2010-02-25 - Campus Times

Transcription

Campus Times
BLOGS.CAMPUSTIMES.ORG A l u m n i B l o g : R e f l e c t i o n s o n a f u t u r e U n i v e r s i t y c o l l e g e t o w n
Serving the University of Rochester community since 1873
Volume 137, Number 6
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Ford Jr.
tackles civil
rights, politics
Drue Sokol • Staff Photographer
DODGE, DUCK, DIP, DIVE, DODGE
Colleges Against Cancer organized a dodgeball tournament last Saturday in Goergen Athletic Center to
raise money and awareness for testicular cancer. All of the proceeds went to the American Cancer Society.
Presidents approve Duffy’s plan
by Conor Willis
Features Editor
Rebecca LEber
Managing Editor
Rochester Mayor Robert
Duffy’s plan for control of
the Rochester City School
District received a stamp of
approval from 19 area college
presidents, including UR
President Joel Seligman, on
Tuesday. In a letter e-mailed to the
Democrat and Chronicle
and published on its Web
site, area college presidents
cited this year’s expected 46
percent citywide graduation
rate, among other shortcomings in the school district, as
a call to action.
“We urge action,” the
presidents wrote. “The
stakes are very high. The
current system of school
governance is not working
for our children.” They argued that accountability of the school system
would ultimately reside with
the mayor and urged the
community to give Duffy
five years to implement his
plan.
According to the Democrat
and Chronicle, Duffy met
with the presidents on Feb.
3, and secured unanimous
support for his proposal by
the meeting’s end.
“My support for this
initiative was based on one
paramount consideration:
my deeply held commitment
to support efforts that create
greater opportunities for
students in the Rochester
City School District,” Seligman said of his decision to
support Duffy.
Seligman cited that other
major cities have moved to
mayoral control, with positive results.
“There is considerable
evidence that this has had
a positive impact in several
cities,” he said. “I take Mayor
Duffy at his word that no
funds for schools will be
shifted to other purposes.”
The letter comes at the
heels of the teach-in, organized by a Margaret E. Warner School of Education and
Human Development Pro-
fessor Ed Brockenbrough
two weeks ago.
The discussion, which
brought concerned neighbors and Warner students
together, was marked by
community concerns about
poverty in declining school
achievement.
In their letter, the presidents acknowledged that
well-entrenched poverty
underscores the urgency
for change in the school
system.
“The high rate of poverty
in the city makes an effective
K-12 system of education all
the more important here if
we are to give our students
an opportunity to succeed
See LETTER, Page 4
By Ryan smith
Staff Writer
Former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr.
delivered a keynote address
at the Interfaith Chapel
Thursday night as part of
UR’s celebration of Black
History Month, which was
sponsored by the Black
Students’ Union.
Ford’s lecture —entitled
“Civil Rights and Leadership in the 21st Century”
— focused on many of the
problems facing our nation
today, most notably education and how civic engagement, volunteering and
student leadership can be
used to find solutions.
Ford identified what he
described as a “collective
contentment” with our current schooling system that
has allowed nations from
around the world to pass us
in K-12 education in recent
decades.
“America has become lazy,
not as focused, not as determined,” Ford said, noting
that the future will be up to
young people. “[They have to
harness] a change of attitude
to retake our position in the
world. The losers in the end
are us,” Ford said.
In his speech, Ford recognized the challenges currently facing the U.S., but
kept a positive outlook for
young Americans in the
post-Obama election era.
“[There is] greater competition and greater expectations globally,” he said.
Ford also remarked on
President Obama’s first
year, claiming that the administration has averted
unemployment climbing
above 20 percent and another Great Depression.
“It was far better than he’s
gotten credit for,” he said.
“[The administration] has
been reluctant to talk about
their successes.”
In the question-and-answer period following the
lecture, Ford — who was
previously against same-sex
marriage and twice voted for
a Federal Marriage Amendment — was asked if civil
rights extended to same-sex
couples.
Ford said he has since
changed his stance with the
guidance of his wife, and that
his time outside of Washington has allowed him to gain
greater perspective.
“You don’t have to embrace me as an ally,” Ford
said to one questioner, “But
accept that I’m on your
side.”
Ford, the chairman of
the Democratic Leadership
Council, spent the day in
Rochester. He opened his
lecture with by praising Nick
Tahou’s garbage plates,
See ADDRESS, Page 4
Arrested ex-professor dies in home
by WilLIE clark
Editor-in-Chief
Former UR professor William Fals-Stewart, 48, who
was arrested last week on felony charges, died suddenly
on Tuesday afternoon.
Fals-Stewart was pronounced dead at his Eden,
N.Y. home. As of press time,
the cause of death had not
been determined and Eden
Police Investigator Shawn
Bishop — the investigator
authorized to speak on the
developing case — was unavailable for comment.
Fals-Stewart was arrested
Feb. 16 on charges of grand
larceny, perjury, identify
theft, offering a false instrument and falsifying
business records, relating to
his research work at SUNY
University of Buffalo (UB).
In 2007, Fals-Stewart
was originally accused at a
Inside this issue:
misconduct hearing run by
officials of the SUNY system.
He was accused of allegedly
fabricating data in federally
funded studies during his
time at UB. Fals-Stewart
conducted research at UB’s
Research Institute on Addictions from 2000 until 2005,
when he was forced out of
his position due to these
claims of misconduct in his
scientific research.
According to court papers,
there were discrepancies in
the number of study volunteers that he reported to the
National Institute for Drug
Addiction. Fals-Sewart was
acquitted in the case, and
then attempted to sue the
state for $4 million in job- and
reputation-related damages.
However, prosecutors now
claim that the testimony
given in the 2007 hearing
was not given by research-
News: Paterson in the running for governorship
Opinions: Faith-based initiatives in U.S.
Features: Tools needed to brew your own beer
A&E: Interview with Frank Turner
Sports: Women’s basketball upset by Brandeis
ers, but by paid actors not
familiar with his work — testimonies that helped acquit
Fals-Stewart.
The New York State Attorney General’s office filed
the new charges last week.
Prosecutors claimed that
Fals-Stewart hired the actors and provided them
scripts for their testimonies
on his behalf during the 2007
investigation.
Fals-Stewart allegedly
told the actors, who testified
via telephone, that they were
participating in a mock trial,
not an actual proceeding.
“The charges in this case
allege a pattern of lies and
deceit that a public employee
used to attempt to defraud
New York’s taxpayers of millions of dollars,” Attorney
General Andrew Cuomo
said in his statement announcing his office’s find-
Page 3
Page 5
Page 11
Page 12
Page 16
ings. “The brazen crimes
allegedly committed by this
individual outline a series
of frauds that could have
damaged our outstanding
SUNY system.”
After leaving UB, FalsStewart worked at Research
Park Triangle in North
Carolina before coming to
UR, where he was hired as
a professor at the School of
Nursing in 2007.
He resigned in November
2009, and in January he
filed against UR in the State
Supreme Court, claiming
that he should have been
granting tenure at the University.
Clark is a member of the
class of 2012.
Information complied
from the Democrat and
Chronicle, Buffalo News
and the State Attorney
General’s office.
DRUE SOKOL • Staff Photographer
Harold Ford Jr. came to speak about civil rights, among
other issues, at the Interfaith Chapel last Thursday. This
event was sponsored by the Black Students’ Union.
Forging an identity
Men’s squash
How visiting Paris can cultivate a firm
view of American identities.
The squash team took fourth nationally,
falling to top-ranked teams in Potter Cup.
Features Front: Page 7
Sports: Page 16
abroad
NEWS
Page 2
Five-Day Forecast
Thursday
Friday
Snow showers
Chance of precipitation: 100%
High 32, Low 30
Snow showers
High 34, Low 30
Courtesy of www.weather.com
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Snow showers
High 33, Low 31
Few snow showers
High 35, Low 31
Few snow showers
High 35, Low 26
It is the policy of the Campus Times to correct all erroneous information as
quickly as possible. If you believe you have a correction, please e-mail
the Campus Times editor at [email protected].
This Week on Campus
Thursday
FEBRUARY 25
Frederick Douglass Institute Lecture
12:30 - 2 p.m., Rush Rhees Library, Hawkins-Carlson Room
Join North Carolina State University Professor Juliana Nfah-Abbenyi as she gives
a lecture entitled “African-Americans in the African Imagination.” The talk will
explore the complexities surrounding the representation of the African-American
experience in the imagination of Africans. The lecture is free and open to the
public.
Governing Gender: Bodies and Boundaries
Courtesy of Diana Chen
Swan band connects to ur community
Southwest Area Association Neighborhood (SWAN) Band came to Hirst Lounge in Wilson Commons last
Saturday afternoon for a lively musical performance that was hosted by Chi Phi Fraternity. This event
aimed to foster a sense of a community feeling between the UR and the areas across the bridge.
Security Update
Super glue causes emergency
By EMILY BERKOWITZ
News Editor
1. A graduate student reported
that while she was sleeping in
the lounge on the fourth floor of
Wilson Commons an unidentified
suspect poured super glue into one
of her ear cavities at 1:45 p.m. on
Tuesday, Feb. 23.
The victim reported she woke
up in tremendous pain and saw
the unidentified suspect walking
away from the area.
The graduate student went to
Strong Memorial Hospital for
additional care. After her arrival,
medical staff told UR Security that
the victim might require surgery
to remove the substance from
her ear.
The victim told the security
officers that she usually wears a
hearing aid in her ear but removed
it when she lay down.
According to UR Security Investigator Daniel Lafferty, no police
report has been filed due to the
high priority of the victim’s medical condition.
2. Panhandling in Riverview
alarms students
Several students notified UR
Security at 12:38 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 23, that there were two
unidentified suspects panhandling
at the Riverview apartment entrance.
According to Lafferty, security
officers located the two suspects
who had already left the property.
Rochester Police Department was
notified and responded to the
call.
RPD identified the two suspects
and advised them against such behavior in the future. Neither of the
suspects were affiliated with UR.
3. Seat incident at Eastman
causes injury to a visitor
A visitor to the Eastman Theatre was transported to Strong
Memorial Hospital via ambulance
at 10:24 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 23,
after sustaining a laceration to the
back of his head.
According to Lafferty, the visitor
went to sit down on the seat but
the seat had returned to an upright
position.
The visitor missed the seat
and struck his head when he fell
back.
4. Wrestling with friends
becomes dangerous
An undergraduate student was
transported from Anderson Hall to
Strong Memorial Hospital at 3:37
p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 21.
According to Lafferty, the student sustained a shoulder injury
from wrestling with friends.
5. Cell phone stolen during
student’s shower
While showering in a women’s
restroom on the sixth floor of Susan B. Anthony Residence Halls, a
student’s cell phone was stolen out
of her shower caddie by an unidentified suspect between 9:45 and 10
a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 21.
According to Lafferty there was
no police report filed.
6. Severe pain brings
student to Strong
An undergraduate student who
was experiencing severe pain in
his side was transported from
Hopeman Engineering Building
to Strong Memorial Hospital via
ambulance at 9:11 p.m. on Sunday,
Feb. 21, according to Lafferty’s
report.
7. Steam from food items
activates fire alarm
Security officers responded to a
call at Whipple Park at 8:36 p.m.
on Sunday, Feb. 21, for a fire alarm.
The officers found that the cause for
the activated fire alarm was steam
from food items being prepared by
a resident. There was no damage
or injuries and the officers reset
the system.
Berkowitz is a member of
the class of 2012.
Information provided
3
4
Eastman Music School
5
UR Medical Center
2
Riverview Complex
1
6
5 p.m., Rush Rhees Library, Welles-Brown Room
The two-day Susan B. Anthony Institute Gender and Women’s Studies Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference will be held this Thursday and Friday. Topics
covered will include women’s roles in a variety of fields, ranging from history to
music. The event begins at 5 p.m. with an opening reception, and then features
“Single?,” a keynote address from Michael Cobb of the University of Toronto at
6:15 p.m. On Friday, several discussion panels will be held starting at 9 a.m. in
the Hawkins-Carlson Room of Rush Rhees Library, on the second day, ending
with closing remarks at 4:15 p.m. There is no cost to attend.
Experience african-American Music
6:30 - 7:30 p.m., Interfaith Chapel Sanctuary
Come out and enjoy this soulful celebration of music, presented by the Simon
National Black M.B.A. Association. The event is free and open to all. Featured
guests include University Vice President and General Secretary Paul Burgett,
as well as members of the Eastman School of Music community, the Rochester
Philharmonic Orchestra and the local community.
aLERTur sYSTEM TEST
6:30 p.m., River Campus
This semester’s test of the emergency notification system is designed to alert
undergraduates during an emergency. Students can choose to be notified by
text message, e-mail, or other methods. Before the test, students are reminded
to check that their contact information is accurate and complete. Go to www.
rochester.edu/alertur and sign in with your NetID and password to verify your
contact information.
Friday
FEBRUARY 26
Wind Symphony / Jazz Ensemble Concert
7 - 9 p.m., Upper Strong Auditorium
Two of the River Campus’ performance ensembles will hold a joint winter concert
that is both free and open to the public. The UR Wind Symphony will be playing
music by Beethoven, Grainger, Ewazen and Ticheli. The jazz ensemble will then
take the stage to perform pieces by Nestico, Mingus, Hubbard and Mintzer.
Saturday
FEBRUARY 27
black Tie Affair
7 - 10:30 p.m., Meliora Great Room
Join the Black Students’ Union at the sixth annual Black Tie Affair, a part of UR’s
ongoing celebration of Black History Month. Doors open at 6 p.m. with dinner
and an awards ceremony to be held from 7-9 p.m. Afterward, a reception will be
held from 9 - 10:30 p.m. Tickets cost $25 Declining, or $27 with cash or Flex.
Jamnesty!
10:30 p.m. - 2:30 a.m., Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity House
Sigma Alpha Mu, Kappa Delta and Amnesty International have come together to
co-sponsor a concert /dance party to support Haiti relief. From 10:30 p.m. - 12:30
a.m. there will be live music from Love Detective, Oddish and the Radium Girls,
with a dance party to be held after. A $5 donation is suggested at the door, with
all proceeds going to the Doctors Without Borders Haiti Relief Fund.
UR Symphony ORchestra Concert
8 - 10 p.m., SAM Fraternity House
The UR Symphony Orchestra’s winter concert will take on a Latin theme as they
play “Dandon No. 2” by Marquez, and “Estancia” by Ginastera. The concert will
feature guest conductor Felipe Hidalgo, who is the director of the Metropolitan
Student Orchestras in Chile. Directed by David Harman, the concert is sponsored
by the UR Department of Music. It is free and open to the public.
Please e-mail calendar submissions to
[email protected].
NEWS
Page 3
Gov. Paterson jump- Mock Trial qualifies two teams
for National Championship
starts campaign
By Jerome Nathaniel
Features Editor
After kicking off his campaign
last Saturday morning at Hofstra
University, Governor David Paterson came to Rochester Laborers
Local 435 on Fourth St. — where
Rochester’s youth drum line, the
Mighty Liberators, marched him
into a room of over 200 supporters.
Junior Anna Dumont, a former
intern for Congresswoman Louise
Slaughter and Congressman Eric
Massa, worked with the Paterson
campaign team to arrange for
transportation for students from
the UR’s Information Technology
Service Center to Laborers Local.
Eight students took advantage
of the opportunity to attend the
event.
Paterson was first welcomed by
Business Manager for Laborers
Local 435 Bob Brown and New
York Assemblymembers Susan
John D-Rochester and David Gantt
D-Rochester.
“We are at the most challenging
time of New York State history
that I can remember,” John said.
“You all know how hard it is just to
manage your own household and
your own household budget. Gov.
Patterson has to manage $130 billion budget, and not all the pennies
are there.”
With a state budget deficit that
is projected to reach $3 billion
this year, John acknowledged the
difficult task that Paterson must
face as governor.
All three officials recognized
Paterson as being most qualified
for the position, while commending him for his ability to overcome
obstacles such as being the State’s
first African-American and legally
blind governor.
“He understands the pain we feel
here in our community,” John said.
“[He] came from a community in
New York City, a community known
as Harlem in NYC, so I know he
knows what it’s like to be a part of a
place that has so much wealth, but
not everyone shares. And growing
up as a young man living with a disability, and as a young black man, I
know that he knows what it’s like
to fight and overcome obstacles.
And that’s who I think we need to
run our state right now: someone
who’s going to fight to overcome
obstacles.”
Paterson is familiar with Rochester since visiting the city during his third day in office, March
19, 2008, to work on a budget for
the Midtown Project — a project
launched to revitalize Rochester’s
once booming economy. Just last
year, Gov. Paterson budgeted $3.3
million from the $253 million federal Tax Credit Assistance Program
See CAMPAIGN, Page 4
By Justin Fleming
News Editor
At the Mock Trial Regional
Championship at Syracuse University last weekend, UR’s program
qualified two teams for the National Championship, which will
be held in mid-March at Miami
University of Ohio.
Of the 17 active members on
the team, only seven are returning
from last year. According to UR
Mock Trial President and senior
Andrew Cashmore, qualifying
more than one team is an especially
significant accomplishment for
such a young group.
“To get two teams to Nationals
is very impressive,” Cashmore
said. “We’ve had teams much more
experienced than this that have not
been able to do that.”
In fact, it’s the first time two teams
have done so in school history.
There were a total of 26 teams
at the Regional Tournament,
with representation from Cornell
University, Penn State University,
New York Univeristy, Syracuse
University and other colleges. Even
with this stiff competition, one of
UR’s teams placed third, while the
other placed ninth and earned an
honorable mention.
For competitions, each Mock Trial team has to prepare arguments
for both sides — the prosecution
and the defense — of a mock court
case, which was a murder this year.
The teams all took part in four
separate trials in the tournament,
arguing a predetermined side of the
case for each.
An affidavit, accessible by all
the teams, outlines the key facts
and stories of the witnesses. Like
a real court case, witnesses can
be examined by their own side,
as well as cross-examined by the
other team.
Also akin to the actual court
system, attorneys have to develop
Courtesy of Amanda Rosemore
The UR Mock Trial Teams took third and ninth place at the Regional
Championship last weekend, both qualifying for Nationals.
opening and closing statements to
enhance their case.
Vice President of UR Mock Trial
and senior Brittany Crowley commented on the various skills that
mock trial requires.
“It’s a combination of legal practicing, acting, public speaking and
debate,” Crowley said.
A practicing lawyer acted as a
presiding judge during the trials.
The judge was responsible for scoring in both the individual and team
performances.
Prior to the Regional Championship, the Mock Trial teams had
participated in three invitationals
this year. In the first two of these
competitions, the team placed second and third, respectively.
Although the invitationals do not
affect a team’s ability to participate
in Regionals, they help the team to
gauge progress, test the responses
to case strategies and give new
members a chance to participate
in competition.
Even so, the Regional Tournament was by far the biggest event
of the season for UR Mock Trial.
“You can win every invitational
you go to, but if you don’t do well
at Regionals, your season’s over,”
Cashmore said.
At the tournament, several
members of UR’s team also won
individual awards. Junior Peter
Dirkes, Crowley and Cashmore all
won All-Regional Attorney Awards
for their performances. In addition,
freshman Alina Rozenfeld won an
All-Regional Witness Award.
UR’s team was also the Regional
winner of the Spirit of AMTA
Award, which is awarded by the
American Mock Trial Association
(AMTA), to the team that “best
exemplifies the ideals of civility,
fair play and justice.
Although UR earned two bids to
Nationals, the team is only accepting one because of timing conflicts
among some of the members.
The teams are allowed to restructure their membership before Nationals, however, which
Cashmore is viewing as a golden
opportunity.
“We hope that by combining the
teams, we’ll be able to put forward
our strongest members in a way
that will be successful,” he said.
Fleming is a member of
the class of 2013.
UR professors receive CAREER
Award for innovative research
The HIV Vaccine Trials Unit at the University of
Rochester is now The Rochester Victory
Alliance. Healthy, HIV-negative gay and
bisexual men, ages 18-45, are needed for local
studies.
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So ‘MAN UP’ and Volunteer for Victory today!
AN HIV VACCINE IN OUR LIFETIME
By Emily berkowitz
News Editor
An esteemed award for young
scientists, the CAREER Award,
has been granted to two researchers, Professors Paul Ampadu and
Justin Ramsey.
The National Science Foundation (NSF), which selects the recipients based on how innovative
the proposals are and how well the
proposals combine research and
education, awarded this honor to
the two UR professors.
Ampadu, who is an assistant
professor of electrical and computer engineering, received the
CAREER Award for his research
in creating networks of heterogeneous technologies on a single
chip.
For the next five years, Ampadu
will receive $400,000 for his award,
during which he will continue to
work on network chips.
“Paul’s research in networkson-chip is an exciting area at the
frontiers of electrical and computer engineering that surely will
be important in future integrated
circuits, especially those that combine a lot of different functions
such as computing, communications, memory, signal processing
and others,” Department chair
of Electrical and Computer Engineering Mark Bocko said.
Ampadu will work on improving the crucial reliability problem
of integrating deep nanometer
CMOS and emerging nanoelectronic processors and memories
onto a chip.
Outside of his research, Ampadu
is active in numerous community
outreach efforts that help guide
underrepresented students in an
effort to attract them to the field
of engineering.
For his work in guiding students
Ampadu received a national Black
Engineer of the Year Special Recognition Award.
The other recipient of the CAREER Award, Ramsey, an assistant professor of biology, won the
award for intertwining research of
plant evolution with educational
and community outreach efforts
that pertain to the Rochester forest habitants.
As a part of his award, Ramsey
will receive an $800,000 grant over
the course of five years, which he
will use to research the contributions of whole genome duplication
to the evolution of reproductive
obstacles in plants.
His educational and community
efforts are specific to natural areas
near Whipple Park in Brighton,
which provides UR students with
unique opportunities to engage in
research that is within walking
distance of campus.
“Justin is one of our young leaders in ecology,” Department Chair
of Biology Thomas Eickbush said.
“Many students already gravitate
to his laboratory to conduct independent studies. He discovered
this priceless gem of a mature
woodland in our backyard. He is
leading the way to making these
woods a valuable preserve for future generations of students.”
Ramsey’s work also includes
molecular analysis, greenhouse
studs and field experiments that
further our understanding of how
plants diverge into brand new
species.
Additionally, Ramsey’s recognition for his research will help
support students pursuing careers
in the fields of education and
suitability.
“The Ramsey lab has been a
magnet for those students interested in ecology, conservation and
sustainability issues,” said Eickbush said. “The award will insure
that there will be enough funds to
support these students.”
Both Ampadu and Ramsey plan
to use their winnings to further
their research and provide students with additional learning
opportunities.
Berkowitz is a member of
the class of 2012.
NEWS
Page 4
Campaign: Paterson to run in next election
Continued from Page 3
for El Camino Estates to provide 25
units of affordable housing for lowincome residents with developmental disabilities. He also made a $50
million commitment to UR’s Center
for Translational Science.
“I have always loved Rochester
because Rochester has to endure
that every time it looks like [it] is
going to get something, some other
cities or places seem to get it, and
I’m an underdog too, so that’s why
I adopted Rochester,” Patterson
said.
While some of his supporters,
including Assemblymembers John
and Gantt, try to place Paterson’s
governorship in the context of the
recession, Paterson argued that
he’s done a fine job in spite of the
adverse economic conditions he
inherited.
Among the several accomplishments that Paterson listed, he drew
the largest applause when he noted
that he was the first governor to
raise welfare grants in the last 20
years and expanded food stamp
distributions by 30 percent. He also
sparked positive responses when
he noted that he made it a felony
to drive under the influence with a
minor in a vehicle.
“I have accomplished more in two
years than what most governors accomplished in two terms,” he said.
“And yes, I want you to judge me by
what I’m fighting, but you can also
judge me by what I’ve done.”
Early in his speech, Paterson
referred to the rumors circulating about him in New York media
outlets.
“After all of what you may have
heard in the last few weeks about
me, there is one rumor I would like to
Campus Briefs
UR trustee and active community member passes away
Jerome Nathaniel • Features Editor
Gov. David Paterson, pictured here with his wife Michelle and
Assemblymember Susan John, spoke in Rochester on Saturday.
confirm: I am running for Governor currently stands at 55 percent to Paterson’s 23 percent in last month’s
and we will win,” Paterson said.
Later Paterson went on to in- Quinnipiac University projected
directly address rumors about his election poll results. However, the
personal life. Three weeks ago, it results project Paterson at a dead
was leaked that the New York Times heat with Republican opponent
was working on a controversial Rick Lazio at 29 to 30 percent.
In September, the Times reported
story about Paterson. However, the
story released by the Times on Feb. that President Obama made a re17, “Paterson Aide’s Quick Rise quest for Paterson not to run in the
Draws Scrutiny,” was scrutinized election so that Democrats wouldn’t
for lacking both relevance and risk losing governing power in New
York State.
factual grounds.
While Paterson acknowledged
The Times and New York Daily
News has also published stories the mixed opinions about his camthat alleged that Paterson has an paign, he assured his supporters
that he was up for the challenge.
extravagant night life.
“Some of those people are telling
“I’m not going to quit because
tabloid newspapers engage in ru- me, you can’t run for governor,” he
mors, innuendos and lies against said. “Well I want you know there’s
me, all the while the one newspaper a person that’s running for goverthat was writing the story knew it nor that doesn’t quit.”
November will mark Paterson’s
wasn’t true, and wouldn’t say it,”
first actual election. The former Lt.
Paterson said.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Governor came into office after Gov.
is expected to challenge Paterson in Eliot Spitzer stepped down.
Nathaniel is a member of the
the primaries. Although Cuomo has
class of 2011.
yet to make any announcements, he
Letter: College, community opinions split
in a rapidly changing global environment,” they wrote.
However, some in the community and at UR question whether
mayoral control will help the
situation.
Warner Associate Professor Da-
vid Hursh, who spoke at the teachin, was not convinced that shifting
the organizational structure of
school districts would improve
students’ learning environment.
“I think it’s more complicated
than test scores, which seems to
be what they’re looking at. It also
requires looking at other issues
such as poverty in the city,” Hursh
said. “[Seligman] can speak out
in support of them. I’m glad the
University shows its concern for
city school districts.”
Leber and Willis are members
of the class of 2011.
which he had Thursday afternoon
in his first-ever visit to the city.
He spoke with a few UR students
and met with Mayor Robert Duffy,
among other local groups throughout the day.
Ford has been widely speculated
as a competitor in the Democratic
primary to Gillibrand, who was
appointed by Gov. David Paterson
to fill Hilary Clinton’s seat. He
said he would release an official
announcement on whether he will
run for the position in the coming
weeks.
This announcement sparked a
reaction from some of the students
in the audience.
“I thought [Ford] was a perfect
example of a 21st century politi-
cal entrepreneur,” junior Allison
Reiman said. “He is socially and
financially consertvative and he
basically supports everything that
is not on the democratic platform.
That is scary.”
Ford was a member of the U.S.
House of Representatives from
1997 to 2007, representing the
Memphis-area of Tennessee. The
son of a former Congressman, Ford
gave up his seat for an unsuccessful bid for Senate in Tennessee
in 2006.
He has been living in New York
City and serving as Vice Chairman
of Merrill Lynch since 2007. In the
wake of the Wall Street climate and
bonuses that have angered many
Americans, Ford said previously
on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that
he would disclose all necessary
financial requirements if he were
to announce his candidacy, but
refused to divulge specifics in the
meantime.
Ford donated the entirety of the
funds, which he raised from his
speech, back to the University.
At the end of his address, Ford
responded to a question on whether
he would run for Gillibrand’s seat
and why he was considering entering the race.
“I’ve been dismayed at times by
the lack of leadership in the U.S.
Senate and representation here in
New York,” Ford said. “If I do run,
there will be a simple message: We
can do better.”
Smith is a member of
the class of 2011.
Address: Ford Jr. yet to announce Senate bid
University trustee Gilbert C. McCurdy passed away Tuesday Feb.
16. He was 87 years old.
McCurdy was a lifelong trustee
of UR as well as a trustee of Roberts
Wesleyan College.
In addition to leading his family’s department store, McCurdy
and Co., McCurdy was essential
to the development of Midtown
Plaza.
McCurdy started working at the
East Main Street store in 1946,
and he became the chairman and
chief operating officer in 1962. He
then became the chief executive of
Midtown Holdings Co.
McCurdy and Co. was founded
in 1901 by McCurdy’s grandfather
and it was a well-known department store until the family sold
it in 1934.
Throughout his life, McCurdy
was also an active member of the
Rochester community.
He was a former president of
the Rochester Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Rochester
Downtown Development Corp.,
one of the founding members of the
Boys and Girls Club and lastly, he
helped form the Pathway Houses
of Rochester, with the late Rev.
Thomas Richards.
McCurdy is survived by his wife
and his two children.
There is a memorial service
scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 27 at
11 a.m. at the First Baptist Church
in Rochester.
Sigma Phi Epsilon raises
money for charity
Over the fall semester, Sigma
Phi Epsilon Fraternity raised
over $1,300 for the Hillside WorkScholarship Connection program,
run by the Hillside Family Agencies. In a ceremony last week they
gave a check to Hillside.
SigEp planned and orchestrated
three fundraising events to raise
these funds.
The first event was an amateur
squash tournament for the UR
community and the second event
was a “Date a SigEp” competition,
where students had the opportunity to place bids to win a date with
one of the fraternity brothers.
Their last event, which took
place last November, was a Beatles
tribute concert. The show featured
Music Department Professor
John Covach’s band, The Smooth
Talkers.
Emily Berkowitz is a member
of the class of 2012.
Information courtesy of
UR Communications.
In Rochester
Local groups seeking funding
for after-school activities
plan to meet soon to share ideas
on how to curb this trend.
Across the Rochester area,
funding for after-school programs
has been drastically cut in recent
months. The “Community Coalition,” a group formed to develop
long-term solutions to this problem, is headed to Albany next week
to petition for more funding for
programs that will keep kids off
the streets.
The group is aiming for $5 million over the next four years for
such programs.
Another group — the Rochester
Downtown Development Corporation (RDDC) — is seeking immediate ways to give kids places to go
after school.
According to Heidi Zimmer-Meyer, president of RDDC, there were
once 16 different organizations
in the area providing after-school
services. Now, only four remain.
These and other organizations
Contract requested for
downtown demolition
Several structures from an old
shopping mall and office complex
are set to come down in the coming months. The State has issued a
request for proposals for the demolition contract, with the winning bid
to be announced March 16.
Specifically, several sky bridges,
the Midtown Plaza building and
parts of the service tunnel from
Midtown to the Regency Rochester
Hotel are slated to be demolished.
No explosives or implosive
techniques will be used in the
demolition. The state has already
committed at least $50 million to
the project.
Justin Fleming is a member of
the class of 2013.
Information was compiled from
www.13wham.com.
Opinions
Page 5
EDITORIAL BOARD
Artistic admissions
Improve summer life
Artistic expression holds an appeal for many at UR, considering the University’s
25 performing and fine arts student organizations and strong enrollment in dance,
music and art classes. This artistic subculture has begun to receive greater recognition in the admissions process with the newly created Prince Street Scholarship, a
scholarship devoted to attracting applicants who have shown particular talent in
the arts.
The scholarship’s aid is broad, ranging from $7,500 to $20,000, as is its definition
of what constitutes “art”: Prospective students who write, paint, act, play music,
dance, etc. are eligible. Students who are offered the scholarship are also invited
to Arts at Rochester, a weekend program coinciding with Spring Open Campus in
April. Aside from UR’s Youth Orchestra Scholarship, which grants aid to prospective
students in regional orchestras, there has been little else that singles out applicants
with remarkable artistic ability.
The Prince Street Scholarship gives the occasionally overlooked arts some deserved
attention. Drawing more students to UR with an invested interest would enrich
undergraduate life and bolster these creative programs. Also, such a scholarship
makes the River Campus more attractive to students who are already drawn to UR
for the music culture that the Eastman School of Music provides.
The Office of Admissions has taken a step toward a larger goal of emphasizing the
arts on the River Campus. Part of the University’s strategic plan is to develop larger
and better arts facilities, particularly a new music hall, an updated Strong Auditorium and Todd Union, a new dance performance space and more. By reaching out to
students with high interest and skill in these disciplines, UR is marginally improving
its student culture. While this small-scale scholarship will not transform the River
Campus alone, it at least begins to promote an area that is evidently popular.
The recent announcement that the College of Arts and Sciences is looking to
improve summer life on River Campus acknowledges the current disparity between
student life during the summer and the academic terms. The population during
summer months is small — only several hundred — and could be greatly expanded
with new incentives for students.
Adding job opportunities should be at the forefront of the College’s plan when
it remodels its summer program. Students take summer courses for a myriad of
reasons, whether retaking classes, working ahead in degree requirements or taking
courses to complete their clusters. Having jobs on campus during the summer allows
students, who may not have full transportation access, to balance the commitments
of classwork and jobs.
A reason that students do not choose to stay at UR may be their inability to find
jobs on campus. While students may hope to take courses over the summer, they
still have to decide between making money at jobs found at home and paying to take
classes at school.
One solution would be to enact a program that provides working students with
subsidies for their summer education. By setting up a program in which students
could work part time to cut tuition costs — be it research work or other types of
employment — the College would be offering both jobs and academic opportunities,
making it more feasible for students to stay.
The above two editorials are published with the express consent of a majority of the editorial board,
which consists of the Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor, Opinions Editor and two other editors elected by a majority of the editorial staff. The Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board make themselves
available to the UR community’s ideas and concerns. E-mail [email protected].
Editorial Observer
Give faith-based charities a chance
Extra ecclesiam nulla salus:
outside the Church there is no
salvation. The doctrine is based on
the idea that man is so wicked that
he deserves eternal damnation,
but he can receive eternal life by
confessing and serving God.
After Saint Cyprian first made
his edict, 1,760 years later, our society is far more secular, and many
of our institutions have adjusted. In
the United States, amendments are
made to adjust to the times. Given
this flexibility, there is no reason
why both sides — religious believers and anti-religionists (those who
oppose any religious affairs in our
government) — should not find a
happy medium.
Suppose society went back to
holding ecumenical councils. The
first thing that should come to the
table is Salvation vs. salvation.
While Salvation is a Christian belief in a need for Christ, salvation
should recognize the universal
needs of mankind. If the churches
brought food, shelter, education
and moral support to the forefront
of their missions, then Cyprian’s
idea should lose some of its opponents. When a person of any belief
is down and out of luck, basic human needs are a part of a salvation
that should always be accessible
through churches.
Are churches living up to those
standards? The government seems
to think so when it spends money,
though controversially, on faithbased charities: access to Recovery
(grants for charities focused on
increasing the availability of drug
and alcohol treatment programs),
the Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative
(which funds charities focused on
helping individuals returning from
prison re-integrate themselves
back into society) and the Compassion Capital fund (designed to
fortify the role of faith-based organizations in human services).
Anti-religionists can disagree if
they wish, but there is no reason
why the government should not
help organizations, whether faithbased or not, that want to help
people. It is hard to argue that
there are not good intentions when
the Rochester Salvation Army,
Editorial Cartoon
raised $558,000 last year for food
and shelter, when Brooklyn’s Park
Slope Christian Help serves 70,000
meals and provides temporary shelter for over 2,000 annually or when
Catholic Charities USA raised $1.8
million last year to fund its various
objectives: homeless prevention,
substance abuse rehabilitation,
tutoring programs and housing
for the elderly.
Despite all of these deeds, there
seems to be an innate human
obsession with highlighting the
worst of all establishments. Obviously, religion does not make a good
name for itself when 10 American
Baptist priests kidnap Haitian
children. But assuming that all
religious believers seek to convert
is no better than assuming that all
anti-religionists seek to repress.
The government should support good charities and shun the
hypocrites, whether faith-based
or not. However, that raises objections from the anti-religionists who
gripe about “separation of church
and state.” John Locke’s concept
has been misconstrued, creating
an impending fear that the nation
will be intellectually oppressed the
second the government deals with
any religious establishment.
If you refer to Thomas Jefferson’s “Wall of Separation Letter
to the Danbury Baptist Association,” you would find the roots of
the Establishment Clause — that
the legislature should “make no
law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof.” But, if you read
on to its rationale, there is an oftenoverlooked conundrum.
“Adhering to this expression of
the supreme will of the nation in
behalf of the rights of conscience,
I shall see with sincere satisfaction
the progress of those sentiments
which tend to restore to man all
his natural rights, convinced he
has no natural right in opposition
to his social duties.”
What happens when churches
support those natural rights? Or,
what happens when churches
recognize a social duty to provide
basic sustenance to those who can
not find it elsewhere?
Jerome
Nathaniel
•
Features
Editor
If the religious charities can
save some of the roughest parts of
Rochester better than any welfare
program, then the government
should consider switching over to
what works. If money goes to those
who not only do good deeds, but
also do it for mankind because it
is a social duty, then society could
benefit. By subsidizing salvation,
the churches can do a lot more for
those in need.
Although it is not necessary for
a good charity to be faith-based,
it certainly is not necessary to
undermine the credibility and effectiveness of a charity that is. If
the served feel something religious
from their servers’ kindness, sincerity and acceptance, then praise
God and call it a day — we should
not apologize for wanting to save
a soul.
Nathaniel is a member of
the class of 2011.
Campus Times
Serving the University of Rochester community since 1873.
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news editors Emily berkowitz
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OPINIONS
Page 6
“Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice.” — Thomas Paine
Partisanship halts progress in Congress
BY Gregory Van Houten
Last week, Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) announced that he will not seek re-election this
coming November. Bayh, a two-term senator,
surprised Democratic officials in Washington
and people across America with his decision.
Before revealing his retirement, the Indiana
senator was extremely popular, winning
each of his elections by a large margin and
earning consideration as a vice presidential
candidate during Obama’s 2008 campaign.
He has made his reason for leaving office
clear: the complete lack of progress made
in Congress over the last few years.
While Bayh’s decision to leave Congress
does little to provide a solution — as he
simply runs away from the issue — it sheds
needed light on a problem that continues
to harm the United States. Over the last
two or so years, Congress has compiled a
record that is most notable for its lack of
achievements. Health care, cap-and-trade,
and financial regulatory reform quickly come
to mind as excellent ideas that have failed
to pass through Washington.
This complete lack of progress is explained
by the extreme partisanship among mem-
bers of Congress and their unwillingness to
compromise. Being in Congress should be
about working together while partaking in
useful and productive debate. For example,
Congress should have teamed up to form bipartisan alliances to work towards reforming
our flawed health care system. This should
have occurred with the utmost urgency
because of the severe problems the system
presents. What happened instead? Members
of Congress failed to work across the aisle,
Democrats and Republicans drafted separate bills, and our elected officials used the
process to play politics, point fingers and
prepare for the November elections.
Long gone are the days of working
together, as when President Reagan and
House Speaker Tip O’Neil reached across
the aisle to reform social security through
a great compromise in 1983. Even the late,
strongly liberal, Senator Ted Kennedy knew
how to work with his political foes for the
betterment of American citizens, as he routinely did throughout his career. Nonetheless, those who are willing to compromise
and effectively legislate through intelligent
debate are a dying breed. So what caused
this problem in the first place?
Although it is difficult to point out a
specific catalyst for this polarization of
Congress, a few ideas come to mind. For
one, Newt Gingrich’s push for a more unified, conservative Republican party in 1994
did not help. Ever since then, it seems that
passing a bill in Congress is a game and the
teams are Republicans versus Democrats.
Making matters worse, the media continues to push the parties even further apart,
pitting legislators and voters against each
other and effectively choosing sides (think
FOX News, MSNBC and nearly all of talk
radio).
Institutionally, the Senate filibuster is
a ridiculous impediment to progress that
continually threatens the passage of needed
legislation. It is debatable whether the filibuster should even exist, as it is not founded
in any constitutional doctrine — such as the
proceedings from the constitutional convention. Rather, it was established afterward
as a procedural technique and is now often
used in an inappropriate manner to threaten
the legislative process for what seem to be
mostly political reasons. Regardless of why
the problem occurs, there is no justification
for the partisan deadlock.
Fortunately, America is catching on. In
a recent New York Times/CBS News poll,
75 percent of respondents said they disapproved of the job Congress was doing. One
can only hope that this public attitude leads
to the ousting of some entrenched incumbents in the coming primaries and general
elections.
In fact, some of these life-time politicians
have already begun “retiring,” when in fact
they are leaving office to avoid losing their
seats at the hands of voters. Perhaps Congress will finally start working together.
As Harold Ford Jr., a potential New York
Senate candidate, noted this past Thursday,
“politics is about results.” It would be a welcome change to hear stories about members
of Congress reverting to “old-school” politics,
reaching across the aisle, making deals and
doing just that: getting results. Until then,
we will sit and wait, and likely hear more
stories like Bayh’s, while nothing gets done
— at least until November.
Van Houten is a member of
the class of 2010.
BY Matthew Dawidowicz
President Obama often talks about transparency. He says in almost every interview
and town hall meeting that he wants to put
everything Washington does on a Web site. In
response, Republicans cry foul and point to
the lack of transparency in the final stages of
the health care debate. Although Obama has
apologized for the perceived lack of progress,
he shouldn’t have to. Transparency is an
overrated and unattainable goal.
While it is nice to know what deals are being made, politics is about taking individual
interests and combining them for a collective
result. If deals have to be made, so be it. And
if legislators are afraid to make deals, they
should find a different job. The backroom
deals that are made are far less important
than the end result — the bill that makes
it to the floor.
In any case, no political agreement is
truly secret. Every sleazy deal, kickback
and exemption in U.S. legislative history has
been brought to the floor and voted on, out
in the open for everyone to see. For those abused his power to get what he wanted.
who do not know about it, tough luck — it They are half right, but it is also his job
to make deals that satisfy the interests of
is in records that can be looked up.
On a related note, people should stop his state. The system is not broken — it
is working perfectly. And deals far more
criticizing earmarks, since they are an esegregious have been made for far less
sential part of reaching solutions through
important reasons. In an energy
collective action. People should vote
bill several years ago, a congressfor bills that are in their electoral
man in Tennessee voted for the bill
interests. It may not benefit other
because the regulations exempted
states or districts, but if a bill passes
one specific factory in his district.
because of a chocolate clock tower
Where were the bloggers decrying
in Framingham, Mass., what is
the controversy there?
the harm? Earmarks are not the
And, by the way, what if there
problem with our deficit, and
were transparency for these
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is
Jordan Cicoria
deals? What difference would
foolish to think so. If we really
Staff Illustrator
it make? Few people watch Cwant to reduce the deficit, we
have to end entitlements. Whether or not SPAN, and most of its viewers would already
this is a good idea, which I personally believe know about them anyway. Trying to stop a
secret deal in Washington by filming it on
is not, it is not politically possible.
Controversy has surrounded the so-called camera is like thinking the end of a movie
“Cornhusker Kickback,” which persuaded can be changed just by watching it.
People seem to want their politics out in
Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) to vote for the
Senate health care bill. Critics said that he the open, and then they get upset about how
sordid it can become — which is one reason
it is behind closed doors in the first place.
It is impossible to put hundreds of people,
each with their own interests, into the same
room and then demand a collective result
that will benefit all of them. Even getting a
majority to agree will be very difficult, and
it will quickly get ugly — hence the legislative process.
Obama supposedly tried to change Washington and end its backroom deals and
special interests tyranny. For some reason,
we are shocked that nothing has changed.
It is not Obama’s fault, however. It is the
way politics works. Just be glad we are not
beating each other on the head with a cane,
cracking open skulls (this actually happened
in the 1850s).
Simply saying the system should be better
is immature. It is an ugly process, but any
other process would be far uglier, and showing it on TV would not make it go away.
Dawidowicz is a member of
the class of 2012.
BY Hagghai KIPsat
When the clock finally ran down, and
the New Orleans Saints were crowned the
winners of Super Bowl XLIV, the crowd
went wild and most people cheered that the
underdog team had carried the day. As the
enchanted spectators started dancing in the
confetti-infested dome, one picture from the
memorable game stood out — Drew Brees
holding his one-year-old son Baylen. Many
of us might not have seen this happen, but
according to a New York Times writer, the
most unforgettable part of the night was
Baylen Brees, wearing headphones, trying
to catch confetti and looking awed but secure
in his father’s arms. The reporter went on to
say that the headphones on his son (which
helped muffle the noise on the one year
old’s tiny ears) is what stole hearts. Brees
made that happen, which is what parenting
is about.
We all love Cinderella stories, and when
we see our beloved athletes doing these
charming things, we tend to idolize them.
Then we set a new standard for athletes and
want them to do all these little beautiful
things. As time goes by, these sportsmen
start winning endorsements because fans
love them, and their conduct off the field
becomes almost as important as their talents
on the field.
But what happens when they err? Their
images become tarnished, and their careers
hang in the balance.
Tiger Woods is a textbook example. As the
world’s No. 1 golfer, Woods was a perfect role
model for many people before his scandalous
acts with a string of women came to light.
He interviewed with a few high-profile
magazines about how one can become a
better father. Golf Digest even went as far
as giving Obama 10 tips he could learn from
Woods. How he was able to convince the
public that he was holier than most men
remains unknown.
His current absence from the theater of
champions is a big loss. And he is merely
representative of other athletes who have
been caught in similar acts, including the
likes of Kobe Bryant and John Terry. A
coming up with a cruder way to cheat on
their significant others.
Demonizing these personalities is not
without consequences. One of them includes
missing out on epic plays. Another overlooked
factor is the economic fallout from such actions. When the Oprah of golf is missing, TV
ratings sink, golf is no longer a valuable commodity and Nike commercials are no longer
something to write home about. And when
we miss out on some of these commercials,
we lose the beautiful moments we could
have laughed about while getting paninis
at Hillside Café.
As much as infidelity is bad, carrying
these scandals to preposterous levels is not
beneficial. We might get a few laughs from
making John Terry or Tiger Woods jokes,
but they get old. And when the season starts
again, we have ruined these sports figures’
careers and are left to wonder: When will
we see the remarkable displays of ability we
admired during the previous season?
Kipsat is a member of
the class of 2012.
Washington’s obsession with transparency
Sports figures held to unrealistic standards
webpoll
Should Congress repeal
the “don’t ask, don’t tell”
policy?
No. Unit cohesion is a
legitimate argument.
Not sure. This is a
complex issue.
Yes. It’s time to repeal
a backward and unjust
policy.
former player in the English national soccer
team, Terry was dropped from the captaincy
because he had an affair with his teammate’s
ex-girlfriend. In the run-up to the 2010 World
Cup in South Africa, Terry’s affair distracted
from his soccer skills, costing the national
team a number of fans.
Infidelity is a bad thing not only for moral
reasons, but also for the integrity of the
game. But should we focus on these athletes
personal lives so much that we lose sight of
the reason why they are there? When Woods
sinks an eagle, when Bryant makes a dunk,
or when Terry scores a hat-trick to shut out
Arsenal in the waning minutes of overtime,
they elicit joy from the spectators. They
make the special moments that we store in
our memories. In short, they give us new
reasons to be happy and laugh.
By admonishing these athletes when they
err, we are doing more harm than good. The
only good that comes out is a “check-up” test
for other athletes to get their acts together.
This benefit is short-lived, however, as we
have seen one famous figure after another
Vote Online at
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Does UR do enough to
promote the arts on the
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Arts &
Entertainment
Find out if “Shutter Island”
is worth your $10.50 and
Friday night with its movie
review.
Page 12
Page 7
Cultivating American identity on
foreign soil — views from Paris
Article by Maya Dukmasova, Staff Writer
Design by Cheryl Seligman, Presentation Editor
In his 1998 book, “In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong,” Amin Maalouf defined identity as “that which makes it so
that I am not identical with any other person.” Yet questions of “national identity” and unifying culture have not only figured prominently in public
debate since at least the 19th century, but are also major issues for individuals always looking for ways to belong.
The “identity crises” of Americans in search of self-definition are not phenomena that go unnoticed by other citizens of the western world
who reside in countries with a more unified cultural background.
In the past couple of years, the polling company Zogby International has asked participants of its online interactive polls to indicate their
principal affiliation as being citizens of their city or town, America or the Planet Earth. One of the major trends derived from the sample data has
been that more and more young passport-holding Americans identify themselves first and foremost as citizens of the Planet Earth.
One question which has emerged since Zogby started research about this generation has been whether or not American young people who
find themselves abroad continue to identify themselves as global citizens.
But a recent conversation with a group of American university students studying in Paris, as well as several French students from various
parts of the country, has revealed that, contrary to what may be predicted, spending time abroad reinforces national identification instead of nurturing one’s self-conception as a global citizen.
Tina DiSciullo, an undergraduate at Drexel University and a proud native of Philadelphia with an Irish-Italian background, has felt that her
identity as an American has only solidified since coming to France.
Before, she identified herself solidly with the City of Brotherly Love. But after going to France her view shifted.
“Since coming to France I have this weird emergence of pride in being an American, which is very strange for me … talking to my host
family about the things that we do in the U.S. makes me really excited,” she said. “So now [my self-identification] would probably be equal to me
— America and Philadelphia to me are synonymous.”
DiSciullo also expressed a deeper connection to the culture of Philadelphia, such as her accent and family traditions.
“I love how everyone makes fun of me for saying ‘wooder,’ and I love all the stupid Philly things like scrapple,” she said. “There are certain rituals that I follow living where I live: I go to the Jersey Shore every summer; I eat cheese steaks. My name is Tina; I say ‘wooder.’ And that
is my identity.”
Hannah Whitehead, is an undergrad at the University of Chicago and has experienced a somewhat reluctant realization of her connection
to American culture in her time abroad.
“I just realize that a lot of my ways of thinking and ways of expecting things to be normal are like America,” Whitehead said.
She added that her relationship to her religious culture has been redefined.
“Here, being Jewish is more of a religious category [than a social category], because in the U.S. everybody has to choose their religion,
everybody chooses something,” she said. “All of my friends have had religion crises at some point which I don’t think you have here. And also in
the U.S. people know what Reform US Judaism and Eastern European culture is. People here don’t, so when I say I’m Jewish it means that I’m
[an Orthodox Jew].”
The idea of an identity crisis or religious crisis in America was one that most of the students could relate to, and which has also been noticed by French students familiar with Americans.
“I think I went through an American identity crisis,” Princeton University student Devin Kennedy said. “But what I’ve come to realize in
the last couple of years is that maybe I can create an American identity but I can’t take references from what an identity in Europe would be like.”
“If you’re a kid who goes to Taco Bell on Fridays after school lets out, why isn’t that part of your identity? Just because you’re not sitting
at a café or you don’t have the Seven Fishes Festival? Why can’t I take possession of Walmart and commercialism? Why can’t I retake that for
something unique and creative that’s all my own?”
But Whitehead was hesitant to consider this type of commercial re-possession as forging a true identity.
“The thing which has contributed to my continuing American identity crisis is that American culture is almost synonymous with commercial culture,” she said. “Pretty much all pop songs are American, most chains are American, the vast majority of commercial society is American,
when you meet people they think that they know your culture and the fact that everybody knows English [makes me feel] like I don’t have a language. So as an American abroad, I’ve felt more and more like my culture and my language have been sort of stolen by everyone else.”
DiSciullo also shared her identity crisis experience in travels to Italy and Ireland.
“I took Italian in high school, and I went to Italy right after that, and it was a very strange experience for me. I guess my idea of Italian was
Italian American. And it’s not that. And the same thing with going to Ireland, even having such a strong Irish background, I still felt like there was
a wall between myself and the culture there.”
See IDENTITY, Page 10
FEATURES
Page 8
Teacher Feature: Burke Scarbrough
Ph.D. student weighs in on education
BY Jerome Nathaniel
Features Editor
Burke Scarbrough teaches a
WRT 105 course called “Reforming American Public Schools.”
Scarbrough — a Margaret E.
Warner School of Education and
Human Development Ph.D student in teaching and curriculum
— engages UR undergrads in
an issue that no student has yet
to denounce: the disparities and
shortcomings of public schools in
America.
When he graduated from his
master’s program at Duke University, Scarbrough helped start
up the Martin Luther King, Jr.
High School in a notorious building in the upper westside of Manhattan, where he was the only
English teacher.
that it is worth their time to get
involved with what I’m trying to
do with my class. Here the students chose the class, they chose
the University, the University
chose them, so a lot of things are
easier.
things you
should
know this week
YouTube: “GMA YouTube Video of the
Week: Wedding Thriller Dance on ABC”
Bride requests for her groom
and guest to rock out to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” at
her wedding.
What’s the biggest transition
from teaching high school to
undergraduate students?
There are a lot of things that
are easier about it. This is an
institution that selects for people
who are already successful students who are engaged in class.
So there are a lot of things I can
expect or demand from students
from the very first day here that
in high school, you had to build
those relationships and that trust
and that engagement with school.
It was always like a sales act in
some ways ... to convince them
What is one of the more overlooked aspects of school reform? For instance, mayoral
control. What points are they
missing?
With mayoral control, I feel like
the distinction between having a
group of amateurs run a school
district and having an appointed
autocrat running the school
district — those are both cynical words to use, but I’m talking
about a school board vs. a chancellor or a mayor, or whoever the
mayor appoints — those differences can be relatively superficial,
and they get treated like enormous differences. I worry that if
the issue of mayoral control gets
so much attention, that people
will expect the change, whether
it’s change in mayoral control or
shooting it down, that someone
will expect that decision to either
make or break the school system.
Of course, people don’t really
think that. If you ask somebody if
mayoral control is going to be the
solution to schools, they’ll say no.
But the way it gets talked about
in the media, I worry that some of
BY Amelia Titus
Columnist
Under normal circumstances,
I wouldn’t endow Woody Allen
with an extraordinary level of
wisdom, but I think he made
an unintentionally insightful
comment when he kidded, “Sex
is the most fun you can have
without laughing.” When Allen
cites a division between sex and
humor, I don’t think he’s failing
to comprehend the beauty of a
Monica Lewinsky joke — I think
he’s pointing out that the sex
act itself somehow seems so serious, so separate: that lust-andlaughter combination is reserved
for the communal space of the
comedy theatre, not the private
room between the left and right
pillowcase.
But why is that? Why is it
taboo to giggle at the inopportune, overheard conversation
emanating from your hallway,
the unanticipated collapse of a
easily do it. But that’s the unexknee or the tenderly awkward
pected genius of porn bloopers:
moment your teeth collide?
They provide an accommodating
If we can devote entire comantidote.
edy routines to the acceptance
Take a cue from the everof sexual short-comings, it
ready blonde Briana Banks. In
shouldn’t be difficult to infuse
one scene, she sprawls out graour partnered, or alone, time
ciously on a quilted bedspread,
with a little lightheartedness.
and a steely nuts-and-bolts toolWhen you’ve got a friendly, flexman comes to her aid. As they
ible partner, a particularly sliprigorously test his equipment,
pery set of tiger-print bedsheets,
a sudden shift collapses half
and at least eight minutes at
the bed, and she
your disposal,
the
bursts out laugha round of
ing. He bows his
carnal activforehead into her
ity can incite
Let Sex & the CT help you
collarbone as they
gut-wrenching
through your most
uproariously exgiggles, and, for
awkward sexual years.
plode into giggles,
those without
and the scene
steady activity,
lingers a minute
all it takes is a
before changing back into its
little motivation.
original plot line.
While it may seem like a
As any Internet porn forager
tough task to insert more humor
knows, the DVD outtakes can
into your own self-love routine,
show that even licensed prosince there isn’t anyone around,
fessionals sometimes trip up
your ardent naked dancing will
the bigger issues get overlooked.
And for me, in terms of where I
come from politically and what
I focus on at the Warner School,
those bigger issues usually have to
do with segregation and inequality, and people really disagree
about what to do about that.
What do you like to do on
your free time?
Being a graduate student
means you have a different relationship to free time. It’s easy to
have a lot of guilt for having free
time. One of the things I love,
besides teaching, is to play piano.
Which is an intimidating thing to
like to do in this town, because we
have a rather impressive musical
school, but I’ve been playing pop
and jazz piano for a long time. Not
in a band, not publicly, but it’s a
relief for me, it’s a stress relief.
Nathaniel is a member of
the class of 2011.
Urban Dictionary word of the week:
“balls out”
(n.) To exude tremendous effort, to try extremely hard.
I decided to slack off and get a B in the class, but Ross went balls
out and got a 100 percent.
This Day in History
1979: Highest price ever paid for a pig — $42,500 in
Stamford, Texas.
1945: Egypt and Syria declare war on Nazi Germany.
1913: The 16th amendment to the Constitution,
which gave Congress the power to levy income
taxes, went into effect.
Sex and laughter: A more pleasurable experience
“Sex&CT ”
UR Opinion
in their efforts to be carnally
convincing — assuring you that,
when you do encounter your
next partner, you’ll provide
plenty of live entertainment
yourself.
For those without regular
play partners and who are more
into the weekend hookup scene,
infusing your tentative first exploits might prove more difficult,
as laughter can sometimes be
mistaken for an insult to one’s
prowess.
Here, it might not be in your
best interest just yet to bust
out those hip gyrations if you’re
actually trying to skillfully sway
the lady. Instead, why don’t
you try some eighth-grade-style
tickling once you get your mouth
on hers? Or you can always
make comedic overexaggerated
“O” faces if you two are more of
hookup buddies — she’s surely
already acclimated to your particular brand of humor.
If you already have a partner
and are trying to insert a little
more laughter-fueled lovin’
into your libidinous behaviors,
surprise her with an uncannily
unrehearsed lap dance. You
don’t have to own one of those
Carmen Electra videos to get
your love life kicked into high
gear.
Totally tactless dancing
should get you both in the mood
just as quickly, and that way you
don’t have to don a feather boa
and can take your pole-dancing
skills at their mirthful face value
— Carmen Electra be damned.
This technique works better
for more established couples,
as it shows the key to sticking
together is really just as time-old
as that antiquated adage: When
it comes to between-the-sheets
bootyshaking, a couple that
plays together, stays together.
Titus is a member of
the class of 2011.
Should UR take a side in the mayoral control debate?
by Alykhan Alani
Doug Zeppenfeld ’11
Quintin Dukes ’10
Jessica Chinelli ’12
Joe Colaruotolo ’13
Sylvia Guerra ’10
James Eles ’11
“No, we are very out-oftouch with the community.”
“Yes, we need to align future teachers with Duffy’s
vision.”
“No, most students are
not from Rochester and
do not pay school taxes.”
“Yes, we need to get
more students into higher
education.’’
“UR should consult Lady
Gaga.”
“No, as we would not be
facing the consequences
of the decision.”
FEATURES
The pint half full
The home brew: A
cheaper way to drink
BY Scott Spolverino
even before it was legal. That’s
Columnist
right folks — homebrewing was
You just can’t do it anymore.
illegal — up until President JimYou’re tapped out. Last week’s
my Carter signed a bill allowing
party was just too much. All in
for home production of oat soda
all, your friends went through
and wine. Nice guy, that farmer.
a crippling amount of beer and
OK, so you stopped by
you’re fresh out of cash for this
Barnes & Noble and got Charlie
weekend. The idea of a Saturday
Papizan’s book. Or you borrowed
night pounding beer after beer
my copy, which is sitting next to
dissipates quicker than your mome. Now you need the stuff. First
tor function after a few double
off, you need the carboy. This is
shots of Bacardi 151. Let’s face it,
a fancy word for a gigantic glass
drinking isn’t cheap.
jug that is your primary ferIf you’re a
menter. Secondly, you need
dedicated beer
an airlock. Third, you
swiller, like
need a hydrometer,
I am, putwhich measures
ting down
the specifa six-pack
ic gravity
of expensive
of the
beer, or a
beer and
30 of not-so
can tell
expensive
you how
beer a weekmuch
end, you’re
sugar
shelling
is availout major
able to
cash. Maybe
ferment.
you want that
Fourth, you
expensive but
need a huge
oh-so-tasty
metal brew-pot
beer at a fracand something to
tion of the
heat about five
store price.
gallons of water.
Or maybe
Technically,
you just
that’s all you
want a metneed. Sure, you’ll
ric shit-ton
Jordan Cicoria • Staff Illustrator need bottles, a
of beer that
bottle capper and
is dirt cheap.
bottle caps to package it all. But
Here’s a little secret: Brew it
with this set-up, you can make
yourself, lads and lasses! Homesome fine beer. Other accessories
brewing is simple and damn
include a secondary fermenter
cheap (once you plunk down the
that you can use to “rack” the
money for decent equipment).
beer after you ferment it. RackAnd you can make any kind of
ing is simply siphoning off the
beer you’ve ever heard of, and
delicious beer and leaving behind
some you haven’t. But how do
all the gunky yeast and particuyou get into it? How much will
lates left over.
it cost? Oh help me, Pint Half
A racking setup, which inFull! Well, OK. But only since you cludes a hose to transfer the
asked nicely.
liquid and a racking cane, are
Brewing beer is a complicated
actually recommended but you
mixture of biology, chemistry and
don’t really need them. They just
patience. Fortunately for us, this
make the job easier. What you do
complicated process has been
need is a lot of bleach. Everything
perfected into an art form by men you are going to brew with must
and women far smarter than I,
be sparklingly clean in only the
and written about extensively
germ-killing way, which a touch
enough so that anyone can make
of bleach can manage. Any little
a decent batch of brew. I won’t
funky mothers in the liquid can
go into the wonderful science of
ruin a perfectly sweet batch of
brewing here because, frankly,
wort (big ole stew of fermentable
there are books and Web sites
sugars in water), turning it into
that do it better than I can. I also
a horrific batch of ungodly tastes
don’t have room. But I will give
and sensations.
you an overview.
Whew. I’ll be damned. I only
Like a certain SNL skit, it
covered the stuff you need and
goes as follows: One, boil water.
I’m already out of room! Looks
Two, add beer stuff to boiling
like I’ll have to make this a
water for a certain amount of
multi-parter. So, tune in next
time, then cool. Three, make her
week when I go about the actual
open the box. Wait, no, hold on.
process of brewing and not just
Three, pitch yeast and then ferwhat you need to do it.
ment. That’s pretty much it. If
As always, e-mail is at the botyou want to learn all the ins and
tom. Cheers!
outs of this process, I recommend
Spolverino is a member of
Charlie Papizan’s “The Complete
the class of 2010.
Joy of Homebrewing.” The man
Scott’s e-mail address is
is a legend in the brewing [email protected].
try and is one of the figureheads
He reviews beer and wine for
of the homebrewing movement,
www.inwithbacchus.com
We need to talk. It’s not you. It’s us. (Although it might be you.)
Come to our Feedback Forum and tell us how we’re doing.
Friday, Feb. 26, 2010. 5 p.m. Gowen Room, Wilson Commons.
Campus Times
Bring it.
Page 9
Paid Advertisement
FEATURES
Page 10
Ex-porn addict takes on industry
By Amelia Titus
Staff Writer
I’ll be honest, I had some
fortunately unfounded
expectations. I assumed the
speaker would have a thicktongued Southern drawl; I
expected quaint Christianity,
moral imploring and nodded
heads. I expected graphic clips
of porno moments gone wrong,
clear heels upended, and videos
featuring sleazy neon signs. I
anticipated being shocked into
short-lived soft-core shame.
So, the question then is: What
did I get instead?
Welcome to Porn Nation: The
Naked Truth, a presentation
hosted by — of all unlikely
sources — Campus for Christ,
(C4C) UR’s chapter of the
national organization Campus
Crusades for Christ.
In a revealing program
punctuated by ludicrous video
clips and euphemisms, speaker
Michael Leahy — a self-described
sex addict — exposed the
politics of the porn industry and
articulated the negative impact
pornography has had on the lives
of former prostitutes, Playboy
playmates and the married men
who secretly dish out big bucks
for sexual services.
As the founder of Brave
Hearts, an organization seeking
to reduce the demand for sexual
media, Leahy’s relationship with
illicit images has always been
turbulent, as he struggled with
a 10-year addiction to Internet
pornography which he claims
culminated in a marriage-ending
affair. In a nasty down-turning
spiral initiated by his increasing
dependence on Internet porn,
Leahy devastated his relationship
with his wife and children, as
well as souring his ties to his
brother in a business deal gone
awry.
Today, Leahy credits that
spiral with forcing him to selfreflect, a process which led to his
revived spiritual faith and the
development of the 7-year-old
Porn Nation program. Leahy’s
talks have been featured on
ABC’s “20/20” news segment,
“The View,” and CNN — in
another unanticipated twist, his
now ex-wife accompanies him
on these programs to discuss
the marital problems she agrees
stemmed from his porn addiction.
Leahy’s discussion, in fact,
was peppered with surprises:
In Leahy’s travels across the
country, leading Porn Nation
critiques, he has frequently
debated against ramrod porn
star Ron Jeremy, who is featured
in more than 1,700 videos and
amy jiravisitcul • Contributing Photographer
Michael Leahy spoke to a religiously-diverse audience about the
woes and harms caused by the billion dollar porn industry.
has reportedly bedded over
4,500 women. The two men,
despite their wildly different
relationships to racy material,
have become quite good friends
as a result. Leahy’s talk was
peppered with amusing anecdotes
about their unlikely alliance and
hot tub heart-to-hearts.
Despite the promotion of
ardent profiteers like Ron
Jeremy, Leahy believes that
masturbation is not a victimless
crime, as he argues the booming
billion-dollar pornography
business is merely a symptom
of the larger erosion of cultural
values. He points to the sexdrenched videos of rap stars like
Ludacris and pop icon Britney
Spears as advertisers’ blatant
attempt to encourage more
debased urges.
While Leahy’s autobiography
certainly raised audience
members’ eyebrows, he provided
little empirical evidence to
support his conclusions, leaving
some searching for statistics.
“I thought some of his
presentation would have been
stronger if he had included more
concrete facts,” junior Bridget
Lenkiewicz said.
In addition, Leahy did not
address the objections of some
pro-sex feminists who feel the
sexually liberating possibility
pornography offers is integral to
advancing women’s rights — i.e.
what about all those wonderful
instruction videos?
While one would assume Leahy
is most at ease in front of more
conservative crowds, he jovially
disagreed, saying he appreciates
campuses where his tenets are a
hard sell.
“The Bible Belt is boring,”
Leahy said. “I enjoy coming to
schools like this one more than
the Christian colleges because
the students here will express
themselves more freely and say
openly what they think.”
And express themselves they
did. The audience response
was not quite the “quaint
Christianity” anticipated from
a C4C-hosted event, as the
function was attended by a
fairly even swirl of religious,
spiritual, and secular students
who each agreed and critiqued
alike. Clearly, the C4C coalition
is asserting itself as an openminded student spirituality
group, because the club’s postpresentation discussion was not
heavily anchored to religious
rhetoric and seemed like a
larger discussion of mixed moral
messages.
For instance, during the
question-and-answer portion,
some students challenged the
psychology of sexual addiction,
which has yet to be accepted
by the established medical
community. In response, Leahy
pointed out that those who
suffer from other psychological
disorders like anorexia and
bulimia nervosa have waited
decades before professionals
recognized their debilitating
conditions.
Others questioned the
prevalence of sexual addiction;
to this, Leahy responded that
his story is not intended to be
paradigmatic but merely reflects
his own intriguing circumstances.
Overall, Leahy’s talk surely
responded to my initial
assumptions. There were no
Southern drawls, no clear heels,
no neon signs. To those ends,
I was satisfactorily proven
wrong. But I suppose, now, the
larger question remains: Is it
really possible to abstain from
masturbation? Eh, maybe not.
But Lent is only 40 days.
Titus is a member of
the class of 2011.
African-American
science contributors
By Derek Ward-Joyles
Contributing Writer
During Black History Month,
there is a lot of public and commercial attention to AfricanAmericans who made significant
social impact in American and
even global history. Much deserved attention will be rightfully given to individuals like Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm
X and the Rev. Jesse Jackson who
rallied against institutionalized
racism and segregation in their
efforts to unify and create a proud
national identity for all AfricanAmericans.
While many of these names are
more than deserving of their important contributions to history,
it is also important to give recognition to two African-Americans
who made undeniable contributions to society, particularly the
sciences.
Dr. Charles Richard Drew
(June 3, 1904 - April 1, 1950) was
a physician whose historic work
helped develop important blood
preservation techniques. While
attending Columbia University as
a medical student, Drew wrote a
dissertation on blood preservation
techniques.
He explained the process of
blood banks, in which blood cells
could be separated from the
plasma and preserved for up to a
week time.
During World War II, he helped
to organize and administer an
early prototype for collecting,
testing and distributing blood
plasma for the “Blood for Britain”
project in 1940, along with American physician John Scudder.
Carefully organizing and monitoring the personnel controlling the
blood to prevent contamination,
over 15,000 individuals donated
blood and 5,500 vials of blood
plasma were contained.
He also pushed for authorities
to stop excluding the blood of
African-Americans from the plasma supplies network, although
not to much avail. He would later
become the first black surgeon to
serve as examiner on the American Board of Surgery, and soon
head of the American Red Cross
in New York.
Although his life was tragically cut short due to a fatal car
accident, his research and work
with blood and plasma helped to
advance the study and organization of blood’s life saving role in
medicine. His innovative impact
on medicine will remain forever
a critical impact for saving lives
across the globe.
Dr. Vivien Thomas (August
29, 1910 - November 26, 1985)
was a physician who developed
the procedures used to treat blue
baby syndrome.
After the stock market crash of
1930, Dr. Thomas lost his life savings and was forced to drop out
of college, working as a janitor at
one poimt. However, without any
formal medical training, he would
eventually become the surgical
assistant to white surgeon Dr.
Alfred Blalock.
The duo managed to develop
a critical body of work which
included extensive research into
the causes of hemorrhagic and
traumatic shock. This developed
into research on crush syndrome,
which was important for saving
lives in WWII.
In 1941 at John Hopkins University Medical School, Thomas
and Blalock performed the surgical procedure to counteract the
congenital heart defect, Tetralogy
of Fallot (blue baby syndrome),
after a lab test surgery on lab
animals. The procedure ensured
increased flow of oxygenated
blood to the heart, and relieved
constriction from the heart. This
served as ground breaking work
in the study of heart surgery.
Thomas would be the first
black doctor to operate on a white
patient in the U.S. Later in his
lifetime, Thomas would soon get
the chance to teach a generation
of surgeons and lab technicians
his techniques as head of the
John Hopkins’ surgical research
laboratory and win numerous
national awards related to science
and medicine
There are many great physicians and engineers that have
made substantial contributions to
mankind that should be studied
and recognized. The important
accomplishments of these two
workers forever impact lives
today.
Ward-Joyles is a member of
the class of 2011.
Identity: Finding one’s culture
The feeling of a faux belonging
to a culture that is not one’s own
was also addressed by Swarthmore College undergraduate
Isaac Han. He is a Korean American who doesn’t speak Korean
or relate to Korean culture.
“I feel like I don’t have a real
identity. It’s like you’re alienated from your own culture but
you’re also alienated from what
you think your own culture is,
which is American, which is not
an Asian culture. I feel more
comfortable with French culture,
maybe it’s because I’m more independent here. Being in France
is more of a clean slate. And
maybe that’s part of this idea of
a ‘Global Citizen’, being someone
without a true home.”
According to the Zogby data,
the least-traveled respondents
were much more likely to identify themselves as Americans
before all else. But these conversations with young, well-traveled
people have shown that “feeling
American” and understanding
American culture as something
specific and unlinked to our European (or Asian) immigration
histories may be a sentiment and
a comprehension only accessible
once one has found oneself outside of U.S. borders.
So perhaps will we see a new
generation of well-traveled
Americans who have come to
identify with its commercial
character or its religious and
regional specificities? Or on
the contrary, could the second
decade of the 21st century welcome to America a generation of
globe trotters without a culture,
language or a home to call their
own?
Dukmasova is a member of
the class of 2011.
Dukmasova is a former intern
with Zogby International and
participated in the CIEE Critical
Studies program in Paris,
France.
COMICS
Statistics Worth Knowing
Page 11
by Ross Brenneman Dog Dreams
by Peter Berris
Zen, in a Nutshell
There is nothing worth
knowing. There is nothing to know. How can you
know anything? Do you
see? Can you see? No, you
can’t. But you can! You can
see that this pie chart does
not even exist!
Frustration
Poorly Drawn
by George Dise
What?
Major Life Dilemmas by Spiels
Hmm...
Joke of da Week
by J. Silverstein
It’s a Pun!
by Ross Brenneman
Oregon is so close! We’ve got to
get across the river!
KenKen
by Dan Wasserman
If they failed to cross the river...
well, it would be something they couldn’t a-ford.
Picture Search
We’d like your two cents. Literally, if you have it.
But figuratively is fine, too.
Join us for the Campus Times Feedback Forum.
Fri., Feb. 26 at 5 p.m. in the
Gowen Room in Wilson Commons.
Campus Times
by Tim Minahan
Arts
Entertainment
&
Page 12
English folk hits
Rochester Armory
Courtesy of Allmoviephoto.com
In Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island,” Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo play U.S. Marshals
investigating the disappearance of a patient in a mental instution that is stranger than it seems.
Scorsese goes down the rabbit
hole in “Shutter Island”
by Jason Silverstein
A&E Editor
In an interview with rockcritics.com, “Entertainment Weekly”
film critic Owen Gleiberman
was asked about an oft-criticized
scene at the end of one of his favorite films, “Psycho,” in which a
psychiatrist gives a long-winded,
cut-and-dry psychological reasoning for all the madness that
ensued throughout the rest of
the film.
Gleiberman defended the
scene by saying that it is a joke
played on viewers looking for an
easy answer to what they just
witnessed. There is only one
scene after the psychiatrist’s
explanation, and it is so creepy,
so unequivocally demented, that
it proves there is no rational
explanation for the film’s horror.
The explanation, as Gleiberman
put it, “meant everything — and
nothing.”
Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter
Island” invokes that same ploy
as well as any recent movie has.
It centers around a forboding
mystery that twists as often and
as intensely as one would expect.
Yes, the mystery is eventually
treated to a generous sequence of
explanations, complete with the
old trick of flaunting clues from
previous scenes that slipped by
your and everyone else’s attention.
But that sequence is the kind
that would have made Hitchcock
smirk. In the end there is no
tidy or comforting way to summarize what happens in “Shutter
Island.” Scorsese has crafted the
rare thriller that is even more
perplexing, and unnerving, when
contemplated afterward than
when actually viewed.
Leonardo DiCaprio, in his
most impressive performance to
date, plays deputy marshal Teddy Daniels. Along with a firsttime police partner Chuck (Mark
Ruffalo), Teddy is deployed to
Ashecliffe, an isolated, formidably barricaded hospital for the
criminally insane.
The mystery at hand is the
disappearance of Rachel Solando,
a patient taken in for drowning
her three children, who has inexplicably disappeared from her
cell.
Teddy refuses to accept that
this is the only mystery he
should be handling at Ashecliffe.
A haunted World War II veteran
and widower, he does nothing
to hide the rage or suspicion he
feels toward anyone and everyone he comes into contact with.
Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley),
who runs the hospital, seems to
talk exclusively in riddles and
deceptions, dealing with Teddy
straightforwardly and yet always
acting like he might not be. A
German doctor at the facility
brings out the worst in Teddy’s
WWII paranoia. Ashecliffe holds
66 patients, but cryptic clues
hint at a 67th that is being kept
secret by the staff. Teddy starts
to figure that something is definitely going on here.
Well, duh. Unlike “The Shining” — another masterpiece
of psychological horror from a
virtuoso director who seemed
unlikely to try his hand at the
genre — “Shutter Island” never
tries to give the initial impression that things are anything but
wrong.
From the very beginning, it’s
clear that something is up: Ashecliffe and everyone it contains
seem like readymade conventions of elementary cinematic
creepiness.
The hospital is a Gothic, disparaged setting, seemingly architected with the primary intention of scaring all new visitors
shitless. Its patients are insane
in the kind of way that prohibits
them from doing anything but
flaunting intense insanity at all
times. The situation doesn’t get
any better when a destructive
hurricane suddenly comes to the
island.
For the first two acts, Scorsese
mostly maintains “Shutter Island” as an ominous mood piece
which occasionally gets incredibly unsettling. But his greatest
trick is making you think that
you’ve seen this all before: The
whole detective and spooky
insane asylum narrative is the
sense of normalcy that misleads
the viewer. “Shutter Island”
eventually disappears down a
rabbit hole much more complex
and disturbing than it seemed
headed for in the beginning.
To say any more would be
wrong, because the greatest
thing about “Shutter Island” is
what a thoroughly disconcerting
viewing experience it is. Most
thrillers are content to simply
mess with your head; “Shutter Island” burrows into it and
distorts your perception. The
effect of Scorsese’s film perfectly
emulates the psychosis that runs
throughout its narrative — and
it only gets more maddening as it
lingers in your mind.
Silverstein is a member of
the class of 2013.
by Willie Clark
Editor-in-Chief
If there is one thing Frank
Turner knows, it’s the road.
Starting his touring life at the
ripe old age of 16, Turner was
in and out of England’s punk
and hardcore scene for years.
In 2003, his latest band called it
quits, and Turner hit the road
by himself. In true troubadour
style, Turner toured and toured,
developing his English folk style
of music, but still retaining the
intensity and passion from his
punk rock days.
Turner’s latest release, “Poetry of the Deed,” which came
out last September, reached 36
on the UK album charts, and his
fanbase in the states has only
grown with each tour
In March he will release a live
DVD/CD, “Take To The Road,”
which documents the maturation of Turner’s live sound and
focuses on two sold-out headlining shows of the UK.
His solo career now booming, Turner is currently on
tour across the U.S. supporting
Flogging Molly, during which he
was able to take a quick break
(while en route to his next show
in Baltimore) to answer a couple
questions about his musical
style, song writing and his never-ending touring trek around
the globe.
There’s been a couple of moments, not with the band at all.
A couple of people have come up
to me and told me that they liked
me even though I was English.
And I thought that was terribly
cheerful of them.
Irish punk music is great, and
the culture — everyone getting their knees up and having
a good time and getting drunk
and dancing, you know? It’s very
much something I’m into as well.
How’s the tour been going
so far?
Frank Turner: Pretty good.
We’re out with Flogging Molly.
It’s the first time I’ve been able
to bring my band to the States,
and that’s been pretty great.
And Flogging Molly has very
big crowds and that’s been going over very well so we’ve been
having a lot of fun.
You mentioned your last album, ‘Poetry of the Deed,’
was the first time you took
the whole band in the studio.
Is that where you see your
music progressing?
The thing about it is that basically we’ve reached the point
where I got the line up for the
band finalized, and they are all
great players and everything,
and good friends.
And we had reached the state
where the live version of most of
See TURNER, Page 14
Is it weird being an English
folk singer touring with an
Irish-dominated group?
You said this was the first
time you got to bring the full
band to the States. Is there
a difference for you playing
live shows with a full band as
oppose to playing solo?
It’s definitely a different experience. Playing on my own with
just me and my guitar has always
been kind of the main skeleton of
what I do.
But with the last record I put
out, with the full band, I kind of
feel that’s the full experience of
those songs.
And it’s much more of a rock
show than when I play on my
own. And it’s pretty different,
but it’s been a really good feeling. I’ve been to the States quite
a few times now and in the past
it’s just been me on my own, and
it’s kind of fun to show people
over here what it’s like with the
full band.
Courtesy of Presscounselpr.com
Folk singer-songwriter Frank Turner will be opening for Flogging
Molly in Rochester on Sunday, Feb. 28 at the Main Street Armory.
A&E
Page 13
UR rocks the box with ‘The Vagina Monologues’
By Erika Howard
Staff Writer
When something has the word
“vagina” in the title, you know
there’s a good chance that it will
be memorable. That was the case
with Friday’s performance of
“The Vagina Monologues,” which
was certainly unlike any theatrical performance I’d ever seen.
As I entered Hubbell Auditorium for the performance, there
were two screens displaying a
continuous line of nicknames for
“down there”: split knish, twat,
etc. There were five stools, six
microphones and two stand-alone
light fixtures. This arrangement
was sparse enough to make some
audience members giggle nervously and shift in their seats.
The show began with an explanation of how “The Vagina
Monologues” came to be. Eve
Ensler, the creator and author,
began the project in 1996 by asking women about their vaginas.
The questions included, “If your
vagina wore clothes, what would
it wear?” and, “If your vagina
could talk, what would it say?”
The questions may seem silly,
but the play itself had a crucial
point: Vaginas are often ignored
because women are ashamed of
them.
More importantly, we also
learned about V-Day, a global
movement to end violence
against women, founded by
Ensler. Before seeing this performance, V-Day was just a cause
that I knew the ticket proceeds
were going to. Afterward it was
clear that it is the driving force
of “The Vagina Monologues.”
The monologues ranged from
hilarious, to momentarily awkward, to heart wrenching and
tragic. “My Angry Vagina,” performed by seniors Lauren Davis,
Lauren Silverstein and Aleeza
Wachs, featured the three women
explaining exactly why their
vaginas were so “pissed off.” The
reasons varied from tampons to
gynecologists to thongs. Despite
the touchy subjects, the monologue was very funny — mostly
because it was so true.
Another comical moment
involved senior Alyssa Cowell
explaining (and demonstrating)
different kinds of moans to the
audience, such as the “almost
moan,” “elegant moan,” “college
student moan” and “surprise
triple orgasm moan.”
This monologue and “My Angry Vagina” both elicited roaring
laughter from the audience and
were beautifully done. However,
although the comedy was enjoyable, it wasn’t where the true
power of the evening lay.
The non-comedic monologues
were the ones that provoked
sympathy and full-blown heartbreak. “Flood,” performed by
senior Nora Peters, detailed how
a woman with an embarrassing
first sexual experience cut herself
off from her sexuality. While this
monologue had a few chuckleworthy moments, the overall effect was rather heartwrenching,
due in large part to the excellent
performance by Peters.
But the monologues focusing
on sexual abuse were infinitely
more tragic. “Say It,” performed
by senior Johanna Fischer, juniors Julia Glantz and Molly
McDowell, sophomore Meghana
Anugu and freshman Katie
Pieper focused on women who
were kidnapped by the Japanese
government during World War
II and forced into sexual slavery
when they were young girls.
Aged and now near death, they
asked for an apology from the
Japanese government. This was
the first monologue to really grip
the audience with the serious
side of the show.
“[M]any people are under the
mistaken impression that the
show is about extremist feminism, where the monologues consist of women ranting about how
Drue Sokol • Staff Photographer
Seniors Caitlin Smigelski and Jess King directed over 20 students in UR’s
production of Eve Ensler’s infamous play “The Vagina Monologues.”
well as the popular (and incorhorrible men are,” Pieper said.
rect) idea that it is feminist ideolThe theme of sexual abuse
ogy in play form — something
was featured in monologues like
that is very bothersome for those
“My Vagina Was My Village” and
who know and love the play.
“A Teenage Girl’s Guide to Sur“I’ve heard this from several
viving Sex Slavery.” And while
people I know and it worries
these monologues were greatly
me, because the show is nothing
outnumbered by the ones with
like that,” Pieper said. “It is a
a less heavy subject matter, they
show highlighting the variation
were the performances that left
in women’s experiences, in their
a lasting impression on the audipersonal lives and in society, all
ence and truly spoke to the heart
around the world.”
of the show.
Howard is a member of
The name of the play might
the class of 2012.
make some wary of attending, as
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s an irritating TV show
By Becky Rosenberg
A&E Editor
As a television addict that
prides herself on watching only
quality shows, I think it’s time
to admit that not everything I
watch is up to the high standard
that I hold most shows to.
This became quite apparent
after watching what I believe was
an hour of the worst television I
have ever sat through. Guesses
on the show anyone? Nope, not
reality TV. Wrong again, not
“The Secret Life of an American
Teenager.” This painful excuse
for television was the 188th episode of “Smallville.”
There is a reason most TV
shows only last about seven
seasons at the most. Somewhere
around the 100th episode, or
fifth season, a show is considered a success. If a show is lucky
enough to reach a seventh season, it can be recognized as a
long-lasting hit.
After that point it’s all a matter of whether or not the writers
have more stories to tell. Some
shows, like “Friends” and “The
Simpsons,” have that ability
(although some argue otherwise).
but this most likely started when
Most of the time, however, a
the entire premise was thrown
show reaches a point where its
out the window.
success outlives the amount of
“Smallville” started as a series
good stories its writers have the
that wanted to feed into the unability to tell.
explored territory of Superman
Somewhere in the train wreck
that was the “Smallville” episode in the high school era of his life.
How would he discover his pow“Persuasion,” episode 14 of season nine, I realized that the show ers? How would a young Superhad definitely reached that point. man get through the torment of
surviving high school as an alien
I can deal with the fact that
(quite literally)?
the show is still called “SmallThat’s what made the show so
ville,” even though it really
doesn’t have anything The
Idiot Box enjoyable throughout
its first four years. It
to do with Smallville
had a relatable premanymore. I’ve put up
ise with a creative
with the meteor-infecttwist, not to mened mishaps that cause
tion lots of eye
problems in nearly evcandy provided by
ery single episode. I can
star Tom Welling.
even tolerate the fact
But by now, even
that Clark still can’t fly,
Superman’s bright
barely.
blue eyes and swoonSo where did it all
inducing abs couldn’t
go wrong? “Smallville”
distract me from the
lost its charm when
faults of the show.
the writers started recycling old
On Friday evening’s episode,
storylines. It went wrong when
as Lois was possessed by meteorClark’s dad was killed off and
infected fairy dust (yes, fairy
Lana wasn’t.
dust), Clark worked to bring
There may be no precise modown evil time-traveling Krypton
ment where “Smallville” started
aliens in a completely unrelated
failing to live up to its potential,
ADDICT
story line. I struggled to bring
myself to watch the whole episode — there’s no way to sugar
coat how bad the episode was. It
was just blatantly poor storytelling.
Honestly, if I took a shot every
time a character said a cliché
line, or whenever the various
characters went to the hospital, I
would be seriously wasted by the
end of the hour. Or dead.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of any good show is the way
you grow up with the characters
and get to see them as they develop and turn into people that
you really care about.
“Smallville” has taken characters that I loved and turned
them into something else. I don’t
hate any of the characters now
— I just miss the old versions of
them.
I miss the wall-of-weird Chloe
who was driven and strong. I
miss the Lois we first met — the
one who mirrored the independent and relentless character
from the comics. I miss Clark
when he had an excuse not to fly
because he was still learning his
own strength.
I even liked the Clark from
high school who hadn’t discovered his own strength, because
at least that excused him from
reaching his full potential. Now
what is stopping him?
According to the recent stories,
all he needs to do is fall in love
with Lois to become the hero
that he should be. But guess
what? That finally happened and
he still can’t fly.
So why do I still bother watching? Besides the one or two
episodes a season that are shockingly awesome (this season it was
the two hour “Absolute Justice”
event), I don’t really know. All I
can say is that after eight years
of watching “Smallville” I just
want to finish it and have closure.
If “Smallville” somehow gets
renewed yet again for a 10th
season, I may have to re-evaluate
my decision. But until then, I’ll
keep watching just to see Superman put on a cape and take off to
the sky.
“Smallville” airs at 8 p.m. on
Fridays on the CW.
Rosenberg is a member of
the class of 2012.
M ov i e T i m e s
UR Cinema Group
Friday
The Princess and the
Frog
7:00, 9:00, 11:00
Playlist
10
songs to sample
By:
Peter Berris
Staff Writer
Hoyt Auditorium
Saturday
The Little Theatre
Schindler’s List
7:00, 10:30
Crazy Heart
Shutter Island
The White Ribbon
The Last Station
•
•
Friday and Saturday
240 east avenue
Call for times (585) 232-3906
1. “Blues Man”
6. “Strange But True”
2. “This Old Guitar”
7. “No One Likes You”
3. “Rambler, Gambler”
8. “The Cave”
4. “Chilling of the Evening”
9. “Stop Your Sobbing”
5. “Like A Road Leaving Home”
Albert King
10. “Wildflowers”
Tom Petty
B.B. King
Neil Young
Tom Russell
Arlo Guthrie
James Hunter
Al Green
Mumford & Sons
The Kinks
A&E
Page 14
New parody bites into ‘Twilight’
by Pierce Alquist
Staff Writer
Riding on the cultural phenomenon of the “Twilight” book
series, “Nightlight: A Parody,”
by the geniuses at Harvard
Lampoon, is a hilarious send-up
of Stephenie Meyer’s insanely
popular vampire fetish story.
With hype for the book series
at an all-time high, thanks to
the tremendous success of the
latest “Twilight” movie “New
Moon,” this book is a welcome
mockery of the sensation that
has taken over teenage girls
nationwide.
The book follows a young girl
named Belle Goose as she moves
to Switchblade, Ore. to live with
her dad and find true vampire
love. In her search, she meets
computer nerd Edwart Mullen,
an intriguing character with a
fear of cooties and a love for his
mother, video games and vegetables.
Upon first seeing Edwart,
Belle says that, “I hadn’t seen
something this beautiful since
I was a kid and the Skittles in
my sweaty fist turned my hand
rainbow.”
Their relationship becomes
more intense as Belle realizes,
after Edwart saves her from a
bizarre snowball accident, that
her new beau is a creature of the
night.
The story continues to be
fraught with danger, romance,
unhealthy behavior and ends
with a ghoulish vampire prom.
The book jabs at the elements
of “Twilight” that most deserve
them: Bella’s intense infatuation
with Edward, her lack of independence and Edward’s controlling and stalker-like romance
tactics, which are incredibly
disturbing and creepy themes
for a novel popular among young
women.
“Nightlight” is full of incredibly witty humor necessary for
an excellent parody. The book
shines, however, in its small but
significant one-liners, more so
than its characters, which at
times seem to be desperately
grasping for laughs.
The outrageousness of Belle,
in particular, is so overdone that
at times she seems mentally
disabled instead of just ditzy.
Nonetheless, the one-liners
throughout the book are brilliant, such as Belle’s father’s
response to his daughter’s infatuation with Edwart: “Isn’t it
a little too soon to cut yourself
off from the rest of your peers,
depending on a boyfriend to satisfy your social needs as opposed
to making friends?”
“Imagine what would happen
if something forced that boy to
leave! I’m imagining pages and
pages would happen — with
nothing but the names of the
month on them,” he continues.
This is an obvious quip at the
second book in the series, “New
Moon,” in which Edward leaves
Bella. After this happens, the
length of Bella’s depression is
related through a series of pages
that merely list the names of
subsequent months (not one of
Meyers’ most eloquent moments
as a writer).
“Nightlight: A Parody” is a
humorous but honest parody
that mocks the bestselling “Twilight” trilogy in all the places it
deserves. It should be picked up
and enjoyed not only by those
sick of the hype around the series, but also by devoted fans.
Despite its mockery of Stephenie Meyers’ novels, “Nightlight” is an enjoyable, insightful
companion to the original books
and allows one to laugh at the
silliness of the “Twilight” fanaticism.
Alquist is a member of
the class of 2013.
the songs off the first two records
I did are in my opinion kind of
superior to the recorded versions
… so, it felt crazy to kind of end
up in the same predicament
again and have another album’s
material where the live versions
were superior to the recorded
versions.
It felt like, you know, I had this
tool in my armory and I might as
well take advantage of it.
What are your upcoming
touring plans?
When we finish the Flogging Molly tour, we’re heading
straight back to a headline tour
of the UK for two weeks, then
three weeks in Europe, then back
to the States for a few dates on
the West Coast, the Coachella
Festival, and then I’m going to
Australia, and then New Zealand, and then back to the UK
for some festivals.
My life is kind of essentially
planned out until February next
year. I’ve got a lot to be getting
on with.
Do you have any favorite
songs you like to perform in
your concerts?
That’s a good question because
it’s kind of like choosing between
your children, you know what I
mean?
Courtesy of Altfg.com
“Nightlight: A Parody,” a new book by the Harvard Lampoon, perfectly parodies Stephenie Meyers’ bestselling “Twilight” book series.
Turner: Songwriter talks about touring and invites fans to share a beer
Is there any look at forming
a full group or sticking with
the Frank Turner name for
the group?
We’ve been trying to come up
with a “Frank Turner and the
...” kind of thing. But, let’s say,
there are five head strong individuals and we haven’t yet come
up with a name … we’re working
on it.
One of the reasons I’d like
to do that is I’d like to make it
clear that I’m not playing with a
bunch of random hired hands, or
people I met at Salvatore. This is
the band I want to play with, this
set lineup, and I don’t want to
change anytime soon.
Never really a break in there,
is there?
I’m not a believer in days off.
I’ve got various other things in
the pipeline as well. I’m trying to
see if there is a way I can get the
studio to record another album
this year so we can get it out
early next year.
I’m also trying to work on doing an album of traditional English songs, which I think would
be a really fun idea to do. And
then also trying to write a book,
as well.
‘You can
always find
me wandering
around at shows,
so come and say
hi.’
To me a live show is about …
I’m not all that perfect, I spend
a lot of time picking set lists for
most shows, but I’m not sort of
artistically fresh about it.
To me a live show is about
everybody having a really good
time and getting together and
singing songs and it’s that kind
of spirit that you have at really
good shows.
I want to play the songs that
are going to get people going.
It’s always fast songs and stuff
like that because then we get the
whole crowd together.
For your songs, what kind of
writing process do you have?
I’m really bad at talking about
writing. I feel a bit like somebody
just comes into the room with a
body with somebody holding a
bloody knife.
It’s like, I know I did this but I
can’t really remember doing this.
Songs just kind of arrive, and I
seem to forget the process every
time.
I don’t know, I’m still in the
process of songs coming pretty
thick and fast right now. I’ve got
a lot of stuff I’m working on, and
I’m hoping to get another record
finished by the end of the year.
What do you enjoy most out
of playing live?
I’m constantly surprised that
you don’t see more people in
bands saying this, but I just love
playing, I love it, I love it. Everything about it, I love playing
guitar and singing.
That’s not really an analytical
answer, but there’s something
about the whole process that just
really makes me happy.
I’m never happier than when
I’m on stage playing guitar in
front of people.
Last question: Do you have
any final words for your
fans?
It’s a great thing about touring
that you travel around the world
and see cut up parts and dressing
rooms, and the flip side of it that
doesn’t get mentioned as much
by the cliché mongers is that you
also get to meet people all over
the world and hang out and find
out how people live all over the
world, and trust me I find that
really, really fulfilling.
You can always find me wandering around at shows, so come
and say hi and share a beer or
something like that.
Turner will play Sunday, Feb.
28 at the Rochester Main Street
Armory, opening for Flogging
Molly. Tickets are $26, doors
open at 6 p.m.
Clark is a member of
the class of 2012.
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From the Pressbox
What we can learn
from the British
By David Maystrovsky
Senior Staff Writer
Of the few things that the English have done right (and let’s be
honest, it’s a short list) one of them
has been the idea of relegation and
the other has been the idea of a
domestic cup competition, found
most distinctly in soccer. We as
Americans, and thus the better
of the two countries, should have
already taken over and bastardized these two concepts, which is
why I’m thoroughly surprised that
it hasn’t happened yet.
For all of you who don’t follow
English sports and have no idea
that relegation is actually a sports
term, allow me to clue you in with a
spectacular example. The Premier
League has 20 teams. At the end
of every season, the bottom three
teams get thrown out in favor of
the top three teams in the lower
Championship division.
This goes on for all four divisions
of soccer. Unlike the problem in the
U.S., where crappy teams lose half
their fanbase midway through the
season (is there a reason to follow
the Kansas City Royals past May?),
teams that suck in the Premiere
League captivate their fans with
their fight against relegation.
Every game is life and death, fans
go insane for every win, newspapers that have no reason to cover
certain teams speculate endlessly,
because relegation means losing
millions of dollars while smaller
clubs that win the battle for promotion can rake it in.
Would this work for every U.S.
sport? Obviously not. English
soccer is highly organized into
different divisions that make such
a system work. With a little bit
of work, football could probably
make the relegation idea work.
Establish a 20-team league in
the smaller cities of the U.S. (San
Antonio, Las Vegas, Portland,
etc.) promise the chance to have
the best two teams make it to the
NFL and threaten the worst teams
in the league with demotions.
Perhaps that would make the
Oakland Raiders kill off Al Davis
and start anew. With the amount
of money that the NFL makes
through television, it would provide enormous incentive for teams
to make good decisions (and not
sign players like JeMarcus Russell
to $70 million deals).
Imagine the drama: The Raiders, Rams, Buccaneers and the
Chiefs are tied for the worst record
going into the last week of the
season and they play each other
with the losers being kicked out
of the league. Everyone would be
glued to his or her television and
the action would be intense. Usually, the last week of the season is
a time for the worst teams to play
their youngest (read worst) players. Not anymore. Now it would
be high drama.
The second great idea that
England has provided is the inseason, domestic competition. It
involves all divisions of teams as
they play a knock-out tournament
during the season for the chance
to be proclaimed as the best soccer team in the country. In the
U.S., this would probably work
best with basketball. There are
a myriad of basketball leagues
around America (D-League, CBA,
etc). Invite all of them to play in the
competition. They all get paired
up in a bracket and start the competition right before the seasons
start — it would end right before
the playoffs begin. Hypothetically,
the Rochester Razorsharks could
play the Boston Celtics in the first
round of competition and there
could be a legitimate (if small)
chance of a major upset. Plus, the
winner could get a trophy and a
cash prize.
Obviously there would have to
be some changes made, shortening
the NBA season by 7-10 games,
more players for depth, etc., but it
could work. The addition of knockout games would soften the blow
of losing a few games the regular
season. Teams in the NBA that
don’t have a chance to make the
playoffs would turn its focus on
winning the domestic tournament.
Teams in the CBA or D-League
that would host an NBA team
during a knockout game would
gain millions of dollars in gate
receipts and television revenue. It
would make for some great games
during the mid-point of the season
when the allure of the beginning
of the season has passed, but the
playoffs have yet to begin.
Spicing up the competitions
with relegation and a domestic
competition would only add to the
excitement and drama that sports
are meant to provide. American
sports are all about the underdog
and these two minor changes could
give us greater story lines and
more compelling characters.
Maystrovsky is a member of
the class of 2010.
This Week in Sports
Friday, February 26
•Men’s Track and Field at NYSCTC at Rochester
Institute of Technology, 11 a.m.
•Women’s Track and Field at
NYSCTC at RIT, 2 p.m.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27
•Men’s and Women’s Track and Field at
NYSCTC at RIT, 10 a.m.
•Men’s Basketball vs. Emory University, noon*
•Women’s Basketball vs. Emory, 2 p.m.*
*denotes home competition
Stat of the Week
+39
The difference in the number of steals the Yellowjacket men’s basketball team
has had this season compared to an average of the past four seasons. With one
game left against Emory University, the men still have a chance to improve on
their total.
SPORTS
Page 15
athlete of the week
Will Newnham
By Conor Willis
Features Editor
Spending most the season at
No. 5, junior
Wi l l N e w n ham excelled
at the College
Squash Association Team
Nationals this
past weekend.
Coming all
the way from
Brighton, England, the psychology
major was the only UR squash
player to sweep all three of his
matches at the Nationals and
end the season on a five-match
winning streak.
His impressive 9-2 record in the
season earned him a spot at the
CSA Individual Nationals from
March 5-7 at Trinity College.
With another season left in the
his college squash career, Newnham is bound to challenge for
one of the top spots on the team
next year.
Why did you decide to come to
America for college?
For the education and the opportunity to play squash at the
same time. In England, there’s not
that much opportunity to engage
in a sport at a highly competitive
level. Here there are big crowds
and more money pumped into the
sport. There are better players
and more international players
[here] as well.
Squash looks like hard work;
why did you start playing?
My dad always played when I
was little. When I was about four
years old, I’d go down to the courts
with my dad and watch him play
squash. Just got going from there
at a really young age and started
playing a few times a week. I got
more into it as I got older.
Do you find that your height is
a hindrance to get down low
for shots?
Sometimes maybe to get down
low. But when it comes to dominating the middle of the court,
having a height advantage so you
Courtesy of UR Athletics
can volley can really help. You can
just step across and cut off balls in
the middle off the court.
During the season, what’s
your practice regimen like?
Probably six times a week in
the afternoons, [I] go down to the
courts and practice for about two
and a half hours, doing drills and
conditioning. About once a week
we do a beep test as well.
What’s a beep test?
Where you run from one line to
the next, about 30 meters apart.
You have to make it to the line
before the beep [sounds]. The
beep gets faster and faster as
you go.
Do you find a difference in the
way Europeans and Americans play squash?
Maybe. Europeans tend to play
the ball up and down the wall.
How do you get prepared
mentally for a match?
Most of the time I just put on
an iPod and try to relax. I actually
find it quite relaxing to listen to
high-tempo dance music. It chills
me out before the match.
What’s been the highlight of
your squash career here?
It’s probably been the past
two years, where we’ve gotten
through to the semifinals during
Nationals.
What’s the one most important
thing that has enabled you to
be successful at squash?
Probably being disciplined when
you really need to be disciplined.
Just staying focused, eating well,
drinking well and doing lots of
physical conditioning.
Growing up in England and
now attending college in
America, what’s the one part
of British culture that you
miss the most?
Probably the pub culture. Where
I live in Brighton, there are lots
of pubs that are homey. There are
lots of local people and everyone
knows each other, whereas here in
Rochester there’s not really that
kind of atmosphere.
What are your hopes and expectations for the upcoming
Individual Nationals?
Probably to finish as an AllAmerican. To finish top 10 in the
nation individually would be really
good, but also finishing top 20
wouldn’t be too bad either.
Willis is a member of
the class of 2011.
CSA: Individual Nationals up next for men
different mood in the air.
“The team was generally flat
after getting a good win against
Cornell and being denied creating
history the day before,” Heath said.
“I tried to re-focus the team, though
after [junior] Hameed Ahmed lost
three match balls to lose his match,
there just wasn’t the fight that was
there the day before.”
Princeton went on to defeat the
’Jackets 2-7. Despite the general
lack of enthusiasm, freshman Andres Duany took the match at No. 4,
3-0, and Newnham completed the
weekend undefeated by winning
at the fifth spot, 3-0. Additionally,
three of UR’s losses went to five
sets before the Tigers ultimately
came out on top.
“What impressed me most about
the team was that even though they
didn’t do as well as they hoped,
they were still very gracious and
thankful to the fans throughout,
even after tough losses,” senior
Matt Bell, another student spectator, said. “There’s a lot of talent on
the team and hopefully we’re right
back in the thick of things next
year as well.”
While the season is over for the
team, some of UR’s players will
participate in the CSA Individual
National Championship the weekend of March 5-7.
Philbrick is a
graduate student.
Women: Final test is Emory University
the game even keel with just over
six minutes left in the half. When
UR fouled in the last seconds, two
ensuring shots sealed UR’s fate.
“We were defeated by ourselves,” Agan said.
Despite the loss, UR pulled
itself up and looked to squash
NYU this past Sunday. And in a
game that seemed to be almost a
perfect reversal of the Brandeis
game, the Yellowjackets fought to
a 60-59 victory.
The Violets started strong,
maintaining roughly an eightpoint lead until well into the
second half.
A layup by sophomore forwardcenter Madeline Korber brought
the margin down to five points,
and a three-pointer by junior
guard Melissa Alwardt reduced
the margin even further. Then
NYU made the mistake of fouling
Luther, who netted two perfect
shots to tie the game. NYU proved
unable to handle UR’s push, and
the final blow came when a foul on
Agan pushed the Yellowjackets to
60-59 and a crucial victory.
Despite the Brandeis setback,
UR’s 17-6 record places them in
the NCAA tournament, which will
make a win this weekend the icing
on the cake.
“We owe it to our seniors to finish the regular season with a win,”
Agan said. “We will definitely come
out strong.”
This Saturday, UR will face
Emory University in the final
game of the regular season, and yet
again the ’Jackets will be looking
to settle an old score. Emory won
the last away game 50-60. But
that was also in December, and
this Yellowjackets team has seen
a lot more action.
This weekend’s game will
demonstrate if three months is
enough.
Brenneman is a
Take Five Scholar.
S p o rt s
Campus Times
Page 16
Results
Men’s Basketball
(14-10)
UAA standings:
1. Washington (12-1)
2. Brandeis (8-5)
3. NYU (7-6)
3. Emory (7-6)
3. Chicago (7-6)
6. UR (5-8)
6. Case Western Reserve (5-8)
8. Carnegie Mellon (1-12)
Feb. 19: Brandeis University
70-87 (L)
Feb. 21: New York University
81-68 (W)
Women’s
Basketball
(18-6)
UAA standings:
1. Washington (12-1)
2. Chicago (11-2)
3. UR (8-5)
3. Brandeis (8-5)
5. NYU (5-8)
7. Case Western Reserve (3-10)
7. Emory (3-10)
8. Carnegie Mellon (2-11)
Feb. 19: Brandeis
65-67 (L)
Feb. 21: NYU
60-59 (W)
Squash
(10-4)
Feb. 19: Cornell University in
College Squash Association’s
Potter Cup Quarterfinals
7-2 (W)
Feb. 19: Yale University in
CSA’s Potter Cup Semifinals
4-5 (L)
Feb. 21: Princeton University
in CSA’s Potter Cup
third place game
2-7 (L)
Fans join as team finishes fourth in nation
BY Erin Philbrick
Senior Staff Writer
Last weekend the squash
team headed to Yale University with hopes of making college squash history
and coming home national
champions. In over 85
years of college squash, no
championship match has
been fought without at least
one Ivy League college in
contention.
However, this was not
the year for the ’Jackets to
break that trend, as they
finished fourth overall in the
College Squash Association
Team Championships.
The Potter Cup, a tournament of the top eight teams
in the country, commenced
on Friday afternoon with
quarterfinals.
Third-seeded ’Jackets
defeated No. 6 seed Cornell University 7-2. Five
Yellowjackets won in three
straight sets, and none of
the UR victories went to
five sets.
“The match against Cornell had the potential to get
messy, and the team did a
great job of tying them up
to guarantee top four,” head
coach Martin Heath said.
O n S a t u r d a y, t h e
Yellowjackets were pitted
against No. 2 seed Yale
University, who they had
lost to shortly after winter
break, 3-6.
“We were a little better
prepared and we had more
information on the strength
and depth of their line-up,”
Heath said.
However, the Bulldogs
proved to be too strong for
the Yellowjackets, who went
down at the wire, 5-4. Sophomore Matthew Domenick
won at the No. 6 spot, 3-1,
to start things off, but Yale
quickly equalized.
After Yale took a 3-1 lead,
wins at the second and fifth
slots by senior Jim Bristow
and junior Will Newnham,
respectively, tied things up
again.
The Bulldogs nabbed
wins at No. 4 and No. 7,
though, and sophomore Ben
Fischer’s win in the top spot
was too little, too late for the
Yellowjackets.
“It was an up and down
battle with a couple of
disappointing losses, some
great wins, and ultimately
Yale deserved their passage
through to the final,” Heath
said.
However, the loss was
brightened by a bus full of
UR undergrads who showed
up at Yale to cheer on the
’Jackets.
Campus Times File Photo
Sophomore Beni Fischer won two matches for the ’Jackets at the CSA Team Nationals.
“The atmosphere at the
Yale match was electric, and
I’m sure the crowd helped
pull [junior] Will Newnham
through his match,” Heath
said. “It makes a difference,
and I’m hoping we can make
it an annual outing on the
UR student calendar.”
Students’ Association
senator and junior Ashley
Haluck-Kangas was one of
41 UR students to attend
the tournament on a soldout bus trip.
“UR presence was very
apparent,” she said. “The
fans brought a raucous excitement while respecting
the rules to keep quiet during play. Fans rallied around
Will Newnham’s match
versus Yale’s John Roberts,
and the last match between
[sophomore] Ben Fischer
and Kenneth Chan.”
Yale went on to face Trinity College, who won the
national title for the 12th
year in a row.
The following day, the
Yellowjackets headed to
Hartford, Conn. to face
Princeton University in
the match that determined
third place. UR had defeated
Princeton 5-4 in December,
but this time there was a
See CSA, Page 15
Win puts team in playoffs Swimming brings
NCAA hopefuls
By Ross Brenneman
Publisher
With only three games left
Men’s Swimming
in their regular season, the
(3-6)
women’s basketball team
Feb. 17-20: University
had two objectives this past
Athletic Association
weekend. The first was obviChampionships.
ous: win.
Finished seventh out of eight.
The second? Revenge.
After last weekend’s wins
Women’s Swimming
against Case Western Re(2-7)
serve University and Carnegie Mellon University,
Feb. 17-20: UAA
Championships.
the women were looking to
Finished fifth out of eight.
strengthen their record. But
standing in the way were the
Men’s Tennis
Brandeis University Judges
(2-1)
— who bested UR 50-60 when
the ’Jackets played them on
Feb. 20: Ithaca College
5-4 (W)
enemy ground one month
ago — as well as the New York
Feb. 21: Le Moyne College
University Violets.
8-1 (W)
This past Friday, utilizing
the home court advantage
Men’s Track
offered by the Palestra, the
women came out roaring,
Feb. 20: Cornell Deneault
Invitational
grabbing the lead and holdNo Team Scoring
ing steady. The Judges fought
back, though, finding their
Feb. 21: NYSCTC
footing in the second half and
Multi-Event Championship
at Cornell
silencing the Yellowjackets
No Team Scoring
to win 65-67 in an intense
Will McMunigal finished
game.
first in the state pentathlon.
UR managed to pull itself
together
in time for Sunday’s
Women’s Track
game against NYU, but the
Feb. 20: Cornell Deneault
Violets didn’t make it easy,
Invitational
with the Yellowjackets finally
No Team Scoring
Kenisha Smith broke a school eking out a 60-59 victory.
Against Brandeis, the
record in 300 meter run.
women seemed virtually
Feb. 21: NYSCTC
untouchable at first. Led
Multi-Event Championship
primarily by sophomore
at Cornell
forward/center Jodie Luther,
No Team Scoring
UR ran the score to 15-6 in
just under four minutes.
Ross Brenneman • Publisher
Freshman Kristyn Wright called out the plays in the 65-67
loss against Brandeis University last Friday night.
Reinforced by the prowess Athletic Association’s leading
of senior guard Jessica Mas- scorer. Chapin, who had been
tronardi, sophomore forward sitting on the bench for the
Kate Agan and freshman first half of the game, took to
forward-center Amy Woods, the court four minutes into
UR cruised through the first the second half.
“We knew that they were
20 minutes, garnering an 18point margin and a 43-25 lead going to come at us hard in
the second half but we could
going into halftime.
But as the UR Pep Band not respond,” Agan said.
With Chapin supported
entertained the audience
with a rousing edition of by junior forward Amber
Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance,” Strodthoff, the Judges ralBrandeis began plotting a lied to rule the second half,
stunning comeback, which preventing UR from scorstarted with senior guard ing another point for over
and ace-up-the-sleeve Jes- eight minutes and bringing
See WOMEN, Page 15
sica Chapin, the University
BY Brandon Manrique
Sports Editor
Although the University
Athletic Association Championships did not end as the
swimming and diving teams
hoped, three standouts stole
the show.
For the men, junior Kevin
Howard had a solid fifthplace finish en route to
qualifying for the National
Collegiate Athletic Association DIII Championships in
the 100-yard backstroke.
Howard has been dominant in the 100-yard backstroke for the entire season.
He has won first place in
the event during the past
four head-to-head meets and
placed second at the Liberty
League Championships.
The 200-yard medley relay team of Howard, senior
Chris Jensen, sophomore
Colin Funai and freshman
Ian Kruper finished in fifth
place but was not quick
enough to qualify for the
NCAAs.
The rest of the team did
not fare as well, finishing seventh place out of
eight. These championships
proved to be a tough ending
to what looked like a promising season for the men.
The women’s team edged
out some of the vigorous
competition but eventually
could not keep up and fin-
ished in fifth out of eight.
Freshman Stephanie Bolin and sophomore Jennifer
Chung were the two NCAA
qualifiers for the women’s
team.
Bolin swam to second
place in the 200-yard butterfly where her time was well
in the qualifying standard.
Bolin has placed in the top
three of this event in the past
five meets.
Chung’s 200-yard breaststroke was a closer finish
with her clocking in at six
one-hundredths of a second
ahead of the qualifying time.
Chung started the season hot
in the 200 but hadn’t placed
in any of the meets recently.
She will look to keep up her
momentum on her way to the
NCAA Championships.
Other strong finshers at
the meet included sophomore Rachel DeLahunta,
and freshman Sara Spielman, who finished fourth
and sixth respectfully on the
three-meter diving board.
The three qualifiers will
head to Minneapolis, Minn.
on March 17-21 for their shot
to compete against the best
DIII athletes in the nation.
With all three swimmers
returning for next season,
the men’s and women’s
teams have a bright future
to look ahead to.
Manrique is a member of
the class of 2012.

2010-02-25 - Campus Times

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