Vol 107 Issue 21

AWA R D-W INNING CENTR A LR ECOR DER .COM Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Central Connecticut State University

Volume 107 No. 21

Police Say Speedy Manafort Drive Not Out Of Control dAvId whITNEy The Recorder

Paul Manafort Drive is less than a mile long but lately its safety has been under scrutiny due to recent activity that’s left campus police busy.

The road that runs along the south side of CCSU has seen its share of speeders over the years, but when taking a closer look, the numbers might reveal a different story.

According to the CCSU police department there has been 102 infractions and citations, 16 accidents and 39 arrests on Paul Manafort Drive over the past year.

Although the campus police say that the road carries far less traffic on it daily than Ella Grasso Boulevard, another stretch of road commonly used by CCSU commuters and passers-by, recent incidents including two pedestrians being struck by vehicles in the last four months have now brought on more concern.

According to the campus police there were around 96 accidents recorded around the campus in 2010. Paul Manafort Drive accounted for 17 percent of these reported accidents, a number that according to the police isn’t out of control.

Vivian Martin, a journalism professor at CCSU, was one of those hit by a vehicle.

The incident occurred around 6:40 p.m. on Dec. 2 of last year on Paul Manafort Drive while Martin, who wasn’t walking alone, trailed a few students crossing the road towards the Paul Manafort parking lot.

She says the memory is still vivid in her mind, and whenever she thinks about that day, it’s “darkening.”

“I saw the car coming and was like, ‘My god, this car is going to hit me,” said Martin.

Martin suffered a shattered tibia and came away with several cuts and bruises. She had to miss some class time but was back in the

dAvId whITNEy | ThE RECORdER

According to the CCSU police department, accidents on Paul Manafort Drive accounted for 17 percent of all reported campus accidents. classroom for the beginning of the spring 2011 semester.

Martin was persistent in saying that all pedestrians and drivers need to be careful.

She also wished for more officers to patrol the area, but in fairness said that she has seen campus police near the road.

“The road sign says Manafort Drive, not Manafort Speedway,” said Martin.

Along with many others who travel the road regularly, Martin was unsure why people like to speed so much on the road.

“Maybe it’s the curve of the road and how it wraps around James Hall,” Martin said.

Kimberly Tyrseck, 23, was struck and critically injured on the road in February and continues to recover from the incident. Her current condition was unavailable.

Several individuals have taken notice of MANAFORT | CONT. ON 2

Heading Into New Decade, CCSU Plans for the Future Master Plan Includes Facility Upgrades

MATT CLybuRN The Recorder

The campus committee tasked with formulating the university’s 10-year master plan has met for the first time and will soon release a schedule of future meeting dates.

The committee, co-chaired by Provost Carl Lovitt and Chief Administrative Officer Richard Bachoo, will begin developing the plan as part of a long-term initiative to update campus facilities and expand upon goals set during the late 1990’s. Committee meeting dates and a formal process for corresponding with the committee will be announced soon.

Other members of the committee include faculty, CCSU alumni, representatives from the New Britain community, a campus police officer and the university’s chief financial officer. The statement also said that additional members of the CCSU community may

be asked to meet with the committee and representatives of the consulting team to provide background information and logistical support when needed.

A statement from the committee co-chairs identified two consulting firms that will help in various development stages of the master plan, Paulien & Associates, Inc. of Denver, and Symmes, Maini & McKee Associates of Boston. Paulien & Associates, Inc. will assist in the creation of the program report which will include “all present and foreseeable academic and non-academic requirements,” while SMMA will identify possible areas of facility development and byways for pedestrian and vehicle traffic, among other things.

“With the implementation of the master plan, we are in the midst of our boldest step as we embark on a great period of change and FACILITIES | CONT. ON 2

Strategic Plan Will Reach Out to Community MATT CLybuRN The Recorder

Work groups are now in the process of holding regular meetings in an effort to carry out the university’s strategic plan initiative aimed at stimulating community engagement.

The groups are a component of the Central Connecticut 2020 movement that is comprised of leaders in business, government, nonprofits and education from New Britain, West Hartford, Farmington, Newington, Bristol, Berlin, Hartford and other towns across the region.

Leading the charge is a former state representative from New Haven, Bill Dyson, who holds the Governor William A. O’Neill Endowed Chair at CCSU, and other members of the Department of Public Policy and Social Research. In October a conference with more

than 60 members of the community from a variety of fields was held. Kenneth Barone, a coordinator of the project and a colleague of Dyson’s, told The Recorder that the discussion was broad.

Dyson partnered with the community engagement office and the provost’s office to create three working groups for each of the three areas of focus: education, the economy and energy. The purpose of these working groups is to flush out what projects need to be worked on and where CCSU can add value.

“Community engagement plays an integral role in defining CCSU’s distinctive mission,” said a statement from the strategic planning committee. “CCSU’s faculty and students also contribute to community engagement through service learning, volunteerism and community-based scholarship.”

PLAN | CONT. ON 2

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2 THE RECORDER Wednesday, March 30, 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 Kat Boushee, Assistant news@centralrecorder.com Entertainment Editor Max Kyburz entertainment@ centralrecorder.com

NEWS Manafort Drive Under Consideration for More Safety Funding MANAFORT | Cont. from 1 seeing students along with other locals jaywalk across the road while neglecting to pay attention to safety signs and crosswalk signals.

“I think a lot of people that drive off of Stanley [Street] and onto Manafort have tunnel vision and they just go,” said communication major Rick Olmstead. “I think people would slow down if they saw a cop more often. People notice police cars.”

Lt. Chris Cervoni, a veteran of the CCSU police department, said that he and every officer on campus do all they can with the funding they’re provided with.

“We can’t have an officer there all the time,” said Cervoni.

Cervoni also said that since the police department moved to their current location right off of Paul Manafort Drive three years ago the number of illegal activity has decreased.

The police say they “go on numbers” and if problems persist somewhere else on campus, then they’re likely to observe that area more often.

david whitney | the recorder

Two pedestrians have been hit by cars on Paul Manafort Drive since December.

Above, CCSU students cross the road in a designated crosswalk area.

The numbers of officers on campus does differ depending on the day of the week. More staffing

is in place during the middle of the week than any other time and the police say they tend to concentrate

on Paul Manafort Drive more since their office is placed right along it.

The Public Works Department for New Britain has given Paul Manafort Drive a passing grade when it comes to road conditions and safety. Mark Moriarty, director of public works, knows the road well and says that it’s in good condition.

“There’s far worse roads in New Britain. Manafort Drive has nothing out of the ordinary,” says Moriarty.

The road is under consideration for more funding in safety such as the addition of a radar detector that would register the speed of every car that drives by it. A similar unit is in place on Ella Grasso Boulevard to help control speeds by the athletic fields.

“We’ve received over $50,000 in grant money to help enforce the surrounding areas, we’re doing the best with what we got,” said Cervoni.

The police hope to continue to have the number of incidents and the speed of cars on Paul Manafort Drive go down and say that driving safe on all roads around the campus and obeying traffic laws is a must.

Sports Editor Brittany Burke sportsed@centralrecorder.com

New Academic Building Part of Master Plan Discussion Key in Community Progress

Photo Editor Kenny Barto kbarto@centralrecorder.com

FACILITIES | Cont. from 1 Another likely addition is a renewal to meet the challenges of stand-alone admissions building the 21st Century,” said President located at the center of campus next Jack Miller in a statement. “The to Paul Manafort Drive. The building master plan was formulated with will house the admissions office and careful attention to maintaining have dedicated parking for visitors the historical integrity and legacy and university applicants. of the campus while blending in “The construction of our new new technologies and modern admissions building creates a focal efficiencies; it is a framework point and a gateway to the central for making improvements and core of the university, which sends establishing priorities that will a message of professionalism and benefit students in a timely strong sense of purpose to all who fashion.” visit our campus,” Bachoo said in Lovitt, also the vice president a statement. “It is also our hope for academic affairs, highlighted that all of the construction projects the renovation of the Robert Vance which are presently underway will Academic Center as a springboard foster that same sense of purpose for improvements elsewhere. Lovitt to our students, faculty and staff, said that academic buildings Emma engendering the concept that we Willard Hall and Frank DiLoreto are continually drawing the future Hall halls will be renovated and closer to the present.” linked by a 34,000 square-foot “inPlans are in place to upgrade fill” and provide a student services athletic facilities as well with a new center with modern technology, fieldhouse to replace the currently internet access and multi-media existing Kaiser Annex. The new capabilities. According to the building is expected to include campus facilities website, the an eighth-mile track, courts for Willard-Diloretto annex is basketball, tennis and performance, scheduled to enter the design phase a pool, dance studio and fitness during the summer of 2013. lab. Vice President for Student “As much as we are looking Affairs Laura Tordenti said that the ahead and “reco n f ig u red offering fieldhouse will facilities and “As the university seat 8,000 programs 9,000 to provide that fit the makes this huge effort an expanded needs of to become a world class venue for indoor the present facility it says we believe in sporting events... and future, [and] allow we have excellence on every level, the campus to also made in academics, athletics acco m m o d ate a conscious commencement effort to and social interaction.” exercises and maintain -Laura Tordenti student related our bridge functions.” with the “As the past and to university makes keep the historical integrity of the this huge effort to become a world campus intact,” Lovitt said in a class facility it says we believe statement. “We think the master in excellence on every level, in plan has accomplished both of academics, athletics and social these tasks quite well.” interaction,” Tordenti said.

The master plan is also Renovations to the student expected to include a $38 million center are underway and will be academic building located adjacent expanding food service as well as to Maria Sanford Hall and near add space for offices of student Welte Parking Garage. According organizations. the facilities website, the project is According to the statement, a currently in final design stages and draft of the master plan report will expected to begin construction be made available to the public during the fall semester with a before being sent to President projected occupancy in mid-2013.

Miller for final approval.

Copy Editor Maxine Eichen Staff Writers Chris McLaughlin Kassondra Granata Skyler Magnoli David Whitney Terence Stewart Justin Muszynski Derek Turner Marisa Volo Tom Liljedahl Nick Rosa Danny Contreras Ciara Hooks

About

The Recorder is a studentproduced publication of Central Connecticut State University and does not necessarily represent, in whole or in part, the views of CCSU’s administrators, faculty or students. The Recorder articles, photographs and graphics are property of The Recorder and may not be reproduced or published without the written permission from the Editor-in-Chief. T he pur pose of T he Recorder is to approach and def ine issues of importance to the students of Central Connecticut State Universit y.

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PLAN | Cont. from 1 Leaders in the work groups are attempting to tackle significant and chronic issues. Some sample issues discussed include determining what the region will look like in ten years and where CCSU can add value to that vision as well as deciding what the university can do to help achieve the mission of CC2020. Among the larger issues are the concerns of education leaders.

“How does the university focus in on that problem and try to solve it so that we actually see results?”

Barone asked. “Bill [Dyson] said we need to find a way to get everyone to work together.”

“We were amazed at the fact that the New Britain superintendent was there, the Farmington superintendent was there, and they had never met before,” Barone said. “Of course they have different missions and come from different settings, dealing with different types of students and different issues, but you’re right next to each other. You’re both going after the same state resources, yet you never thought that maybe you’d be better off doing that if you work together.”

In a meeting of the education work group earlier this month, each member listed the top two priorities that they thought the university should focus its attention on. The group’s next task is to narrow down the list of potential issues to a few and focus on concrete solutions.

Another theme that keeps coming up before the education work group is college readiness.

Several community leaders suggest the university should be more readily involved in encouraging younger children in the region to attend college by expanding university influence in classrooms.

For example, students from the school of education are in the schools regularly as they complete the internships and observations necessary to meet their graduation requirements.

Dyson hopes that the university will put more resources behind the development of courses that partner with community schools and create a curriculum that will

get children in the community exposed to college students with more diverse career interests.

Leaders also hope to create a community advisory board to help advise CCSU President Jack Miller in the university’s community presence. Barone wants to find members of the community who are interested in working with the university and who might be interested in creating the advisory board in the future.

“The goal is to start forming long-term relationships with organizations and people that are more than just one-time affairs,” Barone said. “The goal we’re trying to promote is longevity in the projects that we’re doing and if we’re going to start something we have to be serious about it and stick with it.”

Barone believes the working groups will help move the initiative in the right direction thanks to increased ‘buy-in’ from the community.

“I think we’re going to see more collaboration now between cities and towns,” Barone said.

“The university has this unique position because we can be a regional steward of sorts in terms of having the knowledge base and the voice to encourage collaboration to happen. We’re an incredible knowledge base in terms of our faculty and an incredible workforce in terms of our students. Community partners need to start looking towards us as a resource.”

Each working group will work independently on a separate schedule and the larger group will be encouraged to meet twice a year for continuity. Assuming community engagement remains a priority for the university, Barone believes this will become an important part of the region’s future.

“When you actually bring people together and they start talking to each other, you’d be amazed at the concrete ideas that start coming out of these conversations.”

3

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 30, 2011 / NEWS

CCSU To Host Three Other CSUS Schools at SGA Summit MIChAEL wALSh ANd MATT CLybuRN The Recorder

It will be four times the Student Government Association this Friday when the CCSU SGA hosts senates from the three other Connecticut State University System schools.

Interim SGA President Jamie Canny said that the summit is focused on “the exchange and collaboration of new ideas intended to equally benefit all four campuses.”

Canny said that 60 total senators will be participating in the event with 15 select senators coming from each school’s SGA. Last year’s scheduled summit meeting was canceled and Canny said that the SGA is excited to meet with the other schools in the annual event once again.

“The presidents and two other senators get the chance to meet twice a semester...in Hartford, but having a large population of our senates together is greatly beneficial,” said Canny. “This year the summit is especially important with the proposed reduction in funding for the system and proposed consolidation.”

Canny says that she hopes all the schools will be able to take away at least a couple new ideas that could only have come up at a meeting of all four schools.

The event will run from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m in the Constitution room of Memorial Hall. At around 7 p.m. the group will gather to discuss any findings and ideas found during the day.

UConn Raises Tuition While CSUS Costs Remain Frozen MATT CLybuRN The Recorder

UConn’s Board of Trustees approved a 2.5 percent increase in tuition, fees and lodging last week in a nearly unanimous vote.

Political science student Corey Schmitt was the only member of the board to vote against the rate hike after mounting an unsuccessful campaign to raise the cost by more than five percent.

Schmitt and a few of his classmates argued that the benefit of a low increase would be offset by larger class sizes and fewer university services.

“I am not confident with the... increase,” Schmitt said, citing the fact that he has been forced to commute to the UConn Greater Hartford campus weekly for a class that is full in Storrs.

“We’ve already seen class sizes double,” classmate Rich Colon said at the board meeting. “The cuts that we’ve seen over the last few years are relatively small compared to what we’re going to see in the future.”

The tuition hike was proposed in a March 23 letter to the board from Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Peter Nicholls. Nicholls said that although some class sizes might increase next year because of the budget conditions, he expects the impact to be “very limited.”

On a list of 18 similar private and public universities, UConn was ranked ‘most affordable’ at a total cost to in-state students that live on campus of $21,198. Room and board expenses were also compared with UConn ranking ninth ‘most affordable’ of 22, just

$202 more than CCSU. The Associated Press reported that the 2.5 percent increase is the smallest in six years, adding $518 to in-state undergraduate bills and $950 for out-of-state undergraduates. It brings annual tuition, room and board to $21,486 for Connecticut residents and $38,382 for out-of-state students.

Changes at the Capitol have effected the university’s ability to make ends meet as Gov. Dannel Malloy recently vowed to cut general fund contributions to the school by $25 million each year.

The shifting political winds and down economy have left UConn more than $45 million short for the current fiscal year’s budget.

Board members warned that they may need to revisit the issue in June if more spending cuts cannot be found. They will explore the

possibility of cutting non-faculty pay in the coming weeks to make up some of the funding.

CCSU tuition and fees will remain the same over the next year as the Connecticut State University system voted last September to freeze rates at all four schools for the fiscal year beginning July 1. It was noted that should a financial situation warrant the raising of tuition, the system would be free to do so. Eastern, Western, Southern and Central are currently among the lowest priced schools in the Northeast region.

The average cost for a commuter student in the system for the current academic year is $8,043.

Residents, who must also cover the cost of room and board, pay an average of $17,997.

CCSUʼs Sustainability Efforts Success Depends on Its Students JuSTIN MuSzyNSkI The Recorder

There have been several steps taken by CCSU in terms of sustainability and now it asks the same of its students.

By 2050 the campus hopes to be climate neutral and has already made numerous efforts that would help obtain this goal.

One thing CCSU has done was organize a program called “Green Payday” in which all employees walk to their respective positions on campus from their cars every payday rather than using the transportation provided by the campus.

CCSU will also be hosting its

4th annual Global Environmental Sustainability Symposium, which will be free and open to the public and will be held on April 7 in Welte Auditorium. Students who wish to attend should register on the university’s website. The event will consist of presentations, workshops, panels and more that all deal with the issue of sustainability.

Students are encouraged to attend but are advised this is not the only thing they can do to help the environment. One thing they can do that would cut down on the number of cars on campus would be to carpool. A non-profit organization called Rideshare makes this easy for students or employees by coordinating vanpools to colleges

or companies.

A monthly fee is paid for by the one seeking a carpool and all other costs associated with the van are covered by Rideshare. CCSU is also seriously looking into Zip cars as another way of lessening the number of cars on campus. That with the newly proposed bus line could have a positive impact.

CCSU has also made several changes to the lighting system on campus to help. The light bulbs currently used around campus to light the walkways require less emission. Combine that with the fact that they are now pointed towards the ground, as opposed to the average light that points out, and it takes maximum advantage

with the least amount of power provided.

CCSU is on the right track and with the help of its students speaking out and participating in campus events there’s no reason not to believe the university will achieve its goal of being climate neutral.

4th Annual Global Environmental Sustainability Symposium Thursday, April 7 Free & Open to the Public

4

THE RECORDER Wednesday, March 30, 2011

OPINION

EDITORIAL ccsu sustainability plan more than public relation ploy You may have heard that in the last several years our university has been featured in the Princeton Review for our efforts and planning moving forward with campus sustainability.

The fancy light bulbs, huge silver steamtower that overlooks campus and the fact that we have periods of a tray-less cafeteria are all tied in to this effort. Upon first examination, it may look like a cute public relations tactic, which is exactly what this staff had first thought when starting this week’s editorial, but this plan is a very deep one.

Picking on a plan that points to its end date as 2050 could be very easy. This campus will hopefully look a lot different in 39 years. Progress is a good thing, but with new buildings and an increased student population, monitoring our environmental footprint is a great, but challenging, idea.

One of the first steps on campus was to replace every bulb in the light posts to LED technology. This saves an energy equivalent

of keeping 36 cars off the road for 10 years. This looks like the work of a university focused on their public relations output, which it might be, but they needed to show off something that has visible results.

If you find your way to the CCSU website you can search for ‘sustainability’ and download the ‘Climate Action Plan’. The 42-page document is filled with a plethora of introductions of what the campus has done to become more aware of their impact on the environment. This is a lot of self-adoration and back-patting. This includes the energy center, recycling and the reduction of water waste in the cafeteria and Devil’s Den. For as quick and simple as these changes have been, excluding the energy center, they have successfully opened up the topic of campus sustainability to this university.

The systems that we are implementing now will shape the future of CCSU. Complex water monitoring systems in each building will help reduce waste. These are not standard

at most universities and can help prevent vast amounts of waste from dorms and academic buildings.

As with most state schools CCSU will always find it hard to replace equipment and facilities that Connecticut has funded. In the plan there is a realization on our end that we should be constantly focused on replacing old and inefficient boilers, heating systems, windows and temperature controls. These simple steps are more preventative, but they will lower strain on our environment in time.

The biggest section of this plan comes under the subhead ‘Student Commuting.’ When you consider that according to the university 82 percent of students live in the surrounding towns and not on campus, this is a big issue. It’s been decided that the area will receive a bump in public transportation. This will help keep cars off the road. The university will also offer incentives to students who carpool. It’s a good idea, but might be a little impractical.

The only solution that will certainly help

would be to add living space on campus.

Our dorms are full and a shift to a more housing-based school bodes much better for the environment. CCSU, with their fancy water-monitoring system and promotion of recycling, can take a few thousand extra students under their wing and mold them into sustainable individuals. That might, just might, be President Miller’s dream.

2050 is a long way away. It seems ridiculous to make a plan that revolves around that date, but the plan is solid. It doesn’t forget to focus on logical long-term efforts but still keeps the present in mind.

Our staff went into this week thinking that we could find a problem or holes in the ‘Climate Action Plan,’ but we could not. This plan has a chance to succeed, but it’s going to take some cooperation from the current faculty, staff and student body to make the future plans work. Let’s try and do that now before we can’t get out of our own carbon footprint.

EDITOR’S COLUMN

#CCSU Could Use a Tweeting Improvement

michael walsh The Recorder

March 23 marks the two year anniversary of the creation of the official Central Connecticut State University Twitter account.

Unfortunately, May 12 marks the two year anniversary of the last time it was used.

Ten Tweets were made between March 23 and May 12 of that year, none of extreme or important value. It’s fair to say that the university’s first foray into social networking was a failure. Even its Facebook page is a lackluster place devoid of any discussion between students and faculty.

Social networking has become such an integral part of our society that it can’t be ignored. When used properly, Twitter can be a wealth of information and a beautiful place to crowd source. It provides news and information at the quickest speed it’s ever been provided and that’s something to think about as CCSU moves towards its goals of increased community involvement and the construction of a better campus.

Mark McLaughlin, CCSU spokesperson, referenced a lack of staff resources as one of the reasons why they were unable to keep @CCSU as current or engaging as it needed to be to truly be the official Twitter account of the university.

“We wanted to make available a variety of social networking utilities,” said McLaughlin.

“And we’ve got several that are working and that are pretty well staffed. The problem was that I think we got started with things and we are really leanly staffed and it just became very difficult to keep up with current information.”

He did mention that they are in the process of determining how to better handle the account and make it valuable to their audiences. And I say it’s about time. The #CCSU hashtag has been an embarrassment of riches for some time now. A search of CCSU on Twitter yields results that would indicate that there is in fact a great deal of CCSU students, faculty, clubs and departments utilizing the social networking tool for their own personal or public reasons.

But hardly ever is there rich discussion or the

feeling of campus unity and involvement that Twitter is capable of bringing to a community.

Most of the comments that end up having CCSU placed within them are frivolous or lousy, cheap jokes about how the university is failing in one area or another or how students just don’t want to attend that next class or do tonight’s homework.

“At the moment it’s an underutilized resource and we’re working on ways to staff it better so we can use it,” said McLaughlin.

“There’s other things we want to create too along with a CCSU news Twitter account and we’re kind of in an early stage. Someone needs to be directed to monitor it and it just proved really, really difficult to do that.”

The Recorder has tried hard to make #CCSU something of worth. I’ve personally live Tweeted from Student Government Association coverage and each time I received zero feedback from students or professors on the actions of the senate. We as a newspaper have attempted to crowd source information from Twitter, asking students whether they think a smoking ban should happen on campus or if they’re happy with the most recent spring concert selections. The response? Again, nothing.

I’m not sure what exactly can be done to develop a sense of multimedia and online community between students, faculty and administration, but I do know it has to start with CCSU maintaining its own relevant and successful account. The inactive account currently has gained 320 followers and has been listed 22 times. If the account had actually been worth something and maintained to this day imagine what its numbers would be at now. We’ve all seen how powerful Twitter can be.

What’s most funny about the lack of an official university account is the fact that there are numerous departments around the university that do in fact try to utilize the technology. The athletics department (@CCSUBlueDevils) holds true to its description of daily sports updates, allowing students to stay current with their Blue Devils at home and on the road. @CCSUToday provides updates about on campus meetings, lectures and events, but its automated nature makes it not a place for discussion. The Student Activities/Leadership Department (@ccsusald) does a decent job at informing clubs of important dates and deadlines. Even career advising, the astronomy department and the inter residence council have Twitter accounts with updates made in the last month.

There’s no reason why the official universitywide account can’t be brought back from the grave and made into something of true worth and value for this community.

McLaughlin said these developments probably won’t come to fruition until the end of the semester. Currently his department is making sure that there are specific policies in line associated with the publishing of content on the account and defined job responsibilities for whoever is given the duty of keeping the

account up to date, as well as determining a process for overseeing the publishing of Tweets.

“It also requires a lot of oversight too in the sense that,” said McLaughlin. “It’s very useful to have one or two other people to review it to make sure it has no mistakes or

to make sure there’s no misinterpretation. It represents the university so its critical to have that component of review.”

You can follow The Recorder on Twitter @TheRecorder and Michael Walsh on Twitter @MichaelCWalsh.

Letter to the Editor: In Response to ‘Up in Smoke’ To the Editor: During my interview for your March 16, 2011 article, “Up In Smoke: Professor Proposes Smoking Ban,” it seems I was not as clear as I could have been about how important smoking cessation is to me as a physician and as an individual who watched his mother suffer and eventually die from smoking related illnesses.

There is no more important thing a person can do for their health than to quit smoking.

Nothing else comes close. It is absolutely the most important thing a smoker can do to give themselves the best chance for a long and healthy life. Yet, quitting smoking is one of the most difficult tasks a person may face and it often takes considerable time. This to me is one of the most important facts I need to remember when helping someone make the decision to quit and then to eventually quit for life.

However, secondhand smoke does hurt those exposed to it and in any amount.

Students, faculty, and staff who smoke outside of buildings need to know that they are putting others at risk for immediate as well as long term health risks. Three major conclusions in the 2006 Surgeon General’s report on the effects of secondhand smoke describe this perfectly: - Secondhand smoke exposure causes disease and premature death in children and adults who do not smoke.

- Exposure of adults to secondhand smoke has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and causes coronary heart disease and lung cancer.

- Breathing secondhand smoke for even a short time can have immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and interferes with the normal functioning of the heart, blood, and vascular systems in ways that increase the risk of a heart attack.

- The scientific evidence indicates that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2006.

This is why I support Professor Crundwell’s goal of making CCSU a smokefree campus while also agreeing with your editorial that a ban is not the best way to achieve this. We can best move towards a smoke-free campus by helping all members of our community become smoke-free individuals. University Health Services provides support and treatment for students trying to quit. Just call us for an appointment.

If a face-to-face appointment is not right for you, there is the Connecticut Quit Line, 1-866-363-4224, a free service offered to coach people through the quitting process.

Also, I encourage everyone to attend activities sponsored by The Natural Helpers during the annual “Kick Butts Day” on March 31.

For those of you who do smoke on campus, whether you are actively trying to quit, just contemplating quitting or even if you are planning to smoke for the rest of your life, please be aware that the smoke from your cigarette can kill and injure others. I would hope that realizing this, you would make every effort to reduce that risk by smoking as far from non-smokers as is possible and to be aware when your smoke is being carried into areas occupied by others.

I am glad to have colleagues like Professor Crundwell who raise these difficult issues.

I am proud to work with professionals and volunteers in Counseling and Wellness, the Natural Helpers and the Office of Alcohol and Drug Education, to mention only a few. Finally, I encourage The Recorder to continue the dialogue by reporting on the effects of smoking on college students and campus life, including looking at how bans and other smoking cessation programs have worked on other campuses.

Sincerely, Christopher Diamond, MD Director of Health Services Central Connecticut State University March 17, 2011

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 30, 2011 / OPINION

‘Westboro Speaks’ Delivers Lesson in Journalism Matt clyburn The Recorder

It was 3:58 p.m. on March 14. Hundreds of aspiring student journalists piled into an already packed convention hall to see the main event: Westboro Speaks.

The small Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka, Kan. is well known for sensational tactics and raunchy language to support their causes and protest others. As they picket across the country (on more than 30,000 different occasions, by their count), their signs proclaim “God Hates Fags” and “Thank God for IEDs,” among others.

On this day, a representative of the First Amendment Center interviewed Margie Phelps of the WBC, following up on their recent Supreme Court victory. The Court ruled in the church’s favor, 8-1 , that they indeed have the right to protest and picket soldier’s funerals given

appropriate time, place and manner restrictions.

The conversation of the day was intended to be academic and scholarly in nature, played out in front of a group of JIT (journalists in training, as the WBC later called us via Twitter) who were expected to uphold that intention and maintain civility in approaching this very, very touchy subject.

The interview presented a type of learning opportunity that every student should be exposed to before it’s too late. The dynamics at work in the dark hall were all at once pugnacious, strained, combative and tense.

Phelps, daughter of the church’s founder, is also a lawyer - the Supreme Court considers her a First Amendment expert. At her core, though, she is (by all accounts) a spiteful, condescending and eminently intelligent woman. Half of the audience members decided to

sit back and observe the fascinating elephant in the room, the other half engaged the beast with scattered inappropriate laughter, shouting and clapping.

Students were invited to find their way to the closest microphone and query Phelps. While some maintained a type of journalistic integrity far in advance of their years, others stooped to the level of conversation that Phelps instigated, asking content-based questions in an attempt to trip her arguments on some long-forgotten piece of scripture or ill-informed perception of the Constitution. Needless to say, the JIT that wanted to put out the fire got first degree burns.

I spent a majority of the session excited at the spectacle we were witnessing, enlightened by the observations I was making and a little bit wiser for having experienced it. I spent even more time, though, frustrated by my colleagues. These

How We Got Here: Maxine Eichen Maxine Eichen The Recorder

Since I was five my entire life has revolved around horses. It is safe to say that the majority of my days have been spent in a dusty barn, brushing and fawning over ponies and horses, and on the backs of these animals, jumping fences and perfecting equitation. I’ve been to more competitions than high school parties and have shared more secrets with four-legged friends than two-legged ones.

When the time came for me to choose a career path and college major my junior year of high school, an absurd practice that should be avoided at all costs, becoming an equine veterinarian seemed like the perfect choice.

As I was writing out my application essays that were meant to reflect the reasons for my choice I daydreamed about how I would spend the rest of my life frolicking with ponies and giving check-ups to Olympic athletes. It was what I saw my trainers do every day, so why would it be any different for me? Nine months later, my mother dropped me off at a small school in Pennsylvania where I was to begin my studies as an equine science pre-veterinary medicine major.

The first day of classes came and went and I found myself knee deep in horse manure and mud. This was a far cry from the cushy Grand Prix level barns I had grown up in. Another day of classes had me learning about artificial insemination and methods of euthanization. The harsh reality of the life of a veterinarian began to set in and lead me to the conclusion that I made a huge mistake.

I hated every class in my schedule and grew pretty miserable over the course of the first semester. I knew I was going to change my major but I first needed to finish out my freshman year to build a solid transfer application. With that in mind, I had to find something to keep me happy while I was there.

I thought about what I enjoyed doing and immediately came up with writing.

Aside from riding, literature has always been my escape from whatever life throws at me.

I couldn’t exactly bring a horse to college, so I did the next best thing and walked into

the school’s newspaper office. The newspaper quickly became my solace and freshman year got a whole lot better. I wrote a bit and ended up as the copy editor for the paper. This also led me to the position of resident paper writer and I made a nice chunk of change fulfilling general education requirements for dairy science majors with $20 analytical essays.

I survived my freshman year unscathed and left with a few good friends and a very clear idea of what I did not want to do for a living.

However, I was back to the beginning. What the hell am I going to do with my life? I started answering that question first by applying to Central Connecticut State University. CCSU seemed to fit the bill because of the level of education received in comparison to the price for in-state tuition and the fact that I could pretty much major in anything.

My summer was spent pondering what I wanted in life. Horse trainers make about minimum wage once living expenses are accounted for and vets spend their days knee deep in poop and mud. One thought lead to another and literature came up again. I love writing and reading almost as much as riding, so it began to fall into place.

There aren’t many jobs that allow you to simply read fiction for a living, but there is an entire industry devoted to the delivery of it. I have decided that I want to work in publishing. The sense of empowerment I get from simply working on the school paper that produces a handful of pages of material is pretty invigorating, so the thought of being able to pick and choose what complete works of literature are important enough to expose to the public made me excited. I declared my management major and built a schedule I like.

How The Recorder plays into this is pretty obvious. Not only do I thoroughly enjoy my position as copy editor, thanks to the great writers and editors on the paper, but I need it to pad my resume.

Everyone always tells us college kids to do what we love. Well, sometimes that doesn’t always work out. Sometimes you have to do something else you really like a lot so that you can have the money to do what you love, like ride insanely expensive horses. I may not end up frolicking with ponies for a living, but I’m doing the next best thing and I know I’ll have the coolest hobby in the office.

GOT SOMETHING TO SAY? WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR

EDITOR@CENTRALRECORDER.COM

JIT are the future of our field - a group of ‘professionals’ supposed to deliver the facts without injecting themselves into the story. And yet, here they were, hundreds of them, injecting themselves right into a debate that cannot be won.

The lesson, then, is twofold, and the first takeaway is fundamental.

The Supreme Court upheld the basic premise that these people have a right to do what they do, say what they say and express themselves nearly any way they choose. Not coincidentally, the piece of natural law that allows them to do what they do also allows us to do what we do. There will always be fringe ideas, extremists and unpopular speech - it is up to journalists to present the news that will challenge and stimulate the marketplace of ideas.

When we lose the credibility to do that, then we lose everything.

The second takeaway is for our readers. The populace is responsible

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for affirming the right to free press, free speech, free exercise of religion, free assembly and others, by exercising them at all times. Implicit to this affirmation is a vigilant and active disregard of journalists that would so readily discredit themselves and their colleagues and unwavering support for those that further pursuit of the same.

As The Recorder has endured both good times and bad, an awardwinning website and a highly questionable opinion piece, high readership and low readership, we ask that you continue to support us in our pursuit of quality reporting.

While the First Amendment will always support speech, both that which enlightens us and that which disgusts us, the buck stops with you. Consumers and citizens have the final say in the journalists they choose to support with their words, dollars and actions.

Is the Libyan Conflict About Morality or Oil? Ryan Rogers

Special to the Recorder

The Libyan conflict has captured the attention of the world as the United Nations recently voted to intervene in what has become civil war. France initially took a pivotal position in this intervention by officially recognizing the Libyan rebels.

The question I ask is ‘Why?’ Would it be far too cynical for one to assume France, the country which inspired the term “Freedom Fries” not so long ago (due to their opposition to Operation Iraqi Freedom), would now want to support a movement to overthrow a dictatorship?

It concerns me how soon this conflict began in correlation to the peaceful transition which occurred in Egypt, largely due to the will of youthful, educated protesters and social networking via the Internet. It would be far too easy for the public to associate these two instances as one in the same, even though the components appear to be visibly different.

The Libyan conflict is appearing to be more and more of a tribal conflict between members of the current government led by Muammar al-Gaddafi and the portion of the country which benefited before Gaddafi’s coup d’etat over King Idris I. In fact, the region has a history of tension for this precise reason.

Could France have seized an opportunity to gain a significant trading partner with oil reserves in mind? Could the United States be in the same position?

If we review the facts, Libya holds the largest supply of oil reserves in Africa and is conveniently located just across the Straight of Gibraltar, making Libya an ideal supplier for the European market. Combine this with the mixed emotions of the public following the Egyptian protests and the tendency to stereotype foreign conflicts and we have a recipe for intervention.

Maybe I’m being cynical. Overall, I prefer cynical analysis as opposed to impulse when it comes to resolutions authorizing our soldiers to go to war.

Wisconsin Law Makes the Less Fortunate, Less Fortunate bryan Morales

Special to the Recorder

Republican Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin accomplished his mission last Thursday by cutting bargaining rights for state workers and increasing employee contributions to health insurance and pension plans.

The new law, created and passed by the majority Republican party, has caused many angry protesters to contribute nearly $360,000 in support of a recall in which Walker could be removed from office and replaced.

Wisconsin Democratic Party leader Mike Tate said, “From a policy perspective, this is terrible,” and I wholeheartedly agree.

The entire world is facing hard times as the economy is trying to recover, but increasing the cost of health insurance and pensions to state employees is only going to make deficits harder to overcome.

Protesters yelled “Shame, shame!” outside of the Wisconsin State Capitol as the bill was passed and the surrounding area was shut down for some time. Media outlets have reported that there was unfair treatment by police officers outside of the assembly, as

Democratic legislators attempted to get inside for the vote. The New York Times said, “Some lawmakers were locked out, and the police ignored their pleas to let them in so they could vote.” Lawmakers shouldn’t be pushed away, they have every right to vote on the bill, but the fact that they were denied a vote only goes to show how the government system works.

“We were going to get the fiscal place in order, [and] this is the first piece of the puzzle,” said Republican Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald of the Wisconsin State Assembly, “We’re broke.”

The top one percent of wealthy Americans become wealthier, while the bottom keeps getting poorer. Every state is facing problems with their revenues, jobs and public programs because the government can’t afford to pay for it. If those top wealthy just receive a tax increase, then that money can go back into state funds. Forcing the less fortunate to pay more money that they don’t have isn’t helping anyone.

While the new law goes into effect March 26, Democrats in Wisconsin continue to fight for a recall of the governor. The crowds and rallies will most certainly continue in Madison to stress the simple message that this law just isn’t fair.

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 30, 2011 / UPGRADE

REVIEWS

Blackfield

Welcome to my DNA

Burning Shed March 28

michael walsh The Recorder

Steven Wilson is a bevy of things away from Porcupine Tree.

With No-Man he’s the driving musical force behind the band’s dreamy triphop sounds, with Bass Communion he’s the creator of his pseudonym’s pulsating ambient creations, by himself he’s the producer of some of modern rock’s most psychedelic music and with Blackfield he’s the saving grace.

Blackfield is a collaborate project between Wilson, a progressive rock wizard, and Aviv Geffen, an Israeli-born musician.

Welcome to my DNA marks the third album between the two and while an okay effort, consequently is the least impressive so far.

There is nothing progressive about Blackfield, and that’s important to remember. The music is strictly art rock and often soft. Coming from a long line of feverish psychedelic rock and a foray into

Britney Spears Femme Fatale

Jive March 25

Marisa Volo The Recorder

I’m starting to believe that Britney Spears stops making music for three years just so when she makes another comeback everyone re-realizes how awesome she is. Seriously, we have Ke$ha, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, and while they’re working to the top no one will come close to the best: Britney.

From “Baby, One More Time” to her newest top40 single “’Till the World Ends,” everything she’s done has been gold. Naturally, some have been better than others (I thought Circus was a joke compared to Blackout, Britney’s first album after the shaved-head fiasco), but no one will ever

more modern but always unique progressive undertones, the easy listening sounds of previous albums Blackfield and Blackfield II were fresh for Wilson. But in Welcome to my DNA I found the project getting stale.

I’m all for an artist straying from his expected norm. And part of Wilson’s norm still remains in Blackfield’s latest album.

His guitar still attacks the senses and the Brit’s voice still paralyzes the senses with its strange ability to soothe, but there just isn’t enough interesting going on to stay impressed or keep caring.

Some have criticized Wilson’s lyricwriting abilities on Porcupine Tree’s most recent albums, but when they hear some of Geffen’s gems (he wrote all the songs Wilson was busy with other projects while Geffen prepped DNA) they’ll realize how competent Wilson is.

Second track “Go to Hell” is a horribly bad parody. “Fuck you all, fuck you / Fuck you all, fuck you / Fuck you all, fuck you / I don’t care, I don’t care, anymore,” sings Geffen before going on to repeat “Go to hell” more than enough times. It’s a pitiful track and the repetitive music behind it does nothing to help.

“Waving,” the only song written and composed by Wilson, is the most Wilson and Porcupine Tree-esque song. Fans will know the intro’s guitar right away and when Wilson’s familiar voice begins to soar over the track they’ll feel in a right place.

Unfortunately, “Waving” is only one of the few redeemable gems on the album that is mostly repetitive lyrical junk and soft art house rock.

It does pain me to bash this album. I enjoyed Blackfield’s two previous albums and have been a longtime defender and fan of everything Wilson gets his hand on.

But Welcome to my DNA just falls flat. It’s an okay album and I’ll still probably listen to it and the rest of Blackfield’s music from time to time just because Wilson’s voice and music can pull me in to anything. I just can’t recommend it to anyone else.

forget about the princess of pop (second to Madonna, of course).

Britney Spears’ newest album, Femme Fatale, is hands-down one of the best she has put out (and I like to think of myself as a Britney Spears connoisseur). It is a mixture of everything everyone in pop is trying to do, but so much better. Britney takes full advantage of the new dub-step craze in “Hold it Against Me,” but in a manicured way so it’s not over the top, but definitely making it an awesome song to get down to.

My favorite song is “Big Fat Bass.” It holds everything a pop song should be: a fast beat, fun to listen to and amped up with a verse from the Black Eyed Peas’ Will.I.Am. It’s an instant hit off of Femme Fatale, so you’ll need to restrain yourself from dancing.

“Criminal” is another one of my favorites.

It brings you back to the days when pop wasn’t just something to go clubbing to.

Britney’s voice is the shining star in this song as the party beats get dropped and a flute is picked up. I think it’s truly one of Britney’s best.

Sure, some people would argue that this album has no meaning behind it, but since when does everything need to have meaning?

My opinion: this album is just full of tracks to sing along with, leaving no one feeling bummed out. There’s too much going on in this world to be sad about. Femme Fatale is the remedy.

Sum 41

Screaming Bloody Murder

Island March 29

Marisa Volo The Recorder

I remember listening to Sum 41 back in the day when All Killer No Filler was all the rage. I absolutely adored every song on the album, especially songs like “In Too Deep” and “Fat Lip.” Those were also the days when Sum 41 was still a fun band to listen to. But I guess when a decade passes something has to change about the music they’re playing. And I know that every dog has his day, but I can’t honestly say that Screaming Bloody Murder is Sum 41’s day.

You could say that Sum 41 has matured as a band, but is their newest album still catching the interests of fans who have listened to them all those years ago? No. When I like a band, it’s for a certain reason. I crave Sum 41 when I feel like listening to a song about hating everything and everyone with the pop-punk instrumental talent to back it up. But that’s not what I get from Screaming Bloody Murder.

Peter Bjorn and John Gimme Some

Startime March 28

Michael walsh The Recorder

I’ve found that the Swedish are good at a couple of things: making dreary existential films and creating some of the world’s best indie pop rock.

I use the word ‘pop’ loosely. I find it a degrading word in our homeland. The pop I refer to are the simple yet catchy hooks, riffs and words that make Peter Bjorn and John such an addictive thing.

Gimme Some is the sixth album from the trio of musicians and quite possibly my favorite since their highly acclaimed 2006 release Writer’s Block that helped put Peter Bjorn and John on a more popular map than they might have been accustomed to.

Follow-up album Seaside Rock saw the band divert into a strange, instrumentaldriven area that would not sit well with the folks who loved singing along to Writer’s Block’s “Young Folks.”

But this latest release will hit fans looking for more of that same joyful sound that might have been the reason they fell in love with Peter Morén, Bjorn Yttling and John Eriksson in the first place. Quick blasts start the album in the right place with “Tomorrow Has to Wait,” “Dig a Little Deeper” and the album’s

Instead, I feel like I’m listening to a Green Day-like band living off of the name they’ve made for themselves in the past.

The first totally outrageous thing about Screaming Bloody Murder is the piano in the first track, “Reason to Believe.” Who would ever expect a piano in a Sum 41 song? With the album, it meshes perfectly, but you go into listening to a band like Sum 41 with a certain premonition and the very last thing you want is a piano ballad. “Reason to Believe” sets up the album’s mood: dreary and lackluster.

Unfortunately, only one of Sum 41’s “mature” songs caught my interest. In “Back Where I Belong” you can completely understand why you keep your faith in Sum 41. Lead singer Deryck Whibley lets it all out and you can hear it in his voice. It’s the yelling you wanted since track one, what you’ve heard since 2001 and exactly what you don’t get in most of Screaming Bloody Murder.

Even this song has a boring little part in it that goes completely acoustic before getting good again.

For new listeners to Sum 41, this album might be an awesome listen. But as an avid Sum 41 fan, Screaming Bloody Murder is a huge letdown. I can’t even be mad, just disappointed.

first single, “Second Chance,” leading things off.

My favorite song off the album might be “May Seem Macabre” and it’s not only because I absolutely love the way the Swedish say the word ‘macabre’ when speaking English. The thumping and chilled out bass helps slow the album down after the preceding minute and a half “Breaker Breaker” attempts to blow it up with energy.

Gimme Some is short. With only one song breaking the five-minute barrier, your most recent Swedish indie pop rock experience is over in a heartbeat. It’s a good heartbeat though and even the quick tracks impress.

But that same shortness might be what Peter Bjorn and John are better suited for in the first place. While they’ve done it in their past, they aren’t often going to dazzle your mind with extremely involved and lengthened piece that runs past the six or seven minute marks. And it’s okay.

What they are capable of doing is creating likable and diverse albums, where quick bursts of almost punked-out rock like “Black Book” can drop into the subdued “Down Like Me” before picking the pace right back up while closing the album out.

Something about Peter Bjorn and John just hook me. I don’t know if it’s the unique sounding voices of Swedes like Peter Morén that is the result of the band singing for an English audience or the quick bursts of catchy pop rock that gets me invested. It’s probably both.

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 30, 2011 / UPGRADE

Lackluster Hartford-Based ‘Second District’ Now Streaming Online Max kyburz The Recorder

After the countless days and months that went into its preparation (not to mention the years of history behind it), Hartford-based crime drama The Second District is finally catching a small wave.

After being subjected to a flashy teaser trailer for some several months, anticipators can now get a taste of this brainchild between Hartford police officer Mark Manson and career criminal Felix Soto for a small fee.

As someone who relishes the idea of a hardboiled crime drama set in what’s typically considered the ‘Whitest State You Know,’ I was gleeful at the news of the pilot for The Second District being available online. I just wish it was worth all the waiting.

To paraphrase Jules Winfield from Pulp Fiction, a pilot is a first episode they show to people who pick shows. On the strength of that one show, it’s decided whether they’ll make more shows. Some get picked up and become television shows. Others don’t, at which point they whither into obscurity. I fear this show will suffer the same fate.

The Second District is a foulmouthed blend of hood drama and police procedural (a politer term for “this show/movie shows how much it sucks to be a cop”) set on the roughnecked streets of Hartford. Gangs fight to stay in the clear, but the series shows that “gang” is a far broader term than some may be used to. As street toughs smoke pot and plot out points of attack, another gang rivals them: the police.

As Felix (based upon co-creator Felix Soto, played by cowriter Felix Dones), the Hartford crime lord, notes: they have their own colors,

multiple members and a code by which they survive. Difference? Nada.

While theres a great deal of discontent in the order of the street, more disorientation exists within the walls of the Hartford Police Department. Cops grow weary of the work they used to find meaningful, as well as of the superiors they are meant to respect. A crucial moment arrives when a snitch cop tells the chief of a possible alliance growing against her from within the department. Meanwhile, cops on the street struggle to find meaning as they find dead kids, howling mothers and...well, if none of this sounds the least bit familiar, then there’s no helping.

Which of this has not been seen or heard before? There’s nothing the series shows that makes the individual events uniquely Hartfordian. At its heart, The Second District is a project that dreams to dare, but its ambitions fail due to half-hearted execution. Instead of setting itself apart, it just makes the recycled cliches all the more unbearable.

Content aside, pacing, drama and tension seem nonexistent in The Second District, a show that needs to set itself aside from comparable police dramas. Rather than start with a bang, the show begins with yet another overdone musing about “how different things are now.” Its drama arrives too late at the scene of a horrific crime: a young boy shot to death at a neighborhood park. Yet it’s delivered with such melodrama it often distracts itself from the kind of gritty, realistic drama it wants to be. The execution of the dialogue is beyond cheesy; it’s almost laughable. The actors do their best to deal with it, though no performances particularly stand out.

The pilot sets up a great deal of possible

Netflix It:

(500) Days of Summer

scenarios for upcoming episodes, yet originality seems scarce, rendering the show highly predictable. That, however, might change if more episodes begin to circulate.

Even after everything put into it, a great deal of work is left to do. I don’t require a lot of action in a police drama, but if all your pilot episode has to offer is a sudden burst into action at the very end, there’s some serious backtracking to get done. As Fatboy Slim

once remixed, “Walk without rhythm, it won’t attract the worm.”

The pilot, which its creators are hoping will be optioned for a full series, is available at simplyme.tv where it can be viewed streaming for only $2.99. I only wish it were worth that much. There’s no fast-forward option, so you’re doomed to endure every last second of it.

‘The Second District’ was created by Hartford police officer Mark Manson and career criminal Felix Soto.

THE second district | Facebook

The Recorder is looking for new entertainment and lifestyles writers!

E-mail editor@centralrecorder.com if interested.

danny contreras The Recorder

Love stories in the latter half of the 2000’s weakly defined the genre. Take any film based on a Nicholas Sparks book and you get the same story across the broad with the only difference being the setting and the characters.

It makes sense why people buy these stories. We all know love sucks. It’s time consuming, requires too much effort and hurts. Sparks-like stories numb viewers to the realities of love. They rely on weak plot devices such as love at first sight, not so interesting town people, opposite family values, destiny and so on.

(500) Days of Summer relies on these devices as well, but in a different manner.

They’re used more realistically. The boring town is still there, destiny and love at first sight too. But they’re not the elements that drive the story forward. Instead, the idea that love is not the same for everyone shines through in the film.

The Catch-22-like film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Lookout, Inception) as the love-sick Tom Hansen, an architectturned-greeting card writer in Los Angeles.

Opposite Levitt is the goddess that is Zooey Deschanel (Elf, Yes Man) as the rebellious, Smiths-loving college graduate Summer Finn.

There’s a disclaimer at the beginning of the film that the story is not a love story.

An ambivalent claim because there are two ways of watching this film with two different endings (not explicitly, of course).

One way to watch this nonlinear

narrative is to pay attention only to Tom and his personality. He is a hopeless romantic, with dreams of finding that special girl depicted in many love stories. Tom would marry her, they would have kids and live happily ever after.

The other way to see the film is by dismissing Tom and paying attention to Summer. She is a rebellious character who became disillusioned with love when her parents divorced when she was a teenager.

The two meet as coworkers and their views on love clash as the relationship develops.

Each one not validating the other’s view.

The supporting cast is composed of Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass, Let Me In) who plays Tom’s sister, Geoffrey Arend (The Ringer, Devil) as Tom’s coworker and best friend and Matthew Gray Gubler (RV, Alvin and the Chipmunks) as Tom’s other best friend. The characters are very underdeveloped, mainly in part because they’re meant to be Tom’s conscience and not fully-fleshed characters themselves. But the standout performance goes to Moretz because she plays a very mature role and she is the part of Tom that is supposed to make sense of things when his rationality doesn’t. The other two pretty much just fade into the background with only a handful of major events accredited to their character.

(500) Days of Summer will depress you.

It cuts out the paradigm set by Sparksinspired films and Twilight. It’s realistic, almost too real and it hurts you. You identify with Tom or Summer, never both.

And it is this quality that makes (500) Days of Summer a must watch.

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8

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 30, 2011 / UPGRADE

Calendar

4/1 Diamond Rings @ Cafe Nine New Haven, CT $8 adv. / 21+ / 9pm

3.30 - 4.6

MUSIC

3/31

3/30 Those Darlins @ BAR New Haven, CT FREE / 21+ / 9pm

I Anbassa / Stephen Marley @ Toad's Place New Haven, CT $20 adv. / 18+ / 8pm doors

Wormrot @ Club Oasis Worcester, MA $8/ 18+/ 7PM doors 4/3

Has your father ever had a problem with alcohol?

We are looking for healthy volunteers, age 21-30, to participate in a research study. We are interested in learning how your body responds to alcohol.

Eligible participants will be paid $150 each test day for a total of up to $450 for 3 test days. Upon completion you may be referred to other paid studies.

To find out if you are eligible, please call:

(203) 932-5711 ext 5688 All calls are confidential Yale/VA Alcohol Research Center HIC #25194, HSS IP22

Mitch Dubey Benefit (The Flaming Tsunamis, Call It Arson reunion) @ The Madison Arts Barn Madison, CT $10 minimum donation / all ages / 6pm FILM 3/30 - 4/3 Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune @ Real Art Ways Hartford, CT $6.25 with ID / 5:30pm Documentary filmmaker Kenneth Bowser profiles American folk singer Phil Ochs, who rose to fame in the 1960s and whose hopeful, incisive ballads were written to inspire positive change in an era of profound social turbulence. Equally critical of the left and the right -- not to mention the politically apathetic -- Ochs penned countless songs and released seven albums, ultimately growing a sizable following thanks to his positive message and talent for songwriting. In 1976, following the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, and in the wake of the tragedy at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Ochs was so overcome with hopelessness that he turned to alcohol and ultimately committed suicide. He was just 35 years old.

Though the FBI would later admit to singling Ochs out as a traitor for questioning American policy during wartime, this film aims to offer a comprehensive overview of a deeply complex artist through archival footage and interviews with such outspoken fans as Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, and Sean Penn. Jason Buchanan, Allmovie 3/30 - 4/2 True Grit @ Cinestudio (Trinity College) Hartford, CT $8 / 730pm You might have suspected an overdose of holiday eggnog when you heard that the post-modern, R-rated Coen brothers had released a family-friendly remake of the

lovable Western that won John Wayne an Academy Award® in 1969.

Eggnog be damned, True Grit is a straight-ahead winner that goes back to its original source (Charles Portis’ novel) to re-center the story on the quest of a bright and unflappable 13-year-old girl. It is undeniably fun to see Jeff ‘The Dude’ Bridges back under the Coens’ wing as a has-been gunslinger, but the fierce performance of newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, quoting Scripture and seeking revenge for her murdered father, that steals the show. “...a vastly entertaining Wild West show that is memorable in every particular.”

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone.

4/1 & 4/2 Army of Darkness @ Criterion Cinemas New Haven, CT $5 / 17+ / 11:30pm The third in director Sam Raimi's stylish, comic book-like horror trilogy that began with The Evil Dead (1982), this tongue-in-cheek sequel offers equal parts swordand-sorcery-style action, gore, and comedy. Bruce Campbell returns as the one-armed Ash, now a supermarket employee ("Shop Smart...Shop S-Mart") who is transported by the powers of a mysterious book back in time with his Oldsmobile '88 to the 14th century medieval era. Armed only with a shotgun, his high school chemistry textbook, and a chainsaw that mounts where his missing appendage once resided, the square-jawed, brutally competent Ash quickly establishes himself as a besieged kingdom's best hope against an "army of darkness" currently plaguing the land. Since the skeleton warriors have been resurrected with the aid of the Necronomicon (the same tome that can send Ash back to his own time) he agrees to face the enemy in battle. Ash also finds romance of a sort along the way with a beautiful damsel in distress, Sheila (Embeth Davidtz), and contends with his own doppelganger after mangling an important incantation. - Karl Williams, Allmovie

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 30, 2011

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 30, 2011 / SPORTS SPORTS BEGINS ON BACK PAGE

Freshman Outfielder Leading Softball Team to History TOM LILJEdAhL The Recorder

In its 26 years the Central Connecticut State University softball team has only had two winning seasons.

However, the Blue Devils are optimistic that this season will be the third, due in large part to the impressive play of left fielder Arielle Bruno.

As a freshman, Bruno plays the critical role of leadoff hitter, setting the tone for the rest of the lineup.

She’s done this magnificently thus far in the young season, leading the Blue Devils with 26 hits and with a .464 on-base percentage. She remains second on the team with five doubles and in total bases with 36. Bruno also boasts a .419 batting average, has scored 17 runs, hit one home run and remains one of two players to hit a triple this season.

“She’s a very important piece to the puzzle,” said Head Coach Jeffrey

Franquet. “When she is focused and ready to play she’s as good as any player I’ve seen.”

Franquet, who is in his second season as head coach, has been impressed with Bruno since meeting her at the Hit Doctor Softball Clinic in Cherry Hill, N.J. It didn’t take long for him to recognize that she was a phenomenal athlete who possessed all the tools and skills that an athlete needed to translate into success at the collegiate level.

In addition to her incredible ability Franquet saw all of the intangibles in Bruno, describing her as a “gamer.” This mentality has been a huge factor in her success.

She stressed the importance of working hard, constantly learning and being mentally prepared to play every game. This productive attitude, according to Bruno, came from Les Olsen, her coach at Sacred Heart High School, a private school in Vineland, N.J.

COLUMN

Gambling is Maddening

“I don’t think I would be here if I went to a public school,” said Bruno, “Coach Olsen was very influential in helping me figuring out what I wanted to do in college and in softball.”

As the softball coach at Sacred Heart High School, Olsen planned annual spring training trips to Myrtle Beach, S.C. There his team played some of the best high school softball teams in the country, all of whom had made the trip as well.

During Bruno’s senior season, the team raised enough money to make a trip to Puerto Rico where they got the unique experience of playing against the Puerto Rican Olympic Team.

During her time playing for Sacred Heart, Bruno recorded 176 hits, which shattered the previous school record of 126. As a sophmore in the summer of 2008 she played for the Vineland little league team, which went on to represent the east

coast in the Little League World Series.

Now as a rising star for CCSU, Bruno admitted that the transition to collegiate softball has been a challenging new experience.

“It’s definitely a lot different from high school,” she said, “You go from knowing your entire team to knowing no one.”

Bruno is quickly becoming comfortable with the team and her place on it. Although she has known her teammates for a mere five months, she says that some already feel like lifelong friends.

These teammates think very highly of Bruno.

“Arielle is a hard worker with a good attitude,” said senior catcher Kat Knowles. “For a freshman, she is an awesome teammate and is always willing to help out.”

Bruno and the rest of the Blue Devils are currently 10-9-1 and sitting in a four-way tie for first

place in the Northeast Conference.

Currently boasting an undefeated 2-0 record in the NEC the Blue Devils share the top spot with Bryant (4-0), Sacred Heart (2-0 ) and Monmouth (2-0).

Bruno and the rest of the Blue Devil softball team will be back at home on Sat. April 2, at 1 p.m. to face Fairleigh Dickinson.

Bruno.

PhOTO: CCSu

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bRITTANy buRkE The Recorder

I admit it, I am on no level an educated basketball fan. I make the attempt to watch my adopted team, which happens to be the Celtics, and watch ESPN, but other than that I can’t get into it.

Or so I thought.

The more the month of March dragged on the more I found myself getting sucked in to the insanity that is March Madness. I even found myself a bit bummed that I had to work during the latest UConn game. Not completely upset, since I work for a hockey organization, but more upset than I had ever been in the past.

What really fascinates me about the entire idea of March Madness is not necessarily the game itself, but the betting. Every time there is a major sporting event, whether it be the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, World Series and so on, there will be gambling. It’s inevitable.

However, I have never heard so much talk about gambling as I have surrounding the March Madness brackets.

Whether I’m at work or in class, someone is always talking about how their respective brackets are doing, whether they’ve been shot to shit or whether they still actually have a chance. The majority of the time the people talking don’t just have one bracket going, they have at least two, and chances are there was a buy in, which means if you still have a chance, you can still win money.

At my job there was a $5 buy in that while is on a very small level is gambling nonetheless. All the talk made me wonder: while sports

betting is generally looked down upon, do major games, such as March Madness, warrant betting?

Is it okay for a kid in high school to take the $5 buy-in or a college student to place bets online? Also, why is this type of gambling pretty much accepted? Can’t we make an argument that it’s gateway gambling?

I don’t want people to assume that I have anything against the brackets, because I don’t, it’s a part of the game. In fact if I had one, I would be that girl who randomly just filled in the blank spaces and hoped for the best. Given this method, chances are I would win, and I’m probably missing out on money since I couldn’t be bothered. In the end I chose to keep my parking money and not take the risk.

But that’s just it. Gambling of all sorts, especially sports betting, is a huge risk. So why take it? What thrill comes from it? Because I know as a broke college student I can’t afford to lose my money and sports are way too unpredictable to bet on.

I know enough about March Madness to know that there is at least one major upset in the tournament and depending how invested you are, that one upset could cost you.

Is all the stress worth it? All I think about is that commercial with the guy in the dark, dingy basement, taking a bat to his TV because he just lost money in a baseball game.

Getting a perfect bracket is practically impossible, yet people all around the world will continue to log on and place bets. It’s an inevitable part of the sports industry, but is it one that should be accepted?

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 30, 2011 / SPORTS

ʻA Little March Madness [May] Contribute to Sanityʼ bRITTANy buRkE The Recorder

In the month of March there is no getting away from college basketball. Whether you are a fan of the sport or not, it is hard not to get drawn in to the craziness of the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments. As the contests are reaching their heights with the men’s Final Four set, along with the women’s Elite Eight taking shape, there are some things every sports lover should know, whether you are a basketball fanatic or basketball hater If you want to sound informed it is important to know the teams who remain in the tournament. The 2011 men’s Final Four is made up of Butler, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), the University of Kentucky and yes, UConn.

The women’s Elite Eight currently stands with Tennessee, Notre Dame, Stanford, Gonzaga, Baylor, Texas A & M, Duke, and once again, of course, UConn.

(However, by the time this paper goes to print the Elite Eight will become the Final Four.)

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This year’s tournament was extended from 65 to 68 teams, because we all know that 65 just wasn’t enough. Due to the expansion a new round was added, called The First Four, which coincidentally isn’t referring to the amount of teams. It’s referring to the number of games.

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The rounds for the NCAA Tournaments are as follows: The First Four, The Round of 64, The Round of 32 (not the most creative, but they get the point across), the Sweet Sixteen (now you won’t get it confused with the MTV show), the Elite Eight and the Final Four.

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The term March Madness was coined in 1939 in Illinois, but it didn’t gain popularity with the NCAA Tournaments until the ‘80’s. Aside from March Madness, the NCAA Tournaments are also known as, The Big Dance, although March Madness remains the catchier of the two.

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The Butler and VCU head coaches are amongst the youngest head coaches in the NCAA. VCU’s Shaka Smart is 33, while Butler’s Brad Stevens is 34. One of their teams will go head-to-head with Jim Calhoun’s Huskies or John Calipari’s Wildcats in the championship. UK currently has the most wins in the history of college basketball. Daunting? Just a bit.

Both CBS and the Illinois High School Association own the rights to the phrase “March Madness” after Illinois basketball official H.V. Porter was quoted in saying, “A little March madness [may] contribute to sanity.”

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PhOTO: NCAA

While most fans are worried about their tournament brackets and their profits, the NCAA makes sure to dole out the billions made to the participating schools.

One-sixth of the money is based on how many NCAA sports each school has. Half of the money from the men’s tournaments that goes to the different conferences is based on how the schools did in the six tournaments prior. While one-third of the NCAA’s profits are divided amongst the schools based on the amount of scholarships the colleges and universities give to the athletes.

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From the Blog MIChAEL wALSh The Recorder

With the UConn Huskies on a hotter than hot run towards another National Championship, debate on Twitter has heated up between UConn students and students at CCSU, SCSU, WCSU and ECSU. The topic?

Should you be rooting for UConn?

For me, the answer is an overwhelming yes. I will be the first to understand and comprehend school pride. You should have it and you should hold on to it for the rest of your life. But what about state pride?

Like many others that attend one of the four “lower-tiered” state schools, I grew up a UConn fan. I remember the 1999 and 2004 National Championships and have in the past paid good money to cheer them on. We must not forget that the University of Connecticut is also a public state school that resident money helps partly fund whether they attend the school or not.

I’ve also probably been a UConn football fan longer than you have. My first game? Nov. 4, 2000 in Storrs. Yeah, they haven’t played in East Hartford for that long. I saw the Huskies get beat down by Middle Tennessee State 6610 and somehow still became hooked on the team, atmosphere and game. I was even at the last game that would ever take place at Storrs and still vividly remember police officers shooting pepper spray in the eyes of harmless fans trying to celebrate a historic moment.

UCLA has the most men’s tournament wins, with 11. The late John Wooden was the coach for 10 of those 11 wins and the closest school to UCLA, Kentucky, has seven wins

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Many will spend hours meticulously configuring their March Madness bracket and some will have multiple brackets to enhance their chances of winning.

However, we all know it is the people who know nothing about basketball that just pick teams at random based on color of the schools or what not, who will actually win the pool. Which means I may actually have a shot.

Despite going to CCSU, it is okay to root for UConn. In fact, as a resident of Connecticut it is only right to do so.

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Supporting UConn Athletics: Okay By Me So tell me, why should my allegiance of more than a decade be thrown aside because of the school I decided to attend? While I fully support the Blue Devils in all they do, I went to school for school, not for sports. I got accepted to UConn, and even though I was obsessed with the UConn football and basketball teams at the time I didn’t make my choice based upon that. In fact, I went to another Big East school (St. John’s) before wisely ending up at CCSU. And don’t even bring up the world rivalry.

For whatever reason, UConn hasn’t played CCSU in basketball in what seems like ages and I doubt the Huskies would schedule the Blue Devils as one of their cupcake opponents. The teams, while sharing Division I status in many sports, are worlds apart. Sure, the teams clash (the baseball teams took each other on in last year’s opening round of the College World Series in Norwich), but there is nothing about the games that resemble America’s many other in-state rivalries.

UConn athletics is a Connecticut thing.

In a state where pro sports are limited to women’s basketball and minor league hockey and baseball teams, the UConn Huskies are about the only thing that can unite the vast majority of the state as one in the world of sports. Professional baseball, football, basketball and hockey will always be divided and it should stay that way, it makes our state especially unique in the realm of things.

To even begin to tell a student at CCSU

or one of the other state schools to remember where they go to school when rooting for UConn is wrong. While the support those students given won’t ever be the same as the support you give, it should be welcomed and not fought. And if UConn students want to feel special, they should. They’re the students, we’re not. You’ll be the alumni, and if that

matters to you, congratulations.

Conversely, as long as that CSUS student supports their school in what they do on the field, rink or court, they should feel free to root for the team they grew up watching and not be forced to sit out from cheering because of where they decided to get their education.

For more from the Editor’s Blog go to www.walshwords.wordpress.com.

PhOTO: uCONN

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, March 30, 2011 / SPORTS

Kelsey Barlow high-fives head coach Jeff Franquet after her two-run home run in game one on Sunday.

STEVE MCLAUGHLIN I CCSU BLUE DEVILS

Blue Devils Sweep Red Flash derek turner The Recorder

A doubleheader sweep for the CCSU softball team against Northeast Conference rivals St. Francis (PA) ended an uneventful spring break for the Blue Devils.

Jordan Tingley and Elizabeth Montemurro each earned complete game one-run victories in their efforts on Sunday.

Tingley earned her fourth win of the

season while striking out three Red Flash batters and allowing five runs, three of which were earned. In game two Montemurro allowed four runs, none of them earned, and struck out four.

Sophomore Kelsey Barlow led the offense in the first game with three runs batted in including a two-run homerun in the bottom of the fifth to cut the Red Flash lead to one. In the bottom of the sixth, centerfielder Rebecca Mussatti knocked in two with a single up the

middle to give the Blue Devils a 6-5 lead, a score they would hold onto for the win.

Freshman first baseman Tessa Brown had a hand in all five runs for CCSU in game two. She walked in the first and came around to score on an RBI single from catcher Kat Knowles. In the CCSU fifth inning Brown doubled to right centerfield scoring Ariel Bruno and Sarah Emery. Barlow followed with a double to left, driving in Brown.

In the top of the sixth St. Francis went

on a rally of their own, but fell one run short for the second straight game with CCSU sweeping the doubleheader by a score of 5-4.

With the two wins, CCSU starts off NEC play with a 2-0 record in the conference and are now 10-9-1 overall. The lady Blue Devils take on Princeton Wednesday March 30 in New Jersey and return home on Saturday April 2 to play NEC opponent Fairleigh Dickinson in a 1 p.m. doubleheader.

Horton Given All-American Honorable Mention Brittany Burke The Recorder

The 2010-2011 Associated Press AllAmerican teams were announced Monday and among those given an honorable mention were CCSU junior Ken Horton.

The Blue Devils’ season may have ended with a loss in the Northeast Conference basketball semifinals to Long Island University, but the accolades keep coming

Career Totals Points: 1,410 Rebounds: 577 Assists: 130 Blocks: 154 Steals: 79

for Horton.

After missing all of last season due to injury, Horton returned to the court this season and ended it being named the NEC Player of Year in early March. It is no surprise that Horton was bestowed with this honor and given his honorable mention as he led the Blue Devils and the entire NEC in scoring, going to the net for 581 points in the regular season. He hit his career-high 35 points in February against the Quinnipiac Bobcats while ending the regular season second in the conference in rebounding.

Prior to his honorable mention for the All-American Team, Horton was named to the First Team All-Conference, Second Team Selection and All-Rookie Team Selection.

Horton is one of two athletes from a Connecticut university to be mentioned for the AP All-American team, the other being UConn junior Kemba Walker, who was named a First Team All-American.

kenny barto | the recorder

Ken Horton missed all of the 2009-2010 season but returned to claim NEC player of the year.