The Spectrum Volume 63 Issue 79

Alum stresses treatment for eating disorders Playlist: Summing up four years in 20 songs THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO, SINCE 1950

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Volume 63 No. 79

A trans-historical man

Professor Braun’s retirement is beginning of a new chapter in globe-trotting journey JORDAN OSCAR Arts Editor

It’s 1982 – a year after the communist government in Poland instituted martial law, censoring the arts and forcing many playwrights, directors, artists and intellectuals to begin working illegally through a cultural underground.

Fifty people are crammed into the living room of a Polish home. In front of them, in the adjoining dining room, sits a row of actors – their faces illuminated by desk lamps and candles.

Everyone knows the risks and potential consequences of being there, but they have still gathered to observe the reading of Kazimierz Braun’s “Valesa.”

“Valesa” is the first of two plays Braun produced illegally through the Polish underground.

“It was like a bad dream,” Dr. Braun said of martial law. “A nightmare.”

“Valesa” was a premonition; he began writing its plot about what could happen if martial law were declared over Poland before it actually occurred.

Braun faced intensified cultural oppression and had to persist through confrontations with the communist government from 1981-85. He moved out of Poland in ’85 to find work.

None of it made him consider quitting on his lifelong love of

Yusong Shi, The Spectrum Dr. Kazimierz Braun has directed 150 plays around the world; the walls of his office are adorned with the books he published on theater and posters of his productions.

theater, though.

Whether he was on the stage, directing actors and helping them understand their role within a play or embracing the “gypsy life” and moving to direct various productions all over the world, Braun was constantly moving throughout his life. He didn’t settle down until he came to UB 29 years ago. Still, his passion for passing on his knowledge of theater has kept him active as a professor in UB’s Department of Theatre and Dance.

To date, “Kaz,” as many people know him, has directed more

than 155 plays around the world, written 50 books about theater and its history and received more than 20 awards – including a Golden Owl award in Vienna, a Chivalry Cross, the Officer’s Cross and the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Polish Republic. He has also received Guggenheim and Fulbright awards.

Braun’s production of “The Tempest,” which opened in the Center For the Arts’ Black Box Theater in March, was his last at UB. After the 2014-15 academic year, Braun will retire.

*** To understand Braun today, it’s essential to understand his past.

He was born to two well-educated parents in 1936, in Mokrsko Dolne, a province of Kielce, Poland.

His father was a lawyer and graduate of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, where his mother also graduated and studied Polish literature.

After Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the town where Braun and his family lived became occupied. They were expelled.

“Our house was incorporated into Germany and we were expelled as Poles,” Braun explained.

A year before the war had begun, Braun’s family had a summerhouse built in the Polish countryside, which became their refuge for five years during the war.

There, Braun was homeschooled by his parents, who immersed him in the world of literature, poetry, theater and religion. From a young age, Braun read poetry, which he would recite during family reunions and gatherings.

“My parents organized [an] artistic and cultural life [for us] … we had a home theater in which we, the children, performed and of course we did a lot of reading,” Braun said.

A family full of actors, playwrights, pianists and other intellectuals surrounded him.

His uncle, Jerzy Braun, was a playwright, poet and philosopher who became a leader of the Polish underground during World War II. Another of Braun’s uncles was an actor who would visit the summerhouse to recite and perform various plays.

One of the Braun family’s biggest inspirations was Braun’s aunt, Jadwiga Domanska.

Domanska was an actress who starred in several plays and was a SEE BRAUN, PAGE 4

Student Association rewind

Year included resignations, policy overhauls, invalidated election AMANDA LOW & SAM FERNANDO

News Editor & Senior News Editor

The Student Association had an eventful 2013-14. From multiple resignations to constitutional amendments, SA has implemented structural changes and gone through controversy that started almost immediately. In the fall, President James Ingram, Vice President Evan Chen and Treasurer Sade Cadle will run SA. Below is a round up of this year’s biggest student government headlines.

President resigns less than one month into academic year Sept. 18, Student Association President Nick Johns resigned.

Vice President Lyle Selsky became interim president.

Johns was accused of a litany of offenses, including inappropriately accepting gifts, mishandling SA funds, hiring personal friends over more qualified candidates, being absent from important events, falsifying documents, mistreating staff and harassing Chief of Staff Jennifer Merckel. The Spectrum printed an article Sept. 9, “The president’s end?” which publicized the accusations.

In the weeks prior to his resignation, SA higher-ups were circulating a petition to impeach Johns for his alleged wrongdoing. The petition had reached more than 2,000 signatures – 2,541 were needed for impeachment – by the time he stepped down.

In a statement to The Spectrum announcing his resignation, Johns called the allegations “ridiculous” and said, “Although I know I could have definitely beat

Spectrum File Photo March 28, 2013, Nick Johns wins the SA election. Johns resigned Sept. 18 after many SA members accused him of a litany of grievances.

Aline Kobayashi, The Spectrum Oct. 9, Sam McMahon fist pumps upon hearing his presidential victory.

all of these charges based on my strong evidence to refute these claims, I also know that a prolonged conflict would create fundamentally irreparable fractures in the structure of the SA.” The re-election for president was slated for three weeks later.

Sam McMahon wins re-election Oct. 9, Sam McMahon was elected SA president. McMahon was the SA office manager and one of the people who came forward in opposition of Johns.

He received 1,087 votes, beating SUNY Delegate Mohammad Alwahaidy, his closest opponent in the six-person election,

by 309.

McMahon said the re-election process was proof that SA’s checks-and-balances system was intact. He said fixing problems that exist in the leadership of the organization shows the system is working.

In his platform, McMahon promised a new holiday shuttle service that would take students to and from the Buffalo/Niagara International Airport. Within his first week in office, the shuttle system was in place.

Vice president resigns just before spring semester Jan. 22, SA Vice President Lyle Selsky resigned, citing family rea-

Aline Kobayashi, The Spectrum March 27, president-elect James Ingram celebrates as he and his Value Party sweep the 2014-15 SA election.

sons for his leave. Selsky was the second person from the Spirit Party to leave office.

“Over the past several months a lot of hardship has befallen upon my family,” he said in a written statement. “To continue being Vice President would do the student body a disservice when I know I will not be able to give 110%, which is what you the students expect of your government.”

McMahon appointed Judy Mai, a senior health and human services major, to fill the vice president seat. Thirteen SA Senate members voted ‘yes’ to the appointment at the first Senate meeting of the spring semester,

Feb. 2.

Mai has been active in SA for four years, holding positions as an SA office manager, senior office manager and club services director.

Senate passes six constitutional amendments in one meeting Feb. 23, the Senate passed six and tabled one of seven amendments in less an hour during a meeting.

The approved amendments: removed the distinction of on- and off-campus senators; changed staff appointment procedures; extended the president’s term until the end of the school year; altered election dates and vacancy election policies; officiated university policy in StudentWide Judiciary (SWJ) rulings; and revised the process of money transfers.

The Senate decided to table the fourth amendment, which specified certain Senate powers.

Senator Ali Ahmed believed there was not enough discussion on the multiple amendments.

Former SA President Travis Nemmer said time of discussion at the Senate meeting “doesn’t factor too much” into the decisions as long as they were given the “appropriate attention.”

Value Party sweeps SA election March 27, the Value Party swept the elections for the 2014-15 school year. Presidential and vice presidential candidates James Ingram and Evan Chen, respectively, won the positions with 1,201 votes – 250 more than their opponents, Erin Lachaal and Myriam Diomande of the Impact Party.

Sade Cadle ran for treasurer with the Value Party and won the SEE SA, PAGE 7

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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.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014 Volume 63 Number 79 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

Willing ignorance causes infectious diseases Recent string of outbreaks is tied to erroneous beliefs on vaccinations Outbreaks of diseases that were formerly all but eradicated in the United States are making national headlines. Measles and whooping cough are resurging as unfounded fears that vaccines cause autism in children stubbornly persist.

Measles have recently hit Ohio and Texas and cases of whooping cough have surged across the country among children, particularly in Washington. Vaccines exist for these diseases – and are heavily encouraged for young children – but it is not a lack of medical prevention causing these tragedies.

It is ignorant intransigence among anti-vaccine advocates.

A stubbornly persistent antivaccine movement continues to grip this nation, putting children at risk of infection by preventable diseases. Despite growing vaccination rates across America, generally, there remain pockets of the country where personal and religious objections to childhood vaccinations represent a large enough contingent to allow for outbreaks.

While parents are – despite public health concerns – within their rights to withhold their children from receiving vaccinations, their reasoning is largely invalid.

A primary boon to the antivaccine movement is the erroneous belief that childhood vaccines cause autism. The claim has been debunked by innumerable scientific studies. The Center for Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organization and Institute of Medicine have all stated that there is not a link.

Yet the belief in that link still remains.

Disbelief in scientific facts and active belief in disproved notions are well within individuals’ rights. Believing in clearly untrue ideas is nothing new. The issue comes when that disbelief informs destructive, irresponsible and unhealthy actions – especially when those harmed are only children.

The anti-vaccine movement has received some high-profile

art by amber sliter

support, as well, offering a dangerous air of legitimacy to the activists’ position. Actress Jenny McCarthy and current U.S. Senator and 2008 presidential candidate John McCain have notoriously been lampooned for antivaccine positions.

McCain stated “there’s strong evidence” vaccines were responsible for a surge in autism rates.

The belief stemmed from the idea that a mercury-based preservative, Thimerosal, that was used in childhood vaccines decades ago was responsible for the spike.

Autism has assuredly increased in recent years, according to reporting by the CDC, but a link to vaccines is dubious at best. The government approved Thimerosal as safe, though it is no longer used in vaccines generally as a precaution, according to the CDC. Vaccines save lives. This is a fact that has been demonstrated repeatedly and remains common knowledge. Vaccine use, similarly, saves money – approximately 10 times more than administration of the vaccinations costs, according to The Washington Post.

Parents choosing not to vaccinate children creates conditions hospitable to anachronistic diseases in a modern democracy like the United States – conditions opposed to the health, safety and wellbeing of children and the general public.

Vaccinations must be more actively promoted and mandated, and positions against them must be more adamantly opposed.

The protection of public safety, and the safety of children, is not a choice – it is a prerequisite for living in a modern state. email: editorial@ubspectrum.com

Contention, confusion shroud McCarley Gardens development Controversial plan lacks clarity, communication and concern for residents The proposed plan between UB and the St. John Baptist Church for the university to purchase and redevelop low-income housing complex McCarley Gardens has been met with community ire.

Where controversy lacks, however, misinformation and lack of communication overshadow the proposed deal.

As The Spectrum reported Monday, McCarley Gardens has been the site of plans for the next phase of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) expansion. St. John Baptist is the current owner of the lowincome housing complex and has expressed a desire to sell it to UB. The complex lies directly across from the rapidly expanding BNMC, piquing the university’s interest as a partner in the expansion of the campus.

With a population of more than 400, the redevelopment would mean the displacement of a tightly knit community in the heart of Buffalo – a community that largely wishes to see its home maintained.

Regardless of the church’s desire to sell, the destruction of a

community and displacement of residents is not a project a public university should involve itself with in the name of “urban development” and university advancement. More actively seeking methods to preserve a community already beleaguered by potential threats of gentrification sparked by the BNMC, of which UB is an integral member, is a far more laudable goal.

Controversy waged at the potential McCarley Gardens purchase is not new. For several years, it has been the focus of reports by The Buffalo News and Artvoice and garnered academic inquiry. Claims of community degradation and lack of inclusiveness predominated.

Despite the debate, the redevelopment of McCarley Gardens

by UB remains “on the table,” according to Michael J. Pietkiewicz, the assistant vice president for government and community relations at UB. Pietkiewicz assured The Spectrum in an interview Tuesday the deal on McCarley Gardens was not “off the table,” refuting a statement made

by Matthew Enstice, the CEO of BNMC, during an interview with

The Spectrum April 10.

Enstice retracted the claim that the plan was “off the table” in an interview Tuesday. “The deal is not off the table … [but] as far as I’m concerned nothing is happening right now,” Enstice said. “That is UB’s deal.”

The backpedaling on UB’s McCarley Gardens purchase came as a surprise to Lorraine Chambley, the McCarley Gardens tenant association president.

“Now I’m getting mixed reviews, I don’t know what’s going on right now; apparently nobody really knows except for the powers that be,” Chambley told The Spectrum Tuesday. “I would like them to stop. We have no problem with change … we just want to keep what we have intact. We want to maintain our community the way we have it. That’s all we ever wanted.”

In place of community indignation over the visible, overt dealings to purchase and redevelop the low-income housing complex, confusion and misinformation seem to have taken hold. Chambley applauded several efforts by UB in becoming

more responsive to community concerns recently.

But this new trend toward misinformation and lack of clarity is troubling for residents and community members who wish to see the complex and community it houses preserved.

The BNMC and UB’s growing role with the initiative presents an unprecedented opportunity for Buffalo and the university. The growing medical corridor could provide inestimable benefits if it comes together as planned.

This effort, though, this promise of future benefits, should not come at the cost of people’s homes. It should not, and need not, cost the connections hundreds have formed and continue to nurture and benefit from.

UB must either commit itself to concertedly – and clearly – protect the McCarley Gardens community or be transparent in its intentions.

Retracted statements and backpedaling are costing this institution legitimacy it can scarcely afford to lose. email: editorial@ubspectrum.com

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Continued from page 1: Braun courier for the Polish resistance, the Armia Krajowa, or “Home Army.” She was caught trying to cross the border between Nazi-occupied Warsaw and Soviet-occupied Wilno.

After being caught and sentenced to eight years in a Soviet Gulag (a forced labor camp), she was one of many prisoners of war released after the Polish and Soviet governments signed a treaty. She served one year of her sentence, and upon release joined the newly formed Polish army and became the general manager of the army’s dramatic theater.

Her actions made her a legend in the family.

Braun’s devotion to poetry, literature and theater growing up was only matched by his devotion to his spiritual Catholic upbringing. At a very early age, Braun began to discover that “there is more to reality.”

“It was my environment from the very beginning,” Braun said. “From my childhood throughout my life [until] today … basic and essential in it is the belief that there is more to reality. There is more than life as we see it and perceive it.”

Braun’s deep-rooted spiritual beliefs are a way for him to experience the other parts of reality, like theater is a way for him to expose those parts to his audience.

And these two elements, theater and religion, guided Braun for most of his life. The two even merged in many of the plays he directed later in his career.

“Father Maximilian’s Cell,” a play he directed in Poland in 2011, tells the story of Maximilian Kolbe, a devout monk, teacher, writer and journalist who died in Auschwitz in 1941. Braun describes him as “someone living here [on Earth] working very hard, but all the time being open to heaven … [he] was a modern man and in a way a transhistorical man – taking values of the past, living today and open to future.”

Braun could similarly be considered a trans-historical man. In his work as a professor and director, he takes values of his past, applies them to the present and looks onward to the future. *** Although Braun was passionate about theater, he focused on Polish literature when he first attended the University of Poznań.

During this time, he became a well-known expert on the famous Polish romantic poet Norwid. But as his studies progressed, he became more interested in acting and directing.

The university had a theater that Braun began acting in. Eventually, he became good enough to perform in a local professional theater, at which point he decided he wanted to go into directing. Anyone could apply

to the Warsaw School of Drama as long as he or she had the equivalent of a master’s degree.

After graduating from the University of Poznań in 1958 with a Master’s of Polish literature, he applied to the Warsaw School of Drama. After a grueling three-day entrance exam, he was accepted.

As a student in Warsaw, Braun met two of the most important people in his life: his biggest critic and adviser, his wife, Zophia, and Karol Józef Wojtyła, who went on to become Pope John Paul II. As a young priest, Wojtyła was a professor at the Catholic University of Lublin, later renamed the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin. At the university, Wojtyła created a group in which he mentored students, and Braun became a member.

Like Braun’s uncle, Jerzy, Wojtyła was an underground actor and playwright during World War II, according to Braun. Shortly after the war, Wojtyła joined the seminary, but he never lost his interest in theater, Braun said. Braun believes that Wojtyła got close to him to remain connected, educated and advised on theater.

In 1978, Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II. After being friends for years, Braun received multiple audiences with the Pope in the Vatican and saw him for the last time in 1998, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the group’s creation.

“Because he was a poet, he was an actor, he was an academic teacher and he was a thinker [and a] mystic, his impression on me was very important,” Braun said.

While Wojtyła was crucial part of Braun’s spiritual development, Zophia was instrumental in his career as a director.

“My mom was instrumental in my dad’s career in helping him move from directing mostly classes to directing contemporary drama,” said Justyna Braun, their daughter, who is an English professor at SUNY Geneseo. “She gave him the plays of a wellknown Polish playwright and said, ‘Why don’t you read this?’ And he did, and it was a turning point in his career.”

Braun worked tirelessly toward his Master of Directing and directed his first professional play, Nora Szczepańska’s “The Cooks,” in 1961.

Over the next 20 years, Braun directed 95 plays all over Europe, primarily in Poland.

“Directing is a sort of gypsy life,” he said.

Between 1962 and 1988, Braun earned a Ph.D. in Polish Literature from Poznań University and two habilitations (higher versions of a Ph.D.) in the History of Theatre at Wrocław University and Directing at the School of Drama in Warsaw.

Braun submitted his dissertation for di-

recting in 1984, shortly before he left Poland, but didn’t get his degree until 1988.

The School of Drama told him he would never get the degree, but he received a letter in the mail while he was living in the United States years later that said he got the degree anyway.

Braun’s constant movement wasn’t just dictated by his career.

“We had to move constantly from one city to another … because of political reasons,” Zophia said. “He was chased by the Communist Party. They didn’t like him very much.”

He was relentlessly pursued for his anticommunist views. *** After the “Iron Curtain” fell over Europe following World War II and Poland became a communist nation, there were “waves of protests and uprisings,” according to Braun, because Polish people resisted that regime.

For religious, ideological and political reasons, Braun never became a member of the Communist Party. His choice meant that his plays were often prohibited and underwent intense amounts of censorship – more than others, especially those belonging to the party.

He often participated in protests during the Solidarity movement and continued producing, directing and putting on plays. The institution of martial law in December 1981 changed everything.

Before it was instated, “officials could pretend like people had freedom, like they gave freedom to artists and like they didn’t want to see what everyone was saying about the regime,” he said.

At the time, Braun was the general manager and artistic director of the Wrocław Contemporary Theatre, which he described as one of the best professional theaters in Poland. He was also a professor in the School of Drama at Wrocław University.

Braun recognized the significance of his positions as not just a means of furthering his own directorial career, but as something that gave him prominence within Poland’s artistic community.

Because of his prominence, when censorship became a major issue for the artistic community throughout Poland, Braun became a leader of the underground culture movement, just like his uncle Jerzy did during World War II. Through his illegal underground connections, Braun produced multiple plays and held readings and performances of them in people’s homes.

“Imagine in an ordinary living room, in an apartment or a building … 60, 70, 80 people cramped, sitting close to each other

$755 $985

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

IN REMEMBRANCE OF

2014 2015

and the play is read,” Braun recalled. “Actors perform in a way that the space allowed them to do. [There was] some lighting, improvised with regular desk lamps. Incredible theater. Incredibly intense.”

A copy of “Valesa” was smuggled out of Poland with the help of the cultural attaché in the Canadian Embassy in Warsaw and a version of it premiered in the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in December 1983.

Braun’s daughter, Justyna, who was 8, attended one of his illegal productions with her mother. Even at that age, Justyna described it as something that formed her political consciousness and sympathies and began helping her develop intellectually and artistically.

In addition to illegal play productions, Braun also organized illegal parties of artists and scholars, concerts and art exhibitions in churches, which weren’t checked by censorship officials, and held lectures in private homes. When Braun signed a letter of protest that circulated through the underground, he was arrested and interrogated for hours.

“All the time, it was fight for freedom, freedom of expression,” Braun said. “The situation in Poland was a lack of political freedom, lack of personal freedom. In theater [there was] constant censorship and pressure. Imagine that every play to be produced [in a] theater had to be censored. I was trying all the time to push those boundaries imposed by the regime to enlarge my freedom.”

Eventually, Braun pushed too far.

His adaptation of Albert Camus’ novel “The Plague” was the beginning of the end for his career in communist Poland. Written during World War II, Camus’ novel used metaphorical language to describe the situation of France under Nazi occupation.

But Braun adapted the novel into a play and used the same metaphor of a plague being unleashed on a populace to discuss the situation of Poland under the “unwanted” dominion of communism.

Before a play could open to the public, the production, script and a final rehearsal had to be approved by a censor. When a censor came to observe a rehearsal of Braun’s adaptation of “The Plague,” Braun lied and said, “I’m following Camus and the metaphor refers to the totalitarian Nazi system, not the communist system.” Braun called it “a shield that allowed me to [get the play passed censorship].”

Unlike “Valesa,” this play wasn’t produced and displayed underground in someone’s private home; it was put on in the Wrocław Contemporary Theatre and premiered on May 6, 1983.

“It was a metaphor. The characters did not say, ‘I’m talking about communism, which is bad and should be rejected and so on,’” Braun said. “But it was obvious that this was the message of the production and because it was a good production and it was well known … because it was so obviously anti-communist, this was practically the production [that got me] fired.”

After “The Plague,” Braun directed four more plays before he was fired from the Wrocław Contemporary Theatre. This, however, was only the beginning. After being fired as the theater’s general manager and artistic director on July 5, 1984, he was fired from his position as a professor in the School of Drama in Wrocław. For a while, Braun was in what he described as a “void.”

He was jobless.

“He came home one day and said, ‘[Zophia], I lost my job. I don’t know what to do next.’ And we didn’t know for a while,” Zophia said.

Because he was running the theater successfully and becoming a well-known director in Poland and Europe, Braun was outraged that management had taken his job from him. He saw it as a malicious decision.

“I got terribly angry … it was so unjust, so unfounded,” Braun said. “[When] I was dismissed, they took away everything from me because of political reasons … My theSEE BRAUN on the next page

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Continued from previous page: Braun ater was doing very well and I had successes in Poland and internationally with theater … they interrupted me doing theater, which I was doing quite well and I wanted to continue to do.”

Though he was furious, he didn’t lose hope; he didn’t quit.

“He is truly an artist because he could have spent his whole life just following the rules and doing what he was told, but he pushed boundaries,” said Ariel Judson, a senior theater major who played one of four Ariels – spirits – in “The Tempest.” “Unfortunately, he was punished for that, but that just shows how much of an artist he truly is.” *** When some of Braun’s work started becoming prohibited and the rest became increasingly censored, theater directors and professors from the United States began inviting him to direct plays. In the early ’80s, he produced a play based on Tadeusz Różewicz’s “Cardindex” at the University of Connecticut and Notre Dame. He also taught a two-week-long series of workshops about Polish theater at the City University of New York.

He began making friends and developing connections with actors, playwrights and professors across the country. When they found out he had lost everything and couldn’t get a job, they encouraged him to move to the United States.

“Kaz told me one night, after many weeks of thinking about it, ‘I should try with the States,’” Zophia said. “He told me, ‘I’m going to try it,’ and he called some people over here in the States. ‘Is it possible to find a job? Is it possible to come over?’”

His friends told him yes, it was possible, and implored him to try it.

The Polish government, however, wouldn’t allow Braun to leave, so his friends in the States sent telegrams to the Ministry of Culture, which needed to give Braun permission to direct abroad and approve its portion of his visa saying, ‘We want this director. Give him a passport. Give him an exit visa.’

Finally, the government allowed Braun to leave, but he had to leave his wife and three children behind. *** Braun spent the majority of 1985 teaching at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and commuting to New York University as a visiting professor teaching the history of directing and directing for one day each week. Unable to get their exit visas, his family was still in Poland.

“It was very hard to be separated from

them and the situation in Poland was very dangerous at that time,” Braun said. “I was all the time worried about them.”

While Braun was working in the States and sending money to support his family back home, Zophia was summoned to the police station and interrogated for a day.

“They tried to tell [Zophia] I wasn’t going to return. They tried to expel her from our apartment because I was the owner and I wasn’t there,” Braun said. “It was unpleasant.”

For the first five months that they were apart, phones in Poland were disabled, so the Brauns were forced to communicate through letters, which took 2-3 weeks and were read by the censor bureau. When phone lines were reestablished in Poland, calling a Polish phone number prompted an automated message informing the caller that the call was being monitored and recorded. *** Braun was only planning on teaching in the States for a year. At the end of his year at Swarthmore, Braun was about to return home to his family when his wife and Justyna received their exit visas and traveled to America. Braun and Zophia’s other two children were already grown up and remained in Poland.

Leaving her oldest children behind was difficult for Zophia, but knowing Braun would be there to help Zophia and Justyna adjust to a new way of life was reassuring.

“I could always rely on him,” Justyna said.

“I knew that things would be taken care of, I knew that my questions would be answered, I knew that my dad would make sure we had a sense of stability and a sense of security and that good decisions were being made on my behalf.”

Braun oversaw all of the paperwork necessary for his family to obtain their green cards and citizenship. He also ensured that he could provide for them and give them a proper home to live in.

After teaching at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and directing a play at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, he landed at UB. “There was a choice: either to pursue work in a career as a professional director, but this would mean traveling all the time, all over a big country,” Braun said “Trying to get a new directing proposal and [traveling away from home] for months or to try to establish myself here at UB.” Braun’s previous work directing in the States helped him to quickly overcome the language barrier because actors and directors share a universal language no the mat-

ter the dialect.

He accepted a position at UB in 1986 but didn’t start teaching until 1987. He took a Regents Professorship at the University of California, Santa Cruz and began producing a play at Guthrie Theater.

In the fall of 1986, Braun and his family embarked on a 12-day road trip from Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, to California, which exposed them to the enormity of the American landscape.

After the play concluded and Braun finished his semester at the University of California, Santa Cruz, he and his family once again embarked back to Swarthmore before they came to Buffalo, where Braun began teaching the following spring semester.

“I reaped the benefits of our move to the United States,” Justyna said. “For the first time, my dad had a steady job … after he got tenure, his professional position became very stable, which is more than most theater directors can say. So because of that stability, he had more time to spend with me.” *** Next year will mark Braun’s last at UB. Braun has spent the last 28 years in Buffalo teaching students and colleagues everything he could about theater.

“This will close in a year one very important chapter of my work and life,” Braun said.

Ask people to describe how they feel about their time with Braun and what he has done for the Department of Theatre and Dance and you’ll almost universally evoke a sense of speechlessness. There’s always a pause, a struggle to find the right words to describe Braun’s impact.

“I cannot say things that are eloquent enough to represent how much respect and love I have for Kaz Braun,” said Kathleen Golde, the cofounder and associate artistic director of the Buffalo Laboratory Theater, who has known Braun for almost two decades and worked on multiple plays with him.

Braun once told Golde something she will never forget – in fact, she has it written on a post-it note that sits on her desk: “Sometimes, in order for the tree to grow, you have to cut some branches.”

In this way, Golde sees Braun as a strong, intelligent tree with deep roots throughout the department – roots that will leave an enormous gap.

“It is going to be very hard for someone to fill that gap because he is such a great role model and teacher,” said David Remple, a junior theater and media study major who played Prospero in Braun’s production of “The Tempest.”

Remple stated something multiple others echoed: he feels sadness and loss for students who will never get to learn from, study under and be guided by Braun.

As Judson put it, “It’s a shame that future students won’t be working with him. I feel terrible that they won’t get the same amazingness that is Kaz Braun in their lives. And I think the theater department is losing one of their best professors. But he will go on to do great things … His energy is always 110 percent, so even though he won’t be teaching here, I know that he will actively be participating in the theater world for the rest of his life … I love him.”

Although his wife worries about what will happen when Braun is no longer able to teach, which has “been most important for him,” Braun isn’t showing any signs of letting up.

Since 1989, Braun has been working closely with Maria Nowotarska, who runs the Polish Theatre of Toronto. They have completed six productions together and are currently holding rehearsals for a seventh, entitled “Lanckorońska.”

The play is about a countess by the same name who was a member of the Polish resistance and was arrested and sentenced to death but avoided execution. Later in life, she published memoires about the atrocities she witnessed during World War II, donated her family’s massive art collection to Poland and began the Lanckorońska Foundation to promote preservation of Polish culture.

When Braun came to Buffalo, he didn’t know about the Polish Theatre of Toronto or know Nowotarska was in charge. He was reading a Polish magazine one day when he stumbled upon an interview with her, in which she talked about working with many directors, including Braun.

Nowotarska was the star in multiple of Braun’s plays, starting with a version of Norwid’s “Behind the Wings” in 1970.

“I was very happy because she is an excellent actress,” Braun said. “Nowotarska has a daughter who is a professional actress from Kraków, so I began working with them. We produced and I wrote several plays, which they produced and I directed with them.”

Braun is also working on a set of memoires.

“Each [of the three sections] is about 40 pages long. I tried to keep it concise, but I’ve only finished my [time at the] university,” he said. “I’m quite old. I’ve lived a long life in theater and academia. There’s a lot to talk about.” email: arts@ubspectrum.com

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Wednesday, May 7, 2014 ubspectrum.com

LIFE, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

UB’s 168th University Commencement approaches As the academic year comes to a close, the university and graduating seniors will be preparing for commencement. UB’s 15 graduation ceremonies will be taking place May 2-18, and approximately 5,500 undergraduate and graduate students will be receiving degrees.

The 2014 commencement season will begin with the School of Medical and Biomedical Sciences ceremony, which will take place in the Center For the Arts. Each department’s ceremonies will take place the following two weeks, alternating between Alumni Arena and the CFA. May 18, President Satish K. Tripathi will speak at the University Commencement, which will begin at 10 a.m. Other speakers during the commencement ceremonies include: Nancy H. Nielsen, MD ’76, senior associate dean for health policy, UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, who will also receive the UB President’s Medal in recognition of extraordinary service to the university; Steven A. Guttenberg, president of the Washington Institute for Mouth, Face and Jaw Surgery, Washington, D.C.; and U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana.

Majorie T. Breslawski will be the student speaker.

UB’s highest honor, the Chancellor P. Norton Medal, will be presented posthumously to Ralph Wilson Jr., founder and 54-year owner of the Buffalo Bills, who passed away in March.

Forty-two students will also receive awards, including the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence, the Outstanding Senior Award from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Student Affairs Senior Leadership Award – awarded to Marc Pierre. email: news@ubspectrum.com

UB alum stresses importance of seeking treatment for eating disorders KEREN BARUCH

Senior Features Editor

On May 2, The Spectrum published a piece titled “Learning to let go” about UB students and alumni who have struggled with eating disorders and body image issues.

In addition to raising awareness about the disorders and specific stories regarding certain students’ battles, awareness regarding where to get help needs to be broadened, according to all three students featured in “Learning to let go.”

Thirty million Americans suffer from an eating disorder but only one in 10 will receive proper treatment, according to Glamour Magazine.

Sixty UB students were treated for eating disorders this year at UB’s Student Health and Wellness Center. Allie F, a UB alumna, said it pains her to think of how many girls she knew in college who struggled with eating disorders and never asked for help.

She urges anybody who is suffering now to reach out and get help immediately. She said UB has a lot of resources available for eating disorder recovery.

When Allie reached out to Counseling Services for help, she was paired with Carissa Uschold.

Uschold was the driving force that helped jumpstart Allie’s journey toward recovery. Uschold’s professional background and passion for working with eating disorders made her a good candidate for helping Allie.

Uschold has been interested in working with eating disorders since early in her high school career, she said. After transferring from a city to suburban high school, she became aware of body image and eating disorder concerns and pressures faced by girls and women around her. So she

focused her graduate studies on eating disorders and worked at a community mental health agency, running its outpatient eating disorder program.

“When someone is struggling with an eating disorder, they are often consumed by the negative eating disordered thoughts and emotions throughout each day,” Uschold said. “This is all occurring while they are fighting hard to survive and in many cases continue to go to school, work and navigate the relationships in their lives.”

Uschold was able to figuratively get into Allie’s head and understand where she was coming from.

She showed Allie that her disorder was not actually her own fault – which is what Allie said she might be most thankful for now.

Uschold helped Allie’s self-esteem.

“We also have been accustomed to relating self-worth to how we look rather than who we are or what we accomplish,” Uschold said. “When someone is struggling, they also have to manage the people in their life who may not understand the pathology of the eating disorder. Often, people will say to ‘just eat.’ It is so much more complicated than that.”

So a multi-disciplinary approach must be taken when it comes to working with eating disorders.

UB’s eating disorders treatment team utilizes individual and group therapy, nutritional counseling, medical management and psychiatric services.

The cost of treatment for an eating disorder in the United States ranges from $500 to $2,800 per day, according to Mirasol Eating Disorder Recovery Centers.

Mirasol also reports the average cost for a month of inpatient treatment is $30,000 and individuals with eating disorders typical-

ly need three to six months of inpatient care.

UB offers these services for free, except for a standard Michael Hall co-payment. Free treatment is nearly impossible to find, according to Allie. She said students struggling should immediately seek help while they’re at UB. Allie began her treatment by seeing the nutritionist on campus and had appointments with the doctors at Michael Hall “to gauge how badly [she had] f***** up [her] body,” she said. She also participated in group therapy with other girls on campus who were struggling with similar issues.

“I think this was especially meaningful for me because my eating disorder made me feel so alone all of the time, even when I was with my closest friends,” Allie said. “And being in a group with these girls proved to me that I wasn’t alone and, in fact, had my own group of cheerleaders who understood and were with me on the journey to get better.”

She said every girl in her group looked like a “regular girl” she might see around campus any given day. It made her realize you never know who has an eating disorder – it can be anyone, regardless of what someone looks like, which is both tragic and a reminder that those struggling are not as alone as they may think, she said.

Through one-on-one therapy sessions with Uschold, Allie learned eating disorders run a lot deeper than food and weight.

“Eating disorders are hard to talk about eloquently because from the outside, you can’t understand it, and from the inside, you can’t explain it,” Allie said. “Most people don’t realize eating disorders are a lot more complicated than just not being able to let yourself eat a cookie, so the goal of recovery and the wellness team

is to build you back up from the inside out. You can’t fix your relationship with food until you fix your relationship with yourself.”

Since seeking help from UB’s counseling center, Allie has been fixing her relationship with herself as well as with food.

Uschold said when she works with her clients, they discuss the need for balance between the negative voice of the eating disorder and their own voice of health or reason. She said she provides “psychoeducation” surrounding eating disorder symptoms, including effective ways to cope and find support. She said it is a “feminist approach to treatment that integrates holistic health practices with a person-centered approach.”

Uschold believes with treatment in place, it is possible for someone to work toward recovery. As long as a person is alive, there is always hope and help available, she said.

“So no matter how much the eating disorder screams against it, if there is even one cell in your body that wants to ask for help, listen to it,” Allie said. “And then fight for recovery like your life depends on it – because it does.” email: features@ubspectrum.com

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Wednesday, May 7, 2014

7

Playlist: ‘So long, so long’ Summing up four years in 20 songs See the reason for our picks by clicking on this article in the Multimedia tab at ubspectrum.com.

• Wiz Khalifa – “Taylor Gang” • Big Sean featuring Chris Brown – “My Last” • Easton Corbin – “All Over The Road” • Blake Shelton – “All About Tonight” • Chiddy Bang – “Opposite of Adults” • Bruno Mars – “Lazy Song” • Outasight – “Tonight is the Night” • The Lumineers – “Ho Hey” • The Black Keys – “Lonely Boy” • Far East Movement – “Like a G6” • Drake – “The Motto” • Beyoncé – “Schoolin’ Life” • Vampire Weekend – “Campus” • Justin Timberlake featuring Jay Z – “Suit and Tie” • Miley Cyrus – “We Can’t Stop” • Diddy-Dirty Money – “Coming Home” • Taylor Swift – “Story of Us” • Zedd – “Clarity” • Brett Eldridge – “Don’t Ya” • Dan + Shay – “19 You + Me”

Follow TheSpectrumUB on Spotify to listen to all of our playlists

Continued from page 1: SA position with 1,021 votes. Impact’s Juan Jiminez received 965 votes and independent candidate Ali Ahmed had 155 votes.

March 24, SA President McMahon and Vice President Mai sent an email to the SA listserv, which goes to the executive board of every SA club, detailing the plausibility of each party’s platform. Some members participating in the election felt the email was inappropriate The total number of undergraduate students who voted was 2,303 – about 11.8 percent of the student body.

A part of Ingram’s platform with the Value Party was to modernize SA’s basic operating procedures by having video tutorials for skills like how to book a room.

Treasurer candidate Ahmed claims mistreatment, invalid election March 27, Ali Ahmed, a treasurer candidate in the SA election, lost by more than 700 votes in the election. He felt he was treated unfairly throughout the election process and thinks the election was invalid.

He was running independently and acknowledged he was likely to lose, but he felt members of SA hindered his ability to effective-

ly campaign and be a viable candidate in the election.

Ahmed claimed an amendment passed by the Senate earlier that semester mandated the election was to start “no earlier than six weeks before the last day of classes and no later than three weeks before the last day of the spring semester,” but the election didn’t fall within this timeframe. Election and Credentials Chair Matt Siwiec spoke to SA’s lawyer, Josh Korman, who said the amendment would affect next year’s election because the election process had already started by the time the amendment was passed.

Ahmed claimed the email McMahon and Mai sent to SA clubs was inappropriate and didn’t mention him as a candidate.

“I simply was not treated as an equal candidate,” Ahmed said. “I understand that I don’t have a party, I didn’t run on a party’s ticket or have anyone with me, but I think it is completely unreasonable to ignore a candidate.”

Ahmed also claimed he wasn’t treated like the other candidates on the floor of the election. Siwiec took responsibility for some of the mishaps on the floor.

Senate votes to lower executive stipends

April 13, the Senate passed the 2014-15 undergraduate SA budget, which included a cut to each of the executive board’s stipends – down from $12,000 to $10,000.

This cut put $6,000 back into the SA’s roughly $3.6 million budget.

Eight senators voted ‘yes’ and three abstained on the budget proposal.

Many SA members and UB students agreed with the decrease of the executive board’s stipend.

Alana Barricks, an SA senator, originally ran for Senate because she believed the $36,000 stipend should be reduced. She feels $30,000 is still a lot, but she is happy SA is “headed in the right direction.”

Senate, Assembly make changes to election process April 23, the SA Assembly and Senate passed multiple changes to the election process that many student leaders believed have been necessary for a while.

The Assembly changed election rules, making the president and vice president candidates run on separate ballots. The Senate also had an emergency meeting the same night and passed an amendment giving the president the ability to appoint SUNY Delegates.

Siwiec, who is also the international coordinator and a sena-

tor, proposed these changes to the Senate and Assembly.

Previous election processes required the president and vice president to be voted in together and SUNY Delegates to run on a party’s ticket.

James Ingram, president-elect, said the separation of the two executive members will ensure the positions are candidates “the majority of the students wanted to fill.” Ingram abstained from the vote, however, because he believed the changes needed more discussion.

Council election voided, current student representative Ovadia accused of “overstepping boundaries” April 25, the University Council Elections Committee voided the results of the UB Council student representative election from earlier that week.

Siwiec, the election committee chair, sent an email informing the candidates the committee wanted “to restore students’ trust in the election process and demonstrate that the expectation of professionalism will be enforced.”

The reason for the re-election was because of controversy surrounding current UB Council Student Representative Dan Ovadia’s

“clear support of one of the candidates,” according to Siwiec, and a possible leak of the results.

The new election needed to be during the academic year to be considered valid. The online election will be held from midnight May 6 to 5 p.m. May 8. The results will be announced May 12.

The UB Council Representative position is outside of the Student Association. But before the council election was voided, Rory Miller, a former Student Association hiring committee member, claimed Ovadia went beyond the boundaries of his position.

“It would be the same as [current SA President] Sam McMahon supporting Value or Impact when they ran,” Miller said. “They stayed out of it.”

Siwiec looked into Miller’s issues and said Ovadia had not broken any SA or New York State rules.

Ovadia changed his Facebook cover photo Minahil Khan’s “Minahil Khan for UB Council” banner. Miller gave The Spectrum screenshots of a private Facebook group that included Ovadia asking members to change their cover photo to Khan’s banner. email: news@ubspectrum.com

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8

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Ultimate Walking Encyclopedia #1 Hoffert garners massive collection of comics, self-publishes story BRIAN KESCHINGER

Creative Director

Sitting on custom-made shelving inside of a small room in his parents’ basement are more than 65 cardboard storage boxes. The boxes measure 28.5 inches in length, 7.5 inches wide and 11 inches tall, and they can weigh more than 50 pounds when they’re full. And all of them are full.

Mike Hoffert Jr. admits he has a “crippling addiction.”

He has been hooked since he was 13 years old. But unlike some dependencies, this one isn’t dangerous – unless you fear paper cuts.

“I’m not an addictive personality; I’m an obsessive personality,” Hoffert said.

“And I obsess about comics.”

Hoffert, a senior technical theater major, has a growing comic book collection that exceeds 14,000 issues. His collection ranges from DC Comics’ The Flash #127 (released in March 1962) to Image Comics’ Southern Bastards #1 (released April 30, 2014). He makes sure not to exclude anything in the realm of comics to digest all he can.

Hoffert doesn’t collect for the investment on rare issues or for completeness, but rather to read because he’s “more or less addicted to stories.”

“The most extreme thing about my collection, is my collection,” Hoffert said.

“Because it’s larger than people’s who have been collecting for a much longer time than me.”

Hoffert’s arrangement is home to comics of all different genres, publishers and styles. Having read “about 60 percent” of his collection, he cultivates his knowledge of the medium and expands his experiences to separate himself as an aspiring comic book writer. “[Writing comics] is what I want to do until I die,” Hoffert said.

Hoffert has known he’s wanted to be a writer since fifth grade. But it wasn’t until he read The Ultimate Spider-Man #8 that he felt the gears in his head “clicking into place.”

Hoffert began writing comic scripts at 15 years old, but he didn’t have his first comic published until about decade later.

Though he writes comics, he can’t draw

Brian Keschinger, The Spectrum

Mike Hoffert Jr. sits with just six of his 67 boxes of comics in his parents’ home. His collection includes more than 14,000 comics.

them well enough for publication. After sending messages to about 70 different illustrators on the popular, community-driven art website DeviantArt, Hoffert received three responses. After sending the script to those three, he heard back from just one. But one artist was all that he needed to self-publish his first comic.

Those unfamiliar with the medium may assume comics are solely about superheroes, but Hoffert, like many others, focuses on differing subjects.

“For somebody who really has no experience in the medium as of yet and doesn’t really have a name, I think it’s more important to do work in other genres [rather than superheroes],” he said. “Because if you’re doing something superhero, it’s kind of derivative.”

His first published comic, titled The Event, is a six-page issue that tackles a controversial idea: What would happen if the citizens of earth discovered they weren’t alone in the universe? The story is told through the responses of religious leaders, politicians, celebrities, oil barons and more. It displays how their lives would be directly impacted and how the new encounter should be dealt with.

Hoffert funded the entire project, paying both the artist, Maurice Wegulo, and

for the cost of printing 100 copies. Even after charging $2.50 for the sci-fi story and $1 for shipping, Hoffert will lose money on the project. But that doesn’t concern him; for Hoffert, it’s more about gaining experience and growing as a writer.

He understands that he has a lot to learn as a comic writer and takes an active approach to furthering his dream. Though The Event was his first published comic, he wrote many scripts before that one and has numerous others in the works.

Along with continuing to write as many comics as he can, Hoffert has participated in a comic workshop put on by Comics Experience, an online school that teaches its students how to write, draw and edit for comics. The Comics Experience and the workshop Hoffert attended were founded and run by Andy Schmidt, a former editor at Marvel Comics and former senior editor at IDW Publishing. “[The workshop] was great. I really feel like I learned a lot and have applied everything I learned toward honing my craft,” Hoffert said. “It was very conversational and casual but also really in depth. Andy Schmidt was a super great teacher.”

On top of cranking out scripts and attending workshops, Hoffert has attempted to extend the outreach of his work as

Quick Turn Special

far as possible. Top Cow Productions puts on an annual event called the Talent Hunt in search of up-and-coming comic writers and artists. Top Cow then picks four writers and four artists to collaborate and create a published single-issue comic.

Despite falling short last year, Hoffert has entered a new script this year with hopes of gaining recognition.

Along with submitting his work to competitions, Hoffert’s comic The Event is stocked at local Buffalo comic shops Seeley & Kane’s Comics and Queen City Bookstore. Hoffert was the best man in the wedding of Justin Colling, owner of Seeley & Kane’s.

“He loves [comics]. He knows artists, he knows writers – I don’t even know half of the artists and writers and he’ll just shoot them off the top of his head,” Colling said. “He knows his stuff.”

Hoffert’s mind is a database of comics that rivals Wikipedia. Asking him his thoughts on a particular comic will shoot him down a rabbit hole, connecting the comic’s publisher, writer and artist to that of another comic. This ability can turn a question of curiosity into a 30-minute informational session on the famous debate of who now owns the rights to the superhero Marvelman. But these tangents aren’t SEE HOFFERT, PAGE 9

Brian Keschinger, The Spectrum

Hoffert’s bedroom walls are home to shelves covered with graphic novels, comic memorabilia and various other genres of literature.

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Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Continued from page 8: Hoffert to be interrupted when Hoffert’s comic knowledge is spilling out of him, while his voice exudes excitement and passion.

This amount of knowledge isn’t something that can be obtained overnight – it’s something that is earned through years of reading comics. But the knowledge comes at a cost. He spends as much as $100 a week on between 20 and 40 books, which could equate to the cost of fulltime tuition at UB – unless you work and have an arrangement to be paid in comics instead of money.

Emil Novak, the owner of Queen City Bookstore, hired Hoffert to work at the comic store located near UB’s South Campus to occasionally do inventory and help with customers. Hoffert’s directory of comic book knowledge is something Novak admires and finds useful at the store because Queen City is “not selling cars or bread, so [customers] expect [the employees] to have some knowledge.”

Novak said Hoffert still has a lot to learn, but believes the budding writer has the ingredients to be successful in the hyper-competitive industry. “[Hoffert] knows what it takes.

He reads a lot, he knows the narratives and he knows a lot about the history of comics,” Novak said. “Basically, he’s a natural and if he truly has the patience to put into [writing comics], he should succeed. And it looks like he’s going to.”

Continued from page 12: Aces

Hoffert’s next script to be published is an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Horror at Redhook for the Visions Anthology, a compilation of comics all written and drawn by Buffalo natives.

The Novak-led collection is set to be released in October around Buffalo’s annual Comic Con. As if being a comic writer, working at a comic store and being president of the UB Comics club didn’t yield enough panels, ink and onomatopoeia to fill Hoffert’s days, he also spearheads a comic-based podcast titled “It Came From The Longbox.” The podcast’s title is a reference to how Hoffert stores his massive collection of comics and has been the moniker to more than 50 episodes in which he and his friends discuss their recent adventures in comics.

Comics are a “beautiful blending of literature and art” to Hoffert. It’s a blending that he is still – after reading thousands of comics and writing them for more than 10 years – trying to perfect and turn into a career.

Hoffert’s dedication begs one question: What would his life be like without comics?

“Honestly, I have no idea,” he said. “Comics are my vice, and at the darkest points of my life sometimes the only thing that’s kept me going, is knowing that there are new comics coming out Wednesday.” email: brian.keschinger@ubspecrum.com

LIBERTY YELLOW

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Sophomore Akhil Mehta believed the club provided an advantage few other tennis teams possessed.

“It really plays a vital part to our success knowing that we have the best fans and support system in the MAC,” Mehta said. “Throughout our travels, we noticed that no matter where we go, no team can generate the crowds that we seem to bring to our home matches and the UB Aces have played a very large part in that.”

In past years, the Aces went to only “one or so games,” according to Morgis. This season, the Aces attended every home game.

“I’m always amazed by [the Buffalo players’] consistency and power,” Morgis said.

Vice President Bryan Matthews and Treasurer Nick Davis pointed out Aces is not merely a fan club supporting the team – it is also a club team that competes.

The Aces finished one match short of the regional semifinals in February, which is “the farthest we’ve even been [in club tennis],” according to Matthews.

The Bulls and Aces had some joint practices this season. The varsity players even began yelling “Go Aces,” during one of the practices, rather than their usual “Go Bulls.”

“We always have ‘tennis under the lights’ once or twice a year where we invite all of the UB Aces out to our courts and play with them, kind of to have fun and as a thank you for all the

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support that they give us over the season,” Mehta said.

Matthews is mindful of the future of the Aces and wants the organization to grow.

“I’d like to see more than just a club tennis team,” Matthews said. “We’d love to have people who want to come and win.

We’re more viewed as recreational, [being a club team]. We want people who want to come play and win.” email: sports@ubspectrum.com

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THE FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS. Vote in the University Council Student Representative Election Election is online at: http://www.student­ affairs.buffalo.edu/vote/ Tuesday, May 6 12am through Thursday, May 8, 5pm

This election is being rerun. Please vote during this voting period even if you have voted in the previous voting period.

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ubspectrum.com

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Raintree Island & Paradise Lane Apartments Come see our new Community Center!

-10 minutes away from Campus -Renovated Community Center with FREE Wifi -Computer Louge with 7 days/wk access -Brand new Fitness Center 7 days/wk access -Racquetball/Basketball Court -In-ground swimming pool with Wifi access -Lighted tennis courts One bedrooms start at $730.

Two bedrooms start at $810 - $405 pp (based on two roommates) All apts. include heat, cable tv, and trash – some include electric.

Schedule an appointment, call us today: 716-694-8742 Visit www.morgancommunities.com for photos and more information.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014 ubspectrum.com

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CLASSIFIEDS

HELP WANTED

TIRED OF LOOKING AT THE SAME OLD DUMP??? Our nicest apartments rent now! Newly remodeled 3-8 person homes on W. Winspear, Englewood, Tyler, Heath and Merrimac. Amenities include O/S parking, whirlpool bathtubs, w/w carpeting, new ss appliances, free laundry, snow removal & valet garbage! Live the Sweethome life on South! Visit www. ubrents.com or call 716-775-7057

HELP WANTED

PART-TIME/ FULL TIME SALES POSITION. Students welcome. Top wages, flexible hours, hourly+ commision and close to campus. 585-721-7530 FLOWER SHOP HELPER. Part time fun job. Main St. Amherst. 716-400-4891

4,5,6 & 8 BEDROOM Remodeled apartment houses. 3 of 33 apartments remain. University Buffalo main street campus – off Englewood. Beginning June 2014: UB South Campus for $275 $325/Bed plus utilities. Washers & Dryers included. Contact BRADENGEL37@ gmail.com or Shawn at 716-984-7813 Check out our website: www.bufapt.com

HOUSE CLEANER NEEDED by professor part-time $15/hr near N.Campus 688-2461 PART-TIME POSITIONS AVAILABLE. Lasertron Family Entertainment Center is currently hiring for GO-kart operators and general customer service. Working at a fast, detail-oriented pace and having excellent customer service skills is a must. Starting at ~$11.50~/hr, must be available nights and weekends. Stop in and complete an application at Lasertron, 5101 North Bailey Avenue, Amherst. NY.

AMHERST 1 & 2 BEDROOM apartments, 1 mile from UB North.

Newly remodeled includes: heat, water, appliances, laundry, off-street parking.

From $745.00 716-691-7600

PAINTER FOR LOCAL COMPANY. Some experience helpful. Will train. Must have own transportation. Call 716-361-4427

AMHERST BRAND NEW TOWNHOUSE. Beautiful 2-BDRM, 1 ½ bathrooms, basement, private yard, stove, dishwasher, refrigerator & off-street parking. Faculty & graduate students preferred. 716-691-7600

APARTMENT FOR RENT

APARTMENT FOR RENT

2 & 3 BEDROOM APARTMENTS. Walking distance UB South Campus. Tom 716-570-4776 tombridon@aol.com

CLASSIC TWO BEDROOM, sun-filled, rooms, shiny oak floors, garage, spotless, plus free laundry! www.ub-apartments. com / 836-4429.

2 & 3 BEDROOM APARTMENTS South Campus on/or right off Main Street. Modern carpeted, large bedrooms.

3BR Available June 1st, 2BR Available immediately. $800.00-$1200.00 includes utilities, call Al 716-861-8102

AMHERST 1 & 2-BDRM New appliances, flooring, off-street parking & laundry. Available now! 716-863-5781

1 BDRM APARTMENT on Bailey Avenue near UB South. $400+ utilities 835-9000

HOUSE FOR HOUSE FOR RENT

RENT

TIRED OF LOOKING AT THE SAME OLD DUMP??? Our nicest apartments rent now! Newly remodeled 1-4 person homes on W. Winspear, Englewood, Tyler, Heath and Merrimac.

Amenities include O/S parking, whirlpool bathtubs, w/w carpeting, new ss appliances, & free laundry! Live the Sweethome life on South! Visit www. ubrents.com or call 716-775-7057 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 BEDROOM HOMES. Available June 1st, 2014. Go to daveburnette.net to view all properties or call Dave at 716-445-2514.

4,5,6 & 8 BEDROOM Remodeled apartment houses. 3 of 33 apartments to choose from. University Buffalo main street campus – off Englewood.

Beginning June 2014: UB South Campus for $275 $325/Bed plus utilities. Washers & Dryers included.

Contact BRADENGEL37@gmail.com or Shawn at 716-984-7813 Check out our website: www.bufapt.com

ROOM FOR ROOM FOR RENT

SERVICES SERVICES BUFFALODRIVINGSCHOOLS .

COM Learn to drive with our warranted driving instruction package. NYS 5hr course, points& insurance reduction class in our classroom or on-line. Call for free shuttle service to our classroom from north& south campus. 716-834-4300.

CITYA1DRIVINGSCHOOL.COM Beginners & brush-up driving lessons. 5hr class $30.00 716-875-4662.

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ADOPTION O P T I

O

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FUN LOVING MARRIED COUPLE will give your child a loving home. Home Study Certified Expenses paid. 1-888-57-ADOPT / w w w. o u r s p e c i a l w i s h . i n f o

UNCLASSIFIEDS UNCLASSIFIEDS (MISC.)

(MISC.)

KUNG-FU, TAI CHI LESSONS. 6th degree Black Belt. Affordable rates. Near Wegmans/Robinson Rd. 716-695-1170.

TONAWANDA PREGNANCY INFO CTR 716-694-8623

RENT

CLOSE TO SOUTH CAMPUS. Large BDRMS, furnished, Internet & utilities included. Available June 1st. $300-$400/pp 716-570-6062

TOTAL CAR CARE LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED Honoring All Existing Warranties 1171 Niagara Falls Blvd Amherst NY

Formerly MIDAS

837-4000

www.premiercarcarewny.com

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

DAILY DELIGHTS sponsored by buffalostudenthousing.com Crossword of the Day Monday, May 7, 2014 FROM UNIVERSAL UCLICK

HOROSCOPES TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- What you are trying to accomplish may not be as easy as "one-two-three," but it is not much more complicated than that!

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- You may be misinterpreting someone else's attempts to reconnect with you. You'll want to put yourself in his or her shoes for a moment.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- You may be welcome to express yourself any way you see fit, but then again, you may not. Assess the situation with care.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- Your dedication to a certain ideal will serve you well throughout the day -though tension may arise between you and a rival as a result.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- Someone you can usually count on for support may not be there for you today. Find out if this is an ideological problem.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) -- You know how to deal with an awkward situation in just the right way -- but you may find that it takes something out of you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) -- Someone who is used to getting his or her way may be surprised to learn that you're not as willing as others to acquiesce.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) -- You may be bending over backward to conform to another's wishes, but it's not having the effect you intended. It's time to stand tall.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- How you approach someone in authority will make all the difference. You can submit to the rules without being submissive.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) -- You've prepared carefully for what is in store, but there may be one or two surprises you haven't anticipated.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) -- It's time for you to answer a call of sorts, but you can do so in your own way, and according to your own personal schedule.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Your different approach to a familiar problem has the higher-ups wondering if you're really on their side -- which, of course, you are.

Edited by Timothy E. Parker May 7, 2014 CATCH! By Cornelius West

SUDOKU

ACROSS 1 Catherine wed by Henry VIII 5 Like a fairy-tale piper 9 Overhand tennis shot 14 Length x width 15 Nursing a grudge 16 Leisurely stroll 17 Some Major Leaguers 20 Clifftop home 21 Conciliatory offering 22 Extravagant publicity 23 In need of companionship 26 Mythical Himalayan 28 Twilight, old-style 30 Abstain from 34 Oft-used abbr.

37 Nile creature 39 What David did to Goliath 40 Give up 44 Desire greatly 45 Bogus thing 46 Cobbler’s gadget 47 Round-trippers 49 Gulps of a drink 52 Enjoy a book 54 Like Letterman’s pet tricks 57 One of Isaac’s twins 60 Xis’ predecessors 62 Certain noblewoman (Var.) 64 Couldn’t sleep 68 One keeping minutes 69 Finished 70 18-wheeler

71 Licorice flavor 72 Former cygnet 73 “While” attachment

DOWN 1 Hemingway’s nickname 2 The Little Mermaid 3 Coming back into vogue 4 Participating in the Indy 500 5 Pressure meas.

6 End of an accord?

7 Work units 8 Wooden duck, e.g.

9 Masseur’s workplace 10 Tough-guy trait 11 Pale and wan 12 Slowly permeate 13 Hydrant hookup 18 Toe’s opposite 19 Page in the paper 24 Central points 25 Tales well-spun 27 Kind of tube or pilot 29 Emperors in the closet 31 Caucus state 32 Hearty dinner 33 Kiss partner 34 Engrave with acid 35 “Comin’___the rye” 36 Hit the books hard 38 Tobacco mouthfuls 41 Strains, as a muscle 42 “___ all in this together”

FALL SPACES ARE WHERE YOU SHOULD

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

43 Send out matter 48 Glassmaking need 50 Advice maven 51 Scanty 53 Pairs 55 Outer’s opposite 56 Views as 57 European volcano 58 In the near future 59 Italian wine town 61 Skier’s wish 63 Work in the cutting room 65 Bard’s preposition 66 Crime lab evidence 67 Bo Derek comedy

Wednesday, May 7, 2014 ubspectrum.com

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SPORTS

No. 2: of the D1 ERA James Starks TOP 10

Niagara Falls native, current Packer brought Buffalo football to a new level

OWEN O’BRIEN Sports Editor

James Starks’ historic career at the University at Buffalo began because he never wanted to leave the area.

The Niagara Falls native wanted to set a precedent. While other players from his high school searched out universities around the country, Starks had only two schools in mind: Syracuse and Buffalo. When the opportunity to play at Syracuse didn’t present itself, he decided on UB. “I wanted to show younger guys from my neighborhood who may get D-1 offers or D-2 offers that wherever you go, you can make it,” Starks said.

Starks only played at UB for three years (missing his fourth because of injury), but he leads all Buffalo running backs with 34 career rushing touchdowns and ranks second in career rushing yards (3,140) behind Branden Oliver (No. 10 on this list).

Starks is currently a running back for the Green Bay Packers and has accumulated 1,778 total yards in four seasons in the NFL. In his rookie season, he rushed for 52 yards on 11 carries in helping the Packers defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. The Niagara Falls community has always been important to Starks. He said he “wanted to be different than a lot other guys” and remain in Buffalo.

He had watched UB football for years. His youth football teams received tickets to the games. When he arrived, the Bulls hadn’t won more than three games since 1998 – when Starks was 12 years old.

But Starks believed there was the potential to win, and a big opportunity for him to thrive, at UB. “A lot of people didn’t really believe you could go somewhere smaller and be successful,” Starks said.

Starks proved the doubters wrong, not only individually, but also with a championship.

Buffalo football won its first Mid-American Conference Championship behind Starks’ monstrous junior season. He ran for 1,333 yards and 16 touchdowns, good for third and first all-time at UB in a single-season, respectively. The Bulls defeated No. 12 Ball State, 42-24, in the MAC title game as Starks totaled 127 yards and a touchdown.

Starks remembers the Bulls entering the championship game with tremendous confidence thanks to former head coach

Courtesy of Paul Hokanson, UB Athletics During his UB career, James Starks ran for 3,140 yards and 34 touchdowns and helped lead the Bulls to their first and only MAC championship in 2008.

Turner Gill, who eventually left for Kansas and is now the head coach at Liberty University. Gill helped the team realize the importance of the game for the entire university.

“When I first got there, the University of Buffalo wasn’t doing much in football,” Starks said. “When I first got there, we were basically just trying to turn it around as a team.”

Starks ran for more than 170 yards five times in his career – including a 231-yard outburst in 2007.

“I’m a strong-minded person, so any obstacle in the way, I’m going to knock that thing down and try to be where I need to be, where I’m trying to go,” Starks said.

Starks was nominated for the Doak Walker Award – which designates the top college running back in the nation – before his senior season, but an offseason injury derailed these high expectations. While participating in summer practice, Starks suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder. He didn’t want to lose his senior season and originally tried to rehab the injury, but then realized he had no choice but surgery.

The locker room and Starks were emotional when he told the team he needed surgery and would likely miss the season. But as a team captain, Starks made

sure he was there for the rest of the team. He took an interest in Oliver, then a freshman – telling Oliver he would break some of Starks’ own records, an accomplishment Oliver later achieved.

Starks spent the remainder of the season rehabbing his injury and preparing for the NFL Draft. Because he did not compete in his final year of eligibility, Starks fell to the Packers in the sixth round.

Although he didn’t play much in his first regular season, his presence was felt on the NFL’s brightest stage – the playoffs.

Despite just 29 carries for 101 yards in the regular season, Starks made the most of his first postseason opportunity. The rookie running back ran for 123 yards on 23 attempts to help the Packers earn a 21-16 road victory against the Philadelphia Eagles.

He followed that performance with games of 66, 74 and 52 rushing yards as the Packers won their first Super Bowl since 1996. “[Coming] in, getting hurt, going through everything I battled through … to come out of that and still be successful and show people the potential to grow and get better as a player, it made me feel great,” Starks said.

Starks still has deep ties to his roots at UB and his hometown of Niagara Falls. Starks still speaks with Gill, often about

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

Wrestling 2008-11

non-football related Kuras items.

No. 4: Brittney Swimming “He’s like a2011-14 father figure to me

No.of3:there, Javon McCrea out there’s a lot of disBasketball 2010-14 tractions where people may go

kind of in that aspect,” Starks said. “He kind of raises and molds us to be good men and know how to carry ourselves in the locker room. [We are] who we are today is a large part due to coach Turner and I’d like to thank him personally.”

When Starks comes home, he still wants to prove to the children of the Niagara Falls community they can accomplish their goals.

“I do what I do now because of the little guys coming up now,” Starks said. “I mean to get

different ways. Not a lot of people get out of Niagara Falls.

“They show me nothing but respect. I get treated like I’ve always been treated. They show me love and I show them love.”

Starks just signed a new twoyear contract with the Packers for $3.16 million. He continues to be a focal point of the Green Bay backfield and an inspiration to those in the Buffalo community. email: sports@ubspectrum.com

For the love of the game UB Aces embody the passion of tennis CHRISTIAN BRUNO

Staff Writer

The final home game for the men’s tennis team was its most important match. The Bulls were fighting for the fourth and final seed for the Mid-American Conference Tournament and needed all the support they could get.

The Bulls trailed 3-2 after the first five decisions and needed to sweep the final two matches to earn the victory. Their season was on the line. Enter UB Aces.

Clad in blue and white, the Aces filtered in courtside at the Miller Tennis Center, cheering and witnessing the team pull out a tight victory in a tiebreaker, 4-3. This win proved even more crucial as it ended up being the tiebreaker between Western Michigan and Buffalo for the final conference tournament bid.

UB Aces is both a fan club and competitive team. Formed in 2006, the Aces are an official Student Association club. The organization receives an annual budget of $3,000 from SA to cover all events, from tournaments to picnics.

“Facebook only says so much,” said Aces President Peter Morgis. “Recently over winter break, we had some hitting sessions, but they were themed. Our most recent night was ‘lax bros,’ but we also had retro night [among other themes].”

The executive board of the club said the theme nights stemmed from an idea to draw more people to hitting sessions.

“We wanted to make our sessions more than hitting a tennis ball,” Morgis said. “It’s something to laugh about, and people dress up very creatively.”

Chad Cooper, The Spectrum The UB Aces support the men’s and women’s tennis teams at their home matches and play competitively themselves. Top row from left to right: Bryan Matthews, Nick Davis, Chris Brais, Peter Morgis. Bottom row from left to right: Holly Szafarczyk, Alex Rowen, Ali Brooks, Roshni Master.

Morgis said it’s a great way for the club to relax and “make fun of each other,” boosting camaraderie amongst the club members.

The Aces supported the Buffalo men’s and women’s tennis teams throughout stellar sea-

sons. The women’s team went 15-6 with a 5-3 conference record and the men earned their first-ever national ranking by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association en route to a 12-8 season.

The men’s team finished within

a tiebreaker point of its first-ever MAC Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance.

The Aces supported the teams at all their home games this year, and their support was evident and appreciated by the varsity teams.

Senior Jason Shkodinik, the men’s team captain, said the Aces are a vital part of Buffalo’s tennis culture. “[In my four years at UB], we’ve had the most fans ever at our home matches,” Shkodinik said. “The attention’s spread mostly by word of mouth, and the Aces spearhead that.”

Sophomore Sergio Arevalillo said the Aces help “pump up” the Bulls for their home matches and the team appreciated the support it received.

SEE ACES, PAGE 9