March 8, 2012

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THURSDAY

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march 8, 2012

t h e i n de pe n de n t s t u de n t n e w spa pe r of s y r acuse , n e w yor k

INSIDENEWS

INSIDEOPINION

INSIDEPULP

INSIDESPORTS

From the ground up Officials hope the construction

Open access The Syracuse University athletics

Capturing the world Students studying abroad share

Past vs. present The Daily Orange debates how the 2009-10

of a downtown hotel will draw more visitors to the area. Page 3

department should make the studentathlete drug policy public. Page 5

stories through photos from their foreign excursions. Page 11

Syracuse team and this Orange squad stack up against each other. Page 24

Breaking the cycle

su at hletics

Protocol restricts coverage

By Liz Sawyer NEWS EDITOR

The Muslim woman, amazed and unsure of how to respond, turned around and walked away. This is one story that comes to mind for Tanweer Haq, the Islamic chaplain at Syracuse University, when he thinks about the treatment of Muslims in today’s society.

After Bernie Fine was accused of sexual abuse in November, Syracuse University athletics department officials said they have continued to handle media inquiries for the men’s basketball team on a case-by-case basis.

But not all media outlets have been granted entry to the team’s practices, signaling a shift from previous policy.

Practices were closed to all media for approximately two months after the Fine allegations surfaced, said Pete Moore, director of athletic communications. The program took this step to protect the basketball players, who were being approached by reporters staking out Manley Field House and the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center, Moore said.

In early January, when Finerelated news began to subside, Moore said he informed some reporters who continued to make interview requests that they could discuss attending practices.

All media inquiries have always been dealt with on an individual basis, and reporters are required to notify him in advance with the specific story idea they’re working on if they would like to attend a practice, Moore said.

“We did reach a point where there were a number of inquiries from the media about being able to come to practice again,” Moore said. “At that time, I talked to coach (Jim Boeheim) and the situation was different than it had been in November, primarily because people were no longer camping out. So at that time he was all for adjusting what we were doing.”

Moore said the athletics department does not consider there to have been a policy change, as the policy is flexible depending on what Boeheim, the SU head men’s basketball coach, has in mind.

SEE IDENTITY PAGE 7

SEE PRACTICE PAGE 6

Jardine escaped streets, overcame obstacles to lead team as senior

By Michael Cohen

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STAFF WRITER

hirteen years. That’s the fork in the road, the point that Scoop Jardine and his father, Antonio, describe as pivotal for a kid growing up in South Philadelphia.

Antonio Jardine said it’s the age when a kid starts smelling himself.

The age when he starts getting to know girls and begins to see the streets.

Scoop said it’s the age when a kid feels grown up even though he’s really not. The age when he starts hanging out with 19- and 20-year-olds, thinking he’s the man.

He rolled up the sleeves of his gray hooded sweatshirt to reveal his first tattoo. He got it at age 13. Two numbers, one on the underside of each

forearm, represent the South Philly culture. A “0” on the right and a “5” on the left come together to form “05,” as in Fifth Street.

The Fifth Street projects. That’s where Scoop is from.

“I didn’t know any better,” Scoop said. “I just got my block on me because that’s what we did.

“It’s something that I don’t regret, but now it’s like, ‘Wow, that was pointless.’”

Thirteen is also when Scoop thought he might be headed to jail after getting caught joyriding.

Scoop, his cousin Jahron Richards and his friend Jamal Wilson were out cruising around in a car owned by Wilson’s parents. Richards, who is

SEE JARDINE PAGE 18

left: andrew renneisen | staff photographer right: stacie fanelli | asst. photo editor (CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT) SMOKE RICHARDS, SCOOP JARDINE AND JAHRON RICHARDS live together in an apartment in Syracuse.

Jardine’s cousins have supported him throughout his SU career.

Embracing faith

Students, faculty discuss shift in national Islamic representation

By Maddy Berner

emily shearing | contributing photographer (FROM LEFT) ISMAIL PATHAN AND AZHAR ALI, members of SU’s Muslim Students Association, enjoy interacting with students and gathering opinions about Muslims and Islam.

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ASST. COPY EDITOR

he incident happened at a nearby Target. A Muslim woman in a black headscarf was shopping when another woman approached her.

“You are evil,” the woman had said. “You are evil, you are evil.”

2 m a rch 8, 2012

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S TA R T T H U R S D A Y WEATHER >> TODAY

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Japan remembers Next week marks the one-year anniversary of the tsunami that struck the country’s coast.

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What happens during Spring Break doesn’t always stay there.

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Tournament time Check dailyorange.com for sports updates over Spring Break, including coverage of Syracuse’s run in the NCAA tournament.

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WHAT’S HAPPENING

Student Association Presents Weekly Student Organization Calendar

SU Student Association wishes you a safe and relaxing spring break.

3/8

Once ‘Pon Ah Time Sponsored by Kalabash Dance Troupe 7:30 pm, Goldstein Auditorium Heard of Goldilocks? Cinderella? Even if you HAVE, Kalabash Dance Troupe is going to tell how they really happened!

Cost: $4 for SU students, $5 general admission and faculty Got Consent? T-shirt Tickets On Sale!!!

University Judicial Board/Peer Education Team Check Box Office Hours, Schine Box Office Buy a t-shirt to help promote sexual assault awareness.

Like us at Facebook.com/SUPeerEducationTeam.

Cost: $10 with SUID, $12 no SUID/XXL/XXXL SU Student Association free shuttle bus The Syracuse University Student Association will be providing a free shuttle bus from the Regional Transportation Center (RTC) and Hancock International Airport for students leaving campus.

brought to you by...

3/9

Higher Education Lobbying Teach-In Sponsored by NYPIRG 12 pm, Sims Hall, Room 331 On March14, NYPIRG will be lobbying in Albany to defend Higher Education Funding. This is a training for those interested. Event is free.

3/10

SU Student Association free shuttle bus The Syracuse University Student Association will be providing a free shuttle bus from the Regional Transportation Center (RTC) and Hancock International Airport for students leaving campus.

SU Student Association free shuttle bus The Syracuse University Student Association will be providing a free shuttle bus from the Regional Transportation Center (RTC) and Hancock International Airport for students leaving campus.

SA Shuttle Bus Details

The times of operation are as follows: Thursday, March 8, 4 pm - 10 pm Friday, March 9, 10 am - 10 pm Saturday, March 10, 6 am - 2 pm

Return Trip:

Sunday, March 18, 10 am - 11 pm

Buses will leave the Schine Student Center on the hour. For the return trip, buses will depart the RTC 20 minutes after the hour, Hancock Airport 30 minutes after the hour, and then drop off students at the Schine Student Center. The bus will be stopping in front of the RTC, and in front of North Terminal of Hancock Airport.

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Here are 3 easy steps to get your event listed in the calendar for FREE: (1) Go to: Studentactivities.syr.edu

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NEWS

THURSDAY

march 8, 2012

PAGE 3

the daily orange

Downtown to see two new hotels

Competition to take place for start-ups

By Kathleen Lees

By Nicki Gorny

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

STAFF WRITER

Student Startup Madness, a tournament-style competition for college student start-up groups created by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, will debut over Spring Break at a South by Southwest event in Austin, Texas.

Newhouse officials recently announced the creation of the event, which is scheduled for March 12 from 9 a.m. to noon at Maria Maria La Cantina in Austin, according to a Feb. 16 SU News release.

The launch of the program is in conjunction with SXSW, a company that puts on conferences and festivals.

The competition will debut with a kick off “pitchfest” event during the SXSW Interactive Festival. There, students will be able to pitch their

Construction on a new Marriott Hotel in downtown Syracuse is slated to begin Thursday.

The hotel is part of The Inns at Armory Square, which is a project to include both the 100-room Marriott and a 75-room Courtyard Residence Inn on the same property in Armory Square, said Linda Hartsock, director of the Connective Corridor. The space will also contain 15,000 square feet of retail shops and on-site parking.

“You think about that volume of people staying anywhere, from one night to a month. They’re going to be people who will want to shop, to eat, to want to visit galleries and other cultural venues downtown. It will create a demand,” Hartsock said.

Hartsock said the two hotels are projected to accommodate more than 90,000 guests per year. Independent marketing analysis estimates the

“We hope it will be an ongoing project and something that students will be involved in each year.”

SEE HOTEL PAGE 8

v pa

Exhibition to feature 3-D design

By Joshua B. Dermer CONTRIBUTING WRITER

3-D computer-aided designs will be presented in a free exhibition titled “Creativity through Exhibition Design II” at The Warehouse Design Gallery from March 9-30.

The exhibition, featuring designs

by Syracuse University museum studies graduate students, is inspired by the New York State Tower Building located near Hanover Square. Bradley Hudson, a museum studies professor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, said all exhibit installations will be complete by Friday during his MUS 604: “Practicum II” course.

“The exhibition is part of the training of the students to learn how to design and present exhibitions,” Hudson said in an email. “The major reason for presenting the exhibition

SEE EXHIBIT PAGE 10

Lorraine Branham

DEAN OF THE S.I. NEWHOUSE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS

stacie fanelli | asst. photo editor

Soaking up the sun CJ BAKER, a senior broadcast and digital journalism major, listens to music and practices his painting skills on the Quad on Wednesday for his inroductory-level art class. He was joined by many other students who spent their day outside enjoying the unusually warm weather, wearing shorts, sunglasses and other summer attire. Syracuse saw a record temperature of 68 degrees, which is higher than the record that was previously set in 1973 at 64 degrees.

Author discusses quirky novel, fields questions

By Shannon Hazlitt STAFF WRITER

Syracuse University alumnus Christopher Boucher fascinated an audience in Gifford Auditorium in Huntington Beard Crouse Hall on Wednesday with a reading from his wacky post-modern novel, “How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive.”

The reading took place at 5:30 p.m. after a Q-and-A session. The event was part of the spring 2012 Raymond Carver Reading Series and was free and open to the public. A majority of the students in the audience were from the ETS 107: “Living Writers” class offered though the English department at SU. Students in the

class read and discussed the book.

David Nutt, a graduate student, introduced Boucher. Nutt said the novel has metaphors that “run amuck,” but also convey a “literalized world hidden in plain sight.”

He described the novel as a successful example of a post-modern book

SEE BOUCHER PAGE 11

ventures and win prizes, according to the release.

Sean Branagan, the director of Newhouse’s Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship, conceptualized Student Startup Madness and promoted the idea to get Newhouse students involved. He said that approximately 20,000 students attended last year.

The kickoff event is the precursor for the 2012-13 nationwide tournament, according to the release. The online entry period begins this summer, followed by regional events at universities across the country in fall 2012.

The nationwide tournament will culminate with a final round in March 2013 in front of a celebrity panel of wellknown entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and investors at SXSW Interactive, according to the release.

To enter the tournament, students signed up online through the website for the event, Branagan said.

“This gives students the opportunity to pitch their digital media ideas,” he said. Entries for the tournament closed March 2.

Teams for the tournament will be

SEE START-UP PAGE 10

4 m a rch 8, 2012

opinion@ da ilyor a nge.com

c o n s e rvat i v e

Affirmative action create negative social effects, violates Constitution

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he Supreme Court recently agreed to hear the potentially groundbreaking case of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. The Fisher case concerns the practice of using affirmative action in college admissions, and the ruling could end the practice entirely.

Since the last case on this topic reached the Supreme Court much has changed that suggests an end to affirmative action is a real and likely possibility. Good riddance.

The Supreme Court’s most recent case concerning affirmative action was Grutter v.

Bollinger. The court ruled that Michigan had a compelling state interest to have a “critical mass” of minority students to maintain its status as an elite institution.

The dissenting opinion on the court argued there was no compelling state interest in having such a particular institution and argued the university’s policies were the equivalent of an unconstitutional quota system. The establishment of affirmative action directly conflicts with the 14th Amendment’s “equal protection clause,” which states that no state shall “deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Section 1 of the amendment, which includes the “equal protection clause,” was deliberately written to apply to race and enforce the principle that the Constitution is a colorblind document as written and signed by our founders. Every aspect of affirmative action violates the principles and the text of our most precious document.

Affirmative action falls short on grounds other than those of the Constitution. Socially, it casts a shadow over all minorities whether they are affected by the policies or not. Once the policies are known to be used in certain areas, all people in the area are seen as having achieved something less because some were given preferential treatment.

Justice Clarence Thomas, an outspoken critic of affirmative action off the bench, said, “Once it is assumed that everything you do achieve is because of your race, there is no way out.”

Policies that are in place to give opportunity to disadvantaged groups result in these groups being overshadowed by the doubt of whether they

PATRICK MOCETE

the right direction are deserving of their accomplishments.

Morally affirmative action is tough to justify. The policies of preferential treatment based on race were and still are justified as a program to increase opportunities for specific communities and increase equality.

Justice Thomas refuted this rationalization one of his many written opinions from the bench stating, “There is a ‘moral … equivalence’ between laws designed to subjugate a race and those that distribute benefits on the basis of race in order to foster some current notion of equality.”

Today affirmative action is more popularly justified as a way to increase diversity. There is no distinction to be made here because the principle of preferential treatment remains the same and cannot be considered any more moral as a result. The fact that someone’s merits can be cast aside because they are not of a certain race or gender is reprehensible.

As a society, we should hold ourselves to a higher standard than using unimportant measures to judge a person’s worth. All the factors about one’s race or genders seem fairly trivial when put up against their professional experience or their intellect. Who someone is as a person goes much deeper than simple appearance.

Race or gender is not a merit or something to put on a resume. It’s random and doesn’t make someone better or worse in any way.

Culture and race are something that one should be proud of and can derive personal purpose from, but they should never supersede a person’s merit or accomplishments.

Let’s hope the court makes the right decision and puts an end to this misguided practice.

Patrick Mocete is a senior political science and policy studies major. His column appears every Thursday. He can be reached at pdmocete@syr.edu.

DAILYORANGE.COM

OPINIONS

THURSDAY

march 8, 2012

PAGE 5

the daily orange

IDE AS

Athletics department should make drug policies public The Syracuse University athletics department does not disclose the drug policy for student-athletes, due to privacy issues.

In light of Monday’s Yahoo! Sports report stating 10 members of the men’s basketball team cheated the system in the last decade and continued to practice and play after failing drug tests, SU Athletics should re-evaluate this decision. There is no compelling reason for the athletics department to keep the policy information private.

The Student Handbook, which lists the expectations and policies for students, is posted online and includes a section on the university’s drug policies. Drug policies for athletes are different than the average student’s in that athletes must undergo drug testing and face different sanctions for violations. But the availability of both policies to the public should not differ.

Posting the policy online would help keep athletes accountable. If the rules and expectations are laid out in an

EDITORIAL by the daily orange editorial board accessible space, athletes will have no excuse to not understand actions that are not permitted.

By posting the policies online, the athletics department can help debunk the notion that athletes receive preferential treatment. It would show the standards student-athletes are held to.

The NCAA could also help with transparency by creating a blanket student-athlete drug policy for all universities. Currently, the NCAA doesn’t provide a drug policy for all universities to follow — each university comes up with its own policy and can self-report violations.

If a universal policy were implemented, universities could be allowed to make the drug policy stricter, but having one policy would eliminate inconsistencies and provide a public standard for all to follow.

SCRIBBLE

p op c u lt u r e

Minaj’s snafu on Twitter indicates larger problem for celebrities using social media

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he next time “Stupid Hoe” comes on at a party, we can all feel a personal connection with Nicki Minaj’s lyrics.

The 29-year-old rap star began a Twitter battle Monday comparing Syracuse University’s Block Party concert to performing at CVS pharmacies and bingo tournaments, highlighting a bigger social media problem.

The controversial tweeting started after SU student Sabine DaSilva asked Minaj whether rumors of her performing at this year’s Block Party concert were true. DaSilva’s simple question clearly insulted Minaj’s refined tastes.

The singer tweeted to almost 10 million followers that she was laughing so hard about Block Party she was “crying real tears.” Apparently, Minaj believed she was expected to attend a community block party with

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barbecued food and picnic tables.

She didn’t realize DaSilva was actually talking about an event that has featured Nas and Damian Marley.

Drake, who has collaborated with Minaj countless times, headlined the concert only two years ago.

Maybe Drake explained to Minaj what Block Party actually is, or maybe she noticed the many annoyed tweets, but the pop superstar did apologize.

She tweeted: “Please accept our apology. *puppy dog eyes*” after she sent 14 mocking tweets. SU publicly accepted the apology — obviously via Twitter.

Minaj’s public miscommunication on Twitter only highlights a bigger problem. It’s really difficult to say the right thing on social networking sites.

There’s a huge possibility someone is going to misinterpret what you really mean. Whether that person is a pop

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ARIANA ROMERO

the one that got away star with multiple performing personas or your best friend, something’s going to get lost in translation.

A simple period becomes passiveaggressive punctuation. A smiley face at the end of a sentence is really the sign of a stage five clinger. Question marks become confrontational.

How many times have we read a text message in a completely different tone than the way it was intended? Then we feel silly. For most of us, it’s a weekly

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occurrence. At least we don’t have to apologize to an entire university. That gets really awkward, really fast.

Celebrities need to remember Twitter can create just as many problems as bad behavior at a nightclub or scandalous comments during an interview. And even worse, celebrities are putting the information out there themselves. There isn’t any vigilante paparazzi photographer hiding in the bushes or media outlet to blame for improper quoting.

Twitter is one of a few outlets where a celebrity can share his or her opinions with fans. Managers aren’t monitoring content or feeding them 140 characters of family-friendly messages.

So in the land of social networks, celebrities are responsible for the fallout.

Minaj isn’t the first star to make waves on Twitter for something like

t h e i n de pe n de n t s t u de n t n e w spa pe r of sy r acuse, new york

Dara McBride

Debbie Truong

EDITOR IN CHIEF

MANAGING EDITOR

this. She won’t be the last, either. Earlier this week, former Disney star Miley Cyrus also angered her fan base. She posted a photo of theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss and included a quote by him with the phrase “forget Jesus” in it. Many of Cyrus’ fans questioned her Christian values. One even offered to pray for her. Cyrus said she actually meant to remind her followers they were created from stardust.

Although celebrities deal with Internet drama on a much larger scale than everyday people, they can teach some pretty good lessons. Like, you should really know what you’re saying before you send it to almost 10 million people. When in doubt, Google it.

Ariana Romero is a sophomore magazine journalism major. Her column appears every Thursday. She can be reached at akromero@syr.edu.

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6 m a rch 8, 2012

news@ da ilyor a nge.com

PRACTICE FROM PAGE 1

Boeheim could not be reached for comment.

Since January, The Post-Standard has attended practices regularly and filed stories with reporting from watching those practices during a record-breaking season for the team.

Other media outlets, including The Daily Orange, have not been allowed to attend.

Jason Murray, sports editor at The PostStandard, confirmed beat writers from the paper returned to men’s basketball practices in early

“The common practice at any major college athletic program is to let all local media attend practices.”

Frank LoMonte

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE STUDENT PRESS LAW CENTER

dailyorange.com

January and that they currently have access to practices. However, Murray would neither confirm nor deny whether they were required to contact Moore with specific story ideas before showing up.

WAER and CNY Central did not return multiple messages left by The Daily Orange.

Ron Lombard, the news director at Your News Now, released a statement on behalf of the network to The Daily Orange. Lombard said YNN was not aware of any major change in the SU Athletics policy and valued its relationship with the athletics program.

“Some basketball practices are open to our cameras and reporters and others are not. I believe that’s the way it’s always been and we work within those rules,” Lombard said in an email.

However, in the recent past, reporters from local media organizations were able to attend practices on a regular basis. Game notes from SU Athletics were phrased differently before the Fine scandal and included no mention of a need for media members to report for a specific story.

In November, the game notes read: “Most Syracuse men’s basketball practices are open to attend but not to conduct interviews. …”

Current game notes now read: “Syracuse men’s basketball practices are currently closed.

When practice is open, REPORTING ON INJURIES OR GAME STRATEGY IS PROHIBITED. Contact Pete Moore to obtain the practice schedule and site, to learn if the practice is open, and to notify him if you plan to attend.”

Dara McBride, editor in chief of The Daily Orange, said men’s basketball beat writers have attended practices in the past without intending to write a story. Although the sports department has not contacted Moore with a specific story idea in mind since the scandal broke, it was never made clear that writers needed to communicate an idea to Moore before going to practices, she said. They were only told practices were closed.

Tyler Dunne, former men’s basketball beat writer and former managing editor at The Daily Orange, said he attended practice about every week during his time at SU to see what was new with the team and make his face known. Dunne said he would regularly contact Moore to see where practices would be located, but rarely had a specific story idea in mind.

“I remember multiple times going in and just standing on the sideline and maybe blogging something here or there, and it wasn’t an issue at all,” said Dunne, a 2010 graduate who now works as a Green Bay Packers beat writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Because it is a standard practice for credentialed media to have equitable access to practices, Michael Anastasi, president of Associated Press Sports Editors, said he would urge those responsible for the decision to reflect on the mission of their university and what it stands for.

Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, said because SU is a private institution, the athletic department can legally admit and deny whoever it wants to practices. But he said the policy goes against the traditional system for most major college athletic programs.

“The common practice at any major college athletic program is to let all local media attend practices,” LoMonte said. “That’s a widespread standard because that’s the way journalists get access to the coaches and players.” egsawyer@syr.edu

news@ da ilyor a nge.com

m arch 8, 2012

IDENTITY FROM PAGE 1

“Starting from schoolchildren all the way to adults, people have to be prepared for greater scrutiny, for being asked questions, for suspicion sometimes, for being treated differently from others,” said Haq. “And it gets more and more difficult the younger the person is.”

Islam, a faith that has more than a billion followers, is the second-largest religion in the world. In 2011, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life estimated roughly 2 million people in the United States practice it. But despite the widespread practice of the religion, events like Sept. 11 and recent reports of police monitoring on college campuses have caused Muslims living in the United States to fall victim to scrutiny, making some fear every action will get them placed on a list.

SU was one of the campuses where New York Police Department sent undercover officers to monitor Muslim student associations and events for suspicious terrorist activity, beginning in 2006. A student informant was on SU’s campus during that time.

This incident, in addition to the Sept. 11 attacks, brought changes in Islamic identity to light on college campuses. Although some Muslims shy away from fully expressing their faith for fear of backlash, others see it as an opportunity to embrace their identity and speak up against unfair judgments about them.

As president of SU’s Muslim Students Association, Azhar Ali said the news often makes students feel uneasy and that they’ve done something wrong when they haven’t.

“These people are our friends the same way that the Catholic students are our friends, or the Buddhist students are our friends.”

Hannah Miller

PRESIDENT OF HILLEL

Ali, a junior education major, has always wanted to make the organization of more than 40 students more welcoming to those who want to know more about their faith. But he said the recent incident could make his goals for the MSA more difficult to execute. After learning about the investigations, Muslim students may not want to attend MSA meetings or events, hindering Ali’s vision. Some students’ parents, he said, are even discouraging their children from hanging out with Muslim students.

“It’s going to become even more impossible because of incidents like this,” he said.

Ismail Pathan, a junior finance major and vice president of the MSA, said the incident strengthened his Islamic identity. After coming to college, Pathan said he starting noticing the negative perceptions the public had toward Muslims and felt it was his duty to change them.

“Part of the reason I became vice president of the MSA was to do this,” Pathan said. “To be involved, to talk to people, to have this opportunity.”

Pathan said there are different responses to incidences like Sept. 11 that reflect a change in Muslim identity today.

Though there are some individuals who choose to be vocal about their Islamic identity, Pathan said, others sometimes don’t want to share their views. They refuse to speak out in fear of retaliation from government agencies eager to question them. They choose to lay low and continue to live their lives quietly, he said.

But those individuals should go out and

socialize with non-Muslims. Otherwise, Pathan said, their hesitance to display their religious beliefs will leave the public with the negative images and ideas presented by the media.

Pathan said the MSA plans to hold a panel discussion regarding the NYPD monitoring after Spring Break. Though the event is still being planned, he said the panel would include people from the community including Haq, the Islamic chaplain, and Brian Small, the director of programming and student engagement at Hillel Jewish Student Union.

Muslims have an important role in changing outside perspectives as well, Haq said. He thinks Muslims should be more forthcoming and interact with others so people become aware of who they are and what they stand for.

The more outside pressure there is for Muslims to hide their identities, the more important it is to connect and embrace them, Haq said. Past incidents haven’t changed Muslim identity, he said, but have instead put them in more focus.

Unfortunately, that focus involves special scrutiny.

The United States has not learned from past experiences, said Mehrzad Boroujerdi, director of the Middle Eastern Studies Program in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He referenced Pearl Harbor and the U.S. government’s detainment of Japanese Americans for purposes of maintaining national security.

“Unfortunately, one would hope that we have gone through a learning curve, that we’ve learned what is a mistake,” he said.

Although Boroujerdi understands the need for the monitoring, he said there would be more of an outcry if another group were the subject.

“I think we need to sort of complicate the narrative a bit, this simplistic good guys versus bad guys narrative that, unfortunately, the media loves to embrace,” Boroujerdi said.

News of the NYPD monitoring does not bode well for a community of people who already see themselves as second-class citizens constantly trying to prove their identity, he said. Each Muslim must make a choice, he said, of either choosing to educate others or act like everyone else and practice only inside their home.

Both Ali and Pathan said they have not personally encountered a moment when they were treated differently at SU, and they said it has been easy for them to interact with other students.

Hillel released a statement in February announcing their support for the MSA after the AP report was published.

“These people are our friends the same way that the Catholic students are our friends, or the Buddhist students are our friends,” said Hannah Miller, president of Hillel. “We just wanted to make sure that they knew and that we publicly made it clear that we support them and we’re on their side.”

As vice president and president, respectively, Pathan said he and Ali enjoy talking to students and hearing people’s opinions, he said. After three years, he knows they’ve changed at least one person’s opinion about Islam.

“It’s trying to show that we’re just like everyone else in this country,” Pathan said. “If we can change one person’s idea, I’d say we’re pretty successful.”

To portray Muslim identities in a more positive light, Ali said he thinks there should be institutions in place to make being a Muslim on campus easier. The university has the resources to invest, but the change must come from the bottom up, the MSA. Pathan said he encourages others to view Muslims on campus as any other student.

“Have an open mind, and for a second, try to forget all you know and all that you heard from the media and just get to know someone on that level,” he said,” and then try and create your own opinion or perception of what it is.” mjberner@syr.edu

7

8 m a rch 8, 2012

news@ da ilyor a nge.com

HOTEL

FROM PAGE 3

hotels will bring in $17 million in annual spending downtown, an area the city has worked to revitalize. This will generate a need for more services in the area.

Ben Walsh, deputy commissioner of business development in the Office of Neighborhood and Business Development in Syracuse, said a downtown hotel is positive for the community.

“Moving this forward will not help just Armory Square, but the city of Syracuse as it looks to attract bigger events at the OnCenter.”

Linda Hartsock

DIRECTOR OF THE CONNECTIVE CORRIDOR.

“Armory Square is the center of economic and cultural activity, not only downtown but in the county,” he said.

The Inns at Armory Square would particularly serve the OnCenter, Hartsock said. Currently, there is insufficient lodging to support the center, which has 99,000 square feet of banquet, dining, retail and meeting spaces.

“Moving this forward will not help just Armory Square, but the city of Syracuse as it looks to attract bigger events at the OnCenter,” she said.

Jean Kessner, Syracuse councilor-at-large, said downtown Syracuse is often criticized for its lack of hotel space.

“There have been a number of false starts downtown, particularly to serve the convention center,” Kessner said, including stalled plans for the renovation of the Hotel Syracuse and prolonged debate over a convention center hotel.

Including the closing of the Hotel Syracuse, downtown has lost about 600 hotel rooms within the last 20 years, Hartsock said. The Inns at Armory Square will bring 175 rooms back to the area.

The Marriott will also bring about 100 permanent jobs and 100 construction jobs to the area, Walsh said. He said the varying skill levels required in hospitality would benefit the local economy.

“The unique nature of working at a hotel is that it does provide a career ladder that many other industries don’t,” he said. “You can start out working a low-wage, low-skill job and work your way up through management.”

Construction is expected to last 18 months, Hartsock said. The site is currently a parking lot on the corner of West Fayette Street and Franklin Street, according to a Feb. 28 CNY Central article.

Construction on an existing parking lot is a reflection of an improving economy, Walsh said.

“It shows us that the economy is changing,” he said. “A parking lot is no longer the most economically beneficial use of downtown real estate.”

Financing for the hotel began in July 2008, although the financial meltdown in October of that year slowed the project’s momentum, Hartsock said. Funding sources included local banks, the city, the county and the New York Business Development Corp., which recently provided the final funding package.

The budget for the project is more than $31 million, all funded by low-interest loans, Hartsock said. The hotel space downtown could influence further residential development in the area as well.

“If they (hotel guests) are looking for housing, they will like living downtown,” she said.

“They become prospects for the very innovative housing projects that are being planned.”

There is $54 million worth of investment in projects related to both new residential space and new commercial retail, she said.

“There are a lot of good things happening downtown,” said Kessner, the councilor-at-large, “and this hotel will just make that all the better.” nagorny@syr.edu

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m arch 8, 2012

9

BEYOND THE HILL every thursday in news

Kiss

and

tell

Utah Valley University students pitch their flavor-changing lip balm to investors on reality TV show

illustration by emmett baggett | art director

S

By Diana Pearl STAFF WRITER

tudents at Utah Valley University created a brand of lip balm designed to change flavors when two wearers are kissing. Some of the unique flavor combinations include “fire and ice,” “raspberry and lemonade” and “peaches and cream.”

Each package comes with two different flavors — one for each kisser. When the two combine, the wearers will get a special new flavor and, sometimes, even a special sensation. With the “fire and ice” flavor, the balm heats up and cools down on your lips, said Dallas Robinson, UVU student and co-founder of Kisstixx, which sells the lip balms.

Robinson originally thought of the idea for Kisstixx when he was in high school. His dissatisfaction with other lip balms on the market played a role in the formation of the idea of the company, he said.

“I did a lot of extreme sports, and my lips would always get dry and chapped,” Robinson said. “Then I would have something like prom the next weekend, and I’d be worried that my

lips were chapped and gross. I used every lip balm out on the market, and I just didn’t like how they tasted or how they went on.”

But Kisstixx didn’t become a reality until Robinson arrived at UVU, where both he and his business partner, Mike Buonomo, majored in business management, he said.

“I kept thinking of the idea all the time,” Robinson said. “It was always inside of me, and finally I thought if I see this on a store shelf in two or three years, I’m just going to kick myself for not doing it. So I decided one day that I was going to make it happen.”

Robinson introduced the idea in his business presentation class and received an overwhelmingly positive response, he said. After class, he received multiple offers to invest in the idea, including one from his professor.

The encouraging feedback helped set the plan into motion.

Robinson and Buonomo first contacted chemists from across the country to make the actual lip balm. After six months of trying different chemical formulas, they found the one they wanted to use, he said.

The team didn’t have extra funding at their disposal, so they used the resources their university and fellow students were willing to offer, Robinson said.

“They gave us some office space, and all the mentors at the school, including teachers, professors and everyone, were very supportive and very helpful in every aspect of the project, from business plan creation to the start of our distribution effort,” he said.

Thanks to their efforts, as well as the help of the university and their fellow peers, their product was picked up by several stores to be sold, Robinson said.

Recently, Robinson and Buonomo’s product appeared on “Shark Tank,” a reality TV show that features well-known figures in the business world evaluating proposals of entrepreneurs, said Peter Robinson, a business management professor at UVU. Robinson and Buonomo were working in Dallas, Texas, during the summer when they discovered the auditions for “Shark Tank.”

They waited in line for eight hours before pitching their idea for 45 seconds to a panel of judges,

Peter Robinson said.

“It’s an open casting call,” Dallas Robinson said. “It’s basically like ‘American Idol’ for business.”

Robinson and Buonomo made it all the way until the final round, where they were given several investment offers on air. The offer the duo ended up selecting was made by Mark Cuban, best known as the owner of the Dallas Mavericks.

“Mark Cuban made them an offer of $200,000 for 40 percent of their business, and on top of that, he would give them additional capital to help them grow without taking additional equity,” Peter Robinson said. “They have accepted that offer and have been working with Mark Cuban ever since.”

After graduation, Dallas Robinson said he hopes to continue to make Kisstixx his career and watch the brand grow.

Said Robinson: “We’re just trying to put together the best options for us to grow this company as fast and as big as we can.” dspearl@syr.edu

10 m a r c h 8 , 2 0 1 2

news@ da ilyor a nge.com

START-UP

CULTURE CONFERENCE

FROM PAGE 3

announced at the end of this week, Branagan said. He said applicants do not just include students from Syracuse University, but from other schools and countries as well.

Lorraine Branham, the dean of Newhouse, helped organize the project. She said she is excited for the tournament.

“We hope it will be an ongoing project and something that students will be involved in each year,” Branham said.

She said she feels that previously there were

EXHIBIT FROM PAGE 3

is for education — experiential learning.”

Gloria Castorena, a graduate assistant, said the exhibit contains four separate models, each

“The major reason for presenting the exhibition is for education — experiential learning.”

Bradley J. Hudson

VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS MUSEUM STUDIES PROFESSOR

of which are on a 1-foot-to-1-inch scale of the exhibition space.

The annual South by Southwest conferences and festivals showcase original music, independent films and emerging technologies.

Source: sxsw.com not enough opportunities for communications students and entrepreneurial activities involving digital media and other forms.

“We’re dipping our toe in the water with Student Startup Madness,” she said. “It’s one more opportunity for our students who might want to go in a different direction.” klees@syr.edu

“There are four three-dimensional models and some CAD drawings in the exhibit completed by students of my class,” Hudson said.

“These models or drawings were developed to envision an exhibition of Public Sculpture which will take place in the State office building on Warren Street.”

The exhibition, titled “Hidden in Plain Site: Sculpture in Syracuse and the Work of the Public Artist in Residence,” will take place from April 14 to May 12.

“Creativity through Exhibition Design II” also includes photos taken by students in the class showing the progression of the models, Casterena said. Another aspect of the class project was to build a 3-D model using Google SketchUp to portray the exhibition design.

The Design Gallery is located on the first floor of The Warehouse and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. jbdermer@syr.edu

news@ da ilyor a nge.com

m arch 8, 2012

BOUCHER FROM PAGE 3

that comes “painfully and so joyfully alive.”

The novel, which takes place in western Massachusetts, is about a young reporter’s struggle to raise his unique son: a 1971 Volkswagen Beetle that runs on the stories he tells it. The original 1960s book, which shares the same title, was a major inspiration for his novel, Boucher said before the reading.

He said, however, that he wanted to turn it into something entirely different to match his own unique style.

“My story has some surreal rules,” Boucher

“It was interesting. I think he was one of the most interactive authors we’ve had so far.”

actual heart attack by including a vicious “heart attack tree” in the novel.

Students in the ETS 107 class who attended the event said they found the readings to be appealing.

“It was interesting,” said Adam Weigel, an undeclared freshman in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. “I think he was one of the most interactive authors we’ve had so far.”

Weigel also said he liked how Boucher revealed that many elements of the novel, including the settings and characters, were autobiographical. This allowed the audience to connect with the author on a more personal level, he said.

Jason Gao, a freshman in the pre-law track, said he found the readings engaging.

“I thought it was really eventful,” he said.

Gao also said he liked the “how-to” format of the book when he read it on his own and thought it was even better when Boucher read it aloud for the audience.

kristen parker | asst. photo editor CHRISTOPHER BOUCHER, Syracuse University graduate and author of “How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive,” discussed his novel Wednesday night in Gifford Auditorium.

smhazlit@syr.edu

Adam Weigel

UNDECLARED FRESHMAN IN THE MARTIN J. WHITMAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

warned his audience before he started his readings. He then described how he uses units of money to describe time throughout the novel.

Boucher graduated from SU in 2002 with a master’s degree in fine arts. He said he began work on his novel while he was a student at SU. An early version of the novel was the thesis for his final year of graduate school, he said.

Many of the metaphors he used in the novel were inspired by actual events in his life, Boucher said. Boucher symbolizes his father’s

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“How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive,” a wacky post-modern novel that takes place in western Massachusetts, is about a young reporter’s struggle to raise his unique son: a 1971 Volkswagen Beetle that runs on the stories he tells it. The original 1960s book, which shares the same title, was a major inspiration for his novel, Boucher said before the reading.

Boucher started the novel while a student at Syracuse University in the Creative Writing Program. Volkswagens have been a part of Boucher’s life for many years, from driving around in his father’s Volkswagen bus as a child to a 1984 Volkswagen Rabbit as an undergraduate student at Brandeis University. Today Boucher teaches writing and literature at Boston College and is managing editor of Post Road Magazine.

FRI

11

Dress in green for free entry in honor of the Irish.

Source: syr.edu

MARCH 22-24

PAGE 13

THURSDAY

m a rch

8, 2012

the daily orange

A broad perspective Students capture, reflect on wide range of eyeopening experiences

E

very photographer has “that shot” — when time stands still just long enough for the camera to capture the perfect moment. For some, the opportunity knocked during their

the sweet stuff in the middle

CHINA TRINIDAD

travels. Four globetrekking students with a thirst for travel and knack for photography share their favorite shots and reveal how they managed to snap them.

— Compiled by The Daily Orange

CALIFORNIA Shijing Wang

JUNIOR PHOTOJOURNALISM MAJOR

There were approximately 100 people gathered together in front of the City Hall plaza of Shenzhen, a city in southern China

filled with immigrants from other areas in China. People lit up candles to pray for 40 innocent deaths and almost 200 injured people in a train collision in Wenzhou and to protest against the unreasonable excus-

es that the Chinese government brought to the public. Haiyue Tang, a secretary from Wenzhou who was working in Shenzhen, lit her candle and prayed for the tragedy that happened in her hometown.

ENGL AND

Bobby Yarbrough

MILITARY PHOTOJOURNALISM STUDENT

In 2010, I had the honor of traveling with the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps on a tour of the West Coast. The unit is the only Drum and Bugle Corps in the U.S. Armed Forces. They visited Marine Corps installations in California to boost morale.

During a stop at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, I went backstage and captured the Marines warming up for a show.

Teresa Sabga

Even during practice, the Marines maintain bearing and are very serious.

The drum section was showing off a little, the drummers all in a single line. I put a fisheye lens on my camera to try and capture them in a single frame.

I noticed the Marine Sgt. Bryan Draught calling commands and leading the practice.

I wanted him to look like a leader, so I shot up from a kneeling position to make him appear bigger.

FRESHMAN ART PHOTOGRAPHY MAJOR

Alyssa Stone

SENIOR PHOTOJOURNALISM MAJOR

As a photojournalist, some of my best images are made while I am simply observing. This means being patient and doing a lot of moving around. I shoot what catches my eye and let the moments unfold in front

of me instead of forcing them to happen.

I was working on a class assignment in an unfamiliar section of London. The area I photographed was on the outskirts of the city in the fourth zone of the underground tube called Burnt Oak. I wandered into a barbershop after little luck

walking around and asked to take photographs. Only one barber gave me permission. I observed multiple questionable activities from the corner of my eyes. One of my favorite aspects of this photograph is that the subjects are watching football, which gives a sense of place.

Every year, Trinidad celebrates Carnival the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. People of all ages, races and backgrounds come together to parade in the burning sun, dressed in beaded and feathered costumes. The entire country shuts down to spend those two days on the street, though it was originally celebrated for two months.

Carnival fascinates me because it unites a diverse population through the shared feelings of enjoyment and awe. Emotions normally suppressed on a daily basis come to light during the festival. Vast amounts of colors are used during the festival. The colors symbolize the freedom of expression the masqueraders feel during the celebration. The participants are free to express themselves in any manner, throwing social expectations aside.

14 m a r c h 8 , 2 0 1 2

pul p @ da ilyor a nge.com

humor

Apply socially unacceptable behaviors beyond stressful midterms week

A

friend and I sat in a booth at Kimmel Food Court, silently eating. A sense of stress filled the air. The only noise came from the crack of our Crunchwrap Supremes.

It subtly mocked us.

The friend looked up and confessed, “I’ve had Taco Bell three times this week.”

“It’s OK,” I answered. “This is my fifth consecutive day.”

There is only one way to rationalize our admittedly unhealthy eating habits — it’s midterms week. This week I have 15 exams, seven papers and four projects. And of course, I have yet to start working on them.

While midterms usually mean studying, more studying and a little bit of crying, this week also offers a unique window of opportunity: anything is socially acceptable.

You can step outside social boundaries. Any semblance of a normal routine dissipates, leaving ample room to stretch the rules of what is deemed socially acceptable.

For example, my roommate came home Tuesday to find me huddled on my bed,

EMMIE MARTIN

no pants, no problem covered in crumbs with an empty box of Thin Mints at my side. Her knowing stare asked it all: Did you eat that entire box?

Yes. But it’s midterms week.

We exchanged a nod of understanding.

At dinner, another friend vented her stresses and confessed she wore the same pair of sweatpants to class multiple days in a row. Under normal circumstances, we would have laid down the law. If you’re wearing sweatpants, you can’t sit with us.

But, you guessed it, it’s midterms week.

Anything goes.

Instead of surrendering to being the hot

mess that a week of stress commands, I’m using this as a way to make any borderline behavior OK. In the words of my best friend: “I have an exam, so I’m going to skip showering tonight. And skip showering tomorrow morning.”

But this freedom shouldn’t have to end after midterms are over. There is a surefire way to make midterm-week behavior acceptable at all times. Repetition. Anything is OK if you tell yourself: “I do it all the time.”

Is it OK if I spray-paint a giant letter E inside a picture frame in my room? Sure, I do it all the time.

Can I illegally download every movie featuring Nicolas Cage? Yeah, it’s fine. I do it all the time.

Dude, should I hand out candy from my van?

Totally. I do it all the time.

Just kidding about that last one. That’s never OK. Like magic, hazy situations suddenly transform into acceptable behavior. We can apply the same free pass for recklessness given

to us by midterms to our everyday life. It’s like Christmas for those of us with sketchy behavior patterns.

Last semester, I had various chocolates for three meals in row once: M&M’s as breakfast cereal, a Snickers bar for lunch and a Hershey’s bar for dinner — actually, a Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar with Almonds since I was feeling gourmet. I feel no shame replacing dinner with candy. And you know why? I do it all the time.

We don’t need to change how we act. We just need to change others’ perceptions of our actions. This is a chance to be shameless. A chance to be fearless. It’s a chance to disregard hygiene, eat chocolate for dinner and keep stealing spoons for your collection without any thought of repercussions.

All right, maybe that last one is just for me.

Emmie Martin is a sophomore magazine journalism major. Her column appears every other Thursday. If you’re looking for her, she’s probably working on her fourth Crunchwrap this week in Kimmel. Email her at esmart01@syr.edu and follow her on Twitter at @emmiemartin.

dailyorange.com

pul p @ da ilyor a nge.com

m arch 8, 2012

15

Photo: Ajooni Sethi

yuki mizuma | staff photographer CHRIS WHITEHEAD AND DEBORAH THACH, a sophomore political science major and undecided freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, respectively, perform a poetic argument in The Love, Sex and Poetry Open Mic Night hosted by Verbal Blend.

Stirring emotions, heartfelt stories resonate with crowd

By Maxx Antonucci CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Peter Rosado moved to center stage. A stream of calming rhythm and blues music faded as he faced the audience in Gifford Auditorium. The lights from the screen behind him cast a dark shadow around his frame.

“I told you I love you,” said Rosado, a senior psychology major, passionately projecting his feelings of the risks of wanting to stay with his true love forever. The crowd became still, with only an occasional whisper heard.

He gestured emphatically, his voice straining as he projected words of hope and anguish to the audience without speaking through a microphone. When he finished, the audience gave a humbled applause.

The Love, Sex and Poetry Open Mic Night, hosted by Verbal Blend on Wednesday night, showcased Rosado and other poets expressing their emotions on topics revolving around love and sex. It was Verbal Blend’s first event of 2012 with a broad topic for students to vent in any way they chose to.

“Obviously we’re gonna say some very fun things, some sexy things,” said Rosado, the founding president of Verbal Blend. “But there’s also very solemn pieces.”

The poets thoroughly explored the world of love and sex. Pieces ranged from love letters never received, outright hatred of the damaging effects of love, women being seen as sexual objects and one-night stands.

One performance that struck a chord with the audience was by Deborah Thach, an undecided freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Chris Whitehead, a sophomore

political science major. The two acted out the poetic argument of a boy begging his girlfriend for forgiveness after cheating on her. Thach’s furious refusal to believe her boyfriend’s lust for love had the audience enthusiastically snapping their fingers. The crowd watched as Thach flipped off Whitehead and left him.

Thach was excited about how the performance was received, especially since it was her first time at an Open Mic Night. She said she found the atmosphere welcoming.

“Verbal Blend always has a good crowd,” she said. “Everyone’s always snapping, everyone’s always encouraging.”

While many new poets made their debuts, several experienced ones also presented. Michael Gaut, a recent University of Nigeria graduate, said he keeps up with Verbal Blend and attends the group’s open mic events whenever he can.

He recited a lengthy poem about leaving the only woman he loves and returning to an empty life.

“Welcome to the daily life of a poet who pours his heart out onstage,” he said in a saddened voice, reading entirely from memory with wit and stirring emotion.

Cedric Bolton, coordinator of student engagement in the Office of Multicultural Affairs and founder of Verbal Blend, said the night was extremely successful. He hoped the Open Mic Night will help students make the transition from writing poetry to performing it. He said it provides a space for students to express their bottled-up emotions.

“People were really portraying their experiences,” Bolton said. “Whether it’s the poetry or the love.” meantonu@syr.edu

Picture yourself abroad next semester. Apply now.

The deadline for fall 2012 programs is March 15.

Be sure to finish your application before you leave for spring break!

Visit suabroad.syr.edu for details on programs and application requirements. Financial aid is available.

COM ICS& CROSS WOR D

16 m a r c h 8 , 2 0 1 2

PERRY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP

APARTMENT 4H

by nicholas gurewitch

by john kroes

by mike burns

| burnscomicstrip.blogspot.com

| 4hcomic.com

| lde-online.com

SATURDAY MORNING BREAKFAST CEREAL

COMIC STRIP

| 4hcomic.com

by joe medwid and dave rhodenbaugh

LAST DITCH EFFORT

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by zach weiner

| smbc-comics.com

Have a great Spring Break!

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splice

m arch 8, 2012

17

every thursday in pulp

Out of control From shaky cameras to wild yet unrelatable plot, ‘Project X’ self-destructs

A

By Daniel Taroy STAFF WRITER

ny movie can seem decent when watched with the right kind of people.

“Paranormal Activity” only becomes better and scarier in a theater full of squirming teens, halfsobbing and half-peeing. And “The Room” turns into a genuine work of art when you have friends taking shots with you every time Tommy Wiseau’s saggy backside appears onscreen.

In short, an audience can make watching complete slop a little more manageable.

Such is the case for “Project X,” an obnoxious exhibit of jackassery that hopes to offer a fresh take on the tired, out-of-control house party story. And with sex, drugs and alcohol aplenty, it’s no wonder the theater was packed with college bros eager to take part in — if not draw inspiration from — its debauchery.

Unfortunately, the audience was the only aspect of the experience that made the movie worth watching.

Seriously, if you’ve never been in a crowd that cheers for topless bouncy houses or groans at a testicle-punching dwarf, then you’re missing out.

Otherwise, this is just another get-popular-or-dietrying high school fantasy. Sweet and unassuming Thomas (Thomas Mann) is turning 17, and his abrasive best friend Costa (Oliver Cooper) is throwing him a legendary birthday party that will, it is hoped, make them celebrities. And to round out this trio of clichés, Jonathan Daniel Brown stars as J.B., the butt of everyone’s jokes and the outsider in this group of nobodies.

Apparently, Michael Cera, Jonah Hill and Christopher Mintz-Plasse couldn’t make it this time around.

Played by young low-profile actors, Mann, Cooper and Brown could’ve given the movie some actual adolescent sensibility. Instead, they’re just some thickheaded jerks hoping to get laid and wasted.

“Project X” begins with Thomas’ parents conveniently leaving town to celebrate their wedding anniversary, leaving the house with a pool and a sizeable backyard. As expected, their laundry list of warnings goes unnoticed. Stay out of the office?

Answer every phone call? Please.

That would only get in the way of the boozy mayhem, all caught on film thanks to a mostly unseen cameraman named Dax (Dax Flame).

As one might expect, the found-footage gimmick quickly outstays its welcome within the first five minutes. It didn’t do much for “Cloverfield,” and it doesn’t do much here — unless it purposefully aimed to instill the same sense of nausea in its audience as it did in its partygoers. In which case, the shaky cam is a rousing success.

Though the night starts off slowly, the party guest list eventually snowballs to more than a thousand party rocking teens — thanks mostly to Costa’s guerilla invites all over the Internet and local radio stations. At first, Thomas timidly resists. But a couple of shots and some ecstasy later, he’s fearless in a classic party-god-on-the-rooftop scene. With helicopters circling overhead, the riotous bash is soon broadcast on the evening news.

And that’s when things start getting really unbelievable.

Produced by “The Hangover” director Todd Phillips, “Project X” isn’t as much of a comedy as it is a big screen adaptation of “Girls Gone Wild” with traces of “Superbad” ambition. Yes, the bras go flying, but there’s also the vague adolescent desire for thrills and beer that seems slightly familiar. At least in the first half of the movie.

But as soon as dwarfs start busting out of ovens and the neighborhood literally goes up in flames, the movie loses touch with its audience. I’m guessing not many of us have gone to a party busted by a SWAT team and a crazed drug dealer armed with a flamethrower.

To be fair, you don’t need to believe movies like this to have fun. Even the most ridiculous ones wind up being a little bit more accessible if there are characters we can invest in. After all, McLovin did a pretty good job of making us care in “Superbad.” But that’s where “Project X” fails most.

Though it was nice to think that the college kids in the theater were beyond hoping to get laid and wasted, I’m sure that won’t stop them from trying. dataroy@syr.edu

wikimedia.org

“PROJECT X”

Director: Nima Nourizadeh Cast: Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper, Jonathan Daniel Brown, Kirby Bliss Blanton

Release date: March 2 Rating:

graphic illustration by aj allen | design editor

1.5/5 Popcorns

18 m a r c h 8 , 2 0 1 2

SCOOP FROM PAGE 1

is seven years older than Scoop, drove while the two youngsters enjoyed the ride.

But Wilson took the vehicle without his parents’ permission. And when a car began tailing them, Scoop thought it was all over.

Grand theft auto.

“I thought it was a cop,” Scoop said. “I thought we were going down.”

It turned out to be Scoop’s mother, who recognized the car and all three boys inside.

“That wasn’t good,” Scoop said with a laugh.

It’s a neighborhood where gunshots and drug deals faze no one, where people who have overdosed lie on the sidewalks “looking like zombies,” as Wilson put it.

Yet Scoop managed to avoid becoming another South Philly statistic. Through strong familial bonds and four years at Neumann-Goretti High School, a national basketball power, he made it out. He has already graduated from Syracuse University, and he’ll take two degrees with him when he leaves in May. Along for the ride are Richards and another cousin, Theron “Smoke” Richards, who live with Scoop off campus. His basketball career has become a family affair of sorts, with relatives constantly in and out of his apartment and his father at every game since freshman year.

Two disciplinary issues as a freshman left his future at Syracuse uncertain, and he said everyone expected him to be expelled. But those watchful eyes of his family and friends, some of whom have already seen the inside of a penitentiary, are what kept Scoop on track.

Now he’s poised to lead a 30-1 Syracuse team into the Big East tournament and beyond, with all of South Philly on his back.

“We’re too talented, too gifted and have too many opportunities to be another statistic and caught in that cycle of South Philly,” said Wilson, who played college basketball at Rhode Island. “So before any of us could get that chance, we were on each other’s a** about not going that route.”

••• Three years. That’s how long Scoop and Wilson shared a bed.

They lived together in the South Walk projects at the home of Scoop’s grandmother, Deborah Jardine. There, the bond of friendship turned into a union of brotherhood.

Both attended Neumann-Goretti. Both went on to play Division-I basketball. Scoop was the big brother Wilson never had.

“I was real raw growing up, and the six years we were together he basically made me who I am and influenced a lot of me,” Wilson said.

On the court the brotherhood meant matching Scoop’s competitiveness, so naturally they still remember the fight. A tussle for a loose ball turned into Scoop throwing a punch. Then they hugged like boxers. Then Scoop bit him.

“We started hugging and grabbing each other, and I bit him on the chest,” Scoop said.

Later that day, it was as if nothing had happened. They went home, back to South Walk and back to the shared bed.

Off the court the brotherhood meant looking out for each other. The whole team was in and out of the home of Deborah Jardine, who is affectionately known as “Grams.” It was the safe house for any and all of their NeumannGoretti teammates.

“Grams’ house was kind of the home away from home for a lot of guys on the team,” said Carl Arrigale, the head coach at NeumannGoretti.

Wilson and Scoop were joined by Wali Hepburn and Earl Pettis, both future college players, and Dion Waiters, Scoop’s teammate at

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SU. The group, which included others as well, huddled around the television for a turn on the PlayStation and raided Grams’ refrigerator on a daily basis.

As long as they were in the house, they would be out of trouble.

“I have to thank my mom for that,” said Scoop’s father, Antonio Jardine. “Just having that spot where they could go so they don’t have to be in the streets.”

In college, the brotherhood between Scoop and Wilson meant consoling each other.

Scoop said everybody thought he was going to be kicked off the team and possibly expelled after two separate legal incidents his freshman year. Wilson was kicked off the team at Rhode Island in December after three-plus years of butting heads with then-head coach Jim Baron.

“If you start out young and you’re very talented, everybody in South Philly kind of puts you on a pedestal,” Wilson said. “And that pedestal sends you to college a little bit arrogant and ahead of yourself.”

The first incident was a sexual assault allegation against Scoop, Jonny Flynn, Rick Jackson — who played with Scoop at Neumann-Goretti — and a fourth SU student. They were later cleared of all criminal or university charges, but the details are still unknown and the situation remains mysterious. The same year, Scoop allowed a cousin to use a stolen Syracuse ID card and purchase $115.65 worth of food.

Wilson, who is a year younger, said Scoop called him after those two incidents and warned him about what to look out for in college. Scoop’s snap-out-of-it moment came as a freshman, meaning he had time to reform.

Wilson was given the boot midway through his senior season.

“What happened with him, fortunately it happened early, so he got his wake-up call right away,” Wilson said.

Two weeks after Wilson was dismissed, Scoop called him to talk. He convinced his best friend to stay in school and earn a degree. He wouldn’t let him drift back to South Philly to fade into the life they fought to avoid.

Like always, the conversation ended with “I love you.”

••• Almost four years. That’s the combined amount of time Scoop’s cousins Smoke Richards and Jahron Richards have spent in jail.

They fell victim to the spin cycle. They were South Philly statistics.

“Once you get in the circle, that line is like an electric gate that will zap you right back in,” Smoke Richards said.

Smoke Richards was zapped back in when he tore apart his left knee, shattering his dreams of becoming a college running back.

Once his knee crumpled under the weight of multiple defenders as a sophomore on Penn Wood High School’s junior varsity team, his mindset changed.

He had a new first priority.

“It was go sell drugs,” said Smoke Richards, now 35. “That was my first thought.”

He’d seen his cousins and friends all do it.

Hell, slangin’ was what got them the girls, cars and money they flashed around the neighborhood. So it couldn’t be that bad, right?

Wrong.

Smoke Richards sold cocaine, marijuana and heroin on the streets of South Philly while already on the run from police. After six to seven years of hiding, he was caught and served two years.

Jahron Richards, 30, dropped out of high school to hang out with a group of people who smoked weed and stole cars. He served a year and a half for charges stemming from each of those activities.

“Before I went to jail, I could barely read or write or do math or any of that,” Jahron Rich-

ryan maccammon | staff photographer SCOOP JARDINE has developed from an immature teen living in South Philadelphia to the unsung leader of one of the best Syracuse teams in program history this season. ards said. “I was being around the wrong crowd and influenced by the wrong people.”

Now, they have escaped the circle and become the right people. Now, they help Scoop.

Jahron Richards and Smoke Richards live with Scoop in a three-bedroom apartment off campus in Syracuse. They’ve been instructed on how to take care of Scoop after a crash course from Antonio Jardine. Their job is to keep him in line, make sure he learns from their mistakes and stays out of trouble.

“Don’t fall weakness to what we have done,” Smoke Richards said he told Scoop.

They try to make Scoop’s life as easy as possible so he can focus on basketball. They clean the apartment, make his bed if he forgets and cook him food.

Smoke and Jahron Richards bicker, almost like a married couple, over who is the better cook. Jahron Richards says he’s better because he is great with seasonings. Smoke Richards claims to be the best because he makes good food without seasonings, “which only kill you faster.”

Plus Jahron messed up the grits on Monday morning. Smoke and Scoop’s younger brother rag on him for that.

“When I go home, it’s great because it’s not about basketball,” Scoop said. “You get away from it, and it’s fun. It’s family moments. I’m grateful for it.”

They’re treated like family within the basketball program, always hanging out with the players and interacting with the coaches. Scoop said they even play pick-up games with some of the managers.

And after nearly a year in Syracuse, they’ve found a circle that’s beneficial to be a part of.

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve met so many people,” Jahron Richards said. “I definitely got emotionally attached to Syracuse. I know I’m definitely going to miss all this.”

••• Twenty-five days. That’s the maximum amount of time Scoop has left as a Syracuse basketball player.

It scares him a little. Life without Syracuse

seems odd after being here for five years.

He’s morphed from a 17-year-old kid on a pedestal into a 23-year-old adult mature enough to be a coach one day.

“I think he’s matured and improved as much as you could ever ask somebody to,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “He’s grown up a lot.”

It’s a transformation that is remarkable, not only in its broad scope — from the streets of South Philly to Syracuse — but also in it’s fortuitousness.

He could have easily been shown the door after back-to-back bouts of trouble his freshman year. But Syracuse took a chance on him.

Boeheim, Athletic Director Daryl Gross and SU Chancellor Nancy Cantor were all part of a team that went to bat for him, Scoop said.

And he’s thankful.

“Everybody thought they were going to give me the boot,” Scoop said. “… They all took a chance for me. It’s funny because now you look four years later, they took a chance and I proved them right.”

Scoop admits there are still people who view him as a knucklehead and troublemaker after those incidents. But he brushes them off, saying he will continue to do what he does and leave his past behind him.

This year, he’s proving critics wrong and leading Syracuse toward a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. His timely shot-making and leadership abilities have guided this team to the best regular season in school history.

April 2 is the date for this year’s national championship in New Orleans. That’s the ultimate prize, the ultimate capstone for Scoop’s career if he can achieve it.

Back home, South Philly continues to ride the wave. Hepburn, a former high school teammate of Scoop’s, said Syracuse basketball is the talk of the town. Everyone clears off the streets and into a place with a television to watch one of their own as he attempts to bring home a title.

A title for Scoop would be a title for Fifth Street.

“It’s for everybody,” Scoop said. “We’re doing it for back home.” mjcohe02@syr.edu

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m e n ’s l a c r o s s e

Pratt impresses at midfield after spending 2 seasons at OCC

By Chris Iseman ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

Matt Pratt never really entertained the notion.

Playing for Syracuse would be a dream, but it seemed out of reach. A lack of interest from Division-I teams, including the Orange, dispelled the possibility of one day playing on the Carrier Dome turf.

But two standWho: St. John’s out seasons at Where: Queens, N.Y. Onondaga ComWhen: Saturday, 1 p.m. munity College changed all of that.

“Going to OCC was one of my only options,” Pratt said. “But then, going to Syracuse, obviously being from Binghamton and being from the area, as soon as they talked to me it kind of opened my eyes, and it was like ‘Wow, this would be great.’”

In each of his two seasons at OCC, Pratt helped lead the Lazers to national championships. He also earned himself National Junior College Athletic Association All-American twice. He did it all in the shadows of the Carrier Dome, out of the spotlight and off the college lacrosse radar. After his first season at OCC, the SU coaching staff began talking to him about the possibility of joining the Orange. It became official during his second year. Pratt would play for Syracuse for his junior season.

When he completed his two years at OCC, Pratt

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fray that is March Madness, not having a great shooter is a major concern. The last season in which SU held a No. 1 ranking was the 2009-10 season. That team also earned a No. 1 seed. That team had two great shooters.

The lack of consistency from beyond the arc, coupled with Fab Melo’s limited offensive game compared to that of Arinze Onuaku, are the two main reasons why that Syracuse team is better than this year’s Syracuse team.

The NCAA Tournament is single-elimination. An off night can mean a slew of nights off until next year’s season begins. And that’s why having a cold-blooded, knockdown shooter is more important.

Enter Andy Rautins, son of Leo Rautins.

He was, put simply, an assassin. Six times he made five or more 3s in a game his senior year.

Fifteen times this season Syracuse has made five or fewer 3s in a game as a team.

Oh, and Wes Johnson hit 41.5 percent from long range, too. That luxury cannot be undervalued.

“I think with Wesley and Andy we were a little more consistent from the perimeter that season,” SU assistant coach Gerry McNamara said. “I think this year we’ve had multiple guys that are capable of making shots, we’ve just struggled.”

Struggled might be a bit of an understatement. The 2011-12 Orange ranks 155th in the country in 3-point field goals made per game. It ranks 162nd in 3-point field-goal percentage.

Do you remember the last juggernaut team to roll through the regular season despite a slew of average-at-best shooters?

Memphis with Derrick Rose. The Tigers rolled all the way to the national championship game with just one loss, 38-1. The knock on them all year was that no one on that team could make a jump shot on a regular basis.

Not Rose. Not Doneal Mack. Not Willie Kemp. Sometimes Chris Douglas-Roberts.

That team shot 34.9 percent as a team from 3-point range and lost to Kansas to finish the

moved up the road to SU, earned himself a spot on Syracuse’s third midfield line and showed his ability quickly — on national television — when he scored his first SU goal against No. 1 Virginia last Sunday.

Pratt will look to help Syracuse (2-1) rebound from its 14-10 loss to the Cavaliers when the Orange plays St. John’s in its first Big East game Saturday at 1 p.m. in Queens, N.Y. “He’s won two championships at OCC, and it shows when he steps on the field,” junior midfielder JoJo Marasco said. “He can play with anyone.”

Although when he started high school, Pratt didn’t think so.

The Binghamton native wasn’t recruited heavily going into college. And Pratt wasn’t interested in the schools that did call. So he chose to attend OCC for two years before moving to another program.

When it comes to junior college lacrosse, OCC ranks near the top. In the two seasons Pratt was with the Lazers, they won national championships, NCJAA Region III titles and Mid-State conference championships.

In his sophomore year, Pratt scored 36 goals and notched 35 assists during OCC’s 19-0 season.

And as it turned out, that was also his year of preparation for the Orange.

Once Syracuse started talking to him, Pratt said, his future was defined.

season as national runner-up. The Tigers shot 6-of-22 from 3 in the title game.

Syracuse is an even worse shooting team from long range than Memphis at 34.3 percent.

“Come NCAA Tournament time, I think you say your prayers and hope that you don’t hit a cold spell,” Rautins said.

But let’s say you do hit a cold spell. Let’s say the up-and-down shooting of Dion Waiters, Scoop Jardine and Kris Joseph is mostly down.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have an inside presence who could score consistently in the low post? That’s certainly not Melo.

Don’t get me wrong. What Melo brings on the defensive end of the floor for this year’s team is not even close to anything Onuaku could provide two years ago. His athleticism around the rim is a boost, too. Lob city.

Yet there’s something to be said for that prototypical big man who can post up and produce.

That was Onuaku to the tune of 20 games in double figures his senior year with four games of 15 or more points.

Melo has reached double figures only 10 times this season, and he’s never topped 15 points in his whole career.

“Arinze was a very good rebounder, and he was a low-post presence offensively,” McNamara said. “… I think the biggest difference was Arinze that year was more of a threat to score.”

But Onuaku got hurt. His injured knee killed Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament. DaShonte Riley wasn’t ready, and SU fell to eventual runnerup Butler. All around the SU community, it’s widely believed that a healthy AO gets the Orange to at least the Final Four two years ago.

When healthy, that team was the perfect three-headed monster. Onuaku inside, Rautins outside and Johnson doing whatever he wanted.

No brainer. I’ll take the old guys.

“We had guys crying when he hurt his leg,” McNamara said. “… If he doesn’t go down, I’m a firm believer that we make a Final Four run.”

Michael Cohen is a staff writer for The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at mjcohe02@syr. edu or on Twitter at @Michael_Cohen13.

“He’s in there on defense, offense, he’s a great twoway middie. He really brings a lot to this team, so every game we play, the more he’s out there, the better his confidence is.”

Ryan Barber

SU MIDFIELDER

Pratt brought a versatile skill set to the SU midfield with the ability to play both offense and defense, something Marasco said is rare in college lacrosse. Most midfielders focus only on being proficient at one end of the field, but Pratt’s more than competent at both.

He can clear the ball, ride, score and defend equally well.

“He’s in there on defense, offense, he’s a great two-way middie,” SU midfielder Ryan Barber said. “He really brings a lot to this team, so every game we play, the more he’s out there, the better his confidence is.”

Pratt received his first exposure to the increased level of attention that follows Syra-

BROWN FROM PAGE 24

season. The individual accolades include three All-Big East selections, the conference’s defensive player of the year in Fab Melo and the league’s best sixth man in Dion Waiters. And Saturday, it tied the Big East record with 17 wins in league play, something only one other team has done in the 33-year history of the conference.

“I know 17 wins in the Big East is really great,” senior Scoop Jardine said. “It’s really great because going on the road in this conference is not easy. To go on the road and almost win every game and continue to win every game at home, what coach and what team wouldn’t want to be in the position we’re in right now?”

Simply put, the only reason this team won’t go down in history as the best Syracuse team ever is if it falls short of a national title. In that case, the default goes to the 2002-03 squad that owns the program’s only national championship.

But even without a national title, a handful of other teams could lay claim to the title of Syracuse’s best ever. One of the more intriguing groups in the mix is the unit from the 2009-10 season.

That year, it lost to eventual runner-up Butler in the Sweet 16. It’s not a stretch to say SU could have knocked off Kansas State and Michigan State just as the Bulldogs did to reach the championship had Arinze Onuaku not suffered a knee injury in the Big East tournament. And from there, it would have been a one-game playoff with Duke.

Still, this year’s Orange is better thanks to those two areas that separate it from every other Syracuse team in history. And it starts with the defense.

“Defense wins games for you,” head coach Jim Boeheim said. “We’re in the top two in the league in almost all defensive categories. … You look at all the categories,

cuse lacrosse when the team played No. 1 Virginia last weekend.

In the second quarter, Pratt dodged Cavaliers defender Matt Lovejoy from the left of the crease and took a hard shot into the upper part of the net for a goal.

The line of Pratt, Barber and midfielder Luke Cometti has produced six goals so far this season, giving Syracuse plenty of production on the third line.

Barber said Pratt’s “underrated” speed keeps opposing defenses moving, which creates open space for the Orange’s scorers to shoot or feed off to someone else.

“I think it was just him getting comfortable with who he’s playing with and the offenses we were running,” Barber said. “But he really stepped in and jumped right into contributing right away.”

Pratt’s seeing increased time on the field every game, especially with the way his line has been playing. And the more he plays, the quicker he’ll get to the high level he was playing at during his time at OCC. “His confidence is rising every week, and he’s more and more comfortable with that line, and he’s getting a lot more runs,” Marasco said.

“I think that’s huge for him, and he’s starting to play like he did at OCC, and he’s bringing it to a higher level now at Syracuse.” cjiseman@syr.edu

we’re right there.”

But the stat most indicative of just how good this team’s 2-3 zone is, is the fact that no Syracuse team in the past 60 years has ever allowed fewer points per game (60.2).

The 1950-51 SU squad held opponents to 59.2 points per game. But that was more than 60 years ago. The mascot was still a Saltine Warrior, and there was no shot clock, no 3-point line and no Boeheim.

The team from 2009-10 was solid defensively. The national championship team was, too. But this year’s team is special.

“We know we’re able to pressure guys,” senior Kris Joseph said after SU’s second game of the year. “We have the athleticism and length to do it. And we’re going to continue to do it.”

And SU has done it all season.

That dominant defense has been aided by the second aspect that separates this team from the rest. Boeheim has said all year this is probably the deepest team he has had at Syracuse. That depth eliminates the need for a clear-cut star, although the aforementioned individual accolades for this team show that there might be a couple on the team anyway.

In addition, constantly having fresh legs allows the Orange to play with defensive intensity every game.

“That helps,” Joseph said. “We’re used to going seven, maybe eight guys deep. This year, there’s no denying that we have 10 guys that can really play.”

With that depth, its defense and a 30-1 record, this Syracuse squad already has taken its place in the SU record books. With a national championship, it will go down as the best team in program history.

But even without a title, it should be at the forefront of that conversation for years to come.

Zach Brown is a staff writer at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at zjbrown@ syr.edu or on Twitter at @zjbrown13.

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Adams rises above being partially deaf

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By Stephen Bailey ASST. COPY EDITOR

Luke Adams stepped to the free-throw line for the first of three shots, and the Texas Christian student section began ridiculing his floppy haircut. The fans’ chants of “Justin Bieber” rained down on the Texas Tech guard and echoed throughout Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.

“It was pretty bizarre,” Adams said. “I’ve had some people joke around about it. The guys do, but never in an actual game.”

Adams didn’t let the chants faze him, though. The 5-foot-9, 150-pound freshman tackled far more adversity to achieve his dream of playing Division-I basketball after being born unable to hear from his right ear and with just 10 percent hearing in his left. During Adams’ journey to Texas Tech, he silenced doubters, proved doctors wrong and found normalcy in a lifestyle many would consider debilitating.

Adams relied almost exclusively on lip-reading before having a cochlear implant installed at age 11. The device is made of an auditory receiver deep inside his ear that is wired to an external magnetically attached transmitter system, which includes a sound-processing microphone.

“I guess when the little guy doesn’t know he’s the little guy, he can accomplish big things,” Adams said.

His parents, Mark and Jennifer Adams, didn’t know their son was deaf until Adams was about 2.5 years old.

Jennifer Adams thought that when Adams pulled her face close to his, he was being cute.

Astoundingly, he was reading her lips.

It wasn’t until Fourth of July weekend in 1994, when Adams sprinted away at Disney World despite his parents’ frantic screams to come back, that they suspected he was hearing impaired.

A few days later, his mother had Adams face away from her before banging a pan violently behind his head.

He didn’t even flinch.

She soon took Adams to see an ear, nose and throat doctor, who administered an auditory

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courtesy of texas tech athletic communications of us to be able just to hear,” Red Raiders head (RIGHT) LUKE SCOTT has overcome numerous obstacles associated with his partial deafness to take on a supporting role in his freshman season at Texas Tech. brain response test. “(The doctor) said, ‘Your son is profoundly deaf,’” Jennifer Adams said. “He said, ‘Your son will lose all his speech utterances. Your son will never use his voice. Your son will need to learn how to (use) sign (language).’”

He recommended Adams attend the Texas School for the Deaf in Austin, Texas.

But they chose to fit Adams for hearing aids and hired an auditory-verbal therapist to work with him regularly. With her help, they trained Adams to listen — not lip-read — by covering their mouths while speaking.

“I was just determined that he was going to talk,” Jennifer Adams said. “I was determined that he was going to go to a regular school because he didn’t have a cognitive disability. I knew he was smart, he just couldn’t hear.”

When his family moved to Lubbock, Texas, when Adams was 6, school officials said he couldn’t join the public school system. So he enrolled at Trinity Christian Academy, where he stayed until January of his junior year in high school.

Throughout the chaos, Adams never let his disability hold him back.

“If it bothered him, I never knew it,” Jennifer Adams said. “He never cried about it. He was very, very resilient. I guess because they

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always told him he was never going to be able to do certain things, he always rose above it.”

When the cochlear implant was installed, Adams could suddenly hear sounds like the clicking of a turn signal on a car and the fizz of a soda can when opened.

That heightened hearing ability carried over to success on the basketball court.

During summers, he practiced every day with the Howard College (Texas) basketball team, which his father has coached since 2004.

Playing at Big Spring (Texas) High School as a senior, Adams led Class 3A in scoring with 26.9 points per game. He received scholarship offers from numerous mid-majors, junior colleges and Division-II schools, but he chose to walk on at nearby Texas Tech.

“I pretty much could go to any Division-II school I wanted, but Division-I was always what I had my dreams on,” Adams said. “And everyone always told me that I couldn’t play at this level. So in spite of that, I just wanted to prove everyone else wrong.”

And he’s done that so far. Wearing his trademark headband, which holds the cochlear implant in place, Adams averages roughly 20 minutes per game and has scored in double figures three times.

“He probably had to work harder than most

coach Billy Gillispie said. “And he definitely works harder than most players to be able to play.”

Adams speaks frequently to children with cochlear implants, sometimes talking with them on the court, before or after games.

Adams met with the mother of a boy with cochlear implants in both ears before last Saturday’s game against Missouri. She told Adams that a doctor said her son would never play sports and that Adams served as their inspiration.

“She said, ‘Well, thank God for you. We didn’t know if he would be able to. I always think he would love to play basketball,’” Adams said.

He still faces challenges every day, be it a flight attendant on an airplane assuming he was a team manager or the external magnetic section of his implant falling off during games, rendering him incapable of hearing anything.

He finds a way to succeed regardless of the circumstance.

Even during his collegiate debut — a moment he had envisioned his whole life — Adams brushed off the jeers emanating from the Horned Frogs’ student section and knocked down all three free throws.

Those TCU students join the Lubbock school administrators who turned Adams away and the doctor who said he would never read above a second-grade level as people Adams has proven wrong on his path to success.

“If you have faith, anyone can accomplish anything,” Adams said. sebail01@syr.edu

VISIT >>> This sudoku wishes you a happy spring for LIVE updates during SYRACUSE’S run in the BIG EAST tournament break SPORTS.DAILYORANGE.COM

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22 m a r c h 8 , 2 0 1 2

sports@ da ilyor a nge.com

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MEN’S BASK ETBA LL (30-1, 15-1) 1SYRACUSE VS. CONNECTICUT9(20-12, 7-8)

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STARTING LINEUP

THURSDAY, NOON, ESPN

POINT GUARD

SHOOTING GUARD

SCOOP JARDINE

SHABAZZ NAPIER

6-2, 195, SR 8.6 PPG, 4.9 APG

6-1, 171, SO 12.6 PPG, 5.9 APG

BRANDON TRICHE

6-4, 205, JR 9.4 PPG, 2.7 APG

SMALL FORWARD

JEREMY LAMB

KRIS JOSEPH

6-5, 180, SO 17.9 PPG, 1.8 RPG

ROSCOE SMITH

6-7, 215, SR 14.5 PPG, 5 RPG

6-8, 205, SO 4.5 PPG, 3.4 RPG

Napier was scoreless in the last meeting between these two teams, but he scored 26 points in UConn’s overtime win over West Virginia on Wednesday.

Both are heading into this game off a strong performance. Triche scored 18 points in SU’s season finale against Louisville, and Lamb had 22 against West Virginia.

Smith had the final shot in SU and UConn’s last contest, but his game-tying attempt was blocked by C.J. Fair. Joseph is looking to win his first Big East tournament.

POWER FORWARD

CENTER

COACHES

RAKEEM CHRISTMAS

ALEX ORIAKHI

6-9, 222, FR 2.6 PPG, 2.6 RPG

6-9, 228, JR 6.9 PPG, 4.9 RPG

Oriakhi’s averaged five points and three rebounds in two games against SU. It’s unlikely Christmas sees many minutes in any Big East tournament games.

FAB MELO

7-0, 244, SO 7.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG

ANDRE DRUMMOND

JIM BOEHEIM

6-10, 270, FR 10.1 PPG, 7.6 RPG

36TH SEASON 886-302

Drummond had one of the best games of his career in the meeting against SU in Storrs, Conn., scoring 17 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

presents

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The Huskies are 3-0 since Calhoun’s return. Associate head coach George Blaney coached UConn in the first two games between Connecticut and SU.

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23

SPORTS

THURSDAY

march 8, 2012

PAGE 24

the daily orange

Syracuse entered March as a No. 1 seed and national title contender in 2009-10. The Orange rolled to a 30-1 record this season, so

Which team is better?

Outside shooters separate 2009-10 SU from this one

Defense, depth of 2011-12 team can’t be matched

MICHAEL COHEN

ZACH BROWN

not a dime back

why would i lie?

t’s Jan. 14, just before 8 p.m. Syracuse and Providence won’t tip off for more than an hour, but SU’s best shooter is already out on the floor warming up.

He’s sweating through his sleeveless Orange compression shirt, firing up jumper after jumper. He doesn’t miss.

He rains 3-pointers from everywhere beyond the arc, with nearly every shot swishing perfectly through the basket.

Come game time, though, the sweat on his forehead has long since dried.

He won’t see the court tonight. He never does.

That’s because SU’s best shooter is Trevor Cooney, a freshman who head coach Jim Boeheim elected to redshirt this season.

“If you want to say that there aren’t some great shooters on this year’s team, yeah, you’re right about that,” former Syracuse forward Leo Rautins said.

And as we enter the unpredictable

here are two main differences between this year’s Syracuse basketball team and any other team in SU history.

After the regular-season finale Saturday, Brandon Triche summed up what makes this team special and did it in order of importance.

“Our defense is on point,” he said.

“That’s all that matters right now. …

You’ve got to be able to play defense.

And we’ve got guys who can put the ball in the basket. Whether it’s first half or second half, we’re going to get it going. We have five or six guys that can do that.”

There you have it. Defense and depth. Those are the keys that have allowed Syracuse to do things on the court this year that the school has never done before.

It set program records for best start (20-0) and most regular-season wins (30) and didn’t lose in the Carrier Dome for the first time since the 2002-03 national championship

SEE COHEN PAGE 19

T 2009-10

I

daily orange file photo

stacie fanelli | asst. photo editor

SEE BROWN PAGE 19

conference rea lignmen t

Big East brings in Temple for football in 2012 to replace West Virginia

By Chris Iseman ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

Temple will join the Big East for football this fall and all other sports in 2013, officials announced at a press conference in New York City on Wednesday.

The Big East Board of Directors voted unanimously to approve the Owls, giving the conference eight football teams for 2012. The Owls fill the void left when the conference terminated West Virginia’s membership Feb. 14, effective in June.

Big East Commissioner John Marinatto said at the press conference that he and Temple Athletic Director

Bill Bradshaw first met “well over a year ago” to discuss adding the Owls to the conference, and their discussions intensified during the past several weeks.

“The decision to invite Temple was based on a number of important factors,” Marinatto said at the press conference, “including its longstanding tradition as a basketball powerhouse, its renewed commitment to competing at the highest level in football and the great value of adding the Philadelphia television market to our football footprint.”

Temple finished its 2011 regular

BIG 8

With the addition of Temple, here are the schools that’ll make up the Big East’s football schedule in the fall and their 2011 records: SCHOOL

RECORD

Cincinnati 10-3, 5-2 Big East Connecticut 5-7, 3-4 Louisville 7-6, 5-2 Pittsburgh 6-7, 4-3 Rutgers 9-4, 4-3 South Florida 5-7, 1-6 Syracuse 5-7, 1-6 Temple 9-4, 5-3* *Mid-American Conference

season 9-4 and beat Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl. In the last four years, the Owls have won 31 games.

Temple’s football team competed in the Mid-American Conference last season, while all of its other teams played as members of the Atlantic 10.

This is the second stint in the Big East for the Owls’ football program, after it competed in the Big East from 1991-2004.

Marinatto also said that the conference would be open to discussing the possibility of an early departure for Syracuse and Pittsburgh. Marinatto has previously

said the schools would be forced to wait until the 2014 season as per the 27-month waiting period required

by Big East bylaws.

“Our membership, given the speed and success of our expansion initiative, I think is open to having the discussions with both Pittsburgh and Syracuse about them having an early departure,” Marianatto said at the press conference. “We haven’t actually had those conversations yet, but our membership is certainly willing to do that at this point given the way we’ve landed.” cjiseman@syr.edu