MEN’S TENNIS 3-0 TO START THE SEASON — PAGE 20
COLLEGE RADIO REMAINS RELEVANT — PAGE 7
SERVING THE FORDHAM UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY FOR OVER 90 YEARS
1918-2011
SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
VOLUME 93, ISSUE 14
The Ram Explores NSO Fees, Expenses
Rams Trample Lions For Liberty Cup Sparked by Womack’s 100-Yard Interception Return, Fordham Defeats Rival Columbia 21-14 in Annual New York City Matchup
By TOM HASKIN COPY EDITOR
Fordham hardly differs from other institutions in the various fees it charges alongside tuition and room and board. Each semester, students pay separate, but mandatory, fees for student activities and technology access, among others. One fee that falls into this second category is one of the very first charges in their student accounts: $325 for New Student Orientation (NSO). The Office of Student Leadership and Community Development (OSL&CD) declines to release its budgeting information, making it difficult to discern how exactly that fee is allocated. Additionally, student leaders for orientation are contractually prohibited from disclosing their budgeting information, according to Artie de los Santos, GSB ’12, and one of four Orientation Coordinators for 2011. With 1508 students enrolled at SEE ORIENTATION ON PAGE 2
PHOTO BY BRIAN KRAKER/THE RAM
Fordham players celebrate the football team’s victory over the Columbia Lions at Homecoming to win the Rams’ second straight Liberty Cup. SEE BACK PAGE
President Benigno Aquino Awarded Honorary Degree President Aquino III Honored for Government Reform Work By EMILY ARATA ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
PHOTO BY BIANCA BATIS-GELP/THE RAM
Students celebrate Festivus Fordhamensis at the annual Homecoming game.
“Fordham Fest” Celebrates Traditions and Community By CHRISTOPHER KENNEDY STAFF WRITER
Fresh off of Welcome Week and the beginning of classes, Fordham students were treated to another set of activities meant to build spirit in the week leading up to Homecoming. This year’s Fordham Week, known as “Festivus Fordhamensis” or “Fordham Fest,” was organized chiefly by United Student Government, and events were built around the theme of history and tradition. “The Fest reminds students about the rich history of the University, what it means to be a Fordham student, and why we love the four years that we spend here,” Elizabeth Anderson, FCRH ’13, USG vice president for student life and main
organizer of the week’s events, said in an email. “For the freshmen, it’s an opportunity to make a true connection to the University and forge their way into the Fordham community, and for upperclassman its an opportunity for them to make themselves part of the tradition of Fordham,” she said. The events, taking place from Tuesday to Sunday of last week, were varied, some organized by USG and others by groups like Commuting Students Association, El Grito de Lares, Rodrigue’s Coffee House and Peer Educators. The first main event of the week was the traditional Performance Showcase, held on the Keating steps. The event featured performances by SEE FORDHAM FEST ON PAGE 4
On Monday afternoon, students, faculty and board members packed into the first-floor Keating auditorium to witness Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University, award the President of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino III, with a Doctor of Laws honoris causa for his work in securing democracy for the Filipino people. The ceremony began with a dramatic entrance by the president to a standing ovation from the crowd. After a short invocation by Fordham’s one-time president Rev. Joseph O’Hare, S.J., the crowd was seated, with the majority of students leaning against the walls because there were barely enough seats for the board members. Three members of Fordham University’s Philippine-American Club performed the Philippine national anthem “Lupang Hinirang” in Tagalog, which they followed with a performance of “The StarSpangled Banner.” McShane took the podium to
Fordham Forges Partnership with Univ. of Pretoria By VICTORIA RAU
begin the ceremony. “We at Fordham look upon your visit as a great grace to the University,” he said. “You have given yourself over to the great and worthy work of saving democracy. Ateneo and Fordham together — the world doesn’t have a chance.” McShane went on to explain the connections that brought Aquino to Fordham. Many of the Jesuits present in the audience did much of their apostolic work in the Philippines. They aspired to teach at the prestigious Ateneo de Manila University, which is Aquino’s alma mater. The University was the beginning of an education, which began his thought process about what was ailing his country. Aquino was born into a family very much in the public eye. His mother was the former president of the Philippines, Corazon Aquino, and his father was Senator Beniano Aquino, Jr. “Your father inspired a revolution, your mother sparked hope, [and] you have lived your life selflessly in the service of others,” Mc-
Fordham has made significant strides recently in fostering its relationship with the University of Pretoria, with the introduction of a new semester-long study abroad program, set to begin in February 2012, and the reception of that University’s president on Fordham’s campus last June. The potential for collaboration that this relationship offers is not yet fully realized, but the universities’ partnership will likely transcend the boundaries of traditional study abroad or exchange programs and possibly allow for further involvement on the African continent. “There are real opportunities for Fordham and the University of Pretoria to deepen our partnerships and to extend it into areas where we haven’t explored in the past,” Stephen Freedman, Ph.D., provost of the University, said. “The two institutions are really committed to making this work.” Programs at the graduate and undergraduate levels, faculty ex-
SEE PRESIDENT ON PAGE 4
SEE SOUTH AFRICA ON PAGE 4
MANAGING EDITOR
INSIDE Sports PAGE 19
Opinions PAGE 9
Culture PAGE 13
Women’s soccer crushed by nationally ranked Texas A&M.
Bike sharing in New York City is a boon.
Singer Katy B performs new album at Webster Hall.
NEWS
PAGE 2 • THE RAM • SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
SECURITY
BRIEFS
Students, OLs Weigh in on Orientation
Sept. 13, Southern Blvd., 5:45 p.m. A graduate student returned to his vehicle and found his window broken and FM transmitter removed from his car. NYPD responded and took a report of the theft. Sept. 13, Alumni Court South, 7 p.m. A female student reported an sexual assult that occurred on Sept. 3. The victum declined to pursue the incident through the NYPD, but the dean of students will continue to pursue the matter. Sept. 14, Lorillard Place, 9 p.m.
PHOTO BY STEPHEN MOCCIA/THE RAM
New Student Orientation organized programs for incoming freshmen students during their first week at Fordham. ORIENTATION, FROM PAGE 1
A student was walking alone from a friend’s house and was approached from behind by a male wearing a green hooded sweatshirt and a baseball cap. The suspect had his hand in his pocket and said, “Give up your phone if you don’t want to get slashed.” The student surrendered his phone and the suspect fled. The student was not injured and NYPD responded to the incident. Sept. 17, Bathgate and Fordham Road, 2 a.m. A former student was walking eastbound when he was approached by a male. There was no verbal exchange between the two. The male swung at the Fordham alumnus and hit him with what appeared to be a broken bottle. The alumnus sustained a gash to his right hand. The injuries were not serious. Sept. 18, Belmont Avenue, 2 a.m. A male student was at a party with his girlfriend when a second male tried to dance with his date. When the female refused, the male struck the boyfriend. The boyfriend suffered a swollen right cheek and a bump on his head. He was taken to St. Barnabus Hospital. Sept. 19, Arthur Avenue, 2 a.m. Two students were walking toward Arthur Avenue when another male, heading in the same direction, made a comment to one of the students and then punched him in the head. The student sustained a gash over his right eye and was taken to St. Barnabus Hospital. Sept. 20, Faculty Memorial Hall, 7:10 a.m. A male entered the basement by the ramp and attempted to steal copper piping. Security was notified and chased the individual and apprehended him on Belmont Avenue. NYPD was notified and the individual was arrested. All property was recovered.
the beginning of the fall 2011 semester at Rose Hill between Fordham College and the Gabelli School of Business, the total collected from the fee is approximately $490,100. The costs and scope of the program extend far beyond its most visible three days, this year, shortened by Hurricane Irene, at the end of August. There are three days in the early summer on which incoming students and their parents are invited to campus for a day-long program, and training for Orientation Leaders (OLs) lasts for three days before fall NSO begins. This year, for the first time, Orientation Captains (OCs) moved in two days before that. Four students are selected during the winter each year to be Orientation Coordinators, a full-time job over the summer. OSL&CD does not release salary figures, but the application form for the position offered a compensation package of $6,500 for each coordinator (including meals), with the further benefit of summer housing. The four coordinators are each expected to work 10 hours per week during the Spring 2011 semester and then 40 hours per week from May until August. This year, OSL&CD created a new full-time position, director of the Transition Year Experience, that will “provide more support and resources to the orientation coordinators,” according to Christopher Rodgers, dean of students at Rose Hill, and Alanna Nolan, assistant dean of Student Leadership and Community Development, who submitted a joint statement over email. “Seeing how my experience was when I was a freshman, being a commuter I felt isolated, so I felt the only way to improve it was to work inside it,” de los Santos said, indicating that monetary compensation was not his primary motivation. Phil Bellissimo, GSB ’12, another one of the coordinators, said that while the paid work “is an incentive,” he was eager to work with de los Santos, Emily Amato, FCRH ’12 and Melissa Maturo, GSB ’12, a team with which he has collaborated previously. OC Chrissy Ryan, FCRH ’13, has volunteered for NSO two years in a row after feeling she was not aware of “everything that was offered” in her own freshman year. “Primarily, I wanted to share my Fordham experience with people coming in their first year,” Ryan said. “I can influence their first year and make
theirs better.” In addition to such altruistic motivations, there are other incentives for the roughly 200 students who volunteer during NSO each year. Ryan talked about the allowance for an early move-in granted to the student volunteers, and many OCs and OLs find camaraderie in their work. “We have training, which can be boring, but I really like move-in day,” Nora Walsh-DeVries, FCRH ’12 said. Reactions to the content of the training sessions are mixed. “Some of it could be consolidated,” Walsh-DeVries said. “It’s a lot of days and a lot of hours sitting there getting talked at. Some of those things are necessary. You’re dealing with more sensitive issues, there’s still some things that are helpful for us to be aware of.” “A part of orientation training is always going to be about distributing facts about Fordham and information students simply need to know,” Rodgers and Nolan said. De los Santos and Bellissimo realize the difficulties of making all their programming interactive, including presentations from Fordham departments like Career Services, Counseling Services and Sodexo. “We don’t have a choice,” Bellissimo said. “Even if it’s difficult to get through, even if it’s just one OC who has to address a psychological issue, we have to do it.” In addition to the presentations, there are events aimed at “fun” and community-building, according to de los Santos. “We tried to spice things up this year,” he said, referring to excursions like a trip to New Roc City in New Rochelle, N.Y. that the OCs went on the night before training started. New Roc City is entertainment complex offering activities such as bowling, mini golf and video games. On the first night of the regular leader training, the OLs and OCs participated in a game of laser tag in Lombardi, and the following night, OSL&CD brought an all-you-can-eat Pinkberry cart to McGinley Lawn. “They should at least make sure people are gonna go to it — a lot of the night things people just kind of blow off,” Ryan said. “But they’re worth it to entertain us coordinators and leaders and keep us together, but I think there would be a way to do that would be less costly.” A new addition to training this year was an outside presentation called “Dance Floor Theory,” an interactive
program addressing social dynamics in building a community. According to the company’s Web site, the presentation costs $2,800, a relatively modest sum as compared to many of the speakers brought in by student organizations throughout the school year. “It was useful in the sense that he gave us some interesting things to think about,” Walsh-DeVries said. “They weren’t necessarily groundbreaking suggestions.” “Variety is important in training,” Rodgers and Nolan said. “While many sessions are meant to provide OLs with education and information for the incoming class, teambuilding and leadership activities are vital in creating a cohesive team of volunteers to welcome our new students […] We have to remember that these students are volunteers and dedicate a substantial amount of time to Fordham and the freshman class—the least we can do is have some recreation time built into training.” “It’s a way to keep them motivated and excited,” Bellissimo said. “Training is fun and we give [the OCs and OLs] a lot of stuff,” de los Santos added. “It’s pretty rewarding for them. We tried to implement break times, and fun things in between, like games and prizes.” Prizes included gift cards for iTunes and Applebee’s, as well as MTA cards. Walsh-DeVries said she feels most validated in her work through the personal interactions she has during training and orientation. “You do feel appreciated, we have a lot of free meals, Dean Rodgers and Fr. McShane come in and are really thankful to all of us,” she said. “Parents will come up to you and say ‘I’ve dropped my kids off at four other schools and no one’s ever put on a show like this.’” Yet not all students are satisfied with their NSO experiences, though numbers provided by Rodgers and Nolan from OSL&CD show that from 2005-10, students surveyed at the end of NSO reported, on average, scores between 3.5-4.0 on a scale of 5.0 when evaluating their overall experiences. Nicole Casey, FCRH ’13 and an OL, for one, was turned off from even applying to be an OL a year ago on the basis of her own NSO experience as a freshman. “I had a terrible time at orientation,” she said. “All I remember is that we had to go to a lot of presentations.” Kelli Walsh, GSB ’15, whose NSO experience was shortened due to the hurricane, said that the relationships
she built with fellow students during orientation were “very superficial.” “Every second was scheduled and then we had to go to another boring talk,” she said. “Not that many speakers were necessary […] I didn’t like it because by the end of it, you’re just like ‘I want to meet new people.’” “We ask parents and students each year how they like the program as well, and we’re very happy with the response,” Rodgers and Nolan said. “However, we are restlessly committed to improving the program each year.” In the context of the $325 fee, Maggie Shelledy, FCRH ’14, said she was unsure about the content of NSO itself. “From the amount that I hear people who don’t enjoy orientation I feel like that money could be put to better use through building community, not necessarily on someone lecturing on inspirational pump-up things,” she said. “Some of the information I got from orientation was really useful … but some of that information, like security stuff, was things that I shouldn’t necessarily have to pay for.” Every school has its own version of orientation, and costs at other institutions and formats of such programming vary greatly. Boston College offers three-day summer orientations where students are put up in dorms temporarily at a cost of over $400. Georgetown, which holds orientation in the four days leading up to the beginning of the academic year, charges a $185 fee. Urban Plunge at Fordham, a preorientation program of almost identical length to NSO and run through the Dorothy Day Center, in contrast, costs freshmen $70. It, like NSO, provides meals for the freshman, a total of seven over the course of its two and a half days and has an extensive threeday training for the upperclassmen student leaders. Though part of NSO includes an academic orientation day, the $325 fee does not fund academic programming, according to Dr. Robert Parmach, assistant dean for freshmen in Fordham College, and Dr. Greer Jason, assistant dean and advisor for freshman in the Gabelli School of Business. “To be frank, the only real money we spend during NSO events would be for Convocation, which again, Fordham College picks up the bill,” Parmach said. “New Student Orientation, for the most part, is financed and run by OSL&CD and Student Affairs, and arguably so, because those events are not academic ones.” Rodgers and Nolan say that they will “continue to refine the planning and implementation process of the First Year Experience and revised New Student Orientation initiative.” Ryan, who admitted that she has seen “freshmen be miserable walking around, knowing that they have to go sit in an auditorium for four hours,” also added, “If freshmen had a more active role in orientation they’d get more out of it.” “I think there are aspects worth paying for,” Ryan said. “I’d pay to see Ed Gerety.” Karamjit Singh, FCRH ’12, took a more matter-of-fact approach when remembering his own NSO experience in light of the $325 fee. “I knew it was something, I just didn’t know it was that much,” he said. “But there’s no such thing as free lunch.”
NEWS
SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 3
Fr. Schroth Shares Brief History of Fordham By CAITLIN DEGNAN
“It’s amazing to see how students of 60 years ago have the same experiences we are having now at school.”
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Adventure was the major theme of Father Raymond Schroth’s, S.J. lecture this past Thursday when he spoke to a gathering of university students about his time spent at Fordham over the years (some stories of which are also recounted and reflected in his book, Fordham: A History and Memoir). Fr. Schroth’s speech followed a timeline of his personal experiences, ranging from the time he entered the University as a young man in the 1950s to the present day. The students in attendance not only enjoyed Schroth’s humorous stories but also departed later with more knowledge and appreciation of our University’s rich past. Fr. Schroth has played many roles in the Fordham community over the decades. A former student and editor of The Ram, Schroth returned as a professor for the communications department in the 1970s and later assumed the position of assistant dean at Rose Hill. Schroth’s descriptions of his college days portrayed his active involvement in student life and academics through his writing and editing for The Ram, as well as his frequent visits with professors outside of class, with whom he formed valuable, lasting friendships. Many students were surprised by the similarities between past and present college life.
MICHAEL DITANNA, FCRH ’13
PHOTO BY BRIAN KRAKER/THE RAM
Father Schroth, a graduate of Fordham, talks about his time spent at the University and shares stories about his past.
“It’s amazing to see how students of 60 years ago have the same experiences we are having now at school,” Michael DiTanna, FCRH ’13, said. “It brings us so much more in touch with Fordham’s tradition.” Schroth offered a unique insight into Fordham to members of the audience, from the viewpoint of not only a former student, but also of a teacher and administrator. The key to success, he claimed,
is to be open to adventure in order to discover things about yourself, others and the world. It is clear that Schroth lives according to his own advice. As a student, he spent his junior year in Paris (writing as a foreign correspondent for The Ram), and later, as a journalist, he traveled frequently to cover controversial issues, such as the first Gulf War in Iraq. When asked why he chose to write Fordham: A History and Mem-
oir, Schroth explained, “I wanted to write about something I love.” Since Fr. Schroth graduated from Fordham, he has watched the school grow in several ways. Not only has the school physically evolved, but the quality of a Jesuit education and the exceptional reputation of the school also continues to thrive. The idea of a “Fordham family,” introduced to Schroth by the president of the school, Laurence McGinley, in an address to the student body
during his time at Fordham, is still applicable to our school community today. Fr. Schroth’s book, covering a timespan of almost 140 years, offers a detailed description of Fordham’s past. Before ending his lecture, Schroth concluded with a few words of advice for the audience: to read the classics (namely, C.S. Lewis’ The Four Loves), always to challenge yourself for your own sake and to love and seek God in all things. “Hearing an alumni share his memories of Fordham, and comparing those memories to what goes on at Fordham today, was a really interesting and new perspective that I had never considered,” Alex Chin Fong, GSB ’14, said. Schroth’s stories of success left students in attendance with a renewed sense of motivation of which to take advantage, and to continually seek opportunities to adventure presently as a Fordham student and in the future, as Fordham alumni.
Fordham Professor Goes Wireless with Project WISDM By EDDIE MIKUS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Gary Weiss, Fordham’s interim chair of the Department of Computer and Information Science, is seeking to add to the numerous means by which computers have altered 21st-century life. Weiss is the leader of the Wireless Sensor Data Mining (WISDM) Project, which is perfecting a smart phone application that will be able to identify a user by name, in addition to any activities that the user might be performing. “The phone has a lot of different sensors, and we’re going to look at a lot of them, but the one we’ve mostly focused on is the accelerometer,” Weiss said in describing the basis for his research. “That measures acceleration, which isn’t the same thing as movement, but it’s related.” Weiss further stated that the accelerometer would specifically track how a phone moves, which will, in turn, reveal its owner’s movements. “With that, we can learn patterns in how you move, so we can identify you as opposed to somebody else, as well as what you are doing,” said Weiss. As evidence for the viability of his project, Weiss cited an experiment in which accelerometer data was collected from 36 Fordham students. The students were identified perfectly using only the data. In addition to identifying people, the WISDM Project is seeking to determine height, weight and gender via smart phones.
According to Weiss, the theory that a taller person will have a longer stride than a shorter person should be enough for the accelerometer to determine height. The application is currently better able to determine somebody’s general height (meaning whether they are short, average or tall) as opposed to his or her specific height in feet, however. The technology that enables this
Dr. Gary Weiss Uses Wireless Sensors in Smartphones to Identify Users grand research project consists of several sensors that already exist on most smart phones. According to Weiss, sensors will become more common and affordable in the future. “Almost every smart phone has an accelerometer, light sensor, GPS and other ways to measure your location,” said Weiss. Such sensors did not exist on old phones. As a result of these sensors, Weiss said he believed smart phones could be made smarter through the capability of knowing what someone was doing. “If it knows that you’re jogging and that you don’t like getting phone calls when you’re jogging, it may immediately send it to your voicemail,” Weiss said as an example of how smart phones could operate around somebody’s daily
PHOTO COURTESY OF DR. GARY WEISS
Dr. Gary Weiss and students participate in Project WISDM, using wireless sensors in cell phones to identify the user.
activities. Weiss expected that his smart phone application, ActiTracker, would be ready in a few weeks. This application will provide information about what activities a user performed during the day and can be used to monitor their overall activity level. In the meantime, he has posted pie charts on the ActiTracker website (actitracker.com) that demonstrate anonymous data from his experiments. One of ActiTracker’s potential benefits involves health and fitness. “You can see how much activity
you get,” Weiss said. “You can see, if you’re a parent and your kid has a cell phone, how much activity your kid gets.” The possible impact of ActiTracker on health has allowed Weiss to obtain grants from the National Science Foundation and from Google. Other financing for the project has come from Fordham Faculty Research Grants, Fordham Undergraduate Faculty Research Grants, and a program for Summer Science Interns. This summer, five students worked full-time with Weiss on the WISDM project.
“Being in the experiment is actually really cool,” Jeff Lockhart, FCRH ’14, said before a planned WISDM experiment that involved data collection from people walking around Eddie’s Parade. “There’s a lot of people who get worried or anxious as to whether or not they are doing it right, and the whole point of the experiment is to see what people normally do.” Weiss got involved in the WISDM Project because he believed it would be a way for him to make data mining, a part of the computer science field in which he has particular expertise, more interesting for students.
NEWS
PAGE 4 • THE RAM • SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
Philippine President Receives Honorary Degree
Fordham Fest Celebrates Tradition
PRESIDENT, FROM PAGE 1
Shane, said. Dr. Nancy Busch, vice president of Academic Affairs, presented the candidate to McShane. The honorary Doctor of Laws degree is the University’s highest honor, given to President Aquino on the 90th anniversary of Fordham’s ties with the Philippine nation and the Ateneo de Manila University. “Fordham University is part of Philippine history . . . The people of the Philippines can look forward to the future with hope and confidence,” Busch said. Aquino’s mission since his election in 2010 has been to make the government an institution that the people trust after years of corruption and dictatorships. He promotes government that is available to the people in addition to an economy based on free and fair competition. Aquino’s government focuses on generating jobs and providing health care and housing to those who need it most. McShane bestowed the degree on Aquino to roaring applause and yet another standing ovation. Aquino then took the stage to explain his mission to the audience. He spoke of watching his country as it was pushed to the edge of ruin by dictators who abused the people who lived in constant fear. “To obey your conscience is to immunize yourself against the effects of fear . . . you find out that you are not alone,” he said. “‘You are not alone’ was the motto of the revolution. Together, our people made a stand.” After finally throwing off the shadow of tyranny, the Filipino people drafted a new constitution. It symbolized a large change overall in the attitude of the government. The elected officials became servants to the people instead of their masters. The Aquino administration also raised the minimum wage and continues to bring resources directly to the people. “If we are indeed our brother’s keeper, then government is too crucial a task to leave strictly in the hands of officials,” he said. “The Philippine people have truly discovered that that power is theirs. We have had our periods of darkness, but now we are living in the light.”
WIKIMEDIA
Fordham awarded Philippine President Benigno Aquino III an honorary Doctorate of Laws Monday.
PHOTO BY BRIAN KRAKER/THE RAM
Festivus Fordhamensis raised the spirits of students with events during the week, including a free meal at the caf. FORDHAM FEST, FROM PAGE 1
Fordham Flava, the Satin Dolls, the Ramblers and the Mimes & Mummers. According to Anderson, the inclusion of the Showcase was assured as the event was a traditional favorite of the week. “I wanted to have a good balance of the traditional and the new, and I wanted to make sure the week encompassed every aspect of the University,” Anderson said. Also in keeping with tradition was the lecture, held on Thursday in Tognino Hall, which was presented this year by the Rev. Raymond Schroth, S.J. FCRH ’55, former Fordham professor and current associate editor at America magazine, the Jesuit weekly. Schroth spoke about his time at Fordham and what he learned while here. “[He] spoke about the three lessons he learned at Fordham: how
to read, how to write and how to love. His lecture essentially summarized the entire purpose of the week — to remind students how invaluable your four years at Fordham are, and how those lessons will stay with you for the rest of your life,” Anderson said. “Maroon Zone,” new this year, occurred after the conclusion of Schroth’s Thursday lecture. This was a pep rally type of event, cosponsored by Athletics and Sodexo, featuring free entry to the Marketplace, performances by the cheerleading squad and contests and promotions. Friday’s event is perhaps most associated with the run-up to Homecoming Weekend: the President’s Ball, sponsored by the Office of the President. As in years past, Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University, was joined by various student af-
fairs staff to welcome students to the ball, held this year in the Lombardi Fieldhouse. Other events were sponsored by different clubs, as USG wanted to involve as many campus organizations as possible. The Campus Activities Board put on one of its traditional “Free Fridays,” bringing a manicurist to the lobby of the McGinley Center. El Grito de Lares and Academia Hispaña, two campus groups celebrating Latino culture, co-programmed a “Hispanic Heritage dinner” held in O’Keefe Commons. Peer Educators took students on a “pizza tour” of the surrounding neighborhood, and the Commuting Students’ Association brought their version of the Cash Cab to campus, called “Swag Van.” “By hosting a combination of traditional and new events, we were able to grab students atten-
tion without forgetting the purpose of The Fest,” Anderson said. Anderson hopes that USG can get more groups involved in future Fordham Weeks. “I would like to see even more involvement across the campus,” she said. “I was able to bring in Fordham’s main organizations and clubs, but I feel that the week could benefit from having events or activities sponsored by all organizations, from academic clubs to the Ram Van office. The Fest is meant to give every student and organization on campus an opportunity to show their Fordham pride, and I’d love to see even more participation next year.” Bryan Matis, GSB ’12 and executive vice president of USG, concurred. “Ideally we would want every club and student group to participate in some way,” he said. “I think Liz did a phenomenal job reaching out to as many groups as possible. We hope to see more involvement next year. Although USG is a policy government and is not always involved in programming, I’m proud of how well USG rose to the occasion to put on a week of remarkable programming.” Overall, both Anderson and Matis were pleased with the week. “The Fest was an opportunity to celebrate Fordham as a whole, everything that the University has to offer,” Anderson said. “This year Festivus Fordhamensis successfully accomplished its main goal, which was to bring together the entire University student body in order to promote school spirit and pride in the week leading up to homecoming,” Matis said. “I think that this year’s Fordham Fest will be a model for future USGs as they consider new ways to build community and enhance student life at Fordham.”
Fordham-Pretoria Promises to be Beneficial Alignment SOUTH AFRICA, FROM PAGE 1
change and development, and international associations at the professional, institutional level are all part of the long-term vision of the Fordham-Pretoria partnership. At the heart of it is creating an undergraduate study abroad opportunity with a service-learning component, which Freedman said will make Fordham stand out, especially among Jesuit universities. Nancy Busch, Ph.D., dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, is looking to help Pretoria develop its faculty at the graduate level. GSAS was first school within the University to have a relationship with Pretoria, and Busch has been working to promote areas of exploration beyond the initial IPED emerging markets course such as theology, humanitarian affairs and ethics. “It’s not just giving to them, it’s learning what they have to teach us,” Busch said. She also said that developing the Fordham-Pretoria connection is in line with her goals for the graduate school: more concern with globalization, interdisciplinary focus and sensitivity to Fordham’s mission of social justice.
Michael Latham, Ph.D., dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, shares Freedman’s passion for shifting the focus of study abroad to encompass more non-traditional options like Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. “Ultimately, it is in these areas where these great human challenges are unfolding in terms of economic development, trying to create good governance,” Latham said. “We can learn a lot there and [. . .] to the extent that we can engage seriously on these questions of poverty and development, these are the things that as a Jesuit institution we should be doing, and these are the places where we should be. It’s important for our students to have exposure to these challenges because these are the challenges that are going to shape the next century. If we’re serious about educating students who are going to be global leaders, as our mission statement says, these are exactly the places we should be sending them.” For the past four years, Pretoria has served as the site of a summer Emerging Markets economics course for graduates and undergraduates taught by Henry Swal-
benberg, Ph.D., director of the International Political Economy and Development (IPED) graduate program, and Booi Themeli, Ph.D., assistant professor of economics. Students from Pretoria have come to Fordham the past two summers for similar courses. Administrators from Fordham have visited Pretoria on several occasions over the past couple of years and vice-versa, including Freedman and Latham. In June, Fordham played host to Professor Cheryl de la Rey, vicechancellor and principal of the University of Pretoria (equivalent to president of the University), with whom Freedman said he plans to work closely. “Her reputation not only in South Africa, but beyond in other countries in Africa, will really allow us to explore how we use these programs,” Freedman said of de la Rey. In addition to de la Rey’s credentials, the University of Pretoria itself is well placed to serve as a gateway to other African countries. “Because of Pretoria’s already established network of extensive relationships with other sub-Sahara African institutions of higher education, there exist the strong
potential to extend curriculum and faculty development well beyond [. . .] New York and Pretoria into the rest of Africa,” Themeli said. Some students find this potential attractive, including Katy Raymond, FCRH ’13, who plans to participate in the Fordham-Pretoria program’s inaugural year after completing the emerging markets course in August. “The University of Pretoria and Fordham have truly created an invaluable network of students who are aware of the need to participate in a global world and helped encourage these future leaders who care and are more aware about what happens in the world beyond their campus,” Raymond said. “I feel very lucky to be a part of the program that I think it is an incredible model for future study abroad endeavors.” “Fordham’s name is on the continent,” Themeli said, continuing to note that while the benefits may not be immediately tangible, everyone will soon see the positive effects of this collaboration. “We’ve got our foot in the door there.” “I have made a personal commitment to South Africa,” Freedman said.
NEWS
SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 5
Manresa Program Moves to Martyrs’ Court “The dynamic has not changed. People are really happy to be here.”
By HARRY MacCORMACK STAFF WRITER
The Manresa program has called Tierney Hall home for a number of years; this year, the faculty decided it was time for a change. Now, the Manresa Program will call the Jogues wing of Martyrs’ Hall its new home. Administrators did not present this decision without hesitation. Master of the House for the Manresa program, Fr. Phil Florio, S.J., was against the move at first. “Initially I didn’t want to see the Manresa program moved,” Florio said. “I was opposed, but now I’m thrilled we’re here,” a sentiment was shared by Resident Assistant Alex Avalos, FCRH ’13. “Initially I lamented the fact that the Manresa program would have to lose such a nice residence hall,” Avalos said. “But now I’m happy because there is a lot more of a connection to the other freshman halls.” This decision was made in an effort to bring all the freshmen together in one place. Concurrent to this, the decision was made in order to eliminate the isolation experienced by Manresa scholars in the past, as Tierney is far removed from the rest of the freshman community. This was rectified by bringing the Manresa program into the fold of the “freshman quad”. “I think there are connections to the larger community that last year Tierney didn’t have because we were so far away,” Avalos said.
FATHER PHIL FLORIO, S.J.
PHOTO BY BRIAN KRAKER/THE RAM
Jogues was fitted with new study lounges and a kitchen (seen above) for the Manresa Program’s move to Martyrs’ Court.
“There’s definitely a lot more guests signing in, we use at least two to three guest sheets a night, which is good because I could count the number of guests we had [last year] in Tierney on two hands.” The residents also seem to feel connected to the rest of the freshmen. “I have friends that live in South or in Goupil,” Tommy Landers, FCRH ’15, said. “I think the fact
that we’re in Martyrs’ and were connected physically to two other dorms has helped that.” Despite the move, however, Manresa has not seemed to have lost any of its tight-knit atmosphere, according to Florio. “The dynamic has not changed,” Florio said. “People are really happy to be here.” With most of the RA staff being composed of either veterans from Tierney or previous Manresa
scholars, the staff is committed to providing programming that builds the same community that residents of Tierney benefitted from. Programming like “Discurso” provides an intimate setting for students to discuss various issues ranging from 9/11 to sex’s role in faith. The staff is not the only one committed to building a community, however. The entire Jogues wing was renovated to accommo-
date the Manresa program. New lounges that double as classrooms have been built and furnished with brand new couches and TVs, giving students an excellent space both to learn and unwind. “Tierney had been crafted and constructed for Manresa, with the classroom space and the lounges and the kitchens, and they did it even nicer over here in Jogues,” Florio said. While Jogues is the new home of the Manresa scholars, for the staff and Fr. Florio, the new building was a big change and a transition that moved along quite smoothly apparently, overlooking a few hiccups. “The first week, I couldn’t figure my way around here. And there is a fourth floor I didn’t know existed for a few days,” Florio said. Overall, the move from Tierney to Jogues has proven to be an excellent one for Manresa, keeping much of what made the program so appealing and effective while rectifying the issues inherent with keeping the program in Tierney. Despite much reservation, the move to Jogues has shown that a proper home is where the heart is.
McDermott Conducts Research on Gender Traits in Politics By SARAH AMENDOLA STAFF WRITER
Dr. Monika McDermott, an associate professor in the political science department, recently received a grant from Fordham University to research the role of gender in politics. In her research, McDermott focuses on the varying levels of masculinity and femininity in both voters and candidates, and strives to resolve that gender qualities are more important than biological gender. McDermott, who served as an election consultant for both The New York Times and CBS News, began by conducting an Internet survey of Americans to measure the amounts of masculine and feminine traits present in average citizens and how this affected their votes and political affiliations. Her research revealed that the Democratic Party is associated with feminine traits, as their policies tend to be more compassionate. The Republican Party possesses masculine traits, centering on individualism that leads people to be responsible for their own success. McDermott feels Representative Michele Bachmann is the most interesting politician. For McDermott, Bachmann represents typical feminine traits in that she is kindhearted, family-centered and has even mentioned her miscarriage in speeches numerous times; however, her feminine traits contradict her Republican Party af-
PHOTO BY NORA MALLOZZI/THE RAM
Professor McDermott is conducting research about gender traits in politics.
filiation. She supports its staunch, conservative policies that are often viewed as less compassionate than those of Democrats. Her dual nature helps her appeal to voters on both ends of the gender trait spectrum. Much can be made of the role of gender and race in the 2008 election. McDermott believes that, although voters were more informed and beyond stereotyping, Obama’s race hurt him more than gender
hurt Hillary Clinton. McDermott believes Obama was in a good position, as an idealist and an optimist when people were frustrated with the government. For McDermott, ambitious Hillary Clinton represented masculine traits, making a palpable contrast with Obama. However her masculine virtues helped her in a realm where sexism still persists and people hold an implicit bias against women, believing women
are controlled by their emotions. Additionally, as McDermott pointed out, it is easier to be a woman in the Democratic Party. Clinton’s crying during a speech was given much attention, which helpedsoften her image, but although as she kept her tough persona, she was still able to make herself appear compassioniate. McDermott had much to interpret when it came to 2008 Republican vice president nominee Sarah Palin. She was strong, driven and a self-described “Momma Grizzly,” thus taking on the identity of a woman with masculine attributes in government. McDermott surmises that Bachmann would have much to gain from taking on Sarah Palin’s aggressive toughness. McDermott says Palin’s weakness was her insecurity, always seeking public acceptance instead of exhibiting the confident nature required by holding a high office. Although unfair that women are judged on appearance, it is something to expect in our society. Fortunately for Palin, people responded well to her looks, which McDermott believed aided her campaign popularity. Religion is another area McDermott researched in the political spectrum. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s quest for a presidential bid was often overshadowed by his Mormon beliefs, stereotyped with negative connotations. Realizing it was in his best interest to keep his faith personal,
he tried not to build his identity around it. When his father, George Romney, ran for president, however, the elder Romney was publicly seen going to services, and his religion was more central in his campaign. McDermott believes a parallel can be drawn to the significance of the American people of the 1960s electing a Catholic president. The difference is that Catholicism is more widespread and well-known than Mormonism is today, making the stereotypes easier to break. Kennedy strengthened his character by showing his devotion to the religion, while assuring the people that he kept his spirituality separate from the presidency. Although Romney made the same promise, people were more skeptical. McDermott’s research shows the many aspects politics can be viewed from. She proved that many voters over-generalize and over-simplify the qualities candidates have, and much insight can be gained by looking at the deeper meaning of the characteristics they possess. “I was astounded to learn that research indicated that implicit attitudes are highly likely to indicate future voting behaviors,” Justin Gillis, FCRH ’13, who assisted McDermott, said. “In previous studies similar to this, participants tended to exhibit preferences to their own race, gender or ethnicity, despite their explicit condemnation of such practices.”
PAGE 6 • THE RAM • SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
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PAGE 7
College Radio Continues to Play a Vital Role By RORY MASTERSON STAFF WRITER
A recent New York Times article detailed the plight of WRVU, Vanderbilt University’s on-campus radio station, and pinpointed that station as exemplifying the state of college radio today. Vanderbilt Student Communications sold its broadcasting license for WRVU to the local public radio station, bringing an end to the familiar alternative rock format for which WRVU had become known around Nashville, Tenn. Similar circumstances are enveloping college radio stations all over the United States, causing something of a backlash and at least a debate over the condition of college radio and the college radio format. It becomes a question of whether the lack of mainstream appeal is enough to keep a listener’s interest beyond novelty. Some have said that college radio is dead or dying in the face of NPR buyouts and a major shift to Internet broadcasting. “Death is the wrong word; mutating might be better,” one former college radio DJ, who preferred to remain anonymous, said. “The move to the Internet is as much a survival tactic as anything.” College radio bred the likes of Hootie & the Blowfish, courtesy of the University of South Caro-
lina’s WUSC in Columbia, S.C., in addition to R.E.M. from Athens, Ga., home to the University of Georgia, while the Smiths probably owe a tremendous debt to college radio for expanding their popularity in America. It was easier in the 1980s and ’90s to gain consistent listeners, of course, with Internet streaming in its infancy. Changing tides in radio may require the move to Internet streaming, as more people in administrative positions become convinced that technologically inclined students do not have the patience to listen to FM or AM radio beyond the instances when they forget their iPods for their cars. Do not scoff at the notion of Internet radio just yet, however. In the case of Loyola University in Chicago, a lost license provided an opportunity for the founding of the Chicago Independent Radio Project, or CHIRP, which broadcasts from the Internet exclusively and plays everything from Men Without Hats to Muddy Waters to Mastodon. CHIRP retains some of the college radio aesthetic, proving that, at least for the moment, Internet radio can be an effective way of reaching an audience. It provides listeners with the kind of content they could not find on regular broadcast radio, with the only comparable alternative per-
RAM ARCHIVES
WFUV, an NPR radio affiliate, serves the Fordham community and employs both students and full-time professionals.
haps being Sirius-XM satellite radio, though Internet streaming retains the ever-important quality of no cost. A special case which I have thus far failed to mention is our own renowned and beloved WFUV. Our station is not a typical college radio station, or at least in the way I view typical college radio, in that its programming is not entirely student-made and that it is NPR-affiliated. Even though the latter is true, for the
most part WFUV does a solid job of playing the wide variety of music for which college radio first became popular. On the one hand, we do provide an outlet for such programs as World Café and Echoes, two NPR staples. On the other, there are many programs with a Fordham foundation and focus, my personal favorite being Ceol na nGael. It is not the time to start worrying about college radio, however—not yet at least. While
it probably is not the way most young people find their new music anymore, it still serves enough of a purpose that it will not go away for the foreseeable future. If you remain unconvinced about the importance and role of college radio, just think: Where would the delicate art of being a misunderstood teenager be without the Smiths? Rory Masterson, GSB ’14, is a business administration major from Fort Mill, S.C.
Drug Testing at the University Level Infantilizes Students By CELESTE KMIOTEK EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Everyone has seen “DrugFree School Zone” signs, and, hopefully, most have noted the redundancy of claiming a drugfree zone in what should be a drug-free country. While most colleges do not feature these signs, they nonetheless expect their students to refrain from illegal or illicit substances; however, excepting certain athletic programs at such schools as Duke University and Michigan State University, most colleges have resisted actively weeding through students to find offenders. Recently, Linn State Technical College broke the norm when it announced to incoming and prospective students that it would be conducting mandatory “drug screenings.” Home to 1,200 students and located about 100 miles outside St. Louis, Mo., Linn State, a public two-year college, decided this past spring that all first-year students and those either returning from a break or returning for a certification are required to submit to drug testing, which will be able to identify 11 drugs, including marijuana but not alcohol. Those who test positive are required to take a drug-prevention test and to be tested again in 45 days. All students tested are required to foot the $50 bill. An article in The Washington
Post states that, according to Linn State, this rule is meant to ensure the safety of other students, since the college specializes in courses including aircraft maintenance, heavy engine repair and nuclear technology. Furthermore, the college claims that it is preparing its students for a drug-free workplace. Unsurprisingly, people protested, culminating with the American Civil Liberties Union filing a lawsuit on behalf of six students, claiming unconstitutionality through violation of the fourth amendment, commonly known as the right to privacy. While Linn State may be vocal about its new policies and its intentions, what it is not announcing is its implied attitude toward its students: that they are not worthy of trust. When colleges accept students, they impart the message that they feel each student is deserving of trust and the right to be treated as an adult. Regarding some students, this is a misguided decision; there will always be students who flout the rules, whether those be federal mandates or school regulations. Those students who abuse this trust, who hurt others and who are careless enough to be caught, by all means should be punished; they have ceded their right to this trust. When a student robs a local ATM or defaces school property, he or she is silently admitting that he or she is not ready to
function in the adult world and is not yet ready to be at an institution that trains students for entry into such a world and lacks the time or resources to re-teach basic ethics. Still, universities do not go to each student’s dorm room, tracking the source of each student’s cash and searching for spraypaint cans and baseball bats. Beside the incredible waste of resources and personnel this would require, universities assume they can count on their students’ innocence, only needing to investigate when there is due cause. Why should drugs be treated any differently? Yes, drug use is more difficult to prove than theft. Only the most trained doctors and professionals can decidedly identify whether and what a patient has been using. Paraphernalia, and the drugs themselves, are transportable and thus can be consumed, snorted, smoked or injected off-campus. Drugs can be hidden, and only select (though often the most common) types can be detected through a noticeable odor. Yes, this leaves drug testing as the only viable option to prosecute students. Yet, are the efforts to obtain drug tests and the resources needed worth it? Drugs are a societal problems (barring the alleged economic benefits of putting jobs, literally, on the street); there is no denying that users’
friends and family are affected. The comparatively few who do drugs liberally, however, are the users who actually create widespread problems; should the casual pot-smoker really have to endure a drug test? If someone is smart enough to avoid getting caught, while maintaining good grades and avoiding attention from any concerned party, should he or she have to be rounded up with the others? Wouldn’t resources be better spent hunting for the source of the problem, the dealers? Furthermore, according to a 2010 study conducted by the London-based Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, alcohol is the “most harmful drug.” While this is certainly a refutable claim, it does highlight the difficulty in conducting drug tests on students; where is the line drawn? If colleges test for illegal and illicit drugs, should they test for legal drugs such as alcohol, which can be detected in urine for anywhere from a few hours to a few days? What if the student is 21 or older? What about states which allow medical marijuana; how many people will then be privy to students’ medical histories to see if they have a prescription? According to USA Today, 21.5 percent of college-age students use drugs, though it does not quantify their level of use. That leaves at least 78.5 percent of
innocent students at an average college who will still be asked to send bodily fluids, which test for countless other diseases, medications and more, to an unknown lab. In a generation taught never to give away a password, never to cede medical or identifying information and never to trust the unknown, this is naturally something to be feared. Especially at a public university, where students are accustomed to a higher level of freedoms and privacy, it is unlikely that suspicion will dissipate anytime soon. This article is not supporting drug use; drugs are, for the most part, illegal for a reason. This article is supporting the treatment of students as adults. Common sense is a life skill that has no place being taught in a classroom; just as graduates know enough not to bring a rifle onto a plane, they should also know enough not to do drugs if they work somewhere with random drug-testing. If they are caught, it is due to their own carelessness, and all the better they are punished with something more than a college’s slap on the wrist. The majority of students deserve the right to be treated as innocent adults; let’s assume the best about us all. Celeste Kmiotek, FCRH ’12, is an English and communications and media studies major from Townsend, Mass.
OPINIONS
PAGE 8 • THE RAM • SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
The Ram Serving campus and community since 1918. The Ram is the University journal of record. The mission of The Ram is to provide a forum for the free and open exchange of ideas in service to the community and to act as a student advocate. The Ram is published and distributed free of charge every Wednesday during the academic year to the Rose Hill, Lincoln Center and Westchester campuses with a readership of 12,000. The Ram office is located in the basement of the McGinley Center, room B-52.
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From the Desk of Hussein Safa, Copy Editor This is my last “From the Desk” contribution to The Ram. As a senior graduating in less than eight months (what the what?!), I feel I should be imparting some life wisdom on navigating through college, enough to fit into a serving size of one editorial. This is putting me under enormous amounts of pressure to write something that will leave you cleaning your room because your brain just exploded all over the place. I want this article to wow you, to inspire you into action to flip the bird in the face of life and to send you on a mission to free Uganda from Joseph Kony. After you finish reading this, I want to leave you itching to go out and explore your passions, and to do whatever you like and screw the system and your parents and whoever gets in the way. I want this article to detail the 10 easy steps to get those washboard abs
you have always wanted, how to have the time of your life on a school night in New York and how to make chicken hollandaise for four people in under twenty minutes. I only have so much space to write this article, and I feel I should be using each word constructively. I am at a loss as to what to tell you. So with all this hype, this article is more coming off as, “Hi. This is my ‘From the Desk.’ You can read it if you want. Or not. If you want to throw it away, don’t litter, but also don’t throw it in the trash. Put it in the paper recycling bin because it’s good for the environment and Mother Nature and baby dolphins will love you. Unicorns.” With the remaining space I have, then, I should probably just end with giving you some advice. It would be so pretentious of me to ascend this mag-
nificent throne of advice-giving and have you all bow down before me as I grace you with my words. So maybe I will just resort to quoting wise philosophers that have come before us, but where would I start? There’s so many of them. Maybe I will tell you what Aristotle once said, “We are what we do repeatedly. Excellence then is not an act but a habit.” Or maybe I will share what J.K. Rowling said about failure: “Some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all—in which case, you fail by default.” Maybe I will switch it up a bit and quote Conan O’Brien when he said, “If you can laugh at yourself loud and hard every time you fall, people will think you’re drunk.” Or maybe I will share this sage word of wisdom from Amy
Poehler, when she said, “Never put your finger…in your own a**hole,” to which Tina Fey adds through fits of laughter, “Never your own. Anybody’s but your own.” I will humbly add my own words to these wise quotes from great thinkers, and I am going to tell you not to walk around with your underwear on your head because you will walk straight into a cabinet. So Fordham University, I feel that you are now ready to go out and ride life in whatever position you choose. And of course, “go forth and set the world on fire!” Just not in that creepy pyromaniac kind of way because it’s against the law.
Higher Education Is in Dire Financial Situation By CHRISTINE BARCELLONA OPINIONS EDITOR
There is something wrong with higher education. Its cost has risen more quickly than inflation, as jobs grow more scarce and funds dry up. For example, in 1999, Fordham cost $19,660 ($25,267 in 2010 dollars), according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. In 2010, tuition had risen to $38,602, and in 2011, the cost has risen to $39,967; however, a new study reveals that community colleges and public universities are in a more dire position than Fordham and other private schools. A 2011 Delta Cost Project report, “Trends in College Spending 1999-2009,” breaks down the disturbing patterns. In 2009, in the wake of the recession, both private and public four-year institutions reacted to lowered endowments and funds by tacking on an average of 4.5 percent to students’ tuition. This makes sense, since funds were scarce for individuals and institutions alike. However, The Chronicle reports that while many private universities’ endowments went down, they turned to other income sources, and their ultimate cash and spending increased. Though tuition has increased across the board, private universities have tended to weather the recession better. The Chronicle reports that private universities used some of the increased revenue to offer financial aid and scholarships, and helped lessen a bit of the student burden. On the other hand, public universi-
ties faced dire cuts in state funding, and were forced to use revenue from tuition increases to patch the gaping holes in their budget, in lieu of state funds. More and more, students have shouldered the burden that their elders have created. The solution to a debt crisis is not increasing student debt,
the increased burden put on students attending community colleges and other public universities. Attending a private school like Fordham is a luxury that few can afford, even with financial aid; many students, wisely wanting to lessen their loan burden, choose to attend a community college for the first year or
“A new study reveals that community colleges and public universities are in a more dire position than Fordham and other private schools. . . Though tuition has increased across the board, private universities have tended to weather the recession better.” decreasing educational quality or cutting their educators’ benefits. According to the Huffington Post, increased tuition coupled with a 4.3 percent unemployment rate for graduates has sharply increased the number of student defaults. It reports that last year’s default rate rose to 8.8 percent, up from 7 percent in 2008; this has prompted the Department of Education to suggest an income-based payment plan that would keep federal loan repayments at or below 15 percent of a person’s discretionary income. In 2008, the average debt for seniors with student loans was $27,650 at private institutions and $20,000 at public institutions. Most troubling, perhaps, is
Are your friends tired of hearing you complain? Write for The Ram opinions section. E-mail us at: fordhamramopinions@gmail.com
two of college, and then transfer to a four-year public institution. Having the community collegepublic school option is vital for students, especially financially savvy ones who understand the overwhelming burden student loans can be. The increasing cost of these schools undermines the options that students have to control or lessen their debt. For instance, the Delta Cost Project reports that, in 2009, the tuition discount rate for community college students was only 11 percent, while the same figure for private bachelor’s colleges was 35 percent. This discount rate has held steady since 1999, but as tuition increases at all institutions, the disparity between institutions
and what students must pay to attend them grows greater. Plus, private schools may direct more money toward financial aid, an option that many state-funded schools do not have. When the recession hit, fouryear institutions took a hit, but did not have to face steep cuts in many areas. On the other hand, according to “Trends in College Spending,” community college spending saw comprehensive cuts, especially in instruction. It reports that community colleges serve the majority of students, but spend the least on each student’s education, because “private non-profit institutions have set the spending bar so high it will be almost impossible to public institutions to compete with them on the basis of resources and reputation.” The authors warn that federal and state spending cuts will only exacerbate the problem. Higher education is beset with a host of problems. Somehow, the country must make it a priority to offer students a highquality education for a lower price. The enormous amount of student debt and student loan defaults cannot be sustained; it is criminal to strap students with inescapable levels of debt in order to have an opportunity to gain an education. New trends hindering lower-cost education options only adds insult to injury, in terms of the diseased system of higher education and its costs. Christine Barcellona, FCRH ’12, is an English major from Dallas, TX. She can be reached at cbarcellona@fordham.edu.
If you have an opinion about something you saw in this week’s issue of The Ram, send us a Letter to the Editor at: fordhamramletters@gmail.com
OPINIONS
H Homeland Insecurities Ins
Bike Sharing Idea a Boon By PATRICK DEROCHER
Isabel Brown Congress, Can You Spare a Job? After a frustratingly ineffective and bitter summer in Washington, D.C., I felt relieved as I settled into President Obama’s jobs speech on NBC last week. Before a joint session of Congress, Obama commanded the bickering legislature to “Pass this jobs bill now!” He was referring, of course, to the American Jobs Act, the latest plan from the White House to lower the national unemployment rate. As much fun as it was to watch the stony faces of House Republicans redden as the program went on, President Obama’s refreshingly forceful explanation of his new bill was a bit more compelling. The speech began by somberly addressing the need for Keynesian economic policies to stimulate job growth, a point of great contention among Republican representatives and presidential primary candidates in recent weeks. Keynesian economics, which shaped laws that put millions of Americans back to work at the height of the Depression, assert that job growth can occur most when the government helps both the public and private sectors to create new jobs. I was thoroughly impressed by a plan in the jobs bill to grant businesses their much-ballyhooed tax breaks—if they created a certain number of private-sector jobs. These policies were recently attacked by presidential hopeful Rick Perry as “an experiment on America that will never be repeated again.” Right, I forgot about how America was plunged into socialism after winning World War II and reversing the Great Dep—oh, nevermind. I know that Perry is not about to explain what an experiment is. I certainly can’t explain the Earth being created in six days, as he can. Yet economic lessons alone weren’t the only distinguishing qualities I observed. Obama’s speech possessed a winning combination of strong politics and rhetoric, two components that had been missing from the Democrats’ lackluster performance during the debtceiling crisis earlier this year. Four concise words, “pass this bill now,” were repeated loudly and often, a verbalization of the White House’s exasperation with Congressional in-fighting. At last, it appeared that President Obama was holding Congress to task for ignoring the needs of the public for so long. His references to President Lincoln’s progressive attitude at a time of similar disharmony implored Congressmen to put people before partisanship once again. I can only hope that his acquiescence to Republican demands to raise the debt ceiling were a bait-and-switch effort to pass the jobs bill. At the very least, Congress could pass this into law for posterity. This week, a Pew Agency poll revealed barely one in 10 voters approve of the federal government, not one party or another, but the whole convoluted, inefficient legislative process. Disillusioned Americans need to see that bipartisanship is not impossible. Making a legitimate effort to create jobs is a risk they could afford to take.
SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 9
COPY EDITOR
The bicycle has historically held an unusual place in the American mythos. A beloved symbol of childhood, the bike is something relatively few people keep in their lives much after eighth grade. This is all beginning to change. Starting with Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., larger American cities have begun adopting bicycles as more important parts of transportation infrastructures by building bike lanes, improving public awareness and, especially in Chicago, maintaining dedicated-use bike trails. (Seriously, put Chicago’s Lakefront Trail on your bucket list.) This movement has been spreading across the country, with a significant uptick in the number of Americans who bike to work. To be fair, the word “significant” is relative; according to recent Census Bureau surveys, only 0.6 percent of commuters in the United States use their bikes to reach the workplace. That said, there are multiple U.S. metropolitan areas (starting with Eugene, Ore.) where more than five percent of residents bike to work, and the number is often higher in the central cities, including all of the aforementioned municipalities, Honolulu and San Jose, Calif. New York City has only recently started to become part of the new American cycling scene, adding miles of bike lanes under the leadership of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, bike lanes which I have defended in these pages (Volume 93, Issue 4). To say that these lanes have been accepted as part of New York City’s urban fabric would be a bit disingenuous. Who could forget, after all, the image of dozens of Park Slope residents protesting a bike lane along Prospect Park or that of a city councilman from Queens harping about his elderly constituents living in constant fear of runaway cyclists? The fact remains, however, that bicycling, both recreational and for purposes of transportation, is on the rise in New York
City, where tens of thousands of people, and more every passing year, participate in events such as the Five Boro Bike Tour, Car-Free Saturdays and this borough’s very own Tour de Bronx (much more fun and scenic than it sounds). At this point, it only makes sense that we adopt something that many other bike-friendly cities have boasted for years: a bikesharing program. Or does it? The concept of bike sharing is rather straightforward: Participants pay for membership in the program, by the day, month or year, usually, and gain the right to rent a bike from any station in the coverage area. In most cities, the first half-hour to forty-five minutes of use are free, and prices scale up from there; in some cities, rental rates are lower if you have a longer-term membership. These bikes are not, it is worth noting, the sort of thing you rode around your cul-de-sac in second grade, and nor are they anything Lance Armstrong would be caught dead riding. They are so-called “utility bikes,” with relatively large, heavy frames, only three speeds and a frame shape that necessitates sitting upright while pedaling. They are intended for running one’s daily errands and include a basket-like structure in the front that allows for storage of purses, shopping bags and other such containers. This is, as I said earlier, a model that has been used in other American cities before, often run by Alta Bicycle Share, the Portland, Ore.-based company that runs Washington, D.C.’s Capital Bikeshare and Boston’s Hubway. In each of these cities, the exact design of the bikes is up to the individual city. In D.C., a distinctive red and yellow scheme prevails, while Boston uses green and silver. Additionally, advertisements can be utilized as a means of paying for the systems without using taxpayer money. This can range from ads placed on bike station maps to complete sponsorship, as it is in Boston with New Balance. As with bike lanes, I will sing the praises of bike-sharing systems. As someone who avoids
taking mass transit whenever traveling any distance less than 59th Street to Fordham, and who has no interest in owning car for at least five years after graduation, a New York City bike-share is a dream come true. I had the opportunity to use Capital Bikeshare while working in Washington this summer, and I can tell you that nothing is quite like trading in your feet for a pair of wheels, feeling the wind in your hair and avoiding a 3-mile walk (or worse yet, bus ride) in the D.C. summer heat. There is a reason countries like Denmark and Belgium have adopted a bike-centric lifestyle, which is that you cannot beat the price and ease of using bikes over cars, especially on crowded urban streets, streets that, in the United States, are increasingly being designed with cyclists in mind. Not everything about bikesharing, however, is perfect. I cannot tell you how many times this summer I would encounter a tourist lazily pedaling along a busy thoroughfare, apparently of the opinion that the rented bike was his or her personal tour bus. (My personal favorite was the group that did this in front of the White House, oblivious to the admonitions of passing cars and pedestrians that they were about to run afoul of the Secret Service.) Then there were the wannabe-hardcore recreational cyclists from out-of-town who, in addition to being the reason I loath to admit that I bike semiseriously, became verbally violent whenever they tried to push these little bikes-that-could beyond their design limits. Do all of these human shortcomings mean that we should not implement bike-sharing in New York City? No; the vast majority of casual bikers are courteous and cognizant of their surroundings. The city should, however, take note of the failings that do exist, and do its best where other cities have failed: Educate the casual bikers to the extent possible by putting safety instructions on the system maps and, if possible, on the bikes themselves. Patrick Derocher, FCRH ’12, is an international political economy major from Loudonville, N.Y.
MARY ALTAFFER/AP
Many people turn to bikes as a low-cost transportation option, as they provide exercise and do not create exhaust.
The Sweat at off w the Brow Harry MacCormack Jobs Bill: Here We Go Again With the American economy as bad as it is, the idea of any new legislation to create jobs sounds great; however, there are several glaring issues with Obama’s new jobs bill. Let’s start with the mainstay, everyone’s favorite question for Obama, month-in and month-out: Who is paying for all of this? The jobs bill is going to cost $245 billion. Another $245 billion we do not have, and just as regularly as the administration is moving to spend money, they are leaving the bills at the doorsteps of the upper tax bracket. Individuals and married couples who are already shelling out anywhere between 32 to 36 percent of their net income to the federal government can expect that percentage to climb another point or two, as well as kiss any deductions they had goodbye. Part of the problem with taxing the rich is that no matter how much money you take, it will never be enough, at least at this pace. The federal government keeps hiking the taxes on the wealthy and making their lifestyle, that they worked hard to achieve, more and more impossible. All the while, the budget is still a total nightmare. So, once again, the wealthy are being screwed, simply because they have the money. My other gripe with this bill is that it gives people the right to sue a company for discrimination against being unemployed. So, if you are out of work, and apply for a job, and don’t get it, you can get a lawyer and sue them because they didn’t hire you because you didn’t have a job. Now, I’m sorry, but that is the most backward idea ever. I don’t think any hiring employer is discriminating against the unemployed. The unemployed are who they are trying attract in the first place. So not only does it not make sense, but it also gives the rejected potential employee power to sue his would-be employer on ridiculous grounds. Now, there is no telling whether or not they would win such a stupid case, but simply the cost of settling or defending themselves would be enough to discourage hiring in the first place. It isn’t all bad, however: Major payroll tax breaks would be given to hiring businesses. This is the kind of thing that I like to see. Take the financial pressure off the businesses and let them do their thing. Ultimately this bill is still what I would call a bad thing: lots of unnecessary spending (again), leaving the rich holding the bag (again) and one ridiculous discrimination law. I applaud the tax breaks, but really, with any respectable business paying 35 percent corporate tax already, it isn’t really a break, they are just being robbed a little less.
OPINIONS
PAGE 10 • THE RAM • SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
Point-Counterpoint: Affirmative Action
MAP COURTESY OF GOOGLE MAPS, PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOHN F. MARTIN, CARLOS OSORIO, PAUL SANCYA/AP, COMPILED BY CHRISTINE BARCELLONA
Though affirmative action was banned in Michigan several years ago, the state’s Court of Appeals is in the process of evaluating whether the ban is legal and whether it should be overturned or upheld.
Affirmative Action Is a Part of the Solution, Though More Could Be Changed By CANTON WINER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Earlier this month, the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a July 1 ruling by a three-judge panel, leaving the legality of Michigan’s ban on affirmative action hanging in uncertainty. Affirmative action is a policy that gives preference to minorities in regard to employment and education. The law, which was passed in 2006 by Michigan voters, bans affirmative action in government hiring and college admissions. The July 1 ruling found the ban to be unconstitutional, arguing that the law violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause; however, it now seems likely that the law’s constitutionality will remain in question until it reaches the Supreme Court. First, minorities face an inherent disadvantage in our society. The opportunity gap between whites and minorities remains wide, and is, in fact, expanding. A recent study by the Pew Research Center has shown that Hispanics and blacks have been hit harder by the recession than whites. The study reports that in 2009, white households’ median wealth was 15 times higher than Hispanic households (compared to 7 times in 2004) and 19 times higher estimated median wealth than black households (compared to 11 times in 2004). And what is Michigan’s response to this? To ban affirmative action? Such a response is incredibly careless and shortsighted. We must face the facts. Whites hold a disproportionately higher percentage of wealth, political offices, college diplomas and jobs in America. Making this debate about race is slightly misleading, however. Many Americans view the dispute surrounding affirmative action to be an issue of race, when the primary concern of the debate should be income. Getting into college, for example, is made significantly easier when there are more resources available for assistance. A wealthy student can afford SAT/ACT tutoring, essay preparation help, college advising, etc. Poorer students simply cannot afford these same resources and, by extension, end up either unable to attend college at all, or attending a school that is not challenging enough for them. If and when
these students graduate, they find themselves less able to compete in a job market full of wealthy private school graduates. Then they have children who will face the exact same challenges that they did, and then the cycle begins again. Affirmative action absolutely has its flaws. Our country has changed dramatically since affirmative action was first instated, and racism is no longer the main issue holding minorities back—money is. Lawmakers have failed to facilitate the evolution of affirmative action legislation, and it has been consequently left in the dust. It often seems as if there are only two sides to the debate—pro-affirmative action and anti-affirmative action—but there is a reasonable middle ground. Instead of the belligerent approach of banning affirmative action altogether, Michigan should pursue thoughtful and intelligent reform. Affirmative action legislation needs to be modified to protect economic minorities, not racial minorities. In fact, to suggest that those who proposed the law banning affirmative action in Michigan were trying to fix the problem gives them too much credit. Mark Rosenbaum, professor of law at University of Michigan, calls the ban “an old-fashioned racial gerrymander that locks out Michigan citizens of color from the political process.” It is not a convenient coincidence that racial minorities frequently support candidates who oppose the neoconservatives who introduced the ban. The ban on affirmative action in Michigan is little more than a cheap attempt to pander to the ultra-conservatives who have hijacked the Republican Party. Why propose real solutions when you can score cheap political points? America has begun to overcome the pestilence of racism and is now plagued by classism. Affirmative action has become an easy scapegoat for archconservatives who fear both progress and those who are different from themselves. It may be politically convenient to use slash-and-burn tactics instead of comprehensive evaluation and responsible reform, but it is not what is best for our country. Canton Winer, FCRH ’15, is an undeclared major from West Palm Beach, Fla.
“The opportunity gap between whites and minorities remains wide, and is, in fact, expanding.”
Michigan Ban Aptly Abolishes Affirmative Action, a Discriminatory Practice By RICKY BORDELON CONTRIBUTING WRITER
“We the people…” These three words are the beginning of one of the most important documents in American history. This document established a government founded in the principles of liberty and justice. As time went on, however, the question became “which people?” Slaves? Immigrants? Catholics? After the Civil War, the federal government and the states passed one of the most important and controversial amendments in the Constitution: the Fourteenth. This amendment is the foundation of one of the most debated principles that exists in the American political world: affirmative action. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy defines affirmative action as “mean[ing] positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education and business from which they have been historically excluded.” One of the most recent situations involving affirmative action is in the state of Michigan. The citizens of Michigan voted in favor of Proposal 2, a ban of affirmative action in college admissions and government hiring. This ban was upheld in federal district court but overturned by a three-judge panel in the federal court of appeals. After an appeal by the Attorney General of Michigan, however, all of the judges of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals voted to rehear the case, meaning the threejudge panel decision is vacated and the full court will hear and decide the case. Michigan has an interesting history involving affirmative action. Two of the most famous Supreme Court cases involving affirmative action—Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger—originated in Michigan. Proposal 2 actually began as a reaction to the ruling in Grutter v. Bollinger, which reinforced the University of Michigan Law School’s policy of affirmative action. The citizens of Michigan passed this proposal with good reason; the residents were tired of having race considered as a significant factor in college admissions and government hiring. Affirmative action began as a response to help blacks and other minorities gain entrance into institutes of higher learning
during and after the Civil Rights movement. This policy was also meant to help alleviate past discrimination and historical disadvantage. In a way, however, affirmative action perpetuates the idea of racism. People are being judged on an aspect of themselves over which they do not have any control. This principle also combats the idea of being admitted solely on a student’s own personal, academic, extracurricular and volunteer/employment merits. With this policy in place, a minority student may be accepted to a university over a non-minority student with greater merits. In the context of a university, this seems neither fair nor just. Diversity is an important goal to achieve in a university. It expands students’ worldviews and allows them to learn more about another cultures practices and traditions. If diversity comes at the price of denying a deserving student of admission, however, it becomes a hindrance to fairness. Race or ethnic background also does not have to be the tool by which universities achieve diversity. Diversity can also be defined as economic. Fairness should be the ultimate goal, but affirmative action does not involve race alone and could consider the less arbitrary factor of wealth. A school should never deny a deserving student admission simply because he or she comes from a low-income family, which is why schools have introduced need-blind admissions. The hardships and struggles students face because of their families’ low income have shaped their experiences and their worldview, thus enhancing the diversity of the university in less arbitrary ways. There has been past discrimination in the United States, and minorities have endured hardships since the founding of this country. It is wrong and unjust not to judge a student based solely on his or her merits; affirmative action, in this way, is inherently flawed. Ricky Bordelon, FCRH ’15, is a political science major from New Orleans, La.
“People are being judged on an aspect of themselves over which they do not have any control.”
Staff Poll: Should affirmative action be banned? Fourteen Ram staffers said yes. Three staffers said no. Have an opinion? Write a Letter to the Editor and have your voice heard.
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SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 11
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PAGE 12 • THE RAM • SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
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PAGE 13
Vivienne Tam Hosts Live Fashion Yoga Collection Presentation By HOLLY LEMANOWICZ STAFF WRITER
On Tuesday, Sept. 13, Vivienne Tam hosted a Live Fashion Yoga Collection Presentation as part of Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week. Twenty female yogis, dressed in Tam’s newest collection, created a “Live Sculpture Garden” and were led in various choreographed yoga postures by world renowned instructors Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman Yee. Known for her East-meetsWest designs, Tam, a ChineseAmerican fashion designer, is dedicated to creating unique experiences for consumers and offering glimpses of her inspirations to consumers. Tam takes aspects from her roots in Hong Kong and from her current home in New York City, as inspiration for her designs. Tam’s first line of athletic wear was inspired by her love for yoga, busy everyday life and the feeling that there was a void in the market of fashionable, stylish and colorful active apparel. Tam took her hectic lifestyle, and that of the everyday woman, into consideration with the creation of this line; she wanted to fashion pieces that she could wear to yoga classes, work and anywhere else that she would travel in a typical day. Considering that Tam is most noted for her ready-to-wear contemporary pieces, she reached out to a friend with experience
PHOTO BY HOLLY LEMANOWICZ/THE RAM
Twenty yogis perfomed in the “Live Sculpture Garden” on Sept. 13 at the Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week.
in the industry for partnership. Tam chose to collaborate with Chinese Olympic Gold Medalist and athletic apparel owner
Li Ning to create “The Modern Woman’s Dream Yoga Collection.” Familiar with athleticapparel and its construction, Li
Ning and Vivienne Tam were able to successfully collaborate on a beautiful and functional collection.
At the event, guests were encouraged to move around the yogis at the Barclays Capital Grove at Lincoln Center, which provided a picturesque backdrop for such a serene and peaceful event. Amid all the waif-like, highly made-up models at the rest of the Fashion Week show, this event featured real women dedicated wholeheartedly to the body, mind and spirit. Emphasis was on the ecofriendly athletic apparel, rather than celebrities seated in the front row, although Dina Lohan, mother of Lindsey Lohan, and supermodel Petra Nemcova did make appearances. Event sponsors took the whole person into account, as exemplified by the Origins, Tela Hair Organics by Philip Pelusi and Gaiam Inc. Compared to the rest of the Fashion Week festivities, this event was considerably more casual and allowed attendees to embrace not only fashion but also the outdoors. It is no surprise that Tam put on a fashion installation with such a unique concept, as she has recently been involved in innovative partnerships that have only strengthened her name as a designer. Tam has designed the interior of a 1999 Oldsmobile Alero, partnered with Hong Kong Disneyland in designing Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse costumes and collaborated with HP on a laptop design for the Mini 1000 Vivienne Tam edition.
Singer Katy B Performs New Album At Webster Hall By CODIE LANDSMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Twenty-two-year old British singer-songwriter Kathleen Brien (“Lights On”), better known as “Katy B,” finally celebrated the U.S. release of her album On A Mission through a live performance at Webster Hall on Sept. 13th. This high-energy performance on New York grounds has certainly solidified Katy B’s presence as a talented British performer who is ready to expand her fan base even further. The funky, bright-red-haired Katy B stands out from the traditional idea of “dubstep” by mixing wobbly bass lines with her softer mix of funky dance tunes along with smooth, soulful vocals. This style separates her from well-known dubstep producers that she has worked with, such as Skream (Skream!) and Benga (Resident Advisor). Her upbeat, bubbly house music encouraged endless dancing and singing. Screams of “I love you Katy!” filled the air in between songs and even occasionally seemed to startle the young woman, who perhaps did not expect to find such an appreciative and diverse group of people. A smaller venue than many,
Webster Hall offered a sense of intimacy within the concert. “Since it was so small, the fans were as close as can be to the band and it was clear how excited they were,” Ashley Meade, GSB ’13, said. “She was so obviously grateful that people were thrilled to see her and that made the performance even better.” Katy B is a graduate of the BRIT School for Performing Arts in London, which is the same high school that produced British stars like Adele, Amy Winehouse and Leona Lewis. Katie B has been popular in the U.K. but, like many other foreign singers, struggles to achieve fame in the United States. “I had never even heard of Katy B before the show, but I would definitely recommend her to anyone,” Meade said. Katy’s performance at Webster Hall has certainly allowed her to get her foot in the door as she continues to assert herself as a unique and ever-evolving artist. Sporting a white Rinse FM Tshirt, the London pirate station which provided first exposure to Katy B, the singer danced alongside a full band as she once again broke away from the traditional DJ-oriented performance. She rocked the crowd with songs like “Witches Brew,” “Easy
PHOTO BY CODIE LANDSMAN/THE RAM
Kathleen Brian, or Katy B, a graduate of BRIT School for Performing Arts in London, sang at Webster Hall on Sept. 13.
Please Me” and the heavily anticipated “Katy On a Mission,” in addition to her encore performance
of “Lights On,” which accurately includes the line “play me just one more song.” It did not look
like the crowd was going to give up chanting her name until she did just that.
CULTURE
PAGE 14 • THE RAM SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
Cooking With Clara CLARA ENNIST
Savory-Sweet Sirloin My favorite taste combination is sweet and savory. Typically, I satisfy this preference by eating a goat cheese and pear salad; however, one of the better marks of a cook is someone who knows how to make meals that other people will enjoy. Beef is not the first meat I gravitate toward when deciding what to eat, if I decide to have meat as a protein in my meal. Yet, with the knowledge that I sometimes enjoy cooking and baking for people other than myself, I decided to try a sirloin recipe that is extremely straightforward. Servings: 6-8 -2 pounds sirloin -1/2 c water -1/2 c ketchup -1/4 c white vinegar -1 onion, sliced -1/2 clove minced garlic -1/4 c and 2 Tbs brown sugar -1 1/2 tsp salt Directions: In a large skillet, cook the sirloin steaks. Stir in the water, ketchup, vinegar, onions, garlic, brown sugar and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil and then cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Continue simmering for about a half hour. I modified this recipe from a traditional brisket recipe served on Passover. Brisket is not my favorite cut of beef and, rather than using a cut that would take much longer to prepare, I decided to go with the sirloin. Because sirloin is already considerably tenderer than brisket, it requires much less cooking time, and it is best done either in a sauté pan or broiled. I start with all cuts of meat by trimming off a good deal (but not all) of the excess fat. I know that a lot of people complain that fat is what adds flavor to meat; obviously, these people have never heard of seasoning. While sirloin is a better cut of meat, you can still achieve the same effect and spend less money if you do decide to use brisket. Just follow the recipe with a few modifications: cook the brisket in a Dutch oven or a large skillet until it is browned on all sides, add the remaining ingredients and, after bringing it to a boil, let it simmer for two and a half hours, occasionally turning the brisket. Wait for the brisket to cool then slice the meat against the grain and refrigerate overnight. The change of braising the brisket rather than just sautéing it has to do with the fact that brisket is among the toughest cuts of beef you can get. Although it may not start out as tender as a sirloin would, you can achieve a similar effect if you have the time to dedicate to slowly cooking it. While I may not love beef, there are certain times when I want to make a dish that satisfies people other than myself; meat and potatoes is a never-fail combination, unless you’re cooking for vegetarians. This recipe makes the meat portion of that combination much easier to prepare, while it also sates my own taste for the sweet and savory.
Dining Out: Café Lalo
PHOTO BY KATIE CATALDO/THE RAM
Café Lalo, which is located at 201 W 83rd St. #1, appeared in You’ve Got Mail. The café serves dishes including French “kiss” quiche and zucchini cheese frittata.
By KATIE CATALDO CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Paris, 1905. The scene: an alluring wood-paneled café lined with twinkling lights and glass cases of freshly baked tarts, rugelach and numerous cheesecakes, like a vision from a Van Gogh painting. Actually, it is Café Lalo, a scenic walk away from Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side it is and home to the best brunch I have had in New York City. One crisp, clear, sweater-anda-latté Sunday, I came upon Café Lalo and was drawn inside by its window front and bright blue flag, with a Lautrec-style dancing
woman gracing the front. While the café was a little crowded, I was seated almost right away at a spot next to the open windows. In classic New York style, I was practically bumping elbows with my neighbor, but this element just seemed to add to Lalo’s charm. The restaurant is bright and cheery, with walls covered in colorful ’20s-style posters and filled with flowers and painted tiles. The menu is quite extensive, with a full selection of espresso-laden coffee drinks and as many brunch choices as you could ever imagine. Rather than your typical diner food, Café Lalo instead lives up to its unique European-style atmo-
a balancing act to the supremely sphere and offers everything from savory eggs. I had to stop myself quiches to cheese plates to fresh from scraping the plate clean by organic salads and panini. the time I was done. I decided I would begin with a In addition to the delicious skim cappuccino, which arrived meals, there is a huge glass showhot and steaming with a thick case packed with freshly-baked layer of creamy foam on top, just desserts, which one would be how a great cappuccino should. hard-pressed to ignore, particuI was pleasantly surprised to find larly when combined with the a tiny Toblerone candy on my constant sweet saucer, which was Overall scents waft ing from a sweet treat with Location behind the counter the slightly bitter Food Quality and the stacks of espresso. Atmosphere cheesecakes staring For my brunch, Hospitality Price $ $ I chose a plate of you in the face from across the room. steamed eggs with (Out of 4 ’s) The dessert menu goat cheese, oregis almost longer ano, tomatoes and than the food menu, from a full basil, something I’ve never seen list of after-dinner drinks to fonon a menu before. dues to unbelievable chocolateThe eggs came with a side of laden creations. While I was far roasted fingerling potatoes and too stuffed to sample any of the a small “Mediterranean” salad of desserts in the café, I took home a cucumbers, tomatoes, pine nuts thick slice of decadent cappuccino and cilantro. The steamed eggs, I cheesecake, which I savored over found out, are prepared without several days. butter or oil, a nice change from I spent several hours in Café the greasy eggs usually found in Lalo studying and people-watchbreakfast restaurants. I could not ing from the window, slowly siptaste a negative difference. In fact, ping my cappuccino and reveling these eggs were absolutely deliin the flawless atmosphere, feelcious, a perfect balance of two ing as though I had completely complex spices balanced out with escaped the city, but at the same the rich goat cheese, which came time, knowing that kind of moin a heaping scoop underneath the ment was the essence of the New eggs. York experience. The potatoes were freshly sliced I highly recommend Café Lalo and tasted fabulous with a little bit for a lazy weekend brunch, a roof sea salt on top, as was the side mantic after-dinner dessert or a salad. The cilantro was an interesttranquil coffee to take a step back ing choice and a bit overpowerfor a few hours and just watch the ing, but when combined with the world go by. pine nuts, I greatly enjoyed it as
Editor’s Pick: The Importance of Storytelling By CONNIE KIM NEWS EDITOR
Why do we read stories? Why are they so important that people often consider reading stories as a part of the growing process? I have wondered about this since my childhood. Stories are just one way to transmit ideas from one person to another; nevertheless, people still get attracted to stories. They try to discover their way of life through stories because tales provide the meaning and context to what would otherwise be a collection of easily “forgettable facts.” In other words, stories help people make sense of the world. The privilege of telling stories is not limited to authors who publish books; we not only read and listen to stories but also narrate our personal stories to one another. It makes storytelling unique, as we are the only creatures that use storytelling as a tool to understand ideas and concepts. In fact, there is a growing body of research that points to the power of narrative not merely as a way to engage people, but as the only way to change deeply entrenched views. I once read a children’s book called Haroun and the Sea of Stories, by Salman Rushdie. In the novel, one of the antagonists says: “What are all these stories? Life is not a storybook or joke shop. All this fun will come to no good. What’s the
use of stories that aren’t even true?” I was surprised for a moment; for what purpose do we read stories that are not true? I found out through this novel that, if stories did not exist, the world would be a horrible place to live. Rushdie places the main character, Haroun, in the “Sad City,” which lacks storytelling, to demonstrate how people become greedy and immoral when stories are not available or existent. “Sad City” is the epitomic location of unhappiness and life’s follies, where people are so depressed that they cannot even remember the name of the city; people are so materialistic that “necessity” strips citizens of their truthfulness. “I am having my time wasted by a Disconnector Thief who will not trust in what he can’t see. How much have you seen, eh, Thieflet? Africa, have you seen it? No? Then is it truly there? And submarines? Huh? Also hailstones, baseballs, pagodas? … And the past, did it happen? And the future, will it come?,” Rushdie wrote in the book. Children are supposed to use imagination to believe in things they do not see with their eyes; however, the city that only cares about the present ruins the innocence of the children’s minds. A society can go awry when storytelling is not obtainable for the common man. The stories are necessary in order to fulfill our lives in a positive
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way, but there is no point of creating stories if no one wants to read or listen to them. Rushdie also claims that, even when the stories exist to fulfill human lives, the quality of the story is important. As Haroun puts it, “Anybody can tell stories… liars, and cheats, and crooks, for example. But for the stories with the extra ‘umph’… even the best storytellers need a method of expressing that ‘umph.’” Stories can significantly affect the readers positively and negatively, thereby allowing readers to
change their behaviors and even their traditional values. Readers usually experience a whole new world through stories, since stories can deal with a plot that is totally impossible or unlikely to happen in the real world. Although people understand that the lives they experience in stories usually are not real, they can easily devote themselves to the story; people give full play to their imagination and start to believe that their lives are closely related to those in the stories.
CULTURE
WHO’S THAT KID? Bryan Matis A MEMBER OF GSB ’12 MAJORING IN FINANCE AND MINORING IN MATHEMATICS AND ECONOMICS
FROM HOWELL, N.J. What campus organizations are you involved in? I’m proud to be the executive vice president of United Student Government, an awesome group that works to make Fordham a better place for everyone. This is my third year [being] involved in USG. I was also the president of Students for Fair Trade last year, and I’ve done New Student Orientation since my sophomore year. Please describe yourself in a couple of sentences. I like to learn, I like to laugh and I like to live. If you’re a genuine person and you’re fun to be around, I want to be your friend, and I’m always in the market for high-quality baked goods.
definitely my favorite class, because we got to run a small business that seeks to alleviate poverty in Kenya in a small but meaningful way. I’m so lucky to have had the chance to do something that maybe helped to improve the lives of those most in need. What is your favorite memory while attending Fordham? Living in Queen’s Court freshman year. Nothing compares to staying up late at night in Bishop’s Lounge doing homework with all of your friends while it’s snowing
outside.
what’s
What is your favorite thing to do in NYC? How often do you go into the city? It’s fun to go into the city without a plan, and just see what you wind up doing. You can do almost anything you want in NYC. I love it. What are your plans (career or otherwise) after college? I want a job where I can go to sleep every night and know that I did something meaningful. What do you want to do or accomplish before you leave Fordham? On graduation day, I’d like to leave knowing that I took full advantage of my four years here. Is there anything else you want people to know about you? I’m always down for a midnight acoustic guitar jam session on Keating steps. Especially if you like Goo Goo Dolls songs.
MOVIE By JAKE KRING-SCHREIFELS STAFF WRITER
Moneyball, the adaption of best Michael Lewis’ best-selling 2003 book, is not your typical sports film. Then again, what Billy Beane did with the Oakland Athletics wasn’t typical either. The movie, directed by Bennett Miller (Capote), centers as a biopic but is laced together by a dramatic narrative. Spanning the course of one year, Miller takes us on the emotional roller coaster of a general manager of a baseball team, insightfully hitting poignant moments of despair and unexpected jolts of hope. In this sense, it is not a baseball movie; it is a movie about baseball. There is a subtle difference, but it is one that ultimately is able to capture the hearts of non-sports fans and make them care about a man and team that defied the odds.
Going
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Send tips, event listings, or comments to theram@fordham.edu.
THURSDAY SUTRA O’Keefe Commons 8 p.m. - 11 p.m. The Mexican band will perform using lively visuals, along with opening act Save the Youth Center.
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FRIDAY Charlie Parker Jazz Festival Marcus Garvey Park 6 p.m. The free festival celebrates great music with talented musicians including Kenny Werner, James Carter and Tia Fuller.
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SATURDAY Dumbo Dance Festival White Wave (25 Jay St. 100, Brooklyn, NY) 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. The festival is a free, weekend-long affair showcasing dance companies from the United States, Canada and Japan.
SUNDAY Feast of San Gennaro Little Italy Manhatttan
MONDAY “What Are You? Mixed-Heritage Brooklyn” Brooklyn Historical Society 128 Pierrepont St. 7 p.m. Different experts discuss the diverse culture of Brooklyn.
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What is your favorite aspect about Fordham? Why? It’s a place where you can really find yourself. Find a group of friends who love you for who you are, and then don’t hold back. It’s the best feeling in the world.
MONEYBALL
Know “what’s going on” on campus or in NYC?
The patron saint of Naples will be celebrated with parades, dancing, Mass and cannolis.
Please describe something about yourself that not many people know. I’ve been playing guitar since fifth grade and write music whenever I can. I’ve got about eight or nine songs that I’m really proud of. One day I’d like to record all of it and then listen to it when I’m 70 for fun.
What is your favorite class at Fordham and favorite professor? Why? The Fair Trade & Microfinance class with Dr. Kate Combellick was
SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 15
TUESDAY Body Parts: Ancient Egyptian Fragments and Amulets Brooklyn Museum 200 Eastern Parkway This exhibit features objects that have never been displayed before and represent the human body.
28 COURTESY OF BRYAN MATIS
Bryan Matis, who is from Howell, N.J., is a senior in Gabelli School of Business.
The film opens like a documentary, with some blurry TV footage from the elimination game of the 2001 American League Division Series. Oakland is down to their final out in the Bronx, on the verge of losing to the Yankees and ending their 102-win season. Announcer Thom Brennaman makes the call through Billy Beane’s portable radio. Billy, played by a grizzled Brad Pitt (Babel), sits 3,000 miles away in an empty Coliseum, intermittently tuning in and out. The crowd roars; he impulsively slams the radio down onto the asphalt, and the faint tune of “New York, New York” drifts into the night. Why is this playoff loss more piercing than any other? Because Oakland, a small-market city, will not be able to afford its best players, who are eligible for free agency in the now present offseason. Mr. Miller attentively posts the number 39,722,689 onto the screen, which represents the Athletics’ payroll in dollars for that season, and is the ultimate reason Billy Beane has to get
Ram Reviews creative. Billy knows he can’t replace the best first baseman in the league, but for some reason, his scouts believe they can. With a fractionalized budget, Beane decides to shake things up and try an outlier approach. He acquires wunderkind Peter Brand (Jonah Hill, Superbad), an economics major and Yale graduate, who electronically analyzes players. Billy’s latest hire injects some fervor into the A’s scouting crew, a kid in his first job about to discredit years of baseball tradition with a bunch of numbers. Mr. Miller resourcefully flashes the images of spreadsheets that Brand (based on Paul DePodesta) and Beane linger over every day, pages upon pages of player profiles and stats mathematically choreographed. The only intriguing thing for beane and Brand is OPS, otherwise known as on-base plus slugging percentage, the sabermetric key to scoring runs, which Brand claims is how to win games. With this new avenue to expose, they
WEDNESDAY Bryant Park Ping-Pong Bryant Park (41 W. 40th St.) 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Enjoy outdoor pong with two tables and complimentary paddles and balls. — COMPILED BY SCHARON HARDING
quickly get to work, finding players who have been overlooked by every other team but whom the A’s now cherished for attributes that were not valued at that time. One of the script writers is Aaron Sorkin, who penned the other short history and industry revolution film, The Social Network. Moneyball does not quite fit into place as it did with his Oscar-winning adaption last year, but it certainly works within its parameters. He re-creates dialogue in a realistic manner, providing a snapshot and behind-thescenes look into front-office negotiation. Rather than including quick zings for a Mark Zuckerberg, Sorkin opts for dry, awkward silences and unexpectedly humorous, to-thepoint discourse. Pitt gives a profound performance in emitting Beane’s abrasive behavior and tender care-giving. Pitt’s repeated displays of tired frustration display the daily grind of a general manager, as he rubs his eyes and pushes his hair out of his increasingly wrinkled forehead. His
devotion to finding obscure players becomes all the more enticing when Miller seamlessly flashes back to Beane’s baseball-playing days. Once a prized, highly touted, Billy was the exact opposite of what he searches for in the computer. Passing up a full-scholarship to play ball at Stanford, Billy opted for the big leagues and signed a contract with the New York Mets. His performance declined rapidly, and strategic inserts of Billy’s big-league struggles add a motivational dynamic to his present, changing culture. Instead of a cliché, third act, grand finale, it ends with an unconventional crescendo, which was goosebump worthy but lacked a fiery end. Then again, Moneyball is not about hitting a homerun, it’s about getting on base, drawing walks and changing the way we appreciate talent. “If you lose the last game it doesn’t matter,” Beane said, and in this case, changing the game can make more of an impact than winning it. To read more visit http://fieldoffilms.wordpress.com/.
TO READ THESE REVIEWS IN THEIR ENTIRETY, VISIT THERAMONLINE.COM AND CLICK ON “CULTURE” ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE HOMEPAGE.
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SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 17
PAGE 18 • THE RAM • SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
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SPORTS
APRIL 13, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 21
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SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
Women’s Soccer Surrenders Most Goals in Team’s History Team Loses 13-1 to Nationally-Ranked Texas A&M After Defeating Utah Valley, Finishes 1-1 on Road Trip By ERIK PEDERSEN SPORTS EDITOR
After a satisfying 4-2 victory over Utah Valley Friday night, the Fordham women’s soccer team was dominated in historic fashion Sunday, losing 13-1 to nationallyranked Texas A&M. The 13 goals were the most Fordham has surrendered in team history. “We got very overconfident [after Friday’s game],” Head Coach Ness Selmani said. “It was just a total disaster.” Despite the meltdown on Sunday, the weekend in Texas did get off to a good start for Fordham, as they played what Selmani described as one of their best allaround games against the Utah Valley Wolverines. Senior forward Mariella Romano opened the scoring four minutes into the game, taking a cross from junior forward Annie Worden and scoring into the upper right corner of the goal. After Utah Valley tied the game 10 minutes before halftime, Romano struck again three minutes into the second half, scoring her second goal of the game and third of the season. “[Romano’s] been playing better and better every game,” Selmani said. “She has bigger responsibilities now as a captain, she takes charge of the team and
PHOTO BY AARON MAYS/THE RAM
Mariella Romano scored two goals to help defeat Utah Valley, but the celebrations would not persist against Texas A&M.
her strong vision has been shown every game. She plays so hard that I try to rest her as much as I can because we’re going to need her [for the Atlantic 10 season].” The Wolverines rallied once again in the 56th minute to tie the game at two, but Fordham’s freshmen took charge of the game afterwards. First, freshman forward Kristina Maksuti took a corner kick from fellow freshman forward Maria Lorena Canicatti and scored from the left side of the penalty box to give the Lady Rams the lead in
the 68th minute. Five minutes later, freshman forward Megan Poiesz gave the team some insurance, driving a shot past UVU sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Sack for Poiesz’s second goal of the season. Poiesz’s goal completed the scoring, and Fordham would end up outshooting the Wolverines 26-13, with Maksuti leading the way with six shots. Junior goalie Rachel Suther made six saves to pick up her third win of the season. Any positive momentum from Friday, however, was quickly ex-
tinguished against Texas A&M on Sunday. The Aggies came into the game ranked No. 21 in the country after defeating No. 1 North Carolina the week before, and they totally dismantled the Lady Rams from start to finish. The game actually remained scoreless for the first 15 minutes, but Texas A&M then scored three goals in a span of just over three minutes, and they took a 5-0 lead into halftime. Selmani replaced Suther with freshman goalie Ally White after the break, but the game would
only get more out of hand, as the Aggies scored eight more goals on 20 second-half shots. Freshman forwards Annie Kunz and Kelley Monogue each recorded hat tricks for the Aggies, with eight different players scoring overall. “It wakes up the team,” Selmani said. “Sometimes one team has one of their best games while the other has their worst and that’s what happened [on Sunday].” Maksuti provided the sole positive moment from Sunday’s game, scoring her team-leading sixth goal of the season (despite missing two games due to a red card suspension) to prevent the shutout in the 79th minute. “I said when we recruited her that she’s going to be a programchanger, she’s that kind of player,” Selmani said. “She’s soccer-smart, she’s unselfish and she really has the nose for goal. We expect her to be a key factor [going forward].” For the game, Fordham was out-shot 38-8 as they fell to 4-41 on the season. They will return home to face Columbia next Sunday before opening up the A-10 season the following Friday. “In the end, it’s only one loss,” Selmani said. “It’s huge, and you can never forget the lessons learned, but in the end we finished the trip with one win and one loss, and that’s what goes in the column.”
Men’s Soccer Splits Pair of Road Games to Finish Five-Game Trip with 2-3 Record By DAN BRADLEY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The Fordham men’s soccer team finished out its five-game road trip with games against neighbors Columbia and Adelphi. The Rams defeated Columbia 1-0 in overtime but lost 2-1 to Adelphi. Fordham first made the short journey over to the Baker Athletics Complex to take on Columbia. Last year, Fordham defeated the Lions 2-1, and the Rams were hoping to beat their neighbors once again. A light, cold rain fell on proceedings to complicate matters, but the Rams were glad to have their starting senior goalkeeper Ryan Meara back after he missed the game against Drake due to an injury. The game proved to be a defensive struggle, with each team fighting for any scoring opportunities they could get. Fordham senior midfielder Tim Richardson forced Lions’ goalkeeper Alexander Aurrichio to make a save in the 14th minute, just seconds after Meara made his first stop. Columbia had their best scoring chance of the night when Henning Sauerbier’s shot was saved by Meara after Mike Mazzullo hit the post in the 23rd minute. For the rest of regulation, scoring chances were few and far between, with sophomore forward
Julian Nagel and sophomore midfielder/defender Casper Gimand having the only shots on goal until the Rams’ first overtime of the season. Overtime meant that the Rams would only have 20 minutes to score, or the game would end in a tie. Fordham came out like a rocket and had three corner-kicks before senior midfielder John McHugh scored to give the Rams the win with only eight seconds left in the first half of overtime. The win was huge for the Rams, especially as it was against a rival. “It is always great to win on the road, especially against Columbia,” Head Coach Jim McElderry said. “It is a rivalry game for us, and winning the game allowed our seniors to go 3-0-1 over their four years.” Fordham had two days off before they traveled to Adelphi to play the Panthers, who were winless on the season going into the game. Fordham was off to a poor start when Adelphi’s Tall Issa scored his first goal, sliding one past Meara. Fordham pressed for an equalizer, particularly Richardson, who induced two saves out of Panthers goalie Christopher Herrera. Fordham then found themselves down two when Brandon Stoneham scored for Adelphi in spectacular fashion on a bullet from 30 yards out. At that point, shots were even, and it was clear
that the Rams could make a run against their opponents in the second half. “We did not start well against Adelphi and therefore put ourselves in a big hole,” McElderry said. “The team played very well in the second half.” A flurry of activity in front of Meara was not the ideal start to the second half, but Fordham cut the deficit in half when freshman forward Jack-Tim Murphy scored
his first-ever college goal. The Rams were back in business, and they pushed on in hope of tying the game. “We scored an early goal to get back into it,” McElderry said, “If we tied the game, I know we would have gone on to win it.” Fordham appeared destined to even the score, when the Panthers committed a foul in the box that gave the Rams a penalty shot, but it was not meant to be, as Herrera
denied senior midfielder John Niyansaba’s kick. Fordham was not able to mount a sustained push after that, and fell to an even 3-3 record on the year, despite outshooting the Panthers 14-12 overall. The Rams finished 2-3 on the road trip, and return home to play Marist on Wednesday in one of their three remaining out-of-conference games before the Atlantic-10 season starts.
PHOTO BY SIMON SULIT/THE RAM
John McHugh scored the game-winning goal late in overtime against Columbia. The goal was his first of the season.
PAGE 20 • THE RAM • SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
SPORTS
New Look Men’s Tennis Sweeps First Three Matches By CHRISTIAN BEAULIEU CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The 2011-12 Fordham men’s tennis season is only a weekend old, but it already looks significantly better than last season’s 4-14 record. The Rams put the 27th-ranked recruiting class in the nation on display as they swept their three matches against Sienna, St. Peter’s and St. Francis this weekend. An influx of young talent sparks new levels of excitement for the 2011-12 Rams. The weekend featured sophomore transfers Kuba Kuwalski and Misha Koran, formerly of San Diego State and St. John’s, respectively. The season opener was also the debut of Fordham’s highly-touted freshman recruiting class, which includes Srikar Alla, Peder Gram, Jan Krouham, J.J. Tauil and Michael Puntillo. “We are a very perspective team, Kuwalski said. “It’s looking good for the future.” Head Coach Cory Hubbard’s first recruiting class earned him a lot of buzz over the offseason, but this weekend earned him some key wins. “Our goal was to lead the nation in victories after the first weekend and, thanks to the three wins, we are,” Hubbard said. Siena, St. Peter’s and St. Francis contributed four of Fordham’s
14 losses last year. The Rams did more than win over the course of this weekend; they dominated, taking each of the three matches by a score of 7-0. The Rams opened up the season this past Saturday against the Siena Saints. Fordham started off doubles play with an 8-0 win, as Kowalski and Alla made quick work of their opponents. Koran and Gram won second doubles by a score of 8-3. The combo of Tauil and Krouham won 8-4 to finish the doubles sweep. Singles matches yielded similar results, as Fordham went on to claim all six singles matches, including three dominating 6-1, 6-0 wins by Kowalski, Koran and Tauil. Alla, Tauil, Gram and Krouham earned their first career singles wins. On Sunday, the Rams hosted St. Peter’s College, winning 7-0 against the Peacocks. Doubles play opened again with the tandem of Kuwalski and Alla taking care of their counterparts with a strong 8-2 win. Koran and Gram duplicated the result with a strong 8-2 victory. The dynamic duo of Tuail and Krouham stayed hot, winning 8-4. In singles, Kuwalski rode his power serve to seven aces and a 6-0, 6-0 shutout. Koran’s fiery passion yielded not only chest bumps and warrior-like yells but also a convincing 6-3, 6-3 victory. Alla
PHOTO BY JULIAN WONG/THE RAM
Fordham’s No. 1 doubles team of Kuba Kowalski and Srikar Alla have lost only six games of the Rams first three matches.
used his quick racket and seemingly endless range to earn a 6-2, 6-1 win. The trio of Gram, Tuail and Krouham finished the clean sweep by each adding straight set victories. Fordham came out to an early lead by sweeping doubles matches against St. Francis. The only adversity the Rams had to
overcome came in doubles play when Puntillo returned a Terrier player’s serve. The return deviated from its intended course to strike his teammate Tuail hard in the back. Tuail was okay, and he recovered to win his singles match 6-2, 6-4. Alex DeRienzo, last year’s best singles player, won his first match
of the young season. Koran answered Kuwalski’s earlier shutout with one of his own by a count of 6-0, 6-0. The Rams’ next match will be Friday, Sept. 23 at the USTA NTC Collegiate Invitational Tournament at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens.
Water Polo Finishes 1-3 Women’s Tennis Opens at Stony Brook at Weekend Tournament Invitational, Winning Two Singles Finals By IAN PRUITT CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The Fordham water polo team was back in action last weekend at the CWPA North vs. South Tournament hosted by the United States Naval Academy. Following a tough weekend of play at the Princeton Invitational, the Rams avenged an early-season loss by beating Mercyhust 9-7, but they were unable to come up with wins against Navy’s B team or nationally-ranked East Coast powerhouses Bucknell and Princeton. Fordham began tournament play Saturday, Sept. 17 with an overtime loss to Navy’s B squad. Senior utility Robert Fleming had a spectacular game with a career-high six goals and one assist. Sophomore’s Nick Allen and Ben Clinkenbeard both scored twice and added one assist apiece. Other Fordham scorers included senior J.D. Shrewsbury, junior Jake Bakas and sophomore Danny Kearney. Freshman Eric Minowitz, who was last week’s CWPA Northern Division Rookie of the Week, also contributed a goal. Senior goalie Christian Flessner played the entire game and tied the 2011 Fordham saves record with nine. Despite the punishment dealt out by Fleming, the Rams lost 15-14. “I was just trying to be as aggressive as possible,” Fleming said. “I wanted to set the tone by scoring early. The goal just felt big.” The Rams defeated Mercyhurst 9-7 in Game 2. “Having lost to the Lakers earlier this season, there was no way
we were going to lose that game,” Shrewsbury said. Fleming had another big game with three goals scored. Senior Josh Itano scored two goals. Danny Barron added one more goal, as well as two steals and two assists. Senior Andrew McKernin had a big game with a goal and three steals, and sophomore Willie Leach also scored. Freshman goalkeeper Noah LeBeau had 11 saves and one steal. On Sunday, Fordham faced two nationally-ranked teams. During Sunday’s first game, the Rams found themselves once again falling to 14th ranked Princeton. Fordham, now 0-2 against the Tigers, fell behind early, and could do little to close the gap. Fleming led the Rams with two goals, while Minowitz had a goal and four steals. McKernin, Clinkenbeard and Allen also each scored a goal. LeBeau led the defensive effort with nine saves and four steals. Later on Sunday, the Rams lost their third game of the weekend to 16th ranked Bucknell. Allen led the way for the Rams, notching three goals, while Fleming added two goals and an assist. Danny Barron had one goal, two steals and two blocks, while Shrewsbury also scored once. LeBeau set the new 2011 save record with an impressive 13. The Rams, now 3-9 for the 2011 season, will host MIT and Harvard this Saturday, Sept. 24, at Fordham’s pool. The MIT game will begin promptly at 1 p.m. with the Harvard game to follow at 6 p.m.
By MICHELLE FANELLI CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The Fordham women’s tennis team had a solid start to its fall season, as the Lady Rams played in the Stony Brook Invitational this past weekend. On Friday, Sept. 16, five players advanced to the singles quarterfinals. In the “A” singles, junior Amy Simidian ended with a win 7-5, 6-2 against Navy sophomore Darien Sears, while in “B” singles, sophomore Angelika Dabu beat Fairleigh Dickinson senior Irina Dementyeva 7-6, 6-0. In “C” singles, freshman Bella Genkina defeated Stony Brook junior Chloe Pike. Genkina lost her first set 6-2; however, she won the second set 6-3 and finally became victorious, winning the tiebreaker 10-4. Finally, rounding off the advancing girls, in “D” singles freshman Julie Leong won by default, automatically advancing to the quarterfinals, while senior Sarah Tremaine won her match 7-6, 6-3. Simidian and freshman Sarah Ali also advanced to the quarterfinals in doubles play, as they defeated both Rhode Island and Navy. Sophomore Hanna Fritzinger, playing in the “A” singles, and senior Bethany Boyle, playing in the “C” singles, played high-quality matches in defeat, though they did not advance to the quarterfinals. On Saturday, the team continued their play as they advanced three into Sunday’s finals. In “A” doubles, Simidian and Ali won their semifinal match 8-6 against Fairleigh Dickinson, while in the “D” singles Leong impressed with another win, this time against URI, 6-3, 4-6, 11-9.
Also in “D” singles, Navy freshman Gabby Winter defeated Tremaine 6-2, 6-2, ending her winning streak and preventing what could have been a possible Fordham-Fordham final between Leong and Tremaine. Rounding off the invitational with Sunday’s finals, Simidian and Ali played for the “A” doubles title, but lost to Army 8-6, finishing second in the overall “A” doubles portion of the invitational. Leong won the “D” singles, taking the first set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (7-3) and then finishing with a win, 6-2, in the second set. “The team was really support-
ive and helped me get through my matches,” Leong said. “Individually, as my first college match it turned out well, better then I expected. My win at the invitational was definitely a confidence booster and made me even more ready for this season. The invitational was a good way to start off the year, as well as see what our team is going to be capable of in the upcoming months.” With their spirits high, the Lady Rams are now preparing for their next match, as they will compete at West Point, N.Y. in the Eastern Championship next weekend, Sept. 23-25.
PHOTO BY AARON MAYS/THE RAM
Angelika Dabu reached the semifinals in “B” singles at the Stony Brook Invitational.
Closers: Hall of Fame Worthy? By MATT ROSENFELD CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Mariano Rivera recorded his 602nd save this past Monday afternoon. With that save, Rivera passed Trevor Hoffman for the Major League record in saves. Rivera is now the MLB save king, and he probably will be for a long time. Rivera is without a doubt the greatest relief pitcher in the history of the sport. Before we know it, he will be getting enshrined in Cooperstown as one of the best players ever. That brings up an interesting query, however: how do we treat closers with regard to the Hall of Fame? Obviously, I am not suggesting that Rivera or Hoffman not be inducted into the Hall of Fame, since those two are the best ever in the closing department, but how do we determine what is a Hall of Fame closer? There are benchmarks across baseball: 500 home runs, 300 wins, 3000 hits. These stats give us security that the player who completes this feat is fit for Cooperstown. What about for a closer? A closer’s job is, when broken down and compared to everybody else’s in baseball, prett y simple. A save is commonly known as finishing the game for your victorious team with a lead of three runs or fewer, but there are other circumstances in which one could acquire a save. You can also pitch the last three innings for your team in a win, or enter the game with the tying run either on base, at bat or on deck. Technically, one could come in with a five-run lead and the bases loaded and give up a grand slam, but if he keeps that one-run lead and finishes the game, he will still earn a save. What I am getting at is that saves are not all that difficult to earn. On paper, it is essentially one inning in which you do not give up a run, although sometimes you could surrender up to
two runs and still get credit for the save. This is the main statistic by which we judge whether a closer should be inducted into the most prestigious club in baseball. The fact of the matter is, it is not a good stat. It is not sufficient to tell us who is good and who is bad. That is why I think the closer is an overrated position on which we, as a baseball society, put far too much emphasis. Why is getting three outs in the ninth inning that much more impressive than acquiring a hold (a save made by a middle reliever that does not end the game, i.e. in the seventh inning rather than the ninth)? There is a flip side, though. There is a strong argument that it takes a different type of person, of pitcher, to finish a game. To get those last three outs is far tougher than any other outs and therefore should be assessed differently. It seems silly, but ask any team that does not have a secure closer, and they will tell you the same. There is something different about those last three outs. The Yankees have been blessed to have a man like Mariano Rivera grace their ninth innings for the past decade and a half. He is one of the best pitchers ever to play the game. He is a sure Hall of Famer. If the ninth inning was that easy, and good closers were a dime a dozen, would every Yankee fan be worried sick for the time when Rivera is no more? There has to be some substance behind that worry. Closing is like insurance. When you have it, there is a sense of security. You know that you are covered. Without it, there is always a sense of worry. Sure, you could get by without it, and a lot of people do. That does not mean they do not wish they had that security blanket. A lot of teams can get by without a good closer, but that does not mean every team does not wish they had a Mariano Rivera.
SPORTS
SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 21
Football Columbia 14-21 Fordham COL FOR
1 0 0
2 7 7
3 0 7
4 7 7
F 14 21
First Quarter None Second Quarter COL Kurt Williams 12 yd pass from Sean Brackett(Eddy kick), 14:14 FOR Nick Womack 100 yd interception return(Murray kick), 3:27 Third Quarter FOR Sam Ajala 60 yd pass from Peter Maetzold(Murray kick), 5:45 Fourth Quarter FOR Carlton Koonce 16 yd pass from Peter Maetzold(Murray kick), 5:19 COL Mike Stephens 10 yd pass from Sean Brackett(Eddy kick), 1:40 COL First Downs 17 Total Yards 312 Rushing 73 Passing 239 Punt Returns 0-0 Kickoff Ret. 4-81 Comp-Att-Int 18-38-2 Punts 8-37.2 Time of Poss. 31:09
FOR 17 297 77 220 1-(-5) 2-35 23-31-0
5-37.6 28:51
Individual Statistics PASSING- Fordham, Maetzold 22-30-2 Columbia, Brackett 18-38-2 RUSHING- Fordham, Whiting 18-100-0 Columbia, Garrett 15-42-0 RECIEVING- Fordham, Ajala 4-76-1 Columbia, Stephens 8-105-1
Fordham
Buongiorno Konkel Daulton Hipp Ritchie Ewing
Capicotto Rodenberg Diamantidis Totals
K PCT BS BA 7 .192 0 3 4 .667 0 0 11 .222 0 1 10 .143 0 3 7 .100 0 1 8 .412 0 3 0 .000 0 0 2 .125 0 0 9 .750 0 2 0 .000 0 0 1 -.33 0 0 59 .252 0 13
DIG BE 3 0 6 0 14 0 7 0 1 0 1 0 4 0 1 0 3 0 12 0 6 0 58 0
UMES
Lea’aetoa Vaitai Ibe Vicic Iosia Bowens Haynes Williams Prado
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Fordham Player Ferrantello Curran Bekoe Gimand Niyonsaba McHugh Stalker Courtenay Seidenthal Richardson Substitutes Nagel Markowitz Murphy Totals
Fordham Player Murphy Dougherty Worden Carballeira Canicatti Solimine Widmann Nowakowski Romano Abrams Substitutes Rooney O’Conor Wah Ker Poiesz Madasci Maksuti Swift Totals
Gk Meara
Sh 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1
G 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 5
0 0 0 1
0 0 0 0
Min Ga Sav 100:00 0 3
Columbia Player Shaban Agyapong Daws Najem Sauerbier Mazzullo Vella O’Hearn Stamatis Grigsby Substitutes Abraham Young Gagne Akpandek Anderson Totals
Sh 0 0 0 1 2 2 0 1 2 0
G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 8
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
Gk Suther
Gk Aurrichio
Min Ga Sav 100:00 1 3
Fordham Columbia
1 0 0
2 0 0
OT 1 0
F 1 0
Nemeth Totals
Fordham UMES
Utah Valley Player Broderick Robison Janis Thomas Dunn Young Curtis Cook Bastian Stratford Substitutes Allen Clifford Lyons Salmon Burdett Totals Gk Sack
K PCT BS BA 19 .483 0 1 9 .120 0 2 5 .308 0 4 0 .000 0 0 17 .121 0 3 6 .190 0 0 0 .000 0 1 4 .200 1 1 0 .000 0 0 0 .000 0 0 60 .217 1 12 1 25 21
2 20 25
DIG BE 3 0 9 0 2 0 8 0 11 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 3 0 54 0
3 28 26
4 25 21
Sh SOG G A 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 5 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0 0 6 2 1 0 26 12
0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 4
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
Min Ga Sav 90:00 2 6
Sh SOG G A 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 13
Min 90:00
Fordham Utah Valley
Fordham 3-1 UMES
Moore
PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA
Women’s Soccer Fordham 4-2 Utah Valley
Volleyball
Arend
Rivera is one of the few closers who is assured of a spot in the Hall of Fame.
Men’s Soccer Fordham 1-0 Columbia
1 1 1
0 2 1 0 0 8
0 1 0 0 0 2
0 0 0 0 0 1
Ga Sav 4 8 2 3 1
F 4 2
Fordham 1-2 Adelphi
Fordham 1-13 Texas A&M
Fordham Player Ferrantello Jolly Bekoe Gimand Niyonsaba Richardson Markowitz McHugh Stalker Seidenthal Substitutes Curran Nagel Jerome Murphy Courtenay Bouchard Totals
Fordham
Gk Meara Adelphi Player Mallia Mora Rivera Stoneham Edwards Hibbert Larenius Tall Parrelli Weinzimer Substitutes Diana Sundquist Costa Totals Gk Herrera
Fordham Drake
Sh 0 0 0 1 3 5 0 0 0 1
G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
A 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 1 0 12
0 0 0 1 0 0 1
0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Min Ga Sav 90:00 2 5
Sh 2 1 0 1 2 3 0 4 0 0 0 0 1 14
G 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 2
0 0 0 1
Min Ga Sav 90:00 1 8 1 0 2
2 1 0
F 1 2
Player Murphy Worden Carballeira Canicatti Solimine Widmann Nowakowski Maaksuti Romano Abrams Substitutes Rooney Dougherty Wah Poiesz Madasci Ross Swift Totals Gk Suther White
Sh SOG G A 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 8
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Min Ga Sav 45:00 5 3 45:00 8 6
Texas A&M Player Bailey Lenz Streight Gnatzig Mathias West Skelton Monague Jones Balaguer Substitutes Hamilton Groom Kunz Perry Young Edwards Bartley Brinson Majewski Clavijo Totals Gk Day
Fordham Texas A&M
Sh SOG G A 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 7 4 3 1 2 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 4 3 2 5 4 3 1 0 0 3 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 38 22 13
0 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 2 1 16
Min Ga Sav 90:00 1 2 1 0 5
2 1 8
F 1 13
PAGE 22 THE RAM • SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
By NICK CARROLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
As any sports fan has heard recently, college football is about to undergo a facelift that will redefine sports and competitive balance. The Big 12 and Big East are in grave danger. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech seem to be trying to go to the Pac 12, and Texas A&M is headed to the SEC. Pittsburgh and Syracuse are going to the ACC, and Rutgers and UConn could soon follow. Most of the reaction I have heard has been negative, and honestly, my initial reaction was negative as well. With that said, if you eliminate the evil imagery that comes along with the idea of power conferences, this really might be a good thing. Yes, Big East basketball is incredibly competitive and has been some of the nation’s best for the past decade. But if Pitt, Syracuse and UConn go to the ACC, they will be taking the style of basketball they helped define to a conference that already has Duke, North Carolina, Maryland and a host of other schools that are routinely competitive. The Big East Tournament will not be the same, but the ACC Tournament will be incredible. If Texas joins the Pac-12, the conference’s competitiveness instantly improves, and its depth is significantly better. The real impact revolves around the gridiron. The ACC would suddenly have a somewhat legitimate football conference, a vast improvement from the current situation where Virginia Tech and Florida State are the only schools that matter, scandals aside. More importantly, if the Pac12 does add those four teams, it suddenly has a legitimate 16team conference with a number of teams that can win a National Championship any year. If the concept of four divisions comes into play, it could pave the way for a four-team playoff for the Pac-12 title. Isn’t this what we want as college football fans? With the best teams in the country in a handful of conferences, it will be a lot easier to compare teams and find a legitimate champion. This isn’t the playoff that fans want, but at least it would help add some clarity to what has been an incredibly frustrating situation. Also, everyone wins; every week still matters in the pursuit of a National Championship, colleges still make money on bowl games and schools may make even more of their super-competitive conference titles. What becomes sticky, though,
is what happens to everyone else. How will the dust settle if the Big East and Big 12 are dismantled? There are rumors that the two conferences could merge and, if this is a clean merge, that could just add another power conference to the mix. If this doesn’t happen, though, could it affect Fordham? Before Fordham hired Tom Pecora, Executive Director of Athletics Frank McLaughlin told me with a sense of urgency that Fordham basketball had to win soon or else significant conference realignment could leave Fordham, a struggling member of the Atlantic 10, on the outside looking in, when Texas was rumored to the Pac-12 the first time. In all likelihood, Fordham will not be affected directly. The only concern is that the separation between the major conferences and the mid-major conferences is growing. If Fordham does reach respectability in men’s basketball, it may never be able to take the next step. Fordham isn’t alone, though, and as these conferences realign there is one common theme: the state schools are the ones forming these super conferences. Even as the ACC raids the Big East, it grabs Rutgers, which is not competitive in football or basketball, rather than schools like Georgetown, Villanova or Notre Dame, all of whom have had impressive athletic achievements in recent years. Are college sports, at the national level, becoming a competition limited to state schools? These larger, more athleticallyfocused universities have always had an advantage, but now the gap seems to be widening even further as they are now literally in differently leagues. Only Boston College is slated to compete in a power conference. Will these schools still be able to recruit and maintain the same power even when they are unable to play elite competition because they are being relegated to second-rate conferences? It will be an uphill climb for any smaller school to maintain success if the realignment is as severe as expected, and only the elite will legitimately contend for national prestige. Even a situation like Boise State, where a smaller school has risen to national prominence, may not be able to repeat itself because it is so far off the beaten track, which is comprised of a handful of huge state schools that will garner all of the fans’ attention. As a sports fan, these changes could be incredibly exciting. Conference play will lead to showdowns between the best teams in the nation on a weekly basis during football season and a daily basis season during basketball season. We will be even closer to having a clear view as to who is the best team in the nation as they fight it out. However, the difference between the haves and the havenots is growing at a rapid rate, and those who are left out of this game of conference musical chairs could potentially suffer the repercussions and never reach their elite status again.
SPORTS
Senior Profile: Tim Richardson By DAN GARTLAND SPORTS EDITOR
Midfielder Tim Richardson has been a crucial part of the Fordham men’s soccer team from the day he stepped on campus. Now in his fourth season, Richardson has started every game for the Rams. As a freshman he was third on the team in scoring with three goals and three assists. He followed up with an impressive sophomore season in which he led the Rams in scoring with 14 points. He was named Atlantic-10 midfielder of the year and Fordham team MVP. As a junior, Richardson tied for the team lead in points with ten and was named First Team All-Mid-Atlantic Region by the NSCAA as well as Second Team All A-10. The Ram: So, you’re from New Zealand. How did you end up here? Tim Richardson: Well, I’ve always wanted to play soccer, and the biggest opportunities were here, and you can get a degree with it. That combination was the main attraction. Ram: You knew you wanted to go to college in the United States? TR: Yeah, I did. There’s sort of limited opportunities back home, and this was just the best opportunity to pursue soccer and a degree. Ram: Had you been to the United States before you came to Fordham? TR: I’d been here once before, just for soccer, playing for the New Zealand Under-20 team.
PHOTO BY SIMON SULIT/ THE RAM
Richardson, a midfielder, has led the Rams in scoring for the past two seasons.
Ram: Looking back, are you happy with your decision?
tribute to the team and just put our team in position to win games.
TR: Yeah, I’m very happy. I had a great time here. I enjoyed the school, the city, the soccer and I’d definitely make the same decision again.
Ram: What will you remember most about your time at Fordham?
Ram: What sort of goals does the team have for the season?
TR: Probably all the friends I’ve made here and all the fun I’ve had with meeting new people and being in a much bigger environment than I’m used to back home.
TR: Our goals are to make it to the conference playoffs and go through to the finals and win it. We want to be A-10 champions.
Ram: What are your plans for next year?
Ram: Do you have any personal goals for the season? TR: I’d like to play well and con-
TR: At the moment, I’ll probably be looking to go back home and use my degree and get a job but if something happens here, then I won’t cancel it out.
Cross Country Comes in First at C.W. Post By KELLY KULTYS STAFF WRITER
Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams continued their hot starts to their seasons by claiming first place titles at the C.W. Post Invitational held on Saturday, in Brookville, N.Y. Individually for Fordham, sophomore Anisa Arsenault continued her impressive season thus far by winning the women’s race. Anisa was Fordham’s second consecutive winner of the C.W. Post Invitational women’s meet, following in the footsteps of Kerri Gallagher, class of 2011, who won it last year. On the women’s side, Fordham claimed the top finish out of 14 teams with 21 points, followed by St. Thomas Aquinas (second- 89 points), Molloy College (third- 95 points), C.W. Post (fourth- 108 points) and Dowling College (fifth-142 points). Fordham also had seven runners finish in the top 10 and eight finish under the 20-minute mark, which contributed to its success. “As a team, I think this is the best we’ve ever done,” Arsenault said. Individually, Arsenault set the pace for the field of over 100 runners with a time of 18:41.76. Indira Aliva (19:01.48) of Queens College finished second. Fordham freshman Sarah Glockenheimer finished fourth with a time of 19:12.33 with teammate freshman Emily Osman finishing in fifth just
behind her with a time of 19:13.08. Sarah Callagy (19:20.48) of St. Thomas Aquinas placed sixth while Fordham took the rest of the top 10 finishers with freshman Danielle Drummond (19:23.39) in seventh, junior Ashley Davis (19:42.93) in eighth, freshman Mara Lieberman (19:49.56) in ninth and senior Nako Nakatsuka (19:49.94) in tenth. Other runners for Fordham included junior Christina Machado (13th – 19:57.17), freshman Jillian Brooks (18th – 20:25.19), freshman Brianna Tevan (23rd – 20:48.87), sophomore Kerry Sorenson (27th – 20:55.86), sophomore Christina Vivinetto (29th -20:58.75), senior Siobhan Cooney (35th – 21:14.21), senior Fallon France (37th – 21:27.17), sophomore Olivia Hustleby (43rd – 21:49.45) and sophomore Shannon McKenna (48th - 22:08.92). On the men’s side, Fordham also took first out of 12 teams, this time with 32 points, beating top competitors C.W. Post (second – 77 points), Molloy College (third - 89 points), Dowling College (fourth – 114 points) and Queens College (fifth – 143 points). Individually, Nicholas Fillipazzo of Molly College won the five-mile race in a field of 120+ runners with a time of 26:11.81, beating out Michael Galonski (26:26.13) of St. Thomas Aquinas College who placed second. Sophomore Kevin Harvey finished third with a
time of 26:33.33. He was the first Fordham finisher and one of four who placed in the top ten. Harvey was followed by teammates senior Matthew Collins (26:37.77) in fourth and sophomore Ryan Polo (26:38.22) in fifth. Hillary Mugun of the University of D.C. placed sixth before senior Richard Grandelli (seventh – 26:49.65) rounded out Fordham’s top finishers. Other runners for the Fordham team included freshman William Slattery (13th – 27:14.69), senior Andrew Roddin (14th – 27:16.34), sophomore Timothy Kazanjian (17th – 27:28.36), redshirt senior Thomas Kelly (21st - 27:38.76), sophomore James Doran (29th – 28:22.19), junior Devin Kelly (46th – 29:06.55), sophomore Patrick Burke (47th – 29:10.53), junior Michael Rossi (62nd – 29:47.58), senior Stephen Donnelly (68th – 30:09.54), junior John Cosgrove (87th – 31:18.79) and junior Carter Ward (105th – 32:54.46). “It was a very strong race for us,” junior Julian Saad said. “We’re looking forward to a really good year with some big jumps and surprises.” Next weekend is a busy weekend for Fordham’s cross country teams as the teams will be split in order to compete in both the Leeber Invitational at Fairfield University and the Purple Valley Classic at Williams College, both on Saturday, Sept. 24.
Volleyball Drops Three, Falls to 3-8 on the Year By DAN GARTLAND SPORTS EDITOR
The Fordham volleyball team knew it would be tough to replace the six seniors it lost from last year’s team. It just did not think it would be this tough. After graduating several key contributors from a team that went 17-18 and made the Atlantic-10 Tournament, the Lady Rams will have their work cut out for them if they hope to get back to the playoffs. The team is off to a 3-8 start following a disappointing weekend at the Brown Invitational where it dropped two of its three matches. The Lady Rams’ first match was against the host Brown Bears on Friday night. Fordham performed well statistically, posting a .237 hitting percentage to go along with five aces and seven team blocks. Usually stats like these would give a team a good chance to win, but not against Brown, it would turn out. The Bears had a gaudy .338 hitting percentage along with seven aces and eight team blocks. Though Fordham trailed in the major statistical categories, the team was able to keep the match close. Fordham dropped the first two sets 25-19 and 25-17. In the third set, facing match point at 24-21, the Lady Rams were able to keep their heads above water and even the score at 24. Junior Randi Ewing had a kill to put Fordham ahead 25-24. A Brown attack error gave the Lady Rams the set at 27-25 and forced a fourth set. It appeared that the third set win gave the Lady Rams momentum. They led by three, 13-10, and later stretched the lead to four at 16-12 behind strong play from Ewing and sophomore Krissy Buongiorno. Brown won the next four points, however, and tied the set at 16. The two teams traded points to make it 18-18 before Brown had another four-point streak and went ahead, for good, 22-18. Brown would win the set 25-21 for a 3-1 win. The following day, Fordham had two chances to put itself in the win column with a match in the morning against Bryant and in the afternoon against Maryland-
Eastern Shore. Against Bryant, the Lady Rams posted an abysmal .038 hitting percentage while their opponents hit at a .301 clip. Somehow, the match was closer than the stats indicate. Bryant did win the first set rather convincingly, 25-14, but Fordham made the next two sets far more interesting. Bryant did end up sweeping the Lady Rams 3-0, but the scores for the final two sets were significantly closer, 25-22 and 25-20. After losing its first two matches of the weekend, Fordham’s last chance for a win came against Maryland-Eastern Shore. Led by senior tri-captain Kim Capicotto, Fordham earned a hard-fought four-set victory. Capicotto tied a career-high with nine kills and posted a .750 hitting percentage. The first two sets were close. Fordham took the first one 2521 but fell 25-20, in the second. A pivotal third set was similarly tight; neither team was able to take control. With the score tied at 26, Buongiorno and fellow sophomore Sarah Konkel came up with back-to-back kills and gave Fordham the win, 28-26. Leading the match two sets to one, Fordham had a chance to put UMES away in the fourth set. Capicotto stepped up and had six of her nine kills in the final set, including one that came on match point and gave the Lady Rams the victory. Capicotto said she was pleased with how her team closed out the tournament. “This weekend was a little rocky,” she said. “We had a rough start and struggled to find our game again. Ending the weekend with a win was definitely a good feeling, though.” The focus is now on the future as the Lady Rams prepare for their first A-10 match, coming Saturday at home against Rhode Island. “Overall the weekend pointed out weaknesses that we have to strengthen before conference play,” Capicotto said. “That said, it’s very important we work out the kinks before conference. We’re looking to do some big things this year so we have to start it right from the beginning.”
SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 23
SPORTS
By ERIK PEDERSEN SPORTS EDITOR
Last Sunday afternoon, like so many others, I spent most of my time watching the NFL. As a diehard sports fan, it almost seems like a requirement to watch as much football as possible on fall weekends. Though I cannot pretend that I do not have some level of interest in the sport, I was still left wondering, not for the first time, why this one sport can get so much more attention than the others. For me, sports as a whole are great to watch for the overall competitiveness and dedication required from the athletes, and I have never been able to figure out what elevates football in this country (and soccer in the rest of the world) to such a higher status than other sports. My history as a high school tennis player likely contributes to this attitude. Though we always had a pretty good team, winning our region of competition twice during my time there, the most recognition we could ever hope to get was the occasional mention of our results on the morning announcements. In Maryland, where I’m from, football, basketball and lacrosse dominate people’s attention during their respective seasons, with any other sport relegated to the sidelines. The athletic situation at Fordham is relatively similar, with football and basketball easily leading the way in interest. This is certainly reasonable; these sports likely generate the most money for the University, and there have been some memorable moments from both sports in the last two years, including quarterback John Skelton, GSB ’10, and safety Isa Abdul-Quddus, GSB ’11, making the NFL and men’s basketball defeating St. John’s in 2010. Despite this, the University’s best teams during my time here have probably been softball (making the NCAA tournament for
back-to-back seasons) and women’s for something other than “Dancswimming and diving (winning ing with the Stars.” Hockey gets Fordham’s first ever Atlantic 10 significantly more attention in the Championship in women’s sports). Olympics than the sport could ever Through The Ram, which unlike dream of getting during the NHL other college newspapers covers evseason. ery varsity sport, these teams do at Other smaller sports in America, least get some recognition. But the including soccer, golf and tennis, fact remains that our section’s back will also occasionally receive the cover in the fall and winter seasons national spotlight during major will never be anything other than events, but almost never at the the stories covering our football expense of any breaking news in and basketball teams; they are the football, regardless of their level of only sports that can ever hope to importance. The only times that sell-out games at Fordham. other American sports can hope Going back to the country’s NFL to compete with the NFL is during obsession, I spent a large amount of the NBA or MLB playoffs, when inmy time two Sundays ago covering terest level is at least comparable to Fordham’s women’s soccer team at regular season NFL games. the same time that Week 1 of the I realize that it is naïve to expect NFL’s season began. Attendance the sports landscape in America was announced at 179 for the Fordto change anytime soon, but that ham game, slightly smaller than the does not mean that I will ever un65,000-plus at most NFL stadiums derstand how such a large number that weekend; however, as Fordof people can be so invested in ham completed a comeback from football, whether it be college foot3-1 to win in overtime, the exciteball on Saturdays or the NFL on ment from both the team and the Sundays throughout the fall, while few fans who showed up to support other sports struggle to be relevant them was certainly comparable to enough to become the second topic anything felt by the players at an on SportsCenter. Maybe one day I NFL game. I wish that these sports will see what most other American would be able to get at least some of sports fans already have. Until then, the attention which is centered so though, I will continue to shake my often solely on football, basketball head each week as every possible and baseball in this country. aspect of college football and the There are, of course, exceptions NFL is over-analyzed by the Amerto this rule, when other sports do ican media. manage to be temporarily lifted to a higher level. For two weeks next summer in London at the Summer Olympics, people across the world will care about swimming, gymnastics, track and field and several other sports that normally get little to no attention. Just as Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt suddenly became household names in Beijing three years ago, new athletes from lessrecognized sports will surely be elevated to star-status in London. The same scenario unfolds during the winter Olympics, when people suddenly have an interest in speed skating and snowboarding, and PHOTO BY COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA Apolo Anton Ohno is recognized NFL crowds often exceed 80,000 people
Upcoming Varsity Schedule CAPS=HOME lowercase=away Football
Thursday Sept. 22
Friday Sept. 23
Saturday Sept. 24
Sunday Sept. 25
Volleyball
Women’s Tennis Golf Cross country PHOTO BY AARON MAYS/THE RAM
Junior Randi Ewing and the Lady Rams are off to a sluggish start this year.
Wednesday Sept. 28
at Hofstra 7 p.m. COLUMBIA 1 p.m.
Women’s soccer
Water Polo
Tuesday Sept. 27
at Rhode Island 1 p.m.
Men’s soccer
Men’s Tennis
Monday Sept. 26
USTA NTC Collegeiate Inviational Tournament Flushing, N.Y. MIT 1 p.m. HARVARD 6 p.m. URI 4 p.m. Eastern Championships at West Point, N.Y. Cornell Invitational Ithaca, N.Y. Leeber Invitational Fairfield, C.T.
SETON HALL 7 p.m.
SEPTEMBER 21, 2011
PAGE 24
Rams Overcome Sloppy Start to Keep Liberty Cup at Homecoming By NICK CARROLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
It really was do or die. After a sloppy start that included two missed field goals and a handful of bad penalties, Columbia had the lead, 7-0, and the ball at Fordham’s two yard line with a chance to bury the Rams’ struggling offense in a seemingly insurmountable hole before the end of the first half. Columbia had all of the momentum, and it was becoming hard not to think back to last year’s Homecoming debacle against Assumption, when Fordham fell to the Division-II school, 30-24. Then, Columbia’s advantage vanished in an instant as Fordham senior linebacker Nick Womack jumped a slant, intercepted junior quarterback Sean Brackett’s pass and went 100 yards for a touchdown, paving the way for a 21-14 Rams victory. “I was reading my pass keys and I had seen that he was coming out,” Womack said. “I quickly got back into my coverage zone and it came to me and I just saw the end zone after that.” “We’re ready to go down 14-0, and it doesn’t look like we have anything going,” Head Coach Tom Masella said. “That was the biggest play in the game, by far. It was a great play … It switched the whole game around.” The play is tied for the longest in Fordham history. In 1902, John Mullen had a 100-yard rush against Cathedral, in 1996 Robert Davis returned a kick 100 yards and in 2006 Isiejah Allen also had a 100-yard kick return for the Rams. The interception was Womack’s second this season. “I’m just trying to be a dominating figure on my team and help us get victories,” Womack said. Fordham built on its newfound momentum in the second half. After coming up with a pair of stops against Columbia’s suddenly cold offense, freshman wide receiver Sam Ajala put the offense on the board by taking a quick screen 60 yards for a touchdown to give the Rams a 14-7 lead. “They were in man coverage and it was just one of those stepback screens,” Masella said. “We blocked really well in the second half on the perimeter and [Ajala] can go. He took it and went. It was well-executed and we caught them in the right defense.” Columbia put up its best fight on a drive midway through the fourth quarter. The Lions made it all the way inside the Fordham 20. On third-and-six, Brackett found senior wide receiver Mike Stephens at the three; however, sophomore cornerback Ian Williams jarred the ball loose, forcing Columbia to settle for a 35-yard field goal attempt, which sophomore Luke Eddy missed wide to the left. It did not take the Rams long to capitalize on the mistake; three plays later, senior running back Darryl Whiting broke off a
PHOTO BY BRIAN KRAKER/THE RAM
Senior linebacker Nick Womack intercepted a pass late in the first half and returned it for a touchdown, tying the score.
44-yard run to the Columbia 20. “We got the right defensive look,” Masella said. “They kind of stunted and we hit it right into it.” Whiting finished the day with 100 yards on the day, coming on 18 carries, healthy after a knee injury limited him against UConn in the season opener. Two plays after Whiting’s big run, freshman quarterback Peter Maetzold found junior running back Carlton Koonce, who was split out at wide receiver, open in the back of the end zone for a 16yard touchdown to extend Fordham’s lead to 21-7. “We converted him,” Masella said. “He’s slash, wide receiver, running back. We got [junior running back] Langston Lacroix back this week, and that’s a great story in itself. He had two knee surgeries, on his left and right knee. He was a great high school player out of Jersey and he finally got back and it allowed us to move Carlton out there.” Columbia responded and cut the Fordham lead when Brackett found Stephens on a fade for a 10yard score with 1:41 remaining. Columbia ultimately fell short on the ensuing kickoff, though, after it was unable to recover the onside kick. Despite some interesting clock management, most notably when Maetzold launched a pass deep to kill time, rather than punting, which gave the Lions a last-second Hail Mary opportunity, Fordham walked away with a 21-14 win. Fordham’s defense had a lot to do with the win. Including the crucial Womack interception, Fordham intercepted two passes. In addition to the picks, Fordham also recorded five sacks and held the Lions’ top running back, sophomore running back Marcorus Garrett, to just 42 yards on 15 carries. “On defense, we like to bring intensity,” Womack said. “Like I
said, it’s attitude. We’re building confidence and coming out and saying that we need to be this defense that makes the plays now. Instead of people thinking we can’t do it, now we’re the defense that can.” “We had to be physical,” Masella said. “I thought we were physical. We kind of bent but didn’t break. I thought overall it was just another outstanding outing. They’re going to be the strength of our team this year; we kind of thought that going in. We lost a great player in [sophomore defensive tackle] Justin Yancy so we had to have other kids step up and certainly a lot of those guys up front did that.” Fordham also received a strong performance from Maetzold, who, despite early struggles, finished with 212 yards and two touchdowns. Maetzold also completed 22 of his 30 pass attempts with no turnovers. “I thought Peter Maetzold
was tight in the first half and he didn’t trust what he was seeing out there,” Masella said. “He had some things out there and in the second half I think all our kids relaxed. “He didn’t have any turnovers, and in the second half he made some big-time plays for us,” Masella added. Fordham did have problems on special teams, though. Junior kicker Patrick Murray had a rough day with his field goal atttempts. In the first quarter, Murray was bailed out by a defensive penalty when he missed wide to the left; however, when he was called on to try again, he missed from 40 yards out, this time wide to the right. Later in the game, Murray came on for a 41-yard field goal, but Fordham had protection issues and Columbia blocked the kick. “We didn’t protect very well
inside,” Masella said. “I think our kids took a play off, it was one of the few they took off.” Masella called on freshman kicker Michael Marando to relieve Murray from field goal duties after the block, but the results did not change. When Marando came in to kick a 45-yard field goal, he missed wide to the left. “[Murray]’s been such a big part of team now for two years in the kicking game,” Masella said. “And I said, ‘Listen, I just have to make a change.’ And he said, ‘I understand.’ ” Masella did not commit to a placekicker for next week. “I just thought it was time to give him a little mental break,” Masella said. “He does everything for us. He kicks off, he was kicking field goals and punting. That’s not his fault. That’s our fault. We haven’t gotten a guy in here who’s better than him at at least one of those things.” Despite these issues, along with a slow start from the Fordham offense, the Rams picked up the win and evened up their record, 1-1, in addition to capturing the Liberty Cup, which was mysteriously in pieces after the game. “It was handed to me in four pieces,” Masella said. “It wasn’t me, I can tell you that, but it came out that way.” In addition to the Liberty Cup on the line, there was extra buzz for the game because of Homecoming. There were 6,820 people in attendance, the most since Fordham met Holy Cross in 2007 with the Patriot League title at stake. “It’s great,” Womack said. “It’s a lot of love and I appreciate it. It was a great Homecoming victory.” Next week, Fordham starts a stretch in which it will play six of seven games on the road, starting with Rhode Island, a team Fordham beat 27-25 last season. This season, Rhode Island is 0-2 after losing to Syracuse to open the season and Massachusetts on Saturday, Sept. 17.
PHOTO BY BRIAN KRAKER/THE RAM
Late in the third quarter, freshman receiver Sam Ajala caught a screen pass and ran 60 yards for a touchdown.