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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018 PAGE 4 The social sciences float on Psychology professor Wendy Quinton wins seventh annual Life Raft Debate
SA Senate says no to Veloz’s pick for vice president
VOLUME 67 NO. 33
PAGE 5 Melodies for days: Q&A with singer and multiinstrumentalist Andrew Bird Bird to perform at Center for the Arts
SA members question Veloz’s work hours SA president holds emergency staff meeting about ‘transparency’
MAC EAST Win over Bowling Green guarantees a top-2 seed in upcoming tournament
HARUKA KOSUGI & TOLU KOLADE ASST. NEWS EDITOR, STAFF WRITER
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Bulls clinch
DIVISION
Club coordinators disappointed with nominee Samirra Felix
The Student Association remains without a vice president after the Senate voted down President Leslie Veloz’s nominee at Wednesday’s meeting. SA Senate members questioned Veloz’s nominee; many said she should have nominated someone with more SA experience or someone with a coordinator position. SA held its bi-weekly Senate meeting Wednesday evening to discuss the current vacancy of the association’s second-highest role. The position opened up after former Vice President Jamersin Redfern resigned Feb. 2, citing family issues. Veloz nominated current Director of Student Affairs Samirra Felix on Tuesday after interviewing three other candidates. Twelve of the 15 senators voted no on the motion to elect Felix; the other three abstained. Veloz declined to comment after the vote.
PAGE 8 Playing co-ed in a men’s league A look inside UB Water Polo
SPECTRUM STOCK PHOTOS
SA President Leslie Veloz held a closed meeting after staff members questioned Veloz’s commitment to her office hours. Veloz is pictured here at a Fossil Free UB meeting.
HARUKA KOSUGI ASST NEWS EDITOR
Student Association insiders are questioning if SA President Leslie Veloz has been logging enough hours to merit the $15,000 stipend she receives. The questions come after the resignation of former SA Vice President Jamersin Redfern’s Feb. 2, citing family issues. Since the resignation, staff members have been questioning how often Veloz is in her office, how often she misses or arrives late to meetings and her leader-
ship style. Some SA members have spoken to The Spectrum about their concerns, although none wanted their names printed as they fear losing their jobs. The Spectrum spoke with five SA staff members. One staff member told The Spectrum students should expect more from such a highly-paid officer of a major university. Veloz’s schedule shows she has 12 scheduled office hours per week, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is available “by appointment only” on Mondays. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Faculty Senate votes to create two new departments
MADISON MEYER, THE SPECTRUM
Senior center Cassie Oursler drives at the net. The women’s basketball team clinched the division behind Ousler’s 20 points, a team high for the game against Bowling Green.
Developments on smoking policy, grad student enrollment discussed
THOMAS ZAFONTE SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR
SARAH CROWLEY SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
The Department of Global Gender Studies will break away from the Transnational Studies Department and return to its former stand-alone status, after a unanimous Faculty Senate vote on Tuesday to create the new Department of Global Gender and Sexual Studies. The Senate passed two other resolutions at its first general meeting of the spring semester on Tuesday. The first resolution called for a new Department of Engineering Education and the other supported a UBreathe Free Resolution, the latest development in a two-year long battle to enforce UB’s no-smoking policy on campus. Provost Charles Zukoski and President Satish Tripathi attended the meeting and reported to faculty members on a range of issues, from declining graduate student enrollment to updates on the Downtown Medical Campus move. Dean Robin Schulze spoke in favor of the new Global Gender Studies department before the vote, emphasizing the growing need for interdisciplinary studies at UB in order to compete with peer institutions.
SPECTRUM STOCK PHOTOS
Faculty Senate Chair Phil Glick discussed new movement on the UBreathe Free campaign at Tuesday’s Senate meeting. Provost Charles Zukoski said he is concerned with declining graduate and professional student enrollment.
Gender studies faculty began pushing to break away from the Transnational Studies umbrella when Schulze took over the College of Arts and Sciences in 2016. “There’s a tremendous amount of research expertise in this area that is not being leveraged at this point,” Schulze said. “This department has tremendous nonacademic outcomes for students. That’s one of the things I’m most interested in –– finding places where our students can go who are not going to just be Ph.Ds in academia but are going off to other places and working all over the place. For me, that’s absolutely vital.” Zukoski presented the latest enrollment information, which showed graduate and professional student enrollment dropped significantly this year, despite a steady in-
crease in undergraduate applicants over the last three years. Graduate applications declined 9 percent in the last year, master’s applications declined 12 percent and international master’s applications have declined 16 percent, according to Zukoski. The declines have been across the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Management, Pharmacy, Engineering and the dental school. Much of the shift is in international student enrollment, according to Zukoski. “I get concerned about the drops in the number of graduate students we’re seeing because the graduate students are sort of what defines us as a research university … I worry that we aren’t sort of protecting that research university mission,” Zukoski said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
The Spectrum is having lunch with President Tripathi on Feb. 27.
What questions would you like for us to ask him? Email us at eic@ubspectrum.com.
With their win against the Bowling Green Falcons on Wednesday, the Bulls have won the Mid-American Conference East division for the first time since joining the conference in 1998. The 88-67 win at the Stroh Center Wednesday night is Buffalo’s sixth win in a row. Senior center Cassie Oursler led the game in both scoring and boards having 20 points and 12 rebounds. This marked Oursler’s fourth double-double in her last five games. Junior guard Cierra Dillard also had a strong night with 10 points and 7 assists. None of the Bulls starters played more than 25 minutes. The Bulls held the lead in the early portions with the score 26-17 heading into the second period. Buffalo shot consistently the whole game, shooting 32-62. The Bulls outscored the Falcons (10-16, 2-13 MAC) 19-10 and made it a 45-27 game heading into the third period. The Bulls stayed strong on offense all night, but Bowling Green found the basket more in the second half. It still wasn’t enough as the Bulls outscored the Falcons 43-40 in the last two periods combined. The Falcons’ best scorer and rebounder Saturday night was sophomore guard Andrea Cecil who had team highs of 10 points and 5 rebounds. The Bulls play their next game this Saturday against the Ohio Bobcats (1511, 9-6 MAC) at Alumni Arena with tip off set for 1 p.m. email: thomas.zafonte@ubspectrum.com
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Page 2 | The Spectrum
SA members question Veloz’s work hours CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
“You can’t ignore the fact that she’s supposed to have 17 to 21 hours scheduled and she has 12 hours scheduled,” an SA source said. “She won’t even make the 12. She will miss two or three hours out of the week.” Some SA members feel Veloz isn’t fulfilling her role and is missing or arriving late. To compare, SA Treasurer Janet Austin has 19 scheduled office hours per week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 1:30-5 p.m and noon to 5 p.m. on Thursdays. Veloz stands by her work and said the number of scheduled office hours do not reflect the amount of work she is doing. “I work more hours than my scheduled office hours. Therefore, the difference in scheduled office hours does not speak for how much we accomplish,” Veloz said. “In addition to my office hours, I spend a lot of my time in meetings with administrators and sitting with board committees.” Veloz clocked 19.5 hours in week one, 14 hours in week two, and 28 hours in week three of the spring semester, according to SA timesheets. The hours in week two were lower
when The Spectrum first asked to see the timesheets. Veloz said in an email it was because she forgot to clock in for certain office hours and fixed the error once The Spectrum spotted the low number of hours. At 4 p.m. Monday, hours after The Spectrum began asking about the times, Veloz held a special staff meeting on “transparency.” She would not let a Spectrum reporter attend, insisting it was a “closed” meeting. She had alerted the SA staff about the meeting via email and roughly 50 people attended. “The Spectrum is welcome to attend our staff meetings,” Veloz said. “Just for this one specifically I didn’t want anyone to be dissuaded from speaking up because they might have thought they’d be quoted.” The emergency meeting, Veloz said, was to give staff members a chance to make suggestions to the e-board and address SA staff members’ comments about Veloz’s work ethic. Sources who attended the meeting said Veloz attempted to explain her workload and asked the staff to bring up any complaints or concerns they had. Several staff members did speak up and voiced their concerns with Veloz’s number of hours. By comparison, several members ex-
Thursday, February 22, 2018
pressed a desire for unity within SA and dismissed reports of internal strife. A source said staff members were brave to voice their concerns about Veloz. Members said they hope going forward more staff members will feel comfortable approaching her. Both Veloz and Austin said their responsibilities have increased since Redfern resigned. Austin has taken over handling club requests for events and writing weekly emails to communicate with clubs, both of which were previously the responsibility of the vice president. She volunteered to take over those roles because she felt her previous experience interacting with clubs and their budgets were in line with the tasks, Austin said. When asked about the reports, Austin said she thinks Veloz has done a good job bringing “new initiatives in order to benefit the entire student population.” “She really puts her heart into everything she does and is willing to listen to new ideas and perspectives,” Austin said. In the fall semester, Veloz, a senior English and psychology major, took 12 academic credits and was in the office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This semester, she is taking 21 credits, according to Veloz.
SA Senate says no to Veloz’s pick for vice president CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
During the meeting, Veloz said she looked for “work ethic, passion and availability,” in selecting a nominee, as opposed to experience in SA. Veloz will have the chance to present the new nominee for vice president at the next Senate meeting, tentatively scheduled for March 2, a full month after Redfern resigned. Club coordinators said it’s unfair to appoint an unqualified candidate for a paid po-
sition because the coordinators would end up doing additional work to compensate. Tanahiry Escamilla, a senior chemical engineering major and Engineering Council coordinator, said coordinators and club services have been taking on roles normally allotted to the vice president since Redfern’s resignation. “We are only getting paid ten hours a week, and honestly I think many of my co-workers can agree we don’t want to do more work when someone else is getting paid for it,” Escamilla said.
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Before resigning, Redfern had recommended Escamilla for the VP role. Devashish Agarwal, SA Senate chair and senior computer science major, said the Senate asked Felix, a senior geology major, “relatively simple” questions during the meeting. “Some of the questions were so basic that anyone who’s ever been a part of a club e-board would know them like the back of their hand,” Agarwal said. “One big point of concern was that she faltered on some of the basic things.”
Veloz said she warned the e-board and her staff that she would be cutting back on hours because of the increase in her credit load. But, she insists she fulfills what is required of her job. Veloz and Chief of Staff Gunnar Haberl oversee staff members’ office hours, including her own. “My office hours have never been a concern,” Veloz said. “The professional staff and the e-board see my hours, and we have conversations with each other.” Veloz said she is disappointed her staff members haven’t brought their concerns to her directly. This isn’t the culture she envisioned creating –– as president, one of Veloz’s main priorities has been advocating for better mental health resources for students. She campaigned on a platform of inclusivity, with the ultimate goal of bringing more women and underrepresented minorities into leadership and faculty positions. “That’s the type of culture I’ve tried to set –– having that kind of open communication with staff and the student body,” Veloz said. “So if some people sincerely felt that there has been an issue with me, I wish those individuals would have taken the initiative.” email: haruka.kosugi@ubspectrum.com
When asked, Felix was not able to name all seven councils she would have worked with but was able to describe how club financial rollovers operated. Veloz is no stranger to working with her nominee. Felix and Veloz were president and vice president, respectively, of the Black Student Union in 2016-17. After being introduced at Wednesday’s meeting, Felix discussed a number of issues she said she would address as SA vice president, including a “lack of communication with clubs” and a “lackluster usages of the [SA] mailbox.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
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OPINION
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Editorial Board EDITOR IN CHIEF
Hannah Stein
Desire to donate My thoughts on not being able to give blood as a bisexual man
MANAGING EDITOR
David Tunis-Garcia
DANIEL PETRUCCELLI
EDITORIAL EDITOR
SPORTS EDITOR
Maddy Fowler COPY EDITORS
Dan McKeon, Chief Emma Medina Cassie Enderly, Asst. Lauryn King, Asst. Savanna Caldwell, Asst. NEWS EDITORS
Sarah Crowley, Senior Max Kalnitz Haruka Lucas Kosugi, Asst. Anna Savchenko, Asst. FEATURES EDITORS
Benjamin Blanchet, Senior Erik Tingue, Asst. Wanly Chen, Asst. ARTS EDITORS
Brenton Blanchet, Senior Brian Evans, Asst.
I came out as a bisexual man in this newspaper just over a year ago. In that time, I have never once been made to feel bad about it by family, friends or any organization. I’ve heard things that were discouraging, but none of it was enough to bother me. Until the other day. With the Red Cross on campus collecting blood donations, I was just getting on an elevator when I was joined by a Red Cross volunteer. She cheerfully asked my fellow elevator riders and me to
SPORTS EDITORS
come by and donate. I thought it sounded like a great idea and said I would come by after class. But while I was in class, something hit me. Bisexual and gay men aren’t allowed to donate blood. At least not for 12 months after being with another man. Honestly, it made me feel like crap. This was the first time in the year of being out that I’ve felt like there was something wrong with being gay, something wrong with me. I felt dirty. I felt like my blood wasn’t good enough to save lives because of who I choose to sleep with. But that’s not true. My blood would help someone in need just
The Spectrum | Page 3
as much as any other donor. My blood’s not dirty, and I don’t have any disease that makes it dangerous to a recipient. In a world where volunteers are constantly trying to get people to donate blood, I should be able to donate and help out a person in need. It’s important to note this isn’t just the Red Cross. This is based on standards set by the FDA. I will give the FDA some credit for even getting to a 12-month ban from the previous lifetime ban on men who have sex with other men, or MSM as listed on the Red Cross website. But this is still unfair. The average sexually active adult is having sex more often than every 12 months, and to penalize gay men for that is wrong. That’s nine months longer than it takes for an infection to be detectable. According to aidsinfo.nih.gov, antibody
tests will detect an infection in 3 to 12 weeks from exposure. To contextualize the argument and be fair to the FDA, its idea that gay and bisexual males present a higher risk of infected blood has stats to back it up. Gay and bisexual men make up fewer than three percent of the population, but accounted for 70 percent of new HIV infections in 2014, according to the CDC. That is an alarming number and extremely problematic. It’s hard to treat policies centered on those numbers as homophobic because in the end, blood donation is about the health of the recipient and not the feelings of the donor. Instead of being offended, this number needs to be seen as a call to action on the part of gay and bisexual men to take control of their sexual health.
ver –– and intestinal parasites. Many people don’t realize you need to protect yourself when engaging in oral sex just as you would protect yourself when engaging in vaginal intercourse or anal sex. So that means if you don’t know your partner’s STI status, you should be using protection when engaging in oral sex. For oral sex on a penis, you should cover the penis with a non-lubricated condom, and for oral sex on the vagina or anus you should use a dental dam. If you don’t have a dental dam, you can open a condom to make a square, and put it between the mouth and the partner’s vagina or anus. Several STIs are asymptomatic, meaning you can spread them without even knowing you have something, which is why getting tested is key. You should get tested at least once a year or every time you have a new partner. If you’re short on cash, Student Life provides free safe sex kits. Students who live on-campus can request free supplies, including male and female condoms, dental dams and lubricant. Supplies will be delivered to your on-campus mailbox in a plain manila envelope. Students who live off-campus can also request supplies too.
Once you place an order, you can pick up your package on campus. You can get free, confidential testing at the Erie County Sexual Health Clinic or Planned Parenthood. You can also get tested at Student Health Services for free, regardless of your health insurance coverage. However, you may be responsible for any copays, co-insurance or deductible amounts associated with lab work, depending on your health insurance coverage. And your parents might be notified about the test depending on your insurance company. Talking about safer sex may sound horribly unsexy, but it is important, mature and responsible to protect your sexual wellbeing. If you can’t have an open and honest conversation with your partner about getting tested and how you will practice safe sex, you probably aren’t ready to have sex yet. Engaging in this important conversation shows you respect your partner and yourself, and is a building block of any healthy relationship, casual or otherwise. So by all means, go have some fun –– just be safe and smart about it.
when really, it is sexism in itself. If you were to take myself and a white man, who comes from the same background, GPA and experiences, and have both of us apply to these summer programs, I would get accepted over him because I’m a woman. To them, I am more diverse. But you can’t stop sexism with more sexism; that does nothing to solve the problem. First-wave feminism fought for equal treatment, and I despise the fact that I have to reduce myself to my gender to be accepted into these programs. I am no better than a male scientist simply because I am a woman. I, however, can be better than other scientists because of the passion, time and work I put into my research. It shouldn’t be my gender that determines my acceptance to these programs, but my merit and achievements. Truthfully, there isn’t even a sexism problem in science. Fields like engineering and computer science have more men than women, according to Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. Fields like biology, psychology and agricultural sciences, have more wom-
en than men. These differences are not due to sexism in the field, but differences in interest. The system isn’t out to get anyone. The system doesn’t care who you are, but cares only that you’re good at what you’re doing. We as a society shouldn’t allow gender to determine who gets which opportunity. That is the opposite of progress. In many of the program applications, they specifically encourage women to apply. I should be flattered and accept the increased chance of acceptance, right? Wrong. I ask the following questions. Shouldn’t these programs encourage everybody and anybody to participate in science and further their knowledge and skills? Shouldn’t these programs be accepting of every applicant and not judge gender, but rather, qualifications? Being judged based on my grades, achievements and experiences is completely understandable for programs like these. Being reduced to only my gender, however, is not. Quite frankly, it’s offensive.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
Thomas Zafonte, Senior Daniel Petruccelli MULTIMEDIA EDITORS
Allison Staebell, Senior Elijah Pike, Asst. Jack Li, Asst.
Wrap your junk before you bump Safer sex is still an important conversation
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Pierce Strudler MADDY FOWLER
CARTOONIST
EDITORIAL EDITOR
Ardi Digap
Professional Staff OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR
Helene Polley
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Ayesha Kazi GRAPHIC DESIGN MANAGERS
Stephen Jean-Pierre JuYung Hong, Asst.
THE SPECTRUM Thursday, February 22, 2018 Volume 67 Number 33 Circulation 4,000
The views expressed – both written and graphic – in the Feedback, Opinion and Perspectives sections of The Spectrum do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board. Submit contributions for these pages to The Spectrum office at Suite 132 Student Union or news@ubspectrum.com. The Spectrum reserves the right to edit these pieces for style and length. If a letter is not meant for publication, please mark it as such. All submissions must include the author’s name, daytime phone number, and email address.
We all know STI protection is important in theory. Unless you went to a high school that preached abstinence only, you’ve likely sat through your fair share of awkward condom demonstrations involving a banana or a cucumber. But according to a 2016 study by the CDC, only half of sexually active college students use condoms. One in five have genital herpes, and while breakouts can be managed, there is no cure. Once you have it, you have it for life. Cases of gonorrhea in the U.S. increased 13 percent between 2014 and 2015. Cases of syphilis rose 19 percent. And the number of cases of chlamydia grew to 1.5 million — the highest level the CDC has ever recorded. If left untreated, gonorrhea in women can cause Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, which causes severe pain and can eventually lead to infertility or death. In men,
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A woman in science
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My thoughts on the “diversity” womanhood brings to STEM disciplines KIRSTEN DEAN STAFF WRITER
I’m a biological sciences major and am quite involved in my department. I do undergraduate research, hold an e-board position in a science club and I actively participate in UB-led science outreach programs. I have been applying to competitive research programs in an effort to stand out from other Ph.D applicants. Applying to these sought-after programs is like a game. You have to know the rules, like proper word choice and phrasing in the essay sections, to win. There is one aspect of the game, however, that someone can’t learn how to play: the diversity component. More than half of the applications have had whole sections asking how I would add to the diversity of the program, if accepted.
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gonorrhea can be painful and result in sterility. Syphilis can cause paralysis, numbness, blindness and dementia, and in the late stages, the infection damages your internal organs, resulting in death. Roughly 60 percent of students surveyed by The Spectrum say they engage in oral sex. Many students assume oral sex is safer than vaginal or anal sex, but that isn’t necessarily the case; you can get certain STIs such as chlamydia or gonorrhea in the throat, and having these infections in the throat may increase your risk of getting HIV. Having gonorrhea in the throat also may also lead to spread of the disease throughout the body. Giving oral sex to a partner with herpes on the genital or anal areas can result in oral herpes, and getting oral sex from a partner with oral herpes can result in genital or anal herpes. In addition to gonorrhea, syphilis and herpes, performing oral sex on the anus can also result in infections such as the hepatitis A virus, Shigella –– an infectious disease causing nausea, diarrhea, stomach cramps and fe-
I am a white student who comes from an upper-middle class family. By no means am I diverse in the eyes of my application readers. So, what do I write? I have to resort to playing the woman card. This means I have to write an essay, crying that I’m a female in a male-dominated field, trying to beat the systemic sexism prevalent in STEM disciplines. I have to use womanhood as my refuge, because otherwise I’d have no essay topic to write on. But I don’t believe in my forced response. Being a woman is something that should be empowering, not an excuse to get into programs. My true opinions are not what the admissions committees want to see. They want to see me complain about the trials and tribulations of being a woman in science; they want to be guilted into accepting me to their summer programs. This diversity component is meant to stop sexism in science,
email: maddy.fowler@ubspectrum.com
email: features@ubspectrum.com
NEWS
Page 4 | The Spectrum
Thursday, February 22, 2018
The social sciences float on Psychology professor Wendy Quinton wins seventh annual Life Raft Debate
MAX KALNITZ NEWS EDITOR
In Tuesday night’s hypothetical battle between the history, psychology and computer science and engineering departments, students placed the fate of humanity in the power of the human brain. Clinical associate professor Wendy Quinton earned the psychology department’s first-ever win during the seventh annual Life Raft Debate. The debate, cosponsored by the Honor’s College and Experiential Learning Network, featured a panel of four professors who delivered eight-minute speeches arguing why their field of study deserves the last seat on a life raft set out to rebuild civilization. Battling against Quinton were computer science and engineering professor Atri Rudra and history professor Wendy Wolcott. Last year’s champion, physics professor William Kinney, played devil’s advocate, convincing the audience to vote for none of the panelists. The night’s fifth participant, political science professor Michelle Benson-Saxton, couldn’t attend the debate after sustaining a Tae Kwon Do injury. Vice President A. Scott Weber moderated the debate, which had a political undertone throughout the night. Participants poked fun at President Donald Trump throughout, some going as far to include embarrassing pictures in their slide show presentations. After the first round of speeches, each professor gave a two-minute rebuttal to counter the opponents, followed by a Q&A with the audience. The audience made the final decision, voting via cell phones. Roughly 100 stu-
dents attended the event, a larger turn out than many years in the past. Quinton centered her winning argument around the capabilities of the human mind. Computer scientists can create model societies in programs and historians know what’s succeeded in the past, but psychology is “the ultimate life preserver,” Quinton said. “We can use psychology to shape human behavior, prevent inter-group conflict and promote leaders who will champion a ‘we’ not ‘me’ mentality,” Quinton said. “It’s important to set and maintain norms that serve the greater good. This creates an environment where everyone pulls their own weight, builds resilience to stressful events and annoying people, fosters a sense of hope and optimism during an uncertain journey and will help you lead a happy and meaningful life.” Rudra argued for the use of a computer program that can capture everything society has accomplished and recreate it to perfection. Wolcott successfully read the room and suggested a hippie-style farming commune with the judicious use of marijuana to treat post-apocalyptic PTSD. Quinton stayed firm on her stance that the human brain is the ultimate computer. She raised concerns that Wolcott may not accomplish much if she gets too lackadaisical from smoking pot. She applauded Rudra for his ideas, but said that future citizens who aren’t familiar with computer science will make his work and efforts useless in the end. “If we develop a technology to save us all but the person in control is playing Candy Crush, we’ll all perish,” Quinton said. “And do we really want someone on the boat who’s always looking back? We
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need to be focusing on the future. I would form a democratic society and elect leaders who make smart, educated plans for the future and don’t just think about their own needs and wants.” Students’ laughter poured from the debate floor out to the walkways of Capen Hall. Students loved that they got the opportunity to participate in such a fun, conversational event and see their professors in a more relaxed environment. Devashish Agarwal, a senior computer science major, has attended four straight debates. He said he loves going in to a debate and not knowing what to expect. “This event is a great way to see the lighter side of professors outside a classroom setting. The proverbial war among majors is a real thing, but seeing the professors do that can be quite entertaining,” Agarwal said in an email. “It’s also important from the sense of its uniqueness. No other event on campus does anything remotely like this and the fact that Honors College has done it so well for so long also makes it a pleasure to attend.” Agarwal said he never enters the debate knowing whom he’s going to vote for, and he likes the unpredictability of the format. Agarwal took PSY-101 with Quinton and said she argued well and deserved the win. “For me, the whole purpose of the debate is to watch the professors in a witty discussion about how their majors are important and how the others’ aren’t,” Agarwal said. “Eventually there had to be one winner and I’m glad it was Quinton. … She can be evocative and witty in front of large crowds.” Katie Weaver, a senior legal studies and philosophy major, said she voted for Wolcott to represent the humanities. Still, Quinton’s win didn’t deter Weaver from enjoying the evening. She’s a senior in the Honors College and had never attended a Life Raft Debate before. “It was a lot more entertaining than I thought it was going to be. I don’t go to a
(TOP LEFT) Professor Wendy Quinton with her
celebratory oar after winning the psychology department’s first debate. EMILY LI, THE SPECTRUM (TOP RIGHT & BOTTOM) Students and staff enjoyed
the 7th annual Life Raft Debate, sponsored by UB’s Honors College and Experiential Learning Network, The event is a hypothetical, intellectual debate over whose department would prove the most helpful in rebuilding society after a nuclear attack.
lot of these events because I have this notion that smart people are sometimes boring,” Weaver said. “This reminds me that I’m one of them, and we’re entertaining people.” Weaver said all of the participants’ arguments were well thought out and informative, but especially appreciated the different perspectives each contestant brought to the debate. “I’m humanities until I die, … but the computer science professor convinced me to vote for him more than I thought he would. He really had an interesting approach to the situation with some funny jokes as well,” Weaver said. After winning the debate, Quinton expressed her surprise and gratitude to her students and supporters. She emphasized the importance of events like this as an interesting avenue for experiential learning and political discussion between faculty and students. “I don’t think it’s always a good idea to try and foist our political views on students, but I personally like to get students thinking very deeply. If we can do that and [students] can make up their own minds, then I feel like I’ve done a good job,” Quinton said. “That’s what this does ––we’re not telling anyone you must think this way; we’re saying, ‘Evaluate these arguments’ and if it sparks people thinking then it’s a wonderful thing.” email: max.kalnitz@ubspectrum.com
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Thursday, February 22, 2018
MELODIES FOR DAYS: Q&A with singer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird Bird to perform at Center for the Arts
COURTESY OF REUBEN COX
Multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird is taking his “Echolocations: River ” national tour to the CFA on Saturday. The Spectrum talked with Bird about his genre diversity, his writing process and giving titles to his orchestral pieces.
HANNAH STEIN EDITOR IN CHIEF
A glockenspiel, violin, guitar –– Andrew Bird plays them all. Bird, a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter will perform at UB’s Center for the Arts on Saturday as part of his national tour. The Spectrum spoke with Bird before the concert about his latest album, “Echolocations: River” and his extensive music career that began when he was four-years-old. Bird has 14 albums and “Echolocations:River” is his second installment in his “Echolocation” series, where he takes inspiration from various landscapes. Q: Your latest album “Echolocations: River” has a particularly organic feel compared to your other albums. Can you talk a little bit about how you chose the locations for this album?
A: Yeah, the first song was actually a tip from a musician friend who was just talking about places that have extraordinary acoustic character to them outside. You know, I’ve spent a lot of time playing in concert
halls, churches and synagogues. It’s always been in my MO to not force all my songs in a space but decide what to play with what the space wants to hear –– at every concert. And after a while I said, “What if we take this idea outside?” What if I go to a place and send some sound waves out and see what bounces back and what does that environment want to hear? And then I’d start composing. So on a whim, we went to this remote area of southern Utah to this place called Coyote Gulch, which is a very challenging place to get into and I just started playing in there and recording, and it was kind of extraordinary. It was everything I hoped it was. The idea is to create a sonic map of an environment so that when you put the record on, your brain kind of pieces together the picture of where this is. In both [“Echolocation”] albums I’ve done so far, I happen to be standing in water in a river while I’m playing just coincidentally. Actually all four of them have water as an element. But yeah, they’re fun. They set aside a curiosity. They require me to react to my environment, which I’m really into. Every performance, I feel like that’s a thing I do. When I do “The Great Room” series
in my living room, it’s like people come to my door and we play music and it’s all reactive. It’s not like these are the 12 songs I’ve been playing for years presented to you perfectly conceived. So it’s all connected. Q: So you move a lot from different music genres –– from indie-pop to indie-folk to jazz to classical –– over the course of your music career. Can you talk a little bit about how you have evolved as a musician?
A: I kind of divide it up into different phases. Up until age 26, I was still in like a student mode where I go into a record store and think, “What can I learn today? What can I learn from all these records?” Some of the first couple of records, I was still immersed in a world of the early 20th century, small-group jazz and Pimpinelli and Calypso [music] and all this stuff I was really wrapped up in. And then it kind of takes a survey of 20th century American music, going from New Orleans, to Memphis to Detroit, you know? And then there was a certain point after I moved out to the country to put myself in a deprivation chamber of sorts. That’s when [the album] “Weather Systems” came out. That was a kind of “wipe the slate clean” kind of influences to see what I had really going on. And that’s when I rethought how to make music. That began the post-bone-fire era. And now, I feel like I’m on a trajectory toward just really succinct song writing. I mean the simpler the better, sometimes. I have these little projects in between song records that exercise my curiosity and let me stretch out as a player and an improviser. Q: Has there ever been a time in your life when you stopped writing or producing music?
A: No. I started playing violin when I was four. I got really intensely into it at the age of 15 to age 22. I was just playing all day long. Then I had some tendonitis, so I focused on the violin until it got unhealthy, and that’s when I started writing and kind of thinking about the whole more 360 kind of view as you’d expect. That’s why I think if tomorrow I couldn’t play the violin, I would design a
The Spectrum | Page 5
world where for some reason I couldn’t play, I’d still have a very fulfilling, creative life. And that’s pretty key. But yeah, I don’t really ever stop. When I’m making a record in a way, sometimes I strangely stop making music in a way because I’m still absorbing. I mean I’m making music, so I’m still recording, but I stop singing in the shower for whatever reason. And when I’m making a record, I can’t really turn it off. I don’t sleep, which is the state I’m in right now. I’ve been recording a record for the past couple of weeks and I just do not sleep because I can’t turn it off. Q: Can you walk me through what your writing process is like?
A: I’ve got melodies for days. They just pop up and I pay attention to the ones that you know will reoccur depending on random stimulus from the world –– like every time I get into a taxi in New York or Chicago, I hear the same melody for years, I think. I’ve got to do something with that. The melody is compelling, but if you really want to do it justice, it should be sung. I need to sing that melody and then I start working on the lyrics. That takes me down all sorts of different paths. I’m just you know, I don’t tend to be sort of a narrative song writer. I’m more of exploring a topic and opening it up to discussion. I find the challenge of writing a three-and-a-half minute song incidentally absorbing and challenging. Q: In “Echolocations: River,” you have an orchestral focus while many of your other albums are more lyric-based. How did you choose the song titles for your orchestral pieces in this album?
A: I had a bunch of working titles that were terrible. One night I did a bunch of research on rare waterfowl in the LA river. I just picked out cool sounding birds. That’s it. I don’t even remember –– if you asked me what a song title was called, I still call it by their working titles –– their bird names. I thought it would be more evocative to use “Lazuli Bunting” instead of “Echo #2” or something. email: hannah.stein@ubspectrum.com
Abbott Hall boasts rich history of medicine, architecture Health Sciences Library provides study services with a relic approach BENJAMIN BLANCHET SENIOR FEATURES EDITOR
The library at Abbott Hall is still in operation over a third of a century since it opened, preserving its history in its collection and architecture. The building features vintage woodwork study areas, like the Austin Flint Reading Room’s carved interior lit up by chandeliers. The library houses students in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences as well as dental students and others. Amongst the library’s study spaces and computers is an extensive collection of medical and dental instruments. The Robert L. Brown collection is equipped with pieces from medicine’s past, some of which date back to Roman times. The collection features everything from 13th century texts on health regimens to pieces on homeopathic treatment. “We have things in the collection like old treatment machines and blood pressure gadgets from the ‘60s,” said Linda Lohr, a librarian with the collection. “So history is always moving, so what you think is new suddenly becomes historical. It’s representative of all the health sciences.”
SA Senate says no to Veloz’s pick for vice president CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2
Felix proposed more one-on-one meetings with SA’s 150-plus clubs as well as providing staff members a broader understanding of the services SA provides. Felix said she wanted to become the
On the building’s front, a stone still notes Lockwood Library. Before Lockwood’s name shifted to North Campus in 1979, Thomas Brown Lockwood made a $500,000 pledge toward the original library in 1929. Some of Lockwood’s collection of rare books and manuscripts were held, preserving the collection for future use. Also intact is the building’s main reading room, which has Kittinger craftwork and timed table lamps from decades past. The room, designed by library architect E.B. Green, takes notes from the Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, England. The room’s mantel was lifted from England’s Canonbury Tower. “All of that imagery on the mantel was done by craftsmen who worked for the Kittinger Company,” said Pam Rose, a librarian at Abbott Hall for over 50 years. “The people who were staff here during the ‘80s fought hard to make sure the reading room was not damaged when renovations were taking place. The architect was on our side. He listened to the concerns.” On the third floor is the James Platt White reading room, reserved for special occasions. The room –– which officially belongs to the president’s office –– overlooks the city of Buffalo and Ontario, Canada. The room originally was the librarian’s office, but has now been used for everything from wedding engagements to a film-
ing location for local Super Bowl ads. The room also serves a special purpose for international students, who are invited to visit the library as part of a program run by Dr. Mary Hurley of D’Youville College. Hurley co-founded the school’s annual anatomy conference, which involves medical students from Italy. “The books in the room were originally here for atmosphere, but Hurley thought she could give each student a book,” Rose said. “In Italy, students learn about gross anatomy through things like books, so having a book from here is like gold.” Aside from the reading room, the hall hosts the library for the school of Architecture & Planning. There, students can explore the works of local figures like Frank Lloyd Wright to Frederick Olmsted. Matthew Gadziala, a graduate assistant working in the history of medicine collection, relishes the opportunity to work hands-on at the library. “It is not enough to just learn about working in a library in a classroom. You have to go and experience it yourself,” Gadziala said. “Not only have I gotten the chance to gain experience working in a special collection, I have also gotten the chance to see how the various sections of the library work. I’ve [obtained] a newfound interest
vice president because she wanted to challenge herself. “One thing I’m very self-conscious [about] are the things that I don’t know,” Felix said. “One way I counteract that is by asking questions and having conversations.” Felix closed by asking the Senate to be mindful of her qualifications and her desire to be vice president. Felix was unavailable to comment after the meeting.
Veloz said Treasurer Janet Austin was updated about her choice for nominee, but was not involved in the process. Danielle Johnson, a junior theatre major and Hobby Council coordinator, said she wished Veloz would have nominated a more qualified candidate to fill the role quickly. “If we base our judgment off the way [Felix] answered basic questions, she was an unfit candidate,” Johnson told The Spectrum. Johnson said there are other potential
BENJAMIN BLANCHET, THE SPECTRUM
Abbott Hall’s historic features include its original entrance, designed by E.B. Green, and its privateuse James Platt White Room. The hall is home to the Health Sciences Library as well as the History of Medicine collection.
in special collections which I would have never known without this experience.” Both Lohr and Rose see working in the library as one of the most rewarding experiences in their lives. “I could have retired by now, so there must be something keeping me here,” Rose said. “We have all served on reference at a time when we’ve gotten a call from a physician who has a patient in front of him, saying I need this article and I need it right now. You’re affecting patients’ lives at many levels and to think that you might have a part in making someone well is immeasurable.” email: benjamin.blanchet@ubspectrum.com
nominees in SA who understand the VP role and would make a better fit than Felix. Alexis Ogra, a senior history major and Special Interest Council coordinator, also said she felt there were more qualified people for the role. “We don’t know [Felix],” Ogra said. “We didn’t know her from working with her.” email: news@ubspectrum.com
FEATURES
Page 6 | The Spectrum
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Faculty Senate votes to create two new departments CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
The decline in graduate and professional student enrollment, which provides significantly more revenue than undergraduates through tuition, also means less money per student. This comes at a time where there are record numbers of students on-campus. “Historically, graduate school applications peak in mid-March, so the advice we’re giving to units is to encourage completion of applications and accept students as rapidly as possible,” Zukoski said. Jonathan Katz, a Ph.D director in the Visual Studies Department, asked Zukoski if he thought decline in graduate students might correlate with faculty cuts, particularly across the humanities over the last five years. “I entered a department that had eight ladder track faculty; we are now three,” Katz said. “Clearly, excellence is the driver for grad education and we are missing the boat on that because we’re not getting the faculty we need.” Zukoski said he wasn’t sure if there is a
OPINION
Desire to donate CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
But what needs to be remembered is that it doesn’t mean organizations can just use blanket statements condemning all people of a certain demographic. The reality is no matter who donates the blood, it needs to and will all be tested for things like HIV before it gets used in transfusions. We’re on a college campus and plenty of people are practicing poor sexual safe-
correlation between decline in faculty and decline in graduate students because enrollment issues vary across departments. “But wouldn’t you agree that at minimum, logically speaking, a constriction in the number of faculty would produce a drop off in graduate enrollment?” Katz asked. The correlation is possible, but there are other examples that wouldn’t work for this explanation, Zukoski said. The amount of tenure-track faculty on campus has decreased nearly 8 percent since 2007, according to data from the Office of the Provost’s website. Tripathi addressed the move to the downtown medical campus, saying he expects construction for a bridge connecting the school to the rest of the BuffaloNiagara Medical Campus to be finished by next winter. The UBreathe Free committee sent its final report to Tripathi before winter break, a resolution that proposed exacting fines and community service to people caught smoking on campus. Tripathi did not agree with the recommendations, and
instead asked the committee to identify where the most smoking is done on campus and to increase signage and smoking education around those areas. “As much as Phil thinks I can impose a fine on you, I really can’t,” Tripathi said. “There are issues of collective bargaining and so on. If Phil can find a law that can be implemented to impose a fine on you, I’ll do that. In the meantime, I think it’s in the best interest of all of us to have more education and communication.” Ezra Zubrow, president of the university’s United University Professions labor chapter said the smoking issue is contractual in nature. It can’t be enforced without negotiating with UUP, something the university has not yet done, he said. Glick said the UBreathe Free committee is looking for a group of volunteers to help spread non-smoking education, which will probably be rolled out in the fall. The committee also plans on meeting with local unions, UB’s Student Life department and the Human Resources department to come up with ways to enforce
the non-smoking policy. “What we learned from the year the committee was together was that simple culture change and trying to teach people how bad smoking is just doesn’t work and there needs to be some sort of stick besides just the carrot,” Glick said. “So we’ll see how that goes.” Glick will meet with Erie County legislator Patrick Burke later this week to discuss the possibility of a county ordinance to make it unlawful to smoke on campus, he said. Glick also announced the creation of an ad-hoc committee charged with assessing and filling potential gaps for the needs of student veterans, active duty students and ROTC students. In the coming weeks, the Senate will hear the reports from a committee established last fall to analyze UB’s gender-salary equity. It will also celebrate its third annual shared governance day on March 6. The next Senate meeting is March 13.
ty habits. Students are having unprotected sex with people they barely know and are putting themselves at risk of HIV, or other infections. The FDA doesn’t ban any of them from donating because it knows the blood will be tested anyway. So does that mean the FDA expects so much gay blood to be infected that it’s not even worth drawing it to begin with? The other problem with a 12-month ban is that it doesn’t account for relationships. If a man is in a long-term committed relationship with another man and neither one is infected, it shouldn’t matter if they had sex the night before one
of them tries to donate. It wouldn’t matter if the couple was a man and a woman, even though the chance of infection in a relationship where neither partner has the disease is zero percent. But does the FDA not expect gay men to be faithful in a relationship? Because of the startling numbers, I can understand a ban of three months from the last time a man had anonymous sex with another man, but I believe if the sex is within a relationship, not allowing them to donate borders on homophobic. I know I am no medical expert and I don’t know all the facts of how transfu-
sions work, but I do know that there’s a lot more blood needed than what is currently being donated. I implore those who are medical experts to figure out a way to make it safe for everyone to be able to add gay and bisexual men to the list of acceptable donors. No family or medical professional should ever have to watch someone die because they couldn’t get enough blood, especially when there is someone out there with a matching blood type and a desire to donate.
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Page 8 | The Spectrum
SPORTS
Thursday, February 22, 2018
MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
PREVIEW Breaking down this weekend’s MAC championships
SPORTS DESK
COURTESY OF SA WATER POLO
The water polo club playing a full game. The club has more than tripled its members since starting the co-ed club in 2010.
Playing co-ed in a men’s league A look inside UB Water Polo NATHANIEL MENDELSON STAFF WRITER
The water polo club began in 2010 with only six friends. Since then, the team has grown to over 20 co-ed players. Now in its eighth season, the club competes through the Collegiate Water Polo Association and finishes its third consecutive season in the Men’s Club for the New York Division. The team has struggled to win but finished ninth this season after coming in last place the season before. The club includes international students, graduate students and former Division-I water polo players who want to continue competing. The SA club team is one of the few to compete co-ed in the New York Division. “I think I’ve learned more playing with the guys,” said Nicole Johnson, a senior health and human services major and the club’s secretary. “I’m not fake, so you have to figure out how to play water polo; you can’t figure out the shortcuts.” The co-ed roster competes in the CWPA, but it has its own complications for the female players. “The ball size, my hands are so small,
and the ball is pretty big compared to the women’s size,” said Alexa Kluepfel, a senior biology major and the club’s vice president. “I’m not uncomfortable playing with all the guys.” One of water polo’s goals involves increasing player numbers in order to field an all-female team in the future. The club currently features five female players. “I don’t expect it to happen next semester, but if we gain two more girls and keep doing that I think it will eventually happen,” Johnson said. For club president Andrew Hossenlopp, a senior environmental studies major, one of the biggest issues with recruitment is people’s ignorance of the sport. The club practices from 8 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday at the Alumni Arena pool. “It’s not mandatory –– attendance isn’t taken –– but it is preferred that people are there,” Hossenlopp said. “We’re not going to force you to come to practice, so if you want it to be a large time commitment, that’s great and you’ll probably learn more as well.” The club welcomes beginners and experienced players. Both Hossenlopp and Johnson were competitive swimmers in high school but had no prior experience with the sport before joining the club. “I’ll see people go from not even being comfortable in the water, to being good at water polo. If you keep after it for long
enough, you’re going to be a solid player,” Hossenlopp said. Throughout the year, the club competes in tournaments and scrimmages all around the state. This year they look to host two tournaments for the first time. They first hosted in September where the team went 1-3 versus other New York Division opponents including Binghamton University and Syracuse University. They plan to host another tournament inside Alumni Arena on April 14-15. The club’s budget does not allow for it to hire a full time coach. The members rely on team talent to come in and help in practice. “It’s a little more difficult since we don’t have a coach, but the seniors are so knowledgeable that they take the time to step up and pause drills to give criticism and advice to the best of their abilities,” Kluepfel said. Both Hossenlopp and Johnson expressed their own interest in continuing with the sport after graduation. The club will continue playing individual games and tournaments throughout the spring. Its next home game is a scrimmage versus the University of Rochester on Feb. 22. email: sports@ubspectrum.com
BULLS FALL SHORT AGAINST REDHAWKS THOMAS ZAFONTE
The Bulls lost Tuesday 84-81 against the Miami (OH) Redhawks to make the Bulls’ away record 7-5 this season. The Redhawks forced 17 turnovers while freshman guard Nike Sibande shot 7-13 with 21 points Tuesday night. Junior forward Jeremy Harris had his ninth 20-plus-point game this season with 23 points and eight rebounds in Millett Hall Saturday night. Senior guard Wes Clark and sophomore guard Davonta Jordan had solid games going for a combined 30 points and shooting a combined 12-18. The Bulls (20-8, 12-3 Mid-American Conference) already clinched the East division so this loss has not affected the team’s top spot in the MAC. The Toledo Rockets (19-9, 11-4 MAC) remain in second. This loss makes the Bulls 4-3 in the last seven games. Buffalo went on a nine-game win-
SWIMMING AND DIVING The Bulls (8-0, 4-0 MAC) are heading into the MAC championship in Athens, Ohio off a stellar team season. Besides being unbeaten as a team, the Bulls had strong seasons from several swimmers and divers. Expect senior swimmer Megan Burns to look for first in the 50-freestyle, 100-freestyle and 200-freestyle in her final MAC meet. Burns comes into the event having earned swimmer-of-the-meet honors at last year’s MAC championship where she won three events. The Bulls placed in third at last year’s championship. Freshman swimmer Nicole Roitenberg came in first in multiple events this season. Senior swimmer Hannah Miller is the favorite to win the 500-freestyle and the 1650-freestyle going into the event. The team has broken all the women’s program relay race records this season along with several individual records. The Bulls look primed to have strong results as head coach Andy Bashor continues to find conference success. Bashor sent swimmers and divers to the NCAA before. Buffalo will compete each day in a set of preliminary races, then final races. Competing at the event will be the Akron Zips, the Ball State Cardinals, the Bowling Green Falcons, the Eastern Michigan Eagles, the Miami (OH) Redhawks, the Ohio Bobcats and the Toledo Rockets. The event will include both men’s and women’s swimming and diving. TRACK AND FIELD The Bulls had several strong performances across multiple events on both the men’s and women’s team. Sophomore distance runner Stephanie Ward broke the school record in the 5,000-meter event this season. Junior high jumper Selina Von Jackowski won multiple long-jump events in several meets. Freshman distance runner Christopher Nowak came in first in several 800-meter races throughout the season. The Bulls had a successful MAC season, with three wins at the Akron Zips’ invite in their last meet. This will be the first of two MAC championships the Bulls will compete in this semester. The NCAA tournament will be in March while the second MAC and NCAA tournaments will start in May. The Bulls will compete in multiple events at the championship with many team members participating in more than one event. The meet is set to start at 10 a.m. on Friday.
Men’s basketball team loses momentum in second half of road loss
SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR
This Thursday to Saturday, the swimming and diving team will be competing in Mid-American Conference championships. The track and field team will be competing in the indoor MAC championship Friday and Saturday. Both teams will participate in individual and team events during the meets with results used for a cumulative score to pick a team winner for the championship. Each team is looking to qualify athletes for each sport’s respective NCAA championships, which is earned with a win at the MAC championship.
ning streak before that. The Redhawks (14-14, 7-8 MAC) are currently second in the East division, but will not be able to catch up to the Bulls this season. The game started with Buffalo controlling on offense, keeping around a 10-point lead for much of the early going. That changed at the end of the half when the Redhawks cut the lead to 39-36 with 1:12 remaining. Buffalo led heading into the second half 41-36, but the Redhawks took the lead early. The Bulls made the game 7880 with 22 seconds left, but were never able to tie the game. The Redhawks secured the win through Sibande’s free throw in the final seconds. The Bulls’ next game is on Saturday at home against the Ohio Bobcats (12-15, 5-10 MAC) with tipoff set for 3:30 p.m. email: thomas.zafonte@ubspectrum.com
email: sports@ubspectrum.com JACK LI, THE SPECTRUM
Junior guard Jeremy Harris attempts to make a layup. Harris had a strong performance in the Bulls’ recent 84-81 loss to the Miami (OH) Redhawks.