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TORCH PHOTO/ BRIAN LOPEZ

SARA CAHILL MARRON News Editor Many University students are expressing confusion after being denied participation in the housing selection process. Changes to the housing policy cause uncertainty and stress among upperclassmen.

The change makes the residence village a priority for sophomores and freshmen, and designates all juniors and seniors to the Founders’ Village, the Seton Complex, the Coolidge Plaza or the Goethals apartments.

WHAT’S INSIDE News......................1-6 Comics.......................9 Opinion..............10-12 Entertainment....15-21 Features................8-9 Sports.................24-28

Students with high GPA’s and no judicial record were placed on the waiting list even after fully complying with application and deposit deadlines.

Junior Andrew Mello was one of the students placed on the wait list. As an Ozanam Scholar, Mello was guaranteed housing all four years.

“I have no judicial record and my GPA is good, but I was put on the wait list,” he said. “They told me I did everything right and got everything in on time but a lot of people have good GPA’s and there was nothing they could do about it.”

Junior Marylle Pacina waited for her appointment on

Tuesday morning after working with administration to correct her judicial standing of “zero.”

“They told me I had no points, like zero. They told me they had to review my application before I could participate in selection,” she said. “They corrected it and apologized when I went to them and pointed out it was wrong.

Now, I’m applying for the townhouses.”

Wait-listed junior Keri Loblanco has lived on campus for three years and prefers the safety of the gated residence halls on campus.

See HOUSING Pg. 3

MUSIC

Back to School STJ Alumni and rapper J. Cole performs in this week’s Spring Fling Concert.

ENTER RTAINMENT Pg. 16

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Last week’s poll results Are you satifsied with the events offered on campus?

51% Yes 49% No Check out our new poll every Wednesday “Think Outside. . .”

2

Directory

Managing Board LXXXVIII

JUSTIN THRIFT, Editor-in-Chief NELL O’CONNOR, Managing Editor MARK MCDONALD, General Manager SARA CAHILL MARRON BILL SAN ANTONIO

MICHAEL MONTIJO

News Editor

Sports Editor

Art Director

LOVELL NIMMONS

KRISTEN FARMER

SARAH LANE

Editorial Page Editor

Photo Editor

Chief Copy Editor

CAROLYN WARGULA

BRIAN LOPEZ

ELIZABETH MILLER

Features Editor

Asst. Photo Editorw Layout Editor

ADELLE PLATON

JOSÉ SILVA

ELLEN CAREY

Entertainment Editor Online Editor

Advisor

Business (718) 9906756 Advertising 990-6756 Editorial Board 990-6444

Features 990-6445 Letters 990-6445 News 990-6444 Sports 990-6444

Special thanks to Richard Rex Thomas for assisting in the design of The TORCH

Entertainment The Addams Family Inferno reviews the latest broadway play; a rendition of the popular Addams Family show.

Inferno Pg. 17

Features Language Center The GLCC makes learning more friendly and social with one-on-one tutoring sessions.

Features Pg. 10

Men’s Baseball Roaring at the Tigers

NEWS

The baseball team lost the series finale against West Virginia on Sunday in extra innings.

James Murray and Evelyn Adames dance salsa at the perfomance of Dance, Dance Revolution in the Little Theatre this past weekend.

Sports Pg. 26

GRADUATION

OPINION PG. 10

Women’s retreat preview

21 April 2010

LIAM LA GUERRE Staff Writer

The TORCH

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TORCH PHOTO/KRISTEN FARMER

FOR MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS: 718-990-6756 The TORCH is the official student newspaper of St. John’s University. The Torch is written, edited, designed and produced by students of the University. All contents are the sole responsibility of the editors and the editorial board and do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of St. John’s University unless specifically stated.

To contact The TORCH by mail: The TORCH, St. John’s University 8000 Utopia Parkway Queens, NY 11439

The TORCH is typically published on Wednesdays, approximately 20 issues throughout the academic year. Circulation per issue is 3,500 copies distributed free on campus.

This copy of The Torch is worth $ .75.

Campus Ministry will host a retreat this week with the aim of bringing female students and University members together for a night of relaxation, fun and spiritual growth.

The event, titled Women’s Retreat: Cup of Life, will take place Thursday, April 22 from 4 to 9 p.m. in the D’Angelo Center.

According to the St. John’s Website, the goal of this year’s event is “to explore the many ways in which we allow ourselves to be filled too much and how we may be able to empty ourselves in order to be fulfilled.”

While there have been mixed gender retreats, Campus Ministry recognizes the necessity to offer single gender retreats.

“There is a difference between the way that we think and grow spiritually as men and women,” said Abigail Furness, a campus minister who will be co-hosting the event.

Students are not the only group invited

to take part in these events. All women from within the St. John’s community may attend the affair.

Campus Ministry also encourages all to attend regardless of their religious beliefs.

“We are trying to get people to grow in their own spirituality, whatever that maybe,” said Furness.

Catherine Giancatarino, a resident campus minister who will also host the event has high expectations for the events.

“I hope the women who come, find it as a nice evening of camaraderie, relaxation, and faith building,” she said.

This year’s Cup of Life event was originally scheduled for Feb. 26 in St. Thomas More Church, but due to heavy snow which resulted in the school’s closure, it had to be rescheduled.

Students who want to attend this retreat must RSVP at the office of Campus Ministry, located in Marillac Terrace or online through St. John’s Central.

RSVP is open until the day of the event on Thursday.

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HOUSING: Students feel strain in process Continued from Pg. 1 “I applied and submitted my deposit ignated appointment times throughout on time, but last week I received an email this week if they have been selected that said I was eligible, but was not asked to participate. to participate in selection,” she said.

The process of housing selection was “They gave me two options: I could go changed this year in order to make it run on the wait list, or get my deposit back.” more smoothly, according to Eric Finkel“Even though administration prom- stein, associate director of residence life. ised me I would get off of the wait list, “Only one student has to select, it’s that doesn’t take away the stress I feel turned out to be a much smoother process over this,” Loblanco said. this year,” he said. “Instead of six people “Just give me a bed in any building, selecting a suite, you only need one; its all I want is to live in the safety of the St. really cut down on our numbers.”

John’s community.”

Sophomore Alisha Siqueira particiAccording to Dominic Petruzzelli, pated in the housing process last year Associate Director of Residence Life, when the scheduling of appointments rethere is a wait list for housing every year quired entire groups of students to come that is always together. satisfied.

“Last year, the Petruzzelli lines were out the door said the change they stretched I don’t d even play their and in housing prihalfway to Montgorgames anymore. ymore. is,” she said. ority was based on feedback “This year was so from juniors and much better; they al- Korey ey Pace lowed one representaseniors that had lived on camtive to go during their pus. appointment time, that “Based on way there were less student trends and feedback, we found people showing up.” that juniors and seniors prefer to live in Junior Korey Pace said that because what we call independent style housing,” of the nature of the selection process, he he said. chose not to participate this year.

“The residences that fall into this cate“I did it last year; it was raining, gory are the townhouse, Seton, Coolidge, people were missing class, I was mad,” and Goethals apartments,” he said. he said. “I don’t even play their games Feedback comes from the housing anymore; I opted out of the system and selection process each year, as well as choose to live with an RA in the townthe ACUHO-I survey conducted by Resi- houses. This way, I don’t even have to dence Life. participate in the selection process.”

Underclassmen were not given priorPetruzzelli said the process was reity for these types of buildings because organized to accommodate the students of trends identified over the years by the and make things run more smoothly. administration.

“At first, the process was individual, “Sophomores who have lived in inde- but we cut that out this year and let stupendent style housing have been unsuc- dents come in groups,” he said. cessful in the past as seen by guest and “We cut back physically, and we alcohol violations, as well as trouble with lengthened the appointment times to sattime management,” Petruzzelli said. isfy student’s needs. It’s working much The housing selection process began better. Residence Life doesn’t own the last Friday in the Donovan Community process, the students do. If you have an room. Students were assigned to des- appointment, you get a bed.”

“ ”

Townhomes are the only on-campus houses offered to upper-classmen.

Managing Editor, Emeritus

“If there is a certain department that has a lot of people taking the VSO, we can ask people to stay on so that we can make for a smooth transition,” he said.

“We could ask for faculty to stay on for certain voluntary situations until 2011 and for staff and administrators, through the end of 2010.”

Scianna maintained that a more obligatory University approach to reducing employee numbers is not on the horizon.

“There are no plans, in the foreseeable future, for any layoffs and we certainly would want to keep things that way,” he said.

“The economic times and things that all universities are dealing with across the country are such that you have to continue to look at certain areas where you can save money.

“But, in no way will we infringe upon student services or anything we’ve done in the past. In fact, we’ll probably be doing more in the area of student services.”

torchonline.com

to and support the physical space we have built over the last decade to make sure that the experience is truly the 21st century high-quality experience,” said Pellow.

St. John’s academic officials will take the next few weeks to continue assessing the impact of the VSOs but Pellow mentioned that there could be some drawbacks to the buyouts.

“As good as it is in terms of being a softer approach to reducing expenses, it’s not a very tactical approach,” he said of the VSOs. “Because it is voluntary, you have certain departments that lose higher numbers of employees and you have certain departments that are critical to student service and to the educational product that need to be immediately reinvested in.”

Dominic Scianna, vice president of Media Relations, said in the event it is found that new hires need to be made, employees may be asked to remain with the University a little longer.

The TORCH

The results of St. John’s voluntary buyouts to school employees have been deemed “very successful” by University officials.

According to James Pellow, executive vice president and chief operating officer, more than 250 full-time St. John’s faculty, administrators and staff took Voluntary Separation Offers by the March 19 deadline.

More than 1,700 full-time St. John’s employees were presented with VSOs by the University, which were announced in January. St. John’s employs roughly 3,000 workers.

“The forecasts that we had for the number of employees that would take the VSO was between 175 and 225 employees,” said Pellow. “It was a really rough estimate because we hadn’t done this since 1998, so there’s no real his-

tory or pattern that you can build on. But over 250 employees decided to accept the VSO, so from that perspective, it exceeded our expectations.”

The VSOs were the latest approach used by the University to lower operating expenses.

Soft hiring freezes and reductions in salary increases and departmental budgets have also been used in the past.

In a February interview with the TORCH, Pellow said the VSO program could be an investment that costs the University “north of $20 million.”

He recently told the TORCH that despite the economic climate, St. John’s is financially stable and the VSOs give the University “enormous flexibility to make the next round of investments in the future.”

The next step in the University’s strategic plan is to develop ways to invest that “further support the students that we are recruiting and providing financial aid

21 April 2010

Administration deems VSO buyouts “successful” EVERTON BAILEY

NEWS

TORCH PHOTOS/BRIAN LOPEZ

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TORCH

BRIEFS Compiled by Laura Amato

Video competition

TORCH PHOTO/KRISTEN FARMER

Local vendors sold fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers on the great lawn on Monday.

Fresh food on the Great Lawn ANTHONY O’REILLY Staff Writer

St. John’s students had a rare opportunity to shop for fresh food items in a small farmers’ market this week.

The farmers’ market was the opening event for St. John’s annual Spring Week, which began Monday, April 19. Local vendors came to campus with a sampling of fresh produce and organic food for students to sample and purchase.

The event was planned by Multicultural Affairs to help give students a taste of fresh and organic foods as opposed to the processed foods

that are more widely available to students on the St. John’s campus.

Freshman Regina Wittaker said it can be hard to find food that works for a healthy lifestyle.

“It’s hard to find a farmers’ market without going anywhere too far away,” she said.

Helayna Herschkorn, a junior, helped get the vendors to attend and said she had resident students in mind because of the difficulty they face when it comes to healthy eating on campus.

“Not everyone can get vegetables so it’s good to have fresh food available,” she said.

Anna Nguyen, a junior and member of the Earth Club, stated that the tossup between eating healthy or not often

comes down to which choice is more convenient.

Vendors at the market include Picklelicious and Meredith’s Bread.

Picklelicious has many stores located throughout New Jersey and New York but still rely on word of mouth marketing as a way to get their name out there.

Herschkorn said that she is trying to get the farmers’ market to become a more frequent event here at St. John’s. She is focused on trying to have unique items available for sale but keeps in mind that students are not able to buy everything.

“We’re trying to make sure that nothing conflicts with the items we have here. Our goal is to sell not compete but it’s good to have a wide variety,” she said.

“Capture the Storm,” an online video competition among students capturing what they love most about campus life, announced winners in its second-annual contest last week.

Seventeen undergraduate students submitted Youtube videos, which were viewed by more 1,000 students across St. John’s campuses. Brian Choy, a junior from Tobin College of Business, won the administrator’s vote for his “Who We Are” video while Jorge Ortiz, a sophomore from CPS won the people’s choice vote for his “Capture the Storm: A Storm is Coming” video.

Other winners included Kenneth Sheehan, Stefan Bojic and Jonaki Singh. The winning films were awarded prizes ranging from $1,000 to $250 and the chance to share their video on the St. John’s Website.

SGI committees Applications for SGI Committees are now available on St. John’s Central. The 10 committees ranging from Student Affairs to School Spirit and Academic Affairs are responsible for planning dozens of events on campus over the course of the year.

These events include the recent Relay for Life as well as organizing the BBQs and away trips to athletic games. All applications are due to the Student Government Office by 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 21 at the latest.

Peace Week preview

Fashion marketing in the summertime

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The TORCH

21 April 2010

NEWS

CHRISTINA HEISER Editor-in-Chief, Emeritus Students interested in pursuing a career in the fashion industry can now gain valuable experience through a new course offered at St. John’s The Marketing of Fashion, taught and spearheaded by marketing professor Andrea Licari, will take place from May 17-21, and again from May 24-26. Students from any major can take the class as an elective. Licari said the class has been filling up fast, but that it will be offered again during the January 2011 intersession.

“This is a wonderful way for a young person to get an overview of the industry,” she said. “[They’ll get to] see that it’s a lot more than just clothes, it’s how we live our lives. It’s where we live our lives, it’s the literature we read, the food we eat.”

Licari, who taught at the Fashion Institute of Technology [FIT] for more than 20 years, said she had the idea for this class for a few years. She has had experience in the modeling and fashion industries.

“Fashion is controlled by culture,” she said. “The more exposure you have to a global culture, the more you include into your definition of fashion.”

Over the course of the eight

days, students will take various field trips, hear from experts in the industry and work on a group marketing project.

Students will visit the costume exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Ralph Lauren showroom and flagship store and the FIT Museum. They will also meet with architects, including Kevin Wolfe, who specializes in landmark preservation.

Licari noted that “fashion is an evolutionary thing.” She also said that many trends that might seem new are actually recycled from earlier eras.

During one of her classes, the students started talking about bell bottom jeans—one student said that the trend was created in the 1970s.

But Licari told her class that the trend actually stemmed back from the late 1800s, a fact she said the class was surprised to learn.

“It’s a cycle of fashion,” she said. “You’re not creating it, it’s coming back at a different time.”

She added, “[Students] don’t realize that a lot of what they see is a redress of something that has already been seen.”

She used the example of Ralph Lauren as a designer PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA who has been successful with “lifestyle marketing” because he is involved in many fields in addition Students who take the Marketing of to clothing, including home Fashion will visit the costume exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, pictured above. accessories and car designs.

The second Peace Week will take place at St. John’s from April 25 to May 1. The theme for this year’s Peace Week is CREATE, with each day focusing on a different aspect of the creation theme.

Events on campus range from the Free Hug Campaign on Monday, April 26 to Shout! A Spoken Word Peace Concert, to be held on the Great Lawn at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 28.

The events of Peace Week are sponsored by Campus Ministry, Students for Global Justice, Ozanam Scholars, Peace Week Planning Committee, ONE Campaign, Earth Club, Team RV, and Bridging the Gap Project.

Research Week winners Two St. John’s students were awarded for their contributions to the First Undergraduate Applied Social Justice Competition, which was part of Student Research Week. The awards ceremony for the competition took place April 15 in Bent Hall.

Sophomore Princess Ikatekit won first prize for her essay, “Global Warming and Climate Change: a Catholic Perspective.” Student Kathryn Mordeno won second prize for her essay, “Microfinance: the Path to Poverty Alleviation.”

Can’t get enough TORCH news? Visit our Web site for online exclusives. torchonline.com

5

Well dressed clowns, magicians and hypnotists JUSTIN THRIFT Editor-in-Chief Carnesecca Arena will be transformed Thursday night for the Fashion Club’s annual fashion show event. This year’s show, titled “Cirque De La Mode,” will feature a circus theme and be hosted

by Coco and Breezy, two Accessory designers whose work has been worn by such artists as Lady Gaga and Rihanna.

According to the Fashion Club President, Michelle Walker, the show will feature music by a local DJ from Hot 97 as well as many other exciting features.

“We have an opening with the cheerleaders from St. John’s, and we have nine up and coming designers with different themes in the circus, so just be prepared to be excited,” Walker said.

Morgan Henderson, who is head of promotions at the Fashion Club, talked about the process of putting the event together and deciding on a theme for the show.

“We had a brainstorming meeting and came up with a circus theme,” she said.

“Then we sat down and brainstormed what aspects in the circus can be incorporated into our fashion show, and we came up with different themes for designs.”

Henderson said some of the specific themes that would be inspiring the model’s outfits would be such things as knife-throwing, a magician, hypnotist, clown and a ring-leader.

“For example, for the clown theme, we’re going to have a lot of big dresses and bright colors,” Henderson said.

For the Fashion Club, Thursday’s show represents the pinnacle moment of the club’s yearly efforts.

Jerian DiMattei, the club’s secretary, feels that the fashion show represents the whole purpose of what the Fashion Club is. Holding the event every year gives members of the club first hand experience in all the aspects of the fashion

PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. JOHN’S FASHION CLUB

industry, from hair and makeup to public relations experience.

“That’s what the fashion club is about,” said DiMattei. “To get everyone to have an experience in the fashion industry and allow them to be in the experience and meet people in the actual industry.”

Chanel Mack, the club’s vice president, describes it as a self-interest organization that allows students to display and utilize their passions for fashion in areas such as photography, modeling or fashion design.

In addition to the yearly fashion show, the club holds special programs like “Show me your walk,” a program aimed at helping young models develop

their runway stride. Another event featured a workshop showing girls how to do their makeup.

Mack also stressed the openness of the club, and how easy it is for new students who may be interested to get involved.

The club has general body meetings every semester usually during common hour.

For those interested in any kind of career in the fashion industry, the members emphasize that the fashion club is designed to boost their experience and contacts.

Morgan Henderson, the head of promotions for the group, specifically talked about how Thursday’s fashion show is a great opportunity for networking, and

not just for the models.

“We’ve invited a lot of people from the industry,” Henderson said. “Fashion designers, bloggers, PR, advertising.

SONY records will be in the building.”

The group said that last year’s show brought in around 700 students.

“This year we’re expecting a thousand,” Walker said. “Hopefully we’ll get that.”

All St. John’s students can buy a ticket to the fashion show for $3 at the campus concierge in the D’Angelo Center, and are allowed to bring two non-St. John’s guests. Non-St. John’s students can buy a ticket for $5. The show starts at 8 p.m. in Carnesecca Arena.

Tobin’s actuarial science program recognized This spring The Peter J. Tobin College of Business’ School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science was marked a Center of Actuarial Excellence

(CAE) by the Society of Actuaries (SOA).

This is a leading professional actuarial organization, and one of the largest actuarial organizations in the world.

St. John’s University, along with eight other institutions in the U.S was honored to receive this designation.

Institutions who are recognized by the organization may participate in a 5-year funding program that provides

21 April 2010 The TORCH

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TORCH PHOTO/KRISTEN FARMER

Tobin College’s awards and happening are displayed in Bent Hall.

multi-year education and research grants through the SOA. According to their web site, www.SOA.org , receiving this designation is based on a number of requirements including industry partners, degree curriculum, faculty, grad student count, research and scholarship.

Victoria Shoaf, associate dean for Academic Affairs of The Peter J. Tobin College of Business said that students studying actuarial science would benefit from this award.

“The impact for St. John’s students is tremendous when they go out to seek jobs in this field,” she said.

“The enhanced stature of the school will undoubtedly reflect well on graduates in other areas of the school.”

Tobin has also launched two new programs on the St. John’s Manhattan campus for the upcoming fall semester.

These degrees include an M.S in Enterprise Risk Management and The Investment Management degree for students interested in the Charted Financial Analyst certification.

Haralambos Damanakis is a graduate student that studies under the Tobin College of Business.

“As a fifth year accounting student, attending Tobin was a great way to prep me for the CPA exam,” Damanakis said. “I feel comfortable with the exam prep and up-to-date requirements”.

Dr. Shoaf described the benefits of pursuing a master’s degree.

“We are seeing that the master’s degree offers students with less than ideal job prospects an opportunity to improve their marketability while they await the economic upturn,” she said.

The Peter J. Tobin School of Business has now been recognized at St. John’s University for 75 years.

NEWS

NATASHA VELEZ Staff Writer

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Career Fair connects students and employers SARA CAHILL MARRON News Editor Last Wednesday, the Career Center put on The Spring Career Fair in the Taffner Field House from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. In the gym, employers and students had a chance to interact in a professional manner.

Jennifer Friary, associate director of Employer Engagement has organized five career fairs for St. Johns and coordinated which employers would be present at the spring fair.

The Career Center aims to provide students with on career fair per semester.

“Usually we have between 100-120 employers at each fair,” Friary said. “I always want the event to grow, I hope that more students come each time.”

The Career Center offers pamphlets and seminars that detail proper etiquette in dress and manners when meeting prospective employers.

“Students need to come more prepared,” Friary said. “It’s a lot of effort to organize the fair, even if the student isn’t in the position of looking for a job, they should look presentable because it’s a great opportunity to network.”

Jennifer Carrol, a recruiting specialist for First Investors Corporation said that 90 percent of the applicants her company hires are recent graduates.

“We usually hire our recent graduates during this time of year anyway,” she said. “Most of the students I met today are very outgoing and motivated. I’ve been quite impressed with the people I spoke to today.”

Carrol emphasized the importance of

presentation in a potential candidate.

“You have to look good; all the students I’ve seen today have been very well-dressed and well-mannered,” she said.

Sheila Sanchez, human resource Manager for Madame Tussauds, has just started coming to career fairs at St. John’s and hopes to employee recent graduates.

“We’ve seen a lot of great candidates,” Sanchez said. “I think we’re going to wait until the end of the day to assess who we want to hire though, we want to see who else is out there.”

Mark Osbourne, a 2008 St. John’s Alumn represented Target at a booth in the middle of the fair. Osbourne started working for Target the month after he graduated.

“It’s exciting to be back at St. John’s, its good to see familiar faces,” he said.

“Target isn’t where I saw myself, but I like working with teams and in the face-paced environment of our New York store.”

Osbourne is an executive manager at the Target Store in downtown Brooklyn.

As a recent graduate, he said that campus recruiting works better for the company.

“We want these fresh minds to work for us. The graduates are motivated and have intense desire to work hard, that’s what we like to see,” he said.

Senior Kristina Mamport attended the Career Fair hosted by the Career Center for the first time.

“It’s great to meet employers here because you can get all the facts and information plus meet them face to face,” she said. “When I applied online for previous internships, I was only submitting a resume. It was very impersonal; this is much better.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. JOHN’S UNIVERSITY

Local vendors sold fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers on the great lawn on Monday.

Tina Walsh is also a senior searching for a job through the career fair for the first time.

“I’ve never been to one of these before,” she said. “I’m a biology major and I never thought there was anything useful here for science majors, but I’ve already found several employers that I’ve really connected to.”

Senior Jon Pflug is no stranger to the St. John’s career fair.

“I’m a career fair veteran,” Pflug said.

“I’ve come to everyone they’ve had.”

While Pflug has attended numerous fair over the course of his undergraduate studies, his approach this year was much different.

“I really got a lot out of it this year,” he said. “Before, it was more of a joking matter. It was more about collecting pens.

I never bought one pen in college because of this!”

University announces commencement speakers

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The TORCH

21 April 2010

NEWS

NELL O’CONNOR Managing Editor St. John’s announced the speakers for this years commencement ceremony on the Queens and Staten Island Campuses.

Pete Hamill, the distinguished writer in residence at NYU, will deliver the commencement address at the Staten Island campus ceremonies on May 15.

Hammill, a prominent writer and journalist, will also receive the Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree at the ceremony. His novel, Downtown: My

Manhattan, was the required reading for the class of 2010’s Discover New York course four years ago.

Bob and Suzanne Wright, the co-founders of Autism Speaks will speak at the Queens commencement ceremonies on May 16.

Autism Speaks is the nation’s largest autism science and advocacy organization. Each of the Wrights will also each receive the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

Two others will be honored at the Queens commencement. St. John’s alumnus Paul J. Evanson, president

and CEO of Allegheny Energy Inc., will receive the Honorary Doctor of Commercial Science degree.

Rev. Guy A. Sansaricq, D.D., V.E., Auxiliary Bishop and pastor of St. Gregory the Great Church in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, will also receive the Honorary Doctor of Sacred Theology Degree.

Each year St. John’s forms a committee to develop a list of potential speakers which is then passed for approval by University President Rev. Donald J. Harrington and the Board of Trustees. In the past the committee has included students, faculty

and senior administrators.

Dominic Scianna, the assistant vice president for Media Relations, says that he works with Dr. Pamela Shea-Byrnes, the vice president for University Ministry and University Events, to “vet” the potential speakers and enlist them for the commencement ceremonies.

Scianna also noted that potential speakers must meet the University’s standards in terms of Catholic values and the mission statement.

Past speakers have included Immaculée Ilibagiza, George Stephanopolous, Fr. Harrington and Bruce Beck.

Freshman applicants for fall semester double ANGELIKA SWATOWSKA Staff Writer More freshman applied to St. John’s University for the 2010-11 academic year than any time in the school’s 140year history, according to director of Admissions, Karen Vahey.

A total of 53,286 freshman applications were received and Vahey attributes the increase, nearly double the number submitted just four years ago, to the University’s embrace of technology and social networking features to its recruiting practices.

“More and more students are searching for colleges from their own living room or their study hall. They want to be able to tour their colleges and universities virtually via their iPhone, attend college

fairs online, chat online with admissions this year. The last time St. John’s made counselors and submit their application the list was in 2004. online,” she said.

Prospective students can utilize online Transfer and chats and social international networking s t u d e n t such as Theyy want to be able to tour sites, applications “Eye of the their colleges and universities Storm,” that increased by 43 percent and St. virtually via their iPhone. allows 50 percent John’s admitted r e s p e c t i v e l y, students to in comparison - Karen Vahey , Director rector of o connect with with Fall 2009 another Admissions one admission and features statistics. blogs written by Through technology, St. John’s aims students and administrators. to expose potential candidates to the Admitted students and their parents college’s unique spirits of diversity and were invited to attend events and tours of enhanced academic opportunities. Intel the Queens and Staten Island campuses ranked St. John’s as one of America’s top earlier this month. The 2010 Accepted ten “Most Unwired College Campuses” Student Days featured presentations from

“

current students and alumni, information about campus and resident life, financial aid information, and campus tours, according to the St. John’s Website.

The Admissions office reported that St. John’s plans to launch an iPhone application that will let the students take a virtual tour of the University’s campus.

While campus tours are useful for those able to visit the University, the current 3,044 international students from regions such as Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa find it harder to see the campus prior to arrival.

“Now more than ever, prospective students and their families need to know that they are making a sound investment, that they will receive a return on their investment via internships, prestigious fellowships, graduate school placement or employment,” said Vahey.

8

Think Outside...

Features

2

Section

Learning languages made personal The new language center offers innovative learning methods for students in a calm environment ANGELIKA SWATOWSKA

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The TORCH

21 April 2010

FEATURES

Staff Writer It’s 3 p.m. – one of the busiest hours in the day on campus. Inside “the building with the flags”, various groups of students gather around tables with open books spread before them. Some are reading and writing; others are consulting their companions.

Further down, behind the glass door of a cubicle, a student is looking intently at a screen hanging on the wall. There’s seriousness, but no pressure, nor stress.

Occasionally, laughter is heard.

On February 21, the University opened a new language establishment, the Global Language and Culture Center, replacing the old-fashioned, computer-based language laboratory in St. Augustine’s Hall.

Like its predecessor, the GLCC offers Spanish, French, Italian, German, Hindi and English as a second language, and recently has added Arabic and Russian. And now, it will introduce Chinese and Portuguese, the latter of which will be offered as a new course next semester.

“We want to build a culture of languages on campus – the modern world is global,” said Dr. Michele H. Jones, director of the center.

Indeed, this was the University’s aim when in 2009 it purchased 20,000 licenses of the language-learning software “Tell Me More.” Yet, the center’s administration takes a radically different approach in this common goal. “Tell Me More” is still there, but it no longer plays the leading role. Rather, the center focuses on the human aspect of the language learning process.

“These days, students are constantly on computers, or cell phones”, said professor of Spanish and the administrative assistant of the GLCC, Katerina Trabazo.

“They need a break.”

The center has removed the 39 computer stations from its language laboratory, leaving only nine. Thus, it hopes to help students learn languages in a “friendly and social” environment through individual tutoring sessions. Previously, students only had computers. Now, they have personal contact.

As tutors, students and administrators point out, there are many benefits of this unique, face-to-face learning process.

On a normal day, a student will come in and work with a tutor on vocabulary, pronunciation and comprehension. Instead of simply reviewing test corrections or tackling homework assignments, they may read a book aloud, or even hold a conversation.

“But, in the end, it’s all up to the student,” said Michael Eder, a junior French tutor.

At the GLCC, students can enjoy freedom and attention they often won’t be able to encounter in a class of 30 students.

Aside from class size, a greater problem that often hinders the students’ individual language improvement is shyness. Aware of their imperfections and fearful of embarrassing themselves in front of an entire class, students often opt not to ask their questions in class.

“They feel intimidated,” said Professor Trabazo.

But at the GLCC this is no longer a problem. Twenty-five language tutors and four graduate assistants fall within St. John’s students’ age margins. These tutors are often volunteers – distinguished language students from within the University. Working on the details of one’s linguistic imperfections is easier in the company of peers, as opposed to the formal setting of a class with a professor. Not that the GLCC acts to substitute classes, however.

“We are a language support center,” said Trabazo.

Above all, they will get specific answers to their questions, not indirectly from a book or a computer.

“There are so many tutors able and willing to help that, eventually, you will get the solution – you won’t go out without it,” said freshman Lauren Smyth, one of the students who attends the center regularly. “Plus, tutors aren’t computers. You will understand them.”

TORCH PHOTO/KRISTEN FARMER

The Global Language and Culture Center offers personalized tutoring to University students.

Several of the language courses offered at St. John’s require weekly sessions in the new language center as part of the course curriculum. Students spend an hour in the center. But even those who show less eagerness to attend, have a motivating factor. At the end of each appointment, the tutors send faculty individual reports on each student’s progress throughout the meeting.

“In this way, professors will get to know their students better – individually. They will no longer be a number. And, the professors will know they are making an effort,” said Eder.

To those who don’t like working one-on-one, the center also offers small group tutoring sessions and workshops.

“Confronting the challenges of a new language is always easier among peers. Everyone makes mistakes… it’s more friendly, and comfortable,” said the Spanish tutors, Alma Rodriguez, Bridget Cantelmo, and Mauricio Carrasco.

Some other services included are language classes “placement testing,” advisement on language courses and language minor curricular requirements.

Throughout the upcoming weeks, the Italian tutors have decided to hold final exam review sessions, thus acting as a genuine support center.

As of now, the GLCC receives approximately 1,000 students each month. Yet, as activities become refined and their numbers increase, Jones and Trabazo show confidence that even more students will come.

“We started from zero,” said Jones.

Trabazo explained that the center had limited resources. “Only in January, we had no books, no cable, nothing… just the Council Hall’s bare walls. It took us one month to complete the administrative matters,” she said.

As the new language center is developing and its popularity is expanding, so is the list of the obstacles to surmount. The building is too small. There’s a need of space for placement testing, for which the GLCC is by no means well accommodated.

“It is too noisy and informal,” said Jones.

Yet, when asked whether the center expects any linguistic additions in the near future, Jones replied, “Not right now. That’s for the University’s educational policy committees to decide.”

As of now, the focus rests on the need of freedom to post more academic activities and the hope to create minors in Russian and Arabic.

In consideration of the fact that the centre opened just two months ago, for some it already acts as a cultural immersion center.

“You can’t separate culture from a language,” said Elisa Martellaccio, a graduate assistant and Italian tutor.

“It’s the essential element.”

“Food and accent attract students to culture most. When you visit a country, you don’t talk to a computer,” said Carrasco.

Relationships between students and tutors are building. The Italian and Spanish tutors point out the number of students who will drop in to just say hello. Some will even stop them in the University’s hallways, consulting their linguistic concerns.

“This isn’t Madrid, Paris, Lisbon… or Rome,” highlights Trabazo, “but it’s the best we can offer the St. John’s community.”

“As long as tutors are passionate about it, we’ll keep going,” said Carrasco.

And so it is, with enthusiasm, the Global Language and Culture Center is already building a culture of languages at St. John’s.

9

Campus Spotlight: Facilities Center Working throughout the night to keep STJ clean EVERTON BAILEY Managing Editor, Emeritus

TORCH PHOTO/KRISTEN FARMER

Mercedes Corona is one of 36 people that work on the night shift.

On Mondays, the crew gets new supplies to last them for the upcoming week, like garbage bags, bleach and gloves.

Smith said once the previous shift wraps up, the night crew comes in and finishes the work the last group did not get to and cleans the rest of the building.

“We want to make sure each building maintains a high level of cleanliness,” he said. “So sometimes the work is repetitive or redundant but we just want to make sure everything gets done.”

Some workers, like Carol Thomas and Maria Ibarra, who have been with the University for 18 and 21 years, respectively, said as the number of buildings on campus has increased, the number of facility workers on the night shift have decreased.

Thomas, who works cleaning the Law School, said when she first started there were 66 members of the night crew staff and over time that number has gone down to 36.

Ibarra said in Sullivan Hall, where she works, there used to be five people assigned to the building. Today, there are only two.

She said she has found it to be a “blessing” to be with the University for so long.

“As long as I have a job, I am happy,” she said.

Rajesh Tahaloo said when he got hired two and a half years ago, he felt like he was one of the “lucky ones”.

“The job is easy and everyone is nice,” he said. “No one yells at you, unless you really mess up at a job and then you get yelled at. But I haven’t messed up.”

Smith said a personable managing style is very important in keeping the crew’s morale high.

“Herman and I, we try to find simple solutions for problems people might incur,” he said. “When we see people come in, we laugh with them, we joke with them.

We don’t believe in standing over and hitting them with the belt. We’d rather speak with people and ask them to do certain things and get things done in a certain way.”

Despite the workers being responsible for their floors, Smith emphasizes that the work they do is a team effort.

“I expect everyone to work together,” he said. “There is no ‘my job, your job’. We’re all here to work together because there is one objective, to clean the facility.

Moy said the staff is tight-knit and has embraced the team aspect.

“We have a pretty happy crew over here,” he said.

“We don’t have that much trouble here, everyone’s happy. If someone retires, I like to have a party for them, that’s how we get together. It’s like a big family.”

MEGAN MCENTEE Staff Writer

torchonline.com

Epsilon for the “Sigma ‘Pie’ Epsilon” event, where they gave students the chance to throw a pie in the face of teachers and administrators.

Dainoski estimates that they’ve raised between $350 and $400 so far. Paley says that she has several goals for her Public Relations Campaigns class. The most vital of which is raising awareness of the hardships troops face in combat and disaster areas.

“We owe them so much,” she said. “This is our modest way of thanking them.”

Paley also views the class as a way for students to celebrate St. John’s Vincentian mission, and encourages them to use their service projects to apply their resources and skills to those in need.

“I’m profoundly moved by my students’ generosity and sense of decency,” said Paley.

“They are endlessly creative and I admire their ability to overcome obstacles. Their love of country and community gives me hope.”

Updates and more information on the Socks for Soldiers campaign can be found on the class’ blog at www.sockittoem.weebly.com.

The TORCH

Students in Professor Jane Paley’s Public Relations Campaigns seminar have spent most of the spring semester thinking about clean, white socks, and how to ship them overseas to the American troops that need them so desperately.

They are hoping to use a publicity campaign to get the St. John’s community more involved in the effort by holding a benefit dance on Friday, April 30.

When the class researched a cause worthy of their time and effort, the students found that while soldiers have the most advanced weapons and equipment, many do not have access to basic necessities.

“It’s really sad because people take the little stuff for granted, and socks are one of those things,” said Jay Castillo, a senior who is working on the project.

“Imagine stepping in a puddle of water and worrying about having wet feet for days.”

The benefit dance, titled “Dance Through the Decades,” will be held in D’Angelo Center, where the price of admission will be a six-pack of white sweat socks.

They plan to get the crowd on their feet from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. with a live band playing music from the ’50s and ’60s.

FUSE and Gino’s Pizza will be donating give-aways and DJ Zeke has agreed to perform during the night free of charge.

By the end of the semester, the group hopes to have 500 pairs of socks to ship overseas.

“I think we’ll go beyond our goal,” said Tanya Dainoski, a senior.

“A lot of people were nervous about this project at first, but we’ve watched interest grow and been more successful than we could have imagined.”

So far the group has completed several other fundraisers, including selling hot chocolate and lemonade during St. John’s athletic events to raise the money necessary to purchase socks.

On April 13th, they collaborated with Sigma Phi

21 April 2010

“Dance through the decades” sends socks to soldiers

FEATURES

Between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5:30 in the morning, the work of most University students, faculty and administrators has ended. But there are a select few who work behind the scenes whose work is just beginning.

The members of the night shift facilities staff often aren’t visible to majority of the University community, but their work is evident from clean classrooms to freshly buffed floors.

Kenneth Smith, night shift manager for the department of facilities, is in charge of supervising the 36 workers tasked with cleaning all the buildings on campus.

He refers to the workers of the night crew as the “behind the scenes crew,” who typically aren’t seen but “deserve all the recognition they can get.”

“The night shift is when we do all the cleaning,” he said. “That’s when everything is done because during the day, you can’t strip and wax, you can’t shampoo, you can’t do any mopping because the buildings are full of students. At night is when we get all the things that the students don’t know how the building gets cleaned, that’s when it gets done.”

According to Brij Anand, vice president of Facilities, the staff works seven days a week and work in three shifts, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.

He said the average worker makes $20 an hour and that there are 130 members in total.

“I would say the most important thing for us is to serve the student population,” Anand said. “They need to make sure that in so doing they are keeping the facilities as appealing as they can be to satisfy the academic and students needs.”

At the beginning of the night, workers report to the ROTC building where they are given their nightly assignments.

In addition, the staff may receive work orders for specific tasks. Smith said the crew receives 10 to 20 orders a night.

Sometimes, the work orders can range from standard duties to peculiar ones. On a recent shift, one of the work orders read “take the glue trap from the carpet.”

“We have mice in some buildings here,” explains Herman Moy, a foreman and one of Smith’s lieutenants.

“So they put a glue trap on the floor, somebody steps on it, it flips over and the glue trap gets on the carpet. So I have to figure out a way to get it out.”

10

Editorial Board LXXXVIII

Illustrator’s Corner:

JUSTIN THRIFT Editor-in-Chief NELL O’CONNOR Managing Editor SARA CAHIL MARRON News Editor LOVELL NIMMONS Editorial Page Editor

FLAMES OF THE TORCH

The TORCH

21 April. 2010

OPINION

Students deserve input This year’s commencement exercises will feature author and journalist Pete Hamill as the keynote speaker at the Staten Island Campus, and Bob and Suzanne Wright, co-founders of the Autism Speaks Foundation, who will address the Queens campus.

Graduating students have expressed disappointment with this decision, which is not surprising seeing that they have virtually no input in deciding who the University chooses to address them.

In a statement released by the University’s Media Relations department, the power to make this decision has been entrutsed to “a committee of contributors”. It can be said that the choice to entrust such a decision to an exclusive committee and not the student body itself is unfair to say the least.

Granted, there are administrative privileges that should be exercised when deciding who will give a speech as important and influential as the commencement address. After all, this is a Catholic, Vincentian university which prides itself on embodying these ideals in both its curriculum as well as its event planning.

St. John’s must ensure that the commencement speaker does not contradict these ideals in both their social and business involvement, not to mention during the address itself. The co-chairs of this committee scrutinize their choices for these reasons, and must seek approval from the University’s Board of Trustees before any decision is made.

But college graduation is a benchmark event in the lives of so many in the St. John’s community; in fact, it is the very goal that faculty advisors help students to achieve.

Students who have toiled and labored in the classroom and have loyally paid increasing tuition and student activity fees deserve to be inspired and motivated by the speaker of their

choice at graduation.

Though there’s no guarantee that their speaker would accept the invite, the idea should at least be considered.

Futhermore, fanfare is a part of our society and should be taken into account. Students should not only be inspired by the message given by the keynote speaker, they should also be intrigued by the speaker themself. This would be easily satisfied if students were given the option to choose who the speaker will be.

In light of this, and given the history of student responses to the choice of past commencement speakers and the lack of student-administrator collaboration that went into making these decisions, St. John’s students may need to take a page from the University of California-Merced’s book.

Last year, the 450 student graduating class proactively sought out First Lady Michelle Obama to be the keynote speaker by innundating her with letters and even a video. They eventually accomplished their goal, as she agreed and delivered the thenfour year old university’s inaugural commencement address.

If 450 students can attract the First Lady of the United States, imagine what the voices of almost 3,000 could accomplish.

But this is not to negate administrative involvement. At minimum, students should at least be able to compile a list of potential commencement speakers, and through Student Government, formally submit it to University administration. This type of collaboration would definitely be an improvement to a process in need of much retooling.

Graduation and the delivering of the commencement address have both administrator and student interest embedded within them and a happy medium can be found.

TORCH ILLUSTRATION/CATHARINE CORRIGAN

STUDENTSPARKS: Room Selection What do you think about the new room selection process?

It’s more confusing; it threw me off. It used to be more simplified.

I don’t really like it. The allocation of how they determine points is off.

Justin Solomon Sophomore

Max Carr Sophomore

EDITORIAL POLICY Editorials are the opinions of the Editorial Board of The TORCH. Columns are the opinions of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of The TORCH. Opin-

ions expressed in editorials, columns, letters or cartoons are not necessarily those of the student body, faculty or administrations of St. John’s University.

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I like it. I haven’t had a problem.

TO CONTRIBUTE Mail letters to: The TORCH Letters, St. John’s University, 8000 Utopia Pkwy, Jamaica, NY 11439 E-mail letters to: torcheditorials@gmail.com

Please include your full name, year, and college (or department). Letters have a limit of 350 words and may be edited for content, grammar, or space. Unverifiable or anonymous letters will not be published.

All letters are subject to the approval of the Editorial Board of The TORCH.

Megan Sinclair Sophomore

It was pretty good. I think it’s good to have no upperclassmen in the residence village.

David Gomez Sophomore COMPILED BY THOMAS CARNEVALE

Examining the St. John’s experience

11

Reflection on time spent as an editor of the TORCH

TORCH ILLUSTRATION/MICHAEL MONTIJO

the St. John’s community have been such rewarding experiences for me.

Luckily, I know that Justin Thrift, the next Editorin-Chief of the TORCH, is dedicated to the journalistic cause. And I am certain that the TORCH will continue to impact the University in the years to come, challenging the way administrators run this school, and most importantly, giving a voice to the many students here.

Christina Heiser is a senior English major.

She can be reached at: torcheic@gmail.com

OPINION

As my time as Editor-in-Chief of the TORCH comes to an end, I’ve spent the last few weeks reflecting on both my experience as a student leader on campus and as a member of the St. John’s community.

I’ve criticized administrators and students alike on numerous occasions this school year during my tenure as Editor-in-Chief. During the fall semester, I noted my disappointment in the student body for their apathy toward the New York City mayoral election and politics in general. This semester, I repeatedly voiced my disagreement with the University’s new schedule change, which I strongly believe will hurt student engagement—an already tenuous issue at St. John’s.

I also raised my concerns about the state of the school’s subpar library, which, if not fixed soon, will hurt the University’s credibility as an academic institution, and during this period of financial disarray that has hit colleges across the country, this is something that St. John’s cannot afford to ignore any longer. I urged both students and faculty members to support the women’s basketball team, since they rarely received the attention they deserved this season.

I was surprised, though, when one of my columns this semester received more feedback than I bargained for, and not from administrators, but from my peers instead.

In February, I suggested that St. John’s reduce its Freshman Orientation program to one day, in an effort to save money in a time of financial uncertainty. After my column was printed, I received a letter from an orientation leader, which was then posted on Facebook and got many vulgar comments directed at me.

These comments had my staff and I incredulous at the sheer immaturity of some of our fellow students because many of those who commented were already college graduates.

What was even more disheartening to me though, was the fact that many current St. John’s students began expressing their dislike of the TORCH. And some even questioned why I had only written about my experiences instead of focusing on what other students might have thought.

I found this both ironic and sad because the TORCH, the only student newspaper on campus, is the outlet that gives these students, and so many others, a place

to express their opinions. In addition to that, my statements had been made in the opinion section of the newspaper. However, I still understand that negative feedback is common for journalists.

What I believe to be so great about this newspaper is that we are always open to hearing and printing diverse ideas from other students—and since we’re the only paper on campus, we’re the place that students should turn to, and not away from, if they have concerns that they’d like administrators or faculty to hear.

One of my favorite aspects of being an editor and a reporter has been getting to listen to so many student’s ideas and being able to tell their stories.

With that being said, I’d like to take one final moment to applaud a group of students at this university who are fighting for what I believe is an important and courageous cause and to share some thoughts about what I’d like to see in the coming year at St. John’s.

Last week, I sat down with two electoral-board members of the unofficial Gay Straight Alliance on campus. They told me that the University had held its first “Safe Zones” training session a couple of weeks ago, where they were able to have a discussion with various faculty members. In addition to this, the University also held a production of The Laramie Project— a play centering around the death of a gay student—at the Little Theatre this March.

This is a huge step forward for St. John’s, the same school that was so vehemently opposed to having a performance of The Vagina Monologues on campus when I was a freshman, an issue that was well documented by the Editor-in-Chief of the TORCH at the time.

And while progress has definitely been made over the last year, it is still not enough. Kyle Collins, a junior, has been fighting for a gay and lesbian awareness group on campus since Spring 2009, and while Safe Zones is a program that exists at many universities across the country in an effort to educate and promote awareness, it is still not the same as having an official organization on campus.

I truly hope that the University continues to pursue this open dialogue between students, faculty and administrators, and allows these students the chance to create an official organization—I think it can only benefit a school that lauds itself as a diverse, metropolitan university. Collins, along with the other students involved, is working for a worthwhile cause that I hope the University continues to actively address, and in a timelier manner than it has this past year.

As my time as Editor-in-Chief of the TORCH comes to an end, I can’t help but think of what my high school journalism teacher wrote in my yearbook almost four years ago: “Keep questioning authority”— that is the only way real progress can be made. Getting to write this column and seeing the response that many articles in the TORCH have had on members of

Freshmen Macbook option a major improvement

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such as Garage Band, iPhoto, Photo Booth, iMovie and others. Similarly, Macs are incredibly well-designed computers from the aesthetic perspective. Many owners greatly appreciate the high-end and chic feel of Apple products, especially their MacBooks.

Although many students would argue that the University should either decrease tuition and just allow students to privately buy their own laptops or give the students a monetary credit towards buying their own laptop of their choice, the University’s laptop program offers many benefits. For example, access to certain free repairs at the on-campus repair shop has proven invaluable for countless students.

The introduction of the optional Accidental Damage Protection program, available for any student who chooses one of the two Lenovo options is also a great thing. Accidents happen, even with expensive technology, and this will be a great insurance for St. John’s students to have.

In addition to the upcoming freshmen class, the initiative is an incredible incentive to prospective students as well. This incentive will have current students all across campus wishing it had been in place years ago when they first came to St. John’s.

The TORCH

Next fall’s 2010 incoming freshmen will now have the option of choosing from three different kinds of laptops the University provides for them. As of this year, the freshman will be offered the choice between two different Lenovo Thinkpad models or a Macbook, at a $400 charge.

Since the inception of the University’s laptop program in 2003, incoming freshmen have been given a standard IBM Lenovo Thinkpad laptop during their respective orientations.

The plan that students now have the option of choosing which laptop they will receive and use for the entirety of their college careers – and beyond, if they do so choose – is a fantastic move for the University.

Having options is certainly better than having none at all. This move is much less limiting than the previous policy in which each incoming freshman was given the same exact Thinkpad. While most St. John’s students are gracious and appreciative of receiving

their brand new Lenovo laptops during their summer orientations, this new program should fare very well amongst the incoming freshmen who now can pick the laptop of their choice based on their needs.

Provided that many St. John’s students already opt to purchase their own MacBooks and MacBook Pros instead of using their standard Thinkpad which is paid for by their tuition, this option will offset the extra expense of buying a separate laptop altogether.

By simply paying a $400 co-pay, students can choose to receive a MacBook instead of letting their paid-for University Thinkpad collect dust in the bottom of their closets while they use a MacBook they bought out of pocket for $999-$1600.

Incoming students studying the fine arts and graphic design should be especially happy about this initiative because Macs offer fantastic built-in multimedia programs that are not made for or compatible with PCs. As an aside, many students who have no background in graphic design also appreciate the many features Macs offer over PCs. For example, the Mac OSx Operating System is very easy to use, has a user-friendly interface and offers a plethora of features PCs simply do not.

Furthermore, Mac offers awesome default software

21 April. 2010

ANU BYAGARI Staff Writer

12

Standards of recruitment need scrutiny

torchonline.com

The TORCH

21 April. 2010

OPINION

JUSTIN THRIFT Editor-in-Chief Around 1:30 a.m. on the morning of April 12, Yerkin Abdrakmanov, a student at Providence College, almost lost his life to meaningless violence. On the way back to his dorm room from a nearby convenience store, Abdrakmanov crossed paths with members of the school’s basketball team, who had already decided they were going to beat to a pulp the next student they saw.

That student was Abdrakmanov, and they did just that. According to students at the college, there was blood on the sidewalk outside campus the next morning where the incident had occurred, red stains across the stonewall that borders the property.

According to those same students and the Providence Journal, Abdrakmanov is a foreign student from Kazakhstan who is a popular Residential Assistant in his dorm and a “brilliant student.” He has no family in the country except the friends he’s made during his time at school.

Abdrakmanov was transported to Rhode Island Hospital Trauma Center, and according to students who are friends with him at the college, will require multiple facial reconstruction surgeries. Providence police have reported that the two players being charged with felony assault had spent the night at a bar, and there is no evidence to suggest the players and the student had ever met before. USA Today quoted college spokesman Edward Caron as saying, “The two individuals indicated they were going to strike the very first victim that came around.” Abdrakmanov was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Kyle Wright, a former Providence player who quit the team in March, openly blamed head coach Keno Davis and the rest of the coaching staff in a note posted on his Facebook page.

“This Providence coaching staff is not preparing these boys to take on the world and become men, rather they are creating an environments [sic] which fosters childish behavior and encourages a lack of respect,” says Wright. “These boys came to Providence Collee [sic] to improve as basketball players, students, and become men and now they may be leaving as felons.”

Wright’s words demonstrate the failures of the current Providence College basketball program. But the sad reality is, these kinds of devastating occurrences are simply not unusual anymore in college basketball. Just a few weeks ago, four basketball players at St. Bonaventure instigated an on-campus fight that resulted in the stabbing of two men. The players were later charged by police for harassment and disorderly conduct. Last fall, Louisville’s Terrence Jennings and Jerry Smith took part in a violent restaurant fight while Seton Hall’s Robert Mitchell was arrested in March for breaking into a home and taking hostages.

More recently, a handful of St. John’s men’s and women’s basketball players were involved in an altercation where a friend of the team was shot five times. According to the NY Daily News, “Sources said an argument broke out inside the pool hall between St. John’s players and another group.”

In fairness to those involved, one of the St. John’s players was described as “heroic,” dragging the victim out of further harm’s way, and that the whole argument was simply a misunderstanding.

This is a testament to a St. John’s program that is unlike the one described by Kyle Wright. In fact, many claim Norm Roberts’ biggest achievement in his time as the coach of the men’s team was bringing in recruits that were quality people, not just as players, but as men.

In the wake of a rape scandal in 2003 that muddied the program’s reputation and integrity, Norm needed to focus on the kind of kids he was bringing to campus as much as he needed to focus on winning games. He did just that.

If one thing can be learned from the Yerkin Abdrakmanov tragedy, it’s the importance of integrity when recruiting in lucrative sports programs that schools like Providence and St. John’s thrive on.

Bill Reynolds, a sports columnist for the Providence Journal, put it rather succinctly in his column last week reacting to the incident: “This is the fault line all the schools walk, the price they pay for too many kids with suspect grades, too many kids from difficult home situations, too many kids whose schools hope they can take advantage of the incredible opportunity they’ve been given, the kind that can not only change their histories, but their families’ histories, too.”

Standout athletic skill should not be the only important characteristic in an athlete, and much too often big schools are willing to look the other way in order to win more games. Sports programs like the one at Providence College may be competing in the best division with the most exposure, but when tragedies like this occur, it’s obvious that the community and its students are being placed second.

In a time when talented athletes often earn full scholarships for the national recognition they could potentially earn their school in the athletic spotlight, athletic programs need to judge their recruits more carefully, not just as athletes, but as people and students.

Sports programs may lead to national exposure, but as we’ve unfortunately seen, sometimes athletes bring their school the wrong kind of exposure.

Needed: Personal finance 101 RAMIRO FUNEZ Staff Writer Loan modifications, fixed interest rates, deferred payments, financial aid reimbursements, debt, spending money on meals, and buying expensive books are just a handful of the financial worries that plague many St. John’s students. They are often left in the dark with questions concerning their finances and are forced to figure out cheaper ways to survive. And with an economy in a state of uncertainty, students with a lack of economic guidance often make poor financial decisions.

Many St. John’s students, often those working part-time jobs, may very well spend their hard-earned funds on items like shoes, clothes, junk food, cell phones, and parties instead of saving or investing those finances on loans or their college tuition.

In effect, these students tend to have inadequate amounts of funds to support their academic investments. As a result, accrued interest rates and compound loans become chains that leave students in a large amount of debt upon graduation.

The principal issue at hand is the fact that upon the beginning of their freshman year, many St. John’s students do not receive proper financial guidance. This financial guidance may include information on budgeting, managing personal expenses throughout college, signing fixed tuition rate forms, establishing credit, and spending money appropriately on necessary items.

Currently, St. John’s offers some financial guidance from the Department of Student Financial Services that includes seminars on scholarship opportunities and financial aid advice. The University also offers a financial information lab that instructs students on stock market information and the fiscal investment industry.

However, these programs and seminars fail to guide students on a more personal level. Although

they do help inform students about receiving financial aid, scholarships, and investment opportunities, they do not help students improve their saving and spending skills.

They do not sit down with students and plan out their four-year financial plan in accordance with their income flow and personal expenses.

According to a study conducted by the financial research department at the University of Texas at Austin, colleges such as Texas A&M University, University of Florida, Vassar College, Duke University, and Arizona State University offer some of the best financial assistance and guidance programs throughout the country.

Not only do these universities offer some of the best aid reward packages to students, but they also give students the opportunity to meet with personal financial advisors throughout their undergraduate career to plan out their financial calendar to ensure that smarter financial decisions are made while they are college students.

In an effort to aid students in their personal economic endeavors, St. John’s should offer a similar and more effective program to students that would guide them towards making intelligent financial decisions.

Students should receive advice on how to appropriately take out loans and how to manage their payments while balancing expenses and costs throughout their college career, just as they would meet with an academic advisor to plan out class schedules and university credits.

The bottom line is that the University should make more of an effort to help students with personal financial savings and expenses to not only improve the financial situation of the student, but to ensure reimbursement to the University as well.

If not, consolidated loans, poor spending habits, and unguided financial decision making will continue to entrap students in a sentence of life-long debt.

Most Valuable Program?

CARA CHEREPON Staff Writer Many St. John’s students are probably aware of the importance of getting involved with campus activities and the consequent incentive program that has been established to increase campus involvement, otherwise known as the MVP program. The Office of Student Engagement reported a 148 percent increase in student attendance at events when comparing September 2008 to September 2009. Attendance at weekend events on campus increased by 339 percent from September 2008 to September 2009. Here a technical question is raised: is the program the best way to attain student interest?

Clearly the program has been working and a number of students attending these campus events have increased, but it is very easy to make the blanket statement that there has been more involvement on campus. What needs to be addressed is the prioritization of the MVP program.

The question must be raised: Who gets to decide which programs are quite literally “worth” more than other programs?

St. John’s University has had a long tradition of being an athletic school and, in a nation struggling with obesity, there is nothing wrong with encouraging athleticism and other such extra-curricular activities. However, athletics are not the activities that get students their degrees. Sure, athletics assist student athletes with scholarships, but even athletes must attend classes and maintain good GPA’s in order to stay on their respective teams.

Nowhere in the St. John’s mission does it state that athletics are more important than academics, in fact the mission stresses the University that St. John’s is a learning institution first and foremost.

Why then do athletics seem to dominate the distribution of MVP points? Since when is attaining a 4.0 GPA worth the same amount as attending a golf tournament (ten points to be exact)?

The MVP program started as an incentive program, but it also has become a reflection of

what the University values. In lieu of this, the St. John’s community should have more say in the value distribution of the MVP points.

The program is apparently limited, as it awards people who attend events in several limited categories. The “Academic Lecture Series” category only contains three options, each of which is only worth four points.

The service aspect of the St. John’s Vincentian mission is reduced to sharing a category with “Leadership Development,” and nowhere in these categories is there any room for groups dedicated to social justice. This leads to the question: Why incentivize activities that already have high attendance? Athletics is by far the largest category for MVP points, the very title MVP reveals this favoritism towards those activities. People already attend athletic events in high numbers, so why push for even higher attendance? The MVP program should focus its attention instead on groups that struggle to get attendance.

There is also an issue with any incentive program: the authenticity of the student attendance.

Are they really there for the events themselves or are they there to get those MVP points? This new program, in an indirect way, is endorsing the rude and apathetic behavior of leaving at the beginning or middle of an event, which is sometimes seen at the non-athletic events held at St. John’s.

Extra-curricular activities are valuable to leading a balanced student life, but the MVP program is manipulating this balance. There is a total lack of representation for the smaller campus groups, and far too many points allotted to athletic events that already experience high attendance.

The priorities of this program must be questioned, for the MVP program is successful on paper, but is this the right way to increase student involvement on campus?

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The Inferno Introduces The Line-Up for Spring Fling 2010

21 April 2010

Next Selection

The Revolution of Dance

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THE LITTLE THEATRE HOSTS A HUGELY SUCCESSFUL EVENT FOR ALPHA PSI OMEGA

TORCH PHOTO/ KRISTEN FARMER

The Dance Dance Revolution event showcased performances from dancers experienced in a variety of genres such as ballet, hip-hop, interpretive and salsa. Auditions were held late February.

CHARLES ONYEWUCHI Staff Writer

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ver 250 people were treated to a spectacular show Friday and Saturday night by Alpha Psi Omega’s production of Dance Dance Revolution 2010 at the Little Theatre. The mixture of dance styles ranged from ballet to hip-hop, and song selections from different genres

culminated into a show everyone enjoyed.

The show was coordinated by junior Larisa Mar. She described putting the show together as the most “hardest and most rewarding experience ever.” The most important lesson she learned during the process was remembering to breathe, jokingly adding, “to constantly check your e-mails.”

Mar had to step into the role of director last Sunday when junior Caitlyn Mason, president of Alpha Psi Omega, had to relinquish her position as co-director due to personal issues. Mar spoke about the transition as be-

ing “tough” because Mason was not only her co-director, but her friend as well. They had been performing together in dance concerts since freshman year.

The show opened with an energetic performance of “Nobody Dances Anymore,” by Brandtson. Mar handpicked the performance to be the opener because it was one of her all-time favorite songs and she also helped choreograph the piece with Tim Young. The uptempo beats continued with a dance to the Pussycat Doll’s 2008 hit “When I Grow Up.” The first surprise of the night came in the song “I’m Already There” by Lonestar. The song, which is a tribute to the men and women fighting overseas, drew some tears from those in attendance as the dancers moved gracefully across the stage.

“It was my favorite part of the show,” said freshman Caitlin Shannon.

“It was touching, really moving and the dancers captured the lyrics and feeling of the song.”

Mar said that one of her main goals for this project was to “make stories out of dances,” which was evident in performances of the very soulful “Hallelujah,” “Heard It On The Radio,” “I Wanna Be Ready” and “Arranca con Salsa.”

Freshman Stephanie Walsh, one of the dancers, said that the long practices allowed for great performances.

“We had stayed up till one or three in the morning for the past week and practiced on average of two hours each week for each dance routine,” she said.

Mason said that the show had been in planning since last December with auditions held late February.

“But a week before the show is when all the hard work gets put in,” she said.

Overall, the show was nothing short of spectacular.

“I was really impressed by the outcome of the show,” said Christine Rolston, a freshman.

“The diversity and the whole flow of the performances drew and kept my attention the whole time.”

New York’s Comedic Relief BRETT KALWARSKI Contributing Writer

Baldwins.

Being in a versatile group of talented performers, Griggs feels comfortable going on stage with the cast.

“Improv is all about helping each other look good and they’ll return the favor back to you,” he says.

Griggs is one of New York’s best entertainers, bringing a different show each time yet consistently humorous.

To see Griggs’ improv Wednesday nights at the People’s Improv Theater, visit: thepit-nyc.com/monthly.html To see Griggs’ standup Thursday nights at the New York Comedy Club, visit: newyorkcomedyclub.com/home.htm

CHRISTINA HEISER Editor-in-Chief, Emeritus

lthough the new Addams Family musical touts itself as an updated version of the popular 1960s television show, this 21st century version unfortunately does not live up to its name.

This version of the Addams Family is set in New York City with a simple plot. Wednesday, daughter of Gomez and Morticia Addams, has been aged from a child to a young adult, and is in love with a boy named Lucas Beineke. The plot revolves around her attempts to introduce the two families to each other and get her family to understand her relationship. All Wednesday wants is for her family to act “normal,” which given the Addams personalities and habits, is something that the

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the script has many pop culture references that don’t add anything to the story and jokes that are based on goofy, physical humor. For example, at one point in the musical, Gomez and Morticia argue over the use of the word “bootylicious,” and instead of making audiences laugh, it just feels out of place.

On the other hand, the last scene before intermission, where the Addams convince the Beinekes to share their deepest secrets before eating dinner in what the Addams call their game of “full disclosure,” does a good job at illuminating the family’s perverse interests.

The show’s biggest flaw, however, is that the members of the Addams family are just too happy most of the time. Gomez and Uncle Fester in particular have many songs that revolve around love. It is disappointing that the dark humor that made the TV show such a classic hit was not recreated for this modern telling of the story.

Ultimately, audience members looking for a replication of the classic TV show’s dark humor will be disappointed. But even though the play may not live up to expectations, it does feature a handful of great actors and a few catchy songs, which may be enough for some to enjoy it.

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ADDAMS FAMILY-

audience knows will be impossible, and the fun lies in getting to witness their kooky behavior.

Despite falling short of the hype surrounding the show, the actors definitely deliver. This is not surprising given the fact that the Addams Family stars two of Broadway’s best performers: Nathan Lane as Gomez Addams and Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia Addams. Lane is known for his deft comic performances in other musicals like The Producers, and he does the best he can with the material he is given. Neuwirth is a gifted singer and dancer with a deadpan sense of humor, but she isn’t given any material where she can truly show off her skills.

The other actors also do a good job portraying their characters, even when the material they have to work with isn’t the greatest. Standouts include Krysta Rodriguez as Wednesday and Kevin Chamberlin as Uncle Fester.

In addition to the strong performances, the set has a very spooky vibe and the costumes are very well put together. But the majority of original songs are forgettable and the only piece of music audience members will walk away remembering is the Addams Family theme song.

While the actors utilize the material they are given,

21 April 2010

Addams Family Goes Broadway

ENTERTAINMENT

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performer with a rare duality of being a standup comedian and an improvisor, Chris Griggs has an arsenal of humor ready to knock down any audience.

Originally from Memphis, Tenn. Griggs moved to New York City for a job in advertising. He dabbled in improv by taking classes and grew fond of the art form and the community. After the events of September 11, his life changed and he began to pursue comedy further.

From classes in standup to improv and numerous performances on stage, Griggs keeps building material through the two different forms of comedy. He has appeared in plays and television, including the short-

lived hit, World Cup of Comedy.

His main focus is his standup which he says is, “a representative of myself and personal experiences.”

Griggs considers improv an extension of his abilities: “Pushing the boarder and trying things I’ve never done before.”

At the New York Comedy Club on 24th Street, Griggs performs his standup, a sharp performance filled with ironic punchlines and situations many can relate to.

He even looks to those closest to him for inspiration.

“My friend decided to follow his true passion of becoming a Broadway actor, he now sells gym memberships,” Griggs says. His material is bountiful and transitions easily from dark moods to thought provoking to spontaneous bursts of energy, letting the audience get a full range of emotional humor.

Griggs performs regularly Wednesday nights at The People’s Improv Theater with the improv group, the

St. John’s Goes Back To Basics

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THIS YEAR’S SPRING FLING CONCERT BRINGS BACK AN STJ ALUMNI AND A HARVARD GRADUATE

A Star is Born RALPH BRISTOUT Staff Writer

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ADELLE PLATON Entertainment Editor

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torchonline.com

ew can say they have graduated from Harvard Law School, but to matriculate from the Ivy League college within two years by the age of 18 and consequently become one of the music industry’s premiere producers is a rare achievement.

R&B singer/producer Ryan Leslie will be rocking the stage at Carnesecca Arena this Friday as the headlining act for St. John’s annual Spring Fling Concert. Although many students have expressed disappointment with this year’s line-up (especially after hearing rumors that Kid Cudi and Wale were potential performers), the talent this man possesses may be underestimated.

After graduating Harvard in 1998 with a major in government, Leslie pursued his lifelong dream to become a musician. According to the timeline biography on his official web site, he was signed as a producer by Sean “P. Diddy” Combs and Gwen Niles.

Since the start of his career, Leslie has toured Germany and released mixtapes such as Just Right. He has been featured in New York magazine and Men’s Health magazine for his musical achievements as both a producer and manager. He began to receive more recognition in the U.S. after signing Casandra Ventura, widely known as Cassie, to his record label, NextSelection.

Leslie has also produced beats for some of music’s most popular acts across genres, including JoJo, Britney Spears and Danity Kane. Most recently, he has worked with Fabolous, Rick Ross, Chris Brown and Jim Jones, with upcoming collaborations from Ne-Yo and Keri Hilson.

It wasn’t until Leslie began posting videos of his recording sessions in the studio that audiences began to take notice of his talent, including management from his record label. By racing his fingers across a piano to banging on bongo drums and even strumming a harp, Leslie has the ability to create infectious beats all on his own, using a wide range of instruments. Mix that with his smooth voice and Leslie can be deemed a one-man R&B band.

Leslie’s YouTube videos have collectively broken the 14 million viewers mark, allowing his vision of becoming a producer-turned-artist possible.

Many have even seen inside his Harlem home which he has revamped into a personal studio. Leslie has also been known for placing his speakers outside of his window so that those passing by can take a listen.

In 2009, Leslie released his self-titled debut album, which featured hits such as “Addiction,” “How It Was Supposed To Be” and his first single, “Diamond Girl.” He cemented his role as an artist by releasing his sophomore follow-up, Transition. Leslie plans to re-release another version of the album later this year, filled with new music.

2010 continues to be a promising year for Leslie as he has paired up with Lexus and Adidas to be featured in their advertisements. But his focus remains on his musical career and extending his reach as an artist to the entire world. In a statement on his web site, Leslie advises those who want to follow in his footsteps to channel their creativity.

“I urge you to create as often as possible and use the channels that you have on-line to distribute your art,” Leslie said.

“Take it from a guy who’s living proof that this strategy works.”

After watching him perform live twice at the infamous S.O.B.’s and the Nokia Theatre in Times Square, I encourage everyone to attend the Spring Fling Concert to witness raw talent in the flesh.

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Within a year of graduating St. John’s, J.Cole has collaborated with some of hip-hop’s biggest names such as Jay-Z, Mos Def and Talib Kweli.

A Rising Icon

21 April 2010

PHOTO COURTESY OFJCOLEMUSIC.COM

PHOTO COURTESY OF RYANLESLIE.COM

Ryan Leslie created the concept behind his video for “Diamond Girl” (above), which was officially released on the radio in the U.S. in spring 2008.

ENTERTAINMENT

here have been many students that graduate from St. John’s University that go on to pursue their careers. Whether it’s becoming a radio personality on Z100, a successful accountant for Pricewaterhouse Coopers or an established elementary school teacherturned-principal, St. John’s alumni have made names for themselves in a number of different industries. As of last year, a man by the name of Jermaine Cole was able to add “signed hip-hop artist to Jay-Z’s record label, RocNation” to that list of success stories.

This week, St. John’s welcomes back 2007 graduate Jermaine Cole, better known as J. Cole, as he performs at this year’s Spring Concert on April 23 with R&B singer Ryan Leslie.

A North Carolina native, Cole is a hip-hop artist and producer who has garnered praise and critical acclaim from many of the industry’s greatest.

Inspired by artists such as Tupac, NaS, Eminem and Canibus, Cole became profoundly interested in hip-hop and dreamed of the day he would be on their level of lyricism.

After graduating from Terry Sanford High School in Fayetteville, Cole decided to move to New York in order to pursue his ambition of becoming a successful hip-hop artist. In 2003, he enrolled in St. John’s University on an academic scholarship, majoring in communications with a minor in business.

After refining his sound and graduating Magna Cum Laude in May 2007, Cole dropped his debut mixtape titled The Come Up alongside DJ On Point.

The mixtape received positive reviews by many listeners, becoming his first success without a label.

In November 2008, hip-hop mogul Jay-Z heard Cole’s track “Lights Please” and immediately contacted and signed Cole to his newly found label, RocNation.

After becoming RocNation’s first signee, Cole dropped another mixtape titled The Warm Up, which solidified his stance as hip-hop’s star freshman to the mass audience. The tape showcased the newcomer’s talent through vivid wordplay, insightful lyrics and versatility in his tracks about topics beyond the genre clichés of money, clothes and cars.

Cole has established himself as a rapper, gracing the cover of numerous magazines such as the March/April issues of The Source and XXL, where he is placed as one of hip-hop’s freshmen to look out for in 2010. His list of collaborations are more impressive than the entire careers of some artists in the industry, including mentor Jay-Z, Wale, Talib Kweli and Mos Def. Currently working on his debut album, which is yet to be titled and produced by No I.D., Cole is preparing to make his impact on music.

Gleeks Unite for Another Season MELODY HOWARD Staff Writer Millions tuned into Fox last Tuesday for the highly anticipated return of the hit television show, Glee, back with it, an all-star cast and popular musical selections.

The inspiring musical comedy show centers on high school students who aren’t a part of the “in-crowd” but have exceptional voices. They join the school’s unpopular choir, advised by their Spanish teacher. The students compete for the glory of winning competitions as well as in their social lives. They often find themselves struggling for funds and likeability, especially against the popular cheerleading team, the Cheerios.

The second season premiere was done well but played out like a generic episode. It gave viewers insight into how the relationships between characters have progressed after the unveiling of Quinn Fabray (played

by Diana Agron) and Terri Schuester’s (played by Jessalyn Gilsig) secret baby plans. The students believe they are now popular after winning sectionals but their eyes are opened when they walk through the school doors and once again, get jumbo slurpees thrown in their faces.

The musical selections were nothing spectacular as compared to the first half of the season. Each character sounded great but the spark seemed to be missing. The best performances were by Rachel Berry (played by Lea Michele) when she sings an attitude-filled Gives You Hell by the AllAmerican Rejects. She wows audiences again in a duet of Lionel Richie’s Hello with Jesse St. James (played by Jonathan Groff), a new character with a mesmerizing voice from an opposing choir. A budding romance begins between the two.

Mr. Schuester (played by Matthew Morrison) tries to pump up the team after unnecessary stress from the school principal as well as the hilarious Cheerios coach, Sue Sylvester (played by Jane Lynch) whose plan is to think of any outrageous scheme to knock the show choir team off their pedestal. Quinn and Puck (played by Mark Sailing) try to make it work while Finn (played by Cory Monteith) secretly pines for her attention and ignores Berry. The other characters fade into the background.

Despite the high expectations, Gleeks everywhere will still tune in, especially to next week’s Madonna tribute episode. Glee was an ultimate success last year and will continue to be this year as well. With its amazing cast and punch line humor, it’s hard not to get addicted.

First Listen

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INFERNO PUTS THE SPOTLIGHT ON UPCOMING ARTISTS MARIA YAP Staff Writer

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fashionista turned singer, Yoodee Frances is an up-and-coming music artist to look out for.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Frances attended the Parsons School of Design in Manhattan. Shortly after, she was given the opportunity to work with various producers in New York City. She decided to move from New Jersey to NYC and pursue a music career instead.

Since then, the R&B/pop singer has been hard at work, perfecting her craft as a singer.

Yodee’s sound cannot be kept in a boxed genre and is a diverse blend of R&B, pop and hip-hop, fused with a bit of alternative rock. A songwriter as well, Yodee writes lyrics that reflect her attitude on various experiences and topics that women face, such as love, boys and dreams.

The Inferno was able to sit down with the singer and discuss how she is breaking into the music business. She admitted that the transition from fashion to music was a hard one but with the help of her current music producer/manager, Var Ez, she has been able to adapt.

Having been raised in a strict, Haitian household where becoming a “pop star” was not encouraged, Frances sprinkles a bit of her “I don’t care what you think, I’ma do me” attitude into her music. She also strives to make it apparent that she is a multifaceted artist. From writing every song she has released to designing clothes after attending a prestigious design school, the variety of talents this young female possesses makes her a great contender for success in the entertainment industry.

Her songs express a wide range of emotions from aggression to fearlessness to love, with titles such as “No Doubt” and “Sicker than Average.” In an age where lyrical content is not appreciated as much as it used to be, Frances’ approach to music is quite refreshing.

In 2010, look out for more new music and performances from Yodee Frances. She will be one of the music acts at University of Pennsylvania’s “Spring Fling ‘10” next month, which is headlined by hip-hop artist, Kid Cudi. Frances can also be spotted performing throughout the city on the local nightclub scene.

To listen to music by Yodee, visit: myspace.com/yoodeemusic and youtube.com/yoodeetv.

Mr. West is in the Building JOSHUA TAYLOR Staff Writer ENTERTAINMENT 21 April 2010 The TORCH PHOTO COURTESY OF SHCOLLECTIVE.COM

Yoodee Frances initially dreamed of becoming a fashion designer but after meeting producers within the music business, she strived to become a singer.

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When the name Kanye West gets mentioned these days, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Conceited, obnoxious or perhaps Taylor Swift?

Although critics have labeled the rapper/producer as eccentric and a bit arrogant, West’s musical genius has managed to overshadow that.

Speculation about his next album may be the only way for the artist to evade the drama that has shrouded his career.

In 2008, West released his experimental album, 808’s and Heartbreak.

The melodramatic and electronica-esque album was received by some as an expansion of creative ingenuity, which inspired other artists such as Lil’ Wayne (Rebirth) to step outside the box and explore other genres. To others, West releasing an R&B album was a waste of his talent, especially with his excessive use of the auto-tune feature.

Soon after its release, West was struck with the death of his beloved mother, manager, and mentor, Donda West. Paired with the infamous MTV Video Music Awards incident with Taylor Swift, West appears to be on a hiatus.

In the midst of the silence, rumors about West currently working on a new album (tentatively named Good Ass Job) in Hawaii has been discussed over the airwaves and in online blogs. It is scheduled for release this June and returns to the original style that made West popular, with material similar to that of 2004’s College Dropout and 2007’s Graduation albums.

Rapper/singer Drake revealed that he will be a guest on West’s upcoming album and gave it praise during an interview with GQ magazine. “His [Kanye’s] album is going to be one of the best hip-hop albums in the last 10 years.” Pusha T of The Clipse and Q-Tip is also said to appear.

Producers on the album are Pete Rock and RZA (of the Wu-Tang Clan). In an excerpt from SOHH.com, DJ Premier also commented about West’s next CD, saying, “His new album is strictly hard beats and rhyme...

You’re gonna be surprised by what you hear.”

In spite of the controversy, West constantly seems to be involved in, the hype about his next album has fans excited about the rapper’s comeback.

On his own blog, West wrote about his comeback. “I want to thank everybody for their constant love and support…I’m so happy to be back in the studio making new music,” the rapper said.

“It’s funny how rappers get worse as their careers stretch out…true poets get better.”

TORCHCOMICS

I can’t draw Alex Reyes

Controlled Chaos Catharine Corrigan

Pam’s World

Michelle Alerte

1-800- ARMSTACO

Jonathan Roman

21 April 2010

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Johnnies struggle to earn their spots MIKE GURNIS Staff Writer After dropping the first two games of a weekend series with Pittsburgh, the St. John’s softball team managed to pull out a 6-0 victory on Sunday afternoon.

ST. JOHN’S

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The Red Storm had a four-run fourth inning and also received a dominant pitching performance from junior Kat Lawrence, who silenced the Pittsburgh bats by allowing just four hits while striking out four in her complete-game effort.

“Every day is a new day, and that was kind of our focus today,” said Head Coach Amy Kvilhaug. “I challenged the group to show me what they’re made of and show me what kind of character they have and they were able to come out and perform.”

Kacee Cox went 2-for-4

with three RBI, while Julia Sanchez went 2-for-3. Amber Curry and Dominique Marcelino each went 1-for-3 with one RBI each.

In the fourth inning, the Red Storm broke the game wide open. Already leading 2-0, the Red Storm’s Marcelino hit an RBI double to right center field, which scored Kristi Cady.

Jenna Berger would then reach base on an error by Pittsburgh third baseman Megan Livesey. She committed a second error when Berger stole second, allowing Marcelino to score from third to give the Red Storm a 4-0 lead.

Curry and Cox both later drove in runs to make it a 6-0 game.

“Our offense did what they needed to do, and we took advantage of the mistakes that Pittsburgh made,” said Kvilhaug.

Lawrence went on to retire six consecutive batters in the fourth and fifth innings. She allowed two hits in the sixth before ending the game by retiring the side in order in the seventh, as she picked up her tenth victory of the season.

“She started out the day a little shaky,” Kvilhaug said.

“She threw 54 pitches in 2 1/3

innings. We were a bit concerned as to whether she would fatigue, or they would see more pitches where they’d have success. She was a little more economical as the game went on.”

The Red Storm improved their overall record to 15-23, and their Big East record to 4-8.

Pittsburgh 7, St. John’s 2 St. John’s took an early 2-0 lead in the third inning, but Pitt tied the game in the bottom frame and then scored five runs in the fourth to take the first game of the series.

Red Storm pitcher Linzee Sumrall lasted just 3 1/3 innings and dropped to 5-13 on the season as she gave up seven runs (two earned). Montez had two hits and an RBI, while Curry and Sanchez each had a hit and scored a run.

Pittsburgh 7, St. John’s 2 Pittsburgh took an early 3-0 lead in the second inning, before breaking it open with a five-run fifth inning, as St. John’s lost the second game of the series 7-2.

Lawrence lasted 4 1/3 innings and struck out four batters but allowed seven runs (six earned), dropping her seventh loss of the season.

Stacia Dopudja went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI.

TORCH FILE PHOTO/BRIAN LOPEZ

Kat Lawrence allowed just four hits against Pittsburgh.

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LACROSSE

STJ Lacrosse falls late to ranked ’Nova

TORCH FILE PHOTO/LAURA AMATO

The lacrosse team has lost its last two games against ranked opponents, first on March 23 against Hofstra and Saturday against Villanova.

MIKE CUNNIFF Staff Writer The last time the St. John’s lacrosse team played a ranked opponent, they were overpowered throughout their 13-4 loss to Hofstra on March 23.

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Charlie Holenstein ended a 4-goal stretch for Villanova with a goal of his own to cut the deficit to 12-10, the closest St. John’s would get. run with a goal to make it 12-10 with 1:34 left, but the Johnnies were unable to get any closer.

The Red Storm’s fourth quarter struggles were compounded by their struggles on faceoffs. After winning five of six in the third quarter, they won just one of five in the fourth, allowing

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left extended the lead to 11-9, senior defender Jerry Nevin was called for a slash, putting the Johnnies down a man.

Villanova took advantage and scored their fourth straight goal of the quarter to make it 12-9 with 1:55 left.

St. John’s sophomore attacker Charlie Holenstein ended the Villanova

The TORCH

TORCH FILE PHOTO/LAURA AMATO

21 April 2010

Saturday, against No. 13 Villanova, the Johnnies held the lead for most of the game, but the Wildcats stormed back in the fourth quarter to win 12-10.

It was the Red Storm’s seventh game of the season decided by three goals or less, and the closest they’ve played a ranked team.

“We’re right there,” said Head Coach Jason Miller of his team. “We’re playing well right now, and I think we’re peaking at the right time.”

They played one of their best stretches of the season by Miller’s account in the first ten minutes of the second quarter. Tied, 3-3 at the beginning of the frame, they put home four straight goals from three different players to make it 7-3 with 5:37 left in the half.

Freshman attacker Tyler Novotny scored twice during the run, including one with a man up.

Villanova ended the half with two goals of their own, and got two more coming out of the locker room to tie the game up at seven.

St. John’s entered the fourth quarter with a 9-8 lead, but Villanova sophomore midfielder Michael Vigilante tied it with 10:57 left and freshman attacker Will Casertano put the Wildcats ahead for good 41 seconds later.

After a third-straight goal with 3:18

SPORTS

VILLANOVA

Villanova to keep possession and milk the clock with the lead.

“We started to press a little bit,” said Miller. “We had to try to force turnovers.

We fouled, and they ended up scoring on the extra man. I don’t know if anything fell apart. I don’t think anything bad happened, I just think that’s the way the game played out. We had to react to being down a goal and press a little bit, and got the penalty.”

It was the fifth penalty of the game called against St. John’s, including a three-minute penalty for an illegal stick in the first quarter on freshman midfielder Jordan Rothman. Villanova was 2-5 with a man up while St. John’s was 1-3.

Offensively, the Johnnies were led

by Novotny and senior midfielder Tom Manes. Novotny entered the game with five points on the season, and almost doubled it with a hat trick and an assist for a four-point night.

In goal, freshman Jeff Lowman impressed again. He tied his career high with 16 saves in the fifth start of his career.

“I’m proud of him tonight,” said Miller. “He battled, made some big plays and made some huge saves for us. He really gave us a lift at the right time. He was great tonight.”

The loss puts St. John’s at 5-6 overall and 2-2 in the Big East. They return home Saturday for a conference matchup with Notre Dame. The Irish are just 6-5 overall, but all five of their losses have been by three goals or less. They are coming off of their first conference win of the year, an 11-3 decision over Providence.

“We have to keep doing what we’re doing,” said Miller. “Hopefully we get a couple breaks and things go our way.”

26

Trumping the Tigers Baseball returns home from Pitt to top Princeton in primetime DYLAN KITTS Staff Writer

torchonline.com

The TORCH

21 April 2010

SPORTS

It wasn’t until the seventh inning that everything came together for the St. John’s bats.

ST. JOHN’S

12

PRINCETON

5

“We were sleep-walking through the first five [innings] and we weren’t in the game mentally,” St. John’s Head Coach Ed Blankmeyer said. “Some of our approaches in the at-bats weren’t focused enough.”

After being held to only one run through six innings by Princeton starter Ross Staine, St. John’s scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat the Tigers 12-5. Lefty freshman reliever Sean Hagan notched his second career win after coming in for starting pitcher Eddie Medina in the sixth inning.

Staine, who entered his first collegiate start with an ERA over 9 and allowed two runs on five hits through six innings, had dominated St. John’s batters until the seventh. Princeton reliever Ryan Makis allowed a single and then a double to start the inning, and St. John’s took the lead when freshman outfielder Jeremy Baltz roped the go-ahead 2-RBI single through the left side of the infield.

“He’s been doing it all year long,” said left fielder Jimmy Brennan, who sliced a 2-RBI single of his own down the right field line earlier in the inning. “He’s the guy you want up in a late-game situation.”

The Red Storm (22-12, 7-5 Big East) hadn’t started chipping away at

TORCH PHOTO/BRIAN LOPEZ

Freshman Sean Hagen relieved Eddie Medina in the sixth inning and recorded his second career win.

Princeton’s early 4-0 lead until the sixth inning. Following back-to-back base hits by Joe Panik and Baltz, the Red Storm took advantage of a defensive miscue when Princeton first baseman Steve Harrington fumbled a double play attempt. Panik, rounding second base, scored.

Hagan allowed only one earned run on two hits in three innings of relief while striking out six. The home run he allowed to Noel Gonzalez in the seventh inning, Brennan said, would not have gone out if the wind wasn’t

blowing out.

“It was a fluke home run,” said Brennan, who was 1-for-4 with two RBI. “If the wind wasn’t blowing out, it would not have gone out. Hagan put on a great performance tonight. We needed him.”

After two flawless innings, Medina eventually struggled. Falling behind pitch counts and allowing early base runners, the sophomore allowed four earned runs in five innings on five hits.

Princeton secured an early 2-0 lead during the top of the fourth

inning when, with one out and runners on second and third base, Medina threw a wild pitch in the dirt that allowed Princeton’s Nate Baird to score. Second baseman Matt Wessinger then fumbled a hard-hit ground ball, allowing Matt Connor to score.

Medina’s struggles continued the next inning. After allowing a leadoff base hit, the righty then balked. One batter later, Princeton catcher Sam Mulroy then extended the lead by smashing a 2-run homer.

Carnesecca’s choice reflects University’sVincentian mission Earlier this year, St. John’s began offering Voluntary Separation Offer packages— essentially buyouts—to all full-time employees.

At the time, I thought the only one within the athletic department who would be offered a buyout was Norm Roberts, and I was right, as he was bought out of the remainder of his contract when he was fired as the men’s basketball coach.

But the sports and news pages collided when I heard from multiple sources that legendary St. John’s basketball coach Lou Carnesecca had accepted the VSO package. He had, after all, told me last year that as Assistant to the President, he frequently fielded phone calls for Rev. Harrington and made public appearances.

Since our first meeting last year, I didn’t necessarily view Carnesecca as a full-time employee. He told me that he basically checked messages, made phone calls, and spoke

with people. His hours, he explained then, were very flexible, and he came and went as he pleased.

I envisioned Carnesecca the way most do, as a larger-thanlife historical figure within the college basketball panorama.

He did win five regular-season Big East championships and six conference tournament titles, and guided the Redmen to their first Final Four appearance under the current NCAA tournament format. I just wasn’t sure his everyday connection to the school was still there.

Because the University could not speak on behalf of the decisions of any specific employees, I went right to the

man himself in search of why he took the buyout. As soon as I stepped foot into Sun Yat Sen Hall, where his office is located, I found my answers.

Carnesecca’s raspy voice boomed throughout the hallway as he talked basketball with a visitor. I opted to wait a few minutes outside his office until the meeting ended, but Coach was in a hurry. He tried to rush through his conversation and then his phone rang. Carnesecca was just about to leave when I caught him outside his office, almost as soon as he hung up the phone.

“Yeah, I took it,” he told me. “I’m still going to be here, still going to volunteer. I still have my office. I’m not going anywhere.”

If he’s not leaving, then why take the buyout? There was no stipulation within the VSO package that required any employee to accept the offer, and Carnesecca could have continued working, at age 85, within

the same condition under which he currently works.

Yet Coach took the buyout anyway. Even though he’ll only receive salary for the next two years, and wwwget medical benefits for the next three, he took the buyout anyway—in the midst of the University’s obvious financial trouble.

Carnesecca has become an iconic figure at the University, and in addition to being the school’s most noteworthy alumnus and celebrity figure, this act maintains his devotion to the Vincentian mission St. John’s upholds.

Help the poor. Serve thy neighbor. Go out of your way to do what you can. These are the principles St. John’s tries to instill in each of its students.

Through this act of severing the employer-employee relationship he has with the school, Carnesecca is living that mission. At the very least, he will continue representing the University with the same enthusiasm and pride

he has had for the better part of his life.

What kind of Vincentian will I be in 50 years? How much of the school’s mission will be rubbed off on me when I eventually say goodbye to St. John’s? To this point, St. John’s religious affiliations have been an afterthought to me—I’ve focused too much time on box scores and headlines to pay St. Vincent much mind. I take more stock in actions over words, anyway. To me, a mission is only a mission until we make it a reality.

I’m assuming Carnesecca didn’t give up much in accepting the buyout. Though I was unable to uncover what he earns as a full-time employee, I can’t imagine he’s earning a top-dollar salary at St. John’s.

But he did help those in need.

He went out of his way to give what he could.

And when a similar situation arises in my life, I’ll remember to live by Coach’s example.

27

TORCH SPORTS

BASEBALL

STORM

CAST

Leavin’ their Mark Lavin adds Hines to coaching staff Men’s Basketball Coach Steve Lavin announced Monday that he has hired former UCLA graduate and Golden State Warriors assistant Rico Hines to his coaching staff.

“Rico is a talented, natural-born teacher and coach with a relentless work ethic. He is one of the true rising stars in the coaching profession,” said Lavin. “His talents in on-court player skill development and his reach as a north-to-south, coast-to-coast recruiter are among the definite benefits he brings to our staff at St. John’s.”

Hines, 32, graduated from UCLA in 2002 and worked extensively alongside Warriors coach Don Nelson, who became the NBA’s all-time winningest coach last week.

Track takes third straight Metro Champs title

TORCH FILE PHOTOS/KRISTEN FARMER

Jeremy Baltz continued his strong offensive production with the go-ahead RBI against Princeton on Tuesday night.

Young Baltz’s hot bat leads baseball team

“

Yeah I took it. I’m still going to be here though, still going to volunteer. I still have my office. I’m not going anywhere.

”

-Hall of Fame basketball coach Lou Carnesecca on accepting the University’s VSO package.

Headin’ this Way Red Storm home games

Baseball: Apr. 21 Fordham

6 p.m.

Apr. 23 Georgetown

6 p.m.

Apr. 24 Georgetown

1 p.m.

Apr. 25 Georgetown

12 p.m.

Apr. 28 Iona

4 p.m.

Apr. 29 LIU

4 p.m.

Lacrosse: Apr. 24 Notre Dame

1 p.m.

torchonline.com

Softball:

The TORCH

thrown a good off speed pitch. It hasn’t been easy.”

Brennan, who was also drafted in the 45th round by the Detroit Tigers, has also been impressed with Baltz’s smooth transition.

“It’s been extremely impressive,” Brennan said. “It’s a tough jump to go from high school to college ball. Not everybody makes the same adjustments like Jeremy has. He’s got a big bat and he swings it.”

Baltz has been named onto the Big East Weekly Honor Roll twice.

Blankmeyer believes he is on the same level has some of the other freshman All Americans who played at St. John’s. Most recently, former outfielder Brian Kemp was named to Baseball America’s Second Team Freshman All American team in 2007.

“We’ve had several freshman All Americans and he’s right in there with them,” Blankmeyer said.

Playing roughly 20 baseball games in the high school season, Baltz will be playing in his 35th game with St. John’s tomorrow against Fordham – which is already more than a season and a half worth of games.

Baltz, who went 2-for-3 against Princeton Tuesday with 3 RBI, is showing no signs of slowing down.

“He’s really done some special things,” Brennan said. “It will be exciting to see what he can do for the rest of the season and rest of his career.”

21 April 2010

Jeremy Baltz did it again.

Down 5-4 at the bottom of the seventh inning on Tuesday night with runners on second and third, the freshman outfielder lined a singled off Princeton reliever Ryan Makis to give St. John’s the lead for good.

“He’s been doing it all year long,” teammate Jimmy Brennan said. “He’s the guy you want up in a late game situation.”

Baltz, drafted in the 45th round by the New York Yankees in last year’s MLB First Year Player Draft, entered last night’s game second on the team in batting average (.392), first in home runs (8), and tied for first in RBI (40).

In February against New Orleans, the outfielder had a even more clutch performance – a game-winning two-out, two-run double in the 12th inning to give the Red Storm a 5-2 win.

“He’s done a good job,” St. John’s head coach Ed Blankmeyer said. “He competes. He is very good with runners in scoring position. That’s his job and there is an art to it. For a freshman, it’s impressive.”

Coming out of Vestal High School in Vestal, NY, Baltz was named first team all-New York State and helped the Golden Bears win three sectional championships and two

conference titles.

Despite the accomplishments, he never had intentions of making the jump to the majors.

“It was a great accomplishment [to get drafted] and an awesome experience, but honestly [to be selected] that late in the draft and what we have going here, it really wasn’t an option,” Baltz said. “I love the coaching staff, I love the players, and I love the atmosphere.

Just playing on this team with these great bunch of kids, I pretty much knew I wanted to come here and play.”

Blankmeyer sees great potential in Baltz. If he improves his defense, baserunning, throwing arm, and overall hitting I.Q., Blankmeyer says, he could see him developing into a very high draft pick.

“He’s got good potential,” Blankmeyer said.

Despite the monster numbers, Baltz insists the transition wasn’t easy. He even said the toughest transition, by far, has been getting used to college-level pitching.

“In high school [and] summer ball you occasionally face good pitchers,” Baltz said. “But game in and game out, there is always a good pitcher. If you are in a slump it’s tough to rely on there being a down pitcher.”

“The breaking balls is another big difference. You don’t see as many good curveballs in high school. Pretty much everybody we have faced has

Blowin’ in the Wind SPORTS

DYLAN KITTS Staff Writer

The St. John’s track team won its third straight Metropolitan Championships title Sunday with first-place finishes in seven events.

Junior Renee Cousins and freshman Rikka Lovely led the way for the Red Storm with first-place finishes in the 200-meter dash and 100-meter dash, respectively.

St. John’s also took 1st place through 4th place in the 400-meter dash.

SPORTS 21 April 2010 | VOLUME 87, ISSUE 22 | TORCHONLINE.COM

TORCH PHOTO/ BRIAN LOPEZ

TORCHSPORTS.WORDPRESS.COM

The softball team won the final game of its series with Pittsburgh on Sunday.

The lacrosse team lost its road matchup with Villanova over the weekend.

Pg. 25

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