Fordham Observer Issue 3 2012

OPINIONS

SPORTS

A valid candidate option?

PAGE 8

Try out a new, fun way to workout.

PAGES 19

ROCK CLIMBING

RON PAUL

THE OBSERVER www.fordhamobserver.com

FEBRUARY 23, 2012 VOLUME XXXI, ISSUE 3

PHOTO SPOTLIGHT

Birth Control Policy Questioned

By HARRY HUGGINS News Co-Editor

The president of Fordham’s chapter of the national organization Law Students for Reproductive Justice (LSRJ) said in an interview last week that the Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) Health Center does not follow a school policy that allows for the prescription of hormonal contraception to students to treat medical conditions, such as endometriosis.

The Fordham website states that the University’s birth control policy is as follows: “Neither contraceptives nor birth control are distributed or prescribed on premises as a standard practice.”

It does, however, stipulate that, “Student Health Services does make limited exceptions for the treatment of medical conditions accompanied by supporting documentation.”

According to President of Fordham’s LSRJ Bridgette Dunlap, Fordham Law School (FLS) ’12, the Health Center is not prescribing birth control for even those with medical conditions treatable with hormonal contraception. Based on the group’s own unconfirmed research and interviews, Dunlap said, “With the information we have right now, I would not recommend getting your exam at the health center if you have any kind of menstrual symptoms, if you have a history of it or if you’ve been prescribed it to regulate your periods or anything like that.”

LSRJ’s warning stems from anecdotal reports Dunlap has heard from surveyed female students who have sought birth control under Fordham’s health exception policy. Vice President of Fordham’s LSRJ Emily Wolf, FLS

SARA AZOULAY/THE OBSERVER

The Fordham mainstage performance of Naomi Iizuka’s “Anon(ymous),” directed by Sonoko Kawahara, retells Homer’s “Odyssey” from the view of a young refugee fleeing political turmoil at home. Performances are at 8 p.m. on Feb. 23 and 24, March 1, 2 and 3 in Pope Auditorium.

President’s Proposal Would Affect Future Financial Aid

By FA ITH HEAPHY and LAURA CHANG Editor-in-Chief and News Co-Editor

During his State of the Union address on Jan. 24, Barack Obama proposed a tuition cap on college education, saying that institutions that continued to raise prices would be cut off from some federal funding. Fordham, which was named the eighth most expensive college in the nation by Forbes last year, has cause to remain alert about the proposal. If it were to be implemented, Fordham’s financal aid package for students could face some changes.

“We can’t just keep subsidiz-

ing skyrocketing tuition; we’ll run out of money,” Obama said during his speech last month.

“States also need to do their part, by making higher education a higher priority in their budgets. And colleges and universities have to do their part by working to keep costs down.”

The proposal advocates lower tuition prices, smaller increases in tuition and admitting more low-income students. Under the proposal, federal work study programs, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG) and Perkins loans could face cuts from the federal government. According to Tom Dunne,

vice president for administration, the overall amount in financial aid Fordham students received during the 2010-2011 school year was 113 million dollars—with 96 million of that used for undergraduates. During the 2010-2011, Fordham offered $898,463 in Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants, $1,110,326 in Perkins loans and $2,137,284 toward work study programs.

The proposal has caused some stir with university administrators.

“This is the first time in history the government has tied federal campus aid to campus tuition policies,” said

see BIRTH CONTROL pg. 4

Dunne. “It has had the higher education sector quite upset.”

While Dunne feels that the proposal’s support for Pell grants and the doubling of work study jobs for five years is beneficial, a major f law with it is that it doesn’t take into account regionalization.

“Our costs are high because of the fact that we’re in New York City,” Dunne said. “Room and board, tuition—anything seems to be higher in New York City as opposed to other parts of the state. The president’s proposal is trying to lump everyone together and it’s not fair and it see TUITION CAP pg. 5

MSA “Know Your Rights” Forum Held in Light of NYPD Surveillance

Inside OPINIONS

FASHION

Fashion is stuck in a time warp. u PAGE 6

LITERARY

DEEP CUT

“This will cure your everything.” u PAGE 18

ARTS

END OF AN ERA

These shots give you the bigger picture. u PAGE 12

By L AURA CHANG and RICHARD RAMSUNDAR News Co-Editor and Asst. News Co-Editor

On Feb. 18, the Associated Press exposed the New York Police Department (NYPD)’s surveillance of Muslim college students across the northeastern United States. NYPD monitored the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at Ivy League schools including Yale and Columbia.

The Huffington Post reported that police looked through student websites run by Muslim student groups at Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers and 13 other colleges in the Northeast. The

NYPD also sent officers on school trips where undercover agents recorded student names and noted the number of times they prayed during a whitewater rafting trip.

Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC)’s own MSA held a “Know Your Rights” seminar on Feb. 21 to inform students of their civil rights.

City University of New York’s Creating Law Enforcement Accountability and Responsibility (CUNY CLEAR) was invited to the event to provide students with advice and information, including what to do if they were stopped by law enforcement.

Nusrat Jahan, president of MSA and FCLC ’13, said that not every Muslim American knows his or her

THE STUDENT VOICE OF FORDHAM COLLEGE AT LINCOLN CENTER

rights. “This is perfect timing for a workshop like this,” Jahan said.

“Muslims want to cooperate with the police and they don’t want to seem suspicious or be a target.”

According to CUNY CLEAR representatives, the NYPD’s surveillance of Muslim Students Association has been going on for quite some time.

Diala Shamas, legal fellow, and Amna Akbar, supervising attorney and adjunct professor at CUNY School of Law, provided solutions to scenarios where people have interaction with law enforcement.

“People always have the right to remain silent when questioned by see MSA pg. 3

2

News

February 23, 2012 THE OBSERVER

Q&A: ARISTOTLE PAPANIKOLAOU & JOHN P. ENTELIS

Briefs METRO

NYC Conflict of Interest Violated

www.fordhamobserver.com

Award Winning Professors Q&A’s

The New York Times reported on Feb. 21 that Cynthia Hines, a sergeant at a youth detention facility had violated the city’s rules regarding conflicts of interest by selling insurance policies and various investment products for the company Primerica. NYC’s rules clearly state, “You may not use your role as a public servant for financial gain, you may not enter into financial relationships with co-workers, and you may not perform non-city business during work hours.” As a result Hines has been suspended for 30 days and will have to forgo $3,926.67 in pay.

Painting on Sale for $80 million According to the Associated Press, Sotheby’s auction house announced on Feb. 21 that Munch’s Scream will go on sale this spring in New York for $80 million. This canvas is one of four that the Norwegian artist painted, but it is the only one to remain in private hands. If it sells for $80 million, it would be one of the most expensive pieces of art sold ever. The proceeds are to go towards the construction of a new museum, art center and hotel in Hvitsten, Norway.

NATIONAL

Romney Leads in Michigan On Feb. 20 the Associated Press announced that Romney led the race in Michigan. At 32 percent he was ahead of Santorum by 8 percent. Being a Michigan native and spending nearly twice as much as Santorum on his campaign, probably helped Romney gain his lead.

Supreme Court Hears Affirmative Action Case According to the Associated Press, the Supreme Court announced on Feb. 21 that it will hear an affirmative action case regarding the role of race in admissions in higher education. Abigail Fisher, a white student from Texas who was denied admission to the University of Texas circuit, filed that the university’s race-conscious policy was a violation of her civil and constitutional rights. The Supreme Court has not heard a case about affirmative action since 2003.

INTERNATIONAL

Numerous Prisoners Escape from Behind Bars in Mexico On Jan. 20, nearly 40 people were killed as 30 inmates escaped during a weekend prison riot in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. According to CNN, investigators say that the fighting was a result of a rivalry between two drug cartels. The prison guards as well as the prison director are under investigation due to speculation that they had helped the inmates escape.

Gov. Rodrigo Medina said, “There is no doubt that without the help of prison officials, it would have been very hard to make this escape... For us, it is difficult to confirm that the betrayal, corruption and complicity of a few can hinder the work of good police, soldiers and sailors who risk their lives daily for the security of Nuevo Leon’s residents.”

COURTESY OF ARISTOTLE PAPANIKOLAOU

Theology Professor Aristotle Papanikolaou recently won the Distinguished Teaching and Humanities Award from Fordham.

By KATHRENE BINAG Contributing Writer

On Feb. 3, Fordham held its annual Arts and Science Faculty Day at the Rose Hill campus. Several professors won awards, but two who teach at Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) were also recognized. Aristotle Papanikolaou, professor of theology, received the Distinguished Teaching and Humanaties Award, while John Entelis, professor of political science, received the Social Science Award.

ARISTOTLE PAPANIKOLAOU OBSERVER: What do you think

you did to deserve the distingusihed Teaching and Humanities Award?

ARISTOTLE PAPANIKOLAOU:

All I can tell you is what I tried to do. I teach theology and students wonder why they have to take it.

We live in country and culture where it’s up to us to decipher what theology should be. I try to teach theology in a way that shows students new ways of looking at it: ways of thinking about God, and religion. I want to teach in a way that perhaps shows my students why theology matters for their life. That might’ve had something to do with getting the award.

Russian Scientists Revive Flower from Ice Age

OBSERVER: What does receiving

On Feb. 21, Russian scientist Svetlana Yashina and her team were able to successfully regenerate a flower know as Silene stenophylla.

According to The Telegraph, the flower is the oldest plant to be regenerated from seeds that thrived nearly 30,000 years ago. Russian scientists said, “We consider it essential to continue permafrost studies in search of an ancient genetic pool, that of pre-existing life, which hypothetically has long since vanished from the earth’s surface.”

Because of this new accomplishment, the scientists are optimistic of the possibility of regenerating other lifeforms like the wooly mammoth and other Ice Age mammals.

A.P.: It definitely means a lot. It

Compiled by Richard Ramsundar and Rex Sakamoto

this award mean to you?

means that students and other faculty members respect what I’m doing. To have show of respect means a lot.

OBSERVER: Do you have any

plans for the future standing

upon this success?

A.P.: No, I don’t want to take it

for granted. I just want to try and continue what I’m doing—to give students a new way of thinking about theology. I want them to see how it’s relevant to their lives.

OBSERVER: Can you tell me one

of your favorite moments while teaching at Fordham?

A.P.: One is a general moment:

when students come to me and say that they have conversations about religion with people.

Because of my class they’re able to notice that things people say about religion/theology aren’t necessarily true. My students are able to be in the world, be engaged in conversations about religion and critically think about what these people are saying. The way they look at religion/theology now affects how they hear people and their way of thinking. For example, Bill Maher in his movie “Religulous” criticizes religion, wanting to show how religion is ridiculous. One of my students went to see the movie with a friend. Her friend readily agreed with Maher’s criticisms but my student was able to look at movie with a more critical perspective, noticing that things he said weren’t necessarily true. The Theology department is not trying to push anything on anybody; we want to teach critical thinking about religious ideas so they can make their own critical choices about these ideas.

Another favorite of moment of mine happened in the classroom. I was teaching a Theologies of America class and I was specifically teaching about Christian feminism in the 1970s. Christian feminists talked about how the person of Jesus can be talked about in terms of tradi-

COURTESY OF FORDHAM.EDU

Political Science Professor John P. Entelis received Fordham’s Social Science Award for his work in the Middle East.

tional male and female attributes to balance things out. One student said, “I don’t really get that. Does that mean Jesus was kind of like Pat from Saturday Night Live?” I literally stopped teaching for 10 minutes because I couldn’t stop laughing.

OBSERVER: What are some of your hobbies?

A.P.: I’m a Byzantine chanter.

That’s my main hobby. I used to play sports but not so much now.

OBSERVER: Are you currently

working on a project (i.e., writing a book)?

A.P.: I’m researching and writing

about something that has to do with tying how Christian notions of virtue, which I understood in terms of learning how to love, are relevant or could be relevant for combat soldiers who experience forms of post traumatic stress disorder from combat violence. I recently won the Louisville Institute Sabbatical Research Grant, which gives me time off to pursue research. I eventually hope to make my research into a book.

Thus, I won’t be teaching at Fordham next school year because of research.

JOHN P. ENTELIS

personal experiences that make me love teaching these courses.

OBSERVER: What does receiving

this award mean to you?

J.E.: The Social Science Award

is an award of excellence in teaching. I consider it such an honor to be appreciated by my students and fellow colleagues.

OBSERVER: Do you have any

plans for the future standing upon this success?

J.E.: My plan is to continue

teaching with the same enthusiasm and the same interest that I have been since I began here at Fordham. Receiving this award motivates me to do even better.

OBSERVER: Can you tell me one

of your favorite moments while teaching at Fordham?

J.E.: I do not have a single fa-

vorite moment because the best moments, for me, come from the letters and cards I receive from students who have graduated Fordham. These graduates send cards and letters, many years after they have graduated, that are filled with gratitude, thanks and appreciation for the classes they took with me.

OBSERVER: What are some of

your hobbies?

OBSERVER: What do you think you did to deserve the Social Science Award?

J.E.: I love to swim and ride my

JOHN P. ENTELIS: I think I

working on a project (i.e., writing a book)?

received this award based on the student responses, student reactions and student evaluations. I teach courses that revolve around the Middle East. I am not only enthusiastic about what I teach but I also love what I teach. I always travel to the Middle East and I come back to Fordham with

bike, but the one thing I do the most is run.

OBSERVER: Are you currently

J.E.: Yes, currently I’m writing a

book titled “Algeria at 50.” In this book, I’m evaluating Algeria’s development as a country 50 years after gaining independence.

Keep a watchful eye on Fordham. Join the Observer. email fordhamobserver@gmail.com

www.fordhamobserver.com

SABC Meets to Amend Club Guidelines

3

Calendar THUR., FEB. 23

Free Gyro Lunch

By HARRY HUGGINS AND REX SAKAMOTO News Co-Editor and Asst.

News Co-Editor

On Feb. 15, the Student Activities Budget Committee (SABC) met to revise their guidelines for clubs.

SABC is an independent committee that handles the policies, procedures and allocation of the money raised from the student activity fee charged to every Fordham student.

The meeting addressed problems in receiving enough applicants for SABC as well as potential budget drawbacks. Notable changes were made to budget policies regarding deadlines and to the procedure for filling open seats in SABC. It is now a policy that if a club does not have an advisor’s signature on its budget for two semesters in a row, SABC will hold their budget until they can get their advisor to sign it. This means that they will not receive their requesting funding. This is a result of clubs not spending enough time to compile their budgets ahead of time and then giving their advisor adequate time to review their proposals and then sign it. Also there will be a 20 percent deduction from late budget submissions unless the SABC board votes that there were extenuating circumstances by a two-thirds vote.

According to SABC Chairman Chris Chromey, FCLC ’12, clubs have become too accustomed to the quick responses of the Office of Student Leadership and Community Development and the United Student Government. As a result, they leave their budget until the last minute and expect that their advisor, who may be away or busy, to respond immediately with a handwritten signature.

Chromey said, “It’s always been a bit of a difficult issue to get advisors and clubs to work closely together, which they have to do to move through a budget. Some clubs ended up basically trying to cut the advisor out of the picture.” The purpose of the advisor is to provide the club with advice and experience and ensure that the club stays on track.

However, it is not always the club’s fault that they cannot contact their advisor. Sometimes the advisor just leaves. The purpose of this new amendment is to make sure that clubs and advisors have to work with one another and keep sight of

News

THE OBSERVER February 23, 2012

Noon - 2 a.m.

Student Lounge

Purple Dance Party 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Cafeteria Atrium

FRI., FEB. 24

Winterball 7 p.m. - 12 a.m.

Mandarin Oriental TUE., FEB. 28

Cue the Spotlight 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Student Lounge

Sketch Night at the Society of Illustrators with SAG 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Society of Illustrators 128 E 63rd St.

WED., FEB. 29

CAB Broadway Show Outing to Warhorse 6:45 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Sign-ups in LL 408

Relay for Life Zumba Classes 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Student Lounge

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY HARRY HUGGINS/THE OBSERVER

The Student Activities Budget Committee updated guidelines, now telling clubs that if they do not have their advisor’s signature on the budget pack two semesters in a row, SABC will hold their budget until it is signed.

their mission statement.

A club’s budget can also be frozen if it does not adhere to the following guidelines. It is now mandatory that a club’s entire editorial board attend training workshops.

In addition to several senior members of United Student Government (USG), SABC is includes three executive board members from clubs funded through SABC. Typically, candidates submit an application for one of the three at large seats. During the past two years, filling the 11 seats has been difficult. SABC is only an 11-person committee, so missing three seats would significantly affect the com-

mittee. Chromey said, “It skews the balance between administrators and students, and it also cuts out the opinion that you get from actual club leaders that would be benefited or hurt by any decisions SABC might make.” These seats are meant to act as a voice for the clubs and report back on club workings and the impacts of any changes SABC has made.

In order to guarantee that the three at large seats will be filled, SABC can now appoint clubs to choose one of their members to fill the position. Only if no club members can go are they exempt.

Lastly, club leaders can officially

attend SABC meetings to help explain their budget to the committee, but not during discussion of the budgets within SABC and their voting. This clause allows club leaders to defend their proposals, but also provides the voting members with confidentiality and allows them to express their true feelings.

Chromey said, “It’s engineered in a way to let those on the committee speak their mind and honest opinions, to be able to have an open conversation and voice their concerns.”

Adding this amendment makes the former unwritten rule an official SABC policy.

THUR., MARCH 1

Personal Statement Workshop Noon - 1 p.m.

LL 413A

CFM Program Info Session 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Student Lounge

Cellar Door Psychology Game Show 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Student Lounge

Senior Countdown Kickoff (90s Party) 8 p.m. - 11:45 p.m.

Atrium

MON., MARCH 5

MSA Invites CUNY Law to Teach Human Rights

Islam Meets America 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Student Lounge

MSA FROM PAGE 1

a police officer,” Shamas said.

He said that it is imperative for people to remain silent when questioned and to ask to see an attorney when pressed for interrogation. In addition, Shamas said that people should not give the police a detailed identification card, because it puts them at risk for further questioning.

In a scenario where an officer visits one’s home, Akbar said, “If an officer comes to the door you should ask for the warrant.” He said that it’s normal for police officers to visit neighborhoods as well as to question residents.

The speakers made it clear that knowledge of legal rights is one of the most important ways to combat police discrimination and threatening interrogation.

“They were documenting where Muslims were staying, eating and praying, therefore, it’s a good idea to know your rights since you never know where you can be stopped,” Akbar said.

In addition, Akbar said she was both horrified and not surprised when the AP article came out. “I was horrified because… the NYPD is criminalizing Muslim youth across the country without any good reason to do

TUES., MARCH 6

RISE Documentary Screening: The Cove 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Student Lounge

WED., MARCH 7

Free Organics from Whole Foods 2:30 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Plaza

Senior Week Countdown #2: Game Night & PJ Party 7:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Student Lounge

Compiled by Rex Sakamoto

Crime THU., FEB. 16 AYER CHAN/THE OBSERVER

After the NYPD monitored Muslim college students in the northeastern U.S., FCLC students attended MSA’s “Know Your Rights” event where they learned how to defend themselves if approached by law enforcement.

so,” she said, “I wasn’t surprised because based on everything we know about the NYPD’s opera-

tions on the Muslim community, we know that they are surveilling on a broad based suspicion

and we also know they don’t limit their operation to just New York City.”

At 10:00 a.m., a custodian discovered graffitti in the men’s bathroom on the first floor of McMahon Hall. Currently there are no leads.

Compiled by: Richard Ramsundar

4

News

February 23, 2012 THE OBSERVER

www.fordhamobserver.com

Law Students Claim Lack of Transparency BIRTH CONTROL FROM PAGE 1

’13, said that after reaching out to students for their experiences with the health center that she got “dozens of responses, but not a single response saying, ‘I had this medical reason and I did get birth control.’”

Wolf also experienced the Health Center’s actions firsthand. Last year, Wolf, who is on Fordham’s health insurance plan, went into the Health Center to have her annual gynecological exam.

Wolf has endometriosis, a condition in which uterine tissue grows outside the uterus, which causes severe cramping during her period. According to WebMD, acute cases of endometriosis can be treated with a birth control regimen. In the past, Wolf would be prescribed birth control pills to skip her period and the cramps, but when she asked the nurse about obtaining a prescription, she was told they could not provide it.

“I knew this coming in, that they wouldn’t prescribe [for contraceptive reasons],” Wolf said, “but I also knew that they had a health exception, so I thought that I would be able to qualify for it.

[The nurse practitioner giving her exam] said, ‘No, sorry, I can give you a prescription for painkillers.”

Wolf tried the painkillers, but they were not enough. She took an alternative route, making an appointment at a free clinic downtown where she got an intrauterine device, or IUD, placed in her uterus. Her type of IUD releases hormones that prevent pregnancy and help regulate a woman’s period. She got the device from a free clinic downtown.

Wolf went to the free clinic because, like many students on Fordham’s health care plan, she could not afford the $100 deductible to go to an off campus doctor for a prescription. The Fordham Insurance Plan costs $2,229 annually and, because of New York State law, does cover birth control; for those who can obtain a prescription, there is a copayment of $10 or $20, according to Dunlap.

According to Dunlap, the problem for students is getting that prescription. Another law

KATHERINE FOTINOS/THE OBSERVER

According members of Fordham’s LSRJ, students under Fordham’s insurance plan still find difficulty obtaining birth control prescriptions from the health center, despite the health exception that would allow the school to prescribe contraception for those who have certain medical conditions.

student who wished to remain anonymous had a similar experience with Fordham’s Health Center. This student knew of the Health Center’s policy but believed her ovarian cyst qualified her for a prescription under that exception. She showed the Health Center the results of a sonogram of the cyst in her medical file, but the nurse practitioner giving the exam still would not prescribe the

pill.

Although the Observer was able to confirm these two stories of women denied birth control prescription despite having documented medical conditions, the remainder of the cases Dunlap and Wolf cited are yet unconfirmed.

When asked to provide the number of women prescribed birth control by the Health Cen-

ter in the last five years, Director of Health Services Kathleen Malara declined to do so, saying that releasing the numbers would be a violation of student privacy. Student Press Law Center Consulting Attorney Mike Hiestand said that Fordham could share this information without violating any privacy laws, but that as a private institution it was not required to do so.

In their dealings with the Health Center, neither Wolf nor Dunlap believed the nurse practitioners giving the exams were the people responsible for refusing to prescribe birth control. “As far as gynecological exams go, I think students should feel comfortable about going [to the Health Center],” Wolf said. “Everyone that works there was great and very professional.”

Murphy, S.J. Sheds Light on Holy Grail, Pacifism in ‘Parzival’ Professor Discusses Crusades, Possibly Finding the Holy Grail in Loyola Chair Lecture

By RAY WALSH Staff Writer

On Feb. 15, the Dean of Arts and Science Faculty hosted Rev. G. Ronald Murphy, S.J, for the Loyola Chair lecture, entitled, “The Mysterious Stone: the Holy Grail in Parzival.” Murphy’s lecture shed light on how the 13th century poet Wolfram von Eschenbach put forth an argument for an end to the pointless violence of the Crusades in his romance, “Parzival,” the story of the Arthurian hero’s search for the Holy Grail.

“The Crusades had been so brutal,” Murphy said, “and the slaughter was such that one account relates that, as the knights made their way to the Holy Sepulchre, they waded in blood up to their ankles. Then along comes Wolfram and says ‘this was not necessary.’” “‘Parzival,’” he said, “stands at the beginning of the Muslim vs. Christian troubles, calling out for peace on Trinitarian grounds.”

Murphy explained that even though Christians are the only of the Abrahamic faiths who believe in a Trinitarian God—a God who is at once Father, Son and Holy Spirit united in one Being—they share a common ground with Jews and Muslims, who worship one of the members of the Trin-

against their Muslim brothers.

Murphy pointed out that “Parzival” is not like other Grail stories. Instead of a jeweled serving dish, chalice or ciborium, the Holy Grail in Wolfram’s romance is a stone.

This has significance, according to Murphy, in that the Holy

Urban II called the First Crusade in 1095, he rallied the Crusaders, not simply to take back Jerusalem, but to “enter upon the road to the Holy Sepulchre.”

In Wolfram’s time, it was a common practice for priests to carry and use portable altars, which were typically made of

“ The Crusades had been so brutal and the slaughter was such that one

account relates that, as the knights made their way to the Holy Sepulchre, they waded in blood up to their ankles.”

–

ity, God the Father.

“If this is true,” Murphy said, “then, for Wolfram, the Crusades are setting the forces of God the Son [meaning Christians, who believe that Jesus is the Son of God] against those of God the Father.” Wolfram in this way presents the Crusades as fratricide committed by the Christians

REV. G. RONALD MURPHY, S.J. , Loyola Chair lecture

Sepulchre, the tomb in which Jesus was laid after his death, was made of stone. The Holy Sepulchre had been a major destination for pilgrimage, and its capture by the Abbasids and later Fatimids in the 11th century, served as an impetus for the Crusades. According to the account of Robert the Monk, when Pope

wood. Priests would take three pieces of the Eucharist—which, for the Catholic Church, is considered Christ’s actual body— wrap them in a corporal, or shroud, and place them in the portable altar, sealing the opening with a precious stone.

Murphy explained that these gemstones are tombstones for

Christ’s body, and their transparency serves as a reminder of the resurrection of Jesus. “Tombstones,” he said, “have been made gems because the light of Christ has passed through them.” Just as Christ emerged from the stone tomb in his resurrection, light passes through the gemstones which contain the body of Christ.

Murphy continued, saying Wolfram’s message is that these portable altars, containing Christ’s body are the Holy Sepulchre. “Wolfram wants to say, ‘We have the Holy Sepulchre in the altar stone. We already have it, so what good would it do to get the old, used one back?’”

According to Murphy, Wolfram argues in “Parzival” that there is no need for the fratricide of religious violence in the name of the Holy Sepulchre, because the stone—the Holy Grail in “Parzival”—enclosing the body of Christ is in every altar.

Murphy has written a book on his findings, entitled “Gemstone of Paradise,” which is published

by Oxford University Press.

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER February 23, 2012

News

5

Obama College Tuition Cap May Affect Fordham TUITION CAP FROM PAGE 1

doesn’t take into consideration the high cost of living in the city.”

If the proposal were to go into effect, Dunne thinks it could harm the quality of Fordham as a whole by cutting benefits for staff, having professors teach more classes and hiring more adjuncts to teach instead of professionals.

“Fordham is successful because it’s a quality institution,” Dunne said. “We’re always working on the affordability issue and trying to lower costs. It’s difficult to say to someone, ‘Oh we’re going to lower your salary.’”

Zeinab Sayed, FCLC ’13, said she thinks Fordham administration might feel that affordability tarnishes the prestige of Fordham.

She said that it is important for the government to get more involved “because it will benefit students who are paying so much for tuition. Obama was a student at Harvard, so he could put himself in our shoes because he went through it, too,” she said With student loan debt at an average of $25,000 per student after graduation, according to CNN, affording college education and paying back loans is at the forefront of many students’ minds.

The proposal could be the ticket for the student vote Obama seeks.

According to Christina Greer, professor of political science at FCLC, Obama’s decision to speak about this during the State of the Union address was a move to get more votes.

ERIC SEALS/DETROIT FREE PRESS/MCT

President Barack Obama continues to defend his college education proposal during his speech at the University of Michigan.

“By saying that he supports education, that is not just a nod to the youth vote, but that’s also a lot of parents who are looking down the road at a $50,000 tuition bill every fall,” Greer said.

While the proposal has not been approved by Congress yet, Greer said the President needs to be cautious if the plan were to eventually be implemented.

“We really want to be careful not to set up a system in the United States where our institu-

tions of higher learning are only for people of a particular financial background,” Greer said. She said that we do not want cases where east coast and west coast students stay in their respective parts of the United States for higher education. If that were to happen, she said that, “universities would lose out on intellectual diversity in classrooms that come from ethnic or geographic variety.”

The success of the program, Greer said, depends on what kind of

Want More?

Read exclusive articles and check out our videos online.

caps will be placed on financial aid.

When asked if the proposal would be successful if implemented, Greer said that it depends on how it will be enacted and what kind of caps will be placed on schools. “If there are small limits, universities can help find the money to subsidize in other ways, but if the caps are so severe, then we start seeing people that fundamentally can’t [afford] and even think about Fordham as an option,” she said.

Greer said that she thinks it is important for college students to pay attention to these types of proposals as the cost of higher education increases and more people need government subsidies to help offset these costs.

“Many people think politics is just about voting, but so much of the policies that go on are beyond social security and more,” Greer said. “It’s things that actually directly impact you and your finances.”

Think Summer, Think Fordham • Internship opportunities • Advanced and core classes in every discipline • Live on campus • Enjoy summer in the city

Session I: 29 May–28 June Session II: 3 July–7 August

fordhamobserver.com Learn more at

fordham.edu/summer or call (888) 411-GRAD

Opinions

February 23, 2012 THE OBSERVER

STAFF EDITORIAL

TRANSPARENCY IS KEY IN BIRTH CONTROL POLICY

A

s students, we expect Fordham to be open about its policies and provide students with information about what is clearly stated in its manuals.

Many students are unaware that the Health Center is required to provide birth control in the case of specific medical conditions— and understandably so. The caveat, which is mandated under New York State law, wasn’t made clear on Fordham’s website until Bridgette Dunlap, Fordham Law School ’12, brought it to administrator’s attention. This is the only exception to Fordham’s Catholic stance against contraceptives. Fordham’s Health Center states the following on its website: “Neither contraceptives nor birth control are distributed or prescribed on premises as a standard practice. Student Health Services does make limited exceptions for the treatment of medical conditions accompanied by supporting documentation.”

Despite the exception, according claims reported in Harry Huggins’ article “No Evidence of Practice of Health Exception for Birth Control” on page one, there is no

“Students with legitimate health concerns have still been denied birth control.” proof that it has been observed. If the claims are correct, students with legitimate health concerns have still been denied birth control.

Because of this, many have needed to go off campus to seek medical assistance, such as at free clinics. Others who already subscribe to Fordham’s health plan, were required to shell out additional money to obtain prescriptions for health problems at other places in the city.

We have seen extensive media coverage surrounding the topic today, especially since Obama recently changed his policy on the issue to allow Catholic institutions to deny birth control. It is a long-held and particularly contentious debate. One side argues that an institution has the right to hold on to its

religious principles, exercising its dogma as it sees fit. The other side argues that an institution as large and diverse as Fordham needs to be sensitive to the needs and beliefs of its students and faculty, even if they conflict with Catholic teaching.

Regardless of one’s stance on the debate, we all agree that transparency and honesty should always come first. And while we cannot always find clarity in politics, we do expect that Fordham will be as clear as possible with its students and follow through with what they have publicized as the exception to the rule.

There may have been cases where the exception was adhered to; however, we have no knowledge of it. If Fordham wants its students and faculty to be able to respect its foundation as an institution, information on the matter must be made public to generate the conversation and set the record straight. We at the Observer propose that Student Health Services release the number of students to whom they’ve prescribed birth control.

Modern Fashion Follows Old Trends Instead of Creating New Ones Designers Only Manage to Imitate the Past, Not Imagine the Future BIANCA JEAN-PIERRE Contributing Writer

While walking past a newsstand in the Columbus Circle subway station, a bright yellow Complex magazine cover caught my attention. It featured upand-coming hip-hop artist A$AP Rocky and fashion design icon Jeremy Scott holding up their fists against a yellow backdrop with bright red lettering. As I stared at the cover, I remembered a popular and very similar 1985 art exhibit poster for Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat posing the same way in front of the same backdrop. The similarities were so close that at first glance it seemed as though I were looking at the same poster. There is nothing wrong with a tribute, but the recurring trend is that present-day culture, particularly in the fashion world, seems to be a rendition of the past.

Retro style and vintage clothing have always been a part of fashion due to their classic, timeless appeal. The right vintage pieces combined with a modern wardrobe can still produce a timely look. Unfortunately, it is becoming too easy to adapt vintage pieces into our present wardrobes because not much in the sartorial world has changed.

Topshop calls on shoppers to check out their ’90s grunge pieces on their homepage. Urban Outfitters quickly sells out of vintage Levis cut-off shorts and ’80s “Cosby Sweaters,” while f lared jeans and suede bags with extreme fringe a la 1970s have made a comeback. Instead of simply drawing inspiration from these trends in the hopes of transforming them into something new, we are just bringing them back into the present, which is essentially leaving us in the past.

In addition to sneaking a peek at Jeremy Scott’s Complex magazine cover from the news-

SARA AZOULAY/THE OBSERVER

Urban Outfitters, a store that is considered hip, is one of the many retail stores that displays and sells clothing that harkens to the past.

stand, I had the opportunity to attend his Fall/Winter 2012 show at Milk Studios for New York Fashion Week. The psychedelic colors and patterns channeled the ’60s while the crimped and choppy platinum blonde bobs and blue lipstick embodied the ’80s.

As energetic and aesthetically impressive as his show was, the constant reminiscence of fashion from a prior time is making it difficult for the 21st century to establish its own look for future generations to draw inspiration from and imitate. Even though bright colors and attentiongrabbing patterns may be considered risky or edgy, there is no real risk in doing something that has already been done.

I noticed that many other designers at Fashion Week this season were inspired by past trends and looks. That inspiration hinders the progression of

fashion if it is not channeled in moderation. The Marc Jacobs show consisted of menswear looks that reminded me of the everyday attire worn by 1920s factory workers: a very crisp and simple button down with a vest and trousers. The rusty and monotone color palette is what helped to evoke the vintage f lare.

Jacobs even said himself, according to a label review in New York Magazine, “I like romantic allusions to the past.” Well what about working toward innovation for the future? The past two decades of fashion and style have not been drastically different compared to how different the ’90s were from the ’70s.

What trends or products will wholeheartedly define the 21st century, allowing it to stand on its own creative two feet? Sorry, Apple products do not count since you cannot wear them.

Technology has been the 21st century’s saving grace in terms of innovation. Apple has dominated the market with its virtually “i” everything— from computers to phones to music devices. We can now literally have a conversation with Siri, watch TV on screens as large as a wall in our living room and refer to GPS instead of a fold-up map while driving. If we can think outside the box in terms of technology and science to create transformative and iconic products that define our time, why can’t our form of dress be just as ground breaking?

The cartoon “The Jetsons” attempted to predict how technologically advanced our nation would become. We have advanced impressively in the technological department but the Jetson wardrobe is far more futuristic and definitive compared to looks from today. It

may just be a cartoon in which imagination is key, but the lack of imagination that contemporary fashion is experiencing makes this 1960s cartoon’s style more sartorially progressive than what we wear today.

Perhaps we have become a society against risk taking in fashion and prefer more comfortable attire. Maybe our consumer culture in which we are being sold everything without reason to create is the culprit.

Either way, the stagnant fashion of recent times should not deter people from showcasing their originality outside of what style icons and everyday people from the past have done. After all, style should always constantly evolve to ref lect the current events, moods and experiences of the time. I refuse to believe that we have done it all. As long as the times are changing, then fashion can, too.

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER Fordham College at Lincoln Center 113 West 60th Street Room 408 New York, New York 10023 Tel: (212) 636-6015 Fax: (212) 636-7047

Editor-in-Chief Faith Heaphy Managing Editor Monique John News Co-Editors Laura Chang Harry Huggins Asst. News Co-Editors Richard Ramsundar Rex Sakamoto Opinions Editor Colleen Thornhill Asst. Opinions Editor Sara Azoulay Arts & Culture Co-Editors Mike Madden Katie Lockhart Asst. Arts & Culture Co-Editors Brian Bruegge Olivia Perdoch Features Co-Editors Mario Weddell Darryl Yu Asst. Features Editor Clint Holloway Literary Editor Matt Petronzio Asst. Literary Editor Salma Elmehdawi Literary Staff Zoe Simpson Bianca Leggio Sports Editor Randy Narine Asst. Sports Co-Editors Jasper Chang Joe Sporacio Copy Editor Matt Petronzio Asst. Copy Editor Anna Luciano Layout Editor Amanda Fimbers Asst. Layout Editor Tayler Bennett Layout Staff Jewel Galbraith Amanawil Lemi Ariella Mastroianni Ian McKenna

THE OBSERVER February 23, 2012

HARRY HUGGINS News Co-Editor

Dear Bros, Let me preface what I’m about to say with this: I get it. I lived with two bros last semester who were a concentrated manifestation of all that is brodom; I know whence you come. And I also know that you didn’t understand that last sentence, so I’ll keep the rest of my letter in simple language for you.

I’m writing to you with a simple request: stop. Please, for the love of snapbacks and lax pinnies, stop this madness. Step into your Sperry’s and just walk away from whatever you’re doing right now. You are way too old for this sort of behavior. I will call your mom, and not to make good on one of the 10,000 “your mom” jokes you make every week.

First thing that has to stop: the way you party. Not everything has to be an effing competition. Did you really have to turn the Tour de France into a drinking game? Tour de Franzia isn’t even a clever title. The world needed that almost as much as it needed Edward Fortyhands. Taping a 40 ounce bottle of beer to both of my hands doesn’t sound like a good time. Neither does standing on my head and drinking crappy beer out of a keg.

I would also like to hear myself think at a party, which is impossible when you blast Lynyrd Skynyrd at max volume. I guess you do it to block out the sound of the rejections you get from various women. The same women you let in for free when we guys have to pay $10. As you always say, “Hoes before bros.” OH WAIT, that’s the opposite of what you say.

Speaking of bros and hoes, you need to think of something more creative than Golf Pros and Tennis Hoes/Army Bros and Barbie Hoes/ Blahblah Bros and Blahblah Hoes as a party theme. This isn’t high school anymore. And enough with the ridiculous number of competitive

AYER CHAN/THE OBSERVER

A simple handshake would never suffice for the true bro, who must always do the most exaggerated hand gesture possible.

drinking games. Sure, the occasional game of beer pong is fun, especially for more competitive groups, but we’re getting a little sick of the 50 or so versions you’ve cooked up to cover your alcohol addiction (and yes, it is considered an addiction when you wear shades to night parties because you “drink until the sun comes up”).

Between flip cup, slap cup, Civil War, Harvard and whatever else you’ve created, I think we get the point. You like sharing cups with dudes. It’s cool,

or as you would say, “sick.”

Which brings me to issue number two: the way you speak.

Stop metaphorically crapping on my ears. Why can’t you say “hello” or “hey” when you see me, instead of “yo,” “sup” or “wadup brah?”

Also, stop unnecessarily shortening words. When you say “totes,” even if it’s just to make fun of girls whom you have ignorantly stereotyped, I hear, “I’m an idiot; please punch me in the sternum.” Yes, it used to be

hilarious when you worked “bro” into other words to make them more awesome (i.e. “bromance,” “brocode,” “brometheus,” “ambrolance”), but now it just makes me hate every word you say.

We’re also getting pretty damn sick of the music your support makes mainstream. Skrillex is approximately 20 times worse when you’re sober, but you wouldn’t know that because you only blast his remixes when you’re already halfway through a bottle of Jameson. I know you like weed, but that doesn’t make Kid Cudi the best rapper of all time. And, Southern bros, that “country” music you listen to when you want to connect to your man roots? That ain’t real country music, ya hear? Just like Deadmau5, that “underground” DJ you found. It’s a crummier version of the real deal, and ragers found techno/dubstep at least two years before you did.

Also, you need a new dress code.

I got sick of the sweatshirts and sweatpants look two years ago, and yet you still think that’s the only acceptable clothing in the winter.

Then, when it’s finally SOGO time (Sun’s Out, Guns Out), you exclusively wear tank tops in colors intended for highlighters and a pair of flip-flops that I’m convinced you share with the entire bro population. Try a little harder to draw attention to yourself, I dare you.

Listen, I don’t hate everything about you. We share tastes in movies and—I’m not ashamed to say, women.

But unlike you, I watch movies that don’t always star Will Farrell or are directed by Judd Apatow, and I don’t brag loudly about all the “hoes” I “slam.” I do, however, appreciate how well you brag. About everything. I didn’t know alcoholism, sex addiction and steroid-induced rage blackouts were things to brag about, but damn, you sure proved me wrong. Seriously, if boasting were a sport, you guys would clean up.

That being said, I’d still like to be invited to your parties. They are awesome.

I hope you understand, Harry Huggins

Asst. Photo Editor Mario Weddell Online Editor Ariella Mastroianni Asst. Online Editor Ian McKenna Business Manager Natalia Ramirez Faculty Advisor Prof. Elizabeth Stone Faculty Layout Advisor Kim Moy Faculty Photo Advisor Amelia Hennighausen PUBLIC NOTICE No part of The Observer may be reprinted or reproduced without the expressed written consent of The Observer board.

The Observer is published on alternate Thursdays during the academic year.

Printed by Five Star Printing Flushing, N.Y

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

To reach an editor by e-mail, visit www.fordhamobserver.com

7

A Letter to All the Dubstep-Loving, Lax-Pinnie Wearing Bros: Please Stop

Photo Editor Sara Azoulay

• Letters to the Editor should be typed and sent to The Observer, Fordham University, 113 West 60th Street, Room 408, New York, NY 10023, or e-mailed to fordhamobserver@ gmail.com. Length should not exceed 200 words. All letters must be signed and include contact information, official titles, and year of graduation (if applicable) for verification.

• If submitters fail to include this information, the editorial board will do so at its own discretion.

• The Observer has the right to withhold any submissions from publication

Opinions

and will not consider more than two letters from the same individual on one topic. The Observer reserves the right to edit all letters and submissions for content, clarity and length.

• Opinions articles and commentaries represent the view of their authors.

These articles are in no way the views held by the editorial board of The Observer or Fordham University.

• The Editorial is the opinion held by a majority of The Observer’s editorial board. The Editorial does not reflect the views held by Fordham University.

BLOGS KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE BLOG! NEWS ENTERTAINMENT CAMPUS INTERNSHIPS To read these blogs and more, visit observatorylc.com

8

Opinions

February 23, 2012 THE OBSERVER

www.fordhamobserver.com

Ron Paul: A Dangerously Appealing Renegade to Students Young Voters Should Take a Closer Look at Paul’s Policies Before Supporting the Candidate MALCOLM MORANO Contributing Writer

With the New York Republican primaries only two months away, registered Republicans at Fordham will hopefully be voting for their preferred presidential candidate soon. Although many are disappointed with the race, there is one candidate who is surprisingly popular with college students. This is Ron Paul, a Libertarian congressman from Texas. While Paul may offer an alternative to the typical Republican candidate, many young voters have a misguided and, frankly, dangerous affinity for Ron Paul.

Most adults will say that college students like Ron Paul because he’s going to legalize marijuana. I give college students more credit than that. Paul is an interesting candidate for college students mostly because of his temperament. He doesn’t conduct himself like most politicians.

In fact, he talks a lot like a professor.

Paul has one main speech, and he gives it everywhere. The speech is, in fact, more of a lecture. He often cites specific clauses of the Constitution and at one point even says, “Take your economics textbook out and look at the charts for 1971...the value of the dollar...went down 85 percent.”

Paul argues rationally for the position he believes in. This is why I like him, and why I think most students do. We’re tired of getting vague, emotionally charged fluff from politicians, like Newt Gingrich saying, “Do you believe we are better off to...decay gracefully...or do you think we should roll up our sleeves, do what it takes...so we remain the... strongest country on the planet?”

Gingrich’s speech delivers too much bravado and not enough answers.

We want to be spoken to like we’re educated people looking for political solutions. We are searching for a more reasonable person to vote for, and Paul seems to fit that description.

DARIN OSWALD/IDAHO STATESMAN/MCT

At a rally in Boise, Idaho, Ron Paul easily wins over the crowd with his speech, but voters need to examine his questionable future goals as well.

But it’s a sad day when you vote for someone just because they cleverly give arguments for their positions. When you vote for someone, you vote for their policies first, their personality second. I like Paul. I would love to have a cup of coffee with him. But there is no way that I would vote for him.

Paul is a radical Libertarian, which could be very dangerous in our country’s current state. Paul might be reasonable, but his views certainly are not.

Most college students are socially conscious people. They want to raise everyone’s overall standard of life. Paul doesn’t think this is the federal government’s job. The website On the Issues shows he thinks that “entitlements are not rights.” Anyone who is on Medicare, Medicaid, financial aid or any kind of welfare would be out of luck under Paul. He thinks that “the whole

notion of the safety net...encourag[es] carelessness and dependency on the government.”

Paul does not wish to reform these programs, as every other Republican candidate does. He advocates their elimination.

According to him, citizens don’t deserve any help getting an education, finding a job and least of all paying their bills. But people are already dependent on welfare programs. If they are simply eliminated, an elderly woman who can’t pay for her medication will either die or put her family into bankruptcy. This is not what most think of when they call Ron Paul reasonable.

A close look at Paul’s policies reveal that, aside from his temperament, he is anything but reasonable. His views are destructive. Forget seeing any kind of federal environmental

reform. Paul would eliminate any federal regulations and allow local governments to make their own.

This means that pollution limits would vary from state to state. If a corporation wanted their factories to pollute more, they could just move them to a state with looser regulations. Paul also takes a frightening stance on tax reform. He doesn’t want to reform our income tax at all. He wants to eliminate it.

There is a disturbing pattern of outright elimination running through Paul’s policies. It comes from his libertarian philosophy that we only have two forms of obligation: things we agree to (consent) and things we directly do to others (reparation). This view works under the assumption that everyone is already equally advantaged by the social system. But that assumption is false; arbitrary contingencies such as our financial status, job training and

inheritance affect us. It is society’s job to address these arbitrary inequalities, but this is not what I want to stress.

The point I want to stress is this: We need to pay more attention to the policies. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the reality show-esque melodrama, treating candidates like characters rather than potential leaders. But we cannot let this entertainment get the best of us.

When we vote, we are supporting a set of policies that will be enforced.

Don’t let a candidate’s temperament fool you; when they get into office, their policies will rule. Endorsing a candidate without understanding his or her policies is like hiring a babysitter without an interview— except the babysitter is running the country. Instead, find the candidate you like by reading their policies on ontheissues.org.

Occupy Wall Street Must Make Headlines Again The Movement Has Lost Attention, But a Clearer Focus, Not Violence, Could Bring It Back SARA AZOULAY Photo Editor & Asst.

Opinions Editor

Back in September, the media blasted us with reports of police abusing their power by pepper spraying on protestors in New York City. This was my first exposure to what would become the world phenomenon known as Occupy Wall Street (OWS). Since then, there has been some media coverage of the major events of the OWS movement—such as the Brooklyn Bridge occupation, the forced evacuations of protest sites and Oakland’s police brutality instances.

All of these examples focus on the controversy of police response but they do not necessarily focus on the protestors’ actual message.

OWS seems to have quieted down as of late. If you haven’t been looking for it in the news, chances are you haven’t really heard anything in the major media outlets. It seems like the biggest media coverage OWS has gotten is when violence is involved. Apparently, this country can only see injustice when it’s in the physical form. But the injustice that the OWS movement is exposing is just as strong as the pepper spray being misused by the police. The injustice that they want to highlight is about our increasing economical inequality, a matter of which most of the nation is misinformed.

Riots in Egypt have erupted again and from what I can see, they have received a lot of coverage. The riots are extremely violent, and so they attract

AL SEIB/LOS ANGELES TIMES/MCT--

Protesters need to create attention again, but without resorting to violence or inciting police brutality. the media, who love taking photos and documenting it. It raises a question to the OWS protestors: Should they be violently rioting to get their message across?

My answer is both yes and no. I personally am a pacifist and don’t believe in violence. OWS has remained nonviolent and it gives the protestors an aura of respect. These people are angry, so they’re showing their anger through demonstrations and words. They don’t think it’s

effective to fight the government. We are a democracy so it makes sense that the protestors believe they can get their point across with their voice, not their fists. So, by all means, Occupy Wall Street should remain a non-violent protest because our government is supposed to listen to the people. Our voices should be heard.

Still, after months of protests, most Americans still don’t take the protestors seriously. The movement has been seen

as a “hippie” movement, or recently people just believe that the youth are yelling just to yell and to cause a commotion. We’re in the middle of an economic problem and most of the United States remains uninformed as to the great division between the poor and rich. The media only wants to shed the light on the movement if there’s something violent going on. So, it seems as if America is pushing for a violent movement.

President Obama has yet to even address the movement—an action that speaks so much to what the movement is going through. They are protesting in a democracy so that their government could take notice. Yet the President hasn’t even mentioned OWS. Maybe if we started to actually fight, he’d comment on something. Or maybe President Obama doesn’t want to give strength to the voices speaking out.

On the other hand, I do think that the protests have to become more organized in the coming months. I think if they do remain nonviolent, which I hope they do, they have to really buckle down and organize a plan to be taken seriously.

Or, take the violent route and riot so that the media pays attention(which I don’t suggest they do). The protestors should have a clear message to throw at the media rather than the media searching for a controversial one. The World Press Photo, an organization that picks strong photos that depict the current state of the world, couldn’t pick any photos that represented OWS. Photojournalists can’t pick out the voice of this movement because they’re focusing on the controversy and violence rather than the educational side of the movement. The media is supposed to report on things that impact our nation, so I think if they correctly report on what and who OWS is, we’ll get somewhere. Because right now, the movement is still as misunderstood as that first day in September, when all the world took notice of police brutality, rather than the focus of the movement itself.

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER February 23, 2012

Opinions

9

Prejudice Against Gay Characters on Television Still Prevalent A Look Into Past and Present Characters in Television & How Society Has Yet to Accept the Gay Community STEFANELLI ROMANO Contributing Writer

If you’re like me and have taken multiple history courses, you have heard at least once or twice the phrase “history repeats itself.”

Now, surely some disagree, but in terms of confronting diversity, history is repetitive. In 2012, I would think most Americans have surpassed their own intolerances in order to be open to new things such as people of different backgrounds and sexual orientation or preference. This certainly is not the case. In the 21st century, although Americans have made some great strides, we still oppress those who are different, specifically the LGBT community.

In the United States, some television programs or shows have been thrown against the wall for not depicting the “typical American family.” The first gay character on television was in the 1970s on a show called “All in the Family” and led to protests and backlash. If my math is correct, it’s been 42 years since then, but Americans are still often against television’s gay characters, gay couples and the LGBT community.

But the question is why?

Perhaps it’s because we aren’t as modern as we think we are or that we can’t adapt to change. Yes, we have made many strides in the LGBT community concerning gay rights, but Americans have yet to completely accept this community on television.

Rick Perry, along with many other anti-gay activists and

COURTESY OF ABC

“Modern Family” dads Cam (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) try to redefine stereotypes.

organizations, has protested against gay soldiers in the army and gay rights in general. His claim, amongst others, is that “to be gay is a choice and it is indecent.” I know in the words of Lady GaGa, “No matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian, transgendered life…you were born this way.” It’s not a matter of choice but a matter of equality and freedom. So maybe the problem is that those against this “choice” are outdated and closed-minded.

Bryan Fischer, the biggest closed-minded person, is the director of the American Family Association and is known to be

a bigot on homosexuality for his unethical statements. Although educated, he targets homosexuals in the media and in general saying “[homosexuality is the] single greatest modern threat to freedom of religion and conscience.” He has created these radical statements to justify his own ignorance and to explain how homosexuality “increases sexual confusion in children.” Point being, we aren’t modern or tolerant.

On the show “Pretty Little Liars,” one of the main characters, Emily, is a lesbian. She dates other girls and lives a normal life

with her three best friends, but backlash has also risen against this character. The Florida Family Association asked advertisers to pull ads from the show, claiming the imagery was irresponsible.

Over the past decades, there have been many TV shows that have incited negative feedback from the public but have also shed light on the reality of the America that we all live in. “All in the Family” ran for eight years on the CBS television network and based one of its main issues on homosexuality.

One of the groundbreaking episodes of this show focused on

a character named Beverly who was beaten to death for being “different.” The fact that Beverly was beaten to death reflected the reality in which Americans were living at the time, and surprisingly, it still appeals to the reality of homosexuals in America now.

Despite the backlash, however, these shows do continue to do well.

The characters on “The L Word” developed a more in depth look on the everyday-mundane lives of the LGBT community, and “Pretty Little Liars” has been a hit for ABC Family.

Perhaps, these real depictions of how the LGBT communities aren’t so different from heterosexuals are what cause Americans to shout out against TV gay couples.

Perhaps anti-gay activists fear that there can’t be any judgments on homosexuals because they are just like heterosexuals. Fear of change and actually being the same is what could possibly give us an insight into the controversy TV gay couples cause even though many shows like “Modern Family” have been praised by many Americans.

The cast has even won 11 Emmy Awards while depicting a gay family on the show.

Americans need to face reality in terms of today’s society and not the society of the past decades when homosexuality was considered obscene and “indecent.”

We can’t continue to allow bigots like Bryan Fischer to tell us what is right when he makes incorrect statements all the time. TV gay couples aren’t a portrayal of “indecent [behavior]” but of the reality of couples in America.

Let Yourself Be Heard (Or At Least Look Good on Your Resume)

SUMMER ABROAD

WORLD-CLASS INTERNSHIP AND STUDY ABROAD PROGRAMS.

Write for Opinions APPLY TODAY! APPLICATION DEADLINE: MARCH 1, 2012*

4bu.edu/abroad For more information, click the “Contact Us” tab on our website: www.fordhamobserver.com

*Exceptions may apply. See individual program descriptions at bu.edu/abroad for details.

An equal opportunity, affirmative action institution.

10

Arts & Culture

February 23, 2012 THE OBSERVER

www.fordhamobserver.com

PHOTO FEATURE In anticipation of American Red Cross Month in March, Observer photographers captured the volunteer spirit of the American Red Cross mission as witnessed in hospitals and Red Cross artwork.

HARRY HUGGINS/THE OBSERVER

AYER CHAN/THE OBSERVER

HARRY HUGGINS/THE OBSERVER

KATHERINE FOTINOS/THE OBSERVER

SOFIA ALVAREZ/THE OBSERVER

MARIO WEDDELL/THE OBSERVER

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER February , 2012

Arts & Culture

11

PHOTO FEATURE

HARRY HUGGINS/THE OBSERVER

SOFIA ALVAREZ/THE OBSERVER

CHARLIE PUENTE/THE OBSERVER

MARIO WEDDELL/THE OBSERVER

CHARLIE PUENTE/THE OBSERVER

Arts & Culture

February 23, 2012 THE OBSERVER

PHILLIPE HALSMAN/MAGNUM PHOTOS

Philippe Halsman’s contact sheets from 1948 of famed surrealist painter Salvador Dali captures time at a standstill with every shutter of the camera.

The End of an Era: ICP Memorializes the Contact Sheet

By BRIAN BRUEGGE Asst. Arts & Culture Co-Editor

The contact sheet, similar to the horse-drawn carriage or music stored on a disc, is enigmatic in today’s world. Technology has advanced; we have new, more efficient ways of doing things. Yet these objects are still around us, not because we need them, but because we refuse to let them go. As a culture, we still admire what these artifacts stand for.

The contact sheet is tied to a form of photography that is making way for the digital age.

Only a few weeks ago, Eastman Kodak, the company whose name is synonymous with film pho-

tography, filed for bankruptcy largely because demand for film has nearly vanished. Now that shooting a roll of film has vanished from the mainstream, the contact sheet, a way of reviewing all of the frames on a roll at once, is going with it.

Physically, a contact sheet is a set of images from a roll of film printed next to each other, allowing the photographer to easily compare them and pick out the best shots. But more than that, the contact sheet is a way of viewing the artistry and meticulous effort that is put into expertly capturing a moment on film.

At the corner of 43rd Street

and Avenue of the Americas, the International Center of Photography (ICP) is housing an exhibit dedicated entirely to these relics of the film age. The show, titled “Magnum Contact Sheets,” displays a selection of these prints made by Magnum photographers from the 1930’s onward. The exhibit is both a memorial to this antiquated method and a celebration of its fringe survival because of the work of dedicated film photographers in a digital age.

As ICP Associate Curator Kristen Lubben sees it, “The contact sheet embodies much of the appeal of photography itself: The sense of time unfold-

ing, a durable trace of movement through space, an apparent authentication of photography’s claims to transparent representation of reality.”

Wandering the exhibit gives an intimate look into the creative process that spawned many of the most iconic photographs ever shot. One such photograph is Philippe Halsman’s portrait of the surrealist painter Salvador Dali. The image captures the painter, furniture, several cats and a stream of water all suspended in midair, and to this day, remains instantly recognizable.

The contact sheet tells another story that is impossible to tell in a single frame. Instead, the sheet documents the hours of painstaking effort that went into capturing that sublime moment in a single image. On the contact sheet, the viewer can see some photos that were shot too soon, me too late. In a few, Dali’s face is

blocked by a f lying object, rendering the shot useless as a portrait. In others, we can see the arm of an assistant creep into the frame.

By looking at all of these frames simultaneously, we are able to get a much more intimate grasp of Halsman’s creative process. Because of this, “Magnum Contact Sheets” is as much a celebration of the photographers as it is of the work that they were able to produce.

The contact sheets allow us to glimpse the chaos of war through the lens of Robert Capa’s camera as he photographed the first wave of the D-Day invasion. They let us sit down with Che Guevara for an afternoon, watching his cigar dwindle, just as Rene Burri did in 1963. They let us view these and more moments, not as single frames, but as stills from a greater narrative.

Each sheet has a different story to tell. The exhibition will run until May 6.

IF YOU GO

Event or Artist WHEN: Now through May 6 WHERE: International Center of Pho-

tography, 1143 Avenue of the Americas (at 43rd St.) PRICE: $8 with student ID, voluntary contribution Fridays from 5 to 8 p.m.

EVE ARNOLD/MAGNUM PHOTOS

Photographs of Joan Crawford taken in 1959 are featured in the “Magnum Contact Sheets” exhibit at the International Center of Photography.

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER February 23, 2012

Arts & Culture

13

MCNY Wishes a Happy 200th to the Streets of NYC

By LAUREN DELUCCA Contributing Writer

It’s hard to believe that at one point, 60th and Columbus, the location of Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC), was once the site of hills, rock formations and open grassy areas that can only be found in Central Park today. From now until April 15, Museum of the City of New York is displaying the exhibit “The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 18112011.”

This exhibit celebrates the 200th anniversary of the Commissioner’s Plan of 1811 that kicked off the program to transform New York’s naturally rugged terrain into the well-organized map of streets and avenues that we all know and love. This exhibit allows residents of the city and tourists alike a rare insight into one of the city’s most prominent, but overlooked features.

The exhibit takes visitors through a comprehensive history of the grid layout, from its original conception, all the way to how modern day New York City has adapted to the structure. This includes surveying the land and laying down the roads, as well as the interspersion of buildings and parks of all shapes and sizes.

The exhibit offers a first hand look at the planning and execution of the grid, providing original pictures, maps, documents and other artifacts. These help the museumgoer to fully understand not only what it was like to plan the ambitious project, but also how laborious it was to bring those plans into fruition.

The original plan was for the grid to extend from Houston Street (then called North Street), to about 155th Street up in the heart of modern day Harlem. The planners envisioned a city that would

COURTESY OF MUSUEM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK

A view of Columbus Circle in the late 19th century, featured in the Museum of the City of New York’s “Greatest Grid” exhibit.

be oriented east to west, which is the reason why today there are so many more streets than avenues.

The grid ended at Houston Street because the builders were confronted with the rough terrain of the land that is today’s West Village and below. The streets below Houston are less uniform as to better accommodate this change in the topography.

Broadway, which extends diagonally all the way through the Upper West Side and beyond, seems to be the odd street out, plowing right through the orderly streets and avenues. But Broadway was originally a trail that wound through Manhattan’s original terrain. The way that Broadway winds through the city provides many special urban design op-

portunities, like parks nestled between streets and innovations in building architecture, as exhibited by buildings like the Flatiron between Fifth Avenue, and Broadway at 22nd Street.

The grid, though seemingly finished, is still a work in progress. The Great Grid’s sister exhibit, “The Unfinished Grid: Design Speculations for Manhattan,”

displays the eight winning projects of a contest put on by the Architectural League of New York. The contest invited architects and urban designers to design ideas for the future of the city, and speculate as to whether the tried and true grid will be able to stand the test of time and make it through any future progress.

The Devil Has Family in Bristol and They Go By the Name Turbowolf

By MIKE MADDEN Arts & Culture Co-Editor

Rock n’ Roll is dying. Rock music isn’t. It’s as simple as that.

And people can’t comprehend that they are two separate entities. Rock n’ Roll brings the hell and spitfire that people run to the hills for and don’t look back.

It’s a certain class of attitude only characterized by a rapid transformation when surrounded by sweat, hair, second-hand t-shirts and the like. “Rock ” music falls to the feet of Rock n’ Roll and kisses a ring on every finger. Anyone can “rock,” but not everyone can rock and “roll” at the same time.

The Stooges knew this quite well, with Iggy Pop slashing at his chest and blood pouring to the f loor. Sabbath knew this also, emitting the sounds of Birmingham sheet metal factories and channeling them from the stage. Blues player Howlin’ Wolf was an originator, maybe even a great-grandfather, scaring the living crap out of white folk who thought he just swallowed a rusty can full of nuts and bolts. And now Bristol, England’s hell-hathno-furry four piece, Turbowolf, carry the torch and tradition of what it means to play and live Rock n’ Roll in 2012.

Touring the UK non-stop, the amount of exposure the band has been attracting is almost cult-like. Almost unheard of in the States yet, people find it difficult to characterize the sound of Turbowolf; is it punk? Is it metal? What’s with the synthesizer? The answer is: Stop asking those questions. Turbowolf have developed into their own species

COURTESY OF TURBOWOLF

Bristol-based band Turbowolf is one of the few bands who take the live performance and resurrect it for 2012.

of animal—unattainable, impossible to catch and prized for their hair, guts, glory and showmanship.

Carrying the torch of Rock n’ Roll’s forbearers is not an easy task, but the boys from Bristol do it with ease that constitutes a time in music that was about raw performance and athleticism.

Rock n’ Roll may be dying, but it’s

getting one hell of a resurrection

by Turbowolf. With their debut album released this past December, the group channels the elements of Rock n’ Roll that needs fixing; sweat needs to be drawn and wrung out; beer should be splashed into the eyes of audience members and burn for a couple seconds; singers need to start hanging from ceilings more; and

singer Chris G does just that.

Chris G, the howl behind the scowl, looks as if Frank Zappa spent his every waking hour at CBGB’s on the weekends. He also has some of the best damn button-downs ever worn in music.

The man behind the mustache brings the wiry, wide-eyed aesthetic to their live shows, where he feeds off the crowd like a mod-

ern Vlad the Impaler and the crowd answers right back. The vocals are salty, the lyrics apocalyptic and aggressive—sending a size 12 Doc Marten up the ass of Satan himself. It’s pure energy that doesn’t just come out of nowhere.

Off stage, the band is quiet, reserved and contemplative. In an interview with Chris G for Vice Magazine, Chris talks work ethic. “I think no matter what you do in life, you have to do it to the best that you can.”

The audience demographic is weird, but in a great way. The shows get everyone from nerds, hipsters, metal heads, greasers and English dandies, all tearing at the stage together but in perfect harmony. What Turbowolf calls “musical wrestling” is just that. The burgeoning distortion in songs like “Let’s Die” and “Rose for the Crows” are thick and muddy, grimy even. The drums, sporadic and shattering, as if the three-headed hell hound Cerberus caught you sneaking over the gates to hell.

Even though they’re British, the sound and energy of the music and live performance is distinctly American suburbia. It’s the catering to legions of youthful fans, the demonizing artwork of skulls and science fiction and a look that says, “Come with me.

Bang your head. Raise a fist.”

The tour van is almost a requirement for groups like them. It’s cramped, it smells and it’s an ugly color. Would they have it any other way? For one of the hardest working bands touring right now, I would like to think not.

14

Arts & Culture

February 23, 2012 THE OBSERVER

www.fordhamobserver.com

The Fantastic Mind Behind The Muppets

By LAURA CHIEFFO Contributing Writer

Everyone looks back on his childhood and fondly remembers their favorite television shows. As a child you may have watched “Sesame Street” or “Fraggle Rock,” and unless you’ve been living under “Fraggle Rock,” odds are you know who The Muppets are.

Thanks in great part to their newest film, released this past November, there has been a recent resurgence in Muppet madness.

If you want to know more about the man behind the puppets, now through March 4. The Museum of the Moving Image located in the Astoria neighborhood of Queens, is hosting the exhibit “Jim Henson’s Fantastic World.” Although most commonly known for his quick witted, adult and child approved “Muppets,” the Jim Henson exhibit does not limit itself to only the famous aspects of Henson’s life.

The exhibit offers a rare insight into Henson’s mind, with numerous storyboards, drawings and ideas that never made it any farther than the paper they were initially scribbled onto.

These early pieces feature sketches of characters that could easily fit into Henson’s popular gang of puppets, some of whom visitors are privy to. Guests have the opportunity to gawk at authentic puppets including Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, donning her bridal getup from the film “The Muppets Take Manhattan,” Rowlf and everyone’s favorite roommates Bert and Ernie, from “Sesame Street.”

This might sound like a childcentered adventure and without a doubt, the creators made sure to take into account Henson’s adoration for young and boundless minds. But the exhibit spends equal time on Henson’s less famous and more serious works as it does his television sensations.

One section of the exhibit is devoted to Henson’s more serious film-making endeavors.

There are clips and pictures from “Time Piece,” an experimental short film

by Henson that received an Oscar

LAURA CHIEFFO/THE OBSERVER; SOFIA ALVAREZ/THE OBSERVER

One of the many exhibits on display from the mind of Jim Henson includes Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy in full bridal garb.

nomination in 1966. Costumes from his 1982 film “The Dark Crystal,” a collaboration with close friend Frank Oz who also voiced Miss Piggy, are also on display.

These pieces aren’t what Henson is most remembered for but nonetheless, his fascination with film as a medium and his dedication to creativity was a large part in his life.

The exhibit guides visitors through Henson’s life starting at his childhood, a time he cited as influential for his comedic development. It details his fascination

with fairy tales and all things that involved imagination and makebelieve. His interest in the abilities of the mind and his confidence in television began to intertwine when he started making short advertisements, a few of which are played on a loop at the exhibit.

One ad from the ’60’s tells the tale of Shrinkel and Stretchel, a laundy-care themed version of Hansel and Gretel. These advertisements were, more often than not, created with the help of puppets. The exhibit shows early draw-

ings of some of the Muppets and characters from “Sesame Street” that initially showed up in these commercials.

Leading up to his success with “The Muppet Show” and the film franchise that followed, there were many times when Henson’s ideas were shot down. The exhibit features a wall of sketches and ideas that never turned into anything more than just that.

One of these failed prospects was a live Broadway-style Muppet show at Lincoln Center, however

things never came together and the show was not produced.

If nothing else, these unsuccessful dreams serve to highlight Henson’s true determination to create something special to share.

Henson said, “My hope still is to leave the world a bit better than when I got here.” Judging by the happiness that his creations are still providing nearly 50 years after he first thought them up, it’s safe to say that Henson left his mark by making our world a little more fantastic.

Precocious Producers: A Media Company Gains Momentum

By JACKSON GALAN Staff Writer

“We would shoot anything,” said Todd Wiseman, co-founder and executive producer at Hayden 5 Media in New York City, “except porn.”

Wiseman and his college roommate Milos Silber started their media production company in between classes at Tisch’s graduate film program. “We wanted to be always creating,” Silber said.

“We did school projects and side projects. And after graduation, we were faced with two options: do someone else’s thing”—meaning, work as a production assistant, production intern, or production peon at an established company— “or do our own thing”—meaning, produce.

These two options present themselves to every college graduate and, in this light, the obvious choice is the one that Siber and Wiseman eventually made. But the line between employer and employee is not so distinct: “Now that we work for ourselves, we have 150 bosses,” Wiseman said, “They’re called clients.”

The question, then, is who do you serve? The answer, for the f ledgling Hayden 5, was anybody.

They shot low-budget commercials, workplace training videos, a Bar Mitzvah; anything they could do for friends or family or scrounge from Craigslist. “We

JACKSON GALAN/THE OBSERVER

Todd Wiseman Jr. and Milos Silber, the creators and founders of Hayden 5.

hustled,” Siber said.

What kept the duo from stagnating was their ability to make every penny count. Given a $5,000 budget, they’d produce a work of $10,000 quality. “We were able to do this,” Siber said, “because we worked with our friends, people

who would put in a complete effort. We also had established relationships with vendors and useful people around town. This allowed us to stretch every dollar.”

Implicit in this approach is the maintenance of a low overhead, especially as the company was start-

ing out. “We were working out of two shoeboxes on Canal street,” Wiseman said. “But we had access to a big studio. We would impress clients with the very professional space, then squeeze back into our office and get to work.”

Now, the company operates

out of a 3,000 sq/ft loft on 27th Street and Broadway. The place is all lights, cameras and wires.

A team of employees and interns move about. In one corner, antique couches and armchairs surround a coffee table, constituting a meeting room. The break room’s a fire escape and there’s a keggerator.

After three years, the company has been financially successful because of its productions for businesses like SlimFast, Trojan and Dan-E, which makes a supplement for “the 4 out of 5 women who are not completely satisfied with their desire for intimacy.” Yet Siber and Wisemen each went to film school because of a passion for movies; Siber is drawn to documentary, Wiseman, to epic action. They want to make what Wiseman calls “big work,” and, to do so, require big money. Hayden 5’s goal is to become a production company on par with the familiar Hollywood studios.

As my interview with the pair came to a close, Wiseman cordially asked me if I was a journalism major. No, I told him, I study English and want to be a writer—short stories, novels, poetry, maybe *ahem* a screenplay or two. I said that I was writing about his company because I was interested in how an artist makes money. “Well,” he replied, “you might have to write a few newspaper articles.”

Features

February 23, 2012 THE OBSERVER

NY CHALLENGED

When in Rome, Do as the Romans, Especially if They’re Crazy “The man who had been stretching was now waltzing around the train car. He sounded kind of like a dog. He was wearing fuzzy earmuffs.”

By MARIO WEDDELL Features Co-Editor

Commuting solo on the subway is not a big deal during the day. Sure, every now and then I get on the wrong train, or sit in waffle syrup or end up standing next to the pamphlet-carrying prophet of doom for the whole ride. But being alone isn’t a problem, especially if I have headphones or a book to let people know that ignoring me is okay, and even preferred.

Being alone only becomes a problem during the zombie hours of the night (The “zombie hours” span that block of time when, if you were to email someone, you couldn’t decide if you should end it with, “See you tomorrow,” or “See you later today.”). This is typically between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., when normal people aren’t riding trains, and therefore, abnormal people are.

It was around 4 a.m. when I was trying to catch a downtown 1 train from Harlem to Midtown. I know this already paints me as one of the shady characters I’m about to describe, but I was just making sure a friend got home safely after a night out. So there, I had a legit reason for riding the train that late by myself.

Anyway, the train pulled into the station, and I somehow ended up in the one car that wasn’t completely empty. There was a man slouched in the corner at the end of the car, sleeping with his hands in his waistband. He looked comfortable, and I would have liked to nap in the corner with my hands in my pants, too. A man at the opposite end of the car was humming to himself and stretching wildly. I wanted to walk over to the sleeping guy, but instead I sat down immediately to attract less attention from the stretching man. I was in the middle of the car, the halfway

MARIO WEDDELL/THE OBSERVER

The train is an okay place during normal commuting hours, but it can be terrifying when you ride it alone at four in the morning.

point between two extremes of energy. A man was sitting in the seats across from me.

The train started moving, and I noticed the man directly across from me was mumbling to himself and chuckling. I don’t have a problem with people who talk to themselves. I don’t have a problem with people who think things are funny.

On occasion, I have been guilty of both. The problem was that he refused to break eye contact with me.

I didn’t have a book, so I looked

down at my shoes.

Then someone started singing.

The man who had been stretching was now waltzing around the train car. He sounded kind of like a dog.

He was wearing fuzzy earmuffs.

He was getting closer and closer to me. I didn’t have headphones, so I couldn’t pretend I didn’t hear him.

I tried to ignore him, but the singing and barking was growing ever closer.

I was staring at my shoes; a second pair of shoes entered my field

of vision. He was standing right next to me. He was chanting to the heavens. I was scared. I could hear the chuckles of the eye contact man. Then I flashed back to a conversation I had in high school with my favorite teacher.

She had studied at Columbia during her undergrad years. I remember her telling me that crazy people were always drawn to her on the trains, and it probably had something to do her choice to teach high school English. At the time, I

thought it was a joke when she said, “You just have to be crazier than them and they’ll leave you alone.”

But now, her voice in my head had the power of Obi Wan Kenobi.

In Star Wars, Luke has to shoot missiles at a tiny weakness in the Death Star’s defenses to destroy it.

As Luke seems prone to failure, Obi Wan Kenobi, his dead mentor, appears in his thoughts and gives him advice: “Use the Force, Luke.”

Except this time, Obi Wan’s voice was my teacher’s voice (who is not dead), and she said: “Act crazy, Luke.”

I looked up at the ear-muffed madman. He leaned down and shouted right into my face, “How you like it?!”

I responded with, “Huh. Huh. Huh. Huh,” starting to panic.

Then I stuck my legs straight out, like I was on a swing, and started scratching an imaginary itch across my stomach, neck and face. I pretended there was a bug under my skin.

The eye-contact guy started laughing out loud. The singing guy stood up straight and gave me a look of disgust. He started singing again and walked back to the other side of the train.

Sometimes I think everyone is pretending to be crazy, to fit in with people they think are crazy.

WORD OF MOUTH

The Meatball Shop Offers Patrons a Variety of Flavors

By DARRYL YU Features Co-Editor

It’s pretty obvious that people are more comfortable when they have control in their lives. Whether it is control over our destinies or our televisions, people are generally happier when they know what to expect. The same could be said about food. People normally like having a choice in how their meal is prepared, especially when they are eating outside. There are a couple of places in New York City that offer the unique service of crafting your own personal meal; one of them is The Meatball Shop.

Located in middle of the swanky, hip Lower East Side, the original (there are two more Meatball Shops in the West Village and in Brooklyn) Meatball Shop doesn’t look like much at first glance. Set up below a characteristic New York City brownstone, a thick black curtain at its entrance separates its patrons from the outside world. Despite its uncanny exterior, the Meatball Shop is often populated with lively chatter and laughter. A short 25 minute subway trip from the Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) campus, Meatball Shop allows FCLC students to experience a cool NYC restaurant. A word of caution: This place doesn’t take reservations and can get very crowded at times. Make sure to bring a small group of friends or try to avoid peak hours.

As well as being a swanky restaurant, The Meatball Shop also takes

customers on a unique food journey by allowing them to customize their very own delicious meatball meal.

Looking to break out of the mold of boring regular restaurants, The Meatball Shop hopes to introduce an entirely distinctive experience for any newcomer. They like to get people involved and interacting with their food orders. When presented with a fully customizable menu filled with all sorts of sauces, breads and types of meatballs, you can become your own meatball chef in this little restaurant.

Going through the numerous combinations of meats, sauces and sides, you can always expect a new result when looking for that ultimate meatball dish.

While at The Meatball Shop, I decided to try their “naked balls” (four meatballs served with your choice of sauce and a piece of focaccia bread) and their heroes (a forno baguette with three meatballs, sauce, cheese and a side salad). There were many types of meatballs to choose from, ranging from the classic beef to the spicy pork. On top of that, there was a whole bundle of sauces I could choose from, such as spicy meat sauce or mushroom gravy. In the end I ordered the classic beef meatball with spicy meat sauce and mozzarella.

The meatballs were a delightful appetizer. The classic beef mixed with the spicy meat sauce was a perfect combination. The beef retained the rich flavor of an original meatball and the spicy sauce added an extra zest to the dish. They were freshly

handmade and enjoyable. Unfortunately, the hero I ordered was not as good as the “naked balls.”

My hero consisted of a mixture of spicy pork meatballs on white bread, accompanied with their “special” sauce of the day (which was simply cheddar cheese) and provolone cheese. It looked very appetizing but it didn’t live up to my expectations. Classic tomato or pesto sauce would have definitely been a better choice for my spicy pork meatballs.

Along with the hero, I also got a large side salad of arugula which added a healthy balance to my meal.

The food portions at The Meatball Shop were very impressive and a great deal. For under $20, I got four meatballs and a filling hero sandwich. Lively, sophisticated and filled with people from all walks of life, The Meatball Shop is absolutely a place you should visit if you’re ever on the Lower East Side. When offered hundreds of meatball combinations, you can craft your own culinary journey at The Meatball Shop.

IF YOU GO

The Meatball Shop $ out of $$$$$ Where: 84 Stanton St., New York , N.Y. 10002 Darryl’s Recommendation: Classic Beef Meatballs with Spicy Meat S auce

COURTESY OF THE MEATBALL SHOP

Meatball Shop customers can choose from a wide range of meatballs, sauces and cheeses.

16

Features

February 23, 2012 THE OBSERVER

www.fordhamobserver.com

Will A Liberal Arts Degree Pay Off?

By FAITH HEAPHY Editor-In-Chief

If you’re between the ages of 18 and 24, only 54 percent of you have jobs, according to a study released Feb. 9 by the Pew Research center.

With news like this often making headlines, some students at Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) may be second-guessing majors in subjects like English, philosophy and theology, wondering whether a more technical degree would guarantee a job that would pay the rent after graduation.But getting a degree in one of these areas might actually be a good thing. Many liberal arts majors tend to focus on critical thinking, reading and writing—skills that, according to a recent study, may pay off in the long run.

The Social Science Research Council released a study in January that said college graduates who had high scores on standardized testing that measures writing, critical thinking and reasoning skills, which are typical of a liberal arts education, fared better financially after college than those with lower scores. Furthermore, the study said that students who possessed these skills were three times more likely to have a job than those who were less developed in these areas. In addition, liberal arts students had less credit card debt and were more likely to live on their own than with their parents.

Even so, it’s hard to fathom that studying poetry and art will really have the potential to be financially lucrative, especially with studies that show how degrees in STEM fields—science, technology, engineering and math—have higher a probability of job security and better pay. This begs the question, is a liberal arts degree really worth it for students already taking on debt?

Bernard Stratford, director of experiential education at Fordham’s career services, said that while a liberal arts foundation allows students to think, reflect, speak, read and write effectively, the immediate financial implications post grad aren’t guaranteed.

“The numbers are clear that business students initially, for the

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KATHERINE FOTINOS/THE OBSERVER

The Social Science Research Council found graduates who excelled in writing, critical thinking and reasoning fared well financially after college.

first 10 years or so, make more money than a liberal arts person unless you have a liberal arts person who is also a finance wizard and winds up in business,” Stratford said. “Somewhere after about 10 years that sort of changes as people with liberal arts skills are more effective in moving through a corporation and developing relationships on the way.”

While some students choose majors that typically correlate to a specific career path such as computer science, business, natural science and other more technical degrees, others choose ones that have a more elusive future. Especially at FCLC, where majors like theater, dance and communications are popular, students often

find themselves questioning how many job offers they will have once they get their diplomas.

“A lot of our majors are not something you can find employment in with a bachelor’s degree,” said Robert Moniot, associate professor of computer and information science. “The number of jobs in fields like anthropology and history are few for students with an undergraduate degree.”

According to a study released

by Georgetown University, unemployment rates are higher for students in non-technical majors.

Humanities and liberal arts have an unemployment rate of 9.4 percent, social science 8.9 percent and architecture at the highest—13.9 percent.

While the skills-based knowledge developed in specific majors may prove useful in the inevitable job search, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee employment. And employers aren’t just searching for individuals with the know-how, they are looking for job candidates who are well rounded as well.

“I know there is a mindset that is contrary to the idea of liberal arts and is focused on getting job skills, but I don’t think that’s the right attitude to have,” Moniot said. “Businesses don’t really want to just get graduates who have already studied all of the techniques used in that business—they’re going to teach them that stuff on the job. They would rather have someone who is bright and knowledgeable than someone who just focuses on the content of their courses.”

The extensive Fordham core that even students on specific tracts like pre-med and dance are required to take, could have a deeper impact than some students realize. The core is grounded in liberal arts and is focused on developing a student’s critical thinking and writing skills. These are things that, according to the study by the Social Science Research Council, are highly marketable in the job world today.

“Employers are looking for your ability to read and think critically, write clearly and communicate clearly,” said William Jaworski, associate professor of philosophy.

“I think it’s clear that if you get a liberal arts degree you’re going to be guaranteed to develop certain kinds of skills employers are looking for.”

While it may be unclear now which major is ideal for financial security, liberal arts foundation can’t hurt, and some students choose Fordham because of its commitment to this way of education.

“Everyone’s going to face a tough job market,” Jaworksi said.

“The question is going to be whether you’ve made an investment in yourself and whether you’ll be able to bring to your job interview the kind of presence, maturity and skill set that employers want to see.”

COMMUNICATIONS: Unemployment rate: 7.4% Earnings for recent college graduate: 34,000 COMPUTER SCIENCE Unemployment rate: 7.8% Earnings for recent college graduate: 50,000 MATH: Unemployment rate: 6.1% Earnings for recent college graduate: 40,000 LIBERAL ARTS Unemployment rate: 9.2 % Earnings for recent college graduate: 30,000 ANTHROPOLOGY Unemployment rate: 10.5% Earnings for recent college graduate: 28,000 HISTORY Unemployment rate: 10.2% Earnings for recent college graduate: 32,000 PSYCHOLOGY Unemployment rate: 7.6% Earnings for recent college graduate: 30,000 MULTI-DISCIPLINARY SCIENCE Unemployment rate: 8.2% Earnings for recent college graduate: 35,000 POLITICAL SCIENCE Unemployment rate: 9.1% Earnings for recent college graduate: 35,000 SOCIOLOGY Unemployment rate: 8.6% Earnings for recent college graduate: 32,000 PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES: Unemployment rate: 10.8% Earnings for recent college graduate: 30,000 ENGLISH, LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Unemployment rate: 9.2% Earnings for recent college graduate: 32,000 Source: Georgetown University, Center on Education and the Workforce “Hard Times: College Majors, Unemployment and Earnings: Not All College Degrees Are Created Equal”

Rob Coglitore: The Facts Behind the Footwork

By IAN MCKENNA Asst. Online Editor

Some people say he was touring in Taiwan with Usher. Others say he was in Sri Lanka with Nicki Minaj. The truth? He was dancing backup for the independent recording artist Zahra in her two latest 3-D music videos in South Korea.

And Robert Coglitore, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’12, isn’t even a part of the Alvin Ailey BFA program. “Well, I never trained really,” Coglitore said, “Coming to the Fordham BFA program, you need to audition for that and have years and years of training in dance styles I have never even thought about doing. So, I don’t know, before I ever even got here, dancing was more of a recreational, fun thing to do and nothing I would have ever thought to be professional aspiration. But then, after getting here, I thought maybe I should do it.”

Coglitore, a sociology major, said that he began his dancing career as a baby, watching the VHS of Michael Jackson’s Bucharest concert in 1992.

“I wore it out. Like, it broke because I watched it too many times,” Coglitore said. “And I really started imitating him. I watched and learned, and it was progressive like that.”

Ever since childhood, dance was more recreational than anything else, but Coglitore said that his love for dancing grew more and more.

“I started getting more and more

interested in it as I performed in front of people. You know, like bar mitzvahs, and confirmations, and sweet sixteens. I was always that guy in the middle dancing. And people’s reactions started getting more and more positive, you know, they thought I was good,” Coglitore said.

Before coming to Fordham, Coglitore said he had never taken a professional dance class. “My first class was a hip hop class at Ailey as a freshman,” he said. Soon after, Coglitore joined Fordham Flava, the hip-hop dance company at Rose Hill, whose members are partially responsible for the playful rumors about his dancing career. Currently, he president of the club.

Coglitore’s natural talent has taken him a long way; more specifically, it took him on a 14-hour plane ride to South Korea. “I was dancing with a couple of friends who were out of college and they had dabbled professionally,” Coglitore explained. “We sent in an audition video that said they needed backup dancers for this gig.

We were supposed to open for T-Pain in South Korea. So we auditioned and ended up getting it.”

What did the gig really entail?

“We were there for about two weeks and it was awesome,” Coglitore said.

“We shot two 3-D music videos with an independent recording artist, her name is Zahra. It was really fun being on set with a huge camera and the 3-D effects.”

“We had one live performance that was an album release party for this company, On-Spot Korea, and T-Pain was DJing the afterparty,” Coglitore recalled. “So in a sense, we opened for T-Pain.”

Coglitore’s experience in South Korea shaped his ambitions for the future. “I remember sitting and thinking, ‘This needs to be my life,’” Coglitore said. “It was so amazing being paid to do that. And free food. And VIP clubs. It was pretty awesome for something on such a low-scale.”

With his sights on the future, Coglitore has a clear vision for his intended career. “My biggest dream is to tour with Chris Brown or Usher or Janet Jackson or somebody who has inspired me so much. But it is hard; there are just so many dancers,” Coglitore admited. “But I believe in myself, and if I do take the time to train, that’s what I really want to do when school ends—actually train and get my body right and do it because I have never done it before. It’s all just been this natural talent that kind of like blossomed a little bit. But nothing crazy like all these amazing dancers that are out there killing it. But that is what I would love to do. And then, eventually I would also love to do artist development and choreograph for artists and maybe choreograph tours, you know? You never know.”

Who knows? One day he may even be dancing on tour with Usher in Taiwan or Nicki Minaj in Sri Lanka.

JACKSON GALAN/THE OBSERVER

Rob Coglitore, FCLC ’12, is president of the Rose Hill based Fordham Flava hip hop team.

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER February 23, 2012

Features

17

Do They Know too Much? A Look into Google’s New Policies

By ALEX ARMERO Staff Writer

In the world of tech giants, information is power. It doesn’t take much for the public to label a company as ‘evil.’ Fox News consistently receives that branding for their conservative perspective on news reports. Groupon has been described as evil for destroying value and bottle-necking cash flow to smaller businessses.

Massive companies like Verizon, AT&T and Apple are always on the fence between being classified as good or evil. But multi-billion dollar company, Google, has managed to stay on consumers’ good side regardless of the occasional negative headline. But what many consumers seem to regularly overlook is that Google knows everything about them: their habits, their preferences, their friends and their darkest secrets.

Web users have come to embrace Google’s plethora of services such as YouTube, Gmail, devices running the Android operating system, Google Documents, and of course, Google Search. But even Google has to make money, and many users don’t stop to consider just how it turns a profit.

Google makes money primarily through advertising. But buying ads on Google is markedly different from other outlets. On Google, advertisers know exactly who they’re targeting.

When a consumer uses a Google product, the person’s searches, documents, Google Voice conversations, pictures, emails, history and information from Google’s over 50 other services are stored and read. Google then utilizes the user’s information, targeting them with tailored advertising.

But a little advertising never hurt anyone. Logan Weir, Fordham College of Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’12 doesn’t mind the invasion of privacy.

“Ads are fine because I’m getting free services in exchange. It’s the natural evolution of marketing. It has moved from targeting a group, to targeting the individual,” Weir said.

But consider the situation where lower income females are innundat-

DON WRIGHT/MCT

Google compiles data about users to advertise for them specifically. Their new policy has many concerned about violation of personal privacy.

ed with write-ups on the latest reality TV shows rather than valuable current news. Are they less likely to remain up-to-date and involved on the issues that actually affect their lives?

Gabriella Solano, FCLC ’12, was a bit more concerned with Google’s informational power. “I understand that it makes sense from a business’s point of view, but I find the whole thing to be a little on the creepy side.

It just proves that whatever you do on the Internet is never really private.”

If a user’s information is being used, many feel they should be notified and allowed a degree of control.

Often the person using a Google product has no idea what they’ve signed up for. Even Google’s user-

friendly revised privacy policy and terms of use are very lengthy and drowned in vague jargon. For example, the policy “...includes a right for Google to make such content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom Google has relationships for the provision of syndicated services, and to use such content in connection with the provision of those services.”

Although Google can still seem to do no evil, having one’s information gathered can be dangerous. In addition to advertising, a user’s data profile can be used as criminal evidence and for sterotyping. As a result of search terms, web history, conversation topics and more, a person

might be grouped into stereotypes that affect their credit score, insurance rates, employment and more.

Google has made its relative innocence evident through its revised privacy policy, but it is frightening to consider what is possible. Popular retailer, Target, recently revealed that it can tell whether a customer is pregnant and even predict their due date using only the person’s purchase history. In the future, users of Google’s free services and all Internet users in general should become more careful and more critical of their Web surfing habits. At present, Google is facing a potential lawsuit in response to the discovery that users’ privacy settings were being circumvented on

the Safari Web browser. And the recent iPhone scandal, in which Apple was secretly tracking the location of its users, has proved that smart phones are also extremely viable sources for gathering unauthorized personal data.

Marko Konte, FCLC ’12, commented, “I have no problem with ads for the time being. What bothers me is that this is just another step toward some uncertain future.” And though the future may be uncertain, consumers can expect more violations of privacy and more ethical dilemas to come. Because for giant and seemingly all-knowing companies, information will continue to reign supreme.

Hit the Books! National Reading Day Tips From Fordham Professors is hard-pressed to single out one as the one she likes best. She did, however, suggest that Fordham students read “Nervous Conditions,” a Zimbabwean novel by Tsitsi Dangarembga. Mustafa explained that the novel, published in 1988, is now almost on par with Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” as one of the African novels that is most often assigned by professors. The novel is about a young girl named Tambu and her family and their life in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) in the 1960s. Mustafa said that “Nervous Conditions” is especially remarkable for its “smart, sharp, sophisticated” feminism.

By JEWEL GALBRAITH Contributing Writer

For college students, reading is a daily activity. But while our textbooks can be captivating, the reading we do for class isn’t exactly the kind you would want to curl up with in a coffee shop on a rainy afternoon. So if you’re ready to read a book that doesn’t have appendices or practice problems in the back, look no further. We’ve asked Fordham English professors for their recommendations on the best lit to pick up from the library, just in time for National Reading Day on March 2.

PROFESSOR STUART SHERMAN

PROFESSOR LAURA GREENEY Recent Read: “Atonement” by Ian McEwan

Recent Read: “Pulphead” by John Jeremiah Sullivan Sherman says that Pulphead, a collection of essays published in mid-2011, sticks out as one of his favorite reads of the past year. The essays included are a collection of magazine-style features on widely varied topics ranging from Michael Jackson to reality TV. Some of them, Sherman said, are focused on offbeat subcultures like Christian Rock fandom. To write these, Sullivan immersed himself entirely in the cultures themselves—he even traveled to a Christian Rock Festival with a group of die-hard fans— and by doing so ended up with what Sherman said are incredibly insightful portraits. “It’s amazing, really lovable writing,” he said.

All-Time Favorite: “The Anno-

“Atonement” is most widely known as the romantic and wrenching flick starring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, but it was originally a novel by Ian McEwan, published in 2001. Though Greeney enjoyed the film adaptation, she said that the novel itself was even better.

BRIAN JASINSKI/THE OBSERVER

On March 2, relax and grab a book to celebrate National Reading Day.

tated Alice” by Martin Gardener Sherman read “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll for the first time at age eight, and fell in love with the puzzle aspect of the book at age 14. “The Annotated Alice,” he said, takes the text of “Alice’s Adventures

in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking-Glass” and explains the math and word puzzles, cultural references, and other obscurities they include. Sherman said that he first taught the book as a young man when he was teaching high school, and it has stuck with him since. “It’s just beautiful,” he said,

“I love it.”

PROFESSOR FAWZIA MUSTAFA Mustafa insisted that as a professor who works with literature every day, she doesn’t think of books in terms of “favorites” and

All-Time Favorite: “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte As a teenager, Greeney loved Emily Bronte’s classic, Wuthering Heights.” Greeney cautioned students against writing the book off as a simple love story; in reality, she says, it offers much more.

“It is a story about the best and worst of human nature, the need to accept our true selves, and the resilience of the human spirit,” she said.

Literary

February 23, 2012 THE OBSERVER

DEEP CUT

By SARAH GRIMM Contributing Writer

THIS OLD FLAME

By MARIO WEDDELL Features Co-Editor & Asst. Photo Editor

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MARIO WEDDELL/THE OBSERVER

Sports

February 23, 2012 THE OBSERVER

Islanders Struggle to Remain Relevant as Season Come to a Close

By JOSEPH SPARACIO Asst. Sports Co-Editor

The New York Islanders have been swallowed up by the Rangers success in New York and are hoping to pick up the pieces of their season. While the Rangers continue to impress game after game, the Islanders are attempting to squeak out of the cellar of the division.

The Islanders were going into this season with hopes of making the playoffs for the first time since the 2006-2007 season, but at the very least wanted to improve upon last season and get out of the bottom of the conference standings. The season began on a sour note though, as the Islanders once again failed in another bid for a new arena.

Currently the Islanders are 25-278 and have 60 points. This record puts them in last place in the Atlantic division, 13th in the Eastern Conference, and 26th in the league. These numbers are terrible and all too familiar for Islanders fans.

Many attribute the Islander woes to General Manager Garth Snow, who took over in 2006 but has struggled ever since to make steady improvements. Snow has disappointed fans by not restructuring the team to satisfy its needs. The Islanders have a lot of good young players, but lack the veteran leadership to help set a good example to a large group of young up-and-comers, like John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, Josh Bailey and Nino Niederreiter.

Head Coach Jack Capuano can

BRIAN JASINSKI/THE OBSERVER’

The Islanders have struggled all season and seemed destined to miss the playoffs for a fifth straight year.

only work with the players that he has; both Capuano and Snow have to let both the players and the fan base know that even though their stars are young, they can win. With a little help, the Islanders have a chance to shine despite the fact that they hit .500 for the first time just last week. This is after their inexperience and lack of depth had been exposed yet again this season.

Despite the Islanders endless problems, some aspects of the team are beginning to shine. The brightest of all these aspects may be red-hot John Tavares. The Islanders selected Tavares first overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft and he has proven himself to be quite a player. At just 21-years-old, Tavares has become one of the most vibrant players in the NHL. Tavares

The Challenge: Climb to the Top

By JASPER CHANG Asst. Sports Co-Editor

Brooklyn Boulders, located on 575 Degraw St., Brooklyn, New York, is an indoor rock climbing and bouldering gym. Best done in a group of two or more, rock climbing is a great way to spend time with friends and get an amazing full-body workout.

Rock climbing and bouldering are open to anyone willing to take the challenge, but there is a difference between the two. Anyone can rock climb on top roping walls, but only those who have been belay certified at Brooklyn Boulders can belay on top rope. To belay is to secure the climber’s safety by means of the climber’s harness and the top rope.

Bouldering does not require a harness or a person certified to belay; it is free climbing.

Brooklyn Boulder’s walls are dedicated to replicating various mountainous scenarios, making it a gym unlike any other. Every segment of each wall has different vertical angles and various difficulty levels to ensure a constant flow of new challenges. The difficulty level is labeled by a number, and the path to climb is coded in color. Labeling is generally found at the bottom of the wall. If the label number two is situated next to red, then follow the red path to perform a difficulty level of two. This label and color method applies to rock climbing and bouldering.

The greatest perk to these activities is the opportunity for friendly and engaging competition among friends. You and your friends can have races, see who can best one another or watch a friend attempt to climb. Overall, it will be fun-filled and laughter ensured day. An hour of rock climbing or bouldering quickly passes by. From the moment you start climbing, there are no other thoughts than reaching the top and smacking the red button to signify that you have overcome a difficult challenge Your forearms will tense

scores goals plenty of goals, has a great shot and is also a great passer.

Currently, Tavares has 58 points and is on pace to have around 78 by the end of the season. Had Tavares been surrounded with better players, like an experienced winger, he could have similar numbers to Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos. Both Tavares and Stamkos are goal scorers and have similarly

Fordham Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony to Be Held Saturday

By RANDY NARINE Sports Editor

JANET JENSEN/TACOMA NEWS-TRIBUNE/MCT

Rock climbing is a fun way to exercise and spend time with friends.

up and your toes will grip the wall; it is very exhilarating and rigorous.

But that is why rock climbing burns about 750 calories an hour. When rock climbing and bouldering are for exercising purposes, it is arguably one of the best workouts. These activities require full-body movement, so unlike weight lifting which isolates certain parts of the body, rock climbing and bouldering utilize all the muscles. Not to mention, rock climbing and bouldering are a lot more fun than lifting a few pieces of metal.

There are several actions of caution you should take before climbing. Beware of how high up you have climbed when you boulder. Since it is free climbing, you start your way up on your own and you’ll certainly end your way down the same. If you climb with a person certified to belay, I say reach for the ceiling. One issue to be aware of is both activities may

cause strain to the tendons in your fingers. A great deal of pressure is placed on the fingers when climbing.

The best method to deal with this is to tape your fingers with adhesive tape. In addition, be sure to have gym apparel for climbing. Gym clothing that is not baggy is greatly preferred because it is less likely to get in your way. Climbing shoes are required but, Brooklyn Boulders does provide rental shoes. Lastly, ask the front desk of Brooklyn Boulders for a bag of chalk. Chalk will keep your hands dry and afford you a better grip on the wall.

If you have not tried rock climbing or bouldering before, there is never a better time to try than the present. Bring some friends and prepare to say, “Challenge accepted.”

For more information, visit www. brooklynboulders.com.

fast hands, yet Tavares spends more time setting up Matt Moulson than being able to score himself. Moulson is having a great season as well, registering his 25th goal Thursday, yet part of this reason is because he plays on the same line as Tavares. The Islanders need to acquire more players to surround a powerful young core.

The last issue that is holding the Islanders back is their goalie situation.

The Islanders put all of their eggs in one basket; they gave Rick DiPietro a monstrous, 15-year, $67.5 million contract in 2006, only to see him get injured year after year. Between the start of the 2008 season and start of the 2012 season, he has played in just 39 games.

The Islanders have been attempting to replace DiPietro with a platoon of goalies, of which Evgeni Nabokov has shone the brightest. Nabokov, who hadn’t played in the NHL since the 2009-2010 season, has been playing very well, with a .925 save percentage, placing him eighth in the league. If the New York Islanders had a better record, Nabokov could be a Vezina Trophy candidate. If Nabokov continues to play well, the Islanders may have some hope of replacing the constantly injured DiPietro and lessen the embarrassing blow of giving him such a ridiculous contract.

Overall, the Islanders will struggle to get out of the cellar yet again this year, yet they have a good core of young players. This team desperately needs some veterans to help support the youngsters; stability and experience will be key to their success.

The select few individuals with Fordham sports immortality are set to welcome new members to their community, as the Rams are inducting eight new athletes to the Fordham University Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday Feb. 25.

The ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m. with mass at the University Church and will end with the introduction of the inductees at halftime of the basketball game between the Fordham Rams and the La Salle Explorers.

New York Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’82, will serve as the Master of Ceremony for the formal introduction ceremony in the McGinley Center Ballroom. The highlight of the event will be the New York Giants 2012 Lombardi Trophy, which will be on display at the ceremony.

The new members of the Hall of Fame include Bob Cooney, FCRH ’29 (baseball), Bob Cole, Gabelli School of Business (GSB) ’78 (baseball), Maik Wiedenbach, FCRH ’01 (swimming), Deric Zaphire, FCRH ’03 (track & field), Dan Wolleben, FCRH ’04 (rowing), Maureen Zivic, GSB ’05 (track & field), Erika Newell, FCRH ’05 (swimming) and Kate Davis Barrick, FCRH ’06 (softball).

Cooney was a pitcher for the Rams during the late 1920s. He is near the top of many of Fordham’s all-time pitching stats, ranking tied for first in shutouts (six), third in complete games (15) and 15 in wins. Cooney finished his Fordham career with a great 64-18 record. He went on to play two seasons for the St. Louis Browns (now Baltimore Orioles) in 1931 and 1932.

Cole was a pitcher for the Rams who originally walked on the team. Cole ranks fifth on Fordham’s career saves list (13) and sixth on the all time ERA list (2.63). During the 1978 season Cole had a record of 5-0, with seven saves and 2.11 ERA, as he helped the Rams capture the Met title.

Wiedenbach was one of the best swimmers for the Rams in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Wiedenbach’s best season was his 1999-2000 campaign, in which he won the Vincent T. Lombardi Award as Fordham’s top male athlete. That season he broke the 50 meter and 100 meter freestyle record at the Atlantic 10 (A-10) championships. Widenbach would finish second in both events at the meet to garner

Second Team All A-10 honors.

Zaphire was an All A-10 performing track star throughout his Fordham career. Zeric held the school record for the indoor 500m until the mark was broken this winter. Zaphire was named Second Team All A-10 in 2002 after he finished second in the indoor 500m. He would go on to earn All-East honors at the event. Also, as a junior Zaphire earned All-East honors in the 400m hurdles.

Dan Wolleben was a member of the Fordham men’s crew team, winning a national championship each of his four seasons. Wolleben was a team captain during his junior and senior year. He is a four-time Varsity National Championship Gold Medalist, a three-time Dad Vail championship winner, and a onetime ECAC National Championship winner.

Wolleben was also a member of two top ten nationally ranked lightweight eight teams and is a three-time New York State Champion. In the summer of 2003 at the Nereid Boat Club in New Jersey, Wolleben stroked his senior lightweight four team to a U.S. championship.

Maureen Zivic is a two-time A-10 Champion, winning the A-10 indoor 500m as a junior and the A-10 outdoor 800m as a senior. Zivic’s efforts as a senior earned her First Team All A-10 honors and she placed 11th in the indoor ECAC championships. Zivic also set school records in the indoor 400m (56.84) and indoor 500m (1:14.63).

Erika Newell swam for the Rams for three years, topping herself each year. Newell’s senior season was her best. She won the 100m backstroke and 200m backstroke at the A-10 championships, becoming Fordham’s first multi-event winner at the A-10’s. During her stellar season, Newell set four individual schools records and two relay records, en route to winning the 2005 Hobbes Family Award for Fordham’s most outstanding female athlete.

Katie Davis Barrack was an outfielder for the Rams softball team in the mid 2000s. Barrack was a key member of the Ram first regular season A-10 title team in 2005. She was a three-time All A-10 selection from 2004-2006 and in 2005 she was A-10 Player of the Year.

Davis was the first Fordham female athlete to win Player of the Year honors.

Saturday will be the unveiling and first introduction of this star-studded class before their names are forever etched in Fordham lore.

20

Sports

February 23, 2012 THE OBSERVER

www.fordhamobserver.com

Fordham Hockey Falls Shorts of Championship Finals

By RANDY NARINE Sports Editor

A promising season for the Fordham hockey club came to a crashing halt, as the team lost 5-2 in their semi-final playoff match against Maritime College.

The Rams had their share of chances to take control of the game; they outshot the Privateers 48-22, but just couldn’t find the back of the net. Fordham had beaten Maritime in the teams’ two previous meeting this season by scores of 5-1 and 6-4.

“It’s unfortunate, disappointing, and we just didn’t get the bounces,” Terrence McGinley, Rams defenseman and captain, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’12, said. “We outshot and outplayed them, but they had the luck.”

McGinley added the Rams just didn’t play their best hockey. “We took too many penalties and went down right away,” McGinley said.

“We couldn’t play in our system and we had no power play goals.

We failed on special teams.” This was shocking for a team that scored 23 power play goals in 64 power play opportunities and led the Metropolitan Collegiate Hockey Conference (MCHC) with a 36 percent power play conversion rate.

Head Coach Rich Guberti reflected on the stunning end to the season as more than just not fitting. “We made the playoffs five years in a row and have been in the finals two years in a row,” Guberti said. “Losing in the semi-finals just doesn’t feel complete; Our goal was to win it all. We couldn’t score and we just picked the wrong day not to show up.”

Though the Rams felt short of their ultimate goal, Guberti felt there were positives for the team to take away from this season. “We really felt we had a great season,” Guberti said. “We were ranked 13th in the Atlantic by the American Collegiate Hockey Association. It’s

COURTESY OF FORDHAM HOCKEY TEAM

After a stellar regular season, the Fordham hockey club fell short of their goal of a second championship in three years.

the highest Fordham has ever been ranked.”

The national recognition from such a high ranking will only help Fordham with scheduling better opponents. Guberti pointed out that stronger scheduling is exactly what the Rams need to climb to the next level.

“We need to play tougher teams because we need to be pushed more,” Guberti said. “After our game against Fairfield (ranked 12th in the Atlantic) we reeled off six straight wins. We outscored our opponents 48-7; we weren’t challenged and that hurt us coming into the playoffs. For us to get better, we have to play against stron-

ger competition, because with our talent the goal should be to win a championship and move on to regionals and nationals.

The Rams finished the season second in the MCHC, just three points behind eventually champions County College of Morris, with a league record of 13-3. This effort was led by sophomore forward John Fox, FCRH ’14, who finished in the team scoring lead and tied for fourth in the conference with 39 points. While Fox led the team in scoring, senior goalie Craig Hoffman, FCRH ’12, was a rock in net for the Rams. Hoffman finished with an 8-3 record, was third in the conference in save percentage

(88.2) and second in goals against average (2.57).

Guberti felt that team chemistry was one of biggest factors that fueled this year’s team. “We really came together as a team,” Guberti said. “The fact that everyone was focused, serious and dedicated to the team was really beneficial.”

McGinley also felt there was a strong bond with this year’s team.

“On and off the ice we had a great rapport,” McGinley said. “There was a good mix of older guys and younger guys and we had plenty of character. They are a great group of guys and I’m going to miss them.”

Looking forward to next season, the Rams are hoping to be just as

competitive. The team is only losing seniors Hoffman and McGinley to graduation and has great young talent coming in. “I think they can only hope to get better,” McGinley said. “It’s just me and Craig leaving and the freshmen class is big and talented. They can rally around the national ranking because that’s really something to be proud of.”

Guberti feels the Rams are really building something special and have a team that will be definitely be competitive for the next few year years. “Though we didn’t win the championship, we really laid the ground work for the future. We’ve got a team that’s going to be very good in the next couple years.”

Softball Seeks to Improve on Last Season’s Success

By MAX WOLLNER Staff Writer

After winning their first Atlantic 10 (A-10) Championship ever last season, the women’s softball team has set their sights on another title and another shot at the NCAA tournament.

The team’s success in recent years can be attributed to their overpowering offense, their lightsout pitching staff, and the passion of Head Coach Bridget Orchard.

Before Orchard joined the team for the 2002 season, the softball program had never had a winning season. Since then, winning has become a familiar feeling for the lady Rams as they have enjoyed back-toback 40-win seasons, which led to two NCAA Regional appearances and their first A-10 Championship.

“It’s probably something that will never be topped in my Fordham career,” Jen Mineau, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’12, said.

“It’s been our goal since I’ve been here and to see it accomplished was pure ecstasy.”

The marks of a championship team are a strong pitching staff and a well-balanced offense, and Fordham certainly has those elements. From a pitching standpoint, the Rams appear to be set. Last season, the pitching took center stage, as 22 of their 42 wins last season were shutouts. Of course, the Rams also have a powerful ace in Jen Mineau. During her time at Fordham, Mineau has dominated hitters from all over the country amassing a record seven no-hitters,

four of which were perfect games.

This season she will be tasked with guiding the Rams to a repeat while also mentoring the two new pitchers on the staff. “Right now, the freshmen are getting rid of their jitters, but they work hard and they’ll only get better as the season continues,” Mineau said.

In addition to their powerful pitching staff, Fordham also brings

“ [Winning a

championship] has been our goal since I’ve been here and to see it accomplished was pure ecstasy.”

JEN MINEAU, FCRH ’12

a crafty, yet intimidating offense to the plate. Having lost many powerhitting seniors to graduation, the team will have to manufacture runs the old-fashioned way— hitting for a high average and scoring runs with speed on the basepaths.

The Rams will look to Nicole Callahan, FCRH ’12, to duplicate her 2011 campaign. Last season Callahan had a breakout season, leading the team with a .358 batting average.

However, in order to score runs, a team usually needs a base stealer or two. Luckily the team found theirs in Lindsey Kay Bright,

COURTESY OF FORDHAM SPORTS

The Fordham softball team is looking to win back to back A-10 titles for the first time in school history.

FCRH ’12. Bright has been the catalyst on the bases, leading the team in steals in two of her three seasons, including setting the new single season stolen base record

(29) in 2009. Fordham’s ability to manufacture runs, along with their formidable pitching helped them steamroll over other teams.

In fact, 12 of their 42 wins were

wins via softball’s mercy rule, a rule invoked if one team is ahead by at least eight runs after five innings. “After last year, we aren’t as heavy hitting as a team, but we’re definitely a scrappier one,” Mineau said. “We’ll score runs with line drives and doubles, but once the younger players get a little stronger, the home runs will return.”

This season, the Rams will attempt to repeat as A-10 champions for the first time in the school’s history, however it may not be an easy road. Although they were projected to finish first in an A-10 pre-season poll, the team must face some tough ranked opponents throughout the season, including Alabama (#3), California (#4), and Arizona (#8). It is crucial that Fordham performs well against these nationally-ranked teams for multiple reasons, for one, every win is important, but beating ranked opponents would undoubtedly raise the program’s already strong reputation and it may even help the team secure a ranking of their own. Fordham is close to being ranked in the top 25 teams, as they received votes in the two preseason polls.

The expectations are high for the softball team this season, and rightly so. Although almost half of team is comprised of freshmen, they will be guided by a strong senior presence on the mound and in the batter’s box. They, along with Orchard will serve as mentors to them as the softball team continues to grow into one of the most successful programs in the NCAA.