The Spectrum Volume 63 Issue 80

Tips on creative dressing for summer events Top 10 athletes of the D1 Era — No. 1: Khalil Mack THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO, SINCE 1950

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Volume 63 No. 80

ΛΠIMΛL HΣIGHTS

Unrecognized frats flourish in Heights as they go unmonitored by UB, national organizations and police LISA KHOURY

Managing Editor

The brothers of the illegal fraternity Sigma Alpha Mu formed a circle around their pledges in the basement of their University Heights home – just off campus.

Then, they ordered the pledges to beat each other up. The pledges complied until one student – who had an underlying medical condition – started to convulse.

A few brothers gathered up the trembling freshman, dumped him on the stairs of Veteran’s Affairs Hospital and left. The hospital only treats veterans, but a security guard who spotted the boy called an ambulance.

In his hospital room in Erie County Medical Center, the boy told Erie County Sherriff ’s deputies what had happened.

The next day – after the student got the news that he had been accepted as a Sigma Alpha Mu brother – he denied the fight had happened. He told the deputies he had been delirious when he had spoken with them. He said he had made up the whole hazing story.

The sheriff ’s deputies shelved the report and – although the student’s father called UB to complain that his son had been hazed – UB could do nothing.

There was no official report.

There were no witnesses. Offi-

cially, there wasn’t even a victim.

And on the record, the fraternity the student was allegedly pledging doesn’t even exist at UB. The episode, recounted by a frustrated UB administrator, encapsulates the problem of illegal fraternities at UB. It helps explain why – despite recent national attention given to hazing – these groups have been able

to flourish at UB since the late 1990s. No members want to talk about how their groups operate, who’s in them or what goes on when the house doors close.

And no one is keeping track of them – not the university, not the police, not the national organizations whose names these groups steal.

Nationally, more than 60 stu-

dents have died in fraternity-related incidents since 2005, according to a recent study by Bloomberg News. But no one knows how many students across the country are involved in illegal fraternities and sororities. They stay together after national organizations close their chapters.

They operate outside the system and protect their members’ iden-

“THE CULTURE IS SUCH THAT THE STUDENTS WHO ARE PLEDGING ARE REALLY TAUGHT TO KEEP THEIR MOUTHS SHUT. THEY’RE TAUGHT HOW TO LIE TO US. AND THEY’RE AFRAID.”

tities by encircling themselves in a code of silence.

“The culture is such that the students who are pledging are really taught to keep their mouths shut,” said Elizabeth Lidano, the director of UB’s Judicial Affairs, who has spent years trying to get information about unrecognized groups and punish students who are involved. “They’re taught how to lie to us. And they’re afraid.”

They are afraid of retaliation by their “brothers” and of being labeled sell-outs. They are also afraid UB will punish, suspend or expel them. Even students who dropped out of UB to escape the illegal fraternities are unwilling to talk about them.

In a seven-month investigation, The Spectrum interviewed current and former illegal fraternity members and their friends, alumni of illegal fraternities, members of legal fraternities and sororities, as well as university officials and community members to understand how and why these groups operate and thrive at UB. Often, the code of secrecy impeded our reporting, as did university privacy laws and the noncooperation of Buffalo Police and other authorities, including parents, to discuss this issue openly.

Still, what The Spectrum has uncovered about the five unrecogSEE fraternities, PAGE 4

UB to honor students who passed away

Came in like a breaking ball Magovney makes transition from power to off-speed pitcher TOM DINKI

Asst. Sports Editor

Courtesy of Denise Englert Friday, UB will honor 16 students who passed away this year, including Paul Englert Jr., a sophomore civil engineering major who died in September.

SAM FERNANDO

Senior News Editor

Friday, UB will host a memorial service for the 16 students who passed away during 2013 and 2014. The ceremony will take place in Student Union Theater at 11 a.m.

UB will honor: Brian Archie, Nicholas Arieno, Katielyn Aubertine, Taylor Binnert, Paul Englert, Jeffrey Gower, Jeremy Hayes, Saron Hood, Lisa Husung, Narang David Kim, James Kuwik, Michael Munella, Christopher Peterson, Emily Peterson, Kuan-Yu Benjamin Wu and Zachary Yambor.

Director of Judicial Affairs and Student Advocacy Liz Lidano has been organizing this annual memorial since its inception 10 years ago. She said there have been more student deaths this year than any previous year.

Lidano organized the event with Student Support Coordinator Colleen Connolly. The fam-

Spectrum File Photo UB football player and recent graduate Saron Hood passed away last summer.

ilies and friends of all but two students will attend.

“I think it’s a beautiful ceremony and incredibly impactful for family and friends who have lost a student,” Lidano said.

SEE memorial, PAGE 13

Think of the prototypical pitcher.

What comes to mind is probably a strong-armed thrower who launches 95-mph fastballs that leave batters swinging at air, not realizing the ball has already smacked into the catcher’s mitt, the kind of pitcher that ‘wows’ fans and scouts with incredible velocity and racks up K’s.

The power pitcher is what every baseball team looks for in an ace. Major League Baseball has seen an influx of young power pitchers in recent years, like Stephen Strasburg, Matt Harvey and Jose Fernandez, who rely on their power to get outs. The emphasis on velocity goes beyond the major leagues; its roots are at the high school and college levels.

Anthony Magovney is not going to blow fastballs past batters.

He’ll tell you so himself. He describes himself as a finesse pitcher, and he has the lowest strikeouts-per-game average of any Buffalo pitcher who has started a game this season (5.1).

A lack of arm strength hasn’t stopped the junior right-hander from dominating on the mound for the baseball team this season.

Magovney is 6-1 with an ERA of 3.09 – which ranks second among UB pitchers who have pitched at least 26 innings this season. What he lacks in power he makes up for in off-speed pitches and baseball knowledge.

Though fastball pitchers can rely on pure velocity, pitchers like Magovney have to find ways to offset the batter’s timing or de-

Chad Cooper, The Spectrum Anthony Magovney has had to adjust his pitching style since arriving at UB, and he has successfully made the transition from a power hurler in high school to an off-speed pitcher in college.

ceive him into swinging at a pitch outside the strike zone.

When Magovney is on the mound, his strategy to beat his opponents is more mental than physical. He is always thinking about which pitch the batter will be least expecting.

“I try to play more mind games with [the batter] than try and just say, ‘I’m better than you,’ and overpower you,” Magovney said.

“I attack their weaknesses and go with my strengths. I like to confuse the other person because I know what I’m going to do, and I usually feel confident in myself that whatever I throw is going to get them out.”

He has his changeup: fooling the batter into swinging early. He has his curveball: hanging the ball out in front of the strike zone before it drops down suddenly to below the batter’s knees.

Then there is his favorite pitch, the slider: the ball comes in tight before violently sliding out of the batter’s range. He might also throw a fastball: a pitch the batter likely won’t be expecting af-

ter he has spent the entire game throwing off-speed pitches.

“A lot of guys are confused up there because they really don’t think a guy can throw that many off-speed pitches in a row and that he has to throw a fastball, but Anthony just doesn’t do it,” said senior pitcher Dan Ginader. “What throws them off is that he’s so far from the norm because he just doesn’t use his fastball. He’s very good at it and that’s why he’s been so good.”

Magovney wasn’t always the breaking ball master he is today.

He’s had to acquire the skill of the off-speed pitch over time, which he began to do with the realization he no longer had the ability to get outs on power alone – a realization that can be humbling for pitchers.

Magovney has taken the pitching style change in stride, though, and he, his teammates and family believe he is a better pitcher for it.

“I think he’s grown as a pitcher,” said his brother, Brian MaSEE magovney, PAGE 6

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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.

OPINION Off one stage and on to another Graduates finish UB prepared to overcome this era’s challenges The school year is coming to a close, graduates are making their way to the stage and summer days are approaching. After finals, the immediate future can look nothing but bright, but the future further out can be bleaker.

We – college students today – have not come of age in the most hospitable of environments.

Teenage years bracketed by seemingly endless war and dire recession have made some jaded – about jobs, the environment, global politics and our place in this increasingly complex world.

What is the role of 20-somethings in this rapidly changing world? And what change can we really make in places so hostile to differing perspectives, particularly from what can seem like hubristic kids with bright eyes and big ideas?

Generalizations are often overly simplistic and always problematic. There is little one could say about the amalgam of outlooks this generation possesses. But one thing is doubtless: the horizon of our collective and individual potential is boundless.

Our surroundings – be they hostile, turbulent or staunchly stagnant – do not and cannot limit our creativity and determination.

Technology has broken down any walls that limited past generations. The door between any individual and the world has been flung open, and with the fall of that barrier has come only more

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

Art by Amber Sliter

possibilities for us to make our voices heard.

The proliferation of democratized communication allows for self-learning and self-teaching in ways never before experienced. It is up to us to not only express our own ideas, but also learn from the perspectives of others.

College is a time for development – of our minds, perspectives and selves. It imbues anyone willing to be open and receptive with unforgettable experiences and unparalleled quality and scope in our outlook.

Immersing ourselves in new ideas and different opinions gives

the opportunity to gain from the insights of others in powerful ways. A diverse outlook improves an individual’s position and offers a wide range of ideas for how to address and correct the world’s most pressing issues.

We are told our dream jobs are unattainable, our goals are lofty or utopian and our perspective limited by age. But those who criticize our age group often fail to see the strides we have already made, the power of dreams held amongst many and the perspective gained from quality experience.

If any lesson can be gleaned from college and taken into the world beyond textbooks and lectures, it is simply this: before worrying about job security and climate change, take a moment to believe in your own abilities and fortitude.

The problems we will collectively and individually face in coming months and years may seem bewildering, even insurmountable. The first step to meeting any of these challenges is believing in your ability to do so. With education and experience both received and lived, and with the perspective attained and expanded by our ever-increasing access to technology, our generation has in its grip the tools to change the world. email: editorial@ubspectrum.com

From tales we’ve told As The Spectrum to ones we’ve made, a grew, so did I transformative journey

Wednesday, May 9, 2014 Volume 63 Number 80 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.

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AARON MANSFIELD Editor in Chief

A friend recently interviewed me for one of his classes. “So, how did you wind up in your position and what do you like about The Spectrum?” he asked.

I chuckled quietly, thinking, Do you have a few hours?

This is my final column, and I spent some time debating which direction to take it. Is there anything I could possibly write, I’ve wondered, that could illustrate the three and a half years I’ve spent here, that could capture the spirit of it all?

There have been so many adventures – so many nights I couldn’t sleep because my mind was ping-ponging over a looming predicament, so many more I couldn’t sleep because I was high on the excitement of my job.

As Michael Wilbon penned in his Washington Post goodbye column, “This is the first column I ever dreaded writing, the only time I can recall experiencing that thing known as writer’s block.”

There are quite a few stories from my time at The Spectrum that I hope to one day share with my children (and quite a few, indeed, that I will not). As I’ve reflected on my time here, I have discovered that’s what it has been all about: the stories.

It’s been about the powerful stories the staff has told in the newspaper (and worked tirelessly to perfect, deliberating commas and paragraph breaks like mad men), and about the memorable stories that have come from moments we have shared during our time

together (and man, have we had some moments).

This ending of one phase in life has made me consider time – it’s made me consider how this moment, the one I’m living in right now, is the past as I write these words, and how the moment you lived in as you read them is now the past, too. I’m dizzy just thinking about it.

Two years ago, I told a staff member who was set to graduate in 2013, “snap your fingers and you’ll be leaving school.” That strategy backfired, though, because we snapped our fingers and here it is, two years later, and I’m the one graduating. Shoot.

As my favorite Doctor once put it, “How did it get so late so soon?

It’s night before it’s afternoon.”

“Wild ride” isn’t a strong enough phrase to sum up this time in life for me. Maybe “mind-blowing” or – I’ve got it – “transformative.”

I’ve been the editor in chief of this publication for two years, a total of 161 issues, and have been on staff for nearly 300. Every single newspaper has elicited joy, heartbreak or another powerful emotion. Not one has been boring.

I’ve worked with seven incredible staffs; with the turnover rate of a college newspaper, each semester’s group has been completely different.

Each has had its own distinct personality and has been driven in its own way. I’ll never forget the hilarity of the spring 2012 staff or the determination of spring 2014.

They’ve all made a mark on me.

But no matter what, every staff since I’ve been here has had one thing in common: I’ve been the best NBA Showtime player.

Just kidding (but seriously).

What I meant to say is, every staff since I’ve been here has been on a mission to become one of the premier college media outlets in the country.

It’s a real underdog story. We don’t have a journalism major.

We don’t receive funding from the students, student governSEE Journey, PAGE 13

LISA KHOURY

Managing Editor

You can become one of the most recognized college journalists in the world while working at The Spectrum. Believe me, I learned that the hard way.

I had only been at the paper for a few months when I wrote an opinion piece about my distaste for tattoos that offended tens of thousands of people. Readers from all around the world sent me hate mail, calling me ugly and worthless. Many suggested I give up writing.

I thought my career was over.

What I didn’t realize was it was just beginning.

After spending the first few nights crying, I had an epiphany: If a piece of journalism can affect people across the globe, what if my stories could do so in a positive way?

That became my life goal. And the best part was, I wasn’t the only writer at The Spectrum who understood the power of journalism.

I joined at a time when the newspaper was turning around its negative reputation on campus. The University at Buffalo doesn’t have a journalism major, and in The Spectrum’s 60-plus year history it had never won a national award. But that didn’t stop the last few years’ staffs from aiming for enormous goals.

We worked tirelessly to compete with some of the best student newspapers in the country – digging into stories larger than ourselves, hustling to be the first source in Buffalo to break

news, pioneering a newscast to compete with multimedia news sources.

And in the process, we became a family.

Together, we made things possible at this newspaper that the University at Buffalo has never seen before. A small group of us, about 20 editors, worked together to turn The Spectrum into one of the most competitive student newspapers in America – earning 13 national awards in the last four years.

Experiencing my dreams come true was surreal. Experiencing them coming true with a group of people I care deeply about was indescribable.

My mom and dad, who emigrated here from Lebanon, always told me that hard work pays off. Last week, I got to tell them that I won one of those national awards – I earned first place in in-depth reporting for the Society of Professional Journalists’ Mark of Excellence Awards.

My parents came from underdeveloped villages in Lebanon and were never able to pursue their own dreams. Their jobs served one purpose: make ends meet. Their only hope was that their kids could achieve their own dreams.

The look on their faces when I told them about my award made the months of hard work worth it.

Now, as I leave The Spectrum, I have a national award under my belt, as well as journalism connections around the country and an upcoming internship at The Buffalo News.

But what makes me choke up is when I think about how our group accomplished these things together, and the fun times in the process.

Each editor has had a remarkable influence on me.

I worked under two of the best leaders The Spectrum has ever seen. When I first joined the paper, former editor in chief Matthew Parrino promoted me quickly. He believed in me, and so I believed in myself.

SEE growth, PAGE 13

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Continued from page 1:

FRΛTΣRΠITIΣS nized fraternities at UB using the names of Sigma Alpha Mu (Sammy), Alpha Tau Omega (ATO), Phi Delta Theta, Kappa Sigma and Delta Sigma Phi – is both dangerous and alarming: Some houses engage in advanced drug-selling operations, which includes selling and storing cocaine, ecstasy and several pounds of marijuana at a time. In September 2012, one fraternity was caught with $64,000 in cash in its house.

*920 UB students were surveyed for this poll

Have you ever been to a UB fraternity or sorority party?

NO 30%

Underage pledges are regularly forced to drink alcohol excessively and are mistreated, sometimes to the point of hospitalization.

Pledges have been forced to strip and then doused with hot sauce and covered in spray paint. In multiple cases, pledges had hot sauce mixed with vinegar and warm water smeared in their eyes.

YES 70%

IF YES, did you know whether the party was hosted by a legal or illegal group?

Pledges are forced to stay outside in cold temperatures with little to no clothing and have snowballs thrown at them.

NO 57%

Pledges are forced to eat cat food, sleep in dirty, wet basements and are beat up or forced to fight one another.

Students are deprived of food and sleep and forced to miss classes. Some pledges have seen their GPA’s plummet. Professors have reached out to Judicial Affairs after students appeared disheveled and ill in class.

Illegal fraternities are actively recruiting students to UB (particularly from Long Island) with promises of a wild party scene with no oversight.

“Basically they’re gangs. No difference,” said a current student and former legal fraternity member, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation from illegal fraternity members. “Their pledge processes are the kind of events that you see on TV. Hardcore hazing, beating the pledges, embarrassing them in front of the brothers and sometimes sorority girls.

There’s three to four that I can think of right now at UB, and each one is involved heavily in drugs or at least weed.”

Two students in the past three years left UB because they felt they couldn’t disaffiliate from an unrecognized group without leaving the university for good, according to Judicial Affairs.

Others – including a former president of one of the five illegal fraternities who asked to remain unnamed – left because the university academically dismissed them for failing grades.

Lidano’s office has disciplined 70 students in the past four years for acts related to unrecognized groups. All of the charges involved drugs, hazing, disorderly conduct and/or destruction of property.

But Lidano says those are only the cases she knows about.

There are many more. Her office is simply not aware of them, despite her continued efforts to find out.

The numbers fluctuate by year, but the illegal groups have about 100-200 members between them.

Yet hundreds – possibly thousands – of UB students who are not involved in Greek Life attend parties the illegal fraternities throw in the basements of their University Heights homes.

The parties always include alcohol and often drugs, students said.

UB also has three illegal sororities, operating under the names Alpha Epsilon Phi, Delta Delta and Alpha Sigma Alpha. But

YES 43%

Did UB warn you about joining underground fraternities? If yes, how were you cautioned?

I was never warned about joining underground fraternities Freshman orientation

44%

26%

18% UB 101 class

10% Poster of unrecognized frats in Student Union

Parent newsletter - 2%

everyone – students, UB administrators and Judicial Affairs – agree it’s the fraternities that cause the problems.

The illegal fraternities rent homes from absentee landlords who rarely check or maintain their properties. Each year illegal fraternities designate one house as their “party house.” The groups use national fraternity organization names, like “Sigma Alpha Mu,” also known as the Sammies, but do not pay dues to and are not recognized by the national organizations. They have essentially stolen the Greek names and trademarks, which is illegal in the United States and known as trademark infringement.

But the national organizations’ offices are thousands of miles away and – despite numerous letters and pleas from Pam Jackson, the assistant director for Fraternity & Sorority Life at UB – no organization has ever taken legal action against these students at UB.

UB’S PΛRTY SCΣΠΣ

*Daniel Smith knew the illegal fraternity he wanted to pledge had one of the worst hazing reputations in the country. He had heard the rumors about the grueling last week of pledging, known as “hell week” or “hell period,” during which pledges get drenched in cold water and have snowballs thrown at them one day and get hot sauce poured on their bodies and eyes the next.

To him, it sounded worth it to make the buddies he knew he’d keep forever. Besides, he was 18 and anxious to take risks and live the college life.

In fall 2010, during Smith’s first semester of his freshman year, he pledged for 78 days – three weeks longer than recognized Greek organizations’ pledge processes.

And, unlike legal groups in which students have to complete 12 credits and receive a 3.0 GPA to pledge, pledging an illegal fraternity is immediate.

Six students pledged that semester. Only three – including Smith – made it through.

Like all of the members of illegal fraternities interviewed for

Friday, May 9, 2014

this story, he refused to have his real name published and only haltingly agreed to confirm some of the details about his experiences. Smith, who spoke under the agreement that the name of his fraternity wouldn’t be published, said he doesn’t even tell his closest non-fraternity friends about what he did as a pledge or as part of the fraternity. But he said his friends were always “fascinated” with his rogue group. He liked the mystique his affiliation gave him.

His friends also liked the parties, which were always in a basement in the University Heights.

“The party house is the house we go all out in – setting up the basement, getting a bar, getting all the black lights up,” Smith said.

“If s*** happens and cops come, that’s when we start changing up the party place.”

Parties in the Heights happen every weekend. That’s partly why students like to live there. The area is walking distance to South Campus and the subway and bus lines. Crime rates are significantly higher than they are on North Campus, but rent is much cheaper and – although the neighborhood has pulled together in recent years – many landlords are neglectful and don’t maintain their homes.

Most of UB’s 39 recognized fraternities and sororities rent houses in the Heights and Greek letters hang prominently from numerous windows. Illegal groups blend into the Heights effortlessly. Buffalo Police don’t have time or vested interest in monitoring students or learning which houses are legal or illegal. University Police don’t have jurisdiction in the Heights, despite the fact that more than 3,000 students live there, and university officials say they aren’t responsible for students’ actions off campus.

“I personally didn’t feel any danger of getting in trouble with UB when I pledged,” Smith said.

“I just felt that everything we did was off campus; it would never be found out.”

Members are rarely ever caught being part of an unrecognized group. When they are found hazing or stashing drugs by the Buffalo Police, UB hears of it. But members always deny being part of the group.

In 2009, Buffalo Police caught a pledge trying to escape from hazing in the University Heights.

Police then quickly located the group, some of whom were outside in their underwear. The students – all of whom were versed in what to say if found by police – told the same story. They were not engaged in hazing. The students in their underwear were not pledges. They were in their underwear because they had lost a bet.

Jackson, who has been trying to find out who illegal members are for 14 years, got a call about the incident and a list of students involved. The next day, she called the group into her office.

“The whole frat and even the kids who were pledging, they all had to sit in a meeting in front of Pam Jackson,” Smith said, who joined the next year. “She was trying to pull out evidence to show we were [an illegal frat] and all 30 of the people there had to sit there and say, ‘No we are not … we are just a group of kids.’”

Joining unrecognized brotherhoods, however, is not just harmless fun: In December 2007, an illegal fraternity hired Buffalo Police officer Monte R. Montalvo to work security for its party in their University Heights home.

In November 2008, Buffalo Police arrested four students in ATO from their Northrup Place home. They forced pledges, who were only in their underwear, to cover their bodies in a concoction of hot sauce and spray paint.

They were also found with bags of marijuana.

In January 2011, two Delta Sigma Phi pledges were spotted in two blue garbage bins, wearing only underwear, on Winspear Avenue in freezing temperatures.

In September 2012, four UB students in an illegal fraternity were arrested for operating an alleged drug ring out of their home on West Northrup Place. They, along with three non-students, were found with $64,000 in cash, 9 pounds of marijuana, 8 ounces of ecstasy and a half-ounce of

cocaine.

Two weeks later, on the same street, five UB students in an illegal fraternity were arrested after Buffalo Police found drugs and money in their home.

Those are only a handful of accounts The Spectrum has attained from police reports and student testimonies. When The Spectrum filed a Freedom of Information request for all Buffalo Police reports regarding student arrests, the department couldn’t provide those statistics, according to Spokesman Mike DeGeorge, because it doesn’t keep track of students.

Some of the group members interviewed for this story said the hazing is “not that bad” and that it’s worth it to belong. Solidarity.

Character building. Trust. Bonding via hot sauce.

“Me and my pledge brothers … we’d only have one bathroom in the party house we were allowed to clean up in. There’d be like three of us in the shower pouring milk on ourselves and rubbing yogurt on us,” said Smith, who explained milk and yogurt can ease the burn.

The point was, they were going through it together. And though Smith doesn’t go to UB anymore, he says he’ll always be a member of that frat and the frat memories will always be part of his college experience.

ILLΣGΛL FRΛTΣRΠITIΣS ΛFFΣCT HΣIGHTS COMMUΠITY

During Smith’s three years at UB, no one at the university suspected what he was doing. His GPA never reached a 2.0, but no one questioned his affiliations or study habits, he said. Sometimes he would fall asleep under the tables in the basement of Lockwood Library because he was so tired from serving his brothers and from the late-night parties.

UB’s most outrageous parties – the ones with the most alcohol and drugs – are usually thrown by illegal frats in their designated “party houses.” The youngest members of the frats live in the houses – which the brothers equip with black lights and a bar.

Often, beer from kegs saturate and ruin the floors.

Parties cost $5, though girls enter free. The money is used to buy the alcohol that fuels the next party.

Members of the legal fraternities and sororities at UB pay national dues, but being part of an illegal group is cheaper. Each member throws in, at most, $400 per year.

“We’d probably start the semester with 6 to 8 grand. We’d put all that toward rush and booze for the rest of the semester,” Smith said. “If we ever ran out of money, we’d throw an open party here and there to make money.”

Neighbors in the Heights – some of whom have young families – know all about the parties and the party houses, although they don’t know which fraternities are legal and which are not.

Jason, who has lived on West Northrup for over 20 years and asked that his last name not be used, has seen police conduct drug raids in several homes rented by students in unrecognized groups. He said last year was one of the craziest party years West Northrup has ever seen. Two of his student neighbors – both alleged to be in unrecognized frats – were found with drugs and cash. One night, he had to pull a few students, who he believes were in an illegal group, out of his lilac tree because they were hiding from rival groups.

“There’s houses in the area that have become distribution places for major drug activity, that they’re actually selling to the other drug dealers in the city, and this is coming from what appears to be, in some of these, are actually students from the university,” said Mickey Vertino, the University Heights Collaborative president. “And I know this through having conversations with law enforcement. I’m aware it’s not just the innocent stuff of trying to have a house party. It’s organized businesses.”

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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Friday, May 9, 2014

Vertino has been a resident of the University Heights for about 30 years. He was a landlord from 1984 until 2005, renting homes to students. He remembers a distinct change in culture in the late ’90s, when fraternities and sororities started getting an “animalhouse” mentality.

After the Sammies, were officially kicked off campus in 1995, the brothers lived in his house, 18 Northrup Place. Even though they were officially banned, they kept the parties and the Sammy name. Their parties caused $19,000 in damage to his house, Vertino said.

The students had a camera above a bedroom door and told Vertino it was used for taping themselves having sex with girls.

But even after he evicted them, different members of Sammies rented from him.

The “notorious thing that happens is you get rid of one group, another group comes in that’s really the same group, just a different person,” Vertino said.

The groups are transient – they move from house to house in the Heights. And once they’re caught, they’ll choose another house and a different landlord from whom to rent.

ΠΛTIOΠΛL ORGΛΠIZΛTIOΠS VS. UB: WHO’S RΣSPOΠSIBLΣ?

All of the unrecognized groups at UB were once legal.

But when they didn’t comply with their parent organizations’ rules and regulations, those organizations shut them down.

Or at least that’s how it was supposed to happen.

Six of the groups – five fraternities and one sorority – were shut down between 1997 and 2013, but they never actually stopped functioning as a fraternity or sorority.

The national organizations argue that once they shut down a chapter at UB, that group of students is no longer their responsibility. UB argues that once a group operates illegally, it has no way of monitoring those students’ actions.

“At UB, we know that there is a group of men who are operating using our name,” said Leland Manders, the executive director of Sigma Alpha Mu. “We can’t seem to identify the individuals involved, so we can’t take legal action against them, and we would take legal action against them. We can’t get the university administration to give us any information about them because they hide behind the privacy rules, or privacy laws of FERPA, and so we’re kind of stuck and we’re not in a position in hiring private investigators to try to find these guys and serve them with papers.”

Jackson, whose job at UB is to manage the recognized fraternities and sororities, also acts as an illegal frat hunter. In Jackson’s 14 years at UB, she has worked tirelessly to root out these illegal groups. She says the national chapters have done little but send a letter asking the groups to stop using their names.

“I got in touch with Phi Delta Theta, Sigma Alpha Mu, which is Sammy, Kappa Sigma, Delta Sigma Phi and ATO,” she said.

“And although they were very, very willing to do something, what they wanted to do was they wanted me to do all of their legwork.”

So Jackson has worked on her own. She has made fake Facebook accounts and tried to befriend students so she could learn what they are doing. She’s spent hundreds of dollars on color posters warning students about unrecognized groups.

She’s asked students to spy for her and has gotten her hands on stolen pledge books.

Little has worked.

Students on Facebook found out who she was fairly quickly.

Illegal frat members have torn down the posters. In 2012, she replaced one poster nine times within two weeks.

For years, she had students who helped her get information on the groups. There’s a file on her computer called the “Fake Files,” which has names of stu-

5

ILLEGAL FRATERNITY AND SORORITY MEMBERS CHARGED BY JUDICIAL AFFAIRS 2011-14: 3

6

9

12

15

18

# of Students

Delta Sigma Phi - 15 2011

Charges Phi Delta Theta - 8 Alpha Tau Omega - 6 2012

Kappa Sigma - 8

Hazing Drug Possession Destruction of Property Disorderly Conduct Breaking Rules

SAMMY - 3

Delta Delta - 5 2013

Kappa Sigma - 17 2014 dents she found were in illegal fraternities in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010. She sent those names to national organizations, which then sent cease and desist letters to the individual students involved.

But, since 2010, students aren’t helping her get that information anymore. They don’t want to take a risk and sell out their friends if nobody’s shutting down the groups.

No national organization has ever taken legal action on individual students at UB. In fact, not one organization member of the five illegal frats has ever come to Buffalo to address the issue.

The Spectrum asked each organization what it did beyond writing a letter.

Sigma Alpha Mu: “We tried to get the university to help us shut it down and we’re not getting cooperation.

We’re getting a sympathetic ear, but that’s about it.

‘Wish we could help, sorry.’”

ATO: “Our attorneys sent letters and we got responses from all the men saying that, at that time, that they’d either left school, had not been associated with the organization because they didn’t appreciate what it was doing and that they would not use the letters anymore or the name.”

Kappa Sigma: “Surely someone who has received notice to stop would stop.”

Phi Delta Theta: “We’ve previously sent cease and desist letters.”

Delta Sigma Phi: “From the records of 2001, we had people we knew who were part of that group of men who were around when we closed the chapter … We don’t have any records of a follow-up.”

When The Spectrum interviewed the executive director of Kappa Sigma, he said his office is investigating the group at UB and he could not share any information because the case was open. The group has been operating illegally in the Heights for 17 years.

“An emailed letter from somebody in Indianapolis is completely pointless,” Jackson said.

ATO, for example, is headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind. “It almost makes it a joke. ‘Stop doing what you’re doing, or else.’ OK, well here’s the first issue, how are you going to know if I stop it?

You can’t see from Indianapolis.”

Phi Delta Theta - 8 WHΛT CΛΠ THΣ ΠΛTIOΠΛL ORGΛΠIZΛTIOΠS DO?

When an illegitimate group was using Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT)’s name and operating in the Heights, an official from its national headquarters in Indianapolis, Ind., traveled to UB. He came to Buffalo and followed Jackson to two of the members’ homes on Englewood Avenue in the Heights. He went in their homes and told them how they could become a legitimate chapter.

“Well here’s the deal,” Jackson recalled him saying. “If you decide that you don’t want to become a legitimate chapter, you need to cease doing what you’re doing ’cause you cannot use our letters, our word mark, our logo because all of those are nationally trademarked and licensed, and you’re in violation of federal trademark and licensing laws.

And we’re gonna sue you. And we’re gonna sue mom and dad because you’re their dependent, too.’”

The group shut itself down immediately. A few years later, in 2010, new students “recolonized” and ZBT became a recognized group on campus that still exists today.

Can an aggressive approach like that work by the university? So far, no UB officials have found a way.

Michael J Pietkiewicz, the assistant vice president of Government and Community Relations, lives on University Avenue in the Heights.

His backyard backs up onto Englewood. One of the houses on Englewood, behind his house, is occupied by an illegal fraternity – and it has been for about three years.

Couldn’t he just knock on the door, say UB knows the students are part of an illegal group and the university is shutting it down?

First, UB technically has no jurisdiction in the University Heights. It’s patrolled only by the Buffalo Police. Secondly, the students would likely deny being part of the group – and the university would have no grounds on which to punish them. Thirdly, some of the men involved in the group – like in many illegal fraternities – are not UB students, according to Pietkiewicz.

This past fall, the group strung a blue canopy across its driveway for Labor Day weekend so police driving down Englewood couldn’t look at the backyard and see what was going on. But because Pietkiewicz lives on the other side, he can look from the corner of his backyard and see everything.

The party started on Friday night and continued until Sunday night, when police finally shut it down. It would die down during the day and pick up at night, Pietkiewicz said. The male students were wearing shirts with Greek symbols on them.

“When [police] got back there, the guys with the symbols started taking their shirts off quickly,” Pietkiewicz said.

And there went UB’s chance of catching the students.

“It’s so underground. It’s in the city. It’s in the houses that it could be quietly happening,” Lidano said.

And, often, groups are recruiting students long before they attend their first class.

“I’ve had two mothers in the last two years tell me their children were being recruited in the summer, from high schools downstate in the Long Island area,” Lidano said.

WHΛT CΛΠ UB DO?

What would UB do to a student caught in an illegal fraternity?

Students involved can only be charged for the actions they’re caught doing – whether they’re caught hazing, possessing drugs or committing other illegal activities. But students can’t be punished for being in an unrecognized group unless they admit being in one.

Jackson has seen UB expel “very few” students involved in unrecognized groups during her 14 years working at the university.

She said if she had any say, 40 to 50 students would have been expelled by now.

Jackson and Lidano said prevention is the only way UB can try to combat unrecognized groups – particularly through an optional, college introductory class for freshmen, freshman orientation, parent newsletters and posters in the Student Union.

The Spectrum asked 920 students which of those approaches warned them of the unrecognized groups. Forty-six percent said they were never warned.

THΣ FUTURΣ OF UΠRΣCOGΠIZΣD GROUPS ΛT UB

Joshua Sheffer of Washington D.C.’s School Hazing Law, a legal firm, is one of the only attorneys in the United States who focuses on hazing issues for victims – particularly in Greek organizations.

But he rarely ever deals with unrecognized groups – they’re often functioning under the radar of colleges and organizations across the country.

“A lot of the times, unfortunately, nothing really happens until somebody gets really hurt,” he said.

That’s what happened at SUNY Geneseo.

In March 2009, 19-year-old sophomore Arman Partamian was found dead in an off-campus house after pledging an unrecognized group and drinking alcohol excessively.

Wendi Kinney, the assistant dean of Students for Fraternal

Life & Off Campus Services at SUNY Geneseo, said the school didn’t have to shut down the group, called the Pigs, after Partamian’s death. It “naturally” fizzled out.

Sheffer, who was involved in the Partamian legal case, says determining who is responsible for unrecognized group members is not easy. He thinks it’s both the university and national fraternity’s responsibility.

“I think legally, the fraternity doesn’t have to do anything because … the legal steps the national fraternity can take is they’re harming our reputation,” he said.

“As opposed to the university can take the stance of they’re harming our students. They are our students, and they’re harming other students, and we have to do something about that.”

UB has made it clear it is not responsible for students’ behavior off campus.

Why don’t national organizations follow up after cease and desist letters? According to Sheffer, it may be more effort than it’s worth.

“It’s expensive, it’s a pain and they have decided it’s more trouble than it’s worth,” Sheffer said.

“It’s going to be very difficult for a national fraternity to be held responsible for the acts of an unchartered, unaffiliated chapter who just happen to use the same name.”

Another SUNY school, University at Albany, has taken an approach to try to disband its 15 unrecognized groups. The school provides the Albany Police, which has jurisdiction in the school’s off-campus neighborhood, a list of the Greek letters that are not recognized by the university.

“More and more of the student groups that were mishandling their responsibilities are becoming accountable,” said Karl Luntta, the media relations director of University at Albany. “Behaviors are changing. The evidence is often anecdotal and difficult to quantify, but it speaks volumes to us – it’s working.”

Can UB do this with Buffalo Police? Not according to Jackson: “You don’t even ask that question. That’s the most preposterous thing you could ever say. Because you’re asking a police department to, in essence, assist you with an organizational identity theft of an organization that’s not even here.”

Still, if police and the university try to work together, it could be a start. If nothing is done, these groups may continue to thrive and students will continue to be in danger.

“It’s something that does need to get taken care of,” Sheffer said.

“People are getting injured by these groups – it happens over and over again.” email: news@ubspectrum.com

*The Spectrum has changed this student’s name to protect his anonymity.

ubspectrum.com

6

Friday, May 9, 2014

Continued from page 1: Magovney govney Jr. “He’s become more of a pitcher instead of a kid who just throws hard.”

The Curveball April 26, 2014 – the baseball team looks to clinch a pivotal series against conference rival Akron at Amherst Audubon Field on a rainy afternoon. After winning the first game of the series the day before, the Bulls turn to their Saturday pitcher: Magovney.

After cruising through the first inning, Magovney faces a Zips right-handed hitter with one out remaining in the second. With a 3-2 count, Magovney turns to the pitch he often uses late in the count to confuse the hitter: his curveball.

He places his middle finger on the horseshoe seam of the ball, with his thumb wrapped all the way around. During his windup, he raises the ball higher above his head than his other pitches to “get the downward action to it,” Magovney said.

The ball travels from Magovney’s hand to home plate at a waist-high level, right in the strike zone for the hitter. The Akron batter swings right as the ball suddenly drops below his knees.

Strike three.

“I love seeing [the curveball] because it kind of makes you smile out there,” Magovney said.

“It just shows that I beat you with my pitch and you had no idea what was coming.”

Magovney has been developing his curveball since he was pitching in his backyard in Watertown, N.Y., at age 12. He learned his curveball grip from his oldest brother, Stephen Magovney, although he has had to adjust it slightly because he has “never really had big hands.”

Magovney has gained baseball knowledge from his family – his father and three older brothers all played college baseball and his younger brother currently plays in high school.

Magovney said baseball was instilled in him when he was a

baby. His cousins lived down the street, and together with his brothers and other neighborhood kids they often played baseball “from the time we woke up until we were called in for dinner time,” Magovney said.

His father, Brian Magovney Sr., had all of his sons try every position on the field so they would always have a spot on a team. When Magovney started high school, however, it became clear the mound was his place.

“In high school he would play in the outfield and pitch for us but you could tell there was something about him when he was pitching … he was like a whole new player than he was when he was playing another position,” said Brian Magovney Jr., who is currently an outfielder for Division III St. Lawrence University.

Magovney played with Brian Jr. and his second-oldest brother, Daniel Magovney, on the Immaculate Heart High School baseball team.

“I’ve always been trying to prove myself saying I’m the best one out of all my brothers,” Magovney said. “I always got overshadowed because all my brothers had great high school careers and I went [to high school] and they’re like, ‘Oh, who’s this Magovney?’ I’ve always had that little chip on my shoulder.”

Magovney eventually stepped out of his older brothers’ shadows, but not with his off-speed pitches. Instead, he used his velocity. He was not the pitcher he is today when he pitched at Immaculate Heart.

Magovney got away with relying on his power alone. His high school baseball and basketball coach, Mike Delaney, said Magovney once recorded 16 strikeouts in a game. Daniel described his brother’s pitching as “wild” in high school. Magovney did not have to focus on his mechanics or location; he could simply overpower batters because they weren’t on the same level as him.

“My [high school] league

Chad Cooper, The Spectrum Anthony Magovney is thriving in his second season as one of the Bulls’ top starters.

He has the second best ERA on the team.

wasn’t necessarily the greatest league. Everyone struggled,” Magovney said. “I threw hard and I was able to get away with throwing fastballs all the time and no one would really hit it.”

Being a power pitcher worked well for Magovney. He threw a no-hitter in his junior season and was named one of the top 10 pitchers in New York State by

ESPN RISE Magazine.

But Magovney was open to criticism– even from family.

A catcher’s job is to advise the pitcher based on what he sees from behind the plate and tell him how to adapt to a particular batter – which is what Brian Jr. did for his younger brother when he caught for him.

“He was always listening,” Bri-

an Jr. said. “He was really good at taking criticisms during the game [if I] saw something. He grew up a lot from his freshman to his junior year particularly.”

The Changeup With an 0-2 count in the third inning, Magovney grips the ball and stares down the Zips’ batter through his white Oakley glasses. He places his middle and index fingers on the seams and begins his windup. As he begins to release the ball, he turns his wrist out to the left and lets the ball roll off his middle finger, creating a slower release.

The changeup deceptively gives the appearance of a fastball, but it is actually traveling much slower, offsetting the hitter’s timing. The Zips batter makes contact with Magovney’s pitch, but the ball simply grounds out to Bulls senior shortstop Mike Scarcello for an easy out to end the inning.

“I try and get [the hitter] to think, ‘Oh, fastball,’” Magovney said of his changeup. “They’re more geared up for the fastball and then all of a sudden it’s a good 8 to 9 miles an hour slower than my fastball. They’re on their front foot and they’re just trying to save themselves and usually it’s just a groundout.”

The groundout was the end of a rough inning for Magovney, as he surrendered three runs and four hits and walked and hit a batter. Magovney may have struggled because he was without an important accessory that day: his lucky socks.

Throughout his first five starts of the season – in which he went 5-0 – Magovney wore the exact same pair of black Nike Elite socks.

“I wore them for my first start and I got a win, so [I thought], ‘Gotta wear them again next week,’” Magovney said.

He wore the socks only on the days he pitched because he said he didn’t want to “ruin them.”

Magovney’s lucky socks were a SEE MAGOVNEY ON THE NEXT PAGE

ubspectrum.com

Friday, May 9, 2014

7

Continued from from previous page known commodity to his teammates. Ginader shares Magovney’s appreciation of footwear.

The two often talk about socks and “don’t shy away from spending extra money for a really nice, comfortable pair of socks,” according to Ginader.

But after the Bulls played Ball State March 29 at Monroe Community College in Rochester, Magovney lost his pair.

“He was like ‘Where are my socks? I need my socks,’” recalled senior pitcher Cory Folk.

Magovney thought he had placed them inside his bag, but he could not find them upon returning to Buffalo.

“I’ve been trying out new socks every time. I don’t know what’s going on,” Magovney said. “I lost them and I haven’t won a game [since], so I gotta figure something out.”

At the time of his start against Akron April 26, Magovney had not earned a win since losing the socks. His struggles without his lucky socks are similar to the struggles he faced as a freshman for the Bulls in 2011.

With three senior pitchers ahead of him, Magovney was a reliever his freshman year. He had been a starter his entire life, and was then asked to come out of the bullpen.

Magovney relied on velocity as a freshman. He tried to simply overpower batters rather than focusing on the mechanics and the locations of his pitches. In one of his first outings as a Bull, against Kentucky, Magovney learned the hard way that his power pitching method was not going to work for him at the college level.

“I think he learned a lesson early,” Brian Sr. said. “They hit him pretty hard when he came out [against Kentucky]. He thought he had to throw it by everybody, but he learned real quick that one through nine in an order in Division I college, everybody can hit. He had to learn how to rely on more than just a fastball because everybody

at that level can hit a fastball.”

Magovney’s upper-80s fastballs might have blown away batters at the high school level, but “at the D1 level, everyone can hit a 90, 88, 87 mile an hour fastball,” Brian Jr. said.

He finished his freshman season with a 5.65 ERA. In addition to struggling with his velocity, Magovney had to accept that though he had been a dominant athlete in a small town, he was now just another arm coming out of the bullpen at a big school.

“He [was always] the best athlete back home,” Ginader said.

“I think coming to Buffalo was a little humbling for him because he was around a lot of great athletes and a lot of other guys could do everything he could. I don’t think he was used to that.”

The experience was both “humbling” and “encouraging,” according to Magovney.

“I came from a small school, so I was the best pitcher to come out of there in quite some time,” Magovney said. “And coming here it kind of made me realize once I started getting hit around that, yeah, you might be good there, but now you’re at a totally different level and you have to be able to pitch, not just throw.”

It was at that time that Magovney began to develop his arsenal of pitches outside just his fastball, starting with what is now his favorite pitch.

The Slider Magovney places his middle finger on the right-hand seam of the ball, leaving his index finger firmly between the two seams.

He kicks up his leg for a high windup, and when he heaves his arm down, he snaps his wrist, letting the ball roll off his thumb.

The ball hurls toward the inside of an Akron right-handed batter in the fourth inning. The batter falls for it, fending off the slider with the part of the bat closest to his hands, resulting in a popup to right field.

It was the result Magovney was looking for on just his first pitch

“Coming here it kind of made me realize once I started getting hit around that, yeah, you might be good there, but now you’re at a totally different level and you have to be able to pitch, not just throw.”

of the at-bat. He likes when the batter swings at his slider when it is early in the count, but prefers to get the hitter out looking later in the count, not wanting the ball to be put into play.

Magovney loves the look on batters’ faces and the buckle of their knees when he gets them to whiff on his slider.

“It gets people off balance,” Magovney said. “It always makes me laugh when I get the hitters to buckle in the box and their knees shake a little bit. It’s usually a good sign I’m throwing it well.”

The out was the last out of a 1-2-3 fourth inning and the first of four straight scoreless innings

by Magovney to help lead the Bulls to a 6-3 victory over Akron. Magovney was credited with the win to improve his record to 6-1 on the season – his first win in over a month without the lucky socks.

The Buffalo pitching staff wanted Magovney to have another strikeout pitch besides his curveball and originally had him try throwing a cutter – a pitch similar to a fastball but with more movement. That pitch eventually developed into Magovney’s slider, a pitch that has been a major reason for his success in Buffalo.

Throwing the slider began his transition away from fastballs and toward throwing breaking balls. In his sophomore year, last season, Magovney became a starter and posted a 7-4 record with a 4.26 ERA. Magovney enjoys pitching because he likes to be in control.

He also played point guard for Coach Delaney at Immaculate Heart Central on the basketball team and he likens that position to a pitcher in baseball.

“I liked [playing point guard] because I was in control of everything,” Magovney said. “It’s kind of similar with pitching as well. I’m in control of what I do and I can control what the other team does as well.”

Just as the point guard deter-

mines who gets the ball and distributes passes to his teammates, the pitcher determines where the ball is thrown and how the batter and his defense have to react.

The offense runs through the point guard in basketball; the defense runs through the pitcher in baseball.

If Magovney made bad decisions at point guard, it would result in turnovers and possibly a fast break for the other team. If he throws a bad pitch, it might result in home runs and walks for his opponents. The pressure doesn’t bother Magovney. He craves it.

“I can kind of alter what happens throughout the game,” Magovney said. “I feel in control. I always liked being in that position … I’d rather have it fall on my shoulders if it’s a win or a loss. If it’s a loss, yeah, I’ll take it on my shoulder. If it’s a win, the team wins.”

Magovney doesn’t mind his inability to ‘wow’ others with his velocity and rack up strikeouts.

He says he understands he must throw pitches that will end up as groundouts and pop outs, relying on his defense to make an out in the field.

“He knows he doesn’t have an overpowering fastball, which is a good thing about him is that he knows that about himself,” Folk said. “So I would say he’s very crafty in that regard. He pitches to his strengths, which ultimately makes him successful.” email: sports@ubspectrum.com

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8

Adiós, Tchau, Sayonara

ALINE KOBAYASHI

Senior Photo Editor

At the end of the 2012 fall semester, I decided to leave The Spectrum. I wanted to try new things and branch out. Little did I know I would be offered the position as Senior Photo Editor after one semester away.

Why did I decide to come back and have more stress during my senior year?

Because as hectic as it can get in the office, the people you meet and the experience you gain from being in 132 Student Union is unforgettable.

My advice to the young people out there is to get involved.

Find something that interests you, something that makes you get out of your seat. Getting involved is the best way to make your undergraduate career more interesting. The people you’ll meet and the things you’ll learn

are not things you will get from sitting in class.

Thursday, May 8, 2014, was my last day of classes and last day of production here. My undergraduate career is done, as long as I pass all my classes.

As this chapter in my life comes to an end, I can’t help but reflect on my undergraduate career. I started college as a lost pup with no idea what I wanted to do with my life. As a senior, I still have no idea what I want to do with my life.

Just kidding.

This coming fall semester, I’m going to Chicago to start graduate school. As excited as I am, I am also very sad. Graduation is bittersweet. As many of us are ready to venture off into the real world, it is also the moment where we must all say goodbye.

I want to thank everyone who has been in my life the past four years. To my friends and to the haters out there, you all have impacted my life in a good or bad way. I have grown as a person from those experiences, and I appreciate you being a part of my life.

Finally, to my Spectrum family: Thank you for always being there for me. It has been a crazy four years, but it has all been worth it.

So, I guess this is it. Peace out, UB. email: aline.kobayashi@ubspectrum.com

Friday, May 9, 2014

A leap of faith

MEGAN WEAL

Ass. Arts Editor

Have you ever wanted to just leave? I mean, seriously just pack your suitcases and uproot your life? Because that’s what I did.

When I was 17 years old, I knew that I wanted to leave my comfort zone. My comfort zone was situated in a tiny village in the southeast of England. I’d spent my childhood in the same region of the country, with the same people and the same lack of ambition.

So when I started applying to universities, I made a conscious decision that I would choose a program that allowed me to experience something different.

Not just new classes or a new club, but a completely new country.

When I was younger, I shook my head at the thought of staying away from home. I would skip sleepovers and social gatherings due to anxiety. Of course I wanted to go, but I mentally couldn’t. I couldn’t get out of my box.

When I went to university in England, I cried every day for a month. I was only two and a half hours from home, but I found it almost unbearable. I toyed with the idea of dropping out nearly every day. Nonetheless, I stuck by it and with each passing day I became less dependent on those around me.

The saying goes that, “not all those who wander are lost.” Little did I know that my wandering in a new country would lead me

to where I am today.

I needed to wander. I needed to take a leap of faith.

I set my heart on Buffalo.

I worked feverishly to get my grades and purchased my flight ticket.

One of the most frequently asked questions that people ask me (after, can you say banana?

Or, do you live in London then?) is, why Buffalo?

And I can understand the dubious looks that I get as I offer my response. Of course Buffalo offered its challenges. (Did I truly fathom a ‘Buffalo winter’ before I came here? No.) It was one of my academic advisers who suggested I research UB. Compared to the University of Miami or UCLA, UB wasn’t quite the American image that I’d had in my mind. I was dubious, too.

But this adviser knew that I wanted to pursue journalism.

And he knew that UB had something special. He knew that there was a body of students who were independently producing something that was rivaling some of the largest journalism institutions in America. He knew about The Spectrum.

There are places in life where you feel comfortable – places where you’re not afraid to be yourself – and I never though I’d find that place in a windowless office in UB’s Student Union.

I’d never before been in an environment that simultaneously comforted and pushed me at the same time. I never thought The Spectrum would become such a huge part of my American collegiate experience, but it immersed me.

For me to write such a “goodbye” column seems a little unwarranted. The people whose columns surround mine in this paper are the people who have not only watched The Spectrum grow into such a reputable publication, but they have dedicated years of their time and love into making such a growth possible.

And it’s truly inspiring to work in an office where people your own age are so driven and so determined to make a difference, so resolute in making their mark.

My time in the office was fleeting, but in such a short space of time I was able to watch and work with people who believed

in me and were willing to help at every corner. And while I could easily turn this column into a list of thanks, I’ll restrain myself and put a limit on three mentions.

Sam Fernando – proof that the best friendships can be built in only a matter of weeks. You showed me that you should chase down the things you want and prove everyone wrong. That strength doesn’t come from compromise but from head-driven fortitude and courage. Thanks for listening to me whine and screaming with me when things were out of our hands.

Joe Konze Jr. – thank you for being so patient with me while I tried to figure out how this journalism thing we do really works.

You taught me the importance of being meticulous and working through your flaws – the importance of holding yourself in a professional regard so that others will, too. And while all of the above is true, you probably still won’t believe it.

And lastly, Aaron Mansfield – thank you for giving me the opportunity to walk into The Spectrum in the first place. For constantly proving to me that personal brilliance is something that you owe yourself to strive for. And that patience and determination are two of the most important qualities to pursue.

Nobody who frequents The Spectrum office is a person who is willing to watch his or her life pass by. The ambition and drive that radiates from that office is incomparable. And I’m excited to be able to applaud the continuous successes and achievements that are in their futures. These people have motivated me without knowing it.

Saying goodbye is intimidating.

Knowing that I have to board a plane next month leaves me with a knot in my stomach that I can’t reach. But I’m leaving this office with knowledge, perspective and friendships that would never have prevailed if I’d had settled in my comfort zone.

I can tell you with a heart full of newfound confidence that if you’re not brave, you’re missing out. Make the next step and find your space.

Then go and do something even better. email: megan.weal@ubspectrum.com

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ubspectrum.com

Friday, May 9, 2014

9

I’m lucky

SAM FERNANDO

Senior News Editor

“What does The Spectrum mean to you?”

If you had asked me two years ago, I probably would have told you it was just a way to pass time while I try to figure out what I am doing with my life.

If you asked me a year ago, I probably would have said it was a résumé builder that would give me a little experience in a field I was kind of interested in.

But, now, with no papers left and my undergraduate career over, it means so much more.

I have already come to terms with the fact that there is no way I can even come close to verbalizing how much this place means to me.

Yes, I know the irony of a journalist at a loss of words is absurd, but that isn’t a testament to the skills I’ve learned here. Instead, it’s a testament to the magnitude of the friendships, accomplishments and experiences I made.

But I’ll do my best.

I always hated going to school.

My mom would literally have to

drag me out of bed sometimes.

It was the worst.

That was until two years ago.

I joined The Spectrum on a whim. I was a recent engineering school dropout and was looking for something – anything – to give me a direction.

Ever since, the highlight of my week has been heading into ‘work’ in 132 Student Union on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Whether it was going to be a long day writing a piece that still needed a lot of work or a light news day where I would just hang out, I was actually excited to go to school for the first time.

I found my place here. Without question, it was the single greatest decision I made in my collegiate career.

Before, I would have constant breakdowns thinking about my future, and the sheer cloudiness of even a few months down the line scared me. I was in a dark place. But, as cheesy as it sounds, The Spectrum saved me.

Now, I have direction. I have the skillset.

But, most importantly, I have the confidence to move forward.

Just two years ago, I was a newbie to the world of journalism. But now, because of The Spectrum, I have not only gained tons of experience, but a passion for journalism has grown inside of me.

UB doesn’t understand this yet, but it will. Nestled inside the Union, behind the everyday noise and traffic of students congregating in the campus’ hub, lies a gem. A gem that goes unappreciated and unnoticed and I

don’t understand why.

We are a research university that prides itself in student achievement. This newspaper – at a school without a journalism major – and the students who run it have achieved some truly amazing things, like winning 13 national awards in four years and sending alumni to some of the best journalism schools and news organizations in the country. We do this without funding, or support for that matter, from the university.

And this independence is at the core of the experience.

The paper is entirely run by college students – some of the hardest-working college students on campus – and most of them are doing it for free. Because of the shared goal and mutual reliance, I’ve gotten close to many of them, and that has made this two-year journey even more special.

Sure, proximity probably plays a huge role in the reason for these strong relationships, but love, support and drive play even bigger ones.

Everyone at the paper knows how much they mean to me, but there is no way I could write this column without thanking the people who made this experience particularly special.

News desk was my home for two years, and I couldn’t be happier with my team this year.

Joe Konze Jr., my desk editor/meatball last fall, for having my back during a volatile time for news desk. Your insanity was able to keep me sane and your determination, motivation and

passion continue to inspire me.

Amanda Low and Madelaine Britt – or Manda Bear and Mads/Big Red – for an amazing desk I could always rely on.

I have known you two for such a short time, but I am so grateful for your support and friendship. I am so proud of your work and improvement this semester.

And I’m excited to see the wonderful things you two are inevitably destined for.

Ben Tarhan and Brian Keschinger, for always having plans for me on the weekend and for always being there if I ever needed someone. Your talents are nothing short of incredible and seeing your passion for computers fuels my passion for journalism.

I always thought of us as the three amigos. And I am going to miss having plans when none were ever made.

Max Crinnin, Jon Gagnon, Eric Cortellessa, Chad Cooper, Jackie Shi and Owen O’Brien, for keeping it real and keeping it fun. But, most importantly, for keeping it real fun.

Aline Kobayashi and Meg Weal, for always having my back, especially when I needed it most.

You have become two of my best friends, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your love and support.

Matt Parrino and Carey Buyer, for showing me what the paper will mean to me two years down the line. Those Tuesday and Thursday morning debates were some of the highlights of my Spectrum career. You taught me the importance of loving what I do and that an argument doesn’t

have to have a negative connotation. P.S. Lost still sucks.

My Senior News Editors Sara DiNatale and Lisa Khoury, for teaching me everything I know about newswriting. You guys believed in me when I couldn’t find any reason to believe in myself.

And I will be forever grateful for the foundation you built for me and the constant support you always had for me.

And Aaron Mansfield, for teaching me what leadership is supposed to be. It’s hard to believe that you are younger than me, but you will always be that big brother that saw potential in a kid with no experience and took a chance on him. This experience would not have even come close to what it was if it weren’t for you and the knowledge you instilled in me.

The past two years have been more important to me than I ever could have imagined them to be. I am truly honored to be mentioned in the same breath as my coworkers - scratch that my friends. The Spectrum will always have a special place in my heart, and I am finding it very hard to actually let it go – Frozen reference most definitely intended.

But with all the sadness and reminiscing, I can’t help but realize that I’m so lucky.

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye hard.” – A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh

Actions speak louder than words – talk is cheap.

Don’t talk about how badly you want a 4.0 GPA if you’re not going to take time out to study for your tests, do your papers and attend your lectures – even when attendance is not taken.

Don’t apologize to a friend or significant other if you know you’re going to do whatever you’re apologizing for again.

Don’t say your diet and exercise regimen will start tomorrow.

Just wake up and start it.

Don’t promise to keep a secret if you know you’re going to blurt it out eventually – whether you’re drunk or sober.

Don’t spend your college years talking and not doing.

They say, “If you see something, say something,” but we spend far too much time saying and not doing. Actions have purpose – doing things leads to change and actual outcomes.

Don’t waste time telling people you’re interested in donating more money to charity or volunteering at a hospital – fill out an application and do it.

Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.

If you spend your college years fearless, you’re doing something wrong. These years are your time to grow and challenge yourself.

Do something that scares you.

It’ll show you you’re capable of more than what you believe.

Before joining The Spectrum, I was not aware I had any writing ability. I used to genuinely fear interviewing people in the UB community because I thought I would sound foolish or ner-

vous. I second-guessed everything I wrote and didn’t even like to speak up during editorial discussions because I feared sounding unwise.

I was afraid, but I never let that get in the way of my journey. I ignored my stomach jitters and ended up producing content I never knew I was capable of.

This goes hand in hand with the importance of stepping outside of your comfort zone. It’s more important to try something new and completely mess it up than it is to stay inside your comfort zone and never screw up. If I never faced my fears, I would never have become a senior editor at The Spectrum, which ultimately ended up defining a majority of my college career.

Better late than never.

It’s not too late to involve yourself in clubs or organizations, to make friends with the “weird” kid in class, to turn those words and promises you’ve been sharing with the world into actions, to do something that scares you and to step outside of your comfort zone. Even if you’re graduating, these clichés are relevant to life after college.

Clichés are repeated often for a reason – they’re true. These will be some of the best years of your life. Take advantage of that.

Never judge a book by its cover, don’t bite off more than you can chew, focus more on your actions than your words and never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.

If you embrace these clichés, you’ll be good as gold.

email: sam.fernando@ubspectrum.com

I know it’s cliché, but …

KEREN BARUCH

Senior Features Editor

This may be the last time anything I write receives more than 10 views.

The pressure to produce intelligent yet creative content is so far above the ground that I’ve decided to do something The Spectrum usually does not allow me to do because it’s just so unoriginal.

For my final piece, I will provide you with a list of clichés I believe are mandatory to live by.

Never judge a book by its cover.

You’ll never truly know that “weird” girl in your chemistry class if you don’t give her a chance to show you she’s not simply a label you branded her with in your head. College is the time to let go of your high school clique and branch out.

One of my current best friends loves telling the story of how weird she thought I was before coming to college because I was on the softball team. Ironically enough, I judged her for being from Long Island – I always assured my friends from home that I would not join a “Long Island girl clique.”

Well, said friend and I ended up joining the same sorority and she realized I was more than a goggle-wearing softball pitcher.

If we hadn’t been able to get past our original judgments of each other, we would have missed out on an incredible friendship.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

The four years you’ll spend in college are a true test of time management skills. And while

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it’s crucial to engulf yourself in your college community and become an active member in organizations while maintaining good grades and a social life, taking on too much can be detrimental to your health. Make sure you’re taking on enough to keep you busy and help you grow academically and socially, but also set aside time for relaxation. Save your attempt at being Superman for Halloween, not for your everyday life, because it will get tiring.

If you don’t, you may end up having a mental breakdown six days before your LSAT and taking a spur-of-the-moment fourhour drive to visit your boyfriend because you absolutely hate everyone and everything and can’t handle the stress of being a senior editor at The Spectrum, president of the Alpha Phi sorority, a Zumba instructor who teaches 16 hours each week, a daughter and a friend. And trust me – it won’t be pretty.

Learning how to balance is fundamental to a healthy college career.

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10

Follow your bliss

BRIAN KESCHINGER

Creative Director

I thought I was ready to come to UB after graduating from community college.

I thought that by going to a school that was six hours away from home, I would be happy. I thought it would be easy to do the rudimentary things that were expected of me at a new school, like being on my own, making new friends and getting good grades.

But everything that I thought would naturally happen didn’t.

Buffalo became this place that I resented – a place that I wanted to escape from back to the comfort zone of my hometown any chance I had.

It wasn’t until I joined The Spectrum that this all changed.

One of my favorite band’s lead singers, Buddy Nielsen of Senses Fail, has a tattoo across his chest that reads, “Follow Your Bliss.” This is an ideology that Nielsen adopted from American mythologist and writer Joseph Campbell. The short-andsweet version of the philosophy is: by listening to your heart, everything will work out as it’s supposed to.

“If you do follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living,” Campbell said. “Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.”

When I applied for the assistant creative director’s position here, I didn’t even understand what a newspaper needed creativity for. I applied for the position because I enjoyed doing graphic design and I needed a paycheck.

I never could have imagined the num-

ber of doors that would open for me at this newspaper by simply following my love for design and submitting my portfolio on that summer afternoon. Nor could I have ever imagined I would not only find a group of friends here in Buffalo, but a home and a family.

I remember the first time I ever missed Buffalo. It was spring of last year and my train had just left Grand Central Terminal for Beacon Station after spending the weekend in Manhattan with my coworkers from The Spectrum at a journalism conference in Times Square. This conference was the weekend leading into Spring Break, so I was going to spend the week after the conference at my parents’ house, but I felt a bit lost not heading back to Buffalo with my friends.

This feeling was when I first realized how truly blessed I am to be working for this paper with these people.

The satisfaction of laying out their stories and bringing each piece to life for the past two years has been surreal. Working side by side with a writer to create a visual narrative for a piece that he or she has spent months working on is a lot of pressure. But the fulfillment of seeing our visions blend, having it all come to fruition and holding that tangible newspaper in the morning is a feeling that I’m forever going to miss.

The role of the creative director has transformed over the past couple of years since I’ve been in the position. But without the encouragement, trust and cooperation of the paper’s Office Director Helene Polley, Faculty Adviser Jody Kleinberg-Biehl, Editor in Chief Aaron Mansfield and the rest of the staff, I wouldn’t be half the designer and writer I am today. Your patience with my experimentation and faith in me to do my job has facilitated my growth exponentially.

Though this job has been demanding, I wouldn’t trade a single one of the late nights or any of our memories for all the money in the world. I wish we could all follow our bliss together, but there is an infinite amount of doors just waiting for us to open in new cities with new friends creating new memories.

I’m not worried about losing touch or growing apart from anyone who has been a part of this staff.

Family is forever. email: brian.keschinger@ubspectrum.com

Friday, May 9, 2014

Spectrum means family, family means forever

BEN TARHAN

Senior Sports Editor

I didn’t like it here at first.

In fact, I tried to leave. Before I even finished a semester at UB, I applied to transfer to the Coast Guard Academy.

I remember walking around campus thinking, This is the hardest thing I have ever done.

I don’t know if I was homesick or depressed, but I certainly wasn’t happy. I felt like I had lost my bearing on who I was. I was not myself.

It took me nearly two years to find myself.

When I first started at The Spectrum, I was arrogant. As an engineer, I tend to look down at those not in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. Before I got to know the staff in the newsroom, I thought journalism was easy.

Things have changed so much since then. I can’t imagine my life without journalism or The Spectrum anymore. Even as I prepare to enter a job as an engineer, I don’t want to stop writing.

But I didn’t totally buy into journalism at first.

It wasn’t until my second semester on staff when I got to cover the baseball team – baseball is my first love – that I really started to buy into journalism and writing.

I read a piece by former editor in chief Matt Parrino at the end of my first semester on staff, titled “The X Files,” about current UB basketball player Xavier Ford.

It was the first big piece that I invested a lot of time into reading. I realized how big of an opportunity I had in front of me. I didn’t want any of the new staff writers surpassing me and becoming an editor before I did. I had finally found something on campus I really yearned to be a part of.

Over the next two years as an editor, I learned the most important thing I have ever learned. Don’t be afraid to mess up.

I was constantly concerned with how professional I came across to everyone I interacted with. If I said something stupid in an interview, or mismanaged my time and showed up later than I had wanted to a game, I would beat myself up over it until I had an opportunity to redeem myself.

Then last fall, I had an epiphany: This is all a learning experience.

Making a mistake didn’t matter as long as I didn’t do it twice. From that point forward, everything became more enjoyable.

I spent less time stressing and more time learning. I made mental notes on my mistakes instead of mentally berating myself. I committed myself to learning in everything I did.

At some point during my career at The Spectrum, the people and the publication became a part of me. The newsroom is a special place, and it will be the most difficult thing for me to leave in Buffalo.

The people around me, the people who work just as hard or harder than I do every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, have been through hell and back with me.

There have been late nights, dark times and long winters. They’ve become my family.

We’ve pushed each other to think critically about everything. In the process, we all became not only better journalists, but people. I’ve never been around a group of people who cared so deeply for each other.

Last week, I spoke with former wide receiver Alex Dennison for a story about graduating athletes and their plans after college. Dennison will be a graduate assistant at Illinois Wesleyan University in the fall and during the interview he explained why he wants to become a football coach.

SEE family, PAGE 14

ubspectrum.com

Friday, May 9, 2014

The Nine

JOE KONZE JR

Senior Arts Editor

There’s a street corner that sits 100 yards from my home in Henrietta, N.Y. Every day, from my elementary years to my last day of high school, I walked or sprinted those 100 yards to catch my bus.

Over the years, the street corner where Peakview Drive meets Marberth became more than an intersection as it became a part of my life.

It’s where I met my best friends, where I had my first beer, where I would run with my friends after we egged a few houses. It was a place my friends and I would go to talk about our breakups and the fights we had with our families.

It earned a nickname over the years, “The Nine.” We would tell each other to meet at the “Nine at Nine.”

When I left to attend University at Buffalo in the fall of 2010, I felt like I left a part of me back home.

For my first year on campus, I felt lost. I had no direction. I was miserable, I was on autopilot, I just wanted to get my degree and get out and I didn’t spend a lot of time getting involved in the UB community.

And then, in the spring semester of my junior year, I accidentally enrolled in ENG 394, taking it as an elective.

When the instructors asked students for their writing samples at the start of the class, I didn’t have one. Advisers had accidentally left the class open and I had snuck in.

Thankfully, I was given a chance and was able to stay on the staff. Here I am, two and a half years later, with more experience than I could have ever imagined.

I’ve been an editor for every desk except photo, though I’ve taken about 15 photos for the paper in my career.

Through all the hard work and articles I’ve written, the friends I’ve made in The Spectrum office in 132 Student Union, I’ve been brought back to “The Nine.”

Jody Biehl, it’s because of you that I’ve become a well-rounded writer and a much better features writer than I once was. You have helped bring this paper to a whole new level. I know I haven’t been easy to work with over the years, but you never gave up on anyone or myself.

Matthew Parrino, I’ve never had a brother, but I look up to you and your work ethic as if you were a part of my family. I can’t thank you enough for letting me stick around and grow as a writer and a person.

Aaron Mansfield, I know the first time we met, I was someone you probably didn’t want to associate yourself with because I was loud and obnoxious, but you believed in me and promoted me multiple times to many positions here at the paper. I was the recipient of mad buckets because of this. Love you, man.

Lisa Khoury and Sara DiNatale, you both are some of the most inspirational women I’ve ever met. You have both put up with more of my antics and problems than both my sisters have my whole life. It’s because of you that I will leave here a better person than I was when I

started.

Ben Tarhan, when I first met you, man, I saw you as competition, but after working with you for the past couple of years, you’ve become someone that makes me have more of an open mind when it comes to sports and life in general. I have so much respect for your work ethic and ability to take on two majors at once. You’re going on to great things, man. By the way, the Mets suck.

Brian Keschinger, you’re the most passionate person I’ve ever met, no matter what anyone is talking about. I’ll never forget you.

Owen O’Brien, where do I start? You are an inspiration to me and everyone in this office.

You’ve taken your passion for journalism to a whole new level and I know I’m going to be reading about you someday as an award-winning features writer.

Sam Fernando, my blues brother, my partner in crime.

Nobody rocks harder than you on the guitar and you’re an amazing journalist. You’ve made me a better person.

Aline Kobayashi, you have made sitting in the corner of The Spectrum office fun and our fake fights made the year go by faster.

My arts homies – Megan Weal and Jordan Oscar – you guys made this semester so easy for me. I love you both. Peace out, Grouch and Union Jack.

Lastly, I want to thank Helene Polley for being my mother away from my mother. Thank you for all that you do.

I’m returning to “The Nine” this weekend with all my memories over the past five years. And although a camera has not documented these memories and people, those moments and friends will always be close to my heart. email: joseph.konze@ubspectrum.com

11

The newest addiction 2048 hooks students into a world of tiles

Yusong Shi, The Spectrum 2048, created by Ketchapp, is the newest smartphone app on which students have become hooked. The game requires logic, skill and perseverance.

ERIC CULVER

Staff Writer

The overpowering ringing noise radiating from people’s smartphones might make you think you’re inside a casino.

With a touch of your finger, you slide a two square to connect to another two to make a four square. You quickly slide that four square into another four to form an eight square. Each time you make a move, the ringing noise goes off, again and again.

Addiction begins to settle within your body. But what is this new game, anyway?

“2048 is a great game that is simple enough to understand how to play,” said Kaylee Gordon, a student at Buffalo State who has been playing 2048 since April.

One of her friends recommended the game to her. At first, she refused to play it at all until hearing about how addicting it was.

“She told me I would love it and that it was a very addicting game to play,” Gordon said. “So hearing that, I needed to find out what the hype was all about.”

Created by Ketchapp, 2048 presents players with a four-byfour tile spread – 16 tile spaces in total – to play on. Players swipe tiles left, right, up or down to try to touch tiles of the same

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number. When two tiles with the same number slide into each other, they merge into one larger number. Once the player is out of moves and the board is filled with tiles, it’s game over. The goal of the game is to get to the 2048th tile or higher.

The game’s popularity has even caused a number of spinoffs, including one with Justin Bieber’s faces and another with Benedict Cumberbatch and Otters.

“When I figured [out] a method on how to beat it, I started to play it more often,” said Yomi Onadipe, a senior health and human services major.

Onadipe first read about the game in an article and gave it a try after his roommate began playing it.

“When I first got it, I played for two days straight,” Onadipe said. “2048 is a time killer and is something to do to procrastinate.”

At times, Onadipe said he doesn’t realize how long he has been playing 2048. He typically plays when he is either in class or in the bathroom. Once a round ends, he will look at the time and be astonished. Then he plays again.

“I’ll get to 1024 and realize how long I’ve been in the bathSEE 2048, PAGE 13

Visiting Students Welcome!

ubspectrum.com

12

Friday, May 9, 2014

Ă&#x20AC; la Mode: Guide to Style

Creative dressing for summer events and the importance of bloomers EMMA JANICKI

Asst. Features Editor

Other than not having class for a couple of months, the best part about summer is the events that make summer, summer. We each have our own ideas about what summer is â&#x20AC;&#x201C; whether thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bonfires at night, vacations to the beach or lounging in Adirondack chairs on a wooden deck. When summer comes to a close, these are the things we long for.

Summer is also the best season for getting dressed â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need that many layers and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re especially free to experiment with skirts and dresses. Rather than covering up with a giant, puffy winter coat, you can use lightweight jackets and sweaters to complement, rather than compete with, your outfit. Boots move to the back of the closet as you pull out ballet flats. The colors are brighter and patterns are happier.

But it can be easy to fall into a summer rut of shorts and tshirts.

Make this summer a fashion season to remember â&#x20AC;&#x201C; explore your closet and put together fresh combinations as you embark on the wonderful long days of summer.

Here are three common summer events and creative ways to dress for them.

Outdoor wedding or graduation party When youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got an invite to a friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s graduation party or a relativeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wedding, the first thing you might reach for is an easy dress â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you can dance, sit, drink and converse with ease.

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expected.

Try something new.

Here, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m wearing printed silk pants from Ann Taylor, a black blouse from the Up! Market in

YUSONG SHI, THE SPECTRUM

London and navy blue brogues.

Even though these pants feel like pajamas and are just as easy as wearing sweatpants, silk takes them to a new level of elegance.

Silk pants are light enough to keep you cool during the hot day but youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be thankful your legs are covered as the night gets chilly. The blouse has an open back and a Peter Pan collar overlaid with lace, making it both trendy and classic.

Trading in a dress for pants for a wedding or a graduation party can easily fall into the territory of being too casual, but expensive fabrics will instantly elevate your look.

These particular pants remind me of summer â&#x20AC;&#x201C; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like walking on the sands of a beach in the Mediterranean. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re loose, low-rise and have pockets, combining ease and comfort with fashion-forward styling.

can mix them in an outfit on any given day, but thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a fine line between looking tacky and mixing colors well (which is a travesty, because these colors go so well together).

The outfit I chose for the July 4th celebrations is one that can actually be translated into every day. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m wearing a black and white polka dot blazer, high-waisted denim shorts from Garage, a black sleeveless blouse from H&M, red American Apparel socks and navy blue brogues.

The red and blue is entirely obvious, but by tossing a blazer with such a shocking pattern tones down the patriotism while keeping you warm as the celebration moves into fireworks time.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a firm believer in highwaisted shorts. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not a believer, however, in limiting them to graphic crop tops.

Experiment with how you wear this trendy style of shorts.

By mixing casual denim with business-like apparel, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll differentiate yourself from the crop-top-wearing hipsters flocking to the keg.

This blazer is definitely not your average work wear, though.

I see polka dots as being a neu-

Independence Day This is the only day out of the year when you can combine red, white and blue and not have to worry about looking too tacky.

Like red and green or orange and black, this combination should generally be reserved for the holiday it represents. Of course you

tral, like black, navy blue, gray, brown and metallic. Neutrals are colors and sometimes patterns (such as stripes and leopard print) that can be mixed with each other and mixed with any other color (yes, that means black and brown DO work together). Layering polka dots over any outfit adds a flare of fun, taking your normal red-whiteand-blue from average to patriotic-chic.

Yeah, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a thing.

Music Festival Summer is filled with music festivals and outdoor concerts, especially in Buffalo. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the Outer Harbor Concert Series, Tuesdays in the Park and Coors Light Wednesdays at Artpark and Thursday at Canalside concert series â&#x20AC;&#x201C; just to name a few. For indoor music, venues like PAUSA art house, Nietzscheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, Hardware CafĂŠ and Dukeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bohemian Grove Bar in Allentown regularly host live music.

If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re traveling outside of Buffalo, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no shortage of major music festivals like Amnesia Rockfest in the province of Quebec, Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada and Electric Forest in Rothbury,

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The most important part of attending a concert is dancing.

We can leave your friends behind because your friends donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t dance, and if your friends donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t dance, well, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re no friends of mine.

When getting dressed before a show, you have to consider the weather, how much youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be dancing and even the type of music youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be listening to. Obviously donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t divert from who you are, but it can be a bit weird to see a punk in full gear and patches sitting on the lawn at a Willie Nelson concert.

In this picture, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got on a vintage sailor-esque blouse from a friend, my go-to burgundy American Apparel tennis skirt, patterned over-the-knee navy socks from Payless and the most important part â&#x20AC;&#x201C; navy blue American Apparel bloomers.

Although dressing for concerts is subjective, the one thing you cannot be without is bloomers. Never heard of them? Good thing Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m here.

American Apparel sells an awesome selection of bloomers from comfy cotton ones, to seersucker, to sexy, sheer, trimmedwith-lace ones. Bloomers are slightly poofy (adding a bit of volume to a skirt or dress) and prevent wardrobe mishaps if the wind picks up, or if your dancing is as physical and grandma-like as mine is.

I layer bloomers over every pair of tights and under every skirt or dress that I wear. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve ever tried to wear a dress and walk down the Promenade on a windy day, then you know the struggle of holding your dress down.

Bloomers are the single most beneficial undergarment you can invest in. Believe me, once you get used to wearing them, not wearing them will feel like youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re walking around naked.

And when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re dancing, you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to worry about flashing the people around you. Be free and wear bloomers.

Summer is a time to embrace the free time and warm weather and put together new, creative outfits. Play around with colors and patterns to develop your personal style. Going to your favorite summer events is the perfect opportunity to wear your favorite clothing, but doing so in new ways will inspire you and will help make this summer something special. email: emma.janicki@ubspectrum.com

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Friday, May 9, 2014

Continued from page 3: Journey ment or university. We don’t have many departments at UB interested in helping us out – and, in fact, we have some departments that despise us (I know you’ll miss me, UB Athletics).

What we do have, however – our ammunition to fight against the odds – is unified passion.

When you are working toward a shared goal with a motivated team, the excitement is palpable.

And with the paper having won 13 national awards in the past four years – the first such awards in its 64-year history – this generation can say we’ve made some progress. We’re not there yet, of course, but we’ve helped The Spectrum on its way.

Like every other editor at The Spectrum will tell you, this newspaper has changed my life. In the fall of 2010, I was searching.

After spending much of my life playing sports, I had injured my ankle badly and chose not to continue trying to play basketball in college. I had previously found my identity in sports. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t have a team.

When I decided to attend UB after a miserable year off from school – no basketball, no intellectual stimulation, just working boring jobs to pay the bills – I found myself walking around campus all day without recognizing anybody. I felt anonymous

and empty. UB just wasn’t doing it for me, so I made plans to transfer to Florida.

In what I thought would be my final semester here, I vowed to keep my eyes open and pursue any opportunity that came my way, hoping it would lead to a fulfilling experience before I left.

I didn’t care what it was. I just needed a team.

I picked up my first Spectrum that semester and joined staff.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Journalism hooked me. The energy of my sports editor, Matthew Parrino, who went on to become the 2011-12 editor in chief, captivated me.

Speaking of Matt, this column would never end if I shouted out all the people at the newspaper who have had a profound impact on my life – you know who you are, every single one of you. It’d be a true oversight, however, if I did not at least mention Matt, who became a role model to me, Jody Kleinberg Biehl, the immensely dedicated faculty adviser here, Helene Polley, our heavensent pro staff member, and the four managing editors in my time as editor in chief, the best sidekicks I could’ve possibly had.

Back at the interview, my friend asked for advice for students. I had plenty.

Get involved right away. Find your passion (it might take some

Continued from page 11: 2048 room and then throughout the day I’ll get to 2048,” Onadipe said. “Then I’ll try to get to 8192 but that hasn’t happened yet.”

Some students, like sophomore business major Hee Kyung Jeon, thought they would lose interest the instant they reached the 2048 title. But they found the game far more addicting than they had anticipated.

“When I really concentrate in the game, I last quite long,” Jeon said.

As 2048 is the only game on her phone, Jeon’s rounds typically start to either kill time on the bus or in class.

Once she got the 2048, she immediately went for the 4096 tile.

Few players will “beat” the game on their first try. It takes time and skill for players to get a grasp of the game’s mechanics.

When she started playing, Gordon knew she wasn’t going to be the best – her score was in the low 400s.

“Because I’m a very competitive person … I was determined to get at least in the thousands before I stopped playing,” Gordon said.

With every game, there tends to be some sort of tension or anxiety that soon leads players to strategize or panic.

sampling) and pour yourself into it. Don’t accept what you’re told at face value; question everything. Don’t let people tell you you’re wrong and they know best simply because they’re older than you. Respect them, of course, but formulate your own opinions and stand up for yourself. Never apologize for who you are, and always boldly embody your true self.

I couldn’t ask for anything more out of this four-year experience, both at The Spectrum and at UB. A lot has changed since those days I felt invisible. Even the taxing parts here have proved fruitful and yielded valuable lessons that I will take with me to graduate school and beyond.

When my Spectrum teammates are old and grey (snap your fingers and we’ll be there) and they look back on these past few years, I hope they say with assurance that we did good and did well. It’s been an honor to lead them.

Above all, I hope they know how thankful I am to have been here, how truly my life has changed for having known them and how much I treasure, and will always treasure, all of our stories.

13

Continued from page 3: Growth Our current leader, Aaron Mansfield, has an unmatched fervor for living each part of his life to the fullest, and being good to others in the process. And so I’ve strived to do the same.

Each of your characteristics has had an impact on me: Sara’s goal-oriented ambition; Brian’s ridiculously offensive humor, contrasted by his warmth and thoughtfulness; Sam’s selflessness; Joe’s relentless attempts at getting me out of my shell (and it working); Ben’s thrill to discover the unknown; Owen’s incredible courage and talent; Eric’s loyalty; and so many more of you that I wish I could name.

And to Jody Biehl, my men-

tor and journalism guru, I don’t know how I got so lucky to work with a world-renowned journalist like you, but here you are in Buffalo and I am endlessly thankful to you.

To our Spectrum staff from the last few years: We did it. We have become one of the best forces of journalism in the country, and we should be proud.

What I’m most proud of is who I became in the process because of all of you. Your work ethic, kind hearts and loving friendships rubbed off on me in ways I’ll never be able to adequately describe – you’ve made me a better person. email: lisa.khoury@ubspectrum.com

Continued from page 1: Memorial

“These weeks are a time of celebration for those who are graduating, and it’s incredibly important to honor the lives of students whose lives were cut short this year.” email: The ceremony will begin with aaron.mansfield@ubspectrum.com a musical selection from the Buffalo Chips, UB’s all male a cappella group, followed by lighting of candles and a reading of the names.

Associate Vice President for “When the game gets toward Student Affairs Barbara Ricotthe end and there is only one or ta will deliver remarks about the two spaces left, I begin to pan- students and the event. A photo ic and really try to strategize the tribute slideshow will follow. moves I make, hoping it will Lidano, Connolly, Student Ashelp,” Gordon said. sociation President Sam McMaThe game may look simple, hon and Graduate Student Asbut it has players all over campus sociation President Mike Egnohooked.

It’s fun. It’s easy. It’s simple, and it will leave people playing for hours. It can be found for free on Google Play and the App Store.

to will read statements written by the families and friends of the students who have passed away.

Father Pat Keleher from Campus Ministry will reflect on the lives of those who were lost.

After the ceremony, people will congregate outside to view bricks outside the Union engraved with the students’ names, and the university honor guard will lead everyone to the flags, which will be lowered to half-mast in honor of the students.

A luncheon will take place after the event.

Lidano said the entire UB community is welcome to celebrate the lives of the 16 students. email: news@ubspectrum.com

email: arts@ubspectrum.com

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14

Continued from page 16: Donations Prior to Murchie’s donation, the largest donation in the program’s history came in 2007 from Dr. Harold Ortman. The $1.1 million dollar gift was given to add a building with amenities for tennis players, coaches and fans.

The project was originally intended to be located just north of UB Stadium, but that site was deemed too expensive during the design and development phase.

The department started the design and development stage over again, this time seeking to improve the already existing courts near the Ellicott Complex. Gross said the department hopes to begin construction early in 2015.

These projects are funded by donor dollars, in which the department has seen a significant spike this year.

Total donated cash is up 29 percent, pledged commitments are up 224 percent, the active donor base is up 27 percent and former student-athlete giving is up 10 percent from this time last year.

Gross also said merchandise sale spiked significantly this year after the release of the new “State University of New York at Buffalo” word mark.

“There are some people who are critical of it,” Gross said.

“But at the same time a lot of our donors – those who are actively involved in giving back to this program – they really like what we’re doing and I think that’s reflected in the numbers, too. It’s hard to say that the branding has had a negative effect on what we’re doing when the numbers say otherwise.”

The next challenge for the athletic program is sustaining the donation pace from this past year, which Gross thinks will be attained through people seeing the strides being made with the current buildings and putting more faith in the department.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Continued from page 16: Mack Quinn, the Bulls’ head coach who inherited Mack’s services when Turner Gill, who recruited Mack, left for Kansas, noticed Mack’s emergence the following winter.

“I saw it in winter conditioning,” Quinn said. “His body was different. You could tell he was going to fill into what he was blessed with … it was only a matter of time. I saw him the other day and I just thought, wow.

He looks better now than he ever has.”

Mack was on the scout team and redshirted his first year. The following season, he had 14.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 68 tackles and two fumbles forced. He gained confidence and filled into his frame as every year passed.

He could often be found around campus carrying water jugs.

“Khalil knew how to take care of himself,” Quinn said.

Take one look at him and you’ll know that’s true. As Waides Ash-

mon, Mack’s high school coach, told The Spectrum in August of Mack’s abs: “I think they start at his back and they actually come around to his chest and go down.

It’s like, ‘Man, come on, what do you do, 7,000 crunches a day?’

He had probably about a 12-pack in high school.”

Mack’s play on the field lured scouts in (multiple NFL teams were at every game this year). His physique hooked them.

This whole UB-football-playergetting-national-press situation has been beneficial for Mack’s teammates, too. When the Atlanta Falcons came to town several weeks ago, they worked out Oliver in addition to Mack.

“It’s been an exciting process,” said Lee, the Bulls’ second-leading receiver this year and one of Mack’s closest friends. “It happened to someone who deserves it. He’s so humble, so down to earth. He could be anywhere in the world right now, but he

chooses to be in Buffalo – he hangs out with his teammates.

“Right now is his last opportunity to not be mobbed everywhere he goes. He won’t be able to go anywhere without being mobbed, without being known.

Spending his last time of freedom with us says a lot about his friendship.”

Mack will deny that passersby know who he is. He almost never gets recognized in public, he’ll say. Typical Mack response.

“I’m not sure anyone could’ve handled this process any better than Khalil has,” Johnson said.

“He’s remained grounded and the same friend I’ve known for the past five years.”

Mack, a psychology major, took this semester off of school to focus on training for the draft, but he said he plans to finish his degree at UB. “My mom won’t let me not,” he said.

He just has to complete one psych course and one Spanish

class – actually, make that one language requirement. He probably won’t take Spanish again. “I hated it,” he laughed.

At the beginning of this school year, The Spectrum released its football preview issue. Mack stood boldly on the cover with a screaming look on his face, fists clenched, arms out to the side and one knee kicked up in the air.

It’s only fitting that it all comes full circle. When people discuss the 2013-14 academic year for not only the UB athletic department but the university in general, they’ll likely remember Mack as the most influential figure.

And maybe they’ll feel a little bit of the magic one more time, flashing back to that moment we all had, that sudden realization that Khalil Mack was, quite simply, Khalil Mack – the best athlete in University at Buffalo history. email: sports@ubspectrum.com

Continued from page 10: Family Through his personal experience and his friends’ experiences in college, he saw 18-yearold boys enter college expected to leave as 22- or 23-year-old men and how difficult that is to do without a father figure. Most student-athletes, and students in general, are away from parental figures they have relied upon previously during college. They need someone to model their adult persona after.

The Spectrum provided that for me. The people I have worked with closely over the past three years aren’t just my friends, they’re my role models and sup-

port system.

The number of people at the paper who have touched my life is too high to name in this column.

Every morning over the past two years when I have woken up on a production day, I was excited to come to the office. Every morning I woke up the last two years, I had a reason to get out of bed. That’s a testament to my coworkers.

My roommates often question why I spend so much time in the newsroom when I don’t have to.

The answer is because it feels like

home.

I never rush out of the office. Why would I want to leave the place where I learned the value of hard work not just for my professional life, but my personal life as well?

Although on its surface, The Spectrum is just a job, it has become so much more than that.

The people I work with here I see nearly every day of the week outside the office. I’ve spent more time with them as friends this year than I did as coworkers.

One of my favorite sayings is, “Be absolutely determined to

love what you do.” At The Spectrum, I found a group of people who embody that saying.

I don’t know if I will ever find a workplace as enjoyable to walk into and as hard to leave as The Spectrum office has been. I don’t know if I will ever work with such a talented and dedicated group of people again.

I do know The Spectrum and every member of this staff will forever hold a special place in my heart. email: ben.tarhan@ubspectrum.com

email: sports@ubspectrum.com

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DAILY DELIGHTS sponsored by buffalostudenthousing.com Crossword of the Day Friday May 9, 2014 FROM UNIVERSAL UCLICK

HOROSCOPES TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- You're determined to follow a certain course of action, despite the reservations of one who has been there before. Employ caution.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- You'll want to make time to help a family member before setting off on your own to achieve something of which he or she is unaware.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- You'll be grateful for the assistance of someone who is doing it because it's the right thing, not because he or she will get any reward.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- You're likely to find yourself connecting with many who share certain ambitions and interests, but you may still feel set apart somehow.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- What qualifies you for a current endeavor is not necessarily your expertise, but that intangible something that no one else seems to have.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) -- It's time to put one foot in front of the other and get moving toward that important new goal. There's no point in talking about it further.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) -- You're expecting a search to take up most of your day, but you're likely to find what you are looking for very quickly.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) -- You'll be required, before the day is out, to express your gratitude to one who has gone above and beyond for you more than once.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- You know what makes things more interesting for you, but it's not always going to make things interesting for those around you.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) -- You don't have to say much to convey an important message. Once it's delivered, you can move on to the next item on your list.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) -- You may have to give up a certain something in order to come out ahead -and you already know what it should be.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- Putting yourself out there will involve more than mere placement; you must also demonstrate a willingness others do not have.

Edited by Timothy E. Parker May 8, 2014 MORNING SOLVING By Kenneth Holt

SUDOKU

ACROSS ACROSS 1 Tolkien monsters 5 Ink’s color, to Browning 9 Milking-machine attachment 14 Early-bird special, e.g.

15 Cape Canaveral cancellation 16 Least favorite pet?

17 Group that includes the gluteus maximus 20 “Whoopee!”

21 A beagle’s prominent feature 22 Landlord’s income 23 Cleaned one’s plate 24 Car grille protector 26 Palm fruit 28 Agra garment 30 Great Dane it’s not 34 Salt of the sea?

37 Like a certain wolf or eagle 39 Princess’ headgear 40 Attractive quality 44 Clear a cribbage board 45 Aquatic organism 46 Sauce type 47 Ready to go 49 Type of excuse or duck

51 Hard to comprehend 53 Tyranno-saurus ___ 54 Kind of rally 57 Two-part 60 Biblical boat 62 Dora the Explorer, e.g.

64 Pay for merely showing up 67 Back of a boat 68 Without equal 69 Vague quantity 70 Merry-go-round figure, to a child (Var.) 71 Logan postings 72 Lid swelling

DOWN 1 Missouri River city 2 Contradict, as testimony 3 Group of officers 4 Speak after one too many 5 Hold spellbound 6 Ghost’s word 7 Cruel person 8 One difficult to locate 9 Bullish times 10 Broken-down 11 Editing mark 12 Odd opposite 13 Quiet relaxation

FALL SPACES ARE WHERE YOU SHOULD

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

18 Alternatives to buses 19 River to the Caspian Sea 25 Kind of therapy 27 British art gallery name 29 Excluding nothing 31 Honored guest’s site 32 Approximately 33 Like meat past its prime 34 Tightly-strung 35 Diarist Frank 36 Ready for harvest 38 Samantha of “Doctor Dolittle” 41 Busybodies 42 Tropical malady 43 Anonymous 48 Anjou or Bartlett 50 Cause for cramming 52 Talk excessively 54 Wine option 55 Hostile party 56 Endorser, of a sort 57 100-yard contest 58 As many as 59 Imitative sort 61 Boat speed unit 63 Mix, as a salad 65 Whatever amount 66 Book balancer

Friday, May 9, 2014 ubspectrum.com

16

SPORTS

No. 1: D1 ERA Khalil Mack TOP 10

NCAA record-setter, top draft pick is clear choice for best athlete in program history

of the

AARON MANSFIELD Editor in Chief

For Najja Johnson, it happened during a scout team scrimmage in 2009.

For Jeff Quinn, it was during 2009-10 winter conditioning.

For Fred Lee, it was during a game at Tennessee in 2011.

Everyone who’s been around the University at Buffalo football program the past four years has had a moment of epiphany: the sudden realization that Khalil Mack was Khalil Mack. That he was different from everyone else.

That he was a once-in-a-lifetime talent who could become the best to ever come through UB. Now, with Mack’s college career complete and him moving on to the Oakland Raiders, who drafted him No. 5 Thursday in New York City, there is no doubt about it: he is the greatest UB athlete of the modern era.

Johnson describes his epiphany as the moment he “knew for sure [Mack] was the truth.”

Many had suspected that Mack was, in fact, the truth before this year – it was hard to ignore his gaudy stats and even gaudier physical potential – but the 201314 season was the one that solidified it for scouts and casual fans.

Those paying attention didn’t have just one moment this year; they had several.

There was that time Aug. 31 in the season opener that Mack picked off Heisman candidate Braxton Miller, returned it 53 yards, dove for the pylon (full-extension, hand-outstretched-likeMJ-in-Space Jam style) and scored a touchdown. He had 2.5 sacks that game and helped UB put a scare into No. 2 Ohio State.

There was that time Oct. 26 at Kent State that Mack made the game-changing play, sticking out one of his giant hands (10.25 inches, to be exact) and reeling in a one-handed pick even standout receiver Alex Neutz envied.

“This dude just puts his paw in the air and snags it,” Neutz put it after the game.

And then there was one more, following the Oct. 19 game against UMass – it’s out of chronological order, of course, but I saved it for last because it’s my favorite. At one point in the second quarter, Mack bullrushed a (much bigger) left tackle and annihilated him before sacking the quarterback. I mean, he pancaked the O-lineman – lifted him up off the turf and threw him on his back. NFL scouts in the press box were audibly giddy.

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

No. 4: Brittney Kuras

No. 3: Javon McCrea

Chad Cooper, The Spectrum Khalil Mack sacks UConn quarterback Chandler Whitmer during the Bulls’ 42-13 win over the Huskies Sept. 28. Mack finished his college career tied for the all-time NCAA record for tackles for loss.

“I told the guy before the play, ‘be ready,’” Mack said after the game. “I don’t think he was ready.”

After Mack’s first three years, fans should probably have been ready for what he was going to do this season – but many around town weren’t, at least not for something to this extent.

Not to the point that he’d set one all-time NCAA record (fumbles forced), tie another (tackles for loss), win the Jack Lambert Award (given to the best linebacker in the nation) and work his way to a top NFL Draft pick.

Mack, a three-time (2011-13) first-team All-Mid-American Conference selection, was informed Monday he’d been selected for No. 1 on this list, which has been revealed in a series over the past four weeks.

“That’s a blessing,” he said.

“It’s a blessing to be recognized for being a great athlete, but then again, my focus in life is not just athletic and on football. I’m focused on being a great person. I feel like everybody can do that.”

Don’t be surprised the jock got a bit philosophical. He’s been that way throughout his career, constantly emphasizing his faith – “I live for a higher power and through his grace and mercy and hard work, anything is possible,” he said Monday – and turning football into a lens to view his life through.

In his senior year, the deacon’s son amassed 10.5 sacks, 19 tackles for loss, 100 tackles, five forced fumbles, three interceptions and two touchdowns.

The Bulls went 2-10 (1-7 MAC) Mack’s redshirt freshman year. They finished 8-5 (6-2 MAC) his senior year and earned the school’s second-ever bowl appearance.

At the NFL Scouting Combine, the 6-foot-3, 251-pound specimen ran a 4.65-second 40yard dash – what? – in addition to putting up 23 reps on the 225-pound bench press and measuring in at a 40-inch vertical leap.

ESPN has been analyzing seemingly every facet of his game in recent months, but perhaps the most overlooked part has been his work ethic. After team workouts at UB, Mack could constantly be found with friend Branden Oliver (No. 10 on this list) wearing a weighted vest and running up a hill at the old UB Stadium.

He’s been working for seven years, since he picked football back up his junior year of high school, to disprove doubters. UB gave Mack his only Division I offer.

“I want everybody to know that I’m a hard worker, man, and I don’t like being told I can’t do something,” Mack said. “I’m gonna do whatever I can. You can’t put me in that box, whatever the box may be at the time.”

Basketball 2001-05

Swimming 2011-14

Johnson, a first-team All-MAC corner last season, caught on to Mack’s potential early on.

“When we all came in as freshmen, he just looked different,” Johnson said. “I knew for sure he was the truth when in a scout team scrimmage our freshman year, he absolutely destroyed the running back the first play. At that point, I knew he was special.”

Wrestling 2008-11

Basketball 2010-14

No. 2: James Starks Football 2006-10

SEE mack, PAGE 14

Record donation wraps up strong year of athletics contributions Athletics receives $3 million, donations on the rise BEN TARHAN

Senior Sports Editor

Though UB Athletics claimed two Mid-American Conference East titles and made a bowl game in 2013-14, perhaps its greatest victory came in the realm of fundraising.

April 19, prior to the football team’s annual spring game, UB alum and donor Tunney Murchie put an exclamation point on the year, surprising the program by donating $3 million – the biggest donation in school history – toward improvements to the football headquarters at the south end of the West Grandstand of UB Stadium. Murchie had funded the original improvement with a $1 million donation in 2012.

The improvements will enlarge the footprint of the current football headquarters and also add a second floor. This will allow for

Courtesy of UB Athletics On April 19, Tunney Murchie donated $3 million to the athletics program to fund the expansion of the football headquarters at the south end of the west grandstand of UB Stadium.

expanded team meeting rooms in a central area in the stadium along with upgraded coaches offices.

“We had started something initially,” Murchie said. “I think we did about $1 million to add some very needed spaces and welcome

areas for possible candidates and for parents for players that are playing football. And I think it was just the next progressive step, when they presented me with an expansion program for the coaches and for the training

staff and the players.”

The donation allows the athletic department to go into the design and development phase of the project, which usually takes six to eight months. Following that phase, the department will

need approval from campus facilities to begin building the structure.

The addition of a state-of-theart athletic training facility to the West Grandstand at UB Stadium has already begun. The $1.5 million project will outfit UB Stadium with a training room featuring 16 training tables, four examination rooms, three hydrotherapy pools and eventually an onsite X-Ray room.

“We realized we needed a better treatment and rehabilitation area on site especially for football, football game days and training and practice,” said Eric Gross, assistant athletic director for development. “We made that our priority when we got here. A lot of resources have gone into that; a lot of donor dollars have gone into that. We recently secured a pledge to name that project.”

SEE Donations, PAGE 14