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Potential U.S. Involvement in Syria Causes Concern UT professors give their perspectives
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Young and old Syrian rebels hold a sign with the inscription: “We will bring Assad to justice; no matter what lives it takes, no matter how much catastpophe it makes - Kafranbel.” By RACHEL BARANOWSKI News Writer
The crisis in Syria is still a major debate in the U.S., and people have their own views and ideas about how the conflict will turn out. In 2011, the Arab Spring, which is defined by the Macmillan Dictionary as “a series of activities ranging from political protests, to civil war that happened in a number of Arab countries, including Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, and Syria” occurred. This event inspired citizens from all over the world to protest against the Assad regime.
In response to the protests, the Assad regime opened fire on the protestors, kidnapping, torturing and killing citizens. Since then, the crisis has escalated, leading to the use of sarin gas, which is “a human-made chemical warfare agent classified as a nerve agent,” according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC also stated, “nerve agents are the most toxic and rapidly acting of the known chemical warfare agents.” Allegedly, these weapons were used either by the Assad regime or the
Syrian rebels on Aug. 21, 2013. Richard Spencer, a Middle East correspondent for The Daily Telegraph, said in his article, “Syria has disclosed details of its chemical weapons inventory for the first time in a filing to an international organization.” According to Spencer, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) analysts say the regime has about 1,000 tons of stocks including sarin gas, VX nerve agent and mustard gas, along with delivery systems. Since the use of chemical weapons
in Syria, President Obama has made multiple speeches expressing his wish to intervene in the Syrian crisis. According to Denis Rey, a government and world affairs professor at UT, the real issue for the U.S. is credibility. He stated that the U.S. has found itself in a predicament, because “if we do not hold credibility to the use of chemical weapons, then we will lose credibility.” In one of his speeches, President
and orientation process very smooth.” The university presents opportunities in all ROTC programs. UT’s Army ROTC program, also known as the Spartan Battalion, is often ranked as one
are interested in the ROTC. The Army, Air Force and Navy ROTC’s waive up to 100% of tuition fees for veterans and their dependents. “I receive 100 percent GI Bill for my service up to this time,” Sachs said. Mostly veterans receive full scholarships, but every member, no matter their rank, gets some type of financial aid. “I have not received a full scholarship for my years in ROTC like many other cadets, but I do receive a monthly stipend which comes in handy,” said senior Zachary Van Hout, a member of the Army ROTC at the university. The Spartan Battalion is now accommodated in a new facility on campus. The General Peter J. Schoomaker ROTC and Athletic
Building houses all the operations for the ROTC unit, including offices, classrooms, computer labs and a library, training space and rehabilitation space. “At the moment there are many prior service men and women in the ROTC program (Green to Gold) earning their commission with the rest of us,” Van Hout said. “It is great having them there, doing the day to day alongside the rest of us. They have such a wealth of knowledge about the Army and help the rest of us cadets choose the paths that we want to go upon commissioning.” Students graduate as commissioned officers in the U.S. military, ready to take on anything and everything that comes their way. Valerie Lara can be reached at valerie.lara@spartans.ut.edu
See SYRIA Page 4
UT in Top 20 Percent of Military Friendly Schools
By VALERIE LARA News Writer
The University of Tampa has been named a military friendly school for 2014 by Victory Media, a designation that ranks UT in the top 20% of all colleges and universities nationwide. UT will be listed in the 2014 Guide to Military Friendly Schools. When a university makes the Military Friendly Schools list, it means the school actively recruits and retains military students and embraces America’s military service members, veterans and spouses as students. “I was deployed overseas while registering for school,” said senior and member of the Marine Corps Reserve Matthew Sachs. “Not only was UT’s responses faster than other universities, they also made the entire registration
In Other News...
Not only was UT’s responses faster than other universities, they also made the entire registration and orientation process very smooth. - Matthew Sachs of the best in the nation. The Air Force ROTC and Navy ROTC programs are offered by an intercampus agreement with the University of South Florida. UT provides many scholarships and financial aid programs for those who
3 Massive Flooding in Colorado Hits Close to Home for UT Students 7 Vegas iHeartRadio Music Festival Showcases Legends Old and New
10 Tips and Tricks to Trasition into iOS7 12 Instagram Causes Narcissism Among Young Users
14 Indian-American Miss America Receives Ignorant Backlash
20 Ready Set Spike: Volleyball Team Ready for Season
News..................................2 Diversions.........................6 A+E....................................7 Opinion............................ 11
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SEPTEMBER 26 2013 | THE MINARET
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NEWS + FEATURES
UT Professor and Bodybuilder Star in Mr. Olympia Documentary: ‘Generation Iron’
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Photo courtesy of Dr. Jacob Wilson
Bodybuilder Ben Pakuliski helps Dr. Wilson demonstrate the use of lab equipment to students, as they run a test to insure full muscle potential. By JESSE LONG News Writer
technologies to help Pakuliski become as lean as possible without losing size. Essentially, the goal is to have most of a bodybuilder’s weight come from muscle. One of the technologies that the Human Performance Lab uses to accomplish this is biofeedback electromyography. Biofeedback electromyography is used to determine which muscles are being used to ensure Pakuliski is targeting the muscles he needs to. This muscular aspect is important to Wilson and has actually played a part in his personal life. Wilson was once a semi-pro hockey player that needed to accomplish the large but lean ratio. He had trouble putting on muscle as an athlete, which led to his focus on human performance. “I became really obsessed with this topic. I knew that my calling was to be a scientist,” Wilson said.“I wanted to learn how to increase muscle while decreasing body fat, and discover the genetic boundaries in people revolving around this topic.” That is just what Dr. Wilson and his students have been doing in the Human Performance Lab at UT. Dr. Wilson said that working with Pakuliski has been a learning opportunity for the lab and has provided the
students with great experience. “With Ben we learned about all the fine details and the importance of every little thing,” said Ryan Lowery, a senior majoring in Human Performance and exercise physiology. In the Human Performance Lab, Lowery worked alongside Wilson and was able to have the opportunity to work with Pakuliski during his training. Lowery also has received the Undergraduate Student Research Award for his work with Wilson. Wilson emphasized the fact that the lab here at UT is a great experience for students and provides them with hands on knowledge of the subject. “It is a rare opportunity for the students and provides them with great career exposure,” Wilson said. “UT is exploding in this department both national and international. It is a think tank for expanding human performance research.” With the hard work of Wilson and his students, the Human Performance Lab at the University of Tampa has become a center for knowledge. Jesse Long can be reached at jesse. long@spartans.ut.edu
Jacob Wilson and his team of students have been hard at work in the Human Performance Lab at the University of Tampa. The lab is located within the Department of Health Sciences and Human Performance and is a feature in the new documentary Generation Iron. The Human Performance Lab works with some of the most elite athletes in the world. One of these athletes is Ben Pakuliski. Pakuliski is one of the world’s top seven bodybuilders. He is training for the Mr. Olympia competition, which takes place in Las Vegas, Nev. Sept. 26-29. According to Wilson, the competition is like the “Super Bowl of bodybuilding.” Pakuliski’s presence has brought new attention to the lab in the form of the new documentary. Generation Iron came out on Sept. 20 and follows the top seven bodybuilders of the world as they prepare for the Mr. Olympia competition. When he decided to come to the UT to train, the cameras followed. Established in 1965, the Mr. Olympia competition took the sport of bodybuilding to a whole new level, according to bodybuilding.com. It became the “ultimate test” for bodybuilders, where they could test their skills against the best of the best. Only the winner could receive the “ultimate prize,” the title of Mr. Olympia. This year’s Mr. Olympia Competition takes place Sept. 26-29. According to Generation Iron’s website, the film contains a behind-the-scenes look into the sport of bodybuilding. It focuses on the life and journey of the sport’s top athletes as they prepare for the biggest competition of their career. It not only focuses on their life in the training room, but outside it as well. The documentary emphasizes the athletes’ ability to overcome their toughest situations. Each bodybuilder in the film takes a different path of training and routines, but they all have the same goal: to be crowned Mr. Olympia, the number one bodybuilder in the world. The content of the documentary may be surprising for some viewers due to preconceived notions about bodybuilding. However, bodybuilding is a science that requires research and technology, according to Wilson. “A body builder’s goal is to be as large as possible and as lean as possible,” Wilson said. However this is easier said than done, which is where the Human Performance Lab Photo Courtesy of Dr.Jacob Wilson comes in. In the lab they use many different Ben Pakuliski cooperates with the documentary filming crew for Generation Iron, beside Dr. Wilson.
NEWS + FEATURES
THE MINARET | SEPTEMBER 26 2013
Massive Flooding In Colorado Hits Close to Home for UT Students
By CHANDLER CALLAHAN News Writer
The massive flooding in Colorado this past week has destroyed hundreds of roads, bridges and homes and has devastated the lives of thousands of Colorado residents. According to CBS Denver, the total death toll was at seven on Friday, Sept. 20 with three people missing and presumed dead and 82 people still unaccounted for in Larimer County. President Obama declared Colorado in a state of emergency and ordered aid to be provided for the state. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has provided $12.3 million dollars to the relief effort so far. Colorado native Ardisia Knowles, a University of Tampa junior and secondary education major, was affected by the flooding in her hometown of Aurora, Colo. “Many of my family and friends’ homes were affected by the flooding,” Knowles said. “At my home in particular, our basement had flooded and we lost nearly half of our belongings. I’m thankful that my family and friends are physically alright and that no one got truly harmed.” The cities of Aurora and Lyons were some of the hardest hit communities in the state. The Colorado National Guard was needed to airlift thousands of Lyons residents out of dangerous zones, as reported by CBS Denver. Before the floods had reached their worst point, schools were closed due to the worsening conditions. The University of Colorado’s campus was closed on Thursday, Sept. 12 and remained closed through the following Sunday. “In some places, there is still water on the
roads, and it’s so bad that schools have closed down for the entire week,” Knowles said. “My boyfriend’s school in particular shut down, and the students evacuated the campus because they weren’t allowed to use the water.” Mollie Putnam, a junior film and arts media major from Boulder, Colo., had friends and neighbors affected by the treacherous floods. “Houses two minutes away from mine were evacuated and roads everywhere were completely washed through,” Putnam said. “A girl from the high school I went to was in a car that got trapped in the flood, and two teenagers that were in the car passed away.”
CBS Denver reported that as the flooding slowly decreases, roads are reopening and allowing victims who have been using the shelters to go back to their homes. The aftermath of these tragic floods not only includes the devastation of homes, buildings and roads but also the effects of multiple oil spills. An estimated 22,060 gallons of oil have been spilled, which were prompted by the flooding, according to CBS Denver. These spills will have a tremendously adverse effect on the environment as well as the infrastructure of Colorado. These devastating floods are among the multiple tragedies Colorado has had to deal
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with in recent years, from raging wildfires to the shooting in Aurora. Despite these disasters, Colorado citizens and communities continue to band together. “The people of Colorado are a united group of people. At least in my neighborhood, I have noticed that when there is crisis, the theater shooting for example, we band together and help each other out,” Knowles said. “The floods may have shattered homes, but I don’t think they shattered our hope. I have faith that, just as always, we will unite and do what we can to help each other.” Chandler Callahan can be reached at chandler.callahan@spartans.ut.edu
DVIDSHUB/ Flikr
Colorado National Guardsmen assist Boulder County authorities transport evacuated residents of Lyons, to Longmont, Colorado.
From the Sept. 16 to Sept. 22 reports
Don’t Touch My Sheet On Sept. 18, A student reported bedding items stolen from a dryer in the building. Just Diggin’ the Hole Deeper On Sept. 18, an intoxicated, underaged student refused to comply with a university’s official’s directives and refused to identify himself. Don’t Back Sass Me On Sept. 18, a student was verbally abusive towards an RA and was also found in possession of drug paraphernalia.
Friday, Sept. 28 opening volleyball game at 7:00 p.m. against rivals Florida Tech at the Martinez Center Hide Yo’, Hide Yo’ Keys On Sept. 20, a student reported the theft of her cell phone. The phone was recovered and a student was reffered to the Office of Student Conduct for the theft. Ring the Alarm On Sept. 21, A student intentionally activated a fire alarm. Investigation found no fire and the student was refered to conduct for the violation. Reports compiled by Katherine Lavacca
Student Government has a new twitter account! go to @TheRealUTSG to learn more about the going-ons with your Student Government The Fall Leadership Retreat 2013 is Saturday, Sept. 28- Check-in at 9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. at the Grand Salon Lunch will be provided!
4 SEPTEMBER 26 2013 | THE MINARET
NEWS + FEATURES
Doubts arise concerning military action SYRIA from page 1
Obama addressed that this crisis could be a threat to our national security. This means it would be in the nation’s interest to get involved, because the crisis could potentially affect American lives. “Allowing Syria to break the international norm against the use of chemical weapons would eventually embolden other leaders to do the same someday,” said Liv Coleman, a government and world affairs professor at UT. “Those weapons could be used elsewhere against American troops and interests.”
Touching on the subject of U.S. credibility, Coleman said, “The U.S. has never shied from using force when it feels its interests are truly at stake, and others around the world know that.” Although Coleman addressed the U.S. using force when its interests are “truly at stake,” Rey said, “Right now the U.S. does not have a direct interest in this crisis.” Professor Wayne Farel, a specialist in economics, explained the role of money in the Syrian conflict. “The U.S. is gaining [global power] already in the Syria conflict. In times of crisis people look to invest their
FreedomHouse/ Flikr
A protest takes place in the streets of San Fransisco in reaction to the potential US involvement in Syria.
money in U.S. dollars, because U.S. currency is considered to be stable,” Farel said. “This is called a ‘flight to quality’, or whoever holds more U.S. dollars will be able to spend more elsewhere because the currency will be more valuable.” Although Rey said there is no direct interest in the Syrian crisis, the U.S. has allies in that region: Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey. An international student from one of the U.S. allies, Lebanon, spoke out on behalf of their own experiences with the Syrian crisis being so close to home. Sam Alshami, who studies computer science at St. Leo University, said there have been thousands of refugees pouring into Lebanon. “I believe that this will damage the Lebanese economy, especially with tourists not coming to our country anymore,” Alshami said. According to the World Bank, Syrian refugees will cost Lebanon $7.5 billion in cumulative economic losses by the end of next year. In an article by Dominic Evans pointed out that the Syrian war, along with refugees, will cut real GDP growth by 2.85 percent per year between 2012 and 2014. It will also double unemployment to above 20 percent and widen the deeply indebted nation’s deficit by $2.6 billion. Norma Winston, chair of the
government and world affairs department and a sociology professor at UT, also weighed in on the Syria conversation. “I don’t think there is much to be gained from once again, showing the world America’s might and force,” Winston said. “Additional lives would surely have been lost, and we would be left to ask whether we are any better than those who perpetrated the situation to begin with.” Winston’s solution for U.S. involvement in Syria would be to “Hopefully get a group safely into Syria and remove the toxic substances. That done, we will all be able to hold our heads up in pride because we succeeded in dealing with this issue through peaceful conflict resolution.” According to a survey by the German Marshall Fund of the United States, an organization that promotes cooperation between North America and Europe, 62 percent of Americans and 72 percent of Europeans believe their countries should avoid military intervention in Syria’s civil war. Although there is no indication of what the U.N. plans on doing in Syria, the world will soon see how these potential alliances with world leaders will pan out in the Syrian crisis and whether they can join together to end this already 30-month conflict. Rachel Baranowski can be reached at rachel.baranowski@spartans.ut.edu
UT Entrepreneurs Make Waves in Film Production Industry By DOHA MADANI News Writer
Not many seek out their own dreams and can say they created their own production company at 18 years old. However, two University of Tampa students can say just that. Miles Cable, a junior and film major, and Kush Patel, a junior and entrepreneurship major, have been longtime friends and have worked together to create an incredible business. Fresh View Films originally began as Cable’s side project creating fun videos in high school, but launched into a film production business in his freshman year. After creating the visuals for local artist Alex Granata’s song “Childish Musician,” Cable was inspired, but unsure of the future of Fresh View and how to build his dream company. “It was just one of those days, we were hanging out, and somehow it came into the conversation, ‘I have this company and I want to take it places,’” said Patel, recalling the conversation last summer that began the partnership. “Somehow, it got into the works that I should join, and that was the starting point of the company.” With no money to start with, Cable and Patel worked with basic equipment acquired from years of work and savings until they could obtain their first investor. All profit they make goes to business expenses and paying off their investor, leaving little to the owners. However, the experience has been more than worth it to both business partners Cable recently passed up an opportunity to work with one of Chicago’s top film production offices,
The Chicago Film Office. It is a department that every production has to work with to film in the city of Chicago. They help with everything from organizing city closures for sets and getting permits, to casting extras. Everything but what the actual studio does. Cable decided against this move, in order to focus more on finding clients and spending full days
spread among the music community, Fresh View Films developed a brand based on social media and word of mouth. In the past year, the company built a clientele around the country from Philadelphia to Texas, forcing Cable and Patel to travel the duration of their summer in order to collaborate with artists.
Photo courtesy of Miles Cable
Behind the camera with Miles Cable, as he films a recruitment video for sorority Delta Gamma at UT.
shooting and editing videos. “I had an opportunity to work with the Chicago Film Office,” said Cable. “It would have been a great connect, but I was like, I’d much rather have a month of bumming around, and then spend two weeks of so much work for Fresh View. And it turns out there was a lot of progress.” At the time, Granata was the sole Fresh View client, but after the video
“We are just starting to manage it in the sense that we are keeping our clients organized,” said Cable.” Fresh View now has an official website, a growing client list, an apparel line and more collaborative and creative efforts in the works. Not only do they work with musicians on music videos, but they also began to offer to help their social media and marketing campaigns alongside
it. Once the video is prepared and ready to release, the company offers to help the artists promote it through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. To them, Fresh View Films is the future. “This is officially how I see Fresh View going in the future. I see it going any direction that we want to go,” said Patel. “We want to get different things under our belts so we can be an all around agency. We want to take in artists and rep them from all sides.” Students around the University of Tampa have started to hear more and more about the growing company, and even students who are not familiar have voiced support for the up and coming business. Stevie Handwerk, junior film major, thinks the start up company is a great idea. “I think doing this is getting them maybe known [in this industry] and getting experience on their own through doing it,” said Handwerk. “Getting ahead of everyone and starting something they are passionate about is smart.” To Fresh View Films, this time at college is ideal to seek out passions and try new ventures. While their friends are working in offices at their internships, Patel and Kush love every moment of their collaborative career. They encourage their fellow students to pursue every avenue while they still have a university setting to offer opportunities. “Right now is the time. You should be exploring your interests, try to figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life,” said Patel. “Don’t just say, ‘I’ll think about it when I graduate.” Doha Madani can be reached at doha.madani@spartans.ut.edu
NEWS + FEATURES
THE MINARET | SEPTEMBER 26 2013
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Death Penalty: A Topic of Debate Among UT Community
By KHADIJAH KHAN News Writer
Americans are now evenly divided on whether the death penalty or life without parole is a viable punishment for murder, according to a survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute. The survey found that 47 percent of Americans favored life without parole, while 46 percent opted for the death penalty. For years the death penalty has been a very serious and emotional issue. While this has affected several people in various ways, some may not fully understand what the death penalty entails and why the U.S. still has it. Monday night in Reeves Theater, UT held a death penalty and voting rights restoration panel, hoping to spark discussions concerning one of America’s most controversial topics. The panel was designed to help “educate people about human rights, the U.S. commitment to respecting the principles of the ICCPR [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights], and, given the impending review by the HRC [Human Rights Campaign], what some areas of concern might be,” said Bruce Friesen, UT associate professor of sociology and moderator of the panel. The panel consisted of four professors who were distinguished in their given fields. “I am co-chair of the Human Rights Think Tank so I and mid-Florida ACLU Director, Dr. Joyce Hamilton Henry, came up with a list of people in the area who are knowledgeable about human rights and the ICCPR process. We contacted several people before the current panelists were confirmed,” Friesen said.
Susan Brinkley, UT associate professor of criminology; Marcus Arvon, UT assistant professor of philosophy; Patricia Broussard, associate professor of law at Florida A&M University College of Law; and Mark Elliott, the executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, were the chosen panelists. There are currently 32 states that allow the death penalty, Florida being one of them, while the other 18 states have abolished the death penalty. The most recent state to abolish the death penalty was Maryland in May of this year. The four crimes that are punishable by death in the state of Florida consist of first degree murder, felony murder, capital drug trafficking and capital sexual battery. “I feel that capital drug trafficking and capital sexual battery should not result in the death penalty,” said Gianna Latigona, freshman and allied health for physical therapy major. “I think it should be life imprisonment, but the death penalty would be too severe for those charges.” “First degree murder and felony murder are different, depending on the causes for the murder. If the murderer has psychological problems, I feel they should just go to rehabilitation. Yet, if they commit these murders and genuinely don’t show remorse or sadness, then they should get the death penalty,” Latigona said. Students with varying opinions attended the panel. Junior Ashley Frost, a criminology major, strongly opposes it. “A big reason why I’m completely against the death penalty is that humans are bound to make errors,” Frost said. “Nothing about our criminology system says that
What do the colors on the pyramid of the SunTrust tower mean? When driving into downtown Tampa after sunset, it is impossible not to notice the bright, colorful lights adorning the top of the SunTrust tower. The building sticks out against the skyline of Tampa with its unique ziggurat-shaped top. It was built in 1992 and is Tampa’s fourth tallest building standing at 36 stories tall. The ziggurat structure is made up of 322 LED lights that each contains 36 LED bulbs and was last renovated in December of 2008. The colors are controlled by computer software and costs $16 a day to power. The lights promote nonprofits and other community events by flashing the colors of the organizations or the colors of their choice. When the Tampa Bay Lightning is in season, the lights are dark blue with a white lightning bolt. Earlier this
Casey Budd/ The Minaret
Professors who have been selected to appear upon a death penalty panel await for discussion to begin.
what occurs is completely accurate. In regular cases that don’t involve the death penalty, people find out after it gets let out to the media that somebody was innocent. Once you take someone’s life and find that they were innocent, there is no way you can ever make that up to their family.” Other students at UT disagree with Frost and believe that the death penalty serves a purpose. “I think the death penalty is good for mass murderers that have no remorse for what they did, but before being pronounced the death penalty it should be absolutely certain that the accused is guilty and not innocent,” Latigona said. The panel lasted for one hour. Each panelist allotted 10 minutes to offer their
opinions until opening the discussion to the floor. Many of the panelists made very compelling and emotional arguments on why the death penalty isn’t just a wrong option but inhumane. “So we need to stop killing people, period,” Arvon said. “When you get married, you learn how to fight and you learn how to fight well. And one thing you learn if you have a wife like mine, is you don’t insist on making your point at all costs. The fight just gets worse,” Arvon said. “We live in the most violent society on Earth. We need to stop killing people even when they do wrong.” Khadijah Khan can be reached at khadijah.khan@spartans.ut.edu
week, the lights were gold in support of Childhood Cancer Awareness month, and now the lights are teal in support of Ovacome Ovarian Cancer and Advocacy of Tampa. People can keep up with the lights and what they mean by liking the SunTrust Lights Facebook page. In an interview with the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Terri-lynn Mitchell, Facebook.com/SunTrustLights the district manager for property The colors that light the top of the SunTrust building reflect the colors of an organization or nonprofit. manager of Stiles Corp., said that they often get requests for the lights that aren’t possible to execute because of the orientation of the tiles.
Want a question answered by UT FYI? Send your question about anything UT or Tampa related to ut.minaret@gmail.com
6 SEPTEMBER 26 2013 | THE MINARET
Diversions
Sudoku
The Weekend Update Women’s Soccer vs. Palm Beach Atlantic September 25
Pepin Stadium
7 p.m. - 9 p.m. Free
The Weeknd September 26
David A. Straz Center for the Preforming Arts 7:00 p.m. $48.50
Carlos Mencia September 26
Improv Comedy Theater 8 p.m. $28
Volleyball vs. Florida Tech September 27
Martinez Atheltics Center PrintableSudokuPuzzles.net
Picture
WEEK of the
Photo by Justine Parks/The Minaret Eric Rachmany, lead singer and guitarist of reggae band Rebelution, performs at Janus Live in St. Petersburg on Sept. 19.
7 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Free
Howl-O-Scream
September 27 - October 26 Busch Gardens 7:30 p.m. $30
Brian Wilson and Jeff Beck September 28
Ruth Eckerd Hall 8 p.m.
$69.50 - $129.50
Volleyball vs. Barry September 28
Martinez Athelics Center 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. Free
Fall Out Boy/ Panic! At the Disco September 29
USF Sun Dome 7 p.m.
Sold Out
Greensky Bluegrass October 1
Skipper’s Smokehouse 7 p.m.
$15 -$18
Arts + Entertainment
THE MINARET | SEPTEMBER 26 2013
7
Vegas iHeartRadio Music Festival Showcases Legends Old and New
By JACKI GUENTHER Arts + Entertainment Writer
The Las Vegas Strip hosted the 2013 iHeartRadio Music Festival for the third consecutive year. Tickets sold out in only minutes. On Friday, Sept. 20 and Saturday, Sept. 21, some of the nation’s biggest artists from genres gathered in MGM Grand Garden Arena, making for one fan pleasing concert. Not only were fans able to enjoy such a wide variety of music, but iHeartRadio also decided to expand their annual concert for the very first time by inviting older musicians to perform at this years show. IHeartRadio Music Festival Village took place during the daytime from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday and was held at a 15-acre parking lot adjacent to the arena. This new event opened the door for nearly a dozen talented and popular artists, such as Miley Cyrus, Krewella, Twenty One Pilots and Jason Derulo to come to the Las Vegas strip and play live for their fans. The festival also included celebrity presenters, including The Kardashians and Kate Hudson to set the stage for the musical performers. The iHeartRadio Music Festival Village was Miley Cyrus’ first marked performance since the news broke she and Liam Hemsworth ended their engagement, according to iHeartRadio. In an interview with iHeartRadio, Cyrus said, “I’ve never really had to sacrifice for my career before, and I’ve had to a little bit with this record. I’ve kind of had to put aside everything going on in my personal life and focused one hundred percent on my music.” Not only did Cyrus perform Saturday during the village event, but she was also able to sing her new song “Wrecking Ball” Saturday night on the MGM Grand Garden Arena stage. Although she has been in the spotlight lately for twerking at the VMA’s, thousands of screaming fans were still there to sing the lyrics of her new and successful single, “Wrecking Ball” which is number one on Billboard Hot 100. Cyrus’s album, Bangerz, is set to hit stores Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013.
iHeartRadio/Facebook Justin Timberlake was a hit with fans when he closed the 2013 iHeart Radion Music Festival, preforming “Mirrors” and “SexyBack.”
Speaking of Cyrus’ risky behavior lately, it is beginning to rub off on Robin Thicke, considering his wardrobe malfunction that occurred towards the beginning of the festival on Friday night. While Thicke was performing, a button popped off his shirt, revealing his belly to the screaming fans. Also, the zipper on his pants came halfway down during the process. He laughed off the incident with presenter Ryan Seacrest after his set, although it did create an awkward start to the musical event. With a mix of new school artists such as Katy Perry and Muse and old school artists like Elton John and Queen, many fans old and young were satisfied with the performances. According to ABC News, Elton John may not have had any current hits on the radio, but he was still able to come in and caused an uproaring of applauses in the crowd, wearing a bold and glittery blazer. According to huffingtonpost. com, one of the top performers of the night, Elton John, earned most of
the cheers during the festival and a standing ovation only after his third song. John recently had surgery to remove his appendix, but he did not let that slow him down during his set. The 66-year-old was fierce on his piano, playing some of his most legendary songs such as “Bennie and the Jets” and “Tiny Dancers.” Queen was another performer from the ‘70s that joined Elton John and the rest of the old school artists at the iHeartRadio Music Festival. The renowned band played some of the biggest songs of their career. The fans were surprised as two other artists decided to make surprise appearances on stage during Queen’s set. Adam Lambert from American Idol sang a hand full of songs with Queen and hit those high notes on songs such as “Who Wants to Live Forever.” Not only did Lambert play along with Queen, but pop-rock trio Fun. decided to join in on the action as well. Levine was a tough act to follow, but the lead singer of Fun., Nate Reuss, surprised fans as he sang
alongside his idols. Reuss admitted to the crowd that playing with Queen was a lifelong dream of his, and he then proceeded to thank the legendary band for this amazing opportunity. Lambert then came back on stage to close the night with both Fun. and Queen while belting out “We Are the Champions.” Friday also featured a guest appearance by Robin Thicke and Macy’s iHeartRadio rising star, The Summer Set. Saturday night’s lineup started with Paul McCartney and followed with Justin Timberlake, Drake, Tim McGraw, Bruno Mars, Maroon 5, Phoenix, Ke$ha, Miguel, Zedd and Thirty Seconds to Mars. Live videos, pictures and more information on the iHeartRadio Music Festival can be found at festival.iheart. com or you can watch the entire show which will be aired on the CW and ET on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. With so many legends from so many different genres of music, the 2013 festival definitely made for one memorable weekend. Jacki Guenther can be reached at jaclyn.guenther@spartans.ut.edu
iHeartRadio/Facebook Elton John may not have any popular hits on the radio like Miley Cyrus and Adam Levine, however, the crowd reacted just as strongly to his performance at the 2013 iHeartRadio music festival.
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SEPTEMBER 26 2013 | THE MINARET
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
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THE MINARET | SEPTEMBER 26 2013
9
‘Nothing Was The Same’ Represents New Vision for Drake By JORDAN LLANES Sports Editor
Ever since his sophomore effort Take Care dropped in 2011, Drake began to form ideas for his third studio album release. While touring for Take Care in the UK last year, he confirmed he was working on the album. He moved to Los Angeles in April 2012, which had a definite effect on the album’s style and tempo, according to the acclaimed Canadian rapper. He then followed up by telling GQ, “This is my f*****g moment to say if I wanted to rap all the time, really rap, I would, but I also love to make music. I’ll do this for you right now. But it’s for me, too. It’s my story… I’m trying to get back to that kid in the basement. To say what he has to say. And I’m trying to make it last.” Nothing Was The Same has definitely accomplished that. In some ways, it is similar to Take Care, but Drake’s third studio effort certainly marches to a different beat. You don’t even have to listen to the album. You can just tell that in the promotional singles: “Started From The Bottom,” “Hold On, We’re Going Home” and “All Me.” “Started From The Bottom” is a brash and loud affirmation of his rise to fame. “Hold On, We’re Going Home” features Majid Jordan and is a sense of what’s to come: a slowed down melody that allows the listener to chill out after a long night. “All Me” features 2 Chainz and Big Sean and is a flow that gets the However, Nothing Was The Same is definitely a new direction. Drake cited R&B legend Marvin Gaye as a continued inspiration and recorded
Drake - Nothing Was The Same/Facebook
With new album Nothing Was The Same, Drake combines classic rap sensibilities with modern hip-hop.
half of the album at the studio aptly named “Marvin’s Room” in Los Angeles. As his audience might recall, “Marvin’s Room” is the original homage to Gaye and was one of the hit singles off Take Care. The first song, “Tuscan Leather,” is the perfect introduction to the new Drake while paying tribute to the
Drake of the past. From the opening verse, I know that this album would be different. “I’m livin’ like I’m out here on my last adventure/Past the present when you have to mention/ This is nothin’ for the radio/But they’ll still play it though/Cause it’s that new Drizzy Drake/That’s just the way it go.” That line just tells the listener they
are in for something different. This is followed by “Furthest Thing,” “Started From The Bottom” and “Wu Tang Forever” which is a shout out to the Wu Tang Clan and their album Wu Tang Forever, released in 1997. “Own It” and “Worst Behavior” follow the tribute, while “From Time” featuring the rising Jhene Aiko is a nice companion to “Hold On, We’re Going Home.” The ninth and tenth songs, “Connect” and “The Language,” are Drizzy’s last solo efforts on the album. It closes with three collaborative efforts: “305 To My City” featuring the underrated Detail; “Too Much” featuring Sampha, another rising star who worked on the Best Buy album exclusive “The Motion” with Drake; and “Pound Cake/Paris Morton Music 2” featuring JAY Z, one of rap’s kings. “Pound Cake” features the new JAY Z that accompanies the new Drizzy, while using the “Paris Morton Music” interlude to end the album on a solid note. Nothing Was The Same accomplishes Drake’s new vision of not just making “a straight rap album,” Drake told MTV. The transition from the old brashness to a new melodic spin is a great turn for one of the newer powerhouse rappers. Jordan Llanes can be reached at jordan.llanes@theminaretonline.com
4.5 out of 5 stars
MGMT Return with Smart and Psychedlic Melodies
By JACKIE BRAJE
Arts + Entertainment Writer
MGMT has peeled from the bottom of their shoes the bubblegum psychedelic pop sound that was so prevalent in Oracular Spectacular and Congratulations, and instead bought a one-way ticket to the land of abstraction with their new self-titled album. Songs like “Electric Feel” and “Time to Pretend” gained unexpected and widespread acclaim for MGMT back in 2007. And when their ambitious second album debuted in 2010, they lost many of their surface-value fans in a sea of ultra-chill psychedelia and trippy lyricism. However, MGMT goes a little easy on the Gonzo this time. The first track, “Alien Days,” begins with an ethereal ambiance followed by a bubbly child’s voice, which then fades into drowsy synthetic rock. We’re given a thick texture of squiggly melodies and heavy drumbeats, showcasing the band’s eclectic talent. Between the retrospective lyrics and futuristic feel, they could almost pass as the spawn of The Flaming Lips. “Cool Song No. 2” follows suit with an ominous, rumba-style atmosphere which is overlapped by a heavy finger hitting the piano. It plucks you from your seat and places you in a funky Middle Eastern nightclub with neon lights splayed across the walls and an array of psychedelic drugs being served. “Cool Song” couldn’t be a more fitting title. And while most of us will deeply miss the ecstatic electro-pop grooviness of Oracular Spectacular,
“Introspection” takes us even deeper into the depths of MGMT’s new vision. A pleasant, upbeat tune, this song ironically asks harkening questions like, “What am I really like inside?” and “Why have all the prophets lied?” The song dances with you through a mock quest for self-realization then ends abruptly with a bang. I believe every album has a climax, and MGMT only further proves this theory. “Your Life is a Lie,” the lead single from the album, brashly grabs you by the shoulders and walks you through all the absurdities of the average, mundane life. It emulates their classic electro-pop sound throughout the two fleeting minutes of the song. “Nobody wins. Try not to cry, you will survive on your own,” sings Vanwygarden along with the repetitive clanking of a metal tin in the background. Coming down from the high, we make a cool transition into the abstract with “A Good Sadness,” and then fall into “I Love You Too, Death,” which serves as a testimony to the entirely new direction MGMT is headed. The song sinks into a static sea of hollow vocals recorded MGMT/Facebook over dreamy, mystical sound effects. MGMT finds a happy medium between the band’s straight forward first album and expiremental second album. The obscurity is bountiful. We’re given a glimpse of perhaps a striking profundity, or perhaps just a really album, “An Orphan of Fortune,” a continues their trip into the realm of bad acid trip. Either way, the band five-minute long escapade into the experimentalism. has metamorphosed into something hallucinogenic. Jackie Braje can be reached at entirely unique and of its own genre. Though MGMT seems to be jacquelyn.braje@spartans.ut.edu “Plenty of Girls in the Sea” picks shedding off their old fan base one back up with a dancey, bubbly beat, new album at a time, it’s impossible and ironic lyrics like, “The trick is to to ignore the immense transition try to stay free, when it’s never that they’ve made since “Time to Pretend” great to begin with.” We then make and Oracular Spectacular. With their 4 out of 5 stars a journey to the grand finale of the brainy and melodic surprises, the band
10 SEPTEMBER 26 2013 | THE MINARET
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
Tips and Tricks to Transistion into iOS7
By JORDAN WALSH
3. Get precise timestamps on messages by swiping to the left— they’ll appear to the right of the text. 4. Close your apps running in the background by double-clicking the home button and swiping up on the app screen. You can even close more than one by using multiple fingers.
Asst. Arts + Entertainment Editor
1. The new software allows you to block unwanted contacts from attempting to reach you—just go into settings, click on the phone button and go to blocked. From here you can add many contacts and rest peacefully knowing you won’t be hearing from those people. Apple servers were pushed to the limit Wednesday as iPhone and iPad users scrambled to download and install the newest incarnation of mobile software, iOS 7. The update coincided with the release of Apple’s latest mobile hardware, the high-end iPhone 5S and the more affordable 5C. The software, available for iPhone models 4 and later, boasts an entirely revamped design and plenty of new features to quench any Apple fan’s thirst for innovation. While iOS 7 immediately reveals itself as a completely new version of Apple mobile software, it still boasts some valuable and useful features not entirely evident at first glance.
How To Save Battery
2. You can now have your apps update automatically without having to actually enter the App Store. Go into iTunes and App Store settings and scroll down to Automatic Downloads. Then click on the updates switch to avoid those annoying red numbers from popping up on your home screen.
5. The updated camera app has a setting specifically designed for Instagram posting—scroll over to the square setting and pick from a myriad of filters by pressing on the three circles on the bottom-right of the screen.
If you’re worried that the new, more powerful operating system is running down that battery faster than before, here’s some tips to keep that power out of the red zone for as long as possible. 1. Turn off background app refresh in general settings for the applications you couldn’t care less about in general settings. 2. Turn off AirDrop and Bluetooth when you’re not using them—they’re located in the control center, which can be accessed by swiping up from the bottom of the screen. 3.Turnoffnotificationsfortheappsyoudon’t need instant updates for in Notification Settings. Jordan Walsh can be reached at jordan.walsh@theminaretonline.com
Grand Theft Auto V: A Milestone in Gaming By CONNOR ANTHONY
Arts + Entertainment Contributor
Fans of Grand Theft Auto held high expectations for Grand Theft Auto V. The developer, Rockstar Games, is one of the most accomplished game developers in the world, publishing such games as LA Noire, Red Dead Redemption and the Max Payne series. GTA V went into production in 2008, right after GTA IV was released. Not only did the game have take five years to create, but the budget of the game was an unprecedented $265 million dollars. GTA V was the most expensive video game ever produced and ran a bigger budget than any Hollywood film (besides Pirates of the Caribbean). What’s even more shocking than putting $265 million dollars into a game is that Rockstar made their money back on pre-orders alone. GTA V grossed $800 million in sales on its first day and over $1 billion by day three. These sales numbers made GTA V the quickest selling entertainment product ever. The game itself is a masterpiece. Taking place in the city of Los Santos (modeled after Los Angeles) Grand Theft Auto V is different than its predecessors. The player isn’t restricted to only playing as one character. There are three characters you can play through the course of the game. The three characters introduced are Franklin Clinton, Michael De Santa and Trevor Phillips. Franklin is a young African-American male who is trying to find a career that will help him become successful and move away from the ghetto in which he lives. Michael is a wealthy ex-robber who was put into witness protection. Though he is quite wealthy and retired, his family is dysfunctional. Trevor is an ex-Air Force pilot who is a sociopath and terrorizes the trailer park in where he lives. All of these characters have their own abilities. Franklin is able to slow down time while driving, allowing you to avoid accidents or give you an edge while trying to escape the police. Michael is able to slow down time while in a gunfight, allowing you to strategically pick off
enemies while avoiding taking damage. Trevor goes into an overdrive mode, where he inflicts more damage on enemies than he does himself. You are able to switch between any of the three players at any time while you are playing. Each of these players also have stats that can be upgraded throughout the course of the game. Franklin starts out with better driving numbers, while Trevor has the higher flying stats. Throughout the course of the game, the more you drive, fly, run or shoot, your skills for that activity will be better reflected. The missions in this game are incredible. Mind you, some of them can get a little repetitive in the beginning. However as the player progresses through the game, they won’t want to put the controller down. There are half a dozen “heists” that the player will take part in through the single player campaign. Robbing jewelry stores, banks and sinking a freighter are just a few of the heists that are the player will run across in the game. As GTA has done since GTA San Andreas, there are different stores and business that can be interacted with in this game. Tattoo shops, clothes shops and hair stylists are just a few of the local businesses that can be visited in Los Santos. Activities such as shooting pool and darts were available in GTA IV and due to popular demand, remained in GTA V. Bike riding, playing tennis, riding jet skis, hiking and going hunting are all activities that the gamer can choose to explore if they want to take a break from GTA V’s campaign. The gameplay itself is smooth. The gunplay is extremely refined and feels very similar to the style that Rockstar attacked with Max Payne 3. It is extremely comfortable and allows anyone to pick up a controller and engage some gangbangers. The driving has improved in this game. It no longer feels like there is butter on your wheels like in the previous GTA games. You’re not constantly swerving and trying to control the vehicle at high speeds.
Grand Theft Auto V/Facebook
GTA V is the most expensive video game ever produced and ran a bigger budget than most Hollywood films.
This game is beyond fantastic. It will be in the running for game of the year and has set the bar for any future open world games that have yet to be released. The way sales are going, this game could become one of the highest sold video games
ever on a console with Rockstar games expecting as many as 25 million units to be sold. With around 35 hours of gameplay to offer, this game is worth every penny. Connor Anthony can be reached at connor. anthony@spartans.ut.edu
THE MINARET | SEPTEMBER 26 2013
Opinion
11
12-Year-Old Rebecca Sedwick Commits Suicide, Victim of Cyberbullying By JESSICA FORTE Opinion Writer
Another American teen has tragically cut their life short. According to the New York Times, Rebecca Sedwick of Lakeland, Fla. committed suicide last week at only 12 years old after jumping off a high ledge at an abandoned cement plant near her home. What drove Sedwick to this point appeared to be a vicious array of cyber bullying that followed her from one school to the next. The hateful messages were coming from a variety of applications, such as Kik Messenger, ask.fm and Voxer. Over 15 of Sedwick’s peers were asking her questions like, “Why are you still alive?” and “Can u die please?” Issues started arising last year over a boy that Rebecca was seeing. This story is absolutely heartbreaking. Sedwick wasn’t even out of middle school. She had a future that she will never see due to the cruelty of others. There is no excuse for bullying, and it’s hard to imagine that people so young could wish death on one of their peers. Online, Rebecca wasn’t secretive about the fact that she was suffering, posting photos of herself with razor blades on her arms and her head resting on a railroad track, according to ABC News. After looking through her mobile devices, it was discovered that there were some terrifying searches, such as “How many Advil do you have to take to die?” and “How many over-the-counter drugs do you take to die?” While her family sought to get her help in the past, they were unaware of how badly Sedwick wanted to end her life. “Maybe she
thought she could handle it on her own,” Tricia Norman, Seddwick’s mother, said. Sedwick also was hospitalized and given counseling when she began to cut herself. At first, the treatment seemed to be working, since she was making a turn-around, seeming vibrant and happy, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. “I had no reason to even think that anything was going on,” Norman told the New York Times. “She was laughing and joking…” An incident like this might leave one wondering if this tragedy could have been prevented. While the answer is unclear, it is known that when the bullying started, Sedwick’s family made numerous efforts to help her. “I don’t know one way or another if Rebecca’s death could’ve been prevented,” said UT journalism professor Lance Speere, who reported the incident with the New York Times. “The mother was doing a lot to help her daughter, bringing [the bullying] to the attention of the school, pulling her daughter out and home schooling, limiting social media use and enrolling her in another school.” Sedwick’s situation is fairly familiar to me. Since I’ve been battling depression since I was 13, only a year older than she, I know how it feels to want an escape. Back when I was in middle school, I searched for similar topics online, just hoping that I could find a way out. Like Sedwick, I acted normal around my family, trying to show that nothing was wrong because I didn’t want them to worry. My parents had no idea that I was contemplating suicide. Judging from my own experience,
Sedwick may have kept her depression hidden from her family for the same reason I did, but we will never know. It is clear that Sedwick’s family did just about everything they could to help their daughter. What could have helped prevent her depression and the bullying? Focus should be placed on the bullies themselves and the messaging applications. Research has shown how serious cyberbullying can affect the young adult population. “Bullying statistics show that cyber bullying is a serious problem among teens,” as reported by bullyingstatistics. com. “It can lead to anxiety, depression, and even suicide.” According to the site, one in three young people have been threatened online, and over 25 percent of teens have been bullied from their cell phones or computers. The Hartford County Examiner reported that only one in 10 teens tell their parents if they have been a victim of cyberbullying, and fewer than one in five cyberbullying incidents have been reported to law enforcement. After doing a number of surveys, the Cyberbullying Research Center found that cyberbullying victims are more likely to have low self-esteem. Considering all of this, it is likely that the students who were cyberbullying Sedwick had a huge impact on her emotionally. The platforms through which the bullies harassed Sedwick are under scrutiny as well. Latvian based ask.fm was already faced with suspicion after it was linked to numerous suicides in young teens, especially in the United Kingdom. The Guardian reported that in England, 14-year-old Hannah Smith took her life
“after suffering months of abuse on the website.” Kierah Gowers, a 12-year-old from the UK, was made a target on ask. fm. She received horrifying messages such as “You’re a slag, there is no point in you being alive...I honestly think the world would be a much better place if you were gone,” and “If you don’t kill yourself now I will do it for you amen.” Currently, there are petitions in Britain as well as the U.S. to make the site enact stricter moderation regarding bullying, which clearly needs to be done. Words cannot only hurt, but be detrimental to a person’s health. If bullying can’t be stopped completely, the least these websites can do is monitor more closely and prevent these hateful messages from being sent. “I suppose anyone could probably surmise that if there had never been any bullying at all, then this would have never happened,” Speere said. At the moment, officials are trying to see if they can apply charges to the 15 girls who bullied Sedwick. “Florida has a school anti-bullying statute that is intended to guard against such harassment,” the Los Angeles Times reported. “Officials have seized the phones and laptops of Rebecca’s friends and former friends for the investigation into her death.” The suicide of Sedwick is one of many where online bullying was a huge contributing factor. No person should tell another to end their life. Hopefully the bullies will come to fully understand the impact of their hurtful statements. Jessica Forte can be reached at jessica. forte@spartans.ut.edu
Pope Criticizes Church’s Obsession with Gays, Contraception and Abortion By JAKE KONISZEWSKI Opinion Columnist
Growing up in a Catholic middle and high school, I remember constantly being told what to do. I was told marriage was only between a man and a woman. I was not supposed to use condoms, let alone have sex before marriage, because sex was only for bringing new life into the world. Abortion was out of the question because that was equal to murdering your unborn child. While religion classes and mass did touch on God’s love, out of all of these lessons, I heard the warnings against contraception and abortion the most. However, Pope Francis recently spoke out against the church’s “obsession” with homosexuality, contraception and abortion. In an interview with La Civilta Cattolica (identified in an article by The New York Times), an Italian Jesuit Journal, Francis spoke out against the church, saying that the church should not be “obsessed with the transmission of a disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently,” as reported by Reuters. This is a departure from Pope Benedict XVI, who preached a more conservative message. According to huffingtonpost.com, Benedict saw gay marriage as a threat to “human dignity and the future of humanity itself.” According to Reuters, when homosexuals told Francis they felt condemned by the church, Francis said, “the Church does not want to do this.” I spent six years in Catholic school, and all I learned about gay marriage was that it’s against God’s teachings. Other than that, homosexuality was never talked about. It was like the teachers thought if they ignored the issue, it would go away. Gay marriage and equal rights for same-sex couples have become hot topics over the past few years, especially this summer when Proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional. With more states allowing gay marriage, the church and
Catholic schools should not try to condemn homosexuals or ignore the issue. I remember the Bible preached to “love thy neighbor.” While homosexuality may not be in line with church teachings, Christians should preach love and acceptance, not hatred and exclusion. While homosexuality was rarely discussed at my school, abortion was mentioned frequently. In my sophomore year of high school, I took a class called apologetics, one of the numerous religion classes I was required to take in order to graduate. We did an entire project on abortion. Mine was on abortion survivors, which was slightly less depressing than all the other projects. We were required to create quizzes based on our PowerPoint presentations to further support that abortion is murder. In terms of contraception, I never learned about it in sex education in high school. The friends I have spoken to who went to public high schools learned how to put on a condom, usually with the teacher pulling one over a banana. That was not the case for me and I feel cheated. Instead, we got frequent talks about abstinence and waiting until marriage. The teachers kept me and the other students in the dark about subjects like homosexuality while using fear to teach against abortion and contraception rather than giving all of these subjects an honest look. I am glad Francis has called for Christians to stop fixating on those who are gay, who use contraception or who get abortions. The real focus is to spread love and acceptance, not hatred and fear. Francis also mentioned in his interview that people were beginning to have a negative view on Confession, an important part of Catholicism. According to Reuters, Francis said the confessional, “is not a torture chamber but the place in which the Lord’s mercy motivates us to do better.” To me, Confession always felt like a torture
Catholic Church (England and Wales)/Flickr
Pope Francis has the right idea: spread love and acceptance, not hatred and fear.
chamber. The teachers and priests made it sound like any little action you did was worthy of Confession, something wrong you had to admit to like a criminal. The teachers and priests spoke about how free you felt by confessing your sins. There is nothing freeing about sitting alone in a room with some priest I barely know, my back to him and confessing that I masturbate. It was uncomfortable and embarrassing because I did not trust him. I did not have the same trust in priests that my teachers preached. I have not set foot in a church, let alone a confessional, since the service before high school graduation. I may not find peace in Confession, but those who are seeking help should not feel dread when they enter the confessional. Again, Francis has the right idea by wanting to make Confession an appealing choice rather than a
dreadful one. People should find freedom by confessing their sins, not feel as if the priest is judging them. Save the judgment for God. I hope Christians take Francis’ suggestions to heart. I do not want Catholic school students to have to walk through the hallways wondering if there is something wrong with them for being attracted to the same sex, thinking that abortion is an automatic ticket to hell or to not use a condom during sex. According to Reuters, Francis said, “Religion is the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free.” Staying quiet about certain subjects and believing there is only one way to go about solving problems is how you create fear and guilt, not freedom. Jake Koniszewski can be reached at john.koniszewski@spartans.ut.edu
12 SEPTEMBER 26 2013 | THE MINARET
OPINION
Instagram Causes Narcissism Among Young Users
By LAUREN MILICI Opinion Writer
The year 2003 marked the birth of the Myspace mirror pic. Seven years later, a new monster was born.The release of the iPhone 4 with a front-facing camera unintentionally spawned a new term that would brand our generation and turn us all into accidental narcissists: selfie. AstudyconductedbyUniversityofMichigan researchers Elliot Panek, Yioryos Nardis and Sara Konrath concluded that narcissistic young adults use social media in different ways to boost their own egos and control others’ perception, citing Facebook and Twitter as the main culprits. But what website revolves more around ego and perception than Instagram? According to digital marketing website Expanded Ramblings, 40 million photos are uploaded to Instagram everyday, and recent statistics show that the website boasts 150 million active users. Out of the 16 billion photos on Instagram’s database, more than 127 million are square-cropped photos of selfies from purposely flattering angles labeled with “#me.” “Narcissism begins in a vicious cycle: I post content because my followers like them > I must be important / interesting / unique / special > getting likes feels good > I post more content,” said Michael Garcia, a California filmmaker and Instagram user. “It feeds on the notion that one is holier than thou. ‘I am interesting. Pay attention to me.’” If your profile is public, anyone in the world can “like” your photo, and there is no limit to how many “likes” you can garner. It’s a basic formula: the more photos posted, the more attention is received. “I myself get caught up in it,” said Chanel Bonin, a seventeenyear-old college freshman whose Instagram account boasts over nine thousand followers
due to average users and celebrities mistaking her account for the fashion brand of the same name. Chanel’s selfies gain anywhere from one hundred to over four hundred likes. “I get anxious when I post a new photo to see if it gets as many likes that one of mine would usually get. I’ll sit on my phone constantly refreshing the page every couple minutes to see how well it does.” Entertainers and athletes are no longer the stars of social media. Thirteen-year-old Nick Toppel, an aspiring model from South Florida, has over two hundred thousand followers on his Instagram page–five times more than actor Jason Biggs and 10 times more than Steelers’ linebacker James Harrison. Toppel has over one thousand photos, the majority of them being close-ups of his face. Here’s where the concept of narcissism comes into play. If an ordinary child or teen can garner a larger following than a popular entertainer or athlete, it dawns on them–they must be special. Krista Shelvay, a budding writer and cosplayer, uses her accounts to promote her work. Still, her following isn’t nearly as strong as the selfie gods that plague Instagram’s “explore” tab. “If someone has 5000 followers and about 500 likes per picture, I assume there’s something they have that I lack,” Shelvay said. It’s easy to lose your identity. The want for more attention can cause the average user to tailor their posts based on what their followers respond to. How many times have you deleted a photo because it didn’t get as many “likes” or comments as another or wondered why your face isn’t as popular as your dog or a grande frappuccino? It’s not hard to lose sight of the point of an application like Instagram and dive headfirst into the sea of vanity and forget to come up for air. It’s meant to be a “fun” and “fast, beautiful way to share your life with friends and family,” as Instagram’s website explains. But
even the term “share” is taken to a higher degree. “I sit back and witness people documenting all aspects of their lives on Instagram instead of actually being in the moment,” said artist and Instagram user Samantha Franco. “The nagging feeling of needing to share has been implanted in our generation just as innately as the need to eat or sleep. It’s a disease that is stealing our precious time on this Earth.” But what’s wrong with a little selfie obsession? Narcissism is a personality disorder. If your self-esteem is based around the ideals of strangers, your mental health is at stake. A generation of narcissists means a generation of people who lack personal values and are uninterested in interacting with others, as they view them as lower or inferior. It takes time away from what matters: school, work, your personal
craft or passion. The more time you spend carefully capturing photos according to the preference of your audience, the less time you actually have for yourself.You neglect your innerself, the heart and soul beneath the aesthetics. We’re forgetting the purpose of social media platforms like Instagram. The point is to stay connected with friends and family through image captures, not keep a gallery filled with filtered photos of your face. For some of us, selfies become a habit. Put down your phone. Go outside. Forget about it for a little while, then pick it back when you truly feel you have something worthwhile to share other than your face. Life is more than a filtered photo, and you are so much more than your Instagram account. Lauren Milici can be reached at lauren. milici@spartans.ut.edu
Casey Budd/The Minaret
iPhone front-facing camera gives rise to new selfie phenomena which encourages narcissism.
THE MINARET | SEPTEMBER 26 2013
OPINION
13
Stephen Hawking Supports Right to Assisted Suicide ByAVERY TWIBLE Opinion Columnist
Stephen Hawking, the well-known British cosmologist, was once opposed to the notion of assisted suicide but has now reversed his position, according to BBC News. “I think those who have a terminal illness and are in great pain should have the right to choose to end their lives, and those who help them should be free from prosecution,” Hawking told the BBC. So long as there are safeguards in place to assure it is the will of the person, Hawking supports the right for dying people to choose to die in a dignified manner, and for those who assist them to be able to do so without punishment, reported the huffingtonpost.com. For people that know they might develop a life-altering disease like Lou Gehrig’s disease, which destroys the central nervous system, or Alzheimer’s, which is the degeneration of the brain, I agree with Hawking in believing physician-assisted suicide could be a great option. Safeguards such as documents written before the disease destroys the brain or bodily function, while the person is still themselves, would be a safe way to know what they want after their brain deteriorates beyond repair. “Right-to-die advocates say people capable of making that decision should be allowed to die with dignity,” wrote huffingtonpost.com. Hawking was diagnosed with a motor neuron disease called Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 1964 when he was 21 years of age and was thought to have only two to three years to live, according to BBC. ALS “is a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement,” according to the National Library of Medicine, and results in muscles wasting away and eventual paralysis. Now 50 years later, Hawking is 71 years old and one of the most famous scientists in history. He works at Cambridge University and is well known for his scientific bestseller A Brief History of Time, reported ABC News. However, you may know him as the man in the wheelchair. Hawking has been on life support for the last 23 years and is confined to his chair. He communicates with blinks and movements of his cheek muscle, which are linked to a sensor and computerized voice system, according to huffingtonpost.com. He has done extensive research on black holes in this state and, in my opinion, this makes him the most impressive scientist in history, not to mention the fact that he has lived with ALS for 48 more years (and counting) than he was expected to. The BBC reported that only five percent of people diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease survive for a decade after diagnosis, and Hawking has survived five decades so far. The decision to end Hawking’s life was nearly made for him in the past when he suffered from pneumonia in 1985. According to huffingtonpost.com, he was put on life support and his wife was given the option to
switch off the machine, but that is not what he wanted. In regards to assisted suicide, he said in a BBC article, “There must be safeguards that the person concerned genuinely wants to end their life and are not being pressurized into it or have it done without their knowledge and consent as would have been the case with me.” He once called physician-assisted dying “a great-mistake” according to ABC News, but has now changed his opinion on the matter. “We don’t let animals suffer, so why humans?” Hawking told the BBC this week. But again and again he emphasizes the necessity of safeguards to ensure it is what the individual wants. Being a person who has been on life support for 23 years, I think he is a credible person to listen to when it comes to assisted suicide. He cannot speak for all those crippled by illness and disease, but he is an extremely intelligent person who has seen both sides of the situation. “A prominent disability group opposed to favorable laws in Oregon, Washington state and Montana, said Hawking’s words should not trump the ‘millions’ of disabled Americans who say legalized ‘suicide’ makes them more vulnerable,” wrote ABC News. The four states that have legalized physician-assisted suicide-Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Montana-have strict guidelines with which it must be carried out. I believe the sense of vulnerability felt by terminally ill people is the concern that physician-assisted suicide will be abused and their lives may be ended against their will. I believe they worry documents may be forged to say that they asked for death because their caretakers may see them as a burden. As a veterinary intern, I see euthanasia used on animals nearly every day: animals whose lungs keep filling up with liquid making it painful to breathe, animals with vital organs so ridden with tumors it prevents correct heart function and animals who are in kidney failure and have toxins backing up into their bodies, poisoning them. The decision is made by the owner when the animal’s quality of life has no chance at improving and pain and agony is the only future they will see. The animal hospital I work at refuses to do any “convenience euthanasias,” or, putting the animal down because it has become inconvenient for the owner for the animal to be alive. I think if physician-assisted death starts to become legal around the world, plenty of safeguards would be put into place to prevent convenience deaths, just as Hawking assured is necessary. As a brilliant man who has had plenty of time on life support to think of the option of taking himself off, I think his statement will pull a lot of weight in proponents’ and opponents’ minds alike. Hawking came out with his support of physician-assisted death right before the release of a documentary on his life. Hawking, by Vertigo Films, was released in Britain on Sept. 20. In Britain, assisted suicide is illegal,
EDITOR LETTER
I’m an associate professor of psychology here at UT, and I was moved to write to The Minaret to correct a potentially dangerous statement in an article published in the Sept. 12, 2013 edition, entitled “Concertgoers Overdosed, NYC’s Electric Zoo Music Festival Cancelled” by Vanessa Righeimer. The article dealt with a recent number of deaths of young people in
TO THE
the Northeast attributed to MDMA (“Ecstasy” in pill form, or “Molly”as a powder). Toward the end of the article she states “…educate people more on the effects of these drugs. While pure MDMA is known for the most part to be harmless, if it comes laced with something else, otherwise known as a “bad batch,” it can become deadly.” I teach psychopharmacology here at UT, and can say with confidence that this
NASA HQ PHOTO/Flickr
As long as safeguards are in place, assisted suicide is a great option for people with fatal illnesses.
as it is in almost all of the U.S. and elsewhere, reported huffingtonpost.com. Just watching the trailer for this documentary brought a tear to my eye; the dedication of this man to spread joy and wisdom in the world has inspired him to survive and push through the pain every day. The documentary is narrated by Hawking himself, which must have been a long process considering his method of communication is slow. The messages he wanted included in the film were clearly important to him, and the release of this statement must have been just as important. I don’t think Hawking would have come out in support of assisted death if he had not thought long and hard about his position. I personally watched my grandmother suffer from Alzheimer’s, saw firsthand the effects of the disease eating away at her brain. She fell and broke bones and refused medical aid to repair the damage. She woke up in the morning and forgot how to eat, forgot what eating even was. She quickly needed 24-hour care and was no longer a functioning person. Her blood kept pumping, her involuntary responses kept functioning, but the woman we all knew was gone. There is no telling if she would have wanted to live like that if assisted death was an option before the symptoms began. There is no telling if my father and his siblings would have been able to make the decision, had she left it up to them. We now live in a world where there
are unfathomable possibilities for improving the quality of life, but when a disease like Alzheimer’s is encountered where there is no cure, no help for its victims yet, should death be a choice if they so will it? I think we are quickly moving in the direction where some may agree that when someone gets to a point where they will never be able to get the quality of life they once knew back, they are the ones that can decide to end it, and those who must assist them will be held at no fault. Hawking was never a very vocal opponent to assisted suicide. In 2006 he said although people should have the right to end their life if they wanted to, “I think it would be a great mistake. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there’s life, there is hope,” wrote The Guardian. He is a treasure, a medical miracle, a man that has beaten the odds and not only survived his terminal illness but became a world renowned theoretical physicist, author, lecturer and cosmologist. I am glad his wife did not pull the plug on him all those years ago for he has strived to achieve great things. But this man who has spent 23 years of his life imprisoned in his own body to a disease that will one day kill him, has come out to say he believes everyone deserves the right to decide when they die, and I don’t think it can be ignored. Avery Twible can be reached at avery. twible@spartans.ut.edu
statement is misleading at best, and potentially dangerous to our students. First, a “bad batch” can be improperly synthesized MDMA, which will have certain unintended trace chemicals in it, while “lacing” a drug usually implies that other chemicals were added intentionally either to get more profit for the dealer or intentionally create other effects. But the most dangerous part of the statement is that pure MDMA is “…known for the most part to be harmless.” This is false. The substance MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-Nmethylamphetamine) even if pure, can be inherently dangerous (even deadly) due to its effects on neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. These chemicals create the high, but they also can cause extremes in blood pressure, body temperature and
impact the body’s level of hydration. These effects can lead to stroke, even in younger people. In addition, there is the risk of at least a mild depression after the drug experience related to the serotonin depletion. Please note that I’m not someone who demonizes all psychoactive drugs across the board for any use. I also am not an alarmist older professor trying to “scare straight” students who might consider experimenting with or using drugs – but I feel strongly that people need to know the risks of what they put into their body and brain, and to make the most informed decision they can. Thank you for your time. Scott Husband, Ph.D. Department of Psychology Editors’ Note: We agree with Dr. Husband, and we regret the error.
14 SEPTEMBER 26 2013 | THE MINARET
OPINION
Indian-American Miss America Receives Ignorant Backlash By BRITTNEY COX Opinion Writer
In elementary school, a majority of my history lessons came from School House Rock, a programming series of animated musical educational short films. On the american history tape, one of the songs stood out to me: “The Great American Melting Pot.” The song talks about how almost everyone from America is an immigrant, coming from different backgrounds for a common dream: freedom. It didn’t matter where you were from, what your religion was or the color of your skin, you were just part of the American melting pot. This melting pot idea was showcased at this year’s Miss America pageant when 24-year-old Nina Davuluri, an Indian-American, took the crown. The 87-year-old contest is not really known for diversity, since the contestants are predominantly white females. Only eight women of color have won the crown in the history of the competition. In fact, it wasn’t until 1970 that African-American women, along with those of other descents, were allowed to compete, and it wasn’t won by one until Vanessa Williams took the crown in 1983. In 2001, a Hawaiian-born Filipino, Angela Perez Baraquio, took the title as the first Asian-American. The contest has taken baby steps to show off women of different cultural backgrounds. However, when Davuluri was announced this year’s winner, social media bigots reared their ugly heads and decided to try and take down the beauty queen by tweeting hateful messages. Various news sources have pointed out these 700 or so tweets demeaning Davuluri’s win, but the underlying idea of all of them is constantly ignored. Tweets like, “Miss America is a terrorist. Whatever. Its fine (sic),” or “9/11 was four days ago and she gets miss America?” and my personal favorite, “Congratulations, Al-Qaeda. Our Miss America is one of you,” floated around the internet after Nina Davuluri won. It is important to note, however, Davuluri is Hindu, not Muslim. All of these people are claiming that because of her skin color and the area of her family’s origination, she’s a terrorist. Candice Diah, BahamianAmerican winner of Miss Tampa 2014, spoke about the struggles she might have faced while competing for Miss Tampa, “I didn’t encounter any more struggles than any of the other contestants, although I was warned by some peers that it would be significantly more difficult to be successful as a
woman of color competing with the typical American pageant queens. I was actually pleasantly surprised to see that the contestant pool was very diverse.” The people tweeting their rude and racists comments don’t realize that these contestants are diverse, that American society is very diverse. In fact, Diah’s comment on Davuluri’s win summed up the message that Davuluri was trying to make: “By winning Miss America, [Davuluri] made history and her reign is symbolic of the rich diversity rooted in American history. Having an Indian-American titleholder shows society’s step in the direction of embracing that unique facet of our culture, and to me, that’s truly beautiful.” This win was not just for Davuluri or the Indian community in America; it was about America as a whole and the representation of all these different cultures coming to make this diverse country. But all of the tweeters who criticized Davuluri claim that the win didn’t go to an American. So the question is, what makes someone an American? “True” Americans are the Native Americans, and taking that into account, none of the past Miss Americas look like the Native Americans. In fact, Davuluri looks closer to a Native American than the previous Caucasian females that have taken the crown. Is being an American defined by where you were born? If that’s the case, Davuluri was born in Syracuse, N.Y. Yet, she’s not a “true American” by their standard of ethnicity. By these standards, neither am I. I am a mutt from both European and Native American descent. I was born here in the states, but by no means am I a Native American or European. My family didn’t completely originate here, but neither did a lot of other people. Davuluri presented herself at the pageant as an Indian-American, and rightfully so. During the pageant, she danced Bollywood Fusion and dressed in a sari. She was proud of her heritage. To the people who criticized her, it was wrong to portray these facets of her culture that weren’t “American.” However, those Americans of European descent are usually allowed to boast about their heritages: how they burn in the sun because they’re part Irish, or how they can hold their liquor because they’re part German and of course how they cook and adore Italian food because they are Italian descendants. That’s fine because they’re of European descent. They’re “typical” Americans. But Miss Davuluri is not. She is not allowed
to be proud of her ethnicity because it’s not that of a Caucasian-based country. It is different and the people who don’t understand, like the twitter haters, are afraid of the difference. It goes to prove how ignorant those that shamed the new Miss America were. Her family is from South Asia, not the Middle East. Just because a few extremists bear the same skin color doesn’t mean that she is an extremist. If they use that sort of logic when disregarding Davuluri as a person, they also have to remember that slave holding plantation owners were white men, Adolf Hitler was a white man and so was Stalin, Mussolini and Lenin. Then one could look into other dictators and extremists such as Kim Jong, Zedong, Dada and Hussein. Bad people do not come colorcoded; they come from everywhere. The only similarity between a lot of the dictators and terrible people that I’ve mentioned is the fact that they are all male. Does that make all men evil? No. So, Davuluri is far from a terrorist; she’s just a beauty queen who is proud to have won Miss America. The only way to really talk about those that belittled our new Miss America is really to mock them like Stephen Colbert did on his Sept. 16 episode of The Colbert Report. “I, for one, could not be happier for her,” he started his segment. “And Twitter, as usual, could not be happy.” Per usual, the twitter sphere of social media always has to be pessimistic. He also joked, “Miss America 2014, is Indian, and that is an inspiring story, because many moons ago white men came to the New World, conquered the Indian’s land…” The joke is funny, but it also points out the ugly truth that white men did take over the land that did not belong to them and created this country, which points out that the people calling themselves Americans aren’t really the Native Americans who were here first. So, what does it mean to be American? Well, as far as I’m concerned, if you were born here you’re American. If you came here and wanted a chance to make your mark on the country, you’re American. If you see yourself as an American then you can be an American. It’s not a private club; you can’t decide who joins or not. The United States was founded on the idea that it’s a free nation for anyone that wants a slice of it. There is a naturalization process to make all of this official, but you don’t need it to call yourself American. The label doesn’t have to be linked to belonging
to the country but rather belonging to the same ideals that are the foundation of what it means to be “American.” When it comes to the racists backlash that happened with Davuluri and the emphasis on race that is still so prominent in society, Diah commented, “Because of the nature of pageantry, people are always critical of titleholders. In addition, most naturally, people are reluctant to change and I think the racial backlash Ms. Davuluri received was simply an example of these facts. I do agree, however, it’s disheartening to know that people are willing to put down a beautiful, intelligent young woman, eager and willing to represent her country because of her ethnic background.” Anyone that is going to be in the public eye is subject to scrutiny and Nina was no different. However, Diah, added “Nonetheless, the beauty of a true pageant queen is that she is strong enough to overcome the inevitable criticism that comes with the crown. I believe that Nina is doing an amazing job with that. She’s an inspiration for other young women to be confident and embrace their individuality.” That sums up a lot of my feelings toward Davuluri’s win perfectly. She points out that Nina is holding her head high and not allowing those that want to bring her down succeed. The wonderful Miss America 2014, Nina Davuluri, has carried herself with poise and elegance over the hate she’s received. Sadly, she had anticipated it because she got the same response when she won Miss New York. Davuluri commented on the negativity she received to USA Today: “I have to rise above that. I always viewed myself as first and foremost American.” She also pushed aside the hate to see the good that came out of her win, “It’s the first time Bollywood has ever been performed on the Miss America stage and it’s such an honor for myself, my family and the Indian community, as well.” She got a chance to show the world her life and another aspect of American culture that isn’t seen on regular television. It doesn’t matter if a few bad apples didn’t like it; she was proud of it. I look forward to seeing more of this lovely lady on her platform of promoting cultural diversity. Davuluri really represents the idea of being an American: rising up, persevering and helping to show the beautiful diversity that this country holds. Congrats Nina, you go girl. Brittney Cox can be reached at brittney.cox@spartans.ut.edu
Casey Budd & Alex Jackson/The Minaret
The United States’ culture is based off the fact that it is a “melting pot,” with its citizens coming from many different cultures. The University Tampa is a microcosm that reflects this.
THE MINARET | SEPTEMBER 26 2013
OPINION
15
French Senate Votes Ban on Child Beauty Pageants
Toddlers & Tiaras/Facebook
Shows like Toddlers & Tiaras are sexualizing young girls and teaching them to value superficial ideals. By RAWAN ELZAYAT Opinion Writer
The French senate voted to ban beauty pageants for kids under the age of 16 on Sept. 17 with a vote of 196 to 146, according to BBC. The reason behind this is that lawmakers in France claim that child pageants hypersexualize girls at a young age. “We are talking about children who are only being judged on their appearance, and that is totally contrary to the development of a child,” the French amendment’s author, Chantal Jouanno, told The Associated Press. Child beauty pageants are a phenomena that started in the United States in 1921 and have been drastically widespread throughout the world in the past few years. Now there are even television shows in the U.S. that feature child beauty pageants, such as Toddlers & Tiaras and King of the Crown. “Several documentaries about child beauty pageants in America have shocked the French in recent years. The phenomenon is largely viewed as a sordid offshoot of American culture,” said NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley. Pageants in France
are significantly less frequent and less intense than in the United States and France has no equivalent of American reality shows like Toddlers & Tiaras that include very young contestants. I agree with France’s decision of banning child beauty pageants, and I believe that the United States should implement the same law. Such pageants are contests based on shallow and superficial morals, where children’s physical appearances are used to win prizes and money. While children at that age should be taught morals and meaningful knowledge that shape their personality and make them beneficial members of the community, child beauty pageants teach them to focus on trivial and superficial things such as looks. It is morally unacceptable to sexualize girls at this age by letting them wear tight clothes, high heels, heavy makeup and jewelry that are not appropriate for their age to make them look like adults. Some girls even get spray tanned, wear hair extensions, fake eyelashes and flippers to replace missing baby teeth. Children that participate in such beauty pageants are exposed to an atmosphere different from the
conventional atmosphere where children are raised, an atmosphere where they act like grown-ups by modeling and dressing as adults. Instead, they should be acting their age and doing what they enjoy in ordinary child activities. It is not always the child’s decision to participate in these beauty pageants. Sometimes the parents are the ones who decide for their children, and the children are too young to refuse. “There are examples of young girls screaming in terror as their mothers approach them with spray cans,” Australian lawmaker Anna Burke told the Sydney Daily Telegraph. On the other hand, even if it is the children’s decision to participate, they are not old enough to make their own decision since they can’t weigh the consequences of the decisions. Participating in such beauty pageants has harmful effects on children. Most of the beauty products young girls in beauty pageants use are not designed for children, which can harm their sensitive skin and hair. For example, hair spray, which contains phthalates or plasticizers, can act as hormone disruptors, as Travis Stork of CBS’s The Doctors reported. High heels are not appropriate for children either. According to Wen-Yin Choi, doctor of podiatric medicine, a board-qualified podiatrist, the unnatural position of their feet can directly cause or contribute to temporary problems like calluses or more long-term damage to posture. Aside from the physical effects, child beauty pageants also have negative psychological effects on children who participate in them. According to a 2007 report by the American Psychological Association, the hypersexualization
of young girls is strongly associated with eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression. The negative effects affiliated with child beauty pageants don’t only influence children who participate in them but also those who watch them. At such a young age, children easily get influenced by what surrounds them. The spread of child beauty pageants and television shows that feature them draws excessive attention to physical looks instead of genuine qualities. When young girls notice how such shows give attention and value to girls with good looks, they will feel the urge to receive the same attention. Also, it will instinctively cause girls to compare themselves to the contestants, and if a girl thinks she lacks some of the qualities these contestants have or that she is not as pretty as they are, she will lose her self-esteem and feel like she is not good enough. Also, the fact that children in beauty pageants use makeup and fake hair, nails and teeth, distorts the concept of beauty by giving girls the impression that beauty depends on makeup and synthetic things rather than natural beauty. Child beauty pageants give children the wrong morals and spread unethical principles in the community as a whole by drawing attention to superficial aspects such as looks. The money, effort and resources that are spent on such pageants and TV shows can be directed to other projects that would be more beneficial to the community and welfare of the people. Instead of wasting resources on hypersexualizing children, these resources can be spent on other children who need more vital and urgent things such as food and clothes. Rawan Elzayat can be reached at rawan.elzayat@spartans.ut.edu
understanding if my significant other decided he needed to be sure I was the one he really wanted by sleeping around. A committed, exclusive, relationship comes with a certain amount of trust and the expectation of fidelity. According to the same nbcnews.com article, 19 percent of people who were cheated on ended the relationship right after finding out, and 22 percent broke up much later into the relationship because they couldn’t get over the betrayal. “Infidelity plays a role in just over half of divorces,” the study found. If you don’t want to ruin the relationship you have, statistics seem to suggest that staying faithful is the way to go. I am inclined to agree. Bridges is right about one thing— communication is key. In his GQ article,
the writer wrote that “Bridges gets to describing a technique he and his wife use to communicate better—it’s about just letting the other person talk, uninterrupted, as long as they want without responding to or arguing with what they say.” Before you go out and potentially ruin your relationship because you feel the urge to betray the trust of your romantic partner, ask yourself why you feel the way that you do. Have a conversation. Explain your feelings. Maybe these feelings are a sign that something isn’t right between you and your significant other. If you’ve made a commitment to someone, you need to honor that. Don’t “go ahead and do it.” Samantha Bloom can be reached at samantha.bloom@spartans.ut.edu
Jeff Bridges On Infidelity: “Go ahead and do it”
By SAMANTHA BLOOM Opinion Columnist
Jeff Bridges seems like the kind of guy who’s gotten his life together. The 63-yearold Hollywood icon is an accomplished actor with a stable home life. He’s been married to the same woman since 1977, an eternity compared to the average lifespan of a Hollywood marriage. This kind of relationship is so rare to find in celebrities these days that when GQ magazine published a feature on the actor, the interviewer asked Bridges for his advice on how to maintain a strong relationship. When asked what a man should do if he feels the desire to cheat on his partner, Bridges gave an interesting response: “Well, live and learn. Go ahead and do it, and we’ll see how that goes.” An article on huffingtonpost.com picked up this interview and pointed out that a few years ago, Bridges told interviewers that he would never consider cheating on his wife with a co-star. “No matter how much womanizing you do as a single guy, you always think there’s more to be done. You don’t want to get sexually involved with the other actor...It spells trouble. My family was and is too precious to me. I know sex can lose you everything,” he said in the 2010 article. The stark differences between the two interviews begs the question: has Jeff Bridges changed his mind on the importance of fidelity? And if so, is he right? Is it better to act on your impulses than it is to suppress them? It seems to me that Bridges’ 2010 interview is being applied too broadly. All of his language indicates that he was focusing on the present, and not addressing the past. He knew that “sex can lose you everything,”
which makes it appear that he may have had some kind of experience with that particular demon, whether it be personal or through someone close to him. It’s quite possible that a much younger Bridges made that mistake and learned from the consequences, as the interviewer didn’t delve into the past but focused on discussing his then-current co-stars. As far as they go, his family is much too important to risk losing now. But what about in the past? In the GQ article, Bridges was asked what his “bottom” was in regards to his relationships, which he tactfully avoided. “I don’t even want to talk about it. I don’t want to make that a public thing. But I hit bottom,” he said. I don’t believe he had a change of heart, but more a matter of two entirely different aspects of the discussion. Past versus present. “Suppression can kind of get you into trouble, too...When you touch something hot, you don’t have to repress the desire to touch it again,” he told the interviewer. His viewpoint may have some statistical merit, according to nbcnews.com. According to the subjects of a study conducted by MSNBC, cheating left “lingering feelings of sadness...stress… and guilt.” A 31-year-old woman who participated in the study said, “The only thing that turned out from cheating was feelings of guilt and shame...It most definitely made me realize how much I loved my primary partner and that anyone else was not worth it.” While engaging in adulterous activity may help some understand that they really do love the person they’re with, all too often the person they’re with doesn’t appreciate the route taken to get to that conclusion. I certainly would not be very happy or
Gage Skidmore/Flickr
Bridges says “go ahead” and cheat because supressing desires can “get you into trouble.”
16
THE MINARET | SEPTEMBER 26 2013
Sports
Tyler Blackwood: From Bartender to Soccer Star By GRIFFIN GUINTA Asst. Sports Editor
To say Tyler Blackwood has been playing soccer since he was born would hardly be an exaggeration. Blackwood, now the captain of the University of Tampa Men’s Soccer team, has lived and breathed soccer as long as he can remember. “I had a ball at my feet since I could walk. I started playing competitively at age seven, though,” Blackwood said. Growing up in London, England, Blackwood was surrounded by soccer (or football, as they say in every other country aside from the U.S.). Widely known for the Premier League and iconic teams such as Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, England is a hub for fanatics of the sport. One might also say that it is the most ideal place to learn how to play the game. Despite his advantageous circumstances, the road for Blackwood was hardly an easy one. At the age of 18, “things just didn’t work out,” he said, and Blackwood was without a team to play for. Many days and nights passed where Blackwood barely had time to touch a soccer ball.
Instead, he was working the late shift at a pub mixing drinks behind the bar. The furthest thing from his mind was the game he loved. His dreams of ever playing again slowly began to fade from the picture. Knowing his son was down on his luck, Blackwood’s father decided to take him to America and tour schools so that his son could have a chance to play soccer once again. While visiting his great aunt and uncle in the small town of Lutz, Fla., the Blackwoods decided to visit the University of Tampa and schedule a tryout for him. Little did UT know that they would soon be getting the dynamic Blackwood, a young talent who would go on to become Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Player of the Year as well as SSC Offensive Player of the Year then go onto assume the role as captain of the team. On that day, everything changed. Blackwood began developing a fervency for soccer again. He fell in love with UT, changed his perspective dramatically and most importantly rekindled his passion for soccer. If you asked him why all of this happened, Blackwood could sum
it up in two words: “My father.” To Blackwood, his father is more than a mentor. He’s a “godlike figure” in his life. “If it weren’t for his support I would still be serving up mojitos behind the bar. Everything I do, I do for him,” Blackwood said. Blackwood will graduate from UT come spring, but the game he loves dearly will not fade from his life again. After college, Blackwood’s main goal is to reach the MLS (Major League Soccer) and play professionally. His planned summer with minor league team Orlando City will be a huge stepping stone on the way to reaching professional status. For Blackwood, the main thing that matters is having a successful season at UT. The Spartans have a promising team this year and will need their captain to be at his best in order to lead them to yet another successful season. Sometimes, life doesn’t always go according to plan. In fact, it hardly ever goes exactly the way we choose. If you ask Tyler Blackwood, though, he’ll tell you that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Griffin Guinta can be reached at griffin.guinta@theminaretonline.com
Tyler Blackwood
Hometown: London, England Year: Junior Height: 6’2 Weight: 155 2012 Stats: 11 goals/33 shots on goal Accomplishments: SSC Conference Player of the Year, SSC Offensive Player of the Year, Team Captain
Leah Beilhart/The Minaret
RIGHT: Tyler Blackwood sprints to the ball and prepares to take a strike on goal. LEFT: Blackwood plays lockdown defense on a Florida Memorial University attacker. The Spartans won 4-0.
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The Bucs would be 2-1 if they had executed in the last few minutes of their first two games. Nontheless, they didn’t and now sit at an abysmal 0-3. -Jordan
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SEPTEMBER 26 2013 | THE MINARET
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Spartan Sports Teams Impress at Start of Season By JORDAN LLANES Sports Editor
This week, I decided to take a step back and look at the starts of some of our own teams this week among some other UT related topics. Let’s get to it. The women’s soccer team is off to a terrific start. When you have a freshman that can go off for multiple score games, you know the coaching staff is doing something right. Forward Kaley Ward, the aforementioned first-year player, scored twice against Nova Southeastern University on Saturday night en route to a 3-0 victory by the fifthranked Spartans. The team won their first conference match against the Sharks and improved their overall record to 7-0. Great job, ladies. Looking forward to seeing you take down Florida Southern on their turf this Saturday. Meanwhile, the men are off to a solid start of their own. Coach Adrian Bush’s squad is off to 3-0-2 start after a scoreless draw against Nova Southeastern in the second game of a doubleheader with the women’s team on Saturday. Goalkeeper David Niepel delivered another stellar performance, but the real star was the Spartan defense. Led by junior defenseman Andrew Clare, the Spartans kept the Sharks out of the goal. Next up is
a doubleheader with the ladies at Florida Southern. Let’s see if the men can rise even higher than their current No.18 ranking. Talk about off to the races. After starting the season ranked 21st in the nation by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll, the Lady Spartans rose to No.15 in their latest poll. The ladies won a pair of team titles at the USF Open as well as the UF Mountain Dew Invitational to kick off the season. Junior Courtney Ragan paved the way for the team, for she has been their top individual performer at each meet. The ladies return to action tomorrow at Dover Trails, their home turf. It should be another victory for coach Jarrett Slaven’s squad. Coming off a loss in the national championship game last season, the volleyball team had high expectations for itself coming into this season. They have almost certainly lived up to those expectations so far. The Casey Budd/The Minaret ladies started the season ranked No. 1 overall The Women’s volleyball team has in the polls, and despite a heartbreaking loss dominated the opening of the 2013 season. to No. 4 Concordia (St. Paul, Minnesota) at the Colorado Premier tournament in Denver the Week last week. The ladies hope to regain on Sept. 14, still rank No. 3 overall in the the No. 1 ranking with victories against SSC country. Sophomore middle blocker Jessica rivals Florida Tech (tomorrow Friday night) Wagner has been a revelation, leading the and Barry (Saturday night) at home. Lady Spartans to a season opening victory Our school is quickly becoming a place at the Terrace Tournament hosted by Florida that athletes want to transfer to. Both the Southern and a runner-up finish in Denver en women’s and men’s basketball teams, along route to being named SSC Defensive Player of S:10”with the lacrosse team, have gotten transfers
from Division I teams as well as from various community and junior colleges. The men’s basketball team added local product Jordan Davis from the College of Central Florida, while the women’s team added five players: center/forward Ellen Nurmi (University of Portland), guard Diamond Posey (UTEP), forward Aisha Rodney (UMASS), center Taylor McVey (University of Albany) and forward Krissi Tow (Kirkwood CC in Iowa). Both teams are coming off SSC Tournament exits and would like to return to that tournament and beyond. The men’s lacrosse team has also picked up a pair of transfers from Division I schools: attacker Mike Morris from Johns Hopkins and attacker Jake Rooney, formerly of Hofstra. Both players are just entering their sophomore campaigns and are looking to return the Spartans to the postseason. Our school is one of the best athletic colleges in all of Division II. With a good amount of our fall sports having immediate success, we get to look forward to swimming, golf and basketball in the coming weeks. So the next time you’re out of class early and there is a game or meet going down on campus, do yourself a favor and go watch it. More often than not, you will see a Spartan victory. Jordan Llanes can be reached at jordan. llanes@theminaretonline.com
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18 SEPTEMBER 26 2013 | THE MINARET
SPORTS
Pro Sports
Dissapointing Atmosphere at September Rays Game
Kwong Yee Chang/Flickr
Tropicana Field fails to garner a large crowd of fans due to a myriad of reasons: being located in an inconvenient location, mediocre facilities and lack of tradition. By JOSIAH KACHELMEYER Sports Writer
The Rays, in the midst of a heated American League Wild Card race, returned home this past week to begin their last home-stand of the 2013 regular season. They began their last stretch at the Trop by taking on the Texas Rangers, another team in the thick of the Wild Card race. Surely this would make for an electric atmosphere in downtown St. Pete, right? Well, unless a crowd of 10,724 is your idea of electric, you’d be sadly disappointed. Upon driving to Tropicana Field to see the Tampa Bay Rays take on the Texas Rangers in a key September series, I held a certain sense of excitement. There isn’t much in the sports world that can top the intensity of a late season MLB playoff race, especially when it’s going on right in your neighborhood. As I approached the stadium and parked a few blocks away, I could immediately tell by the atmosphere
that it was going to be a disappointing showing by the Rays so-called “fan base.” I parked with 15 minutes left until first pitch, so it was pretty clear I didn’t just simply beat the crowd. What was apparent that there wasn’t going to be much of a crowd at all. Walking into the Trop didn’t do much in terms of getting my adrenaline going. It was quiet in the concourse and all too easy to walk around. This is the kind of situation where it would have been nice to be bumping into people; it would have at least meant it was crowded. As far as the game itself, the Rays were able to get off to a quick start following a solo shot by rookie phenom Wil Myers in the second inning. With eight strong innings from starting pitcher Alex Cobb they were able to beat the Rangers with ease, 6-2, and took the lead for the first American League Wild Card spot. Even on the Myers home run, the crowd seemed half asleep at best. Of course, the noise levels are not going to be anything great when the
ballpark is only 31 percent full, but when one of the loudest moments of the game is for the mascot race, you know there is an issue. It becomes painfully obvious during these games that Tampa Bay is not a baseball city. Granted, it was a Monday, but that didn’t seem to stop other teams in the playoff race from drawing decent crowds. The Pirates drew 21,000 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, the Kansas City Royals drew 15,000 and the Detroit Tigers had a crowd of over 34,000. Much has been made of the fact that Tropicana Field is not on par with other ballparks in Major League Baseball and that the Rays should play in the city of Tampa rather than St. Petersburg, but, unfortunately, it comes down to this not being a viable location for an MLB team. If being able to hear a pin drop during a game in the heat of the September playoff race isn’t an indication of that, I don’t know what is. Josiah Kachelmeyer can be reached at josiah.kachelmeyer@ spartans.ut.edu
Keith Allison/Flickr
Evan Longoria is one of the many Rays players that has expressed sadness at the lack of attendence at Rays home games.
NHL Preview 2013: Western Conference Teams By GREG PRAVER Sports Writer
After a busy offseason filled with signings, trades and changes in the format of the divisions, the NHL Western Conference looks different heading into the season beginning Oct. 1. Previously having three divisions per conference, the NHL’s Board of Governors approved the change to switch to two divisions. One major change was the move of the Detroit Red Wings and the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Eastern Conference and the Winnipeg Jets to the Western Conference. These changes were made to reduce traveling costs and to have shorter time travel. Central Division Prediction: The reigning Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks look to repeat. They will win the division because the team has most of the same players that helped them last year. This team is stacked with great offensive talent such as Evander Kane and Jonathan Toews as well as a superb defense led by Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook. They will have no trouble defeating teams within the Western Conference. The Dallas Stars made a big splash this offseason, acquiring budding superstar Tyler Seguin from Boston. Goaltender Kari Lehtonen is poised to have a big season, as the Stars look to make a huge improvement over last season. The St. Louis Blues have been a consistent threat in the West over the past two seasons, finishing as a top four seed over that time. They have one of the youngest and talented rosters in the league, featuring forward T.J Oshie and forward Vladimir Tarasenko. They also should have
HockeyBroad/Flickr
Jonathan Toews and the Blackhawks look to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions in 2013.
great years from goaltenders Jaroslav Halak. After drafting defenseman Seth Jones in the 2013 draft, the defense of the Nashville Predators looks good heading into the season. Their standouts include Jones and Shea Weber. Their quality of offensive production was horrendous, finishing second to last in goals with 2.27 per game. They have improved in that department this offseason by signing Matt Hendricks and Eric Nystrom. The Minnesota Wild reached the playoffs last season as the eighth seed but was ousted by the Blackhawks in the first round. The Wild are one of the league’s most balanced and consistent team. The Winnipeg Jets are a Western Conference team for the first time since 1996, the year in which they moved from Phoenix to Atlanta. This team has fallen short of the playoffs each of the past two years and it will happen again because of their lack of talent on the roster. Other than defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and forward Jussi Jokinen this roster
lacks talent. Adding number one overall pick Nathan McKinnon will not make the Colorado Avalanche drastically better and they probably won’t make the playoffs this season. Pacific Division Prediction: The San Jose Sharks have a roster full of talent. Some names that come to mind include defenseman Brent Burns and Dan Boyle as well as forwards Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton, and goaltender Antti Niemi, who was one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy Award (the league’s top goaltender). This team will take the Pacific Division Crown. Despite not having quite the talent that the Sharks have, the Los Angeles Kings will come in second place. The Kings will be lead by goalie Jonathan Quick and forward Dustin Brown. After trading away backup goalkeeper Cory Schneider to the New Jersey Devils, the starting goalie controversy for the Vancouver Canucks is over. Roberto Luongo will maintain the starting goalie duty.
The Canucks “traded” head coaches with the New York Rangers. The Rangers fired John Tortorella, who was then hired by the Canucks, and the Canucks fired Alain Vigneault, who then was hired by the Rangers. The Phoenix Coyotes had a successful offseason this summer, re-signing some key pieces that have contributed to their success in three of the past four seasons. Last season, the Anaheim Ducks bounced back from a horrific 2011-2012 season, where they finished with the third worst record in the West, and came in second place in the 2012-2013 season. The Ducks are in for a year of disappointment because they do not have enough depth on the roster. They are not ready to make the playoffs. Led by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov the Edmonton Oilers feature one of the most talented young rosters in the league. No doubt will they be a good team in the next few years. Finally, the Calgary Flames traded away their top player, Jarome Iginla, last season. The Flames have serious holes to fill on offense, defense, and at goalie. In fact, the Flames have not even named a starting goalie yet. A logical guess would be that Karri Ramo, who was selected to the Russian Hockey League All-Star Team the past two seasons. Expect a last place finish for Calgary. With just a few days away from the start of the season, it is time for fans to start gathering their favorite team’s gear and painting their faces. For the fans who are couch potatoes, order NHL Center Ice on Comcast. It’s time to get into hockey mode. Greg Praver can be reached at gregory. praver@spartans.ut.edu
SPORTS
THE MINARET | SEPTEMBER 26 2013
19
Hase Don/Flickr; Andrea McDonald/Flickr
LEFT: Wayne Rooney will look to lead an aging Manchester United squad back to Premier League dominance. RIGHT: Fernando Torres heads up a strong Chelsea attack this year.
Soccer Fans Eagerly Await Arrival of Premier League By MARCUS MITCHELL Sports Writer
To some at UT there is only one true football. While most have been caught up in MLB and NFL games, the league which many soccer fans agree to be the best in the game has finally begun. The English Premier League has started after much anticipation, and UT students have been scrambling to find live coverage of games on Saturday and Sunday mornings. This year, attention has been focused on the transfer window and The Minaret is here with your club's signings and what to expect from them this 2013-14 season. Trouble At Old Trafford?: The defending champions would like to believe they are as poised as ever to win their 21st league title, but one can't help but ask questions. Will new manager David Moyes be able to successfully carry the torch from Sir Alex Ferguson? Will Rooney coexist with management? Will recently acquired Marouane Fellaini fail to live up to his hefty price tag of $43 million? Will age finally catch up to United veterans Vidic, Evra, Giggs and Ferdinand? Regardless if the answers to these plaguing questions end up in favor of Man U or not, they are expected to put on a strong showing this season, particularly due to pressing play by Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverly, Nani and Japanese sensation Shinji Kagawa. But Manchester United's greatest strength lies in their ability to get the ball to the feet of goal machines Robin Van Persie, Rooney and Javier “Chicharito” Hernández. City Steps Up: Man City finished 2nd and 11 points behind United, causing
supporters to cry for spending by management to improve. Once the transfer window opened, City took to the market and bought four key players to improve a relatively slow offense. New manager Manuel Pellegrini helped the midfield by buying gifted playmaker Fernandinho and pinpoint passer Stevan Jovetic. By selling Carlos Tévez to Juventus, City saved $42 million, allowing them to capture the lurking poacher Álvaro Negredo and Spanish phenom Jesús Navas. They will work well with offensive weapons Nasri, Džeko, Agüero and David Silva but City’s strength will still rely on a backfield, which looks the best in the league lined with stars such as Nastastić, Lescott, Zabaleta, Clichy and captain Vincent Kompany, along with keeper Joe Hart who filed the most clean sheets (shutouts) last season with 18. Gunners Take Aim At Title: Arsenal's manager, Arsene Wenger, didn’t spend a single penny until the last day of the window when he purchased Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid for $67 million. Ozil is a gifted playmaker who creates chances out of nothing, making him a perfect fit for an Arsenal squad that lacked a facilitator last season. Arsenal already has various attacking pieces ranging from arguably the fastest player in the sport, Theo Walcott, to the 6-foot-4' Olivier Giroud who is one of the strongest strikers in the league, and Ozil is just the glue to bring these pieces together. However, it will take time for Arsenal to get rolling thanks to injuries to Diaby, Rosicky, Arteta, Oxclade-Chamberlain and most notably Lukas Podolski who is expected to be missed until December.
Mertesacker and the backfield will hold down Anfield in the meantime so expect a title-worthy challenge by Arsenal once players begin to recover. Mourinho's Dream Team: With Alex Ferguson no longer managing, Chelsea's José Mourinho has become the best manager in Premier League and has built what many fans claim to be the best squad in years. Chelsea kept the phenomenal goalkeeper Petr Čech. Assisting Čech in defending Stamford Bridge is a front line comprised of Ivanović, Ashley Cole, David Luiz, Cahill and team captain John Terry. The most exciting part of Chelsea's ensemble is their midfield, which improved when they won the bidding war against Tottenham and Liverpool for attacking midfielder Willian. William joins fellow Brazilians Oscar and Ramires in the midfield and alongside the Brazilian trifecta are Chelsea veterans Frank Lampard and Michael Essien, as well as rising stars Juan Mata and Eden Hazard. Chelsea also addressed their striking struggles in a big way with the signings of André Schürrle and Samuel Eto'o to score alongside Demba Ba and Fernando Torres. Bale set at 136 Million: This summer has been focused on one name: Gareth Bale. Tottenham milked the Welsh star for the most expensive transfer price in history at $136 million, which is ridiculous in perspective (for Bale's price, Real Madrid could instead travel to away games in seven F-16 fighter jets). The Spurs also bought another seven players for a total of $103 million. Among them are midfielders Erik “Coco” Lamela and Paulinho, who resemble teammates Aaron Lennon and Sandro, respectively.
Tottenham Hotspur also bought Spanish striker Roberto Soldado, who will score alongside Adebayor and Jermaine Defoe. However, it's worth noting that Tottenham could have instead bought Fellaini, Navas, Negredo, Sturridge and French defender Sakho, using the Bale money. Without team workhorses Clint Dempsey, Gallas or Sean Parker, expect possession to be a problem and for keeper Hugo Lloris to be busy all year long. Liverpool Looking For “Red”emption: Liverpool was humiliated last year and finished seventh on the table behind the aforementioned five squads and hated rival Everton. But this year, everything looks good so far thanks to the dependable centerback Sakho along with Glen Johnson and keeper Mignolet, who has earned three clean sheets in four games. In a midfield led by veteran Steven Gerrard, the aptly named Victor Moses has been parting seas of defenders to support Daniel Sturridge who has found the back of the net four times thus far. It is time for a Liverpool side that wishes to forget a disastrous last year caused by one man: Luis Suarez. But if Suarez can leave his past of racism, admitted diving and biting behind, then Liverpool has a realistic shot at the title. The league is the most competitive it has ever been with every squad having a shot at hoisting the trophy. You might find yourself staying home on Friday nights to wake up for the games the next morning, so while your roommate recovers, make sure to cheer as loudly as possible when your club scores. Marcus Mitchell can be reached at marcus.mitchell@spartans.ut.edu
49ers Struggle, Titans Soar in NFL Week Three By NATHAN KROHN Sports Writer
Colin Kaepernick took the snap and dropped back looking left and then right before sending an errant pass that was tipped high into the air, landing into the waiting hands of the Indianapolis Colts defender. Kaepernick walked off the field void of emotion as his team had just been handed a 20-point beating on their home field. The 49ers dropped to 1-2 and looked nothing like the NFC Championship team from one year ago. Yes, it’s obviously Week 3, and it’s a long season ahead. But after seeing what the Colts did to the Niners, they may have some serious problems and it starts with a quickly aging Frank Gore. During the first three games, Gore has rushed for a total of just 142 yards with 82 of those coming in the game against the Colts. 82 yards sounds like a productive day at the office but when you consider the Colts have the 27th ranked rushing defense and on average had allowed 136 rushing yards through their first two games, Gore’s day seems less impressive. The Niners defense is still solid but
if they want to return to last year’s form Kaepernick, who has five turnovers in the past two games, has to take care of the ball. The hometown Buccaneers (0-3) managed not to tear their fans hearts out on the last play of the game. Instead, they let them suffer through an entire game of inept offense and questionable play calling. This is a team with a good amount of talent on both sides of the ball, especially on defense, but they have no identity on offense. Do they pound the ball with Doug Martin or let Josh Freeman show what he can do in a contract year? It seems like the Bucs real problems lie internally, with the recent rift between Freeman and Head Coach Greg Schiano over “captain-gate” amongst other things. Nevertheless, the Bucs are a penalty and a missed field goal away from being 2-1. Then again, some people think the Browns are just a quarterback away from making the Super Bowl. Speaking of the Browns, Brian Hoyer, filling in for injured Brandon Weeden, put hope in the hearts of Cleveland fans, even if it was only for one afternoon. Hoyer tossed 321 yards and three touchdowns as the Browns upset the Vikings in Minnesota. But before we crown Hoyer the messiah
or even award him the starting job over Weeden, remember that he also threw three interceptions in the game and was aided to victory with two special teams trick plays that resulted in a combined 10 points. The game of the day took place in Cincinnati, where the Bengals went up by 14 before watching Green Bay flip the table on them with 30 unanswered points. But to Cincinnati’s credit they didn’t quit. A 58-yard fumble recovery run back for a touchdown by cornerback Terence Newman and an impressive defensive series sealed the four-point win for a Cincinnati team that looks to be a very strong playoff contender. The play of the day came in Tennessee when Jake Locker cocked back and heaved a 34-yard almost Hail Mary to rookie Justin Hunter, beating the Chargers 20-17. The play would have never been made if the Chargers had simply held on to a surething interception on a tipped ball just one Mike Morteck/Flickr Aaron Rodgers and the Packers have fallen to minute earlier. 1-2 after losing to the Begnals on Sunday. After three weeks of NFL action, four of the NFC playoff teams from last season: Dolphins are 3-0 and somehow, someway the Packers, Falcons, 49ers and Vikings are those Jets are 2-1. Hey, they don’t call it all under .500. The Seahawks and Broncos Week Three for nothing. look to be far and away the two best teams Nathan Krohn can be reached at nathan. in football. Meanwhile, the Chiefs and krohn@spartans.ut.edu
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LEFT: The Lady Spartans convene before the game to discuss strategy and gameplan. RIGHT: Sophomore Jessica Wagner (15) prepares to spike the ball in an exhibition match against HCC. By PAIGE SHALLCROSS Sports Writer
After a very successful season last year, the University of Tampa’s women’s volleyball team is going into this season with a strong, positive attitude. Last season, the Tampa team made it to the national championship game and that experience is pushing the team to work even harder to make it back to that game. To get to where they need to be so they can compete in the championship game again this year, players such as senior Frances Cardenas, junior Kahley Patrick and sophomore Berkley Whaley are setting goals not only for themselves but also for the entire team. Cardenas, who is a senior this year and a back row defensive player, is looking ahead to what she knows the team can accomplish. “This year our goals are to obviously get back to where we were last year, to the
National Championship game,” Cardenas said. “We also want to accomplish something we couldn’t accomplish last year, which is win a national title.” However, the team knows they have other goals they need to accomplish first. “Before we can win a National Title, more mini goals we have would be to win conference and then to host regionals because we want to be able to host regionals at home,” said Patrick, a team setter. “I also think another goal is to play to the best of our ability at all times, and to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses so we can be a better team in the long run,” outside hitter Whaley added. For the team to reach all of these goals, the girls know the little things they need to work on so they will run smoothly on the court. “We (the front row) are working on painting the court (as well as) hitting more than one spot on the court,” Whaley said. “As we play better teams, they will
be hitting different positions on the court so we need to improve in that aspect too, so we can shake up their defense and the success of their front row hitters.” For front row players to be able to switch up where they hit on the court, defensive players and the setters also have to focus on their personal goals. “We have a lot more hitters who are taller this year,” Patrick added. “So as a setter, we are trying to get the hitters to hit the best ball we can give them, and we are trying to put them in smart situations so we can finalize a play.” Defensive players also have what they need to work on so that the setters and hitters can be successful and to make sure that the court is protected. “In order for our hitters and setters to do what they need to do, we need to get our defense to where it needs to be,” Cardenas said. “We can always improve on our defense. There is a lot of room for improvement, so if we keep working hard in practice, we should be fine and see that
translation on the court.” Even though the team has already been working hard this year, they know there are expectations place upon them. “Obviously everyone expects us to get back to the championship,” Cardenas said. “But I think it is a challenge we will rise up to this season, along with just enjoying everything that happens as a whole.” Even with the expectations the team has on them, the team is still enjoying everything they can together. “I love our team this year,” Patrick said. “Our chemistry is awesome, we have a strong bond not only on the court but off the court as well, so it’s fun to come into practice everyday and see the girls I love the most.” The Tampa women’s volleyball team’s first game is home on Sept. 27 against Florida Tech and it should be a great game to start off the season. Paige Shallcross can be reached at paige.shallcross@spartans.ut.edu
Walk it Off: Athletes Fake Injuries During Games By PHIL NOVOTNY Sports Writer
When we watch an NFL game and see a player injured on the field, most fans ask themselves, “Is he ok?” Apparently, some of those players on the field actually aren’t hurt. According to Texans safety Ed Reed and recently retired Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher,
Chris Turner/Flickr
Some soccer players are known for milking injuries to draw a penalty for the opponent.
a team’s strategy is to take a dive on purpose. We have seen recent developments in the NFL and the NCAA this past week that players have been faking injuries or at least being accused of doing so. In week one, the Dallas Cowboys organization accused the New York Giants of faking an injury so they could waste time off the game clock. The NFL threw out the case but this would not be the first time the Giants have been accused of faking injuries. In 2011, the St. Louis Rams made a complaint to the league office that Giants safety Deon Grant and linebacker Jacquian Williams faked an injury to slow down the tempo of their hurry up offense. After that incident, the NFL sent a memo to all 32 teams warning that fines, loss of draft picks and suspensions would be levied if the league determined that players were faking injuries. Unfortunately, it is not just the NFL where these occurrences happen. In the primetime matchup between Clemson and Georgia, Georgia defensive end Leonard Floyd and defensive back Damien Swann received a signal from the sideline. Once they
received the signal, Floyd dropped to the ground in an instant. The play stopped immediately after Floyd fell to the ground. Soccer is one of the most notorious sports in which the faking of injuries occur. Liverpool striker Luis Suarez admitted to taking a dive against Stoke City last season. Suarez later stated, ”We needed anything to win it.” This comment led to an uproar by BPL (Barclay’s Premier League) fans. Gareth Bale, who was recently acquired from Real Madrid, has also been guilty of taking some dives last season. Even though these cases are not as widespread as they have been in football, taking a dive is an issue that is not diminishing. The reason why people fake injuries in sports is because they know it is hard to get caught. The referee has to acknowledge the fact that when a player is down that play must stop so the medical staff can assist him on the field. In a Thursday night game between the New York Jets and the New England Patriots this season, the Jets were trailing the Patriots 13-10 late in the fourth quarter. Suddenly, Jets defensive lineman
Muhammad Wilkerson “became injured” and the Patriots fans started to boo him because they thought he was faking his injury. Unbeknownst to Patriots fans, Wilkerson was injured in week one against Tampa Bay. "In light of these recent events, people may start to wonder if the player on the field is actually healthy." In terms of the Premier League, if there is a player that admits to taking a dive, serious action should have been taken. Unless someone admits to taking a dive like Suarez did, there is no other opportune time to make a statement and crackdown on players that do the same. The BPL had an opportunity and they missed their chance to send a message to the rest of the league that Suarez and Bale were disciplined. As long as no disciplinary action is taken against faking an injury, then players will still do it and professional sports leagues will not be able to stop them. Until they are stopped, taking a dive will continue to be a norm among teams. Phil Novotny can be reached at philip. novotny@spartans.ut.edu