Volume 93 Issue 16

UNIV. RESTARTS FARM TO FORDHAM — PAGE 7

MEN’S TENNIS HAS TOP 30 RECRUITING CLASS — PAGE 15

SERVING THE FORDHAM UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY FOR OVER 90 YEARS

1918-2011

OCTOBER5, 2011

VOLUME 93, ISSUE 16

Student Protestors Arrested Freshman Class Elects USG Senate Alumni and Students Were Detained on the Brooklyn Bridge during ‘We are the 99%’ March

By CASIMIR BLACK COPY EDITOR

COURTESY OF HANNAH THIELMANN

Student demonstrators are holding signs against unequal distribution of wealth as they protest in the financial district.

By CORI RING STAFF WRITER

In an energetic scene that quickly devolved into tension and confusion, 700 people, including at least two Fordham students and two Fordham alumni, were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge this past Saturday afternoon. They were participat-

ing in a march organized by Occupy Wall Street, a group of frustrated citizens camping out in Zuccotti Park, dubbed “Liberty Square” by protesters, in the Wall Street section of Lower Manhattan for what is now its third week.

According to the Facebook event page, the “We are the 99%” march was supposed to end at the Brook-

lyn Bridge Park around 5:30 p.m.

Instead, the bridge was closed on the Manhattan side around 4:15 p.m., and police halted the procession about three quarters of the way across to Brooklyn.

NYPD has stated that only people who were illegally taking over the Brooklyn-bound car lane of the SEE PROTEST ON PAGE 2

After technical malfunctions in the voting portal, an extension in the voting period and an unexpected tie in the results, the newly elected freshmen senators of USG have finally been greeted by the upperclassmen senators with cheers, balloons, and their winning results.

“When they won, we actually went to their residence halls and surprised them with gifts and balloons in person,” Bryan Matis, GSB ’12 and vice president of USG, said.

Freshmen Abbey Santanello, Jennifer Lim, Sarah Skrobala and Joseph Campagna have been elected to the positions of president of FCRH, vice president of FCRH, secretary/treasurer of FCRH and president of GSB, respectively.

USG experienced changes and surprising turns during its freshmen elections last week. With the switch from paper ballots to voting online on OrgSync, a total of only 194 votes were cast, 111 be-

New English Translation Brings Changes to Mass

By EDDIE MIKUS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

As a Jesuit institution, Fordham is home to many Catholic students who have gone to church throughout their lives. In a few weeks, they will hear Mass as they have never heard it before.

On Nov. 27, a new translation of the Roman Missal will be implemented for English-speaking countries. This new translation, which is closer to the Latin text, will result in the alteration of several prayers during Mass. The specific date was chosen because it marks the beginning of the liturgical season of Advent.

In order to familiarize people with the changes, Fordham started introducing certain aspects of the new translation at the 11 a.m.

Mass on Oct. 2. The University will continue this practice at the 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. Masses leading up to Nov. 27, in accordance with a provision that allows new musical elements to be used in Masses before the November date.

“What it’s really about, in a word, is reverence,” Fr. Thomas Scirghi, S.J., professor of theology, said. “There’s a concern now for reverence for the Liturgy, and it’s believed that with a closer translation of the Latin text, we’ll be able to celebrate that reverence in the Liturgy.”

According to Scirghi, translators are looking to demonstrate both a closer translation to Latin and a

connection between the Mass and Scripture.

He cited the specific example of the Greeting at the beginning of Mass, where the congregation currently responds, “And also with you,” after the Priest says, “Peace be with you.” Beginning on Nov. 27, the response will be “And with your Spirit.” The new response is a more direct translation of the Latin text “Et cum Spirito tuo” and is found in the letters of Saint Paul.

Scirghi also said that certain changes were made to formalize the language of the Mass.

“The liturgy is an art form,” Scirghi said. “We’re not just expressing information here, this is more than data. This is about praise and worship of God here.

Whenever we gather for a festive occasion, we use a higher form of language. So we use language to fit the occasion, so it’s appropriate that we use poetry and metaphor and imagery.”

One example of formalized English in the new translation is the Nicene Creed. In that prayer, the line “One in being with the Father” will be changed to “Consubstantial with the Father,” and the line, “He was born of the Virgin Mary” will be “incarnate with the Virgin Mary.”

Scirghi also shared some insight on the new Missal with The Ram. “With this translation, there’s a little more emphasis on sinfulness, to recognize our own sinfulness,” SEE CHURCH ON PAGE 3

ing from FCRH and the remaining 83 from GSB. In addition, USG was faced with its first ever tie in an election.

“We didn’t even have an election by-law telling us what to do if that happens because we just never foresaw it happening,” Matis said. “The odds of it happening are just so minute.”

The tie, between freshmen Alyssa Marino and Nina Janel Ottaviano for the position of vice president of GSB, will be broken on Thursday, Oct. 6 at USG’s first senate meeting this year. Each member of the senate will cast a vote, and the winner will immediately be declared.

“The same protocol is used whenever we have a vacant seat in our senate after a resignation or removal, and that happens quite frequently,” Angelo Labate, FCRH ’12 and vice president of operations of USG, said.

Although the freshman class senate is still missing a member, senators Santanello, Li and Campagna have already formed close friendships with one another and SEE ELECTION ON PAGE 3

Fordham Encourages Undergrad Research

By EMILY ARATA ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Jeopardy host came to talk about his experiences with the Fordham community on Thursday.

Trebek gave two separate speeches, the latter of which filled the Keating First Floor Auditorium with students and staff from the entire Fordham community. His first talk, to communications and media studies majors, focused on reflections and advice geared toward those seeking a career in broadcasting.

“Find something you’re good at, and if you really want to do it, you’ll

In the midst of an economy fraught with job uncertainty for recent college graduates, Fordham University is attempting to keep its students in front of the curve by involving them in research initiatives.

Undergraduate research, either individually or as part of a professor’s team, was once reserved specifically for the sciences. However, many liberal arts colleges believe including undergraduates is the future of academia.

“It’s something that lots of students can do, and it’s becoming more and more of a normative expectation for achieving a high-quality education,” Michael Latham, Ph. D, dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill, said. “This is something that the best undergraduate liberal arts colleges are all doing.”

Funding is a key aspect of Ford-

SEE TREBEK ON PAGE 4

SEE RESEARCH ON PAGE 4

PHOTO BY STEPHEN MOCCIA/THE RAM

Alex Trebek, long-time Jeopardy host, gave a lecture at Fordham on Sept. 29.

Trebek Talks Broadcasting

By EMILY ARATA AND CHRISTOPHER KENNEDY ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER

In a gregarious manner unlike his Jeopardy hosting style, Alex Trebek answered questions and offered stories from his many years as a sports broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and a game show host for over 10 game shows in Canada and the United States.

After more than 50 years in the broadcasting industry, the longtime

INSIDE Sports PAGE 20

Opinions PAGE 9

Culture PAGE 11

A-10 Men’s Basketball Tournament Moves to Brooklyn.

Cell phone service on subway platforms.

Students travel to Spain for World Youth Day.

NEWS

PAGE 2 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 5, 2011

SECURITY

BRIEFS

Sept. 24, Hughes Avenue, 2:30 a.m.

A local resident complained about student occupants in an adjacent building having loud parties, disorderly conduct inside the building and making excessive noise. During the party, a beer bottle was thrown from the roof of the partying apartment and shattered the window of a vehicle parked next door. The NYPD was notified regarding the damage and the disorderly group. The police are currently investigating.

Sept. 26, Fordham Road, 11:45 a.m.

A Sodexo employee was walking to work when she was approached by a male. He approached from behind and grabbed her iPhone 4, valued at $300. The male fled toward Webster Avenue.

The NYPD was notified and responded to the incident. They canvassed the area with negative results. The police are continuing to investigate the crime.

Oct. 1, Hoffman Street, 2:15 a.m.

Two female students were walking back to campus from a party and were approached by a male, approximately 25 years of age. The male grabbed the purse of one of the female students.

A Fordham male student came by and intervened. The male student punched the perpetrator, and the robber fled without the pocketbook. No students were injured and no property was taken. The NYPD was notified.

Oct. 2, Conley Hall, 8 a.m.

Burning toast activated smoke detector on the fourth floor. The room was ventilated and the FDNY did not respond. There was no fire and no damage done to the apartment.

Oct. 2, Murphy Field, 5 p.m.

A student reported that he left his backpack containing a calculator, textbooks and personal information on Murphy Field on Sept. 22. He returned to the field later that evening, but the bag was gone. The student reviewed the lost and found and was met with negative results.

— Compiled by Brian Kraker, News Editor

COURTESY OF HANNAH THIELMANN

Six Fordham students and alumni who gathered to protest unequal distribution of wealth were detained by the police during this ongoing demonstration.

Protesting Students Arrested at Occupy Wall Street PROTEST, FROM PAGE 1

Brooklyn Bridge were arrested, and they have released video evidence showing officers giving protesters repeated warnings to stay off the roadway or risk arrest.

On the other hand, protesters including Erica Kadel, FCRH ’13, who is being charged with obstructing traffic, contend that the police led them to believe it was all right to walk in the street.

Even from his position “fairly up front,” Bobby Cardos, FCRH ’11, who was also arrested, described in an email how he believed the police were escorting them across the bridge. Not until Sunday did he discover video footage of police officers warning protesters not to proceed on the road.

“A line of officers and police vans blocked progress,” Cardos said. “[Eventually,] everyone in the front sat down, which was followed by everyone behind sitting down. My arresting officer told us later that this was basically when we got ourselves arrested. Apparently sitting down is when a crime occurs. I’m not sure if this is true, but I recall a person next to me, who didn’t sit, shouting, ‘Don’t sit down! I don’t want to get (expletive) arrested!’”

Kadel and Hannah Thielmann, FCRH ’12, were together shortly before being separated and arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge. Theilmann, who is being charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic, remained on the bridge until around 7:30 p.m. before being moved.

Kadel described arriving at the event around 3:15 p.m. and beginning the walk toward the Brooklyn Bridge around 3:30 p.m.

“I was arrested pretty early on while handing out bottles of water, and I was kept handcuffed for seven of the nine hours I was detained,” Kadel said in an email. “As people at the front began to get arrested, the barriers moved in closer so that everyone, including children, was packed so tightly together that no one could even sit.”

“I was walking and suddenly I saw a ton of cops roping off a bunch of people,” Dan-

COURTESY OF HANNAH THIELMANN

“I was arrested pretty early on while handing out bottles of water, and I was kept handcuffed for seven of the nine hours I was detained.”

ERIKA KADEL, FCRH ’13

ielle Moeser, FCRH ’12, said.

Some people were trying to climb up back to the pedestrian walkway.

One by one, people began getting pulled away, zip-tie handcuffed, and made to sit down.”

While Moeser was not detained, she saw the scene from the pedestrian walkway, about 15 feet above the car lanes where the protesters were being arrested and did not note police telling people not to go in the street.

A Fordham alumnus, who prefers to remain anonymous for professional and legal reasons, was arrested that day as well. Of the experience,

both the alumnus and Thielmann said that they were not planning on getting arrested.

Echoing this sentiment, Cardos says that he originally only intended to spend a few hours and made the decision to march on a moment’s whim.

To many, the goals and motivations of the protesters remain unclear. Criticisms of the demonstrations cite a lack of organization, leadership or clear demands.

While the phalanx of protesters in Zuccotti Park call themselves Occupy Wall Street, the march on Saturday was organized under the title, “We are the 99%,” which is a reference to the economic wealth disparity between the top one percent wealthiest Americans and the rest of the population, presumably as a call to action directed at the working class.

Those arrested this Saturday said they were there because of anger over “economic injustice and corporate political power,” the alum said.

Thielmann put her reasons for participating in very personal terms.

“Now, I graduate in May,” Thielmann said. “That means I have to get a job now and there just aren’t any jobs out there. Especially for an

art history, liberal arts major. And I have debts to pay off … I’m freaking out … nothing’s going to save me.

Either I need to find a job, or something needs to change.”

“I realize that as a Fordham graduate, I am very privileged,” Thielmann said. “Even so, it was really hard for me to find work. My family is middle class, and we’re really feeling the effects of the recession. My parents don’t know how they’re going to retire. A lot of my friends are in the same position of struggling to find work. This does affect me personally. The fact that this situation was a direct result of a bunch of people acting like the economy is a game for profit is very angering to me.”

Combined with Johanne Sterling’s, FCRH ’11, arrest last Saturday, Sept. 24, and the arrest of the father of James Wayne, FCRH ’12, on Oct. 1, these latest arrests make a total of six Fordham students, parents and alumni who have participated in and been arrested at the ongoing Occupy Wall Street demonstrations.

THIS

week at FORDHAM Wed., Oct. 5 Swag Sale ASILI, McGinley Lobby, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Wed., Oct. 5 Career and Internship Fair McGinley Ballroom, 1-4 p.m.

Thurs., Oct. 6 Fall Blood Drive O’Keefe Commons, 9 a.m.- 6 p.m.

Thurs., Oct. 6 Cinevents!: Larry Crowne Keating First, 8-11:30 p.m.

Thurs., Oct. 6 Bingo for Breast Cancer O’Keefe Commons, 9-11 p.m.

Mon., Oct. 10 Yoga KE B23, 5:30-7 p.m.

NEWS

OCTOBER 5, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 3

Catholic Church Implements Changes to Mass CHURCH, FROM PAGE 1

Scirghi said.

To support that point, he cited the examples of the Confeiteor, which will see the addition of the line “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault,” and the Gloria, where the line, “You take away the sins of the world,” will be said twice.

Overall, Scirghi indicated that he had high hopes for the new Mass.

“I am hopeful that, one, I think it will be a good opportunity for catechesis,” Scirghi said. “Once you bring about a change like this, people are going to say, ‘Why did we change it? What’s the meaning of this,’ which gives us an opportunity to ask questions. What I’m hoping is that more people are going to be talking like this, which will get people more interested in their prayer.”

Scirghi, who currently teaches Faith and Critical Reason, among other courses, said that the change in translations made some lessons in the classroom more relevant in the real world.

“The liturgy is primary theology,” he said. “The liturgy provides our first course in theology.

That may sound strange, but it’s in our worship that we learn first what we believe and why we believe it. So it’s in our prayers, in our hymns, in our gestures, in our movement, in the Scriptures, all this. That informs us, teaches us.

That’s why it’s very exciting to be teaching theology at this time.”

Scirghi believes that the recent changes are comparable to those

“I feel like it should be a more gradual transition than what’s happening. I feel like it should have been tried out in a few churches first.”

DAVID EMAMI, GSB ’15

made after the Second Vatican Council, which was held from 1962 to 1965. At that time, vernacular translations took the place of the Latin Mass, the priest was repositioned so that he stood facing the congregation instead of turning his back to the congregation and the laity were allowed to assume a greater role in Mass.

“The change in the Liturgy then, that was radical, that was shocking,” Scirghi said. “There was no preparation, really. We just showed up for Mass, people would have heard about it, and there it is.”

According to Scirghi, the current translators used different means than their predecessors to translate the Mass into English.

“There are two types of translations at work here. One is called dynamic equivalence and the other is formal equivalence. Right after Vatican II, what the translators used was dynamic equivalence, and that concentrates

RAM ARCHIVES

The Catholic Church implemented changes to Mass in response to new translations that are closer to the Latin text.

on the meaning of the passage.

Whereas, now, the translators are using formal equivalence, which is translating verbatim, almost word for word.”

The implementation of the New Missal has not gone without controversy.

In 2009, Rev. Michael G. Ryan published an article criticizing the proposed new Missal in America, a national Catholic magazine published by the Society of Jesus.

Ryan argued that the new translations are not ready for American

Catholics and instead called for a pilot program that would allow select parishes to conduct Masses in the new Missal before its general implementation.

Ryan has also started an online petition against the new Missal, for which he has collected 22,000 signatures. At least one Fordham student expressed a similar sentiment to Ryan.

“I think it’s a good idea to try to get more in touch with what the Mass originally was like in Latin,” David Emami, GSB ’15,

said. But at the same time, I think there should be more of a trial period and more of an explanation behind the changes. I mean, if you want to make it more so that people are getting a better spiritual experience during Mass, I feel like you shouldn’t just change it, people should know why this version was gone with rather than an old version. I feel like it should be a more gradual transition than what’s happening. I feel like it should have been tried out in a few churches first.”

USG Announces Results of USG Senate Elections ELECTION, FROM PAGE 1

have shared in each other’s thrill of being elected.

“I’m good friends with them and we talk often,” Lim said.

“We’ve all discussed [our goals] and agree with what we want to do.”

The three live in Loschert Hall together, and Lim and Campagna were on the same debate team last year, giving them the advantage of already having worked together as a team.

Santanello, Lim and Campagna each have a common interest of breaking down barriers on campus, such as those between upperclassmen and freshmen and those between dorms.

“The people in your dorm do become your family, but I want to meet more people,” Santanello said. “I’m sure a lot of people came to college to make new friends and make new relationships and connections. I think one of the best ways to do that is to unify the other dorms.”

The students’ overarching goal for the year is to have the freshman class feel as comfortable and welcome at Fordham as possible.

“My main goal is probably to unify our class in a sense that makes it a part of Fordham University and not just the lonesome freshmen class that’s kind of separated and still coming together,” Santanello said. “If we

“I think that if the freshmen class has really good ideas then they shouldn’t be afraid to just go out there and make it happen.”

BRYAN MATIS, GSB ’12

COURTESY OF USGRH.COM

The United Student Goverment announced the voting results of recent elections, welcoming five underclassment to the student Senate.

feel like part of the school early on we’ll be able to make a bigger impact later on.”

Santanello’s approach to the campaign of running for president of FCRH was “go big or go home.”

“I knew I would’ve wanted to give it my all to be at the top rather than running uncontested for a different position.”

Abbey said her initial reaction to winning was excitement.

One of Abbey’s personal ambitions for this year is to get a lot

of people involved in Catholic faith and service.

“Personally, those were two huge aspects of my life in high school,” she said.

Santanello founded an organization at her high school called the Rosary Project, in which she, and other members of the organization, made rosary beads and donated them to charities, the military and cancer patients.

“It’s always a life-long experience that you get out of [service],” Santanello said. “I still

hear from them and they still have [the beads]. One girl wrote me a thank you note with these beautiful quotes on it,” Abbey said.

The names of the newly elected senators have already become familiar names around campus as they are plastered on flyers throughout.

“I tried to make something that would pop,” Lim said, describing the objective of her flyer. “I knew that people weren’t going to stand there reading a flyer.”

Lim’s flyer featured the infamous Mean Girls quote “You go Glen Coco!” with a picture of the Santa Claus from the movie.

“I wanted it to be something easy and fun and something that people would definitely like,”

Lim said.

Campagna decided to design his flyers around his objectives for the year. His campaign theme, which rallied against the rather lackluster quality of toilet paper here at Fordham, was meant to symbolize a bigger problem in which we are able to effectively tackle large-scale problems on campus but cannot effectively address small-scale problems.

As the new freshman senators begin their first year at Fordham and on USG, the senior members are beginning their last. Matis offered advice to the freshmen senators after being part of USG for three years.

“I think that if the freshman class has really good ideas then they shouldn’t be afraid to just go out there and make it happen,” he said. “I would encourage them to keep trying, ask questions and really get to know their peers because that’s the best way that they’re going to represent their class.”

Santanello plans to do just that.

“I’m excited,” she said. “I want people to know that I don’t necessarily have a specific platform of things I want to do because I want to do what our class wants to do. I want to be able to listen to them and their ideas. I was elected because of them.

Of course I want to do what the freshman class wants us to do.”

NEWS

PAGE 4 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 5, 2011

Students Join Rally Outside U.N.

Trebek Discusses Broadcasting Career

By KATHRYN HILLMAN STAFF WRITER

Fordham students from both campuses were present at an environmental rally held the weekend of Sept. 24 in front of the United Nations.

The rally was the collaborative effort of a number of environmentally conscious organizations, in addition to a variety of student-run groups from campuses in the New York area.

The two organizations that spearheaded the effort were New York Public Interest Research Group, the largest student-run environmental sustainability group in New York, and 350.

350 gets its name from the amount of carbon dioxide that is acceptable in the atmosphere, expressed in parts per million.

Many student groups helped organize or attended the rally, including Students for Environmental Awareness and Justice (SEAJ) from Fordham University.

SEAJ is a newly formed group with a presence at both campuses, which work to promote environmental sustainability and increase activism.

The rally focused on unsustainable amounts of pollution in the atmosphere leading to climate change and fracking.

Caroline Law, an environmentalist working with the United for Action group against fracking, was able to provide more information.

Fracking is a process of extracting natural gas, she said. The toxic chemicals used during drilling and the shell through which they are drilling get dispersed, and they filter into the water table. This is the same water that is available to residents.

In the near future, Andrew M. Cuomo, governor of New York State, is going to legalize fracking in upper New York. Environmentalists such as Law worry that the new measure could have repercussions that last for decades. Fracking is a heated controversy right now.

There were a number of speakers at the rally, including government workers, representatives of the environmental awareness groups sponsoring the event and student leaders.

Several speakers emphasized this generation’s ability and responsibility to stop the damage being done to the environment.

These speakers announced a number of campaigns that are starting soon or are already underway, many of which are aimed at stopping the proposed fracking in upstate New York.

This rally was one of many happening all over the world in 177 different countries, almost all of which are sponsored by 350.

About 15 Fordham students were present, many of whom came with SEAJ. Despite challenges in rewriting policies, activists said they are optimistic and encouraged everyone at the rally to stand in solidarity to work for a better future.

PHOTO BY STEPHEN MOCCIA/THE RAM

Alex Trebek speaks before a packed Keating First auditorium, discussing his career in broadcasting and telling anecdotes about his many years in television.

TREBEK, FROM PAGE 1

never have to work a day in your life,” he said.

Trebek, whose degree from the University of Ottawa was in philosophy, explained further.

“When I graduated from university 50 years ago, we didn’t have communications class,” he said, continuing on to say how strange it felt to speak to students about a subject that he did not even study during his formal education.

However, Trebek has learned many life lessons during his time as a professional that apply to today’s young adults who are just entering the workforce.

“One of the great things about life is screwing up,” Trebek said. It really is, because that’s how you learn.

That’s how you learn who you are.

That’s how you learn communication. When the world is against you, how are you going to communicate?

You deal with it. That’s what growing up is all about, isn’t it? You deal with

the bad as well as the good.”

He was not afraid to poke fun at his television persona, either.

“On television, whether you are or not, you have to come across as someone who is intelligent,” he said.

In his speech in Keating First, he discussed his youth in Sudbury, Ontario, and his high school education at the University of Ottawa High School, where many of the faculty were Catholic priests.

“Those priests were tough,” he said.

“I thought Trebek was engaging, humorous and insightful,” Caitlin Meyer, FCRH ’12 and executive president of United Student Government, said. “I was most excited, though, by his affirmation of Fordham. There’s nothing better than hearing, from the man who knows it all, that Fordham is as tremendous as we believe it to be.”

In both speeches, Trebek spoke about the show that has made him into a pop culture figure. Will Ferrell

popularized Trebek’s role as game show host on multiple episodes of “Saturday Night Live” between 1996 and 1992. The legendary host claimed to love the skit, and bears no ill will towards Darrell Hammond, who played Ferrell’s nemesis, Sean Connery and popularized the tagline, “Suck it, Trebek,” which is still frequently referenced in conversation.

“On the last show in which Will Ferrell was a regular member of the ‘Saturday Night Live’ cast, I made an appearance, “ Trebek said. “Some of the most creative writing that ‘Saturday Night Live’ has ever done, I think, was for the ‘Jeopardy’ skits.”

Over the years “Jeopardy” has been adapted to fit the changing nature of media and popular culture.

“We are always trying to expand our influence,” Trebek said. “We don’t take cheap shots at celebrities or people in the news. We try to take the high road, always. You’re not going to be successful if you tick everybody off.”

As for the controversial appearance of the IBM intelligent computer system named Watson on the show, Trebek discussed his misgivings.

Although there was heavy pressure from financial backers for the machine to win the competition, each of the three contestants each won a practice round. In the end, however, the machine prevailed.

“They didn’t tell us . . . that there were a couple of settings for Watson,” Trebek said, speaking of a mode enabling the robot to think faster then humans. “That’s jamming the system and I don’t agree with that.”

Trebek has spent his professional career attempting to be a gentleman in an industry obsessed with the superficial. He was quick to share his life advice with the gathered students.

“Don’t take yourselves too seriously. Take your job seriously,” he said.

“I think it’s important to be a nice person. I have a simple mantra, if you will, and that is, ‘It’s just as easy to be nice as it is to be an a-hole.”

Fordham Encourages Undergraduate Research RESEARCH, FROM PAGE 1

ham’s initiatives to expand undergraduate research programs. Last year, the University awarded 119 grants to students, spending a total of $300,000 specifically on student research. Students hoping to pursue a project, whether individually or with the aid of a professor, create a proposal and present it to a board composed of faculty members.

“We look to see whether or not a student is actually capable of doing the research,” Michelle Bata, assistant dean at Fordham College at Rose Hill, said. “We’re not sitting there talking about whether we think it’s a good idea or not. It’s whether or not it’s logical, and if they put care and effort into the proposal, and they can actually carry it out [. . .] this past year we were actually able to fund everyone whose project was deemed worthy of funding.”

The projects are designed to give students a taste of academia.

Through a working relationship with a mentor professor, student researchers get the chance to work alongside professionals and even publish their results. The university grants help cover the cost of supplies, travel for conferences and, during the summer, housing.

“A student could be doing any

number of things,” Latham explained. “They could be working on a senior thesis [or] writing a research paper for a seminar. The idea is that these funds will help them ultimately do a more innovative project.”

Although the field of research was once seemingly restricted to the sciences, undergraduate research assistants volunteering for projects in the humanities are increasingly the norm rather than the exception.

The Fordham humanities faculty has encouraged the development of research initiatives with great gusto.

“The faculty have been absolutely great and are responding to this initiative so well,” Bata said.

One such mentor is communication and media studies Professor Beth Knobel, who is currently working alongside a four-person undergraduate research team on an eight-month project investigating the necessity of watchdog political journalism in American society.

“Academics don’t just teach, we also do research,” Knobel said. “It’s a very key part of our jobs and it’s something we all love. The sooner that they get students thinking about research, the better. Doing research helps you write essays and makes you a more critical thinker. You benefit in your other classes from deep

research in one area.”

For Latham, undergraduate research is a way to help students see their studies differently. When students memorize facts and figures from textbooks, they see the subject they are studying as a relic of the past.

“What you’re doing is assuming that all of the knowledge of this field is finite,” he said. “But if you actually get students involved in research, what they realize is that it’s not finite.

They aren’t just disciplines. They’re actually areas of active discovery.”

Research projects not only come from inside Fordham, but also from facilities in the surrounding area.

Partnerships with the Botanical Gardens, the Einstein College of Medicine, the American Museum of Natural History and the Bronx Zoo enable students to perform their research in a fairly independent setting, while getting the experience of a real-life application for their studies as well as the chance to make professional connections with their mentors.

“One of the things that we really want to do is continue to provide students with these research experiences in professional institutions so that they can not only do research for their own projects, but they also will

get a better understanding of how research is related to all of these other professional fields,” Latham said.

Fordham not only seeks to enable students to get involved in academic research, but also to form ties with the larger academic and corporate community and share that research.

The publication of the first Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal last year was a first step towards that goal.

Compiled in a matter of months by an executive student board formed from students of all disciplines, the first Journal featured the work of 14 students. Although the first issue was widely read among faculty and alumni, the Journal hopes to expand its readership by beginning a Web site, in addition to selling advertisement space to local companies.

“It is a way to introduce the University and the undergraduate population to interested industry outlets in the tri-state area,” Bata said. “They are kind of hoping to parlay that into a relationship such that our students may be able to benefit through internships or perhaps even jobs.”

As the program and the Journal continue to evolve and grow, more Fordham students will recognize their presence in the academic sphere of campus and take the opportunity to get involved.

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PAGE 7

Farm to Fordham Program Returns, Contributes to Sustainability

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

Fordham Law students began a Farm to Fordham community-supported agriculture share, which was briefly shut down.

By VERONICA TOROK COPY EDITOR

Last month, Fordham shut down a program called Farm to Fordham at the law school, giving rise to protest by law students, faculty and community members alike. Few Rose Hill undergraduates had even heard of this community-supported agriculture share (CSA), but it served as an excellent example for students seeking to contribute to the University and surrounding community.

As a result, The New York Times and other online communities harshly named Fordham in several headlines including the Above the Law Web site headline: “Fordham University: Teaching Kids How to Ignore the Homeless, One Beet or Carrot at a Time.” The reasons behind the shutdown of a program making environmental progress and charitable donations were unclear, and speculation surfaced around everyone’s favorite culprits: the University administration and Sodexo.

Fordham responded admirably, however, with a statement issued three days later, committing the University to resuming Farm to Fordham.

“The Times article was a Hail Mary pass,” Farm to Fordham founder Mi-

chael Zimmerman, Fordham Law ’12, said. “I did believe and actually still do believe that the frameworks that are in place within the University are going to be able to deal with 99 percent of student concerns,” Zimmerman said.

His program fell into the other one percent.

Regardless, the operation of Farm to Fordham is an interesting case study for Fordham undergraduates on what can happen when a student takes initiative. Zimmerman brought an idea to life by appropriating the University resources available to him, and later successfully protected a beneficial program against the inevitable bureaucratic problems that occur when dealing with a large institution. He even refrained from blaming Sodexo for his problems, leaving the food provider free to focus on its own contributions to sustainability.

While the CSA component of Farm to Fordham is self-funded, Zimmerman arranged the program through the law school’s fellowship program. He also went through University procedure to have Farm to Fordham authorized as an official student group in order to receive funding to expand its initiatives beyond the CSA.

On a rainy day in the fall of 2009, Zimmerman and another Farm to Fordham board member walked around Union Square Greenmarket until they found a farm willing to source their produce. As the result of their determination, Norwich Meadows Farm became the program’s provider and periodically delivered vegetables from its upstate location to the law school, where share-holding CSA members awaited its arrival. Any remaining vegetables were donated to the neighboring soup kitchen at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle.

“In addition to the food donations, which over the last four seasons have accumulated to over 2,500 pounds of fresh vegetables, [Farm to Fordham] has given rise to other programs over at the church, and it has supported a family-owned farm upstate,” Zimmerman said.

In view of these benefits, it seemed particularly counterintuitive that Fordham shuttered the program.

Before Fordham recanted, online conjectures made claims about problems with University food provider contracts.

“A CSA program does not threaten Sodexo at all,” Brian Poteat, general manager of Fordham Hospitality Services, said. “The decision to

shut down the Farm to Fordham program was solely that of the University and did not involve Sodexo.”

Zimmerman speculates that Farm to Fordham came to Security’s attention when the thriving CSA submitted a proposal to merge with Merchants’ Gate, a 57th Street CSA that also received Norwich Meadows produce.

“I would say that it was a program that may have sounded initially like a potential security risk for whatever reason, and the University made a decision to nip it in the bud,” Zimmerman said. “I think though ultimately that the facts bore out that this wasn’t actually in the bud; this had been going on for a couple of years, and we can address those issues.”

According to Zimmerman, the only changes that Fordham suggests for the newly reinstated Farm to Fordham is to give the CSA “bigger and better structure.” To him, the brief shutdown is water under the bridge. Nor does he foresee any potential conflict with Sodexo, an expectation Poteat echoes. Fordham and Sodexo are both firmly committed to furthering sustainability; now it is up to the students to match their efforts.

“If you live in America you’re almost guaranteed to consume what the average human being consumes, and that’s something we’ve all got to work on.” Zimmerman said. In his eyes, “the reason that programs like the CSA are important from a global standpoint is because they force people to invest, not just with their wallets, but also with their stomachs.”

Fordham students do not have to start their own CSAs to further sustainability, but anyone interested should look to Zimmerman’s project for inspiration. Simply eliminating

the use of trays in the cafeteria, for example, students waste on average two percent less food than in previous years, Poteat said, citing the unpopular decision to go tray-free in 2009. By rescinding the Farm to Fordham shutdown, Fordham has re-committed itself to environmental awareness, and Sodexo is on the same page.

“In fact, Sodexo just signed an agreement with the NYS Department of Agriculture to increase the amount of produce and other food that we buy directly from New York State farmers,” Poteat said. He also cited plans to donate more leftovers to P.O.T.S., a charitable organization and soup kitchen near the Rose Hill campus.

Furthermore, Poteat said, Oct. 24 is the first National Food Day, and Sodexo plans to do its part by setting up a Farmers’ Market outside of the McGinley Center, where students can purchase produce from local farms. A percentage of proceeds will go to a community garden in the Bronx.

Students should take advantage of the many channels in which they can contribute to environmental sustainability, as well as the numerous resources at their disposal. It is individual action that precipitates larger scale movements such as Sodexo’s steps toward sustainability; students should not wait for the Times to write an article about their school or the cafeteria to take away their trays before they become involved. To learn more, visit the sustainability page on Fordham’s Web site or contact Michael Zimmerman at farmtolawschool@gmail.com to participate in Farm to Fordham.

Veronica Torok, FCRH ’12, is a Spanish and communication and media studies double major from Johnson City, Tenn.

MTA’s Weekender Map Begins to Improve Off-Peak Travel

By CHRISTOPHER KENNEDY STAFF WRITER

Remember when taking the subway was an adventure? Something that was planned meticulously with your group of friends huddled over a subway map, trying to plot the best route to your newfound destination downtown? Perhaps it was not quite that involved, but I can remember when, even to this hardened train enthusiast, the New York City subway was somewhat incomprehensible.

“The D train always stops at Fordham, and the B sometimes does, but only during rush hours in the peak direction,” I remember a senior telling me during Urban Plunge over three years ago. “The D runs express during those rush hours and you catch it on the center track, which you’ll think is the southbound track when you go into the station.”

How was I possibly supposed to remember that, I thought.

Think of all the people, then, who come to New York for the weekend and have such little time to acquaint themselves with the strange rules of the subway. Keep in mind that, other than Philadelphia, New York’s is the only American subway line

to feature both local and express service. It is also one of the few that uses both numbers and letters as line designations (most American subway systems use colors). The letters and numbers are remnants from when three different companies controlled the subway system; for example, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, or the IRT, ran what is now known as the 4 train, and the Independent City-Owned Subway System, or IND, ran what is now the D train. Thus, the subway layout reflects this history: the Concourse line, which carries the D train, was built to compete with the IRT, not to supplement it.

That is why it is so nice to see the MTA finally coming to the realization that people who use the subway on the weekends probably will not be familiar with the way the system works, or with the propensity for the MTA to change service on weekends, frequently without clear notice.

The MTA’s new weekend map does not go far enough, however. It simply annotates the normal subway map, showing individual lines separately, without redrawing it, something that would be, apparently, “logistically difficult to execute,”

COURTESY OF MTA.INFO

The Weekender subway map reflects unusual service changes occuring because of track maintenance and other issues.

according to The New York Times.

For example, those who venture to Brooklyn frequently (I do not) know that the D train has a pesky habit of running along the N line through Borough Park and Bensonhurst on its way to Coney Island.

This weekend, northbound D trains are following the N route. The map simply flags the affected D stations, rather than redrawing the familiar orange-colored D line along the N’s stations.

The map does show a new commitment by the MTA to customer service and signals a growing recognition that they are behind the times and need to catch up. Recently, for

example, intercoms with buttons for emergencies and information were installed at the 23rd St. and Brooklyn Bridge Lexington Avenue Line stations. Machines such as this are ubiquitous in the London tube system. Also, countdown clocks are being rolled out all too slowly. A key feature of subway systems such as those in Washington, D.C. and London; there is no reason why they should not be fully installed here.

The other problem that the MTA seems to have with customer service, though, is communication. Up until very recently, the MTA’s publicity at stations was limited mostly to safety announcements. Now that

the “Improving, non-stop” campaign is more active, we are finally beginning to see the organization more actively promote how it is bettering itself. Most subway improvements are literally underground, out of sight, and people rightly base their assumptions about the MTA’s performance on what they see.

Thus, the “Weekender” map, along with other efforts to better communicate with customers, ought only be the beginning of a better relationship between the MTA and its users, whether they be seasoned veterans or first-time city visitors.

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

OPINIONS

PAGE 8 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 5, 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.

www.theramonline.com Advertising: (718) 817-4379 Executive: (718) 817-4380 Publishing: (718) 817-4381 Editorial: (718) 817-4382 Newsroom: (718) 817-4394 Fax: (718) 817-4319 theram@fordham.edu Fordham University - Station 37 Box B Bronx, NY 10458 Editor-in-Chief Nick Carroll Executive Editor Celeste Kmiotek Managing Editor Victoria Rau Design Editor Stephen Moccia Business Editor Lindsay Lersner News Editor Connie Kim Brian Kraker Assistant News Editor Emily Arata Opinions Editor Christine Barcellona Assistant Opinions Editor Sarah Ramirez Culture Editor Sandy McKenzie Assistant Culture Editor Scharon Harding Sports Editors Dan Gartland Erik Pedersen Copy Chief Mary Alcaro Copy Team Patrick Derocher Abigail Forget Taylor Engdahl Tom Haskin Olivia Monaco Veronica Torok Hussein Safa Anisa Arsenault Cas Black Hadley Brochy Colleen Chambers Connor Ryan Photo Editor Nora Mallozzi Web Editor Kelly Caggiano Faculty Advisor Beth Knobel

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

From the Desk of Kelly Caggiano, Web Editor As graduation draws closer every day, time seems to speed up. I’ll wake up for class Monday morning and before I know it, it’s Friday afternoon. I’m constantly thinking of all the things I want to do before I graduate and reflecting on all the memories I’ve made.

From move-in day in Hughes Hall, to my very first Ram Christmas banquet, to Sibling Weekend, to watching U2 perform on Eddie’s, freshman year had some epic adventures. Sibling Weekend was a special treat, as I woke up that Saturday morning to find a random, half-naked, drunk guy who had decided my roommate’s bed would be an excellent place to sleep.

I was rather impressed by the presence of mind that this drunk individual had displayed when he stumbled into our room. My roommate, who was away for the weekend, had left her laptop on her bed. Half-naked drunk

guy managed to wobble into my room, step over my brother who was sleeping on the floor, gently place my roommate’s laptop on the floor and crawl into bed.

I still chuckle when I happen to see the guy around campus.

My next year at Fordham provided even more lasting memories. Thanks to my numerous classes at Lincoln Center, I became one of the “lucky” students who was on a Ram Van when it was involved in a car accident. The poor driver was shocked when we were rear-ended in traffic, and the offending driver refused to exchange insurance information.

We spent the remainder of the trip in bumper-to-bumper traffic driving alongside the other car trying to get his information.

I also had a chance to play for two winning teams at Fordham, O’Hare’s Powder Puff Football team, which dominated the competition in 2009, and The Ram’s softball team, Ramily, which

played an outstanding season in the B League and won the championship. The highlight of the year, however, was definitely my job working in the Security Office as a desk assistant. Working at the security desk on a Friday night provided for many entertaining and shocking moments.

Fortunately, I was able to keep my job in security through junior year which offered comic relief during a hectic course load.

While each year at Fordham has produced many happy memories, the road to graduation has had its share of bumps. I’ve learned that it’s how you react to the good times along with the less-thanperfect times that will determine how you remember your college experience. As my senior year progresses, I tend to look back on the good times so that I graduate with only the happy memories.

Before I started freshman year, my friends and family gave me a lot of advice. Most often, I was

told to make the most of my time at Fordham since it would be over before I knew it. I never appreciated how true that was until a few weeks ago. I was introducing myself to someone and began to say I was a freshman at Fordham only to catch myself just in time.

Going to Fordham has allowed me to take advantage of many opportunities, have memorable moments and make my college experience an unforgettable one.

As my four years draw to a close I can look back fondly on my time here and know that it was well spent.

EDITORIAL: A Better Perspective on Our Coverage For a number of years — though this volume consciously discontinued the weekly practice — The Ram has published a feature under the heading of “Point-Counterpoint” in its Opinions section. In essence, we aimed to pick an issue affecting students in either an immediate or national (or even international) context and offer two opposing perspectives on the topic, whether it be the construction of the proposed Moynihan Station in Manhattan or Fordham’s midterm examination schedule.

We terminated the feature when we realized that many of the arguments seemed contrived or sounded as though they were lifted from a debate between a pair of talking heads on cable news. Worse still, “Point-Counterpoint” artificially forced writers to assume stances that recognized no gray area, regardless of their inclinations to elucidate a more nuanced position.

However sensational a newspaper may find it to be, pitting “two sides” against one another is a dangerously uncompromising and rudimentary approach to argumentation and critical thinking, and one that serves little function in furthering our readers’ interest and understanding of the given topic.

In light of this, The Ram would like to express regret for the reintroduction of the “Point-

Counterpoint” feature in the issue published two weeks ago, Sept. 21, 2011. Two writers offered their takes on “affirmative action,” a subject, certainly, of much controversy in this country. One writer (the “con” argument), looked at affirmative action mostly through the lens of the college admissions process, while the other took a more general approach.

This sort of disjointedness, in the way that the two writers were not necessarily arguing against one another or even with the same definition of the term “affirmative action,” is by no means the fault of the writers themselves, nor is it unique to this specific topic.

Indeed, the designation of an issue such as “Moynihan Station” or “midterms” immediately necessitates qualification.

Is the argument over the cost of Moynihan Station? Is it over its very existence, or do the two writers agree on its necessity but not its current architectural design or planned functions? Is the argument over the utility of rail transit in this country on the whole?

Clearly, possibilities abound.

The Ram — like any self-reflective journalistic source — should not impose on its writers the definite limitation that “Point-Counterpoint,” as it has existed in the past, demands.

What we need is a clearer definition of what exactly is to be discussed, and in what context.

Because our Opinions section is open to the entire student body, we will seek to create a forum in which writers and others contributing to the discussion are not confined to a strict binary in offering their opinions on a given subject matter. Recognizing the plurality and complexity of each person’s understanding and viewpoint on an issue is key in publishing a diversity of opinions.

Going forward, we will replace the “Point-Counterpoint” with a feature called “The Discussion,” which will be used for issues that would be better confronted from multiple viewpoints. The writers will coordinate their arguments so that they share a mutual understanding of the subject matter itself to assure that they are actually arguing about the same working definition of an issue.

When covering questions such as affirmative action or anything requiring something more substantial than “yea” or “nay,” The Ram will seek out a multilateral perspective on the issue, allowing each individual to define the subject in his or her own terms before delving into a particular line of reasoning.

Bringing personal biases, something that no writer can disown,

to the forefront — or at the very least not obscuring them — is integral to the demonstration of the imprecision inherent to a single person’s comprehension of an issue. As it stands, “PointCounterpoint” does not allow for such ambiguity.

We are joining the discussion by adding an editorial — we hope to create a substantive discourse, so we hope you join us by sending letters to the editor to participate in the conversations that begin in print.

In this way, we will ensure the transmission of a broader and multi-dimensional perspective to our readership, while making no claims that the feature utterly encapsulates all understandings of the issue.

On a final note, The Ram will also discontinue its weekly “Staff Poll,” unless the subject matter is determined to be one that all members of staff have equal access to forming an informed opinion on the matter. Reducing complex issues to a yes-orno question trivializes them and denies them the rigor of a more nuanced investigation.

Editorial Policy The Ram’s editorials reflect the collective opinion of the editorial staff, selected on a weekly basis, and are meant to reflect the entire staff ’s view on a particular issue.

Letter to the Editor Dear Editor: We are writing in response to the recent article in The Ram about the death penalty (“Impractical and Immoral: U.S. Should Abolish the Death Penalty,” v. 93, issue 15), which we believe unfairly characterized the Fordham University Respect for Life club as ambivalent on the question of the death penalty. Not only have we hosted events addressing the death penalty in the past, but we also have plans to do so in the immediate future. Our

lack of action in this particular instance was merely a consequence of the extensive planning required of us for the Rally for Resources for pregnant and parenting students and the New York Regional Students for Life Conference we hosted last weekend.

In general, we commend the student body for speaking up about the Troy Davis case, and join in the grief over his death; however, this is accompanied by some skepticism over this rush of sentiment that was willing to advocate for

Troy Davis, but so often stays silent on the death penalty and other life issues for the rest of the year. Every execution should receive the kind of outcry that Troy Davis’s did.

For this reason, Respect for Life works hard year-round to defend life — both the innocent life of the unborn child, and those on death row, be they innocent or guilty.

So instead of casting stones at each other, we hope that as a campus community, we can join together to fight for the right to life and the inherent dignity of the hu-

man person on a consistent basis.

We would invite all to join us for our upcoming event on the death penalty in November, and at our other events, because in such forums we can continue the “Jesuitstyle dialogue” the author of the article calls for, and begin to bring about a culture of life in our community and nation.

Thank you, The Executive Board Fordham University Respect for Life

OPINIONS

H Homeland Insecurities Ins

Cell Phone Service Invades Some Stations NYC Subway Was One of the Last Unplugged Sanctuaries, but Changes Are on Their Way

By VICTORIA RAU

Isabel Brown When Industrialists Did Good The first time you pore over a U.S. history book, it’s difficult to avoid reading a chapter about the Gilded Age. Questionable business strategies aside, I respect the shrewdness and smarts of a Rockefeller or Vanderbilt. These titans of industry, unfortunately, became misguided role models to money-hungry businessmen ever since. What gets buried in their billions is a shared dedication to public service that has reached many more lives than their personal level of success ever will.

Mind you, theirs was not an era during which donating a new wing to the Metropolitan Museum was the height of fashion. John D. Rockefeller built the Cloisters. He also bought a tract of land on the Palisades across the Hudson, not for himself, but so the average visitor could enjoy the view. If you’ve been to a show at Radio City Music Hall, skated at Rockefeller Center or seen a performance at Carnegie Hall, it was brought to you by a wealthy person who saw beyond his own needs and greeds. When conservatives’ beloved free trade was the philosophy du jour, Rockefeller threw his energies into public health and housing reform. The motto of his foundation was, and is, “to promote the well-being of mankind throughout the world.”

The tenements where lower classes dwelled — and yes, if there was ever a place for socioeconomic class disparity, it’s New York — could not have been improved if wealthier people looked out only for themselves.

Cornelius Vanderbilt, the ruthless railroad baron? He supported the Metropolitan Opera and donated his art collection to museums for the world to see. Perhaps the Republican who condemns government job programs should tell corporations to emulate Vanderbilt. While (profitably) gathering three competing railroads into one company, he didn’t resort to layoffs and bailouts to save himself during a recession. Rather, he employed thousands building Grand Central during the panic of 1873, and still paid dividends to shareholders on time.

Andrew Carnegie, when not busting unions and promoting unsafe working conditions at his steel mills, gave away most of his wealth.

Talk about deregulation — but at least after a 16-hour shift, a worker and his family could dive into a book from one of the thousands of public libraries Carnegie founded.

For a man whose relationship with unions was violent and bloody, it’s admirable that he founded a pension plan for educators that exists today. Carnegie may not have been Catholic, but he certainly knew the meaning of men and women for others.

All of these business leaders, left over from a former economic golden age, to whom few of us can relate, never forgot the importance of looking out for the person below them. A sense of personal responsibility can only take you so far — it doesn’t hurt to help someone who’s not a burlap sack with a dollar sign on it.

OCTOBER 5, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 9

MANAGING EDITOR

Freshman year, the realization that trying to use a cell phone on the subway was as futile as trying to carve a chicken with a spoon severely shook my conviction that I had just moved to the greatest city in the world with the best, most extensive transit system.

I developed a habit of turning off my phone every time I entered a subway station, so as not to waste battery while my phone searched for service it would never find. It was like entering an abyss, governed by a set of mores unique to its subterranean environment and in which modern technology might appear nonexistent (except for the people reading off of tablets pre-loaded with data).

After a few inconvenient lessons in communication and logistics management, I grew accustomed to the lack of cell phone service.

Not only that, but like the protagonist in one of my favorite Disney movies, I grew to love the Beast of disconnectedness. Anticipation for those blissful moments during which I was unreachable to anyone other than my traveling companions, be they books, music or friends, developed out of my original malcontent. In addition, after spending more time in restaurants, on the street and on buses in New York, I came to appreciate the subway’s absence of noisy, sometimes uncomfortable one-sided phone conversations, the participants of which seem to bask in the anonymity that a city of eight million affords.

The successful push to bring subway cars into the 21st century is still in its early stages, but it means that the subway may soon cease to be an abyss, joining other transit systems like Washington D.C. or Barcelona’s Metros. I do not think that this will change the experience of subway riders in an unequivocally positive way, however.

In a trial program that began on Sept. 27, New York City Tran-

sit will enable cell phone service on trains in the stations but not in tunnels at four underground stations (above-ground stations already have reception). If the trial goes well, then the fiber-optic network could be expanded to all underground platforms within five years, according to The New York Times (“Wired Platforms at Last?

Oh No, the Boss Is Calling!”).

The sentiment that adding network coverage (for only AT&T and T-Mobile users, initially) eliminates the source of much inconvenience and angst wins out for most people.

“If we can send a man to the moon, we can probably have service in our subway system,” Cath-

fall of introducing service.

“People will be obnoxious,” Varghese said. “[They] don’t realize they’re talking loudly, but they are.”

Metro-North Railroad is considering instituting quiet cars on some of its trains next month due to the disruptive nature of passengers’ phone conversations, but according to the same New York Times article, a subway spokesperson denied any possibility of that happening on the subway.

I realize that, even if cell phone service becomes available at all underground subway stations, the change will not be drastic. Cell phone use is already common on routes with above ground segments. People who take advantage of the newly implemented service will probably do so to use the Internet or text messaging u n o b t r u s i ve l y more than they will to have noisy conversations. If having that time is so important to me, some might argue, I could make a conscious personal decision to refrain from cell phone use on the subway in all my commutes even if service is available.

While all of this is true, I must still disagree with the goal of extending cell phone coverage to every nook and cranny this side of Timbuktu. Regardless of our technological capacity or the fact that other transit systems do it, we must question how truly necessary it is to be reachable at every moment of every day, anywhere we go (except in the tunnels). There are times when it does us some good to be unplugged. The subway was one of those last sanctuaries free of a constant stream of emails and free of the responsibility that comes with having a phone. In a world where we can control so much remotely, from our bank accounts to our alarm systems, it is refreshing to be in a place where I have little to no control over anything except what is immediately in front of me.

Victoria Rau, FCRH ’13, is an international political economy major from St. Paul, Minn.

“After a few inconvenient lessons in communication and logistics management, I grew accustomed to the lack of cell phone service. Not only that, but like the protagonist in one of my favorite Disney movies, I grew to love the Beast of disconnectedness.” erine Paul, FCRH ’13 and a Washington D.C. native, said. “You would think for New York City, it would be a little more advanced.”

She indicated frustration with the lack of service, even on D.C.’s Metro, where Verizon customers have service anywhere on the Metro while those with other services must settle for coverage in stations but not between them. Paul referred to an incident in which her Metro train was delayed between stations because someone had jumped into the tracks, and she was unable to tell her boss that she would be late for work. Despite similar limitations in New York’s new trial, Paul said she was pleased with the change and could think of no drawbacks.

“Your world doesn’t have to end just because you’re underground,” she said.

Jobin Varghese, FCRH ’13 and a New York native, cited safety concerns and the ability to check in with parents and friends as reasons why he looked forward to improved coverage on New York City transit. He did note a possible pit-

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

Swiping through the turnstile once meant entering a world without cell service; that may change city-wide by 2016.

The Sweat at off w the Brow Harry MacCormack A Message to Occupy Wall Street What is the point of occupying Wall Street? That’s my question for the week. I can’t think of a reason, and I’m pretty sure the people actually doing it can’t either. As of late, there has been a movement to “Occupy Wall Street,” a protest to end corporate greed.

Now, this is all well and good — it’s a noble purpose — but what do these people expect to accomplish by camping in Zucotti Park, wearing garish outfits and parading around with silly signs?

This sort of unorganized spectacle is the same thing the Tea Party has always done and for which it has been ridiculed.

Now, a largely liberal group is doing the same thing, and expects to command more respect?

If many Americans were willing to mock people for dressing up and waving stupid signs around a year ago, chances are protesters shouldn’t try it now and expect to be taken completely seriously.

This is just one part of the stunning immaturity which defines this movement.

For a group with such a highminded goal (the complete moral reform of business’s interaction with government), it shows no clearly articulated, unified goals or means by which to deliver such a change. It seems the occupiers’ favorite stance thus far is to blame the wealthy for everything.

“We are the 99 percent” they say, implying that being in the top 1 percent of America’s wealthy automatically makes an immoral person. It is because they resort to such cheap demagoguery that they should not expect to make great progress.

The housing crisis is the result of a complex systemic problem, involving not just the banks that issued loans but also the people who overstretched their funds or overestimated their buying power by committing to mortgages they could not afford.

Some of those people may be in Zucotti Park complaining about banks and major corporations. Riddle me this: Who gave them this buying power? Who has been lining their pockets all this time?

These same people — every time they buy something, or make a bank deposit, or take out a loan, or trade a stock — give big businesses and the financial system another dollar to continue “destroying the country.”

It is painfully apparent that nobody has really thought this whole thing out. It is clear that the protesters are unhappy that there are greedy people with money in positions of influence, but if the protestors are demanding a share of their money or expecting them to change a lifetime of decisionmaking based on your cardboard sign, they are misguided.

All I have to say at this point is this: Thus far this entire movement is reminiscent of a child whining to a parent, “But it’s not fair!” How far did that argument get anyone as a kid?

OPINIONS

PAGE 10 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 5, 2011

A Disturbing Decline in Graduate School Enrollment

By DECLAN MURPHY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Education has always been a critical part of the fabric of our society as well as an increasingly important, if not necessary, requirement for getting that dream job for which we all work hard and strive to acquire.

The current economy has unfortunately crushed that dream and quickened the rising costs of college tuition, for both undergraduate and graduate students, which has been equally stressful for parents and students.

As a result of our nation’s current economic climate, students and their parents are seeking schools that fit their budget, and in many cases those dream schools to which students work so hard to be admitted are now out of reach due to high tuition costs.

This is especially true for students seeking graduate degrees.

Many students and their families are anxious at the thought of paying even more tuition right after the completion of an undergradu-

ate degree.

The Council of Graduate Schools reports that the number of new students enrolled in higher education institutions in the United States has decreased slightly from 2009 to 2010, though there was an 8 percent increase in applications. This national dip can easily be attributed to the failing economy and high tuition.

A large majority of students here at Fordham, however, are offered some form of financial aid. According to the College Board, 1,248 out of 1,862 Fordham freshmen were offered aid — usually in the form of grants or loans — for the fall semester in 2011. Although loans can be extremely helpful at the undergraduate level, paying them off in addition to shelling out cash for the tuition of a prestigious graduate school can be a daunting task.

It seems as though the value of education has also gone down for many students due to the pressure of finding a job in such an uncertain market. The lack of jobs around the country has prompted many to stick with their current jobs instead of venturing into the uncertain world of graduate education. Students who invest a lot of their money in a graduate

out the ongoing recession.

Many students here at Fordham are weighing the benefits of attending a graduate school and are unsure about their plan after graduation. According to Debra W. Stewart, president of the Council of Graduate Schools, the graduate programs experiencing the largest drops in new students were business, education and public administration. Luckily, however, some Fordham business students are finding ways to get the best value for their graduate education.

For example, some Gabelli School of Business students plan to take advantage of the five-year Dual-Degree Program which gives students who are completing certain majors, such as accounting, and who are looking to get an MBA, the opportunity to finish both degrees in just five years total.

“When fewer students are pursuing higher education and degrees at the graduate level and only those who have the financial means to afford such an education are enrolling, our country’s future is in jeopardy.” degree expect it to pay dividends when entering the job market; however, job openings today are rare in many fields. While some students are eager to join and explore the working world, others are content to continue with their educations and hopefully wait

“It makes sense for me to save a year’s worth of tuition by completing my MBA in only one extra year,” Anthony Errante, GSB ’13, said.

Unfortunately, not every student in the nation considering a graduate degree has such great options. When fewer students are pursuing higher education and degrees at the graduate level and only those who have the financial means to afford such an education are enrolling, our country’s future is in jeopardy — both in terms of our economy and our society.

Our nation needs workers with graduate degrees in the financial and social service sectors to stimulate the economy and help improve social conditions. People with graduate degrees also tend to specialize in an occupation after college. This makes them a unique asset for certain companies and allows them to play a specific role in our society, whether it is financial advising or public defending.

Declan Murphy, FCRH ’13, is a political science major from Parkland, Fla.

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

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OCTOBER 5, 2011

PAGE 11

Oedipus Rex Provides Entertainment and Food for Audience Members

By CONNOR RYAN STAFF WRITER

Walking into the lobby of the Leonard Theatre at Fordham Prep last Wednesday night, 10 minutes before Oedipus Rex’s scheduled starting time, no one had been admitted into the theater.

The crowd of mostly students with some scattered professors huddled together in a corner, was buzzing with conversation. At 8 p.m. the doors were finally unlocked, and the group shuffled in to watch the SummerStage Theatre’s (in association with FauxReal Theatre Co.) production of Oedipus Rex. As soon as attendees crossed the threshold of the theater, they were immersed in what felt like another world. A musician played a steady, tribal-like beat on what sounded like a heavy African drum.

Actors were doing some very strange interpretative dance on the stage, and the director and Fordham professor Mark Greenfield was standing at the back of the house, dressed in an all-white robe, asking the crowd to move down (closer to the stage).

He could already tell that what had seemed to be a crowd was actually more like a small group that didn’t even come close to filling in the first section of the Leonard Theatre.

After a few minutes of watching the all-male cast dance around the stage, other actors brought out food and drink – presumably, to

COURTESY OF FLICKR

Actors served grapes and lamb were to audience members at SummerStage Theatre’s performance of Oedipus Rex .

help set the mood. Actors clutching grape vines climbed over chairs to deliver grapes to a select few – often times bypassing the hand and going straight for the mouth.

Soon, someone was savagely cutting a leg of lamb into tiny pieces and wrapping it in napkins for those who possessed such trust to eat the mysterious meat.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the house lights dimmed, the rhythmic club beat ceased and Mr. Greenfield walked to center stage as the company’s original character, the Ghost of Oedipus.

He began by welcoming the crowd, and, after completely knocking down the fourth wall, decided to

give the crowd some bullet points on the plot of Oedipus Rex, in conjunction with actors in giant masks nimbly acting out his quick and often incomplete descriptions.

The impetus behind this sneak preview, according to Greenfield, was that the Greeks always knew the plot of the story before they watched it performed, and he wanted the environment to be as authentic as possible.

Either that, or Greenfield had little confidence in his actors and felt an introductory SparkNotes rundown would be necessary. After the spiel, he finally took his very visible place in a stage-left wing as a musician and let the play unfold.

Oedipus Rex is an ancient Greek play that begins with Oedipus (King of Thebes) attempting to pacify a plague that has swept up his city. He sends Creon (his brother-in-law) to ask an oracle how to end it.

Creon comes back and tells Oedipus that the plague will subside when the killer of Thebes’ previous king, Laius, is found. A search ensues that ultimately leaves Oedipus face-to-face with a feared prophecy that he had been trying since his birth to avoid, but that has come true. He has unknowingly killed his father, Laius, and married his mother, Jocasta, as the terms of the prophecy that he

can no longer outrun come to fruition.

As an act of shame and guilt, he gouges his eyes out after Jocasta hangs herself. The chorus is left alone, lamenting the fate that has come to pass.

The chorus was the absolute star of the show. It was a group made up of 10 actors (a few of whom played other roles as well) representing the townspeople of Thebes.

Although the group struggled with sloppy diction – almost to the point of incoherence – it was this group that acted as the backbone of the play. The chorus immediately connected with the audience, and the audience responded positively.

Steve Johnson was unsure and lack-luster in the title role, but Tony Naumovski, who added a touch of humor and a touch of horror in his portrayal of Oedipus’s wife and mother, looked like a professional.

Naumovski was also credited as musical director, responsible for what got to be an annoying drone of background noise that hindered the performance and made it even more difficult to decipher the rushed delivery of many speeches.

This all-male cast led by Mark Greenfield struggled but persevered to tell this timeless Greek tale of ultimate irony – though perhaps less time spent in the kitchen and a little more in the rehearsal studio would have made this show something for students to discuss.

Students Travel to Spain for World Youth Day

By SCHARON HARDING ASSISTANT CULTURE EDITOR

World Youth Day is a six-day event created by Pope John Paul II to celebrate Christian youth and Jesus Christ. It is held every three years in a different location. This year, World Youth Day was held in Madrid from Aug. 16 to 21. Several Fordham students attended.

“I’ve been in Jesuit education for eight years now, so the chance to visit sites from St. Ignatius’ life was one I couldn’t pass up,” Mike Finucane, FCRH ’12, said.

As Jesuit students, the Fordham attendees went to Spain 10 days early, where they visited the birthplace of St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. The students also performed service work, including working with the elderly in a convent in Granada. The participants took the opportunity to speak with some Muslims in the area, many of whom were fasting for the holy season of Ramadan.

“We were all very amazed at how meaningful the fast was to them,” Peter Sanneman, FCRH ’12, said.

“They were fasting in a very hot city where the sun doesn’t set until 10 p.m., and they were still willing to do it.”

The religious discussion enlightened the students as to the life of a Muslim among Christians.

“They said there should be more interfaith dialogue, and they

blamed the Christians for ignoring them,” Sanneman said. “I think it is both of their responsibilities to start dialogue.”

After their week and a half of service, the Fordham students headed to Madrid for World Youth Day. Here their goal was to celebrate Christianity in a pilgrimage and inner-spiritual journey, united with two million others from every corner of the globe.

“Many people around the world have the same religion but struggle with it in different cultures,” Sanneman said.

By uniting with other people from different cultures, the Fordham students learned that, in a way, everyone is going through a personal, vital spiritual journey.

“With people from all over the world, everyone has a different experience of Christ,” Finucane said.

“Getting to share that definitely has helped me notice God working in my life in ways I would not have recognized before Spain.”

The trip reached a climax with a mass held by Pope Benedict XVI. The two million attendees gathered in an air field for the mass.

“It kind of felt like a refugee camp, where there’s this dusty place and everyone’s waiting in line for water,” Sanneman said.

Unfortunately, there was some difficulty hearing the pope due to poor acoustics, the large crowd and faulty televisions. Being in the

COURTESY OF PETER SANNENAN

Students throughout the world gathered for World Youth Day, which was held in Madrid, Spain, from Aug. 16 to 21.

presence of the pope, however, was still an incredible moment.

“What was so cool is that for him it was all about an experience of God,” Finucane said. “The whole experience was about rallying people around God, which is why the Papal Vigil and Mass were such great experiences.”

“Although I don’t agree with everything he teaches as leader of the Catholic Church, I respect him very much because he has this role ... yet he’s very humble as a person,” Sanneman said.

Finucane also had the opportunity to meet Fr. Adolfo Nicolas, the Superior General of the Jesuits.

“He was unbelievably gracious and humble,” he said. “While shaking his hand the spiritual energy

was almost tangible around him.”

Some students took home souvenirs to remind them of their experience. Sanneman brought home a copy of the Catholic catechism and a hamsa hand, a charm used by Jews, Muslims and Christians to ward off evil. “[The charm] represents the facts that we all worship God,” he said. “I have an inner dislike for some dogma but the Catechism reminds me that I did grow up Catholic so I identify with it more than I thought. The trip helped me rediscover my roots.”

The trip was a learning experience for all.

“I think my job now is to grow into this experience I have,” Sanneman said.

“For those who are really committed to their faith and fervently practice it, it’s a chance to encounter Christ in an amazing and unique way,” Finucane said. “For those who are not as devout, they can see the diversity of ways of being Catholic and how God meets us where we’re at for who we are.”

One does not need to be a Christian to attend the next World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro.

“I think that anybody that approaches it open-minded can walk away with some meaningful lessons,” Sanneman said.

“World Youth Day is a chance to expand our idea of who God is and how God works—something anyone and everyone should experience,” Finucane said.

CULTURE

PAGE 12 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 5, 2011

Cooking With Clara CLARA ENNIST

Dining Out: Estrellita Poblana III

Caramel Apple Pork Chops Is it autumn yet? My calendar says yes and the temperamental weather says maybe. The one indicator that never fails when deciding whether or not I will emotionally accept the end of summer is the explosion of apples and apple dishes: apple pie, apple sauce, apple cider, baked apples and apple turnovers.

Apples are among the most common fruits, but, while I typically overlook apples when deciding to make a new and interesting dish, I cannot deny the ubiquity of apples in autumn. I have only apple-picked once in my life, but when I see the paper sacks filled with McIntosh apples, I remember the nostalgia of hayrides, pumpkin picking, Halloween and apple cinnamon doughnuts. There is plenty of time in autumn for me to bake with apples and fill my kitchen with the perfect apple-cinnamon smell and the heat that is only bearable in 50-degree weather. Instead, I wanted to fulfill my already welldocumented preference for savorysweet dishes and cook caramel apple pork chops.

Technically, the name of this dish is incorrect, because the sauce used is not a caramel, but a reduction; the taste, however, is similar to a caramel sauce. Caramel is merely water and sugar that are cooked down until the sugar dissolves entirely; the color difference of the sugars changes the taste of the caramel. Making this sauce requires butter and sugar, which are cooked down into syrup. Whatever the name of the sauce, it unmistakably compliments the apples and pork perfectly; this dish is a somewhat classier version of the pork chopapple sauce pairing.

Although the recipe calls for two tart apples, I decided to use McIntosh apples in order to placate my childhood memories, rather than a much tarter (and probably more appropriate) apple, like the Granny Smith. Most of the different types of apples are available in grocery stores, in spite of regional differences. Having more options is a good thing when working with apples because, for what seems like a mundane fruit that should be identical from type to type, the apple has a lot of variations. For example, in baking dishes, it is best to use the Pink Lady, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Gala or Fuji. These types are also good for apple sauce; however, when making a more savory sauce, the type of apple used can be drastically different. Regardless of what apples you have on hand, the difference between using a Golden Delicious, rather than a Gala, is probably unnoticeable to most people; most are just happy to get some freshly baked apple pie. Autumn is here; no matter how much I try to deny it, the weather will turn cold, and my tan will fade. On the bright side, with autumn comes the opportunity for me to show off my extensive boot collection and to bake and cook every apple dish I could possibly want to eat, without feeling as if I’m making something exotic enough. For the recipe, visit theramonline.com.

PHOTO BY COURTNEY HO/THE RAM

Estrellita Poblana III, which is located on Arthur Ave., serves dishes including huaraches con carne enchilada and taco salad.

By COURTNEY HO STAFF WRITER

Estrellita Poblana III is an excellent Mexican eatery among the sea of Italian restaurants on Arthur Ave. The Mexican haven is coincidentally right next to the one Japanese restaurant on the street.

This place is a very well-known restaurant among Fordham students for its cheap drinks. It’s also probably the nicest and cleanest Mexican restaurant in the area.

I went there recently to meet some friends for dinner. Walking

around at 8 p.m. on a Tuesday, Arthur Ave. was pretty dark and quiet, but at the end of the block, I could see what seemed like gleaming lights coming from Estrellita.

When I walked in, the first thing I noticed was the smell of the fresh tortillas. That, combined with the inviting decor, made this petite restaurant feel like a Mexican grandmother’s kitchen.

I was there 20 minutes earlier than the meeting time with my friends, but the waitresses were nice about it. I sat down, and they immediately served me water,

chips and salsa.

You could tell that the chips were made just five minutes beforehand (although they could’ve used more salt). The salsa was filled with chopped tomatoes, cilantro, peppers and more. It definitely beat any salsa one could buy in a store.

It was also deliciously spicy and the perfect salsa texture.

For my entrée, I ordered the huaraches con carne enchilada. It was pretty much an oversized homemade tortilla with beans, lettuce, tomato, cream, queso fresco and spicy pork. The tortilla was more

like an arepa, which is really just a thicker tortilla. Up close, it looks gross, but it is actually very tasty.

The pork was really good, but it was hard to eat because the tortilla was so large that I needed a fork and knife to eat it. Who wants to eat Mexican food with a fork and knife? It just was not meant to be.

I would have been happier if there were two smaller tortillas that I could hold. Besides that, it was a lot of food for less than $7, so I was happy.

My friend ordered the taco salad, which was a huge tortilla shell filled with tomatoes, black beans, crema, queso fresco, salsa cebolla, cilantro con guacamole, red onion and corn.

I thought the best part of the taco salad was the tortilla shell. When I tried it, it was different from what I expected. The shell was soft, thick and had a delicious flavor of its own. I loved how they used it as a bowl.

My other friend ordered two soft shelled tacos with pork - delicioso!

Overall, this place had great, fresh, traditional, cheap Mexican food. Inside there was a good mixture of Fordham students and local residents.

When you see Bronx residents in a restaurant, you know it has to be good. Next time, I would love to go in with my friends, smell the fresh tortillas cooking (and maybe bottle some of the scent for when I am feeling down), and order a bunch of appetizers. This place gets a solid three stars.

To read more blog entries, check out fordhamfoodgirl.blogspot. com.

Editor’s Pick: ‘Friday Night Lights’

By SARAH RAMIREZ ASSISTANT OPINIONS EDITOR

When it comes to film genres, the sports movie often feels like a necessary evil – riddled with clichés and weighed down by stock characters and situations audiences see a mile away. Perhaps that is why it is so remarkable that the critically acclaimed, but little-seen, television series “Friday Night Lights” reinvigorated the sports drama, arguably on its way to becoming one of the defining shows of the last 10 years.

Adapted from the non-fiction book Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream and the feature film it inspired, the Billy Bob Thornton vehicle “Friday Night Lights,” the television series is set in fictional Dillon, Texas. The show opens as Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler, Super 8) begins his tenure as head coach of the Dillon Panthers varsity football team.

When the football team plays under the lights on Friday night, the small town of Dillon essentially shuts down. It is no exaggeration to say that life in this working-class community revolves around the Panthers. For many players on the team, including star quarterback Jason Street (Scott Porter, “Hart of Dixie”), football is a one-way ticket out of Dillon.

Of course, “Friday Night Lights” – or “FNL” as passionate fans affec-

tionately refer to the show – would not be a sports drama if things went according to plan for Coach Taylor’s Panthers. This, however, is where “FNL” succeeds, pushing its genre to new heights.

“FNL” is unique for a network drama (the series originally aired on NBC, before being relegated to DirecTV’s 101 Network for its last three seasons due to low ratings) since it was shot on location outside of Austin, Texas, never relying on a soundstage, even for scenes set inside the characters’ homes.

Scenes were also shot in single takes, with the camera crew trained to focus solely on the actors, no matter what improvisations they might make. Where sitcoms such as “The Office” and “Modern Family” use this documentary-style of shooting to add to a situation’s hilarity, in “FNL” it serves to capture the emotional impact of nearly every line.

These stylistic decisions shape the show’s portrayal of everyday life in Middle America. It is easy to relate to the characters – there is nothing glamorous about their somewhat mundane problems, but, more importantly, their lives feel real. The writers deserve credit here, because the majority of storylines develop organically, and the characters face actual consequences for their actions.

“Friday Night Lights” also deserves praise for tactfully dealing with complicated issues, including

COURTESY OF FLICKR

education, drug use, alcoholism, the wars in the Middle East, the floundering economy, abortion and sexual violence. In many shows, incorporating these hot button topics into a plotline may seem preachy or like a cheap ratings ploy. In “FNL,” these subjects come across as a realistic progression of events.

In case it has not become clear, “Friday Night Lights” is so much more than a football drama. It is apparent in the bonds between characters, most especially in the relationship between Coach Taylor and his wife, Tami (Connie Britton, A Nightmare on Elm Street). Neglecting to mention their marriage would be a disservice, since it is the heart of the show.

The Taylors have one of the most realistic marriages seen on television, complete with two demanding jobs and an angsty teenaged daughter, Julie (Aimee Teegarden, Scream 4). Unlike other shows on

television, with over-the-top drama always threatening a marriage, Eric and Tami deal with regular problems, like figuring out who will be cooking dinner or disciplining their daughter. It may sound ordinary, but once a viewer becomes emotionally invested in the couple, their talks and fights are engrossing. And in a series where characters and story arcs are always changing, it is comforting to have a love as enduring and genuine as Eric and Tami’s.

After five seasons, “Friday Night Lights” ended this past spring. Just last month, this exquisitely written, brilliantly acted show was rewarded with two Primetime Emmy Awards, Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. You can bet that as Kyle Chandler was giving his acceptance speech, every fan of “FNL” was thinking one of the show’s lasting mottoes, “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.”

CULTURE

WHO’S THAT KID? Chris Modrzynski A MEMBER OF FCRH ’12 MAJORING IN COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA STUDIES

FROM BUFFALO, N.Y. What campus organizations are you involved in?

I am involved in intramural sports every semester, along with participation in the ultimate frisbee team for the past couple of years.

Please describe yourself in a couple of sentences: I think I generally just love to have fun and meet new people. I am a writer so I think relationships are really important for perspective. I cherish the friendships I have with my friends and I find they inspire me in my writing every day. I’m constantly meeting new awesome, interesting, talented people here at Fordham.

ate as well. He was always using humor to excite us, which is hard to do for Fordham students on a Wednesday morning, but he got it done.

What is your favorite memory while attending Fordham?

It would have to be when MGMT came for Spring Weekend two years ago. Everyone was extremely excited and ecstatic. To get to see a ton of your friends jumping around and having the time of their lives is a great day in my book.

Either that or any day I could toss a football around on Eddies for a little while.

What is your favorite thing to do in NYC? How often do you go into the city?

I would have to say Union Square. There’s always people doing really crazy things around there and you just have to double back and go “Did that really just happen?”

I wish I went more, but probably a couple times a month.

What are your plans (career or otherwise) for after college?

I have no idea yet, but a lot of people don’t so I guess it’s fine. I might stay in NYC for a while and continue to write or maybe go to California.

What do you want to do before you leave Fordham?

I think The Ramblers are incredible and I’ve always wanted to work with them.

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

Going

06

?

On

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

THURSDAY CAB Bingo: Breast Cancer Edition O’Keefe Commons 9 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.

Play to win clothes, gift cards and even a Nintendo Wii to benefit the Breast Cancer Awareness Club.

07

FRIDAY The Freedom Party Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker St.) 11 p.m.

The Freedom Party DJs play R&B, house, dancehall and soul music jams from the ’70s until present day.

08

SATURDAY One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Black Box Theatre 8 p.m.

Fordham Experimental Theatre will be performing the intriguing show all weekend for free.

09

SUNDAY The Butterfly Conservatory American Museum of Natural History Central Park West at 79th St. Gaze at 500 butterflies in this re-created forest of bright flowers and healthy vegetation.

Please describe something about yourself that not many people know: I transferred over here from Manhattan College, and I’m lefthanded.

10

What is your favorite aspect about Fordham? Why? My favorite part is just the overall atmosphere. It’s a beautiful campus, which is something that’s hard to find in New York, and if it’s sunny, Eddie’s is always overflowing with people, which is cool to see.

What is your favorite class at Fordham and favorite professor? Why? My favorite class at Fordham so far is Screenwriting with Professor Ribalow (who in my opinion is the best professor here). You could tell every day that he had a real passion for what he was teaching, and he wanted his students to be passion-

OCTOBER 5, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 13

MONDAY “Small Spirits” National Museum of the American Indian 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

The exhibit holds 90 dolls from different tribes of the Western Hemisphere, including toys and replicas.

11

TUESDAY Zhang Enli Exhibit Hauser & Wirth 32 E 69th St. Study the Chinese painter’s American debut, featuring paintings depicting his experience moving to the city.

12 COURTESY OF CHRIS MODRZYNSKI

Chris Modrzynski enjoys writing and throwing a football on Eddie’s.

WEDNESDAY “Scandal! Financial Crime, Chicanery and Corruption That Rocked America” Museum of American Finance (48 Wall St.) 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Learn about past financial criminals.

— COMPILED BY SCHARON HARDING

Ram Reviews MOVIE

TELEVISION

WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER

“NEW GIRL”

By STEPHANIE COX

By ALYSSA TAGIOS

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

At first glance, What’s Your Number appears to be a typical romantic comedy; however, while it definitely follows the usual sequence of events of a romantic comedy, it has some surprising twists along the way.

What’s Your Number is the story of Ally Darling (Anna Farris, The House Bunny), a 28- year-old who has slept with 19 men. She reads an article that says that women who have slept with more than 20 men are less likely to get married, drawing the conclusion that she should find all her exes because one of them must be “the one.”

To help Ally on this adventure is her cute neighbor Colin Shea (Chris Evans, Captain America). Along the way, as one might expect, they become close and truly get to know one another. The story has the typically happy ending but not without some honest and funny moments.

This year, Tuesday nights have become a little bit better, thanks to FOX’s “The New Girl.” Zooey Deschanel ((500) Days of Summer) stars and explores her comedic side as Jessica Day, a typical woman trying to find love. The comedy behind the show is what makes viewers tune in. Teasing us with different clips of the pilot since last spring, this new comedy has been one to anticipate for a while, especially as it is Deschanel’s first appearance on a sitcom.

The viewers are lured into the show from the mere aspect that most girls have experienced a breakup and that most guys do not know how to specifically deal with women, which is the basis for the pilot. The pilot was released early on iTunes so that viewers could get to watch the pilot before it aired on FOX.

The pilot opens with Jessica getting ready to surprise her boyfriend after he comes back from what seemed like a business trip. Little does she know that her boyfriend is cheating on her. After embarrassing herself by dancing around naked, she soon sees her boyfriend’s mistress. Once she realizes what is going on, Jessica decides to look online to find new roommates. Another reason why she wants a new apartment is because she is sick of living with her model roommate, CeCe, played by newcomer Hannah Simone.

Jessica soon finds her roommates, three guys who at first do not seem interested in having a girl live with them. This is mostly because they are unsure of how to deal with the new lifestyle that comes with living with a girl. Schmidt, played by Max Greenfield (“Greek,” “Ugly Betty”) is all for having Jessica live with them because she is friends with models. Damon Wayans Jr. (“My Wife and Kids,” “Happy Endings”) plays Coach who is a little appre-

hensive about a girl living with them and has a problem talking to girls.

The deciding vote is from Nick, who is played by Jake M. Johnson (Get Him To The Greek, No Strings Attached), who claims that a girl would be nice to have in their apartment because she can “fold nicely.”

Eventually, Jessica is approved as a roommate and from there, the comedy begins.

Between Jessica lounging on the couch watching Dirty Dancing to get over her break-up and constant tears, the boys cannot seem to handle living with a girl. The boys come up with a plan to find her a new boyfriend, after their original plan of telling her to stop does not work.

The decision allows for some very funny comedic scenes: the boys try and let Jessica flirt for herself at a bar, teaching her how to laugh, smile and be attractive. One of my favorite parts of the show is when the boys have a jar called the “douche bag jar” in which each guy has to put a dollar in the jar if they act like a douche bag.

The second episode of “New Girl” begins with Jessica breaking the boys’ T.V. She does not have the money to spend on a new one because all of her stuff is still at her ex-boyfriend’s house. Jessica will have to face her ex if she wants to get a new T.V. for the boys. Will she be able to go get her stuff and stand up to her ex-boyfriend? Watch episode 2, “kryptonite,” on hulu. Episode 3 airs Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 9 p.m.

This past week, “New Girl” has been picked up for a full, 24-episode season, being one of the first new shows to get an extended contract for the rest of the season.

Most T.V. seasons include 22 episodes, with shows like “Modern Family” getting a 26-episode season; FOX must think that this show is going to go far by awarding it 24 episodes. The show already has guest stars lined up, including Justin Long, Katie Cassidy, Lake Bell and Natasha Lyonne. The rest of the season seems as if it is going to be full of great writing, many guest stars and comedy.

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

PAGE 14 • THE RAM OCTOBER 5, 2011

CULTURE

Fordham Students Participate in SlutWalk

By SARAH RAMIREZ ASSISTANT OPINIONS EDITOR

The walk of shame is something of a college rite of passage, perhaps first performed by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s heroine Hester Prynne in the opening of The Scarlet Letter.

With the popularity of Emma Stone’s comedy Easy A (an updated take on Hawthorne’s classic), it is clear that the walk of shame is part of our collective consciousness. Turning this cultural mainstay on its head, over a thousand protesters took to Lower Manhattan on Saturday, Oct. 1, in what many called the Walk of No Shame.

The protesters were marching as part of SlutWalk, a grassroots movement that originated in Canada earlier this year. The original march was organized after a Toronto police official reportedly said, “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.”

“The term ‘slut’ is a way to essentially treat women as completely out of bounds of respectable society for behavior,” Kristen Swinth, associate professor of history and part of the women’s studies department, said.

Since the first march in Toronto, SlutWalks have been held across the country and in major cities worldwide, including Mexico City and Seoul, South Korea. “‘Slut walks’ have a long history,” Swinth said. “Feminists started organizing Take Back the Night marches and they were present across university campuses all across the late 70s and 80s.”

Saturday’s SlutWalk could not have come at a better time for New York City, with the acquittal in the NYPD rape trial, the controversial dismissal of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn rape charges and the Park Slope sexual assaults.

The most recent rape attempt in Brooklyn happened just last week and, according to The Wall Street Journal, police officers told women that wearing shorts, dresses and skirts provide “easy access” to attackers.

“I chose to participate in the SlutWalk because it is a movement that protests violence against women,” Cara Flynn, FCRH ’12, said. “There is a belief that some rape victims ‘had it coming to them’ because of how they are dressed.”

“There has been a long standing tradition of feminist activists challenging the notion that the victim is to blame for the rape,” Swinth said. “[Activists] have [used] street protests and marches to call into question the notion that the woman should be blamed because she was so-called provocatively dressed.”

Starting at noon, the crowd marched down Broadway, weaving its way through the East Village before returning to Union Square. Although there was some diversity among the participants, the majority of the protesters were white young women.

The event drew support from several college organizations, in-

cluding Fordham’s Women Empowerment, Columbia Fem Sex and the University of Delaware’s V-Day club.

Many in the crowd were dressed in regular street clothes like jeans; however, it was easy to spot those who were in costume, catching attention of bystanders.

“Women involved in some of this activism [have used] comedy, costumes [and] acting out plays [and] dressing in [unconventional] ways […] as part of protests against women’s status,” Swinth said. “Show[ing] how conventions about women’s acceptability, women’s dress, women’s behavior limited women and were very embedded in our culture.”

“A lot of the participants were scantily dressed, which led to tons of picture-taking and some catcalling from spectators,” Alejandra Dominguez, Columbia ’13, said. “Having [catcalling] happen during this event that was supposed to be all about empowerment made me pretty upset.”

Not all the attention was negative; the SlutWalk also gained the support of some locals and tourists. Shoppers at Forever 21 and Filene’s Basement crowded the windows, and on one street, firefighters cheered on the protesters outside of their firehouse.

“During the march, I saw a woman carrying her young daughter on her shoulder,” Flynn said. “The mother was nodding her head and cheering us on as we walked by.”

Many protesters held signs and chanted during the walk. Popular cheers included “Yes means yes, no means no” and “Blame the system, not the victim.”

“I believe the message is that if a woman is a victim of sexual violence, she should not be blamed,” Flynn said. “The rapist is the one at fault.”

“No one has the right to touch us without our consent,” Dominguez said. “This is something that should be reflected by our society and the way in which we speak about the subject, which includes put an end on victimblaming and focusing on teach ‘don’t rape’ instead of ‘don’t get raped.’”

The marchers returned to Union Square to music, poetry and speeches before dispersing at around 3:30 p.m., amid a steady rain.

“Organizers were handing out invites to dialogues related to the movement,” Flynn said. “The protest gave the organizers the opportunity to find more support.”

An event is already planned for Thursday, Oct. 13 at the Walker Stage in downtown Manhattan to discuss how SlutWalk NYC can take the momentum from Saturday’s march to boost the movement against rape culture in the city.

“I walked away [from SlutWalk] feeling empowered, supported and connected to other people in the city with similar beliefs,” Dominguez said. “Now it’s important that we take this boost back to our campuses and continue to working on building this movement.”

PHOTO BY SARAH RAMIREZ/THE RAM

The SlutWalk, held in Lower Manhattan on Oct. 1, is one of many protests held internationally. The first was held in Toronto.

PHOTO BY SARAH RAMIREZ/THE RAM

Protestors carried signs and chanted “Yes means yes, no means no,” and “Blame the system, not the victim” during the walk.

PHOTO BY SARAH RAMIREZ/THE RAM

Some people at Forever 21 and Filene’s Basement watched as protestors marched through the East Village to Union Square.

PAGE 15

OCTOBER 5, 2011

Behind Top-30 Recruiting Class, Men’s Tennis on the Rise

By DAN GARTLAND SPORTS EDITOR

Men’s tennis Head Coach Cory Hubbard’s office is no larger than a walk-in closet, just big enough for a small desk and three chairs. Yet, from this cramped space, Hubbard has managed to turn his program from a perennial doormat to an instant contender.

Before Hubbard arrived last September, the Fordham men’s tennis program had been under the control of Bob Hawthorn for the previous 55 years. After Hawthorn retired, Hubbard, a former assistant at TCU and Arizona, was named his replacement.

Hubbard inherited a team which had struggled mightily under Hawthorn.

“Before I got hired,” Hubbard said, “I wasn’t sure if I wanted the job or not. I knew the program had finished basically in last place in the conference for the past 10 to15 years.”

Still, he kept an open mind.

“The first time I came on campus, and I saw how beautiful the campus was and I saw the facility had some potential, with some upgrades, to be a really nice facility and, given the location of the school and the academic standards, that it would be an easy sell to the recruits – to sell quality academics and the location in New York City,” he said.

Once he accepted the position, Hubbard began to take the steps to ensure that the program would be more successful under his watch.

“Basically, as soon as I was hired I started sending out mass emails, phone calls, to players and coaches that I’ve known since I was an assistant at TCU and Arizona and just let everyone know I’m a head coach now and I’m looking for players and there’s the potential to do something really special here at Fordham,” he said.

“I could try to sell these guys on trying to build something special.

You could be part of turning this program around and view it as a challenge. All the recruits I talked to bought into it and wanted to be a part. That why I took the job. I felt it had a lot of potential.”

Hubbard was hired too late to put together a recruiting class in time for his first season.

“I came in with the team that was already in place, so I consider this my first real year on the job since I was able to have the whole year to recruit,” he said.

Last year’s team finished with a 4-14 record, good for last place in the Atlantic 10.

So far this year, the Rams are 4-0, having swept all four matches 7-0.

“We lost to all these schools last year so it’s nice to come in and knock them off,” Hubbard said.

Not only have they won matches, they have been nothing short of dominant. The Rams have won every one of their doubles matches and have yet to drop a set in singles play.

Their newly found success is undeniably a result of their impres-

PHOTO BY JULIAN WONG/THE RAM

Freshmen Peder Gram and Mischa Koran, both highly-touted recruits, compete together at second doubles for the Rams.

sive recruiting class.

Hubbard’s first recruiting class was ranked 27th nationally, and fifth among mid-majors, by the Tennis Recruiting Network.

The team’s starting lineup is composed entirely of new additions. Fordham starts four freshmen and two sophomore transfers, despite the fact that it returns four starters from last year’s team. Other coaches might be concerned about such an inexperienced team.

Not Hubbard.

“We start two sophomores and four freshmen, but it’s nice because they’re learning how to win,” he said. “Probably the best thing is that even though we’re so young, we can get a lot better. There’s a lot of things that we can do better in doubles, and do better individually. So I think our team is just going to continue to get stronger throughout the season.”

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of this revamped team is the diversity of the players.

Top singles player, sophomore Kuba Kowalski, a transfer from San Diego State, comes from Poland, where he has been ranked as high as the No. 2 junior player in the country. Sophomore Mischa Koran, a transfer from St. John’s, is a native of Switzerland and a bronze medal winner at the Under-18 Swiss Championships. Freshmen Srikar Alla (India), Jan Krouham (Mexico) and Shuo Wang (China) are also from overseas.

“To me I think it makes it fun,” Hubbard said of his team’s assembly of backgrounds. “There’s a big mix of different cultures and different personalities. One of the guys in the van yesterday when we were going to LaSalle said, ‘Man, this is like the ultimate melting pot.’

We’ve got a Polish guy, a Swiss, an Indian, a Mexican, Long Island, Oregon. We’ve got people from everywhere and so it makes it fun when everyone buys in to a common goal.”

It’s about more than just tennis, however.

“I think it’s a fun experience for everybody because you learn from each other,” Hubbard said. “A lot of the international guys are learning about the college experience from the American guys. The American guys are getting experience culturally and on the tennis court.”

One thing that many of the Rams’ veteran players must learn is to adjust to new roles. Last year’s top singles player and team MVP, Alex DeRienzo, has only played in one match this season, competing at sixth singles against St. Francis.

“Realistically, [DeRienzo] fits in somewhere in the 5-8 range,” Hubbard said. “The main thing is he’s a team guy. He’s excited and fired up that our team is really starting to get some success and some victories. The main thing for him is to keep working hard. He’s got the potential to get in the lineup and help out and contribute because he has the experience and he did well for us last year at No. 1. He understands that, where the program is going, his role isn’t going to be a No. 1, but it’s going to be

to help with the depth at the bottom of the lineup and just to push all the other guys on the team. If he does that I think he’ll get his opportunities to play.”

Likewise, senior captain Eli Plangger played in the majority of the team’s matches last season and is adjusting to a new role.

“Last year [Plangger] sort of stepped up and became the vocal leader on the court,” Hubbard said. “He’s an outstanding student and an outstanding person. His role for this year is to show these younger guys how to go about losing and winning with class. So far he’s done a great job. Against LaSalle I put him in for the doubles and he came up with a huge victory and won the doubles for us. He’s doing a great job and it’s good to have a senior that’s a good student, that’s a good person, who does everything right.”

Hopefully Plangger will be teaching the team’s younger members more about winning with class than about losing. Hubbard honestly believes Fordham will be a serious contender for the A-10 title this year.

“We keep talking about going from ‘worst to first’ in the conference,” Hubbard says.

“I think we all know that our schedule is going to get a lot tougher and the conference is going to be a lot tougher.”

Fordham has started the long process of turning this program around; it will, however, take more than talented players to make this team perennially competitive. The program is faced with two rather significant (and, unfortunately, intertwined) problems, the first being a lack of funding and the second being a lack of indoor courts.

The spring season begins in late January. Without indoor courts on campus, the team cannot play any home matches until the weather warms up, and must travel to area racquet clubs to practice.

“That’s the biggest challenge that we have is finding indoor practice facilities,” Hubbard said. “There’s a couple of clubs in the area that we try to get in either early in the morning or late at night … Ideally it would be amazing to make these courts here an indoor facility and then we’d be a top-30 type program but that’s really a long-term goal.”

This issue is compounded by financial issues.

“The biggest obstacle is also funding,” Hubbard said. “Indoor courts are [expensive to rent out] and in the past the school hasn’t spent a lot of money on the tennis program because they were sort of hovering in the bottom third of the conference. I really think we have a chance to compete for the conference this year and going forward.

The biggest challenge is getting funding from the athletic department and alumni to get indoor courts because if want to compete, we have to practice every day.”

For now, the Rams have one goal, which is to win the conference. They have certainly put themselves in a position to accomplish that and they are ready to capitalize.

“The fact that we’re winning now is great,” Hubbard said. “I don’t think it makes us over-confident, I think it makes us hungrier because we see these results and we see what can happen if we continue to work hard.”

PHOTO BY JULIAN WONG/THE RAM

Kuba Kowalski, a transfer from San Diego State and the Rams’ top singles player, is undefeated in singles play this year.

PAGE 16 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 5, 2011

SPORTS

Women’s Soccer Ties on Friday, Wins Sunday to Start A-10 Season

By ERIK PEDERSEN SPORTS EDITOR

Despite scoring only one goal in 200 minutes this weekend to open its Atlantic-10 schedule, the Fordham women’s soccer team was able to remain undefeated at home this season, playing to a 0-0 tie Friday night against Saint Joseph’s and defeating Temple, 1-0, on Sunday. The Lady Rams are now 4-0-1 at Jack Coffey Field this year.

The games were a good opportunity for Fordham to start strong in the A-10. In the conference’s preseason coaches’ poll, Saint Joseph’s was projected to finish 12th in the 14-team league, while Temple was picked to finish last. Despite these rankings, conference games still bring about a different kind of intensity not always seen in the nonconference portion of the schedule.

“I tried to emphasize that every tackle is harder, every hit is harder in conference games,” Head Coach Ness Selmani said. “The new players have to learn that these [games] are much more important.”

On Friday, it was Saint Joseph’s that had the majority of the scoring chances. Four minutes into the game, Hawks senior forward Jen Pfeiffer headed a shot past junior goalie Rachel Suther, but the ball went off the top of the crossbar.

Six minutes later, Saint Joseph’s had another great scoring chance

when sophomore forward Mo Hawkins was left alone in the penalty box, but she was unable to direct a shot on target.

Fordham had its best chance of the first half in the 23rd minute, when junior forward Annie Worden got past her defender and had a clear path to the goal, but charging sophomore goalie Lauren Jancuska was able to make the save. Immediately following Worden’s chance, Pfeiffer led a counter-attack, and she hit the crossbar for the second time, this time off of a shot from the top of the box.

“If you’re good, you’re lucky, if you’re lucky, you’re good,” Selmani said. “In this case it worked out [for us].”

Pfeiffer had a third great scoring chance later in the half, and this time she actually got the ball past Suther, but the play was ruled offsides and the game remained scoreless at halftime.

Suther continued her strong performance in the second half as the Hawks continued to press for a goal. She was forced to make four second- half saves, highlighted by an aggressive charging save on a Pfeiffer breakaway with three minutes left in regulation.

“We stayed aggressive on defense today,” Selmani said. “You have to act like you own [the defensive zone], and I thought Suther did a very good job today.”

Each team dominated one half of overtime, with Saint Joseph’s out-shooting Fordham 3-0 in the first overtime period and the Lady Rams returning the favor with a 3-0 edge in the second. Neither team was able to break through, however, with freshman midfielder Maria Lorena Canicatti just missing on a hard low shot with 20 seconds left in the game.

Fordham’s offensive struggles continued on Sunday, though the team was successful in controlling the run of play. The Lady Rams out-shot Temple 4-0 in the first half, with the Owls rarely gaining possession of the ball. Freshman forward Megan Poiesz had the best scoring chance for Fordham, but junior goalie Tara Murphy saved her 39thminute breakaway, and the team struggled to generate more quality scoring chances despite their domination in possession against a team that had won only one of its past eight games.

“This was the worst game we’ve played,” Selmani said. “The opponent can drag you down, and you end up playing to their level. The problem was that we didn’t score early; if we had scored early it would have been a different game altogether.”

Despite its initial struggles, Fordham did pick up the pressure in the second half, out-shooting Temple, 10-4. Twelve minutes into the half,

PHOTO BY AARON MAYS/THE RAM

Kristina Maksuti scored her team-leading eighth goal of the season Sunday.

freshman forward Kristina Maksuti was able to end the Lady Rams’ weekend scoring drought, as she took a cross from freshman midfielder Jessica Widmann and directed a shot that went off the left post and bounced into the goal.

“It was a great ball from Widmann,” Maksuti said. “She beat the defender, and I waded back in because I knew she was going to cross it and I was able to put it in.”

The goal was Maksuti’s teamleading eighth on the season, and it was all the Lady Rams would need to defeat Temple. Suther picked up

her second shutout of the weekend and third overall on the season as Fordham improved to 6-4-2 (1-0-1 in conference).

“We dominated the whole game, we just needed to get that first goal,” Maksuti said. “Once we got that everyone relaxed a little bit, and even though we didn’t get a second one it was a good game.”

The team remains at home next weekend with games against Xavier and perennial conference leader Dayton, which has won the A-10 the last two years and is 10-1 to start this season.

Men’s Tennis Improves to Women’s Tennis Sweeps Manhattan 4-0 with First A-10 Victory 7-0 in First Home Match of Season

By CHRISTIAN BEAULIEU STAFF WRITER

The Fordham men’s tennis team traveled to Philadelphia to face La Salle last Tuesday. Continuing their hot start, the Rams improved their record to 4-0, recording their first conference win of the young season in dominating fashion. Fordham’s 7-0 shutout victory was its fourth straight to start the year.

“It feels great to get our first conference victory,” Head Coach Cory Hubbard said. “We talked about working our way up the standings and wanting to do something special this year.”

The fourth win of the season has already matched the total number of wins accrued by the Rams last season; however, the players are not content with simply improving upon last year’s disappointing record.

“As far as goals for the upcoming year, we set them really highly,” sophomore Kuba Kuwalski said.

“We want to win the conference tournament in April, and mark over 20 victories in one year, first time in the Fordham tennis history.”

The threat of rain pushed singles matches ahead of doubles matches.

The Rams had little trouble defeating La Salle in straight sets for all six singles matches. In first singles, Kuwalski overmatched sophomore Chas Berenato, 6-0, 6-3. Freshman Srikar Alla bested sophomore Joesph LaBate, 6-1, 6-0 in second singles.

On a team full of talented players, hardly any Fordham player has been as dominant as sophomore Mischa Koran. Fresh off his semifinals finish in the USTA Billie Jean King NTC Men’s College Invitational, Koran continued his recent surge of spectacular tennis by shutting out Trevor

Donovan, 6-0, 6-0, in third singles.

This was Koran’s second 6-0, 6-0 shutout of the young season.

Freshman Peder Gram kept the Rams rolling in fourth singles by defeating freshman Robert Kasinow, 6-3, 6-1. Freshman Jan Krouham upended senior Fernando Tovia, 6-1, 6-3 in fifth singles, and Freshman J.J. Tauil finished the sweep for the Rams by taking care of junior Hunter Selman, 6-1, 6-2, in sixth singles.

The rain held off long enough to allow the teams to finish the match.

Kuba and Srikar opened first doubles play for Fordham with a strong 8-3 win over Tovia and Berenato. The lone hiccup of the day, and of the season, came in the second doubles match that saw Fordham freshmen Peder Gram and Mike Puntillo fall to the pair of LaBate and Donovan.

With the match securely in hand, Hubbard switched up the doubles lineup to include the senior duo of Andriy Kulak and Eli Plangger. The senior tandem saw its first action of the young season and responded with a strong 9-8 victory over La Salle’s Selman and Kasinow. The win secured the shutout for the Rams.

Hubbard said he encourages his players to be vocal in support of their teammates. Cheers boom from every corner of the Fordham bench whenever a player makes a strong play.

“The excitement the team showed when they won rushing the court and hugging those guys was probably the best feeling I have had since I have been here,” Hubbard said. “It showed our heart and we refused to give in when we had already clinched the overall match.”

The Rams’ next action will be on Friday, Oct. 7 as they begin the Columbia Invitational Tournament.

By MICHELLE FANELLI STAFF WRITER

After two weeks of play at the West Point Eastern Invitational and the Stony Brook Invitational, the Fordham women’s tennis team played its first dual match at home this past Sunday against Manhattan College, winning 7-0.

The Lady Rams were off to a nice start as they swept the doubles matches, earning the doubles point. Junior Amy Simidian and freshman Bella Genkina defeated Manhattan junior Lili Johnson and sophomore Briana Turano, 8-6, while at second doubles freshman Sarah Alli and sophomore Hanna Fritzinger defeated Manhattan senior Hilary Valenzuela and freshman Caitlin Bricketto, 8-3.

Rounding off doubles play, sophomore Angelika Dabu and freshman Julie Leong had an 8-0 win over senior Christina Ton and junior Stephanie Tsao, giving the Lady Rams a clean doubles sweep.

Keeping up their strong play, the Lady Rams also beat Manhattan in all six singles matches.

Senior Bethany Boyle played Manhattan freshman Alyssa Roselle in a three-set affair with Roselle taking the first set 6-3. Boyle stayed strong and won the next two sets, 6-0, 6-0, earning the Lady Rams their first singles win of the day.

Fordham won the other five singles matches in straight sets, with Simidian defeating Johnson 6-0 and 7-6(8-6) in first singles, and Ali topping Valenzuela 6-1, 6-2 in second singles. Dabu won third singles, defeating Bricketto, 6-1, 6-1, and at fourth singles,

PHOTO BY AARON MAYS/THE RAM

Angelika Dabu (pictured) won in doubles with Julie Leong and in third singles.

Fritzinger won 6-4, 6-1 over Turano. Rounding off Sunday’s match, Genkina also had a win, 6-0, 6-2 in fifth singles against Ton. “We had beaten Manhattan last year with similar results [7-0], but yesterday we won all three doubles and Amy Simidian beat Lili Johnson in straight sets,” Head Coach Bette-Ann Speliotis Liguori said.

“Our real test will be on Wednesday against NJIT. We lost to them 4-3 but I didn’t have my number one singles in, which makes a huge difference.”

“We also have a tough weekend

coming up with two conference rivals, UMass and URI. We lost to them both last year, but I definitely have more depth this year: with three freshmen [Bella Genkina, Sarah Ali, Julie Leong] and a transfer from Penn State [Amy Simidian] added to the line-up, plus my strong returning players [Angie Dabu, Hanna Fritzinger], we should do some upsetting.”

The Lady Rams will be back in action this Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., as they will host NJIT at the Hawthorn/Rooney Tennis Courts.

NHL Eastern Conference Preview

By NICK CARROLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Atlantic Division Offseason Champs The Rangers have had one glaring weakness for years now: goal scoring. This concern is now beginning to dissipate, especially after the team signed forward Brad Richards in the offseason. Richards, who had 49 assists last year, is one of the league’s premier set-up men and an elite power-play quarterback, an area where the Rangers need improvement after finishing 18th last season. The addition of Richards, along with the development of young talent in Artem Anisimov and Derek Stepan, should help add to the Rangers’ attack, making the team a formidable threat this year.

Offseason Chumps After acquiring goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, the Flyers do not have any questions in net for the first time in decades; however, the team completely tore apart the nucleus that took it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2010 when it traded its captain, shutdown center Mike Richards, and its leading goal-scorer, Jeff Carter, who scored 36 goals last season. The team is now built around promising young center Claude Giroux, as well as the potential of centers Brayden Schenn and Jakub Voracek, who were acquired for Richards and Carter respectively.

The Flyers, who looked like a shoe-in to make it back to the Cup for most of last season, are taking huge risks on young players and an aging legend in Jaromir Jagr, who’s been out of the league for years.

This bold offseason will either make general manager Paul Holmgren look like a genius or a dope.

I’m leaning toward the latter.

What Does it Mean?

As always, the Atlantic Division will be extremely competitive. A lot will end up falling on the health of Sidney Crosby, who is still recovering from a concussion suffered last January and will start the season on injured reserve. If Crosby is unable to play, the Penguins will need Evgeni Malkin, who hasn’t come close to duplicating his 113-point 200809 season in the last two years, to play like the MVP he can be and for the team to continue to play elite defensive hockey. If they don’t, the Rangers could take this division.

The Devils also show some hope; they had an incredible finish last season and have a healthy Zach Parise. Depending on Philadelphia’s young players, as well as the success of Jagr’s return to the NHL, the Flyers could contend for either first or last, as the Islanders are finally starting to produce young talent like John Tavares, Michael Grabner and Nino Niederreiter.

Northeast Division Offseason Champs Erik Cole was a nice addition for the Montreal Canadiens. When healthy, Cole is a reliable 20-goal scorer and a gritty, hard-working winger who is defensively responsible. He brings an attitude that the ultra-skilled (aka soft) Habs lack and will be a pest against Montreal’s tough rival, Boston.

Offseason Chumps Remember when the Detroit Pistons signed Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon just for the hell of it? Well, the Buffalo Sabres must have been impressed by this reckless approach, as they dramatically overpaid Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino. Ehrhoff was great the last two seasons in Vancouver but never performed near those levels on less-talented teams in the past.

Leino, who may or may not know that hockey is a contact sport, is a one-way player who seemed to wear down in his first full season and certainly is not deserving of a six-year, $27 million contract.

What Does it Mean?

It means nothing. The Bruins won the Cup last year and could very well do the same this season.

The same core is intact, and Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin should develop into elite players soon. The B’s just won the Cup and are loaded with players entering their prime, a scary, scary scenario for the rest of the East.

Southeast Division Offseason Champs After the Flyers’ nine-year, $51 million contract to Bryzgalov, it seemed like an elite goalie would not come cheap. Well, not so fast.

The Caps signed Tomas Vokoun from Florida for $1.5 million in an absolute steal. Vokoun, who has 44 career shutouts with a save percentage well over .920 for the last three seasons, is elite. He managed to keep some horrendous Panther teams competitive and is finally on a good team. The Caps dramatically upgraded their goaltending, while even managing to improve their skaters by bringing in wingers Joel Ward and Troy Brouwer. The Caps also flipped Semyon Varlamov for Colorado’s first-round pick next year, which should be in the top 10.

I really don’t think they could have had a better offseason.

Offseason Chumps The Lightning lost Simon Gagne and Sean Bergenheim to free agency. This isn’t a disaster or anything, and Tampa Bay should still compete, but it will miss Gagne’s 17 goals (in only 63 games played) and Bergenheim’s nine playoff goals.

SPORTS

Football Fordham 14-38 Colgate FOR CU

1 2 0 7 7 10

3 4 0 7 7 14

Men’s Soccer Fordham 0-2 Hofstra

F 14 38

First Quarter CU Ed Pavalko 7 yd pass from Gavin McCarney(Uglietto kick), 1:22 Second Quarter FOR Carlton Koonce 20 yd pass from Peter Maetzold(Marando kick), 12:40 CU Joe Uglietto 20 yd field goal, 9:08 CU Nate Eachus 16 yd run(Uglietto kick), 3:20 Third Quarter CU Gavin McCarney 7 yd run(Uglietto kick), 7:58 Fourth Quarter CU Daniel Cason 4 yd pass from Gavin McCarney(Uglietto kick), 14:53 CU Gavin McCarney 16 yd run(Uglietto kick), 6:26 FOR Langston Lacroix 4 yd run(Mirando kick), 5:25` FOR First Downs 20 Total Yards 317 Rushing 149 Passing 168 Punt Returns 1-0 Kickoff Ret. 7-129 Comp-Att-Int 19-32-2 Punts 3-43.7 Time of Poss. 24:09

CU 27 520 347 173 1-(-1) 2-39 12-19-0

2-30.5 35:51

Individual Statistics PASSING- Fordham, Maetzold 14-22-1 Colgate, McCarney 12-19-2 RUSHING- Fordham, Lacroix 14-70-1 Colgate, Eachus 30-228-1 RECIEVING- Fordham, Koonce 5-39-1 Colgate, Mputu 4-58-0

Buongiorno Konkel Daulton Hipp Ewing Arend Rodenberg Thompson Diamantidis Atwood

K PCT BS BA 4 -.05 0 6 5 .059 0 10 2 .667 0 0 9 -.03 0 2 13 .105 1 3 2 -.08 2 8 1 1.00 0 0 0 .000 0 0 10 .292 0 7 0 .000 0 0 0 .000 0 0 46 .080 3 36

DIG BE 0 0 4 1 12 0 8 0 9 0 0 0 13 0 0 0 1 0 12 0 2 0 61 1

K PCT BS BA 1 .111 0 5 2 .000 0 6 9 .065 0 2 17 .120 1 1 1 .000 2 5 17 .152 0 3 0 .000 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 1.00 0 0 48 .113 3 22

DIG BE 8 0 0 0 15 0 15 0 4 0 11 0 0 0 2 0 7 0 0 0 62 0

Temple

Connatser Iacobini Burkert Wallace Frazer Matautia Trischuk Prang Tupuola McMillen Totals

Fordham Temple

1 25 23

2 25 21

3 18 25

Gk Meara Hofstra Player Foster Botte Popp Annarumma Saleh Mashriqi Barea Memic Griebsch Kjartansson Substitutes Carrington Grenzig Dunne Emilsson Totals Gk Pellegrini

Fordham Hofstra

Sh 0 0 1 0 3 5 1 0 2 1

G 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

1 2 0 3 0 19

0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0

Min Ga Sav 90:00 2 4

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 8

0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0

Min Ga Sav 90:00 0 6 1 0 0

2 0 2

F 0 2

Fordham 2-0 Manhattan

Fordham

Diaz-Vazquez

Fordham Player Curran Jolly Bekoe Gimand Niyonsaba Richardson Nagel Courtenay Seidenthal Bouchard Substitutes Markowitz McHugh Caputo Stalker Murphy Totals

Women’s Soccer Saint Joseph’s 0-0 Fordham Saint Joseph’s Player Sh SOG G A D’Esposito 0 0 0 0 Pfeiffer 5 3 0 0 King 0 0 0 0 Lupinski 1 0 0 0 Perkins 0 0 0 0 Hawkins 3 2 0 0 Circe 4 2 0 0 Yozwiak 0 0 0 0 Irons 0 0 0 0 Summers 0 0 0 0 Substitutes Duffy 0 0 0 0 Rooney 0 0 0 0 Beattie 0 0 0 0 Farrell 0 0 0 0 Mallory 0 0 0 0 Mackey 0 0 0 0 Maurer 0 0 0 0 Totals 13 7 0 0 Gk Jancuska Neal

4 25 23

Fordham Player Ferrantello Curran Jolly Bekoe Gimand Niyonsaba Richardson Nagel Stalker Seidenthal Substitutes Markowitz Jerome McHugh Gulbins Courtenay Bouchard Totals Gk Meara Manhattan Player Montinard Scavetta Heerschap Holihan Giachino Chiduku Iannone Akers Donowick Dragovich Substitutes Festa Amos Howard Santos Nassar Towey Totals Gk Ellis

Fordham Manhattan

Sh 1 0 1 1 1 2 3 6 0 0

G 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0

A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

1 1 2 0 2 0 21

0 0 0 0 0 0 2

0 0 0 0 0 1 1

Min Ga Sav 90:00 0 5

Sh 0 0 1 4 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 10

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 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Min Ga Sav 90:00 2 6 1 1 0

2 1 0

F 2 0

Min Ga Sav 45:00 0 2 65:00 0 0

Fordham Player Murphy Dougherty Worden Carballeira Canicatti Widmann Madasci Nowakowski Maksuti Romano Substitutes Rooney Wah Ker Solimine Poiesz Abrams Totals Gk Suther

SJU Fordham

Volleyball Fordham 3-1 Temple

Totals

What Does it Mean?

If Washington doesn’t put it together this year, it never will. The Caps are loaded and now have a year under their belt playing defensive hockey. Alexander Ovechkin should rebound from a disappointing 32-goal season, and Nicklas Backstrom is probably closer to the player that put up 101 points in 2009-10 than the one that only registered 65 last season. Tampa will be a playoff team but lacks the depth and goaltending of the Caps. The Panthers deserve credit for improving their depth by bringing in Bergenheim, Brian Campbell, Tomas Fleischmann, Ed Jovanovski, Scottie Upshall and Kris Versteeg, but they lack the top-end talent to really compete. The Jets are only interesting for the Winnipeg factor and for seeing if Dustin Byfuglien can find trouble in Manitoba. The Hurricanes aren’t very interesting at all.

OCTOBER 5, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 17

Sh SOG G A 2 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 14

0 0 0 0 0 0 3

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Min Ga Sav 110:00 0 6 1 0 0

2 0 0

OT 0 0

F 0 0

Temple 0-1 Fordham Temple Player Ward Greco Yurkovic O’Toole Dychala Conn Seigfried Farlow Kuokka Lopez Substitutes Kacsuta Brill Scanlon Kirk Totals Gk Murphy Fordham Player Murphy Dougherty Worden Carballeira Canicatti Solimine Widmann Nowakowski Maksuti Romano Substitutes Rooney Wah Ker Poiesz Madasci Abrams Swift Totals Gk Suther

Temple Fordham

Sh SOG G A 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4

0 0 0 0 3

0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0

Min Ga Sav 90:00 1 5

Sh SOG G A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 3 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 14

1 0 0 2 0 0 0 6

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Min Ga Sav 90:00 0 3 1 0 0

2 0 1

F 0 1

PAGE 18 THE RAM • OCTOBER 5, 2011

ERIK PEDERSEN It is rarely rewarding to be a Baltimore Orioles fan. Since 1997, when I was seven years old, the O’s have not had one winning season, and they have lost at least 90 games during each of the last six seasons.

Despite the consistent failure, I manage to convince myself every winter that the upcoming season will be the year the team’s offseason moves work out, and the Orioles will finally have a winning season I can remember. Every year, the team finds a new way to disappoint me, and as the losses pile up I am left wondering how I could have possibly expected anything different.

With so many losses, there are obviously a number of teams that have dominated the Orioles in recent years, but no team has used Baltimore as a doormat more consistently than the Boston Red Sox. From 2006-2009, the Orioles were an incredible 17-55 against Boston, including a 2-16 record in 2009 alone. Out of the 24 series between the teams during these four seasons, the Red Sox won 22 of them.

Numbers like these made the Orioles’ 4-3 win over Boston to knock the Red Sox out of playoff contention, after being down 3-2 in the ninth inning with two outs and no one on base, easily one of the best sports nights of my life. It is also a reminder to stand behind your teams always, even the ones who consistently let you down, because it makes the triumphant nights that much more special. For one night at least, none of the Orioles’ numerous heartbreaking losses and misfortunes over the last 14 years mattered.

The Red Sox began their stunning collapse well before facing the Orioles seven times over their last 10 games to close out the regular season. Through Sept. 18, before their first September game against Baltimore, Boston was 4-13 in the month and had just lost three out of four to Tampa Bay, which cut its wild card lead over the Rays to two games.

Despite this, Red Sox fans could not have been that worried. The team had won eight of the first 11 games against the Orioles in the season series, and the Orioles had yet to win a game in Fenway Park, going 0-5 on the year. Two of those five losses had been the typical excruciating Orioles losses to the Red Sox to which I have become accustomed throughout my life, in which the O’s blew 6-0 and 6-2 leads to Boston. I attended the second of these two collapses during my first ever weekend trip to Boston, and I never once expected the Orioles to win, even as they built what should have been a commanding lead.

Whenever the Red Sox need to win games, they have always been able to count on beating the Orioles. Their record against the Ori-

oles in September from 2005-2010, when Boston was usually pushing for either a division title or wild card spot, was an incredible 25-6.

The first sign that this season might be different came when Baltimore somehow managed to win three out of four games in Fenway, with two unprecedented late-inning comebacks; however, Tampa Bay failed to make up much ground, and the Red Sox still had a one-game lead in the wild card as they traveled to Baltimore for the last three games of the season.

The teams split the first two games, and the wild card race was tied going into the rubber match.

ESPN televised the game, and the network’s cameramen focused on the usual thousands of Red Sox fans in attendance at Camden Yards. It is bad enough to watch the Orioles get demolished by Boston throughout the years, but it is even worse to see an endless number of Red Sox fans take over the stadium every time the PHOTO

BY MARK BECKER/THE RAM teams play in Baltimore.

The Red Sox had a 3-2 lead through eight innings. Boston starting pitcher Jon Lester appeared to be heading toward another win against the Orioles (he entered the night with a 14-0 record against Baltimore in 17 career starts). Closer Jonathan Papelbon entered the game in the ninth inning with a 0.40 career ERA in Baltimore, having allowed only one earned run in 22 1/3 innings.

Every sports fan knows what happened next. Papelbon inexplicably blew the game after retiring the first two batters, giving up back-toback doubles before Robert Andino (whose name will never be forgotten in New England) delivered his third backbreaking hit against Boston in September, lining a walk-off single to left field. Three minutes later, Evan Longoria hit a walk-off home run as the Rays came back from down 7-0 to defeat the Yankees and steal the wild card from the Red Sox. I honestly do not remember many specifics about my reaction immediately after the game. All I remember is the delirious excitement I felt for the rest of the night. I am usually a pretty cynical person, and following the Orioles as closely as I do generally only deepens my cynicism. For one night, though, I don’t think there was a person happier than I was at Fordham.

Sports are one of the few things in life that can bring this type of uncontrollable excitement out of people. I had to experience years of watching my team get slaughtered before last Wednesday occurred, but I would easily re-live the heartbreak to get to last week’s moment.

The only way last week’s game could have been more rewarding is if the Orioles were actually elevating themselves past the Red Sox and into the playoffs rather than simply helping out Tampa Bay. Hopefully sometime in my life this will actually occur. Until it does, however, I will look forward to talking myself into the 2012 Orioles season and once again trying to convince people that this will be the year the team finally has a winning season. Even if the Orioles once again disappoint me, I will always be able to think back to last Wednesday when I was reminded that, no matter how much recent history suggests otherwise, anything can happen in sports, and you will eventually be rewarded for sticking by your team.

SPORTS

Senior Profile: Mariella Romano

By ERIK PEDERSEN SPORTS EDITOR

Mariella Romano has been an important part of the women’s soccer team during her time at Fordham. In her first year, she was named to the 2008 Atlantic 10 All-Championship Team. As a junior, she finished second on the team with four goals, including three game-winning goals, while also tying the team lead in assists (three). This year, as a team cocaptain, Romano already has four goals as she looks to break her career high from last season. A biological sciences major, Romano is from Whitestone, N.Y. in Queens.

The Ram: What made you decide to come to Fordham?

Mariella Romano: My brother is two years older than me, and he went to Fordham. I went with him when he toured the school, and it’s such a beautiful campus. It’s also close to home; I’m from Whitestone, and I’m definitely a New York girl.

TR: Has it been any different being a team leader this year?

MR: It’s a little bit different; obviously you have different responsibilities, not only as a soccer player, but you have to make sure everyone’s on time, make sure we’re all dressed the same, little things like that. Off the field I feel like I have to take initiative more; I have to be the one to step up. It’s been a great time; I’ve really enjoyed it.

TR: You were at Texas A&M a few weeks ago, playing against a nationally-ranked team in front of a bigger crowd than usual; what was it like playing in that kind of environment?

MR: Well, my freshman year we played at UNC and Duke, and it was a great feeling as a freshman. Duke was the first game I started as a freshman, so I was used to [the environment]…we thought it was going to be a very competitive game, but it didn’t work out that way.

RAM ARCHIVES

Romano’s four goals are second-best on the team, and she leads in assists.

TR: The Atlantic 10 season is about to start. You just missed the A-10 tournament last year. What do you think about your chances for this season?

MR: This is a totally different year. We’re gonna kill A-10s this year.

TR: How well do you think the team is set up for the future when you graduate?

MR: The girls are great, team chemistry is great. I’m sad to leave, but I’m excited to be able to come back to the games and watch them play because they’re going to be awesome.

TR: Do you have a favorite soccer moment at Fordham?

MR: I have a couple of favorite

moments. Playing at Duke for the first game that I started as a freshman, and last year, scoring against Richmond in overtime in a really important game. Also, the game [against Cornell] this year when we came back late, it really showed the character of the team, and all of the road trips are so much fun.

TR: Do you have a favorite nonsoccer moment?

MR: Every day is a good time.

My closest friends are obviously on the team, and it’s just great to be able to have a team of 23 players as your best friends.

TR: What are your plans for after graduation?

MR: I’m looking into going to grad school, and I’m hoping to become an orthopedic surgeon and stay in the sports field.

Golf Finishes 13th out of 14 at MacDonald Cup

By MICHAEL BROCCOLO STAFF WRITER

The men’s golf team finished 13th out of 14 teams at Yale University’s MacDonald Cup this past weekend. The Rams finished with a total team score of 598 after 36 holes, beating only Yale’s second team in New Haven, C.T. The tournament was reduced from three rounds to two because of bad weather. At least to junior Brody Nieporte, however, the weather wasn’t the Rams’ issue.

“It might have made playing conditions a little tougher, but we dealt with similar conditions the first two weeks so we’re pretty used to it,” Nieporte said.

Juniors Jason Del Rosso and Connor Monaghan lead the Rams with matching final scores of 149 each. Del Rosso shot 76-73, and Monaghan had 77-72. That left them tied for 37th place as individuals. The course at Yale is a par 70.

Nieporte and freshman Jeff Hogan posted identical final scores of 150 each, leaving them tied for

47th place individually. Senior captain Devon O’Rourke finished with a 156.

“It’s funny, it didn’t seem like we played that much worse than at Bucknell or Cornell,” Nieporte said. “However this was the toughest field of the year and we just did not raise the level of our games.”

More Rams players either tied or beat their own first two-round scores from the previous tournament at Cornell, with Hogan and O’Rourke (the only two exceptions) gaining just four and five strokes, respectively. Hogan had the low score for Fordham at Cornell, with O’Rourke not far behind him.

Nieporte has shot identical scores of 150 after two rounds in both consecutive tournaments.

He also finished eighth overall individually at the Bucknell Fall Invitational and had a career-low round of 70.

“I feel like my game is really close right now, so I’m pretty excited for next week,” Nieporte said. “But the main thing is that I can try to play

well to help the team score.”

Despite having played well individually with minimal team result to show for it, Nieporte and others like playing at Yale.

“Yale is an awesome tournament all around,” Nieporte said. “The course is considered to be the best course in the country, and it is always a lot of fun to play. Also, Yale does a great job of running a tournament.”

Freshman Brian Engstrom played as an individual and posted a score of 153 in his first collegiate tournament.

Yale’s greens in particular are known to provide trouble for the players on the course.

The Rams return to play Saturday, Oct. 8 in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. to compete in the Big 5 Invitational.

“Next week is also a great tournament with an extremely strong field,” Nieporte said. “The main goal is for us to try and put four scores together. We have had a tough time this year all playing well at one time.”

OCTOBER 5, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 19

SPORTS

Volleyball Now 2-1 in Atlantic 10 Play After Two Weekend Victories

By DAN GARTLAND SPORTS EDITOR

The Fordham volleyball team’s record stands at a rather underwhelming 5-11; however, following a pair of wins on a crucial weekend roadtrip to Philadelphia, the Lady Rams are 2-1 in conference play.

On that trip, Fordham defeated both LaSalle and Temple, recording a school-record 21 team blocks in the win against Temple.

Prior to the start of the roadtrip, Fordham played host to Seton Hall in a non-conference match on Wednesday.

Fordham fell behind early as Seton Hall went on an 11-4 run in the middle of the first set on the way to a 25-18 win.

The Pirates then dominated the second set, winning 25-13. Seton Hall’s offense was impressive in the set, posting a .379 hitting percentage with only three errors.

The Lady Rams managed to stay alive and force a fourth set by winning the third, 25-21, but Seton Hall closed them out by taking the fourth set, 25-18.

Following the loss, Fordham prepared for a crucial trip to Philadelphia, where they would take on LaSalle and Temple, both Atlantic 10 rivals.

Fordham took on LaSalle Friday night, looking for its first conference win after having dropped the A-10 opener against Rhode Island.

The Lady Rams were in control throughout the first set, cruising to a 25-17 win.

The second set was close at first, but with the score tied at 13, Fordham went on a 12-4 run to take the set, 25-16. The Lady Rams then secured the sweep with a dominating effort in the third set, holding LaSalle to a -.133 hitting percentage in the set. Fordham held the Explorers to a -.030 hitting percentage for the match while posting an impressive .360 percentage.

The following night Fordham took on Temple, this time earning a 3-1 win to put its conference record at 2-1.

In the first set, the Lady Rams seemed to be in control, leading

23-17, but Temple reeled off six straight points to tie things up at 23. A Temple error gave Fordham set point at 24-23 and a kill by senior tri-captain Megan Arend, only her second kill of the year, won the set for Fordham.

The Lady Rams took the second set after a 6-1 run put them ahead 17-12 and they were able to close out the set, 25-21.

Temple managed to stay alive by winning the third set, 25-18, and carried the momentum into the fourth set. Temple led late in the set 23-22, but Fordham scored the match’s final three points, winning the set 25-22 and the match 3-1.

Though Fordham’s offense struggled a bit in the match, posting a .080 hitting percentage, the defense was magnificent, recording a school-record 21 team blocks.

The previous record was 16.5, set in 1997 against St. Peter’s.

“It starts with our pin blockers,” sophomore Krissy Buongiorno said of the record-setting effort.

“I think they did a great job of setting the block up where it needed to be, in the right place, and luckily for [junior Randi Ewing] and I, Temple didn’t have a very difficult offense so we were able to read their setter and get out quickly and close the blocks.”

Sophomore Carina Thompson was the standout this week for the Lady Rams, posting career highs in kills in each of the team’s three matches. She also recorded a career-high seven blocks in the Temple match.

Earlier in the season Thompson did not see the court much, but has received more playing time as of late.

“I originally was a middle hitter and [Head Coach Peter Volkert] moved me out to the right side because we’ve been really trying to work on our blocking because he wants to try and shut down the opponent’s outside hitter,” she said.

The move has paid off well for Volkert, as Thompson was a key part of both wins this weekend.

Fordham faces another crucial weekend test as Saint Louis and Duquesne come to the Rose Hill Gym this Friday and Saturday.

By TOM HASKIN COPY EDITOR

Like most of us baseball fans — save only the most obsessive among us — my interest in following the sport rises and falls periodically throughout the season. With a 162-game season, the potential for brilliant winning streaks to be then followed by late-season swoons, only to see a team once more lug itself back into the race is a rollercoaster on which we’ve all ridden.

The rollercoaster, as we know, is not always tied directly to our favorite team’s successes or failures on the field. Even fans of the Phillies and Yankees look away from time to time. Just as players go through slumps in their six-month marathon of a season, maintaining our full sporting attention on Major League Baseball for that entire duration is nearly impossible.

This is not to say that the season is too long.

In fact, it is that very length of the season, that slog of crosscountry road trips and day-night doubleheaders, that defines the very identity of baseball’s regular season.

Baseball’s other American professional counterparts — such as the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League — hardly place the same value on regular seasons that last nearly the same number of months on the calendar.

The NBA and NHL, both leagues of 30 teams (as baseball is, too), allow more than half of their respective teams to advance to the postseason. What those leagues are doing by having an 82-game playoff-qualifier round is anyone’s guess.

(Actually, there isn’t a ton of

uncertainty. When the masses are buying tickets and filling the seats for the playoff-seeding competition that starts in October and lasts until April, those two leagues remain perfectly content to profit off of their fans and television deals.)

On the other hand, the MLB makes its regular season count for something, as — for the moment — only eight of its 30 teams qualify for the playoffs each year.

To perform well during the regular season means actually playing in October, instead of NBA teams that spend the season trying to win home-court advantage.

Last Wednesday night, Sept.

28, on the final day of the season, baseball fans everywhere looked on with awe, incredulity and, in some cases, utter devastation, as the Braves and Red Sox collapsed, opening the door for dramatic wild-card wins by the Cardinals and Rays.

Though I will not document it in great detail, that the Orioles’ walkoff win over the stunned Red Sox was followed just moments later by Evan Longoria’s extrainning game-winning home run is certainly a testament to the gravity of baseball’s regular season.

In the NBA, the final days (or even final month or months) of the regular season are marked by star players on the hardwood for reduced minutes and mediocre teams duking it out for the No. 7 and 8 seeds.

Of course, no money-grubbing syndicate like a professional sports league is ever content with the status quo. Unfortunately, by all accounts, it appears that at this year’s winter talks, the MLB is poised to expand its playoff format for the indefinite future. This change will come at a great cost for the league’s credibility and

Upcoming Varsity Schedule CAPS=HOME lowercase=away

Thursday Oct. 6

Friday Oct. 7

Women’s soccer Volleyball

at Xavier 7 p.m.

at Dayton 1 p.m.

XAVIER 7 p.m.

DAYTON 1 p.m.

DUQUESNE 7 p.m.

SAINT LOUIS 7 p.m.

at Rhode Island 1 p.m.

Junior Randi Ewing had a career-high 10 blocks against Temple on Saturday.

Wednesday Oct. 12

at UConn 7 p.m.

UMASS 1 p.m.

METRO CHAMP -IONSHIP

Cross country

Rowing

Tuesday Oct. 11

Big 5 Invitational Plymouth Meeting, Pa.

Golf

Water Polo

Monday Oct. 10

at UPenn 6 p.m.

Women’s Tennis

Men’s Tennis

Sunday Oct. 9

Saturday Oct. 8

Football Men’s soccer

PHOTO BY AARON MAYS/THE RAM

significantly devalue its brutal — but respected and necessary — 162-game season.

In a purely anecdotal example, allowing a fifth team in each league to make the playoffs would have totally nullified the excitement of the final days and weeks of the 2011 regular season. In the National League, both the Cardinals and Braves would have advanced to October, and in the American League, the disastrous Red Sox would have snuck in along with the Rays.

This is not to say that the Red Sox and Braves did not have fantastic stretches of play this year.

My argument is not that winning in September should count more than it does in June, but each of those 162 games counts as much as the next one does, and when every inning had been played, the Cards and Rays each had one more in the win column than the Braves and Red Sox. If that doesn’t prove the legitimacy of baseball’s regular season, I don’t know what does.

My plea is this, Bud Selig: If baseball adds more teams to its postseason, even if this inflates revenue to keep up with the massive and wearisome playoffs in the NBA and NHL, you run the risk of stooping to those leagues’ pitiable levels. Further still, you run the risk — contrary to popular belief — of ensuring that even less attention is paid to your regular season.

The NBA playoffs are colloquially known as the sport’s “second season,” and many fans wait until April to even tune in to watch basketball. No one in his or her right mind would dream of referring to October as anything but just that.

Let’s keep it that way — and keep that month the privileged and hallowed ground that it is today.

Columbia Invitational New York, N.Y. Vanguard &Cal-Baptist

Claremont Convergance Tournament Claremont, Calif.

Head of the Housatonic

ST. FRANCIS 7:30 p.m.

OCTOBER 5, 2011

PAGE 20

Football Flattened by Colgate, Prepares for Penn

By NICK CARROLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

On paper, Fordham looked absolutely hopeless against Colgate in its 38-14 loss. It did not help that the injury-riddled Rams killed their own momentum every time they tried to get back into the game.

“You can’t turn the ball over in the red zone,” Head Coach Tom Masella said. “We’ve been pretty good protecting the football, and we didn’t do a good job of it on Saturday.”

After falling behind, 17-7, in the first half against Colgate, Fordham showed some signs of life.

The Rams picked apart the Colgate defense and worked their way inside the 25 with less than 30 seconds remaining in the half, giving Fordham an opportunity to get back within one score before the half.

Freshman quarterback Peter Maetzold, who has earned praise for his decision-making this season, threw an untimely interception to senior linebacker Adam Lock, however.

“The one big turnover Peter had was just a bad ball,” Masella said.

“He hasn’t had many of them.”

Then, starting with the ball in the second half, Fordham successfully ran the ball all the way to the Colgate three. After having a touchdown called back due to a false start, the ball slipped out of Maetzold’s hand when he attempted to throw, and Colgate recovered it.

“The ball, he went to throw it, and it fell out,” Masella said. “It was slick out there. It went backwards, it didn’t go forwards, and they recovered. I thought we came out in the

RAM ARCHIVES

Junior Ryan Higgins was 5-10 for 58 yards in relief of freshman Peter Maezold.

second half, and moved the ball into scoring position, had a touchdown called back and then we’re throwing it on third down and the ball drops out of his hands and they recover and that kind of took the wind out of our sails so to speak. We didn’t recover from that.”

Those turnovers, combined with a turnover on downs in the first quarter at the Colgate 40 and a 44yard field goal that missed the mark, killed all Fordham momentum and set the stage for a Colgate blowout, as the Raiders ran away with a 38-14 win.

Senior running back Nate Eachus,

who missed the last two games due to injury, did the most damage for Colgate, running for 228 yards on 30 carries.

Eachus was not alone; as a team, Colgate ran 51 times for 347 yards and two touchdowns, a week after Rhode Island picked up 350 yards on the ground against Fordham.

“They have a very good offense with Eachus in there, and certainly they exploited us,” Masella said. “We didn’t fit up a lot of things in our run game and that’s inexperience.”

According to Masella, injuries on the defense created problems for the teams rush defense. Fordham

was missing sophomore linebacker Brett Biestek, senior defensive back Kevin Carter, junior defensive back Khary Powell, junior defensive lineman Matt Sconiers and sophomore defensive lineman Justin Yancy, among others. Redshirt senior linebacker Andre Delaire also tried to get on the field, but was unable to play much.

“We’re without six starters, seven starters on defense and one guy who rotates through,” Masella said. “We had six, seven freshmen on field at one time. So we gotta get guys healthy.”

In addition to the ill-timed turnovers, the offense did not produce much, either. Outside of senior running back Darryl Whiting running 17 times for 76 yards, there were not many bright spots.

Maetzold struggled, completing 14 of 22 passes for only 110 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. He was replaced in the fourth quarter by junior quarterback Ryan Higgins.

“We wanted to get Ryan some work,” Masella said. “I thought that was a good time. Pete struggled a little bit, I don’t think he’s ever played in cold weather before, that type of weather. He struggled quite a bit on Saturday. We thought it was a good time to get Ryan in. Ryan had a good week of practice and we felt it was a good opportunity to get him in the game.”

Masella did not commit to a quarterback for next week.

“I don’t know,” Masella said, when asked who the quarterback will be this week. “We’ll address it.

Both get about the same amount of

reps during the week.”

Now at 1-3, Fordham heads to Philadelphia for its third straight road game against Penn.

Once again, injuries will be a concern for the Rams.

“Kevin Carter is definitely out this week,” Masella said. “Khary Powell is definitely out this week.

Brett Biestek is doubtful. Matt Sconiers is definitely out this week.

Justin Yancy is definitely out. We’re banged up but we gotta find ways to play defense and win football games. It’s gonna be a struggle. I thought the strength of our team was our defense but right now we’re playing with guys we didn’t expect to play with.”

With four of its first five games on the road, Fordham is feeling the effects of a difficult schedule.

“We haven’t handled the road extremely well up to this point,” Masella said. “It’s not easy playing on the road, it really isn’t easy, but there’s nothing we can do about it.

Hopefully we’ll handle the road a little bit better this week, but three in a row is tough, four out of the first five is tough. Then we go back on the road for three more weeks. It’s not an easy part of the schedule and I don’t think it’s easy on our players.”

In the midst of a difficult road stretch and a dearth of injuries, Fordham will have its work cut out for it against the two-time defending Ivy League champions, who came from behind to defeat Dartmouth 22-20 last weekend.

“They’re a physical team,” Masella said. “They’re a really good football team, extremely well-coached.”

Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament Moving to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center

By NICK CARROLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

On Wednesday, Sept. 28, the Atlantic 10 announced a five-year deal with the Barclays Center that will bring the A-10 men’s basketball tournament to Brooklyn in 2013.

“The Barclays Center under the leadership of Brett Yormark has clearly demonstrated their enthusiasm to partner with the Atlantic 10 and help achieve our goal of joining together to make the A-10 Championship one of the premier college basketball events in the country,” A-10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade said in a statement.

“It’s huge because of the media market,” Head Coach Tom Pecora said. “I also think going head-to-head with the Big East is a good thing …

That weekend of basketball, Thursday through Sunday, in New York City is going to be the best college basketball in the country.”

Bringing the tournament to Brooklyn could be especially beneficial to Fordham, New York’s only A-10 member.

“It’s an exciting time,” Pecora said.

“It’s a great way to take advantage of the New York market. First and foremost for the conference, but also for us.”

When he was hired, Pecora made it a point to recruit heavily in the New

York area, and nine of the 13 players on the roster are from the area. Pecora sees this as an opportunity to improve the program’s ability to further strengthen its local recruiting.

“I think it’s huge,” Pecora said. “It’s going to be a huge advantage for us on the recruiting trail, to talk about five years in New York to play the A-10 Tournament.”

“I think it’s going to have a huge advantage for us to be able to talk to New York area kids about playing their tournament in front of their friends and family in Brooklyn,” Pecora added.

The Barclays Center is going to be a top-of-the-line, 18,000-seat arena that is expected to open in September 2012 and will be the home of the NBA’s soon-to-be Brooklyn Nets.

“The facility is going to be incredible,” Pecora said. “It’s a state-of-theart building, obviously a brand-new NBA building. The facility will be great for our fans and our alumni to come to games.”

According to Pecora, it is possible that Fordham could eventually play some of its home games at the Barclays Center.

“I also think, as we build this program, we’re going to have opportunities to play other games in there I would hope,” Pecora said. “I think that’s the natural progression. Obviously if they’re buying into the At-

lantic 10, I think there will be opportunities for us to play games at a lot of arenas all over the metropolitan area, but Barclays being one of them.”

With the move, the A-10 is ending a five-year run at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. which will wrap up after the 2012 season.

According to Executive Director of Athletics Frank McLaughlin, Barclays Center was chosen over the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J., and Boardwalk Hall.

“The Barclays Center offered us the best opportunity, as well as financial arrangements,” McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

Despite failing to make the A-10 Tournament for the past three seasons, Pecora expects the Rams to return and capitalize on the opportunity to play postseason games in their hometown.

“I have no doubt we will be,” Pecora said. “We won more games last year than we had the two seasons combined prior. So I have confidence in the group of young guys we brought in. We brought in a talented bunch and we’re going to continue to recruit hard and work hard and get this young bunch better … Now it’s time for us to win some more basketball games.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

The Barclays Center is currently under construction and will open next year.