February 9, 2012 Nothing Stopping You from Having a “ Damn Good Time
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>> What’s the best >> Interested in of the ‘Burg? joining our team? Applications for all Vote at editor positions are breezejmu.org available on joblink.jmu.edu. Serving James Madison University Since 1922 Sunny 47°/ 25° Vol. 88, No. 34 chance of precipitation: 0% Thursday, February 9, 2012 Nothing stopping you from having a “ damn good time. Terminal cancer patient Sarah Pharis checks off bucket list item with help of local Italian restaurant By KELSEY NUNN ”“ e bottom line is this: We just don’t contributing writer know how to e ectively treat this cancer once it spreads, other than cutting out Many people have their entire lives the tumors,” Pharis wrote. to do what they want — go skydiving So she wrote a list of things she and bungee jumping, travel to a faraway wanted to accomplish, lled with the place and write a book. But for Sarah nearly impossible, the terrifying and the Pharis, it’s just living to age . memorable. Making calamari, bruschetta, garlic Butch Strawderman, former owner bread, salad, pasta and chicken parma- and loyal customer of Tutti Gusti, read gian at Tutti Gusti on Monday evening about Pharis’ story and wanted to help. was more than just for a meal for the “Looking at the list, I thought I could Staunton native. It was also something help her knock out a bunch of things,” to cross o her list of goals to complete. Strawderman said. Pharis, , lives with terminal cancer. He emphasized the collective “On April , I was diagnosed involvement of the community to help with a choroidal melanoma in my right Pharis reach her goals. Strawderman eye,” Pharis wrote in her blog, [Lovex- organized a hot air balloon ride for her In nity]. e tumor “was mm at the ALISON PARKER / THE BREEZE and a few friends and is searching for base and looked exactly like the fetus of Sarah Pharis, 32, had always wanted to cook in an Italian restaurant and fi nally got Tom Jones concert tickets, two more a dinosaur curled inside its shell. I was her chance Monday night thanks to Tutti Gusti. Pharis was diagnosed in April 2006 items on her list. years old.” with a tumor in her right eye. Four years later, the cancer moved to her liver and most Fortunado Merone, the current The vision in her right eye was recently to her left ovary in September. owner of Tutti Gusti, also wanted to extremely distorted. Almost four years help. His family, too, has been a ected later, she was told the cancer had much as a percent chance that this “I was lucky to be a candidate for by cancer. spread to her liver. would happen. I was terri ed, but not resection,” Pharis wrote. “Not many “On her bucket list, she wanted to “My doctors previously had told me surprised.” with metastatic ocular melanoma are.” make cherry soup and cook pasta for all that this probably would never hap- In March , Pharis had surgery to She was diagnosed with mets when the families and everyone,” said Merone, pen,” Pharis wrote. “To the contrary, remove the tumor from her eye and a the cancer moved to her left ovary in the literature I had read reported as larger, benign tumor from liver. September. see PHARIS, page A4 Alum wins big with commercial Making the By LAURA WEEKS in and of itself. The Breeze “It was the most luxurious vaca- tion that I’ve ever had,” Friedman As soon as the rst second of Jon- said. “Everything was paid for, sev- athan Friedman’s Doritos “Crash en-course meals — it was ridiculous. the Super Bowl” commercial aired, ey really treated us well.” big leagues “everybody started freaking out,” Media attention after the win has Friedman said. e contest allowed been “crazy” and “exhausting.” e participants to submit homemade morning after the Super Bowl, Fried- Alumna Lindsay Czarniak makes videos promoting Doritos products. man stayed up until a.m. doing “It was pretty amazing. e excite- interviews, then had to be at the stu- her way up the corporate sports ladder to ESPN ment was instantaneous —everything dio by a.m. doing interviews via just erupted.” live telecast. He lmed a segment for Friedman experienced the win “Inside Edition” yesterday. with the other four nalists and rep- “I’m nding out that I’m popping By EMMIE CLEVELAND but said the football team “wasn’t resentatives from Frito-Lay. up in di erent places and not even The Breeze anything like it is now. “ Friedman, whose bank account is knowing about it,” he said. “It’s been “ ere de nitely wasn’t a crowd soon to be about million heavier nuts.” There was a time when ESPN’s following,” she said. (pre-taxes), hasn’t started planning For Friedman and the other four newest SportsCenter anchor wasn’t She knew she wanted to pursue what he’ll do with the money. finalists, it wasn’t about who was even considering a profession in a broadcasting career after she took “It still hasn’t sunk in that I’m going to win. By the time the Super sports. When Lindsay Czarniak grad- a news production class taught by actually going to have that munch Bowl aired, the group had been uated from JMU in , she had her SMAD professor Rustin Greene. e money,” Friedman said. together for four days. COURTESY OF JONATHAN FRIEDMAN sights set on a di erent career. class produced a weekly newscast. He says that he does, however, plan “We all became friends,” Friedman “Honestly, my dream was prob- “That’s when I really realized on spending some of his winnings on said. “Even if it wasn’t mine that won, Alumnus Jonathan Friedman was the ably that one day I would do what it was that I wanted to try to do, gifts for friends and family, as well as I would be happy for whoever it was. I $1 million winner of the Doritos “Crash something that would be like a because I didn’t know if I wanted to on a movie that he and his brother think we all kind of felt that way about the Super Bowl” commercial contest. morning show or something like do print or more writing — maybe have been working on. each other at the end.” that,” she said. even creative writing,” she said. “I Does he have vacation plans? Support from his family and friends Czarniak went to Centreville High just wasn’t sure … e extracurricu- Maybe in the future. was also a huge aspect for Friedman I was going to win,” Friedman said. School in Fairfax before coming to lar part of doing that TV show with Friedman describes the trip to throughout the whole process. JMU, where she pursued a SMAD everyone was what really hooked Indianapolis, which was one of the “They were all saying how I was CONTACT Laura Weeks at major with a concentration in jour- m e .” perks of being a nalist as a vacation going to win when I didn’t even believe [email protected]. Czarniak also had a scriptwriting class with Greene and made a lasting “She was one of those impression on him. people that I knew right “She was extraordinary,” Greene said. “She was one of those people away she had ‘it.’ ” that I knew right away she had ‘it.’ Rustin Greene ‘It’ is de ned in many ways, and it’s SMAD professor characterized in many ways, but she had ‘it.’ Not only was she intelligent and focused and disciplined and a hard worker, but she was also very talented.” Czarniak was no stranger to sports nalism and a minor in studio art. journalism. Her father Chet was a With her rising success in sports sports writer, so she witnessed the broadcasting, Czarniak has become lifestyle — the attendance of sporting an idol to JMU students with ambi- events and the travel — the profes- tions in the journalistic eld. sion entailed. Makenzie Walter, a senior SMAD “I remember when it was my major and sport communications birthday when I was really young, minor, saw Czarniak speak at Cent- and Magic Johnson announced that reville’s graduation in and has he was HIV positive,” Czarniak said. been following her career since. “ at was one of those things where “It’s inspiring, because you know as a kid, I was bummed out because you can do the same thing,” Walter my dad couldn’t be at my birthday said. “She went to my high school, party, but at the same time it was one and she obviously went here. She of those things [when] he really got lived in my neighborhood.” me exposed to the breaking news Because of her close ties to JMU, aspect of sports.” BECKY SULLIVAN / THE BREEZE it’s easy for fellow sports-lovers and But not immediately compelled students to relate to Czarniak. to follow in his footsteps, Czarniak “I loved D-Hall,” she said. “The chased a career in news. After she ‘Truth and Tranquility’ other place too, I’m trying to remem- graduated, she worked at an entry- ArtWorks Gallery held the opening of the “Truth and Tranquility” exhibition on Monday. Art students of Agnes ber. e Festival? at was new when level position behind the scenes at Carbrey have created life-size self portraits in drawing, painting, fabric and photo forms. Tranquil landscapes from I was there. And there also used to be CNN. southern France and the French Mediterranean showcase the Fauvist colors of JMU art students in the Southern France this place that was called Mr.