The Stony Brook Press - Volume 32, Issue 13

8/6/2019 The Stony Brook Press - Volume 32, Issue 13

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newsVol. XXXII, Issue 13 |Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The expansion of the universe is ac-celerating, and scientists have no ideawhy. Gravity should be slowing this ex-pansion over time, but billions of yearsago it shifted from slowing down tospeeding up.

The cause is attributed to an un-known form of energy, and this energymakes up for nearly three fourths of theentire universes mass. Its name in sci-entific circles is dark energy, yet that issimply a placeholder until the truth isdiscovered. At Brookhaven NationalLab, cosmologists study dark energy, aswell as its companion dark matter, andconduct experiments in the hope ofbreaking new ground on the originsand current nature of our expandinguniverse.

By the end of the decade, these sci-entists hope that a new tool, the LargeSynoptic Survey Telescope, will allowthem to plunge even deeper into thedepths of the sky. The telescope willallow them to collect enormousamounts of data with the hope that inthese troves of information lays the keyto understanding what exactly dark en-ergy and dark matter are.

All we know about them is empir-ical. We dont really have any theoreti-cal understanding of it, says ErinSheldon, a Brookhaven astrophysicistand cosmologist who works with the

Dark Energy Survey, an internationallycollaborative study that will begin col-lecting and analyzing data related to themystery this fall. They will be using afour-meter mirror telescope with theability to survey an expansive amountof space.

Dark energy and dark matter are

two terms now commonly thrownaround in academic circles, and evenused by amateur physics and astronomybuffs, because of the alluring mystery

they provide and the large amount ofresearch being invested in the field ofcosmology, or the study of the creationof the universe. But to the untrainedmind, the two terms are easy to mix up.

Dark energy makes up for between72 and 74 percent of the universesmass-energy density, according to anumber of reports from NASA andother organizations that are fundedthrough the National Science Founda-tion. Its current and generalized defini-tion is the unknown cause for theacceleration of the expansion of the uni-verse.

Dark matter, on the other hand,constitutes for between 21 and 23 per-cent of the universes mass-energy den-sity and is known as an invisible form ofmatter that is causing a noticeable dis-crepancy between what is actually pres-ent in faraway objects, like galaxies indistant clusters, and what were seeing

using our currentmethods. Theproblem is that darkmatter doesnt emitlight, so we can onlysee its effectthrough gravity, ex-

plains Sheldon.Dark energy is

by a widemargin themore compli-cated of thetwo. Frankly,its vague toe v e r y b o d y ,even us.

Theres lots ofother kinds oftheories, butnone of themare even ap-pealing, saysSheldon, ex-plaining thatthe universe isthought tohave ex-

panded after the Big Bang, and thenpulled inward due to gravity.

But instead of slowing down, itlooks like the universe started to speed

up a few billion years ago, he says.This is a shock, and no one really hasan explanation for it.

Unlike dark matter, which was dis-covered in an elementary form in 1934,dark energy arose from the very recentdiscovery in 1998 of the expansion ofthe universe. The study of Type 1a (one-A) supernovae by the High-z SupernovaSearch Team posited this shocking rev-elation, which was then confirmed bySupernova Cosmology Project in 1999and then numerous other studies thatused various techniques in the yearsthat followed. The core of the discovery

by the High-z team lies in the fact thatthe light emitted by supernovas was redshifted, which means that those celes-tial objects are moving away from us ifyou analyze a spectrograph that trans-lates light into wavelengths, but at an ac-celerating rate.

We know there is something thataccelerates the universe. We have thesimplest theory, and you put in by handand it explains the data, says AneSlosar, a cosmologist and astrophysicistwho works alongside Sheldon at BNL,but in a separate project titled BOSS, orthe Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic

Survey.Slosar is referring to the fact that

dark energy is explainable, and onlybarely so, through the use of a sloppymathematical constant thought up byEinstein decades ago. It is a term that,once inserted, helps coincide gravitywith the obvious discrepancies in themass-energy density of the universethat comes from its unexplainable ac-

celeration and our lack of knowledge.In the late 1990s, people worked

out that we need to put in the term inorder to make everything work, saysSlosar. You take your Einstein equa-tion, and it turns out you can put theterm in there and you can describeeverything.

It works mathematically, but itsnot nice. We are hoping the real theoryworks more beautifully, he adds. So ba-sically, the scientists can make every-thing make sense on paper, but verymuch in the way a lazy physics studentcould ace a lab by working backward

from the right answers and tweaking allthe math. The scientists know whatshappening with dark energy, but notwhy or even where to look to find out.

The LSST telescope is projected tobegin scanning the skies in 2019 afterserious delays throughout the latter halfof the last decade. Sheldon and Slosarwill be some of the first scientists to an-alyze the data through their affiliationwith BNL.

Maybe with data, this break-through will happen, says Slosar. But healso entertains the idea that this is anunreachable goal, that unification, a

theory of everything and dark energyare just fleeting utopias in a scientistsdreams. Its also possible that we willnever reach this, he says. Then we aresort of screwed. If you dont have morethan one clue, then you cant distinguishbetween the various ideas.

The idea is to get more data. Getmore detail about the universe to seehow fast it was moving over time andsee how it started to speed it up, saysSheldon.

From our point of view, since weare experimenters, were just going to goand look and measure the best we can

and shed some light on it, get some kindof clue.

The Dark Side of the UniverseBy Nick Statt

A diagram of theLSST TelescopeCredit: Wired.com


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The Stony Brook Press 3News

Editors Note: This article was pre-

vious published online by THINKMagazine Editor-In-Chief Adam Peck.

When Alex Gecewicz and MikeRagonese heard the news that Osamabin Laden was killed in a US raid inPakistan, they each grabbed a pair ofshoes, a flag, and left Mendelsohn Quadon a mission: to celebrate and spreadthe news to their peers.

For two hours early on Mondaymorning, they toured the campus mak-ing sure that every passerby knew thefate of bin Laden and revel in hugs, highfives and chants of USA! USA!

You wont meet a prouder Ameri-can, said Gecewicz of himself. Werehere to spread the beauty of freedom.

Gecewicz was decked out in anAmerican flag, a red t-shirt, and skin-tight hunting pants. Between the two ofthem, Gecewicz was the more outgoing,luring anyone within eyesight into aconversation about the good news and,if they were willing, a photo op.

Ragonese was the more reservedaccomplice, tagging along for motiva-tional support. A sophomore living inthe same hallway as Gecewicz inAmman, he is preparing for a summertrip to Virginia to attend the MarinesOfficer Candidate course. He was sport-ing military-grade boots and a MarineCorp flag worn as a cape over hisclothes.

The enthusiasm displayed by theduo rubbed off on just about everyonethey came into contact with. A group ofabout 10 fraternity members leapt intoa photo with Gecewicz, while twowomen accepted hugs on their way to-wards the Student Activities Center.

At the Kelly Dining Center, whereCNN was being broadcast to the few

dozen students still out getting food,Gecewicz and Ragonese led an excitedconversation about bin Ladens deathwith a few students sitting and eating.

The motivation for the roving cele-

bration stemmed from a realization ofthe magnitude of what had just been an-nounced by President Obama earlier inthe evening, said Gecewicz.

You can bet your bottom dollarthat there isnt one firehouse in the citythat isnt excited, he said. If theres onemother who can say my son didnt diein vein, its huge. Tonight shows whatwe can do as a country.

For Gecewicz, who goes by Jiz (Itsa long story, he explains), Sundaynights news represented a moment oftriumph for the country and for thecommunity of servicemen and women

that he himself had hoped to be a partof.

The Albany native attended the

Christian Brothers Academy, a militaryschool where he rose to a JROTC pla-toon leader, before enrolling at StonyBrook, and is the first member of hisimmediate family to attend college.

Medical conditions (shoulder issues, aseizure and some other stuff) renderedhim ineligible for military service, so hetook up football and was a redshirtedfreshman last fall.

Listening to him speak for just afew minutes and its clear that Gecewiczstill cares deeply about the military andhas tremendous respect for everyonewho serves in it.

You can bet that those guys whodid this are not college educated, neverspent a day in a college classroom, hesaid. I wanted to serve because I reallyrealized how unbelievable this country

is. Unbridled patriotism is not uncom-mon in times of national tragedy or, inthe case of today, national revelry. But

to listen to Gecewicz and Ragonesespeak about it makes you wonder ifmaybe, just maybe, we can put aside dif-ferencespolitically, culturallyjust longenough to make some progress as a na-

tion.I have a writing teacher whos very

far left, explained Gecewicz, who iden-tified himself as a registered Democrat.Shes made some comments that Imight have disagreed with, but thats thebeauty of it; everybody has their ownopinions. Theres no race on this flag. Ireally think people should sit back andunite.

If youre on campus Monday, keepan eye out for Ragonese and Gecewicz.They plan on continuing their celebra-tion another day.

I will definitely be wearing this flag

tomorrow, said Gecewicz. I might bewearing pants this time.

Celebrating the Death of bin Laden

By Adam Peck


4/24

The Stony Brook Press is published fortnightlyduring the academic year and twice during sum-mer session by The Stony Brook Press, a studentrun non-profit organization funded by the StudentActivity Fee. The opinions expressed in letters, ar-ticles and viewpoints do not necessarily reflectthose of The Stony Brook Press as a whole. Ad-vertising policy does not necessarily reflect edi-torial policy. For more information on advertisingand deadlines call (631)632-6451. Staff meetingsare held Wednesdays at 1:00 pm. First copy free.For additional copies contact the Business Man-ager.

The Stony Brook PressSuites 060 & 061

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Stony Brook, NY 11794-3200

(631) 632-6451 Voice(631) 632-4137 Fax

Email: [email protected]

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editorialsVol.XXXII,Issue 13 |Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Editorial Board

Executive EditorNajib Aminy

Managing EditorNick Statt

Associate EditorEvan Goldaper

Business ManagerKenny Mahoney

Production ManagerCarol Moran

News EditorsBobby Holt

Alyssa Melillo

Features EditorVincent Barone

Arts EditorAlexa Rubinstein

Photo EditorCarolina Hidalgo

Copy EditorZach Knowlton

Sports EditorMark Greek

Social Media EditorKenny Mahoney

OmbudsmanTia Mansouri

Layout Design byJowy Romano

Staff

Sam AldentonMichelle BylickySiobhan Cassidy

Lionel ChanNatalie CrnosijaMike CusanelliEric DiGiovanniBrett Donnelly

Amanda DouvilleLauren DuBois

Sarah EvinsAndrew Fraley

Mark GreekColleen Harrington

Samuel KatzNicole Kohn

Iris LinAndi Liao

Erica MengouchianFrank Myles

Howie NewsberkmanVanessa Ogle

Carlos ParrenoGabriel Panadero

Jessica RybakEmily Torkel

Matt Willemain

About Us

Write fo e P!Meetings Every Wednesday at 1PM, Union Building 060

USG Drops a Grenade!It has become an unfortunate pat-

tern here at Stony Brook that our end-of-the-year event is poorly attended andcaters to misguided music tastes and thepersonal interests of USG members withevent planning aspirations. Its supposedto be an all-out festival in the spirit of thecampus that once featured Jimi Hendrixand The Who, but somewhere along theway it turned a distasteful melting pot ofself-interest and ignorance, and the stu-dents are the ones paying the price.

Despite the name Brookfest havingbeen laid to rest as of last year, this yearsevent, scheduled for this Friday, May 6,will not be a step in the right direction. It

will seem new, refreshed from years ofmishandled Brookfests, and attendancevery well may hit an all time high. But itis still undoubtedly another series ofmissteps for two distinct reasons itsmusical guests do not in any way cater toa wide college audience and studentsmust for some reason still pay to attend.

To compare, lets take a look at a fel-low state university - SUNY Purchase.The schools major Spring semester eventis called Culture Shock, a hugely suc-cessful two-day concert featuring dozensof bands from both on-campus and off.This years festival had 42 bands on the

initial bill, cost only slightly more than$90,000 and was able to cater to an enor-mous variety of music tastes. On top ofthat, Purchase opens up the CultureShock festival for free to both studentsand off-campus attendees. They evenhave a well-organized guest pass systemthat allows Purchase students to bring upto four off-campus students into theevent.

The Stony Brook Concerts series onthe other hand is bringing only threeartists, costing roughly $105,000 beforefactoring in the cost of the security, stag-ing, advertising and the multitude of

other factors that contribute to the costof such a large event. The complete esti-mated cost is expected to exceed$200,000, and specifics on that figure

cannot be confirmed because USG wasnot able to provide a full budget for the2010-2011 year. They are charging notonly a whopping $25 for off-campus stu-dents, but $5 for SBU students as well.This seems reasonable, but when com-pared to the fact that Purchases CultureShock can pull off their event and makeit absolutely free, it seems unfair and il-logical that students must pay for some-thing bankrolled by our Student Activity

Fee, which funds all of USG (as well asorganizations like the Press).

And the two headlining artists Bruno Mars and Janelle Mone, whilevery popular in mainstream music cir-cles, are not what any self-respecting col-lege student would consider a college act.They are simply big names that will dec-orate the organizers rsums and make abig enough splash so as to ensure a crit-icism-free turnout. But despite the po-tential and probable large crowd, thatfact doesnt make the ideologies behindthe organization and our concert seriesobviously stale and misguided future any

more satisfying.All it takes is a simple observation of

the acts that play at our well attendedRock Yo Face Case event or the increas-

ingly successful Stony Brooklyn to seethat there is a huge discrepancy betweenUSGs mindset and those of studentswho actually understand college musicscenes. In fact, Stony Brooklyn featuredthe band Beach Fossils earlier this se-mester, and they went on in the follow-ing weeks to play a successful set at thisyears Culture Shock.

You can argue that Culture Shock, aswell as Stony Brooklyn and Rock Yo Face

Case, caters to indie rock bands, and thatmay be true. However, with the amountof money being put towards the concertthis Friday and the track record that hasbeen built this semester from low-bud-get acts, like Best Coast ($5,000) and Im-mortal Technique ($9,500), there is noreason why USG is still confining itselfand ruining such a golden opportunity.They could have booked dozens upondozens of bands, like Culture Shockdoes, and represented innumerablemusic tastes in the process, and yet theychose not to. Its about time that the plan-ners handling the hundreds of thousands

of dollars of student money either opentheir eyes and wise up to reality, or putthe mic down and get off our stage.


5/24

5The Stony Brook Press

Hate what you see? E-mail your letters to [email protected]

letters!To the Editor,

As a representative of the dietary supplement industry, I am

writing to correct an inaccuracy regarding our organization

that appeared in the March 16, 2011 article The Muscle Mar-

ket. By stating our position using only one line, out of con-

text, from a 42-page document, the reporter misrepresented

our organizations position on government regulation of ad-

vertising claims for dietary supplements, and as a result, mis-

characterized the philosophy of our organization. At no time

prior to writing the story did anyone from the paper try tocontact us to get our perspective on what is a complex and

confusing topic. In fact, after the article ran, we offered to

make a member of our scientific team available to the reporter

to explain our position, but this request was ignored. Finally,

after a month of trying to get the newspaper to run a simple

correction, we were stonewalled until finally we were told

that we should instead write a letter to the editor.

The decision not to run a correction and not to engage in a

dialogue leads us to the conclusion that either all parties con-

tacted at the paper failed to re-read the 42-page document

in its entiretyor failed to understand it.

So, to be clear, since 1973, the Council for Responsible Nu-

trition (CRN) has been the leading voice of the supplement

industry. CRN advocates for the high quality manufacturing and

responsible marketing of dietary supplements and we have

consistently provided support for responsible industry ac-

tions coupled with reasonable industry regulation.

As much as we believe the supplement industry has an obli-gation to self-regulate as well as abide by government regu-

lations, we believe that this newspaper has a journalistic

responsibility to accurately portray an organizations position.

We hope in the future youll be mindful of accuracy in your

stories.

Sincerely,

Trainor Walsh

Council for Responsible Nutrition

Editors Note:The Press stands by M r. Katzs article. Mr. Walsh was put in com munication w ith the author after his initial respons e.

Mission Accomplished!

By Vincent Barone


6/24

6

featuresVol. XXXII, Issue 13 |Wednesday, May 4, 2011

There once was a time when tight-knit cliques mainly ran the Student Ac-tivities Board, and some members ofthe Undergraduate Student Govern-ment (USG), were more concernedabout their rsum than on improving

student life on campus, at least thosewere those main criticisms.

In the past few years, however,these organizations went through bigtransformations that shaped them intowhat students know them as today.While many students played a role inthese changes, one in particular sawthese transformations first hand, andplayed a leading role in one of them.

History major Moiz Khan first be-came involved with USG when he was afreshman in the fall of 08. Khan said hebecame interested in the organizationafter he had to communicate with it

when he was starting up a club, and heeventually took on a position as a sena-tor in the spring of 09.

When I started, [USG] was in atransition mode, I guess, Khan said.You could tell some people were onlythere for their resumes.

Khan was appointed treasurer inthe fall of 09, and it was then that he gothis first glimpse of how the concert-booking Student Activities Board (SAB)operated. When I became treasurer...Isort of had to oversee how [the SAB]spent [its] money, he said. After notic-ing the SAB spending its money on

small, weekly events rather than bigger

events more students could attend,Khan said he immediately knew thatsomething within the SAB needed tochange. The current structure [at thetime had] been in place for the last 30years and it [wasnt] working for the last

20, he said.Stony Brook students saw a change

in campus events in the fall of 2010.That semester, under direction of Khan,the new SAB brought big names tocampus such as big time comedianChristian Finnegan and indie band BestCoast. This spring, comedian AzizAnsari, rapper Immortal Technique andconsumer advocate Ralph Nader all puton events that almost reached full ca-pacity.

I think the philosophy was differ-ent, Khan said, referring to the oldSABs approach, for example bringing

names such as Fabolous and Kerri Hil-son to campus for last years Brookfestconcert. Khan said the old SAB did askfor student input, but not enough tomake a decision that represented thestudent body as a whole.

For this years concert, which takesplace Friday, the SAB is bringingGrammy-winning artist Bruno Marsand singer Janelle Mone. While Khanhas been subject to the very same criti-cism for not listening to students andother SAB members when making de-cisions on campus events, he had a dif-ferent perspective when it was he was

making the decisions. He said trying to

talk to a student body of over 20,000 ishard when everyone, for the most part,is thinking of themselves.

I dont sit in my room and listen toBruno Mars, he said. The currentevents help make the decisions rather

than the students. I havent really talkedto a lot of students, but I think wevedone a lot of events where the artistchooses itself.

I think the bigger criticism is thatI dont delegate enough, he added.

While working on changing thestructure and leadership of the SAB,

Khan remained involved with USG, butplanned on taking his role to the nextlevel. This semester he ran for USGpresident and represented the StudentPolity Party, but surprisingly lost to theless experienced Mark Maloof, of theUnited Students Party.

I wanted to [fill] a position where

I felt I could help the organization the

most, Khan said of his decision to run.[But] everyone who won is prettygood. I thought it was a good group.

If he had been elected, Khan alsosaid he had planned to focus on pre-venting tuition hikes and fee increases

while also cutting backs USG spendingto free up money to create more clubsand activities. Khan said he believes thatstudents should generally be againstraising tuition, especially because mostdo not know how fees really work.

I think a lot of student govern-ments are out-of-tune with students, hesaid of other SUNY student leaders whosupport tuition raises. You should al-ways be extra skeptical towards a posi-tion where students and administrationcan agree on something.

Khan is the founder and chair ofthe Student Polity Party. While the

party did see some wins in the past USGelection, Khan said he thinks it is un-fortunate that more Student Polity partymembers did not win.

Khan took on many other roleswithin USG other than senator andtreasurer, but he said that after this elec-tion, he plans on minimal involvementwith the organization. This is not be-cause of his loss, but because of the newfaces and views that make up the futureUSG. My time in USG as a pro-activeperson is done, he said. I dont like tohave to constantly compromise [myviews.]

Although USG will be made up of

From the very begin-

ning, we decided not to

talk about if Mark

wins but rather when

Mark wins.

On the WrongSide of the

Upsetby Alyssa Melillo


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entirely new members, there is one in-cumbent. Deborah Machalow, Execu-tive Vice President, is the only memberof the new USG who has worked withKhan within the organization.

No one is going to deny that Moiz

has made some positive contributionsto the USG, Machalow said. [But] theorganization currently stands on a solidfoundation, and regardless of his levelof involvement, its officers will serve thestudent body faithfully and will con-tinue to work towards increased open-ness and improved communicationwith their constituents.

During campaigning, somethought Khans experience made himthe favorite to win the presidency.However, Machalow said that she hadno doubt that Maloof would win.While clearly Mark was the underdog

in the race, the campaign collectivelydecided to stick with positivity, shewrote. From the very beginning, wedecided not to talk about if Mark winsbut rather when Mark wins. Marksoverwhelming warmth, his positivepersona and genuine concern for SBUmade it obvious to me that he would bethe victor.

Maloof said that while Khans in-fluence on USG will set a precedent forpeople to follow, he hopes that the newUSG could bring together the ideas ofall student parties. I would like USG totake a look at everyones point of view,

he wrote. Both campaigns had merit intheir basis for running and I would likeeveryone in the student government tobe aware of thatIt is only by poolingall of these opinions that we can be asuccessful government; otherwise wedont know the direction in which thestudent body wants us to take them.

I dontwant to let my-self get too arro-gant, but Iwould like tothink just highly

enough of my-self to believethat I can do agood job in thisposition, headded.

While hisplans for takinghis role withinUSG to the nextlevel did notend success-fully, Khan,now a junior,said he intends

to be more in-volved with theFaculty StudentA s s o c i a t i o n ,which he joinedin the Fall 2010semester.

Now thesecretary ofFSA, Khan saidhe has been apart of manydifferent projects ranging from choos-ing what type of plastic to use on cam-pus to expanding the hours of campus

dining halls. He said he also played apart in launching FSAs WeCar and MyLaundry Station services.

Its a good opportunity for me tolearn about business directly, Khansaid. [And] its another good venue tohelp out on campus.

As for future projects, Khan said he

hopes to be a part of making FSA moretransparent, revamping its website andincreasing dining hours at the Union. Aproject that is in the works, he said, is a

plan to renovate the Student ActivitiesCenter dining hall so it will be lesscrowded.

Outside of improving student life,Khan said he hopes to pursue morewriting projects as he prepares for grad-uate school.

Because Stony Brook is one of the

largest universities in the state, somestudents may feel that making a differ-ence on campus can be almost impossi-ble to do. Khan, however, has proved

that just one student can bring bigchanges to many different organiza-tions.

If you want to do something...youcan get it done, he said. If you put inthe effort, you can pretty much changeanything [on campus.]

The Stony Brook Press 7Features


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8 Vol. XXXII, Issue 13 |Wednesday, May 4, 2011

PERKS

Rentry

Food & Drink

Outdoor Stages

COST: >$200,000

ADMISSION:$5 FOR SBU STUDENTS$25 FOR OFF-CAMPUS

* Cost is an estimate from

within USG. Complete budget was

not available at the time of print.

Janele Mone Plan B Bruno Mars

tweens

BREAKDOWN:

COST: $105,000

for all Artists

This is a breakdown of SUNY Stony Brooks 2011 end of the year concert putin comparison with SUNY Purchases 2011 end of the year music festival.

Features


9/24

The Stony Brook Press Features 9

BREAKDOWN:

CULTURE SHOCK

PERKS

Rentry

Food & Drink

Outdoor Stages

Cost: $93,975Admission: FREE for studentsFREE for off-campus

Everyone elseCamron

tweens

*Note: Table break-

down consolidated

portions of the budget

into one chart.


10/24

10 Vol. XXXII, Issue 13 |Wednesday, May 4, 2011Features

Its 2 a.m. in the commuter loungeand a young man is sleeping with a

peaceful expression, snoring faintly. Hisarms and legs are sprawled about insuch a way that one would think he wasin his own bed. At 5 in the morning, heis still sleeping. The next day, around 1a.m., he is again in the librarys com-muter lounge, trying to unfold his bodyinto a comfortable position to sleep, justas he had the night before. His big blackbackpack is his only company, sittingbeside his head as if to keep guard whilehe dreams. Around 7 a.m., he wandersout of the bathroom of the commuterlounge in a new blue shirt, his backpackslung across his back. The next day he

will be there again, as he has been formore than three years.

I think he lives in the commuterlounge, says Youjin Park. He neverdisappoints me. Of course I know him.You dont even know Andre? He is thevery Legend of Commuter Lounge.

Andre Younne: Commuter loungeguy.

I know some people believe I livehere, yeah, I know, he says. So....? I lethim continue. I expected him to be de-fensive about those rumors whowants to be known as the guy living inthe commuter lounge? Unless you are

obsessed with studying for 24-hour pe-riods, people would probably think

youre homeless.But he brushed off the rumors

without hesitation. So what...? As longas the 600 or so friends he has made inthe commuter lounge know that he isnot, in fact, living there, what does itmatter?

Whatever... he says a little cyni-cally. He works for the sushi section in

Jasmine early in the morning. He wouldrather use the commuter lounge as atemporary habitat at night than travelhome. He says he feels more excited andhappy in the commuter lounge than inhis own house. There is nothing else todo in my house other than sleep.

At first glance, his Asian phenotypeis obvious Andre is Korean, as rec-ognized by my own Korean eyes. I try

to speak to him in Korean. Annyueo-inghaseiyo I say hi in Korean. He

clumsily tosses a bit of Korean languageback at me. Na, keundae Hankook

saram aniyaeyo. Nah, but I am not Ko-rean.

I dont believe him. He has the Ko-rean fashion sense and sentiment; heknows how to bow like a Korean whenmeeting people for the first t ime, ratherthan hugging or shaking hands to sayhello. But his parents moved to Brazilfrom Korea after their marriage and hewas born in Sao Paulo. He moved toAmerica in 2007. He is an internationalstudent at Stony Brook, but he is in-credibly different from other interna-tional students.

He seems to have absorbed the

American language, slang and culture.No trouble in English speaking conver-sations, no translating first from themother-tongue to the second language,English, which kills most internationalstudents and makes them want to goback to their own country.

In a weird, or beautifully hybridway, Andres guests in the commuterlounge hang out with him, overcomingany nationality barriers language orcultural. I would even dare to say he is abridge between the American studentsand international students, Englishspeakers and non-English speakers, and

Asian Americans and original Asians.People rambling around the com-

muter lounge cut off our conversationalmost every minute to talk to him

about things like last weekends party,plans for the next party. To make jokesand just to say hello. Ranging from Chi-nese-American, American, Korean, Ko-rean-American, German to Ethiopian,the scene is a reflection of the dream ofAmerican multiculturalism.

But a sad thought enters my mind.Is this dream only possible after lan-guage barriers are broken down? Hisnon-stop texting and chatting on Face-book occurs in at least four languages:Portuguese, Korean, English and Span-ish. At all times, his computer screendisplays Googles translator to take him

from Greek to English, from Portugueseto Korean, from Spanish to Chinese. Asan active Wikipedia user, he is fasci-nated by its multi-language translatingfunction. His wallet is designed after aninternational express-mail envelope,with transatlantic stamps and red andblue slashes. Just like him, it is transcul-tural.

Andre tells me he may be falling inlove with the author ofThe UnbearableLightness of Being, Milan Kundera, whowrote, You cant measure the mutualaffection of two human beings by thenumber of words they exchange.

Despite the 600 or so friends hemay have, which he documents with his

Searching for a

Home Away

From HomeBy Jo Eun Lee

You cant measure the

mutual affection of two

human beings by the

number of words theyexchange.


11/24

The Stony Brook Press 11Features

Canon camera, they dont seem to con-tribute to his happiness. Rather, the nu-merous but disposable relationships hehas made in the lounge make him falleven further into the hollowness.

He confesses his sadness. I am a

Brazilian, but a Korean. No, but I cantfully speak in Korean, so I am a Brazil-ian. Yet, my heart inclines more towardKorea and Korean. Even in Sao Paulo,my birthplace, I do not feel I am fullyabsorbing Brazilian. My home peoplestill treat me as a Korean, he says, witha deep sigh. He knows almost every Ko-rean international student and Korean-American, but it is still hard to be partof their group.

Koreans treat me as a non-Korean,an alien. He seems unsettled all thetime. But, then, would you say I am anAmerican? I would be more likely to be

a Brazilian-American just because ofthe fact that I can fully speak in Eng-lish. That categorization and his Ko-rean sentiment are sadly unbalanced.

His multi-ethnicity adds to his ob-scure identity and he ends up being dis-content at times. He draws his heart ona lined pad of paper to illustrate whatdominates his mind. This is all aboutAndre, me, he says, as he scribbleswords on the paper. My self and world

consist of the unsolvable problems ofmy nose and skin, he says, referring tohis breathing problems and skin condi-tion. I cannot overcome my sickness,which is frustrating.

Second comes his family, who he

says he misses but has a good relation-ship with. Next, I have my commuterlounge guests and commuter loungemates, he says. He draws a smiley faceon those three components of his life,and sighs.

The last part is relationship, theboyfriend and girlfriend stuff manypeople have but I have never had, whichis 100 percent SADNESS, he says. Forthis sadness he blames his nationalityand identity.

That SUCKS, he writes on thepaper. He then sorts through a numberof different girls.

Girl A was a Brazilian but she didnot like me because I am a Korean-Brazilian. Girl B was an American. Westill had cultural and national gaps. Girl

C was a Korean I really liked because Ithink I am a Korean-Brazilian. But she just treated me as a foreigner, whichwas depressing me. He pauses andsighs before continuing.

Girl D. She was also a Korean butshe could not speak in my languages,Portuguese nor English. Girl E who Iliked very much. But she just did notlike me. His memories seem to frus-trate him as he talks about these toughaffairs. Girl F I liked, but she had aboyfriend, UGH! And there is the lastgirl G who liked me. Unfortunately,she was not my type.

He pauses again, and seems toshake off his sadness. Yet, I decidedjust to live it up with music and my bi-cycle.

His Facebook profile reads, Mytwo favorite things in life are librariesand bicycles. They both move peopleforward without wasting anything. Theperfect day: Riding a bike to the li-brary.

After a long pause, he ends ourconversation, returning back to hiscommuter lounge throne.

Today, diverse groups of peopletravel around campus: Chinese, Chi-nese-American, Korean, Korean-American, Spanish, Hispanic,African-American, Indian-American every nationality you can imagine.And Andre disappears, blending intothose groups, though not really belong-ing to a single one, heading for thecommuter lounge.

This is all about Andre,

me, he says, as he scribbleswords on the paper. My

self and world consist of

the unsolvable problems of

my nose and skin.


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12 Vol. XXXII, Issue 13 |Wednesday, May 4, 2011Photos!

Daniel Ellsberg on Tuesday, April 26 with Professor James Klurfeld (top) seen prior talking to a small of group of faculty and staff beforehis lecture on the parallels between the Pentagon Papers and WikiLeaks (below). Photos Ula Gradowska


13/24

13The Stony Brook Press

Scenes from the second student-run art exhibit, Modern Art by Modern Artists, on Monday, May 2, 2011. Photos by Carolina Hidalgo

Photos!


14/24

14

arts&entertainmentVol. XXXII, Issue 13 |Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The smell of fresh popcorn hung inthe air. Muffled music coming throughthe walls from RockYourFace Case atUCafe provided background music.Upon entering, students were greetedby a large table turned on its side withMAMA in large red letters, and thewords POST NO BILLS in white re-peatedly, as if it were a city wall withbrightly colored flyers promoting musicin New York City. More than 200 guestscircled the Union Ballroom, munchingon free pizza and taking in students art-work at the Undergraduate StudentGovernment/Fine Arts Organizations

2nd MAMA Art Show on Monday night.Unlike most of the art exhibits

around campus (at the art gallery in thelibrary, the TAC), this show had anedge. Faux-scaffolding and white,rusted iron gates were built and set uparound the room, providing makeshift,rustic displays for small photos andprints. The FAO was going for an urbantheme, and it was accomplished suc-cessfully. One section of the show dis-played detailed photographs of NewYork City, including Times Square, theEmpire State Building, a constructionworker in a blue hard hat, sitting on a

high beam, and an orange wall vandal-ized by graffiti.

Arthur Kozlovski, president of theFOA and one of the main organizers ofthe show, was more than pleased andthankful for how the show came out,considering the FAO had only startedplanning the event the week beforespring break. He wants to continueadding variety and different themes togive the MAMA art show a differentambience every time. We are willingto hire entertainers and stuff, make it

like a real, blown out classy event, hesaid. Next semester we were talkingabout some kind of circus theme,maybe hire people that are involvedwith that entertainment business. Ko-zlovski also added that collaborating

with RYFC helped draw people to theshow, and mentioned that the FAO

Jeremy DennisIts an unsuspecting piece of art

from far away: a large, black andwhite charcoal drawing on a whitebackground. Come a little closer, andit appears to be a charcoal depictionof Da Vincis The Last Supper. But upclose, its a pinnacle of satire. It hasall the makings ofThe Last Supper,except for the characters. The angelsand saints are paparazzi, with pigheads and their hands clutching cam-eras. And Jesus? Charlie Sheen, ofcourse, gazing back to the viewers.

People who passed by the largepiece at the MAMA Art Show justhad to laugh as they walked by.

The piece was done by junior Je-remy Dennis, a studio art major,

from Southampton. Dennis had atotal of four pieces in the show, alluntitled, including the Charlie Sheencharcoal. A big focus of his is pho-tography, he explained as a cameradangled from his neck.

I want to do manipulation withart, so I thought this was the perfectopportunity, he said about the piece.I did something recently with Pho-toshop involving the Dos Equis guy.

The other pieces he had in theshow were collages that, according toDennis, were made to look like hisfriends, and each took a little morethan one day to finish. One collage,of his friend Chris, was predomi-nantly red, white and brown, and thesmall pieces of paper were placed to-gether so perfectly, it looked like itcould have been a painting from adistance. The small pieces of paperhe gathered were all from magazines,and he said the hardest part was find-ing pages and pictures that were con-sistent with his color schemes.

Dennis ultimate goal is to makea casual living form his art, but isreluctant to give his pieces away sincehe has only been creating art for a fewyears.

Next semester we were

talking about some kindof circus theme, maybe

hire people that are in-

volved with that enter-

tainment business.

Art Is Not Just For ClassBy Alexa Rubinstein


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The Stony Brook Press 15Arts&Entertainment

could possibly collaborate with theUCafe for future shows so that there islive music at the actual event.

The creators of the show were onlyseen for a split second every once and awhile, trying to navigate themselves

around the crowded room withoutdamaging any of the fragile displays orworks of art, such as several unpro-tected ceramic or plaster pieces. One ofthese delicate pieces was made out of

plaster and called Curious Bear,which showed a brown bear rippingopen its belly. The bears ribcage wasexposed and its insides poured out in aswirl of pink and red paint. One guestwho saw the piece walked by with aconfused face and shouted Thatsgruesome to her friend.

The showstopper was constructed

by Sabrina Cacciatore: a large, blackwooden box sitting on a high table, withthe words FEATURE PRESENTA-TION printed on it in white. Studentslined up to look inside through a cutout jutting from one of the sides, as if itwere a short motion picture at a Nick-elodeon in the 1930s. Inside the boxwas a neon orange and green picture ofa young woman with a frightened look

on her face, and her hands up to herchest. Fingers and hands ominouslytried to grab her. The only words insideread Everything is going to be ok.When guests pressed down on thewooden flap at the bottom of the box,the orange and green picture changedto purple, as though someone hadshone a black light on it, and the mes-saged changed to Everything is NOT

going to be ok. Students had a widerange of reactions to the piece, but mostseemed surprised to read the contrast-ing messages. One student, almost dis-appointedly, mentioned the secondpart is not so happy as he walked awayfrom the box. Many students seemedimpressed that such an interesting anddifferent piece was put together.

The show itself was a work of art, asKozlovski explained. Although he didnot have any pieces in the show, thework of putting it together and the finalproduct, done with the help of seniorRoman Belopolsky, founder of the

MAMA Art Show, was art in its ownright. After Belopolsky graduates, hestrongly hopes that through the effortsof USG, the FAO and students like Ko-

zlovski, the show will continue to be alarge part of Stony Brooks student life,

and that people in the Stony Brookcommunity dont neglect the arts, andKozlovski feels the same way. I thinkan event like this is essential to cultureand student life here at Stony Brook,Belopolsky said. Events like this wherepeople get to meet new people andmake new friends and see artits es-sential, and theres just not enough ofthem. Once a year is not enough.

These two leaders of the show areglad to give this opportunity to studentswho are not necessarily art majors. Itwasnt like I was saying, Hey artists,come show your work. It was like,Hey, anybody that makes art and ex-presses themselves, be involved inthis, Belopolsky said. This isnt likean uptight gallery thing where you haveto be an artist. Belopolsky and Ko-zlovski are interested in integrating thesciences into art, whether it is throughgetting science majors to showcase artthat they do, or interesting lecturesabout how art influences science, or

vice-versa.As far as the art scene on campus is

concerned, Belopolsky feels that the hu-manities institution gets neglected.They dont have enough money toprovide more classes in the humanities,but they built brand new fuckin bas-ketball courts in Tabler, he said. But Ispend maybe $1,500 on this wholeevent, and look at the magnitude of it.He wants USG and the administrationto see that students are, in fact, inter-ested in art, even if it was created bytheir fellow students. Instead, StonyBrook is taking your tuition money and

spending it on scientific speakers, andreally, whos going to those?

Shamuel YagudayevEven though graduate student

Shamuel Yagudayev had only one piece atthe MAMA Art Show on Monday night,it was an attention-getter, and that isprobably because it portrayed a recogniz-able character among some of the moremodern and abstract art. His piece wasentitled Scrat, 24,000 y. later, and it wasa dark gray, almost skeletal depiction ofScrat from the Ice Age movies, made outof steel, and perched on top of a stump ofoak, which he polished down himself.

Yagudayev said that not only is Scrathis favorite character from Ice Age, butthat he can also identify with the charac-

ter. He explained that Scrat is naturallypersistent about doing what he wants todo, yet he sometimes has hardships andhe is unable to achieve his goals.

After coming to the United Statesfrom Moscow in August, 2000, the firstperson in his family to live in America, hefound himself confused and struggling ata challenging school like Stony Brook.He was on academic probation after hisfirst semester when he began to work to-ward a degree in medicine. I knew withthe competition at Stony Brook, I wasntgoing to do [medicine] anymore, he said.But thats when I had my first shot ofvodka and I pretty much decided to staywith what I want and no matter what Iwould have it, and next year Im going tomedical school. He believes that, like

Scrat, his determination is helping himtake steps toward accomplishing what hereally wants out of life.

However, his art displays are notgoing to stop with the MAMA Art Show,or next year when he attends medical

school in the Caribbean. Yagudayevdreams of having his own studio.

Yagudayev took an art class at StonyBrook, which he said changed his life andinspired him to continue pursuing art.Even though he was always interested inart, he had never had the opportunity toconsistently construct it like he did in theclass he took in 2008, when he con-structed Scrat, 24,000 y. later. He saidhis teacher, Athena Latocha, helped himlook at the world in a more colorful andspecial way. Although he wont be ableto continue his artistic pursuits when hegoes to medical school in the Caribbean,the art classes he took at Stony Brook

have helped him shape his unique take onart.

This isnt like an up-

tight gallery thing

where you have to be

an artist.

Events like this where

people get to meet new

people and make new

friends and see artits

essential, and theres just

not enough of them.

Once a year is notenough.


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16 Vol. XXXII, Issue 13 |Wednesday, May 4, 2011Arts&Entertainment

Youre definitely never too old torun away and join the circus.

In Water for Elephants, the new filmbased off the best-selling Sara Gruennovel, Jacob (Robert Pattinson) is aCornell veterinary science student inthe Great Depression era whose worldcomes crumbling down around himafter his parents are killed in a car crash.Now homeless and penniless, he hopson a passing train, one that happens tohouse the Benzini Brothers TravelingCircus, and he embarks on the greatestjourney of his life.

After he is offered a job as chief vetto the circus animals by the somewhatmaniacal, self-absorbed dictator, boss,and ringmaster August (ChristophWaltz), Jacob earns a place in his innercircle, as well as the mans wife and star-attraction, Marlenas (Reese Wither-spoon) heart. As August struggles tokeep the circus from going belly up andtries to get out of the shadow of Rin-gling Brothers, Marlena and Jacob beginto develop true feelings for each other,which doesnt bode well for them afterAugust gets wind of whats going on.

The film overall is visually captivat-ing, with colorful sets and props andbeautiful cinematography. Richard La-Graveneses screenplay remains fairlytrue to the novel from which it isadapted, while still allowing some roomfor a fresh, newly creative vision. How-ever, the true winner in this film is theacting.

Water for Elephants has an all-star

cast, made up of two recent Oscar win-ners in Witherspoon and Waltz, and anattention-getting heartthrob in Pattin-son. Witherspoon proves once againthat she has what it takes to play morethan a ditzy blonde or a romantic com-edy lead, but a leading woman in adrama, a role that allows her to emulateher portrayal of June Carter Cash inWalk the Line, the very role that won

her Oscar. Waltz similarly gets to play

off the inner villain character that wonhim his Oscar last year for IngloriousBasterds. However, the true break-through is surprisingly Pattinson.Though he still broods a bit, much likehis Twilightvampire heartthrob, theresactually something about his perform-ance that makes the audience stop andconcentrate on what hes actually doingon screen to make him believable as alove-struck vet who wants the bossswife. This role actually helps him turn acorner and transform himself quite pos-sibly into a genuine Hollywood leadingman.

The only flaw the movie seems tohave is the unfortunate lack of chem-istry between Pattinson and Wither-spoon. While there is something therebetween them, the spark that makes aburning love story so great isnt quitethere. Their friendship however is muchmore believable.

Some scenes are a bit difficult towatch, but overall the film is worthwatching. If not for the all-star cast orbeautifully composed shots, then see itfor Rosie, the 9,000-lb. elephant whomanages to steal the scenes shes in. Ifnothing else, shell make anyone a fan.

e Giant Elephant On the Screen

By Lauren DuBois

Theres an undeniable formula tothe Fast & Furious series: hot cars, hotwomen and... thats pretty much it. Thelatest entry, Fast Five, has a ludicrousstory line, with some of the worst dia-logue of the F&Ffilms. The acting es-pecially from Vin Diesel is not thatimpressive either. But what prevents thismovie from crashing and burning areits absurdly intense, totally outrageousaction scenes. Fast Fives final chase in-volving a stolen vault is, hands down,the finest action sequence of the entireseries.

It picks up where Fast And Furiousleft off, with ex-cop Brian OConner(Paul Walker) and his buddies freeingDominic Toretto (Diesel) from a prisonbus and going on the lam to Rio deJaniero. Unable to resist the temptation,Brian, Dom and Doms sister Mia (Jor-dana Brewster) take a job stealing cars

from a train, which lands them in thecrosshairs of Brazilian crimelord Reyes(Joaquim de Almeida) as well as some

American agents led by Dwayne NoLonger The Rock Johnson.

Where F5 gets interesting is when it

effectively becomes an Oceans film, ex-ecuting the heist genre to a T. By bring-ing together a whos who of the previousfour films, facing them off against twosets of antagonists, and throwing in abank job unlike any youve ever seen be-fore, the film-makers have found a wayto speed up the series while giving it anew paint job.

The film also had help from a sub-stantial castwell except for Diesel whoseemed to slow the movie down morethan anything. Besides Diesel trying tohard to be like Dwayne Johnson, thefilm was a foot-to-floor adrenalinerushand succeeds with burning rub-ber. The final heist is out of this world,the opening car-vs-train scene is be-yond fresh and the scenes of Rio proveit to be the perfect setting for some rac-ing and drifting.

Its loud, fast and sometimes over-the-top. But it works better than everbefore, making it the sweetest ride so

far.

Still Fast and Still FuriousBy Nicole Kohn


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As an avid player of the multiplayercampaigns of both Gears of War 1 and 2,I can shed a little light on what compo-nents of the online experience are actu-ally seeing substantial changes and whathas mostly been left alone. In a broadsense, Gears of War 3 will not showcaseanywhere near the leap we saw from thefirst game to the second (unless the betais only a fraction of what will actually bein the final version, which is still un-likely).

What were actually getting fromCliff Blizinksy and the crew at EpicGames are a few new weapons and afaster-paced and more consistently ac-tion-packed match design. A lot of thechanges in the above mentioned areaswere done with what appears to besmall tinkering and a tightening ofbolts. However, it does keep it freshenough to bring gamers back into thefranchise and keep the gore-heavy spiritalive.

The new weapons arent exactlygroundbreaking, but theyre not just forshow either. The Retro Lancer is a greatalternative to the rookie pick that thechainsaw-enabled Lancer became inGears 2. Its equipped with a bayonet,which, despite being very hard to actu-ally use, is still a pretty awesome feature(by holding a certain button, you cancharge at your enemy and impale themfor an instant kill). The One Shot is anincredibly cool new weapon that, as thename implies, takes people out in one

hit. Its much like those enormous Bar-

rett sniper rifles we have in real militaryoperations that must be fastened downwith a tripod-like device. You can use itfrom a distance, but time between shotsis long and you are left very vulnerablewhile aiming.

The other new weapons, like theunderground explosive Digger, do addsome unique gameplay elements, butare by large not going to replace the useof the main automatic and, of course,the Gnasher shotgunwith the excep-tion of the new variety the sawed-offshotgun.

The sawed-off variety of the hall-

mark Gears exterminator is outra-geously powerful it can practicallyliquefy an enemy without the need of anactive reload. The active reload is ex-actly how Epic Games aims to balancethe sawn-off s power. The bar that typ-ically moves at a steady pace for theother weapons active reloads is erraticfor the sawn-off. It starts off slow, thenspeeds up, making it much harder toput an overpowered sawn-off in yourhands. It also only comes with a tinyclip of four bullets compared with theGnashers double-digit one.

As for gameplay, the biggest

changes youll see are in the speeding upof the movement, which Epic Gamesdid to increase the chaotic atmosphere,and elimination of one-life-per-rounddeathmatch. Team deathmatch, thetrademark game mode, is now only tworounds and each team has a collectiverespawn amount of 15 lives. This isgoing to be the make-or-break featureofGears of War 3, because it attempts to

address the games largest problems -the enormously steep learning curvethat kept inexperienced players fromgetting better because they kept dyingand were forced to sit out the rest of theround, and the fact that the slow pace of5-round play was aggravating gamers inthe hyper-paced respawn world ofCall

of Duty and Halo. It works in someways, but fails in others. It keeps thegame moving a lot faster with the intro-duction of respawns, but it still meansthat bad players are hurting your teamand running the risk of not getting anybetter when they waste all of theirrespawns and tank your team in theprocess.

So far, its hard to tell whether these

changes will have significant impacts onthe overall experience come time for theofficial release this fall. The beta is in itssecond week of four, and these are theonly strong shifts were seeing. As aplayer of the previous two games in theseries, I can say that I was expectingmore out of the beta, like indications

that GOW 3 will achieve what Bungiewas able to do with the jump from Halo3/ODSTto Halo Reach. Maybe theresmore up their sleeve, but right now thechanges are small and the timeframe ofthe beta is too narrow to see if thesesmall changes will reverberate farenough to overhaul the experience andmake GOW 3 really meet its expecta-tions.


Gears of War Beta: From A Loyal Fan

By Nick Statt

I dont play Gears of War multi-player by choice - I played through thefirst two campaigns and loved it. Iwould have loved to have spent time on-line chainsawing people in half in theprevious iterations ofGears, but I could-nt. I couldnt even get into a game.While network issues plagued the firsttwo games in the series, the beta hasproven to be solid as a rock. While Iwould previously wait upwards of 10

minutes to enter a match, I now join al-most instantaneously. Aside from that,

the guts of combat feel essentially thesame to me, with a few new toolsthrown in. Chest-high walls still litterthe landscape of every map, but the en-vironments change enough to keep itinteresting. Blowing players apart in

the isles of the Checkout map or charg-ing down the field of Thrashball and

spearing unsuspecting players with thenew retro lancer have a distinct charm.Of the four included maps currently inthe beta, each has a markedly differentfeel to it, with different choke pointsand hold out spots to make everyround change feel fresh.

These improvements dont excuseGOW3 from some other glaring issues,however. For one, the games shotguns -the returning Gnasher and the newSawed-off - feel far too powerful. Itseems like as soon as we spawn, every-one switches from their primaryweapon to their secondary shotgun. As

I heard someone put it, theres a pictureof a Lancer on the cover of this game,

not a shotgun. Not only does it turn thegame into a close-quarters shotgunorgy, it also prevents me from usingother weapons because I know theyrenot as effective.

Lastly, I dont feel as in control ofmy character as Id like. I understandthat as a third-person game, I cant playit like a first-person shooter. Regard-less, the cover mechanics feel clunky,and I feel like Im getting stuck in ani-mations for too long. Deep down Ihope that these complaints may simplybe manifest because Im still a novice,but I dont think Im the only player who

feels this way.

Gears of War Beta: A New Perspective

By Kenny Mahoney


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18 Vol. XXXII, Issue 13 |Wednesday, May 4, 2011Arts&Entertainment

The mood is darker on Seattle

quintet Fleet Foxes new LP, Helpless-ness Blues, released May 3rd on SubPop, than on their previous releases.Singer Robin Pecknold and his merryband of harmonizers deliver the bright,soaring vocals that characterize thegroups folk pop soundbut now do sowhile exploring more complex themesof insecurity, success and ones place inthe world.

It makes sense considering thetroubles the relatively young band facedwhen recording the album. Songs werewritten, then cut, then rewritten, thencut again and in Dec. 2009 Pecknold

told Pitchfork Media, The last year hasbeen a really trying creative process

where Ive not been knowing what towrite or how to write.

In the end, his turmoil resulted in aremarkably rich album that is personaland introspective, but never cheesy or

sentimental. Acoustic sounds and fin-gerpicked guitars allow the nearly exis-

tential lyrics to shine, but at the sametime, the group appears to be more se-cure in their musicianship. GuitaristSkyler Skjelse explore grooves morefully (Montezuma, The Shrine/An Ar-

gument) and Pecknold allows the natu-ral cracks in his voice to add emotional

depth to his well-crafted words(Bedouin Dress).

Fans expecting the bright, flowingfolk of Fleet Foxes wont be disap-pointed but Helplessness Blues intro-

duces us to the more pensive andcomplex side of the group.

Helplessness BluesBy Nick Post

In 2003 the Texas-based instru-mental band Explosions in the Sky re-leased The Earth Is Not A Cold DeadPlace, one of the best post-rock albumsof all time. This was the same year thatthe Canadian group Godspeed You!Black Emperor went on an indefinitehiatus, and since then Explosions hasenjoyed almost sole reign of the instru-mental rock kingdom, thanks in nosmall part to their awe-inspiring liveperformances. So its a big deal whenthey release a new album, especiallynow that GY!BE is touring again, andpost-rock has become a major part ofthe musical landscape.

Explosions latest effort, released onApril 18, 2011, and entitled Take Care,Take Care, Take Care, suffers from thesame fate as their 2005 and 2007 re-leases: it is not The Earth Is Not A ColdDead Place. That is not to sayTake Careis a bad album. Stylistically it doesnt de-part much from previous efforts, fea-turing all the chiming guitars andsurging crescendos that the band isknown for. Album-opener Last KnownSurroundings begins with a quiet am-bient drone, finally broken by sprawlingdistorted guitars and pounding drums.The track highlights what does set thisalbum apart from its predecessors. Con-

tinuing in the direction of 2007sAll Of

A Sudden I Miss Everyone, Explosionscreates here a more expansive, atmos-pheric sound than on their earlier al-bums. The use of sampling on several ofthe tracks, as well as ubiquitous use ofan E-bow, adds to this effect.

Trembling Hands shows thegreatest departure from the bands coresound, with ambient vocal samplingand a steadier compositional dynamic

than most of their songs employ. Al-though it does hint at a new directionfor the band, it is unclear if this is thedirection the band shouldmove in, or

even if the members of the band thinkso. Either way, the song feels too repet-itive, even for its uncharacteristicallyshort runtime of 3:30, and it fails to con- jure the same dramatic emotional in-

tensity that Explosions are usually so

good at accomplishing.Despite its shortcomings, the albumis saved from being a disappointmentby the last two songs. The penultimatetrack, entitled Postcard From 1952, isarguably the best song this band haswritten since Your Hand In Mine backin 2003. Postcard is classic Explosions,starting out quietly with the faint famil-iar ringing of guitars, and then slowly

building in intensity volume, at timesalmost reluctantly. The bands master-ful use of tension is at its best here; asthe drums come rolling in and guitar

riffs start cascading over one another,you get the sense of being pulled alongin a racing current. When the song fi-nally erupts into its bombastic climax,there is a palpable sense of relief, as if at

last its okay to just let loose and rock

out. Explosions songs work best whenthey involve the listener in this way,when you get caught up in the rollercoaster ride of the songs progression,when you have to let it carry you to itsend. Postcard does this brilliantly.

Let Me Back In, the last andlongest song on the album, serves as anappropriate come down from the ex-plosive culmination of Postcard. Itsdark and kind of creepy and gives youthe sense at first that youve settled atthe bottom of a waterfall. It has itscrescendos too, but they sort of sinkback into the quiet gentle flow that

eventually carries the song, and thealbum, to its end. Let Me Back In ex-pertly recalls the sense of dislocationand numbness that often follows an in-tensely emotional experience. Playingthe album straight through gives you abetter sense of how the songs workwithin themselves and of how they re-late to each other. Of course, the bestway to appreciate the music of Explo-sions In The Sky is to see them live; it isan entirely different experience. Al-though Take Care doesnt come close tosurpassing The Earth Is Not A ColdDead Place, it does make a legitimate

claim for the continued existence ofmusic that, if nothing more, makes star-ing at your feet at a train station incred-ibly epic.

Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

By Gabriel Panadero


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Stefani Germanotta, better knownas Lady Gaga or Mother Monster, maybe the missing link in the endless questfor peaceful coexistence and harmo-nious living. With the upcoming releaseof Gagas second studio album BornThis Way, due to drop on May 23rd, thepop icon has been making appearancesleft and right. Last weeks Born ThisWay episode of Glee and her subse-quent appearance on Ellen on April 28th

are just two examples of Gagas growingpresence in the media as a driving forcein the fight for gay rights.

Gaga praised Glees rendition ofBorn This Way for its excellent por-trayal of the songs theme: being com-fortable with ones own identity. Theperformers were each dressed in a whitet-shirt that publicized some unique orflawed aspect of themselves that theyproudly displayed: Likes Boys, BrownEyes, Bad Attitude, Cant Sing, andLucy Caboosey, to name a few. Thistheme of self-confidence and pride inones identity has become intrinsic withGagas music and image. Once knownonly as a gay rights activist, Gaga is nowbecoming an everyones rights activist,encouraging her fans to be comfortablewith who they are and take pride intheir individuality. During her inter-view with Ellen DeGeneres, Gaga talkedabout her own experience coming toterms with celebrating her own identity.Love yourself! she says.

On April 23rd I was privilegedenough to have in my pocket one of thecoveted tickets to Lady Gagas MonsterBall, where I found myself surroundedby thousands of familiar strangerschanting GaGa! GaGa! GaGa! LadyGaGa emerged to greet the thunderingcrowd at the Nassau Coliseum with Ilove you all so much, and Please, callme Mother Monster. Welcome to theMonster Ball, where anything is possi-ble. Here, anyone can be a star if theyrewilling to put in the effort. A costumemade up with just balloons or Cautiontape is perfectly acceptable. The LittleMonsters who seem to have put in themost effort are either dressed as sluts orskeletons. Some have dyed their hairpink or painted their face to look likethe comedic dancing skeleton from theBorn This Way video, and some tookthe time to find the most dazzling, mostrevealing piece of underwear in the mall

and wear simply this one item while therest of their body is covered in makeup

and spray-on glitter.At the Monster Ball it doesnt mat-

ter what you wear or how sparkly youare because we are all Little Monstersand we all share two thingsa love ofGaGa and a love of our own identity. Itis precisely GaGas dream to create aworld in which there is no hatred andno animosity, but only boundless free-dom, as she says in the Born ThisWay video.

Although GaGa gave a plethora oflittle inspirational speeches during theshowincluding one little tid-bit abouther experience being left in a garbage

can in high school when some dude wastold to take out the trashthe best of

these speeches was about her fans. Youguys are so powerful as a fan base, and

together we can do anythingWe canchange the world.

I left the Monster Ball as a differentperson, and Im sure Im not the onlyone who felt this way. The Coliseuma place that had originally been anevery man for himself kind of envi-ronment where you had to literally fightfor a spot near the stagebecame aplace where everyone was one and thesame, together in the quest for humanunderstanding. This became evident assoon as Gagas show finished. The cur-tain went up, Judas came on the housespeakers and a balding middle-aged

man wearing nothing but hot pinkbooty shorts and go-go boots strutted

on up to the front of the room anddanced like Ive never seen anyone

dance before. What could once have po-tentially been an EW moment be-came a mesmerizing moment, as peoplebegan forming a circle around this manand cheering him on, comfortable in hisown skin.

We Little Monsters, who enteredthe Coliseum on our own, emergedfrom the monster ball together. We weresinging in unison the entire way out thedoor, which is really an amazing sightto see: the hundreds of people on theway up the endless winding concretestaircase all singing the same song, allknowing the words by heart, all on the

way to start a revolution.

e GaGa Revolution

By Eileen Quaranto


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20 Vol. XXXII, Issue 13 |Wednesday, May 4, 2011COMICS!


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The Stony Brook Press 21ADS!


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22 Vol. XXXII, Issue 13 |Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Opinion

In hindsight,

President Obamasspeech at the an-nual White HouseCorrespondentsDinner might godown as one of themost badass appe-tizers of total dom-ination in history.

Even at the time, Obama(s speechwrit-ers) thoroughly put Donald Trump inhis place, (an unapologetically racistplace, but more on that in a little bit.)But if Obamas knowing smile revealedanything, it was that he had something

even bigger in the works than the LionKing opening he facetiously claimed tobe his birth video.

He didnt have that same smile al-most 24 hours later, but no one wouldhave blamed him for grinning while an-nouncing that U.S. forces had killed themost wanted man in the world, themastermind behind the 9-11 terroristattacks, Osama bin Laden. Acting di-rectly under the Presidents orders, ateam of Navy SEALs launched a coordi-nated strike on a compound near Ab-bottabad, Pakistan where intelligencelocated the infamous terrorist. It had

taken almost 10 years; bin Laden hadevaded capture and death during Presi-dent George W. Bushs entire term, butan Obama-sanctioned military opera-tion finally brought a semblance of clo-sure to Americas greatest tragedy.

Whether we should celebrate thedeath of another human being withchanting crowds is another matter alto-gether; it might be understandable con-sidering the reaction that the original9-11 attacks elicited in certain areas ofthe Middle East, when radical Islamistsympathizers were dancing in the street.The real problem here is the reaction to

his death in social media, and Trumpsoriginal stance on Obamas presidential

eligibility that fueled the decidedly

racist Birther Movement.News of bin Ladens death spreadlike wildfire on the Internet, with siteslike Facebook and Twitter receiving

3,000 updates a second. For every Wegot him! status, there was a frighteningnumber of We got that t***l h**d bas-tard, and Burn in Hell sand n*****,reactions as well. Not only are some of

these terms incredibly offensive, waytoo many people are guilty of associat-

ing one man with over a billion people.

Osama may have been the face of anawful organization, one that encouragesstrong anti-American sentiments, butthat doesnt grant educated citizens the

right to use racial slurs.With Obamas surprise press con-

ference coming right as TrumpsCelebrity Apprentice was reaching itsboardroom climax, Obama and his

camp put the finishing touches on athorough beat down in an argument

that really wasnt warranted in the first

place. With a possible run at the Re-publican presidential nomination com-ing in 2012, Trump has been riding awave of underlying racism in recentweeks. As a champion of the BirtherMovement, he took credit for the re-cent release of Obamas long form birthcertificate.

In a recent poll, 41 percent of Re-publicans arent sure that Obama wasntborn in this country. Twenty-five per-cent of all Americans in that same studywerent positive either. Aside fromHawaii being the 50th state, and very,very far from the continental U.S., its

difficult to see where this perceptioncould have come from, other than bla-tant and perhaps obvious racism.

Barack Obama is African Ameri-can. Half-African to be exact, and hisexotic name certainly doesnt encouragethe average citizen to instantly believehe was born in this country. Maybe itsthat lingering feeling that the govern-ment has been lying to us about every-thing. We never landed on the Moon,JFK was an inside job, and chewinggum after dinner does not prevent cav-ities. Maybe certain Republicans are stillbristling at the notion that Obama won

the election on a platform of Change,both fundamentally and racially, and itfrightens them.

Obama should be able to parlay thishuge moral victory into some good-willfor the foreseeable future. His approvalrating has instantly risen, and rightfullyso. Who knows if this will sway the 2012election, or how hell deal with possibleretribution from al-Qaeda. It is toosoon to fully understand the long-termimplications of bin Ladens political as-sassination in hostile Pakistan, butwhatever happens in the next 6 years, itmight just become another problem for

Obama to solve.

Trumping the Criticism

By MarkGreek


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The Stony Brook Press 23

Chances are, if you were trying tocommute through New York City onSunday, May 1, you probably had one ofthe worst traveling experiences in yourmetropolitan life worse than the timethat homeless man sang his Tecante-in-spired rendition of Bon Jovis Its MyLife over and over again on the 4 train.Man, Bon Jovi is the worst.

Anyway, you can blame your dudcommute on me, 32,000 other cyclersand Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whoclosed down more than 250 miles ofroads for Bike New Yorks annual, 42mile Five Boro Bike Tour, which has be-come the largest recreational cyclingevent in the United States.

This was my second year in a rowparticipating and also my second yearin a row worrying that my preparation(which consisted of a strict, non-exer-cising, Taco Bell diet) would lead me tocombust on mile 20, during my climbof the BQE, and regurgitate a yearsworth of semi-digested refried beans allover the left lane.

I think somewhere in between eachterm paper, or one of our several mid-terms, we forget that we are in theprime of our lives. We can all ride 42miles on a whim. Even you, Asianchemistry major. Even you, guy whoplays Magic the Gathering in the SACeveryday. And you too, mallcore girl

who owns knee-high Converse.We should be milking our good

health now, before we are all 40 yearsold, with a 42-inch waist and a half-timemetabolism. Though there were a ton ofthose guys chugging along, too.

Sorry if I got too preachy there,

back to the actual event.The ride itself is a superlative,

cathartic experience. The 32,000 bikersflooding Church Street is quite a sightto see. And although riding througheach borough and over five major

bridges makes forsome sublime cy-cling, its the in-tricacies of thetour that kept meentertained dur-ing the wholetrek.

For instance,

there were thou-sands of bikesand bikers thatcame in allshapes and sizes,from all over theworld. Therewere your riderson road andmountain bikes,natch, but therewere some bravesouls riding fixedgears, and even asizeable BMX

constituent. Butout of all the cy-

clists, my favorite was the chap that Ispotted on the Fort Hamilton parkwayriding a penny-farthing. He even passedme on it, which is a testament to hispluck or my poor fitness.

At one point, an older couple fromEngland riding next to me (I knew this

because they both were adorned withgiant English flags as capes, not to men-tion their wanker accents) remarked ona group of girls riding ahead of us withskirts that had the phrase Not every-thing in Iowa is flat written on theirbums, visible just above their saddles.

The couple, needless to say, knewlittle about the American Heartland anddidnt pick up on the blatant trashinesson display. So after asking me about thegeography of Iowa I had to explain to a50 year old woman that the girls werereferring to the suppleness of their der-rires.

Ah, they said, in revelation andthe man took out a point-and-shootcamera, snapping a photo to store intheir album titled America.

At one point a kid that I recognizedfrom my history class rode up to me. Heasked me if I was from Stony Brook andthen asked how he thought I would doon our Korean War test the next day. Ihad completely forgotten about theexam. I said, Okay, I guess, not reallysure what he was talking about. We rodefor a bit through Brooklyn and Ithought about how bizarre the exchangewas as I continued on Kent Avenue. I

think I at least swung a B on the test.The support from drivers who

honked as they drove in the opposite di-rection on the Gowanus Expresswaywas refreshing. If only they were alwaysthat supportive. The same drivers willbe yelling and beeping from their SUVsfor me to get on the sidewalk tomorrow.

It wasnt all roses, though. I know

the event is open to all riders, but therewere some true amateurs taking part.Some seemed like they hadnt been ona bicycle in ages, which caused severalnear crashes, as they just swerved aboutin congested areas. Imagine if yourangry Uncle Jim and your ill-bred 17-year-old cousin took part in a NASCARrace. It was kind of like how that wouldbe, only they didnt have side view mir-rors.

It was hard to tell who was sportingthe more eccentric garb: the hardcorebros dressed to the nines in their Brook-lyn cycling outfits, which, in some

cases, left too little to the imagination(think of your angry Uncle Jim again,with his Sam Adams gut in a slim cy-cling shirt and then think about ridingbehind his sweaty, pimply keister cleav-age for two miles), or the gang dressedup in Sesame street costumes.

In these days after, Im not as soreas I expected. These young bones madeout okay. Though, Ive been opting forthe elevator to get to the fourth floor ofthe library, instead of taking the stairs,as per usual.

With the proper training, I could begreat. I think I can win it all next year.

Ill just have to tweak my habits. MaybeI should eat more fruit.

My Five Borough Bike Tour

By Vincent Barone

Sports


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The Stony Brook Press - Volume 32, Issue 13