The Spectrum Vol. 71 No. 5

Latin American SA protests Student Association’s ticketing policies, demands amendments

SA president promises to bring new proposal before SA Senate in November GRANT ASHLEY MANAGING

KIANA HODGE STAFF WRITER

HILL

The Latin American Student Association had been preparing for its 18th Annual Heritage Banquet, which “celebrates and commemorates” Hispanic Heritage Month, since the start of the semester.

The event coordinators had secured a venue and caterer, the dance performers had spent hours rehearsing and the club had promoted the event on social media. All LASA had left to do was get its ticket prices approved by the Student Association.

LASA submitted a proposal on Sept. 28, with intentions to sell 182 student tickets for no more than $26 and at least 50 general public tickets, popular among family members and LASA alumni, for $30.

But there was a problem.

SA emailed LASA the next day, telling the club that it could only sell 25 general public tickets rather than 50.

And then in an Oct. 4 email, the SA informed LASA of a price point correction — it would have to double the price of those 25 remaining general public tickets.

LASA’s proposals had run afoul of SA’s new Ticketing and Merchandise Sales Poli-

cy, which bars clubs from subsidizing nonstudent tickets with their club budget and caps the number of tickets they can give to non-students at 10% of total tickets available for sale. The SA Senate unanimously

‘Women, Life, Freedom’: Buffalo Iranians call for reform to their homeland’s government

MORGAN S.T. ROSS ASST. NEWS/FEATURES EDITOR A.J. FRANKLIN ASST. FEATURES EDITOR

It was a cold, windy day in Buffalo, but that did not stop over 80 protestors who then marched around Niagara Square, Buffalo City Hall looming large, chanting slogans like, “Women, Life, Freedom,” “Justice for Iran” and “What solution? Revolution!”

The march was organized by Buffalo Iranians to protest the long-standing injustices that the Iranian government has inflicted on its citizens.

Buffalo’s protest comes alongside rallies in Iran and across the world in response to the killing of Mahsa Amini, a 22-yearold Iranian woman who was taken into custody by Iran’s “morality police.” She

was taken to the hospital in a coma and died under suspicious circumstances last month, according to The Guardian. Amini was arrested for wearing her hijab too loosely.

Iranian officials say that Amini died of a heart attack from a pre-existing condition. Her family disputes this, saying that her body was covered with bruises. Prior to the rally, protestors displayed signs on the McKinley monument that read, “We stand in solidarity with Iranian women youth,” “Say her name Mahsa Amini” and “Scream, so that one day, a hundred years from now, another sister will not have to dry her tears wondering where in history she lost her voice.”

passed the policy as a part of a package late last March.

This left LASA with two options a week and a half before its biggest event of the year: relocate the event from the Marriott

Hotel to somewhere on campus to save on venue costs or charge $60 for just 25 nonstudent tickets.

Ken Jeong discusses comedy, medicine and more in vulnerable 2022-23 Distinguished Speaker Series opening

MERET KELSEY ASST. ARTS EDITOR A.J. FRANKLIN ASST. FEATURES EDITOR

Ken Jeong was still working his day job when he filmed his first movie, the Judd Apatow rom-com “Knocked Up.”

It’s not that unusual for up-and-coming actors to work jobs on the side while trying to make it in Hollywood.

But Jeong’s job was unique: he was a physician, seeing patients during the day and performing stand-up comedy by night.

“It was not about being famous; I just loved medicine, and I loved comedy,” Jeong said. “If I had never gotten another movie after ‘Knocked Up,’ that was OK.”

Jeong kicked off the 2022-23 Distinguished Speaker Series at the Center for the Arts Tuesday night. Jeong spoke about his unconventional rise to fame to students, faculty and staff at UB.

Fortunately for Jeong, Apatow saw his potential and started bringing him on in future films, including a cameo in “Pineapple Express” and a role in “Step Brothers,” which opened Jeong’s eyes to realize that it was “time to go pro” with his acting career.

Jeong has a clear stage presence and comedic sensibility, but he admits there was a learning curve to being on screen.

“A lot of [acting] is just learning on the job and on the fly,” Jeong said. “You just keep doing it enough and you just kind of get used to movement… that’s what acting really is, it’s just movement.”

Jeong didn’t stop moving once he learned the ropes.

He’s continued to take on new roles, keeping himself busy with endeavors like judging on “The Masked Singer.”

“I’ve been so profoundly busy in the

past six months that you either get consumed by it, overwhelmed by it or you almost surrender yourself to the process,” Jeong said.

But for him, business is a worthy sacrifice.

“I never thought I would be in a position in life where I could do what I love to [do],” he said.

Jeong’s fame hasn’t stopped him from advocating for others. He’s made it a mission to ensure underrepresented people are getting the shine — and the paychecks — that they deserve. As a producer and writer, Jeong goes out of his way to cast and uplift Asian American actors, like on his sitcom “Dr. Ken.”

“I fought for [the cast] all to get paid as series regulars,” Jeong said. “You’re on my payroll on an Asian American show, you’re all going to get paid.”

Only eight days before coming onto the CFA Mainstage, he finished production for “Great Divide,” a film starring Jeong which illuminates racism towards Asians as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He described the experience of acting in the movie as his most emotionally challenging role yet.

While it may have all been acted on screen, racist scenarios — like other actors purposefully coughing on him — still felt almost too realistic for Jeong.

“There were moments where I just started crying even between takes, I get choked up even thinking about it,” Jeong said.

But it was worth the mental drain for him to highlight the film’s important message.

Jeong remained vulnerable throughout the night in the audience Q&A, speaking

UB

The protest outside City Hall follows weeks of protests in Iran

Actor, comedian opens the Distinguished Speakers Series with tales of his unconventional career

Faculty Senate Executive Committee begins process to add fall break in 2023-24

The unanimous vote will add a fall break in October pending a vote by the full Faculty Senate

RIA GUPTA ASST. NEWS/FEATURES EDITOR

The Faculty Senate Executive Commit tee voted unanimously Wednesday on a resolution that would add a two-day fall break during the weekend of Indigenous Peoples’ Day for the 2023-24 academic year.

The resolution, proposed by the Aca demic Policies and Grading Committee, would also observe Juneteenth as a uni versity holiday, make sure commencement weekend doesn’t overlap with spring final exams and adjust the start dates of the fall, spring and winter semesters.

The resolution will be discussed by the full Faculty Senate at their Nov. 15 meet ing. A final decision will be made on Dec.

15 during a special meeting of the senate.

Tuesday’s unanimous vote was the cul mination of over a year of debate regard ing a fall break. The Faculty Senate Execu tive Committee held a “good and robust discussion” about whether to cancel class

es in observation of Indigenous Peoples’ Day last October, according to meeting minutes. The measure was voted down, according to Joanne Song McLaughlin, chair of the Academic Policies and Grad ing Committe..

McLaughlin, who presented to the Ex ecutive in favor of adding a fall break Tuesday, also worked to propose a tem porary fall break last semester. Last fall’s proposal would’ve added a two-day break to the academic calendar and extended the

fall 2022 semester through Dec. 22, which some faculty felt was too late.

“Some professors were objecting to it being too late to try, but that’s why it was temporary,” McLaughlin said in an inter view with The Spectrum. “This new propos al starts the fall semester early [for some upcoming years], so that the last day of classes does not go beyond Dec. 20.”

Several faculty members raised ques tions about the potential loss of class time in the shortened fall and winter sessions.

McLaughlin acknowledged their point but argued that the benefits — including a longer summer for students pursuing internships or experiential learning experi ences, the recognition of the university’s diversity during Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Juneteenth, and breaks that would better overlap with those at K-12 schools, making childcare easier for faculty — out weighed the drawbacks.

“Whenever we make any changes, there are some people for whom it’ll have a neg ative impact and for others, it will have a positive impact,” McLaughlin said. “Our job is to propose a calendar that works for the majority of people. The main idea be hind this proposal should be student suc cess and research activities for faculty and PhDs.”

The Academic Policies and Grading Committee also found that most of UB’s peer institutions and other members of the Association of American Universities had already instituted fall breaks.

“The work that has been done is a per fect example of how a Senate committee functions. They were presented with some

requests and some ideas that had to be ad dressed by doing a tremendous amount of work,” Senate Chair Frederick Stoss said.

“This went through the entire process of going from issues that were raised to a committee that did some great work — to the point where we have voted in favor at the faculty committee.”

The proposal also garnered support from Provost A. Scott Weber, who was present for the vote.

“I fully support the Academic Policy and Grading Committee’s proposal to amend UB’s academic calendar to include a twoday fall break,” Weber said in a statement.

“While no calendar is perfect, I believe the proposal in front of the faculty senate represents an appropriate balance of the many needs across the campus.”

The 2022 fall academic calendar con tains only four days off: Sept. 5 for Labor Day and Nov. 23-25 for Thanksgiving.

The Faculty Senate first voted to recog nize Indigenous Peoples’ Day during the fall 2021 semester.

The holiday was first recognized in 1992 as a counter to the concurrent federal holiday of Columbus Day. The holiday’s namesake, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, has been criticized for his practices of waging war on and enslaving Indigenous populations in the Caribbean.

Grant Ashley contributed reporting to this story.

When the protest’s leaders spoke about their experiences and why they advocate for reform to the Iranian government, Armeeta Hajikandi, a recent UB graduate, and her Aunt Maryam began to hug each other, tears flowing down their faces.

“My aunt was born and raised in Iran,” Hajinkandi said. “I was the first genera tion born in America, so I didn’t grow up in that struggle, but I saw my family and the protests as I was growing older... There was a protest when they were talk ing about ‘Where’s my vote?’ and [people] were throwing acid into the crowds, and nobody did anything. There was no media coverage.”

The protest was more personal for Kasra Borazjani, a PhD student in the De partment of Electrical Engineering, who moved to the U.S. four weeks before the protest. He said some of his friends, stu dents at the Sharif University of Technol ogy, were detained by police and the Basiji, a plain-clothes militia, in a siege of the campus during student protests.

Students were surrounded for “about seven to eight hours.” Many were shot with paintball bullets and taken into custo dy. If students tried to leave the premises, they were arrested and taken to an undis closed location. Borazjani says that when students at other universities protested the incident, their campuses were also sieged.

“Just think what would happen if the U.S. attacked Harvard like this,” Borazjani said. “What would any U.S. citizen feel like? This is what each Iranian has to go through each and every day. The frus tration, the pain, the anger. And no one knows how to deal with this.”

While the right to protest is protected and guaranteed for U.S. citizens, that’s not the case for Iran. Borazjani thinks it should be.

“The students, every human being in Iran, should have that right and should not be killed, should not be injured, should not be attacked by guns, just for protest ing,” Borazjani said.

This is a familiar fight for UB alum Nadia Sharam, who co-led the protest. Sharam came to the U.S. as a student from Iran, eventually receiving her law degree

from UB. She now works as a private at torney and a local activist.

Reflecting back on her experience as a student, Sharam encourages current stu dent leaders to be aware of their freedoms and know who is responsible for putting them in the positions to have such free doms.

“Sometimes I think the younger gen eration does not understand how hard our grandparents, especially our grandmoth ers, have worked to bring us the freedom that we take for granted now,” she said. “I want the generation of my daughters to know that sitting on the sidelines is not an option if we want democracy. If we are not careful, it will be taken away from us in a heartbeat. Until 1979, Iran was a so cially democratic country. For the last four decades and shortly after the 1979 revo lution, rights were taken away, especially from Iranian women, from our sisters.”

Iranian women and girls have, in many cases, led protests against the Iranian gov ernment and Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Some have even burned their hijabs in the street in protest, according to CNN.

But Saturday’s protestors say their fight goes beyond rights for their family and friends in Iran. It’s also a global fight for human rights, democracy and equity.

“It’s not about Islam, it’s not about re ligion, it’s not even about women alone, it’s human rights,” Hajikandi said. “If you have humanity you would do something about it.”

Social media: the perpetuator of anxiety

No matter how hard I try, I find it difficult to escape the mirage of social media

and emptied my mind to sleep.

It was just a melodramatic catharsis.

I always find myself examining my face and body in the mirror, like there’s a formula of what I am supposed to be. The advertisements for beauty products on the internet exude sophistication from every pore. Even though I am aware that what people post on the internet is edited, I still get depressed knowing my ideal self seems out of reach.

Fake face, fake fantasies.

It was just another night filled with anxiety about my appearance.

It’s hard not to feel anxious when looking through the bright and glossy internet celebrities on Instagram and TikTok. People seem so happy online.

In contrast, my Instagram story consists of posts with ugly photos of me and long paragraphs, venting my emotions.

Well, that’s what I’ve always considered myself to be: the average one.

Discouraged, I threw my phone away — as if I were throwing away my worries —

I overindulged in it. Social media became my “wanna-be.” In one moment, the temptation of materialism and desire erodes my mind and sends me crashing into the abyss of imagination. In another, the series of exams and deadlines pull me back to reality. I look at the messes in my life and get anxious.

I try to create the ideal image of myself on social media. It seems more accessible than becoming my perfect self in the real world.

The screen-time function on my phone

tells me that I spend 30 to 40 hours a week on social media. That’s almost a full-time job. The time I spend on social media feeds not only my anxieties about my appearance, but my anxieties about my career, my relationships and my personality.

That is what social media brings me: endless anxiety.

And I know I’m not alone. Social media should be a product that connects us to the world, but it has alienated us from the real world. People are so addicted to building an imaginary persona online that they forget to develop their real-life selves.

Growth is formed through real-life experiences. We receive all kinds of fragmented data through social media without systematically learning how to process it all. Social media doesn’t make us better people.

Instead, it makes us impatient, scatterbrained individuals.

One of my goals this semester is to abstain from social media for a month. I want to spend that time doing everything

I want to do, but normally don’t because of the time I waste on social media. I plan on going to the gym to alleviate my insecurities about my appearance. I also want to further my photography skills with the camera I bought many years ago, but never used. I wonder what kind of person I’d become after one month.

The root of appearance insecurity is not a result of physical image, but buried in the dust of the weak mind. Our insecurities are so humble and fragile. We all want to be seen, appreciated and treasured — not ashamed of who we are.

But right now, my insecurity follows me. Even on the good days, I find it stuck to the sole of my shoes, leaving tracks for everyone to see.

I want to tell the girls who also experience insecurity and anxiety: good looks are replicable, but what’s inside is irreplaceable.

How to not get roofied: A survival guide for women, as taught by my parents

me an entirely different lesson in preparation for college: How to not get roofied at fraternity or house parties.

As a first-generation college student and an eldest daughter, it goes without saying that my family was completely and utterly terrified for me to move out and start attending parties.

And so began, at the beginning of my middle school career, a long string of lectures and inappropriate table talk that all centered how to avoid being sexually assaulted.

some men can’t control themselves, it is impossible to guarantee that you won’t be drugged, assaulted or even killed. In short, you have to miss out on normal experiences because you were born with the generational curse of a vagina.

items have been guaranteed to stop men in the past, they’re better than nothing.

Now that you’ve completed the course I have to mention some disclaimers.

I grew up hearing these rules.

Repeating these rules back to myself.

Editor’s note: the following column is satire and intended to be read sarcastically.

Content warning: This article contains sensitive information about sexual assault. The National Sexual Assault Hotline can be reached at 1-800656-4673.

Since the ripe age of 12, I could recite all of the rules from memory: Don’t leave your cup unattended.

Follow the buddy system.

Don’t be alone with men.

My family and I always knew I would get into college, so while my male counterparts spent their adolescence studying for the ACTs and researching university programs, my parents were busy teaching

For years I listened to horrible stories of smart women, like me, getting taken advantage of by infuriatingly smarter men. I watched documentaries about poor souls who never returned home. I was introduced to every cup condom, rape whistle and color-changing straw under the sun.

My years of studying and research have led me to this moment.

Welcome to “How to not get roofied: A survival guide,” by me, as taught by my parents:

Step One: Don’t attend parties in the first place. I’m aware this sounds crazy and stupid, but women are not entitled to the same college experiences as men. Because

Step Two: If step one can’t be avoided, your next step is to not enjoy the party. If you don’t want to be roofied, then you can’t afford to drink, smoke or laugh. Cups could be drugged, blunts could be laced and laughter could give the wrong impression that you’re available or interested. If you insist on attending a party, do so with the utmost misery and paranoia.

Step Three: Spend all of your time and money trying to avoid something you’ve always been taught is inevitable. I know you grew up hearing the statistics; one in four and 93%, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t dedicate your entire life catering to men or their needs. If you insist on attending a party and enjoying yourself, at least equip yourself with the proper tools.

The following are all gotta-haves, not wanna-haves: cup condom, color changing straw and nail polish, rape whistle, pepper spray, guard dog and knight’s armor. Please be advised that while none of these

Eating, sleeping, breathing these rules.

I walked with friends. I covered my cup when dancing. I remained vigilant of my surroundings. I called an Uber when it started to get dark. I never smoked anything offered to me. I was careful not to smile too big or laugh too loud or wear too little.

I followed all of the rules.

And I was still drugged.

I spent three days in the hospital to get it out of my system.

You can follow all of these rules. You can do everything “right.” But some men will continue to drug, assault or kill women. Whether they have fun at parties or not.

Teaching women to hate themselves and to exist in fear solves nothing.

Teach men not to roofie and if that fails, teach them real consequences — a better survival guide, by me.

Anthony

Kayla

Kara

Grant

Moaz Elazzazi,

Yakun

Asst.

Dylan Greco, Sr.

Kailo Mori, Sr. Emma Stanton, Sr.

Tenzin Wodhean

Jake

Jenna Quinn, Sr.

The violent, drug-induced lifestyles of young artists has been overlooked for too long

How many more young musicians need to die before we take their romanticized idea of murder and drug use seriously?

jakes (Duckin’ the jakes)”

Here, Pop Smoke describes how he’s hunting someone down in a Bugatti, off a perc 30 (a 30-milligram dose of oxycodo ne), armed with a Draco (a small AK-47).

People scream these lyrics at the top of their lungs and praise Pop Smoke for writ ing about hunting a human being down while driving high as a kite.

The bigger these adolescent fan bases get, the more reinforcement the artist’s vulgar lyrics receive. More support for the idea of homicide and drug use leads to ideas becoming reality.

What happened to Pop Smoke was trag ic, there’s no debate about that. It’s what led to his death that adolescents memorial ize and praise.

Miller’s music. He’s an objectively talent ed artist, but romanticizing drug-induced euphoria shows a positive outlook on a health-risking action.

Juice Wrld, Mac Miller, Lil Peep, King Von, Pop Smoke and XXXTentacion.

All of these musicians suffered an un timely death by overdose or brutal murder in the past five years.

The oldest among these artists were King Von and Mac Miller. They didn’t live past 26 years.

What’s the appeal to songs about ending a human being’s life? We don’t read into them enough. We’ve listened to and seen so much of this music that we forget what the lyrics are really saying.

An excerpt from Pop Smoke’s “Armed N Dangerous” contains the lyrics:

“I’m in the Bugatti, racin’, pacer, pace him / Run him down, chase him, Draco, Drac him / Extendo, thirty, Perc’ head, 30 / 808 dirty, air it out, birdie / I keep a Smith n’ like Stephen A., picante / In and out different states (Woo) / Duckin’ the

As listeners, how do we ignore these bright red flags? One could make the case that these lyrics are a “figure of speech” and they’re not to be taken seriously. But when you put these ideas behind a catchy beat and an adrenaline-pumping bass, peo ple will associate these ideas with excite ment and thrill.

Why are today’s artists promoting such acts and why is it so enticing to the young er generation?

The answer is simple: a false sense of confidence.

This type of music provides adolescents, especially young men, with the belief that they’re stone-cold killers who don’t need anything from anybody. The idea of guns, knives and “the gang” is comforting to young, insecure males in search for a sense of belonging.

This manipulates children into becom ing massive fans of artists who provide a violent solution to their growing pains and insecurities.

Pop smoke was 20-years-old when he was shot in the chest in his home at 2 a.m.

Much like Pop Smoke, Mac Miller ro manticized hedonistic aspects of life; most notably, drug use.

If you compare Mac Miller’s debut al bum “K.I.D.S.” and his last album “Cir cles” you’ll notice a major difference. On “K.I.D.S.,” you’ll hear upbeat tracks such as “The Spins” and “Kool Aid and Fro zen Pizza,” talking about how much fun it is doing drugs with friends and skipping school. But on “Circles,” you’ll hear much slower, more melodic beats such as “Good News” and “Surf,” which convey how drowsy and numb drugs make you feel.

The slow transition from upbeat to slow melody can be explained by Mac Miller’s continuous struggle with lean (combi nation of prescription cough syrup and soda). “Lean” is a cognitive dampener and causes drowsiness and slow brain func tion.

Personally, I thoroughly enjoy Mac

As Mac Miller descended into addiction, his songs only got more and more popu lar. It’s understandable that people believe his songs improved over the years because of how raw they were in regards to drugs silencing depressive thoughts, but positive feedback for an unhealthy action enables addictive tendencies.

Mass-enabling and the encouragement of his addictive life-style played a role in Mac Miller’s overdose on fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol.

The risky, life-threatening lifestyles of these young artists have been overlooked for too long. It’s not that you can’t enjoy these types of songs, it’s just important that you recognize and acknowledge the ideas the artist is trying to convey as well as recognize how extreme they are.

We need to take a step back and evaluate the lyrics of these types of songs to sepa rate self-harmful behavior from healthy decision making.

The Spectrum Editoral Board and Staff

Not

Kayla estrada

Email: dylan.greco@ubspectrum.com

GRANT ASHLEY MANAGING EDITOR

ANTHONY DECICCO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

ANDREW LAURICELLA ASST. MANAGING EDITOR

JASMIN

MORGAN

KARA

MERET

LASA e-board members said they had no choice but to raise the price and limit non-student tickets — no space on cam pus had the capacity for the 250 attendees they planned on inviting.

“For the last 18 years, the banquet has never been on campus, and that has never been an issue,” Yaide Valdez, a junior po litical science and law major, said. “They’re just not considerate of the hard work that we’re putting in behind the scenes.”

LASA members said they were frus trated with the SA’s late and sporadic com munication, which sent LASA scrambling to successfully pull off the event despite major changes.

“They sent emails back and forth, but kind of fixed one thing at a time instead of just all at once,” Adrian Alverez, the treasurer of LASA and a junior aerospace engineering major, said.

Representatives from the SA declined to comment on this or any other Spectrum story.

‘Don’t think that it doesn’t impact us undergraduate students’

There are 69 undergraduate Latina women in UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, according to the University Factbook.

Jaylean Ureña, the community outreach coordinator for LASA and a sophomore aerospace engineering major, is one of them.

Despite the lack of diversity in her pro gram, she was able to secure a research opportunity, partly by using the alumni network and connections she cultivated at LASA.

“Just because these tickets are directly for graduate and non-UB students, don’t think that it doesn’t impact us undergrad uate students,” she said. “We don’t have representation because, respectfully, this school does not provide for students of color. They heavily rely on our clubs and our organizations to provide for students of color.”

With UB being a predominantly white institution, LASA members argue that People Of Color (POC) council clubs provide community and opportunities to network with alumni, allowing Latino stu dents to go further in their careers.

“For our organization, it’s really impor tant to have these alumni networks be cause we allow them to support [us], not only professionally and academically, but as well as just running our day to day,” Kevin Corrales, the current LASA presi dent and a senior mechanical engineering major, said. “So to have a policy like this that directly inhibits us from inviting them is very detrimental as a whole.”

Some alumni told LASA they had al ready traveled to Buffalo from New York City for the event, only to find out that

their cost of attendance had doubled.

“They find it to be ridiculous,” Valdez said.

Many LASA members were also con cerned that the high ticket prices would alienate alumni and family members with low incomes.

“This is my first year in the club and my family was thinking about coming when it was $30,” Maria Mendez, a fresh man health and human services major and LASA member who comes from a fivemember family, said. “But right now, they can’t afford to pay for tickets because it’s $60.”

Kathleen Leite, a former LASA presi dent and senior communications major, was “extra excited” to attend the banquet one last time as a student.

Leite had picked out “an amazing out fit” and made plans to go with some of her other friends as a celebration of their efforts. But after LASA was forced to raise ticket prices and cap non-UB student tick ets, her friends didn’t “feel comfortable showing up.”

Leite is now contemplating not going. She’s afraid her “experience will be less exciting” because she won’t be sharing it with those closest to her.

But the banquet is more than just a night of dancing and networking, LASA mem bers say. It’s a source of community in a school where only 6.7% of students are Latino.

“When you’re first generation and you’re in a school where English is not your first language, sometimes you need an event where you’re just with your fellow Latinos: people who speak the same tongue as you, listen to the same music,” Ureña said.

‘For the students and by the students or against the students?’

LASA first went public about its con cerns on Oct. 5 with an Instagram post entitled, “For the students and by the stu dents or against the students?” playing off the SA’s slogan. The post explained the ticketing policy and how it would affect them.

LASA e-board members say they then spoke with SA pro-staff members about how the ticket policies would affect oth er POC clubs and suggested that the SA spread awareness about the new policy.

LASA e-board members say one prostaff member told them that other clubs would deal with the policy “when their time comes.”

After that conversation, LASA mem bers moved beyond social media to pres sure the SA into amending the ticketing policies. The club protested the SA’s ticket regulations in an Oct. 7 demonstration that wound its way from One World Café to outside the SA’s office.

Protesting students, predominantly members of LASA and the Black Student Union, marched with the flags of vari ous Latin American and South American countries on their backs, held homemade

signs and chanted “Let us be, it’s our fee,” and “Your policy, we disagree,” through the halls of the Student Union.

“It is like our hands are tied and we’re their puppets,” Valdez said at the protest. “They [SA] want us to do whatever they want, not what we want.”

After marching from One World, Cor rales, Valdez and BSU Vice President Tay lor Lewis gave speeches emphasizing the importance of community for students of color and the university’s reliance on clubs like LASA to create a “diverse environ ment” to the 40 assembled protestors on the ground floor of the Student Union.

“We’re not fighting any administration in a student government,” Corrales said in a speech. “We’re fighting a policy, and we want to change it… But at the end of the day, the reason we’re here today is to incite change, beyond just one or two rules, all the way to the president’s office.”

After the speeches, protestors marched upstairs and chanted outside the SA office in the hopes of getting a response.

They got their wish. While they were gathered outside the SA office, the SA posted an official statement on its Insta gram.

“We recognize the concerns that have recently been brought to our attention regarding the Ticketing and Merchandise Sales policy. We hear you,” the post read. “The policy in question does not impact current (undergraduate) students and was implemented by the 2021 SA adminis tration to limit undergraduate student funding being utilized to benefit non-un dergraduate students. The policy applies equally to all clubs and any implications otherwise are inaccurate.”

Shortly after the post went public, SA President Becky Paul-Odionhin beckoned Corrales, Valdez and Lewis into the office.

Paul-Odionhin told them that there was “nothing they [SA] could do in the mo ment” and to “send her an email.”

After their conversation, Corrales stated that LASA representatives would show up at the SA Senate meeting scheduled for the following Monday, Oct. 10, and encour aged other students to come “if they cared about the issue.”

LASA also started a Change.org petition calling on the SA to amend its ticketing policy in order “to give students the right to choose.” It has garnered 415 signatures.

SA president commits to meeting with LASA, drafting proposal for next senate meeting

The SA Senate voted on council coor dinator appointments, the senate chair person and budget adjustments in its first meeting of the academic year on Monday, but the agenda lacked any references to LASA or the SA’s ticketing policy.

Paul-Odionhin told the room “that’s it” and was about to conclude the meet ing until Student Affairs Director Ariel Clarke proposed a motion to “discuss the matter in which students on campus have not been acknowledged and appreciated as far as the situation with LASA.” Clarke, a senior criminology and political science

major, also added that she had “previously discussed” adding the agenda item with Paul-Odionhin and Pang.

Nobody with the SA had prepared a specific resolution, and such a resolution would’ve required prior approval by at least two SA e-board members, according to the SA’s lawyer, Joshua Korman.

The senate instead focused on feedback from LASA members who attended the meeting, how the policy will affect other clubs in the POC council and beyond, the conflicting information that SA pro-staff gave to LASA and the best ways for the SA to get further feedback.

Parts of the discussion appeared to ex pose disagreements among members of the senate over whether the SA’s current ticketing policy has any merit.

“We should always be prioritizing un dergraduates first,” Paul-Odionhin said.

“Now, alumni, grad students, the UB com munity — they’re great and all. But if pro viding more to them becomes a disservice to other undergrads, we should also take that into consideration.”

Clarke immediately responded, arguing that “prioritizing undergraduates first” meant prioritizing the community mem bers around them too.

“To prioritize and cater to them, you have to understand and welcome the peo ple that are with them,” Clarke said. “It takes a village to bring individuals to uni versities like this, especially when you talk about individuals who are part of those [POC and international] clubs or even just anyone from across the board who comes from a certain socioeconomic status…

You cannot say that we as UB SA priori tize and cater to UB undergraduates with out acknowledging the fact that they are being harmed egregiously based on this policy and the fact that we’re excluding the people who come with them.”

Paul-Odionhin committed to meeting again with LASA members and using that feedback to put a proposal before the sen ate, but the 25-minute discussion on the ticketing policy ended after SA Treasurer Alana Lesczynski left to go to class, which broke quorum.

The senate voted to adjourn shortly af terward.

“I really appreciate everything you’re saying, and I understand,” Lesczynski told Ureña, who had just finished speaking about what LASA does for UB’s Latino community, before leaving the meeting.

“So before I go, I do want to say, thank you guys so much for coming. I don’t want to say I understand because obviously I’m not in your position, but I can see every thing that’s happening. Don’t think that we’re not going through this… We were literally in Becky’s office way past office hours, just going at the whiteboard, liter ally going at this policy.”

The next SA Senate meeting has yet to be scheduled.

Yakun Liu / The SpecTrum LaSa and BSu e Board memBerS deLivered SpeecheS in the Su Before marching to the Sa office

‘I don’t want everything to disappear in time, and that’s why I share my experiences’ Holocaust survivor, UB Alum and professor emeritus Sol Messinger tells his story to keep Holocaust-survivor awareness alive KAYLA ESTRADA SR. NEWS/FEATURES EDITOR

To a stranger, Sol Messinger seems like an average Buffalo local.

He passes the time by meeting with his friends, reading the Wall Street Journal and routinely walking to Spot Coffee to start each of his mornings.

To the barista, Messinger is simply an other regular who orders the same thing every day: black coffee (no cream, no sug ar) and a small slice of coffee cake.

But he’s more than just a retiree with a routine. Messinger is a Holocaust survi vor who’s dedicated himself to advocating for the Jewish community and spreading awareness about anti-semetism.

At 90 years old, Messinger is one of a shrinking group of living Holocaust sur vivors. There are fewer than 50,000 Holo caust survivors left in the U.S., according to The Atlanta Jewish Times

Messinger, a former UB student and emeritus professor of medicine, is fea tured in the ongoing PBS documentary “The U.S. and the Holocaust,” which be gan airing Sept. 18.

He keeps history alive by continuing to

go to schools and talk to students, sharing his pictures and memories with Holocaust Museums, and staying actively involved in Buffalo’s Jewish communities.

Last week, he sat down at Spot Coffee for an interview with The Spectrum

“I think about everything that happened and I don’t know how I feel,” Messinger said. “It was a long time ago, but I remem ber it well.”

In October 1938, Messinger and his parents were among the many Jewish-Ger mans rounded up by German police and sent to an internment camp not far from the Polish border.

Messinger’s family had applied for visas to the U.S. a few years before but were still on the waiting list at the time. Needing to escape Germany, they managed to obtain visas to Cuba. But in 1939, after traveling across the Atlantic to Havana on the MS St. Louis with 900 other Jewish refugees, the Cuban government refused entry. The ship and all of its passengers, including Messinger and his parents, were sent back to Europe to face persecution.

“A lot of my earliest memories were on that ship,” Messinger said. “My parents

were worried, I could tell, but they tried to shield me from it. We were docked outside of Cuba for seven days. People pleaded with the Cuban government to let us in. They responded by sending people out on small boats to round up any passengers trying to escape.”

Messinger was only six years old at the time he boarded the MS St. Louis. He was forced to celebrate his seventh birthday on ship, while his family’s future was left in the hands of the Cuban government.

Messinger eventually met another boy his age on the ship, and they soon became friends.“It was lonely at first,” Messinger said. “I was grateful to have someone to play with. He made everything a little easi er.”

After Messinger and his family were denied at the Cuban border, the MS St. Louis returned to Europe. But Messinger’s friend was sent back to Auschwitz.

“He probably died there,” Messinger said.

Messinger and his parents lived in Bel gium before fleeing to France for refuge in 1940. In France, they were arrested and sent to an internment camp in Agde along with other Jewish refugees.

Sleeping on beds of straw, he remem bers sleepless nights, waking up cold and covered in rashes.

“I spent most of that time clung to my mother because the men were separated from the women and children,” Mess inger said. “Eventually, one of the other refugees told my mother we had to escape. And somehow we did.”

Messinger, who suffers from memory loss, couldn’t recall exactly how he and his mother escaped the internment camp, nor how his father managed to do the same. He was shocked to run into him one day, assuming he suffered the same fate as so many other Jews during the Holocaust.

“One morning, my mother was out at the water pump and she saw my dad run ning down the hill towards us. He had got ten out,” Messinger said. “It was one of those moments that felt like a miracle.”

After being reunited with his father, Messinger and his family went to Mar seille, where they managed to obtain the

necessary paperwork to move to the U.S. Messinger’s father had family living in Buf falo.

That was 80 years ago. He’s lived there ever since.

“You don’t live somewhere as long as I have if you don’t love it or the people,” Messinger said. “I enjoy Buffalo.”

Although Messinger has a love for Buf falo now, leaving behind his entire life was a transitional period for him.

“When I first arrived here, they put me in first grade, even though I was about fifth-grade aged,” Messinger said. “This is because I knew practically no English. I don’t remember being scared though, just thankful.”

Messinger says that after only about five weeks, he managed to work his way up in school and was placed in normal-level classes. His father, a tailor, was able to find a job and his mother picked up part-time jobs cleaning for families in the area. They had made Buffalo home.

“I don’t remember experiencing any anti-semitism after coming to the U.S., especially once I started attending UB.” Messinger said. “Most of my friends were also Jewish.”

Messinger graduated from the Jacobs School of Medicine with a degree in pa thology and eventually went on to teach medicine at UB.

“I’m very thankful for my time at UB,” Messinger said. “I couldn’t tell you why I decided to study medicine — maybe be cause it’s what all my friends were doing — but I’m glad I did it.”

Although Messinger has since retired, teaching continues to play a huge role in his life. He is an active member of the Buffalo Jewish Federation and spends a lot of time sharing his stories with students.

“It’s the most rewarding thing I can do with my time, otherwise today’s kids would never understand,” Messinger said. “I like to remind everyone that these things hap pened, and people still remember them.”

Yakun Liu / The SpecTrum Sol MeSSinger holdS

a photo of hiM and hiS

a

Cuba

UB’s ‘accordion guy’ brings ‘peculiar, odd and mystical’ music to campus

Joe Perry makes his presence known by playing his unique instrument around campus

Friendly conversations, feet stomping as students rush to class and the loud engines of the UB Stampede: students have grown accustomed to all these sounds on cam pus. But a new, unfamiliar tune has joined them, one that brings a unique melody to students’ ears.

The source of that sound, Joe Perry, is known around campus as “the accor dion guy.” Perry, a sophomore chemical engineering student who can be seen on UB Reddit and students’ Snapchat stories lugging around his 10-15 lb. instrument, brings his passion for the accordion play ing right to UB. Perry’s accordion journey started a couple of years ago at a garage sale his ex-girlfriend was working at. She mentioned there was a concertina — an instrument similar to an accordion but smaller and hexagon-shaped for sale. .

“I was like, that has to be mine,” he said. “Something in me just snapped that day and I was like yeah, I guess this is me now.”.

Perry already had some experience with playing the piano, so he jumped at the opportunity to learn a new instrument. Unsure of what to do next, he joined an accordion Discord server for some guid ance. The members of the group were helpful and guided him in his early days of playing the instrument. Perry bought most of his accordions second-hand and fixed them with help from professional repair ers in the Discord.

With Perry’s newfound accordion knowledge, he began to play.

“Honestly, I just like it. It’s just a nice instrument,” he said, “You can do solo pieces. You don’t need to be in an orches tra to make a nice noise.”

Perry has also been singing for most of his life. He grew up with his four siblings singing during car rides, and he remembers them becoming quite good. He is now a member of his church choir, but has yet to sing while playing his accordion since he is still a beginner.

Perry doesn’t have any particular reason for playing around campus.

“I could, so I did,” he said.

Once he realized that no one seemed particularly upset or bothered by his mu sic, he simply continued to play. That was until he encountered a professor in a lec ture hall at the Natural Sciences Complex. The professor told Perry not to play in doors, but Perry took the criticism with grace and said it was a valid concern.

“That wasn’t really a bad experience, that was more of a learning moment I guess,” he said.

Despite this mishap, he continues to play around campus. Perry hopes that his accordion playing brings a fun presence to campus. He says accordions are “peculiar, odd and mystical,” since it is such a niche instrument.

“I think it provides a similar feeling to seeing bigfoot,” he explained. “It’s weird, most people have not seen an accordion in real life, let alone heard one [being] played.”

Perry believes he provides “decent mu sic” to campus and loves the thrill of be ing spotted on campus. He looks forward to when people see him and say, “That’s the accordion guy!”

He can’t say with absolute certainty that everybody on campus loves his music, but he feels that his uncommon instrument seems to generally have a “positive per ception.”

Since Perry doesn’t have a lot of time to practice his accordion while juggling his classes, he says he usually practices while walking between classes on campus. He’s also a commuter, which gives him ample time to play on campus throughout the day.

His go-to place to play is what he calls “the Knox hole,” the staircases in front of Knox Hall that lead to a small, dark space with slivers of light. Students can peer through the gate on the top to see Perry play. He also doesn’t mind playing in the spotlight, sometimes playing in front of or in the Student Union.

With Perry and his melodies garnering a lot of attention on campus, students have taken to the UB Reddit, YikYak and Snapchat to share their experiences seeing him play. He smiles at the mention of this and explains how he never found it to be weird.

“I mean I’m not the most socially aware but I do know that people are going to talk about it. I knew that coming into this… I don’t mind,” he said. “I’m an oddity. If you see bigfoot, you take a picture. If you see the accordion guy, you take a picture.”.

Perry also wanted to address rumors about him going around on Reddit. One Reddit user commented, “My favorite accordion guy moment was when he ab solutely eviscerated a goose with his in strument.” With a look of confusion and some laughter, Perry explained this never happened.

“I’ve never assaulted a goose with an accordion. I wouldn’t want to do that. I could damage the instrument, hurt the goose,” he said.

Regardless of the rumors, Perry has had some great experiences with fellow stu dents while playing the accordion. A mo ment that stands out to him the most was

when someone walked up to him, gave him $5, and told him they love what he does.

“That was very nice,” Perry said. “Some times I feel bad about taking that because I don’t want to take people’s money for this, I’m just doing this for fun.”

Perry’s fondest moments are when peo ple crowd around “the Knox hole” to hear him play. Those are the moments when

he realizes people are actually enjoying his music.

Reminiscing on his performances throughout campus, he smiled and showed his gratitude to the students and staff at UB: “You’ve all been a lovely audience.”

Email: news@ubspectrum.com

on his experiences as a husband to a stagethree cancer survivor.

“I couldn’t stop crying everyday,” Jeong said. “I’ve never been depressed a day in my life. I’m more of an anxious guy than anything. And I was, just to get in front of it, I was prescribed some antidepressants.”

Jeong’s unique story and words of ad vice resonated with students in the audi ence, like freshman biology major Nandini Kodey.

“I really took what he said about being persistent to heart,” Kodey said. “All the struggles he went through, how he per sisted… that hit home.”

Julia Pitarresi, a sophomore theatre ma jor who met Jeong before the show, felt particularly motivated by his words.

“It’s really great to hear how some one comes from humble beginnings, and comes from med school, because I’m also very eclectic in my interests,” Pitarresi said. “I’m like, ‘can I do it all?’ Ken talked about how he really did.”

Moaz Elazzazi / ThE SpEcTruM “Accordion guy” plAys outside su

Moaz Elazzazi / ThE SpEcTruM perry performs At “the Knox hole” underneAth the stAircAses in front of Knox hAll

A conversation with Ken Jeong

The famous actor and comedian talks “The Hangover” and navigating life during college

ANTHONY DECICCO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF GRANT ASHLEY MANAGING EDITOR

In the summer of 2009, Ken Jeong starred in one of the most iconic movies of all time.

His role as Mr. Chow in “The Hang over” turned him into an international su perstar.

From performing stand-up comedy across the world to writing, producing and starring in ABC’s “Dr. Ken,” Jeong has seemingly done it all in the world of en tertainment.

Jeong sat down with The Spectrum before his speech as a part of UB’s Distinguished Speaker Series to talk about his start of his career in acting, becoming Mr. Chow in “The Hangover” and finding his path in college:

The Spectrum: What’s your experi ence with Buffalo like? Have you done shows here before? What’s your experi ence with the city of Buffalo been like prior to coming here to speak at UB?

Ken Jeong: “This is my first time in Buffalo. I’ve been to other areas around New York. I shot a movie a few years ago near Albany and I was just trying to just backtrack of everything else. But no, this is my first time here. I wish I was here longer because this [place] is gorgeous, just being out. Who knew Buffalo was so sunny? It’s like this every day of the year, right? [laughs] Never any snow [in Buf falo], that’s the only thing I’m getting out of this… I honestly wish I was here longer to soak in the Buffalo sun and work on my tan. But no, thank you for having me.”

TS: If we can start from the begin ning of your career: your first movie was “Knocked Up,” and you described the cast as the “Avengers of comedy.” How did you handle working with so many professionals in the field as a rookie?

KJ: “That is still intimidating. It is kind of like college, where I was a freshman, and like Paul Rudd’s the senior or like Seth Rogen, they’re the upper class, and then it felt like being a freshman at school. I was scared, but I was excited and I had a lot to learn, but I also had a lot to prove. It’s all the excitement that just goes into the first step of anything you do. But I remember telling myself ‘I’m the freshman in this upper class.’ I mean, every single person there, whether it’s from Jonah Hill, Seth

Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Jason Si gel, Craig Robinson. It is insane to think of the level of talent on that. Even then, I was in awe of everybody. So it really was still to this day, one of my favorite experi ences ever. I don’t know if you guys go through this, let’s say you start out here, you know first day of college, you kind of remember how you’re feeling that first week or that first month. Maybe as time goes by, your junior or senior year, you just kind of forget, but that’s exactly how I feel in entertainment. Like I still remember the first day of ‘Knocked Up.’ It was like the ‘do you smoke cigarettes?’ scene. I still remember those things. It was in ‘06, the spring, early summer. It was crazy. And yet I forgot what I did yesterday or last week. But it’s funny, you never forget those wa tershed moments of your life. It was obvi ously really, really important to me and if it wasn’t for ‘Knocked Up’ I definitely would not have booked ‘The Hangover’ and I wouldn’t be here talking to you guys.”

TS: Speaking of “The Hangover,” you mentioned in a different interview that your wife was one of the people really pushing you to go for that role. Why was that something she wanted you to take?

KJ: “My wife and I, she’s also a doctor and I used to be a doctor, we met at work in L.A. I mean honestly, the only people I probably have dated in my life are premed, you know, people in [the] medical profession, other doctors and other med students. So she was the only person I dated that really enjoyed comedy as much as I did… So by the time I was working with some people that we would go to the movie theater and watch like Judd Apatow and Todd Phillips, it was right up our alley. And she knew she married a comedian at heart. It was around the time of ‘Knocked Up.’ I still actually did that movie while having my day job, I did a vacation week. So I was very pragmatic about all of it. I was kind of realistic. I was in my mid 30s and I didn’t know if comedy would be a viable career. I was already knee-deep in medicine, so I didn’t know. It was around that time, my wife gave birth to two twin girls, Alexa and Zoey. And then she was diagnosed with breast cancer — a very rare form of breast cancer called triplenegative breast cancer. Long story short, she’s cancer free and has been cancer free for over the last 14 years. So very grateful. Around that time, her tumor markers in her blood had normalized. There was a fa vorable outcome in terms of the treatment that was happening at that point. We felt confident that okay, I could maybe go out

for a couple of days. I was offered the part of Mr. Chow and definitely wasn’t going to do it unless everything was favorable. God bless my mother-in-law and our sur rounding family for helping out. I thank Todd Phillips too because only he and Bradley Cooper at that time knew. I kind of wanted to be private and didn’t want everyone to know and so Todd had really scheduled it where I was only in Vegas for a couple of days. I wasn’t in the movie that long… So for me ‘The Hangover’ has a deeper value than just the comedy it was. There was a lot of love and support and it was very therapeutic and there was a lot there to unpack.”

TS: In terms of college, people al ways say “you never end up where you start” and that was the case for you, starting with pre-med then getting into acting and everything that came with that. What advice would you give to college students that are trying to navi gate this uncertain part of their lives?

KJ: “There’s never an absolute path, especially in college and school. Even if you're pre-med and end up in medicine and even being a surgeon or a success ful doctor, there’s still not an absolute path. You just really have to not be afraid to pivot, not be afraid to follow your in stincts, not be afraid to take some risks, and I think that this is what college is for. I discovered theater in college. I didn’t do theater in high school. So if it wasn’t for college, I definitely wouldn’t have gone into acting or comedy. I mean, it’s crazy to think that because everyone’s like ‘oh, you’re a doctor, and then you made this crazy decision.’ No, I was introduced to acting when I was in college. There’s a lot of comic book movies always talking about multiverses, this is an area of mul tiverse, you know. And it really is just as intimidating and overwhelming as it gets. It is important to kind of slow down. I’m telling myself this, really, to slow my mind down and kind of see what is the truth for me. And sometimes the truth is not what it appears to be. And sometimes you won’t know until after you finish college. You just don’t know. I didn’t know. I might be an Instagram model after this. You just never know.”

Moaz Elazzazi / ThE SpEcTruM Jeong spoke about

Spectrum recommends: the spooky season special

An events and activities guide that is sure to make this Halloween terrifyingly terrific

THE SPECTRUM STAFF

Overcast skies, colorful leaves and all things pumpkin spice: Halloween season is in full swing in Buffalo.

It’s no secret that the scariest thing about this time of year is the anxiety that comes with upcoming midterms, so the Spectrum staff has compiled a list of some fall- and Halloween-themed activities and events at UB and around Buffalo for those in need of a study break.

Here’s a look at some frightfully fun activities that will make this spooky season one of the best yet:

The Screening Room movie theater is showing a bunch of classic spooky movies throughout the month

The Screening Room Cinema & Cafe, an independent theater located in the Boulevard Mall, has a great set of spooky movies playing in the days leading up to Halloween. The cozy theater has some thing for everyone on its October lineup. Classic horror fan? Catch a double feature of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” and John Carpenter’s “Halloween.” Wanna laugh? Try a matinee of “Young Frankenstein,” or the so-bad-it’s-good sci-fi flick “Plan 9 From Outer Space.” And don’t miss the 100th anniversary celebration of Nosfera tu if you like your movies really, really old. Tickets are only $7 each, and some screen ings are even paired with special cocktails — like $3 “blood orange” mimosas.

Meret Kelsey

Transit Drive-in Theatre

Hop in a car with a friend (or go alone) and enjoy a horror drive-in experience with movies like “Halloween Ends” or “Prey for the Devil” at the Transit Drivein Theatre. Check the website on Monday afternoon to see the movie lineup for Fri day and Saturday, which opens at 7 p.m. At a price of $12 per ticket for a double feature, you’ll have plenty of money left for the snack bar or a game of mini-golf!

JasMin yeung

FrightWorld 20 Years of Fear with new Carnival Boneyard

The award-winning FrightWorld is cel ebrating 20 years of shocks and scares this Halloween season. As one of Buf falo’s most popular Halloween events, the scream park includes five attractions guaranteed to make your skin crawl. Visi tors can experience the murderous Grind house, the radioactive scene of Night walkers Reloaded, abandoned Eerie State Asylum, and the disorienting world of Insanity. In addition to these crowd favor ites, attendees can explore the new creepy and unsettling Carnival Boneyard this year. Tickets are presently $40 per person, with a college discount of $5 on Oct. 20 and 27.

Morgan s t ross

Hiking at Letchworth State Park

Upstate New York boasts some of the best fall foliage in the country, and the peak season is rapidly approaching. Rightfully dubbed “the Grand Canyon of the East”, Letchworth State Park offers a spectacular show of vibrant fall colors framed by vast canyons and picturesque waterfalls. About an hour’s drive from campus transports nature-lovers to one of the most highly acclaimed natural attractions in New York State. Some of the most popular hikes include the Lower Falls Trail and Gorge Trail. Entry to the park is $10 per vehicle, so pack the car and don’t forget to bring a coat!

grounds on Oct. 22. The duo will also be joined by Method Man’s fellow Wu-Tang Clan members Ghostface Killah and Rae kwon. A night for old-school hip-hop heads to circle on the calendar, the four MC’s will rock the stage with a Hallow een twist. Doors open at 4 p.m., with the show scheduled to start at 6 p.m. About a 30-minute drive from UB’s North Cam pus, the Tuscarora Fairground is an out door festival site and performance center in Lewiston, NY. Tickets can be found for as low as $75 on Eventbrite and tuscarora fairgrounds.com.

anthony DeCiCCo

Watch a scary movie or show

Love a good scare to get your blood pumping? Scared of scary movies? Either way, there is no better day than Halloween to take some time away from your regular semester activities to watch some of the most iconic scary movies and TV shows. So, get cozy in your dorm rooms and bring out some of your favorite candy to munch on.

a.J. FranKlin

Go for a run

‘90s hip-hop fans in WNY rejoice as leg endary duo Method Man & Redman are set to hit the stage at the Tuscarora Fair

Some great horror movies include Ar chive 81, American Horror Story, Us and Jaws. The best part is that horror mov ies can be enjoyed alone or with friends (although if you do get scared easily, it’s probably best to have friends present). Health Promotion and the Student Asso ciation will also be screening Ghostbusters on Friday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. in Norton 190.

If jump scares and screams aren’t quite your speed, there’s nothing like the per cussion of rubber soles on asphalt for that adrenaline fix. Buffalorunners.com offers an October calendar jam-packed with rac es in the local area. And yes, bring your costume. Dress to impress in the EVL Halloween Half Marathon or the 25th An nual Jack O’Lantern Fall Classic 5K. Raise funds for the American Cancer Society at the Yeti Dash 5K Run. Take your lungs and knees for a spin at the Niagara Falls International Marathon on Oct. 23. Can’t make a race? The Queen city has no short age of scenic stops to enjoy at your lei sure. Take a jog around the Ellicott Creek Trailway Park. Closer to South Campus? Kick up some dust at the Tonawanda Rail Trail. Crisp-cool temperatures and the calico canopies of autumn make a brilliant backdrop for escape from those deadlines and exams. Live vicariously through that fleeting high of outrunning the semester’s grind and tear away, ragged into mindful bliss. Serenity is worth its weight in fogged breath and crimson gold.

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that “Sweet Transvestite” from Transexu al, Transylvania, and there’s no better way to watch it than on the big screen. “Rocky Horror Picture Show” will once again re turn to North Tonawanda’s Riviera The atre on Oct. 28 at 10 p.m. The show is sure to be a “Science Fiction/Picture Show,” with performances by Eye Candy Vixens Burlesque and The Ladies of Illusion, and an audience costume contest before the midnight screening. The show will also feature a live shadow cast performing alongside the show. Tickets start at $20 — just don’t forget your high-heels, newspa per and rubber gloves.

grant ashley

Take a walk with a fall-themed drink in hand

One of the most therapeutic things to do is to take a walk in nature while sip ping on some fall flavor to unwind. With the red and orange around you and, say, a pumpkin spice latte, it’s the best way to destress and see the good in whatever is go ing on in life. Walking through UB’s North Campus or near Lake LaSalle are some of my favorite routes for staring into space at the spectrum of colors around you, get ting some exercise and finding some peace in the day-to-day bustle of life. Starbucks’ pumpkin spice latte is an amazing choice of warm fall flavor, and is the perfect re sponse to the chill in the air. Nature walks are fun with your friends, too. Dress up in your favorite sweater-weather attire and take some fun portrait photos of each other if that’s your thing. No matter how you slice it, walking, basking in the fallness around you and taking care of your health is the perfect blend of productivity and chillaxing.

ria gupta

Spend a day at The Great Pumpkin Farm

Picking out pumpkins at The Great Pumpkin Farm is the only way to start your fall festivities, especially if you’ve been feeling deprived of Halloween spir it. With their large variety of pumpkins, stalks, gourd and mums, your home will immediately succumb to the warmth of the orange hues and radiate the chill of the spooky holiday as it approaches. Be sides pumpkin picking, The Great Pump kin Farm embraces the autumnal tradition of a hayride through their thirty acres of woods, a shop filled with specialty fall delicacies and a five-acre corn maze that entails an unsolved mystery and the oc casional zombie. And if you want to en thrall yourself in the magic of fall even further, The Great Pumpkin Farm hosts a fall festival every weekend this month with events like pie-eating contests and pump kin olympics. After spending a day at the patch that broke the Guinness World Re cord for the first 1,000-pound pumpkin and partaking in all the fall activities they have to offer, apple cider will definitely be coursing through your veins.

Moaz elazzazi

Method Man & Redman

Shacktober at the Tuscarora

tenzin WoDhean

Courtesy oF allyson WilliaMs PumPkin Picking is one of many fall themed events the great PumPkin farm offers

Courtesy oF allyson WilliaMs the great PumPkin farm hosts a fall festival every weekend this month with events like Pie eating contests and PumPkin olymPics

anDreW lauriCella / the speCtruM letchworth state Park offers beautiful views of western new york s fall foliage

Brotherhood, faith and accountability: Justin Marshall, Quian Williams reflect on their bond formed at UB

Wide receivers Quian Williams and Justin Marshall bring maturity and leadership to the Bulls’ offense

Some would say graduate wide receiv ers Justin Marshall and Quian Williams are battle-tested.

Marshall, a transfer who spent five sea sons playing at the Power Five level at Louisville, and Williams, who transfered to UB last season after four seasons at East ern Michigan, have seen their fair share of football.

Williams became a breakout talent for the Bulls after racking up 64 receptions, 835 total yards and two touchdowns in his debut season at UB last year.

On the other hand, Marshall played with the likes of NFL MVP-winning quarter back Lamar Jackson and current ACC star Malik Cunningham at Louisville.

With Marshall entering the scene, ex pectations were high for a revamped UB receiving corps.

It has quickly become a two-man show.

Williams has 404 yards and three touch downs on the season while Marshall has recorded 396 yards and four scores. From deep pass plays to game-winning touch downs, the duo is doing it all through six games.

“When you bring another guy in who has the potential to be number one, we

were able to see the maturity Quian had,” Bulls offensive coordinator Shane Mont gomery said.

There was no hostility met with Mar

shall’s arrival to the UB receiving group. Marshall initially knew Williams through a roommate at Louisville, who knew Wil

liams’ former teammates at Eastern Mich igan. The two began talking on the phone once Marshall decided to transfer to UB during the 2022 offseason. Williams would frequently call Marshall to give him a sense of what to expect from the Bulls’ offense.

“[Conversations with Quian] just made the transition a little bit easier for me,” Marshall said.

Williams stepped up as a leader in the offseason, and Marshall is re-paying that to the rest of the receiving group. Using his six years of college football experience to guide the younger receivers, Marshall plays a leadership role in his first season with the Bulls.

“Those guys [fellow receivers] are my brothers man. I’m a little bit older than some of the guys in the room so I got to take a little bit of a different role in trying to be the big bro,” Marshall said.

Marshall and Williams, the “big bros” of the wide receiver group, connected off the field through openness and faith. Now roommates, the two have bonded and learned to maintain a level-head through religion.

Before every game, Williams has a con

The good, the bad and the drag

How drag artist E Lyons brought Mx. Ology to life at UB

E Lyons’ drag persona, Mx. Ology, has a simple origin story.

“She crawled out of a hole in the ground,” Lyons said. “A dirty hole in the ground, in a way like the Birth of Venus.”

Decidedly not born from any human body, Mx. Ology, with radioactive orange hair, lopsided lips decorated, a teasing mustache and a penchant for turning trash into photoshoot looks, is as much a per formance persona as she is a fully fleshedout fictional character.

Though her storyline sets her in a hor ror-like landscape of beautified gross ness, Mx. Ology has her real life origins in fourth-grade drawings of “scary ladies with big hair, giant boobs and really in tricate outfits,” along with classic drag queens, including Divine.

Lyons, now a junior theatre major, re calls their lifelong interest in the world of glamor and exaggerated physicality that they first found in those elementary school drawings and drag stars that propelled them into the artistry of drag, costume design and performance.

Even without the words to articulate it, gender had always been a topic of interest for Lyons. From illustrations of half-man, half-woman superheroes whose powers including the ability to use both bath rooms, to the “perpetual dress up game” that their childhood evolved into in their young adult years, gender presentation and dress has been a lifelong project of inten tional and unintentional play.

“If I were to do a revisionist childhood, I’d want to be like a prince or a mischie vous fairy,” Lyons said. “But I really think there was a sort of archetypal significance, playing witches [for example], and that is very gender f—ing because it’s a type of power in a traditionally non-male commu nity… I insisted on having a pair of pink cowgirl boots and the little hat and a pop gun — that’s the draggiest thing imagin able.”

After coming out as non-binary dur ing their freshman year, and with the love for dress up still instilled in them, Lyons found themself inventing a drag persona, Mx. Ology.

When scrolling on social media, Lyons came across the gender neutral honorific of “Mx,” a title that would translate into

their own life as well as that of Mx. Ology.

“I am Mx. Lyons,” Lyons said “That’s real.”

Dissatisfied with the drag names using “Mx.” that they found online, Lyons cre ated their own name — Mx. Ology.

“I was like, ‘that’s fun.’” Lyons said. “That communicates that a person is equally intelligent and unhinged.”

And from her name, Mx. Ology was born.

Taking inspiration from the likes of Robert Munsch’s “The Paper Bag Prin cess” and Madame Medusa from “The Rescuers,” Mx. Ology became a paperreceipt wearing, “jarring,” and most im portantly, “intelligent” character central to Lyons’ art and aspirations.

Her use of garbage as garb reflects Ly ons’ own commentary on late-stage capi talism and fast fashion, as well as catering to a “glamorization of nastiness.”

Mx. Ology is not just one idea — she

is a conglomeration of hyperfemininity, masculinity, beauty and the grotesque.

“There’s so many visual contradictions happening [within Mx. Ology] that it en capsulates the way that we are socialized to challenge physical contradictions of bi nary gender that we see,” Lyons said.

Mx. Ology is more than just a character: she is a brand in and of herself.

As with any other drag artist, Lyons’ goal for Mx. Ology is a career in performance, especially in their future beyond school, where their full-time studies will no longer take up the time they would rather dedi cate to their craft.

They know which songs they’d like to lip-sync to, that they may be a mover or a dancer and, of course, how Mx. Ology presents herself to the world.

Still, though Lyon’s ultimate goal may be performance, it isn’t their only goal — or at least traditional performance isn’t.

“Where are the places that we can take

drag that isn’t the TV show, the brunch, the club?” Lyons asked.

They have already brought drag to the world of written fiction. In their shortstory “A Weirdo Emerges,” Mx. Ology takes to the page with supporting charac ters including “the himbo” and Susanna Tabbatha.

Other ambitions for the character of Mx. Ology include originating a role for her in a theatrical setting or bringing her into a film or simply delivering a “weird” solo monologue.

In these endeavors, Lyons hopes to comfort other queer youths through Mx. Ology, just as they were comforted by oth er drag artists themselves.

“I have the poster to the Divine movie ‘Female Trouble’ on the wall in my room,” Lyons said. “I wake up and everyday I see

Moaz

it, and it’s a sense of peace, of reassurance, of feeling seen in someone else’s work.”

With many of their life and career goals centering around Mx. Ology, it would be easy to see her as another extension of Ly ons. But Lyons insists that Mx. Ology is a person of fiction, like a “cartoon or comic book character.”

“There was a moment this semester where I had done a video shoot in drag for someone’s student film, and then im mediately had to go to math class the next morning,” Lyons said. “And I was like, ‘This must be what Clark Kent feels like. This is fantastic!’”

But that’s not to say that the character of Mx. Ology hasn’t influenced Lyons.

They say Mx. Ology and engaging in drag has allowed them to reclaim their per ception of their body and articulate their feelings towards their body in the face of dysphoria.

“I make this joke a lot, but it really is true,” Lyons said. “Throughout high school when I was wearing little skirts and socks and a tight little top or whatever like that, that was the drag that I used to navi gate high school as someone who didn’t know that they weren’t a woman.”

Lyons admits that they had started with

“doing a lot of really bad drag.” They say their makeup was especially bad, a hold over from their days of watching beauty gurus and taking trips to Sephora.

But with every donning of the Mx. Ol ogy character, Lyons refines their skills, al lowing themself to play around with their signature look.

Now, Lyons focuses much of their at tention on their eye makeup, giving Mx. Ology realistic eyes with a lip gloss sheen and draw-in in veins for a bloodshot look, details they added to their mug over time.

This is the core of drag for Lyons: evo lution.

“I just love that every time you think

you’ve squelched out everything that you can do to make this look or this detail of a costume or performance the best it can be, you surprise yourself,” Lyons said. “When a bar you’re setting is always yourself, that’s what keeps the process so rewarding and exciting.”

Buffalo International Film Festival celebrates art, community and diversity

The four-day event was an uplifting display of creativity

MERET KELSEY ASST. ARTS EDITOR

The Buffalo International Film Festival wrapped up on Monday night after five busy days of screenings, panels and per formances across the city.

The 16th iteration of the event — oth erwise known as its “Sweet BIFFteen” — was an uplifting celebration of film, art and community that featured over 160 in dependent films from Western New York and beyond.

Opening night of the festival kicked off at the historic North Park Theatre, a single-screen cinema on Hertel Avenue. Audience members filed into the gorgeous theatre for the Opening Night Gala: a screening of “Bashira,” the directorial de but of animator and special effects artist Nickson Fong. The trippy horror-musical film, inspired by a Japanese legend, was an appropriate choice to start the weekend. Like many of the films featured at BIFF, “Bashira” was filmed in and around Buf falo.

Audience members were pleased to rec ognize beloved Buffalo locations like the Theatre District and Venu — a favorite of many UB students.

But more significantly, the film was pro duced with an entirely local crew.

“Everyone [on the crew] was Buffalo lo cal,” Mitzi Akaha, one of the stars of the film, said. “Because it’s such a tight com munity, they’ve worked on every film that’s come through Buffalo… they got to share this rich culture of what filmmaking is like here.”

“Bunker,” another WNY-produced film, had its world premiere on Saturday night. Adrian Langley’s World War I thriller was filmed entirely at Buffalo FilmWorks, a lo cal studio.

The film — a body horror sci-fi flick about soldiers who must confront an evil presence while trapped underground — was a hit with the audience.

Though a small city, Buffalo is no stranger to major film productions. It’s become something of a hotspot over the past few years, with huge filmmakers like Guillermo del Toro and John Krasinski passing through.

But a big part of BIFF’s mission is to highlight the independent, grassroots films that have come out of the area, not the big Hollywood productions.

The close-knit, community-oriented

quality of the festival attracts up-andcoming filmmakers looking to grow and expand their network. Paul-Daniel Torres, a director whose short film was screened as part of BIFF’s “Racial Justice in View” short film program, cited BIFF as one of the best festivals he’s participated in.

“It’s really everything a festival should be,” Torres said. “It’s a place that makes quality films accessible to all types of peo ple, but also allows itself to be a training ground for young filmmakers.”

That type of accessibility is something truly unique to BIFF. At other festivals, it might cost upwards of $30 to attend a screening with a filmmaker; at BIFF, it’s always affordable, if not completely free.

“I think it’s an important part of a production ecosystem in any major city to have a real film festival,” Anna Scime, BIFF’s executive director, said. “Buffalo is one of the poorest cities in the nation. I think something like 30% of people in the city of Buffalo live below the poverty line… so we really do care that we have full access for everyone.”

One of the festival’s most special mo ments came on Sunday night at the screen ing of “WNY Stories,” a compilation of short films entirely produced in the Buf falo area. The incredibly diverse block in cluded music videos, documentaries and animated video essays, all from people who call Western New York their home.

The feeling of hometown pride was tan gible as members of the community filed into the North Park Theatre to cheer on their friends and loved ones.

One of the screening’s more Buffalocentric selections was the music video for rock band Handsome Jack’s song “Roll It,” which follows the musicians as they push their broken-down tour van around the streets of Buffalo. It was a fun and vibrant tribute to the Queen City, with cameos from places like Revolver Records and Highmark Stadium. (Yes, someone in the audience did let out a resounding “Go Bills!”)

A particularly moving moment came during “I’ll Find a Way or Make One — A Rosie Story.” The short documen tary profiled Viola Hippert, a 97-year-old Lackawanna native who worked for Bell Aircraft during World War II. She was one of many “Rosie the Riveters,” American women who picked up factory jobs dur ing the war and changed the status quo for women in the workplace.

Hippert herself was in attendance, watching her story play out on the big screen for the first time. The audience was clearly charmed by her sense of humor, her toughness and her many stories; they laughed and cheered throughout the film. When it was over, the crowd erupted in the loudest applause of the night.

This display of unity and joy is exactly what Scime strived to create at the festival.

“I would say that it’s really communityfocused,” Scime said. “Our real mission is diversity, inclusion, amplifying all different kinds of voices… but also bringing to gether our community.”

Meret Kelsey / the spectruM MeMbers of the coMMunity filed into the north Park theatre to cheer on the filMs of their friends and loved ones

UB dominates on both sides of the ball, win big at Bowling Green, 38-7

Their third win in a row, the Bulls seem to have found a rhythm, now 3-0 atop the MAC BRANDON COCHI

STAFF WRITER

The Bulls (3-3, 3-0 MAC) emerged vic torious once again this week, easily defeat ing the Bowling Green Falcons (2-4, 1-1 MAC) 38-7 at Doyt Perry Stadium Satur day afternoon.

The win marked the Bulls’ third straight victory after starting off the season 0-3. Coming off last week’s thrilling 24-20 vic tory over Miami (OH) in which graduate wide receiver Justin Marshall caught the game-winning touchdown with just 31 seconds left, UB has now gained some momentum in the MAC, starting off 3-0 against conference opponents and sitting atop the MAC East.

Offense on fire, led by ground game

From their first offensive possession, The Bulls found their groove. Senior run ning back Ron Cook Jr. started the scoring for UB with a two-yard touchdown plunge to cap off an eight-play, 75-yard drive to begin the game. Cook scored another touchdown later on in the first quarter on a one-yard carry, finishing the day with 17 carries for 89 yards and two scores.

Even with Cook’s success on the ground Saturday, redshirt freshman running back Mike Washington stole the show for the Bulls. Highlighted by a 92-yard touch down dash late in the first half, Washing ton racked up 16 carries for 155 yards to go along with the pair of touchdowns he scored.

UB made a concerted effort to run the ball on early downs throughout the game, which provided them with very manage able third downs. The UB ground attack tallied an impressive 280 yards on the day.

Junior quarterback Cole Synder also looked sharp, finishing the game 12-for-19 for 171 yards passing while spreading the ball around to nine different pass catchers.

Star graduate receivers Marshall and Quian Williams were relatively quiet on the day, with Marshall catching three balls for 43 yards and Williams hauling in his only grab for 33 yards on the opening drive of the game.

Defense, special teams capitalize on Falcons’ mistakes

It was a sloppy day for the Bowling Green offense, and the Bulls made sure

versation with God.

“I pray when I get up in the morning, Justin prays as well being that he’s my roommate, before every game,” Williams said. “I get my mind right, my thoughts together and remember why I’m doing all of this.”

While finding strength through prayer to prepare for the imminent game, Williams remembers who he plays for — his loved ones. He writes the names of lost family members and other significant people in his life on his cleats to remember the ef fect that they’ve had on him as an athlete and an individual.

“I remember them as I’m going through my process, warming up before the game. And when game time comes, I’m ready,” he said.

And he’s proven to be ready. He leads the team in receiving yards and has proven to be a reliable target for first-year junior quarterback Cole Snyder.

“Q [Quian] is a dynamic player. He can do a lot of different things and he plays way beyond his size” Marshall said.

Marshall has also proved to be an allconference talent. He hauled in the gamewinning touchdown against Miami (OH) two weeks ago and had five catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns against Holy Cross in Week 2.

A newfound football family and a shared faith in God has caused Williams and Marshall to become very close friends. But what really solidifies their chemistry is their accountability for one another.

to take full advantage of the Falcons’ miscues. Junior safety Marcus Fuqua in tercepted Bowling Green senior quarter back Matt McDonald after the Bulls’ first touchdown, which set up senior kicker Alex McNulty for a 26-yard field goal.

Later in the first quarter, the Falcons attempted a fake on a short field goal at tempt, but the kicker fumbled the toss from the holder and UB pounced on the loose ball. The Falcons had no issues getting down the field into UB territory throughout the game, but three turnovers in the red zone proved costly.

Senior linebacker James Patterson took full advantage of one of those turnovers, bringing a Bowling Green fumble 97 yards to the house in the third quarter to put the Bulls up 38-0 and complete the scoring onslaught for the day.

Overall, the combination of four Bowl ing Green turnovers coupled with their 12 penalties for 117 yards erased any chance

While Marshall is quick to help up a teammate or break down how to run a cer tain route, he’s just as quick to give them tough love. Marshall is very much a “moti vational trash talker,” where he’ll tease fel low teammates in order for them to strive to prove him wrong.

“I talk a lot of trash to get guys going because all of us are very competitive,” Marshall said.

When a fellow teammate is feeling un motivated or visibly lacking in practice, Marshall asks them what their idol-receiv ers would do in that scenario to hype them up.

“If he [idol-receiver] were in this posi tion, how would he bounce back? How would he translate things?” Marshall said.

Marshall’s trash-talk and teasing main tains a healthy competition between his fellow receivers, especially Williams, and motivates his teammates to surpass their expectations.

When Williams plays well, Marshall feels obligated to respond with a touchdown of his own.

“They’re naturally very highly motivat ed. They’re working really well together,” Montgomery said.

Marshall and Williams have shown a great deal of leadership, maturity and work ethic thus far. The pair have become an offensive force to be reckoned with, good teammates and most importantly, brothers.

“We have fun together inside the facil ity and outside the facility,” Marshall said. “It’s all about being brothers man, like re ally brothers.”

they had of being competitive in this game.

Junior linebacker Shaun Dolac once again was all over the field, leading the Bulls with 14 tackles, putting him at 68 on the year — fourth best in FBS.

Looking forward

UB will be in Massachusetts this Satur day, as they take on the UMass Minutemen (1-5) at McGuirk Stadium at 1 p.m. The Bulls last played UMass in 2015, losing 3126, but are currently 16.5-point favorites for Saturday’s contest. The game can be streamed on ESPN3.

Email: sports@ubspectrum.com

Women’s soccer defeats Eastern Michigan 3-0 on Senior Day

AMY MASLIN STAFF WRITER

Women’s soccer (10-1-2, 4-0-1 MAC) defeated Eastern Michigan, 3-0, on Sun day at UB Stadium. UB broke its twogame tie streak to earn its ninth shutout of the season.

The Bulls racked up eight shots in the first half, but were unable to convert. The first shot of the game came in the sixth minute when senior midfielder Leah Wen gender got on the end of an Eagles back pass. With only one Eagles defender in front of her, her shot went right and wide of the goal.

Przybylo challenged the Bulls’ goal-scor ing all game, making seven saves through out the match.

But in the second half, the Bulls picked up the pressure with 16 shots. In the 56th minute, sophomore forward Arianna Zumpano was taken down in the box by EMU senior defender Sarah Ash, who was issued a yellow card. Freshman defender Ellie Simmons converted the penalty, marking her first career goal for the Bulls and of the day.

In the 65th minute, senior midfielder/ defender Payton Robertson lofted a ball into the box to a running Zumpano who shot the ball across the face of the goal to put the Bulls up 2-0.

A minute later, Robertson sent a ball into the box to freshman midfielder Ka tie Krohn. Przybylo came out and got a hand to the ball before Krohn capitalized on the opportunity, shooting the ball into the right corner of the goal.

The Bulls faced four shots throughout the game. Fifth-year goalkeeper Emily Kelly made two saves to keep a clean sheet and gain her 28th career shutout.

After the match, defender Abbey Cal laghan, midfielder/defender Hannah Cal laghan, forward/midfielder Cashlin Co pley, midfielder Taylor Caridi, midfielder Annie Judasz, defender Tess Ford, Kelly, and defender Jennifer Mandarano were honored on the field with friends and fam ily for Senior Day.

The Bulls return to UB Stadium to take on Northern Illinois at 7 p.m. Thursday.

UB continues its reign at the top of the MAC at 4-0-1

John Fuller / uB Athletics RedshiRt fReshman mike Washington Ran foR 155 yaRds and tWo touchdoWns in uB’s 38-7