Volume 109 Issue 15

AWA R D-W INNING CENTR A LR ECOR DER .COM Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Central Connecticut State University

Volume 109 No. 15

Board Of Regents Discuss Tuition Increase

amanDa weBster the recorder

A tuition increase can be expected by both CCSU students and college students across the state, the amount of which however is still up in the air.

The Board of Regents for Higher Education mentioned that an increase as much as 12.4 percent could be possible for Connecticut colleges for next year.

During a meeting that took place on Thursday at CCSU, Zac Zeitlin of the Finance Committee spoke briefly about the upcoming tuition increases.

Connecticut state and community colleges were advised to cut spending by 5 percent, or 14.4 million for the entire system for the 2013 fiscal year, causing debate over how much more students should be asked to pay.

CCSU President Jack Miller did not seem to believe that tuition would increase that drastically.

"I would be surprised if an increase that high was approved," said Miller about the 12.4 estimate.

Michael Fraser, an undergraduate student from Western Connecticut State University that serves on the board said that as of now there is no certain percentage that the committee has agreed upon but said that an increase should be expected.

"As far as a number- no idea what the number is going to be," stated Fraser.

Fraser said that he and Alex Tettey Jr., a fellow undergraduate board member from Manchester Community College will speak on behalf of students and bring up issues that increased tuition might have on the student population.

With enrollment down for the second year in a row there has been some uneasiness over future higher costs creating a larger enrollment gap.

President Miller said that even with the increases over the past couple of years, CCSU is still the cheapest out of the four CSU schools.

"The students that want to go to school find a way. They find the extra couple hundred dollars somewhere

The Board of Regents met in Alumni Hall on Thursday. whether that's financial aid or somewhere else," said Miller.

According to Fraser, the Finance Committee made several different projections using different numbers in order to see where different options would put the CSU system in dealing with the recision.

"While they were looking at a 12.4 percent they also looked at a

5.5 percent," explained Fraser. "We'll probably see something that is more then it was last year."

When asked where he thought cuts would be seen, Fraser said that he beieved cuts will be seen at the level of faculty and staff.

"They're not going to be taking away anybodys jobs, they're not going to be laying anybody off but

JUstin mUszynsKi | tHe reCorDer

retirements, resignations, transfers those will just probably go on unfullfilled."

Ultimately the cuts will be made on campus by campus basis.

"All we can do is try to keep costs down so the increases can be as minimal as possible and keep working to try to raise financial aid," stated Miller.

Former CCSU Professor Chosen As Presidential Inaugural Poet aCaDia otlowsKi the recorder

A former CCSU professor has been selected as President Obama’s inaugural poet, joining the ranks of a select group of talented poets such as Robert Frost.

Richard Blanco is the youngest inaugural poet to be chosen thus far, who at 44 has gone to school for engineering, gone back to school for creative writing, and has taught at three different universities, CCSU being the latest.

He has also published three books, the most recent of which being Looking for the Gulf Motel, which was published in 2012.

Blanco is also the first openly gay and Latino poet to be chosen for this honor.

“His themes of searching for identity, for home, resonate powerfully across ethnic and cultural lines,” said Jill Weinburger, a retired colleague of Blanco who worked closely with him in the creative writing program. “His selection as inaugural poet strikes

Text

me as a testament to his body of work as a contemporary poet of substance and extraordinary skill, whose work speaks to and for us all.”

His colleagues in the English department of CCSU spoke highly of him, referencing his gentle nature and charming personality.

“When I think of Rich, the word that comes to mind is ‘sweet’ as in ‘what a sweet guy.’

He impressed me as a very kind, caring, thoughtful and modest person,” said Susan Gilmore, an English professor and former colleague of Blanco. “His work isn't about his ego. He's invested in exploring language, identity and reaching out to readers and students.”

Others reflected similar sentiments.

“He was a great colleague, friendly, positive, worked hard in the department and his students spoke very highly of him,” said Christine Doyle, a colleague of Blanco’s who worked in the office next door. “As I have said to several

people in the last week or so, this is one of those cases where, when you say, ‘It couldn't have happened to a nicer person,’ you really mean it. “ Many in the English department spoke about how Blanco’s selection as inaugural poet was a reflection on the quality of his work.

“I don't know how this process worked for President Obama, but I would say Richard Blanco was chosen for a number of reasons, first and foremost being that he is an excellent poet,” said Gilmore.

Obama has picked inaugural poets to speak at both of his inaugurations, making him the third president to have an inaugural poet at all.

Blanco was hired at CCSU in 1999 to replace the former poet in residence, Diane Garcia.

“She was wonderful and left a big position to fill,” said Gilmore, “I remember serving on the search committee and going through the applications and coming across Rich's materials. It was exciting,

PHoto | JUstin sUllivan/getty images; CHiP somoDevilla/getty images

Richard Blanco presenting the Inaugural Poem on Monday. he really stood out from the start.” good person. He cared very Students took a liking to much about his students, and was Blanco early on in his career at collegial and a pleasure to know.

He has a fine quiet sense of humor, CCSU, recalls Gilmore.

“When he came for his and of course he has a poet's interview at Central, we all found eye to see details of everything him instantly likeable and the around him," said Mary Anne demo class he guest taught with Nunn, another English professor our creative writing students was at CCSU. Blanco will be remembered at wonderful. We were very fortunate to have him on the faculty here,” CCSU for his personality and the quality of his poetry, the common said Gilmore.

This positive energy continued consensus is that Blanco is more than worthy of this honor. throughout his career at CCSU. “He was and is a world-class

Follow Us On Twitter: @TheRecorder

2 THE RECORDER

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

NEWS

President Miller Addresses Student Government Association Tuition Increase Rumors Are Explained, Questions Answered Kassondra granata The Recorder

“Probably the most important

thing

to

get across right now is that no body else knows what the tuition increase might be.” ~ President Miller

Kenny Barto | THE RECORDER

At a previous SGA meeting, Miller demonstrates the amount of an earlier tuition increase.

FINISH IN

FOUR

Class attendance is a major predictor of success! Attend EVERY class to boost your grade!

University President Jack Miller attended the first Student Government Association meeting on Wednesday to address the Senate on the tuition increase rumored to reach double digits across the state.

“Probably the most important thing to get across right now is that no body else knows what the tuition increase might be,” Miller told the senate.

According to an article in the Hartford Courant, Lewis J. Robinson, Jr., chairman of the state's Board of Regents for Higher Education, said that a budget cut of $14.4 million and a budget gap of more than $1 million are two of the reasons that this increase is deemed “necessary.”

Miller said that he wanted to bring the senate up to date on how a tuition increase and the its process gets decided, as well as some of the pieces that goes into the decision.

According to Miller, those who have read that tuition might increase to 12.4 percent should not depend on those numbers.

“What we have right now is a five percent recision in the amount of money that the state allocates us,” Miller said. “I believe, as well as others, that the five percent recision will become a permanent reduction. Miller said that the state will have five percent less money.

At the end of the fall, Miller said that each institution

present to the president of the Board of Regents and give their recommendation.

CCSU's recommendation was about a 4.5 percent increase. Miller said that the University had the lowest amount presented of the state schools.

“I think we could mostly maintain the quality with 4.5 percent,” Miller said. “That's the only thing we have put on the table so far.” Miller said that the University will send a final recommendation with six percent on tuition and four percent on the “other things.” Miller also said that the other school's increases will be higher than CCSU's.

According to Miller, CCSU is the least expensive of any of the schools in the state.

“I'd like it to stay that way,” Miller said.

Senator Bobby Berriault presented two different resolutions to the senate, one regarding the tuition increase.

Under the resolution, Berriault stated that the Student Government Association represents the entire undergraduate population. During his President's Report, President Eric Bergenn told the senate that Mike Frasier, the Board of Regents representative from WCSU, is willing to work with the senate on a state level with the tuition increase.

Berriault's resolution passed with Bergenn making any necessary grammatical changes before sending it to the Board of Regents when they met on Jan. 17.

The second resolution that Berriault motioned was to recognize the accomplishments that have been made by the IRC Food Committee.

“This is self-explanatory,” Berriault said. “Food committee has been able to do a lot and we should recognize the amount of good work they've done. It's our job to recognize the good work of the students.”

Senator Kory Mills, however, said he was against Berriault's resolution and deemed it “not neccesary.”

“We just passed a resolution for the Board of Regents, that's a big deal, this is just congratulating them for doing what they are supposed to be doing,” Mills said.

Sen. Chris Marcelli agreed with Sen. Mills that passing a resolution in this context was not needed.

“I don't want to get into the habit of doing things like this because then it's just a waste of time,” Marcelli said. “If we start this we'll have to do it for everyone.”

Berriault's resolution ended up failing with four yes-votes, 18 novotes, and two abstentions.

"Looking to rent a house?

FINISH

Park in your own driveway, walk to school & save money vs apartments/ dorms.

The only choice for off campus housing Info@ccsuhousing.com or call/text 860-916-2255"

3

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, January 23, 2013 / NEWS

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 Kassondra Granata kgranata@centralrecorder.com Managing Editor Justin Muszynski jmuszynski@centralrecorder.com

Layout Editor Sean Ferris Copy Editor Maxine Eichen Photo Editor Erin O'Donnell eodonnell@centralrecorder. com News Editors Amanda Webster Irene Yukash news@centralrecorder.com Upgrade Danny Contreras Acadia Otlowski, Assistant upgrade@centralrecorder.com

Sports Editor Matt Aveni sportsed@centralrecorder.com Staff Members Paige Brown Brittany Burke Erik Durr Tommy Liljedahl Skyler Magnoli Alyssa Pattison Corey Pollnow Morgan Skovich Jacqueline Stoughton Joe Suszczynski Derek Turner

About The Recorder is a student-produced 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 Editorin-Chief. T he pur pose of T he Recorder is to approach and def ine issues of impor tance to the students of Central Connecticut State Universit y.

Staf f meetings for T he Recorder are held on Mondays at 7:30 p.m. in the Blue and W hite Room in the student center and on T hursday at 4:30 p.m. in the Recorder off ice.

Advertising I f interested in placing ads, please contact T he Recorder’s Ad Manager at adver tising@centralrecorder.com. For more information including our rate card, please v isit w w w.centralrecorder.com.

'Social Sciences Hall' To Be Finished By June Kassondra Granata The Recorder

After ten years in the making, CCSU Project Manager James Grupp said that the construction of the new academic building, “Social Sciences Hall” is coming to a close.

By mid March, Gilbane, the company that has been working on the building since fall 2011 will turn over the rest of the project to CCSU. According to Grupp, the group is a “little bit” behind schedule- 21 days behind.

Grupp said that this is because there were a few construction and design issues that needed to be addressed. Inspectors have found a few “typical project related issues” that needed to be fixed by the contractor.

Grupp said that it was nothing “earthshattering” and quite common.

“There are a few things that we have not crossed off yet to actually enable CCSU to enter the building,” Grupp said over the ruckus of workers drilling and performing other necessary tasks.

In order to make up for the gap, workers have been starting an hour earlier than their assigned schedule. They are also working on Saturdays.

“This project is ten years in the making, so to be from initial master plan conception to actually moving in the building, we are okay,” Grupp said walking through one of the three main entrances. “We have enough time by now to the beginning of the next school year to get this done.”

The building will have two entrances on the first floor, one facing Welte Garage and the other on the lower level of Marcus White. The first floor will be all classrooms with some seating up to 40 students.

Social Services Hall is one of the few buildings in the state that falls under the new LEED Certified Building qualifications that the state has implemented. According to centerpointct.com, the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating system, “advances the adoption of sustainable green building

and development.” Grupp says that there are three levels following a point system: Silver, Gold, and Platinum. CCSU's new building is a Silver Building.

“We really looked at seating and comfort for the students,” Grupp said. If one were to look at the building, they would see full glass windows extending on each of the four floors. Those windows will accommodate student lounges with love seats, couches and a flat screen TV. The first floor will also have a vending machine with counters for students to sit at with charging stations.

“At a lot of buildings on campus, we don't have that luxury to students. We wanted to give students some place to hang,” Grupp said with a smile.

On the first floor “student lounge” there will also be a patio stretching outside, giving students the opportunity to relax outside in-between classes. It can also be a “hot spot” for clubs to have meetings or gatherings.

Following the LEEDs Silver Point System, the first floor will also have a recycling homebase, where all recycling contents from the cubbies on all four floors can integrate there to leave the building.

CCSU also got points for installing singleshower usage for students and faculty.

All of the carpets to be installed are low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound).

Having these type of carpets, according to Grupp, won't have any of the toxic gases that can make you sick.

The second floor will house the History Department and classrooms. Grupp said that there are three types of classrooms in the building. Conference can hold 14-15 students, Seminar 25 people, and Classroom 40 plus students. On the second floor, there is a 54-seat classroom. There is also a glass balcony overlooking the main floor. Grupp said that they plan to put artwork hanging from the ceiling.

“Most of these rooms I assume will be used for those departments,” said Grupp.

“Everything else though is for general purpose.”

Photo | CCSU.edu

A photo of the finished product of the new academic building can be found on the CCSU page.

Each classroom throughout the building will have a storage room and projector screens. There will also be working stations for the professor and a wall sized tack board for flyers and other papers. Each room also has natural brightness, which is a “Light Harvesting” point on the LEEDs system.

According to Grupp, the building is shaped like the letter “T.” The length of the T are classrooms, and the top of the T are offices. On the third floor, the sociology department and political science department will share an office wing, but they will be separate. This goes the same for the geography and anthropology departments on the fourth floor. Each floor will have their own private conference rooms as well as a shared conference room between faculty and students.

“There is 150 square feet per office,” Grupp said. “Every full time faculty member will get a window of some sort, and there will be exterior lights from the main stream of offices so adjuncts will feel

centralrecorder.com

like they are outside too.” Grupp pointed out that having this factor gave the building more light harvesting points.

Every floor will have motion-detected bathrooms as well as it's own security room, electrical room and IT room. There will be computer labs throughout the building, one general purpose lab on the first floor, a history computer lab on the third floor and two GIS labs for geography on the fourth floor. Each lab will has its data and power built into the floor to avoid wires. The first floor will have two Smartboards and one Smartboard Tablet. The history teaching lab will also have a smartboard tablet.

Grupp said that the new building will be keyless and all will need their Blue Chip to obtain necessary access inside. All new furniture, office furniture, 17 televisions and other items will be ordered by the end of the month. The University is already in the process of discussing the moving of faculty to the building by June. Grupp said that Social Services Hall will be open for fall 2013 classes.

4 THE RECORDER

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

OPINION

TUITION INCREASE MUST REMAIN MINIMAL Amidst the state’s budget woes, the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education is in talks of raising tuition for state colleges yet again. This doesn’t come as a surprise however, given the $14.4 million rescission that occurred late last year affecting the state’s education system.

What does come as a surprise are some of the numbers that are being tossed around as to how much the increase might be. The CT Mirror recently reported that the regents are considering an increase upwards to 12.4 percent. While there’s nothing official about this number and there isn’t yet a proposal that has been generated, it still worries some that college tuition could possibly go up by that much.

This concern is understandable. With declined enrollment being reported at all

four CSU schools it’s reasonable to think this increase would only negatively affect that. State officials have said that for the foreseeable future an increase is more than likely unavoidable. This comes as disappointing news, but again it can’t shock anyone given the state of the economy in Connecticut and the entire Nation for that matter.

Though it would be easy for The Recorder to name of all the reasons why its editorial staff believes that there shouldn’t be any increase at all, we aren’t going to do that. The natural reaction by a staff of student workers might be to oppose anything that’s going to directly cost them more money. But that would be the selfish approach.

In times of economic despair we all have to contribute to get things back to where they were before or even better. We can’t expect

Editor’s Column:

Spring Semester: Looking Forward KAssondra Granata The Recorder

At this time last year, I held the position as a News Editor for The Recorder. One of my few priorities were making sure that the Student Government Association got covered as well as chasing down administration and any breaking news story around campus with a pad and pen and recorder in my hands. As a News Editor, I only focused on one section. I had a co News Editor, and we worked together as a team to make sure that our section shined.

We yearned to make page one the most interesting, newsy page throughout the paper.

One year later, I now hold the title of Editor-in-Chief of The Recorder. The differences between the two work loads and responsibilities can make one's head spin, and successfully balancing six classes and a social life on top of it has been an incredible feat. It is baffling to me reflecting on how much I have learned in the past year about journalism and leading a group in putting out a publication each week. It is hard work. When I signed up for this job, I knew there were late nights to be invested as well as times where I felt I was stretched out too thin. I would find myself walking back to my dorm at 5 a.m. after finishing that week's paper wondering what the heck I got myself into. When Wednesday would come and I would sift through the finished copy, I'd then realize why it is all worth it.

Last semester, we introduced many new promoted staff members to the world of journalism. Although attentive to their positions at first, the development of confidence and leadership skills from the first week to the last was very impressive. We only continue to grow. Despite difference instances of a website crashing or writers missing deadline, or the printer running out of ink,

we managed to put together a satisfactory paper each week. We made mistakes, and we discussed them, and learned from themnever repeating them again. Breaking news stories were covered once they occurred, opinions were shared and discussed on major topics throughout the world, albums and movies were reviewed and sports games were covered. Our website was revamped into a professional-looking website, and the collaboration between the print and broadcast journalism classes began to bring more media to the site. I absolutely commend all of the staff on their amazing work thus far. The Upgrade section became one of the strongest sections throughout the semester, and constant news stories made page one an eye-grabber each week.

Looking ahead, the road only looks brighter for The Recorder. It is safe to say that although every member of The Recorder took on new positions, we did not give up on making sure that our campus had our publication in their hands each week. The amount of work that we put into this weekly production is astounding, and all students should have this dedication in their chosen career path. This spring, The Recorder will use social media and other outlets to their benefit, live tweeting SGA meetings, events, breaking news stories, basketball games, and anything that deserves reporting. The Recorder will reach new heights in design and our website will have broadcast packages, sound slides, blogs, and create more traffic than ever before. We plan to make deadlines and network while a few of the staff members travel to San Francisco at the end of February.

The opportunities are endless. In terms of any form of mistakes that were made we have learned from them and grown as student journalists. We are not looking back, only looking forward.

www.centralrecorder.com

that the cost of living won’t affect us simply because we’re trying to get an education. And for students in college part of the cost of living is college tuition. It would be extremely selfcentered to think that as college students we are exempt from the everyday struggles that Americans have to deal with.

On the other hand, 12.4 percent is absolutely absurd. If the state expects its students to be able to acquire a decent education after high school then it better reconsider an increase of such astronomical numbers. Most students that attend state schools do it because of the relative low costs that are associated with them.

It’s perfectly sensible that people are up in arms the way they over this possible tuition hike. If the board puts feelers out there and people don’t react the way they have thus far, then there’s no way for them to know that the

public is outraged.

Rescission or not, the board must find a way to approve a smaller increase than a double-digit one. With all of the cuts that the educational system has endured over the past few years, you can’t expect students to pay more and more for fewer services. What happens when more people start leaving Connecticut because the state’s college system no longer offers competitive prices with those of other states? Or what about the people that can no longer afford to attend college because their state has failed to offer them an affordable education?

If history has taught us one thing it’s that a lack of education is more often than not the root of all evils. Connecticut has to look out for its future students and a 12.4 percent tuition increase is the last way to do that.

Letter to the Editor: It is a great semester to be a student here at Central. The student leadership is geared up in unprecedented collaborative efforts to bring great programs to campus and effectively work for the benefit of the student body.

As the semester begins to steamroll toward the summer, don’t get too bogged down with homework and catch some great programs. In two weeks, C.A.N. hosts their annual SnoBall where they announce the Spring Concert and tickets are already on sale. I.R.C. is ready to host their first-ever Spring Fest in April as well as another fancy dinner in Memorial for Valentine’s Day. S.U.B.O.G. will be hosting the Cambridge Debate in early April and the all these organizations will team up with the S.G.A. to throw a great Blue Devil Social.

Not to mention the best part: I.R.C. and C.A.N. are teaming up for one of the greatest weeks of the year. Mark your calendars busy April 21st through the 27th when there is a barrage of events including outdoor movies, Mr. CCSU, the Spring Concert, Super Saturday and more. It’s a week unlike any other week you’ve ever seen at Central.

Take a moment to read the calendar every day @Today on the University webpage. You’ll be amazed to see just how many great things there are to do each and every day for each and every person.

Beyond programs, your student leaders are ready to listen. Share your insights and you might just see some big

changes. Consider the new logos on all the backboards, Memorial’s extended hours, charging stations in the Student Center, renovations in Vance Hall, extended hours in the computer lab and rec centers, ALL student voices that were shared with administration and put into action.

The next great idea you have don’t just tell your roommate, or your mother, share it at Hall Council, I.R.C., S.G.A., Student Center Survey Boxes or find a student leader and tell them. We represent you and want to know what you think.

Share the message: Memorial Hall is open later on Friday nights until 7:30 to accommodate growing numbers of students on the weekends. If you haven’t heard of Weekend Central, start to believe that weekends are growing in popularity here.

Remember that the commitment begins with you! Stick around with your roommate or friend this weekend and find out what’s happening. It could be a show, game, lecture, comedian or even just a perfect excuse to hang out and meet new people.

In closing I’d like to commend all those who stay on weekends, attend programs and most importantly to all our colleagues who plan events. Together, we make Central a better place. Together, we make Central our campus. See you around!

Ian Mangione President Inter Residence Council

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

Lance

5

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, January 23, 2013 / OPINION

Armstrong Still A Hero?

Photo | George Burns/Reuters

In Armstrong's interview with Oprah, he confessed to doping.

Justin Muszynski The Recorder

Occasionally in sports, as in life, there are stories that absolutely amaze us. These events transpire with storylines that even the best Hollywood writers couldn’t match.

Take the miracle that happened in the 1980 Olympics for example.

The heavy favorite Soviet hockey team was defeated by the amateur Americans en route to a stunning gold medal. Almost no one gave the Americans a chance, yet here we are 33 years later and it’s still one of the most notable events to ever occur in the sports world.

For my generation however, one of the most spectacular sports stories comes in the form of a shamed cyclist. For all of my adult life I was led to believe that Lance Armstrong was the greatest cyclist

on earth. His success on the bike was even more incredible given his bout with testicular cancer.

After being pronounced “cancer-free” in 1997, Armstrong went on a tear winning the Tour de France a record 7 consecutive times from 1999 to 2005. He became an icon larger than life.

He inspired millions with his “livestrong” way of life and cancer foundation. Sadly though, these events have recently been tainted by an investigation that revealed Armstrong was guilty of using banned substances to aid him in his victories.

He had been under a microscope for years while being flooded with accusations, but nothing was ever proven. For years he denied all allegations that he had ever used a performanceenhancing drug. But Thursday

night in an interview with Oprah he finally admitted to what people had said he did for years.

The news of his guilt came as a shock to those outside of the sport whom have been exposed to the doping nature of professional cycling. And while Armstrong has been stripped of his titles and many are refuting that he should be recognized for any of his victories you have to wonder: Was he really doing something that almost every other cyclist wasn’t?

From the investigations that revealed Armstrong’s guilt, it sounds like he was part of the majority. It certainly seems as though the entire sport is dirty as well as most of those involved. If the doping situation is, and was, as bad as these reports are saying, did Armstrong really gain an advantage on his opponents?

You could argue either way, but this situation is a far cry from the baseball scandal several years back that revealed many all-star sluggers were taking steroids to boost their game. In a sport like baseball people are always comparing the present-day players to those of the past. In this case, it’s impossible to not let the idea of modern day players taking banned substances slant your view. But Armstrong’s circumstances are very different.

It’s still pretty safe to say that he was a remarkable athlete and cyclist, probably the best of his era.

And it isn’t really fair that of all of those who doped, he’s the only one receiving scrutiny. Then again, of all those who raced he was the only one who ever got the attention so I guess it’s a double-edged sword.

But let’s not forget the real contributions that he made to

cancer research with the Lance Armstrong Foundation. This foundation raised millions of dollars that will continue to help with society’s battle to find a cure to cancer.

His story inspired countless amounts of people who took his experience and applied it to their own lives. It gave them something to dream about and probably gave some the motivation they needed to beat something like cancer.

Armstrong lied about his transgressions and he undoubtedly doped, but did he really cheat?

As he pointed out in his interview with Oprah, the definition of cheating stipulates that one has to gain an advantage on their opponent. Did Armstrong really gain an advantage or was the sport so saturated with dopers that he just followed suit?

Freerice.com: A Clever Mission

Photo | freerice.com

Freerice.com has many different subjects to be quizzed on to help contribute to world hunger.

Kassondra granata The Recorder

We all have seen them.

Different signs, commercials, and other forms of advertising flash before our eyes on a daily basis.

We discuss it in classrooms, lunch breaks, or daily conversations.

World hunger and topics relating to it are very common. There any many different statistics that pop out at as that make us cringe in discomfort.

According to worldhunger. org, in 2010 there were over 925 million people that were suffering from starvation. Out of the estimated seven billion people in the world, 13.1 percent or 1 out of 7 people are hungry. When one turns on the television or the radio, there are different spokespeople flashing horrific images of

malnutritioned children and families. According to a finding

by Hunger Notes, malnutrition affects 32.5 percent of children in developing countries. more than 70 percent of malnourished children live in Asia, 26 percent in Africa and 4 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Poverty is one of the main causes of hunger. As of 2008, the World Bank has estimated that there were 1,345 million poor people in developing countries who live on $1.25 a day or less.

Seeing and hearing these statistics are not easy, especially when Americans live such a worry-free lifestyle when it comes to feeding ourselves. It is difficult not to see and hear about this issue without getting emotional, and wanting to help as much as you possibly can. I recently discovered this

amazing website that gives one the opportunity to contribute the fight to end world hunger with just a click of your mouse and a little bit of intellectual ability.

FreeRice.com is a non-profit website that is owned by and supports the United Nations World Food Program. According to its website, it has two goals.

One is to provide education to everyone for free, and the second is to end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free. The website is sponsored by advertising companies. It is absolutely brilliant.

On this website, the user has the ability to choose from a variety of different subjects. Humanities, English, Math, Sciences and even SAT Test Preparation are a few.

When you click on a subject and a sub topic, you are instantly quizzed

Photo | Freerice.com

When you get an answer right, 10 grains of rice are donated. on that subject and go through the levels. For every answer you get correct, the website donates 10 grains of rice to help end world hunger. You are able to create a free account and keep track of the grains of rice you donated.

It is a really neat concept. It is a free online learning tool and while you are learning, you are saving lives by donating grains of rice. The website first went live on October 7, 2007 with 830 grains of rice donated on its first day. By 2010, its popularity increased and the UN World Food Program launched a new version, “Freerice 2.0” with social networking, groups, rankings and achievements. In 2011, Freerice launched different language versions including Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese, and Korean enabling people all over

the world to participate. In the first ten months of operation, Freerice donated over 42 billion grains of rice. The United Nation's World Food Program stated that this amount could feed 50,000 people for one day, since it takes 400 grams or about 19,200 grains of rice, to feed one adult for a day.

This is absolutely phenomenal.

It is shocking that this website was not discovered on my part up until a week ago. Since then, I have been on it constantly, taking on new subjects and feeling more accomplished than ever before.

What makes it an impressive website is that it is sponsored by advertisers and their revenue goes towards these donations. No matter what, we are contributing to this cause and saving lives.

Make an account and make a difference.

6 THE RECORDER

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

UPGRADE

The Gun Violence Debate

Are Video-games To Blame?

Danny Contreras The Recorder

When the news of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shootings broke, many of us were preparing our holiday break plans. It happened during final’s week, a time when stress is at an all-time high. The CCSU reaction was of unanimous disgust at the notion that a human murdered 27 people-among them 20 children.

The sad truth is that while rare, events like this are becoming common place. In the United States alone, the past year witnessed three mass shootings, leaving a total of 45 people dead and many more wounded. For Connecticut, this was the second mass shooting in two years from 2010 when Omar Thornton killed eight people at a Manchester Beer Distributor.

As it has been the case in previous mass shootings, many blamed popculture as the cause. National Rifle Association CEO and Executive VicePresident, Wayne LaPierre pointed out in an NRA Press Conference following the shootings that: “There exists in this country, sadly, a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and stows violence against its own people.

Through vicious, violent video games with names like ‘Bullet Storm,’ ‘Grand Theft Auto’, ‘Mortal Combat’ and ‘Splatterhouse’.”

LaPierre pointed out movies like "American Psycho" and music videos as propaganda tools for violence.

Additionally, LaPierre explained that an American child will be witness to 16,000 murders and 200,000 acts of violence by the time they’re 18.

He proceeded to place the blame on the media and those involved in it: “corporate owners, and their stockholders act as silent enablers, if not complicit co-conspirators. Rather than face their own moral failings, the media demonize gun owners.”

Over the past three decades popculture has been blamed for many acts of violence. If one remembers the Columbine Shootings in 1999, many members of the media blamed rock musician, Marilyn Manson, for his violent imagery and lyrics.

In 1994, Senator Joe Lieberman led hearings on violence in software entertainment (video-games) and their effects on society. This hearing, along with others by a Wisconsin senator, led to the creation of the ESRB, a rating system for videogames. Even earlier, in 1985 the Parents Music Resource Center led a crusade against music when they forced Congress into hearings about possible detrimental material in the music of bands such as Twisted Sister.

The outcome is a warning label on physical copies about explicit lyrics and content.

Are video-games really to blame for these mass shootings? Or are they being used as a scapegoat?

Before placing the blame on any material we must first look into the shootings and the shooters themselves. William Glaberson wrote

in the New York Times that school shootings in America are extremely rare, citing a University at Buffalo study by Amanda B. Nickerson, director of a center that studies such events.

In the same article, Nickerson explains that these events triggers “fundamental fears” that sends the public into an unfounded panic: “everybody says it's an epidemic, and that's just not true."

Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University also explained that these acts are random in nature and extremely unpredictable; citing these events as “not possible to entirely prevent.”

However, there are key characteristics that have come to the public eye following school shootings.

In “Crisis Response” an article written for the education themed District Journal, Scott Poland mentions the findings by Peter Langman, a “renowned expert on school shootings,” about the state of mind of school shooters.

Langman lists 3 common state of minds for school shooters: The shooters are not existing in reality.

Psychopathic school shooters lack conscience.

Traumatized school shooters have experienced significant traumatic events.

It is important to understand the mental health implications of this debate. It would be irresponsible to think that every sufferer of a mental health disease will be a killer. The National Institute of Mental Health reported in 2008 that about 5 percent

of American Citizens suffer from a mental health disease and that 8 percent of those are between the ages of 18 and 25.

The mental health aspect of the debate is almost always avoided, however. Americans do not feel comfortable creating a national database of sufferers of mental health diseases for obvious reasons, among them the belief that it would infringe on the privacy of citizens.

Nevertheless, as the University of Missouri- Kansas City points out in an article that explains the Constitution titled "Exploring Constitutional Conflicts," the right to privacy is not part of the Constitution or Bill of Rights, and were rather expressed by James Madison who was concerned about an individual's privacy.

Interestingly, however, the Supreme Court has interpreted in Meyer vs.

Nebraska that if there is not enough proof that an individual's right to privacy should be infringed upon then the law must not interfere in a person's life. As Justice McReynolds wrote following the trial: "Without doubt, it denotes not merely freedom from bodily restraint but also the right of the individual to contract, to engage in any of the common occupations of life, to acquire useful knowledge, to marry, establish a home and bring up children, to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and generally to enjoy those privileges long recognized at common law as essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men."

On another hand, Americans must now consider the effects of recent legislation, such as the Patriot Act, and

their consequences on precedents set by the Court. Regardless, due to the constant avoidance of this topic, the blame is not shared among many topics and it is instead shifted on to one specific topic, in this case videogames.

Video-games and Violence According to a study published in the “Journal of Youth and Adolescence” by Ashley Fraser and Laura Padilla-Walker et al. over 90 percent of American children and adolescents own a video-game console and over 60 percent of them play more than 30 minutes. They also noted that boys clock in one hour per day and girls just less than fifteen minutes. The study notes that gaming increases after age 18 and peaks in the 20s.

The study explained that if a person is only playing violent videogames then they become less emphatic towards others. In correlation, according to the Electronic Software Association, 80 percent of videogames released in 2010 were of violent nature. The study emphasizes that violent games does not lead to violent acts, “especially considering research that highlights the positive effects of video gaming on social interaction regardless of content.”

Fraser and Padilla-Walker express in the article that a person who is subjected to violent video-games becomes desensitized, but not to the extreme that they would commit an act of violence. They concluded that a combination of factors lead to mass shooting events and not a single one.

It is important to note here that LaPierre's comment are in-line with the Fraser study. He mentioned videogames, films and other art forms as the main culprit for the shootings.

The fallacy in his argument lies in the lack of acknowledgement that there are more aspects of society that can be attributed to mass shootings. Gun culture, violent art, violent rhetoric, traumatic events are some of the many factors that creates a killer.

Paying Attention If there is one thing that can be learned from the past shootings is that they occurred due to lack of attention on the individual. The shooters at the most tragic events like Columbine, V-Tech and now Sandy Hook all presented warning signs. In a gutwrenching three part essay, David Frum explains that he was Adam Lanza when he was growing up: "What was wrong with me exactly is a complicated subject – I’ll leave that for the next installment of this story.

For now, I just want to explain what goes through the head of a potentially dangerous teenager. [...] We don't take our rage out on you because we hate you, or because you're bad parents, or even because we're evil. We take it out on you because we know you're a captive audience. Often, you're the only audience we have."

In the essay, Frum explains his bad childhood experiences, how others around him reacted, and the lack of attention he received from anyone but his mother. While it does not serve to justify the horrific events, it serves as a reminder of the society in which we live in. A hierarchical world in which attention does not trickle down; those who receive it most, won't share it, and those who need it become desperate for it.

Ending it We cannot sit down and come up with solutions on how to rid the world of violence. The human mind is far too complex for such campaigns. However, we must realize that there are violent people in the world, and some use it as means of communication. Unfortunately we live in a society that chooses spiritual guidance over rationality when we should be sitting down and come up with real world solutions to real problems we feel the need to tell everyone to pray.

It's a tactic that hasn't worked and we need to start using our words as tools to prevent such events as Sandy Hook.

7

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, January 23, 2013 / UPGRADE

App Review: Charity Miles Alyssa Pattison The Recorder

If your New Year’s resolution involves adding exercise to your daily routine, consider partnering up with an app to increase your motivation and reap an added benefit. For every mile you walk, run or bike outdoors, Charity Miles will donate money to a charity of your choice, allowing anyone to become a sponsored athlete for the greater good.

“We believe that a small group of committed people can

change the world. So we made an app for that,” is the idea behind Charity Miles. Gene Gurkoff, David Nottoli and Joe Marinucci developed the app in hopes of "revolutionizing corporate support for activity based charitable donations,” by mirroring the nation’s largest charitable races on a smaller, more personal scale, allowing anyone to make a positive impact and feel great after their workout.

Enabled by GPS, Charity Miles tracks the user’s time, mileage and donation impact

while on the move. Before heading out, users can choose from a list of nine charities the app has partnered with, such as Feeding America, Autism Speaks, Habitat for Humanity, ASPCA, the Wounded Warrior Project and more. Bikers earn 10 cents per mile, while walkers and runners earn 25 cents per mile.

The self-funded company has set aside a $1 million ‘purse’ for users to raise and donate through the app. Users must connect to the app through social platforms such as Twitter

or Facebook to promote their activity in order for their chosen charity to receive the earned donation post work out.

The creators of Charity Miles hope users will desire to spread the word about their progress, however it is possible to tailor the app to be seen by only the user for those who are on the fence due to this feature.

Charity Miles can be downloaded to your smartphone for free using the App Store or Google Play. Once downloaded, all you need to do is lace up and get out there!

Bookmark It! Morgan Skovich The Recorder

‘Breakfast at Tiffany's’ by Truman Capote

The best way to summarize Truman Capote’s 1958 Breakfast at Tiffany’s would be to refer to it as The Great Gatsby’s partner text – full of wealthy and careless individuals.

People throughout the world have viewed Blake Edwards’s 1961 film based on the novel countless times, but do they realize or even wonder how the man who wrote In Cold Blood became the inspiration of an Audrey Hepburn movie?

In short, the answer is the film is nothing like the book. There are definitely plot points in common and of course the infamous character Holly Golightly. Even 50 years after Capote wrote the novel, Golightly is still a bit shocking, yet relatable in ways such as her feelings on buying furniture and giving cat a name, other than Cat. Unlike the movie, the book is not a romance. Avoiding any spoilers to the novel, we’ll leave it at. Truman saw Holly as a Marilyn Monroe rather than an Audrey Hepburn, and also the the narrator (known only as ‘Fred’ in the book) is gay.

The novel begins with the narrator and an old acquaintance, Joe the barkeeper, getting their first news in years of a Holly Golightly. It is Fred’s former neighbor Mr. K. who has picked up rumors of Holly traveling in Africa. The scene is literally brilliant; it’s set with three men consuming themselves with this woman whom the reader hasn’t even met yet.

“Truman Capote I do not know well, but I like him. He is a tart as a grand aunt, but in his way is a ballsy little guy, and he is the most perfect writer of my generation, he writes the best sentences word for word, rhythm upon rhythm. I would not have changed two words in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which will become a small classic,” said Norman Mailer (an American novelist / journalist) when asked about the book in an interview.

Later in life, Capote noted that his character Holly Golightly was his favorite. In an earlier version of the book he gave her the inappropriate name of Connie Gustafson, but later gave her a more fitting and symbolic name – Holly Golightly: for she’s a woman who makes a holiday of life, but treads through it lightly.

Photo | Apple App Store

8

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, January 23, 2013 / UPGRADE

MOVIE REVIEWS

Gangster Squad: No Comparison To Famous Gangster Films Joe Suszczynski The Recorder

Photo | universal Pictures

Anne Hathaway, above, sings 'I Dreamed A Dream' in Les Miserables.

Les Miserables Shines Kassondra Granata The Recorder

clips were leaked on Youtube and other websites, critics all around were extremely distressed with the sound of Crowe's singing voice-not as great as the others-in the film. After viewing a few clips prior to seeing the movie, it was difficult not to be nervous. With a cast with musical reputations, it was feared that one not-so-vocally talented actor could throw off the whole film.

Crowe, although not the best singer, did a fine job as Javert, and I actually enjoyed his character.

Anne Hathaway, playing Fantine, was absolutely flawless. After knowing her as the "Princess of Genovia" throughout my childhood, seeing her play such a powerful role, and nailing it, there was not one dry eye in the audience as she performed, "I Dreamed A Dream." She grew as an actress and will be forever remembered for this particular role.

Other supporting roles, such as Cosette, played by Amanda Seyfried, Marius portrayed by Eddie Redmayne, Eponine played by Samantha Barks, and even the Thenardiers played

by Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter molded the movie beautifully into an absolute winner. All characters complemented each other nicely, and worked together well.

The amount of talent in this one film is mind-boggling. Aaron Tveit, who played my favorite character, Enjolras, was phenomenal. Hooper did an amazing job casting and directing this film.

With the film being two hours and fifty minutes, about the same length as the play, there was not one moment where time was wasted or dragged on.

This all, of course, depends on if you can sit through almost three hours of singing. If you are a lover of musicals, talent, romance and classics, then Les Miserables is the film to see. The moment the film ends, you will return home to find yourself playing the soundtrack weeks afterward.

The moment rumors spread about Throughout cinema there have been many different gangster Les Miserables coming to the big screen movies. Some of the famous ones erupted on social media, theater are The Godfather, Goodfellas, and aficionados everywhere, including myself, exploded with excitement.

Scarface. Those movies stand out After seeing the production as well as timeless classics. as being in the cast years back, it was Recently the list of gangster thrilling to have the opportunity to see movies had one more added with it in a different context along with high Gangster Squad. Gangster Squad esteemed actors and actresses.

Winning three top awards at the takes place after WWII in Los Angeles when Brooklyn-born Golden Globes, it is safe to say that gangster Meyer “Mickey” Cohen all were merited. The film, directed ( Sean Penn) was working his way by Tom Hooper, won Best Motion Picture- Comedy or Musical, Hugh up the crime ladder.

Jackman won Best Performance By An This movie was not horrendous Actor in A Motion Picture, and Anne like some gangster flicks, but Hathaway won Best Supporting Role it was not fantastic either; this as "Fantine." The film was absolutely movie finds itself to be stuck in the breathtaking and excellent. middle.

Beginning with a novel by On the positive side some Victor Hugo, Les Miserables became of the performances were a trademark as one of the greatest exceptional. Penn’s performance novels of the nineteenth century. as Mickey Cohen was good. His The story follows several characters character seemed believable and who go through their troubles and interactions with each other during really captured what it’s like to be the French Revolution in Paris. a ruthless gangster.

When the cast list was released, Josh Brolin did an excellent critics as well as others expressed their job portraying his character as curiosity-some concern- about who the hard-nosed police sergeant will be portraying these famous roles.

John O’Mara who is gunning to Hugh Jackman, who was casted as Jan shut down Cohen’s growing crime Valjean, the protagonist, an ex convict empire in Los Angeles. Brolin on the run, was accepted in high throughout most of his film career regards. With Broadway under his has been casted as the tough guy belt, as well as being a successful actor, watching his performance was highly archetype, which is acceptable anticipated by viewers. Jackman was because he has the look and phenomenal throughout the play. believability of a person who has His singing voice is beautiful, and the ability to beat people up either this can be one of his best, most highwith or without a purpose. acclaimed roles yet.

Russell Crowe, who is famous The action scenes were decent.

The shoot-out scenes were for films such as The Gladiator and enjoyable and the movie did have Robin Hood, was casted as Javert, a terrific car chases, which kept me police inspector and Valjean's enemy throughout the play. When small interested in the film.

One thing that takes me away from this film is the over use of clichés. I acknowledge there are clichés in every film, but the movies I enjoy with said clichés either do not over use them or the movie makes aware that they are using clichés and makes them funny.

The writing seemed too predictable at times. There were a few times during the film where I expected certain things to happen in future scenes. Granted that can be with every movie, but if the occurrence of predictability repeats itself, it’s flawed writing on the screenwriter’s part.

Overall this film was just another average gangster flick. It doesn’t stack up to the timeless classics, but it does not belong in the dumpster either. If it’s any suggestion of mine, wait to rent this movie from Redbox. Even with the six dollar ticket, this film Photo | Warner Bros. pictures is still not worth it.

Stars such as Ryan Gosling, left, and Sean Penn, center star in 'Gangster Squad.'

Photo | Warner Bros. pictures

Gollum, above, challenges Bilbo in a game of wits.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Delivers To Audience Acadia Otlowski The Recorder

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has seemed to strike a division in those who are fans of the Lord of the Rings series. If one were to talk to fans, they either love the film or simply think it is “okay.” I was one of the fans who absolutely adored this movie.

While The Hobbit was long, it boasted superior cinematic details and I found the slow buildup to be quite satisfying.

I have read the entirety of the Lord of the Rings books, including The Hobbit and perhaps that is why I enjoyed the slow build to this movie.

The movie flowed much more like a book than most action movies today, focusing on imagery and rounding out of the characters. The buildup of Bilbo Baggins as a character showed the viewer what to expect of the character.

Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) was living a quiet, proper hobbit life.

He was also quite content with this life, that is, until Gandalf (Ian McKellen) arrived at his door, bringing with him 13 dwarves who were on a quest to regain their homeland, which was taken from them by a dragon.

The introduction to the movie was portrayed the dwarves in a comic light, which some fans may not appreciate. But instead of making the dwarves seem less desperate to regain their homeland, it just showed the type of characters that the dwarves are. They are rude and a little less than bright. This is made comical in the movie, which some reviewers have said detracts from the film. The humor that surrounds the dwarves is representative of the rounding out of the characters, which makes them in turn more believable.

Bilbo Baggins is horrified by the dwarves and the fact that they ransack his pantry and are ruining his proper hobbit life. He rejects the proposal for him to go with the company and they leave the next morning without him.

Bilbo then has a change of heart and chases down the company on foot.

As the group travels, they are captured by trolls, something that they

narrowly escape due to Bilbo’s sharp wit and help from Gandalf. They find elven blades in the cave and they each take one and go on their way. Bilbo’s short-sword has the unique ability to tell the user if goblins are near.

The group then meets Radagast the Brown, who warns them of a Necromancer (a dark sorcerer) who was corrupting the forest with dark magic. After this, the group is chased

by Orcs and Gandalf leads them to Rivendell as the Orcs are slayed by Elven riders led by Lord Elrond. The elves are against the dwarves’ quest, and so they leave without telling the elves and without the accompaniment of Gandalf.

They then get caught in the mountains in a fight between Rock Giants. They seek shelter in a cave, where they are ambushed by Goblins, who capture them and take them to the Great Goblin. Bilbo gets separated from the group and falls into a cave with a goblin. The goblin is then snatched away by Gollum, who drops a ring as he drags the goblin away.

Gollum eats the goblin then turns to Bilbo, who draws his sword, keeping Gollum from eating him. They engage in a battle of wits, which, if Bilbo loses he must let Gollum eat him. But if Bilbo wins, Gollum must show him the way out. Bilbo stumps Gollum with the riddle “What do I have in my pocket?” Despite Gollum’s best efforts, Bilbo escapes and rejoins the dwarves, saving them from the dwarf leader’s enemy, Azog, and with the help of Gandalf, they escape and are about to continue on their journey when the movie ends.

The movie ended at a good place on a good note with the dwarves accepting Bilbo finally as one of their own. The movie, against other's tastes is formatted rather like the book, moving much slower than most action movies. The whole of the plot is fully developed in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and I look forward to the next installment of the movies.

9

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, January 23, 2013 / UPGRADE

Dishin’ It

Mooya!

sKyler magnoli the recorder

sKyler magnoli | tHe reCorDer

New Britain and the surrounding areas are crowded with places to eat. No matter what craving is eating at you, there is always a restaurant that will hit the spot. In such a large area, it's sometimes hard for a new restaurant to open and get the attention it deserves. However, the new burger place, Mooyah in Newington, just opened a few months ago and is already pulling in people every day.

Once you enter the restaurant you are bombarded with the friendly workers who give customers a big Mooyah greeting.

Then you are hit with the sweet smell of fries and burgers on the grill; this is where the hard part comes in. Mooyah has so many choices that it will take five minutes just to decide what toppings you want, which is good because there is almost always a line to the door.

The best thing about Mooyah is the choices that it offers.

While Mooyah does do a good ole fashion cheeseburger, for those who are health conscious, turkey and veggie burgers are

readily available. There are even different options of wheat buns and lettuce wraps to cover your choice of patty. Although the choices don’t just end there, the large assortment of milkshake options from Oreo’s to Snickers to M&Ms and beyond, could leave anyone in agony. There is still the choice of fries and drink which you can get yourself from the vending machine that contains a hundred different types of soda.

Mooyah is a great place to get an affordable burger, fries, and shake. However I wouldn’t necessarily go straight to Mooyah for my greasy burger fix. While the style and taste of Mooyah is similar to that of Five Guys, it just can’t compare. Although Mooyah definitely gets major points for their amazing milkshakes and fries. Their sweet potato fries have to be some of the best; Mooyah has the perfect crispy and seasoning ratios on their fries. The milkshakes at Mooyah are unbelievably delicious and always hit the spot.

Mooyah is conveniently located in the Fenn Road Plaza and is even Blue Chip-friendly. The restaurant is great place to go with friends before a night out, because of its relaxed and modern vibe. The choices are endless and even the pickiest eater can find some type of burger combination they will enjoy.

Five Websites You Should Be Aware Of morgan sKoviCH the recorder

Pinterest.com Pinterest is a website that allows you to group and share all of the wonderful and admirable things that you find on the web. There are virtual pinboards and people from all around the world share online but then bring it back to reality with them.

They decorate their homes, discover efficient yet beautiful DYI gifts, and even to plan their weddings! Most importantly, pinboards aren’t set to private so you can view boards already created by others. As an end result you feel more inspired than ever and become an inspiration to others who share the same interests as you!

Spotify.com

Macrumors.com

Etsy.com

IMDB.com

Spotify offers you FREE and LEGAL access to probably the biggest library of music around.

Out with the old and in with the new, no more iTunes or anything of such nonsense. All you have to do is create an account and download their streaming music player.

Macrumors is a website that accumulates Apple and Mac related news. Everywhere you look now-a-days there’s at least three people around you with an iPhone or someone sitting near you at Starbucks on their MacBook Pro. Apple is taking over society, so what better way to view the news, rumors and reports from the company? Users can find support for many Apple-related issues, along with being able to talk to other Mac users about other industry and community related issues.

Etsy is essentially an online craft fair that focuses on unique vintage or handmade items along with craft and art supplies. The items up for grabs cover a huge range such as beauty products, food, clothing, photography, art, toys, iPhone cases, jewelry and anything else you could imagine.

You type it in the search bar -it’s there. All vintage items have to be at least 20-years-old. The website gives sellers personal storefronts where they list their items for just $0.20!

IMDB (Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information that is related to television programs, films, actors/ actresses, video games, production crew personnel – you name it.

Say you’re watching a movie and DRATS you can’t think of what else the main character is in, or you need to prove your friend wrong about what year a television show originally aired; it’s all there.

IMDB is the place to go for handson quick information, especially since they have an app as well, so that way you can use the database literally at the touch of your fingertips.

PHoto | Pinterest.Com

PHoto | Pinterest.Com

PHoto | Pinterest.Com

PHoto | imDB.Com

PHoto | Pinterest.Com

Is The Temporary Blocking Of The Pirate Bay A Sign Of Further Internet Regulation? aCaDia otlowsKi the recorder

Students attempting to download open source software on from "The Pirate Bay" might be stalled in their efforts due to recent reports where many Comcast users have been unable to access the site.

According to TorrentFreak, an online resource for information about peer-to-peer (P2P), Comcast has worked with engineers at The Pirate Bay and service has been restored for Comcast users.

But the almost 24-hour service outage could be a sign of an ongoing trend in which major service providers are attempting to shut down p2p services.

BitTorrent services such as The Pirate Bay allow users to download open source (free) programs quicker than they would in a conventional download. The reason most service providers are attempting to restrict access to these websites is because many downloads off such websites violate copyright restrictions set up by media production

companies like Warner Bros., Disney, and Paramount Pictures.

In recent years, there has been a crackdown on BitTorrent and other file sharing websites in an attempt to reduce the amount of pirated content on the internet.

Comcast denied any connection with the outage, although lack of access was most prominent in its customers.

“Please note that we do not block websites and we are NOT blocking The Pirate Bay,” said Jason Livingood, executive director of internet systems engineering at Comcast.

The crackdown on file sharing websites has expanded from media companies to service providers-and now even internet search providers.

Google has drawn attention by removing over 50 million relevant links at the request of copyright holders. Fred von Lohmann, Google’s senior copyright counsel, expressed in an interview that the majority of the requests are legitimate copyright violations that Google is required to take down by law.

Jan. 19 marks the one-year anniversary of

the seizure of the Hong long based company Megaupload by the United States Department of Justice. Legal proceedings are moving very slow and Kim Dotcom, the founder of the site, launched a failed attempt at a similar website that was quickly shut down.

Governments internationally have become less tolerant to piracy, forcing other file sharing websites to reconsider their policies after the very public demise of Megaupload.

What does this mean for students? It means that some of the content that students may have been acquiring from illegal means, like music and textbooks, will be harder to find.

There are many users that will be affected by this ongoing trend from service providers as all content is cut-off and not just those flagged as 'illegal'. Unfortunately, service providers have not provided an alternative method for peer-to-peer which is almost always faster than conventional download methods.

Loss of file sharing websites could also mean that those who use such websites to share their own content or use it as cloud

storage will lose that content. Those who kept content on a site like Megaupload will find that their content is inaccessible unless the founders of the site are found not guilty.

Comcast worked with a third party which aids in the connection of users to The Pirate Bay and restored the connection of users to the site. Although Comcast claims that this is not an attempt by them to restrict internet freedom, Comcast has joined a group of internet service providers that is working to restrict piracy by its users.

PCmag has reported that users of providers like Verizon and Comcast will get increasingly invasive notices if the user is suspected to be pirating content. If ignored this can in turn lead to the throttling back of the speed of the users internet connection and inevitably simply not allow to access any website other than the one delivering the warnings.

Such invasive procedures threatens to have long-term effects on the freedom of users on the internet, restricting the spread and sharing of information, something that the internet has been heralded for.

10

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, January 23, 2013 / SPORTS SPORTS BEGINS ON BACK PAGE

CCSU Shuts Out WCSU

erin o'Donnell | tHe reCorDer

Matt Siracusa beats Western defender to puck to set up the CCSU offense on Saturday night's game.

Brittany BUrKe the recorder

The goaltending core of the CCSU hockey club got its workout this weekend with three net-minders seeing ice time in games against the University of Massachusetts and Western Connecticut State University.

The Blue Devils have always had strong goaltending options, and with this season’s departure of Ross Mocko the team has been using the goalie combination of Greg Coco and John Palmieri.

However, at the start of the new semester, CCSU added a third goalie to their line-up, sophomore Zach Gosselin.

Gosselin got his first start against the WCSU Colonials and helped his team secure the victory with a shut out performance and 10-0 final.

“My job is to go out there and stop pucks whether he plays me or not, if he gives me a shot I’m gonna go out there and do it,” said Gosselin.

The win Saturday night was the team’s third against their in-state rivals and their first of the second semester.

“We haven’t won in it seemed like three or four months so we got a couple goals in and were really feeling it and feeling good and got the momentum,” said Jack Johnson. Johnson had two of the 10 goals scored against WCSU Saturday night.

In the previous night the Blue Devils played the UMass Minutemen in Newington resulting in a 7-3 loss for the home team.

UMass managed to get up early scoring five goals on Coco in 18 shots before the first intermission.

Before the start of the second Adams made the decision to pull Coco and put in Palmieri.

“It is always tough pulling a tender, you know Coco has been a back bone of this team for a long time its just one of those things when we’re trying to shake things up, light a fire, do something to get these guys refocused and that’s what we came up with and I think it worked to an extent,” said

Adams.

The decision to switch goalies proved to be beneficial with UMass going scoreless in the second. The rest of the game had the two teams each scoring a pair of goals, but the initial five points was the padding UMass needed.

Defensively, the team was short handed and despite the goalie switch and a power play goal scored by Frank Pisano early in the third (his second of the game) the team couldn’t rally enough to get the win.

“I think we definitely worked hard and battled through our injuries and certain lack of commitment on certain people’s parts, but I liked the flow of the defense and getting more playing

time back to back,” said Ryan Pereira. Pereira was one of just four defensemen dressed for the game playing side-by-side with teammate AJ Gemmell.

While the defense still struggled the following night the offense hit a stride against the Colonials. The Blue Devils consistently scored on WCSU’s young goalie class leading their rivals 5-0 going into the third.

“I’m happy that we got some offense going tonight, defensively I would have liked to have been better, supporting pucks and moving up the ice as a unit but its hard to stay focused when the game gets out of hand,” said Adams.

Two more goals were scored

less than three minutes into the third to give them the seven-point advantage. With a final score of 10, CCSU saw goal contributions from six different players.

Adding to Johnson’s two was, Mazurkiewicz (2), Pisano (2), Evan Mink (2), Brian Fay (1) and Rob Ribino (1).

With CCSU dominating on offense, the third period got increasingly chippy as the Colonials scrambled to get pucks in the net. Despite their efforts Gosselin continued to come up with the major saves to keep the Colonials off the scoreboard.

“It was a fun game to play,” said Gosselin. “It got a bit chippy toward the end. Obviously it’s tough to play some of those games

because the first two periods the flow is pretty good but then the third period you got 10, 15 minute stand stills. It’s tough to kind of stay focused in games like that.”

The team has a three-game weekend next week playing home Friday and Saturday against Bryant and NYU and then on the road Sunday against Montclair.

It will be up to Adams who takes the spot in net and it is clear after this weekend he has a lot to think about.

“From a goal tending stand point it’s a good issue to have, now it’s just picking who’s hot when they’re hot and guess who’s going to have a good game,” said Adams.

Have a great event idea for students? Want to see your program happen on a weekend?

Submit a Weekend Central grant proposal to request funding support!

Proposal Forms available on The Link: https://ccsu.collegiatelink.net/organization/studentactivitiesleadershipdevelopment/availablef orms For questions please contact Colleen Powers at 860-­‐832-­‐1999 or cpowers@ccsu.edu

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, January 23, 2013 / SPORTS

11

Super Bowl XLVII: Why Do We Care?

photo | fox sports

The 49er's and Ravens will face off in Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3rd in New Orleans.

Tommy Liljedahl The Recorder

John Harbaugh’s gritty, savvy Baltimore Ravens knocked off the New England Patriots 28-13, at Gillette Stadium, hours after Jim Harbaugh’s tenacious, upstart San Francisco 49ers rallied to defeat the Atlanta Falcons 2824, in the Georgia Dome. Both teams won on the road against a higher seeded opponent, both teams rallied in the second half despite trailing at the intermission, both teams are led by a Harbaugh brother at the helm, and both teams will represent the NFL in Super Bowl XLVII, February 3rd in New Orleans’ Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Flashback one year prior, when the New York Giants, having defeated the 49ers, and the New England Patriots, having defeated the Ravens, set up their second Super Bowl showdown in four years. Whether it be the rematch hype, media day, or Patriots’ tight end Rob Gronkowski’s propensity for partying, Connecticut was abuzz, captivated by Super Bowl XLVI. No surprise, as New Britain, Connecticut serves as a medium between Foxboro, home of the Pats, and East Rutherford, home of the G-Men, located approximately 100 miles from both. Naturally, this left our state torn, with shortages of neither fan base. New England fans yearned for Tom Brady to capture his elusive fourth Super Bowl,

first since 2004, while New York fans remained convinced that their smothering pass rush would be his kryptonite, similarly to 2008. Nothing wrong with some friendly competition, right?

The result was the most watched television event in U.S. history, and a 21-17 New York Giants victory.

Where are the Giants now? Loafing around, witnessing the games like the rest of us, after finishing the season 9-7 and missing the playoffs, despite a promising 6-2 start. The Patriots? Licking their wounds after another playoff letdown, a round earlier than last year’s.

The New York Jets? In shambles due to poor personnel decisions, the debacle that was Tim Tebow, and the steady regression of quarterback Mark Sanchez. The Philadelphia Eagles? At a crossroads, fresh off of firing Andy Reid, the winningest head coach in franchise history, and hiring Oregon’s Chip Kelly. One similarity between these teams, and the other 24 for that matter, is that like you, their eyes will be glued to the television come 6:30 PM, two Sundays from now, when the Ravens and 49ers kick it off for the Lombardi Trophy.

The matchup begs the question: Why do we care? With our most popular teams sent packing, what is a Connecticut sports fan’s inclination to tune into what has been dubbed “The Harbaugh Bowl”? Some will watch merely for the commercials, others to indulge in food, and

Blue Devils Defeats Wagner Derek Turner The Recorder

The Wagner Seahawks came out of halftime scoring six straight points to give the visitors a four point lead, but Kyle Vinales hit back-to-back threes firing up the Detrick Gymnasium crowd and the Blue Devils would not look back.

“I hit the second one and the crowd got into it a lot; it gave us energy,” said sophomore Kyle Vinales.

The game went back and forth for most of the first half as there were eight lead changes and until 5:25 left in the half, neither team had led by more than four points. Matt Hunter led the Blue Devils in the first half with 11 points and seven rebounds as the Odessa Junior College transfer continues to fill up the stat sheet night in and night out.

Hunter got the scoring started with a layup and then a three getting CCSU out to a 5-2 start.

Malcolm McMillan and Adonis Burbage would get in on the action early with a jump shot and a three respectively to give Central a 10-6 lead. Wagner would then come back to take an 11-10 lead on a layup by their leading scorer Kenneth Ortiz. The rest of the half was a game of runs. The Blue Devils went on a 7-2 run over the next five minutes to take a 17-13 lead, but Wagner answered right back with four straight points to tie the game at 17. CCSU would gain their largest lead of the first half with 3:37 remaining after an 11-2 run capped by an NBA range three pointer from Vinales as the shot clock

expired. Josh Thompson of Wagner would answer with a three ball of his own, but Burbage fired right back. Eric Fanning hit one for the Seahawks which would begin a 5-0 run to end the first half. The Blue Devils entered the locker room up 33-31.

The Seahawks came out of the break firing as Ortiz, Johnathon Williams and Latif Rivers would drop in two points to give Wagner their largest lead of the game 37-33 early in the second half. Vinales then hit the two biggest shots of the game. Back-to-back from beyond the arc cut the Wagner lead to one and then a mid-range jump shot by Joe Efese caused Wagner to take a timeout.

“Those are the situations where we need a player to step up,” said head coach Howie Dickenman on his lone senior Joe Efese.

CCSU was in the midst of an 18-4 run which lasted 6:32. A layup by Hunter at the midpoint of the second half tied the largest lead of the night for Central as they led 53-43. Ortiz and Rivers followed with five straight made free throws, including three at once by Rivers when McMillan fouled the shooter on a three point attempt. Ortiz hit a three 43 seconds later to cut the Seahawk deficit to two. Central Connecticut did not pull away, but they kept a safe distance for the rest of the game, never letting Wagner within four points.

After missing their first four free throws of the game while only taking one in the first half, the Blue Devils hit 14 of 23 in the second half, far from their 77.4 percent on the season, good for 6th in the nation, but it was good enough down the stretch

passionate fans may even use Super Bowl Sunday as a justification for binge drinking, drowning their sorrows from a lost season. I, interested in all the preceding, am most engrossed by the football.

A sports junkie, pledging loyalty to the game before a specific team, find myself enthralled by Super Bowl XLVII and the matchup it presents.

After all, if impartial, we want the two best teams in the final game, right? Through this wacky NFL postseason (the most impeccable playoff system in sports), this is precisely what we are left with.

The Baltimore Ravens, still haunted by a Lee Evans drop and a Billy Cundiff missed field goal, returned to the site of their downfall last season to settle the score with the New England Patriots. Undaunted, they stumped Tom Brady and the NFL’s highest scoring team (34.8 PPG).

Baltimore has consistently shut down Tom Terrific, holding him to one touchdown and four interceptions in their last two playoff meetings.

Yes, the same quarterback with three Super Bowl Rings, five Super Bowl appearances, two MVPs, and a previously unblemished 67-0 record when leading at halftime at home.

The formerly prolific Ravens defense has been revitalized, sparked by legendary middle linebacker Ray Lewis’ announcement of his retirement at the conclusion of this season. Lewis, the seventeen year veteran and twelve time Pro Bowler, has 57 tackles over these three playoff victories, after missing most of the season with a torn triceps. Ladarius Webb, Terrell Suggs, and Haloti Ngata, also missed significant time due to injury. Finally healthy, this inspired unit took down two of the greatest QBs in NFL history on their home fields, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. To call the Ravens underdogs is asinine.

A team that has won a playoff game in each of its five years under John Harbaugh before suffering devastating defeats, this was their turn.

As Tom Brady said after the game, “You’ve got to earn it. We didn’t earn it, they earned it”.

Truer words were never spoken, as the Ravens physically dominated the Patriots, making every crucial play, capitalizing on every mistake, before eventually pulling away. A defense anchored by legends, and an offense brimming with emerging stars Joe Flacco and Ray Rice, there couldn’t be a more deserving team to represent the AFC. As for the NFC, The San Fransisco 49ers went into Atlanta as road favorites, teeming

with confidence after thrashing the Green Bay Packers, 31-45. Similarly to the Ravens, the Niners strength is their defense and physicality, but they were forced to score in bunches after Atlanta jumped out to a 17-0 lead. No problem for second year quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

After taking over for an injured Alex Smith in week 6 of the regular season, Kaepernick has been “that dude”, exploiting both his break away speed and prolific arm in San Francisco’s read option offense.

He ran for an unprecedented 181 yards against the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Round, an NFL record for a quarterback. Not a postseason record; not a 49ers record; the most rushing yards in a single game by a QB, period.

Kaepernick can sling it a bit too, finishing the NFC title game with a 127.7 QB rating, as San Francisco shutout Atlanta in the second half, en route to a 28-24 victory. Tight end Vernon Davis, who had been relatively quiet, exploded for 106 yards and a touchdown.

Running back Frank Gore punched in two critical second half TDs, and stud linebacker Patrick Willis led the team with 12 tackles.

Coming from behind on the road, the 49ers take on the crazed personality of their passionate, intense coach, Jim Harbaugh. In both of his two seasons as San Fransisco's head coach, Harbaugh has brought the 49ers to the NFC title game, and now to Super Bowl XLVII. So now we have Baltimore vs. San Francisco: The Harbaugh Bowl. Two resilient, tenacious football teams led by two tremendous coaches from one successful family. Ray Lewis’ inspired, stout collection of veterans, versus the confident, talented crew of youngsters. No Patriots, no Giants, no Jets. Yet, the Knicks thrive early in the NBA season, the Yankees and Red Sox always have high expectations as spring training approaches, and the Rangers and Bruins are finally playing hockey again.

Life goes on for Connecticut sports fans.

Though regional interest in this game wanes, I will be watching, you will be watching, and damn near all of America will be watching. Whatever one’s reasoning, it is simply what we do on Super Bowl Sunday. As Connecticut sports fans, we always have next year to look forward to, but should take a moment to savor and appreciate Super Bowl XLVII. It’s going to be a good one.

as Central Connecticut defeated Wagner College 73-66 in front of an announced crowd of 2217 in Detrick Gymnasium Thursday night.

“We were a little tense at the end, because we weren’t making our free throws, but we did and we stopped them and we got rebounds and forced some turnovers down the stretch,” said Dickenman.

Kyle Vinales led all scorers with 30 points while adding six rebounds and five assists; he was 8-17 shooting and 4-8 from long range while dropping in 10-14 free throws. This is the 3rd time this season and fifth in his career Vinales has gone for at least 30 points and the six rebounds is a career high. Hunter followed with 13 points and eight rebounds while Burbage and Efese each dropped in 10 for CCSU. Brandon Peel continues to pull down the rebounds adding eight in the game and

is averaging 10.8 per game in Northeast Conference play.

“Inside we strive ourselves on being tough, not really letting anyone in there, grabbing rebounds, and mostly backing these guys up if anyone gets behind them,” said forward Matt Hunter.

Kenneth Ortiz led the way for Wagner with 18 points and six assists with Eric Fanning and Latif Rivers contributing 13 and 12 respectively. The only rebounder in double-digits on the night was Orlando Parker with 11; a high school teammate of CCSU’s Adonis Burbage at Orlando Christian Prep.

“That was a real good win for us, because it dropped them to where we’re at and their a real good team,” said Vinales. “Coach D said it was probably one of the biggest games we’ll play all year, we certainly took on the challenge.”

Erin O'Donnell | The Recorder

Kyle Vinales makes the assist to Aedonis Burbage in the conner to help lead CCSU in victory.

12 THE RECORDER

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

SPORTS

CCSU Falls To Mt. Saint Mary

McMillan Scores Career High 26 Points In Loss jose campos

Special To The Recorder

Despite an impressive offensive performance by Malcolm McMillan, the Blue Devils lost at home 80-75 to Mount St Mary (710, 2-4), bringing them to a 7-10 record for the season.

McMillian led his team with a career-high 26 points, going eight for 12 for shooting. He also dished out seven assists and grabbed six rebounds in a “wasted effort,” according to Coach Dickenman.

The performance from the point guard is a milestone for him, because before tonight he had made only five field goals in a game while tonight he hit five shots from beyond the arc.

Kyle Vinales also had a good game finishing with 20 points, while Matt Hunter only had eight points and five rebounds because of foul trouble that resulted in him playing only 17 minutes.

In the first half, Central out shot their competitors by an impressive 60 percent from the field. Vinales scored 18 of his 20 in the first half helping the Blue Devils go on a 16-0 run. The Mount came back by playing defense. After back and forth runs, Sam Prescott hit a big three at the end of the first half that gave Mount St Mary a 39-38

Kyle Vinales shoots a jump shot over Mt. Saint Mary defender in the loss Saturday afternoon. lead.

"It was a game of runs, and they came into our house and played better defense," said Dickenman.

The second half also saw great shooting performances by the Blue Devils, but the lack of defense seemed to be the answer for their shortcomings. Xavier Owens and Julian Norfleet who both scored 18 points each led the Mount in

a big win on the road after losing three games on their road trip.

With less than seven minutes left in the second half Matt Hunter fouled out the game leaving CCSU trailing 60-63. A key scorer in the Blue Devils' offense, the game was left up to Vinales and McMillian to get the home win. In the second half, Vinales was shut down by the Mount's defense only scoring

erin O'donnell i The recorder

two points. The defense forced 17 turnovers.

A big three pointer by McMillan put the Blue Devils right back in contention trailing 65-68. After a big put back by the Mount’s Rashad Whack and a timeout, McMillan hit another three pointer that had them behind by two. Hungry for a win McMillan hit his third consecutive

three in the last three minutes of regulation. The big shot by the point guard cut the lead by one.

The Blue Devils would soon give up a huge turnover in which Julian Norfleet of the Mount made them pay with a three pointer of his own to push the lead to 77-71 and put the nail in the coffin for the Blue Devils.

Blue Devils Extend Win Streak To Three Games Corey pollnow The Recorder

In the early-bird game of a doubleheader on Saturday at Detrick Gym, the Women’s basketball team took on Wagner and stomped out the Seahawks 82-53.

With their third win in a row, CCSU improved to 9-7 overall and 3-2 in the Northeastern Conference and are tied with three other teams for fourth in the NEC. CCSU was led by Kirsten Daamen who tied her season-high with 21 points and came up huge on the glass with 11 rebounds; six of them offensive.

“The guards did a really good job of passing the ball inside which always helps. The game plan was to go inside and look for if we have a shot or kick out for the guards to shoot it,” said Daamen.

Jaclyn Babe was very efficient in her 21 minutes on the floor. Babe tallied 19 points on nine for 13 shooting. She also picked up four rebounds and six assists; four of them to Daamen.

“We felt we could dominate inside against this team. They don’t have the bodies to play against our big kids. It’s a good day when our post players are scoring a lot of points for us. Were a good team when our post players are scoring. Jackie Babe was a big part of that. She had six assists on the night,” said Coach Piper.

The Blue Devils hammered the Seahawks on the glass by an astronomical margin of 61 to 23; 22 of

the Blue Devils 61 rebounds came on the offensive end.

Jaclyn and Jessica Babe controlled the tempo by pushing the ball throughout the entirety of the game.

Wagner struggled defensively in transition and the Blue Devils took full advantage of it by hitting a barrage of jumpers in transition.

Johnna Fisher gave CCSU some great minutes off the bench.

Her presence and energy was instantaneous and was extremely active on both ends of the floor. In 11 minutes Fisher contributed 6 points and 6 rebounds and played stellar defense.

“When you have a game where everybody gets to play, and you have five freshmen on the floor at the end of the game, you know that’s a good day. We don’t have too many of those nights where we can play everybody.

Most of our games in our conference are really close. It’s really nice to be able to come out today and be able to execute and do the things that we needed to do to give everybody an opportunity to play basketball today,” said Coach Piper.

In the preseason NEC poll CCSU was predicted to finish eighth in the conference. They continue to prove their pundits wrong as they’ve won five games in a row at Detrick Gym, but in order to come out on top of the NEC they’re going to have to against their opponents on the road.

The girls' next game is at home on Saturday, January 26th at 1 p.m. vs St. Francis (NY).

Jaleen Thomas played shut down defense in the win over Wagner.

erin O'donnell i The recorder