Vol. 61 NO. 56
ubspectrum.com
Monday, February 20, 2012
NYPD Spied on UB’s Muslim Student Association Department also investigated MSAs at many other schools LUKE HAMMILL Senior News Editor The Associated Press exposed the New York Police Department over the weekend for keeping extensive and secret records on Muslim student groups in the northeast, including UB’s Muslim Student Association. The NYPD investigated MSAs at universities all across the northeast because in the past, numerous people arrested or convicted on terrorism charges had been members of Muslim clubs at school, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne told the AP. A November 2006 NYPD “Weekly MSA Report” marked “SECRET” details that then-UB MSA member Adeela Khan posted a link to a Muslim event in Toronto on the MSA’s website, which featured speakers that the NYPD considered to have ties to “extremist Islamic groups.” The AP report also cited NYPD intelligence that detailed NYPD officers meeting with the Erie County Sheriff ’s Department in Buffalo “to develop assets jointly in the Buffalo area, to act as listening posts within the ethnic Somalian community.” The report also says, “There are some Somali professors and students at SUNY Buffalo, and it would be worthwhile to further analyze that population.” The treasurer of the Student Association, who is Muslim and was president of the MSA last year, said the NYPD’s actions constitute profiling. He didn’t want his name printed in this article because he said that if a Muslim speaks about these issues or his name appears near the word ‘terrorism’ in any way, he risks being in NYPD and FBI reports. “The MSA has a big event today [Sunday], and nobody is showing up because people don’t know if the FBI is there or not…I once had a parent [of a student in the MSA] come up to me and said, ‘I will kick your butt if I find my son in MSA,’” the SA treasurer said.
Connecting the Past to the Now Soledad O’Brien analyzes Dr. King’s legacy
REBECCA BRATEK News Editor Soledad O’Brien is a woman who loves to tell stories. At only 45 years old, O’Brien has worked on 25 documentaries for CNN – she’s won numerous awards, traveled across the globe to give a voice to the unheard, and has even extensively researched Martin Luther King Jr.’s private libraries and speech manuscripts. This past Thursday, O’Brien spoke to a sold-out crowd – full of more than 80 religious, student, and community groups – at Kleinhan’s Music Hall as a part of UB’s 25th-annual Distinguished Speaker Series. The speech was also the 36th installment of the university’s Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Series. Forty-five years ago, King spoke on the same stage as a guest at UB – just five months before his assassination. O’Brien used the night to urge audience members to become catalysts for change in a world that’s filled with social injustice. Instead of desecrating King’s memory and legacy by practicing indifference, O’Brien asked the audience to become outraged. The Spectrum sat down with O’Brien before her speech to talk about King’s legacy and why it is still relevant today. A look into King’s legacy In 2003, O’Brien joined CNN as a special correspondent. In 2007, she left her anchor position on American Morning and shifted her focus to more in-depth documentaries. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
One Country on Two Wheels Buffalo Chips Woos and Coos ferent times in the summer.
In order to ride, students must apply through an essay-based application. Once accepted, participants must raise $4,500 to fund the trip. This money helps pay for the bike, Therm-a-Rest air mattress, and food that Bike and Build gives participants. Part of the money is automatically donated to organizations fighting for affordable housing.
He said that some parents of Muslim students are aware of the government’s wariness of MSAs, and they do not want their children to run the risk of appearing in police reports. He also compared the NYPD’s surveillance of UB’s MSA to an incident earlier this year in which a Muslim UB student’s car was defaced with swastikas in what she considered a hate crime. “Somebody assumed that she was a Jew-hater because she’s Muslim…The NYPD thinks every Muslim is a terrorist,” the SA treasurer said. The university released a statement saying that UB had no knowledge of the NYPD’s actions.
COURTESY OF BIKE AND BUILD Bike and Build is an organization that bikes across the country to help bring affordable housing to those in need.
MEGAN DRESSEL
Staff Writer “This was the first time that the university learned of this matter,” the statement reads. “University at Buffalo officials were not contacted by NYPD, and the university did not provide any information to the NYPD. UB does not conduct this kind of surveillance, and, if asked, UB would not voluntarily cooperate with such a request. As a public university, UB strongly supports the values of freedom of speech and assembly, freedom of religion, and a reasonable expectation of privacy.” Email: news@ubspectrum.com
Photo of the Week
GEUNUG JEONG /// THE SPECTRUM UB students celebrated their cultural diversity at the International Fiesta on Saturday night.
Weather for the Week:
Monday: Sunny- H: 35, L: 27 Tuesday: Showers- H: 45, L: 37 Wednesday: AM Clouds/PM Sun- H: 41, L: 32
ALEXA STRUDLER /// THE SPECTRUM Soledad O’Brien spoke about Martin Luther King Jr.’s lasting legacy to a sold-out crowd at Kleinhan’s Music Hall this past Thursday.
Beginning as early as May 11, approximately 240 young adults will pull on their best compression clothing, snap on their helmets, clip their cleats into their pedals, and begin a cross country adventure on nothing but a bicycle. Bike and Build is an organization that was founded in 2002, with its biggest goal being to raise money for affordable housing in the U.S. Participants ride their bikes from one end of the country to the other, stopping to spread word of their cause and build affordable houses along the way. Since it was founded, over 1,500 participants have raised more than $3.3 million for the cause. Bike and Build provides eight routes across the country, all beginning at different locations in the United States and at dif-
Allison Ribachonek is a UB alumna, with her bachelor’s in civil engineering and master’s in environmental and hydrosystems engineering. Since 2005, Ribachonek has traveled to Israel, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Brussels, the Netherlands, England, and China. Bike and Build will be her first trip cross-country. “Reflecting recently on my travels over the last few years, it felt a bit shameful to me that I’ve seen and interacted with more of the world than my own country,” Ribachonek said. “There is so much of the U.S. and so many sub-cultures I have not experienced nor seen for myself. So to fulfill my desire for something huge, Bike and Build was the obvious choice.” She will be leaving from Jacksonville, Fla. on May 16, and ending her trip in Monterey, Calif. Being a first-timer, she has reached out to others who have completed this task. “What’s cool is that even though I haven’t officially met any of my other teammates, we’re already connecting with one another in the form of arranging road trips down to Florida,” Ribachonek said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
COURTESY OF BUFFALO CHIPS Comedy and talent came together last Friday as the Buffalo Chips sang for 400 people at their 17th annual Valentines Day show.
ADRIEN D’ANGELO Staff Writer The aroma of perfume and body lotion is pungent as over 400 fans pack into the red rows of the Lippes Concert Hall. As moving lights cross the ceiling, friends and lovers take their seats. They’re expecting an a cappella performance. Instead, Chips Keegan, Burke-Falotico, and Cory Mikida greet the audience and begin the show by butt dancing to the Spice Girls and embracing to the theme from Titanic. Love was never quite like this. This was just the opening number of raunchy episodes in the Buffalo Chips’ 17th Annual Valentine’s Day Concert on Friday. As the Chips all took the stage and began making love to the crowd, a series of holiday-appropriate lights aided in wooing the fans. The dashing sound and lighting were provided by the Chips’ own production company, A Cappella Productions. Crowd pleasers like “Forget You,” “29 Ways,” and “Womanizer” spurred
the energy while the Chips cycled through soloists. However, this would not have been quite as enjoyable without the Chips’ signature tomfoolery. The comfort these musicians have with one another shines through as they gently mock each other. Although they are casual jokesters on stage, once the music sets in, the sound is strictly professional. Each voice provides a bright, bold harmony, pointing to the Chips’ profound vocal skill. As part of the Chips’ spectacle of shenanigans, Burke-Falotico and Mikida donned their best summer dresses before the second set. BurkeFalotico admitted to have been on stage in a dress previously in his acting days, but never in front of such a large audience. These wacky encounters are something fans have grown to expect from the Buffalo Chips. BurkeFalotico believes the name certainly says it all. “We all try to be funny,” BurkeFalotico said. “We’re all just a bunch of goofballs, and we’re all doing the best we can so it absolutely represents what we’re trying to do here.”
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Opinion * 3 Arts & Life * 5 Classifieds / Daily Delights * 7 Sports * 8