the Independent Student Publication of the University at Buffalo, Since 1950
The S pectrum ubspectrum.com
Volume 62 No. 18
Friday, october 12, 2012
Bulls travel to Northern Illinois for MAC test
UB professor receives high honor in Africa Story on page 2
Story on page 8
Bush reflects on White House years at Alumni Arena Distinguished speaker keeps packed crowd laughing AARON MANSFIELD Editor in Chief
Alexa Strudler /// The Spectrum
Laura Bush, the U.S. First Lady from 2001-09, sat down with The Spectrum and discussed how life was different before, during and after her husband's presidency.
Up close and personal with Laura Bush Former first lady sits down with Spectrum editor in chief AARON MANSFIELD Editor in Chief It’s easier to understand Laura Bush from one foot away. Her cheery grin, which appears feigned and political through a television screen, is gentle and genuine. Her voice, which is stalwart with millions listening, is nostalgic and grandmother-like in intimate conversation. But her eyes yield the clearest picture of her character. Her eyes, a shade of blue soft as silk but tough as leather, look as though they’ve just fought a 12-round bout. The wrinkles on both sides of her eyes reach for her ears. She isn’t slowing down, though. Bush’s trip to UB on Wednesday night was just another night on the road for her. She gave a speech in Abilene, Texas the previous night. Before that, she was in Yakima, Wash. and Montgomery, Ala. for two other speaker series.
A secret service agent opened the door in Center For the Arts room B49, where Bush chatted with The Spectrum before speaking at Alumni Arena. “Would you like a drink, Mrs. Bush?” “Perrier, please.” She poured the carbonated water over ice and smiled, inviting the first question. Bush was used to this kind of attention. She had been here many times before. She had answered similar questions (editor’s note: The Spectrum was not permitted to ask political questions) hundreds of times, but she answered each with down-to-earth sincerity that suggested she’d never been interviewed before. Bush’s aura is paradoxical. She is confident and knowingly accomplished but warm and meek in persona; she is self-assured but self-deprecating in humor. One 13-minute conversation with Bush will leave a lasting impression: This woman knows everything that has been said about her husband, and she has come to grips with it. She’s heard most every joke about his intelligence, all
the while knowing George – the Yale University and Harvard Business School grad – has the quickest wit of anyone she has met. She thinks people have a skewed perspective of her husband. “George was characterized as sort of a cowboy character that is not like he is at all,” Bush said. She spoke of the 31-year-old man she fell in love with in their hometown of Midland, Texas. Bush, who is four months younger than her husband, jokes that she married the last single man in town. Some said she got lucky. Others said lucky was an understatement. “Can you believe it?” an elderly woman in Midland asked one of Bush’s friends. “The most eligible bachelor in town married that old maid.” However, with their chemistry and Bush’s willingness to support her husband’s grand endeavors, George feels even more fortunate. Continued on page 6
Four years into what she calls “the afterlife,” Laura Bush still cringes when she thinks of Oct. 30, 2001. Forty-nine days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the New York Yankees were set to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks in game one of the World Series in the Bronx. Her husband, George, was down by the locker rooms warming up his arm – he was preparing to throw the ceremonial first pitch – and chatting with Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. “Don’t bounce it,” Jeter said. “They’ll boo you.” Just like that, the President of the United States was worried he would get booed at Yankee Stadium. His wife was worried about something bigger. Bush held her breath as she thought of the recent terrorist attacks and the possibility of a repeat. There were 57,000 people crammed into the baseball park that night; George would be out on the mound all on his own. Then she reminded herself this was her husband’s job now. If anyone had to make a public show of courage, it was the nation’s leader. Bush shared this anecdote, a rare serious point in her speech, and many more to a packed Alumni Arena on Wednesday night as the second speaker in UB’s 26th-annual Distinguished Speakers Series. The first lady from 2001-09 reflected on her years in the White House, shared family stories and kept the crowd of approximately 3,200 engaged with constant jokes. She and George moved back home to Texas – which he calls “the promise land” – when they left office. He has been busy working on the new George W. Bush Presidential Center at Southern Methodist University. As for her? “It’s come to this,” Bush said, pulling a bobble head in her image from under the podium and pausing for a few seconds to stare at the crowd. One of Bush’s friends saw the doll and couldn’t resist sending it to her. “He said it was on the clearance shelf,” she laughed. Bush, a clear veteran of speaking to massive crowds, propelled her speech with warm Continued on page 4
A listen to the producer, not the DJ DUANE OWENS Asst. Arts Editor In the upper level woodfloored apartment, the aura of college housing with a mix of walking into a new record store fills the air. Harris Rosado has decorated the walls in his apartment with banners and posters of The Who, Bob Marley, Uncle Luke, Ice Cube and vinyls that anyone born after ’93 would be oblivious to. “You want a beer?” Rosado casually offers. While he’s laid back off the stage, his passion for music fuels his high-energy performances and his lofty artistic ambitions. Rosado, a senior sociology major, aims to be a top-tier producer.
The casual Rosado who appeared in the lofty apartment differs from the hype DJ who opened Fall Fest in front of 7,400 students earlier this semester. According to Rosado, everything was all good leading up to the opening set, but nerves started setting in while he walked up the steps to the stage. “I was pretty confident up until I walked on stage and was like, ‘Oh, this is really going down right now,’” Rosado admits. The opportunity presented itself when SA Entertainment Talent Coordinator Cory Riskin randomly texted Rosado a week before classes began and asked him if he wanted to open for Fall Fest – an offer he accepted without question.
Inside
Although he held down Fall Fest, being labeled as a DJ is not how Rosado would truly like to be identified. He has nine years of experience under his belt as a DJ, but he can do more than match the speed of a song. Everything is improvised when he’s on the turntables. Even though Rosado possesses all of these above-average talents, he’d like to be known as a producer, not a DJ, and for people to recognize the difference. “It kills me everyday that people and girls are screaming like, ‘Oh my God, a DJ’s here.’ I’m like, ‘shut the f*** up’,” Rosado joked. “[My producer name] is just Rosado. That’s it. It’s just my last name … and I also don’t want to give off the illusion that I’m trying to be something I’m not.” Continued on page 6
Opinion 3
Satsuki Aoi /// The Spectrum
Harris Rosado, who opened this year’s Fall Fest, has shown his skills as a DJ, but he wants to gain prestige in Western New York as a producer.
Arts & Entertainment 4,5
Classifieds & Daily Delights 7
Sports 8