The Spectrum Volume 63 Issue 78

Led by Band Perry, Spring Fest excites crowd Q&A: The Spectrum sits down with Gloriana THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO, SINCE 1950

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Top 10 athletes of D1 era – No. 3: Javon McCrea

MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014

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Volume 63 No. 78

‘The only hood with green’ Differing sides prevalent on development of medical school in McCarley Gardens MADELAINE BRITT Asst. News Editor

It’s a Friday afternoon in McCarley Gardens, a housing complex in the Fruit Belt area of the lower East Side of Buffalo. Afternoon light filters through the trees lining the red brick townhouses.

Weaving through the streets, a school bus drops off a child, who, with her backpack beating against her, runs to a group of men standing beside parked cars. Across from them, McCarley Gardens resident A.D. Cooper talks on his phone while a woman pushes a stroller with her two children to their apartment, closing the door behind her.

In the McCarley Gardens community on Michigan Avenue in downtown Buffalo, life carries on normally. In the eyes of resident Eric McGriff Jr., who grew up in the low-income housing development and has lived there for 26 years, this particular Friday is like any other day. For him, McCarley Gardens is home, where everyone knows each other and looks out for each other. Nobody gets hurt here and no house is broken into, McGriff said.

“This is what we know,” he said.

Cooper agrees. A resident of the complex for 18 years, he has raised his kids here. As he takes a swig of whiskey with his neighbor, he points across the street to where he used to sled when he was a kid.

Jordan Oscar, The Spectrum Growing up in McCarley Gardens, Eric McGriff Jr. has lived in the complex for 26 years. He stands in front of the same tree he stood at as a young child. See more photos with this story at ubspectrum.com.

This was always home for him and his family. The same basketball courts, the same families.

But there is change in the air.

Across the complex, there are different sounds. Construction workers congregate in front of caution tape. Students filter in and out of Roswell Park Cancer Institute. The blue University at Buffalo emblem is hung, and metal building structures grow by the hour.

Just steps from the McCarley Gardens townhouses, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) is growing. With six facilities currently housed on the BNMC site, UB is expanding into what its website calls “a medical school for the 21st century.”

The project is a part of the university’s $375 million funding,

which is partially paid for by NYSUNY 2020. The university is one of 14 member institutions of BNMC. Accounting for 120 acres and 6.5 million square feet, BNMC brings in one million visitors each year. Housing research centers and medical services, including Kaleida Health and the Buffalo Medical Group, BNMC, Inc. is a not-forprofit entity that oversees the actions of all 14 organizations.

Since BNMC’s founding in 2001, its population has risen from 7,000 people to 12,000. With UB Medical School to open in 2016, an expected 5,000 more people will be on the grounds.

Yet for the campus’ surrounding neighborhoods – with the Fruit Belt neighborhood to the east and Allentown to the west – the pop-

ulation is struggling. According to the dean of UB’s architecture school, Robert Shibley, the Fruit Belt neighborhood contains 2,000 people, making the project an opportunity for the area to bring in revenue and new residents.

“We are building down there because it is absolutely the best thing for the relationship between health care, research and education for medical students,” Shibley said.

“That’s our mission. At the same time, we recognize, I think, that we exist in this community that hosts us and we see the way in which our choices to do a better job at our mission, create opportunities for public policy and developers and residents to take advantage of those improvements and increasing wealth.”

Three years ago, St. John Baptist Church, which owns the McCarley Gardens housing complex, proposed a $15 million deal to sell the 160-acre property to the UB Foundation, a private organization that handles all donations to the university and controls close to $1 billion of UB assets and endowment funds.

Reverend Michael Chapman, the pastor at St. John Baptist Church, refused to comment.

After outrage from community members, who went as far as sending a petition to the Buffalo Common Council, the plan was taken off of the table, according to BNMC CEO Matthew Enstice.

“On the whole, we want the neighborhoods to thrive. We will never go into the neighborhoods and redevelop the neighborhoods,” Enstice said. “We will never tell them what to do. Just as our institutions are running their businesses, we are going to go to them and ask, ‘How can we be helpful to you?’ That’s the role we play right now. “ Many residents were not aware that the plan to tear down McCarley Gardens, which surfaced in June 2013, is now off the table.

“I hear they will tear down houses. For a lot of poor people, it’s a nice place to live,” said 67-year-old Ana Rodriguez, who has been living in the housing complex since February.

Rodriguez, who lives with her granddaughter while being treated at Roswell Park Cancer Institute for a lung issue, thinks the residents will have to be moved somewhere else if BNMC needs the land. As she walked around the grounds with her dog, Bruno, and spoke with neighbors, she said she enjoys living in the complex.

Down the block, resident Efigenia Orellana stood inside the screen door with her toddler grandson, Gavin. Orellana, who has lived in McCarley Gardens for seven years, resides across the street from St. John. She does not speak much English but said she enjoyed the “quiet, passive” comSEE MCCARLEY, PAGE 2

For some students, a In search of happiness call to the religious life Amid cultural surge, UB community weighs in UB students discuss vocational callings within the Catholic faith

on definition of happiness BRIAN WINDSCHITL

Asst. Features Editor

joe konze jr., the spectrum

Christine Schaefer, a junior history and German major, has been considering the religious life within the Catholic faith – which, for women, means becoming a nun.

ANNE MULROONEY

Asst. Features Editor

Regardless of his or her dream vocation, most every student is driven by passion and ambition.

But some students are different.

They are fueled more by faith than anything else – in fact, some students dream of dedicating their lives to the Catholic Church. Their vocational calling – as a priest, a nun or a simple disciple of Christ – is their first priority.

Catholic priests, nuns and monks are required to take vows of celibacy – meaning they cannot be married or engage in any kind of sexual conduct. Christine Schaefer, a junior history and German major, has been considering the religious life – which, for women, means becoming a nun – for about a year. She finds these vows of celibacy appealing.

“I know sometimes people are like, ‘Oh my gosh, to be celibate is one of the most intimidating things.’ For me, I haven’t found that intimidating,” Schaefer said. “It was actually more of my wanting to run away from even the possibility of being impure, because I thought I couldn’t be chaste in marriage – meaning that I wouldn’t be able to use sex and

my body in the correct way.”

Diane Christian, a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor in the English department and former nun, believes these vows of celibacy are important to the religious life.

“I think the position of sexual abstinence is a valid one,” Christian said in an email. “For the old witness to Christ and afterlife reasons, and for a redress to the oversexed culture about us.”

Although Schaefer believes her draw to the religious life could partly be a reaction to her fear of marriage, she also finds the intense meditation of the lifestyle beautiful. She strongly believes in the power of prayer and how it can heal the world.

“It sometimes seems like people think if you’re cloistered and cut off from the world, you’re not really doing God’s work,” Schaefer said. “But if you’re praying and that’s your mission, it’s so important. It’s hard to see, because we can’t see the spiritual realm, but the power is there. It’s real.”

Christian became a nun chiefly because of the “nobility and idealism” she saw in the vocation. At 21, she entered the religious life; at 24, she took her first vows; and at SEE RELIGIOUS LIFE, PAGE 6

Pop culture dominates our society, a society composed of isms – materialism, capitalism, classism.

With such complex ideas clouding mainstream thought, where does happiness fit in?

Today, the hyper-consumer mentality has created a culture that brands happiness as a commodity – something that can be bought or attained rather than something innate or subjective.

Perhaps a better question to ask is: What is happiness?

Each person’s definition of the term has a major impact on how that individual lives – why that person wakes up every morning, what he or she seeks, hopes and dreams.

Recently, Pharrell Williams’ hit song, “Happy,” has topped Billboard charts, becoming hugely popular worldwide for not only its infectious vibes and bubbly lyrics but also for its message. “Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof,” Williams sings. “Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth.”

The message is clear: Williams believes happiness is great. As for what happiness is? The artist never answers that question, instead keeping his song ambiguous and open to interpretation. Never in “Happy” does Williams touch on what happiness is to him, just that he has it and loves having it.

Perhaps the genius is in the simplicity. His song encapsulates how much of society views happiness – a concept, vague and loosely defined, that is held as the ultimate goal of life.

So, just what is happiness? That depends on who you ask.

A scientist might tell you that happiness is constituted in the release of specific chemicals in the brain – dopamine and endorphins

art by amber sliter, the spectrum

among them. A religious figure may say that happiness is found in faith in the divine. A musician could argue that true joy is woven into the sound of harmonies and melodies – “Music is my religion,” the immortal Jimi Hendrix famously quipped.

David Schmid, an English professor at UB who teaches pop culture classes, says attaining happiness is a continual chase – maybe one that will never reach fruition – and questions if happiness is a basic human right.

“Happiness is not achieving a certain goal or reaching a certain stage,” Schmid said. “Happiness is something that is meant to be incomplete – something that you are constantly striving toward.”

The abstruseness of Williams’ “happiness” is its true brilliance.

Playing on the childhood song, “If you are happy and you know it, clap your hands,” Williams sings that nothing can bring him down and tells his listeners to “Clap along if you know what happiness is to you.”

But do they know? Does he even know?

Society has made it so the pursuit of happiness isn’t only akin to

climbing a steep, perilous mountain. It has made it akin to climbing that mountain blindfolded.

For all of these varieties of happiness, there are infinite others.

What may bring joy and contentment to one person may bring dejection and depression to another.

And for every Pharrell Williams, there is a Lorde – the 17-year-old New Zealand performer whose socially critical “Royals” topped mainstream radio for much of 2013.

Lorde, born Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor, constantly critiques society’s message of happiness throughout her debut album, Pure Heroine.

In “Tennis Court,” the album’s opening song, she introduces her message: “Getting pumped up on the little bright things I bought / But I know they’ll never own me.”

In “Royals,” she sings: “Everyone’s like, Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece / Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash / We don’t care / We aren’t caught up in your love affair.”

Lorde exposes the pervasive idea that buying and owning more – and more, and then more still – SEE Happiness, PAGE 5

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Continued from page 1: McCarley munity and hopes to live there for a long time. “The idea of just sweeping those people aside for this development doesn’t sit well with me, and it doesn’t sit well with people who care about vulnerable populations,� said Dr. Kelly Patterson, an assistant professor in the UB School of Social Work who used to teach in UB’s School of Architecture and Planning.

Patterson pointed out the risks associated with the expansion of the medical campus and “eds and meds,� or educational and medical institutions. Describing herself as a “social planner,� she focuses on community development and vulnerable populations in her research. Her recent work has emphasized McCarley Gardens.

She recognizes the positive impact the medical campus expansion could have on the local economy and for the City of Buffalo.

For her, though, the concern rests in the future of the individual community members and how they will be impacted by this expansion and what she calls “the urban regime� – or the major institutions establishing there.

Patterson partnered with Dr. Robert Silverman, an associate professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and a researcher at UB’s Center for Urban Studies, and student Jade Lewis, who is in her first year in the Master’s of Urban Planning program. The three produced a 21-page paper, William Worthy’s Concept of “Institutional Rape� Revisited: Anchor Institutions and Residential Displacement in Buffalo, NY, which takes an in-depth look at urban revitalization and how it compares to the methods of the 1970s.

The article, which received regional recognition from journalists and planners around the area, uncovered the societal impact the BNMC expansion has had on its surrounding neighborhoods and the existing urban fabric. As stated in the publication, the surge of revitalization projects through medical campuses and educational institutions in the late 20th century ultimately led to gentrification and housing displacement. The researchers put William Worthy’s “institutional rape� theory to the test with modern-day Buffalo.

Patterson, Silverman and Lewis came together because they were concerned with how the campus would affect McCarley Gardens, said Patterson, who believes the voices of residents are not being heard as well as they should be. “We have always been fascinated with the idea of giving a voice to vulnerable populations,� Patterson said. “How do you do that?

What does that look like? What creates the barriers for them to have a voice? Why can’t they have a voice? Why can’t they have a seat at the table? Why don’t their needs and con-

cerns get expressed?�

For her, the residents who live in McCarley Gardens are at a severe disadvantage up against the powerful 14 institutions and an urban center in dire need of employment opportunities and capital. “As it usually is, the poor residents usually lose because in a city like Buffalo that’s declining with the climate that it has had and the state that it is – the third-poorest city in the country – you have a big push to create a synergy within the city for economic development [and] business development,� she continued. “People want to buy into that because there is a need to create jobs in a poor city. There is a need to develop economically and expand the tax base.�

Ekua Mends-Aidoo, the project associate of BNMC whose role is “linking the medical campus to the community,� according to BNMC’s website, believes otherwise – that the residents do have a voice.

Mends-Aidoo, who before working at BNMC helped manage Mayor Byron Brown’s Livable Communities Grant Program for the City of Buffalo, pointed out the medical campus’ “Four Neighborhoods, One Community� initiative. She says this project will result in a “multiplier effect� – meaning local hiring, local business investment and working with the local economy.

In the “Fruit Belt Neighborhood Strategy Development Framework Plan� published

by BNMC, plans push for community investment, saying, “as development takes hold and generates additional foot traffic and eyes on the streets, the Fruit Belt will become a safer [and] more inviting neighborhood.�

Mends-Aidoo said the various goals of the implementation plan include workforce training for local community members, building a unified voice and revising parts of the Urban Renewal Plan introduced to the Fruit Belt area in 1972, which could allow for new housing development. “[You are] only as strong as your surrounding communities,� Mends-Aidoo said.

Cooper isn’t convinced the medical campus is doing all it can to reach out to McCarley Gardens. Although he supports the educational opportunities afforded by the new campus, he doubts they will benefit his neighbors and himself and feels his own children are not benefitting from the opportunities. “Nobody asked any questions,â€? he said. “Before it was looked at as property, it was looked at as homes ‌ family is down here ‌ they don’t let people talk.â€?

In Lewis’ first year as an MUP candidate, she has worked under Silverman and talked with the BNMC developers. With an undergraduate degree in environmental design and political science, Lewis became involved with

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urban planning because of her passion for housing. Although she recognizes planning takes time, she said BNMC could greatly improve its relationship with the community. “In terms of McCarley Gardens, they are part of the neighborhood, too, and it feels like, because they are in subsidized housing, that [their] voice doesn’t have much importance,â€? Lewis said. “If you took a snapshot of right now, it feels like mainly UB is winning. They get the space that they want, they get to build and I see why the church was doing it ‌ It seems like the church has lost in terms of their credibility with the community.â€?

Enstice does not think the McCarley Gardens situation has been perfect, but he admires the work of Chapman and St. John Baptist. He believes all of the main players have a commitment to the neighborhood and are open to ideas and conversation in order to create a thriving community. His experience walking door to door, a “campaignâ€? as he put it, two years ago was an effort to connect and inform the community. “When we go and raise a dollar for the medical campus, we need to make sure we are getting more money to come into actually build the neighborhoods because we’re nothing without strong neighborhoods around us,â€? he said. “Where I stand with this is, if people come to us with ideas, we will absolutely be at the table trying to figure out how to address these ideas ‌ You can theorize about a lot of things, but there are a lot of practical issues that are good and that are bad that need to be worked out, so it’s not an easy thing to do.â€?

Enstice hopes to create a sustainable economic model for the community by increasing the tax base and working with developers to help promote public transportation and housing opportunities.

He aims to help small businesses grow, acting as a “convener� and a “coordinator� between start-ups so they will be attracted to Buffalo for settlement. BNMC currently rents out space to entrepreneurs and has started the Design Innovation Garage, or dig, which attempts to cater to developing businesses and their creators by providing a space for learning and collaboration.

Shibley, the university’s senior advisor to the president for campus planning and design, a former principle investigator for BNMC and UB’s first campus architect, believes the medical campus will not only bridge exceptional health care with education and research, but it will also bring investment and economic development to the campus’ surrounding areas. “For the school, it is a vision to enable a much stronger relationship with medical care through the hospitals and medical research through the relationship between hospitals and the medical school,� he said. “You get teaching and research and health care delivery in an integrated package that really enables each to perform much better.�

According to Shibley, the medical campus will serve as a catalyst for urban growth, attracting new developers, businesses and residents – ultimately improving the quality of life and services in its surrounding neighborhoods and pulling in funds into Buffalo, which he calls a “poor, resurgent economy.�

Silverman has his doubts about the economic value for the residents in the surrounding communities. He thinks the amount of job creation will be small, resulting in temporary employment and moved jobs.

“There is kind of a musical chairs game taking place right now and there is a lot of money that’s going to be made from developers who are building these new buildings, moving facilities to downtown, but really it’s consolidation of medical services more than expansion,� he said.

For the Center for Urban Studies, he says, there is also a high level of concern with how much the communities are represented, although there are two board members representing the Allentown and Fruit Belt neighborhoods. “Large organizations, like hospitals and universities, don’t always have deep connections with the communities, so then they are surprised when the communities respond negatively to their plans to do improvements around their campuses because it isn’t always what the community sees as beneficial,� Silverman said.

Shibley does not believe it is the sole responsibility of the university or the other 13 institutions to be sure residents are accessing employment opportunities, but he does think UB is doing what it can to increase job training and workforce development among the citizens.

To fully manage this, BNMC must work closely with policy makers to assure the economic opportunities are spread among the broad span of the population, he said. Gentrification is a legitimate concern of his, but it cannot be avoided without proper law making. Both he and Enstice point to Council President Darius G. Pridgen of the Ellicott District, for his introduction of legislation that would provide current residents of the area a type of tax refund in order to afford the increasing home values.

Silverman questions the role of development in the Fruit Belt neighborhood. “The question becomes, where should new development happen? Does it have to happen in what’s a fairly stable and wellmaintained affordable housing development just because it’s the site right next to things that are happening?� Silverman said. “Or can it happen on the other side of Michigan Avenue, or somewhere else where the city owns a lot of property where things could be built differently?�

In the minds of many of the residents of McCarley Gardens, what they need is already there. One resident says McCarley Gardens is “the only hood with green,� emphasizing the natural landscape, with his neighbors nodding in agreement. Standing in front of the same tree he stood in front of as a young boy, McGriff shared a picture of himself as a kid growing up in the complex. “This complex helped people get on their feet. [The medical campus] took over,� Cooper said. “People have been living here before any progress. This helped a lot of people get out of here.�

He expressed his frustrations with the BNMC commercials that have aired, which he says do not properly represent the McCarley Gardens housing complex. “Every time in the commercial they show up from the block. [The public] never see this,� Cooper said, pointing across the street. “The people here, do they matter? Why do we need to uproot – because of development? It’s not helping. They are tearing what we have. This was a real community. We are all happy.� email: news@ubspectrum.com

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Monday, May 5, 2014 ubspectrum.com

EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR IN CHIEF Aaron Mansfield MANAGING EDITORS Lisa Khoury Sara DiNatale OPINION EDITOR Anthony Hilbert COPY EDITORS Tress Klassen, Chief Amanda Jowsey Samaya Abdus-Salaam NEWS EDITORS Sam Fernando, Senior Amanda Low Madelaine Britt, Asst.

FEATURES EDITORS Keren Baruch, Senior Anne Mulrooney, Asst.

Brian Windschitl, Asst.

Emma Janicki, Asst.

ARTS EDITORS Joe Konze Jr., Senior Jordan Oscar Megan Weal, Asst.

SPORTS EDITORS Ben Tarhan, Senior Owen O’Brien Tom Dinki, Asst.

PHOTO EDITORS Aline Kobayashi, Senior Chad Cooper Juan David Pinzon, Asst.

Yusong Shi, Asst.

CARTOONIST Amber Sliter CREATIVE DIRECTORS Brian Keschinger Andres Santandreu, Asst.

Jenna Bower, Asst.

PROFESSIONAL STAFF OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Helene Polley ADVERTISING MANAGER Emma Callinan Drew Gaczewski, Asst.

Chris Mirandi, Asst.

ADVERTISING DESIGNER Ashlee Foster Tyler Harder, Asst.

Jenna Bower, Asst.

Monday, May 5, 2014 Volume 63 Number 78 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.

The Spectrum is represented for national advertising by MediaMate.

For information on adverstising with The Spectrum, visit www.ubspectrum.com/advertising or call us directly at (716) 645-2452.

The Spectrum offices are located in 132 Student Union, UB North Campus, Buffalo, NY 14260-2100

OPINION

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Illegal A’s Study shows increase in Adderall use, permissive attitudes Finals week is typically a time of heavy coffee consumption and late-night library sessions, but Adderall use is rapidly becoming a more recognized aspect of the most stressful week of the semester.

Use of ‘good grade pills’ is surging across the nation’s top universities. One in five students at an unnamed Ivy League campus reported using Adderall or Ritalin, according to a new study presented at the annual Pediatric American Societies’ meeting Saturday. The pills are only available with a prescription, typically given to individuals diagnosed with ADHD. Nearly one in three students surveyed do not feel using the drug is cheating, according to the same study.

Taking Adderall without a prescription is not looking at another student’s paper; it isn’t jotting some notes down on the brim of a hat, or sneaking a look at your iPhone during a test. It is not cheating per se.

Though The Spectrum was largely divided on this issue, the majority of the board believes using Adderall – a drug prescribed to treat a recognized medical disorder – for the express purpose of performing better on an exam or paper is a form of academic dishonesty.

Academic honesty, or its antithesis, is broader and more easily skirted than traditional cheating. Adderall use, a practice seemingly accessible at first glance, represents a dangerous trend in student behavior, attitudes toward academics and the state of academics itself.

Beyond notions of honesty, Adderall has proven health risks, physical and psychological, as well as the risk for addiction with long-term abuse. Its use

ART BY AMBER SLITER, THE SPECTRUM

clearly presents potential for the development of poor study habits and short-term memorization as opposed to active, planned-out learning.

The use further speaks to eroding views on the place and role of academia in our lives. Treating college learning and assignments as tasks to be completed quickly in the span of an evening with the help of an illegal study aid robs the university experience of some intrinsic value.

Widespread and repeated Adderall or Ritalin use to study devalues what has made education so valuable – the value of learning and intellect beyond what it can provide the individual in terms of a future career.

Viewing education as a series

of all-nighters to get through by use of someone else’s prescribed pills is in opposition to the spirit our university espouses.

The growing use of these pills, and the growing acceptance of the practice, speaks to a system that has readily engendered the wrong values. Schools, like our own, that once touted the good of education in and of itself are more rapidly becoming intermediate steps to a future career.

Education has lost its luster as something invaluable for its own sake, the goal of humanity for the benefit it provides irrespective of the promise of a future job. When a university education is seen as a means to an end rather than an end itself, “getting through” becomes a more accepted approach.

Certainly, Adderall has been used by some in more responsible ways than others, but the positive intentions of some cannot be used to set policy. The university is responsible for addressing this growing trend in a more proactive way as opposed to all but ignoring its prevalence.

The heart of academic honesty is the legitimacy of your academic accomplishments. Use of an illegally obtained substance to improve is an anathema to that legitimacy.

Finals week is crunch time for students across the campus. Doing it without Adderall is simply a healthier and more honest approach. email: editorial@ubspectrum.com

Public more interested in scandal than discrimination Donald Sterling remarks blameworthy, not surprising The mainstream media has had a nearly two-week run with the Donald Sterling story, stocking public ire and lambasting the beleaguered billionaire.

The Los Angeles Clippers owner became embroiled in controversy recently after TMZ released overtly racist comments recorded by his (presumably now ex-) girlfriend. The remarks have been widely denounced.

Last week, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced Sterling would be banned from NBA events and would be charged $2.5 million. The besieged tycoon was subsequently forced to sell the team.

The punishments have been widely supported by the public, according to a study by The New York Times. The leak itself has been criticized, however, as a breach of privacy, with fellow NBA owner Mark Cuban opposing the forced sale and Donald Trump opining Sterling’s former mistress was “the girlfriend from Hell” for recording the conversa-

tion.

There is something to be said of divesting an individual of private property for private comments and the ethicality of a girlfriend egging on those comments. The statements deserved swift reaction, regardless of how they came out.

What is more troubling, though, is that action was not taken sooner.

Since the recording of Sterling lamenting his girlfriend’s acquaintance with other African Americans, cries of him being “a racist” have circulated ubiquitously. Yes, he is a racist and his statements were appallingly discriminatory. But this was not a surprise.

The reaction from the NBA came just days later – the reaction was strong, but too late.

Sterling’s most recently criticized remarks were not his first instance of expressing racism – and not even close to the worst.

They were words, after all. It is worth revisiting Sterling’s more

shocking and substantive instances of racism, which went all but ignored by the media and public.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued Sterling in 2006 on charges of housing discrimination. A full eight years before his media chastising, Sterling remarked that blacks “attract vermin” and Latinos sit around and “drink all day.”

The statements were at least as reprehensible as his latest, and his actions – disallowing minorities in his rental properties – were far more destructive to people’s lives than some private racist ranting.

But they went all but unnoticed. Sterling did not lose his team then. He was not rightly ridiculed.

Sterling has similarly been sued for employment discrimination based on race – again, public and mainstream media failed to take note. Perhaps if TMZ did a “gotcha” piece of that, the story would have been different.

What is different about this latest instance is not the seriousness of what he said or how reprehensible the obvious racism was.

The media, and then the public, picked up on the issue as a scandalous event, a secret revealed by a private recording.

The story was more sensational, more shocking for the TMZdriven culture than Department of Justice cases. A mistress of a billionaire records a private conversation that is then leaked to a celebrity-culture website – the story had star potential from its advent.

What was ignored before points to a lack of critical perspective that is necessary in our media – it is indicative of a culture that cares more about scandal than race.

That might not be worse than Sterling’s statements, but it is far from excusable. email: editorial@ubspectrum.com

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Monday, May 5, 2014 ubspectrum.com

LIFE, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Worth the wait

The Band Perry rewards fans with performance despite chilly temperatures MEGAN WEAL

Asst. Arts Editor

10…9…8…People were screaming…7…6…5…Hands flew into the air holding signs that begged to be read…4…3…2…the back wall illuminated with images and flashing lights…1…

The Band Perry slammed its first guitar notes of the evening.

Friday evening, country fans gathered in the Alumni Arena parking lot for UB’s 2014 Spring Fest. Fans showed their excitement by enduring a 46-degree bitter cold and a threat of rain that hung in the air all evening; no one was concerned.

People slowly trickled into the event as the doors opened at 5 p.m. But, in contrast to previous fests, the line was small enough that it failed to reach the end of the queuing barriers.

The audience filled to approximately 2,500 people, according to SA Entertainment Coordinator Marc Rosenblitt. The Alumni Arena parking lot can hold 9,500.

The official numbers for attendance are not yet available.

“Country music makes us a family,” lead singer Kimberly Perry, of The Band Perry, told the audience.

And no matter the size of the crowd, The Band Perry was there to put on a performance. The group didn’t just play its music – it performed for its family.

The band’s set took fans through various paces over the course of the evening. The constant shuffling between fast- to slowpaced melodies can be confusing, but that wasn’t the outcome Friday. They incorporated a fiddle, mandolin and synthesizer into their set and balanced the instruments with precision and no perplexity. The Band Perry knew what it was doing.

Jillian Devine, a freshman occupational therapy major, was impressed by the energetic dimensionality of the set.

“I thought The Band Perry put on such a good show,” Devine said. “They were really fun and engaging.”

Chad Cooper, The Spectrum The Band Perry headlined this year’s Spring Fest and made waiting outside in chilly temperatures worth it for the estimated 2,000 students on hand.

The band played its well-known hits alongside covers of Ke$ha’s “Timber” and Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls,” which got audience members swinging their partners around and singing along with the popular lyrics.

And though the pace of The Band Perry’s set was one of energy and undiluted fun, it gave its audience a break to regain their breath as the band brought the American flag to the middle of the stage and sang The Star-Spangled Banner, encouraging fans to join in. The same pace was felt when “Amazing Grace” shortly followed.

While the band’s faster songs gave the audience necessary energy boosts and time to dance, slower songs offered a chance to witness the epitome of the Perry family’s vocal talent. The notes were strong and unwavering and lead singer Kimberly Perry reached a variety of notes with confident power.

Audience interaction was a big deal for The Band Perry. Throughout their show,

the members spoke to the audience, thanked them for enduring the cold and got them involved as much as they could.

At one point in the set, mandolin/accordion player and background vocalist Neil Perry took a video camera from a cameraman and panned it across the audience – deflecting the attention away from themselves onto those who had come to see them. He zoomed in on signs and excited fans, talking to them as he did so, before returning back to the music.

“I got to go backstage and meet them – so that was pretty sweet!” said Sarah Iorfida, a junior legal studies major. “They were super stoked about [being in Buffalo].”

And the appreciation was reciprocated. When The Band Perry began to play their encore, “If I Die Young,” the members stopped singing and listened as the crowd sung their lyrics back to them with no guidance and no asking.

Before they walked off stage for the final time, they asked the front rows of the audience if they could take an Instagram picture of them. The question came after a large group of fans raised signs above their heads that read “Started From The Bottom Now You’re HERE!” – referring to the band’s long road into fame.

The abundance of musical talent that filled the parking lot Friday was of high standard. From the diversity of instruments played, to the range of vocal notes, each artist to grace the stage treated UB with an evening of real aptitude.

The Michael King Project showcased some of Buffalo’s homegrown talent as the first opener. With King’s roots very much planted in the UB community – his musical journey flourished when he led

the Buffalo Chips to Lincoln Center of the Performing Arts in New York City as their director – King seemed thrilled to be back.

King’s powerful, soul-like voice was complemented by an eclectic and wellput-together instrumental setup including a standard keyboard, bass and lead guitar that was lifted by the fun incorporation of the sounds of a saxophone and bongos.

Despite King’s early start time – around 5:45 p.m. – the crowd on hand began to warm up, dancing to his jazzy renditions of Kanye West’s “Gold Digger” and Blackstreet’s “No Diggity.” UB’s current Buffalo Chips members accompanied both songs.

The support for UB didn’t end when King left the stage – Citizen Cope asked the crowd in the middle of his husky acoustic set who the No. 1 draft pick was going to be next Thursday, to which the crowd confidently shouted back, “Khalil Mack.”

As Gloriana, the second-to-last band, performed its perfectly tuned and harmony-filled set, the members wore UB apparel. Tom Gossin, the band’s lead vocalist and guitarist, wore a hoodie with “BUFFALO” emblazoned across the chest.

“They told me you guys were going to be f**king crazy, and you are,” Gossin screamed. “I love you.”

Gloriana proved to UB it knew music – from the talk box that allowed Mike Gossin, Tom’s brother and accompanying vocalist and guitarist, to pitch and play his guitar using his vocal chords, to the crisp harmonies that were showcased in nearly all of the group’s songs.

Contrary to the popular opinions prevalent at the end of the night, that the evening was a success, there were still some who thought more could have been offered.

Jeffery Kwiatkowski, a senior marketing major, commented on the size of the event. He recognized the need for a bigger crowd at such events.

“If you want to get a country band at UB, you have to get a better country band than The Band Perry,” Kwiatkowski said.

“The Band Perry were good, but you’ve got to get someone who’s going to draw more people.”

Despite the smaller crowd than previous years and the abundance of negative responses that were received in response to the line-up announcement, the evening offered the audience a taste of something different.

The student fans left with smiling faces and country memories that UB had never given them before. email: arts@ubspectrum.com

UB STUDENT REMEMBRANCE CEREMONY A ceremony to remember our student friends who passed away in 2013­2014

For more information, please email Kevin Xaisanasy at Kevin.Xaisanasy@ubspectrum.com IN REMEMBRANCE OF

Brian Archie Nicholas Arieno Katielyn Aubertine Taylor Binnert

Friday, May 9, 2014 11:00 am

Paul Englert

Student Union Theater (North Campus)

Jeremy Hayes

Jeffrey Gower Saron Hood Lisa Husung

Dedication & luncheon immediately following ceremony.

All are welcome.

Narang David Kim James Kuwik Michael Munella Christopher Peterson Emily Peterson

following ceremony.

Kuan­Yu Benjamin Wu Zachary Yambor

CATHOLIC Campus Ministry

at the University at Buffalo

ubspectrum.com

Monday, May 5, 2014

5

The Spectrum sits down with Gloriana before Saturday’s performance JOE KONZE JR

Senior Arts Editor

Before Gloriana took the stage as the main opener for Spring Fest Saturday evening, The Spectrum’s Joe Konze Jr sat down with band members Tom Gossin, Mike Gossin and Rachel Reinert to talk about their music career and what it’s like playing in Buffalo.

The Spectrum: Is this your first time playing in Buffalo?

Tom Gossin: The weather is a little bit chilly. We’ve been to Buffalo before. Of course, we are the wrong people to ask about that because we’ve been on tour for seven years now and we can’t really remember yesterday. We have a great relationship with the radio station here. We did the Taste of Country [in Buffalo] and one of the photos taken at that concert is the photo on iTunes for our new single “Best Night Ever.”

TS: How did you all meet?

Rachel Reinert: Tom and Mike are brothers, like [Mike] said. I think they met in like their living room. So they had moved from Upstate New York to North Carolina and kind of did the bar scene playing out there for 10 years. And I had moved from – I grew up all over the place, Florida, Georgia, California – and I knew that I wanted to be a country singer and I knew

Chad Cooper, The Spectrum Gloriana sported University at Buffalo sweatshirts and helped get the crowd moving before The Band Perry took the stage at Spring Fest.

that Nashville was the place to be. So, I was out there doing a solo thing for a number of years and one day I got a message on my music Myspace. I just decided to toss all caution to the wind and we started writing and playing music together and formed a band. And so, that was back in 2007 and we’ve been together ever since.

TS: When you started playing bigger shows, what was it like?

Were you nervous? Are there any stories about playing your first show that you would like to share?

RR: We had some nightmare shows for sure in the very be-

ginning. We didn’t have a band name. We were a joke actually.

But you know, we just kept doing what we were doing and, finally, I think we figured out who we wanted to be, what we wanted to sound like. And I think we’re still learning every single day. I think the most awkward thing for us was kind of the inbetween songs and figuring out what to say [to the audience]. We would just kind of start talking about food.

TG: We went from playing in bars, the three of us around Nashville, which was going pretty good. We were playing acoustic most of the time. And then

the first tour that we got picked up on was Taylor Swift’s tour in 2009. So, we went from playing for like 50 people to playing for like 20,000 the next day, and it was the first time on a big stage.

TS: How difficult is it to become a country music artist?

Mike Gossin: I think it is tough in Nashville. The problem that I see is that there are just so many singers, songwriters, musicians. There’s so much talent. You can walk into a bar or even a restaurant and somebody’s playing at noon and I’ve been blown away before and said, “How does that person not have a record deal? They’re so

good.” They have a huge crowd, everybody’s listening and paying attention. It’s tough; it’s really tough to break through. But I think like anything, it’s about perseverance and never giving up.

And sometimes it just takes being in the right place at the right time, knowing the right people and just getting lucky. It’s like rolling the dice.”

TS: Where do you draw inspiration for your songs?

RR: For me, it’s really just about real-life experiences. I’m a very lyric-driven person. We all have our iPhones and stuff so we’ve got voice memo and Notepad and stuff like that. I’ll work on lyric ideas and melody ideas and [put them on my phone], and [Tom and Mike] are the same way. It’s just kind of like on a daily basis sometimes an idea just will strike you in the middle of nowhere. That’s how it kind of comes together for us. We love to draw from our own personal experiences.

MG: I pull from real-life experiences and then also, you can create lyrics for something that you haven’t experienced, too, which is also kind of fun because there are really no rules in writing. You can make up any story that you want. email: arts@ubspectrum.com

Continued from page 1: Happiness can bring happiness. The truth, as Lorde sees it, is that happiness cannot be bought or manufactured, and in fact, this materialist society could actually hinder the pursuit of happiness.

Happiness may be a hot topic now, but it is far from a new one.

In 1967, The Turtles released one of their most famous songs, “Happy Together.” In the ’80s, Bobby McFerrin’s iconic “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” topped the music charts. Happiness has been a recurring theme in popular culture for years.

But rarely has a well-known artist defined the ‘happiness’ it is they’re singing about. There have been those to challenge the concept, sure – including Lorde – but no one has offered a universal definition, and that’s because there isn’t one. Maybe.

Sometimes, when it comes to finding an answer to a difficult equation, it is simpler to start with defining its opposite. As a starting point, a more apt question than “what is happiness?” is “what isn’t happiness?”

As this theory goes, you cannot tailor your personal life and professional pursuits around what makes you happy until you know what makes you unhappy.

Ben Smith, a junior anthropolo-

gy major with a minor in nutrition, says his own happiness revolves around relationships with himself and those around him.

“Happiness has to come from growing personal relationships with others – it can’t be attained with the use of material items,” he said.

That’s the main problem with finding true happiness, according to Smith: all of society’s “stuff.”

“Pop culture portrays happiness as popularity, status and material wealth,” Smith said. “People buy things for reasons of status and prestige, thinking it will elevate their happiness, but in reality those people are feeding an endless addiction to materialism that will never bring true happiness.”

Society has manufactured happiness to the point in which its very meaning has changed, according to Schmid.

“The logic of consumption,” Schmid says, “is that there is never a stage where there will be enough.

There is never a stage where we say if I have this, then I will be done, I will be happy.”

Vrinda Tarneja, a senior biological science major, says materialism and technology hold an unhealthy amount of influence on how happy we perceive ourselves to be.

“Nowadays, we are so engrossed

in our phone that we forget to talk and cherish the company of our friends who are actually with us,” Tarneja said.

David Castillo, an English professor who teaches cultural theory, says happiness has many sides to it – it is composed of technology, pop culture and societal structure, complicating an already complex topic.

Pop culture’s technological aspect, Castillo says, creates an escape from reality.

“There are areas in consumer culture that cater to the experience of life as a happy place, and there is an innate escapism that goes along with this,” he said.

Lorde, on her song “Buzzcut Season,” comments on this escapist mentality, singing: “Explosions on TV, and all the first with heads inside a dream / So now we live by the pool, where everything is good.”

This escape from reality to technology and consumer culture, Castillo says, causes isolation. He said in isolation, happiness means nothing except for what society defines it as.

In some cases, especially with a younger age group, the definition of happiness is morphed into a multi-headed beast – happiness becomes social media, the latest

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technological products and trendy brands.

“We don’t need Snapchat or Instagram,” Tarneja said. “Sometimes I think we all should take a break with our phones and just have a real conversation with our family and friends. Happiness is being content with yourself and being who you are.”

But it is necessary to look at both sides.

Carmen Cibella, a junior majoring in English and film study, believes in pop culture’s positive effects.

“Pop culture promotes a particular set of beliefs and ideals,” Cibella said. “Some of which benefit our views on happiness – it makes us more ambiguous and sensitive to other cultures.”

The line between being ambitious and realistic, however, is a fine one.

Imagine being asked, ‘Are you happy right now?’ in the context of a job interview.

“It’s a loaded question,” Schmid said. “It’s asking, ‘Are you ambitious or not?’ To say, ‘Yes, I’m happy right now’ implies that you have no desire to go further.”

That is the underlying problem with pop culture. Consumer culture cannot be equated to ambition.

“The logic of connecting happiness to consumption is the same as saying that you are never going to get there,” Schmid said.

The real issue with pop culture, Cibella says, is how people can misinterpret the messages.

Castillo said happiness and pop culture work against each other by creating unrealistic expectations of happiness – a sort of dissonance.

“The abyss between our expectations and ability to actually fulfill them has grown exponentially,” Castillo said. “We are told we should always want more things.

That puts pressure on the notion of happiness because there is always something else.”

For better or worse, it seems impossible to paint a picture of happiness without including tones of pop and consumer culture – ideals around which society is centered.

Perhaps the solution is something both Pharrell and Lorde hint at: intentional ignorance and apathy. “With the air like I don’t care, baby, by the way / We don’t care, we aren’t caught up in your love affair.” email: features@ubspectrum.com

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ubspectrum.com

6

Monday, May 5, 2014

Continued from page 8: Barrow like Hillary. According to Michelle, Hillary was an “icon” in Dade County.

When Barrow was a freshman, colleges were already recruiting her. During high school, she was named first-team All-Dade County as a sophomore and was the Miami Herald’s Hitter of the Year for Dade County Schools. She won the MVP High School Gatorade Award and was named secondteam All-State and first-team AllDade County as a junior.

By the time Barrow graduated high school and began at UCF, Hillary had cemented herself as one of the school’s greatest players. She is the all-time leader in sacrifice flies for the Knights and ranks in the top 10 for a handful of other offensive categories.

“Hayley, as soon as she came in, was always called Hillary,” Michelle said. “Nobody called her Hayley because they only knew of Hillary, even the announcers always mixed her name. If Hayley didn’t perform the way her sister did, they were always comparing her and I think that was just too tough on her.”

Despite a successful freshman year, Barrow was unhappy. Things

didn’t get better in her second season. Her play suffered along with her grades. After two seasons of college softball, she thought it was time to quit. That was when Hillary introduced her to Peel. *** Every member of Barrow’s family had the same reaction when Buffalo was pitched as a legitimate destination for Barrow to play softball.

“Buffalo? But Hayley has never even seen snow.”

When Michelle and Barrow visited Buffalo in October, the temperature was in the 50s and 60s and they were freezing. But Barrow loved Peel’s goals for the program and made plans to enroll in January.

Her trip to Buffalo proved to be an adventure. Barrow wanted to be on her own, further from her family than she had been at UCF. She wanted a fresh start.

In the weeks before Barrow enrolled at UB, the family scrambled to get her ready. They didn’t know what kind of clothes she needed. Barrow had never seen snow before and she was about to live through one of the worst Buffalo winters in recent history.

She arrived on campus Jan. 9 in what Michelle called “a dump.” It was a dump because Barrow had just arrived in the middle of a tundra. Barrow lived in Miami until leaving for college, during which she spent two years in Orlando.

Michelle wondered how she was going to survive wintry Buffalo.

Michelle said Barrow was determined to make it work. At first, Barrow called her mother often, complaining about the blizzards and cold weather. Once, she thought she had frostbite.

But eventually, the calls became less frequent. Barrow was adapting to the cold weather.

Barrow said the most difficult part was that she did not know anyone. When she arrived at UCF in 2011, there were familiar faces with the coaches and some of the players because her sister had left only two years before.

She was starting completely new in Buffalo. She arrived on campus without a fall season to get to know people both on and off her team. Barrow’s friend base has been built solely around the softball team.

Her family noticed an improvement in her physical and mental

wellbeing. Peel’s style of coaching – individually working with her players to bring out their best – has benefitted Barrow. Hillary said Barrow is hitting the best of her college career.

The physical problems Barrow experienced at UCF no longer bother her, and her mental state has improved immensely. Her confidence has grown, which has allowed her game and grades to excel.

“Her dad always told her, never, never give up,” Michelle said.

“And he gave her a sign from Winston Churchill and he always repeated that to her. And he told her, ‘Please, don’t do it. I don’t ever want you to give up. Always go with your heart if you feel you can really do good in this game.’”

This season, she has thrived. After the adjustment of practicing in a gym, playing in colder weather and playing fewer home games, Barrow has settled in the last few weeks of the season.

“She’s just driving the ball lately,” Peel said. “She’s so strong – her legs are so strong – she has power and she finally started to put it together, she’s getting her confidence. She’s solid behind the

plate; she has a gun for an arm.

Just as a whole, she’s swinging the bat well, she’s winning games for us and that’s what I brought her here for.”

The Bulls clinched their first outright Mid-American Conference East championship Sunday, setting the school record for wins and tying the school record for conference wins. Wednesday, the Bulls will make their third-ever appearance in the MAC Tournament.

Peel says Barrow has done a good job managing the pitching staff.

When Hillary first told Barrow about Buffalo, one of the things she explained was how Peel and Smith were going to change the culture at UB. Hillary told Barrow she could be part of that revolution.

Peel brought a fresh start for not just the softball program, but for Barrow as well. The opportunity offered to Barrow has worked out for everyone involved. In her first semester on campus – not even a full season in – the Bulls have thrived with Barrow behind the plate.

gy and imagination. I have no regrets about my vocational choice.

On the contrary, I would happily do it all over again.”

Christian also looks back on her “nun years” with fondness and gratitude. She said that in such Catholic times as the ’60s, women were encouraged to be either mothers or virgins. The nuns who taught her had more intellectually exciting lives – they traveled, studied and were engaged.

“Sisterhood made sense: it organized the sexual role, answered ambitions to be good, gave me a community which served in ways I was attracted to – chiefly teaching,” Christian said.

McCarthy believes the real issue within the church lies not in the lack of vocations, but in poor catechesis – the religious education given to prepare people for the sacraments, such as baptism or confirmation. He cites this as the reason for the previous cloudiness of his own beliefs and believes it contributes to the rarity of ordinations today.

“When I was younger, I was fascinated with the idea of God, but I didn’t understand God well enough,” McCarthy said. “So when I met stumbling blocks, I didn’t know anything. And it was very easy for my faith to deteriorate.”

Poor catechesis within the Catholic faith is not uncommon. According to a study by the Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, more than four in ten Catholics in the United States (45 percent) don’t know the church teaches that the bread and wine used in Communion are believed to not symbolize but actually become the body and blood of Christ. This teaching is one of the core pillars of Catholic faith.

When he realized how little his peers understood about the church, McCarthy was moved to consider the priesthood seriously.

To be in a position that would allow him to help people “come to God, understand God more deeply, help people discern God and to deepen their faith” struck McCarthy.

“I thought that giving my life to distributing God’s love and grace through the sacraments and teaching his word would be something worth giving my life to,” he said.

Schaefer’s biggest challenge in embracing faith was the teaching that the Eucharist – the bread given to parishioners at each Mass – actually became the body of Jesus.

For a long time, she couldn’t believe it, and she felt isolated from the church.

But after reading her Bible and praying that God would help her in her unbelief, she overcame that barrier.

“God brought me back to the Eucharist,” Schaefer said. “He said, ‘Listen, I’m here.’ I had doubted that, and when I wasn’t receiving the Eucharist – I really needed that. I would go to Mass and weep because I couldn’t receive the Eucharist. God called me back, and told me that if I was having trouble believing, I should

ask him for help.”

Now she attends Mass and receives the Eucharist every week.

As she has grown within the faith, the religious life has seemed more and more appealing to her.

She’s been trying to meet more people with such lifestyles, to get a better grasp on the vocation’s reality.

“I grew up watching The Sound of Music, and that was probably one of my only experiences with convents and nuns and the religious life as a child,” Schaefer said.

She believes this perception was relatively inaccurate.

Schaefer recounts her first experience with real religious life and views it as a healing, positive experience. In 2013, she visited a monastery in Geneseo and decided to go to confession – the Catholic sacrament that involves privately disclosing one’s sins to a priest in hope of absolution.

“I was really scared to go, but one of the brothers there heard my confession, and Jesus absolved me through him,” Schaefer said.

“He was great – very loving, very understanding.”

Maria Desanto, a junior English major, believes many young people “shy away from” their religious lives because of the pressure to become financially successful.

She said abandoning one’s spiritual life is detrimental for all students.

When people place excessive stake in the opinions and values of the world, she said, it inevitably leads to a withdrawal from the values of faith – such as making time for prayer no matter how hectic and busy life may be.

“I think the key in discerning one’s vocation is knowing how to maintain a perspective different from the world’s,” DeSanto said.

“I believe this can only be achieved through faith, a mental endurance to keep God on the forefront.

It’s important that both men and women do this in order to achieve a greater purpose – God’s plan for them.”

The Newman Center, UB’s Catholic Campus Ministry, is located at 495 Skinnersville Road – right by the Ellicott Complex.

The ministry offers students like DeSanto a place to keep God on the forefront of their lives “in the context of faith, through a spiritual center,” according to its website.

UB also has a Catholic Student Union club with temporary status from the Student Association.

DeSanto views her own religious life as a daily calling to keep the values of her God on the forefront of her words and actions.

For her, the Catholic faith is less vocational and more habitual.

“The questions I typically ask myself to sustain a conscious awareness are: How am I impacting others? Am I a good influence on my peers? Are my intentions good? How can I be better, and more like Christ?” she said.

email: sports@ubspectrum.com

Continued from page 1: Religious life 29, she left.

Although the vocation was not her true calling, she said, she would not discourage or encourage anyone toward or away from a similar path – she believes you have to “find your way.”

“It’s really a calling which has to make sense to an individual,” she said.

Schaefer has long made her prayer life a priority – even as a child and during her “unruly teenage years.” But she only started considering a full-time religious career a couple of years ago, after fully embracing her Catholic faith following a journey of doubt and speculation.

Brendan McCarthy, a junior geology major, has always been fascinated with the idea of God, but his own journey of faith has also had its ups and downs.

His belief in an all-powerful, epic deity dwindled as he grew up.

And by the time he was in eighth grade, McCarthy was a self-proclaimed atheist.

Now, after years of struggling with his beliefs, he considers himself a serious Catholic.

“I didn’t have any magical, coming-to-God experience,” McCarthy said. “But I developed friendships, and from conversations with [faith-filled people] and my own personal investigations, I slowly started coming deeper and deeper into my faith.”

McCarthy said his biggest challenge wasn’t the idea of believing in God in a philosophical sense, but taking God’s teachings to heart.

“I had intellectually embraced the idea of God, but I don’t think I took it to my heart and soul for a long time,” McCarthy said.

“There’s a huge different between understanding God exists and really deciding you want to live your life with that in mind.”

Less than a year ago, McCarthy was seriously considering becoming a priest in the Catholic Church.

Today, this idea has faded into the background, as he aims to one day become a husband. When he told his girlfriend he was considering the priesthood, he was grateful for her understanding and support – but even as a fellow Catholic, she had mixed feelings, he said.

“If I was called to the priesthood, then I wouldn’t be able to date her anymore, but there would also be a new vocation in the church, and she would be very excited about that,” McCarthy said.

“She prayed a lot for me.”

Now, McCarthy feels called to do as much as a priest does in his ordinary, daily life. He believes he can do just as much good for the church as a layman.

“I realized I’m not as limited as a layperson as I thought I was,” McCarthy said. “I can still bring people to God through the conversations that I have. I always try to discuss my faith with people – I’ve taken many of my friends to Mass to help them deeper understand God.” McCarthy believes all Catholics are called to the priesthood – though many are called in a differ-

Joe konze jr., The spectrum

Brendan McCarthy, a junior geology major, has always been fascinated with the idea of God. Less than a year ago, he was considering the priesthood.

ent, less formal way.

Even though priests are technically the only members of the church who can administer sacraments – religious ceremonies regarded as an outward sign of divine grace – McCarthy believes that he can still introduce people to sacramental life.

“When we’re baptized, we’re all baptized as priests, prophets and kings,” McCarthy said. “You can still do the priestly roles without necessarily having that vocation to the priesthood.”

McCarthy believes all Catholics have a duty to not only know their faith and know the church, but to bring people into the religious life and help them understand their creator, he said. And he believes many people don’t understand the faith – or even why it’s there.

“I think the world misunderstands the church. A lot of people see the church as this big hierarchy that has a lot of abuses, scandal and bad things in its past and present,” McCarthy said.

Some of the confusion could stem from the series of sex abuse scandals within the church against children as young as 5 years old, which was exposed in media outlets from primarily 2002-10. Children have testified to inappropriate behavior from religious figures in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Mexico, Belgium, France and all around the world.

Many testimonies were not given until years after the abuse occurred. According to a study by the Pew Research Religious & Public Life Project, 34 percent of U.S. Catholics believe the Catholic Church’s most important problem is sex abuse and pedophilia – no other problem garnered more than 10 percent of responses.

“The abuse issue has really rent the fabric of trust and respect,” Christian said. “I think facing such issues and listening to the faithful is required. Sexual discipline is important, but it’s been full of hypocrisy in application.”

Likely partly because of these scandals, the Catholic Church has seen a dramatic decline in priestly ordinations over the past few decades. According to Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), there were only 497 new ordinations into the priesthood in 2013 – nearly 500 fewer than 1965’s peak of 994 new ordinations.

McCarthy isn’t worried. He believes God is shepherding the church to a new place.

“I think God is just calling the church to a new stage, to focus on new things,” McCarthy said. “God might be calling us to focus more on what the laity does and how the laity can take an active role within the priesthood.”

Although the lack of ordinations is a discouraging topic for many Catholics, McCarthy feels the struggles will make for stronger faith.

“While many people think this is a crippling issue for the church, I think in the end, we’ll really grow a lot from it,” he said.

Despite the decline in priestly ordinations and the issues of scandal, the Catholic Church has experienced new popularity since the election of Pope Francis March 13, 2013. The 266th Pope of the Catholic Church has become a beloved figure within and outside of the faith and was named TIME magazine’s 2013 Person of the Year.

According to a study by the Pew Research Religious & Public Life Project, eight in 10 Catholics give Francis excellent or good marks for spreading the Catholic faith and standing up for traditional moral values, while three quarters say he has done an excellent or good job addressing the needs and concerns of the poor.

Among non-Catholics, 66 percent gave Francis a “favorable” rating while just over half (56 percent) responded “yes” when asked if Francis “represents a major change in the direction for the Catholic Church.”

Father Jack Ledwon, a priest at St. Joseph University Catholic Parish near South Campus, isn’t worried about the popularity of the church – he views the lack of ordinations as natural. He believes the high number of ordinations that took place in the 1960s was a result of the Catholic-immigrant subculture, which has for the most part “passed out of existence,” along with new ordinations.

After 41 years of priesthood, Ledwon couldn’t be happier with his decision to join the church.

“I am still energized by people’s enthusiasm and commitment to the efforts of the church to change the world for the better,” Ledwon said in an email. “I think it is a vocation in which one is limited only by one’s own ener-

email: features@ubspectrum.com

Monday, May 5, 2014 ubspectrum.com

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HELP WANTED

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DAILY DELIGHTS sponsored by buffalostudenthousing.com Crossword of the Day Monday, May 5, 2014 FROM UNIVERSAL UCLICK

HOROSCOPES

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- You know that a recent fling was only for the fun of it, but you may have trouble convincing someone else of that truth.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- Not everyone agrees with your approach, but what you are trying to do is likely to capture everyone's imagination. You'll win support.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- The time has come for you to accept what another is doing, or stand up and object to it. Whatever happens, you'll be affected in many ways.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- Others are going to be talking about you, so why not make sure that they're not doing so behind your back?

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- You're in no mood to be taken for granted. It may be time to assert yourself in a new way. A loved one gives you a leg up.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) -- What happens suddenly will have a major impact on you, and require you to change your plans. You may feel you are on shaky ground.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) -- A loved one comes to you with a proposition, and it's something that doesn't come as a complete surprise. Why not give it a try?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) -- You may feel as though you are trying to keep too many things going at once, but you do have a talent for such multitasking.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- You are seeking answers to questions that a great many people have asked before you. Today, however, you may find them within reach.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) -- You may require help as you search for something that has gone missing. It could be worthwhile to ask someone outside your circle of friends.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) -- You're nearing a crossroads of sorts, and it's important for you to keep clear the things you want -- and don't want.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- You mean a lot to someone who has been watching you lately, but can you provide what he or she really needs? Consider what's possible.

Edited by Timothy E. Parker May 5, 2014 WHO IS THIS GUY? By Kenneth Holt

SUDOKU

ACROSS 1 Sites of abs and pecs 5 Italian bills 10 Big wine container 14 Vet text 15 Like the game, to Holmes 16 Ubiquitous plant 17 When your alarm might ring next 20 Hockey venue 21 They cause stiff arms?

22 Poetic “black” 25 Engine with 8-Down 26 Room <00AD>furnishing 29 Born’s partner 31 Required 35 Country lodge 36 Esau’s dad 38 Arid 39 Thoroughly 43 Kind of bean 44 Font flourish 45 Tokyo, once 46 Casts out from the body 49 One kind of starter 50 Johnny in gray 51 Color lightly 53 Svelte 55 Vientiane resident 58 Musical bridge 62 Anonymous trio 65 Cookie brand

66 Wrote bad checks 67 Scent detector 68 Quaker leader William 69 Condescending one 70 “Jabberwocky” opener

DOWN 1 Videotape format, once 2 Olfactory trigger 3 Coin smaller than a penny 4 Thing in a sling 5 Anvil setting 6 E.T.’s craft 7 Handles the oars 8 Get-up-and-go 9 Swiped 10 Most shrewd 11 Got off a horse 12 Mama’s boys 13 Brewery unit 18 Potter’s Peter 19 Hoarfrost 23 Approximately 24 Tide types 26 Hunter’s weapon 27 Strip of gear 28 Lawn dwarf 30 Calendar features 32 Block 33 Destroy bit by bit 34 Disband

FALL SPACES ARE WHERE YOU SHOULD

BE LIVING! GOING FAST RESERVE YOUR SPACE TODAY BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE

37 Apple centers 40 Prehistoric mammal 41 Al’s boss, once 42 Aloof 47 A marmoset 48 Small incisions 52 “___ Care of Business” (1974 hit) 54 Stood for 55 Handed-down tales 56 Call from the pews 57 Western alliance 59 Swell 60 Bear, to a skygazer 61 Head set 62 Mountain part 63 “The Matrix” character 64 Banned insecticide

8

Monday, May 5, 2014 ubspectrum.com

SPORTS

No. 3: of the D1 ERA Javon McCrea TOP 10

Forward became basketball program’s all-time leading scorer this year

JOE KONZE JR

Senior Arts Editor

Junior forward Will Regan recalls multiple times this past season he watched Javon McCrea and sophomore forward Justin Moss battle in practice.

Moss, being a strong, physical player, was one of the few on the court that could match McCrea’s strength. On both ends of the floor, Moss and McCrea challenged each other – trying not to let the other get the better.

“In practice, it was funny just to watch them go at it because they’re both just boxers out there,” Regan said. “I think that actually helped Javon this year playing through contact. Obviously, he was the focal point of teams’ defenses and double and triple teams. He was able to handle those well going up against the strength of Justin. [It] prepared him day in and day out.

It was actually pretty entertaining.”

The one-on-one battles between Moss and McCrea worked in the favor of the Bulls, as they finished the season with a 19-10 overall record and a 13-5 conference mark en route to the program’s first-ever outright Mid-American Conference East championship.

McCrea finished the season with numerous accolades – becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,004 points, being a first-team All-MAC selection for the third straight season and earning his first MAC Player of the Year recognition.

“It was awesome to be a part of [his career] and see what he’s been able to accomplish,” Regan said.

“In my three years here and seeing him grow as a player, he’s really developed in all aspects.”

Regan said McCrea was able to better his game over his career by developing a stronger jumper and “keeping teams on their heels.”

McCrea was known for his bruising post play – simply overpowering MAC opponents – as well as his unselfish passing and strong ball handling.

Bulls head coach Bobby Hurley declined to speak to The Spectrum, according to UB Athletics, and

Yusong Shi, The Spectrum Javon McCrea was named the MidAmerican Conference’s player of the year this season and earned his third consecutive first-team All-MAC recognition.

McCrea did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.

In 2010-11, his freshman season, McCrea averaged 21 minutes and 11.8 points per game and led the MAC in offensive rebounds (101) coming off the bench for Buffalo. In his final game of the season, a loss in the MAC quarterfinals to Kent State, McCrea scored 28 of UB’s 62 points. He won MAC Freshman of the Year.

But it wasn’t until his sophomore season that McCrea started to elevate his game to become a consistently elite player for the Bulls.

He averaged 14.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game while playing in all 31 games for Buffalo. He finished sixth in the MAC in scoring, fifth in rebounding and fourth in blocks per game (1.3). He earned his first first-team All-MAC selection playing alongside conference player of the year Mitchell Watt in the post.

“Javon is one of the most gifted athletes I’ve ever played with,” said former UB guard Tony Watson, who played with McCrea from 2010-13. “The thing I think is so special about him is how natural and effortlessly he can dominate a game.”

In McCrea’s junior season, he started to climb the record books and approach some of the best players in program history.

The 6-foot-7, 250-pound Newark, N.Y., native finished the season with 20.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, and he finished third in the MAC in field goal percentage (.557) and second in conference scoring (18.0).

His junior year helped propel McCrea toward a memorable senior season that earned him a top spot in the UB record books.

“He’s always one that works hard [and] he’s always one that led by example because of his play, and he sort of commanded respect to his play,” Regan said.

In his senior season, McCrea averaged 18.5 points per game and amassed 64 assists, 286 total rebounds and a .561 field goal percentage.

Though most mock drafts do not have McCrea being selected in this year’s NBA Draft, Bleacher Report recently named McCrea one of its biggest potential steals in the class. Regardless of whether he is drafted, an NBA team will likely pick McCrea up to play in the Summer League as a tryout period.

Regan said McCrea always played with confidence – a statement verified by McCrea’s steady demeanor on the court and dominant stats – and added that confidence will remain with Buffalo basketball.

No. 10: Branden Oliver

No. 9: Kourtney Brown

Football 2010-14

Basketball 2006-11

No. 8: Stacey Evans

No. 7: Jonathan Jones

Softball 2002-05

Track 2012-14

No. 6: Turner Battle

No. 5: Desi Green

Basketball 2001-05

No. 4: Brittney Kuras Swimming 2011-14

Wrestling 2008-11

Online: Quick Hits, softball clinches MAC East title, baseball drops weekend series to Ohio.

email: sports@ubspectrum.com

A fresh start, a fine fit for Barrow

New softball player thrives, finds happiness in new environment BEN TARHAN

Senior Sports Editor

Your coach thinks there is something wrong with you.

All the girls on your softball team have to run a mile and a half in 12 minutes to fully participate in practice, but you can’t. It is your second year of college and you still can’t make time. Every time you push yourself to run faster, you cramp up and your ribs hurt.

You usually vomit.

Even you think there might be something wrong with you.

Hayley Barrow thought there was something wrong with her.

Her team doctors told her there was something wrong with her gallbladder. Whatever it was, it had never been a problem before.

It was preventing her from fulfilling her potential on the softball field. She wasn’t playing as much as she wanted to because she couldn’t run fast enough. She thought if she could just focus on her softball skills, she could be a star.

It was hurting her confidence.

She was depressed.

Barrow, now a junior catcher/ third baseman on the UB softball team, asked for her release from the University of Central Florida (UCF) following her sophomore year in 2013. She thought her softball career was over. It was time to hang it up.

Chad Cooper, The Spectrum Junior catcher/third baseman Hayley Barrow spent the first two seasons of her college career at UCF before transferring to UB this semester. Barrow came to UB mainly because of head coach Trena Peel.

The emerging star who had committed to UCF following her sophomore year of high school, the girl who had been a member of the 2012 Conference USA AllFreshman team, was gone. Barrow wanted to focus on academics.

“So much energy was pulled out of me,” Barrow said. “Like I said, it was a really rough time for me those past two years. So I just really thought maybe I should focus on school and I’m just gonna hang up my jersey.”

Barrow’s sister, Hillary, who played at UCF from 2007-10 and is now an assistant coach there, worked at a summer camp in Vir-

ginia over the summer where she met Buffalo head coach Trena Peel and assistant coach Horace Smith III. “I loved her energy – her enthusiasm and her knowledge,” Hillary said. “And I told Hayley, I said, ‘I know that they’re looking for some players right now and I could talk to coach Peel and coach Smith and see if maybe you could go over there. I really think that you would like the type of coaches that they are and that they could teach you a lot.’”

While at UCF, Barrow had lost her love for softball. All the focus on running had separated her

from the game she had fallen in love with as a little girl.

Peel restored Barrow’s love for the game.

“She made me realize that there’s a lot more to the game than I thought there was,” Barrow said.

“And when I thought I didn’t love the game anymore, I do love the game.” *** Barrow has been around softball fields since she was six weeks old. She is the youngest of three sisters and her oldest sister, Heather, was playing little league by the time Barrow was born. Hillary, the middle sister, started shortly after.

It wasn’t long after Barrow was born that her parents knew she was different from her sisters. Michelle, Barrow’s mother, described Heather and Hillary as tomboyish.

Barrow was more concerned with lipstick and perfume.

Despite that difference, Barrow did everything Hillary did.

Michelle and Dale, Barrow’s father, were unsure if Barrow would play softball but weren’t surprised when she did. When Hillary started dancing, Barrow wanted to.

When Hillary went to UCF, Barrow committed to UCF. But what came along with the territory of following in Hillary’s footsteps was emulating her success.

When it came to dancing, Barrow had no problem. She was a talented dancer. When Barrow began dancing in middle school, it was an immediate hit. She won a state title in middle school and Michelle said people were asking if she would be willing to go to a special dance high school.

Once Hillary was preparing for college softball, Barrow knew she wanted to do the same.

“I had to choose between dancing and softball and that was probably one of the hardest decisions of my life,” Barrow said. “But I chose softball because I loved it and I knew I could get way more out of it.”

And Barrow was good. She needed to be if she wanted to be SEE BARROW, PAGE 6