Volume 96 Issue 17

The Fordham Ram Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918 Volume 96, Issue 17

FordhamRam.com F dh R

October 22, 2014

Initiative Spreads UN Knowledge

Agreement Reached on Faculty Benefits

By AMINHA BHATTI

By JOE VITALE

STAFF WRITER

MANAGING EDITOR

One of the university’s main goals in its mission statement is to transform its students into leaders who are concerned with global issues.

Fordham’s Jesuit identity encourages its students to become “men and women for others.” This goal is what Kelly Roberts had in mind when she began the Fordham Impact Initiative five years ago to allow Fordham students to learn more about the U.N. through first-hand experience.

The initiative currently allows two designated youth representatives to bring other students to the U.N. to participate in events and programs.

Roberts works for Fordham’s Office of International Services and is also a representative of a non-governmental organization (NGO) associated with the U.N. called N.A.F.S.A.: Association of International Educators. In keeping with this NGO’s mission to encourage greater collaboration between universities and the U.N., Roberts developed the Fordham Impact Initiative, as a way for Fordham to become an affiliate with the U.N., and for its students to have a greater involvement and experience through such participation.

According to an article by Janet Sassi, “Fordham Granted Special NGO Association with United Nations,” which was published in the 2013 issue of Inside Fordham, the university became an NGO in 2013 along with 16 other universities.

The article discusses how Fordham will collaborate with the non-governmental sector of the U.N. to report its own activities as a U.N. affiliate, while providing students with the opportunity to intern with the U.N. and other NGOs. Miranda Morton, FCRH ’15, and Theresa Carthy, FCRH ’15 are the current youth representatives for Fordham. As youth representatives, Morton and Carthy must attend NGO briefings at the U.N.’s Department of Public Information every Thursday. These briefings discuss the Millennium Development Goals

tigated Ben-Atar, Director of the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance Anastasia Coleman, has refused to comment on the case.

Other faculty members who were directly involved, however, say that the investigation was appropriate.

Ben-Atar, who is based at Lincoln Center and has been employed at Fordham since 1996, said he first learned of the investigation when he

Settling more than a year of negotiations regarding salary and benefits that has frustrated university faculty members and spurred the resignation of the administration’s chief negotiator, the Faculty Senate and university administrators reached a final agreement for a new insurance provider and improved package benefits.

The Senate vote, outlined in an email sent by Mary Ann Forgey, president of the Faculty Senate, followedmonths of work by both the Faculty Salary and Benefits Committee and ad hoc committee, which attempted to reconcile the desires of the faculty and the administration. Following what Forgey called “intense conversations,” Friday’s agreement reflected a consensus reached by the Faculty Senate, whose 25 members unanimously approved the latest proposal.

“The Senate’s approval reflects the confidence that your senators have in the package as a whole,” Forgey said in the faculty-wide email shared with by The Fordham Ram. “It is the Senate’s hope that the renewed commitment to shared governance evidenced over the past month will continue to characterize the relationship between the faculty and the administration.”

SEE BEN-ATAR PAGE 5

SEE HEALTHCARE, PAGE 6

SEE U.N., PAGE 6

in this issue

Opinion

Page 7

Same-Sex Faculty Receives “Married Benefits”

Culture Page 11 An Overview of Tea in the City

Sports

Page 20

Fordham Offense Employs Trick Plays

CHRISTIAN WILOEJO/THE RAM

Ram Town, Fordham’s annual pep rally to kick off the basketball season, was held last Friday in Rose Hill Gym. Students were treated to free food, t-shirts and a dance-off between the men’s and women’s teams. Additional prizes were given out to several lucky students, including televisions and a trip to Mexico.

After ‘Kafkaesque’ Investigation, Professor Takes Story Public

By KATIE MEYER NEWS EDITOR

Last week, Fordham history professor Doron Ben-Atar drew international attention to Fordham by revealing that he had been investigated by the university over the summer on grounds of potential religious discrimination.

Although the charge was ultimately dropped, Ben-Atar says that the in-

vestigation, as well as the conclusions drawn from it, were unfair.

“I went through a Kafkaesque process in which I was never told exactly what I supposedly did wrong, nor was I ever shown anything in writing,” Ben-Atar said in the now-viral reflection he wrote on the experience.

“The Jesuit University of New York,” he concluded in the article, “should do better.”

The university official who inves-

Copyright Struggle Keeps Student Show From Going On

By LAURA SANICOLA ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

The show must go on, except when it legally cannot. James Demetriades, FCRH ’15, learned this truth two hours before the opening night of Fordham Experimental Theater’s (FET) production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.

The Office of Student Leadership and Development (O.S.L.C.D.) informed Demetriades, the director of the production, that the rights company would not allow the production to be performed on Oct. 16, the night it was slated to open.

F.E.T has postponed the production to Oct. 30 – Nov. 1, 2014.

“Rights were not secured at that point in time, but they have since been acquired,” said Shannon Driscoll, assistant director of O.S.L.C.D. “No group can proceed with a performance until the rights are received.”

According to Jeff Sharkey, president of Fordham Experimental Theater (F.E.T.), the director had not received the official scripts for the actors or scores for the musicians before Oct.15.

“The cast was using a read-only online script and the orchestra was transcribing music from Spotify to rehearse,” Sharkey said. “If they

COURTESY OF BLOODY BLOODY

FET’s latest show has been delayed because, as of its planned opening date, the copyrights had not been properly secured.

waited until the rights had officially been obtained and official materials were released, the cast and crew would not have enough time to rehearse.”

The day before the opening night, Musical Theater International (MTI) contacted O.S.L.C.D. inquiring how the cast was prepared to perform if they had just received the scripts. Sharkey relayed the truth — that the cast had been rehearsing without the official materials.

“We had done it in the past, but the rights had never taken this long

to obtain,” Sharkey said. On Thursday, Oct. 21, Sharkey received word that the rights to the play were being revoked because the cast had been rehearsing without the official materials.

The problem arose after the rights to Rocky Horror Picture Show were denied to F.E.T. over the summer.

“Rocky Horror Picture Show was finally approved by O.S.L.C.D. in August,” said Sharkey, “but due to first class option, which prevents a play from being performed if someone else is producing the

same play 50 miles from New York City, we are unable to obtain the rights from the company at that time. Another school was performing the play.”

Demetriades was given the option of choosing another play to direct in the fall. Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson was decided upon in mid-August, and Demetriades subsequently submitted his request.

“The delay in choosing the show caused the whole process to be delayed,” Sharkey said. “The contract had to be approved by Fordham, SEE JACKSON PAGE 3

NEWS

Page 2

SECURITY BRIEFS Oct. 8 Southern Boulevard 12 p.m.

A female Fordham student parked her car on the street between the main entrance to the university and the Fordham Prep entrance. When she returned to her vehicle around 4 p.m., she noticed that the rear passenger side window had been shattered, and a Garmin GPS and iPod had been removed from the front seat.

Oct. 8 White Castle 3:20 a.m.

While purchasing food for himself, a male Fordham student was approached by a homeless individual who asked him for money. The student offered to buy the man a meal, and left him sitting at a table while he picked up the order from the counter.

However, the student left his iPhone 6 on the table, and when he returned with the food, he discovered that the man had left with his phone. The student contacted N.Y.P.D., who was able to make contact with an individual who purchased the phone for $200. He was charged with criminal possession of stolen property and was taken into custody.

Oct. 19 Blue Goose Tavern 4 a.m.

Fordham Public Safety observed a male student involved in a confrontation with a female student. Another student, who witnessed the confrontation, attempted to intervene in the dispute, but was assaulted by the other male student. N.Y.P.D. responded to the scene. The student who instigated the fight was taken into custody, and he was released from jail the following morning. The student who was assaulted was brought to the hospital with minor injuries.

October 22, 2014

School of Law and McKeon Hall Unveiled at LC

By TARA CANGIALOSI WEB EDITOR

Fordham University’s newly renovated School of Law reopened its doors on Sept. 23, the same day that Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) introduced its newest residence hall, McKeon Hall.

Construction for both the new school of law and McKeon Hall began nearly three years ago in 2011.

The $250 million, twenty-twostory glass law school building sits at 150 W. 62nd Street on the Lincoln Center Campus. Its previous home, the fifty-two-year old Benjamin A. Javits Building, will house a number of academic programs for the time being.

The old space will still be needed because additional construction on FCLC — as well as on the graduate schools for business, social services and education — will take place over the next decade and a half.

The completion of the scheduled campus overhaul is slated for 2032.

The one hundred and sixty thousand square-foot school of law was designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, who also designed the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum and the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

According to the university, the new building contains 29 modern

classrooms, 92 faculty offices and more than enough modern technology to satisfy students and professors alike.

The new residence hall, McKeon Hall, is situated behind McMahon Hall and currently houses nearly 400 members of the class of 2018. Similar to Rose Hill’s newest residence hall, Loyola Hall, McKeon exclusively houses freshman and will remain a freshman dorm in the coming years.

To many FCLC students who have lived in either McMahon Hall or off-campus for the duration of their time at Fordham, the addition of a second residence hall is something very new.

“I think it’s a huge upgrade for the new freshmen class,” Katie Ryan, FCLC ’16, said. “Unlike McMahon [Hall], McKeon is dormitory-style instead of apartment style, and I think that makes a big difference for a first-year student.”

Made up of 12 floors, the residents of McKeon Hall will have access to a number of new amenities that upperclassmen students will not have access to unless they are signed in by a student who lives there.

According to Lincoln Center’s student-run newspaper, The Observer, McKeon has free laundry and study halls, like all of the other residence halls on both of Fordham’s campuses.

However, it also includes a reflection room, several integrated learning community lounges, a

movie theater, a dance studio, a game room, a full kitchen and a mini kitchen.

These added amenities parallel those in Loyola Hall, which houses the Manresa Program on the Rose Hill campus.

The 125 freshman in Loyola inhabit spacious rooms with hardwood floors, enjoy air conditioning in the warmer months, and have access to a kitchen, numerous study nooks, an event space and the St. Ignatius of Loyola Chapel.

These amenities differ from what many current students on both campuses experienced as freshman.

“I think it’s a great addition to the growing campus,” Ryan said. “[However], upperclassmen students can’t use their amenities, like the [new] fitness center, without being accompanied by a McKeon resident. That’s one of the few drawbacks of being a McMahon resident.”

At Rose Hill, the feeling is similar about Loyola Hall.

“I believe that Loyola is a very nice resource and reward for those who have been accepted to the Manresa Program,” Suzanne Forlenza, FCRH ’16, said. “While the discrepancies [among freshman housing options] are clear... it certainly raises the standard for future improvements in all of our residence halls.”

Brian Byrne, Fordham’s vice president at Lincoln Center, expected undergraduate enrollment

to increase with the opening of McKeon at Lincoln Center, as the additional living quarters will meet a “huge pent-up demand” from students who want to live near campus.

Similarly, the Fordham School of Law’s completed construction comes at a good time. In the U.S. News and World Report’s 2015 edition of “America’s Best Graduate Schools,” Fordham Law is ranked in the top tier overall, while the part-time evening program is ranked third in the country.

Both buildings were recently dedicated by the Fordham community, following the end of construction.

The School of Law was dedicated on Thursday Sept. 18, in the presence of Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

McKeon Hall was dedicated less than a month later, on Wednesday, Oct. 1. Robert A. Milici, Jr., vice president for development and university relations and Rev. Robert R. Grimes, S.J., dean of FCLC, were among those present at the ceremony.

“Both the new School of Law and McKeon are beautiful buildings,” Ryan said. “Any lingering construction seems to have been finished up in the first month of school, and they have really given Lincoln Center a campus feel for students.”

—Compiled by Michael Cavanaugh, Assistant News Editor

Follow us on Twitter! @TheFordhamRam

ELIZABETH ZANGHI/THE RAM

The new law building and dorm space at Lincoln Center will solve a number of issues, including growing housing demand from students and outdated facilities.

This Week at Fordham Wednesday Oct. 22 Auditions: Twelfth Night

Thursday Oct. 23

Friday Oct. 24

Diwali: Festival of Lights

McGinley Music Room 8 - 10 p.m.

Keating Hall 7 p.m.

The Theatrical Outreach Program will be holding open auditions for its production of Twelfth Night. Auditions will take place on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. and Thursday evening at 7 p.m. Call-backs will follow on Thursday.

The Fordham University South Asian Entity (FUSE) is celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights, on the steps of Keating Hall. Following the ceremony, there will be snacks and refreshments.

Trick or Treat Trot McGinley Lawn 4:30 p.m.

Friday Oct. 24 Taste the World Pope Auditorium 7 p.m.

Students can participate in the HalASILI is celebrating cultural diversity loween Kick-Off Fair, which will with food and performances from include a variety of activities and student groups such as Fordham contests, including a costumed 5K at Flava, Sláinte and the Fordham Satin 5:30 p.m., which gives students the Dolls. Tickets will be sold for $1 at opportunity to raise money for the the door.

B+ Foundation.

For more campus events, visit FordhamRam.com

Tuesday Oct. 28 Relay for Life McGinley Ballroom 8 p.m.

The Fordham chapter of Relay for Life will be holding its first fundraising event of the year. The event will include food, music and raffles. The proceeds will go to cancer research.

NEWS

October 22, 2014

Page 3

FORDHAM IN THE BRONX

Post-Opening Delay, Blue Goose Offers Refunds for Dropped Deal

By KRIS VENEZIA STAFF WRITER

Fordham University students know how to enjoy their Friday, Saturday and occasionally their Tuesday nights, but there were limited options for students who wanted to grab a drink last school year.

This year has been different.

The Blend welcomed guests last Thursday after being on hiatus for over a year, and the Blue Goose Tavern opened at the end of August to bring back "tri-bar" around Arthur Avenue and 189th Street.

"Last year, bars were crowded and not enjoyable," said Jack O'Rourke, FCRH ’15. "For me, a place like the Blue Goose [Tavern] consistently offers a fun option every night."

The Blue Goose Tavern, or "The Goose" as some students refer to it, was originally slated to begin pouring drinks in the spring semester of 2014.

However, owner Simon Kajtazi had to push the opening back after some difficulties with New York City bureaucracy.

"We had a very big issue with the [Department of Buildings] and permits and we did comply and meet all of the requirements," Kajtazi said. "Now that we're open, we're doing pretty good.”

"A lot of people have said

they're thankful that we opened up because other bars get too crowded and now with tri-bar back in effect, it should help with cluttering in the bar area."

Kajtazi and the Blue Goose Tavern received criticism on social media after opening later than anticipated and for a promotion called the "Blue Goose Card."

The card was offered before the bar opened for $200 and would have given students $350 of credit. But Kajtazi said when the bar began serving drinks, he realized it would be unfair to patrons who could not get their hands on the card. Because of this, Blue Goose was forced to rescind its original card deal.

"I don't want [people who bought the card] thinking I suckered them into giving their money up, but I didn't want people seeing me giving extra drinks out to some people," Kajtazi said.

He said the bar reached out and refunded the $200 to everyone who bought the cards, and he also encouraged the one or two who have not already gotten their money back to reach out to him for a refund.

"Everybody who bought the card will get their money back," he said. "I want to focus now on making the bar as fun and as safe as possible for students."

Some students have enjoyed

SAMUEL JOSEPH/THE RAM

Simon Kajtazi, owner of The Blue Goose Tavern, has decided to rescind the promotional deal that he offered last year.

the addition of a new bar close to campus because it gives more options for hanging out with friends.

"The Blue Goose [Tavern] is a solid, cheap addition to tri-bar," said Jeff Feng, GSB ’15. "I enjoy the cheap beverages and the good crowd" Vince Verdan, GSB ’15, said while he enjoys going to the other

bars, the Blue Goose Tavern has some perks.

"I like the Blue Goose [Tavern] because it's never too crowded and I don't have to push my way through a crowd just to get a drink," he said.

Students now have a long list of places to visit on the weekends with the Bronx Beer Hall, Howl

at the Moon, Mugz, Blue Goose Tavern and The Blend not far from campus.

While the Fordham University Rose Hill campus in the Bronx will probably never gain national recognition for its night life, students should enjoy the different options for a night out after acing midterm exams.

NY Post Columnist Talks Career and Hot Topics, Gives Advice

By ANTHONY PUCIK ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

On Wednesday, Oct. 15, New York Post sports columnist Mike Vaccaro visited professor John Cirillo’s sports communication class to talk about everything ranging from how he got into journalism to the hottest current sports topics. He even did a mock interview with Roman Herman, GSB ’15, defensive lineman on the Fordham football team.

Cirillo introduced Vaccaro as a New Jersey native who embraced his New York identity and was full of “eloquent words [and] incisive comments” and “a New York treasure.”

A graduate of St. Bonaventure University, Vaccaro covered the Bonnies for the Olean Times Herald, was a columnist at The Star-Ledger, Kansas City Star and Times Herald-Records and served as sports editor of the Northwest Arkansas Times before finally joining the New York Post in November 2002.

When asked how he got into sports writing, Vaccaro said he knew he wanted to be a journalist at a young age. On June 29, 1974, his father took him to Old Timer’s Day. He remembered witnessing his father cry over seeing former players Willie Mays and Duke Snider on the field, one of the few times in his life Vaccaro saw him cry. At the game, Vaccaro’s father pointed to the press box to show him where the media was located at the game. “And, at that moment I knew I wanted to do,” he said.

Vaccaro attributes a great deal of his accomplishments to his

ANTHONY PUCIK/THE RAM

Mike Vaccaro spoke with students about how he developed his writing craft.

schooling and willingness to improve his writing. While at St. Bonaventure, Vaccaro said he “immersed” himself in campus media, getting involved in any way possible, which in turn greatly improved his writing.

“Writing is a muscle,” he said,

“something that has to be tended to regularly.”

He also talked about columnists he looked up to as a kid and whose work he would always read in order to try and improve himself as a writer. Two specific writers he mentioned were Steve Serby, also

of The Post, and Mike Lupica of The Daily News. Vaccaro recalls how he wrote to Lupica about his work when he was in college and that Lupica was extremely helpful, willing to give him advice and asked him to send whatever he liked his way. “He was the perfect role model in terms of how to do the job,” he said.

The best advice Vaccaro said he could give to the students was to “get your nose in there and work … knowing how to write will get you a job at some point.”

Vaccaro likes to think that as he matured as a writer, he gained the ability to not only write well, but also very quickly (700-800 word articles in under half an hour on deadline). Vaccaro takes great pride in both of these things.

“I’m better than anyone faster than me and faster than anyone better than me,” he said.

Vaccaro also has a Fordham connection, attributing one of the greatest highlights of his life as a columnist to a column that was featured in the Post on Dec. 14, 2013 entitled “Fordham Football Keeps a Fan Named Vin Scully Tuned In.” He recalls asking to talk to Scully about the recent success of his alma matter’s football team for the column. When Scully got back to him, he was in his car on Canal St., and Vaccaro found it difficult to drive and somehow manage to keep notes at the same time.

Vaccaro said it would have been easy to come to Fordham and interview head football coach Joe Moorhead for the piece, but Scully brought in a different angle that would do a better job of drawing

the reader. That was another bit of advice Vaccaro had for the students: to do their best to be unique in their writing.

“In this day and age you have to try and stand out,” he said, “Ask yourself ‘How can I be different?’”

But it is not all fun and games while writing a minimum of three times a week as a columnist, contrary to popular belief. Growing up a fan of the local New York sports teams and now having to write about them, Vaccaro says it is hard to maintain the balance between fandom and professionalism.

“I can’t watch a game the way I used to... you lose something,” he said. “You try to keep your fandom, but there comes a point where you have to detach.

Over time, Vaccaro has realized he is no longer a fan of teams, but “a fan of sports... a fan of fans, how they respond to my writing and how they react to their teams.”

You cannot forget what it means to be a fan, he said, because if you don’t care about what you are writing, it will show and people will not read it. He no longer roots from his favorite teams, but roots for good stories because he says he is “measured by clicks... not paid to write art,” but to be read.

When asked about what he would have done if he did not get into the sports writing industry, Vaccaro said he would have been a teacher, but he is extremely happy with what he is doing. “I never know day by day what I’m going to see, what I’m going to hear,” he said. “If this is what you want to do it’s a blast.”

NEWS

Page 4

October 22, 2014

News Briefs & Bites • Last week, New York Times columnist Randy Cohen visited the Lincoln Center campus, where the Fordham Theater Program hosted a live taping of his podcast show “Person Place Thing.” This program invites its guests to discuss what person, place and thing they believe to be most meaningful in their lives. In Pope Auditorium at Lincoln Center, Cohen welcomed theater critic and New York Times columnist Ben Brantley. Brantley and Cohen

discussed in who and what he (Brantley) places the most value in his life: Gloria Vanderbilt, who helped him to find the attractive lifestyle he was looking for in New York; the National Theater in London, the culture of which he found to be a comfort zone; and a $100 bill given to him by Rocco Landesman after Brantley positively reviewed one of his plays.

• The Gabelli School of Business in London has seen significant

expansion since its flagship summer abroad program in 2008, in which just 30 students participated. Since its inception, the program has added both fall and spring semester programs, as well as scholarships. The past academic year saw marked growth in program enrollment, with a record high of 141 students. Much of this expansion can be attributed to the efforts of Chris Hogan, FCRH ’95, now a partner in KPMG’s London office of ac-

counting. He, together with the director of the program, Graham Bolton, has worked to create paid internship positions with KPMG for three to six Gabelli students each semester.

• The Fordham community mourns the passing of Aki Jones, GSB ’08, and Anthony Amanzio, GSB ’03, who passed away in Florida earlier this month. The two former student-athletes were members of the Fordham football team,

where they each had successful careers. Jones went on to play for one year with the Washington Redskins (2005), and later in Poland, Sweden and Finland.

After retiring from football, he worked as a sports analyst on BBC telecasts of NFL games, and shortly before his passing took a position with the Miami Dolphins. Amanzio was a member of the 2002 football teamteam that won the school’s first Patriot League championship in the sport.

Photo of the Week

SAMUEL JOSEPH/THE RAM

Prospective students from all over the country visited Fordham on Sunday to tour the school for the President’s Open House. The event is designed to give students an introduction to life at Fordham, and is one of the most attended programs of the year. It notably features a club fair that lets students get an idea of what they would like to be involved in if they choose to come to Fordham. Current students volunteered their time to welcome potential students and parents, answer their questions about college life and give campus tours.

Creative Writing Concentration Integrated into English

By NICOLE HORTON CULTURE EDITOR

The creative writing program recently announced a new concentration within the English major. This concentration emphasizes the interconnectivity of creative writing, digital media, criticism and scholarship.

As a concentration with a dual focus on literature and creative work fully integrated within the English department, this degree offers literature courses, small writing workshops and practical industry training. Its goal is to prepare students for advanced study or careers in writing, media and publishing. In addition, students benefit from the resources provided by New York City — a worldwide center for literary publishing.

The integration of digital media into the concentration is a noteworthy addition. “We have a digital creative writer here as a writer and resident,” said professor Sarah Gambito, director of the creative writing program. “We’ll be offering two to three classes each semester. What differentiates what we offer in English as opposed to communication is the art of digital writing. Our digital creative writer is a programmer and a poet.”

Eligible applicants must be in their sophomore or junior year and

able to maintain a 3.0 overall G.P.A. Juniors who are already declared English majors can also apply.

Admission to the English major with a creative writing concentration is based primarily on the strength of a submitted writing sample.

When asked what steps candidates should take in preparing a writing sample to help them stand out from the crowd, Gambito said, that “the only thing that I can say is send your best work.”

“It’s not necessarily that you

have to send all kinds of pieces. It’s not a very long writing sample,” she added.

The creative writing concentration consists of a total of 11 required courses, including one junior theory course, five literature electives at 3000 level or above (at least two courses must be based on a historical period before the the nineteenth century), five creative writing courses and one non-credit capstone course. For the capstone course, students will collaborate on a creative writing public exhibition.

Gambito also has advice for students who are unsure whether they should declare an English major or choose a creative writing concentration.

“These courses are for students who really want a foreground for the study of creative writing. In the traditional English major, it’s two classes. It’s significantly higher the creative writing courses you can take. Half of your classes are creative writing.”

Creative writing concentrators will receive guidance from full-time

SAMUEL JOSEPH/THE RAM

The new concentration is designed to prepare students for advanced study, or careers in writing, media and publishing.

creative writing faculty members who help students choose courses that provide a coherent focus across writing genres and historical periods, while at the same time allowing them to pursue an individualized course of study based on personal interests. Advisors will be assigned at random, but students will have the opportunity to change their advisor as they develop a mentoring relationship with faculty members.

Creative writing concentrators are encouraged to involve themselves with one of the publications on campus, including CURA , The Observer (and its literary section, “The Comma”) and The Fordham Ram. Class credit may be earned by working as a staff member for one of these publications. In addition, creative writing concentrators are also encouraged to explore internships relevant to their course of study.

A total of 15 students will be admitted each year. Interested individuals must submit an application and writing sample online. The first deadline for applications is Nov. 1, and students will hear decisions by Dec. 1.

When asked about plans to expand the concentration in the near future, Gambito expressed uncertainty, saying it is a pilot year.

“That may happen,” she said, “but for right now the cohort will be 15 students.”

NEWS

October 22, 2014

Page 5

Investigation Ensues After Vow to “Fight” Program Unforseen

COURTESY OF LEGAL INSURRECTION

Ben-Atar lobbied for Fordham to sever ties with the ASA over its boycott.

FROM BEN-ATAR PAGE 1

received an email from Coleman in May 2014 that alleged he “may have acted in an inappropriate way and possibly discriminated against another person at the university.”

He said the investigation’s roots go back much further, though, to a decision made in spring 2013, when the American Studies Association (ASA) voted to support a boycott of Israeli academic institutions.

ASA Boycotts Israeli Institutions The ASA is a national academic organization with thousands of individual and institutional members, Fordham being one of them. The organization has a history of taking political stances on issues like apartheid, anti-immigrant discrimination and the Occupy movement, and the boycott of Israeli academic institutions was a continuation of this political activism, according to the ASA website.

The boycott was voted into effect by the organization’s national council, and under its guidelines, the ASA refuses to “enter into formal collaborations with Israeli academic institutions, or with scholars who are expressly serving as representatives or ambassadors of those institutions…or on behalf of the Israeli government,” according to a guide it released on the subject. In the guide, the organization called the move an “ethical stance, a form of material and symbolic action,” explaining that the boycott was enacted because academic institutions in Israel play a significant role in denying the rights of Palestinians living there.

McShane Denounces Boycott Members of the ASA (such as academic institutions) were not required to support the boycott, and many, including Fordham, officially denounced it. Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, issued a statement in December 2013 that said Fordham “stands resolutely in opposition to the call for the boycott of Israeli universities recently advocated by the members of the American Studies Association.”

He asserted, however, that members of Fordham’s faculty are free to have their own, perhaps different, opinions on the matter.

McShane’s announcement came at a time when many of Fordham’s faculty had been advocating both for and against the boycott since its introduction seven months earlier.

His move was welcomed by many, but some of the faculty, Ben-Atar included, wanted to take further steps against the boycott.

Professors Advocate More Action This group of professors (several of whom, including Ben-Atar, are Jewish) advocated terminating Fordham’s membership in the ASA. While over 250 universities formally opposed the boycott, far fewer withdrew from the ASA or did not renew their memberships — eight, to be exact, were confirmed as having withdrawn, according to a report by the website Legal Insurrection.

So in February 2014, a meeting was held at Lincoln Center to discuss severing ties with the ASA. The meeting minutes reported it was attended by a handful of faculty, and members of the American Studies executive committee from the English, history, languages, sociology and African American studies departments. This included Ben-Atar and the chair of the American Studies Department, Micki McGee, an associate professor of sociology and anthropology.

According to the official meeting minutes, which Ben-Atar shared with The Fordham Ram, Ben-Atar had advocated that the “American Studies Program at Fordham should make a stand: oppose to bigotry, distance itself from the ASA.” If it did not distance itself, the minutes say, BenAtar said he would “withdraw from the American Studies program, and fight the American Studies program at Fordham in every forum and in every way.”

Fordham’s American Studies executive committee ultimately decided not to sever ties with the ASA, and Ben-Atar later followed through on his pledge and distanced himself from the department. He was one of six members to do so. All of them, Ben-Atar said, are Jewish AMST Chair Files Report But, the comments Ben-Atar made about fighting the American Studies Program did not die so quickly.

Soon after the meeting, McGee filed a report against him with Fordham’s Institutional Equity Office, charging him with harassment, intimidation and a threat to disrupt or interfere in a university program or function.

She specifically cited his words at the meeting in her report, as well as emails he allegedly sent to her and others in the American Studies department that described her as “antiSemitic and ‘Jew-hating’ because [she] did not publicly object to the American Studies Association's boycott of Israeli academic institutions.”

This is according to McGee’s personal statement on the matter, which she supplied to The Ram. In an email interview, McGee al-

leged that the harassment went on for several months before the meeting, and she never pressed charges because she “did not want to expend additional energy on dealing with [Ben-Atar’s] behavior.”

“It was only when he threatened the program if we did not comply with his demand, and when it was clear that the Program Committee was committed to neutrality on this matter and thus would not be complying with his demand, that I moved forward on filing a complaint,” McGee said.

Ben-Atar maintains that he did not harass or intimidate anyone.

“What did I do? I used the word fight,” Ben-Atar said in an interview.

“As if there was any suggestion or any indication that this at all had to do with violence or anything…I was just going to speak up. And that’s what I did.”

Ben-Atar later conceded that he had spoken in the heat of the moment, but he could not understand why anyone would turn to legal action in that context.

“It was an emotional meeting, people were sharing ideas…but to bring legal action against somebody — I mean think about what it does to the atmosphere in the university,” he said.

“The idea that anything you say in a meeting could be put up against you as a disciplinary charge…its clearly a free speech issue. It’s my right to express my opinion.”

McGee, however, saw the incident differently.

“I do not find the claim that he spoke rashly or emotionally credible,” she said in an email. “And yes, I think he intended to do harm to the program, otherwise I would not have filed the report. And, I think he has done harm to the program through his conduct over the past ten months.”

“The issue here,” McGee said, “is not anti-Semitism. The issue is how does the university deal with a faculty member who is harassing one or more other faculty members in order to score a political win for his cause.”

English professor Glenn Hendler was also at the meeting, and said he agrees with McGee’s opinion on BenAtar’s actions. Hendler was a prior director of the American Studies program, and is still on its affiliated faculty. He has supported the ASA’s boycott. “[I] strongly objected to Prof. BenAtar's threat to ‘fight the American Studies program at Fordham,’” Hendler said again, in an email interview.

“Not to fight a policy decision, not to fight to change a vote, not to fight to elect different members of the executive committee, but to fight the program itself… I think that carrying one's political opinions to the point of threatening to damage a program is illegitimate.”

Investigation Launched In May, after McGee filed her complaint, Ben-Atar says he received an email from Coleman, who is also the university’s Title IX coordinator and in such responsible for investigating claims of discrimination, saying he had acted in an inappropriate and possibly discriminatory way.

The email did not say exactly why Ben-Atar was being investigated, or explain the nature of the charges against him, according to a copy of

the original email Ben-Atar provided to The Ram. There was onlya request for him to set up a meeting to speak with Coleman about the allegations against him. After he asked what had prompted the investigation, Coleman clarified that it was “about [his] behavior regarding American Studies” in a follow-up email. After this exchange, Ben-Atar said he called his lawyer.

What followed was what Ben-Atar called an “unpleasant summer.” Coleman apparently conducted her investigation soon after contacting him, but Ben-Atar said she still refused to reveal the exact accusations. He said he remained in the dark until Coleman released her investigation report on July 7, which placed the investigation within the grounds of “religious discrimination.”

Coleman Clears Charges Coleman cleared him of this charge, but also included in her report (a copy of which Ben-Atar provided) that he had “created an atmosphere of incivility,” had “initially refused to participate in the investigation without [an] attorney present,” and had failed to clarify what he meant by saying he would fight the program.

All of this, Coleman said in the report, constituted a “possible violation” of the University Code of Conduct.

Ben-Atar maintained that he cooperated fully with Coleman’s investigation, and had been willing to meet without his lawyer. He also argued that he did not violate the code, and said the investigation was conducted poorly.

Coleman declined to comment for this article, instead referring a request for comment to the university’s Senior Director of Communications News and Media Relations, Bob Howe.

Ben-Atar Goes Public Following the release of Coleman’s report, Ben-Atar said his first goal was to have the letter, which he called unjust, withdrawn. When it became apparent to him that this was unlikely to happen, he decided to take the problem public, and wrote in a letter to McShane that he “could not accept the unjust conclusion.”

He is pleased with the reception his story has gotten.

“I've been invited to speak about it and it has given great P.R. to the performance of my play Peace Warriors in Toronto next month,” BenAtar said. “What happened to me is emblematic of the new reality for Jews on American campuses, and I'm honored to be counted among those speaking up against the rising tide of the oldest hatred.”

The story has also been picked up by multiple websites and news organizations, including the New York Post, Legal Insurrection, National Review Online, Christian Science Monitor and several others.

McGee, for her part, is eager to leave the whole episode behind and allow the American Studies department to return to normal.

“I believe that at this time it is imperative that the American Studies Program, and myself as its director, be supported in our efforts to return our focus to activities that directly serve the needs of our students, who are at the center of our mission,” she said in her official statement.

Problems Delay Play FROM JACKSON, PAGE 1

and the rights had to be obtained

by MTI. There were also unforeseen problems.”

Sharkey referred to Fordham’s initial rejection of MTI’s contract for the rights to Bloody Bloody, which was based on a clause within the contract that required Fordham to involve its legal team. The contract had to be revised and resubmitted until agreed upon by both parties, which further delayed the process.

“Fordham has done plays with MTI before and had never encountered this clause before,” Demetriadis said. “Neither the university nor FET could have foreseen this issue.”

This is the second time that a Fordham production has encountered an issue with obtaining rights.

In fall 2013, the Mimes and Mummers had intended to produce Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, but the rights were revoked two weeks before opening night. The theater group pulled together a new show within that time frame.

“Of the 16 shows I have worked on at Fordham, I have only encountered problems with Bloody Bloody and The Mousetrap,” said Demetriadis, who is also the executive vice president of Mimes and Mummers.

“However, we are trying to make sure that this process is streamlined to prevent future incidents.”

Though Sharkey acknowledged that the situation was caused by several inevitable factors, he maintained that the cancellation disappointed a wide array of people involved in the production.

“Who this situation affects the most are the actors, crew, musicians and James,” Sharkey said.

“They put everything into this production, and to only have it taken away from them and put on hold two hours before opening night is very unfair, considering their hard work and talent.”

MaryKate Glenn, cast in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, said the experience of learning the show was cancelled was surreal.

“The cast was taken into the theatre half an hour before we were supposed to open and told we can't do the show,” Glenn said. “And for the first 15 minutes or so of the meeting it wasn't entirely clear that we would get to perform at all, and that was just heartbreaking.”

“I told the actors the issue we had procuring the rights, but we had a script and we said we would continue to rehearse until we received the official script,” said Demetriadis. “I assumed that we would have the script in a week or two, but I never anticipated that the process would take six weeks.”

“The show is stage ready, and it has been stage ready for almost a week,” said Sharkey. “We appreciate the patience of the cast, crew and audience, and look forward to seeing everyone at our opening night on Oct. 30.”

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson will run Oct. 30th through Nov. 1 in the Blackbox Theater, located in the back of Collins Auditorium.

NEWS

Page 6

UN Reps to Spread Word FROM U.N., PAGE 1

(MDGs) of the U.N. — a list of eight goals set by the U.N. to be achieved by 2015, including the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, and the reduction of child mortality.

“Of course not all of these goals have been reached, but at the U.N., we will evaluate how much progress we’ve made,” Morton explained. “[Our] role as Youth Representative(s) is to learn more about different aspects of the U.N. agenda each week, and share what [we’ve] learned with the greater Fordham community,” Carthy said.

One way Morton and Carthy do this is by posting about the briefings they attended in their blog, “The Fordham Impact Initiative,” at fordhamimpactinitiative.wordpress.com.

In addition, Morton explained that she and Carthy try to bring more students to connect with the U.N. by welcoming them to attend the weekly briefings. Students can apply for the youth representative position at the Fordham Impact Initiative beginning next semester.

Morton encouraged all Fordham students to consider getting involved in the Fordham Impact Initiative, saying, “My friends are so excited for me to be working at the U.N. but they don’t realize that because Fordham is affiliated with the U.N., they too [as Fordham students] have the opportunity to participate.”

Morton also felt that Fordham’s many community service clubs could network and collaborate to help implement some of the U.N.’s goals.

“After all,” she said, “we at Fordham are a privileged and proudly Jesuit community that can impact the world around us.”

October 22, 2014

Faculty, Administration Come to an Accord FROM HEALTHCARE, PAGE 1

The new package includes a near two-and-a-half percent salary increase and merit increments of $1,253 for half of the faculty members. The plan also ensures promotion increments, a minimum salary level, health insurance cost-sharing and an improved health insurance plan upon retirement.

In addition, the approved package will have a “Courseload Relief” proposal—passed by the Senate several years ago—that will be inserted into the university statutes with the new package.

According to an action-minutes report filed by the Faculty Senate in April, the relief proposal allows for a faculty member who is the primary caregiver of a newborn or newlyadopted child to be granted with a semester of relief from teaching and administrative committee work, or — depending on the faculty member’s normal yearly course load — a semester of “half-relief” from such duties.

Granted that a faculty member meet the requirements, the proposal guarantees full salary and benefits during the courseload relief period.

Following the accord, professors are beginning to speak out regarding the negotiations, which they say required considerable compromise on behalf of both parties.

“Debate was strong, but the Senate ultimately felt that although not perfect and with serious concerns about the impact on faculty salaries in the future, this was the best possible deal that we could get,” said Andrew Clark, Ph.D., associate professor of French and comparative literature, vice president of the Faculty Senate and chair of the faculty salary and benefit committee.

SAMUEL JOSEPH/THE RAM

Following months of negotiations, the Faculty Senate finally approved a salary and benefits package.

“We have enjoyed working collaboratively and transparently over the last month with the president and hope that this will be the new model for negotiations [in] the future,” he added.

Following the abrupt resignation of John Lordan, senior vice president and chief financial officer, who faculty members found to be negotiating in “bad faith,” Clark recently told The Fordham Observer that one of the most significant provisions in the package is increased transparency between faculty and administration.

Since Lordan’s departure, Frank Simio, vice president for finance, has served as acting chief financial officer, though the university says it is conducting a nationwide search to fill the position.

“The acting chief financial officer is going to meet with all the chairs and all the different division heads in order to respond to their questions, to explain, but really listen to and involve faculty more in the process of trying to understand the budget and

what the challenges are,” Clark told The Observer. “He has also offered to do that for the faculty at large in small groups.”

Members of the Faculty Senate expressed disappointment with Lordan, the administration’s chief negotiator, after his proposal to eliminate Cigna, the university’s health care plan at the time, without receiving Faculty Senate approval. Senate members also contend that Lordan suggested to increase faculty costsharing by 15 percent.

Following the move, the Senate quickly moved to censure Lordan, accusing him of violating the University of Conduct by disrupting a university-wide faculty meeting in September and limiting the free expression of ideas by members of the faculty “through intimidation.”

The Senate also accused Lordan of refusing a request by officers of the Senate to leave the meeting. With a majority vote, the Senate passed a resolution saying it had “no confidence” in Lordan.

Since his departure, members of the ad hoc committee have negotiated directly with Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, and Thomas Dunne, vice president for the Administration, along with Simio, who is temporarily filling Lordan’s role.

These negotiations, Clark said, “have been productive and much more amicable…rhetorically, there’s been a desire to try to ensure that everyone is acting in good faith, that everyone is speaking, at once, honestly and respectfully.”

Underscoring the constructive meetings in recent days that have helped achieve a long-awaited resolution, Forgey expressed gratitude in her email to members of the faculty, adding that the package “creates space for us to address the many other pressing concerns and needs of the faculty as a whole.”

As for the coming days, she said faculty members should anticipate more details so that they can begin to make plans for the year ahead.

Too busy studying to go grocery shopping?

WHAT’S MORE

IMPRESSIVE GRADUATES. THAN OUR STATS? OUR

At Quinnipiac University, our students are our main focus. It’s why we offer graduate degrees in fields ranging from business to health sciences. It’s also why Quinnipiac was ranked among the top master’s-level universities in the North by U.S. News & World Report and first in the northern region in U.S. News’ Up-and-Coming Schools category.

Education Elementary Secondary Educational Leadership Teacher Leadership* Communications Interactive Media* Journalism** Sports Journalism** Public Relations Law JD – Juris Doctor JD/MBA (Joint degree in law and business) LLM in Health Law

Health Sciences Biomedical Sciences Cardiovascular Perfusion Occupational Therapy (post-professional)* Pathologists’ Assistant Physician Assistant Radiologist Assistant Social Work Nursing Adult Gerontology or Family Nurse Practitioner Care of Populations Nurse Anesthesia Nursing Leadership* Medicine MD – Doctor of Medicine Anesthesiologist Assistant

Have your groceries delivered (Mom and Dad can even order for you)!

$

SAVE 10 ON ANY ORDER OVER $50

Use Promo Code:

FORDHAM

New customers automatically save an additional $10 off

Arts & Sciences Molecular & Cell Biology Business Business Analytics* MBA*** MBA-CFA® Track (Chartered Financial Analyst) MBA/HCM (Health Care Management)*** MBA-SCM (Supply Chain Management)*** JD/MBA (Joint degree in law and business) Organizational Leadership* * Program offered only online ** Specific program tracks offered either on campus or online *** Program offered on campus and online

To find out how Quinnipiac can help you succeed in your career, call 1-800-462-1944, e-mail graduate@quinnipiac.edu or visit www.quinnipiac.edu/gradprograms.

1-800-462-1944 | Hamden & North Haven, Connecticut

apfreshonline.com Offer valid 10/1/14-3/1/15. Limit 1 offer. Limited delivery area. Restrictions apply.

OPINION

October 22, 2014

Page 7

The Fordham Ram

Notre Dame Acknowledges Same-Sex Spouses

By ABIGAIL HEINEMEYER STAFF WRITER

Identity is important. Whether it is that of an individual or an entire institution, how one is labeled has an enormous impact.

Identity effects how others see a subject, as well as how the subject sees itself.

However, should we always allow a chosen identity to define who we are and the actions we take? Notre Dame’s recent decision might test this notion.

On Wednesday, Oct. 8th, the University of Notre Dame sent an email to all employees informing them of the changes that are underway for certain aspects of their benefits policies. Notre Dame will now grant benefits to the spouses of all employees in legal marriages.

While this might seem ordinary at face value, this amendment is important. As same-sex marriage is now legal in the state of Illinois, this means that the Catholic-affiliated school will be including spouses in same-sex marriages.

In the email, the university stated, “Notre Dame is a Catholic university and endorses a Catholic view of marriage. However, it will follow the relevant civil law and begin to implement this change immediately.”

Notre Dame’s decision is bound to have a variety of consequences — both good and bad.

Marissa Abbonizio, GSB ’18,

COURTESY OF FLICKR

The University of Notre Dame began extending benefits to the same-sex spouses its faculty and staff this year.

believes that this decision will make the school more attractive to prospective employees, because “it makes the school seem more accepting of all people.”

Abbonizio’s analysis might prove to be correct. In an interview done by the South Bend Tribune, Aaron Nichols, an openly gay staff member at Notre Dame, expressed his admiration for the school’s new policy. “Being an out staff member, I feel a lot more confident that my concerns are

being heard and responded to,” he said. With same-sex marriage becoming legal in an increasing number of states, various Catholic universities have been forced to make a decision on how to conform to the matter. Some schools, such as Holy Cross College, Gordon College and Bethel College — all private schools located in states where same-sex marriage is legal — have decided not to amend their previous policies. Others, however, like Saint

Mary’s College, have chosen to comply with the changing of their states’ laws regarding same-sex marriage.

Many Fordham students agree with Notre Dame’s decision to be more inclusive. Marc Alibrandi, FCRH ’15, applauds the move, “Notre Dame’s decision is awesome.”

Alibrandi does acknowledge, however, that other’s reactions will be mixed. “I think Notre Dame’s decision will probably

cause annoyance to the more conservative members in the Church, but when it comes down to it, the Church is comprised of people, and they should be treated as such,” he said, “I believe that the majority of Catholics will applaud Notre Dame’s decision here.”

Though many might be in favor of Notre Dame’s decision, it is logical to see how some might view this as the university going against its Catholic identity. While hints have been made of a possible shift in its stance, the Church has made it clear time and time again that it defines marriage to be between a man and a woman.

Loyalty to church teachings is, undoubtedly, an important characteristic for a Catholic university to maintain. But, we should also be mindful of the time we live in and the changing social climate.

As any history book will tell you time and time again, the Catholic church is by no means perfect.

That is not to say that it has not done its fair share of wonderful and benevolent things — but it is not error-free.

Perhaps we can conclude that the Church’s stance on same-sex marriage and homosexuality as a whole is simply a mistake in need of correcting. Because, while we can quote Bible verses condemning homosexuality, can we not find even more promoting accepAbigail Heinemeyer, FCRH ’17, is a communication and media studies major from Bethel, Connecticut.

CC’ing Your Way to Success

By CODY SIMS STAFF WRITER

MarketWatch.com reported that Wells Fargo was the most profitable bank in 2013. While that is great for Wells Fargo as a company and for the substantial bonuses at the executive level, not much has been done for the average worker. One 30-year-old customer service employee, Tyler Oates, went straight to the source in an attempt to change that.

Oates thought the best way to make a difference for the average Joe who worked for Wells Fargo was to email the CEO, John Stumpf. Oates boldly asked for a $10,000 raise, not only for him, but also for some 300,000 other Wells Fargo employees. While some may criticize his unprofessional way of going about things, if you do not ask, you will not receive.

One of the most obvious problems here is income inequality.

According to Bloomberg, Stumpf ’s income last year is approximately 470 times that of the average Wells Fargo employee, to a total of $19.3 million. Taking a look at it from a broader perspective, the total profit for Wells Fargo in 2013 was $20.9 billion. If Oates’s wishes were granted for all 300,000 employees, it would be about $3 billion, or about a

$4.71-an-hour raise for each employee. That would still leave the company with $17.9 billion in profits.

You may think that $17.9 billion is a lot. However, companies are known to want to maximize their profits. Chris Brandt, a Fordham communications professor who currently teaches a course on peace, justice and the media stated, “greed is built into the very nature of a corporation. It is legally bound to make a profit, and by extension, to keep increasing that profit. To keep growing.

So it reaches for more — always.

Has there ever been a corporation that said, “that’s enough, we don’t need to get any bigger?’”

So, how do you make this idea of equality into a reality when corporations are so fixed on maximizing profit?

Of course, it is not common to email the CEO of any company to get a raise. However, how could getting a raise of that magnitude for around 300,000 employees be possible otherwise? It is necessary for people to think outside of the box, like Oates, in order to achieve something that is often regarded as unattainable. Even though some may say it is the wrong way to ask, what makes it so wrong? Is it wrong because no one is courageous enough to do it? Is it wrong because middle

COURTESY OF FLICKR

Tyler Oates, a Wells Fargo employee, emailed his boss and copied the entire company asking for a pay raise for all.

class people are content with what is given to them rather than demanding what they deserve?

Katie Gaffney, FCRH ’16, said, “Do I think he is wrong for asking the CEO? No. Would I do the same thing? Probably not. I wouldn’t email the CEO of my company, not because it is not the right thing to do; rather, I would fear the downside too much of potentially losing my job. ”

Luckily enough, Oates’ manager claimed he was not in trouble and is still employed at Wells Fargo. Oates has also received many thank-you emails from fellow employees, but nothing yet from Stumpf.

All in all, fear is often what holds us back. People who are fearless should not be frowned upon, but should rather be congratulated. Whether you agree

or disagree with me about how Oates went about approaching the CEO of Wells Fargo, it is virtually impossible to not admire his desire to slightly change a corrupted system in his own unique way.

Cody Sims, FCRH ’15, is a communication and media studies major from Oakland, California.

Page 8

OPINION

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 over 10,000. The Fordham Ram office is located in the basement of the McGinley Center, room 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 Kelly Kultys Managing Editor Joseph Vitale Copy Chief Katie Nolan Assistant Copy Chief Robert Frerich Editorial Director Shannon Marcoux News Editor Katie Meyer Assistant News Editors Michael Cavanaugh Laura Sanicola Opinion Editor Richard Bordelon Assistant Opinion Editor Felicia Czochanski Culture Editor Nicole Horton Assistant Culture Editor Amanda Giglio Sports Editors Matt Rosenfeld Max Prinz Assistant Sports Editor Anthony Pucik Photo Editor Samuel Joseph Web Editor Tara Cangialosi Business Director Felicia Zhang Business Staff Jason Chan Juan Gabriel Garcia Faculty Advisor Dr. Beth Knobel Editorial Board Kelly Kultys Joseph Vitale Shannon Marcoux Katie Nolan Robert Frerich Richard Bordelon Felicia Czochanski For a full staff listing, visit FordhamRam.com

Opinions 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.

October 22, 2014

From the Desk | Matt Rosenfeld

Sports are a Safe(r) Bet Late Friday afternoon, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey signed a bill that would allow racetracks and casinos in the state to host sports gambling. Starting Sunday, Oct. 26, at Monmouth Park Racetrack, we could see a change in America when it comes to sports gambling.

That is a change I believe we should embrace.

Essentially, federal law prevents all states except Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana from offering sports wagering. Only Nevada is allowed to offer single-game sports wagers. However, New Jersey state officials found a loophole in federal law. The law technically does not ban sports betting itself.

Rather, it prevents states from setting up and sponsoring sports-betting regimens.

New Jersey lawmakers, who have been trying to legalize sports gambling in the state for almost four years, have said in their new bill that they will repeal the ban on sports gambling in racetracks and casinos. There is no federal law

against sports gambling in those establishments, and they will not be violating the already existing law. The gambling will not be run by the state, but rather by the companies that own such establishments.

Both professional and amateur sports have filed for an injunction to prevent the books from opening on Sunday at Monmouth Park.

The leagues, which include the NFL, MLB and NCAA to name a few, argue that what New Jersey is doing is “in clear and flagrant violation to the federal law.”

In order to get gambling to stop, the leagues must prove that sports betting would cause irreparable damage. Except, how could they prove the gambling would cause damage to their operations when the exact same thing occurs in Las Vegas and has for years now? Let’s be honest, leagues just want a piece of the pie, and if the gambling is not federally sanctioned, they will have to fight for their piece in court rather than have it handed to them.

I am from New Jersey, and I

know firsthand how badly the state and Atlantic City specifically could use sports gambling to become relevant again.

Governor Christie vetoed what was essentially the same bill earlier in the year, saying he would not support a bill that tries to circumvent a federal law. His turnaround on the issue occurred when he realized just how much sports gambling would help his state; casinos and hotels are closing due to lack of customers.

Giving New Jersey the ability to offer sports gambling, even through a loophole in a federal law, will help revive Atlantic City and make it a location to be. People will visit the Garden State for major sporting events like the Super Bowl and the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

I am hopeful that the leagues fail in their appeal and sports gambling is here to stay in New Jersey.

If nothing else, it will be a good experiment in whether or not it is something we should have legally all around America, or just in se-

lect cities. It is legal and successful in Europe; it is legal and successful in Las Vegas, so why can’t it work in New Jersey?

Here’s a New Jersey native hoping it does. Not only do I think it’s good for my home state, but as a sports fan, I know there’s no better way to find a rooting interest in an otherwise meaningless game than placing some money on it.

If the leagues fail and sports betting remains legal in New Jersey, which I think it will, not only will it be great for the state in general, but said state will also be the location of my 22nd birthday. Who’s coming?

Editorial | Student Life

Campus Smoking Ban Would Be Unrealistic Members of USG are currently in the early stages of drafting an initiative to revise the smoking policy on campus. The initiative proposes designating smoking zones, outside of which smoking would be banned. It would also further educate the student population about the dangers of smoking and provide additional resources for students looking to kick the habit.

There are components of this initiative that we support, and some that we feel should be reconsidered. First and foremost, the possibility of designating smoking areas for students would accomplish little. The goal of these designated zones are ultimately to limit secondhand smoke exposure to non-smokers and to reduce cigarettes consumption by smokers. Yet, while genuine, we believe that setting up a select number of designated smoking areas may have additional effects that may not be worth the move.

There are already a number of

rules in place keeping students from smoking. The university’s current policy dictates that students may not smoke in any university buildings nor immediately outside them (signs posted near the doors dictate how from away from the building smokers must stand). As the rules stand, smoke should not permeate your bedroom or the lobby of your building. The university, in line with New York State law, also mandates that smoking is prohibited in all buildings and offices, and that it is the responsibility of all faculty, staff and students to observe and enforce the non-smoking policy by way of common courtesy and consideration.

The proposed designated smoking areas would further stigmatize smoking and make smoking students, who often come from cultures in which smoking is far less taboo than in American culture, feel less than welcome.

Forcing students into confined zones would enforce the idea that they are not welcome on the same

pathways as other students.

Furthermore, the decision to smoke is an independent choice.

College-age students should be able to make their own educated decisions about their health.

Given this, we appreciate the educational component of the proposal, but we do not think that students who make the adult decision to smoke should have their legal right to smoke infringed upon further than under the current policy. Fordham is not a nanny-state, and we should not try to make it into a “bubble” that is completely different from the real world. Though restricting smoking may make Fordham’s campus more closely resemble other campuses that have gone smoke-free, it will just be more of a departure from the real world.

There are parts of the initiative that are commendable, such as a campaign that would sponsor programs working with Office of Substance Abuse Prevention and Student Support (OSAPSS) and the health center to encourage

students to quit smoking and give them the resources and help they would need to do so. Inviting motivational speakers and hanging posters would be an effective way of creating awareness of the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke.

Another commendable part of the initiative is a student survey that will soon be distributed.

While we have our viewpoint, we believe that student input is essential in moving forward with the initiative.

While the initiative has not been passed, a policy such as a smoking ban will affect many students and will have ripple effects throughout the campus community. Taking in comments and opinions before moving forward are essential parts of the decision making process.

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.

Disagree with us?

Write a Letter to the Editor!

E-mail letters to fordhamletters@gmail.com

OPINION

October 22, 2014

Page 9

Marcelle Meyer

Canton Winer

Changing Our Vocabulary

Omit Fordham’s Language Req

Shamil Tarpischev, the host of a Russian nighttime television show, is in a fair amount of trouble with the World Tennis Association for a joke he made on his show. In discussing one of Maria Sharapova’s matches at the Olympics, he referred to Venus and Serena Williams as “the Williams brothers.”

While this radio comment is an undeniably offensive and sexist attack on two very skilled female tennis players, I am more concerned by the fact that we, as a society, even understand this joke and that our modern, everyday vocabulary allows us to make sense of it.

Many people today who advocate for women’s rights solely focus on how women can do everything that men can do.

They can be strong — like men; they can be successful — like men; they can defy the standards that have historically been placed on women and be, well, like men. They focus on the gender dichotomy.

The actions are all there, but it is the vocabulary that we use to describe the actions that is problematic. We as a society need to stop describing accomplishments by females in terms of how they are defying traditional gender stereotypes and doing things that “women don’t normally do.” Using this language only perpetuates ideas about how to define a “normal woman” and “normal man.” The language reinforces the stereotype. The problem in how feminism is talked about is not that people say women cannot do things; it is that people say women can do things that men can do.

If “strong” was not under the category of “manly,” and if “manly” was a word with no meaning in today’s society, then that joke would not even make sense to anyone.

It is important to recognize women and men for their accomplishments. It is important to tell young girls and boys that they can do anything that they aspire to do. However, if we want the next generation to understand that they can exist outside of historical definitions of “woman” and “man,” then we need to stop using these definitions in the way we talk today.

The fastest recorded tennis serve by a woman is 131 miles per hour by German tennis player Sabine Lisicki.

That is not amazing because it is something that women are not expected to do; it is amazing because 131 miles per hour is an incredible speed at which to serve a tennis ball.

So, when we tell women that it is wonderful when they do well in sports or go to top universities or hold public office, we should not tell them that it is wonderful because they are defying the female norm or gender stereotypes. It is wonderful because they are doing great things, no matter their gender.

If Fordham’s foreign language requirement worked, I would be able to write this column in Spanish.

As it is, I can barely ask where the bathroom is in Spanish, much less write a coherent sentence.

I completely understand the motivation behind a language requirement — and I’m infinitely jealous of my polyglot friends — but let’s be real: Fordham’s foreign language requirement is a waste of time.

The average Fordham student spends around 150 hours in foreign language classes before being dubbed “proficient.” That’s 150 hours that could have been spent doing something actually productive.

The opportunity cost of the language requirement is enormous. If you take all four language courses (assuming a typical course-load of five courses per semester your freshman and sophomore years and four courses per semester your junior and senior years,) then fully 11 percent of your course-load was spent on foreign language classes.

Spending 11 percent of courses on material that most students will never master and few will continue to use simply doesn’t make sense. Those courses could instead be spent on another philosophy, English, cultural studies or servicelearning class. Departments could begin asking students to take one more class to fulfill their major requirements, making students far more adept in their academic home fields.

Furthermore, the foreign language requirement degrades the quality of the foreign language departments by forcing them to divert the vast majority of their resources to students fulfilling Fordham’s core instead of to students who actually choose to major or minor in a foreign language.

Students majoring or minoring in French or Spanish, for example, are extremely limited in the advanced-level courses they can take, since the resources of the department are swallowed up by Fordham’s language requirement.

In fairness, I understand the argument that learning a second language expands the way you think.

But, if you aren’t actually learning a second language, then your mind isn’t expanding. I loved my Spanish professors, but Spanish class was the most mind-numbing — not mind-expanding — two and a half hours of my week every semester of my freshman and sophomore years.

At around eight years old, children’s language acquisition skills are significantly degraded. By the time most people are 16, they will never be able to fully acquire a second language. The human mind is not suited to learning a new language after 18 years of wear and tear.

College is simply too late to begin learning a new language — and the classroom is hardly the best place for language acquisition anyway. Let’s stop kidding ourselves and cut the foreign language requirement.

COURTESY OF FLICKR

Subways are often the hub of rude behavior, where more than 8.6 million patrons often hassle others with bad manners.

Your Bag Does Not Need a Seat

By MOLLY SHILO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

We have all experienced uncomfortable and strange experiences on public transportation, ranging from the benign to the disturbing. We can often deal with standing up on a crowded subway or struggling to squeeze into an already over-packed car. The real issues result from the people with whom we travel.

Oftentimes, these strange but humorous encounters become anecdotes to share with friends. With the prevalence of social media, these stories are now being spread globally, and form a network of commiseration through the use of hashtags.

A simple search using #MTA reveals the many issues that riders experience daily on New York public transportation.

One tweet, for example, aptly describes the problem of loud music on subways: “@laurenekelly: What has to happen to you to think you can play videos on a crowded subway without headphones? #astoria #mta.”

There are many other complaints about simple etiquette, like passengers who take up more than one seat or have loud cell phone conversations.

Another user makes note of an entirely different problem, “@kpbailis: Dude, wrapping your arm around the subway pole like it’s your boyfriend means no one else can use it #mta #polehog.”

To remedy the complaints, quite a few transportation systems, particularly the Southeastern Pennsylvania

Transportation Authority (SEPTA), have implemented campaigns to combat rude passenger behavior. In SEPTA’s statement concerning the new implementation, officials remarked, “This campaign intentionally takes an edgier tone — etiquette with a kick — using strong visuals and a minimum of words. We also intentionally did not include our name or logo on decals and posters because we want customers to think more about the message and less about who is delivering it.”

This attitude has been praised by New Jersey transit officials, who are considering introducing a strategy of their own. The London Underground and Metro in Paris have already adopted a similar system.

Other means of approaching the issue can be seen through the Port Authority Transportation Corporation (PATCO). PATCO chose to produce a short video addressing what it considers the four main problem behaviors: taking up two seats, loud phone conversations, blocking the entrance to the train and loud music. The question that thus arises is if the MTA will follow suit.

With an average weekday ridership of more than 8.6 million people, the MTA is perhaps the best system to effectuate an etiquette campaign.

With such overwhelming numbers of people streaming in and out of subways, buses and trains, it seems only natural that the MTA should provide reminders to these passengers about how to properly conduct themselves.

Students at Fordham who are frequent users of the subway, bus and

Metro North railroad have mixed feelings about enacting a similar campaign. Danielle Catinella, FCRH ’15, said, “I like the idea but I don’t think they should be telling people what to do.”

Some could argue, and with good reason, that the presence of posters chastising behaviors like hogging seats, talking loudly on the phone or blasting music does not necessarily mean these behaviors will change. However, SEPTA has found a positive response to their initiative.

Though SEPTA has a considerably lower ridership, with around 36 million people for the whole year, the issues and behavior it is seeking to address are the same.

The presence of these reminders to be courteous toward other passengers can cause no further harm or damage to the situation. In fact, their presence could lead to change. Because of the current lack of phone service for most public transportation systems, passengers are more apt to read advertisements or posters hanging in subway cars or posted by stations. Over time, that exposure could allow the message to sink in.

In a society that largely ignores proper manners and courteous behavior, these etiquette campaigns could be the push we need to finally acknowledge the existence of the millions of people traveling along with us.

Molly Shilo, FCRH ’17, is a communication and media studies and English double major from Norwood, Massachusetts.

IMPROVE YOUR CAREER PROSPECTS!

1 YEAR PROGRAM IN NYC

EXECUTIVE MS IN HEALTH SYSTEMS BENEFITS OF THIS WEEKEND PROGRAM INCLUDE: • Increased competitive advantage for leadership roles in transforming healthcare delivery systems • Ability to identify and solve efficiency problems in healthcare systems using systems engineering techniques, data analytics, and process improvement • Connection with experienced faculty and professionals with proven track records in the field

APPLY NOW: call 607-777-6511 or e-mail hornbeck@binghamton.edu

binghamton.edu/emshs-nyc

Business

Page 10

October 22, 2014

The Fordham Ram Market Deflation Concerns

By RYAN CHAND BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT

COURTESY OF FLICKR

The World Trade Organization released its report on Oct. 20 concerning the state of global trade and economies.

World Trade Report Released

By AKASH BHATIA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The World Trade Organization (WTO) works with participating nations to limit the usage of tariffs and quotas in order to promote fair trade. All developed countries are a part of this organization and most developing countries are as well.

Every year, the WTO releases a world trade report that reflects its outlook on the future of global trade. Because trade is such a large part of the economy (think net exports as one of the four main components of gross domestic product), its report is often a strong indicator of the health of the global economy. Its annual report for 2014 was released Monday, Oct. 20 in Geneva. Here are some insights one can glean from the report; consider this a predictor of not just the trade market, but also the economy.

As one can imagine, the financial crisis of 2008 severely dampened trade worldwide. Unfortunately, trading growth has not rebounded from the global recession. The WTO has stated that this negatively impacts the efficient allocation of resources, which is one of the key questions of macroeconomics. For example, the European Union is responsible for roughly one-third of the world’s trade. However, the E.U.’s economy has not been faring as well as it has in recent years, as unemployment is still very high.

Since the E.U. is primarily concerned with keeping domestic industries flourishing, imports will be slowed down until jobs are created

By RYAN CHAND BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT

On Monday, Oct. 12, two companies officially named new CEO’s.

Fidelity Investments, the second largest American mutual fund company behind Vanguard Group, named Abigail Johnson as the company’s new CEO. Johnson must help the company recover from huge loses during the financial crisis and address investor concerns, as customers continue to pull large amounts of money out of the company.

J.C. Penney appointed Marvin Ellison, current executive VP of Home Depot, as CEO. This time

there. With the exception of trade in Germany, the entire continent’s trade has remained stagnant.

U.S. trade is doing well at this point, despite remaining in the recovery stage of the economic cycle.

While the U.S. economy is turning back around, the E.U. economy has been plummeting. The lower unemployment figures are contributing to the higher exchanges of goods and services.

Moreover, the report highlights the importance of emerging markets in helping trade return to prerecession levels. These markets include several developing nations, such as India, Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia. The WTO predicts that these nations will continue to increase trade in the near future. The report acknowledges that risks exist as they do with any developing nation. Developing nations, such as those in the Middle East, may potentially see militia fighting civil unrest. State violence could lead to higher prices for valuable commodities such as oil that would greatly disrupt world trade.

The report also revealed the changing complexion of China’s economy. In 2013, the report revealed that China had become the largest merchandise trader. It also passed Germany to become the second-largest importer of commercial services. This new edition of the report demonstrates that China is no longer necessarily the manufacturing giant that relies heavily on the exportation of goods, indicating that the Chinese economy is leaning more toward

consumerism. Also, the U.S. trade deficit with China is narrowing. The Chinese government is letting its currency, the yuan, fluctuate more.

The Chinese previously kept the yuan fixed, artificially setting the exchange rate low to make their goods more attractive when they sold them to other countries. Stopping this process may lead to lower exports for China. This an intentional and well-thought-out economic shift that reflects the drastic change in their economy.

The report also warns that even before the Ukrainian crisis, Russia’s economy had been weakening significantly. According to the report Russia’s diminishing economy and currency has only been getting worse. Russian imports declined rapidly and the possibility exists that their energy exports will begin to slow down as well. The sanctions from various Western nations that played an instrumental role in damaging the Russian economy may be looked upon regretfully in the future.

Most significantly, while the American economy appears to be recovering, other major players are not doing very well and China is rapidly catching up to challenge the U.S. as the world’s premier economic superpower. It means it may be a good time to start investing in companies that rely on selling products to international markets. It also means we should always stay aware of the political and economic events surrounding us, because we never know what signs in the world we could be missing.

around, JCP is playing it smart by appointing someone who has exposure to its industry. Ellison is tasked with bringing the company back to profitability and increasing revenue amongst weak sales in recent years.

JP Morgan Chase & Co. was the focus in the financial sector, as the bank reported Q3 earnings per share of $1.36, worse than analyst

estimates of $1.38. JPM’s revenue for the quarter was $25.2 billion beating analyst’s estimates of $23.96 billion. Most notably from the report was a net income of $5.6 billion, recovering form a loss of $380 million during Q3 of 2013.

The Iliad Group, a French Telecom company, announced on Monday that it will cease its attempt to

In the past few weeks, global markets have experienced volatile trading as economies throughout the world has turned gloomy once again.

Both domestic and international markets are experiencing a retreating stock market and plummeting commodity prices as investors keep savings in safer investments such as treasury bonds. These financial woes are very concerning to investors. Investors are worried about deflationary dip in Europe that can bring the economy back into a recession.

A sluggish global economy and slow global growth in established and emerging market economies concern investors about future economic potential. Plummeting commodity prices have also triggered large selloffs.

One of the major concerns regarding today’s markets is centered on deflationary concern. The European Union’s inflation rate is hovering at 0.3 percent, which is dangerously low for the region. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has tried to combat this dangerously low inflation by cutting key interest rates last summer. The economy has yet to pick up, and the ECB is currently attempting to initiate an asset buyback program, similar to that of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing. Slow economic growth in the E.U. coupled with geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East can tip the economy into a deflationary state, thus negatively impacting global markets.

This fear is present among large in-

stitutional investors, who are moving money to safer financial instruments.

One of the biggest reasons for the recent market selloff is slowing global growth. The International Monetary Fund recently cut its global growth forecast down from 3.7 percent to 3.3 percent. Several European Union countries are experiencing very slow economic growth. The Greek economy alone is down nearly 24 percent year to date. For the past few years, Germany has been the sole exception to Europe’s economic weakness, but the flagging economy has investors deeply worried. The German government has slashed its official growth forecasts down from 1.8 percent to 1.2 percent for 2014. China’s economy is also deeply in debt and experiencing weak growth. While Chinese debt is off investors’ radar, one should note that the last several recessions were proceeded by a high level of borrowing and leverage in the markets.

Finally, a major factor for the recent selloff is tanking commodity prices. Plummeting oil prices caused by overproduction has sent the price of Crude Brent Oil, the global benchmark indicator for oil price, from a high of over $100 per barrel in August to $86.16 per barrel. While oil has captured the majority of attention, food prices have dropped 15.5 percent over the last six months, while industrial materials, such as heavy machinery, have dropped 3.4 percent. While these drops are good for Western consuming countries, they are a negative indicator for countries that have economies centered on the production of these goods.

DREW DIPANE/THE RAM

Investors are concerned over the slow growing markets and low E.U. deflation.

acquire T-Mobile US. The company has given several attempts to acquire T-Mobile; however, the company’s board refused to accept the offer.

Iliad had offered $15 billion for TMobile, which was originally seen as a bold move by billionaire founder Xavier Niel. Niel has expressed large interest in the U.S. mobile market and believes he can increase T-Mo-

Index

Monday Open

Friday Close

% Change

DJIA NASDAQ S&P 500 Russell 2000

16,544.10 4,276.24 1,906.13 1,053.32

16,380.41 4,258.44 1,886.76 16,544.10

-0.99% -0.42% -1.02% -2.75%

Year to Date Change -1.18% -1.96% -2.08% -6.99%

bile’s revenue and profitability. The French Telecom giant is likely to search for another acquisition outside of France.

Pharmaceutical research and development firm, AbbVie, rescinded its $54 billion offer to acquire Dublin based biopharmaceutical company Shire. One of the main factors for AbbVie to acquire Shire was due to tax savings. The U.S. Treasury’s recent mandate against tax inversions makes such deals less profitable and less enticing to pursue.

AbbVie will likely pay Shire a $1.6 billion breakup fee. Shares of Shire fell 30 percent on Wednesday while shares of AbbVie rose amid the news.

October 22, 2014

CULTURE

Page 11

The Fordham Ram

Tea in the City: a Comprehensive Look at New York Tea Options

By CLAIRE KIM STAFF WRITER

We all know how much we love pumpkin spice lattes, but I am here to tell everyone that there are more seasonal flavors than the spiced orange gourd. In search of other drinks that give me that fall feeling, I selected the following cafes speckled throughout New York. Hopefully one of these places will catch your eye and help you branch out from the popular pumpkin spice latte. That warm and fuzzy feeling that you associate with sweaters and foliage can be found right in these locations.

12 Corners Lower East Side Let’s start with a transition drink, just to dip your toes in the water. 12 Corners, a smaller coffee and tea shop in Chinatown, offers a year-round almond pumpkin latte. It’s warm, nutty, frothy and served in an extra-large ceramic mug that warms your chilled fingers in seconds. It is a step away from pumpkin spice, but still leaves the customer with a lovely pumpkin aroma. The latte art that is featured on all of its signature drinks is a cute addition to one’s Instagram page, as well as a pickme-up on a chilly October day.

flavors, and they will have you on your way to finding the tea-love of your life.

Their seasonal, cinnamon spice tea is just what you need as the weather begins to change. This drink is like a cinnamon roll plus a Red Hot candy. Add some milk and honey, snuggle up in a big ottoman and rest in the steam that rises from your cup. It is truly blissful.

Plus, the cozy little cafe offers free WiFi and tons of outlet plugs, so make the move and jump into autumn with a nice almond pumpkin latte at 12 Corners.

Culture Tea Bar Harlem Tucked away in Harlem, Culture Tea Bar is a sweet treat from the tea gods. The delicate smells of black, green, oolong and herbal loose leaf teas fill your nostrils as you walk in the door. The sweet candy apple green tea is a fun tea that tastes like the halloweens of your childhood. Sweet apple and rich green tea are mixed to create a one-of-a-kind liquid dessert. This tea shop offers cold options for all their drinks and even gives the customer the option to add boba (tapioca balls) to their drinks. A strange turn from the normal tea experience, the tapioca adds a little fun and spunk to a normal tea-tasting experience.

Presstea West Village The tea pick at PressTea near Greenwich Village does not scream “autumn,” but it is the most delicious drink on their menu, so that should be good

DAVE PINTER/ FLICKR

Harney and Sons Soho features a large, unique variety of specialty teas.

enough. The mango rooibos tea served hot or cold is the perfect mix of fruity, sweet and refreshing flavors. As each cup of tea is brewed individually via their espresso machine, the flavors are hard to beat. Rich notes of mango hit the sides of your tongue as the rooibos nestles into the back of your mouth. It is truly a magical experience that leaves you addicted to the unlikely flavor pairing.

From the trendy chalkboard easel outside, to the comfy armchairs inside, the cafe itself is a miniature dream living room: straight out of the cozy home sec-

Our Town: a Contemplative, Relatable Production

By AMANDA GIGLIO ASSISTANT CULTURE EDITOR

Theatrical Outreach Program’s production of Our Town gave me more to contemplate than my midterms. Based on Thornton Wilder’s 1938 play, Our Town tells the story of the lives and deaths of the average citizens of a fictional town in New Hampshire called Grover’s Corners.

The interesting part of the show is how it is set up, since TOP strove to make the show as similar to the original as possible. Using Wilder’s metatheatrical style, the play’s narrator, Jane Skapek, FCRH ’16, played the stage manager. In “Our Town” the stage manager is completely aware of her relationship with the audience. She breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience directly. She openly thanks the characters for showing the audience their lives and skips ahead to important parts in the lives of the two main families, the Webbs and the Gibbs. This interaction was a little confusing at first, but its uniqueness added to the show.

The play is separated into three acts, each being a significant section of every life. It begins with the “Daily Life” of the town in 1901 and transitions to “Love and Marriage” three years later, with the wedding of Emily Webbs and George Gibbs. The third act takes a turn for the strange with “Death and Dying.” This act takes place nine years after Act Two, introducing those who have died since then in the small town’s cemetery

tion of pinterest. It is a must-stop for tea lovers.

Harney and Sons Soho Soho Now for the big leagues. It is time to face a shop that specializes in the art of tea. When you walk into Harney and Sons Soho, you will realize that these people are serious about their tea knowledge. At first, you may be intimidated by the immense wall of different loose leaf teas, but worry not! The staff, as well as being very knowledgeable about all things tea, are extremely friendly.

Name a couple of your favorite

Culture Shock | Natalie Sturgeon

Social Media: The Key to Leading a Double Life

COURTESY OF MOLLY CARNEY

True to its name , “Love and Marriage” is the prevailing theme of Act Two .

and beautifully portraying how every minute of life should be valued. In line with the original set, the Collins Auditorium stage was sparsely designed. The only sets used were two tables and a handful of chairs to signify the two households. Also, the actors pantomimed many actions instead of having props.

“The bare set drew the attention toward the actors, who were incredible,” said Molly Crawford, FCRH ’17. “I thought the play was very touching and relatable.”

Mary Kate O’Toole, FCRH ’17, and Liam Paris, FCRH ’17, played the main protagonists, as the play followed their characters, Emily Webb and George Gibbs, respectively, through their relationship. Stealing the show with her portrayal of Mrs. Gibbs, Elisabeth Finn, FCRH ’17, completely changed character from life into

death, showing the stark transition that takes place. Even with the seriousness and thought behind most scenes, there is room for some comic relief through the character of Mr. Webb, played

by Max Beyer, FCRH ’16. His awkward remarks and demeanor made the audience laugh, signifying the humor that can come with life. Student directors Emily Hill, FCRH ’16, and Rachel Sternlicht, FCRH ’17, did a wonderful job representing the beauty and heartfelt work Our Town is, just as the actors on stage passionately portrayed their characters.

TOP’s production showcases the easily relatable importance of appreciating every small moment of life. The stress of midterms may have taken my mind off the importance of living life to the fullest, but this show gave me motivation to continue studying.

Physical Graffitea East Village Physical Graffitea is my personal favorite shop that I visited on this list. I fell in love with both the pun in the name and the delicious tea that this little hole in the wall had to offer. My iced matcha green tea latte was the loveliest surprise that I could have encountered. This tea/latte mix is made on the spot with freshly ground matcha and flavored with soy milk and honey. The consistency is that of a light milkshake while the flavor is of so much more. A taste of this tea really shows the customer the true flavors of a good green tea without overpowering the delicate frothiness of a latte. This strange but successful beverage is a must-try this fall.

SAMUEL JOSEPH/ THE RAM

Warnings are posted everywhere about the dangers of social media.

We are not to put anything on our social media profiles that we would not be okay with everyone seeing.

After all, it is the Internet. College counselors everywhere tell students to monitor their profiles and make sure that they do not post anything that would display them in a bad light. Once in college, students are supposed to keep their profiles clean and delete anything that may deter future employers. With websites and phone applications such as LinkedIn, the hiring process is completely synonymous with social media.

But, what is the point of putting such a weight on social media profiles? Everyone who has a profile chooses a picture that they look the best in to display. People post pictures of places they go and things that they do just to give off a certain impression, not because they

actually want to share that they have done these things. Social media profiles are by no means an indication of what a person can do or of the potential he or she has. Profiles are completely falsified to make the person something that he or she is not.

All of this is common knowledge, seeing as we all have profiles of our own. For an accurate and personal hiring process, the social media profile of a candidate should not be a deciding factor.

In general, social media has too much weight in our society today.

You are hard-pressed to find people who do things for the fun of it anymore — most things are done to get an Instagram picture or to tweet about it.

Though highly superficial, social media can have benefits. Social media is a way to get the word out for certain causes or to raise awareness about current events. There is no way to completely get rid of the dominating presence of Facebook and Instagram, but with a concerted effort we can get rid of the emphasis put on apps such as these in everyday life.

There is no reason why social media should be a part of hiring or the college search, because profiles are so edited there is no way to pull any actual information from them. Socially, these things are applicable and can be fun to use, but they should not be censored for the job market or for job opportunities. Social media should remain just that: social.

CULTURE

Page 12

October 22, 2014

Broadcasting Our Bodies: The Apple Watch Changes Technology

By MICHAEL CHARBONEAU CONTRIBUTING WRITER

I swear I felt it. Something buzzed in my pocket, and I instinctively reached for my phone. However, the screen was blank: no text, no missed call and not even a Facebook notification. Phantom limb syndrome happens in amputees, who sense their lost limb as if it were still present. Today, people experience phantom phone syndrome: our phones and other devices have become our phantom fifth limbs. With its new watch, however, Apple is on the verge of forever blurring the line between our physical bodies and the technological limbs that have become attached to us.

Compared to our four flesh-andblood appendages, the Apple Watch is tiny, sleek and startlingly powerful.

According to Apple’s website, users can receive calls, send texts, handle emails and even make payments all from their wrists. The watch can distinguish between a tap and a more forceful touch on the screen, and it communicates with its user through audio responses and vibrations. It tracks the user’s heartbeat and allows him or her to send a “tap” to

COURTESY OF LIONEL CIRONNEAU

Madeleine Stowne, Joshua Bowman and Emily VanCamp star in ABC’s “Revenge.”

SAMUEL JOSEPH/THE RAM

With the Apple Watch, technology takes over the connection between people.

another person with a watch — essentially a gentle nudge on the wrist.

For a device made of metal and glass, Apple’s latest invention maintains a very close relationship with flesh.

As TIME’s Nicholas Carr wrote in

Review | Movie

Theory of Everything

an article about the product, “It puts our whole bodies online.”

Carr’s statement is no exaggeration. Although still in its infancy, wearable technology like the Apple Watch will profoundly alter the way we communicate with each other.

Very soon, we will begin broadcasting our bodies rather than just our thoughts. Carr stated that Apple’s entrance into wearable technology marks a turning point for a medium that has seen little popularity outside of exercise apps, such as Nike+

and its accompanying Fuel Band.

Judging from the positive reviews expressed thus far, he wrote that the watch “will be the first wearable to overcome the resistance that has dogged the category.”

The Apple Watch marks the path through which we will shift to broadcasting our bodies wholesale.

Devices like the watch could have important medical applications.

Doctors could use wearables to track a patient’s recovery after surgery and receive notifications if his or her condition worsens. Carr stated that some major healthcare systems have already seen “some success” in using exercise tracking apps in their regimens. The possibilities stretch beyond just hospitals, however. People with aging parents might gain peace of mind knowing they can be alerted if an elderly loved one falls ill.

Wearable tech’s union with our bodies will also give us unprecedented knowledge about ourselves. The calories we consume, the amount of sleep we get and other bodily minute would suddenly become quantifiable and available right at our wrists. Knowing this information and sharing it with others creates a whole new way to interact and represent ourselves through media. Imagine not only reading your friends’ Facebook statuses and looking at their pictures, but also knowing how much they have had to eat that day.

Not everyone shares this view of the future. Dr. Paul Levinson, a professor in Fordham’s department of communication and media stud-

ies and an author of several books on media and technology, sees the Apple Watch as a relatively minor innovation.

“I don’t think that the Apple Watch is that much of a big step ahead of what the iPhone itself does,” he said.

Calling the iPhone “revolutionary,” he sees the watch as merely a way of increasing the convenience of using a smartphone.

“Wearable tech will just keep us even more connected than we are now,” he said, “and it will allow us to communicate faster.”

All technologies have unexpected effects, and devices like the Apple Watch are about much more than simply talking or texting. Even Levinson admits that wearable technology holds a powerful appeal, and he envisions a day in which wearable tech becomes “almost a permanent part of us.”

The effects of the Apple Watch and similar wearable technologies will be immense. Social media outlets such as Snapchat have already created completely new ways of communicating with others, and wearable devices are poised to do the same. In the future, communication will incorporate our bodies in ways that pictures and paragraphs cannot. The Apple Watch is now a blank canvas, but app developers will soon find new and innovative ways to take advantage of its features. When they do, our relationships with technology and with other people will never be the same.

Editor’s Pick | Spoken Word

Poetry Community Welcomes All

By AMANDA GIGLIO ASSISTANT CULTURE EDITOR ANDY KROPA/AP

By NATALIE STURGEON COLUMNIST

Marriage is hard work. Marriage requires constant effort every day to maintain it. Imagine how much effort this relationship becomes when Motor Neuron Disease (M.N.D) ravages your spouse’s nervous system. Stephen and Jane Hawking embarked on the rocky path of a marriage with the added burden of dealing with MND. In the upcoming movie, The Theory of Everything, Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones play Stephen and Jane Hawking. This heart-wrenchingly real love story is about their unconventional marriage and how it develops as they find out more about Stephen’s neurodegenerative disease.

Taking on the part of Stephen Hawking was a huge task for actor Eddie Redmayne. At The Theory of Everything College Press Conference at the Waldorf Towers, Saturday, Oct. 18, Redmayne commented, “My script called for an actor who could show the audience a man evolving over 25 years, going from being fully functional to having the use of only a few muscles — mainly one hand and some limited facial movement — and having his voice be superseded by a machine’s.” As Redmayne plays Stephen in the time of his life when he no longer has a voice, it seems in-

credible that Stephen and Jane could communicate at all with each other.

Redmayne commented, “The power of word becomes so huge.”

Felicity Jones had a lot of studying to do her for her part as Jane Hawking, as well. Jones read Jane Hawking’s autobiography, Traveling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, to prepare for the role and Jane Hawking herself also coached her on several occasions.

Jones commented on the role saying, “What felt like a challenge was not being Eddie and Felicity — was becoming Jane and Stephen.” Jones and Redmayne both agree that these roles were some of the most challenging for them to play. The sparks of romance at the beginning of the movie are eclipsed by Stephen’s diagnosis, and by Jane’s efforts to hold onto what they once had. James Marsh, director of the film, shared with the conference his insight into the story of the Hawking family. Marsh explains, “scenes of eating — of sharing meals — would tell you what is really going on with the characters.”

The meal scenes progress from playful, blooming love to despair when Stephen can no longer feed himself.

This complex, uplifting, inspiring and heartbreaking story of Stephen and Jane Hawking is one for the ages.

It teaches us that when life hands us extenuating circumstances, it is okay to be dependent on the one you love most.

The spoken word is something that we take for granted. We talk every day, spewing random thoughts about our day, how much work we have to do and questioning what I should write my article on. But, sometimes words are arranged in a certain order and spoken aloud, with just the right tone of voice, and they become a new form of art. Spoken word poetry has been around for centuries, but it has only become popular recently. Poetry slams and spoken word nights have been popping up all over the city, becoming the ideal spot for hipsters to listen to others’ problems — a place to relate. The internet has blown up with College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) competitions and Button Poetry, showing college students, just like us, speaking about problems that are too taboo to talk about in conversation. The words that we take for granted become masterpieces.

I have only seen poetry slams in movies, and just assumed it would be some crowded cafe where people would be yelling out nonsense to us as everyone sat there snapping passionately. When I went to my first poetry slam last year, I did not expect it to be a life-changing experience. It was different than what I imagined — well, not too different, since it was actually really crowded and everyone sat there snapping passionately. The Slam, an Urbana

COURTESY OF BUTTONPOETRY.COM

Button Poetry encourages creativity and conversation through spoken word.

open mic series, took place in the back of the Sidewalk Cafe in the East Village. The New York City-based poetry organization, Urbana, hosts weekly readings, lectures and slams that showcase the talents of young artists and have competitive slams, resulting in a winning slam master for the season. Each person that went up on stage held a certain type of confidence, only seen in people who wear their hearts on their sleeves. The words that I hear every day, combined in different ways gave me the chills, as each poem represented the hurt, happiness, confusion and anger that people go through every day. The audience was just as connected as the poet and everyone was emotionally involved.

In the back of this little bar, I could see the community built around the spoken word.

There are plenty of opportunities

for people to participate in this spoken word community. Button Poetry and Urbana NYC work to showcase the power of voices in a community, encouraging the brightest performance poets of today to develop cultural appreciation for this art form.

CUPSI shows the best young poets from colleges all over the country, as a way to increase the growth and innovation of poetry. This generation’s community of spoken word poetry often focuses on political and social issues, from racism to economic injustices, gender and sexual identity to current events. Verbal poetry is a way for the downtrodden to rise above and make a difference. This mindset is seen in the Fordham community as well. Fordham’s spoken word group, Verbal Essences, does just this with its dedication to the performance and creation of original spoken word poems.

CULTURE

October 22, 2014

Review | Movie

Novel Becomes Thrilling Movie

By MARLESSA STIVALA STAFF WRITER

“When I think of my wife, I always think of her head.” Thus begins Gillian Flynn’s critically-acclaimed novel, Gone Girl, that has been turned into the highly anticipated, recently released thriller. Directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, The Social Network) — arguably one of the mostacclaimed Hollywood directors working today — the film was receiving Oscar buzz even months before its release. As someone who read and was greatly disturbed by the novel (in the best, most thought-provoking way possible), I was happy to learn that author Gillian Flynn would also be writing the screenplay — always a good sign for book-to-film adaptations. The final result is a dark, psychological film that stays true to the novel’s plot, characters and underlying themes, while also taking advantage of the film medium to make the plot all the more haunting.

The film follows the deeper dynamics of long-term relationships as well as human nature itself, through the story of an attractive married couple Nick (Ben Affleck, Argo) and Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike, Pride & Prejudice) as its protagonists. The opening of the film, just like in the novel, initially presents tainted, limited impressions of both Nick and Amy. Nick is uncaring, bitingly sarcastic and perhaps too calm, while Amy is a type A planner who is perhaps too demanding.

It does not take long for the film

EVAN AGOSTINI/AP

Rosamund Pike’s portrayal of Amy Dunne is shockingly similar to the novel.

to establish the driving force in this film: Nick returns home one day to find Amy missing. As the investigation to find Amy begins, Nick finds himself as the prime suspect in his own wife’s abduction. Popular opinion is swayed against him due to clues that seem to point directly to Nick.

The mystery surrounding Amy’s disappearance comes to a shocking conclusion. I will not spoil it for anyone who has not read the book or seen the moive.

As with any book-to-film adaptation, there are certain parts of the plot and aspects of the characters from the novel that are left out of the film. As the novel alternates between Nick’s perspective and Amy’s diary, it is easy to see why it is impossible

to be in their heads in an on-screen, flowing narrative. At the same time, the film does the novel justice and does not disappoint during its most critical, shocking moments. While Affleck has recently garnered more acclaim for his directing skills than acting abilities, he delivers a powerful performance worthy of recognition (and proof that he is indeed a solid choice to play the new Batman). Rosamund Pike, is brilliant as Amy and deserves all the praise she receives. This role will surely further her career going forward.

In a world where books-to-films miss the mark more often than not, Gone Girl proves that such things can indeed be done well in the right hands.

Page 13

Around Town | Anna Creatura

What: Thrift Shopping Neighborhood: NYC When: Everyday Thrift shopping has always been a great pastime for broke college students. With Halloween just around the corner, there has never been a more perfect time to hit up a second-hand store for some sweet deals. Nothing beats inexpensive clothing, especially if you are looking for a statement piece to add to your costume this year. Why drop $30 at Party City when you could find something better for cheaper?

Fortunately, there is no shortage of options when it comes to thrift shopping in the area. Here are a few that are conveniently located either in the Fordham area or a quick subway ride into Manhattan.

Salvation Army: With a store located within walking distance from campus, The Salvation Army is the closest, and is probably cheaper than the thrift stores in New York City.

Located near the 4 Train on Jerome Avenue, it is not too far off the beaten track for any Fordham student. The store is spacious and full of great deals.

Housing Works: These thrift stores are located all over the city.

Whether you are uptown, downtown, in Harlem or in the Bronx, you can find a Housing Works. These stores offer both clothing and home goods at comparatively reasonable prices. Although Housing Works tends to be a bit pricier than its counterparts, it still offers some pretty

amazing deals on otherwise expensive items.

Vintage Thrift: Located at 286 Third Avenue (between 22nd and 23rd street) Vintage Thrift is the thrift store of your dreams. Quaint, cluttered and full of intriguing finds, Vintage Thrift is sure to have something for everyone. The selection here is a little more limited than some of the others, but it makes up for it in novelty.

Goodwill: Like Housing Works, Goodwill is littered throughout Manhattan. Similar to Salvation Army in many ways, Goodwill has a wide variety of used clothes, books and home goods at terrifically low prices.

Another great thing about thrift shopping is that many stores donate their profits to support a good cause.

Proceeds from The Salvation Army go to support its Adult Rehabilitation Centers, establishments that prepare individuals to reenter society and the workforce. Housing Works supports those affected by HIV and AIDS, both through advocacy and financial support.

Vintage Thrift supports the United Jewish Council of the East Side, and Goodwill supports a wide variety of charities and causes.

Thrift shopping is a great way to spend an afternoon, and odds are, you will find something amazing you weren’t even looking for.

Review | Movie

Black Comedy Features Surrealism and a Stellar Cast

By NICOLE HORTON CULTURE EDITOR

Alejandro González Iñárritu, the director of 21 Grams, helms the new movie Birdman, a technically-stunning, yet fast-paced movie that tackles the intermingling, yet at times conflicting worlds of reality and fame. It was a very personal project for Iñárritu, who in addition to directing wrote the screenplay and served as a producer.

The movie follows actor Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton, Batman), who hopes that his new Broadway play will revive his declining career and prove that he is a serious actor. Thomson is best known for his role of “Birdman” in a superhero franchise, but he did not want to star as Birdman in the fourth installment because he did not want the character to define his career.

Ironically, Keaton had donned the cape to star in Tim Burton’s two Batman films, but declined to continue with the franchise.

For any literature and movie buff who derives great enjoyment in analyzing both overt and hidden themes, this movie is a perfect fit.

The play that Thomson is directing and starring in is based on Raymond Carver’s short story, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.”

The main character experiences an arduous search for love and acceptance, which is a theme entwined throughout Birdman.

“He [Michael Keaton] added a lot of mental reality to the film, he was one of the few people who wore that

COURTESY OF IMDB

cape,” Iñárritu told The Fordham Ram. At the same time, he has the craft and range to play in drama and comedy. He added a lot of fun and greatness. I thought he was very bold.”

With the play’s opening night looming, a series of events and Riggan’s personal life create a complex, highly stressful situation.

His lead actor is injured in a freak accident right before previews. At the suggestion of lead actress Lesley (Naomi Watts, King Kong) and urging from his best friend and producer Jake (Zach Galifianakis, The Hangover), who serves a calming influence among the chaos, he hires Mike Shiner (Edward Norton, Fight Club). Shiner is a hotheaded

but beloved Broadway actor. Thomson and Shiner represent the differing worlds of Hollywood commercialism and New York City theater.

In addition to his professional concerns, Thomson must deal with his girlfriend and co-star Laura (Andrea Riseborough, Oblivion) feeling neglected, and rebuilding his relationship with his daughter and personal assistant Sam (Emma Stone, The Help), who just completed rehab. Stone’s character is mostly in the background, brooding and feeling misunderstood. When confronting her father, however, she shines in a dramatic monologue, filled with angst and emotion. His ex-wife Sylvia (Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone) aids Jake in trying to quell his fears and anxiety, but is also tough on Thomson about being there for their daughter and making up for lost time.

The play that Thomson is directing and starring in takes place at the historic St. James Theater in New York City, where most of the movie is filmed. The theatre is rather cramped, but the movie appears to take place in a single tracking shot.

The camera winds through the corridors of the theatre, going from the dressing rooms to the stage or from the hallway to the roof.

“Basically, it was a very short shooting — 29 days,” Iñárritu said.

“It was fast, very effective. We rehearsed a lot before arriving to the set, so basically it was a very intense and meticulous work of actors, camera, crew. Everything was designed

to match the needs of the film. It was exhilarating, but when you do a show like this at a single shot, the experience is much more a brotherhood that is different. We were laughing because it is about our industry.”

Aside from this preparation, the film deviates into magical realism during the scenes where the audience gets a glimpse into Thomson’s mind. In addition to his in inner monologue, he hears Birdman’s voice and influence, growling in his ear about haters as he deals with his critics and concerns that the cast will not be ready. He has the ability to levitate objects in his dressing room and even takes flight later in the movie.

“I think the ego is part of our disease of society — someone who misleads priorities and is not present at all,” said Iñárritu. He goes on to refer to dictators of the world and those who harm humanity. “Thomson’s manic state of mind is an extreme case of ego. I think it deals with something that is very real,” he added.

Thomson’s inner monologue may depict a man who is on the brink, consumed by his ego or both. Or, perhaps his superhuman powers illustrate a world where the concepts of art, perception and reality are blurred to the point of being nearly indistinguishable — that is for the viewer to decide. It certainly creates dramatic, and at times comedic moments in a movie that is both surreal and thought-provoking.

CULTURE

Page 14

October 22, 2014

Who’s That Kid? | Kyle Cournoyer

Hard Work On-Campus and Off, Fosters Ambition

By TARA CANGIALOSI WEB EDITOR

A familiar face on campus, Kyle Cournoyer, FCRH ’16, likes to keep himself busy. Whether he is working an on-campus event or hurrying to his internship in the city, this junior makes time for it all.

During his first year at Fordham, Cournoyer, an economics major from Grafton, Massachusetts, was the RHA president of Alumni Court South. Stemming from his student council involvement in high school, he then held the same position for the first half of the year in Tierney Hall his sophomore year.

Looking for more, he got involved with Campus Activities Board (CAB) last year, and now serves on the executive board as the executive marketing chair.

Cournoyer shared some of his responsibilities, and how what he specifically does impacts the Fordham community.

“Me and my co-chair are in

charge of all marketing for CAB, specifically social media,” Cournoyer said. “All of the Facebook events, tweets and Instagrams are from me.”

He then explained that within CAB’s executive board there are several different committees, like Special Events and Comedy, that each plan their own programs.

Once a week, these boards come together to share what events are happening for the current week and others that are in the works.

“I love being [part of ] publicity because I get to be really involved with CAB without the huge time commitment of being in a programming committee,” he explained.

Though much of his time on campus is dedicated to class and his club responsibilities, Cournoyer also loves the city and uses its resources to his benefit.

“Coming from a small town in Massachusetts, I love being so close to Manhattan,” Cournoyer said. “It’s so accessible to Ford-

COURTESY OF KYLE COURNOYER

Cournoyer, a Massachusetts native, enjoys exploring New York City.

ham students, and I go into the city at least three times a week.”

The reason Cournoyer travels to the city so frequently has a lot to do with his new internship at a luxury real estate firm in TriBeCa. “I do a lot of basic intern work,” Cournoyer said. “I help the brokers with listings, finishing contracts, [conducting] market research and running various errands.”

Additionally, he helps out at the open house events, where he gains valuable experience watching his

How to Dominate NYC Comic Con STAFF WRITER

1) Planning is Everything Simply put, New York Comic Con is not for the weak of heart or the overly impatient. There will be a great number of people (over 150,000 this year) and there will be long lines. Thankfully, New York Comic Con has both a highly-accessible website and a free online app that frequently updates important information, such as which celebrities will be in attendance, what panels will happen and the specific locations and

Letters | Ask Emma Dear Emma, My best friend has been moping around for over a month because her boyfriend went abroad for a year. When they started dating last year, she was upset he was leaving and she started getting sad. Ever since then she’s been nonstop complaining about it. She wanted to stay together but he didn’t and since he’s been gone she’s been miserable. I feel bad but I’m also tired of hearing about it. How do I tell her to kindly shut up?

Over it

By MARLESSA STIVALA

From a seemingly never-ending list of upcoming superhero films hitting theaters, to the popularity of such television shows as “The Big Bang Theory” and “Arrow,” the dominant idea nowadays appears to be “geek is chic.” The popularity of comics, video games and the characters associated with them is complemented by the fact that Comic Con has become not only a monumental event for hardcore comic fans, but also a significant event for anyone eager to meet cultural icons and learn exclusive news about upcoming television shows and films.

As someone who has a deep appreciation for DC Comics, the idea of attending Comic Con has always excited me. While the San Diego Comic Con may appear more exclusive (I have heard the process to attend described as “a list to get on the list to get on the list to be considered”), the New York Comic Con is just as worthwhile for fans. Housed in Manhattan’s Javits Center Columbus Day weekend, this year’s Comic Con was the first one I had the privilege to attend. Needless to say, I learned a great deal from the experience. Here are some of my tips for Comic Con:

bosses interact with clients.

“Everyone in the office is very young and funny, which makes the experiences so much cooler,” he said. “Everyone is good friends, and they are really awesome with showing me the ins and outs of being a luxury broker.”

Though he is enjoying the opportunities at his internship, Cournoyer is putting this work on hold to study abroad in Barcelona, Spain for the 2015 spring semester. Its large size, which is comparable to that of New York,

is a major reason he ultimately chose the Spanish city.

Because the program is not through Fordham, he will be living on a home stay and studying at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, located just outside the heart of the city.

“Choosing where I wanted to go was actually really hard,” he said.

“I’ve been taking Spanish since sixth grade, so Spain just seemed right. I’d also be functional with the language barrier.”

Cournoyer also explained how the program he will be enrolled in is well-suited for his major.

“It worked out perfectly because there is an Economics program there, so I’ll be finishing my major while abroad,” he said.

Cournoyer is unsure about what he wants to do after graduation, but the internship has opened his eyes to many possibilities.

“I could definitely see myself doing real estate after school,” he said. “If I stick with the internship senior year, I have a good chance to get a spot on the team.”

COURTESY OF FLICKR

NYC Comic Con brings out droves of fans for panels, autographs and more.

times for everything. It is impossible to do everything, of course, but it is essential to utilize the app and moreover having a preliminary schedule for the day planned out beforehand.

There were several panels that interested me, but the most important one for me was the 75th Anniversary of Batman panel.

Featuring comic writers, artists and Kevin Conroy (the voice of Batman in Batman: The Animated Series) the panel was an excellent tribute to such an iconic character.

2) Autographs are Worth More than PhotoOps Before attending Comic Con, I assumed that my stance on this would be the other way around.

After all, is it not true that having a picture with a favorite celebrity is better than having his or her signature? In most cases, this is probably true. But, this is not so for Comic Con. While having a photo with a favorite celebrity is wonderful, the PhotoOps at Comic Con are little more than paying money for a five-second photo with a celebrity. While it

is a fun experience to be up close to a favorite icon, the PhotoOp is so brief that there is no time to really “meet” the person, or even shake his or her hand. However, the autograph sessions are far more intimate. When I met Kevin Conroy, I did not just take a photo with him, but I received a personalized signed photo and—most importantly—I was able to have a substantial, meaningful conversation with someone who played a character that has meant so much to me. Next year, I will be sure to focus on the autograph sessions more, since that experience was undoubtedly the more rewarding one.

3) Remember to Enjoy It This is ultimately the most important aspect of Comic Con. Do not let the crowds get you down.

Several of the most notable comic book artists and writers are all in one place. There is a multitude of contests, free giveaways and exclusive merchandise. There are panels, Q&A sessions and opportunities to meet beloved childhood icons. Every Comic Con is a unique, incredible experience.

Dear Over it, This is a tricky situation. You know your friend is obviously upset, but you also see that she’s not trying to help herself. You have to be careful when you talk to her about it, because any signs of not supporting her and she will feel like you’re attacking her. You have to let her be sad, but any signs of sulking have to be addressed when they’re happening. If you want to go out and she wants to stay in with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and watch The Notebook, tell her that she has to get up and try to enjoy herself. If you make a generalization with no evidence that she’s throwing herself a pity party, she will get upset. If it gets to be too much, then have a talk with her and ask her not to talk about it anymore. Hopefully, she’ll get the hint before then that she needs to start being positive.

Good luck! – Emma

Dear Emma, I recently broke up with my boyfriend of two and a half years. It was a really messy break up, but we stayed friends. Recently I’ve been talking to a new boy who is the exact opposite of my ex. I’m not even that attracted to him, I just like spending time with him. All my friends tease me that I like him and I get really defensive and this bad feeling in my stomach when they do. I’m almost skeeved out by it. I go through periods of hating him and really liking him and I’m really confused about it. I’ve never felt this way about a person and I don’t know why it’s happening.

Skeeved

Dear Skeeved, I’ve heard of this feeling before. Girls get it with some guys and nobody is really sure why. In my past experiences, the skeeve feeling comes when you’re not entirely sure of your feelings or when you’re with somebody that isn’t usually your type. This doesn’t mean you should stop hanging out with him! In fact, since you just got out of a relationship, now is the perfect time to explore new things. The more you get to know this kid, the more you might realize he’s more your type than your ex.

Good luck! – Emma

Have a question for Emma?

Send them to fordhamramaskemma@gmail.com

CULTURE

October 22, 2014

Page 15

IFC’s The Birthday Boys Share Its Comedic Influences and Approach

By ROBERT FALCONE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Returning with its second season, “The Birthday Boys” is a sketch comedy show on Independent Film Channel (IFC). Based in Los Angeles, the group with the same name as its show has been perfecting its craft since the comedians’ days at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Los Angeles.

The group is comprised of Jefferson Dutton, Dave Ferguson, Mike Hanford, Tim Kalpakis, Matt Kowalick, Mike Mitchell and Chris VanArtsdalen, whose collective credits include “Conan O’Brien,” “Parks & Recreation,” “The Office,” “Portlandia,” “The Mindy Project,” “Funny or Die,” “Comedy Bang! Bang!,” “Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis” and more. Comedy greats Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul,” “Fargo,” “Breaking Bad”) and Ben Stiller (Zoolander, Something About Mary, “Ben Stiller Show”) produce the show. The new season premiered on Oct. 17 at 11:30 p.m. on IFC. The show’s first season is also currently streaming on Netflix.

I got a chance to talk with Mike Hanford, Chris VanArtsdalen, Tim Kalpakis and Dave Ferguson of “The Birthday Boys” about how they got started and what to expect with the second season of their show.

The Fordham Ram: Thanks for doing this interview guys.

The Birthday Boys: No problem. Go Rams!

TFR: Thanks for the shout out.

So, getting started, how would you guys describe your type of comedy to someone who has not seen your stuff before? What sketch would you recommend to someone who’s never heard of you before?

BB: We’d say start with our internet superhit Pool Jumpers. Before we had the TV show we would do a lot of live comedy at the UCB Theatre in Los Angeles, and we would try to make a new video ev-

ery month for our monthly show at the theater. One of them was called Pool Jumpers. It’s a really heartfelt exploration and documentary about a very important movement in sports. I think you get the idea of what we’re about from this video.

TFR: Personally, I’d recommend the Goofy Roofers sketch from Season One. That’s my personal favorite. You guys should really consider turning that sketch into a full series for TBS or something soon [laughs].

BB: We’d love to [laughs]. I’m glad you noticed its potential.

TFR: Who do you get your inspiration and comedy style from?

BB: The cast of “Saturday Night Live” we grew up with during the early ‘90s, “Conan O’Brien,” “Simpsons,” “Seinfeld,” and “Mr. Show.” Also, speaking of “SNL,” we have Dana Carvey in the first episode of Season 2.

TFR: Dana Carvey is in the season premiere and is hilarious, as you would expect. Speaking of the guest stars, you guys have a ton this season, and they’re all from different comedy backgrounds.

The standouts to me were definitely Jack Black, Kyle Gass, Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim but most notably you have Bob Odenkirk. He produces your show, but he’s also featured in a good amount of your sketches. How did you guys get started with Bob Odenkirk?

BB: He’s ushered a lot of really great people in. The guest stars you mentioned, like us, owe a lot to Bob. In fact, Tim and Eric are the helm of one of our production companies, Abso Lutely Productions, and Bob was really instrumental in getting them on the map, like he has for us. His list of proteges is crazy long. They’re all really cool people. So it’s really great to be part of that. We met Bob through our performances at Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles. Eventually, after he saw us perform a couple times, he booked us for one of the shows he and his

COURTESY OF THE SUPER SERIOUS SHOW

wife put on every year. It’s kind of an all-ages show that has a variety of acts from all over town. So, the show went really well, we had done a sketch or two and we just kept running into him and talking with him. Actually, a funny story: at one of the shows, he told Tim [Kalpakis] he had an idea for one of our sketches, like a way he would have done it differently for “Mr. Show,” and Bob had to go before he could explain how he would have done it.

So I think Tim had a couple sleepless nights because of that. But, now since we get to work so closely with Bob now, it’s been really great and he definitely has a large presence on the show.

TFR: Are there any people you still want to get for the show for Season Three possibly?

BB: We are so grateful for the amount of guest stars we got for this season, but you should really see the list of people that turned us down [laughs]...We intend to get Meryl Streep. We think she would be a good scene partner. Oprah, Bill Clinton, they would be great. I think the list begins with Bill Murray though for sure.

TFR: Yeah. While watching your show, I know you mentioned being influenced by the ’90s “SNL” cast, but I could see the original “SNL” guys like Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray fitting in

perfectly on the show.

BB: We got some really great Dan Aykroyd sketches that we wrote this year, so if we could get him on the hook, we got some great characters for him. You’re definitely hitting on the sensibility though, a lot times there are homages to National Lampoon films from Animal House to Caddyshack, and stuff. Then also we come from this Upright Citizens Brigade type scene so there’s all the influences from the live comedy. We pull from a lot of different stuff and that’s how we became a group. We have chemistry on stage, and we all have a lot of different influences, and luckily we all share them too. We’re just a couple of friends that went to school together then moved to LA together and started doing live comedy and creating our own style the more shows we did. But also, to go back to guests we hope to have soon, we’d really like to get David Cross (“Arrested Development,” “Mr. Show”) too.

TFR: Yeah, I was going to say you have one half of “Mr. Show” (Bob Odenkirk), I was wondering where David Cross has been. Anyways, one aspect of the show you mentioned was structure. As we’ve all noticed, most comedy content that airs on television is also on YouTube now. In addition to that, you have groups that don’t have TV shows that just post content on YouTube to gain popularity. When I tell my friends about your show, they say “Oh yeah sure I’ll check it out. Send me a YouTube link.” I have to stop them right there and [tell] them the sketches are not meant to be watched that way. You really have to watch full episodes because the sketches often connect to each other. For example, one sketch you see in the beginning of an episode may come up again later or may be referenced in the context of an entirely different sketch. What’s this creative process like as opposed to, you know, making a one-off YouTube video?

BB: Thanks for picking up [on] that, because that’s really important to us. Making an episode of television that’s cohesive and has value as a 30-minute piece of comedy is a whole different challenge than, like you said, a one-off video that’s two minutes long and has you laughing for two minutes. When you’re done with a video like that, you file it away in your brain or pass it on and you’re done with it. It’s a really fun pursuit diving into those details with the show. We really want the show to have rewatchability, timelessness, all those details, callbacks, and runners. For us, we try to make a couple ideas that are one-off, stand alone and sometimes we find a little thread of a runner and follow through. That aspect definitely comes from Bob’s input. His observation of the comedy scene right now is that a lot of people are making content, making funny stuff and putting it on YouTube. But, what we’re trying to do with the show is trying to add a little more value and a type of comedy that doesn’t exist in many other places. It’s nuanced and layered enough that maybe you do have to watch it more than once to see the whole thing in context in order to understand our voice and thus enjoy it more.

TFR: Alright great. Ok, that’s all the questions I got for you guys.

On behalf of myself and The Ram, thanks a lot for doing this interview.

BB: Thank you. Before you go though, we had one follow up.

There was one guest we all talked about getting for season three that we think can you can help us get for the show. If we can get a Joseph McShane to be in Season Three that’d be great.

Season Two of “The Birthday Boys” premiered Friday, Oct. 17 at 11:30PM EST on IFC. It is produced by Bob Odenkirk & Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Productions.

Season One of “The Birthday Boys” can be streamed on Netflix.

Nostalgia in Comics and New Media Perpretuate Comic Industry

By NICOLE HORTON CULTURE EDITOR

Nostalgia has had a constant role in American culture, but with the Internet and apps, it is more present than ever before. Talk shows are always looking to reunite the casts of popular TV shows, whether it is Jimmy Fallon bringing together the cast of “Saved by the Bell,” or Jimmy Kimmel coercing the female stars of “Friends” to carry out an episode he wrote. In the comic industry, comics that were popular during the Great Depression still stand out and are earning a new generation of fans. Why is nostalgia so prominent in America?

Someone who certainly knows about nostalgia is Guy Gilchrist, who has been drawing the iconic American comic Nancy for the past 20 years. I had the opportunity to interview him, and I learned about his career and perspective on this topic. Nancy is a revival of the character that Ernie Bushmiller created in 1933. Nancy was introduced as an orphan who appeared on her aunt’s doorstep to create some comic mis-

chief. Gilchrist says that Americans enjoy seeing things they were familiar with when they were growing up, and much that is considered nostalgic are things that universal and reminiscent of a simpler time.

Nancy is read by an average of 57 million people worldwide. It is also available in Spanish whichexpands its readership. Some may argue that this new medium for comics takes away from the original nostalgic idea of picking up a newspaper, browsing through the sections and enjoying the “funnies.” However, there is proof that the concept of nostalgia is redefined and more accessible.

In addition to classic television, radio shows and music, younger generations have access to Marvel, DC and comics like Nancy via the Internet and apps. Whether you are sitting in your room or commuting to work, you can revisit the culture of another time period.

Comic-Con, based in both San Diego and New York City, attracts droves of fans and movie stars who bring the comics of the ’50s and ’60s to life, such as Batman, Thor, X-Men

COURTESY OF GUY GILCHRIST

Nancy is an example of nostalgia that benefits from new technology.

and many more.

“Nostalgia is always going to have a place in the superhero genre because Marvel and DC aren’t putting out any new characters,” said Gilchrist. “All of the characters that are in the comics that people buy have all been around since the ‘60s. I feel bad for the writers who are trying to get work for DC and Marvel because they have to write for certain characters. That’s why I think the independent and web comics are so important for your [college] readership.”

Like other publications that have expanded to digital media, Gilchrist certainly supports the new technology that the comic industry has em-

braced.

“The Nancy comic strip might not even be around now if it wasn’t for the technology that we’re embracing,” said Gilchrist. “What’s been cool as far as I’m concerned, my syndicate has an app called gocomics and a website called gcomics.com. There are 200 different comics that you can download and you can read Nancy in color. It makes the comic available to everyone. We have not lost readership, we have gained new readers because we are not so dependent on the print media now.”

Gilchrist is not intimidated by the prospect of reviving a comic that has an established readership. “I don’t

worry about what Nancy was like in the 30’s and 40’s. I’ve been drawing the strip for almost 20 years, and what I want to make sure happens is what the creator would want to happen — that Nancy is alive today and relevant in people’s lives. She’s doing something that’s tugging at your heartstrings and reminding you of your childhood.”

Along with Nancy, another one of Gilchrist’s credentials includes writing and drawing The Muppets for Jim Henson. The Muppets have had a really big resurgence lately with movies, appealing to a new generation of children and the adults who associate them with their childhood.

“What’s neat is when you’re involved in something that is timeless, you become relevant every 20 years or so.”

The revival of cult classics and comics proves that nostalgia is alive and well in all forms of media despite the change of mediums. This creates a new, multi-faceted culture that is founded on classic fandom, meaning that there is something for everyone to enjoy.

SPORTS

Page 16

October 22, 2014

The Fordham Ram

Women’s Soccer Drops Three h on the Road

By DREW CASEY STAFF WRITER

After beginning the Atlantic 10 season 0-1-1, the Fordham women’s soccer team dropped three consecutive road contests. The team fell to the La Salle Explorers 1-0, was beaten by the Saint Louis Billikens 2-0 and dropped its match with the Dayton Flyers 2-0.

“We can learn a lot [from these three matches],” head coach Jessica Clinton said. “We have tried some players in new positions, and for the most part it is working out. We will continue to build on our brand and prepare our players for the next three matches.”

On Saturday, Oct. 11, the squad traveled to Philadelphia to battle the conference leading Explorers.

La Salle dominated the game, but could not find the back of the net in the first half, despite outshooting Fordham 9-1.

The second half, however, was a different story. La Salle netted the first and only goal of the game in the 67th minute. Senior goalkeeper Ally White kept the Rams in the game throughout, making four saves.

Less than a week later, the Rams traveled for a match with the Saint Louis Billikens.

Both teams had chances to score early in the first half, but the scoreboard did not light up until

the final seconds of the half. Off of a free kick, the Billikens managed to sneak the ball inside the left post past White.

Shortly after the halftime break, Saint Louis added to its lead with a goal from eight yards out. Senior forward Kate McDonnell and senior midfielder Jessica Widmann desperately attempted to get Fordham back in the game, but failed to score. Both fired off three shots.

Two days and more than 350 miles later, the team took on the Dayton Flyers. Dayton opened the scoring in the 13th minute after hitting the post in the 6th minute and took an early 1-0 lead. The Flyers kept on the gas and scored the second goal of the game just five minutes later in the 18th minute.

In the contest Dayton registered 31 shots, only six of which were on target, while Fordham attempted 12 shots, three of which were on the frame.

In the loss, White collided with a Dayton player and left the game in the 37th minute. Sophomore keeper Megan Fitzgerald entered the game and coach Clinton said that she played very well.

In all, the Rams traveled to three states and surpassed the 2,000 mile mark on the three-game road trip. The team is now 6-8-1 overall and 0-4-1 in the Atlantic 10.

CHRISTIAN WILOEJO/THE RAM

The Rams are 6-8-1, with an 0-4-1 record in A-10 play, following their 2,000 mile long road trip.

With three games remaining, the squad is 14th in the conference. The top eight teams qualify for the postseason tournament, which begins Nov. 6 in Dayton, Ohio.

The team will likely need to win

Rams Win First Metropolitan Championship in 40 Years

By BRYAN KIEL STAFF WRITER

Fordham cross country had finished one of its most successful weeks on Saturday. The Rams started off the week with the first championship meet of the season, the Metropolitan Championship at Van Cortlandt Park on Oct. 10.

Top runners from both the men’s and women’s squad competed at Van Cortlandt and culminated in a victory for the men and a second-place finish for the women.

“I am so proud of what the team did today,” head coach Tom Dewey said. “It was just a great performance. Today showed just how deep this team is, and it was an outstanding performance to start off the championship part of our season.”

Senior Brianna Tevnan led the women and finished second overall in the five-kilometer race with a time of 18:28. Though Rutgers won the race, five other Fordham runners joined Tevnan in the top 25, including fellow seniors Mara Lieberman, and Sarah Glockenmeier, sophomores Ariana Bottalico and Brianne Roche, and freshman Brynna Harum. Freshmen Shea Williams and Stephanie Leo joined Harum as top 40 finishers.

Senior captain Melissa Higgins, who also competed in the Metropolitan Championship and

took 30th overall, was very proud of how the team stepped up as a pack. “We have a team of very talented girls who all bring something different to the table,” she said. “Our freshmen have stepped up immensely this season. Brynna, Shea, and Steph are a great addition to our travel team.”

Junior Quincy O’Connor led the men’s pack by more than 20 seconds with a time of 25:51 in the eight-kilometer race. Fellow junior Mike Turi came in second with a time of 26:12, while Fordham freshman Thomas Slattery rounded out the top three for the race with a time of 26:15. Both O’Connor and Slattery were recognized for their efforts when the A-10 named them men’s Cross Country Performer of the Week and Rookie of the Week, respectively.

O’Connor was the first Fordham runner in three years to win the Metropolitan Championship, following in the steps of former standout Julian Saad.

It was also the first time since 1964 that the team won the Metropolitan Championship. These feats were recognized by the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), who named O’Connor a Division I National Athlete of the Week.

“We knew we had a pack and could run together for most of

the race and that’s what we did,” said O’Connor. “The Met’s is a big deal for us. We just wanted to come out here, start the championship season right, and take this to [the Atlantic 10 Championship].”

With Fordham’s top runners taking a few weeks off to prepare for the Atlantic 10 Championship on Nov. 1, the rest of the squad competed at Princeton this past Saturday against a number of teams across the Northeast.

The Rams finished 13th in the women’s competition and 10th in the men’s, with senior Jillian Brooks and sophomore Devin Rocks leading both squads.

Brooks finished the six-kilometer meet 29th overall with a time of 24:08, leading three other Fordham women in the top 100.

This included freshman Anna Richard in 74th place, senior Danielle Drummond in 79th, and junior Danielle Rowe in 85th.

Sophomore Devin Rocks placed 25th overall in the five-mile meet with a time of 26:19, followed by junior Yehia Fahmy in 48th, sophomore Adam Schwenzfeier in 57th, freshman Fritz Heinrich in 66th and senior William Slattery in 88th.

In preparation for the conference championship on Nov. 1, Fordham will seek to add more team victories to the three already accumulated this season.

its final three matches to have any chance of making it.

The Rams’ next match is against the Saint Joseph’s Hawks on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Jack Coffey Field. The team will then close out its home regular season

schedule on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. against the George Mason Patriots.

“I think we are hungry for a win; games just have not gone our way,” Clinton said. “Believing in each other is the next step.”

Golf Finishes Fall Season

By SAM BELDEN STAFF WRITER

On Sunday, Fordham golf placed fourth out of 12 teams at the Lehigh Invitational. The Rams fought through windy conditions to close the season with their best finish of the year. The tournament was held at Saucon Valley Country Club’s Grace Course, which has been featured on Golf Magazine’s “Top 100 Courses in the U.S.” list in the past.

The Rams’ big difference maker was senior Ben Alcorn, who shot rounds of 80 and 69 en route to a tie for second place, the best individual showing of any Fordham player this season. His closing 69 was five strokes better than any other score during the final round and allowed him to move 31 places up the leaderboard.

“Starting the day, I decided to ignore the wind and just shoot for the middle of the green,” Alcorn said of his final round. “It was just a solid round until I birdied nine, eagled 10 and birdied 11. I was thrilled to finish the season with a good score for myself, but also with a solid fourth place finish as a team.”

Alcorn’s performance drew praise from his teammates.

“The wind was blowing so hard and the course was so tough, I still can’t believe he did it,” said senior Drew Dufresne. “I’m so happy for him.”

Besides Alcorn, four other players helped to lift Fordham to its seasonbest finish. Senior Jeff Hogan played consistently, shooting rounds of 77 and 81, good for a tie for 18th. Mean-

while, freshman Joe Trim, who sat in second place after a first round 72, closed with an 87 to fall 21 spots on the leaderboard; he wound up tying for 23rd. Dufresne and freshman Matt Schiller finished in ties for 40th and 60th, respectively, to round out the scores for the Rams.

The unpleasant weather made the team even more satisfied with its performance than it would have been otherwise.

“The numbers were very high, but that just shows you how hard the course was playing in the windy conditions,” Dufresne said. “Wind was swirling from 20 to 30 miles-perhour in some parts of the course, and it was pretty cold.”

Towson University won the tournament. The Tigers paced the field on both days and wound up winning by a margin of 19 strokes over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. John Hulede of Towson was the medalist.

The sophomore shot rounds of 71 and 77, edging Alcorn and Villanova’s Zach Egermayer by a single stroke.

With the fall behind them, the Rams now turn their focus toward the tournaments that lie in the spring.

“We won’t be able to play much golf this offseason with the weather,” said Dufresne. “Some fellow seniors and I will be working really hard in the gym to keep ourselves in shape for the spring season and A-10 Championships.”

Coming off of his career-best performance, Alcorn is confident about the future of the squad.

“I think we have a prosperous spring ahead of us,” he said.

October 22, 2014

Men’s Tennis Aces Adelphi

By DAVID BALICK STAFF WRITER

The men’s tennis team served up a win as its fall season winds down. In the last two weeks, the Rams played matches against Marist College and Adelphi University, and also competed in the USTA Regional Championships.

The highlight of the week for the Men was a 5-1 smashing of Adelphi.

“We came out there and handled our business,” said senior and captain J.J. Tauil of the win.

“They’re not the best team on our opponent list, so it was good that our guys remained focused with an opponent not as strong.”

The Rams won both of their doubles for the all-important doubles point. Tauil and senior Mischa Koran came together for a 8-2 victory, while senior Max Peara and freshman Pol Giraldez teamed up to win 8-6.

In the singles competition Koran, Tauil, Giraldez, Peara and junior Pedro Alonzo all won their matches in straight sets, giving Fordham the victory on Saturday.

It was a needed motivational victory for the Rams, who had fallen 5-0 to Marist College just a few days prior.

The team knew going in that it would be a tough one. Marist is often strong and qualified for the NCAA tournament last spring.

The day opened with Tauil and Koran defeating Marist’s Joe Motta and Fredrik Bjerke, 8-7 (10-5). However, Fordham would go on to lose every match

in straight sets the rest of the afternoon.

“They’re a great team who consistently brings in top players, but we competed well,” said Joey Brander, one of two freshman in the starting lineup this year.

While it was not the result they were hoping for, the match was a good way to find out where they stand for the rest of the year.

“I think that we have the potential to have a very successful season, finishing better than most people’s preseason expectations of us,” Brander said. “The team itself is very close-knit and our captains have done a tremendous job of the getting the most out of us.”

Lastly, this past weekend a couple of Rams represented Fordham in the USTA Regional Championships at St. John’s University. This is a premier competition featuring some of the best players from colleges and universities in the nearby area.

Micsha Koran and J.J Tauil represented the Rams. Koran lost in his only single’s match, 6-4, 6-3. He then joined Tauil for doubles, which they lost 8-4.

The men will play their final match of the fall season at home this Friday at noon against Wagner College. If they win, they will finish the fall with a 3-1 record which will keep their spirits up as they train for the spring season.

“The team is getting better,” Tauil said. “We still have areas of improvements that we need to address, but overall I am happy with the start we’ve had.”

SPORTS

Page 17

Varsity Scores & Stats Men’s Soccer Fordham VCU

0 0

Fordham 0 George Mason 1 GOALS: Mulgrew (GMU) 2’ Women’s Soccer Fordham St. Louis GOALS: Bush (SLU) 45’, Rodriguez (SLU) 48’

0 2

Volleyball Fordham Dayton (FOR) E. Fronk 5 digs (DAY) A. Turner 15 kills Fordham St. Louis (FOR) B. O’ Neil 9 kills (SLU) A. Church 19 digs

0 3

Club 4 Lightweight 4

9 7

Golf Lehigh Invitational 0 3

B. Alcorn

4th

T-2nd- +5

Men’s Cross Country Princeton Invitational 10th

Rowing Head of Charles

Fordham 0 Dayton 2 GOALS: Smigel (DAY) 13’, Campbell (DAY) 17’

Water Polo St. Francis Fordham

D. Rocks Gold

25th- 26:19

Women’s Cross Country Princeton Invitational 13th

3rd J. Brooks

29th- 24:08

Athletes of the Week Ben Alcorn

Jillian Brooks

Senior

Senior

Golf

Cross Country

Alcorn had a great finish at the Lehigh Invitational to help Fordham finish fourth overall. He shot -3 (69) on the second day of competition to finish +5 and tied for second.

Brooks was Fordham’s top performer at the Princeton Invitational, where the team finished 13th. She came in 29th overall on the 6K course with a time of 24:08.

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

News & Notes • Two former football players, Anthony Amanzio, GSB ‘03 and Aki Jones, GSB ‘08, passed away recently in Florida. Amanzio and Jones were both on the 2002 team that won the school’s first ever Patriot League title. Jones also played one year with the Washington Redskins in the NFL in 2005 and then in Europe. Amanzio’s cause of death was cardiac arrest and Jones passed away in a car accident.

• Junior center Samantha Clark was named Third Team Preseason All-Atlantic 10.

Clark started all 33 games last season during the Rams’ first A-10 Championship and second NCAA Tournament bid. She had a team-high 26 blocked shorts and averaged 9.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and a 32 percent three-point shooting percenteage last season.

• Water polo fell to Iona 12-10 Tuesday night at home. The team is now 10-11 and 2-5 in conference on the season with the loss. Bobby Wurtz, Andrew Gonzalaz (3), Eric Minowitz, Ori Raz, Patrick Lenihan, Patrick Reyes and Davis DeFontes were the goal scorers for Fordham. The Rams next match is on the road against Princeton on Saturday, Oct. 25, at 11:30 a.m.

Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/theram_sports RAM ARCHIVES

Men’s tennis closes out its fall season at home against Wagner this Friday.

SPORTS

Page 18

Kelly Kultys

October 22, 2014

Matt Rosenfeld

Senior Profile | Jeff Hogan

Humble Pie

Peyton’s No G.O.A.T

How many people does it take to keep a quarterback on the field?

Well, in the case of Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, quite a few. It really shouldn’t be this difficult, as Winston could be America’s golden boy. He’s a two-sport athlete, Heisman award-winning National Champion quarterback who has never lost a game at FSU. He even led his team to an impressive comeback victory against Notre Dame on Saturday night. But, despite all that, the 20 year old, who has plans to declare for the NFL draft after this season, still needed one of his protectors, head coach Jimbo Fisher, to tell him how to behave.

According to AP Sports writer Tim Reynolds, Fisher embraced his quarterback and said, “Now here’s what you’ve got to do. Calm down.

Don’t give them that over-exuberant look. Act very passive right here and get people back on your side. You understand what I’m telling you?

Humble. Humble pie.”

In just those few words, Fisher displayed the extraordinary effort it takes to keep his key to success on the field. Last year’s title alone took the help of many. The Tallahassee police department completely mishandled an investigation of Winston for sexual assault, and Winston’s lawyers managed to clear those charges.

Securing the title needed FSU — specifically, the athletic department — to help. They paid to fix the windows the football team had damaged at Winston’s apartment complex and didn’t contact Winston about the sexual assault allegations until after they secured the national title, almost a year after the accuser filed a complaint with the police.

This year’s effort to keep Winston playing hasn’t been as elaborate, but it still involved the police and university officials. When Winston shoplifted over $30 worth of crab legs, he was suspended from his other sport, baseball, until he completed the mandated community service. And, no one can forget the game ban he received for screaming obscenities in a cafeteria earlier this season. That was originally supposed to just be a ban for half the game, until the footage was made public and the school faced heated outrage.

If that wasn’t enough, there are current rumors that Winston received compensation for signed memorabilia, which recently surfaced online. I think we know how that “investigation” is going to turn out.

With the help of the Tallahassee police department, Florida State University, the support of the fans and head coach Jimbo Fisher, it looks like Winston will be able to complete his second NCAA season so long as he smiles and acts like “humble pie” to win the public back on his side.

Ironically, just minutes later in his postgame interview with ESPN, Fisher glowingly described his football program: “There’s character, there’s heart, there’s a team full of great kids. This is a high character program that’s ran the right way — on class, on dignity, in the classroom, off the field and on the field.”

Well, let’s just say there’s a “character” off the field. That’s for sure.

Peyton Manning broke the NFL record for all-time passing touchdowns this past Sunday night in a win over the San Francisco 49ers.

Manning surpassed Brett Favre’s mark of 508 touchdowns and now sits at 510 career touchdown passes, with no evidence that he’s going to slow down any time soon.

Manning’s capture of the touchdown torch has raised discussion of Manning as the potentially best quarterback ever. When I heard this, for some reason, it felt ridiculous.

Unless he wins a couple more rings in the twilight of his career, regardless of his final numbers, Peyton Manning will never feel like the best quarterback of all time.

Don’t get me wrong, Manning has been as dominant a quarterback as we’ve ever seen. He has thrown over 25 touchdowns in every one of his 17 playing seasons. When this season is over, he will have amassed over 67,000 passing yards. He led the Indianapolis Colts to nine straight 10-win seasons from 20022010. Every year, it felt as if the Colts were going to be the team to join the 1972 Miami Dolphins with an unbeaten season.

But they never did. Every year, with 2006 being the exception, Manning failed to come through in the postseason. Manning has over 50 game-winning drives in his career; only one has come in the postseason. That’s not coming from a small sample size, either. Manning has played 23 postseason games in his career, mostly with teams that were seeded highly.

In Super Bowls, of which Manning has played in three, his record is 1-2, and he has thrown three touchdowns and four interceptions.

A quarterback’s legacy should not be based on postseason play alone, but unfortunately, for Manning, playoff performance is often the first thing that comes to mind when comparing quarterbacks, from different eras. How did he perform when it matters the most?

Look at other major American sports. Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth and Wayne Gretzky are widely considered the best ever in basketball, baseball and hockey, respectively.

All of them combined two things: record-setting individual statistics with championship performances.

I’m aware football is probably more of a team sport than the others listed. It takes far more than one individual to win in football. Football is the only sport in which you don’t play both offense and defense. But, no matter what you try to qualify it, Peyton’s playoff performances just leaves something to be desired.

Peyton’s numbers are jaw-dropping. Peyton Manning will always be the most surgically efficient quarterback I have ever watched and I’ll never look down on what he has accomplished throughout his career. I hope to watch him continue his greatness for at least a few more years.

Manning may have the most touchdown passes ever. He’ll most likely end his career with the most passing yards ever. But, unless he provides some playoff magic soon, Manning will never be my greatest quarterback ever.

CHRISTIAN WILOEJO/THE RAM

Hogan’s career low as a Ram is 70, which he has accomplished twice, most recently at the 2013 Yale MacDonald Cup.

By SAM BELDEN STAFF WRITER

Jeff Hogan is a native of Waterbury, Connecticut and currently serves as the captain of the Fordham golf team. His season was highlighted by a tie for 18th at the Lehigh Invitational. Despite a few disappointing outings for the Rams this year, it is clear that Hogan is dedicated to his leadership role and optimistic about the future of the squad.

The Fordham Ram: You’ve been playing golf for a long time. What made you develop a passion for the sport?

Jeff Hogan: Definitely my dad.

He’s played for a long time. I grew up playing with my brother too, so I was always competing against him. But, definitely playing the game itself. It’s not like other sports where you can win at it; it’s more like you just keep trying to get better and better — it had that kind of appeal to me.

TFR: Tell me a little about your recruitment process. What ultimately made you choose to come to Fordham?

JH: It was actually really last minute. It was like three weeks before I had to make a decision. The academics were definitely the deciding factor for me. Of the other schools I was applying to, I thought Fordham was a better fit for myself in terms of a career after golf, so it really came down to that.

TFR: In six full field events this season, Fordham golf has two ninth-

place finishes, a 10th, an 11th, a 12th and a fourth, which came just recently. How does that performance look in relation to your preseason expectations for the team?

JH: I think [the scores] were a little higher than expected. We’re definitely a younger team. We have a bunch of young guys that are gonna carry this program forward for the next few years. It’s good to see. We lost a couple seniors last year, and the year before we lost a lot.

TFR: What do you feel was the best part of your game this fall? What are you looking to improve on as you look towards the spring?

JH: I’m usually a good driver of the ball, but my short game is pretty good for not playing a lot this summer. My iron game was god-awful, so there’s one thing I can work on, it’s definitely that.

TFR: Do you have any specific goals for the team as you head towards the spring season?

JH: The spring is more of a sprint than the fall. We only have like four events before A-10s, so we’re definitely trying to get ready for that and get our swings ready. If we could finish in the top half of A-10s, that would be a huge deal for us.

TFR: You’re the captain of the team. How do you think you fulfill that leadership role?

JH: I’m not really a boisterous leader, but I think in terms of the way to act on and off the golf course, I think I’m pretty good at that. Just showing the younger kids what they

should be like on and off the golf course. I definitely want to create some chemistry with the guys. It’s tough with the freshmen coming in, but we try to do a lot of things together. I don’t want to be one of those seniors that doesn’t hang out with the freshmen.

TFR: Out of your entire Fordham golf career, is there any moment that sticks out for you?

JH: We won three times my freshman year. I was on all three of those traveling teams, so that was a big deal. We’d only won three times before that, so adding another three was pretty cool. Just having Brian [Engstrom] and Ben [Alcorn] on the team, we came in together as freshmen, and they’re two of my best friends. The camaraderie with those guys would definitely be a highlight of my time here.

TFR: What was your favorite tournament to play in so far during your senior year?

JH: Definitely [the MacDonald Cup at] Yale. I got to play with my brother that tournament. He plays for St. Edward’s. It was a really cool event. We got paired together, and it was pretty cool to play with him.

TFR: What are your plans for after graduation?

JH: I’m a finance major. I want to do something in wealth management. I have a job next year in wealth management, but I would love to work in the city. The job’s not in the city, so I’d love to get something there.

Volleyball Drops Four Straight

By ANTHONY PUCIK ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

After Fordham’s first win of the season over La Salle, the Rams dropped two consecutive games in straight sets: first to non-conference opponent Lehigh on the road, and then to Atlantic 10 foe Rhode Island at Rose Hill. The Rams then hit the road again to face two more A-10 opponents, Dayton and St. Louis.

The Rams traveled to the first place Flyers (17-5 and 5-1 in conference) on Friday, Oct. 17, looking to improve to 2-4 in conference and 2-18 on the season. The first set was knotted at eight, but Dayton scored the next three points to go up 11-8.

The Rams brought themselves back within one but could not retie the score, as Dayton went on to win 2518. The Flyers maintained momen-

tum in the second set, scoring eight of the first nine points in the set and taking a 2-0 set lead in the game after a 25-10 set victory.

The third set featured more Flyer dominance, as they opened the set scoring 12 of the first 14 points and winning the game 25-8, sweeping Fordham. Junior Brianna O’Neil and graduate student Lisa Hipp led the Rams with five kills each, junior Abigail Konovodoff had 11 assists and freshmen Grace Muller and Emily Fronk each had five digs.

The Rams’ next A-10 test was not much easier, as they took on the 17-6 (6-2) St. Louis Billikens. The score was knotted at five in the first set, but a 15-7 run by St. Louis allowed them to pull away and take the set 25-16. The second set began at six-all, but the Billikens once again pulled away, going on a 15-6 run and taking the second set 25-15.

The third set was also tightly contested at 14-13 in favor of the Billikens. St. Louis scored three points in a row, Fordham responded with three points of its own and the Billikens countered with another three straight points to go up to 20-16.

St. Louis finished off the set with five of the last nine points, defeating the Rams 25-20 and completing the three-set sweep. O’Neil led the Rams with nine kills, Konovodoff added another 27 assists to her team lead and junior Brennan Delsing had 15 digs.

The loss dropped the Rams to 1-20 on the season and 1-6 in the A-10. Fordham returns home to the Rose Hill Gym this week to play two conference games. It’s first game is with the newest addition to the A-10, Davidson, on Friday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. The Rams will then play VCU on Sunday, Oct. 26, at 1 p.m.

SPORTS

October 22, 2014

Page 19

Water Polo Falls Short in Upset Bid

By ANTHONY ALI STAFF WRITER

A spirited comeback from the Rams fell short last Wednesday, as they were defeated by No. 17 ranked St. Francis. Playing at home for the first time this season, the Rams’ late surge was not enough to overcome a six goal deficit, with the final score at 9-7.

“The guys showed real character when they came back,” said coach Bill Harris. “We’re not looking just to play with good teams. We want to defeat good teams, and I think we’re capable of doing that.”

The Rams, coming off of a three-game losing streak, looked to turn things around against the highly rated St. Francis squad that had just rebounded from its own three-game skid. Both teams started the game with a goal each, with St. Francis opening the scoring. Senior Vuk Vujosevic then added two goals to make the Terriers’ lead 3-1. The Rams pulled one back, with junior Andrew Gonzalez finding the back of the net to help the Rams end the first quarter trailing by only one goal. The second quarter was dominated by St. Francis, as it scored four goals in a row, expanding its lead to 7-2.

Continuing to pile on the goals, the Terriers then marked another goal to start the third quarter, giving them their largest lead of the night at 8-2.

“They surged good,” said Harris. “We were allowing them to take too much time with their long shots.”

Thanks to a second half push which saw four different players

find the back of the net, the Rams were able to mount a comeback and pull themselves within one goal. With a little over a minute left in the quarter, the Rams continued to press in search of the equalizer. A steal from senior Eric Minowitz on the defensive end allowed the Rams one last opportunity to score. Looking for junior Patrick Reyes in the two-meter area, the Rams worked the ball to him before he was promptly tripleteamed. After the ball spilled out to a St. Francis defender, the Terriers called a timeout and scored on an open net in the ensuing play to kill the game off.

Leading Fordham in goals was freshman Matthew Farrell with two. Gonzalez and Minowitz had a goal apiece, with junior Bobby Wurtz, junior Landon Kern and sophomore R.J. Simmons all tallying goals as well. In goal, senior Noah LeBeau had five saves.

The loss saw the Rams heavily outmatched in their exclusion plays, with St. Francis converting 66 percent of its exclusion plays compared to Fordham’s 25 percent. “We didn’t do well with our exclusion goals,” said coach Harris. “Had we done that, it would have been a win for the Rams.” The loss puts the Rams at 10-10 overall, with a 2-4 record in the CWPA Northern Division, which is a slight drop from their 11-9 record at this point in last season.

Fordham water polo played next against Iona in the Judge Cup on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 7:30 p.m., with the hosting Rams looking to avenge their loss against the Gaels from earlier this season.

By ANTHONY PUCIK ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Have you ever heard the saying “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it”? Apparently, the Oakland Athletics and the Detroit Tigers have not, and they paid dearly as a result.

The A’s and Tigers were two of the best teams in the American League and Major League Baseball this season. The A’s had one of the best records in baseball and the Tigers once again found themselves atop the AL Central, but they weren’t exactly cruising to division wins. The A’s had the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim battling them for the top spot in the AL West, while the Tigers had a pesky Kansas City Royals team to deal with in the Central that they struggled to pull away from. As a result, the Tigers and A’s felt the need to make drastic moves at the trade deadline in order to solidify their chances of winning their respective divisions and making the playoffs.

Oakland traded away two first round picks (one being a top prospect Addison Russell), a pitcher and a player to be named later to the Chicago Cubs for starters Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. It also acquired Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes from the Boston Red Sox for their number four hitter, Yoenis Cespedes, and a draft pick. The Tigers also bolstered their starting rotation, acquiring David Price in a three team deal with the Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners. The Tigers ended up sending outfielder Austin Jackson to the Mariners and pitcher Drew Smyly to the Rays.

When these trades occurred, nearly every baseball fan and beat writer already had the American League Championship Series set between the A’s and Tigers. The stacked pitching staffs of the two teams made them seem like a lock to meet in the World Series come October. But, what happened? The Tigers edged out the Royals by a game in the Central, only

to be swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Division Series. The A’s, on the other hand, posted the worst record of any team to make the playoffs, came in second by 10 games in the West to the Angels and lost in the Wild Card game to the Royals. The ALCS features neither the A’s or the Tigers, but the Orioles and Royals.

The A’s and Tigers didn’t need to make the moves they made at the trade deadline in order to be successful. They already were successful. The A’s were the best team in the league with the pitching staff they had, but felt the need to make trades in an attempt to make it better. When they acquired Hammel and Samardzija and gave up a very good prospect in Russell, I figured that would satisfy them. But, when I saw they traded for Lester and gave up Cespedes, I was almost in disbelief. Billy Beane wasn’t implementing Moneyball tactics with this team; he was going for it all, and it backfired tremendously.

Without Cespedes in the lineup, the A’s simply could not hit. Pitching notwithstanding, teams still need to be able to hit in big situations to win, and Oakland could never fill the void Cespedes left. They barely made it to the playoffs and didn’t even get a win out of Lester, who most likely will return to Boston or sign elsewhere in the offseason. So, the A’s traded away top prospects and Cespedes for an extra inning loss on the road in a winor-go-home wild card game. Worth it? Probably not.

The Tigers didn’t make moves as drastic as the A’s did, but they still felt the need to deal some players in order to acquire Price and have the last three AL Cy Young Award winners in their rotation. Unlike Oakland, they were able to squeak by in their division, but got swept by the Orioles in the playoffs. Even with Price and Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, the Tigers couldn’t win a five game series.

Very quickly, the A’s and Tigers went from looking like geniuses to looking like suckers after their deadline moves. They were bested by young teams in the Orioles and Royals who didn’t make huge splashes at the deadline and stuck with the team and the chemistry they had. As a result, they were the two best teams in the American League this season.

Perhaps the A’s would still have collapsed late in the season if they didn’t make the Lester trade and the Tigers still could have lost to the Orioles in the ALDS, but we will never know. One thing we do know, however, is that Oakland and Detroit are watching the playoffs from their couches when they were expected to be the ones playing, and the only thing that changed from the middle of the season to the end of the season is the trades they made that reshaped their teams.

Maybe Oakland and Detroit will think twice before trading away their successful starters in an effort to make them better, because if they didn’t, this postseason might have had a completely different ending.

COURTESY OF FLICKR

The Athletics downfall coincided with their trading of Cespedes to the Red Sox.

Upcoming Varsity Schedule Home games in CAPS

Thursday Oct. 23

Friday Oct. 24

Saturday Oct. 25

Women’s Soccer

SAINT JOSEPH’S 7 p.m.

Men’s Tennis

at Wagner 12 p.m.

Women’s Tennis

Fordham will travel to Brooklyn to play St. Francis again next Wednesday.

Women’s Rowing

Wednesday Oct. 29

GEORGE MASON 2:30 p.m.

SETON HALL 12:00 p.m.

MARIST 6 p.m.

at Fairfield 5 p.m.

UCONN 1 p.m. at Princeton/ Wash & Jeff.

11:30 a.m./4 p.m.

Water Polo

SAMUEL JOSEPH/THE RAM

Tuesday Oct. 28

UMASS 12:00 p.m.

Men’s Soccer

Volleyball

Monday Oct. 27

at Lehigh 12:30 p.m.

Football

Swimming

Sunday Oct. 26

DAVIDSON 7 p.m.

at St. Francis (NY) 7:30 p.m.

VCU 1 p.m.

at Head of the Schuylkill TBA

at Fall Metro.

Regatta TBA

SPORTS

Page 20

October 22, 2014

The Fordham Ram

High-Powered Fordham Offense Has a Few Tricks Up Its Sleeve

By MAX PRINZ SPORTS EDITOR

In his postgame press conferences immediately following each game, head coach Joe Moorhead has stressed the importance of a good week’s practice. Coach Moorhead has said, time and again, that if the team takes care of business during the week, good things will happen on Saturday.

There is, however, one area where Moorhead’s Rams try to get a little creative: two-point conversion trick plays.

“We’re trying to utilize the element of surprise,” Moorhead said.

“We have some fun with it, we try to be creative and when the kids see that [the plays] work they kind of look forward to what we have each week.”

Moorhead also says he enjoys the two point plays because they offer the team a chance to try different things that they otherwise wouldn’t get to in the normal offense.

In their most recent game against the University of Pennsylvania, the Rams dusted off one of those trick plays. With a 41-16 lead and 57 seconds left on the clock in the second quarter, the Rams decided to try a two-point conversion.

Senior quarterback Mike Nebrich led the team out in an unusual formation, with three teammates on the line, four split left

SAMUEL JOSEPH/ THE RAM

Coach Moorhead has kept opponents on their toes with trick plays this season.

and the final three split wide to his right. Senior Brett Biestek, traditionally a defensive end, lined up near the left guard position, but still off the line of scrimmage, thus making him an eligible re-

ceiver.

After receiving the snap, Nebrich scrambled backwards to avoid an oncoming pass rush and desperately lobbed the ball high toward the goal post. Biestek, who

had slipped past the defense, leapt high into the air, grabbed the ball and stuck a toe down to stay in bounds and give the Rams a successful two-point conversion.

These kinds of trick plays have become increasingly common in Fordham football games this season. The Rams also ran two-point conversion plays in their matchups with Columbia and Lafayette.

Both freshman Chase Edmonds, a running back, and senior Brian Wetzel, a wide receiver, have completed passes for conversions.

A surprise onside “kick pass” in the contest against Lafayette also helped change the momentum in Fordham’s favor.

Moorhead and offensive coordinator Andrew Breiner both called the creation of the plays each week a fun process.

“Sometimes I think the coaches get more excited than the players do,” Breiner said. “They kind of roll their eyes at us a little when we come out with something pretty crazy. But they get into it and they obviously love it on Saturdays when they work.”

Moorhead says catching the team by surprise is the most important part of the play.

“It’s quite a process,” Moorhead said. “We kick it around and it’s the most creative play that has an opportunity to be successful is the one that we’ll end up putting in.”

Michael Watts, FCRH ’15,

does play-by-play and color commentary of Fordham football for WFUV. Watts, who says he discusses these plays with coach Moorhead every week, says the versatility of Fordham’s athletes is what makes the trick plays so successful.

“What helps Fordham is that there are so many options for trick plays,” Watts said via email.

“Brett Biestek was the best statistical passer in the history of his high school team, now he plays defensive end, but most opponents wouldn’t know that he’s very much capable of catching a ball with full vertical extension on the back boundary of the endzone.”

Breiner agreed that the versatility was a factor on the trick plays.

“We have tight ends lined up as offensive lineman for that element of surprise,” Breiner said.

“Guys also have to have a savviness to them as well.”

Watts also points out how much fun the team seems to have running these particular plays.

“The staff really enjoys going for these, and being on the sideline for the Biestek catch last week, it’s apparent that the players love these too,” Watts said.

With an offense that averages 528 yards per game, the Rams are a difficult team to stop. But when they’re having fun and getting tricky? It becomes a near-impossible task.

Men’s Soccer Fifth in A-10 Conference

By TARA CANGIALOSI WEB EDITOR

Over the past two weeks, the Fordham men’s soccer team battled four Atlantic 10 conference rivals, and were victorious in two games.

The combined wins against La Salle University and Saint Joseph’s University, along with the tie to Virginia Commonwealth University and loss to George Mason University bring the team’s overall record to 5-7-2, and 2-2-1 in A-10 play.

On Oct. 10, Fordham traveled to Philadelphia to take on La Salle.

In a game in which head coach Jim McElderry started the team’s two sets of brothers, Andres and Tomas Penfold and Mike and Greg McNamara, the Rams came out on top 3-1, with the junior-senior foursome combining for two of the goals and an assist.

“It was a great experience to say the least,” Mike McNamara said. “I was really happy for Greg; he worked really hard and earned this opportunity.”

After the Explorers scored within the first minute of the contest to take a 1-0 lead, Fordham responded in the fifth minute on a play from the two older brothers McNamara and Penfold. Following a cross from Andres Penfold, senior forward Mike McNamara registered his first career goal to tie the game at one.

In the 52nd minute, Kyle Bitterman made a run down the sideline, centering the ball across the field.

Andres Penfold was there and ready, quickly trapping the ball and beating La Salle’s goalkeeper with a shot to the left corner to give the Rams a 2-1 lead.

In the 81st minute, Fordham got an insurance goal when freshman Christopher Bazzini knocked in his first collegiate goal off of Aleksander Mastilovic’s corner kick.

“Ultimately, nothing was better than getting the win at the end of the game,” Mike McNamara said. “It was great to get the win against Lasalle because we had positive energy going into the next game.”

Two days later, the Rams looked to make a clean sweep of their Philadelphia opponents this fall as they came home to Jack Coffey field on Oct. 12 to take on Saint Joseph’s University.

In a highly-anticipated contest against a quality team, the Rams earned the sweep with a 2-0 victory over the Hawks.

After a scoreless first half where each side only took five shots, it was imperative for the Rams to come out with a visible sense of urgency and offensive push toward the goal.

They did just that, netting two goals within the first twenty minutes of the second half.

Sophomore Ole Sandnes jumped

CHRISTIAN WILOEJO/ THE RAM

Senior Kyle Bitterman recorded his third and fourth assists of the year in the Rams’ matches against LaSalle and St. Joseph’s.

at the loose ball opportunity, tapping in his first career goal as a Ram and putting the team ahead 1-0.

“It felt great to help the team against St. Joe’s,” Mastilovic said. “I think we have done a great job the last two games, and I was happy we could show our potential.”

In a match that saw 22 shots in the second half, the Rams were energized and walked away with a 2-0 victory in front of their home crowd.

A week later, the Rams made a southern road trip to take on fellow A-10 rivals VCU and George Mason.

After playing two games in three days, Fordham returned to the Bronx Sunday night with a tie and subsequent loss.

In their first game against VCU on

Oct. 17, a battle of the Rams ensued at Sports Backer Stadium in Richmond, Virginia. The game resulted in a 0-0 tie following two overtime periods.

There were 35 shots total from both teams in the double overtime match, but only six made it on net.

Additionally, VCU had 12 corner kicks and Fordham had seven, but none were converted.

“Offensively, although it may not show it through the stats, I felt like we created a number of good scoring chances,” Brailey said. “We were just unlucky [in] connecting either on the final pass or a shot was blocked.”

To finish out their Virginia road trip, the Rams made the drive to Fairfax to take on the George Mason Pa-

triots, where they ultimately fell 1-0.

Unfortunately for the Rams, the only goal of the game came in the second minute of the first half, when a George Mason player was fouled inside the box.

The ref awarded the Patriots a penalty kick, which Timi Mulgrew easily converted for his tenth goal of the season, giving George Mason the early 1-0 lead.

George Mason got the win, improving their overall season record to 9-3-3. Mike Butts made four saves and Brailey had two for Fordham.

The Fordham men’s soccer team will next be in action on Sunday, Oct. 26, when the Rams host the University of Massachusetts at noon at Jack Coffey Field.