Volume 92 Issue 16

FORDHAM’S NEW ACADEMIC STRUCTURE - PAGE 2

POINT-COUNTER POINT: GMAIL - PAGE 7

SERVING THE FORDHAM UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY FOR OVER 90 YEARS

1918-2010

OCTOBER 20, 2010

VOLUME 92, ISSUE 16

Speaker Challenges Fordham’s Nike Affiliation Jim Keady, Anti-Sweatshop Activist and Former St. John’s University Basketball Coach, Decries Nike’s Wage and Labor Practices in American Age Lecture

By MARK HERREROS STAFF WRITER

Speaker Jim Keady called students and faculty to fight for social justice and speak out against athletic goods company Nike’s presence on campus and its treatment of factory workers abroad. in his presentation last Wednesday.

“Here we have, at the Catholic Jesuit University of New York City, all of this stuff included in your mission statement, commitment and solidarity with the poor,” Keady said. “But then we have our [athletes] with the Fordham name and logo with the Nike Swoosh. What we’re saying by that is that not only does Fordham University believe in what Nike’s doing and stands by them 100 percent, we will need them so much that we will turn all our athletes into walking advertisements.”

Keady argued that Nike “violates everything a Jesuit institution would stand for.” He called upon students to question whether factory workers at Nike, who produce athletic apparel and sporting goods for Fordham University’s athletic teams, are re-

ceiving adequate compensation for their labor.

“Behind the Swoosh” was offered last Wednesday as part of Fordham’s American Age Lecture Series. The series invites speakers, panels and forums on campus to speak about a wide range of issues and topics surrounding Fordham’s Jesuit mission.

Keady is the leader and founder of Team Sweat, described on its official Web site as “a coalition of consumers, investors and workers committed to ending the injustices in Nike’s sweatshops around the world.”

Nike, the industry leader in sporting goods, is targeted by Team Sweat as a case study that it hopes to utilize in changing the rest of the industry. Ultimately, Keady’s goal is to increase workers’ wages to acceptable levels and allow workers to collectively bargain and engage in meaningful conversations with Nike and factory owners.

As a coach at St. John’s University, Keady refused to support both St. John’s mission as a Catholic University and promote Nike as part of a $3.5 million endorsement deal with the school. The former coach then SEE NIKE ON PAGE 5

PHOTO BY MIKE REZIN/ THE RAM

Speaking in Keating 1st Auditorium on Oct. 13 as part of the American Age Lecture Series, activist Jim Keady spoke out against labor and justice abuses by athletic wear giant Nike.

University Gmail Deployment is Largely Successful System Deployment Completed Two Days Ahead of Schedule; Students Report Few Problems in Migrating E-mails from Mirapoint to Gmail, Mobile Devices

By CONNIE KIM CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The migration to Gmail successfully took place and all email services were restored by the morning of Oct. 10, two days earlier than the expected launch date, with the effort of the Fordham University Department of Information Technology.

“As of now, the reactions have been very positive,” Deirdre Dillon, director of Information Technology, said. “I was at the tables set up in both Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses and a lot of students stopped by to thank us for provisioning and giving them Gmail.”

The Gmail Go-Live was originally rescheduled to occur from Oct. 8 until Tuesday, Oct. 12.

Although there were some concerns about the inaccessibility to student and faculty e-mail accounts during the midterm week, the e-mail services for all students, faculty and staff were restored by Sunday morning, which was two days earlier than the expected date.

“I was pleasantly surprised to see my e-mail working when I woke up on Sunday morning,” Dillon said. “From my perspective, on the perspective of Fordham IT, the migration was overall very successful.”

The Gmail task force at Fordham IT started working on the

transition at 7 p.m. on Oct. 8, and worked all night to bring back the e-mail services quickly.

“I personally did not have a problem with the e-mail being inaccessible for a little while because I have other personal e-mail accounts I use and I was away for the Columbus weekend,” Nikki de Castro, GSB ’14, said. “And since the e-mail was restored so quickly, I did not even notice the inaccessibility.”

According to Dillon, many Fordham students and alumni have been requesting the transition from Mirapoint to Gmail for quite some time. For current Fordham students, the transition from the outdated Mirapoint to user-friendly Gmail was necessary, and for Fordham alumni, being able to keep Fordham e-mail for life was also very crucial. “[The transition] really did kill two birds with one stone,” she said.

The IT department provided the staff and students with instructions on its Web site, www. fordham.edu/gmail, and also provided representatives in the lobby of McGinley Center during the week of the launch.

Most students had questions about enabling their mobile devices, such as Blackberry, Android or iPhone, and the instructions to move their inbox to their Gmail account.

“We did not print the instruc-

tions because if there are any mistakes on the print, it is hard to fix, so we put as much detail as possible on the Web site,” Dillon said.

“I found it frustrating at first because once the Gmail accounts were set up, the old e-mails from Mirapoint disappeared,” Avanika Kirpalani, GSB ’14, said. “How-

ever, once I retrieved all the messages from the previous account with the help of Gmail representatives from the Fordham Information Technology, I was glad with the change because I have always thought the previous e-mail provider we had was too outdated.”

The only feature available to Fordham users currently will be

basic e-mail capabilities, however, Fordham IT will put an effort to enable other Google’s applications, such as Google Chat and Buzz, in the near future.

“I think we have done a great job,” Dillon said. “The technical team here at Fordham has delivered an incredible product in a very short period time.”

COURTESY OF FORDHAM.EDU

Fordham University’s Gmail interface, although at its core nearly identical to the standard Gmail setup, nevertheless includes Fordham-specific features including user search and the University logo in place of the Google logo.

INSIDE Sports PAGE 28

Opinions PAGE 10

Culture PAGE 17

Football falls to Yale and Lehigh, loses fourth straight game.

Mario Gabelli lends an inspiration, not just a school name.

New York City’s cupcake options compared.

NEWS

PAGE 2 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 20, 2010

SECURITY

BRIEFS

Budget, Planning Changes in Academic Hierarchy

By PATRICK DEROCHER NEWS EDITOR

Oct. 8, Campbell Hall, 8:30 p.m.

An occupied elevator became stuck. The elevator company was notified, and they responded. Two students were retrieved from the elevator uninjured. The elevator company fi xed the elevator shortly thereafter.

Oct. 8, E. 189th Street and Crotona Avenue, 11:20 p.m.

Three students were approached by three or four males, who asked if they wanted to fight. When the students said no, one male, 1517 years old, punched one of the students in the head. He then punched another student in the jaw and ripped another’s shirt.

The 48th Precinct responded and filed a complaint report.

Oct. 9, East Tremont Avenue, 9:15 p.m.

A student mistakenly got off the D train at Tremont Avenue instead of Fordham Road. He was approached by a man with a cane on the platform who demanded the student’s money. The student gave the man $30 and his cell phone. The student notified the police and filed a complaint report.

Oct. 10, Martyrs’ Court, 2:40 a.m.

A non-Fordham student climbed through the laundry room window in Jogues Hall.

He had come on campus with a Fordham student living in Jogues. The matter was referred to Residential Life.

Oct. 10, Fordham Prep, 7:30 p.m.

Someone discharged the fire extinguisher and pulled the fire alarm in Leonard Theater during a reception in the theater. During this time, a Prep employee discovered that someone had removed a University radio, two overhead microphones and a laptop computer. Security responded, the property was recovered and one arrest was made.

Oct. 14, 2465 Bathgate Avenue, 4 p.m.

A student was approached by three or four men, one of whom asked him what time it was.

Turning to respond, the student was punched in the face. The individuals grabbed his iPhone that had fallen to the ground and fled down Bathgate. NYPD responded and is conducting an investigation. The student was treated by FUEMS and declined further medical treatment.

—COMPILED BY: PATRICK DEROCHER AND VICTORIA RAU

One of the primary concerns among students since the recent changes in Fordham University’s administrative heierarchy has been how the newly created office of provost of the University, held by Dr. Stephen Freedman. Freedman had previously been the senior vice president and chief academic officer since arriving at Fordham in 2007.

The difference, according to Freedman, lies in a more centralized administrative structure and budgetary powers.

“Now we have a much more comprehensive structure that allows decisions that are made at the University […] to be looked upon much more strategically,” Freedman said. “The second part of this is the budget authority and responsibility that a provost’s office has.”

The broad goal of this, he said, was to allow decisions affecting the University’s academic functions to be made in a more “carefully crafted” manner. Adding to this, he noted that, while University press releases specifically mentioned that departments such as the libraries and WFUV are in his administrative portfolio, they have always been integrated with Fordham’s academic mission, though academics and the school have “always been at the center” of decision-making processes.

Speaking of budget in particular, Freedman called his authority to coordinate academics and strategic planning his “primary new set of responsibilities.” Namely, it is now his office’s job to prepare central and college budgets and disperse these funds as needed.

Referring to other responsibilities in his new position, Freedman emphasized the “primacy of the academic enterprise” in his dealings with other academic officers in addition to vice presidents and other administrators outside of the University’s academic function. He used developing online education strategies as an example, citing work that the department of information technology, the vice president for information technology and the chief information officer are doing.

Regarding relationships within

IMAGE BY PATRICK DEROCHER/ THE RAM

Fordham’s revamped academic administration, pictured above, will give provost Freedman greater budgetary authority while allowing school deans more latitude over projects.

Fordham’s academic offices, Freedman said that the new, decentralized structure will allow the deans of the individual schools and colleges “greater responsibility and authority in their strategic planning and budget planning,” but that he will be working with the deans to help guide overall strategic planning in addition to providing accountability for the deans’ decision making.

Freedman went on to say that, while the provost model is quite common in large, research universities, “there are many different models for provost, and my job as Fordham’s first provost is to implement the best model for Fordham,” taking into account the University’s history and mission.

Continuing to speak about his unique position as Fordham University’s first-ever provost, Freedman said that he is “deeply honored” to be the first person to hold this position.

“I appreciate and am humbled by the confidence that Father McShane has shown in me,” he said.

Given the recentness of the changes in Fordham’s administration, the deans of individual schools

spoke from somewhat limited experience, but were nevertheless able to provide a second perspective on the decentralization of academic administration.

“What we do hasn’t changed too much yet,” Dr. Michael Latham, interim dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, said, adding that the latitude in budgeting that Freedman mentioned would be more of a factor in the current budget process.

Regarding this change, Latham noted that both his school and the others at Fordham will now be able to direct funding toward supporting particular programs or addressing specific problems, something that was less feasible in previous budget processes.

“There will be greater flexibility to respond to the change in student demands,” he said, adding that in the previous budget, the weak economy forced across-the-board changes rather than target shifts in monetary allocation.

Dr. Donna Rapaccioli, dean of the Gabelli School of Business, had a similar take on administrative and budgeting changes.

“It is my understanding that my authority and ability to use the

school’s budget to achieve goals and objectives set forth on out strategic plan will be enhanced,” she said. “Historically, there was little flexibility in reallocating expenses once your budget was set.”

With this new setup, Rapaccioli added that she hoped to be able to shift funds around as needs changed even after budget submission.

Regarding the goals set forth in GSB’s strategic planning, Rapaccioli specifically noted that a new Core Curriculum, tested over the past two years, will soon be implemented for the entire school.

“The core is delivered in cohort style allowing for students and faculty a greater sense of community,” she said. “The new business core is also designed to allow business students to decide on their major earlier and leverage their liberal arts electives by taking courses that will help round our their program of study,” she said.

These administrative changes, announced in a University press release on Sept. 13, were effective on that date and the implementation of those changes is ongoing.

Additional reporting by Victoria Rau, assistant news editor.

University Names New Head of Career Services

By PIERCE WATSON CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Since the end of last school year, Fordham College at Rose Hill has been without a director of Career Services. Despite a search that lasted the length of spring, the hunt for a new director has continued throughout the start of this school year. Career Services aids students in pursuing their goals through job and internship opportunities, in addition to giving invaluable career advice. Fortunately, the seat normally filled by the director of Career Services is not empty.

Gregory Pappas, assistant vice president for student affairs and dean of student services, led a search for a new director this past spring.

“We wanted to create a forum where every constituency has a voice,” Pappas said. “The student

body should be represented when choosing a position which is of importance to them.”

When the hunt was unsuccessful, Pappas appointed Stefany Fattor as interim director. According to her extensive resume, Fattor has had jobs as the internship program director at Ithaca College and at the office manager at Jones-Neitzel Company.

“She hasn’t just done peer counseling like this all of her life,” Pappas said. “She was actually in the business world and she gets it.”

Sara Kugel, FCRH ’11, executive president of United Student Government, served on the panel of students and administrators this past spring to find a new director.

Despite the interim tag, students like Kugel -support her.

“She is absolutely phenomenal, and I can’t stress that enough,” Kugel said. “My vice president [Cait-

lin Meyer, FCRH ’12] and I met with her briefly two weeks ago and right away she was receptive to all of our ideas. Even more important though, was how refreshing she was. She has a whole new perspective on the job.”

Fattor said she hopes that her hard work and fresh perspective will land her the permanent job here at Fordham.

“Before I became interim director, I was drawn to the Fordham culture and wanted to be a part of this school over any in the area,” Fattor said. “I plan on pursuing the permanent position through whatever process necessary.”

Regardless of whether or not Fattor gets the position over other potential candidates, she has the helpful experience of working for an interim dean to help her make the most of this current transitional period.

“I had the unique experience of working for an interim dean at my prior institution,” Fattor said. “When I shared with him I was taking an interim position, I asked him what would be the most important thing I could do to be successful. He advised me to approach the position with the vision and dedication of someone who would be in the position for a decade and act on my initiatives with the urgency of someone who only has one year to make their mark. This is the exact approach I take everyday.”

The previous Career Services director, Andrew Cronin, left Fordham in order to pursue another job opportunity at the Fashion Institute of Technology. The committee responsible for choosing the next director hopes to decide on a permanent director by the end of the year.

NEWS

OCTOBER 20, 2010 • THE RAM • PAGE 3

USG Passes Resolution Advocating Attention to International Student Issues

By VICTORIA RAU ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

After hearing firsthand from international students about shortcomings in addressing their needs during a forum on Sept. 16, United Student Government unanimously passed a resolution on Oct. 7 that seeks to better the quality of experience for Fordham’s international student population.

“One of the greatest strengths in what USG can do is in bringing an issue to the forefront of the Fordham agenda, and that’s what we’ve done,” Caitlin Meyer, FCRH ’12, executive vice president of USG, said. “We’ve been met with a great response. People are willing to work together; people acknowledge the problem[s].”

The resolution, entitled “Addressing the Quality of Experience: International Student Population,” outlines four suggestions as to how to improve the quality of experience. The first and immediate recommendation is to increase the staff in the Office for International Services by at least one employee, since the general consensus during the forum was that service defects are a result of an understaffed office.

The other recommendations relate to communication between the University and international students before, during and after their transition to Fordham and the United States, regarding academics and mentorship.

“We ask for a lot because a lot is needed,” Sara Kugel, FCRH ’11, executive president of USG, said.

Kugel and Meyer co-wrote the resolution and brought it to a vote in the senate after copious research and meetings. The international student forum in addition to international student feedback behind the scenes allowed them to see what the students wanted and needed, Kugel said.

Kugel and Meyer then met with

the Office for International Services, Residential Life and many other parties including, Dr. Stephen Freeman, provost of the University. They compiled research from Fordham’s mission statement, the Toward 2016 Strategic Planning Report and the 2009 International Student Issues Task Force Report, all of which was quoted in the resolution.

“We’re taking the feedback from our constituents and putting it into some form of policy,” Kugel said. “We had to take a stand, and it was the time for us to take a stand because we had done our research. We did it because it was the next step.”

Meyer said that administrators’ preliminary response to the document has been positive due in large part to the research she and Kugel conducted.

Freedman has agreed to make hiring a new staff member for the Office for International Services a “top budgetary priority,” Kugel said, in an effort to honor the first request outlined by the resolution. The Board of Trustees, though, has the final say on the budget.

Kugel said that she relies on the hard facts included in the resolution, such as Fordham’s ratio of international students to faculty in the Office for International Students compared to other universities of similar size, to sway those with decision-making power.

“It’s no longer subjective,” Kugel said. “This is fact, and now it’s up to the administration to decide how they’re going to handle it.”

“This is a way for us to commit to ourselves and to international students and to the University as a whole that we’re going to go through with this and continue working with all the departments mentioned in the resolution,” Meyer said.

While Kugel and Meyer acknowledge that the “interdepartmental” nature of the requests they outline will

make for a long, ambitious process, they said they see it as a collaborative effort in which USG is “taking the first step” to address concerns first realized in the 2009 Task Force Report.

“This is something we’re going to see through,” Kugel said. “I see it as a community resolution.”

International Community Approved Related efforts to better the situation for international students were successful as USG approved a new club called International Community Fordham on Oct. 14. Alexander Slavtchev, FCRH ’11, president of ICF, outlined the new club’s main goals as raising cultural awareness, building a global network and providing mentorship to international students in transition.

Slavtchev said that he supports USG’s resolution regarding international students and that he sees the resolution’s goals to be in line with his club’s in addressing the issues international students face.

“We have all heard horror stories of international students being stuck for hours or even days at airports because the University could not get to their visa/immigration documents on time due to high volumes being processed,” Slavtchev said. “Overall, the USG resolution goes hand-in-hand with some of ICF’s goals, not only by addressing some of today’s issues international students face, but also coming with realistic and pragmatic propositions and solutions to these concerns.”

Originally approved by the Operations Committee last year, Christopher Rodgers, dean of students, approved ICF on Oct. 5. Bryan Matis, GSB ’12, vice president of operations vouched for the club during senate confirmation.

“One of the criteria that the Operations Committee looks at for starting new clubs is ‘does the club fit a need on campus that isn’t currently being

PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL DITANNA

International Community, a Fordham organization for students from foreign countries, was officially declared a club after meeting all necessary qualifications and being approved by the Operations Committee and Dean Rodgers.

met?’” Matis said. “I can’t imagine a club that fits a need that isn’t being addressed more than this club right now.”

ICF has had a strong student response, with over 150 members, and sponsored International Business Week last year when international students shared elements of their countries’ economies and cultures with attendees.

Freedman Forum Freedman attended USG’s meeting on Oct. 14 to discuss his new role in a forum setting. Freedman emphasized that academics will be paramount in his decisions as provost and that he values his relationship with student leaders.

Freedman fielded questions from USG executive board members and senators on several topics, including the curriculum, international student issues, career service and the possibility of interdisciplinary majors between the Gabelli School and Fordham College.

“USG is very excited about Provost Freedman’s enthusiasm for his work and looks forward to aiding him in his endeavors,” Nicole D’Souza, GSB ’13, vice president of communications, said in a press release.

Club of the Month USG awarded the honor of “Club of the Month” to student group Academia Hispana on Oct. 7 for their prodigious programming activities during Hispanic Heritage Month, which ran from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

“Given their dedication and their excellent programming, we decided to award them this,” Matis said in presenting the award.

Senate Pro-Tempore The senate voted by secret ballot to elect Stephen Erdman, vice president of FCRH ’13, to serve as senate pro-tempore for the coming year. The senate pro-tempore acts as a liaison between the executive board and the senate, attending executive board and individual senate meetings.

Fordham College at Rose Hill Dean Discusses School’s Future, Goals

By PATRICK DEROCHER NEWS EDITOR

In the year or so since Dr. Michael Latham succeeded Dr. Brennan O’Donnell as interim dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, students, staff and faculty have seen numerous changes in the function, scope and, most recently, administrative structure of the school. In that time, the college has pursued numerous academic goals, mainly related to strategic planning for the school’s academic future.

One of these major goals Latham has put forward is to increase and improve research projects at FCRH. “I’m looking to build a real culture of undergraduate research,” he said, adding that research opportunities have expanded to students in the social sciences and humanities in addition to natural sciences.

“Undergraduate research is no longer just being done by an elite few,” he said.

Recent changes in structure and increases in funding for students who want to engage in research have been a large part of the effort to expand research opportunities. Students of any discipline now can apply for semester- or summer-long grants to work on research of either their own or a professor’s design. These grants, which are worth up to $1,500 per semester or summer, are joined by one-time “micro grants” of up to $100.

According to Latham, expenditures

for the current year stand at $225,000, a nearly five-fold increase from $50,000 in the year 2006.

Regarding research matters beyond funding, Latham spoke about the Undergraduate Research Symposium, which included social science and humanities research for the first time ever last year. The symposium had some 150 participants, with around 30 making conference presentations. Latham said that he looks forward to increased participation in the future, with more and more students participating in major research projects.

“In a way, I want to have too many students [applying for research money],” he said.

In a plan approved unanimously by the board of trustees in April 2005, the University laid out a number of plans and goals to achieve by the year 2016. Among these goals were several specific academic plans, which Latham said were going even better than anticipated.

As regards pre-health education and advising, the strategic planning document aimed for a 75 percent admission rate to medical schools by 2016. According to Latham, the acceptance rate has hovered around 80 percent for the past several years, with some years faring substantially better.

“Last year, that number was around 88 percent, while the national average is about 45 percent,” he said, citing “very hard work by faculty” as one of the driving forces behind this. In particular,

he praised Dr. Donna Heald, associate dean for science education and director of pre-health professions advising, calling her an “incredible asset.”

In addition to her administrative roles, Heald was responsible for the Science Integrated Learning communities in Alumni Court South and O’Hare Hall. Latham also cited a partnership with Yeshiva University’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine as a major component of Fordham’s prehealth advising.

Another goal specifically mentioned in the strategic plan was an improvement of the University’s pre-law education and advising structure.

According to Latham, this program saw “very good successes” under advisor Rev. Daniel O’Brien, S.J., who retired last year, adding that his successor, Erin Burke, Esq., is following in his path. Burke, a graduate of Fordham College at Rose Hill and the Fordham University School of Law, specializes in securities law and is creating a pre-law symposium course similar to the one for health professions run by Heald.

In the case of both pre-health and pre-law advising, Latham applauded alumni engagement in the programs.

A major academic change that coincided with Latham assuming his present duties was the shift in the Core Curriculum, beginning with the class of 2013.

“We have put the Core in place pretty well,” he said, adding that having two cores running simultaneously was

“challenging.” Shifts in the curricular structure include a required interdisciplinary course, as well as a sequencing of students’ math, physical science and life science course, which now must be taken in that order.

“There is somewhat less predictability about what courses students will take,” he said. “They now have a greater freedom in the first two years.”

As for the much-discussed changes to language instruction, namely involving an intensive, five-credit introductory class, Latham said that the change was intended to make sure that all students are fully prepared for study in upper level courses. He also said that his office has been and will be working with the department of modern languages to make certain the setup for these courses is ideal.

Theoretically related to this new interdisciplinary course are the numerous interdisciplinary majors offered to students in FCRH, which Latham heartily supports “There is really no equivalent to international political economy,” he said.

“It is really distinctive.”

Latham has been the IPE program director in the past. He also cited one of Fordham’s most established programs, medieval studies, as an exemplary case of the interdisciplinary major, in addition to American, women’s, urban and Latin American studies.

Another such program that Latham discussed was the environmental policy major.

“Students have a great deal of interest in it,” he said, adding that he would like to see more interdisciplinary science programs.

International education also forms a major part of Latham’s goals; he cited it as one of “three major transformative goals,” alongside undergraduate research and improvements in the natural sciences.

“Study abroad is a very strong concern of mine,” he said.

Latham said that he is meeting with numerous organizations within Fordham to make study abroad programs affordable to a wider range of students and not simply the financially well off.

Currently, Fordham does not fully transfer scholarship and financial aid funds to study abroad programs, thus limiting the study opportunities for students who rely on such support.

Finally, regarding science education, Latham said that while he is grateful for renovations to the analytical chemistry, engineering physics and introductory biology labs, the University’s science facilities are mostly 40 or more years old.

“Eventually, we will need a new science center if we are to remain competitive with our peer and aspirant institutions,” he said. “But right now, given the University’s current goals and financial obligations and the high cost of the project, I am very pleased that we are renovating our existing facilities as an essential first step toward that longerterm objective.”

NEWS

PAGE 4 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 20, 2010

Guenther History Chair Gives Inaugural Lecture

By ELLEN HOFFMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Dr. Saul Cornell, the newly appointed Paul and Diane Guenther chair in American history, spoke before students, alumni and administrators on Oct. 6 when accepting the honor. The Guenthers, for whom the chair was named, have always been very generous benefactors to Fordham University. Therefore, the event held in Tognino Hall served also to honor some of Fordham’s finest graduates.

The evening commenced with the Master of Ceremonies John Tognino welcoming all distinguished guests and students. The attendance was overwhelming for the size of the hall, and student attendance was exceptional for a Wednesday evening.

As the speakers kept ascending to the podium, it was apparent that this evening was special to Fordham. As the inaugural chair, Cornell was one of many applicants for the prestigious position.

Fordham held a wide search to find the right recipient, but eventually it came back to a native New Yorker and valued faculty member of the Fordham history department. Dr. Stephen Freedman, provost, acknowledged Cornell as the “most active and distinguished [of] Constitutional historians.”

His classes at Fordham are widely sought by students of the history major. One of Cornell’s students in attendance of the event, Dennis Ryan FCRH ’13, summed up the professor and the evening.

“I thought that the lecture was really great and that it is an honor for Fordham to have such a great professor,” he said. “I have had Dr. Cornell for two semesters in a row and the passion that he showed at the lecture is the same passion that he brings to class every day; he truly is one of the best professors at Fordham.”

The welcome address for the evening came from Dr. John P. Harrington, the dean of arts and sciences faculty. This was followed by an invocation from Monsignor Joseph G. Quinn who urged, appropriately from American history favorite, James Madison, that “knowledge always governs ignorance.”

Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University, later addressed the crowd with warmth and excitement for his guests.

“We are delighted to have a son of the city, a New Yorker, the rich perspective of the greatest city in the world [as the inaugural chair],” he said.

Cornell, though not a native of the Bronx, hails from Brooklyn. Fittingly, Cornell centered his lecture on the D train, connecting two lo-

PHOTO BY STEPHEN MOCCIA/ THE RAM

Introduced by Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University, history professor Saul Cornell gave his first lecture as the Paul and Diane Guenther chair in American history on Oct. 6 in Tognino Hall.

cations at the extremes of its route, Fordham and Coney Island. He talked about these subway stops in addressing his lecture’s topic “The Perils of Popular Constitutionalism: Riding the D Train with James Madison.”

Paul and Diane Guenther were later invited by McShane to address the audience. They expressed their love of Fordham and their deep gratitude to the University

for such an honor. In conjunction with the chair’s title, the Guenthers presented Cornell with a medal of commendation for the award and led him to the podium to proceed.

Cornell thanked the Fordham community for the honor as he began his lecture. He kept the audience attentive with an antiFederalist/Federalist survey while also stating more seriously that, “we are at a critical juncture in our

history.”

“I thought Professor Cornell’s presentation was fascinating,” Olivia Licata, FCRH ’13, said. “I loved how he used humor and personal experience to make history more interesting and relatable. I also enjoyed how he incorporated modern politics and the D train into his address [because] it really kept the discussion relevant to our lives today.”

McShane Discusses Capital Projects, Strategic Plans with Student Media

COURTESY OF FORDHAM.EDU

Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University, discussed matters including capital projects and campaigns and strategic planning at a recent meeting with members of Fordham’s student media.

By PATRICK DEROCHER NEWS EDITOR

In his first biannual meeting with student media of the current school year, Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University, spoke with representatives from The Ram and The Observer at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus. Although the discussion covered many topics, it centered on capital projects and strategic planning, especially at Lincoln Center.

“The successful completion of that building determines the future of the University,” McShane said of the new academic and residential facilities at Lincoln Center.

Fordham’s long-delayed project has been put on hold yet again, in spite of a recent legal victory when the Supreme Court of the

State of New York dismissed a suit against Fordham; the Alfred Condominium on West 61st Street, which brought the initial suit against the University, appealed the decision.

McShane spoke at length about the need for the new buildings, noting the space constraints placed on the Lincoln Center campus.

“It is 7.3 acres with six schools, three buildings and 8,000 students, [so] it’s very tight,” he said, noting that the new facilities the University is proposing to build would greatly improve the campus.

The new facilities are to be designed by Pei, Cobb, Freed and Partners, the architects responsible for Paris’s Louvre expansion, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland and New York City’s Jacob K. Javits

Convention Center.

The new building for the law school, which comprises the bulk of the new academic space at Lincoln Center, will be around 359,000 square feet. In comparison, this is nearly as large as the current law building, 130,000 square feet, and the Leon Lowenstein Building, the main classroom building at Lincoln Center’s campus, 240,000 square feet, combined.

According to a release on the Fordham University Web site, this construction project will generate some 4,500 to 5,000 construction jobs over the course of its existence, in addition to approximately 200 contract and 520 permanent jobs.

With regard to the Rose Hill campus, McShane focused on the current Hughes Hall renovation for the Gabelli School of Business.

The move from its current headquarters in Faber Hall to the new facility will more than quadruple to space GSB has, from 12,000 square feet to some 53,000.

In both of these cases, McShane emphasized that the schools receiving new buildings will not be the sole beneficiaries, as the overall increase in office space will allow numerous academic departments to expand into less restrictive office settings.

McShane briefly discussed additional future plans for the Rose Hill campus, saying that Sasaki Associates, the architects responsible for Campbell and Salice-Conley Halls, have developed an official land-use plan to help guide future construction at Fordham.

Although McShane did not discuss many particulars of the plan,

he confirmed that A Lot, the parking lot next to O’Hare Hall and the campus’s main entrance, was to remain undeveloped, while revealing that improved science facilities and additional residence halls were in the cards.

Regarding capital projects at Rose Hill in the near future, McShane said that the McGinley Campus Center’s replacement would likely be coming next.

Speaking on matters of strategic planning, McShane noted that two of the seven “Transforming Initiatives” from the Toward 2016 strategic plan, those involving media operations and development, have become operational and are simply a part of the University’s day-to-day functioning.

As for other initiatives, McShane said that “significant strides” have been made in improving undergraduate education quality, as student and faculty research have both increased dramatically along with the quality of the incoming freshman classes.

He cited two examples: Fordham College at Lincoln Center’s average SAT score jumping 25 points and the University’s improvement to no. 56 in the U.S. News & World Report’s influential college rankings. Since 2002, Fordham has gone from number 84 to its current placement at 56.

“There has been no bigger rank jump,” McShane said.

Additionally, he said that faculty teaching load had been successfully decreased while the number of endowed chairs has increased from 22 to 57 in recent years. On the matter of capital strategic planning, McShane noted that each campus has seen

only one academic building constructed since 1968, and that the University is responding to needs that have arisen and a time period of 40 years.

All this, McShane said, was a “multi-step transformation” with a very specific goal.

“I want to change how people view Fordham, so it becomes more powerful,” he said.

FORDHAM Thurs., Oct. 21 College Republicans General Meeting Dealy 305, 1-2 p.m.

Fri., Oct. 22 Academia Hispana Fundraising, McGinley Lobby, THIS 12-6 p.m.

Sat., Oct. 23 FET General Meeting Blackbox Theater, 5 p.m.

Sun., Oct. 24 RHA General Board Meeting Campbell Hall Common Room, 7:45-9:15 p.m.

Mon., Oct. 25 FUPAC Dukot Documentary Keating 1st Auditorium, 5-8 p.m.

Tues., Oct. 26 West Wing Lecture O’Keefe Commons, 6-11 p.m.

Wed., Oct. 27 Study Abroad Fair McGinley Ballroom, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

—Compiled by Abigail Forget

NEWS

OCTOBER 20, 2010 • THE RAM • PAGE 5

Fordham Professor Advises Future Journalists Beth Knobel, Assistant Professor of Communucations and Media Studies, Gives Book Talk and Signing; Book Was Co-Written With CBS Legend Mike Wallace

By VICTORIA RAU ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

“A main challenge for journalists today lies in figuring out how to embrace the latest technological advances while remaining true to the traditions of fine journalism,” Beth Knobel, Fordham journalism professor, advisor to The Ram and award-winning producer/reporter for CBS News, said while reading an excerpt of her new book Heat and Light: Advice for the Next Generation of Journalists during a book signing event on Oct. 15.

Knobel, who worked in Russia for over 20 years, served as the CBS News Moscow bureau chief from 1999 to 2006 and won an Emmy Award in 2002 for her part in coverage of a hostage situation at a Moscow theater. She co-authored the book, which came out in July, with Mike Wallace, whose illustrious career in television journalism includes 21 Emmys and three Peabodys as a correspondent emeritus for CBS News’ “60 Minutes.”

“We tried to write the book that we would have liked to have ourselves when we were young journalists,” Knobel said. “[It is] everything you need to know about journalism in one little package.”

Knobel said she got the idea for Heat and Light when she invited Wallace to speak to her TV News Innovators class at Fordham in 2007. Rather than speaking in

a lecture style, Knobel recalled, Wallace opened up a dialogue with the students.

“He starts talking about journalism and life and death and what’s important in life,” Knobel said.

Soon after, Knobel pitched the idea of writing a book about journalism to Wallace, who has also published two memoirs. He agreed and they began working together.

“I basically took 100-150 questions that my students ask me about journalism, and I sat down and asked him,” Knobel said.

The book opens with a chapter called “The Fundamentals of Great Journalism” followed by several chapters outlining the technical elements of journalism, such as interviews, questions and writing, both for print and for broadcast. Knobel and Wallace conclude with a chapter on law and ethics in addition to one about the future of journalism.

In the past, Knobel explained, networks could afford to lose money on the news department, because they made up for it in advertising revenue. Today, increased financial constraints and the changing landscape of media make this impossible.

In reading from the book’s final chapter, Knobel quotes Wallace as saying that journalism “used to be a race to the top. To a certain degree, news today is a race to the bottom.”

“That race to the bottom is ex-

week at

acerbated by budget cuts, which too often lead journalists to try to report a story without being there,” Knobel said.

The book’s title refers to the two key components that good journalism must have, according to Wallace’s conception of journalism.

“Heat meaning the drama, the power, the importance; the light being the information that you get in that journalism that you wouldn’t get anywhere else,” Knobel said. “What you really want to strive for is having both of those elements together, which is important, but in fact quite hard to do and becoming harder in this world of smaller news staffs, increasing sensationalism [and] shrinking sound bites.”

Knobel vividly described some tense moments in her interviewing career in recounting a couple of key anecdotes she used in the book, dating back to her work in Moscow with Wallace. One interview with former Russian President Boris Yeltsin almost came to a premature end due to an error in translation of the phrase “thickskinned,” Knobel said.

During an interview with the current Russian Prime Minister and then-President Vladimir Putin, Wallace deviated so grievously from the pre-arranged interview topics that Putin’s press secretary encouraged the president to suspend the interview.

When Wallace asked Putin about the press secretary’s conNIKE FROM PAGE 1

COURTESY OF TEAMSWEAT.ORG

American Age lecturer Jim Keady, founder of Team Sweat, used his lecture as an opportunity to speak out against the injustices, wage deficiencies and poor working conditions faced by workers in third-world countries making Nike’s shoes.

travelled to Indonesia in 2000 to live among Nike factory workers for a month, surviving on an estimated worker’s wages of $1.25 per day.

He also spoke with factory workers who described a culture of fear imposed within Nike factories to squeeze out more labor and force employees to work overtime.

Keady cites his conversations with factory workers, and observations outside the factories as proof that Nike is not changing its practices or its treatment of workers.

While Keady said he feels like he has yet to make an impression on athletic coaches and administrators, he said he feels that students and student-athletes have the power to make changes within their schools and community.

“I think that people that are part of a Jesuit institution have a calling to speak prophetically in the world,” Keady said. “Because of the platform that you’re given as an athlete or coach, we have an even greater [responsibility] to speak out on social issues. I think that every athlete that is going to wear the logos of companies like Nike or Adidas have a moral responsibility to speak out.”

However, Frank McLaughin, executive director of athletics at Fordham University, said he completely disagrees with Keady’s sentiment that affiliating with Nike contradicts Fordham’s mission as a Jesuit institution to

PHOTO BY STEPHEN MOCCIA/ THE RAM

Drawing on years of experience, Fordham professor Beth Knobel co-wrote a book for aspiring journalists with longtime CBS anchor Mike Wallace. Before coming to Fordhem, Knobel had served as that CBS’s Moscow bureau chief.

cern, “Putin says, ‘I will talk as long as you want me to, because I am the president of Russia’ and then, he winks. What a moment on television!” Knobel said.

These types of anecdotes are typical of Heat and Light, which does not resemble a textbook in looks or in content.

“We wanted to write a book that had a lot of anecdotes and a lot of stories, so that we could present the theories and then have a

bunch of stories that would make the theories click for people,” Knobel said.

Several contributors to the book attended the event in addition to Knobel’s family, friends and students. The book is available in paperback from local and national booksellers for $14, though students in attendance wishing to purchase Heat and Light received a special price of $10.

promote research in helping alleviate poverty and fighting for justice.

“Before you make a rash decision based on one lecture with an agenda, make sure you’re fully informed,” McLaughlin said. “Check the Nike Web site.

Above all, check the [Worker’s Rights Consortium]. Then let us know what you think.”

The WRC is an independent organization which monitors conditions in factories around the world.

The organization is supported by many universities, including Fordham University, allowing them to make informed decisions about the sources of their athletic apparel.

“Jim is not objective, and Nike is not objective, but the WRC is objective,” McLaughlin said. “We went and sought an affiliation with them for reasons like this. If there was something morally wrong, then as an institution, we would change this.”

In addition, student-athletes hearing about Keady’s lecture saw challenges in standing up against Nike and its practices on campus.

“It’s hard to argue with free things,” Maria Capuano, FCRH ’14 and member of the women’s rowing team, said. “If an organization’s giving you free things, you wear them because it’s convenient instead of buying something else.”

“I feel like if Nike did it, another brand would do something close to it,” football captain Bry-

son Wilson, FCRH ’11, said.

“I’m sure the conditions can’t be much better with them. What choice do we really have?”

Although the turnout was smaller than past lectures by American Age Lecture Series, students attending expressed their enjoyment of Keady’s presentation.

“He was a really good presenter,” Cori Ring-Martinez, FCRH ’13 said. “It’s shocking to hear the numbers. When you see those numbers, it’s really hard to see why people aren’t doing something.” “[Workers] do deserve a living wage, and it’s hard to see stories like this and think about how to put ideas into practice,” Emily Wilant, GSB ’08, said. “We’re responsible not only for fighting for these issues and bringing up discussions, but we as wealthy consumers are also responsible for our purchases.”

Attendees were encouraged to sign up for updates at TeamSweat.org, send e-mails to Nike representatives like CEO Mark Parker and educate themselves about the global economy, taking courses with professors who are skeptical of the current system. “[Students] want to make change and do the right thing,” Keady said. “That gives me a lot of hope. I’ve just been able to plant seeds, but I enjoy being able to reach out to students and plant those seeds and hoping for the harvest of justice down the line.”

PAGE 6 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 20, 2010

NYC and Fordham Mourn Freddy ‘Sez’ Schuman New York City sports fans and the Fordham University athletic department mourn the loss of Freddy “Sez” Schuman, a regular at Yankee games and Fordham sporting events alike. Schuman died at the age of 85 on Sunday at Lenox Hill Hospital. According to what Schuman’s longtime friend Chuck Frantz told ESPNNewYork.com, the cause of death was a heart attack he suffered on Friday night.

“The Bronx lost a great man,” Fordham Executive Director of Athletics Frank McLaughlin said.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. It was always a pleasure to see Freddy at a Fordham game, bringing with him his infectious enthusiasm and love of all things Bronx. He will be missed but always remembered at Fordham.”

A legendary figure in Yankee history, Schuman once traveled to Arizona for the playoff series in 2001 at the expense of the team because they considered him a lucky charm. Schuman always brought a frying pan to games at Yankee stadium, the clanging of

NEWS

Fordham in Brief

which signified encouragement to the home team.

Schuman’s frying pan was such a fi xture of baseball lore that there is one on display both at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and in the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center.

Fordham students too will miss Schuman’s electric presence at football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball games. He brought his frying pan to those games also bearing supportive messages for the Rams.

“Freddy will be sorely missed by all of us at Fordham,” Tom Emala, FCRH ’11, president of the 12th Man Club, said. “Basically until this year he was a constant face at Fordham football and basketball games, and a very friendly one at that. His cheerful demeanor and optimistic signs always put a smile on our faces in the cheering section, and his dedication inspired us to be more faithful fans.”

“Not only was [he] a Yankees’ icon, someone every child in their first visit to Yankee Stadium to every bleacher creature who has gone to every home game since the old Yankee Stadium, can remember, recognize and aspire to be,” Emily Amato, FCRH ’12, said of Schu-

man. “He was the face of the typical fan of the Yankees or the Rams, he had an unwavering dedication and loyalty to the Yankees and Fordham, something I know I can admire completely. He embodied a spirit, enthusiasm, confidence and hope that can inspire each one of us who ever knew or saw Freddy, or just heard the banging of the pan [. . .] He will be sorely missed but never forgotten.”

Supreme Court Justice Attends Fordham Law Film Festival The more than 500 students and faculty who attended the Fordham Law Film Festival in Manhattan on Oct. 17 watched a screening of 12 Angry Men with the Hon. Sonia M. Sotomayor, associate justice of the Supreme Court.

“You lucky people! This is the hottest ticket in town!” Thane Rosenbaum, the John Whelan Distinguished Lecturer in Law and director of the Forum on Law, Culture and Society, said.

Rosenbaum, whose organization puts on the festival along with Time Warner, HBO and other co-sponsors, invited Sotomayor

to pick the film for the evening.

Sotomayor selected the 1957 film 12 Angry Men directed by Sidney Lumet, which centers on a jury trial in the case of a young man accused of murder.

Lumet was invited to attend the screening, but could not due to illness. Sotomayor said she wished Lumet could have been there.

“I want him to know he impacted a person who would ultimately become a U.S. Supreme Court justice,” she said. “I thank him for that.”

In the discussion following the film, Sotomayor elaborated on how Lumet’s work helped her discern her career path.

“All of you probably know that I was inspired [to become a lawyer] by a television character, Perry Mason,” she said. “I had never thought about the juries and their function until I saw this movie.

This was my very first inspiration.

When the watchmaker in that scene talked about the greatness of democracy being the jury system? It sold me.”

A Bronx native and prosecuting attorney before her appointment and confirmation to the Supreme Court as the first Hispanic justice in 2009, Sotomayor said that one

line from the movie in particular stood out to her. When a prosecutor loses to Mason’s character, he says that the beauty of prosecuting is that “justice is done when the guilty are convicted and those who are innocent are found not guilty.”

“Those words rang in me probably my entire legal career,” Sotomayor said. “That’s why I chose to become a prosecutor instead of a defense attorney. One of the greatest callings of being a prosecutor is that to do justice, it’s not merely to convict people, it is to investigate until you’re sure that you’re prosecuting a person you believe to be guilty.”

While Sotomayor acknowledged that the drama and proceedings of legal movies is inaccurate to real life in the courtroom, she said that the power of movies, TV and film to inspire is significant.

“It impacts with lessons of morality,” she said. “It motivates. I’m sure the law students in this room could tell you their own stories about the movies and shows that motivated them.”

Compiled by Patrick Derocher, news editor, and Victoria Rau, assistant news editor.

Visible Construction Work on Hughes Hall Begins Cranes, backhoes and other construction equipment have cropped up in front of and around Hughes Hall and Alpha House in recent days. Their abrupt arrival has prompted much speculation among students as to the equipment’s purpose.

“The construction equipment is being used for the relocation of pipes underneath Hughes Hall,” Marc Valera, vice president of facilities management, said.

Among these pipes are conduits for electrical wiring, water and steam, connecting to the McGinley Center among other campus locations.

Valera also noted that he and the rest of facilities management are looking to close the largest holes within the next month as they complete preliminary stages of the Hughes Hall reconstruction process.

Until that time, car and pedestrian traffic is being rerouted to a single lane between Alpha House Lawn and Edward’s Parade.

PHOTOS BY PATRICK DEROCHER/ THE RAM

Construction equipment that has recently popped up near Hughes Hall is, according to Marc Valera, vice president of facilities management, a temporary setup necessary for rerouting pipes and utilities.

OCTOBER 20, 2010

PAGE 7

Point-Counterpoint: Transition to Gmail

COURTESY OF MY.FORDHAM.EDU

Many students welcome the introduction of the new Gmail system, which can be accessed through Fordham University Portal at My.Fordham.edu, and which replaces the older Mirapoint e-mail system.

Gmail Offers Many New Options and Is Better than the Mirapoint System

By SHEILA SENNETT STAFF WRITER

It seems likely that Fordham students breathed a collective sigh of relief upon learning that Fordham University would be transitioning from the clunky Mirapoint system to Gmail. The switch is a welcome change, as the Mirapoint system was somewhat less than user friendly. The Mirapoint portal seems, aesthetically, to have been created to reflect late-1990s technological sensibilities, and offered poor options for e-mail organization.

Gmail holds several advantages over the Mirapoint system. First, through Gmail, students are provided with nearly 7.5 gigabytes of storage space, which is a storage bonanza in comparison to a measly 512 megabytes provided by Mirapoint. This increase represents a whopping increase of 140 percent. Gmail also provides a vastly improved user interface, in addition to integration with Google Apps.

One feature which offers an improvement over Mirapoint is the fact that Gmail automatically gathers e-mails into conversations as they enter the inbox, taking a bit of the frustration from everyday life by allowing easy reference to the entire thread of an e-mail conversation on one page. With Gmail, students can easily search for necessary e-mails without combing through pages of old messages.

Gmail allows easy labeling of e-mails to, for instance separate e-mails by various classes, in addition to the creation of filters which can be used for similar purposes. Additionally, the spam filters of Gmail are superior to those of Mirapoint, freeing the student from the scourge of overly sensitive filters which relegate important messages to the hinterlands of the spam folder. The advantages of Gmail over the previous Mirapoint system are also evinced by the fact that many students and professors maintain personal e-mail accounts with Gmail, which they used in addition to, and often in preference over, the Mirapoint system.

Google offers numerous opportunities for expansion into user-friendly applications that will expand communication frontiers for students and faculty members alike. On the Fordham IT department’s Web site, a list of frequently asked questions regarding the Gmail transition references these opportunities when it explains that “Fordham University has partnered with Google to provide our students with access to the powerful communication and collaboration services available under Google Apps Education Edition [which]… allows us to provide a desirable e-mail environment for students and will eventually include services that are easily accessible on popular mobile devices.”

At the time of transition, the features available to users are basic e-mail capabilities and Google calendar. However, the full suite of Google’s applications, such as Google Chat and Buzz, are un-

der consideration by the IT department for potential future expansion of Google services. The Google Apps Education Edition offers Google Talk, Calendar, Docs and Sites, all of which aid in the sharing of information and co-ordination of schedules for classes and collaboration on projects.

The transition to Gmail offers tremendous opportunity for technological expansion which will aid in communication between members of the University, all in a completely integrated, userfriendly interface, which stands in sharp contrast to some of Fordham’s previous technological ventures.

The complaints regarding the change from the Gmail system to Mirapoint have been concerned with the transition itself and the relatively minor inconveniences which resulted from the switch.

While these concerns are certainly valid, the switch to Gmail is vastly beneficial to the Fordham student population in the long term. The inconveniences of the transition present inconveniences and irritations lasted a few days, while the benefits of the Gmail system will remain for as long as students continue to use their Fordham e-mail accounts.

Fordham’s handling of the transition was delayed from the initiation of the school year to October, presenting an inconvenience to students and professors, as the switch occurred during the midterm period, when e-mail communications between students and professors are particularly vital. However, the transition itself was surprisingly smooth, as previous e-mail messages were preserved in the migration. Fordham offers tech support for students, in addition to a straightforward online guide to complete the message migration.

One of the most common complaints of students has been the issue of receiving Fordham e-mails through mobile devices, namely Blackberrys and iPhones. The Fordham IT Web page offers a step-by-step guide to synch mobile devices with the new Gmail system, and Fordham IT staff (found both in the IT center and in residence halls) are willing and able to correct the issue for students. In fact, once transitional issues have been remedied, Gmail offers mobile support that is far better than that of Mirapoint.

Many of the inconveniences for students created by the switch can be traced to the fact that many of the students who complain about Gmail problems must be ignoring explanatory e-mails sent by Fordham’s tech department, instead of reading them. This leaves students unaware of the many options available to help them set up their e-mail and their Blackberries, and sadly adrift amidst the tides of shifting e-mail systems.

However, despite transition confusion, Gmail is still far better than the outdated Mirapoint system.

Sheila Sennett, FCRH ’12, is a history major from West Hartford, Conn.

The Transition Was Timed Inconveniently, Plus Gmail Causes Many Problems

By CHRISTOPHER KENNEDY STAFF WRITER

I frequently visit a relative who is married to an engineer. Usually, this relative is upset with her husband over some small issue, but these issues all have a common theme. Engineers, she tells me, cannot communicate at all.

We here at Fordham are stuck in a similar marriage to a department that, while seemingly competent in its core technical functions, does not know how to communicate. I am speaking, of course, about Fordham IT. Most students’ issues with the department include intermittent wireless access and a “ticket” system that is as much of a game of chance as the New York Lottery, which could probably be solved with better communication.

The biggest case in point here, though, is obviously the recent transition to Gmail. While Google’s hallowed e-mail provider is championed by some, the Web sites’ flawed interface coupled with Fordham IT’s protracted transition produced setbacks.

The initial hitch in the transition to Gmail began with the notable lack of information leading up to the change. Students wondered what they could do to make the process easier. Start using Mac Mail or Outlook? Use some other way to archive Mirapoint e-mails in order to move them to Gmail immediately? What about mobile phones?

So many questions, with the only response from IT being that information would be forthcoming around the time of the Gmail release.

The transition to Gmail was problematic for a few reasons. First and foremost, this process is probably the most prominent undertaking of IT in recent memory. While no doubt the department works tirelessly behind the scenes to keep our network up and running, the public “face” of IT is perhaps only best shown when the Tiger Team is active during the beginning of the year.

In this case, IT had the opportunity to publicly demonstrate its conscientiousness, but because of the uncertainty it caused, it missed it.

As universities become more and more dependant on technology, it is likely that their IT departments will be further scrutinized as an essential part of student services. Considering that public relations is an important part of any university department, IT’s inability to communicate deserves to be criticized.

Secondly, aside from the Tiger Team, this was the freshman class’s first experience with IT. If the department wanted to show off its expertise to the freshmen (and their parents) it should have made a better effort to reassure nervous freshmen. Fortunately, I’m a junior and have a decent amount of computer knowledge. I can only imagine being a freshman, having just moved in, and not being familiar with the intricacies of Fordham e-mail. I’d be nervous about everything: Classes, the Bronx, which bars I could get into and then I’m told that

the way I send and receive communication from professors and other University offices will be changing, somehow, at some point.

Just as important as the poor transition to Gmail are several issues with the new e-mail provider itself. The switching process involved several steps and if students used PCs the only option to move mail over involved the use of Microsoft Outlook. Outlook is expensive, sold online for $120. The only other choice was to use a public computer, which during midterms week seemed unnecessarily tricky. IT could have made the change easier by providing some e-mail client for students to use.

Gmail also provides students an unfamiliar interface, lacking the user-friendly aspects that Fordham students became accustomed to with Mirapoint. If someone answers an e-mail sent long before the original message, the reply goes into the original “thread” even if it is far down in the inbox. Unless students actively seek out unread messages, e-mails can be very tricky to find.

Additionally, Gmail does not provide support for its use on Blackberry devices. Anyone can tell just by walking around this campus just how many people are addicted to their “crackberries.”

To pick an e-mail provider that does not work well with one of the most popular mobile devices on this campus does not make much sense.

Further, Mirapoint provided several features that Gmail does not, most notably delivery and read receipts. When e-mailing papers to professors, that feature was incredibly reassuring.

Not only that, but the documentation that was finally released last Tuesday had several errors and in general, was not very clear. This was in addition to confusion regarding how to access Mirapoint after the transition. It would have been nice to receive a “correction” e-mail from IT (since by that time, at least new messages seemed to be arriving reliably) informing us that, for example, the incoming server for old messages was “oldmail.fordham.edu.” However, students were left to discover this information on their own, which placed the burden on student employees or those technical enough to understand the documentation.

It is clear that, in the face of such a large change to the technological side of the University, IT could have planned and communicated better.

Additionally, Gmail has several disadvantages that were not properly communicated. Because of this, students were (and in some cases are) unnecessarily stressed, confused and annoyed at a department so integral to the University’s success.

Christopher Kennedy, FCRH ’12, is a theology major from Mystic, Conn.

Staff Poll: When The Ram was polled, 10 staff members thought the Gmail was good; 4 staff members did not. One member was indifferent.

PAGE 8 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 20, 2010

ADVERTISING

LOOKING FOR BANDS TO PERFORM For You Lasagna Lovers --We got it. Grandma-style. - Limited Time - Special only $4.99

Alessandra and Jeff “The A Team”

Chelsea and Chris “Without the art of adaptation, life will forever be a struggle.”

-From my dad, Sergio

Joshua Correa: “Let’s Go Yankees!”

Erik Angamarca: “Pugsley is Great!”

Nadia Seeteram and : “We adore Pugsley’s pizza.”

Amanda Fernandez

Amelia and Lisa “Friends + Pizza = Love and Happiness”

590 E. 191st Steet • Fast Delivery ($5 Minimum) • (718) 365-0327 • www.pugsleypizza.com Mon. — Sat. 11 a.m. - 3 a.m. • Sun. — 2 p.m. - 3 a.m.

ADVERTISING

OCTOBER 20, 2010 • THE RAM • PAGE 9

For More Ram Stories, Polls and Features ...

Visit www.theramonline.com Register for our RSS feed, view the print version in PDF format and surf online-only content THE TONY AWARD®-WINNING COMEDY THRILLER!

THE ONLY THING MORE

IMPRESSIVE GRADUATES. THAN OUR STATS ARE OUR

At Quinnipiac University, our students are our main focus.

It’s why we offer 23 graduate degrees in fields ranging from business to health sciences. It’s also why Quinnipiac was ranked a top 10 northern regional university offering a full range of masters-level programs by U.S. News & World Report and second in the northern region in U.S. News’ Up-and-Coming Schools category.

Ees! L B A Y m NJO rk Ti

’ ORS EDITICK P

Ee New Yo Y L D h R T “ABSBUrantley, n -Be Get student tickets to

THE 39 STEPS

PHOTOS BY KEN BROWAR

$

”

26

*

50

for just:

Just bring your student ID to the New World Stages box office. Same day tix only. Limit 2 tix per person. CASH ONLY.

“INGENIOUS! A DIZZY DELIGHT!” 340 West 50th Street

(between 8th and 9th Aves.).

Communications Interactive Communications (on campus and online) Journalism Public Relations Education Elementary Secondary Educational Leadership Teacher Leadership (online) Health Sciences Biomedical Sciences Cardiovascular Perfusion Nursing Occupational Therapy (post-professional) (online) Pathologists’ Assistant Physician Assistant Radiologist Assistant

Arts & Sciences Molecular & Cell Biology Business Information Technology (online) MBA (on campus and online) MBA-CFA® Track (Chartered Financial Analyst) MBA/HCM (Health Care Management) MBA-SCM (Supply Chain Management) MBA/JD (Joint degree in business and law) Organizational Leadership (online)

Law

To find out how Quinnipiac can help you succeed in your career, call 1-800-462-1944, e-mail graduate@quinnipiac.edu or visit www.quinnipiac.edu/gradstudies.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: Mon, Wed-Sat 8; Wed, Sat & Sun 3 For tickets or more info, visit: 39StepsNY.com *Some restrictions apply. Offer may be revoked or modified at any time without notice.

1-800-462-1944 | Hamden & North Haven, Connecticut

OPINIONS

PAGE 10 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 20, 2010

The Ram Serving campus and community since 1918.

The Ram is the University journal of record. The mission of The Ram is to provide a forum for the free and open exchange of ideas in service to the community and to act as a student advocate.

The Ram is published and distributed free of charge every Wednesday during the academic year to the Rose Hill, Lincoln Center and Westchester campuses with a readership of 12,000. The Ram office is located in the basement of the McGinley Center, room B-52.

www.theramonline.com Editorial: (718) 817-0873 Production: (718) 817-4381 Newsroom: (718) 817-4394 Advertising: (718) 817-4379 Fax: (718) 817-4319 theram@fordham.edu Fordham University - Station 37 Box B Bronx, NY 10458 Editor-in-Chief Mark Becker Managing Editor Abigail Forget Design Editor Stephen Moccia Business Editor Caroline Dahlgren News Editor Patrick Derocher Assistant News Editor Victoria Rau Opinions Editor Christine Barcellona Assistant Opinions Editor Brian Kraker Culture Editor Celeste Kmiotek Assistant Culture Editor Jen Cacchioli Sports Editors Danny Atkinson Nick Carroll Assistant Sports Editor Jon Smith Copy Chief Claire Borders Copy Team Mary Alcaro Tara Canon Tom Haskin Julia McCane Sean McGonigle Sandy McKenzie Olivia Monaco Jenna Petranglo Sarah Ramirez Hussein Safa Veronica Torok Ryan Vale Photo Editor Simon Sulit Operations and Outreach Mike Burkart Web Editor Kelly Caggiano Assistant Web Editors Tracy Fan Ou Cara Stellato Faculty Advisor Beth Knobel

Opinions Policy The Ram appreciates submissions that are typed and saved on a disk in a *.rtf, *.txt or *.doc formats, or sent to the staff via e-mail at RamLetters@fordham.edu. Commentaries are printed on a space available basis. The Ram reserves the right to reject any submission for any reason, without notice. Submissions become the exclusive property of The Ram and will not be returned. The Ram reserves the right to edit any submissions. The opinions in The Ram’s editorials are those of the editorial board; those expressed in articles, letters, commentaries, cartoons or graphics are those of the individual author. No part of The Ram may be reproduced without written consent.

From the Desk of Sean McGonigle, Copy Editor I sat in the front row of the student section at the men’s basketball game against Richmond on Feb. 25, 2009. There was no reason to stand. The rest of the Sixth Man Club had luxury box seats at a Nets game, and I was one of only a handful of students in the Rose Hill Gym to witness our team fall to the Spiders by 10, the final score hiding the fact that we were out of the game long before the buzzer, as three Rams fouled out and we trailed by as many as 16.

Sitting there, watching our thenstar point guard hurl himself over the scorer’s table to chase down a loose ball, I wondered what had happened to our men’s basketball program. While I was a senior in high school, the Rams were 1812 and Atlantic 10 semifinalists; though some would even argue that we should have been finalists were it not from some shoddy officiating. Just two years later, the team was 3-22 and 1-12 in conference. As a sports fan, I know that fortunes can change at the drop of a hat, but falling off 15 wins in two years is ridiculous.

The Richmond game during my sophomore year was completely different from my experience with the basketball team as a freshman.

All I kept hearing during the fall freshman year was “Wait for Dunston, Stout and co. to start playing!

You have to see Sebastian Greene dunk! We may be a dark horse for A-10 Champs!” While the season did not quite materialize that way, the student enthusiasm was still there for most of the year. Games were generally well attended, and Senior Day for that crop of players was packed and exciting, as we clinched a berth in the A-10 tournament.

As the losses started to pile up, the next year the gym emptied out.

The team followed up that 3-25 campaign with last year’s forgettable 2-26 record, with a big 0-16 in conference. While I was “fortunate” enough to see 23 wins so far in my three years here, the current junior class has witnessed a grand total of five, with one conference victory. Were we to throw in the record from the Lady Rams during that time, the basketball record during the current student’s tenure would still be abysmal by any standards.

That all changed Friday night.

I have admittedly been excited about the Pecora hiring from the moment I read about it, and to see the reasons why, just read my side of the “Point-Counterpoint” from Issue 9 of Volume 92.

Despite that enthusiasm, I was not expecting what I saw on Friday night. I walked up to the Rose Hill Gym at 8:45, expecting to be

near the front of the line to enter Ram Town. To my surprise, the line went down to the basement of McGinley and I had to head down in front of the post office to get on line, forfeiting my opportunity to get a free T-shirt, but I was more than willing to forego that to see the mass of students at the event.

The athletics Web site claims that more than 1,000 students and fans showed up to kick off the basketball season with a bang. Whatever the number ended up being, it was a breath of fresh air for a program that desperately needed it.

For one night, the 5-51 record over the past two years did not exist. As music was blasting and the men’s and women’s teams went through drills, students were having a blast dancing, competing for prizes and enjoying free food courtesy of several establishments on Arthur Avenue.

Friends of mine who have been to Midnight Madness programs at other schools have said that they can be boring, unless you were at Duke or UConn this year and got to see a championship banner. Maybe it’s because this was my first taste of something like this, but I couldn’t disagree more. I hadn’t seen this much excitement at a basketball event since that Senior Day my freshman year, when we thanked Dunston, Stout, Greene and the

rest of that class for the excitement they generated at Rose Hill.

While this will not automatically translate to wins and does not guarantee an immediate end to the futility we’ve witnessed the past few years, the athletics department did a fantastic job of providing the basketball culture on campus with a shot in the arm.

Freshmen, who know nothing about our program, see the team as exciting and young. For sophomores and juniors, an event like this gives them hope that this program can string some wins together before graduation. For seniors, who likely will not see the benefits of this program as students, we got a refresher of what those early games were like during our freshman year, as well as a positive memory of the basketball program before we graduate. Overall, this is hopefully a good sign of things to come for Fordham basketball, and I hope we hold more events like this down the road.

Gabelli Lends Name and Inspiration

PHOTO BY CAROLINE DAHLGREN/THE RAM

Bryan Matis, GSB ’ 12, broke into the walls of Hughes Hall, the future headquarters for the new Gabelli School of Business.

By MATTHEW ARTH STAFF WRITER

Wharton, Sloan, Stern and Gabelli. All right, maybe we are not quite there yet, but you have to admit that, unlike an acronym, a name gives Fordham’s school of business an identity and evokes a certain feeling that, as every good brand name should, helps the education in question to stand out from its competition. As any student of marketing could tell you, brands are able to accomplish this very capitalist feat because by their very nature, they connote meaning. The question here is for what, exactly, does the Gabelli name (and the $25 million donation behind it) stand?

An article in the Wall Street Journal made mention of the fact that the generous donation

by Mario Gabelli, GSB ’65, was the largest gift in the University’s 169-year history. $25 million is quite a bit of money, and in a year when charitable giving is still well down compared to the last 20 years, this is no small achievement.

It would not be a business school if we did not begin with a competitive analysis, so I did some research into a few of the relatively recent donations that resulted in the renaming of various colleges. In 1988, our neighbors downtown at NYU’s college of business were renamed after a donation of $30 million

by Leonard Stern.

In the spirit of friendly competition with some of our fellow Jesuit institutions, I found that Boston College’s own CBA became the Carroll School of Management in 1989 after a

donation of $10 million, and Georgetown was renamed for Robert McDonough following his gift of $30 million in 1998.

Gabelli’s donation certainly falls within that range (although to placate those economics majors out there, it is worth pointing out that, adjusted for inflation, the totals come out to approximately $55.3, $17.6 and $40.2 million, respectively). Northwestern’s Kellogg, Notre Dame’s Mendoza and several others followed suite with strikingly similar amounts throughout the years.

Put in perspective by the donations received by these other universities, $25 million undoubtedly seems high compared to some and low compared to others. Perhaps what is most important to take away from all of this is not a simple dollar fig-

ure, but what the Gabelli donation in essence stands for.

Gabelli is an alumnus who was born in the Bronx into difficult circumstances, who through hard work and determination earned a scholarship to Fordham.After graduating, he applied the fundamentals that his Jesuit education had endowed him with to ultimately found his own company and become a self-made billionaire.

What Fordham student does not dream of starting a career and one day contributing back to the alma mater that made him or her who he or she is?

Gabelli’s donation and the subsequent renaming of the college of business is a recognition of Fordham’s ability to craft such outstanding individuals.

Business schools are ranked on a number of factors, from campus location and extracurricular opportunities to the quality of faculty and facilities. In the end, however, a school’s legacy is defined by its alumni, and it is the legacy of alumni like Gabelli that demonstrate Fordham’s increasing prestige.

In physical terms, the donation will mean increases in student scholarships, more endowed faculty chairs and a new central location for the Gabelli School of Business in a renovated Hughes Hall. However, the true benefit of Gabelli’s gift will be in the emblematic identity fostered by the Gabelli name and all that it stands for and the Fordham men and women who will be inspired to build on that meaning and achieve great things.

Matthew Arth, GSB ’11, is a marketing major and economics minor from Southlake, Texas.

OPINIONS

Reputation May Affect Science, Business More

By CHRISTINE BARCELLONA OPINIONS EDITOR

Fordham’s decision to beef up its business school sounds sensible in light of a recent Wall Street Journal survey, which reported that those who majored in pre-professional fields like business or engineering saw that the name recognition of their university was very important in terms of future job placement.

Meanwhile, those who pursued liberal arts majors felt that university name recognition was less important in making connections and establishing a career in their area of interest.

The survey asked graduates from the last 10 years to indicate the importance of their university’s reputation and connections when it came to finding a job. People in the field of environmental engineering ranked college reputation as most important; 59 percent of them said that their schools’ “reputation and connections” were either “important” or “very important” to their current job placement. Fortyseven percent of accounting majors responded the same, as did 37 percent of business majors. According to Collegeboard.com, Fordham’s most popular major is business/ marketing, followed by a string of liberal arts majors.

Students majoring in communications, psychology, English and history, which Collegeboard.com rank as Fordham’s second-throughfifth most popular majors, may have to worry less about the University’s reputation, assuming that the survey does not suggest that history majors simply did not find jobs, no matter where they went to school. Liberal arts majors sank to the bottom of the list; 35 percent of English majors, 32 percent of communications majors, 32 percent of psychology majors and 29 percent of history majors reported that their school’s reputation was important or very important to their job placement.

This is encouraging for Fordham College at Rose Hill students.

Fordham lacks the name recognition of Ivy League schools, but that may not affect liberal arts students as much. Fordham is a well known school regionally, especially in New York City, where many business-related jobs exist. However, business students who want to seek employment beyond the tri-state area should be jumping for joy at Fordham’s commitment to improving the program in scope and prestige.

At the State of the University Address last week, Rev. Joseph M.

McShane, S.J., president of the University, reported that Fordham’s regional diversity has improved recently, with only 19 percent of students coming from New York City, and with California ranking fourth as a feeder state.

As Fordham reaches out regionally, it draws students from across the country, and while some of those students choose to stay in the area after graduation, others return to their home states, where Fordham’s renown or lack of renown may make a difference in terms of job placement.

By increasing the prestige of the Gabelli School of Business, Fordham may help these students as they leave school and search for jobs. In the same vein, Fordham’s commitment to becoming a more regionally diverse school increases the University’s name recognition, as people from students’ hometowns begin to hear about the school.

This underscores the importance of Fordham’s mission to increase regional diversity and improve the business program.

Several other goals that McShane mentioned at the State of the University Address dovetail with The Wall Street Journal survey’s findings. The Hughes Hall renovation project will put a greater emphasis on the Gabelli School of Business, which should help its reputation.

Also, the science laboratories around campus will receive muchneeded attention and renovation, which hopefully will begin a cycle of increased University prestige. This should help draw committed science students who may have been scared off by the poor conditions of some of the University’s older labs, like those on the first floor of Freeman Hall. Drawing even more talented science students should help increase Fordham’s name recognition, which may in turn help Fordham’s science-focused graduates in their work or studies after Fordham.

Fordham’s continued rise in the U.S. News and World Report rankings will also help achieve a better reputation for the University. They are an indication that Fordham’s quest to become a larger player on the national stage has seen success so far and that it may continue if the University improves. This is great news for the entire University and perhaps even more so for business and engineering students.

Christine Barcellona, FCRH ’12, is an English major from Dallas, Texas.

She can be reached at cbarcellona@ fordham.edu.

Issue of the Week:

Christine O’Donnell A Look at the World Outside of Fordham from the Perspective of Professional News Bloggers

See what commentators from the Left and the Right have to say about Christine O’Donnell

OCTOBER 20, 2010 • THE RAM • PAGE 11

Blocking P2P Software

SCREENSHOT OF ACQUISITIONX.COM

Fordham enforces copyright law and prohibits illegal file sharing, and condemns the usage of P2P sites like Acquisition.

The Fordham Office of Legal Counsel recently sent the Fordham community an e-mail regarding copyright infringement; the message reiterated that the University forbids illegal downloading. After last winter break, various students have reported not being able to connect to P2P networks like Bittorrent or Gnutella.

Are these networks being banned by Fordham? More importantly, should they be?

Fordham’s official statement is that “the University does not, at this time, prohibit and does not block the use of peer-to-peer applications on any part of its network or the IT resources. The University understands that there are legitimate academic uses for such applications.” However, the statement emphasizes the security issues associated with these networks and how copyright infringement does violate the law and the user agreement that must be accepted to access the Fordham network.

A problem with this issue is that neither side is directly arguing for its primary intentions. The security issue, while still a relevant risk, is largely seen as a crutch for anti-P2P actions.

To defend against harmful viruses is protecting the user; to block access to a wealth of information and data is censorship.

On the other side, while many P2P networks share legal authorized data, they are used primarily to share illegal copies of films, TV shows, games and music. Every torrent of the top 100 downloads on thePirateBay.org, a popular torrent host, is an illegal copy of copyrighted material, from Medal of Honor to “Boardwalk Empire.” Surprisingly, the torrents of television shows and films in the top 100 outnumber pirated music 77 to

eight.

Torrent hosting sites, like Napster, liken their service to a VCR, where although it is possible to copy copyrighted material, it is never done or advertised by the creators of the service. The VCR escaped its legal hounding because VCRs have a legitimate usage beyond recording TV shows, even if they were not popularly used in that way. However, torrent sites, in the pretext of fighting censorship, have hosted, highlighted and linked to a variety of illegal torrents.

This defense did not work for Napster and it does not have much mileage with P2P networks either. So, if we assume that Fordham network users would access these networks to download illegal copies of media, what damage would that cause and could infringed parties sue the University?

According to the Recording Industry Association of America, music piracy costs “$12.5 billion of economic losses every year, 71,060 U.S. jobs lost, a loss of $2.7 billion in workers’ earnings and a loss of $422 million in tax revenues, $291 million in personal income tax and $131 million in corporate income and production taxes.”

The Institute for Policy Innovation group that created this report also reported that film piracy (whose torrents more than quadrupled the number of the music torents on thepiratebay.org top 100) cost, “$5.5 billion in lost annual earnings among U.S workers, $141,030 jobs lost, $837 million in lost annual tax revenue and $20.5 billion in lost annual output to all U.S. industries.”

So, it is safe to say that piracy does cause a negative effect on the overall industry, despite giving new artists a way for fans to sample their music and allowing more people greater

access to music in ways previously unthinkable.

As far as legal liability, enforcing this massive infringement of copyright law is very difficult for groups like the RIAA to do successfully.

Instead they have filed a number of high-profile lawsuits against users and torrent hosts in hope of scaring other users into not downloading regularly.

For example, in May of 2007, the RIAA requested that five major colleges turn in their own students who were caught illegally downloading copyrighted material. The University of Wisconsin refused, as did the University of Nebraska, but Nebraska charged $11 to deliver their letters of complaint, which threatened legal action against students unless they settled with the organization.

What would Fordham do in this situation? Our campus does not even let students demonstrate on campus without two weeks’ notice and layers of red tape approvals; can students count on it to protect their free speech?

In the end of the debate, the Fordham network is the responsibility and property of Fordham University.

Whether or not it is blocking P2P connections is within its rights as the owner and manager of the network.

I believe that Fordham should remain true to its stated policy of not blocking the signals, but remind students that they, not the Univeristy are 100 percent responsible for any illegal activity. With this in mind, I believe it is not worth the risk of legal action to illegally download on the Fordham network, but once in a blue moon, I would like to legally download an open source program or off-label band. I might even use my VCR. Kevin Guhin, FCRH ’12, is an English major from West Chester, Pa.

Cliff Schecter, The Huffington Post

Aaron Gardner, Redstate

James Freeman Clarke, preacher and author

“The bar has been raised among this year’s crop of weirdos and wackadoos seeking higher office [...] If you don’t have the Second Amendment tattooed on your buttocks or actually think you’re ‘The Walrus,’ don’t even try and claim to be among the craziest third of aspiring politicos.”

“She has largely been on her own, still fighting the smears on the left and the potshots from the right.

A new Rasmussnen poll shows Coons at 51 percent and O’Donnell at 40 percent. If the Delaware GOP had held just one event for O’Donnell since the primary could this race be closer?”

“A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation.”

By KEVIN GUHIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

–COMPILED BY BRIAN KRAKER

Follow The Ram at twitter.com/ thefordhamram.

PAGE 12 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 20, 2010

OPINIONS

Ram Town Promotes Freebies, Not Basketball

PHOTO BY NORA MALLOZZI/THE RAM

Attendees of Ram Town showed school spirit, though some students are not thrilled about school-funded pep rallies.

By BRIAN KRAKER ASSISTANT OPINIONS EDITOR

Fordham basketball is becoming the New York Yankees. The evil empire allots gratuitous contracts to maintain a star-stacked lineup; Fordham lured Head Coach Tom Pecora with a lucrative deal. The Bronx Bombers charge a small fortune for a replica jersey; Fordham students apply for additional student loans to drape themselves in Ram attire from

the bookstore. While the “house that McShane built” may not be on the horizon, Fordham is rebuilding the men’s basketball program one dollar at a time.

The monetary philosophy was on display with the athletic department’s most recent event, Ram Town. A ruckus pep rally held in the Rose Hill Gym, Fordham basketball seduced unsuspecting students with the promise of flatscreen televisions, iPod nanos and a trip to Las Vegas.

Fans were randomly selected to participate in basketball-related events, including free throws for the Sin City vacation and a dress-and-dribble race for the TV. Ram Town garnered attention for the thousands of dollars in free prizes, not the basketball program.

Midnight Madness is a traditional event for most colleges to host, creating excitement for the new season, but the Fordham basketball team was lost in the chaos surrounding a

free flatscreen. The basketball team is starting a rebuilding year that holds a promising foundation on which a winning program can be built, but the athletic department focused the student body’s attention on one single factor: money. This bribery can fill a gymnasium for a single pep rally, but Fordham cannot continue to channel its inner Oprah, providing fans with lavish gifts each night.

Extravagant giveaways such as Ram Town are Busch-league ploys to fill seats. While minor league clubs have become synonymous with eccentric gimmicks to entice fans, Fordham should not follow suit.

Promotions including Bob Barker Bobblehead Night and Worst Sweater Night may fill seats, but the clubs also lose credibility as legitimate organizations. Turning the Rose Hill Gym into a “Price is Right” knockoff does not translate into a fan base, but simply reinforces the old collegiate adage: college students will do anything for free stuff. Unless the athletic department plans to refurnish an entire Walsh apartment, these gimmicks will not fill the stands for the long run.

Pecora deserves praise for trying to raise interest, because he is combating the most difficult type of fans: apathetic ones. Most students would prefer to play beer pong rather than watch a Fordham basketball game.

Sunday Mass may even declare it a miracle if a Fordham student ventured to an away game. The basketball program desperately needs to attract a stable fan base, but free televisions and getaways are not the way to bring them in.

There is only one way to fill the stands on a consistent basis: winning. It is easier said than done, but no single night of propaganda and free T-shirts will convert students to “Ram fans.” Rather, the athletics department needs to transform the basketball team from a last-place lock to a front-runner. Take, for example, Rutgers Univeristy football, a perennial loser that made the Detroit Lions look like Super Bowl contenders. After the hiring of Coach Greg Schiano in 2000, Rutgers recruited future Pro Bowl running back Ray Rice and appeared in five straight bowl games.

Fordham has taken a step in the right direction. Pecora has a successful track record and the potential to attract talent in the recruiting circuit, but if Fordham continues to treat the basketball team as the loveable loser it is, that is all it will remain. Fordham basketball has the opportunity to build a fan base and a reputation as a winning team, but overshadowing a young team with a free Vegas vacation is doing the players and fans no favors.

Ram Town was ultimately a wasted attempt at creating a fan base that the basketball team desperately needs. Transforming the gym into a Best Buy with flatscreens and iPods is only distancing students from the team. However, if the basketball program is so intent on bribing others for success, maybe they should consider keeping a few dollars for the refs.

Brian Kraker, FCRH ’12, is an English and computer science major from Pompton Lakes, N.J. He can be reached at kraker@fordham.edu.

Celebrity Altruists Should Focus on Sudan

By ERIC HORVATH CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Google “Mr. Clooney, I presume” and click on the first link that comes up. The search suggests a potentially juicy indictment of Clooney’s celebrity but instead directs you toward a nonprofit news organization, Mother Jones, that “specializes in investigative, political and social justice reporting,” with a dash of sardonic commentary on celebrity altruism.

The link leads to an interactive political map of Africa. The countries, which celebrities have visited, spoken about, donated to or adopted children from, display pictures of the stars involved there (apparently Danny Glover shot a movie in Mali). The Web site, with its litany of acts of celebrity altruism in Africa, points out the commoditization of intentions with odes to Paris Hilton (“I know Rwanda went through a lot of traumatic experiences, and I feel like if I go there, I can help save some people’s lives.” Instead, she visits South Africa in 2008, where she gushes, “I love Africa in general, South Africa and West Africa, they are both great countries.”) and a section labeled “Ego Trips” that aggregates bland and unenlightened sound bites from celebrities from Bono to Mischa Barton, confessing ultimately the same thing: the trip to Africa “changed my life.”

Clooney, despite the irreverent

Google search terms, escapes the playful scrutiny of the editors at Mother Jones perhaps because of his consistent humanitarian activism. Previously involved in relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti, Clooney has currently refocused his energy on Sudan, Africa’s largest country that may be on the brink of Civil War, again.

For over a century, the people of Sudan have been under duress.

From the beginning of the 20th century, while under British control, the country was split into two regions: North and South, with isolationist policy being forced on the South. The British severed economic ties between the two regions and pushed Christian missionaries on the African tribesmen in the South.

The North, home to the country’s capital Khartoum, is predominately comprised of Arab Muslims. The British army’s hopes of controlling and developing the underdeveloped southern region of Sudan laid the divisive seeds for civil war upon reintegration.

On Jan. 1, 1956, Sudan was awarded its independence from the United Kingdom. It then embarked on 50 years of civil war, with the exception of a 10year hiatus in the 1970s. Deeply malicious racism and religious clashes have subordinated the “black Africans” of southern Sudan to the governing Arabs of the North. An estimated two million Sudanese were killed and four

million have been displaced; the entire state of West Virginia (and 13 other states) has less than two million residents.

The Sudanese Civil War stopped with the signing of a peace agreement in 2005, which stipulated that the North and South would have six years to try to find an agreeable coexistence.

If the two sides cannot come to an accord, the South will be given the option to secede from Sudan and become an independent state. The six years are up and the referendum for an independent South is this January. The South will vote to secede, provided that President Omar al-Bashir allows it, after decades of persecution and murder at the hands of the North. Unfortunately, the oil fields of southern Sudan will create a black hole of revenue for the North and potentially lead to resuming the nation’s recurring civil war.

Corrupt politics, oil disputes and even civil war in a discussion about Africa will turn very few Western heads. It takes a triggering, devastating and underused label to excite interest in the perpetually beleaguered continent: genocide. The conflict in Darfur, largely separate from the North-South conflict (a primary difference is that the conflict in Darfur is not fueled by strict religious divisions because those fighting are all Muslim), garnered unmatched global attention because of the contentious debate

PHOTO COURTESY OF MOTHER JONES

Mother Jones focuses on celebrity altruism and critiques the efficacy of their work in certain regions of Africa.

over whether or not it should be labeled “genocide.” The effort by the U.N. and other international committees spent defining and testing what the conflict in Sudan should be called ought to have been utilized to fix the problem, not name it. While international awareness was raised, the role of policy makers and major aid organizations would have best been served in action rather than residual publicity.

The looming vote for secession does not connote the same

emotions as “genocide” which might allow it to fly under the international radar. That’s where Clooney and his colleagues come in. Like Mother Jones, I am suspicious of celebrity altruism, but if Paris Hilton can get the world to tune into Sudan this winter and let the U.N. and aid organizations take action, she can go to whatever country she wants, even “West Africa.”

Eric Horvath, FCRH ’11, is an English and economics major from Sayville, N.Y.

ADVERTISING

OCTOBER 20, 2010 • THE RAM • PAGE 13

Cram even faster.

AT&T. The nation’s fastest mobile broadband network.

SAMSUNG CAPTIVATE™ Access to tens of thousands of apps from Android Market™ Innovative entertainment and social networking features

FREE SHIPPING

|

16% STUDENT DISCOUNT

1 . 8 6 6 . M O B I L I T Y – AT T.C O M / N Y N J – V I S I T A S T O R E Bring your student ID to an AT&T store and mention FAN #3094832 for a 16% monthly discount on qualified charges.

Mobile broadband and other services not available in all areas. See coverage map at stores for details. Monthly discount: Service discount applies only to the monthly service charge of qualified plans and not to any other charges. Available only to qualified students and employees of colleges/universities with a qualified business agreement. Other service discount qualification requirements may apply. Restrictions, other terms, and conditions apply. See store for details. Screen images simulated. ©2010 AT&T Intellectual Property. Service provided by AT&T Mobility. All rights reserved. AT&T and the AT&T logo are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

PAGE 14 • THE RAM • OCTOBER20, 2010

ADVERTISING

For More Ram Stories, Polls and Features ...

Visit www.theramonline.com Register for our RSS feed, view the print version in PDF format and surf online-only content

FORDHAM Little Italy Gardens NEWLY CONSTRUCTED BUILDINGS LOCATED ON BELMONT, HUGHES, AND HOFFMAN ST. ALL JUST ONE (1) BLOCK OFF FORDHAM ROAD

AA at Rose Hill:Get sober, Stay sober. Thurs 1-2 pm starting 9/16, Spellman Hall, lower entrance.

For info please call Gerard at x5392.

BRAND NEW 1 &2 BR APARTMENTS SPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR FORDHAM STUDENTS

IMMEDIATE AND FUTURE OCCUPANCY AVAILABLE! Amenities include: air conditioning, video intercom, dishwasher, microwave oven, and laundry facility on premises.

(718) 364-5700 Main Office (347) 330-9190 Andrew

NO FEE!!!

WWW. FORDHAMHOUSING.COM

OCTOBER 20, 2010

PAGE 15

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Delights Audiences

By GERARD FRISCIA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee certainly lived up to the buzz this fall. The set and costumes act to transport the audience in time, bringing it back to grade school and the many different situations and people that they came across. From the typical, kindhearted and funny grade-school teacher (played by Katie Redmond, GSB ’11) to the interesting and stereotypical nerd (played by Mike Dahlgren, FCRH ’14), the musical certainly was entertaining.

The Mimes and Mummers were responsible for putting on the production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The stage at Collins Auditorium was flanked by a small orchestra and a typical creative background set of a grade school, complete with studentmade posters promoting certain clubs (“Join the Math Club and B^2”).

The play was audience-interactive, inviting some members of the audience up on stage to participate in the competition. With this interaction came an excellent energy from the viewers as the many hilarious songs and lines were sung and dictated. The play provided not just a show but also an experience.

Dahlgren managed to transform himself into a snickering, awkward and outright comical adaptation of an over-achiever and brilliant geek.

With his magical foot movements

and overwhelming confidence in his intellect, Dahlgren certainly contributed positively to the overall essence of the play.

David Cavanaugh’s, FCRH ’11, portrayal of Chip added the extra edge and humor needed to keep the play on the fence of outrageous and civil. His embarrassing song regarding an erection clearly showed his progression throughout the play. From caring about what others think to accepting himself for who he really is, Chip changes before the audience.

The costumes (designed by Megan Powers, FCRH ’13) of the actors in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, capture each and every character perfectly.

From Douglas Panch’s (Bobby Dallas, GSB ’14) suit and tie to Leaf Coneybear’s (Tyler Perry, FCRH ’14) striped shirt and cape, each outfit speaks for itself. Caitlin Nosal, FCRH ’13, playing Olive Ostrovsky, Redmond FCRH ’11, and Chris Ingrao, GSB ’13, as Mitch Mahoney filled every inch of the large auditorium with their voices during their emphatic trio.

The river of emotion that came out of the trying parent-child relationship allowed the play to reach a new level of sentiment. For $5 with student ID and $10 without, this play certainly packed a powerful bang for your buck.

It goes to show you that you do not have to travel to Manhattan to experience a professional level of entertainment.

PHOTO COURESY OF WIKIPEDIA

The Mimes and Mummers successfully pulled off this popular and interactive show last weekend in Collins Auditorium.

The Social Network Explores the Background of Facebook

Whether Fiction or Fact, This Representation of Zuckerberg Offers a New Perspective on the Facebook Phenomenon

BY ABIGAIL FORGET MANAGING EDITOR

KAREN T. BORCHERS/MCTBW

The Social Network is a fascinating depiction of Mark Zuckerberg.

In an ironic twist of fate, interview-dodging-camera-shy-Facebook-co-founder Mark Zuckerberg just had a blockbuster tell-all movie made about him, and it is excellent.

The 26-year-old Harvard dropout’s scandalous story was brought to the big screen at the beginning of the month by acclaimed “West Wing” screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who explained in an October interview with W magazine that he was on board after reading only three pages of a Facebook book proposal.

(Sorkin’s film was based on nonfiction work, called The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich.)

The film opens with a breakup between Zuckerberg, played by Jesse Eisenberg (Solitary Man) and his girlfriend Erica Albright, (Rooney Mara, A Nightmare on Elm Street), which leads Zuckerberg to angrily – and drunkenly – blog about Albright and create an online program, FashMash, to rate girls at Harvard based on their hotness.

Zuckerberg’s program is an overnight sensation, catching the attention of two fellow Harvard students, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who come to him with their idea for “Harvard Connection,” a social networking site exclusive to those with a Harvard.edu e-mail address.

Zuckerberg agrees to aid the twins

with their project but instead secretly concocts coding for his own site, now known as Facebook. Sorkin brilliantly weaves together the remainder of Zuckerberg’s biography with the two major lawsuits he encounters on his journey to becoming the world’s youngest billionaire in a series of flashbacks.

After seeing the movie, I can understand why Zuckerberg recently donated $100 million to the Newark school system – that is no coincidence. The Social Network makes the Facebook CEO look pretty sleazy.

Although the plot was obviously dramatized for Hollywood, a large portion of the film is indeed quite factual, according to Sorkin, who told the press he only intended to tell the true story. Regardless of whether some of the specific scenes were accurately depicted, the litigation was real; Zuckerberg was not the nicest and most honest on his way to the top.

Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield, Lions for Lambs), co-founder of Facebook and Zuckerberg’s former roommate was completely cheated and reduced to nothing in the company, despite the fact that he had been with Zuckerberg from the start and had supplied the startup money for the Web site.

In The Social Network, Saverin is the character to sympathize with, especially as he storms off seething after discovering that his share

in Facebook was suddenly microscopic.

However, the real-life Saverin seems to have a positive look on Sorkin’s latest project. Last Friday, the co-founder produced a guest blog entry for CNBC and wrote that watching the Hollywood version of his college life was humbling and entertaining.

“I hope that this film inspires countless others to create and take that leap to start a new business,” Saverin said. “With a little luck, you might even change the world.”

Saverin’s ex-best friend Zuckerberg told Barbara Walters in a rare interview that he will not be seeing the movie and has told other news outlets that the film is “purely fictional.”

Fact or fiction aside, The Social Network is an intriguing glance into a social medium that one in 10 people in the world use, almost every student at Fordham uses daily and I am sure cannot imagine living without. After briefly wrestling with the thought of how much of Facebook’s birth really did happen in this way and how much was exaggerated, I was able to set that aside and marvel in the genius that is Zuckerberg.

Regardless of the way things went down, a college sophomore was able to invent in his dorm something that over 500 million people now use. That is truly amazing.

CULTURE

PAGE 16 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 20, 2010

That’s So Po MARY PORPORA

Dining Out: Waverly Restaurant Unassuming, This Restaurant Solves Any Cravings

Week 5: Wisdom Teeth Removal

By STEPHEN MOCCIA I usually enjoy Columbus Day weekend. It serves as a nice break between summer and Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, I was denied my fall treat this year due to the extraction of all four of my wisdom teeth.

At 20, I feel as though I am on the older side when it comes to getting my wisdom teeth removed. Most of my friends had theirs removed in high school, which I definitely would have preferred. More than likely, I would have had to miss at least one day of school to have the procedure done. Since my schedule is more open in college, I had to take the responsible route and schedule my wisdom teeth removal so that I would still be able to attend my 8:30 a.m. class that Friday morning. Thankfully I had those 75 minutes to nervously anticipate the oral surgeon violently ripping four teeth out of my head.

While I arrived promptly, it seemed as though my oral surgeon was held up for about 20 minutes loudly talking to a patient in the next room about practically everything except oral hygiene. As thrilling as their conversation about college, cats and family issues were, I was anxious to start my operation.

Right as I was being cooed to sleep by the beeping heart monitor and the gentle whispers of gossiping dental hygienists, my surgeon moseyed on into my room. Apparently, he was all talked-out because by the time I could answer his “Who is here with you?” he had a needle in my arm. Despite the fact that I am pale, it took him over six pricks to decide that my veins were too hard to find. Thankfully as he started his acupuncture/IV on my other arm, the gas that I was also given kicked in.

I don’t remember my dream; it must have been horrific because I woke up bawling. I was hysterically crying and did not know why. The hygienists kept asking me if I was in pain, and I was able to control myself long enough to stutter out a “No. I have no idea why I’m crying”. Only “idea” and “crying” had about three syllables too many.

After they led me to the recovery room and I apologized for making a scene, one of the hygienists told me that I didn’t have any stitches.

She explained that I would have to keep changing the gauze in my mouth every half an hour until the bleeding stopped. Wonderful. As soon as I got home, one of the first things I did was Google how this lack of stitches business worked.

Apparently, we were back on the Oregon Trail where they just let gushing wounds clot.

The rest of my weekend consisted of icing my face, fighting the drowsiness of Vicodin, eating Jell-O and staring at the many delicious foods the rest of my family was enjoying.

At least I spent my Columbus Day weekend in the spirit of Christopher himself – forcefully removing things that have a rightful claim to their location!

Wisdom teeth removal: now that’s so Po!

DESIGN EDITOR

PHOTO BY STEPHEN MOCCIA/THE RAM

The Waverly Restaurant is on the corner of 6th Avenue and Waverly Place.

The Waverly Restaurant, located on the northwest corner of 6th Avenue and Waverly Place in Manhattan, is a wonderful, 24-hour coffee shop where you can get great hamburgers, big fresh salads, tasty sandwiches, wraps, gyros and much more.

This tiny storefront has a simple but entertaining atmosphere and offers the customer a true old-fashioned diner experience. Framed celebrity photos line the walls, and a large mural depicts the neighborhood as it was many years ago. Small booths fill the majority of the floor space, and there are several stools for eating at the counter.

The service is quick and polite, and the menu is enormous. The milkshakes are out of this world, served in tall, old-fashioned fountain glasses and blended to the perfect thickness ($4.05). My personal favorite is the “black and white” milkshake, which is vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrOverall up, the perfect compromise between a Location vanilla and a chocolate shake.

Food Quality Atmosphere Another plus about this establishHospitality ment is the fact that breakfast is served Price $$ all the time. The eggs are wonderful, served in a sizzling pan, and come with (Out of 4 ’s) French or homefried potatoes and toast. Most start around just $5 but can go closer to $8 with additions. If you ever find yourself craving your breakfast favorites, breakfast is available at Waverly at any hour of the day.

You can also enjoy a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice ($3.00) and literally watch the oranges fall into the old juicer behind the counter.

Probably the best thing on the menu is the Waverly Melt, a juicy grilled burger on white toast with lots of American cheese and topped with sautéed onions. This specialty is basically a hamburger inside a grilled cheese, and it costs just $6.85. For just over $2 more, you can have it deluxe, which comes with French fries, onion rings, lettuce, tomatoes, coleslaw, pickles and optional bacon or ham.

The menu also boasts club sandwiches, all kinds of melts and full meals featuring turkey, pastrami, roast beef, meatloaf, London broil and both Italian and Greek specialties. Most items from the grill can be made deluxe for an extra $2, and the soups are phenomenal ($2.60). The cream of turkey soup has been described as “the best soup ever” by those I know who have also eaten here, and nothing can top the wonderful pair of a warm cup of chicken noodle and a perfectly golden grilled cheese and bacon ($5.90).

This coffee shop has a wide selection of food and marvelous desserts.

Sometimes the Waverly can get a little crowded because it is fairly small, but this luncheonette is one of the best of a dying breed and serves all the classic diner fare. If you are ever in the area and are feeling hungry, you should definitely visit this place. Bring cash, though. They don’t accept credit cards.

Editor’s Pick: Subway Mariachi Bands

Who Needs to See a Broadway Play When You Can Just Hop on the $ Train for Entertainment

By Victoria Rau ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

They have a captive audience.

They have no guarantee of compensation for their gigs. They have a potential fan base of eight million. They have an unstable performing venue, literally. They are the mariachi bands who perform on the subway.

When riding the New York City subway, it is typical to find people using the captive audience it provides to their advantage. Some people ask for your spare change because they are having a hard time. Some people try to sell candy bars, others sell (likely illegal) copies of movies or music. Some people perform music or dance, hoping that the passengers will be entertained enough, or simply impressed with the feat of performing on a moving train car, to throw a dollar or a quarter in their hats.

Of these nomadic subway performers, my personal favorite is the mariachi band.

Often dressed in some semblance of traditional Mexican mariachi garb – including sombreros, of course – these mariachi bands usually consist of a guitarist or two

and maybe an accordion. Their tunes are simple and cheery. They always seem to be smiling. It feels as though they have not a care in the world other than playing their instruments and singing in a pleasing, harmonious mixture of Spanish and English.

I find the smiles and the joy to be highly contagious and I cannot help but toss whatever change I have in their hats when they walk up and down the subway car after they play.

Once, I had a friend from Washington, D.C., in town to visit for the weekend. She had to catch a bus back to D.C. at noon, but we got off to a slow start that morning and arrived, panting, at the Fordham Road subway platform at approximately 11:15 a.m.

Not even Metro-North could save us because the next train was not until after noon. We had to forgo our planned stop for bagels and coffee on the way up Fordham Road.

Ten painful minutes passed on the subway platform before a D train arrived to begin its local run through the Bronx, stopping frequently all the way to 125th street.

By the time we were ready to start

the express stretch between 125th and 59th streets, I had forbidden my traveling companions from looking at their watches or phones to see the time, though I was silently calculating the chances we would arrive in time to sprint out of the subway and find the correct bus.

As I was deliberating between a 20- and 30- percent chance of making the bus and 11:45 was approaching, a mariachi band struck up its tune.

Suddenly, I forgot all about the mad dash we were making into Manhattan, the result of which could very well be failure at this point. The merry, extemporaneous melody distracted me from the problem at hand.

I bobbed my head and jiggled my foot in time to the music, a giddy smile spreading across my face despite the circumstances. I was grateful that the band had gotten on the subway right before it began its 60-block express stretch along Central Park.

I put a dollar in the guitar player’s hat in exchange for the few moments of sanity that he had unknowingly provided me.

At approximately 11:56 a.m.,

the doors clanged open and the conductor had barely finished announcing “34th Street, Penn Station” before we had pounded up the steps and out onto the street.

My friend made her bus by a hair, and my appreciation for mariachi bands was firmly decided.

When I hear a mariachi band play, I am transported to the sunny plazas of Latin America rather than the grimy subway car in which I sit during an often-long commute to or from the city. They are clearly enjoying themselves, to contagious effect, and their intentions seem to be as pure and honest as they come in the subway entertainment business.

Concerts, Broadway shows and movies are great, but one has to plan to go to them. It is impossible to know when a mariachi band will jump on the right subway car, but for me, anyway, that spontaneous element makes it so much better.

They may not wear the ultratraditional wide-brimmed hats or charro outfits, they may not even be trained musicians, but New York’s subway mariachi bands constitute my favorite entertainment on the subway. The price is right, and the timing is often impeccable.

CULTURE

OCTOBER 20, 2010 • THE RAM • PAGE 17

Little Cupcake Bakeshop Offers Yummy Treats

By ARIANA FODERA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Little Cupcake Bakeshop of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, has just opened a second location at 30 Prince St. between Mott Street and Elizabeth Street, in Manhattan. With a whitewashed exterior, exposed brick interior and checkered floors, the traditional American bakery calls itself “a portrait of the Jazz Age in all its luxury and splendor that blends the lively spirit of a bygone generation with the youthfulness of contemporary culture and design.”

With fabulous traditional American desserts, an espresso bar and a noted commitment to carbon neutrality, Little Cupcake Bakeshop is sure to be a hotspot in SoHo. Little Cupcake Bakeshop only uses the best of products to produce its array of scrumptious cupcakes, puddings, pies and cookies.

The bakery offers many different cupcake flavors including red velvet, chocolate, vanilla, German chocolate, strawberry, lemon, carrot cake and peanut butter. LCB’s icing flavors include vanilla buttercream, chocolate buttercream, lemon buttercream, mocha buttercream, peanut butter buttercream, cream cheese icing and meringue icing.

Little Cupcake Bakeshop also offers cakes in the same flavors, in addition to hummingbird cake, which is a banana cake with cream cheese frosting and walnuts and is absolutely fabulous. Little Cupcake Bakeshop also has many excellent pies and puddings. Little Cupcake Bakeshop is known for its German chocolate cake, banana pudding and strawberry rhubarb pie. Little Cupcake Bakeshop also has an extensive illy espresso bar, with specialty coffee and non-coffee drinks, including Nutella cappuccino, fresh lemonade and fresh watermelon drink.

Little Cupcake Bakeshop’s design was inspired by the Jazz Age, particularly Billie Holiday, Frank

Sinatra and Louie Armstrong. Little Cupcake’s interior is extremely warm and inviting, with checkered floors, delectable treats, excellent coffee, exposed brick and a youthful, contemporary vibe.

Little Cupcake Bakeshop has been praised as the world’s first carbon neutral bakery. Little Cupcake Bakeshop regularly supports and raises money for sustainability organizations on local, national and international levels. All of Little Cupcake Bakeshop’s equipment and products are bought from certified green companies. Little Cupcake Bakeshop runs on wind turbine and hydroelectric power, and the bakery has promised to keep a carbon scorecard in the windows of its two stores. The bakery also uses energy efficient lighting and toxic free chemicals in paints and cleaning products.

In 2007, Little Cupcake officially became carbon neutral. It regularly donates to the Carbon Fund, a non-profit organization that plants trees that soak up carbon to balance carbon emissions released by the bakery. Little Cupcake Bakeshop also uses packaging that is completely biodegradable to further its commitment to a green establishment and carbon-reduction efforts.

Little Cupcake Bakeshop at Prince Street is LEED-certified, which is a recognition that a construction

project or building can attain by utilizing environmentally friendly building practices during construction or remodeling; LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Little Cupcake Bakeshop has created the Little Cupcake Initiative, which is a volunteer community outreach program of the establishment. Little Cupcake Bakeshop creates educational campaigns and volunteer activities to integrate businesses and communities to provide in advancing education, sustainability and green establishments. Little Cupcake Bakeshop has supported SustainUS, The Climate Project, Carbon Fund and William O’Connor Day School.

Little Cupcake Bakeshop has been featured in the New York Times, The Daily News, New York Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Time Out New York, Kid and the Brooklyn Paper. Little Cupcake Bakeshop has been featured in the New York Times business section for its green mission. It was also named by the Daily News as a “Top 10 Gourmet Shop in NYC.” With Little Cupcake Bakeshop’s unique design, warm and inviting atmosphere, scrumptious desserts, fresh illy coffee, commitment to sustainability and a green environment, Little Cupcake Bakeshop is sure to be popular in SoHo!

what’s Know “what’s going on” on campus or in NYC?

Going

21

?

On

Send tips, event listings, or comments to theram@fordham.edu.

THURSDAY

Lombardi Circle in the Square Theatre 1633 Broadway

Brush up on your Fordham sports history at this new biodrama.

22

“A Song for the Horse Nation” Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House 1 Bowling Green

FRIDAY

And you thought horses were just pretty? This exhibit shows how necessary the animals were in Native Americans’ lives.

23

SATURDAY

ACT UP New York White Columns 320 W. 13th St.

ACT UP New York: Activism, Art and the AIDS Crisis, 1987-1993 will feature over 100 interview videos from original members of this AIDS awareness group.

24

SUNDAY Chaos and Classicism: Art in France, Italy, and Germany, 1918–1936 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 1071 Fifth Ave. If you have a hard time finding the beautiful in the madness of school, see how these artists found it during war.

25

MONDAY

Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps New World Stages 340 W. 50th St.

Celebrate Halloween early with this part-spoof, part-tribute to the iconic director.

26

TUESDAY

Book-in-Hand Reading Group The Bowery Pottery Club 308 Bowery St.

The English majors out there might not want some extra reading, but for those who want to read and discuss the classics in a low-pressure environment, head to this club.

27 DAVID D. MORRIS/MCT

Doesn’t this look delicious? Head to Little Cupcake Bakeshop to get one.

“Selected Shorts:” Fairy Tales: Classic and Reimagined Symphony Space 2537 Broadway

WEDNESDAY

See award-winning actors and actresses put a modern spin on some of the most beloved fairy tales.

— COMPILED BY CELESTE KMIOTEK

Ram Reviews THEATER

MUSIC

TELEVISION

MUSEUM

ALBUM

DRIVING MISS DAISY

JIMMY EAT WORLD

“Hawaii Five-0”

KING TUT EXHIBIT

JASON MRAZ LIFE IS GOOD

INVENTED

Featuring James Earl Jones (The Lion King) and Vanessa Redgraves (Mary, Queen of Scots), and already receiving rave reviews, I had high hopes for Driving Miss Daisy.

I was not disappointed. Running only about an hour and a half, the show was concise enough that I did not even get distracted once (a rarity for me), but it was still able to be effective. The show follows the relationship between Redgraves’s Miss Daisy, an elderly Jewish woman, and Jones’s Hoke Colburn, an elderly black man, in 1950s Georgia.

The development of their relationship was believable, despite the rather touchy nature of interracial friendships during the time period.

If you are looking for a solid, tight show to see, this one is perfect.

Throughout Invented, Jimmy Eat World’s seventh studio album, 12 dynamic tracks weave through the listener’s mind and ears. Lead singer Jim Adkins’ voice never wavers, even as it transitions from its highest register to its lowest. The passion and meaning in his voice, and his evocative lyrics give each song its own individual personality.

Once again, Jimmy Eat World has shown the rare ability to reinvent themselves while at the same time maintaining that distinct Jimmy Eat World sound that fans worldwide have come to love for almost two decades now.

I was always under the impression that music was created and intended for just that very purpose: to create emotion and to move the listener. Fortunately for all those who buy this album, that is just what Invented does.

“Hawaii Five-0” is fairly entertaining with a lot of action, chases and explosions packed into one.

The acting of Alex O’Loughlin (“Three Rivers,” “The Shield”) as hard-nosed Navy SEAL turned detective Steve McGarrett is sufficient. His acting is nothing special, but it keeps with the stoic façade of his character, so overall, it works.

The main cast all gel well together and make the most of a script that sacrifices depth for quick-wit and subtlety for in-your-face action.

Overall, “Hawaii Five-0” is an entertaining show with some flaws, but the cast is likeable enough to keep watching. If Mondays are getting you down, this is a show that can definitely get your heart pumping. It is a solid effort and seems to be one of the exceptions to the rule of TV-to-TV remakes.

This exhibition did not disappoint. I was mainly impressed that the museum included such a broad representation of what was in his tombs. With everything from from from figurines to thrones, jeweled collars to canopic jars, they were able to get a good cross section.

What they lacked in his most famous treasures, they made up for in their obvious efforts to include the best of the second-best.

The two highlights of the exhibit were the chariot and the recreation of Tut’s mummy.

Possibly the best feature of the exhibit was the extensive commentary and notations adorning every artifact and the walls of every room.

For an afternoon, seeing the exhibit was an informative and wonderfully out-of-the-ordinary excursion.

The new songs continue with Jason Mraz’ signature easy-listening, light-funk sound with a dash of hip-hop and rock and roll. His lyrics continue to be as optimistic as ever, promoting messages of love, peace and going green. Vocally, Mraz shows that he is one of the best in the business with pitch-perfect executions, which is rare for any live performance, but typical for someone like him.

Fans will be delighted with this preview of what is to come in 2011.

Mraz lives up to his reputation as an exceptional live performer on this EP. The songs are entertaining and will definitely get your toes tapping. Life is Good EP is easy on the ears and will be satisfying to Mraz fans everywhere who are wondering what’s in store for 2011. All signs point to “good.”

TO READ THESE REVIEWS IN THEIR ENTIRETY, VISIT THERAMONLINE.COM AND CLICK ON “CULTURE” ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE HOMEPAGE.

CULTURE

PAGE 18 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 20, 2010

TV Versus Internet: The Fight for Viewers Hulu, YouTube and the Like Are Challenging Traditional Cable’s Monopoly of Viewers

COURTESY OF YOUTUBE

A Very Potter Musical is one of the cultural trends that has been questioning the previously well-established importance and prevalence of televisions as the main form of at-home visual entertainment.

GERARD FRISCIA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The era of physical property is coming to a rapid close. With YouTube, Hulu and other Internet sources progressing rapidly in their services, it is clear that entertainment is entering a new age. Following in the footsteps of the CD is the replacement mp3; movies are avidly being converted into virtual property by programs such as Netflix and iTunes.

It is no longer necessary to carry around four-inch plastic discs or plug a television into the cable box and electric outlet to get a decent level of entertainment.

With all of these changes taking place, it is evident that Fordham students are keeping up with the advances in technology.

The new phase of technology has not only affected the media world, but the world of literature and education as well. With the introduction of Google Books and elec-

tronic textbooks, the age of feeling your backpack straps dig into your shoulders is coming to a fast close.

The Kindle e-ink screen provides the illusion of ink on paper for all of those people that dislike reading documents on a normal LED screen.

YouTube and other Internet media giants make it more convenient and less expensive for students to engage in different types of entertainment.

People, especially busy people, are almost always drawn toward the more convenient option. This is why the shift from TV to YouTube affects students and young people of the workforce.

“TV is outdated because you can get whatever you want online when you want it,” avid Facebook and Hulu user Terry Tsouratakis, GSB ’11, said. “Only my grandparents still watch TV and it’s black and white.”

The ever-changing technological world seems to intimidate the gen-

eration of baby boomers and older generations showing a noticeable shift in interests. Since they did not grow up with the Internet embedded in their cultures, it is more difficult to engage in it and embrace it later in life.

Convenience is not the only thing attracting people closer to YouTube and Hulu, but ingenuity as well. There is hardly a time when someone can check Facebook and not see a swarm of different YouTube videos, each more hilarious than the next.

“Whenever I’m looking for a good chuckle, I go to my free and unlimited comedy on demand, also known as YouTube,” Frank Coffey FCRH ’12, said. “Anytime I want to see New York sports run train I hit up the TV.” A Very Potter Musical offers this ingenuity, in addition to an entertaining twist on J.K. Rowling’s magical creation. The young actors take on the identities of main characters from Harry Potter

and create their own skit to guide them through answering some unanswered questions in addition to eliminating some of the unsolved mystery that accompanies Harry Potter.

Derived directly from the Harry Potter series, the musical pushed the boundaries of copyright law, showing that there is a great deal of freedom on the Internet.

At what point do the spoof videos on Facebook such as A Very Potter Musical and “The Hitler Movie,” breach the boundaries and become illegal representations of someone else’s work?

Claire Cain Miller from the New York Times reported on an issue regarding copyright problems relating to clips from the show “Mad Men.” Miller explains to the reader that the main issue regarding the migration of television shows to YouTube and Hulu is money.

As long as the show makes money off of the clip through advertising, they have little or no problem

with having the clip openly viewed on YouTube. By offering the YouTube and Hulu services free of charge, a large amount of traffic to comes through the sites, which appeals to various advertising agencies as they see millions of people being channeled through the site to watch one video.

Everyone knows that most college students are strapped for cash or conscious of their spending.

When it comes down to paying money for television or watching it for free on the Internet, the choice is obvious. That extra spending money could mean a few more sandwiches at Tino’s or a couple more trips into Manhattan per semester.

Fordham University’s lack of certain channels (Showtime, YES Network) certainly does persuade students away from television and toward online sources. The world of technology is always changing, and leading the charge are the young students of academia.

WHO’S THAT KID? Margaret“Molly” Thompson A MEMBER OF FCRH ‘12, MAJORING IN ANTHROPOLOGY FROM NORTH WALES, PA. Where have we seen you?

Probably driving the Ram Van, or lounging on Eddie’s or Martyrs’ Lawn.

Favorite childhood show and favorite current show?

Childhood? Anything from the original Nickelodeon:“Hey Arnold,” “Rugrats” (specifically when Chuckie ate the watermelon seed).

Later on, “Boy Meets World.”

Current is most definitely “The Office,” though “30 Rock” is right up there, but “Wife Swap” trumps all.

Who would play you in a movie and why?

Jenna Fischer because she is an actress in my favorite show “The Office.”

If you could have a dinner with any historical person, who would it be and why?

Harry S. Truman, because I’m horrible at making decisions, and he had to make a huge one.

What would your ideal day in Manhattan consist of?

Wandering aimlessly.

If you could be anywhere and doing anything right now, what would it be?

At the parade after the Phillies win the World Series.

What has been your favorite class at Fordham and favorite professor?

Ancient Cultures of the Bible with Dr. Gilbert – he’s awesome.

How do you blow off steam?

Probably by working out or by watching movies.

What is the biggest misconception people have about you?

That I’m quiet. My roommates can’t get me to shut up.

Stuck on an island, what would you need?

Netflix and Diet Coke. Or just a boat; I’d row back.

What is your dream job?

Working as an archaeologist, and finding important artifacts.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Netflix. And chips. And Diet Coke.

COURTESY OF MOLLY THOMPSON

CULTURE

OCTOBER 20, 2010 • THE RAM • PAGE 19

Despite Corporate Mistakes, the Environment Is Not Ruined BP’s Oil Spill and the Hungarian Metal Company’s Sludge Spill Do Not Have to Ruin the Green Movement

By MARGARET THOMPSON CONTRIBUTING WRITER

With the recent environmental disasters, including the BP oil spill and the toxic sludge catastrophe in Hungary, how effective are the environmentally “green” actions that the general population takes part in?

The aftereffects of the BP oil spill are still emerging. It has had an effect on animal life in the Gulf in addition to the environment. The beaches of the Gulf of Mexico have collected deposits of oil beneath them. The oil has been floating in off the ocean and coming to rest beneath the shores of the Gulf.

The worst oil spill in United States history may be over, but the worst effects probably have not yet come to light.

The MAL aluminum plant suffered a toxic spill last Friday that spread over the town of Kolontar in Hungary and two other towns.

The spill even made its way down to the Danube River.

So far, the environmental effects have yet to materialize; however, the odds of a metallic toxic sludge spill having no effect on the environment are slim. Currently, environmentalists in Hungary are assessing the situation, but it will take time.

With these two looming disasters in sight, what good is turning out the light when leaving a room?

JOHN FITZHUGH/MCT

BP and the Hungarian metal factory wreaked major havoc on the environment, but that does not mean that the general public can ignore the “green” effort.

There is no data to give an exact estimate on how many “green” actions it would take to offset these disasters, but William J. Gibbon of GeoInsight, Inc. offers some perspective.

“I think there are so many easy and relatively painless things that can be done to conserve energy that are not done and they would save enough to offset the recent disasters,” he said.

One of his suggestions is water conservation. Using less water not only conserves water but also al-

lows water treatment plants to treat less water with chemicals.

A well-publicized favorite of “green” activists is changing from regular light bulbs to energy efficient light bulbs. Using light emitting diodes or compact fluorescent light bulbs can cut a family energy bill by up to 25 percent. They use about 50 to 80 percent less energy than regular light bulbs and also last about 10 times longer.

Campuses can also work on their “green” effort by following simple procedures, such as turn-

ing off all computers and printers at night. Always printing doublesided or sending out announcements and flyers solely by e-mail can help too. No longer providing paper products in the cafeteria and removing unneeded lights from places around campus can also be helpful.

One suggestion is turning off the stadium lights when not in use.

Mowing lawns less frequently will help not only to cut University costs, but also help to save the environment.

Despite the magnitude of the current environmental disasters in both the United States and Hungary, regular people can help. Such things as water conservation and switching light bulbs do help the environment.

If everyone took the time to turn off lights after themselves, switch their light bulbs to LED or CFL bulbs or consciously try to use less water, then the environmental impact of the Gulf oil spill and the toxic sludge incident in Hungary could be mitigated.

Start Your Preparations for Halloween

By SARAH RAMIREZ COPY EDITOR

As the end of October approaches, college students may be tempted to remember Halloweens of yore, complete with dressing up and trick-or-treating around the block. For the most part, college students cannot get away with trick-or-treating anymore, but this does not mean there are not plenty of Halloween activities going on across New York City.

One of the most popular events is the Annual Village Parade, now in its 38th year. The nation’s largest public Halloween celebration features some of the scariest, wildest and most elaborate costumes around. The parade begins Halloween night, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m. on 6th Avenue from Spring Street to 15th Street. This year’s theme is memento mori (“remembrance of death”).

The Village Parade is one tradition every Fordham student should experience at least once.

For those wary of crowds, the Halloween Extravaganza and Procession of Ghouls on Oct. 29 is a great option. The horror classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari will show screened at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on the Upper West Side, the world’s largest Gothic church.

The Grand Procession of Ghouls, including costumes similar to those of the Village Parade, follows the film. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by calling (866) 8114111. This unique event promises to capture the Halloween spirit.

If the Halloween Extravaganza seems too tame, pay New York’s

scariest haunted house a visit.

Nightmare, located in NoHo, is a classic walk-through haunted house that ups the ante.

Now in its seventh year, Nightmare features two terrifying attractions. First is “Superstition,” where guests explore an insane asylum, followed by the twisted carnival atmosphere of “Fun House.” Advance tickets are $30 and can be purchased at hauntedhousenyc. com (student rush also available).

Autumn in New York is not complete without a visit to Central Park, and Halloween is no exception. On Saturday, Oct. 30, the park

will host its free annual Pumpkin Festival featuring a haunted house, hayrides and a pumpkin patch in addition to live entertainment.

While there is no shortage of Halloween activities around the city, students at Rose Hill are planning their own festivities, free for all students.

For the second straight year, Fordham students will be volunteering with the soup kitchen Part of the Solution (POTS) to host an on-campus haunted house. Located in LaLande, the haunted house will be open to members of the Bronx community from 6 to 8 p.m.

and students from 8 until 10 p.m. on Halloween.

In addition to trick-or-treating throughout Martyrs’, families and students alike will be able to enjoy face painting, pumpkin painting and apple bobbing outside on Martyrs’ Lawn. The haunted house is a joint program between Martyrs’, Campbell and Salice-Conley.

Other residence halls, with the help of the Residence Hall Association, are also sponsoring Halloween-themed programs. Queen’s Court will host an entire Fright Week leading up to the 31st. Activities planned include movie screen-

ings and pumpkin painting.

The Halloween fun is not limited to residents, however. The Commuter Students Association will host a “Fright Night: Throwbacks” event Thursday, Oct. 28 at 5:30 p.m. After discussing the origins of the holiday, CSA will air Halloween specials of classic Nicktoons, plus episodes of “Goosebumps” and “Are You Afraid of the Dark”?

Whether you love Halloween for the spooks, the sweets or both, there are a variety of events at Fordham and in Manhattan so you can be sure your Halloween will be one to remember.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The Village Parade is one of the most well-known Halloween events in the city, and is something every Fordham student should experience at least once.

ADVERTISING

PAGE 20 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 20, 2010

$1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE towards the purchase or lease of a new Scion GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE. $1,000.00 COLLEGE GRADUATE REBATE.

FordhamScion .com

FordhamToyota.com

$1,000.

00

College Graduate Rebate + the Scion Pure Lease

New 2010 Yaris Stk# 3179, 4 cyl, 4DR, A/C, man trans, AM/FM Stereo/CD, pwr str/ brks, ABS, VSC, MSRP $15,218.

LEASE PER MO FOR 36 MOS† ________________________ BUY

11,964

New 2010

25

$

xD

with purchase^

New 2010 Corolla Stk# 9322, 4 cyl, auto, AM/FM Stereo/CD, A/C, pwr str/brks, ABS, MSRP $17,350.

36 Camry $ 75

LEASE PER MO FOR 36 MOS† ________________________ BUY

13,727

$

Stk# 2754, 4 cyl, auto, AM/FM Stereo/CD, A/C, pwr str/brks/ winds/lcks, MSRP $21,595.

18,324

$

rad

College G

New 2010

Fordham Toyota

with purchase^

PURE LEASE PER MO FOR 36 MOS†

00

0. ate + $1,00 uate Reb rad

College G

Navi

included

PURE LEASE PER MO FOR 36 MOS†

00

Model# 6202, 4cyl, auto, 4dr, power steer/brks/wind/lcks, AM/FM stereo/cd, a/c, MSRP: $17,670, $849 due @ signing

tC

179 $ 199 $ 205 $

0. ate + $1,00 uate Reb

Navi

included

LEASE PER MO FOR 36 MOS† ________________________ BUY

xB

with purchase^

New 2011

Model# 6232, 4cyl, auto, 4dr, power steer/brks/wind/lcks, AM/FM stereo/cd, a/c, MSRP: $16,420, $829 due @ signing

New 2011

Fordham Toyota

$

rad

College G

Navi

included Fordham Toyota

$

00

0. ate + $1,00 uate Reb

Model# 6220, 4cyl, auto, 2dr, power steer/brks/wind/lcks, AM/FM stereo/cd, a/c, MSRP: $18,620, $855 due @ signing

PURE LEASE PER MO FOR 36 MOS†

2.9% Financing available on Toyota Certified Used Vehicles†† 2003 Toyota Corolla CE

2004 Toyota Rav4 4WD

2007 Toyota Rav4 Ltd

Stk# U5352, auto, 4cyl, pwr steer/brks, $ AM/FM stereo/cd, a/c, 63k mi ....................... BUY FOR

2008 Toyota Matrix XR

11,988

Stk# U5316, auto, 4cyl, 4x4, pwr steer/brks/wind/lcks, leather, $ alloys, sunroof, AM/FM stereo/cd, a/c, 30k mi .............. BUY FOR

2002 Toyota Solara SLE Convertible

6,388

Stk# U5349, auto, 4cyl, 4x4, pwr steer/brks/wind/lcks, $ ABS, cruise, tilt, AM/FM stereo/cd, a/c, 69k mi .... BUY FOR

2006 Toyota 4Runner SR5

Stk# U5351, auto, V6, pwr steer/brks/wind/lcks, $ alloys, leather, AM/FM stereo/cd, a/c, 68k mi BUY FOR

Stk# U5354, 4 cyl, Auto, A/C, AM/FM Stereo/CD, $ pwr Steer/Brks/Wind/Lcks, 27k mi ................ BUY FOR

2007 Toyota Avalon XL

12,988

Stk# U5305, auto, V6, 4x4, pwr steer/brks/wind/lcks, alloys, $ sunroof, AM/FM stereo/cd, a/c, 50k mi................... BUY FOR

2007 Toyota Corolla CE

7,988

2007 Toyota Highlander AWD

Stk# U5309, 4 cyl, Auto, A/C, AM/FM Stereo/CD, $ pwr Steer/Brks/Wind/Lcks, 62k mi ................ BUY FOR

Stk# U5303, 6 cyl, Auto, A/C, AM/FM Stereo/CD, $ pwr Steer/Brks/Wind/Lcks, 38k mi ................ BUY FOR

2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid

13,688

Stk# U5309, 4 cyl, Auto, A/C, AM/FM Stereo/CD, $ pwr Steer/Brks/Wind/Lcks, 30k mi ................ BUY FOR

2003 Toyota Sienna LE

9,688

2009 Toyota Sienna LE

Stk# U5347, 6 cyl, Auto, A/C, AM/FM Stereo/CD, $ pwr Steer/Brks/Wind/Lcks, 57k mi ................ BUY FOR

Stk# U5342, 4 cyl, Auto, A/C, AM/FM Stereo/CD, $ pwr Steer/Brks/Wind/Lcks, 39k mi ................ BUY FOR

2010 Toyota Camry LE

15,988

Stk# U5254, 4 cyl, Auto, A/C, AM/FM Stereo/CD, pwr $ Steer/Brks/Wind/Lcks, 8 passenger, 43k mi ..... BUY FOR

2009 Toyota Corolla LE

9,988

2007 Toyota Sienna XLE

Stk# U5293, 4 cyl, Auto, A/C, AM/FM Stereo/CD, $ pwr Steer/Brks/Wind/Lcks, 48k mi ................ BUY FOR

Stk# U5218, auto, 4cyl, pwr steer/brks/wind/lcks, $ ABS, cruise, tilt, AM/FM stereo/cd, a/c, 27k mi .... BUY FOR

2009 Toyota RAV4

15,988

Stk# U5281, auto, V6, pwr steer/brks/wind/lcks, leather, $ DVD, alloys, sunroof, AM/FM stereo/cd, a/c, 44k mi.... BUY FOR

2009 Toyota Camry LE

11,488

2008 Toyota Sienna XLE AWD

11,688

Stk# U5248, 4 cyl, FWD, Auto, A/C, AM/FM Stereo/CD, $ pwr Steer/Brks/Wind/Lcks, alloys, 23k mi......... BUY FOR

16,588

Stk# U5231, 6 cyl, Auto, A/C, AM/FM Stereo/CD, pwr $ Steer/Brks/Wind/Lcks, lthr, sunrf, 56k mi ........ BUY FOR

Stk# U5327, auto, 4cyl, pwr steer/brks/wind/lcks, $ ABS, cruise, tilt, AM/FM stereo/cd, a/c, 15k mi ..... BUY FOR

16,688 17,688 18,988 19,588 19,988 23,688

236 W Fordham Rd | Bronx, NY 10468

236 W Fordham Rd | Bronx, NY 10468

800.214.9914

888.282.6656

SERVICE: 212.690.8000 | PARTS: 212.690.9000 Dept of Consumer Affairs No. 1269790 DMV No. 7049046

INTERSTATE

Exit 9 87 Fordham Rd Off The Major Deegan Expressway

OPEN SUN 11-5

FREE VALET PARKING

Mon-Th: 9-9 Fri-Sat: 9-7

Prices incl all costs to consumer except tax, tags & reg fees. Dealer does not charge dealer fees. ††2.90% APR financing avail up to 60 mos on TCUVs provided by TFS, Low APR and leases req Tier 1+ appr, 750 credit score + and super pre, subj to primary lender’ appr; must select from dlr stock; cannot combine offers. †Price & lease reflects $500 mil rebate to eligible active duty personnel & inactive reserves thru TFS (exp.10/31/10) & $1000 coll rebate. Must be a coll grad w/proof of diploma within past 2 yrs & must fin thru dlr, rebate is prov by Toyota Motor Credit. Ttl pymts/Resid:’10 Corolla=$1296/$9750, ’11 Camry =$2700/$13,213, ’10 Yaris=$900/$8386, Due at sign=$2695 down+$650 bank fee+1st mo pymt +$0 Sec Dep wavied by TFS, 12k mi per yr, 15c per/mi thereafter. Lessee resp for excess wear/tear. ^Port handheld navi with purch, see dlr for details. *Cannot be combined with any other offer or advertised specials. Photos for illus purp only. Not resp for typos/equip errors. Offers exp 3 days after pub, programs subject to change by mfr.

SERVICE: 800.527.3341 | PARTS: 800.527.3341 Dept of Consumer Affairs No. 1269790 DMV No. 7049046

INTERSTATE

Exit 9 87 Fordham Rd Off The Major Deegan Expressway

OPEN SUN 11-5

FREE VALET PARKING

Mon-Th: 9-9 Fri-Sat: 9-7

Prices incl all costs to consumer except tax, tags & reg fees. Dealer does not charge dlr fees. †Available on approved credit to qualified customers through participating Scion dealers and Toyota Financial Services on new 2010 models with automatic transmission. Not all customers will qualify. Other lease terms and conditions are available. Offer based on MSRP of $16,420 for xD, $17,670 for xB, $18,620 for tC including delivery, processing and handling fee. Monthly payment may vary depending on final price of vehicle and your qualifications. Ask your dealer for availability of offers after these dates and for lease program details. Contracts must be dated between October 1, 2010 - January 3, 2011. ††2.90% APR fin avail up to 60 mos on TCUVs provided by TFS, Low APR and leases req Tier 1+ appr, 750 credit score + and super pre, subj to prmry lender’ appr; must select from dlr stock, $0 Sec Dep wavied by TFS, 12k mi per yr, 15c per/mi thereafter.

Lessee resp for excess wear/tear. Photos for illus purp only. Not resp for typos/equip errors. Offers exp 6 days after pub. $1000 coll rebate. Must be a coll grad w/proof of diploma within past 2 yrs & must fin thru dlr, rebate is prov by TMC.

OCTOBER 20, 2010

PAGE 21

Volleyball Drops Four Straight, Three A-10 Matches

By DANNY ATKINSON SPORTS EDITOR

The Lady Rams began a fourgame home set with a wild five-set victory over Hofstra on Wednesday, Oct. 6. Final set scores were 21-25, 25-21, 21-25, 25-21 and 1512. The match was a seesaw affair, and after the Lady Rams were able to break a late tie in the fourth set and equalized the match, the fifth set came down to a final few points, all of which went Fordham’s way.

Tied at 12, the team earned three straight points on kills from senior middle hitter Christi Griffiths and senior outside hitter Kailee May in addition to a block from sophomore middle hitter Randi Ewing to defeat the Pride. May finished with 18 kills, 13 digs and four aces, while freshman setter Mary Diamantidis dished out 43 assists. With the win, the team improved its record to 11-10.

The Lady Rams continued their winning ways two nights later with an impressive sweep of Charlotte, improving the team’s Atlantic 10 record to 3-2. Final set scores were 25-23, 25-22 and 25-20. Fordham displayed a great ability to pull out sets and constantly thwart the 49ers’ chances. The Lady Rams used a 9-1 spurt to take control of the first set and endured 12 tie scores while winning the second set. Finally, the third set was tied at 19 all before the team scored four straight points to earn a sweep.

Fordham outplayed Charlotte in every area, getting more kills, digs and assists and recording .241 hitting percentage. Senior middle hitter Katie Wells and junior outside hitter Brittany Daulton led the way for the team with 11 and 10 kills.

With the victory, the Lady Rams improved their excellent home record to 6-2.

Fordham was edged out by George Washington in five sets on Oct. 9, bringing its conference record to .500 and losing the first match of what is now a four-match losing streak. Final set scores were 24-26, 25-18, 22-25, 29-27 and 1715. The Lady Rams were able to

PHOTO BY MIKE REZIN/THE RAM

Senior middle hitter Christi Griffths had 12 kills, four blocks and two aces in a heartbreaking five-set loss against G.W.

pull out two of the first three sets and seemed to be on the brink of taking the match in the fourth set when the team led 26-25, following kills by Wells and May. However, the Colonials responded with consecutive kills and then blocked a May attempt for the win, forcing a deciding set. Set five saw neither team willing to go away quietly with Fordham earning match points at both 14-13 and 15-14, but the team could not come up with either. George Washington’s Katie Zulandt posted a kill and a block for the final two points of the match, giving the Colonials the win and denying Fordham the big victory over a conference rival ahead of them in the standings. May and

Daulton gave Fordham excellent performances in defeat, with May contributing a career-high 22 kills and Daulton also recording a career-high total of 18.

“The girls played a fantastic match and have no reason to be disappointed,” Head Coach Ken Volkert said. “We were one play away from having the match go our way. Our play showed that we can compete with the teams at the very top of our league.”

After a few days off, the Lady Rams were easily swept by Big East stalwart Villanova in the team’s second-to last out of conference game of the year. Final set scores were 25-20, 25-19 and 25-21. Fordham struggled to find any consistency in

the match as each set saw the Wildcats use long runs to take control, and the Lady Rams had only a .168 hitting percentage to Villanova’s .231. Diamantidis recorded a double-double for the team with 24 assists and 11 digs.

While the team hoped its road trip this past weekend would help it got back on track, it was not to be, as Fordham began a disappointing weekend with a four-set defeat at Duquesne on Oct. 15.

What made the defeat so hard to stomach for the Lady Rams was that the match started off great for them.

The team had one of its best sets of the year to open the match, cruising to a nine-point victory on

the strength of its .350 percentage, but the Dukes shook off the loss to record a solid victory in the second set. The tide of the match changed near the end of the third set when Fordham was unable to capitalize on having set point and gave Duquesne the match advantage with two ball handling errors.

Although the fourth set was tight throughout with seven lead changes, the Dukes eventually wrested control of the set to win the match.

For Fordham, Daulton posted a double-double of 17 kills and 17 digs, while Diamantidis had 50 assists.

“Duquesne was a tough loss,” Volkert said. “They’re a good team and it was a hostile environment.

That being said, I wish we had played a bit better.”

Fordham’s slide continued uninhibited on Oct. 17 with a sweep at the hands of Saint Louis. Final set scores were 25-18, 25-15 and 2518. The team gave itself no help by allowing the Billikens to go on early surges in the first two sets, leading to seven-point and nine-point set wins, respectively. Though the Lady Rams were able to stay close to Saint Louis in the final set, another surge saw Fordham handed yet another loss. Ewing was a lone bright spot for the team with a career-high seven blocks, but the rest of her teammates were held to a .065 percentage.

The Lady Rams are currently 1214 on the season and 3-5 in conference. The team is in seventh place in the A-10 and a half-game behind Charlotte, meaning Fordham would just miss a playoff spot if the season ended today. After a match against Fairfield on Oct. 20, the Lady Rams’ playoff hopes rest entirely in their hands, with all their remaining matches in conference.

Volkert said he is confident his team will end up with a conference playoff spot.

“We’re in the middle of the pack right now and we have seven games to work our way higher,” Volkert said. “I expect to see us move up in conference and to be in the tournament.”

Women’s Rowing Takes Down UMass at Head of the Housatonic

By ALEXANDER VILARDO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Fordham’s women’s rowing team is not usually mentioned in the “best of the Atlantic 10” conversation. For many years, the team has been left in the wake of conference rival UMass.

In fact, UMass has won the A-10 title 13 times in the past 15 years.

This year, however, the two foes may have flipped roles, as they certainly did at the Head of the Housatonic in Shelton, Conn. on Oct. 9.

The women’s Varsity 8 boat, which is the team’s priority, according to Head Coach Ted Bonanno, finished the 2.7 mile-long time trial race in 16:37.574 and earned a seventh-place finish.

“The actual results weren’t

fantastic relative to the competition,” Bonanno said. “But beating UMass punctuates the results as being very good. [UMass] has won the A-10 almost every year since it began. We beat them by well over a minute [in the Varsity 8 race], and that was absolutely huge.”

“It was definitely the strongest head race I’ve had since rowing with Fordham crew,” senior cocaptain and stroke Alyssa Sunofsky said. “[The Varsity 8] is the tallest boat I have ever rowed with.”

The women’s Novice 4 also had a strong showing, as it finished in 22:06.703 and placed third. The boat beat UMass by over a minute.

The women’s Varsity 4 had a tough time on the water, as it finished 17th overall with a time of 21:51.278.

While the team said it is very

happy with its overall results from the Housatonic, it knows that an even bigger regatta is coming up this weekend: the Head of the Charles in Boston.

“We hope to do as well or better [than the times from the Head of the Housatonic] at the Charles,” junior Varsity 8 coxswain Abigail Paparo said. “It’s a really dedicated group of girls – they have even been putting in extra time off the water.”

Crews from all over the world compete in the Head of the Charles, making it an extremely competitive regatta.

“This year, we are entering a club 8, a club 4 and a championship 4,” he said. “The one thing about us racing two 8s and two 4s is that we have slightly over three 8s of rowers and coxswains. I’ve been here

for about 20 years now, and I believe this is the biggest team I’ve ever had.”

While the competition may be tougher at the Charles than at most regattas, the team is highly optimistic about the upcoming weekend.

“One of the encouraging things about the Housatonic [in regards to the Head of the Charles] was that Yale’s B boat was second, and we were very close to them.” Bonanno said. “So we are very much in the running for at least a medal at the Charles.”

PHOTO BY CHRIS TAGGART/THE RAM

Women’s rowing made a big step by defeating UMass at the Housatonic.

SPORTS

PAGE 22 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 20, 2010

Men’s Tennis Easily Beaten

by NJIT to End Season

By DAN GARTLAND STAFF WRITER

The men’s tennis team wrapped up its fall season this past week.

The Rams took on NJIT in their final match of the fall, losing 6-1.

Sophomore Dan Kane-West’s victory at fifth singles provided Fordham with its only point.

Overall, the Rams were completely dominated by NJIT, a team that only made the transition from Division II to Division I in 2006.

Fordham lost all five remaining singles matches, all in straight sets, to go along with being swept in each of the three doubles matches.

Senior Ken Fukumoto played a back-and-forth match at third singles, but ultimately fell 4-6, 4-6.

At first singles, sophomore Alex DiRienzo fell behind early 0-3 but later pulled to within 3-4 despite some unforced errors. For example, on one seemingly routine overhead smash, he failed to find the other side of the net.

Mistakes plagued DiRienzo for the rest of the match as his opponent took the first set 6-3 and looked dominant in the second set, claiming a straight sets victory 6-3, 6-1.

Senior co-captain Kevin Maloney also struggled through his match, though his problem was not due to unforced errors.

Maloney was experiencing pain in his elbow spreading down to the forearm due to tendinitis in his elbow, more commonly known as “tennis elbow.” However, Maloney downplayed the significance of the injury.

“I was spraying my forehand a lot in the first set because I was having some pain in my arm,” Maloney said. “It’s fine, just a little tendinitis.”

Maloney lost the set 2-6 and had the elbow taped between sets by the trainer.

It was clear that he experienced discomfort in the elbow in the second set as well, but he got off to a hot start regardless.

Maloney said he altered his strategy to account for his injured elbow.

“In the second set I tried not to play too many long points so I was trying to do more with my serve and that’s how I got my four games,” he explained.

Maloney noted that he had tied the second set at four games apiece before his opponent took the last two games to win the set and the match 6-2, 6-4.

“I was trying real hard to break his serve that set,” he said. “I knew if I could, I had a chance to win the set but I just couldn’t break him.”

The loss to NJIT wrapped up a winless fall for Fordham as the Rams dropped all five of their matches, the others being against St. Peter’s, Siena, Fairfield and LaSalle.

The team now prepares for the spring season, its main season, beginning in March. This will be the team’s first spring season under new Head Coach Cory Hubbard.

Women’s Tennis Continues to Improve

By NANCY BUCKLEY STAFF WRITER

As the fall season progresses, the women’s tennis team has shown significant improvement.

At the Marist Invitational on Oct. 9 and 10, the Lady Rams opened the tournament with several wins in the singles matches.

Freshman Angelika Dabu led her older counterparts as she stepped up to compete in the A flight singles matches. Dabu, on Oct. 9, advanced to the semifinals after defeating both Albany’s Susan Ma and Marist’s Erin McCarthy 6-4, 6-2.

Junior Sarah Tremaine also had successful singles matches in the C flight and sophomore Jennifer Mullen in the D flight. Both women advanced to the semifinals.

In doubles play, Fordham was not quite so victorious. Sophomore Mia Fiocca and Tremaine fell in A flight quarterfinals to Marist’s Erin McCarthy and Maria Eduarda Yurgel, 8-3. Dabu and junior Bethany Boyle fell to Carly Holloway and Danielle Crill of Siena in the B flight quarterfinals, 8-6, and Mullen and freshman Monika Chao lost to Marist’s Marielle Campbell and Jeannie Lukin in the C flight quarterfinals, 8-2.

On Oct. 10, in the A flight semifinals at the Marist Invitational, Dabu defeated Kyrsten Chen of Saint Peter’s College, 6-0, 6-0. She advanced to the finals where she fell to Melanie Aviles from Providence. However, Dabu did win the first set, 6-4, but fell in the second, 6-4. Aviles then went on to win the tiebreaker 10-7 for the title.

“Making it to the finals of the Marist Invitational was significant to me because in my first invitational, I was very nervous and didn’t know what to expect,” Dabu said. “I let too many factors distract me at Quinnipiac, and at Marist, I just focused on myself and played great tennis. I enjoyed it more the second time around because I played for no one else, but me, and it definitely helped my confidence as well.”

In the C flight semifinals, Tremaine fell to Sarah Iannone of Albany, losing the first set, 6-4, before

PHOTO BY AAROM MAYS/THE RAM

Junior Sarah Tremaine was successful in singles matches, making it to the semifinals of the C flight at the Marist invitational.

coming back to win the second, 6-2, but then lost the tiebreaker, 10-5.

In back draw play, Fiocca was victorious over Siena’s Jasleen Shandu, 8-1 in the quarterfinals and Erin MccCarthy from Marist in the semifinals, 8-3. Fiocca continued on to take down Susan Ma of Albany in the finals, 6-3.

In the D flight back draw, Chao defeated Jessica Nowogrodzki from Saint Peter’s in the quarterfinals, 8-1, and Vanessa Vogel, also of Saint Peter’s, in the semifinals, 8-1.

She then went on to take the finals from Marist’s Joanna Macaluso, 6-1.

The Lady Rams were also very close to another winner in the C flight back play with Boyle, who defeated Retta Byron of Marist in the quarterfinals, 8-2, and then Elora Benfer from Siena in the semifinals, 8-2.

Boyle later fell to Albany’s Aubrey Brooks in a very close final, 8-7.

On Columbus Day, Monday

Oct. 11, the Lady Rams had a close match up with the UMass Minutewomen, but were ultimately defeated 5-2.

The match began with doubles play. Fordham’s Fiocca and Dabu defeated UMass’s Julia Comas and Juliana Motyl, 9-8 at first doubles.

However, Boyle and Tremaine fell in second doubles 8-5 and Chao and Mullen in third doubles 8-0.

UMass took the doubles points for the match.

In singles play, Fiocca lost her opening set against Comas 5-7, but came back to win in the second set and tiebreaker 6-4 and 10-5, respectively.

In second singles, Dabu also won in the tiebreaker after losing her second set 1-6, but winning her first 6-4 and the tiebreaker 10-6.

At the Lehigh Fall Championship on Oct. 16 and 17, Fordham was successful against the host team, but had some pitfalls against Delaware.

The Blue Hens came in strong to the Championship, winning 14 of

their 15 matches against Fordham.

Dabu and Fiocca were the only victorious pair in the flight A doubles match against Samantha Carnall and Megan Doran, 9-8.

The Lady Rams were able to overcome the adversity of the Delaware matches to defeat Lehigh in all the doubles and four out of the six singles matches.

Fiocca and Dabu were successful again, defeating Jenai Bilamoria and Taylor Hampshire, 8-2. Both were also victorious in their singles matches. Dabu defeated Bilamoria 6-4, 6-3 and Fiocca defeated Hampshire 6-2, 6-1.

Tremaine and freshman Hanna Fritzinger won their doubles match against Lehigh’s Liz Piscitelli and Trish Muething, 8-4. Boyle and Mullen continued the streak defeating Abbey Perl and Jill Sloand 8-4.

The next, and final, matches of the fall season for the Lady Rams are at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regional in Hanover, N.H. on Oct. 22-25.

Cross Country Strong at Metropolitan Championship

By CELESTE KMIOTEK CULTURE EDITOR

Fordham’s men’s and women’s cross country teams went to Van Cortlandt Park to compete in the 2010 Metropolitan Championship on Friday, Oct. 8. The men came in third out of 14 teams, while the women placed fifth out of 15 teams.

The next Sunday, Oct. 17, the teams competed at St. John’s Fall Festival in Queens, N.Y., with the men winning the meet and the women finishing second.

At the Mets, Columbia came in first for the men with 17 points, followed by New York University with 70 points and Fordham with 101 points. Columbia also had the top four runners of the 139-runner field, with first place in the eightkilometer race going to sophomore Mark Feigen with 25.46.

The first Ram to finish was soph-

omore Julian Saad in 14th with 26:30. Junior Kevin Fitzgerald followed in 20th with 26:42, with freshman Michael Belgiovine in 21st with 26:45. Senior Casey Barrett, 29th with 27:03 and freshman Brian Walter, 31st with 27:06, also scored.

On the women’s side, Columbia won with 41 points, followed by Rutgers in second with 46 points and NYU in third with 107 points; Fordham earned 142 points.

NYU sophomore Maeve Evans came in first of the 134 runners, winning the five-kilometer race with 18:16.

Freshman Anisa Arsenault was the first Fordham runner to finish, placing seventh with 18:47.

Senior Kerri Gallagher finished 11th with 19:05, with junior Nako Nakatsuka in 45th with 20:19. Sophomore Ashley Davis (51st) and senior Johanne Sterling (52nd) also scored, both finishing

in 20:30.

The teams’ performances brought them accolades at the Atlantic 10 Cross Country weekly awards. Saad and Gallagher won Men’s and Women’s Performer of the Week, respectively, while Belgiovine and Arsenault won Men’s and Women’s Rookie of the Week, respectively.

Both Gallagher and Belgiovine have already won this year, while this was the first such award for Saad and Arsenault.

At the St. John’s Fall Festival, the Fordham men beat the other three teams with 19 points and seven runners finishing in the top 10, with Saad in first. Hofstra came in second with 56 points and Farleigh Dickinson came in third with 72 points.

Saad won the race six-kilometer race with a time of 19:26.93, closely followed by Walter in second with 19:36.34 and Polo in third

with 19:36.83. Sophomore Nick Synan took sixth (19:45.47) and junior Sam Stuart took seventh (19:46.50).

Walter was later named the A-10 Rookie of the Week, his first such accolade.

On the women’s side, St. John’s beat the other four teams with 26 points, with Fordham following with 35 points and Hofstra in third with 75 points. Gallagher placed first overall in the four-kilometer race.

Following Gallagher’s winning time of 14:06.28, Arsenault came in second with 14:12.55.

Freshman Kerry Sorenson (ninth with 14:52.01), Davis (11th with 15:03.94) and senior Kerry Kwalwasser (12th with 15:05.63) also scored.

Both teams will next compete at the Atlantic 10 Championship at Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park on Saturday, Oct. 30.

SPORTS

OCTOBER 20, 2010 • THE RAM • PAGE 23

Men’s Soccer Comes Up with Two Wins

By RICH HOFMANN STAFF WRITER

The men’s soccer team needed a big weekend last weekend, and it found a way to win two hotly contested games. Fordham (7-5-0, 2-1-0) defended its home field in a 1-0 win over Duquesne and 2-1 overtime victory over St. Bonaventure.

After a tough 2-1 loss at traveling partner La Salle to open Atlantic 10 play the previous weekend, Fordham knew the significance of the two home games.

Duquesne and St. Bonaventure are teams that Fordham could battle with for a playoff berth later in the season.

“We knew that this weekend was going to be big,” junior midfielder Matt Courtenay said. “The games this weekend were two games we knew that we could win but also knew they’d be tough.”

On Friday, the weather did not cooperate for Fordham’s home opener against Duquesne. On a cold and windy night, the Rams played in their own half of the field for most of the first half. Junior goalkeeper Ryan Meara was busy, making four saves in the first half as the Dukes outshot Fordham 7-4.

As the weather turned even nastier with moderate rain coming down, Fordham scored the match’s only goal early in the second half.

On a low corner kick taken by freshman forward Julian Nagel in the 62nd minute, junior defender

PHOTO BY SIMON SULIT/THE RAM

Junior midfielder John McHugh came up big for Fordham, notching two goals en route to the win over St. Bonaventure.

Phil Ferrantello made a run toward the near post and redirected the ball into the box with his foot.

After Ferrantello’s touch, the ball wound up at the feet of junior midfielder Sam Jolly, who slid a quick shot inside the far post for a goal.

Fordham then clamped down on defense, keeping the hard-charging Dukes from getting any great scoring chances the rest of the way.

Meara finished the game with six saves.

“It was just us grinding out a sloppy and windy game,” Courte-

nay said. “We showed a lot of character and grit by going ahead in a game that we were being outplayed in.”

On Sunday, Fordham matched up against St. Bonaventure, the team who upset the Rams in the opening round of last year’s A-10 Championship. For most of Sunday’s game, it looked like an early Bonnies goal from freshman midfielder Robert D’Cruz would stand up.

That would not be the case, though, as Fordham got a great in-

dividual performance from junior midfielder John McHugh in the final minutes.

McHugh scored twice to give the Rams three points in a game where it looked like they were headed for none. Fordham had been applying pressure on goalkeeper David Flynn as it outshot the Bonnies by a two-to-one margin.

“We had a sense of urgency because we really needed this win to put ourselves in a good spot in our conference,” McHugh said.

“So we started to push numbers forward and were pushing for the equalizer.”

McHugh notched the equalizer in the 81st minute off passes from Courtenay and Nagel. Courtenay played a long cross after a long run down the right side of the field and McHugh ran onto it at the back post and scored.

Two minutes into overtime, McHugh struck again. Off a pass from Tim Richardson that went over the top of the defense, the second goal was much more of an individual effort from McHugh.

He dribbled through a couple of defenders on the right side of the field and cut toward the box and scored with his left foot.

It seemed as if the equalizer was the key goal for Fordham as a huge momentum booster after being behind for basically the whole game.

“I did know that with the momentum shifted to our side, we had a great chance to win the game because we started to get on top of them and their defense started to get fatigued,” McHugh said. “I didn’t think I personally was going to get the game winner, though.”

Whether they won in ugly or exhilarating fashion, the most important thing for the Rams was getting two conference wins.

At 2-1-0 in the conference, Fordham now will play its next four games on the road, which will be a challenge. For now though, the Rams have secured six critical points in conference play.

Women’s Soccer Drops Two Straight A-10 Games

By ERIK PEDERSEN STAFF WRITER

The women’s soccer team finished off a disappointing five-game road trip this past weekend with a 2-0 loss to Duquesne on Friday night and a 4-2 loss to St. Bonaventure on Sunday.

The team’s record in the Atlantic 10 now stands at 1-3-1 (5-9-1 overall), tied for 12th out of the 14 teams in the conference. Only the top six qualify for the A-10 Championship.

The Lady Rams had been coming off a 2-2 tie with La Salle over Columbus Day weekend. Sophomore forward Annie Worden, who led the Rams with seven goals last year, scored her first goal of the season, while senior midfielder Katie McDermott scored her third.

La Salle, however, tied the game at two with only four minutes remaining and outshot the Lady Rams 7-0 over the two overtime periods. Sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Zieman made 10 saves to preserve the tie.

Against Duquesne, Fordham was unable to generate much offense, with only two shots on goal, both of which were in the first half.

The Dukes scored their first goal a half hour into the game, with sophomore defender Michelle Mooren getting her first goal of the year.

Duquesne’s offense was also limited; it was only able to put five shots on goal for the game, but two of them got past Zieman. Freshman forward Meghan Long finished out the scoring for Duquesne with a

66th-minute goal.

Senior midfielder Michelle Ancelj, the team’s leading scorer, freshman defender Mary Solimine and McDermott were among the group of players limited by injuries this weekend.

“We haven’t been able to put together a complete team all year because of injuries,” Head Coach Ness Selmani said. “At the same time, when you have injuries, others have to pick up the slack and they haven’t been doing that.”

Sunday’s game against St. Bonaventure got off to an inauspicious start, with the Bonnies taking the lead after only two and a half minutes on a shot from junior midfielder Hannah Lapp. Sunday was the fourth time this season the Lady Rams have given up a goal in the first five minutes of a game.

“We’ve been changing the warmup and coming up with different line-ups, but nothing has worked,” Selmani said. “We have to start playing at the first minute, not after they score a goal.”

The score remained 1-0 going into the second half, but the action quickly picked up afterward, with the two teams combining for four goals in the opening 10 minutes of the half. St. Bonaventure scored the first two, increasing its lead to 3-0, but the Lady Rams quickly responded.

Fordham scored its first goal in the 54th minute, just 42 seconds after St. Bonaventure’s third goal.

Senior midfielder Danielle Ingram took a cross from Worden and shot it past senior goalkeeper Nicole

PHOTO BY AARON MAYS/THE RAM

Senior midfielder Katie McDermott scored her third goal of the year in the 55th minute against La Salle to give Fordham a 2-1 lead.

Markert for her second goal of the season.

The Lady Rams scored again a minute and 33 seconds after Ingram’s goal, with junior midfielder Mariella Romano converting a penalty kick after the Bonnies were called for a hand ball in the box.

Romano, who led the team with four shots, scored her second goal of the season, and cut the deficit to 3-2.

“Romano is playing fantastic right now,” Selmani said. “She’s playing the way I’ve expected her to play since she came on as a fresh-

man. She played very hard and very aggressive [on Sunday].”

Fordham continued to pressure St. Bonaventure, and nearly tied the game in the 63rd minute, but junior midfielder Michaela Murphy’s shot went off the crossbar.

The Bonnies scored their fourth goal almost immediately afterwards, with sophomore forward Nicole Rosso taking a cross from Lapp and getting a shot past sophomore goalkeeper Rachel Suther, who started in place of Zieman.

The Lady Rams were unable to recover, and the game finished at

4-2.

“Sunday was the hardest we worked all year, I couldn’t be critical of their effort,” Selmani said.

“Hopefully it carries over to Friday.

We still have a chance to make the playoffs and I’m sure we will. We have to win the next four games.”

Friday night’s game against George Washington will open up Fordham’s crucial four-game home stand to close out the regular season. The team is home against Richmond on Sunday afternoon before playing its last two games over Halloween weekend.

PAGE 24 • THE RAM • OCTOBER20, 2010

ADVERTISING

The Flawed Yankees

By DANNY ATKINSON SPORTS EDITOR

News Flash: The Yankees are in real trouble. New York has been outplayed in this ALCS, and it has not been particularly close.

The Texas Rangers have outscored the Yankees 20-8 in the series, and if not for a great comeback effort by the team’s offense in the series opener, New York could easily be staring into the face of a sweep tonight.

As is, the Yankees are still looking at a tough road to victory with A.J. Burnett, one of the worst pitchers in the American League, trying to keep the team from going down 3-1.

While the Yankees were the clear favorites coming into the ALCS, they are now the underdogs, and no neutral fan is rooting for them to win over the appealing, upstart Rangers.

So how did we end up here?

Pitching is the most obvious culprit. Texas’s starting pitching has been very strong through three games, with Cliff Lee making a case as one of the greatest postseason pitchers of all time.

Although the Rangers’ bullpen imploded in Game 1, it came right back and shut down the New York lineup in the back half of Game 2. Texas’s pitching staff has much more depth than the Yankees’, and New York fans cannot be confident in their rotation at the moment.

Phil Hughes? Been struggling with his control for a couple of months now. Burnett? A disaster waiting to happen tonight. Even CC Sabathia hasn’t quite pitched up to his usual high standards in these playoffs.

Andy Pettitte seems to be the only Yankee starter who can be relied on to give CC solid support, and he was completely let down by his offense and the team’s bullpen in Game 3.

Everyone knew New York’s pitching staff was its weakest link coming into the series, and the team’s struggles in other areas have caused its lack of pitching depth to come to a head.

Despite the Yankee disadvantage in the pitching department, most fans and commenters believed the team would win the ALCS due to its strong offense and playoff experience.

People sold Texas’s offense short, and the Rangers’ offense has performed well the entire series against New York’s pitching. The Texas offense, younger and more aggressive than the Yankees’ group, has hit seven home runs in the playoffs and has five players with on-base percentages over .340.

The “experience” of the Yankees offense has hurt them more than it has helped them. Derek Jeter, Jorge Posoda, Alex Rodriguez and their fellow New York veterans are great players and have amazing postseason resumes, but at this point in their careers, these players have holes which have been exploited throughout these playoffs by good pitching.

The heart of the Yankees lineup may all be slumping and turning old at the same time in the ALCS, and if their struggles continue there is no chance New York will make a

series comeback.

If there is one image you can take from the ALCS which underlines how much stronger and agressive the Texas offense is, it’s the image of the Rangers taking extra base after extra base during their offensive rallies.

Texas seems better and hungrier, and the Yankees may not have the horses to stop them.

For a club that was seen as the AL World Series favorite, there sure seems to be a lot of tension surrounding the Yankees at the moment, most of it involving Joe Girardi.

Ask any Yankee fan and there is a good chance that they dislike Girardi and want him gone, World Series title be damned.

While I think he gets too much blame as manager, I won’t deny that Girardi has struggled this postseason.

He has struggled to handle the bullpen, Game 3 being the most obvious example, and seems to inspire little faith in his players. How can any Yankee fan be confident in Burnett if Girardi seems to have so little confidence in his ability to pitch a good game?

With all the rumors swirling around about a possible departure by its manager after the season, New York just does not seem to have its head in the right place.

The Yankees are the team with all the pedigree and are expected to win. If they do not win, the Yankees are not justifying their gigantic payroll.

The Rangers do not have this pressure. The team is just a group of talented, likable guys who have formed the best team in franchise history, and you can see their confidence in the way Texas has played in the series.

Chemistry can be overrated, but the Rangers definitely have a better attitude surrounding them at the moment.

Could the Yankees come back?

Sure they could, they’re the New York Yankees.

When you have CC Sabathia, Mariano Rivera and one of the best offenses in MLB, you will always have a shot. Game 3 seemed to be a turning point as far as giving the Rangers momentum, and now that New York has lost game 4, it is teetering on the brink. Texas has magnified the Yankees’ flaws and demonstrated how much work the franchise needs to do in the offseason to reform its roster. Sorry, Bombers fans. Sometimes other teams are just better than yours.

Editor’s Note: As we finish putting this issue together on production night, Texas has defeated the Yankees by a score of 10-3, with home runs from Bengie Molina, Nelson Cruz and two from Josh Hamilton helping to propel the Rangers ahead. With New York looking at a 3-1 deficit going into Game 5, it will be up to CC Sabathia to save the Yankees and stake his claim to being a “great Bronx Bomber.”

Considering the frequency with which Texas has outplayed New York in this series and how the pitching matchups stack up in its favor, I see no scenario by which the Yankees will make a comeback in this ALCS.

SPORTS

OCTOBER 20, 2010 • THE RAM • PAGE 25

Football

Men’s Soccer

Volleyball

Yale 7-6 Fordham 1 2 3 4 F FOR 3 0 3 0 6 YALE 0 0 0 7 7

Fordham 2-1 SBU

Fordham 0-3 SLU

FU

HC

First Downs 20 16 Total Yards 308 317 Rushing 89 90 Passing 219 227 Punt Returns 1-4 2-48 Kick Returns 1-9 3-79 Comp-Att-Int25-45-215-29-1 Punts 5-40 5-42.8 Time of Poss. 29:55 30:05

Individual Statistics PASSING-Yale, Hart 1529-1 Fordham, Wayne 25-42-2 RUSHING-Yale, Sosa 2476-0 Fordham, Wayne 15-70-0 RECEIVING-Yale, Smith 5-76-0 Fordham, Talbert 6-79-0

Women’s Soccer Fordham 2-4 SBU Fordham

Sh

SOG

G

A

Suther Murphy Dugherty Worden Carballeira Bergin Ancelj Nowakowski Romano Nowakowski Ingram Substitutes Zieman Rooney Alpaugh Wah Abrams Brady

0 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 4 0 1

0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 0 1

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1

0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 2 0 0 0

0 0 1 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0

12

7

2

1

Totals

GK Min Suther 79:27 Zieman 10:33

GA 4 0

Sav 4 0

SOG

G

A

Markert 0 Bosse 6 Lapp 0 Burchett 1 Cunningham 3 Krisko 2 Clark 3 Lapp 1 Riper 0 Broderick 1 Hoenicke 0 Susbtitutes Destino 0 Rosso 1 Buccilla 1 Smetzer 1 Calabria 0 Taylor 1

0 2 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0

0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0

0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0

0 1 0 0 0 0

0 1 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0

Totals

8

4

3

GA 2

Sav 5

SBU

Sh

21

GK Min Markert 90:00

FOR SBU

1 0 1

2 2 3

Tot 2 4

SBU FLYNN BANKER BEAUMONT ALLEN OKAPAL MJAATVEDT LEKO DINARDO REED VANINO O’CONNOR Subs PERILLO D’CRUZ SMOLAREK Totals GK FLYNN

Sh 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

SOG 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

A 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

0 1 0 6

0 1 0 2

0 1 0 1

0 0 0 1

SOG 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0

G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0

A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1

0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

Min GA Sav 92:15 2 2

Fordham Sh Meara 0 Ferrantello 0 Jolly 0 Niyonsaba 1 Richardson 1 Curran 1 Axelsson 0 McHugh 3 Stalker 0 Nagel 0 Courtenay 1 Subs Markowitz 1 Vigliotti 3 Gimand 1 Caputo 0 Heyder 0 Seidenthal 0 DesRoches 0 Corrao 0 Totals 12 GK Min Meara 92:15

SBU FOR

1 1 0

2 0 1

GA 1 OT 0 1

Sav 1 TOT 1 2

Fordham 1-0 Duquesne Duquesne Sh TORRES 0 WAUGH 2 BACHSTEIN 1 LUNDBERG 2 PATTERSON 0 HORNER 1 CLEMENT 1 STABBE 2 CASSANELLI 1 GENTILE 0 DREWENSKUS 0 Subs POE 1 SUTCLIFFE 0 GARDNER 1 CABAL 0 McCANN 1 Totals 13 GK Min Torres 90:00 Fordham Meara Ferrantello Bekoe Niyonsaba Richardson Curran Axelsson McHugh Gimand Stalker Courtenay Subs Jolly Vigliotti Heyder Nagel Seidenthal Totals GK Min Meara 90:00

DQU FOR

1 0 0

2 0 1

SOG 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 1 0 1 6

0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0

GA 1

Sav 4

Sh 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0

SOG 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0

G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

A 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

1 0 0 2 0 6

1 0 0 2 0 5

1 0 0 0 0 1

0 0 0 1 0 2

GA 0 Tot 0 1

Sav 6

Fordham K BS BA Daulton 4 0 2 May 5 0 1 Diamantidis 2 0 0 Wells 6 0 2 Griffiths 6 0 1 Ewing 2 2 5 Friede 0 0 0 Keathley 0 0 0 Hart 2 0 0 Capicotto 1 0 0 Konkel 1 0 1 Rodenberg 0 0 0 Thompson 1 0 0 Atwood 0 0 0 Totals 30 2 12 SLU

K BS Beaty 8 0 Kvitle 5 0 Deno 11 0 Marcum 4 0 Schumacher1 0 Boken 8 0 Karges 0 0 Bonoma 0 0 Gailot 0 0 Bolt 0 0 Toebben 1 0 Knouse 0 0 Totals 38 0

PCT DIG BE PTS .062 4 0 5.0 .032 1 1 5.5 .333 9 0 3.0 .062 0 0 7.0 .000 2 1 6.5 .091 0 1 6.5 -333 0 0 0.0 .000 3 0 0.0 .400 0 0 2.0 .000 0 0 1.0 1.000 1 0 1.5 .000 12 0 1.0 .000 0 0 1.0 .000 7 0 0.0 .065 39 3 40.0

PCT DIG BA BE PTS .200 2 2 0 9.0 .625 7 0 0 5.0 .417 7 0 0 11.0 .000 0 4 1 6.0 .000 1 1 0 1.5 .250 12 6 0 12.0 .000 1 0 0 0.0 .000 9 0 0 0.0 .000 2 0 0 3.0 .000 4 0 0 1.0 .333 0 1 0 1.5 .000 0 0 0 0.0 .263 45 14 1 50.0

1 2 3 18 15 18 25 25 25

FOR SLU

Fordham 2-3 GW GW BS

K BA

PCT BE

DIG PTS

Decarl 0 Hill 0 Knox 0 Zulandt 0 Whyte 0 Crosby 0 Goss 0 Knox 0 Stuart 0 Silva-Martin 0 Coward 0

0 0 0 0 7 4 15 4 20 2 2 5 12 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0

.000 0 .000 0 .222 1 .265 0 .176 0 .333 1 .235 0 -111 0 .000 0 .000 0 .000 0

9 0.0 10 0.0 1 9.0 3 17.0 14 21.0 9 6.5 6 12.5 0 4.0 0 0.0 28 2.0 3 6.5

Totals 0

60 19

.182 2

83 78.5

Fordham BS

K PCT DIG BA BE PTS

Friede 0 Daulton 0 Diamantidis 0 Wells 2 Griffiths 0 Ewing 1 Hart 0 Rodenberg 0 May 0 Atwood 0 Totals 3

GW FOR

1 24 26

0 .000 4 0 0 0.0 18 .118 12 0 0 120.0 0 -.167 18 3 0 1.5 13 .355 0 4 0 17.0 12 .250 3 4 2 16.0 0 -.333 0 1 0 1.5 8 .300 4 3 0 10.5 0 .000 25 0 0 2.0 22 .308 9 1 0 22.5 0 .000 12 0 0 1.0 73 16

2 25 18

3 22 25

.219 87 3 92.0 4 29 27

5 17 15

PAGE 26 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 20, 2010

MATT MANUSZAK

The Smush Parker Project As ESPN’s syndicated podcaster and MTV “Challenge” enthusiast Bill Simmons mentioned, there are only a few other times in NBA history that two of the four best players in the league have been partnered up: Elgin and the Logo with the Lakers, Shaq and Kobe with the Lakers and MJ and Pippen with the Bulls. The combination of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade gives the Heat a juggernaut potential the likes of which haven’t been seen since the ’97 Bulls.

The chance that the Heat could be unstoppable reminds me (segway!) of the character Omar from the HBO show “The Wire,” which is basically the greatest television show of all time. Both are unanimously feared, blazingly volatile and have specific calling cards.

Omar strolled around the streets of West Baltimore with a loose Newport jauntily perched behind his ear, concealing a fearsome sawed-off shotgun within his jetblack trench coat and whistling “The Farmer in the Dell” to make his enemies crap their collective briefs.

Meanwhile, the Heat players have slowly begun to embrace their status as NBA villains, dressing in all black warm-ups and emerging during player introductions with scowls plastered across their faces.

There is no question that when the Heat players become accustomed to one another, they won’t lose very much. In the same way that no one was more feared or unstoppable than Omar, no one has the potential to be more feared and unstoppable than the Heat. Without further ado, here are some of the contenders in the West and East, represented by characters from “The Wire.”

Having said all of that, one mustn’t forget The King. Not LeBron but Avon Barksdale, the head of West Baltimore’s drug-slinging operation. Until someone unseats him, “the king stays the king,” and until the Lakers get beat in the playoffs, they are the kings of the NBA. If Kobe can stay healthy and stay away from chucking up off-balance 20-footers and Andrew Bynum keeps progressing, the Lakers will have incredible amounts of size and skill. Winners of the past two championships, the Lake Show also boasts Phil Jackson (whose freewheeling ways as a player certainly fit in with Barksdale’s drug empire) arguably the greatest “egomanager” in NBA history, as well as Pau Gasol, the most skilled and least shampooed big man in the league. The Heat will be tough, but until they are toppled, the Lakers are the kings of the league.

The Boston Celtics roster is filled with players who simply don’t know when to stop: KG, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and newly inked Shaquille O’Neal all have rings, but here they are, out for another.

These veterans are hated for their impetuous intensity, which some-

times causes them to be overly physical with the opposing team and overly dramatic with the referees. Enter Jimmy McNulty, homicide detective, Irishman, drunk, adulterer and good police. No one draws more ire than McNulty, who ruffles a lot of feathers by being overly intense in his investigations and being insubordinate to his superiors. They may be old, but these Celtics are battle-tested and know how to win. In the same way, warts and all, no one knows how to solve a case like McNulty.

Out West, the greatest competitor to the Lakers are the San Antonio Spurs. The most cerebral of the contenders, the Spurs are led by their braintrust of GM RC Buford, coach Gregg Popovich and star forward/center Tim Duncan.

The Spurs work with a ruthless efficiency that conceals a battlehardened edge. The braintrust of Baltimore’s drug trade is Stringer Bell. He is the business end of the operation, the analytical partner to Barksdale’s emotional psyche.

Stringer is great with money, and his bespectacled countenance conceals a brutality that makes him a true threat to topple the king in the west. The Lakers had better watch their backs.

The next two contenders out west are the Mavericks and Jazz.

The Mavs and their über-star Dirk Nowitzki aren’t getting any younger, and if they aren’t careful, they could be banished outside of the playoffs before too long. This team must hope for a Lester Freamon-like rejuvenation. Lester, like the Mavs, had a prime once; he squandered it, ending up banished in the pawn shop division. Lester, however, bounced back to become a major player in the police department’s task force against the Barksdale crew. Dallas has a shelf life, and needs something to spark it.

The Jazz, led by Coach Jerry Sloan and guard Deron Williams, runs one of the most complex offenses in the NBA that is actually based on a single concept: the pick and roll. This tool has allowed Sloan to be one of the winningest coaches ever and the Jazz to be consistent contenders. Brother Mouzone, the Barksdale assassin, looks and talks like Malcolm X. He appears to be a complex person, spouting enlightened epigrams off the cuff. In reality, Brother Mouzone is driven by a simple concept: the dude is a cold-blooded killer.

Both the Jazz and Brother Mouzone conceal their raison d’etre being complex facades which confuse their opponents.

An honorable mention out West is the precocious Oklahoma City Thunder. This Kevin Durant-led squad exceeded expectations and is now looking to shake up the system of hierarchy that has for so long been stagnant, with the Lakers, Spurs and other veteran teams dominating.

Additionally, Durant is gunning for title of best player in the league, a title which LeBron James has held recently. The Thunder are like Michael, the young hopper with big-time aspirations who got into the dealer-robbing game early on. Michael also is trying to stake a claim as the best thief in Baltimore, a title currently held by the irascible Omar. Michael and the Thunder have potential; time will tell if these young gunners pan out.

SPORTS

Senior Profile: Jenna Hart

By DANNY ATKINSON SPORTS EDITOR

Jenna Hart is a senior right side hitter on the Fordham volleyball team. She has been a regular starter in all of her four years on the Lady Rams and was a member of the Atlantic 10 Comissioner’s Honor Roll last season. Hart ranks fourth on the team with 94 kills this season.

The Ram: Why did you decide to come to Fordham?

Jenna Hart: Fordham had a great academic reputation, which is really important to me, and the campus offers the best of both worlds with us being in New York City. Also, the girls on the team were very welcoming when I visited.

TR: What is a typical practice for the team like?

JH: The team spends a lot of time in practice working on fundamentals. We usually spend the first two-thirds of practice working on our skills and then come together in the last part of practice to scrimmage and see how the skills we’ve been working on play out in a game setting.

TR: What would you say your role on the team is both on and off the court?

JH: On the court I feel like my abilities to serve and play defense are very important to the team. Off the court, I just try to be a positive leader and help out any teammates who are having personal problems and need someone to talk to.

TR: What personal accomplishments are you most proud of from your time on the team?

JH: I don’t know, I’m not the kind of player who’s gotten 1,000 kills or anything. I guess I’m just proud that I’ve been a starter the entire time I’ve been here. That’s really important to me.

TR: Are you and the rest of the team happy with how the team has played this season?

PHOTO BY MIKE REZIN/THE RAM

Senior right side hitter Jenna Hart has been an important starter for four years.

JH: We definitely think we could have played better up to this point.

Losing to George Washington was a heartbreaker, and the team feels it’s lost a few games we should have won.

TR: What does the team have to do to play more consistently and lock up an Atlantic 10 playoff spot?

JH: I think we’ll have to win five more games to be sure that we’re in.

Beating GW would be huge, but we have to make sure that we beat the teams’ weaker than us like Rhode Island and Temple. I’m confident that the team will be in the A-10 Tournament.

TR: You were on the A-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll last season.

How are you able to do a good job of balancing the team and schoolwork?

JH: It was hard for me when I first got here. Being thrown right into having to learn how to manage both my volleyball time and school time was really important, and I was able to learn from my mistakes

and how best to schedule everything. I know now how to prioritize my schedule and having to do so let me become a lot more responsible.

TR: Both your father and grandfather played football for Notre Dame, and your grandfather was the Heisman Trophy winner in 1949. What did they teach you about the value of organized sports and how to be a successful athlete?

JH: My father and grandfather helped me learn a lot, but most important was that they taught me how to be a team player. They always emphasized sharing the ball with teammates and relying on them and just being you out on the field. I’ve always tried to follow the way my family members played unselfishly in the field.

TR: What are you hoping to do when you graduate from Fordham?

JH: I love the city, and I’d really like to stay here. Hopefully, I can get a career going here, maybe in finance.

Golf Finishes 15th at Big 5 Invitational

By JOHN DEMARZO STAFF WRITER

After consecutive 10th-place finishes in 14-team fields at the Cornell Invitational and the MacDonald Cup over the previous two weekends, the Fordham University men’s golf team traveled to Plymouth Country Club in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., to partake in the Big 5 Invitational, held on Saturday, Oct. 9 and Sunday, Oct. 10.

With 21 teams participating, including nationally known schools such as Princeton, Kentucky, Yale, Villanova, Penn, Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown and Cornell, it was the biggest invitational the Rams had played in up to this point.

Fordham held its own among the powerhouses, finishing in 15th place with a combined score of

605, just eight strokes out of 12th place and 11 strokes ahead of 16thplace Brown. Furman was the winner with a combined score of 574, eight strokes ahead of runner-up St. John’s.

Leading the way for the Rams was junior Devon O’Rourke, who shot a 149 (76-73). Sophomore Brody Nieporte, who shot a 150 (73-77), finished in second, while sophomore Jason Del Rosso’s 151 (77-74) was good for third place.

Rounding out the scoring for Fordham was sophomore Connor Monaghan, who shot a 155 (8075), and junior Charles Smith, who shot a 175 (87-88).

The following weekend, the Rams headed to Bedminster, N.J., to play in the Lincoln Mercury Invitational at the Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club, held on Oct. 16 and

17. The field featured 18 teams, including Binghamton, Temple, Seton Hall, Delaware, Lehigh and Rutgers.

Fordham finished tied for 13th place with Long Island University with a two-day total of 624. Leading the way for the Rams were Del Rosso (82-70) and Nieporte (78-74), both of whom shot 152.

Finishing third for Fordham was Monaghan, who shot a 159 (8079), with O’Rourke finishing in fourth with a 161 (80-81). Rounding out the scoring was sophomore Pat Herlihy, who carded a 166 (8581).

The golf team will next be in action on Monday, Nov. 1 and Tuesday, Nov. 2, as they will participate in the FDU Invitational at Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, N.J.

Water Polo Loses Two of Four in California

OCTOBER 20, 2010 • THE RAM • PAGE 27

SPORTS

By NICK CARROLL SPORTS EDITOR

PHOTO BY MARK BECKER/THE RAM

Junior goalkeeper Christian Flessner came up big for Fordham at Concordia.

By CHESTER BAKER STAFF WRITER

After spending much of the fall playing in tournaments on the east coast, Fordham was able to head to the west coast to compete against some of the best teams in California. Fordham began its five-game west coast road trip on Thursday, Oct. 7th with a 14-9 loss against Cal-Baptist.

Senior driver Alex Powell, graduate student two-meter man Ali Arat and senior two-meter man Mikey Edwards all got on the board early with goals in the first period. Fordham surged ahead with the lead until the defense blinked and CalBaptist was able to take the lead by two in the second quarter.

Fordham tried to gain some ground back after Powell cut the lead to one with a third-quarter goal, but Cal-Baptist kept the pressure on and got on a roll to take a 10-6 lead. Fordham was able to hang around, and Arat took the opportunity of two chances just before the end of the third to cut the lead in half. After this late rally, Fordham was only able to penetrate the defense one more time, and eventually gave up four straight goals in the fourth quarter to seal the loss.

Arat and Edwards continue to be one of the best duos in all of the ECAC, scoring four goals and two goals, respectively. Senior driver Daniel Munoz also had one of his best games on the year, putting three in the back of the net.

In its next two games of the west coast swing, Fordham competed in the Claremont Convergence Tournament, where it got its best win of the season, knocking off No. 16 Concordia 10-8. Fordham led at halftime 5-4 after letting Concordia grab a two-goal lead earlier in the match. Fordham had the same result in the second half, scoring five and allowing four to grab the upset win.

Senior Alex Powell continued to play well, leading the Rams with four goals. Even though Powell has been the third choice on option behind Edwards and Arat, who

each scored a pair in the win, Powell continues to play like a star. Junior goalkeeper Christian Flessner came up big with eight saves in the match and was able to thwart any late Concorida rally in the fourth.

In the second match of the day, Fordham fell to tournament cohost Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, who went 4-1 in the tournament, by a score of 9-5. Arat and Edwards were held pretty much in check throughout, only scoring two goals a piece. The only other Ram to score was freshman driver Ricky Dilday, who scored in his second straight game. Flessner did all he could to contain CMS, stopping 11 shots throughout, finishing the afternoon with 20 saves.

Fordham had another split on their third day in the west coast, losing its first match to Air Force 12-6. Senior utility man Ryan Hultman took charge of both the offense and the defense for the Rams, as he scored twice and recorded three steals. Air Force focused its defense on shutting down Arat and Edwards, and its strategy worked as the team was able to hold both players scoreless.

The second match of the day was almost the complete opposite for Fordham, as it was able to control the pace of the offense and make La Verne play at the Ram’s speed.

Arat made up for his scoreless game against Air Force by sliding five goals past the keeper, and Edwards got off the schneid with two goals of his own. Christian Flessner made eight saves before coming out the game after the third quarter.

For their efforts over the weekend, Flessner was named CWPA Northern Division Defensive Player of the Week, while Powell was named to the Northern Division Weekly Honor Roll.

Fordham finally returned home to New York after going 2-3 on the west coast to face Saint Francis in Brooklyn. Fordham was defeated by nine goals, one of its worst losses of the season. Fordham will be home on Sunday, Oct. 24th. They are scheduled to play Mercyhurst at 10:30 a.m. and then Gannon at 3:00 p.m.

Over the past six weeks, I’ve developed a bit of a problem. While watching football every Sunday, I interrogate my roommates like they’re Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs trying to comprehend what I’m watching. I consider myself a knowledgeable football fan, yet I have no idea what to make of this season. Who’s good? Who’s bad? Is it even possible to put together a power ranking? One week a team looks great, the next week they get demolished. The two preseason favorites in the NFC just played a game trying to avoid a 1-4 start. Either way, my questions usually result in my roommates yelling back at me that they don’t know anything. Or I’m told to shut up and stop asking so many questions.

So after being turned away, I’m going to try to make some sense of this crazy NFL season right here.

Who is Good?

Let’s start this with a pretty general question. Who is actually good in the league right now? Going into this past week, I thought it was a pretty limited answer – the Steelers, Jets and Ravens. The Steelers started 3-1 and are just got Ben Roethlisberger back, the Ravens have beaten both the Jets and Steelers and only had one loss up to that point and the Jets have lived up to expectations and may have the most talented roster in the league.

What does that mean? That means the league is pretty mediocre. Even the defending conference champions look vulnerable. The Colts still can’t run the ball and have no defense to show for and there may not be a hangover cure that would work for the Saints.

We have an idea of who will probably be coming out the AFC at this point as the elite have distinguished themselves from the rest of the league. The NFC, meanwhile, is wide open. I tell people that my Eagles could either be the best or the 12th-best team in the NFC, and that really could be the case.

Are the Packers who we thought they were?

Going into the season, Green Bay became the trendy pick to come out of the NFC. Aaron Rodgers put together a nearly flawless preseason coming off of a monster season in 2009, and he still had a deep group of receivers and Clay Matthews creating havoc on defense.

However, through six weeks, the Pack are 3-3 and can’t seem to win any close games. All of their games have been winnable against inferior opponents (or so we thought going into the season) and Green Bay only has one impressive performance, a 34-7 win over the downright pathetic Bills.

Besides that, the Packers nearly squandered a huge lead against the Michael Vick-led Eagles, gave Chicago a three-point win on Monday night, only beat the Lions by two and lost to Washington and Miami on overtime field goals. Granted, the Packers have suffered a barrage of injuries, but at the same time, they didn’t impress before the injuries. Maybe Ryan Grant was more important than anyone could have thought; however, he’s not coming back, and neither am I for the Packers’ bandwagon.

Who should be the Eagles’ starting quarterback?

The last time I blessed “Overtime” with my presence, I put in my full support for Michael Vick. As an inherently irrational and shorttempered Philadelphian, I had seen enough from Kolb. In his fourth year in the league, Kolb did not appear to show any growth. He still held the ball for too long, showed poor judgment picking his times throwing downfield and downright looked skittish.

After being prepped and readied to start the season, Kolb still did not look ready to play in the slightest.

After Kolb went down in the season opener, Vick stepped in and played so well he earned himself NFC Offensive Player of the Month in September. However,

when Vick got injured against Washington in Week 4, Kolb was forced in once again.

Though he struggled with many of the same problems he had against Green Bay and earlier in his career, Kolb breathed new life into what looked like a dismal season.

After playing a strong game to give the Eagles a win on Sunday Night Football against the struggling 49ers, he dismantled the Falcons, who were 4-1 coming into the game.

That brings us back to our original question, who gets the call? As much as I hate to say it, as much as I love Vick’s exciting style, it has to be Kolb. The Eagles have far too much invested in Kolb to risk having him leave and succeed somewhere else.

If Vick leaves, it’s not too big a hit.

He’s an aging quarterback who relies heavily on his athleticism. It would most likely only haunt the Eagles in the short run. If the Eagles chose Vick, and Kolb lives up to his billing, the Eagles would have let a franchise quarterback who could command the offense for the next decade walk.

Are the Patriots really better off without Randy Moss?

After the Pats traded Moss, I remember coming back and making fun of one of my roommates for the Patriots seemingly folding tent after 3-1 start.

However, seeing the way the Patriots came back against the Ravens to win a game in overtime and with Deion Branch producing like it is 2004, are the Pats better off without Moss?

Obviously, there’s a drop off in talent from Moss to Branch; however, the Patriots suddenly seemed to have gained the grittiness their Super Bowl teams all possessed, and there are parallels to the Lawyer Milloy situation leading into the 2003 season, one which produced a championship for New England.

Three rings have taught me never to count out Bill Belichick, and, even with an inconsistent defense, the Patriots cannot be forgotten in the AFC.

Upcoming Varsity Schedule CAPS=HOME lowercase=away

Thursday Oct. 21

Friday Oct. 22

Saturday Oct. 23

Sunday Oct. 24

Tuesday Oct. 26

Wednesday Oct. 27

LAFAYETTE 1:00 p.m.

Football

Head of the Charles Boston, Mass.

Women’s Rowing

at Rhode Island 4:00 p.m.

Volleyball

Men’s Soccer

at G.W. 3:00 p.m.

at Richmond 10:00 a.m.

Women’s Soccer

at G.W. 7:00 p.m.

at Richmond 1:00 p.m.

MERCYHURST 10:30 a.m.

GANNON 3:15 p.m.

Water Polo

ITA Regional Hanover, N.H.

Women’s Tennis

Swimming

Monday Oct. 25

MARIST 7:00 p.m.

at UConn 12:00 p.m.

IONA 7:30 p.m.

OCTOBER 20, 2010

PAGE 28

With Loss to Yale, Football Losing Streak at Four

By NICK CARROLL SPORTS EDITOR

After two exciting wins over Rhode Island and Columbia, it appeared as if Fordham football had a knack for the dramatic, coming up big and winning close games. Now, after losing four straight games by six points or fewer, the same can no longer be said for the Rams.

For most of the season, it was the defense letting the offense down. In the first five weeks of the season, Fordham lost three games despite scoring at least 24 points in each of its losses. However, the past two weeks have presented a drastic change, as Fordham’s defense has improved greatly, while the offense has slumped, leading to two more losses, leaving the team at 2-5.

In its first loss of the two, against Lehigh, Fordham struggled mightily in short-yardage situations, only converting three of 16 thirddown conversions and two of eight fourth-down conversions, including three failed conversions in the fourth quarter. Fordham played from behind all day, surrendering a first quarter touchdown on a 12yard pass from junior quarterback Chris Lum to sophomore wide receiver Ryan Spadola to put the Mountain Hawks up seven.

Fordham’s offense threatened the lead all afternoon. On the ensuing possession, Fordham got as far as Lehigh’s 10; however, after a sack, sophomore kicker Patrick Murray was forced to kick a 32-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.

After getting a quick three-andout, Fordham started with excellent field position on its own 47.

Fordham quickly pressured Lehigh with a 36-yard pass to senior running back Xavier Martin; however, the Rams quickly moved backward on a pair of holding penalties. Fordham was bailed out with a roughing the passer call on third-and-29, giving it new life.

Fordham used the run to get all the way down to the Lehigh two.

On third-and-1 from the 2, junior running back Jamir Livingston was stopped short of the first. Then, on fourth down, junior linebacker Mike Groome sacked sophomore quarterback Blake Wayne, ending the drive.

Fordham’s offense continued to move the ball. On the Rams’ following drive, Wayne hit senior wide receiver David Moore on a 39-yard touchdown pass to give the Rams a 10-7 lead.

The lead was short-lived, as Lehigh needed only seven plays to cover 53 yards and take the lead back on a 6-yard touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Michael Colvin.

Lehigh extended its lead in the third quarter. Following a fumble by freshman defensive lineman Justin Yancy, who carried the ball for a first down on fourth-and-1 for two yards before fumbling, the Mountain Hawks took advantage of another short field. Lehigh capped the drive with a 17-yard pass from Lum to sophomore run-

PHOTO BY SIMON SULIT/THE RAM

Freshman defensive lineman Justin Yancy intercepted a pass in the third quarter against Yale, leading to a field goal.

ning back Zach Barket to make the score 21-10.

Fordham got back into the game late in the third quarter. Following an efficient drive where the team faced only one third down, junior running back Darryl Whiting ran in a 2-yard touchdown to cut Lehigh’s lead to four.

That was as close as Fordham would get though, as the team went down without ever getting particularly close in the fourth quarter.

The Rams had some chances on fourth downs to put a drive together; however, the team failed to convert on fourth-and-8 from the Lehigh 32, fourth-and-3 from midfield and, lastly, fourth-and-11 from the Lehigh 28.

Wayne set a career-high in passing, throwing for 343 yards on 41 attempts. However, the lack of a strong ground attack (the team averaged 1.8 yards-per-rush) limited the Rams’ offense.

“We’re not running the ball well,” Head Coach Tom Masella said. “Teams know we want to run and they take [Martin] away.”

The offense did not improve the following week in New Haven, Conn. against Yale, as the Rams fell once again, 7-6.

“Defense last week played extremely well and today played extremely well,” Masella said. “We’re getting healthy bodies back. The last few weeks we’ve been healthy.”

“We’re not scoring enough points,” he added.

The turning point in the game came in the fourth quarter, when Yale blocked a 23-yard field goal attempt by Murray, which would have given Fordham a 9-7 lead with a little over nine minutes remaining.

Fordham played strong defense for most of the day, holding Yale to 317 yards of offense and only allowing the Bulldogs to enter the red zone twice.

The offense struggled for the second straight week, gaining only 308 yards and turning the ball over three times.

Fordham took an early lead in the game after playing the wind. A Yale drive allowed senior punter Alex Barnes to pin the Rams at their 1.

After quickly having to punt, a 54yard Murray punt turned around field position and gave Fordham some breathing room.

Fordham quickly went to work on its next drive that started at the

Fordham 29. Wayne started the drive with a 22-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Nick Talbert and then an 11-yard pass to senior wide receiver Jason Caldwell to get the Rams in Yale territory. They eventually got down to the Yale 27, setting up a 45-yard field goal that Murray nailed with the wind at his back, putting Fordham up 3-0.

Yale threatened the Fordham lead later in the first quarter. After junior safety Jeff Dunham intercepted Wayne on an underthrown deep ball up the sidelines for Talbert, Yale started at its own 40. The interception marked Wayne’s first interception thrown since Sept. 11 against Rhode Island.

Yale then picked up 18 yards when senior quarterback Brook Hart, who was filling in for injured junior quarterback Patrick Witt, threw to sophomore wide receiver Allen Harris. After a third-down pass picked up six on third-and-7, Yale went for it on fourth down, but was stopped when freshman running back Elijah Thomas was brought down by senior linebacker Bryson Wilson for a loss of three.

Fordham put some heat on Yale by driving down to its 34 on the back of another 22-yard pass to Talbert and a solid ground attack.

However, the drive dissolved after the Rams were called for holding on third down at the Yale 34. After failing to pick up the first down, Murray punted and pinned Yale at its own 12.

Fordham had another golden opportunity on its following drive.

After forcing a quick three-andout, Fordham started at its own 46.

However, the Rams were only able to pick up one first down and failed to break inside the Yale 40, having to give Yale the ball back.

Punting into the wind, Murray had the ball sail out of bounds at the 25. Yale quickly went to work with a 23-yard pass to senior wide receiver Jordan Forney to the Yale 40.

After working its way down to the Fordham 33, Yale decided to attempt a 50-yard field goal with a strong wind at the back of sophomore kicker Philippe Panico, who missed the kick just short.

Fordham tried to muster up one last drive before half, but Moore fumbled on a disastrous screen pass on third down which, after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Moore, set up the Bulldogs at the

Fordham 23. After Hart just missed on two potential touchdown passes, sophomore linebacker Nick Womack came in untouched on a blitz and blew up Hart for an eightyard loss, pushing Yale’s field goal attempt back to 48. Once again, the kick was short, making Panico 1-5 on the season (and Yale, as a team, 1-9) and preserving Fordham’s 3-0 lead at the half.

Yale, with some offensive momentum, went to work in the second half. Following a quick Fordham punt to start the half, Hart threw a pass just past the outstretched arm of sophomore defensive back Brendan Melanophy and into the hands of senior tight end Chris Blohm for a 30-yard gain.

After being forced backward, and taking the wind into account, Yale decided to fake the field goal on fourth down from the 18, but senior defensive back Adam Money could only pick up four when he needed 10.

On its following possession, Yale threatened once again. However, after getting to the Fordham 36, Hart had a pass tipped and intercepted by Yancy, who took it back to the Yale 47.

Wayne picked up 18 yards on two completions to senior tight end Stephen Skelton to start the following drive. However, the drive stalled in the red zone and Murray came on and hit another field goal, this time from 38 yards out, to make the score 6-0.

Yale finally broke through on its following possession. After picking up 19 yards and 14 yards on passes to senior running back Shane

Bannnon and senior wide receiver Gio Christodoulou, respectively, Hart finished off the drive by patiently waiting for Forney to break free in the open field, where he delivered a strike that was taken for a 29-yard touchdown, giving Yale a 7-6 lead.

“They got a guy all the way across on play action,” Masella said. “They had a lot of time and we cut him loose. The longer they had to hold on to the ball, the more room they had.”

The Rams did not go down without a fight. Wayne drove the Rams down inside the Yale 10, highlighted by a laser across the middle to Caldwell on third-and-11 for 25 yards and a first down at the eight.

However, after failing to get into the end zone and intentionally taking a delay of game penalty to give Murray a better angle on the field goal, he could not elevate his kick high enough and had it blocked by sophomore defensive lineman Chris Dooley.

“It looked like a low kick,” Masella said. “The kid got a hand on it, that’s what it looked like from the sidelines.”

Yale went on to miss another field goal before Fordham had another prime opportunity to get back into the game. After converting two fourth-down throws to Talbert and then Skelton, Wayne fired a pass that hit off of Skelton’s hands and was intercepted at the Yale 45, essentially sealing the game.

“I think Steve slipped,” Masella said. “He couldn’t come back to the ball and couldn’t keep his hands on it and it was wrestled away.”

However, in a last-ditch effort that came up short, Wayne was hit low and had to miss the final three plays of the game. Sophomore Ryan Higgins came in to finish the game, throwing three incomplete Hail Mary passes.

“I think Wayne will be okay,” Masella said. “It’s a lower leg problem.”

The Rams’ two losses make four in a row and drop their record to 2-5 on the season.

Next week, Fordham comes back home against Lafayette, which is coming off its first win of the year against Stony Brook, 28-21. On the season, the Leopards are 1-5.

PHOTO BY SIMON SULIT/THE RAM

Sophomore quarterback Blake Wayne left the game late in the fourth quarter due to a lower leg injury.