The Spectrum Volume 62 Issue 45

the Independent Student Publication of the University at Buffalo, Since 1950

r The S pectrum ubspectrum.com

Volume 62 No. 44

Food issue, Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Can the basketball team cook?

Story on page 12

Student baker starts business from her passion

Story on page 6

Confessions from behind the counter Students dish on what it’s like to work in food

UB professors dismiss “Food Desert” title

SARA DINATALE Senior News Editor

RACHEL RAIMONDI Asst. News Editor

Joseph Wojnowski, a sophomore history major, calls himself the reigning king of his local McDonald’s back drive-thru. With that title comes knowledge of fast food culture – including the frisky things that can happen in the backroom freezer.

When two McDonald’s managers hooked up in the freezer, the end result was a McBun in the oven that broke up a marriage.

“The guy manager was married, got [the female manager] pregnant from the freezer sex, broke up with his wife, and now they’re together but manage at different McDonald’s,” Wojnowski explained.

He has a list of quirky bits of information and funny stories that have come from his three years working at McDonald’s – but he’s not alone. It’s universal for most students who have logged hours in the food industry to pay their way through college. Whether it is Dunkin’ Donuts, Panera Bread or a family operated deli – employees all have their own stories to share about what it’s really like to work in food.

Irate costumers have hurled shoes at workers’ heads, people have taken their trip through the drive-thru as the ample time to start foreplay in the backseat and it only takes 45 seconds to cook a normal McDonald’s hamburger – 55 for a quarter pounder.

For Wojnowski, the weirdest thing he’s heard of or seen wasn’t the woman who came in every day to steal the straws and napkins nor the individual who managed to smuggle the huge ketchup dispenser in the dining room out of the restaurant – it was the illegal immigrant found living in a storage shed.

The man was sleeping in the shed by the dumpsters – among brooms and shovels – at Wojnowski’s store owner’s other McDonald’s location. Police were called to remove the man.

There are elementary school children in Buffalo who have never tried chickpeas.

They don’t even know what zucchini is.

In the inner city of Buffalo, sometimes dinner means getting snacks from the convenience store around the block.

The media has dubbed Buffalo and other similar areas “Food Deserts,” communities with little or no access to fresh and affordable healthy foods. Instead, the inhabitants rely on fast food chains and bodegas.

“I don’t like the term ‘Food Desert,’” said Samina Raja, associate professor of urban and regional planning. “It implies that something is broken or missing from the system. In Buffalo, this is not the case.

There are many successful local farms and consumers who want and need healthy food.

However, there is a gap in the system.”

Affordability of food, cultural preferences and geographical proximity are factors that have contributed to the “Food Desert” label. But there are several dimensions of the term, according to Sara Metcalf, assistant professor of geography.

For urbanites, the lack of supermarkets in their area affects their eating habits significantly. And going to Wegmans and Tops may be difficult for someone who would have to take a bus to the suburbs after a full workday.

The easy solution to hunger becomes a 99-cent bag of Cheetos from the corner store, Raja said.

She said these snacks are cheap on the person’s wallet but costly to the local economy and his or her future health.

“By undercutting the local farmer, consumers are taking away a dollar from the local economy and then, in turn, are making sure their own wages never rise because Buffalo sinks together as a whole,” she said.

Continued on page 9

Art by Jeanette Chwan

Wojnowski shook his head and laughed, “It was the weirdest thing ever.”

Jessica LaPiano, a sophomore pharmacology major, spent the summer before her freshman year of college pouring coffee at a local Dunkin’ Donuts. LaPiano quit after six months of struggling with what she described as poor and messy management – specifically her store manager.

“My manager was a nightmare to say the least,” LaPiano said. “She was just a gross person. You could smell her when she came in … [the staff] questioned whether or not she showered.”

When the manager wasn’t using the sinks in the bathroom to wash her hair, she was sleeping in a lounge – during store hours – designated for customers, LaPiano said.

LaPiano cited the poor management as why she quit but laughed recounting her most shocking encounter while working the drivethru.

Around 9:30 p.m., shortly before close, her headset beeped and she took a seemingly normal order of a medium coffee from a young woman.

“But when they pulled around and I went to get her card from her, in her backseat there was a couple making out, and [they] literally just started taking each other’s clothes off,” LaPiano said. “They were just going at it, completely oblivious, coming through the drive-thru, ordering a coffee.”

LaPiano was amazed the couple couldn’t contain themselves while the driver, who was ignoring what was going on behind her, came through to get her order.

But what really sticks with LaPiano from her days at Dunkin’ Donuts is her feelings about its food.

She found a few-month-old egg patty when cleaning up a food station – its appearance alarmed her. She noticed the color hadn’t changed; it was slightly shriveled up, but no mold had grown on it.

Put off by the amount of preservatives that she feels must be in all the products, LaPiano – now a happy employee of a local Panera Bread – vowed to never eat anything from Dunkin’ Donuts again. Wojnowski, however, could not live without his McDoubles and fries.

Continued on page 10

Comida para la alma: Food for the soul UB student Santana finds niche cooking for Buffalo’s Latino community ELVA AGUILAR Senior Arts Editor

On any given day, a group of young Latinos can be seen walking down Lisbon or Minnesota Avenue. It would be easy to assume they’re on their way to cause trouble. The laughing, joking and anxiousness surrounding them can be easily mistaken as a recipe for disaster, when in fact, the group is only on its way to get a taste of home.

Another dinner by Felix Santana, the people’s chef.

Santana, a senior international business major, attends UB with a full course load, but off campus, he’s recognized as one of the best cooks by his friends – and even some strangers. Santana currently caters small, private events for friends and family for free but hopes to expand his horizons by opening a food truck in Buffalo and, eventually, his own restaurant.

“I feel like the kitchen is my office; it’s work,” Santana said. “I can see myself doing this for 80 hours a week and not complain.

My back [will] kill me, I’ll feel pain, but it’s all mental.”

Last Saturday, Jan. 26, it wasn’t Santana’s friend’s kitchen that was his office. Santana hosted one of many “coros,” a Dominican

slang term for get-togethers but with a Latin twist.

The group of approximately 15 consisted of both UB and Buffalo State College students. Within five minutes of being at the Lisbon Avenue apartment, it was easy to see the camaraderie. The music alternated between bachata, merengue and hip-hop, but the mood stayed the same – comfortable yet hungry.

Although Santana’s friends considered him the host, he seldom made appearances in the living room and only exited the kitchen to get fresh air followed by a pull from the hookah placed on the coffee table.

Santana’s best friend and pseudo-sous chef, junior nursing major Amanda Torres, grew up in the world of catering. Her mother, a caterer herself, taught Torres from a young age how possible it is for a person to singlehandedly feed hundreds.

Santana has never had any formal training, yet Torres considers him a genius.

“We jokingly called him ‘the food whisperer’ the other day,” Torres said. “His love for food and catering to others and seeing them enjoy his food: that is what gives him his talent. He has a huge heart and he puts all his love into his food and the people he makes it for.”

Inside

Last Saturday’s coro was a light day for Santana. While friends sat a few feet away discussing the Knicks-Hawks game, their fantasy basketball rosters and social plans for that night, Santana and Torres made a Dominican-style dinner. The menu for that night included ribs, morro de gandules (rice and pigeon peas), pastelitos (baked puff-pastry filled with savory beef) and pastelon, or Dominican lasagna (sweet plantains, beef and cheese), according to Santana.

Despite waiting hours to dig into Santana’s one-man potluck dinner, the get-together at the Lisbon home didn’t end when the food was served. In fact, conversation became louder and more spirited, and while some ran back to get second and third servings, others organized a post-dinner game of dominos while they digested their food.

Nights like these are common for Santana, according to Marlene Ferreris, his old roommate and a 2012 alumna with a Bachelor of Arts in geography.

“Sometimes living with Felix felt like we lived in a soup kitchen,” Ferreris said. “He loves doing it for others, and being in college, it’s something that makes everyone around him feel at home, away from home … [his cooking had] a lot to do with our house being the center of socialization.”

Continued on page 4

Adrien D’Angelo /// The Spectrum Senior international business major Felix Santana aspires to one day own his own restaurant, but for now, he gives the Latino community at UB a taste of home.

Opinion 3 Life, Arts & Entertainment 5-9 Classifieds & Daily Delights 11

Sports 12

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Opinion

Wednesday, January 30, 2013 ubspectrum.com

Adding frustration, dropping morale

EDITORIAL BOARD Editor in Chief Aaron Mansfield

Return the drop/add period to two weeks

Senior Managing Editor Brian Josephs Managing Editor Rebecca Bratek Editorial Editor Ashley Steves News EDItors Sara DiNatale, Co-Senior Lisa Khoury, Co-Senior Sam Fernando, Asst.

Rachel Raimondi, Asst.

LIFE EDITORS Rachel Kramer, Senior Lyzi White Lisa Epstein, Asst.

ARTS EDITORS Elva Aguilar, Senior Lisa de la Torre, Asst.

Nathaniel Smith, Asst.

Max Crinnin, Asst.

SPORTS EDITORS Joseph Konze Jr., Senior Jon Gagnon Ben Tarhan Markus McCaine, Asst.

Creating a schedule that perfectly incorporates the courses you need, allows you to carry a job if you need it and doesn’t destroy your sleep schedule is a skill all students strive for but few possess. After the trials and tribulations of class registration, the first week of classes come, and it is time to decide what stays and what goes.

But the bold red font on the Office of the Registrar’s website displayed a warning that all UB students have come to dread: “the drop/add period has been shortened.”

This semester, students had five days (until Jan. 19) to drop courses and seven days (until Jan. 22) to add courses. One year ago in spring 2012, students had seven days to drop and nine days to add. And a few years back, students had two weeks.

The drop/add period needs to be extended back to two weeks.

If nothing else is present to stress you out during the first few days of classes, the drop/ add deadline’s looming presence is enough to induce panic. SUNY policy states students who drop classes after the deadline passes (in the second week) must pay 20 percent of the tuition and fees they would have paid if they didn’t drop the course. How daunting this becomes to students

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January 30, 2013 Volume 62 Number 44 Circulation 7,000 The views expressed – both written and graphic – in the Feedback, Opinion, and Perspectives sections of The Spectrum do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board. Submit contributions for these pages to The Spectrum office at Suite 132 Student Union or news@ubspectrum.com. The Spectrum reserves the right to edit these pieces for style and length. If a letter is not meant for publication please mark it as such. All submissions must include the author’s name, daytime phone number, and email address.

Professors don’t want to have to re-teach the material three weeks into the semester to incoming students, and that’s fine – they shouldn’t have to. There’s no need to employ “shopping periods” – two weeks of students doing nothing but classhopping to decide which ones they want to keep – or have additional course plans for incoming students. Let the students be responsible for making up the material on their own time if they really want to take the course.

If the drop/add is extended, students will get a better idea of the course content and the professor’s style. It’s not unreasonable to ask for two weeks – many private universities (including Buffalo’s D’Youville College) employ this system, and everybody is managing just fine.

At UB, classes are being canceled due to low enrollment, causing the students to struggle for a replacement, and upperclassmen are finding constant difficulties to graduate on time. Every little thing creates a ripple effect, and it could all be remedied with just a little wiggle room.

Email: editorial@ubspectrum.com

Keeping realistic about N.Y.’s potential minimum wage increase Changes are taking place across the country, and the Empire State is in line for a big pay out.

Since Jan. 1, 13 states have weighed wage increases, including New York. Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a minimum wage bump from the current $7.25 to $8.75, a move expected to benefit over a million workers and create jobs, and according to a new study from the Fiscal Policy Institute and the National Employment Law Project, could create as many as 7,300 full-time jobs.

But are the benefits of raising minimum wage greater than the potential problems? We aren’t quite sure, but yes or no, it is important to point out the ramifications of the decision.

The federal minimum wage began in 1968 at $1.60 and has increased periodically to today’s current set rate. New York’s minimum hasn’t changed since 2007, but as inflation rates and prices increase, it’s necessary to counter the effects by increasing the value of minimum wage.

If executed properly, New York’s wage hike could greatly help the state’s volatile economy.

Higher incomes should lead to an increase in consumption, and an increase in consumption should

bring an increase in revenue.

But that’s a big if. Small businesses may get hit the strongest, and the increase in labor costs could lead to a cut in company numbers and workers’ hours. The fiscal cliff negotiations of early January didn’t address payroll taxes, but with an increase in minimum wage, people can expect to see more come out of their paycheck to cover the cost. Is a jump as large as $1.50 like Cuomo is proposing too big of a jump for employers to handle?

According to a 2011 summary from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1.7 million American workers earn minimum wage (approximately 2.3 percent of the total American workers earning hourly wages). The statistics are first registered for workers at the United State’s legal working age of 16.

Consider this: how many employers are going to want to hire a 16-year-old fresh on the workforce and pay him or her nearly $9 per hour? Companies are not going to find it worth the risk or the time, and those jobs will disappear. This idea is so vital to college students who work summer jobs

only to return to school. Would you rather hire someone who can work minimum wage and stay on staff or someone who has to pick up and leave after about four months?

Hearing $8.75 per hour for minimum wage is enough to instill optimism in the biggest of curmudgeons. A major theme of the 2012 election from the Obama camp was to shrink the gap between the rich and the poor, and it’s possible a higher minimum wage rate would eventually help that cause. But only as long as the entire pyramid doesn’t shift with it. If both prices and the minimum wage rate increase, then the only $8.75 will only matter until the two cancel each other out.

Optimism and curiosity is fine, but people also need to keep realistic expectations toward the possible wage bump. While $1.50 more per hour sounds like a blessing to struggling workers, all outcomes need to be weighed, and additional scenarios need to be examined.

Email: editorial@ubspectrum.com

Finding my own voice OWEN O’BRIEN Staff Writer

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struggling to pay their way through school and finish on time.

But whether money is an issue or not, how good of a judgment can you make on a class during the first week of school, which is commonly referred to around campuses as “syllabus week?”

While sometimes syllabi are helpful (and they are especially helpful before the semester starts up), there’s only so much you can tell about the difficulty of the material by reading a week-by-week schedule. You have to be able to see how everything fits and functions in your schedule and how much material you will actually be absorbing – not just from that one class but also from all classes.

Because the semester typically follows a holiday (either Labor Day or Martin Luther King Jr. Day), some classes will only meet once or twice prior to the drop/add, and the students enrolled never even get a feel for the class.

One of the justifications for originally changing the deadline was to line up with the SUNY system’s drop/add policy, which extends about a week. But more importantly, departments wanted to be able to control enrollment by the second week of course. The policy was changed to eliminate problems teachers were dealing with and completely disregarded the problems the students were facing.

Opening the gates for higher rates

PROFESSIONAL STAFF OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Helene Polley

3

ing?

Hello. Hello…

Silence.

Hello? Is anybody there?

Still nothing.

Hello? Are you there?

Hey there. S-s-sorry about that. How’s it go-

I can’t tell you how many phone calls in my life have begun with this exact format.

For those of you who don’t know who I am, my name is Owen O’Brien. And I stutter.

I have stuttered my entire life. It’s just like anything else in life. You work hard to get ahead, you feel good for a while, and then whatever you tried to escape returns. This has been my life for nearly 21 years. There are better and worse days, but it’s always there.

This is not a sob story about my youth. Truth be told, I think I can count on one hand the times kids made fun of me for my stutter. I was very lucky. I know not every kid with a speech impediment can say the same.

I am not naive. Of course some made jokes behind my back. But I didn’t have to hear it, so I could pretend they weren’t.

I always thought I would grow out of it. I met people throughout my childhood who said they stuttered as a child but grew out of it. It made me feel comfortable. Like I wouldn’t be like this forever.

Well, I still have it.

I saw a speech therapist my entire childhood.

And it has helped. Tremendously. My first speech teacher, Dr. Meryl Wall, is one of my heroes. I remember my parents driving me out three days a week, then two, eventually one, until it was every other week. Forty-minute drive, each direction, over the course of eight years. My parents were there with me every step of the way.

For those of you who have seen The King’s Speech, we did almost everything in that movie.

If it wasn’t for Dr. Wall, I would be a mess. I wouldn’t be in the position I am in.

I am far from a loner, but I keep a small circle of friends. I am hesitant to talk to that cute girl next to me in class because what if the words don’t come out? Now she thinks I’m dumb. And anyone who overheard the exchange thinks the same. No thank you. I will just walk into class with headphones in each ear, try to get through class as easily and quickly as possible and pop my headphones back in as I walk out.

Although my speech has increased substantially, I don’t know if I would call myself “comfortable” yet. I try not to do anything in class that would call attention, for fear the teacher would ask me to speak in front of the class. I still clam up.

Just the thought of public speaking causes sweaty palms, leg twitching, the whole nine yards. There is one place I am comfortable expressing myself.

Journalism.

In journalism, I have the ability to say exactly what I want. I don’t have to worry about choosing words I feel easy saying or keeping the conversation at low risk. I can have my words understood in a clear and coherent matter by tens, hundreds or thousands of readers. For the first time in my life.

The first journalism course I took was in 10th grade. I liked the teacher and I needed another elective. So I figured I’d give it a shot. Less than half way through the semester, my teacher told me I should take “Journalism II,” this time, as an editor.

It was a high school paper, so being a sports editor didn’t entail much responsibility, but it sparked my interest. It became my favorite class of the day, even over gym.

As a senior, I was the assistant editor for our paper. This was when I realized I may have had some talent in writing. It was a thrill unlike anything I’ve had in my life.

That year, I won bronze for high school sports columnists in New York State. Our newspaper, The Warrior, took the silver for best overall newspaper, as voted by the Empire State Press Association.

I had fallen in love. Writing gave me power and strength I had never felt before. But when I

came to college, I questioned myself.

Could I really do this as a career?

Like with everything else in my life, I hesitated. I took the easy way out. I said no, this will not work out. Who would hire a writer who struggles to put together a sentence when speaking?

Freshman year, I did not write for The Spectrum. Sophomore year came and went with the same result. It wasn’t until this summer that I told myself I would no longer let my stutter define me.

If I was going to fail, it would be somebody firing me. I finally had enough of telling myself I couldn’t do something because it may take an extra few seconds to complete a sentence.

In my one-plus semester writing for The Spectrum, I have done things I never imagined I would have the ability to, including face-to-face and over-the-phone interviews with Division I coaches and players.

While writing a feature story last semester, “Twinning,” I communicated with one of Buffalo’s soccer players face to face, while calling two of her sisters and her parents. I conducted five interviews in the process.

To say I was out of my comfort zone may be the largest understatement of my life.

But I conducted these interviews, stuttered and was very proud of the end result.

Am I completely comfortable yet? No. But I am getting there. Thanks in large part to journalism.

This platform allows me to express my true self, not the one I hide under a sweatshirt and headphones.

Can I make a career in this? I don’t know.

Can someone with difficulties communicating succeed in such a people-orientated field? I’m not sure.

However, what I do know is that I am finished getting in my own way.

Email: owenobri@buffalo.edu

ubspectrum.com

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Continued from page 1: Comida para la alma: Food for the soul Santana’s interest in cooking began at age 15 while watching his grandmother prepare Thanksgiving dinner in his native Lower East Side of Manhattan, N.Y. Within a year, his interest grew to a talent, and he assumed the responsibility of cooking the annual feast for his family.

By the time Santana arrived at UB, he had already honed his craft. Shortly after his freshman year began, he declined paying for a meal plan and began to cook in his dorm, MacDonald Hall.

Santana specializes in Latino, Italian and American food and hopes to develop his skills into other food genres. But for now, his current menu keeps his sizeable group of friends (and their friends) tight-knit and comforted.

“I cook on average for 15-20 people every day,” Santana said. “There’s never a certain number … and if more people come, I start cooking again. Food never runs out.”

Santana’s cooking has sporadically made its way onto UB’s North Campus, as well.

After discovering the now-defunct Latin restaurant Papi’s was overcharging Student Association club PODER (Puerto Rican Organization for Dignity, Equality and Responsibility) for food, Santana offered his services free of charge.

According to Darwinson Valdez, president of PODER and president of Santana’s fraternity, Lambda Sigma Upsilon, Papi’s charged PODER $900 to feed 150 people, while Santana only required $550 to feed 250 people.

Shortly after his first experience cooking for PODER, Santana offered to take over catering for the SA club’s events charging only what the food would cost.

Santana has also used his talents to give back to the local community through both his fraternity and through leadership courses he has taken at UB. His services include cooking for Occupy Buffalo, the Salvation Army and PUSH Buffalo (People United for Sustainable Housing). Santana and his fraternity brothers also feed the homeless three times a year and he helped feed an allwomen’s homeless shelter for his UBE 496 course last fall.

His food has also made it to other college communities – one being Buffalo State, where Santana has become popular.

“The fire department [at Buffalo State] knows me,” Santana said. “I’ve blown out four [fire] alarms before. There’s pictures of me with the fire trucks on the Internet.”

While traveling to schools in places as far as Pennsylvania, Santana is always looked upon to feed his hosts, which he does

Adrien D’Angelo /// The Spectrum Santana, pictured surrounded by his dinner companions this past Saturday in University Heights, routinely feeds 15-20 of his hungry friends.

proudly, knowing he’s their only option for a home-cooked meal.

“Every school I visit [lacks a Latino community],” Santana said. “I’m the only guy who cooks Spanish food. We are the minority at these colleges.”

The closing of Papi’s, once located on Hertel Avenue in North Buffalo, has left very few options for Latinos in Buffalo to buy authentic homemade food. Santana’s specialty within the Latin food genre is Dominican food, which leaves only Niagara Café on the West Side of Buffalo as a primary competitor.

Between the distance of Niagara Café to UB and Buffalo State, as well as confidence in his one-of-a-kind-seasonings, sofrito – a blend of sautéed aromatic ingredients – and recipes, Santana feels little pressure to upstage the local restaurant.

“Restaurants in Buffalo use straight adobo, [powdered seasoning]. I use no dry seasoning,” Santana said. “The only time I use [store-bought] sofrito is when I combined it [with my own if] I don’t have any. I don’t like anything in a powdered form; I like it all fresh and blended myself. It digests better.”

Santana has no formal training and all his experiences have derived from trial-anderror situations. He has created his own sofrito, which he adds to every meal and ex-

periments frequently with new ingredients, mixes and recipes. “[Santana] makes the most authentic [Latino food] in Buffalo,” said sophomore digital media studies major Ryan Brion. “It might even be better than my grandmother’s, but don’t tell her that.”

While most of his entrees are based on typical Hispanic recipes, Santana has no qualms thinking outside the box.

His latest signature creation is his “cream cheese-ranch mashed potatoes,” which include four cheeses, dry ranch powder, sour cream, cream cheese, butter, mayonnaise, salt and cilantro – one of Ferreris’ favorites.

“I basically took the ingredients from Cool Ranch Doritos chips and applied it to my mashed potatoes,” Santana said.

His other concoctions include baby blue rice, purple pork chops, lasagna with three different meats and fried frog legs. His ability to experiment and stay humble is what Torres believes will make Santana a successful chef in the future.

“Being a great chef has to do with the love [and] skill, but I would say not being afraid [is a bigger factor],” Torres said. “You cannot be afraid how it will taste, whether or not people will like your food, whether or not you will get cut or burned.”

Santana has already obtained his food vendor’s license and hopes to get the necessary credentials to possibly own his own food truck in Buffalo or New York City. He also aims to open a high-quality – but affordable – restaurant to introduce authentic Hispanic food to the masses.

Santana’s current plans include catering a large-scale event for his fraternity this weekend, auditioning for The Food Network’s Chopped on Feb. 28, two baby showers during Spring Break in March and two weddings later this year.

He is currently gaining momentum on the Internet for his dishes via Instagram and Twitter, which are both listed under his username “Chef_Felix7.”

“If I didn’t go to class, I could be in a kitchen all day working,” Santana said. “I take pride in seeing people eat [my food]. I hate when people tell me they’re hungry, [so] I do it for them.”

Santana is hopeful for the future; he has increased his network and marketing skills and hopes that one day his passion will become profitable.

Email: features@ubspectrum.com

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Life, Arts & Entertainment

The Spectrum scoured news sources to collect trending food topics – from the quirky to the disgusting Horsemeat found in burgers Officials identified traces of horsemeat in beef burgers produced by Silvercrest Foods, Ireland’s second-largest manufacturer. Nine of 13 burgers analyzed on Jan. 15 tested positive for horse DNA. Officials believe one ingredient imported from “an unspecified European country” caused the contamination, according to The Huffington Post.

Approximately 10 million burgers were recalled from Irish and British supermarkets.

Officials realized the error after ordering tests of Silvercrest burgers in response to the testing of 27 other brands of beef burgers on sale at Irish supermarkets during November and December. Of the 27 tested, 10 brands contained horsemeat, though the amount was “miniscule,” according to The Huffington Post. However, brands sold in England contained 29 percent horsemeat.

Mike Gibney, director of the Institute of Food and Health at University College Dublin, believes the cause of the problem also stems from the desire to sell food at the cheapest possible prices. Beef is three to four times more expensive than horsemeat.

Silvercrest Foods announced operations would be suspended indefinitely and investigations are ongoing. Its parent company, ABP Food Group, said it will begin DNA testing at the manufacturing sites.

The end of food porn Posting photos of your meal before you dig in is now unwelcome by many restaurant owners, especially in New York City.

“Foodstagram,” a growing trend of posting a photo of a meal online with a cell phone, is on the rise with the increased amount of smartphones used by the public.

“With the advent of social media, it just became that people like food porn,” said Steven Hall, PR representative for Bouley restaurant, to ABC News. “People really love looking at pictures of food.”

Restaurant owners are not happy and ask that, at the very minimum, guests refrain from using flash photography in efforts to not disturb other diners.

In 2008, chef David Chang of Momofuku Ko, in New York City instituted a nophotography policy, according to The Huffington Post.

Since then, SoHo House New York, Tocqueville restaurant and many others have supported the Chang’s position and created the same policy.

“My philosophy is it’s not your own dining room; you’re there with many other diners,” said Joann Makovitzky of Tocqueville.

“People are there for their own dining experience and anything you do to infringe on that experience, we frown on.”

However, David Bouley, the head chef at Bouley, instead invites guests to the kitchen to snap their photos, according to ABC News. It not only decreases the distraction caused by the photography, but it also gives the guest more involvement in their meal.

New York State Restaurant Association, made up of 5,000 restaurants in the New York metropolitan area, said the informal ban is not something it is concerned with.

Whether or not photography will be allowed will depend on each restaurant.

“Everybody wants everybody in the world to know where they are,” Hall said.

“We don’t want to stop it, but we want to control it.”

Continued on page 6

Healthy eating with The Spectrum LISA EPSTEIN Asst. Life Editor College is hard, but eating healthy is harder.

It might feel easier to grab some quick and inexpensive fast food. Sure, working out is great – lift those weights, jump on your elliptical, dance your butt off at those Zumba classes. It’s great that you’re getting on your gym grind, but nothing will make you feel as amazing as a healthy diet.

I should say, as The Spectrum’s health columnist, that I eat healthy food 365 days a year. But that simply isn’t true. I love eating food that’s bad for you. But the majority of the time, I try to stick to healthy eating and snacking.

Thanks to a little help from my mother, my own knowledge and a little bit of research, I have a list of some healthy foods and snacking tips that will have you feeling less like a sloth and more like the Energizer Bunny.

I try to live by the rule, “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a peasant.” When you front-load your meals in the morning, you’re able to burn off the calories throughout the day.

In the morning, I like to eat toast with peanut butter on it. You may think peanut butter isn’t good for you, but two tablespoons of peanut butter has 3.3 grams of saturated fat and 12.3 grams of unsaturated fat, according to health.harvard.edu. Some saturated fat (the unhealthy kind) is OK in moderation. Also keep in mind, numerous

studies have shown people who regularly include nuts or peanut butter in their diets are less likely to develop heart disease or type 2 diabetes than those who hardly eat nuts.

An apple is also one of my all-time favorite snacks to grab and take with me to school. Apples contain vitamin C, can prevent heart disease, protect your brain from diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and even clean out your mouth – the juice from an apple has properties that can kill up to 80 percent of bacteria in the mouth, according to succeedwiththis.com.

Although it’s not a snack, I love raw spinach as a replacement for lettuce in my salads, subs and whatever else you can add lettuce to. Spinach is a superfood that boasts high protein content – the highest vegetable protein content around, according to kitchenstewardship.com. It also contains a large amount of vitamin A, vitamin K, fiber and folic acid. The best part is that spinach tastes so much better than iceberg lettuce and is a more filling substitute.

Eggs are also a great way to get protein in your diet. Eggs can lower the risk of developing cataracts and macular degeneration, thanks to nutrients called lutein and zeaxanthin, according to healthdiaries.com.

One egg contains 6 grams of high quality protein and all nine essential amino acids, 5 grams of healthy unsaturated fat and 1.5 grams of saturated fat. Eggs are also one of the only foods that contain natural vitamin D. Whether you like your eggs scrambled, over-easy or hard-boiled, they are awesome.

Walnuts and almonds are also good snacks you can easily pack. Almonds can be Continued on page 8

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Sweet success from scratch TAYLOR BRUNDAGE Staff Writer

Christina Austin shuffles through her notebook while studying for her upcoming midterm exams. The familiar beeping of the oven timer sounds. It’s time to wrap up another dozen cupcakes for a customer.

Austin, a sophomore business major, juggles being a student and being the sole creator of her own business, Confections by Christina. Confections by Christina, which started a little over two years ago, has now served hundreds of UB students and community members their favorite baked goods.

She works directly from her home kitchen in Buffalo, N.Y. Austin started out as a cashier at her local Wegmans chain supermarket and quickly developed a knack for baking as she moved her way up to a cake decorator. After receiving positive feedback on her creations, Austin decided it was time to take it to the next level and develop her very own sweet shop. That’s when Confections by Christina was born.

She said it seemed to happen overnight.

Austin was able to start her business through the help of her supportive family members and boyfriend. Her family saw her determination when all she asked for Christmas last year was baking tools and supplies.

Already, since her start-up two years ago, Austin has been able to pay back all of her debts and turn a profit.

Simone Webb, Austin’s close friend and a Buffalo resident, was one of her first customers. Webb threw a party in July and needed 72 cupcakes. She wasn’t disappointed.

“Some people couldn’t believe they were homemade,” Webb said. “She puts time, effort and love into her baked goods and you could really tell.”

Kenna Rose Rodolph, a Buffalo resident, ordered a cookie cake for her dad’s birthday last fall. She and her family loved how the cake turned out.

“The texture was very good and I loved the design,” Rodolph said.

She plans on ordering from Confections

by Christina again in the future.

Lately, according to Austin, she’s been serving a surplus of red velvet cupcakes topped with her homemade cream cheese icing. She’s been told that it’s “pretty amazing.”

But with a constant influx of cake orders, Austin sometimes finds herself overwhelmed. It is usually easier to balance her

Courtesy of Confections by Christina

Christina Austin, a sophomore business major, started her own baking company, Confections by Christina, and works out of her own home creating hand frosted baked goods, such as cakes, cupcakes and chocolate-covered fruit.

schoolwork and baking because she works out of her own home, but students grow hungrier as finals week approaches, according to Austin.

As a student herself, Austin sometimes must decline an order though she’d rather not.

“School is my top priority … If there’s anything I would change now, it would be more time spent focusing on school,” Austin said.

However, school won’t stop her from baking. She loves creating over-the-top treats that require a lot of care and detail – like her signature chocolate cake made with homemade whipped cream, topped with chocolate ganache.

Webb is amazed Austin has been able to keep her momentum going steady since the beginning. She believes Austin’s personality adds to her success.

“She is very genuine and sincere and those are two very important qualities to have while starting a business,” Webb said. “Because people will not only be drawn to your talent, but also that friendly and positive attitude.”

Melzetta Eve, a frequent customer, raves about how Austin goes the extra mile for her customers – literally.

“Recently for a birthday, I picked up a

cake from her and jokingly complained about how far I had to drive,” Eve said. “Since then, Christina has made it a priority to be only two miles away. [That’s] something she didn’t have to do.”

Since Austin started her business, Eve hasn’t purchased anything from a “franchise baker.” Eve thinks Austin’s products are unique in taste and presentation and are very affordable.

One time, Eve found a picture on the Internet of what she wanted her order of cupcakes to look like. Eve said Austin took the idea and made it her own. It was “even better than the picture itself – hence her originality.”

Austin works hard to accommodate any request and she’ll even freehand designs on a customer’s cake. She has hand frosted everything from monkeys, tigers and lions to pumpkins, flowers and balloons.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, she said most of her orders are for chocolatecovered strawberries. She is relieved in a way because she gets a break from only making cake.

Because money is tight, she uses free forms of marketing for her business, such as word of mouth and social networks like Facebook and Instagram.

Email: features@ubspectrum.com

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Continued from page 5:

Freaky food briefs Ice cream store’s sorbet “combats” influenza Cayenne pepper, ginger, Maker’s Mark bourbon, honey, orange juice and lemon juice – the ingredients in “Hot Toddy Sorbet,” an ice cream that is said to fight flu symptoms.

“It tastes like a great cocktail,” said Jeni Britton Bauer, the founder and president of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, the Ohio-based company responsible for the treat, to the Toronto Star. “It’s sort of like a whisky sour.”

Bauer’s mother and grandmother, who would make hot whiskey with honey and lemon juice for sick family members, inspired the recipe. Though it does not actually cure the flu, Bauer’s sorbet brings the same sort of comfort, according to the company.

The vitamin C from the juices, cayenne, ginger and honey are all natural remedies for illness; however, the sorbet does not provide enough of each to make it an effective medication, according to Heather Boon, professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto.

Still, consumers are rushing to the company’s stores in Ohio and Tennessee, as well as purchasing the sorbet online.

Sales for the shop are up more than 300 percent, according to Toronto Star.

Email: news@ubspectrum.com

ubspectrum.com

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Local author stirs up buzz with Talking Leaves MAX CRINNIN Asst. Arts Editor On Thursday, Jan. 31, Buffalo native and world-renowned author and cook Molly Stevens will visit Larkin Square in collaboration with Talking Leaves to deliver an informal book talk with her discussion entitled “Recipe for Becoming a Food Writer.”

Stevens’ visit is the second of the year in the Larkin Square Author Series. The event is free and open to the public and will be held at the Larkin Filling Station on 754 Seneca St. from 5-6:30 p.m.

Stevens is the author of two awardwinning cookbooks, All About Roasting and All About Braising. Her work has been critically acclaimed, and The New York Times Book Review described her as “a beautifully clear writer who likes to teach.”

Stevens now returns to Buffalo to share stories of her early cooking influences, world travels, experiences in cooking and practical advice that has helped her in her own cooking and writing.

“It will be great fun to come home to Buffalo and share my love of food and writing in such an exciting new restaurant as the [Larkin] Filling Station,” Stevens said.

Larkin Square is an innovative public space that hosts many public events in the restored Larkin District of Buffalo. Aside from the author series, other events include outdoor concerts, market stalls, casual outdoor and indoor dining and public sculpture.

Courtesy of W. W. Norton & Company

This Thursday, Molly Stevens will visit Larkin Square to sign her highly acclaimed cookbooks, All About Roasting and All About Braising, and share her world-renowned cooking advice and stories.

The event will include sales of Stevens’ books with a signing after her discussion.

Food and drink will also be available from the Larkin Filling Station.

Larkin Square is located in downtown Buffalo and Stevens’ books can be found at Talking Leaves Bookstores.

Email: arts@ubspectrum.com

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Hut, hut, spice! Oh yeah, it’s that time of the year again. Everyone is gathered around the TV for the biggest football game of the year: the Super Bowl.

It’s the 13th-straight year my favorite team, the Buffalo Bills, have not made the playoffs. Instead of waiting around to watch a football game with two teams I have no interest in, I decided to learn to perfect homemade chili.

I got the basic ingredients for this recipe from allrecipes.com, but the original was a little bit boring. I decided the only thing missing was the marinating of the ground beef.

How can you just put plain and boring meat into a saucepan without seasoning it first?

Here are the basic ingredients to make my chili.

French’s Worcestershire sauce Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue sauce Ground beef Onion Stewed tomatoes Tomato sauce Kidney beans Water Chili powder Garlic powder Salt and pepper Total time: 30 minutes The most important direction that you can take away from this recipe is my method for marinating the ground beef.

1. Place about a pound of ground beef into a large mixing bowl. Add enough French’s Worcestershire sauce to coat most of the meat. This will help tenderize it.

2. Place 3-4 tbsp of Sweet Baby Ray’s honey barbecue sauce in the mixing bowl. Mix the beef around with using your hands until the meat is evenly coated.

3. Chop up 1/2 an onion and mix in with the beef.

4. After you have seasoned your beef, pull it apart so that you can cook it in a frying pan on the stove.

5. Set your stove top to the medium-high setting and place your smaller pieces of beef into the frying pan. While it is cooking, you still have work to do!

6. Get a large saucepan and set it on the stovetop, setting the burner to medium heat.

Add one can of stewed tomatoes, one can of tomato sauce and one can of kidney beans to the large saucepan with one-and-a-half cups of water.

7. While the ingredients in the saucepan are being brought to a boil, periodically check on the beef.

8.When the beef is cooked, add it directly into the sauce.

9.As the ingredients in the saucepan keep boiling, add your pinch of chili powder and pinch of garlic powder.

10. Just as you are about to end the boiling add a little bit of salt and pepper.

Nutrition Facts: Servings per recipe: 4, cal. (cal) 381, Fat, total (g) 15, chol. (mg) 71, sat. fat (g) 6, carb. (g) 35, fiber (g) 9, pro. (g) 32, sodium (mg) 1265, Potassium (mg) 905, calcium (mg) 111, iron (mg) 5, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Serve this with cornbread or my favorite: Tostitos scoops chips.

Hopefully one of these years I will be able to focus on the Bills playing in the Super Bowl rather than my cooking skills. For now, I’ll just enjoy creating a dish one ingredient at a time.

Enjoy the game and I’ll keep giving you a recipe you can bring home to your mama – from my kitchen to yours.

Email: joseph.konze@ubspectrum.com

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Foods to avoid on a date RACHEL KRAMER Senior Life Editor First dates are difficult. You have to figure out the perfect outfit – one that makes you look effortlessly good looking – you have to plan something to do that is fun but not too complicated, and you have to worry about discussion topics when those inevitable awkward pauses happen.

Even if it isn’t a “date,” hanging out with someone you like more than a friend is stressful. Once you get to the planned event, which usually includes a meal of some sort, the stress continues. What do you order? Who is going to pay? Will ordering a glass of water make you look cheap? With all the stress already inside you, sometimes you don’t even have an appetite.

There are some foods that are an absolute no-no when it comes to a first, second or even third date. Date food needs to be something that won’t stain the flawless outfit when you accidentally drop some of it in your lap, something that allots for minimum chewing time and optimal talking time and something that doesn’t make you look like a savage while trying to eat it.

I openly admit I am an unattractive eater. I usually get food or sauce on my face, sometimes I forget I’m chewing if I have something interesting to say and I always cut up the entire chicken into little pieces before I eat it (like my mommy used to do).

In order to avoid even more embarrassing food circumstances, I have a list of foods that are never a good idea to eat on a date.

The first is salad. Many girls believe salad is delicate enough to eat in public. But have you ever really paid attention to yourself while eating one? The noise lettuce makes is similar to the sound of breaking a burnt piece of toast, and it echoes in your head. So even if your man is talking to you across the table, you won’t be able to hear him over the noises in your mouth and he will be distracted by the idea of stepping on a bag of chips as he can hear the lettuce in your mouth.

Don’t even get me started on the toppings, dressing or chopped salads that have the potential to get stuck in your teeth, spill or be difficult to acquire with a fork.

Sushi is also a bad idea. As romantic as it is to go for an expensive and fancy raw seafood dinner, it’s unattractive. An average sushi roll is around one inch in diameter and

as much as he may want to see something else of that diameter entering your mouth, sushi is not foreplay. Chopsticks are hard, rice leaks out, the fish falls out and sometimes the whole roll doesn’t fit in your mouth and that’s embarrassing. Plus, there is always that slight danger of food poisoning and you don’t want to ruin your chance of a goodnight kiss.

For all those appetizer lovers out there, don’t order the mozzarella sticks. You may argue that finger foods are safe and most are.

But have you ever tried to eat a mozzarella stick, bit into it, and ended up with a strand of cheese six miles long? I have. There is not a more awkward silence than your date watching you try to bite, cut, rip or tear that skinny cheese string. Talk about a weird first impression. This only happens when the sticks are still hot, so if your date insists on the Italian appetizer, wait a minute or so until they cool down.

Pasta should be a no-brainer. Spaghetti is a no, never, bad idea – stop it. Real life doesn’t happen like Lady and the Tramp where you will both pick the same noodle strand with your faces and end up in a romantic kiss with a mouth full of pasta. Spaghetti is hard to roll onto a fork, the red sauce usually splatters during the process, there will be an

awkward amount of leftovers – which as a college student will pain you to throw away – and nobody wants to hear the inevitable slurping that accompanies the pasta dangling from your mouth.

However, sandwiches are great. As long as they are not overstuffed with a crazy amount of sauce and toppings, you should be able to eat it in a civil manner. Take normal size bites and allow your date to talk while you’re chewing. By the time you swallow, he or she should be finished which gives you time to answer and your date to take a bite. There is a reason picnics are a great first date idea.

Also, nothing is wrong with a smoothie or milkshake date. There is nothing safer than drinking your meal from a covered cup, sucking through a straw. If you’re feeling romantic, use two straws and one cup.

Keep these tips in mind the next time you go out with someone you like and you’re sure to keep the unattractive eating disasters to a minimum.

Email: rachel.kramer@ubsectrum.com

Schwarzenegger’s last stand

Continued from page 5: Healthy eating with The Spectrum

ERIN SNYDER Staff Writer

credited with helping to control healthy cholesterol, regulate blood sugar and they even contain vitamin E, which can help in cancer prevention, according to livestrong.com Womenshealthmag.com lists walnuts as one of the best nuts out there, with hearthealthy omega-3 fatty acids (like in salmon) and polyunsaturated fat, which can help protect against type 2 diabetes.

But the best thing you can give your body is plenty of water; eight glasses a day is the recommended amount. While it might seem like a lot to drink in one day, try grabbing a water bottle and sipping often throughout the day; that makes it easier to drink so much. Water maintains body fluids, body temperature, clears your skin, energizes muscles and helps maintain normal bowel functions. So keep on drinking and you’ll see major results.

These foods are only a few of my favorite things to include in a healthy diet. It may seem easier to reach for fried and greasy food but small steps are a good way to start.

There’s no need to give up your guilty pleasures cold turkey, but using a few of these foods and some other healthy foods you discover on your own will have you looking and feeling good in no time.

Film: The Last Stand Release Date: Jan. 18 Studio: Di Bonaventura Pictures Grade: C He said he’d be back.

Assuming Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “promising” political career is a thing of the past, The Last Stand puts him back in a governmental position that’s nothing like the position he once held. Schwarzenegger (The Expendables 2) is Sheriff Ray Owens, an ex-

Email: lisa.epstein@ubspectrum.com

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L.A. narcotics officer who has retired to the small town of Sommerton Junction.

Directed by Jee-woon Kim (Doomsday Book), the film centers on dangerous mob boss Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega, Una pistola en cada mano) and his escape from death row during a federal prisoner convoy led by FBI agent John Bannister (Forest Whitaker, A Dark Truth). Cortez escapes, and after a few close calls, the nearby Sheriff is finally notified that Cortez is on the loose and may pass through on his way to Mexico. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Noriega and Whitaker on opposite sides. In 2008, they facedoff against each other in Vantage Point.

As expected of any R-rated movie, The Last Stand features excessive ass kicking and gratuitous gore. The first half of the movie Continued on page 10

Courtesy of Lionsgate Arnold Schwarzenegger is back, but The Last Stand might be the last of his films you go see if you're not a sucker for his classic one-liners and ass-kicking.

ubspectrum.com

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

9

The Ramen monster

Fighting cravings for home cooking, one Ramen packet at a time TONG MENG Staff Writer I cannot live without Ramen.

Family and friends who know me always say I am the biggest Ramen junkie they ever met. Others snack on regular tidbits such as chips or cookies.

I snack on Ramen. Despite my mom’s zealous efforts to make me stop consuming such “garbage food,” I just can’t stop. In fact, there is huge box of Ramen tucked safely in the dingy darkness under my bed. I will probably reach for a packet later.

My Ramen addiction did not stop after coming to college. I initially thought the trouble of cooking my own noodles - trudging to the kitchen at the far end of the floor and boiling a pot of water over there - would deter me from eating it.

However, my obsession with Ramen intensified.

This means that my roommate always finds me alone in the room, gorging on a gigantic bowl of noodles, my glasses sliding slowly down the bridge of my nose while staring at the laptop screen, laughing obnoxiously at the comedic genius of some Korean variety shows. During the brief period of peaceful time when the video is buffering, I marvel at how I never seem to get tired of

eating Ramen.

But I actually don’t enjoy Ramen that much.

I used to eat Ramen as a food of convenience. I can’t cook, and I hate munching on dry snacks like crackers to get by because my tongue feels like sandpaper afterward. I have a huge appetite, so it doesn’t make sense for me to nibble on a few carrot sticks that will never fill me up.

In my opinion, Ramen is the best option for me. There is a wide selection of Ramen flavors, mostly trying to imitate popular Southeast Asian dishes like curry. This means I can easily concoct “gourmet cuisine,” despite minimal and often hazardous cooking experience. I relish the feeling of hot, savory soup settling in my empty stomach. No other snacks fight hunger as easily as Ramen.

However, my motivation for eating Ramen has since changed.

Nowadays, I see Ramen as less of a food of convenience and more of a substitute for home cooking. As a college student trapped in a place far from home, I compensate for the lack of gratification from campus dining by eating Ramen, a magical product that reminds me a little of the taste of home.

As an international student from Singapore, I have a hard time adjusting to the food here. Transitioning from what I used to eat back in Singapore to what I eat now in school is a wickedly difficult process. In comparison,

reconciling other differences seems a lot easier. For one, I have gotten used to the cold, harsh winter. For another, I am becoming more adept at deciphering the American accent. Trying to subsist on campus food that is a far cry from home cooking is another thing altogether.

Sometimes, spending my meal exchanges can be a struggle. I cannot decide what to eat because none of the options are actually what I want to eat.

Don’t get me wrong - I don’t find campus food that dreadful. I love the pastries from Au Bon Pain and frequent the shop almost every day. I also like to get eel rolls from Soma Sushi, although traveling to the Student Union in this horrendous weather is such a pain.

However, there are days when the aroma of chocolate croissants is not delightfully tantalizing. The generous dollops of sweet sauce on chewy eel meat taste flavorless.

These are the days when I miss home cooking the most.

The air is always thick with something in Singapore. Sometimes, it is the sharp smell of rain and grass on a cool October day. On others, it is the blistering, equatorial heat.

However, no matter how erratic the weather can be, one thing always remains constant: the fragrance of food that lingers in the air.

There is the zesty, spicy smell of simmering Tom Yum soup, a popular seafood soup that originated in Thailand; the light

sweetness of milk tea, a mixture made from condensed milk and green tea; the refreshing scent of coconut water, poured out from young coconuts that have just been opened.

The list goes on and on.

I know there is Asian cuisine on campus. I have eaten Korean Express a couple of times and have also tried Dancing Chopsticks, Bollywood Bistro and Young Chow.

Some dishes are pretty good, such as Japchae – glass noodles served with marinated strips of beef – from Korean Express. However, nothing really gives me the taste of home.

Sometimes, the Crossroads Culinary Center surprises me with unexpected food.

For instance, it served Thai dishes such as Tom Yum soup and Pad Thai. I like it when such dishes appear on the menu because they are a departure from the typical, trite Asian fare of fried rice and lo mein. Furthermore, they are closer to the signature taste of many Southeast Asian dishes - piquant and flavorful.

Still, such dishes do not show up as often as I want.

So I go back to eating Ramen in the dorm room. The springy, deep-fried noodles cannot replace the scrumptiousness of home cooking. But they’ll do for now.

Email: mtong3@buffalo.edu

Continued from page 1: UB professors dismiss “Food Desert” title Most people are not aware there is a problem in the food system, according to Raja. Even those who shop at major supermarkets and eat healthy are part of the problem. Wegmans’ products travel thousands of miles from where they are produced, costing great amounts of fossil fuels, she said. Additionally, she is concerned about the unknown chemicals and procedures used in production.

Some local farmers, though, are not welcome to sell their goods in the city. Many have been denied entry into the current outdoor markets in Buffalo.

Steve and Erin Blabac own Root Down Farm, a community supported agriculture farm in Clarence. They wanted to sell their

produce at a local farmer’s market but were not allowed.

The Blabacs resorted to opening wholesale accounts in Williamsville and East Aurora as a way to sell the leftover product after taking care of their shareholding customers.

“Unfortunately, the Elmwood-Bidwell market – the only grower’s market in Buffalo – doesn’t have a market manager, so they’re keeping young farmers like us out even though we will diversify the selection,” Erin said.

Barbara Keating, owner of Sweet Temptations du Jour, often bought peaches from the stand next to her at the UB farmers’ market last fall with the intention of returning with peach cobbler. Being involved in an

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open market has given her the opportunity to get fresh ingredients as well as expand her consumer base.

However, Keating is not always able to participate. One of the other big issues with the exclusive urban markets is the high entry fee, she said. The Eastern European baker has paid up to $500 per table for one day at local markets.

Keating felt it was worth the money and would do it again, but she also was denied from the Elmwood-Bidwell market.

“They said they had too many bakers.

But what bothers me is that they didn’t even ask me what I would bring,” she said, while looking down at her table filled with goods such as sugar waffles, sour cream bananas

and stove-popped corn with chocolate.

“I think there’s a lot of need in Buffalo, but that doesn’t mean we should be labeling places as ‘deserts,’” Metcalf said. “It’s not very constructive.”

Keating, the Blabacs and other farmers believe they could help combat the “Food Desert” issue if they were able to personally bring their fresh produce into the city. They agree with Raja and Metcalf, who said the future of the Buffalo food system is not bleak.

Email: news@ubspectrum.com

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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Continued from page 1: Confessions from behind the counter Wojnowski is trained to work every position at McDonald’s, including the grill. He also spends most his shifts closing, meaning he is tasked with cleaning out the grill’s grease trap. He said the brownish sludge that comes out of the grease trap looks “like a giant tub of Vaseline but grosser.”

Shocking to some, Wojnowski not only loves his job, but he loves the food, too.

“People always ask me like, ‘You make the McDonald’s food. Do you still eat it?’”

Wojnowski smiled and answered the selfproposed question assertively, “Yes. It’s absolutely delicious. How could I not?”

Amanda Ramia, a Master’s student in education, stands on the opposite end of the food spectrum from chains like McDonald’s; she is an advocate of fresh ingredients. She and her parents own a deli downtown that serves Lebanese and American food – they specialize in homemade soups.

While almost everything McDonald’s serves comes frozen and goes straight to the fryer without being thawed first, Ramia’s deli prepares its food from scratch – something she said a lot of people may not be used to seeing.

Ramia stressed instances like these are rare, and Wojnowski agreed the idea food service is constantly plagued with people fumingly overacting is a misconception. He recalled customers like Doreen, who drove up regularly in her white Chevy Malibu to order a cookie and a cup of water in the drive-thru. People working would crowd the window to greet the beloved customer, who was always smiling and always paid in exact change.

Still, Ramia, Wojnowski and LaPiano agree people are always going to be particular with their food.

“I think that’s the hardest thing to learn in food, that no matter how wrong the customer is, they’re actually right when it comes to what they want,” LaPiano said.

The three also agree that a lot of people seem to naturally carry a negative connotation toward those who work in food. Ramia disagrees with those who slate food service as an easy job. She said if food industry jobs are being done correctly, they require a lot of planning and skill – something she especially experiences as a business owner.

Wojnowski knows a lot of people think food workers – McDonald’s workers especially – are “miserable, low-wage, not-capable-of-anything” employees. But Wojnowski explained that’s not him at all.

“I’m a college student at UB, but I love working at McDonald’s for some reason,” he said. “We call ourselves the ‘McFamily.’ We’re all friends, and people think everyone hates working here … [but] if you can join the ‘McFamily,’ you can love McDonald’s.”

LaPiano and Wojnowski are currently on academic leaves from their respective jobs.

They both expect to return to their lives behind the counter once classes end for summer.

Wojnowski has one request to those who may spot him at the golden arches in a few months: come to the drive-thru knowing exactly what you want.

“Not knowing what you want at McDonald’s is the biggest deal in the world,” he said.

Email: news@ubspectrum.com

Artwork of the Internet arrives at CFA

Continued from page 8: Schwarzenegger’s last stand

PETE SHAPIRO Staff Writer

may be slow, but the second half is absolutely worth seeing if only for unadulterated, totally over-the-top action scenes, despite the complete lack of plot progression.

Who wouldn’t want to see Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first lead role since the ever so anticipated Terminator 3?

As far as visual composition, Kim’s directorial vision is lost behind sub-par acting and endless bullets. Half the movie is concentrated on the drudgingly slow build up and the other half (in between spurts of blood) is spent admiring a rare Corvette C6 ZR1. The car might be a result of poor product placement or Kim might truly believe cars are still iconic in movies. Regardless, as any type of theme became prevalent, it was lost. It seems that Kim got a little lost in his story, or at least distracted enough to forget that he wasn’t filming a commercial.

As problematic as this movie is, there’s no aspect more problematic than Cortez, the lead villain. Noriega could play this part as well as anyone, as seen with his performance in Tesis. It’s just unclear whether he felt restricted by the script, which was originally written by Andrew Knauer, then rewritten by Jeffrey Nachmanoff and “supervised” by George Nolfi, or he was bored with his character. All in all, his performance pales in comparison to all of the other villains in previous Schwarzenegger flicks.

Regardless of all its flaws, if you find yourself craving classic Arnold Schwarzenegger one-liners, you should stand up right now and go see The Last Stand. Don’t let its poor box office results discourage you. But if not, The Tomb always comes out in September.

Email: arts@ubspectrum.com

“I don’t think people are accustomed to seeing fresh and real ingredients in some soups,” Ramia explained. One time, a costumer even returned a chicken soup when she found what she identified as a piece of rubber within it. Ramia had to explain to the guest it was actually a cinnamon stick and a part of their recipe.

Since Ramia and her parents opened Sue’s N.Y. Deli seven years ago, when Ramia was sophomore in college, she has watched their supportive customer base grow. But she admits, near the beginning, the store did have at least one brush with an irate customer.

When a female customer was unsatisfied with her order, she started to “try to start trouble,” according to Ramia. The customer’s anger escalated quickly after being asked to leave the deli.

She responded to the request by tearing off her shoe and throwing it at Ramia and the others behind the counter.

“Before I knew it, I saw a shoe flying at us,” Ramia said. “She actually ended up walking out of the restaurant with only one shoe on – kind of limping out.”

Inside the Center for the Arts art gallery, a small television greets you, commanding attention from all who enter and catching the more traditional patrons by surprise.

The television, however, is not there for simple recreational purposes. It is actually Boem Kim’s piece “Untitled (News),” set to repeat public service announcements from a number of Korean news broadcasts.

This piece is a part of Time Mutations, a jointexhibition hosted in the CFA gallery, which features works from Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany and Visual Studies at UB. And though pillows are scattered before the set to relax upon, viewers won’t be sitting down for typical mindless television; subtitles on the screen describe disturbing end-of-the-world musings, requests for hair styling tips and vague generalities about the day-to-day life of the hypermodern-globalized inhabitant.

The gallery would make the likes of Fredric Jameson and William Gibson proud, combining post-modernist Internet culture with highbrow artistic expression in a surprisingly surreal exhibition. The focus, however, immediately falls upon an inflatable lounge with live global A/V feeds, suggesting viewers leave their shoes off for just another moment to relax in the grown-up, intellectualized version of a bouncy ball pit.

Potential visitors should be armed with a smartphone QR code reader as each of the artist descriptions and labels has a QR code on it. Upon scanning a code, it’ll take you to a website that has more information, including videos, pictures and biographical information about the artist.

The exhibit itself looks like a romp through someone’s Internet browser history with Steven Nolan’s animated .gif lookalike, titled This Desert was once a Sea, projected upon the wall in full glory.

Jihyun Moon /// The Spectrum The Time Mutation exhibition in the CFA provides an artistic look at Internet culture, enabling students to sit comfortably as they observe different types of visual media.

“These images were taken from Lawrence of Arabia, the epic,” said Max Neupert of Bauhaus University, Weimar, and co-curator of the exhibit. “It’s only 16 frames of the film, so [the subject] seems to be caught in some kind of endless loop.”

Further in the gallery, Carrie Kaser’s piece, titled “Daily Document,” displays an actual frolic through Internet browser history with her ink pen on paper exposé of Internet experience. “[Carrie] traced everything she looked at in one browser window over one week,” said Liz Flyntz, co-curator of the exhibit.

Dotted with familiar logos and browser-marks – UB Mail, Wikipedia, Google, Facebook, Expedia – the piece stylizes the seemingly mundane and pointless aspects of Internet culture into an interesting expression of form and content in HTML documents.

In the back room of the gallery, Jacob Kasey’s untitled silver deposit and acrylic hangs on the wall, blurrily reflecting the viewer’s image back at viewers.

Email: arts@ubspectrum.com

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“Some works don’t need any information,” Flyntz said. “It’s more about how you experience them.”

While not directly related to time dilations or broken timelines, Kasey’s work holds an ambiance of its own in its curiosity and lack of content.

“It’s about more than one thing at a time,” said gallery framer Tom Holt. “Unlike a painting, [which is] a narrative, but only showing you a single moment in the narrative, these works are trying to elaborate more on the before, the now and the after. It’s a way of over-poeticizing time.”

The gallery features works in new media, technology, art and design from both UB and the digital media study program of Bauhaus University. The creativity expressed in this highly modernized form of technologic art is both fascinating and entertaining.

Admission to the gallery is open to all and free of charge until May 4.

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Crossword of the Day

HOROSCOPES

Wednesday, January 30, 2013 FROM UNIVERSAL UCLICK

ACROSS 1 They may dangle near a grill 6 Wash very hard 11 "Steal My Sunshine" onehit wonder 14 Nanook of the North, e.g.

15 Native of Nigeria 16 Inseparable 17 One seeking political favors 19 Uncle Sam lives there 20 Fan components 21 Accumulate, as a bill 23 Movie theater needs 26 Twilled, worsted cloths 27 Guitar-book diagrams 28 A final defender 30 Love archer 31 Elude 32 "Well, whaddya know!"

35 Match-taking game 36 Type of restaurant 38 ___ canto (singing style) 39 Winter hrs. in Florida 40 Birch tree 41 Gangland gal

42 Egglike 44 Company of performers 46 Something to get back to 48 Itty-bitty (Var.) 49 Indian coin 50 Addictive drug 52 Turkish military title 53 They know their cues 58 Certainly not a purebred pooch 59 Ax relatives 60 Nation on the equator 61 Afore's poetic cousin 62 In the poorhouse 63 Advanced with care

DOWN 1 Up to, in adspeak 2 Palindromic Beatles figure 3 Short piece of pencil 4 Chatters inarticulately 5 Fashioned 6 Drops, as pounds 7 Put in an appearance 8 Plays masseuse 9 Ultimate application 10 Went full speed

Edited by Timothy E. Parker January 30, 2013 ONE KEY OR TWO? By Jill Pepper

11 One way to spend a lazy day 12 Follow an event 13 Bimonthly tides 18 Takes control of 22 Swiss canton 23 Public tiff 24 Hilarious Rock 25 Ample space 26 Pudding starch 28 Errand runner 29 Dead fish carry one 31 One of baby's first words 33 Lends a hand 34 Where you can hear pins drop 36 Cook's implement 37 Right-angled extensions 41 Well-off 43 Toss one's hat in the ring 44 Blue-winged duck 45 Director's prerogative 46 Neckwear worn after an accident

47 Predict by signs 48 Stewed 50 Exude, as confidence 51 Appealed in court 54 Homage in verse 55 A connected twin 56 Whole wheat alternative 57 Not even on cloud one

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) -- You can complete an important phase of your current development, but others may not fully appreciate just how much you've accomplished.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) -- There's more to keeping score today than merely tallying the points; you must be willing to look beneath the surface!

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- You're getting close to finishing something you started quite some time ago. Many may think you've given up, but you have a surprise in store!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- You'll understand why there is more to be done than meets the eye today. Get the help of someone who has been your tutor in the past.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- You'll have to pay attention to a great many things at once today; be sure your proverbial peripheral vision is working at peak effectiveness.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- An aggressive, head-on approach is recommended today -- but there will be times in which a more sensitive negotiation is required.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- What was effective yesterday may not work out the best for you today; think about what others are doing, and why, and a lesson will be learned.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22) -- Your notion of perfection is quite different from that of someone close to you -- but you can come to some kind of agreement by day's end.

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LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 22) -- Even the simplest plan can go awry today if you are not ready to implement it in a way that makes sense to those working with you.

Communicate!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) -- You're likely to get some news through the grapevine today that affects you and your immediate future directly. Go right to the source!

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) -- You may enjoy the rare opportunity to redo something that you didn't do right the first time. Don't squander this second chance!

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- You may expect someone to come to your defense today, but the truth is that you will have to deal with this certain situation on your own.

12

Sports

Wednesday, January 30, 2013 ubspectrum.com

Food and brews for your gameday crew Les MiseraBills: I dream The city’s top spots for catching the big game a dream

MARKUS MCCAINE Asst. Sport Editor SAM FERNANDO Asst. News Editor

Brett Hull just skated through the crease and buried the Sabres in game seven. Mike Tolbert got his third touchdown of the day on his third carry – burying your fantasy team to last place. Or maybe, just maybe, you are the only guy around still talking about “Linsanity.”

No matter what your sports craze is, we’ve got the best sports bars in town for you to flaunt your true colors. So put down your remote, get off your $80 dollar thrift store couch and get your self out and about.

A little bonding over sports won’t hurt.

Best pre-game spot: Pearl Street Grill & Brewery A local favorite and a staple of a good pre-game party, Pearl Street is a hop, skip and a jump from First Niagara Center. Gulp down pints of micro-brewed beer and slam home beef-on-wecks. All in time to stumble on down the block to scream your heart out from the upper deck. The Sabres don’t take campus cash so don’t plan on using that financial aid refund check to treat you and your crew to box seats.

Best post-game: Cobblestone Let’s face it: you aren’t going to class the day after you make the journey to the First Niagara Center to watch some puck. So you might as well keep the party going. Cobblestone is around the corner from the arena, hidden down the rocky, bumpy, hand-laid streets. And who knows, you may even catch a player or two out for some post-game celebrations – or despair.

Best glutton spot: Mooney’s Over 100 people have tried and only three have completed the challenge. Two humans and an English Mastiff named Thor.

Think you’re up for the Moses Challenge?

Three pounds of meat and an endless barrage of toppings and condiments create more of a mountain range than a sub. This beast of a sandwich weighs in at a gluttonous

Courtesy of Pearl Street Grill & Brewery Pearl Street Grill & Brewery boasts a wide selection of food and beer to appease even the most difficult sports fan.

6 pounds. If eating until your stomach rips and your arteries clog isn’t your thing, then escape the cold with arguably the best mac and cheese in the Buffalo area. A big menu of classic bar foods sings a nice duet with everything mac and cheese under the sun. You could even go outside of the box with a fried pickle. At Mooney’s, there is something for everyone.

Best beer selection: MacGregor’s MacGregor’s has the largest beer selection around UB North Campus. From Flying Bison Rusted Chain Ales and Magic Hat IPA to Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold Lager and Goose Island Big John Stout. If you can’t find a beer here then you just aren’t a beer drinker. There is not a place in the bar where you can sit and not see a TV.

Off the mark: Thirsty Buffalo Thirsty Buffalo isn’t your typical skinny jean, black glasses, TOMS-wearing Elmwood dive bar. You won’t find any art galleries in here – only 22 plasma screen TVs. If 22 screens isn’t enough, then how about 32 beers on tap? Thirsty Buffalo doesn’t completely lose its Elmwood charm, though.

So go ahead, you earned it: order yourself a Franziskaner.

The equation is simple: food plus beer plus sports will always equal a good time. So set your DVR to record Say Yes to the Dress and get out to happy hour. The night is going to get weird.

Email: sports@ubspectrum.com

Home-court cooking

Bulls’ hunger extends beyond Alumni Arena JOE KONZE JR Senior Sports Editor Women’s basketball head coach Felisha Legette-Jack makes a career out of exploiting the opposing team’s weakness. If the other teams only knew that her biggest weakness is her Aunt Collie’s lasagna, maybe they would stand a chance.

“She put her elbows in it,” Legette-Jack said. “I want to cry after; it’s so good.”

This is just one of the many quotes about food that surround the athletes and coaches here at Buffalo. When they aren’t dishing dimes, dunking or making defenders miss, the men’s basketball players are enjoying the meals that bring back memories and provide them with flavorful taste.

Xavier Ford: The 6-foot-7, 210-pound forward is a regular grinder for the men’s basketball team.

However, when Ford isn’t defending and penetrating the post, he is whipping up his most prized dish: homemade ribs.

Before he arrived in Buffalo, Ford had developed a background in culinary arts through a junior college program.

The inspiration for his best dish is not only credited to his experience in culinary classes but also the fact it is engrained in his roots.

Ford’s grandma makes his favorite dish.

“My grandma’s meatloaf or her greens.

She’s an extraordinary cook, the best cook in the family,” Ford said. “Whenever I go [back] home, I have to get my greens from her; them things is good.”

Tony Watson: On the court, he makes a home out of the three-point line. But Tony Watson’s mom’s baked macaroni and cheese reminds him of what home really is.

Hailing from West Palm Beach, Fla., Watson is always greeted with his favorite homemade meal when his plane lands.

“My mom is one of the best baked macaroni and cheese makers I’ve ever come across,” Watson said. “That’s my favorite food and she knows. When I come home, there’s a bunch of it.”

He knows he cannot match his mother’s mouth-watering dish, but Watson has created his own dishes.

Whether he is using red sauce or Alfredo, the senior guard is a fan of pasta.

“I cook a lot of pasta,” Watson said. “My favorite is baked ziti with some red sauce and some sausage.”

If Watson could have anything he wanted here in Buffalo, it would be seafood, but Watson says “on a college budget, you can’t afford it.”

Javon McCrea: McCrea often splits defenders for highlight-reel layups and dunks with his mother watching from the sidelines.

When it comes down to cooking, McCrea is a huge fan of his mother’s soul food, which consists of macaroni and cheese, peas, corn and fried chicken.

But McCrea is a simple man when it comes to his own recipes.

“Well. my roommates cook,” McCrea said. “[I don’t] cook. I just make sandwiches, hot dogs and simple stuff.”

Did you know?

UB has won four of its last five games against Central Michigan and nine straight against MAC West opponents.

Check out the Bulls’ next game at home Wednesday night as they’ll square off with Central Michigan in a Mid-American Conference battle starting at 7 p.m.

With the Super Bowl a few days away, I can’t help but think of my Buffalo Bills and whether I will ever get to see them hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

Yes, I know the words “Buffalo Bills” and “Super Bowl” have no business being in the same sentence – unless that sentence is the punch line of a joke – but a man can dream, can’t he?

If you ask any Buffalonian what the City of Buffalo is known for, chances are you’ll get one of three answers: snow, chicken wings or, of course, losing four straight Super Bowls.

You would think this “feat” would bring more embarrassment than honor to our city, but it’s actually the opposite. Only in Buffalo can losing be glorified to the point where it defines a city. And to be perfectly honest, I am OK with that.

Being a Bills fan is not easy. It takes years to master that perfect balance between hopeless misery and delusional optimism – a balance this city knows all too well.

I was born on Jan. 3, 1991. So I was alive for each game of the painful streak but had the privilege of not suffering through it. I can’t imagine watching those four games – three of which were blowouts – and continuing to be a diehard fan this city has come to be known for. But I guess that’s just a testament to what Buffalo has grown to be.

They say: “good things come to those who wait.” Too bad they never said how long.

I have never had a reason to love this team. Just to put it into perspective, the last time the Bills made the playoffs, Survivor wasn’t even a show yet. The last time they won a playoff game, the first Harry Potter book hadn’t even come out. Neither had Pokémon. They have had only one season above .500 since their last playoff appearance in 2000.

Why do I keep pledging my undying love for this team?

It comes down to passion and loyalty – something a lot of cities with more reason to celebrate than we do lack.

Bills fans who witnessed the streak will tell you those years should still be considered a success, even if they didn’t result in a Lombardi Trophy. Even Marv Levy, the former coach of the Buffalo Bills, said: “If what they did wasn’t extraordinary, how come no one else has done it ... There’s one way to assure you’ll never lose a Super Bowl. Don’t go.”

We have a surprising appreciation for our football team. That coupled with our “glass-half-full” philosophy makes up the conundrum that is being a Bills fan.

In the midst of the storm, we always focus on those brief periods of calm. It’s easy to look back at failure, but Bills fans are always quick to point out The Comeback or how Don Beebe never quit.

If we never embraced those painful years, we would have no reason to be the great fans the Bills perennially have. Losing created that strong bond every Bills fan can relate to, no matter his or her age.

Just like the Boston Red Sox’s World Series win in 2004 was only made sweeter because of Bill Buckner, when the Buffalo Bills finally win that Super Bowl generations have been lusting after for years, it will be even sweeter for fans because of their loyalty, faith and especially the fourconsecutive losses.

Whether the Ravens or the 49ers are celebrating another Super Bowl victory this Sunday, I’ll be thinking about my Buffalo Bills and that one day they will be able to say they are going to Disney World.

Our undying love for the Bills is unparalleled by any football team this side of the Atlantic. We’ve never won the Super Bowl, but every year we enter the season saying “This is our year.” But unlike other cities, we actually Billieve it.

Email: sam.fernando@ubspectrum.com