Vol 109 Issue 09

AWA R D-W INNING CENTR A LR ECOR DER .COM Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Connecticut Mirror Incorrectly Reports Student Fee Increase

By Board Of Regents

Central Connecticut State University

Volume 109 No. 9

Theatre Department Brings ‘12 Angry Men’ To Campus

juSTin muSzynSki The Recorder

Connecticut’s Board of Regents for Higher Education authorized a $130 million bond Thursday that will fund 13 projects at various CSUS institutions.

About $82 million of that will fund a new residence hall at CCSU. What the board did not do, however, was approve student fee increases, which was reported in the Connecticut Mirror.

“The Board of Regents did not increase fees,” said CCSU President Jack Miller. “The article in the Mirror is largely erroneous.”

The Mirror article that Miller was referring to was published Friday and reported that student fees would increase by about three percent each year for the next 25 years. But in response to the article, William Bowes, Chief Financial Officer for the Board of Regents, sent out an email to several state officials detailing which aspects of it were inaccurate.

“The board did not approve fee increases,” said Bowes in the email. “There is no guarantee that fees will increase each year.”

“We have no way of knowing what the fee increase will be for the next 20 years,” said Charlene Casamento, CCSU’s Chief Financial Officer. “What we do is look at the history and the history of the resident hall increases is about 5.3 percent.”

“Three percent is an estimate over the next 20 years, but it doesn’t lock us into having that,” Casamento said. “Based on what we know, three percent seemed like a fair, reasonable and conservative estimate.”

Any increases would have to go before the Board of Regents in January for approval.

The bond will also fund a new diningt facility at CCSU. Bowes also addressed a report that the CSUS 2020 plan was on hold in his email to officials.

“The CSUS 2020 plan is not suspended as erroneously reported. In fact, the comments I made to the board about the CSUS 2020 plan clearly indicated that the program is established by statute as are the projects it funds,” Bowes said in the email.

“All of [Friday’s] discussion concerned the CHEFA plan.”

According to Casamento, the average age of CCSU’s residence halls is around 45 years, the oldest being Seth North Hall, which was built in 1956. She also says the newest residence hall, Don James Hall, was finished in 1995.

“For our students and our campus it’s a great opportunity to be able to bring this kind of residence hall and food-service facility to campus.”

eRik duRR | THe RecoRdeR

CCSU Theatre Department will be performing the play, ‘12 Angry Men’ this week Oct. 23-27 at 7:30 in Maloney Hall. The play, based off of a television play in 1954, and later a film in 1957, depicts a 19-year-old accused for first degree murder pleading “not guilty” to 12 different jurors. See page 7 for a review.

CCSU Students Meet President Of Iran kASSondRA GRAnATA The Recorder

Ghassan El-Eid, professor of Political Science, had the chance this year to take a group of his students to New York City for what was deemed a once in a lifetime opportunity.

On Monday night, Sept. 24, 12 CCSU students and El-Eid traveled to the Warwick Hotel in Manhattan to attend a dinner with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran.

This is the second year that El-Eid was invited to attend such an event, and this year he was allowed to bring students.

“I always emphasize in class that the world is becoming increasingly interdependent so it’s essential to understand what’s happening in different parts of the world,” said El-Eid. “What’s happening in Latin America and in the Middle East effects us [United States].”

El-Eid, who teaches courses such as Middle East politics, International Law, International Relations, International Terrorism, and others said he chose the 12 students based on student interest. At first, he was only allowed to bring ten, but El-Eid contacted the ambassador and convinced him to bring two more.

El-Eid said that universities such as

Harvard, NYU, Uconn, and Hofstra were also at the dinner. El-Eid emphasizes the understanding and analyzation of current events.

“We are keenly aware of the fact that Mr. Ahmadinejad has conflicting views concerning the Middle East and Israel, but that didn’t deter the students from wanting to meet him and get to understand him more about this leader.”

Bryan Southworth, grad student, attended the dinner and is majoring in Middle East studies. Southworth said that he considers Persian studies as important and said that Ahmadinejad was well postured, and had some interesting things to say as a political leader.

“I thought it was interesting that Israel was never referred to directly,”said Southworth.

“I think it was interesting that this radical perception that is often depicted through western media outlets is a little misleading. He is a rational political figure and knows how to talk to a specific audience.”

Southworth also said that he found it compelling that Ahmadinejad is a professor from Tefran and has a doctorate. Southworth said that he is a highly educated individual as

ADVISING | CONT. ON 3

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a leader.

The false portrayal of President Ahmadinejad was a common attitude throughout the five students. El-Eid also shared this aspect and said that this visit will help the students with their future endeavors in politics.

“The more we learn about others, the better we will be in dealing with the challenges or problems that will exist,” El-Eid said. “We were all better informed about Iran and the Middle East. Despite all of his views, his perspectives, and ideologies that we may or may not agree with.”

John Szalan, a Political Science major said that in the western media all the viewer can see is Mr. Ahmadinejad’s main talking points, such as when he denied the Holocaust.

“What I found really remarkable was how good of a politician he was,” Szalan said. “While watching him he would be clever in answering questions. He would dance around questions just like politicians do in the US. There were parts where he would take the question and spin it back to the asker because he wouldn’t like how the question was presented to him.”

see Iran Story- page 4

2 THE RECORDER

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

NEWS

Senate’s Practice Questioned During Finance Committee Recommendations

Sen. Kory Mills motioned to pass 12 out of the 14 Finance Committee Recommendations at last week’s Student Government meeting. joe Suszczynski The Recorder

The Student Government Association had 14 recommendations made by the Finance Committee regarding club budgets at its last meeting.

The recommendations consisted

of allocating money to certain clubs, while others were to deny other clubs’ contingency requests.

Senator Kory Mills motioned to accept 12 out of the 14 recommendations.

“Finance Committee met on Monday and we spent three-anda-half hours going over these,” said

Mills. “We heard all the hearings and we deliberated for a very long time.

So I really think you should trust the Finance Committee to do what the Finance Committee is supposed to do, which is go over all these things.”

The motion passed.

Senators were upset about the fact that the motion was passed.

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Sen. Hannah Pancak said that she was upset with Mills’ motion.

“I don’t believe that everyone reads the finance minutes. It’s very strange for all of us to just go right into voting and then finding out at the end of this meeting that our freshmen didn’t have the minutes, but still voted. It’s a little sketchy.” said Pancak.

Sen. Shelby Dattilo was also against Mills’ motion to pass all 12 recommendations at once.

“If you’re going to make any financial motions together, there needs to be some correlation between them to have any kind of argument about them that is coherent and actually flows,” said Dattilo. “It’s cleaner and more organized to do them in a certain pattern.”

Sen. Ryan Baldassario motioned to reconsider the motion that was just passed saying there was no real debate to pass these recommendations.

“I did vote in favor of this motion and that’s why I am allowed bring up to reconsider.

I was in favor of this motion generally because I think that from my own personal beliefs a lot of the recommendations were okay,” said Baldassario. “The voting didn’t seem right to me.

There was no real debate on any of these motions. I’m just not comfortable with the fact that in the past precedent that we’ve set on discussions of this manner, usually we actually have valuable discussions.”

Treasurer Nick Alaimo opposed the motion to reconsider saying it was all discussed during the Finance Committee meeting.

“The argument that we didn’t have both sides being discussed, that was discussed for seven hours in a Finance Committee meeting.

We evaluated the thing dry,” said Alaimo. “You make an amendment to exclude one of those motions, so I think that it was appropriate.

Erin Odonnell | THE RECORDER

You should vote against this and move on because we did a lot of work and during my Treasurer’s report; I left it up for people to ask questions.”

The motion was passed making the senate to vote on the 12 recommendations again.

Mills withdrew his original motion.

The senate then moved to pass the 14 recommendations a few at a time rather than in one chunk.

Some motions passed while some failed.

Mills was later reached for comment.

“I get that everyone is entitled to have a vote and that’s checks and balances system for a reason, but to have us sit there for three hours and debate amongst ourselves and then bring it back up and then debate it again is sort of just unneeded,” said Mills.

“Today was supposed to be a very long meeting, if you looked at the agenda, we had to swear in new people, we go over the Internal Affairs Constitution change, then we had all these finance recommendations, so I just wanted to speed things up.”

In unfinished business, Vice President Liz Braun motioned to postpone the Internal Affairs recommendation that was originally motioned by Sen. Bobby Berriault. Braun wanted the recommendation to amend SGA’s constitution postponed because of the new senators that the senate was swearing in. Braun said that it would be fair to give the new senate a week to look over the motion and do some research before it was discussed and voted on.

The motion was passed.

Earlier in the meeting, new senators were sworn in by Linda Tordenti, Vice President of Student Affairs.

3

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, October 24, 2012 / NEWS

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Journalism Professor John Dankowsky Hosts Mock Presidential Debate Tom Foley And Ned Lamont Represent Both Campaigns In Torp Theater Last Tuesday Rachael Bentley The Recorder

Torp Theater was the site for CCSU’s own mock presidential debate Tuesday, Oct. 16, hosted by CCSU’s own journalism professor, John Dankosky. The debate served as a “pre-game show” for the real debate which was shown live in Torp theater for students and facutly to watch.

The two contenders were Tom Foley, who represented the Romney campaign, and Ned Lamont, who represented President Obama’s re-election campaign.

The two parties were brought to CCSU to debate in favor of their parties candidates, serving as unofficial “stand-ins” for Romney and President Obama.

Foley was the former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland and was the Republican 2010 gubernatorial candidate in Connecticut. In August 2003 to March 2004, Foley served in Iraq as the Director of Private Sector Development for the Coalition Provisional Authority.

Lamont is currently serving as the Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Philosophy by the Board of Trustees at CCSU. Prior to that in 2010 he was the unsuccessful democratic nomination for governor of Connecticut, and was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate in 2006.

According to many who attended the event, figuring out who won the mock debate was no easy task.

“It’s hard to say who won,” said

Dankosky. “If you were to grade who won in terms of substance and what was said, then I would say Tom Foley won. If you were judging based on who advocated to for their candidate, I’d give the win the Ned.” The questions used for the debate where a mix of those created

by Dankosky and then some created by his own journalism students.

“The main reason I wanted to use student questions was because this is an academic study and I feel that it’s important to get the students involved,” Dankosky explained.

But that wasn’t the only reason he decided to use student questions.

Tuesday night’s presidential debate was Town Hall styled, meaning that the questions

for the candidates were being asked by undecided American citizens, not a moderator.

This feature was the core reasoning behind Dankosky using student questions.

“What you want is to get them to pause,” Dankosky explained. “If all we do is ask a question so then they say words that have been preloaded either by their campaign or in their head, that’s not terribly valuable. We can get a website for that. The idea is that we would actually get someone to think about what the answer is. Not having them think, ‘how should I answer this?’ but more ‘how do I feel about the thing they asked me?’ which is the nature of the job we are supposed to be doing. Let’s get to the heart of what people actually think.”

Some of the questions included issues on foreign affairs, affirmative action and immigration policies.

Overall, the audience felt that Foley debated more like Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney have been during this campaign, using facts to sway on-the-fence voters who might be unhappy with President Obamas’ recent term. Students felt that Lamont, on the other hand, debated much like Obama, using more a sentimental approach, which may be attributed to the fact that Lamont advocated for Obama increasingly during his 2008 campaign.

“Doing something like this is a fun exercise,” Dankosky said. “But it’s also a way to speak to people directly about the candidate they support, which is a worthwhile thing.”

Dalai Lama Speaks At Western Alyssa Pattison The Recorder

Seven monks stood on the Western Connecticut State University’s stage chanting prayers while attendants found their seats and prepared to hear from His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenxin Gyatso, on Friday.

Western’s president, James Schmotter, welcomed guests to the event and said how lucky and privileged the university was to be promoting individual happiness and world peace.

Richard Gere, humanitarian and actor, well known for his role in Pretty Woman, introduced the Dalai Lama.

“I went to sleep last night and woke up feeling the fragility of all of us,” said Gere, after excitedly greeting the sold out crowd that filled the O’Neill Center Friday morning. “We have very soft hearts,” said Gere, who also said how pleased he was to see so many young faces present.

“We have to take credit that we have the good karma to be here.

Let’s welcome one of the great beings to walk on this planet,” said Gere.

Upon his introduction, the crowd respectfully rose to welcome the Dalai Lama to the stage, where Schmotter awaited to award

him with an honorary doctorate of humanities degree from the university, along with a visor with WCSU embroidered on the front.

The Dalai Lama thanked Schmotter for the degree, and said that he felt education to be very important; however, it is also important to remember morals and inner value in order to be more stable in your daily life.

The Dalai Lama mentioned how he found Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King Jr. to be inspirational because they sincerely followed their own faith, which did not have to do with their religion.

“For my own interest, I must cultivate warm heartedness,” said the Dalai Lama. “As soon as you get up in the morning, think of these values.” According to His Holiness, by looking into the future, you are more likely to stay motivated.

“Forgiveness does not mean bowing down to others who have wronged you,” said the Dalai Lama.

Forgiveness should be motivated by compassion, in order to avoid negative feelings towards others, he said. His Holiness assured that forgiveness is not, however, a sign of weakness. “Forgiveness is a sign of strength. Anger is a sign of weakness,” the Dalai Lama said.

A segment dedicated to questions from guests followed the Dalai Lama’s session. Questions

Photo | Ap Photo/kevin rivoli

The Dalai Lama spoke at Western on Friday and emphasized the importance of education. included advice for those with a terminal illness or young people feeling socially excluded.

Friday’s talk, titled “Advice for Daily Life,” was one of two sold out talks held by the Dalai Lama at WCSU. The audience gathered from across the state, traveling by bus or on foot through torrential

rain.

Security remained a strong presence throughout the campus where attendees were unable to park their cars. Instead, shuttles were used to transport people back and forth between public parking venues and WCSU, forcing hundreds to wait in the rain after

the event for up to a half-hour.

The crowd swarmed toward arriving shuttles, waiting impatiently at the doors in attempt to get out of the rain quickly; a moment that ironically felt much like a test for those who still had the Dalai Lama’s values fresh in

their thoughts.

4

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, October 24, 2012 / NEWS

CCSU Students Meet President Of Iran Continued from page 1 Austin Swan, a student majoring in International Studies, asked Ahmadinejad a question during the dinner. Swan asked him about the recent controversial video, “Innocence of Muslims,� and whether he was in favor of supporting a resolution that would ban such videos that are insulting to any kind of prophets or religion.

Swan said that Ahmadinejad said he was in favor and used a metaphor using red street lights.

According to Swan, Ahmadinejad said that if one were to make something illegal, not everyone is going to follow it. “He was very clear in saying that the video was not free speech, he knew it was imposed on other people’s freedoms,� said Swan. “He is a very good politician. He knows what he is talking about and gives facts backing up his

thoughts. He was very smart. He’s not as radical as the western media portrays him. Overall, I thought it was a very different take on what I thought of him. Before I thought he was crazy.�

El-Eid said that a week after Ahmadinejad was in New York City, there was a segment on 60 Minutes where a former head of Israel was interviewed and gave the same assessment that the students made of Ahmadinejad. “He is a pretty rational leader,�

El-Eid said. “He is not this crazed individual that the western media tries to portray. He does have controversial views, and certainly gives his own justifications for that, but he was very careful to support his arguments with facts.

He’s very proud of Persian history and culture.�

Calvin Brown, a Political Science major, said that he agreed with his peers that Ahmadinejad is not “crazy.� Brown said he did

know what he was talking about for he backed up what he had to say with facts. “He is rational, but I was under the impression that he was relatively condescending towards the U.S. in some ways,� said Brown.

Brown said that Ahmadinejad tried to highlight his government and his view on Israel as the “real view of freedom� and that the U.S. stood against real freedom. Brown said that he can’t personally agree with the president on that, although he made a logical case. “He was inclusive and kind to everyone who asked a question and referred to everyone who asked a question as his ‘friend,’� said Brown. Brown said he left the dinner thinking something different about Ahmadinejad as a leader: that he is actually a leader.

Brown also said he can understand why it’s hard for the U.S. to work with him as an ally and why it’s

hard for him to work with the U.S. as an ally. “He doesn’t want to work with the U.S. as an ally, just wants respect,� said El-Eid. According to El-Eid, Iran was a close ally to the U.S. prior to the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

Ahmadinejad had made it very clear at the event that there would be no going back to the prerevolution time, said El-Eid. The common themes that were established from the dinner was that President Ahmadinejad is a successful politician that wants the best for Iran, and that he believes that his actions for his country are genuine and rational.

Sarah Stublarec, a student majoring in Industrial Organizational Psychology, said that she went solely on personal interest. Stublarec has been to Turkey and has a fascination in the Middle East. Stublarec,

like Szalan, noticed his political tactics and saw him as a credible politician. “You can tell he was skirting around the answer, for he was phrasing it in a way that wouldn’t quite enrage us so much,� said Stublarec. “There were other parts where he was very genuine and believed in what he was saying.�

That specific attribute scared Stublarec. “He is a leader that is not trying to take over his country by manipulation, you at least have to respect him for that aspect,� continued Stublarec. “He really wants everyone to get along, be respected, and learn. I think that’s something that a lot of us can agree with even here in the U.S. What we learn and what we value might be different, but we all want the same things. It was something interesting to walk away from.�

Faculty Senate Address BOR’s Lack Of Planning The Recorder

Concern over the lack of discussion about the Board of Regents was brought up during the Faculty Senate meeting on Monday afternoon.

At the beginning of the meeting, a motion to strike the resolution from the Board of Regents Strategic Plan for the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities was passed. According to Faculty Senate President James Mulrooney, the reason that the resolution was struck from the agenda was due to the BOR not having a completed plan to move forward with and the Faculty Advisory Committee is still working on details. “The BOR may have jumped the gun a little bit,� said Mulrooney. “We will see this again but it’s premature to touch it at this point in time.�

There was some concern from senate

members that the meetings are not engaging in enough discussion about the important issues surrounding the Board of Regents. It was recommended that the executive committee try to devote more time in organizing discussions for the senate to go over during the meetings.

Mulrooney agreed with the concerned members of the Senate and said that he hoped the discussion would take place in the near future. “I think it’s a conversation that was going to be most of the agenda today,� Mulrooney explained. “I was asked to pause on the matter because the FAC is still working on it.�

Mulrooney read a statement to the Senate that was sent to him from Stephen Adair from the FAC. In the statement Adair was quoting the mission of the BOR’s plan that states: “The Board of Regents for Higher Education shall develop and implement a plan for maintaining

the distinct missions of the Connecticut State University System, the Regional Community and Technical College System and the Charter Oak State College.� “They feel that they did not accomplish what was in the state senate,� said Mulrooney.

According to Mulrooney there was also a part of the resolution that needed consultation from the FAC, which did not happen.

In addition to the Board of Regents discussion, the Senate also voted Lauren Heller of the music department as the new member of the Grade Appeals Committee.

The Senate was also presented with a new project developed by Simms Sonet, SGA senator and chair of the student life committee. Sonet told faculty members about a competitive food drive that will be taking place on campus from Nov. 1 through 14.

The food drive, called “Competition

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for a Cause�, will be set up so that different departments on campus will compete with each other, as well as different groups and clubs.

The competition will be to see who can raise the most amount of food for the New Britain food pantries. The New Britain fire and police departments will also be competing in the food drive, along with TD bank. “It’s essentially going to be this huge citywide food competition,� said Sonet.

Faculty responded well to Sonet’s charity pitch and it was clear that the competitive edge in some members would shine during the duration of the competition.

Sonet addressed the recent controversy surrounding off campus students and local New Britain residents. “We want to show that most of this campus is not the one’s kicking over mailboxes,� Sonet said. “CCSU does care.�

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OPINION

5

THE RECORDER Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Students Should Embrace Opportunities On Campus Opportunity shows itself in many different forms. For the staff on the Recorder, opportunity knocks during each semester when we are invited to attend the Associated Collegiate Press Conference.

This fall, we will be visiting the beautiful city of Chicago during a very tumultuous time during this election season, something not many journalism students have the chance to do. In the past we have been to Los Angeles, Orlando and Seattle. This spring we will be flying to San Francisco.

This conference will give our editors and writers the chance to learn from some of the best journalists and teachers in the country, possibly the world. Hundreds of seminars will be conducted for us to

choose from. Something like this doesn’t need to be sold, it sells itself. Anyone would be foolish not to take advantage of this kind of networking and experience.

But the Recorder isn’t the only group on campus privileged with great opportunites. Other media groups such as Off Center Magazine and The Helix are also invited to literary conferences around the country, with no cost to the students whatsoever. The Society of Professional Journalists organize multiple trips every year, including a trip to Washington D.C. for this year’s presidential inauguration.

If one were to take a stroll around either the Student Center or any area with a large bulletin board, it would be hard for

Editor’s Column:

them to not notice all of the great things going on on our campus. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of fliers advocating for study abroad programs. They could be for a week or for the whole semester.

Other groups like Habit for Humanity, the History Club, Psychology Club and the political science department host a plethora of trips every semester; all one needs to do is become active and involved.

Too many times members of our publication have heard that there is not enough for students to do while attending CCSU. Many complain that their experiences here are limited to campus which, at times, can feel a little small. But that simply is not true.

Obama Makes A Comeback At Hofstra Joe Suszczynski The Recorder

Journalists Must Retain Valor In Story Coverage KAssondra Granata The Recorder

Malala Yousafzai, a 15-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl, is known throughout the world as an education activist. Yousafazi is from the town of Mingora in the Swat District of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunhwa province.

In 2009, Yousafazi wrote a blog for the BBC describing her life under the Taliban rule, outlining their attempts to take over the valley and also advocating education for young girls. The New York Times proceeded to film a documentary on her life, and soon she began to give interviews in print and on television to those who were influenced by her bravery.

On Oct 9, Yousafazi was on her way home on a school bus when she was shot in the head and neck by Taliban gunmen. Doctors said that the bullet grazed Yousafazi’s brain and struck her just above her left eye, according to an article by BBC. The Pakistani Taliban said it shot Yousafazi because she “promoted secularism.” To be secular, one must denote attitudes, activities or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis. Another reason why the Taliban shot Yousafazi is because she called President Barack Obama her idol.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where Yousafazi is currently located, has received more than 4,000 letters of support for Yousafazi.

According to an article published by BBC news Monday night, the hospital released a statement: “Malala continues to make steady progress and is in a stable condition at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham. She has now been in the hospital for one week, under the care of a specialist team from both the Queen Elizabeth and Birmingham Children’s hospitals.”

Because of this event, media all across the

world have committed their time to covering Yousafazi’s recovery. Print publications, and TV stations have shown pictures of Yousafazi in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital surrounded by doctors.

Alongside the Taliban aiming to silence this young activist, it is also striving to silence journalists criticizing the attack in Pakistan.

According to CNN, the statements that the Taliban is releasing is making it even more frightening to be a journalist in Pakistan.

Despite all of the threats, journalists in the area are still going to cover the story to its full potential. They are not going to let the Taliban thwart them from doing their job.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a group in New York that promotes press freedom around the world, more journalists were killed in Pakistan than in any other country in both 2010 and 2011.

Threats not only come from just violent groups, but government agencies as well.

As a journalist, it is difficult not to be shaken up by this particular statistic. It is not uncommon, however, that journalists have been harmed for reporting the truth by those who are against it in some way. It is completely rational that journalists should continue to cover Yousafazi’s story as well as others that may fall under the hands of the Taliban.

One has to be thick-skinned to be a journalist. Under the job description, it cries out the word “fearless.” Being a journalist requires the audacity to cover a controversial event, whether it may hit home or not. It requires the courage to go on the scene of a horrific incident and make sure it hits the stands the next day.

I commend journalists in Pakistan and other dangerous areas covering events and stories as grave as Yousafazi’s. In all honesty, if Malala Yousafazi is valiant enough to stand against the Taliban, then those reporting her story should follow her footsteps.

By joining these clubs and organizations you are not only filling your resume but fulfilling life experiences that you may not have been able to do otherwise. CCSU offers many opportunities for students to expand their outreach and ensure that they experience all that they can before they begin their careers post college.

If one doesn’t take the initiative to get out and get involved around campus, you risk the possibility of not being able to develop the nesseccary skills that will help you grow as a college undergraduate.

You don’t want to become one of those students that was here for four or five years, but never left their mark. There’s more of you to leave behind that just a carbon footprint.

Round Two in the presidential debate went underway between President Obama and Gov. Romney. The debate had a mix of both domestic, regarding the United States, and foreign, outside of the United States, policy questions.

This particular debate topic eventually turned into a 90-minute verbal slugfest between the two candidates. They engaged in many verbal spats, talking over one another to the point where the moderator, Candy Crowley, had to step in and break up the arguing.

First off, Prresident Obama finally woke up and started to spar with Romney, debating issues with him, rather than his lackluster performance in his first debate. Perhaps it was due to Vice President Joe Biden’s stellar performance against Congressman Paul Ryan, which could have coaxed him to step up his game this time around.

I thought it was high time for President Obama to finally mention Romney’s 47 percent comment and comment on it saying: “But I also believe that when he said behind closed doors that 47 percent of the country considered themselves victims who refuse personal responsibility, think about who he was talking about. Folks on Social Security who’ve worked all their lives. Veterans who’ve sacrificed for this country. Students who are out there trying to hopefully advance their own dreams, but also this country’s dreams. Soldiers who are overseas fighting for us right now. People who are working hard every day, paying payroll tax, gas taxes, but don’t make enough income. And I want to fight for them. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last four years.

Because if they succeed, I believe the country succeeds.”

Obama also managed to fire off some zingers against Romney throughout the debate. Romney had stated that he would “get tough on China,” but Obama fired back that Romney was the the last person who’s going to get tough on China.

Another zinger Obama threw at Romney was during a verbal argument between the two where Romney decided to pivot from talking about immigration to talk about his investments in blind trusts. Romney asked if Obama has looked at his pension or not, and Obama responded: “I don’t look at my pension. It’s not as big as yours so it doesn’t take as long.”

There were many more, but those were a couple that stood out to me the most.

Romney seemed to be trying really hard this time around. While he did try to come guns blazing like in the last debate, I don’t think he expected the president to come out swinging as well. He seemed to run into a wall when he was trying to slam Obama in regards to what happened in Benghazi, Libya. Romney tried to coax an answer out of Obama in hopes of retorting what he would have said, but Obama pulled a fast one on him by simply stating “please proceed, governor.”

That was pretty clever on Obama’s part because he wanted to see Romney fall flat on his face when he was trying to goad the president. Romney has only so much foreign policy experience to show for.

Another big flub from Romney was his “binder full of women” comment. Romney was trying to put qualified women on his staff while he was governor of Massachusetts. The problem is that Romney cannot seem to find the right words to describe certain issues.

He has that horrible case of “foot-in-mouth” syndrome, which has gotten him in trouble in the past. If he doesn’t watch out in the coming weeks it could cost him the election.

The moderator, Crowley, was better than Jim Lehrer, but I liked Martha Raddatz, who moderated the VP debate. Raddatz seemed to be in more control than Crowley and wasn’t walked on like Lehrer was in the first debate. A good moderator is what leads to a successful debate.

The moderator has to be in control at all times and should call out the candidates on whether the facts are true or not. That doesn’t show any bias because how can you argue the something or call something bias if it’s backed up by empirical evidence? The moderator for the third debate better take a hard lined stance on issues when it comes to the debate.

Overall, the outcome of this debate was satisfactory. Obama finally got out of his funk from Colorado to once again fight to be re-elected. Romney kept showing what a shady and sketchy politician he was by not elaborating on his policies and showing his lack of foreign policy skills.

As an Obama supporter, what he has to do now is keep sticking Romney with facts and keep exposing him as a flip-flopper. He has a lot of ground to make up for the first debate. It’ll be a struggle, but President Obama can endure the last debate before the election. The last debate will be on foreign policy so it should be relatively easy for Obama to hammer on Romney for his lack of experience.

Follow The Recorder on Twitter @TheRecorder for breaking news multimedia and live tweeting @RecorderSports FOR LIVE TWEETS DURING GAMES

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UPGRADE

THE RECORDER

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

New Britain Museum Of American Art Will Host Annual Costume Party MARRIT BUDNY

Special To The Recorder

“It’s the gem of New Britain,” beamed Meghan Malcolm.

Malcolm is talking about the New Britain Museum of American Art, where she is the assistant supervisor of visitors and volunteer services. Malcolm stood in the lobby of the museum where the high glass walls flooded the space with light and highlight its many pieces of artwork.

Nestled in the historic section of New Britain on the edge of Walnut Hill Park, the museum waits there for you for discovery.

Whether you’re killing time in between classes, looking for a unique place to grab a meal, or craving some culture, it can be that place.

The museum contains over 10,000 pieces of artwork all created

by American artists, according to the museums website. One piece that is a real eye catcher is The Gravity of Color by Lisa Hoke.

20,000 plastic and paper painted cups line the walls in magnificent swirls. Children who were visiting the museum on a field trip were mesmerized at the massive creation, as was I. While the museum can grant peace and relaxation, once a year it offers a party to be remembered.

On Friday Oct. 26, the 6th annual

Museum After Dark Costume Party, is taking place. Last year, over 500 people attended, each one of them was decked out headto-toe in costume.

“People go all out,” said Malcolm. “I’ve seen the most creative costumes come in.

Homemade robots, a stick of butter, a lipton tea bag.” Malcolm said her favorite costume she saw was Quail Man and Patty Mayonnaise from the cartoon Doug.

Malcolm plans all the details of the costume party from the food and beverages to the entertainment. This year they have plenty to draw the crowds in.

“We have the Beat City Beauties coming in from Hartford. Their burlesque group will perform at 9 p.m., and we have DJ Stealth who will play top 40s music you can dance to. He’s also out of Hartford and has done parties here in the past and is a big hit,” said Malcolm.

The Museum After Dark (MAD) Costume Party starts at 8 p.m. and goes until late. The normal MAD events end around 11 p.m., but the Halloween event is such a hit, the museum usually shuts down around midnight or 1 a.m.

Entrance to the event is $15 for museum members and $20 for non-members.

“With their CCSU IDs, Central students will get in for the members fee of only $15,” said

Malcolm. “The event is 21+ and IDs will be checked at the door.”

For $15 party goers will get entry into the museum with full access to all galleries, open bars with wine and beer, light appetizers from Jordan, caterers out of Chesire, the burlesque entertainment, live music and access to the specialty bar provided

by Onyx Moonshine.

Going to a museum for a party sounds like it could be a little stuffy.

I am not the artsiest person in the world, so I asked Malcolm how I would feel at the event.

“We get a lot of people that come to these events that are not art fanatics,” she said. “This might have been the first time a lot of these people have even been to a museum.” People are there to have a good time in a new place that isn’t Hartford or West Hartford.

If you can’t make it to the Halloween party the New Britain Museum of American Art offers three other MAD events throughout the year.

“The next event is Feb. 15, 2013,” said Malcolm.

If you’re able to go to the Halloween party make sure you get there early, parking is limited and a large line start out the door around 9 p.m.

For more information “like” the museum on Facebook or go to their website at www.nbmaa.org.

Marrit Budny | The recorder

The museum holds over 10,000 pieces of artwork, including 20,000 plastic and paper painted cups on its wall in different patterns.

Dishin’ It Sushi California Doesn’t Disappoint Customers

This new segment will feature restaurant reviews or other articles pertaining to food.

Sushi California has a wide variety of choices of sushi.

SKYLER MAGNOLI The Recorder

As someone who is always on the lookout for great places to eat, Sushi California has to be one of the best restaurants around Central with its world class tasting sushi.

While Sushi California may be located in a small unimpressive Stop and Shop plaza in Newington, the restaurant is anything but.

In fact, once you walk in the door the quiet atmosphere and chic décor just takes you away. The waitresses are extremely friendly and are more than willing to help anyone who is new or apprehensive to the sushi scene.

No matter what you may order at Sushi

Skyler magnoli | The recorder

California, you won’t be disappointed. With a wide variety of choices, those who are new to sushi can pick a selection of simple rolls that will still send a blast to your taste buds. If you’re just a beginner or you may not be adventurous when it comes to sushi, start with one of the basic rolls. My recommendation would be the Spicy Tuna Crunch Roll, mainly because it is covered in tempura flakes and their amazing spicy mayo sauce. For those who don’t like raw fish at all, the best rolls are the Tempura Roll or the Sweet Potato Roll. You can still get the sushi experience without getting grossed out by the raw fish aspect.

Now for those who are well versed in the

Skyler Magnoli | The recorder

The restaurant also accepts BlueChip cards from CCSU students. sushi world, Sushi California has some of the best tasting specialty rolls. One of the best sushi rolls would have to be the Crazy Roll.

This sushi roll has shrimp tempura, cream cheese, and spicy tuna on the inside, with large chunks of avocado, and crab meat salad on top and three different kinds of sauces drizzled over the ten-piece roll. The Crazy Roll is like dessert and dinner all rolled up in to one well named sushi roll. Another roll that is a must to eat at Sushi California is the Spicy Girl Roll, which is a spicy tuna roll topped with tuna, salmon, yellow tail, tobiko, and of course, spicy mayo sauce.

Another great thing about Sushi California is that for sushi it is not overly expensive.

This restaurant does a great job in catering to college students by accepting BlueChip cards and making its sushi affordable. Depending on the roll, one roll can cost somewhere from $5 to $15. If you are on a tight budget order a side of spicy mayo sauce to dip any sushi rolls in; it is like you’re eating one of the more expensive special rolls. Also, Sushi California has a BYOB policy, so if you want a drink with dinner or lunch, just bring something from home. Don’t be worried about being charged a fee.

Sushi California also has great lunch deals. You can get different sushi lunch boxes that have assortments of different appetizers and sushi rolls for $10.

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, October 24, 2012 / UPGRADE

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Theatre Department Brings ‘12 Angry Men’ To Campus Amanda Webster The Recorder

Tempers flared and tension spilled over the stage during the preview of the CCSU theater department’s upcoming play “12 Angry Men” Monday night in Maloney Hall’s Black Box Theater.

The play is based off of the classic 1957 film 12 Angry Men that tells the story of 12 jurors who are responsible for convicting a 19-year-old boy of first degree murder. At the beginning of the play 11 jurors are convinced that they are dealing with an open and shut case and that the boy is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. A single man stands alone and provides his reasons for voting not guilty amongst the jeers and insults thrown at him by the other already convinced jurors.

As the movie goes on, the single man begins to slowly plant seeds of doubt among the other jurors. Scenarios not thought of by lawyers are brought to light and the crime is even reenacted in parts to challenge the time periods that the witnesses of the crime attested to. While disagreements are thrown around the very hot and humid room, tempers rise and jurors are reduced to yelling, pounding, storming around and

even threatening others.

After intense arguing amongst the 12, there comes a turning point where all but one stubborn man believes that there is reasonable doubt, meaning that a not guilty vote is necessary. The last juror then storms around the room screaming his guilty verdict until at last, as he is starred down by the other 11, he mutters the words “not guilty.”

The cast had an interesting twist where about half of the men in the jury were played by women. Where the movie really zeroes in on the testosterone-fueled arguments, the women who played jurors had the task of presenting the same kind of energy and did a respectful job in doing so. The tension that was meant to be felt by the audience was there and the actors all portrayed their frustrations clearly.

It was easy to slip into the mindset of the jurors and question whether the young man on trial was in fact guilty or not.

The play took place on a rotating stage, which made the debates between the actors more engaging. It seemed fitting that as the arguments went around in circles, the actors did as well and it gave the sense that each juror and argument had his or her moment of attention.

‘12 Angry Men’ takes place on a rotating stage in Maloney Hall.

While everyone in the play did a decent job in portraying their jurors, there were certain characters that stuck out more than others. The portrayal of the last stubborn juror was one of the best characters in the play.

The frustration of the juror was

palpable and at certain moments concern over whether a fight would break out overcame me.

The lighting and sound effects were also executed well and helped with the feeling that a lot of time was passing inside the courtroom.

The cast performed a

ERIK DURR | The recorder

convincing story overall and I was impressed. I recommend going to see the play and have high expectations of the final performances. The play will officially debut the 23 and will go on every night through the 27 at 7:30 in Maloney Hall.

Modern Family Returns With A Bang Alyssa Pattison The Recorder

Toward the end of September, ABC’s hit series Modern Family returned for its fourth season, a much overdue event for most fans.

The laughs continue and comedy remains fresh on the show as it introduces tidbits such as Phil’s life lessons, or as he calls them, his “Phils-osophies”, such as, “Marry someone who looks sexy disappointed,” and “watch a sunrise at least once a day.”

Modern Family’s fourth season began with a bang, as the audience finds out Gloria is pregnant and still trying to inform her family.

Haley, the oldest Dunphy daughter heads off to her first year of college during the first few episodes of the new season, leaving the Dunphy family out of balance. Mitch and Cam continue their struggle to adopt and expect a son, but are turned down and resort to adopting a cat after being influenced by their daughter’s guilt trip. Cam also returns to the work force in season four, taking up a job at a nearby school as a music teacher.

The mockumentary style comedy stars three families that are interrelated through

Jay Prichett and his adult children, Claire and Mitchell. Jay (Ed O’Neill), is married to the much younger Gloria (Sofia Vegara), who is the mother of Manny. Jay’s daughter Claire is the perfectionist type, and married to Phil, who is your typical ‘goofy but cool’ dad. Their children Haley, Alex and Luke also follow characteristic sibling stereotypes. Claire’s brother, Mitch and his partner Cameron have an adopted Vietnamese baby, Lily, and are often trying to work through the new role of parenting.

Modern Family is a series that is easy for occasional viewers to follow because each episode is separate from those previously aired, unlike many series, where each episode is interconnected.

Wednesday’s upcoming episode promises a Halloween theme, in which Cam and Mitch take over the family tradition of celebrating the holiday with a costume party. Claire must control her enthusiasm for Halloween, after last year’s blowout, and keep the festivities kid-friendly for the neighborhood to enjoy.

You can catch Modern Family Wednesdays at 9 P.M., on ABC.

Photo | Steven Levitan Prods.

Modern Family returns for its fourth season and is a mockumentary-styled comedy.

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, October 24, 2012 / UPGRADE

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‘Please Remain Calm’: A Relief Bat for Lashes Releases Best Album Yet Matt Smigel The Recorder

As with the last release from five-piece power pop outfit Hostage Calm, 2012’s Please Remain Calm took some getting used to. Its eclectic mixture of modern pop-punk aggression, a cappella doowop-influenced vocal harmonies and progressive politically charged lyrics are a lot to take in for a first time listener. Once you get past the initial culture shock of the Hostage Calm aesthetic, however, the musical influences they bring together molded into a unique and intoxicating experience.

When I first heard Hostage Calm about a year ago they were not what I had expected. The five-piece group, whose members grew up and went to college in Connecticut, was formed in the summer of 2007, and quickly blew up across the Connecticut underground music scene. This garnered them initial fame in their home state and the word eventually reached my ears that Hostage Calm was a band I should check out.

When I finally decided to give them a listen I expected the familiar aggressive sound that I had grown accustomed to in bands from the Connecticut hardcore scene. What I heard, however, was the incredibly unique sound of their 2010 self-titled LP, their first on Run For Cover Records.

Like their newest LP, Please Remain Calm, Hostage Calm’s self-titled major label debut wasn’t an instant favorite. The sound was an odd mixture of non-linear songwriting, hard hitting rock chords and 50s-esque vocal harmonies, something very different from the Connecticut hardcore.

The more I listened, however, the more I grew to appreciate the unique elements of their sound and the album quickly became one of my favorites of 2010.

Like many fans of Hostage Calm’s first LP, I expected a great deal from their follow-up work.

After seeing the band play songs off their new album at the Vans Warped Tour this summer, I couldn’t wait to pick up their latest LP when it released Tuesday Oct. 9.

What I experienced when I first put Please

Remain Calm in my stereo was not unlike that first listen to 2010’s Hostage Calm LP. The opening track, “On Both Eyes,” wastes no time jumping right into a dynamic harmonized verse. The sound was familiar but I couldn’t help noticing some major differences from their earlier work. The mix highlighted lead guitar and vocals far more than their previous album, a move that indicated a desire to sound more accessible and radio friendly. A few songs deep I began to notice another difference since their last LP: their songwriting had become more linear and focused. This was yet another move that indicated a push for wider reach.

The seventh track, “The ‘M’ Word,” is by far the biggest departure, however. Despite being a re-recording of an older single, “The ‘M’ Word” is nothing like its first incarnation. The song was rerecorded as a soft acoustic song with violins and cellos replacing the guitars and bass of the first recording, perhaps an attempt to fit in with current music industry big-hitters like Mumford and Sons.

At first I resented this change in their sound, however the more I listened the more it grew.

Overall it lives up to their earlier work. The band has simply evolved in a more pop sound direction.

Please Remain Calm is an enjoyable album, though it is an acquired musical taste. I urge fans of poppunk to give it an honest couple of listens.

Alex Cross Will Let Down Action-Thriller Fans Kari Muzer

Special To The Recorder

If you’re expecting an action-thriller movie that has non-stop fighting scenes, Alex Cross is not the movie to see. The characters seem to forget that they are in an action movie at times, and emotions guide a lot of the plot.

Though it has a few mystery-thriller aspects with the psychopath, it feels more like an episode of an average cop show that you may see on television than an action or thriller movie with a decent cast.

The movie is about a psychopath, Picasso (Matthew Fox), that goes around brutally killing people. Alex Cross, a detective/ psychologist (Tyler Perry), is the main character that goes after Picasso the entire movie, and although he is referred to as a psychologist, there are only two short parts in the movie where this becomes apparent. At most other points, he has a gun swung over his shoulder and he comes across as more of a cop than anything. His partner Thomas Kane (Edward Burns), is by his side at all times, but Kane and the third partner, Monica Ashe (Rachel Nichols), are keeping something from Cross that becomes obvious within the first ten minutes. As the movie continues, Picasso works to be one step ahead of Cross and mess with Cross’s world and mind in unimaginable ways. The movie seems to be linear most of the way through, with no real deviations from the expected outcome. The end of the movie has a surprise in store, though. Just when you think the movie is over, a final surprise twist is thrown into the mix.

Tyler Perry does a mediocre job of playing Cross, but he looks incongruous at some points of the movie. Seeing him in scenes comforting his children or dealing with tragedy has more believability and emotion than the fighting scenes. Matthew Fox brings

a level of insanity and slight overacting to Picasso. Trying to figure out his next move is what helps keep the audience on edge and helps pull the movie along. Edward Burns is also one of the more believable characters as the sidekick, Kane. He looks like he belongs in the role, and watching his relationship with Cross as lifelong friends grow throughout the movie, adding another sentimental piece to the film. The one character that is impossible to take seriously is John C. McGinley playing Captain Richard Brookwell. He seems awkward and the movie comes off as a comedy when he and Perry are in scenes together.

This movie adaptation of the James Patterson novel isn’t the best actionthriller movie out there right now (Argo for example), but Alex Cross does succeed at giving the audience an emotional story about how psychotic the human mind can be, the importance of friendship and family, and the depths of how far people will go to take revenge.

Photo | Summit Entertainment

Tyler Perry plays Alex Cross.

Danny Contreras The Recorder

For all the gothic and dark tones that Natasha Khan, also known as Bat for Lashes, puts into the majority of her music, her latest effort in The Haunted Man somehow feels like the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a complex production that doesn’t necessarily test her singing abilities, but truly tests her skills as a composer. The end result is Khan’s best album to date, but one that will limit her audience to indie music lovers. It’s too dark for the casual music listener and the MTV generation.

The opener in the album, “Lilies,” is what fans of Bat for Lashes ask for whenever they pick up her music: a multi-layered progressive folk song with hints of electronica. The bass is completely synthesized and her voice is relatively unaltered except for the reverb effect.

But more interesting is the overall mood of the song. While it brings you into a dark world, Khan’s voice guides the listener through the almost five minute song, and the fat bass line is bound to increase a sense of alacrity. It feels creepy, but not hopelessly so.

“Horses of the Sun” is the third track of the album and by far the closest Khan has ever

been to space rock. The drums drive the song forward while a haunting melody from the guitars breaks in every 45 seconds. Every sound in the song has a bit of a delay and it sounds a lot more intimidating and unpredictable. This is by far the best song in The Haunted Man and the best song she has ever created. How can you not love violins being played through the chorus as the drums march on to infinity?

Lead single “Laura” features the writing of Justin Parker, who has written songs with Ellie Goulding and Lana Del Rey. The song is driven by the piano and Khan’s voice, but the sadness it evokes is by far the most powerful aspect of this song. The emotion Bat for Lashes puts in the chorus can make anyone cry, and the lyrics are painfully realistic: “Uh, Laura you’re more than a superstar.

You’ll be famous for longer than them; your name is tattooed on every boy’s skin. Uh, Laura you’re more than a superstar you’re the train that crashed my heart. You’re the glitter in the dark.”

The delivery is by far the best of all the albums released in the past couple of months.

The album sort of fizzles out after “Laura,” but in a good way. The emotions channeled in the first 25 minutes are more than enough to make this a great album, adding anything more would’ve felt too overwhelming. “The Haunted Man” and “Marilyn” blend space rock, folk and electronica very well with some nice arpeggios blended into whining guitars. The drums shift back and forth between loops and real drums;.

Meanwhile, Khan is just providing another instrument with her voice, similar to that of Kyo from Japanese metal band Dir en Grey.

Overall, The Haunted Man is Khan’s best production to date. At 52 minutes it is also her longest, but the length was necessary as she expertly explored themes and closed them without giving listeners an uneasy, lingering feeling of incompleteness. Whether you listen to indie, space rock, stoner rock, or progressive rock, this album is definitely a great addition to anyone’s collection.

Bad Piggies: A Match For Angry Birds Danny Contreras

excited for the game as it combined two of my favorite type of games: physics puzzle and sandbox. Instant gold.

Before Finnish game developers Rovio Bad Piggies has a storyline. Your goal is published Angry Birds, portable gaming to get the pig from point A to point B with belonged to Japanese company Sony and a wide assortment of materials. Additionally, Nintendo with their PSP and DS products, you need to meet certain requirements to respectively. get all three stars. Sometimes you need to Largely seen as a gimmick, “gaming beat the allotted time in a level or you need apps” constantly featured ports of classic to destroy special boxes. The game is very games such as Tetris and Connect Four. challenging from the first level because you However, when Rovio published the can come up with hundreds of different massively successful Angry Birds, they took combinations to achieve your goal. As the the gamer world by storm and gave casual game progresses you get more materials such gamers a reason to get an iOS or Android as an electric motor and a propeller to make device. Now, three years after the release of your creation go faster. the psychotic birds, the Finnish company The game looks amazing, and the sounds has released its first spinoff featuring the are extremely impressive. The soundtrack birds’ nemesis, the pigs, in Bad Piggies, features a lot of silly themes that reminded another puzzle-based game. me of an amusement park, while the pig I’ll admit that Angry Birds didn’t catch constantly laughs at you, or screams “weeee” my attention following their first release, as he goes down a hill. The backgrounds are but I gave in and became addicted in my beautiful with multiple layers of color and constant attempts to gain all three stars in effects that do not affect the gameplay at all. the levels. When the company announced It looks pretty, plays well, and adapts to your Bad Piggies in early September, I was very device.

Although the game is terrific, there is one thing that can’t be beat: its price. Players can get the game for free at the App Store or Play Store with ads showing only at start up. Rovio allows players to pay for help when they’re stuck on a level. The feeling of creating a contraption to beat the level is amazing and paying for help is the last you’d want to do.

They put over 50 levels in the game and it’ll take someone who plays casually about 10 hours to do all the levels perfectly.

Afterwards, you’ll want to play more but Rovio has yet to produce a DLC for Bad Piggies. Nevertheless, this is the game everyone must get this fall, even if they’re Photo | Rovio Entertainment coming out with Angry Birds: Star Wars Bad Piggies is free for Android and the iPhone. (which I will not be getting, maybe).

The Recorder

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, October 24, 2012 / UPGRADE

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, October 24, 2012 / SPORTS SPORTS BEGINS ON BACK PAGE

Menzies Continues To Shine On Field Senior Midfielder Looks Ahead To Finish Year Strong Corey pollnow The Recorder

In the waning seconds of the first half, Jesse Menzies can hear the countdown in the background.

10, 9, 8, 7… Menzies uses finesse to dribble past a Stony Brook player.

Menzies, a senior midfielder from Prospect, Connecticut, was highly coveted by Siena, Monmouth, Sacred Heart and Manhattan during his senior year at Woodland Regional High School, but he opted to stay in the Nutmeg State. “[Academically CCSU] offered a Civil Engineering program which many other schools that recruited me didn’t have. Financially CCSU made the most sense [because of] in-state tuition and the proximity of CCSU to my hometown. Also, I wanted my family to be able to watch me play,” says Menzies.

Menzies certainly exudes confidence on the pitch and has gained experience as he’s aged and matured individually. He’s not over ambitious offensively in a manner like Cristiano Ronaldo, but Menzies has certainly become more involved and aggressive offensively since he debuted as a freshman.

As a freshmen, Menzies registered three shots. Fast forward to 2012 and he’s attempted 28 shots and currently has five goals with three games remaining on the schedule.

Menzies says he doesn’t have a specific player that he’s tried to

mold himself after, but he credits his brothers for inspiring him on the pitch.

“I really don’t have a player to base myself upon. I watch a lot of soccer, but I never found one player that I have the same qualities as. I feel like my game changes depending on what position I play,” says Menzies.

“Growing up though, I used to watch my two older brothers play all the time. My oldest brother John was one of the best sweeper backs I have ever seen. He was tenacious and a great anticipator of play, and probably the most physical player I know,” continues Menzies. “My brother Brian is a smooth and creative player and faster than I will ever be.”

Earlier this season an opposing player from FDU attempted to put the ball through Menzies’ feet, otherwise known as a “nutmeg.”

Menzies anticipated the nutmeg and quickly regained control of the ball and attempted to duplicate the same move. Although unsuccessful, it showed imagination and wittiness on his part.

“So I guess you could say that my style of play is based off of their strongest attributes,” says Menzies.

Creativity is one of Jesse’s best qualities. Whether surveying the field to find an open teammate or deking his opponent, Menzies has the cerebral skills to accompany his physical gift.

In a game earlier this season, Menzies was in a difficult situation;

Midfielder Jesse Menzies looks upfield at last week’s game. he was pinned near the corner flag with the ball at his feet and his back to a defender. Rather than trying to create a throw in or corner kick by playing the ball off the defender, Menzies flicked the ball with his heel past the defender, quickly turned and sprinted around the surprised defender to maintain

possession.

According to Menzies, family plays a vital role in his life. He has his own cheering section and his family is decked out in CCSU gear.

Menzies receives the loudest pop of all the players when the starting lineups are announced over the PA system.

“It definitely does give me a boost. It’s almost as if I play to make them proud,” says Menzies.

“I guess playing with that little bit of added pressure gives me that adrenaline. But like I said before, I chose to come to CCSU because of my family. So I’m blessed that they are able to make all the games. Not just the home games, but the away games.”

Leadership is one of Menzies best qualities and that’s displayed on a game-to-game basis. When the team has needed him to step-up and make a penalty kick or a play, Menzies has delivered with a calm and composed mindset.

“I’m not the loudest on the field, but I do try and pick players up when they are down, you know, positively reinforcing my teammates. I like to think of myself more as a leader by example though,” Menzies says.

“Whether it’s making a hard tackle or putting in 100 percent effort, I feel like the team is more influenced by what I do in my play rather than what I say.”

Menzies has shown a lot of character for choosing to finish his career at CCSU after the team discovered the sanctions that forbid

CCSU from playing in the NCAA and NEC tournament.

“I know we had a big talk after the season last year and after winning the NEC last year. It’s such a good team atmosphere that you don’t want to leave,” says Menzies.

“We had that talk and we decided that we wanted to play for one another and have one more good season together.”

“It’s a hard rule. The same thing happened to UConn basketball and it was hard on them. It puts a lot more focus on recruiting better personalities on your team,” Menzies says. “You need rules put somewhere in place because you can’t come in as an athlete and do whatever you want. You have to focus on academics. Fortunately it wasn’t the recent guys who put us in this hole, it was a four-year thing. It’s hard to put the blame on the current players, but I think it’s a good rule to implement.”

After Menzies completes his senior year, he plans to continue playing soccer in the Premier Develop League with his team, CFC Azul, while pursuing a career as a civil engineer.

“Playing at the college level, you aren’t playing at the highest Division-I level conferences so it’s kind of hard to get looked at by recruits,” Menzies says. “I’m going to try and work my way up through the system and play for CFC Azul and see where that takes me.”

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11

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, October 24, 2012 / SPORTS

Hockey Ends Weekend Winless BRiTTAny BuRke The Recorder

CCSU fell to Super East rivals, the Marist Foxes, by three Friday night, dropping the game 7-4.

Coming into the game CCSU expected Marist to be tough competitors, having beaten two other Blue Devil rivals, William Paterson and Siena College, and the Foxes lived up to the hype.

“We knew they were going to be good because they took off some pretty good teams in the beginning weekends, but we knew it was going to be a battle and if we came out on top it would look good and there’s no shame in a loss if we worked hard,” said team forward Jack Johnson.

The Blue Devils had the first strike with a power play goal from Matt Siracusa 4:24 into the opening period, but that was the only lead the team would have in the game.

The Foxes answered Siracusa’s goal with one of their own before pulling away with 17 seconds before the first intermission. Marist was able to expose weaknesses in the young team, one of them being the injured team goalie, Greg Coco.

Coco’s ankle was injured in the game against Montclair, which has slowed him down and hindered his fluidity between the pipes, which led to a few missed wrap-around goals. But, despite being hurt, Adams chose to put his confidence in him over John Palmeiri and freshman Johnny Gradante.

“He’s getting better every game.

There are some movement issues that he has battling his ankle injury but he’s getting better every game,” said Adams.

A hurt goalie wasn’t the only thing the Blue Devils had going against them. While they were able to break out the puck and get shots on Marist goalie, Zach Gomiela, the defense was having trouble keeping up.

The Foxes racked up a four- goal lead, 5-1, before CCSU got back on the board, but by the end of the second the Blue Devils remained

behind with a 6-3 score.

“I just think all around we made 70 percent good decisions out there and 30 percent poor decisions and they were able to capitalize on the mistakes we made, not finding the right lanes to make a pass, force feeding pucks, not stopping pucks,” said Adams. “With a team that’s 100 percent pressure like Marist is you can’t afford, I don’t want to say to make mistakes but make the wrong decisions.”

CCSU was having a hard time clearing the puck from in front of Coco and once again time in the penalty box came back to haunt them on the scoreboard.

“I got the message to the guys, it doesn’t matter who’s coming in if we don’t put the same effort and intensity on the ice, we’re gonna lose and the message wasn’t only to play tough but to play clean and we let our emotions get to us in the first and took some penalties,” said Adams. “With a team like Marist who has five very strong players that are all on the power play they’re gonna score and unfortunately they didn’t listen to that message and they paid for it [Friday].”

The Blue Devils managed to get a little revive with 9:15 to play in the third with their fourth and final goal of the night, but it wasn’t enough.

“I think we’re getting a lot of offensive production from guys we weren’t last year. Guys are stepping up and that’s good to see because it’s good seeing other people producing and getting points. I’m not really worried about offensive production. We just got to stay out of the box and work on some d-zone coverage,” said Johnson.

Following the loss to Marist, CCSU traveled to Endicott for their first road game of the season. While they outplayed their opponents they couldn’t connect their shots and lost the second game of the weekend, 4-3.

The Blue Devils go on backto-back road trips for the next two weekends before coming back to Newington on Nov. 10 for a rematch game against Endicott College.

eRik duRR | THe RecoRdeR

Matt Reckdenwald attempts to keep the puck away from his opponent at last week’s game.

CCSU secured the win at last week’s game against Boston College’s club team.

eRik duRR | THe RecoRdeR

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12

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, October 24, 2012 / SPORTS

Volleyball Continues Victory Throughout Weekend DEREK TURNER & RACHAEL BENTLEY The Recorder

From the very first serve, Central Connecticut was in control of the match versus Saint Francis (NY) Saturday afternoon.

Coming off an emotional 3-0 win over Sacred Heart on Thursday night, the Blue Devils were clearly the better team on the court, jumping out to a 13-5 first set lead, and never faltered, beating the Terriers in three sets in the Detrick Gymnasium.

Senior outside hitter Blaike King recorded her 1,000 career kill as a Blue Devil en route to a 25-13 first set victory.

The second set was more of the same. Central scored 11 of the first 13 points with kills coming from five different attackers. The closest St. Francis came to challenging CCSU in the second set was a 13-8 Central lead. It never got any closer and the Blue Devils took the second set by a score of 25-17.

The Blue Devils scored the first four points of the third set and at one point held a 20-7 lead. The match was decided just one hour and 11 minutes after it started by a score of 25-14.

“The team did a great job at maintaining our own energy in a match where we didn’t have a lot of sustained volleys. We didn’t have a whole lot of hits coming at us, but I thought we did a good job sustaining what we want to do on our offensive side,” said head coach Linda Sagnelli.

Senior Jamie Rademacher led the Blue Devils with nine kills on the day and a .412 hitting percentage. Emily Cochran and King each contributed with eight each. Freshman setter Makenna Lommori led the team with 36 assists and had three of the team’s 10 service aces in the match.

Blaike King (left), Rachel Dunlap (middle), and Makenna Lammori (right), in action at last week’s match.

“We served very aggressively,” said Sagnelli. “They just had trouble right off the first pass.”

Brittany Schumacher added to her conference lead with nine digs and after Saturday has 351 on the season.

“This team has been evolving week to week. We keep getting better and it’s great to be a part of,” said Sagnelli.

Sunday’s game against

Fairleigh Dickinson mirrored Saturday’s game in many aspects.

The Blue Devils’ swept their opponents, winning the first two sets 25-18 and 25-10.

The final set proved to be much more difficult for CCSU, with an extremely close 29-27 win.

“I’m really proud of the way that they’ve played and we’re trying to have a really competitive attitude,” said Sagnelli.

“This team has been responding really well to the training that we do. I think that really started to show on Thursday against Sacred Heart at home. I can’t remember the last time we beat three NEC teams in a row, without losing a single set. We are 3-0, 3-0, 3-0.”

Rademacher, again, proved to be a very valuable team player, recording 13 kills on 18 attacks

Rachael Bentley | THE RECORDER

and made only two errors. She hit .611 for the match.Lommori had 37 assists in the match and helped contribute for three of several aces, thanks to recent serving focused training by the coaches.

“We are trying to be aggressive all the time,” Sagnelli said. “I think we really had a good command of the match right from the beginning.”

Blue Devils Beat Sacred Heart On Sunday Team Hopes To Win Conference

Corey pollnow The Recorder

erin odonnell | THE RECORDER

The team meets together for a huddle at last week’s game.

On Sunday afternoon the Blue Devils added three points to their total in the Northeast Conference standings by soundly beating Sacred Heart 2-0.

CCSU has won back-to-back games and improved their NEC record to 5-1-1. Unfortunately they’ll be unable to compete in the NEC tournament, but they’re a serious contender to win the conference and prove their critics wrong with only three games remaining.

“We want to try and win the championship this year. Even though Friday we won 4-1, we weren’t happy with the result.

We thought we could have passed the ball better,” said Head Coach Shaun Green.

With their victory against Sacred Heart, CCSU trails Fairleigh Dickinson in the NEC standings by one point.

The Blue Devils outplayed Sacred Heart for nearly the entire game by controlling the play with their midfielders.

“We felt this was going to be a really tough local game. And that we’ve got to come out. We defended against the wind in the first half. We got the goal right before half time. The guys played really inspired today”, said Green.

Stephen Walmsley scored his second goal of the season and put the Blue Devils on the board in the 34th minute.

Sacred Heart’s goalkeeper, Tucker Hackett, stopped a shot from Reece Wilson and Thomas Obasi, but the rebound went to Walmsley who was there to finish the play and put CCSU up 1-0.

In the second half CCSU’s energy became somewhat lackluster, but that changed when Jesse Menzies played a dangerous ball from the right of the pitch into the penalty box.

Manny Nobre found the ball at his cleats and passed the ball to Wilson who placed the ball in the back of the net for his seventh goal of the season.

Ben Knight, who received NEC Rookie of the Week

last Monday, has been a great addition to the defense and shows promise. Knight has become a versatile player; not only has his defensive play been great, he’s becoming a threat offensively by using his speed to make runs down the left flank.

His passes are accurate and Knight’s service on free kicks has been on target and very dangerous. It’s only a matter of time before he starts connecting for goals with his teammates.

Jose Pablo Gamboa anchored the defense and helped Anthony Occhialini earn his fourth shutout of the season.

“The defense was solid. They didn’t let anything through. We got our goal to keep all [Sacred Heart’s] shots outside the 18.

[The defense] won every 50/50 ball and they did their job. Jose stood out there today with his communication, keeping everyone in line and in focus”, said Occhialini.

The Blue Devils’ next game is at LIU Brooklyn on Friday Oct. 26 at 6 p.m.