see the uncertainty in his eyes. This was a young man who wasn’t sure where his future was headed. It was terrifying to watch, in a way. I admire his strength to give that interview because I know I wouldn’t want to talk to a hack reporter about uprooting my life.

But that’s just what happens when you move on to the big time. Students come and students go. All of them try to promote themselves while making money for the NCAA. I don’t think Ed O’Bannon has ever had a larger fan base.

It’s only a matter of time before we start hearing about scandals and cover-ups, too. That’s what happens when you become a major program. Sometimes boosters named John Galvano just start paying players. You didn’t hear that from me, though.

I believe it was last week. Me and Coach Mac were having the end of the season meeting like everyone else. That’s when the decision
was made.
How did your teammates react to the news?
They took it pretty much the same way I took it. It’s tough having to change things up, you know, after being in the same place for two years. You kind of get used to things, kind of get comfortable. Now I have to up and make a change, so it’s kind of tough, but you have to do what you have to do.
When coach McDermott told you that your role was going to stay the same, how much do you think that had to do with moving to the Big East?
He said that was a part of it. Also, the personnel on the team was also a part of it. Basically that’s just it.
There have been a recent stretch of transfers, including men’s soccer goalie Jeff Gal. Is this a Creighton problem, or just a part of college athletics?
It’s just like a part of college sports, you know. At the end of the day, it’s a business. Basically I have to go where I’m wanted at. That’s just what it is. You go where your standing is the best.
Could you describe your time here at Creighton? Were you happy, generally?
Oh yeah, like I had a great time here. I met a lot of great people. I made a lot of great friends. Basketball-wise, it was always a lot of fun, you know. I always love playing basketball, you know. Playing in the CenturyLink in front of all those great fans, you know, Creighton fans are awesome. Omaha is a great city. There are a lot of friendly people. You know, the Midwest is known for its friendly people. I had a great time here, you know, looking back on it I had a lot of good times. Overall, I had a good time here.
Is there anything else you’d like to say to the Creighton community?
You know, I enjoyed my time here. The fans showed me a lot of love in my time here. Every time I did get in the game, you know, I always got a great ovation from the fans. Overall, I had a great time. I just would like to thank the fans for supporting me in my time here. Moving on to the future, I’ll always remember this place.

Despite it being unnecessary, the author humbly concedes that girls actually are logical; however, they simply go “overboard” with it and stretch propositions to illogical ends. Such compelling syllogism by the author may remind the reader of Dostoyevsky’s protagonist Raskolnikov and that may force the reader to question whether “he” was really a “she” given his tendency to go overboard with logic.

But the author’s most compelling social commentary comes when she boldly identifies the real crux of the problem; that is: that our expectation of girls and their behavior is simply too high. Again the author scientifically proclaims that when girls think ahead they just get too worked up. Obviously an awesome axiom of existence. After all the author duly points out how the exclusive considerations of girls, “gym, tanning and laundry” can easily over-work the beta-brain burdening all girls.

Even a quick gaze into the author’s abyss was awesome. Literally. As a society we cannot expect to live in a girls’ utopia such as is illustrated in Mathew Weiner’s show “Mad Men.”  We can’t expect girls to be logical any more than we can expect sincere un-satirical writing from what we read. We should then, as the article suggests, shield ourselves from such expectations and leave the abyss of women stereotypes unperturbed. That is
my proposal.

GRANT ENGRAV

3rd Year Law Student

We take no issue with individuals, regardless of their gender identity, taking care of their appearance. Moreover, it’s normal for people to plan and even dream about major life events such as marriage, long-term partnerships, careers, hobbies or being a parent. Some people plan more than others. Some people dream more than others. It’s normal to think about the future. It’s also normal not to think much about it.

When people meet another person who they are romantically interested in, it’s normal to become excited about what the future might hold. Some people are more nervous than others. Some relationships have more unknowns. Either way, in a healthy relationship built on mutual respect and trust, there is nothing “creepy” or “irrational” in being excited about the relationship or wondering about the future.

What concerns us are the stereotypes Ms. Hartley used to describe women. They were overwhelmingly broad, and overall, quite negative. She referred to women
as “crazy,” “dramatic,” “irrational,” “creepy,” “trouble,” and their hearts as “fragile.” The writer and editor fail to recognize the power of language, and that these characterizations promote unfair and inappropriate stereotyping of women and their role as an equal partner in a romantic relationship.

We believe that people are God’s children, made in his image and that alone gives them inherent worth and dignity. We all experience a broad variety of emotions and each respond differently to significant events in our lives. To imply that women are “crazy,” “dramatic,” “irrational,” “creepy” [and] “trouble,” and their hearts “fragile,” undermines their inherent worth and discounts the intellect, strength, love and thousands of other wonderful attributes that women bring to relationships and to
this world.

MICHAELA TALLMAN 

Director of the Lieben Center

MARSHA PIERCE

Doctoral Graduate Student

We’ve all been there. Nobody more so, it seems, than big corporate news giants. The 24-hour news cycle is a phenomenon in which a pair of talking heads in uncomfortable-looking suits is suddenly told that they have to give a 24-hour-long speech. Eventually, you run out of new things to talk about.

You can flip on a news channel, let’s say CNN, and you can watch live, as whoever is on the screen officially runs out of things to say. They go through all of the classic steps of a student done with their speech a few minutes early: they stutter a little, shift around a lot, repeat themselves a few times, say the same thing but in four different ways, and then they just start making up vague statements that they hope no one will call them on.

Like a student saddled with a speech time they have no business trying to fill, a news giant seems to be unable to just go to commercial and call it a night. No, because the student after them is going to do the same thing, but better, and they can’t let that happen.

I extended the metaphor too far, didn’t I? I extended the metaphor too far. Let’s get
literal again.

Sometimes it’s okay to not have anything to say.

Personally, I would rather watch the same broadcast over than watch interviews with little kindergarteners who just lost classmates in a violent and senseless shooting. I would rather watch an infomercial for the ShamWow than watch an hour-long pointless speculation on the perpetrator of a devastating tragedy.

Heck, I would rather go outside.

News is important. I’m sure this is shocking information to be reading in a newspaper, but I understand the crave for information that, hypothetically, drives a media outlet to do the things that, two hours later, are clearly over-the-line. When you’re in the moment, when you have information that needs to be shared, it’s hard to resist the urge to send it off without double-checking it. Add in the pressure of being expected to fill-up dead air with something that people will watch for ratings, and it’s easy to see how things like CNN having an hour of build up for exclusive information that didn’t exist on the Boston Marathon bombings can happen, but it shouldn’t. News should be for the sake of news, not for the sake of ratings.

If news organizations are going to say something, I for one hope that it’s something worth being said. On our end, it’s important to give news organizations feedback. Write a letter, write an e-mail, call in if something is happening that you don’t approve of; make them listen because they are supposed to be reporting to you.

Originally scheduled as a three-game series, unplayable field conditions due to consistent rains in the Springfield area forced the teams to postpone the doubleheader scheduled for Saturday at MSU to Sunday at noon, cancelling the third game of the series.

Maintaining its first-place standing in the Missouri Valley Conference, Creighton (27-14, 13-3) enters the last week of conference play 1.5 games ahead of second-place Illinois State University and two games ahead of third-place Drake University.

The Bears bested the Jays at the plate last weekend posting 11 runs, while MSU only brought home eight. Freshman utility player Blake Ringle led the Jays at the plate with three hits and three RBIs, including one home run. Sophomore infielder Liz Dike recorded three hits and scored two runs for the Jays.

Junior pitcher Becca Changstrom started in the circle for Jays and took home her 20th complete-game win this season. The victory over the Bears put Changstrom past MSU head coach and former Bluejay pitcher, Holly Hesse on the Creighton all-time career wins.

Changstrom struck out nine Bears without yielding an earned run while the Jays brought home three for the 3-1 victory Sunday afternoon.

Junior pitcher/infielder Alexis Cantu started the second game for Creighton, but a high-scoring first three innings pushed head coach Brent Vigness to call upon relief pitcher junior Brittany Telecky to finish the game.

The Jays jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second game of the series. A sacrifice bunt by junior utility player Blaire Lowe moved Dike to second and a homer by Ringle brought home the first runs of the game. However, three Bluejay errors allowed MSU to take the lead by one heading into the second.

Creighton loaded the bases in the top of the second after back-to-back singles by junior outfielder Ellen Homan and freshman outfielder Kelsey Allender and a drawn walk by freshman utility player Kim Jacobson. Dike stepped up to the plate for an RBI single to tie the game at 3-3 before MSU closed out the inning.

The Jays continued to contest MSU runs until a pinch-hit single by the Bears scored two in the bottom of the third. MSU chased Cantu off the plate, taking a 6-4 lead and remained ahead until their 10-5 finish. The loss dropped Cantu to 6-6 on the year.

Creighton travels to Des Moines on Tuesday for a doubleheader against the third-place Bulldogs. Start time is 4 p.m.

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