This year SLU Jews, the Cross Cultural Center, Busch Student Center, Campus Ministry, and Chabad on Campus have sponsored a Menorah for Chanukah. Lisa Reiter from Campus Ministry sent us some info on the Chanukah celebration:

The Jewish holiday of Chanukah celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, of spirituality over materialism.  This year Chanukah runs December 1 through December 9.

More than twenty-one centuries ago, the Syrian-Greeks sought to forcefully Hellenize the people of Israel. Against all odds, a small band of faithful Jews defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed and rededicated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
When they sought to light the Temple’s menorah they found a single jar of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks; miraculously, the one-day supply burned for eight days.

Jewish sages instituted the festival of Chanukah to commemorate and publicize these miracles. At the heart of the festival is the nightly Menorah lighting: a single flame on the first night, two on the second evening, and so on till the eighth night of Chanukah, when all eight lights are kindled.

Join SLU Jews for a celebration of Chanukah on December 7 at 4:45 PM in the Cross Cultural Center.

Image by juliejigsaw – Licensed under Creative Commons

Looking to spend a relaxing afternoon while all the stresses of finals melt away? Check out A Sip& Serenade from the Saint Louis University Museum of Art:

The Saint Louis University Museum of Art will host A Sip & Serenade on Sunday, December 5, beginning at noon and continuing until 1:30 p.m. Spend a relaxing Sunday while enjoying a performance by the university’s fine and performing arts department, featuring the compositions Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Debussy.

While at the museum, please take time to visit the museum’s current exhibition, Kaleidoscope: Works by Mexican Master Leonardo Nierman which continues until December 31, 2010. Abstraction: Prints from the Permanent Collection is also on display in the museum’s community gallery.

Fine art. Fine wine. Fine way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

The event is completely free.

Image by James Jordan – Licensed under Creative Commons

Are you the Frank Lloyd Wright of gingerbread houses? You never know, maybe you just need a chance to flew your creative muscle.

Billikens After Dark offers just that chance. On Friday, December 3, Billikens After Dark will host the Gingerbread House Challenge at 9 PM in the Saint Louis Room.

Teams of four will be challenged to create the most creative gingerbread house they can. There will be prizes for the winners, but everyone gets the prize that matters most: the chance to have a great time while creating things with friends. And your own gingerbread house.

To sign-up email slubillikensafterdark@gmail.com by December 1st at midnight. Also check out their Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=122207504508345.

Image by PetitPlat Food Art – Licensed under Creative Commons

On December 5, the Department of Fine and Performing Arts – Music will be holding a choral concert in College Church. The program starts at 6:30 PM and features Concert Choir, Mastersingers, Fleur de Lis, SLU Women’s Quartet. The concert is free and open to the public.

The featured work of this program is “Ode on the Intimations of Immortality for Chorus, Baritone Solo and Piano”  (1907) by Arthur Somervell  (1863-1937).  This is the first known performance of this oratorio in the USA.

Below is a more detailed program of the evening’s performances.

Carol Fest  (Concert Choir)            James H. Laster

There is no Rose (Fleur de Lis)                        Gary Garcia

Ashley Brownlee, soprano

A Joyful Alleluia  (Fleur de Lis)            Linda Steen Spevacek

Five minute intermission

Ode on the Intimations of Immortality            Arthur Somervell

Martin Dressler, Baritone            (Words, William Wordsworth)

Overture

There was a Time            Baritone Solo

Now, while the Birds thus sing            Women’s Chorus

Ye Blessed Creatures            Baritone Solo

Our Birth is but a Sleep            Choir

The Thought of our Past Years            Baritone Solo

Truths that Wake            Men’s Chorus

Hence in a Season of Calm            Choir

What tho’ the Radiance            Baritone Solo

We will Grieve Not            Choir

And O Ye Fountains            Baritone Solo

The Clouds that Gather Round            Choir & Baritone Solo

The University Woodwind Ensemble will be playing at the Xavier Hall Theatre on Tuesday, November 30 at 7:30 PM. The performance will go as follows:

Nitro by Frank Ticheli
Adagio by David Holsinger
The Klaxon by Henry Fillmore edited by Frederick Fennell
Cityscape by Scott Boerma
Amazing Grace by Frank Ticheli
The Seasons by Philip Sparke
1. Spring Sunshine

If you are interested in joining, the University Wind Ensemble meets once a week for two hours. You can receive one hour of class credit from participation in the wind ensemble. Admission to the group requires an audition with Mr. Bounds (aaron_bounds@hotmail.com) the faculty sponsor.

Image by wakalani – Licensed under Creative Commons

Here’s a great opportunity to take a trip to the nation’s capital and get involved with a really active student group on campus:

Are you interested in the Pro-life movement? Do you want to become an active voice for the unborn? If so, you are in luck! Students for Life will be taking their annual road trip to Washington, D.C. to March for Life on January 24, 2011. We will depart from St. Louis in the afternoon on Friday, January 21 and return before classes on Tuesday, January 25. The trip will also include a day to roam free in Washington, D.C., as well as a day spent at the Students for Life of America conference. Registration forms are available in Student Life as well as on the Students for Life website. The form, along with only $125 for SLU students and $150 for guests, must be turned in to the Campus Ministry front desk by 5 PM on Friday, December 10, 2010.

See the Students for Life website (http://www.slustudentsforlife.org/) for more information and registration forms.

The Doerr Center for Social Justice and the Micah Program will be hosting Fair Trade week beginning the week after Thanksgiving. In their own words,

Fair Trade at SLU seeks to embrace the Jesuit mission of recognizing the inherent dignity of all people, especially those workers who are most vulnerable, and strives to promote dialogue among students, faculty, and university departments. After Thanksgiving break, the Center for Social Justice and the Micah Program, along with various other student groups, will be hosting Fair Trade Week. All events are free and open to the public.

Tuesday, Nov. 30

Fair Trade Around the World Panel
Adorjan Hall 7pm

Wednesday, Dec. 1

Jim Keady, Behind the Swoosh
Wool Ballrooms 7pm

Thursday, December 2

Screening and Fair Trade Tasting:
“The Dark Side of Chocolate”
Pius Library Knights Room 8pm

Friday, December 3

JamFest: How Bazaar!
Wool Ballrooms 4-9pm

Sunday, December 4

College Church’s Fair Trade Sale
College Church Basement 10-2

Image by rogiro – Licensed under Creative Commons

Come see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for free at the Moolah on Monday, November 22 at 6:30 PM courtesy of the Student Activities Board

The first 100 students to the show get free popcorn.

I’ve never read the book, but if the trailer is any indication, the movie follows three friends as they fly around rural England in search of a nose for their friend, Michael Stipe.

For more information about how to join SAB, visit http://sab.slu.edu or email slustudentactivitiesboard@gmail.com to find out about their meetings on Tuesdays at 6 PM.

Because they don’t make catwalks for road bikes.

SLU Cycling has entered the prestigious “King of Style Collegiate Jersey Contest.” The top collegiate cycling programs are in a heated off-season battle for who has the best jersey. And we need you to vote for our very own SLU Cycling team’s jersey! The voting is on Facebook, the more “likes” we have, the more points we gain. So help us out, we clearly have the best jersey in the Collegiate peloton!

Vote here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=449978773302&set=a.449354053302.240763.113678568302 now through November 30.

For more information on SLU Cycling, fine them on Facebook at facebook.com/slucycling or email Aimee Warnke (awarnke@slu.edu) or Mike Callahan (mcallah9@slu.edu).

If you love puns involving the 90s band Aqua and great a capella, have I got an event for you!

SLU’s only all-female a cappella group, Beyond All Reason, presents their annual fall concert — “It’s A BARbie World!” — on Saturday, November 20, at 7 PM. It will be held in the Busch Student Center Ballroom 170, and tickets will be $5 at the door.

The concert will feature fellow SLU a cappella groups, Astha and the Bare Naked Statues, as well as The Pikers from Washington University, but most importantly, all your favorite BARbies!

While you’re at liking Beyond All Reason in real life, like them on Facebook as well.

During the holidays, it is especially important that we keep families who go without in mind. From now until Thanksgiving break, Campus Kitchen is preparing holiday meals for needy families in an event they call Turkeypalooza. During Turkeypalooza CKSLU will provide over 600 holiday meals and grocery bags for families who need them in the St. Louis Area.

Campus Kitchen is in need of volunteers for the indicated times:

Wednesday 11/17: Hunger Awareness Speak-In, sponsored by SLU Interfaith Alliance. 5:30-7:00 pm Refractory Room (Room 157) Dubourg.

Saturday 11/20: 9-11 Cooking shift #1 (Shift filled), 11-1 Cooking shift #2 (Volunteers needed), 2-4 Cooking shift #3 (Shift filled), 4-6 Packaging shift #1(Shift filled)

Sunday 11/21: 9-11 Cooking shift #4 “The Pie Shift” (Volunteers needed), 1-3 Cooking shift #5 (Shift filled), 3-5 Packaging and delivery shift (Volunteers needed)

Monday 11/22: 3:30-5:30 Delivery shift #2 (Shift filled)

Tuesday 11/23: 9 am-11 am Delivery shift #3 (Volunteers needed), 3:30-5:30 Delivery shift #4 (Shift filled).

For more information, check out http://campuskitchens.org/schools/slu/.

Now I’m no expert on pop culture, but I can tell you that a movie with both Christina Aguilera and Cher doesn’t come by every day. I’m not even sure it’s been done before. I could be wrong.

In any case, would you like to go to a free showing of Burlesque before it hits theaters?

Watch SLU-TV on Wednesday night as they air their ‘Updog’ program. They will be giving away advanced screening passes, t-shirts and other Burlesque items from 10:00 to 10:45 PM so tune in to Channel 22. If you ‘like’ SLU-TV on Facebook you could have a chance to win some of the following prizes

• OPI Nail Polish-”Little Teaser”
• Burlesque soundtrack
• Burlesque t-shirts
• Smashbox Cosmetics, Burlesque Collection and Train Case

While you’re at it, you can like SLU-TV’s Lyle’s Corner on Facebook. Those guys aren’t giving anything away though. They need to step their game up.

The Content Manager (my position) of the site will be opening next semester, and now if your chance to apply to reach over 30,000 unique visits over the course of the semester. What does the job require, you might ask? Well I’ll tell you:

• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• A basic understanding of the intertubes and html
• Understanding of the social media scene
• Campus involvement
• Too much creative energy
• Shockingly good looks
• Video shooting and editing skills a plus

Update: We’re looking for current SLU students who would be interested in working with us. The position is for up to 15 hours a week. Federal work-study eligible students are encouraged to apply.

To apply, send a cover letter and a resume to koernerc@slu.edu.

On Wednesday, November 17, from 9 AM to 5 PM, Campus Ministry will be holding its annual Martyrs Memorial Service to honor the UCA martyrs:

The Martyrs Memorial Service is to honor the six Jesuit martyrs and their coworkers killed in El Salvador, as well as all those who have died by the hands of the military graduates of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (also known as the School of the Americas, or SOA). There will be a prayer service at noon and a closing prayer at 5:00pm. A visual timeline of the history and consequences of the SOA/WHINSEC will be incorporated into the on-campus memorial site. Attendees can join the memorial service whenever they wish. Everyone is welcome to simply be present at the memorial service, but attendees also have the opportunity to be an active participant through the making of the remembrance crosses that will be placed at the fence of the SOA/WHINSEC.

Pass by the clock tower on Wednesday to see the memorial. For more information visit the Campus Ministry’s webpage for the School of the Americas Vigil at http://www.slu.edu/x25949.xml.

The Interfaith Alliance will be hosting the What-if Speak-in on Wednesday, November 17, from 5:30 to 7 PM in the Refectory Room in DuBourg Hall. Akshaya Bandaru with Interfaith describes the event:

The Speak-In will kick-off the Better Together Campaign, a campus-wide social justice campaign that brings together people of all faiths and traditions to address the social justice issue of “food justice” throughout the school year. We will be featuring artistic performances, personal speeches, and a dialogue addressing why we engage in service and how our combined efforts can make an effort to reduce food disparity in our community.

Interfaith Alliance is calling for dancers, singers, actors, writers, and speakers who would like to show support for the campaign by participating in the Speak-in. Performances should be no longer than 5 minutes and should focus on the theme of social justice and/or food justice.

To get involved, contact Akshaya Bandaru at abandaru@slu.edu. For more information on the Better Together campaign, check out the Interfaith Youth Corps website.

Yes, that’s right. The SLU iPhone app will be adding a snazzy new dining feature shortly, consolidating all the information you need about eateries on campus into the palm of your hand. And as perpetual proponents of the democratic process, we have decided that you, our devoted fans, should decide which icon will represent this new feature.

Below you will see the four options. Choose either A, B, C, or D in the poll on the right. May the best cartoon representation of food win!

The Upright Citizens Brigade Touring Company will be coming to SLU on Wednesday, November 17, at 8 PM in the Billiken Club.

The Upright Citizens Brigade gave many well-known comedians their start, such as Amy Poehler, Horatio Sanz, Rob Corddry (The Daily Show), Ed Helms (The Daily Show, The Office), Rob Riggle (SNL, Daily Show), Paul Scheer & Rob Huebel (Best Week Ever), as well as many others.

This event is completely free, so be sure to come out and see one of the nation’s premier improv groups.

This event is sponsored by SAB. Bee tee dubs, the Billiken Club is located on the bottom floor of the BSC in Salsarita’s

Image by Marcin Wicahry – Licensed under Creative Commons

Information Technology Services sent us this tip on how to avoid scary things on the interwebs:

Celebrity news sells newspapers and gets clicks for websites. That’s a given. But you may not realize that cybercriminals have figured out that hot stories can get people to fall for online tricks too, so says computer security company Symantec.

When a computer criminal writes a new piece of malicious software, they need a way to get it on to your computer. One way to do that is to trick you into clicking on a link for a website that is specially built to transmit the malicious software to your computer.

When a big news item breaks — for example, a natural disaster or a celebrity death — computer criminals go to work to make their malicious sites to show up at the top of search engine results. They do this through a process known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

SEO can be used for legitimate or illegitimate purposes. If you know how to use the system, you can ensure that your site rises to the top of the results returned by Google, Yahoo or other search engines.

Computer criminals try to get their site to show up on the first page of search results when someone is looking for the latest news. Then, someone doing a general search for news is tricked into following the bad link.

So, how do you keep from falling into this trap? The most important thing you can do is to look carefully at the addresses of the links returned by your search engine before clicking on them.

For example, Google shows the full web address just below the snipped description of each search result. Before you click on a link, make sure it goes to a site you trust. If you’ve never heard of the site before, give it a pass.

The best protection is to err on the side of not clicking a link you’re not familiar with.

If you have any questions, contact the ITS service desks at 977-4000.

Image by monoglot – Licensed under Creative Commons

The International Student Federation is now accepting nominations for the Kathy Humphrey Award for Diversity.

The Kathy Humphrey Awards were established to honor Kathy W. Humphrey, who used to be the Vice President of Student Development here at SLU. They are given out to recognize individuals who have made great efforts to promote diversity on SLU’s Campus. Please nominate a student (MUST be Junior or Senior), faculty member, and/or a staff member (can nominate as many as you like) who has/have made a contribution to promoting diversity on SLU’s campus.

ISF asks that students submit this form no later than Friday, November 20.

Make your nomination here. For questions, contact the International Student Federation at isf@slu.edu.

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If you’re a junior or senior participating in the slow march towards graduation, you’re probably thinking of employment prospects after graduation. Luckily, the 2010 Missouri LEAD GradBiz Forum will by at SLU this Friday, November 12 from 1 PM to 5:30 PM in Cook Hall.

The 2010 LEAD GradBiz Forum is an event for juniors and seniors seeking to enhance their networking skills, learn about MBA programs, managing your career in changing times and much more. The event is a great place to meet potential employers or learn about internship opportunities. Business attire is requested.

Registration is $10 with a student ID through www.stlmbaa.org.

Image by huntz – Licensed under Creative Commons