The Spectrum Volume 62 Issue 62

Men’s basketball coach Reggie Witherspoon fired.

Full story, Page 30 Staff reaction, Pages 24, 25 Reggie through the years in photos, Pages 18, 19

ubspectrum.com

HOUSING ISSUE, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2013

Volume 62 No. 62

HOME IS WHERE YOU MAKE IT Eddie Montesdeoca became homeless when he lost his RA position. He spent several nights sleeping on the couches in Capen.

Over those three months, he was forced to adjust his finances, appetite and outlook on life to suit his new situation.

Photo by

Satsuki aoi, THE SPECTRUM

Courtesy of Matt Schaff

Kendrick Lamar - fresh off his critically lauded album, good kid, m.A.A.d city - is headlining this year's Spring Fest on April 14.

Vibes and hip-hop for Spring Fest Spring Fest lineup confirmed ELVA AGUILAR

Senior Arts Editor

After a short period of speculation, the Student Association has confirmed two headliners for Spring Fest 2013.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar and electro-house musician/DJ Steve Aoki will perform at the annual event on April 14 at Baird Point as part of the Karmaloop presents Campus Verge tour.

Aoki was a highly requested act for this year’s concert and the coincidence that he would be touring along with Lamar was beneficial, according to Cory Riskin, talent coordinator for SA. The usual Spring Fest talent budget ranges from $150,000-$200,000, according to SA Entertainment Coordinator Marc Rosenblitt, and because Aoki and Lamar are touring together, SA remains well below its talent budget and plans to use the remaining money to book supporting artists.

Despite rumors that post-R&B group Bad Rabbits and alternative rock band 5 & A Dime would be joining Lamar and Aoki, the supporting acts for Spring Fest have not been announced.

Spring Fest 2012, which featured rappers Rick Ross, Fabolous, New Boyz and Tyga, attracted an audience of approximately 5,000 – almost the maximum capacity for Alumni Arena. Last semester’s Fall Fest brought 7,100 people to Baird Point for rappers French Montana, Childish Gambino and J. Cole, according to SA Communication Director Ned Semoff.

Despite the influx of rap acts in the past two fests, the student reaction to the partial lineup has been positive.

Rosenblitt believes the balance in music genres between Lamar, Aoki and Bob Dylan within the threeweek period at UB will keep the community content.

“Normally we get negative feedback by somebody at some point by now and I have yet to get one email saying, ‘Hey, we’re not happy about this,’” Rosenblitt said. “I think we’re finally making as many people happy as we possibly can at once.”

Junior nursing major Clayrys Tavarez is one of many students excited for Lamar and believes students put off by the lineup should attend for the positive atmosphere and festivities.

SEE spring fest, PAGE 5

Fired RA spends three months crashing around Capen, Student Union and dorm floors

‘‘

SAM FERNANDO

Asst. News Editor

I was pretty much a man without a house.

For three months last spring, Eddie Montesdeoca was homeless.

His friends’ floors were his bed.

Alumni Arena’s showers were his bathroom. The Commons was his kitchen. North Campus was his living room.

He proved it’s possible to live on campus without actually living on campus.

After being fired from his position as a resident advisor (RA) in Wilkeson Hall, he was left roomless. Montesdeoca, a junior political science major, spent the rest of the semester without a home in Buffalo. He was forced to adjust his finances, appetite and outlook on life to suit his new situation.

“It put everything into perspective now,” Montesdeoca said. “I mean, I was f**king homeless.

Having a crappy schedule or having to wake up for an early class or not getting into a class you wanted – all that means nothing. [My experience] now makes me happy for what I have.”

Montesdeoca found himself sleeping in Capen Hall and the Student Union (SU), eating one meal a day but steadily increasing his GPA. He admits not doing his job properly and said UB had “every right” to fire him. The university gave him the option to stay in his dorm and pay the full semester’s price of the room or move out. He couldn’t afford it, so he packed his bags.

Montesdeoca had two weeks to move out of his room – plenty of time to pack but not enough

to find a place to live, he said. Because of his financial situation, he chose to rotate between several friends’ apartments, sleeping on their couches and floors.

“I was pretty much a man without a house,” Montesdeoca said.

“When I woke up, I would have no idea where I was staying that night.”

He didn’t immediately let his friends know what was going on.

Instead, he would find new excuses to tell them.

“I never really wanted to explain the story of being homeless to my friends because it’s really embarrassing,” Montesdeoca said. “I would ask a friend if I could crash on the floor because I was really tired and didn’t want to go back to my dorm. They would usually say ‘yes.’”

SEE HOMELESS RA, PAGE 5

Young residents ‘count down the days’ to move out of the Heights Students complain about housing and crime; landlord gives his perspective LISA KHOURY

Senior News Editor

Daniel Brody was sitting on his toilet when a liquid from the upstairs bathroom began leaking on his head.

He hopes it was just water.

It took his landlord about a week to fix the leak, he said.

Landlord issues are just one of the problems students experience in the University Heights. Many want out.

20-30%

of issues brought to Shonn from the Heights are regarding security deposits and leases. Others include repair problems and code violations landlords promise to fix.

In 2012, 26 percent of issues brought to Sub-Board, Inc., were landlord and tenant issues. Daniel Shonn, an SBI legal assistance attorney, said 60 percent of all issues students bring to him are from

Inside

those who live in the Heights.

Brody’s landlord, who asked to remain anonymous and refused to tell The Spectrum how many homes he owns, said a lot of his tenants’ problems stem from students misunderstanding and miscommunicating with their landlords. He said Brody and his seven roommates don’t treat their West Northrup home with respect.

Still, parents are worried about their kids who live in the Heights – not just in the houses but also with the area’s frequent burglaries and crime.

Brody’s physical housing issues and his landlord’s perspective Brody, a junior business major, and his seven housemates said their landlord promised renovations like installing a security system and a new dishwasher and never followed through. They said they frequently call or text him with complaints about leaking pipes and inconsistent electricity, and he takes at least a week to respond.

They said they are all moving out of their three-story home after this semester because of him.

SEE Heights issues, PAGE 4

photos by Nick Fischetti, The Spectrum

Dylan Jaloza (left), a sophomore accounting major, stands next to a washing machine that his landlord recently bought and said is new. It has neon green graffiti on the side. Jaloza's landlord's handy man removed mold on the ceiling by cutting a hole (bottom). He won't fill it until winter is over. Jaloza's third-floor West Northrup apartment frequently has low water pressure, and he couldn't shower on Monday morning (top).

Opinion 3 news 6-11 Life 12-17 Arts & Entertainment 20-23 Classifieds & Daily Delights 29 Sports 24-30

ubspectrum.com

2

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Save now through Sunday, March 24

P re m ie rW in e s .c o m

FIRST BOTTLE: REGULAR PRICE SECOND IDENTICAL BOTTLE: $1

Last chance for the Dollar Sale!

PREMIER WINE & SPIRITS

3900 Maple Road M-Th: 9:30a-9:30p, Fri-Sa 9a-10p Amherst, NY 14226 Su:12p-6p ACROSS FROM THE BOULEVARD MALL

WINEDEALS.com

716-873-6688

America’s largest wine & spirits store!

sign up for a free premier card and save on thousands of wines & spirits!

ASTICA MALBEC

BABAROSA PROSECCO

BAKER’S DOZEN CHARDONNAY

BAREFOOT RIESLING

BUFFALO GROVE CHARDONNAY

first bottle: $6.99 second bottle: $1.00

first bottle: $12.99 second bottle: $1.00

first bottle: $10.99 second bottle: $1.00

first bottle: $8.99 second bottle: $1.00

first bottle: $12.99 second bottle: $1.00

net

$4.00

net

per 750 ml. w/card

$7.00

per 750 ml. w/card

Also Cabernet or Torrontés

DOUBLE UP FOR A BUCK!

on select items

net

$6.00

net

$5.00

net

$7.00

per 750 ml. w/card

per 750 ml. w/card

per 750 ml. w/card

Also Cabernet, Pinot Grigio or Pinot Noir

Also 14 additional types

Also Cabernet or Zinfandel

CA’ DONINI PINOT NOIR

CUL DE SAC CHARDONNAY

CUTLER CREEK PINOT GRIGIO

DOUBLE DOG DARE WHITE ZIN

EL CORTIJILLO TEMPRANILLO

first bottle: $8.99 second bottle: $1.00

first bottle: $6.99 second bottle: $1.00

first bottle: $6.99 second bottle: $1.00

first bottle: $6.99 second bottle: $1.00

first bottle: $8.99 second bottle: $1.00

net

$5.00

net

$4.00

net

$4.00

net

$4.00

net

$5.00

per 750 ml. w/card

per 750 ml. w/card

per 750 ml. w/card

per 750 ml. w/card

Also Pinot Grigio or Montepulciano

Also Cabernet, Merlot or Pinot Grigio

Also Cabernet, Chardonnay, Sweet Red or White Zin

Also Cabernet, Merlot or Chardonnay

ELM TREE MALBEC

FINCA DEL CASTILLO TEMPRANILLO

FIREFLY RIDGE CABERNET

GATO NEGRO MALBEC

GLEN ELLEN CHARDONNAY

first bottle: $9.99 second bottle: $1.00

first bottle: $8.99 second bottle: $1.00

first bottle: $12.99 second bottle: $1.00

first bottle: $11.99 second bottle: $1.00

first bottle: $6.99 second bottle: $1.00

net

$5.50

net

per 750 ml. w/card

$5.00

per 750 ml. w/card

Also Cabernet, Chardonnay, Merlot or Torrontés

GREAT BUFFALO PREMIER RED

LITTLE ROO SHIRAZ

first bottle: $8.99 second bottle: $1.00

first bottle: $6.99 second bottle: $1.00

net

$5.00

net

$4.00

net

$7.00

net

per 750 ml. w/card

$6.50

net

$4.00

per 750 ml. w/card

per 1.5 L. w/card

per 750 ml. w/card

Also Chardonnay or Pinot Noir

Also 7 additional types

Also Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Grigio or White Zin

MAZZA CHAUTAUQUA NIAGARA

NATALE VERGA MONTEPULCIANO

RUNNING WITH SCISSORS CHARDONNAY

first bottle: $8.99 second bottle: $1.00 net

first bottle: $9.99 second bottle: $1.00

$5.00

net

first bottle: $14.99 second bottle: $1.00

$5.50

per 750 ml. w/card

per 750 ml. w/card

per 750 ml. w/card

per 750 ml. w/card

Also Premier White

Also Cabernet or Chardonnay

Also Concord or Rosé

Also Barbera, Nero d’Avola, Primitivo, Grecanico or Pinot Grigio

net

$8.00

per 750 ml. w/card Also Cabernet or Merlot

Specials from

..................................................

Save now through Wednesday, march 27

BUFFALO’S BEST BEER SELECTION ..................................................................

NØGNE Ø WINTER ALE

first bottle: $8.99 second bottle: $1.00

$4.99

net

SOUTHERN TIER LIVE

$7.99

WNY’s Largest Selection of coffee ......................................................

OMMEGANG GAME OF THRONES: IRON THRONE BLONDE ALE

$6.99

YEMEN MOCCA SANANI

INDIA MONSOON MALABAR

DECAF ETHIOPIA DJIMMAH

$17.99

$9.99

per lb.

per lb.

$9.99

Reg. $19.99 per lb.

Reg. $10.99 per lb.

Reg. $11.99 per lb.

This serves as a great single origin espresso.

25.4 oz. bottle

This dark, smooth coffee is great for those cold days!

This bright, smooth coffee will rival any caffeinated coffee.

per lb.

per 16.9 oz. bottle DUFAB when you buy two Reg. $8.99

6-pack 12 oz. bottles Reg. $8.99

Reg. $7.99

UTICA CLUB

MOLSON CANADIAN + CANADIAN LIGHT

YUENGLING LAGER + LIGHT

SAHLENS HAM OFF THE BONE

BOAR’S HEAD CHIPOTLE GOUDA

BOAR’S HEAD SWISS

$14.99

$22.99

30-pack 12 oz. cans

$17.99

$6.99

per 1/2 lb.

per lb.

$6.49

24-pack 12 oz. bottles

$1.99

Reg. $24.99

Reg. $19.99

Reg. $2.99 per 1/2 lb.

Reg. $7.99 per lb.

Reg. $7.49 per lb.

.................................................................. from the deli

3900 maple road, amherst, ny 14226 222266 226

wy tH or

PREMIER CENTER

Maple Rd.

rsp

THE brand new

4 minutes from UB North

Mi lle

Reg. $16.99

Niagara Falls Blvd.

24-pack 12 oz. cans

290

per lb.

Across from the Boulevard Mall and next to Delta Sonic on Maple.

All members of buying party must be 21 years or older with a valid NY driver’s license or passport.

t. in S Ma

6 minutes from UB South

All wines and spirits sold by Premier Wine & Spirits.

All other products sold by Premier Gourmet. Each store independently owned and operated.

western new york’s premier party center

Opinion

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 ubspectrum.com

EDITORIAL BOARD Editor in Chief Aaron Mansfield Senior Managing Editor Brian Josephs Managing Editor Rebecca Bratek Editorial Editor Ashley Steves News EDItors Sara DiNatale, Co-Senior Lisa Khoury, Co-Senior Sam Fernando, Asst.

Rachel Raimondi, Asst.

LIFE EDITORS Rachel Kramer, Senior Lyzi White Lisa Epstein, Asst.

ARTS EDITORS Elva Aguilar, Senior Lisa de la Torre, Asst.

Max Crinnin, Asst.

SPORTS EDITORS Joseph Konze Jr., Senior Jon Gagnon Ben Tarhan Markus McCaine, Asst.

PHOTO EDITORS Alexa Strudler, Senior Adrien D’Angelo Nick Fischetti Satsuki Aoi, Asst.

Aminata Diallo, Asst.

CARTOONIST Jeanette Chwan PROFESSIONAL STAFF OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Helene Polley ADVERTISING MANAGER Mark Kurtz CREATIVE DIRECTOR Brian Keschinger Haider Alidina, Asst.

ADVERTISING DESIGNER Joseph Ramaglia Ryan Christopher, Asst.

Haley Sunkes, Asst.

March 20, 2013 Volume 62 Number 62 Circulation 7,000 The views expressed – both written and graphic – in the Feedback, Opinion, and Perspectives sections of The Spectrum do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board. Submit contributions for these pages to The Spectrum office at Suite 132 Student Union or news@ubspectrum.com. The Spectrum reserves the right to edit these pieces for style and length. If a letter is not meant for publication please mark it as such. All submissions must include the author’s name, daytime phone number, and email address.

The Spectrum is provided free in part by the Undergraduate Mandatory Activity Fee. The Spectrum is represented for national advertising by both Alloy Media and Marketing, and MediaMate.

For information on adverstising with The Spectrum visit www.ubspectrum.com/ads or call us directly.

The Spectrum offices are located in 132 Student Union, UB North Campus, Buffalo, NY 14260-2100

The ethics of emotion Steubenville coverage creates a conflict of facts and feelings On a rare occasion and for a fleeting second, the elephant in the room was too big to ignore.

But the decision quickly turned into a matter of who let it come in in the first place.

This past Sunday, Ma’lik Richmond and Trent Mays, 16 and 17 years old respectively, were found guilty Sunday of raping a 16-year-old and were sentenced to a year in juvenile prison.

Mays was ordered to serve an additional year for photographing the victim naked, but both boys could ultimately be held until they turn 21. The crime took place last year at an all-night party in Steubenville, Ohio when Jane Doe was stripped naked in the basement of the house. She was too intoxicated to consent to sex, but as the accused both used their fingers to penetrate her not only there in the basement but in the back seat of a car, that didn’t matter. Other boys, some also on the football team, didn’t try to stop the attack and instead recorded it with their cell phones. And when it was all said and done, Mays sent messages pleading with the girl to not press charges because it would damage his career.

Those are the raw details. Jane Doe was too drunk to know what was happening or to remember any of it, but the evidence captured the night before quickly made rounds in an onslaught of texts, social media messages and online video and photos.

And thus ended Richmond and Mays’s twisted version of fun and debauchery.

Stars of a high school football team in the Midwest at an underage party gone wrong, and a video of the incident passed on by text from teen to teen as a means of entertainment. It sounds like something straight out of a Lifetime movie.

And just as one would expect the television drama to play out, every news organization had their cameras turned on to tell the story of the victim, the attackers and a town in disarray.

How could this happen? Who let this happen?

Was it Jane Doe, dangerously intoxicated and vulnerable, or Richmond and Mays, who took advantage of a situation that so effortlessly presented itself to them?

It depends on what news broadcast you’re watching.

Sunday didn’t just bring a verdict; it also brought outrage and enough of it to lead to a petition that, at the time of The Spectrum’s press, had over 210,000 signatures, each belonging to a person calling on CNN to apologize for its disgraceful coverage and “breach of journalistic ethics.”

The network has been accused of spending more airtime focusing on the damage on the lives and “promising futures” of Richmond and May’s rather than the life they ruined.

CNN wasn’t alone. ABC News talked extensively on Richmond’s promising football career and how “he was in a celebratory mood” the night of the rape. AP and USA Today placed the emphasis on Jane Doe’s intoxication. Yahoo! News said she tore the town apart and forced it into an emotional situation, describing the courtroom as “filled with sobbing and exhausting emotion.”

Disillusionment at the Sheraton Kimani Gray Response

BRIAN JOSEPHS Senior Managing Editor

Art by Jeanette Chwan

And multiple stations – including CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and Steubenville’s CBS affiliate – made the unethical faux pas of airing her name.

Every journalist in every corner of the country has probably sat down since Sunday and asked, “What would I have done in this situation?” And we at The Spectrum have done the same. How would we report on the story and get a story?

The verdict hopefully opens a conversation for our rape culture. But after Sunday’s verdict, social media broke out in tweets, Facebook posts and comments blaming Jane Doe for drinking underage and putting herself in that situation, saying she deserved it, that she ruined Richmond and Mays’s lives with her carelessness (two Ohio girls were even arrested for making social media threats of violence against the accuser). Of the players, students, principals and the team’s 27 coaches and volunteers, 16 people refused to talk. That’s what we should ultimately be talking about. But like it or not, there is also a story with the accused.

The unfortunate reality is without being able to report anything about Jane Doe (and rightfully and understandably so), the story is on Richmond and May’s – who they are, what will happen to them and what this means for their lives.

It’s very difficult to talk about the damage it will cause to her life without revealing her identity.

The problem with the coverage of the Steubenville verdict is the tone, not the content.

While there are, sadly, people who feel pity for Richmond and May’s, the vast majority of people are not looking for a set-up to feel sympathy for two rapists, no matter how “promising” their careers may have been. No one should feel that their futures were ruined. No, they ruined their own futures – nobody else did it for them. But the facts of what their futures would have been still exist, and those facts should be reported.

Email: editorial@ubspectrum.com

Freedom to information Harvard administration right in its search of faculty emails It isn’t often that America’s most prestigious university is in the news for negatives. However, Harvard University has hit headlines constantly over the last few months after a scandal within the Ivy League’s undergraduate school, Harvard College, led to a controversial email search of resident deans.

Concerns arose over the potential privacy invasion, but that doesn’t mean Harvard’s hunt wasn’t justified.

The school was cast into the spotlight back in August when Harvard publicly revealed nearly half of the students in a 279-student government class were suspected of having cheated on a take-home final exam. Following the find, the administrative board sent out a memo to the resident deans on how exactly to deal with cheaters, and somehow, somewhere that memo got leaked to the media, and confidential word-for-word discussion from an administrative board meeting was shared with the Ivy’s student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson.

Let the searches commence.

Students, faculty and staff thought their troubles were behind them when they were notified in February that the majority of the investigated were facing disciplinary action, including temporary forced withdrawal from the college or probation. But in the last week, The Boston Globe revealed Harvard had secretly searched the emails of 16 resident deans, most of whom were not informed.

The searches allegedly did not involve a review of email content, according to Harvard – just a subject line search. Faculty of Arts and Sciences dean Michael D. Smith referred to it as “a very privacy-sensitive search.” The deans and other professors disagree, referring to the school’s actions as “dishonorable,” “disgraceful” and even “creepy.”

But while Big Brother’s watchful eye frequently and unethically peers into the business of many unknowing victims, Harvard met all demands when it comes to privacy.

3

The overlying issue is if employers should be able to look into the business – not personal – email accounts of their employees. In many cases where employers are permitted access, the employees have filed lawsuits based on claims of a violation to the Fourth Amendment’s restriction of unreasonable searches and seizures. But in even more cases, employees are completely aware that employers have the right to search for matters of the utmost importance. Harvard considered the mass cheating on a final exam to be one of those matters, and they are right to do so.

As your employer monitors your performance and actions in person around the workplace, it’s fair he or she should be allowed to monitor your actions on your business accounts as well.

Members on campus have disagreed, saying it’s a college, not a corporation, and that college is limiting freedom. Should someone expect the right to privacy? The quick answer is yes, but that right to privacy is limited to personal use. If Resident Dean So-and-So wanted so badly to inform the media of what was going on behind Harvard’s walls, it couldn’t have been that difficult to send it through a different email, one that his or her employer couldn’t possibly be able to screen.

Either way, contrary to popular belief (and clearly to the belief of these loud-mouthed leaders) the Internet is not this secret, secure freefor-all where you can whatever you want without consequence; it’s permanent, a time capsule of all the private conversations and embarrassing pictures that you thought you got rid of. And it can be accessed from anywhere and by anyone willing to take the time. There’s absolutely nothing about that that screams “privacy” so claiming that this specific search was an invasion of such is not only too optimistic, it’s just naïve.

Email: editorial@ubspectrum.com

It felt like I was finally making it. After years of writing, I finally got my first scholarship. The money funded my stay at Time Square’s Sheraton Hotel, where the College Media Convention – one of the nation’s most well known learning events for college journalists – was being held.

My 29th-floor room fit my youthful hubris.

The pillows and sheets were pure white and fluffy.

The room was always the right temperature. The liquor and snacks were conveniently placed in a refrigerator. My roommates and I would get charged if we even moved any of those chips or bottles, but it all seemed like a minor inconvenience during those three days.

So we cavorted. We gossiped. Everything outside of Midtown or our newspaper didn’t seem to matter until a friend of mine pierced my really expensive, room-serviced bubble via Facebook message on Monday night.

“Heard about the riots by ya [sic] crib,” he said.

“Wait what?!?”

The tequila started to taste bitter.

By now it’s national news. Kimani Gray, a 16-year-old high school student of Jamaican and Guyanese descent, was gunned down by police officers in East Flatbush after allegedly pointing a revolver at them. Gray was shot seven times; three bullets penetrated his back. The shooting occurred on East 52nd Street – less than five blocks away from my house.

Monday was the first in a series of wild protests against the shooting. Like the shooting, these protests – which splintered into riots – occurred blocks away from my house.

I knew my mother was home during events, so I semi-frantically stumbled to the bathroom to call her.

“Hey, I heard about the riots. Is everything all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

I pressed the red button not too long after. I threw on my tie with a smile, then the brown cardigan and finally a coat, and soon, my colleagues and I were out to the bar.

Out of sight, out of mind.

The pictures, tweets and follow-up news came in the following days as I stayed over at Syracuse University with a friend that week. The Rite Aid at Church Avenue – the one where I bought everything from condoms to Herbal Essence moisturizing shampoo – had been ransacked. The lighted bodegas and grocery stores – the last thing I saw before I took my nightly, 15-minute high school naps on the B35 – were passing routes for protesters.

Everything that I’ve become accustomed to in the 10 years since I’ve moved there were suddenly symbols of the constant racial tensions with the law – gathering places of civil unrest.

Then came the questions: Did Gray really point a gun at the cops? Were the cops telling the truth?

Was the fact that he may’ve been in a gang supposed to breathe some odd sigh of relief because he wasn’t one of the innocent ones? Were the cops again at fault? Was martial law really necessary?

I was disturbed. Not because of the fact this was the same neighborhood that help mold me into a man, where riots were occurring on the bus routes I’ve often favored or cocksuredly blasted My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in my iPod during summer afternoons.

I was disturbed because I’ve become indifferent despite the fact this was occurring in my neighborhood. Look at the names: Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, Abner Louima. Every time the African-American community and civil rights community has gone through the same cycle. We have the mourning of these individuals, followed by the martyring of the victims and the proceeding protests. Rinse and repeat.

Every time the same things are made clear. The police’s constant perceived transgressions against blacks is so repetitive that I feel like we’ve internalized it as part of the minority experience.

Then there are the elders who truly believe the youth is supposed to adapt to such problems as if we’re supposed to accept a flawed society. There’s the inner city youth that’s just filled with rage – this anger that’s been influenced by the poverty, negative perceptions, the me-against-the world mentality … all of this stuff they’ve been damned with while finding ways to transmute that rage.

Some die before they ever figure out how to do so.

Citizens versus the law. Youth versus old. Minorities versus the perceived powers that be.

America is a society that runs on schisms, and it has been for centuries.

I spent the following Monday night researching different articles about the Gray situation as if there was some hidden solution or minor detail that would put everything into perspective.

Then I got tired and went to sleep. I had class in the morning.

Email: brian.josephs@ubspectrum.com

ubspectrum.com

4

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Continued from page 1: Heights issues “Everybody should get a security system,” the landlord said. “It’s not necessarily the landlord’s responsibility; it should be the tenants’ responsibility because the people choose to live in these homes and they can make it a criteria when they move in.”

When Brody and his roommates found a mouse in their home, they immediately called their landlord.

They never got a response, so they spent $30 out of pocket to buy mousetraps.

Their landlord told The Spectrum he knew nothing about that.

The landlord said a huge issue with his tenants on West Northrup is their lack of communication with one another. He said many talk to him and don’t let the other housemates know.

Shawn Kobetz, Brody’s housemate, insists he calls his landlord regularly but doesn’t get immediate responses.

Kobetz, a sophomore communication major, said their electricity went out at least 20 times during the first semester this academic year, and he had to sleep at a friend’s house three times because of it. Now that he knows how to use the circuit

breaker in the basement, he fixes the issue instead of leaving.

For the first two weeks, there was no hot water on Kobetz’s floor.

“He’d finally answer and say, ‘Yeah, I’ll get on it,’ or, ‘Yeah, I’ll send a handy man,’” Kobetz said. “And it still didn’t happen. We were showering in other spots for two weeks. Finally, a handy man came who’s not even a plumber, who’s his dad. And he fixed the pipe and showed us how to turn it on.”

Kobetz said the hot water goes off about once a week.

Their landlord blames the students. He said they leave doors open or break windows, which cause the hot water pilot light to go out.

“I’ve been there a dozen times to relight their pilot lights, and finally they figured out how to do it themselves,” he said.

Kobetz, Brody and housemate Dylan Jaloza said they’ve seen their landlord approximately six times since they moved in in August.

“I’m over and about on days that they don’t realize, or they knew I was coming [and] just no one was there,” their landlord said. “I come and go and do things that they don’t realize.”

Kobetz said the quality of life in his Heights home is “very poor” and ranks it as a “two out of 10.” Next semester, he is moving to apartments near North Campus, located in Amherst, where housing violations are few and far between and crime rates are twice as low as South Campus, according to Amherst housing inspectors and the Amherst Police Department.

Crime that affects students in the Heights Dan Kelly, a senior community mental health major, left his Winspear home last year to escape his absentee “slumlord” who left a giant hole above his mattress in his bedroom unattended for two months, causing him to find a place to sleep elsewhere.

He and his girlfriend, Brooke Weiler (who is not a UB student), moved to Lisbon Avenue beginning last semester, where they’ve left housing violations behind but instead have found an increase in violence.

“We’ve literally been counting down the days ’til we get out of here, because it’s been so bad,” Weiler said.

She and her boyfriend have heard gunshots approximately 10 times

since they moved there almost a year ago. Last Monday night, they heard nine deafening gunshots in a row from their living room.

They have witnessed young neighbors outside playing with knives and pretending to stab each other. One almost stole Kelly’s bike. His bike was actually stolen a few months ago at his job located on Winspear.

“Dan’s graduating in May and then we’re out of here,” Weiler said.

“I just feel bad for the next people moving in. I almost want to be like, ‘Don’t do it!’”

Weiler doesn’t feel safe living on Lisbon.

“It’s supposed to be student housing,” Weiler said. “We used to live on Winspear and that’s considered offcampus housing, and it’s not safe. We have cop cars rolling down our street with their lights on almost every day.

And then hearing guns like that, it’s just crazy. Terrifying.”

Kobetz’s house was one of the six homes burglarized in the Heights during winter break, he said. Burglars stole at least two TVs, an Xbox, Wii, videogames, controllers, an iHome, cologne, sneakers, alcohol and money.

In 2012, Buffalo Police logged 118 burglaries in the Heights. Burglars deduce where students live, said Dan Ryan, director of Off-Campus Student Relations. They target their homes when students are away on Thanksgiving, Christmas and spring break.

Kobetz was so scared when he arrived home from winter break that he stayed in a hotel for two days.

“We worry all the time that he’s there,” said Rebecca Kobetz, Kobetz’s mother. “We don’t feel that he’s safe and I can’t wait for him to move out.”

Weiler said she feels unsafe living on Lisbon, where there are more families than students.

“You hear about some stupid idiot throwing a broken bottle in the street or something, but it’s not like the kids are the ones firing off the guns or beating each other in the road. It’s the grown people,” Weiler said.

Whether it’s landlord issues or fear for personal safety, some students like Kobetz await the day they can move out of the Heights.

Email: news@ubspectrum.com

Plan your future DEGREE

GRADUATE ROSE SAINT A WITH

A WITH SE O R SAINT ATE GRADU EE DEGR

VIEW OUR ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

www.strose.edu/grad

Plan your future and make a graduate degree from Saint Rose your next step. Our graduate degrees and advanced certificates will provide the credentials you need to land your first job and launch your career.

Most graduate students are placed in internships or field experiences where they acquire valuable hands-on knowledge of the working world. Small classes provide personalized attention from faculty in state-of-the-art facilities.

For more information: 1-800-637-8556 or grad@strose.edu

Fat Bob’s Smokehouse

1(855)438-2861

Buffalo’s Best BBQ!

BECOME YOUR TRUE SELF

Great Happy Hour and Game Day Specials

Visit AubreyLydellJohnson.com to browse through a unique one stop shop wellness online store. Discover everything you need to start or continue a healthy lifestyle.

Fitness supplements Wellness products Skin care Fragrances Fitness Equipment Women’s apparel Men’s apparel

Huge Beer Selection!

Over 90 bottles & 12 draft!

Drop‐off Catering for Any Event!

41 Virginia Place

716‐887‐2971 fatbobs.com

In the Heart of

Allentown!

WWW.AUBREYLYDELLJOHNSON.COM

Barbara L. Oliver, Graduate Gemologist - GIA

5820 Main Street, Suite 311 Personal Jewelry Consultations & Custom Jewelery Design Caldwell Building Williamsville, New York 14221 p 716.204.1297 f 716.204.2260 jeweler@barbaraoliverandco.com 5820 Main Street, Suite 311 Caldwell Building Williamsville, New York 14221

716.204.1297

jeweler@barbaraoliverandco.com

www.BarbaraOliverandCo.com

ubspectrum.com

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Continued from page 1: Spring Fest “[Kendrick Lamar] was who my friends and I listened to last semester when his album came out, so the fact that we get to see him [perform] these songs live when they’re still premature is great,” Tavarez said.

And while it seems the majority of students seem to be content with the rapper/ house headliners, some still feel SA is ignoring a large portion of its student base.

“There has been a lot of rap and hip-hop in my opinion. There [have] been no good rock acts, [or] high energy that everyone can get into,” said Joe Carelli, a senior communication major. “The Fray is a downer; I get why people would like them. Bob Dylan’s a legend, so [it’s] understandable people would be excited, but again, it would be nice to have high energy for Spring Fest from a rock act.”

Kendrick Lamar, most recently voted as MTV’s Hottest MC in the Game, is still considered somewhat of a new comer to the hip-hop and rap community. The Compton, Calif., native began gaining popularity after his mixtape, Overly Dedicated, dropped in 2010, but it wasn’t until his first independent album, Section.80, was released that Lamar’s following multiplied.

The buzz surrounding Section.80, along with Lamar’s ability to combine a mainstream sound with deep lyricism, helped Lamar’s first major label release, good kid, m.A.A.d. City, become a classic. The album has found radio hits in tracks “Swimming Pools (Drank)” and “B***h Don’t Kill My Vibe.”

Steve Aoki is a renowned DJ and electro-house musician who has worked with the likes of Kid Cudi, Travis Barker, The Bloody Beetroots and Afrojack during his career. He has remixed tracks from artists like Drake, Jackson 5, Kanye West, Chester French and All American Rejects.

His house music is internationally popular in clubs and his live performances are notorious for their high-energy and raucous antics. Aoki has even gone as far as crowd surfing on a raft with fellow DJ and dubstep artist Skrillex.

Between Lamar’s rap following and Aoki’s stage presence, UB is locked for a potentially legendary Spring Fest.

Doors will open at Baird Point at 5 p.m. and the show will begin at 6 p.m. Entry for UB undergrads will be free and tickets will soon be available for general admission.

The Spectrum will continue to follow up on Spring Fest developments, including which artists will be chosen as the supporting acts for the show on April 14.

Email: arts@ubspectrum.com

Short a few creditS? GraduatinG on time?

g n i pr

o t in

S

! n io

t c A

5

Continued from page 1: Homeless RA Eventually, his friends figured it out and sympathized.

Michael Cohen, a junior history and political science major, welcomed Montesdeoca to his dorm in Porter Hall. Cohen has experienced working with the homeless in various soup kitchens and said Montesdeoca’s situation was very similar to what he has seen before.

“If you really look at what ‘homeless’ is, he simply didn’t have a home,” Cohen said.

“I really understood how desperate the situation was for him. He was really just looking for a place to stay.”

For the first few weeks, Montesdeoca believed everything was working out for him.

He managed to find a friend’s place to stay every night and they welcomed him.

Some of his friends’ roommates didn’t feel the same way. Cohen said Montesdeoca accidentally borrowed Cohen’s roommate’s towel. Immediately after, the roommate insisted Cohen tell Montesdeoca to find another place to stay.

Brandon Gonzalez, a junior English major and Montesdeoca’s fellow Latin American Student Association (LASA) member, had the same problem. Gonzalez allowed Montesdeoca to sleep on his couch, but after a couple weeks, Gonzalez’s roommate said Montesdeoca should pay rent. Although Gonzalez was able to convince his roommate to allow his friend to stay for free, Montesdeoca felt uncomfortable and unwelcome in the apartment.

He turned to the Academic Spine, where he stayed for three weeks.

Some nights, Montesdeoca, the then-treasurer of LASA, would secretly use his swipe card to get into the club’s office on the third floor of SU around 11:55 p.m.

Student Association President Travis Nemmer said the policy for club offices follows SU rules; no one can be in SU after midnight. Montesdeoca knew what he was doing was against the rules, but he felt he didn’t have another choice.

He slept on a couch in his office, making sure to keep quiet so the janitors wouldn’t hear him. He remembered one night he was afraid to leave the office to use the bathroom, so he urinated in an empty coke bottle to avoid the possibility of getting caught in the building, he said.

“It was nerve-racking, not having a place to live,” Montesdeoca said. “In the beginning, I tried to be upbeat about it and told myself ‘I am taking all these distractions out of my life and I’ll be good.’ But after a while, it just got really stressful.”

Montesdeoca scheduled weekly naps in the library at Capen Hall to get “proper” rest throughout the week. Staying in the library caused him to improve academically.

He called it the “silver lining” to his situation. He was on campus the majority of the day, so he spent most of his downtime studying. He also didn’t have a place to plug in his desktop, so he used the campus computers. Montesdeoca stored his computer, clothes and all his other belongings in Gonzalez’s attic.

Shortly after being fired, Montesdeoca started pledging Phi Kappa Psi, a social fraternity of which Cohen was a member.

Montesdeoca said he used the pledging process as distraction from his housing situation. He has since crossed and is an active member of the fraternity.

Montesdeoca lost his meal plan when he was fired. When a friend couldn’t give him a meal swipe, most of the money he had saved

up from his job back home in Rochester had to be used for food.

“Usually, he had a positive demeanor, but sometimes the stress just got to him,” Cohen said. “Homeless, schoolwork, no food, where I am going to sleep? These are all things that he had to worry about every day that we take for granted.”

Montesdeoca lived on what he called the “poor man’s diet.” He would snack on something throughout the day and have one big meal, usually from The Commons, in the middle, so he wouldn’t be hungry at night.

He lost 15 pounds.

Not having a bathroom was difficult for Montesdeoca. He was never sure when he would have the opportunity to shower, so everywhere he went, he carried a separate bag with him that had his toiletries and a week’s worth of clothes.

He showered in the Alumni Arena locker rooms but preferred sneaking into Red Jacket Quadrangle and using the unlocked bathroom by his friend’s dorm room. He said he always feared someone walking into a bathroom on campus while he was brushing his teeth.

Montesdeoca, who currently works for SA as an external-affairs liaison, said the most difficult aspect of his situation was telling his parents that he was fired. He ended up telling them three days after he found out but omitted the details of his living situation. As far as they knew, he was spending the rest of the semester at a friend’s apartment. From the grades they saw, they assumed he was doing well.

Cohen said Montesdeoca broke down a couple times, but overall, he was upbeat.

This eased Cohen’s worry.

“His optimism was very contagious,” Cohen said. “If he had been down all the time, I probably would have been worried, but he always had a positive outlook.”

Gonzalez agreed. He said although it was a rough situation, Montesdeoca learned from it.

“Everything happened so fast,” Gonzalez said. “He was really down, but after a while, he started looking at it positively. He told me this is like real life for him because his family always helped him out and this is his first taste of something not going his way.

He had to overcome it and be strong, and I thought he handled it really [well].”

Both Cohen and Gonzalez said they know if they were in a similar situation, Montesdeoca would do what he could to help.

Although it is technically Montesdeoca’s third year at UB, he is able to graduate this semester.

In September, he moved into a dorm room in Porter. He said he constantly had to remind himself he actually had a place to stay every night.

Montesdeoca said his experience last spring taught him a lot about himself. He was able to move past being homeless and said he is a stronger person for it. He is grateful for the stability in his life now and has a new appreciation for the little things, which seemed far from little for those three months.

Email: news@ubspectrum.com

South Indian Cuisine All Vegetarian Jain & Vegan Menu

Lunch - Dinner Wednesday - Sunday Monday & Tuesday Take out & Reservations

Lunch: 11:30 AM - 3:00 PM Dinner: 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM

$5 OFF any purchase Dine-In or Take-Out $35 or more (pre-tax) Expires: 3-31-12

cc! diTs G e @ r c s e Y rs sun u o s er c erable diT m e r c um ansf s c! nY c u e G s Tr e 2 Tak s@ rse abl e Tak

r me

sum

cou

r

Tra

e nsf

656 Millersport Hwy. Amherst, NY 14226 Tel.: 834-1800 www.palaceofdosa.com

Catering For All Occasions ‫בס"ד‬

summer sessions starting may 28 and July 8

170

over courses including 42 online!

The History of Rock and Roll American Sign Language Introduction to Meteorology Ceramics, Painting & Intro to Digital Photography Plus English, Math, Science, Language Arts & many more!

Online Or On Site with 7 CampuS lOCatiOnS: Albion / Arcade / Batavia / Dansville / Lima / Medina / Warsaw / eLearning

www.genesee.edu 1-866-CALL-GCC Genesee community college is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution

2450 N ort h Forest Ro a d

(Just over the Ellicott Creek Footbridge near the Ellicott dorms) For more info

688-1642 or

Ch a b a dof B u ff a lo.com

6

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 ubspectrum.com

News suspect, who was in the area to return chemistry equipment.

3/7 10:49 a.m. – A UB employee reported damage to the Campus Dining & Shops vehicle in Richmond B Parking Lot near Moody Terrace.

7:05 a.m. – An employee of the information desk at the Student Union reported a worker turned in what he believed was a baggie with illegal drugs in it. Patrol reported it was a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana.

All information according to University Police

3/6

3/5

12:36 a.m. – A custodian reported 15 to 20 students were being disorderly in Knox Hall.

The group was loudly celebrating a birthday and was advised to leave the area.

12:08 a.m. – A student reported while walking to his vehicle in the Sherman Parking Lot from Abbott Hall, a green laser was pointed at him from inside the top floor of Clark Hall. The light in the room turned on and off. Patrol searched the entire building and talked to the janitorial staff but did not find anything unusual.

9:37 a.m. – A grounds worker reported a window in Hayes Annex room 1 was broken after being punched in from the outside. The perpetrator did not gain access to the room.

8:01 p.m. – A student reported receiving a voicemail from an unknown sender at 5:23 p.m. The unknown person, who has called multiple times, threatened another unknown person. She was told by patrol her phone number may be linked/similar to a number involved in a telemarketing scam.

8:32 a.m. – A UB employee reported a tree was run over near the Fargo Parking Lot. At the scene, patrol found pieces of a navy blue vehicle.

9:18 a.m. – Two suspicious males in the Main and Bailey Lot were reported ducking down between vehicles. They were described as white males and approximately 40 years old. One was wearing a grey beanie with glasses.

10:33 a.m. – A caller reported a male in room 242 of the Natural Science Complex was not supposed to be there and was in violation of a restraining order. No formal order of protection was ever filed, but the suspect had been warned. Patrol identified the

College Students

10:09 a.m. – Bolutife Ogunsuyi was served paperwork for the Student-Wide Judiciary after an RA found a bag of marijuana in the suspect’s room in Red Jacket Building 3 during inspection.

10:18 a.m. – An RA found unlabeled prescription drug bottles in a Dewey Hall dorm room. Patrol reported the RA did an illegal search of the room and found pills.

3/8

10:30 a.m. – RAs reported finding possible drug paraphernalia in Richmond Quad. Patrols retrieved a gravity bong but were unable to determine ownership. Housing also turned over a food service “Spice It Up Station” sign. The items were placed in evidence for destruction.

1:50 a.m. – A UB Stampede transportation supervisor reported an ill male subject was aboard bus No. 4108. Patrol identified the student who did not have identification or know his UB Person number. The suspect was transported to Erie County Medical Center for an alcohol overdose.

11:23 a.m. – A caller reported finding a marijuana grinder while performing room safety checks. Patrol confiscated the grinder, a scale and a small amount of marijuana. The RA was advised against going through property not in plain view. The items were found in a safe with the door wide open.

3/9

3/12

5:33 a.m. – A caller reported a shirtless male walking around the third floor of Red Jacket Building 2, pulling on door handles and making a lot of noise. The suspect was described as a slim white male, approximately 5-foot-8, with light brown hair and a brush cut.

5:03 a.m. – A Goodyear Hall director requested patrol for an unwelcome non-student doing laundry in the building. The suspect was gone on arrival.

8:57 a.m. – A Richmond Quad resident advisor (RA) found a marijuana pipe during room inspections. At 9:58 a.m., the RA reported a gravity bong in Richmond Building 1. Patrol picked up both items and tagged them for destruction.

20% OFF

All full-price EMS® brand items

15% OFF

All full-price national brand items Must show valid college ID. Exclusions may apply; visit store for details.

Eastern Mountain Sports EMS AMHERST

Gin Gin Restaurant 3381 Sheridan Dr Amherst, NY 14226

It all starts here.

Amherst

Boulevard Consumer Square

10621 AD SUNY Buffalo_Amherst_5.25X8 .indd 1

ems.com

3/4/13 12:02 PM

Bubble Tea Smoothies Green Tea Black Tea Chinese Rice Dishes Chinese Noodle Porridge & much more Monday: 4:30pm-11:00pm (716) 836-2600 (716) 836-2614

Tuesday-Saturday: 11:30am-11:00pm Sunday & Holidays 12:00pm-11:00pm

ubspectrum.com

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

7

Spectrum editor in chief wins national award Aaron Mansfield receives Mark of Excellence in sports column writing On March 14, The Spectrum was notified that Editor in Chief Aaron Mansfield had received a Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Mark of Excellence award for his sports columns.

The actual place awarded will be announced at the SPJ Region 1 Spring Conference, which will be held April 12-13 at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. Jody Kleinberg Biehl, The Spectrum’s faculty adviser and director of UB’s Journalism Certificate Program, submitted four of Mansfield’s columns to nominate him for the award.

“Aaron’s passion for sports shows in these columns and in his overall coverage,” she said. “He has a strong voice and even stronger opinions and he’s not afraid to show either. He’s not only passionate about sports, he’s passionate about writing and it shows.

“As editor in chief, he has people coming in and out of his office all the time. But when he is writing, he closes the door and finds his inner focus. That’s an amazing talent. He has it and I’m so glad it’s been recognized by national judges.”

Mansfield is a junior English major and is pursuing the journalism certificate. He has served as The Spectrum’s 2012-13 editor in chief since May 1, 2012, and he has been on the paper’s staff since the spring 2011 semester. He previously served as staff writer (spring 2011), senior sports editor (fall 2011) and senior life editor (spring 2012).

“I have big goals for my future, almost all of which involve sports or journalism, so I’m thrilled to have been honored in the sports column category specifically, but I’m also nowhere near the reporter I want to become,” Mansfield said. “The award does not belong

to me. Seventy-six people work at The Spectrum. The award is a tribute to everyone on staff because they support me no matter what and always take pressure off my shoulders. We are on a mission to reverse a negative stigma around campus.”

Entries are first judged on the regional level, and first-place regional winners then advance to the national competition and are recognized at SPJ spring conferences.

The Spectrum is a member of SPJ’s Region 1, which includes professional and student publications throughout nine New Eastern states.

This award marks the sixth national award The Spectrum has won in the past two years and the first SPJ Mark of Excellence award.

Email: news@ubspectrum.com

photo by Rebecca Bratek, The Spectrum

Editor in Chief Aaron Mansfield talks to former Editor in Chief Matthew Parrino about The Spectrum's coverage of men's basketball coach Reggie Witherspoon's firing.

Gr aduate School of Business



designed specifically for recent college graduates, Bryant University’s one-year MBA prepares you

for leadership positions in corporate, not-for-profit, and government organizations. If you are entering a career in accounting, Bryant offers a full-time Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAc) degree for those who want to sit for the CPA exam.

I T’S A CLASS THING.

2013

the bryant one-year mba

the bryant mpac

Full-time day program for all majors

Full-time day program for accounting majors

• Gain credentials and experience that

distinguish you in the job market • Benefit from real-world practicum

and consulting opportunities • Fast track your career, with no professional work experience required • Specializations in: Global Supply Chain Global Finance International Business

If you’re a member of the Class of 2013, here’s the deal: Give just $20.13 to commemorate our graduating class.

By making a donation to UB, you help support a cause you believe in while you join thousands of alumni— UB SUPPORTERS—who also believe in giving back to our

• Meet the 150-hour requirement for

CPA licensure • Complete your program in two

terms: summer/fall, summer/ summer, fall/spring or spring/ summer • Pursue a tax concentration with summer/fall or summer/summer schedule

as a bryant graduate, you will join a powerful network of alumni that includes accomplished professionals across the

university. UB alumni have helped us—now it’s our turn to help the students who will follow us.

TAKE THE SENIOR CHALLENGE. www.giving.buffalo.edu/seniors

country and around the world. Bryant’s College of Business is one of only 5% of colleges and universities in the world accredited by the AACSB International The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Visit www.bryant.edu/gradschool to learn more.

Live and Learn in NYC This Summer at Queens College FOUR SESSIONS FROM JUNE 3 TO AUGUST 15 Summer Session has it all: Hundreds of undergraduate and graduate courses ■ A breezy, 77-acre campus ■ The Summit, Queens College’s beautiful residence hall ■ Cybercafés and free use of athletic facilities, including tennis courts and Olympic-size pool ■

www.qc.cuny.edu/summer • 718-997-5890 Freshmen and transfers welcome!

ubspectrum.com

8

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

The college experience: the price you pay SARA DINATALE

Senior News Editor

When Akanimo Akpan, a 2012 graduate, would take the Stampede from North to South Campus, the bus route passed by his Amherst home. He was “literally a hop, skip and a jump” away from UB. Hayley Ross, a sophomore international studies and history major, could get into her Toyota Echo and make it to campus in 25 minutes from her house in Hamburg.

But despite growing up a close drive from UB, both locals decided to cut themselves off from the familiar comforts of their childhood homes and dorm on campus in efforts to achieve “the college experience.”

About 26 percent of UB’s population, including undergraduate and graduate students, lives on campus. With campus housing options running around $6,000$8,000, the question that a lot of students have to ask themselves is: How much am I willing to spend to experience college? For students who live locally, the answer to that question may not only be the difference of thousands of dollars but thousands of experiences, too.

“Without financial aid, living on campus is more of a luxury for people who live close,” Akpan, who is now a graduate student at Ball State University, explained.

He was able to live on campus all four years of undergrad because of his financial aid package. While he admits he is biased toward getting the full “college experience,” he said when considering UB’s tuition hikes, going to school and living on campus is getting more expensive, and he doesn’t think it’s necessary.

For Ross, without the decision to live on campus her freshman year, she wouldn’t have met the girls that encouraged her decision to join Alpha Gamma Delta, a sorority that focuses on sisterhood. From living on campus, Ross now has a “family” of 62 girls on which she knows she can count. She feels the relationships she built from choosing to live on campus are invaluable.

Ross craved independence and was certain she wanted to live on campus, but she admitted, without

her scholarship, she may have considered staying home.

Some commuters have trouble getting past the finances and can’t imagine spending the money just for greater convenience. Nicole Ciambor, a freshman undecided major, commutes from West Seneca.

7,300 beds on campus

5,200 in dorms

2,100 in apartments *numbers are approximate and supplied by ub campus living

“If I could save so much money, because my mom is not charging me rent, why would I waste my money and come here when I can just live at home?” Ciambor said.

But for Akpan, the experience was worth it. He described UB as its own “living, breathing organism” and that living on campus was like “the perfect vacuum.” He felt like he was in a different world – not like he was 15 minutes away from his mom.

Ross, who only goes home once every two months, can relate and so can Sarah Spitznogle, a freshman pre-pharmacy major, who lives in Roosevelt.

“I don’t feel like I’m in Williamsville,” Spitznogle said. “It’s weird. I can see Sweet Home High School from my dorm but it doesn’t feel like Amherst. It feels like I am away because you’re so consumed in what you have to do in your studying and your friends that you don’t really have time to go back to where you live.”

Spitznogle went to Williamsville East High School, and her com-

mute to school would only be 12 minutes if she opted to stay at home. She once dreamed of attending the University of Rochester, but the school was too expensive. She came to UB, somewhat dejected, expecting it to be boring because she has lived in the area her whole life. She was shocked to realize she loves living on campus, and she is living in Greiner next year.

She is thankful she can focus on her grades – she has to keep a 3.5 for her the pharmacy program – and doesn’t have to worry about the distraction of her family; she joked, “We’re all kind of loud.”

“If a student is able to, we do encourage living on campus,” Brian Haggerty, senior associate director of Campus Living, said in an email. “Research demonstrates that students who live on campus earn higher grades and are more likely to graduate than those who do not live on campus.”

UB has about 7,300 beds within its on campus housing, according to Michael Koziej, senior associate director for Campus Living.

UB is commonly considered a commuter college because more than half of students live off campus.

Haggerty said students who commute and students who live on campus will likely have a different college experience, but ideally both those experiences are positive.

Seventy percent of freshmen dorm their first year of college, according to Haggerty. Ciambor admits by not dorming, she feels like she is missing out on meeting people and the cliché “college experience.” Her best friend on campus is someone she went to high school with.

But not all commuters view not living on campus as a hindrance to their college experience. Laughter and playful banter commonly booms in the Student Union’s second floor commuter lounge. While many students enter in and out of the lounge between classes, a solid group of 15 friends have taken to the lounge as their home on campus.

Some of the commuters come from as far as Alden or as close as Kenmore, but they all have created

photo by Nick Fischetti, The Spectrum

Hayley Ross, a sophomore history and international studies major, enjoys the indepedence and quiet space she gained from deciding to live on campus. She could have very easily opted to commute from Hamburg, but she is grateful for her decision to come to campus and join a sorority.

their own commuter-based family within the hangout. Tara Hogan, a junior biological sciences major, doesn’t feel like she is missing out of the college experience by not living on campus.

She frequents the lounge and has met a lot of people that way, in addition to being an undergraduate teaching assistant and through her classes.

Hogan feels that regardless of where you live, the college experience is what students decide to make it. And while she, and most of the other commuters are quick

dustrious:

to groan at the mention of parking, she said for her, the high cost of living on campus wasn’t worth the convenience.

Sometimes people question Spitznogle, asking her why she is opting to live on campus. She avoids the argument. For her, it isn’t worth the fight. She thinks it a personal decision that’s different for everyone.

Email: news@ubspectrum.com

NOWHERE BUT THE BUFFALO NEWS The perfect job for you is out there.

“Where else can you find the latest job openings and employer profiles in WNY?

It’s just a matter of finding it. That’s where BuffaloJobFinder.com comes in.

Our technology matches your skills with WNY employers who are looking for someone like you. Find us in print Sundays and Tuesdays and at BuffaloJobFinder.com 24/7.

Start your search today at

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

ubspectrum.com

9

ubspectrum.com

10

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

UB researchers find post-concussion rehabilitation in aerobic exercise JOHN NASSIVERA Staff Writer

Through a 10-year study, the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences has proved a new method of treating post-concussion patients.

In January, UB released evidence that proved the effectiveness of an aerobic exercise program in treating athletic and non-athletic patients and restoring normal cognitive function after a concussion.

Research in post-concussion patients began in response to the traditional protocol of dealing with injured athletes, according to Barry Willer, director of research for the UB Concussion Management Clinic and professor of psychiatry. Often athletes were sent home and told to not do anything – even sleep. This protocol was used at UB, Buffalo State College and other universities and high schools despite its strong connection to depression.

“We didn’t see any benefit from that,” Willer said. “So we decided to try to more systematically evaluate whether or not [the athlete] could exercise at the level of their sport, which [regulates] what is necessary for someone to return to the sport.”

The program’s patients exercise to determine the highest level of physical effort they can maintain before experiencing concussion symptoms. When that level is found, patients must exercise below it so that symptoms do not continue and future injury is prevented. To measure this effort, patients wear a heart monitor and exercise on a treadmill to measure their heart rates, according to John Leddy, director of the Concussion Management Program and professor of physiology.

courtesy of UB Reporter

UB has released evidence proving the effectiveness of aerobic exercise in restoring normal cognitive function after a concussion. John Leddy (right) and Barry Willer (left) are directors of the UB Concussion Management Clinic.

Patients can continue this exercise at home or in another health club but return to the clinic two weeks later after the last visit to review their progress. If there was improvement, the researchers increase the heart rate by five to ten beats per minute and conduct a trial run. This process is repeated until the patient is restored to health.

It can take anywhere between four weeks and four months, according to researchers.

To guarantee their safety, patients must be able to exercise between 80 and 90 percent of their maximum ability for 20 minutes at a time without worsening their symptoms. After showing they can exercise at the required rate, patients are allowed to return to their

normal routine or sport.

The study is further analyzed in “Exercise Treatment for Post-concussion Syndrome: A Pilot Study of Changes in Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Activation, Physiology and Symptoms,” a paper Leddy and Willer wrote with other researchers in December. The study included 10 patients, both athletes and non-athletes, who had suffered from concussions and were treated with either an aerobic or stretching exercise. Unlike patients who used the stretching exercise, those who trained aerobically returned to their normal ability more quickly.

In 2007, Tim Connolly, a former center for the Buffalo Sabres, participated in the program to heal an injury and was able to return to the rink within six weeks. Before working with the clinic, “he had been out of hockey for more than a year and wasn’t getting better,” Leddy said.

The study also proved how postconcussion patients can perform the same functions as uninjured people but use more energy to do so and, as a result, become more physically and mentally exhausted.

The treadmill exercises analyze other problems that post-concussion patients experience, such as difficulty managing emotions, physiology and injuries to other parts of the body.

“The other thing that the treadmill test helps us sort out is [determining] if there are accompanying injuries, like to the neck and to the balance system, which is called the stimulus system,” Leddy said. “So, there are other injuries that affect people with concussions that have to be taken into account.”

While other aerobic exercises, like going on the elliptical, bicycling and swimming, can help, the treadmill is especially beneficial in treating patients because it is easier for them to control increases in the physical workload, Willer said.

Neck muscles become just as vulnerable as the brain after a concussion and the treadmill encourages the patients to have a straight posture and thus prevents further injuries.

Another great benefit of the aerobic exercise program is that it is proactive, which can alleviate the patients’ negative emotions. Patients then feel in control and able to fix their situation, according to Willer.

Willer and Leddy will continue analyzing data to see if there are other approaches to studying brain function and the differences between people with and without post-concussion syndrome. They plan to conduct a bigger exercise trial with stretching programs and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging tests to see if there are larger changes in the brain that can be rehabilitated with the exercise.

Email: news@ubspectrum.com

Big Vinny’s Pizza

e Fre ry ive e! l e d tim any

877-1980

3289 Delaware Ave. Buffalo, NY 14217

Personal Pizza

L. Cheese Pepporini

L. Cheeses 20 wings

$5.00

$9.00

$19.95

FREE!

FREE!

Five Subs

20 oz. with any $5.00 purchase

2 Liter with any $20.00 purchase

$20.00

Off Campus Student Housing

Glendale Realty Services Group, LLC Phone: 716.374.0464 Fax: 716.568.8422 E-mail: reception@glenrsg.com

We offer 3 to 6 bedroom updated apartments at various locations all within walking distance to campus.

Call us today for more details and to schedule a showing!

Available May 31st!

ubspectrum.com

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

11

Brothers band together for Buffalo’s community ANDREA SAADAN

Staff Writer

Four years ago when Kyle McJury was pledging to his fraternity, the freshman would fill his free time cleaning out yards and shoveling driveways for the elderly and disabled residents who couldn’t do it themselves.

Today, McJury, a senior finance major and vice president of community service for UB’s Delta Sigma Pi, Alpha Kappa chapter participates in various community service projects with the fraternity.

Founded in 1925, Delta Sigma Pi, a national fraternity, is the university’s largest professional business fraternity that prides itself on its involvement in the community.

UB’s chapter is one of 200 on college campuses around the country.

Last fall, UB’s Delta Sigma Pi was nationally recognized for its community service efforts and was awarded Outstanding Community Service in the northeast region, according to Alisa Ho, a sophomore finance and computer science major and vice president of chapter operations. She said this award goes to one chapter from each region.

“We go above and beyond every standard that we need to adhere to and basically just try to set the example for our peers and other fraternities or chapters,” Ho said.

Ho said every chapter is required to complete eight community service events per year but UB’s chapter has already completed 16 events since the fall semester.

Aside from helping the public, the downstate native has gained a sense of community in Buffalo.

“You really get a sense of what the Buffalo community is like,” Ho said. “And then just to give back to something that I didn’t grow up around was really rewarding. Just being exposed to a different environment and seeing not everything in the world is perfect.”

Courtesy of Delta Sigma Pi

Delta Sigma Psi, UB's largest business fraternity, prides itself on community service.

Ho said the fraternity brings something different to the School of Management as it has corporate sponsorships from companies like Jim’s Steakout. She said the fraternity is leading by example because a lot of the other business fraternities at UB do not receive such sponsorships.

Delta Sigma Pi supports a number of causes and has had experience working with external organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity and Relay for Life.

McJury said the chapter is most dedicated to and works closely with the American Cancer Society.

The American Cancer Society holds more meaning for McJury than for any other fraternity members. When he was in high school, his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“When you find out someone has cancer, you learn to appreciate more about that person,” McJury said. “And I think once you start that, it doesn’t stop but instead builds up from there.”

He believes the more appreciative a person is and the more active he or she is in community service, the greater the chance of realizing there is a lot more that can be done to help others.

Another community service event that Delta Sigma Pi has worked with is Dreams from the Heart, which was created in 1994 for children with severe congenital heart disease, according to the organization’s official website.

Ray Orrange, a professor in the School of Management, worked very closely with this organization and the fraternity because he lost

his son to heart disease, according to McGee. Ho said doing community service, especially with Dreams from the Heart, gives her an unexplainable feeling that everyone should experience. She had done community service in high school, but nothing felt as good as working with these organizations, she said.

“Just seeing people so excited and willing to donate made me feel really good … I feel like I’m helping out with the community and my time’s being appreciated,” Ho said.

“There’s people out there who really do need help and especially in elderly homes there’s people whose families don’t even visit them that much so that just resonates well with me.”

One of the community services the chapter is more familiar with

is Project Naomi, whose goal is to assist low-income, disabled seniors with property maintenance in the Buffalo area. Both McJury and McGee helped with its start when they took their pledges as freshmen.

“We kind of helped take it off ground and with this project, we were really going around the Buffalo area to help elderly people clean up their yards and shovel snow during winter,” McGee said.

Gwendolyn Brown, the project’s founder, approached one of the pledge brothers and asked if they had people who could help, McJury said.

“We had 28 people at the time and it was nothing major … we kind of got used to the Buffalo area through this and we’ve been helping out every year since then,” McJury said.

The brothers helped out with Buffalo’s Habitat for Humanity two years ago and will be joining the organization again this year.

“We basically go to old houses and knock them down and help out with construction and clean-ups,” McGee said. “We help turn these rundown houses into something that people can actually move into … so that’s kind of fulfilling.”

McGee emphasized it is important for UB students to get involved outside of the classroom.

She believes doing community service will help a person develop.

“If you’re going to join an organization, give 100 percent,” Ho said. “You’re only going to get as much as you put into any organization and that’s just the motto that I live by. That’s why I always want to get involved in all these community and professional events just to better myself.”

Email: features@ubspectrum.com

12

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 ubspectrum.com

Life RACHEL KRAMER Senior Life Editor

Where to live next year: A detailed guide Off-Campus Apartments

It happens every year. Emails flood the inboxes of students, assuring them living on campus is the best decision or reminding them to hurry up and sign a lease with the Villas.

The decision of where to live in the next academic year is something that students stress over for months ahead of time. But with deadlines approaching, it’s time to make a decision.

These apartments are located around Buffalo and offer some variety to the living situation on campus. The lack of strict rules and policies are appealing to some students. For example, students are able to live with people of the opposite sex or with students from other local schools, considering the off-campus apartments aren’t solely for UB students.

Collegiate Village

Collegiate Village, located six minutes from South Campus and 10 minutes from North Campus, offers studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, threebedroom and four-bedroom apartments. Per person, the price ranges from $540 per month to $925 per month, depending on the design of the apartment. However, this price includes hot water, Internet, cable, parking, laundry machines and a gym. In each of these apartments, there are lockable bedrooms and a private bathroom. These apartments come fully furnished with full-size beds, a living room, a kitchen, a washer and a dryer.

University Village at Sweethome

Located at 283 American Campus Dr., these apartments are only a couple minutes away from North Campus. The

available layouts of these apartments include four bedrooms, two bedrooms and one bedroom. The price per person ranges from $624 a month to $974 a month for a 12-month lease, depending on which apartment you choose to live in. Each bedroom in the apartment has its own bathroom and includes utilities and furniture. Also available to Sweethome residents is a shuttle that transports students to campus and a movie room, a fitness center, a pool, poker tables and free tanning.

What the student says: Pro: “It’s homey and a good living space.

The shuttles are also always prompt and on time. The free coffee is also great and delicious.”

Con: “Unlike the dorms, it’s a less of an open feel.”

– Max Blaise, a sophomore mechanical and aerospace engineering major

Villas at Chestnut Ridge

Apartments are designed in four different ways, varying from a four bedroom with four-and-a-half bathrooms, which are three floors, to a one-bedroom and one-bathroom studio apartment. They are priced ranging from $679 to $989 per person per month for a 12-month lease. Each of these apartments comes with private bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a washer and a dryer. As a resident, students can enjoy a private shuttle to campus and fitness, computer and recreation centers.

What the student says: Pro: “The best part about living here is the proximity to campus and the unit itself. It’s pretty spacious and after decorating a bit, it starts to feel like home.

Not being tied to the school is also a plus. Getting a noise complaint here would be tough. Having the gym just a minute walk away is also a huge bonus.”

Con: “I’d say the worst part about living here is the quality of service for what we pay. Rent is extremely expensive and it’s clear the staff doesn’t have the intention of dealing with its residents after the paycheck has cleared. When we initially had the tour of the complex, we were told electric would hover around $25 per month between both of us. Now we’re dealing with monthly charges of up to $80 from National Grid without any answers from either the Villas or NG.” – Paul Prince, a senior media study major

Villas on Rensch

These two-story, single-style apartments come with four bedrooms and four bathrooms for $734 a month. This 2-year-old, fully furnished housing option offers USB power plugs scattered around the apartment and walk-in closets. The residents can enjoy the Mac computer center, the multimedia room, the fitness center or free tanning.

What the student says: Pro: “I like living there because it is nice place to live. You get your own bathroom and it’s furnished.

There is also buses that bring you to campus so you don’t have to drive Con: “It’s expensive. You have to wait a long time for the buses sometimes.

There is no pool or basketball court like at Sweethome. And those are less expensive. Also, maintenance finds too many random reasons to go inside your apartment.”

– Kyle Maier, a senior communication major Check out the on-campus breakdown on the next page

NEED CREDITS? THINK SUMMER!

STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY

SUMMERSESSIONS 2013 SESSION I: May 28 to July 3 • SESSION II: July 8 to August 15 EXTENDED SESSION: May 28 to July 18

Stay on track for graduation.

• Easy enrollment for visiting Summer students

• Convenient on-campus housing available

• More than 500 courses to choose from,

• Study-abroad opportunities

including those that meet core requirements

For more information visit stonybrook.edu/summer Stony Brook University/SUNY is an affirmative action, equal opportunity educator and employer. 12120677

• Choice of three convenient sessions

ubspectrum.com

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

13

On-campus living Living on campus in a dorm is a popular choice among undergraduate students who choose not to commute. Every resident receives a desk, a dresser, a lamp, an extra-long twin bed, a nightstand, wireless Internet, a cable connection and a wardrobe or closet in the room when he or she moves in.

Ellicott Complex

Ellicott Complex is the largest out of all the dorms on campus. With six residence quadrangles – including Fargo, Red Jacket, Richmond, Spaulding, Porter and Wilkeson – the complex can hold the most students.

The rooms are all priced differently, depending on how many people are living there: a single is $7,934, a double is $6,867, a triple is $6,542 and a quad is $5,905 for the upcoming 2013-14 school year, according to ub-housing. buffalo.edu.

What the student says: Pro: “It’s so easy to meet new people and there is a wide variety of different people who live here.”

Con: “Sharing a bathroom with about 20 girls.”

– Kelsey Durkot, a sophomore nursing major who has lived in Ellicott for two years

Greiner Hall

This “green” sophomore-only dorm is home to 600 students. While living here is more costly – $7,678 for a double and $8,867 for a single per academic year – there are many more perks. Aside from the standard furniture, every student gets a flexible dresser, which can be styled as the resident pleases. Instead of lamps, there are lighting fixtures built into the wall.

Each room is a double and designed in suite style, with four people sharing a bathroom and closet.

What the student says: Pro: “I love the big walk-in closet and the high ceilings in the room. It makes the room look bigger and nicer.”

Con: “It’s isolated. Well, each suite is [isolated] and that makes it hard to meet new people.”

– Christine Barry, a sophomore psychology major

Governors Complex

There are four halls or corners of Governors: Roosevelt, Clinton, Dewey and Lehman. Roosevelt is reserved for freshmen in the Honors program,

Hadley Village

Located close to the Academic Spine, these apartments are open to upperclassmen who are also undergraduate students. These four-bedroom or two-bedroom apartments are available for a 10- or 12-month lease – $630 a month for 12 months and $699 a month for 10 months – and come fully furnished with utilities included.

What the student says: Pro: “My favorite part about living at Hadley is the ability to hang out with my suitemates in the common area but then having my time for myself in my room. I also love the spaciousness of my room.”

Con: “My least favorite thing is not having an elevator because I live on the third floor so it sucks having to carry all my things all the way up, especially since I have a problem packing. I also wish the closet was a little bigger to accommodate all my shoes.”

– Natalie Nwanna, a senior psychology major

but the rest of Governors is available to any student in any year. Located closest to the academic buildings, it is priced the same as Ellicott dorms.

Other advantages include: a printing center, a gym and a dining hall.

What the student says: Pro: “There is a great sense of community between everyone.”

Con: “The dining hall, gym and convenience store are significantly small and need to be updated.”

– Sandi Katz, a sophomore psychology and speech and hearing science major

Clement Hall

Home to first-year students, transfer students and upperclassmen, this South Campus residence hall houses students who live in suite-style double rooms connected by a bathroom.

What the student says: Pro: “As a freshman, it was closer to the nightlife and there was a bigger sense of community than on North Campus. It’s not uncommon for floors to become close with other floors and residents from both Clement and Goodyear to interact often.”

Con: “It was my least favorite because of the commute. Even though it’s not a long commute, early classes sucked because the buses weren’t always on time and I had to get up extra early to make sure I could get to class on time.”

– Kwasi Adusei, a senior nursing major

Goodyear Hall

Located on South Campus, this residence hall is reserved for first-year students. These rooms are designed as a suite-style with two people in each room connected by a shared bathroom. Perks of this South Campus dwelling include: a 10th-floor lounge open to students during designated hours, a fitness center, a dining hall and a convenience store.

What the student says: Pro: “I liked having all my friends super close by and all in the same building so it was easy to hang out. We could eat dinner together every night if we wanted to. It was nice. Also, I liked the gym a lot better because it was never crowded with lots of people and I felt more comfortable working out. I liked having the plaza across the street at my convenience as well.”

South Lake Village

art by jeanette chwan

Con: “The dorms were tiny and ugly and so outdated compared to North Campus dorms … Sometimes I felt too distant from campus in the sense of being a part of UB. Goodyear kind of made me feel like they stick all the leftover kids who don’t have priority there and they don’t know what to do with. The worst part about living on South is the commute to North Campus every day and the constant anxiety of feeling or being late to class.”

– Jessica McGarry, a sophomore nursing major

The on-campus apartments

Students who want the convenience of living on campus but are tired of dorm life should look into the oncampus apartments. Students can opt to live in Flint Village, Hadley Village, South Lake Village, Creekside Village or Flickinger Court. Each of these apartments contains a private living room and a private kitchen.

Flint Village

These apartments, located at the main campus entrance, are open to undergraduate upperclassmen, graduate students and professional students. There are four different styles

available, from four bedrooms to one bedroom, averaging $726 a month for a 12-month lease. Each apartment is available fully furnished with utilities included.

What the student says: Pro: “Work orders are attended to in a rather timely fashion. The staff are very friendly. As for the living quarters, the living room is a decent size, so is the kitchen; the rooms could be bigger but it’s fit for the person staying there. The laundry rooms are always clean and the floors are fairly quiet.

The apartments are also conveniently placed in the middle of campus.”

Con: “The heating and cooling system of the apartment only circulates in the living room so your room will be cold during the winter months and warm during the summer months. The price is way more expensive than the dorms and they have shortened the months to lease the apartments to 10 months instead of having it for the whole year.

So if you are taking summer classes, good luck finding a place to stay either on or off campus.”

– Michelle Abekeh, a senior exercise science major

Located on the shore of Lake LaSalle, South Lake Village is home to undergraduate upperclassmen, graduate students and professional students.

Available designs include a four-bedroom and two-bathrooms, two-bedrooms and one-bathroom, one-bedroom and one-bathroom and a studio apartment. The price averages at $756 per month for a 12-month lease. The four-bedroom style is the only one available for a 10-month lease for $699.

What the student says: Pro: “It’s the nicest and roomiest out of all the on-campus apartments.”

Con: “There are no Stampede busses anywhere near me.

– Josh Wohlfeld, a senior business major

Creekside Village

This “green” housing complex at UB is open to graduate and professional students only. The apartments are arranged as a two bedroom with one-and-a-half baths as a two-story townhouse or a two-bedroom with one bathroom as a one-story home.

Each unit is equipped with a washer and dryer and is available for 12 months for $771 per month.

Email: features@ubspectrum.com

secure your for fall 2013

private bedroom & bathroom spaces going fast - apply today great location to campus + private bedrooms & bathrooms + individual leases + fully furnished apartments private shuttle to campus + resort-style amenities + fitness center + free tanning

university village at sweethome

villas on rensch

villas at chestnut ridge

ubspectrum.com

14

Would you rather?

NICHOLAS C. TURTON Staff Writer

“Would you rather share a room with one of your siblings or move your room to the basement?” my stepmother asked me over winter break. I laughed, thinking this was an impromptu game of Would You Rather.

But she wasn’t laughing.

My parents needed to separate my siblings who are now 8 and 9 years old, and these were the two alternatives.

I thought about the options: sharing a room with a sister would lead to impromptu sessions of doll-playing and dress up; a room with my brother would mean sleepless nights of snoring. I opted for the unfinished basement.

Moving out of my room of 10 years was a surreal experience. I thought about how I went through elementary, middle and high school living in that room. For the past two years, I was going to college while living there, too.

But living at home with my parents was never my ideal situation – I had always wanted to go away, dorm or live in an apartment to get the “full” college experience. After deciding to go to UB, however,

I ended up becoming a commuter and remain at home with my parents.

Living at home was mainly a financial decision; it saved me a lot of money. In fact, over 50 percent of all college students in the United States live at home to combat the expenses of school, tuition and room and board, according to a recent study by Sallie Mae. But I feel like I’m sacrificing a totally new experience for financial safety.

Sure, I call my basement dwelling the Bat Cave. I can do laundry on the same floor I sleep on and I get the occasional homemade meal, but I’m missing out on the experience of being on my own, experiencing new things and meeting new people.

Sometimes I feel like I would rather deal with wacky roommates, abnormal sleep patterns and learn to survive off of a diet of cereal and Ramen noodles, but everything has its ups and downs.

The question I have to answer is, “Would you rather live at home with your parents for less money or on your own and take the financial risk?”

I’ve decided that I want to move out as soon as possible. It would probably be best for my parents and me.

Maybe I will realize it’s going to be a mistake or maybe I’ll realize it won’t be, but it’s a mistake I’m willing to make.

Until then, I plan on making the most of what I have.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Commuting to college

LISA EPSTEIN

Asst. Life Editor

During my freshman year of college, I tried to have what I thought would be the complete college experience: I lived in a dorm with a less-than-ideal roommate, dealt with loud neighbors, ate sub-par meals and read texts for countless hours at my small, poorly lit desk.

And I did all this while living in the same town I grew up in.

I know it probably sounds strange that I paid to dorm at school when I could easily live at home and save money. I knew I was lucky I had the option of where to live; my parents told me they wanted me to live on my own and experience life outside the walls of my house.

But for all of the freedom and independence I felt while dorming at UB, I found I didn’t enjoy it as much as some of my peers. I didn’t have time to go out every weekend and sleep all day because I had to work nearly every weekend at my part-time job. I didn’t become close with my roommate – and her boyfriend being over every night didn’t help the situation.

I hated having to rely on a meal plan for my meals during the day.

I didn’t like having restrictions on how many meals I could use per day because I often had times

where I couldn’t use one of my meals because I was working or in class. And eating the same unhealthy meals at the same places on campus became too monotonous for me. I could only eat so many meals from Sizzles or Hubies where the food was fried, salty or both.

I also didn’t enjoy the dorm bathrooms.

I hated going into the bathroom and finding clumps of hair in the drain or soap and water splashed all over the floor. I was forced to wear flip-flops to shower so I didn’t contract some unknown foot fungus.

Living next to a kitchen area sucked. It was hard studying for my World Civ midterm while listening to a group of students in the next room cooking strange meals and loudly talking about their drunken adventures on South Campus or at Mojos.

I found the longer I lived in my cramped dorm room, the more living at home didn’t sound so horrible. Many of my friends were commuters and told me I was so lucky to live on campus because commuting was horrible and driving to school every day was a hassle.

For my second year, I decided to live at home.

From what I had heard from my commuter friends, I dreaded driving back and forth to campus every day even before the fall semester began. I didn’t know if this was the right decision, but I was willing to try it out for the year.

I’ve found commuting isn’t nearly as bad as people make it out to be. I get to live in a room by myself without a roommate. My family gives me space and time to do work and study without bothering me. I’m saving money by not

Email: ncturton@buffalo.edu

$719 $800

paying for a dorm room and meal plan.

And having home cooked meals every day isn’t a bad deal either.

Sure, I miss being independent and living alone. Things like staying up late or listening to music aren’t as acceptable to my family as they are to me.

But I like seeing my family and my pets every day. I like that I can go home every night and sleep in my bed, rather than an uncomfortably small dorm bed. I like that I can go home to my family and not be bothered with messy roommates and a small, dark dorm room. And driving back and forth to school every day isn’t nearly as bad as all my friends said.

Sometimes I think about the college experience I’m missing out on by not living away from home and I know a lot of my friends wish they didn’t have to spend four years at UB under their parents’ roof. Sure, I don’t go to as many parties and I don’t get to live with a bunch of my friends, but living at home is really what you make of it.

You can make friends on campus to spend time with while you’re here. It doesn’t have to be lonely and friendless. I make time to spend with friends and activities on campus can make a boring day on campus more exciting.

I’ve come to realize my college experience may not be what I envisioned as my college career before I got to UB, but I know my experience is my own. If my experience in college happens while I live in my house away from campus, I’m perfectly OK with that.

Email: lisa.epstein@ubspectrum.com

ubspectrum.com

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

15

I like living in the heights, want to fight about it?

LYZI WHITE

Life Editor

I’ve lived in the University Heights, willingly, for the last three years.

I’ve dealt with hordes of students running through the streets on their way to parties. I’ve seen a random couple roll around while making out on my lawn. I’ve had nearly naked girls try to come into my house, mistaking mine for the frat house next door – because apparently they didn’t take the blasting of “Gangnam Style” as a hint.

Those are just the minor annoyances. I agree there are real problems in the Heights.

My friends lived on Lisbon for a couple months. Multiple times when we sat on the front porch, a haggard and dirty crackhead would come up to us asking for drugs. We’d say we had none and he would leave – or so we thought. One time, 20 minutes later, he jumped out of the bushes and asked again. He said he just moved in next door; we realized he was lying when he started loitering in front of “his house” and asked the people who walked out of it for weed.

A friend of mine was mugged when he was peeing behind a dumpster on Lisbon. My friend told me that one time on Merrimac, a group of guys chased down a student who was riding his bicycle and proceeded to rob and beat him – they took his bike. At a bar once, a large man came up to me and said something like, “I have $10,000 in my pocket and a car outside. I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

Once, as I walked home from the bar late at night, a man started talk-

ing to me. My mother always taught me the old adage, “Never judge a book by its cover,” so I politely conversed with him. He continued to walk with me down the street until I ran into an acquaintance. I didn’t stop to talk to him; we only greeted each other as we walked by. The stranger promptly crossed the street and I don’t know where he went.

I know it’s a dangerous area compared to campus. I know I shouldn’t walk home by myself at night.

Still, I would rather live there than on campus.

I’m a poor college student. I don’t have a car. I’m limited in the ways I can get to and from campus without public transportation – and the Stampede is paid for with my tuition already. I don’t have the funds to live in the fancy apartments on Sweet Home or the ones on campus and there is no way in hell that, as a 21-year-old single woman, living in the dorms would be bearable for me.

My apartments were far from luxurious and the landlords I’ve dealt with weren’t exactly nice and responsive.

But I’m aware – and I’m sure many other Heights residents are, as well – that you get what you pay for and I’ve never paid over $275 a month for rent.

The only thing that has ever been stolen from me was my bicycle, and it basically was my fault anyway for leaving it on my front lawn. Even though it was locked, I woke up the next morning, after spending about $100 fixing it the day before, and it was nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately for me, the Buffalo Police Department didn’t really make my stolen bicycle its top priority.

Everyone talks about the negative aspects of living in the University Heights and those are extremely important. I agree there should be changes and UB should take responsibility for some of the problems their students face. UB might not be in the protection business, but what kind of business will you be in when no students want to come to your university?

Still, there are great things about living in the Heights, which often get overlooked.

There’s an atmosphere of freedom in the Heights for me, especially during the day. It’s a college area – there’s a kind of connection between students because we all live in close vicinity and you’re bound to see many of the same faces often.

I love the independence that comes with living away from home.

I’m responsible for myself and have no one looking over my shoulder nagging me to do homework or clean up.

I like living in the University Heights but I’m not naïve. I carry mace with me when I go out at night, if I have a bad feeling about a stranger walking near me, I try to avoid them as best as possible and I’m aware my landlord is not a man seeing me as anything but a paycheck.

I knew what to expect when I signed my lease to live in the Heights. Like most things in life, there are good and bad qualities. Of course there is danger and crime, but there’s also affordable housing and a place of independence.

Email: lyzi.white@ubspectrum.com

LEARN TO DRIVE AT BuffALO DRIVINg SchOOLS

Warranty instruction package included.

Organic Produce and Organic & Natural Foods at the best prices!

WE NOW ACCEPT CAMPUS CASH! 1 FREE STONYFIELD YOGURT (8oz FRUIT OR PLAIN) WITH ANY CAMPUS CASH PURCHASE COUPON

free pick up & drop off for all lessons cALL AhEAD for free huttle from North & South campus to our 5-hour course. cALL fOR

834-4300

www.buffalodrivingschools.com

TOTAL CAR CARE LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED

Large Selection of Vitamins and Health Care Products!

3912 Maple Road -- Amherst NY 14226 -- (716) 834-3385

Honoring All Existing Warranties 1171 Niagara Falls Blvd Amherst NY

Formerly MIDAS

837-4000

www.premiercarcarewny.com

WHAT IS

RecycleMania? buffalo.edu/sustainability

*We now accept campus cash!*

ubspectrum.com

16

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Finding the right exposure Photo club travels around city looking for the best images

BETHANY WALTON Staff Writer

A young woman sits on a couchshaped gravestone on a cold winter day. The background is gray and grim. The trees are bare and her rigidly poised body stands out against the graveyard in which she sits. Her face is completely hidden by a head full of long curls.

This photo, taken by sophomore business major Khashayar Karami in Forest Lawn Cemetery on Delaware Avenue, is just one of many taken by members of UB Exposure.

Last semester, Tejas Bangre, a graduate student studying industrial and systems engineering, and a group of five undergraduate students created UB Exposure – a photo club for people interested in photography. Bangre originally considered starting the club through the Graduate Student Association but found much more interest among UB’s undergraduate community.

The club has a big project ready to launch as soon as its Student Association club registration is fully processed. Humans of UB will consist of members taking portraits of different students and faculty members on campus. After getting the subjects’ contact infor-

mation, each photo will be posted on the UB Exposure Facebook page with quotes about the subject.

Ariel Namoca, a sophomore communication major and the club’s vice president, proposed the idea. Humans of UB will be UB Exposure’s way of promoting the club on campus while showing UB students the diversity present on campus.

The club has two main goals: to guide and help students who already have experience with a camera and to teach and inspire students who have an interest in the field but no experience. By helping new members hone their skills, the executive board officers also learn how to improve their own techniques, according to Bangre.

“The best [way] to learn anything is to teach it, so those who already have the knowledge also gain some more experience by teaching those who don’t,” Bangre said.

“Photo walks,” or small trips the club takes around Buffalo, are scheduled at least once a month, according to Bangre. Members will explore a section of the city, like Downtown Buffalo, for about three hours. They take photos and enjoy the atmosphere.

An ideal place to take photos in the city is a wide, well-lit area with an abundance of structures and

buildings said Karami, president of UB Exposure.

The location and the success of the walks are heavily dependent on the weather, Karami said. Light is an important factor in a photo and because winter months in Buffalo are generally dim, the group must wait to shoot on days with a decent amount of sunshine.

After taking photos, students post them to the UB Exposure Facebook page and get critiqued by other members. Occasional photo competitions will be held amongst

the group and photos will be printed out as large works of art to be displayed around campus.

The constant sharing of photos and critiquing help members become better photographers, Namoca said. As a photographer for SA, Namoca’s main focus is in event photography. He is not yet a professional photographer and sees the quality of his work improving every day.

“As a photographer, you are always in your learning phase,” Namoca said. “You are always getting better, always learning new techniques and always trying new things out. You just get a lot better as you go.”

In addition to needing no prior experience, there are no fees required to join, transportation is provided for walks and members can photograph with anything – from a disposable camera to a Nikon Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera. If they’re a little hesitant to jump in right away, participants can come along and just watch and learn some basic tech-

niques, according to Karami.

“The rule of photography is whoever has a camera is a photographer,” Karami said. “That’s why it is so easy for people to join [UB Exposure]. Almost everyone has a phone these days and they can just take their phone, look through their phone, find a proper angle, proper lighting and find a good subject and just take a photo.”

Karami plans to pursue photography in the future, but for now he wants to focus on capturing moments in the present. He hopes members will find similar inspiration through their photography.

“I want to capture every single moment that I want to remember in 20 or 30 years,” Karami said. “I want to create some surreal pictures that bring emotion to the art and, maybe in the future my work will be enough that I can share it.”

Students are encouraged to join whether they have experience with photography or not, Karami said.

Email: features@ubspectrum.com

Courtesy of Khashayar Karami

WE’RE HIRING!

“The American Dream Is Ours To Defend”

The Training of Your Choice !"#$%"&'$()*+',$-).)/'& 01++2345)$-).)/'&6$7*8'2345)$9": ;".',+<$7*<=,)=> Scholarship Opportunities Tuition Assistance For more information, please contact:

SSG Joseph Hurley (716) 583­4518 joseph.j.hurley.mil@mail.mil

ubspectrum.com

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

17

Dormoralizing

The perfect location for sexy time FELICIA O. Special to The Spectrum

Whether it’s after a romantic date, after a night of partying or just because you have that itch that needs to be scratched, sometimes you need to get down and dirty as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, this cannot always happen – especially if you live in an on-campus dorm or an apartment – because it’s not polite to have sex when your roommate is chowing down on a turkey sandwich on the other side of the room.

Obviously when you’re not living by yourself, you can’t hook up whenever or wherever you want.

While sharing a room or house can make indulging in sexual desires difficult, there are ways to maneuver around the problem.

It’s all about communication and creativity when you live in a dorm room. First off, if you get along with your roommate (or roommates), then you need to be open and honest with them. If you know you and your partner want to spend a romantic night by yourselves in the room, tell your roommates and plan ahead.

I’m sure if you’re respectful and get along with your roommate well enough, it won’t be a problem for him or her to leave the room for a couple hours while you do your thing. But keep in mind, the dorm walls are incredibly thin, so try not to be loud with your exploits if you don’t want to receive angry notes or annoyed looks from your floor mates.

As cliché as the sock on the door might be, it’s better than walking in on some guy’s hanging dong or a naked girl grinding on your roommate’s lap.

Even if you believe your roommate is a very heavy sleeper, I would advise against trying to have sex while he or she is snoozing.

Because if your roomie is actually awake and hears the awkward moaning and uncomfortable dirty talk, it will make the atmosphere incredibly rough and difficult to live in.

However, there are some people who are unlucky enough to get placed with someone, or some people, who they don’t get along with. When that’s the case and polite discussions are just not an option, you’re going to need to get creative without being disrespectful.

First try going to your boyfriend or girlfriend’s room, and if that’s not an option, then you’re going to have a venture outside the dorm room. There are facilities around the dorms that aren’t your room – try them out. It’s college, right?

It’s a time of exploration and there are secluded places all over campus, free from watchful eyes, you can utilize.

Another group of people that probably have more difficulty finding a good time and place for sex is commuters.

I know for a fact that if I ever tried to bring a boy over when I lived at home, there was no way I’d try doing the dance with no pants when my family was home. That hasn’t changed just because I’m in college.

After a night of partying, bringing home a random person into your family home is a terrible plan.

First try heading to his or her place.

If that doesn’t work, there’s always car sex. Sometimes it’s uncomfortable and awkward because of the lack of space to position but, hey, it’s the best you can do.

Even when you live in an oncampus apartment or off-campus house, having your own room doesn’t always mean you’re free to have sex whenever you want. I know in my house, the walls and floors might as well be loud amplifiers. I can hear my roommate’s vibrating phone in the room above me and I can hear basically all conversations taking place in my kitchen, which is two rooms away from my own. If I want to bring someone over, I do my best to let my roommates know or at least put music on, so they don’t have to hear sex noises all night.

But one great aspect of living in an apartment is the freedom to have more than just the bedroom to get down and dirty when your roommates aren’t home. It’s something that’s much more difficult to do in your family home or in the dorms, so take advantage of the opportunities.

Email: features@ubspectrum.com

REBECCA BRATEK Managing Editor

During my senior year of high school, my math teacher begged those who were staying local for college not to dorm.

He told us it was a moneymaking scam that universities would tout as essential to the “college experience” and that you weren’t missing out if you commuted the 15 minutes from your house to campus.

Because I was a stubborn 18-year-old who thought she just had to live on her own, I decided to dorm for the first two years of my college career. I’ve lived the past two years at home to save money – even though I’m still too stubborn to admit Mr. Oliver was right. While I don’t regret choosing campus life, I will urge you locals to take the commute over a dorm room – after you at least try out life away from home.

My freshman year, I lived in a triple with two girls in Spaulding.

I had never shared a room before, and I was excited to meet two girls my age who I thought would be my “BFFs 4ever” and would be bridesmaids at my wedding, just like every movie about college told me would happen.

That didn’t happen. Instead, I was stuck with a girl who had such awful night terrors that she would scream and flail every night in her sleep, waking me up every hour, and I thought she might be dying.

She also never really left the room, which got awkward.

My other roommate, when not bonding with me over the constant fear of our roommate’s seemingly imminent death, had a boy basically living in my room. One time I even walked into my room from the shower wearing nothing but a towel and he was there sitting on her bed while she was nowhere in sight.

I swear he didn’t have a home and he didn’t understand why I was peeved when he would ask her if her roommates had ever heard her having sex while they’re in the room as the bed constantly squeaked past midnight. (For the record, I heard every time.)

So instead, I spent most of my time bumming the floors of my friends with single rooms to escape, making pillow beds on the linoleum floors and messing up my back because I thought it was better than the alternative. I thought my friends’ neighbors, who would also have loud sex – complete with screams in foreign languages – or who would throw dinner plates at the wall because of a break up, were much better than actually sleeping in my own bed.

I remember getting kicked out of the Katharine Cornell Theatre because my freshman-year fling and I needed a private space away from our roommates that never left. We didn’t notice there was a windowwall and an RA on the terrace who could see everything – I don’t think we’ve ever run so fast.

Another time, a friend thought he’d play a joke on me by stealing my room key off my lanyard at dinner one night. He meant to return it by the end of the meal, but for some reason, that didn’t happen. I spent my whole night retracing every step I made that day, neurotically checking every place on campus I visited.

I even stopped my laundry midcycle to make sure it wasn’t in my jeans pocket (to the 2009-10 residents of Spaulding, I’m really sorry for breaking that washing machine and leaving an ocean-like puddle on the floor). After about two hours of searching and apologizing to my RA, I collapsed in the hallway outside my room and texted my friend. He remembered then that he had my key.

One wall of my room that year was also made fully of glass.

Though I’m sure that made for some interesting views for my neighbors across the courtyard, I didn’t think anything of it until a crack took up half the window one morning. My only guess is that someone drunkenly threw something at our window, and we lived Continued on page 25

MJPRental.com

WNY’s Best Choice for Apartment Living!

PROPERTIES LOCATED NEAR UB!

Deer Lakes Apartments

London Towne Apartments

Princeton Court Apartments

Liberty Square Apartments

Peppertree Village Apartments

Single Family Homes, Duplexes, Condos

(716) 689-6006 DeerLakes@mjpeterson.com www.DeerLakesApartments.com (716) 691-7083 LibertySquare@mjpeterson.com www.LibertySquareApartments.com

(716) 691-9088 LondonTowne@mjpeterson.com www.LondonTowneApartmentsMJP.com (716) 691-8333 PeppertreeVillage@mjpeterson.com www.PeppertreeVillageApartments.com

(716) 835-1914 PrincetonCourt@mjpeterson.com www.PrincetonCourtApartmentsMJP.com (716) 689-6006 MJPRental@mjpeterson.com www.MJPRental.com

CHECK ONLINE FOR FEATURES & AVAILABILTY! www.MJPRental.com Professionally managed by

MJ Peterson Real Estate

ubspectrum.com

18

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Thank you, Reggie.

!"#$%&'(&)(*"&(++&,#)-./& & 4&.5-.1-.($6&02(1&."

7-2(8$92"$:$42%3-$;.03',-, <=/-*1-.0-$>-20-?'3$6151.@ !"#$!%&'($)'*$+(',-.($+/-0123

Tonawanda RAINTREE ISLAND

716.694.8742 !"

Heat, Gas & Cable included !"

Eat-in kitchens !"

Balconies available !"

Fitness, swimming pool, recreational sports

Raintree@tricityrentals.com RaintreeIsland.com www.RaintreeIsland.com

Amherst EMERSON SQUARE

Tonawanda PARADISE LANE

716.696.3135 !"

Heat, Gas & Cable included !"

Balconies !"

Additional storage space !"

Fitness, swimming pool, recreational sports

Paradise@tricityrentals.com www.ParadiseLaneApts.com www.TriCityRentals.com

518.862.6600

716.862.9197 !"

Heat, Gas & Cable included !"

Spacious one bedroom apartments !"

Air conditioning !"

Verizon FIOS ready

Emerson@tricityrentals.com www.EmersonSquareApts.com

ubspectrum.com

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

19

DAVID BROZA IN CONCERT

The Jewish Community Center in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo and Temple Beth Zion’s Stained Glass Concert Series presents:

Israeli multi-platinum superstar David Broza will thrill you with his flamenco-tinged, folk-rock melodies, his keen talent for breathing musical life into sensual snippets of poetry and his sultry good looks. Dubbed the “Stevie Ray Vaughan of folk rock,” he travels the world singing in English, Hebrew and Spanish.

SUNDAY, APRIL 14 2-3:30 PM Temple Beth Zion 805 Delaware Avenue Buffalo, NY

100/ VIP Limited Front Row

$

1st 2 rows on floor & 1st balcony row seating (plus post-show dessert reception & photo opportunities with David Broza)

as part of the 65 Anniversary of

18/ General Admission

$

th

3/handling charge p/ticket 18 max handling charge

$

$

A Celebration of

65/ Family of 4

$

at

10/each additional child under 18

$

Tickets available at:

JCC Benderson Family Building - 2640 N. Forest Road, Getzville JCC Holland Family Building - 787 Delaware Ave., Buffalo www.showclix.com/event/davidbrozabuffalo

Producers:

Platinum Sponsor: INDEPENDENTLY OWNED AND OPERATED

Platinum sponsorship by Ben Schiller and David Schiller

11:30 am -1:30 pm JCC Holland Family Building (next to Temple Beth Zion) Free & open to the public • Early Childhood reunion • Israeli-style kosher food for sale • Family fun, games & prizes!

• Yom Ha’Zicharon program immediately following concert •

Gold Sponsor:

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 ubspectrum.com

20

Arts & Entertainment

[Spring] breaking Buffalovin’ break tradition

LISA DE LA TORRE Asst. Arts Editor

Before this year’s spring break, the last vacation I’d been on that I could remember was to Puerto Rico when I was 7 years old.

I spent the week having my hair braided by local women and playing with a Beanie Baby parrot that my mom bought me at the hotel gift shop, which I cried hysterically over after an overzealous playmate snapped off its TY tag in the heat of an argument.

Needless to say, I was wholly unprepared for the booty-shaking, tequila-shotting, banana-boating sin that was rumored to ensue on the Xtreme Trips getaway my friends and I planned to attend this year.

In our senior year, my pledge class is a group of 13 girls who’ve been friends since we were freshmen. We made a pact around this time last year to voyage to Mexico for the final spring break of our college careers – a “last hurrah” of sorts. And while the promise of tanned skin and sunlight was titillating, as the trip grew closer, I started experiencing major anxiety.

For the past three years, I’ve spent every spring break at home on Long Island sleeping and stuffing my face with bagels. The thought of passing up my sedentary rituals was unnerving, partially because I’m lazy and typically try to avoid change and partially because I wasn’t sure if I was prepared for the chaotic college spring break that seems to appeal to every other student.

Friends told me all about what to expect on this seven-day excursion to Mexico, and what I took from their stories was that I should expect an excess of alcohol, drugs

and sex – and if any of these elements didn’t interest me, I would basically be left in the dust all by my pious lonesome.

However, I was pleasantly surprised upon arriving in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to learn that my wholesomeness was not at stake simply because I was traveling to another country through a less-than-respectable travel agency.

Although debauchery was definitely encouraged on the trip – “If you don’t throw up at least once, I’m not doing my job,” said one of the trip’s adult chaperones – my friends and I took our freedom and did what we wanted with it, without pressure to outdo the wanton behavior of students of spring breaks past.

I realized this sense of autonomy is what spring break, or any break, is all about.

Whether you spend your time off making snow angels in Buffalo or shot-gunning beers on a beach in Cancun, you’re doing it right as long as you’re doing what you want.

I know I’ll probably never experience a trip like my trip to Mexico ever again, and I’m OK with that, especially for my liver’s sake.

Some people still raise their brows at me when I disclose the fact that I spent my week in a beachside bacchanalia, but the truth is, my fondest memories from the trip involve laughing and dancing with my friends – not taking body shots off sandy strangers.

On one particular evening toward the end of the trip, I sat alone on my balcony while my roommates napped. In my twilight-induced serenity, it hit me that the year is coming to a close and the arrival of spring break marks the beginning of the “home stretch” with graduation looming at the other end.

These thoughts got me feeling sentimental. And as I stared through my dewy eyes at the pink-streaked Mexican sky, I made a vow: never again will I trade a good time with my friends for good bagels in my bed.

Email: lisa.delatorre@ubspectrum.com

Spend a bright summer in Buffalo Get ahead in your studies, work with a favorite professor in a smaller setting, or take appropriate classes to get back on track with a four-year graduation plan. Choose from a huge schedule of on-campus and online credit-bearing courses at UBThisSummer.

Register today!

Find a course or two that’s right for you at

ubthissummer.buffalo.edu.

ELVA AGUILAR Senior Arts Editor Last Friday felt like any other Friday. I went to class, picked up some Wendy’s afterward and sat on my couch for the rest of the afternoon sending silly memes to my roommate while he was at work. It wasn’t until I saw my friends posting pictures of their delectable home cooked Latin American meals that I felt my Baconator and Sprite with no ice just wasn’t enough.

It had suddenly dawned on me that this Friday wasn’t just any Friday. My peers were all headed home for spring break and this lonely Long Islander would be “stuck” in Buffalo for a week of boredom, snow and depression.

Don’t get me wrong – I love the Queen City. She’s given me amazing friends and memories, but everybody deserves a vacation and not being able to physically leave Buffalo felt as though I wasn’t granted one.

That night was tough for me. My Twitter feed was full of complaints from people stuck on a cramped Megabus and my Instagram feed was flooded with amateur pictures of various planes and airports, all of which I envied. What really got to me, however, was a harmless picture my cousin posted on Facebook of her, my sister-inlaw and other friends and family I normally see during my excursions in Brentwood, N.Y. It sounds melodramatic, yes, but the picture made me cry. The build-up of unfortunate events that plague me every semester, along with the fact that I’m just an emotional person, were all triggered by a picture of five women holding up cups having a good time. Aside from my roommate

and his best friend, I keep an extremely low profile in Buffalo. I’ve made friends here but kept very few, so the one week I had to go home and be with my support system, I didn’t.

That might not mean much to most college students, but it does to me. Unlike a lot of my peers, I speak to my mother every day for hours and if you come across me walking the halls at UB with my head buried in my cell phone, it’s because I’m texting my cousin at Alfred University or my friends at home.

Once I accepted my reality and quit perpetually complaining to my annoyed roommate, I made a list of things I could get done with my free time.

Needless to say, most of the work I planned to do was put off, but I did have the opportunity to enjoy Buffalo for a week with no responsibilities. I had no class, which meant I was excused of my responsibilities at The Spectrum and when I stopped thinking about it, I felt relaxed.

I was lucky enough to have my friend Ayla back in town from Washington, D.C., and the time I spent with her helped bring me back to Earth and recalibrate my mind for the second half of my final semester. I was able to go to church, sleep in and do what I wanted, when I wanted – a luxury I know will be scarce once I begin my postgraduation grind.

I also spent a lot of time with my roommate, whom I’ll sadly have to say goodbye to after I move out of Buffalo in July. I’ve spent the last few years growing closer to these friends of mine and spring break was an opportunity to enjoy the last free moments I had with them.

Once again, I know this sounds melodramatic, but this was my final spring break.

I’ve been in college for five years; not one of those years went without a hitch and I spent my time struggling and striving instead of partying and enjoying myself. But my final spring break as an undergraduate gave me time to reflect on this current phase of my life.

It might have never been easy, it might have never been ideal, but it’s my life and I wouldn’t have wanted to grow up anywhere else.

Even when I complain, it’s all Buffalove.

Email: elva.aguilar@ubspectrum.com

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

ubspectrum.com

21

A cloudy Experience The 20/20 Experience shows listeners “a few things” of varying quality yet remains self-assured and respectful.

“Suit & Tie” was an event – a shindig where Timberlake attempted to draw the public into this weird ’70s-style, madeAlbum: The 20/20 Experience for-wedding, three-part package. But it’s Artist: Justin Timberlake only weird if it doesn’t work, and having Label: RCA Jay-Z and Timbaland on backup definiteRelease Date: March 19 ly works.

Grade: B Speaking of Timbaland, the production is superb on The 20/20 Experience.

The 20/20 Experience doesn’t feel like a It’s hard to quantify the album as 10 comeback album. The term “comeback” tracks because of how they’re split into implicitly describes a figure that has dis- sections, but Timbaland and co. doesn’t appeared from pop culture’s conscious- feel the least bit overwhelmed at Timberness. That’s not what Justin Timberlake lake’s ambitions. The instrumentals aren’t is. just lush and atmospheric but also indulTimberlake has kept his name alive in gent in their own environment. It’s also various ways: the sensual afterglow of the little details that aid the production, FutureSex/LoveSounds, acclaimed acting too, like the vocal samples in “Tunnel Viroles, being Justin Timberlake. J.T. has re- sion” and “Spaceship Coupe.” mained cool during the seven-year hiatus; The album’s best moments are when so much so it seemed the very concept of he embraces that sensual indulgence. cool would become a cliché.

“Spaceship Coupe” is over the top in its So it’s safe to say The 20/20 Experi- baby-making ambitions, and Timberlake ence isn’t strictly an epic return from one is well aware of that. The crooner sings of pop culture’s most likable artists. He that an airplane simply isn’t enough for isn’t aiming to infiltrate the masses’ con- him and his lover: “Where we’re going is sciousness like he did (and succeeded way too high.” in doing) in his sophomore effort; The No, that guitar solo is going to be so 20/20 Experience instead invites us into intense, that synth is going to be so dirty his. The album tries to cast Timberlake as and Timberlake’s vocals are going to be this enigmatic figure in its odd 10-track, so intimate that the couple simply must 70-minute duration. have a spaceship coupe. It sounds like The fact that “Suit & Tie” is the al- he’s right.

JOB 9-279C2 bum’s leading single and its second track 10.63 X7 set the tone. It’s not a radio single per say, (SUNY BUFFALO) but a statementSPECTRUM that pushes arrogance,

BRIAN JOSEPHS

Senior Managing Editor

Maximize your full potential with a Graduate Degree from LIU Post’s College of Management. ▲ ▲

M.B.A. ▲ M.P.A. in Public Administration or Health Care Administration M.S. in Accountancy ▲ M.S. in Taxation

GRADUATE OPEN HOUSE Tuesday, June 11 • 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

LIU Post • Brookville, N.Y. • Exit 39N off the Long Island Expressway Contact Cynthia Cataudella at 516-299-2098 or cynthia.cataudella@liu.edu

College of Management liu.edu/post/com/BF The C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University is now LIU Post.

Tracks like “Pusher Love Girl” and “Tunnel Love” aren’t as epic, but Timberlake’s personality easily carries these songs. However, The 20/20 Experience stumbles because J.T.’s enigma runs thin in the 70 minutes. He doesn’t embrace that sensual indulgence in some crucial moments, and as a result, his presence seems more situational than commanding.

This makes for some bland moments, which is strange because they’re areas were Timberlake has mastered – pop. The album’s low point is “Let The Groove In,” which sounds like more of a cut from the Wedding Crashers soundtrack.

J.T.’s persona is a rather damning flaw in The 20/20 Experience because while the 70 minutes are expansive, the 10 tracks are constrictive. It feel sometimes like Timberlake doesn’t know what character he wants to portray in this shortened track list, so the album as a whole teeters toward being unfocused as he swings from hopeless lover in “That Girl” to clubber in “Don’t Hold The Wall.”

Perhaps the key to Timberlake producing a classic is embracing that indulgence instead of shooting for ambition. He certainly doesn’t need to aim for higher artistry. He is J.T., after all.

You may also like: D’Angelo’s Voodoo, Miguel’s Kaleidoscope Dream Email: arts@ubspectrum.com

ubspectrum.com

22

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Mixtape Monthly #12 ELVA AGUILAR and DUANE OWENS Senior Arts Editor and Contributing Writer

HS87 – All I’ve Ever Dreamed Of He created Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “In Paris.”

He produced “Clique,” “Goldie” and “Drop the World.”

And most recently, he brought you the vicious return of Beyonce as she told you all to “Bow Down.”

Rapper/producer Hit-Boy has been birthing hip-hop hits for the last two years and the mainstream couldn’t be more unaware of his presence until now. Last summer, he released his first rap “Jay-Z Interview,” along with his first solo mixtape HITstory, and the gem went over the heads of hypebeasts everyCourtesy of HS87 where. All I’ve Ever Dreamed Of is a collaborative mixtape featuring Hit-Boy and the artists on his HS87 record label.

Mac Miller – Run On Sentences Vol. 1 Mac Miller has had a great 2013 so far. His MTV2 show Mac Miller and The Most Dope Family has made its way into 20-something-year-old men’s Tuesday nights and winning Complex’s Man of the Year isn’t something anybody should look over, either.

Miller’s newfound confidence led him to release his first mixtape of the year, Run On Sentences Volume 1, an instrumental tape with tracks Miller produced under the alias Larry Fisherman.

The eight-track project serves as a portfolio of sorts for how far Miller has come as a producer. And while it is essential for rappers to learn the ins and outs of mixing, it seems Miller can only produce for himself.

Run On Sentences embraces the sounds we typically hear for Mac Miller, quirky, sometimes serene but always charismatic.

Courtesy of Mac Miller All but one track on the mixtape obtain no lyrics, just from soundbytes used as samples, (think the conclusion of Frank

While obscure, the artists show no fright; they deliver like veterans, giving listeners doses of hardcore, heavy bass trap music, soft piano-ridden R&B and even the pop-infused rap music that most artists tend to stay away from.

“Enormous,” featuring Hit-Boy, Travi$ Scott, Cocaine80’s and Kenny M$NEY, works as the quintessential bravado rap. Hit-Boy enlists Travi$ Scott, who most recently has been featured on G.O.O.D. Music’s Cruel Summer, the sweet sounds of Cocaine80’s and rapper Kenny M$NEY for an ode to “money, music and marijuana.”

“T.U.” and “Fan” are the two standout tracks on the mixtape, mainly for their notable features. Hit-Boy collaborates with his G.O.O.D. Music cohort 2 Chainz on “Fan,” a track that could easily soundtrack a Twerk Team YouTube video.

“T.U.,” featuring Juicy J, Hit-Boy, Problem and Audio Push, serves as one of many club bangers, a feat Hit-Boy crushes on the regular and having Juicy J on the track only solidifies that.

“Juicy be keepin’ that trap right/Got a bad b***h, that ass tight/Smoking on kick and my eyes tight/And I don’t do no talking, man, cause bandz gone make her act right,” Juicy J raps.

The most pleasant surprise on the mixtape is “Tonight,” featuring K. Roosevelt.

The sound sticks to rap basics with the light snare drum and metronome ticks Hit-Boy is known for but with pop and R&B fusion mixed in.

All I’ve Ever Dreamed Of is the ideal rookie tape for a group like HS87. The artists might not be fully developed and their lyricism might still focus on predictable topics but they do “predictable” flawlessly.

It’s safe to say Hit-Boy’s influence is painted all over the mixtape, and his beats might’ve been better off given to established artists, but like his mentor Kanye West, he probably forgets better beats than we’ve ever thought of.

Ocean’s “Lovecrimes”) and the track names do not pertain to any type of theme, despite flowing together decently but awkwardly, like most run-on sentences do.

The majority of the tracks on the mixtape would resonate better with Miller’s rambunctious rhymes, so they come across very lackluster. “Birthday,” “Novice Space Travel,” “I Am Actually a Fish Alien” and “She Used To Love Me” each complement their titles nicely. Oddly enough, each instrumental helps portray the mental image the title presents, but with no lyrics the songs still fall short.

New Mac Miller fans likely would skip forward to songs with more upbeat tempos.

On “If Poseidon Had a Surfboard,” Miller incorporates a simple drumbeat, synth sounds and random soundbytes that include profanity turned into a musical element.

“Gelato Party” would make for perfect background music in a Forever 21 or H&M store with its upbeat tempo,

space synths that serve as a melody for the song and more random soundbytes.

The most redeeming factor about “Gelato Party” is its length. Timed at six minutes and 11 seconds, “Gelato Party” takes a trance-like turn at approximately the two-minute mark as a break for listeners (and possibly a sick guest verse) and then another switch up two minutes later to close the song.

It’s obvious Miller put a lot of thought into Run On Sentences; the outcome wouldn’t have been so short had he not done so. And although Miller has been exposed to the genius of producers like Pharrell Williams, it’s still not safe to say whether he could ever measure up to his collaborator.

If Miller’s experimentations with sound stem from a desire to create his music entirely, then he’s in luck. However, his beats should remain in-house until he’s honed his craft more.

Continued on page 27

R E ALT Y

Apartments Available (716) 220.8468

info@sinatraandcompany.com www.SinatraAndCompany.com

Elmwood Village West Richmond Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Nor th Buffalo Nor th Tonawanda Amherst SINATRA & COMPANY REALT Y 3350 Delaware Ave. Tonawanda, NY 14217

ubspectrum.com

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

23

Editor’s note: This article is a satire piece. It is not to be taken literally. ‘Carson’ is a pen name.

Dear Carson,

Courtesy of Ariel Namoca, UB Student Association Formed in the fall of 2009, UB Improv focuses on the art of improvisational comedy and teaches students the basics of acting on the fly. Members of UB Improv learn to rely on their wits and develop resilience in dealing with the unexpected.

Just roll with it UB Improv applies comedy rules to real-life situations NICHOLAS C. TURTON Staff Writer

Take some advice from UB Improv: when things don’t go as planned, just roll with it.

UB Improv, a group that engages students and audiences alike in the forms and practices of improvisational comedy, is all about “rolling with it.” Improvisational comedy, a script-less form of comedy performance, relies heavily on the performers’ sharp wits, comedic antics and resilience in dealing with the unexpected.

These skills allow UB Improv performers to construct and embody wild characters such as waffleeating Canadian tennis referees and reverends who are infatuated with their own vices and sinful natures.

But UB Improv hasn’t always had its fair share of laughs.

Christopher Salmin, a senior business and psychology major and UB Improv president, came to UB during the fall 2009 semester and co-founded a small improv troupe with his friend, Ed Caravajo, who is now a graduate of UB.

The group was underground and met unofficially for several months.

Because it was not yet an official club, its first major issue became finding a permanent place to meet.

“We’ve gotten kicked out of [so many] rooms,” Salmin said. “Even as an official club, we got kicked out of 145A in the Student Union for making too much noise.”

Constant relocation had been a major obstacle for the newly established club. UB Improv was somewhat of a nomadic troupe in its early days and moved between rooms in the SU, Baldy Hall, O’Brian Hall and Fronczak Hall.

UB Improv finally became a permanent club in April 2010. With the recognition, however, a new issue came up – this time it was intrinsic.

“The political system we were using wasn’t working,” Salmin said.

“There were power struggles …

I’ll spare you the nitty gritty, but it wrecked a lot of the chemistry we had.”

Despite all these issues, UB Improv had an exponential increase in audience turnout. With one of their shows “Eat, Pray, Prov,” the group

attracted over 150 people for a laugh-filled night where the politics were set aside. It was the club’s peak performance, according to Salmin.

Additionally, UB Improv was asked to perform an opening act for comedian and writer B.J. Novak (The Office), who performed at UB in April 2011 in front of an attending audience of over 3,500 people.

For Salmin, it is one of his most memorable experiences with the group.

The following fall semester, the group had a fresh start: new recruits, new officers and new roles.

Eventually, the issues of the past had been resolved and the group could now focus solely on all the laughs.

Now, UB Improv is in full-force with close to 25 members. The group provides weekly workshops for those interested in improv comedy, whether they’re experienced or not. They also have two performing troupes, the “Laughrodisiacs” and the “Komic-Kazies,” who put on shows every three weeks.

Continued on page 25

I’m dealing with a serious case of boredom. Maybe it’s just because I’m a lonely freshman who is still finding his home within this massive campus, but let me lay this out for you: coming to UB, my parents thought it was best for me to live in the Honors housing dorms within Governors Complex. People told me this was potential social suicide, but I went along with it. I figured I was bound to meet my ‘tribe’ of close friends within this realm where fun supposedly goes to die, but I haven’t. I like my roommates and everything, but they only care about ‘raging’ on South Campus, which is fine, but I’m sick of dealing with daily ‘wake ‘n’ bakes’ and ‘kegs ‘n’ eggs’ every Sunday. I like to drink, but I prefer a more ‘chill’ atmosphere to do it in is all. So while my sort-of friends are out every weekend, I’m stuck in the dorms with nothing to do. Everyone else is busy studying or playing computer games – two ways I don’t really like to spend my weekends, either. I guess I’m somewhere between the two extremes of party animal and super nerd. In high school, I always had fun being active, going out occasionally and just hanging out doing random stuff with my big group of friends. I’m missing that here at UB and I want to find my place.

This boredom is killing me. Please … help.

Sincerely, Governerd

Dear Governerd, This is just sad, man. Get it together! The great doomed Harvard poet John Berryman was so bored with life that he jumped off of a bridge and died, but before he did, he wrote a poem that went like this: “Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so./After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns,/ we ourselves flash and yearn,/and moreover my mother told me as a boy/(repeatingly) ‘Ever to confess you’re bored/ means you have no/ Inner Resources’ …”

Well, I conclude, you have no inner resources. I don’t mean to crush your spirit, but where is your spirit? If you don’t use it, you will lose it, my friend. You probably blame yourself for listening to your parents, but don’t dismiss their guidance entirely. Consider Governors the quiet home you’ve always had. Outside of its hellish, boring gates you will find the excitement and great adventure that college is meant to be. UB’s North Campus is the great prison complex of the Sacred Cow that is SUNY. It’s ugly.

It’s gray. It’s evil. You have to work hard to find the light here. To your credit, parties on South are terribly mainstream and I’m glad you recognize that … but being bored is pretty mainstream, too. Joining clubs is so perceptibly uncool that it’s actually really cool. UB has plenty, so you could definitely find one that suits you – you’ll meet chicks and dudes, probably. Personally, I conquer boredom with gnarly skate sessions, homemade bubble tea recipes, attending lectures on American political corruption, silent film screenings and making beats. The point is to use your inner resources and get outside of your comfort zone. So go on – flash and yearn.

Email: arts@ubspectrum.com

ubspectrum.com

24

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Misfire For White, decision to terminate legendary coach Reggie Witherspoon is unjust, unwise

AARON MANSFIELD Editor in Chief

On a freezing Buffalo winter Wednesday, Reggie Witherspoon and I were stuck around back Alumni Arena. We were there to watch the University at Buffalo men’s basketball team take on Kent State, and apparently, we were there a little too early.

I yanked on the door to no avail.

“Locked?” he asked, sporting a tight winter hat. I held in a chuckle at the sight of the bald-headed Witherspoon in a skullcap. We chatted for a few moments – him being his normal, cordial self – before he said, “Come on, follow me.”

He knew where to go when it seemed every door was locked. He had been UB’s head coach for 14 years, after all. Witherspoon led me around the building to a hidden flight of stairs and took me inside the arena. “Enjoy the game,” he said, heading toward his locker room.

I thought to myself: How many Division I coaches would take the time to guide a reporter through an arena – and one who had been very critical of his team in the past, at that – and strike up a lengthy, friendly conversation shortly before a huge conference rivalry game? Probably not many. But Witherspoon could never be categorized among the many.

First-year Athletic Director Danny White sent out a press release at 3:13 p.m. last Friday stating Witherspoon had been relieved of his duties as men’s basketball head coach. I could not be more dumbfounded.

I have to admit that I am a big Witherspoon proponent. But as much as I like him as a person, this move simply does not make sense

from a basketball standpoint.

I have interviewed hundreds if not thousands of athletes and coaches, and I have no doubt he is the most genuine person I have encountered along the way. When I was a young reporter just getting started in the business, I never felt intimidated talking to Witherspoon. Whether it was a one-on-one chat the day after a big win or a major press conference immediately after a season-ending loss, Witherspoon was the same person, full of kindness, patience and competitive drive balanced by perspective.

“Coach ’Spoon was like a father figure to me,” said Titus Robinson, a forward who graduated in 2012 and now plays professionally in Australia.

“He wanted us to be more than just basketball players. He wanted us to grow into men while we were under him at UB. I really couldn’t believe that he was released. Hard to think of Buffalo basketball without Coach ’Spoon.”

I realize all the anecdotes and emotional arguments in the world are meaningless in this situation; college sports are a business, and good people get fired all the time. But Witherspoon was more than a good person. He was a great coach.

Before I get into defending Witherspoon, let’s talk about White’s other recent major contract decision: resigning head football coach Jeff Quinn in November. If you want my full thoughts on the situation, you can read my column “Solving the Quinn conundrum.” Here’s the short version: The Bulls have gone 9-27 in Quinn’s three years, and White signed Quinn to an extension through 2017.

Some have defended the decision by saying White is being patient with UB’s coaches and letting them prove themselves. I could have gotten on board with that, but now that Witherspoon is gone, that logic no longer works.

The only other major defense?

White extended Quinn to attract recruits. Why would an athlete commit to a school in which the coach has an expiring contract? White needed to extend Quinn so recruits would come aboard. (Rivals.com ranked UB’s next recruiting class, the first

since the Quinn extension, as tied for last in Division I.) That argument works for basketball, too, though.

Why will any of UB’s recruits – including promising guard Shannon Evans – stay at UB? That logic also dissipates.

In this case, on the surface, it appears White extended Quinn because he likes him and fired Witherspoon because he doesn’t like him. If you look at the coaches’ records, the decisions certainly were not based on win percentage. That doesn’t seem like a sage decision to me.

UB sports are traditionally known as a laughingstock. The Bulls’ shining moments have been few and far between, and in the rare case of success – such as the football team’s 2008-09 Mid-American Conference Championship – it has never been consistent. It will come for a year, then the team will return to mediocrity or bottom feeding.

Not men’s basketball. Under Witherspoon’s tutelage, the men’s basketball team had four 20-win seasons (an impressive tally for any college squad) and made two MAC Championship games. Year in and year out, the Bulls have been among the best in the MAC. It took Witherspoon a while to get going, of course. In his first four years, the Bulls went a putrid 24-85 (.220). It was no surprise back then, though. The Bulls were accustomed to coming in last place; losing was just a thing that didn’t change at UB. Nick Mendola covers Buffalo sports for several media outlets and he is a UB alumnus. Last Friday, he tweeted: “I think a lot of #UBBulls students don’t appreciate how bad the program was when ’Spoon took over. Disaster is a harsh & unfortunate term.”

Witherspoon stuck around and grinded it out. He brought in the players he wanted and implemented his system and continued to be the positive, gregarious person he has always been at UB. From 2003-13, the team went 173140 (.553). There were down years, to be sure. The Bulls had losing records three times in that stretch – one of those times being this year (14-20).

The two other losing years came from 2006-08. Then-Athletic Director Warde Manuel (now AD at UConn) knew what he was doing, though.

He knew patience, as they say, is a virtue. He knew hastily getting rid of Witherspoon – a man who built the program – would be ill advised.

So he kept the coach around. The next year after that two-year stretch (2009), the Bulls went 21-12, finished tied for first in the MAC and made it to the conference championship game.

College basketball will always be a game of year-to-year fluctuations.

We’re seeing it firsthand this year: Even reigning champion Kentucky struggled mightily and missed the NCAA Tournament. You might say, “That’s because the Wildcats lost almost all of their top players!” To that I reply that the same situation unfolded at UB. Robinson, Mitchell Watt, Dave Barnett, Zach Filzen and Jarod Oldham (gone almost the entirety of the season with a wrist injury) were not on the court this year. That meant Witherspoon had to deal with losing five of his top players. That meant he had to coach a ridiculously inexperienced team – complete with a true freshman starting point guard and a No. 2 scorer who had not played college basketball in two years and had never played real minutes – and he still took the Bulls to the brink of the MAC semifinals.

I think that says something. As it was in 2008-09, the Bulls had to go through that down time – which everyone, even Kentucky, endures – to gain experience and prepare for a great year. Fans believed that was supposed to be next season. The 2013-14 season has been the one everyone has been waiting for since Javon McCrea arrived on campus.

For three years, Witherspoon has poured himself into making McCrea “the guy” – and if you saw McCrea’s jumper as a freshman, you know how much work it has taken. Now it’s McCrea’s time to shine as his senior year approaches, and if you look at the MAC landscape, the Bulls’ roster looks as prime as any to make a title run.

The Bulls were never expected to compete this year. They lost five huge contributors (including the 2011-12 MAC Player of the Year, Watt) while other top squads (Akron and Ohio) returned virtually everybody. But next year, well, that was going to be the year. Good luck doing that with a new coach and entirely new system.

Now UB’s program is in disarray. Nobody around UB Athletics seems pleased with this decision, and the impression I have gotten is that nobody saw it coming. They were blindsided, and White is not going to explain himself – he refuses to do any interviews or comment beyond his press release.

Does White really think the Bulls have a better shot at a championship next season with a new coach? And does he really think it’s worth paying the buy-out on the three years remaining on Witherspoon’s contract (about $1 million) because arguably the most iconic coach in school history is that much of a liability?

Witherspoon, and his experienced staff, will not be back. I am not sure the players will stick around either.

Who is to fault that freshman point guard, Jarryn Skeete, if he decides he’d rather run the offense wherever Witherspoon ends up? Who is to fault McCrea if he decides to take his immense talent and NBA potential to a major conference?

Let’s remember why McCrea chose UB over big-time schools like Georgetown in the first place, anyway: Witherspoon. McCrea and his mother, Shannon Nash, loved Witherspoon. They trusted him, and for that reason, McCrea became the biggest recruit in UB history.

Even Witherspoon’s first recruiting class was legendary: Turner Battle, Jason Bird, Mark Bortz and Daniel Gilbert. For years, UB has trusted Witherspoon, and for years, it has resulted in the only consistently successful major program at the school.

Apparently, that is not enough.

Continued on page 27

SHOW YOUR UB COLORS

3, 4 and 5 bdrm townhouses available June through August

These are are the largest bedrooms, more than spacious units, with garage and more storage than any other complex near the UB North Campus. Offered at a lower monthly cost per unit.

Beckingham Estates

Alexander Estates

4-5 bdrm townhouses, finished basement, appliances

4 bdrm townhouses, detached garage, appliances

Located on Millersport Hwy.

Located on Sweet Home Rd.

For more information: visit www.wyseproperties.com or call 716-688-2526

SHOW OFF YOUR UB PRIDE. Check out the latest in officially-licensed UB apparel today! Then get ready to rock your blues every week on Get Blue Fridays—our newest campus tradition.

Be

ood in g k o o l u o y sides,

blue!

LEARN MORE AT GETUBGEAR.COM

ubspectrum.com

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Oh, Danny boy White’s decision to fire Witherspoon is best for the program

JON GAGNON

Sports Editor In his short tenure at UB, Athletic Director Danny White has made two highly debatable, unpopular decisions – extending the contract of football head coach Jeff Quinn and terminating the contract of men’s basketball head coach Reggie Witherspoon. The latter drew even more controversy.

I’ll admit to being just as shocked as the rest of Buffalo when hearing that the team’s 14-year head coach had been let go. But upon further evaluation, it isn’t so shocking.

Witherspoon has gone 173-140 since 2003 and Quinn has gone just 9-27 in his three short years. So why did White contradict himself with the extending of one and the firing of the other?

For one, White is telling us the two programs don’t coincide. Aside from the football team’s 2008-09 MidAmerican Conference Championship, the basketball team has been the better, more popular program at this school. But has the basketball team really been all that good?

In his most recent success, Witherspoon has gone 79-49 in the previous four seasons before this past one – none of those seasons resulting in a MAC Tournament Championship.

In his eight seasons prior to 2008, the Bulls’ highest finish was second place in 2004-05.

I’ll give you this team has had more success than most other programs around campus and has definitely been the sport with the most fans. Witherspoon has been able to bring the Bulls to a level of relevance, but that has been the limit. In the past few seasons, we have watched from the sidelines as schools like Akron and Ohio have

gained national recognition.

Buffalo has become an above-average team in the MAC but has plateaued and has never been able to get over the edge and deliver a conference tournament title, or more importantly, our first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.

White has acknowledged our run on this level and is on a mission to push us over the edge. White comes from a historical background of basketball: He was a player at Notre Dame, his brother Michael is the head coach at Louisiana Tech and his father is the athletic director at Duke. Having an average team in a mid-major conference is unacceptable in his eyes, and a 14-year head coach who has failed to deliver one conference tournament championship is even more unacceptable.

How long were we going to give Witherspoon before he achieves the ultimate goal of winning the MAC title and earning a berth to the NCAA Tournament?

There are still two common arguments against the firing, the first being Witherspoon’s integrity, the impact he has had on the community and the successes that have come to his players in their post-basketball lives. Based on the few moments I have spent around Witherspoon, I couldn’t agree more.

I’m not bringing any of that into question. Are those things important? Of course, but should they come at the expense of winning championships?

Incoming students don’t want to hear of our student-athletes’ academic success but rather their athletic success. Witherspoon’s impact on his players is admirable, but the line has to be drawn upon what is most important, and it should be winning.

The second argument: Why not give Witherspoon one more season, his last season with the most decorated, highest-rated recruit the Bulls have ever had – junior forward Javon McCrea?

Giving Witherspoon another year would be a lose-lose for both parties.

In his head, White has already made the decision and next year’s basketball team has potential to reach 20 wins no matter who the coach is. So how would he justify firing Witherspoon after a 20-win season?

Continued on page 27

25

Continued from page 17: Dormoralizing for a week with a partly shattered wall and fears of cold nights before Campus Living sent someone to fix it.

Despite a less-than-stellar freshman year living situation, I opted to live with a friend sophomore year. We had a bad lottery pick and had to resort to living in Governors, and I still am programmed to say, “No, I’m not an honors student” when I preface my time living there.

The room was a quarter of the size of my triple, but my roommate and I made the most of our space somehow. My neighbors would shower and then blow-dry their hair every morning at 3 a.m., and the walls were paper-thin.

The epitome of my sophomore year dorming experience, though, had to be the night I went to Rochester with a few friends. I had ended up leaving my wallet, keys and all my stuff in my roommate’s car and she went to Brockport while I hitched a ride back to

Buffalo with other concert-goers.

My friend and I got back to Governors and, in the midst of our search throughout the whole complex for an RA who wasn’t out partying on South Campus to open my dorm door, we stumbled upon a floor party. A mustache party.

It was almost surreal. I stopped to ask where the hall office was (Governors is the world’s hardest maze to navigate, I’m convinced), and I didn’t notice the big, fake paper mustaches upon everyone’s face until one boy turned around to answer my question. They clearly thought nothing of it, and this was supposedly totally normal behavior.

It turned out to be a good laugh in the morning when we calmed down and realized how weird that situation was. The rest of the year was spent hiding from my RA when I went out on Main Street, getting sexiled too many times to count and dealing with my floor-

mates when I would let boys use our locked girls’ bathroom.

Sometimes I wish I didn’t dorm for two years so that I could pay off my college loans faster, but I wouldn’t trade the memories for anything. I realize how good I have it at home with my parents and how having my own car is actually better than having my own place, but I know living on my own – even for a little bit – forced me to grow in ways I couldn’t at home.

If you’re from Buffalo, give dorming a try – at least for a year.

It could be for you or you might realize you like mom’s home cooking too much. But no matter which you choose, college is what you make of it.

And if you were at that Governors mustache party: email me. I think we could be great friends.

Email: rebecca.bratek@ubspectrum.com

Continued from page 23: Just roll with it Amanda Ruby, a senior biological sciences major and vice president of UB Improv, is a member of the “Laughrodisiacs.” For Ruby, getting involved in UB Improv was something of chance.

“I just wanted to try something completely different,” Ruby said.

“I’d heard about [UB Improv] through a workshop and I just said, ‘OK, I’ll just start coming.’

So here I am.”

Ruby came in with no prior experience and learned a lot about thinking on her feet, working with others and overcoming performance anxiety.

“It killed my stage fright,” Ruby said. “I used to have the worst stage fright in the planet … after I started [UB Improv], I had to give a presentation for my biochemistry class of about 200 people. I was fine.”

Chris Rupert, a senior biological sciences major and treasurer of UB Improv, also performs with Ruby on the “Laughrodisiacs.”

Rupert believes the skills from his time with UB Improv can be applied outside of the world of comedy, particularly how to handle pressure.

“With improv, you have nothing planned. You go without a

plan and you need to just be able to react to whatever happens,” Rupert said. “It teaches you how to essentially have an answer for everything.”

Corey Reisman, a sophomore political science major and secretary of UB Improv, has improv experience from high school. The group has allowed him to expand in his past experience as a performer.

“It’s definitely made me funnier,” Reisman added jokingly. “At least, I hope it’s made me funnier. It’s [also] helped me be more spontaneous and work in a team [because] you can’t lone-wolf it in improv; it just doesn’t work.”

Just as important as these skills and lessons are, the golden rule of improve remains: the “Yes, And …” principle.

It enables UB Improv members to embrace the unorthodox situations they are faced with when performing, according to Ruby.

“When something’s happening in a scene, you don’t deny it; you take it and roll with it. That’s a big [lesson] to apply to life, in general,” Ruby said. “If something bad happens you take it and roll with it.”

The motto has held true since UB Improv’s humble beginnings.

Despite any of the struggles it has faced, UB Improv has taken them, rolled with them and outlasted all of them.

Salmin, who will be graduating with several of his other fellow club members – Ruby and Rupert included – feels a sense of hope for the future of UB Improv.

“I think the [newcomers] and whoever else is sticking around will be confident enough to push [UB Improv] along,” Salmin said.

“We’ve got a lot of motivated people and a lot of very talented people. I think they’re going to take this club in good directions.”

UB Improv’s next event, “Walk the Plank,” will be held March 20 at 7 p.m. in SU 330, with free admission. UB Improv holds weekly workshops on Mondays from 7-9 p.m. in the SU Theater.

Email: arts@ubspectrum.com

Adelphi University graduate students are engaged and challenged, and our scheduling is structured to support your professional life outside of the community. As of Fall 2012, 93 percent of Adelphi students who earned a master’s degree held jobs related to their area of study.

Our graduate programs include: Business Creative arts Education Healthcare Psychology Science Social work To learn more about upcoming admissions events, visit connect.adelphi.edu/graduateevents.

C

ADELPHI UNIVERSITY

A D E L P H I . E D U / G R A D U AT E

26

ubspectrum.com

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Continued from page 30: Spurned Kent State head coach Rob Senderoff ’s team ended Buffalo’s season in the MAC quarterfinals.

“He’s one of the best coaches in our conference,” said Senderoff, who was a part of the 2008 Indiana coaching staff that was fired.

“When you’ve invested as much as you have in your kids and your program, it’s not easy when you’re told that you’re no longer needed or wanted at your school.”

Senderoff explained that Witherspoon essentially invented the high-low offense he has been running all 14 years at UB. Senderoff said almost every team across the country runs some version of “Buffalo,” the set inspired by Witherspoon’s strategy.

“Because he’s not Coach K, he hasn’t gotten that notoriety, but to me he’s an innovator in our profession,” Senderoff said.

In fact, when Hawkins’ Western Michigan team played at Michigan earlier this season, Wolverines head coach John Beilein approached Hawkins after the game and said: “That offense you were running for part of the game, I call it Reggie rise-up.”

Though Hawkins said he is among the most respected coaches in college basketball, Witherspoon said he is not sure if he will continue coaching. He is most proud of how the UB program grew in popularity among students during his tenure. When he arrived, he said, students never wore UB gear around campus. Now, many sport the blue and white.

Witherspoon said his house has been full since Friday and he described the outpouring of support as “a saving grace.” All his current and former players who live locally have come to his house and many have brought meals.

“It’s been like a funeral,” he said.

Witherspoon said he is still in shock.

Hawkins said it is going to be very difficult for UB to find a better coach and campus representative than Reggie Witherspoon.

Email: sports@ubspectrum.com

Continued from page 30: REGGIE WITHERSPOON FIRED “People typically become products of their experiences and [the] people they encounter,” Mulkey said in an email. “Outside of family, there’s a handful of people that I can say have played a huge role in the individual I’ve become. Coach ’Spoon along with [the rest of the coaching staff] have definitely done that. And he has done that for decades with the young men he’s led.”

In the 2011-12 season, the Bulls earned a triple bye to the MAC Tournament semifinals. They lost to Ohio, which eventually made the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen, ending Buffalo’s quest for a MAC Championship. “[I’m] at a loss for words,” said former UB guard John Boyer, who played at UB from 2006-10. “Coach ’Spoon is one of the most influential people in my life and was a like a father to the UB family. He is so much more than a basketball coach to the entire Buffalo community and had such a positive influence on so many people.”

With the firing, Witherspoon leaves behind a team that has 11 returning players, including two-time first-team All-MAC junior forward Javon McCrea, who turned down offers from major-conference schools to play for Witherspoon.

According to White’s statement on Friday, the athletic department is conducting a “national search for a new head coach.” For now, the Bulls wait to see who will take over the future of their program.

No matter whom White brings in as head coach, it seems the feelings for Witherspoon around Alumni Arena will never change.

“I’ll definitely miss our Reggie chants, that’s for sure,” said UB medical student and True Blue alum Jeffrey Herendeen. “In the end though, Reggie will always be ‘The Godfather of True Blue.’”

spectrum file photo

A student in the True Blue student section, which former men’s basketball coach Reggie Witherspoon helped develop, holds a sign displaying Witherspoon’s signature ‘Seriously?’ pose.

Email: sports@ubspectrum.com

ubspectrum.com

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

27

Continued from page 22: Mixtape Monthly #12 Gucci Mane – Trap Back 2 Coincidentally, the same night Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame got into their minor Twitter beef, the sequel to 2012’s Trap Back was unleashed on the people via mixtape website Datpiff.com.

Trap Back 2 is a reminder for those who are about that “trapping ain’t dead” life. Metaphors and high-grade wordplay are never the primary focus for this here trap music; what’s going to stand out are the beats that’ll rattle your loose trunk and recipes for cooking up that powder.

Compared to when the trap first came back, Trap Back 2 is a sophomore slump – it tries hard to live up to last year but doesn’t reach that bar. Gucci can always find good beats, but he at least had decent bars plus a few guest features thrown into the original Trap Back.

This tape either had beats that didn’t do the job of covering up the funk from the lyrics or lyrics so atrocious that there Courtesy of 1017 Brick Squad really was no saving to begin with.

The opening track, “Don’t Deserve It,” is probably the toughest song on the whole tape. The first verse was cool, starting off with Gucci setting his own rules and doing as he pleases:

Continued from page 24: Misfire If you’re going to fire a Buffalo legend – a man who grew up in the area, was a ball boy at UB and coached at Sweet Home and ECC before UB – you had better at least give him a chance to prove himself. Give him a fair shake. If he does poorly next year, then it might be time to let him go, but he did a solid coaching job even this year to salvage what little he had to work with.

In 2005, Witherspoon told The Spectrum: “I’m a Western New York guy. My wife graduated from here, and my brother graduated from here, my father in law, my brother in law. My roots are really here. But my grandpa said, ‘Don’t ever say what

you’ll never do,’ so I won’t say that I’ll never leave.

But I would first like to lift this program to a Top 25 level instead of just leaving and going somewhere else where it’s already been done.”

The University at Buffalo athletic department has come to this decision a little too early. Danny White has left a school legend out in the cold.

Witherspoon knows his way around, so he’ll find direction. I’m not sure UB will do the same.

Email: aaron.mansfield@ubspectrum.com

“I walk in wit’ my skrap, I give a f*** if n****s searchin’/Don’t keep it in the car, I got that pistol on person,” Gucci raps.

Second verse is all about Gucci and gunplay. After getting off with self-defense after killing a hired gunman, Gucci has been letting the people know that he’ll pull that trigger if anyone comes and tests him. The hook and these unfiltered lines just reinforce that he isn’t playing: “Put that on my squad, I ain’t gon’ let no n**** hurt me/My gun do all my talkin’ and I know you n****s heard me,” Gucci raps.

For the next 11 tracks – yes, 11 – finding a song worth playing from start to finish becomes a struggle. “Playin With the Money,” “Thirsty,” “Hood B****es,” “Can’t Walk” and “That Pack” are the only songs worth listening to.

Beats that could pass for a jingle from an ice cream truck are what easily get passed over on this tape, which is exactly what happens when “Like I Used 2” comes on.

The first notable mainstream feature arises toward the end of the tape with French Montana on “Done With Her.” Not that it’s much of a feat, but French actually came out victorious with the best verse on the song:

“She be tweeking, we be s***ting on your furniture/Christopher Rios, backshots/ Im’a punish her,” French raps.

This is good riding music with the windows down, but it will never hit radio or nightlife. It might be, however, the best bar that French has rapped in his entire career with his reference to the late Big Pun. The last four songs are where all the legendary beats and energy reside. Ending on a good note must’ve been the plan the whole time.

Is Trap Back 2 better than the original Trap Back? No, but it is tolerable.

There is only so much to expect from listening to the Gucci Mane, so standards are already low. For the most part, the tape does its job. The middle gets shaky, but that’s what the “next” button is for.

The tape finishes strong, but let this be the last time the trap rises from the crypts.

Email: arts@ubspectrum.com

Continued from page 25: Oh, Danny boy As The Buffalo News reported, White had made the decision months earlier, so Witherspoon never really had a chance to sustain his job after this season. Even if he did have a chance, unfortunate events unfolded (the season-ending injury to junior point guard Jarod Oldham, for one) and he produced a subpar season.

As for the fear of transfers, should we really expect McCrea to transfer, be forced to sit out a full season and then play limited minutes in his senior year at a new program? He’s currently only one season away from potentially becoming the Bulls’ great-

est player of all time and then earning a sixfigure salary playing professional basketball overseas or possibly in the NBA. I assume he won’t make that decision.

Witherspoon’s termination is definitely heartfelt around Buffalo and the campus, but the student body should be energized with what White is attempting to do. It’s time to exit the idea of accepting a consistently average (77-73 MAC record since 2003) team and break away into a level the program has yet to reach.

Email: jon.gagnon@ubspectrum.com

ubspectrum.com

28

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

We must protect this house Alumni discuss home-field advantage at UB BEN TARHAN

Sports Editor

When the men’s basketball team hosted North Carolina in Reggie Witherspoon’s first game as head coach, Alumni Arena was at full capacity.

In attendance that night was future standout point guard Byron Mulkey, who would make that same arena his stage from 2006-11.

Mulkey grew up in the area and remembers that night as being a particularly energizing night, and when he took the floor for the first time, he recalled that energy.

“Finally being on the other end of it, where I am the one coming on the court and about to perform, it was kind of me coming full circle,” Mulkey said. “It was kind of surreal.”

Home-field advantage is a term tossed around a lot, especially in college sports, in which analysts continually preach how difficult it is to win games on the road. Buffalo has had its share of teams that have taken advantage of the rowdy home atmosphere.

Over the past decade, the men’s basketball team has been one of the most successful and popular teams on campus. It has made it past the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament in 10 straight seasons and has had a winning record at home every season since 2003-04.

In 2010-11, Mulkey’s final season on campus, the Bulls posted a 13-3 home record, one game short of a school record for home wins.

photo by Nick Fischetti, The Spectrum

Tony Watson (1) and Jarryn Skeete (10) celebrate during their home win against No. 24 Akron March 2. The men's basketball team has been one of the best home teams on campus, posting a record at or above .500 every year since 2003-04.

As a player, Mulkey showed his appreciation to the crowd – particularly the student section. Before every game, when the Bulls would come onto the floor after their shootaround, Mulkey would go right to the student section.

Mulkey’s gratitude for fan support stems from his roots as a walk-on player. He viewed the cheers and fan intensity as a confirmation and appreciation of his and every player’s hard work.

Mulkey said crowd energy plays a big role in the players’ attitudes on the floor. Whether the crowd is reacting to a good play or a bad call, the players feel more energized when the crowd is into the game.

During Mulkey’s final season, the Bulls played Akron in their third

The Adult Galaxy 2113 Niagara Falls Blvd Amherst NY

(716) 691-SEXY

game of conference play. They had started the MAC season 0-2 and had fallen behind in the game.

“We stayed within striking range and then finally, toward the end of the second half, the crowd started feeling it and giving those extra cheers and paying notice to the actual work we were putting in,” Mulkey said. “And knowing we were right there, I think that put us over the edge in terms of finishing the deal when it came to the end of the game.”

Across the street, on the grass soccer field, the women’s soccer team won either soccer program’s only MAC Championship in 2000.

Devon Russell, a defender, knows all about UB’s advantage at home.

Her team went 7-2-1 at home.

Russell appreciated not having to

take a long bus ride, sleep in a hotel or eat out. She enjoyed seeing family and friends come support the team and the Bulls’ field was one of the best in the conference that season.

“We played on one of the largest and nicest-kept grass fields in the conference,” Russell said in an email.

“We would use its size to our advantage.”

But one of her favorite things didn’t directly affect play on the field.

“Our team took great pride in putting together our warm-up music,” Russell said. “Each class got to pick a few songs. It was nice to have some familiarity when trying to get energized to play.”

Although the Bulls couldn’t pull out a MAC Championship in the tournament, the vocal crowd and other amenities that came with home games contributed to UB’s conference championship in soccer.

In addition to winning the MAC regular season crown in 2000, both soccer teams hosted the MAC soccer tournament that year.

The Bulls’ immense fan turnout throughout the season continued into the postseason. Russell said the consistent support “made our team feel proud of our school.”

Even when teams are struggling, the community rallies around teams and makes UB a hard place for visiting teams to play.

Sophomore forward Will Regan is also from Buffalo and, like Mulkey, spent time in Alumni Arena before he played for the Bulls. He watched the 2004-05 team go to the MAC

Toys / Lubes Lingerie / Condoms

Monday 10% OFF COUPON

Email: sports@ubspectrum.com

Taxi Cabs

18 & Older ID/Rush

DVD’s-$8.99 & up Whips / Mags / Pipes / Gold Scales Male Enhancement Pills/Rings Rabbit/Vibes

Championship game and recalls regarding those players as role models and even idolizing them.

As a player, Regan keeps in mind how important a brief moment of attention from a player is to a little kid.

When Regan comes onto the floor, he makes sure to give out as many high-fives as possible to the kids who line the fence by the door, and he acknowledges them if given the chance.

Regan has also felt the energy boost that Mulkey appreciated at home.

During Regan’s first home game against Princeton, he recalled hitting a three-point shot and then drawing an offensive foul on the following defensive possession. The crowd got really loud after the Bulls got the ball back right after pulling the game within three, which spurred Regan to play with more enthusiasm.

Every Bull is incredibly thankful for the fan support they receive and it does not go unnoticed, according to Mulkey. Athletes want to make sure they show their appreciation by performing well, and a strong fan showing makes it a test for the opposing team.

For Mulkey, fan support was a huge part of his time at Buffalo, and he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“There were obviously a lot of ups and downs, but the support, it remained,” he said.

Mulkey insists players work hard to show the fans their appreciation for their support, and that support validates the hard work done behind the scenes.

Q

Express Airport Service Medical Transportation Fast, Reliable,Clean, and Comfortable All vehicle types available.

24 hours / 7 days “The only cab company Student Discount available.

Ask about UB flat rates. that accepts Campus Cash.”

www.buffalotransportation.com

716-877-5600

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

)*$+&+"&,-.%/01%& *&+%,+&/234%5& &'78-98: ABC3'./0'DC'E(#%F"' 8$5#$%-G'5$'H3A3IB'5-('33'6:GJ

4;9<%=;7*),%% % %%%% >#?@A"A@!#"B%)C8%D"B >#?@E?E@A!!$%9)(( ,0;7*),F8'G7)-H8'I9'J%%!

K'G7)%LMN E!#A%M-;7%=8,))8 N;((;-J0O;(()P%QR%#D!!# GGGI8'G7)SJGI9'J%

ABC3'./0'3AB%'E(#%F"' 8$5#$%-G'5$'H3KIIB'5-('3K'6:GJ

T'7U8%9'JV,'J;0)I% LHW%8<)%X(8;J-8)%T,;O;7*%M-9<;7)I% LHW%-%LMNI

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 ubspectrum.com

HELP WANTED HELP WANTED MARKETING POSITIONS AVAILABLE. Lasertron Family Entertainment Center is currently hiring for an introductory level marketing position. Candidates should have some knowledge of Adobe's Creative Suite including Photoshop & Illustrator. Some incoming phone sales will be necessary. Email your resume to llaclair@ lasertron.us. Lasertron, 5101 North Bailey Avenue Amherst, NY. PART-TIME & MANAGER POSITIONS AVAILABLE. Lasertron Family Entertainment Center is currently hiring for Go-Kart operators and general customer service . Working at a fast, detail-oriented pace and having excellent customer skills is a must. Starting at approximately $11/hr. must be available nights and weekends. Management-in-training positions are also available.

Stop in and complete an application at Lasertron, 5101 North Bailey Avenue, Amherst, NY. WE "MUSTACHE YOU" to be a mentor to a kid, adult, vet or elder! Just be your awesome-self & volunteer at least 1-hr/wk for at least 1-yr. Call Karen at Compeer to get started. 716-883-331.

APARTMENT RENT APARTMENTFOR FOR RENT 4,5,6 & 8 BEDROOM remodeled apartment houses. 14 of 33 apartments remain.

University Buffalo Main Street Campus- off Englewood. Beginning June 2013: UB South Campus for $300/ bed plus utilities. Washers & dryers included. Contact BRADENGEL37@gmail.com or Shawn at 716-9847813 Check out our website www.BUFAPT. com.

MERRIMAC 3&4 BEDROOM. Updated kitchen, bath, dishwasher, laundry & offstreet parking. $295 per person. Available June 1st. 716-308-5215.

29

Classifieds LISBON/BAILEY 2-3 BDRM, furnished, carpeting, appliances & parking. $240/p+, dryan91660@aol.com, 716-440-5133.

BEAUTIFUL TOTALLY UPDATED APARTMENT. Sleeps up to 4. Newer appliances including stove, refrigerator, dishwasher, large microwave & coin operated washer and dryer. Rent includes Fios high speed internet and cable tv. Plenty of off-street parking; must see. 1yr lease begins 6/1/13. $1,100 per month includes water.

Contact AJ, 510-3527.

1 TO 8 BEDROOM houses and apartments at UB South: dozens in prime locations on Winspear, Northrup, Englewood, Merrimac, Highgate, and more! Most have large bedrooms, hardwood floors, off-street parking, laundry. Local, responsible landlord with maintenance staff. Call, text or email Jeremy Dunn, 585-261-6609.

TIRED OF LOOKING AT THE SAME OLD DUMP??? Our nicest apartments rent now! Newly remodeled 1-4 person apartments on W.Winspear, Englewood, Tyler, Heath & Merrimac. Amenities include O/S parking, whirlpool baths, w/w carpeting, new ss appliances, & free laundry. Live the Sweethome life on South! Visit www. ubrents.com or call: 716-775-7057.

HOUSE RENT HOUSE FORFOR RENT LARGE NEWLY RENOVATED DUPLEX HOUSE at 197 Minnesota Ave. with two 3-BDRM apartments. Four blocks from University of Buffalo South Campus. Laundry, garage, water and appliances included.

1yr. lease. Contact: Craig Van Tine, vantinec@gmail.com/ 703-856-5068. Like us on FB, facebook.com/HIPDevelopment.

EGGERT ROAD FULLY FURNISHED 3-BDRM. Washer/Dryer, finished basement, off-street parking, driveway & all kitchen appliances. $1200 water included.

Call/text 917-519-4195.

1 TO 8 BEDROOM HOUSES AND APARTMENTS at UB South: dozens in prime locations on Winspear, Northrup, Englewood, Merrimac, Highgate , and more!

Most have large bedrooms, hardwood floors, off-street parking, laundry. Local, responsible landlord with maintenance staff. Call, text or email Jeremy Dunn, (585) 261-6609.

SPACIOUS 4-BDRM WELL MAINTAINED. Washer/ dryer, dishwasher, off-street parking. Updated electric & heat.

Safety inspected & approved by Department Inspection Services City of Buffalo. $1160.00 716-998-2957.

TIRED OF LOOKING AT THE SAME OLD DUMP??? Our nicest homes rent now! Newly remodeled 3-8 person homes on W. Winspear, Englewood, Tyler, Heath & Merrimac. Amenities include O/S parking, whirlpool bathtubs, w/w carpeting, new ss appliances, free laundry, snow removal & Valet garbage! Live the Sweethome life on South! Visit www.ubrents.com or call: 716775-7057.

SOUTH CAMPUS NEW on the market! 4,5 & 6 Master BDRMS, 2-Baths, stove, fridge, washer/dryer/dishwasher & offstreet parking. Available June 1st. Call 716HELP 570-6062.WANTED

ROOMMATE WANTED ROOMMATE WANTED AMHERST-SOUTH CAMPUS/UNIVERSITY PLAZA side of main. Looking for 1 serious male roommate. Excellent condition, furnished, private-bedroom, big closet, laundry, dishwasher + parking available. 4 minute walk to campus. $315.00 + share of utilities. 716-400-9663, if no answer 716-400-9661.

SERVICESSERVICES BUFFALODRIVINGSCHOOLS.COM SERVICES

Learn to drive with our warrantee driving instruction package. NYS 5hr course, points& insurance reduction class in our classroom or on-line. Call for free shuttle service to our classroom from north& south campus. 716834-4300.

CITY A1 DRIVINGSCHOOL.COM Beginners & brush-up driving lessons. 5hr class $30.00 716-875-4662.

UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED PREGNANT NEED HELP? Call 716694-8623.

AMHERST, 14 AREND. 3-BDRM, 1-bath remodeled home 5 minutes from both campuses. $1,300 month plus utilities.

Photos available. Dan 400-1921.

ROOM FOR RENT ROOM FOR RENT FANTASTIC LOCATION across the street from UB South at Main & N.F. Blvd.

Rent for completely furnished room starts at $450.00/mo including all utilities and internet. 630-300-4228. Immediate occupancy.

716-877-7111 Pick-Ups offered from the airport!

DOWNLOAD THE

Daily Delights SUDOKU

APP

SPONSORED BY

Villas on Rensch

Crossword of the Day

HOROSCOPES

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 FROM UNIVERSAL UCLICK

ACROSS

52 Controversial mentalist Geller 1 ___ costs (by any means) 53 Embodiments 6 Spinal vertebrae 56 "Adieu" 11 Lively dance in Dublin 58 Recycling receptacle 14 First name in Olympic 59 Place for an orchestra gymnastics 60 Tire pressure fig.

15 "I'm betting everything," 61 "Jan. 1 through now" colto poker players umn 16 Music experimentalist 62 Combat award Yoko 68 "Do re mi fa ___ ..."

17 Largest rattlesnake 69 Maternally related 19 Muckraker Tarbell 70 Ham and ___ (average Joe) 20 "Am ___ blame?"

71 Abilene-to-San Antonio 21 Mu ___ pork dir.

22 Not a whit 72 Remove cerumen 23 Rouses oneself 73 All lathered up 27 Euros replaced them 29 440 yards, to a track runner 30 Roadie load 32 Rogen of "The Green 1 It often comes between partners?

Hornet" 2 ___ chi (martial art form) 33 "Anytown, ___" 3 Abbr. on a toothpaste box 34 Nasal openings 4 Maximum bet 36 Napped leather 5 Dweller along the Mekong 39 T-men, e.g.

6 Down in the dumps 41 Able to do the splits, e.g. 7 Vatican vestment 43 Chilled, as tea 8 Fastening device 44 It has gobs of gobs 9 Assets aplenty 46 Consultants 10 Elephant goads 48 Little guy 11 Commiserator's words 49 Antlered deer 12 Land of the Taj Mahal 51 Knitting stitch 13 Hockey scores

DOWN

Edited by Timothy E. Parker January 9, 2013 CALLING ALL CARDS By Mary Jersey

18 Not irregular 23 Poker stratagem 24 Prop for Rembrandt 25 Shoveler's grip 26 Parsley unit 28 Holder of combs, perfumes, etc.

31 Prepare for a gig 35 "Beats me" gesture 37 Term of affection 38 "Dr. Dolittle" star Murphy 40 Rush-hour subway rarity 42 Part of the Old World 45 Hemmed in 47 Almost spills 50 Being three in one 53 Deep chasm 54 Corleone and Antuofermo 55 Backbreaker, in a proverb 57 San ___, Calif.

63 H.S. support group 64 Superman foe Luthor 65 Turkish military title 66 Agent, for short 67 Make an attempt

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) -You've been performing up to par lately, but today you may experience something of a setback. It will prove temporary -and minor.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- You'll have some changes to make before the day is out, but you'll want to get a mentor's advice before making any firm decisions.

TAURUS (April 20May 20) -- You may be slowing down as a result of overextending yourself recently.

You know what the remedy is -- now you must give yourself permission!

GEMINI (May 21June 20) -- You can come up with something new and different with which to impress both critics and supporters.

CANCER (June 21July 22) -- How you look may be nearly as important as what you do and say today; those first impressions must never be underestimated!

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- You'll find yourself in close proximity to something that has made you feel threatened in the past -- but something is different this time.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22) -- You've been trying to keep many balls in the air lately, and today you'll devise a plan to limit your involvement in another's affairs.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 22) -- You will have to keep any promises you make today, so be sure to offer only what you know you can provide. Your reputation must remain intact!

FALL SPACES ARE

GOING FAST RESERVE YOUR SPACE TODAY BEFORE ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TOO LATE

SCORPIO (Oct. 23Nov. 21) -- A close friend makes it clear that he or she is ready and willing to take things a little further -- but is that what you really want?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) -- You'll have to travel some distance today -- literally or figuratively -- in order to catch up with someone who has been bringing his "A" game.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Just when you think you can resume something that is quite enjoyable to you, circumstances today will seem to conspire against you.

AQUARSIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) -- You will have to wait for word from someone far from home today before you can do the thing that you know you must do for your own good.

30

Sports

Wednesday, March 20, 2013 ubspectrum.com

REGGIE WITHERSPOON FIRED AS MEN’S BASKETBALL COACH AD Danny White ousts beloved coach

JOE KONZE JR.

Senior Sports Editor

One of the most popular figures on UB’s campus has lost his job. First-year Athletic Director Danny White announced Friday afternoon via email that men’s basketball coach Reggie Witherspoon had been fired.

“After much consideration, we have determined that a change in leadership for our men’s basketball program is necessary,” White said in the press release, adding that he will not be making any more comments on the matter.

“Coach Witherspoon has led this program with character and integrity for the past 14 years and we are grateful for his service to our institution. This was a very difficult decision because I understand the impact Coach Witherspoon has made to our University and community. To be sure, our program is in a much stronger position than when Reggie and his staff took over.”

The firing came just a day after the Bulls fell to Kent State 70-68 in the quarterfinals of Mid-American Conference Tournament Thursday night, ending the Bulls’ 2012-13 campaign with a 14-20 overall record and a 7-9 conference record – their first losing season since 2007-08.

When the news broke that the identity of Bulls basketball and his staff would not be returning the following season, it sent a shockwave through the local community.

Sophomore forward Will Regan’s father, Lawrence, grew up around the Witherspoon family. “[I was] shocked,” Regan said.

“The night after the Kent State loss, I was sitting in the lobby of the Renaissance Hotel in Cleveland, talking to [assistant coach Jim] Kwitchoff and we were talking about next year. Kwitchoff was talking about all the things he had to do and what he was planning to do the following week, all the meetings he had. Talking about different things, including trying to work on a redshirt for [injured junior guard Jarod Oldham].”

Lawrence lived on Longmeadow Drive while the Witherspoon family lived close by on Springville Avenue in Eggertsville. Lawrence also had played basketball with Witherspoon’s brother, Jeff, and he describes the Witherspoon family as “wonderful people.”

Witherspoon built rapport with the community and carried it through his time coaching at his alma mater, Sweet Home High School, all the way to his debut as UB’s head coach on Dec. 7, 1999.

In that game, Witherspoon and the Bulls held a 40-35 lead over the No. 7 North Carolina Tar Heels after the first half.

The Bulls dropped the contest 91-67, but the promising first half was a preview for Witherspoon’s career. From 1999-2013, Witherspoon posted a 198-228 record – good for a tie with Arthur Powell (198-190) for second-most career victories at UB. Witherspoon was also the longest-tenured coach among all Big Four Western New York teams.

He was especially known for stressing the importance of education. The American Athletic Union Executive District Sports Chairman of the Adirondack Region and former coach of the AAU City Rocks, Eric Medved, who coached former UB player Andy Robinson, recalled a time when Witherspoon’s academic integrity shined through.

“From the very first day we had the opportunity to meet Reggie Witherspoon and Jim Kwitchoff, the entire focus was on Andy Robinson’s education – both with the game of basketball and off the court,” Medved said. “They constantly stressed the importance of earning that degree and the opportunity to improve themselves as human beings. I really felt Andy was not only walking into a situation where he could get an opportunity to play basketball, but that he would have an opportunity to learn how to become a man.”

Former UB point guard Byron Mulkey, who played for the Bulls from 2006-11, was also a result of Witherspoon’s philosophy.

Continued on page 26

photo by Rebecca Bratek, The Spectrum

Witherspoon directs freshman point guard Jarryn Skeete (10) during Witherspoon's last game as UB's head coach, a Thursday night MAC Tournament quarterfinals loss to Kent State (70-68). Skeete took over as starting point guard midway through the season.

Spurned

Long-time coach fired by UB; Witherspoon, MAC coaches respond AARON MANSFIELD Editor in Chief

Since Athletic Director Danny White fired long-time men’s basketball coach Reggie Witherspoon on Friday, Witherspoon has only heard from the athletic department regarding one matter: How soon can he clean out his office?

“How I feel is like death,” Witherspoon told The Spectrum. “At times, it just feels like death.”

Witherspoon coached the Bulls for 14 years and accumulated a 198-228 record, including a 92-66 mark over the past five years, three of which the Bulls advanced to a postseason tournament.

Aside from a phone conversation with The Buffalo News and a press release, White has stated he will not be answering any questions on the firing.

As of Tuesday, Witherspoon was still trying to quantify how he lost his job. Asked if he had a message for UB and the basketball community, he responded in three parts.

“I love UB,” Witherspoon said.

“First, thank you. Second, hold on to what you have. Be very careful. Always grow. Always look to improve and enhance what UB is about. Don’t take shortcuts. Be careful if a shortcut, fast-talking

Spectrum File Photo

Former men's basketball coach Reggie Witherspoon lectures former UB forwards Mitchell Watt (left) and Titus Robinson. Watt (Israel) and Robinson (Australia) are among the many players Witherspoon has coached at UB who have gone on to professional basketball careers.

guy comes in and promises you something that is not built with proper values … be careful of a fast-talking shortcut artist.”

The Bulls’ young squad finished 14-20 (7-9 Mid-American Conference) this year but won two MAC Tournament games and came three points from the conference semifinals.

Akron head coach Keith Dambrot is preparing his team, the 2013 MAC champion Zips, to take on Virginia Commonwealth in the first round of the NCAA Tourna-

ment on Thursday.

“I was shocked when I saw he wasn’t coming back,” said Dambrot, the 2012-13 MAC Coach of the Year. “It’s typical. The athletic directors talk about graduating players, making them better people, but really it comes down to they all want to play in the NCAA Tournament.

“There’s no other reason they could possibly let a guy like Reggie go. In our league, you could be very good every year and never play in the NCAA Tourna-

ment. You’ve got to be lucky. If they think Buffalo is an easy job, then they have another thing coming. It’s a very difficult job and he’s done amazing.”

With all but one major contributor (senior guard Tony Watson) returning, and led by two-time first-team All-MAC forward Javon McCrea, many expected the Bulls to compete for a conference championship next season.

The Bulls’ floor general and No. 2 scorer at the time, junior guard Jarod Oldham, broke his wrist in mid-December and did not return for the remainder of the season.

Witherspoon trained true freshman Jarryn Skeete at the point, and Skeete developed into a MAC AllFreshman team performer.

“If he was let go because of performance reasons, then I’m not seeing it,” said Western Michigan head coach Steve Hawkins, now the longest-tenured (13 years) coach in the MAC. “They were the No. 2 seed last year. There’s not a coach in this league, myself included, that did not say: ‘Wow, if Oldham had not gotten hurt, they would have been really good this year, and they have everybody back next year.’”

Hawkins worked alongside legendary coach John Wooden for 10 years. “[Witherspoon’s firing], in my opinion, is a representative of some of the things that are wrong in college athletics,” he said. “In my opinion, a college basketball coach is still considered an educator.”

Though he was one of the pillars that built UB’s basketball program into a respected commodity, Witherspoon is not sure he will attend any more games in Alumni Arena.

“I don’t know if the university wants me,” said Witherspoon, who grew up in Buffalo and coached at Sweet Home High School and Erie Community College before taking over as UB’s head coach during the 1999-2000 season. “They’ve dismissed me, and I haven’t been given any indication that I’m welcome there … My kids go to school there. It’s really an embarrassing and humiliating effect.”

Coaches from all over the country, from local high schools to schools in Hawaii, have offered support. The hope among most coaches, Witherspoon said, is that they’ll stay at one school and build a family-like atmosphere, and they believe that will result in reward, not termination.

Continued on page 26