Volume 95, Issue 22

The Fordham Ram Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918 Volume 95, Issue 22

FordhamRam.com F dh R

Rams Defeat Pioneers, 37-27, in First Playoff Win Since ’02 Fordham Will Advance to Face No. 7 Towson in Second Round of FCS Playoffs

December D b 44, 2013

After 17 Years, Rose Hill Dean Decides to Depart University

By CONNOR RYAN & KELLY KULTYS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & NEWS EDITOR

MICHAEL REZIN/THE RAM

The Rams defense made several crucial stops in the second half to stop the Pioneer offense and hold on to the lead.

By DAN GARTLAND EXECUTIVE SPORTS EDITOR

Seven teams have come to the Bronx to face the Fordham Rams this fall. All seven have lost. All seven have said something similar to what Sacred Heart head coach Mark Nofri said after his Pioneers fell at Jack Coffey Field on Saturday afternoon: “Obviously we ran into a great foot-

Sodexo Service Hours Produce More Student Complaints

ball team.”

Sacred Heart played Fordham tight. The Rams only led by four at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

After racking up 349 yards and 31 points in the first half, the Fordham offense was held in check in the second half and scored only six points, allowing Sacred Heart to get back into the game. The Pioneers trailed 31-17 at the half, but scored 10 un-

answered points in the third quarter while Fordham’s offense sputtered.

“We had drops, we had penalties, we were stopping ourselves,” Fordham quarterback Mike Nebrich said.

“That’s something we have to get better on, or we’re not going to win next week. We can’t have a great first half and a bad second half. We need to have a complete game offensively.”

SEE FOOTBALL, PAGE 19

Michael Latham, acting dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill since 2009 and a faculty member in the history department for 13 years before then, will be leaving Fordham in July to become the dean and vice president for academic affairs at Grinnell College in Iowa, university officials announced Tuesday.

Latham called the move “a professional step,” in an email to The Fordham Ram, and said his decision to leave Fordham “was not shaped in any way by a sense of discontent.”

“Fordham has profoundly shaped my sense of what the liberal arts can achieve,” he said.

“Grinnell’s commitment to inquiry-led learning, undergraduate research, innovative teaching and social justice strongly parallel the values that I have found and embraced here at Rose Hill.”

Stephen Freedman, the university’s provost, announced the

Home Sweet Home for Those Abroad

news in an email to the university community late Tuesday afternoon. He spoke fondly of Latham, thanking him on behalf of Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, for his service and commitment to the ideals by which Fordham bases itself.

“We extend our warm congratulations and gratitude for his outstanding leadership as dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill,” Freedman said. “As dean, he has guided the work of Fordham College at Rose Hill through the formal introduction of a collegewide strategic planning process and the implementation of a comprehensive plan to provide operational direction for the college.”

Bob Howe, director of communications at Fordham, declined to speak in detail about Latham’s departure, labeling it “not public information.” But, he noted that several of Latham’s predecessors — including McShane — have gone on to attain higher-level administrative roles at various universities.

SEE LATHAM, PAGE 2

Student Leaders Bash OrgSync, Despite Admin Enthusiasm

By GIRISH SWAMINATH ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

By KATIE MEYER ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

This year has been a year of change for Fordham dining.

Following negotiations that took place after a yearlong review of Sodexo, administrators decided to keep the food service provider, on the condition that they made some changes.

And change they did. With the addition of Così and Panda Express, among other things, Sodexo’s food quality garnered generally favorable reviews from students at the start of the fall semester, according to a brief survey conducted by The Ram in September (V. 95, i. 12).

However, other aspects of Sodexo’s service have not been so readily accepted.

Brendan Francolini, GSB ’14, executive vice president of USG, has noticed that a common complaint among students is the odd hours kept by some on-campus eateries.

Francolini was closely involved in the dining services selection process last year. As chair of the Dining Services Student Engagement Committee, he represented the students’ voices throughout the process, and since then, he has paid close attention to student feedback about dining services.

“I have heard about some stuSEE SODEXO, PAGE 3

KATE DOHENY/THE RAM

While studying abroad, students have the chance to explore a variety of countries and historical hotspots.

By MARIA PAPPAS STAFF WRITER

As the semester draws to a close, students who are studying abroad are beginning to make their way back to Fordham in time for the spring semester.

Maggie Joy, FCRH ’15, is a music and English double major who is currently studying at Loyola Chicago’s John Felice Center in Rome. She says that the most enjoyable part of being abroad is the ability to travel freely. Joy enjoys how inexpensive travel is, especially when she uses Ryanair, which takes her to various places for E30 roundtrip.

“No matter where you go you’re

going to have a fantastic time,” Joy said.

Besides exploring the historic and picturesque sites that Rome has to offer, from the Colosseum to the Trevi Fountain, Joy has also explored Italy and nearby countries such as Germany, Greece, Ireland, Morocco and Turkey.

During her time abroad, Joy enjoyed running into Fordham students and visiting friends.

“It’s a weird combination of realizing how small the world is, but also how there’s so much I still haven’t seen,” she says. However, Joy states that what she misses the most about Fordham is her Fordham family, and that she cannot wait to come back to campus to

see her friends. Being abroad during Fordham’s historic football season has also been difficult for Joy, who was in the band last year and has now downgraded from bleacher seats to her couch where she has been forced to watch the games online through livestream.

Liana Piacquadio, GSB ’15, finds herself feeling similar to Joy regarding her study abroad experience. She is currently studying at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business London Centre. She also enjoys the travel experiences that studying abroad has afforded her, saying, “[The Fordham students have] all spent so much time together and have SEE ABROAD, PAGE 2

All student-run clubs and organizations are encouraged to utilize OrgSync, an online platform designed to enhance communication among the Fordham student population, student leaders and Office of Student Leadership and Community Development (OSLCD).

While OSLCD attributes the improvement of campus communication and club management systems to the OrgSync platform, student leaders claim to rarely utilize the platform and do not feel that OrgSync has elicited any improvement in their club operations. According to OSLCD, students can use OrgSync to make room reservations, SEE ORGSYNC, PAGE 6

in this issue

Opinion Page 7 Is Sexting a Viable Defense Against False Allegations?

Arts

Page 11 The Best Movie Theaters in New York City

Sports

Page 20

Men’s Basketball Wins Battle of the Bronx

NEWS

Page 2

SECURITY BRIEFS Nov. 27 Parking Garage 4:25 a.m.

Early Wednesday morning a male, non-Fordham student was trapped in a parking garage elevator. He notified security, who contacted the fire department. The man was released without injury.

Nov. 28 Faculty Memorial Hall 12:00 p.m.

Security officers discovered a water leak in the rooftop mechanical room of FMH. They promptly notified security personnel, who corrected the problem. There was minor water damage to the ceiling of the fifth floor.

Dec. 1 Hughes House 12:55 p.m.

A smoke detector was activated in the garage beind Hughes House.

It had been set off by smoke from a motorcycle and caused the building to be evacuated. The alarm was reset, and there was no property damage.

Dec. 1 Security Parking Lot 7:40 p.m.

A parent driving on campus backed into a security vehicle, causing minor damage. The parent reported the incident to security.

There were no injuries, and the vehicle’s cracked reflector lens was repaired.

Between Nov. 26 and Dec. 2 Rodrigues Coffee House Sometime since the 26th, when the coffeehouse closed for Thanksgiving break, someone entered through the front door and damaged the lock. No property was removed, and no damage inside the building was observed. The lock was repaired and security is still investigating.

Between Aug. 30 and Dec. 3 Alumni Court South A female student reported multiple small thefts from her fourth floor room in Alumni Court South.

She said that minor items that belonged to her had gone missing over the course of the semester.

Security is currently investigating.

—Compiled by Katie Meyer, Assistant News Editor

December 4, 2013

Latham Garnered Respect, Admiration During Tenure FROM LATHAM, PAGE 1

After earning a bachelor’s degree in history from Pomona College and a master’s degree in the same subject from the University of California, Los Angeles, Latham arrived at Fordham in 1996 as an assistant professor.

He earned his doctorate that same year, and was promoted six years later to associate professor within Fordham’s history department.

But, it was halfway through the spring semester in 2009 when Latham made his largest career jump: interim dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill. The “interim” was removed from his title one year later.

“In the process [of being interim dean] he has established an admirable reputation as a consultative and effective administrator,” McShane in a statement, naming Latham dean. “Therefore, I am confident that he will lead the university’s oldest and largest academic unit with real distinction.”

Latham said his goals at the time of his promotion were to emphasize “undergraduate research across all academic disciplines, develop the sciences and [continue] international education.”

During his time at Rose Hill, Latham received Fordham University’s award for undergraduate teaching in the social sciences in 2007.

He also published two books involving his research into the history of U.S. foreign relations, 20th-century America and the global history of the Cold War. These were The Right Kind of Revolution: Modernization, Development, and U.S. Foreign Policy from the Cold War to the Present and Modernization as Ideology: American Social Science and Nation Building in the Kennedy Era.

ELIZABETH ZANGHI/THE RAM

Latham joined Fordham’s faculty as a history professor in 1996, before becoming the FCRH interim dean in 2009.

In addition, Latham garnered the respect of his colleagues and students throughout his time at Fordham.

Robert Parmach, freshman dean at Rose Hill, has worked closely with Latham and will miss his colleague.

“Over the years, I've worked with Dean Latham on many initiatives — an increased Jesuit identity of the College, Integrated Learning Communities (ILCs) such as the Manresa Scholars Program, and academic integrity, to name a few,” Parmach said via email. “Also, we co-present very often at Fordham events for prospective students, parents, faculty, alumni, and potential donors — deans can be salesmen, too.”

John Harrington, dean of arts and sciences faculty, assumed his position the same year Latham started his term as dean.

“This is a great opportunity for Mike to advance some of the key

values he advanced at Fordham — close student-faculty communication, advancement of sciences as part of liberal arts and emphasis on undergraduate research,” he said via email.

Kirstin Swinth, an associate professor in the history department, highlighted Latham’s important role as a mediator between faculty and administrators.

“Dr. Latham has been a wonderful colleague and friend in all the years I've known him as a fellow professor in the history department and as [a] Dean,” Swinth said.

She added: “His guiding vision was always to make Fordham better for its students. He leaves a lasting legacy, especially in his promotion of research for undergraduates.”

Christopher Rodgers, dean of students, complimented the strong work ethic Latham has displayed at Fordham.

“It has been a real privilege to work with Dean Latham during his tenure at Fordham,” Rodgers said. “He has left a significant positive legacy here, but the area where I am personally most grateful to him is for the work he has done with us on integrated learning communities — centerpiece partnerships between the colleges, mission and ministry and student life.”

When it comes to his relationship with students, Emily Horihan, FCRH ’14 and United Student Government vice president of Rose Hill, said: “He has always been attentive to students' ideas and committed to making us a strong voice in the future of Fordham.”

It was not clear Tuesday when Latham’s successor will be named, but Parmach said that he hopes Latham will be able to train his interim replacement next semester before he leaves this summer.

Reverse Culture Shocks Hit Those Returning Home FROM ABROAD, PAGE 1

gotten a lot closer.”

Piacquadio is excited to allow these new friendships to continue to flourish upon her return to Fordham.

She also states that she is “especially jealous of everyone who got to see our football team do so well this season,” and cannot wait to be able to experience a football game next season.

Dimitri Florakis, FCRH ’15, just returned from his semester studying abroad in Melbourne, Australia. Florakis says that he

picked this unfamiliar location for his study abroad experience because “I figured I could go to Europe anytime, and I thought if I was going abroad I might as well go somewhere that I probably won’t have the opportunity to visit again.”

While abroad, Florakis traveled the east coast of Australia, visiting places such as Sydney and the Great Barrier Reef, where he went snorkeling and scuba diving, which he states was one of his favorite experiences abroad.

He found that the culture of

Australia differs greatly from America’s, despite their shared language. Upon his return to Fordham, he is experiencing what he calls “reverse culture shock.”

“It’s a little strange coming back to Fordham because I feel like a stranger in a familiar land, having been apart from my friends for a semester,” Florakis said.

Some of the biggest things he missed about Fordham were the scenic campus and the community surrounding the school.

“The school I went to in Melbourne was pretty large and I felt

like a number there, but at Fordham I have never felt that way,” Florakis said.

While he missed the community and his Fordham friends, Florakis was also able to make dozens of friends from around the world.

He says, “One of my favorite things was meeting and befriending people from all over the world, including Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore and London. Now that I have friends from other parts of the world, it has opened up new opportunities for me to travel the world.”

This Week at Fordham Thursday Dec. 5 Challenges in Developing and Developed Countries Freeman Hall 103, 6:30 p.m.

UNICEF at Fordham is hosting a lecture by Lidia Climent-Martinez, who will discuss her prior work with the organization, Ninos de Guatemala, and her work on child abuse cases in New York City.

Friday Dec. 6

Thursday Dec. 5 Elf

How to Throw a Vintage Party

Keating 1st, 9 p.m.

Collins Auditorium, 6:30 p.m.

Campus Activities Board (CAB) is sponsoring a screening of the last film of the semester, Elf, with free candy for the audience.

Fordham’s jazz a-cappella group, Hot Notes, will be performing various pieces and will present its showcase in stereophonic sound.

Friday Dec. 6 FUSE Sandwich and Bake Sale Walsh Gate, 10:30 p.m.

Fordham University South Asian Entity (FUSE) will be hosting a Nutella, marshmallow and grilled cheese sandwich sale. Bake goods will also be sold.

For more campus events, visit FordhamRam.com

Monday Dec. 9 Second Annual SAAC Charity Dodgeball Tournament Lombardi Fieldhouse, 7 p.m.

The Student-Athlete Advisory Council will sponsor a student dodgeball tournament. Proceeds will be donated to the Children’s Aid Society’s East Harlem Center.

NEWS

December 4, 2013

Page 3

FORDHAM IN THE BRONX

Fordham LGBTQ Students Uncomfortable ‘Out’ in the Bronx Students say: ‘Sometimes I just want to hold my girlfriend’s hand without comment’

COURTESY OF TONI NICHOLAS

LGBTQ students remain inhibited in publicly displaying affection to their partners, since they frequently encounter homophobia in the Bronx community.

By JEFFREY COLTIN BRONX CORRESPONDENT

Every August, thousands of young people come to Rose Hill and take up residence in the Bronx — and a lot of them are gay. These students and all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students in many ways face a different experience at Rose Hill than those students who are not sexual or gender minorities — especially off-campus.

“There’s this sense — even if it’s not true, and it is true, I think — but there’s this sense that makes me more of a target,” Jeff Lockhart, FCRH ’13, GSAS ’14 said.

Lockhart identifies as queer and has openly dated males during his time at Rose Hill. He has given a lot of thought to LGBTQ issues at Fordham as the principal investigator of the Fordham Que(e)ry, a report published this year on the LGBTQ student experience.

“I tend to think of myself as one of the most comfortably ‘out’ people here,” Lockhart said, but even he does not always feel comfortable off campus. He notes he has gotten more confident since he shaved off his pink and purple mohawk hairstyle.

“When I was so visibly queer, there was the concern that that would be taken for a weakness,” Lockhart said. “You know, if you’re going to pick someone to mug, you might as well pick someone who looks weak, or someone who isn’t going to fight back, or ‘sissy guy.’”

Every Rose Hill student knows walking off campus has its potential dangers. Walking down the wrong street at the wrong time can result in getting mugged or threatened. If you’re female, walking down almost any street at any time can result in getting catcalled and harassed.

“The safety of an area, or its lack of safety, is sort of magnified for people who present in gender-non-conform-

ing ways or in feminine ways,” Lockhart said. “Because, if there’s going to be violence or aggression, it’s probably going to happen to someone who’s perceived as weaker.”

For LGBTQ students, it’s not just the neighborhood around the university that’s an issue. It’s the whole borough. Of all corners of New York City, the Bronx is considered to be the least friendly to LGBTQ people.

It has no full-time gay bar and few services or community centers. Many LGBTQ Bronx residents mention a very real sense of homophobia.

“I don’t think I would ever walk around the Bronx holding hands with another guy or doing anything else romantic with another guy,” said one gay male Fordham student who preferred to remain nameless. He mentioned walking home with friends late one night from the D train and being called “a group of faggots” by an intoxicated man.

Rachel Dougherty, FCRH ’15

identifies as a queer woman. She has had similarly unnerving experiences walking with her girlfriend in the Bronx.

“We’ve had people say we’re disgusting; we’ve had men catcall both of us (much more aggressively then when I'm by myself); we’ve been subjected to people’s stares,” she said.

“Sometimes I just want to hold my girlfriend’s hand without comment.”

It’s not all bad in the Bronx. “No matter where you are, there’s always a gay community,” says Jesus Leon, FCRH ’15, who came out as gay while at Fordham.

Leon says the community just is not very vocal. He attributes it to the borough’s ethnic makeup. “Being Hispanic myself, I know it’s not a very accepted thing among Hispanics,” Leon said.

That makes Ritchie Torres’ win even more impressive. Torres is openly gay and was just elected to the New York City Council for the 15th

district, which includes both Fordham and the Belmont neighborhood where many Rose Hill students live.

That makes him the first openly gay official elected to a major office in the Bronx — 22 years after the first openly-gay city council members were elected in Manhattan.

Manhattan’s proximity is seen as a boost in a sometimes hostile Bronx.

One gay student noted that, “Hell's Kitchen is only one ride away on the Ram Van, and it doesn’t get much gayer than that.”

Other LGBTQ students see campus itself as a refuge. Leon said that on campus, “I feel completely comfortable [holding my boyfriend’s hand], and I think that’s one of the reasons why I came out in the first place.”

Another gay student agreed. “I’ve never felt the need to hide my sexuality at Fordham… I am who I am, and everyone at school accepts it.”

But campus is not always a comfortable environment either. Dougherty notes getting “unsettling” looks from passersby, and a gay student relates a story of his lesbian friend walking past a group of Fordham students while they chanted a gay slur.

Fordham Security did not respond to a request for information on bias incidents on and off campus, but Lockhart’s Que(e)ry found that half of LGBTQ undergraduates responding had witnessed harassment on campus, most of them multiple times.

A significant minority of responding students had either witnessed or experienced threats of violence related to LGBTQ identity. These incidents happened both on and off campus.

Lockhart says it is important that Fordham allows all students to feel comfortable.

“Statistically, the majority of [LGBTQ students] showing up on Fordham’s front gate have never had an opportunity to be welcomed and accepted before,” Lockhart said. “So it’s a real big chance that Fordham has, and we shouldn’t blow it.”

Sodexo Weighs Facility Constraints with Student Concerns FROM SODEXO, PAGE 1

dents discussing their dissatisfaction with hours of operation at certain dining locations since the beginning of the year,” Francolini said, noting that several student clubs brought these complaints to the attention of Dining Services.

“For the first two months of the school year, USG kept Dining Services on our weekly senate meeting agendas to bring up students’ issues with their food service,” Francolini said. “This feedback was then passed along to the Student Culinary Council. During those discussions, hours of operation was an issue that came up, and, though I am not sure about the specifics, I know that Fordham Dining is making adjustments to the hours at key locations in the future.”

The hours of the Starbucks in McGinley Basement are commonly criticized. Along with Panda Express and Jamba Juice, the Starbucks is open from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. from Monday to Friday, and from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays.

John Azzopardi, Sodexo’s Resident District Manager at both Rose

Hill and Lincoln Center, said that these complaints have not fallen on deaf ears.

“We have … received feedback from students asking that we open the Starbucks earlier and we are in the process of reviewing this feedback and analyzing our current breakfast hours on campus,” Azzopardi said.

Starbucks’ late start has been partially attributed to the presence of other coffee options on campus with longer hours.

“Così at Campbell Hall offers a great line of espresso drinks as well as the new ZeBi at Faculty Memorial Hall, so the Dagger John’s [Starbucks was]…left similar to last year,” Azzopardi said.

That is not the only thing holding Starbucks back, however.

Kate Russell, FCRH ’16, a member of the Student Culinary Council (SCC) at Fordham, said that logistical and operational issues also stand in the way of expanding hours.

“Because of Starbucks’ location with Panda Express, it complicates the cleaning and space preparation

QINRUI HUA/ THE RAM

Sodexo responded to student concerns about the hours of operation of different campus eateries based on demand.

process,” Russell said.

Despite this issue, she maintains that change could still come. “In regard to Starbucks, the SCC and Sodexo are working to change the hours,” she said.

When considering any service change, Azzopardi says that Sodexo pays close attention to data gathered from different on-campus dining spots.

“We look at traffic patterns such as where dorm rooms are located and class locations to help deter-

mine where we can best serve the students,” Azzopardi said. “We also use sales data to show us how each location is performing throughout the day and use this information to help decide on hours of operation for the semester.”

Azzopardi said that student feedback is also a “very important tool” that Sodexo uses to determine hours. He brought up the previous service changes in The Marketplace as an example.

“We received great amount of

feedback in prior years [saying] that students felt [The Marketplace was] not open long enough to allow them time to get a meal after late classes or from Athletic practices…

As a result we decided to add extra hours of service this year,” he said.

“We can now look back over this semester and look at how many students on average take advantage of the extended hours and continue to look at opportunities on how we can best meet the needs of the students.”

NEWS

Page 4

December 4, 2013

Students for Fair Trade Pursue Official University Certification

By MEGAN CATTEL STAFF WRITER

Every time students grab a cup of coffee from the cafeteria they support fair trade practices. Some students at Fordham think the school should do even more to support fair trade. Michael Billotti, FCRH ’15 and president of Students for Fair Trade, is one such student. He is currently spearheading the initiative to have Fordham certified as a fair trade school by Fair Trade Colleges and Universities.

“Fair trade tries to make sure the farmer, artisan or worker in a developing country is paid a fair living wage,” Billotti said. “We want the student body to be informed and make smart decisions about the goods they buy.”

Fair trade strives to build sustainable businesses abroad, where workers are often exploited and not properly compensated for their products. The documentary Black Gold reveals how corporations subsidize agricultural products such as coffee beans, bananas, sugar and cocoa. One kilo of coffee earns an Ethiopian coffee farmer 23 cents. The film shows that insufficient pay causes a never-ending spiral of poverty from which workers cannot escape; they maintain long-term dependence on these exploitative corporations.

Before coffee makes it to the grocery store and ends up on the table, the beans often travel from the farm into the hands of up to six different middlemen, decreasing the value of the product each time intervention occurs. Little is left for the workers to receive at the end of this elongated process.

Billotti explained that fair trade works exclusively with workers in a simplified, transparent and sustainable method of transporting goods to consumer.

Students for Fair Trade has been an active group in the Fordham

community since the beginning of the school year. Though leadership fell by the wayside this past spring, Billotti has successfully built up membership through the successful collaboration between the club and Sodexo’s Sustainability Week. Students were given free pieces of free trade chocolate for signing onto the Students for Fair Trade email list. Now the list has over 100 students.

Along with the growth of Students for Fair Trade, Billotti hopes that through his efforts Fordham can be deemed an official fair trade school. If this goal is realized, Fordham will be at the forefront of this social justice movement, joining a list of just 15 other universities in the country.

“Professor Kate Combellick, who teaches the fair trade classes at Fordham, got me in touch with Parker Townley, who runs Fair Trade Colleges and Universities, a subsidiary of the non-profit group Fair Trade USA,” Billotti said. “This national non-profit evaluates if goods are fair trade or not through super intense bookkeeping and if they provide a true living wage for farmers.”

Fair Trade Colleges and Universities lists five qualifications for a school to be considered fair trade friendly. First, a commitment to fair trade education should be present — this is fulfilled by Combellick’s classes. The second and third requirements mandate a legitimate student-run organization that also maintains successful relations with campus outlets. Students for Fair Trade’s campus presence and events satisfy these requirements. The fourth and fifth steps for eligibility call for each venue on campus to have at least two free trade items and for free trade options at meetings and events. Sodexo’s different eateries on campus do offer fair trade certified products, such as Amani coffee, and they cater a lot of oncampus festivities for faculty and

COURTESY OF RAM ARCHIVES

Students for Fair Trade appealed to the university to officially advocate for fair working conditions and wages abroad.

students throughout the year.

After the initial five qualifications are completed, Fordham administrators would have to agree to a resolution that finalizes fair trade status. The resolution is signed by the president of a given university or college, and it promises that the school will commit to fair trade.

Billotti clarified that the resolution merely cements administrative acknowledgement of fair trade on campus grounds. He said that some administrators and campus leaders have reservations about the resolution and are fearful that Fordham will have to compromise non-fair trade products like Coca-Cola and Nike.

However, he assures that this is not the case.

“You won’t see any obligatory things on the resolution,” Billotti said while clarifying the final, crucial step that has slowed the proceedings for the past few months.

“There is no ‘teeth’ or contractual obligations.”

To build up support for the signing of the resolution, Billotti has begun what he calls a grassroots movement starting with student interaction, leading up to professors, department heads and, finally, all the way to the top of Fordham’s hierarchy. United Student Government issued a statement of support for the Students of Fair Trade’s campaign for the resolution.

Now, Billotti has set his sights on student clubs and organizations to sign onto USG’s statement of support before sending it to Fordham’s upper tier in power.

Though the process has been frustrating and difficult, Billotti chalks it up to a learning experience.

“What’s keeping us going is to educate people, make other socially conscious consumers, and realize the goals and merits of fair

trade,” he said, “Even if we fail long term, we have achieved educating the populace of Fordham University about the fair trade movement.”

When asked about his interest in advocating for fair trade, Billotti discussed his visits to over 15 countries in his lifetime.

Seeing impoverished nations firsthand is a key motivating factor for Billotti and drives the vision he has for Students for Fair Trade.

“Fair trade is such a sustainable practice. And the psychological impact of allowing workers to have the integrity to work for a fair wage is powerful. This change in mentality ripples outward to their ideas of human rights, and how the nation should be governed,” he said. “It has the chance of offering a bigger change in the geopolitical picture, and has the potential for far reaching impact for communities and countries.”

Graduates’ Organization Offers Micro-Loans to Bronx Residents

By DYLAN DEMARTINO STAFF WRITER

The Concourse Group is an organization focused on social innovation and entrepreneurial development in the Bronx.

Originally started by two Fordham undergraduates, the Concourse Group is continuing to expand its microfinance and startup consultancy practice in conjunction with a Fordham Foundry partnership.

CEO Andrew Kingsly, GSB ’13, undertook a service learning project in the Bronx as a sophomore in order to become involved in the Fordham and Bronx communities after transferring from Louisiana State University (LSU).

The area of the Bronx near Fordham is chronically underserved when it comes to the availability of credit and services required for economic inclusion in the formal sector.

Despite the material wealth generally associated with New York City, the congressional district in the South Bronx (CD16) is actually the poorest in the

United States, with 40 percent of its populace living under the poverty line.

In general, one in five New Yorkers’ lacks sufficient access to financial services.

Kingsly and Concourse Group co-founder Anuar Juraidini gained some experience interacting with the individuals within the community.

They learned that there was a group of predominantly Latina women who were working toward objectives concerning social entrepreneurship.

It became unwieldy to match prospects with specialized credit unions.

Kingsly sought to institutionalize the process so that community based credit unions could be more efficiently connected to local individuals.

The Concourse Group seeks to rectify the dearth of strong credit unions focused primarily on local growth.

Kingsly noted the opportunity present to the Fordham community to aid in the positive development of Bronx businesses.

“We’re looking to bridge the gap between a tech startup and micro finance; doing that is not something I can do alone. It takes a university — this initiative has to come from a major community player like Fordham,” Kingsly said.

Involvement in the Concourse Group via the Fordham Foundry has proven to be an excellent supplement to the classroom experience and continued the important process of learning beyond the gates of the university.

A way for students to participate in Concourse Group activities is volunteering for its “Three Day Startup” seminars.

Entrepreneurs are immersed in an intensive 72-hour development environment in which development resources, food and a constructive pitch panel are provided to hone and augment the viability of local enterprises, much like a hack-a-thon.

Potential business can benefit from the resources and the human capital provided by the university.

Kingsly emphasized the value

of the pitch aspect of the workshop, saying that it “benefits all involved because giving a pitch is an educational process and allows banks the opportunity to evaluate potential loan candidates. The Foundry also gets to examine potential partnerships.”

Several Fordham students are currently involved in the Group’s work.

Some are working as business fellows to learn more about the practice of microfinance development.

Other students are working via the Fordham Foundry in advisory roles.

Ross Garlick, GSB ’15, is operations manager of the Fordham Digital Business society (DBS) and the founder of Startup Fordham, a meet-up group for entrepreneurs that strives to foster collaborative activity in the Bronx and the wider New York area.

Garlick has served as a strategic adviser for the Concourse Group and in particular has been involved in planning its next “Three Day Startup,” which will occur this January.

“The Concourse Group project is a great way for the Fordham community to contribute in a meaningful way to the development of its neighborhood and its fellow residents,” Garlick said.

Daryl McCleod is a professor of economics and serves as a faculty adviser to the Concourse Group.

He has researched the impact of microfinance on community development and is enthusiastic about the Group’s potential to energize the local economy.

He notes in that the presence of a pronounced immigrant community in CD-16 creates a particular need for business development resources and credit.

Since one of the only viable options for many immigrants to succeed economically is to start their own businesses, the availability of credit is a crucial factor in their finding success, as well as effectively integrating into the formal economy.

Students interested in participating in the Concourse Group’s “Three Day Startup” this January should visit their website, www. concoursefund.org.

NEWS

December 4, 2013

Page 5

At Fordham, It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Advent

By EDDIE MIKUS STAFF WRITER

Fordham’s church is decked in purple, the Christmas decorations have started go up and, across campus, students have started counting down the days to Christmas; Advent is upon us.

Campus Ministry has scheduled a number of events to help students celebrate the season and prepare for Christmas.

“We will have all of our devotionals,” Fr. Philip Florio, S.J., vice president of Campus Ministry, said when asked what the university’s Advent celebrations will look like. “We will have an Advent Praise and Worship, which I will preach. We will have a holiday party on the Dec. 9. Campus Ministry will host a holiday party for students of all faith traditions.”

Florio said that scheduling these events was a challenge this year because of the late Thanksgiving, which caused two Advent Sundays to fall over the winter break.

As a result, some events that the university has hosted in other years will not take place this year.

A major event of Fordham’s celebrations will be the Mass on the third Sunday of Advent, which is known as Gaudete Sunday.

Florio said that this mass will serve as an opportunity for those at Fordham to celebrate as a community before returning home for Christmas break.

“This will be our third year of celebrating Gaudete on a large scale, and that rose out of a need for me to make sure that our students had some sense of the celebration of the season during the business and the hecticness of exam time,” Florio said. “And it

has become immensely popular.

It’s sponsored by Campus Ministry and supported by the Jesuit community. Father McShane presides over the liturgy, and USG and OSLCD sponsor a reception afterwards, all in connection with Gaudete. So it’s a collaborative effort of people saying we want to celebrate the season.”

Florio described what students can expect to see at the Gaudete Sunday mass.

“We have both choirs, both liturgical choirs, singing together, and we have a Ceremony of Light led by our student government,” Florio said. “And then we have the lighting and blessing of the Christmas tree, and we process together to the reception.”

Another major event that Florio described is the Festival of Lessons and Carols, which will occur on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Lincoln Center and Sunday, Dec. 8, at Rose Hill.

“It’s a combination of Advent and Christmas hymns and significant readings preparing one for the birth of Christ,” Florio said, describing the Festival of Lessons and Carols.

Florio also talked about the religious significance of Advent.

“Advent comes from the Latin word Adventus, which means ‘to come in anticipation,’” Florio said. “We are celebrating three Advents: God who comes to us every day in the person of our neighbors, the Advent of God’s birth, His Nativity, which is Christmas; and the Advent of God’s second coming at the end of time. So that’s why we say during Advent, ‘Be prepared.’

Campus Ministry has distributed a special Advent prayer book to students. It is intended to help

By GIRISH SWAMINATH ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

ELIZABETH ZANGHI/THE RAM

Advent celebrations aim to foster community, and even lessen student stress.

them to reflect more deeply on the specific liturgies of the Advent season.

When asked what he hoped students would take away from Advent at Fordham, Florio said that he hoped the celebrations would serve as a way to relieve the stress that comes with studying for final exams by letting stu-

dents take some time to meditate on faith.

“Our hope is that students would take a break from their studies to attend things like the Gaudete celebration, to attend things like the Festival of Lessons and Carols, so that in the midst of their business, they can take care of their spirit.” Florio said.

Recent Grads Dive Headfirst into the Workforce

By MICHAEL CAVANAUGH STAFF WRITER

As the promise of freedom in the form of winter break approaches, Fordham students begin the last leg of their fall semester.

Starting final papers days (or hours) before their deadlines, frantically searching for class textbooks that have long been neglected — these are the struggles of Fordham students once the tables are cleared on Thanksgiving evening.

Students who still make the daily trek from their apartment or dormitory to Dealy, Keating, Faculty Memorial Hall, etc., that is.

For recent graduates, there is no more finals week rush.

The assignments these graduates may leave until the last minute are not the end results of semester-long classes that burnt holes in their parents’ pockets, but rather are assignments that fill their own pockets.

Just a year or two ago, time was spent cramming for final exams or putting finishing touches on hasty, but nonetheless wellcrafted, papers. Now though, it is spent in the hustle and bustle of collaborating on projects that must be completed before the holidays or before the end of the

fiscal quarter.

It is a brave new world when you step outside of the gates of Rose Hill’s scenic campus, inevitably raising an important question for Fordham students and parents alike: Was the Fordham experience (and, perhaps more important, the Fordham bill) worth it?

Brendan O’Grady, GSB ’13, speaks positively of the benefit of a Fordham education. Currently employed by Ernst & Young (recently rebranded “EY”), one of the Big Four accounting firms, he stresses the importance of networking in his field, an aspect of business for which he believes the Gabelli School of Business prepared him well.

“I think [Fordham] was worth the price, but not necessarily because of the classes,” said O’Grady. “I feel like the business school gives you plenty of networking opportunities and you learn through trial and error how to keep in touch with people who you’d like to stay in touch with.”

O’Grady believes that some of the important things he learned at Fordham took place outside of the classroom.

“Now that I’m working, networking is an integral part of what I do, and what clients I work for.”

Madyson Spano, FCRH ’13,

Research at the Forefront of Autism Panel

who was offered a job by the tech company QWASI, echoes O’Grady’s praise of the opportunity to make connections provided by Fordham and believes that the education, though pricey, was worth it.

“I learned a lot at Fordham and made a lot of good connections, the most important of these connections being my current boss,” Spano said.

However, some graduates believe that the value of a Fordham education is highly dependent upon the school in which you were enrolled.

Christopher Cavanaugh, FCRH ’12, an employee of Sony Music, criticizes the apparent effort disparity between the Gabelli and College at Rose Hill schools.

“I think that if you were a student in the business school, Fordham is definitely worth the money,” Cavanaugh said. “The business school is very well known and the connect[ions] the students in the business school are able to build are priceless. In FCRH, it didn’t seem as though Fordham tried as hard to help us build those connections that the business school students were making.”

What remains consistent among these graduates is the review of their experiences during

their enrollment at Fordham: The people, the atmosphere and the academic stimulation were all met with overwhelming positivity.

“I loved my time at Fordham University,” said Cavanaugh. “I made great friends that I still keep in contact with who made my time at Fordham a really enjoyable and unforgettable experience.”

Keeping in contact with college acquaintances may end up having more than a social benefit.

Who knows, that person you sat next to in Composition II and decided to befriend could one day be your ticket to a job with your own desk that is not next to the bathroom—but, if you are lucky, even a window with a view.

In a world where knowing who seems to be more valuable than knowing how, connections are an invaluable resource that upperclassmen beginning to think about life after graduation cannot overlook.

“Get internships and get experience,” O’Grady said. “Figure out what you like and don’t like within your major, and develop relationships with people at the companies you intern for. Having connections and experience in your field will make a big difference when applying for jobs.”

On Wednesday, Nov. 20, Autism Speaks U – Fordham University hosted a discussion panel featuring researchers and faculty members from Yale University School of Medicine and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The panelists discussed their current research and medical practices in the context of autism and developmental conditions and subsequently offered the audience an opportunity to ask questions to further their knowledge of autism.

The panel included Dr. George Anderson, senior research scientist in the Child Study Center and research scientist in laboratory medicine at Yale School of Medicine. Anderson studies neurobiology of childhood neuropsychiatric disorders, including autism. Dr. Harvey Kliman, research scientist in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Yale University School of Medicine, also presented at the panel. Kliman studies the placenta to predict autism and genetic abnormalities. Dr. Lisa Schulman, associate professor of clinical pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, also presented at the panel. Schulman studies developmental pediatrics and specializes in early diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

By hosting the panel, Autism Speaks U – Fordham Univ. hoped to further its mission of spreading awareness about autism throughout the Fordham community.

“We intended to educate the community at Fordham University about autism,” Nicole Kirsch, FCRH ’14, co-president of Autism Speaks U – Fordham Univ., said.

“We also wanted to raise awareness for Autism Speaks U and potentially gain new general members.”

The event also helped raise donations toward autism research.

“One of our missions is to raise funds that are donated to Autism Speaks and used for autism research,” Kirsch said. “It was really interesting to have researchers from outside of Autism Speaks presenting their work in this field right at Fordham. It showed how many individuals are working on different aspects of this condition.”

Autism Speaks U – Fordham Univ. was happy with the turnout and positive response toward the panel.

“We were extremely satisfied with the turnout of the panel,” Kirsch said. “The panel was held during the Pre-Health Symposium course, so there were many of those students along with many other interested students and professors.”

Students who attended the event believe they learned a great deal about autism research as a result of the speakers’ discussion of their research.

“The panel was great and all the speakers did an excellent job,” Jamie Toto, FCRH ’16, said. “The research that Dr. Kliman does studying the placenta is amazing, and it taught me a lot about a study that I have never heard of being done before.”

NEWS

Page 6

December 4, 2013

OrgSync Designed to Streamline Communication, Not Used Among Leaders FROM ORGSYNC, PAGE 1

create events, request and refer to club budgets, reallocate funding and communicate with members of their organizations.

“In regards to the club leader experience on campus, [OrgSync] puts almost everything that the club leaders need in one place,” Shannon Driscoll, assistant director for Student Organizations and Programming at OSLCD, said. “It also allows OSLCD to collect much-needed information about clubs and organizations, which helps the office advise clubs more effectively.”

OrgSync is not limited to club leaders but is also used “in a myriad of ways” by various student groups and the Fordham community. OrgSync is designed to inform students of weekly campus events and help students choose different organizations with which to become involved.

“Students on campus looking to get involved can review the ‘What’s Going On?’ weekly emails sent via OrgSync to all undergraduate students, access club contact information, join clubs or selectively choose which organizations they want information from, review full event calendars and connect with student organizations on campus,” Driscoll said.

OSLCD also utilizes OrgSync as a medium for campus-wide communication for marketing, advertising and delivering information to certain organizations and groups, such as seniors and commuting students.

“OrgSync is vital to the student experience in terms of real-time communication, whether campus-wide

from a department, campus-wide elections, information specific to populations, marketing and general advertising,” Driscoll said. “Commuter Student Services sends regular communication ranging from important updates to events, and the Commuter Assistants use it to effectively advertise programs. The senior class is informed about senior programming and class-related information.”

OSLCD believes that the utilization of OrgSync is a large step up from the paper-based system in place at Fordham prior to fall 2011.

“OrgSync has also improved the way that OSLCD advises and supports clubs by helping the department to collect richer information about club and organization activities than it was able to before,” Driscoll said. “For example, thanks to OrgSync, OSLCD can better understand what kind of events student groups are holding and when. Using this information, we will know which dates have a lot of programming and which will not, so that we can plan accordingly and advise clubs more effectively.”

OSLCD also feels that OrgSync serves as a “powerful tool” that has improved the quality of club operations and its department.

“OrgSync provides information about clubs and organizations that OSLCD can share with other entities on campus to demonstrate all the wonderful things our clubs are doing,” Driscoll said. “One of the many benefits of OrgSync is that it has helped standardize processes for clubs, as all clubs fill out the same

MICHAEL REZIN/THE RAM

Despite OSLCD’s support of OrgSync, student leaders remain unimpressed.

forms and submit the same information. OrgSync is a great tool that is incredibly flexible in how we are able to utilize it on campus.”

Student leaders are generally not satisfied with the implementation of OrgSync and feel that alternative methods could be utilized to streamline campus communication.

“I try to avoid using [OrgSync] because we can effectively get more work done as a club without it,” Adrian Whiting, FCRH ’14, co-president of Autism Speaks U – Fordham Univ, said. “It has never been fully explained, taught or utilized by the upperclassmen currently on campus, although I know it is being pushed on the freshmen. I think there are better systems out there that can do the same things OrgSync can do in an easier to understand platform.”

Students also believe that the lack of timely response by OSLCD limits the usefulness of OrgSync.

“OrgSync has only been a nuisance in terms of working with OSLCD staff,” Megan Cattel, FCRH ’15, vice president of Asian Cultural Exchange and a staff writer for The Fordham Ram, said. “Often times our room reservations and event approvals are left unanswered, and we are forced to visit the office in McGinley several times before getting feedback on our situation. I think that it is an electronic tool with the potential for being efficient, but right now it is not providing any kind of convenience for student leaders because of [a] lack of follow up by OSLCD.” “I really hate using it. My club tries to avoid using it because it’s more troublesome and our members never check on it,” Kristal Gonzalez, GSB ’14, lieutenant governor of Fordham Circle K, said. “[The] administration takes forever to approve our events or doesn't answer them at all.”

Some student leaders utilize

OrgSync solely for the purposes of reviewing existing budgets and appealing for new budgets, but they otherwise find the platform not completely effective.

“I personally have never used it and don’t intend on using it,” Nikki de Castro, GSB ’14, chief philanthropic officer of Smart Women Securities said. “Only one person from our organization uses it for budgeting-related matters but other than that, no one from our club uses it.”

“I have never used it myself, and only our treasurer has [used OrgSync] for budgeting reasons,” Sohail Qazi, FCRH ’14, president of Operation Dreamcatchers, said.

Some students frequently utilize OrgSync, but they believe that the poor integration of the platform in club operations negatively impacts the smooth execution of club events.

“We use OrgSync, but we find that our members generally do not respond to the events on the site.

Social media advertising has proven far more effective,” Faith Forgione, FCRH ’14, vice president of Fordham Paranormal Society, said. “We have many issues with room reservations and other logistical issues that OrgSync should, in theory, take care of, but instead further complicates and requires us to directly contact OSLCD instead. [OrgSync] is a great concept in theory but in practice has been implemented poorly and has only further complicated our communication with OSLCD. On multiple occasions, it has negatively impacted our ability to run stress-free events that go off without a hitch.”

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opinion

December 4, 2013

Page 7

New York, I Want to Love You But You’re Letting Me Down

By MEGAN CATTEL STAFF WRITER

Last week, a New York Times article entitled “The Long Goodbye” by Alex Williams caught my eye. The expose on the growing disillusionment among writers struggling to make a living in New York City began with lines from one of my favorite Joan Didion essays, “Goodbye to All That.”

Since its publication in 1967, the essay has been canonized as the original “Farewell New York” ode and is cited as an inspiration for the growing trend of personal accounts of abandoning the Big Apple.

“I am not sure that it is possible for anyone brought up in the East to appreciate entirely what New York, the idea of New York, means to those of us who came out of the West and the South,” Didion writes, capturing the romanticized vision of New York that only those who hail from afar cultivate.

“To an Eastern child, particularly a child who always has an uncle on Wall Street and who has spent several hundred Saturdays first at F.A.O. Schwarz, New York is just a city…a plausible place for people to live,” Didion explains “But to those who have come from places where no one has heard of Lester Lanin…Wall

Street, Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue were not places at all but abstractions.”

Didion, a native Californian, illustrates the journey of a stranger in a new land and the battle to come to grips with disillusionment. “New York was no mere city. It was instead an infinitely romantic notion,” she concludes, “the shining and perishable dream itself.”

After eight years of living in Manhattan, Didion packed her bags and left for Los Angeles, where she has lived ever since.

Didion’s writing speaks to the pioneers who had deeply romanticized the legend of New York from their small towns and faraway suburbs, seeking a life of grandeur. For this reason, I find myself relating to her prose, her unflinching descriptions of loneliness and her portrayal of the city as stereotypically unfriendly. As a Floridian, I am no stranger to the overwhelming melancholy and isolation she feels in New York.

As one of those wandering outsiders, I used to have dreams of New York before arriving here.

I grew up in a town called Palm Harbor, situated between St. Petersburg and Tampa (For reference: where Magic Mike and Spring Breakers were filmed.)

I was in pursuit of a place with

more excitement; I got more than I bargained for when I drove up Fordham Road on move-in day in the midst of Hurricane Irene, passing by the sign for ButtBoosting Jeans.

Because of my outsider status, I often find truth within Didion’s bleak view of New York, along with the floating stereotypes of

As one of those wandering outsiders, I used to have dreams of New York before arriving here. the city’s inhabitants as unfriendly. I find it paradoxical that my friends from the area often question why I left the white sands of sunny Florida for the Bronx — two places that could not be more dissimilar to each other — yet turn around to defend the superiority of New York viciously. I remember one of my past roommates trying to convince me that New York is no worse or more unfriendly than any other city in America but then I found her in our room a few days later sing-

ing along soulfully to the grim lyrics of LCD Soundsystem’s “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” on repeat.

I understand New York and its fast-paced lifestyle brakes for no one, yet my feelings of alienation plagued me most behind Rose Hill’s gates, making my freshman year nightmarish.

Adjustment was difficult. I struggled to make friends. I grew tired of crumbling alleyways, longing for palm trees instead. I looked into transferring, but I decided to tough it out.

“I cried in elevators and in taxis and in Chinese laundries,” Didion wrote in her “Goodbye” essay, “I had never before understood what despair meant, and I am not sure that I understand now, but I understood that year.”

I think I understood despair when I found a spitball in my hair after my second Comp II class during my first fall semester and later learned that a number of the students had come from the same New England prep school. I think I understood it when I was caught in a train delay this summer, squeezed in a crowded subway car for almost half an hour, holding heavy groceries, wishing I could just get in my car at home and drive without stopping instead of being at the mercy of

MICHAEL REZIN/THE RAM

the MTA. I think I understood it when a boy who lived in my freshman year dorm would take things off my desk and stick them down his pants.

I found that I was not alone in my sorrow. My friend understood it when she called her dad nearly every night her first semester, crying in the stairwell. Another friend understood it too, going home every weekend to Philadelphia for a month to escape it.

Two years later, things are a bit brighter. The freshman blues are gone. I know who to stay away from now.

On a bad day I am Didion, wanting to escape. But on a good day, I am E.B White, regarding New York with the same excitement he displays in his essay.

“Here is New York.”

“There are roughly three New Yorks,” White declares, he describes the New York of the native and the New York of the commuter. “Third,” he concludes, “there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something. Of these three trembling cities the greatest is the last — the city of final destination, the city that is a goal.”

Megan Cattel FCRH ‘15, is an international studies major from Tampa Fla.

Textual Consent Does Not Always Mean ‘Yes’

By JOSEPH VITALE OPINION EDITOR

Dave Chappelle’s “Chapelle Show,” now cancelled for five years, tackled issues, some serious, some preposterous. Told through short skits and spoofs, he transformed mucky societal issues into digestible, laughable bits.

One issue he tackled was a contract of sexual consent. The purpose of this contract is to protect men from being falsely accused of rape through a formal consent from a female. In one featured sketch, Chappelle, playing a swanky, ambitious character, politely asks his female counterpart to sign a contract before engaging in further sexual behavior. “Sign here, initial here,” he tells the actress. Chappelle’s sketch, in all its humor, nodded toward a viable

option to protect men from being falsely accused of rape. This is not something most consider as a commonplace solution, especially among college students.

However, it appears documenting consent has made a return.

Roxanne Jones, founding editor of ESPN The Magazine and a former vice president at ESPN, recently contributed an op-ed to CNN titled “Young men, get a ‘yes’ text before sex.” The piece presents a modern version of the consent contract from the perspective of a male college student’s mother.

Jones writes, just as she tells her son, that it is best to “never have sex with a girl unless she’s sent you a text that proves the sexual relationship is consensual beforehand.”

Jones continues, “And it’s a good idea to even follow up any

sexual encounter with a tasteful text message saying how you both enjoyed being with one another — even if you never plan on hooking up again.”

The purpose of this is not to instruct her son on how to go unscathed in the case of rape, but instead to protect him from false allegations of rape. False allegations, for various reasons, are perennial in the world of athletes, an area she has personal experience in (covering Kobe Bryant’s and the Duke lacrosse team). Jones claims this type of precursor is an effective form of defense for males, especially on college campuses.

Technology is known for helping victims convict their offenders of crimes. Such was the case for students at Stuebenville High School, when a female student was raped by a group of boys who

filmed the incident and posted it on the web. However, Jones proposes that technology can also be used as protection. A text message of agreement would prove consent, she supposes, if a man is falsely accused by a female. It would keep the man’s hands clean in the court of law in the unlikely situation of his being falsely accused, she argues.

In a perfect world, Jones’ suggestion would work every time.

Should I even bother saying that our world, unfortunately, is far from a perfect one?

Consider a situation in which a female texts a male during the daytime, assuming both are sober. Suppose the two make plans for their nighttime activities, with the girl discovering, when the time comes, that the male is far different from what she thought.

Her mind changes and she wants

to revoke the consent she provided. Would a couple of texts still grant him the automatic “okay” for the girl for that night? Does one instance of consent guarantee consent any other time? How about the next night?

A single instance of granted consent cannot account for anything that happens after. “Yes” once does not and should not mean “yes” always. When circumstances and feelings change, saying “no” holds the same meaning as it would if there were no prior text messages.

Also, consider the flaw in equating a text message with true consent. Nothing stops a man from preying on an intoxicated female, simply grabbing her phone and texting himself a text of consent.

If he slips it back into her purse undetected, would anything that SEE CONSENT, PAGE 9

Page 8

R

Serving campus and community since 1918 The Fordham Ram is the University journal of record. The mission of The Fordham 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 Fordham 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 4,500. The Fordham Ram office is located in the basement of the McGinley Center, room B-52.

TheFordhamRam.com Advertising: (718) 817-4379 Executive: (718) 817-4380 Fax: (718) 817-4319 theram@fordham.edu Fordham University - Station 37 Box B Bronx, NY 10458 Editor-in-Chief Connor Ryan Managing Editor Canton Winer Editorial Director Rory Masterson Copy Chief Katie Nolan News Editor Kelly Kultys Assistant News Editors Katie Meyer Girish Swaminath Opinion Editor Joseph Vitale Assistant Opinion Editor Catrina Livermore Arts & Entertainment Editor Devon Sheridan Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor Jack MacGregor Executive Sports Editor Dan Gartland Sports Editor Matt Rosenfeld Assistant Sports Editor Max Prinz Layout Editor Elaina Weber Photo Editors Elizabeth Zanghi Michael Rezin Web Editor Anne Couture Assistant Web Editor Kelsey Odorczyk Business Directors Nikos Buse Drew Rapp Assistant Business Director Felicia Zhang Circulation Director Shannon Marcoux Executive Copy Editors Emily Arata Shannon Marcoux Faculty Advisor Dr. Beth Knobel For a full staff listing, visit FordhamRam.com

Opinion Policy The Fordham Ram appreciates submissions to fordhamramletters@ gmail.com. Commentaries are printed on a space available basis. The Fordham Ram reserves the right to reject any submission for any reason, without notice. Submissions become the exclusive property of The Fordham Ram. The Fordham Ram reserves the right to edit any submissions. The opinions in The Fordham 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 Fordham Ram may be reproduced without written consent.

OPINION

December 4, 2013

From the Desk of Connor Ryan, Editor-in-Chief As I swapped my trusty iPhone for a fork at my parents’ dining room table last week — sitting next to relatives, surrounded only by sweet smells and cheesy anecdotes — I had an existential moment of self-realization within the context of the tribe seated around me.

Turns out, when it comes to my family, I’m not breaking much ground.

For one reason or another, studying at Fordham and pursuing a writing career is kind of the Ryan way. I’m not really sure why I fell into it, but I did — and, truth be told, I couldn’t be prouder to have such a rich history behind me.

Years before I even thought about applying to college, I walked through the greenery of Rose Hill’s campus. I cheered on the Rams at basketball and football games. I wore a Fordham sweatshirt on family vacations. I knew all of the best places to eat on Arthur Avenue. I even picked up a copy of The Ram. Mostly I blame my dad, Tom Ryan, FCRH ’83 — a smart guy who studied philosophy as an undergrad and then earned his M.B.A. from Fordham shortly thereafter.

Proud to tell me about his alma mater — and perhaps hoping to send a subliminal message, he’d tell me stories of what it was like to ride the Ram Van. He gave me a tour of Hughes Hall before it got its epic facelift. He explained what Dagger John’s used to be like, and where he got mugged that one time. He

pointed out the Queen’s Court room he had lived in. He showed me the issue of The Ram published in 1983 that had a photo of him on the front-page (for reasons I won’t get into here).

Who would’ve thought almost 30 years later I’d be working at that same newspaper? Who would’ve thought I’d be living just a few doors down from where he did when he was my age? Thinking about my dad walking around campus as a student is a perspective I feel lucky to be able to carry with me.

(I must include here: My mom, a proud Boston College grad and the most selfless person I know, rounds out the theme of Jesuit education in my house.)

Then there’s my aunt, Tricia Ryan, FCRH ’86, who majored in English. Earlier this year she pointed out which room she had in Walsh Hall. (Not much has changed over the years, she confirmed).

Kerry Leahey (formerly a Ryan), FCRH ’92 and another aunt, was a communication major and now works as a teacher in New Jersey.

Both were on campus in September along with my grandmother, cheering on the football team and reminiscing about how the campus has changed.

If that wasn’t enough, Dick Ryan, my grandfather who passed away in May of 2005, graduated from Fordham’s School of Social

Service in 1959 before entering a longtime career as a religion writer, contributing work to: The Brooklyn Tablet, Our Sunday Visitor, The National Catholic Reporter, Newsday and The New York Daily News.

I wrote about him in my college essay, and I will forever credit his work as an inspiration for my own.

The jury’s still out on whether I’ll be able to keep this typing gig alive after I graduate in less than two years, but I know he would want me to try.

As you can see, Fordham is deeply rooted in the Ryan bloodstream, and I’m proud to say that.

Since I’ve been on campus, I’ve kept quiet about my family history here in an effort to avoid the stigma that often follows kids whose relatives who have attended the school they go to. But not anymore.

Who knows? Maybe in another 30 or so years another Ryan will be back to infiltrate The Ram. So, what’s the point of you knowing all this? Not sure there is one.

But if there’s a lesson to be learned, perhaps it is that stepping away from your routine every once in a while to think about where you’ve come from can prove valuable going forward.

They say the best way to know the future is to know the past.

Whether that’s true or not, there’s no doubt that I look forward to carrying on the legacy of those who have come before me. My only hope is that I can continue to make

them proud.

• Contributing to this newspaper has been — and will always be — one of the greatest privileges of my life. I would be remiss if I didn’t take some inches to thank the entire staff for their hard work and dedication over the past year.

Balancing a full courseload while also writing hundreds of words every week, asking administrators tough questions and, perhaps worst of all, dealing with me, is not easy.

I’d like to especially thank Canton Winer and Kelly Kultys for all of their hard work — this volume would not have been possible without their dedication. I wish the best of luck to Kelly (who will succeed me as editor-in-chief beginning next month) and the entire staff of next year’s volume.

Since its first issue in 1918, The Ram has fully embodied the Jesuit mission of serving others, and I look forward to watching its continued success unfold.

Editorial: Let’s Re-invest in Public Transportation Enrique Peñalosa, the former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, once said, “A developed country is not a place where the poor drive cars. It’s where the rich use public transport.”

As the self-proclaimed “Capital of the World,” New York City should be at the forefront of innovation in every area, including public transportation. With its wide array of subway lines, buses, ferries and trains, New York City has one of the most advanced mass transit systems in the United States.

Unfortunately, this does not mean New York City mass transit is without problems. On Dec. 1, a Metro-North train derailed in the Bronx near Spuyten-Duyvil, killing at least four people and injuring over 60 others. This was the second passenger train derailment in the last six months for the MTA and by far the city’s worst safety issue of the year.

Early reports suggested the train was exceeding allowable speeds by at least a factor of three, which, if confirmed, is an embarrassment to this city — and the United States as a whole — and its supposedly modern infrastructure.

Despite tragedies like the recent Metro-North derailment, it often seems like our nation’s leaders are simply not getting the message: we need to invest in mass transit.

Public transportation is likely to become more expensive for many American commuters in January.

Current law allows mass transit users and those who drive cars to work (and pay for parking) to pay up to $245 in monthly transportation costs with tax-exempt wages. On Jan. 1, however, the mass transit benefit is scheduled to be cut in half to only $125 per month. The parking benefit, however, will rise to $250.

This clearly favors drivers over riders and we at The Fordham Ram believe it is an embarrassing lack of foresight. Investment in public transportation is the mark of a developed nation. Why is the United States lagging behind?

This example is particularly mystifying because the tax break is scheduled to decrease largely because of the uncompromising nature of House Republicans, who are usually in favor of tax breaks.

Furthermore, this comes as more Americans begin to rely on public transportation. Last year the American Public Transportation Association reported that ridership increased by 2.6 percent over the first three quarters of 2012. The report also found that 201 million more trips were taken using public transportation in the first nine months of 2012 than in the same time period

in 2011.

Public transit is good for the country. It cuts down on fuel usage and decreases carbon emissions and congestion, all while saving commuters time, money and countless hours of headaches while sitting in commuter gridlock.

Nearly 8 billion trips were taken on mass transit last year, the second highest annual ridership since 1957.

Americans reliance on public transportation is growing, not fading, and our leaders must realize and react to this reality.

Editorial Policy The Fordham Ram’s editorials are selected on a weekly basis, and are meant to reflect the editorial board’s view on a particular issue.

Do you have an opinion about one of our stories?

Send us a letter! fordhamramletters@gmail.com

OPINION

December 4, 2013

Ricky Bordelon

Page 9

Textual Consent is the Way to Go, Gents

Long Live Print Every day throughout London, tourists, visitors and Londoners alike read thousands and thousands of free newspapers. In the morning you can pick up a free copy of Metro from the iconic blue stands in any Underground station.

In the afternoon, the London Evening-Standard workers hit the streets hawking free newspapers for all.

In London, print journalism is alive and well; there is incredible access to free print information and a multitude of subscription newspapers as well (The New York Times, The Guardian, The Independent and The Daily Telegraph, just to name a few).

London, and the United Kingdom as a whole, has been hit by the movement away from print journalism, but, unlike many Americans, the British passionately support these print publications even amid the growing popularity of online news aggregates, social media and online journalism.

The British, more so than Americans, seem to understand the importance of the printed newspaper as a stalwart defender of the public’s right to be informed and a constant source of exposing the corrupt aspects of our society.

New York Magazine also announced this week that they would only be publishing every two weeks starting in 2014. This publication, along with other magazines like Newsweek and newspapers across America, is cutting back print publication due to a lack of readership and, therefore, revenue.

The cutbacks are not the problem; the decline in readership is. We have become a society in which many define their days in 140-character statements, a society that constantly refreshes webpages for the newest information without taking time to reflect.

This craving for brevity leads to the sensationalizing of what could be incredibly unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

I do have a Twitter account, and I do read the news online, but I would never want that to be my only way to receive information or to interact with the world. Newspapers allow the reader to reflect on a story, to interact with it and to develop an opinion on it.

The reporting for print articles is not done hastily and normally allows time for the story to develop completely instead of reporting immediately and risking getting a key fact wrong. Immediacy is a great advantage of online journalism, but without a balance between reporting and analysis, it becomes less important.

I am eternally grateful that there are still places in which the print media is still a key part of the fabric of the community, and London is such a place where you can pick up a paper, hop on the tube and simply read and enjoy.

ELIZABETH ZANGHI/THE RAM

In an op-ed to CNN, Roxanne Jones of ESPN suggests that sending sexual text messages can ultimately protect men from false accusations of rape.

FROM CONSENT, PAGE 7

happens thereafter be acceptable under the law because of the text she never sent?

According to Jones, this may be the case, all because of a single text not sent from the original sender. There is a slim chance of ever proving who sent the text message, leading to opportunities for perpetrators to further manipulate the victim during a time when decision making is already distorted due to alcohol.

Jones’ advice comes from a

good place. She wants to protect her son from the “the party girls, the girls who thrive on attention.”

I applaud her honesty with her son and her willingness to protect him from those she fears might want to convict her son of a crime he never committed.

Flirtatious texting cannot hurt a situation such as those Jones presents. But she is arguing that men can protect themselves with a simple text of consent. This dramatically oversimplifies the typical circumstances of these sce-

narios. A couple of text messages cannot and should not be considered a viable defense for males.

Nothing stops a man from sending a message from a woman’s phone indicating that, “yes,” she would like to have sex with him.

Nothing stops a man from pulling in the reigns after a woman says “no” even after texting “yes.”

Placing trust in this technology is not without its flaws — some of which seriously endanger women.

Instead of providing advice to men on how to protect them-

selves from being falsely accused of rape, Jones should be lecturing her son and his male friends to be more careful about with whom they choose to spend the night.

Such advice to young men should not circumvent the situation where they might falsely be accused of rape, but instead refrain from involving themselves with females who would stoop to such desperate calls for attention.

Joseph Vitale, FCRH ’16, is an English major from Staten Island, N.Y.

When Choosing a Major, Do What You Love

By ANDREW MORSE STAFF WRITER

In a lot of ways, it is not fair.

How can you seriously ask an 18, 19 or 20 year old kid to pick a major and effectively set up a career path for the rest of his or her life?

Should students pursue their favorite subject, their best subject or the field with the best job prospects?

This calls into question the entire purpose of a college education. Is college an opportunity to further pursue your passions and interests with a group of similarly inspired people or a boot camp for future professionals? This leads to an even trickier question, why not both?

A recent article in USA Today stated that only one third of this year’s freshman class plans to major in something that matches with their interests, while another third plans to major in something that does not match up with their interests.

From my personal experience, from word of mouth and from my small amount of common sense, it seems students will perform much better when they are focused on a subject about which they are pas-

sionate.

I have had classes in which I really enjoy the readings and writing assignments while I fall asleep in other classes and procrastinate all work until the final hours simply because it must be done.

For most people, college marks the last four years of their dependent lives. There are four years left of Mom and Dad footing the bill so why not take advantage of that time and pursue something you really love?

There will be time after you graduate to worry about getting a job and making a living. If you do not truly love and feel passionately about what you are doing, then what is the point?

The counter-argument can be made that college is where you prepare yourself for the future. I may not enjoy spending all day sitting at a desk in front of a computer as an accountant or financial analyst, but I will enjoy having a steady job and the means to support myself (and potentially a family) financially.

That may be considered selling out, but there is something to be said for having stability and peace of mind.

Patterns in the selection of majors are also an indicator of the perceived strength of the economy and employment opportunities. A young adult who spends his or her whole life hearing about the nation’s strong economy and the abundant employment opportunities that are available should pursue something he or she loves.

Our generation has had a decidedly different upbringing.

The first time I can remember being aware of the economy and financial news was the financial crisis of 2008.

Although it has been ingrained in our culture that America is the land of opportunity, today’s college students have not had that experience. We have grown up in a time when the rest of the world questions America’s credibility, when students graduate with ludicrous amounts of debt and when, according to CNN, approximately 36 percent of recent

A pursuit of happiness and a pursuit of knowledge might just be the same.

college grads are unemployed.

I am a junior and will be officially declaring a finance major in the spring. I think I have found a good balance between studying what I am passionate about and pursuing a degree in something that will help me start a career after graduation.

You might be asking yourself, “Does a 21 year old really feel passionate about finance?” For the most part I really do enjoy the classes and the work. I would probably find more enjoyment if I were studying J.R.R. Tolkien’s life’s work or pursuing my dream of playing in the NBA, but neither of those is realistic.

Ultimately, enjoying your studies, and later on your career, is important. No one can live a happy and successful life waking up every morning and toiling away at something they do not enjoy.

At the same time, it is important to have a skill set which is desirable in an age when adults are working longer and more of the workforce is made obsolete by technology. It is more important for college students.

Andrew Morse, GSB ’15, is a Finance major from North Reading Mass.

OPINION

Page 10

December 4, 2013

Black Friday, Emphasis on the ‘Friday’

By ANDREW SANTIS STAFF WRITER

At around 7:45 p.m. last Thursday, I was getting ready to sit down and have the long-awaited Thanksgiving dinner with my family. After all the food was at the table and the prayer had been said, I was putting the first spoonful of soup up to my mouth when the clock struck 8 p.m.

For me, 8 p.m. meant turning on the television and watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. For many Americans, however, 8 p.m. meant waiting for the doors to open at Macy’s, Target or Wal-Mart for Black Friday.

Instead of celebrating Thanksgiving at home, more Americans than ever are opting to skip Thanksgiving dinner and camp out in front of huge department stores with crowds of strangers who will do anything — and I mean anything — to get their hands on a flat-screen TV. The newest trend is stores opening earlier than midnight.

This is what has become of one of the greatest and most sacred American holidays. It has been disgraced and disrespected because of the greedy Americans who would rather spend hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars on clothes,

MICHAEL HAYES/THE RAM

Many retailers have begun opening on Thanskgiving to increase profits.

toys and electronic devices than spend time with their loved ones.

Every year is the same: swarms of people walking shoulder to shoulder inside malls, waiting in long lines, carrying too many bags and lunging at the merchandise on shelves and racks. Assaults, fights, injuries and even deaths are also familiar scenes.

In fact, one person died and 15 people were injured this year.

I have never been a Black Friday shopper, mostly because I feel like it would be a suicide mission to go up against hardcore Black Friday veterans. The closest I came to Black Friday shopping was two years ago when my cousin and her husband visited the United States for the

first time. We were going to go to the Macy’s located a few blocks away from my home at 11p.m. on Thanksgiving night. However, we never made it because we fell asleep.

The next day, actual Black Friday, we went into the city and caught a firsthand glimpse of the chaos inside many stores. I was appalled. I vowed to never become a crazed Black Friday shopper.

There was a lot of hype behind this year’s Black Friday in particular, but retailers were disappointed when the figures came in after the long weekend. Sales were expected to rise 3.9 percent from last year, but failed to do so. Black Friday sales did not hold up compared to last year,

and fell 13.2 percent, the first spending decline since 2009. Despite the fact that more stores opened earlier this year, shopper traffic still managed to fall 11.4 percent from 2012.

Opening stores early seems to have failed. According to Survey Analytics and Ipsos Loyalty, 55 percent of shoppers feel that stores should remain closed on Thanksgiving Day. While I agree that opening stores on Thanksgiving is a tactic to stimulate the economy, it should not be a reason for Americans to prioritize capitalism and make Thanksgiving traditions secondary.

Nothing can replace a tradition as honored as Thanksgiving, so do not patronize the new, ridiculous practice of what has become Black Thursday Night.

Next Thanksgiving, when you are at the dinner table, be sure to give thanks for family, friends, health and anything else you are grateful for. Do not thank department stores for huge discounts, bargains and holiday deals. Black Friday is not the only day when they have sales or clearance events.

If you really want to shop on Black Friday, at least wait until Friday.

Andrew Santis, GSB ’16, is an undeclared business major from Flushing, N.Y.

Do Commuter Students Have it Made?

By MICHAEL DAUBER STAFF WRITER

A few years ago, I went with my sister to tour her future college,, Barnard. She was one of only about 15 commuters from her class and many expected her to have little to no social life on campus. When I began at Fordham, I arrived with the same expectations.

We have all heard the stereotypes: not a lot of commuters, no social life, etc. But how many of them are true? My own experience has been completely opposite of almost every stereotype I have heard about commuting at Fordham, but maybe I am wrong. To get to the heart of the matter so we can change commuter stigmas, I asked several students about their experiences commuting to Fordham.

Perhaps the biggest stereotype about commuting to a university is that students have no social life.

This is due to time spent commuting which takes time away from school work and being away from campus regularly unlike most Fordham students who live on campus or in the surrounding community.

Analisa Blanco, FCRH ’17, claimed that her experience has been quite the opposite.

“I have multiple close knit friends that are commuters and residents alike,” Blanco said. “Just because I have to wake up an hour earlier than most students in order to catch a train does not mean I don’t have a social life.”

Gaetano Migliaccio, FCRH ’15, a commuter assistant, expressed similar sentiments, explaining that commuting has not really kept him from getting involved.

“Commuting has its ups and downs, like anything else, though,” said Migliaccio. “Scheduling is essential and time management is

a major key to success for being a well-rounded, involved commuter.

There’s always the knowledge in the back of my mind that my time at Fordham is limited for the day, so I need to be efficient for the time I do have. That being said, it is the only real disadvantage I have found about being a commuter.”

A key factor in getting commuters in touch with each other and forming a sense of community akin to dorming is the commuter lounge in the basement of McGinley, according to Kevin Adams, FCRH ’14, another commuter assistant. The lounge is technically available to all students, but has really become the meeting ground for every commuter on campus. It is home away from home.

“Originally yes, it was called the commuter lounge,” Adams said. “They changed it to the student lounge because they wanted more residents to come in. It definitely is ... a haven for commuters…

It’s definitely just a place where everybody can hang out.”

Another stigma about commuters is that many of them only commute to save money. For me, this was simply not the case. Simply put, I am a little big for a twin bed, so it wasn’t really worth paying extra tuition to sleep uncomfortably, but that’s just me. Blanco and Migliaccio, however, expressed similar feelings about their choice.

“I actually enjoy being a commuter,” said Blanco. “Plus I really don’t think the dorm life is really for me…I prefer my dad’s home-cooking and my own bed.”

Migliaccio summarized his opinion quite succinctly.

“I had the option of indicating that

I wanted to reside at Fordham when I applied,” Migliaccio said. “I declined it then, and I’d decline it again now.”

Beyond simply providing commuters with a place to hang out and a few friends right off the bat, the commuter assistants and the CSA (Commuting Student Association) provide multiple opportunities and events for commuters to gather and have fun on campus.

“CSA hosts lots of events every year,” Migliaccio said. “Their two main events are Thanks-Give-Away and Commuter Week, though they host numerous small-scale events, often in the Student Lounge. I’ve gone to TGA and Commuter Week and a couple of the evening events.”

A d a m s pointed to more ongoing projects that the CSA is engaged in for commuters.

“Well my colleague Joe Diegas is working on a program with the residence halls called the CA-RA program, basically,” Adams said. “He gets the residence assistants to talk to their freshman about some of the events that we have, and we talk to them about some of the events that we have…We’re just trying to get the two populations to come together.”

The interviews and the vibe I get in the lounge indicate a pretty happy commuter population. However, the work of a CA is never done, in the eyes of Migliaccio. He feels that the CSA has a lot of work to do to change the image of Fordham commuters.

“The attitude regarding commuters needs to be entirely changed, and that’s not going to be quick, nor easy,” said Migliaccio. “Commuter Assistants are currently doing what they can to expose commuters to

It is time to stop stereotyping commuter students

campus life and get them involved with more residents, but I think a lot of work needs to be done on the side of ResLife. RAs are not trained to know about what Fordham offers for commuters, and commuters are often overlooked if you are a resident. It may seem expected, but if Fordham is trying to propagate the sense of a family, there is a large group in this family that needs more inclusion. I hope that the CA initiative to create ties with ResLife works out, and ideally I hope that each CA is paired with a freshman RA with whom he/ she can create programs and create further mingling between the students.”

Migliaccio did indicate that the situation is slowly improving. “The CAs are already a big step in improving the commuter experience, but we can only do so much,” Migliaccio said. “As I said, it takes a major change in attitude toward commuting and commuters, and the way any student can start is to be more open to the commuter experience and respect commuters as fellow Fordham students.”

Commuters do have a strong sense of community and a thriving social life. After my first semester at Fordham, I had about 40 new phone numbers, most of which belonged to commuters. Commuting has given me the best of both words. Commuters get to spend the day on a beautiful campus, but they can also go home at night and study in the peace and sanctity of their own homes with their own beds and their own cooking.

So, before you echo the stereotype that commuters do not have a great experience at Fordham, think again.

Perhaps they have it made.

Michael Dauber, FCRH ’15, is a philosophy and communication and media studies double major from Franklin Square, N.Y.

John Castonguay

Saying Goodbye So this is it. For most students at Fordham, this time of year marks the beginning of the end: We just have to complete final exams and then we are free to enjoy nearly a month away from academic endeavors.

For some students at Fordham, this is the beginning of the end of their careers here, and I wish them the best of luck. For the musically inclined on our campus, this week marks the culmination of a semester or more of work dedicated to honing and perfecting their craft.

(This obviously is not a shameless plug for the b-Sides and University Choir concerts happening this week.) For me, this week also marks the end of a major part of my tenure as a Fordham student: after two years of writing, this will be my last piece as a columnist for The Fordham Ram. I would like to briefly take the opportunity to thank the Academy: Thank you Ricky Bordelon for first suggesting those opinion pieces for The Ram. A huge thank you to Katie Nolan and the copy editing staff as a whole, who are responsible for minimizing the impact of the sometimes embarrassing grammatical mistakes in my submissions. I hope, Katie, that future columnists are better at submitting their pieces early. Sorry, one last time. I would like to thank all of the friends who I have coerced into reading over my columns prior to the deadline for submission. I give my deepest gratitude to the person responsible for rejecting my original proposed column title, “Classy Musings,” and a fond farewell to the entire staff of The Fordham Ram. In contemplating the main topic of my last column for The Fordham Ram, I remembered a column I wrote last spring about the greatest lesson I have learned at Fordham (“Examine Your Conscience”) (The Fordham Ram, V. 95, i. 8). If I were to offer a single piece of advice to a college student, it would be to regularly reflect on what you are doing and why you are doing it.

It may sound simple, but I was surprised by how often I didn’t consider the implications of my own actions. Are you satisfied with the overarching purpose that drives your daily actions? Does the way you behave on a regular basis help you to achieve your goals, both professional and personal? Does your behavior reflect what you value?

By dedicating the necessary time to reflect and taking steps to alter behavior based on your increased selfawareness, you will be combatting cognitive dissonance and hypocrisy, which will result in long term happiness. You will find it easier to make decisions if you regularly attempt to ensure that your actions reflect what you value the most.

I hope that someone reading this column has been provoked to quest for greater depth and maybe even cracked a smile once in a while.

That is all I can ask. Thank you, readers, for the gift of your time and consideration. A.M.D.G.

OPINION

Page 11

December 4, 2013

Daley Offers Us a Chance to Abandon Sexual Labels

By CANTON WINER MANAGING EDITOR

If you have been on Twitter recently, you are probably aware: Tom Daley has come out as gay.

There is just one little problem.

Daley never said he was gay.

Daley, a 19-year-old British Olympic medal-winning diver, announced on Monday in a YouTube video that he has been in a relationship with a man since the spring.

“Of course I still fancy girls, but right now I’m dating a guy and I couldn’t be happier,” Daley said.

Unless you completely ignore the first half of Daley’s sentence, there is no way you can fairly call him gay. Daley’s statement suggests that he is, in fact, bisexual, not gay. However, this whole nonsense of (mis)labeling is the whole reason Daley said he made the video.

“I didn’t want to get my words twisted,” Daley said in the video, which quickly reached over 6 million YouTube views. “I wanted to put an end to all the rumors and speculation and just say it and tell you guys.”

Daley made this five-minuteand-25-second-long video to avoid having his words misconstrued. He does not once mention the word “gay.” He never uses the phrase “coming out.” So, why have news outlets like The Daily Mirror trumpeted “Tom Daley comes out as gay”?

We are far too quick to think of sexuality as binary. People are either straight or gay, so we are told.

Sexuality is much more complicated than straight or gay. Human sexuality is more of a spectrum than an either/or phenomenon.

“Gay” and “straight” are merely convenient labels. Sexuality is simply not as tidy — or as static — as these labels suggest.

“Sexual identity is fluid; unfortunately, our small minded society

COURTESY OF FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS

Tom Daley, an English Olympic diver, recently disclosed his relationship with another man, which led to inaccurate coverage by many news outlets.

has taken to putting people in neat and tiny boxes,” Rachel Dougherty, FCRH ’15, said. “Tom Daley is yet another victim among the mass of misrepresented and confined voices of marginalized queer people.”

Many media outlets’ hesitance to delve into the intricacies of sexuality is somewhat understandable.

If any label should be placed upon Daley, it would be bisexual, not gay.

“Tom Daley … came out not as gay but as bisexual, a[n] equally difficult coming out process, yet people don’t understand really what bisexuality means,” James Demetriades, FCRH ’15, said. “It is really unfortunate how people assume sexuality is only a duality.

Sexuality, as with every aspect of a person’s identity, is a spectrum and cannot always be defined in black and white terms.”

Many people — including some in the LGBT community — reject the notion of bisexuality. Bisexual people are (to put it mildly) thought of as promiscuous, attention seeking or gay in denial.

“Speaking as an ally to the LGBTQ community, yeah, I definitely think [bisexual] people are misrepresented and misunderstood by the media and the general public,” Sarah Lyons, FCRH ’15, said. “I think people tend to think [bisexual] people say they are [bisexual] to try to be ‘edgy’ or something and ignore that this could be a big part of this person’s life.”

The stereotyping and marginalization of individuals who identify as bisexual is garbage. Bisexuality is as real as being straight or gay, and probably much more common than we realize.

A 2002 survey by the National Center for Health Statistics found that 1.8 percent of men ages 18-44 considered themselves bisexual, 2.3 percent homosexual and 3.9 percent as “something else.” The study also found that 2.8 percent of women ages 18-44 considered themselves bisexual, 1.3 percent homosexual and 3.8 percent as “something else.”

The “something else” respondents are particularly interesting.

Other studies have also found substantial numbers of respondents who fall into an “other” category regarding sexuality. A 2010 article published in Psychology Today, for example, noted that 14.4 percent of women “were sexual but not strictly heterosexual.”

While there are certainly some people who are strictly heterosexu-

al and some who are strictly homosexual, it is likely that there are far more people who fall somewhere in between. Labels are convenient, but they are also misleading.

“All of the labels are arbitrary,” Courtney Code, FCRH ’15, said.

“I’ve come to learn more and more that sexuality resists categorization. It can’t be put in a box or plotted on a line graph. It’s an experience unique to each person, and the language currently available doesn’t allow us to talk about it in a way that affirms that vast diversity.”

So no, Tom Daley did not say he is gay. He also did not say he is bisexual. We should embrace the true spirit of Daley’s statement. Daley rejected labels, and so should we.

Canton Winer, FCRH ’15, is an American studies and sociology double major from West Palm Beach, Fla.

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December 4, 2013

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Arts & Entertainment

December 4, 2013

In Sustainability, Vegan Diet Cooks Up New Benefits

By JENA JOHANSON STAFF WRITER

Angela Owczarek, FCRH ’14, turns down bacon with her breakfast and instead chooses to eat steel-cut oatmeal with a side of soymilk and avocado. She is a vegetarian by choice, and she attributes the main reasons for her decision to her two immersion trips, one to a low-income neighborhood in San Francisco and one to Calcutta.

“We lived on an extremely limited budget, and meat was a huge luxury we often could not afford,” Owczarek said. “In India, I also was able to live in an environment where many people, even those who could afford meat, chose not to eat it for religious reasons… I just had this slew of experiences that made eating meat less important or even impossible.”

She believes that more students are choosing vegan/vegetarian diets with a focus on sustainability and environmentalism.

“Overall, I just feel that, having the experiences I have had, I would have to be lying to myself

about the environment, global equality and health, if I continued to eat meat, especially the kind and quantity of meat that is regularly consumed in America,” Owczarek said.

Owczarek is one example of the rising number of vegan and vegetarian college students in the United States. These diets used to be classified as ‘hippie’ or reserved for individuals who were obsessed with health, but recent trends show that both lifestyles are becoming much more mainstream and accessible.

According to a 2012 study by “Vegetarian Times,” about 3.2 percent of Americans, or 7.3 million people, are vegetarian. 2.5 percent of people in the country identified themselves as vegan (a 1 percent increase from 2009).

Vegans do not consume eggs, butter, milk or dairy of any kind, fish or meat. Among those numbers, about 12 percent of college students are vegetarian and 2 percent are vegan, a 50 percent increase from 2006.

These numbers show that having vegan/vegetarian cafeteria options on university campuses is of rising importance to many

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

Some socially conscious eaters gravitate to non-meat diets because of the meat industry’s lack of sustainability.

students. Students are ahead of universities in wanting these options, but there has been a steady increase in the number of campuses, as well as airlines and hotels, slowly adopting these accommodations.

There are also many Americans who identify themselves as ‘flexitarians,’ or being very inclined to a vegetarian-based diet.

Certain nutrients and fats, like Omega-3s, are necessary in our diets, and often the best sources are in meat.

“I tend to eat some fish every once in a while to get those healthy fats, and will eat small portions of organic white meat on occasion if I want to have it in a special meal,” said Ava Gagliardi FCRH ’14. “For instance,

I’ll definitely have a bit of turkey on Thanksgiving.”

“While I use the term vegetarian loosely, and some people may not consider me a true vegetarian, I won’t deprive myself of something if I want to enjoy it healthily. I just make sure to do so as responsibly and moderately as possible,” Gagliardi said.

SEE VEGANS, PAGE 14

The Theaters in NYC Where You Should Watch Movies

By JAKE KRING-SCHREIFELS & DEVON SHERIDAN STAFF WRITER & ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

The essential criterion for a theater is simple: a carved-out dark, quiet space to be illuminated by a large screen’s bright glow. But that which gives a theater its character goes beyond projections and dimmed lights. Far more crucial to the overall experience are things like the seats’ comfort, the theater’s architecture and the selection of tasty goodies at the concession stand. AMC’s Lincoln Center (perfectly located for Fordham students, Lincoln Center and Rose Hill alike) multiplex is good but there are others. Here is a sample of other theaters worth trying out: Lincoln Plaza Cinemas This is the lesser-known Lincoln Center movie theater, located in the basement of a large building complex. But, that is the wonderfully hidden appeal of it. NYC theater prices are generally all around $13-14, so don’t expect anything cheaper, but once you head down the escalator, you’ll find the perfect art-house vibe. The nice selection of treats includes coffees and teas as well as pastries and cakes.

The screens are small and the average age of moviegoers hovers around 60. Still, if you like foreign films or niche genres, Lincoln Plaza will supply you with a unique environment and that snobby, artflick attitude as you come back up to street level.

Film Society of Lincoln Center At its best, this place is the king of the movie world, and at its

worst, the Film Society of Lincoln Center is an overpriced ticket to see classics on the big screen again.

The Film Society at Lincoln Center is the free-spirited and often elitist sister of Lincoln Plaza and AMC. It hosts the New York Film Festival every year, along with special screening series’ and director talks. It comprises the Elinor Bunin Monroe Film Center and Walter Reade Theater, both running adjacent to W. 65th Street.

Both are nice venues even though the seats are rather uncomfortable.

Tired of buttered popcorn? The Monroe theater has a few options, most notably the caramelized variety. If you’re in the mood for a date, Monroe is a one-stop shop.

Check out the fancy restaurant that is attached to the theater after

your screening. Look on its website for Q-and-A sessions with actors and directors, too, as its auditorium has a small intimate space to grab a photo.

The Ziegfeld Theater Most of the time, the Ziegfeld Theater plays host to red carpet premieres and corporate screenings. The reason? Look at the old fashioned marquee, the beautifully ornate and antiquated lobby interior and the red carpeted, dimly lit walls of the theater. There is only one screen, but its auditorium can host 1,300 people at a time. It plays mostly new releases and is located on the corner of 6th Avenue and 54th Street, not too from Lincoln Center campus. Do not be fooled by the sketchy parking garage to the left of the theater; inside, the

building is a crisply projected image and a grand space. Even when you decide on either popcorn or nachos, you’ll feel like royalty.

AMC Harlem Magic Johnson Theater This movie theater is a gem for two reasons. The first reason is obvious—it is a movie theater dedicated to Magic Johnson. The combination of Magic Johnson and going to the movies sounds like a wonderful dream: enjoying 60 oz. Dr. Pepper and SnoCaps with Magic Johnson; falling victim to buttery popcorn fingers and fighting over napkins with Magic Johnson; discussing the pros and cons of the complexities of Hollywood’s 21st century economic system which aims to cash in on the new international

COURTESY OF FLICKR

Screening both classics and new movies, The Elinor Bunin Monroe Film Center is part of the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

audience and the effect it is having on modern cinema with Magic Johnson. All these images come to mind at the thought of AMC’s Magic Johnson Theater in Harlem, and even though none of that will happen, the name of the theater is not for nothing, because painted on the walls of the theater are two distinct murals of Magic Johnson with his arms around a diverse group of children. The wall art is, ahem, magical. So that is the first awesome thing.

The second plus about the theater is that it is only 30 minutes away from Rose Hill. The theater is two blocks from the D train stop at 125th Street. In all seriousness, though, go for the movie, but stay to bask in the glory of Magic Johnson’s caring gaze.

AMC Loews Orpheum 7 In a number of ways, this theater on 86th and 3rd Avenue is like every other AMC movie theater in Manhattan: ultra-commercialized, tickets sell out quickly and it costs at least $20 for a ticket, a soda and popcorn. Thank God large sodas and large popcorn are available for refills. At full price (never forget that Fordham offers major discounts on movie tickets), going on a movie date in Manhattan is equivalent in price range to a date at the Bronx Beer Hall. But, for the high prices, Loew’s Orpheum 7 offers a major bonus prize: reclining seats. And, the chairs recline all the way back.

Combined with the massive movie screen, the seats make for a very decadent way to watch movies. La-Z-Boys for theater seats?

Yes, please; this is ‘Merica at the movies in pure excess.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

December 4, 2013

Page 15

Editor’s Pick: Fender Telecaster

By DEVON SHERIDAN

Free Music Fridays When: Every Friday (Dec. 6 event below) What time: 5:30 p.m.

Where: The American Folk Art Museum Price: Free (cash wine bar) Litvakus, a collective of five musicians coming from backgrounds as different as folk, classical, jazz, Latin, psychedelic pop and cumbia, performs toe-tapping tunes and heartfelt songs of mainly Eastern European origin, as well as original some originals. They will be performing this Friday at the American Folk Art Museum’s Free Music Fridays.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Since its inception in 1950, the Fender Telecaster has accomplished both omnipresence and particularity.

An easy way to describe its rock heritage is by employing the hackneyed rhetoric of rock royalty. Rock n’ roll buffs love to talk about rock n’ roll like it’s a paramount narrative history. And if articulated with the right combination of zeal, accuracy and badassery, rock history can indeed provide a great insight into 20th century social conditions: the advent of new technology and, most importantly, music’s sine qua non relationship with the human experience.

So it might be a small cop out to explain the history of the Telecaster like it is part of some divine narrative. But, oh well, the analogy works anyways.

The Telecaster is the king who has the original title to the throne. It is the rightful owner of royal lineage. The body design of the Telecaster was Leo Fender’s first design to be produced for the masses: a plank of wood, a single, quartered and rounded pick guard and two pickups. It was undeniably simple and immediately classic.

Its genesis is like the creation story in chapter one of the Bible when God creates Adam, then creates another human, and the next thing you know humans are everywhere, being loud and causing disruptions everywhere they go.

To help elucidate the borderlinecontradictory beginning sentence of my ode to the Tele, take a look at the picture above. If you listen to rock music, any rock music at all, then that guitar looks familiar. The Telecaster is

ELIZABETH ZANGHI/THE RAM

Insert your favorite rocker here. Who has time for copyright laws?

truly particular to one genre of music: rock n’ roll (including, of course, rock’s plentiful sub-genres).

A proper account of the Telecaster would be harrowingly incomplete without the inclusion of the name Keith Richards. The Rolling Stones guitarist’s Telecaster bore the riffs of sheer sexuality, fervor and ingenuity that only could be produced by a man of Richards’ brass. He tuned his guitar in the uncanny open G, dismissed the low E string from his Telecaster and, in doing so, dismissed any chance of sticking to the norms. He blazed rocky trails with his ax in his hands. In many ways, Richards is the epitome of Telecaster rock n’ roll, but then again, you do not need to like the Stones to appreciate the guitar itself.

Anyone with a Pops who listens to Bruce Springsteen has seen and heard the Telecaster. It is the guitar slung over Bruce’s shoulder on the cover of Born to Run and Wrecking Ball (Springsteen’s iconic Telecaster is actually an Esquire–same bodybut differentiated by a single pickup ,as opposed to the Telecaster’s two pick-

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ups).

Ever go through a punk rock phase?

Well, then, your angsty ears certainly have greeted the crunchy melodies of Joe Strummer’s beaten up Telecaster.

He used the same one his entire life, a frequently repainted but always beaten up production line Telecaster, complete with a sticker above the pickups that read “Ignore Alien Orders.”

Ever got the blues, or just a hankering for soulful sounds and listened to Muddy Waters and Otis Redding?

That’s the Telecaster sound. Ever listened to The Beatles’ album Let It Be? George Harrison recorded his tracks on a rosewood Telecaster for the band’s final album. Vampire Weekend, the darlings of indie rock, used a Telecaster on its second album Contra. Eddie Vedder’s custom black Telecaster is an icon of grunge rock. Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and Jonny Greenwood all have played Telecasters during their music careers.

The guitar is omnipresent, but the unifying theme here is the Telecaster’s singular goal: to be played at an amplified volume, turned up to ten.

Brooklyn Rock Lottery When: Saturday, Dec. 7 What time: 9 p.m.

Where: The Knitting Factory Price: $15 (proceeds go to charity) The premise is simple but effective. Twenty-five hand-picked musicians meet at 10:00 a.m. at the evening’s performance venue. These volunteers are organized into five groups through a lottery-based chance selection. The five separate groups are then released to practice. The musicians have twelve hours to create a band name and three to five songs (with a one coversong limit). The groups will then perform what they have created that evening in front of a waiting audience. It’s an awesome concept for an event, and the proceeds go to charity!

— COMPILED BY JACK MACGREGOR ASSISTANT ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Send tips, event listings or comments to fordhamramculture@gmail.com.

Local Italian Restaurant Owners Adapt to Foreign Demographic

By DEVIN BOOTH CONTRIBUTING WRITER

“Fordham University has always played a big role in the community, and it seems to only be getting bigger,” Gabriel Lizzi said via email. Lizzi has worked as a waiter for the past 25 years at the famous Dominick’s Restaurant on Arthur Avenue, known for serving family-style portions and yelling out the bill instead of writing it down. Lizzi has experienced the changes around Fordham’s neighborhood and knows there are more to come.

Fordham University and the sur-

rounding Little Italy neighborhood of the Bronx certainly have undergone many changes in recent decades, and they will certainly continue to transform in the future. The owners and workers of some of the staple Italian restaurants and shops on Arthur Avenue, including Mario’s Restaurant and Dominick’s Restaurant, talked about the transformations to the neighborhood and University they have seen and speculated on what the future holds.

Orazio Carciotto, the owner of the Zagat-rated cheese shop Casa Della Mozzarella, explained the transformation of residents in the neighborhood

he has seen in last 20 years.

“The neighborhood used to be 90 percent Italian, but now the majority of residents are Albanian, Mexican or Chinese,” Carciotto said in his thick Italian accent, surrounded by the pounds of packaged pasta and other Italian goods piled floor to ceiling in his small shop.

Lizzi concurs with Carciotto’s memory of the flight of Italian residents to other parts of the Tri-State area. “What was once a neighborhood made up of mostly Italian residents has drastically changed over the last 30 years,” said Lizzi. “Most moved SEE NEIGHBORHOOD, PAGE 14

We are looking for new writers for our “Dining Out” column next volume!

Email us at fordhamramculture@gmail.com CHRISTINA FEREINI/THE RAM

Joseph Magliussci, owner of Mario’s Restaurant, says his business has undergone changes, just like its home in the Bronx.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Page 16

December 4, 2013

WHO’S THAT KID? JOE HALPIN A MEMBER OF GSB ‘17 MAJOR: BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION HOMETOWN: CHICAGO, IL Describe yourself in a couple sentences for the readers.

Caffeine addict. Paper cut survivor. Nap enthusiast.

What is your favorite aspect of Fordham and why?

Its location. I love New York City, and I love that Fordham has the benefits of a college campus and all that a city has to offer.

If there was one thing about Fordham you could change what would it be?

Starbucks’ hours. I mean, come on, what coffee shop opens at noon and closes at nine?

What is your favorite thing to do in New York City?

Explore! I love not having a plan or any directions and just walking around the city and taking it all in.

What is something about you that not many people know?

I am not an 80-year-old man, but my favorite kind of cookie is oatmeal raisin. Also, Beyoncé and I are going to get married one day. Jay-Z doesn’t know yet, but it’ll happen.

What is your favorite class at Fordham?

The Abnormal Psychology in Contemporary Culture class that I’m

currently in. It’s such an interesting class and my professor, Dr. Andover, is great!

What is a personal goal you already have or would like to accomplish over your four years here?

Climb the Keating clock tower.

What show, food, artist or movie would you consider your “guilty pleasure”?

Definitely “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” on TLC… It’s like a trainwreck; you know you should look away, but you just can’t.

What is your favorite movie and why?

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Not only is it filmed in the greatest city in the world (Go Chicago!) but it’s hilarious and a total classic.

What is your favorite album released in 2013?

Haim’s Days Are Gone, hands down. It’s just an overall great album, every track is so spot on. If you haven’t heard them, you’re missing out.

Do you have plans, career or otherwise, for post-college life?

Obviously, I would like to have a job and some stability, but I would also really like to travel the world,

Motives For A Meatless Diet Is Not Always Limited to Health Qualms FROM VEGAN, PAGE 10

“I am concerned about production ethics, health effects and sustainability,” said Owczarek. “I am more and more turning to as many natural and local options as possible, which unfortunately are often only available to those with extra wealth.”

Some people claim that vegetarianism and veganism are just diet fads, brought about by high-profile celebrities. For example, Justin Timberlake dressed up as a block of tofu on Saturday Night Live and sang about the ethics behind these diets. Most likely, some people are just becoming vegan to be trendy, but others are choosing this lifestyle for different reasons — such as sustainability, ethics and environmentalism.

Normally, diet fads die out even more quickly than they arrive. For many, becoming a vegan or a vegetarian is a turning point for the future rather than just a new way to achieve that magic number on the scale.

There are serious health benefits to going vegetarian or vegan besides weight loss. Companies sometimes use chemicals (which are often undisclosed) in the process of meat production that are linked to cancer and other health issues.

Some people become vegetarian or vegan because they are conscious that grain-based foods are more sustainable that meat.

Research has shown that meat consumption is the leading factor in climate change. The Worldwatch

Institute estimates that at least 51 percent of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide can be attributed to livestock and their byproducts.

For many vegans and vegetarians, like Owczarek, concern over the carbon footprint emitted by livestock is another factor in their decisions to change their diets.

Investigative documentaries have also sparked consumer awareness about the practices that occur behind closed doors in animal agriculture.

“I saw a PETA video regarding the fur industry in China, depicting how they basically skin the most helpless and adorable animals alive and in the most inhumane ways, just for some fur lining on a coat, as well as countless documentaries about how our meat is produced, how the animals are killed and the treatment that they are faced with, as well as the health effects of it all,” Raquel Plaener, FCRH ’14, said. “I was instantly turned off and could never look at meat the same way again.”

While Plaener does not believe that her small acts are going to change this situation at all, she is happy to see that awareness regarding these injustices is spreading and that others are catching on.

People choose to become vegan or vegetarian for a wide variety of reasons, including personal health, environmentalism, sustainability and concerns for animal welfare.

An increase in vegetarian and vegan options can help everyone, even ‘flexitarians,’ eat healthier.

Karen Hill

COURTESY OF JOE HALPIN

Joe, picured here on the right, is also actively involved with Campus Ministry.

backpack across Europe or do something cliche, yet exciting, like that.

What activities, clubs, projects or organizations are you involved with at school?

I am a part of the Compass Fellowship at Fordham and on an intramural volleyball team.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what would you bring with

you?

Beyoncé, my laptop (with Netflix) and sunscreen – don’t want to get burned!

If you could go back to your first day at Fordham, what advice would you give yourself?

Well, I’ve only been here for a few months, so I don’t think I am in any place to give advice to anyone.

Restaurants Remain as Relics of Italian Neighborhood FROM NEIGHBORHOOD, PAGE 10

to other parts of the Bronx.”

Joseph Magliussci said he started working at his father’s restaurant when he was 13, back when it was called Migliucci’s. Around that time, he said his cousin Mario would bring his friends back to the restaurant after school, and they would always say they were going to Mario’s, so eventually the restaurant’s name changed to Mario’s. Today, Migliucci is the owner of Mario’s, and he said he has seen all the Italian kids move out and Albanians and other immigrants take their place.

When asked about changes Fordham University has undergone and the school’s influence on their businesses, all the men agreed that over the years Fordham has helped their businesses succeed.

Lizzi made mention of another factor in the businesses success.

“The amount of off-campus housing has increased greatly over the years which has helped neighborhood businesses,” Lizzi said.

Giancarlo Paciullo, the man in charge of the legendary Tino’s Delicatessen for the past 18 years, has become a familiar face among Fordham Students and his establishment has become a fixture of catered Fordham events. Paciullo said his business has gradually increased thanks to the growing popularity of Fordham and the pull of neighborhood restaurants, such as Roberto’s, which is owned by his brother.

Migliucci also credits the popularity of Fordham events with increasing revenue, especially this most recent football season.

“Gradually Fordham has gotten larger, and the football games and

parents weekends brings a lot of students and parents into the restaurant,” Magliucci said.

Casa Della Mozzarella has also gradually benefited from Italian-loving shoppers and Fordham students’ business.

Unlike restaurant owners, Carciotto has noticed a change in student behaviors that have slightly decreased his cheese and pasta shop sales.

“Students used to cook a lot more,” he said. “They used to come buy pasta and ingredients at my shop to cook, but today they take the easier way and eat out more, because they don’t have their mommy there to clean up after them and they don’t want to clean up themselves.”

One Fordham student attempted to clarify.

“I’m lazy a lot of the time and I know that my pasta or anything else I try to make will never taste half as good as the stuff I can buy on Arthur Avenue,” Ryan Ennis, GSB ’14, said.

Looking toward the future, the respective outlooks of the business owners in the Little Italy section of the Bronx are optimistic regarding both the neighborhood and Fordham.

Lizzi sees all the popular attractions of the Bronx growing in the future and helping to keep the traditions of Little Italy alive.

“Fordham, The Zoo, Botanical Gardens and Yankee Stadium events certainly play a large role in keeping the community alive. I don’t see any of these factors declining at any point in the future; rather [they] keep getting bigger and better,” she said.

“I think Fordham and the neighborhood are just going to get better and better in the future,” Magliucci said.

Sex is magic, but not for the reasons you might expect. You see, sex has the hidden power to make boys disappear.

In a generation that sees sex everywhere, we are confused about when exactly the appropriate time to have sex with a new partner is. Many women fear that they are being used or that the boy wants only one thing and will soon disappear. Of course, if you have sex too soon with someone you don’t know, he is not likely to take you seriously.

Also, too many girls tell guys, “I don’t want to have sex until I am in a relationship.” If that is how you truly feel, I commend you on your unwavering self-respect. If that is not how you feel, however, do not dangle the idea of intimacy over his head like a mistletoe tease. You are tormenting yourself just as much as him, and you probably won’t get anywhere with that mentality. You cannot manipulate someone into wanting to date you.

It is tricky trying to determine whether a boy will just want you so he can get what he wants. If all a boy wants is sex, it does not matter if you wait six days or six months because once he has what he wants, he will leave. With guys like this, you end up wasting either sex or your time. You stick it out until he can’t wait any longer and bails, or you do it, and it’s still sayonara. Save yourself, and look for the warning signs.

A clear symptom of chronic jerk syndrome is saying he doesn’t want a relationship but continues to ask for sex anyway. Giving in to his desires despite your morals will not change his mind. You can never trust a guy less than at times when he says he does not want a relationship. Ask him what he is asking for up front. More likely than not, a boy will not just stick around for sex, unless he genuinely cares for the girl. Not all guys are jerks, but all guys are still guys. They can’t help what they want, and the right guy is the one who actually wants you for your smarts and personality too.

Your main concern when trying to find a relationship doesn’t need to be sex. You can treat it like extra credit on a test — meaning that there is a chance you will benefit if you do it, but it doesn’t hurt if you don’t. You don’t focus all your energy on the extra credit of a test. It’s an afterthought.

Focus on the true importance and strengths of your relationships (e.g. how well you get along, what you have in common or how much attention he is showing you versus playing video games), or else your relationship will stagnate. A real relationship has a chance to bloom if you focus on the right things. Worrying about when to do the deed is distracting once you set some sort of ticking time bomb on it.

Make a choice that makes you happy with a boy or girl who makes you happy. Think with the head on your shoulders, and you will be set. It is almost always better with someone for whom you actually care when combined with true feelings — beyond those of sexual pleasure. If he or she is a keeper, something as superficial as sex won’t tarnish your connection.

Greater than the power of sex is the magical power of love.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

December 4, 2013

Page 17

Ram Reviews

Nebraska

Movie Review

COURTESY OF MOVIEPOSTERDB.COM

By JAKE KRING-SCHREIFELS STAFF WRITER

Everything about Alexander Payne’s Nebraska feels authentic. You can feel it in the desolate Midwestern

towns and their soft spoken residents.

You can feel it in the empty, blue-collar roads and in the handful of elders that camp in Main Street’s neighboring bars and steakhouse. You can feel it in the lingering landscapes, the

frames of infinite flatness — like the picturesque Hawaiian tropical sunsets in Payne’s last film The Descendants — that just sit there waiting for you to get acquainted to the setting.

The director is from Omaha, and there is a reverence and love that goes into his portrait of his state, his people and their tired, dusty life. Payne knows how to capture people and places with such ease because he gets the small things right. He also does not patronize. He makes his subjects characters, who in other hands would come off as caricatures. The only reason you might feel like some fit into the latter category is because most of their daily lives are so one-dimensional.

Contrary to the title, the movie starts in Billings, Mont., where Woody Grant, played intrepidly by Bruce Dern (Monster), stubbornly attempts to walk to Lincoln, Neb. to collect a million-dollar sweepstakes. The prize is a magazine fraud but Woody persists, with an odd mixture of senility and headstrong persistence to claim it. As a result, his son David (a solemn

Will Forte) must track him down in his Subaru each day and escort him back to his shrewish wife Kate (June Squib). To end the arguing, David drives his dad to Lincoln for some father-son bonding. He knows the million dollars is a gimmick, but wants Woody to pursue something before Kate anxiously puts her husband in a nursing home.

One also gets the sense that David wants to make this trip for himself, too. He has just broken up with his girlfriend of two years, works at an electronics store and his indoor plants are dead. His brother Ross (Bob Odenkirk) is on the road to success, so Nebraska becomes a beacon to escape a lonely existence, to earn some pride en route to collect a scam. You also get the sense David wants to reestablish a relationship with his war-vet father, to heal some buried, drunken home-life wounds. His attempts mostly fall on Woody’s partially deaf ears. “C’mon, have a beer with your old man. Be somebody.” David must oblige.

The film was shot in color and then formatted into black and white.

It is a fitting scheme, considering the town and its composition of people that feel like they have been collecting dust in some old photo album.

This little population feels so cut off from society, isolated from outside culture except for the rusted Coors Light window neons and communal television gatherings. Payne is careful not to mock this insular lifestyle, though. This is more small-town celebration than condescension.

Woody coasts through all of this without a lot of thought, but there is tenderness in his brusque fathering; He is refreshing even as he stubbornly waddles along. There is no sex in the movie except for when Kate flashes her relatives’ gravestones — and there is no violence besides David throwing a nice right punch. This is just regular life in all of its frustration and patience and love.

Sometimes movies make us forget what that is. Lucky, we have Payne to remind us.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Movie Review

COURTESY OF MOVIEPOSTERDB.COM

By JOE VITALE OPINION EDITOR

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire continues the story of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Lin-

ings Playbook) and her new attentionfraught life as one of the two victors of the 74th Hunger Games. Along with her fellow winner, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson, American Splendor), the “star-crossed lovers” jour-

ney throughout Panem, the dystopian country lead by President Snow (Donald Sutherland, The Mechanic).

They quickly learn their feats in the Hunger games have made them symbols of hope for the oppressed people of Panem.

Mostly following the trilogy written by Suzanne Collins, the movie splits into two halves, the first of which opens with Katniss and Peeta’s victory tour. The tour allows them to cross paths with Panem’s people, who are eager for a revolution with Katniss as its leader.

In each district, Katniss and Peeta witness the full-fledged totalitarianism enforced by, ironically enough, the Peacekeepers, whose repressive tactics now pervades throughout the 12 districts. Such is the case until Katniss and Peeta arrive in the lavish Capitol. The Capitol, whose inhabitants are addicted to the celebrity cult it generates, lies at a far distance— geographically, politically, economically and socially—from Panem, where the people must find a way to

survive each day. It is, we are reminded, the way of Panem. The paradox is as vivid as it is repulsive.

The second half of the movie begins with Katniss and Peeta’s return to District 12. On the state-run television station, they learn that the 75th Hunger Games will draw from the victors of each of the 12 districts in Panem. Suddenly, the two are off to compete in the Hunger Games for the second time. In most sequels, this would be a repetitive convention expected to yield a paralleled plot line.

This second installment, however, does what most sequels cannot: it advances on all fronts.

There are, for example, a slew of new characters who steer the games in an unpredictable fashion, each adding some flavor to the survivalist aspect within the arena. Thanks to the new game maker, Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote) the 75th games are vastly unfamiliar, in both setting and style.

The only constant in the games is its cruel nature, which forces innocent

civilians to kill one another all while surviving the menacingly creative obstacles of the arena.

Katniss develops as a character as well. The bow-and-arrow-bearing heroine has a heightened awareness of her “Mockingjay status” in Panem.

And, with so many people looking to her as a symbol of hope, she must face the challenges that lie ahead, putting her friends, family and self at risk.

Catching Fire is leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor. The story of this dystopia, where the elite live in bliss while the poor are subject to organized labor, is as chilling as the Hunger Games themselves. The director is not hesitant to create this atmosphere through the movie’s dialogue, mood and tempo, and the results are generally fulfilling. Some of the target audience may not pick up on the complex themes of addictive entertainment, state-controlled violence and vicious oppression, but Catching Fire tells a tale movie-goers everywhere can enjoy.

Frozen

Movie Review

By MEGAN CATTEL STAFF WRITER

COURTESY OF MOVIEPOSTERDB.COM

Disney’s 53rd animated feature Frozen is a surprisingly enjoyable retelling of Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytale, “The Snow Queen.” With an amazing soundtrack and beautiful animation, Frozen takes successful risks to deliver a welcomed film to the Disney canon.

Do not expect a typical princess tale from this movie. The movie’s main focus is not romance, but rather the relationship between the two leads, Anna and Elsa, two sisters who are the princesses of a kingdom called Arrendale. Since birth, Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel, Enchanted) is plagued with

the power of manipulating ice and snow from her fingertips — think Bobby from X-Men or Fro-Zone from The Incredibles. When Elsa’s abilities go haywire, she flees from the kingdom, leaving Arrendale in an eternal winter and Anna is on a mission to retrieve her.

Frozen’s biggest strength the music. The songs are upbeat and bring the film to another level.

Menzel’s Broadway voice is not wasted during her powerhouse solo in “Let it Go.” The art direction also is a high point for the film, each shot capturing the astonishing beauty of Arrendale’s Scandinavian landscape.

Shrugging off helpless princess stereotypes, Anna is a feministfriendly character despite being

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occasionally ditzy. She fashions a slingshot from a spruce tree to defeat a colossal ice monster, jumps off a 200-foot cliff and even punches a guy off a ship at the film’s end. There are no weddings in Frozen, no quick engagements or a true love’s kiss; the film actually offers a cautionary message of love at first sight.

Despite a few plot holes, Frozen makes up for them with a feel-good film full of comedy and lovable characters. It is not of the same caliber as certain Disney renaissance films like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, but it certainly has the potential to usher in another golden era for Disney’s animated pictures.

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December 4, 2013

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December 4, 2013

Sports

Transferring, Made Easy: At Home in the Bronx

By MATT ROSENFELD SPORTS EDITOR

Mary Nwachukwu (pronounced wah-CHOO-koo) is a graduate student here at Fordham and also a forward for the women’s basketball team. Just last year, though, she was a student athlete at St. John’s University. After her senior year at St. John’s, Mary decided to transfer to Fordham and use her last year of eligibility with the Rams. For student-athletes, transferring is usually a bit easier than it is for regular students, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t rough. Lucky for Nwachukwu, Fordham was just the right fit.

“It was a pretty smooth process,” Nwachukwu said. “I was looking for a better academic school, and Fordham was interested right away. I reciprocated, and it worked out pretty well.”

Coming to Fordham was actually Nwachukwu’s second time transferring. She left Boston College in 2010 to go to St. John’s. After sitting out a year due to NCAA transfer rules, she made an immediate impact on the Red Storm. Nwachukwu started 21 of 29 games her first year at St. John’s and shot 48 percent from the floor in a year the Red Storm made the NCAA Sweet 16.

Last year at St. John’s, she started 28 of the team’s 29 games and was tied for second on the team in blocks.

However, the Red Storm was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

But how did she find her way to Fordham? In a way you would never believe. “[Coach] Angelika Szumilo found her name on a transfer website,” Fordham assistant coach Laura Forbes said. “We heard she wasn’t coming back [to St. John’s], so we followed up on it.”

Once Nwachukwu found her new school of choice, that was not the end. It is one thing to choose a new school, but it is another to assimilate to the new life that goes along with it. In addition to being as new as any freshman, the 22-year-old graduate student is as old as any other player on the team. You can begin to see why transferring might be a bit of a struggle.

Lucky for Nwachukwu, Fordham is not new to this situation.

Just last year, Fordham had Marah Strickland, a graduate student transfer from the University of South Carolina, came to Rose Hill to play her last year of eligibility. The Rams had handled this situation before.

“We bring them in and call them ‘Granny’,” head coach Stephanie Gaitley said. “Marah was terrific, and Mary’s been terrific. Mary’s been a wonderful kid to coach, she’s a very focused academic kid, she gives you experience and she’s no drama.”

As for the players welcoming in another “Grandma,” it is easier than you think.

Senior captain Erin Rooney was a transfer herself, from Monmouth University in New Jersey, so she knows just what it is like to walk in Nwachukwu’s shoes.

“I pick on her a lot,” Rooney said. “I give her some tough love, but I think that’s what makes it easy to transfer, when you’re in a family atmosphere.

If I’m too nice to her, that’s not family like, so I give her some tough love and make her feel like part of the team.”

Nwachukwu has been feeling the love.

“It’s strange being one of the oldest players, but not knowing the new plays or where to hang out on campus. My teammates have been really accepting and they’ve really helped me feel comfortable here.”

On the court, Nwachukwu offers

FROM FOOTBALL, PAGE 1

one-yard touchdown, cutting Fordham’s lead to 31-27. Fordham’s ensuing offensive series lasted only five plays and ended in a punt, giving the ball right back to the Pioneers. The momentum appeared to be firmly on Sacred Heart’s side, but Fordham’s Jordan Chapman picked off a pass from Noel.

Then, in the fourth quarter, after Fordham turned the ball over on downs, Sacred Heart was still only trailing by a touchdown, but Noel was intercepted again, this time by Williams.

“We definitely could have pulled away with a win today, but we just shot ourselves in the foot,” Spence said.

Fordham advances to take on Towson next Saturday on the road.

The seventh-seeded Tigers are 102, having lost to Villanova (which Fordham beat earlier this year) and Delaware. They earned an at-large bid out of the Colonial Athletic Association, a conference widely regarded as the toughest in the FCS. “They’ve been one of the top ten teams in the country over the last two years,” Moorhead said of Towson. “It’s going to be a challenge, but we’re going to do what we do every week: prepare to go 1-0.”

The Tigers are 14th in the FCS in

Mixed Results at Bucknell Invitational

By DREW CASEY STAFF WRITER

ALLY WHITE/THE RAM

Nwachukwu played at St. John’s and Boston College before coming here.

something the Rams sorely missed last year: depth down low. Previously sophomore Samantha Clark was the only true big presence Fordham could offer in the paint. But with Mary on board, it has really helped the team, specifically Clark. “[Nwachukwu] has helped make Sam better every day,” Gaitley said.

“It’s somebody to go against Sam every day and we didn’t have the depth at that position last year that [Mary] affords us. She has great defensive skills and is a threat offensively, so she gives us the depth that we lacked last year.”

So far this year, Nwachukwu has appeared in every game for the Rams, providing the presence down low

when Clark comes out of the game.

She had two blocks in the season opener against San Francisco, and is proving her defensive worth.

Off the court, she is finding Fordham to be a good fit.

“It’s great here,” Nwachukwu said.

“I love it. I wish I could have came here with all my eligibility, but everything happens for a reason.”

And when it comes down to which New York City school she likes better, there’s no competition. With a big smile across her face, Nwachkwu exclaimed just what every Ram fan wants to hear.

“Forrrddddhammmm!”

Maybe transferring doesn’t have to be so hard.

Defense Holds off Sacred Heart In First Round Playoff Win But while the offense struggled, the Rams’ defense stood tall against Keshaudas Spence, Sacred Heart’s powerful, talented running back.

Spence carried 25 times and gained 194 yards, 122 of which came on a pair of long runs. For the most part, Fordham’s defense did a good job of bottling up Spence and holding him to minimal gains.

“He’s a big guy, so you have to take him low,” Fordham safety Levon Williams, who was bowled over

by Spence on a first-quarter touchdown run, said of the 230-pound back. “As the game went on, we started to get more aggressive, seeing we could play with him. I’m not going to lie, he’s a good player.”

But when Fordham’s offense stalled, its defense refused to let Sacred Heart capitalize.

For Fordham, the story was the defense coming up with big plays when it needed to; for Sacred Heart, it was missed opportunities.

Twice in the fourth quarter the Rams intercepted RJ Noel, the Pioneers’ quarterback. On both occasions, the Rams converted the turnovers into field goals.

Late in the third quarter, after a missed Fordham field goal, Spence barreled into the end zone for a

Page 19

total offense and are led by running back Terrence West, who leads the FCS in rushing yards per game.

As prolific as its offense is, Towson’s defense is equally as strong.

For the second week in a row, Fordham will be facing a top-20 defense.

The Tigers’ defense is the 20th best

in the FCS in terms of yards allowed, but the Rams are not intimidated.

“I think we’ve proved that we’re one of the top offensive units in the country,” Nebrich said. “We’re not going to fear any defense, especially Towson.”

MICHAEL REZIN/THE RAM

Michael Nebrich scored four total touchdowns in Saturday’s playoff victory.

Prior to heading home for Thanksgiving break, the Fordham swimming and diving team participated in the Bucknell Invitational, its largest meet of the season thus far. The women’s squad placed second out of 10 teams, while the men’s team finished seventh.

The three-day meet took place in Lewisburg, Pa. at Bucknell University, and featured morning event preliminaries and evening event finals similar to the Atlantic 10 Championship.

“I definitely think it’s great practice for A-10s,” senior co-captain Kara Field said. “The freshmen get a glimpse at how competitive it is to make it back to finals, and all of the returning swimmers needed that format to get back into that prelimfinal mentality. We all learned that it is crucial to stay focused and to really support one another.”

The first of three event winners for the Rams was junior Kelly Carroll, who touched the wall first on Friday evening in the 200-yard individual medley. Carroll also placed third in the 100-yard breaststroke on Saturday and set a school record during the preliminary for this event. Carroll’s mark of 1:03.57 eclipsed Nicole Marshall’s 2010 time of 1:03.68.

Senior Shintaro Noguchi was the second event winner for the Rams.

His time of 46.24 was the fastest in the 100-yard freestyle. In addition to this win, Noguchi placed second in both the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly.

Freshman Megan Polaha was the final Fordham event winner at the Kinney Natatorium, taking the 200yard butterfly in 2:01.88.

Although they were not event winners, Steve Sholdra and Kalena Laurent turned in exceptional performances as well. Sholdra was second in the 500-yard freestyle and was third in both the 400-yard individual medley and the 200-yard butterfly.

Laurent was second best in the 200yard freestyle and third in the 500yard freestyle and the 200-yard butterfly.

In the relay events, Fordham also had success. The women’s 800-yard freestyle relay team finished second, while the women’s 400-yard freestyle relay team touched third. The men’s 200-yard freestyle relay team finished in third place also.

The team hosts Manhattan Wednesday Dec. 4, at 7:00p.m. in the Colonel Frances B. Messmore Aquatic Center at Rose Hill in their final meet of 2013. Following six weeks off from competition, the team will travel to New Rochelle, N.Y. on January 17 to take on the Iona Gaels.

Despite this hiatus, the Rams will be hard at work over winter break.

They will travel to San Juan, Puerto Rico for 10 days of training to better prepare themselves for the second half of the season and the Atlantic 10 Championship.

“We all want to contribute as much as possible come A-10s, and you don’t want to jeopardize not contributing by not training,” Field said.

SPORTS

Page 20

NHL Blog

The Goalbuster Shining

By ANTHONY PUCIK STAFF WRITER

There is a New York Ranger goaltender who has won six of the last seven games he has played in, and his name is not Henrik Lundqvist. It’s Cam Talbot. The rookie goaltender has played phenomenally for New York ever since he’s been called up from the AHL after Martin Biron announced his retirement. I have to say that I was a bit skeptical, as were many Ranger fans, when the Rangers decided to call up a rookie with no NHL experience. The team was struggling, Lundqivst went down with an injury and Talbot needed to step in and play big games. Talbot, however, has surprised many people, including me, and has proven not only that he can play in the NHL, but he can play pretty well. Despite losing to the Winnipeg Jets Monday, 5-2, Talbot has played tremendously up to this point.

In his first ever NHL game, Talbot lost to the Flyers, but played very well. He saved 25 of the 27 shots he faced and gave the Rangers a great chance to win the game.

He, like many Ranger goaltenders, need to step up his game to near perfect levels when the team was unable to score at least twice, a recurring trend. In his next game, he defeated a very good Detroit Red Wings team 3-2 in overtime, saving 32 of 34 shots. Once again, Talbot kept the Rangers in the game with good goaltending, allowing them to pick up a much needed win.

Now, this could have been a newcomer high for the rookie out of Canada, and Talbot could have just as easily fizzled out after his first two games. But, that has not happened. In the five starts since his first two games, Talbot has not given up more than two goals. In fact, in games against the Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators, Talbot recorded back to back shutouts, the first two of his career.

The most impressive of these was his 1-0 win on the road in Montreal, a place where the Rangers have a very difficult time playing. This

was the first time the Rangers defeated the Canadiens in Montreal since 2009, and the first shutout by a Ranger goaltender in Montreal since Ed Giacomin in February of 1967. Talbot was able to defeat the ghosts that plagued the Rangers in Montreal against the Canadiens.

Perhaps it was his Ghostbusters themed goalie mask that has captivated Ranger fans and led him to be called the “Goalbuster.”

Talbot’s career numbers are a 6-2-0 record, giving him nearly half of the Ranger wins this season, with a 1.79 goals against average and a .934 save percentage. His cool and composed demeanor between the pipes and his ability to make clutch saves have given him a great start to his NHL career, and potentially salvaged the Rangers’ season early on. The Rangers were struggling mightily before Talbot came up. Lundqvist was hurt and Biron retired; they needed to right the ship, which meant having a goalie who would be able to play well enough to give them a chance to get at least a point. Talbot has certainly gone above and beyond the call of duty thus far, and has also given the Rangers confidence in playing him in games where Lundqvist might need a rest.

If the Rangers are to have success this year, their goaltending is going to need to be stellar. Lundqvist will most likely continue to play well, but Talbot is also going to need to play well. Thus far he has lived up to the task, and if he continues to play well, the Rangers will find themselves doing very well this year and Talbot might get a chance at winning the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year in the league. Many might see his game against Winnipeg Monday as a step backward and Talbot coming back down to reality, but every goaltender has a bad game now and again; Talbot is certainly no exception. I think this game will allow him to learn how to deal with a loss and a poor game at the NHL level so that he will be even better prepared for the next game and perform better.

December 4, 2013

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Varsity Scores & Stats

Fordham 31 41 72 Fordham 8 UNLV 23 40 63 Johns Hopkins 11 (FOR) H. Missry 20pts 3stls (UNLV) A. Cesarz 18pts 8rebs Fordham 11 Iona 6 Fordham 31 25 56 Men’s Cross Country Sacred Heart 7 10 10 0 27 Cincinnati 17 23 40 Fordham 10 21 0 6 37 (FOR) E. Rooney 27pts 8rebs IC4A Championship J. Annelli 1st-25:33.9 (SHU) K. Spence 197yds 2TDs (UC) K. Cook 9pts 2stls (FOR) M. Nebrich 413yds 3TDs Men’s Basketball Women’s Cross Country Sacred Heart 37 48 85 IC4A Championship Women’s Basketball Fordham 35 38 73 A. Arsenault 5th-18:27.9 Yale 35 17 52 (SHU) T. Falzon 16pts 10rebs Fordham 43 37 80 (FOR) B. Frazier 21pts 10rebs Men’s Swimming (YU) H. Latham 10pts 3asts 100 Free (FOR) E. Rooney 23pts 11rebs Fordham 43 36 79 S. Noguchi 1st- 46.24 39 36 75 American 27 35 62 Manhattan Women’s Swimming Fordham 30 36 66 (FOR) J. Severe 30pts 5rebs (AU) M. Holmes 14pts 7rebs (MC) G. Beamon 24pts 11rebs 200 Butterfly M. Polaha 1st- 2:01.88 (FOR) E. Rooney 24pts 12rebs Water Polo Fordham 4 Brown 12 Football Fordham 28 14 0 14 56 Colgate 7 0 6 6 19 (FOR) M. Nebrich 392 5TDs (COL) J. Melville 111yds TD

Athletes of the Week Each week The Fordham Ram’s Sports editors honor one male athlete and one female athlete for their on-field performances as its “Athletes of the Week.”

Jon Severe

Erin Rooney

Freshman

Senior

Basketball

Basketball

Severe, the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week, scored a career-high 30 points in the Rams’ win over Manhattan. He is the top-scoring freshman in the nation at 23.2 points per game.

Rooney was named Atlantic 10 CoPlayer of the Week after taking home the MVP at the Lady Rebel Round-Up this past weekend. She averaged 27.3 points per game for the week.

News & Notes

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

Rookie goalie Cam Talbot’s surprsing play has kept the Garden Faithful happy.

• Men’s basketball alumnus Chris Gaston signed with Goes of the Uruguayan Basketball Federation. Goes is in the second divison of the FUBB, the Torneo Metropolitano division. He debuted Tuesday night, scoring six points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

• Women’s basketball senior Abigail Corning has been nominated to the 2014 Good Works Team by the Women’s College Basketball Coaches Association, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Allstate Corp. The Good Works Team recognizes the efforts of student athletes who make significant contributions off the court and in the community.

• Free tickets and Metro Cards are available for this Saturday’s men’s basketball game against St. John’s at Madison Square Garden. Students can sign up for tickets all week in the McGinley Center.

• Three members of the water polo team were named All-Conference athletes by the Collegiate Water Polo Association. Senior Nick Allen and juniors Ori Raz and Noah LeBeau were all named to the All-Northern Division Second Team.

SPORTS

December 4, 2013

Page 21

Back To Relevance: How Two Struggling Programs Reversed Their Fortunes

By MACK ROSENBERG CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Think back to the fall of 2010. The Fordham football team was gearing up for what would be a two-year stretch when the Rams went 6-16 under head coach Tom Masella, which included a 10-loss season in 2011. He was fired after that year.

“During the 1-10 season, Fordham lacked direction,” says Kyle Kesses, FCRH ’12 and the football voice of the Rams on WFUV at the time.

Women’s basketball, under the direction of Cathy Andruzzi, would endure its 16th straight losing season. Her contract was not renewed after the 2010-2011 season.

Needless to say, Rose Hill wasn’t very rosy. Rebuilding was certainly in the works. It came in the form of two brand new coaching staffs.

On April 1, 2011, Fordham named Stephanie Gaitley the new head coach of the women’s basketball team. Gaitley was a huge “get” for the women’s basketball team. She had 464 wins to her credit, and was the second-winningest head coach in the Atlantic 10 from her time spent at St. Joe’s in the early ‘90s. She led the Hawks to five NCAA tournament appearances. If anyone knew anything about how to rebuild a program, it was the 25-year head coaching veteran.

Gaitley says the Fordham job always intrigued her.

“I was enticed [by the recent struggles of the program],” Gaitley said. “I love the role of the underdog, and I’m not going to put myself in any situation unless I feel I can be

successful.”

Eight months later, Joe Moorhead was named the new head coach of the football team. Moorhead, who was the starting quarterback for Fordham in the mid ‘90s, took the job after 14 years as an offensive coach at the collegiate level.

“The potential that we all thought this place had and the things we felt we could achieve made [the Fordham job] a very attractive position,” Moorhead said.

Another key hire was David Roach, who took over as the new athletic director in October 2012.

He came with 22 years of athletic administrative experience under his belt, having served as the Athletic Director at both Brown and Colgate before taking his self-described “type A” personality to Rose Hill.

Roach says he knew exactly what he was getting himself into when he took over, and perhaps his most important personality trait is that he believes change is good.

“I always considered myself a renovator and a builder, and not a maintainer,” Roach said.

That is exactly the attitude he says he implemented when he started at Brown back in 1990. The football team was struggling and would continue to do so until 1993. It was in that year that Roach decided to make a coaching change that resulted in the program’s first winning record in seven seasons.

Before that, athletics at Brown had very low expectations.

“The prevailing attitude [when you would go to a game] was ‘Well, we just hope it can be close tonight,’”

Roach said, looking back on his time at Brown. “Well for me, close is just not good enough.”

Both Moorhead and Gaitley had growing pains in their first seasons at Fordham. Moorhead’s team squandered a halftime lead on the road against nationally ranked Villanova and lost another road game at Lehigh in the final seconds. Gaitley’s squad, meanwhile, had seven freshmen. The Rams had 30 turnovers in the first game of the year.

However, they would go on to win 12 games, inching their way into the Atlantic 10 tournament on the final day of the regular season.

“I really thought that we maximized everything out of that group,” Gaitley said about her first year at Rose Hill. “The biggest thing was teaching the kids to learn how to win and to hate to lose.”

Meanwhile, the football team would turn some heads in its first year under Moorhead, who is quick to say he did not know much about the one-win debacle he was taking over.

“When [my staff and I] talked about what we were going to do moving forward, we said we weren’t going to dwell on the past and worry about things we weren’t a part of,” Moorhead said.

Fordham was quick to shed that past, as the rookie head coach led the Rams to one of the more improbable turnarounds in FCS Football, and Fordham’s first winning season since 2007. The team went 6-5, led by running back Carlton Koonce, who rushed for a school record 1,596 yards.

This year, Moorhead’s squad showed just how seriously it took each and every game. The Rams would affirm that expectation level this season, winning their first 10 games before finishing the regular season 11-1. They fell just short of the first undefeated season in school history, a goal so lofty just two seasons ago but well within the grasp of a rejuvenated Rams squad in 2013.

A team that had lost 10 games learned to take losing seriously. A team that had ranked 98th in the country in total offense in 2011 would rank sixth in 2013, culminating in the first home playoff game in school history. The Rams took care of Sacred Heart on their home field.

The magical season continues this Saturday when they travel to Maryland to face Towson.

Women’s basketball has seen a similar turnaround. Year Two for Gaitley would be the charm, as the Rams earned 26 wins in 2012, a win-

ning Atlantic 10 record for the first time ever, and a trip to the postseason. All of these accolades, according to Gaitley, are hatched on a personal level.

“You have to get the kids to believe, you have to get them to know that you care about them as people first and players second,” said Gaitley. “They have to want to play for you.”

This season, Gaitley’s third at Rose Hill, has started with the Rams turning last year’s losses into wins. The team has beaten Yale and University of the Pacific, two teams it lost to by double digits last year.

So what is the key to all this success? Both Moorhead and Gaitley have a strong belief that having success is about consistency over long stretches of time.

“One season makes a season,” Gaitley said. “A couple seasons makes a program, and that’s what we’re striving to do here.”

MICHAEL REZIN/THE RAM

A large crowd was on hand for Fordham’s first ever FCS home playoff game.

Have a Car? Be our Dist ibution Manager! $550.00 per semester Contact managingeditor@fordhamram.com

SPORTS

Page 22

Kearns’ Kickoff For college football fans, Thanksgiving weekend is the pinnacle of viewing pleasure. Conference championships and BCS hopes are on the line, so there are always several marquee games to watch. Last weekend remarkably exceeded all expectations with its sensational AuburnAlabama and OSU-Michigan battles, but there were countless other hardfought and meaningful games for fans to savor.

I could write 10,000 words about arguably the most significant regular season college game of the 21st century, but the 2013 Iron Bowl will be remembered forever thanks to its last play. In a game which included three missed Alabama field goals, 296 Auburn rushing yards, a tie-breaking 99-yard AJ McCarron touchdown pass, two consecutive defensive stands on 4th and short and a tying TD pass from Nick Marshall with 30 seconds left, the Tide advanced to the Auburn 39-yard line with one second left.

Instead of attempting an expected Hail Mary, Coach Saban sent longdistance kicker Adam Griffith out for a 57-yard effort. The decent kick fell just short, and Auburn returner Chris Davis sprinted more than 100 yards up the sideline for an improbable 34-28 win. If you haven’t already, please watch this play on YouTube.

That incredible game overshadowed a fantastic showdown in Ann Arbor, Mich. where Ohio State edged Michigan in a 42-41 nailbiter.

After the Buckeyes and Wolverines traded punches and touchdowns in the first half, Ohio State jumped ahead with two third quarter touchdowns. While most folks expected Michigan to wilt, the Wolverines responded with three fourth quarter touchdowns. The third score made it 42-41 with 32 seconds remaining, and Michigan coach Brady Hoke decided to try a two point conversion. This attempt failed, however, and Ohio State clung to its one point win.

As remarkable as the Auburn and Ohio State victories were, several other teams made major statements this Saturday. Missouri defeated Texas A&M 28-21 in an entertaining battle of former Big 12 schools. Despite trailing 14-7 at halftime, the Tigers showed their resilience once again on a late tie-breaking 57-yard run.

One year after going 1-7 in the SEC, the Tigers have legitimized themselves as a title contender.

This could have been the weekend’s best game in previous years, but the game couldn’t compare to the Iron Bowl. In fact, there have been so many incredible rivalry games this weekend that important wins by Baylor, South Carolina, Stanford and Oregon have been relegated to regional significance. Among the other games, UCLA recorded a statement win. The Bruins defeated USC for the second straight year in a game with significant local ramifications.

The 35-14 win may have shifted the city’s balance of power.

After my gluttonous consumption of food and college football, I still am not sure whether Auburn, Ohio State or even Missouri will end up playing Florida State. Yet, I am convinced that nothing compares to the passion of college football, especially on Thanksgiving weekend.

— Dominic Kearns

December 4, 2013

Senior Profile: Abigail Corning

ALLY WHITE/THE RAM

Corning is the only player on the team who was at Fordham before coach Stephanie Gaitley turned the team around.

By MATT ROSENFELD SPORTS EDITOR

Abigail Corning is a second-year captain and guard for Fordham’s women’s basketball team. A native of Wethersfield, Conn., Corning is one half of the Rams’ veteran backcourt and has appeared in every game since the start of her sophomore year. During last year’s historic season, Corning was the team’s leading rebounder, averaging 7.1 per game.

This season, she hopes to lead the team back to postseason play.

The Fordham Ram: How did you decide to come to Fordham?

What was the recruiting process like for you?

Abigail Corning: It had a lot to do with academics first and then athletics. I wanted to go to a good school because I didn’t foresee myself playing basketball, especially for long, after college. Also, the location to my house in Connecticut was a factor. A two-hour radius was definitely beneficial to me. My family has always been at my games and to be able to see them at home games was definitely a big thing for me. I didn’t want to have to be a plane ride away.

TFR: After your first year coach Gaitley came in, what was your first impression of her?

AC: I remember there was about five of us in the gym. She walked in and she had talked to us before, but you could tell she was going to care a lot about us and it was definitely the change that we needed. And then, looking at her record and talking to people about her, we knew that she had success in building programs and that’s what we really needed. She respected us as long as we put in the work and respected her and that’s where I think our success has come from.

TFR: What does it feel like for you to be at the forefront of this program’s turnaround?

AC: It’s exciting. When I committed to Fordham, people in my town were like ‘You’re going to Fordham?

Two years ago they lost every single game they played.’ And I was aware of that. I wanted to come in and make an impact on a program and get rewarded for the time and effort I put in. It’s been fun, and it’s a part of history. We’ll never be forgotten.

TFR: You play 35-40 minutes per game, how difficult is it to do that every single game?

AC: It’s hard on the body. It’s really tiring. Coach is good about trying to take it easy on us the day after a game with practice, granted that we do everything we can to win. But there’s a lot of ice baths during the

ALLY WHITE/THE RAM

Corning is averaging 11 points and 6.6 rebounds per game this season.

season and a lot of treatment, stuff like that.

TFR: You’re a second year captain, what do you do to try and lead such a young team this year?

AC: It’s definitely different than it was leading last year. I try to lead by example first, and then lead verbally second. Hopefully, I can get them to catch on and see that this is the work ethic that you need to put in. And then just taking them under my wing and mentor them as far as plays and game situations go. Also, being a good, demanding captain to make sure we’re getting the productivity that we’re looking for.

TFR: What’s your favorite moment been at Fordham thus far?

AC: Our win at Charlotte last year was huge. It was on TV and it was a statement about our program. We had struggled in nonconference season, but to come in and in our first conference game beat Charlotte on the road was huge. That was definitely fun and I remember I swept the floor that game, and there was a big commentary on it. The ref was giving me a lot of slack for sweeping the floor, but I fell on the ground and there was sweat everywhere. So, that’s a fun memory. Everybody goes back to that game and says, ‘remember when you swept the floor,’ so that’s definitely a good memory.

TFR: You’re into a bunch of things off the court, can you tell us about some of the stuff you do?

AC: I’m in the Business of Sports Society. We try to connect industry professionals to students. We actually just toured the NHL offices yesterday. We just go out and tour any sports studios, any leagues, teams or arenas. That’s beneficial just to grow our network. I’m also president of our Student-Athlete Athletic Council. It’s athletic representatives and we do community service outreach programs and fundraisers for foundations and things like that.

TFR: Do you have any plans after graduation?

AC: I’d love to work in sports marketing. Like I said, I’m just trying to build my sports network, but I’m not sure. My dream is to work for Nike in their marketing department, but there’s a lot out there, especially being in New York. So I’m keeping all my options open right now.

Deuce’s Wild New York sports are simply the worst at the moment. But, their biggest blemish has been around for the better part of 10 years now.

Jets fans hate the Giants, because Giants fans hate the Jets, because Jets fans hate the Giants. As a supporter of the Jets, I tried to halt this process once, and it failed miserably. Now’s the perfect time for a happy resolution to this ongoing conflict, because both teams are no good.

The Jets, reeling from three consecutive unsightly losses, remain in the playoff hunt at 5-7 in an unimpressive AFC, while the 5-7 Giants have been all but eliminated thanks to timely wins by the Cowboys and Eagles. Yet, the Jets probably won’t make the playoffs in the state of flux they’re in, nor do they deserve to.

And, Jets fans know this fact; they don’t need to be constantly reminded by Giants fans.

See, the Giants’ last Super Bowl run in 2011 told a similar story of a team barely keeping its head above water in this stage of the year, then turning it on late. I’m sure some said when the team was 6-6, they didn’t ‘deserve’ to make the playoffs.

Since when did that matter? It seems to be a common shot fired at Jets fans from bitter Giants fans these days.

Sadly, it’s hardly the only shot.

As I mentioned, I actually took a liking to the Giants this season, having covered the team in training camp for WFUV Sports. Chatting with players and reporters, it seemed like a great organization.

Then I got to school, and I was quickly reminded why I don’t like the Giants: because their fans so vehemently dislike the Jets.

And for what? There’s no rational reason for such a rivalry to exist.

Literally, none.

The two teams couldn’t have more different historical backgrounds when it comes to winning; the Giants are far superior to the Jets. Yankees fans don’t hate the Mets, and they even play them annually (which the Giants do not against the Jets). No, they realize the Mets are an organization that’s been in shambles over the past decade. There have been successes, but recently it hasn’t looked good.

And I’m sure most Yankees fans would respect the days of Carlos Beltran and the NLCS (I do, at least). It doesn’t make them the worst fans in the world.

Yet despite the Jets’ consecutive appearances in the AFC Championship game just three and four years ago, they still fight for respect in New York. For some reason, not far removed from that 11-5 season, they’re trash — and always have been. On the other hand, this leaves Jets fans inclined to bash a classy and successful organization like the Giants, which is absurd.

Stop the fighting. There’s truly no good reason why one side should hate the other. In fact, the NFL is the one league in which you can get away with supporting a team from the same town. I’d like to see a Giants fan happy for the Jets for potentially making the postseason, and a Jets fan proud of Eli Manning for turning his dreadful season around. Is that too much to ask?

— Kenny Ducey

December 4, 2013

Fordham Club Sailing Navigates to the Top

SPORTS

Page 23

By DAN GARTLAND EXECUTIVE SPORTS EDITOR

COURTESY OF ANNE WACHOWICZ

The Fordham sailing team is the top club teams in the nation.

By VICTORIA MONACO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Fordham football is not the only team placing high in the national rankings this fall. With the release of the most recent Coaches’ Poll from the magazine Sailing World, Fordham sailing has earned the title of No. 1 College Sailing Team among 194 club teams in the country, as well as the number 12 spot overall among both varsity and club teams nationwide.

Though the sailing program is over 50 years old, it has not always seen such success. Throughout the last 10 years, the Fordham sailing program has grown and improved vastly. In 2009, the team ranked 28th in the country, which was its first appearance in the rankings in club history. Since that time, team director Joe Sullivan credits the success of the team to the newly-hired head coach, Reed Johnson.

When asked about what has really helped shape this team into such an elite group of athletes, Sullivan replied, “The employment of Reed Johnson as head coach, combined with his ability to recruit very experienced high school sailors and teach them to become better.”

Since he was hired in 2011, Coach Johnson has helped the team by focusing on two specific areas. When asked what he is doing to help the team improve, he replied, “One of my biggest priorities when I was hired at Fordham was to create a team that was deep from top to bottom.” He discussed the high intensity and skill level of all the sailors, stating that “having your best people get pushed on a daily basis, is what I think is the most helpful.”

Johnson’s second focal point is the leadership shown by co-captains, Mary Hamilton and Matt Winter, and their willingness to push their team toward success. In discussing the leadership of Hamilton and Winter, Johnson said, “We’ve kind of come up with the idea of turning our team into more of an elite team.

And to be an elite team, you need to do things that other elite teams are doing.”

Both Johnson and Sullivan identified better physical fitness as an important quality of an elite team of athletes. In an interview with Sullivan, he claimed, “Having organized physical fitness training as a club team is not easy for a number of reasons, but our kids are successfully making the transition, and in time,

being fit will be a part of our team’s DNA.” Both the ideas of improved team depth as well as increased team physical fitness have played a large part in shaping the success of the team.

Both Sullivan and Johnson also proudly discussed the capabilities of their new talent, the freshman class of sailors. As this year’s freshmen are Johnson’s first true recruiting class at Fordham, both Sullivan and Johnson have taken pride in the sailors they have been watching since high school. When asked about the new sailors, Sullivan said, “They are talented, serious about sailing, have a mature work ethic, [are] dedicated to improve and [are] committed to our concept of ‘Team First.’ I couldn’t be happier with them…” Johnson added about the freshmen class, “We have 10 or 12 freshmen that are all very talented sailors, and that’s been another great thing…the freshmen have done an excellent job at helping to work towards that culture because they’re very hard working.”

When asked to comment on the success of the team as a whole, Johnson finished, “I think it’s incredibly impressive what this group of kids has done…these kids have put in a tremendous amount of effort when it comes to sailing and getting better at sailing, and competing… I’m really proud of what they’ve accomplished so far...”

Sullivan also gave credit to the many unseen members of the sailing team He added that this success is also in part a success “for Charles ‘Bud’ McEntee ’72, who helped resurrect the sailing team 14 years ago, and the scores of sailors who competed for Fordham and helped establish the legacy which is now Fordham sailing.”

He extended congratulations to Johnson and the “dedicated and hard-working members of the current team, who enabled Fordham to become the No. 1 college sailing club team in the country.”

Johnson concluded his thank yous with an acknowledgement of the “scores of alumni, parents and friends of Fordham sailing, who as our primary benefactors provide the financial and non-financial support which allows our program to continue to improve every year.”

Though the team is now approaching the winter offseason, they will continue to practice and improve for an equally successful spring 2014 season.

When I was 13, I had a baseball coach tell our team’s right fielder to kick first base on his way out to play defense in order to lengthen the distance the opposing team had to run in order to reach safely. On the way back to the dugout, he was supposed to kick it back in, so our team didn’t have to run as far.

“You know what we call that, son?” the coach asked the player.

“Cheating?” the kid replied.

“No. Gamesmanship.”

This weekend, two men made headlines for testing the limits of the rules: Brooklyn Nets head coach Jason Kidd earned his team an extra timeout by intentionally spilling soda on the court and Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin nearly made contact with the Ravens’ Jacoby Jones, denying Jones a touchdown on a kickoff return. Kidd was fined $50,000 by the league and Tomlin’s punishment will be handed down later this week.

I have one problem with what Kidd did: He could have done a better job. His fatal mistake was getting caught telling Tyshawn Taylor to bump into him. If Kidd had

used the cup to obscure his mouth, he probably wouldn’t have gotten caught.

Mike Fratello, the Nets’ color commentator, explained during the broadcast that he used the same tactic all the time when he was a coach. By all accounts, what Kidd did wasn’t that unusual. In fact, there isn’t even a rule against it. It’s a perfect example of gamesmanship.

Now, what Mike Tomlin did — that was cheating. There is a (rarely enforced) rule which says no one can occupy the two-yard wide stripe between the sideline and the bench. Not only was Tomlin on the stripe, he even strayed out on to the playing field. He claims it was accident, that he was unaware how close to the field he was because he was watching the play on the jumbotron, but it seems all too convenient that he inched onto the field just as Jones was running by.

For as long as people have played sports, they’ve bent the rules. Gaining an advantage by testing the limits of the rules is what sports are all about. But, once you step outside the rules, you are cheating.

I think there’s something really admirable about pushing the limits of legality, as long as you don’t

do anything overtly contrary to the rules. It means you’re doing everything possible to win. Toeing the line and figuring out exactly what you can get away with means you’re giving maximum effort.

Of course, it’s also important to remember that what Kidd did was relatively minor compared to Tomlin. All Kidd did was give his team a chance to draw up a play (while also allowing the opposing team to set up a defensive play). Tomlin denied the Ravens a touchdown.

In 2007, Alex Rodriguez caused a ruckus by shouting at a Toronto Blue Jays fielder as he rounded the bases, fooling the player into letting the ball drop to the ground. He had mistaken A-Rod’s “Ha!” for the shortstop calling for the ball. The Blue Jays’ manager called it “bush league,” and A-Rod, as he is prone to, became the center of a controversy for breaking one of baseball’s “unwritten rules.”

It’s hard to take issue with A-Rod ignoring one of baseball’s unofficial guidelines. But, breaking the well-delineated rules for performance-enhancing drugs? That’s not gamesmanship. That’s cheating.

Hopefully the NFL realizes the difference when it hands down Tomlin’s sentence.

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

Tomlin thrust himself in the middle of controversy when he got in the way of Jacoby Jones in last Thursday’s game.

Upcoming Varsity Schedule Home games in CAPS

Thursday Dec. 5

Friday Dec. 6

Saturday Dec. 7

Football

at Towson 1 p.m.

Men’s Basketball

at St. John’s 1:30 p.m.

Women’s Basketball

at Holy Cross 1 p.m.

Squash Indoor Track Squash Swimming & Diving

Fordham Season Opener 2 p.m.

Sunday Dec. 8

Monday Dec. 9

Tuesday Dec. 10

at Colgate 7 p.m.

Wednesday Dec. 11

Sports Rams Top Jaspers, Win 106th Battle of the Bronx December 4, 2013

By MAX PRINZ ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

They don’t call it the Battle of the Bronx for nothing.

In a tightly contested affair that went down to the wire, freshman Jon Severe scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Fordham Rams men’s basketball team over the Manhattan Jaspers, 79-75. With the win, the Rams eased the pain of a tough home loss to Sacred Heart and got a resume-padding nonconference win. That the victory came against the rival Jaspers only made it sweeter.

“What I like about this game is it’s a bunch of New York kids playing against each other,” head coach Tom Pecora said. “The kids know each other and that adds to it. It’s a good win. It’s a bigger win for us because we played poorly at home against a good Sacred Heart team. Until we found another win, it would not have been a good Thanksgiving.”

The Rams certainly understood Pecora’s displeasure with the team’s last outing, and came out with a purpose against the Jaspers. Fordham began the game with a 12-4 run that included a pair of connections from long range by Severe.

The Rams’ zone defense caused a number of early problems for Manhattan; the Jaspers made only one of their first 10 shots.

The zone, coupled with excellent

Page 24

shooting, helped the Rams jump out to an early lead. Severe and sophomore Mandell Thomas led the charge. Combined, the young guards scored the Rams’ first 23 points, 12 of which came from long distance.

Despite Fordham’s early lead, Manhattan began to climb back into the game. The Jaspers went on a 10-4 run, led by sophomore Shane Richards, who nailed a trio of three-pointers. A combination of timely three-pointers from Richards and the Jaspers’ ability to get to the line brought Manhattan back into the game. Fordham’s lead was cut to four, 43-39, at the end of the first half.

Fordham went into the half with the lead, but certainly survived a scare. Despite the Jaspers’ early shooting struggles (they shot just 34 percent from the field in the first half) they were not far behind.

However, senior leader Branden Frazier saw to it that the four-point lead was maintained.

Manhattan’s momentum carried over into the second half. The Jaspers opened with a 12-7 run to regain the lead, 51-50. Fordham fought back to take a 56-53 lead, but Manhattan began to pull away.

The Jaspers got their largest lead of the night, 68-62, with just over six minutes of play remaining. The situation looked bleak for Fordham, but Frazier stepped up to take back control of the game.

Frazier attacked the basket relentlessly in the second half, getting 11 attempts at the charity stripe and connecting on all of them. His patience and willingness to work for a good shot or draw a foul kept the Rams in the game.

“Right now, as a senior, my main focus point is really knowing when to shoot the ball. I know that last year I forced a lot of shots,” Frazier said. “Bringing Jon in and having Mandell make shots and be that scorer, just knowing I don’t have to do everything, that makes me feel good.”

Frazier scored eight of his 21 points over the final eight minutes and helped Fordham get back into the game. His biggest basket of the game, a twisting, acrobatic layup with 59 seconds left, put the Rams back up 75-73. The Fordham defense forced a Jaspers miss, and got the ball right back to Frazier, who made two more free throws to push the lead to four and ensure a Fordham victory. After a Manhattan layup, the Rams broke the press and got the ball out to sophomore Travion Leonard, who threw down a dunk to cap a 79-75 Fordham win.

Fordham’s three guards combined for 68 of the Rams’ 79 points in the victory. Thomas finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, a double-double, two blocks and three steals.

“These guys really competed for 40 minutes, including Man-

dell Thomas getting 10 rebounds,” Pecora said. “I told Branden, Jon and Mandell, ‘We need 60 a night from you three guys,’ because that’s the only way we can win with Bryan Smith down.”

Frazier, like his coach, was pleased to get a win in his last game against Fordham’s rival.

“It means a lot, just knowing the

history that was before it, before me,” Frazier said. “This game has been going on way before my time, so just knowing that we could just get a win under our belt at Manhattan for Fordham is a good thing.

They beat us the last two years, so we just wanted to come in here and just play our hardest and get a win.

That’s what happened.”

MICHAEL REZIN/THE RAM

Jon Severe is averaging 23.2 points per game to lead all Division I freshmen.

Fordham Women Win Lady Rebel Roundup in Las Vegas

By MATT ROSENFELD SPORTS EDITOR

While almost everyone was at home enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday, the Fordham women’s basketball team traveled to Las Vegas to take part in the Lady Rebel Roundup Tournament.

After defeating Yale and American to improve their record to 4-2 the week prior, the Rams went to Sin City to participate in the four team tournament along with Charlotte, Cincinnati and UNLV, the host team. With a 72-63 win over the UNLV Lady Rebels and a 5640 defeat of Cincinnati, Fordham won the tournament, extending its win streak to five games and continuing its non-conference success.

“We had an edge to us [going into the tournament] because we knew [UNLV] figured we were the weakest team by the fact that they opened up with us,” head coach Stephanie Gaitley said. “Our kids took that very personally and we felt it was a chance to gain some national respect.”

In the opening game of the tournament against UNLV, offense ruled the day once again for the Rams. Fordham shot 54 percent from the field and 47 percent from three, which played a big factor in the scoring outburst. Senior Erin Rooney and freshman Hannah Missry both scored 20 points to power Fordham past UNLV. The Rams got out to an early 8-2 lead behind a couple of three pointers from sophomore Samantha Clark and Missry. The Lady Rebels were able to come back,

NEIL TENNANT/THE RAM

Erin Rooney was named MVP of the tournament after averaging 23.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in two games.

taking a 16-15 lead, but Fordham answered right back with a 12-0 run. That was the last UNLV would see of the lead as the Rams carried a 31-23 lead into halftime.

“We shot the ball really well,” Gaitley said. “Our theory has always been if you play defense and shoot, you’re going to win that game by double figures. In the second half we let up a bit defensively, but overall I think we did a solid job defensively and we shot the ball well.”

UNLV cut Fordham’s lead down to four early in the second half, but Fordham remained unfazed.

Fordham would open the lead up to as much as 15 in the middle of the second half, behind its veteran backcourt of Rooney and senior

Abigail Corning, who finished with 11 points and five assists.

Fordham was able to hold off a couple more UNLV runs to win 72-63 and advance to the championship game against Cincinnati.

“For us, [the opening game win] was a monkey off our back because we accomplished a couple things,” Gaitley said. “We won on the road for the first time this year and we beat the host team to get into the championship game. It gave us an opportunity. We haven’t won a championship. We’ve come close a few times in our Christmas tournament, we came close in the Atlantic 10, but the kids hadn’t won.”

Whereas it was offense that carried Fordham in its first game of the tournament, the Rams’ defense

showed up and helped Fordham pick up its first tournament win in the Gaitley era over the Cincinnati Bearcats.

“I think [the Cincinnati game] was the first complete defensive game we’ve played,” Gaitley said.

“I think that’s the kind of effort we got used to last year, so this game kind of proved to our kids that we are capable of doing it. That was the best effort defensively and it was against a very athletic Cincinnati team.”

Along with stellar defense from the Rams, captain Erin Rooney continued her magnificent season with a career-high 27 points to go along with eight rebounds in the championship game against the Bearcats. Her performance in the

tournament earned her MVP and co-Atlantic 10 player of the week honors. It was Rooney’s second A-10 player of the week honor this year.

The Rams started off slow against Cincinnati, failing to score until nearly three minutes into the game, but the defense held strong.

A Rooney three pointer was the first score of the game, giving the Rams an early edge.

The game remained tight for most of the first half, until Rooney took over late in the half. The New Zealand native scored 11 consecutive Fordham points and led an 8-1 run that helped Fordham take a 3117 advantage into halftime.

Cincinnati opened the second half on a 7-2 run to cut the Rams’ lead to single digits. But a bucket from Clark followed by another scoring frenzy from Rooney built Fordham’s lead to 16 points, 48-32, with a little less than seven minutes to play.

The Rams’ defense clamped down the rest of the way, allowing only eight points in the last sixand-a-half minutes of the game to lead Fordham to a 56-40 win. The win took Fordham’s record to 6-2.

“The thing I was most proud of was that the kids weren’t overly crazy [when we won the tournament],” Gaitley said. “Meaning that they have that feeling of expecting to win. They feel like they are good and they should win these games.”

Fordham takes its five game winning streak on the road this Saturday, Dec. 7 when they travel to Holy Cross in a matchup of Jesuit schools.