Volume 97 issue 1

The Fordham Ram Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918 Volume 97, Issue 1

FordhamRam.com F dh R

JJanuary 21 21, 2015

USG Releases USG Mid-Year Report

By MAX PRINZ STAFF WRITER

CASEY CHUN/THE FORDHAM RAM

While students were on break, tensions flared in the city following Mayor de Blasio’s perceived anti-police remarks.

Students Return to Charged City After Rift Between Mayor, NYPD

By JOE VITALE EDITOR IN CHIEF

Following the decision of a Staten Island grand jury not to indict an NYPD officer in connection with the death of Eric Garner during an arrest for selling untaxed cigarettes, New York City experienced several weeks of events that some say revealed its deepest disparities.

In response to the decision not to indict the officer, thousands filled the streets and public parks of New York City. Some participated in die-ins (including Fordham students in December), while some remained faithful in the judicial system’s ruling.

Speaking at a news conference about the decision, Mayor de Blasio invoked his son, Dante, whom he instructed to take special care during encounters with the police.

The comment struck a nerve with police officers. Tensions flared even higher when two onduty officers were killed while sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn.

SEE POLICE, PAGE 6

The United Student Government (USG) released its mid-year report on Friday, showcasing the results of its various initiatives and resolutions passed in the first half of the 2014-2015 academic year.

The report, presented by Nevin Kulangara, GSB ‘15, executive president, and Sarah Skrobala, FCRH ’15, executive vice president, outlines the group’s efforts regarding a number of initiatives, including its Sexual Misconduct Task Force. It also attempts to allay student concern about a lack of fitness equipment and introduces various efforts to increase sustainability on Fordham’s campus.

“We are delighted to present our results thus far to you in this report,” Kulangara and Skrobala state in an opening letter. “While we have much work to do in the coming months, USG has been using its resources to address the concerns of the student body in a number of different ways.”

The 18-page document also re-

Art of the Bucket List, According to Fr. Phil

By ERIN SHANAHAN ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

“I’m giving a bucket list promoting good living as a Fordham student and a student of Catholic and Jesuit Education,” Rev. Philip A. Florio, S.J., assistant vice president of Mission and Ministry, said on Tuesday, Jan. 20.

It was the day he was scheduled to deliver his “Fordham Bucket List,” an event that took place in Keating 1st Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.

Florio continued, asserting that his Bucket List was not your average checklist.

Father Phil has been a Jesuit for 13 years and a priest for 33.

He began his work at the University of Scranton, Saint Joseph’s University and the University of Pennsylvania prior to beginning working here at Rose Hill in 2010. Before being promoted to assistant vice president of Mission and Ministry, Florio worked as director of Campus Ministry

veals the year’s budget allocations and club approvals.

A focal point of the review is the progress made by the Sexual Misconduct Task Force over the fall semester. The task force, co-chaired

by Caroline Corwin, FCRH ’15, of Women’s Empowerment and Nicholas Sawicki, FCRH ’16, vice president of FCRH, put on several programs, including a speak-out and a question-and-answer session regarding the training of Campus Security Authorities on the judicial procedures and precautions taken in cases of sexual assault.

Along with addressing concerns about access to additional fitness space, Kulangara and Skrobala provide an update on USG’s initiatives to address a variety of student interests, including surveillance of off-campus housing, the university’s smoking policy and a lack of water bottle refill stations on campus.

The assessment also emphasizes the student organization’s efforts to SEE USG, PAGE 3

Ram Appoints New Editors, Expands Staff

By THE FORDHAM RAM

CASEY CHUN/THE FORDHAM RAM

Fr. Phil’s bucket list is more than a list. It can be “a good way of living,” he said.

during his first year at Fordham.

As assistant vice president of Mission and Ministry, Florio oversees the religious activities presented by the Rose Hill, Lincoln Center and Westchester campuses.

In March 2014, CAB sponsored Rev. Joeseph M. McShane S.J., president of the university, to share his Fordham Bucket List with the student body. His list included points SEE BUCKET, PAGE 2

The Fordham Ram has named Joe Vitale and Katie Meyer, both FCRH ’16, as editor-in-chief and managing editor, respectively. Laura Sanicola, FCRH ’17, has been named News editor, Margerita Artoglou, FCRH ’18 has been named Opinion editor and Anthony Pucik, FCRH ’16, has been named Sports editor. Amanda Giglio, FCRH ’17, has been promoted from assistant editor to Culture editor, which she will co-edit with Nicole Horton, FCRH ’16.

The Fordham Ram has also expanded its photography staff to three members and added three staff members to increase its online presence.

In addition, The Fordham Ram has named Robert Frerich, FCRH ’16 as Copy Chief and Sydney Keen, FCRH ’17, as Assistant Copy Chief.

See page 12 to meet the rest of the Vol. 97 staff.

in this issue

Opinion page 7 The Argument for Net Neutrality Culture

page 18 Race, Gender Roles Misrepresented in Movies

Sports

page 20 Fordham Track Remembers Michael Walsh

Students Wager Working Without Wages

By LAURA SANICOLA NEWS EDITOR

It’s a Friday evening when Elena Meuse, FCRH ’16, steps off the Metro North platform and makes her way back to her Walsh apartment. Her week ends after completing a 16-credit workload and 16 additional hours interning at

Random House Children's Books in Manhattan. Presently, however, the English and communications major, hoping to break into the publishing field, walks away with something other than the valuable work experience coveted by thousands of other college-aged interns: a paycheck.

“It got very exhausting having

to balance interning with both class and a job because my internship was costing money,” Meuse said in reference to the unpaid internship she held last year. “Since my current internship is paid, I am able to cut back my work-study hours so I have more time for school work. Last semester I just didn't sleep.”

Internships are widely regarded as a rite of passage among the 20-something pre-professionals of the United States, and Fordham University boasts that on average, 91 percent of Gabelli School students alone hold at least one internship during their college careers.

SEE INTERNSHIPS, PAGE 6

NEWS

Page 2

January 28, 2015

Journal From Abroad

PUBLIC SAFETY BRIEFS Jan. 19 186th and Arthur 1:45 p.m.

A Fordham student injured her right upper arm while walking past a construction site when wind blew a wooden construction fence and hit her. There was no visible injury and the student declined further medical attention.

Jan. 20 Loyola Hall 9:30 p.m.

A male student reported flu-like symptoms and was transported to St. Barnabas.

Jan. 21 189th and Arthur 2:45 a.m.

Two Fordham students were harassed by an unknown male on Arthur Ave. asking for their iPhones.

The man followed them into Beer Cave where he was denied entry. Students filed a report with the NYPD, who canvassed the area with negative results.

Jan. 21 Rose Hill Gym Basement 12:00 p.m.

An assistant athletic trainer reported to work and placed her keychain on his desk. Ten minutes later, she returned to her desk to find part of her key ring, containing two small desk cabinet keys, missing. Nothing was reported missing from the cabinet.

Jan. 21 Parking Garage 3:30 p.m.

A university employee reported damage to her car, which was parked in the university garage. A mirror was broken off. Public Safety canvassed the area with no results, and the incident was not recorded on surveillance footage.

Jan. 21 2463 Hughes 4:00 p.m.

A student was preparing lunch at an off-campus apartment when he cut his left middle finger. He was transported to Montefiore by Fordham University EMS. Jan. 21 St. Barnabas 2:30 p.m.

A student who had been transported to St. Barnabas earlier in the week reported that he was missing $70 from his wallet. He believes the money may have gone missing during his trip to the emergency room. Security investigated with negative results.

—Compiled by Cailin McKenna, Assistant News Editor

Follow us on Twitter! @TheFordhamRam

SANG TAN / AP PHOTOS

London’s subway system, the “tube,” is just one of the many smiliarities study abroad students have found to NYC.

Two Nations, Separated

By One Language

By SARAH BURNS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

LONDON — On one of my first days in London, I passed through a tube station with a blank expression. I carry this expression everywhere in New York City because I do not want to be drawn into conversation with a stranger. My assumption when coming to London was that it might be a different country, but surely the way I walked and interacted would fit in. Suddenly, I roughly bumped into an older man. He looked scruff y and suspicious, but before I had the chance to walk away, he caught me and began to apologize profusely. My facade broke, and I immediately became flustered. Do

I apologize, too? Do I thank him?

Should I tell him to go away? I was not sure how to react, and uttered some senseless noise before he turned and was on his way. This was not an experience New York had prepared me to handle.

Of all the places to study abroad, London is one of the most similar to New York. I thought I knew what to expect studying in England, and, in a lot of ways, I did. My introduction to the iconic British symbols, like red doubledecker buses and elaborate townhouses, was almost instantaneous.

Within three days of arriving, I had actually driven on the left side of the road, mastered the “tube” and traveled the city with ease. Considering the amount of culture shock that the program

warned U.S. students of, I wondered as to why I was so comfortable with the city. I had absolutely no problem with the idea of traveling alone and did not balk at the idea of getting lost.

Upon further exploration, I found that the places in Central London that I had visited so far are strikingly similar to those of the boroughs of New York. For example, Leicester Square closely resembles New York’s China Town, and Piccadilly Circus is alarmingly like a smaller version of Times Square. However, this was a completely new country for me. There had to be differences, otherwise I believe my studying “abroad” would be a bit of a copout. It turns out that the main differences between London and

Blizzard Brings City to Standstill FROM SNOW, PAGE 1

“They were doing sidewalks outside fences, sidewalks and roadways on campus,” he added.

“Mr Carroll errs on the side of safety,” said Davan, referring to John Carroll, Director of Public Safety.

“He doesn’t want people to get hurt and he doesn’t like professors and support staff having to commute” in bad conditions, Davan said.

With no reports of injuries, Da-

van also said that Public Safety decided not to request that students stay indoors during the storm.

“We didn’t restrict kids like we did two years ago when we did with Sandy…but we didn’t [want] anybody killed or injured,” he said.

“But last night kids were free to go wherever,” he said.

Though the late January storm marks the first class cancellations of the spring semester, an abundance of class cancellations

have resulted in altered semester schedules in the past.

In 2014, for example, the university had weather-related cancellations that cost students two Wednesdays, one Monday, one Thursday and a half-day on a Tuesday. In response, the university cancelled reading days at the end of the semester.

In 2013, Hurricane Sandy wiped out a week of classes during the fall semester and forced a condensed schedule.

New York City lie not in the physical aspects, but in the social ones.

In the first week of my stay in the city, I heard the phrase “two nations separated by a common language” twice. In fact, once was by an American and the other time by a Brit. This phrase can be attributed to the difference in accents. However, I mostly associate it with how polite the people are, as well as differences in word choice. I had to adjust to the type of manners expressed by the residents of London. Eventually, it felt rude to just ignore a person on the street, or to even walk by a person handing out flyers without at least a “no, thank you.” Actually, I say “no, thank you” to those with flyers outside of the tube station all the time, and often their immediate response is “you’re welcome!"

They don’t even give me anything!

The phrase is just said for the sake of being polite. As for the differences in word choice, I still have not adjusted to calling the subway the “tube,” and calling chips “crisps” is never going to happen.

It’s true that London reminds me of New York in many ways.

It looks like home, but it still has that new-city feeling. The different social aspects between the two cities really emphasize the differences in the two cities. The physical differences between the cities are small, really. It’s the common language that ultimately makes them so different.

Ex-President Injured, But Recovering

By JOE VITALE EDITOR IN CHIEF

Rev. Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J., former president of the university, suffered minor injuries when he fell in his residence at MurrayWeigel on Monday, Jan. 19, according to Public Safety.

He was transported by ambulance to Montefiore North in the Bronx, but a security official at the off-campus residence on Tuesday said that O’Hare had returned and was recovering.

O’Hare, who is in his eighties, was the 31st president of the university and served from 1984 to 2003. He is the longest serving president of the university.

O’Hare, who grew up in the Bronx, was once the editorin-chief of the Jesuit magazine America for 12 years.

This Week at Fordham Thursday Jan. 29

Friday Jan. 30

CAB Cinevents!

Presents St. Vincent

Verbal Essences First Show of 2015

Monday Feb. 2 Cultural Affairs February Raffle

Keating 1st 9 p.m.

Blackbox Theater 8 p.m.

McGinley Ballroom 1 p.m.

Campus Activities Board will be showing the film St. Vincent. The comedy, starring Bill Murray, tells the story of a young boy of recently divorced parents, who finds an unlikely friend and mentor in his own grouchy neighbor. The event is free.

Fordham’s spoken word group Verbal Essences has their first show of the spring semester. The group will perform with their two new members, Declan Murphy and Jacquelyn Kozak. There will be a second show on Saturday, Jan. 31, at 8 p.m.

CAB is holding holding its monthly raffle in which students can enter fora chance to win a limited amount of tickets to Broadway plays, off-Broadway shows and sporting events. Tickets are $20 and must be purchased by winners the day of the raffle.

For more campus events, visit FordhamRam.com

Wednesday Feb. 4 Gabelli School of Business Consulting Cup Keating 1st 5 p.m.

A semester long group project for Gabelli students will culminate in a presentation concerning a major challenge facing a Fortune 500 company and a possible solution. The winning team will receive $1,000.

NEWS

January 28, 2015

Page 3

If Passed, Law would Require Affirmative Consent FROM CUOMO, PAGE 1

‘yes’ or that an individual has given his or her full consent,” she says. “It seems like a simple redefinition, but I believe it carries great power and potential.”

Others doubt the effectiveness of affirmative consent. “I don’t know how much the bill will change because rape cases will still often, unfortunately, come down to he said/ she said,” Rebecca Lewis, FCRH ’17, said.

Gabrielle D’Amato, FCRH ’17, expresses similar skepticism of the plan’s enforcing power — “I really am not sure how it would be carried out other than giving universities another item on a check off list when investigating.”

“I think the college sexual experience is a very in depth topic and it is difficult to say whether this law will improve it for all parties,” said Joe Collini, FCRH ‘16. “That being said, I do think it is a great step toward preventing miscommunication and avoiding the ambiguity of the ‘he said she said’ debate that is the inevitable result of most college sexual assault cases” If this bill makes it through state legislature, the law would affect all colleges in New York, which includes private institutions like Fordham University.

Fordham currently has a consent policy defined in its Campus Assault and Relationship Education (CARE) brochure. Consent, the

policy states, “is defined as all people in a sexual encounter agree to the sexual activity.

“Agreement to sexual activity means there are informed, freely given, mutually understandable words or actions that indicate a willingness to participate in the particular sexual activity,” the policy states. “A person may decide at any time that he/she no longer consents and want to stop sexual activity.”

It is unclear if Fordham will have to change its policy to reflect state law if the bill is passed.

“Fordham already has an affirmative consent policy and a clear consent definition that can be found in the CARE brochure and online,“ Christopher Rodgers, dean of students, said. “We will work to assure that our wording meets the standards set by the state when the new law passes.”

In addition to defining affirmative consent, the law will provide victims with amnesty for drug and alcohol violations when reporting a sexual assault. This will ensure that victims and bystanders are not discouraged from coming forward.

It will also require universities to distribute a bill of rights regarding sexual assault and to make the administrators go through training on how to properly handle reporting.

Though many schools already have similar policies, this law will create one consistent procedure for all New York schools to follow. It will hold

RAM ARCHIVES

The governor’s proposal follows investigations of college campuses over the mishandling of sexual assault claims.

private colleges accountable to the state when handling cases. Furthermore, it gives victims the option of reporting to state authorities rather than campus and local authorities.

There are students completely opposed to state involvement in this issue. Shannon Spillane, GSB ’17, believes that “the statewide implementation of ‘yes means yes’ will cause a lot of unnecessary action and arguments,” she said. “I understand that the safety of students is in the best interest of private and public colleges and universities, but this topic is one where one side has their

story and the other has theirs and the truth lies somewhere in the middle.”

During a news conference held at the New York University campus, the governor insinuated, without naming any names, that certain universities have mishandled sexual abuse allegations to avoid negative publicity. These schools, he claims, “don't want the publicity of the attacks happening on their campus, so they do what they can to tamp it down.” Cuomo says that there are some who believe such attacks should be a private matter, but he believes “This is not a private matter.

This is a crime. It should be treated as a crime, no matter where it is committed.” He also expressed hope that this policy will eventually expand past the state and “start a dialogue across the nation.” There are 55 U.S. schools being federally investigated for their handling of sexual assault accusations.

Though many Republican legislators are skeptical of how effective the governor’s plan could be, Republican Assemblyman Bill Nojay has said, “Creating a statewide, uniform standard for addressing these issues will be a good step forward.”

Rose Hill Gym’s 90th Brings Publicity, Alums to Fordham FROM BIRTHDAY, PAGE 1

one of WFUV’s most prominent alums, taped a mock "buy or sell" segment to celebrate the gym's 90th birthday. Reali was in attendance for Thursday night's game, occupying a seat on press row.

"This gym has so much character, and it's been part of the program for so long," Reali said after the game.

"I have had some great memories here and I think it's a great place to play basketball when it's completely full."

The long history of Rose Hill Gym is unsurprisingly filled with special moments. At its opening in 1925, the 3,200-seat arena was one of the largest in the country and earned the nickname "The Prairie." It played host to the final high school game of future hall of famer

Kareem Adul-Jabbar and even served as a barracks during World War Two. While full of history and home to many unbelievable moments, the Rose Hill Gym can also hinder the efforts of Fordham basketball. Many young recruits seek the bright lights and better facilitaties only larger, more modern arenas can provide.

Fordham head coach Tom Pecora has even admitted the gym can be difficult to sell to recruits.

"I knew it was going to be the biggest challenge in the recruiting area,” Pecora told The New York Times in March of last year. “I know it’s something every other school uses against us. You have to find guys who can look beyond that."

Reali expressed belief in the ability of the gym to provide a great

home atmosphere, but did admit that the gym also provided a challenge for the program.

"You have to ask yourself, can this program get to the next level with this gym being what it is?" Reali said. "That is a challenge. Now, you can make that into one of your best attributes as well and show the character this place has when it’s completely full."

Reali also ventured into the student section at one point in the second half and chatted with some of the Fordham faithful.

"That's a very knowledgeable student section, I'll give you that much," Reali said. "They wanted to know what the future of this team is."

The future of the Rams is being questioned by many, especially given the struggles of a very young

team this season. The Rams played poorly against George Washington, falling into an early 12-2 hole and never climbing out of it, en route to their sixth conference loss of the season.

Reali admits that the Rose Hill Gym could be contributing to those struggles.

"Like with all things in life, you have to periodically take stock of where you are," Reali said in a later email. "Do the facilities give you an advantage? Or keep you in the fight? Or hold you back? If you were to compare all the gyms – and gyms isn’t even the word you want to use because there’s only one gym, everything else in the Atlantic 10 is really closer to an arena – if you were to compare all gyms in the A-10 where would Fordham come in?"

CASEY CHUN/ THE FORDHAM RAM

During Thursdays game, Fordham Athletics distributed this shirt to students who attended the birthday celebration as part of a “Maroon Out”

"You have to ask yourself: would a three- or four- star high school basketball recruit who is played high school games in front of huge crowds — maybe even on NBA courts — view the Rose Hill Gymnasium as the place he wants to call home for four years?" Reali continued. "Would a player who’s looking at Rutgers or Seton Hall or Boston College or GW see Fordham in the same light?"

Adding to the Rams' struggles has been an inability to fill up Rose Hill Gym. The Rams have yet to play in front of a sellout crowd this season.

"The Rose Hill Gymnasium can be a weapon for this team," Reali said. "When it’s packed it’s savage.

They knew what they were doing when they designed it a century ago. But that was a century ago.

And that’s only when it’s packed."

Though not a sell out, the student section remained mostly full for a large portion of the contest, until the Colonials pulled away for a 7959 win.

Students and fans who remained for the entirety of the celebration were treated to a video montage played at halftime featuring Pecora, head women's basketball coach Stephanie Gaitley and David Roach, director of athletics. Fordham and WFUV alums Michael Kay and Bob Papa also lent their talents to the video.

Papa, who does play-by-play of New York Giants games for CBS Radio, shared similarly fond recollections.

"When I think of the Rose Hill Gym, I think of 90 years of great Fordham Athletics," Papa said.

But, it was head coach Pecora who summed up the now 90-yearold gym the best.

"It's always been home.”

NEWS

January 28, 2015

Page 5

Where Do We Get Our Water? Not the Botans FROM RUMOR, PAGE 1

it,” said Kelsey Schappell, FCRH ’15 and an RA in Belmont Community Housing, “but not in RA training.” Other RA’s agreed —there is no mention in training of why laundry is free. Schappell heard the story from a friend who was an Environmental Studies major, but in asking students and professors in the program, nobody seemed to have heard it. Dr. Steven Stoll, associate professor of history who teaches in the Environmental Studies Program said he is not in that loop.

“Why would the Botanical Garden pay Fordham’s bill?” he asked by email. “Can you imagine how much water goes through all the buildings, the food service, and the dorms? Millions of gallons.”

Administrators do not seem to be perpetuating the myth, either.

Senior Director of Communications Bob Howe seemed perplexed by the rumor. Joe Muriana, associate vice president for government and urban affairs, had not heard the water story, but was not surprised by the misinformation. “Even in some of our official stuff, there are… embellishments, I wouldn’t want to say errors.” He pointed to a plaque on campus that stretches the truth of whether George Washington ever slept at Rose Hill Manor.

Muriana suspects the tour guides of Rose Hill Society (RHS) were behind the rumor, but RHS Director Rosellen-Greco disagreed. “We

CASEY CHUN/ THE FORDHAM RAM

It is a commonly held belief among Fordham students that the Botanical Gardens is paying for Fordham’s water supply.

have no idea how such a rumor might have started,” she said in an email. “It's certainly not something our student ambassadors are taught, nor is it something I have heard.”

RHS ambassadors, however, point to others within their ranks.

A number of tour guides, dating back to 2011, said they had heard others sharing the story on tours, but none admitted to telling it themselves. Like most rumors, this one has been passed down for years, verbally, leaving no record of its appearance.

Reality is just as interesting as the rumor. According to anthropology professor and de facto campus historian Dr. Alan Gilbert, the university used to own the land all the way to the Bronx River. In 1890, New York City was looking to set aside more green space, so they used their power of eminent domain to take all the land east of what is now Southern Boulevard (then a carriage path) down to the river. The college was paid a fair price, but it had to move its cemetery — now behind Collins Hall — as covered in the Fordham Ram Volume 95

issue 14 (Sept. 24, 2014). The students could not have been happy about the seizure; they used the Bronx River as a swimming hole.

But Gilbert said their fortunes were better in winter when the low area that currently houses the parking garage was flooded to create an ice rink. Future students would benefit from the sale—the college used the money to build Hughes Hall and Dealy Hall.

Fordham does, of course, have some agreements with the Botanical Garden. Students can visit the grounds for free, and Fordham has

helped the garden with overflow parking. It also takes all the university’s leaves each fall for composting So why the free laundry? Valera said he decided nearly 20 years ago that it would be easier to just include the cost in the housing fee than for students to deal with paying in coins.

Representatives of the Botanical Garden never responded to repeated inquiries, but there is little reason to doubt Valera’s account.

“As we go through life,” he said, “realize, there’s no free lunch.”

Adapting To Times, Facilities Plans for Future

By KELLY KULTYS STAFF WRITER

Over the last few years Fordham has been attempting to meet the needs of its growing student population. With the help of the Excelsior campaign, the university added new residence halls at Rose Hill and Lincoln Center, a new home for the business school and the law school at Lincoln Center.

Still, according to Marco Valera, vice president of Facilities Operations, his department has a few smaller renovations to complete. Currently, the list includes improvements to the science labs, renovations to the church roofs, ADA-accessible additions and updates to the residence halls.

The largest improvement on the list will be adding air conditioning units to Walsh Hall.

“We’re going to try this summer to replace all the windows — it’s going to be close,” Valera said. “And then after we have the windows in — it may not be this year maybe later in ‘15 or early in ‘16, we’ll be putting air conditioning in there.”

Walsh Hall is one of the few residential buildings on Fordham’s campus without air conditioning units.

However, one of the areas that was not specifically addressed is the crowded fitness facilities.

This past summer, the university closed the Lombardi Fitness Center, which previously housed cardio and weightlifting equipment.

Nevin Kulangara, GSB ’15, and United Student Government ex-

KELLY KULTYS/ THE FORDHAM RAM

As the student population size grows at Fordham, students recognize the inadequite facilities such as the RamFit Center.

ecutive president, called the current space “inadequate.”

“As versatile as [the RamFit Center] is, it just isn’t big enough, especially the free weights section,” Kulangara said. “I noticed as a student that it was almost dangerous working out in that free weights space. People were literally elbow to elbow trying to lift weights.”

Sarah Bickford, administrator of fitness and recreation in the RamFit Center, said it can be hard to judge how intensely the fitness facility is used because its usages varies with students’ schedules.

Still, she admitted there are

times when the facility is noticeably more crowded. “Generally, the busiest times are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and around 3 to 4 p.m. on into the evening hours,” Bickford said in an email. “The less crowded times are: 6 a.m. to 11a.m. and 10 p.m. to 12a.m.”

Fordham Athletics is planning to open an auxiliary weight-lifting area near where the old Lombardi center was, but those plans were originally delayed until January.

Besides the fitness center however, one area that Kulangara and Valera have expressed interest in is making the campus more ADAaccessible.

“We’re adding ADA [compliant] entrance doors,” Valera said.

“We have a program for multiyears primarily at Rose Hill. Next year we’ll probably add about five operating devices.”

Kulangara and USG, however, have been pushing for the renovation of Collins Hall for the addition of an elevator.

“We’re talking about basically the only facility on campus where groups like Mimes and Mummers can really perform using a full set of props and everything like that,” Kulangara explained. “At the same time, it’s a building that is just closed off to a certain portion of

the student body.”

Kulangara acknowledged that this would be a very expensive project, but emphasized that it was worth the cost.

“A prospective [student with a handicap] came up to us and said ‘I’m really interested in theater, you know what are my options here?'” Kulangara said. “And we couldn’t lie to her, we couldn’t have her come to Fordham hoping that she could get involved in theater and then have her find out she can’t. So we had to tell her you can definitely get involved in the writing process, but when it comes to acting or stage props or whatever you want to do, there are going to be a lot of limitations for you.”

Valera said his department is currently looking to do a study to see exactly how much that addition would cost.

But, in terms of large scale campus renovations, Valera said that there are not many planned for Rose Hill, despite the fact that they are looking into ideas for the McGinley Center in the future.

Valera emphasized however, that these are just ideas, not a reality.

“We’ll never build that — it’s really conceptual,” Valera said about the proposed re-design

by Sasaki, an architecture firm.

“We really liked their presentation: it includes the architectural elements of this campus, a little stone, a little modern glass. It spoke to us when we saw Sasaki’s rendering, but it’s really just being used for development purposes at this point.”

NEWS

Page 6

January 28, 2015

CASEY CHUN/ THE FORDHAM RAM

Stanley Stilwell (left) and Alex Zamora (right), both Gabelli students, are set to fill the two open spots on USG after seats open.

Stilwell, Zamora to Hold USG Senate Positions SEE USG, PAGE 1

election on Jan. 22 to fill the two open spots. Candidates had to introduce themselves to the senate, present their ideas and answer questions from the senators, after which the senate held a private discussion and voted. Stilwell ran uncontested for Jacaruso's vacant seat, but Zamora beat out two other freshman challengers to fill Phelan's position.

Both Stilwell and Zamora had considered running for a USG position before, and when the two Senate seats opened up, they decided to act.

“Running for a USG position

has always been in the back of my mind since my freshman year,” said Stilwell via email, noting that “other obligations” had prevented him from running earlier.

Zamora was planning on waiting to run for a position, but changed his mind once he saw the vacancy announcement.

“I actually decided I wanted to run next year because I have always enjoyed politics [and] student government,” he said, also via email.

Stilwell and Zamora touted their prior leadership experience and campus involvement to win over the Senate. Stilwell pointed

to his time as a Resident Assistant and as a member of the men's crew team, as well as his earlier work on the USG Budget Committee and Operations Committee, as indicative of his “teamwork, time management and leadership” skills.

Zamora entered the race with experience as director of finance for the mock trial team. He said his involvement there has allowed him to become “quite familiar with how both Office of Student Leadership and Community Development and the Budget Committee work.” In addition, he is also a member of the Finance Society, Alternative Investments

Club and the pending approval Investment Banking Society. His said his strong extracurricular background helped him edge out his opponents.

“I made sure to communicate that I have plenty of prior leadership experience,” Zamora said, “and that I am someone who gets things done and collaborates well with others.”

Looking ahead, the two Senators will have shorter terms than their peers, which means less time to implement new initiatives and policies. Stilwell said he will use the “time crunch” as motivation to work even harder to achieve

the goals he set out during his introduction to the Senate on Thursday. One of those goals is to make it easier for students to use study rooms in the library and elsewhere.

“I ran on the initiative of a potential library study room reservation system,” he said, adding that he plans to expand that system “to other multipurpose rooms across campus.”

He has already begun working on the initiative with the USG Vice President of the Gabelli School of Business, Kosta Demopoulos, GSB ’15.

Zamora said that although he has “no concrete plans” for this semester, he is interested in working on Fordham Student Holdings, the proposed student business and entrepreneurship incubator Kulangara is spearheading this year.

Although their terms have just begun, Kulangara said that he is already very impressed with the two new Senators.

“I think he's a great fit for the Senate,” he said of Stilwell. “Everyone vouched for Stanley and his experience, a lot of people on the senate already knew him.”

Noting that he won in a race against two other very qualified freshman candidates, Kulangara also expressed his admiration for Zamora.

“It was pretty impressive to see that much involvement from a freshman,” he said, adding that Zamora arrived at the special election well-versed in USG's plans and policies. “He read up on our mid-year report, he came prepared. He knew what we had been working on, but he also gave suggestions on how we can improve, so that's exactly what we're looking for.”

Business Group Offers Chance to Excel (With Low Risk)

By ERIN SHANAHAN ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

This semester, Fordham’s chapter of Smart Woman Securities will have the opportunity to send members on a once in a lifetime trip to meet Warren Buffett. Last year, the chapter sent eleven of its members on this unique trip. In addition, the organization anticipates a busy semester of weekly speakers and off-campus trips. The organization’s goals, policies and events, as well as its new executive board, was discussed at its first meeting of the spring semester, which took place on Wednesday, Jan. 21.

Smart Woman Securities is a national organization with the goal of educating undergraduate women in personal finance and investing.

With the mentorship of a very active SWS alumnae, the club provides its members with the tools necessary to compete in the world of finance. The Fordham University chapter was founded in 2009 and it meets every week to hear different speakers share valuable information regarding the business world.

“This spring, we focus on career exploration and give members the opportunity to match their skills and talents with career choices through a dynamic speaker series, exclusive corporate visits and valuable SWS National resources,” Noelle Brennan, GSB ’16 and chief executive officer of Smart Woman Securi-

ties, commented after the first SWS meeting of the spring semester. In addition to Brennan, this year’s executive board consists of Abby Harman, GSB ’16, as chief development officer, Leona Lam, GSB ’16, as chief investment officer, Erika Schwartz, GSB ’17, as chief operating officer, Laura Nevins, GSB ’17, as chief marketing officer, Lauren Kelly, GSB ’17, as Jr. Development Officer, and Rose LoTempio, GSB ’18, as the freshman liaison.

“As CEO,” Brennan commented, “I hope to provide our members with a club experience that brings about personal growth, intellectual curiosity and confidence when it comes to making valuable connections and demonstrating ability.”

The club will have a series of speakers and corporate visits. The first event, a panel with Ernst & Young, will occur Wednesday, Jan. 28. In addition, this semester the club will host speakers from J.P. Morgan, Barclays and Bank of America, as will organize a trip to the Federal Reserve. Also, the Women in Leadership Conference will be held on April 10 at Rose Hill. “The Women in Leadership Conference is Fordham SWS’s annual capstone event where we invite respected speakers from prestigious firms along with recruiters to speak and network with our students,” Brennan said.

Additionally, SWS as a national organization will be taking applications from the Fordham chapter to have the opportunity to meet with

SAMUEL JOSEPH/THE FORDHAM RAM

Smart Woman Security expects a busy semester with events such as their “Women in Leadership” conference.

Warren Buffett. “ The Warren Buffett Trip, reserved for the most committed of our members, is an exciting opportunity where members from SWS chapters nationwide are selected to take part in a trip to Omaha and meet Mr. Buffett himself, ask him question, and visit Berkshire companies.” Brennan said. “This past spring, Fordham SWS had the highest representation on the trip of every SWS chapter, with 11 members in attendance.”

Fordham’s chapter of SWS believes that they have excelled for several reasons.

“Unlike other chapters, we are able to draw in professionals to speak with students at our seminars on a weekly basis as well as organize a student-run conference with successful and respected professionals annually,” Brennan said. “Additionally, we organize corporate visits and often include other chapters in these events.”

Also, because of the Gabelli School of Business, the club enjoys a large, passionate membership support.

“I have already taken away so much from this club and it has integrated very well into my academic work at Gabelli,” Theresa Fazio, GSB ’18, shares. “When I start taking finance classes, I will already have a basic understanding of how to give a stock pitch and much more thanks to this great organization.”

January 28, 2015

OPINION

Page 7

The Fordham Ram

Do Students Have a Responsibility to Help Schools in the Bronx?

By JOANNE DRAWBAUGH CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Rose Hill Gym is most fun when packed with Bronx elementary school students. Fordham and the local schools form a unique community in which we are all striving toward improving our surrounding neighborhood. As Fordham students we have the opportunity to receive an amazing education and take advantage of all the opportunities that New York City has to offer, but we also have a resonsibility to use our talents and resources to help our bourough.

What do we do when we witness something in need, be it a neighbor or an entire community locked in economic struggle? This is a question that universities like Fordham face every time they look beyond the borders of their campus. Inside the campus gates, there is a lush oasis complete with castle-like buildings and Versailles-quality landscaping. Outside these boundaries, the harsh realities of New York’s infamous wealth gap come to life.

It is a dichotomy that can be found at schools across the nation, ranging from University of Southern California’s notorious University Park in the west to Yale’s New Haven, Connecticut, here on the east coast.

Here at Fordham, we have a close relationship with the surrounding Bronx community. Many of us live in apartments found throughout the Belmont area, and when our bodies beg for a break from Sodexo, we hit up the delicious eateries run by fellow Bronx residents.

Furthermore, Fordham profits off

the array of amenities its setting offers. The university markets itself to prospective students as “The Jesuit University of New York,” situated in the heart of Little Italy in the Bronx.

Pamphlets tout the convenience of our proximity to the Bronx Zoo, Botanical Gardens and Fordham Road shopping district. The school uses these features to draw students in,

ing to provide their assistance. Other schools take similar measures. The University of Chicago is located in one of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods, but is making attempts to use employee-assisted housing to put professors in area homes in order to increase property values and mend the broken neighborhood.

more “livable” by pushing the struggling population elsewhere. That does not fix the problem, it just puts it out of sight and therefore out of mind.

Fordham’s charitable efforts also seem like a publicity stunt at times, meant to serve as a tangible example to justify the university’s Jesuit values. The economic problems found

KELLYN SIMPKINS/THE FORDHAM RAM

Fordham’s surrounding neighborhood is home to kids who would benefit from more of our support.

and therefore owes a lot to the area that provides them.

As a university, Fordham already takes measures to give back to the community in which it thrives. For example, the volunteer fair puts Bronx-based charities in touch with an army of students ready and will-

These projects are all helpful and certainly a good first step, but it will take more sophisticated, prolonged, and thoughtful measures to enact real change. The University of Chicago’s plan sounds suspiciously similar to purposeful gentrification, a process that merely makes a place

in the Bronx and other communities like it throughout the nation stem from more than just a lack of manpower and money. At their root is a lack of empathy and, at worst, economic manipulation.

If universities hope to make a positive, lasting impact on their

surrounding areas, they should put funding into programs that improve infrastructure and provide opportunities to disenfranchised people.

Programs that offer alternatives to public transportation or a daycare program for single mothers would help families better provide for their children. Fundraising for community beautification or the formation of a community watch program would draw residents from other areas of the city to patronize local businesses and allow them to flourish. We have a vast array of resources that can aid the Bronx community with different attitudes and ideas.

It is important that schools take visible, active measures to help their surrounding neighborhoods, but perhaps the most important thing a university can do is educate its students. Fordham must show them the forces governing policy in New York and beyond. It must explain the history of how a place like the Bronx came to be. Most importantly, Fordham must instill a sense of urgent compassion in students. If we do not have the intense desire to ensure that systematic oppression comes to an end, there is no way the situation of communities like this will improve Yes, volunteer work and charity help communities. Yet, these are just Band-Aids for a wound that needs stitches. If we are equipped with clear eyes and good hearts, we can work towards a more sustainable solution long after leaving Fordham.

Here, we have an opportunity to do just that.

Joanne Drawbaugh, GSB ‘17, is a marketing major from Mechanicsburg, Pennyslyvania.

Giving Teachers More Power in the Classroom

By BRI ALLARD CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Picture this: a high school where students are engaged in their classes and teachers are passionate about the material. Educators teach in unique styles and their students are fully engaged in the class, rather than staring out the window. This may seem like a far-fetched situation, but recently there have been some charter schools that are working towards making this fantasy reality. By eliminating administrators and letting teachers control the conditions of their work environment, issues seem to vanish.

In contrast to these utopias, if you were to walk through the halls of most high schools, you would see kids sitting in rows; some stare at a board, others take notes, but most zone out. These students are uninterested in the material presented to them. However, the teacher cannot do anything to change this because there are national and state educational standards that must be met in a very specific manner. After the teachers cover all the required material, they have no time to teach what they want to using their own style. If it is an AP course, forget about any extra time. In the AP History class I took my junior year of high school,

our teacher had to print his notes and give them to us two days before the test, because we did not have enough time to cover the necessities.

Fortunately, not all is lost. These teacher-run schools are the solution to many problems high schools face today. These models allow teachers to choose what they want to teach and how they want to present the material, all while meeting educational standards. This gives teachers the freedom and power they need to fully engage their students. If we have teachers who are not restricted by unyielding standards, classes will become more interesting. No student enjoys staring at a board all day and to take notes, and most teachers do not like to stand in front of a group of blank faces and lecture.

This style of learning needs to be eliminated, and having teacher-run schools is the way to do it.

It is not only the teachers who benefit from these schools; students are at an advantage as well. With each teacher creating a unique class based on his or her teaching style, students are able to pick classes and teachers whose style would best improve their learning. I, along with many other students, referred to my high school as a prison because of the rigid rows of desks and rig-

CASEY CHUN/THE FORDHAM RAM

College classes are more effective when professors have more control in the classroom.

orous note-taking. Had every class presented me with an actual change of scenery, rather than a change of rooms, high school would not have been such a prison.

In addition to solving the problem of disengaged students, these schools eliminate the communication gap between teachers and administrators as the teachers would become administrators. In these schools, teachers evaluate one another, which is a much more effective system. With these types of evaluations, teachers can give and receive constructive criticism much better than outside administra-

tors, because they are on common ground. We all remember when a principal or vice principal would come into the room. The whole atmosphere would change, and most of the students would focus on the reaction of the administrator rather than the lesson being nervously presented by the teacher. If it were, say, your history teacher evaluating your English teacher, rather than the principal, the atmosphere would be much more casual, making it easier to proceed as if it were a normal class.

These teacher-run schools remind me a lot of the college environment.

For example, each section of Faith and Critical Reasoning, a freshman theology course, is different based on the professor. However, each section fits under the same requirements put forth by the theology department. A lot of students look forward to abandoning their high school for the freedom associated with college. Schools run by teachers would act as a preview to this freedom and as a result, high school wouldn’t be so bad. Hopefully.

Bri Allard, FCRH ‘18, is a communication and media studies major from Somers, Connecticut.

OPINION

Page 8

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January 28, 2015

From the Desk | Sam Belden

Giving PED Users a Second Chance Alex Rodriguez just might be the most hated man in baseball. In 2009, he confessed to using performanceenhancing drugs during the early part of his career, but the real nail in the coffin for the New York Yankees third baseman was his involvement in the 2013 Biogenesis scandal. The evidence proved that he was buying copious amounts of banned performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), so he was barred from playing a single game of the 2014 season. Fans of Major League Baseball’s (MLB) teams are some of the most divided in all of sports, but even so, the masses seem to be united in their belief that Rodriguez is an utter disgrace to the game.

Rodriguez knows this — if he does not, then he would not have thought it necessary to meet with newly minted MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred so he could clear the air before embarking on what will be his 21st season in the majors. Reports indicate that the exchange between the two was a positive one, but Rodriguez was not so lucky when he reached out to the Yankees. The team members informed him that they did not care what he had to say and that they would see him in spring training.

More than 20 years have passed since the MLB’s last labor stoppage, but a consensus on how to view the

careers of PEDs users remains as elusive as ever. This issue takes on a greater level of significance during the weeks leading up to the writers’ annual vote for the National Baseball Hall of Fame, as the voting guidelines are ambiguous when addressing players with tainted careers. While I fully understand the instinct to decry the offending players for their transgressions, to do so is shortsighted and does far more harm than good.

One could argue that it is the fault of the athletes for getting involved in PEDs, but the fact of the matter is that humans will always attempt to gain an edge in a competitive system.

When this happens, it is the responsibility of the institution to impose strict penalties on the offenders and make sure that the problem doesn’t get out of hand. Outgoing Commissioner Bud Selig and those involved with this regime failed to do that until it was far too late. In the 90s, baseball’s popularity was at an all-time low, so those in power worked every angle in order to nudge the sport back into the spotlight. The use of steroids was widespread and obvious, but the increasing amount of home runs was drawing new fans, so Selig and his brain trust were more than happy to turn a blind eye to what was quickly spiraling out of control. It all came to

a head in 2001, when Barry Bonds hit a ludicrous 73 home runs. Soon after, he was linked to PEDs, and the MLB began to give out suspensions to those who tested positive.

Indeed, the stigma of steroids does not just affect the individual players — almost every single person who played an inning of professional baseball in the 90s is assumed to have at least experimented with PEDs. This means that players like Jeff Bagwell and Mike Piazza are progressing toward the Hall of Fame at a slower rate than they should. Even though neither man has ever failed a drug test nor been mentioned in any official report, rumors still swirl among the voters, and, inevitably, reputations are damaged. The did-he-or-didn’the mentality of writers is unfair to those who played the game clean.

To deny the players who are linked to PEDs entry into the Hall of Fame is to deny the fact that the Steroid Era was a massively important part of the history of baseball. They should be recognized for what they are — terrific athletes that once towered over the sport and succeeded in the context of their era.

Every year, much is made about those players that chose to get involved with PEDs, so it is surprising that the idea of forgiveness is dis-

cussed so little. Cheating is always unethical, but unethical behavior should not dash a player’s hopes of ever again being on his team’s good side. After all, cutting corners is as much a part of our national pastime as hotdogs and the seventh inning stretch; some pitchers are known to frequently use pine tar — a banned substance — to improve their grip on the ball. At the end of the day, people’s general refusal to move on from a player’s past mistakes is one of the most striking aspects of the controversy. While Yankees fans’ wounds from the Biogenesis scandal are still fresh, Rodriguez’s extension of an olive branch bodes well for their relationship going forward. Now that he has served his time, he wants another chance. He, along with the other greats of the Steroid Era, deserves one.

Editorial | Sexual Assault

Yes to Affirmative Consent With 55 colleges and universities currently being investigated for their handling of sexual abuse allegations, there is a pressing need for change regarding how colleges and their students view sexual encounters. In 2012 alone, the number of reports of forcible sexual offenses on American campuses totaled 4,062 throughout the year. The number is likely much higher due to the high number of cases that go unreported each year.

For there to be change, there needs to be a multi-faceted approach. One approach is ushering in a shift in campus consent culture. This can be fostered by organizations formed within campus communities — like USG’s Sexual Misconduct Task Force — as well as larger organizations with unified missions that engage students throughout campuses across the country.

But, for there to be true progress, policy changes that improve the way in which students and administrators view sexual consent must accompany attempts to engage students on an individual basis.

Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York understands this. On Jan. 17, the two-term Democrat proposed a statewide “affirmative consent” policy on college campuses, including public and private universities such as Fordham University.

Expanding policies in effect since last year in the state’s public university system, Cuomo’s proposed law would require universities use an affirmative definition of consent when investigating a

forcible sexual offense. “Affirmative consent must be ongoing throughout a sexual activity,” the law states, “and can be revoked at any time.” A lack of protest or resistance, the law states, does not equal consent. Neither does silence.

Fordham currently has a consent policy in its Campus Assault and Relationship Education (CARE) brochure, which defines consent as “all people in a sexual encounter agree to the sexual activity.” Agreement to sexual activity, the policy rules, means “there are informed, freely given, mutually understandable words or actions that indicate a willingness to participate in the particular sexual activity.”

The policy also states that a person “may decide at any time that he/she no longer consents and want to stop sexual activity.”

A “Yes Means Yes” law already exists in California, but it requires only state-funded universities to adopt an affirmative consent policy, thereby excluding many private universities in the state. The legislation proposed by Cuomo, however, would bind both public and private schools. With New York leading many state policy changes in the past, the law has the potential to be a model for similar policies in other states.

Whether the exact policy requires Fordham to alter its own policy (Christopher Rodgers, Dean of Students, said Fordham “would work to assure that our wording meets the standards set by the state when the new law passes”), a statewide law would both heighten awareness and

standardize the state’s definition of consent. Colleges, after all, are not vacuums: Students travel between them constantly, often visiting friends at other schools.

Students would undoubtedly welcome knowing affirmative consent policies exist at every school in the state.

Beyond this, the reasons for the bill’s passing are many. An affirmative consent policy dispels the idea that there are expectations contingent upon unrelated actions. A visit to someone’s residence hall does not — and should not — mean anything more than that. A miscommunication should not bind a participant into thinking that a residence hall visit has already initiated consent. It clearly does not.

As the proposed law would suggest, explicit consent to the particular sexual activity should be expressed.

There are those who believe an affirmative consent policy would require participants to procedurally affirm any sexual activity, resulting in an experience that becomes unnecessarily awkward and stiff. But, either verbally or physically, affirmative consent should be a standard, not a box to check off during a sexual encounter.

In addition to affirmative consent language, the proposed law would grant immunity from drug or alcohol violations for students reporting an assault. It would also standardize a bill of rights for the victim and policy training for all school officials. Such measures would encourage more students to report sexual offenses, even if

illicit substances are involved.

The law’s critics suggest that a law can be difficult to enforce inherently making it ineffective legislation. To some effect, they are correct: It is ambitious to expect one law to change all sexual encounters across the state. (There are more than 460,000 students in the state.)

The law’s power comes from its standardization of consent for hundreds of thousands of students in the state. It reframes how individuals engage in a sexual experience, placing much needed emphasis on consent and accountability.

It also places transparency, communication and safety at the center of sexual experiences. Students should welcome this change and urge their state legislatures to pass the law and ensure that its implementation moves as swiftly as possible.

Have an opinion about our editorial?

Send an email to fordhamramletters@ gmail.com Your response may be in our next print issue.

— The Editorial Board

OPINION

January 28, 2015

Page 9

The Problem with Ted Cruz as Chair of Subcommittee on Science

LAUREN VICTORIA BURKE/AP

Ted Cruz will assume the position of chair of the Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness, despite his biased views.

By AINSLEY KILPATRICK CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Following the GOP’s win in the 2014 Congressional Election, there has been a significant reshuffling of committee ranks.

This has extended to the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has been appointed chair for this subcommittee within the 114th Congress.

As the new chair of this subcommittee, Cruz will be the direct supervisor of the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA). He has been outspoken in his support for space exploration recently, claiming that the United States should again be leading the venture into space. Since the suspension of NASA’s shuttle program in 2011, the U.S. relies on Russian Soyuz spacecrafts in order to reach the International Space Station. According to a press release entitled “Focus NASA on its Core Mission: Exploring Space and More of It,” Cruz believes that the current dependence on other nations is crippling U.S. space exploration and innovation.

He claims, “Russia’s status as the current gatekeeper of the International Space Station could threaten our capability to explore and learn, stunting our capacity to reach new heights and share innovations with free people everywhere. The United States should work alongside our international partners, but not be dependent on them. We should once again lead the way for the world in space exploration.”

This is all well and good, but declarations of intent are only so valid compared to the record of those who propose them. In 2013, Cruz attempted to cut funding to NASA as a part of greater government budget cuts. Further, he has

publicly denounced claims that global warming is a threat to the world.

This denial of the seemingly obvious has the scientific community, and myself, concerned about how Cruz’s appointment will affect NASA’s, as well as other programs’, research into global warming, and potential solutions.

Senator Cruz has deliberately turned a blind eye to the facts presented by NASA, saying in a statement to CNN, “The last 15 years, there has been no recorded warming. Contrary to all the theories that they are expounding,

that greenhouse gases are a large contributor to the change scientists have been seeing.

In light of all this data, I am concerned what Cruz’s appointment will mean for further research. Apprehension is understandable, considering the clear conflict of interests between the senator and the organizations within the committee he now oversees. I fear that Cruz’s conservative position on budgeting will lead to eventual cuts to NASA’s research into climate change. The discontent over this appointment reaches beyond the

Has Senator Ted Cruz deliberately turned a blind eye to the facts presented by NASA? there should have been warming over the last 15 years. It hasn’t happened.”

Contrary to this claim, the Washington Post states that 2014 was the hottest year since temperature record keeping began in 1880. Not only this, but according to NASA and The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) the new record of 58.24 degrees Fahrenheit beat out records set in 2005 and 2010. Members of the scientific community are seeing a long-term trend; the ten hottest years on record all occurring since 1997.

Dr. Gavin Schmidt of NASA says that the components that lead to climate change create a complicated fingerprint. Despite this, Schmidt claims it remains clear

scientific community and onto campuses as well. Our generation was raised with recycling assemblies in our elementary schools.

We watched videos about Captain Planet and his team who were out to save our world from pollution.

These environment friendly clubs and programs have followed us through our education, where we are now well aware of the impacts humanity has on the environment around us. As the youngest generation of voters, it is up to us to hold our politicians accountable for recognizing the problems, and seeking out the solutions. We are no longer in a position of being able to deny the deterioration of the environment. We can no longer claim ignorance, and those in positions of power cannot ignore

the facts either. Research has to now be redirected towards finding a solution for the damage pollution has done. The need for this research has only increased as the list of side effects of global warming has grown to include the extinction of species, rising sea levels and the deterioration of environments in the arctic. While President Obama attacked the popular Republican line of “I’m not a scientist” in his State of the Union this past Tuesday, Cruz’s goals seem to run from research into global warming.

With Obama pushing for the realization that climate change is an imminent problem, it seems that the individual now in charge of assuring the research being done is stuck considering climate change to be simply a “scientific theory,” which he intends to treat as a myth. This disbelief seems to be leading towards inevitable disruption of the research process. I believe that opposites attracting may not always be the best policy when it comes to the future of the United States’ research programs.

Instead of appointing someone who has opposing views when it comes to the committee’s intended purpose, the Senate should take greater care when deciding who should be the chair. Ted Cruz may well have been a good addition to the committee, as he represents the views of a small percentage of Americans. However, as the chair of the committee, he has too much power that could enable him to hinder the advancement of important scientific findings. Ted Cruz’s judgement could prevent the public from vital information occuring within our natural world. I hope Cruz makes decisions that will truly benefit the American public.

Ainsley Kilpatrick, FCRH ’17, is a philosophy and anthropology major from East Greenwich, Rhode Island.

Cate Carrejo Health Center’s Ridiculous Policies This Friday morning, I woke up with a terrible cold. Tired and achy, the last thing I wanted to do was drag myself out of bed and trudge over to the University Health Center. I was fairly confident that there was nothing they would be able to do for me, but to get my class absences excused I had to waste my and the Health Center’s time just so they could tell me to stay in bed and get plenty of fluids (which is what I was trying to do before I had to get out of bed to go there!).

The necessity of going to the Health Center for an excused absence is the most disagreeable aspect of the Fordham attendance policy. First, it crowds the Health Center with students who otherwise would not be seeking treatment there, creating longer wait times for everyone and taking space away from people who actually believe they need medical care. Students are also forced out of their dorms to spend half an hour or more waiting in the Health Center, which is completely in opposition to the advice the staff are most likely to give. The policy also minimizes the efficiency of the Health Center staff, who have to function not only as nurses and insurance agents, but also as truant officers.

At the University of South Carolina, the attendance policy mandates that students miss no more than ten percent of their scheduled meetings for a course.

At Fordham, this would mean four absences from a class that meets three times per week, three absences from a class that meets twice per week and one absence from a class that meets once per week. To me, this percentage policy is a much better solution than cramming half of the school into the Health Center during cold and flu season.

The University is also trying to protect students from taking advantage of a more lax attendance policy. “I understand why the school mandates the Health Center policy to keep kids from skipping class. It would be easy to abuse a policy that let us be in charge of absences due to illness”, says Emma DeGrace, FCRH ‘17.

There’s no easy answer to this question; the University wants to make sure we are in class, and we want to be in charge of our own decisions.

However, at this point in our lives, we should at least be trusted to make appropriate decisions concerning our healthcare.

The mandate to go to the Health Center to excuse an absence does not seem to be benefitting anyone. As someone who gets sick fairly often, I know when I need to stay in bed and when I need to go see a healthcare practitioner.

OPINION

Page 10

January 28, 2015

What the State of the Union Address Reveals About Media Coverage

By MARGARITA ARTOGLOU OPINION EDITOR

Some people did not have time to watch the State of the Union speech live on Tuesday, Jan. 20. I, for one, was workin g, and had to watch a recording online a couple of days later.

The day after the speech, though, my Facebook newsfeed was cluttered with articles about it. I read them because I didn’t think that would really count as a spoiler.

Most of the things I read through social media detailed all of the witty jokes the President made during his speech. While I was amused by Obama’s snarky comments, I realized that most of the articles I saw about the speech almost exclusively covered those sassy moments and neglected to describe the actual issues the President brought up.

There are so many people who did not have the time to watch the speech after work or school and relied on getting their current events updates from friends on social media, which is great, because being able to read a quick article on the state of affairs is better than being completely uninformed.

Except for the fact that most of those quick articles did not summarize anything important.

The popular media’s coverage of the address is not surprising because it is not the first time that political events have been dumbed down or sifted through for the best four-second sound bite. Those who want to stay politically aware find a way to do so, either by watching events or reading comprehensive news stories.

Even so, as I was perusing Facebook and seeing the president’s face every other post, it felt like I was getting the gist of what happened.

When I actually sat down to listen to the speech, I realized I hadn’t gotten the main idea at all.

Where were the articles about all of Obama’s accomplishments?

They are out there, I am sure, but no one reposts or shares those.

This issue is not confined to the State of the Union address.

The majority of current events have been getting boiled down to a few minutes on news channels for a long time. The more recent

TIM SLOAN/AP

President Obama gave his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, Jan. 20.

development is the sharing of events on social media. When a friend shares his or her opinion of a speech or liveblogs a debate, it is easy to give into the temptation of reading it and then consider yourself properly informed.

When something important happens in the world, you can bet it will find its way onto at least one social networking site. However, it is important to remember that there is always more to the story than one friend’s Facebook

It takes me back to my high school government class, in which I learned that news channels typically look for the most attentiongrabbing stories, because at the end of the day, their first concern is viewership.

It is the same for the articles people share on websites — they are designed to entice people to click on the link when they see the headline.

While a bulleted list of issues discussed during the State of the

“In the age of social media and instant updates, staying politically aware has never been more important.” status, even if it was so long that it required a ‘Read More’ break. A Buzzfeed article usually won’t be a thorough enough update, even if the gifs are hilarious.

These methods are much easier ways to keep up with events.

However, it is not the same as being informed. Knowing that President Obama killed it during his speech does not equate to knowledge of how the country is doing.

Union would have been useful to those who could not fit the whole hour-long speech into their schedules, it would not have been a very popular article.

There is a bigger concern to think about when it comes to media portrayal of politics. In the same government class, we learned about how a four second clip from a campaign speech could overshadow everything else, de-

pending on the media’s portrayal of it. The American public is not always paying close attention to the facts, and that skews the outcome of elections and decisions made by lawmakers.

In the age of social media and instant updates, staying politically aware has never been more important. We need to put effort into not falling into the trap. We need to be conscious about what is going on in our government, even if that means seeking out legitimate news articles rather than just clicking on whatever our Facebook friends have posted.

Sure, we know that our president is pretty cool. At this point, it’s well established that he is sassy and not afraid to embrace it.

And while it is still well worth it to mention his clever quips, it would be a real shame for the media (especially the articles circulating on social networking sites) to allow his attitude to be his defining characteristic. By realizing the effect of social media on the way we consume media, we can make a better effort to understand what is really going on in the world around us.

Margarita Artoglou, FCRH ’18, is a communications and media studies major from Queens.

Do opinions run through your veins?

Call a doctor, and then email fordhamramopinions@gmail.com to sign up as a writer.

Kathryn Wolper Uber’s Questionable Practices Uber, the app-based car service popular among college students, is a consistent target of criticism for its business practices and statements made by its executives. Consumers must reconcile Uber’s questionable business practices with its overwhelming convenience.

CEO Travis Kalanick often finds himself on the defensive when he responds to media criticisms of the app.

These include an expose by Buzzfeed implying that Uber executives were looking into investing $1 million to conduct “opposition research,” which they would use to expose journalists who write unfavorable commentaries about Uber. Furthermore, the company has been caught in a myriad of other controversies, including sexism in advertising, sabotaging the fundraising efforts of competitors, engaging in surge pricing on holidays and other times of high usage and hiring brand ambassadors to ride in competitors’ cars and recruit their drivers.

The appearance of unfavorable media coverage of Uber indicates a lack of public relations prowess and regulation among markets. The company’s stated animosity towards journalists does little to improve its reputation among them.

As a taxi service with an app, Uber faces challenges in both the technological and practical realms. Unlike an app whose initial bugs affect only in-app use, Uber’s bugs have material consequences in people’s lives. Users who rely on Uber provide the app, and thereby the company, with personal data. The company’s responsible use of such data is critical to the app’s trustworthiness among users. In addition to talk of opposition research on journalists who criticize Uber, the company also published a since-deleted blog post in 2012 implying that Uber’s personal records of users’ rides could expose personal details, including one night stands, according to the New York Times.

Despite the risk that comes with providing sensitive data to a company that has a less than perfect public relations record, the convenience of Uber is overwhelming. The ability to summon a car with a few taps in an app and take a ride that is less expensive than a traditional cab ride satisfies consumer need. The innovative service that Uber provides masks the company’s indelicate handling of journalists’ and users’ concerns about personal safety and information security when using Uber.

Uber executives are not doing a good enough job of assuring users that their personal data is being handled responsibly and that they are safe and respected when they step inside an Uber car. Ultimately, Uber’s ease of access makes it bulletproof against journalists and users who attack its reputation. Although Uber’s bottom line can remain unaffected despite criticism, its executives should not become complacent in the preservation of their brand’s image or the quality of their service. Users are not going to boycott Uber because of its practices and tactics. Nevertheless, Uber should work tirelessly to improve its reputation and create in itself a business devoid of objectionable or questionable practices.

January 28, 2015

CULTURE

Page 11

The Fordham Ram

Is the Academy Turning a Blind Eye in 2015?

By DELANEY BENISON STAFF WRITER

On Jan. 16 Chris Pine and Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs took to Beverly Hills to announce the 2015 Academy Award Nominations. In response, quite a few people are upset with the lack of nominations for the diverse minority talent present in films this year. Movie critics and viewers feel there were some glaring snubs in the choices made by the Academy this year. It has left many with the same question: Who really deserves the nominations?

The first thing I said to a friend after walking out of Selma was, “David Oyelowo is going to win the Oscar for that.” So it came as quite a shock to find out last Thursday that not only was he not going to win, he was not even nominated.

There is a lot of controversy over this because many people, including myself, found that Oyelowo was able to capture the emotion of Martin Luther King, Jr., who suffered because of his choices while trying to shake a nation free of its prejudices. He found the intonation in MLK’s voice and the power behind his words. Oyelowo managed to take the spirit of Dr. King’s movement and put it on the big screen, but a glittering Academy Award speech was not meant to be.

It was considered a major snub of the actor and even the movie itself,

despite the fact that Selma is nominated for Best Picture.

The list of the snubbed also includes women directors. Although Selma was nominated for Best Picture, its director, Ava DuVernay was not recognized by the Academy for helming the movie’s vision.

David Carr of the New York Times wrote, “The director of Selma, Ava DuVernay, is a black woman who found the studio backing to make a movie that is great cinema, not a history lesson. And no club in the United States — over the last several years, the academy has been around 93 percent white, 76 percent male and an average of 63 years old — is in more need of new blood than Hollywood.” If nothing else, Hollywood needs to shake things up.

Angelina Jolie also felt the pangs of Hollywood’s dismissal, as her direction in Unbroken did not receive any recognition. While Unbroken did not do as well as anticipated in the box office and in reviews, it still managed to capture the true, inspiring story of an Olympian turned World War II POW. This was artfully portrayed by Jack O’Connell, who delivered an outstanding performance.

The list of best actress nominees seemed to be coming from slim pickings, possibly due to the noted lack of strong female roles available in cinema this year. That being said, Julianne Moore is a favorite in

COURTESY OF BRIAN DOWLING/AP

Many felt Selma’s David Oyelowo and Ava DuVernay deserved Oscar nominations.

her movie Still Alice, portraying a women diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. While many agreed that Moore’s performance was deserving of a nomination, questions remained about whether or not everyone belonged on the list of nominees. Jennifer Aniston’s

performance in Cake is widely considered to be a miss in this category. Aniston transforms into a woman wracked with chronic pain and depression while in a support group. She clearly took a brave step in a more serious direction, but she ultimately came up unre-

warded for it. The movie may have been overlooked due to lack of traction, but Aniston still delivers a full performance, far from those of the days of her romantic comedy roles.

It is also important to keep in mind the nominated movies and their successes this year. Richard Linklater’s Boyhood is favored to win, if for no other reason than he filmed it for 12 years, as the protagonist of the film grew up and the characters developed with the story. In all seriousness, the movie takes a unique glance at the process of growing up and facing the inevitability of family imperfection.

Also of great consideration is Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel. Anderson hilariously captures the hijinks of an eccentric hotel concierge and his loyal lobby boy with great writing and even better casting. Birdman took home well-deserved nominations in Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor and Actress and a Best Picture.

Many people walked away from the nomination ceremony saying, “so many deserved it who didn’t get it.” It is good to know all who are nominated for Academy Awards, but also important to know those who should have been. Film captures the attention of millions and shapes culture. Far be it for moviegoers to let the prominent strides made in film this year go unrecognized, Oscar or no Oscar.

Creative Crowdsourcing Utilized in Social Media

COURTESY OF BEBETO MATTHEWS/AP

HONY’s Brandon Stanton is one of many individuals who uses crowdsourcing.

By ELIZABETH SMISLOVA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

All great phenomena begin with someone who has an idea. But it is easy to have ideas — what is harder is transforming those ideas into something real. So how do you it?

Why not consult the more than two billion Internet users worldwide?

Traditionally, crowdsourcing enables executives both to gain a greater understanding of their

customers’ desires and to increase their supply of expertise. The term was coined by Wired magazine in 2005. Crowdsourcing consists of businesses reaching out to the public for assistance in completing tasks that they would usually perform. In return for helping a business, people receive credit or some sort of monetary reward.

With a larger reserve of skilled people, efficiency and inventiveness increase with a reduced work expense. However, those contrib-

utors are not official employees, so they cannot be managed as such.

Jeff Howe, writer of “The Rise of Crowdsourcing” Wired magazine 14.06 in 2006, said “Crowdsourcing has virtually overnight generated huge buzz, enthusiasm, and fear. It’s the application of the open-source idea to any field outside of software, taking a function performed by people in an organization, such as reporting done by journalists, research and product development by scientists, or design of a t-shirt, for example, and in effect outsourcing it through an open-air broadcast on the Internet.”

This trend has expanded from achieving primarily corporate goals to helping people accomplish their personal ambitions through subcontracting, usually on the Internet. Benefits of crowdsourcing include the obtainment and adoption of an abundant workforce, leading to skyrocketing creative levels and completion of tasks at an unparalleled rate. A successful use of crowdsourcing requires a product that is somehow revolutionary, provides a resolution to a dilemma, and being desired in the market.

Social media plays a key role in conducting prosperous crowdsourcing. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ and numerous blogging platforms allow people to ask their followers for important opinions about product supply.

Twitter also allows crowdsourcers to ask their consumers which product alternative they would rather buy. People therefore have a better picture of which products are more popular so can tailor inventory to fit demand. People also use +vote contests and candidly ask their customers about their opinions. Incentive to vote can come from prizes—sometimes that is the commodity itself. Using hashtags and posting on Twitter about the contest throughout the day can draw more attention to a particular product.

Crowdsourcing is also used to fund projects and charitable acts.

Websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo enable users to complete people’s projects by giving financial backing in return for encouragements. Earlier last year in Georgia, teen Daniel Ashley Pierce secretly recorded himself being scolded by his parents when he told them he was gay.

After posting the video on YouTube, he was sent $100,000 in crowdsourced contributions, with which Pierce opened a shelter for homeless LGBTQ adolescents.

Pierce posted the video on a GoFundMe page on Aug. 27, 2014.

The site is free and allows users to establish their fundraising efforts, share it on social media (including Facebook, Twitter and email) and accept donations by check or bank transfer. The site also provides an outlet for post-

ing updates and sending thank you notes to donators. People use GoFundMe for personal reasons like school tuition, sports teams, medical bills, volunteer trips, business ideas, special events, travel expenses or animals and pets.

Additionally, people can use crowdsourcing to seek human resources, with the only incentive being a simple act of kindness.

For instance, Humans of New York (HONY) is a photoblog and book about people living in New York City; it includes pictures and interviews. This past Christmas, the site ran an experiment called HONY For The Holidays, conducted by site creator Brandon Stanton and his girlfriend. Stanton used social media and their blog to find people to house homeless New Yorkers during the holidays.

Journalists can obtain a great amount of information by reaching out to the public and increasing accuracy and efficiency. Weather forecasters and traffic reporters ask viewers and listeners to report events. Journalists and writers frequently seek the public to gain real insight and truth.

Howe said in his book Crowdsourcing in 2008, “The amount of knowledge and talent dispersed among the human race has always outstripped our capacity to harness it. Crowdsourcing corrects that—but in doing so, it also unleashes the forces of creative destruction.”

CULTURE

Page 14

January 28, 2015

Rodrigues Hosts Metal Concert, Brings in New Crowd

By NICOLE HORTON CULTURE EDITOR

This past Friday, Jan. 23, student-run coffee house Rodrigues held its second concert of the semester featuring two metal bands, each with a different sound. Upon arrival, the small coffee house had a cozy atmosphere, with twinkle lights leading up to the makeshift stage and the heat turned up to curb the cold.

One of Rodrigues presidents, Paul Ross, FCRH ’15, detailed how members plan concerts for the semester. They vote on bands to select, reach out to them via email and then discuss dates and price. He added that the most they have ever spent on a band is approximately $5,000.

“We go all over the place in terms of music,” said Ross. “We’ve done metal shows before. It’s not exactly the most common show that we do, but it’s something that’s happened. It was pretty well-received when we voted on it, about as well as any other show I’d say.”

“I saw Charetta over the summer and I really love them,” said Danielle Shtab, FCRH ’16. “I saw them at Warped Tour 2014 at Jones Beach. They stuck out to me as a band that could come to Rods, and I wanted to build a show around them, as a metal show.”

As the first band Lines Don’t

NICOLE HORTON/THE RAM

Charetta’s female front-women energized the audience, which attracted more people as the night went on.

Cross was setting up prior to the 8 p.m. start time, Rodrigues members and other students mingled.

The band did not start until about 9 p.m. since they were missing three members. They spent the time warming up, and covered a Bob Marley song to entertain the waiting crowd. More students entered between 9 and 10 p.m., but there was still comfortable standing room.

The members of Lines Don’t Cross were all on vocals, in addition to playing their respective instruments. Lines Don’t Cross is a self-described experimental band that plays hardcore metal.

The band’s first song “Be Alone”

featured aggressive vocal stylings which were sure to please hardcore metal fans, but potentially turn off more mainstream fans. One of the guitarists went around the room to get the crowd more involved.

Later on in the set, the band played a more melodic hip-hop song that got the crowd bopping their heads and clapping.

The next band, Charetta, is a female-fronted modern rock band whose sound can best be described as melodic heavy rock with mainstream appeal. Angelina DelCarmen’s powerhouse vocals quickly captivated the audience.

Guitarists Pablo LaFrossia and Chris Fullham, along with drummer Adonis Sanchez, rounded out the very talented band.

Shtab mentioned that the members of Charetta are from Long Island, New York, and Lines Don’t Cross is based in the Bronx. “I really want to support local bands.

We’re in the cultural capital of the world and we’ve got tons of talents, so I was really adamant about finding people local here.”

One of the memorable songs that the band played is their single “Apocalypse,” which is also the title of their EP. Its rock anthem sounds

were a definite crowd-pleaser. Later on in the set, they played a softer coffee house song. A large group of students put their arms around one another and started swaying to the sweet, mellow tune.

“What I liked was that it was different from a lot of other Rods bands, and it brings in more people,” Colleen Signorelli, FCRH ’16, said while mingling with other students after the concert. “They get to see how cool Rods is, and they don’t get to see a lot of metal bands—at least not this close for free, so I thought that was great.

Also what I like is that the bands always give out free CDs or like they’ll play at a discounted price.”

“The show was really fantastic, said Billy Hanifin, FCRH ’16, a self-proclaimed metal fan. “I was surprised to see this kind of talent, at Rods and I wasn’t expecting metal. I loved it.”

What is up next for Rodrigues?

Signorelli mentioned that she was looking forward to hearing jazz later this month, while Shtab said that they are hoping to bring in rappers and possibly hold a rap battle. Ross shared that student bands such as Scout and the Fordham Jazz Collective will be performing in February. The coffee house will also be hosting a brokenhearted themed open mic night for Valentine’s weekend.

Editor’s Pick | Serial Podcast Behind the Ghostlight | Richard Bordelon

Can Other Genres Thrive on Broadway?

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to see a preview performance of Hamilton at the Public Theater, which stars composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, as the title character. Hamilton, like Miranda’s other famous work In the Heights, is mostly sung-through and features a largely hip-hop score, but also mixes in other genres throughout.

As of right now, Hamilton is the hottest New York ticket of the spring. The show has extended its run to April 5 and may extend it further. Most theater pundits believe that the show will soon transfer to Broadway. But will it succeed on the Great White Way? The best guess relies on the information from Miranda’s only previous Broadway venture, In the Heights, which ran for a couple of years and recouped its initial investment in ten months.

In the Heights did not have the familiar subject matter that Hamilton has, which suggests that Hamilton might be an even bigger Broadway hit. But can anyone expect Miranda to succeed with other kinds of music on Broadway? Techno, rap, punk, hip-hop or even country, among other genres, are not the traditional Broadway fare. Since Hair, rock and pop rock have grown in popularity with Broadway audiences.

Rock, along with jazz and classic show tunes, have become the Broadway norm, but these other

genres have not as much.

Country has had a difficult time finding success on the Broadway stage. Ring of Fire, a jukebox musical featuring the music of Johnny Cash, completely flopped, closing after only 57 performances in 2006, and Hands on a Hardbody, a country-tinged musical based on the documentary of the same name, closed after only 28 performances in 2013.

Holler if Ya Hear Me, the most recent rap musical, which featured the lyrics and poetry of rapper Tupac Shakur, closed after 38 performances last summer.

The demographics of Broadway audiences probably play a role in this seeming lack of success for shows with different musical genres. The average age of the Broadway theatergoer during the 2013-2014 season was 44, with over 28 percent of theatergoers falling into the age bracket 50-64. These genres are, typically, more popular with young people, who often cannot afford the typical price of a Broadway ticket, and generally opt for cheaper options, such as student rush.

If these other genres want to succeed on Broadway, they need to find a way to appeal to these age demographic — such as a familiar story — to increase ticket sales among young people by lowering the cost. Otherwise, Hamilton is sure to fall into the list of shows that flopped on Broadway.

‘Serial’ Invokes Crime Fiction

By SYDNEY KEEN ASSISTANT COPY CHIEF

After the 12th episode of “Serial,” the popular podcast from the creators of “This American Life” and hosted by the ever-curious Sarah Koenig was released, many devout listeners began to experience a void left by the true-crime story.

Thankfully, The New Yorker offers fans of such stories a similar piece in the interim between seasons of the sensational podcast.

I have been an attentive fan of the long-form articles published in The New Yorker for some time now. While other articles often leave readers wanting more details in their storytelling, the lengthier structure of these writings concludes stories in a far more thorough way. For listeners of “Serial” who are looking for a similar story, I cannot give higher praise to Nicholas Schmidle and his investigative articles “Crime Fiction” and “Freedom for Tyrone Hood.”

The first article, “Crime Fiction,” gives an in-depth account of a Chicago-based murder case that left Tyrone Hood in prison for 21 years after a questionable confession and subsequent conviction. Similar to “Serial,” details of Hood’s conviction are explored and uncovered, all the while leading the readers through the crime retrospectively. The basis for Schmidle’s 2014 investigation

COURTESY OF FLICKR

Court cases are becoming popular in mainstream media, such as newspaper columns.

lies in the weak details of the investigation and, more specifically, the possibility that the Chicago police coerced Hood’s confession from him.

After reading this article, published in the August 2014 issue of The New Yorker, I felt like many “Serial” fans felt at the conclusion of the first season: I had my opinions on the case, but I also had my opinions on the journalists. I was angered by the story’s lack of conclusion and was left wondering and concerned about the ultimate fate of Tyrone Hood.

However, unlike “Serial’s” conclusion and its fans’ reliance on other news sources for answers to their many questions, Schmidle followed through. In mid-January, The New Yorker published another article that caught my

eye: “Freedom for Tyrone Hood.”

While not as long as the original article, this issue’s content left me more excited than the first and far more pleased.

While the circumstances of the case offered Schmidle an opportunity for conclusion that Koenig may not have had, his follow through and the ultimate justice served for Hood only amplified my admiration for the young staff writer’s skilled story-telling.

While the subject of the next season of Serial remains in question, Nicholas Schmidle’s investigation of Tyrone Hood’s conviction is a fantastic sequence of articles that mimics the style of “Serial,” all while offering his audience refined elements that Koenig was not able to deliver in her serialized crime podcast.

CULTURE

Page 14

January 28, 2015

Rodrigues Hosts Metal Concert, Brings in New Crowd

By NICOLE HORTON CULTURE EDITOR

This past Friday, Jan. 23, student-run coffee house Rodrigues held its second concert of the semester featuring two metal bands, each with a different sound. Upon arrival, the small coffee house had a cozy atmosphere, with twinkle lights leading up to the makeshift stage and the heat turned up to curb the cold.

One of Rodrigues presidents, Paul Ross, FCRH ’15, detailed how members plan concerts for the semester. They vote on bands to select, reach out to them via email and then discuss dates and price. He added that the most they have ever spent on a band is approximately $5,000.

“We go all over the place in terms of music,” said Ross. “We’ve done metal shows before. It’s not exactly the most common show that we do, but it’s something that’s happened. It was pretty well-received when we voted on it, about as well as any other show I’d say.”

“I saw Charetta over the summer and I really love them,” said Danielle Shtab, FCRH ’16. “I saw them at Warped Tour 2014 at Jones Beach. They stuck out to me as a band that could come to Rods, and I wanted to build a show around them, as a metal show.”

As the first band Lines Don’t

NICOLE HORTON/THE RAM

Charetta’s female front-women energized the audience, which attracted more people as the night went on.

Cross was setting up prior to the 8 p.m. start time, Rodrigues members and other students mingled.

The band did not start until about 9 p.m. since they were missing three members. They spent the time warming up, and covered a Bob Marley song to entertain the waiting crowd. More students entered between 9 and 10 p.m., but there was still comfortable standing room.

The members of Lines Don’t Cross were all on vocals, in addition to playing their respective instruments. Lines Don’t Cross is a self-described experimental band that plays hardcore metal.

The band’s first song “Be Alone”

featured aggressive vocal stylings which were sure to please hardcore metal fans, but potentially turn off more mainstream fans. One of the guitarists went around the room to get the crowd more involved.

Later on in the set, the band played a more melodic hip-hop song that got the crowd bopping their heads and clapping.

The next band, Charetta, is a female-fronted modern rock band whose sound can best be described as melodic heavy rock with mainstream appeal. Angelina DelCarmen’s powerhouse vocals quickly captivated the audience.

Guitarists Pablo LaFrossia and Chris Fullham, along with drummer Adonis Sanchez, rounded out the very talented band.

Shtab mentioned that the members of Charetta are from Long Island, New York, and Lines Don’t Cross is based in the Bronx. “I really want to support local bands.

We’re in the cultural capital of the world and we’ve got tons of talents, so I was really adamant about finding people local here.”

One of the memorable songs that the band played is their single “Apocalypse,” which is also the title of their EP. Its rock anthem sounds

were a definite crowd-pleaser. Later on in the set, they played a softer coffee house song. A large group of students put their arms around one another and started swaying to the sweet, mellow tune.

“What I liked was that it was different from a lot of other Rods bands, and it brings in more people,” Colleen Signorelli, FCRH ’16, said while mingling with other students after the concert. “They get to see how cool Rods is, and they don’t get to see a lot of metal bands—at least not this close for free, so I thought that was great.

Also what I like is that the bands always give out free CDs or like they’ll play at a discounted price.”

“The show was really fantastic, said Billy Hanifin, FCRH ’16, a self-proclaimed metal fan. “I was surprised to see this kind of talent, at Rods and I wasn’t expecting metal. I loved it.”

What is up next for Rodrigues?

Signorelli mentioned that she was looking forward to hearing jazz later this month, while Shtab said that they are hoping to bring in rappers and possibly hold a rap battle. Ross shared that student bands such as Scout and the Fordham Jazz Collective will be performing in February. The coffee house will also be hosting a brokenhearted themed open mic night for Valentine’s weekend.

Editor’s Pick | Serial Podcast Behind the Ghostlight | Richard Bordelon

Can Other Genres Thrive on Broadway?

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to see a preview performance of Hamilton at the Public Theater, which stars composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, as the title character. Hamilton, like Miranda’s other famous work In the Heights, is mostly sung-through and features a largely hip-hop score, but also mixes in other genres throughout.

As of right now, Hamilton is the hottest New York ticket of the spring. The show has extended its run to April 5 and may extend it further. Most theater pundits believe that the show will soon transfer to Broadway. But will it succeed on the Great White Way? The best guess relies on the information from Miranda’s only previous Broadway venture, In the Heights, which ran for a couple of years and recouped its initial investment in ten months.

In the Heights did not have the familiar subject matter that Hamilton has, which suggests that Hamilton might be an even bigger Broadway hit. But can anyone expect Miranda to succeed with other kinds of music on Broadway? Techno, rap, punk, hip-hop or even country, among other genres, are not the traditional Broadway fare. Since Hair, rock and pop rock have grown in popularity with Broadway audiences.

Rock, along with jazz and classic show tunes, have become the Broadway norm, but these other

genres have not as much.

Country has had a difficult time finding success on the Broadway stage. Ring of Fire, a jukebox musical featuring the music of Johnny Cash, completely flopped, closing after only 57 performances in 2006, and Hands on a Hardbody, a country-tinged musical based on the documentary of the same name, closed after only 28 performances in 2013.

Holler if Ya Hear Me, the most recent rap musical, which featured the lyrics and poetry of rapper Tupac Shakur, closed after 38 performances last summer.

The demographics of Broadway audiences probably play a role in this seeming lack of success for shows with different musical genres. The average age of the Broadway theatergoer during the 2013-2014 season was 44, with over 28 percent of theatergoers falling into the age bracket 50-64. These genres are, typically, more popular with young people, who often cannot afford the typical price of a Broadway ticket, and generally opt for cheaper options, such as student rush.

If these other genres want to succeed on Broadway, they need to find a way to appeal to these age demographic — such as a familiar story — to increase ticket sales among young people by lowering the cost. Otherwise, Hamilton is sure to fall into the list of shows that flopped on Broadway.

‘Serial’ Invokes Crime Fiction

By SYDNEY KEEN ASSISTANT COPY CHIEF

After the 12th episode of “Serial,” the popular podcast from the creators of “This American Life” and hosted by the ever-curious Sarah Koenig was released, many devout listeners began to experience a void left by the true-crime story.

Thankfully, The New Yorker offers fans of such stories a similar piece in the interim between seasons of the sensational podcast.

I have been an attentive fan of the long-form articles published in The New Yorker for some time now. While other articles often leave readers wanting more details in their storytelling, the lengthier structure of these writings concludes stories in a far more thorough way. For listeners of “Serial” who are looking for a similar story, I cannot give higher praise to Nicholas Schmidle and his investigative articles “Crime Fiction” and “Freedom for Tyrone Hood.”

The first article, “Crime Fiction,” gives an in-depth account of a Chicago-based murder case that left Tyrone Hood in prison for 21 years after a questionable confession and subsequent conviction. Similar to “Serial,” details of Hood’s conviction are explored and uncovered, all the while leading the readers through the crime retrospectively. The basis for Schmidle’s 2014 investigation

COURTESY OF FLICKR

Court cases are becoming popular in mainstream media, such as newspaper columns.

lies in the weak details of the investigation and, more specifically, the possibility that the Chicago police coerced Hood’s confession from him.

After reading this article, published in the August 2014 issue of The New Yorker, I felt like many “Serial” fans felt at the conclusion of the first season: I had my opinions on the case, but I also had my opinions on the journalists. I was angered by the story’s lack of conclusion and was left wondering and concerned about the ultimate fate of Tyrone Hood.

However, unlike “Serial’s” conclusion and its fans’ reliance on other news sources for answers to their many questions, Schmidle followed through. In mid-January, The New Yorker published another article that caught my

eye: “Freedom for Tyrone Hood.”

While not as long as the original article, this issue’s content left me more excited than the first and far more pleased.

While the circumstances of the case offered Schmidle an opportunity for conclusion that Koenig may not have had, his follow through and the ultimate justice served for Hood only amplified my admiration for the young staff writer’s skilled story-telling.

While the subject of the next season of Serial remains in question, Nicholas Schmidle’s investigation of Tyrone Hood’s conviction is a fantastic sequence of articles that mimics the style of “Serial,” all while offering his audience refined elements that Koenig was not able to deliver in her serialized crime podcast.

CULTURE

Page 16

Who’s That Kid? | Helen Keating

Gaining International Perspective, and a Love of Coffee

By MARGARITA ARTOGLOU OPINION EDITOR

Aside from the usual late nights spent with a cup of everyone’s favorite stimulant, Helen Keating also works the late night shift at Rodrigues coffee house. If you are a Gabelli student, you have likely seen Helen selling coffee, among other goods, at the Fair Trade cart in Hughes Hall.

Of all the things in which Helen is involved, Fair Trade is the most important to her. She spent a week of her winter vacation traveling to New Delhi, India with her Spirituality and Fair Trade class in order to meet the people who make fair trade products, help them learn how to grow their business and even assist in developing new products.

The experience was eye-opening for the Westfield, New Jersey native. “I come from a suburb, so I have never in my life seen poverty to that extreme,” she said.

Helen was familiar with the concept of Fair Trade before the class, but not extremely passionate about it. Now, Helen says she is a proponent of Fair Trade because it “transforms the lives of those involved.

Financial independence is an attainable goal.”

Fair trade isn’t about just throwing money at the problem. Instead, it creates a partnership where people can make an honest wage and get them out of the slums,” she said.

Despite bringing Helen into the center of devastating poverty, the trip inspired her. She says that in New Delhi, she “didn’t see people who were desperate and without hope. A lot of them were eager to work and earn a wage. So it wasn’t sad, because they were all optimistic about their future.”

The best part of the trip and of

CASEY CHUN/THE FORDHAM RAM

Freshman Helen Keating has developed an interest in Fair Trade and volunteering.

being involved in Fair Trade was meeting all the workers who manufacture the goods that she helped to sell. “They were some of the nicest people I have ever met,” she said.

“Despite being poor, they would give you the shirt off their backs if you asked.”

While she is undecided when it comes to her major, she is leaning towards business administration and is considering minoring in English or philosophy. Helen Keating, late night barista at Rodrigue’s coffee house, is committed to responsibly enjoying her favorite cafinated beverage. Helen would like to continue to work for fair trade causes once she gets out of school.

Her short-term goals are similar in that they involve volunteering and helping people on a smaller scale.

“I really want to do more volunteer

work on campus and in the Bronx,” she said. However, she does not want to limit herself to her immediate surroundings and also hopes to go on a Global Outreach trip this upcoming summer.

Helen is only a freshman and has plenty of time to get more involved on and off campus. In the short period of time she has been a Fordham student, she has already accomplished so much. Aside from working at Rodrigues and working at the Fair Trade cart, she also participates in Smart Woman Securities. This coming semester, she hopes to balance her existing extracurricular activities while trying new things. “I wouldn’t have known about my passion for fair trade had I not taken a chance on that class,” she said. “Who knows what else I’ll discover at Fordham?”

January 28, 2015

Advice to Live By | Catherine Kastberg

Traveling Abroad I can honestly say that my experience abroad has secured friends and memories that will stay with me forever. I went to London last semester knowing only a handful of people, yet I returned home with many great new friends. Even if you do not know anyone else who will be venturing to a new place with you, it is still worth going. Everyone in your program is as nervous and scared as you are. You will make friends abroad quicker than you ever thought possible. It is important to be friendly and open.

Not only will you make friends, but you will connect and bond with these people while adjusting to your new surroundings, exploring new places and traveling.

Traveling is a huge aspect of going abroad. Since I was in London, it was easy to travel to nearby countries, such as Spain, France and Italy.

Before leaving for London, I would absolutely encourage you to save up money. Travel is not as inexpensive as people make it out to be, and you do not want to miss out on the opportunity, since most of us probably will not have the same chances in the near future. Also, depending on where you go, the exchange rate can really put a dent in your funds, so keep that in mind!

Since I have touched upon the topic of travel, I feel that it is necessary to mention that when packing, you should absolutely bring an outfit for every kind of weather. Who knows, you could find yourself traveling to some tropical beach or some snowy escape. It is important to bring a bag with you that is the appropriate travel size because most airlines are very strict and will charge extra for oversized luggage. Travel-sized containers are also very good to have and save you money.

Most of all, it is important to be open to new people and experiences.

You are presented with many crazy opportunities abroad, so if you are lucky enough to get the chance to go, please take it. You just have to dive right in and make the best of what you have, and I can promise you that you will not be disappointed.

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

The London Eye is one of many great sites to visit while traveling abroad.

Review | Movie

An Aristic Look and Sensual Experience

By ALLEGRA HOWARD STAFF WRITER

Interspersed with sequences of intense psychosexual anxiety and humorous insight, The Duke of Burgundy is a lush, sensual and humanizing portrait of the BDSM relationship between entomology scholar Cynthia (Sidse Babett Knudsen, Borgen) and her young lover Evelyn (Chiara D’Anna, Berberian Sound Studio) as they attempt to reconcile their very different intimate needs.

The opening sequence establishes Evelyn as a meek and naïve girl who housecleans for Cynthia, the seemingly austere and domineering mistress of a sumptuous home in a beautiful autumnal forest. Cynthia severely reprimands and punishes Evelyn for even the slightest infractions, but the following scene of them cuddling in bed exposes that they had merely been roleplaying Evelyn’s fantasy.

In fact, Evelyn is actually the more dominant partner: Not only does she demand that Cynthia role-play as a domineering mistress, but she also demands that Cynthia role-play exactly as her meticulously detailed instructions dictate. As Evelyn’s requests grow more extreme, Cynthia finds herself more hard-pressed to satisfy her partner. As Cynthia begins to feel inadequate and even unloved, she and the audience question whether she and Evelyn are meant to be together.

As sensual and, as critic Leslie Felperin phrases it, “visually ravishing” as The Duke of Burgundy is, the movie is not very explicit: Its few sex scenes are brief and obscured, often off-screen entirely. The movie instead focuses on being emotionally evocative, drawing on a wide range of influences that make the sections of the movie feel undeniably disparate. Nonetheless, the focus on Cynthia’s and Evelyn’s relationship keeps the movie coherent.

Towards the end, the film references the experimental short film Mothlight (1963), which is particularly noteworthy since it uses The Duke of Burgundy’s most significant motif — moths — to create the suffocating anxiety that defines the main conflict of the movie. Insects may seem too creepy a motif for such a sensual movie, but their inclusion nonetheless makes the film very tactile.

Despite its artistry, the movie is not too highbrow for the average moviegoer to enjoy. In fact, The Duke of Burgundy employs a sense of humor like that of BBC’s domestic sitcom “Terry and June” to humanize the unconventional relationship. Even so, The Duke of Burgundy remains a fantasy since Cynthia and Evelyn are only normalized in the context of a fairytale.

Depicting lesbians as subjects of a fantasy could be problematic, but The Duke of Burgundy remains a beautiful and enchanting film wellworth watching.

COURTESY OF SUNDANCE SELECT

The Duke of Burgundy artfully depicts unconvential relationships.

CULTURE

January 28, 2015

Page 17

Preview | Movie

New Time Travel Thriller Brings Drama and Romance

By AMANDA GIGLIO CULTURE EDITOR

If you had the ability to travel back in time, would you take the opportunity? And what would be the consequences? This is exactly what we will be finding out in producer Michael Bay’s new film Project Almanac, in theaters Friday, Jan. 30.

Project Almanac stars a group of high school students who discover blueprints for a mysterious device and use the time machine to fi x their past as well as improve their future. However, changing the past can hurt the future along the way.

I had a chance to speak with some of the actors from the movie about the upcoming release and their experiences filming a scifi adventure film. Shot in found footage style, Project Almanac has the feel of home video recording, with characters often speaking off-screen as if they are filming.

This style of filming is similar to Chronicle, a film from 2012 featuring teens with super powers.

When asked about how it was to work and adapt to that film technique, everyone agreed that it was very different. No one in the cast

COURTESY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES

In this movie, teens learn the heights and pitfalls of time travel.

had done it before, but they agreed it was a great learning experience and found it exciting to embrace the fourth wall while acting.

Not only was the filming a new experience, but working with Michael Bay was also new for most the actors. Johnny Weston (Chas-

ing Mavericks), who plays David Raskin, compared him to a fatherfigure, always watching over the rest of them. “You know he will make it a great film, so you didn’t have to worry about the end product,” said Weston to The Fordham Ram in a conference call. Considering Michael Bay has produced amazing movies, such as Transformers and Pearl Harbor, this newest film has the potential to live up to the greats, but is the time travel aspect a little overdone?

Time travel has definitely been a popular subject in comedies, sci-fi thrillers and romances. Movies like Back to the Future and The Butterfly Effect had influence on the film; a discovery from the past that impacts the future holds true for the film itself and the time travel genre in general. However, the dynamic created by the group of friends and the romantic interests bring a new perspective to the genre.

Centered around a group of teenagers dealing with high school drama and romance, Project Almanac is relatable to the high school experience.

When asked about his personal high school experience, Weston says he was the opposite of his

character. He liked being around people, absorbed by life and the people in it. Relating back to the movie, his character’s addiction to the time machine is comparable to how people get addicted to anything in life. The cast explains how the film is believably written and easy to relate to your own life.

As a feature film, it was harder for the cast to bond, as there was not much time to get to know each other, but they made the most of it and came out as a family just like in the film.

With the movie being released everywhere this Friday, the cast was extremely excited for the fans to see the movie they have worked so hard to make.

When asked what they would do if they could time travel in reality, the cast’s answers varied widely. Sofia Black D’Elia, playing Jessie, wanted to go back to 2008 to see the Giants beat the Jets.

Sam Lerner, who played Quinn Goldberg, would love to win the lottery; while Weston defies all expectations and plans to go back to the prehistoric age and raise a baby veloceraptor.

If you see this movie, you will probably come up with your own answer to this question.

January 28, 2015

SPORTS

Page 19

The Fordham Ram

The Unsung Heroes of Fordham Basketball

By JAMES DECKER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Whether you watch basketball games live or on TV, you have probably seen the managers of the team behind the bench giving players water or a towel. The truth of the matter is that there is a lot more that goes into being a manager of a basketball team than what we see at games. Working as a manager does not just mean working on game nights, but also in practice and behind the scenes.

There are five managers for the men’s basketball team and five for the women’s basketball team, contributing to the team in important, but often unseen ways.

Chris Scerbo, sophomore manager for the Fordham men’s basketball team, says preparation is key for getting through the day as a manager.

“I get to Rose Hill Gym about an hour early for practice. I set up the tape on the court and get the water ready,” Scerbo said. “I’m prepared for anything that the coaches or players need to get done; I’ve made significant strides in being ready to make a pass to a player on the court when needed.”

For game-day preparation, the setup is slightly different. “For games, I’m either behind the bench handling water, towels and shooting shirts or filming the game from the stands.” Scerbo also added that he “prefers being behind the bench. I like living and

COURTESY OF JAMES DECKER

Chris Scerbo (left) and Tom Mahoney (right) are just two of Fordham basketball’s extremely hard-working managers.

breathing with each and every possession, and you really get the full game-day experience from behind the bench.”

Tom Mahoney is a senior manager for the Fordham women’s basketball team, and has similar responsibilities.

“I’m responsible for assisting the staff and the players with on the court activities,” Mahoney

said. “Hydrating the players, filming practices, as well as handling wake up calls and meals on the road.”

As for the experiences at a game, Mahoney also agrees that the bench is the preferred spot.

“I definitely prefer the bench life. Timeouts, play calls and close calls are all much more exciting from right behind the bench.”

The managers’ work does not go unnoticed among the players.

“The work that the managers do is absolutely pivotal,” sophomore guard Matt Massimino said.

“Their work ethic before, during and after practice is admirable, and it even motivates the players to get after it on the court.”

It is more than just about how the managers work, though, as the

managers and players often become close in the process.

“The managers and the players are really like brothers,” redshirt junior guard D.C. Gaitley said.

For Scerbo and Mahoney, the rewards come in different forms.

“For me the biggest reward is elation I feel after the Rams win,” Scerbo said. “I feel accomplished when we win, and I’m glad to help in any way possible.”

Mahoney finds his rewards in a more personal outlook.

“When a coach or player says thank you or gives me a compliment for the work that I’ve done, it means a lot,” Mahoney said.

“Knowing that the little help that I give can go a long way is a big part of what makes this job what it is.”

Some people may see only the surface of the manager job. It is easy to assume that the managers are just recipients of gear for setting up practice and sitting behind the bench during games, but the job really does go further than that. Managers have to be prepared for different types of assignments from coaches and players, and, as cliche as it may sound, they really are as big a part of the day-to-day happenings of the team as any of the players or coaches.

Next time you attend a Fordham basketball game, don’t be afraid to clap for the managers, sitting behind the bench or filming the game, because they do deserve a hand for their hard work.

Indoor Track Makes Strides at Metro Team Challenge

By BRYAN KIEL STAFF WRITER

The Fordham track and field team was back in action on Friday, competing at the Metro Team Challenge at The Armory Track and Field Center. The Rams competed in their first team-scored event and had a number of scoring finishers in multiple events. The men’s team placed ninth overall out of 22 teams, while the women placed 11th out of 21 teams.

The men were led by senior captain Lester Taylor, who continued his strong senior campaign.

He gave the Rams their lone event win in the 1000m run with a time of 2:17.14, an IC4A-qualifying finish. A trio of sophomores, led

by Devin Rocks, gave Fordham 3 top-eight finishes in the 3000m run. Rocks came in at 8:53.68, while Jake Duckworth finished in seventh with a time of 8:54.59 followed by Adam Schwenzfeier with a time of 8:55.9 for eighth place.

Fordham also had a strong showing from the distance medley relay team, which came in third. The team, consisting of junior Michael Turi, sophomore Peter Strom and freshman John Tannian and Louis Santelli, finished with a time of 10:24.79. Senior thrower Austin Ruiz placed in the shot-put, coming in sixth place with a mark of 13.59m, while freshman Nik O’Brien placed in the mile run with a time of 4:21.17. Fordham also featured freshman Ryan Riviere in the pole vault, who cleared

JOSHUA KIM/THE FORDHAM RAM

The Fordham indoor track team is set to head to Boston this weekend for the Terrier Classic.

the bar at 4.20m, but missed the scoring mark of 4.35m.

Riviere is Fordham’s only pole vaulter for the men’s squad and a new addition this year.

“This week’s meet was a great improvement from the previous,” Riviere said. “The indoor sea-

son has started off strong, and I plan on keeping this momentum through both the indoor and outdoor seasons.”

The women also featured a number of scoring times, with top performers in the 400m and relay events. Junior Danielle

Rowe took fifth in the 400 with a time of 57.90, while senior captain Kristen Stuart was eighth in 58.02. The 4x400 relay team, consisting of Stuart, Rowe, senior Elise Tigani and freshman Merissa Wright took sixth in 3:55.50.

The distance medley relay team,

consisting of seniors Mara Lieberman and Melissa Higgins, sophomore Brianne Roche and freshman Laura Jaeger, also took sixth with a time of 12:27.47. Lieberman and Higgins also scored individually, as Lieberman took fifth in the mile run with a time of 5:07.75 and Higgins took sixth in the 1000m run in 2:58.98. Sophomore Ariana Bottalico also contributed to the team’s scoring with a time of 10:29.94 in the 3000m run, coming in eighth.

The meet featured a number of freshmen and veteran-rookie tandems that seemed to work well in team scoring. The distance medley relay teams for both the men and women highlighted this. For example, Jenn Boerke in sprints and Kylie Farrell in jumping events showcased a fast-improving group of underclassmen who will lead Fordham in coming years, possibly even contributing later in the season.

“My goal was to run faster than the meet prior, and I did,” Boerke said, who finished 21st in the 200m and 30th in the 400m with times of 26.72 and 1:00.48, respectively. “I can definitely still improve. I have four years to become the best I can be, but I want to become a valuable member of this team this year, and that is my ultimate goal.”

The Rams will be in Boston next weekend to compete in the Terrier Classic, hosted by Boston University. The meet will conclude on Jan. 31.

Page 20

January 28, 2015

SUPER BOWL STAFF PICKS Patriots 27 - Seahawks 24 It’s hard to believe there’s an actual football game going on next week with all this talk about deflated footballs.

But there is, and it should actually be a fairly competitive game.

You have Tom Brady and the New England Patriots who, despite “deflategate,” were one of the most consistent teams in all of football this season against Russell Wilson and the defending champion Seattle Seahawks, who fought for home-field advantage in the playoffs and earned a chance to win the Super Bowl again.

There is no question that the Seattle defense is better than New England’s, but the big question is how hurt Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman are.

Both players were injured in the NFC Championship game versus Green Bay, but I imagine, unless they absolutely can’t, they’ll be playing in the Super Bowl. However, if they are not at 100 percent, you can guarantee Tom Brady will be able to find those weaknesses and exploit them.

I think the Patriots have a more balanced offense than they had in years past, and the injuries to the Seahawks’ secondary will end up hurting them in the end.

Seahawks 23 - Patriots 17 After playing their worst game of the season against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Jan. 18, the Seattle Seahawks have an opportunity to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is arguably coming off his worst game in his professional career. Throwing four interceptions and completing less than half of his passes in the NFC Championship game, Wilson could not possibly play any worse in Super Bowl XLIX. He only threw seven interceptions in the entire regular season.

Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch was virtually unstoppable in the Packer game, and don’t be surprised if he redefines his own nickname, “Beast Mode,” on Sunday in Glendale, Arizona.

My only concerns are in the Seahawks’ secondary. With cornerback Richard Sherman nursing an elbow injury and safety Earl Thomas dealing with a shoulder injury, how much can the Seahawks limit Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady?

Both appear likely to play, as they’ve been practicing, but Brady has been known to tear up defenses in the past, especially when they’re not 100 percent. In the end, I see a heavily defensive game that results in the first back-to-back Super Bowl champion since the Patriots in 2004 and 2005.

— Anthony Pucik

Patriots 24 - Seahawks 17 On Sunday, we’ll witness a battle between two of the game’s most cerebral head coaches. New England’s Bill Belichick will be trying to shake off last week’s “deflategate” controversy and nab his fourth ring, while Seattle’s Pete Carroll wants to be the first coach to win back-to-back Super Bowls since Belichick himself did it ten years ago.

On the surface, it may appear that one team is playing better than the other—after all, the Patriots, led by quarterback Tom Brady, were last seen absolutely demolishing the Colts, while the Seahawks needed a miraculous onside kick recovery and some luck with a coin flip just to get past the Packers with a dramatic overtime victory. However, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson will be sharper in the Arizona heat than he was in the Seattle downpour; in addition, the Seahawks secondary, led by cornerback Richard Sherman and safety Kam Chancellor, is far superior to that of the Colts.

It will be close, but the Patriots have a wide array of weapons and have been on fire since the beginning of the season. Plus, New England has lost in each of its last two Super Bowl appearances; with Brady and Belichick at the helm, it’s hard to see them making it three in a row.

— Sam Belden

— Drew Casey

Seahawks 28 - Patriots 19

Seahawks 32 - Patriots 10

The Patriots and Seahawks will enter the Super Bowl following exceptionally strong finishes to the 2015 season. The Patriots, once again, dominated offensively, scoring nearly 400 points in games 5-15 of the regular season.

On the other side of the ball, Seattle has allowed just over 11 points per game in its final 10 regularseason games. With Seattle’s dominant defense stretching over the past few seasons and New England’s offense doing the same, like last year, the game will be a matchup of two dominant teams.

But with a high-charged defense, Seattle can come up with a win if they are able to put enough pressure on Tom Brady and outplay the Patriots’ defense. Already dominating in one Super Bowl, Russell Wilson has proven he can come out on top in the big game. He can do it again.

I predict that the Seahawks will win backto-back Super Bowl Championships, just like the Patriots did in 2004 and 2005. Seattle’s defense has not allowed more than 30 points in all 71 games since 2011. Only four teams scored 30 points. The Tom Brady-led offense, certainly the strength of the team, is past its peak. It will be difficult for them to sustain long drives against the Seahawks’ defense.

However, the Patriots do have a history of putting up a strong offensive showing, so I can’t imagine it being a blowout. In addition, I think that the scandal and ongoing investigation surrounding the under-inflated balls may affect the team’s mental state, as many speculate that this will taint New England’s legacy.

— Joe Vitale

— Nicole Horton

SPORTS

Page 22

Anthony Pucik An NFL Skills Competition?

This weekend, I sat down and watched both the NHL All-Star Skill Competition and the AllStar Game, but did not find myself tuning in to the NFL Pro Bowl. Granted, I am more of a fan of hockey than football, but that was not the reason I decided not to tune into the Pro Bowl.

Both the NFL and NHL have implemented a “fantasy draft” in their respective All-Star games, bringing a new element to the event to get the fans more excited and its seemed to work well for both leagues. However, I still find myself more inclined to be interested in the NHL All-Stars than the NFL ones.

While both games really do not showcase the real skill of either leagues players because of the lack of contact between the offenses and defenses, what draws me into the NHL All Star festivities is the Skills Competition the night before. From Shea Weber blasting slap shots at 108 mph to fantastic moves by both goaltenders and shooters in the shootout challenge, the NHL Skills Competition is something both the fans and the players can enjoy. It showcases the players’ pure talent.

The NFL had a Pro Bowl Skills Challenge that they got rid of after 2007, but I think they should bring it back. Bring back the 40yard dash, accuracy throw for quarterbacks, distance kicks, catching and bench press. I want to see Odell Beckham Jr. against Calvin Johnson or Dez Bryant in the battle for most spectacular catch and Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees actually go against one another in a throw off.

Doesn’t everyone want to know who is stronger: J.J. Watt or Clay Matthews? Even though this is the way players’ skills are tested in the Combine before the NFL Draft, why not get the veterans in on the action and give NFL fans another reason to tune in to watch some football the week before the Super Bowl?

You can also add in a few quirks to the events and put in some extras too. Just as the NHL puts goalies in the fastest skater competition, the NFL could put two offensive linemen against one another in the 40yd dash to see who would win in a big man race.

Maybe get some wide outs or tight ends involved in the kicker challenge to see if they could do as good a job as Pat McAfee. You could even add in a relay race like the NHL has: have a running back run through cones, followed by a defensive lineman pushing sleds a certain distance, then a quarterback having to hit three receivers from three separate distances and finish with a kicker having to hit a 30, 40 and 50yd field goal.

It seems to be a major attraction for NHL fans, and I am sure NFL fans would love to see it too.

And, I am sure the players would not be opposed, even how much fun the NHL players had on the benches Saturday night in Columbus. Make the Pro Bowl a weekend event, NFL. You will not be disappointed.

Men’s Tennis Falls in Opener

THE RAM ARCHIVES

The Fordham men’s tennis team looks to impress this spring.

By DAVID BALICK STAFF WRITER

Men’s tennis opened their 2015 season on Saturday with a 4-3 loss to Saint Peter’s College in the Yanitelli Bubble. The match was the first one played under new head coach Mike Sowter.

The matched started with Seniors J.J. Tauil and Max Peara winning a close doubles match, 8-7. Freshman Pol Giraldez and Senior Mischa Koran followed suit in doubles with an 8-3 victory, giving the Rams the doubles point and a sweep.

However, Fordham did not fair quite as well during the singles matches. Koran and Peara each won their singles matches in straight sets (6-1, 6-1 for Koran) and (6-2, 7-6 for Peara), but the rest of the Rams were unable to garner much more success

on the day.

Tauil lost his match 6-4, 6-3 and Giraldez was unable to make his mark, falling 6-0, 6-3.

The match ended with freshman Joseph Kavaloski putting up a strong fight, but falling in three sets 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

While the men are playing under a new coach, they will look towards senior leadership from captain J.J. Tauil.

The team consists of many freshman, and this coming season will be important to find out where the team stands moving forward.

Tauil added, “We’ll look to build on the discipline, we have to all better ourselves in every category possible, both physically and mentally.”

The Rams will get their chance to do so and to avenge their opening loss in their next match on Jan. 31, when they face Duquesne University.

January 28, 2015

Sam Belden Remembering Ernie Banks Major League Baseball has lost one of the true greats. Ernie Banks, a hero to Chicago Cubs fans across the country and the first black player in the history of the franchise, passed away last week. He was 83.

For 19 seasons, Banks patrolled the friendly confines of Wrigley Field with an infectious enthusiasm and passion for the sport.

Along the way, he earned the nickname “Mr. Cub” and smashed a franchise record 512 home runs.

After serving in Germany during the Korean War, Banks spent part of the 1953 season playing for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League.

However, baseball’s color barrier was crumbling quickly, and the Cubs soon purchased his contract.

After getting his feet wet in 1954, Banks kicked off a string of amazing seasons. From 1955 through 1960, he averaged 41 home runs per year. He won the MVP award in 1958 and 1959 for this amazing stretch. In both of those seasons, he led the National League in RBIs; he also averaged 46 home runs per year over that span. As a power hitting-shortstop, he was something of an innovator of the position. At the time, middle infielders almost never hit more than 10 homers per season. Later on in his career, he moved to first base and began to lose his touch at the plate, but he still possessed impressive

power during a time of declining home run totals.

Despite Banks’ strong performances on the field, the Cubs were generally horrible during his tenure. Indeed, he holds the all-time record for most games played without a postseason appearance. He could not do anything about the fact that the Cubs front office failed to ever give him anything resembling a competent supporting cast. Still, his enthusiasm for game never waned.

After retiring from baseball, Banks remained active, making appearances on behalf of the Cubs and establishing his Live Above & Beyond Foundation, which helps disadvantaged youths and elderly people. Over the years, he became an icon of Chicago and a true ambassador for his city, taking on the same special significance to fans as Derek Jeter or Mickey Mantle have to many New Yorkers.

Banks has left behind a considerable legacy. Experts laud him as one of the greatest shortstops in the history of the game; in fact, he was one of two shortstops to be named to the MLB’s All-Century Team in 1999. In 1977, he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Advanced metrics back up the writers’ assessment of Banks. Among shortstops of the live-ball era, he ranks 10th in career Wins Above Replacement.

We can all learn something from Ernie Banks. His passion for baseball and undying hope that the Cubs would someday win a World Series are examples of how athletes should act on the field and how people should act in their everyday lives. With his death, our wonderful game has become a little less wonderful, but the mark that Banks left on the sport of baseball lives on.

Don’t Forget to Recycle The Ram

SPORTS

January 28, 2015

Men’s Squash Goes 3-2, Women’s Squash Begins

By DREW CASEY ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

By ALEXANDRIA SEDLAK CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Down in Charlottesville, Virginia, the men’s squash team gave another reason to be proud to be a Ram this weekend. In this tournament, hosted by the University of Virginia, the Rams competed against teams from Richmond, Georgetown, College of Charleston, Dickinson and the University of Virginia. It proved to be a successful start to the second half of the season, as the Rams finished the tournament with a 3-2 record.

Also in Virginia, the women’s club squash team began its first season as an official club for Fordham.

On Saturday, the men’s team opened with a 7-2 win over Richmond, followed by a 3-6 loss to Georgetown.

However, they ended the day with a 6-3 win against the College of Charleston.

Sunday morning opened with a fresh 9-0 win for the Rams against Dickinson, followed by a 2-7 loss to the host school, University of Virginia. After the last match, the team felt satisfied and confident about how they played.

Jimmy Shinnick, FCRH ’17, a captain of the team, explained, “This weekend was great for the team. It showed our great improvement from last semester.

Even in our losses to UVA and Georgetown, we were extremely competitive and improved greatly from last year’s matches against them.”

The sense of confidence and competitive spirit can be attributed to the consistency of both new and returning players.

New additions include No. 3 on the ladder, sophomore Will Wardrop, who finished the weekend with a 4-1 record, and No. 5, sophomore Joseph Hughes, with a 3-2 record. The first spot on the ladder was played by junior Kincade Webster, who ended with a 4-1 record. Freshman Peter Yuen did not lose a single match this

weekend, coming home with a 5-0 record. The return of juniors Matthew Crowe, No. 9, and James Potts, also helped the team become more competitive with each other and more successful in their matches.

This weekend also marked a great start for the women’s club squash team, who won its first team match in Virginia against Notre Dame. This season is the first time that Fordham has officially recognized Women’s Club Squash. These ladies have already set a high standard for the team, and we expect to see more of their great matches in their opening season.

It was a huge weekend for Fordham Squash with the first win of a new club team and the promising future of the men’s varsity team.

Not only did the men’s team have a great overall record, but it also played some terrific individual matches.

Shinnick agreed, “This was a great way to start the second half of the season, and it gives us confidence going into Baltimore next week and our home matches the following weekend.”

Next weekend, from Jan. 30-31, the team will be competing in the John’s Hopkins Round Robin in Baltimore, Maryland.

The following weekend, the team will be playing at home on the Lombardi Squash Courts.

This would be a great opportunity to see your fellow Rams in action, and because of the team’s definite uphill track, it will without a doubt be a momentous match to watch.

Coach Bryan Patterson, an experienced coach and former world-ranked player himself, believes that “the team is definitely on the up and is the strongest that I have coached since becoming the Fordham Squash coach.”

This past weekend in sports was a weird one that featured Bill Nye the Science Guy and the incessant firing of a cannon. That’s not a typo.

The first, the Deflategate scandal in which the New England Patriots used under-inflated footballs in their 45-7 AFC Championship game triumph over the Indianapolis Colts, took place on Saturday afternoon.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick took to the podium for a bizarre press conference at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

The media event was dubbed an emergency press conference, and Belichick began speaking 30 minutes late. What happened next can be described only as NFL media history.

“I spent a significant amount of time this past week learning as much as I could learn, more than I could ever imagine to tell you the truth, about bladders, gauges, stitching, pressure, game-day ball preparation, rub downs and so forth,” Belichick said to begin the press conference.

Before revealing more detailed findings, he prefaced his scientific dissertation by bluntly stating that the Patriots followed every rule regarding the inflation of the footballs that they supplied in the AFC Championship game.

Describing the essence and texture of the football, it quickly became clear that Belichick was simply sticking it to the NFL. The statement soon took another turn, evolving into an in-depth discussion of PSI, or pounds per square inch.

“When the footballs are delivered to the officials’ locker room, the officials were asked to inflate them to 12.5 PSI, what exactly they did, I don’t know,” Belichick said.

Placing the blame on the officials, the five time Super Bowl champion shifted to discussing atmospheric conditions, air pressure and differing weather situations. It’s safe to say that he lost a majority of football fans at this point.

“Now, we all know that air pressure is a function of the atmospheric conditions. It’s a function of that,” Belichick elaborated. “So, if there’s activity in the ball relative to the rubbing process, I think that explains why when

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we gave them to the officials and the officials put it at 12.5 [PSI] if that’s in fact what they did, that once the ball reached its equilibrium state, it probably was closer to 11.5 [PSI].”

Monday’s rumors have thrown a locker room attendant into the mix, but I’ll end my analysis here. Well done, Mr. Belichick, or should I say Bill Nye? The lead-up to Super Bowl XLIX has now turned into a science fair.

To make matters worse for Boston sports fans, Saturday afternoon’s Boston University men’s basketball game against Bucknell University was delayed due to an over-inflated game ball.

Sunday brought the sports world another strange event. In the 60th NHL All-Star Game in Columbus, Ohio, Team Toews took down Team Foligno 17-12. The 29 goals scored were the most ever in a single all-star game. After eight goals were scored in the first period, many quickly became annoyed by the cannon that sounds after each Blue Jackets goal at Nationwide Arena.

Luckily for the fans, players and all watching the game, the cannon was sounded only 11 times as opposed to 29 times. The reduced number of cannon shots still did not sit well with the players.

Florida Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo was noticeably irritated by the sound.

“The canon [sic.] has to go,” Luon-

go tweeted during the third period of the exhibition game.

Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giroux did not care for the cannon at all either.

“I hate the cannon,” the Team Foligno member said following the game.

One of the most interesting comments on the cannon came from Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber, who mentioned that players started preparing for the sound on the bench by plugging their ears. It is a good thing that the NHL does not allow sound effects to be played during live competition, or the Blue Jackets would have quite the home ice advantage.

Los Angeles Kings star defenseman Drew Doughty also wished that the cannon was not part of the game.

“I don’t like that [cannon],” Doughty said. “I don’t think anyone does. It’s not good when we come here. It scares me, still.”

Despite the cannon hatred, the NHL’s All-Star weekend was largely seen as a success. It was certainly a weird weekend to be a sports fan, but a sports weekend is always a fun one.

Oh, and the NFL Pro Bowl was Sunday night in Glendale, Arizona.

Michael Irvin reacted like he had won his fourth Super Bowl after defeating Cris Carter’s team in what is continually becoming one of the least cared about events in a major American sports league.

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

Deflategate is just one of the many headlines from this weekend in sports.

Varsity Calendar HOME AWAY

Men’s Basketball Women’s Basketball

Fordham squash is next in action on Jan. 30 in Baltimore.

Friday Jan. 30

Saturday Jan. 31

URI 7 p.m.

Sunday Feb. 1 Dayton 2 p.m.

Monday Feb. 2

Tuesday Feb. 3

Wednesday Feb. 4 U Mass 7 p.m.

Duquesne 2 p.m.

Squash

Virginia Tournament

Indoor Track

Terrier Classic

Tennis

THE RAM ARCHIVES

Thursday Jan. 29

Duquesne 4 p.m.

Men’s Swimming

U-Mass 1 p.m.

St. Francis 6 p.m.

Women’s Swimming

U-Mass 1 p.m.

SFU/LIU Brooklyn 7 p.m.

SPORTS

Page 24

January 28, 2015

The Fordham Ram

Streak Ends at Six for Women’s Basketball

By MATT ROSENFELD STAFF WRITER

All streaks must come to an end.

Fordham Women’s Basketball saw their unprecedented start in conference play come to an end this past Saturday in a 54-50 loss at Saint Louis.

Before traveling to the Midwest, Fordham hosted UMass on Kids’ Day on Wednesday afternoon at Rose Hill Gym. In front of over 2,200 fans, mostly grade school children, the Rams defeated the UMass Minutewomen 65-42 to cruise to 6-0 in conference, a mark never reached before.

“It was a great overall team victory,” Head Coach Stephanie Gaitley said following the win over UMass.

“I thought the kids stepped up and played great defense. I thought we did a terrific job taking their best player out of the occasion early and having her eventually foul out.”

Great defense has been a theme thus far for the Rams. Fordham leads the conference in multiple defensive categories, including fewest points allowed per game, opponent’s field goal percentage and opponent’s three point field goal percentage.

Last Wednesday, it was both great defense and tremendous shooting that put the game in Fordham’s hands early on. In perhaps their best half of the year, the Rams shot 64 percent from the field and 75 percent from three. Eight different Fordham players scored in a first half in which the Rams outscored UMass 40-17.

As for the defensive end, not only

DREW DIPANE/THE FORDHAM RAM

With only one conference loss, Fordham is currently second in the Atlantic 10 standings.

did Fordham give up less than 20 points, but it was able to hold the Minutewomen to just 26 percent shooting from the field and outrebounded UMass 19-13.

The individual star of the day was graduate student Tiffany Ruffin, who had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds in 29 minutes. The Boston College transfer struggled in the prior game against VCU, but got right back on track against UMass.

“I talked to a lot of the coaches,” Ruffin said. “I am typically my own biggest critic, and they helped me through that to realize that it’s a game of runs and possessions, and that I’m going to make mistakes. It really helped my mindset.

“I just let the game come to me [against UMass]. Attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line

is what I do, so it came easy for me.”

The second half was much rougher than the first for Fordham. The Rams could not buy a bucket, allowing UMass to cut the lead to 13 at one point, 52-39. But, a quick 9-0 run by Fordham dashed any hopes the Minutewomen had at a comeback.

“I thought we got sloppy in the second half,” Gaitley said. “I think part of that comes with having a big lead and playing a lot of kids. Once we were able to get over that one hump when they cut it to 13, we regrouped.”

Unbeknownst to Fordham, a sloppy second half is exactly what would lead to their defeat this past Saturday.

The Rams traveled to Saint Louis to take on the Billikens in their seventh A-10 game of the season. Ford-

ham played its traditional brand of basketball in the first half, hounding Saint Louis with ferocious defense and jumping out to a 20-9 lead.

Sophomore Danielle Burns led the way on offense for Fordham with nine first half points.

Saint Louis worked its way back into the game in the first half, but Fordham’s dominant 27-10 rebound advantage along with the Billikens connecting on only one of 13 three point attempts helped Fordham carry a 29-19 lead into half-time.

“To be honest, in the first half, [Saint Louis] just didn’t make shots,” Gaitley said. “They got open looks and didn’t make them.”

The second half began and the Billikens were out of the gate fast.

They jumped on Fordham, starting the half on a 13-0 run to take a 3229 lead. The two teams would trade

buckets back and forth until the game was tied at 44 with just under four minutes remaining.

From there, Saint Louis went on a 7-0 run, giving it a 51-44 lead with 80 seconds remaining. Missed free throws and a Billiken turnover allowed the Rams to cut the deficit to one point, 51-50, with 35 ticks to go. After another missed free throw from Saint Louis, Fordham had the ball with 25 seconds left and a chance to take the lead and possibly win the game.

Out of a timeout, junior forward Samantha Clark missed a three, and Saint Louis made three free throws as time ran out on Fordham’s six game win streak, losing to Saint Louis 54-50.

“In the second half they were much more aggressive on the boards,” Gaitley said. “They got a lot of second chance opportunities.

And the shots that they missed in the first half, they made. Then, we went on a cold spell.”

Fordham gave up an uncharacteristic 35 points in the second half.

The poor defensive effort combined with the Rams shooting just 31 percent from the field in the second half were too much to overcome. Another Achilles heel for the Rams, turnovers, reared its head against Saint Louis. Fordham had 19 turnovers to Saint Louis’ 11.

Next up, Fordham is on the road at Davidson, the newest member of the Atlantic 10 conference, at 7 p.m. on Jan. 28. The Rams currently sit 14-6 overall, and are second in the conference at 6-1. Following Davidson, Fordham will host Duquesne on Jan. 31.

Rams Blown Out on Birthday of Rose Hill Gym

By MAX PRINZ STAFF WRITER

For the second time in as many games, the Fordham men’s basketball team was overwhelmed by a hot start from its opponent.

Facing George Washington last Thursday night, the Rams allowed the Colonials to jump out to a 12-2 start and were unable to climb out of that early hole.

Playing in special throwback uniforms to celebrate the 90th birthday of the Rose Hill Gym, the Rams struggled to find their offensive game early on. Additionally, Fordham’s poor defense allowed the Colonials to shoot 70 percent from the field in the first half.

“We’ve got some growing up to do,” head coach Tom Pecora said after the game. “We’ve lost the last three games in the first five minutes. We haven’t come out and played with the passion and intensity that we need to.”

It was a poor showing from the Rams on a night when many Fordham fans were hoping for a result better befitting the now 90-year-old gym. A number of famous Fordham alumni, including ESPN’s Tony Reali and Yankees announcer Michael Kay, returned to their old stomping grounds to celebrate the historic gym.

DREW DIPANE/THE FORDHAM RAM

Despite a loss to George Washington, sophomore guard Jon Severe recorded a season-high 12 points.

The Rams, however, failed to show up to fight. Fordham trailed George Washington 41-27 at halftime and looked lost on both ends of the court.

“I told them at walkthrough that if they did not come out foaming at the mouth and ready to play like a pack of dogs, they were not going to win this game,” Pecora said. “We did not come

out and play with that type of sense of urgency.”

The lone bright spot in the first half was the play of Jon Severe, who rallied for 10 first-half points in his best game since returning from a leave of absence.

“Jon played well in spurts,” Pecora said. “He’s got to continue to work on guarding, and he can’t turn the ball over.”

The Rams managed to put up a little bit of a fight in the second half, but it was too little, too late.

After trailing 63-42 at the 9:20 mark, Fordham made a run to cut the lead to as little as 10 points.

Led by freshman Eric Paschall, who scored 16 of his 17 points in the second half, the Rams made the score 69-59 with four minutes left to play. For the first time all

night, Fordham fans had something to cheer about.

The Rams’ chances of a comeback evaporated just as quickly.

George Washington scored the next five points of the game, including a back-breaking threepointer from Patricio Garino, to regain a 15-point advantage.

From there, the Rams failed to score another point, and the game was all but decided.

The slow start clearly frustrated Pecora, who vowed to change up the team’s pregame routine.

“Whatever they do when they’re away from us with their pregame preparation has got to change,” Pecora said. “I’m going to change the way we go about our pregame, and I’m going to get their attention. Make sure they understand it’s game day, and things are going to be a little bit different.”

Next up for the Rams is a home matchup against Rhode Island on Wednesday, Jan. 28. The Rams lost when they faced Rhode Island on the road, but it was a close 68-65 game. This next contest may be Fordham’s best chance to avoid going winless in Atlantic 10 Conference play.

“I said to them, ‘Guys, if you do not change your ways and you do not start competing for 40 minutes, it’s not going to just happen’,” Pecora said.