Vol 107 Issue 20

AWA R D-W INNING CENTR A LR ECOR DER .COM Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Central Connecticut State University

Volume 107 No. 20

Assault Victim: ‘I Don’t Feel Ashamed Anymore’ kat boushee the recorder

When CCSU professor Moises Salinas sexually assaulted Krystal Rich in February 2010, she contemplated not saying anything, but was bolstered by a strong support system to ultimately seek the justice she needed to give her peace.

Rich says she wishes for her story to inspire others to seek the justice they deserve.

“I just want justice to be served… for all those people out there who had things

Salinas Guilty of Sexually Assaulting Student

happen to them and it hasn’t worked out and the person has walked away,” Rich said.

“Sometimes, just sometimes, it works. And I wish it worked every time.”

Rich also spoke of the toll that this case took on her and those she is closest to.

“I never in a million years imagined going to court or imagined this year-long process,” she said, “It wasn’t just the assault itself but then afterwards it was him trying to contact me, him making up lies about people on campus…and trying to undermine my character and [the character of] his colleagues.”

The case was such a struggle for Rich because prior to her assault there was no contingency plan in place at CCSU regarding the sexual assault of a student by a faculty member.

Joanne DiPlacido, CCSU professor and close friend of Rich, said “When Krystal was sexually assaulted Central did not have a formalized policy and protocol and it was further complicated by the fact that the Chief Diversity Officer was designated as the person to investigate sexual assaults.”

VictiM | cont. on 3

UP IN SMOKE

Former Chief Diversity Officer Allowed to Leave Country for New Job kat boushee the recorder

Former CCSU professor and chief diversity officer Moises Salinas was found guilty of sexually assaulting a former CCSU student after pleading no contest in New Britain last Wednesday.

Salinas, 44, was charged with sexual assault in the fourth degree in September of last year after accusations made by Krystal Rich, a then 22-year-old CCSU student. Salinas had allegedly promised to write Rich a letter of recommendation but insisted on taking her out to lunch.

The alleged incident occurred on Feb. 18 of 2010 at a restaurant in Newington. In the warrant, Rich made claims that Salinas touched her and attempted to kiss her. Rich informed other CCSU faculty the Monday after the incident. An internal investigation by CCSU attorney Carolyn Magnan eventually lead to Newington Police being informed on April 29. Salinas, also charged with unlawful restraint, turned himself into police in September.

Salinas entered the courtroom with his wife and his attorney. When Salinas’ case was called, he asked that his wife be able to stand with him. Judge Hillary Strackbein denied his request, noting that it was a very odd thing for an adult to ask.

After pleading no contest to the charges, Salinas’ lawyer produced a letter to the court stating that Salinas is taking a job out of the country. Salinas received a one year suspended sentence with a two year conditional discharge. This sentence is contingent on Salinas not teaching and resigning his position at CCSU. As long as Salinas does not break the law in the period of one year he will not go to jail salinas | cont. on 4

Some think that rules banning smoking from building entrances isn’t enough for the CCSU campus.

toM russell i the recorder

Professor Proposes Campus Smoking Ban kassondra Granata the recorder

According to The American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, there are at least 466 U.S. colleges and universities that have 100 percent smoke-free campuses.

Chemistry professor Guy Crundwell wants CCSU to join this recent trend and has brought up the possibility of making CCSU a smoke-free campus countless times. He is still not getting the outcome he desires.

“The American Cancer Society and the Surgeon General have a simple message,” Crundwell said. “There is no level of tobacco exposure that is risk free.”

According to the National Cancer Institute website, secondhand smoke is a combination

of sidestream smoke, which is the smoke that is burning off of the tobacco product and mainstream smoke, which is the smoke that the smokers inhale.

When a non-smoker is around a smoker, they are both equally inhaling the same amount of cancer causing chemicals.

According to the Surgeon General, cigarette smoke has more than 4,000 chemical compounds with 250 known cancer-causing chemicals such as hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide and ammonia.

Aware of these factors, Crundwell is concerned for the well-being of the students at CCSU. After taking this debate to the Faculty Senate more than once, they issued the infamous 25 feet rule where it states that a smoker must stand 25 feet away from any

opening to a building when they smoke, or 50 feet away from some residence halls.

Even though this rule is in effect, Crundwell believes that it is not enough.

“It’s not being enforced,” said Crundwell.

“If you’re walking across campus you may follow some group of people all the way from Copernicus to Davidson in trails of smoke.

The general idea isn’t working, and even if it was, it still is hazardous and isn’t good enough.”

Some students believe that banning smoking on campus would infringe on their individual rights.

“Smoking is a freedom that every person has the legal right to do after the age of sMokinG | cont. on 4

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NEWS

THE RECORDER Wednesday, March 16, 2011

The Recorder

Student Center 1615 Stanley Street New Britain, CT 06050 T 860.832.3744 editor@centralrecorder.com centralrecorder.com twitter.com/therecorder

Editor-in-Chief Michael Walsh mwalsh@centralrecorder.com Managing Editor Nicholas Proch nproch@centralrecorder.com Art Director Ashley E. Lang News Editors Matt Clyburn Sara M. Berry news@centralrecorder.com Entertainment Editor Max Kyburz entertainment@ centralrecorder.com Sports Editor Brittany Burke sportsed@centralrecorder.com Photo Editor Kenny Barto kbarto@centralrecorder.com Copy Editor Maxine Eichen

Police: Armed Robbery Drug Related Michael walsh, Matt clyburn and Ashley Foy The Recorder

The CCSU campus was put in lockdown after an armed robbery was reported around 305 Paul Manafort Drive and East Street at around 9 p.m. last Thursday.

Officer Soucy of the New

Britain Police Department told The Recorder Thursday night that a male with a firearm was arguing with a woman’s boyfriend and that he was “asking for all the drugs.”

Money might have been taken.

Two white males with guns were seen heading towards East Street towards the Essex Place area.

“They still are continuing to

search for the two guys that did the holdup,” said Mark McLaughlin, CCSU spokesperson.

McLaughlin had no information on the details of the armed robbery itself.

“The only thing that we will be releasing at this point is what’s posted on the university website and the CCSU news section of

the pipeline. We’ll update as soon as we get more information,” said McLaughlin.

CCSU advised everyone to avoid the area at the time and any suspicious people.

The police also advise anyone with more information to report it by calling 860-832-2375.

Initial Library Renovations to be Completed by May terence stewart The Recorder

The first phase of renovations to Elihu Burritt Library should be completed by the end of May 2011, according to facility management officials.

The estimated $1,000,000 project will bring the circulation desk, reference desk, support offices and Jazzman’s Cafe to the first floor, making the ground level the main entrance to the library.

“We’re creating a new main entrance so from now on when you go to the library from the lower level, you’ll walk straight in and you won’t have to go upstairs,” said Facilities Management Director Sal Cintorino. “We’re about 70 percent completed right now. By the end of May it should be substantially complete. Students that are here in the summer will have the first opportunity to experience this whole new environment.”

The project will also give the library a much-needed interior

The renovation to Elihu Burrit Library is an estimated $1,000,000 project. makeover. Upon entering the library, patrons will notice the curved dome ceiling, modern furniture, new carpeting and flooring, contemporary lighting and 8 ½ feet glass walls.

Patrons will also enjoy other amenities. The entire library will have Wi-Fi access, there will be more desktop computers and laptop stands will be fixated to the

walls.

In addition, patrons won’t have to worry about finding a place to sit or plug their laptop computers.

There will be more tables and couches for patrons to study, including barstool-style seating.

Electrical outlets will be placed all along the walls.

“The whole set up will first of all give functionality,” said Cintorino.

PHOTO: Richard bachoo

“We’ve created much more usable space. There was a lot of dead space areas [before]. [The amenities] will be more beneficial for the students and bring a sense of comfort.”

According to Chief Administrative Officer Richard Bachoo, library officials are currently deciding how the second, third and fourth floors will be used.

Staff Writers Chris McLaughlin Kassondra Granata Skyler Magnoli Terence Stewart Justin Muszynski Derek Turner Kat Boushee Marisa Volo

About

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PHOTO: CCSU

Part of the renovation at the library is a new reading room.

Resolution Passed by Faculty Senate Won’t Impose Internship Limits justin muszynski The Recorder

The Faculty Senate passed a resolution presented by the psychology department Monday that would demand the administration at CCSU do several things, one of which would be to stop imposing limits on internships and independent study load credits that would shape academic programs.

“We need internships and independent studies to make our program distinctive from community colleges,” said Rebecca Wood, assistant professor of psychology. “We need to showcase

our talent.”

Psychology professor Carol Austad said that the psychology department is aware that there is a financial crisis going on and that each internship credit hour has to be paid for by the university.

Austad says they will work to stretch the number of credits as much as possible.

“We are willing to work with the administration in any shape or form to try and save credit hours,” said Austad.

The psychology department insists that this resolution will benefit all programs at CCSU and will allow them to keep their academic independence.

“This is not about the psychology department versus the administration, this is about academic freedom for all of us,” said Wood. “If we’re going to be told how to structure our curriculum in this way, what’s next?”

The senate debated for a predetermined 15 minutes, at the end of which motioned to debate for another 15 minutes only to motion for an additional three minutes after that before passing a resolution.

Wood says the psychology department has been asked to abide by a course-based teaching model for internships rather than the traditional faculty-student

mentorship model.

“A one size fits all course model for internships is simply not appropriate across all disciplines,” said Wood.

The senate also approved several minor changes to the curriculum that included a new program, robotics and megatronics, which will replace electromechanical technology.

A new certificate program was also passed which allows students to receive a certificate in “Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.”

The Faculty Senate will meet again in Vance room 105 at 3:15 p.m. on April 11.

3

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 16, 2011 / NEWS

CSUS Reorganization Plan Goes Before Committee Matt Clyburn The Recorder

Connecticut State University System students in bright green t-shirts again took to the state Capitol last week to lend their support to professors criticizing Goveror Dannel Malloy’s proposal to reorganize the higher education system.

The students and professors were transported to the hearing by the Connecticut State University chapter of the American Association of University Professors. The AAUP also funded food for attendees and fact sheets aimed at highlighting flaws in the plan.

A portion of the reorganization plan would allow the would-be Higher Education Board of Regents to move up to 15 percent of any system’s budget to another system at the board’s discretion. According to the AAUP’s fact sheet, this aspect of the proposal “has the potential to impact academic programs, creating unpredictability and uncertainty for students, faculty and staff.”

The first to testify before the legislative higher education committee Thursday was Higher Education Commissioner Michael Meotti, who spoke for more than an hour and fielded questions from committee members. Meotti said that in addition to about $4.3 million in annual savings, the assertion that 15 percent of budgets could be moved at will were false.

Meotti suggested that language in the bill may need to be changed to make the section more clear, noting that “it’s not intended in any way to subject these block grants to any kind of different authority.”

“At it’s heart, this proposal consolidates four boards...and three central offices,” Meotti said.

“It’s important to keep in mind that the CSU system... is not located on Woodland Street, the system is found on the sixteen campuses where the faculty, students and leaders of those campuses are.”

Members of the public who were allowed to speak during the public hearing expressed concern that the new structure would make it easier to cut budgets and expand class sizes.

Malloy’s plan is based on the state university system model used in Minnesota. The University of Minnesota acts as an independent entity while the state universities and community colleges operate under a single board of governance.

The University of Connecticut will be unaffected by the plan and remain under normal operations and no schools will be closed or combined. Campuses will still operate under the leadership of their respective presidents and existing leadership structures.

The committee hopes to have a strategic plan ready for July 1 to coordinate with implementation of the state budget for Fiscal Year 2012.

Student in Salinas Sexual Assault Case Involved with Advocacy Groups VICTIM | Cont. from 1 In Rich’s case, the assailant was the Chief Diversity Officer at the time, which made it even harder for her to seek relief.

“My case on campus was investigated as though it was a sexual harassment, not a sexual assault,” recalled Rich. “That’s why it wasn’t reported to the police initially, because it wasn’t looked at as a crime.”

After the assault, Salinas was not removed from his post at the university. He resigned his job as Chief Diversity Officer, but continued on as a professor.

“Me having to go to the police to get this man off campus was so upsetting,” said Rich, her voice wavering.

Rich spoke about how she felt during the spring 2010 semester when Salinas was still teaching on campus after assaulting her, and, in fact, teaching a night class that met on the same evenings as a night class she was taking.

“Oftentimes,” she said, looking visibly distressed, “I wouldn’t go to class, because I was so fearful of seeing him that I just couldn’t handle it.”

Rich said she would have panic attacks when she saw him on campus, because she felt that he had “nothing more to lose” and could “do or say anything,” and added that he “destroyed a lot of things for me.”

Rich believes that one of the

single most important things that was said to her while going through this ordeal was what her adviser told her after hearing her story: this wasn’t her fault. She remembers going to her adviser and the first thing that she told him was what she had been wearing. “‘I had a coat on, and I had a scarf on, and I had long pants on,’” Rich recalls saying. “[My adviser] looked me straight in the face and said, ‘I don’t care if you were wearing a bikini, that doesn’t give him the right to touch you.’”

During her case, Rich became very interested in and involved with advocacy groups and even became a certified sexual assault crisis counselor. Channeling her feeling of powerlessness and putting it to good use, she has joined many committees at CCSU and through those committees is working on the school’s sexual assault policy and on a new consensual relationship policy for relationships between students and faculty.

“I know a lot of times it doesn’t work out and I know a lot of times victims don’t think they have a voice,” Rich said. “At least I had a voice. And yes, I had to fight hard, but at least I was allowed to fight.

That’s the thing that’s so amazing about this case. That’s why I want people to know the story, because it did work out. Just because he was one of the heads of the university doesn’t mean shit. He still can’t do what he did.”

MATT CLYBURN I THE RECORDER

A forum was held last Wednesday to discuss possible changes to the general education system.

General Education Redesign Talk Heats Up Despite Empty Open Forum Matt Clyburn The Recorder

A public hearing was held last Wednesday in Founders Hall by the Faculty Senate General Education Ad Hoc Committee to field comments and suggestions from students and teachers on a possible redesign of the program.

Robert Wolff, associate professor of history and assistant to the dean for the School of Arts and Sciences, opened the hearing by announcing a “clean slate” in the committee’s approach to redesigning the program.

“One of our goals today is to have enough questions and comments to write another survey...and go back to faculty and students for more feedback,” Wolff said.

A recent survey distributed to 230 faculty members about CCSU’s general education program found that of the 230 members surveyed, 61.3 percent either agree or strongly agree that the program should be redesigned. Wolff told The Recorder that the hearings and surveys are one step in a long process. Any changes to the program would have to be approved in several committees and the Faculty Senate as a whole with the ultimate approval coming from President Jack Miller.

“As part of the process, we’re holding open meetings, we anticipate more survey work and we look forward to as much input and participation as we can possibly obtain,” Wolff said. “With that in mind, we really would just like to hear what the campus community... thinks about general education and what they would like to see.”

“We are limited in our deliberations by a few things, one of which is that the state of Connecticut mandates that onethird of the credits in any academic degree be dedicated to this thing called general education,” said Wolff. “We have been asked to try to develop a plan that is resource neutral, meaning that it does not imagine that we expand the size of the faculty. We assume that at some level all of the work that we do in creating a gen ed program will have to be validated for our accreditors through some form of student assessment yet to be determined.”

Ray Perreault, professor of manufacturing and construction managements, suggested that a current events course be added as well as “one three-credit course where five weeks would be dedicated to each of the professional schools.”

Perreault added that such a course could help to relieve the requirements of one or more general education courses already in place. Perreault also pointed out that when the program was first restructured in 1991 students were required to take 62 general education credit hours rather than the 44 to 46 required now.

“I think that writing across the curriculum is so important that I would vote for some sort of writing requirement outside of the English department. Students might take a writing-intensive course in a discipline outside of English,” said Dr. Kristine Larsen, physics and earth science department professor and former director of the CCSU honors program. “The other skill that our students need is information literacy, they have to be able to judge who are reliable sources, who are not reliable sources and that can also be built into numerous courses around campus.”

Guy Crundwell, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, said that “Ultimately, [students’] gen eds make no serious impact on their academic life...it’s just icing for the cake.”

“I find it odd that for gen eds we create these checklists telling them which icings are good for you, which icings aren’t. You know, students may have certain flavors that they want to try themselves,” Crundwell said. “I’ve always had the most liberal and open sense of general education - that it’s general, it’s their choice because it’s their dime and it will round them the way they want to be rounded and not constrict them if they want to change majors.”

Faculty members discussed a proposed idea where individual schools would determine general education requirements rather than the university. Supporters argued that it would help similar majors maintain similar courses of study

and prevent those students from taking classes unrelated to their majors, while detractors argued that giving individual schools such power would prevent students from getting a well-rounded education.

“Is general education designed to give students some basic fundamental skills or is general education designed to give faculty members something to do?” asked Dr. Jacob Kovel, chairperson of the manufacturing and construction management department. “There are certain skills that every student should have when they graduate. Beyond that, what is the philosophy of general education supposed to be?”

Dave Blitz, professor of philosophy, who participated in the general education design of the 1990’s, said that “Resources are not infinitely expendable and indeed we can expect in the next few years that they are going to be contracting.”

“It was a tragedy [in 1991] that we had more and more of these good ideas and objectives without taking into account priorities, resources and constraints, and I would like to see that done this time around with general education reform,” Blitz said.

Jason Jones, president of the CCSU chapter of the American Association of University Professors, believes that the proposed higher education system restructuring at the state level could negatively influence plans for general education changes if those concepts are not taken into account.

“One of the things we have heard is that they want to have the [proposed] Board of Regents identify the general education standards for the CSU schools,” said Jones. “I think that the [higher education proposal] could possibly trump our hopes for reorganizing general education. It’s possible that there would be no meaningful campus control over curriculum.”

The current system was put in place in 1998 and requires a minimum of 44 to 46 credits in general education studies, not including the foreign language department, and has four study areas and four skill areas.

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 16, 2011 / NEWS

New Britain to Hartford Busway in the Works Matt Clyburn The Recorder

The New Britain to Hartford busway is now one step closer to reality after a state commission approved funds to begin work on stations for the proposed transit system last month.

The first station will be located less than two miles from the CCSU campus and is expected to ease traffic congestion west of the capital city.

The project has been under consideration since 2003 and has experienced fluctuating public support through three governors and the better part of a decade.

Democratic leaders have been largely supportive of the plan as a sustainable approach to public transportation has been sought.

“The New Britain-Hartford busway is ready to go,” said New Britain Democract and State Rep. Timothy O’Brien in a Feb. 24 press release. “The time to act is now and I’m encouraged by the administrations readiness to meet our greener economic goals and create new construction jobs.”

Some Republican lawmakers have criticized the plan, saying that a busway would rule out the possibility for light rail along the planned route and that the total cost would be too expensive.

The bond approval is a small portion of the current development estimate of more than $567 million, additional funding will come from a combination of bonds and federal and state grants.

The Department of Transportation website says that buses will bypass traffic that

normally clogs up I-84 Eastbound between the Hardware and capital cities. The busway is also expected to help connect surrounding communities to the urban centers through the use of intermediary stations in Newington and West Hartford.

Existing routes in Farmington, Bristol, Waterbury, Cheshire and Wethersfield are expected to change so that can circulate through those towns and then access the busway for a “one-seat ride” to Hartford.

According to a report by the DOT, busway services will maintain operating hours similar to CT Transit’s current schedule, mainly between 4:30 a.m. and 1:30 a.m.

Buses along the route are expected to depart every six minutes during peak service periods such as rush hour times and during major Hartford events.

Funding for upgrades to Route 72 between New Britain and Bristol was also approved by the state Bond Commission, aimed at improving road conditions leading to the first bus station along the route.

According to the press release, construction is planned to begin in July and will predominantly affect traffic patterns during overnight hours.

“This span of highway is an important commuting link for not only New Britain, but between 74,000 to 104,000 vehicles daily.

I’m pleased the state is committed to maintaining our critical transportation routes,” said Rep. O’Brien.

The busway project will continue taking shape over the next several years as construction contracts go out to bid and plans become finalized.

The busway would span 9.4 miles with 11 transit stations.

Health Director: ‘Bans Do Not Work’ SMOKING | Cont. from 1 18,” says Jamie Elander, a CCSU sophomore who is a smoker. “Take that right away and it’s a slippery slope to taking away more of our rights. However, there is no place on campus to smoke indoors.

Therefore, if someone is bothered by a smoker it’s as simple as walking ten feet away to solve the issue.”

The NCI says that the only way to fully protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke is to completely eliminate smoking in indoor spaces.

Several laws have been introduced that restrict smoking in public places such as schools, hospitals, airports, bus terminals, parks and beaches.

Rebecca Samela, a junior and non-smoker, said that “People can go outside and have their little smoking circles with each other, but if you are walking around campus while smoking blowing smoke in my face, that’s when it bothers me.”

Bryanna Mead, a smoker and a sophomore at CCSU, also followed the concept of individual rights concerning the matter.

“Ridiculous,” said Mead. “It’s legal for us to smoke at 18 and this is our home here on campus. If were allowed to do it by law, why can’t we do it where we live?”

It is well known that contact with secondhand smoke can cause cancer. Inhaling secondhand smoke can cause lung cancer in non smoking adults. According to the NCI, approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths each year in young adults are caused by secondhand smoke.

“Exposure to secondhand smoke can increase risk of a heart attack today,” said Dr. Christopher Diamond, director of Health Services at CCSU for over a year and a half.

The NCI also says that secondhand smoke increases

the risk of breast cancer, nasal sinus cancer, cavity cancer, risk of leukemia and many other dangerous ailments. Secondhand smoke is said to cause 46,000 heart disease deaths per year.

Diamond, aware of this proposal, knows in the long run that it will not succeed in the end if approved.

“Bans do not work,” he proclaims. “I am not a fan of prohibitions. I think it hurts the individuals that are actually trying to get help from us if we ever propose this ban.”

“If you want to do this as a way to get people to quit smoking, it won’t work.” Diamond says. “It’s exactly the opposite. It makes it less likely to get people to quit.”

Diamond feels that the ban would not help the benefits of the smoker.

“Smoking for an individual is known as a coping mechanism, a negative coping mechanism. It allows you to deal with your current stressors and stressors of the day,” said Diamond. “It is an issue in my mind that if you deny people of their coping mechanism, it leaves them vulnerable to stress and other issues.

In terms of students’ success, there may be a student whose success will be limited from the ban. Although it is a negative coping mechanism and needs to be changed, we cannot deny that from an individual.”

Banning the smoking of tobacco products has been trending on college campuses around the country. The City University of New York banned smoking from all 23 of its urban campuses in January and starting in July of this year the University of Michigan will be joining the smoking ban trend as well.

In 2009, The Boynton Health Services of The University of Minnesota took a poll with results saying that their undergraduates

had the lowest tobacco use since it was last taken in 1992. In an online poll conducted this February at the University of Georgia, results showed that students and faculty said that they wanted tougher restrictions on campus, many calling for an outright ban on tobacco on campus.

Although the ban has not been fully deliberated by the board or Faculty Senate, Crundwell is going to continue proposing the ban to the board and Senate.

“As long as they discuss the matter and vote on it, I’ll be happy,” said Crundwell.

Former CCSU Professor Found Guilty in Court SALINAS | Cont. from 1 or face further penalty. The judge added that if Salinas does not leave the country or returns before the two years is up, he could be placed on probation.

Salinas, who was an associate professor in the psychology department, was removed from his position of chief diversity officer in March of last year. Salinas was the school’s first chief diversity officer - a position that would handle all sexual assault-related incidents on campus. Rosa Rodriguez was hired at the end of last semester to replace Salinas.

Rich gave a statement to the court in which she discussed the impact that this event had on her and how it still affects her to this day. She stated that she has trouble trusting people and feels uncomfortable and even scared on campus.

Judge Strackbein commented that parents shouldn’t have to worry when sending their students to school and that students should be able to feel safe with their teachers.

ctrapidtransit.com

SGA Appoints First Community Engagement Officer skyler magnoli The Recorder

Senator Ashley Foy was appointed as the first Student Government Association Community Engagement Officer last Wednesday, a position she created in hopes of increasing community engagement and student involvement in the New Britain community.

Foy has been concerned with SGA not representing CCSU’s core value of community engagement lately and intended the new officer position to help focus on engaging students in the New Britain community with community service, as well as having the SGA turn its focus to all of CCSU’s desired elements of distinctiveness.

“There is no level of SGA representation for that, which is why we have initiated this new position,” said Foy. The SGA has never had a position like the new Community Engagement Officer. Foy created the new position herself with high expectations of its outcome.

The officer will work as a connection between the CCSU campus and community service programs around New Britain.

“I will be working with the Town and Gown Task Force and Community Central downtown,” said Foy. “And I will be working with them in specific areas to get students involved and to represent SGA at a community level.”

The position will overlook and direct both campus clubs and individual students for local community service opportunities as well as inform the SGA of all happenings in the local community.

Foy hopes that the new position will help bring community service for students in general and for the

CCSU campus to the forefront.

Foy was inspired to create the new position after working with Community Central in downtown New Britain, a program created to bridge CCSU and New Britain, and having attended the Conference on Student Government Associations in Texas last month. Through her work at COSGA, Foy brainstormed many ideas to help get students and the SGA involved in community service. Foy is very confident in the new officer position because the position is fully supported and encouraged by all of the senators at the SGA. Foy was appointed the position solely by Interim President Jamie Canny and will be serving on a trial basis, but Foy hopes that the position will become official and put in the bylaws after this semester.

The position will be appointed by the SGA president each semester.

While Foy did create and describe this position by herself, she is very open to input and suggestions from anyone.

“This is something I’m hoping we will have in the SGA for years to come,” said Foy. Foy hopes this new officer position will help the SGA break out in to the community.

Foy would like to have the SGA play more of a role in the aspects CCSU prides itself on. She also expects that this new position will provide many opportunities for the SGA in the local community.

While the Community Engagement Officer position is designed to help get students involved in the surrounding community, Foy hopes for a lot more.

“Getting the SGA out there on a community level, not just club funding,” said Foy. “We are much more than that as a student government body.”

OPINION

THE RECORDER Wednesday, March 16, 2011

EDITORIAL

banning smoking could create an unintended divide

There’s a push from many members of this campus, and even this staff, to unite the people on this campus and be more of a community. Sometimes the only thing that unites us is the commonality that we’re mostly commuters. Many of us park our cars, walk to class, sit through class, then get in our cars and leave.

What would a smoking ban on this campus effectively do? Segregate the masses. There’s already a common feeling from non-smokers of being annoyed when they walk out of their dorms or classrooms to the circles of nicotine addicts. A general displeasure in the opposite direction would make matters worse.

A smoker is a creature of habit. By the end of a class period, the most habitual users need to light up a smoke. They are going to be itching for their next fix. If they

weren’t allowed to smoke all day on their public campus, imagine the anger that would build towards their opposition.

In 2003, lawmakers passed the ‘Connecticut Clean Air Indoor Act’, which stopped individuals from lighting up a cigarette indoors. This included restaurants, bars, elevators, bowling alleys and, yes, school buildings. This is all fine. Contained indoor smoke will do more harm than outdoor smoke that is able to escape much easier. Smokers that attend these places can easily step outside for a smoke break.

Hardly anyone can logically argue against this ban, not with all the studies done about the dangers of secondhand smoke, which the National Cancer Institute says causes 46,000 heart disease deaths a year. The law that passed in 2003 didn’t include anything about not smoking outdoors. If our campus

EDITOR’S COLUMN

The Gap Between Professionalism and the Student Body Is Growing

nicholas proch

For most of us, we’ll be driving into a corporation. A cubicle or office will be become home. It will become the Why do we go to school? Why do we business of first impression. There’s a pay several thousand dollars to sit through common phrase that has something to do 122 credits hours? The homework, the with the fact that you only get one first exams, the essays and the boring lectures impression. For as clichéd as it is, it’s all add to our daily misery. But why do we true.

In an office setting, you will be judged do it? We do it to get jobs and further our lives. So we can pay our mortgages and from the moment you step foot onto the property for the first time. Do you have a drive nice cars.

With that being said, there is a tie on? Is it straight? Do you have a ‘Mike trend around campus, and beyond the Tyson’ tattoo on your face? Can the hiring boundaries of CCSU, to look and act agent put their index finger through a gage in your ear? Society unprofessionally. should be encouraging Let me take you individualism, but in the through what “The university is midst of an economic it’s going to be like when you supposed to be a proving crisis, they don’t stop leave this school. ground for the workplace, to think about how You’re going to but what is this university their unprofessionalism might stop them from end up going down one of making us prove? Nothing.” getting a job.

The university is several tracks. supposed to be a proving On one of those tracks you might end up applying ground for the workplace, but what is this for a job involving physical labor. You’re university making us prove? Nothing. going to go into your interview in work Without any type of dress code or code boots, a pair of jeans and a (new) plaid of conduct, which doesn’t even thwart shirt. It’s not going to matter if you don’t people from smoking three feet outside have perfect grammar and don’t wear the of an academic building, the school is most expensive cologne. I’m not trying essentially coming up short on requiring to take away anything from this sect of students to be professional.

Enforcing a school uniform would be society, but those jobs are not why most a bit harsh, especially at a public school, of us came to a four-year institution.

Another path you might head down but having a stronger dress code wouldn’t is the track of customer service. You’ll hurt the student body. An employer is be working as a waiter, for an airline or going to require that you dress a certain possibly in retail. The interview process way in the workplace. If the university will be much different. You’re going to really wants to act like model of what’s need a nicer set of interview clothes, to come, they’d certainly help a lot of nice shoes and your resume will need students get the hang of how to look and to reflect you and that you’re ready for behave.

Of course, you could become a the job at hand. These careers are only scratching the surface of what someone freelance writer and never have to get with a bachelor’s degree will be looking out of bed or pajamas. How’s that for individuality? for upon graduation.

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decided to enforce a smoking ban on its public property, it would essentially go against established laws and civil rights not yet created by any kind of law in our state.

This would open up an interesting slew of possibilities surrounding what a smoker would do if they weren’t allowed to smoke outside their dorm building or right after getting out of a two and a half hour lecture.

Would they congregate across the street from campus or on the other side of Paul Manafort Drive and huddle in a group while they share stories from the good old days when they could smoke with movable freedom while walking from class to class?

The answer is a most certain no.

They wouldn’t stop smoking on campus.

Since when have minor laws or rules stopped anyone from anything? We all jaywalk, we all speed and please, don’t be naive, you can bet

the majority of our population has taken part in prohibited substances at one time or another during our high school or college life.

We have a dry campus for alcohol, yet you still hear the numerous stories of students being written up for drinking in their dorm room. Most of the time those individuals are underage.

These smoking students aren’t doing anything wrong. They buy their own legal cigarettes and legally smoke them outdoors.

Punishing them for doing something our country and state currently says they can do would only add to the divide between the different populations on this campus, something that isn’t needed during a time when students should be rallying together for the greater good of their university, their state and their future.

How We Got Here: Sara M. Berry But something was missing. As much as I loved MCC, something wasn’t quite right. As I was planning my classes for my final year at MCC, I realized what it was, and that it had been missing at UHart, too. Even though I didn’t actually finish my history degree, I went to graduation. During the ceremony, I remember feeling disconnected from my classmates. In my time at UHart, I was a commuter who worked full time and took classes full time, and I had very little social life while I was there.

As I was looking towards graduation from MCC, I realized that I felt the same way, and I vowed to do something about it. Around the same time, a new issue of the Live Wire, the MCC student newspaper came out. That was it. I had always loved to write and I was the sara m. berry editor of the middle school paper in eighth The Recorder grade. My high school didn’t have a newspaper and although I had initially wanted to write My path to CCSU has been a long and for the paper at UHart, I had class during twisted one. the meetings my freshman year and never When I graduated from high school in ended up getting involved. To make a long 2000, the plan was to attend the University story somewhat shorter, I got involved in the of Hartford for four years, graduate with Live Wire and served as editor my last year at a teaching certificate MCC. and teach high school As I was moving towards history.

“I have found a home graduation, I had to decide In my junior year, my next step would with the psychology what I had a field placement be. There were lots of things where the main thing I department and The that I liked doing and lots of learned was that most things that I was interested Recorder staff.” high school students are in. I am one of those people evil and that I did not who loves to learn anything want to spend the rest of and everything, but simply my working life trapped in a classroom with learning about everything was not going to 30 of them. So I changed my major to history get me a job. I had to decide where to go from and worked towards my history degree while MCC and what area I was going to go into. exploring other options.

Over the years I spent at MCC, I took a I first vaguely considered social work number of psychology classes there, which before deciding to apply to pharmacy school. fascinated me. I was even unanimously chosen Since I was a history major, I hadn’t taken a to receive the first psychology department math or science class in quite a long time, award. That award, and one very supportive so I decided that community college would and influential psychology professor, pointed be a good place to take the prerequisites for me in the direction that I am now headed: to pharmacy school and doing it there would be a psychology major and a journalism minor. be much more cheaper than at a school like Psychology was something I was interested UConn. in and could see myself having a job in, and While at Manchester Community writing was something I had a passion for. One College, I discovered that chemistry, calculus day, my favorite psychology professor said and especially anatomy and physiology did “You could write articles about psychology.” not work in my history major’s brain. After And there it was, a way to combine two of the learning that UConn was not accepting things that I was most interested in. transfer students into the pharmacy program Several of my close friends were looking around the same time, I realized I wasn’t at transferring to CCSU, so I looked into it as going to get in even if they did take transfers. well. By virtue of CCSU being the only nearby I decided I would take whatever MCC had school I could afford, here I am. I have found to offer that looked interesting and go from a home with the psychology department and there.

The Recorder staff. I still didn’t really know It took a while (six years total) for me to what job I will end up with, but I now have figure it out and graduate with an associate a direction. While my school journey is far degree. About three years into my time at from over and the end seems to be off in the MCC, I found myself in a human services distance, I know that I will find it with the class, and it seemed to fit. I finally had a new help of a few special people who have helped plan, and graduation was in sight. me come this far.

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 16, 2011 / UPGRADE

REVIEWS ‘Kentucky Cyle: Part 1’ Breathes With Intensity max kyburz The Recorder

“Everywhere is death,” a voice full of fear utters at one point in Robert Schenkkan’s Pulitzer Prizewinning play The Kentucky Cycle.

Directed by CCSU alum Gabbi Mendelson, the first part of Schenkkan’s play presents a world that is both narrow and infinite, and as welcoming as it is abrasive. This is America, circa 1775.

Mendelson spearheaded the first of three parts of The Kentucky Cycle that will continue to unfold over the next three months. Each part will be directed by different directors; part two will be directed by Thom Delventhal and part three by Sheila Siragusa. Each director’s vision will provide a saga as colorful and diverse as America’s rich and often horrid history. A benefit production in early May will present all three parts in one day-long event.

I can only hope the next two will be as exciting as the first.

The production design, per usual with Black Box, was exceptional.

The entire background was a frontier backdrop broken up into several parts, providing a literal interpretation of America as a divided landscape.

Indeed, the story is one of many cracks and schisms. The lines between friend and foe, civilized man and savage, and modernity and primitive become erased. The entire nine-act anthology chronicles the relationships between families in, you guessed it, Kentucky. As one bridge is burned after another,

a chain (or “cycle,” as the title suggests) of events ensue, and social relations topple backwards instead of progress.

Michael DiCello plays, well, Michael, an Irish-born settler who exists as the model “white man” of that period. As he did with his portrayal of Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, DiCello exerts a fiery temper and a real power heard through his booming voice and seen through his physical prowess. I wouldn’t be surprised if he genuinely hurt some of his cast members.

Annie Capobianco plays Morning Star, a young Native girl who becomes assimilated to the ways of the whites by way of Michael’s cruel hand. While she has a lot to compete with (as DiCello often almost chews the scenery), she gives a very winning performance.

One scene in which she narrates the pain that her people go through while watches her own character give labor was so powerful that the audience erupted in well-deserved applause as soon is it was finished.

Another stand-out was Ashley Malloy, a freshman at CCSU who makes her debut in The Kentucky Cycle as Rebecca Talbert, a young woman who becomes the prize of Michael and Morningstar’s son Patrick, setting off the years of bad blood between the families. Given her already well-furbished acting chops, I have a good feeling she’ll go far. Every time she appears, it’s hard not to be transfixed by her performance.

The Kentucky Cycle presents

Rise Against Endgame

DCG / Interscope March 15

an America not unlike one seen in a Cormac McCarthy novel: cold, abrasive, moving backward instead of forward. Fitting considering the first part chronicles the collision of the natives and the European

Fred Doms and Jake Frey in ‘The Kentucky Cylce Part 1.’

Endgame cleverly enables 12 tracks to discuss the same general topic, but makes each song as invigorating. Rise Against incorporates clips from the film Catch-22 in “Survivor Guilt” that resonate in your head, while songs like “Satellite” feature awesome lyrics that portray the band’s disdain for the nation like “We are orphans of the American dream.” While some songs have the ability to drag on (some lasting up to four minutes), you are still never disappointed.

If awesome albums like Endgame don’t get this generation’s blood pumping over change, I don’t know what will. If you like bands like Ignite, Strike Anywhere or Bad Religion, you will especially appreciate Rise Against’s newest album.

Marisa Volo The Recorder

If there’s anything you should know about Rise Against before listening to their newest album, Endgame, it’s that they are reaching the level of, if not topping, prominent American punk rock bands of music history. If you need proof, give some tracks on Endgame a listen and you’ll understand exactly what it is that puts Rise Against on such a high pedestal.

Rise Against’s new album is a compilation of politically charged and angry songs. It is a 12-track album full of calling for change in the American government in the way of frontman Tim McIlrath pounding into your ears the issues that plague our country today, touching on everything from the Hurricane Katrina devastation to the lack of concern for the future of America.

Not sure exactly what social issues McIlrath is talking about? Don’t worry, he’s got a number of issue-specific songs on Endgame to help you wrap your head around the situation. The most ear-perking and deepest of them is “Make it Stop (September’s Children).” This song is in reference to the suicides of homosexuals in September 2010 and exhibits Rise Against’s ability to fight against intolerance through music and touching lyrics.

settlers. As the stories progress, audiences will find how the story is one that can be set at any time and place.

If you missed out on the first part of The Kentucky Cycle and are

RISE AGAINST | MYSPACE

interested in seeing the rest, bone up on your reading and check out the script. Prepare yourself for some not-so-light reading. Then see the plays. I certainly look forward to the rest.

CCSU THEATRE

of thumb: never trust Wikipedia. Hear me clearly - never, ever rely on Wikipedia for determining a band’s genre. Don’t let anyone tell you Darker Handcraft is another chapter Darker Handcraft in the history of extreme metal, because it’s not. They are liars. It’s as though a bunch of hardcore kids started out with the intention of playing grindcore but ultimately got bored and started to dust off their old Hatebreed tabs. Even if they aren’t grind or crust, they’re still a relatively boring metalcore band.

They’re bold and brash, but who cares? They bring nothing to the table.

“Damage Prose” is a poor opener, already setting a bad precedent. It’s also hard to pull someone in when your songs sound exactly the same. It’s even harder when one is just as mediocre as the other. From the first track onward, Darker Handcraft feels like a metal version of that “Song That Never Ends” we loved so much as children. Not in a good way, though.

Awkwardly placed as track six, “Sordid Earnings” is a sorry intro that somehow found its way into the middle, becoming an even more sorry intermission. Instead of adding Max kyburz to the suspense, it’s just another overdone The Recorder instrumental.

Much of the record seems bent on insisting Trap Them’s always been a band I meant how badass they are. Take, for example, the to check out, yet never got around to. Even song “The Facts,” in which the vocalist insists, though I’ve seen their name everywhere, “I am that god damn son of a bitch.” Whoa. especially hearing about how they’ve been Look out, this guy’s crazy! Let your aggression rubbing shoulders with the likes of Napalm speak through your sound, fellas, not just Death, Victims your lyrics. For such and Extreme an angry sounding Noise Terror, I band, there’s a quality neglected to even about them that feels hear one short “They are liars. It’s as though restrained. snippet on the The other main iTunes store.

Once the a bunch of hardcore kids started problem with Darker o p p o r t u n i t y out with the intention of playing Handcraft is that it’s too pristinely arose to review produced. For music grindcore but ultimately got their newest this intense, it wants record, Darker bored.” to sound accessible.

Handcraft, I Trap Them plays felt there was music deserving of no better time shoddier (but not to check them abysmal) production. out. After doing a quick Wikipedia search, I It wouldn’t hurt their sound, only enhance it. became less weary and a tad more hopeful.

By sounding too produced, they lose some They’re listed as a crust punk/grindcore points in the badass department. band - and their record was produced by My advice: skip out on this one and listen Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou. Holy circle to Wormrot or Repulsion for Grindcore pits, Batman!

101. Don’t give Trap Them the benefit of the Stupid me, I defied an academic rule doubt.

Trap Them

Prosthetic Records March 15

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 16, 2011 / UPGRADE

‘Rango’ Captures Spirit of the Old West michael walsh The Recorder

Laden with heavy-handed film geek nods and references, Rango manages to entertain both adults and children with its light humor, giant action and pure love for the old west.

After his terrarium bounces from his owner’s car and smashes all over the desert highway, titular chameleon Rango finds himself in the middle of conflict as the animalfilled town of Dirt can’t figure out why their water tap has gone dry.

Gore Verbinski, best-known for directing the Pirates of the Caribbean films, applies a heavy dose of hallucinatory visuals and atmosphere to Rango, making it an absolute treat on the eyes. The charm, quirkiness and pure homage to spaghetti western films such as the similarly-titled Django and Sergio Leone’s masterpieces make Rango a film to love.

But more importantly, the film’s beautiful animation and visuals help the film get out of the trap of normalcy, something which would be an issue had John Logan’s Chinatown-esque plot of wondering where all the water’s gone not been amplified by the work of Industrial Light & Magic in its first fully animated film.

Johnny Depp’s inner and now expected weirdness is tapped into wonderfully as main lizard Rango.

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A former Depp character in Raoul Duke from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas makes for one of the film’s many and greatest film references.

‘Rise of the Valkyries’ in a battle scene signals Apocalypse Now and there are many references to Leone’s The Man with No Name Trilogy (with an even more special cameo voiced by Timothy Olyphant).

The film’s cast of voice actors is impressive and does as much as it needs to do in a film like Rango.

Depp alone is impressive and it shouldn’t be unexpected. Yeah, we’ve heard the voice and speaking

Netflix It: nicholas proch The Recorder

The arc of Nicolas Cage’s career is very confusing and overwhelming, but there are several of his efforts worth watching. From Adaptation to The Weather Man, he has plenty to offer. One of the many shining stars in his arsenal is Lord of War. There is something to be said for the lack of coverage that illegal gun sales get.

There have been many scripts written about the drug cartels and drug dealers, but what about the gun runners? They are dealing in the world’s most dangerous game, but yet they are often overlooked.

Brought to the screen by Andrew Niccol [The Truman Show], who both wrote and directed this film, the idea is mesmerizing.

Cage plays the role of Yuri Orlov, who eventually becomes the biggest gun salesman in the world. Of course, the real story lies with how he can successfully pull off so many illegal business dealings without the government, or even his wife, knowing.

The intelligence of Cage’s character is what drives this film. He dismantles helicopters, changes the names of cargo ships and lands aircrafts on dirt roads to avoid being captured. He does all of this with the utmost care and preparation.

The man on his trail is Jack Valentine,

Lions Gate Films Inc.

style before, but it keeps coming back for a very good reason. Depp’s talent is joined by the likes of Ned Beatty, Alfred Molina, Bill Nighy, Harry Dean Stanton and Ray Winstone, among a slew of other talent that goes mostly unnoticed until the gorgeous end credits begin to roll.

Logan’s screenplay gets a bit lost of familiarity, which is perfectly acceptable, because the real winning focus of Rango isn’t in trying to create animated cinema’s most classic, dazzling and touching story, but in making a film that can resonate with

Lord of War

played by Ethan Hawke [Training Day]. The on screen banter between these two actors is gold. This agent knows that Orlov is guilty, but he can never seem to pin enough evidence on him to hold up his conviction.

The relationship that Orlov builds with his wife is seemingly hilarious in retrospect. How could she not know that he is doing some very illegal business? It’s easy to answer when you consider that the relationship was built upon bank account balances...she didn’t care, as long as she had the penthouse apartment.

There’s a plethora of great things to talk about in regards to the cinematography and editing in this film. With dozens of stories and a timeline that races through years in about two hours, it couldn’t have been done with a crappy effort from the postproduction team.

The tone of the film is very dark and examines a very big issue. Told from someone, like Nicolas Cage, who tends to speak in an ominous and monotone way, it gives the film a real identity. Almost the entire effort is narrated by Cage. He’s almost more of a narrator than actor, but he does both well. The stories tend to be crazy and dramatic, but who better to talk you through it than the king of crazy and dramatic himself, Nicolas Cage in Lord of War.

everyone. It doesn’t matter if you get the deep references to classic westerns and other genre pictures.

What matters is whether or not you’re able to enjoy a beautifully animated and visual-heavy film that luckily didn’t fall prey to the rash of over-produced 3D films in Hollywood.

Where the film also strays from its core is the separation between its first and second halves. Its first builds a small amount of character and relies on witty dialogue and the simple enjoyment of what you’re watching: an old west story

in a miniature old west town with rodents, insects and other creatures filling the shoes of the bartender, mayor and villain. But the second half slowly turns into a case of big ticket action that while enjoyable, really doesn’t do all that much for me in an animated film. The scenes are gorgeous, but it leaves me wanting more of what the film’s opening moments had to offer.

Although its well-known logo will appear before the film, Nickelodeon Movies having anything to do with this film is deceptive. It will be mostly older children that will enjoy what Rango has to offer. Ultimately, Verbinski’s film is an ode to the film lover, a creation of many genres culminating in one rather typical variation on a classic western tale, even if it is strikingly similar to the film noir Chinatown. Rango plays to all, but it finds its best place to those cultured folks who smile at the thought of seeing Hunter S. Thompson’s alterego showing up for a brief moment in an animated film. Verbinski just doesn’t stop massaging the joyous parts of the film geek’s brain.

Rango is a smart, fresh and creative spin on the western genre.

Instead of Lee Van Cleef, it uses a rattlesnake. Instead of Clint Eastwood, it uses a chameleon. It’s style and very obvious love for the cinema and the culture itself places it in the upper echelon of animated film of the last few years.

This Wolf Might Have Bit Off More Than It Can Chew nicholas proch The Recorder

Since when does Leonardo DiCaprio produce teenage love stories disguised as classic fables? It may have been something he’s decided to do since being stuck in a dream world. Maybe he actually lost his mind on the set of Shutter Island. Whatever the case may be, I’m still trying to wrap my head around what this film was.

Red Riding Hood isn’t a fantasy. Nor thriller. Nor drama. Nor teenage love story.

Nor an excuse to watch Gary Oldman lose his shit for two hours. It’s somehow all of these things. That’s right, all; and somehow at the end of the night, you don’t leave satisfied.

Let’s back it up a little bit and figure out what just happened.

Most audiences are going to go into the theater expecting to see a story about a girl who finds her way to ‘grandma’s house’ only to find that grandma has been replaced by the ‘big bad wolf.’ Both of these elements come into play, but not in the sense that anyone is expecting. There is a gap between the expected and the executed from this film.

From the writer who brought you Orphan, which is equally as chaotic, David Johnson brings you his take on the classic story.

Within the first several minutes of the film you are introduced to a village, which seems to be set in post-medieval times. The men work as blacksmiths and woodcutters, while the women prepare the homes for dinner. Set in the middle of what looks like the Montana wilderness, this would be the outdoorsman’s dream environment...if there wasn’t a werewolf terrorizing this picturesque town on every full moon.

The story doesn’t move forward until Gary Oldman [The Dark Knight, The Professional] makes his appearance; about 35 minutes into the movie. He plays a priest, or its equivalent of the time, who has experience ridding towns of werewolves. Oldman, as usual, is on his game. If you’ve seen him play, and succeed at, the deranged character with spit coming out of his mouth, then you know what to expect.

The problem lies with the cast around him.

Amanda Seyfried [Mamma Mia, Dear John] is boring to watch on the screen. It’s as if she doesn’t ever fully believe the role she is in, and why would she? She’s the center of attention in a film about a werewolf who sends a village into psychosis. Seyfried’s eyes do more acting than she actually does. It may be the role she is playing, but she hardly said anything for the duration of the film.

Somehow, there is a love story tied into this. Arranged marriages always have their

PARAMOUNT PICTURES

problems. Seyfried’s character, Valerie or Red Riding Hood, doesn’t want to marry who they’ve arranged for her to wed. The premise is interesting, but it’s so clichéd. She was set up to marry into a richer family, doesn’t that count for anything? Instead she wanted to be with the guy who will cut wood for the rest of his life. You can’t fault true love, but it never actually feels true in this case.

There are some very good plot twists along the way. Without giving away too much, you should expect to be surprised at the end of the film (or not surprised if you’re paying any attention). Oldman is brought in to figure out who the werewolf is, and most will think they know who it is, only to be shown wrong.

The shining moments of the film mostly revolve around the cinematography and special effects. The audio and the original score for the film set the perfect mood and don’t drag down the story any more than it already does on its own. The camera work and editing are phenomenal. Filled with flashbacks, side stories and point-of-view camera angles to capture the perspective of the villain, it would have been easy to allow all these elements to bleed together. They don’t.

They work together cleanly. The special effects don’t make a huge impact, but they stand their ground when called upon. A completelycomputer-generated-werewolf-failure would have been detrimental to the film, but they’ve created a great looking beast.

If you’re looking for a predictable fantasythriller, then don’t waste your time with this movie. If you’re looking for more than that, the same applies. Red Riding Hood tries to be a lot of things, but it may have bit off more than it can chew.

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 16, 2011 / UPGRADE

CCSU Wind and Symphonic Ensembles Fill Welte Auditorium kassondra Granata the recorder

With music coming from all parts of Welte Auditorium, the wind and symphonic ensemble played a combination concert Thursday night at CCSU. The program opened up with the symphonic band playing an American-styled theme with upbeat and patriotic pieces.

“Barnum and Bailey’s Favorite”

by Karl L. King, “An American Elegy” by Frank Ticheli and “The Gathering of the Ranks at Hebron”

by David Holsinger dominated the band’s performance.

The level of talent in the symphonic band was very high and the group showed emotion and amusement during the set, along with director J. Thomas Seddon as they weaved in and out of their different arrangements.

The band held itself in a very professional manner and carried themselves well while performing their pieces faultlessly. Trumpet solos coming from the back of the auditorium during the wellexecuted songs added a deep atmosphere to the collection of songs that portayed American pride.

The wind ensemble contained fewer musicians than the group before as the extra players joined the crowd and became listeners instead of players. Although

there were fewer players, the array of music played was still as immaculate as the group before.

The music layout, however, was very different from the symphonic band and had no specific overlying theme.

The wind ensemble opened up with “Scherzo Alla Marcia” from Symphony No. 8 by Ralph Vaughan Williams, which was a very soft yet powerful piece played brilliantly by the ensemble.

The next piece they performed was “Down a Country Lane”

by Aaron Copland, arranged

by Merlin Patterson. This arrangement was delightfully played and the use of instruments was excellent.

The last set of works, called “The Planets,” was by Gustav Holst. The ensemble introduced the planet Mars, which was a very thunderous and dominant piece filled with the blast of trumpets and many variations of percussion to display the supremacy of the planet. As the piece transitioned into Jupiter, the music became more light and optimistic against the rage of Mars thus showing the different impressions of power that the planets can have upon us.

Both the wind ensemble and the symphonic band all performed skillfully and astonishingly. The musicians and the director worked together perfectly and put on a professional, incredible show.

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 16, 2011 / UPGRADE

Calendar 3.16 - 3.23

FILM

MUSIC 3.16

Jarrod Gorbel (The Honorary Title) @ BAR New Haven, CT FREE / 21+ / 9pm

A birthday party for the twins gives Greg an opportunity to redeem himself after he takes a job that raises the suspicions of his overbearing father-in-law, Jack (Robert De Niro), in this installment of the hit comedy series. Greg (Ben Stiller) and Pam (Teri Polo) have been together for ten years, and now they're the proud parents of two adorable twins. But money is tight, and in order to keep his family afloat, devoted nurse Greg takes a second job working for a drug company.

But that development doesn't sit well with Jack, whose previous suspicions regarding his hapless son-in-law soon come back in full force after learning of this development.

With the twins' birthday fast approaching, the proud parents invite the entire clan over to celebrate in style, including Kevin (Owen Wilson), who still carries a torch for his pretty ex Pam. As the festivities get under way, Greg takes every opportunity available to prove to Jack that he's fully capable of providing for his family. Now Greg has one last chance to prove that he's trustworthy. Should he fail, the circle of trust will be broken for good. Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Laura Dern, and Jessica Alba co-star. - Allmovie

3.17 Harvey Milk @ Daniel Street Milford, CT $12 / 21+ / 8pm 3.19 Bo Burnham (stand-up comedy) @ The Webster Hartford, CT $25 adv. / 7pm doors 3.20 The Pretty Reckless @ The Webster $13 adv. / 6pm 3.21 CKY @ The Webster Hartford, CT $16 adv. / 7pm 3.23 Henry Rollins @ Infinity Hall Norfolk, CT $35, $50 / 7:30 pm

Jarrod Gorbel

3.16 - 3.19 Black Swan @ Cinestudio (Trinity College) Hartford, CT

The Room @ Bow Tie Cinemas Hartford, CT

Bo Burnham

A benevolent, friendly, selfless man who greets everyone with a disarming "Hi" discovers that you can't trust anyone after getting engaged to a manipulative, self-serving siren who seduces his best friend and destroys his life in The Room. Johnny (writer/director Tommy Wiseau) has everything a man could ever want: great friends, a good job, and a gorgeous fiancée named Lisa ( Juliette Danielle).

But Lisa's innocent act masks the fact that she's looking to bring Johnny down, and her manipulations are tearing Johnny apart.

As Lisa informs her cancer-ridden mother, Claudette (Carolyn Minnott), that Johnny hit her (he did not hit her, that is bullshit, he did not), Johnny's best friend, Mark (Greg Sestero), finds his resistance to Lisa's seductive charms weakening. Meanwhile, local orphan Denny (Philip Haldiman) looks up to Johnny, and needs the older man's help after the teen rips off a drug dealer. What kind of drugs? It doesn't matter. Then guys play football in tuxedos, because you can play football anywhere. Upon release in Los Angeles, The Room began attracting a small crowd of devoted cult followers who hailed it as the next Rocky Horror Picture Show, talking back to the screen and acting out scenes as the softcore, melodramatic train wreck of a film derails up on the big screen. In time, word of The Room's hopelessly incompetent, unintentionally hilarious charms began to spread, and screenings started to to crop up from coast to coast. - Jason Buchanan, Allmovie 3.20 - 3.22

Black Swan is the movie that has catapulted Darren Aronofsky to the ranks of top American filmmakers. While indie movie lovers championed Pi and Requiem for a Dream, and mainstream Hollywood cheered The Wrestler, Black Swan brings together Aronofsky’s intense originality with a new, dazzling virtuosity. Natalie Portman stars as a member of the corps at the New York City Ballet, whose dream of dancing the dual roles of Odette and Odile in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake turns to dangerous obsession. “I’m here to tell you that I found Black Swan’s tale of madness, music and sexual repression utterly overpowering from the first few frames of the film. One of the best films of the year” Andrew O’Hehir, Salon.com 3.18 & 3.19

CKY

$10 / 11:30pm

3.17 Little Fockers @ Semesters (Student Center) FREE / 10pm

Shoah @ Cinestudio (Trinity College) Hartford, CT 2:30 & 7:30 pm Cinestudio presents the new 25th Anniversary print of Claude Lanzmann’s nine and a half hour documentary on the Holocaust, a vitally important act of witness that preserves for posterity the eyewitness accounts of survivors, bystanders and perpetrators. Lanzmann’s impassioned lifework was filmed in fourteen countries and took over eleven years to complete. “it is the greatest documentary on contemporary history ever released, bar none, and by far the greatest film I've ever seen about the Holocaust." –filmmaker Marcel Ophlus (The Sorrow and the Pity). Shoah will be shown in four parts in four separate screenings, and can be seen either separately or in its entirety.

Protect yourself and those you love against HPV. HPV is the virus that causes genital and anal warts as well as related cancers.

There is a vaccine that can protect both men and women from four strains of HPV. Call University Health Services to schedule an appointment to get your free HPV vaccination.

860-832-1925

The Pretty Reckless

10

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 16, 2011 / SPORTS SPORTS BEGINS ON BACK PAGE

COLUMN

Words Matter

brittany burke the recorder

More than one week ago I was in Hollywood, the city that for some reason everyone wants to migrate to to become rich and famous.

Personally, for me, Hollywood wasn’t anything other than a West Coast New York City, a concrete jungle with palm trees. But with 10 hours of nothing to do in LAX but think, I realized I actually walked away from the conference with something besides a new appreciation for the Los Angeles Kings.

While at the journalism conference, I was lucky enough to be able to listen to Bill Plaschke speak for a brief 45 minutes, but a 45 minutes that he made count.

For those who don’t know, Plaschke is a Los Angeles Times sports writer, regular on ESPN’s “Around the Horn” and absolutely amazing. Just saying.

The main thing he spoke about in front of a room of eager college journalists was that the words we produce still matter. It may be hard to believe, but yes, in a world where the Internet is taking over and any person smart enough to turn on a computer and click on the Google Chrome button can create a blog or twitter account to begin spewing off nonsense, words still matter.

For me, hearing that the words I spend each week writing are still pertinent is comforting, especially since every other professor and guest speaker talks about how the journalism and newspaper market is actually dying.

Talk about job security.

However, listening to him speak really hit home. I never realized how much of what I wrote actually counted until last week, when a previous column I had written about fans crossing a line a month ago resurfaced on the Facebook accounts of the people I had called out.

What I had written had struck such a chord that in return I was attacked and called out via Facebook, Twitter and our newspaper’s own website. Yes, I admit that I might have jumped the gun in my assumptions of these fans, and while yes, they may be crazy, it’s a good kind of crazy (for the most part). I didn’t do my homework on the history of the section before writing about them.

The whole point is what I had typed on the page still counted to those who had read it, exactly what Plaschke was trying to instill in our enthusiastic minds. Trust me, after managing to upset the NHL and Federal Hockey League with things I’ve written, I’m realizing exactly what he meant more and more every day.

Keep in mind; words are just as important to readers as they are to the journalists. So instead of religiously following some random blogger, who may know absolutely nothing, think about what you are reading. Pick up a newspaper once in a while and realize that what you see on the page is just as vital as what you read online or hear on the television.

Not only will you stay informed, but you’ll help secure my future.

Softball Athletes Play to Make Team History derek turner the recorder

The goal of every sports team at the beginning of the season is to make the playoffs, and the girls of the CCSU softball team are no different.

“This season is definitely going to make some heads turn,” said senior pitcher Liz Montemurro. “Last year, we started a new trend of winning, and this season is not going to be comparable to last. This team has a lot of potential to make the conference tournament.”

The Blue Devils are picked sixth in the preseason NEC coaches’ poll, whereas last season they were chosen last and finished the season with a 19-31 record, 7-11 in NEC play.

This team prides itself on improving every inning of every game, working toward the goal of top four in the conference and a tournament berth. Last season’s conference Most Improved Player, Sara Budrick, graduated, but CCSU has two returning All-Conference players in catcher Katherine Knowles and outfielder Rebecca Mussatti, who look to lead a well balanced offensive attack.

“We have five, six, maybe seven hitters in our lineup with the potential to bat .300 or

above,” said Head Coach Jeff Franquet. the best teams in the country to see what it’s Knowles, the team’s unofficial captain, all about, and if we would win the conference is highly regarded by her teammates and tournament, then we would have to play coaches as the leader of the team. She is not those teams eventually in the regionals,” said just an emotional leader, but performs on the Franquet. field, where she led the Blue Devils in batting Only two teams in CCSU softball history average with .378 and slugging percentage have finished with a winning record, the 1989 at .650 during the 2010 season. Her 18 and 1990 teams, but this team has other ideas. doubles were good for second in the league, The athletes are making strides and hope to where she also did not make an error in NEC change the culture in New Britain. competition.

“I foresee a lot of wins, Mussatti and this year being the real has the skills cornerstone of Central to be in “This season is definitely softball, the foundation is contention year, I only see good going to make some heads this for player of things from here on out,” turn,” said senior pitcher Liz said Montemurro. the year in the NEC said CCSU has quickly Montemurro.

Franquet. The gained a level of respect team leader from its peers. With a win/ in runs last loss goal of 30-25, this season with 44 would put the Blue Devils will lead off and set the table for the big bats in its first ever NEC tournament and break behind her. the school record for wins in a season.

A difficult out of conference schedule to “If we reach both of those, it will be a begin the season should prepare the team for successful season,” said Franquet. a run to the conference tournament.

The Blue Devils don’t start home play until February 24-27, the Blue Devils opened March 17, when the team takes on Yale at 2 their season against teams ranked first, 13 and p.m. Until then CCSU will continue its road 28 in the country. stretch, playing against the Dutch National “I want our team to have the exposure to Team and in the South Florida Tournament.

Dance Team Takes Second in Weekend Competition brittany burke the recorder

The art of dance, to many, may be just that, an art. But for the fifteen girls on the Blue Devils dance team, dance is and will always be a sport.

Competing for the first time since last year, the CCSU dance team took second place in the Universal Dance Association’s New England competition.

Dancing against seven schools, the CCSU dancers waited apprehensively as the judges slowly announced the winners beginning with the eighth place team.

“We were sitting in a circle, with our shoes, because we had pretty cool sneakers on, with these shoes in the center, holding hands and they’re calling…eighth place to first,” said dance co-captain Laura Altieri. “They called eighth place, not us, so we grabbed tighter, seventh place, not us.”

“So they got to fourth place, and we thought we’d probably get fourth or fifth place maybe, they called fourth and it wasn’t us, they called third and it was Sacred Heart, and we like grabbed our hands and were like ‘oh my god’ we could’ve got first or second, and they called second place, Central Connecticut State, and we went nuts, we exploded. You

would’ve thought we got first place, we were more excited than Westfield who got first,” said Altieri.

Less than two points separated the second place CCSU dance team and the first place winners, and hosts of the competition, Westfield State College from Massachusetts.

Out of a possible 100 points the dance team was given a score of 84 in the hip hop category. The UDA judges the dancers on overall effect (20 points), choreography (30 points), technique (25 points) and execution with (25 points).

The categories are then broken down further into subcategories such as communication and projection, which rates the dancer’s ability to evoke emotion out of the audience. Other subcategories include synchronization, creativity and difficulty.

The UDA is the first competition for the dance team since last year, after choosing not to compete, due to lack of success. Instead of competing in two separate categories, jazz and hip-hop, the dance team chose to focus solely on the latter, which proved to be successful.

“We were definitely not expecting to come that high, we were hoping to get first place….

We only lost first place by a point and a half, and that’s almost out of 100 and we got 84.67 and they got 86.87 or something like that, so it

was really close. I think we made one mistake that we didn’t make before,” Altieri said. “The adrenaline and everything might have had us make one mistake, but it feels like first to us so it doesn’t matter.”

Dance competitions are not the priority for the dance team, which dances at the CCSU football and basketball home games, while traveling to a select few matchups. The team has 15 routines to learn per season, which takes up the majority of team’s practice time.

“We weren’t really that kind of team, we were more about the games and supporting the athletics and everything, but when we did it none of us thought we would really get excited and lose it, but it was exciting,” said Altieri.

The dance team can be found practicing in Kaiser four days a week, twice in the actual dance studio and twice in the Kaiser lobby.

While competing isn’t exactly the norm for the team, the unsuspected success found last weekend in Westfield may not be the last.

“I think the biggest factor that made us get so far was we’re really close; there’s no drama.

Every team there’s drama, but we’re a really close team and that’s one of our priorities, just to keep it fun and have a good time, which is why I think we work well together as a team,”Altieri said.

Darkness Cuts Extra Inning Game Short baseball | cont. FroM 12 Natoli had a shaky third inning, but settled down nicely. After the last hit of the third inning, Natoli retired the next 12 batters he faced. In doing so he was able to outlast Hartford’s starter and kept CCSU from falling further behind.

In the fifth inning, CCSU picked up its second run on a RBI single from Mitch Wells, tying the game at two. Natoli made it to the seventh inning and retired the first two batters, but two straight singles drove him from the game. With two on and two out, Hickey went with freshman pitcher Nick Boyd to get out of the inning. Boyd obliged, getting the batter to ground out to end the inning.

“Natoli was a bright spot today, we hope we can get another,” said Hickey. “Boyd did a solid job as well in his second outing as a freshman.”

While Boyd got out of trouble in the seventh, the eighth didn’t treat him as well.

He only gave up one hit but a run crossed the plate all the same, giving Hartford a late lead. Hartford took its lead into the ninth and gave Vincent Foire the task of closing out the game.

After a lead off walk advanced to third, Foire was still only one out away from the save. He even got exactly what he wanted when Tyler Caserta hit a groundball to the shortstop, but the shortstop couldn’t field the ball cleanly. Caserta reached first safely

and A.J. Lowers crossed home safely to tie the game. This was all it took for Foire to lose complete control. He walked the next batter and a wild pitch placed Caserta on third. On another wild pitch, Caserta broke for home, but was gunned out, sending the game into extra innings.

“We caught a break in the ninth and it’s good to know you can battle to the last out, but we didn’t take it to the next level and get a win,” said Hickey.

Both teams got hits in the extra innings but neither could get its baserunners to cross home plate. Boyd took the game the rest of the way for CCSU and after the final out of the 11th inning, the umpire called the game because of darkness.

The Blue Devils are on the road this week, but will return for a five-game homestand that begins with in-state rival Yale on March 15.

FOLLOW RECORDER SPORTS ON TWITTER @recordersports For breakinG GaMe day news

kenny barto i the recorder

Shortstop Anthony Turgeon turns a double-play to end the eighth inning.

11

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 16, 2011 / SPORTS

Club Lacrosse Team Defeats New Haven and New Hampshire to Open Season

LACROSSE I Cont. from 12

over the Chargers as an indicator game for the rest of the season. CCSU, confident that they would be able to beat UNH, used the match up to expose weaknesses and get players from the entire roster onto the field.

“There’s two things that you kind of look for. People pay to play, so you want everyone to get some time, but at the same time people want to win no matter what,” said Head Coach Philip Orzech. “So I think what we’re trying to do, is get a good rotation so we know who the key people are to go to when we have to go to them, and yet have everybody fill a certain role on the team for certain spots, and I think we did that a lot against UNH.” While CCSU managed to beat UNH handedly, it did so with men down due to penalties and without scoring in the fourth quarter, allowing the Chargers to score four unanswered points.

“In that fourth quarter, actually in the entire second half, we knew we were better than those guys,” said club president Greg Lokitis. “We were running hip to hip with all their players, we were more athletic, definitely better lacrosse players, without doubt, but we were so eager to strip the ball from them and run it down to get another goal, that we kept getting penalties, and it was really hurting us.”

CCSU had a quick turnaround following the win against UNH with a win over Southern Connecticut, 12-6, before falling to URI. Aside from the three home games to begin the regular season, the lacrosse club has already had to fight through some minor adversities.

In spite of playing on Arute Field the team hasn’t been able to fully practice on the field.

Instead it has been forced to use the bubble, which is smaller than the regulation field. The team was also only able to get to time in the bubble Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, whereas now that the season has starter the team is able to practice every day, which the players use to their advantage.

To coincide with practicing restraints, the Blue Devils have had to face obstacles amongst the roster as well. The team’s leading scorer from the year before has since graduated and its leading defender, John Frobel, is out with a torn ACL and MCL. However, new players added to the roster have added depth to the lines, which the team plans to use to its advantage in games against more talented teams.

“Our two starting lines for attack, midi, and defense are all excellent players, without a doubt in my mind,” said Meurice. “We’re just a lot more [of] well rounded as a team this year, than we were last year. Last year, we had the leading scorer on one line, but that’s

Kyle Wills fights against a URI defender in CCSU’s 10-6 loss against the Rams on Saturday. only one person. So this year we have six to eight people making a difference rather than one, which in my eyes is a lot better and we can use that to our advantage a lot more.”

With new names added to the roster comes new team chemistry. CCSU’s club team has been practicing and working to

come together since last fall, practicing and running scrimmages.

With the game against UNH in the past the Blue Devils are looking forward to the Friday home game against Southern Connecticut, as well as the Division I University of Rhode Island club team. A strong roster of 25 players

kenny barto I THE RECORDER

gives the Blue Devils confidence entering in to the season, but the team realizes that it has to get off to a fast start if it wants to have a winning record.

CCSU takes on the United States Coast Guard on Wed. March 16 on Arute Field at 8 p.m.

William Paterson Defeats CCSU, Ending Hockey Season Brittany Burke The Recorder

Splitting last weekend in a single elimination tournament, the Blue Devils’ hockey season came to an end until next October.

The reigning second-ranked team in the Division II fought against the grain all season and finished the year with no trophy, no title, but hope to improve next year.

“They all worked extremely hard,” said Head Coach Ben Adams. “They all put in the maximum amount of effort I think that they should have, and we’ll take this year as a growing and learning curve, so to speak, and really be ready for next year.”

Entering the new season, the Blue Devils (15-18-2) were fully aware that this was going to be a year of rebuilding. With 12 seniors gone, many of which comprised the top two lines, the Blue Devils were forced to rely on one-year veterans and 14 freshmen.

“Some of the kids that I really did not have pegged to be major contributors really stepped up and contributed to the success of not only the offense, but the defense as well,” said Adams. “Coming in this year I really thought that our biggest issue was going to be struggling to score. In some cases it was, but for the most part, in the back end of the stretch, we were getting contributions from all the lines, which is great.”

The team still had a lot of growing to do and progress to make, which was evident as the year drew on. CCSU managed to find its chemistry on the ice in time to get the crucial

wins, especially against the second ranked and reigning SECHL Champions William Paterson.

“Definitely, after losing all our seniors last year, it was a big season coming up, and no one really knew how we were going to do, and I think we fought through and played well,” said forward Jon Knobloch. “Granted, we didn’t make it to regionals, but we had a great season none the less.”

Knobloch finished the tournament with a single goal and two assists, while he finished out the season second on the team in points with 62, behind linemate Ryan Stanley.

After having to move to Simsbury from the Newington rink for the season, obstacles kept coming for the team, the most crucial being the forfeiture of three wins because of an ineligible player.

Due to the ineligibility of a transfer student, CCSU was forced to give up wins against the second, fourth and sixth-ranked teams. Aside from the loss of three outright wins, the Blue Devils were also struggling with other issues, such as the denial of contingency from the Student Government Association.

Things only progressively got worse for the team when it was decided that it would not get a bid into regionals, killing all hopes for a run at the national title.

Despite everything else, the club team was able to find the chemistry amongst multiple lines, something that the team used to its advantage last season in time for the Super East Collegiate Hockey League’s post season tournament. The team had two goals heading into the tournament: win the title and prove

that the Blue Devils should have gone to regionals in Danbury.

This year’s tournament played out much the same as last year’s. CCSU managed to take down the University of New Hampshire 5-2, only to lose to top-ranked William Paterson of New Jersey, who eventually went on to take the title.

“It’s just really disappointing that we ended up losing,” said Ross Mocko, one of the team’s two goalies. “We thought we had a really solid team going in it, but we’ll get them next year, we’re not too concerned. We have the same core guys returning, maybe lose a few, but that’s about it.”

Instead of getting beat handedly, as the team did last year against William Paterson, the Blue Devils managed to keep up with a scrummy team, inevitably losing 4-1. In the end, the team couldn’t play from the penalty box and were eliminated.

“They kept it clean in the UNH game and then there were some incidences on ice where my players defended themselves and rightly so,” said Adams. “The refs should have taken a little bit more control of the game, but all in

all I thought that they played hard. Obviously losing in the semis wasn’t the outcome we were hoping for, but it was kind of a good way to role in and fuel the fire for next season.”

With hockey season through for the Blue Devils, the team is able to look forward to next season, with the majority of the team returning to the lineup.

“I think it was good, it was more of a rebuilding year, and now we all just have our role on the team, and next year it’s just going to be like clockwork ,” said forward Evan Mink. Mink closed out the season with 24 points and 36 penalty minutes.

A major goal for the next regular season would be to get the team back into Newington, however things are already beginning to look up.

Last week, the SGA granted the team close to $3,000 in contingencies as a reimbursement for the expenses needed to travel to the SECHL tournament.

“Obviously losing in the semis wasn’t the outcome we were hoping for, but it was kind of a good way to role in and fuel the fire for next season,” Head Coach Ben Adams said.

12

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 16, 2011 / SPORTS

CCSU’s Tyler Caserta was thrown out on a play at the plate after a wild pitch in the ninth inning with two runners on base and two outs with Pat Epps at the plate.

kenny barto I THE RECORDER

Dark Tie Event christopher mclaughlin The Recorder

Though the CCSU baseball team rallied to tie Hartford in the ninth inning, no more could be done as daylight faded and the game was called in the 11th inning with the score tied 3-3.

It was the home opener for the Blue Devils (0-2-1) and although the team would have preferred a win, darkness made that impossible. CCSU got six-plus strong innings from Ray Natoli, giving up only two runs on six hits. On offense, the Blue Devils scattered 10 hits over the 11 innings. Though the Blue

Devils stranded 13 runners, the team got enough timely hits to prevent them from losing.

“It’s a little disappointing to tie, but on the flip side we were only one at-bat away from losing,” said Head Coach Charlie Hickey. “We understand that with this group it’s a process.

We are nowhere near as good as we think we are.”

Hartford (0-4-1) struck first, scoring two runs in the third. In the inning, Hartford was able to pick up four hits off of Natoli and played enough small ball to get two home.

After the first baserunner got on, he was promptly bunted over to second and made

it to third on a fielder’s choice. He scored on a two-out RBI single to left field by Simon Kudernatsch, who stole second once he was on base. Kundernatsch was driven in by another two-out single by Victor Santana.

Another base hit put Santana on third, but no more damage would be done, as Natoli got out of the jam.

“Roy’s downfall was that he loses focus, but he was able to recover on a day when the wind was blowing in and the temperature was 38 degrees,” said Hickey.

Down two, the Blue Devils got their first real opportunity to even things up in the fourth. A walk, a single and a hit by pitch

loaded the bases for CCSU with nobody out.

Anthony Turegon grounded into a fielder’s choice at third allowing one run to cross the plate, putting the Blue Devils’ first run on the board.

Though CCSU seemed poised to do more, Hartford’s starter, Ryan Lukach, induced a pop-up and struck out J.P. Sportman to end the inning.

“We had a couple opportunities, but we weren’t smart enough to capitalize,” said Hickey. “We gave too many at-bats away and it could have cost us. We have to get better offensively.”

BASEBALL | cont. on 10

Lacrosse Club Opens Spring Season with Back-to-Back Wins Brittany Burke The Recorder

Six home games to begin the season, means the CCSU men’s club lacrosse team has no time to ease into the second half of the 2010-2011 season.

Coming off an average year of 5-4, the Blue Devils enter the spring season with two goals in mind; to remain undefeated and to win the title.

“Men’s club won the title three years ago, one year before my freshman year, and ever since I’ve been on the team, I’ve been dying to get my hand on the trophy myself,” said Conrad Meurice. “Out of the three years I’ve been at Central, I think our team this year has the most potential of all three years so far, to make a big name for Central men’s lacrosse club definitely.”

While the aspiration of winning the title is still attainable, this early in the season, the Blue Devils dropped their first game at home Saturday against the University of Rhode Island Division I club team, 10-6.

The team managed to get off on the right foot in its opening game of the 2011 season, against the University of New Haven Chargers.

The Blue Devils chose to use the 14-6 win LACROSSE | cont. on 11

Phil Campanella makes a diving shot against the Rams.

kenny barto I THE RECORDER