The Spectrum Volume 63 Issue 50

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBL ICAT ION OF THE UN IVERS I TY AT BUFFALO , S INCE 1950

monday, february 17, 2014ubspectrum.com Volume 63 no. 50

OWEN O’BRIENSportS Editor

The first thing Jiwoo Ryu, a se-nior psychology major, noticed upon entering the U.S. Army dive school’s base in Fort Lau-derdale, Fla., was a golden bell. Just the thought of ringing that bell was one of the “most em-barrassing things” Ryu could imagine.

Ringing that bell meant quit-ting the program.

A few days after he arrived at the base, his fear of the bell had vanished. Ryu was ready to get up, walk out of the pool, ring the bell and go home.

The only thing stopping him was physical exhaustion.

Ryu is a member of UB’s Re-serve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). He was one of only 70 cadets in the country to be selected for the Combat Diver Qualification Course (CDQC) in Florida. Ryu was one of only 26 ROTC members selected for a preliminary CDQC test. Fif-teen of the 26, including Ryu, advanced. In the end, he was one of the 37 out of the 70 who passed the hardest test the Army has to offer.

But Ryu doesn’t want to be in the U.S. Special Forces like most of the others who participated in the rigorous CDQC program. He wants to be a military chap-lain.

Becoming a part of the ROTC family

Ryu was at a crossroad in his life during his sophomore year. He began to lose the one thing closest to him – his faith. His fa-ther was a minister, but in Buffa-lo, Ryu felt lost.

That’s when he found UB’s ROTC.

The opportunity of earning a scholarship enticed him, but he

also believed it offered the struc-ture he needed in college. He had played sports his entire life and enjoyed physical challeng-es. Through ROTC, he was also able to restore his religious faith.

He first heard about the diving course in his junior year through his sergeant, William Hights. Ryu was never a member of the swim team in high school. His only previous experiences in wa-ter were childhood swimming lessons.

But when Hights told him it was the toughest school the Army offered, the challenge in-triguied Ryu.

“I’ve served in the active-du-ty Army for 19 years now, and I’m continuously surprised and impressed by Cadet Ryu’s lead-ership attributes,” Hights said. “I’ve served with seasoned lieu-tenants that do not meet his lev-el of excellence.”

Ryu wanted to use the experi-ence as something to help him better understand what the sol-diers are actually going through so he can better serve their needs when he’s a chaplain.

“A lot of problems the chap-lains are facing in terms of deal-ing with the soldiers is that they don’t have that kind of experi-

ence that soldiers go through,” Ryu said. “Obviously if you don’t have that, you can’t relate to the soldiers as well because your life was different.”

Ryu also said chaplains who come from a local church don’t have “much of a connection” with those serving.

This test was his opportunity to make that connection.

No one from Ryu’s second brigade had ever been accept-ed into CDQC. That didn’t faze him. He began training for the test even before his acceptance.

The training in preparation for CDQC was hard on Ryu, espe-

cially because he didn’t know ex-actly what the test would consist of.

So, Ryu jumped in the pool at UB and swam.

Ryu was swimming up to 3,000 meters (1.86 miles) per day at UB, along with underwa-ter sprints and treading exercises. Outside of the pool, he was do-ing his normal ROTC workouts with the rest of UB’s ROTC members, as well as extra run-ning and weight exercises on his own. He wanted to be in the best shape possible for the test.

EMERGING FROM THE WATERStudent Ryu uses military experience in chasing dream of becoming a chaplain

SEE RYU, pAGE 2

BEN TARHANSEnior SportS Editor

On Thursday afternoon, the UB Division of Athletics re-leased its Facilities Master Plan, laying out how the depart-ment plans to develop the area around Alumni Arena and UB Stadium.

The plan includes renderings of a field house, soccer stadi-um and baseball field, upgrades to the softball field and renova-tions to UB Stadium and Alum-ni Arena.

“[Athletic Director] Danny [White] wants to move quick-ly on everything,” said Allen Greene, deputy director of ath-letics. “He is extremely ambi-tious and aggressive in terms of his vision. We want the com-munity to feel that sense of ur-gency.”

The plan is a rough outline that is not finalized, but it is a way for the department to en-vision the development of the “athletic village” area while also generating buzz and excitement for the department to help boost donation dollars, accord-ing to Greene.

“Most master plans range from five to 20 years and this

one is all going to depend on funding,” Greene said. “It’s go-ing to depend on how much the community buys in how much money we can raise. It’s going to be private dollars that helps fund these things.”

Greene said private dollars would solely fund the projects. The East Club – the club sec-tion that will be added to the east grandstand of UB Stadi-um – will be a major fundrais-ing engine. Greene also expects a large portion of the money to come from philanthropic gifts.

Greene also highlighted “pri-ority” projects, which include a new tennis center, field house and the East Club. He said the department’s top priority is the field house, which would house indoor facilities for the foot-ball, soccer, baseball, softball and track & field teams. The program currently lacks an on-campus indoor facility for out-door sports, which puts teams at a competitive disadvantage in the Mid-American Conference, as most athletic programs have indoor facilities.

Athletic village not finalized; UB Athletics envisions the future

UB Athletics reveals plans for renovations

SEE ATHLETICS, pAGE 2

AMANDA LOWnEwS Editor

Final exam schedules will

conflict with spring 2014 com-mencement ceremonies due to a scheduling error. UB’s new win-ter session caused changes in the spring calendar.

The Office of Special Events is responsible for scheduling commencement, and the Facul-ty Senate schedules the academ-ic calendar.

“The overlap between com-mencement and finals was part of the calendars that were pro-posed and promulgated in March 2013,” said A. Scott Weber, the senior vice provost of academic affairs, in an email. “However, I feel responsibility for not recog-nizing this overlap and address-ing [it] with our students soon-er.”

The university believed this overlap was manageable and ref-erenced other universities, such as the University of Florida and the University of Minnesota, which have successfully done the same.

Weber said the Office of the Registrar worked to minimize conflicts as much as possible by working with the most impacted departments.

The conflict affects the Thurs-day, Friday and Saturday com-

mencement ceremonies, specifi-cally the School of Management commencement (Friday).

UB has also been contacting the faculty of different depart-ments to remind them the error was not the fault of the students but rather the university.

“We have communicated to all faculty that graduating stu-dents should be permitted to at-tend their commencement cere-monies and faculty should make accommodations to enable stu-dents to do so (such as hold-ing their exam at another time),” Weber said. “This scheduling conflict is through no fault of the students, and we recognize that commencement is a very important milestone in a stu-dent’s life.”

Weber said in spite of the cal-endar changes, the winter ses-sion proved successful and he believed it allowed 30 students to graduate before the spring se-mester.

In an email to the English de-partment, Weber wrote that if the instructor cannot resolve the conflict, students should refer to the appropriate department chair or dean. And if those of-ficials are not able to help, stu-dents should contact him.

email: [email protected]

Final exams conflict with spring 2014 commencement ceremonies

KELSANg RMETCHUK, The SpecTrumJiwoo Ryu went through the rigorous ROTC program at UB because he wants to be a military chaplain. The senior psychology major wanted to use the experience to help him better understand what soldiers go through so, in turn, he can better serve their needs when he’s a chaplain.

CourtESy of UB ATHLETICSThe UB Department of Athletics released its plan to upgrade facilities on Thursday. The plan includes construction of an indoor field house, soccer stadium, baseball stadium and a tennis center, as well as improvements to the softball and football stadiums.

As part of The Spectrum’s ongoing efforts to

reach the UB community with comprehensive

news coverage in every medium, the

publication has added a broadcast

component this semester. Spectrum 360 is

a news show that will run down some of the

week’s biggest headlines in aiming to keep the

campus well informed. See the first episode

under the multimedia tab at ubspectrum.com.

ubspectrum.com2 Monday, February 17, 2014

The training beginsWhen Ryu arrived in Key

West, Fla., he took pictures of nearly everything he saw. He wanted to document his trip to remember it for the rest of his life.

The day started with a 4:30 a.m. wake-up call and morning physical training from 5 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. The cadets had break-fast from 6:30 a.m. to 7 a.m., fol-lowed by an hour of instruction detailing what the test entailed. They were in the pool from 8 a.m. to noon. The last hour was the “stress event,” which Ryu said “stressed the f*** out of us.”

The stress tests included un-derwater sprints, in which each diver had to go to the bot-tom of the 10-foot-deep pool, kick across the 25-meter-long bottom while wearing plastic “fins” on their feet and come back to the surface at a steady pace. Sometimes, the instruc-tors would flood their oxygen tank masks with water, forcing the cadets to clear their masks of water before surfacing. Other times, they would only get one fin and the others were thrown into the middle. All the cadets would have to dive in at once to retrieve their fins and complete the task.

Outside the water, the cadets did squats and push-ups with 100 pounds of gear on their backs.

Some couldn’t handle the ex-tremes of the training exercises. In the first two weeks, the total number of cadets dropped from

70 to 45. Many people blacked out during the exercises and were forced to quit.

Ryu blacked out at times, too.He dreaded the “clump cir-

cle,” an exercise in which ev-ery swimmer wore a 16-pound weight belt and passed around a 20-pound brick while treading water. Every time someone al-lowed the brick to touch the wa-ter, another was added.

Ryu knew treading water wasn’t his strongest asset. The 60 people in the pool kept kick-ing each other and even grab-bing onto one another to stay afloat.

“I had the clump in my hand and my legs were so smoked I couldn’t move them,” Ryu said. “I was just slowly sinking to the bottom and I lost the strength in my arms and dropped it. My vi-sion just got narrower and nar-rower.”

This experience was Ryu’s first blackout, which he described as one of the scariest moments in his life.

The body rescue test was an-other of the toughest exercis-es, according to Ryu. Instruc-tors were at the bottom of the pool and the cadets had to bring them to safety. Meanwhile, the instructors simulated people in a panic, making it tougher on the trainees.

The number of group mem-bers dropped to 40 as they took to the ocean. They began in the pool because “the ocean is not forgiving, it can break anyone,” Ryu said. It was imperative only the strongest were in the ocean.

Ryu had little experience in the ocean compared to the rest of the cadets. The ocean currents were a huge increase in difficulty from swimming and treading in pools. He almost failed.

In the navigation dive, the ca-dets had to swim into the ocean following a specific path to a particular dock. To pass, your time had to be in the top 70 per-centile. After finishing his swim, Ryu was not sure he would make the cut.

Ryu barely passed, finish-ing in the 70.6 percentile. He would have been sent home if he missed the cutoff.

After completing their final mission – a mock field training exercise – it was graduation day. Of the 70 initial candidates, 37 graduated, including Ryu.

Ryu received a Master Scu-ba Diver License, CPR certifi-cate, AED license and a certifi-cate that proved he completed the course upon graduation.

Although the instructors told all ROTC cadets who passed the test that they should join the Special Forces, Ryu declined. His life dream of being a chap-lain for the armed forces re-mained.

“I can better relate to the sol-diers, especially the infantrymen, after this experience,” Ryu said. “My goal is to be the best relat-ing chaplain to the soldiers out there.”

Defining his faith

Ryu said the best way to de-scribe his faith is through two verses. Corinthians 1:25 reads:

“Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stron-ger than men.” And Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is assurance of things he hoped for, proof of things not seen.”

He said faith gives him the strength to “confess that God is wiser and stronger than my-self, and that God is working through me.”

Hights said he knows Ryu has the strength to do anything he wishes in the Army, but he sup-ports Ryu’s decision to become a chaplain.

“He is physically and mentally tough, yet is compassionate and wise beyond his years,” Hights said. “I would love for [Ryu] to serve in the combat arms branches of the Army, but the better I’ve gotten to know him, the more I realize that he is go-ing to be a chaplain of distinc-tion.”

This goal, along with sup-port from his friends and fel-low ROTC members at home, kept him going throughout the stressful process.

“What I thought in the back of my head was that the soldiers are putting their lives on the line out there; the worst I can get here is to maybe blackout,” Ryu said. “My dream was going to be shattered if I quit.”

Ryu experienced more stress through this process than he had in his entire life, he said. It made him realize the struggles he faced in his daily life were mini-mal compared to what members of the military around the world

experience daily.He believes that what he has

learned through these stressful times will help him as a chap-lain. As a senior at UB, younger members of ROTC often come to him with their problems and he does his best to help.

“Some people do come to me and talk about their problems and, just by listening, they feel better,” Ryu said. “Although I don’t have the power to change all their problems, all I can do is say good things about it, encour-age them, but just by doing that they feel much better and they get to move on.”

This is Ryu’s final year at UB, and he will continue working toward his goal of becoming a chaplain.

“[Ryu] is the perfect exam-ple of leadership,” Hights said. “His peers, his subordinates and even [officers] look to him for answers. He leads by example – is firm, but fair – and makes sound, timely decisions.”

Ryu accomplished something very few in the country could. He trained with the “best of the best” and completed his mis-sion.

He never quit. He never rang that bell.


Space is the other major obsta-cle athletics faces in developing its plan.

Construction of the Ortman Tennis Center was slated to be-gin in 2013 but has been pushed back due to departmental discus-sions on both space and money.

The athletics development team decided to place the field house in the area north of UB Stadium, where they had previ-ously planned to build the ten-nis center. Instead, the plan is to build the tennis center on top of the courts located near the Elli-cott Complex.

The department expects a price quote on the building of a one-story tennis building at the Ellicott location in the coming weeks.

The plans to upgrade UB Sta-dium include building football headquarters, “hiding” the track to move fans closer to the field and lowering the field to in-

crease seating. Greene cited Boi-se State’s Bronco Field as an ex-ample of the direction athletics is trying to move with the stadi-um.

Boise State increased its sta-dium’s capacity from 14,500 to 36,387 in 2012 by building over the track, moving fans closer to the field.

Greene said he has discussed many different options about the stadium with both White and Assistant Athletic Director for Development Eric Gross, and they have left all of their options open.

The department is also in-volved in an effort to build a standalone recreation center, which would make Alumni Are-na exclusively a varsity athletics building. Greene said this would allow athletics to renovate the building, giving it upgrades in fa-cilities and aesthetics.

One of the more vague parts

of the plan involves the future of Kunz Field. Greene said the part the field plays in the ath-letics vision depends upon how the department decides to tack-le other issues – namely the soc-cer stadium currently planned for just north of UB Stadium and the relocation of the track & field team if the track at UB Sta-dium is “hidden.”

Greene also emphasized the importance of Kunz Field from a recreation standpoint, calling it a “multi-purpose facility.”

The buildings within the Facil-ities Master Plan may not come to fruition for another few years, but the plan serves as an illustra-tion of the future of UB Athlet-ics.

“Nothing is permanent,” Greene said. “But it’s a visual way to see what we want to do.”


Continued from page 1: Ryu

SAM FERNANDOSEnior nEwS Editor

About 10 Student Association staff members were “let go” at the beginning of the semester after Student Life ruled them academically ineligible, accord-ing to SA Treasurer Siddhant Chhabria. SA chose not to re-lease the exact number.

Chhabria said SA had to fire the staff members due to the rules and it wasn’t personal.

“Constitutionally, SA is bounded by the academic eligi-bility,” Chhabria said. “SA was following the guidelines it was supposed to.”

UB’s Student Code of Con-duct states that students must abide by all university regula-tions (article 7, section B) to re-main in an on-campus organiza-tion. It also states that only cur-rently registered students are eligible for active membership in student organizations, includ-ing government. Those students appointed or elected must be in “good academic standing.”

UB’s Academic Review poli-cy states that to be academically eligible, SA staff members must

have a GPA above 2.0 – both cumulatively and in the previous semester. They must also be en-rolled in classes full-time.

Student Life informed the e-board of the staff members who were academically ineligi-ble. The e-board does not know the members’ grades or the rea-sons they are no longer eligible for SA employment, but sim-ply that each former employee had failed to meet the universi-ty’s conditions for employment.

“The people who no longer work for us couldn’t work for us because they were no longer eli-gible per university policy,” said SA President Sam McMahon.

Student Life carries out its “academic review” at the end of each fall and spring semester.

Chhabria said SA filled some of vacant positions left after the firings, but the e-board chose to eliminate some positions alto-gether. The stipends of the un-filled positions were absorbed back into the SA budget.


Academic ineligibility plagues Student Association

Saturday night and early Sun-day morning, eight students were sent to the hospital after Univer-sity Police (UPD) responded to multiple medical emergencies in-volving students suspected to be smoking marijuana.

UB Spokesperson John Della Contrada said the students were released from the hospital this morning.

In a UB Alert, UPD said the victims experienced trouble breathing, dizziness, nausea and general disorientation. The no-tice explained it is possible that the illegal drugs were mixed with other substances unknown to the user, causing unexpected symp-toms.

“This warning is provid-ed so that you may take what-ever action is deemed necessary for your safety,” the alert stated. “Members of the community are urged to be vigilant at all times. Report any unusual circumstanc-es or suspicious persons and ac-tivities to the University Police as soon as possible.”


Eight students hospitalized; police believe marijuana is the cause

Cuomo explores possible relo-cation of the Bills

Last week, Gov. Andrew Cuo-mo created a panel of five peo-ple tasked with exploring options for a new Buffalo Bills Stadium.

Howard B. Glaser, director of state operations and Cuomo’s se-nior policy advisor, said in a let-ter: “The purpose of the group is to explore options for develop-ment and construction of a new stadium in Western New York to serve as a home for the Bills, a catalyst for economic growth and a premier sports and enter-tainment venue for the region.”

A year ago, the team, with sup-port from state and county leg-islators, negotiated a deal for the 10-year lease with a $400 million relocation penalty if the team moves. After the seventh year of the contract, however, the pen-alty would drop to $28.4 million but team officials said they didn’t intend to leave.

According to The Buffalo News, Cuomo said he would consid-er relocation in the next 10 years “if it is financially feasible and intelligent from a development point of view.”

In 2012, the Bills signed a 10-year lease to remain at their cur-rent stadium in Orchard Park. They received $130 million for renovations – $54 million from the state, $41 million from the county and $35 million from the team.

Many say relocating the stadi-um closer to the Buffalo would give the city an economic boost. The cost of a building a new sta-dium – based on the league aver-age – is roughly $800 million to $1 billion.

Florida trial ends in partial verdict and mistrial

On Saturday, the trial of Mi-chael Dunn, a man accused of killing 17-year-old Jordan Davis over a dispute about loud music, ended in a partial verdict. The jury said they couldn’t decide if Dunn had acted in self-defense or was guilty of murder.

On Nov. 23, Dunn entered a gas station and parked next to the SUV in which Davis and his three friends were listening to loud music, according to The New York Times. Dunn asked them to turn it down, but when they re-fused an argument ensued.

Dunn claimed he saw a shot-gun pointed at him from the backseat and was acting in self-

defense when he fired a hand-gun at the vehicle. Dunn fired at the backseat of the vehicle as it pulled away, hitting Davis three times and killing him.

Dunn left the scene of the crime and was arrested in the next morning, after seeing the news that Davis had been killed the night prior. Police never found the shotgun Dunn claimed to have seen.

After four days of delibera-tion, the jury found Dunn guilty of three counts of attempted second-degree murder, which each carry a 20-year minimum mandatory sentence. The jury also found him guilty of shoot-ing or throwing a deadly missile, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The judge declared a mistri-al on the count of the first-de-gree murder of Davis. The State Attorney, Angela Corey, said she planned to retry Dunn for first degree-murder.

American law firm targeted in government spying scandal, Snowden says

The U.S. government may have been spying on an American law firm, according to top-secret documents obtained by The New York Times.

Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency con-tractor who revealed govern-ment secrets to various news or-ganizations, leaked a document that showed the government monitored the communication between the law firm and its cli-ent, the Indonesian government.

An NSA affiliate, the Austra-lian Signals Directorate, told the NSA the Australian agency had been surveilling the talks be-tween the law firm and the Indo-nesian government – saying, “in-formation covered by attorney-client privilege may be included.”

The Australian Signals Direc-torate asked the NSA how to conduct the surveillance and the NSA “provided clear guidance,” according to the document.

The NSA declined to answer questions to The New York Times.

Duane Layton, a lawyer in the trade talks, said he was unaware of any surveillance of him or his law firm.


News briefs

Continued from page 1: Athletics

ubspectrum.com 3Monday, February 17, 2014

opinion

Friday, February 17, 2014Volume 63 Number 50

Circulation 7,000

Trayvon Martin. Jonathan Fer-rell. Renisha McBride. Jordan Da-vis.

It’s not a list anyone would want to join. Martin, Ferrell, Mc-Bride and Davis are all dead – shot by strangers who said they were “menacing,” “suspicious” and “up to no good.”

In other words, they were black. Ferrell was 24 when he was

shot 10 times by a white po-lice officer last September as he sought help after crashing his car in a suburban North Caroli-na neighborhood. McBride, who was 19 years old, died in Novem-ber after knocking on a stranger’s door in Detroit. The homeowner, who was white, greeted her with a shotgun blast to the face. Both men are currently awaiting trial.

‘Stand Your Ground’ is a self-defense statute that was made in-famous by Martin’s death. It is employed in 22 states. It gives in-dividuals the right to use dead-ly force to defend themselves in a dangerous situation. This right is being abused, however, by people who consider a black person to be a “dangerous situation.”

A 2013 study that analyzed the FBI’s data on homicide found that, compared to the 2.21 per-cent of white-on-white homi-cides that were deemed justifi-able, 11.41 percent of white-on-black homicides were deemed justifiable. In Stand Your Ground states, that number rises to 16.85 percent.

That is, frankly, terrifying.It is racism encapsulated in

a percentage, one which dem-onstrates beyond all reasonable doubt that it is easier to get away with murder if you are white and your victim is black. It is an out-right denial of racial equality and a resounding threat to black Americans.

On Feb. 15, the jury in the trial of Michael Dunn, a Florida man

who shot Davis, a black 17-year-old, could not reach a verdict on the charge of first-degree murder. A case that, arguably, would have been open and shut, deadlocked a jury for days because of the am-biguity of Stand Your Ground. The prosecution intends to retry the case. Dunn was convicted on three counts of attempted mur-der, which could lead to a 60-year prison sentence, as well as one charge of shooting or throwing a deadly missile, which is punish-able by up to 15 years in prison.

Dunn approached Davis and his three teenage friends, who were also black, in a gas station parking lot in Jacksonville, Fla., and asked them to turn down their music, which Dunn later re-ferred to as “thug music” and “rap crap” – terminology that suggests his motivation was root-ed in racial confrontation and not self-defense.

After arguing and exchang-ing racial epithets and expletives, Dunn claimed he saw Davis reach for a shotgun. A weapon was nev-er found – prosecutors argue that Dunn falsified the detail to bolster his case for self-defense. That sin-gle details allowed Dunn to shield himself with Stand Your Ground and avoid a murder charge.

The story eerily echoes the events surrounding Martin’s death, which occurred less than two hours away from the Jackson-ville gas station where Davis died. Martin was also 17 years old when the now-acquitted George Zim-merman shot him. Like Dunn, Zimmerman claimed self-defense in the shooting of the unarmed black teen, protecting himself with Stand Your Ground.

Crucially, the statute has no re-quirement to evade or retreat. The provision offers less strin-gent criteria for the authoriza-tion of deadly force than justi-fiable homicide laws, which re-

quire proof beyond all reasonable doubt that the victim’s intent was to commit violence.

There are certainly situations in which violence is necessary and justifiable as a means of self-de-fense. In those cases, the legal protection of justifiable homi-cide laws is not just merited, but vital. But Stand Your Ground is not about protection. It’s about violence. The provision allows for unchecked aggression and un-needed confrontation to go with-out retribution.

In Stand Your Ground jurisdic-tions, the burden of proof in ho-micide cases seems inexplicably shifted to the dead. The burden weighs even more heavily in cas-es when those shoulders are dark-skinned.

Stand Your Ground allowed the death of a 17-year-old, armed with only Skittles and iced tea, to go unpunished. It has permit-ted Dunn to avoid a guilty verdict after initiating a confrontation, pausing to load his weapon and shooting 10 bullets at unarmed teens as they fled.

It tells the young black citizens of this nation that they don’t de-serve the same protection that an-gry white men receive.

It forces us to ask the question: If Davis weren’t black, would he still be breathing? Or at the very least, would Dunn have heard five guilty verdicts instead of four?


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EDITORIAL BOARD

EDITOR IN CHIEFAaron Mansfield

MANAGING EDITORS

Lisa KhourySara DiNatale

OPINION EDITOR

Anthony Hilbert

COPY EDITORSTress Klassen, Chief

Amanda JowseySamaya Abdus-Salaam

NEWS EDITORS

Sam Fernando, SeniorAmanda Low

Madelaine Britt, Asst.

FEATURES EDITORSKeren Baruch, Senior

Anne Mulrooney, Asst.Brian Windschitl, Asst.

Emma Janicki, Asst.

ARTS EDITORSJoe Konze Jr., Senior

Jordan OscarMeg Weal, Asst.

SPORTS EDITORS

Ben Tarhan, SeniorOwen O’Brien

Tom Dinki, Asst.

PHOTO EDITORSAline Kobayashi, Senior

Chad CooperJuan David Pinzon, Asst.

Yusong Shi, Asst.

CARTOONISTAmber Sliter

CREATIVE DIRECTORS

Brian KeschingerAndres Santandreu, Asst.

PROFESSIONAL STAFF

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR

Helene Polley

ADVERTISING MANAGEREmma Callinan

Drew Gaczewski, Asst. Chris Mirandi, Asst.

ADVERTISING DESIGNER

Ashlee FosterTyler Harder, Asst.Jenna Bower, Asst.

Young, black and shot to death‘Stand Your Ground’ encourages violence on streets, increases racial bias in courtrooms

Percentage of Homicides Ruled Justified, 2005-10**Source: 2005-10 FBI Uniform Crime Statistics Supplementary Homicide Reports.

White on white

White on black

Black on white

Black on black

Total

2.21 1.68 3.51

11.41 9.51 16.85

1.20 1.13 1.40

2.43 2.15 3.16

2.57 2.15 3.67

Total

Non-Stand Your ground

States

Stand Your ground states

As the question of the Bills’ fu-ture in Buffalo grows more ur-gent, opinions across the city are as passionate as they are divided.

The Spectrum’s editorial board is no different. Attempting to reach a cohesive conclusion after delib-erating the pros and cons of ren-ovating the Bills’ current home in Orchard Park, or building a new stadium in downtown Buffalo proves a daunting task.

Last week, Gov. Andrew Cuo-mo appointed the first five mem-bers of a panel he created to ex-plore the possibility of build-ing a new football stadium in an attempt to ensure the franchise stays in the area. But the financial and logistical feasibility, and the necessity of such a dramatic step, are deeply questionable.

Building an entirely new stadi-um would cost between $800 mil-lion and $1 billion, and renovating the current stadium would come with a $400-500 million price tag. Much of this would come from public subsidies and tax increas-

es. Public funding helped sup-port new stadiums and major ren-ovations in New Orleans, Kansas City and Cincinnati. But Buffalo is a smaller market, and the bur-den on taxpayers would be heavi-er.

A new stadium would come on the heels of major renovation projects downtown, like the First Niagara Center expansion, which hosts the Buffalo Sabres, the con-struction of the new UB medical campus and the block-by-block revitalization of Main Street that is gradually restoring traffic and increasing economic activity.

The presence of an NFL stadi-um in the city would certainly at-tract vast numbers of people on game days and, ideally, encour-age a crop of new businesses to accommodate masses of football fans looking for bars and restau-rants where they could enjoy the pre-game and post-game hours.

But Buffalo’s metropolitan in-frastructure isn’t designed to han-dle a surge of 70,000-plus peo-

ple converging upon all forms of public transit and packing the surrounding streets. Though the cash flow that a stadium full of Bills fans would generate is un-doubtedly appealing, it doesn’t necessarily justify the construc-tion, complication and chaos that would dominate the downtown area for years.

A brand new stadium is undeni-ably appealing and it seems like an attractive option to diehard Bills fans, who long to show their team some love despite the Bills’ losing record. But true fans of the Bills have a place in their hearts for the stadium.

The structural foundation is in question, and the 40-year-old ven-ue appeared on Bleacher Report’s list of the NFL’s 10 worst stadi-ums. But Bills fans eagerly extol the virtues of the Ralph.

Its location in Orchard Park, surrounded by open fields, of-fers expansive space for tailgating, unlike the more crowded park-ing lots of most downtown sta-

diums. Though the famously lax open-container laws, long cele-brated by Bills fans, have recently been amended, the stadium’s cele-brated reputation for intoxication can’t be replicated.

The Ralph is currently undergo-ing a $130 million upgrade, add-ing new entrances, a sports-bar style lounge and a larger score-board. The project, which will be completed by the 2014 season, aims to improve fans’ game-day experience. For the devoted Bills fans here at The Spectrum, that ex-perience needs to remain at the Ralph.

While building an entirely new stadium makes more headlines than a renovation, the low-risk option holds a certain nostalgic appeal and is clearly a safer move for the Buffalo economy. It’s not always right to take the risk – sometimes it’s a mistake to go for it on fourth and one.


In with the old, out with the new?Buffalo stands divided on the fate of Ralph Wilson Stadium

Art By AMBER SLITER


LifE, ArtS & EntErtAinMEnt

TORI ROSEMANStAff writEr

Dominique Hickson, a sopho-more computer engineering ma-jor, gave a brief sermon about forgiveness before Thursday’s re-hearsal.

“You need to be able to for-give, because at the end of the day, you and that person are go-ing to the same place,” Hickson said. “You’re going to have to en-counter them there. It would be so much easier to forgive them here on this earth than struggle with a grudge over the course of your life.”

Joining hands and bowing heads, Hickson and her fellow choir members formed a circle to meditate on their thoughts.

Moments later, they stepped into formation to begin warming up. And when the group struck its first note, the silence broke inside 112 Norton Hall. Their voices rang in harmony and filled the lecture hall.

It was a typical rehearsal for UB’s Gospel Choir, a Student Association club that has been giving students a place to sing and discuss their religious beliefs since 1977. At practice, choir members were divided based on vocal tone, but that seemed to be the only present division. Their close-knit nature makes rehears-als feel more like family gather-

ings. Diane Deroche, a junior nurs-

ing major and the group’s pres-ident, said the choir members have become tight.

“We don’t spend every rehears-al singing the entire two hours,” Deroche said. “Some rehearsals, we don’t sing at all and just hang out together. We have dinner and talk about things outside the choir … It’s really brought every-one together.”

Deroche said when she trans-ferred to UB, the choir helped her feel welcome. When Der-oche came to the university, her friend introduced her to various

clubs on campus, including UB’s Gospel Choir.

“I immediately felt comfort-able, so I joined and have stayed ever since,” Deroche said. “We’re all on the same page, all believ-ing in the same thing. Some peo-ple have been involved with the club since freshman year, and I see why.”

The choir specializes in urban contemporary gospel, which de-rives from hymns and African-American spirituals characterized by strong vocal harmonies and lyrics used to express Christian beliefs. Members rehearse twice a week and typically perform two concerts per year – one in the

winter and one in the spring. The group uses elements in its

songs like repetition and sing-ing in call-and-response. Most of the performances are a cappella, though the choir occasionally in-cludes guitars, pianos or tambou-rines to provide a beat.

The choir also sings subgenres of gospel music, including Celtic gospel, gospel blues and South-ern gospel, based on members’ cultural backgrounds, the songs’ lyrical content and the music’s origins.

After Thursday night’s warm-up, senior social sciences major Amanda Lambert led as conduc-

tor, shouting to the group: “You should look stupid as you sing – it works. Open your mouth; close your eyes; do what you have to do – y’all will sound better.”

As rehearsal slowly came to an end, a few members rushed to leave, nearly having lost track of time. But like music is rooted in religion, the choir members are rooted to their familial group – they’ll all be back next week.

The choir’s next show is on April 26 at the Newman Center.


ERIC CULVERStAff writEr

Walking through the doors, customers are greeted by a dig-nified staircase with bright lights ascending upon golden rails, in-viting them to walk up the mighty stairs. At the top of the stairs, there is a robust ambiance that fills the room; even unoccu-pied, the atmosphere is lively.

Once a jazz club, Tralf Mu-sic Hall, located on 622 Main St. in Buffalo, has proven to extend beyond one genre.

Since the venue opened in 1982, comedy, R&B, singer/songwriter, rock, indie and blues acts were included in addition to jazz.

“People come here to have fun and relax,” said Jeremy Hoyle, Tralf ’s public relations director. “With a town that we live in, a hard working town, people need a place to be able to come and forget about their troubles for a while and enjoy great hospitality and great entertainment.”

Owner Tom Barone, who has promoted shows in Buffalo’s concert halls and clubs, believes the Tralf is different.

“No other room has the com-bination the Tralf has,” Barone

said. “The Tralf is the only local venue that offers a concert set-ting with the concert-goer seated at a table.”

The Tralf ’s full-service bar and kitchen coupled with its musical atmosphere provides an original experience.

The main room is designed like a recording studio with bass traps, clouds and acoustics es-sential to creating a better sound quality.

For Laura Quackenbush, a graduate student in UB’s school of management, the Tralf is the

best venue when it comes to sound and intimacy.

Quackenbush recognized the sound was contained when she was at the “A Great Big World” show on Jan. 18. The band walked in with its instruments and performed a song right in

the middle of the audience.“It took a couple of minutes

for the audience to quiet down, but once we did, it was amplified naturally by the space they were in,” Quackenbush said.

For 31 years, the historic Tralf Music Hall has hosted perfor-mances by iconic music legends and artists such as Prince and Tim Reynolds from the Dave Mathews Band.

The Tralf continues to attract people with stellar performanc-es from a wide variety of musi-cal genres.

“We present a lot of different things here and the Tralf has al-ways done that, so we try to keep that tradition of variety,” said Hoyle. “Eclectic music is also important to the history of the [venue].”

Behind the main stage of the Tralf ’s historical walls, a small white room is covered with var-ious artists’ signatures, waiting to be filled with more.


A venue in tune with its audienceTralf Music Hall offers comfort, intimacy and variety of music performers

Spiritual, musical connections unite UB’s Gospel Choir

JUAN D. PINzON, The SpecTrum Some of the world’s most renowned musicians have performed at the Buffalo venue Tralf Music Hall.

PRISCILLA KABILAMANY, The SpecTrumUB’s Gospel Choir warms up as members begin rehearsals for their upcoming spring con-cert in the Newman Center. From left to right: Amanda Lambert, secretary, Damon Evans, a sophomore, Vanessa Ashun, a senior, David Turner, a graduate student, Desiree Opoku, a junior, Brianna Alexander, a junior and Dominique Hickson, a sophomore.


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Dr. Steve McCaffery believes biologists and poets don’t have to be so different.

McCaffery, an English profes-sor and the David Gray Chair of Poetry and Letters, is aware that education at UB, and through-out the nation, is becoming in-creasingly concerned with the STEM fields rather than the lib-eral arts. As UB dedicates a new campus downtown to medicine, McCaffery wants to see the sci-ences and humanities fuse. He wants to redefine the perception of liberal arts.

McCaffery believes it is possi-ble to attract students outside of liberal arts to literature courses through innovative and integrat-ed curriculum.

“The law and poetry come very close together in the area of rhetoric, in the art of persua-sion,” McCaffery said. “I would like to see something like poet-ics and nanotechnology, for in-stance, or what can we do with poetics and cognitive linguis-tics.”

In 1968, the English native graduated from Hull Universi-ty in Hull, Yorkshire. He said, at the time, young writers and thinkers were talking about a language revolution. Their be-lief was, to change politics, “you have to change the language,” McCaffery said.

McCaffery, who became a UB professor in 2004, believes to-day’s digitalization of communi-cation has caused a radical rev-olution in language – leading to the combination of poetry and technology.

The language revolutions of the late 1960s and that of to-day may differ in causes and modes of expression, but both account for a seismic shift in not only the study and produc-

tion of literature but in the ways in which people communicate in multiple fields.

Innovation is an important component of McCaffery’s cre-ative work and is a method that is applicable to life for those outside of the liberal arts.

“I feel like there are differ-ent areas of innovation one can pursue,” McCaffery said. “Inno-vation might be a personal inno-vation; something you’ve never done.”

McCaffery’s works extend be-yond literature and poetry – he’s choreographed a dance, written a dance libretto, collaborated in writing operas and has been commissioned to produce art-work. He’s also performed his poetry and read scholarly works at over 20 festivals around the globe.

As the David Gray Chair of Poetry and Letters, McCaf-fery teaches courses in the Po-etics Program. Non-literature students can access the poet-ic world of the English Depart-ment through the program’s se-ries of poetry readings called “Poetics Plus,” which McCaf-fery organizes at venues in downtown Buffalo.

Divya Victor, an English in-structor, believes the Poetics Program’s classes and public readings attract students of dif-ferent disciplines through the program’s combination of inter-ests and approaches to the study of poetry.

Liam Saiia, a sophomore Eng-lish and philosophy major, is currently taking Creative Writ-ing with McCaffery. Saiia said he chose to take the course because

he wanted to learn from “a pub-lished writer and [one who is] acclaimed in his field.”

Saiia, who read some of Mc-Caffery’s poetry in another Eng-lish class, said McCaffery does not teach his own work nor does he even mention it in class.

“There is a sense of accessi-bility that anyone can [write cre-atively] if they want,” Saiia said.

The English professor, who has published 23 books of po-etry, two works of fiction, 21 chapbooks and has had 305 texts published in 133 maga-zines, catalogues and antholo-gies, encourages students to see literature as not divorced from life, but an integral part of it.

“[There is] a sense of learning and bettering yourself that is so applicable to everything,” Saiia said of McCaffery’s class. “You

learn a way of how to look at the world.”

McCaffery sees the study of liberal arts as the practice of life and living and morality through literature. He said his courses are “as much on living as on lit-erature.”

“For me creativity is, first of all, assembling raw material and then you sculpt it,” he said. “You piece it, change it around, delete.”

For McCaffery, the future of education at UB and nationwide could benefit from sculpting curriculum that fuses together the liberal arts and STEM fields.


Sculpting a new perception of the liberal artsFrom choreography to composition, professor McCaffery tests the limits of academia

BRIAN WINDSCHITLASSt. fEAturES Editor

Sacha Dix, a senior Asian studies major, said she’s been “sheltered” ever since she was a kid. Dix has been struggling with her introverted personali-ty for as long as she can remem-ber.

She’s not alone. Introversion is something many students face and a lot of people misinter-pret. Last week, Counseling Ser-vices held “Quiet: A Workshop for Introverts” to tackle these issues. Some incorrectly equate introversion to social anxiety, according to Thomas Neill, a clinical social worker for Coun-seling Services.

The population is split even-ly between extroverts and intro-verts, according to Counseling Services’ presentation.

Neill set up the workshop to help educate students as part of a “social movement” because people often mislabel introverts, he said.

“It’s [introversion], not shy-ness or an impairment, as often thought,” Neill said. “Introverts recharge their emotional batter-ies by having downtime alone,

whereas extroverts recharge their emotional batteries by be-ing with others.”

Neill encourages students to understand introverts before judging them.

“If you don’t really under-stand a person, you are going to judge them somehow,” said Dix, who attended the Feb. 12 work-shop.

The “Quiet” presenters want-ed to use the workshop as a way to overturn the idea that intro-version is unnatural.

Jonathan Schmaltz, a doctoral psychology intern in Counseling Services, said “introversion is looked down upon.” He added that society is structured around high levels of stimulation.

“We live in an over-stimulated society,” Neill said. “I think ev-eryone is getting a better under-standing of the need for quiet downtime.”

For certain people, solitude is crucial, according the presenta-tion. The people who become energized and focused from calm, controlled isolation are known as introverts.

Students like Dix prefer, at times, to say away from other students and to “do [their] own

thing,” she said. Ivan Cao, a sophomore com-

munication major, said his in-troversion intensified in high school.

“I tried to isolate myself from other students,” he said.

Cao attended the workshop to gain a better understanding of himself and introversion.

Neill, an introvert himself, encourages students who are

struggling to come in to Coun-seling Services and talk. Stu-dents may not think their inter-personal style warrants help or support, according to Neill.

“They may feel they need to be majorly depressed or some-thing more severe to come in,” he added.

But not everyone needs help, he emphasized. Introverts “do not necessarily suffer.”

Dix said college has given her

“more room to grow into [her-self] as a whole.” For Dix, the problem was not specifically in-troversion, but rather not fully understanding herself.

“As long as you know who you are, as long as you remem-ber who you are, you will be just fine,” Dix said.


Inside the mind of an introvertWorkshop explores misconceptions about varying personalities

ISHANNA HIDALgO, The SpecTrumDr. Steve McCaffery, an English professor and the David Gray Chair of Poetry and Letters, hopes to spread a new perception of the liberal arts around UB.

MICHELLE NgUYEN, The SpecTrumThomas Neill (left), a clinical social worker for Counseling Services, speaks with Sacha Dix, a senior Asian studies major. Both individuals consider themselves introverts. UB’s Counseling Services held “Quiet: A Workshop for Introverts” to educate students on introversion and accompanying misconceptions.


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Though Buffalo likely would not be 14-8 right now, a tough-er early-season slate would have benefitted the team. Early on, Ball State was playing schools like Butler and Marquette, and Ohio was taking on Ohio State and UMass. Meanwhile, Buffa-lo was challenging West Virginia Wesleyan and Binghamton.

But it’s all in the past. UB took a tough loss Saturday, yet it might’ve been necessary for the squad to grow.

This is the point at which we find out who the Bulls really are. Are they an average MAC team that beat up on lesser competi-tion early in the year? Or are they a contender finally playing – and learning from its games against – some equal opposition?

This is where we find out. In-cluding Saturday, four of their fi-nal six games are against Ohio and Akron, their top competi-tion in the East.

We got a glimpse at the an-swer Saturday. There is a lot of championship potential on this team. They are very talented. When they’re locked in, the Bulls play serious ‘D’ – just watch some of the clips of Shannon Evans against Ohio.

Based on Saturday’s crowd, it seems fans are getting the memo that this team has the potential to win the MAC. For the first time this season, almost every section in Alumni Arena was full, even the 300s, and the fans were loud. The environment matched the liveliness of the game.

When Evans threw down a dunk to put the Bulls up 57-52, the place erupted. It was the first time since 2011-12 I’ve felt that type of energy in Alumni Arena.

So, does this team warrant the fans?

First, the bad: The squad’s lack of depth is a weakness. Right now, coach Bobby Hurley is go-ing eight deep, but Xavier Ford and Justin Moss are not getting serious minutes. So he’s essen-tially playing a six-man rotation. If someone gets into foul trou-ble or gets hurt, or Jarryn Skeete never fully recovers from his an-kle injury, UB could be in danger in the conference tourney. But I think they’re going to surprise people.

That’s because of the good: They’re finally getting that expe-rience they so desperately need, and all of them – perhaps first-year coach Hurley most impor-tantly – will learn from it.

“We are learning how to win,” Hurley said. “Hopefully we are learning how to close these games out down the stretch.”

They have a lot of learning left to do – the Bulls are 1-4 in games decided by three points or fewer. But I genuinely believe they are learning.

Wednesday’s matchup against Akron is pivotal, and it will be a “white-out,” as UB is sort of try-ing to fill the Arena with white. Why “sort of?” Because ad-ministration is charging $10 for white-out shirts. I’ve never heard of charging fans for white-out shirts.

Ignore the foolish marketing and come to the game. The en-vironment has the potential to change games, and you could be a part of the resurgence.

Also ignore the team’s poor play down the stretch today – because this year’s squad has the potential to change UB basket-ball history.


Continued from page 8: Tough loss

ANNE MULROONEYASSt. fEAturES Editor

In 17 Norton Hall, Daniel Loebell, a junior Asian studies major with a global gender stud-ies and Chinese minor, stood wearing a red Peking Univer-sity hoodie, digging deep into his Totoro pencil case. He was looking for a pen while getting ready to make a presentation on his abroad experience in China last semester – one of the best experiences of his life, he said.

Loebell is the only UB student who has gone to China through the Chinese Studies Institute (CSI) to study at Beijing Univer-sity. He found his time abroad to be a fruitful experience, even with China’s controversial cen-sorship policies and pollution problems, he said.

The program, established in 1981, encourages students from all over the world to ex-perience Chinese culture. Af-ter finding the program through SUNY Brockport, Loebell met students from Lebanon, Nepal, India, Sweden and areas around the United States. He developed close ties with students from around the world, the program directors and even his profes-sors, who bought him a cake for his 21st birthday. The sense of trust within the community was one of the best parts of the ex-perience, according to Loebell.

“The program coordina-

tors would always be on top of things,” Loebell said. “Anytime the pollution was bad or any-time we needed to be alerted of something, they would always go out of their way to email us on time. I never felt that my professors were keeping us in the dark, even in a country that keeps a lot of its people in the dark.”

Internet censorship is an issue of controversy within and out-side of China’s walls. The com-munist government frequently attempts to control what its citi-zens can read, discuss and share online.

“When you go onto web-sites like YouTube, Facebook, The New York Times, even BBC, you’ll get a message that says,

‘The connection was reset.’ That’s just another way of say-ing that China’s censorship fire-wall is blocking this site,” Loe-bell said.

Despite the government’s at-tempts, finding ways around the firewall didn’t prove to be difficult – it was only a matter of looking up a Virtual Private Network (VNP) to get around them.

“We even learned vo-cab words in class for getting around firewalls,” Loebell said. “It’s something even Chinese ci-vilians use to get access.”

Although the restrictions on free information were troubling, Loebell found the fast pace and pollution of Beijing’s urbanized neighborhoods to be the most

inconvenient parts of staying in the city.

Beijing has the second worst living environment among 40 other major cities around the world, according to the Shang-hai Academy of Social Sciences. Businesses and school activities are often canceled due to health risks caused by the smog out-side. Hong Li, an associate pro-fessor of the CSI program, ex-pressed concern for the safety of the students and citizens of Beijing in an email.

“A big concern we have is about air quality in Beijing, es-pecially during the winter time,” Li said. “[We] hope the govern-ment may have some more ef-fective measures to improve the air quality so that the city will become a much more attractive destination for students coming to China.”

Though he had to work around China’s pollution and censorship laws, Loebell views the trip as an ultimately positive experience. He is strongly con-sidering going back to China to work after college.

During his time abroad, he in-terned at Women’s Watch Chi-na, a nongovernmental orga-nization law firm dedicated to protecting women’s rights and advocating for gender equali-ty with free services. Many of their lawyers dispute land rights cases, dealing with recently wid-owed women whose land has

been confiscated by village com-munities.

The internship was the per-fect compliment to Loebell’s chosen major and minors, and he believes it augmented his ex-perience abroad.

“It certainly raised my interest in the field of law,” Loebell said. “I’d also like to consider work-ing in China for a time because that’s the best way to improve my Mandarin speaking skills.”

Loebell enjoyed his time in the workplace as well as on cam-pus. His favorite place to spend time was on a pavilion overlook-ing a fishpond, which was once part of the emperor’s imperi-al gardens. Although much of it has been replaced by univer-sity buildings or destroyed by foreign invasions, the architec-ture and general organization of campus is still rich in histo-ry and beauty, according to Loe-bell.

“They really love their impe-rial history there,” Loebell said. “They really try to maintain a lot of this historical architec-ture … seeing the old, dried up moats around campus make you realize that there was something grand here.”

Loebell’s taste of adventure abroad has made him not only stronger in the language, but also more cultured.


Success despite politics and pollutionDaniel Lobell is first UB student to travel to China through CSI Program

MEgAN WEALASSt. ArtS Editor

The crowd before her rose

to their feet, an eruption of ap-plause broke out and the Twit-tersphere exploded in response.

The speaker choked up with emotion, but smiled as she ac-cepted the support being sent to her from around the room.

Former Oscar nominee Ellen Page announced her true sex-ual identity during the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s (HRCF) Time to Thrive speech in Las Vegas on Feb. 14, tell-ing the room and the watching world that she was a lesbian.

“I am here today because I am gay,” Page said. “I am tired of hiding, and I am tired of ly-ing by omission.”

Support flooded in while many people took to social me-dia to raise the question: Why is someone’s coming out still a major headline?

While our generation is sig-nificantly more accepting than years prior, only 69 percent of 18-34 year olds and 52 percent of 35-54 year olds support gay

marriage (according to Gal-lup.com). Only 38 percent of those 55 years or older showed the same support. In such a so-ciety, someone’s sexuality is still breaking news.

The young actress was thrown to the top of U.S. trends on Twitter, fellow ce-lebrities offered public support and E! News promptly removed its web article that said Page looked like a “massive man.”

The intense pressure of Hol-lywood’s industry has taken its victims dignity across decades – Page refused to be one of them.

Page emphasized the harm of gender stereotypes and the “standards of beauty” that cir-culate throughout society.

Addressing the supportive audience, Page said: “You’ve adopted, as a core motivation, the simple fact that this world would be a whole lot better if we just made an effort to be less horrible to one another.”

The entertainment industry grasps onto an inherent desire for negative, destructive gossip. Page is by no means the first ce-lebrity to oppose the backlash and abuse that a gay person fac-es in that setting every day, and she won’t be the last.

While the entertainment in-dustry’s perception and recep-tion of the Lesbian Gay Bisex-ual Transgender Queer (LG-BTQ) community is changing for the better, its stigma still re-mains.

Noting the privacy depri-

vation that comes with fame, many would argue that those in the entertainment industry should expect the scrutiny. But despite the troubling truth that many publications flourish on downfalls of the famous, Page acknowledged a fact that many celebrities tend to overlook: the problem is not only with those in the public eye, but with all ages and walks of life.

Her speech resonated with many, as she bravely confront-ed the dishonor attached to the LGBTQ community and ad-dressed a much wider audience: everyone. Page pleaded that ig-norant and negative stereotypes be removed from our societal vocabulary. But is this possible?

The HRCF’s Time To Thrive conference highlighted the im-portance of eliminating gender discrimination and inspired so-lutions that will ignite a univer-sal acceptance of all sexual ori-entations.

The positive response from Page’s speech makes a coura-geous jump away from previous generations and toward a time when confessing sexuality is no longer even necessary.

Page’s speech further promot-ed an image of a society that ac-cepts the openness of all sexu-alities. Her public move valiant-ly underscored a vital need for change.


Will Hollywood ever be truly accepting? Ellen Page comes out as gay at Time to Thrive Conference

CourtESy of DANIEL LOEBELL

Daniel Loebell, a junior Asian studies major, is the first UB student to travel abroad to China through the CSI Program. He said he learned a lot despite the political tensions and pollution there.

Want to know what’s happening in UB Athletics? Our sports trio is talking about it. Check out the Spectrum Sports 360 podcast at ubspectrum.com.


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1 Pre-delivery period 6 Beaver-built blockages10 Fall on ___ ears14 Visibly astonished15 To shelter, on waves16 Wise about17 Words in a phrase after “ashes”19 Higher than20 Playground fixture21 They love pas22 Beat badly23 Peer group25 Class within a class27 Chief artery32 Old hand33 Chevron rival34 En route, as a package36 Adjust as you must40 Albanian bucks41 Greek underworld43 Bassoon kin44 Ply46 Spice world?47 Yorkshire river48 Preschooler50 Ushered52 Redo, as a room56 Chow down57 Impulse carrier

Edited by Timothy E. Parker February 17, 2014GOOD TO GO By Mary Jersey

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SportS

The men’s basketball team en-tered the most difficult part of its Mid-American Conference schedule last week, traveling to Miami Ohio (9-13, 5-6 MAC) on Wednesday night and hosting Ohio (18-7, 8-4 MAC) on Satur-day afternoon.

The Bulls looked dominant at times in both games, defeat-ing theRedHawks handily by a score of 75-62, but they fell 73-70 against Ohio – their first loss at Alumni Arena this season. Three-point shooting: B

The Bulls were solid in their road contest against Miami Ohio, shooting 32 percent from beyond the arc, including four 3-pointers from senior guard Josh Freelove.

But the Bulls faltered from deep Saturday. They attempt-ed six 3-pointers fewer than Wednesday (16 to 22) and shot only 25 percent from long range.

Foul shooting: B+

The Bulls didn’t miss many chances at the free throw line this week, missing just eight of 33 attempts. Senior guard Jarod Oldham hit seven of eight free throws between the two games.

Ball control: B

The Bulls were average against the RedHawks on Wednesday, assisting on 18 shots and turning the ball over 15 times.

But on Saturday afternoon, the Bulls were phenomenal at hold-

ing onto the ball. Buffalo assist-ed on 17 shots, led by Oldham who had six dimes, and turned the ball over just nine times.

Overall offense: B-

Wednesday’s game was impres-sive, as the Bulls handily defeated Miami Ohio on the road, where they have struggled at times this season. On Saturday, the offense showed flashes of brilliance as the Bulls went up by nine and 10 at different points.

But they were also stagnant, particularly during a 12-0 Ohio stretch. The Bulls went 0 for 9 from the field during that stretch, coughing up a 63-53 lead with 9:47 left.

McCrea was dominant offen-sively, grabbing eight offensive boards and scoring 25 and 18 points, respectively.

Rebounding: A-

The Bulls outrebounded both opponents and had more sec-ond-chance points than both op-ponents.

Against the Bobcats, Buffa-lo struggled at times to coral the ball, which showed in Ohio’s 12 second-chance points com-pared to the RedHawks’ two on Wednesday night.

Defense: A-

The Bulls did an outstanding job of forcing turnovers this past week, forcing 15 against Miami Ohio and 13 against Ohio.

They also turned those turn-overs into points, scoring 24 points off turnovers on Wednes-day and 11 on Saturday.

Bench production: B

The Bulls’ bench was mostly quiet on Wednesday night, with freshman guard Shannon Evans scoring just five points and the bench combining for 15.

In his third game back from injury, sophomore guard Jarryn Skeete scored five and six points off the bench, respectively.

Coaching: B+

Against Ball State on Wednes-day, the Bulls could afford to be trigger-happy from the field be-cause of McCrea’s dominant per-formance. The Bulls launched 22 threes and posted a 32 percent

three-point field goal percentage.On Saturday afternoon, there

was little coaching going on down the stretch as the Bulls struggled. The Bulls had the ball with seven seconds left in the game trailing by three, but the play head coach Bobby Hur-ley drew up failed and the Bulls couldn’t get a shot off.


Hardwood Report CardBulls defeat Miami Ohio on the road, fall for first time at Alumni Arena

YUSONg SHI, The SpecTrum

AARON MANSFIELDEditor in ChiEf

Almost everything about Sat-urday’s men’s basketball game was promising through the first 33 minutes. At the 7:00 mark, Buffalo led 63-53.

There were some external fac-tors we need to consider. Ohio was missing a key contributor in injured guard Stevie Taylor, and guard TJ Hall didn’t play signif-icant minutes because he rolled his ankle. The Bobcats hadn’t been great on the road this sea-son (6-4), and Buffalo had been dominant at home (10-1). But it seemed like this would finally be the one – at last, a signature win over Ohio – and the Bulls would take it any way they could get it.

Very promising.That’s because besting the

Bobcats is never easy. Ohio was leading the all-time series 24-8, and they had won the past six matchups between the schools, including a 77-74 heartbreak-er in the MAC tourney in Cleve-land in 2012. UB last beat Ohio in 2010-11.

But on Saturday, things fell apart like it seems they always do against Ohio. The streaks continued. UB went 3 for 12 af-ter that 7:00 mark while Ohio went 8 for 12. It was a 20-7 run that gave the Bobcats a well-de-served 73-70 road win.

“To win these types of games a couple of things have to hap-pen: you have to play pretty well, but they have to miss on oppor-

tunities,” Ohio coach Jim Chris-tian aptly pointed out post-game.

The Bulls did indeed miss on opportunities, and these were vi-tal moments; this game meant more than just defeating the Bulls’ arch-nemesis. (I think it’s fair to give the ’Cats that ti-tle after their 2012 tourney win, which ended with UB’s best player in tears, and the game last year that ended with DJ Cooper cursing out True Blue and steal-ing a sign of him wearing a bi-kini. Yes, that happened. You’re welcome for the reminder.) It meant jockeying for position in a hyper-competitive MAC.

Let’s examine the big picture. MAC West leader Toledo lost badly to Eastern Michigan earli-er Saturday, and with a win UB would have moved into a tie for No. 1 overall in the conference. With the MAC’s triple-bye-for-the-top-two-teams setup, this one was crucial. If you’re at home in the MAC and have all the momentum late in the game against a team missing two of its key players, you need to win that game. The postseason tourna-ment arrangement demands it.

With the game tied at 65, I jotted in my notes: “This is where good teams prove they’re the class of the conference. This is where experience comes into play.” And then I looked at the current season stats. Ohio’s strength of schedule: 119. Buf-falo’s: 241 – worst in the confer-ence.

I know UB is senior-laden, but that’s the experience I’m talking about – playing teams that are as good as you. Before Ohio, Buf-falo had lost against Bowling Green and Ball State, the bot-tom-feeders in each division, in extremely close games. Per-haps that is because those teams have two of the three highest strengths of schedule in confer-ence (82 and 73, respectively).

A big, tough loss for UB, but the team’s potential is immense

SEE TOUgH LOSS, pAGE 6

Men’s basketball team needs to learn from defeat to contend in competitive MAC

Women’s Basketball (14-9, 7-5 Mid-American Conference)

The Bulls defeated North-ern Illinois (8-14, 4-8 MAC) 66-57 Saturday afternoon at Alum-ni Arena.

The Bulls were down 13 points midway through the sec-ond half but went on a 20-1 run to erase the deficit and keep the lead for good. Freshman for-ward Alexus Malone had a dou-ble-double with 10 rebounds and a career-high 20 points.

Buffalo travels to Kent State (5-18, 2-10 MAC) on Wednesday night. Tip is set for 7 p.m.

The full game story can be found at ubspectrum.com.

Men’s Tennis (4-1)

The No. 71 Bulls defeat-ed Duquesne (6-2, 2-0 Atlan-tic 10 Conference) 4-3 at the Miller Tennis Center on Satur-day. Sophomore Akhil Mehta defeated Max Rubin in straight sets in singles to seal the victory for Buffalo. The Bulls will face Marist (0-1) on the road next Saturday.

For full coverage, visit ubspec-trum.com.

BaseballThe Bulls were set to start

their season this weekend at Da-vidson but the all three games were canceled due to snow.

Track & Field

The track & field team com-peted in the SPIRE Division I Invite this weekend in Geneva, Ohio. The men’s team broke two school records.

Sophomore distance runner Cameron Bruce set the UB re-cord for time in the 3000-meter run with a time of 8:18.97 and sophomore distance runner Bri-an Crimmins broke the record in the mile run with a time of 4:08.23.

The Bulls next compete in the Cornell Denault Invite in Ithaca, N.Y., next Saturday.

Women’s Tennis (4-1)

The Bulls had an undefeat-ed weekend and swept both Duquesne (2-4, 1-0 Atlantic 10 Conference) and Niagara (2-1) at the Miller Tennis Center.

The Bulls defeated the Dukes 7-0 on Saturday and continued their dominance by dropping the Purple Eagles 7-0 on Sunday.

The team will head to West Vir-ginia (1-5) next Saturday for a 1 p.m. match. Wrestling (3-16, 0-7 MAC)

The Bulls fell 22-18 at Alum-ni Arena Friday against Bing-hamton (5-11). The Bulls had an 18-10 lead heading into the final three matches, but were un-able to hold on for the victory. The dual meet was won when the Bearcats’ Tyler Deuel pinned freshman heavyweight James Benjamin 50 seconds into the fi-nal match.

The Bulls traveled to East-ern Michigan on Sunday and were defeated 34-6. Senior Nick Flannery won in the 149-pound weight class with an 11-9 deci-sion over Mike Shaw and Ben-jamin won the heavyweight matchup with Khodor Hobol-lah 7-2.

The Bulls will have their last dual meet of the season next Sunday against Northern Illinois (6-11, 1-6 MAC) at Alumni Are-na. The start time of the meet has yet to be announced.


Quick Hits Track & field breaks school records; women’s basketball has big comeback

Senior forward Javon McCrea had 18 points and eight rebounds in the Bulls’ 73-30 loss to Ohio at Alumni Arena on Saturday afternoon.

NICK FISCHETTI, The SpecTrum

Junior Damien David and the men’s tennis team defeated Duquesne, 4-3, at the Miller Tennis Center Saturday.

Video, podcast, photo gallery & more on the web

Documents

The Spectrum Volume 63 Issue 50