Volume 95 Issue 9

The Fordham Ram Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918 Volume 95, Issue 9

USG Elections Feature Only Five Contested Races This article was written by Kelly Kultys, News Editor, and Katie Meyer, Assistant News Editor.

In sharp contrast to last year’s heated battles, including the one over the executive ticket, this year’s United Student Government (USG) heads into its elections with only five contested races.

“I wish that all the elections were contested, including my own, and I think the best way to do that is a lot of communication, a lot of outreach, and making sure that students on campus really know what USG is,” Aileen Reynolds, FCRH ’14, the uncontested candidate for executive president, said.

While the executive ticket, vice president of Operations, vice president of Finance, vice president of Health and Security, and vice President of Gabelli are running uncontested, three executive positions are running fairly competitive races.

Emily Rochette, GSB ’14, the current vice president of Student SEE USG, PAGE 3

FordhamRam.com F dh R

Aprill 10 A 10, 2013

Months After Captivity, Richard Engel of NBC News to Deliver Fordham’s 168th Commencement Address This article was written by Canton Winer, Managing Editor, and Kelly Kultys, News Editor.

In December, Richard Engel was abducted, tossed in the back of a truck and blindfolded while on assignment in Syria. Now four-months free from his captors, he will deliver Fordham’s 168th Commencement keynote address on May 18.

Engel, NBC News’ chief foreign correspondent, and his network production team were captured after entering Syria in December. They were held — blindfolded and bound — for five days in an unknown location believed to be near the small town of Ma’arrat Misrin.

“Every now and then [we] had guns pointed on our heads,” Aziz Akyavas, a member of Engel’s crew, told Turkish television channel NTV. “It was not pleasant.”

Though the identity of the group that kidnapped Engel and his crew remains unclear, Engel said that the captors spoke “openly about their loyalty to the government” of President Bashar al-Assad.

“We were told that they wanted to exchange us for four Iranian agents

and two Lebanese people who are from the Amal Movement,” Engel said on NBC’s “Today” show on Dec. 18. Amal, a Lebanese political party, is an ally of Hezbollah, which the United States designates a terrorist organization.

The prisoners were in the process of moving to a new location early in the evening on Dec. 17 when their captors ran into a checkpoint manned by members of Ahrar alSham, a Syrian rebel group. After an ensuing confrontation and firefight, which resulted in deaths of two captors, Engel and his fellow captives were freed.

This was not the first time Engel found himself in a potentially dangerous situation. After graduating from Stanford University in 1996, Engel, now 33, went to Egypt in search of the big story of the century. In his four years in Cairo, Engel worked as a freelance reporter and learned Arabic.

He went on to report for ABC News from Jerusalem when the Second Intifada broke out in 2000. As the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq became imminent, Engel — still freelancing — resolved to enter the country

By DAN GARTLAND EXECUTIVE SPORTS EDITOR

CHARLES SYKES/AP

Richard Engel is the Chief Foreign Correspondent for NBC News.

on his own. Posing as an antiwar activist (and with the help of a $400 bribe), Engel was able to enter Iraq.

As bombs began to pummel the gulf state, ABC started to use his reports regularly.

When he took a brief break and returned home, Engel decided to break from ABC. “I frankly wanted a new start,” Engel told The New York Times.

SEE ENGEL, PAGE 2

Students Flock to an Alcohol-Stained Eddie’s, Unafraid to Celebrate Spring

By CONNOR RYAN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Mere feet from where a small but raucous group of students gathered for an impromptu game of football, a dozen or so empty beer cans and bottles lay strewn around Edward’s Parade as the Saturday evening sun slowly began its descent.

Since getting out of class last Friday afternoon, masses of students have gravitated toward the grassy centerpiece of Rose Hill to celebrate the long-awaited arrival of spring.

Amid students sunbathing, tossing Frisbees and passing footballs, many have been drinking either beer or hard liquor, which is in violation of University rules.

Christopher Rodgers, dean of students at Rose Hill, said that at the beginning of every spring, as soon as “it is warm enough to sunbathe without significant risk of hypothermia,” he watches students race to find a com-

fortable spot on “Eddie’s.”

“I love this tradition and to see so many around the lawn in the spring, but sadly some of our students bring along a beverage they appear to have recently discovered called beer,” Rodgers said in an email.

After witnessing large crowds gathering on the lawn late Friday afternoon from his office window in the McGinley Center, he and a few resident assistants walked around Eddie’s to check for alcohol. He said he saw a few groups drinking beer and quickly approached the students to check IDs. “As we did our jobs on the lawn, various members of the community expressed their own disappointment (some booing, I detected some cat calling, perhaps a smattering of hisses, as well),” he said. “I enthusiastically waved to the crowd in the manner of what one student later described as Miss America.”

(Rodgers claims he was going for

THE RAM

One student poured vodka into a water bottle Tuesday afternoon on Eddie’s.

more of a Queen Elizabeth-style wave.)

But the revelry did not stop on Friday.

This past week, just like the start of every previous spring at Fordham, a

large number of students have been drinking on Eddie’s — and few say they plan to stop.

“I think it’s perfectly acceptable and should be done if done safely,” a SEE ALCOHOL, PAGE 2

Que(e)ry Opens Door into Lives of LGBTQ Minority Students

By KRIS VENEZIA STAFF WRITER

The results from a study will be released next Wednesday that aims to encourage change and more support for Fordham’s Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, Transgender, Queer (LBGTQ) community.

Jeff Lockhart, FCRH’13 and the principal investigator for the report, said he hopes the data will open students’ eyes to the issues some sexual and gender minority students experience.

“There's a lot that doesn't get

talked about and doesn't get seen,” Lockhart said. “It's harder to understand that there is a community problem if you don't really see it.”

The study, The Que(e)ry, had 351 participants from all Fordham campuses, and a little more than half the students were in the sexual or gender minority. People involved in the report took a survey that asked a series of questions regarding experiences with or as a student in the LBGTQ community.

The survey also had comment

boxes that gave participants the opportunity to expand on personal experiences in their lives.

Lockhart said he was moved by some of the responses he read.

“To really understand what the numbers mean, it's really useful to have [participants’] words,” he said. “Some [comments] were the happiest things I've read in years, and some were the saddest I've read in years. They are all mixed together, so one comment will be uplifting and one may be depressing. There's so much power in what people have written and the

Alum at Heart of Rutgers Scandal

experiences they've had.”

The report found that half of sexual or gender minority students at Fordham are not out to their families, and 16 percent are not out to any friends.

Joe Lynch, FCRH ’13, has an older brother who came out a few years ago. He said that after finding out someone close to him was part of the LBGTQ community, he made a change to his vocabulary.

“I used to say [it’s gay], but my brother is homosexual so I don't SEE QUE(E)RY, PAGE 3

A Fordham alumnus has made national news over the past week, but for all the wrong reasons.

Mike Rice, FCRH ’91, was fired as the head men’s basketball coach at Rutgers on April 3 after the release of a video which showed him abusing his players in practice.

Rice pelted players with basketballs, shoved them and berated them with homophobic slurs.

Bryan Smith, a sophomore guard at Fordham, said he thought the video was “crazy.”

“No person, no college athlete, should have to go through that,” he said.

Smith also said he had never played for a coach like Rice and would never have tolerated such actions.

“There’s no way I could go through a whole season with stuff like that,” he said. “I don’t how any of the players did that. It’s crazy.”

Rice attended Fordham from 1987 to 1991 and was a three year starter at guard for the Rams’ basketball team.

He was the team’s captain in 1991 when Fordham went to the NIT and also served as an assistant coach from 1991 to 1994.

In 2010, when he was the head coach at Robert Morris, Rice was a finalist for the Fordham head coaching job but ended up at Rutgers after Fordham decided to hire Tom Pecora.

Frank McLaughlin was Fordham’s Director of Athletics when Rice was a player and coach and when Rice was being considered for the coaching vacancy in 2010.

McLaughlin said that the revelations about Rice’s behavior came as a surprise.

“I’m sick over it because I know a different Mike Rice than the one that’s being seen on television,” McLaughlin told the New York Daily News. “I’ve never seen that side of Mike. I’m really stunned.”

SEE RICE, PAGE 26

in this issue

Opinion Page 9 Abortion Labels Hinder National Discussion

Arts

Page 17

An Interview with Barstool’s ‘KFC’

Sports

Page 23

Baseball Loses Five Straight on the Road

NEWS

Page 2

SECURITY BRIEFS April 3 Mofongol Club 1 p.m.

At the Mofongol Club, located on 188th Street and Washington Avenue, a Fordham student was involved in a dispute with another male, who threw a bottle at the student’s head. The student had a small laceration above the left ear and was treated at St. Barnabas Hospital. The NYPD was notified and is investigating the case.

April 6 to April 7 Larkin Hall 9 a.m. — 9 p.m.

A MacBook laptop was taken from a locked cabinet inside a laboratory located in the basement of Larkin Hall. Campus security is investigating the incident.

April 7 O’Hare Hall 2 a.m.

In O’Hare Hall, an unknown person discharged a fire extinguisher in the hallway. The hallways were vented and custodial staff responded by cleaning up the residue from the extinguisher.

April 7 Finlay Hall 3:45 a.m.

In front of Finlay Hall, a student threatened another student. One of the students was identified with a weapon, a small knife, and he was promptly apprehended by campus security. The NYPD was notified and arrested the student.

April 7 D Train 5:30 p.m.

A student was using his iPhone in public view while riding the D train back to campus. As the train stopped at the 183rd Street station, a male sitting across from the student grabbed the phone and fled the train. The student attempted to retrieve it but an accomplice punched him. Both males fled from the station and the NYPD was notified. Transit police in District 11 are investigating.

April 7 Administration Building Overnight An unknown individual removed the hydrangea plant from the flower bed in front of the Administration Building.

— Compiled by Girish Swaminath, Assistant News Editor

April 10, 2013

As Spring Shines, Grassy Campus Centerpiece is Used for Drinking

THE RAM

CONNOR RYAN/THE RAM

Many students have been seen drinking on Eddie’s since last Friday afternoon.

Security has been patrolling for alcohol, but many students continue to drink.

FROM ALCOHOL, PAGE 1

freshman said as he sipped beer Saturday afternoon on Eddie’s. “I do it and I have a great time because I am smart about it.”

A sophomore, who was also drinking in the middle of campus on Saturday, complained about Fordham’s prohibitive on-campus alcohol policies.

“There are very limited options to Fordham students when it comes to places where students can drink socially, especially outdoor spaces,” he said. “Students take their chances on Eddie’s.”

According to Rose Hill’s student handbook, Fordham prohibits “the possession and consumption of alcohol within public areas and administrative and academic buildings.” (An exception lies, however, when the Dean of Students, or his designated representative, grants special permission.)

Additionally, students who are of the legal drinking age may not consume or possess alcohol while in

the presence of underage students (unless at a registered event). This includes drinking on campus lawns.

When asked how Fordham security handled the uptick in drinking this weekend, John Carroll, associate vice president of Safety and Security, said his department was not aware of any students drinking outside.

“I spoke to my duty supervisor for this weekend,” Carroll said in an email on Sunday. “He did not observe anything on Eddie’s that indicated the area was experiencing drinking by our students on Saturday or Sunday.”

Carroll went on to say that it is possible individuals may have had an “isolated drink,” but security “can’t be at every location at all times.”

Since this weekend, security guards have been seen walking around Eddie’s, speaking with students and looking for alcohol.

Many try to camouflage their alcohol in water bottles or other innocent-looking containers in hopes of deflecting attention. And so far the

strategy seems to be working.

One student on Tuesday afternoon — presumably under the influence of alcohol — sat comfortably on a blanket and clearly poured vodka into an empty Dasani water bottle, despite the added security.

Rob Raffaele, FCRH ’15 and chief of medical operations for Fordham University Emergency Medical Service (FUEMS), said that his department has been a little busier since the temperature recently began rising.

“This weekend was maybe a bit higher [for intoxication calls] than average, [and] I suspect that was due to the beautiful weather on Friday,” he said.

Speaking from experience, Raffaele added that FUEMS typically sees a spike in calls as the weather gets warmer. He cited specifically an increase in calls related to sports injuries and intoxication.

There is no doubt, security presence, particularly around Eddie’s, has risen as more students spend time outside and alcohol becomes

increasingly prevalent on campus.

“Safety and Security will give sustained attention to Eddie’s, [Martyrs’ lawn] and other lawns to ensure everyone is complying with the Student Handbook, Code of Conduct and New York State law,” Carroll said.

Rodgers echoed Carroll saying, “We will be back on the lawn in the coming weeks to meet more of our students, no doubt, and we will ask the community to exercise restraint in its enthusiasm for spring as we do each year at this time.”

Carroll said he encourages Fordham staffers, faculty members and students to alert campus security if they see students drinking outside.

“We will respond and take immediate corrective action,” Carroll said.

Joe Vitale and Kris Venezia contributed reporting.

• Editor’s note: In order to protect identities, names of students (including a photographer’s name) have been withheld from this article.

Engel Joins Ranks of Prestigious Fordham Commencement Speakers FROM ENGEL, PAGE 1

He instead signed with NBC as a foreign correspondent and returned to the explosions and gunfire of Baghdad. Engel went on to file reports from Lebanon during the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah conflict and from Kabul covering Afghanistan’s 2009 presidential election. In 2011, he reported on the Egyptian revolution and the Libyan civil war.

Engel’s work has garnered him many prestigious awards. His first recognition came in 2006 from his report Baghdad E.R. in the form of the RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award.

He received the Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism after he created a documentary about his time in Iraq titled War Zone Diary. Two years later, he added the Peabody Award to his list of achievements for Richard

Engel Reports: Tip of the Spear, a report on Army Viper Company fighting in the mountains of Afghanistan.

Most recently, in 2011, the Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association awarded Engel the David Bloom Award for Excellence in Enterprise Reporting for his embedded coverage of the Charlie Company 2-508 of the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan.

Student response to the announcement of Engel has been very positive, a marked difference from years past.

“Great choice, world traveler, extremely accomplished journalist,” Will Germain, FCRH ’13, said. “I’m sure he knows a ton about important happenings all over the world and that might give him some good insights to share with graduates.”

Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University, called En-

gel “the model of what a commencement speaker should be,” in a press release sent out earlier this week.

“He is highly accomplished, engaged with the world’s great events, and well able to convey his experiences and insights to our students, their families, and our faculty,” McShane said.

Last year’s announcement of John Brennan, FCRH ’77, as commencement speaker sparked heated debate on campus and the creation of an online petition opposing the decision.

This year, however, many students say they find Engel’s journalistic background appealing.

“I was genuinely excited when I heard that he was going to be our commencement speaker,” Lindsey Festa, FCRH ’13, said. “He is someone that I have watched on the news

for quite some time and his work is respectable and heroic.”

“I’m excited that Fordham will be having another high profile journalist coming to speak,” Stephen Erdman, FCRH ’13 and executive president of USG, said. “It’s kind of interesting that Fordham is developing a history of hosting media figures for commencement.”

“I think he’s cool,” Nate Schiller, FCRH ’13, said. “Honestly, I didn’t know who he was at first, but his resume is legit and it’s cool to have a legitimate media person as our commencement speaker as a communications major.”

Engel joins a prestigious list of Fordham commencement speakers including Brian Williams, Tom Brokaw and Vin Scully.

This Week at Fordham Thursday April 11 Lecture by George F. Will Keating 1st Auditorium, 7 p.m.

The College Republicans are hosting a speech by George Will, a Pulitzer Prize-winning conservative columnist, television personality and author of thirteen books on topics ranging from baseball to politics.

Saturday April 13

Sunday April 14

Freshman Field Day

Sock Saturday

Resource Fair

Martyrs’ Lawn, 11 a.m.

¡GO! Office, McGinley 205, 12 p.m.

Our Lady of Mercy Church, 10 a.m.

Saturday April 13

Freshman teams from FCRH, FCLC and GSB will battle it out this Saturday in soccer, volleyball, an obstacle course and relay race to see which freshman class reigns supreme at Fordham. E-mail freshmanfielday@gmail.com as to join a team.

Campus Ministry’s Pedro Arrupe Faith and Justice Program is hosting the event to introduce community partners like LIFT, Mercy Center and University Neighborhood Housing Program to members of the congregation. Spanish translators and hospitality volunteers are needed.

For more campus events, visit FordhamRam.com Join ¡GO!’s program and help to provide needed supplies to Manhattan’s homeless. Groups will go into Manhattan with a backpack full of socks and travel a designated route in order to distribute them along the way.

Tuesday April 16 Inaugural HobartIves Lecture Flom Auditorium, 6 p.m.

The St. Edmund Campion Institute for the Advancement of Intellectual Excellence is holding the Inaugural Lecture, which will be given by Clare Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith on Shakespeare and the Image of Holiness.

NEWS

April 10, 2013

Candidates Display Involvement, Experience

Page 3

Study Reflects Harassment of LGBTQ Students

FORDHAM IN THE BRONX

Living in a Golfer’s Paradise

FROM USG, PAGE 1

FROM QUE(E)RY, PAGE 1

Life, is running for reelection and challenging Michael Meehan, FCRH ’14 and current Residential Hall Association (RHA) President, for the position.

The position of vice president of Fordham College Rose Hill also has two bidders, Emily Horihan, FCRH ’14 and Lauren Byrne, FCRH ’14. Finally, Bridget Fox, FCRH ’14, the current vice president of IT, is running for vice president of Communications against Matthew Gillis, GSB ’14.

Aside from the executive board, only two senate races are contested this year: FCRH 2014 and GSB 2016.

For FCRH 2014, five candidates Stephen Ross, Briana Rotello, Anthony Gatti, Matthew Freeze and Tara Cuzzi are competing for the three open senator positions. On the GSB 2016 side, three candidates, Thomas Roemer, Tiffany Wang and Travis Navarro are currently vying for the three open positions.

On Tuesday April 9, these students and those running unopposed participated in the annual Meet the Candidates Night.

Reynolds and Brendan Francolini, GSB ’14, started off the night addressing many of their most important platform ideas.

“We’ve had the opportunity to work with administrators and build relationships with administrators in a whole variety of [ways],” Francolini said. “[We have] also had the opportunity, most specifically, to report on the student expression and free speech, to work with students and to gain legitimacy in the eyes of students.”

Following them, especially in many of the contested races, candidates offered their strongest platform positions to the audience.

For the vice president of Student Life, both Meehan and Rochotte called upon their prior experience as their main strength.

“I’m coming into the position, if elected, with a lot of experience,” Meehan said. “I’ve risen through the ranks of RHA and I’m coming in with really great relationships with other clubs and especially with administrators. I’m going to really try to leverage that experience and really utilize that experience to advocate for other clubs and emerging clubs on campus.”

“As VP of student life this year and having the experience that I have had, I can hit the ground running as soon as the new term starts to make all the events that have already run even bigger and carry on the tradition but also add new elements, add new programs and continue to work with USG on policy initiatives,” Rochotte said.

In the vice president of Communications contest, Fox drew on her social media skills, while Gillis pointed out the divide between USG and the student body.

Students can vote for candidates on OrgSync beginning on Thursday, April 11. Voting will end on Friday, April 12 at 5 p.m.

say it anymore,” Lynch said. “I hear the word gay used [negatively] all the time. [People] have all become desensitized to it in a way.”

Martin McCormack, FCRH’15, said he uses the word “gay” but is also trying to get the word out of his everyday language.

“I use [that’s gay] because it’s become such a habit and because the word itself doesn't bear any meaning; it's just how I grew up,” McCormack said. “I'm more conscious of it now and more aware about it. Now I'm trying to change my vocabulary, but I say [gay] quite often.”

Jeff Lockhart said he wants this study to encourage students to substitute slurs such as “gay” or “fag” for other words because the language can be hurtful.

“We find that [sexual-or-gender minority people] who are uncomfortable are likely to smile and not do anything, and people around will think that the [gay slurs] are okay,” Lockhart said. “The more the language gets talked about, the more people will realize they should be careful what they say because even if they mean well, the people around might not think the same way.”

Lynch and McCormack said they have not seen any verbal or physical harassment toward students in the LBGTQ community on campus.

Lockhart said some of the results from the survey do reflect harassment on campus, including offensive language written on students’ doors or walls.

He added that there has already been some backlash from the report.

“Some straight male students took the study and put things in there that [the report] was completely pointless, a waste of time,” he said. “Just a lot of hostility like why are you even trying, this isn't even a problem. One person is whatever, but it was definitely enough people where there was a pattern.”

Lockhart said only a small number of students attacked the survey, and the Fordham community has been supportive for the most part.

The official publication will be released to the Fordham community April 17, and on April 23, there will be a town hall meeting at the Rose Hill Ballroom to discuss the findings.

Lockhart said the results will show a wide variety of experiences and viewpoints amongst the LBGTQ community, and the few people who have already seen The Que(e)ry have had a positive response.

“As per our observations, the people who have seen the document have responded well and want to be a part of moving this effort forward,” he said. “People are definitely taking it seriously and people respect the results.”

KRIS VENEZIA/THE RAM

As spring approaches, some Fordham students look forward to practicing their game at golf courses in the Bronx.

By JEFFREY COLTIN BRONX CORRESPONDENT

"With the coming of spring, I am calm again." — Gustav Mahler.

Fordham welcomes spring in much the same way every year.

After months of near-complete desolation, Eddie's fills up with students. Some students lie on blankets and read. Some just stand and talk. Some, feeling constrained by a full season of wearing layers, break free from their cotton prisons and play Frisbee shirtless. The spring immigration to Eddie's is a tradition unlike any other.

For some Fordham students, however, that phrase brings to mind something else entirely. This weekend is The Masters — the most prestigious golf tournament in America — and with it, its TV tagline: “A tradition unlike any other.” The Masters marks the de facto beginning of the golf season, especially here in the Bronx, where playing anytime before early April often leads to cold hands, strong winds and a bad game.

Wait, golfing in the city? Here in the concrete jungle?

“Golf and New York City are not found anywhere close to each other in the thesaurus, but we find a way to manage,” said Ryan Donahue, FCRH ’14. As a member of the

Fordham golf team, Donahue has golfed all over the Bronx. “I like golfing in the Bronx,” he said. “You meet a lot of interesting characters.”

There are four golf courses spread across three facilities in the Bronx. Luckily for Fordham golfers on a budget, they are all public courses with relatively low greens fees. The Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course is the most accessible from Rose Hill, located in the expansive Van Cortlandt Park in the Northwest Bronx.

From campus, it is a 30 minute ride on the BX9 and a short walk to the nation’s oldest public golf course. The course has been featured in movies like Wall Street and The Greatest Game Every Played and is a bargain for all its history. Fees vary, but this week it was $38 for 18 holes after noon. For those lacking the room in their college residences, this course, like most, also rents out clubs for a fee.

Next to Van Cortlandt is the 9-hole Mosholu Golf Course. A short walk from the northern end of the 4 train, Mosholu is easy to get to by public transportation as well. Its prices are similar to those of its neighbor. This weekend, it is $28 for nine holes and $38 for 18 holes.

The northeast Bronx’s Pelham Bay Park holds a pair of courses as

well: Pelham Bay and Split Rock.

Donahue plays the courses often with the team and has some insight: “Pelham Bay is wide open, [but] Split Rock was carved through Jumanji like settings. Split Rock is actually a good test, while Pelham Bay is where you want to go if your playing ‘Army golf ’ [a term for poor golf, with the balls flying “right, left, right, left”]. You'll spend some time picking thorns out of your legs if you go astray at Split Rock.”

Both courses run a little more expensive than the others in the borough. Prices vary, but rounds this week ran from $40-$60. They are also a little harder to get to by public transportation, requiring a transfer from the BX12 to the BX29 and a long walk through the park.

If those courses are not enough, the borough will welcome another public course at Ferry Point Park next year. The course will be built by the city along the water on a landfill near the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge in the Southwest Bronx.

Donahue hopes for a shorter trip: “If anyone wins the lottery, they should buy the Botanical Gardens and turn it into the Fordham Links.” Nature lovers may not appreciate his dream, but Rose Hill’s golfers will certainly understand his enthusiasm with the coming of spring.

KRIS VENEZIA/THE RAM

The four golf courses dispersed across three facilities in the Bronx are relatively inexpensive and open to the public.

NEWS

Page 4

April 10, 2013

USG ELECTIONS Executive Board Executive President Aileen Reynolds FCRH ’14

Executive Vice President Brendan Francolini GSB ’14

Main platform goals: Investigating planning and hiring committees throughout the University to ensure that the student perspective is consistently represented and considered where appropriate; Following the implementation of a new dining services contract by remaining in contact with key administrators and analyzing student reception to the changes made throughout the year; Working with OSL&CD to expedite student organizations’ ability to put on programs

Vice President of Finance Muhammad Hussein Sarwar GSB ’14 Proposing a structured way through which student groups can seek monetary cosponsorship from USG

Vice President of Operations Sera Yoon FCRH ’14 Revitalizing the bond between Fordham and the Bronx, and ameliorate fellowship in the Fordham community.

Vice President of Student Life Emily Rochotte GSB ’14 Advocating to enhance the House Committee as a resource for clubs seeking to appeal administrators’ decisions to deny or modify proposed events, in accordance with The Report on Speech and Expression of Student Groups Proposal

Mike Meehan FCRH ’14 Revitalizing Fordham Week and make it more community centric, giving it a “Community” Theme and adding a new program, called Hallympics, where all the residents and commuters compete in athletic competitions, thus building community

Vice President of Communications Bridget Fox Matthew Gillis FCRH ’14 GSB ’14 Condensing the audio recording into a 5minute podcast that summarizes the important parts of the meeting, making it extremely simple for students, professors, and administrators to know exactly what is going on with USG

Vice President of GSB Nevin Kulungara GSB ’15 Creating an atmosphere at Gabelli that encourages students to start their own businesses that can flourish on campus through the support of fellow Fordham students.

Proposing a USG YouTube account which will feature video recordings of every single USG meeting. This way, students who are not able to attend the meetings are able to stay informed with the minutes.

Vice President of Health and Security Katie Peachman FCRH ’15 Improving the smoking policy on campus by designating smoking areas around campus are a great solution and compromise to the current policy the university has in place.

Vice President of FCRH Emily Horihan FCRH ’14 Advertising the work of Fordham College Dean’s Council via tabling, fliers and email in order to foster knowledge about the council and increase membership.

USG Elections take place from April 11 to April 12 on Orgsync.com.

This information was gathered by Kelly Kultys, News Editor, Katherine Meyer, Assistant News Editor and Girish Swaminath, Assistant News Editor. The main goals were taken from the platforms posted on usgrh.org and Facebook.

If the platforms were not found through either of these mediums, they were not posted.

ELIZABETH ZANGHI/THE RAM

Francolini and Reynolds called on Rose Hill’s student body to get more involved in the community at an event Tuesday night.

Senate GSB 2014 John Tresler GSB ’14 Collecting Review of GSB 2014 opinions on the Core and things in Track 2 that should be kept in Gabelli and not phased out

Joseph Lauberth GSB’14 No platform posted

FCRH 2014 Stephen Ross FCRH ’14 Planning to work with Alumni Services to think of creative ways to help the class of 2014 meet with young alumni as we plan our transition

Anthony Gatti FCRH ’14 Moving forward with the “Bike Share” program and expand it to include permission for biking on campus and the addition of bike lanes.

Tara Cuzzi FCRH ’14 Increasing communication between Rose Hill and Lincoln Center regarding events and opportunities that all students can become involved in

Matthew Freeze FCRH ’14 Working to further improve the club budget process by changing the way money is allocated and increasing the amount of money available

Briana Rotello FCRH ’14 Increasing student involvement and making Fordham more student friendly

GSB 2015 Victoria Affrunti GSB ’15 No platform posted

Caroline Reichert GSB ’15 Empower student entrepreneurship ventures by providing more visibility and marketing opportunities on campus

FCRH 2015 Sarah Skrobala FCRH ’15 Creating a handicap accessible map, continue to urge the importance of renovating Collins Hall, advertise a consistent shuttle route around campus, and get a handicap accessible shuttle for the Rose Hill campus.

Harrison Pidgeon FCRH ’15 Planning to change the policy regarding break stay to make it easier and more accessible for underclassmen to stay on campus in a res hall.

Alyssa Marino FCRH ’15 Coming up with a communication system to get the word out about elections to voters and potential candidates alike. The more informed the public is about USG, the election process, and the candidates, the better suited they are to make a decision of who to vote for

GSB 2016 Thomas Roemer GSB ’16 Working to eliminate curfews on guests from other residence halls along with other unnecessary restrictions on the privileges of Fordham students

Tiffany Yang GSB ’16 Fortifying our Ram Pride.

School spirit is essential in uniting our student government. It can only get better from here with pep rallies, spirit week events, and even class competitions.

Travis Navarro GSB ’16 No platform posted

FCRH 2016 Duncan Magidson FCRH ’16 Working together on enabling the vending machines across campus to accept DCB (the money included in your meal plan) in addition to cash and credit cards

Ashley Domagola FCRH ’16 Creating a central system of communication, such as a comprehensive calendar, could alleviate the frustration and the confusion experienced by many students on a regular basis

Anish Assim FCRH ’16 Continuing my work to extend the add-drop period for all students in Fordham College and expand the use of student ID cards

NEWS

April 10, 2013

Page 5

New Online System Released for Professor Evaluations

By KELLY KULTYS NEWS EDITOR

Gone are the days of print documents. Email has replaced traditional postal service mail. Newspapers and magazines are moving their publications online.

Now, even Fordham’s Student Evaluation of Educational Quality (SEEQ) will be moving online.

“About four years ago the Fordham Administration decided to move the evaluations online,” Dr. Allan Gilbert, chair of the Faculty Evaluation Committee, said. “We ultimately chose a company with experience in providing this kind of service to universities.”

As the semester winds down, in the coming weeks, students will be asked to fill out the standard evaluation forms online.

The evaluations consist of the same questions as the print ones, such as how much work does the professor give, are the readings useful, did you find the class valuable, etc.

Students also will still have the opportunity to write comments about the teacher and about the class as a whole. The only difference is that now students will have to fill out the SEEQs using their computers or smartphones and not only during class time.

“Last fall, we conducted a pilot study with about 18 courses,” Gilbert said. “These students did not receive paper but instead entered their responses through the online system. Some instructors arranged class time for everybody to bring their laptops and smartphones in. Some, like me, did not

GRACE LILLY/THE RAM

Professors can now view their evaluations and critiques online shortly after students submit their responses digitally.

do that, but instead reminded the class over and over again to complete the survey. And some did not do anything, thinking that students would answer the survey automatically.”

Gilbert said these different methods produced varied response rates from classes, from as high as 100 percent participation to as low as approximately 30 percent participation.

This causes some concern for professors, since for the evaluations to be worthwhile, they need to be accurate reflections of student sentiment and submitted in substantial numbers.

Gilbert believes 60 percent par-

ticipation is the minimally acceptable response rate from a class, and 80-90 percent would be desired.

“The danger of having too low a participation is that these evaluations become unreliable since you don’t have a large enough sample to guarantee representativeness of students’ assessment,” Gilbert said.

Students can also benefit from doing the SEEQs. The evaluations are compiled as soon as they are received during the survey period, and after grades are posted by the instructors at the end of each semester, statistical graphs of all the SEEQ results will be immediately

available on the My.Fordham portal under the student tab.

Students can look up other professors through this tool as well to see how other students evaluated professors they are interested in taking in future semesters. Not everyone is ready for this system to move online, however.

“The department chairs and deans may decide to postpone the entire online application or part of it to the fall,” Gilbert said in a follow-up email. “The transition will definitely happen, now or later, since we have everything installed and synched with the Banner network, but we may delay a little to prepare better for the changeover.”

The movement, however, was stopped immediately and the online system will be released in the coming weeks.

When the system does eventually move online, students will receive an initial email invitation with a link to start the survey, which will remain open 24 hoursa-day for about two weeks, until finals week begins.

Reminder emails will be sent from the SEEQ system to fill out the evaluation.

Professors have also been contacted about the change and are advised to remind their students to fill these out.

Gilbert believes that both students and professors can benefit when the system does move online, as results are delivered more quickly and are more accessible, while professors can receive the comments students write directly.

“We currently don’t get all the data that’s on the paper form anyway, because confidentiality rules state that we can’t let individual instructors look at the original evaluation forms,” Gilbert said.

“Only two departments in the university [biology and sociology/anthropology] go through the trouble of typing up student comments and distributing the typescripts. Most departments get the benefit of the comments only by verbal communication through the chair.”

As of now, students should receive the email inviting them to take the survey in the later part of April. Students have approximately two weeks, or until the start of finals, to complete the survey.

New Networking Organization Unites New York City Colleges

By KATIE MEYER ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

New York City is home to dozens of colleges and universities and thousands of students, but often, these students do not know much about what is going on at campuses outside of their own.

This problem, however, which hinders a lot of potential opportunities for networking and sharing information, may soon be solved, and it looks like Fordham University will be a part of that solution.

Arvin Ahmadi, a junior at Columbia University, recently came up with the idea to form a group made up of representatives from major colleges in New York City to promote communication and a sense of unity among the different schools.

A few weeks ago, Ahmadi contacted a few members of Fordham United Student Government (USG) via email and introduced the idea. Soon after, he met with USG members Sama Habib, GSB ’14, and Jenny Lim, FCRH ’14, in Campbell Hall. “[Ahmadi wanted to] try and connect all of the student leaders from the New York City schools and either provide a network for them or make it a social thing,” Habib said. “He wasn’t sure where it was going, but he wanted to get some student leaders from big name schools like Fordham, NYU, Columbia and FIT.” The Fordham students were

wholeheartedly on board with the idea.

“I think that Students For New York has amazing potential to bring together students from all different city schools,” Lim said.

Habib agreed. “We thought it was really cool,” she said. “FIT? I don’t know anyone from FIT.” They agreed to meet again and on March 27 they met up to continue planning the group with student representatives from Columbia, the New School, Cooper Union, NYU, Hunter College and FIT. It is anticipated that St. John’s will also be a part of the group, though they did not send representatives to the first meeting.

The group is sponsored by AOL and The Huffington Post, so the students were able to use AOL as a meeting place. They will be working with two Huffington Post employees, who will serve as liaisons and offer support from The Huffington Post.

Fordham had a strong presence at the meeting. In addition to Habib and Lim, Meghan Muha, GSB ’14, and Kevin Conroy, GSB ’14, attended. Many of the other schools only brought one or two representatives.

The first meeting served as a general brainstorming session; the group came up with three main pillars for their organization. They dubbed them “The Three C’s”: campus, community and career.

They also came up with an of-

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

Columbia University, Fordham, and several other NYC colleges are forming a networking group for students citywide.

ficial name at their first meeting: they will be called Students for New York, which Habib is proud to say was her idea.

For now, Students for New York wants to remain a small organization so that it can work on strengthening its core group before expanding further.

Eventually, though, it is interested in involving other New York schools as well. “[We hope to] create a broad network in which students have a plethora of resources made available to them through a united student effort,” Lim said.

One of their current objectives, as of the March 27 meeting,

is to organize community service events, which the different schools will either carry out separately or as a collaborative effort.

There was also talk of starting a last-call job fair to help upperclassmen find jobs, though that idea is still tentative.

As for Students for New York’s presence on campus in the future, much is still unknown about the effort.

“There is a lot to work out logistically,” Habib said.

The group will definitely try to stay connected over the summer and have a bigger presence on campus next year, especially by getting more underclassmen

involved.

Eventually, there might even be a booth at the club fair for the Fordham chapter of Students for New York.

For now, the group wants to focus on establishing strong connections and uniting the schools that are currently a part of the project.

“At the end of the day, we’re all students and we’re all going to have similar interests and we’re all going through the same problems,” Habib said. “[There is a] greater purpose of our generation to connect with other students and other people and to most definitely help each other out.”

NEWS

Page 6

April 10, 2013

First NYC Autism Speaks U Branch Honored at NASDAQ Bell

By GIRISH SWAMINATH ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Members of Autism Speaks U – Fordham University received the prestigious invitation to ring the NASDAQ Stock Exchange bell on April 5. Autism Speaks, the non-profit organization with which the club is associated, was invited to ring the bell in honor of Autism Awareness Month, which is observed in April.

“We were not told a particular reason behind [our chapter of the organization] being invited to ring the bell, but I would assume since it is because we were the first Autism Speaks U branch in New York City,” Mike Chernichaw, FCRH ’14, co-president of Autism Speaks U – Fordham Univ, said.

Nevertheless, students who attended the NASDAQ closing ceremony felt honored and excited to have had the opportunity to ring the bell.

“I think only one word could be used to describe [the event]: amazing,” Madhav Kapoor, GSB ’14, member of Autism Speaks U – Fordham Univ, said. “I am truly grateful for the opportunity which not everybody has the chance to take advantage of.”

“I was so excited and honored to be able to pursue a once-ina-lifetime opportunity,” Chernichaw said. “I cannot wait to do it again next year and work with the members of the [Autism Speaks U – Fordham Univ.] branch and

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

Representatives of Autism Speaks U – Fordham University rang the bell at the NASDAQ closing ceremony on April 5 in honor of Autism Awareness Month.

the Autism Speaks headquarters to plan some amazing events for next year that would help us to spread awareness about our cause.”

In addition to attending the NASDAQ closing ceremony on April 5, Autism Speaks U – Fordham Univ. hosted its second annual gala event, “Light It Up Blue,” on April 6 at the Lombardi Fieldhouse.

Various campus performing arts groups, such as the Satin Dolls, Fordham Dance Team, bSides, The Hot Notes and Expressions Dance Alliance, showcased their talent at the event.

Furthermore, two student co-

medians and a student DJ also entertained the audience.

In addition, students purchased raffle tickets and won prizes, including a football signed by the New York Giants’ Eli Manning, two signed New York Giants’ jerseys, gift certificates for various Arthur Avenue restaurants, a GPS, a flower bouquet, a necklace, a bracelet, earrings and pasta, beach and baking baskets.

Autism Speaks U – Fordham Univ. also worked with numerous sponsors who helped support the event.

These sponsors included: Lee Kirsch Custom Homes, GMKJ Enterprises, Moore Catholic

High School, The McDonnell Family and RHS Consulting Design. Moreover, the SILC and O’Hare Hall resident assistants helped sponsor the event by covering several expenses.

“100 percent of the proceeds we got from our event go straight to our headquarters,” Chernichaw said. “They use the money for autism research, awareness and other things necessary to improve the lives of families affected by autism.”

The club is satisfied with the response of the Fordham community to the event and the increased awareness of autism gained throughout campus.

“We had many people attend the event and not only did we raise about $1,000 in donations, but also we raised awareness,” Nicole Kirsch, FCRH ’14, treasurer of Autism Speaks U – Fordham Univ, said. “Raising awareness is important because many individuals do not know how prevalent autism is or the effects it has on families of autistic individuals.”

People interested in becoming involved with Autism Speaks U – Fordham Univ. can definitely feel free to email the organization at autismspeaks@fordham.edu and attend the next general member meeting on May 1 at 6 p.m. in Keating 219.

NEWS

April 10, 2013

Page 7

Nuns Dispel Popular Myths and Stereotypes

By EDDIE MIKUS STAFF WRITER

A panel discussion held by the Francis and Ann Curran Center for American Catholic Studies explored some of the differences between perception and reality of the life of religious women.

The panel featured Bren Ortega Murphy, a professor at Loyola of Chicago who produced a film called A Question of Habit, which was shown in its entirety at the discussion.

Other panelists were Sister Judith Kubicki, CSSF, from the theology department, Professor Robin Andersen from the communication department and Brenna Moore from the theology department.

Murphy explained that part of her rationale in making the film was to promote the actual lives of nuns instead of how they have been idealized in modern American society.

“The answer isn’t to try to get rid of [objects on which nuns have been commercialized], it’s to get more stories out there,” Murphy said.

In an interview with The Fordham Ram, Christine Firer Hinze, director of the Curran Center, explained the significance of women religious to American life.

“They have played a big role in American Catholic life,” Hinze said.

“What we’ve had in this country are many communities of sisters who lived in community but also were dedicated to ministries outside the convent walls. For example, teaching, hospitals, orphanages.”

Hinze also said that there was a difference between nuns and sisters because nuns spend their entire lives inside of cloisters.

According to the film, however, the contributions of American nuns have been overshadowed by mediadriven misperceptions. For example, the film explored how the portrayal of nuns shifted from the happiness of the 1960’s sitcom “The Flying Nun” to a more recently stern stereotype.

In remarks delivered after the film, Andersen spoke about how the impact of the media has shaped how the American public views religious women.

“When you take a myth and an icon and something that is so terrifically stereotyped, as we saw, and understanding that you can write any narration into that icon which essentially has no meaning, the question becomes ‘How can you tell the story of these people’s lives,’” Andersen said. “These are all narratives of exclusion, because these people are outside the lens of our society.”

A misconception about nuns that the film particularly attacked was the idea that all nuns wear black habits, an idea which was portrayed as outof-date and used to objectify nuns.

“What amazes me is that people still feel, even on television and film, that they still have to put the nun in the habit,” Murphy said.

Kubicki commented on how habits are perceived in American culture.

“In our culture, now so many years after sisters have stopped wearing the habit, there are whole generations of people who have never experienced

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

As shown by A Question of Habit, the realities of nuns’ lives are quite different from idealized American perceptions.

sisters in a habit,” Kubicki said. Referencing various trinkets on which women religious are portrayed, she added, “And so for them, these kinds of kitsch items and so on are kinds of cute suggestions about a past that they don’t know anything about.”

Additionally, Kubicki also spoke about her personal use of the habit.

“For most of my religious life, I was wearing a habit because my old community, it was pretty late in the development of changes that we finally had the option of wearing the veil or not wearing the veil,” Kubicki said. “My own experience was, there was a sense of who you were, you didn’t have to explain it, and people assumed certain things about you when you were wearing it.”

Kubicki also explained, however, the circumstances under which she

decided to stop wearing the habit.

“In my own life and ministry, it soon became clear to me that I was experiencing the wearing of the habit as something that increasingly separated from the people I was working with,” Kubicki said. “That was one of the reasons why I decided it was not working in my ministry to continue wearing the habit.”

Moore compared the perception of nuns in America to the perception of nuns in other locales at other points in history.

“In the context of 19th-and 20thcentury France too, the image of the nun was prominently present in political cartoons, for example,” Moore stated. “But it was a more, I’d say, monochromatic image, and it was the image of the nun as absolutely intellectually and sexually repressed,

and that the nun needed liberation.

Who was going to provide liberation? The secular political sphere.

This image of the veiled nun, this image of the veil as the tomb, the veil as the prison, really was central to anti-clerical discourse of French secularism. And today, that’s kind of died down somewhat, except that the veiled woman has reappeared in French political discourse, because of the Islamic woman.”

Moore made reference to controversial French laws which ban religious symbols in schools and face covering in public. Both laws are perceived to target Muslim women who wear veils.

• Disclaimer: Eddie Mikus is also a part of the American Catholic Studies Program.

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April 10, 2013

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opinion Pro-Life/Pro-Choice Labels Strangle Debate

Page 9

April 10, 2013

By CANTON WINER MANAGING EDITOR

As the son of two bleeding-heart liberals, one of whom is a raging feminist, I practically “knew” I was pro-choice before I knew how to spell it. It was not until I was confronted by the pro-fife movement at Fordham that I realized I was also pro-life.

Yes, I am pro-life and pro-choice.

I strongly oppose the death penalty and am against war at all costs.

I believe that killing is wrong and should, in cases such as capital punishment, be illegal. In this sense, I am pro-life.

I do not, however, believe that abortion is an act of killing. There is no scientific consensus as to when life begins. The question is a matter of personal opinion. Abortion should thus be left to private individuals’ discretion. In this sense, I am pro-choice.

Many people find the pro-life and pro-choice labels constricting. They do not feel that either term accurately describes them. Their beliefs, like mine, transcend the pithy two-word label.

To see how my views fit with those of others, I interviewed three women at Fordham from fairly diverse backgrounds and upbringings: Courtney Smith, Mary Frances Richardson and Courtney Code, all FCRH ’15. All three expressed frustration regarding the pro-choice/ pro-life labels.

“I think that the terms [pro-life and pro-choice] are too black and white,” Smith, a communication and media studies major from Boca Raton, Fla., said. “These two choices

KATE DOHENY / THE RAM

Often, people with nuanced views on abortion are caught between the two polarized labels that dominate the debate.

eliminate other things you can agree with.”

The current language surrounding abortion shoves many individuals out of the debate. The question is all too often not “What are your beliefs on abortion?” but “Are you pro-life or pro-choice?”

I am not the only one who feels this way.

“I’m technically ‘pro-choice,’ but I hate answering that question,” Code, an English major from New Orleans, La., said. “It boxes me in somehow.”

While the discomfort that the labels can cause is concerning, they pose a far more troubling problem.

The terms allow people to develop a knee-jerk attitude on the issue of abortion and prevent people from thinking carefully about their views.

The pro-life/pro-choice dichotomy does not allow for much intellectual wiggle room. The labels suggest that there are only two potential opinions on the issue of abortion when, in reality, a full spectrum of beliefs exists.

Code, who said that her views on abortion are constantly evolving, noted that the current labels are inadequate for an issue as complex as abortion.

“If I had to label myself, it would

take me a week to come up with something,” Code said. “And then it would change a week after that.”

Code said that her personal development has ranged from being passionately pro-life in early high school to more pro-choice today.

“In high school, I wanted to go to the March for Life because I have always prioritized human life,” Code said. “At that stage in my life, I hadn’t engaged with the question thoroughly. The only argument I heard [at my Catholic high school] about ‘the other side’ was that they considered fetuses inhuman. I don’t think I understood what the choice in pro-

choice meant.”

The current use (and massive oversimplification) of the pro-life and pro-choice labels hinders people from realizing their true beliefs.

It stifles the evolution in belief noted

by Code. But, Code’s experience with evolving views on abortion is not unusual. The usual public screaming match suggests that the pro-life and pro-choice philosophies are diametrically opposed, leading to an either-or mentality.

“I feel that in this debate, each side picks a side to root for,” Code said, “but this isn’t a football game.”

Members of both camps have demonized “the other side,” causing national debate to lay a putrid hole strewn with hisses of “bigot,” “slut” and worse.

Richardson, a sociology major from Melrose, Mass., said that inaccurate, negative stereotypes accompany both labels.

“I feel like pro-choice people are almost labeled as baby killers and pro-life people are labeled as extreme conservatives or as attacking abortion clinics,” Richardson said.

Name calling aside, the pro-life and pro-choice ideologies are actually reconcilable. Smith, for example, said that she would not personally get an abortion, but that she thinks other women should be free to make that decision themselves.

“I am personally Pro-Life but publicly pro-choice,” Smith said.

Even with the emergence of individuals like Smith who bridge the gap between the pro-life and prochoice camps, intense polarization still hangs over the abortion debate.

Many myths surround the terms SEE ABORTION PAGE 11

As Autism Diagnoses Rise, More Resources Are Needed

By JAMES DEMETRIADES CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Last weekend, Autism Speaks, a Fordham Club, hosted “Light It Up Blue,” an event to spread awareness on autism spectrum disorder and raise money for autism research.

This is an international event run

by Autism Speaks which features buildings around the world, from the Sydney Opera House to the Empire State Building, lit blue to spread awareness of autism. The month of April is Autism Awareness Month and there has never been a more crucial time to spread awareness and information about autism.

Autism or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) according to the Autism Speaks “is a general term for a group of complex disorders of brain development. These disorders are characterized, in varying degrees, by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors.”

There is no one cause for autism and current research is allowing a greater understanding of the disorder. Evidence now supports an array of possible origins of autism ranging from environmental to genetic factors, but more research must be done in order to develop a better understanding of the causes and to find an effective treatment. The recent increase in diagnoses has placed pressure on the scientific community to

discover the causes of this disability.

A recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stunned people across the nation, when it reported that now 1 in 50 children in the USA between the ages of six and 17 have some form of autism. When compared to the last report five years ago which found that 1 in 88 children, this is a significant increase. In 2002, over a decade ago, the CDC reported the figure to be 1 in 150 children, that is nearly a 300 percent increase in 11 years.

Stephen Falzone, GSB ’15, is a member of Autism Speaks and when informed of this increase was stunned.

“1 in 50 is really scary, you would think the number would decrease as the definition has been redefined, but it has done the opposite and it has increased instead,” Falzone said.

“We don’t know the reason behind the increase, so who knows if it will increase further.”

Stephen is not alone in questioning the cause for the significant increase; many others have voiced this question. The CDC released an official response as part of the report.

“Together, these findings suggest that the increase in prevalence of parent-reported ASD may have resulted from improved ascertainment of ASD by doctors and other health care professionals in recent years, especially when the symptoms

are mild,” the CDC authors wrote.

“Changes in the ascertainment of ASD could occur because of changes in ASD awareness among parents or health care professionals, increased access to diagnostic services, changes in how screening tests or diagnostic criteria are used, or increased special education placements in the community.”

Whatever the specific cause for the increase, this study is an alarming report that has equally alarming consequences for families across the nation and their respective school districts. As a sibling of a sister with autism, I understand the difficulties and sacrifices that accompany this diagnosis. Hundreds of children and

their families throughout the nation will struggle to manage the disability while looking for fiscal and emotional support.

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Act, children are afforded “a free and appropriate public education,” despite any disabilities they have, and they cannot be denied services because of their disability.

Autistic children require hours of one-on-one speech therapy, individual attention from paraprofessionals, and possibly medical attention from physical therapists.

These services are often times both expensive and time-consuming.

It is time-consuming on the part of the parents to find the best programs

for their children and on the part of the school administrators in order to ensure these students are receiving adequate in school support. Additionally, the costs of these services put excess pressure on the already tightly and often times underfunded school districts across the nation.

The increased rate of prevalence of autism will have lasting ramifications on schools, families and the country.

We must call onto our neighbors and ourselves to help spread awareness of autism, raise money for research and accommodate with open arms these children into our workplaces, homes and communities.

James Demetriades, FCRH ’15, is a history major from Cromwell, Conn.

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

The rise in the number of autism cases is going unnoticed although it calls for more awareness and further research.

Page 10

The Fordham Ram

R

Serving campus and community since 1918 The Fordham Ram is the University journal of record. The mission of The Fordham Ram is to provide a forum for the free and open exchange of ideas in service to the community and to act as a student advocate. The Fordham Ram is published and distributed free of charge every Wednesday during the academic year to the Rose Hill, Lincoln Center and Westchester campuses with a readership of 4,500. The Fordham Ram office is located in the basement of the McGinley Center, Rm. B-52.

FordhamRam.com Advertising: (718) 817-4379 Executive: (718) 817-4380 Fax: (718) 817-4319 theram@fordham.edu Fordham University - Station 37 Box B Bronx, NY 10458 Editor-in-Chief Connor Ryan Managing Editor Canton Winer Editorial Director Rory Masterson Copy Chief Katie Nolan News Editor Kelly Kultys Assistant News Editors Kate Meyer Girish Swaminath Opinion Editor Richard Bordelon Assistant Opinion Editor Joseph Vitale Arts & Entertainment Editor Devon Sheridan Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor Danielle Garrand Executive Sports Editor Dan Gartland Sports Editor Matt Rosenfeld Assistant Sports Editor Max Prinz Layout Editor Kate Doheny Photo Editor Elizabeth Zanghi Web Editor Anne Couture Assistant Web Editor Courtney Ho Business Directors Nikos Buse Drew Rapp Assistant Business Director Craig Domeier Circulation Director Gary Guarnaccia Distribution Managers Stephanie Kawalski Shannon Marcoux Faculty Advisor Dr. Beth Knobel Copy Team Alyssa Ammazzolorso John Bonazzo • PJ Brogan Alessandra Bruno Rosemary Derocher Michael Daober Alina Gandrabur • Kady Jay Clare Larson • Leona Lam Francesca Leite Catrina Livermore Jack MacGregor Lauren Manzino Shannon Marcoux Katherine O’Marra Vincent Pellizzi • Anthony Pucik Stephanie Sarno • Kirsten Simons • Austin Thomas Opinion Policy The Fordham Ram appreciates submissions to fordhamramletters@gmail. com. Commentaries are printed on a space available basis. The Fordham Ram reserves the right to reject any submission for any reason, without notice. Submissions become the exclusive property of The Fordham Ram. The Fordham Ram reserves the right to edit any submissions. The opinions in The Fordham Ram’s editorials are those of the editorial board; those expressed in articles, letters, commentaries, cartoons or graphics are those of the individual author.

No part of The Fordham Ram may be reproduced without written consent.

OPINION

From the Desk of Kate Doheny, Layout Editor Mother has made me clean the house since I was old enough to hold an Endust container. A few years after that began, she realized it was time to teach me how to use a dishwasher and, subsequently, the washer and dryer. I thank her immensely for teaching me the Beautiful World of Clutter-free-ness, as cleaning and organizing are two of my favorite things in the entire universe now.

This is not satire.

Luckily, I am actually very skilled in the Cleaning and Organizing Department of My Life (I know, I’m totes bragging). I’m aware of my capabilities because I am constantly asked to clean my siblings’ rooms — or the kitchen, or both — whenever I get home.

Now, I realize to some people it may seem like I am being taken advantage of as the youngest child and therefore the most naïve, but I genuinely do not see my situation in that upsetting perspective. It is, however, the reason why my siblings deemed me “Cinderella.”

First, let me distinguish the difference between cleaning and organizing, a discussion I have had with my eldest brother Thomas (he shares my ability and passion in these subjects).

Cleaning is simply putting things in places that seem good enough to give the appearance of a clutter-free room, while all of the clutter is probably just thrown under the bed or in the “Junk Drawer” that within a month expands to 75 percent of drawers, among other containers, in the house.

Organizing is what should be done during the cleaning process: items put away in their proper places, or items put away in new proper places (insert labeling here, fun with permanent markers and your choice of decorative paper), in addition to removing dust and dirt from surfaces.

Now, cleaning and organizing together take significantly longer than the typical cleaning process. This is totally worth it to me, however, I put on some good jams and start working. Usually it takes hours, because I probably organize more than is re-

ally necessary. Converting an untidy room into a clear space is one of the Best Feelings in the World (Keller Williams and The String Cheese Incident shoutout).

The only way I can probably make my passion for cleaning and organizing relate to the Normal Brain is by saying that it is therapeutic to me. I am making a space clear, and at the same time I am clearing my brain and body of stress that I may have been experiencing beforehand. It is relaxing.

I am not able to act on my hobby as often as I would like to since I have so many commitments throughout the week, and I am lazy. My room does become a “pigpen” (LOL Mom words) sometimes, especially when I am extremely stressed.

Even when my room gets less clean than I’d like, I usually still make my bed. That would be my one tip to everyone: Always make your bed if you don’t have an entirely spotless room. Just a little bit of cleanliness in a slightly dirty room will make you feel that much better about yo life and yo

April 10, 2013

choices.

In my high school career, I often joked with my Grandma that colleges should offer scholarships for my trade, as I was sure I would receive one. I have years of experience in this area of work and an undying passion for a house that has plenty of room for dancing.

And, in other conversations with my Grandma, I have discovered that a boss part of my “hobby” is that I am quite prepared to be a fantastic housewife!

Unfortunately, Future Husband: you must know that I am a horrendous cook.

EDITORIAL: We Support Reynolds-Francolini As summer, Spring Weekend and — alas — finals approach, yet another Rose Hill tradition is upon us.

USG elections conclude this Friday, April 12, at 5 p.m. While there are many important races, we at The Fordham Ram are most excited about an uncontested race: executive president and vice president of USG. Aileen Reynolds, FCRH ’14 and current executive vice president of USG, and Brendan Francolini, GSB ’14 and current vice president of operations, are running unopposed for USG’s top posts at Fordham. Reynolds and Francolini are both USG veterans who have proven themselves dedicated leaders of Fordham’s student body.

We greet these rising student leaders with the utmost optimism. Reynolds and Francolini appear to be prepared both to continue implementing the improvements USG has made and to push USG to become an even more effective advocate for students.

There are several areas in particular in which we look forward to seeing continued progress in a ReynoldsFrancolini administration. In the wake of various events at Fordham, free speech has emerged as an issue

that will not disappear anytime soon.

Fordham’s administration has shown some hesitance to seriously considering policy changes that will improve the free speech situation on campus.

While there have been some small steps made toward greater student freedom, there is still much work to be done.

Reynolds and Francolini exhibit a deep understanding of the complex realities and importance of continuing the push for free speech at Fordham. We anticipate substantial strides in the expansion of student free speech from their administration.

Hearing the students’ voices is one of Reynolds’ and Francolini’s main goals, especially regarding dining.

Francolini, as a current member the Student Engagement Dining Service Committee, plans to make sure that students’ opinions and ideas are heard and used by the selected vendor.

Additionally, Reynolds and Francolini plan to make sure students’ voices are heard by involving students in the hiring process for positions that have a direct interaction with and influence over students. This is crucial because it allows students to voice an important perspective on what makes

Dear Candidates and Voters, With the United Student Government elections occurring this Thursday and Friday, I would like to wish everyone luck with their candidacies and voting decisions. It has been an exciting campaign season so far and I am looking forward to welcoming the new representatives of Rose Hill’s undergraduate study body to USG. While I believe it is crucial that USG races are contested and competitive to ensure that the best candidates represent Fordham students, I am thrilled that Aileen Reynolds and Brendan Francolini are — unofficially — next term’s USG executive president and vice president. I have been honored to partner with Aileen this year, as she has been an outstanding vice president and adviser. I cannot think of a student who will be more committed to enacting positive change, more receptive to students’ concerns or more productive when interacting with administrators.

Likewise, Brendan has been one of

USG’s most dedicated members since I joined the organization four years ago. He will bring a plethora of unique skills to the position of vice president. I have no doubt that under Aileen and Brendan’s leadership, this coming year will be one filled with many major successes for USG. Still, I hope that in the future more students will choose to run for a position on USG. Competitive elections are important for establishing USG’s legitimacy and improving its efficacy.

That being said, I am pleased that so many current USG representatives are running for reelection; I have been so fortunate to work with all of them this year. Below is an overview of just a few of their many successes: •Increased the amount of funding available to clubs by $22,000 without raising student fees.

•Extended the hours that Hughes Hall and the Trading Room are open.

•Succeeded in convincing administrators to distribute class schedules to first-year FCRH students one

a compelling candidate that may be unique from administration.

USG has also committed to increasing its transparency in recent years. For example, USG has been allowing Fordham students to attend regular meetings, even if they are not members of USG. This initiative provides students the ability to voice their concerns on issues as USG discusses them. Reynolds and Francolini understand that many students are not aware of this opportunity or, at the least, are not taking advantage of it. In order to incorporate more voices into the process, they look to motivate students to sit in on more meetings and take part in important conversations.

This, in addition to further advances in USG’s transparency will help students to be more informed and more aware of the goings-on of their student government.

Reynolds and Francolini would also like to see more students get involved in USG. They say that each year it is difficult to fill all the various positions in USG; in fact, many positions are not always filled at the elections held in the spring and they require follow-up elections in the fall.

If all positions were filled immedi-

ately, USG could operate at its optimum level sooner, better serving all students. Perhaps even more importantly, students can help make USG stronger by going to its meetings and letting student leaders like Reynolds and Francolini know what they would like to see changed at Fordham.

As promising as the year ahead looks for USG under a ReynoldsFrancolini administration, there is a potential roadblock that could stand to dilute its effectiveness: you, the student. USG is only as strong as the student body allows it to be.

An uninterested, dispassionate student body makes USG inherently weaker. In order to build a stronger, more effective USG, as well as a USG that will fight for what students believe in, the student body must show their interest and let the administration know that USG is our government, our leaders and our voice. Do not silently take the backseat; make your voice heard.

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

Letter to the Editor week before orientation begins.

•Simplified the residence hall posting policy.

•Assisted more than 40 student groups manage the process of founding an official club.

•Co-authored a 46 page report on the speech and expression of student groups on campus.

•Hosted six FCRH department chair forums that connected students and faculty with Dean Latham.

•Secured access for Gabelli students to course evaluation data online.

•Displayed a menorah in the McGinley Center lobby during Hanukah and hosted a menorah lighting ceremony along with our annual Gaudete Sunday celebration.

•Advocated for student groups’ ability to use the word “queer” in their names and in club constitutions.

•Promoted a new system to select students who attend Board of Trustees committee meetings.

•Passed a resolution urging the

prioritization of making Collins Hall handicap accessible.

•Supported local interests regarding the redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory.

•Co-hosted #ClubLib, a dance on the steps and lawn of the Walsh Library.

•Advocated for increased tailgating abilities.

•Proposed a sharing system to give students free access to bicycles.

To find out more about these and our many other initiatives, please visit our website at usgrh.org and keep your eye out for our forthcoming end-of-the-year report.

And please remember to vote this Thursday and Friday for the students you want to represent you next year.

USG needs you to help select the most qualified candidates who will keep Fordham moving forward.

Thank you, Stephen Erdman Executive President, United Student Government at Rose Hill

OPINION

April 10, 2013

Page 11

MTA Fare Hikes Present Minor Nuisance

By PATRICK MULLEN STAFF WRITER

The month of March may have been a little rough for a lot of commuting students at Fordham. A single ride has increased from $2.25 to $2.50, with a monthly MetroCard now at $112. While the price increase may be somewhat small, it is of considerable size in proportion to the ticket price.

It gets even worse when one considers that this is one of many price hikes in the past few years.

In 2008, a monthly MetroCard was only $76. Even as students are getting used to these new prices, the underclassmen should brace themselves for future price hikes expected in 2015.

This potentially poses some great problems for students. With $5 round trip, commuting students may have to create different class schedules for the upcoming semester. When a student might have previously gone home between two classes, he or she may now have to stay at Rose Hill for a longer time. It may be inconvenient for a student to have to revise his or her schedule around the price hikes, but it may make a great deal of sense.

The price hikes may have even more impact on extra-curricular activities. Bronx resident Charlie Holland, FCRH ’15, says he could see something like this affecting his or someone else’s campus involvement.

While he said that he “[doesn’t] think it’s going to impact [his] student life very much,” he did feel that certain activities on weekends

Marriage Equality is Overdue

ELIZABETH ZANGHI / THE RAM

Although the MTA recently instituted a raise in prices, the increase is minor and is not likely to drastically affect students.

may be brushed aside due to higher prices.

Many athletic events, such as football games, take place on Saturdays, and a great many more intramural games are played on weekends. If one goes to the University Church — and there are some commuting students who do — one may be encouraged to find a church one can get to without using the subway or a bus.

Brooklyn resident Rahitul Bhuiyan, FCRH ’15, offered a counterpoint, explaining that he had a monthly ticket. He says that with a monthly ticket of $112 or the equivalent of nearly 45 rides, he finds himself going out of his way to travel just to get his money’s worth.

If a month is 20 days of classes, one would only spend $100 on single fares, so it would not be worth get-

ting a monthly ticket. Bhuiyan did say that the price increase was a bit of a nuisance, but also said that he did not see the need to complain about it, because he is not having problems going to classes or doing things outside of school.

Though the price hikes are small, we could see extra-curricular involvement decreased by commuting students; there are solutions around this, however. The monthly ticket, as Bhuiyan points out, can cover every class one has to go to and leave plenty of additional opportunities to come to campus, but that is only if a student is willing to spend $112 every month on transportation.

It may not be such a bad deal, considering the price of gas for those who travel by other means.

Many drivers now find it costs

around $60 to fill their car; someone filling it every week or so pay about twice as much the value of a monthly MetroCard. Additionally, with all the sporting events and extra-curricular activities one can attend at Fordham on the weekends and the fun things to do all over New York, a monthly pass is not such a bad idea.

We should not be surprised, considering the recent state of the economy, that there have been price hikes during the sequestration. Despite this nuisance, these prices may not be as bad as they could be, or even will be in the future. Perhaps we should all enjoy the $2.50 fare; two years from now, this may look extremely reasonable.

Patrick Mullen, FCRH ’15, is a theology and political science major from Delafield, Wisc.

Labels Obscure Meaningful Abortion Discussion ABORTION FROM PAGE 9

pro-life and pro-choice, smothering constructive dialogue and breeding misunderstanding. To better understand all sides of the debate, we must snuff out these myths.

Pro-life has been hijacked to mean anti-choice.

Some radicals within the “prolife” movement desire to mandate morality by making abortion illegal.

“Somehow pro-life has come to mean anti-choice,” Code said. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”

Code joins a growing, but quiet, chorus of individuals who consider themselves pro-life and still support the right of the individual to choose to receive an abortion.

“I am pro-choice for pro-life reasons,” Code said. “I’m stereotypically pro-choice’ because I person-

Conor Fucci

ally align with the school of thought that the only person who can make that choice [whether or not to receive an abortion] is the mother.

For someone else to make that decision for her is to disrespect her life.”

An increasing number of people — particularly practicing Catholics like Code — believe that abortion ends a life and still identify as prochoice. These people would not personally seek an abortion, but do not wish to deny that decision from others. They believe in freedom of choice, regardless of their personal convictions concerning abortion.

Does believing in choice mean that they cannot also be pro-life?

Believing that life begins at conception might correspond to personal opposition to abortion. Some people, however, hold this belief and still consider abortion a mat-

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

The moment when life begins is often at the crux of the abortion debate.

ter of personal choice. These people are pro-life and agree with Roe v.

Wade — yes, such a creature exists.

Smith said that there are multiple opinions on when life begins and that, consequently, abortion should be left to the individual.

“Not everyone believes that life begins at conception, so you can’t make that choice for everyone,” Smith said.

Many people, such as Richardson, simply feel uncomfortable defining where life begins.

“I don’t want to be the judge of saying when life exists,” Richardson said. “And I don’t want to tell anyone they are wrong for getting an abortion.”

There are many misunderstandings surrounding what it means to be pro-choice as well. pro-choice is not a synonym for pro-abortion. Moreover, no one is pro-abortion and no one is anti-life.

“A lot of pro-choice people would never get an abortion,” Smith said.

Code and Richardson said they both fall into this camp.

“I would absolutely not get an abortion [at this point in my life],” Code said. “But I feel that I can’t make that call for other women. I feel like I can’t even make that call for my future self.”

Richardson agreed.

“Personally, I would never get an abortion,” Richardson said. “But I would also never condemn anyone for getting an abortion.”

Smith said that the pro-choice argument does not even have to relate primarily to abortion.

“I always thought that pro-choice has nothing to do with abortion or killing a child,” Smith said. “If the government can tell you that you can’t have an abortion, then they can tell you that you must have an abortion.”

Code also said that freedom of choice was an important factor for her on the issue of abortion.

“I’m ‘pro-choice’ because I think that being ‘pro-life’ is picking a side for someone else,” Code said.

We can continue to simplify the debate concerning abortion to screeches of baby killer, idiot, evildoer or woman hater, but that serves no one. No freedoms, liberties or lives are saved by demonization. The current labels and the way we use them lead to unnecessary gridlock and animosity.

The terms pro-life and pro-choice are convenient, but they dumb down discussion on a very complex issue to an either-or dichotomy.

Furthermore, because each label has its own “spin” (pro-life sounds better than anti-choice, and prochoice sounds better than proabortion), they are fairly meaningless.

We must stop clinging to our labels. When asked what our beliefs on abortion are, we must not reply simply “I am pro-______.” We must reject the terms pro-life and pro-choice and instead truly explain what we believe. Now is the time to look beyond the label and think.

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

Gay marriage has finally arrived at the point in the American political awareness spectrum where there is a real opportunity for its legalization to become part of the Constitution.

There are two major cases in front of the Supreme Court, one will overturn the Defense of Marriage Act or DOMA, and the other will overturn Proposition 8 in California. If both of these cases fall in favor of marriage equality, it will make it basically illegal to outlaw gay marriage in a state. This is an enormous step, if not the final step towards, unified legalization.

Now, people may say that it has taken far too long, and that this injustice that has been imparted upon a massive portion of the American population is ridiculous and unacceptable. I am one of those people, but I do believe there is something in this that is being overlooked. The United States has never been on the cutting edge of any sort of social progress. Whether it is emancipation, the equal rights of minorities, or even the legalization of interracial marriage nationally; the United States has always lagged behind. It is disappointing that this has always been the case, but the legalization of gay marriage presents an opportunity for the United States to step up in the world and really take its place with some of the most socially progressive nations.

The fact that the legalization and general acceptance of gay marriage is still in its infancy globally means that if the United States, a world power that has taken flack for its actions, could finally do something good, right and necessary, it could create a situation where Americans would lead European nations such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany into the next stage of human rights. Of course, this is all one big “if.”

The U.S. needs to finally and completely separate itself from its historic bigotry and dedication to the dystopian dream of uniformity. Everybody is not the same. Fortunately, times are changing and you can see the changes everywhere. Cardinal Timothy Dolan recently came out stating that the church needs to not be antianybody. This does not indicate any change on the Catholic church’s position with regards to the “defense of marriage,” but it is a step in the right direction.

Finally, people may argue that this is not an issue that should be decided by the federal government, and it should be left up to the states. This premise is ridiculous from the start.

Essentially what “leaving it up to the states” is saying is “we don’t want to impose the gays on those who are not ready for them.” Why should a gay couple living in New York have any more rights than a couple living in Alabama? Are they all not entitled to the same rights? This is one of the main purposes for the federal government; when American citizens are being denied their natural rights the government should step in and protect those affected.

Hopefully, we will all realize that this is not a matter of beliefs or morals, it is an issue of denial of rights. Do we not all have the right to be happy?

Do we not all have the right to commit to the one that we truly love? I think we do, every last one of us.

OPINION

Page 12

Stephen Fragano What Are Our Priorities?

Like all public school districts, the school district in my hometown of Mahopac, NY, must have a budget every year. If the budget passes, everything is great; if it does not, there are widespread layoffs and all of the programs in the school district are at risk of being affected…that is, most programs are.

Every time that the budget is in danger of not passing, one of the programs that is practically always threatened is the music department. Usually, funding would be decreased, and the department would have to do more with less.

This time, however, the music department is in danger of being terminated, as band, orchestra and choral teachers will be laid off.

This comes as a shock to many because the three main ensembles (band, orchestra and chorus) have all at least doubled and tripled in size under the direction of the existing teachers, and the quality of performances over the past several years has increased tremendously. Some teachers in the other departments and disciplines also face termination, but no other department faces the magnitude of change the music department is forced to tackle.

Let me now say that I am a big advocate of school sports and other physical fitness activities.

Sports are a huge part of any school, and they unify a school for a common purpose.

Sports teams are practically never under-funded or threatened to be cut by the school district, however. Equipment that must be bought for sports teams is no cheaper than equipment for other departments, yet the school has no problem forking over the cash. Last year, the high school replaced its existing turf field, used for football, soccer and lacrosse games, for a fee of close to $1,000,000.

As said before, I enjoy sports, and I am involved in them, but it does not seem fair for one aspect of a school’s identity to overshadow another. It is as if the school blatantly says that music and other performing arts are just not as important to the school and to society in general.

It begs the question: Do schools and society hold a hierarchy for certain disciplines and fields? In my opinion, there is most certainly a psychological hierarchy: sports, for instance, play a significant role in American society. Baseball and football players are paid millions upon millions of dollars for what they do.

Meanwhile, the president of the United States, arguably the most powerful position in the world, is paid less than half a million dollars for his duties. No matter how much I love sports, I refuse to believe that either Tom Brady or David Wright does more influential things than Barack Obama, love him or hate him.

Sometimes I just think society’s priorities are out of whack, and this psychological hierarchy of importance we give certain facets of life is downright problematic.

April 10, 2013

Rape Controversy Spurs Social Media Backlash

By JOSEPH VITALE ASSISTANT OPINION EDITOR

Two students were arrested in late February for the statutory rape of two girls in Connecticut. This was merely the beginning of a long list of events that I would characterize as disgusting and unacceptable. My question: Was it really just the beginning?

The students charged, Edgar Gonzalez and Joan Toribio, were 18-year-olds attending Torrington High School, a school in the middle-class town of 36,000 in northwestern Connecticut. Both were on the football team; Edgar was the star quarterback. The victims, minors whose names cannot be released, were both 13 and students of Torrington Middle School. One of the victim’s parents filed the charges.

In Connecticut, persons between the ages of 13 and 15 are legally unable to consent to sexual contact with a person who is three years or older than themselves. Under this state law, the two students were accused of statutory rape.

In response to their classmates’ arrests, students at Torrington High School have not been quiet; in fact, they are outraged. Even better, they are being vocal about it. They are taking to Twitter; they are taking to Instagram; they are taking to Facebook; they are using the power of social media to defend those who are the true victims here. In their minds, however, that would be the convicted 18-year-old boys.

“Consensual underage ‘statutory rape’ is a victimless crime. Thanks for victimizing, RC,” tweeted @Nate860. “@JagvirlKAUR and that’s all on you I mean now a days girls like that girl stay opening there legs just for the D so yeah ! #FreeEdgar,” tweeted @CookieBrianda.

It gets worse.

“Young girls acting like whores

JASON_ABBOTT_7/INSTAGRAM

Students at Torrington High School show the number “21” in a photo uploaded to Instagram, in support of their classmates.

there’s no punishment for that, young men acting like boys is a sentence,” one student anonymously told reporters outside of the high school.

“Sticking up for a girl who wanted the D and then snitched? have a seat, pleaseeee,” tweeted @ShelbyyKullinski.

It gets even worse.

Following a victory in an annual dodgeball tournament meant to “get that spotlight on the good,” according to the Torrington High School’s principal, Joanne Creedon, the students posed with their fingers extended showing 2’s and 1’s (Gonzalez’s football jersey number). The picture was posted with the caption “#FreeEdgar.”

Surely this was not the beginning. It is instead a single instance in the continuing narrative of the rape culture in America. It comes at a time when rape, specifically statutory rape, remains regular, almost accepted and even expected.

Now, it is being followed by a debate regarding our youth’s understanding of laws, morals and liber-

ties.

While I am tempted to blame the students who were not involved in the situation for their ignorance, what is just as pertinent is the extension of free speech to social media outlets, namely Twitter. Do I think the students are acting ignorantly? Yes. Do I think they are lacking a lucid view of the issue at hand? Most definitely. Do I believe they possess the freedom to voice what they believe in a public forum? Of course I do, because it is their right.

With this in mind, there is no legitimate reason for these students to be in trouble at school or with the law. As Americans, they are free to voice their every opinion and idea, regardless of its validity in the eyes of their parents, the victims or the education system.

People too often forget this.

Those claiming that these students deserve punishment from the school system are merely silencing those who have a voice just as they do. Those claiming they should be banned from Twitter are limiting

the freedoms they themselves are using so freely. The students’ reactions in support of the two boys may not be empowering the vulnerable members of society who need it most, but the acts remain empowering in themselves.

To freely express something without prosecution under the law speaks to the power of social media today. It is remarkable that young students who needed nothing more than an Internet connection could spark a national debate in support of their friend. It is not as remarkable, however, that they are not using their freedom to speak out against the dangers adolescents continue to impose upon themselves so freely and willingly.

With every Twitter account comes an equal voice, but suppressing this voice is not the solution. The solution is educating the voice: about laws, about morals, about decency and about what it means to be a gentleman.

Joseph Vitale, FCRH ’16, is an English and political science major from Staten Island, NY.

Ram on the Street Compiled by Joseph Vitale, Assistant Opinion Editor

What is your experience with class registration?

“Registering this semester seemed a lot easier.

There were more options in core classes and there wasn’t the battle to get in the classes. Not everyone is going for the same classes anymore so it’s become a bit easier.”

—Sam Farnum, FCRH ’16

“I think it could be more spread out since too many people are registering at once. If the cutoff for credits was smaller, it would be more efficient and the Internet connection wouldn’t lag.”

— Kelsey Christie, FCRH ’15

“It’s ridiculous if you ask me. I do not think Fordham is equipped to handle the mass amounts of students evident in the freezing wireless connection.

The hassle is not necessary.”

— Chris Laffin, GSB ’16

“I feel like I’ve had 2 different experiences: good and bad. It’s always exhilarating waking up at 7 a.m., though. It’s a good experience overall. I haven’t had any nightmares.”

— Kevin Clyne, FCRH ’13

OPINION

April 10, 2013

Page 13

Smart Alcohol Use in College May Curb Alcoholism

By MICHAEL CHARBONEAU STAFF WRITER

It is no secret that college students drink or that alcohol is perceived to be a big part of the college experience. Like it or not, the drinking culture is an acknowledged fact of college life. That said, most people probably see students’ drinking habits as less than exemplary. All those late night keg stands have to be a one way ticket to a life of alcohol abuse, right? Maybe not. A new study from Pennsylvania State University suggests just the opposite: going to college could be a major factor in preventing alcoholism later in life.

Recently, a team of researchers at Penn State set out to determine what effect college attendance had on adult substance abuse. According to Penn State’s website, the researchers reanalyzed data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Youth Survey, which collected information from over 1,000 high school seniors in 1979, 1980 and 1994. The survey focused on college enrollment and measured the degree of adult substance abuse among the participants. The research team developed two groundbreaking new forms of statistical data analysis, called latent class analysis and causal inference, which they then applied to the survey. Stephanie Lanza, research associate professor of health and human development at Penn State, called the application of these methods in tandem “fairly novel,” but noted that it gave the researchers “an opportunity to discover fascinating patterns in the data that otherwise would not

TESSA VAN BERGEN / THE RAM

While alcohol consumption rates in colleges concerns some, it seems that it may help in preventing abuse in the future.

[have been] obvious.”

The results of their efforts are fascinating: Among low income youth and among youth whose mothers have a low level of education — groups that generally have lower college enrollment numbers — attending college could actually “prevent adult substance abuse,” according to a news report from Penn State. Strikingly, the researchers’ data shows that “adults would be more than six times more likely to engage in problem drinking at age 33 if they did not attend college, compared to if they did attend.”

The data is compelling, and the researchers clearly recognize the full implications of their work. Speaking with Penn State officials, Lanza remarked that “hypothetically, if we

could send everyone in the United States to college, that would be protective overall and would significantly reduce problematic substance use in adulthood.”

Yet how does this data mesh with the use of alcohol on most college campuses? Can college drinking really prevent future alcoholism? Most Fordham students seemed to think that college could foster positive, non-addictive attitudes toward alcohol. For example, Jeff Coltin, FCRH ‘15, The Fordham Ram’s Bronx Correspondent, thinks that college is “the best time to develop healthy habits” on alcohol use.

“Yeah, you learn through experience,” said Nevin Kulungara, vice president of GSB ’15. Jack Greisdieck, FCRH ‘15, argued that experi-

ences may vary from student to student, depending on his or her own personalities and “who you hang out with.” Kulungara also felt that one’s friends played an important role. “There definitely is something to be said about going to college and learning how to handle alcohol.

You’re a lot less likely to get into bad habits with your friends around,” he said.

Students also pointed to the education that colleges provide about alcohol and other potentially addictive substances. When informed of the results of the Penn State study, Abby Wilson, FCRH ‘15, remarked that “there’s more education about the effects of drinking available on college campuses and support for people who are leaning more to-

wards alcoholism,” services which are not as readily available to those who do not attend college.

Penn State’s groundbreaking new research puts the relationship between college students and alcohol in a different light. As various Fordham students have pointed out, drinking in college is almost always done recreationally and with friends.

Although binge drinking does happen, the people with whom one drinks can have a positive influence on how alcohol gets used. Furthermore, college administrations take drinking very seriously. For example, Fordham requires all freshmen to take AlcoholEdu, which gives information about the effects of alcohol and drugs. Although students tend to complain about it, AlcoholEdu does provide important education about substance abuse and may have more of an effect on students’ use of alcohol than the students realize.

College students tend to get a bad rap: ‘They are binge drinkers; they do not understand the consequences of their decisions, and their behavior in college will only lead to addictions later in life.’

College students are certainly not perfect when it comes to substance abuse, but Penn State’s study, and the views of students here at Fordham suggest that alcohol use in college may be the best way to promote responsible relationships with alcohol. Smart decisions in college, it seems, lead to smart decisions later in life.

Michael Charboneau, FCRH ’15 is an English major from Birmingham, Mich.

Press Coverage of Iraq War Exhibits Western Arrogance

By JOHN BUNDOCK STAFF WRITER

It should almost go without saying that the big-brand media of the day failed in their coverage of the Iraq War from its outset. Almost.

The problem is that there remain fanatical adherants to this idea that the war, with all its perpetual slaughter, brutality and scandal, was somehow justified whether by mythical “WMDs” or for the purpose of “spreading democracy.”

Empirically, they are denying reality, because to observe Iraq today is to see a country beset by it struggles not simply to maintain democratic governance, but to just rebuild and redefine itself as a nation that respects all citizens.

What is remarkable about the discussion of the war is just how little it has taken into account the views of actual Iraqis.

To get a better idea of the prewar media environment, I spoke with Arthur Hayes, a professor of communications and media studies at Fordham. When I asked if the press coverage was overly laudatory or celebratory, he said that, “Of course it was... even two [prominent papers] apologized; The New York Times and The Washington Post gave mea culpas [for their] failure to perform their constitutional duties.” The narrative was overly simplified, he said: “That’s the way it always is… ‘good guys and bad guys’...someone said ‘everything changed because of 9/11.’”

The opposition to the war was filled with bad actors that fe-

tishized expressionism and their own conspiracies over the very genuine goal of stopping an unnecessary invasion and occupation.

The likes of Ron Paul and George Galloway were the shrillest of opponents, providing easy targets to paint all opposition as conspiracy-mongers, dictator-coddlers or worse. “How many children have you killed today” chanted one such protester as Marines marched into Firdos Square reported “His Horse Was Named Death” in Foreign Policy. Also, according to Peter Maass in “The Toppling,” the collapse of Saddam’s statue in that square proved a microcosm of the war coverage: excited media, Marines and foreigners had their experience while only a small group of Iraqis actually cared. The ignorance over massacres in the Kurdish north and Shia south of the country was as crude as “deBaathification”’s disregard for disaffected Sunnis (many in Anbar) during Reconstruction.

As described by the late Anthony Shadid in December of 2010, Iraq was one of the defining stories of his generation. Our nation’s decision to invade, in fact, “destroyed the society that was there,” while there ought be no monopoly of blame as to how the brutal ShiaSunni warfare of Reconstruction came about, National University of Singapore Research Fellow Fanar Hadded said.

According to “Iraq’s Sectarian Iinheritance,” a feature in Foreign Policy, “The invasion created otherwise avoidable conditions in which sectarian identity took cen-

ter political stage and nurtured sectarian imaginations, fears and suspicions by unchaining and inflaming already extant fissures in Iraqi society as shaped by recent history. Coalition authorities, Iraqi political elites, regional actors, elements of Iraqi society, pre-2003 history and post-2003 events all conspired, wittingly or not, to create the perfect sectarian storm from which Iraq and indeed the region seem unable to now escape.”

Too often, public perceptions of the bloodshed defined it as just “more of the usual” Middle Eastern violence; “these people just fight each other” was the message conveyed, said UMass Amherst professor Jillian Schwedler. This was particularly a problem as U.S. policy-makers made such sectarian simplifications. This sentiment could be seen in Shadid’s commentary: “what haunts me as a jour-

nalist there…[is that]…through a series of policies, of decisions, of seven years of creating a new body politic we [US policymakers] made that stereotype, that cliche the reality in some ways…”

Indeed, as Rajiv Chandrasekaran describes in Imperial Life in the Emerald City, Bremer’s governance team, the Coalition Provisional Authority, allowed for more sectarian parties such as Dawa and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) to push out other less divisive actors. There was no holding people to account for what Shadid called “incredible naïveté or willful disregard” in defining Iraqis as just Sunni and Shia, Kurd and Arab. As the first truly sectarian government of Iraq was formed, the journalist said, “It’s turned this country into a very simplistic idea... and I think it’s going to be disastrous.”

The Iraq War and the media coverage that preceded it were emblematic of Western arrogance in Middle East policy-making, but so was the entire debate about whether to invade. Between the hypermasculine, gung-ho neoconservatism and conspiracy-mongering, dictator-idealizing left there was little room for sound alternatives to the invasion or the voice of the average Iraqi. Today, Maliki’s Iraq is a place that freely allows weapons to be smuggled to Assad’s regime next door; somehow that passes for “a functioning democracy” and “anti-imperialism” among the war’s most fervent supporters and opponents, respectively. It is shameful that such ideological extremes persist in the discussion of that destructive conflict.

John Bundock, FCRH ’14, is a middle east studies major from Pelham, N.H.

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

Iraq War coverage continues to be tainted by the American press, ultimately skewing public opinion away from the truth.

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THE FORDHAM RAM

Arts & Entertainment

April 10, 2013

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Barstool’s Ultimate Bro Comes Clean

By CHESTER BAKER STAFF WRITER

The double-life story is a wellknown arc. Bruce Wayne goes from Gotham hotshot to Batman. Walter White goes from high school teacher to the drug kingpin Heisenburg in “Breaking Bad.” One story you may not know involves Fordham and WFUV alum Kevin Clancy, GSB ’07, better known by his pseudonym KFC, who went from accountant to writer for Barstool Sports, the largest independently-owned blog in the world.

“For at least a good two and a half years, almost three years, I was an accountant and a blogger at the same time,” Clancy said.

“I was assigned my work at the beginning of the month, and I would have about 10 or 15 tasks to hit. And as long as I did my work, nobody cared.”

After graduating from Fordham and earning his MBA, Clancy was able to land a job at a major firm through some connections. Although happy to receive a steady paycheck given the tough economic situation of the time, he felt no real connection to the job.

“It was just churning out stuff on Excel all day, every day. I met a lot of great people and it paid well, but as far as getting any satisfaction, there was zero of that.”

Looking for a way to make his days as a “cubicle monkey” more entertaining, Clancy created his first blog, “For Sure Not,” in the winter of 2008.

“I was reading every blog I could get my hands on. That was really the first time I even knew of comedy blogs and entertainment blogs,” Clancy said. “I just got so sick of the accounting that I needed some sort of outlet or creative task to keep me busy.”

While writing his blog and becoming acquainted with various websites, Clancy stumbled upon “Barstool Sports,” which influenced his writing style. For the most part, “For Sure Not” focused on the best of the 1990’s, as Clancy recalled some of his favorite childhood past times such as Nickelodeon’s “Guts,” “Saved By the Bell” and other shows of the sort.

After running the blog with his friends for a little while, Clancy discovered that Barstool Sports was looking for a New York City writer to expand its reach. It was then that Clancy reached out to Dave Portnoy, the creator of the site, about the possibility of leading the New York City venture.

Started by Portnoy, known as ‘El Presidente,’ Barstool has expanded from a small Boston newsletter into a national website, with pages devoted to Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York

City, which is run by KFC as the director of content for Barstool.

After a long selection process, Portnoy decided to offer the job to Clancy and another blogger, “kmarko.” Sharing the responsibilities initially allowed Clancy to keep his accounting job, while transferring his newfound penchant for blogging over to Barstool.

Over the next few years, Clancy led his double life as accountant and blogger, while only one person at his firm discovered his secret identity. Eventually, however, the effect of commuting to work every day and focusing on something for which he had no passion took its toll on Clancy.

Fortunately for him, at the time he was ready to make the jump to full time blogger, Barstool was reaching the height of its popularity.

“Once I was sure that it was going to be a stable career move, I pulled the trigger. I was going nowhere at my firm. 75 percent of my attention was going to the blog and I was doing the bare minimum towards the end. I’m sure they were happy to see me go.”

Despite being blocked from Barstool Sports and being forced to write his blogs in emails and sending them to kmarko to post during his time as an accountant, KFC has kept at it, becoming one

of the more recognizable names in the sports blogging field.

The network of sites covers anything from viral videos to local sports, nationwide stories and even weird events as each writer gives their own unique spin on the topic. For someone who has never seen the site, Clancy has a simple explanation for what to expect.

“I always tell people that it’s right in the name. It’s anything that you would talk about with your buddy while sitting on a barstool watching the game. It’s a localized version for each city of ESPN, Maxim and TMZ all mixed together.”

This unique blend of sports, women, gossip and everything in between has allowed the site to gain a fan base known as the “Stoolies.”

Although leaving a stable accounting job during an economic crisis may seem like the type of action that would set off someone’s parents, Clancy was fortunate enough to have a supportive and understanding family.

“As long as I can support myself and I’m happy they’re cool with it,” Clancy said. It comes as a surprise that his wallet did not take a hit after making the jump, as he saw no decrease in salary.

However, writing for a website such as Barstool does carry some risk, as many of Clancy’s

blogs divulge personal information and content which is not entirely family appropriate. The topic of attractive women comes up frequently on the site, as it is catered to the “common man.”

Barstool’s run-in with feminist groups is no secret for anyone who follows the site, and can be read about with a quick Google search.

One group of feminists went so far as to form their own organization which they called “KO Barstool,” which is devoted simply to getting the site taken down. Still, Clancy believes that their sarcasm is obvious.

“I think anyone that has a sense of humor can understand what we are doing. If you’re reading our stuff and you think that we mean everything we say, you’re crazy. It’s just like any stand-up comedian that’s pushing the envelope with racist jokes, sexist jokes, prejudice jokes,” Clancy said. “It’s meant as a punny and fake manner. It’s meant to make people laugh. I think anyone else who takes us that seriously, either B., can’t understand how the world of humor and joking around works. Or, B., they’ve got an axe to grind and they want to start their own controversy.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m a nice dude and not some womanizer.”

SEE BARSTOOL IN SPORTS, PAGE 23

Fordham Ram Critic Remembers Ebert

By JOHN BONAZZO THEATER CRITIC

One day, while flipping the channels during my fifth grade school vacation, I came across a program on which an older man wearing thick glasses and a sweater was talking about the best movies of 2003.

Little did I know that over the next 10 years, this man, Roger Ebert, would not only give me a new appreciation for movies but also be an inspiration to me because of how he soldiered on in the face of adversity.

Ebert, who died on April 4 at the age of 70, was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times for 46 years. He was the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize and is the only critic to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

I, like many others, first discovered Ebert through his television show. Every week I watched as he and his partner, Richard Roeper, debated the merits of the week’s new releases. I knew that any movie that got a “thumbs up” would instantly get on my list, but I also relished when one got a “thumbs down” because I knew that meant I would hear Ebert’s oratory mercilessly berate the latest flop.

Once YouTube came into the picture, I discovered a treasure trove of clips of Ebert talking mov-

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

Roger Ebert is pictured here with cinema legend Russ Meyer in the‘70s. Too bad the glasses did not make it out of the decade.

ies with his original sparring partner, Gene Siskel, which helped me discover new film gems. I watched old and new classics like Citizen Kane and Fargo because Siskel and Ebert strongly recommended them, and they never steered me wrong.

Finally, when Ebert launched a website, I was able to read his reviews as they appeared in print.

Ebert’s entire catalogue was —

and still is — online, and reading these masterpieces of criticism showed me a new way to write about movies. He was a journalistic hero and one of the main inspirations of my own cultural writing.

Ebert proved himself a hero in a new way in the last years of his life.

He battled cancer in 2002 and 2006. Treatment for the second

bout, in his salivary gland, involved removing part of his jaw, rendering him unable to speak.

Ebert had to quit his television show, and I, along with his many other fans, wondered if he would ever be able to bounce back.

He did indeed recover, and found two new voices in the process. In the literal sense, he used a computerized voice to communicate, which he demonstrated

in several television appearances.

More amazingly, he discovered a new critical voice on the Internet.

He started a blog, on which he not only posted about movies but also wrote very openly and eloquently about his illness. He may have been separated from daily life because of it, but he could now “live more in [his] memory and discover that a great many things are safely stored away.”

Ebert also embraced social media. He amassed 100,000 likes on Facebook and 800,000 followers on Twitter. Here were more playful postings, like his entry in The New Yorker cartoon caption contest, which he entered every week.

His many online platforms are worth exploring as a testament to his strength in the face of illness.

Roger Ebert’s reaction to a crippling diagnosis was to keep on living. His bravery makes me want to be a better person, and I respect him for what he taught me about life as much as for his great critical work.

Two days before his death, Ebert posted a blog entry saying he was taking a “leave of presence,” which meant that he was slowing down but still going to work. He ends the entry with this: “Thank you for going on this journey with me. I’ll see you at the movies.”

Mr. Ebert, thank you for letting me go on the journey with you.

I’ll see you at the movies.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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TSeersucker

Editor’s Pick: My Beautiful Jinjiimaa

KEVIN ZEBROSKI

By GIRISH SWAMINATH

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Manual labor is tough on clothes that do not cut it. It is no easy task to work under the hood of a car — what with those serpentine belts and fans — while managing the perilous dangle of a necktie and the inevitable grease stains, smudging and torsion that will eat through oxford cloth like a chainsaw through tofu. This is why we have workwear, the result of necessity meets ingenuity. Before Carhartt started logo branding sleeves, the clothes one wore to work exuded rugged utility.

Workwear has come into vogue as of late given the trending nature of raw denim and its innate rigor. Denim started out as overalls built with gold miners in mind, but quickly expanded into the leisure time sector once James Dean made the pants version cool in the 1950s. Double “R” Ralph Lauren or “RRL” has done a bit to popularize the workwear look by incorporating industrialist staples like thick chambrays, rivets and heavy stitching into its clothes.

“There is something alien and unsettling about the idea of a machine ripping into your jeans before you have even put them on. Do the damage yourself.”

Diesel took several stabs at the workwear niche market with their couture Black Gold line, Japanese denim exporters like Evisu have put out miner-esque overalls emblazoned with remarkably colorful patchwork and some of the classic European design houses like Balmain, Dior and Belvest have all mailed in their ultra-refined take on the classic formula.

The luxurious and ostentatiously priced upper tier luxury market denim remains something of an oddity, as the very nature of durable clothing connotes an air of dispensability and perhaps abuse, while the financial investment required for ownership invites fussiness. If you buy a denim jacket, you should not be afraid of staining it with elbow grease.

The deliberation and caution that comes about from the ownership of expensive clothing is part of a larger problem. Clothing may be considered art (i.e. the Costume Institute at the Met), and there is certainly nothing inherently wrong with proper maintenance, but clothing should be lived in. The damages of daily living contribute to the character of one’s wardrobe. Naturally faded and softened leather is a wonder, and the salt spray of a day at the docks lend your sweater a nautical aura that goes says a bit more than navy striping.

Just please do not buy pre-distressed clothes. There is something alien and unsettling about the idea of a machine ripping into your jeans before you have even put them on. Do the damage yourself.

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

I confess, I am a huge film buff ! I watch anything that is either intentionally or unintentionally entertaining. I subscribe to Netflix and, when given the time, watch movies of all genres: action, comedy, drama, romance, horror, documentaries, mockumentaries and more. Through the past five years, independent of my lifelong exposure to Hollywood, Bollywood and regional Indian films, I have had the opportunity to explore my passion for foreign cinema.

My love for traveling and learning about other cultures has propelled me toward foreign cinema. Movies from around the world satisfy my thirst to explore every corner of the world, including places which I could not even dream of visiting. They have broadened my horizons and encouraged me to think outside of the box, while increasing my awareness and acceptance of ideas and beliefs from other cultures. Moreover, watching foreign films has enabled me to reevaluate any preconceived notions or stereotypes I might have had of other cultures thanks to my American background.

For instance, long ago, back when people drove to video rental stores to find movies, I browsed the foreign section of Hollywood Video to search for a movie from a country to which I had no previous exposure. I found a Mongolian film entitled My Beautiful Jinjiimaa and, impressed by the plot description on the DVD, I decided to rent out the movie.

A moving film shot in the luscious Mongolian steppe in negative 22 degrees Celsius weather, My Beautiful Jinjimaa is about a deaf woman, Jinjimaa, and her relationship with her handicapped husband and baby daughter living in rural Mongolia who are repeatedly separated under tragic circumstances and sacrifice their own lives for one another. Jinjiimaa experienced sexual assault due to local political issues and shoots (but does not kill) her perpetrator in self-defense. Her husband takes the

blame for the crime and serves his prison sentence for six years. After the family reunites, Jinjiimaa has the opportunity to undergo surgery for her hearing impairment. However, circumstances force her to believe that her husband and daughter are dead when she returns from the operation, although they are, in fact, alive. Whether or not Jinjiimaa will unite again with the rest of her family forms the rest of the plot.

After watching the movie, I was absolutely impressed with the landscape and culture of Mongolia, to the extent that I would definitely like to visit the country in the future. No offense to anyone who is Mongolian, but until I watched the film, I had never even thought that Mongolia produced cinema, yet I was blown away by the fact that the Mongolians had produced a movie that was so intense and incredibly real. When I mentally pictured Mongolia before watching the film, I only thought of a desolate, snowy grassland with horses. Giving My Beautiful Jinjiimaa a chance helped me to break that stereotype and expand my knowledge about the unfamiliar Mongolian culture.

Relative to other genres of films, I feel that foreign dramas are the most personally fulfilling movies, as they typically communicate meaningful messages and themes in such depth.

In fact, devoid of pretense and phoniness, they transcend many of the similar yet superficial films made in Hollywood. I absolutely love Hollywood films, and by no means do I intend to disparage them but the relative realism and humanism present in foreign movies is a missing element.

I recently rented the film out via Netflix during Spring Break and watched the movie for the second time. I realized how wonderfully made the film was, in terms of cinematography, music, acting and plot, and decided that I absolutely must write about the film. I highly encourage all my readers to step out of their comfort zone: perhaps watch a film from a different country or two with your friends!

April 10, 2013

Smorgasburg When: Every weekend in the summer Where: Saturdays in Williamsburg’s East River State Park (enter at North 7th St.) and Sundays in Brooklyn Bridge Park at the Tobacco Warehouse How much: Depends on how much food you buy What time: All day

It’s that time of year again. The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming and Smorgasburg is officially open for business this Saturday.

Each weekend in the summer, some of the best restaurants and food trucks in the country gather to sell their mouthwatering wares in our own Gotham City. The extravaganza is in Williamsburg’s East River State Park (enter at North 7th Street) on Saturdays and in Brooklyn Bridge Park at the Tobacco Warehouse on Sundays. This year, old favorites, such as The Buttermilk Channel, are returning with their delicious fried chicken and cheddar waffles. In addition, for all you weekend cocktail sippers, Smorgasburg is opening “smorgasbar.” Go ahead, satisfy your tummy.

Editor’s Note: Bands will be competing for the opportunity to open for GROUPLOVE and Andy Grammer at Spring Weekend.

— COMPILED BY DANIELLE GARRA ND ASSISTANT ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

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

Dining Out: Chirping Chicken

By KAT McNEAL CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Chirping Chicken, situated on the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and W. 77th St., was an unexpectedly pleasant destination for my friend and I to enjoy lunch on a warm, sunny day.

What immediately drew us to Chirping Chicken as we were walking down the street was definitely the spacious outdoor seating, which was perfect for enjoying the spring weather. We saw dozens of content customers sitting outside, munching on their buffalo wings and chicken tenders, and we decided to try the place. When we walked inside, we quickly realized that Chirping Chicken offers much more than chicken, and a large part of the menu board inside the restaurant was actually dedicated to homemade hamburgers and Greek dishes.

I settled on a cheeseburger with french fries while my friend ordered chicken souvlaki and grape leaves with sweet potato fries, and combined with two bottled waters, the total skirted just below $30. A certain quirk of the restaurant that I was not expecting is that the food is served on thick paper plates. Combined with the large selection of grilled foods and the expansive outdoor seating, it gave Chirping Chicken a casual, summery feel.

The cheeseburger, which I ordered medium-well, was excellent. It was the width of the span of my hand, and the rest of the plate was piled with delicious, crispy french fries. I tried some of my friend’s souvlaki, and it was also superb. The pita was soft, and the grilled chicken was tasty and complemented the rice well.

The grape leaves were also quite flavorful, although we were only given two small ones. One thing

to note about eating out at Chirping Chicken, though, is that the portions are huge. I was able to finish my burger but could only eat a few of the fries. My friend ended up taking home most of her souvlaki. For the amount of food that we got, I considered the price to be reasonable.

At the surrounding tables on the patio, couples on dates, families with small children and older couples in wheelchairs sat happily accomodated by their outdoor arrangements. It was obvious that Chirping Chicken draws a diverse crowd, but it seemed to be predominantly family-oriented.

I was initially reluctant to try Chirping Chicken, knowing that the enticing burgers of Shake Shack were only a few blocks away, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed my meal and the atmosphere of the restaurant. I recommend it

as an alternative to other burger joints. Although the portions were large and it was a bit pricier than I had anticipated, Chirping Chicken does have a much larger and more diverse menu than Shake Shack. I had a wonderful experience overall and recommend that you give it a try if you are looking for a restaurant offering a summery experience and relatively cheap, scrumptious food.

Overall Location Food Quality Atmosphere Hospitality Price $ (Out of 4

’s)

Interested in writing restaurant and food reviews? Email: fordhamramculture@gmail. com

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

April 10, 2013

WHO’S THAT KID? SUZANNE FORLENZA A MEMBER OF FCRH ’16 MAJOR: UNDECIDED FROM: SCRANTON, PA Describe yourself in a couple sentences for the readers.

I’m a freshman student-athlete who loves Fordham, has made great friends here and am looking forward to my next three years as a Ram.

have taken me thrift shopping, to record stores and cupcake shops that I would never have found on

my own.

What is something about you that not many people know?

I’ve sailed my whole life (but I’m not on the sailing team here).

What is your favorite class at Fordham?

Any class that sits in a circle and is discussion based. Last semester it was Theology, this semester it is Composition II.

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

I would love to break a school record, get good grades and graduate with a job set up for me.

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

One word: Chocolate.

What is the biggest misconception people have about you?

If I told you, it wouldn’t be a misconception.

Any insight on the new pope?

He’s a Jesuit! What more can I say?

What is your favorite aspect of Fordham and why?

Right now? The weather. Nothing can beat hanging out on Eddie’s with my friends.

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

I’m still trying to figure that one out.

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

There’s not much I would change about Fordham, but I would like if there was a bigger turnout and more school spirit at all of the sports events.

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

Wander around and discover new neighborhoods! My friends

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

Varsity track and Rose Hill Society right now, but I’m always looking to get more involved.

COURTESY OFSUZANNE FORLENZA

Suzanne is a bright-eyed and bushy tailed freshman.

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

Enjoy orientation!

Worn on the Wrist, High on Reward

By CALLIE MCBRIDE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The next time you are curious about how many steps you have or have not taken in a day, simply look down at your wrist. That is what many people are doing lately, thanks to the popular new lifestyle tools that track steps, calories, sleep patterns and more.

Introduced in February 2012, the Nike Fuel Band can be worn as a wristband and tracks daily steps and calories burned. Costing $149, it tells time, displays one’s progress and activity patterns and logs one’s goal status. Fuel Band users create a daily goal for steps taken, and LED display lights change color from red to green to show that goal progress. The corresponding smartphone app lets users enter in data such as amount of exercise, food intake, amount of sleep and mood levels.

The 2011 JawBone Up does virtually everything that the Nike Fuel Band does with a few more features to its name. The $99 device tracks one’s sleeping hours, measures light versus deep sleep, uses a “smart alarm” that vibrates to wake its user up at the most ideal time within a sleep cycle and has an idle alert that reminds users when they have been inactive for too long.

Lastly, the Fit Bit, released in 2009, stands as the most simple of the brands. It tracks steps, distance and calories, as well as the quality and length of sleep. Consumers are also urged to purchase Aria, the “smart scale” that complements the Fit Bit. For $129, it not only measures one’s weight, but also calculates body fat percentage and body mass index.

Manager of Fitness and Recreation at the McGinley Fitness Center, Sarah Longley Bickford weighs in on the legitimacy of these lifestyle tools and how they fit in to an active college student’s life. A veteran herself,

with 16 years of experience in the field of fitness, her efforts have been paramount in promoting health and wellness around Fordham’s campus, especially with the new fitness classes. Though Bickford is unfamiliar with the specific brands themselves, she knows all about the methods that they use to aid people in weight loss or goal achievement.

“The tracking aspect within each of these products are a great feature in that they provide an education factor for people,” she said.

She credits the ability for users to log their food intake and daily exercise into smart phone apps as a positive tool for discovering patterns and habits.

“It’s always the ‘I really don’t eat that much’ that changes once its explained to you in black and white,” Bickford said.

FIT BIT, $59 -Tracks steps, distance and calories -Logs food intake: know your calories consumed and the diet you need to reach your intake goal for the day -Measures how long and well you sleep, vibrating alarm gently wakes you -Buy through Amazon, Apple Store, AT&T, Best Buy, Radioshack or Verizon These lifestyle tools are not perfect, however, says Bickford. She points out that “with any exercise product that gives you electronic data, there is usually a percentage of error in the results.” That is, someone of a certain height, weight and with certain genetics will not burn the same amount of calories as his neighbor does.

Martha McKinley, GSB ’15, is familiar with both the FitBit and the Nike Fuel Band (her aunt uses both and finds flaws in each). She says that a drawback of the FitBit is its clip-on

feature. “[It is] easily lost and you are forced to start over to reach your day’s goal [of steps],” McKinley said.

The Nike Fuel Band is not the product for her, either. “The problem with the Nike Fuel Band is that it costs $150, and someone like me wouldn’t want to buy that to track my fuel when I can do it by myself,” she said.

NIKE FUEL BAND, $149 -Tracks daily activity and exercise -Tracks each step taken and all calories burned -Tells time of day -User able to “set a goal” each day; band’s LED display lights from red to green to show progress -Displays progress and activity patterns to help you do more -Receive achievements and rewards as you do more -Buy through Nike.com McKinley is a commuter from Manhattan and works a part-time job five days a week, so she admits that while she would like to make the investment, it is all about timing.

“I haven’t worked out in a while so for me it’s discouraging; it’d be like, ‘Oh great, I burned this many calories versus what I should be doing.’”

McKinley says with a laugh, “It’s not worth the money for me right now, but I’m sure within a year I’ll have one.”

Madison Snider, FCRH ’15, joined her family in purchasing the Jawbone Up in January and has become a huge fan of the product. Her father suggested that the Snider family create a “team” through the app on which they could challenge each other and ultimately get healthier together.

“I was skeptical at first because I

knew I wouldn’t want to wear the bracelet 24/7, but I am actually pleasantly surprised at the design. It’s subtle enough, and I’d say pretty neutral so that both my little brother and I could wear it,” Snider said.

For about three months now, she has been tracking her food, her exercise, her sleep patterns — even her mood changes.

To her, the element of competition with her family serves as her biggest motivator to stay on track. Her favorite feature is the smart sleep alarm.

Unique technology allows her to indicate to her Jawbone Up that she plans to take a power nap and to enter a time of day by which she must wake up again. The bracelet actually deciphers the optimal time that Snider should wake up to feel most rested and rejuvenated, according to her REM cycle, and a silent vibration wakes her up at that time. She also credits the idle alarm, which buzzes to inform her when she has been inactive.

Of the exciting new way to nap, Snider said, “I’ve never been a huge napper but it’s pretty cool to know that, if I desperately wanted one, the Jawbone helps me to stay active and productive by allowing me just the right time to sleep.”

JAWBONE UP, $149 -Tracks your sleep, activity and food intake -Tracks hours slept, light vs. deep sleep and waking moments -Tracks every move, including: distance, calories burned, active time, and activity intensity -Discovers patterns in your day-to-day activities -Compatible with devices iOS 5.1 or greater, iPhone 3G or later, iPod Touch, iPad -Buy at AT&T, Amazon, Apple or Best Buy

Karen Hill It is spring, and with the budding tulips, there are many budding romances across campus. Just like that flower, in order for a relationship to grow it needs proper nurturing. The first step toward a promising spring fling is a promising first date. I have compiled a list of tips to keep in mind when out for the first time with that special someone. Sometimes these things may seem obvious, but the obviousness often makes them easily overlooked.

1. Guys, look like you are trying.

Ladies, don’t look like you are trying too hard.

Sweats and T-shirts are really not okay, unless for some odd reason you chose the gym or a stroll in the Botanical Gardens for your first date.

While looking like you are trying is important, trying too hard is not attractive and fairly pathetic. This is college, and our budgets probably don’t include much more than a dinner and movie for a first date. Nothing you could possibly be doing would require heels. I love heels, and I wear them to class and when cleaning my room or on a McDonald’s run but never on a first date. It’s uncomfortable and unnecessary. Also, ladies, avoid push-up bras. Lying on first dates is the ultimate no-no. If things go well, he will find out the sad truth about your cup size eventually. Just keep your makeup natural and your clothes fitting for the occasion.

2. Avoid talking about exes and past hookups at all costs.

Some people may be completely open about their sexual endeavors and romantic pasts, but it really is not appropriate for a first date. Not only is it awkward, but it sets up this lasting precedent for your date to try to match up to. You also sound whiny and not over your ex, or into your date.

3. Phones away.

You probably are texting all your friends with all the updates of the date, checking-in on Facebook or just fidgeting with your phone to look cool. All of these activities, however, make you look disinterested. Be present! Your friends and your Facebook page will all still be there after your rendezvous with Mr. or Ms. New. He or she, however, might not be there when you want to hang out again if you spend the evening playing on your phone.

4. Offer to pay, but do not insist.

Chivalry is stupid. I never expect guys to pay for me. More often than not, if he has any employment at all, it is just a fancy internship that might never turn into a job. Either one is not going to pay your dinner bill. As a woman, I offer to pay or split the check. Men, do not feel obliged to pay, but you should definitely offer.

5. Send a “thank you” text after the date.

After the date you can take your phone back out and send a nice “thank you” or “had fun” text. These texts should be short, include an inside joke about your date and do not necessarily have to lead to a conversation after just hanging out for several hours. It is a polite gesture that will make the recipient feel giddy and appreciated.

Good luck on your future first dates!

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Page 20

April 10, 2013

Ram Reviews FLEETWOOD MAC at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN MUSIC

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

MOVIES

TRANCE

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By JAKE KRING-SCHREIFELS STAFF WRITER

Before the New York City premiere of Trance, director Danny Boyle introduced the film, flanked by stars Rosario Dawson and Vincent Cassell (the other star, James MacAvoy, is performing Macbeth in London), and said he wanted to “apologize that this isn’t a lifeaffirming film like 127 Hours.” It was not necessarily an indictment about morally corrupt movie plots, but it did seem like he was hedging his bets for a corporate audience maybe eager to feel enriched. It is hard to blame them, even when considering the heroin-induced existential adventures in his Trainspotting or the haunting portrayals in 28 Days Later, films whose cores remain positive even in their darkest light. For this slight change in Boyle’s content, however, he still infuses his crafty, colorful signature with the same zeal and polarizing power.

Trance has that engaging appeal to it, a thriller heist film that cares more about the human’s psychological tendencies than delivering intricate robbery schemes. MacAvoy (Atonement) plays Simon, an art auctioneer who decides to join a group of thieves led by Franck (Vincent Cassell, Black Swan) to steal a Goya painting. Things go haywire in the process. Motivations possibly skewed, Simon (we

learn he is a deadly gambler) disrupts the heist and Franck whacks him in the head for it. Little does he know the mind bending implications that will have, especially when he opens up the sealed casing and finds the canvas missing.

Simon knows where it is, but he cannot remember where thanks to that bump on his head. Franck tries to pry it out of him by using some graphic displays of torture, but he quickly realizes inflicting pain can’t tap a mental block. So, they enlist a hypnotist played daringly by Rosario Dawson (Unstoppable) named Elizabeth Lamb, a mysterious character who quickly perceives Simon’s threatened position and enters the ring with Franck’s group of thieves. Memories are not forgotten, they are just trapped in an iron cage she says, and a simple mental reconnaissance becomes a complex, multilayered spiral into the depths of psychological distortion.

Boyle translates this quick turn into cerebral chaos with his dramatic visual movements and pumping techno soundtrack, which sometimes enhance his kinetic frame and other times attempt to fill its less frenetic voids.

Simon does a similar thing, filling in his memories under hypnosis with visions of Elizabeth, who has crept under both he and Franck’s skin in haunting, seductive fashion. In the midst of this lab experi-

By RICKY BORDELON OPINION EDITOR

The “Gold Dust Woman” and her band mates were on in full force on Monday night, as Fleetwood Mac performed to a packed house at Madison Square Garden.

This concert was the third part of their 2013 World Tour coinciding with the re-release of Rumours, the band’s most popular album, originally released in 1976, whose new edition includes songs from previously unreleased recording sessions and recordings of live performances.

Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, accompanied by a few backup singers and musicians, performed a wide list of songs, from classics like “Go Your Own Way” to the recentment and hypnotic conditioning, Boyle captures these self-reflexive sensibilities within the gritty London environment by observing his characters’ pensive and fragile states as they look through television screens, mirrors, and windows at their own reflections.

Like Inception and Total Recall, much of the film becomes a journey through delineating reality from dream to hypnotic hallucination. But as much as these trippy flashbacks and alternate realities repackage the above films, Trance actually leans heavily towards Steven Soderbergh’s last feature Side Effects. The mind-bending twists, the violent melodrama, the potential to mine the classics of Western art, which includes a soulful Rembrandt stare, quickly boils down to the more simplistic desires of love, lust, money and revenge.

It might not work as well without its trio of actors. Rosario Dawson takes over the film from her sturdy perch in her opposing therapeutic chairs, even more so when she starts walking towards the camera nude. Cassell, with that omnipresent deviancy and menacing hungry look swaps unsettling interactions with MacAvoy, whose character also slowly devolves into a state of unbridled rage. Boyle, with writers John Aheare and John Hodges, knows how to shape these diverging personas and twists them so that a mild auctioneer becomes a monstrous mess.

In these types of films, there is little time for connection or empathy with anyone in our presence.

Trance is properly titled because it is entrancing in the moment and casts you under its hypnotic spell.

This spell is just as easily broken, however, and the whirlwind of an experience quickly fades from memory. I am not sure questions of confused plot points are necessary qualifiers for a deft, psychological film to be considered great, but Boyle at least makes sure to throw us hints and clues the best he can.

I think a better film is hiding here, one that has the power to jump from someone’s forgetful short-term memory to a more pensive, lasting one. It is nice to be hypnotized by a movie for a while, even if it is not life affirming.

ly-recorded “Sad Angel.” Mixing in commentary with music, the concert presented the origin and history of the band and its music.

Although they may be much older now, their performance is still just as electric. They opened with a driving “Second Hand News,” followed by the signature twangy opening of “The Chain.”

Buckingham’s and Nicks’ vocals blended just as well as they did in 1976, and the duo of backup singers compensated for the lack of Christie McVie, who left the band in 1997.

A highlight of the night was Nicks’ rendition of the classic “Landslide.” Accompanied only

by Buckingham on guitar, she took center stage and blew everyone away with the ballad that sounds just as fresh as it did in the 70s. Its

musical foil, “Gold Dust Woman,” was a rollicking hit, featuring one of Buckingham’s signature guitar solos and Nicks on vocals with her classic showmanship.

For an encore, they performed another hit, “Don’t Stop,” featuring an incredible drum solo from Fleetwood, one of the band’s original members. McVie played steady bass throughout the show, notably during his bass solo in “The Chain.”

The band will play two more shows in the New York area, performing at the Prudential Center in Newark on April 24 and at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh on June 22, and with these four members taking the stage together for the first time in years, you should definitely “Go Your Own Way” to one of these great nights of music.

THE COMPANY YOU KEEP MOVIES

COURTESY OF MOVIEPOSTERDATABASE.COM

By JOHN BONAZZO COPY EDITOR

One of the most suspenseful thrillers of recent years, The Company You Keep succeeds due to a tight screenplay, crisp directing and a phenomenal cast.

Thirty years ago, four members of the Weather Underground, a domestic terrorist group, robbed a bank in Michigan, killing a security guard. They evade capture until the present day, when Sharon Solarz (Susan Sarandon, Cloud Atlas) is arrested at a gas station while going to turn herself in. Intrigued by the case, journalist Ben Shepard (Shia LaBeouf, Lawless) begins investigating another of the surviving bank robbers, Nick Sloan (Robert Redford, The Conspirator).

Sloan goes on the run to avoid detection from both Shepard and the authorities, searching for his old flame and fellow activist Mimi Lurie ( Julie Christie, Away from Her). Both Shepard and Sloan encounter an eclectic cast of characters en route to the film’s exciting climax.

Screenwriter Lem Dobbs has written a masterful script that keeps the audience guessing up until the film’s end. Each character gets his or her moment and contributes an integral part to the story’s tangled web. Robert Redford directs the film with a sure

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hand, pacing the action perfectly so the viewer is never bored.

As an actor, Redford expertly leads the cast, showing the pain and fear that Sloan feels after running for so long. LaBeouf makes Shepard’s dogged pursuit of the facts ring true; this is some of the best work of his career. Christie lays bare the heart of an activist whose cause has passed. Sarandon makes her small role count, and she and LaBeouf share the best scene in the film, a prison interview.

The film’s extensive supporting cast must be mentioned. Nick Nolte (Gangster Squad) gives a gruffly funny performance as one of Sloan’s former cronies. Richard Jenkins (Jack Reacher) does brilliant work in his few scenes as a former adversary of Sloan’s who he must turn to for help. Stanley Tucci (Jack the Giant Slayer), as Shepard’s editor, nails the role of the jaded elder newspaperman.

Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect) gives a sarcastic edge to an old flame of Shepard’s.

The Company You Keep is an edge-of-your-seat thriller bolstered by a strong screenplay, assured direction and fantastic acting. The period between Oscar season and summer blockbusters is usually when studios dump their trash; hopefully, this film is the exception that will soon prove to be the rule.

April 10, 2013

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April 10, 2013

Sports Five Straight Road Losses for Fordham Baseball

Page 23

April 10, 2013

By DOMINIC KEARNS STAFF WRITER

Fordham began the week in dire need of momentum after suffering a rough start to A-10 play. In away games against Manhattan College and Georgia State, however, the Rams could not put solid pitching and hitting together.

After a scheduled April 2 contest with Albany was canceled, the Rams began the week against their cross-Bronx rival the Manhattan Jaspers. Manhattan wasted no time against Fordham freshman Cody Johnson with three first-inning runs. Andrew Gorecki provided the big hit with his two-out, tworun homer, and Johnson left after two innings. Fordham remained scoreless until the fourth frame, when freshman Joseph Runco plated a run with his RBI groundout.

In the bottom half, the Jaspers used two doubles to score another run, and their lead stood at 4-1. The sixth inning again saw the teams trade runs, as freshman Ryan McNally’s sacrifice fly was nullified by a two-out Manhattan RBI single.

Fordham gamely fought back in the final three innings, but the Jaspers held on for a 5-4 victory.

Freshman Joseph DeVito made it 5-3 in the seventh with a twoout home run and Runco’s eighth inning single brought the Rams within one, but Fordham missed its final opportunity to complete the rally. The Rams had runners on first and second with one out in the ninth, but junior Tim Swatek’s strikeout and sophomore Matt Cianci’s fly ball ended the game.

“Losing to anyone isn’t fun, but losing to the program that I had left hurts even more,” Fordham manager Kevin Leighton said. “I wanted to win that one in the worst way and I am looking forward to beating them when they come down to

us at the end of the month.”

Fordham then traveled down to Atlanta for a four-game weekend set with the Georgia State Panthers with hopes of containing the Panthers’ high-powered offense.

In the series opener, Fordham enjoyed an offensive outburst in the Georgia sun. After the Panthers scored two against senior Joseph Charest in the first, Fordham erupted for five second-inning runs. Fordham had seven runners reach base thanks to four hits and three Georgia State errors, and freshman Charles Galiano highlighted the onslaught with his twoRBI single. The Panthers then tied the score with three runs in the bottom half, courtesy of two doubles, a single and two RBI groundouts.

The Rams inched ahead 6-5 in the fourth when freshman Ian Edmiston blasted a homer into leftfield, and the first baseman drove two more runners in with his double in the fifth inning.

Leighton left Charest in for the fifth inning, and the Panthers feasted on his pitching for seven runs.

After Runco committed an error to allow the leadoff hitter on base, Georgia State quickly scored twice on a double and two singles. Charest then recovered to retire two straight hitters, and it appeared that Fordham may escape the inning with an 8-7 edge. With two strikes against Chase Raffield, Charest hit the batter to load the bases, and the Panthers proceeded to score five more times courtesy of two tworun singles and freshman Brett Kennedy’s wild pitch. By the time Kennedy came in to relieve Charest, the lead had been relinquished.

Senior Rich Anastasi gave the Rams three innings of sterling relief, but Fordham could only muster one run in its final four at bats en route to a 12-9 loss.

The Rams started junior Chris

DREW DIPANE /THE RAM

Fordham returns home this weekend for a series against Rhode Island.

Pike in the opener of a Saturday doubleheader, but he failed to control Georgia State’s bats in a 9-3 defeat. The Panthers scored twice in the first inning on the strength of three consecutive hits, and their lead could have been greater had they not left the bases loaded in the second. Fordham scored once in the third inning when DeVito led off with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly. In the fourth, Georgia State added two more runs on two hits, a Fordham error and a Pike wild pitch. The fifth inning brought more of the same, as Pike received the hook after surrendering a leadoff triple and two more runs. With a 6-1 lead, Georgia State finally enjoyed a comfortable lead.

Fordham tried to rally with two sixth inning runs, but the Panthers responded with two more in the bottom half. A Nic Wilson seventhinning homer was the cherry on top of Georgia State’s 9-3 win, and

the teams prepared for the second half of their doubleheader.

The teams played a seven-inning game in the nightcap, and Fordham gave a strong team effort in defeat. Freshman Jimmy Murphy gave a strong effort in his first collegiate start, but the Panthers scored two key second inning runs on a two-out single from Matt Rose.

Fordham responded with two third-inning runs. Senior Mike Mauri delivered a two-out single, and Galiano scored while Mauri was caught in a rundown. Senior Dan Sorine led the fourth frame off with a home run, and Fordham had its first lead of the day. Murphy stopped the Panther attack through the fifth inning, and Fordham needed just six more outs to score a win.

Despite the fact the Murphy only threw 81 pitches in his five innings, junior Tim Swatek entered the game in the sixth inning. After

retiring the first hitter, Swatek ran into trouble. The Panthers strung together five consecutive singles and scored three runs for a 5-3 lead. Georgia State reliever Ben Burns struck out the side to end it, and Fordham fell to 1-11 in its last 12 games.

“Murph threw very well for us and he did what we needed him to do,” Leighton said. “He hasn’t thrown that deep into a game yet this spring. He could have gone back out there, but we felt that Swatek could shut the door.”

Fordham looked to salvage the final game of its lengthy road trip, but the Rams fell again in Atlanta.

The Panthers broke the deadlock in the second inning with two runs off Brett Kennedy. The score stayed 2-0 until Fordham equalized in the sixth inning. After the first two hitters reached on singles, Runco bunted the ball with the intent to sacrifice the runners to second and third. The Panthers committed a throwing error, however, which allowed both runners to score. Georgia State then scored two in the bottom of the inning, and knocked Kennedy out of the game. After Kennedy hit two batters to load the bases with two outs, Anastasi came in to stem the tide. Shane Gordon defeated Anastasi, though, with his tiebreaking two-run single. Georgia State scored an insurance run in the eighth inning, and Fordham’s offense stalled in its 5-2 loss.

“Baseball is funny like that,” Leighton said. “One week you pitch and don’t hit, and the next week you hit and don’t pitch. I don’t like to make excuses, but our youth shows and we have to improve.”

Fordham now stands at 11-19 overall, and the Rams will host Rhode Island in a pivotal weekend series. The first game will be on Friday, April 12 at 7 p.m.

Fordham Alum Goes From “Cubicle Monkey” to Popular Sports Blogger FROM BARSTOOL, PAGE 17

Despite some of the controversies surrounding the site, Clancy seems content with his decision to become a blogger, as he is able to indulge in some of his lazier tendencies.

“This past winter, there was a stretch when it was really cold and really nasty and I probably went Monday through Friday [without leaving my apartment],” Clancy said.

Although having the type of job where you can stay inside for an entire week seems easy, the stereotypical perception of the blogger is askew according to Clancy.

“I do more work for Barstool than I ever did as an accountant,” he said.

“I don’t have much time to do much else. I wake up and from then on I’m either writing or looking for stories.

It’s constantly writing and putting out content 24/7. If something happens at night during a game I have to be near a computer.”

In addition to the work ethic of the bloggers, Clancy also believes the website’s success can be attributed to the amount of content generated as well as to the personalities of the writers, who do not conform to the stereotype of the blogger.

“We’re all motivated dudes. We’re

all capable, we’re all smart, we’re all social,” Clancy said. “The reason why I am good at what I do is because I am just your average guy. So in that sense it’s not necessarily a skill to be a Barstool blogger, but you need to be the right type of guy.”

Starting at WFUV his sophomore year at Rose Hill when he was looking to get something more out of his college experience, Clancy quickly climbed the ranks. While with the station he produced the feature “Life in the Minors,” showcasing the Brooklyn Cyclones and Staten Island Yankees, as he attended 76 games in 79 days. In addition to hosting “One-on-One” a few times, he was also called upon to announce some women’s basketball and baseball games. His biggest assignment came in the spring of his junior year, when Clancy went to Florida to cover the Mets spring training, especially cool since he is a lifelong Mets fan.

While covering spring training for your favorite team seems like a dream job for any college student, Clancy soon realized the media world was not everything he had hoped it would be. After a run-in with Mike Piazza, he realized that covering a team meant he could no

longer be as big a fan. The combination of writing about sports, making people laugh and still being able to be a fan has been an ideal combination for him.

“As soon as the allure of talking to professional athletes wore off I quickly realized that being a traditional, mainstream media guy was not my scene,” Clancy said. “I can do a little bit of sports talk but also be cracking jokes. That’s why Barstool is perfect for me.”

Clancy has since rekindled his initial interest in radio, starting KFC Radio on Barstool this past summer.

Using Google Hangouts, he has been able to create a weekly, live internet show for fans to leave voicemails, discuss hypotheticals with other members of the sites and talk about sports.

Normally joined by Boston writer “Feitelberg” and Chicago writer “Big Cat,” the trio has also hosted some guests on the show, including Jay Cutler of the Chicago Bears and Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks.

“Whether I even realize it or not I think I learned how to speak a little better on the radio and cover sports a little better,” Clancy said. “Knowing the alumni that came through WFUV motivated me. I see all the

names that came there and they are all so established. Just the fact that all those guys came from there and I was doing the same stuff as them gave me more confidence to hopefully maybe be mentioned in the same breath as them. ” While the motivation has led Clancy down a much different path than some of the other WFUV products, he is carving out a name for

himself in his own unique way. As the site continues to grow with hopes of eventually being bought out for a “big-time payday,” being independently owned has allowed the site to produce videos, and launch a string of parties, with the potential to do even more. Due to all these factors, Clancy fully believes in the future of the site.

“I’m Barstool until I die.”

@KFCBARSTOOL/TWITTER

Clancy went from a nine-to-five job as an accountant to a full-time blogger.

SPORTS

Page 24

April 10, 2013

NHL Blog

The Winter Classic Heads to the Big House

By ANTHONY PUCIK STAFF WRITER

On Sunday morning, April 7, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman formally announced that the 2014 Bridgestone Winter Classic will be held at the Big House on University of Michigan’s campus and will match up two Original Six rivals in the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings. This did not come as much of a shock to the fans of the NHL because the Red Wings and Maple Leafs were supposed to play in the Big House this year for the 2013 Winter Classic, but the game was canceled due to the lockout that caused the season to start too late for it to be played. However, will this be the only game that will be played outside next NHL season? There has been a great deal of speculation regarding the idea of having more games being played outdoors, fueled by the success of the Winter Classic over the last few years.

On Sunday, this became more of a reality when NHL’s Chief Operating Officer John Collins said that there have been talks regarding the possibility of playing multiple outdoor games next season. The games would take place in January or February, in addition to the Winter Classic, and the venues that have been discussed are Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and Yankee Stadium in New York (but Yankee Stadium has been an issue in the past due to NCAA College bowl games causing scheduling conflicts). The teams that have been talked about to play these potential games are the Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings for the game in Dodger Stadium, and the New York Rangers and a rival of theirs like the New York Islanders or New Jersey Devils in Yankee Stadium.

The NHL is looking to expand its fan base and increase revenue for the sport, and it feels that it would be doing that by placing more games outdoors. The amount of money that teams have received as far as revenue sales for their Winter Classic jerseys, and the amount of money the NHL has received in ticket sales for the Winter Classic games, has been phenomenal.

Not to mention that the local area where the Winter Classic game is held always gets a huge boost in revenue.

Tom Wilson, CEO of the Detroit Red Wings’ Olympia Entertainment Company, discussed the impact of the Winter Classic on the Pittsburgh Penguins, who estimated about $36 million in revenue from the 2011 game versus the Washington Capitals alone.

“That’s an amazing figure,” Wilson said, “we will have 100,000 people coming to Ann Arbor and a quarter-million people coming to downtown Detroit and all of our friends coming over from Canada to stay in our hotels and eat in our restaurants, shop in our stores. …

This is going to be a tremendously impactful experience.”

The 100,000 plus fans that are expected to be in attendance for the Winter Classic next year will shatter any of the previous records set by football and baseball stadiums that have hosted the Winter Classic previously. With the amount of revenue it generates for the league, the teams and the city that hosts it, why not have more outdoor games?

Commissioner Bettman calls the potential for more outdoor games “an interesting notion,” but is it worth taking away what makes the Winter Classic special? It will also be interesting to see how the NHL plans on making a rink in Los Angeles that is playable for 20 full minutes without too many stoppages in between; even though it is the winter, it does have the potential to be very warm in L.A., and there have been problems with puddles on the ice in Winter Classic games before that were in much colder areas.

If the NHL sees that more outdoor games are going to generate tons of revenue for the teams and the host cities, then I believe that they are going to do it and there will be three games (or more) outdoors in the NHL next season. I would advise them to be careful however, of having too much of a good thing. Having more than one outdoor game takes away what is special about the Winter Classic, and I think that is something that should be taken into account as well.

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The Winter Classic, played outdoors, is one of the main NHL events of the year.

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/theram_sports

Varsity Scores & Stats Women’s Tennis Marist 0 Fordham 7

Baseball Fordham Manhattan

Xavier Fordham

4 3

Fordham 9 Georgia State 12

Rhode Island Fordham

2 5

Fordham Georgia State

Rhode Island Fordham

4 5

Men’s Track Colonial Relays 4x800 Relay 2nd- 7:37.30 4x400 Relay 8th-3:18.56

3 9

Fordham Georgia State

2 12

Women’s Track Colonial Relays 4x800 Relay 2nd- 8:57.44

3 5

Men’s Tennis Fordham Marist

1 4

Xavier Fordham

7 0

Softball Fordham Massachusetts

5 9

Bryant Fordham

5 2

Fordham Massachusetts

17 11

Quinnipiac Fordham

3 4

Rhode Island Fordham

4x400 Relay

5th- 3:50.74

2 6

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

Srikar Alla

Jaimie LaBovick

Sophomore

Senior

Tennis

Softball

Alla posted no. 1 singles wins in the Rams’ matches with Bryant, Xavier and Quinnipiac. Alla currently leads the team with 18 wins on the year, and is 11-2 at the first singles position.

LaBovick continued her historic streak this past weekend getting a hit in her 22nd consecutive game. Her streak is the longest by any Fordham softball or baseball player in school history.

News & Notes • Four Fordham water polo players were named to the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s Varsity Scholar Athlete Team. Freshmen Patrick Lenihan, Bobby Wurtz, Davis Defontes and junior Dan Kearney were honored for their success in the classroom as well as in the pool.

• About 90 Fordham student athletes from the football, basketball and swimming and diving teams participated in a “Sandy Saturday” last weekend. The studentathletes joined a group from Habitat for Humanity of Westchester and gave a helping hand to those affected by Hurricane Sandy as part of the university’s Sandy Solidarity Project.

• Senior Chris Gaston scored a total of 54 points and grabbed 30 rebounds in his first three games with the Ponce Leones of the Puerto Rican National Basketball League. The Leones have gone 2-1 in those three games.

• Senior kicker Patrick Murray worked out for the Indianapolis Colts of the NFL last week. Murray will also work out for the Giants and Jets later this week.

• Fordham Athletics has hired Front Row Marketing Services, a company that works with a variety of colleges and professional sports teams such as the Brooklyn Nets.

This is the first time Fordham has hired an outside consultant.

April 10, 2013

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SPORTS

April 10, 2013

Smith Senior Profile: Alex DeRienzo Matt’s Says Minute

Rutgers University fired head basketball coach Mike Rice after video surfaced of him grabbing his players, throwing balls at their heads and shouting vulgar remarks at them during team practices. Firing Rice was the correct move, but this story has brought to attention a much larger problem. The way Rice was acting was over the top, but coaches act like Rice all the time, on every level of sports from Little Leagues to the Major League.

After this story broke, I spoke to a number of people who could recall stories of how they had coaches like that in high school, or even middle school. I think it’s fair to assume that we’ve all seen it. We’ve seen the Little League baseball coach who is a hothead that screams and yells when his eight-year-old player does something wrong. We’ve all heard, or have experienced in person, stories of coaches screaming and humiliating players to try to motivate them. Some of these young athletes can be scarred for life by their coach’s actions, so is it really worth it just to win a game? Just because you have a whistle and a whiteboard doesn’t mean you can bully a person until they break. I know it’s outside of the world of sports, but the movie Full Metal Jacket comes to mind.

Getting back to the Rice situation, we have seen other college and pro coaches snap on players before.

Some of the best coaches in college basketball history have had anger issues. Bob Knight is third on the alltime wins list in Division I hoops, and he was at the top of the list when he retired. He was famous for yelling and throwing chairs across the gym.

When we think about Knight, we think of him first as a great coach, and then we think about the other stuff.

There’s a fundamental problem there.

We’ve seen many other cases of coaches screaming and grabbing players. I understand that sometimes in the heat of the moment, emotions can cause things to happen accidentally, but every human being should have the common sense to not grab someone else’s child by the throat for turning over the ball. In college athletics, parents trust these men to watch over their child during their college years and to help take care of them. Coaches sit in players’ living rooms and tell their parents that their son will be in good hands. These good hands shouldn’t be around the athletes’ necks.

Somewhere a line has to be drawn.

There is no excuse for letting this kind of behavior continue to happen.

This was Rutgers’ biggest mistake.

His behavior, along with the video evidence, was presented to Athletic Director Tim Pernetti last year. After reviewing the tape, Pernetti suspended Rice for three games. Did he honestly think that would be enough?

Did he think that having a coach miss three games would completely and permanently change his coaching style? If so, then he never should have been in athletic administration to begin with.

I think the worst part of this whole Rutgers situation may just be that Mike Rice was fired not necessarily for his actions, but because he got caught. That thought is incredibly troubling.

— Alex Smith

ELIZABETH ZANGHI/THE RAM

Alex Derienzo was the top singles player for Fordham as a sophomore, and is the captain of this year’s squad.

By MAX PRINZ ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

The Fordham Ram: What brought you here to Fordham?

Alex DeRienzo: Well, I grew up in Queens and I played tennis all my life. Basically, when I decided to go to school I wanted to stay in New York and Fordham was the best school that I wanted to go to. I loved the campus here and I got recruited by the old coach Bob Hawthorn.

TFR: You’ve played for three different coaches. Can you talk about their differences and what that has been like?

AD: I have definitely seen three very different coaching styles. For Bob, it was towards the end of his career, and the team was not very serious. We were at a lower level.

Once we got the new coach Cory [Hubbard] he recruited a lot of good guys, I moved from first position to like fifth or sixth and we

got a lot better. Unfortunately, this year with the new coach Mickey [Bzrov] we have had a lot of bad injuries. Kuba [Kowalski] and Mischa [Koran] have been out and we lost Emilio [Mora]. It has been rough because of all the ranked teams on our schedule. We have had a really big challenge and we were not prepared for that.

TFR: You won 10 matches your freshman year, but have been going down in the lineup since then.

Has that been difficult for you?

AD: I mean, I am a team player so I do not really mind where I play. I think my sophomore year I might have picked up eight wins and that still isn’t as many as I feel like I could have had. I don’t really mind where I am in the lineup, I’m just the captain on the team and I see myself as a leader to these younger guys.

TFR: With only three seniors on the team is leadership very important to you?

AD: Yeah, it’s important to me and to Ben [Kelly] who’s been on the team since I got here. It’s a lot more important to me that I’m a leader to these guys. Regardless of where I play in the lineup I’d rather see the team win.

TFR: Do you have a favorite memory from four years of tennis?

AD: Oh man. We have had a lot of close matches here. Whenever there is a 3-3 score in the match and there is just one of our guys left and it gets very close, those are always very competitive. We have won a few of those. Last week with Jan [Krouham] was very intense and those matches are always very rewarding.

TFR: Do you have any plans for after graduation?

AD: As of right now, I plan on attending grad school for taxation.

I’m an accounting major. After that, hopefully just getting a job.

Watch the interview with Alex at youtube.com/thefordhamram Fordham Alum Resigns Following Scandal FROM RICE, PAGE 1

“The Mike Rice that I know is an emotional, fierce competitor but somebody who really cared about people,” he continued. “I’ve stayed in touch with Mike over the years when he was an assistant at St. Joe’s and when he became head coach at Robert Morris. He is a great family man. When he played here at Fordham he was a very teamoriented guy, very emotional. He really brought the rest of the team together. But we never had any trouble with him. Never.”

In December 2012, Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti decided to suspend Rice for three games after he reviewed the video of the incident. At the time, Pernetti told Rutgers president Robert Barchi he planned to suspend Rice, but Barchi declined to view the tape.

Barchi did not see the tape until ESPN had already aired portions of it, at which point he demanded Rice be fired immediately. Pernetti was forced to resign Friday for his handling of the case, and many people — including Rutgers faculty — have called for Barchi to step down as well.

The turmoil comes at an inopportune time for Rutgers. The university agreed in November to join the Big Ten Conference in the summer of 2014, a move expected to dramatically increase athletic revenues.

Rutgers is also at a crossroads academically, as it is in the process of absorbing the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The merger is expected to cost the school $75 million.

The school also plans to take sev-

eral graduate programs from its Newark and Camden campuses and consolidate them at the New Brunswick campus.

The school also faces a lawsuit brought by Eric Murdock, a former Rutgers assistant coach who claims he was let go after bringing the tape to Pernetti. Murdock is being investigated by the FBI over claims he tried to extort the university.

The revelations about Rice’s behavior have prompted Robert Morris to take a closer look at Rice’s tenure there as well. The school is investigating allegations that there were multiple brawls between players and coaches while Rice was the head coach of the Colonials. Rutgers, meanwhile, is the process of searching for a new coach to replace Rice and help right the ship.

As the NBA regular season dwindles to a close, most fans (including myself) are eagerly looking forward to the playoffs. There is still much to be decided, however, in the few remaining weeks until the postseason arrives, especially in the Western Conference.

In fact, very few playoff teams outside of Miami can afford to rest their key players down the stretch, since an extended losing streak could mean the difference between a three seed (home court advantage) and a six seed (starting out on the road).

By far the most interesting storyline as the season closes is whether the Lakers can sneak past the Utah Jazz into the eighth seed in the West. Although they only have one remaining road game, they have to play the Trail Blazers, Spurs, Warriors and Rockets, four teams ranging from decent to elite.

Utah, meanwhile, does not have an easy schedule either, having to play the Thunder and the Grizzlies. I think that in the end the Jazz will narrowly avoid elimination (well, at least until the first round of the playoffs). The Lakers have simply had too much of an inconsistent year to be expected to perform at a reliably high level these last few games. Hopefully, if the Los Angeles Lakers do not reach the playoffs, ESPN can focus on the playoffs and abandon its love affair with the Lakers (at least until the offseason). Another side note: keeping in mind the enormous hype they received at the beginning of the year, if the Lakers fail to reach the playoffs it would probably be one of the biggest team disappointments that the sporting world has seen in recent memory.

Another important playoff race involves the Spurs and Thunder: which team will grab the coveted one seed? Getting the one seed would mean avoiding the Houston Rockets in the first round, who have shocked just about everyone with their high level of play this year. Even though the one seed might potentially play the Lakers, I actually hold Houston in a much higher regard due to their consistent level of play and its amazing offense (which, if it gets hot, could carry them through a seven game series). After Oklahoma City’s tough home loss to the Knicks, it looks like the ailing Spurs will hold on to the one seed. If that remains the case, I would not be shocked to see a first round upset with Utah or Los Angeles beating the Spurs.

Even though that is extremely unlikely, the Spurs have been pretty banged up lately, and as we saw in 2011, they are prone to big upsets.

Unlike the Western Conference, pretty much everything is set for the playoffs in the East.

The Knicks’ recent resurgence (especially their win in Oklahoma City) has delivered a message to the Heat that their trip through the relatively weak East might not be a cakewalk. They have played so well, in fact, that I might (just maybe) reconsider my pick for the Heat to come out of the Eastern Conference. I’ll leave my predictions for next week, however.

— Matt McCormack

SPORTS

April 10, 2013

Women’s Tennis Wins Home Opener in Dominating Fashion

Page 27

By MATT ROSENFELD SPORTS EDITOR

DREW DIPANE/THE RAM

Fordham has won five of its last six matches, including its first at Rose Hill.

By TARA SLEDJESKI STAFF WRITER

After bad weather forced them to play their first home match of the season at Sound Shore Tennis in Port Chester, N. Y., the Fordham women’s tennis team played its first game of the season on its real home courts at the Rose Hill Campus on April 5. It was well worth the wait for the Rams, however, since the match was their best of the season so far.

The Rams demolished Marist 7-0 to keep a four match winning streak alive. The Rams started out by taking the doubles point after all three of the double teams won. Senior Amy Simidian and sophomore Sarah Ali won at first doubles, sophomores Bella Genkina and Anika Novacek at second and junior Angelika Dabu and sophomore Julie Leong at third. In the singles matches, Simidian won at first singles, Ali at second, Dabu at third, Genkina at fourth, Leong at fifth and Novacek at sixth.

Despite the great showing in their first Rose Hill match, the next one did not go as well for the Rams. On April 5 they lost to Xavier, which snapped their four match winning streak.

The Rams opened this match up just like the previous one by taking the doubles point. Simidian and Ali once again won at first doubles, while Genkina and Novacek won at second again. They lost the match at singles, however, after only their fifth and sixth single players, Novacek and Leong got wins.

The Rams got right back into their winning ways following the loss against Xavier, however. On April 7, the Rams beat Rhode Island in another match at Rose Hill.

Once again, they started their day off with the doubles point after all three double teams won. The double pairings were the same as they were in the win against Marist. In singles, Ali got the win in second singles, Genkina in fourth, Leong in fifth and Novacek in sixth.

The Rams now stand at 7-6 with just three more matches to play before the Atlantic 10 tournament.

Those last three matches will all take place in the upcoming week.

On April 10, the team will travel to Army, followed by a trip to George Washington on April 13. The regular season then concludes on April 14 at home against LIU Brooklyn.

I love my home state of New Jersey. I love that people poke fun at me for being from the Garden State because I know how great it really is.

Unfortunately, over the past week, Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

The Scarlet Knights’ men’s basketball program came under fire when practice tapes surfaced that showed head coach Mike Rice abusing his players in practice. In the video, Rice can be seen throwing basketballs at player’s bodies and heads, aggressively grabbing players and calling others wildly inappropriate names. Since the videos became national news, Rice has been fired, and Rutgers Athletic Director Tim Pernetti resigned.

When the evidence of Rice’s actions was brought to Pernetti’s attention in December, he chose to fine Rice $50,000 dollars and to suspend the coach for three games. That was supposed to be the end of it, but when the videos leaked out to the national media, the story became huge and the backlash even larger.

I’m not going to condone what Rice did to his players. If you watch the video, he does things that are unacceptable and downright wrong.

Still, Mike Rice should not have been fired for this “scandal.”

Initially, when this story came out, I sided with the majority.

“He had to be fired. That behavior is ridiculous,” is what I thought.

The more I read, and the more I thought about my experience with sports and coaches, the more I found myself seeing how overblown this story had gotten.

It’s a well-known fact to anybody that has played sports on a competitive level that coaches can have short tempers. They yell.

They get frustrated. They scream.

No, they don’t usually throw basketballs at players, but are we going to judge this man off of a tape of all his worst moments? That tape is a compilation of all of

Rice’s worst actions in practice. It was a low-light reel. Is that really fair? Didn’t he pay for his actions with the suspension and the fine?

That tape was a cut up of different practices throughout the three years Rice was there. I’m sure he hasn’t thrown a basketball at anybody since that suspension.

The turning point for me is when I read a story in which two of his players came out and defended him.

Junior forward Wally Judge and sophomore forward Austin Johnson spoke out in their coach’s defense.

“You can’t let those individual moments define what he was,’’ Judge said to the Associated Press. ‘’In my past two years, me being an older guy and being under other coaches, I have grown from the moment I stepped in these doors, not only as a player but also as a person because of how he has treated me.’’

College coaches have much larger roles than winning and losing games. They take in 18-yearold kids and play a large role in turning them into mature men and women. That counts more for basketball, where there are only 15 players to a team, and each relationship between coach and player is more developed and personal than in larger team sports

like football.

Different coaches have different relationships with their teams.

Some coaches, like Rice, use a tougher approach on the court.

Just because he got out of line doesn’t mean he’s the next coming of Satan like every story will have you believe. The man is intense.

Aren’t all the successful coaches that do this kind of stuff revered? ‘’Honestly, a lot of the things that have been seen have been taken out of context,” Judge said. ‘’Mike was almost like a big brother. He would get on the floor with us and go through drills with us.

He made it fun. When you have a big brother type of figure, you know you can play around like that. I have grabbed Mike and put him in a headlock, and we joke around and kid. That was the type of relationship he built with his players. He wasn’t a guy we hated or despised.”

I realize the video is incriminating, but it’s a pretty strong message when Rice’s players, the ones who are supposedly the “victims” here, come out in defense of their coach. Mike Rice’s fate has been sealed, and it’s not like he was winning championships at Rutgers, but the next time an issue like this comes to light, can we not immediately overreact? We all certainly did in this case.

KEVIN RIVOLI/AP

Mike Rice went 44-51 during his three-year tenure as Rutgers head coach.

Upcoming Varsity Schedule Home games in CAPS

Thursday Apr. 11

Baseball

Softball Men’s Tennis Women’s Tennis Rowing Track & Field DREW DIPANE/THE RAM

Genkina won both her singles and doubles matches against Rhode Island.

Golf

NJIT 2 p.m.

Friday Apr. 12

Saturday Apr. 13

Sunday Apr. 14

RHODE ISLAND 7 p.m.

RHODE ISLAND 4 p.m.

RHODE ISLAND 12 p.m.

at Saint Louis 4 p.m.

at Saint Louis 1 p.m.

at Butler 12 p.m.

2:30 p.m.

at Hofstra 2 p.m.

LIU at George BROOKLYN Washington 1 p.m.

12 p.m.

Knecht Cup Cherry Hill, N.J. 1 p.m.

Metropolitan Championships 10 a.m.

New England Div. 1 Championships 10 a.m.

Monday Apr. 15

Tuesday Apr. 16 IONA 7 p.m.

Wednesday Apr. 17

Sports

Page 28

April 10, 2013

Offensive Outburst Leads to Successful Weekend for Softball

By MATT ROSENFELD SPORTS EDITOR

The Fordham softball team had a very busy weekend. Playing four games in three days, the Rams went 3-1, splitting two games at UMass on Friday and Saturday, then sweeping a doubleheader at home against Rhode Island.

The team left on Thursday to travel up to Amherst, Mass. to take on the Minutewomen. UMass is the defending Atlantic 10 champion, and although its record was only a paltry 6-16 heading into the series, UMass is always a force to be reckoned with in A-10 softball.

Friday’s game set the theme for the Rams’ weekend: offense. Fordham opened the game by loading the bases with only one out, which led to sophomore Kayla Lombardo lining a ball that the third baseman could not handle, giving Fordham an early 1-0 lead. That would be all the Rams would muster as sophomore Michele Daubman lined into a double play to end the threat.

UMass would answer right away.

An inning that would include an illegal pitch and an error from Fordham led to three runs that gave the Minutewomen a 3-1 lead.

They would get three more runs on five hits in the second to take a commanding 6-1 lead. Fordham needed its offense to make up ground.

“We had overall confidence in coming back,” head coach Bridget Orchard said. “We were positive we could chip away. We got to give UMass credit, they turned a few double plays and nothing was really going our way.”

Fordham would get a run back in the fourth when Daubman hit

her fourth home run of the year to cut the lead to 6-2. Another Ram run in the fifth got them to within three, but UMass would score three in their half of the fifth inning, highlighted by a single that drove in two from freshman Taylor Carbone. Fordham could not overcome the 9-3 lead, losing the first game of the weekend 9-5.

The Saturday affair between the two teams was not one for lovers of pitching and defense.

In a game that saw 28 total runs scored, Fordham defeated UMass 17-11.

The Rams had five players with multiple hits, four players with multiple RBI games and hit four home runs on the day. Lombardo and junior Elise Fortier stood out among the numerous offensive contributors. Lombardo went 2-4 with five RBI and a home run, a three run shot to left field and her fourth of the year. Fortier was 2-3, both of her hits being solo home runs, one in the first and the other in the fifth inning.

“All year long our entire lineup one through nine has been able to hit the ball well,” Orchard said. “[The team] has a lot of confidence, in themselves and each other. Also, knowing that we need to put up runs without having a dominant pitcher like last year has made us work hard on our hitting.”

That hitting carried into Sunday’s doubleheader when fellow A-10 member Rhode Island visited Bahoshy Field.

In the first contest, Fordham trailed 1-0 until the third when it would score three runs to grab the lead. A Daubman RBI single followed by a Lombardo home run quickly put the Rams in control of

the game.

The visiting side would not go away quickly, though. Rhode Island brought the lead down to one in the fourth when junior Ashley Olson homered to left-center field. A sacrifice fly from Daubman would give the Rams a 4-2 lead.

Fordham would put the game away in the sixth inning, when it was able to double its lead to 6-2.

An RBI triple from sophomore Sammi Smith gave the Rams the insurance they needed, but also gave senior Jamie LaBovick, who was 0-3 up to that point, one more chance to extend her hitting streak, which sat at 20 games. LaBovick delivered, knocking an RBI single to center to extend the streak. The game would end by that score, giving the Rams a second straight A-10 victory.

The last game of Fordham’s busy weekend would also prove to be its

easiest. The Rams won by a score of 12-2 in five innings.

The biggest moment of the game was when LaBovick singled to right to start off the game. The hit extended her hitting streak to 22 games, which marks the longest hit streak for any man or woman in Fordham history.

“It’s pretty cool,” LaBovick said of her possession of the record. “I owe my team, because in the first game when I was [hitless] Sam [Smith] and Paige [Ortiz] got hits that got me another at bat, so I owe it to them too.”

The game blew wide open in the second inning when Fordham, already with a 1-0 lead, scored five runs to grab a six-run advantage.

With the bases loaded, Lombardo hit a bases-clearing double, which accounted for her three RBI in the game. Fortier also chipped in with an RBI single in the inning.

A home run from senior Chelsea Palumbo upped the lead to 7-0 before Rhode Island could score their first run in the fourth, a solo home run to make it 7-1.

Leading 9-2 going into the bottom of the fifth, Fordham needed one run to end the game via the eight-run rule. They got three when Fortier hit her team-leading 14th home run of the season, a walk-off to give Fordham the win.

Fordham currently sits at 23-12 overall and fifth in the A-10 at 7-3.

“I think everybody in their mindset right now is confident,” Orchard said. “They’re seeing the ball well. The cold weather recently has moved us inside a lot and given us a lot of opportunities to work on hitting.”

The Rams will travel to Saint Louis on Friday, April 12 to take on the Billikens in another A-10 matchup.

LI YANG/THE RAM

Senior Jamie LaBovick’s 22-game hitting streak is the longest ever by any Fordham softball or baseball player.

Men’s Tennis Snaps Losing Streak With Win Over Quinnipiac

By MAX PRINZ ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

The improvement in the weather has not translated into wins for the men’s tennis team. The Rams have dropped three straight matches, losing to Marist 4-1, getting shut out by Xavier 7-0 and falling to Bryant 5-2.

The Rams have been bitten by

the injury bug and have played much of their spring schedule without top players such as juniors Kuba Kowalski and Mischa Koran. Sophomore Srikar Alla has valiantly attempted to hold down the fort, playing well from the first position.

In the Rams’ match with Marist, Alla again stepped into the first singles position. Alla defeated

Lorenzo Rossi 6-3, 7-6 (5) for his 16th victory of the season. Unfortunately, that was the only point of the day for the Rams, and they would lose to the Red Foxes 4-1.

Next up for the Rams was a home battle with Xavier. The Rams clearly missed Kowalski and Koran, as players were again moved up in the lineup. Alla was paired at first doubles with fel-

LI YANG/THE RAM

Sophomores Srikar Alla and Max Peara won their match at first doubles against Bryant on Sunday by a score of 8-5.

low sophomore J.J. Tauil. Sophomore Max Peara and junior Matty Najfeld teamed up at second doubles, while senior Alex DeRienzo and sophomore Michael Puntillo made up the third doubles team.

The Musketeers were able to frustrate Fordham from the very beginning of the match. Puntillo and DeRienzo were blanked by Adam Krull and Zach Mueck, losing 8-0. Alla and Tauil next lost their doubles match 8-6. Peara and Najfeld played the best, but also lost 8-7.

The slow start in doubles play continued on into singles. The Rams were simply overmatched and lost all six singles matches in straight sets. Najfeld put up the strongest fight, losing 7-5, 6-2.

Najfeld was also the most frustrated of the Rams, receiving a point penalty from the referee after he kicked a tennis ball in anger.

Sunday’s match with Bryant University gave the Rams a shot at redemption. The team started the afternoon with lots of energy, looking strong as doubles play began. Head coach Mickey Bzrov changed the lineup a little for the matchup with Bulldogs. Kowalski saw his first action of the spring season, playing with Najfeld at second doubles. His injury was clearly hurting him; his serves had very

little on them. He and Najfeld lost 8-2.

Despite the loss at second doubles, the Rams were able to pick up the doubles point. Alla and Peara played at first doubles and won 8-5. A sophomore team of Puntillo and Peder Gram secured the doubles point for Fordham, defeating Dana Parziale and Phillip Kim 8-2.

The Rams could not carry the doubles success into singles.

Najfeld aggravated his hamstring in doubles play and was unable to participate in singles action. This forced Puntillo into the no. 2 slot, where he lost 6-0, 6-1. Kowalski was the second Ram to go down, losing 6-1, 6-3. The Rams had already given up the advantage of the doubles point.

When Gram lost his match to Ernesto Arguello 6-3, 6-0 things looked very bleak for the Rams.

Jan Krouham attempted to give the team hope, battling back against Vidith Huot and going to a third set. He was unable to pull out a victory, however, losing 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. Alla’s 7-5, 6-2 win at first singles was the Rams’ sole victory over the Bulldogs.

With the loss to Bryant the Rams fall to 6-10 on the year. They will be at home twice in the upcoming week, facing Quinnipiac on April 9 and NJIT on April 11.