February 9

Page 1

February 9, 2011

Serving The Community Since 1948

Volume lXV Issue XI

The Pace Press University hosts awardwinning author Robinson IVONNA ThOMPSON news editor

the University hosted award winning author and activist randall robinson at an event Feb. 3 to discusses civil rights. the event, titled “An evening with randall robinson: relections on Civil rights at Home and Abroad,” was hosted by the office of the Provost, student development and Campus Activities (sdACA), the office of Multicultural Affairs (oMA) and P.A.C.e. Board. it was also co-sponsored by the Caribbean student Association and the nYC dean for students office. University President stephen J. Friedman and Provost dr. Harriet r. Feldman introduced robinson prior to his presentation. robinson grew up in richmond, Va. and met famed historical civil rights activist dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. while he was in high school. He also lived through the bus boycott in Birmingham, Ala. He is a Harvard Law graduate and a professor of law at Penn state University. robinson established the mandate transAfrica in 1979, which promotes U.s. progressive policies towards Africa and the Caribbean. He resigned from transAfrica in 2001. during his presentation, robinson discussed how little information he knew when he was younger in the 1960s. “education, so much of what you read is not true. we have to understand that [in order] to pursue democracy with vigor, [we have to] know what the issues are.” Based on his own personal experiences, he stated that he knew about history, but not enough. “i knew nothing about Africa. i knew about Moses, but i did not know about his wife Zipporah. i knew about Cleopatra, but i did not know about the pharaohs and how they built the pyramids,” robinson said. in addition to the lack of knowledge that history records provide, “people who don’t know where they’ve been, have no idea where they are going,” robinson said. “it is a crime against humanity [to hide its history].” robinson also discussed the U.s. foreign policy, stating, “You can’t understand the crisis unless you know the history. nothing happens out of nothing, it’s like going into the middle of a movie without knowing the story. we’ve got to know something to make the right decisions.” He briefly touched on the subject of the riots in Continued on Page 2

TOP 2011 MOVIE on page 4 • STUDENT GETS TAYLOR SWIFT TRANSFORMATION on page 8

Find Us Online! Check out:

Visit our website at Pacepress.org!

Become a fan of The Pace Press on Facebook!

Follow us on our Twitter page @thepacepress!


NEWS

2

February 9, 2011

Lubin School maintains dual degree accreditation jULIA YEUNG stAFF writer

the Association to Advance Collegiate schools of Business (AACsB) international issued a press release Jan. 6 to announce that the University’s Lubin school of Business had renewed its dual degree accreditation for business and accounting for five more years. Lubin is one of 47 schools that has maintained accreditation in business and one of nine schools that maintained accreditation in accounting. in addition, Lubin is only one of three business schools in the nYC area with a dual accreditation from the AACsB international. “i think it's quite an achievement to earn and maintain dual accreditations for business and accounting. it certainly establishes Pace as a leader among other business schools,” senior accounting major Charles Caccio said. the AACsB international was established in 1916 as a membership organization for business schools, where members could network and discuss issues that affect the business education industry and their institutions. it is also the longest serving global accrediting body for business schools that offer undergraduate, master and doctoral degrees in business and ac-

counting. it is an association of more than 1,200 educational institutions, businesses and other organizations in 78 countries. out of almost 13,000 business schools worldwide, less than two percent have received dual business and accounting accreditation. their mission is to help advance quality management education worldwide through accreditation, thoughtful leadership and value-added services. AACsB accreditation is known worldwide to be the longest standing, most recognized form of specialized and professional accreditation an institution and its business programs can earn. it has now developed into mark of excellence in business education. in order for an institution to achieve accreditation, the institution must go through a rigorous review process, evaluation and adjustments, which could take several years to complete. during the time, the institution would develop and create a plan to meet the 21 AACsB standards. they include strategic Management standards, Participants standards and Assurance of Learning standards. to achieve an accounting accreditation, an institution has to earn or maintain their AACsB accreditation first. Along with the plan to meet the

21 AACsB business standards, the accounting accreditation also requires an additional 15 standards specific to accounting. institutions that become AACsB accredited must maintain the standards every five years; otherwise the accreditation would be lost.

“I think it’s quite an achievement...it certainly establishes Pace as a leader among other business schools. -Charles Caccio, student According to a University press release, the Lubin school had first earned their AACsB accreditation in 1996, and in 2006 the accounting department also received accreditation. it is the second largest private accredited business school in new York. it is also the seventh largest private AACsB accredited business school in the country with an enrollment of 2,820 students in the Lubin school, of which 672 of those students represent 75 countries. the Lubin school offers ten undergraduate majors such as account-

ing, management and marketing with concentrations in international management, entrepreneurship, advertising and promotion, etc. there are also 18 graduate programs, some of which are five-year programs to complete both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. sophomore business management major Angie ip said, “Pace has an exceptional business program, in fact, a leading one in the country. they set high standards for each individual in the Lubin school. Because of the high standards, we set high goals for ourselves. it may be a challenge everyday to achieve the goals, but it will only lead to success at the end of each day.” the University has a total of 7,971 undergraduates and an additional 1,157 students pursuing graduate degrees. the Lubin school’s mission is to provide students with experiencedbased learning that combines both business theories and practical applications in order to prepare graduates for successful careers in the global business world.

robinson stated that next year he is hosting a television show through Penn state called “world trial.” the show will feature countries that are on trial for violation of human rights.

“People who don’t know where they’ve been, have no idea where they are going. -Randall Robinson, award winning author the first trial will feature France and the passing of the law against Muslim girls wearing headscarves in high school. Former British Prime Minister’s tony Blair’s wife, Cherie Blair, will be the judge of the trial. representatives from other countries will sit in on the trial from edinburgh, scotland and istanbul. other trials will feature the U.s. trying to use drones to kill people in Pakistan, nigeria and its skewed distribution of any benefits for its residents. “world trial” will also feature other countries such as China, sri Lanka, india and saudi Arabia. At the end of robinson’s pres-

entation, sdACA director david Clark presented robinson with a University sweatshirt and thanked him for his presentation. “we want to thank you so much for your inspiring words,” Clark said. After Clark’s presentation, the

BETTY FERMIN ContriBUtor

the University has revamped the wireless connection access points in the University’s cafeteria and the library. University information technology services (its) director Matthew Bonilla became aware that students were reporting problems connecting to the internet while on the wireless system, particularly while streaming media sites, resulting in bandwidth limitations. “we increased the University's internet bandwidth providing ten times more bandwidth to the Pace community. to address connectivity issues and dropped sessions on Pace_secure, the new encrypted wireless network, we created an additional authentication server. in december and January, we focused our efforts on replacing older wireless Access Points (wAPs) in high usage areas like [the PLV campus’s] Mortola and [the nYC campus’s] Birnbaum libraries,” Bonilla said. WEB He also added, “the newer access Interested in becoming points can handle a larger number of a Lubin major? connections and support the latest For more information visit: wireless protocols. we also added adPace.edu/lubin ditional wAPs where needed. Additionally, over the winter break their wireless vendor provided us with some updates and patches for our wireless access points and controllers, all aimed at improving the performance of our wireless network.” the network group is also meeting with vendors to come up with socrowd gave robinson a round of lutions to improve the University’s applause and a standing ovation. core network infrastructure. the soluFollowing robinson’s presen- tions will be aimed towards providing tation, attendees were able to pur- redundancy for improved network rechase robinson’s books and have liability and positioning us for future them signed by him. growth. PC user and freshman Payal Patel who uses a HP laptop in the cafeteria, stated she had been online for a while and had no complaints. “it’s been working fine for me,” she said. Mac user and sophomore Lauren rogers said, “Logging in was a hassle and always seems to take a long time, but when it went through, the internet connection worked just fine for me.” the kind of laptop is important because wireless connection might be better for a specific brand or model. in regards to future wireless improvements, Bonilla said, “we are currently testing XpressConnect from Cloudpath, which will greatly simplify the wireless configuration steps required to connect to Pace_secure and eliminate client configuration issues that may affect wireless connectivity. “with a few clicks, a web-based wizard configures your secure wireless, authenticates you and connects you to the secure wireless network. if our testing proves successful, XpressConnect will be available to the University community in the upcoming weeks,” Bonilla added.

Award-winning author and activist Randall Robinson encourages the study of history From Page 1 egypt by stating, “the people of Cairo aren’t just fighting against Mubarak, they are fighting against the western powers.” Again he brought up how little U.s. citizens know about what is occurring around the world. “isn’t it sad when you travel outside our country that people know about us more [than we know about ourselves]? ignorance is death, but it’s a curable disease,” robinson said. He also highlighted how the U.s. media uses propaganda to influence the public. “it’s a scary reality for those of you who watch FoX news that is the face of it. Propaganda is the most powerful and popular form of media. even The New York Times, as powerful as it is, [uses propaganda],” robinson said. robinson also discussed his thoughts on the current U.s. Administration and how it has handled human rights, “i am very disappointed with the Administration in respect to Haiti.” He then discussed U.s. foreign policy again by saying, “two weeks ago we were employing Pres. Mubarak. if we weren’t a democracy we would not be close to China.”

Wireless on NYC campus improves

randallrobinson.com


February 9 2011

3

OPINION AND EDITORIALS DISCLAIMER: These opinions are expressed by contributors (students, faculty, administration, and staff) to The Pace Press.These opinions are solely those of the individual writers and do not reflect the opinions of The Pace Press, the members of The Pace Press staff, or Pace University. The Pace Press is not responsible and expressly disclaims all liability for damages of any kind arising out of use or relevance to any information contained in this section.

ChRISTINA KARYKOUS

state of emergency, pass a law preventing a president from serving more than two terms and for the interior minister, Habib alAdly, to resign. despite the chaos that we see on our televisions, this is ultimately a very good thing for all of the Middle east. waseem wagdi, an egyptian protester living in London describes what the protests signify to him and what they ultimately mean for the Middle east,. “it is something i had hoped to happen in my life time,” he said. “Just like millions of people, i am so happy that our children will be able to live in a more humane society. we are not waiting for our children to dream, the heroes in egypt are making all our dreams come true. tahrir square, the biggest square in the Arab world is being liberated today!” this day will forever be acknowledged in the Middle east. the Middle east's dictatorial states look rock solid until protests like those in egypt and tunisia occur, making revolutions seem possible everywhere. An even more inspiring factor of this protest is the fact that it is free of discrimination. islam is the primary religion in egypt, with a minority of Coptic orthodox. these two sects have gone through much tension for years prior to these protests. sahar Habib, an egyptian

Editorial Board Lynn Rickert Editor-In-Chief Natalie Gavilanes Executive Editor

CONTRIBUTOR

Egyptians all over the world rally in support of protests President Hosni Mubarak of egypt has been in office for the past 30 years and now that his term is slowly approaching its end, the egyptian people are anxious to see him out. Unlike many nations, however, this upcoming term does not exactly set forth the change that these people are itching for. Gamal Mubarak, President Hosni Mubarak’s son, is trained to be his father’s successor. different president, same rules and, for the people who make up this country, they cannot stand to face another decade under the Mubarak regime. egypt is the largest country in the Middle east, the third largest in Africa and the Us gives the egyptian government $1.3 billion in military aid annually. despite this, the country still faces poverty, poor education and lack of freedom. the government has been ignoring the infrastructure of the country, education and health needs have suffered and many well-educated people are not able to find jobs. that being said, these problems caused corruption to spread and inevitably gave people no choice but to live below the international poverty level. these are the circumstances that have led to the popular protests occurring in egypt today. the protesters want the egyptian government to end its 30-year

the pace press

American, emotionally describes her joy regarding the unity of both religions. “i've never been so proud to call myself egyptian,” she said. “For once it is no longer a matter of who is Muslim or who is Christian. we are simply egyptian. we are unified.” Christians are defending Muslims and Muslims are defending Christians because together they have a common goal. egyptians all over the world are supporting this cause, making this a beautiful and historical revolution for the country. egyptians living in all of the major cities around the world — like London, Paris, Beirut and new York — have acknowledged the struggle that their Mother nation is enduring and are ready to help in any way they can — social networking being the key. Meena dimian, an egyptian American, shares his thoughts on what he believes this means for the country. “egypt symbolized the human resistance to oppression these past two weeks, and i've never been more proud,” he said. “not to mention how they showed the world that being poor and less fortunate doesn't mean you're weak.” this protest has made a dent in the Middle east. Before the revolutions in tunisia and egypt, Middle eastern Authoritarians seemed so rock solid. dimian continued, “ they gave them-

selves a platform for reform and gave the world hope for change. i did attend a protest in Beirut and was glued to all the news sources this week and constantly updated my twitter.” the entire world is influenced by the strength of this nation. As of right now, matters in egypt are getting better. there is violence in tahrir square between pro-Mubarak and anti-government protesters, but for the most part people are able to go to work and businesses and banks have opened. emad tawadros, an egyptian business owner who lives in Cairo, explained the streets of the city two weeks after protests, “we are able to go about our everyday routines as we used to, [but] the army still surrounds us, we are given curfews of 6 p.m. and protesters and soldiers still surround tahrir square.” the president has agreed to leave office, but not until september. Protesters, however, remain persistent on getting him out now. tawadros continued, “As far as i am concerned, egypt has won its victory. our goal was to get rid of the Mubarak regime and my brothers and sisters have done so, waiting an extra five months can be tolerated. we’ve already had to endure 30 years.”

Want your opinion heard? If you are an undergrad or graduate student, University alumnus or alumna, faculty or staff member, you can submit your opinion piece to The Press at editor@pacepress.org!

Kim Bui Associate Editor Kaitlynn Blyth Managing Editor Ivonna Thompson News Editor Katherine Riley Features Editor Brian Rentas Arts Editor Kate hamzik Copy Editor hilda Adeniji Digital Illustrator Leucepe Martinez Business & Ads Manager Dj McErlean-hopson Web Editor Nazary Nelebuk Distribution Manager Mark McSherry Faculty Consultant

Staff Mel Bailey Joanna Gonzalez Stephanie Hansen Craig Held Jessica LaRosa Nazary Nelebuk Bethany O’Grady Jessica Owens James Ryder Amanda Schiavo Vibha Solanki Ruveena Virk Quinn Wasson Julia Yeung

The Pace Press is the student newspaper of Pace University’s New York City Campus. It is managed and operated entirely by members of the student body as it appears above. The Pace Press welcomes guest editorials and letters from students, faculty, administration and staff. The Pace Press reserves the right to not publish any submitted material, both solicited and unsolicited. All submissions must include the author’s full name and contact information. The Pace Press 41 Park Row, Rm. 902 NewYork, NY 10038 www.pacepress.org editor@pacepress.org Copyright 2011


February 9, 2011

4

ARTS

Most anticipated movies of the new year Sucker Punch (March 25), directed by Zack snyder (300 and Dawn of the Dead), stars Vanessa Hudgens, Carla Gugino, Jena Malone and emily Browning. the movie features a string of sexy actresses in kick-ass roles. the plotline follows “Baby doll” (Browning), whose evil stepfather is holding her captive in a mental institution with plans to lobotomize her. she finds a way to escape with her inmates by creating an alternate reality. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (May 20) — with orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightley out of the picture — is a must see for Jack sparrow lovers. in this adventure, Jack (Johnny depp) and Angelica (Penelope Cruz) are on a quest for the “Fountain of Youth.” The Hangover 2 (May 26) stars Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, ed Helms and Justin Bartha. the boys are headed to thailand for stu’s (Helms) wedding and former president Bill Clinton is even rumored to be making an appearance. Green Lantern (June 17) stars ryan reynolds and Blake Lively. reynolds plays the titular character and is rumored to have done a great job with the role.

RUVEENA VIRK stAFF writer

For movie buffs who order tickets weeks in advance and salivate in anticipation with popcorn in hand, 2011 already has an awesome line-up of new action flicks including some sequels, a couple of “firsts” and even a new twist on a well known fairy tale. Here are some of The Pace Press’ top picks:

X-Men: First Class (June 3), starring Aaron Johnson and James McAvoy, shows the beginnings of Professor X and Magneto, when they were first discovering their powers. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (July 1) stars shia LaBeouf, rosie Huntington-whiteley and tyrese Gibson. Megan Fox has infamously been replaced with Huntington-whiteley after she publically insulted the film’s director, Michael Bay. the plotline revolves around a battle between the Autobots and decepticons over a newly discovered Cybertronian spacecraft on the moon.

The Hangover 2 (May 26) stars Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, ed Helms and Justin Bartha. the boys are headed to thailand for stu’s (Helms) wedding and former president Bill Clinton is even rumored to be making an appearance. Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22) stars Chris evans, samuel L. Jackson, tommy Lee Jones, stanley tucci, and Hugo weaving. the story is about a soldier discharged from the military who volunteers for a top-secret research project, turning him into Captain America. Red Riding Hood (April 22) is a new take on the classic childhood story. the cast includes Amanda seyfried, Gary oldman, shiloh Fernandez, Carmen Lavigne and Jen Halley. the twist is that “Little” red riding Hood is an orphaned woodcutter trying to save her village from a werewolf. Scream 4 (April 15) stars neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and david Arquette, bringing back the terror and humor that haunts woodsboro and the recurring main character, sydney Prescott (Campbell).

Best Coast and Wavves bring their lo-fi surfer music to NYC NICOLE MORALES ContriBUtor

indie lo-fi surf rock bands Best Coast and wavves made a stop at nYC’s webster Hall Feb. 2 as part of their latest “summer is Forever” tour. the co-headlining bands were also joined by supporting act no Joy, a Montreal based lo-fi psychedelic noise band. no Joy played a short 30 minute set, but frontwomen Laura Lloyd and Jasmine white-Glutz’s amazing guitar shredding abilities left long-lasting impressions on the audience. After no Joy’s set, wavves frontman nathan williams was greeted by hoards of adoring fan girls. the band proceeded to throw purple and green inflatable aliens, along with inflatable beach balls, into the audience. shortly thereafter, the venue turned into a giant beach party as wavves began playing their first song. the crowd jumped in a type of frenzy that only wavves’ fun and racy riffs can create. As if the crowd wasn’t wild enough, the entire floor started to shake when the opening riffs of “King of the Beach” began. william’s whiny punky vocals trailed off into the audience where everyone gladly finished the words with him.

After a slew of fast paced dance songs, wavves slowed it down to play “Linus spacehead,” but even with a slower pace the crowd seemed as wild as ever. wavves left the crowd energized, anxiously waiting for Best Coast to take the stage. After about half an hour of waiting, the room turned to black and only the light up effects on either side of the stage could be seen. the crowd started screaming, as they waited for frontwoman Bethany Cosentino, bassist Bobb Bruno and drummer Ali Koehler, formerly of Vivian Girls, to take their respective places on stage. suddenly, the autotuned harmony of 2Pac’s “California Love” blared through the speakers, causing a frenzy as the entire song played out. the audience sang along to the parts they knew, smiling and laughing because although they had not yet taken the stage, it was apparent that Best Coast had a great sense of humor, as well as great taste in music. the band finally took the stage and without a single word, they started playing the title song of their critically acclaimed 2010 album Crazy for You. As the hazy opening riffs of their second song “the end” began, something didn’t seem right. there seemed to be some type of technical

difficulty with Cosentino’s sound, but not in the Ashlee simpson sense. As Cosentino fumbled with the sound control at her feet during the instrumental after the first verse, she missed the cue for the beginning of the second verse. the crowd wasn’t fazed as they sang the beginning of the second verse in Cosentino’s place. she smiled and said, “How about we start this from the top?” the crowd went wild as the band smiled and jammed out “the end” with perfection. throughout the remainder of the set, the crowd sang along with Cosentino about boys and cats. in the end Best Coast and wavves definitely succeeded in allowing nYC to forget about winter worries. Freshman nora Kennedy agreed, stating, “For that moment in time, the cold, wet February weather went away, and summer mood kicked in. i think that my favorite thing about the show, aside from getting high fives from steve and Bethany, was hearing music that reminds me of hanging out at the beach on a warm summer day. this was definitely a concert i will never forget.” the crowd’s sentiments all seemed to mirror Kennedy’s, so it’s safe to say it will be a show nYC won’t soon forget either.

Nicole Morales/Contributor

best Coast’s bethany Cosentino


ARTS

February 9, 2011

5

Pendulum and Innerpartysystem take on Irving Plaza BRIAN RENTAS Arts editor

nYC was in for treat when Australian electronic band Pendulum played a sold-out performance Feb. 5 at Union square’s irving Plaza. with nYC-based electro band innerpartysystem opening up the show, concertgoers were greeted with intense live performances that were pretty damned impressive. innerpartysystem set the bar high for the night — while playing a set barely over 30 minutes, the three piece group destroyed any expectations the crowd had of them. the set featured a mix of songs from their debut self-titled album and latest release, the American Trash eP, as well as new remixes of fan favorites. innerpartysystem kept the pace fast, the energy high and got the crowd pumped for headliners Pendulum. After nearly an hour between sets, the band that the crowd had been patiently waiting for finally took their cue. Pendulum appeared

on stage and immediately blasted into “Genesis,” the first song off their most recent album, Immersion, which was released in America in late January. “Genesis,” which features Pendulum’s patented heavy-synth sound, served as an awesome precursor to the next song, “salt in the wounds,” which combines the band’s extensive use of synths with the hard rock guitar patterns seen in previous albums. Pendulum also made sure to stand out in terms of stage production — touring with their own customized lighting rigs, the stage was bathed with lush and surreal lighting that added to the live experience. Before long, it was as though the audience was not at a concert, but rather at a rave — this, of course, was the perfect environment for the band to play. the likeness to a rave was apparent through the rather large size of the crowd and the amount of energy heaving from it at any given moment. the band’s set stemmed from

Laura Murray/Contributor

rob swire of Pendulum rocking the stage of Irving Plaza

Immersion, but also touched on songs from the band’s past albums In Silico and Hold Your Colour. Fan favorites such as “Fasten Your seatbelts,” “Propane nightmares”

and “watercolour” all made an appearance and all sounded absolutely spectacular. Pendulum’s set shattered any previous expectations the crowd

had for the band — their awesome stage presence, extensive stage lighting and precise performance worked extremely well for the band.


ARTS

6

February 9, 2011

Broadway hit Chicago hosts a fan day for its Facebook friends CRAIG hELD stAFF writer

the long running Broadway musical Chicago made history Jan. 30, when its cast performed to a theater filled with Facebook fans of the show, dubbing the day “Chicago Fan day 2011.” this past november, Chicago’s Facebook fan page ran a promotion that allowed its fans to receive one free ticket to the Jan. 30 performance if they were able to get ten friends to also like the Chicago fan page. the promotion was so successful that administrators had to shut down the fan site after five hours because of the massive turn out. the day itself was packed with activities for those waiting in line. Cupcakes were provided, compliments of the Cupcake stop as well as coffee, hot dogs and pizza from area businesses. trivia contests were also held for super fans, with many lucky theatergoers leaving with gift certificates to local restaurants and various Chicago memorabilia. As ticket holders took their seats, they received a bowler hat and t-shirt that commemorated the day’s events. this is not the first time that the production has utilized its online fan base. earlier this month, a range of new promotional posters were uploaded to the fan page where users could vote on their favorite. the winning poster became a part of

broadwayworld.com

The cast of Chicago at the Facebook Fan Day performance.

Chicago’s new press campaign. Before the show started, seth rudetsky and Julie James of sirius XM radio fame, hosted a brief preshow in which more swag was given to audience members. Following a speech from lead producer Barry weissler, the show finally began. Having just entered its 15th year on Broadway — a truly respectable feat when compared to the quick

turnover of its theatrical neighbors — Chicago still manages to strike a chord with audiences that many other musicals have sought and failed to find. with many long-running musicals however, the cracks begin to show when you are left with less than stellar performances. Leigh Zimmerman, who plays Velma, has been with the show since its 1996 opening where she originated the

role of Go-to-Hell Kitty. Her turn as Velma Kelly showed why she had a role with a combined total of five minutes stage time — her role was both bland and hokey. Any line that could be played for laughs was poorly executed. the other low point in the afternoon’s performance was Colman domingo’s performance as lawyer Billy Flynn. domingo’s vocals left quite a lot to the imagination espe-

cially when the money notes in each of his songs, “Both reached for the Gun” and “razzle dazzle,” were dropped an octave. typically, when one can’t sing a role in a musical, his acting will make up for the lost ground, but unfortunately the audience wasn’t afforded that opportunity. the undeniable star of the show was Bianca Marroquin’s roxie Hart. Marroquin has played roxie for countless years and even brought the production to Mexico. she was able to find freshness within the role that completely set her apart from other famous roxies like Gwen Verdon or even renee Zellweger, who has become the regrettable golden standard of roxie Harts. After watching Marroquin for just five minutes on stage, it is apparent why she is consistently asked back to perform. it’s difficult to pinpoint what has exactly made Chicago the long running hit that it has become. Many claim it’s the fantastic score by the legendary John Kander and Fred ebb, while others hold on to the belief that it’s the witty book written by ebb and the incomparable Bob Fosse. despite these necessary building blocks, it is the core of Chicago’s message, the futility of celebrity and the corruption of public opinion, which allows the musical to reach new audiences everyday internationally.

Upcoming Fine Arts Department events In Absentia Dates: Feb. 1 – March 3 Location: Fingestein Gallery jill Magid + LoVid Dates: February 8 Location: Pace Digital Gallery Rosalee Goldberg Dates: February 22, 3:30-4:30 Location: TBA

Career Panel: TV + Video Production Dates: March 8, 6:00-8:00pm Location: TBA juried Student Show Dates: March 22 — April 9 Opening Reception: March 22 5:00-7:00pm Location: Fingestein Gallery

Turbulence Dates: April 15 — April 29 Opening Reception April 15 5:00-7:00pm Location: Pace Digital Gallery Portfolio Workshop Dates: April 12, 3:30-4:30 Location: Room 1203, 41 Park Row

Project Studio Dates: April 26 – May 7 Opening Reception: April 26 5:00-7:00pm Location: Fingestein Gallery


FEATURES

February 9, 2011

Unconventional ways students have paid off their loans

estudentloans.biz

MEL BAILEY stAFF writer

As America’s economic downturn is beginning to shift in a more positive direction, those who find themselves in debt are optimistic about their futures and aspire to rid themselves of

financial crisis for good. For college students, student loans are the hot pressure button on most graduates’ minds. some students find bizarre ways to pay back the thousands of dollars they have incurred in their college careers. Al-

though some ways work better than others, the creativity shown in devising ways to pay for these loans is priceless. senior Kristen Gonzalez was fortunate enough to receive only subsidized loans from the government, “Hopefully i can pay my loans in the upcoming fall. i’m planning on going to law school part-time, but luckily i didn’t have to pay any interest. My friend is looking for jobs like crazy to pay his loans, one job is a fetish service to have people play with your feet. He’s contemplating it!” senior Hendy Lamothe stated, “My loans were all part of my financial aid package; but my dad is paying them back after i graduate. i think its crazy what people will do to pay back their loans, my friend told me he knows someone who sold their kidney.” The Huffington Post conducted a study detailing what students thought were the eight craziest ways one could pay for college tuition. the list ranged

from extremes such as students living on campus to avoid paying for housing, students paying their entire tuition in pennies or dollar bills, dumpster diving for food and even resorting to staying on street corners with signs requesting help in raising funds for tuition repayment. “on average people take about five to ten years to pay back loans. Mine will be paid back within the first two years of graduation. i heard of people joining the military, selling crack and standing on street corners to pay for school, i don’t know which

“ I think it’s crazy what people will do to pay back their loans, my friend told me he knows someone who sold their kidney. -Hendy Lamonthe, student

7

one i’ll choose yet,” senior daryll Marie said. the task of paying back college loans, for some college students, is more daunting than others. Many have a plan however, such as junior Andrew theori. “Luckily i don't have many loans. Pace really helped me and i moved off campus to minimize the cost of attendance. After graduation, hopefully my balance will be something low that a transitional job can help pay back. More importantly, i probably won't go to grad school unless i get a job that helps pay for it. i think most loans start accruing interest six months after graduation. that's why i'm targeting a six month payback time,” theori said. regardless as to whether one decides to go an atypical route to pay back college loans or prolongs their education for years in hopes that they will succumb to their debt at the age of 65, it is never too early to think about ways of repayment and ideas on the future.

Effin’ Textbooks finds books without the hassle of searching BETTY FERMIN ContriBUtor

At the beginning of every semester, students always stress over how much books are going to cost. Business Honors student robert Caucci, part of the entrepreneurship program in the Lubin school of Business, did something to lessen this stress by creating effintextbooks.com. instead of having to go to all the familiar websites to get textbooks such as Amazon.com or Chegg.com, this website allows you to input the information of the book you are looking for and it will bring up a list of websites, beginning with the cheapest price and continuing from there. it continues to have a growing fan base as Caucci continues to advertise more around our campus and other universities in nYC. The Pace Press (TPP): when you came up with this idea, how hard was it to create the website? Robert Caucci: Creating the website wasn't hard at all. Getting the website to actually do things was the tough part. i bought a couple relevant domain names, posted a design job on Freelancer.com, had a couple hundred people bid on it, selected a web designer whose portfolio was pretty well aligned with the image we were going for and out popped a website. this really didn't give us anything though; all it gave us were some pretty cool images. we needed to add functionality to these images and web pages so people could actually click around and do things. TPP: what technology did you use to make it so easy for college students to find their books? Caucci: Alex Quick and Paat sinsuwan, cofounders of effin' textbooks, have developed proprietary price comparison technology that aggregates data from all of our affiliates, Amazon, Chegg, Barnes and noble, Bookrenter and [others], in an effort to display the lowest price offerings from each one. the technology is pretty awesome today, but we're always trying to get better and we continue to develop new functionality. Coming pretty soon, students will be able

to sell their books via effin' textbooks by uploading their books to all of our affiliate marketplaces with one click.

TPP: it continues to have a growing fan base, did you ever think that it would become this popular?

Caucci: of course! ideally, i would like every book buyer in the U.s. to use effin' textbooks. students from all around the world can use our site and Facebook app to find the lowest price on the books they need, so why not, we've actually received visits from over 10 countries so far.

in terms of expanding our marketing efforts, the campus-based "Guerrilla Marketing teams" will be largely responsible for getting the word out at different schools. Fundamentally, we're hoping our various marketing and Pr strategies do what they're supposed to do, and help us expand.

Caucci: we are fortunate that we continue to experience growth, and yes, we were hoping that people would see our value proposition and identify with our brand. However, we are very far from where we'd like to be when it comes to "popularity.” there are over 15 million college students in the U.s. alone, and today, only about 1,000 of them use effin' textbooks to find their books. so, these numbers would dictate that we're not all that popular yet (outside of nYC), and we're very excited about this opportunity to start helping the 14,999,000 plus students that don't use effin' textbooks today. while most of our traffic does come from the nYC region, we have started receiving daily visits from eight states on average and we continue to receive awesome shout outs from our users on twitter. TPP: i have seen the advertisements around school; in what other ways do you want to get the word out there? Caucci: social media has been huge for us from the beginning and we're looking forward to leveraging various social media platforms to help market effin' textbooks virally. Furthermore, our Facebook application makes it extremely easy for students to find the books they need while simultaneously talking with their best friend on Facebook chat. we have a video competition in the works, and we are currently building a network of "Guerrilla Marketing teams" that will be campus specific. we also have national Facebook Ads and Google Adwords campaigns running. there are a few other pretty innovative Pr and marketing strategies we're considering, but nothing that can be disclosed publicly yet. TPP: would you want the website to be used by schools all over the U.s., and if so how do you plan on expanding? effintextbooks.com


February 9, 2011

8

FEATURES

hip s n r e t n i s e r o c s t n University stude a job s t e g d n ” a w l o Sh y a n ido R a l e s a t h e c e a m R , e r h e on “T akeov m m a e r d s t e jor g a m s n o i t a c Communi

RUVEENA VIRK stAFF writer

At a time when college students are competing for jobs and internships, it seems that the phrase “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” is now more prevalent than ever. Communications major Melissa recine made it happen for herself by being at the right place at the right time. recine appeared on “the rachael ray show” for a taylor swift makeover and managed to get a dream internship. The Pace Press (TPP): How did you get on the show? Melissa Recine: well the short version is, i am a very big taylor swift fan and have been since i was 15 years old. i used to write letters to every tV show hoping to meet her. i made it my goal. so when i got a call from “the rachael ray show” asking if i would be interested in a “taylor swift Makeover,” i jumped at the chance.

cine, e R a i ss ift on t Mel w n S e r d TPP: How did you end up walktu Taylo si t y s h r t ing away with an internship? i e v w i , ” t w h Un o g i h r Ray S d on l e Recine: My mom actually brought e r h u t c a R pic e up the idea to bring my resume on the day of the h “T taping. so i printed it out and asked one of the producers what i should do. she brought me to the internship coordinator. i’m so thankful i did!

TPP: who did you speak to on the show for your internship?

Recine: i spoke to the internship Coordinator, who was really nice. so is everyone that works there. Most of them started as interns themselves so it's really cool to see where this might take me. TPP: what will you be doing as part of your internship? Recine: i do a lot of runs for the executives and i log a lot of tapes. on taping days, interns are always helping to keep the audience in the right room and make sure everyone is where he or she is supposed to be at the right times. TPP: How did you feel when taylor swift came onstage as a surprise visit? Recine: it was awesome when they surprised me with taylor. i had no idea. i made it my goal to meet taylor and this taught me that there is nothing too silly or too high to aim for. Persistence and determination help [you] realize what you are good at. Many success stories we hear today begin with a bold move such as recine’s. it is reassuring to know that even in today’s tough job market; there are those who find success in their passions. For a communications major, an internship on a show like “the rachael ray show” is an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of the industry, not to mention a tremendous encouragement to students who turn their passions into professions.

photo from pressroom.blogs.pace.edu

Poetry Brothel seduces NYC with imaginative young adults AMANDA SChIAVO stAFF writer

the Poetry Brothel is a collection of imaginative young adults who come together to create and perform diverse and original works of poetry. their slogan reads, “the first event of its kind to seduce new York City.” one of its founding members includes University english professor stephanie Berger. “Poetry is the greatest literary art form because of the way it uses language. Poets think and feel in terms of images, words or groups of words that appeal to our senses, to express common human emotions with great imaginative power and originality,” english department Chair dr. walter raubicheck said. the Poetry Brothel is more than your typical coffee house poets. those involved create burlesque and vaudeville type characters and dress up in period costumes to perform their work. their website states, “the cre-

ation of character, which for poet and audience functions as disguise and as freeing device, enabling the Poetry Brothel to be a place of uninhibited creative expression in which the poets and clients can be themselves in private.” the Poetry Brothel takes the traditional poetry reading to a different level. Poets now get to perform their pieces in ways they never expected they could. none of the poets go by their real name, as each person has a unique name that is central to their characters identity and the type of poetry they create. Characters include, the Madame, tennessee Pink and Car sargasso. Collectively, the poets who belong to the Poetry Brothel are known as “the whores.” taking on these characters allows poets to step out of themselves for a few moments and speak what is on their minds in a personal, yet public way. “the Poetry Brothel is attempting to take poetry out of the class-

room and poetry magazines and bring it into the world of theater, of performance art, which is great,” dr raubicheck said about the club. the Poetry Brothel has other branches in Los Angeles, Chicago, Leicester, UK and Barcelona, spain. it will soon be expanding to san Francisco, new orleans, Portland and Venezuela. “i love poetry and would definitely be interested in working with other poets because it [is] so difficult to find common ground with people who don't appreciate poetry,” sophomore Ariel Bukhsbaum said. “i would consider [joining the Poetry Brothel] because it is a beautiful form of expression and art,” Bukhsbaum added. the Poetry Brothel’s website, thepoetrybrothel.com, has information on how to get involved and make donations as well as internship opportunities for those interested in poetry, business, art administration and management.

nypost.com


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.