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Friday, April 19, 2013
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Volume 62 No. 74
REBECCA BRATEK Managing Editor
Courtesy of Joe Cascio
President Satish Tripathi (left) returned to Western New York on Sept. 6, after completing the first half of his "20 Cities in 20 Months" tour to engage UB alumni. He spoke at the historic Lafayette Hotel in downtown Buffalo, which was packed with over 400 guests, about his visions for UB 2020 and the university as it moves into the future.
Over the past two years, UB has invested $400,000 in an alumni engagement and fundraising tour. The tour has raised over $8.9 million – over 22 times more than the investment. And it’s not over. UB President Satish Tripathi has traveled to nine states and four countries on the tour. Tripathi, who was inaugurated as UB’s 15th president in Sept. 2011, has completed 19 stops of his “UB Presidential Tour for UB Alumni: 20 Cities in 20 Months” expedition to date. Though Alumni Relations considers this tour to be a “huge success,” some UB community members wonder if Tripathi’s time is best spent reaching out to alumni away from campus. “Why is President Tripathi going around the world soliciting money from wealthy potential donors, rather than teaming up with other SUNY presidents, with faculty and professional and staff unions and with the citizens and owners of SUNY to lobby Albany for a decent level of public support for the university?” said James Holstun, an English professor, in an email. “Doesn’t this move UB even further away from a public university and toward something that the wealthy feel they own?” The tour, which is organized and funded by the Office of Alumni Relations and sponsored by the Alumni Association, serves as Tripathi’s welcome to the UB community and his first greeting to the almost 220,000 UB alumni worldwide – the largest constituency of UB stakeholders. Tripathi aims to share what’s happening on campus – namely the progress of UB 2020 and UB’s plans for the future of the university. SEE TRIPATHI, PAGE 4
Petition Abortion debate draws passionate crowd in Knox created in Tempers flare as abortion-rights advocates leave debate early support of arrested professor SHARON KAHN
Asst. Features Editor
SARA DINATALE
Senior News Editor
About 600 people have signed a petition calling for the dismissal of charges against Laura Curry, the adjunct media study instructor who was arrested at Monday’s anti-abortion display outside the Student Union. Curry was charged with disorderly conduct. She received an appearance ticket for the Amherst Town Court on May 9. Curry is declining to make public comments until after her court date. She was arrested after vocalizing her distaste for the display, which UB Students for Life brought to campus on Monday and Tuesday. Monday’s display showcased graphic images comparing abortion to genocide and the Holocaust. Curry used the word “f**k” to express her feelings on the display. Curry’s arrest was filmed on a student’s phone, shared on the Internet and Fox News and The Huffington Post picked up the story. Cayden Mak, a media study instructor who is involved in Curry’s support committee, said the amount of signatures on the online petition “was approaching 600” as of Thursday morning. The petition and statement were a response to “a lot of the decontextualized coverage of the story in the mainstream media,” according to Mak. “We are ashamed that a strong emotional response to hate on campus is considered disorderly, while the hate itself is sanctioned,” a statement produced by Curry’s supporters said. “We are alarmed that the University Police used unilateral power in deciding which types of speech are and are not acceptable.” UPD said it doesn’t make statements and referred comment to UB’s communication department. SEE Curry, PAGE 2
On Monday and Tuesday, members of the UB community protested outside the Student Union because UB Students for Life President Christian Andzel invited the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform to campus, and the group set up graphic images of aborted fetuses. On Thursday evening, tensions between anti-abortion and abortions-rights advocates carried into Knox 20. Andzel and Anna Franzonello, a lawyer and staff counsel for Americans United For Life, debated Rachel Stern, a TA for global studies, and Christian Malloy, a freshman undecided major, on whether abortion should be considered legal or illegal. The event got so heated that Stern and Malloy immediately left the lecture hall following cross-examinations. An abortion-rights student stood up after the anti-abortion side’s cross-examination and asked students to take a stance. “I ask you students of UB to stand up and leave with dignity with me,” he proclaimed. Stern and Malloy followed the student, upset and flustered. During Andzel’s cross-examination, members of the audience repeatedly screamed out at the abortion-rights party for being “incompetent” and “unprepared.” Anti-abortion audience members shouted that the abortionrights party had to “face the facts.” Student Association President Travis Nemmer, who moderated the debate, boisterously quieted the audience and urged people to hold their opinions until the appropriate question-and-answer period. The anti-abortion debaters continued to insist they did not have enough time to prepare. Malloy insisted that the abortion-rights party was invited to debate 72 hours before the event, while the anti-abortion party had been preparing for at least four months. “If you believe in something, you don’t need more than 72 hours to prepare for it,” said Latoya Kimberly Stew, a history graduate student.
Alexa Strudler, The Spectrum
Christian Andzel (standing), the UB Students For Life president, cross-examines the abortion-rights side of global studies TA Rachel Stern (sitting, left) and freshman undecided major Christian Malloy.
Andzel took the stage again to explain how be believed the debate was fairly planned, explaining that his opposition canceled last week and left him scrambling to find new debaters. Andzel told the audience the abortion-rights members not only walked out on the debate but “walked out on the students.” Andzel said the “debate of the year” was all about getting the discussion rolling and he wanted to “really hone the argument of today’s social issues.” After Nemmer told Malloy told his opening statement “violated the rules,” Malloy announced that he had “nothing left to say” and took his seat. Malloy addressed Andzel’s opening statement in his own opening words, which Nemmer said was a violation. Malloy’s opening speech lasted less than a minute.
Each party took turns crossexamining the opposite side after each presented its case. Stern questioned Andzel and Franzonello. Andzel followed by questioning Stern and Malloy. While Andzel shared his personal story of his mother putting him up for adoption due to her inability to support a child, Stern emphasized that it was Andzel’s mother’s choice to do so. Hostility continued to grow, and audience members didn’t make the event any more peaceful. Constant outbursts often led the debaters off topic. Like last year’s debate, there was a major focus on whether a fetus can be considered a human. Stern and Malloy both argued that while a fetus is reliant on the mother, the fetus is a parasite and not considered a human.
Stew yelled out and argued with Nemmer to allow her to speak and address the abortion-rights party’s concern with the Center For BioEthical Reform’s signs that compared abortion to the Holocaust and other genocides. “Jews were not wanted in Germany, African Americans were not wanted in America and what is a fetus – not wanted,” Stew shouted. The debate concluded with closing words from Andzel and Franzonella. Within the last few minutes, Malloy returned to the lecture hall with his closing words. “We live in a country where we have our morals … and no one has the right to infringe them on other people,” Malloy said. Phil Tucciarone, a junior chemical engineering major, walked to the front of the room to explain why the abortion-rights debaters walked out. SEE DEBATE, PAGE 2