The Fordham Ram Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918 Volume 96, Issue 21
FordhamRam.com
November 19, 2014
Admin Break Down Budget Allocations
Fordham Undefeated in Patriot League Rams Defeat Hoyas 52-7 at Home
By KELLY KULTYS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
By MAX PRINZ SPORTS EDITOR
The 2014 Rams became the first Fordham team to go undefeated in Patriot League play Saturday, defeating Georgetown 52-7. The team’s 32 seniors, who were honored in the Senior Day ceremony before kickoff on Saturday, have come a long way from 2011′s 1-10 season. Senior wide receiver Brian Wetzel reflected on how far the team had come after the game. “When I got here I thought we had a special group of guys,” Wetzel said. “I thought that if we stuck together we could come out and do something great. Obviously that 1-10 season turned that around a little, but the new coaching staff came in and we all bought in and came together.” "We bonded so quick and came together," Wetzel added. "I think we just clicked." Wetzel turned in a strong per-
formance in his final regular season game at Jack Coffey Field, catching nine passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. He was also a favorite target on third downs and moved the chains several times. Another one of those seniors who remembers the 1-10 season all too well is Peter Maetzold. Maetzold replaced Mike Nebrich at quarterback in the second quarter and completed 14 of 18 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns. “Pete’s up for relief pitcher of the year, he’s done an unbelievable job,” head coach Joe Moorhead said. “Three of the biggest games of the year Pete stepped up and performed unbelievably.” Nebrich appeared to land awkwardly on his left knee after completing a pass to senior Tebucky SEE FOOTBALL, PAGE 20
ANDREW ESOLDI/THE RAM
Peter Maetzold led the team with 285 passing yards and two touchdowns.
Students Link Up at RPI for Hackathon By KATIE MEYER NEWS EDITOR
It is a Saturday at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and the mood is tense. All throughout the halls, heads are bent low over laptops. Hushed exchanges are made, eyes never leave the computer screens on which they are fixed. Music plays quietly. Here and there, people catch a few hours of sleep on the floor, or are curled up in a chair. There is only one thing this could be. A hackathon. The 24-hour event is something of a playground for aspiring programmers. The objective is to use programming skills to make literally anything, so long as it is creative and not illegal. Catego-
ries for the RPI event were laid out ahead of time — projects could fall under the definition of “web app,” “mobile app,” “desktop app” or “something in between.” The event marked the first time that Fordham has ever sent an official group to a hackathon. The Computing Sciences Society (CSS) coordinated the trip independently of OSLCD, by executive board members Kenny Durkin, Tausif Hasan, Samuel Joseph (the Ram’s Photo Editor), Aaron DeVera and Hannah Reiss, all FCRH ’16. Durkin, the president of the CSS, said the students who participated were generally inexperienced, with 15 out of the 22 attendees never having been to a hackathon before.
One group, made up of Joseph, ’16, and Stephen Rubio, FCRH ’16, Oliver Belanger, FCRH ’15 and Jake Weissman, Columbia University ’16, made an Android app that analyzed phone usage statistics. Another group, made up of Ian Granger and Armend Pashtriku, both FCRH ’18, created a hardware project that sent tweets and made a light display at the push of a button. Several others, like Pauline Pan, GSB ’17, and Elana Tee and Nicole Kucik, both FCLC ’17, used the time and resources to learn basic coding to build their own personal websites (using a free domain that RPI supplied to all participants). “We couldn't have asked for a better result,” Durkin said. “Part of the reason hackathons are
spreading so quickly is that they are a perfect environment to get over the learning curve to build some new idea[s].” Durkin should know. He has been heavily involved in hackathons since he first discovered them by attending hackNY, a once-a-semester student hackathon hosted by various New York universities. “[I] knew it was something we should bring to Fordham,” Durkin said. “At the time, I was just getting involved with the Computing Sciences Society and knew it would take a while for interest to spread, so I initially attended about a dozen solo throughout the year.” Last spring, the CSS started SEE HACKATHON, PAGE 5
Despite the fact that Fordham recently ended its Excelsior campaign after generating $540 million, the university ended their fiscal 2014 year with a balance of just $446,884. Frank Simio, the vice president for finance and interim Chief Financial Officer, stressed at the university's Planning and Budgeting day last Friday that there really was no budgetary relief provided from these funds. The 10-year campaign provided the school with $108.1 million bookmarked for scholarships, $57.7 million for endowed chairs, $116.1 million for academic support, $125.1 million for facilities and $133.7 million in annual support. Simio was concerned with the annual support since this was money provided for the university as whole. "Gifts don't help the operating budget," Simio said. In a university-wide email sent by Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, he stated that he hopes this campaign will still SEE FUNDING, PAGE 5
University Enrollment Tries Admin By JOE VITALE MANAGING EDITOR
A university-wide email sent on Tuesday revealed a number of realities the university is facing, including “erosion” in graduate school enrollment, upticks in undergraduate enrollment and a growing need to hike up tuition growth. The email, signed by Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, comes just days after a meeting on Friday during which the university announced its 2014 operating results. There, Frank Simio, the vice president for finance and interim Chief Financial Officer, said that seven of 10 schools failed to achieve its targeted tuition and fee revenues. SEE ENROLLMENT, PAGE 2
in this issue
OpinionPage 7 SAGES Mission is Muddled in University Campaign
Culture Page 10 Taylor Swift Pulls Songs from Spotify
Sports PHOTOS BY SAMUEL JOSEPH/THE RAM
The Fordham Computing Sciences Society (CSS) traveled upstate to Troy, New York to participate in a hackathon sponsored by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
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Men’s Soccer Wins A-10 Tournament