Vol. 61 NO. 24
ubspectrum.com
Monday, October 24, 2011
Summer Sweat Yields Fall Glory for Oliver Undersized running back disproves doubters, outworks opposition AARON MANSFIELD Senior Sports Editor Masses of fans that pack UB Stadium on Saturdays are left bewildered, asking one simple question: “How can somebody that small be that good?” Branden Oliver doesn’t even need to think about his answer: “I just work harder.” Oliver is a 5-foot-7-inch star from Miami, Fla. who came to Buffalo because no other Division-I football coach would offer him a scholarship. He was just too little. Now those coaches are kicking themselves.
Now he’s the star of the Buffalo offense. Motivation Oliver is adamant that he’ll do anything to avoid another season like 2010. The Bulls finished 2-10 and Oliver ran for a mere 336 yards and no touchdowns. Branden Oliver’s outstanding performance this season has been nothing less than impressive and Bulls fans have enjoyed watching him show out. Rebecca Bratek /// The Spectrum
student-athlete last year. His success on the gridiron? He owes that to the hill at UB’s old football stadium.
“Last year, people always asked me: ‘Why do you keep playing him?’ Well, that’s why – his effort,” said head coach Jeff Quinn. “He doesn’t make mistakes and he comes to practice every day with a mindset and a purpose: to get better. He doesn’t measure himself against others; he measures himself against himself, knowing he has greatness inside of him.”
Determination and Humility
It’s safe to say fans have already forgotten the Branden Oliver of 2010.
Most college football players push themselves to physical extremes in once-daily workouts. The really dedicated athletes work out twice a day. Oliver pulled three-a-days over the summer.
His feet felt like 50-pound weights as he sprinted up the hill for the hundredth time, but Oliver kept telling himself to keep moving. Sweat showered his face as he pushed himself in the summer heat. The steep hill by itself wasn’t quite enough, so he forced himself to wear a 30-pound vest.
He’s acing tests and lighting up linebackers, dominating homework assignments and taking swing passes for six.
Oliver struggled on and off the field as a freshman in 2010, but he made major changes in the summer of 2011.
Nothing was going right. He couldn’t
balance class and the demanding workload that comes with being a Division-I starting running back.
He wasn’t just running or lifting weights, though. That wouldn’t be his style.
Oliver has rushed for 853 yards and eight touchdowns so far this year, making him Buffalo’s second-leading scorer. Three weeks ago – following a three-touchdown, 179-yard performance against Ohio – Oliver was named the Mid-American Conference East Player of the Week. The Bulls won the trilling matchup 38-37, thanks largely to Oliver’s electrifying performance.
Oliver and sophomore linebacker Khalil Mack – who’s received his own share of national recognition this year – put together the most challenging workout they could conceive. Every day, they’d go to the hill, the weight room, and the film room. And every day, Branden reminded himself of his motivation: last year.
Oliver said he owes his success in the classroom to the experience he gain as a
“You could say that he’s an animal, but
National Preservation Conference
Grain Elevators Provide a Look into the Past
Conference – held for the first time in Buffalo by the National Trust for Historic Preservation – an opportunity for Buffalo to showcase its famed architecture on the national stage. “This is the first time, I think, that there’s been national attention to what really is a great collection,” said SUNY Distinguished Professor Bruce Jackson, whose photographs of the grain elevators were showcased throughout the buildings. “Every one of these is different. I’ve been on the inside of most of them now, and every room is different.”
Buffalo’s now-defunct grain elevators were open to the public this past Friday as a part of the National Preservation Conference. Satsuki Aoi /// The Spectrum
LUKE HAMMILL Senior News Editor
There is a time warp in Buffalo. Here’s how to use it: From downtown, drive south down Michigan Avenue and hang a left on Ohio Street, passing the Swannie House, a century-old dive bar and eatery that used to provide a night’s stay for cargo ship captains and crew. You’ll see the General Mills building and smell Cheerios in your nostrils as you notice the few factories that still puff gray smoke into the typically gray Western New York air.
Traffic will become sparse as you make your way into what seems like uncharted territory. You’ll go by Louisiana Street and over a drawbridge that will take you across the Buffalo River and behind the Old First Ward. On the other side, hang another left onto Childs Street, and – poof! – it’s suddenly 1920. Or so it seemed on Friday, when the UB School of Architecture and Design provided a chance to go inside some of Buffalo’s now-defunct grain elevators, which have stood unused for decades and are closed to the public. The event was held in conjunction with last weekend’s National Preservation
In one of those rooms, located in the row of towering grain silos known as Marine A, UB musicians performed an eerie-sounding John Cage piece that highlighted the building’s breathtaking natural reverberation. When the percussionist struck a woodblock, it echoed as if he was deep inside a complex of dark caves. It’s no wonder that bands like My Morning Jacket have recorded vocal tracks in grain silos just like Marine A to achieve a distinctive largeness not possibly simulated in a recording studio. Jackson described the elevators as “the largest machines ever made by man.” Robert Skerker, co-chair of the Buffalo Preservation Conference, called them “the most significant buildings ever built here” in a speech to eventgoers. Buffalo is well known for its Frank Continued on page 5
Preservation Conference Highlights Buffalo’s Best REBECCA BRATEK News Editor
Buffalo became a tourist destination for thousands of outsiders this past weekend, and, for once, they focused on some of the city’s positive aspects rather than the amount of snowfall or the unemployment rate. The National Trust for Historic Preservation – a private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to saving historic places and drawing attention to unique architecture – chose Buffalo to hold its annual National Preservation Conference this year. More than 2,500 “highly educated opinion-makers” (the highest attendance rate for a Preservation Conference in 10 years) arrived on Wednesday and stayed through Saturday to explore what Buffalo has to offer. “If this was an audition, Buffalo now has a starring role,” said Valecia Crisafulli, vice president of partnerships for the Trust in an article in The Buffalo News. The conference was all about “keeping you at the cutting edge of preservation,” and Buffalo was “the perfect laboratory for debating and examining the field’s alternating currents,” according to the conference’s Facebook page. The four-day conference had many events in store across the city for visitors and Buffalo citizens alike. Tours of historic sites – Lockport’s Erie Canal
The historic Richardson Olmsted Complex – a former mental hospital that’s being refurbished into a luxury hotel – was open to the public for the fist time in over a decade on Thursday, Oct. 20. This was one of many events included in the National Preservation Conference. Meg Kinsley /// The Spectrum
locks, the Graycliff Estate in Derby, Frank Lloyd Wright’s residence, the historic community around Kleinhans Music Hall, city parks, and even Forest Lawn Cemetery – were the highlight of the conference. “I hope that people use [last] weekend as an opportunity to explore Buffalo, even if it just acts as a reminder that we have these great resources and potential,” said Patrick Riedy, a senior English major and a resident of Buffalo for 21 years,
A Novel Way to Spend Time VERONICA RITTER Life Editor Carlton Brock III, a junior English major, likes being in control of the world. When a writer gets behind a computer or notebook, that’s exactly the type of power they possess. “With Enhanced I literally made the world new,” Brock said of his recently self-published science fiction novel. His novel, which incorporates elements of action and adventure, takes place in the year 2085 during the middle of a global war. The story follows Rio Orca, a soldier who is able to start fires with his mind. Many characters within the novel define the title, and are enhanced in some way like Rio.
While self-publishing a novel at 19 years old is a major accomplishment, it isn’t what sets Brock apart from most other college students, though it helps. Most juniors in college barely find the time for juggling school, homework, part-time jobs, and a social life. Brock, however, isn’t like most juniors. “He’s the type of kid instead of going out partying on a Saturday night, he’d rather spend time with his younger siblings and read a book to them,” said Carlton Brock Jr., Brock’s father and senior vice president of St. Jude Medical Inc. “My daughter is trying to write her own book because she wants to be just like her big brother.”
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Brock is one of nine sisters and brothers including stepsiblings. When he isn’t writing, reading, or seeing the latest movie to have hit theaters on Friday night, he is spending as much time as possible with his siblings. “It’s something I try to make time to do every week,” Brock said. “It’s also really interesting to try and see the world through their eyes and help them learn new things.” Whether it’s simply playing with his three younger siblings – 7-year-old Simone, and 4-year-old Peyton and Nia – or attending his brother’s shows – local hip-hop artist and freshman undecided major Quinton ‘Scooter’ Brock – Carlton dedicates the same amount of time to his family as he does to his writing. Continued on page 5
Weather for the Week: Monday: T-Showers- H: 57, L: 43 Tuesday: PM Showers- H: 57, L: 48 Wednesday: Showers/Wind- H: 57, L: 43
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Carlton Brock III self-published a science fiction novel, titled Enhanced, at the age of 19.
Alexa Strudler /// The Spectrum
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