Volume 93 Issue 17

FOOTBALL LOSES TO LEHIGH — PAGE 20

COLLEGE ADMISSIONS FAVOR THE WEALTHY — PAGE 7

SERVING THE FORDHAM UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY FOR OVER 90 YEARS

1918-2011

OCTOBER 19, 2011

VOLUME 93, ISSUE 17

Bake Sale Supports Affirmative Action

FUEMS Sees Rise in Student Calls

By EMILY ARATA ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

PHOTO BY BRIAN KRAKER/THE RAM

Dr. Mark Naison’s Senior Values Affirmative Action class held a bake sale on Oct. 7 in support of the affirmative action.

By BRIAN KRAKER NEWS EDITOR

Armed with flyers and cupcakes, members of the Senior Values Affirmative Action class hosted The Real Affirmative Action Bake Sale, where students addressed misconceptions in the college admissions process in the McGinley Center

on Oct. 7.

The event, organized by students and Mark Naison, professor of African and African American studies, was in response to the attempted bake sale by College Republicans at UC Berkeley that sparked debate about the role of affirmative action in the admissions process.

“We heard about the bake sale of the College Republicans at Berkeley, which made it seem that minorities and women were getting special privileges,” Naison said. “Well then let’s do our own bake sale which reflects who really gets admissions advantages, which is based on the research done by SEE ACTION ON PAGE 2

Ambulance sirens were a frequent sound during the month of September, when Fordham University Emergency Medical Services (FUEMS) experienced high rates of calls from both students and administration for treatment of intoxication and injuries.

“We did see a higher volume,” Alex Krasner, FUEMS director and GSB ’12, said. “I’m not sure I would say that this year is worse than last.

Last year, we had 4Loko coming into the mix. We had a huge, huge up-tick in cases last year. Last September’s [response] numbers were around 120. I’m not sure if we’ve reached that point yet.”

Although FUEMS experiences different levels of calls depending on the month of the school year, it is rare for other months to equal September due to new students and school events, according to Mennona. He explained that at the beginning of the year, RAs and security often err on the side of caution when calling in medical services.

“We see September fluctuate anywhere between 90 and 100 [calls],” Krasner said. “None of the other months quite reach that.”

Because September is the month that Fordham welcomes students back from the summer, the plethora of community activities presents an opportunity for many students to go overboard with pre-gaming and partying after events like the homecoming football game and President’s Ball. This year, a Fordham-sponsored concert by hip-hop duo Chiddy Bang joined the mix.

“President’s Ball was a little earlier this year than it normally was,” Steve Mennona, FUEMS chief and FCRH ’12, said. “It wasn’t busy, obviously, during the concert. You have a lot of on-campus events that have been going on and I mean, every once in a while you’re going to have a year that’s higher than others.”

While prevention measures are in place, the Fordham administration acknowledges that such behavior regarding university events is often not preventable.

SEE FUEMS ON PAGE 3

USG Makes Plans to Survey Students about Guest Policy and administrators,” Meyer said.

“This year we are taking a different, more collaborative approach.”

Nastri developed a general survey that asks students for feedback about ResLife policies and to comment specifically on the guest policy.

Matis, Meyer and Nastri met with Christopher Rodgers, dean of students Rose Hill; Alanna Nolan, assistant dean for student leadership and community development; and Kimberly Russell, assistant dean of students and director of residential life on Friday, Oct. 8. The USG senators discussed ways to begin the process of improving student satisfaction with residence hall policies and received helpful suggestions from the deans.

“Earlier last week, we met with the deans to discuss our plans for launching an exploratory initiative which residence hall policies, if any, students would like USG to address,” said Meyer. “[The deans] provided valuable feed-

back and offered numerous resources and are open to working with us.”

The administration helped refine Nastri’s survey to help the administrators gather more helpful data.

USG aims to work with the Office of Residential Life to review annual surveys taken by all residents to try and identify potential areas of improvement. It also plans on reaching out to students to obtain supplemental information, including constructive criticism, positive feedback and general opinion of the guest policy.

“We want to know which changes, if any, students would like us to address,” said Meyer.

“We are not interested in guessing what students want or in posing our own interests as those which ought to be pursued. If students do not express interest in USG addressing the guest policy, we will spend our time on other initiatives.”

USG desires to work with

Sports PAGE 16

Opinions PAGE 7

Culture PAGE 11

Mens’ tennis finishes fall season undefeated.

Jesuit universities offer aid to undocumented students.

Ram Town provides fun and sense of community for students.

By GIRISH SWAMINATH STAFF WRITER

DAI SUGANO/MCT

Steven P. Jobs, the visionary co-founder of Apple, died at 56 on Oct. 5.

Fordham Community Mourns CEO of Apple

By KAREN HILL

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The big question on campus has been “Did you hear about Steve Jobs?” On Oct. 5, 2011 Steve Jobs, the revolutionary cofounder of Apple, passed away from complications of pancreatic cancer.

His loss has hit the world of technology, and Apple consumers, hard. Many are left wondering how the company will continue to thrive with the loss of such a unique figurehead as Jobs.

For years, Fordham University classrooms have been lit by the glowing apples on MacBooks.

With the prevalence of Apple’s technology on campus, Jobs has had an inevitable impact on the students and professors alike.

“My MacBook is my life,” Noelle Bohlen, FCRH ‘12, said. “I work on it, which brings me income. I write computer programs

on it for school and design posters or build Web sites.”

Apple products have proven to be more than just a fad used for solely entertainment purposes.

They are serious machines built for serious workers. According to Dr. Lance Strate, a professor in the communication and media studies department, Mac computers have been used on Fordham’s campus throughout his two decades as a professor here at Fordham.

“Mac users are known for their loyalty despite all the trouble that went along for the first 10 years or so of the product [Mac computers],” Strate said.

This period of “trouble” was due to Job’s resignation as CEO of Apple in 1985, when he left to work for a hardware and software company, NeXt. In 1997, Apple bought NeXt and Steve Jobs returned to his position as CEO; SEE STEVE JOBS ON PAGE 3

Beginning this past summer, Gabby Nastri, GSB ’12 and president pro-tempore of United Student Government senate, developed a plan to research potential changes to Fordham University’s guest policy.

Nastri plans to survey students on their opinion of the guest policy and use this data to sculpt revisions to the policy to present to the Residential Life staff.

While previous senators have unsuccessfully addressed qualms with the policy, Nastri, along with Caitlin Meyer, FCRH ’12 and USG president, and Bryan Matis, GSB ’12 and USG vice president, shifted their focus toward garnering the Fordham community’s opinion of the guest policy before going ahead with changes.

“Each year since I’ve been at Fordham, USG administrations have attempted to address ‘the guest policy,’ but with very little direction or input from students

SEE GUEST POLICY ON PAGE 4

INSIDE

NEWS

PAGE 2 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 19, 2011

SECURITY

BRIEFS

Oct. 13, 10:25 p.m., Walsh Hall A female student got stuck in the elevator on the seventh floor.

The elevator company responded and corrected the condition. The student was not injured.

Oct. 14, 3:30 p.m., Botanical Garden Metro-North Station A Fordham Prep student was at the Botanical Garden MetroNorth station. A male approached the student and demanded the student’s iPhone. The student gave up his phone without any argument. The student was not injured. NYPD was notified and the case is currently under investigation.

PHOTO BY BRIAN KRAKER/THE RAM

Members of Dr. Mark Naison’s Affirmative Action Senior Values class host the Real Affirmative Action Bake Sale in the McGinley Center on Oct. 7.

Oct. 15, 1 a.m., Fordham Rd. & Lorillard Pl. A female student came back to campus with three other students from Manhattan via taxi cab. They got out of the cab without paying the driver, but did not notice.

Three students went one way and the female student was walking the other way. The cab driver suddenly pulled alongside the student, exited the cab, grabbed her purse and drove away. The student had $150 in cash, a BlackBerry, a driver’s license and a credit card. NYPD was notified and the matter is currently under investigation.

Oct. 15, 3 a.m., Walsh Hall A male student kicked the front door of Walsh Hall and shattered the glass. The door was fi xed and the student was not injured. The student was referred to Residential Office.

Oct. 15, 4:20 a.m., Martyrs’ Court Jogues A student brought two nonFordham students into his dorm room without going through the sign-in procedure. The security advisor responded and located two individuals and escorted them out the building without incident.

Oct. 17, 11:05 a.m., Belmont Ave. A student was walking on Belmont Ave. to his class. Two young males approached him.

When the student passed the two males, one of them punched him on the left side of his face for no apparent reason. Both males continued to walk, and the victim notified the security office. He was not seriously injured and no property was taken from him.

NYPD is currently investigating.

— Compiled by Connie Kim, News Editor

Class Hosts Bake Sale to Support Affirmative Action ACTION, FROM PAGE 1

numerous scholars.”

While the UC Berkeley bake sale presented the benefits of affirmative action based on race and sex, the Fordham bake sale set prices based on social statuses. The bake sale had a general admission price, charging women $1.30 and men $1.25 for food, while both the “underrepresented minorities” and legacies paid $1.00. The bake sale also charged athletes only 50 cents and “the very wealthy” only 25 cents.

“So many people are misinformed about affirmative action that we feel people need to have the correct information out there,” Joni Vasquez, FCRH ’12 and a student in the Affirmative Action Seminar, said.

Throughout the afternoon, Naison’s students served baked goods and discussed misconceptions of affirmative action with patrons.

Vasquez said the bake sale was mostly approached by minorities and women.

“We haven’t had too much conflict, but we have had a few people say they disagree with what we’re doing and they agree with the Berkley story,” Vasquez said.

Even when members of the Fordham community who disagreed with the bake sale voiced their opinions, the students hosting the event said their conversations were quite cordial.

“We actually had a few College Republicans come up to us and we had a good dialogue,” Thomas Gill, FCRH ’12 and a member of the seminar, said. “They wanted to know our position, our viewpoints.

They were very understanding, very nice, and we had a good dialogue.”

While the Berkeley bake sale sparked the Fordham event, the students of Naison’s class had been grappling with misconceptions of affirmative action since the beginning of the semester.

“The emotions that kicked into this came when I assigned a book called, How White Kids are Winning the War Over Affirmative Action,” Naison said. “When I assigned this

PHOTO BY BRIAN KRAKER/THE RAM

The Real Affirmative Action Bake sale set prices based on research on the college admissions process and what students received benefits.

book and had them read the first portion of it, it was the first thing they read in the class.”

Naison recalled his class’s adverse reaction to research that ran contrary to popular stereotypes.

“A lot of the students in the class got very upset because many of them are minority students, who are always told that [they] got into a good college because of affirmative action,” Naison said.

Upon learning of the UC Berkley bake sale, Naison proposed to the class a counter bake sale that set prices based on their studies during the semester. When the class immediately took to the idea, Naison initially discouraged the class, stressing the large undertaking the event would involve.

However, he said his students excelled once they were put in the spotlight.

“They organized themselves into a media committee, a baking committee, a poster and literature committee and they were the ones who contacted the press,” Naison said. “They did everything.”

The class divided into multiple committees to organize the different facets of the event. Several students created the press committee, which wrote a press release and

contacted several media outlets including CNN and Fox News, while others joined the baking committee, which prepared the baked and set the prices.

Despite the excitement about the bake sale, some students cited initial trepidation about hosting the event.

“I was a little worried just because it’s such a hot-button issue that a lot of people get very passionate about,” Vasquez said. “We were all a little bit nervous but none of us were afraid of going out there and doing anything because we know we have the evidence to back it up.”

Despite his role as the professor of the course, Naison stressed that the bake sale was a student-run event.

“I don’t know how to bake,” Naison said. “I don’t make signs very well. I gave them access to certain information, but they figured out what to do with it.”

Naison stated his sole contribution to organizing the event was reserving a table in the McGinley Center and exposing his students to the information about affirmative action in college admissions.

Members of the senior values class were excited to use a bake

sale to present the Fordham community with information about affirmative action.

“This is a great way to draw attention to the reality and some of the fallacies of the College Republicans at Berkeley,” Gill said. “This way we can do it without being totally aggressive, without shoving our ideas down people’s throats.

This is a way we can be relaxed and give people the facts.”

Naison also emphasized the non-confrontation approach of the bake sale.

“This is reality,” Naison said about the information provided at the bake sale. “But we’re not saying that it’s wrong, we’re saying don’t just look at minority students as if we have this great meritocracy except for them.”

Upon seeing the bake sale commence and members of the Fordham community converse with his students, Naison praised his class.

“I could not be prouder of what they accomplished,” Naison said of his students. “They organized all of this.”

THIS

week at FORDHAM Thurs., Oct. 20 Jim Axelrod Speech McGinley Center Rm. 234, 1-2 p.m.

Thurs., Oct. 20 CAB Cinevents!

Keating First, 8:30-11:30 p.m.

Fri., Oct. 21 Sapienta, Doctrina Awards McGinley Ballroom, 4-10 p.m.

Mon., Oct. 24 Sodexo Farmer’s Market McGinley Center, 11 a.m.- 2 p.m.

Mon., Oct. 24 Athletics Yoga Class Keating B23, 5:30-7 p.m.

Tues., Oct. 25 CAB Cinevents!

Keating First, 8:30-11:30 p.m.

NEWS

OCTOBER 19, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 3

Increased FUEMS Activities May Be Due to Student Awareness FUEMS, FROM PAGE 1

“The large array of alcohol education and harm reduction programs provided by Fordham for upper-class and freshman students evolves constantly, but is unlikely to ever eliminate the tendency of college students to drink on the weekends, sometimes to excess,” Christopher Rodgers, dean of students at Rose Hill, said. “The ease with which even underage students can secure alcohol immediately outside the gates is startling. This is not, however, a new problem here or at other colleges and universities and we have known for years that college students tend to ‘pre-game’ larger events like concerts.”

Furthermore, the increase in calls may be due to students having the opportunity to live alone after a summer at home.

“It depends on the month,” Mennona said. “I mean, in September when the freshmen get here they’re going to be freshmen and be experimenting with alcohol and drugs and stuff like that. We see a higher number of calls for September. October will taper off a little bit.”

Freshmen, however, do not represent the majority of Fordham students transported. Senior nights are a frequent cause of calls to FUEMS, according to Krasner.

“Freshmen probably do count for a higher percentage out of the total,” Krasner said. “But you can’t discount the other three years.”

Krasner says that there has been a steady increase in student calls to FUEMS since his freshman year on the medical group’s staff. The growth may not necessarily be a reflection of more students drinking irresponsibly, but rather a newfound trust in FUEMS and in the opinions of FUEMS staff.

“Our standards of care haven’t changed over the last 35 years, so the instructions that our crew

“We always emphasize people calling us. We’d rather have the ‘safe than sorry’ mentality in terms of who we see.”

ALEX KRASNER, GSB ’12

chiefs and EMTs have while on a call are the same,” Mennona said.

“The number of calls we’ve gotten, actually, we don’t control that.

We’re dispatched by security. It could be a change in the way RAs are handling things, it could be a change in the way that the guards at the doors are handling things.”

Although some of the numbers may be in response to more conservative staff training on how to treat intoxication and illness, both Krasner and Mennona believe the increase in calls to be a positive reflection of work that FUEMS is doing around the Fordham campus to change their reputation and relationship to the student community.

“We always emphasize people calling us,” Krasner said. “We’d rather have the ‘safe than sorry’ mentality in terms of who we see. I think that’s probably been another factor, sort of an increased push of awareness of our availability as a resource on campus. We may be seeing some of the results of that.

Our overall call volume has been increasing at, I believe, a higher percentage than the increase of population on campus.”

Fordham attempts to encourage students to seek medical help when it is necessary by promoting

PHOTO BY NORA MALLOZZI/THE RAM

After seeing high call numbers in September, FUEMS has sought to spread awareness about the dangers of intoxication.

policies that protect students who report intoxication and injuries.

“Our University has what is called a ‘medical amnesty’ policy,” Rodgers said. “This means that if a student calls x2222 for assistance because he or she or a friend is intoxicated, there will be no disciplinary process in most cases.

Matched with Fordham students’ well-deserved reputation for looking out for one another, this appears to have increased the overall number of calls for assistance over the last few years.”

Several years ago, FUEMS integrated speakers into CORE Programming for the freshmen class in addition to the Gabelli School of Business’s Ground Floor class.

By explaining clearly what they do, both Mennona and Krasner believe that misguided horror stories about FUEMS are beginning to subside.

“Obviously we don’t go out hunting kids down to drag them to the hospital, though we sometimes

get that reputation,” Krasner said.

“We’ll get called more often off campus then we were traditionally used to. That’s not an RA or anything getting us, it’s students reaching out to the organization to help them.”

The work of FUEMS staffers in changing the program’s status on campus seems to be paying off, according to Mennona. In the last few years, they have seen a dramatic increase in student participation. To further reach out to the community, FUEMS is in the process of becoming certified by the American Red Cross in order to teach CPR classes to Sodexo employees, Residential Life staff and interested students.

In the midst of internships and science classes, the FUEMS staff seeks to make an ever more noticeable difference on the Fordham campus, according to Krasner and Mennona.

“We enjoy helping people, the experience of getting to make a

positive difference in the community but please, don’t get the impression that we do this for the thrills,” Mennona said. “We do it because there are people out there that have to answer a higher calling, sacrifice their Friday and Saturday nights.

It takes a toll on you, and the last thing you want to see is people give this organization a bad reputation.

We’re starting to turn away from that, which is probably the reason why people call us more often.”

In case of emergencies regarding intoxication or athletic injury, students can contact FUEMS at 718817-2222 or visit their office in the basement of Queen’s Court.

Fordham continues to urge students to consider the possible outcomes of actions involving alcohol.

“Some of our younger community members can forget that intoxication puts them at serious risk of injury or death,” Rodgers said.

“Every effort we make in this area could be saving a life.”

Fordham Community Reacts to Loss of Steve Jobs STEVE JOBS, FROM PAGE 1

thus, the revival of Apple began.

For Apple customers, Jobs’ products are popular because of their advanced and innovative technology, which maintains usability.

“He understood early on that computers are not merely tools or appliances but tools for communication that culminate into a compelling experience with pleasurable aesthetic,” Strate said.

“Steve Jobs was one of us – super representative. Being a leader isn’t be[ing] separated from everyone else, but being a part of everyone else.”

Jobs’ determination was a large portion of what made him a success and inspiration to budding entrepreneurs, inventors and even the average Joe. “It is one thing to have a dream, and another to make it happen,” Dr. Paul Levinson, a professor of communications and media studies, said.

Jobs clearly made his dreams happen. He moved from building computers in his garage to becoming CEO of the world’s second richest company.

While Jobs was a college dropout, he still serves as inspiration

JIM GENSHEIMER/MCT

As part of the larger New York City community, Fordham students witness memorials that have overtaken Apple stores.

to college students.

“As students at Fordham University, it is understood that college betters the students,” Levinson said. “However, even without a degree, Jobs has provided a lesson that everyone, including students, must follow their inner most powerful dreams [...]

But every student must evaluate what they really want [...] and if they have a real dream to peruse

then they do what they must.”

“If I had never dropped in on that single calligraphy course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts,” Jobs once said.

When MacBook Pro owner, Amy Gembara, FCRH ’14, was asked how she felt about the loss of Jobs, however, her innocent response was “Who’s that?”

Besides those who simply are not aware of Jobs, anti-Apple students exist. “[ Jobs] was incredibly rude and insensitive in business relationships” Jeff Lockhart, FCRH ’13, said. “I own no Apple products.

Their history with DRM, closed source and standards non-compliance leave me ideologically opposed to the company.”

Regardless of one’s personal

opinions, Apple and its products will never be quite the same.

“Jobs was unique and quite possibly irreplaceable,” Levinson said.

While some fear that Apple will face a downfall, loyal customers have faith in the legacy Jobs built.

Others doubt the quality of products to come.

Jobs was diagnosed with cancer in 2005, and planned his business in direct response to that diagnosis. The Apple University was formed in 2009 to train future employees.

In addition, Jobs resigned from Apple in Aug. 2011, due to the progression of his illness. While Apple will not be the same, it seems that it will be well equipped with Tim Cook as the new CEO. Ultimately, Jobs’ death came as shock, especially since the iPhone 4S was released one day before his death. The Upper West Side Apple store, a few blocks from the Lincoln Center campus, was decorated with flowers, sticky notes and real apples with a single bite taken out of them. Jobs may be gone, but he still lives in the legacy of Apple and hearts of consumers, including students and professors of the Fordham community.

NEWS

PAGE 4 • THE RAM • OCTOBER19, 2011 GUEST POLICY, FROM PAGE 1

numerous campus organizations once it fosters a strong understanding about what specific aspects the student body wants changed.

“Once we feel like we have an accurate understanding of what students would like to see us address,” Meyer said, “we will work closely with other students, including the CSA (Commuter Students Association), RHA (Residence Halls Association), Office of Residential Life, Office of Student Affairs and OSLCD (Office of Student Leadership and Community Development) to explore possibilities for enacting specific changes.”

However, USG insists that it will not try to change the samesex overnight guest policy, since previous USG students have attempted to make the change and university administration repeatedly denied their requests.

“Although the University administration is open to discussing other possible revisions that would benefit many students, they have made it clear that the same-sex overnight policy will not change under any circumstances,” Meyer said. “As a result, we have decided that students would be best-served if USG spent its time working towards improving the system in other ways.”

USG senators also encourage students to get involved in all steps throughout the process and ask everyone to contribute their opinions to help produce the best results.

Respect for Life Seeks to Increase Campus Influence

By SARAH AMENDOLA STAFF WRITER

The Respect for Life Club, a division of Pro-Life, is embarking on the first year of its three-year plan to work with the University administration to institute programs to help pregnant and parenting students. This ambitious idea originated a year ago and is finally getting underway to bring pro-life beliefs to a larger audience. Their aim is to inspire solidarity among women in order to form a supportive network for expectant mothers and students with children.

“I think that it is important that both Fordham and our Pro-Life club support pregnant young women, because during that critical time they deserve our compassion and help so they can succeed in their lives and raise a child,” Audrey Trainor, FCRH ’14, stated.

This group is motivated to prevent abortions, but has a broader goal to show that, as a Catholic institution, Fordham is committed to its students in all situations.

“I think it’s an incredibly important facet of the pro-life movement to not only to raise awareness about abortion and to advocate the sacredness of life, but also to provide for students who find themselves pregnant with the resources necessary to help them make the decision to bring the baby to term,” Club member Susan Murray, FCRH ’12, said.

Georgetown University, a fellow Jesuit school, implemented many

PHOTO BY JONI VASQUEZ/THE RAM

Respect for Life gathered on the Alpha House lawn in support of the unborn.

measures, such as special housing for student mothers, over 15 years ago and is looked to as a model for what Respect for Life hopes to do at Fordham.

One of the most challenging aspects concerning the nature of college pregnancy is attacking the stigma that students have to drop out if they are in such a situation.

This issue is less visible in colleges than in high schools, mainly because students are not as reliant on their own parents and think they have to leave school if they want to raise a child.

The club is adamant in the fact that they do not focus on why the woman became pregnant; they just want to help.

“This is a problem deeper than birth control. Birth control should be discussed in our casual college hook-up culture, but that isn’t our job,” Laura Notess, FCRH ’12, president of Right to Life said.

The club is striving to provide guidance to these students; they do

not want anyone to feel alienated or alone, because this is a common position in which college-aged people often find themselves and it should not be disregarded simply because of the Catholic teaching of abstinence outside of marriage. It is important to realize that this not only applies to women; many male students are also raising children and the group wants to be of aid to them also.

Most of the group’s initiatives are fairly basic, but require the endorsement of the administration, which has been helpful so far. In this inaugural year of the program, the group wishes to make the resources for these students known.

The health and counseling centers as well as Campus Ministry are able to guide students through the beginning of the family planning process and will refer them to other organizations that can provide more sophisticated assistance in the later stages of pregnancy.

Many do not realize that they may

qualify for additional financial aid from Fordham, and could also be eligible for social services such as Medicaid. The group is compiling a master list of additional resources that are available, hoping to simplify the information and make the sources more accessible to students. They want people in need to reach out and stress the fact that no judgments will be made and details will be kept confidential.

In the following year, the group wants to generate an email account or phone number where students can seek advice. The club members will manage the email and will be thoroughly trained to handle such serious situations.

For the third year, the club has ambitious plans to designate offcampus housing for students raising families. The possibility of an on-campus day care facility has already been raised numerous times, but the size and location of our school provides considerable obstacles. It would not only help students with children, but would be open for faculty use as well.

The club explains that most people do not feel comfortable with the babysitting in the Bronx, and outside child care areas are expensive. The other advantage of this aspect is that students considering a career involving children can get experience by working in the campus daycare. Although the logistics are a hindrance, the club wants to prove that this service would be a great benefit to the Fordham community.

PAGE 6 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 19, 2011

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PAGE 7

Admissions Favor the Wealthy at Expense of Others

By RORY MASTERSON STAFF WRITER

The elephant in the room of college admissions has finally received some notice. Thanks to a recent survey of admissions officers at public research universities, high school students will lose more sleep in their junior and senior years with the knowledge that over half of the surveyed officers are working to find students who can pay their own way through college rather than those who meet admissions standards.

One of the primary contributing factors to this trend is the financial downturn of the last few years in the United States, which has led to a dip in universities’ endowments.

Colleges in general have become less willing to give financial aid and have been working to recruit students who can afford to pay tuition and are academically equal or, in some cases, of lesser quality than those who cannot.

“Colleges have academic standards to bring the best students; ignoring them detracts from the school’s value,” Conor Fucci, FCRH ’14, said. “I think it’s pathetic that just because colleges lose a little bit of money, they can throw all their values to the wind. The student should not come second to the University’s financial problems.”

Financially, it makes sense for a college to accept the student who can pay more of the tuition over the student who cannot if their college

BRIAN KRAKER/THE RAM BRIAN KRAKER/THE RAM

Dr. Naison’s Affirmative Action class held a bake sale underscoring how the wealthy and other groups are privileged.

applications are virtually identical, and the study shows that this is what has been happening recently.

There may even be the relatively extreme cases where a student’s SAT scores or GPA do not meet those of the lowest accepted students at the university, lowering the entire academic standard of the university.

A college does not exist to cater to its own needs, however; it exists to further the education of those whose hard work and intelligence equated to success in high school.

Accepting anything less than a college’s admitted standard is making a mockery of our country’s entire academic system.

In China, it is commonplace for

children to study many hours per day and limit recreational activity so as to develop the logical sector of the brain to the best of its abilities. We do not utilize this practice simply because it is not in our tradition, and some point to this lack of structure as a reason for the regression of American education.

While I do not necessarily condone the traditional Chinese method, some American students incorporate parts of it in their study habits and work ethic as they progress through high school, and it is unfair not to reward them simply because they are unable to pay the full price for tuition. Universities are cheating students out of realiz-

ing their own potential when they lower their academic standards for some and raise them for others.

At the same time, a university may be wasting its money giving merit-based scholarships to those who can pay and/or already have scholarships for an extracurricular activity, such as athletics. Going above and beyond a full scholarship and giving more money than is necessary is a wasteful habit that could hinder the admittance of well-meaning, hard-working students who need that money for their own education.

In short, universities, especially of the research variety, need to end this ridiculous practice even if

Prices reflected college admissions.

it puts them in the red for this pay period. They may be doing our country and people everywhere a favor by giving a scholarship to a student who could one day be involved in finding the cure for cancer. Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business recently gave out t-shirts that featured a mantra on the back: “Be someone worth following.” If colleges and universities continue this trend of prioritizing money over ability, they may never be able to extend the opportunity of being someone worth following to students of lesser financial fortune.

Rory Masterson, GSB ’14, is a business administration major from Fort Mill, S.C.

Fordham, Other Jesuit Schools Help Undocumented Students

By PATRICK DEROCHER COPY EDITOR

Today’s topic is undocumented immigrants on college campuses, in particular Jesuit colleges and universities. Worry not, I have been very careful to avoid upsetting the legacies of both Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan on this matter. (They would both probably agree with me, but that is a matter for a different day.)

For clarity, I will be referring to people who are in the United States without their papers in order as “undocumented” rather than “illegal” immigrants, not because they are not here illegally (they are, to be clear), but rather because simply being in this country without the proper documentation is a civil offense rather than a criminal one, and the implications and connotations of the word “illegal” destroy that nuance.

Moreover, there is nothing illegal about a university educating an undocumented immigrant, so long as that person is not in their employ. Now onto the actual argument.

With the recent attention paid to the federal DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act, its state-level counterparts and illegal immigration general, it only makes sense that private colleges and universities have begun to confront the matter of what to do with undocumented students.

Santa Clara University, a Jesuit institution in Santa Clara, Calif., is a prime example of this. According to a USA Today College article published on Sept. 24, Santa Clara University is offering some 25 undocumented students need-based free rides in a $1.2 million program that covers tuition, room, board and fees for around four incoming freshman and one transfer or upperclass student per year.

It is perhaps unsurprising that Santa Clara, a Silicon Valley-based institution with a history of concern for social justice that is notable even within the context of Jesuit colleges and universities, is in the vanguard of seeking out undocumented students and providing them with financial support; it was, after all, one of the cradles of the liberation theology movement in the late 20th century.

What is interesting is that Santa Clara seems, if not unique, then certainly highly unusual among even Jesuit institutions.

According to the USA Today article, schools including the University of San Francisco and Seattle University (both Jesuit) have specific scholarships for undocumented students, while those such as Loyola University Chicago allow undocumented students to apply for admission and financial aid, but have no specific funds set aside.

Truly astonishing, though, is that certain Jesuit schools – the article specifically names Boston

College and Fairfield University – explicitly prohibit undocumented students from so much as applying to their institutions.

A quick online survey indicates that many Jesuit universities, including Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., do not say anything specific about their policies on undocumented students.

Fordham is in this latter group.

Although there is no information on the University’s Web site regarding undocumented students and admissions, John Buckley, associate vice president for undergraduate enrollment was able to provide some background.

“We have a very small number of undocumented students,” Buckley said, noting that fewer than 40 have been admitted over the past few admissions cycles, and that many of those students simply did not have their documentation complete at the time of application. In terms of financial aid, Fordham is similar to Loyola Chicago.

“They are eligible for merit scholarships,” Buckley said, noting that the University must apply its limited financial aid resources to all students in a difficult economy.

“We’re probably more along the lines of the norm,” he said. “It makes me think that it would be a good topic for Jesuit admissions directors to talk about,” Buckley said, referring to regular meetings

between his counterparts at all 28 Jesuit institutions of higher learning in the United States.

It is, of course, a very good thing that Fordham is willing to admit and educate undocumented students. We were, after all, the destination of a great many immigrant students from Europe and Latin America during the University’s formative years in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. What is less than ideal (at least on the surface) is Fordham’s lack of aid specifically aimed at such students.

We should, of course, endeavor to provide opportunities for as many undocumented students as possible, who tend to be in this country after being brought over by their parents, having had no choice in the matter, and who clearly want to make some sort of investment, time or otherwise, in furthering their education in the United States.

This is especially important with the spread of DREAM Act-type legislation all over the country that will allow students who are here illegally to gain citizenship through either a college education or military service.

The Jesuit order and Fordham have a strong past helping immigrants and other disadvantaged students in earning a college degree.

The “other disadvantaged students” part of that sentence is crucial. Undocumented students aside, Fordham continues to be

a resource for first-in-the-family college students and others from challenging backgrounds who are not undocumented students.

Should we risk cutting aid to these students to benefit the smaller group of their undocumented counterparts? In a word, no.

What we come back to here is money. Santa Clara can afford to provide these scholarships because its endowment is substantially larger than Fordham’s – $603.6 million to our $396 million. Adjusted for student population, Santa Clara’s endowment is more than 2.5 times Fordham’s.

Quite simply, they can afford to pay for these scholarships without cutting back for other students.

Given Fordham’s strong ties to New York City’s financial community, this is not surprising in the aftermath of the recent recession, nor is it anything for which someone can or should be blamed.

It is, nevertheless, a roadblock in our ability to provide for all of our students as well as we can, and this should be a call to anyone in the Fordham donor community who can to take it upon themselves to help finance this group of students (and indeed all disadvantaged students) as the United States continues to slog through what increasingly looks to be an extended period of economic doldrums.

Patrick Derocher, FCRH ’12, is an international political economy major from Loudonville, N.Y.

PAGE 8 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 19, 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 Anisa Arsenault Cas Black Hadley Brochy Tara Cannon Colleen Chambers Patrick Derocher Taylor Engdahl Abigail Forget Tom Haskin Olivia Monaco Connor Ryan Hussein Safa Veronica Torok 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.

OPINIONS

From the Desk of Christine Barcellona, Opinions Editor At the end of my second summer living in a quad room in the now-defunct Hughes Hall, our last overhead light bulb burnt out. My calls and emails to the Office of Residential Life were answered with evasive messages. Apparently it was not worth replacing a light bulb in a building that would soon be gutted. It was not ResLife’s problem if students had to live in the dark for weeks.

Even after eerie evenings in the cavernous, crumbling room, however, I could still roll out of my bunk bed in the morning and go to my summer job giving campus tours. I could wholeheartedly recommend Fordham to prospective students.

And I could do it without lying.

Born in the Midwest and raised in Texas, I had never been to New York before visiting the Rose Hill campus. Fordham was my firstchoice school from the moment I arrived for a tour. Since I have been at Fordham, I have spent every summer and school year living on Fordham’s campus (except for last summer, spent on nearby Crotona Avenue.)

As a student, I have been both thrilled and frustrated by the University’s resources, decisions and practices. As a student journalist, I’ve witnessed, reported or commented on some of the school’s best and worst moments. As a student tour guide, I’ve shared my love of Fordham with well over 1,000 people.

Fordham has so many good features that it is immensely frustrating when the details (especially student life issues) make daily life tedious.

For example, many residence

halls do not have sufficient (or any) silent study lounges. The University has cut the library’s budget so that it can no longer remain open 24 hours a day. The library should be at the heart of an academic institution. In Fordham’s case, it is marginalized.

Students and faculty members suffer from the lack of a reliable place to study and a decrease in new research material. Despite more than two years of student and faculty complaints and USG initiatives, the problem has not been resolved.

There have been some other disturbing moments when the University has seemed to violate its Jesuit values of social justice. For example, the University refused to support the production of the Vagina Monologues, but was willing to dish out the dollars to bring a misogynist like Newt Gingrich to campus twice.

Thankfully, there have been victories as well. One notable improvement was when benefits for faculty members’ legally domiciled adults were finally granted, after years of administrative evasion.

Like any university, Fordham is what its students make of it — and that means that it is imperative for students to become involved and invested in the community.

Being a Fordham student means almost endless opportunities — but there is a price for being involved.

For example, club leaders can make a difference at Fordham. Unfortunately, it often also means fighting with campus offices to iron out mundane details, struggling to be taken seriously in a community that is often resistant to change or pressing an often-apathetic student body into action.

During my years at Fordham, I have watched professors, students and some administrators try to make students care about themselves, their school and the world. On the other hand, the overwhelming atmosphere, especially in matters of student affairs, is stifling. Students sit in a state of learned helplessness, complaining endlessly about how much “Fordham sucks” (because of the food, run-down dorms, the Atlantic-sized puddles on campus when it rains) but unwilling or unable to try to change a system that resists intelligent criticism and remains entrenched in the status quo.

For every USG initiative that tries to ameliorate a vexing student life issue, there is an administrator who refuses to listen seriously to student concerns. For every office that has pledged to revamp and renovate their services based on student feedback, there is another department that resists improvement and refuses to change practices that have been in place for decades.

Over the past four years, Fordham has improved its reception of constructive criticism. The Office of Career Services, for example, spoke to students and employers and completely restructured its practices. Fordham’s dining facilities have responded to media attention and years of student complaints by improving the quality and variety of their offerings, and by revamping the modes of communication between students and hospitality services.

This is a step in the right direction, but Fordham still has a long way to go.

I was most proud of the Ford-

ham community this spring, when students voiced their outrage about health code violations in on-campus dining facilities. It was not the subject of the protests that made me proud. Instead, I was relieved to see that a lukewarm student body proved that it was capable of forming and voicing opinions.

Fordham’s Jesuit mission articulates a goal of social justice and change, something that Fordham’s modus operandi of evasion, apathy and obfuscation might make students forget. From ResLife policies that ignore student complaints and literally leave them in the dark, to opposition to an empowering play like the Vagina Monologues, the University tries to give students the runaround until they stop caring about anything.

I hope that Fordham students will remain concerned about oncampus issues, and that administrators will hold a civil discussion and respect students’ voices. Even more than that, I hope that students will not forget that they have a voice, an education and resources to make a difference. Students’ voices and energy should be expended not just on campus, but also in the larger community beyond Fordham’s gates.

EDITORIAL: Fostering Productive Conversations Just as in the larger society, a strong press is an integral part of any university, including Fordham.

A college newspaper strives to create an arena for discourse between the student body, the administration and the wider community.

Primarily, though, it serves as the student voice and advocate.

As last issue’s editorial mentioned, we at The Ram acknowledge that we are constantly seeking to improve the quality of our coverage and commentary. Issues have ranged from the health code inspections to the experiences of international students. When an issue is particularly sensitive or inflammatory, The Ram often takes heat. Our ideal is perfect balance, but this is only possible insofar as all parties are willing to tell us their side of the story.

Some people say we pander to administrators, acting as puppets rather than as watchdogs. Some people say that we beat a topic into the ground, giving it more attention than it merits. It is a fine line that we, and any news organization, for that matter, walk between the investigative and the overly critical.

As student journalists, our situation is awkward because the people about whom we must often report are also the authority figures at a university we attend. A professional journalist would not participate in an investigation if it centered around an organization or bureaucratic institution to which he or she had a strong personal connection. Students do not have that

luxury, as we are students first and journalists second (whether we like it or not).

A newspaper should be a source of information and analysis, connecting disparate views and outlooks while helping to hold leaders accountable. It must also hold itself accountable, and The Ram has been willing to admit where we have fallen short in terms of unintentional misrepresentations (see “Editorial: A Better Perspective on Our Coverage,” v. 93, issue 16).

Sometimes it is true that our articles do not contain a comment from every source that they should, but accessibility is vital in order to cover all sides of an issue. Many administrative entities at Fordham, including Academics, Athletics, Admissions and Security, share a productive working relationship with our publication, which allows issues to be raised, discussed and resolved. Ideally, all departments would be responsive to interview requests and respect our work as student journalists because they see its value to the community.

Overall, we at The Ram feel that the University supports our mission and appreciates the importance of student journalism.

Having these types of relationships allows The Ram to produce better, more well-researched articles to inform the Fordham community. For this reason, our staff was troubled by an incident at the Student Life Council meeting on Sept. 28, during which Christopher Rodgers, dean of students, made an “editorial comment” about a

follow-up article to last spring’s Sodexo coverage. The dean referred to the headline of that article (“Sodexo Violates Health Code Despite ‘A’ Grade,” v. 93, issue 15) as “misleading to the point of close to dishonest” and “not the most factual, accurate or responsible journalistic effort, unfortunately.” He continued, “That’s sort of my evaluation of where the publication is. That’s been shared with the advisors and will be shared with the writers.”

We believe the comments were counterproductive and indicative of an attitude that breaks down community rather than fosters it.

The SLC includes representatives from Residential Life, the Residence Halls Association, United Student Government, Campus Activities Board and Commuting Students Association, among many others. If the presiding authority of the council airs his grievances in this forum, indicating disappointment and distrust for the student journal of record, it does not give those central student leaders and administrators present any incentive to cooperate with The Ram. This is detrimental to everyone involved.

The Ram regrets that the headline of the article in question could be perceived as unfair to Sodexo, given the strides it has made since last spring. We stand by our reporting, though, in terms of the facts of the article and the due attention that we have paid to these food safety issues.

Last spring, Fordham took no apparent steps to correct its dining

facilities’ violations until student outrage compelled them to do so, reflecting a fundamental service that student journalism can provide. At the town hall, Sodexo officials acknowledged that they had let Fordham down and apologized to the student body. Since then, they have made great improvements, and we are pleased that our efforts have had a meaningful and constructive impact.

Good journalism requires follow-up reporting, and given how universally troublesome this issue was — something no one contested at the time — it necessarily follows that we maintain a watchful eye. The dean’s criticism, given its context, was not constructive, serving only to degenerate the rapport between The Ram and Student Affairs. If we are denied access to information, our coverage suffers, depriving the University of a fundamental service. This is not in the spirit of our university, and can only hinder our efforts.

We do the best that we can to serve as the student voice, always endeavoring to improve. We believe that the University, including the dean of students, believes in student journalism. We look forward to bettering The Ram with constructive relationships, moving, along with Fordham, ever upward.

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.

OPINIONS

OCTOBER 19, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 9

H Homeland Classrooms May Change, Rigorous Education Should Not Insecurities Education Has Uncertain Future, but Certain Elements Must Remain to Ensure Learning Ins

By DECLAN MURPHY

Isabel Brown So Much for a Safe Workplace This week, Slate.com published a lengthy but engaging report on the causes of American income inequality. With midterms pressing down, leisure reading is less of a priority than ever, but I couldn’t help but be fascinated by a section on the decline of unions.

I don’t know if it’s out of ignorance or fear, but average Americans have always been suspicious of a policy that could make their quality of life a little above the norm. Heaven forbid that anything like unionization might infringe upon the abstract idea of “individual freedom.”

The only “individual” whose freedom might finally be curbed by labor rights is the corporate world.

Let’s make one thing clear: a business is not an individual. This country was not founded to protect businesses. It was founded to protect human beings from undue harm above all, and it’s becoming clearer by the day that business is harming you and me.

When workers have enough money to buy more goods, businesses simply become stronger than they ever could using layoffs and pay cuts. Some politicians don’t want to see that being protrade falls hand in hand with being pro-labor.

In discussions of how our crumbling economy might be revived, policy-makers and analysts frequently mention how crucial the buying power of the American worker is. Consumer buying power, as I learned from the Slate report, is inextricably linked with wages. It’s been noted time and again that, regardless of how much money a select few citizens have, the buying power of average Americans is the determining factor of the nation’s economic health.

When wages are kept low, so is buying power. So when President Bush, for example, froze the minimum wage at $5.15/hour for nearly a decade, the buying power of minimum-wage-workers sank to a 51-year low.

Ahem, does anyone remember the last lengthy economic boom in America? In the ’50s? Just before buying power began to decline?

Even watching an episode of “Mad Men” makes it clear that the glory years of American business and consumerism lasted in an era when workers’ income rose steadily.

Today, the average American is victimized by stagnant income; formerly safe jobs in civil service (see the Wisconsin collective-bargaining union battles of last winter) now face the same cuts to pay and pensions that private-sector workers faced for years longer. The idea of using wage freezes as a quick fix for business has (evidently) been the steady undoing of the American economy for 51 years.

Decade after decade, the fight over labor rights has been marred by violence, greed and lies. When we examine how our economy actually works – not what politicians and businessmen claim – supporting the interests of the common worker is a policy that helps every individual.

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The current trend of many businesses, including newspapers, gravitating toward the Internet has recently brought attention to the idea of virtual campuses or “distributed” learning, where college courses can be taken online, at a student’s convenience and often at a much cheaper price. As a result, many community colleges have already adopted this online education approach. The question is whether or not online education will change our nation’s top universities.

This tough economy makes affording a prestigious private university’s tuition an unrealistic possibility for many students. Student loans and scholarships can be great financial options, but in many cases they are not enough for students and their families.

Online courses offer a cheaper education for such students.

By taking classes on a socalled “virtual campus,” students can earn degrees and achieve social mobility, thus improving an economy that desperately needs people to work and spend money.

The use of online courses can also benefit students living outside of the United States, especially those residing in developing countries, who don’t have the option of attending a distinguished American university. This concept of “distributed” learning holds great value and could provide the means for many undereducated people in the world to socially advance.

There is no substitute for the real university campus experience, however. Here at Fordham, we are lucky to have a beautiful, diverse campus that serves as a vibrant community for students. Being part of a campus allows students

to interact, share ideas, discuss academic topics and learn from each other. This kind of place and the opportunities it presents are unique in the world and should not be replaced by the online courses of a virtual campus.

Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University, has spoken extensively about Fordham’s unique Jesuit tradition.

“From the very beginnings, Jesuit education has been characterized by a number of different qualities,” he said. “We have a great emphasis on care for the individual student; we have a great desire to introduce excellence and rigor into the classroom and every subject we teach.”

This individual care for and challenging of the student cannot be replicated on a virtual campus.

Online courses offer no face-toface interaction between students and professors. Fordham focuses on small seminar classes based on the belief that the best way to learn

student’s future career path, academic advisors can offer a unique kind of assistance. Students seeking a degree online are often left without such an advantage and without luxuries such as Career Services or on-campus career and internship fairs.

Online classes also mean that there is no viable way to prevent cheating. Students could essentially look up answers on the Internet or have a friend take exams for them. This brings the value and legitimacy of online education into question.

Despite its drawbacks, however, online education is an excellent option for many students and adults who are balancing providing for themselves financially and working toward receiving a degree.

“I took an online course with a community college one summer and it allowed me to earn some extra college credits while working full-time,” Tim Deering, GSB ’13, said.

Even though the technological revolution is in full swing, I don’t believe that higher education will change that dramatically in the years to come.

The university, as a structure in our society, represents both tradition and opportunity.

In the United States, the long history and prominence of prestigious institutions in providing better opportunities and social advancement has ingrained in us a belief in the value of higher education. The great schools that we have in this country play a significant role in keeping the U.S. competitive in the global market.

If higher education were to be disrupted by the Internet, we would lose advantages we have as a nation.

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

“This individual care for and challenging of the student cannot be replicated on a virtual campus. Online courses offer no face-to-face interaction between students and professors.” is through discussion, and that the classroom allows students to participate in lectures and listen to professors in person. This type of interaction gives students a distinctive learning experience that is much more likely to stick with them later in life than lifeless text on computer screens.

Students who attend an institution such as Fordham also have the benefit of guidance from academic advisors. College can be a time when a student is unsure about his or her path in life or is uncertain about what he or she wants to pursue as a career.

Although parents and the students themselves play an equally important role in determining a

LISA POOLE/AP

Colleges like the University of Massachusetts offer online courses, which are especially utilized by nontraditional students.

The Sweat at off w the Brow Harry MacCormack The 53 Percent I read an article on Gawker recently that deeply saddened me.

The article lampooned the “right wing version of ‘We are the 99 percent,’” which was started by Erick Erickson, the CNN correspondent who runs Redstate.com. Erickson responded to the “We are the 99 percent” movement by claiming to be part of a 53 percent of the country that shoulders the tax burden, works hard to stay afloat in a tough economy and doesn’t understand why the Wall Street protesters are complaining. For the uninitiated, “We are the 99 percent” is the slogan used by Occupy Wall Street, where people essentially complain about how they can’t pay their bills, don’t have a job or insurance and then qualify it with “I am the 99 percent.” This slogan has become the Occupy Wall Street protestors’ favorite method of whining in recent days.

Erickson decided to put his own spin on this slogan with “I am the 53 percent,” where he states, “I work three jobs. I have a house I can’t sell. My family’s insurance costs are outrageous. But I don’t blame Wall Street. Suck it up, you whiners. I am the 53 percent subsidizing you so you can hang out on Wall Street and complain.”

I applaud an attitude such as this. Instead of sitting around whining like the protestors, Erickson is working as hard as he can to be successful. He is taking charge of his life and providing for himself, without help, proving it can be done, even in a bad economy, and what kind of response does he get?

Instead of applauding an attitude from which everyone could seriously benefit, Gawker ridicules him as a stooge for the right wing. Erickson is not alone in this movement, either; there are plenty of people who have shared similar stories on his blog.

Instead of admiring those who had the wherewithal to rise above their bad situations, however, Gawker and others discredit them by vilifying them for being able to pay their bills, as if being jobless and destitute is something of which to be proud.

What has this nation come to that productive members of society are considered to be less-than-moral because they can pay their bills?

While reading this article, I also noticed the overwhelming number of comments which portrayed “the 53 percent” as lower-class citizens with delusions of pride from having tough lives. This is simply not true.

Their pride does not stem from the fact that they can barely pay their mortgages, but instead that against all odds, when many like them could not pay, they still found a way to do so. These people are not delusional, they just value hard work. The first few words of the Gawker article scoff at the idea that a person should be grateful for being either over- or under-worked. The fact of the matter is that, in this economy, with the job market as bad as it is, those with jobs should be grateful.

“I can’t have the job I want, so I won’t work at all!” These people aren’t saving the United States. They are destroying it, one whiny complaint at a time.

PAGE 10 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 19, 2011

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OCTOBER 19, 2011

PAGE 11

Basketball Builds Excitement for Season with Ram Town

By NICK CARROLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

In the midst of a festive atmosphere complete with games and food from local vendors, Fordham basketball hosted Ram Town for over 2,000 excited fans.

Ram Town is an event in which the men’s and women’s basketball teams connect to their fans through various competitions, giving away a number of prizes.

Head Coach Tom Pecora originally came up with the idea for Ram Town in an attempt to reinvigorate fan interest in the team.

“Everything we do in athletics, we talk about ‘How will it affect the students? Can it have a positive effect on their experience here at Fordham?’” Pecora said. “Being involved in athletics, whether it’s coming to a basketball game or going to a football game, whatever it might be, really enhances your experience here at the University, so we want to engage our student body with our team.”

Like last year, prizes helped draw students to the event in an effort to build excitement for the start of the basketball season next month. Throughout the night, students won 32-inch flat-screen TVs, Nooks, iPads, $100 Best Buy gift cards and free books at the expense of Pecora and women’s Head Coach Stephanie Gaitley.

The big prize of the night was a trip to Cancun. Each student received a raffle ticket at the door. If a student won the raffle, he or she had the chance to take a free throw to win the trip. After numerous students missed their free throw, Jesse Downes, FCRH ’13, sank the shot to win the trip.

“I was completely shocked when my number was picked and at the line I was just focusing on something I’ve done thousands of times,” Downes, who will have the opportunity to choose from a five-day trip to Cancun and three different Caribbean cruises, said.

“I was really nervous but still pretty confident I’d make it.”

“I came out Friday because I support the basketball team,” Downes said about why he attended.

Students who were not chosen to compete in games did not leave empty-handed. Fordham handed out T-shirts at the door, and the teams threw shirts into the crowd throughout the night.

Ram Town embraced many of the finer aspects of the surrounding Bronx community. Giovanni’s supplied pizza, Arthur Avenue Market Pasticceria brought cake and cannoli, Michelangelo’s added pasta and chicken, Howl at the Moon provided boneless wings, Sodexo served cotton candy and popcorn and Coca-Cola took care of the drinks. A moon bounce was also set up in the Rose Hill Gym. “I didn’t want [Ram Town] to be a typical midnight madness,” Pecora said. “I wanted it to be like a street fair in the Bronx on Arthur Avenue.”

A lot of effort went into the production of Ram Town.

“My staff did an incredible job,”

PHOTOS BY AARON MAYS /THE RAM

At Ram Town, students received raffle tickets for the chance to win prizes, such as a trip to Cancun, flat screen TV’s, Nooks, iPads and Best Buy gift certificates.

PHOTOS BY AARON MAYS /THE RAM

Ram Town offered students free t-shirts and food, including pizza from Giovanni’s, pasta and chicken from Michaelangelo’s and chicken boneless wings from Howl.

Pecora said. “[Director of Basketball Operations] Mike DePaoli obviously headed it up and a lot of organization, and the student groups here are so active.”

While the aforementioned Arthur Avenue vendors supplied food free of charge, Fordham paid for the prizes awarded throughout the night.

“The athletic department has to put up the money,” Pecora said.

“And we could give away gifts we bought, the flat screens, and the [iPads], and the Nooks and all of those types of things. So, there’s a commitment to it, but that’s part of our job. If we’re going to make the night special for everyone, that’s how we have to do it.”

The University paid a portion amount for the trip to Cancun, according to Pecora and other sources in the athletics department.

Some well-known Fordham alumi helped throughout the night.

Ryan Ruocco, FCRH ’08 and cohost of the “Ruocco and Lunberg” show on ESPN 1050 radio, emceed the event. Mike Breen, FCRH ’83 and play-by-play commentator for the New York Knicks and the NBA on ABC and ESPN, drew tickets for the raffle at the end of the night. “[Pecora and I have] been friends for a long time, back when he was at Hofstra, so whatever I can do to help him support and build a program and [Executive Director of Athletics] Frank McLaughlin is as well,” Breen said regarding how he got involved with the event.

“I got a son who’s a junior here as well, so I’m still very much in tune to Fordham, and Fordham’s been in my heart.”

Students viewed the night as a success.

“It was a great night,” Steve Frost, GSB ’15, said. “A lot of excitement about the upcoming basketball season, and I’ll come back next year.”

The players also said they enjoyed starting their season in front of the packed crowd.

“I think tonight was really successful,” junior guard Arielle Collins said. “We had a lot of students come out, we gave away a lot of prizes. I think the students are definitely going to be excited for the upcoming season.”

It still could have been better, though, according to junior forward Chris Gaston.

“I thought it was a good time having all the fans out here,” Gaston said. “I didn’t have as much fun as I did last year, because I felt like we were more involved.”

“I was just hanging out, I was just sitting down, I didn’t really do too much,” Gaston added. “I thought like if we would have had a dunk contest, or something like that, it would have been a lot of fun, it would’ve got the crowd going.”

Pecora expects Ram Town to

continue to grow and improve every year.

“Obviously the dance contest was great,” Pecora said. “The layup, free throw, three-pointing for the students was great. The chicken catch I thought was great. A couple of the others, maybe not so much, so we’ll search out for something else each year and we’ll tweak it and make it fun.”

The next event for Fordham basketball is a men’s intersquad scrimmage, which will by coached by WFAN sports radio hosts Boomer Esiason and Craig Carton, and will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. Student admission will be free and proceeds from general admission tickets will benefit the Boomer Esiason Foundation.

The men’s team opens its season at Syracuse on Saturday, Nov. 12 and the women’s team will open at the Rose Hill Gym on Friday, Nov. 11 against Albany at 8 p.m.

CULTURE

PAGE 12 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 19, 2011

Cooking With Clara CLARA ENNIST

Dining Out: Mother Burger

While there may never come a time in our lives when we need to seem impressive based on our cooking skills alone, there may come a time when we want to impress people by baking something perfect. It doesn’t matter if it’s for a date or for the barbeque that your ex is hosting, it is not flattering or endearing to receive a patronizing “Well, you tried your best” when you try to serve what you hope will pass as a plate of cookies. While it may seem difficult, cheesecake is one dish that is so simple when broken down.

The recipe that I use, while virtually identical to New York Style cheesecake in taste and texture, calls for sour cream rather than heavy cream in order to make the cheesecake more durable. Besides North America, cheesecake has a presence in many countries across Europe, South America and even in Japan, solidifying the fact that, despite differences in cheese and cake components, anything that is sweet, creamy and rich is universally delicious. Moreover, the fact that cheesecakes are made with so many variations according to different culinary cultures means that you can experiment with your own basic recipe in order to create a signature cake.

Before I got ahead of myself in adding fruit, cookie dough, chocolate, pumpkin spice or any combination thereof, I decided to make a plain, but elegant, “New York Style” cheesecake.

I am lucky enough to have almost every baking utensil. Beyond the typical necessities I also have the ridiculous and virtually unnecessary (a kit to make the perfect mini tarts, a sifter for a commercial kitchen).

How on earth I managed not to have a spring form pan is unfathomable; yet, since I decided to make a cheesecake, I could not allow something as trivial as the absence of a spring form pan deter me. My solution: premade graham cracker pie crusts. While I would normally scoff at the notion of using a premade pie crust for any dish, I succumbed to the expediency of the moment and decided to use an eight-inch crust.

Call me a hypocrite if you like, but then I won’t bake you a cheesecake.

For anyone who has ever made, and quite possibly wrecked, a cheesecake, there is concern over how to make a cheesecake with a perfect, smooth top that does not crack or cave in. The trick is to turn the oven off after the cheesecake has finished baking and allow it to stay in the oven as it cools down. This gradually brings down the temperature of the cake rather than shocking it, which, ultimately, causes damage to the top. Also, baking a cheesecake in a water bath is absolutely necessary.

Using a premade crust rather than a spring form pan necessitated some alterations. First, I ended up with enough filling for two cheesecakes. Second, the cheesecake had to be baked for 10 minutes less than the recipe called for.

There you have it, your one (or two) perfect cheesecake: make it, serve it and then gloat.

For the recipe, please visit theramonline.com.

dients sprawled across the plate and burger patties breaking free CONTRIBUTING WRITER of the buns. Not the case with Mother Burger. The burger— It didn’t take long after being complete with Mother’s Special seated to realize that my companSauce—was flavorful, juicy and ion and I were the only women manageable. in the relatively crowded Mother The sauce added a kick that Burger. Located on Eighth Avwas surprising but enjoyable. The enue at W. 49th Street, it wasn’t toppings were fresh (although the a very long walk from Lincoln lettuce was shredded, which was Center. a bit odd). When I finished the With the outside seating out of burger, I was not too full, which commission due to the weather, was lucky because I we resigned ourOverall still had the french selves to a table Location fries to eat. The fries inside next to a Food Quality weren’t anything spestack of unopened Atmosphere cial, but it’s hard to beers and obHospitality mess up fries; it’s like served the scene Price $$$ pizza – even when around us: dark, (Out of 4 ’s) it’s bad, it’s good. fun, a perfect spot Mother Burger’s for the after-work fries were skinny, but not the crowd. crisp-almost-crunchy kind. They When I saw that everyone was were average. But give me a pile drinking, rather than eating, I of average fries and some ketchup grew worried about our future and I’ll be happy all day long. meal.

The best part of the meal, Sure, with names and categories though, was for the 21+ club: Frolike Single Mother and Overbeerzen Pink Lemonade. It tasted exing Mother, the menu was amusactly like the name promised and ing, but would it live up to the hid a kick of vodka underneath. If expectations? And, more imporI could have, I would have drunk tantly, would the burger and fries an entire pitcher. My friend had a be worth the $9.95 price tag? frozen margarita, which was deliI soon found out there was no ciously strong. Both made perfect need for worry. At 5:30, we had additions to a Wednesday night. simply arrived earlier than the Since Wednesday, my friend regular dinner crowd, and other and I have been trying to condiners, both male and female, vince our roommates to go back started trickling in. When our to Mother Burger with us. I have food arrived, it was apparent that to go soon with them or without our food was worth every dollar. them, though, because I have I’m not sure if you’re a burger been craving a Single Mother ever connoisseur, but some burgers since. are simply unwieldy, with ingre-

By MARGARET MAUK

Cheesecake

COURTESY OF FLICKR

Mother Burger is located at 329 West 49th St. between Eighth and Ninth Ave.

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

Mother’s Special Sauce adds a kick to burgers, such as the bacon cheeseburger.

Editor’s Pick: TV Show ‘Pan Am’

By TARA CANNON COPY EDITOR

Due to the lack of HBO at Fordham, my roommates and I have been forced to find some new Sunday night TV this semester. A few weeks ago, we saw previews for a show called “Pan Am,” which we thought looked interesting, and we made a date to watch it when it premiered. It turned out to be a great life choice. “Pan Am” is similar to “Mad Men;” it takes place in the 1970s and is full of love and relationship problems in the workplace. It actually carries a lot of depth, too. “Pan Am” is based on an airline of the same name that came out with large, luxurious international planes that took people to Europe, Asia, and Central and South America. The show takes place as the flights are first becoming popular, and the main characters are the flight attendants and pilots who work together on the planes.

The characters, after only four episodes, have already developed into complex and interesting people whose stories seem to be connected, sort of in a “Lost”-esque way. One of the main characters is Kate (Kelli Garner, Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead), who is a stewardess and actually a spy for the FBI, as we found out in the end of the first episode.

She befriends another spy named

Bridget, who used to date one of the pilots, and was also once a stewardess. Kate’s sister, Laura (Margot Robbie, “Neighbours”), knows nothing about Kate’s work as a spy, but Laura joins her sister as a flight attendant after running out on her own wedding day.

Maggie, a flight attendant played

by Christina Ricci (The Adams Family), adds a bit of flair to the show, playing a young, flirty new girl trying to figure out life. The women in the show are all based on the stories of a real “Pan Am” stewardess from the 1970s, Nancy Hult Ganis. Ganis, in an interview to Entertainment Weekly, said, “I called about eight of my former Pan Am stewardesses, and I said, ‘Let’s all get together and have a little retreat and I’ll bring a camera crew.’ We took it to Sony and they said, ‘Let’s do this.’” Ganis and her friends’ stories of everything from top-secret pilot/stewardess relationships to a Cuban rescue mission have been adapted to the show and now make up the plot of most of the episodes.

One of the coolest things about the show is that it takes place in a different country (or countries) each week. Places such as Paris, Berlin and London have already been featured in the first few weeks, and visits to many more countries are in the works, according to the shows’ producers. The characters’ romantic relationships and some

COURTESY OF FLICKR

of their greatest troubles happen in these foreign countries, which adds a certain edge to the show that is not found on any other on program right now. For example, we see a pilot named Ted (Michael Mosley, 27 Dresses), who is in love with Bridget, running through the rainy streets of London at night ,desperately searching for her, and in the very next episode we see Laura running from her exhusband throughout Paris. We see Collette, the French stewardess, mourning her deceased family,

who were killed by the Nazis during World War II, while in Berlin.

The different locales, besides being beautiful and exotic, also allow for the characters to meet exciting people and go on some pretty crazy adventures. “Pan Am” seems to be one of those shows that you can’t get tired of because the characters are so intriguing and the locations are always changing.

Watching “Pan Am” is a great way to spend your Sunday night when you just can’t study for midterms anymore.

CULTURE

WHO’S THAT KID? Anthony Tochet A MEMBER OF GSB ’13 MAJORING IN ACCOUNTING

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

Since I was a freshman, I have always been involved. Currently, I am the executive program coordinator for the Commuting Student’s Association (CSA). I am also on the programming side and I am currently working on Thanks-GiveAway and Fordham Idol. Look out for them. Additionally, I am the president of the new Insieme Italian Cultural Society.

In addition, I am the head weatherman and marketing director for “Fordham Nightly News.” Every Monday night at 5:30 p.m., students can see my lovely face giving Fordham its weekly weather forecast. I am on the General Board for the Campus Activities Board. I just like to help CAB out whenever I can. Also, I am a General Board member of the Senior Week Committee. Basically, I am in charge of working all Senior Nights and Senior Week events.

schedule-orientated when it comes to getting work done. Also, I am a complete nerd and I am always excited to go to class every day.

What is your favorite aspect of Fordham? Why? I guess my favorite aspect of Fordham would have to be how much Fordham has to offer. I feel like every week there is always a lecture, a dance lesson, a career workshop, a raffle, a bingo tournament, a movie and just about anything that is fun. These events are meant to allow you to procrastinate. Why would you want to stay in your dorm/apartment/mother’s house and look at a friend’s status update, when you can be right there experiencing it?

What is your favorite class and professor at Fordham? Why? I am really bad at answering these questions because I feel like all my professors read The Ram and would be offended if I don’t mention them. As of right now, however, my favorite classes are all of my accounting classes because I am a huge numbers nerd.

My favorite professor is Kate Combellick. She is an amazing professor that offers so many assignments that build public speaking skills, better resumés, and great networking opportunities. I demand that all business students take her class.

What is your favorite memory while attending Fordham?

Aside from Commuter Week, Spring Weekend and Festivus Fordhamensis, my favorite memory while attending Fordham would be the recent retreat – for that matter all retreats that I attended with the CSA. During those retreats I made lifelong friends and grew both as an individual and as a student leader.

To read the full article, visit theramonline.com.

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

Going

20

?

On

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

THURSDAY “How the Spiritual Exercises Can Transform One’s Life” St. Ignatius Loyola Room (University Church) 12 p.m.

The lunchtime discussion will be held as part of Ignatian Week.

21

FRIDAY BrooklynVegan Showcase Music Hall of Williamsburg (6 N. Sixth St.) Brooklyn, N.Y. 7 p.m.

The showcase features BRAIDS, Active Child and Weekend as a part of the CMJ Music Marathon.

22

SATURDAY Kevin Devine Highline Ballroom (431 W. 16th St.) 6 p.m.

Devine’s performance will conclude the CMJ Music Marathon along with An Horse, The Front Bottoms and Orca.

23

SUNDAY Doug Benson: Doug Loves Movies Podcast Gramercy Theatre (127 E. 23rd St.) 8 p.m.

Comedian Doug Benson will perform his popular podcast live.

24

Please describe yourself in a couple of sentences: I am just an ordinary individual that tries to do many extraordinary things. I am a happy and optimistic guy. At times, most people would probably find me very loud and a little bit crazy, but I am really just trying to make sure that your frowns are always upside down.

Please describe something about yourself that not many people know: Most people know me as that commuter who is extremely loud, outgoing and pretty much working or attending every event at Fordham. I guess something that people don’t realize is that I am very

OCTOBER 19, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 13

MONDAY “Dialog in the Dark” South Street Seaport (11 Fulton St.) 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.

You will be blindfolded and led by blind guides around Manhattan increasing the sensations of your other senses.

25

TUESDAY “How do films affect social exchange?”

Faculty Lounge 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Listen to Fr. Michael Tueth, S.J, discuss how films like The Help evoke change.

26 COURTESY OF ANTHONY TOCHET

Anthony Tochet, who is a commuter and a junior in GSB, is from Yonkers, N.Y.

WEDNESDAY Theology Roundtable on the topic of Angels and Demons, Vampires and Zombies South Lounge at Lincoln Center Campus 2:30 p.m. - 4 p.m.

This talk is led by Dr. McPherson and Kathryn Reklis.

— COMPILED BY SCHARON HARDING

Ram Reviews MOVIE

MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE

By JAKE KRING-SCHREIFELS STAFF WRITER

In the opening sequence of Martha Marcy May Marlene, the foreground of a nondescript setting comes into focus. Somewhere in the wooded country is a small farm inhabited by a collection of men and women. First the men eat, and then the women eat separately. They sleep five or six to a room, huddled on the floor boards, get woken up by banging pots and begin their day’s work at the crack of dawn.

Before there is time to establish this particular clan, a girl called Marcy May (Elizabeth Olsen, Silent House) escapes from the compound into the forest and then quickly places a phone call to her older sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson, “Cupid”) for help.

This brief, shadowy introduction incites mystery, a theme which eventually takes over the entire film.

Lucy recognizes her sister’s voice over the pay phone, whom she addresses now as Martha. Discouraged by her troubled tone, Lucy drives up and takes Martha back to the quiet lake house where she and her husband Ted (Hugh Dancy, King Arthur) vacation. It is here where the movie seamlessly begins to uncover this fragile girl’s past life and the details of the obsessive cult that coaxed her into joining them. Lucy and Ted are unaware of this past, which is told through flashbacks, and they begin to slowly probe this clearly mentally unstable sibling.

The mysterious commune is headed by Patrick ( John Hawkes, The Perfect Storm), the male elder, whose persuasive behavior is accentuated by his grizzled, dirty look. He influences the entire cult to abide by the established rituals of total love and cleansing. Martha’s abnormal behavior at her sister’s home parallels her past life within the unsound clan and her erratic behavior quickly becomes a smoke signal for

her former, abused lifestyle.

Sean Durkin (Doris) captures a myriad of outstanding performances. His first feature length film, Martha, is an expansion from a short film he created, called Mary Last Seen, further exploring the practices and rituals of cults. His remarkable way of storytelling is illuminated by economical uses of musical dissonance and past to present transitions. A smoother, more sensual editor – as opposed to director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu’s (Babel) harsh backand-forth cuts – Durkin overlaps his dialogue in direct accordance with both Martha’s past and present realities. Her domestic outbreaks of fear and paranoia continuously correlate with her historical allusions to the previous two years. As she begins to question whether the things she remembers were dreams or misshaped memories, the narrative’s perspective becomes a similar examining point.

Elizabeth Olsen’s innocence is wiped clean in this role, a penetrating struggle between the rugged,

simple and ethically muddy communal wilderness and the domiciliary adaption into upper-class commonplace. Olsen possesses a docile, yet disarming gaze, with graceful features that resemble a younger Vera Farmiga (Orphan). Her outbreaks of misplaced aggression soon become overwhelming for both Lucy and Ted, the stereotypical material couple, whose rules get scrutinized by Martha and are then progressively made harsher by Ted. Durkin emphasized these misconstrued attempts at compassion, but this begrudging hospitality unrealistically creates one-dimensionality that never seems justified.

Instead of throwing this heavy subject matter into a speedy thriller, its pounding narrative and fluctuating moral dilemmas keep a fervent intensity. The hazing crescendo of atrocities gets more cryptic in both Patrick’s strangling presence and Lucy and Ted’s maturity level. This dichotomy does, however, contain an emptiness that claws its way through these tired personas. The

flashbacks perpetuate an unsolvable circumstance – containing an abrupt ending – exeplified by the hardened, unsympathetic Ted, who shares a kind moment with his sister-in-law Martha before relishing back into his uncongenial status.

Martha’s psychological torment, clearly evident except in the eyes of her caretakers, holds a dissatisfying snapshot of the elite. Clearly battered, Martha takes advice from Patrick, who calls her a “teacher and leader.” He preaches “death is the most beautiful part of life.” His logic follows that we all fear death and fear makes us aware; when we’re aware we’re present; when we’re present, we have nirvana and nirvana is love, the best part of life.

The movie almost follows this concept – that the endless suspense and irresolution create a complete sense of awareness within the film.

This constant awareness makes us present – which for any filmmaker is a great thing.

To read the full artice, visit http://fieldoffilms.wordpress.com.

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

PAGE 14 • THE RAM OCTOBER 19, 2011

CULTURE

Fair Trade Week Promotes Awareness at Fordham

By SCHARON HARDING ASSISTANT CULTURE EDITOR

When buying chocolate or jewelery, we often do not think about how these products came to be. In reality, many products were made by hard workers who receive dirt cheap wages for their labor. Many are in sweatshops for dangerously long hours. Fair Trade companies are certified with the title based on their efforts to stop this unfairness through merchandise created by employees who receive fair wages and are living and working in healthy conditions. The companies also work to ensure an environmentally-friendly mission. The Students for Fair Trade club works to connect Fordham buyers to the producers. The club held Fair Trade Week from Oct. 3 through Oct. 6 to promote the ideals of Fair Trade.

First, the club gave away free Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream along with some informational pamphlets to advertise the efforts of the week.

Next, they held a screening of the documentary The Dark Side of Chocolate. The film depicted the child exploitation currently present in the chocolate industry. Rose Puntel, FCRH ’13, is the president of Students for Fair Trade and felt the impact of the film.

“It’s a moving documentary because all of these little kids are torn from their families and are forced to work in sweatshops,” she said. “There’s no accountability, and it’s obvious that the corporations know that it’s going on and are kind of pretending that it’s not. Lots of these children think they’re going to make a better life for themselves and get trapped in.”

After the film, the club urged students to become a part of the Raising the Bar Campaign. The campaign challenges the Hershey company to make good on its promise to make 50 percent of its production Fair Trade by 2010.

The club members started a petition with those in attendance.

They also gave out samples of fair trade chocolate so they could experience the taste of ethicallymade sweets.

The third day featured a Battle of the Bands at Rodrigue’s Coffee House. The battle was organized

by Dr. Kate Combellick’s Fair Trade and Microfinance class and donations supported salaries of teachers in Nyabigena, Kenya.

The last day of the week included an Amani Fair Trade market in McGinley, along with the much anticipated lecture with Kenyan artisan, Joseph Muchina.

Muchina, a Nairobi native, owns a jewelry Fair Trade business called Trinity Jewelery Crafts. His jewelery is available through Amani. He manages his successful company with just 10 full-time employees.

Club members gave him his first tour of New York City while learning his story of growing up in Kenya and running a business on Fair Trade principles and ethical business practices.

“I was really interested by … how he said that in most com-

COURTESY OF MCT CAMPUS

Fordham’s Fair Trade club gave out free Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and informational pamphlets to students as part of Fair Trade Week.

COURTESY OF MCT CAMPUS

Fair Trade Week included an Amani Fair Trade Market in McGinley, a lecture by Joseph Muchina and a screening of the documentary The Dark Side of Chocolate.

panies if profits are going down the first thing you wonder is if you have to fire someone,” Puntel said. “His first thought is ‘How do I protect my workers and how do I keep everyone’s families going well?’ Without his workers he doesn’t have a business.”

Vice President Laura Buckley, FCRH ’13, also felt connected to the employees of the products.

“We got to put a face to everything we talked about and learn how he works with everyone in the jewelry factory,” she said. “It was interesting seeing all their faces on the screen and realizing the bracelet that I own was made by this particular person. I got to see the faces behind the beautiful jewelry.”

The principles Muchina promotes are increasingly popular.

Fordham students are becoming more aware of the movement.

“I never really thought about

it before … when you go to your mall and shop you don’t really think about who’s actually slaving away to make one t-shirt,” Buckley said. “Now it’s continued to be something I’m passionate about because I think it’s something that’s so easily looked over in our society.”

“I’m really interested in microfinance,” Puntel said. “I like to think about the fact that things I buy actually impact other people.

Once I know that, I can’t forget about it so buying Fair Trade is one way for me to continue to remember.”

Alhough Fair Trade is a noble cause, it is not perfect. One big problem is the difficultiy associated with getting an official Fair Trade label.

“Fair Trade is being overused, it’s kind of like the green movement,” Buckley said. “When people see the Fair Trade label they

automatically think ‘This is great’ when there are probably other chocolate factories that are trying to work harder with the same goals, but it’s difficult for them to get the label.”

Students for Fair Trade analyzes the pros and cons behind the principles and seek change.

“I’m not an economics major so I’m not sure how we can change this,” Buckley said. “I’m challenged to think about whether the economic systems need or could ever have a revolution.”

There is also a limit to the amount of Fair Trade products available.

“It’s difficult to live an entire Fair Trade existence,” Puntel said.

Still, there are many Fair Trade products easily accessible to Fordham students. Amani has selling events in McGinley and is also open in Faber Hall room 451.

“It’s hard because a lot of things

are fringy gift sort of things,” Puntel said. “But if you’re looking for a gift for your mom that’s a good place to go.”

Alta Gracia Fordham apparel sold in the bookstore is also Fair Trade. The brand employs Dominican workers who make three and a half times more than other workers that make the same type of apparel.

The week was a success with a large turnout. Those interested in learning more about Fair Trade can join Students for Fair Trade on Mondays in McGinley 204 at 5:30 p.m. They can also check out the group’s Facebook page, or do some Internet research.

“If you start buying what you can buy Fair Trade and get more people educated, the more people ask about it and the more it will spread,” Puntel said. “Things won’t magically become Fair Trade.”

PAGE 15

OCTOBER 19, 2011

Women’s Soccer Splits Pair of Games to Move to Fourth in A-10

By ERIK PEDERSEN SPORTS EDITOR

It was a mixed weekend for the women’s soccer team. The Lady were shutout 2-0 Friday night against UMass in a game in which their coach questioned some of the players’ effort. The team was able to rebound Sunday against Rhode Island, however, blanking the other Lady Rams, 2-0. The result allowed the Lady Rams to maintain a spot in the top six of the Atlantic 10 with three games left in the regular season.

UMass entered Friday’s game with an 8-2-2 record on the season, but Fordham was able to keep the game competitive throughout. Shots were almost even, with the Minutewomen edging out Fordham 17-14 on the game, while the Lady Rams had a 7-4 advantage in corner kicks.

Head Coach Ness Selmani, however, said that the effort of a few players determined the outcome.

“Most of the team played well, but not everyone,” Selmani said. “You can’t win unless all the players on the field are giving 100 percent. When players come in as a sub they should be ready for the level of play because they are rested. It didn’t happen, and we lost as a result.”

The Minutewomen scored their

first goal 10 minutes into the game when freshman forward Tori Sousa took a cross and headed the ball past junior goalie Rachel Suther.

“The first goal they scored was tremendous,” Selmani said. “It was a diving header, which you usually don’t see in the women’s game.”

Trailing 1-0 going into the second half, Fordham picked up the pressure, generating seven corner kicks to UMass’s three, but the only goal of the half was scored by the Minutewomen. Senior midfielder Meghan Collins made it 2-0 in the 54th minute after Fordham defenders were unable to clear the ball out of their own penalty box.

Junior forward Annie Worden led the Lady Rams with three shots on goal, and Suther made a seasonhigh nine saves in goal, but it was not enough on Friday.

“After the game we had a meeting, the players cleared a lot of things up, and Sunday we came out full force,” Selmani said. “URI hadn’t played a game on Friday, that was my only concern, but we out-played them and out-fought them. It was a totally different team on Sunday.”

Rhode Island came into Sunday’s game winless in the A-10 after three games, and Fordham added to its struggles.

Sophomore midfielder Kelsey Dougherty Howard opened the scoring in the 37th minute, taking a pass from junior forward Liz Ker off a corner and heading the ball past freshman goalie Reilly Lindsey. The goal was Dougherty Howard’s first of the season. She is second on the team with 16 shots on goal for the year.

“Kelsey had been due for a goal, all season she’s been playing fantastic,” Selmani said. “She was there, and sometimes you get lucky and the ball comes to you.”

Rhode Island increased its pressure in the second half, but Worden sealed the win in the 90th minute, driving a long-distance shot past Lindsey. “[Rhode Island] was going all-out to attack us but Annie shot the ball from 25-30 yards out, hit the crossbar, and it just went over the line,” Selmani said. “It was a tremendous goal and it sealed the win for us.”

With the win, Fordham improved to 8-6-2 (3-2-1 in the A-10). Suther made four saves for her fourth shutout of the season.

The Lady Rams continue their road trip next weekend against Saint Louis and Charlotte before closing out the regular season with a home game against first-place LaSalle,

PHOTO BY AARON MAYS/THE RAM

Kelsey Dougherty Howard scored her first career collegiate goal on Sunday.

which has a 13-0-1 record on the year. Fordham is currently fourth in the A-10 standings; the top six qualify for the conference tournament at the end of the year.

“We need to win two out of three games to make sure we are in it,” Selmani said. “We are capable of beating any team, it’s just a matter of everybody going out on the field and playing hard.”

Selmani also said that the team

was not concerned about possibly having to play unbeaten LaSalle to get into the playoffs.

“We beat them all the time so it really doesn’t matter, we don’t care about their record,” Selmani said.

“After beating them so many times, they decided to play high-pressure soccer like we do and they have been very successful because nobody expected them to do it. We don’t care about LaSalle, we can beat them.”

Men’s Soccer Continues Successful Women’s Rowing Begins A-10 Start, Now 3-1 in Conference Season in Connecticut

By JONATHAN PETIX

By KARA SCAGLIOLA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Fordham men’s soccer team is off to a good start in the Atlantic 10, having won three of its first four conference games. Over Columbus Day weekend, the Rams defeated both No. 23 Xavier and Dayton by identical 1-0 scores.

Both goals were scored by senior forward Matt Courtenay, and he was named A-10 Co-Player of the Week. With the shutout against Xavier, senior goalie Ryan Meara recorded his 28th career shutout, breaking the school record.

After a successful holiday weekend, the team began a five game homestand last weekend with games against UMass and Rhode Island.

Friday night’s game against UMass brought the Rams’ three-game winning streak to an end. The game was scoreless until the 32nd minute, when the Minutemen scored on a penalty shot. Sophomore forward Brett Canepa found a spot on the left side of the goal to land the ball past a diving Meara, to give UMass a 1-0 lead. As UMass bulked up its defense for the second half, the score remained 1-0, giving the Rams their first conference loss of the season.

Looking at the stats alone, the Rams still played an aggressive game. They outshot the Minutemen 15-5 (with two shots by senior midfielder Tim Richardson and Courtenay respectively coming close to goals) and had seven corner kicks to UMass’s three.

“Since our conference games started against Xavier, I feel we have been defending very well col-

The Fordham women’s rowing team has had an exciting start to its 2011 fall season. Two weeks ago, on Oct. 8, the Lady Rams traveled to the Head of the Housatonic Regatta in Shelton, Conn.

“We are looking forward to a great day of racing against some tough competition,” Head Coach Ted Bonnano said prior to the race.

“This race will be a good indication of how competitive we are going to be at other big races like the Head of the Charles.”

The crew went blow for blow with some of the fastest collegiate crews in the Northeast, including Yale, Radcliffe and UMass, and they were pleased with their results after a tough day of racing. The Novice 8+, stroked by freshman Ashleigh Aitchison, finished in third place with a time of 18:56.2, only seconds behind UMass and Yale. Even though it finished with a bronze medal, the novice squad was not satisfied; its time was hindered because of a slow Fairfield University crew team that refused to yield to Fordham’s coxswain as it was passed.

The following day at the Pope Island Regatta in New Bedford, Mass., the Novice 8+ was given a fair race. The team finished 39 seconds ahead of UMass, the same UMass team that bested them by seconds the day before. This captured a gold medal for the Aqua Rams. The Novice 8+ was the only Fordham boat to compete at the Pope Island Regatta.

Back at the Houstaonic, the first Varsity 8+, stroked by sophomore Maureen White, placed 10th in a tight field of competition with a

RAM ARCHIVES

Ryan Meara broke the Fordham record for shutouts against Xavier.

lectively and we are a hardworking team,” Richardson said. “We need to be more ruthless in front of goal when shooting, as we are trying to improve in the attacking third.”

Fordham recovered from the UMass setback on Sunday with a 2-1 win over the Rhode Island Rams.

Sophomore midfielder Casper Gimand and sophomore defender Taylor Gulbins each recorded their first career goals in the game. In the 15th minute Gimand was awarded a penalty shot that put Fordham ahead 1-0, but less than two minutes later URI was also awarded a penalty shot. Sophomore midfielder Joey Haught converted against Meara to tie the game at one.

As the game headed into the second half at 1-1, the energy was tense in the crowd. The game remained tied until a little past the 85th minute when Gulbins headed the ball into URI’s net off of a nearly two-thirds-of-the-field punt from Meara. The team rushed to congratulate Gulbins, and kept an extremely tight defense for the remaining four and a half minutes of the game to hold off Rhode Island for the win. Meara made a careerhigh eight saves in goal.

The victory gives Fordham a 3-1 record in the A-10, 7-5-1 overall.

The Rams continue their homestand this Friday against Saint Louis.

time of 17:32.5.

“I am very proud of our first Varsity Boat,” Assistant Head Coach Nick Dawe said. “They kept their composure in a tough field against some world class competition.”

The second Varsity 8+ stroked by sophomore Alex McDonald posted a time of 18:32, finishing 13th.

“I am optimistic about the rest of the head races this season,” Bonanno said when the weekend was over.

“We have a core group of fast oarswomen which has been solidified by a fast freshman/novice group.”

This past weekend the crew traveled back to Connecticut, this time for the Head of the Connecticut Regatta in Middletown, Conn. The Rams braved horrendous conditions, with high winds and cold temperatures. Several boats from other schools actually sank because of the large waves crashing against their shells. A typical head race during the fall is three miles long, but due to the inclement weather the race was shortened to a mile and a half.

The Rams posted good results despite the weather. The Novice 8+ captured the silver medal, while the first Varsity 8+ took fourth with a time of 7:06.99, just four seconds behind the winning boat from Wesleyan University. The second Varsity 8+ finished sixth overall.

“It was not an easy day to be on the water. With the wind and the three foot swells rowing a steady rate is almost impossible. Our girls did well and we have a lot of momentum going into the Charles,” Bonanno said.

The Rams are shipping up to Boston on Friday to compete at the Head of the Charles Regatta this coming weekend.

PAGE 16 • THE RAM • OCTOBER 19, 2011

SPORTS

Men’s Tennis Wins Pair at Home to Finish Fall Season Undefeated

By CHRISTIAN BEAULIEU STAFF WRITER

The Fordham men’s tennis team continued to display its young freshman talent last weekend at the Columbia Classic in New York.

The shorthanded Rams, playing without their usual starting sophomores Kuba Kuwalski and Mischa Koran, turned to freshmen J.J. Tauil, Srikar Alla, Peder Gram and Jan Krouham. The young Rams were up to the challenge as they continued to play with a level of poise that transcends their lack of experience.

Alla began tournament play for the Rams in A singles. In Main Draw play, Alla fell to Columbia’s fourth seeded senior Haig Schneiderman in straight sets. Alla’s next action came in the consolation quarterfinal, where he convincingly defeated St. John’s senior Stefan Bojic, 7-5, in straight sets.

Head Coach Corey Hubbard said Bojic is “one of the top 15-20 players in this region” and went on to call the match “a statement win for our program.” Alla advanced to the consolation semifinals where he was upended by Penn’s sophomore Kevin Katz, 6-2, 6-4, ending Alla’s tournament run.

The freshman who found the most success at the Columbia classic was Tauil, however. Like all of the Rams who participated

in the tournament, he opened Match Draw play with a loss. Tauil opened up Singles C play against freshman Freddy Marcinkowski of Monmouth. Tauil won the first set, 6-2, before dropping the next two sets, 7-5, 10-6.

After the loss, Tauil caught a break. He won the next two matches by default, allowing him to advance to the C Consolation final where he faced freshman Theo Marin of Columbia. Tauil came out strong in the final, winning the first set, 6-4, before losing the second set, 6-7. He persevered through the third and final set, however, and pulled off a 10-6 win, securing the C Consolation finals victory.

Gram and Krouham couldn’t match their teammate’s success, though, and both fell in consecutive matches, ending Fordham’s run in the tournament.

Fordham went back home on Oct. 11 to host its second doubleheader of the season. The Rams dominated their only two home matches this season, as they would win both matches, improving their record to 6-0 in match play this season.

The Rams opened up play by defeating Wagner College, 6-0. In doubles play, the Rams duos of Tauil and Kowalski, sophomore Luke Maloney and Krouham and senior Andriy Kulak and junior

Dan Kane-West swept Wagner doubles by scores of 8-3, 8-4 and 8-2 respectively.

The Rams refused to relinquish a single match to the Seahawks as their domination continued into singles play. In No. 1 singles play, Kowalski needed a tie breaker to defeat sophomore Danil Ovechkin, 6-2, 5-7, 10-5. Koran stayed hot, dominating sophomore David Garzon without dropping a set at second singles.

Straight off his recent Columbia Classic success, Tauil dismantled junior Taylor Santoro on Court 3, 6-2, 6-1. Gram upended freshman Matthew Richards, 6-4, 6-0, at Court 4. Senior Andriy Kulak saw his first singles action against Wagner and stepped up in big way with a convincing 6-0, 6-0 shut-out victory against junior Pierre Yuzon.

At Court 6, Michael Puntillo beat junior Chris Rautenstrauch by a score of 6-3, 6-4.

Later in the day, Fordham bested New York Tech, 6-1. The Rams continued their doubles domination as Kowalski and Alla, Gram and Koran, Puntillo and senior Eli Plangger combined to yield an 8-5, 8-4, 8-4 clean sweep of the Bears in doubles play.

On No. 1 singles, Koran beat out freshman Dustin Wenchel, 6-4, in straight sets. Alla dominated freshman Pedro Peixoto, 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. At No. 3 singles, Tauil de-

PHOTO BY AARON MAYS/THE RAM

Kuba Kowalski won all of his matches during Fordham’s home doubleheader.

feated junior Filip Van Eylen, 6-2, 6-3. The Rams lone loss of the day, as well as the first point dropped all season, came when Peder Gram was upended by NY Tech’s sophomore Vojislav Pecikoza at Court 4, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8. Krouham beat sophomore Julian Marcon, 6-0, 6-2, on Court 5. Kulak secured the win with his 6-4, 6-0 win against freshman Eduardo Maurtua.

The Rams wrapped up their

fall schedule this weekend when Alla, Koran and Kowalski partook in the ITA Northeast regional in Ithaca, N.Y. However, the Rams could not find any success as all three were eliminated in their first matches.

Fordham men’s tennis has finished their fall schedule with a 6-0 record and will resume play for their spring schedule on Jan. 21 at Colgate.

Golf Finishes Fifth in the Cross Country Successful at Races, Classic at Shelter Harbor Two Freshmen Earn A-10 Honors

By MICHAEL BROCCOLO STAFF WRITER

The Fordham golf team brought home a fifth-place finish this past weekend from Rhode Island beating (previously) nationally-ranked Yale University. The tournament, the Classic at Shelter Harbor, took place in Charlestown, R.I. Three starters spearheaded the finish, all tying for 16th place as individuals: juniors Brody Nieporte and Jason Del Rosso, and freshman Jeff Hogan. All posted final scores of 152 after two rounds, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.

Nieporte shot 78 on Saturday, and a 74 on Sunday. Del Rosso had 76-76, and Hogan improved from 77 to 75. The Rams’ improved efforts on Sunday led to their jump from seventh place after Saturday to finishing fifth in the end, tied with Central Connecticut.

“We were very happy with our fifth finish,” senior captain Devon O’Rourke said. “The field of 15 was very strong so fifth place feels like a win in some ways.”

O’Rourke finished tied for 47th individually, with a combined score of 160 by 78-82 consecutively. O’Rourke, although happy with the team’s finish, was not pleased with his own performance.

“I hit the ball well the first round but my putter failed me,” he said. “I think I can score better next week.”

The Rams have shown steady improvement this season. The team finished 13th out of 14 while playing in the Macdonald Cup two weeks ago, and 13th out of 22 at the Big 5 tournament last week. The victory over Yale this week, however, was their second in a row.

“They were a top-50 team two

weeks ago, needless to say they have gone up since then thanks to us,” O’Rourke said. “We knew we were a better team than many of them, but beating Yale two weeks in a row feels great.”

Freshman Ben Alcorn also competed for the Rams as an individual, finishing alongside Engstrom shooting 78-83.

The winning team of the tournament, Dartmouth College, finished with a final team score of 594.

“Dartmouth is playing fantastic [sic] and they have two players that made it to the U.S. Amateur this summer in Peter Williamson and James Pleat,” O’Rourke said. “They have a great team and I wouldn’t be surprised if they continued to win tournaments.”

Williamson tied for first this weekend individually, and Pleat tied for 10th. They had final scores of 143 and 149, respectively.

If the Rams continue on their track this season, however, they will continue to improve. Not to mention, everyone in the tournament in Charlestown scored higher for a reason according to O’Rourke.

“The reason for the high scores was the wind, high winds equal high scores,” he said. “I only wish I could’ve had Brendan Green there, he is masterful in windy conditions and could have offered insight.”

Green is a former golfer for the Rams, who was not available for comment.

The Rams get back to work on Saturday, Oct. 22. When they head to Bethlehem, Pa. to compete in the Lehigh Invitational.

“We only have two tournaments left this fall and we hope to continue to build on our solid play,” O’Rourke said.

By KELLY KULTYS STAFF WRITER

Over the last two weeks both the men’s and women’s cross country teams have enjoyed success at the Metropolitan Championship on Oct. 7, and at the St. John’s Fall Festival on Oct. 16.

Junior Julian Saad won the Metropolitan Championship, held at Van Cortland Park in the Bronx, a feat never before accomplished by a Fordham runner, with a career-best time of 25:15 for the 8k course. Saad finished a mere 26.5 seconds off Fordham’s school record of 24:49.4, set back in 1988 by Pat Lavery and Saad also helped the Fordham men’s team capture third behind NYU and Columbia.

“Julian’s race was really impressive,” sophomore Anisa Arsenault said. “Not only did he have a fast time, but he raced smart. It was so nerve-racking to see him come out of the woods with about 400 meters to go, neck and neck with a Columbia runner. But Julian blew him away; it was exciting to watch, and we were all screaming for him.”

Arsenault also captured fourth with a time of 18:32 on the 5k course, which helped the women’s team take fourth place overall behind Columbia, Rutgers and St. John’s. This was Arsenault’s second fastest time of her career.

In the men’s race, scorers for Fordham included senior Brian Riley (11th – 26:15), junior Nick Synan (26th – 26:41), senior Matt Collins (32nd – 26:58) and freshman William Slattery (33rd – 27:00). On the women’s side, other scorers following Arsenault

included freshman Sarah Glockenmeier (20th – 19:15), freshman Emily Osman (27th – 19:22), senior Mairin O’Connor (29th – 19:32) and senior Nako Nakatsuka (36th – 19:45).

“Our first six girls were able to clear the 20 minute mark, something the Fordham women’s team hasn’t seen in a long time,” Arsenault said.

The next weekend, both the men’s and women’s teams competed in the St. John’s Fall Festival in Queens, N.Y. The teams enjoyed tremendous success, taking first and second place in the meet respectively.

“Shannon McKenna made pink ribbons for us to wear to pay tribute to the breast cancer walks going on around the area right now,” Arsenault said. “It’s the least we can do, and that added a level of meaning to this small meet.”

On the men’s side, for the second race in a row, a Fordham runner claimed first. Sophomore Brian Walter captured the title in the 5K race with a time of 16:26.76, with teammate senior Thomas Kelly finishing approximately 10 seconds behind with a time of 16:35.92.

Fordham had 15 out of the top 17 runners in the race with senior Rich Grandelli (16:38.27) in third, freshman Jonathan Annelli (16:41.68) in fourth, senior Andrew Roddin (16:56.49) in fifth, sophomore Tim Kazanjian (16:59.67) in sixth, junior Devin Kelly (17:00.59) in seventh, sophomore Joe Hartnett (17:13.15) in eighth, junior Ben Delikat (17:20.94) in ninth and sophomore Patrick Burke (17:45.01) in 10th.

Senior Stephen Donnelly (11th – 18:12.09), sophomore Michael Belgiovine (13th – 18:32.04), sophomore Conor O’Malley (14th – 18:36.41), junior Michael Rossi (15th – 18:51.01) and junior Sean Atkinson (17th – 22:17.42) rounded out the scoring for Fordham.

Arsenault had another impressive race for the Rams, finishing second overall with a time of 14:11.03 on the 4k course, helping the women to their second place finish just behind St. John’s. Also scoring for the Fordham women were Glockenmeier (14:31.22) in fourth, freshman Danielle Drummond (14:43.88) in seventh, junior Ashley Davis (14:44.14) in eighth and Nakatsuka (14:55.36) in tenth.

“The women’s team approached this meet with a different tactic,” Arsenault said. “We tried to all stay together as a team for the first mile, emphasizing pack running.

After that we broke off, and I tried to pick off St. John’s girls one by one; it was a challenge but it was fun.”

Also, this week freshmen Sarah Glockenmeier and William Slattery were both named Atlantic 10 Cross Country Rookies of the Week for their impressive performances at the Metropolitan Championship.

Both teams are off next weekend. They will resume action on Saturday, Oct. 29 at Frank Liske Park in Charlotte, N.C. to compete in the 2011 A-10 Championship.

Following the Championship, the teams have one more tournament before finishing the season at the ECAC/IC4A Championships.

Early-season NFL Power Rankings

By BRENDAN MALONE STAFF WRITER

Just over one quarter of the NFL season has been played so far.

There is still plenty of season left to play and plenty of questions that still need to be answered, but here is an early season list of the top 10 teams in the league.

1. Green Bay Packers- There has been no Super Bowl hangover for this group. The Packers have picked up right where they left off at the end of last season. They are the last remaining undefeated team in the NFL. Their offense is virtually unstoppable, and Aaron Rodgers is the MVP of the league right now.

The defense is not as good as it was last year, but the offense makes up for the defensive regression.

2. New England PatriotsWhile similar to the Packers in that they rely very heavily on an incredible offense, the Patriots’ defense is one of the worst in the league. New England seems to have found a little bit of a running game in recent weeks, but the offense still revolves around Tom Brady. Wes Welker is on pace to shatter the single season records for receptions and receiving yards.

3. New Orleans Saints- Drew Brees is having another great year, and they have had some success running the ball, especially with Darren Sproles, who is averaging over seven yards a carry. Just like the Packers and the Patriots, the Saints’ defense is not very good, which just shows how important an elite quarterback is. The top three teams also happen to have the three best quarterbacks.

4. Baltimore Ravens- The Ravens break the mold. They are primarily a defensive team, while their best offensive player is running back Ray Rice. The Ravens have been using this old-school defense and running game formula for over a decade now, and it continues to work for them, even in this passhappy league. I still don’t fully trust Joe Flacco, though.

5. San Francisco 49ers- Yes that is an NFC West team in the Top-5.

The 49ers’ defense is legit, and Frank Gore is still really good; even Alex Smith is playing well. Imagine if new coach Jim Harbaugh had had a full offseason to implement his system. If San Francisco keeps up this pace, it will have the division clinched before Thanksgiving.

6. San Diego Chargers- It’s been an under-the-radar year for the Chargers so far. For almost the entire Norv Turner era, the Chargers have gotten off to terrible starts and everybody wonders when Turner will get fired. Then, they

reel off 10 straight wins before losing early in the playoffs. This year, the Chargers have not played well, but they are still 4-1, which makes you wonder what could happen if they really kick it into gear in November and December like they have done in the past.

7. Detroit Lions- The Lions’ nine-game winning streak, dating back to last season, was snapped this week by the 49ers, but this team has proven to be a very good team. Calvin Johnson is currently playing as well as any wide receiver in the history of the league. A couple of concerns for Detroit, though, are its inability to run the ball and a suspect secondary. Also, spotting teams 20 point leads is not a recipe for success.

8. Pittsburgh Steelers- It has been a rollercoaster start for the Steelers, to say the least, and their win over the hapless Jaguars this week was far from impressive.

They did, however, get their running game going again, which has been a hallmark of Steeler football.

There are still plenty of questions about the Steelers, but showdowns against the Ravens and Patriots in the coming weeks will clear up a lot of uncertainty.

9. New York Giants- I was going to put the Raiders here, but Jason Campbell broke his collarbone and he will be out for a while, so the NFC East leading Giants slide up a little bit. Eli Manning has played very well, the defensive line is still generating a pass rush even with Justin Tuck out, and they found a bit of a running game against the Bills last week, but this is still a team that lost at home to the Seahawks and was lucky to beat the Cardinals.

10. Buffalo Bills- The Bills definitely could have beaten the Giants on the road last week, so why do I still feel like the Bills are going to crash back to Earth soon? They live and die with the big play, but they rarely throw the ball down the field. Ryan Fitzpatrick tried two deep passes to Stevie Johnson against the Giants, and both were woefully underthrown and intercepted. Also, the Bills defense gives up a ton of yards, but that has been masked by their league-leading interception total of 12. Most of those interceptions have come on tipped passes though, and are not necessarily the result of good coverage. It is very difficult to rely on taking slant passes 60 yards and picking off every tipped pass for an entire season. The Bills have certainly improved and look to have moved from a 4-win team to an 8-win team. It is much harder to go from an 8-win team to a 10-win, playoff team, and I don’t think the Bills are quite there yet.

SPORTS

Football Lehigh 34-12 Fordham LEH FOR

1 2 3 10 10 14 2 3 7

4 0 0

Men’s Soccer UMass 1-0 Fordham

F 34 12

First Quarter LEH Tim Divers 22 yd field goal, 7:56 LEH Jake Drwal 17 yd pass from Chris Lum(Divers kick), 3:42 FOR Patrick McGee safety, 0:07 Second Quarter FOR Michael Mirando 37 yd field goal, 12:10 LEH Zach Hayden 2 yd pass from Chris Lum(Divers kick), 8:47 LEH Tim Divers 36 yd field goal, 0:00 Third Quarter FOR Greg Wilson 82 yd pass from Ryan Higgins(Mirando kick), 10:19 LEH Matt Fitz 7 yd run(Divers kick), 7:19 LEH Ryan Spadola 62 yd pass from Chris Lum(Divers kick), 0:00 Fourth Quarter None ` LEH FOR First Downs 32 13 Total Yards 598 334 Rushing 182 81 Passing 416 253 Punt Returns 3-(-11) 1-20 Kickoff Ret. 2-30 6-118 Comp-Att-Int 33-49-2 15-35-3 Punts 2-45.5 6-44.3 Time of Poss. 40:38 19:22 Individual Statistics PASSING- Lehigh, Lum 3247-3 Fordham, Higgins 15-34-1 RUSHING- Lehigh, Barket 18111-0 Fordham, Whiting 12-43-0 RECIEVING- Lehigh, Spadola 13-216-1 Fordham, Wilson 3-150-1

Volleyball Fordham 1-1 Charlotte Fordham

Buongiorno Konkel Daulton Hipp Thompson Ewing Capicotto Rodenberg Diamantidis Ritchie Atwood Totals

K PCT BS BA 7 .312 0 4 2 .500 0 0 7 -.24 0 2 7 .032 1 1 8 .235 0 2 8 .294 0 3 1 .167 0 2 1 1.00 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 -.25 0 0 0 .000 0 0 42 .077 1 14

DIG BE 1 1 9 0 11 1 13 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 16 0 13 0 0 0 0 0 64 3

K PCT BS BA 8 .103 0 0 11 .222 1 6 3 .067 0 5 9 .438 2 5 12 .219 0 3 8 .368 0 3 0 .000 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 1.00 0 0 0 .000 0 0 52 .225 3 22

DIG BE 1 0 5 1 8 0 1 1 6 0 7 0 3 0 10 0 2 0 7 0 1 0 51 2

Charlotte

Leventhal Videmsek Davis Gaster Rouse Cantrell Rees Litoborski

Visit theramonline.com for blogs covering NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, College Sports and EPL.

OCTOBER 19, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 17

McClean Thompson Vera Totals

Fordham Charlotte

1 19 25

2 27 25

3 21 25

4 23 25

Massachusetts Player Sh Key 1 DeVivo 0 Skrajewski 0 Sidibe 2 Canepa 1 Roswess 0 Keys 0 Henshaw 0 Schwartz 0 Negm 0 Substitutes Kipper 0 Sena 0 Sangster 0 Gilbert 0 Miller 1 Murphy 0 Totals 5

Women’s Soccer Fordham 0-2 UMass

G 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 1

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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

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

0 0 0 0 0 0 7

Gk Min Ga Sav Curran-Hays 90:00 0 2

Gk Suther

Fordham Player Ferrantello Curran Bekoe Gimand Niyonsaba Richardson Markowitz Stalker Murphy Seidenthal Substitutes McHugh Gulbins Courtenay Totals

Massachusetts Player Sh SOG Sousa 2 2 Howe 0 0 Mattsson 4 3 Morrissey 5 3 Collins 1 1 Colarossi 0 0 Jensen 1 1 Gargiulo 0 0 Landers 0 0 Skesavage 1 0 Substitutes McGaffigan 1 0 Coombs 1 0 Benjamin 1 1 Finnerty 0 0 Houtmann 0 0 Moore 0 0 Totals 17 11

Gk Meara

Sh 0 0 3 1 3 0 1 1 1 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 5 15

0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0

Min Ga Sav 90:00 1 3 1 1 0

UMass Fordham

2 0 0

F 1 0

Gk Suther

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Min Ga Sav 90:00 2 9

G 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

A 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 2

0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Min Ga Sav 90:00 0 6 1 0 1

Fordham UMass

2 0 1

F 0 2

Rhode Island 1-2 Fordham

Temple 0-1 Fordham

Rhode Island Player Lo Presti Hernandez Markman Haught Morison Ribbens Gargaro Casey Sykes Moran Substitutes Tetzlaff Eckmayer Lindroos Totals

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

Gk Warwick Fordham Player Meara Ferrantello Curran Bekoe Gimand Niyonsaba Richardson Nagel Markowitz Stalker Courtenay Substitutes Jolly Valencia Jerome McHugh Gulbins Murphy Seidenthal Totals Gk Meara

Sh 0 0 2 1 4 1 0 3 6 0

G 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 17

0 0 0 1

0 0 0 0

Min Ga Sav 90:00 2 2

Gk Suther Sh 0 2 0 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1

G 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

A 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 1 2 0 15

0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Sh SOG G A 2 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10

2 0 1

F 1 2

0 0 0 0 0 2

0 1 0 0 0 1

Sh SOG G A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 11

0 1 0 0 4

0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0

Min Ga Sav 90:00 2 1

Min Ga Sav 90:00 1 8

1 Rhode Island 1 Fordham 1

0 0 0 0 0 3

Min Ga Sav 90:00 0 4

Rhode Island Player MacDonald David Veith Barrientos Ruhe Lischke Persaud Vandine Rauscher Sellitti Ammaturo Substitutes Leyh Santos Martinez Griffith Totals Gk Lindsey

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Fordham Rhode Island

1 1 0

2 1 0

F 2 0

SPORTS

PAGE 18 THE RAM • OCTOBER 19, 2011

Senior Profile: Golfer Devon O’Rourke

By DAN GARTLAND SPORTS EDITOR

NICK CARROLL I grew up following a team often referred to as the Broad Street Bullies, and another whose fans took pride in their “700 Level,” a notoriously hostile and violent section of old Veterans Stadium.

With that in mind, it almost feels unnatural to say that contact sports (football and hockey) need significant changes in their players’ philosophies to eliminate head shots.

When Scott Stevens leveled Eric Lindros across the middle in 2000, I remember most hockey people responded with the advice that Lindros should have kept his head up.

Lately, Sidney Crosby has concussion issues that are reminiscent of those with which Lindros dealt. We already lost a potentially historic career with Lindros, hopefully Crosby can avoid the same fate.

Every Sunday, I hear football fans chiming in that the game is getting soft, as officials are penalizing many big hits and protecting the players.

These philosophies are wrong. As important as sports are to me and many others, we have to realize that these contact sports are still games.

Athletes cannot put their lives at risk just because they play with their heads down or were hung out to dry by their quarterbacks.

In the cases of Dave Duerson, Andre Waters and the slew of NHL fighters who have all committed suicide in recent weeks, it is becoming clear that these athletes exposed to this punishment are having longterm health problems.

The problem is not only with the rules of these sports. Both the NFL and NHL have been aggressive in creating rules to protect its vulnerable players, but the problem is also with the philosophies of the players.

When a receiver goes across the middle, safeties are looking to hurt receivers. Maybe they do not want the exposed receiver injured, but they want them to feel the force of a major hit in an attempt to jar the ball loose.

When hockey players admire their pass a bit too long or come across the middle unaware of a closing defender, the defender is looking to send a message.

The focus has to be on making the play and not bringing the pain. Players are not trying to tackle or check, they are looking to violently hit their opponents. This is wrong and the focus has to be on breaking the pass up or knocking the puck away. The results would be just as effective, if not more effective in the NFL, where tackling is a lost art, and the players would be much safer.

Sports like these occur in a masculine world where physical domination and the alpha male reign supreme, but as players continue to get bigger, stronger and more dangerous, the culture around sports has to stop marveling at the big hits and eliminate this mindset.

Senior Devon O’Rourke has been a key part of the Fordham golf team from the time he stepped on campus as a freshman.

He was named team MVP for his freshman season, competing in all 13 matches. In that year’s Atlantic-10 championship, he was Fordham’s top finisher, tying for 40th place. This year is his second as the team’s captain. O’Rourke carded a career-low round of 69 at this year’s Bucknell Fall Invitational.

A native of New Canaan, Conn., O’Rourke was a four-year varsity golfer at New Canaan High School where his teams won three state titles and two conference championships.

O’Rourke and the Rams are coming off their strongest performance of the season, a fifth-place finish at the Classic at Shelter Harbor.

TR: How long have you been playing golf ?

DO: I’ve been playing golf for a very long time. I’d say, competitively I started playing when I was 12 or so. I played a lot of sports growing up. I chose golf to really concentrate on in eighth grade, and I stopped really playing other sports.

TR: Why did you choose Fordham?

DO: When I was looking at schools, I was looking at 50 per-

cent golf, 50 percent the school.

Fordham was Division I athletics and I wanted the experience of a larger university setting. Out of all the schools that I was looking at for golf, Fordham was the largest and it provided Division I golf.

The influence of New York City was huge. I think that’s an influence for most people that are here and that served a big role.

TR: What will you remember most about your time at Fordham, on and off the course?

DO: When I was a freshman, my captain was a senior and when he was leaving he said the thing you’ll remember most is all the golf trips you go on, and I think that’s probably true. You stay with the same five guys that travel to each tournament, and you get to know each other very, very well. I think I’ll remember golf trips more than anything else, and probably my teammates. At school I think I’ll remember just the many things that are available with New York City and the area.

I think that that helped me out in choosing my career path.

TR: You get to play a lot of really incredible courses. What is your favorite one you’ve played?

DO: There’s two parts to that I think because we get to play a lot of great courses just in practice because my coach is a former president of the Metropolitan Golf Association so he knows basically everyone in the golf world around the metropolitan area. In

the met area there’s great courses.

Throughout the country it’s probably the strongest area in terms of golf courses. Winged Foot we get to play at a bunch which is historically a great track. When I leave I think I’ll tell people that I got to play Winged Foot a lot and got to know Winged Foot which is awesome. To actually answer the question, my favorite course is Piping Rock on Long Island – we got to play in practice.

That was a spectacular place. In competition, I think the course I just came from, Shelter Harbor.

That’s a great spot. I think it’s won a bunch awards for new courses in New England, and it was worthy of it.

TR: Who is your favorite pro?

DO: It seems to change a lot.

I think what happens is I choose people I can relate to. Growing up I always liked Sergio Garcia, I think because he had sort of a strange swing and it was all about feel – wasn’t very mechanical and that’s the way my swing is. And I still do love Sergio but of new golfers, I really like Jason Day and a lot of people say I look like Jason Day which just feeds it more.

TR: What is the strongest part of your game?

DO: That’s changed too. The strongest part of my game used to be accuracy. My freshman year I thought I could use my driver as my most accurate club. I’d hit a driver on most holes where a lot of guys in the field were hitting

COURTESY OF FORDHAMSPORTS.COM

O’Rourke is a two-time captain.

irons just to place it in the fairway. I felt like I could hit a driver and hit it just as straight as any other club in my bag. That’s recently changed a little bit. I’d still go with accuracy overall, I’m just fairly consistent. I don’t put up huge numbers like some guys do.

Mentally, I just hang in there and I’m just consistent, I guess.

TR: What do you hope to do after graduation?

DO: I want to be a photojournalist. I’ve been interested in photography for a long time, but I never really did any formal training. I took a photography class at Lincoln Center, because luckily we have two campuses, and I wanted to take a class in the city so I did that. I’ve been studying journalism also. There’s no photojournalism major here, but I’ve sort of self-constructed it with a concentration in journalism and a minor in photography.

Women’s Tennis Remains Undefeated in Fall Play

By MICHELLE FANELLI STAFF WRITER

Over the past two weeks, the Lady Rams have been back in action as they played Rhode Island and UMass over Columbus Day weekend and finished play this past Sunday at the Lehigh Invitational.

Beginning play on Saturday, Oct. 7, Fordham started off its undefeated weekend in Kingston, R.I. as it topped its Atlantic-10 rival Rhode Island 5-2. The Lady Rams started strong with a clean sweep during doubles action. Junior Amy Simidian and freshman Sarah Ali opened with a 9-2 win.

Next up, sophomore Angelika Dabu and freshman Julie Leong followed with an 8-6 win. Sophomore Hanna Fritzinger and freshman Bella Genkina wrapped up the doubles sweep with an 8-7 (11-9) win. Following in singles action, Simidian, Ali, Dabu and Genkina won in straight sets, all playing exceptionally well.

Finishing off Columbus Day weekend, the Rams took the play home as they hosted UMass on Sunday. Opening with doubles, UMass took the doubles point, winning two of the three matches as Fritzinger and Genkina, as well as Dabu and Leong, both fell to their opponents. In singles action the Lady Rams took five of the six matches, giving them an overall win over the Minutewomen, 5-2,

allowing them to stay undefeated so far this season.

The team played against Delaware and St. Francis (Pa.) this past Sunday at the Lehigh Invitational winning three of the five singles matches, and five of the six doubles competitions. Doubles action started the day against Delaware, as they had a strong start picking up victories in their first two matches. Simidian and Dabu had an 8-4 win against Dorothy Safron and Sophie SoilbergSundstrom, while Fritzinger and Genkina also came out victorious as they defeated Kim Milla and Olivia Helm 8-6.

In singles action, the Rams again took on Delaware, picking up wins at the first, fourth and fifth singles matches. Taking a win in first singles, Simidian topped Safron 6-2, 6-1. Following that, in fourth singles Fritzinger came out victorious 6-0, 6-0 while Leong rounded off the wins in fifth singles 6-2, 6-4.

The day finished as the Rams played St. Francis in an abbreviated doubles competition. Simidian and Dabu took on Deuyann Saraner and Nuria Valls, defeating them 6-0. Fritzinger and Leong then topped Alex Sachs and Lucy Jasso 6-1 in second doubles,

while finally rounding off the day junior Taylor Holt and senior Sarah Tremaine finished with a 6-3 win.

“I’m really proud of all the girls so far,” Simidian said. “Everyone is always positive and brings something unique to the team. I think the past few matches have given everyone a taste of what we are capable of as a team. Personally, I have been using the first few wins to prepare for this coming weekend. Hopefully we can pull off some great wins.”

This week the Lady Rams will compete in the 2011 ITA Regional hosted in New Haven, Conn.

PHOTO BY AARON MAYS/THE RAM

Sophomore Angelika Dabu and doubles partner junior Amy Simidian were victorious against Delaware and St. Francis.

OCTOBER 19, 2011 • THE RAM • PAGE 19

SPORTS

Water Polo Falls to Brown and St. Francis, Record Now at 6-16

By IAN PRUITT STAFF WRITER

The Fordham men’s water polo team fell to No. 19 St. Francis 16-8 on Wednesday Oct. 12, despite a large home crowd for senior night at the Colonel Francis B. Messmore Aquatics Center. Following the loss, the Rams travelled to Cambridge, Mass. where they were ousted by tough Northern Division rival Brown, 18-7.

“Both were extremely tough losses,” senior captain JD Shrewsbury said. “We knew that both teams would be ready and willing to play dirty, especially St. Francis who is made up of entirely foreign players. I’d like to think that we were the honorable team in both games.”

Shrewsbury, the team’s only 2-meter man, was unable to play in the St. Francis game because of a red card violation obtained in the team’s previous loss to No. 10 Concordia in the Claremont Convergence Tournament in California. While in California, the Rams went 1-5, losing to Vanguard, No. 16 Cal Baptist, Occidental, Cal Lutheran and Concordia.

The St. Francis game began well for the Rams, who were able to hold the Terriers to just one goal in the first six minutes of play.

Freshman driver Eric Minowitz scored first for the Rams, followed by an impressive blocked 5-meter shot from freshman goalkeeper Noah LeBeau with 1:58 left in the quarter. Despite the momentum generated by LeBeau’s block, St. Francis continued to play aggressively and notched two goals before the end of the first quarter, bringing the score to 3-1.

The Terriers exploded in the second quarter, scoring six goals to Fordham’s two, making it 9-3 at halftime. In the third quarter,

Fordham continued to struggle offensively with no 2-meter man.

The Rams relied heavily on manup situations and counter attacks.

St. Francis outscored the Rams again 5-3, followed by an even 2-2 fourth quarter for a final score of 16-8. For Fordham, senior attacker Robert Fleming led the Rams in scoring with four goals and one assist. Junior driver Jake Bakas had two goals while sophomore driver Nick Allen and Minowitz had one goal apiece.

In goal, senior interim captain Christian Flessner played the final two quarters, while freshman goalkeeper Noah LeBeau started the first two.

On Saturday, Fordham lacked solid defense against Brown, according to junior attacker Daniel Barron.

“We were just unable to shut down Brown’s aggressive pressstyle defense and vicious counter attacks,” Barron said.

Fordham trailed 5-1 after the first quarter, and 10-1 going into the half. The Rams were ultimately able to score six more goals in the second half, but it would not be enough to catch up. For Fordham, Allen and Fleming led the way with two goals. Shrewsbury and sophomore drivers Dan Kearney and Ben Clinkenbeard also scored. In goal, LeBeau had three saves while Flessner notched two.

Fordham, now 2-2 in Northern Division conference play and 6-16 overall, will have to win key matchups at Iona (Oct. 25), and Connecticut College (Oct. 28) if it wishes to remain in contention for the CWPA Eastern Championships.

Fordham will next play No. 16 Princeton and George Washington on Oct. 22 at Princeton University.

By ERIK PEDERSEN SPORTS EDITOR

David Freese and the St. Louis Cardinals vs. Nelson Cruz and the Texas Rangers.

When the World Series begins Wednesday night, the teams representing both leagues will serve as another reminder that anything can happen once a team reaches the playoffs. Players who are irrelevant for most of the year can get hot and carry their teams in the postseason.

The Cardinals have had a successful offense throughout the season. According to ESPN, they led the National League in runs scored with 762, 31 ahead of second-place Arizona. That they were able to out-slug the Milwaukee Brewers by scoring 43 runs in six games cannot be considered a surprise.

What is surprising is that, on a team led by Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman, the Cardinals top offensive performer was… David Freese? Only the most devout baseball fans knew anything about Freese prior to this postseason, yet he became the NLCS MVP after hitting .545 with a ridiculous 1.091 slugging percentage against the Brewers.

Freese wasn’t exactly a pushover in the regular season. He hit .297 with 10 home runs over an injuryshortened 97-game season; but there could be no way to predict that he would be one of the main reasons the Cardinals are still playing.

Nelson Cruz is not at Freese’s level when talking about unsung playoff heroes. Cruz was fourth on the team in 2011 with 29 home runs, despite missing part of the season with separate hamstring injuries, and he was an important part of the 2010 Rangers team that also made it to the World Series.

Despite this, it is not common for a team’s No. 7 hitter in the lineup to hit six home runs during a six-game series. Cruz was only a .263 hitter during the regular season, but he

got hot at the right time and carried his team past the Tigers and into the World Series.

You don’t have to go too far back in baseball playoff history to find other average players who became October superstars. Last year, Giants outfielder Cody Ross emerged out of nowhere to hit .350 with three home runs against the favored Phillies in the NLCS. Ross was named Series MVP after hitting only .269 in the regular season.

These types of performances are what make the baseball playoffs great and infuriating at the same time. The best team will inevitably win out over a 162-game regular season, but all of that team’s hard work means nothing if it runs into a player on a hot streak in the postseason.

Freese’s run began in the NLDS, when he had four RBI to lead the Cardinals over Philadelphia in Game 4 of the Division Series. The Phillies were heavy favorites in the NL after winning 102 games in the regular season, but once they were forced into a decisive Game 5, it only took a great single-game pitching performance from Chris Carpenter to knock them out.

As a fan of the Orioles, who likely

won’t make the playoffs again until I have grandkids, I generally love the MLB playoffs for their unpredictability. But I can understand the anger from fans who support a team which consistently makes the playoffs, only to fall short to a lesser team in a short series.

It is hard to see, however, a way for baseball to remedy this situation. In fact, it seems as if the playoffs will be even more of a toss-up in the near future — if a second wild card team is added. Reports suggest that, if and when this occurs, the two wild card teams in each league will play either a one or three-game series to determine who advances to the Divisional Series. In September, the New York Post reported that a one-game playoff is the most likely scenario.

If this is the case, there will be even more David Freese and Cody Ross-type situations in future playoffs. While it is not exactly fair to have six months of baseball lead to one pivotal game or streaky player, it is certainly exciting, and until my team is good enough to make the playoffs, I will spend my Octobers cheering on the average players who suddenly become legendary when it matters most.

PHOTO BY CHRIS LEE/MCT CAMPUS

David Freese is batting .425 in the postseason, with four homeruns and 14 RBI.

Upcoming Varsity Schedule CAPS=HOME lowercase=away

Thursday Oct. 20

Friday Oct. 21

Women’s soccer

SAINT LOUIS 7 p.m. at St. Louis 8 p.m.

Volleyball

XAVIER 7 p.m.

Men’s soccer

Women’s Tennis

PHOTO BY NORA MALLOZZI/THE RAM

Junior Alex Judge and the Rams are 6-16 on the year after losing two games.

Rowing

Monday Oct. 24

Tuesday Oct. 24

Wednesday Oct. 25

CHARLOTTE 1 p.m. at Charlotte 1 p.m.

DAYTON 7 p.m.

Intercollegiate Tennis Association Regionals at New Haven, Conn.

Lehigh University Invitational

Golf

Water Polo

Sunday Oct. 23

at Lafayette 1 p.m.

Football

Swimming & Diving

Saturday Oct. 22

at Marist 7 p.m.

UCONN Invitational 12 p.m. at Princeton 12:15 p.m vs GWU 3 p.m.

Head of the Charles Boston

at Iona 7:30 p.m.

OCTOBER 19, 2011

PAGE 20

Fordham Falls Flat Against Lehigh, Defense Gives Up 598 Yards

By NICK CARROLL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Despite all of its opportunities, a young Fordham team, playing numerous freshmen and sophomores on both sides of the ball, never seemed to have a real chance to take down No. 7 Lehigh.

“They’re a senior-laden team, we’re a freshman and sophomoreladen team,” Head Coach Tom Masella said.

Lehigh, who came into the game with the fourth-best offense in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and put up 598 yards on Saturday, lived up to all of its lofty expectations and defeated a young and banged-up Rams team, 34-12.

“Lehigh is one of the better football teams I’ve seen in a long time in the Patriot League,” Masella said.

“They’re really solid on defense, they’re good on special teams and their offense is explosive.”

The Mountain Hawks were dominant in every way on offense, with their quarterback, running back and leading receiver all setting careerhighs in yardage.

“We’re in a tough spot right now because we thought we were gonna be pretty good on defense, and early in the season we were good on defense,” Masella said. “Now we’re playing with a whole different defense. I’ve never seen anything like it, but’s that’s not an excuse. But right now we’re playing with so many young kids on defense.”

Lehigh senior quarterback Chris Lum, who was recently named to the Walter Payton Award watch list (the award given to the best player in the FCS), completed 32 of 47 passes for 413 yards and three touchdowns.

PHOTO BY BRIAN KRAKER/THE RAM

Junior Greg Wilson had an 82-yard touchdown reception in the Rams’ loss.

“You have [former Holy Cross quarterback] Dominic Randolph and [John Skelton, GSB ’10] a couple of years ago that played at a high level,” Masella said. “He’s playing at that level too, maybe a little higher.”

Most of those yards came from junior wide receiver Ryan Spadola, who finished with 13 catches and 216 yards, highlighted by a 62-yard bomb completed at the end of the third quarter to put Lehigh up 34-12 and put Fordham away.

Even though the majority of Lehigh’s offense came through the air, the Mountain Hawks also ran the ball effectively. Junior running back Zach Barket ran the ball 18 times for 111 yards.

“You’re defending the pass with them,” Masella said. “We were gonna let them run the ball and try to keep it where we could keep it manageable.”

“I don’t think it’s as much about our defense as it is about our offense,” Masella added. “We had opportunities, we bogged down, we dropped balls, we had some penalties. Again, you can look at all the numbers, our job from a defensive standpoint is to make stops, and I thought we made some stops. We were gonna have to score 30-something odd points today.”

Going up against one of the country’s best offenses, Fordham needed its own offense to try to keep up.

However, Fordham squandered numerous opportunities, turning the ball over twice in Lehigh territory and dropping several passes, with two leading to interceptions and one costing the team a huge gain.

“We had some chances to make it a game,” Masella said. “We didn’t make any plays. We didn’t make any plays on the offensive side when

we had some chances to make it a game.”

Throughout the day, Lehigh forced the Rams to play catch up.

After Lehigh settled for a 22-yard field goal on its opening drive, they forced a quick three-and-out and went back to work on offense. On third-and-10 from the Fordham 17, Lum broke a tackle in the backfield and, while scrambling, found senior wide receiver Jake Drwal for a 17yard touchdown to give Lehigh a 10-0 lead.

After senior running back Darryl Whiting fumbled at the Lehigh 8, Fordham forced a quick punt, which sophomore punter Tim Divers punted into the back of a blocker. The ball bounced out of the end zone and gave Fordham its first score of the day.

“We dropped the punt,” Lehigh Head Coach Andy Coen said. “A gust of wind takes the [snap] and we actually wind up punting it into the back of our own player.”

After the ensuing kick gave Fordham the ball at midfield, the Rams could only muster a 37-yard field goal.

The Mountain Hawks capitalized on the missed opportunity and found the end zone again, on a twoyard pass from Lum to sophomore fullback Zach Hayden to make it 17-5.

Fordham junior quarterback Ryan Higgins had another strong performance in his second-straight start. Higgins threw for 253 yards, highlighted by an 82-yard pass to junior wide receiver Greg Wilson that cut Lehigh’s lead to 20-12.

“Ryan can throw the football, we know he can throw the football,” Masella said. “Certainly we had

some balls that could have been caught. I think if we catch two of them he probably would have gone for 380 [yards].”

From there, Lehigh never looked back. The Mountain Hawks needed only six plays to drive 82 yards and score on a seven-yard run by Fitz to make it 27-12.

Fordham responded by driving to the Lehigh 24, but senior linebacker Mike Groome intercepted a dropped pass, his first of two on the day.

“That’s all it was: right play, right time,” Groome said.

Lehigh finished the third quarter with the 62-yard Spadola touchdown, and protected its 34-12 lead in the fourth quarter.

Redshirt freshman cornerback Ian Williams epitomized the current state of Fordham football. Even though Williams struggled against Lehigh’s pass attack, he also came up with two interceptions in Fordham territory to prevent Lehigh from scoring.

“He’s a redshirt freshman who’s going to be an outstanding player,” Masella said. “We have to look at the glass half-full. That’s the only way you can look at it and say these young players are going to be good players, and stick with it.”

With the loss, Fordham falls to 1-6 and is set to begin another three-game road trip next week at Lafayette in what will be Lafayette’s homecoming game. This season, the Leopards are 1-5.

“We gotta go on the road for three more weeks next week,” Masella said. “We just gotta keep telling our kids ‘you gotta keep plugging away, working hard and good things will happen.’”

Volleyball Loses Six in a Row, Still in Position to Make Playoffs

By DAN GARTLAND SPORTS EDITOR

After beating Temple and LaSalle to improve to 2-1 in conference play, it looked like the Fordham volleyball team may have overcome its slow start. The Lady Rams, however, now find themselves mired in a six-game losing streak and losing ground in the playoff chase.

Fordham fell to Rutgers, 3-1, on Oct. 4 before playing host to Saint Louis and Duquesne in a pair of conference matches over the weekend of Oct. 7.

Fordham lost to a talented Saint Louis team by a score of 3-1. The Billikens are now in second place in the Atlantic 10. Sophomore Carina Thompson set a new career high with 14 kills in the loss, and senior tri-captain Brittany Daulton added a double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs.

The following night against Duquesne was an incredibly exciting match, though the Dukes would come out on top 3-2 in a thrilling five-set match. Several Fordham players performed well statistically.

Senior tri-captain Megan Arend had a career-high 28 digs. Daulton and fellow senior Lisa Hipp each posted double-doubles. Sopho-

more Sara Konkel had 25 assists to go along with 13 digs.

Sophomore Krissy Buongiorno also played well over the threegame stretch and was named A-10 Rookie of the Week.

The losing streak was stretched to four games with a loss at UConn on Oct. 11 in the Lady Rams’ final non-conference match of the season. Fordham took the first set, 2523, before losing the next three sets as UConn earned a 3-1 victory.

Again, Daulton and Hipp each recorded double-doubles, while junior Randi Ewing added nine kills and six blocks.

The Lady Rams then headed south for two conference matches this past Friday and Sunday against George Washington and Charlotte.

The Colonials, who posted a .367 hitting percentage, swept Fordham, 3-0. Fordham hit .179 for the match.

On Sunday, Fordham fell, 3-1, to Charlotte, bringing its losing streak to six games. It was the first A-10 victory this season for the 49ers, who improved to 7-12 overall, while Fordham fell to 5-17. The Lady Rams posted a .077 hitting percentage in the match, compared to .225 for Charlotte.

Despite its recent struggles, Fordham is still in position to qualify for the A-10 tournament.

With a 2-5 conference record, the Lady Rams are tied with Temple for seventh place, one game behind Rhode Island for the sixth and final playoff spot. URI holds the tiebreaker over Fordham though, having won the teams’ only meeting, 3-1, on Sept. 24.

Sophomore Carina Thompson said that she and her teammates still believe they will qualify for the playoffs, and that they just need to find a way to break their current six-game skid.

“We need to focus and make sure everyone is on the same page, so that we can use everyone’s strengths as individuals and bring them together so that the team can excel as a unit,” she said.

With eight games to play, a turnaround is not out of the question, though it certainly will not be easy.

This weekend Fordham hosts Xavier and Dayton, two of the conference’s top three teams. The following weekend the Lady Rams will take on Saint Louis and Duquesne, the second and fourth place teams, respectively. Fordham fell victim to both the Billikens and the Dukes during its current slide.

PHOTO BY AARON MAYS/THE RAM

Senior tri-captain Megan Arend had a career-high 28 digs in a loss to Duquesne.