Graduating senior Beth Wurtzler was “surprised” when she began searching for jobs relating to the biomedical engineering degree that she will receive from Saint Louis U. at her graduation on May 15.  After five months, Wurtzler never heard back from any of the companies she applied for, and without an employer, she has decided to continue her education at U. Cincinnati’s graduate school.

“I am not really sure where I stand, and grad school gives me the opportunity to broaden my horizons,” Wurtzler said. “It is kind of a reality check to hear that you are so great, and then these companies don’t want you.”

Out of 2009’s graduating class, 54 percent are employed and 39 percent are in graduate school, according to Career Services at SLU.  Kimberly Reitter, director of Career Services, instructs her staff of career counselors to have the students focus on networking and how to navigate job possibilities.

The staff at Career Services assisted more than 500 seniors last year with their career searches, and she is optimistic about the job market for the class of 2010.

“The job market is looking better for now, and it should be an easier year for our graduates,” Reitter said. “The economy is a big part of it.  I think that if they create a realistic job search plan, they should be able to find a job.”

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ Job Outlook 2010 Spring Update, the job market appears to be increasing; employers expect to hire 5.3 percent more college graduates than last year.  NACE monitors the hiring outlook for new college graduates with a variety of surveys and polls to potential employers.  The Job Outlook 2010 Spring Update survey was conducted from March 1 to April 9, with 177 employers participating. Of the participants, 28.3 percent were from the Midwest.

“I think it is just an employer’s market. Those companies have so many applicants so they can be more selective and choose the more experienced applicants,” Wurtzler said. “Career Services was not particularity helpful for my job search.”

Dan Finucane, another graduating senior at Saint Louis, has found Career Services an “extremely helpful” resource on campus.  Finucane will be attending graduate school at Boston College for his Master’s in Theological Studies.  Earlier this semester, he was offered a teaching position in Theology and Philosophy.  Finucane declined the offer, deciding instead to continue his education.

“I am optimistic about finding a job in the future,” Finucane said.  “SLU has helped me figure out what I wanted to do and how I could better serve others.”
The general services that Career Services provides includes helping current students and alumni decide on the majors and careers that would benefit them, and how they could obtain those positions.

Some recent graduates have found success in the job market, crediting networking and career planning as the keys to their success. Tyler Brownfield, a 2009 SLU graduate, is a management consultant for a marketing company. Brownfield credited a contact that he meet three years ago with his current job, as that contact allowed him to explore his options at that company.

“I utilized the services offered by Career Services and I think the biggest thing is just to work the connections that you have,” Brownfield said. “I absolutely love my job, and that job is a direct result of my experience at SLU and those connections I made.”
Reitter stressed the importance of networking experiences.

“Internships can really help make a candidate more attractive, and knowing more people within a given field can really help open doors to a potential employer,” Reitter said.

Switch on the radio and listen to any pop station. What does nearly every song have in common? The use – and sometimes abuse – of voice correction software, most notably associated with T-Pain.

Voice correction tools were first introduced many years ago, but the dawn of the digital age and certain plug-ins have made it more precise, easier to use and cheaper, therefore making it more widespread.

Two of the most well-known producers of this software include Auto-Tune and Melodyne.

After musicians record in the studio, sound engineers have the ability to see the areas that were sung off-pitch and simply enter the desired correction to fix the mistake.
In recent years, the use of voice correction tools has exploded in the pop music industry, sparking a heated debate.

On the one hand, the software saves hours of time for musicians and sound engineers. Back in the “old days” many takes would be necessary in order to get the perfect sound.

If part of a song were sung off-pitch, singers would simply have to continue singing the part on different takes until they nailed it.

This could not only be very time consuming, but also took up a lot of space on analog tapes. In turn, this cost recording studios more money as well.

However, voice correction software has also had some negative effects on the music industry. As a result of mistakes being easily corrected, a wider margin of error is allowed, meaning singers do not necessarily have to be talented in order to sound that good.

Not only does that open up the music industry for performers who are more entrepreneurs than musicians, it can also make for disappointing concerts and ultimately, a more competitive industry.

With correction software as a safety net, “musicians” can actually be creative and attractive entrepreneurs who understand business.

Theoretically, studios could take any good-looking person with some creativity and business skills and make them a pop star (take Ke$ha for example). It seems a strange paradox that singing is no longer a skill requirement for having a successful career as a singer.

Correction software does its job very well by making people sound more talented than they actually are. In Ke$ha’s case, Saturday Night Live exposed her actual “singing skills.”

But this can be even more disappointing if people spend money on concert tickets to see an artist perform, only to disappointedly realize their money was wasted on an artist who became successful because of voice correction software.

Because talent is no longer a necessary skill, virtually anyone can record a song with the potential to become a chart-topper.

With the expansion of potential “musicians,” the music industry has become increasingly competitive.

The pressure mounts for songs to one-up each other in the catchiness and danceability components, causing pop songs to become increasingly blast-able and “in your face.”

Now that songs can be churned out quickly and singers can be made to sound perfect, success is becoming increasingly more difficult.

Ultimately, voice correction software is here and has made its impact. It has become deeply ingrained in the culture, but should it be used in the copious amounts that it currently is?

Though the software can be beneficial in some ways, it has changed the industry and has begun a slow shift away from truly talented musicians.

In time, consumers will likely begin to realize which musicians are mere entertainers – made great by the invention of voice correction software – and which musicians harbor genuine talent.

True talent must make a comeback sooner, rather than later.

– Sarah Creedican is an Oregon State U. freshman.

Oregon State U.’s men’s basketball coach, Craig Robinson, the brother of First Lady Michelle Obama, recently added “published author” to his career accomplishments with the April 20 release of his book, “A Game of Character: A Family’s Journey from Chicago’s Southside to the Ivy League and Beyond.” To celebrate, he signed hundreds of copies for the Beaver community last night.

“We had a fantastic turnout last night,” said Brent Steele, general manager of the OSU Bookstore. “I found out a year and a half ago that he was writing a book and told the publisher I wanted to have an event with him.”

The OSU Bookstore hosted the signing at the Valley Football Center for hundreds of community members, students and media.

OSU football coach, Mike Riley, introduced Robinson.

“I like having someone in the field introduce the author because it adds to the event,” Steele said.

Riley congratulated Robinson on the release of his book and discussed the OSU men’s basketball team’s recent transformation.

“He has done one of the great coaching jobs in America and it’s been a pleasure to watch the team’s transformation,” Riley said. “One of the most important things they turned around was their attitude after Robinson and his family got here. They went through a total transformation in their demeanors.”

Robinson’s inspiration to write the book arose from his father’s influence.

“My dad was the keeper of the family folklore and he told stories of when he was growing up and life lessons,” Robinson said. “He passed away 19 years ago – way too early – and after the grieving process I started thinking that I had to chronicle these stories and pass them on to my kids.”

Introducing his sister at the Democratic convention made him realize the time had come to write the book.

“When I introduced my sister to the whole world I thought of how proud my dad would be to see that and I realized that I had to write this book before I couldn’t,” Robinson said.

Robinson’s father made him realize that life was not about money or a career.

“My father was never too tired to play or teach my sister and I life lessons,” Robinson said. “For me, everything boils down to character.”

From start to finish, the writing process took a little under a year for the full-time coach, husband and father of three.

“I compare writing this book to running a marathon, but it was a pleasure to write it,” Robinson said. “It was a lot of work on the nights and weekends. The easy part was figuring what to write about and the hardest part was to organize my thoughts.”

The book is a collection of Robinson’s life and the family stories that helped shape him.

“It’s about my life and a tribute to my parents, my sister, my teachers, coaches and mentors,” Robinson said. “I didn’t want it to be preachy. I wanted to use it to inspire others.”

One of Robinson’s greatest life successes is following in his parents’ footsteps.

“The most successful thing I’ve ever done is raising my kids, although I’m not done yet,” Robinson said.

An audience of hundreds asked Robinson questions about the writing process, stories of his personal recruitment and even about his ties to the White House.

“It feels cool to be related to the President of the United States,” Robinson said. “One of the stories in the book is one that everyone knows, about me playing Barack in basketball.”

Other stories address some curiosities the country has about Michelle, like her toned arms.

“A clue to Michelle’s arms is in the book and it’s about when she and I learned how to box,” Robinson said. “But if you’re looking for gossip about her, you’re not going to find it. The stories are uplifting.”

In fact, Robinson put a stipulation on whether or not the book would be published. He gave the final say to three women in his life.

“Three people read it before it was published: my wife, sister and mom,” Robinson said. “If they had not signed off on it, the book would not have been published.”

No attendees left without their book being signed and some got more copies signed with personal messages as gifts for loved ones.

“I’m getting a book signed for my dad,” said Olivia Hier, a freshman in merchandising management. “He collects autographs and he found out about this book signing and wanted me to get a book signed for him.”

According to his tweets, Robinson’s media tour to promote the book started on April 19. He’s made appearances on NBC’s “The Today Show,” “The Jim Rome Show,” “Larry King Live,” “The Colbert Report,” “The View” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

Southeastern Conference football teams have wrapped up their spring football practices and coaches discussed themes and trends Thursday in a teleconference.

Alabama won last year’s national championship largely on the shoulders of its stout defense.

Gone from that national championship defense are six NFL draft players.

If the Crimson Tide want to repeat that feat, coach Nick Saban said they are going to need some effort from younger players.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Saban said in the teleconference. “We’ve got some good young players who made a lot of progress, and we’re pleased.”

The team is working hard to ensure it will continue to be successful in the future, Saban said.

“One of the biggest challenges is how do you come back or what’s your attitude going to be after you have success?” he said. “I’ve been pleased with the way our guys haven’t become complacent.”

Another hot topic in college sports is conference expansion.

It’s been rumored for months that the Big Ten is looking to expand to 12 teams.

When asked about the SEC expanding, Saban said he would be supportive of it in the future.

“We did expansion years ago so we could come to 12 teams and a conference championship game,” Saban said. “That format is great for college football. It’s great for the fans. Our SEC championship game is a great venue for teams to play in.”

Two SEC teams will have new head coaches when the season begins.

Tennessee hired coach Derek Dooley in January to replace former coach Lane Kiffin.

Kiffin left the Volunteers to take the vacant head coaching job at USC after only one season.

“The very first team meeting I had when I was introduced to them as their coach, I told them I was never going to ask them to trust me,” Dooley said. “[Trust] is something you have to earn in time.”

Tennessee is Dooley’s second head coaching stop on the collegiate level. He coached at Louisiana Tech from 2007-09 prior to being hired by the Volunteers.

Joker Phillips will enter his first season as head coach when he takes the reins at Kentucky. Phillips has been a coach with the Wildcats in some capacity since 2003.

Former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was one of the most decorated collegiate football players ever, but now he is in the NFL. Many fans are curious to see how the Gators will replace such an integral part of their success.

Florida will try to replace him with junior John Brantley.

Florida assistant coach Steve Addazio said Brantley is fitting in nicely.

“Johnny had a great spring, which is really no surprise at all,” Addazio said in a teleconference. “Our team has a great deal of respect for him. He’s really paid his dues, and he has a great work ethic here, and when he walks in, they have tremendous confidence.”

Russell Aumua Wright is one of the bouncers at Project 20/20, a bar in Ames, Iowa where Raven Gileau was the night she died. It was Wright’s birthday, and he’d invited one of her roommates, who had requested that Gileau be put on the guest list as well.

Wright said he was surprised at the request. He’s known Gileau since September 2009, and it didn’t seem in character for her to come out and party.

“Usually Raven doesn’t go out much like that,” Wright said. “[Raven’s roommate] had to remind me to put her on the guest list.”

Jie Chen, one of the two owners of Project 20/20, said they card everybody.

“Twenty-one and up get a wristband, 20 and under get a stamp,” Chen said.

Both Chen and Wright said they have never been in trouble with the law for serving minors before and are very careful to keep minors from drinking.

Wright said, when Gileau came out, he saw her in the club around 11 or 11:30 p.m. When she came to the club, he said, she got a stamp at the door, but he isn’t sure she ever got a purple wristband, indicating that she could get into the VIP area, which was cordoned off for the birthday party.

“When I encountered her the night of the party, she was totally cool,” Wright said. “We were talking, she gave me a big hug. She joked around about getting her money back because she paid to get she [and her roommate] in. She wasn’t wasted at all. She was cool.”

Almost every night that they are open, Project 20/20 is visited by the police.

“The police usually come into our bar and check [for compliance],” Chen said. “Usually right around 12:30.”

The police came in Saturday night, and Wright, who said he’s on friendly terms with the officers who come into the bar, said he was almost positive that Gileau was still in the bar when the police first came in. Instead of just checking and leaving like they normally do, Wright said the two officers who showed up stayed for a bit to look at all of the pictures he’d put up to celebrate his birthday.

“This time, they hung out,” Wright said. “There weren’t any problems, no minors drinking, no problems, everything was cool.”

It was somewhere in that period, he said, that Gileau’s friends said she was missing.

Ames police Cmmdr. Brennan said the department has reason to believe that Gileau had been drinking that night and left the bar after midnight, closer to bar close.

Wright said she left far earlier than bar close.

“It was maybe 20-40 minutes after I saw her that her roommates asked me, ‘Have you seen Raven? We didn’t see where she went.’ That’s the first time they asked me,” Wright said.

He said, throughout the night, her roommates approached him four or five times to ask if he’d seen Gileau.

“Honestly, I didn’t ask anybody else [if they’d seen her], because I thought [her roommates] had it under control,” Wright said. “I just thought, like, maybe she was just somewhere else in the club. But I guess they realized she wasn’t there. The last time that they asked me, it was, like, a frantic type of thing, because they were saying that they didn’t know where she was, and they were about to go.”

Brennan said Gileau’s roommates asked an officer in Campustown for assistance when they couldn’t find her.

While the exact timeline and details are still under investigation, at some point Gileau left the bar with a man whom Ames police describe as a friend.

“[The group] came to the bar together, and they were certainly going to practice the buddy system, but Raven decided she wanted to leave when she did,” Brennan said. “It was closer to bar closing [when] the group got separated.”

Wright didn’t remember there being anyone with Gileau except her female roommates when he saw her that evening.

“I don’t know if it was a miscommunication or what, but this young lady and her friend decided to walk home at that time,” Brennan said. “The friends that were left in the bar didn’t know where she was.”

Between the time Gileau left the bar and the time that her roommates communicated with her male companion, she had disappeared.

According to Ames police, Gileau and her companion walked up Hyland Avenue and turned onto 13th Street, presumably headed toward Frederikson Court, where Gileau is listed to have lived, according to the ISU directory. When Gileau said she couldn’t go on, her companion told her to stay underneath the Union Pacific railroad bridge that crosses over 13th Street, near Ontario Street, while he went to get his car. Upon arriving at his car, Brennan said, he discovered that he didn’t have his keys and had to take a bus to his roommate to get them. When he returned, Gileau was gone.

Brennan doesn’t know why the two walked that route.

“Is there a direct route from Campustown to Frederikson Court?” Brennan said. “The answer to that is that, if you’re a crow, there is. Realistically speaking, if you are walking or you’re driving, there is not a straight, direct route.”

After he returned to Gileau’s apartment and found she wasn’t there, he and Gileau’s roommates decided to call the police.

Gileau was reported missing at 3:19 a.m. Sunday morning.

At 5:15 a.m., Ames police contacted Union Pacific and asked them to stop train service through the area because they’d found Raven’s body, said Mark Davis, director of corporate relations and media for Union Pacific in Iowa.

Wright said his boss called him that morning to tell him about what had happened to Gileau.

“I got kind of emotional,” he said. “I mean, we’re both young, I’m 19, she’s 19, she’ll never know what it feels like to be married or have her own kids. I mean, it’s just, her life is over, and she can’t get it back. I wish I could do anything so that she could have her life back. I’d give my own life if she could have her life back.”

Melissa Anelli, webmistress of The Leaky Cauldron, a popular Harry Potter fan site, bewitched students at Georgetown U. Wednesday evening with her wizard world expertise.

The event, originally scheduled to occur Feb. 10, was postponed until April 28 due to the record-breaking amounts of snowfall that occurred early in the semester.

Anelli told audience members — some of whom donned Hogwarts outfits — how themes from the series tied into her experiences as both a Leaky Cauldron contributor and a Georgetown alum.

Anelli described Rowling’s humble beginnings, writing her novel in coffee shops while taking care of her baby. Anelli said Rowling was not expecting anything other than a modest income. “She was hoping she’d only have to work part time,” said Anelli.

She also spoke of her experiences at Georgetown.

“I came here with my own perfect flawless plan,” Anelli said.

“I came in to be a doctor, that was my plan, but in my first week, I walked into THE HOYA, and I had a great time, and within a year, I had completely changed my plan, to become a reporter, to be an English major …” Anelli said in an exclusive video interview with THE HOYA after the event.

She told students, “Whatever you spend your free time doing, that might be an inkling about what you should do with your future.”

Anelli, who served as an editor for THE HOYA during her time at Georgetown and now works as a writer for the Staten Island Advance, claimed that she “felt out of the loop” at THE HOYA, but discovered her passion for journalism after discussing several of the Harry Potter novels with a fellow editor. She told the audience that they all needed to experience that “moment you connect with someone over something you love and care about.”

She also talked about technology’s role in the popularity of the Harry Potter series. “Harry Potter [fans were] the first group of fans to seize the Internet and use it for their own means,” Anelli said. She described trying earnestly to find out when the sixth Harry Potter book would be published; along the way, she came across The Leaky Cauldron, which she soon began to write for.

Anelli spoke about the unprecedented popularity of the Harry Potter series, saying, “I don’t know if we’ll ever have a shared text like we did with Harry Potter.” However, she said that the discussions and popularity developed by Harry Potter would need to be continued for future books, which she said was already happening with other popular novels.

She emphasized the importance of staying excited about reading. Anelli told the audience, “There’s a lot of hubbub about the iPad, and the death of the publishing industry, and the only response is to talk about books … as such fantastic things. We have to be engaged, alert, excited readers.”

The Leaky Cauldron Web site, which was originally founded in 2000 before the release of the fourth Harry Potter book, has rapidly expanded in the past 10 years. Originally just confined to one page, the Web site now has MyLeaky, a social networking program, and Pottercast, a series of podcasts on iTunes. J.K. Rowling has appeared on Pottercast, and according to The Leaker Cauldron Web site, Rowling even declared the Leaky Cauldron her personal favorite.

When asked about the relevance of the site after all the books and movies are released, Anelli said to THE HOYA, “We’re trying to be about more than just the Harry Potter books and the Harry Potter movies, but be about everything that Harry Potter’s been affected by, and everything Harry Potter’s affected.”

After the event, Anelli signed copies of her book, titled “Harry, a History.”

Each time James Ackerman looks at the newly discovered species of orchid housed at the U. California Botanical Garden at Berkeley, he sees the old friend who came upon the rare flower in the mountains of Haiti only by chance.

The plant was found by Donald Dod-a research associate at the University Herbarium who passed away in 2008-in the Haitian mountains of Pic Macaya National Park in the 1980s, but only recently was it declared a distinct species, due to a specimen found in the garden.

Though Ackerman, a professor of biology at U. Puerto Rico, said he and Dod had long suspected the plant was unique, they would have to wait nearly 20 years for the plant to flower and a discovery to be made.

A DNA analysis based on a piece of the plant Dod had given Ackerman before his death indicated the plant was a distinct species. But without a flowering specimen Ackerman said he “would be unwilling to describe it as new without the flowers.”

Before Dod passed away, he donated his personal collection of nearly 50 orchids to the botanical garden, including the newly discovered species.

Ackerman checked in on the status of the mystery orchid which, to his surprise, had erupted into red petals studded with a hint of orange.

“Don had that plant for twenty years or so, and it never flowered for him,” Ackerman said. “I said to myself ‘Man, (the botanical garden) must have a great setup if they got it to flower.'”

The plant-now known as Ornithidium donaldeedodii-blossomed last May at the botanical garden, according to an article detailing the discovery published in the international orchid journal Lankesteriana.

Though the plant had been housed in the botanical garden since the mid-1990s, Holly Forbes, curator at the garden, said that there were no staff dedicated to researching or identifying new plants.

“We don’t have that kind of financial luxury,” she said. “Everyone is stretched really thin, our main goal is to keep everything healthy.”

According to Paul Licht, the Botanical Garden’s director, more than 13,000 of the rare and endangered species that comprise only part of the world’s largest collection of wild plants go unexamined.

Because the garden is an official plant rescue center for plants confiscated by U.S. customs, Licht said they receive dozens of specimens a year, many without the proper collection necessary to ascertain a point of origin.

“There are a lot of stories in 13,000 different kinds of plants,” he said. “What we hope is that we learn some of these before the plants disappear.”

The discovery of the plant is especially important because of its origin, according to Brent Mishler, professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley and director of the University and Jepson Herbaria.

The forests of Haiti are subject to the increasing pressures of logging, Mishler said.

“Those forests are just full of species we have not identified, it just drives us crazy,” he said. “It’s like a really valuable library or art museum burning down.”

But Ackerman has faith that the location of the orchid, in the Massif de la Hotte mountain range, will save it for a while.

Until then, he said, he will have to return to the garden to examine the rest of Dod’s collection.

“There may be more (new species) in the garden, he said. “I just haven’t gotten around to looking at them.”

In a dimly lit room, decorated in vibrant colors, with the sounds of relaxing music, the scene is set for the practice of one of the most deeply rooted Middle Eastern and Indian traditions: smoking hookah. This tradition involves smoking flavored tobacco, called shisha, from a tall, often elegantly decorated water pipe, filling the room with a sweet and fruity aroma.

But the exoticism of this tradition has recently traveled West, particularly to college towns. Throughout the United States, hookah bars have been opening in the hopes of attracting young smokers, according to an article published in the journal Public Health Nursing.

While there are only 16 hookah bars in Pennsylvania, according to hookah-bars.com, Omar’s Hookah Café recently brought the tradition to Lancaster Avenue. The new, student-friendly locale alerts passersby “We accept Wildcard” with a sign sitting prominently in the storefront window.

Hookah bars supply their customers with water pipes packed with shisha, ranging in flavors from mango to vanilla, and individual hoses with disposable mouthpieces allowing customers to sit back, relax and puff away.

“It’s really the alternative to the bar scene,” said Mark Farley, the property owner of Omar’s Hookah Café in Bryn Mawr, which opened about five months ago. “The hookah experience is actually people sitting down and having a conversation. It’s not like a bar where you sit there pounding beers.”

Customers travel from New Jersey and Delaware to visit the newly opened hookah bar and restaurant, according to Farley.

An estimated 100 million people worldwide smoke tobacco from water pipes on a daily basis, according to the Harvard Mental Health Letter.

The recent rise in popularity of hookah smoking has also become the center of interest for many health care professionals.

In a survey conducted through the Office of Health Promotion, Villanova students were asked to report on topics including their hookah use, the perception of its harm and its social acceptability. The study showed that 51 percent of the students have tried hookah. Furthermore, 84 percent of the students surveyed believe smoking hookah was socially acceptable among their peers.

Ineffective cleaning of shared water pipes can be the source of infectious diseases, according to the American Lung Association, though local owners argue that they mitigate this potential problem by providing customers with disposable caps to cover the mouthpieces of the shared hookahs.

The American Lung Association also reports that hookah bars can be a source of second-hand smoke for non-smoking bystanders.

Indoor smoking regulations are an area of the law that should be evaluated, according to Ruth McDermott-Levy, a professor in the College of Nursing.

In the same survey of Villanova students, 51 percent of the students believed that smoking hookah had fewer health risks than smoking cigarettes.

Starbuzz, the brand of shisha used at Omar’s, contains zero percent tar, and with .05 percent nicotine, there is no physical addiction factor.

However, the charcoal used in the process of smoking hookah increases the carbon monoxide, heavy metals and particulate matter in the inhaled smoke, which is not found in cigarettes.

Researchers at the American University of Beirut also found that the practice of smoking hookah bodes health risks of its own.

Since hookah smokers inhale more volume and do so for longer periods of time, the hookah smoke inhaled in a typical one-hour session is equivalent to the smoke of 100 cigarettes, or five packs.

However, during a typical session, more than five people usually take turns inhaling, according to Farley.

“It’s something you do maybe once a week,” he said. “And it’s not like you’re smoking the whole time you’re here.”

Regardless, smoking hookah increases risks for lung cancer, respiratory disease, heart disease, nicotine addiction and mouth cancer, according to the American Lung Association.

While these risks are listed on the cans of shisha, customers at hookah bars are normally seated at a table and provided with the shisha already out of the package and ready to be smoked. This setting takes away any opportunity to view the Surgeon General’s warning with the potential health hazards associated with smoking hookah.

There is a need for education and policy change, especially with regard to how the customer is warned of the health effects, according to McDermott-Levy.

Daina Amorosano and Kelsey Ruane contributed reporting to this article.

The Villanova U. baseball team managed to put an end to its Big East losing streak this weekend but still dropped the first two games of their weekend series with the South Florida Bulls. The ’Cats (21-16, 3-12 Big East) were able to pick up a win in the final game of the road series, 10-7, but fell in the first two games of the three-game set, 5-0 and 7-2.

In the first game of the weekend, the Wildcats were mowed down by Bulls pitcher Randy Fontanez who pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout. Wildcat batters were unable to find much success against Fontanez, but Big East batting leader Matt Szczur went 2-for-4 to raise his average to .438 on the season. Senior Brian Streilein was saddled with the loss after giving up five runs in six innings of work.

Saturday’s game began with a bit more optimism after junior Dain Hall hit his first home run of the season in the first inning.  However, three USF runs in the bottom half of the inning would be all the Bulls would need to hold on for their second straight victory.

Sophomore Kyle Helisek gave up three more runs in the third inning to expand the deficit to 6-1, and the ’Cats simply could not muster enough on offense to overcome the Bulls. Sophomore Kevin Wager had a season-high three hits, as well as an RBI, to pace the Wildcats.

The ’Cats managed to salvage the final game of the weekend series on Sunday, as well as stop their conference losing streak at 12 games. Much like Saturday’s game, the ’Cats were able to get on the board first, when a single by catcher Chris Johnson drove in senior centerfielder Justin Bencsko to score the game’s first run.  This time, however, the ’Cats did not relinquish the lead. Hall picked up his second double of the game, this one of the two RBI variety, in the second inning, and Szczur drove him in with an RBI single of his own to build the lead to 4-0. Hall finished with three doubles on the day.

After two runs against Wildcat starting pitcher Kyle McMyne cut the lead to 4-2, the ’Cats responded in the form of a two RBI single from Wager to build the lead back up to 6-2. Wager had a tremendous series, going 6-for-12 with four runs batted in. Wager is in the midst of a six-game hitting streak and was recognized by being named to the weekly Big East Honor Roll. It was his first Honor Roll recognition.

The Wildcats had an easier time against city-rival Temple on Tuesday. Villanova won 17-10 and was fueled by Szczur’s cycle. The outfielder hit a single in the seventh inning to cap off the feat and a perfect day at the plate. He had a career high five RBIs. In total, Villanova tallied 19 hits and led by a score of 14-1 through five innings.

Freshman starter Kevin MacLachlan was throwing a gem until things turned in the sixth. He gave up four runs in the inning and was pulled with the team leading 14-5. Villanova was able to hold on.

While there were several things that came out of the game, the story was Szczur. He continued to lead the team in impressive fashion. Szczur has reached base in 34 of 35 games this season.