THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO, SINCE 1950
ubspectrum.com
UB students "step out of their own lives," spend spring break teaching children in the Dominican Republic.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Page
4
Volume 62 No. 63
With an absent father and a mother diagnosed with breast cancer, forward Christa Baccas knows what it means to rise up for a team. Baccas was left to not only fulfill her basketball dreams, but help her mother and four siblings throughout her mother’s treatment.
“Christa’s invaluable. She is like our caretaker. She doesn’t care about the points or anything other than our success. She will do whatever she has to do to make sure we are good. That’s why she’s our captain.”
Home to hardwood, Baccas learns leadership Drawing inspiration from mother’s health struggles, Baccas prospers on court SPECTRUM FILE PhOTOS
OWEN O’BRIEN Staff Writer
At 6-foot-2, Christa Baccas stands above nearly every other women’s basketball player on the court. She is often the last line of defense between her opponent and the basket. With an absent father and a mother diagnosed with breast cancer, she knows what it means to rise up for a team. Baccas was left to not only fulfill her basketball dreams, but help her mother and four siblings throughout her mother’s treatment. At age 16, following her mother’s diagnosis, Baccas was called upon to make the switch from the passenger seat next to her mom, AnnMarie Baccas, and her oldest brother, Mario Baccas, and take over the wheel. These days, Baccas is driving the Bulls in a winning direction. Baccas, a sophomore forward, is one of two captains on the women’s basketball team. She finished the season first in minutes, rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage for the Bulls en route to
being selected to the honorable mention All-Mid-American Conference team. She was also second on the Bulls in steals, third in assists and fifth in scoring. Challenges have been thrown her way, both on and off the court, but she has been able to surpass them all and exceed expectations. Baccas’ father left when she was only a child, forcing her mother to work 16- to 18-hour shifts as a shipping clerk and at Walmart. When Ann-Marie returned home, she had to fulfill the role of both mother and father to five children. “She never complained once,” Baccas said. “I have no clue how she did it.” The family pulled together to help make every day as easy as possible for their mother. The kids would often cook dinner for her so she could relax and have a hot meal ready for the limited time she had before another shift began. The family members were used to uniting and sacrificing for one another through adversity when they were challenged yet again. This time: a life-threatening diagnosis.
In Baccas’ sophomore year of high school, Ann-Marie was diagnosed with breast cancer, leaving her unable to work for over a year while dealing with treatments. Following the diagnosis, Baccas knew she had to play a larger role in the family. She was called upon to drive her younger brother to practices and school or take her mother to doctors’ appointments when Mario couldn’t. Her mother’s strength amidst difficulty was staggering to Baccas. She never “broke down,” according to Baccas. Their mother’s diagnosis shook the family, but it provided opportunities to spend more time together – something they rarely experienced before. “Looking [back] now, I can say the only thing that cancer did to me was make me a much stronger person by giving me a year of unpaid vacation so that I can see my family more often, which resulted in my family becoming closer,” Ann-Marie said. “We would all sit down every night for dinner, which normally happened only around Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas because of my work schedule.”
The all-rounder
Staff Writer
The bus is packed. Students are crammed next to one another in the tight, container-like space. Some are fortunate and able to rest in the coveted seats while others have to stand for the next three minutes. Still, everyone is uncomfortably close to each other. There is a low buzz of indistinguishable noises. It’s broken as soon as the bus pulls away from the curb. “It is three-o-nine in the p.m. Next stop – Greeeeiner! How’s everybody doing today?” calls Stephen Parker, sitting comfortably behind the Stampede’s wheel. There is instant recognition. Some passengers surreptitiously flash a knowing smile. More enthusiastic ones yell out greetings. They are excited to see the bus driver, who is better known to passengers as “Pastor Parker.” The jolly pastor is well liked for interacting with them on the bus – a gem among the Stampede staff.
Parker speaks into the bus microphone, greets the crowd cheerfully and gives them the word of the day. He encourages everyone to follow him on Twitter and Facebook, which he updates daily with inspirational thoughts for students. “All righty, folks,” Parker beams. “Don’t forget to do a random act of kindness. If you do something nice to somebody else, they might in turn do something for you.” He also makes his mission to brighten up students’ days by playing games on the bus – usually Jeopardy! or Family Feud. Parker has built up a reputation for himself over the past five years as one of UB students’ favorite bus drivers. Parker is a pastor who started his own church and runs an oncampus Bible study group. Apart from his bus driving duties and ministerial services, Parker takes on three other lesser-known roles: developmental aide, regular family guy and college student.
“I remember Christa would follow me over asking to play, but she would have to wait until the big kids were done, so she would go to the next court and just shoot away all by herself,” Mario said. “As soon as I was done, I would say to her: ‘You ready to lose?’ She would smile from ear to ear, and we would play one-on-one until it was dark.” That’s when he knew playing ball was her calling. Off the court is where Mario’s importance to Baccas and the rest of the family truly shined. “He was important [to keeping the family together],” Baccas said. “With him around, [Ann-Marie] wouldn’t have to worry about how we would get to our dentist appointments, practices and school. He was just always there to make us feel comfortable.” Both mother and daughter have shown resiliency and the ability to handle affliction while making no excuses. The two demand the best out of themselves and are not satisfied with any less.
SEE BACCAS, PAGE 8
Change of pope may cause ‘change in melody’
Stampede bus driver doubles as pastor, developmental aide, college student, father TONG MENG
Mario was first a role model to his sister because of his basketball abilities, but that was far from the only reason. He was a three-sport athlete – baseball, basketball and football – his entire life. However, he stopped playing sports early in high school to help out with his mother. When Mario played growing up, Baccas was never far behind. Baccas would always go to Mario’s Catholic Youth Organization games and charge the court during halftime just to shoot around for a few minutes. When she was younger, Mario would even pick her up to help her make the shots until she became able to knock them down on her own. Whether it was a gym floor or blacktop, Baccas was looking to play with her older brother at every opportunity. The two had an aunt who lived about 10 minutes away with a basketball park around the corner. Although the siblings are separated by five years, they spent countless hours on those courts together growing up.
UB community reacts to Pope Francis ERIC CORTELLESSA
Staff Writer
Many students look forward to the games and have a genuine interest in answering the questions. Others listen attentively, and a few remain undisturbed. But still students get off the bus with smiles on their faces, according to Benjamin Osenbach, an economic development graduate student. “I’ve ridden on the UB Stampede several times and have always found it to be quiet because people don’t talk or even make eye contact with each other,” Osenbach said in an email. “When Pastor Parker starts asking his questions for ‘Stampede Feud’ or Jeopardy!, I actually see people teaming up to answer the questions, and it really is just an awesome thing to see.” Others seem to share Osenbach’s sentiments. Parker has 1,206 followers on his Twitter page, which is covered in grateful tweets from students who have found his bus rides fun and uplifting since he started working in 2007. SEE PARKER, PAGE 2
A month after a pope resigned for the first time in over 600 years, Jorge Mario Bergoglio took his place. He is the first pope in the history of the Catholic Church to come from South America. On March 13, as a puff of white smoke emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, members of the UB community experienced a diverse array of responses as Catholic cardinals selected a new pope to lead the church during challenging times. The Argentina native will be called Francis. He chose his name in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, one of the most revered religious figures in history, noted for his acts of charity and embrace of those living in poverty. Father Patrick Keleher, director of the Newman Center at UB: Catholic Campus Ministry, expressed a desire for the new pope to “change the melody, but not the words.” He also stated he was pleased to see the Cardinals pick someone from Latin America and that, at age 76, Pope Francis is both old enough to have the wisdom for the
papacy and young enough to have the ambition to change the trajectory of the church. “I think he will be less discriminating,” Keleher said. “Let’s hope he’s more welcoming.” But Jamie Gugino, a junior English and psychology major, doesn’t really see how the pope could “make a significant change with what is going on today in this world.” Gugino, a native of Buffalo, grew up as a Roman Catholic and attended parochial school but later in life decided she wanted to look elsewhere for religious and spiritual guidance. “When I was 19 or 20 years old, I tried to study all the religions so that I could pick something,” she said. “I went to Catholic school my whole life, but when I was done, I picked a religion, or tried to. I thought Buddhism and Taoism were probably the closest to what I think.” Gugino feels the Catholic Church is not a cohesive enough institution to make a substantial impact on current affairs and the role of the pope is largely irrelevant in the modern world. SEE POPE, PAGE 2