The Spectrum Vol. 64 No. 78

Wednesday, May 6, 2015CoMMenCeMent issue VoluMe 64 no. 78

the speCtruM

SARA DINATALEEDITOR IN CHIEF

On a sunny Friday morning, President Satish Tripathi has the black and red robe he wears for commencement ceremonies laid out on a chair in his office on the top floor of Capen Hall.

It’s for the School of Medicine gradua-tion – the first time of at least nine he’ll don the garb this month, as the 2014-15 academic year ends.

“This is the time of the year there is so much excitement and you can see the achievements of the students and you can see them succeeding,” he said.

As this year wraps up and students prep to shake Tripathi’s hand as the hallmark end to their college education, he sat down with The Spectrum to talk about some of the biggest topics on campus. From the future of South Campus to the athletics depart-ment and how he views his own presence and relationship with students on campus, Tripathi spoke candidly to Spectrum Editor in Chief Sara DiNatale. It was the first time he has sat down with The Spectrum since 2012, but he said last week he would meet with The Spectrum annually.

Tripathi became the president of the uni-versity in 2011, after serving as UB’s pro-vost and executive vice president for Aca-demic Affairs starting in 2004.

He said since he’s come to campus it’s been his goal for students to “improve the quality of experiences students have.” He said he’s worked to ensure UB’s Academies, an on-campus community that connects students with similar interests, make UB’s massive campus seem smaller. He said he’s strived to give undergrads, not just grad-uate students, opportunities to work with professors on research. He’s also proud of UB’s new general education requirements – which he said focuses more on themes like social justice and entrepreneurship and less on checking off requirements.

“It took almost a year but we have one of the best, forward-looking gen ed pro-grams,” Tripathi said.

The Spectrum sits down with President Tripathi

TOM DINKISENIOR NEWS EDITOR

Matt Lanz will graduate from the UB’s School of Management with a degree in business administration – and he’s far from alone.

The business major attracts the most students out of any other major at UB.

Eight hundred and forty students will walk across the Alumni Arena stage to re-ceive their diploma during the School of Management’s graduation on May 16.

Business is the largest major at UB with 3,166 students registered in the fall of 2014, which beat out engineering for the largest major at UB by 54 students. While UB has had enrollment increases of over 40 percent in the fields of engineering, biological and

biomedical sciences and computer scienc-es in the past 10 years, liberal arts like Eng-lish literature, foreign languages, history and the visual and performing arts decreased by around 40 percent, according to statistics the university gave to The Spectrum.

A. Scott Weber, senior vice provost for Academic Affairs, said UB’s enrollments are following national trends, which have shown an increase in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields and a decrease in the humanities.

Business was the most popular degree in the country in 2011-12, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. Nearly 80,000 more people graduated with degrees in business than all degrees in the humanities.

“I think this is the national question that people are asking across the nation: Have we, as a university and as a profession, done an adequate job describing the value of a liberal arts to a life long commitment to learning and exploration and economic prosperity?” Weber said.

Business, science majors dominate UB as humanities lose enrollment

What’s in a major?+17 percent+47 percent+50 percent

+3 percent-8 percent+1 percent

+28 percent-46 percent+41 percent-18 percent+7 percent

-63 percent+29 percent-61 percent-47 percent

MAJORS

KAINAN GUO, THE SPECTRUM

President Satish Tripathi sat down with Spectrum EIC Sara DiNatale last week to talk about some of the bigger topics facing UB.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

1. Business2. Engineering

3. Biological and biomedical sciences4. Health professions

5. Social sciences6. Psychology

7. Communication and journalism8. Visual and performing arts

9. Computer and information sciences10. Architecture

11. Physical sciences12. English literature

13. Mathematics and statistics14. History

15. Foreign languages and linguistics

ENROLLMENT

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CHANGE SINCE 2004

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY

YUSONG SHI, JENNA BOWER, KENNETH CRUZC

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But what Tripathi sees as one of his big-gest – and yet to be completed goals – is to “revitalize” South Campus.

In 2017, UB’s medical school is mov-ing downtown, leaving some to question: What’s going to happen to South Campus and the troubled University Heights dis-trict?

Tripathi said the now North Campus-based School of Social Work and Graduate School of Education will move to South. But Tripathi said that won’t happen with-out improvements to infrastructure to the South Campus buildings. Tripathi said UB would also be getting rid of the campus’ “temporary” buildings – though not meant to stand for long, structures like the Ache-son Annex were erected in 1965 and are still used today.

Tripathi said he envisions the campus being restored to its “E.B. White” days – an homage to the architect who drew up South’s original campus plan. Tripathi said Hayes Hall is undergoing $50 million in ren-ovations, which will be done in about a year.

Most of the buildings on South Campus are old and need work – but so does the surrounding area.

In 2012, there were 523 crimes in the University Heights district where a large number of UB students live, including 272 larcenies and 118 burglaries.

A Spectrum poll in 2013 showed that out of 787 students polled, 428 did not feel safe in the Heights. Of 760 students polled, The Spectrum found that 82 percent of students

felt UB needed to do more to improve liv-ing conditions for students in the Heights.

Tripathi said he feels the campus is taking an “active role” in the Heights. He said he’s meet with Common Council member of the area Rasheed Wy-att and said he plans to meet with him again. He also men-tioned UB bought se-curity cameras for the city and that contin-uation of “housing blitzes,” in which Off-Campus Student Ser-vices coordinates in-spections of South Campus homes, as things UB has done to assist the Heights.

“The city doesn’t have enough people to inspect the hous-es because unless you get inspected and get cited, it’s hard for ac-tions to be taken, so we’ve worked on that as well,” Tripathi said.

UB reimburses the city for the inspector’s overtime because the blitzes usually happen on weekends.

Alums, he added, remember South “be-ing where the campus ‘was,’” and he said he wants to bring that back – though he admits

it will be a long and slow process. Tripathi said UB will need to work with

the city’s stakeholders and the area’s the real estate developers to “make sure we really restore that area.”

Tripathi – though clearly a busy UB president – says he feels like he has a strong presence on campus and among students. Some stu-dents say they’ve nev-er seen Tripathi, but Tripathi said that can come down to per-ceptions.

“Perceptions are important but they’re just perceptions,” Tripathi said. “I’m on the campus, multi-ple events every week, where there are some students there. I’m in the Commons, in the Student Union build-ing having lunch … But I’m meeting with

student groups all the time actually, and I think it’s important for me to talk to stu-dents to find out what their concerns are.”

He said he’ll be at the senior brunch Fri-day and has already attended a series of lun-cheons and student award ceremonies.

He said he’s proud of UB’s athletic teams who for the first time ever had three sep-arate teams get NCAA Tournament berths in one year. Tripathi described himself as a “cheerleader” for the program, adding he hopes Athletic Director Danny White is successful in fundraising enough money to build a field house on North Campus.

“I’m not into hiring coaches or getting games, but as a president, I’m supportive of the athletics, I think its important expe-rience for the students – not only for the student-athletes but the whole student body here,” Tripathi said.

Tripathi mentioned the UB Foundation will be unrolling a new website this month to foster transparency, which the private foundation that handles UB’s nearly $1 bil-lion in donations is accused by some facul-ty for not having. He said the separation be-tween the UBF as a private entity and UB as a public one is important.

“It has the donors money and the donors will not give money if they believe it is go-ing to be part of the state fund because a lot of the donor money is forever, to create an endowment that really is forever so [UBF] really believe[s] in that kind of separation,” Tripathi said.

But Tripathi mainly focused the interview on his main goals for his tenure, which in-cludes ensuring students during their time at UB. Whether they’re interacting in a glob-al community or with UB’s internation-al students, Tripathi said the campus offers students an environment to grow.

His biggest piece of ad-vice for the graduating class? Take risks – because you don’t know when “pushing the boundaries” will lead to the next big invention or breakthrough.

“You studied here, you got your educa-tion but don’t be afraid to take risks,” he said.

email: [email protected]

The Spectrum sits down with President Tripathi

COURTESY OF UB PHOTO DATABASE

President Tripathi, photographed at last year’s commencement, will speak at nine graduation ceremonies this month.

“You studied

here, you got your

education but don’t

be afraid to take risks,”

Tripathi said.

ubspectrum.com 3Wednesday, May 6, 2015

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THE SPECTRUM

Editorial BoardEditorial Board

Wednesday, May 6, 2015Volume 64 Number 78

Circulation 7,000

EDITOR IN CHIEF Sara DiNatale

MANAGING EDITORS

Rachel KramerEmma Janicki, Asst.

OPINION EDITOR

Tress Klassen

COPY EDITORSAlyssa McClure, Copy Chief

Anne FortmanEmma Fusco

Natalie Humphrey

NEWS EDITORSTom Dinki, Senior

Ashley Inkumsah, Asst.Charles W Schaab, Asst.

FEATURES EDITORSGabriela Julia, SeniorDan McKeon, Asst.James Battle, Asst.

ARTS EDITORSTori Roseman, Senior

Brian Windschitl

SPORTS EDITORSJordan Grossman, Senior

Quentin HaynesBobby McIntosh Asst.

PHOTO EDITORSYusong Shi, Senior

Kainan GuoAngela Barca, Asst

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CREATIVE DIRECTORSJenna Bower

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As students prepare to finish their studies at UB, about 15 per-cent of those graduates will be leaving with a degree in business. The major’s consistent populari-ty indicates the practical outlook many students are taking.

Even as engineering and biol-ogy, which follow business in the rankings of popular majors at UB, gained traction over the past 10 years, more undergraduate stu-dents major in business than any other field of study.

It’s a sign of sensible decision-making among students, who clear-ly want to graduate with a versatile

degree that offers employment op-portunities in a variety of fields.

Majoring in business is a popu-lar choice nationwide, ranking first among all majors in terms of stu-dents enrolled.

Clearly, students at UB have the right idea. Studying business allows students to learn important con-cepts about economics and mar-keting, which can be applied in various workplace settings.

Not only do the skills acquired with a business degree prove rele-vant across multiple fields, but the lessons learned about advertising and promotion can also help stu-

dents promote themselves as they head out on their job searches.

And for students without a par-ticularly strong subset of skills or interests, like science or art, busi-ness is an accessible field to enter.

It’s also a boon that UB’s School of Management ranked 40 out of 680 programs nationwide, accord-ing to Forbes Magazine’s 2013 rank-ings, putting the business school in the country’s top 10 percent.

Students at UB are smart to en-roll in a standout program that has name recognition, which can be a plus in job interviews – not to mention that the high ranking is of

course indicative of a superior lev-el of education being offered.

Of course, the popularity of the business major also comes with a cost – namely, the declining enroll-ment in the humanities.

Along with the rest of the na-tion, UB has seen reduced num-bers in majors like English, history and philosophy, which are all down by at least 60 percent from 2004, as well as foreign language, which has 47 percent fewer majors, ac-cording to a January Buffalo News article.

Skills learned in humanities courses like communication, writ-ing and critical thinking are also relevant in the workplace.

And as business and STEM de-grees flourish, so too does the competition, as more and more students end up competing for the same jobs.

Although it’s wise for students to major in a field that boasts reas-suring job placement numbers, it’s equally important that undergradu-ates use their time at UB to study a topic that they’re passionate about.

Making money is important, but a high-paying job can all too easily be marred by dissatisfaction.

Getting a job seems like the fi-nal hurdle for college graduates, but in reality, that hurdle is typi-cally followed by a 40-hour-a-week commitment – that time should be spent pursuing an interest rooted in passion, not just financial need.

Ultimately, for students with-out a specific focus, it makes sense to enroll in whatever major seems most lucrative on the job market. But it would be a shame if stu-dents who are passionate about lit-erature or history or other fields in the humanities turn away from their interests out of fear of un-employment.


Popularity of degree reflects students’ sensible approach to post-graduation goals

When it comes to choosing majors, UB students are all business

ILLUSTRATION BY HARUMO SATO

New college graduates should feel that their opportunities are endless, with expanded career op-tions and a plethora of choices at their fingertips – not burdened by thousands of dollars of loans to pay off.

Students at UB generally have a manageable amount of debt, if any, upon graduation – ranked by U.S. News as 19th nationwide in graduating students with the least debt, UB sends more than half of its students off into the real world without any debt at all.

The average debt owed by UB students upon graduation is $17,440.

That number is significant, to be sure, but pales in comparison with the staggering sums owed by col-lege graduates who attend schools that are less affordable than UB.

Students who head off to pricy private universities and take on life-altering loans in order to pay tuition, which at private non-profit universities averaged over $31,000 this year, often do so unwittingly, without much of an awareness – if any – of the long-term ramifica-tions of the debt they just took on.

And while that scenario is trou-bling enough, it’s exacerbated for students who now feel that the loans they took out helped fund a worthless degree from a fraudulent program.

Such is the predicament of stu-dents who attended for-profit schools run by Corinthian Colleg-es.

An education company that bought over a dozen vocational and online colleges, Corinthian has now been shut down by the Edu-

cation Department, after years of accusations regarding false grad-uation and job placement rates to lure students into enrolling in the pricy programs.

For-profit programs like Corin-thian are shady to begin with – stu-dents at these institutions end up defaulting on their student loans more often than their compatriots at nonprofit universities.

Almost half of all students who default on their loans come from for-profit schools –

clearly, these types of programs are an option students should im-mediately dismiss as they debate their college selections.

But many students simply don’t know any better.

With a lack of basic knowledge surrounding finances – as seniors in high school, students haven’t

had the chance to learn about how loans work – and surrounded by misleading information provided by universities that want them to enroll, it’s no surprise that so many students end up in desperate finan-cial situations after graduating.

The student loan epidemic shows no signs of faltering, and it’s time for the Education Depart-ment to step up.

Students who owe money on their degrees from Corinthian-run universities are rightly demanding that the Education Department offer them loan discharges, essen-tially erasing their debt.

The department didn’t shut down Corinthian as quickly as it could have, and allowed students to continue enrolling even as it in-vestigated the schools.

Moreover, the Education De-partment acts as debt collector when students aren’t able to pay back the loans the department of-fered them in the first place – loans that never should have been made available for fraudulent schools like those under Corinthian’s su-pervision.

And on a larger scale, unless the Education Department is willing to start considering more wide-spread loan forgiveness – a doubt-ful prospect – more must be done to educate students about the risks of taking on debt before they even enroll in their first college course.


As student loan debt continues to plague graduates, the department that acts a debt collector should also serve as an educator

U.S. Education Department must live up to its name


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Department of GeographySummer 2015 Courses

Session J (May 26- July 3, 2015) Session M (July 6-August 14, 2015)GEO 101*

Earth System Science 1M-F 9:40am - 10:55am

*sequence satisfies General Education’sNatural Sciences requirement

GEO 103Geog. of Economic SystemsGeog. of Economic Systems

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GEO 334Intl. Env & Comm Problems

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GEO 481 (Undergraduate) orGEO 506 (Graduate)

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Further details visit department website: www.geog.buffalo.edu

DANIEL MCKEONFEATURES EDITOR

Graduating from college is an exciting time – until the realization of how hard finding a job is sets in.

UB Career Services provides tips for stu-dents on how to build a résumé, how to do well in a job interview and start a career. Jenna Smith, coordinator of assessment and marketing for Career Services, takes a positive approach in educating students in ways to get a job.

Smith said Career Services tries to frame all of their advice in a positive way so stu-dents remember what to do during an inter-view, not what they shouldn’t be doing. She said students are prone to remembering the negative things and then will end up doing that in an interview, rather than what they should be doing.

The following tips are given by Career Services to help students in the job search.

Know your codeThe Holland Code was made by psychol-

ogist John Holland on the premise that you could identify someone’s ideal career op-tions based on six personality types, each represented by a letter. The codes are made up by choosing three of the personality types and using the combination of letters to identify personal strengths.

The personality types are realistic, investi-gative, artistic, social, enterprising and con-ventional. Understanding a personality type can be key when choosing a career. Accord-ing to the Holland Code, following one’s personal code can lead to happiness and fulfillment.Make your résumé specific

An employer spends an average of 15 to 20 seconds reviewing a résumé so having a good one is important. The key to standing out is making sure the résumé isn’t bland. Focusing on extracurricular activities such as honors, studying abroad, leadership skills

and technical skills help make applicants look well rounded – an attractive feature to any prospective employer.

Use specific accomplishments and re-sults in each entry in experience can help quantify experience more than simply writ-ing it down. Career Services also provides a list of words that make résumés stand out more, including “administered,” “excelled,” “rationalized” and “spearheaded.”

Consistent formatting is also crucial to giving a professional feel to the résumé.Differentiate your cover letter from your résumé

A cover letter is a one-page letter that is essentially the first impression an em-ployer will have of a candidate for a job. It shouldn’t be your résumé in paragraph form. The cover letter should be clear and to the point, highlighting specific examples of relevant experience to the job.

In addition to proofreading, customize each letter for the job you’re applying for.

Keep your feet on the floor The interview is the most crucial part of

landing a job and should be well prepared for. It’s important to have a good posture while speaking to a potential future employ-er so Career Services suggests keeping both feet firmly planted to the floor. This will help you to sit up straight and make a good first impression.

It’s also important to offer a firm hand-shake, make plenty of eye contact, smile, an-swer questions completely and ask thought-ful questions.

It’s also valuable to think about the po-tential questions you’ll be asked before the interview. Questions could include “Tell me about yourself,” “What are your strengths?” and “What are you weaknesses?” But when-ever describing a weakness, be sure to in-clude how you are working on it and what progress is being made.Use the “STAR” method

In an interview, you’re sure to be asked a question that starts with “Tell me about a time when…” It’s important to be prepared to fully answer this question in entirety. Start with the situation (S), explain the task at hand (T), talk about the actions (A) you took to accomplish your goal and finally be sure to include the results (R) of the situa-tion including what you learned or how the situation worked out. Make a LinkedIn profile

Networking is one of the most impor-tant ways of finding jobs and LinkedIn is the Facebook for business professionals. Be sure to upload a professional picture of yourself and make your profile look similar to your résumé. Have friends, family and past em-ployers add you and endorse your skills.

“You should only connect with people you know,” according to the Career Servic-es Career Guide. “When sending an invita-tion to connect, always personalize your in-vitation. Indicate why you want to connect with this person or refer to the last conver-sation you had with them.”

Career Services provide services such as help writing a résumé and practice inter-views to prepare students for entering the job market. Graduation can be an exciting and stressful time, but with the right prepa-ration, getting a job can be just another step along the way.


Career Services provides tips for getting a job after graduation

Preparing for the job hunt

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY KAINAN GUO


Department of GeographySummer 2015 Courses

Session J (May 26- July 3, 2015) Session M (July 6-August 14, 2015)GEO 101*

Earth System Science 1M-F 9:40am - 10:55am


GEO 103Geog. of Economic SystemsGeog. of Economic Systems

Online

GEO 334Intl. Env & Comm Problems

Online

GEO 503Program Web Mapping Apps

M W 6:30pm - 9:40pmM W 6:30pm - 9:40pm

GEO 106*Earth Systems Science 2

M-F 9:40am - 10:55am (Lecture)T R 11:00am - 12:30pm (Lab)


GEO 333GEO 333Bases of World Commerce

Online

GEO 481 (Undergraduate) orGEO 506 (Graduate)

Geographic Info SystemsT R 6:30pm - 9:40pm (Lecture)

TT R 5:00pm - 6:20pm (Lab)

Further details visit department website: www.geog.buffalo.edu

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MARISSA FIELDINGSTAFF WRITER

Lex could not control her body from shaking as she finally stepped into the room with several other recovering alcoholics sit-ting in a circle. This was the moment where she was finally going to turn her life around.

She had stepped into her first Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting.

Lex, a junior English major, is one of the many teens struggling with an alcohol ad-diction. She asked The Spectrum to not pub-lish her full name due to the possible in-terference with future employers. Around 5,000 people under the age of 21 die each year from alcohol related incidents, such as car crashes, alcohol poisonings and even suicides, according to the National Insti-tute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

After a few wake up calls and a glance into her future, she knew she had to turn her life around. But with the memories from her past and easy access to alcohol, it hasn’t been an easy process.

Lex felt her first buzz from a wine cooler when she was 14 years old. Since then, she turned to stronger alcohol.

Lex said there have been many times she hit rock bottom from drinking. It was not until she found herself in the middle of the road on Elmwood Avenue waiting for a car to strike her dead that she wanted to start her journey to sobriety. Luckily, she made a phone call to an ex-girlfriend who came to her aid.

“I remember vaguely standing in the mid-dle of the road at 3 a.m. just praying for a car to come hit me,” Lex said. “My ex-girl-friend showed up and I woke up the next day in her bed. I knew that enough was enough because I was starting to bring oth-er people into it and I didn’t want to hurt anyone anymore.”

About 190,000 young adults under the age of 21 visited the emergency room with alcohol-related injuries in 2008, according to NIAAA. And 50 percent of 15-year-olds

will have had at least one drink in their life. At least 90 percent of young adult’s alcohol is consumed through binge drinking.

Lex took a step back and thought about what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. She planned on joining the police acad-emy and working her way up to becoming a detective. In order to do so, she knew she had to make some changes.

Three months ago, Lex entered the Wes-leyan Church of Hamburg to join an AA meeting. They spent an hour discussing her experiences, one of them being the reason she ever started drinking in the first place.

“My whole entire life feels like a roller coaster,” Lex said. “My parents split when I was in the seventh grade and I was around 13. That took a toll on me.”

Lex used other methods to release her stress over her parents’ divorce. But alco-hol felt like it was working better than ev-erything else.

“I let it out in other ways, but it wasn’t until my grandma died that my drinking re-ally took off,” Lex said. “I felt it and it made all of those other coping mechanisms go away. I didn’t feel that need to use them anymore because I found what worked for me.”

Lex’s drinking worsened this past fall se-mester when she spent her time at a Disney internship in Orlando, Florida. She went out with people who did not bother her about her condition.

“My roommates would get up for work and I would still be at the kitchen table drinking,” Lex said.

Lex knew that her drinking was more than just a little way to unwind every now and then. It was becoming more of a de-pendency.

After some discussions with her friends, she had an open mind about visiting an AA meeting. This is where she met her sponsor, Katy Koster, who became a major figure in her life while she became sober.

As her sponsor, Koster is there ready to answer her calls at any hour of the day whenever Lex feels she needs some guid-

ance against drinking.“Helping others has been a big part of

my sobriety,” Koster said in an email.Koster has been sober since Oct. 1, 2013

and a sponsor to others for nine months. People like Lex are what help build her strength to continue her path of sobriety.

“With this role, it has changed my life in many different ways,” Koster said. “It helps me stay sober just as much as it helps Lex or the other women I sponsor. It is a won-derful gift and I’m truly grateful.”

Koster advises anyone with questions or

seeking advice to go to an AA meeting. The group meetings help guide anyone battling alcoholism to follow the steps toward sobri-ety while not feeling alone on their journey.

“It’s not so much overcoming, it’s recov-ering,” Koster said. “By going through the steps we can recover from this illness. My role is to take [Lex] through the steps and that’s how we recover.”

Every journey towards recovery is differ-ent, according to Koster. There are differ-ent reasons why people grow dependent on alcohol and different experiences that drive a person to seek out recovery.

“I feel like we all have our journeys in life and I had to go through mine as Lex had to before we had enough pain to not live the way we were living anymore,” Koster said.

Lex had another wake up call during an encounter with a bartender a week before the car incident.

“It wasn’t until a week before I stopped drinking when I went to Fridays and the bartender came to refill my drink and said, ‘It looks like we found the alcoholic of the group.’ I looked at him and said how could you say that to me?” Lex said.

UB psychology professor and researcher

on young adult drinking Jennifer Read said alcohol is not a bad drug unless abused, something Lex has experienced while tak-ing advantage of the buzz that comes with drinking.

Read said alcohol has a great effect on people’s mood and can help them feel more relaxed. That’s why it’s used by so many cul-tures around the world. At the same time, alcohol is still a highly toxic drug.

Although alcohol is not completely dan-gerous, it can cause damage to the body, such as liver damage, according to Read. If there is constant intake, it normally exceeds the safe blood alcohol level. The body can usually manage the effects of alcohol, but the damage most likely will come after long periods of time.

“It often takes a while for those effects to catch up,” Read said. “On average, bodies can be pretty resilient.”

Read advises students to pace themselves when they drink, such as having only one drink an hour. Students should make good judgments about their social setting, whom they hang out with and if that could factor into how much they are drinking, she said.

Turning to others for help can also make a difference in recovery – the Psychological Services Center at UB in Park Hall offers counseling services.

“It doesn’t have to be a professional,” Read said. “It can also be a friend that you enlist to help you.”

Lex’s decision to seek help from an AA group guided her away from a dangerous lifestyle of alcohol dependency, one that was overtaking her identity.

One of Lex’s biggest regrets is letting time slip away from her.

“I spent so much time not remember-ing things because I was completely blacked out,” Lex said. “I’ve missed such important moments in the past three years. I regret not being able to tell what happened.”

Lex has altered her life in other ways out-side of AA, such as making schoolwork her main priority as well as getting a new job to avoid people she felt encouraged her drink-ing.

In order to move forward with her so-briety, Lex has gained new friends and lost the ones who only wanted to be around her when she was drunk, she said. She’s focused on helping other people and learning how to listen and be a good friend, daughter and sister again.

“This program is saving my life every-day,” Lex said. “I feel like I’m getting to know myself every day. I feel hope that I can eventually be happy again.”


UB student regains identity after overcoming

drinking problem

Road to recovery

VIDEO STILLS BY

STEPHEN GUETTI

Lex, a junior English major, struggled with alcohol since the age of 14. After stepping into an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting for the first time, Lex is getting her life back on track.


Did you know that graduate programs across UB’s College of Arts and Sciences

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THE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

GABRIELA JULIASENIOR FEATURES EDITOR

Despite debating the topic in faculty meetings for an entire semester and form-ing a committee to draft a policy, UB may still not be regulating professors assigning self-published textbooks and accepting cash from their students when classes start next fall.

And, such as the common theme with the Faculty Senate, it will be because not enough faculty showed up to vote.

The Faculty Senate could have passed regulation on professors assigning their own textbooks on Tuesday, but the vote was not held because only 39 out of the required 44 voting members were in attendance. The Faculty Senate Executive Committee may decide to vote on the matter themselves on Wednesday in place of a full faculty vote. If not, the policy won’t be voted on until next semester

The executive committee drafted the pol-icy and began discussing the issue after an article published in The Spectrum in Novem-ber detailed UB’s lack of policy on profes-sors assigning their own textbooks and ac-cepting students’ money for the books in class. Both faculty and students have tak-en issue with professors assigning their own textbooks, citing ethical issues with profes-sors profiting from students and accepting cash from students in the classroom.

“If you’re in a class taught by a profes-sor, certainly you’ll want the best material and best education you can get but I have a problem with that professor mandating their own textbook and receiving a profit off of that,” said Michael Chaskes, a profes-sor in the Department of Medicine.

Ezra Zubrow, who is stepping down as Senate Chair after this semester, said he was hoping the Senate could have quorum so the policy could be in place for the upcom-ing fall semester.

Low attendance at Senate meetings has been a reoccurring issue. The executive committee nearly voted on UB’s new deca-nal review policy themselves in March af-ter the Senate did not have quorum, but the committee eventually gave the Senate an-other opportunity to vote. The Senate had quorum in its April meeting and passed the new decanal review policy.

Faculty in the past have voiced concerns that the executive committee’s voting on matters themselves may be violating the general body’s bylaws.

The proposed regulations, that were un-able to be voted on, declared that faculty

must allow students alternatives for buying the texts and that professors must justify the fee they charge students in comparison to other textbooks.

One of the largest issues that students and some faculty have raised was in regard to professors taking cash for textbooks in-side the classrooms. The proposed policy declares that if professors assign their own textbooks, a third party has to collect and process the money.

The policy also urges “all campus adminis-trators, faculties and libraries to explore ways to increase knowledge of the no-cost or low-cost textbook alternatives,” Zubrow said.

The Senate debated several amendments to the policy before realizing it did not have enough members to vote.

Chaskes proposed an amendment that would not allow faculty to receive royalties on the textbooks they assign unless they provide opportunities for no-cost reserve books or reserve electronics resources, or make a documented charitable contribution equal to the profits to a fund established by UB Libraries, UB Foundation or the Stu-dent Association.

After Chaskes proposed his amendment, the floor was open to questions and re-sponses from other faculty members.

Jim Jensen, a civil engineering professor, said Chaskes’ amendment was “impractical” and he didn’t understand how it would be pos-sible to trace royalty statements and calculate a number for the charitable contribution.

“You would get the royalty payments six months later and you don’t know who bought the books whether they were bought from the bookstore or from Ama-zon,” Jensen said.

Other faculty members expressed their concerns with Chaskes’ amendment and the overall policy but were unable to vote to make a final decision.

If the executive committee doesn’t come to a decision on Wednesday, the topic will not be revisited until the fall semester.


Faculty Senate unable to pass textbook regulations amid low voter turnout

GABRIELA JULIA, THE SPECTRUM

Michael Chaskes, a professor in the Department of Medicine and Faculty Senate Chair Ezra Zubrow speak at Tuesday's Faculty Senate meeting. The Senate was unable to vote on new self-published textbook regulations because it did not have quorum.

Proposed policies would regulate

professors assigning own textbooks

What’s in a major?The English Department at UB has seen

the largest percentage decrease in enrollment in the past decade, going from 678 students in the fall of 2004 to 249 students in the fall of 2014. History is second with a 61 percent loss. The English Department recently announced changes in its degree requirements, including allowing more 200-level courses and dropping the foreign language requirement in effort to make the major more attractive.

Weber said he feels UB puts a high value on liberal arts, and that the drop in students in the liberal arts is more reflective of the market and student interest. He said during economic chal-lenges, people, generally, tend to select majors such as engineering and business.

“I think it’s much easier for people to see the direct link that if you go into engineering and you go to work as an engineer, versus maybe having a terrific experience at English at UB and your career might take different paths,” Weber said.

Madeline Bartels, a biology and psychol-ogy senior who is graduating next week, said she has a couple of friends who chose to study nursing because they figured, “you’re always going to need someone like that.”

Bartels wanted to go into a field such as op-tometry because she knew where there would be job security and she would be able to sup-port herself after graduation.

“I didn’t want to have to rely on being mar-ried or on someone else so I definitely wanted a secure job,” she said.

Lanz always knew he wanted to do business, but didn’t decide on accounting until he discov-ered that many professional sport teams’ CFOs were certified accountants.

“For accounting, there’s always a huge need for them. That really helped pushed me toward it,” he said.

Sean Lyke, a senior media study major, grew up making characters and videos with a web cam. He loved movies and cameras and didn’t think he “should steer away from that at all.” The visual and preforming arts has had the third largest enrollment decrease (46 percent) at UB since 2004.

“As far as friends go saying, ‘The film busi-ness is a dying business, or it’s hard to get into,’ but for anyone out there that’s thinking, ‘Maybe I should do this, maybe I should switch to that,’ I’d say I did what my heart told me,” Lyke said.

Lyke said he thinks a lot of students worry about what major their parents want them to be.

He hears people say, “‘They want me to do this or they want to become a doctor or a busi-

nessman,’” Lyke said. “I think some kids do get steered in the wrong direction because their families tell them what to do or they feel that being an actor or director is not a reasonable goal.”

Both of Lanz’s parents are accountants, but he said his parents didn’t push him toward business. Weber said it’s common for students to pick a major that may not be their strength, but that they go into a field they think will give them job security.

“You have to do what you love to do, which is kind of our philosophy for our students,” Weber said.

Weber said a lot of students discover a cer-tain major is not for them after taking the courses, and that UB has a “relatively flexible policy” when it comes to students transferring.

The large increase in engineering, biolog-ical and biomedical sciences and mathemat-ics have put stress on the departments to meet the demand and needs of students, according to Weber. But he said he believes UB has done a good job in “accommodating that need,” in part with the help of Finish in 4.

Finish in 4 is UB’s initiative that aids stu-dents in completing their degree in four years, and Weber said it has allowed UB to better ac-commodate students in fields with large pop-ulations with larger class sizes and more pro-fessors.

UB recently made changes to its general ed-ucation requirements, which will include sem-inars for freshman and transfer students that will allow “many departments to highlight what they do, that may not be in students’ minds in high school,” and attract students to the de-partments that may be decreasing in enroll-ment, Weber said.

Weber said he’s “been in it long enough to know things go up and down” in terms of trends for majors. He said that when he went to college for engineering in 1972, engineering was supposed to be dying. He said universities have to decide if the shift away from the humanities is a longer-term shift or a shorter term one.

“We tend to get very caught up in the trend of the day,” Weber said. “We try to look more longer term.”

Lyke said students should put more empha-sis on their own skills and passions rather than the job market when picking a major.

“I think people should just go with what they love,” Lyke said. “Because in the end it’s what they’re doing that’s going to make them happy. If they graduate with a degree, and it’s some-thing they’re interested in, yeah, they’re going to make money but in the end having a job where you’re happy is more important than a job where you make a lot of money.”


CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1


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Plans for next year? Why not complete the Clarkson MBA?

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With our rolling admissions process, it’s not too late to apply for the Clarkson Master of Business Administration Class of 2016. And since your school is a Clarkson partner, you’re automatically eligible for a 4+1 Fellowship:

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GABRIELA JULIASENIOR FEATURES EDITOR

Not every freshman meets his or her best friend on the first day of college. And if they do, it’s rare to spend the following four years going to OneRepublic concerts and pushing each other toward a chemical engi-neering degree.

For Lindsey Kehl and Steve Vitello, it all started their freshman year in an EAS 140 class. They introduced themselves to each other and were enthralled with the fact they had the same exact schedules. They’ve been inseparable ever since.

Kehl and Vitello are senior chemical en-gineering majors and winners of the Chem-ical and Biological Engineering (CBE) Aca-demic Excellence Award. UB’s Department of CBE placed in the top 10 nationally in several key research measures, according to its website. Kehl and Vitello have managed to prove their candidacy by excelling in the chemical engineering department and land-ing jobs in the field fresh out of college.

“We’re definitely the most outspoken out of the chemical engineers here,” Vitel-lo said.

Although they both wound up walking the same path at UB, they took different ap-proaches when choosing their major.

“During my junior year of high school, I knew I wanted to follow after my dad be-cause he’s a chemical engineer,” Kehl said.

She was always interested in math and sci-ence but seeing him work firsthand made her realize a chemical engineering major was a good choice. Kehl is now the vice president of American Institute of Chem-ical Engineers at UB.

Vitello, on the other hand, chose chemi-cal engineering when he was filling out his college applications.

“I loved physics and didn’t know enough about chemistry so I just chose it so I can learn more,” Vitello said.

Ever since the two met, they’ve spent long nights studying in Lockwood Library and partnered together in team projects. They saw their hard work pay off when shopping for Hawaiian shirts and other spring break attire for an epic Cancun spring break trip.

Kehl and Vitello were at Kohl’s depart-ment store when they both received the email saying they won the CBE award.

“First I got an email and was like ‘Hey, I won an award,’ then she checked her phone and was like ‘Hey, me too,’” Vitello said.

Kehl and Vitello were two of the five winners of this year’s award. Each winner received a $200 award and their name on a plaque.

But $200 doesn’t compare to what they’ll be making once they leave UB. With just a couple more weeks until graduation, they are already on their way to two successful jobs.

Kehl has had internships at Praxair and FMC Corporation that prepared her for life after UB. Kehl started applying for jobs in September. By December she made the de-cision to work at UOP, a petroleum industry company in Chicago. She’s starting off with a $75,000 salary and will travel the world for three years setting up oil refineries.

“I’m doing something completely differ-ent and it doesn’t sound as glamorous as her job,” Vitello said.

Vitello will be a sales engineer for Key-ence in Cleveland selling 3D scanning mi-croscopes. He had two internships with IsleChem and Niacet, both companies in the chemical engineering industry. But he realized he wanted to go into sales so he could travel and speak with people.

Vitello has a base salary of $53,000 with a commission and bonus structure but by his third year, he should be making six figures, he said.

Kayleigh Miller, a senior biomedical en-gineering major and Kehl and Vitello’s best friend, said the fact they have jobs after col-

lege shows they did something right in their past four years.

“They are both very hardworking and strive to do well in school,” Miller said. “I think they will do well in their career in the real world.”

Both Vitello and Kehl stressed school isn’t everything and students need to take the time to have a so-cial life.

Organic chemistry and cell biology were some of the highlights of Vitello’s four years but some of the best times were spent with his best friend Kehl.

Camping at Allegany State Park, spring break in Cancun, Oozefest, OneRepublic concerts and Drake concerts at Darien Lake highlighted Kehl and Vitello’s college years.

“But some of those memories can’t be remembered,” Vitello said.

Between soccer, basketball, parties and making frequent trips to Wegmans, they still manage to find time to get everything done.

“I take it day-by-day but [Vitello] plans his entire week out on Sundays,” Kehl said.

Although Kehl and Vitello are going their separate ways, their paths don’t stray far from each other. While Kehl is living in Chicago, Vitello will be in the windy city for a 10-week training.

Kehl and Vitello plan on living close to each other in the future.

“My headquarters is also in Chicago so we’ll definitely be meeting up for dinner,” Vitello said.

Kehl said she’s had the best four years of her life at UB and can’t believe it’s over. Vi-tello agreed.

From looking in on the outside, Miller said Kehl and Vitello are two of her favorite

people. “Everyone that meets [Kehl] loves her,

she is very outgoing and friendly,” Miller said. “[Vitello] is the most down to earth and genuine person I know and he is very easy going and goofy most of the time but when it comes to schoolwork, he’s hard-working and organized.”

Vitello’s parting words to people pushing through to the finale is to learn how to have a mind, body and soul balance.

“And you definitely need a whacky side-kick,” he said.


Two UB best friends win Chemical and Biological

Engineering award

Fused together

COURTESY OF LINDSEY KEHL

Lindsey Kehl and Steve Vitello are senior chemical engineering majors and winners of the Chemical Biological Engineering Academic Excellence Award. The two have been best friends since their first day of college.


Plans for next year? Why not complete the Clarkson MBA?

Ready to learn more? To apply go to www.clarkson.edu/mba.

With our rolling admissions process, it’s not too late to apply for the Clarkson Master of Business Administration Class of 2016. And since your school is a Clarkson partner, you’re automatically eligible for a 4+1 Fellowship:

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Sean BeardenPhysics major

“[Physics] is a major that will require more of your time than most other majors,” Bearden said. “Many of your friends will not understand why you are always busy, but in the end the hard work will pay off.

Outstanding seniorsFEATURES DESK

Every academic year, outstanding se-niors in the University at Buffalo’s Col-lege of Arts and Sciences (CAS) are rec-ognized for their service to the universi-ty and their high GPAs. The 26 recipients will receive a personalized medal and cer-tificate, which will be presented to the students at the CAS commencement cer-emony on Sunday, May 17 at 10 a.m.

The Spectrum reached out to all 26 recip-ients. Some of those who responded are below. Check out the rest at ubspectrum.com.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE

Nathaniel SundholmSpeech pathology major

“I’m a little bit nervous about where life is going to take me, but I am extremely excited for all of the opportunities that are coming my way,” Sundholm said. “I would be lying if I said my heart didn’t skip a beat every time I think about hearing my name called at commencement.

Justin ImiolaEnvironmental sciences and economics “Everyone at UB has been accommo-

dating and has continued to push me to do more and grow beyond my previous capabilities,” Imiola said. “If at anoth-er school, I’m not sure how things would have turned out. The opportunities at UB are unparalleled.”

Victoria KentPsychology major

“Psychology is much more than just sitting on a couch and listening to people’s problems or treating someone who is mentally ill,” Kent said. “There are a lot of options with psychology because human behavior affects every aspect of life.”

Ronald BolaBiomedical sciences major

“My major allows me to look at the most fundamental aspects of what makes us human and that perspective is something that I really appreciate.”

Samantha L. RomandFine art major

“Get an independent study and curate shows, create designs or assist a professor on a large project and network,” Romand said. “Remember that your classmates will always understand your struggles. Support each other and everyone will reap the benefits.”

ubspectrum.com10 Wednesday, May 6, 2015Share your passion to be featured in the next ad #PASSIONTOWORK

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Crossword of the Day

DOWN

ACROSS

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Make personal changes that will reflect the image or attributes you want to emphasize.TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Don’t over-react to thoughtless comments or emotional manipulation. Take a step back and weigh the pros and cons.GEMINI (May 21-June 20): An offer will not turn out as it’s hyped up to be. Ask questions and negotiate on your own behalf.CANCER (June 21-July 22): Offer a different point of view or take the initiative to be origi-nal in whatever tasks you perform.LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Keep your thoughts to yourself if you want to avoid conflict with someone you deal with daily.VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Pay attention to what everyone else is saying and doing. The more knowledge you have, the easier it will be to encourage others to see things your way.LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Don’t wait for someone else to do things for you. It’s up to you to further your direction in life, whether it’s professional, personal or otherwise.SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): A hasty decision will lead to complications. Take your time and let your emotions settle before you decide to share your thoughts or make a move.SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Problems with government agencies, institutions or authority figures will arise if you haven’t been completely transparent about personal or busi-ness matters.CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Your profes-sional life will need some positive adjustments. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Put more time and effort into accomplishing your profes-sional goals and less into emotional matters that you cannot change. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Look over con-tracts, negotiate deals, settle pending problems and take a second look at an investment. Don’t be sidetracked by what others do. Follow the path that seems most reasonable and acces-sible to you.

1 Book of legends 6 “___

Karenina” 10 Four inches, to an

equestrian 14 Respond

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15 “Sanford and Son” producer Norman

16 Iris holder 17 Eagerness 19 Suburbanite’s pride 20 Cling 21 Friend 22 Fudged facts 23 Apply gently 25 Within

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often 32 It may be running

in a bar

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spreads 40 Footnote word 41 Sobs 43 Hot issue? 44 Auxiliary proposi-

tion, in math 46 Bagpiper, often 47 Beasts of burden 48 Timeworn 50 Galapagos giant 52 Olympics event 56 Air-traffic control

org.

Edited by Timothy E. Parker March 5, 2015YEAH! By Kenneth Holt

57 Old stereo 58 Fish eggs 60 Mirror reflections 65 Able to see right

through 66 Buzz 68 Yemeni seaport 69 Dubbed ones 70 “Grease” role 71 Large wine con-

tainers 72 Pond coating,

sometimes 73 The things right

her

1 Geometry calcula-tion

2 Mix drinks 3 Homebuilder’s strip 4 Tooth trouble 5 Well-built 6 “Aladdin” prince 7 Certain tide 8 Twangy, as a voice 9 Sleeve band 10 Loud clamor 11 Be of use to 12 Staircase post 13 Hunky-dory 18 Large marine herbi-

vore 24 St. Louis team 26 Breach 27 Donkey feature 28 Uncouth 29 Any thing 30 Loud disturbances

31 Straight up and down

35 Mocking imitation 37 Prepare

for takeoff 38 Nights, in classifieds 39 All there 42 Cook or Bering 45 Climber’s challenge 49 Coercion 51 Least

exciting 52 Offspring

in a sty 53 Caste member 54 More than occasion-

ally 55 EPA word 59 Shade of brown 61 Eastern nursemaid 62 Inheritance unit 63 Pulls the plug on 64 Cause for painful

blinking 67 “Catholic” finish

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MICHAEL AKELSONSTAFF WRITER

Eleven-year-old Alexis Curtiss was “the featured presentation” on her prestigious, championship-winning San Diego Bucca-neers baseball team, according to her former teammate Callan McClurg. Players on oppos-ing teams “bowed down” to her in unworthi-ness and chanted her name.

Not only was she the only girl on the team, she was the only girl in the league. And yet, she batted third and started at catcher.

Nearly 12 years later, Curtiss is about to grad-uate from UB as the softball program’s career leader in hits (198) and as a two-time All-Mid-American Conference First Team member.

Curtiss is done playing competitive sports, but her competitive nature is still present.

“I’m probably one of the most compet-itive people,” Curtiss said. “I love to win, I love to just compete against others and com-pete against myself. I think it’s always been in me to compete. I want to be the best. I strive to be the best. If I’m playing a team and the girl in the other dugout gets a hit, I go out there with the mindset like, ‘Well if she got a single, I’m gonna get a double. You did a good job, but now I’m gonna outshine you. I’ll show you why I’m the best.’”

The former field hockey, soccer and soft-ball athlete is speechless when thinking about the biggest moment in her life outside of sports. She yearns for a new outlet. And she may have found it.

Her new passion won’t include a ball. It will, however, include a new uniform on a new team.

“I’m thinking about going into the Air Force as an officer,” Curtiss said. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do my en-tire life. I have a lot of military in my fami-ly. I just love the fact that it’s structured, all about discipline, kind of like what I’ve been used to for the past four years.”

Curtiss said she loves the setup of the military and thinks her time as an athlete has prepared her for it.

“Obviously it’s different, but it’s definite-ly a step in the right direction towards [the military],” Curtiss said. “We get up at 6 a.m., we have weights, then we have practice and we’re up all day not getting the chance to go back home and sleep. Practices are tough. It’s not soft. It’s pretty intense, so I would say it’s obviously gonna be different, but I think this has definitely prepared me for that.”

Curtiss grew up in San Diego, Califor-nia and decided to play baseball before high school instead of softball. She started for the Buccaneers, a team that toured the country winning tournaments. The team was so dom-inant while she was on it that the city of San Diego now has two days they recognize as “San Diego Buccaneers Day.”

“I don’t think there was enough compe-tition for her in softball,” said Bill McClurg, her coach on the Buccaneers. “She wanted to compete against the boys and really push her talent to the limit.”

McClurg and his son, Callan, recalled a game when a big kid on the other team ran her over at home plate and screamed, “base-ball’s for boys, not girls.”

Curtiss, who was also pitching in the game, wanted to show the kid that she wasn’t an av-erage girl. She intentionally walked the next person she faced just to get the opportuni-ty to face the kid that insulted her at home plate. Curtiss hit him in the ribs with her “trademark fastball,” according to Callan, and knocked him to the ground and out of the game.

“Sometimes, I don’t think female athletes get the respect they deserve,” Callan said. “And she’s the perfect example of a girl not letting anything or anyone stand in her way at all.”

Her father, Tim, played football and base-ball in high school. Her mother, Penny, is a personal trainer. Curtiss has always been around sports and her father said she “grew up in a surfboard factory,” that he owns.

And like her parents, she always had a knack for competition, even in the most min-iscule moments.

“We were always playing catch when she was little, always hitting whiffle balls,” Tim said. “And it would always turn into some sort of argument between the two of us. She was so competitive – always has been.”

Curtiss, a three-time league and county champion in high school at University City High School and two-time high school Di-vision-III Player of the Year, has excelled at nearly every level of competitive sports. Dur-ing her senior season of high school, she bat-ted .504 and was a co-captain on her champi-onship-winning team.

Her competitiveness fostered itself off the field as well, accumulating in a 4.0 GPA in high school before going on to major in psy-chology at UB.

“When you had to have somebody set an example in practice because people aren’t working hard, she was the kid I always used,” said Mike Fox, her high school travel softball coach. “You want somebody to lay out for a ball, dive for a ball, jump three feet in the air for a ball. She’s the kid that would do it. She just had no limits.”

Her competitiveness, toughness and skills culminated when she arrived at Buffalo in 2011-12. She hit .379 as a freshman – the

third highest batting average in school histo-ry at the time and tied for the team lead in home runs and RBIs. She became just the third player in the history of the program to be named All-MAC first-team, and did it as a freshman.

But her first three seasons shadowed her impressive senior season. According to Cur-tiss, her final year as a Bull was her best year of competition.

As a senior, she hit .429 – the second high-est batting average in team history and ninth highest in the history of the MAC. She set a program record with 22 doubles, second in conference single-season history. She also tied for the team lead in home runs and RBIs despite batting leadoff for most of the sea-son. But she was most satisfied with 72 hits, exactly the amount she needed to break UB softball’s all-time hits record after a broken hand set her back her junior season.

“I think I had a great career. I left it all on the field. I have no regrets,” Curtiss said. “I’ll definitely miss it, but knowing that I left it all on the field, it’s easier to deal with … I just feel like all my hard work from high school, before that, throughout these four years, all the extra hitting it just finally paid off.”

Curtiss arrived at UB with promise, and finished her career as one of the most im-pactful players in program history. For a per-son whose life has been structured around an intense schedule of sports, college was easy.

Her next challenge is what comes next.


JORDAN GROSSMAN SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

The women’s basketball team lost its top-two scorers from this past season due to injury and graduation.

Now the team has lost its third-leading scorer due to a transfer.

Sophomore forward Alexus Malone an-nounced on Friday she is transferring to Louisiana Tech – ending her two-year stint with the Bulls. She will have to sit out the 2015-16 season due to NCAA eligibility rules.

Malone is a native of Oxford, Missis-sippi, which is roughly 300 miles from the Louisiana Tech campus. Malone was pon-dering transferring when the team was still in the midst of conference play, but decided to finish out the season with Buffalo.

It was the Mid-American Conference Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio that made her decide to officially transfer.

“When we went to the MAC Tourna-ment, my family was there,” Malone said. “They’ve been really supportive and I real-ly missed them being at my games and them cheering me on.”

Malone’s family did not attend Buffalo home games, but attended the conference tournament in Cleveland, where the Bulls lost in the quarterfinals against No. 1 seed Ohio. During the tournament, Malone real-ized she wanted to have her family “physi-cally” root her on, not “emotionally.”

“The main thing was I wanted to be clos-er to home,” Malone said. “My family could come watch me play and be there physical-ly … I’m very family-oriented. We all do sports stuff. My mom and dad were really

good in sports and were really involved.”Malone told head coach Felisha Legette-

Jack about her decision last Friday. Malone said Legette-Jack told her she supported her decision to leave the program, but wished she would stay for her final college seasons. Malone also told her teammates about the decision and said they were accepting about her choice to leave UB.

“I know when you transfer from a pro-gram, it’s very touchy,” Malone said. “You don’t want to keep getting reminders about

leaving a program that you’ve been at for more than a year. You’re so much in the program.”

Malone is the second player to transfer from the program in the past four months, as sophomore forward/guard Rachel Greg-ory left the team in the middle of the season. She later transferred to Coastal Carolina.

Buffalo has now lost its five-leading scor-ers from this past season including Malone and Gregory. Senior forwards Kristen Shar-key and Christa Baccas graduated and ju-nior guard Mackenzie Loesing announced last week she will sit out the entirety of her senior season due to a chronic ankle injury.

Malone finished her sophomore season with 10.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 28 min-utes played per game and was an integral part of the teams’ late-season success. She made the All-MAC Freshman team in 2014.

Malone thanked the Buffalo community for her two years as a Bull.

“Thank you for all of the support and the encouragement in my seasons here at Buffa-lo,” Malone said.


Alexus Malone transfers to Louisiana TechSophomore forward to transfer after two seasons in Buffalo

ANGELA BARCA, THE SPECTRUM

Senior Alexis Curtiss takes a look at the softball field one last time.

Curtiss finished her career with 198 hits - a career high.

Alexis Curtiss’ softball career is coming to an

end, but the life it shaped is about to begin

The next chapter

YUSONG SHI, THE SPECTRUM

Sophomore Alexus Malone tries to move around a defender in an 87-80 win over Akron on Feb. 28. Malone averaged 10.5 points and 7.7 rebounds in 32 games for the Bulls last season.

Documents

The Spectrum Vol. 64 No. 78