CHECK OUT STORIES OF THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE UB ROTC. pages 6 & 7
The Independent Student Publication of the University at Buffalo
ubspectrum.com
Monday, April 2, 2012
Vol. 61 NO. 70
The High Times of Damon Bodine Former UB student overcomes cancer on his rise in the music industry much of a police presence. You [could have] parties and no one would really care. University Heights was that area of Buffalo were it was kind of like ‘It is what it is.’”
BRIAN JOSEPHS
Arts Editor
Thousands of people pass through Brooklyn’s Atlantic Terminal Mall every day – a crowd that includes elderly shoppers, high school gang members, and average tourists. A 28-year-old Jamestown, N.Y. native is a frequent member of this crowd.
The former UB student thrived during the chaos, and he developed enough of a business to start his own company, Center Stage Concerts. The company continued to book artists in the basements of University Heights and coffee shops. Bodine said many of those artists would sign to major record deals a few months after they played at one of his shows.
He looks unimpressive at first glance to the typical passerby, as his scrawny physique and focus on his laptop while he’s at the mall’s Starbucks almost perfectly fits the nerd stereotype. The heuristic is only skin-deep, however, as this Starbucks regular’s influence spans over 400 miles.
In 2006, after working with Buffalo Icon – a venue that got shut down in 2007 – Bodine merged his company with After Dark Entertainment. Since becoming the talent promoter for After Dark, Bodine has helped book top-notch acts like rapper A$AP Rocky, rap outfit WuTang Clan, and punk band Taking Back Sunday.
Damon Bodine, a former UB student, thrived in UB’s wild party scene in the mid-’00s to to become one of Buffalo’s premier music promoters. Bodine became a talent buyer and concert promoter for Buffalo’s renowned promotions group, After Dark Entertainment, after years of using his love of music to become a successful promoter. But while he was at the top of his game, Bodine was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma early last year.
However, Bodine slightly regrets not finishing college. “If I had to do it all over again,” Bodine said. “I probably would’ve finished school. But sometimes you just got to roll with the punches. A lot of bands I was booking when I was young just started to take off. I was sort of at the right place at the right time.” The Lump
The promoter had to endure a tedious treatment process. But while some would see cancer as life-altering, Bodine saw it as an important sidestep. He wasn’t about to let the disease come in the way of his lifelong dream of making it big in New York City. The PJ Bottom Era
Courtesy of Valentino T. Shine Jr. Damon Bodine (right) of Jamestown, N.Y. overcame Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in his rise in the music industry.
There wasn’t much to look forward to in Jamestown. Bodine has always been interested in the fast-pace music business and the small town didn’t host such a scene. New York City, one of the fastest moving cities in America, had all the music business opportunities he was looking for. “Since I was a kid, I had a dream of living in New York,” Bodine said. “I just figured that if you want to make something of yourself, you want to be in the place with the most opportunity.” In fact, Bodine was so eager to make something of himself that he started hopping on Greyhound buses to the city at the young age of 13 even if he didn’t have a place
to stay. Bodine said he would sleep on hospital floors and couches just for the sake of meeting people to get him started in the industry. The frequent visits to New York continued throughout his teenage years, as he’d continue to make phone calls and email anyone he could to make his start. While he had some minor success as a promoter during those years, it wasn’t until Bodine started to attend UB that he started making strides. Bodine came to UB as a journalism major, but the concentration quickly became a façade as his college career progressed. Instead, he was more interested in his bur-
geoning career as a promoter. “School kind of went by the wayside,” Bodine said. “I saw UB as an opportunity to be that guy handing out 500 flyers at the lecture hall, meeting a ton of people, and things like that.” Bodine was promoting in an era when UB was gaining notoriety for its party scene. Underage drinking was commonplace in the now-defunct PJ Bottoms, while University Heights was increasingly becoming dangerous due to the lack of UPD presence. “There were no rules,” Bodine said. “There wasn’t so
Last April, Valentino Shine, a member of After Dark Entertainment, reached out to Bodine for some business advice. Bodine was happy to help out, but he also revealed more than what Shine bargained for. “When I met him he told me he most recently got diagnosed with cancer,” Shine said. “It was very interesting since I’ve just met him and he hit me with that heavy news.” A few weeks prior to their rendezvous, Bodine noticed a large lump on his neck. He didn’t think much of it but Rianna Trowell – his girlfriend at the time – feared that it might be something serious, especially given her family’s medical background. To her, the dark “squishy” lump was a cause for worry. “I remember one day in the office, right before he was diagnosed,” said Dennis Ferry, a longtime friend of Bodine’s. “He was like ‘Hey, take a look at this thing continued on page 10
Former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, Visits UB
It’s the Climb WESTON SHAPIRO Staff Writer
MARK DAVIS Staff Writer and Managing Editor
As he inserted his trembling foot into a small crevice and poked his fingers into a rigid hole, Alex Barganier climbed. He was frightened, but exhilarated by the rocks in Puerto Rico. Ascending higher and higher with caution, he felt his grip loosen and suddenly the senior economics major was free falling, unaware of where or how he would land.
Students, faculty, and Buffalo residents filled UB’s Center for the Arts on Thursday to hear Mary Robinson – former president of Ireland and former high commissioner of human rights at the U.N. – speak as a guest lecturer for the 25th-annual Distinguished Speaker Series. An expert on human rights and a current councilwoman on numerous international organizations, the 67-year-old former head of state addressed a range of current U.S. and international concerns. From the Arab Spring to the responsibility of industrialized nations in tackling today’s greatest challenges, Robinson provided insight on some of the most pressing issues in world affairs.
Barganier is the Vice President of UB’s Rock Climbing Club, and he shares his passion for the sport with many other students here. He spent his spring break with eight other rock climbers, taking advantage of what Puerto Rico has to offer. Students with any level of skill are accepted into the club, where they can grow as rock climbers and make friends. While some students enjoy the adrenaline rush of climbing without being attached to a rope, others at the beginner level prefer easy courses and the assistance of a belayer, a person who holds the rope and prevents the climber from falling too far.
Robinson was invited on behalf of the Graduate Student Association and introduced by GSA President Grace Mukupa and Professor Claude E. Welch, Jr., a SUNY Distinguished Service Professor of political science. Robinson interwove her remarks on foreign policy and current events while highlighting key periods of her life and career. After four years as an undergraduate at Trinity College in Dublin, Robinson came to the U.S. in 1968 to study law at Harvard Univer-
Accidents happen and, according to Barganier, his fall in Puerto Rico was not due to equipment failure but to human error. Satsuki Aoi /// The Spectrum Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson visited UB to talk with students on her experiences.
“I was maybe five feet from the ground when I was finally caught by the rope,” Barganier continued on page 5
INSIDE
continued on page 2
Opinion s 3 News s 4 Life s 6,7 Arts s 10,11 Classifieds & Daily Delights s 13 Sports s 14
Weather for the Week: Monday: Sunny- H: 52, L: 37 Tuesday: Few Showers- H: 54, L: 37 Wednesday: Sunny- H: 51, L: 34
Courtesy of flickr user terren in Virginia Members of UB’s Rock Climbing Club travel across the country to compete and climb both artificial and natural rocks. Though the challenge can get terrifying and nerves sometimes run high, they revel in the adrenaline rush.
SA Announces Spring Fest Performers The Red Bottom Boss comes to Buffalo
ELVA AGUILAR Asst. Arts Editor
urday’s Craig Robinson stand-up performance via a UBTV video.
category of the headlining act. The supporting act category received 17,576.
About a week after rumors broke out, the Student Association finally confirmed that the Teflon Don, “Rack City,” and Ghetto Fab were coming to UB.
According to the survey results given by SA, a total of 18,587 votes were submitted for the category of Spring Fest 2012’s headlining act, a substantial increase from last semester’s 3,000.
SA announced that rappers Rick Ross, Tyga, and Fabolous were coming to Buffalo for this year’s Spring Fest on April 29. The statement was made during Sat-
Like last year’s Fall Fest, the students were given a survey for their choice of artists. SA received 18,587 votes for the
Students didn’t end up with their first choice, however. Rick Ross was the students’ eighth-ranked choice on the survey. A majority of the higher-ranking choices were listed as “not available” on the survey. The number one choice, dance duo LMFAO, was unavailable due to family issues. They earned 1,807 votes.
Similar problems plagued the supporting act section. Acts three through five were unavailable, while the first two – rappers Mac Miller and J. Cole – declined due prior bookings. Fabolous and Tyga were ranked sixth and tenth respectively. Check out Wednesday’s issue of The Spectrum for full coverage of the developments. Email: arts@ubspectrum.com