The Daily Campus: December 7, 2011

Volume CXVIII No. 67

www.dailycampus.com

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

» INSIDE

Conference Chaos Day Three

Big East to announce addition of five schools ‘HEADLINERS’ BRING THE HEAT UConn Dance Company hosts fall showcase in Jorgensen.

FOCUS/ page 7

NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN No. 2 Huskies storm past defending champs in Jimmy U Classic.

SPORTS/ page 14

EDITORIAL: BURDEN IS ON STUDENTS TO PUT AN END TO HAZING

Boise State, San Diego State, Houston, SMU, Central Florida all set to join conference

By Mac Cerullo Managing Editor According to multiple reports, the Big East is set to add five teams, with an official announcement possibly coming as early as Wednesday.

The Big East will add Boise State, San Diego State, Houston, Southern Methodist University and the University of Central Florida, who will all likely join the league in 2013.

Boise State, currently ranked No. 7 in the BCS standings, and San Diego State will each leave the Mountain West Conference and join the Big East as football-only members. Houston, SMU and UCF will all leave Conference USA and join the

Big East in all sports.

The latest round of expansion comes after Pittsburgh and Syracuse defected to the ACC and West Virginia to the Big 12 earlier this fall. Currently, the Big East requires 27-months notice before a school can leave, so those schools will still be in the conference for one more season once the new arrivals join in 2013, although West Virginia and the Big East are engaged in lawsuits disputing this point.

Also according to reports, the Big East is targeting Navy and Air Force as football-only members, with the hopes of reaching the 12-team threshold that would allow the Big East to hold a conference championship game.

By Colin McDonough Associate Sports Editor Coaches Jim Penders, Nancy Stevens and Len Tsantiris have all been a part of the Big East for decades. For Penders and Tsantiris, the baseball and women’s soccer coaches, the conference shake-up that has been going on around the country could have more of an effect on them than on Stevens, the field hockey coach.

“I have followed the conference realignment issue with great interest,” Stevens said. “However, there

will be very little impact on our field hockey program. The seven Big East schools with field hockey programs are all on the East Coast, with the exception of Louisville.

None of the schools that have been mentioned as possible additions to the Big East Conference have field hockey programs.”

One of the UConn field hockey team’s biggest rivals, Syracuse, is heading to the ACC. The Huskies meet the Orange year in and year out in the Big East championship, and although conference crowns won’t be on the line, Stevens said

» weather WEDNESDAY

ED RYAN/The Daily Campus

John Morreall returned to UConn to talk about humour’s value in the business world.

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» index

Classifieds 3 Comics 5 Commentary 4 Crossword/Sudoku 5 Focus 7 InstantDaily 4 Sports 14

The Daily Campus 11 Dog Lane Storrs, CT 06268 Box U-4189

Jim Penders

UConn baseball head coach

UConn economics students are being urged to pay extra tuition money to take summer courses after a shortage of faculty has prevented them from enrolling in classes for the spring semester.

“I think we admitted too many students for our resources,” said professor Metin Cosgel, head of the Economics Department, in a phone interview. According to him, there is always a backlash after the university receives an

NEWS/ page 6

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“I’m going to miss Morgantown in April about as much as a colonscopy.”

By Purbita Saha Focus Editor

INSIDE NEWS: POLICE PRESENCE ESCALATES AT OCCUPY HARTFORD

THURSDAY/FRIDAY

TV market. The school would also give current Big East program South Florida an instate rival to compete against.

The Knights finished at 5-7 this year after going 19-8 over the previous two seasons and finishing in the Top 25 last year. The school has also invested heavily in its athletic infrastructure recently, having opened a new 45,000-seat football stadium and a new basketball arena in 2007.

The ultimate goal for the Big East is to have two six-team divisions, one in the east and one in the west, but that won’t occur until the Big East does expand to 12 teams.

Michael.Cerullo@UConn.edu

UConn will still play Syracuse.

“We will certainly miss Syracuse in the conference, but plan to schedule them each year,” Stevens said. “Although we do not play in the ACC, we work hard to schedule an ACC team each year.

Last year we played BC and UNC in the regular season. This year we played Virginia and BC. We plan to schedule a number of ACC teams in each upcoming season.”

Penders, like Stevens, has helped to build his program. He’s been paying attention to conference realignment, but he cares

more about UConn than the Big East.

“The realignments are all about money and more money,” Penders said. “I will always be a Big East guy. It is what I grew up with, competed in as a player and coach and it is all I know. However, I’m a UConn guy first and foremost, and whatever is best for UConn is what is most important. I’ve got total confidence in President Herbst and our leadership. We’re in good hands.”

» COACH, page 2

Econ. faculty shortage forces some to take extra semester

COMMENTARY/page 4

High 49 / Low 33

Air Force is likely also being looked at for the same reason.

By adding Houston and SMU, the Big East will expand into two of the country’s most lucrative TV markets, Houston and Dallas. Houston is also ranked No. 19 in the BCS standings and fell one win short of reaching the BCS this season. SMU is a program quickly on the rise thanks to head coach June Jones, who has led the Mustangs to their third consecutive bowl game this season after the school went over two decades without reaching one at all.

With Central Florida, the Big East would add the second largest school in the country by enrollment and the Orlando

Coaches of minor sports speak about conference realignment

Administrative policies can only go so far.

Rain.

The addition of schools like Boise State and San Diego State are a departure from the conference’s historic roots in the east, but with Boise State, the conference would once again have an elite centerpiece program that would instantly raise the credibility of the Big East and shore up the conference’s chances of keeping its BCS automatic qualifier bid.

But in order to entice Boise State, the conference needed to build a western branch so that the school wasn’t an outlier by itself. San Diego State was reportedly targeted for that reason, although the football team has now reached a bowl game in back-to-back years for the first time since the 1960s.

Speaker encourages ‘funny business’

By Christian Fecteau Staff Writer Not all business needs to be serious business. John Morreall, president Humorworks, talked to UConn students and explained how humor could help them get ahead in the work place.

Morreall spoke at the School of Business Career Center event, “Funny Business: Putting Humor to Work,” which was held Tuesday evening in the Classroom Building. The session focused on ways that companies can benefit from comedy.

Morreall began by asking the

influx of new students. “What was new this year was how quickly it happened. It was like a tsunami effect, and all of a sudden we were flooded.”

A notification about the lapses in the registration system was emailed to students on Nov. 1, after Cosgel said he was receiving many concerned messages from students and their parents. In the email, Cosgel gave students who were unable to get the classes they needed the option to take online summer courses. The tuition fee for these classes will be upwards

of $1,000. Still, Cosgel said that the options are flexible, especially for students who have jobs and other commitments after May. The economics department keeps track of enrollment totals over a 10-year time span. Cosgel said that these statistics are difficult to maintain because students from other majors also take economics classes.

“We cater to a lot of clientele,” he said. According to Cosgel, the only long-term solution to this sit-

» ECONOMICS, page 2

Workshop busts myths about deaf culture

By Kim Wilson Senior Staff Writer

audience to think about some of the most desirable qualities for an employee to possess. “Chances are that humor is pretty low on that list,” he said. “I’m here to change that.”

One of Morreall’s main points was that humor encourages creativity in the work place. “The person who thinks funny thinks creatively,” Morreall said. “If you’ve ever met an uncreative comedian… well, it’s almost like a contradiction of terms.”

This creativity is crucial in a company because it allows for

People who are deaf often have to face challenges that those who aren’t would never have to even consider. However, in the words of the former president of Gallaudet University, Irving King Jordan, “Deaf people can do anything, except hear.”

Lambda Alpha Upsilon hosted an interactive workshop titled “I am Not Disabled” at the Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center facilitated by UConn’s American Sign Language Club President Christopher O’Rourke.

“What interests us in doing this workshop is that we have

» MORREALL, page 2

» PRESIDENT, page 2

ZARRIN AHMED/The Daily Campus

ASL club President Christopher O’Rourke spoke about sign language, Tuesday.

What’s on at UConn today...

“Homosocial Origins of Modern Fiction: Korea and Japan” Noon to 1:30 p.m.

Rainbow Center The Rainbow Center’s Out to Lunch Lecture series finishes out the semester with a talk on homoerotic fiction in East Asia.

”Tick, tick...BOOM” 8 to 10 p.m.

Mobius Theatre This production of the autobiographical play by “Rent” composer Jonathan Larson is an honors thesis. And will play Thursday and Friday as well.

Invisible Children Meeting

Exploring Hunger and Poverty 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Women’s Center

The Invisible Children Club, a group looking to make others aware of devestating war in Africa, will have its final biweekly meeting of the semester.

The discussion will based on the issues presented by “Food, Inc.” and “What’s on Your Plate.”

7 to 8 p.m.

Student Union, Rm. 325

– AMY SCHELLENBAUM

The Daily Campus, Page 2

DAILY BRIEFING » STATE

Tech school task force seeks public comments

HARTFORD (AP) – A task force studying the future of Connecticut’s 16 state-run technical high schools is asking for the public’s opinions.

The General Assembly created the task force earlier this year, and it must report its recommendations before the 2012 legislative session starts in February.

The group is holding a public hearing on Dec. 13 at the state Legislative Office Building in Hartford to get opinions from students, parents and anyone else with an interest in the schools.

About 11,000 students are enrolled in the schools, which offer regular high school degrees in a college prep curriculum and training in dozens of technical and vocational fields. State figures show at least one teen from every city and town in Connecticut attends one of the regional technical high schools.

Cop: Wesleyan defendant looked up Columbine

MIDDLETOWN (AP) – A Connecticut detective who investigated the 2009 killing of a Wesleyan University student says the defendant searched the Internet the night before for information about the Columbine High School and Virginia Tech mass shootings.

The detective’s testimony Tuesday came on the fourth day of Stephen Morgan’s trial before a panel of three state judges. The 32-year-old native of Marblehead, Mass., is charged with murdering 21-year-old Johanna Justin-Jinich of Timnath, Colo., at an off-campus bookstore cafe. His lawyers are pursuing an insanity defense.

State police Detective Brian Ferrucci examined Morgan’s computer and the Internet searches he performed before the killing. Ferrucci also said Morgan looked at anti-Semitic websites.

The prosecution rested its case and the defense began calling its witnesses Tuesday.

Yale among new centers to study rare diseases

NEW HAVEN (AP) – Yale University has been named as the site of one of three new research centers to study the genetics of rare inherited diseases affecting more than 25 million Americans.

The National Institutes of Health announced Tuesday that it was splitting $48 million between Yale, the University of Washington and a center operated jointly by Baylor and Johns Hopkins University. Yale’s portion is $11 million.

Their researchers will analyze the genomes of thousands of patients who have more than 6,000 rare diseases caused by inherited mutations of a single gene. Each disease affects fewer than 200,000 Americans, but more than 25 million collectively in the U.S. alone.

Officials say the research also shed light on more common diseases as they work to pinpoint causes and potential treatments for those rare disorders.

Apartments for elderly get federal grant boost

NEW HAVEN (AP) – Two Connecticut apartment communities that provide housing for elderly people are getting major federal grants to convert some of their apartments into assisted living units.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says the operators of two complexes serving low-income seniors in New Haven and Norwalk are each getting $2.8 million through a federal program distributing $23.7 million in five states.

The apartment conversions are intended to give people a chance to grow older in familiar surroundings with appropriate help and services, letting them continue to live independently without going into costly nursing homes.

The New Haven Jewish Federation Housing Corp. will convert some units and common areas in its Tower East development, and the King’s Daughter and Sons in Norwalk will do the same at its Kingsway Apartments.

Norwalk college leader considered for state post

NORWALK (AP) – The president of Connecticut’s Norwalk Community College has been recommended as interim president for the state’s 12 community colleges.

The state Board of Regents for Higher Education will vote Dec. 20 on appointing David Levinson to the spot, which he would hold from Jan. 1 until a permanent person is selected in early 2012. Levinson is expected to be among the candidates.

Levinson will also continue at Norwalk Community College, where has been president since 2004.

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

News

Morreall: Humor ‘makes us mentally flexible’, ‘gets us out of mental ruts’ from SPEAKER, page 1

more effective problem solving, Morreall explained. “In the business world, it’s seldom that there’s one answer to a problem,” he said. He also mentioned that creative employees can offer multiple perspectives on a situation, giving a corporation a broader range of solutions to its dilemmas. “Humor makes us mentally flexible and gets us out of mental ruts,” he said.

In addition to laughter’s practical application in the work place, Morreall discussed the health

benefits of humor. “Laughing is a workout for the heart and lungs,” he told the audience, “and it also gives your immune system a boost.” He then paused before adding, “There are also laxative benefits, but I won’t discuss those – it’s too close to dinner time.”

Certain parts of Morreall’s presentation focused on the idea of humor as a whole, giving the audience a scholarly overview of the subject. He explained, in broad strokes, the principles of incongruity theory, which state that people find humor in situa-

tions that they don’t fully understand. When people unexpectedly encounter something absurd, Morreall said, they are likely to find it humorous. However, he added that the absurd can also be frightening, which is why maintaining distance is important to protecting the humor of a situation.

Morreall wasn’t simply all talk, though – his slideshow featured a variety of humorous images, ranging from newspaper comics to comically misspelled business signs. “It started to click when

you saw an example in the form of an image,” said Stephen Klink, 1st-semester business major.

While not as punchy as a standup comedy act, Morreall’s presentation elicited chuckles from the audience at regular intervals.

“I thought it was creative, funny and a nice little twist on humor,” said Alexander Kosakowski, a 1st-semester engineering major.

“It was a new way to introduce humor in real life.”

Christian.Fecteau@UConn.edu

Economics Dept. cannot make staff accept more students in classes from ECON., page 1 uation is to bolster the Economics Department by balancing the student-to-teacher ratio. He said that the university hired four new professors this summer and may be hiring another one next year.

Additionally, graduate students who have assisted and taught in principle classes may be eligible to lead intermediate and specialized courses by the fall of 2012.

Senior economics majors need to take 3000-level classes and departmental writing courses before they can graduate in the spring. But Cosgel said that the department could not force staff members to accept extra students into their classes. Therefore, to alleviate the situation, he collaborated with adjunct professors and graduate assistants to tack three extra courses onto next semester’s catalogue. Cosgel said that he thinks these provisions will help the university meet the demands of economics majors.

Nonetheless, this is just a temporary fix, he said.

Cosgel wants students to know that his department is aware of the situation, but that he cannot resolve the issue without resources from higher administration, he said.

Students, however, are demanding answers beyond the one email they received in November. Matthew Kold, a 5thsemester economics student, said he feels frustrated with the situation. After being locked out of classes, he called the economics department, but was transferred and put on hold multiple times.

“I got no answers. Nobody really wanted to talk about it,” he said.

Furthermore, he said his advisor was unavailable to meet with him. “All they do is recommend changing majors because they don’t give an [expletive] about the students in their department. I’m just like a fraction of a percent.”

Consequently, Kold is opting to transfer to Central Connecticut State University so that he can receive a Bachelor’s degree in accounting. “If I can’t get the classes I want now I’m going to

fall behind,” he said, adding that he feels like he wasted his time by taking economics classes at UConn. “I’ve never had a solid professor here.”

Another economics student, who is in her seventh semester and wished to stay anonymous to avoid negative feedback from the department, said that she was bothered by the lack of upperlevel courses that were available for enrollment.

“As an economics senior, my main concern was graduating on time. It is already very expensive for me as an international student to attend UConn… It seems unfair that I should have to pay extra to finish my major,” the student said. Ultimately, she was able to satisfy her requirement by having her study abroad courses accredited. The changes, however, have not been updated on her transcript yet, and she is still worried that her plan of study is not 100 percent complete.

Questions on the quality of teaching in the Economics

Department have also arisen in the past few weeks. Cosgel said that he encourages students who have complaints about professors to contact him. “It is something that you need to address,” he said, “and I don’t know of a case that has gone unresolved.”

But the previously mentioned 5th-semester student said that he saw no results after speaking to Cosgel about his intermediate microeconomics professor. The professor, he said, teaches difficult concepts without providing supplementary materials or guidance. “It gave me a bad insight,” he said. “It’s a teach-yourself course, and I would have dropped it if I could.”

The student also said that the professor failed to show up for a scheduled exam last Tuesday.

According to him, the class merely received an unapologetic, follow-up email to say that he was sick and that the exam would be moved.

Purbita.Saha@UConn.edu

President of ASL club answers questions about sign language from WORKSHOP, page 1 brothers in our fraternity that are deaf, and they are still individuals capable of communicating,” Bryant Dominguez, president of Lambda Alpha Upsilon, said. “We wanted to bring more awareness to their culture and the misconceptions associated with it.”

O’Rourke said he wanted to “bust myths” about the deaf culture by showing an appreciation for the language and what the deaf culture embodies.

“We want to show you what it’s like to be on the receiving side of any language,’ O’Rourke said.

“Just because they speak a different language and come from a different background, they’re not really that different from us.”

O’Rourke taught some relevant sign language vocabulary and how to provide some background information when conversing with a deaf person to those in attendance.

“Deaf people are very proud of their culture and they love to

know background information,” O’Rourke said.

Facial expressions are key in ASL (American Sign Language).

For example, when you signal the word stress, you must emphasize the meaning of the word by puffing your cheeks. Similarly, the eyebrows must be lowered when a question is signed.

“You really play around with your emotions when signing,” O’Rourke said.

O’Rourke asked everyone in attendance to play a fingerspelling version of the game “telephone.”

Fingerspelling is the process of spelling out words using the American Sign Language alphabet. In the game, everyone had to fingerspell a word to the next person until it reached the last person. O’Rourke began the game by signing PRLACC, because the event was hosted there, but the word had transformed to “apples” by the end.

O’Rourke then explored the disparities between the deaf and

hearing cultures and how misconceptions about deaf people arise in the hearing community.

“One of the biggest questions I get asked is ‘isn’t sign language just like English?’” O’ Rourke said. “The answer is no. It has evolved to borrow some English, but it still stands on its own.”

O’Rourke explained the different methods of sign language, including the Rochester Method, which includes fingerspelling every word and British Sign Language, which uses both hands.

“Hearing people tend to think that deaf people are broke,” O’Rourke said. “And that is not the case. They can do everything just as well, and in some cases, better than other people.”

O’Rourke said deaf people actually have a lower occurrence of car crashes than hearing people, which he attributes to their heightened awareness of their surroundings.

He also gave some advice to understanding deaf culture. As in hearing culture, O’Rourke said,

pointing to get a person’s attention is rude, whereas gentle wave in the person whose attention you wish to have will suffice.

Everyone in attendance participated in the program with enthusiasm and learned to sign his or her name and a few complete phrases.

“I think it’s an enjoyable program and is something people don’t normally think about or try to get educated on,” attendee Jamal Catoe, the assistant director of fraternity and sorority life at UConn, said. “I think it would be nice to do more with this to learn to really effectively communicate. As far as learning the basics, I think this was a really good program.”

The UConn ASL Club meets every week on Thursdays at 7:15 p.m. to go through the basics of the language and is open to all who wish to attend. For more information, contact uconnasl@gmail. com.

Kimberley.Wilson@UConn.edu

Coach Tsantiris says, ‘Big East is all over the place’ from COACHES, page 1 One issue has been whether changes in the Big East will help or hurt recruiting for some of these programs. With teams like Houston, UCF or SMU as possible additions to the conference, it’ll definitely change some things on the baseball side of things.

“We don’t really use the conference to recruit as much as we used to,” Penders said.

“We haven’t really had a rival-

ry with Pitt, and I’m going to miss Morgantown in April about as much as a colonoscopy. And with all due respect to those programs, with UCF and Houston, the league is a better baseball conference today than it was a couple months ago. The shake up hasn’t really affected our recruiting. Most of the guys we’re involved with know that we’re going to schedule competitively and nationally. I think if we were in the middle or back end of the

pack in the conference, it would be more of a detriment.

Penders and UConn are coming off a Big East regular season title.

The women’s soccer program, although they didn’t make the NCAA tournament this season, is one of the best soccer programs in the Big East.

“The Big East has some good teams, we have some weak teams not really helping us,” Tsantiris said. “The Big East is all over the place. The ACC is more con-

gested into a strong group.”

“The ACC is definitely a strong conference, one of the strongest, I wouldn’t mind playing in it,” Tsantiris said. “I’m sure if you asked every coach at UConn they’d say the same thing.”

As far as whether Penders would rather play baseball in the Big East or ACC, he responded, “No comment.”

Colin.McDonough@UConn.edu

Corrections and clarifications

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Matt McDonough, Sports Editor Colin McDonough, Associate Sports Editor Jim Anderson, Photo Editor Ed Ryan, Associate Photo Editor Demetri Demopoulos, Marketing Manager Dawn Tarabocchia, Graphics Manager Joseph Kopman-Fried, Circulation Manager Nicole Butler, Online Marketing Manager

In the Dec. 1 article “Concern for worker safety voiced at meeting,” the equipment involved in the Nov. 28 accident was incorrectly described as a crane and cherry picker, it was actually a scissor lift. Also, Erland Construction is the construction manager on the Storrs Center and not part of the development team. Also, the stop work order issued to Empire Construction Special Projects was not about workers compensation but about insurance coverage.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011 Copy Editors: Elizabeth Crowley, Lauren Szalkiewicz, Ryan Tepperman, Meredith Falvey News Designer: Amy Schellenbaum Focus Designers: Stephanie Ratty Sports Designer: Matt McDonough Digital Production: Ari Mason The Daily Campus 11 Dog Lane Storrs, CT 06268 Box U-4189

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The Daily Campus, Page 3

News

» OCCUPY

Police presence escalates at Occupy Hartford eviction

By Colin Neary Campus Correspondent Mayor Pedro Segarra of Hartford, in coordination with Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts, approved the eviction of the Occupy Hartford community.

Residents were located at Turning Point Park on the corner of Asylum St. and Farmington Ave. The eviction notice was served at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.

The residents were told to vacate the park with all of their belongings by 6 p.m. that evening. The 15 permanent residents were predominantly homeless, and Turning Point Park had become a consistent supply of food and shelter. Dedicated activists had decided to remain through the harsh winter, yet the temperature at the time of eviction was 50 degrees.

Approximately 25 police vehicles lined the perimeter, blocking the sidewalk so that residents were forced to walk in the street while cautioning pedestrians not to walk in the street because they were obstructing traffic. There was one point of entry for protestors and once the residents left

the park they were denied reentry for lack of a press badge.

A garbage truck and multiple hauling trailers were brought in to remove the equipment of residents. Two bulldozers also arrived in time for the eviction

SEATTLE (AP) — The Occupy Wall Street protests are moving into the neighborhood.

Finding it increasingly difficult to camp in public spaces, Occupy protesters across the United States are reclaiming foreclosed homes and boarded-up properties, signaling a tactical shift for the movement against wealth inequality. Groups in more than 25 cities held protests Tuesday on behalf of homeowners facing evictions.

In Atlanta, protesters held a rally at a courthouse and used whistles and sirens to disrupt an auction of seized houses.

In New York, they marched through a residential neighborhood carrying signs that read “Foreclose on banks, not people.” Los Angeles protesters rallied around a family of six who plans to reclaim the home they lost six months ago in foreclosure.

“It’s pretty clear that the fight is against the banks, and the Occupy movement is about occupying spaces. So occupying a space that should belong to homeowners but belongs to the banks seems like the logical next step for the Occupy movement,” said Jeff Ordower, one of the organizers of Occupy Homes.

The events reflect the protesters’ lingering frustration over the housing crisis that has sent millions of homes into foreclosure after the burst of the housing bubble that helped cripple the country’s economy. Nearly

a quarter of all U.S. homeowners with mortgages are now underwater, representing nearly 11 million homes, according to CoreLogic, a real estate research firm.

Protesters say that banks and financial firms own abandoned foreclosed houses that could be housing people.

Seattle has become a leader in the anti-foreclosure movement as protesters took over a formerly boarded-up home last month.

They painted the bare wood sidings with green, black and red paint, and strung up a banner that says “Occupy Everything No Banks No Landlords.”

While arrests have already been made in a couple of squatting cases in Seattle and Portland, it remains to be seen how authorities will respond to this latest tactic.

In Portland, police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson said he’s aware that the movement called for people to occupy foreclosed homes, but said it’s difficult to distinguish between the people who would squat in homes as a political statement and those that do it for shelter.

“The vacant property issue is of concern in cities nationwide,” Simpson said. “We’ll treat them all as trespassers.”

In Seattle, protesters took over a boarded-up warehouse slated for demolition last weekend. In an announcement, the protesters said they planned to make the warehouse into a community center, and hosted a party the night they opened the

COLIN NEARY/The Daily Campus

An officer at the Occupy Hartford eviction makes sure protestors keep walking. He declined to give his name.

at 6 p.m.

“The fact that the mayor allowed police to barricade entry to the park and prevented us from retrieving belongings is disgraceful. This proves a great problem that needs to be

addressed,” said Dan Diaz, a second-year M.A. candidate in the UConn School of Social Work. When asked about police intervention over an unreported sexual assault Diaz replied, “the community is able to police

itself.”

The eviction was the result of reports of “violence and drug use” according to a memo from Mayor Segarra. Coincidentally, Douglas Brooks was arrested at 50 Jennings Road for assault in the third degree. No eviction notices have been served to the residents of 50 Jennings Road.

“The eviction is hypocritical and is making a mockery of public space,” said Jen Levine, also a second-year M.A. candidate in the School of Social Work. “The mayors and police forces in cities across the nation prefer to focus on Occupy protests more than they do violent crimes.”

In discrepancy with a report approved by Police Chief Roberts that stated the sexual assailant entered the tent, former Turning Point Park resident Edward Burney said, “We were there, and I guarantee the man never made his way into the tent. We escorted him off the premises immediately after he approached the woman and told him not to return again. We have not seen him since the incident.”

The riot police carried light

machine guns and arrived promptly at 6 p.m. to oversee procedure of the eviction and crowd control. The officers informed everyone without a press badge that they could not remain within viewing distance of the park and had to remain behind the cable news trucks on the corner of Farmington Ave. Dr. Larry Deutch of the Connecticut Working Families Party and City Councilperson in Hartford said, “The restriction of free access to the press, general public, and legal authorities to the sidewalk is a violation of our civil liberties.”

When asked why police were armed with assault rifles Dr. Deutch said, “This was unnecessary and a waste of our tax payers’ money. This is certainly no threat to public safety or health.

Unequivocally, there was no violation or law at Turning Point Park.” When asked if he was going to discuss this matter at the next city council meeting, Dr. Deutch said, “I suppose so.

There was no need for a blanket approach such as this.”

Occupy protests move to foreclosed homes

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AP

Occupy Wall Street activists march during a tour of foreclosed homes in Brooklyn, New York, Tuesday. Finding it increasingly difficult to camp in public spaces, occupy protesters across the country are reclaiming foreclosed homes and boarded-up properties.

building. Police moved in soon after, arresting 16 people in the process of clearing it out.

Seattle police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said his department sees squatting in private properties as the same violation of trespassing Occupy Seattle made when it camped in a downtown park.

Atlanta protesters took a more aggressive approach in trying to disrupt the home auction.

The auction went on, but the whistles and sirens made it difficult for the auctioneers to communicate, said Occupy Atlanta

spokesman Tim Franzen.

“We don’t know how many homes we saved for one more month during the holiday season,” he said. “It was kind of a Christmas gift to the people.”

In Riverside, California, Art de los Santos arrived with a moving truck and about three dozen supporters at his former home. He broke the lock and moved back in. It is his last resort to get the attention of bank JP Morgan Chase after he applied three times for a loan modification, to no avail.

“I’m getting down to my

last option,” he said. “Nothing seems to work. Maybe if I protest, it’ll get their attention.”

Tom Kelly, spokesman for JPMorganChase, had no immediate knowledge of de los Santos’ case and could not comment, but noted that he is trespassing.

In Portland, a press conference was held at the home of a woman facing foreclosure next March. She vowed to stay in her house until authorities take her out.

“We belong here,” said Deb Austin, who said she fell behind

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in payments after a cancer diagnosis and after her husband lost her second job. “And we’re not leaving.”

There were at least two setbacks for police who have been at odds with the Occupy protesters as well.

In New Orleans, a federal judge allowed Occupy protesters and homeless people to return to the park where they had been camped since early October. Police had forced them to leave before dawn Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey’s order Tuesday allows the group to return for at least seven days.

Congressman Jerrold Nadler meanwhile called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate allegations of police misconduct in connection with the treatment of Occupy Wall Street protesters and journalists covering the demonstrations in New York City.

The New York Democrat said in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder there were “troubling reports” of possible misconduct by police including “possible unlawful surveillance” of protesters’ constitutionally protected activities and excessive use of force by New York Police Department officers.

The Department of Justice said Tuesday it will review the congressman’s letter.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne says officers “accommodated lawful protest” and made arrests only after observing unlawful conduct.

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Page 4

www.dailycampus.com

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The Daily Campus Editorial Board

Melanie Deziel, Editor-in-Chief Arragon Perrone, Commentary Editor Ryan Gilbert, Associate Commentary Editor Michelle Anjirbag, Weekly Columnist Tyler McCarthy, Weekly Columnist Jesse Rifkin, Weekly Columnist

» EDITORIAL

Burden is on students to put an end to hazing

W

hat is hazing? Hazing is any activity that involves harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating someone into a group. Hazing can be established in all different types of groups, whether it’s a gang, sports team, military unit, workplace, fraternity or sorority.

Out of all the different types of groups, who would suspect that hazing would occur in a marching band? Although it is perhaps the last place you would suspect hazing to occur, it did and, as a result, a young college student died.

Instead of celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday, the family of Robert Champion was planning a funeral. Champion, a 26-year-old clarinetist and drum major at Florida A&M University, became ill outside an Orlando hotel after the school’s football team lost a game. Champion was vomiting and complaining that he could not breathe shortly before he collapsed. He was later taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The cause of death has not been determined, but police suspect hazing.

For decades, Florida A&M University has disregarded a “culture of hazing,” which has led to the recent death of a member its marching band. Hazing involved “physical abuse,” including the kicking and beating of band members.

The university is well aware of it; other band members from present and past have confirmed that hazing has spread.

Tragic events like this should cause us to ask ourselves “why?” Why is hazing needed in our society? It isn’t.

Concerted efforts by college and university administrations to denounce, discourage and prevent acts of hazing will only do so much. We need to take it upon ourselves to put a stop to hazing.

First, everyone needs to understand what hazing is and be able to recognize it.

Second, take responsibility when you see it occurring or when it happens to you by reporting it immediately.

Third, make others aware of what hazing is and their responsibility for preventing its occurrence. Use resources, programs and services offered to help decrease the amount of hazing that occurs.

By following these steps, hopefully we can prevent the next college student in a band, sports team, fraternity or sorority from losing his or her life because of hazing.

The Daily Campus editorial is the official opinion of the newspaper and its editorial board. Commentary columns express opinions held solely by the author and do not in any way reflect the official opinion of The Daily Campus.

I accidentally got tofu in my hair. #EastCampusProblems.

I really, really hate Rainbow Road.

When my philosophy class first started, it seemed like just an excuse for my professor to make Russian accents.

But today he admitted that he’s really just the Batman. I am not sure how to feel about this new development.

To the boy playing with his nipples in the library: time and place, buddy.

UConn is now a member of the Big East (of the Pacific Ocean).

You know it’s getting closer to finals when someone passes you on a bike wearing their lab goggles at 8 in the morning.

I think Texas A&M just missed again.

Girls in Whitney: if you’re going to play hand-clapping games, you should at least be creative enough to do more than just double-high-five each other.

That awkward moment when the defending national champions play like a middle school team.

That awkward moment when you read your status in the InstantDaily, but you weren’t the one who submitted it, and you don’t know who did.

After watching the Victoria’s Secret commercial, my girlfriend said she wants to “do all of them.” Whatever Victoria’s secret is, I would like to be let in on it.

The awkward moment when you see someone you danced with at the bar, clearly recognizing each other, and then looking away.

That awkward moment when you realize that the world sees you not as a bear or as an otter, but as a twink.

Send us your thoughts on anything and everything by sending an instant message to InstantDaily, Sunday through Thursday evenings. Follow us on Twitter (@ InstantDaily) and become fans on Facebook.

The 10 most fascinating people of 2011

W

ho were the 10 most fascinating people and groups of people of 2011? Here are my selections: 10.) Seal Team Six. The counterterrorism unit killed Osama bin Laden in his Pakistani compound in May, eliminating the mastermind responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bin Laden’s death perhaps changed American politics too: immediately after the killing, polls showed President Obama with his highest approval rating since November 2009.

9.) Sarah Palin.

The former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate remained such a prominent figure that her October announcement not to run for presiBy Jesse Rifkin dent in 2012 was Weekly Columnist bigger news than the announcement from any actual candidate to run.

8.) Nishimoto / Vu / Naselaris / Benjamini / Yu / Gallant.

This six-person team at the University of California, Berkeley, created perhaps the most fascinating scientific advancement of the year.

While volunteers viewed film clips, a hightech scanner analyzed their brain patterns and produced strikingly similar reconstructions of what the participants viewed. Could machines someday replay back our dreams or innermost thoughts?

7.) Rebecca Black.

This formerly normal 13-year-old girl from California created the Internet video “Friday,” which rocketed into the most-viewed viral video of the year at 167 million views and counting. As a comparison, the highest gross-

ing film of the year, “Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows 2,” sold 48 million tickets.

6.) Anthony Kennedy.

The “swing vote” on the U.S. Supreme Court, Kennedy this year joined the majority 94 percent of the time, more frequently than any other justice. In divided cases where the Court decision was not unanimous, Kennedy joined the majority the most at 88 percent.

And in cases where the nine justices split 5-4, Kennedy joined the majority the most, also 88 percent. With the Court handing down some of its most important rulings in years, Kennedy was the reason so many decisions went the way they did.

5.) Adele.

She practically advertises her unattractive looks and overweight size, yet she was the most popular act in music this year. “Rolling in the Deep” sold over 5.5 million copies, the highest selling song in a year for iTunes.

“21” sold over 4.4 million copies when no other album this year sold over 2 million. The album was No. 1 for 13 weeks, the most since 1998, and remained top five for 39 consecutive weeks, the longest streak since 1992. Adele redefined the rules, proving that sound quality can prevail in a visual world.

4.) Eric Cantor.

Seemingly, the obvious choice to represent the Republican recapture of the House of Representatives would be Speaker John Boehner. But Cantor, the second-ranking House Republican from Virginia, was the ultraconservative Tea Party politician whispering in Boehner’s ear and twisting his arm. While Boehner appeared extremely conservative this year, he was actually considered moderate for most of his two-decade political career. Cantor forced Boehner to the Right and forced our country to the Right in the process.

3.) Ben Bernanke.

As Federal Reserve chairman, Bernanke had perhaps more control over monetary policy

than the president. In a year when the economy was the foremost issue on everybody’s mind, Bernanke’s policies of low interest rates and quantitative easing helped create America’s current economic conditions.

2.) George Papandreou.

The “Euro Zone crisis” made 2011 the worst year for Europe since World War II, and Greece’s unsustainable debt levels and spiraling bond rates were at the heart of it all.

Papandreou, prime minister of a country with a population smaller than Ohio, triggered the downfall of an entire continent. Papandreou resigned in November, but with economic markets so interconnected, the downfall of the European market dramatically hurt the entire world.

1.) Mohamed Bouazizi.

The 26-year-old street vendor in Tunisia committed suicide on Dec. 17, 2010 by setting himself on fire. His stunt to draw attention toward the injustices committed by his government escalated into widespread protests.

President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, ruler since 1987, fled the nation in January and was later sentenced to 35 years in prison. Millions of inspired Middle Easterners took to the streets in the Arab Spring movement, and it worked. February saw the resignation of Egypt President Hosni Mubarak, ruler since 1981, who now stands trial for premeditated murder of nonviolent protesters. October saw the death of Libya leader Muammar Gadaffi, ruling since 1969. Dec. 23 will see the official resignation of Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh, ruler since 1978. Bouazizi’s decision on a Tunisia street corner changed the world as we know it.

Weekly Columnist Jesse Rifkin is a 3rd-semester political science and journalism double major. He can be reached at Jesse.Rifkin@UConn.edu.

Higher voter turnout does not mean better election results

T

here are several fundamental values we are taught as children: to share, to treat others the way we would like to be treated, to always share our toys. We are told stealing is bad, philanthropy is good, “please” and “thank you” are even better and curse words are the worst.

We then enter high school where we, as older children sitting in our civics classes, are taught the imporBy Stephen Klinck tance of participating in Staff Columnist our uniquely democratic system of government. We are told to watch the news, to read the Constitution, to learn all we can about our Founding Fathers and, most importantly, to vote. True Americans, they tell us, fill out the voter registration forms that are forced upon us the moment we are old enough to accept them.

After all, the best citizens vote for their elected leaders, and the worst ones don’t.

This correlation between the quality of a citizen and his or her voting habits is, to be clear, unquestionably true. The best American citizens are politically aware and actively participate in a political process many others don’t have the privilege of par-

QW

ticipating in.

But we fail as a free and democratic society when we view specific components of the political process as independent of the others, such as when we hail the uninformed voter as much as we hail the informed one, and when we allow ourselves to associate higher voter turnout with a more functional democracy.

According to research con-

“Our country does not suffer, as some suggest, from a lack of information.” ducted by the Nielsen Company, 96.7 percent of Americans own a television set, nearly 90 million American households pay for the hundreds of additional channels afforded by satellite and digital cable and 43 million American households enjoy the flexible viewing options provided to them by a DVR. These statistics showcase a society afforded a plethora of programming choices the three-channel

era of the 1960s could not compete with.

This remarkable alignment between the media Americans wish to consume and the media available to them for consumption illustrates what Princeton University political scientist Markus Prior describes as a political “knowledge gap.”

According to Prior, the advent of cable news and the ubiquity of Internet access allow the politically informed to expand their repertoire of political knowledge and the politically uninformed to avoid any and all exposure to it, thus reducing the likelihood they will vote.

In order to achieve our goal of more effective elected representation, our honest and pragmatic society must acknowledge the simple fact that many Americans are uninformed simply because they wish to be uninformed and are able to remain this way, not because they were never told quite convincingly enough why they should not be. Our country does not suffer, as some suggest, from a lack of information. We instead suffer from a lack of interest in absorbing the information our political elders wish for us to absorb, an ailment that cannot be cured by an MTV special instructing us to mindlessly

vote simply “because we can.”

Only when the goal of achieving greater political literacy has been achieved should we pursue greater voter turnout and political participation. But we should not pursue it without an increase in political knowledge to reinforce it.

You, dear reader, must not allow yourself to feel pressured to vote in an election for which you do not feel passionately.

Do not feel guilty about a lack of interest preventing you from voting. Instead, spend Election Day watching all the “Jersey Shore” your stomach can bear, for only when you are motivated and informed should you proudly pull the metaphorical lever of democracy and gleefully accept the obnoxious sticker given to you upon your exit. Smile at the volunteer who gave it to you and affix it to your T-shirt. Wear it until its adhesive disintegrates and relish in the pleasantness of that rare and patriotic feeling of actively participating in your government, for in this rare and unique case you have actually earned it.

Staff Columnist Stephen Klinck is a 1st-semester business major. He can be reached at Stephen.Klinck@UConn.edu.

uick

it “R iot

police arrested hundreds of people outside city hall , still less violent than B lack F riday at every W almart in A merica .”

– J immy K immel

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Comics

The Daily Campus, Page 5 I Hate Everything

by Carin Powell

Toast

by Tom Dilling

Royalty Free Speech

by Ryan Kennedy

Editor’s Choice

by Brendan Albetski

Horoscopes

by Brian Ingmanson To get the advantage, check the day’s rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging.

Aries (March 21-April 19) -- Today is an 8 -- Complete the projects that have been waiting, even if you don’t want to anymore. Clear space for the new. Make plans with the people you love most.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) -- Today is a 7 -- Listen to a dear one explain. Support them even when you’re upset. Complete a home-improvement project. Choose the path that you’re most passionate about.

Gemini (May 21-June 21) -- Today is an 8 -- Oh, the things you can learn. Don’t push yourself too hard. Drink plenty of water, and get good rest. Cash flow improves. Only buy what you need right now.

Cancer (June 22-July 22) -- Today is a 7 -- Money makes the world go round, even when you’re not paying attention.

Turn a need into a possibility. You have more than you think. Save resources.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) -- Today is a 9 -- Finish up tasks without a fuss. Sit down with an accountant. It feels so good when it’s done. Balance your work and your love life. Reward yourself with relaxation.

Mensch

by Jeffrey Fenster

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- Today is a 7 -Problems are becoming easier to solve, but hold off traveling for now. Find the right balance. A friend or a dream may provide an answer.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) -- Today is a 7 -- Your friends appreciate your discipline, which gives you more time to play. Get into both work and fun modes, and involve your team.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) -- Today is an 8 -- Avoiding controversy is not so easy now. You may have to use diplomacy.

It’s all for the best of the community, anyway. Incidentally, your reputation grows.

Procrastination Animation

by Michael McKiernan UConn Classics: Back in My Day, Comics Were These Comics Super Glitch

by John Lawson

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) -- Today is a 7 -- You’re in the middle of a growth spurt. Take your vitamins and get plenty of rest. Not knowing can be a good thing.

Let your mind wander.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Today is an 8 -- Learn from young people: They haven’t decided that they can’t yet. A partner plus distant contacts equal profit.

Help comes from unexpected sources.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) -- Today is an 8 -- Your work behind the scenes is paying off. You can rely on others, and they rely on you. You’ve built a web of mutual support. Now refine for costefficiency.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) -- Today is a 9 -- Take on more responsibility.

Listen to group members, and put their logic to good use. Crowd-sourcing has practical applications. Your enthusiasm’s attractive.

Happy Dance

Nothing Extraordinary

by Tom Feldtmose

by Sarah Parsons

Eggsalad

by Elliot Nathan

Questions? Comments?

Other Stuff? <dailycampuscomics@gmail.com>

The Daily Campus, Page 6

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

News

» WORLD

Clinton to world: Stop gay discrimination

GENEVA (AP) – The Obama administration has bluntly warned the world against gay and lesbian discrimination, declaring the U.S. will use foreign assistance as well as diplomacy to back its insistence that gay rights are fully equal to other basic human rights.

In unusually strong language, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday compared the struggle for gay equality to difficult passages toward women’s rights and racial equality, and she said a country’s cultural or religious traditions are no excuse for discrimination.

“Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights,” she said. “It should never be a crime to be gay.”

Clinton’s audience included diplomats from Arab, African and other nations where homosexuality is criminalized or where brutality and discrimination against gay people is tolerated or encouraged.

Many of the ambassadors in the audience responded with stony faces and rushed out of the room as soon as Clinton finished speaking.

President Barack Obama directed the State Department and other agencies to make sure U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote gay rights and fight discrimination. But there are no specific new consequences for poor performers, meaning the directive is more of a challenge to other governments than a threat.

In announcing the policy the U.S. did not point to individual countries with specifically poor

records on gay rights, although an annual State Department accounting of global human rights has cited abuses against gays by such friends as Saudi Arabia.

The White House said Tuesday’s announcement marked the first U.S. government strategy to combat human rights abuses against gays and lesbians abroad.

The speech in Geneva, home of the United Nations’ human rights body, is also part of the Obama administration’s outreach to gays and lesbians, a core Democratic constituency at home. Since taking office, Obama has advocated the repeal of the military’s ban on openly gay service members — now accomplished — and has ordered the administration to stop defending a law defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

However, Obama has stopped short of backing gay marriage, saying only that his personal views on the matter are evolving. That position and a long delay repealing the military ban have left some gay supporters disgruntled.

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney suggested that gay rights should not be a test for U.S. engagement abroad.

“I will be looking [at] foreign aid, whether it meets our national security interests and, number two, whether these nations are friends of ours and are willing to be friendly with us in ways when it matters the most,” he said on Fox News Channel.

Another Republican presiden-

AP

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, shakes hands after her speech on human rights issues at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday.

tial candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, went further.

“Promoting special rights for gays in foreign countries is not in America’s interests and not worth a dime of taxpayers’ money,” a Perry campaign statement said.

Clinton said she knows the United States has an imperfect record on gay rights, and she noted that until 2003 some states had laws on the books that made gay sex a crime. But there is no reason to suggest that gay rights are something only liberal, Western nations can or should embrace, she said. She said nothing about gay marriage.

Greek lawmakers approve 2012 austerity budget ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Greece’s lawmakers overwhelmingly approved next year’s austerity budget early Wednesday, extending tough spending cuts that have already left Greeks struggling as the country tries to slash its vast debts and tame a severe recession.

With three parties, including the majority socialists and their rival conservatives, participating in Greece’s new coalition government, the budget was passed with a 258-41 majority in the 300-seat Parliament.

“This is a difficult budget ... with ambitious targets,” Prime Minister Lucas Papademos told lawmakers just before the after-midnight vote.

“But we must achieve our targets and implement the measures that are foreseen.”

“The financial crisis in our country is not a passing storm,” Papademos warned. “Given the size of the problems, our national effort will not be completed in 2012. It will take many years, and will require the efforts and insistence of several governments.”

Greece’s acute debt woes have triggered a Europe-wide crisis and the country is surviving on international rescue loans, released on condition it implements deeply resented cutbacks. The crisis has even prompted talk of the country being forced out of the eurozone — or even the European Union — both of which Papademos insisted were out of the question.

“Our position in Europe is not negotiable,” he said. “The Greek people will defend it by all means. But participation in the euro involves rules and obligations, which we must consistently meet ... Greece belongs to Europe, and Europe cannot be envisaged without Greece.”

The end of the budget debate coincided with the third anniversary of a fatal police shooting of a teenager in central Athens, and as lawmakers spoke clashes broke out in front of Parliament between hundreds of anarchists and riot police during a commemorative march.

Masked youths hurled stones, bottles and firebombs at police, who responded with volleys of tear gas and stun grenades on Tuesday night. Earlier in the day, violence also broke out on the fringes of a separate march by about 2,000 students outside Parliament.

Speaking inside the building during the debate, conservative party leader Antonis Samaras said his objections to many of the

AP

Greek Prime Minister Lukas Papademos, bottom, gives his speech during a parliament session about the next year’s state budget, in Athens, on Tuesday.

austerity measures already passed remained, but that he was backing the budget as the priority now was to reduce the debt.

“We are voting today for the budget, firstly because we are giving immediate priority to ensuring the viability of Greek debt and to maintain the targets of fiscal adjustment,” he said.

Samaras was a vocal critic of the austerity measures over the past two years, insisting that increased taxation in particular was the wrong method and that taxes should be cut in order to stimulate the economy.

The conservative leader said the crisis had also shown up problems within the eurozone.

“It has been proved that repeated efforts until now to stabilize the euro have failed,” he said.

“And that the euro crisis is not only due to Greece’s bad fiscal situation, but also to the eurozone’s inability to deal with its problems.”

The 2012 budget foresees a fourth year of recession with the economy contracting by 2.8 percent, a target which Finance

Minister Evangelos Venizelos said is “ambitious but achievable.”

It also projects a primary surplus — a surplus excluding interest payments on debt — of 1.1 percent of gross domestic product.

Greece’s debt troubles have roiled the euro, with Europe’s single currency facing its largest crisis since it went into circulation in 2002. The Standard & Poor’s ratings agency placed 15 of the 17 eurozone countries on notice for possible downgrades.

The only two it left out were Cyprus, whose bonds have nearjunk status, and Greece, whose low ratings suggest it is likely to default on its debts soon anyway.

On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged changes to the EU treaty that would centralize decisionmaking on spending and borrowing for the eurozone. Tighter political and economic coordination among euro countries is seen as a precursor to further financial aid from the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund, or some combination.

“Gay people are born into and belong to every society in the world,” Clinton said. “Being gay is not a Western invention.

It is a human reality.”

In her most direct challenge to nations with conservative cultural or religious mores, Clinton catalogued abuses such as targeted killings of gays, “corrective rape” of lesbians or forced hormone treatments. She likened the targeting of gays for mistreatment to “honor killings” of women, widow-burning or female genital mutilation, examples of practices the U.S. decries but has not penalized friends, including Afghanistan, for carrying out.

“Some people still defend those practices as part of a cultural tradition,” she said. “But violence toward women isn’t cultural; it’s criminal.”

She also compared the evolution of cultural attitudes toward homosexuality to the changing view of slavery.

“What was once justified as sanctioned by God is now properly reviled as an unconscionable violation of human rights,” she said.

The audience included lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists who applauded loudly and whooped in approval when Clinton finished.

Some of the diplomats who were invited were unaware of the topic beforehand, and Clinton introduced her subject gingerly. She said she knew it was sensitive and cut against ingrained traditions and expectations.

“Leadership, by definition, means being out in front of your people when it is called for. It means standing up for the dignity of all citizens and persuading your people to do the same,” she said.

In the memorandum issued in Washington, Obama directed U.S. agencies working abroad, including the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development, to use foreign aid to assist gays and lesbians who are facing human rights violations. And he ordered U.S. agencies to protect vulnerable gay and lesbian refugees and asylum seekers.

“The struggle to end discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons is a global challenge, and one that is central to the United States’ commitment to promoting human rights,” Obama said in a statement.

Gay rights groups praised the order as a significant step for ensuring that gays and lesbians are treated equally around the world.

“Today’s actions by President Obama make clear that the United States will not turn a blind eye when governments commit or allow abuses to the human rights of LGBT people,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay advocacy organization.

Clinton sees Syrian conflict, US envoy return after 6 weeks GENEVA (AP) — The Obama administration moved to expand contacts with opponents of Syria’s President Bashar Assad on Tuesday as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton held a rare meeting with Syrian opposition figures and the top U.S. envoy to Syria returned to Damascus after a six-week absence.

Amid reports of a new surge in violence that the U.N. says has killed more than 4,000 people since an uprising against Assad erupted in March, Clinton told Syrian pro-reform activists in Geneva that she wanted to hear their plans to establish a new democratic government if they are successful in prying Assad and his regime from power.

The invitation was a step short of endorsement, but a clear sign the U.S. wants to work closely with those who might assume leadership roles.

“Obviously, a democratic transition is more than removing the Assad regime. It means setting Syria on the path of the rule of law,” Clinton told the activists who are all exiles in Europe and belong to the Syrian National Council, one of several umbrella groups for Assad foes.

Tuesday’s meeting marked only the second time Clinton has held an in-person session with members of the Syrian opposition since President Barack Obama called for Assad to step down in August amid a still ongoing brutal crackdown on pro-reform demonstrators. As with Libya’s exile opposition, the U.S. has stepped carefully in its contacts with Syrian opposition figures. The hesitance comes partly out of concern that the U.S. not be seen as trying to direct a revolution from afar.

Clinton sidestepped a request from one among the group of exiled academics for more formal U.S. recognition, a U.S. official familiar with the meeting said afterward. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe the confidential discussions, said Clinton told the group that the U.S. primarily wants to see them continue organizing and suggesting ways the U.S. can help.

The activists described a worsening campaign of often sectarian retribution in Syria, in which Assad forces use rape as a weapon against both men

and women and attempt to use ethnic and religious divisions to fuel violence and turn potential opponents against one another, a second U.S. official said.

Several in the group outlined fears of civil war among Syria’s fractious ethnic groups if Assad hangs on much longer, a threat that also looms if he goes.

Syria is a country with a fragile jigsaw puzzle of Middle Eastern backgrounds including Sunnis, Shiites, Alawites, Christians, Kurds, Druse, Circassians, Armenians and more. Decades of minority Alawite rule under the Assad family has bred resentment.

Dozens of bodies were dumped in the streets of a Syrian city at the heart of the country’s nearly 9-month-old uprising, a grim sign that sectarian bloodshed is escalating as the country descends further toward civil war. There were reports of retaliatory attacks pitting members of the Alawite sect against Sunnis.

The sectarian violence is a dire development in Syria, and one that opposition members say plays directly into the regime’s hands. Since the uprising began, Assad portrayed himself as the lone force who can ward off the radicalism and sectarianism

that have bedeviled neighbors in Iraq and Lebanon.

Opposition figures have accused Assad’s minority Alawite regime of trying to stir up trouble with the Sunni majority to blunt enthusiasm for the uprising.

Clinton praised the Syrian National Council Group for its own religious and ethnic diversity and for its pledge to work to unify factions in the country.

“The Syrian opposition, as represented here, recognizes that Syria’s minorities have legitimate questions and concerns about their future, and that they need to be assured that Syria will be better off under a regime of tolerance and freedom that provides opportunity and respect and dignity on the basis of the consent rather than on the whims of a dictator,” Clinton said at the start of the meeting.

She sat with the seven activists for more than 90 minutes.

The State Department identified six of them to reporters, including Syrian National Council President Burhan Ghalioun, a Sorbonne professor. A seventh participant asked not to be identified. Syria has targeted opponents both inside and outside the country.

THIS DATE IN HISTORY

BORN ON THIS DATE

1787

U.S. Constitution is unanimously ratified by all 30 delegates to the Delaware Constitutional Convention, making Delaware the first state of the modern U.S.

www.dailycampus.com

Ellen Burstyn - 1932 Larry Bird - 1956 Edd Hall - 1958 Aaron Carter - 1987

The Daily Campus, Page 7

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

‘Headliners’ bring the heat UConn Dance Company hosts fall showcase in Jorgensen

Bediquette: rules of sleeping in others’ beds

By Zarrin Ahmed Campus Correspondent The UConn Dance Company blazed the stage with a variety of performances at the Jorgensen on Dec. 6 for its annual Fall Showcase, a Husky Headliner Event.

The presentation was a showcase for the talent in the UConn dance group. The crowd consisted primarily of UConn students who cheered continually for their friends in the company. The show itself was split into two different acts: Act One, titled “One More Time,” and Act Two, titled “Don’t Stop The Dancing.” The first act kicked off with the song “Nowadays” from the “Chicago” soundtrack. The dance company members donned classic feathered headbands as they performed a routine choreographed by Alyssa Mutarelli. The group later ended the number in top hats, reflective of the music they danced to.

Between each performance, a short slideshow comprosed of photos taken during dance practices, appeared on the screens to either side of the stage. The next routine was performed by more dance company members, and the song selection was “To Build A Home” by the Cinematic Orchestra. Monica Wasserman, a UConn Dance Company member, choreographed and performed this song.

Premiere, another UConn dance group, was also invited to perform in the show. The Dance Company

By Holly Battaglia Campus Correspondent

Sharing a bed with another person can reveal aspects of his or her life that would otherwise remain a mystery. It is the best way to find out if someone snores, sleeps with a stuffed koala or cannot control his or her bladder. It is also the only reliable way to determine the compatibility of your cuddling styles. In this article, I will outline the rules of co-ed sleepovers with a new person:

ZARRIN AHMED/The Daily Campus

The UConn Dance Company performed at Jorgensen for the fall showcase. In addition to the dancers, audience members were entertained by several university a cappella groups, including The Rolling Tones and A Completely Different Note.

then took the stage again in a routine to “The Way You Make Me Feel,” a Michael Jackson Tribute

by DJ Remix Squad. This was choreographed by Carolyn Rokoszak and was performed by 12 members of the Dance Company.

A UConn a cappella group, The Rolling Tones, also delivered a guest performance. They had the whole crowd clapping to their version of “Forget You” by Cee Lo Green. The company ended Act One with two more dances – the first to “14 Days” by Arkitekt, choreographed by Gina Guerrera, and the second to “Gucci Gucci”

by Kreayshawn and “Pass That”

by Missy Elliot, choreographed by Harold Butler.

In the program for the show, each performance has either an inspirational quote, definition or a description about the routine itself.

The second act began with Lady Gaga’s “Teeth” and a dance created by Gill Howard and Amanda Crowl. The description for this routine read, “Showing a heartfelt and powerful intensity” and “Wild or menacing in appearance.” The dance showcased this energy with the red-feathered skirts the dancers wore coupled with their upbeat routine.

This was followed by a dance

called “Pulse” to the xx’s “Heart Skipped A Beat,” which was a little different from the rest of the performances because of its slow pace and mellow feel. A Completely Different Note, another a cappella group, gave a performance that ended with the song “Poison” by Bell Biv DeVoe. Dance company members dressed in nerdy outfits and glasses and danced to “Hard Knock Life,” Mix of “Friday” by Rebecca Black, “Stuntin Is a Bad Habit” by David Banner” and “Pass That Dutch” by Missy Elliot. More dancers put on a routine to

“Rumor Has It” by Adele.

Guest performers from the Latin dance group B.A.I.L.E. danced to salsa and bachata music before the final two shows the Dance Company performed – “Don’t Stop Believin’” acoustic cover by Boyce Avenue and “One More Time:Finale” by Daft Punk. At the end of the show, the members gave flowers to all who helped make the show possible, including the choreographers, the stage, light and sound crew, and the guest performers.

Zarrin.Ahmed@UConn.edu

Symphonic band A poet’s ‘Life in Captivity’ shines in final fall performance

By Julie Bartoli Senior Staff Writer Last night, the University of Connecticut Symphonic Band filled von der Mehden with both classical and modern pieces.

The Symphonic Band is a mixture of music majors and UConn students who are selected through audition. The band presents two or more shows a semester, and this was its last performance.

Senior psych major Ashley Lemay, from UConn’s Hartford campus, said, “I’m excited for the show. I like big musical productions, and I was looking for something to do tonight.”

The band opened with Ron Nelson’s “Rocky Point Holiday,” then worked through a repertoire that included pieces by Alfred Reed, David Gillingham and the 2007 Frank Ticheli Composition Contest winner, Michael Markowski.

UConn’s director of bands, David L. Mills, conducted the ensemble with the help of Joshua Belvin and Amy Dauphinais.

“It’s a mix of old school and new school,” Mills said. “The beginning of the concert is standard pieces, but the second half consists of current, modern works.”

3rd-semester music education major Grace Rimkunas said, “It went very well. I enjoyed the pieces. They’re a very talented group with a great conductor, and it’s obvious they’ve been working very hard.”

Sophomore and vocal performance major Christina Quental agreed. “It went great. I really liked ‘Armenian Dances,’ there was so much contrast in that piece. Very engaging,” she said.

The Symphonic Band’s tenor saxophonist Tommy Weeks said, “The performance went outstanding. I’m really proud of everyone in this ensemble. We worked hard this semester and it shows.”

“It was excellent.

This group in particular is very strong and very consistent.”

David L. Mills UConn’s Director of Bands “It was a great concert,” said Anthony Pandolfe, the ensemble’s pianist. Before the band’s final piece, Mills recognized Pandolfe’s work with the ensemble and said he would be missed.

“After this, I’ll be student teaching, though I’m not yet sure where,” said Pandolfe, a 9th-semester music education major.

“It was excellent. This group in particular is very strong and very consistent,” Mills said.

Julie.Bartoli@UConn.edu

ED RYAN/The Daily Campus

Poet Jennifer McGowan visited the UConn Co-op Tuesday. McGowan shared pieces such as “Life in Captivity” and “The Merry Maidens.”

By Kim Halpin Staff Writer Jennifer McGowan was invited to the Co-op on Tuesday to give a reading of her poetry book entitled “Life in Captivity.”

This is McGowan’s first published book of poetry, although she has been writing and studying literature since an early age. Starting with short stories, she transitioned into more of a poetic concentration later in life. McGowan described living an hour-and-a-half away by train from Oxford where she taught, and the extra time that gave her to concentrate on writing.

“I would work on writing one poem a day on the way to and from work,” McGowan said.

Another one of her interests is calligraphy, and the artistry on the cover of the book reflects this passion.

A distinguished friend of hers, however, did the drawing, which was a response to the final poem in the collection.

The title poem, “Life in Captivity,” was the first that she was read, and McGowan gave the audience insight into the motivation for the piece. The character in the poem was taken from her ex-boss, who she said was “a lion of a man.” A very visual piece, McGowan gave a life and a voice to the character through animation as the character began his day about his domain.

Many of the other pieces she read were mystical in nature describing different maidens or fairies. Having obtained her doctorate from Oxford in 16th and 17th century witchcraft in Britain, this was an idea very pertinent to her. The interests in calligraphy and medi-

eval concepts that she holds also help to tie into her poetic themes.

She describes “The Merry Maidens” piece as a way for her to stitch together various myths to create one story. McGowan explained laughingly that a writer shouldn’t let the absence of truth detract from a good story or poem. The characters in this poem consisted mainly of fairs and the illusions they can create.

She also delved into the aspects of being disabled and an author. Fascinated by a story about a maiden without hands, McGowan expressed dissatisfaction that no one was concerned about the mutilation that had occurred or that this was the way she was recognized.

The variation of the condition that McGowan has was once exploited in turn of the century sideshows.

The flexibility in her joints that can be uncomfortable was used to create entertainment because people were amazed at what their bodies could do. However, the poem relates the opposition of glamour at the carnival and the concern in a person’s daily family life stemming from this genetic disease.

Catherine Findorak, a 5th-semester English major, said that she was interested in attending the reading because she is, “interested in poetry and how authors form their poetry.”

Some of the audience members were also curious about McGowan’s life and the opportunities she has as a young poet in Britain. She described the many journals now in publication and the bookshops that allow authors to share their works.

Kimberly.Halpin@UConn.edu

1) Look all around the room for hidden clues.

Does this person have any types of absurd shrines? Have they created an effigy of you upon which they cast spells?

Are they hoarding McDonald’s cups on their desk? Do they use a giant tub of protein powder as a doorstop? Be like Sherlock Holmes and piece together any evidence indicating that your crush is a loon. Decide at this point whether you are actually going to take them up on the invitation for a slumber party. I would like to say that most people aren’t nuts, but that would be a lie. It’s best if you can find out early on.

2) Don’t pack an overnight bag.

This makes you look presumptuous and desperate.

Remember, you’re sleeping over someone’s place for the first time, not moving in. If you are really concerned about hygiene, just bring a toothbrush with you and steal some of their toothpaste.

3) Don’t sleep for a million hours.

I made this mistake this past weekend. At 1:30 p.m., my crush finally told me to wake up because he had to drive me home. I overheard his roommates talking about people “getting too comfortable” and could only assume they were referring to my lethargy. The lesson I learned from this is to wake up in a timely fashion and not loll around while your bed date is going about his or her daily tasks. This makes you look lazy and hung over.

4) Don’t preemptively remove your pants.

Pants are optional. Just know the repercussions of removing them. “You have to know what you want before you take off your pants,” says 7th-semester exploratory major and self-proclaimed “woo girl” Erica Zane.

Taking off your pants sends a message that you are “DTF.” If that is not the case, then make your intentions clear.

Also, don’t “surprise” your bed partner by getting fully nude and hiding under the covers, otherwise known as the “naked man” technique. While funny at times, it’s mostly just crude.

5) Don’t look really awful upon awakening.

If I plan on sleeping in someone else’s bed, I aim to wear less makeup than usual. Skipping the full-frontal smoky eye ensures that I won’t be mistaken for a Ke$ha come daybreak. If you have a ton of eyeliner and eye shadow on before sleeping in a dude’s bed, try really hard to wash it all off before you go to sleep. You will be glad when you wake up. If you are a guy and you don’t wear makeup, you will probably look exactly the same the next day and don’t have to worry about this.

Holly.Battaglia@UConn.edu

The Daily Campus, Page 8

FOCUS ON:

GAMES Recently Reviewed

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Focus

Game Of The Week

Pokemon Red Gameboy

Your game reviews could be here!

Stop in to a Focus meeting, Mondays at 8 p.m. at the DC Building.

Music, puzzles and corpses

Courtesy of Gamespot.com

1. Infinity Blade II (IP) 9.0 2. Saints Row: The Third (PC) 8.5 3. Mario Kart 7 (3DS) 8.0 4. The Book of Unwritten Tales (PC) 8.0 5. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (PC) 8.0 6. Corpse Party (PSP) 7.5 7. The Kore Gang (Wii) 7.5 8. The Sims 3: Pets (PS3, X360) 7.5 9. Scene it? Movie Night (PS3, X360) 6.5 10. Fate/Extra (PSP) 6.0

Ultimate holiday games

By Jason Bogdan Senior Staff Writer

Score data from Gamespot.com Gamespot.com

Playstation’s “Corpse Party” comes complete with a formidable score and detailed imagery, though there are still tedious periods of dialogue and some of the gameplay can be gruesome.

Upcoming Releases December 13 Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights (3DS) Gears of War 3: Raam’s Shadow (X360) December 20 Star Wars: The Old Republic (Collector’s Edition) (PC) Heavy Fire: The Chosen Few (3DS) Vampires v. Zombies (Special Edition) (PC) December 6 Ultimate Battle of the Sexes (Wii) Schedule from Gamespot.com

Focus Favorites

By Lucas Ma Campus Correspondent These days, horror games attempt to scare their players through cheap tricks: monsters suddenly jumping out or just having gratuitous amounts of blood. The PSP doesn’t have the hardware to play a game like “Dead Space,” so in order to make a horror game horrific, it’d have to depend on other elements such as a disturbing story backed by in-game sounds, two things that “Corpse Party” does very well.

“Corpse Party” initially takes place in a classroom after school, where a group of high school students and their teacher are hanging out. One of them convinces the group to try a strange friendship ritual. However, after it is completed, they find themselves in Heavenly Host Elementary School, the place where the murders of three students took place. Since the nine of them are split up, the player controls different groups throughout the game as they explore the mysteries of the haunted school, while avoiding the ghost of the murderer and his victims and fight for their own sanity.

While it is a bit cliché, it doesn’t make the story any less disturbing, nor does it detract from the experience of playing this game. This is because of its sound, the game’s strongest feature. Each chapter has a different theme, all of which do a great job setting the mood. The entire dialogue in-game is fully voiced, and the actors do a fantastic job. You really hear the anxiety in the characters’ voices, the despera-

Unlike last year’s bundle for the Xbox 360 peripheral, the Kinect, which included only “Kinect Adventures,” a more tantalizing holiday bundle is currently available that includes download codes for “Fruit Ninja Kinect” and “The Gunstringer.” The former is an iPod app blown up to be a mindless good time on the TV, but the “The Gunstringer” is a whole different beast. Developer Twisted Pixel has always had a knack for having its presentation drenched in funny personality, and this game is the best example of it. Tons of hilarious FMV cutscenes complement a very entertaining story. And that free DLC pack, “Wavy Tube Man Chronicles,” will be the best 2 GB you’ll download this year.

- Jason Bogdan

8.0

Bring in the Saints Zelda’s new sword

conglomerate where the civilians of the bank scream what big fans they are while being robbed, and the police ask the Saints to autoThe ever-evolving technical graph their guns before dropping prowess of games has allowed them. After a hectic escape via a for a grander sense of realism and machine-gun-quipped helicopter resonance in the various fictional and running out of an exploding universes, but it can make any plane, followed by shooting bad gamer forget that video games, guys while falling several miles in at their core, are the sky, the Saints supposed to be find themselves Saints Row: The Third fun. So a game up against other that’s an escape notoriously goofy into a world gangs that are where moral after their public/10 obligations and ity and money. thought-provokAnd as incoming strategy are prehensible as like a foreign it sounds, it gets concept makes even crazier as the existence of the unpredictable “Saint’s Row: campaign moves The Third” paralong. The hilariticularly special. ous dialogue keeps After “Grand the stupidity from Theft Auto IV” becoming vapid as left behind the you go about on ridiculous moments of “GTA: the rampage with weapons and a San Andreas” to become a more character that can be upgraded to serious experience, Volition Inc. powerful heights. The side miswanted to revive the open-world sions are also great, and the utterly fun of jet packs and crashing air- crazy vehicles and weaponry you’ll planes with their “Saint’s Row” unlock will provide many hours of games. The first two were, to put it sandbox enjoyment in the city of nicely, good attempts. But the third Stilwater. There’s even a surprisgame can’t be considered anything ingly enjoyable survival mode that less than a constant roller coaster allows the lewd destruction to reach ride of fun. high levels.

The game begins with the street In short, it’s a guilty pleasure gang, the 3rd Street Saints, robbing that’s practically destined to leave a bank wearing ridiculous masks the player in a state of catharsis. of one of the members, Johnny Gat. The gang has become a media Jason.Bogdan@UConn.edu

By Jason Bogdan Senior Staff Writer

The Gunstringer

tion when they’re being pursued and the pain one major problem: you cannot skip dialogue. when they’re being tortured. I highly recom- In a game where each chapter has a minimum mend playing with headphones to get the full of three endings, this becomes a huge flaw. In effect. There have been multiple times when order to see all the endings, a player is required I almost yanked out my earbuds because the to play through each chapter multiple times, screams of a tied-up elementary student being which means they are also forced to sit through stabbed in the the same cuteye actually got scenes over Corpse Party to me. and over again.

“Corpse Furthermore, if Party” doesn’t the player does depend on not unlock the scenes of “true ending,” /10 blood to scare the next chapter the player, but The Good will not be availit certainly Great musical score, fantastic voice-acting, detailed (but gruesome) able, so in the doesn’t mean artwork. case where one the game is void continues to get of any gore.

The Bad the wrong endOn the con-Cannot skip dialogue, some ambiguous puzzles. ing, they’ll be trary, XSeed, forced either to the developers, start from the used hand-drawn pictures at certain points beginning or load up a previous save. The of the game. Most of them are the corpses idea of sitting through the same five-minute of murdered students, and yes, they can cutscene is enough to make some people put get quite graphic, ranging from a girl being down their PSPs. hanged to another missing the back of her Despite this glaring problem, along head. In all honesty, after hearing how with other times when the game is very “Dead Island” and “Left for Dead 2” had unclear as to what it wants you to do to be censored before public release, I’m a next, “Corpse Party” is genuinely disbit surprised that “Corpse Party” was left turbing and proves that graphics aren’t untouched. Still, I can’t say I am disap- everything in a horror game. pointed with that decision.

Through my multiple play-throughs, I had Lucas.Ma@UConn.edu

9.0

changes everything: there’s a bond between Link and Zelda even before conflict arises. Instead of the speechThe timing of Nintendo’s lat- less swordsman saving her est “Legend of Zelda” adven- because he has to, this time ture, “Skyward Sword,” for he actually wants to. It helps their Wii platform will likely that the writing is excellent, be remembered as a tragedy. and the way the story pans out With the system’s succes- will change how fans look at sor, the Wii U, up for release this franchise. But the strong next year, and the Wii having relationship between the two lost its popularity among just makes for the most heartabout everybody, this game wrenching and tear-jerking shouldn’t have been the swan moments ever for the series. song. Rather, its revolution“Skyward Sword” is a game ary use of the Wii MotionPlus that has consistently brilRemote, and liant dungeon the excellent designs and changes to the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword the best pacZelda formula ing yet, but should’ve been the true star of /10 the crux of the the gameplay Wii’s lifespan. is the motion But either way, controls from people who the MotionPlus still have their peripheral.

Wiis hooked up They are, in a will have the word, amazopportunity to ing. Whether play the epitoyou’re swimme of one of ming, flying or gaming’s most aiming arrows, beloved franthe precision chises. is what people On the outset, the tale that imagined it could be when “Skyward Sword” weaves the Wii was first announced. isn’t entirely different than And while I am old-fashioned the previous game’s concept enough to prefer buttons over of the hero, Link, saving the waving my hands like an damsel in distress, Zelda. But idiot, as in the previous Wii unlike the previous Links who Zelda “Twilight Princess,” are destined to save the day, there’s one core aspect that » ZELDA, page 9

By Jason Bodgan Senior Staff Writer

10

This semester will come to a close after the final rush of next week, leaving a generously lengthy winter break to catch some R&R. As such, this is an excellent time to take advantage of the holiday deals among retailers to find some excellent games to play and buy for your loved ones, especially while escaping the cold winter weather.

Unless you’ll be spending the next month taking a winter intercession class or working to earn some extra cash, there’s nothing quite like a video game with copious amounts of time to commit to. For those who like their games as brutally difficult and unforgiving as they come, the dozens of painful (but in a good way) hours that “Dark Souls” provides will satisfy those who have the stomach for it. The latest “Legend of Zelda” game, “Skyward Sword,” has at least 30 hours of masterfully designed dungeons and excellent motion-controlled swordplay. But for people who are willing to briefly say farewell to their social lives and daily responsibilities, “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” has an immense world that can soak up your waking hours like a sponge.

The holiday season is the time to spend with your family and closest friends, so why not get some games to make the bonding on Christmas and New Years something memorable? The Kinect peripheral for the Xbox 360 is all about the body movements of the player, so it’s the perfect thing to attract family members who are hesitant to handle the many buttons on a standard controller. However, the actual tech behind the Kinect allows for a level of precision that is tolerable at best, so it’d be wise to find the games that are less frustrating to deal with. Despite how popular “Just Dance” may be, the “Dance Central” games are the absolute best for those who want to shake their bodies to modern hits. Just like how Wii Sports was for the Wii, the Kinect Sports games are also well-developed picks for people who want to simulate swinging a golf club or a tennis racket.

For the crowd that’s looking for pure quality in their co-op games, a masterful platformer like “Rayman Origins” will have you covered for people of all ages.

Speaking of fun multiplayer games for both adults and kids, “Mario Kart 7” is an awesomely good time for kids who own the 3DS. And if you’re looking for a popular piece of gaming to give to the kids, “Skylanders” is an excellent choice. It has a crazy peripheral that allows for the toys in the franchise to come to life in the game, and the gameplay itself is surprisingly well done. Just be warned that since the toys are sold separately, this may become the most expensive video game since the “Guitar Hero” bundles.

Whatever quality games you may choose for yourself and your loved ones, it’s still a great source of rest and relaxation during the winter break. Have a safe and superb time so we can all return ready and prepared for the spring semester!

Jason.Bogdan@UConn.edu

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

» ZELDA, page 8

Nintendo’s “Skyward Sword” earns perfect marks the way you need to properly stance your sword with every swipe towards your enemies is so much better than pressing “A.” Nintendo deserves major kudos for making a 2011 game with the fossilized Wii game engine look beautiful, even in the highest setting of 480p.

The textures make the game look like a pastel painting brought to life, and it appears timeless in its design. Along with the soundtrack’s superbly composed orchestral pieces, the aesthetics are truly outstanding.

With Nintendo’s last true hurrah in their almost-obsolete platform, they’re making a strong case, the classic formula can still shine brightly when it’s updated with such impeccable detail.

“The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword” achieves just that.

Jason.Bogdan@UConn.edu

The Daily Campus, Page 9

Focus

Harry Potter park to appear in Hollywood LOS ANGELES (AP) — Universal Studios will spend several hundred million dollars to build a Harry Potter attraction inside its existing Hollywood theme park in hopes of mimicking the success of a similar park in Orlando, Florida.

Executives announced the project Tuesday with much fanfare, spraying confetti and hoisting mugs of the wizardly brew butterbeer.

The attraction, based on the Warner Bros. movies about the boy wizard in J.K. Rowling’s novels, will create more than 1,000 jobs at Universal and even more indirectly from an expected boost in tourism, officials said.

At the same time, Orlando’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter will get an expansion.

Since the Harry Potter attraction opened in Florida in June of last year, company executives have said attendance has jumped by about 50 percent, but did not give raw figures.

“It was a game changer for us and frankly for Orlando,” Universal Studios president Ron Meyer told reporters after an announcement at the Universal Studios Hollywood.

“The expansion in Orlando will make it that much more of a must-see, and we’ll have the same experience here.”

AP

Fans dressed up as students from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry make a butterbeer toast as Universal Parks & Resorts announces the Harry Potter attraction is coming to Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, Calif., Tuesday.

Executives did not immediately detail their plans for the Hollywood park, but Meyer said there was enough room to expand.

“We’re not landlocked,” Meyer said. “We’re (on) 400 acres on this lot and 200 of them are still not developed.”

Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said he was told that a live concert venue, Gibson Amphitheatre, would be scrapped to make way for the attraction. He said it would open around 2014, but officials did not give a date.

The widely expected

announcement happened in typically dressed-up Hollywood style, complete with staff wearing scarves representing the various houses of the fictional wizard’s school, Hogwarts, beneath a theater marquee that said, “Hogwarts is coming to Hollywood.”

James and Oliver Phelps, who play the twins Fred and George Weasley in the movies, were present, as was California Gov. Jerry Brown.

The governor appeared a day after he proposed raising taxes to help make up for the state’s projected shortfall.

Ex-Miss USA was above legal alcohol limit

DETROIT (AP) — Former Miss USA Rima Fakih was driving with a half-empty bottle of champagne and a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit when she was arrested on a drunken driving charge in the Detroit enclave of Highland Park, according to a police report released Tuesday.

The report obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request says the 26-year-old from Dearborn was pulled over early Saturday going 60 mph, weaving in heavy traffic and changing

lanes without using a turn signal.

A police officer whose name was given only as R. Kalis said the traffic stop happened about 2:15 a.m.

The report says she was driving a black 2011 Jaguar.

Kalis reported asking for the driver’s license said the “driver immediately identified herself as Miss USA and stated that she was driving a friend’s car.”

Kalis said Fakih “appeared disoriented and had very slurred speech while fumbling for her purse.” Kalis asked Fakih if she had been drinking,

and she said, “No, not at all.”

In the report, officers said they found an open and half-empty bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne on the floorboard behind the driver’s seat.

“I swear, I didn’t know it was open,” Fakih told Kalis, according to the report.

Two breath tests showed a 0.19 percent and a 0.20 percent blood-alcohol level. Michigan law defines drunkenness at a level of 0.08 percent.

The report said Fakih was handcuffed and taken to a police station. It said she was placed in a cell “until she

was sober for her safety and the safety of others.”

Police said they seized Fakih’s driver’s license and issued her a temporary license. She was ordered to report to court within 10 days. Besides drunken driving, Fakih also faces charges of possessing an open intoxicant in a motor vehicle and careless driving.

Phone and email messages seeking comment were left Tuesday for Fakih’s lawyer, Doraid Elder. Email messages also were left for Fakih on Monday and Tuesday.

The former Miss Michigan born in

Lebanon won the Miss USA Pageant in 2010 and her reign ended earlier this year.

She won the Miss USA Pageant in May 2010. Her reign ended June 19, 2011. She was the first Miss Michigan to win the title since 1993 and the first Arab American winner ever.

While still holding the Miss USA title, Fakih became a contestant on the USA Network’s “WWE Tough Enough” show. The show started with 12 men and women competing to be professional wrestlers.

Fakih was voted off the show in the episode broadcast April 25.

The Daily Campus, Page 10

Focus

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The Daily Campus, Page 11

Sports

» NCAA FOOTBALL

Lawyer: Another Sandusky accuser steps forward

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — A 19-year-old man has filed a complaint with state police alleging he was sexually abused by Jerry Sandusky after the former coach gave him liquor on the Penn State campus in 2004, the accuser's lawyer said Tuesday.

Charles Schmidt said the client, whom he did not identify, went to his law firm about three weeks ago, after Sandusky was charged with sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year period.

"He suffered one incident of abuse, to use the legal term — involuntary deviate sexual intercourse — allegedly at the hands of Mr. Sandusky," Schmidt said.

"That occurred on the Penn State campus, we believe in the area of the football facilities."

Sandusky's lawyer, Joseph Amendola, said he was unfamiliar with the allegations Schmidt was making.

The new claim came the day a lawyer for another young man who accused Sandusky of sexual abuse said he expects his client and at least five other accusers to testify at a preliminary hearing next week.

The lawyer said he has information that the six young men whose testimony before a grand jury contributed to a report detailing allegations against Sandusky will be called to testify next Tuesday. The attorney spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he said he is trying to ensure his client's identity isn't revealed publicly.

Sandusky is charged with 40 counts of child sex abuse, and prosecutors allege he met his victims through a charity he founded in 1977 to help at-risk children, The Second Mile. Sandusky, 67, denies being a pedophile and has vowed to fight the charges. In interviews with NBC and The New York Times, he has said he showered and horsed around with boys but never sexually abused them.

The existence of Schmidt's client was first reported by WHPTV in Harrisburg.

Schmidt told the AP that his

» NFL

AP

This Dec. 28, 1999 photo shows Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky getting carried off the field after they defeated Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Tex.

client was 12 years old, dealing with the death of his mother and suffering emotional issues at the time of the campus incident. The lawyer said the two met through The Second Mile and his client claims Sandusky gave him liquor while in the office on campus.

The grand jury report did not allege any instances of Sandusky giving boys alcohol.

Schmidt said his law firm is conducting its own investigation into the client's claims.

"We hope to have it wrapped up within another week. We believe him to be credible," Schmidt said.

"Everything that we've been able

to unearth since has corroborated what he told us, but we'll continue to do our due diligence."

The preliminary hearing, at which a judge would determine if prosecutors have enough evidence to take the case to trial, could last a day or more since the defense has the right to crossexamine the state's witnesses.

The state attorney general's office would not comment on the evidence authorities plan to offer to show probable cause the crimes occurred.

Amendola said Tuesday that a police officer witness should not be able to testify in the place of

the accusers, based on evidentiary rules that pertain to hearsay.

"Our position would be that these people have to testify," Amendola said. "And one isn't sufficient, because you have eight separate incidents ... with eight separate alleged victims or accusers."

Prosecutors listed eight victims in the grand jury report but didn't know the identities of two of them when they issued the report in early November. The report said one of those two was a boy seen being sodomized by Sandusky in a Penn State football complex shower in 2002.

Amendola has said he believes he knows the identity of the boy in the shower and that the person dined with Sandusky this past summer.

Amendola said he's looking forward to questioning the prosecution witnesses — including any accusers.

"We will, for the very first time, have the opportunity to face Jerry's accusers and question them under oath about their allegations," he said in a statement Monday. "We look forward to this opportunity."

Former sex crimes prosecutor Richard DeSipio said pros-

ecutors may have to call the six known accusers for the judge to uphold the 40 counts. Defense lawyers sometimes waive preliminary hearings if they are worried about publicity for their clients, but DeSipio said he is not surprised Amendola is demanding the hearing.

"This is their first and only opportunity before trial to actually see the witnesses ... to hear their tone and demeanor and to question them and see how they respond to questions and also to flush out details," said DeSipio, who is now a criminal defense lawyer in Philadelphia.

Assistant football coach Mike McQueary, who has been identified as the witness to the 2002 shower encounter, could also be called to testify. McQueary's account wasn't immediately brought to the attention of authorities even though high-level people at Penn State apparently were told about an incident in the showers.

In the wake of the scandal, the university last month fired coach Joe Paterno and accepted President Graham Spanier's resignation. Paterno has said he wishes he had done more about allegations against Sandusky.

Athletic Director Tim Curley has been placed on administrative leave, and Vice President Gary Schultz, who was in charge of the university's police department, has stepped down. Schultz and Curley are charged with lying to the grand jury and failure to report to police. They maintain their innocence.

Also Tuesday, Penn State President Rodney Erickson told skeptical faculty members not to worry that school trustees would "whitewash" their own investigation. Erickson pledged to the University Faculty Senate that investigators will have unfettered access to and cooperation from the school. He said the leadership of a committee checking into the allegations should lend confidence "that there will be no whitewash ... no sweeping under the rug."

Retired scramblers weigh in on Tebow debate

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Nobody knows what will come of the Tim Tebow experiment, not even those scrambling ramblers who came before him.

Yet it seems like everybody wants to talk about it.

Retired QBs who made a living with their legs, and who also turned the NFL on its ear in their day, have strong opinions about what's happening in Denver, where Tebow has led the once lowly Broncos to six wins in his seven starts.

Randall Cunningham loves it.

Steve Young hates it.

Bobby Douglass admires it.

While they debate whether Tebow can morph into a prototypical pocket passer, they're all pulling hard for the Broncos' quirky quarterback who defies his messy mechanics and flawed footwork with grit and last-minute magic.

"I think what we all ought to do is enjoy the circus while it's in town," suggests another

former NFL quarterback, Joe Theismann.

Tebow has brought the option back to the NFL and while he usually struggles for much of the day to move his team downfield, he keeps coming up big in crunch time, guiding the Broncos to second-half comeback wins against the Dolphins, Jets, Raiders, Chargers and Vikings since taking over as the starter two months ago.

On Sunday, he won a shootout in Minnesota, propelling the Broncos (7-5) into a first-place tie with Oakland atop the AFC West.

"You've got Aaron Rodgers, you've got Drew Brees, you've got Tom Brady that set a standard of excellence in football that we haven't seen," said Theismann, now an NFL Network analyst.

"What makes 2011 so unique is we have seen quarterback play in this league at such a high extreme and in Tim's case, the bottom rung when it comes to completions."

And yet the Broncos are also in the playoff hunt in this passhappy league because of an oldfashioned formula based on stout defense and a strong ground game.

"That defense is as good as any in football right now," Theismann said. "The offense doesn't turn the ball over. There's been one interception in seven games. I say this tongue-incheek: the way Tim throws the ball sometimes, nobody has a shot at getting it, his guy, the defenders. It's either bounce it in the ground or throw it in the third row."

Tebow is completing just 48 percent of his passes.

"And what's his winning percentage?" retorts Cunningham.

It's 85.7 percent, second only to Rodgers, whose Packers are perfect at 12-0.

Still, Broncos boss John Elway won't publicly commit to Tebow for 2012 and beyond. Coach John Fox, who told NFL.com

last month that Tebow would be "screwed" if they were running a conventional offense, is living in the moment, not focused on the future.

"The guys wins, how can you not be a fan of that?" Fox said. "He does it with his feet, with his arm, just with his competitive greatness, really. That's what you're looking for in a quarterback."

The Broncos have decided not to try to fix Tebow's throwing troubles now but try to accentuate what he already does well, which is running a ball-control, low-risk, no-frills offense heavy on the option while sprinkling in some downfield passes.

"He's in a sweet spot right now," said Young, "but I don't know if it's developing him to go do it long-term in the NFL." Tebow is coming off his best passing performance as a pro — 10 of 15 for 202 yards and two TDs — but Young would like to see him sling it 20-25 times every Sunday.

"I learned the hard way what the job in the NFL was," said Young, who came into the league as a scrambler and left as a pocket passer with a championship and a ticket to the Hall of Fame. "I didn't know what that job was and it wasn't natural to me and I like to just run around and make plays.

"But it's not championship football. It can be winning football, but it's not championship football," Young said. "And so I had to learn the job, and the job is a Ph.D. in studying defenses and the ability — and some of it's natural — to deliver the football."

There's the rub. Does Tebow really need to be a great passer?

"My first year, I was no more accurate than he was," said Cunningham, who was a 42-percent passer as a rookie but finished his career at 56.6 percent and was one of the most exciting players of his day.

Young worries that the option offense is stunting Tebow's

growth.

"We really haven't learned anything," Young said. "We knew he was good at that."

Young said he fears the Broncos will head into the offseason still clueless as to whether Tebow can really throw the ball and thus they'll decide to draft another quarterback, "and then I'm going to say, 'Well, why didn't we spend that time last year see if he could really do this job?'"

The answer to that question: Because he's winning. So says Douglass, the Bears' scrambling quarterback from 1969-75 who was a career 43 percent passer.

"You have to make a decision: Can we put in some of the stuff that he's real comfortable with plus create all these problems for the defense?" said Douglass.

"And then, are we better off sacrificing some of the things that he could be learning if we didn't do that? Obviously, they have made that decision."

» NHL

Isles score 3 in 1st, coast to win over Lightning UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) — Eastern Conference.

Matt Martin scored his second The Islanders have outscored game-winning goal in his three- opponents 19-13 the past six year NHL career, and the New games.

York Islanders shook off a slow Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead start and routed the Tampa Bay on its first shot when St. Louis Lightning 5-1 on Tuesday night. tipped Brett Clark's point drive John Tavares, Milan Jurcina, past Montoya 6:55 in for his ninth David Ullstrom and Matt Moulson goal this season.

— the NHL's first star of New York then took last week — also scored control of the game. for New York. Ullstrom's Tavares tied it with goal was his first in the Islanders 5 a wrist shot from the NHL. Al Montoya made circle at 14:01.

Lightning 1 right 23 saves.

Tavares split two The Islanders are 4-1-2 defenders before he in their past seven games. ripped in his ninth goal.

Martin St. Louis gave Tampa Martin slammed Tim Wallace's Bay a 1-0 lead, but the Islanders feed from behind the net under led 3-1 before the first period Garon to give New York a 2-1 ended. Mathieu Garon stopped 29 lead with 1:34 left in the first. That saves. turned out to be the game-winning Tampa Bay, which has lost five goal. Martin's other winner was in a row, leads the Islanders by scored against the Lightning last only one point for 13th place in the season. Wallace earned his first

HOCKEY

AP

New York Islanders right wing Kyle Okposo,(21) and defenseman Mark Streit (2) watch as Matt Moulson (second from left) celebrates with center John Tavares after Moulson scored the fifth of the Islanders five goals in the third period of their 5-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lighting.

NHL assist.

Jurcina concluded the outburst by finishing a passing sequence that included Frans Nielsen and Mark Streit, tapping a shot past Garon with 5.5 seconds left in the period.

Garon kept the Lightning in the game as he helped kill three straight Islanders power plays in the second period, but Tampa Bay couldn't muster any more offense.

Ullstrom pushed the lead to 4-1 when he drove to the net and shoved Josh Bailey's pass under Garon 3:19 into the third.

Moulson's power play goal at 17:25 was his 14th of the season.

Moulson has scored in five straight games, including a four-goal performance Saturday night in New York's 5-4 win at Dallas.

New York was 2-for-5 on the power play and killed all three Tampa Bay advantages.

The Daily Campus, Page 12

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Sports

» ACTION SPORTS

Boarders be wary of urban riding risks

By Danielle Ennis Action Sports Columnist It’s been almost two years since professional snowboarder Kevin Pearce sustained a traumatic brain injury that changed his life forever. The 24-year-old Pearce will never ride again.

His injury came while training for the Olympic trials, where he was knocked unconscious attempting a cab double cork, a trick he had landed numerous times before. The massive blow forced Pearce to learn to walk again and to undergo eye surgery, brain and spinal cord rehabilitation.

But, he is now the spokesperson for RED Helmets and for

the National Down Syndrome Society. Although things for Pearce are vastly different, he remains positive and thankful that his life was saved by the use of a helmet.

Now, as the winter season rolls around again, resorts open and snow falls, creating endless possibilities for the skiing culture. Kids buckle into their boots and walk to the nearest handrail, the stair set in the elementary school or the gap onto the blacktop.

Urban skiing continuously showcases the evolution of skiing.

Sadly, at just the start of this year’s ski season, there is the heartbreaking news of a passionate Canadian skier who lost his life to a seeming-

ly harmless fall. 20-year-old Will Schooler fell on his head while attempting to ski a local handrail. He clicked back into his skis after his fall and hit the rail for the rest of the day, unknowingly injured.

Schooler, the Alberta native who was enrolled in the Ski Resort Operations and Management program in British Columbia, was skiing a routine rail for urban skiers, within Schoolers’ experience.

The next morning, when his friends came to grab him for another day of skiing, they found him unconscious. He was rushed to the hospital and soon after airlifted to another.

On Monday morning, he died.

He would have celebrated his 21st birthday yesterday.

Schoolers’ death marks the first known death due to Urban Skiing. In 2005, 19-year-old snowboarder Ryan Lichtenberg died from a rail fall similar to Schoolers’ in Breckenridge, Colo.

While urban skiing didn’t emerge into the mainstream until far later than street snowboarding, the fact that more deaths don’t occur each winter is unbelievably fortunate and shocking.

The nature of the sport, whether it is big mountain riding or schoolyard rail sessions, entails commitment, fearlessness and unpredictability. While these athletes know the potential risk, it is never a pressing concern.

Attempting something big and

something new, then stomping the landing, is the sole focus. It is a rarity to find any of these skiers or boarders wearing helmets. As Pearce’s near-fatal crash shows his life would have ended at age 22 had he been without head protection.

Here, on a campus where the boarding and skiing scene can be found on any snow day, a campus where boarders and skiers team up to build jumps and find rails and gaps, the chance of injury is high. This group of students is resourceful, innovative, and like Schooler, fearless.

With the upcoming spring semester soon to be filled with crafty maneuvers and setups, I urge you all to con-

sider Schooler, Lichtenberg and Pearce, to follow in their footsteps of hucking the grandest moves and to follow their schedule of dusk to dawn riding. But, remember that it only takes one fall. Remember that, while the reward often outweighs the risk, it can never hurt to throw on a helmet. Don’t skip the features that beckon that desired thrill, but realize the inherent danger and take control of the potential damage. Realize it’s not just a balancing act between the rail and the ground, but between life and death.

Danielle.Ennis@UConn.edu

» MLB

Marlins trying to buy up the best of the pond

AP

In this Sept. 7 file photo, construction continues at te Miami Marlins' new downtown staidum in Miami. The Marlins have already made a splash since changing their name, colors, logo and uniforms by attracting free agents Heath Bell and Jose Reyes to South Beach.

Zielinski: Marlins have offseason opportunity to accomplish what NBA counterparts did in 2010 from WILL, page 14 To be specific, Miami’s “Diamond Trio” (as I’ll call it) must first work to create a committed front throughout the clubhouse. As seen with the Heat during the 2010-11 NBA season, the beginning of the journey can be rocky, and losses are inevitable. Creating trust and working to build team chemistry can, however, offset these initial difficulties and accelerate Miami’s title chase. Likewise, the Marlins must remember that, like basketball, baseball is also a team sport, which requires nine players in its starting lineup.

With this in mind, the simple message for the Marlins is to do its best to create a complete team, instead of creating a top-heavy team with no supporting cast. In other words, it’s great if you can land Leonardo Dicaprio for the film, but you still need a director and supporting cast to make an Oscar–winning film.

Fortunately for the Marlins, they already have a solid core of young players, but a few other acquisitions would only

help their cause. Moreover, the Marlins, especially their stars, must recognize the spotlight will permanently be focused on them, especially after losses. Rival teams will be gunning for them, with each wanting to take a shot at the new favorite. The Marlins must rise to the occasion during these situations and prove they are more substance than just a few headline signings, a confident owner and a new ballpark.

Finally, and most importantly, the Marlins must quickly recognize there is a difference between the regular season and the postseason. With such a high-powered team, 100 wins is not out of the question, nor is an MVP award or several All-Star nominations.

These awards are all well and good, but if the Marlins cannot shift their efforts into high gear during the postseason, it will all be for naught. As seen with the Heat, getting close means nothing if you can’t bring a title home.

All in all, the sports world is becoming saturated with blockbuster–free agent sign-

ings and power teams. The MLB and the new-look Miami Marlins are no exception to this rule and will face the same pressures, if not more, than the teams that came before them. Yet the Marlins have the ability to learn from prior teams and turn that into their own success. Ironically enough, the team’s best role model is within its own city, so the Marlins and the Miami fans will not be entering foreign territory by any stretch.

Undoubtedly, the title chase will not be an easy one, but the Marlins have the tools to accomplish the task at hand.

More importantly, the Marlins have the ability to demonstrate then there is a method behind the madness of creating these “super teams,” or if they are just one big mistake. Only time will tell if the Marlins’ efforts were worthwhile, but one thing is for sure: the Marlins guarantee to make the 2012 season one worth watching.

Christopher.Zielinski@UConn.edu

Just because the semester is over, it doesn't mean our sports coverage stops... www.dailycampus.com

DALLAS (AP) — Jeffrey Loria quickly marched down the hallway with his team president, trailed by their top aides, and hustled into a meeting room with a labor lawyer from Major League Baseball.

Having already made the biggest splash at the winter meetings, the Miami Marlins owner was trying to reel in Albert Pujols and perhaps other big-name free agents with the newfound riches from their new ballpark.

"He's not the only guy," Loria said about 20 minutes later before heading back upstairs on an elevator with his delegation.

Baseball's new Big Fish were the talk of the winter meetings Tuesday, with teams wondering how close the Marlins were to an agreement with Pujols on a deal that could be worth $200 million or more over 10 years for the three-time NL MVP. St. Louis said it submitted a new offer Tuesday to keep Pujols with the Cardinals, a team he's already led to two World Series titles in the last six seasons.

Traditional big spenders such as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox were reduced to spectators.

"They have a new stadium. They're excited about it, and it's good for baseball," former Marlins and current Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "They had hoped that they'd get the new stadium

and they would be able to do those types of things. Our roster is pretty set. We have a lot of guys that are on longterm deals. That's why maybe there's not a lot happening for us."

Having already reached deals with All-Star closer Heath Bell ($27 million for three years) and All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes ($106 million for six), the Marlins' interest in Pujols is real.

What's unclear is whether the first baseman is prepared to go to Miami or whether his talks with the Marlins are an attempt to push the Cardinals higher.

"I know the ownership group is putting their best foot forward and trying to do everything that they can to make this possible," new Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said, "but I also know it's a complicated decision on both sides. There's a lot going on, a lot that I'm not even involved in, but I think it's clear to say that St. Louis Cardinals would love to have Albert, and we'll see how it all plays out."

Prince Fielder was still in play in the hitters' market, and C.J. Wilson and Mark Buehrle were among the available starting pitchers on the second day of the four-day swap session, which has been relatively slow.

The Chicago White Sox traded closer Sergio Santos to the Toronto Blue Jays for

pitching prospect Nestor Molina, and the Minnesota Twins dealt right-hander Kevin Slowey to the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named.

When the meetings reach their last full day Wednesday, roughly two dozen free agents must decide by midnight EST on salary arbitration offers from their former clubs.

David Ortiz, who has said he wants to stay with the Boston Red Sox, appeared likely to accept.

AL champion Texas planned to meet Tuesday night with Wilson, the chatty left-hander who went 16-7 during the regular season but was 0-3 in October.

"We're just staying in communication, that's all we've agreed to do," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said.

"We just agreed to stay in touch, keep each other posted and keep a dialogue. We're not holding him up, and he's not holding us up."

Reyes' deal is likely to be finalized on Wednesday.

Miami already has an All-Star shortstop in Hanley Ramirez, and he appears headed to third base.

"Everybody it's waiting to see what's gonna happen with me or what I gonna do right?

Ramirez wrote on Twitter.

"What I am gonna do is work hard and get ready for next season because that is the only thing I can control."

UConn sets good tone in first half from NEW, page 14 To start the game, both teams brought their full-court pressure defense. The Huskies just did it better than the Aggies did.

“In the first five minutes of the game, I thought we set a real good tone,” Auriemma said. “We played really hard.”

In the first half, UConn was able to force 14 turnovers, resulting in 17 points.

“A team that pressures does not like to be pressured back,” Blair said. “That’s what caused the turnovers in the first half.”

Despite being out-rebounded 25-12 by the Aggies and going a mere 3-for-10 from beyond the 3-point line,

UConn entered the second half with a 12-point lead.

With just under 19 minutes to go in the second half, the Aggies were only down by 10 points and had possession of the ball, looking to shorten the lead to single figures. But after Texas A&M’s guard Skylar Collins turned the ball over, Hayes sank a 3-point shot, and from there UConn never looked back.

UConn extended its lead slowly and continuously as the game progressed, and before anyone knew it, the Huskies were up by 30.

“Hopefully, my team will be able to sit there and get better as the year goes on,” Blair said. “You can tell that right now, we’re not ready for this type of competition.”

The defensive pressure was sus-

tained throughout the night, as the Huskies held the Aggies, averaging 76 points a game coming in, to just 51. On the night, the Huskies were able to score 27 points off of the 20 turnovers committed by the Aggies.

Auriemma said that pressure and pace to the game is exactly the type of thing he wants to maintain.

He believes that at some point when his teams play that fast and that hard, the other team reaches a breaking point, which is what happened to the Aggies.

“There have been 91 other teams that got beat in this house,” Blair said. “Geno’s done an incredible job. Give him credit.”

Daniel.Agabiti@UConn.edu

» NCAA BASKETBALL

Marshall loses at Syracuse SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — with great heart on the road," Marshall coach Tom Herrion he said. "We don't believe looked at the final box and won- in moral victories. We're past dered about what might have been. that, but we have a lot of good Dennis Tinnon had 17 points and things to build on."

15 rebounds, but the Thundering The Orange (9-0) led 52-36 with Herd committed 19 5:51 left after Michael turnovers in a 62-56 Carter Williams fed loss at No. 3 Syracuse BASKETBALL Kris Joseph with a long on Tuesday night. pass and the Syracuse 62 cross-court Marshall outsenior forward swished rebounded the Orange Marshall 56 a 3-pointer from the left 46-33, including a 20-8 corner. edge on the offensive glass, and After missing its first 16 scored 15 second-chance points, 3-point attempts, the Herd almost sending Herrion home with staged a late rally, hitting five a big smile on his face. in the final 5 minutes to make it "We didn't play smart or close at the buzzer. But all those pretty at times, but we played turnovers — five by DeAndre

Kane — led to 20 points for Syracuse — too much for the Herd to overcome.

"Of their 31 points at the half, 14 were on turnovers," Herrion said. "Look who was coughing them up — arguably the best point guard in the league. But he wasn't alone. We shared the wealth."

Dion Waiters had 15 points and Joseph had 11 points and eight rebounds as Syracuse continued to win amid a federal investigation.

It was the third game for the Orange since former associate head coach Bernie Fine was fired after allegations by three men that he sexually molested them

TWO Wednesday, December 7, 2011

PAGE 2

What's Next Home game

Away game

Dec. 22 Fairfield 7 p.m.

Next Paper’s Question:

“Will you be attending the ‘Boat Show’ tomorrow night at Gampel Pavilion?”

–Mike McGarry, 7th-semester geology major.

» That’s what he said –ESPN analyst Terry Francona on whether he can be critical of his former team, the Boston Red Sox.

Home: Gampel Pavilion, XL Center Dec. 18 Holy Cross 1 p.m.

The Daily Question Q : “Is the Harvard men’s basketball team for real?”

A : “Is an Ivy League school ever good?”

Dec. 28 USF 9 p.m.

Dec 31 St. Johns 12 p.m.

Women’s Basketball (8-0)

» MLB

Terry Francona joins ESPN as analyst

AP

Terry Francona

» Pic of the day

BOSTON (AP) — When he left the Boston Red Sox, Terry Francona said the players needed to hear from a new voice.

ESPN thinks his voice will be an excellent fit for its baseball coverage.

The network hired Francona to replace analyst Bobby Valentine after he replaced Francona as manager of the Red Sox. “The one thing I do know is I’ll probably sleep better next year than Bobby,” Francona said during a conference call Tuesday. “It’s probably win-win for everybody and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

After eight years as manager, Francona and the Red Sox parted ways two days after the regular season ended without a playoff berth.

The Red Sox went 7-20 in September, but Francona made it to the postseason anyway as an announcer on Fox for the first two games of the AL championship series. He replaced Tim McCarver, who had a minor heart-related procedure.

“It was an incredible experience,” Francona said. “I actually did have fun.”

Fox had a “very serious” interest in hiring him again, but the ESPN job “was too good to pass up,” he said. “There’s just a comfort level that I know I’m going to enjoy it.”

ESPN announced the hiring Monday night.

It said it plans to use Francona on its Sunday night baseball games with Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser, “Baseball Tonight” and the Little League World Series. Francona was at baseball’s winter meetings in Dallas on Tuesday where several trades have been made.

Now lean back.

Home: Gampel Pavilion, XL Center Dec. 9 Dec. 18 Seton Hall Baylor 7 p.m. 8:30 p.m.

Dec. 21 Coll. of Charleston 7 p.m.

Dec. 29 Fairfield 7:30 p.m

Jan. 4 West Virginia 7 p.m.

Men’s Ice Hockey (4-7-2) Dec. 9 Dec. 29 Bentley Army 7:05 p.m. 7:05 p.m.

Dec. 30 Toyota Classic TBA

Women’s Ice Hockey (3-12-4) Jan. 3 Harvard 7 p.m.

Jan. 7 Brown 1 p.m.

Jan. 10 Union 7 p.m.

Jan. 13 Jan. 14 New New Hampshire Hampshire 4 p.m.

7 p.m.

» UCONN BASKETBALL

Book relives Huskies’ magical postseason

Men’s Swimming & Diving Jan. 21 Seton Hall 1 p.m.

Jan. 29 Colgate Noon

Feb. 5 Dartmouth Noon

Staff Reports

Feb. 11, 12 Big East Diving Championships All Day

Women’s Swimming & Diving Jan. 21 Seton Hall 1 p.m.

Jan. 29 Colgate Noon

Feb. 5 Dartmouth Noon

Feb. 11, 12 Big East Diving Championships All Day

AP

Pittsburgh’s Dante Taylor (11) tries to stay in bounds as VMI’s D.J. Covington (24) gets a rebound behind him in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, in Pittsburgh.

THE Storrs Side The Daily Campus is more than just a paper.

Twitter: @DCSportsDept www.dailycampus.com

www.dcsportsonline.wordpress.com

Tweet your answers, along with your name, semester standing and major, to @DCSportsDept. The best answer will appear in the next paper.

The Daily Roundup

“I have no problem watching a game and telling the truth.”

Men’s Basketball (7-1) Tomorrow Harvard 7 p.m.

The Daily Campus, Page 13

Sports

Women’s basketball continues tough non-conference schedule

By Andrew Callahan Senior Staff Writer They say that to be the best, you have to beat the best. So following his team’s first season in three years that didn’t end with an NCAA championship, Geno Auriemma made sure his team would have the chance to do exactly that in 2011-2012.

Last night at the XL Center in Hartford, No. 2 UConn hosted the reigning national champions, the No. 8 Texas A&M Aggies.

This matchup comes after the Huskies welcomed and then dispensed the No. 3 Stanford Cardinal more than two weeks ago, 68-58.

Yet, even after last night, this will be just the beginning for Auriemma’s club. Shortly after finals conlude, UConn will head down to Waco, Texas, to take on All-American center Brittany Griner and No. 1 Baylor. Last season, the Huskies and Bears went toe-to-toe in Hartford before UConn escaped with a narrow victory. This season, the Bears have shown marked improvement after their surpris-

ing Elite Eight exit last March, courtesy of the eventual champion Aggies.

When we turn the page to the New Year, the Huskies will still not have turned its back on nonconference competition. Even with a multitude of top-25 Big East matchups against the likes of Notre Dame, Louisville, Rutgers, Georgetown and DePaul on tap, UConn has opted to face quality opposition in its down time.

On Jan. 16, No. 18 North Carolina will visit Storrs for a nationally televised game held at Gampel Pavilion. Two weeks later, the Huskies will visit the Tar Heels’ hated rivals, the No.6 Duke Blue Devils, in Durham, N.C. UConn blew out the Blue Devils twice a year ago, most recently in their Elite Eight matchup by a score of 75-40.

Finally, the No. 2 team in all the land will wrap up its non-Big East tour on Feb. 13 with a trip down to Norman, Okla., home of the No. 24 Oklahoma Sooners. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN2 at 9 p.m.

Andrew.J.Callahan@UConn.edu

Aaron Torres, a UConn graduate, wrote a book titled “The Unlikeliest Champion,” recounting the UConn men’s basketball team’s run to the 2011 NCAA national championship.

The book is currently available for preorder at www.uconnbook.com. Pre-orders will be shipped to readers as early as the middle to end of next week. The book will be available for purchase through Amazon in the next week.

Torres can be found on both Facebook and Twitter. An excerpt of his book, available on www.uconnbook.com, summarizes Kemba Walker’s recruitment by the Huskies.

THE Pro Side Bruins power past Penguins in possible playoff matchup

By Jimmy Onofrio Staff Writer Regular-season play in the NHL has taken a backseat the past few days to a radical new conference realignment: four conferences with either seven or eight teams in each. While many teams had gripes with the plan, Commisioner Gary Bettman, known as both a consensus-builder and fan pariah, was able to secure the 20 owner votes needed to approve the move.

League machinations aside, the season continues as we prepare to enter winter.

Game of the Week: Boston Bruins 3, Pittsburgh Penguins 1 The Bruins kept up their hot streak with a road victory over Eastern Conference leaders Pittsburgh. Following a home-andhome sweep of the Maple Leafs, Boston’s win Monday night means the team hasn’t lost in regulation since before Halloween.

Both goalies were strong in a scoreless first, but Boston goalie Tim Thomas shut down the Pittsburgh offense all game. Pens captain Sidney Crosby gave Thomas credit for the win, saying

Pittsburgh could have put more pressure on, “but he certainly made some saves when he needed to.”

Gregory Campbell and Benoit Pouliot scored two unanswered for Boston in the second, and Tyler Seguin made it 3-0 one minute into the third. Halfway through the final period Pittsburgh was able to get on the board with a Matt Cooke goal, but it was too little too late for the Penguins in this matchup.

Boston showed once again that, for now, they’re the team to beat in the NHL. What to Look Forward To: Lots of good games are being played while students are home for the holidays. Rivals Pittsburgh and Philly will play a pair of games in December as the Flyers battle injuries to stay competitive. While it’s hard to predict where teams will stand a month from now, a Stanley Cup rematch between Boston and Vancouver will take place on Jan. 7. Both teams started slow and have picked up steam, with the Canucks winning nine of their last 12. This should be an exciting rematch.

James.Onofrio@UConn.edu

» INSIDE SPORTS TODAY

P.13: Francona joins ESPN. / P.12: Miami Marlins chasing Pujols. / P.11: Islanders handle Lightning easily at home.

Page 14

The Boat Show

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

www.dailycampus.com

A NEW SHERIFF IN No.TOWN 2 Huskies storm

past defending champs in Jimmy V Classic

By Dan Agabiti Senior Staff Writer

Colin McDonough Coach Jim Calhoun compared Ryan Boatright to Allen Iverson.

“He has those Allen Iverson kind of things where his athletic ability just allows him to do some pretty special things that you don’t normally see,” Calhoun said.

The freshman certainly has been “The Answer” in his first two collegiate games. After being suspended for the first six games of the season, Boatright, nicknamed “The Boat Show,” has put on quite a show in wins over Florida State and Arkansas.

Boatright scored 14 points and forced overtime against the Seminoles in the Bahamas, and when the show returned stateside, Boatright delighted 14,333 fans in Hartford with 23 points, six assists and five rebounds.

The Chicago area native said, besides Iverson, he is naturally a Derrick Rose fan. But he also said his admiration of point guards dates back to Tim Hardaway. Although Boatright has only played in two games, it is easy to see his name on a list of NBA point guards.

Boatright’s athleticism was on full display in the last two games. He drives and penetrates, twists and turns and makes lay ups and jump shots. Boatright said the quick start to his career surprised him a little bit, but he knows what he is capable of. So do his teammates.

“Before these games, he had a great week of practice and it carried over into the games,” said center and junior captain Alex Oriakhi.

Boatright’s dunks back and forth with Andre Drummond on First Night, which really were not only comparable to but, in my opinion, better than Nate Robinson versus Dwight Howard, showcased his athletic capabilities and made UConn fans even more excited for this freshman class. If Boatright wasn’t suspended for the Central Florida game, perhaps the Huskies would still be undefeated. Nonetheless, after Calhoun said repeatedly during the first month of the season, “We need Ryan.” UConn has its roster intact.

Boatright said that his family helped him get through his suspension during the first six games of the year.

“If they weren’t there, I don’t know what I would’ve done,” Boatright said. “They always find a way to motivate me.”

He said he wanted to have a good game on Saturday for his family and to help his team win.

Boatright did that by showing no fear, which Calhoun said he loves, and continued to go hard to the hoop all afternoon.

After sending a message to the Razorbacks, he told reporters his philosophy.

“You can’t be scared, man,” Boatright said. “You can’t be scared of nothing. If you go out there and you’re scared, it’s like having blood in the water. They’ll attack you.”

It’s a funny coincidence that Boatright said that following a game where he attacked, attacked and attacked. It’ll be tougher to go up against some of the bigs in the Big East, but at least against Arkansas he couldn’t be stopped.

“Nobody was stopping me on my track to the basket and I kept going,” Boatright said.

“The Boat Show” that began in the Bahamas will keep going all winter break and next semester. Hopefully its final destination will be the port of New Orleans.

Colin.McDonough@UConn.edu

Kelly Faris either never got the memo that Texas A&M is the reigning national champion, or she just didn’t care. Regardless, the guard’s 13 points, six assists and three steals were a big reason why the Huskies beat the Aggies 81-51 last night at the Jimmy V Classic.

All season, Faris has been struggling to be a dominating factor in games, but chose the national stage as her venue to make a statement. She came into the game averaging just under six points per contest, but had topped that by the midway point of the first half.

“Kelly wants to be more aggressive,” coach Geno Auriemma said after the game. “Today she played completely within herself and did all the things that I would hope she would do in every game.”

As a whole, the Huskies seemed unimpressed with the Aggies’ hardware from last season. All five UConn starters and reserve Kaleena MosquedaLewis scored in double figures. Guard Tiffany Hayes and Mosqueda-Lewis led the team in scoring with 14 points.

Center Stefanie Dolson narrowly missed a doubledouble with 10 points and nine rebounds on the night, and played a big part in the Huskies’ win.

“I really think the difference in the ball game was Dolson,” Texas A&M coach Gary Blair said. “She is so improved and so long.”

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

81 51

KEVIN SCHELLER/The Daily Campus

» UCONN, page 12

Kaleeena Mosqueda-Lewis keeps an eye toward the basket while driving baseline in UConn’s 81-51 win over Texas A&M.

Faris leads charge in UConn’s win over Aggies

By Danielle Ennis Staff Writer

The last time the Aggies played in the Jimmy V Classic, they fell short by merely three points to Duke. Last night, they weren’t as close. The past two defending champions met in the 2011 Jimmy V classic in front of a crowd of 12,623. The Huskies came out on top in the highly anticipated, first-time matchup between the teams by a surprising margin of 81-51.

The Aggies faced their two highest ranked consecutive opponents in program history and couldn’t handle the pressure, falling to Purdue by nine before slipping against UConn by 30.

The Huskies set the tone in the ended, she finished the game with first four minutes by scoring 18 13 points, seven rebounds, six points. assists and three steals.

Kelly Faris “She competes on every With Texas A&M winning single play,” coach Geno the tip-off, the Auriemma said. nerves of a potential “She has to do UConn loss still rang what she can with through the air. But each opportunity soon after, the riled and tonight is what up crowd was cheerI hope to see every ing in confidence for night from her. Her the entirety of the and Tiffany [Hayes] game. It began with pretty much led Notebook Kelly Faris forcthe way. We don’t ing a jump ball that always do the right led to her scoring the first two thing, but we always compete.” points of the game, and then her Forced turnovers subsequent 3-pointer. Her play Though the speed on Texas mirrored that for the rest of the A&M posed a much bigger threat game. Receiving a standing ova- to UConn’s full-court press than tion before the first half had even previous opponents, the Huskies

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

were still able to force 20 turnovers and create 27 points off those turnovers. In contrast, the Aggies scored seven points off the Huskies turnovers.

“Teams that pressure don’t like to be pressured,” said Texas A&M head coach Gary Blair after the game.

Offensive Versatility While much of UConn’s scoring in the previous six games came from the stellar 3-point shooting, this game was a battle in the paint. Both teams shot 62 field goals, with the Huskies shooting 51.6 percent,while the Aggies shot 32.3 percent. They also led in assists and steals, only trailing in rebounding 32-43. Blair attributed much of the Huskies’ success to its balanced offense.

“They’re smart, they handle the ball, they backdoor. They play a little bit of motion, a little bit of triangle, a little bit of Princeton and a little bit of Geno,” Blair said. “Connecticut played with so much poise.

There’s been 91 other teams that have been beaten on this court, and there’s a reason.”

Up Next The Huskies end their eightgame home stretch and head to South Orange, N.J. on Dec. 9 to face Seton Hall in what will kick off three straight games on the road. They’ll face Baylor and the College of Charleston before returning to Storrs at the end of December against Fairfield.

Danielle.Ennis@UConn.edu

Will the Miami Thrice happen twice in South Beach?

By Chris Zielinski Sports and Society Columnist As the holidays approach, the sports world is firmly fixated exactly where one would expect: the NFL and NBA. The NFL, entering the heart of its season, has provided all the hype one could ask for and then some. From the failure of the Eagles, the emergence and stardom of Tim Tebow and the undefeated Packers, this season has been one of the best in years. In similar fashion, fresh off its labor resolution, the NBA has already generated great excitement. With free agency rapidly approaching and a star-studded Christmas lineup assembled, NBA fans are counting down the days until the season commences.

“What’s the point?” you ask, of bringing up these evident facts.

Well, to put it simply, somehow in the midst of winter, it is the MLB that is arguably generating the most interest in the

current sports world. A surprise to nearly everyone, the MLB spotlight stems from none other than the Miami Marlins.

On the verge of becoming a perennial also-ran, the Marlins are shocking the MLB world with their free agent signings. With all-star Hanley Ramirez already on the roster, the Marlins have successfully signed free-agent shortstop Jose Reyes. Before, the Marlins also acquired closer Heath Bell from the San Diego Padres. For many teams, this would suffice as an offseason and then some, but the Marlins are far from done. Instead, they have set their sights on landing this season’s biggest free agent fish, first baseman Albert Pujols. In past years, the Marlins seemed satisfied to stand pat during free agency, focusing on versatile, bargain players who could help limit the team budget. Enter Jeffrey Loria, the new owner of the Marlins, who has seemingly empty pockets when it

comes to free agency this year, with the confidence to match.

Assuming the Marlins do sign Pujols, all of a sudden they have quite a formidable trio in Reyes, Pujols and Ramirez.

With some supporting cast help, the sky seems to be the limit for the new-look Marlins as they get set to move to their new Miami ballpark.

However, before we give the Miami Marlins the 2012 World Series, the team’s construction of its roster creates some glaring similarities to another recent Miami team: the infamous Miami Heat. With one superstar already in hand in Hanley Ramirez and two possibly on the way in Reyes and Pujols, the Marlins can potentially craft a second “Miami Thrice.”

Assuming they are able to do so, these Marlins would be wise to learn from their NBA counterparts if they hope to be successful in their maiden season.

» ZIELINSKI, page 12

AP

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria walks through the lobby of the hotel hosting Major League Baseball’s winter meetings in Dallas.