The Spectrum Volume 63 Issue 29 by The Spectrum Student Periodical

Military veterans make presence known on campus A new app for meeting students comes to UB

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO, SINCE 1950

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Visual Studies leader strives for LGBTQ rights

Friday, November 1, 2013

Page

Volume 63 No. 29

Replacing vandalism Tuesday night spotlight Bulls set to square off with Bobcats in MAC heavyweight bout with art Community Canvases creates eyecatching murals in University Heights

DANIELE GERSHON, THE SPECTRUM

Pictured is one of Community Canvases’ seven murals around the University Heights. The effort, which began in February, aims to cover vulgar vandalism and beautify various communities in Buffalo.

ERIC CULVER

STAFF WRITER

Alex Cornwell and Jim Montour stood in front of what was once a deteriorating brick building and saw potential. In a matter of weeks, their vision for something beautiful became reality as the remains of the building turned into something beautiful – a giant screaming face spray-painted with purple, green, black and yellow. This mural, painted by underground Buffalo artist Rusker, is titled “Buffalo Ugly Face” and is one of seven total graffiti murals in the University Heights, the neighborhood surrounding South Campus. These murals are the work of Community Canvases – a research project started by Cornwell, a UB graduate student and the organization’s president. The effort, which began in February, aims to cover vulgar vandalism and beautify various communities in Buffalo. Repainting the graffiti around South Campus is Community Canvas’ fourth project, titled “Height in the Heights.” The project’s organizers hope to light up the Heights, which often has a dark connotation due to its crime rates and unsafe homes. “People think we’re replacing graffiti with vandalism,” said Montour, vice president of Community Canvases and a Tonawanda native. The non-profit organization argues it’s replacing vandalism

with graffiti, and it wants people to understand the differences and why they’re important. In the eyes of the artists and organizers of Community Canvases, vandalism is a provocative destruction of buildings, whereas graffiti is art. Artists have been working at a fast pace since last week; there are seven finished pieces around South Campus. Community Canvases hopes to have 12 done before the end of the semester. “Buffalo Ugly Faces” is Montour’s favorite piece in the collection. Cornwell thinks of the pieces like his “children” and doesn’t want to play favorites. He is most excited for the artists who normally don’t get the opportunity to have a canvas to display their work. One graffiti artist who goes by the name of Brakes began working on his mural one day at 8 a.m. and finished by 12 p.m. in below-40 degree weather. A Nickelodeon character named “Handy Manny” standing over 4 feet tall makes up one of Brakes’ spray-paint murals. He painted the eyes with immense detail, pointing out that they remind him of the ice cream characters with big gumball eyes that he used to order from “Mr. Frosty.” He has since spray-painted a birdhouse, the University Tool Library and other small pieces, all including “Handy Manny.” To him, the Handy Manny mural represents a better Buffalo. SEE MURALS, PAGE 2

OWEN O’BRIEN SPORTS EDITOR

Editor’s Note: The Monday edition of The Spectrum will be dedicated to our full men’s and women’s basketball season previews, which is why we are publishing all football coverage Friday. Buffalo football has another opportunity to make its mark on the national stage. The Bulls (6-2, 4-0 Mid-American Conference) will host Ohio (6-2, 3-1 MAC) in a Tuesday showcase on ESPN2. Buffalo opened its season with thenNo. 3 Ohio State on the same network, and senior linebacker Khalil Mack had a performance that shot him up the NFL Draft big boards. A little over nine weeks later, Mack’s stock has continued to grow and the Bulls sit atop the MAC East – they are the lone team without a loss in the division. Buffalo has been unstoppable in conference play this season, outscoring opponents by a league-best 148-38 (+110). The second-best differential belongs to Ohio (+90). The Bobcats have been the most consistent winning team in the MAC East for the past seven seasons, according to head coach Jeff Quinn. They’ve totaled a 40-21 conference record, including three first-place MAC East finishes and six bowl-eligible seasons. “We need to separate ourselves,” Quinn said. “We are striving to take full control of the MAC East.” Senior quarterback Tyler Tettleton – a three-year starter – leads Ohio. Tettleton has thrown for 8,179 yards and 63 touchdowns and has rushed for 912 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2.5 seasons. Although he does not run nearly as much as he did his sophomore season – when he recorded 658 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns – Quinn described him as an athlete capable of keeping plays alive and moving around in the pocket. The Bulls suffered a potentially devastating injury last week when junior safety/linebacker Adam Redden was forced to leave Saturday’s game against Kent State (2-7, 1-4) with a knee

COURTESY OF OHIO ATHLETICS

Senior quarterback Tyler Tettleton has thrown for 8,179 yards and 63 touchdowns and has rushed for 912 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2.5 seasons. He will be the main threat to Buffalo’s defense, which has been dominant in MAC play this season.

injury. He will not play this week and the timetable for his return is still unclear. Redden is third on the team in tackles (50) and sacks (3.5), second in tackles for loss (8.5) and first in fumble recoveries (three). Buffalo’s six-game win streak – its longest since 1959 – has much to do with a different attitude among the Bulls’ players. “I’d say one of the biggest changes is that we do know how to respond when [teams score on us],” junior center Trevor Sales said. “I feel like this year we take it that when someone scores on us, we take personal offense to it, like a person came into your house and took food off your plate.” Ohio’s offense ranks 33rd in the country in passing (275 yards per game) and 40th in total scoring (33.6 points per game). Tettleton has completed 68 percent of his passes, totaling 2,029 yards and 17 touchdowns with

only six interceptions this season. His favorite target is senior wide receiver Donte Foster, who has 50 receptions for 718 yards and six touchdowns. Foster has already amassed more yards than he had last season and has totaled over 100 receiving yards in the past three games. The run game is split between senior running backs Beau Blankenship and Ryan Boykin. The two have 550 and 364 yards, respectively, and 10 combined touchdowns. Buffalo senior running back Branden Oliver and Mack were awarded MAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, following last weekend’s 41-21 victory at Kent State. Oliver has rushed for 401 yards and five touchdowns on 74 carries in the past two contests. SEE FOOTBALL, PAGE 2

Heated bus shelter expected at Flint Loop in January MOHAMMED SHARIFF STAFF WRITER

Students will no longer need to brave Buffalo’s winter to board a UB Stampede bus. UB Parking and Transportation Services expects construction on its first heated bus shelter to finish by the time students return to campus in the spring semester. This will mark the first time in UB history that students will have the option to wait for a Stampede bus or shuttle in a heated shelter. The shelter will be located in Flint Loop adjacent to the O’Brian Hall law building, said SUNY Delegate Mohammad Alwahaidy. He approximates the shelter will fit around 30 students. Before running for SUNY delegate, Alwahaidy lived on South Campus and took the UB Stampede every day to North Campus, even in the winter. On aver-

age, he said he would wait 15-20 minutes in the cold for the Stampede. It was then he realized the need for a heated shelter. “Sometimes when the wind really hit, it made you wonder what you were even doing in Buffalo,” he said. Though the bus stop was a major component of the Spirit Party’s platform (Spirit swept the March elections), Travis Nemmer, last year’s Student Association president, said SA has had interest in the heated shelters for a number of years. UB Parking and Transportation Services Director Maria Wallace did not respond to multiple interview requests for this story. SA Chief of Staff Jennifer Merckel and former President Nick Johns, who resigned in September, met with Wallace to talk about student interest in a heated bus shelter, according to Alwahaidy. The two met with Wallace

JUAN D. PINZON, THE SPECTRUM

Students and community members board a shuttle at UB’s Flint Loop. The first heated bus stop is expected to be completed near the loop this January.

twice to express SA’s support and to provide input. In September, Alwahaidy and SA Office Personnel Farhan Hussain met again with Wallace to discuss progress and receive a timeline on the heated shelter. That’s where SA’s participation in the matter stopped, said SA Vice President Lyle Selsky. SA has no control over the bus shelter beyond giving UB its encouragement, according to Selsky.

“The [bus shelters] are going to happen,” he said. “It’s just a matter of time and everyone agreeing on the plans … SA just expedited the process.” SA will not be paying any portion of the reported $60,000 cost of the heated bus shelter, according to Alwahaidy. He said the shelter will include solar panels and advertisements to offset some of the costs.

Alwahaidy thinks the absence of a heated bus stop on campus – given the city’s history of frigid winters – doesn’t make sense. He believes now is the time for UB to make an upgrade. Brandon Charletta, a freshman mechanical engineering and applied sciences major, agrees. He, however, disagrees with the location of the planned shelter. Charletta, who said he takes the Stampede at least three times a day, often from South Campus, believes students would use a heated shelter more frequently if it were placed outside the Student Union instead of O’Brian. Krishna Chatpar, a freshmen bioinformatics major, echoed Charletta’s sentiment. Chatpar takes the Stampede every day, waiting on average 5-10 minutes on North Campus and 15-20 minutes on South Campus. He agrees the Union would be a better location. SEE BUS SHELTER, PAGE 2

ubspectrum.com

Friday, November 1, 2013

Military veterans make presence known on campus JOE KONZE JR NEWS EDITOR

Joshua Hays wants to make sure none of his fellow servicemen are left behind. UB military veterans are teaming up with the UB Office of Veteran Affairs to help guide those after returning from service. The UB Veterans Association (UBVA), a new club on campus, is a branch of Veteran Affairs. The temporary Student Association club helps identify veterans on campus to provide a sense of community for those returning from deployment. “A lot of the people that come to campus, they did four or eight years of active duty, and they are

Continued from page 1: Football Senior receiver Alex Neutz is two touchdowns behind Naaman Roosevelt for the program record for touchdown catches (28). This week, Mack was named one of 16 semifinalists for the Chuck Bednariak Award, given to the nation’s top defensive player, as well as one of 12 semifinalists for the Butkus Award, given to the nation’s top linebacker. Senior defensive lineman Colby Way and junior linebacker Blake Bean are listed day to day. Quinn said he is “pretty sure” they will be able to play against Ohio. Tuesday will mark the first of three consecutive Tuesday night games for Buffalo. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. at UB Stadium. email: sports@ubspectrum.com

20 to 24 years old and are coming back to school in a freshman classroom going, ‘This is stupid. What am I doing with my life?’” said Hays, the new club’s vice president and a senior political science major. UBVA President Warren Griffin is optimistic for what the club can provide to students. He said that, in the past, veteran services have not been hands on enough to reach and assist student veterans. “The club exploded out of a passionate meeting amongst student and staff about the opportunity to create better veteran services at UB,” said Griffin, a senior political science major and five-year Army veteran. “Veteran services have not been

very physical at UB. And that’s one of our big focuses now, is creating a community, creating an infrastructure for advocacy and for support.” The club board came together to inform students about what Veterans Affairs can offer. The office provides things for former militants that are essential to helping them post-service, such as academic support and financial advisement. Although these benefits have always been available, senior academic advisor Tommie Babbs, who deals with military credit evaluation, feels the new club will help students become more aware. SEE VETERANS, PAGE 6

Continued from page 1: Murals Community Canvases turn old, broken down and vandalized buildings into eye-catching scenes with colorful characters posing and jumping into reality – all out of spray paint. John Stiegler, a 56-year-old resident of Buffalo, took time to acknowledge Brakes’ mural by posing in front of it with his dog for a photo. “It adds color to a back alley that once had crap all over it, just a lot of color and life to it,” he said. To Stiegler, the walls were once badly vandalized, but now they’re aesthetically pleasing. Although there is still a graffiti style to what “Height in the Heights” is promoting, many community members recognize it as art. Community involvement in the University Heights plays a large role in the project’s success. “When we started this project, there was not a strong connec-

DANIELE GERSHON, THE SPECTRUM

The UB Veterans Association (UBVA), a new club on campus, is a branch of Veterans Affairs. The temporary SA club helps identify veterans on campus to provide a sense of community for those returning from deployment. The group meets every Thursday on South Campus.

Continued from page 1: Bus shelter

tion with the community, and that’s why people didn’t necessarily preserve it well,” Cornwell said. The University Tool Library has been instrumental in this project – providing both tools and community ties and connections. The Tool Library, located on South Campus, has allowed artists to borrow ladders, paint, brushes and many other tools. All of the artists are unpaid volunteers. This, along with the Tool Library’s contributions, enforces the emphasis on a community effort that reveals the sincerity and spirit of “Height in the Heights.” Brakes agreed that community support of local displays of art is vital. To Montour, what Community Canvases is doing “totally fits the Heights neighborhood.”

He added that when the shelter is finished with construction, he will likely take the bus from Flint Loop rather than the Union because of the heated shelter. Alwahaidy said SA has no control over the placement of the heated shelter and that he believes if the first shelter is successfully put in place, the location of the next heated shelter will be either the South Campus Main Circle or by the Union on North Campus. He believes the Flint Loop was chosen because of its proximity to academic buildings.

Alwahaidy thinks the heated shelter will be placed close to the O’Brian Hall law building to also provide an indoor location for any potential overflow of students. It will also make it easier for the shelter’s heating and electric systems to draw power from the building, he added. Alwahaidy believes, despite the location, many students both off campus and on campus will use it regularly. “It’s going to be beneficial for everyone” he said. email: news@ubspectrum.com

email: arts@ubspectrum.com

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EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR IN CHIEF Aaron Mansfield MANAGING EDITORS Lisa Khoury Sara DiNatale OPINION EDITOR Eric Cortellessa

OPINION

Not ‘loving it’

Fast food workers deserve a union, higher wages, more benefits

NEWS EDITORS Sam Fernando, Senior Joe Konze Jr. Amanda Low, Asst. LIFE EDITORS Keren Baruch, Senior Sharon Kahn, Senior Alyssa McClure, Asst. ARTS EDITORS Max Crinnin, Senior Rachel Kramer, Asst. Felicia Hunt, Asst. SPORTS EDITORS Jon Gagnon, Senior Ben Tarhan, Senior Owen O’Brien PHOTO EDITORS Aline Kobayashi, Senior Juan David Pinzon, Asst. Daniele Gershon, Asst. CARTOONIST Jeanette Chwan CREATIVE DIRECTORS Brian Keschinger Haider Alidina, Asst. PROFESSIONAL STAFF OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Helene Polley ADVERTISING MANAGER Emma Callinan Drew Gaczewski, Asst. Chris Mirandi, Asst. ADVERTISING DESIGNER Haley Sunkes Ashlee Foster, Asst. Tyler Harder, Asst.

October 25, 2013 Volume 63 Number 26 Circulation 7,000 The views expressed – both written and graphic – in the Feedback, Opinion, and Perspectives sections of The Spectrum do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board. Submit contributions for these pages to The Spectrum office at Suite 132 Student Union or news@ubspectrum.com. The Spectrum reserves the right to edit these pieces for style and length. If a letter is not meant for publication please mark it as such. All submissions must include the author’s name, daytime phone number, and email address. The Spectrum is provided free in part by the Undergraduate Mandatory Activity Fee. The Spectrum is represented for national advertising by MediaMate. For information on adverstising with The Spectrum visit www.ubspectrum.com/advertising or call us directly at (716) 645-2452. The Spectrum offices are located in 132 Student Union, UB North Campus, Buffalo, NY 14260-2100

ART BY JEANETTE CHWAN

Last week, McDonald’s announced it made $1.5 billion in the third quarter. That puts the world’s largest food chain up 5 percent from last year. But last week, it was also announced that taxpayers are paying $1.2 billion in public assistance to the McDonald’s workforce. Those numbers are merely a coincidence but draw attention to how the McDonald’s Corporation is making enormous profits as its employees struggle to pay for food, housing and medical care. Low Pay Is Not OK, an advocacy group, recorded a telephone call Nancy Salgado made to McResource, a helpline for McDonald’s workers, in which the representative assured Salgado she would have no issue receiving assistance from government programs. Without ever asking Salgado much she makes an hour or how many hours she works, the representative assured her she could qualify for food stamps

and heating assistance. What has come to light since Low Pay Is Not OK has publicized this call is that McDonald’s encourages its employees to seek out these programs. All the while, McDonald’s keep its employees’ wages unacceptably low. But this should come as no surprise to the fast food industry, as more than half of fast food workers rely on public assistance programs for support because their wages are not enough to live on, according to CNN. Salgado’s recorded phone call supports what thousands of fast food workers have been complaining about for years: Their pay is too low and they don’t receive enough benefits. In July, McDonald’s received scrutiny and criticism on this matter after providing a “budget planning guide” for its employees without taking into consideration gasoline or food. Not to mention, the budget left room for a second job, indicating an

admission that the corporation recognized the wages it provided are insufficient. The median wage of frontline fast food workers is $8.94 an hour, according to Reuters. These workers, who work anywhere from 25-40 hours a week, barely make $15,000 a year. With wages that low, of course fast food workers are more likely to need public assistance programs. Public tax dollars are subsidizing fast food workers. As the fast food industry rakes in billions of dollars each year, the public pays for the assistance programs these companies impose on their workers. Those who defend the fast food industry claim these companies must pay their workers low wages because the business relies on small profits. This is nonsense. As McDonald’s makes billions of dollars in profit, many of its workers live beneath the poverty line. For years, McDonald’s (like Wal-Mart) has resisted union-

ization. It makes sense why – unions would help its workers formulate a strategy to protect themselves. Unions have the ability to organize strikes and focus attention toward what is impacting whom they represent. Most low-wage workers at fast food chains are not teenagers working a part-time job – most are adults trying to support themselves (and some are trying to support families, too). Fast food workers deserve a union to move arguments for employees forward through fundamental organization, and a group to put pressure on state legislatures and Congress to raise the minimum wage – something we desperately need. It is time for changes for fast food workers; they can no longer afford to be stifled by a billion-dollar industry that profits from them. email: editorial@ubspectrum.com

A partial victory Texas judge right to reject portion of abortion law, wrong to uphold another It was under the pretense of trying to protect women’s health and safety that a Texas law that restricted abortion rights throughout the state was passed in July. But on Monday, a federal judge struck down a crucial part of the law that would have required all doctors performing the procedure to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. The decision was announced one day before the law was scheduled to take place in a major victory for abortion rights activists. If the entire law were to come into place, that measure would have effectively forced one-third of Texas’ abortion clinics to close. In declaring that particular provision unconstitutional, Judge Lee Yeakel declared in his ruling that the “admitting-privileges provision is without a rational basis and places a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion.” And right he is. The component that was struck down serves no medical purpose and was only intended to make a woman’s ability to have an abortion more difficult. Many clinics throughout Texas use visiting doctors who cannot attain admitting privileges at any

local hospitals. This is common practice at clinics throughout the United States: Visiting doctors perform abortion procedures at clinics regularly with no safety risk to patients – and without admitting privileges at a local hospital. The rationale behind Texas lawmakers this summer was not grounded in facts and reason; it was part of a politically driven scheme. Similar schemes have been common in states with Republican governors or Republican-controlled state legislatures, such as Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota and Wisconsin. And provisions such as the one recently blocked in Texas have received similar treatment by the courts – that such regulations are a violation of the established law of Roe v. Wade, which protects a woman’s right to have an abortion as part of her right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment. Texas, being a large and expansive state, has citizens located in isolated areas where medical treatment centers that provide abortions are distant. The provision that Judge Yeakel blocked was estimated to have prevented over 22,000

women from having access to abortion facilities, according to the Texas Policy Evaluation Project. This would have clearly been a violation of what is currently the law of the land. Unfortunately, however, Judge Yeakel upheld a harmful portion of the law, which limits medication abortions to an outdated protocol for using abortion-inducing drugs. This protocol was set up by the Food and Drug Administration years ago, but most medical doctors prefer to use a different protocol, which they consider safer and more effective, according to The New York Times. Judge Yeakel came to the wrong conclusion in saying that this did not place an “undue burden” on women patients and their doctors. The problem this has is that it may force women interested in having a medication-induced abortion to have to go through the surgical alternative. This option is generally more traumatic and difficult to go through. And this, too, was designed to impede abortions – something state governments should not be doing.

As Hillary Clinton once said, “abortions should be legal and safe and rare.” Blocking women from having the most current form of medication abortion treatment does not encompass that goal. It only makes it harder for women who want to get an abortion, as is their legal right, to do so. Judge Yeakel will not have the last say in this matter, however, as the State of Texas has already filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Those justices will have a chance to rule that disallowing women to have access to the newest forms of medication should not be tolerated. It takes away a decision that should be made at the discretion of a woman and her doctor. What has been happening in Texas along with a host of other red states is not acceptable; these are attempts to restrict abortion rights under the false claim of saying certain steps are necessary for women’s safety. What needs to be emphasized now, however, is exactly that: It is not true. email: editorial@ubspectrum.com

Friday, November 1, 2013 ubspectrum.com

LIFE, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Smiling at strangers

A new app for meeting students comes to UB GISELLE LAM

STAFF WRITER

We’re living in a virtual age. First, emails and instant messaging made communication easier. Then, people could complete simple tasks like shopping for clothes and groceries via cell phone. And now, people can pass on smiles without physically smiling. A new app called SmileBack just launched in the Buffalo area about two weeks ago. It allows college students to meet new people on their campus through a different and innovative platform. By “smiling” at someone through this software, students can connect through mutual attractions and interests. Dan Berenholtz, the app’s founder, created the iOS application along with friends and cofounders Venkat Dinavahi and Roy Goldschmidt and brother Doron. The SmileBack team brought the program to Buffalo by introducing it to 100 people with hopes it will spread. The social networking application allows college students to send anonymous smiles to other SmileBack users in their area. If they send a smile back, the two users will be able to text each other through the app. “I wouldn’t call it a dating site,” Berenholtz said. “It could be used for dating, it could be

COURTESY OF MADELINE TAGGART

SmileBack, a new app created by Dan Berenholtz (left), aims to connect UB students through the sending and receiving of smiles. “It could be used for dating, it could be used for relationships and it could also just be for meeting new friends. We wanted to create a social network for meeting new people,” Berenholtz said.

used for relationships and it could also just be for meeting new friends. We wanted to create a social network for meeting new people.” If the couple creates a match, they also receive a voucher for free drinks at a local bar. SmileBack is still working on a partnership with one of Buffalo’s bars. SmileBack is currently available in eight cities on the East Coast, including Ithaca, Washington, D.C. and New York City. Buffalo made the list a couple of weeks ago, followed by Syracuse. In total, the app has over 5,000 users, according to Berenholtz.

Chelsie Zanghi, a junior business major, received an email from Berenholtz a few weeks ago regarding the launch of this new app in Buffalo. “I don’t know if a lot of students know about it, but it could be used as a way of breaking the ice and meeting friends at such a large campus,” Zanghi said. The team has plans to spread the app to other parts of the nation, too. Berenholtz said they built their reputation in a number of ways, from word of mouth to asking friends in different schools to promote their app to using social media sites like Facebook.

Only Apple products with cellular service support SmileBack; non-iPhone users, like Zanghi, cannot access the program. Berenholtz said because the app is location-based and the users are matched with students in close proximities, it was logical to keep it only to cellular devices. Also, because people are constantly on their phones, it was a natural decision to make it into a mobile app, he said. SmileBack originally started as a website called whowentout. com, which was similar to the app but revolved more around nightlife and who might be at the same party or club as the user.

Berenholtz and his team decided to open up the pool to anyone on college campuses. “Even though our product is different now, our goal is always the same,” Berenholtz said. “And that is to facilitate connections among college students.” SmileBack was officially launched as a mobile app in the spring of 2013 as a small private beta only for iPhones. The team is currently working on the Android version and will launch it in the next couple months. Some students are excited about testing out the product, but others disagree with its effectiveness. “It’s a social technological advance,” said Anthony J. Field, a sophomore history major. “But it coddles people to a degree.” Field feels that with an app like SmileBack, students are not interacting in a location where they could be and instead they are more or less hiding behind their phones. He says that this new platform for meeting other students is a good idea, but they “don’t need an app for it.” The SmileBack team hopes the iPhone application will continue to grow in Buffalo as it has in other cities. email: features@ubspectrum.com

New curriculum for UB’s communication department CASSANDRA YOCHUM STAFF WRITER

Communication students can expect a new curriculum in 2015, according to Lance Rintamaki, an associate professor in the Department of Communication. The university currently has a Research 1 (R1) communication program, which means UB’s communication department focuses more on research than other schools, Rintamaki said. This sets the school apart from other universities, but, according to Rintamaki, it’s still hard for students to stand out in the workplace. He said the new program gives UB “the potential to be the foremost communication department in the state.” The department currently has approximately 400 declared majors, according to Thomas Feely, a professor and the chair of the communication department, but many more are expected to join within their collegiate careers. These students become competitors against one another after they graduate.

“The question becomes: How do you stand out?” said Michael Stefanone, a communication professor. UB’s communication department offers students a variety of subjects to explore as well as research opportunities for those yearning for more. Students can create their own pathways of learning. The field’s wide range of subjects, however, poses a problem. Because of the broadness of communication, students can become confused about which industry they would like to pursue. In contrast, some employers are flustered with communication majors. The No. 1 complaint of employers is poor writing skills, according to Rintamaki. Some believe the antiquity of the communication curriculum presents a limitation to students. The major currently focuses on interpersonal, mass-mediated and organizational communication. The new curriculum for communication has addressed many issues, according to Rinta-

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maki. “What we do in this degree is designed to benefit both their personal and professional lives,” he said. The new curriculum has been thorough in its design. Four separate studies were conducted in order to narrow down what was needed for the new curriculum. One study interviewed 330 current undergraduate communication students about the positive and negative experiences they’ve had with the major. Another study focused on the faculty. The professors were asked about what they would teach if they were given no constraints. The department then asked recent graduates what they took from the program as well as what they wished the major had prepared them for. They focused on what helped these students get and excel in their jobs as well as what skills they lacked in the workforce. The last study asked approximately 230 professionals in the field about what they were looking for in students, how to

make students stand out from their competition and what core knowledge they thought would be valuable to the workforce. The new plan will modernize the program by basing it more on field and faculty research, Feely said. This research will be cutting edge. The idea is to teach the students the “core components” of communication in ways that can benefit students individually and professionally, Rintamaki said. Though he was not as heavily involved in the design as Rintamaki or Feely, Stefanone has sat in on preliminary meetings regarding the new curriculum and he is pleased about the change. “We haven’t changed our curriculum in a long time,” Stefanone said. The department is now catering the curriculum to employers’ needs, according to Stefanone. He is also excited about the new focus on faculty research. “Research is fundamental to expose students to how the process works,” Feely said. Thirteen faculty members currently have a research require-

ment for their students, according to Feely. “It’s a rare experience,” Feely said, adding that not many schools produce the magnitude and quality of research that UB does. The program will also involve new requirements, such as studying abroad, internships, capstone courses or an independent study with a professor. This is because employers are looking for students with unique experience, Rintamaki explained. A mock trial course and comedic course are two examples of classes that could be added for experiential learning, according to Rintamaki. Other courses will help students realize how they are presenting themselves to others across the globe. For example, a new class will be centered on social media use and websites. email: features@ubspectrum.com

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Friday, November 1, 2013

Acting against discrimination

Director of Visual Studies Doctoral Program has history in LGBTQ activism CASSANDRA YOCHUM STAFF WRITER

Jonathan Katz, director of UB’s visual studies doctoral program, stood on top of a table in a restaurant in California and shouted, “Ladies and gentlemen, I just want you to know that I’m being thrown out of this restaurant for the simple fact that I’m gay.” Katz expected to receive support from his audience. Instead, he was faced with atrocious slurs and people shouting, “die of AIDS” at him and his partner. The police were called and Katz and his then boyfriend were kicked out of the roadside diner. This was not an unusual occurrence in California during the ’90s, Katz said. He added that during that time, people who indentified as homosexual, transgender or bisexual could legally be kicked out of restaurants and other forms of public accommodation. Katz, now 55, said he felt moved to become an activist for the LGBTQ community after the incident. He was angry and disturbed by the maltreatment; he was inspired to take a path toward fighting discrimination. His efforts have brought him to UB, where he hopes to instill the UB community with an understanding of the LGBTQ community. “I feel discrimination in my bones, and when people are being mistreated, it bothers me,” Katz said.

DANIELE GERSHON, THE SPECTRUM

Jonathan Katz, an associate professor and the director of UB’s visual studies doctoral program, is an activist for the LGBTQ community who uses history and fine arts to depict the LGBTQ experience.

Katz was the first full-time American academic to be tenured in gay and lesbian studies. In 1994, he founded the Harvey Milk Institute (HMI), a queer studies institute, and he currently serves as the president of New York City’s Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art. Katz has taken steps to ensure members of the LGBTQ community are treated humanely. He wants to teach UB students to do the same and to educate them on the history of discrimination. He has lectured about discrimination, the LGBTQ communi-

ty and the importance of human rights for years. Katz left HMI and began working at Yale University in 2002 as the director of the queer studies program. The university did not see a need for the program, Katz said. After working there for five years, he left the school because he felt the program was not receiving adequate support. He wound up at UB – and he’s thankful he did. “My expectations [for Buffalo] were very low,” Katz said. “What I found was a vibrant communi-

ty with a progressive tradition, a very lively culture and a very lively queer culture.” Though he believes Buffalo is more accepting of the LGBTQ community than most places in America, the area is not particularly radical when it comes to LGBTQ activism, he said. Katz believes UB is quite inactive in terms of political action regarding the LGBTQ movements happening around the country. “People are not pushing for a queer studies major and minor field,” Katz said. “Other cam-

puses are doing that kind of stuff.” Though Katz is currently talking with other faculty members about potentially forming a queer studies program on campus, he doesn’t think it will happen any time soon. Katz’s charge to educate and evoke change is also clear in the work he does with art. As the president of the Leslie Lohman Museum, Katz works with gallery on its mission to preserve LGBTQ art and to help guests understand the history and language of the artwork. “We use fine art that depicts the LGBTQ experience as a way of strengthening our collective understanding of what those struggles are,” said Hunter O’Hanian, director of the museum. Katz said UB students should expect to see the subjects in the museum mirrored in programs and lectures in the future. Katz wants to teach courses about feminists artists, like Amelia Jones, and people like Robert Rauschenberg, who lived in a time where the dominant artistic culture was abstract expressionism. Katz has done work outside the New York City museum, too. He was involved in “Hide/ Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture,” a major exhibition known as the first to focus on gender and sexuality in American art. SEE KATZ, PAGE 6

A new kind of show First-ever YouTube Music Awards proves social media diversifies music scene MEGAN WEAL

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

When Justin Bieber hit radios and television screens in 2009, it was because of YouTube. Fellow teen pop icons Cody Simpson and Austin Mahone jumped onto the YouTube platform and their fame seemed to launch overnight. Clearly, YouTube is a powerful place. It is a place that stimulates growth and confidence, allows criticism and thrives upon community support, so it makes sense that, this year, YouTube launched the brand-new YouTube Music Awards, set to take place online on Sunday. Like any awards show, the mainstream dominates. Nominees include the usual suspects: Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Demi Lovato and, inevitably, One Direction. Not everyone is happy about the mainstream coming into focus once again after YouTube announced the awards would be “a new kind of awards show,” according to the You-

COURTESY OF YOUTUBE

Tube official blog. Tyler, the Creator left his manners behind when he tweeted, “YOUTUBE AWARDS COULDVE F****** HAD NOMINATIONS ON COOL CREATIVE VIDEOS S*** BUT NOOOO AGAIN IT’S THE MOST TEENY BOPPER POP S***. YOU ARE BUTT.” And this reaction seems pretty justified, if you’re only looking at the awards from the outside. So, why should the mainstream artists that have awards stockpiled around their homes

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be given another platform to outshine the musically talented underdogs in the competition? Well, the answer seems obvious – for the awards to gain momentum and publicity. Whether you like it or not, Miley Cyrus has a bigger fan base than your favorite YouTube star. But by putting the two next to one another, surely the outcome is clear – the YouTube star gets a plethora of overnight views and subscribers that would have taken them years to obtain without the association.

On Sunday, millions will go online to watch the live awards show and they will be greeted with the pop big dogs and the little-league YouTube stars all at once. The assimilation is exciting. In addition to the melting pot of musical talent, the voting system relies upon arguably the most influential tool in the music industry at the moment: social media. Social media stats such as views and likes determined the nominations, and the sharing of videos via social media will determine the winner. It is a progression based on common sense. You are more likely to click a button and share your favorite video than to pick up the telephone and face the consequential and unreasonable phone charges. By no means does this mean that the tools of yesteryear should be shoved to the backburners (the continuous playing of small shows, hours of rehearsal time in the garage, repetitively sending your E.P. to local radio stations, etc.), but it’s unar-

guable that the bigger your social media following, the more people are going to hear your talents. It, therefore, seems obvious that Gaga and Cyrus are hitting the top of the nominations lists – they’re also sitting pretty with the highest number of Twitter followers. If the awards show did not advertise and introduce the categories of “Video of the Year” and “Artist of the Year,” they would be drastically different and, unfortunately, dramatically less noticed. So before you start kicking your feet about how Katy Perry, Eminem, Selena Gomez and PSY (yes, still) are getting a whole load of publicity, or you start tweeting your anger about the unfairness of the mainstream influence of the show, think about how influential these artists have been on the YouTuber’s nominated alongside them. When Eminem began rapping, it seems a pretty safe bet to guess that he dreamt about performing alongside some of the biggest names in the music industry. SEE YOUTUBE, PAGE 6

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Friday, November 1, 2013

A SOBERING SURVIVAL STORY 12 Years a Slave: an achievement of structure and historical depiction

ERIC CORTELLESSA

OPINION EDITOR

Film: 12 Years a Slave Distributor: Fox Searchlight Nationwide Release Date: Nov. 1 Grade: A François Truffaut once said it was impossible to make an antiwar film. The depiction of war, he believed, was exciting and provided a sense of adventure; he also felt the problem was the end always belonged to its survivors and the spectator would end up feeling happy for the few rather than sad for the many. Stanley Kubrick reportedly expressed similar criticism of Schindler’s List – that the story is about success though the Holocaust is about failure. In the book Eyes Wide Open, author Frederic Raphael wrote that Kubrick said: “Schindler’s List is about 1,000 people who survived; the Holocaust is about six million people who died.” A similar sentiment could be echoed in regard to films about slavery – that when the protagonist survives or becomes free, the viewer feels good for the survivor. 12 Years a Slave, the new film by Steve McQueen, tells the true story of Solomon Northup, who wrote a memoir of the same title, published in 1853. The film’s marketing campaign has emphasized this detail, claiming it as a marker of its authenticity. Audiences know coming into the film that Northup is a survivor – for he has lived to tell the tale. What makes this film exceptional is that even with it being a survival story, never does it put its audience at ease – never do you feel good about what you are watching. Because never before has a film so acutely depicted the horrors of slavery. The very first shot is of black men, including Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Salt), lined up beneath the frame’s horizon in a field of tall grass before they are taught to cut sugar cane. McQueen is able to evoke the emotional currents of a particular atmosphere in this single shot; he immediatley makes a statement of how slaves were treated by

COURTESY OF FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

use of visual imagery. The film then cuts back in time to Northup as an accomplished violinist, living comfortably with his wife and children in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. One day, a pair of gentlemen lures him into a trip to Washington, D.C. to hear about a lucrative offer. They get him drunk and the next day he wakes up in chains. It is then that he is sold into slavery and transported by ship to a cotton plantation in Louisiana. This begins his 12-year period as a slave in which he is treated as property – exchanged, loaned out and used as payment for debt. During this time, he has a seething sense of injustice that comes not from the very act of slavery in and of itself, but from the rage of knowing he has been taken wrongly; he was born free and has been kidnapped. When we see him try to write a letter home with the juice of berries, we see the level of desperation that comes out of a desire to be free. The entire time he is enslaved, he knows that only if he could contact those who know him in New York, they could provide the documents that would release him. His first slave owner, William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch, Star Trek Into Darkness), is a generous man, ironically sympathetic to the plight of his own slaves. When he is forced to sell North-

Continued from page 5: Katz Not many museums want to take the risk of touching on sexuality, he said. “[Museums are] the real, ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’” Katz said. When “Hide/Seek” was on display at the Smithsonian Institution in 2010, Secretary of the Institution Wayne Clough removed a video from the exhibition because of “powerful Republican legislators” threatening to take away some funding by applying budget cuts, according to The Washington Post. Katz has taken it upon himself to challenge what he feels is the standard practice in the museum world of avoiding the subjects of homosexuality. Katz’s work in developing programming for lectures and exhibitions has brought international recognition to what he sees as the problem with some museums. It has been a continuous fight, but he believes society is witnessing a “whirlwind” of social change, he said. “The last few years have been stunning,” Katz said. Katz believes there have been two factors that have aided social and cultural change: Everyone now has a connection with someone who identifies as LGBTQ and everyone recognizes that this movement is the last in a line of political and social change. Regardless of how progressive some places are, other places haven’t changed or have changed very little since the 1950s, according to Katz.

“Freedom in this country is not uniform,” Katz said. He believes it takes courageous people taking a stance and getting stepped on continuously before change is possible. Katz knows what it’s like to be stepped on. In 1986, Katz and a group of protestors stood on the steps of the Supreme Court protesting a ruling that upheld the criminalization of homosexuality. Katz felt the decision in the case, Bowers v. Hardwick, set LGBTQ rights back 15 years. He and his group of protestors were arrested and detained by a policeman who was being rough with Katz and his crew. But it was the sight of a 60-yearold woman who was part of the protest that changed the man’s outlook. When the cop asked the women if she’d been arrested before, she said ‘yes’ and recited the dates of the African American, Women’s Rights and Latino Civil Rights movements. She had been a part of every one of those protests since the 1960s. “[The cop] got it,” Katz said, “He didn’t get it before, but [in that moment], he got it.” Katz has turned his passion into his profession to make sure others “get it,” too. email: features@ubspectrum.com

up to Edwin Epps (Michal Fassbender, Prometheus) for Northup’s safety, however, we see why he might feel he is doing his slaves a service – the alternatives are worse. One of the most powerful moments of the film comes after Northup instinctively defends himself against a sadistic overseer (Paul Dano, Looper) while Ford is away. He is then almost killed for it. As they begin to hang him from a tree, one of the other white men stops them, reminding them Northup is Ford’s property. Northup is then left to droop with one foot reaching the ground as the life of the plantation carries on in the background. Eventually, Ford returns and cuts him loose. When he gets to Epps’ plantation, Northup becomes enmeshed in a sexual conflict between Epps and his luscious field slave Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o). Epps’ wife (Sarah Paulson, Mud) makes matters worse with her tantalizing belittling of her husband. Epps is such a psychotic lunatic, there is an irony to his actions – he is as much a prisoner to himself as his slaves are. This leads to a hysteric madness and brutality that is rarely brought so vividly to the screen; the debasement of human dignity that transpires is an assault on our deepest values.

There is a prolonged whipping scene in which Epps forces Northup to strike Patsey; it condemns slavery stronger than any other moment. It is an emotionally evocative and vivid portrait of violence, in which psychological compulsions and unrestrained obsessions meet in a noxious entanglement of unbearable cruelty. What becomes the center of this searing and daring work is how it portrays the moral condition of slavery in the most intolerable way. It is an examination of America’s greatest failure – the piece of our history that continues to haunt us. Unlike Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, which took heavy material and reduced it to an adolescent sensibility, McQueen allows no room for humor or fun to be inserted into this picture; he treats the subject with the despondency it deserves. Not resting on making the film a merely cathartic experience, he lets the audience be uncomfortable and then stay that way. And that is where the film’s emotional power resides: It doesn’t let you leave the theater feeling relieved. There are moments of such solemn beauty and inherent sadness; the film’s visual language is its own source of reflection. Director of Photography Sean Bobbitt (The Place Beyond the Pines)

has a way of shooting tactile images of natural surfaces: the Louisiana trees, the sopping dirt, the various slaves’ lacerated skin. Working with John Ridley’s (Red Tails) precise and controlled script, McQueen knows how to make subtlety work and can handle transitions from static despair to kinetic energy. There are some moments, however, of overdramatized and forced dialogue that seems out of place in a work that takes its power from its subtlety. But it all comes together in what may be the finest film ever made about slavery, an institution that too often seems distant and abstract. This film puts it in the right context – it makes slavery closer to us and concrete. It makes it real. Elegantly constructed and thematically profound, 12 Years a Slave, is a mesmerizing study of humanity. It is a look at moral abandonment through the lens of the darkest chapter in American history. Northup’s tale gives voice to those who didn’t live to tell their own stories. And the film is a lamentation for a past that must be confronted. By doing so, we take one step closer to reconciling with it. email: arts@ubspectrum.com

Continued from page 2: Veterans “It can only help the students get better,” Babbs said. “With academic affairs working with students and students working with academic affairs and finding information that we can all share together, that’s the kind of goal the university wanted to do anyway.” Through Veteran Affairs, students are granted college credit based upon a set list of criteria Babbs helps them sort through. The new club will make it easier for advisors at UB to identify student veterans, according to Brandon Gilliland, a financial advisor at UB and UBVA. In the spring, the UB Military Members Association was derecognized for inactivi-

ty. Afterwards, Veterans Affairs reached out to veteran students to create the new club, according to Hays, who has served in the Marine Corps Reserve for the past three years. Hays, along with other group members, found the previous constitution from the last group had not been revised since May 1989. The old constitution did not meet the goals of the current group and Hays is rewriting it. The group also prides itself in reaching out to international veterans because Americans have served alongside other nations, too. Justin Lee, a former member of the Republic of Korea Ma-

rine Corps and reserve member and a junior business major, feels the new club is essential to helping servicemen adjust. “For me, it provides a place for international veterans to connect and to let you know you’re not alone; you’re not the only one who feels like a hermit,” Lee said. “And you don’t have to be that hermit. There are plenty of opportunities.” UBVA meets every Thursday at 3 p.m. at Allen Hall on South Campus. New members are welcome. email: news@ubspectrum.com

Continued from page 5: YouTube Sitting alongside the mainstream awards is the most exciting category of the 2013 YouTube Music Awards, “Innovation of the Year” – a category that homes the pioneering and exciting music of Bat for Lashes, DeStorm and Atoms for Peace. It prides the intelligence of music and strives to boost its popularity – a concept that can be called innovative in itself. Beside the award for innovation sits the “Response of the Year” award, a category that praises and publicizes the best parodies, covers and responses to an original track. Most no-

table in this category are ThePianoGuys – a five-guy musical ensemble, taking classic instrumental sounds and making them unforgettable. The competition is tough, but most strikingly – it’s diverse. It’s universal. Creating great work and uploading it to YouTube is not enough. If the 2013 YouTube Music Awards teaches us anything, it’s that social media dominates our music scene. And, finally, we have an award show to prove it. Though the nominations and winners this year may not reach

extensively outside of the mainstream, it will broaden knowledge about the power of YouTube. It shows us that music is about more than fame – a 17-year-old girl who one day began filming in her living room can win an award minutes after Lady Gaga or One Direction. Social media is diversifying the spectrum of music for the better, and the 2013 YouTube Music Awards are set to be just the beginning of great things. email: arts@ubspectrum.com

Friday, November 1, 2013 ubspectrum.com

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