The Spectrum Vol. 70 No. 20

VOL. 70 NO. 20 | APRIL 13, 2022

How muay thai helped a communication professor climb out of rock bottom

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

UBCon XXXI creates community and controversy

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UBSPECTRUM

University Police respond to Yik Yak posts threatening student protesters

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Allen West speaks at UB, prompts dialogue around race and American values Event was marked by contentious protests, lively Q&A JACK PORCARI SENIOR NEWS/FEATURES EDITOR

The normally still hallways of UB’s North Campus were transformed into a battleground of competing ideologies Thursday, as students attended and protested Lt. Col. Allen West’s speech in the Student Union.

West, a former Congressman from

Florida and Texas gubernatorial candidate, delivered a speech titled “America is not racist” in Student Union 145 at 7 p.m.

Thursday. The speech, which was organized by the UB chapter of Young Americans for Freedom, ignited controversy and a spirited discussion — both inside and

outside of the room.

Tension could be felt inside the room even before West took the stage. The venue was filled with a foreboding buzz, SEE WEST PAGE 7

Paolo Blanchi / The Spectrum Timeline of April 7 and related events

Becky Burke introduced as new women’s basketball coach Burke comes from USC Upstate, where she led the Spartans to a 22-win season ANTHONY DECICCO SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

JUSTIN WEISS MANAGING EDITOR

A confident and enthusiastic Becky Burke was introduced as the 13th head coach in UB women’s basketball history at Alumni Arena Friday.

Dressed in a blue blazer, Burke proclaimed her vision for a women’s basketball program coming off its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last six years.

She acknowledged the challenges of following in Felisha Legette-Jack’s footsteps, whom she thanked for turning UB into a “premier destination for players across the country,” but she also tried to distance herself from her predecessor.

“I think there’s a lot of ways to get to that ultimate goal [of winning a Mid-American Conference Championship],” Burke said, with UB logos lining the backdrop behind her. “I’m going to tell you that this is not going to be the same [as Legette-Jack]. It’s going to be very, very different. But at the end of the day, the ultimate goal is to win MAC Championships and to make sure that we sustain the level of success that’s been expected here.”

Burke compared her introduction ceremony Friday to the 2009 NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship Game, when her coach at the time, Jeff Walz, told her team to stand at the edge of the tunnel and take 90 seconds to absorb the gravity of the moment.

She said the same thing happened to her as she was about to walk out of the Alumni Arena tunnel, into an adoring crowd of fans, community members, current play-

ers, dancers and marching band members.

Athletic Director Mark Alnutt said he understood during their first phone call that he shares the same vision as Burke.

Just 12 hours after their initial conversation, he offered Burke the job.

“Being able to just hear through the phone: the energy, the passion, the plan, the vision for UB women’s basketball, [it all] impressed me,” Alnutt said.

Burke exuded confidence when talking about her vision, which she says centers around “sustaining that championship program with championship people who have championship habits.”

She says her ethos include being selfless on- and off-the-floor, serving others and being tough. “One word to describe Becky Burke and her teams is tough,” Burke said, referring to herself in the third person.

At one point during the press conference, Alnutt joked that Burke is so competitive, he was telling himself, “man, I’m trying to find a game that you and I can play that you’re not going to beat me in.”

UB Athletics posted a video to social media earlier Friday showing Burke draining a three on the first try. “[We wanted] someone that’s gonna roll up their sleeves, someone that embraces the mentality of this city,” Alnutt said. “[You] don’t need that Rolls Royce, you can have that Kia. Someone that is gonna roll up their sleeves and be that person that represents Buffalo.”

Burke says she and her staff — which she is in the process of assembling — is going to stress the importance of playing efficient, hard-nosed basketball — someSEE COACH BURKE PAGE 10

Anthony DeCicco / The Spectrum New women’s basketball head coach Becky Burke poses for a photo with Victor E. Bull at her introductory press conference at Alumni Arena Friday.

NEWS

2 | Wednesday, April 13 2022

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Students protest ‘America is not racist’ speech Dozens of students protested Allen West’s Student Union talk KAYLA ESTRADA ASST. NEWS/FEATURES EDITOR

“Black Lives Matter.”

“I’m Black and I’m proud.”

“No justice, no peace.”

These chants rang through the halls of the Academic Spine last Thursday as dozens of students marched across campus in protest of Lt. Col. Allen West’s scheduled speech in the Student Union that evening.

Young Americans for Freedom — a campus conservative club recognized as a special interest group by the Student Association — invited West (R-TX), a former U.S. Representative and retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, to deliver a speech and hold an open Q&A, titled “America is not racist.” In response to West’s anticipated speech, students walked through SU libraries and classrooms wearing signs with slogans like “Racism is Real.”

Samiha Islam, a sophomore statistics and human services major, says she was inspired to protest because she disagreed with the tone of the advertised speech.

“I’m here for the very fact that racism is real and it’s very sad that we still have to stand up for such a basic and simple statement,” Islam said. “It’s not even an opinion, it’s a very real part of our history and our current reality.”

Islam told The Spectrum she attended the demonstration because she wanted to hold UB accountable. She says this protest was a call for action addressed to the university.

“I think the protest is not just in response to the events going on tonight with Allen West, but also a statement to the university that you can’t just say you’re antiracist. You have to support the students of color here and I feel like what we are doing here is just standing up for ourselves,” Islam said.

Two of the protesters requested anonymity because they fear for their safety after numerous threatening posts were published on Yik Yak. One of the protesters said they were inspired to speak out because they find West’s views to be repulsive.

“Today we are protesting against Allen West because there is no space for racism at UB,” the student told The Spectrum. “The UB Young Americans for Freedom organization is having a conference today saying that racism in America is not real and this white space is being funded by our school. Allen West had compared being LGBTQ to picking a flavor of ice cream, as if being gay is a choice. Allen West is invalidating the entire Black experience. This organization is also spreading pro-life and anti-woman propaganda.”

Another student, who also requested anonymity out of fear for their safety, echoed a similar sentiment.

“Today we are here to set the record straight that there is racism in America and we aren’t going to stand for it, and neither should UB,” the student said. “Allen West and his platform completely discriminate against the LGBTQ community, people of color and the Black community. Today we are here to show that we have a voice and UB should listen to its students.”

In a hand-delivered statement to The Spectrum regarding the event, UB said it does not “take a position on the views expressed by those who visit its campus,” and that clubs have the freedom to invite whichever speaker they want to their event.

“Student government-sponsored clubs have the ability to invite speakers of their

Moaz Elazzazi / The Spectrum Students stand in a circle in the Student Union Thursday in protest

of

choosing, as long as they abide by university guidelines and state laws concerning public events on campus,” the statement read.

While UB isn’t taking a position on the politics of the speech and subsequent protests, it says it is still trying to uphold a safe environment for all students.

“UB stands by its commitment to upholding its core values of diversity, inclusion and mutual respect at all times,” the university said. “University Police typically have a presence at on-campus public events to help ensure the safety of speakers and attendees.”

Email: kayla.estrada@ubspectrum.com

Lt. Col Allen West’s speech.

NYS closes state-run COVID-19 testing site on North Campus Clinic opened in early January during the Omicron wave, closed Friday GRANT ASHLEY SENIOR NEWS/FEATURES EDITOR

Moaz Elazzazi / The Spectrum Students hold up signs reading “Racism is real” during a protest

Moaz Elazzazi / The Spectrum Dean of Students Barb Ricotta met with protesters

of

Lt. Col Allen West’s speech Thursday.

The New York State-run COVID-19 testing site at the Center for Tomorrow building on North Campus closed last Friday, according to the university’s COVID-19 site. The clinic had the capacity to provide 200 tests per day and operated for just under three months.

The state opened the clinic, alongside similar testing sites at SUNY and private campuses across New York, in early January to address skyrocketing infection and caseloads rates during last winter’s Omicron wave. Gov. Kathy Hochul said colleges and universities were “obvious” locations for testing centers, citing their pre-built infrastructure for mass testing, during a press briefing in Rochester on Jan. 3.

The clinic’s closure comes as states across the country scale down their mass testing and vaccination measures, according to The New York Times.

UB has 42 cases of COVID-19 and a 1.01% positivity-rate based on a 14-day rolling average as of Friday, according to SUNY’s COVID-19 dashboard.

An average of 3,848 cases per day were reported in New York State over the last seven days, representing a 58% increase in cases compared to the average two weeks ago, according to The New York Times.

A similar state-run testing site at Buffalo State College is still operational. UB students and members of the general public can schedule appointments here.

Testing appointments at pharmacies across the state can be found on the state’s COVID-19 test site finder.

Email: grant.ashley@ubspectrum.com

in

Capen Hall Thursday.

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OPINION

Wednesday, April 13 2022 | 3

SUNY needs to give Jim Malatras the boot — again Cuomo’s right-hand man doesn’t deserve paid leave, a six-figure salary and lifetime employment

GRANT ASHLEY SENIOR NEWS/FEATURES EDITOR

Jim Malatras walked away with the retirement deal of a lifetime.

After fewer than two years as SUNY chancellor, the 43-year-old ex-Andrew Cuomo aide left the top job for a yearlong “study-leave” under SUNY (for which he’ll earn $450,000), a tenured faculty position at Empire State College with an annual starting salary of $186,660 and eligibility for the state retirement system, according to The Albany Times Union.

He doesn’t deserve any of it.

From covering up COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes to berating colleagues on multiple occasions, Malatras has proven repeatedly that he is unfit to serve in government and SUNY — whether as a chancellor or a professor. It’s time to cut him loose once and for all.

Malatras resigned as chancellor following the release of unflattering 2019 text messages regarding Lindsey Boylan, a former advisor to former Gov. Andrew

Cuomo, who had tweeted about the toxic workplace Cuomo’s administration had fostered. Boylan would later be the first of 11 women to accuse Cuomo of sexual harrassment, according to Politico.

In 2019, the year before becoming SUNY chancellor, Malatras told colleagues that Boylan should “go f—k herself,” said that one of his tweets about her was meant to “drive her nuts” and suggested that he and his colleagues “release some of her cray emails,” according to The Gothamist.

Those comments led to his resignation.

But they don’t show Malatras at his worst.

Malatras’ text messages were simply a high-profile incident in a long history of unprofessional behavior dating back to his time as president of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, a SUNY-affiliated think tank.

“You have a f—king bad attitude on everything, lady,” Malatras told one of his employees in 2017 in audio obtained by the Times Union. “You’re goddamn impossible all the time… You drive people crazy.”

Malatras’, shall we say, abrasive management style drove out more than half of his employees at the Rockefeller Institute and at least one top official during his time as president of Empire State College, where he’ll now return as a professor, according to the Times Union. One former Rockefeller Institute employee quoted in the Times Union piece said that Malatras “brought people into his office, he used the F-word, he slammed doors.”

But Malatras can be subtle too. After rejoining the Cuomo administration dur-

ing the COVID-19 pandemic, Malatras helped “substantially” rewrite a New York State Health Department report in an effort to cover up the number of nursing home residents who died of COVID-19, as first reported in The New York Times. The edited version of the report claimed that 6,432 residents had died; the real death toll was 9,844, according to another Times piece. A legislative investigation found that Malatras and other aides did so to “boost Cuomo’s reputation,” according to NPR. Malatras doesn’t even have any public health experience.

But that wasn’t the only instance where Malatras served as Cuomo’s unofficial editor. He spent days editing and fact-checking Cuomo’s self-aggrandizing memoir, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic, just weeks before being appointed SUNY chancellor, according to Inside Higher Ed. Investigators questioned Malatras about whether he reviewed the biography during work hours; Malatras says he only edited it on weekends and days off and denied that helping edit his boss’ vanity project earned him his promotion to SUNY chancellor.

The bottom line is, when Jim Malatras had power, he misused it. By continuing to keep him on the publicly funded payroll, we are saying that abuse of power is highly lucrative and punishable only by a few days of public shaming in New York State.

And what does this tell the thousands of untenured faculty and underpaid graduate students in the SUNY system? That playing sycophant for a slimy governor, not

teaching and not researching, is the easiest path to tenureship?

Not only that, but Malatras only had about five years of experience in higher education — and no extensive experience teaching — before being given a tenured professorship. It generally takes six years for an academic to get tenure after being hired to a tenure-track position, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Maybe struggling academics should try Malatras’ path to tenure.

I’m sure SUNY will continue to let Malatras collect six-figure annual salaries funded by taxpayer dollars over the next few decades. But at the bare minimum, they need to institutionalize a nationwide search in their chancellor selection process. SUNY is conducting a national search to select the next chancellor, according to WAMC, but this change must be set in stone moving forward. The SUNY Board of Trustees hired Malatras without conducting a wider search, according to the Times Union. The board passed up the opportunity to find a more qualified candidate — and believe me, that’s not a high bar to clear — likely at the behest of thenGov. Cuomo. After all, Cuomo appointed 15 of the 18 board members at the time.

SUNY can’t afford to hire another illsuited chancellor. A national search won’t bring a saint into the chancellorship, but it will likely result in a competent leader who has the good sense to replace Malatras a second time.

Email: grant.ashley@ubspectrum.com

I will never be able to erase the feeling of assault The trauma of sexual assault can follow you like a shadow

KAYLA STERNER ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

Consent, as defined by Oxford Languages, is the “permission for something to happen or agreement to do something.”

Pretty simple, right? You just have to ask first and then base your action off the ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer you receive.

Unfortunately, this concept isn’t as simple as we would like it to be. Too often, the desire for power or the desire to fulfill a sexual urge takes over and consent is not considered, which leads to a plethora of sexual assaults.

I was assaulted for the first time around seventh or eighth grade, but I had been the victim of harassment and catcalls even earlier than that.

To put what I am about to say into perspective, I had a very toxic group of male friends in middle and high school, but I

wanted so desperately to fit in that I would do whatever my female friends would.

It didn’t help that I went to a school where my male peers hypersexualized females to the point that it became normalized. It happened so often that I was almost led to believe I was doing something “wrong” if the boys weren’t talking about me in their locker room.

Then came the infamous basement incident.

My female friends and I were locked in one of my male “friends’’’ basement, and two of the guys I had known since elementary school decided to play “slap ass” — i.e. we were all locked in the basement getting our butts groped and slapped despite our obvious lack of enthusiasm in this so-called game.

Fast forward to my first week of high school. At 14 years old, a senior had walked up to me, palmed my butt and walked away. For the next couple of months, I made sure to never walk around without a bag or a binder covering my butt, so I wouldn’t have to relive that experience.

I’ve gone to too many concerts where men have followed me around and claimed they would stop if I just made out with them. This is coercion at its finest, but I’ve taken the bait a couple of times just so they would leave me alone.

Then there was the time I screamed “NO” as my arms clenched my chest as hard as possible so he couldn’t get in — but I wasn’t strong enough. Despite the clear ‘no,’ he shoved his hand down my shirt, grabbed my boobs and walked away laughing as if his ego had just doubled.

I am not telling you all of this to spark a pity party — I’m telling you this so other survivors know they are not alone and that they are strong enough to overcome the internal wounds that were unwillingly inflicted upon them. I’m writing this to let the world know I’m a survivor and I won’t be silenced.

These instances of assault follow me around like a shadow, even when I try to suppress the memory.

I will never be able to erase the feeling of having my wrist clenched and body dragged into the woods. I will never be able to forget the feeling of being kicked awake and having you-know-what shoved down my throat.

I will never be able to eliminate the shame and guilt that consumed me when I had to pretend I was OK because the perpetrator was in my so-called friend group.

The discomfort ran so strong that I began to struggle in classes and transferred to a private school — though no one knew that was the reason I had to escape those EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

WEDNESDAY APRIL 13, 2022 VOLUME 70 NUMBER 20 CIRCULATION: 3,000

Do you have an interest in journalism, graphic design, photography, social media, advertising, cartoons or copy editing? The Spectrum is always looking for enthusiastic students who want to be part of our team. Join our 45-time award winning independent student newspaper for hands-on, realworld experience in your field.

Anyone interested in joining The Spectrum’s editorial staff can email Reilly Mullen at: eic@ubspectrum.com.

The views expressed – both written and graphic – in the Opinion section 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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Reilly Mullen MANAGING EDITORS Justin Weiss Dan Eastman, Asst.

NEWS/FEATURES EDITORS Grant Ashley, Sr. Jack Porcari, Sr. Julie Frey, Sr. Kayla Estrada, Asst.

Kyle Nguyen, Asst.

ARTS EDITORS Alex Falter, Sr. Kara Anderson, Sr.

forbidding walls.

And, I will certainly never be able to erase the depression and rage that filled my lungs when I tried to come forward two years later, only to be told, “You were drinking, what did you expect?”

Here’s what I expect: I expect people to know what consent is — to understand the difference behind ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ I expect people to accept our answers without coercion, whether they like it or not. I expect people to be there for their friends, instead of giving them dirty looks and making jokes when they are just trying to find peace after an assault.

I expect people to believe others when they come forward. We live in a society that sees an American raped every 68 seconds and where one out of every six women are the victims of an attempted or completed rape.

I’ve said it before and I will say it as many times as needed: believe survivors and put yourself in their shoes. What if that was your mother, brother, sister or cousin?

It is time we embrace the courage and strength shown by those who come forward. #MeToo. Email: kayla.sterner@ubspectrum.com

SPORTS EDITORS Anthony DeCicco, Sr. Sophie McNally, Asst.

Kayla Sterner, Asst.

MULTIMEDIA EDITORS Sabrina Akter-Nabi, Sr. Sai Krishna Seethala, Sr. Moaz Elazzazi, Asst.

ENGAGEMENT EDITOR Jenna Quinn, Sr. CREATIVE DIRECTOR Paolo Blanchi, Sr. Jiayi Zhang, Asst.

COPY EDITOR Andrew Lauricella

4 | Wednesday, April 13 2022

I am enough I am more than the comparisons I make with other people

JULIE FREY SENIOR NEWS/FEATURES EDITOR

I am scared to death.

In about six weeks, I am going to walk the stage for graduation.

But I don’t know how to move on to the promised “bigger and better things” that seem to await everyone else. I feel like I’m being left behind as my friends run ahead.

Every day is another day of me being unable to decide what I’m going to do come May 23.

It’s more than just the day after I graduate that has a cloud of uncertainty looming over it; it’s also the decisions I have to make about what I’m going to do with the rest of my life. It’s like I’m taking a math test and don’t recognize the problem. I

OPINION don’t know how or where to start, and it seems like everybody has the answer except me.

The stress of uncertainty is leaking into all other aspects of my life. Every day is an exercise in civility. My mind is paralyzed, and the only constant thought has been, “you are not enough.”

Too often, all I want is to throw my phone on the floor and give up.

Everything I do — no matter where I go, who I talk to or what I say — is accompanied by self-loathing. Why can’t I be more like them, the people who have it together? And if I can’t be the person who does have it together, why can’t I be someone who managed to climb the invisible mountain and overcome their mental barriers?

I have tried my best again and again, but I always seem to fall short. I fall right into the hands of insecurity and sadness, which makes quite a terrible duo.

I am never enough for myself. Never a good enough daughter, girlfriend, friend or person.

What’s even more frustrating is that I feel like I should have everything figured out by now. I look great on paper: I was just awarded the SUNY Chancellor’s Award, I’m graduating summa cum laude, I got into a great law school and I earned a mer-

REILLY MULLEN EDITOR IN CHIEF

I was taught to be careful.

Sat through self-defense classes and women’s seminars where instructors told stories of attacks and offered tips on keeping ourselves safe: never walk down an unlit road at night, always carry your keys between your knuckles, scream “fire,” instead of “help.”

Small suggestions that all culminated in the fact that as a woman, I am never safe.

And this is a fact I’ve rebelled against, determined not to alter my life out of fear. I consider all the times I put my own safety at risk for others — the hypocrisy of every time I’ve run down Winspear Avenue to retrieve a friend from a party so she wouldn’t have to walk alone.

And I’d do it all again.

It’s reflexive, the need to check in on my friends every half-hour. Scanning the room in search of faces painted with fear, a routine that has saved more than a few strangers from being backed into a corner by guys who overserved themselves. And it’s a point of pride for me, my almost motherly instinct to step in whenever someone looks uncomfortable. A confrontational aspect in my personality bubbles to the surface — blind confidence.

I forget myself.

Perhaps this need to watch over others

days I don’t feel like I am. I am doing the best I can and my best is enough.

I am trying.

I have been lucky enough to have friends who help me celebrate my wins and open my eyes to see the intelligent and kind version of myself they see.

I’m trying to fall in love with myself: the girl who shamelessly loves “Star Trek,” who dries flowers and collects them in a vase and who has a parasocial relationship with Taylor Swift.

I am trying to love all of it.

Life as a 20-something is stressful and overwhelming. Sometimes I need to cry (there’s nothing wrong with that, it happens). Other times I feel so happy that when I laugh, my whole body shakes. But if there’s anything I’ve learned and am continuing to grapple with, it’s that I can’t compare myself to others.

But there are still things I — and you, the reader — can control.

We can find out which mental health support works for us and stick to it. Being a human is hard, but there is always help there when you need it.

UB Counseling Services can be reached at 716-645-2720.

Email: julie.frey@ubspectrum.com

Make a f—king scene Your safety is worth the fuss

it scholarship. But I still feel like a mess.

I know it isn’t just me; many of my peers feel the same uncertainty and anxiety about the future. Mental health among teens and young adults has never been so widely discussed. But despite the discourse around mental health, there still seems to be a disconnect between generations. It still doesn’t feel like older generations understand how dire our situation is, or that the resources they point us to simply aren’t enough.

Meditation stresses me out — the only thing I am able to focus on is my issues — and it fails to bring me the peace I’m always promised. Journaling helps in the moment, but when I look back at my thoughts, I invalidate how I felt at the time.

The only thing that works for me is counseling, where I can talk about my problems without hesitation and figure out the best way to handle them.

Choosing to go to counseling was the best decision I ever made for myself. It’s helped me understand myself and my life in a new way.

It’s validating and cathartic.

I am able to counter every “you are not enough” by telling myself, “I am enough” — and I have really started to believe it.

Because I am enough, especially on the

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has left me vulnerable, as I forget to employ the same awareness that I preach to those around me.

That was certainly the case last weekend.

I’m not a big drinker, but there’s something about the atmosphere of a dimly lit bar, swirling with laughter and music played by a post-graduate cover band, that feels welcoming. With a whisky sour in one hand and a handful of darts in the other, my body relaxes.

I’m a notorious wanderer. My friends know that once we enter an establishment, the likelihood I will stick to the group is slim-to-none. I call it the “Mike Mullen effect” (sorry, Dad): like a magnet, I’m pulled around the room, searching for familiar faces. My mom calls me a “social butterfly” with a pure and incessant need to make friends, steadfast in the belief that a carefully crafted compliment can win anyone over.

Last Saturday night, my boyfriend Ryan and I headed downtown to Mr. Goodbar, with plans to meet up with some friends for drinks. With all four dartboards full, I scanned the wall, calculating who was likely to finish — and more importantly, not want to play another game — first. I settled on a group of three guys, most of whom had already abandoned the board to watch the Final Four game between Duke and North Carolina, leaving a lone player throwing for everyone’s turn.

Badly.

I leaned in. “Shoot for the 15,” I said, coaching a stranger into speeding up his win. Several darts later, the rest of the trio returned.

I don’t remember their names, but we chatted for a few minutes as I waited for them to finish their game and for Ryan to

return from the bar. They let me throw for a few turns and, as they made jokes such as, “Your boyfriend must be afraid to play with you,” I laughed.

“Wow, she’s pretty, modest and good at darts,” they said, as I suddenly became acutely aware of just how alone I was standing in the corner of this bar with three strange men, forcing a nervous laugh and pretending the comment hadn’t immediately made my skin crawl.

Soon, Ryan returned with a fresh whiskey sour in hand, which he placed on the ledge beside me in full view. A few minutes later, our friends had arrived and the gang was all there.

But my drink wasn’t anymore.

“Where’d your drink go?” Ryan asked me.

I turned my attention to the ledge and, as if in slow motion, a hand reached out for my drink, which had already been slid half-a-foot away from me.

And just like that, it was gone. Tucked behind the back of one of the darts guys.

A mix of shock and horror flashed across Ryan and my faces as we realized what he could be doing.

My first thought: spiking my drink.

There had never been a more important moment to be a shameless social tattletale, to find the closest security guard and give a brief, yet specific description of what had just happened.

“Second dartboard from the window.

Red baseball hat. Curly brown hair. Blue and white flannel. Just swiped my drink.

Looked like he spiked it.”

And just like that, the Red Baseball Hat was gone. Quickly ushered out the front door as I made my way up to the bar for a replacement drink and back to my spot at the dartboards.

“He said he’s sorry and that he didn’t do anything, but that was sketch,” the security

guard told me, assuring me that despite his explanation, Red Baseball Hat was gone.

I’m thankful for the Mr. Goodbar staff ’s swift response. The security guard immediately investigated and confirmed with me that he had the right guy and the bartender made me a new drink and reassured me that the offender would be thrown out.

But I still can’t help but laugh.

As a woman, I am told to find sneaky and subtle ways of protecting myself: just smile and they’ll go away, slip that you have a boyfriend into the conversation, pretend to take a phone call, grab a random girl and act like you’re old friends, etc. I’ve dealt with my fair share of creepy drunk guys and they’re all pretty much the same.

They don’t care that you have a boyfriend.

They’ll find you after your “phone call.”

And they’ll still try to chat — even after you think you’ve made your escape.

In my experience, the only surefire way to ensure that the problem is dealt with is to make a scene. But in those moments, the last thing I’ve wanted to do is draw attention to myself. Hesitant to move too quickly for fear that it might ruin the mood.

But you know what would have ruined the mood?

Getting f—king roofied.

I refuse to be kind to men who make me feel afraid, to laugh at their jokes that aren’t funny and to hope that my relationship status will ward them off. I will not let my fear of inconveniencing others make me vulnerable.

What Red Baseball Hat did was shameful; why shouldn’t his shaming be just as public as the discomfort he put me through was?

Email: reilly.mullen@ubspectrum.com

Omitting protesters’ voices is a disgrace in the ‘bastion of the free world’ Failure to hear the grievances of protesters will be inscribed on the obituary of our democracy

KYLE NGUYEN ASST. NEWS/FEATURES EDITOR

The American democratic machine is creaking. And meandering in its echoes are the voices of marginalized communities, as the instruments that safeguard their livelihoods are continually blunted and peeled away.

Protest is an agency of the people that encapsulates the First Amendment, which preserves “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Yet, for a nation that trumpets “exceptionalism” in its democratic values, its incessant fixation on protests as sources of

civic disagreement instead of a natural release valve for communities in pain is appalling.

Last Thursday, hundreds of students marched across campus in protest of former Florida congressman and Texas gubernatorial candidate Lt. Col. Allen West’s (R-TX) speech, “America is not Racist.”

Throughout the day, swaths of students marched through the Academic Spine with signs reading “Racism is real” and “Black voices matter.” During the speech itself, aggrieved students gathered in the Student Union chanting “No justice, no peace” and “Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Allen West has got to go.”

West arrived on campus in the wake of two tumultuous years that saw longstanding racial violence and police brutality claim the lives of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Tony McDade and many others within communities of color.

He also arrived on a campus reeling from a pandemic that laid bare disparities in the U.S. healthcare system, which saw people of color disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and the rise of xenophobic rhetoric and violence.

But that’s not the story that national and local news outlets chose to re-

port in the days that followed the event.

Dominating headlines since the protest range from Fox News’ “Student hides from ‘woke mob’ in bathroom as angry protesters target Allen West: ‘I was afraid for my life’” to The Buffalo News’ “Student group leaders report harassment after conservative commentator’s speech at UB.” These headlines focus exclusively on a single account of violence from student organizers and neglect to acknowledge the perspective of any of the protesters.

Since then, these allegations of violence have taken a vise-like grip on the perception of the protest, despite being unconfirmed — University Police and university officials say they are reviewing the events.

These claims have dominated the news cycle and diverted attention away from the protestors’ motivations.

Burying voices of protest under accusations of violence has a tried-and-true history in the political media landscape.

Look no further than just two summers ago, when protests erupted across the U.S. following Floyd’s murder. Former President Donald Trump relentlessly used terms such as “thugs,” “looting” and “riots” to describe the protests against police

brutality in a bid to stain the movement with an image of violence.

And yet, more than 93% of the estimated 7,750 Black Lives Matter demonstrations held across the country between May 26 and Aug. 22, 2020 were peaceful, according to a report by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, a nonprofit organization that tracks global political protest and violence.

Two years later, the reception of last week’s events at UB shows that ascribed narratives of violence to otherwise legitimate protests remain the usual culprits in disenfranchising the voices of protestors.

Frankly, the onus is on both local and national media outlets to be held accountable for fair and balanced reporting.

Whether or not violence truly did break out at UB remains to be seen. But regardless, the grievances and motivations of student protestors remain absent from the national conversation.

For a nation that touts itself as some grand democratic experiment, that is bitterly shameful.

Email: kyle.nguyen@ubspectrum.com

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FEATURES

Wednesday, April 13 2022 | 5

‘It’s a language that allows me to physically outlet all the emotions I have’: Zach Carr finds comfort in martial arts How muay thai helped a communication professor climb out of rock bottom KAYLA STERNER ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

As Zach Carr leaned back in his office chair next to his diplomas and Marvel action figures, his smile made one thing clear: his dog days were over.

For more than a decade, the communication professor and UB alum’s ego swam in a pool of anger. But today, he has finally found his inner peace. His deadliest weapon in combating the monsters in his head?

Muay thai.

“Muay thai [has] allowed me to merge the darker aspects of my life — my anger, depression, anxiety — and merge it with the good parts of me so I can look at them both and say, ‘This is Zach,’” Carr said in an interview with The Spectrum.

For Carr, the journey to serenity has been long and winding.

of hit rock bottom for me,” Carr said. “I was drowning.”

It was that experience that influenced the Buffalo native to move back home to work on his mental health and earn his bachelor’s degree. Through a combination of therapy, counseling and muay thai training, he was finally able to guide his mind down the right path.

Carr credits his personal trainer, Shawn McDonough, from Training Edge in Williamsville, for helping him learn how to take the wheel and control his feelings.

“It’s a language that allows me to physically outlet all the emotions I have,” Carr said about fighting. “Talking is great, but when you’re doing a muay thai session you can yell and you can scream, you can phys-

Muay thai [has] allowed me to merge the darker aspects of my life — my anger, depression, anxiety — and merge it with the good parts of me so I can look at them both and say, ‘This is Zach.’

Fresh out of his teenage years, Carr attended classes at Concordia College and used his taekwondo background to develop skills in muay thai and krav maga. While in college, Carr and his friends developed their own fight club known as “Roc Club” to practice their skills.

But he says his relationship with martial arts quickly became unhealthy when his mind was poisoned by rage and heartbreak after he found out his father had been sexually abusing his sister.

Anxiety and depression took the wheel and drove Carr to some of the darkest days of his life. He coped with the news the best he could, but at the end of the day the only way to silence his pain was to physically release his emotions — even if it meant using street fighting as an outlet.

“I was just mad at my father, who I haven’t talked to in like 10 years, but I didn’t know what to do,” Carr said. “I thought that hitting people and things was the best way to go in some ways. I would use fighting as the medication. Nothing can be used like that, especially not fighting. That’s when people get hurt.”

Carr was able to gain some control by working with trainers and finding healthier ways of coping with his triggers. He began participating in amateur bouts with hopes of becoming a pro-striker, before a torn ACL in 2010 ripped apart his dreams of going pro.

Yet the injury impacted him more than just physically.

Muay thai and striking had become Carr’s addiction; it was his way of controlling the monsters in his head. Without his self-prescribed serotonin boosters, he fell into a pit of quicksand and sank deeper with every breath he took.

He found himself right back at square one.

“I was such a mess that my physical self was not there. That’s when everything kind

ically exert these emotions. I’ve never had anything like that.”

Today, Carr still goes to the gym to train and keep his life balanced. Whether it’s AC/DC, Tupac or Biggie, he cranks up the music and hits the pads to defeat his demons.

Courtesy

of

Zach Carr

classroom, but his colleagues and students say they are drawn to his friendly aura and open personality.

“I’ve heard vicariously, through his students, how much they enjoy, learn and look forward to taking his classes and talking to him during office hours,” Carr’s childhood friend and fellow UB communication professor Zachary Glowacki said.

“I think we honestly need more of that in academia (not just UB but other universities), because we may be so focused on making sure the students understand class material, but may overlook the actual human approach to teaching and guiding students through life.”

Glowacki and Carr grew up on the same street and bonded through sports — a passion they still share to this day. The two educators play in a kickball league to escape reality and fool around like kids. But at the end of the day, they both consider it to be a blessing to have someone they

We’re taught to fragment ourselves — the public self, the happy self and the real, unhappy self behind closed doors.

What I’ve learned through muay thai and my own struggle is to not treat them as separate things.

Merge everything together and become a whole person.

Carr’s comfortability with the adrenaline rush that fighting brings him has helped him grow as an educator. He uses his fighting techniques to remain zen when he is face-to-face with his social anxiety before lectures. Carr says his anxiety makes him worry about his performance in the

know and trust at work.

“We have a relationship I know not many people have in this environment and it’s nice to be able to take our ‘masks’ off of academia and just be humans and friends with each other,” Glowacki said.

Kylie Brosnan, a junior communication

Talking is great, but when you’re doing a muay thai session you can yell and you can scream, you can physically exert these emotions. I’ve never had anything like that.

Courtesy

of

Zach Carr

major, has taken a few courses with Carr and is now a teaching assistant for his introductory class, COM 101. Brosnan credits Carr for helping make her academic college experience fulfilling, and she especially appreciates his encouraging words of advice when it comes to her goals and decisions.

“Too often professors aren’t willing to empathize with their students or try to understand what they’re going through,” Brosnan said. “Zach is always willing to listen to his students and be accommodating.”

Carr’s own journey through his bouts of mental illness has guided him to be a helping hand for others. He encourages people to find their “thing” that allows them to escape — whether that’s music, sports or arts — and he encourages people to open up more in order to tear down the wall of stigma society has built up.

“The worst advice I have ever gotten was to hide the dark parts of yourself,” Carr said. “We’re taught to fragment ourselves — the public self, the happy self and the real, unhappy self behind closed doors. What I’ve learned through muay thai and my own struggle is to not treat them as separate things. Merge everything together and become a whole person.”

Email: kayla.sterner@ubspectrum.com

6 | Wednesday, April 13 2022

FEATURES

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UBCon XXXI creates community and controversy UB SARPA brings back in-person convention, faces social media backlash KARA ANDERSON SENIOR ARTS EDITOR

JACK PORCARI SENIOR NEWS/FEATURES EDITOR

The Academic Spine bustled with colors and costumes over the weekend as the UB community came together for UBCon XXXI — the first in-person fandom convention on campus since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

From Jack Sparrow to steampunk shields, anime openings to hard rock, event participants flooded the Student Union as UBMusicians took to the stage after two months of practice, setting the tone for the events that followed.

Vendors, maid cafés and Nerf wars were all on the schedule for the popular convention.

A hentai showing scandal was not.

UBCon XXXI began its three-day run on Friday, April 8, the product of months of planning by UB SARPA, supporting volunteers and organizations. The convention, which stretched from Clemens to Baldy Hall, included a myriad of creative panels and interactive discussions.

The community

Organizing this multi-day extravaganza was not an easy feat, especially with eboards teeming with officers who had either never attended the convention in prepandemic times or never organized such a large-scale event.

“We didn’t have the same type of experience or training that previous e-boards would get just due to sheer, you know, actually getting to do the normal events,” Matt Niemiec, a UB alum and former UB Cosplay president, said. “So I have stayed on since usually the role is for at least a year.”

Niemiec wasn’t the only UB grad to lend a helping hand to less experienced members. UB Anime president Ryan Tang says many past UB SARPA, Cosplay and Anime e-board members returned to ensure the smooth operation of the in-person convention.

The return to campus for fandom-based clubs was a rewarding experience for recent graduates who saw their final years at UB devoid of in-person events.

“It was funny, a couple minutes ago I went out and looked at the crowd that had all gathered up,” Jake Nowak, a UB alum and former SARPA vice president, said. “I just kind of had a smile because I’m happy that cons are back and this is one of the things I enjoy doing.”

Nowak, who graduated in 2020, was unable to host the con he was set to direct as a result of COVID-19.

Yet, despite the joy alumni found in revisiting UBCon and the relief they provided for still-learning club leaders, those involved in the convention planning process reported that not everyone was on board with enlisting non-UB students for volunteer work.

“Some things with SA [the Student Association] and UB staff [is that they] have been wanting the con to be centered around UB and solely around UB,” Niemiec said.

Faced with pressure to limit UBCon to the UB community, Niemiec congratulated SARPA on ensuring the event continued to be a welcoming place for even non-UB students.

Despite the hiccups in arranging the event, participants said that SARPA put together a weekend of fandom fun that created a safe space for its engagers.

QuintonReviews, a content creator who talked about Nickelodeon’s “Victorious” for 13 consecutive hours on YouTube, hosted an engaging comedy panel for the community. Down the hall, attendees competed for anime-themed stickers in an intense rendition of the marble match from Netflix’s “Squid Game.” As the event

Jack Porcari / The Spectrum The maid café served con-goers throughout the three-day UBCon XXXI event.

progressed, one constant was the bustling vendor market.

Student Union 145 became a colorful marketplace, packed to the gills with stuffed animals, fandom-related merch, board game accessories and more. Upstairs in the Landmark Room, roughly 10 vendors showcased handmade goods ranging from homemade squishmallows to pins and keychains.

Tamela Faulkner, a vendor from the Western New York area, sold steampunkthemed modified nerf guns. Faulkner says vending at UBCon has helped keep their passion alive.

“This is the only con I do as it takes me a while to make these [modded Nerf guns],” they said. “Living in Buffalo, you only have summer five to three months, so I spray paint on the weekends…This is my homeland. So I always come to UBCon.” Kat Fortunato, a junior material science and urban planning major, says UBCon offered a day of tittering acceptance for her cosplay costume as she went from class to convention.

“It definitely was weird doing it [cosplay] for UB because I had classes before and I was like half cosplaying,” Fortunato said. “People definitely looked at me weird with the contacts, but I think my favorite part about it is just going here and knowing that people are going to interact with you and be so positive.”

Fortunato wasn’t alone in reveling in this accepting convention atmosphere. Junior chemistry major Brynn Nelson encouraged people to come to UBCon for the camaraderie.

“There’s gonna be someone who recognizes you. There’s gonna be somebody willing to take a picture, who’s gonna wave to you,” she said. “It’s super exciting. I feel like a kid in a candy store.”

in the room was in on the “joke,” because conventions often showcase hentai for the sake of either “commentary” or “comedy” — due to its bad animation and dubbing quality.

But Greene said event participants weren’t aware it was going to be “dubiously consensual.”

Greene also says the event leader “shushed” people during “exposition” scenes and “yelled” at people to stop recording during the showing. They say they couldn’t believe such an incident could happen at an event where consent was so heavily stressed.

“There were signs everywhere saying ‘cosplay is not consent, don’t take pictures of people without asking first’ and it was, like, really stressed,” Greene said. “It [the lack of content warning] was very out of place, that they wouldn’t do something similar for this event. I think it was just partially due to poor planning and negligence.”

In a statement, SARPA said it “treats all complaints we have received seriously”

but hasn’t found reason to believe any illegal activity occurred.

“SARPA has made a positive impact on UB for many years; we have strived to create a supportive community where all UB students can make new friendships,” the statement read. “We treat all complaints received seriously. SARPA has no evidence that any minors have attended the 18+ panel, we have no evidence that any illegal activity has occurred. This 18+ panel has been canceled for all future UBCons. We have reported all evidence to the Student Association and the appropriate people at UB, and will continue to do so if new evidence is reported to us.”

SARPA did not comment in time for publication confirming sexually explicit content was shown at this panel.

The SA also declined to comment. *This source has been granted anonymity due to fears of retribution.

Email: kara.anderson@ubspectrum.com Email: jack.porcari@ubspectrum.com

The controversy

The weekend festivities may have been positively received, but UBCon XXXI nonetheless found itself embroiled in controversy.

On Tuesday, a Reddit post by the user u/Comfortable-Dog9390 went viral on UBReddit. The post, which has been upvoted more than 425 times and commented on 180 times, details allegations of misconduct at one of the 18+ panels featured at UBCon. UBCon organizers hosted three 18+ panels, two of which escaped scandal-free.

But “Mystery Theater 3000” came under fire after the organizers allegedly didn’t check people’s IDs and displayed hentai — anime-related pornographic content — on the smartboard.

One event participant, Jordan Greene*, says “it was an hour straight of pornography on the screen in Knox [Hall].”

Greene says the smartboard displayed “dubiously consensual, explicit acts” without a content warning, and that everyone

Jack Porcari / The Spectrum Plush toys overflow in UBCon XXXI’s vendor market.

Jack Porcari / The Spectrum Wooden storage boxes and light displays were on sale at UBCon XXXI.

ubspectrum.com WEST FROM PAGE 1

as if participants expected something bad to happen.

In a nod to the firestorm surrounding his speech, West centered his talk around American exceptionalism and self-reliance through the lens of his own personal experiences.

“I know that there has been a little kerfuffle that’s been going on on this campus, but you’re looking at a young man who in 1961 was born in a Blacks-only hospital in Atlanta. Look it up,” West said.

Drawing from his family history in the segregated South, West crafted a narrative extolling the importance of the “golden ring” of exceptionalism the U.S. affords to its citizens. He highlighted the military achievements of Black men like James Armistead Lafayette and pulled quotes from Booker T. Washington’s “Up From Slavery” to encourage the audience to read deeper into U.S. history.

“If you fail to learn from history, you end up finding yourselves being led around as a mindless lemming,” West said of the country’s history. “I’m not sitting up here and trying to apologize for the past in America. But I will tell you this — if you sit around and you believe that America was founded in 1619” — the year that the first enslaved Africans were brought to Virginia — “then you take away the story of a man who was the first person killed in the fight for freedom and liberty in the U.S.” West also flaunted his political connections, which included events at Mar-aLago with then-future-President Donald Trump and three one-on-one dinners with the late conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh.

His speech lasted roughly 35 minutes, and was followed by an increasingly chaotic Q&A session.

Some students complained that West’s speech didn’t acknowledge the major issues facing the Black community.

“We should have more open dialogue,” one student said. “We should stop talking about exceptionalism because then we can’t be criticized. That’s the whole point, right?”

Another student touched on their personal experiences navigating the educational system as a person of color.

“It’s really embarrassing that you [Allen West] had the audacity to come here, validate the opinions of all these people and ignore the fact that there are literally Black

FEATURES students here who have to fight for their right to be on this campus every single day — it’s embarrassing,” that student said.

After multiple contentious exchanges, event organizers decided to limit each person to one question and had moderators hold the microphone — not participants.

West says he has had this experience at each of his previous 15 stops on his YAF speaking tour.

Connor Ogrydziak, vice president of UB’s YAF chapter, says he wishes students were more respectful during the Q&A session.

“I felt like instead of letting him answer the questions, people just chose to speak over them instead and that’s not how we make any sort of progress,” Ogrydziak said. “You need to be open to discourse, not have crowds speak over each other.”

West himself encourages open discourse on college campuses across the nation.

“The reason I come to universities is because we’ve got to have diversity of thought,” West told The Spectrum after the event. “It cannot be just one message because when college becomes a one-way street, that’s when we lose ourselves.”

Before the event, Dean of Students Barbara Ricotta spoke to the audience about showing respect for the speaker.

“Before we begin tonight’s program, the university would like to share a brief video on freedom of expression here at UB,” Ricotta said prior to West’s talk.

The video included statements from Vice Provost for Academic Affairs A. Scott Weber and a number of students, all of whom encouraged participants to “allow diverse points of view to be expressed and heard.”

Once the video ended, Ricotta said: “As you saw in the video, the university highly values freedom of expression. We expect you to be respectful of tonight’s speaker.

If you disrupt tonight’s program, you’ll be approached by a staff member. If you continue to be disruptive, you’ll be asked to leave.”

But the controversy began even before the event, when students waiting to get in complained of discriminatory treatment.

Smitty Smith, a junior history major, says entrance priority was given to some students over others.

“I’ve been in line since 6:11 p.m. and when I got here there were about six people in front of me,” Smith said. “The lady who was in charge of the event addressed the three caucasians in front of all the African American people and then skipped

Wednesday, April 13 2022 | 7

Moaz Elazzazi / The Spectrum Students and community members attended a speech by Lt. Col Allen West, a former Republican Congressman from Florida.

Moaz Elazzazi / The Spectrum A table set up by UB’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter displayed stickers such as “I support free speech, not political correctness” and “Big government = big problems.”

all the African American people… she pulled [people] from behind the line in front of us.”

Therese Purcell, the president of the UB chapter of YAF, characterized that depiction as “grossly inaccurate.”

“I have a lot of sources to prove that it [that account] was not true,” Purcell, who claims she “feared for her life” when she was chased by protestors, said. “That had absolutely nothing to do with race when we were admitting people into the event: we had a ticketed line and a standby line.”

Students protested West’s speech throughout the day Thursday. At 2 p.m., students organized a walkout in support of anti-racist measures. At least 100 students attended these protests, which spanned the Academic Spine and spilled into classrooms and libraries.

Dozens of copycat posters protesting

the speech lined campus in the days leading up to the event. Purcell says “at least” 500 YAF posters promoting West’s speech were torn down.

“We see them in the trash all over campus, which we find to be really unfortunate as college campuses are supposed to be a place for dialogue and freedom of speech,” Purcell said. “I think definitely the student body seems to have a lot more of a left-leaning bend, just as you can see, by the lack of tolerance toward our event.”

Ogrydziak says he thinks the speech was important because it brought a different perspective to campus.

“I think everything was pretty well-communicated,” Ogrydziak said. “I thought the message was mostly received, whether everyone wanted to accept it or not.”

Email: jack.porcari@ubspectrum.com

University Police respond to Yik Yak posts threatening student protesters UPD didn’t believe the threats were “specific” or “actionable,” police chief said GRANT ASHLEY SENIOR NEWS/FEATURES EDITOR

University Police are responding to Yik Yak posts that threatened violence against students protesting an on-campus speech

by Allen West, a former Republican congressman and former chair of the Texas Republican Party, the university said in a statement Thursday.

“If they keep yelling it’s going to become target practice,” one anonymous poster wrote.

UPD didn’t have reason to believe that the threats were “specific” or “actionable,” Chief of University Police Chris Bartolomei said.

UPD had an “increased presence” at West’s speech and has reached out to the FBI’s Hate Crimes Unit for assistance in investigating a threat.

Spectrum reporters counted at least 10 law enforcement officials present at West’s speech in 145 Student Union.

“We are taking the situation seriously and implementing additional measures and precautions to protect the campus com-

munity,” Bartolomei said in the statement.

“Safety is always our foremost concern.”

All Yik Yak posts are anonymous. It remains unclear at this time who made the posts, although they likely came from within a five-mile radius of UB’s North Campus, where students could view the posts.

West was invited to deliver his speech, titled “America is not Racist,” by Young Americans for Freedom, a conservative youth activism organization recognized as a special interest club by the Student Association. Dozens of students protested West’s speech earlier Thursday by marching through the Academic Spine with signs reading “Racism is real” and “Black voices matter.” The protests culminated on the fifth floor of Capen Hall, where students demanded a chance to meet with UB President Satish Tripathi.

Dozens of students also protested West during his speech. They crowded the area outside SU 145 and surrounded the doors, while chanting slogans like “No justice, no peace” and “Racism is real.”

University administrators stood by their decision to allow YAF to invite West to speak at UB, saying that SA-sponsored clubs can “invite speakers of their choosing” so long as they abide by university guidelines and state laws.

“As a university, we want to make it very

clear that we take very seriously our commitment to providing a safe and welcoming place for all UB students at all times,” Dean of Students Barbara Ricotta, who met with protesting students in Capen Hall, said in a statement. “We stand by our commitment to upholding UB’s core

values of diversity, inclusion and mutual respect throughout our university.”

Justin Weiss and Julie Frey contributed reporting to this story.

Email: grant.ashley@ubspectrum.com

Julie Frey / The Spectrum Dozens of students packed the hallways outside Student Union 145 Thursday evening to protest Lt. Col. Allen West’s speech.

8 | Wednesday, April 13 2022

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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Yung Lean fails to live up to past projects on ‘Stardust’ The Swedish rapper delivers one of his worst projects ever ALEX FALTER SENIOR ARTS EDITOR

Album: “Stardust” Artists: Yung Lean Label: World Affairs Release Date: April 8, 2022 Rating: 5/10 Yung Lean has always been one of the more unique artists in the industry.

As the de facto leader of the “Sad Boys” collective, the Swedish rapper has been at the forefront of melodic hip-hop since dropping his debut mixtape, “Unknown Death 2002,” back in 2013.

But with the latest entry in his discography, “Stardust,” Lean — born Jonothan Leandoer — has fully embraced the alternative genre, which has had a heavy influence on his projects since 2016’s “Frost God.” Even with this label serving as an alternative mixtape, Lean still maintains a semblance of the hip-hop that once made him a household name. But sadly, like some of his other post-2016 projects, the artist’s music feels like a creative mess desperately trying to find its footing, with a confusing combination of musical ingredients that often result in less than favorable dishes.

The project’s problems start off instantly with the FKA Twigs collaborative track, “Bliss,” and the solo sophomore track, “Trip.” As exciting as the production is and as enigmatically beautiful as Twigs’ voice is, Lean simply can’t match the energy, as he leans into the mumble-rap subgenre to the point of incoherence.

In fact, this seems to be the project’s biggest problem as a whole.

There are too many moments to count when Lean is clearly singing or rapping over a song’s beat, but the less-than-stellar audio engineering/mixing makes his voice practically unintelligible, hindering fans from even enjoying the lyrics.

Ironically enough, the album cover — a pencil drawing of various symbols and objects with Lean as the focus — perfectly encapsulates the mixtape: a confusing collection of music that is as difficult to listen to as it is to understand what exactly Lean wants to accomplish.

“Gold” is easily one of the project’s “diamond in the rough” moments. Harkening more to his hip-hop days, Lean’s voice acts as the centerpiece as he raps over a beat that screams “late night summer drive.”

With his awkward yet smooth flow, Lean’s music may change, but his persona will always revolve around the grimly indeterminate future: “I feel like hurtin’, feel like slaying, I’m a searcher at work / Raindrops in the fog creep like a fox, it’s absurd / I fell for you like a cliff, wishing well, take a seat / Love in my heart, but it’s a sad song / Red fog, red fog, three red, dead dogs.”

Songs like “Starz2therainbow” (featuring Thaiboy Digital) and “Summertime Blood” (featuring Bladee and Ecco2k) are some of the LP’s most interesting attempts at stepping outside the box. With assistance from his fellow “Sad Boys” members, Lean and friends produce a disappointing flurry of different styles and voices where songs go from quiet to painful-on-the-ear. These tracks — like the rest of the project — contain many excellent pieces within, but ultimately fail when put together.

But the most head-turning feature is none other than dubstep legend Skrillex.

Easily Lean’s most well-known feature since collaborating with a young, pre-anti-

dote Travis Scott back on 2014’s “Ghosttown,” “Lips” represents one of the project’s most surprising moments. The production contains none of the aggressive head-bang inducing bass that made Skrillex famous, but instead, an uncharacteristically quiet beat that effortlessly melds with Lean’s vocals: “You my butterfly, I’m moving ‘round the room from side to side / I need you, yeah, I need you, yeah, I want you, want you in my life / Whiskey sour one hand, make the ice and go from side to side / Put it on your body, make it melt, and make you go around.”

Even when his lyrics can be understood, there are many moments where Lean’s lines simply feel too soft. His voice does anything but match the production, as his excellent flows are lost in their strangely low volume.

One of the greatest flaws seen on the mixtape is its repetition. If the overall poor quality wasn’t enough, the songs feel

way too similar, giving off the vibe that Lean is too comfortable creating projects, taking no time to stretch his creative muscles or even attempt to create something different.

Thankfully, songs like “Letting It All Go” and “Nobody Else” show that the artist’s vision is far from lost; when he puts his mind to it, the rapper can still create some beautifully depressing music.

The mixtape’s worst song is easily its penultimate track, “Waterfall.” With one of the most exhilarating beats on the whole tape, Lean delivers his most indigestible lyrics on the project, showcasing not only his worst track, but his least delivered potential.

Yes, melodic rap is a beautiful genre. But only when it’s done right. Even with some occasionally standout tracks, “Stardust” is Yung Lean’s worst project, and represents a low point in his career.

Email: alex.falter@ubspectrum.com

Kati Jenson / Wiki Commons Swedish rapper Yung Lean performs at the Vogue Theatre in March 2016.

Mark Alnutt talks coaching changes, transfer portal challenges Fourth-year athletic director chats about the state of UB Athletics JUSTIN WEISS MANAGING EDITOR

When Felisha Legette-Jack accepted the Syracuse women’s basketball head coaching job in late March, her decision reverberated around campus.

But it wasn’t just her former players and supporters who were affected by her departure; it was also UB Athletic Director Mark Alnutt, who forged a deep friendship with Legette-Jack over the last four

years.

But, as painful as her departure was to Alnutt from a personal and professional standpoint, he got right to work, assembling a list of potential successors.

“Oh gosh,” he said with a chuckle, when asked how many names were on that initial list. “It’s funny, because you start off with a list, and you write down the names you have, and then when you get to 20, you’re like, ‘let’s just stop here.’”

Becky Burke wasn’t on that initial list of candidates, but it didn’t take long for her to jump to the top once Alnutt heard about her.

“I heard about her from a second per-

Courtesy of Paul Hokanson / UB Athletics UB Athletic Director Mark Alnutt takes a selfie with Victor E. Bull at a basketball game.

son, and then a third person, I was like, ‘Oh, I’ve gotta dig around a little bit,’” Alnutt said.

Fast forward a few weeks, and Burke was introduced as UB’s 13th head women’s basketball coach Friday. Alnutt spoke about hiring Burke and other salient topics during a Q&A with The Spectrum last week:

‘If they have that opportunity, they’ve done well here’

In 2019, UB had three of the most promising coaches in the country on campus at the same time: men’s basketball coach Nate Oats, women’s basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack and football

coach Lance Leipold.

But, in the three years since, Oats (four seasons at UB) has left for Alabama, Legette-Jack (10 seasons) for Syracuse and Leipold (six seasons) for Kansas.

Alnutt sees this coaching turnover through a pragmatic lens. Unlike many fans who believe coaches leaving the Queen City is an indictment on the program, Alnutt believes that it’s instead a positive reflection on the hiring process.

“If they have the opportunity to go to a bigger school, then they’ve done well here,” Alnutt said. “That’s great for all of SEE ALNUTT PAGE 9

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SPORTS

Wednesday, April 13 2022 | 9

Comparing UB’s 2020 and 2021 athletic budgets COVID-19 affects ticket sales, game travel expenditures SOPHIE MCNALLY KAYLA STERNER ASST. SPORTS EDITORS

UB Athletics had a budget of roughly $36.2 million in 2021, according to the NCAA Membership Financial Report The Spectrum received on March 11. The report covered expenditures and revenues for the 2021 calendar year.

COVID-19 once again had a major impact on the department’s ticket revenues and game travel expenditures. Here’s a look at the 2021 athletic budget:

The biggest institutional expenditures

Across both fiscal years, UB’s biggest expenditure was its coaches, trainers and “overall staff ” — although 2021 was the most expensive year, to date.

UB spent $8.81 million on coaches, support staff and administrative compensation in 2021 — a $24,287 increase from 2020.

Athletic student aid continued to be the second-biggest expenditure at $8.12 million — which represents a slight decrease from 2020. This total includes money for tuition discounts and waivers, summer school, student managers, graduate as-

sistants and expenses for inactive student athletes (due to medical reasons or expired eligibility).

A shaky foundation for this year’s income

A $1.2 million decrease in ticket sales punctuated UB Athletics’ $2.5 million decline in revenue from 2020 to 2021.

The department made only $5,472 in ticket sales last year — a stunning figure that can be explained by COVID-19 and its impact on collegiate athletics. In 202021, only basketball, track and field and cross country earned revenue from ticket sales.

Men’s sports brought in $2,754 in ticket revenue, while women’s sports brought in $2,718 in ticket revenue.

The 2019-20 season — also affected by COVID-19, which shut down collegiate athletics in March 2020 — saw men’s basketball bring in $232,573 in ticket revenue and women’s hoops bring in $224,924 in ticket revenue. Football brought in $787,168 in ticket sales.

UB Athletics spends the most on football

Unsurprisingly, UB Athletics spends more money on football than on any other sport.

The department spent $3.41 million on

Moaz Elazzazi / The Spectrum Members of the True Blue cheering section make noise during a near-sellout game against Toledo in February.

football scholarships, $2.18 million on football coaching expenses, $803,097 on football support staff/administrative compensation, benefits and bonuses, $149,919 on football recruiting and $548,386 on football team travel in 2020-21 — all of which far outpaced that of other sports.

Football also brought in — and spent — the most money in 2021, at approximately $10.1 million. Men’s basketball came next, at $2.57 million, followed by women’s basketball, at $2.07 million, and women’s soccer, at $876,412. Men’s tennis brought in

UB Athletics 2021-22 budget

the least, at $440,538.

Which sport receives the most athletic student aid?

The football team also outpaced student-athletes in all other sports in terms of scholarships. The program received $3.41 million in athletic student aid in 2020-21, which was distributed to 94 football players.

Women’s basketball came second at $634,300, which was distributed to 17 players. Men’s basketball came third, at $561,354, which was distributed to 14 players. Men’s tennis — with its six scholarship athletes — received the least amount of athletic student aid, at $168,663.

Men’s track and field brought in the least amount of athletic student aid per athlete, at approximately $5,700 ($187,736 total).

In total, men’s sports received $4.62 million for 174 student-athletes; by contrast, women’s sports received $3.5 million for 140 student-athletes.

Men’s teams’ revenues, expenditures double that of women’s teams

Men’s teams brought in and spent nearly $14.29 million in 2020-21 — nearly doubling that of UB’s women’s teams, who brought in and spent roughly $7.34 million in that same time.

Football ($10.1 million), men’s basketball ($2.57 million) and wrestling ($664,487) led the way for men’s sports, while women’s basketball ($2.07 million), swimming and diving ($1.02 million) and volleyball ($978,295) led the way for women’s sports.

Meanwhile, UB Athletics didn’t record any expenditures for its spirit groups — which include bands, cheerleaders, mascots and dancers — in 2020-21. By contrast, these groups had $7,007 in expenditures in 2019-20.

Email: kayla.sterner@ubspectrum.com Email: sophie.mcnally@ubspectrum.com

Jiayi Zhang / The Spectrum Total revenues and expenditures of UB Athletics

ALNUTT FROM PAGE 8

us. As I look at it, if you’re having that much success, it’s like, gosh — [we’ve] gotta go through that search again, but we’re in a good spot.”

Alnutt mentioned another, less-discussed reason why coaching turnover isn’t as bad as it seems: the vacant job is more desirable when the program has enjoyed recent success.

“The quality, the depth — it was much more than when this job was open before Felisha got here,” Alnutt said about the hiring process. “So, you know what? If she [Burke] does come here and have success, it means the next round of coaches will have the credentials, experience and wealth of knowledge that we’re looking for.”

‘We need to have the best relationship possible with our kids’

Alnutt was candid when discussing the new transfer portal rules, which have upended the way mid-majors build their rosters.

“In this day and age, with the portal, everyone’s going through it — you don’t know what that roster’s going to look like

[at the start of the season],” Alnutt said.

Last fall, the NCAA granted players immediate eligibility the first time they transfer schools — a stark departure from the previous rule, which required all transfers to sit out a full year before they could play.

UB hasn’t been spared from the measure’s impacts. At least five women’s basketball players — Dyaisha Fair, Georgia Woolley, Saniaa Wilson, Loren Christie and Cheyenne McEvans — have entered the portal since Legette-Jack left for Syracuse (Woolley and Wilson are following Legette-Jack to SU).

The men’s team has at least three players in the portal — David Skogman, Ty Perry and Lucas Saleh. And the football team has had 18 players — including leading rusher Dylan McDuffie and starting quarterback Kyle Vantrease — enter the portal since November.

Alnutt says he stresses the importance of building relationships with players to his coaches the day they step foot on campus.

“First and foremost, we need to make sure we have the best relationship possible with our kids,” Alnutt said. “I talk so much about the student-athlete experience —

we need to make sure they have the best experience possible. But the thing with the portal is that they could be having a phenomenal experience, but maybe someone is in their ear telling them they can play in the Big 10 or the SEC. So, for us, it’s building those relationships.”

Alnutt also stresses the importance of building “external relationships” with other programs. He pointed to Burke’s established relationship with Louisville head coach Jeff Waltz — her former coach when she played for the Cardinals — as a key to bringing in players from the portal.

“There might be some players who might not fit what they’re [Louisville] looking for, and he might say, ‘hey, consider Buffalo,’” Alnutt said. “Being able to understand that, don’t ‘woe is me.’ We’ve gotta embrace it, because this is where we are now for the time being.”

‘It’s bringing in the right kids’

Last week, Alnutt says he had a conversation with UB President Satish Tripathi about the softball team’s impressive run this season.

“I said, ‘Sir, I know you’re not going to

get too excited, but our softball program this late in the season is three games over .500. That’s phenomenal,” Alnutt recalled.

Alnutt had a point: it’s the first time since 2014 that UB has a winning record through 28 games. That year, the Bulls were Mid-American Conference East Division Champions — the only time in their 22-year history that they have earned such a distinction.

UB is currently 6-4 in the MAC and contending for the final spot in the conference tournament — a testament to the team’s competitive spirit, Alnutt says.

“It’s a combination of culture — bringing in the right kids, who want to be here in Buffalo — and some new facilities,” Alnutt said. “I believe that opening the [Murchie Family] Fieldhouse in 2019, that’s been a huge difference for them.”

Alnutt says he hopes to be able to announce “in the near future” that UB Athletics will turf Nan Harvey Field. UB recently played a weekend series against Western Michigan at Kenmore East High School because its home field was unplayable, due to bad weather.

Email: justin.weiss@ubspectrum.com

10 | Wednesday, April 13 2022

SPORTS

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Becky Burke details offseason plan Burke spoke with The Spectrum about Dyaisha Fair, staff changes and filling a depleted roster ANTHONY DECICCO SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

Becky Burke’s to-do list has only grown since she was hired as UB’s 13th women’s basketball coach on April 6.

The former Louisville star has only one assistant coach on her staff and has to contend with a transfer portal that stands at five players and counting. When former head coach Felisha Legette-Jack accepted the same job at Syracuse, she took reigning Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year Georgia Woolley and freshman forward Saniaa Wilson with her — only adding to Burke’s difficult rebuilding task.

Faced with the challenge of addressing a depleted roster and establishing a strong recruiting pipeline in a new city, the former University of South Carolina Upstate head coach is going to have her work cut out for her these next few months.

“How much time do you have?” Burke joked, when asked by The Spectrum to address the length of her to-do list after her introductory press conference.

While the offseason responsibilities that come with replacing a long-time coach can appear daunting, Burke says her “primary responsibility right now” is to attend to current UB players and implement a strong culture.

“Talking to them, forming relationships, making them feel comfortable, helping this transition,” Burke said, when talking about her current focus. “They’re 18 to 22-year-olds who need to understand and know that they’re going to be taken care of in the way that they need to be.”

Besides all of her personnel challenges, Burke also has to get accustomed to a new city and a new school.

This is the closest the Scranton, PA native has ever been from home, but she’s by no means familiar with the Buffalo area.

This is also the highest-profile job Burke has ever held. After tenures at USC Upstate, Charleston and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, the 32-year-old will now face the challenges of leading a prominent mid-major program in a new setting.

“I don’t know anything about this place other than what you find out in the general process through the interviews and things like that,” Burke said. “So I have a lot to learn, a lot of people to meet and I’m just excited.”

Burke spoke with The Spectrum Friday to discuss her offseason objectives:

Retaining Dyaisha Fair and filling a depleted roster

While Burke is presumably looking to retain all the Bulls currently in the transfer portal, no player sticks out more than Dyaisha Fair.

That’s because the junior guard ranked fourth in the nation in scoring (23.4 points per game) last season and has quickly developed into one of the best players in all of college basketball.

Burke told The Spectrum Friday that she was set to have a conversation with Fair “early next week” regarding the Rochester native’s transfer status.

“Dyaisha and I have texted. We were speaking a lot throughout the day yesterday,” Burke told The Spectrum at the end of last week. “It’s just important for her to know that she’s wanted, she’ll be loved here and we need her.”

It’s unclear which schools have offered Fair scholarships since she entered the portal two weeks ago, but she has retweeted multiple tweets that suggest a possible reunion with Legette-Jack at Syracuse.

Burke acknowledges the competitive market for Fair, but says, “I’m gonna go down swinging with that one.”

Retaining Fair would mark a major victory for Burke, who is also working on other players who have entered the portal in recent weeks.

On Saturday — one day after Burke’s

introductory press conference — sophomore guard Cheyenne McEvans entered the transfer portal. McEvans averaged 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game her freshman year before a leg injury caused her to miss more than half of her sophomore season.

With talented contributors like junior forward Loren Christie and senior forward Adebola Adeyeye still in the portal, Burke has some serious work to do. Whether it be retaining those players, adding new ones through the portal or hauling in an unusually large recruiting class, the 32-year-old is faced with considerable challenges from the get-go.

“We’ll be OK, we’ll be fine,” Burke said.

“It is a little bit of a rebuild, and that’s probably not a word that they’ve used here a lot. But the reality is if we just have the roster of what it currently is right now, and you take the portal kids out and [the] kids that Coach Jack took, we have a lot of roster spots to fill. But I’m confident in our ability to recruit and bring people in here who’ll make an immediate impact.”

Play style and philosophy

The word timeline is a common phrase in sports, especially for a new coach.

Some think it’s important to map out realistic expectations following a substantial roster turnover.

But Burke says she isn’t a fan of that word. She says she expects to win early and often “right away.”

“I hate that word, I don’t believe in it. I don’t do moral victories,” Burke said. “Say every player in the portal leaves, which I would hate, I would hate, I would hate.

We’re gonna go get players. My standards are through the roof. It’s championships every single year. Why can’t we do it?”

Most coaches would temper expectations, especially in a “rebuild” year. But Burke reiterated her desire to compete for MAC Championships as early as next season, even though she isn’t sure who’ll be on her roster come the fall.

“Why not? Why not us?” she asked rhetorically.

Burke’s confidence is well-founded. She was the catalyst behind major turnarounds at two programs — USC Upstate and Charleston — and was responsible for launching the women’s basketball program at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

With an emphasis on ball movement and shot efficiency, Burke’s teams are known for playing in a structured and organized manner. Her USC Upstate squad finished sixth in the nation in field goal percentage last season and her team at Charleston led the country in field goal percentage in 2018-19.

In addition to its offensive prowess, USC Upstate also ranked second in the Big South in points allowed last season.

Burke’s teams have ranked in the top-half of their respective conferences in points allowed the last five years she’s been a head coach.

If her past performance as a coach is any guide, expect the Bulls to run designed plays to get open looks while pressuring the ball on defense.

“We’re going to be a team that people are like, ‘Man, they’re very detail-oriented, and they execute really well, they don’t take bad shots, they get great shots and they make them.’ And [we’re going to be] so efficient, detail-oriented, and just dogs on the defensive,” Burke said.

‘I’m not trying to be her’

In recent years, Legette-Jack has become synonymous with UB women’s basketball.

The winningest coach in program history, Legette-Jack led UB to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in history and left the Queen City with four NCAA Tournament appearances in 10 years.

But Legette-Jack is gone, and Burke was adamant in separating herself from her predecessor. While it will be a hard act to follow, the 2022 Big South Coach of the

Anthony DeCicco / The Spectrum New women’s basketball head coach Becky Burke speaks at Alumni Arena.

Year certainly doesn’t lack the confidence to take over a program of UB’s size.

“I love a challenge, I love it. I’m not trying to be her [Legette-Jack]. I’m not trying to recreate what she did here,” Burke said.

“She’s phenomenal. She’s incredible, but I’m not her. We’re gonna do it our way and we’re gonna do the best job we can every day. We’re workers, we put in the hours, we can recruit. But it’s just gonna be different and I welcome the challenge.”

As expected, Burke has already shaken up the Bulls’ coaching staff with the addition of her “right-hand man.”

Candyce Wheeler, who played with Burke at Louisville and coached alongside her for two seasons at USC Upstate, will serve as Burke’s lead assistant at UB. Burke will still have to assemble the rest of her staff, but bringing Wheeler to Buffalo was a key first step in achieving that goal. “[She’s] just somebody who’s loyal to the end of the earth for you. Her and I go way back and she just speaks my language,” Burke said of Wheeler. “She understands how I like things done and knows how I operate. So it’s important for me to get somebody who’s familiar with me and how our program will run.”

Burke didn’t rule out the possibility of retaining some members of Legette-Jack’s staff at UB. Assistant coach Kristen Sharkey, who spent seven years on LegetteJack’s staff at UB, seems like a potential option — but she also seems like an obvious candidate to reunite with Legette-Jack at Syracuse.

Burke will also need to figure out if she wants to retain assistants Kyreed Carter and Blair Estarfaa. Carter, Estarfaa and Sharkey have all been removed from UB’s roster since Burke’s hire.

It’s unclear where these conversations will end up, but Burke says speaking to those assistants will be an important part of her offseason process.

“I definitely want to have conversations, whether it’s just to pick their brain about whatever has given them success, pointers, helpful hints, whatever the case may be,” Burke said. “But just in terms of staff and joining our staff, I haven’t gotten there yet. And that’s something that will just be kind of up in the air and we’ll make some decisions on those things in the next few days.”

Email: anthony.decicco@ubspectrum.com

at her introductory press conference

Friday

COACH BURKE FROM PAGE 1

thing she says will mirror the grittiness of the region her team represents.

Last season, Burke’s USC Upstate squad ranked No. 6 in the nation in field goal percentage, a mark of a disciplined and fundamentally-sound team.

“You’re going to watch a basketball team that is very, very organized, executes really, really well and is prepared,” Burke said. “So when you come watch us play, you’re going to understand we had a scouting report, we followed a game plan and they knew what they were doing out there.”

Before delving into her vision, Burke choked up while thanking her parents for everything they have done for her. “I want to make you proud standing up here as your daughter,” Burke said, her voice quavering.

Burke, a basketball lifer, says she started playing basketball with her father as a little girl in Scranton, PA. She turned those backyard sessions into a four-year playing career at Louisville, an assistant coaching position at Saint Joseph’s College and head coaching gigs at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University — where she was responsible for launching the program — the University of Charleston and USC Upstate.

She says the chance to come back to the region where everything began for her was too much to pass up on.

“I’m just a small-town kid from Scranton, PA, right down the road,” Burke said.

“This will be the closest I’ve ever been to home. I’m very familiar with this region, I’m very familiar with the area from a recruiting standpoint.”

Last night, as she was boarding a plane to Buffalo, Burke says she introduced about 10 passengers to the UB women’s basketball program and made a number of “new fans.” She says she looks to keep that same energy going in the Queen City.

“I’m here because of the way that I felt at that airport gate last night,” Burke said.

“I’m here because of the way I felt when Mark called me initially and because of the way I felt two hours [ago] this morning walking around this facility. This is a very, very special place. It’s proven to be that, and I’m just looking forward to making sure it stays that way.”

Email: justin.weiss@ubspectrum.com Email: anthony.decicco@ubspectrum.com