www.fclcobserver.com INSIDE: T Opinions...... 7 H Features 11 Arts & Culture 15 Literary. 20 OBSERVER Sports 24 March 16, 2005 FORDHAM UNIVERSITY AT LINCOLN CENTER Volume XXIII, Issue 11 Conservative students feel silenced on Mary Bly sheds literary liberal campus, College Council says psyeudonym E. James
By NANCY YOUNG his subject, but he should be their class presented things in By J.P. MANGALINDAN Staff Writer careful not to introduce into such a way that students who Arts & Culture Editor his teaching controversial mat- might think otherwise, might FCLC—College Council ter, which has no relation to be, looked at as being dumb ARTS & CULTURE members raised concerns that his subject." ... a sort of 'how can you Pages 15 to 19 students with conservative The Rev. Robert R. Grimes, think that?' kind of experi-' viewpoints might feel silenced S.J., dean, of FCLC, reminded ence." If Mary Bly had blinked, by largely liberal professors the panel that this statement Grimes did say that he, too, "perhaps her future would have and classmates. was originally sent out after has recently heard similar been different. At the March 10 Council the start of the Iraqi War when complaints from students. . . In that split second seven meeting, Aristotle Papanikolau, subject matter was overlap- "Students feel that there is a years ago, she would 've professor of theology, intro- ping into curriculum that had classroom atmosphere where missed the rather nondescript duced this topic to the panel no basis for such an overlap- certain positions are deemed •flier (aped to a lamppost on the first by distributing a statement ping. as doctrine, and if you disagree •side of the road as she and that was originally issued Papanikolau, however, with the position, you will be husband Aicssandro drove March 12, 2003, on academic went on to say, "Students I subject to retaliation in one through Florence, Italy. freedom. was in contact with felt very form or another," he said, .'4'Call Eloisa: Lose 20 The statement read: "The much intimidated to speak "whether it be in class, or even ,"p,6unds in 20 days!," the sign teacher is entitled to freedom their mind or voice their opin- ''declared in Italian. in the classroom in discussing ion because their professor in see COUNCIL, page 4 '*i:''That's it! That's the name ences between the two ate. the baby!" she professed merely skin deep. Fordham Reconciliation Project aims for idly as she turned to her "I suppose I tend to. (band. "Eloisa. That's a my contacts more wbien'jtfijf. peace among conflicting nationalities fcil name." Eloisa, as some readers fitid' Bly, the name seemed my very academic glasses;
By GABBY HARRIS with the two opposing sides, laboration between JSO and for their then-unborn intimidating," she says," "Buf^J creating an atmosphere of trust MESA," Shusterman added. "is&oind child, regardless of am the same sort of person' Staff Writer and understanding. The Reconciliation Project who wrinkled his wherever I am." ••• • FCLC—The Reconciliation "Dialogue is important hosted its first event oh March ;jhMeit'tliis romantic-sounding What's interesting about' Project, an independent on- because it tears down the walls 9, with the Big Apple Playback '"'moniker. Bly's story, which media touti campus group, was started this of alienation between two stu- Theatre, in which, a group of fri^'tyt' can't go there," he lets from CNN and New York? semester by two FCLC stu- dent groups on campus who professional actors and musi- responded. magazine have recently.: dents, Sherih'an Khali 1, an have much more in Qommon cians enacted a student's per- ',;.villiough they would ev'cntu- pounced on, is the extreme- Egyptian-American, and Aelia than they think," said Khalil. sonal story related to the le on the name Anna, secrecy surrounding her other Shusterman, an Israeli, both "Aelia and [my] personal rela- Israeli/Palestinian conflict. pisa was not forgotten. life. For nearly six years,, FCLC '05, in order to establish tionship is a testament to this." Their next event was a dia- named myself that many people outside her inner a place for Arabs, Jews, and Co-founder Shusterman logue session, limited to IS to " she says in retrospect, circle of friends and family, others connected to the added, "When I first came to 20 participants who are closely at the time, my husband her colleagues at Fordham Israeli/Palestinian conflict to Fordham University, there was related to the issues in the Jwas, reading a Henry James included, were kept in the. engage in thoughtful and non- only the Jewish Students Middle East. ;ndvel. I took the last name as dark. political dialogue and events. Organization (JSO) and the Both Khalil and Shusterman Somewhat of a tribute to the Why so hush-hush? While the project does not Middle Eastern Students have undergone training from "I wanted to get tenure; the, ^ intend to solve the multifaceted Association (MESA). I felt The Dialogue Project in New ^f'iAnd Eloisa James, fictional old-fashioned way, by writing: problems of the Middle East or there was a need to bridge the York, a group of professional jjlter ego, bestselling author an academic book and doing to ignite debate over personal two communities on campus. dialogue facilitators, and and popular fiction advocate, administrative service in the" politics, its primary purpose is "I've noticed that sometimes encourage participants hi the be. department," Bly says, refer- to establish a forum that culti- in classes there are tensions, ring to her extensive schedule vates dialogue and hosts events and there has never been a col- see PROJECT, page 2 • Bly has a reputation for at FCLC teaching in the being a bit of workhorse. She English department. "I felt has to be, considering her that unless I proved myself, RH 'Monologues' met with protests schedule. my colleagues might be wor- "She's a very, very hard ried that I wouldn't pull my worker," says Janis Barry- weight." Figueroa, a professor of eco- But with the release of her nomics and women's studies. latest novel "Much Ado About "She's very disciplined. One You," Bly felt things should can be a hard worker and not change. She says she started to be disciplined. Mary knows feel that by keeping her secret how to work smart. What's the she was encouraging the view saying? 'Work smart, not of romance as a lesser genre, hard?' Mary's a smart and and that by doing so, it hard worker." appeared as though she was Bly teeters on the brink of embarrassed by her work and two very different worlds: her readers. The time was During the academic school right to come out. year she teaches Shakespeare December 2004 saw a and Renaissance drama to blitzkrieg of publicity: Bly's Fordham undergraduates; dur- face was broadcast on CNN ing the summer months, she and "Good Morning pens novels as Eloisa James. America," her voice permeat- One imagines the difficulties ed the airwaves of NPR, she in leading a "double life" to be spoke to New York and wrote daunting, keeping her alter an Op-lid for The New York The 2005 V-Day production of 'The Vagina Monologues'at Rose Hill saw protests from groups egos separate, but she begs to Times professing her identity. both for and against the play. See page 2 for more photos by Laurel McGovern. Bly implies the diffcr- set* BLY, pa News 2 THE OBSERVER March 16. 2005 Rose Hill 'Vagina Monologues' production met with protests
The production of Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues"produced by Rose Hill's Women's Empowerment Committee (WEC) was met with protests from the Knights of Columbus and other conservative student groups. RH United Student Government (USG) representatives staged a counter-protest at the Saturday night perfor- mance. On Friday night, The Knights reportedly threw holy water on attendees as they entered O'Keefe Commons.
Pictured, clockwise from bottom right:
Protestors gathered outside O'Keefe with a pro- trait of Jesus Christ, Rosary beads and crosses.
Two male students show support for the WEC cause.
A female student illustrates one of V-Day's main messages.
USG reps, show their support for WEC and the production as well as their advocacy for free. speech oh campus. —Photos by Laurel McGovern Observer staff photographer
Student's handbag stolen PROJECT: a place for non-political talk at East Village bar Reconciliation Project to speak go that route next semester, it spread to other campuses, from a personal viewpoint, has received sponsorship from "I think it will spark a lasting I Crime Blotter I share their experiences with one JSO, MESA, the department of value," Beck added. "It's great 3 Campus Security Files I another, and listen to those Middle East studies, the politi- for the two sides to come thoughts of differing opinions. cal science department and together to build mutual respect March 4 Avenue and was approached They both stress the project's peace and justice studies. and understanding." -A student who was out by three young kids who asked non-political standpoint, aiming Without the funding and sup- Some FCLC students are with friends at a bar in the East her for the time, said Carroll. instead to reflect on personal port of these school outlets, the also impressed with the Village said that her handbag He also said that when she experiences. Reconciliation Project would Reconciliation Project's initia- was taken from the back of her looked at her watch, her iPod "We are very careful to have neither the credibility nor tives. "Everyday I saw the con- chair, according to John slipped and the kids attempted nuance our events, speakers, the financial assistance needed flict in Israel and I'd like to see Carroll, director of security at to grab it; they were unsuc- and dialogues in a non-political, to carry out its events and goal. it resolved," said Dena Sassoon, Fordham. She reported it, but cessful, though, non-inflammatory direction," "I think [The Reconciliation FCLC '08, who lived in Israel her credit card had already : said Khalil. "I encourage diver- Project] is great," said sponsor for 10 years. "You're constantly been used to purchase March 8 sity of opinion and am cog- Susan Beck, a political science living in fear and there's danger MetroCards, Carroll said. -At approximately 9:10 nizant of fundamental differ- professor and student adviser everywhere, not just for the sol- p.m., an individual attempted ences, yet our forum is not a for the pre-law program. diers in Jerusalem. Hopefully March 7 to enter McMahon Hall with place to solve the complex real- "[Khalil and Shusterman] are the Reconciliation Project will -An individual was stopped . an expired guest pass, accord- ities of the Middle East, nor is it students who are really doing be successful at educating peo- trying to enter the parking lot ing to Carroll. The pass was the place to rant and rave about something to make this world a pie and not judging them. ... by the Law School at 1:40 confiscated, and the guest was each other's politics.',' better place. They are making a It's always a good idea to talk as p.m., security said. The stu- escorted off campus, he said, While this project is not yet a great contribution to Fordham long as both sides are open and dent was stopped and identi- club, although its founders may University, and I envision, its can share ideas." • fied near the Law School cafe- -A student reported to secu- teria, and Carroll said he was rity that sometime between just in an area he should not 8:15 p.m. and 8:45 p.m., he have been. left his laptop bag and belong- The Obsesrver is looking for you •• '-- ings unattended while he went -At about 4 p.m., a student to get something to cat. When Turn to page 22 for information on how to join The was walking on West 62nd he returned, his belongings Street toward Amsterdam were gone, security said. • Observer team for the 2005-2006 school year. March 16. 2005 THE OBSERVER Faculty and staff honorecl^ University Convocation
By MONIQUE DIMAN Assistant News Editor 2005 Fordham University Convocation
FORDHAM—Approximately Fordham honored numerous members of the university for their 300 members of the Fordham dedication and service at the 2005 Fordham University community, its family and friends, Convocation on March 6. The various awards and their recipients gathered in Pope Auditorium at are below. the Lincoln Center Campus, on March 6 for the annual convoca- Archbishop Hughes Medal for Service; tion [see sidebar] to honor mem- -Rita Arthur, study abroad adviser at Marymount College bers of its faculty and staff. „ -Jordy Bell, associate academic dean at Maryniount College The hour-long event was in -Charlotte Labbe, head of interlibrary loan services at the Walsh celebration of recipients of the Family Library Archbishop Hughes Medal for -Joseph Muriana, associate vice president for government and Service, the Bene Marenti de urban affairs , ; Universitate Fordhamensi Medal, -Nixa Rosada, assistant director of academic records and opera- and the new Sursum Corda ("Lift tions in the enrollment group - . - From left to right: Frank Simio, vice president of finance, the Rey. Up Your Hearts") Award. • • -•»•••' Joseph A. Currie, S.J., director of campus ministry, the Rev. Following the entrance of Bene Marenti Medal: Joseph M. McShane, S.J. president of Fordham. recipients and faculty, the 40 years of service: ••''•'. Fordham University Choir, John Lawry, professor of psychology , : under the direction of Robert 20 years. a devoted faculty and staff. He -Nicholas Gianaris, professor of economics Minotti, sang an acapella ver- The second award, distrib- quoted St. Paul, in a letter to the -Theodore Herskovits, professor of chemistry sion of the national anthem. uted by John Hollwitz, vice Church of Philippi, when he -Florinda Iannace, professor of Italian The Rev. Joseph Currie, S.J., president for academic affairs, said, "I thank God in all my -Charles Kelbley, associate professor of philosophy / ' *•• director of campus ministry, and Nancy Busch, dean of the remembrances, always in every -Mary"Powers, chair of the sociology and anthropology depart- then led the invocation. "We graduate school of arts and sci- prayer of mine to you all, mak- ments ' gather this Sunday afternoon in ences, was the Bene Marenti ing my prayer with joy, thankful March, to take your tough, to Medal honoring recipients for always for your partnership." 20 years of service: seek your blessing as we honor their years of service. McShane insisted that he was -Marcia Flicker, associate professor of marketing colleagues and friends who Finally, the newly instated not exaggerating and empha- -Martha Bial, adjunct professor of social work have consistently excelled over Sursum Corda Award recipients sized the Fordham staffs profes- -Laura Johnston Lee, associate professor of social work many years in their search for were announced by Frank sional and personal dedication in -Gertrude Hamilton, associate professor of English truth and in dedicated service to Simio, vice president of finance. making themselves available to -Deborah Luckett, associate professor of biology ~ -,. our university community," he The Fordham choir followed the needs of the university. -James Quinn, adjunct professor of English . '..•'" said. the award distribution with a ren- "We celebrate the way in -Patricia Silber, professor of English •
METRO NEWS Bush nominated rocket scientist Mike Calendar of Events Griffin for the administrator position at -Two former NYPD cops have been NASA. Griffin would replace the arrested in connection with their Interim Administrator Frederick @ Lincoln Center double roles as mob hit-men Gregory who filled the position in the 1980s and 1990s. after Sean O'Keefe resigned Thurs., March 17 - Mon., March 28 Louis Eppolito and from the post in December. -Spring break!' :. Stephen Caracappa have been linked to INTERNATIONAL Wed., March 30 eight mob-related mur- NEWS -Join SPARC as they sponsor "Food and Loathing: A Lament Book Discussion" at ders. 5 p.m. in the Student Lounge. WASHINGTON, D.C.— -Fernando Ferrer and On March 11, the U.S. gov- Thurs., March 31 .. , C. Virginia Fields, two ernment removed its motion -Wake up and mingle with fellow commuters at the Commuting.Students candidates for the Democratic to prevent Iran's membership Association's Coffee Break in the Student Lounge from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. ' nomination in New York City's may- application for the World Trade * oral race, have taken a "no attack" Organization. Following the FrL, April 1 pledge. The agreement is to avoid per- announcement, which European pow- -Come speak your mind and hear the opinions of others at Rainbow Alliance's Gay sonal attacks and stick to the issues. ers had been pushing for, Britain, Marriage Panel Reception, held from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Student Lounge. France and Germany agreed that if Iran NATIONAL NEWS did not fulfill its international standards -Free food, free admission and lots of laughs! Come to the Multi-Cultural Comedy in their nuclear program and halt urani- Night in the 12th floor lounge from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. This event is sponsored by SOL, ATLANTA—Suspect Brian Nichols um enrichment, Iran would forgo Molimo, MESA and APAC. was arrested on March 12 after surren- European support in the U.N. Security dering to police. Police believe Nichols Council. In response, on March 12, Iran Tues., Aprils shot and killed Fulton County Superior said that it would not abandon its -Join the fight against hunger and take part in the annual Hunger Banquet in Court Judge Rowland Barnes, court nuclear program. McMahon 109 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. This event is sponsored by the Community reporter Julie Ann Brandau, and sher- Service Office, and the cost is $5 per student. ,.,..-> •••• iff s deputy Sgt. Hoyt Teasley during BEIJING, CHINA—China's State the transition from detention room to Council met on March 12 and approved courtroom. the resignation of Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa, who had requested Portions of this calendar are courtesy of the Office of Student Activities. FLORIDA—President George W. such an action for health reasons. • News 4 THE OBSERVER March 16. 2005 Survey links strict state laws to low binge drinking rates on campus ed persons. laws and policies that seek to A college's According to the study, limit consumption among the Sober facts about coflege drinking location can which was published in the general public would also play Ninety-five percent of U.S. parents of college students say they are American Journal of Public a role in limiting binge drinking concerned about excessive drinking on campus. affect the Health, binge drinking rates among college students. Parental driving 84% among college students were According to statistics pro- concerns academic performance 62% amount of 31 percent lower in seven states vided by the Office of Percent of parents with four or more laws target- Residential Life (Res. Life), - who are concerned IllllPftt60^ sex 55% ing high volume sales of alco- there were 40 alcohol viola- about these effects poisoning - heavy drinking of excessive 54% hol compared to those states tions in McMahon Hall during alcohol use tfor drunken behavior 40% among students that did not. the Fall 2003 and Spring 2004 "The good news is that if semesters combined; of these Contributing jnsible students 93% By JOE DELESSIO more states and communities 40 violations, 31 were by stu- factors Features Editor take relatively straightforward dents under the age of 21. Percent of parents i^Vjgg* access to acoM at local actions—such as enacting laws These numbers do not include who say these u'Tm*1*0™* 93% Instances of binge drinking that discourage high volume more serious cases in which a situations gipSh^ap liquor at specials such ^p 80% among college students are sales—they could see fewer student may require medical contribute happh y hhours lower in states that have stricter drinking problems on college attention. H Ads and promotions by beer and alcohol laws, according to a campuses and in their broader According to Greer Jason, f- -liquor companies near campus new study. Other factors, populations as well," said director of Res. Life, such stu- though, such as a campus' Some solutions immediate environment, can Percent of parents and other adults who support these actions cause a rise in these numbers. Enforce underage drinking laws ,,, 92% "it's always a concern for us when students are consuming The study, conducted by the Increase penalties on retailers Harvard School of Public Health large quantities of alcohol or consuming any alcohol if they're who sell or serve liquor to minors .,.,,,.,.... ,....,89% Limit number of bars close to campus ,....,. 78% and the Centers for Disease not of legal age." Ban alcohol ads in college sports Control and Prevention (CDC) - Greer Jason, and newspapers 77% as part of their ongoing College director of Residential Life Alcohol Study (CAS), found that states with tougher laws designed to prevent excessive Toben F. Nelson, of the Harvard dents are not adjudicated "If you look at colleges and studied whether a campus' sur- drinking had fewer instances of School of Public Health CAS, because Res. Life does not want universities across the coun- roundings affected the amount binge drinking both among col- in a written statement. students to be afraid to report a try," said Jason, "there are col- of drinking among students, and lege students and the general The study used data from a problem when a friend may be leges in cities, there are col- found that a school's immediate adult population. Previously, the 2000 assessment of state alco- in danger. Jason added that Res. leges in suburbs, there are col- surroundings could have an groups had found that a college's hol-related laws prepared by Life does follow up on such stu- leges in farm towns, and impact on drinking activity. immediate environment, such as Mothers Against Drunk dents and offers treatment regardless of the location, there "We had previously found proximity to a high density of Driving (MADD). In that opportunities for them. are students consuming alco- that environmental factors such "alcohol outlets," could affect assessment, New York received "It's always a concern for us ' hdl, [and] putting themselves as1 low price, special promo- such activity. a grade of B-. In the most when students are consuming into harm's way." tions of alcohol, and high den- "Overall, we recommend recent MADD "report card" large quantities of alcohol or Jason also said that sity of alcohol outlets near the that states and communities from 2002, New York received consuming any alcohol if Fordham's urban location, with college campus support heav- implement effective prevention a B. In the 2002 assessment, the they're not of legal age," said its high density of bars, is not ier drinking by college stu- strategies for binge drinking," national average was a C. New Jason. "We're always con- the necessarily the only cause of dents," said Henry Wechsler, said Robert D. Brewer, co- York currently has 29 alcohol- cerned about any student who's any alcohol-related concerns. co-author of the report and author of the paper and leader related laws on the books out of violating the law or putting "There are a number of director of college alcohol of the CDC's Alcohol Team, in 39 identified by MADD. themselves in any position behaviors that are concerning to studies at the Harvard School a written statement. He sug- "Most alcohol purchases and where they could be in danger.'" colleges and universities across of Public Health, in a written gested an increase in state alco- consumption occurs off campus Jason added that she felt any the country regardless of loca- statement.
hol taxes, enforcement of legal anyway," said Timothy S. school's location plays only a tion," she said. "Drinking is not The Harvard 0 School of drinking age laws and enforce- Naimi, of the CDC's Alcohol limited role in the amount of just a problem at urban schools." Public Health CAS is spon- ment of laws prohibiting sales Team, in a written statement, alcohol consumption among its The Harvard School of sored by the Robert Wood of alcohol to already-intoxicat- "and so it's not surprising that students. Public Health had previously Johnson Foundation. • COUNCIL: students echo concerns raised at recent meeting
FROM FRONT PAGE chair of history, suggested sor of communication and dom issues!" She made particular refer- that the Student Evaluations media studies and adviser to Andrew Clark, assistant ence to papers she wrote for a the grade, or you might be of Educational Quality The Observer, also had many professor of modern language political science course. "I mocked, or the fear of it ... (SEEQ) evaluations can be concerns regarding this issue. and literature, added there is a just felt that my paper, that positions are held so employed to get an idea as to "There are certain kinds of difference between student- although it was well-written strongly by a faculty member how many students feel this intellectual terrain that started professor conversation out- and well-researched, was that there is no room for dis- way and in which classes. out making people feel uncom- side the class structure and graded differently because of cussion or opposition." This idea was well-received fortable, like critical race theo- discussion in the classroom. my more conservative view- Regarding remarks made by other panel members; how- ry, like feminism," she said. "I "I think there is this inner points," she recalled. about FCLC being a more lib- ever, due to the fact that this think it's not so easy to know exchange at the beginning of Sebring added, "I felt that eral campus, Papanikolau said, is not part of the SEEQ's orig- how to draw those bound- class where you are both an my pieces always had to be "Whatever programs might be inal purpose, the administra- aries." individual and a professor and more thorough and here should be geared in such a tion must await approval to As far as what the next step you can banter and talk a little researched, because I was way that it would give full use this as a source for such a should be, Kassabian was in bit, and then classes begin," challenging some of the opin- weight to both sides of the task. favor of hearing the students' he said. ions of the more liberal pro- issue ... give the impression Grimes advised against opinion on this issue. "I wWe all have political posi- fessors and classmates.'* that this is a real environment bringing too much politics would be much more com- tions that are going to come Sebring added, however, of critical exchange instead of into the discussion. "I think it fortable proceeding in a way out," Clark continued. "It's that openness should not come just kind of preaching to the is a mistake if we start to of academic integrity, to whether we are using them at expense of animated class- choir." look at this as some kind of make a statement, have a offensively against students room discussions. After hearing and under- political issue, like we have forum with students and fac- and discriminating against "If we all had the same standing this problematic issue professors who are trying to ulty, to have the conversation them." opinions and viewpoints, that the Council then became con- brainwash their students," he be vivid and on the table and Catherine Sebring, a for- would be so boring," she said. cerned with producing a reso- said. "I think it is a very present in our imaginations mer FCLC student who trans- "It's good to challenge differ- lution. There was discussion unconscious thing that one all the time and to be talking ferred to USC iri the fall of ent ideas and understand'the about whether the resolution can do and it's really a ques- about it in a sort of ongoing 2004 and who is a self-pro- different ways people think. 1 on this issue should be proce- tion of being self-conscious way," she said. "That is a' claimed economic conscr- love having conversations dural or a publishable stater about your own pedagogy really important way to vatve, said that she did feel with both ultra-liberal and ment visible to both students and the way in which you address the issue without pressure in her time at FCLC ultra-convserative types; I arid faculty, teach." abridging what I think are to agree with her professor's learn something new from Barry Goldberg, associate Anahid Kassabian, profes- very serious academic free- liberal ideas. them." • March 16.2005 THE OBSERVER Recent MTA fare hikes spark reaction among commuter students
By NATALIE RODRIGUEZ MTA wouldn't raise fares Features Editor unless it was necessary, MTA Consolidated Utilization-Baseline Before Gap-Closing Act lone Fritsche believes there should On Feb. 27, fare changes be a better solution than raising MTA Ridership (in millions) B&T Traffic (in millions) initiated by the Metropolitan express bus prices. Transit Authority (MTA) took "It's somewhat unfair to 910.0 effect, to the chagrin of many raise the express bus fares," I ^^^tt FCLC students. /Prices for Fritsche said. "It is used pri- 30O.0 unlimited MetroCards and marily by Staten Islanders with ran express bus rides were raised no other option except the 2SO.0 as part of the MTA's strategy ferry." to increase fare revenues by Rob Errara, FCLC '07, 280.0+ 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2003 2004 200$ 2008 2007 2008 five percent to minimize pre- believed the fare hikes are Actuu p,tn dicted losses in 2005, accord- unwarranted. The Bronx com- ing to the MTA's Director of muter has no other choice than MTA Fare Revenue (In millions) B&T Toll Revenue (in millions) Community Affair Douglas to buy an unlimited MetroCard. Sussman. "I incessantly travel mostly by $3,700.0 •1.1250, Fare revenues account for train, so I'm forced to buy an over 50 percent of the MTA's unlimited monthly metro card," $1,073.0 total revenues and the he said. $1,026,0 increases were only one of Errara also went on to say, "I the ways the organization don't have a car, so I can't drive $078.0 tried to save money, accord- anywhere, and any MetroCard $828.0 ing to Sussman. aside from an unlimited month- 3003 2004 2005 2008 2007 2009 2003 2304 2008 2008 2007 2008 ly would not be worth it at all "We did make a lot of cuts inter- NMK MM»MMh R»Bro»d ridanNp and tan IWMMM Agtra* tie tor EMtoMtudttn Mrvtos (HudMn. Hutom •nd New Haven Un») only. nally, in terms of staffing, and there since I travel so much each was a hiring freeze, a wage freeze, day." and a promotional freeze," said Furthermore, Errara com- Sussman. "We have done every- plained that he doesn't see ital program proposal, which clean up the subway stations thing administratively at the MTA where his money is going and asks the state legislature for [and] trains and make them New fares: to save close to a couple of hundred is unsure about the necessity of $27 billion, has yet to be more commuter-attractive— million dollars, but the remainder the fare hike. approved, leaving $18 billion maybe then will we be able to ;Ottfr«way bus: had to come through a variety of "I think the MTA is a in the current fund for the next digest paying-two dollars for a •f Reduced fare, off- mechaniBms...one of which is rais- monopoly that takes their cus- five years, according to fare," he said. :peak:.$2.50) ing fares and tolls." tomers for granted," he said. Sussman. Similarly, Brooklyn com- Five out of eight FCLC com- "They seem to feel like since Some students are under- muter Tamara Shehadeh, 7 day unlimited muting students questioned , the.people who ride their trains standing about the MTA's deci- FCLC "07, believes the MTA MetroCard: however, said they were nega- and buses have no .other sion' to raise prices. "What was justified in raising the $24 (Reduced fare:.$12) tively affected by the increase. options, they can do whatever [many] don't realize is that the fare. "I understand that the "I rely on my unlimited they like. I can't name one per- MTA has issues, of its own to MTA might have had their rea- monthly MetroCard every son who's satisfied with the deal with: costs of operation sons for the fare hike, espe- 30 day unlimited month and the MTA's six dollar MTA's performance. And I layoffs; expansion projects, cially if they did it ^o cover MetroCard: ^.., increase means I'll be paying somehow doubt anyone else and wages for workers*," said dwindling dollars elsewhere," .$76 (Reduced fare: $38) $72 more a year," said can, either." John Markesinis, FCLC '08, a she said. Stephanie Perez, FCLC '05, According to Sussman, commuter from Astoria. "It's Shedadeh, however, hopes 7 Day Express Bus president of Commuting however, the reason "why peo- hard for the MTA to keep that the hikes will not continue. Plus: Students Association (CSA), ahead of their financial obliga- ple are seeing a slight deterio- "I, like many others, submit to $41 (No reduced fare "and it's not like service is ration in the quality of service tions if one or more of these the hike and pay the higher fare available) < improving." is because [the MTA's] capital issues has even the slightest because for most of us it is the The recent fare hike also funding is drying up". augmentation."' only way to get around the affected Staten Island resident Since 1982, the MTA has Markenises, however, would city," she said. "The MTA Charts and additional Erica Fritsche, FCLC '08, who put into effect capital programs like to see extra revenues man- might have its reasons for the info courtesy of the MTA's rides an express bus to get to every five years to cover long- ifest themselves into visible hike, but I just hope fares don't Website, mta.nyc.ny.us school. While she feels that the term projects. The current cap- improvements. "They should continue to rise." • Study suggests equality among quality of life for males and females Kenneth Land and John Crowell into consideration in interpreting the "We have 28 indicators in the CWI, By LILLIAN POLANCO from Duke University's sociology results, but she hopes people will real- and boys are favored in some and girls Staff Writer department organized the study, along ize that societal factors affect both gen- are favored in others," said Meadows, with research assistance from some of ders and that the gender gap in the well- "but overall, using such a diverse mea- While Lawrence Summers, presi- their Duke colleagues, including being of children is not as large as most sure of well-being allows us to get a dent of Harvard University, remains Meadows. The study was funded by people think it is. more comprehensive view of how each in hot water for his controversial grants from the Foundation for Child The researchers have been able to gender is doing than existed in previous statements suggesting innate differ- Development, a private, not-for-profit compare the well-being of children . literature." ences between men and women, dis- child advocacy foundation based in by using what they have introduced Megha Das, FCLC '05, finds the cussions about whether these differ- New York. as the Child Well-Being Index results convincing because "the dif- ences really exist can include the new Some members of the Fordham com- (CWI). This index is a national mea- ferences between the boys and girls findings from an ongoing study munity are reluctant to believe the sure of the average well-being of are helpful somewhat to each [gen- known as the Child Well-Being Index study's results. children in the United States and der]." Project. Ecenia Cueto, FCLC '06, does not functions as an indicator to measure Although the researchers point out The study indicates that girls and see how both genders' quality of life patterns that occur over time during that. boys and girls have different boys in the United States show can be equal since society has different child development. advantages and show noticeable differ- strong similarities in a broad spec- expectations for each. "[Boys and girls] Seven domains are used in measur- ences in certain areas, they conclude trum of social factors, including are treated differently from the time ing the CWI: material well-being, that essentially the boys and girls of health, economics, safety and educa- they are babies ... boys to be more social relationships, health, America are showing the same trends tion. "We found that trends in one independent and girls more depen- safety/behavioral concerns, productive in their quality of life. group mirrored trends in the other so dent," she said. activity (educational attainments), As with most studies involving the that if the percentage of males Cueto also believes that the differ- place in community, and complex and controversial issue over reporting very good or excellent ence is seen during adulthood as well. emotional/spiritual well-being. These the battle of the sexes, this study has health increased, the percentage of "The gap between the two sexes is domains are used as the foundation for received criticism with claims of females reporting very good or more evident in the work force, where collecting data from federal statistics being biased. Critics accuse the study excellent health increased," Sarah women continue to get paid less than such as the U.S. census bureau, health of observing variables that are unfa- Meadows, lead researcher of the men," she said. surveys and economic indicators and to vorable toward minority groups and study at Duke University, told The However, Meadows told The track the progress of people from 1985 women, reported the Washington Observer. Observer that societal factors are taken until 2001, Post. • News 6 THE OBSERVER March 16 20tT> Transitions program geared to seniors, but few participate
By GISELLE ISNER program was kicked off in Feb., another one is planned for later moved off campus this semes- dance to some of the work- . Staff Writer with the following workshops: this semester. In addition, ter* she said. "I've been look- shops, Mussi said, "Our philos- "What to Expect in Graduate "What's That Fork For? A ing for a job for awhile and ophy for the program is simple: "We are witnessing a pan- School," "Community Service Guide to Business Etiquette," have been going on interviews, we offer the program in hopes demic of ... 'worklife unreadi- After College," "The Nuts and in which students sign up to so the program is a little bit that it will reach many students. ness,'" said Mel Levin, author Bolts of A Job Search," and attend a "mocktail reception" is late." However, we are pleased of Ready or Not, Here Life "Apartment Hunting the most popular of all work- Caponegro also said she knowing that even if a few stu- Comes, "and colleges face a Essentials." In addition, shops, said Schwab. has been helping herself pre- dents attend, we have provided daunting challenge in immuniz- "Understanding Benefits and Schwab attributes the low pare for life after college. information, resources and an ing students against it." Employee Rights," "Managing attendance at some of these "I'm concerned and unsure opportunity for them to learn The Office of Student your Finances," "What's That workshops to the fact that stu- about what is going to hap- about important topics that will Activities (OSA) at FCLC is Fork For: A Guide to Business dents mistakenly believe that pen, but as far as finding a impact their lives after they taking on the challenge with Etiquette," among others, are they are prepared for post- job, I have been doing it on leave Fordham." Transitions, a series of work- scheduled for April and May. graduate life. "We do a mail- my own," she said. "I don't Both Mussi and Schwab said shops held during spring Speakers at the workshops are ing to all the seniors' homes, need to be told now." that students who have attended semesters designed to help primarily Fordham staff and there are posters all over cam- Similarly, Kamal Preet, the workshops have enjoyed graduating seniors prepare for alumni. pus, so the students are defi- FCLC '05, who admits that she them and gained valuable life after college. However, This semester, Kristin nitely aware of it," she said. is unprepared for life after col- insights from them. seniors at FCLC are apparently Schwab, FCLC '03, graduate "From my own experience, lege, thinks that the Transitions "We dd evaluations for each not taking advantage of the pro- intern for student activities, is when I graduated college, I program is offered too late for of the sessions, on a one gram. coordinating the program for didn't realize all the things I seniors to take full advantage of through five scale—one being "I've seen posters but • the first time. She admits that would be facing, and you it. "Maybe they should offer it completely dissatisfied and five haven't heard anyone talk although attendance at the don't really realize it until you the end of sophomore year," being met and exceeded my about it," said Lisa Caponegro, workshops has been "decent," are in that position, and then she said. "Finding a job is a expectations—and all the FCLC '05, regarding the pro- at the same time it is "not you look back and think, long process. Even applying to scores are always in the four gram. "I don't know anyone great." 'wow, if I went to that it may graduate school is a long through five range, so the stu- who has been to them." Two of the workshops coor- have helped me.' I think the process." dents who are attending are The Transitions program dinated in conjunction with problem is that a lot of stu- Perhaps the Transitions pro- really enjoying it," said was created in the 2000-2001 Career Planning and Placement dents don't realize all the gram would be more beneficial Schwab. academic year by Jennifer had very low attendance. things they will be facing." to students like Naveen Sultan, Mussi added, "I have had Mussi, director of student According to Dana Coghlan, Caponegro agrees, with FCLC '06, who would like to many young alums tell me they activities. "I created the* pro- career planning graduate intern, Schwab. "Certain issues dis- attend a Transitions workshop were glad they attended the gram because I began to notice only three seniors attended "The cussed in the workshops^ such to begin preparing herself for program and still more have that graduating students needed Nuts and Bolts of a Job Search" as understanding benefits and "the real world." said they wish they took more more exposure to 'life skills' workshop. The "Interviewing 'managing finances are?impor- "I think the program advantage of the program when programming to help them in Skills Workshops," scheduled tant," she said. "Some students should be started junior it was offered." their adjustment to, life after for March 8, will be rescheduled . dofi't think it is that hard." year," she said. "I'd show up Regardless of how prepared college," said Mussi. "Similar due to the fact that no one Caponegro said she will most [to the workshops] to be some students believe they are" programs did not exist at the attended. Schwab and Coghlan likely attend the upcoming ahead of the game. I think it's , for. postgraduate life, Schwab university." suggested that the winter weath- workshops dealing with those important; it's a great thing says that participating in the Mussi decided on the origi- er may have been to blame. issues. However; she believes for students who need help Transitions program is recom- nal lineup of workshops. The Some programs attract more that many df the other work- and direction." mended. "You can never be content of all subsequent work- . attention than others, according shops are offered too late in a Mussi said that while the too prepared," she< said. shops were based on attendance to Schwab. She said students student's undergraduate career program is designed -for gradu- "Something is always going to \ and feedback from previous expressed "so much interest in to be beneficial. ating seniors, it is'open to any- get thrown in your face that workshops. the "Apartment Hunting "I live in the dorms and one who wishes to attend. you're not sure how to deal This year, the Transitions Essentials" workshop that know a lot of people who Regarding the low atten- with. This helps." • USG bills will become New WFUV antenna location atop public record Montefiore Med. Center approved by city
By ENRIQUE OLLERO Affairs Committee. By LAURA DI ORIO now unable to receive been looking for a replacement Literary editor All passed bills will be News Editor WFUV." location, and in May 2004, made public record and will According to the BSA's for- Montefiore offered to place the FCLC—USG will now make be posted on the USG bulletin FORDHAM—After nearly a mal decision, "The antenna antenna atop one of their hous- their motions a matter of public board. decade-long search, Fordham tower will be constructed in a ing buildings on Wayne record. Teich said that the new University's public radio sta- single, six-month phase so as Avenue and East Gun Hill In a newly proposed plan that process is supposed to be tion, WFUV 90.7 FM, has been to minimize any noise and pri- Road. was approved by USG mem- more community friendly than given approval for a new site vacy impacts." In addition, the "The location became avail- bers, USG's Governmental past processes. for its radio tower and antenna. BSA approved the site with able and in the spirit of being Affairs Committee came up "It was hard before to make On March 1, the New York City the condition that "the pro- good neighbors and being able with the idea to create bills that things public record because Board of Standards and Appeals posed location, design, and to help out two of the major will clearly illustrate the actions all we had to go by was the (BSA) granted the station method of operation of such institutions in the borough, we of USG regarding any of the minutes from the meetings, access to a 28-story apartment tower will not have a detri- were happy' to provide the motions passed by its members and no one was reading building owned by Montefiore mental effect on the privacy, location on top of one of our during their meetings. those," she said. "This way Medical Center in the Bronx, quiet, light and air of the buildings which" is one of the Each bill, written by the everything becomes a lot easi- N.Y. neighborhood." * highest points in-the Bronx," Governmental Affairs er to get a hold of, and anyone Ralph Jennings, general This formal decision comes Steven Osbbrne^ spokesperson Committee, in conjunction interested can get access with- manager of WFUV, said that the after a long-standing debate for Montefjbre, told The with the USG Secretary, out too much work." next step is to request that the between Fordham and the New Observer. would consist of the motion The bills will also serve Federal Communications York Botanical Garden, which Many people believe that voted on, reasons given for as a way for students to be Commission allow Fordham to is located adjacent to this new location will better or against the motion, the aware of what USG is move the station's transmission Fordham's Rose Hill campus serve all those involved. goals, a plan of action and a doing. site from the campus to the hos- and has long been opposed to O'Connor supports the BSA's timetable for accomplishing "We're using the bills so pital. He anticipates that per- the current location of the half- decision and also Fordham's the goals. that USG can be held mission will be granted this finished WFUV antenna on that efforts to relocate the antenna. After the bill is drafted it accountable for its initia- summer. campus. "The new » facility at would be brought to a voting tives," Teich said. , Jennings also said that the According to Denis Montefiore can be much small- assembly for approval or edit- The bills are also more Board's vote is "an important O'Connor, legal counsel for er because it will be on a tall ing by USG. Once the bill is friendly to the USG members milestone in our effort to relo- the Garden, "The [current] building, and it will still meet passed, USG is to be held themselves, Each bill will have cate WFUV's transmission free-standing tower has an all WFUV's needs," he said: accountable to uphold the information points regarding facility to the hospital loca- overwhelming negative aes- "As a result, we feel the obligations stated in the bill, the pros and cons of each issue tion. ... We are looking for- thetic effect on the Garden, Montefiore solution is better according to Meghan Teich, and the number of votes either ward to being able to make which is a national historic for all the parties involved, FCLC '06, junior senator and way but will not cite individual our programming available to landmark." including the Bronx communi- head of USG's Governmental votes. • the many listeners who are Fordham has since then ty as a whole." • Opinions March 16, 2005 THE OBSERVER Letters: \four Opinions Editorial: Our Opinion
God forbid an athlete come into happen if the Red Sox pull off a Olympic bid contact with some non- few more World Series wins; Protests illustrate freedom Olympian scum like yourself. though that's as far-fetched as a The events that transpired last weekend at Rose Hill surrounding is foolish stadium being built on the West their production of "The Vagina Monologues" illustrate—quite beauti- The Stadium Side of Manhattan. fully, in fact—the struggle for freedom of expression here at FCLC. To the Editor: The proposed stadium will Mountain Biking The protests staged, both against and in fevor of the play, allowed students be built on top of the Long To be held in the Alpine to exercise their rights of freedom of speech and expression to the utmost Having succeeded beyond Island Railroad's "Hudson heights of Staten Island. It is no secret that the play has brought about both heated contention his wildest dreams with the Yards" on the West Side, appar- Hopefully, no one will pass out and promotion, but at FCLC the student body was largely exposed popular Big Orange Vaguely ently the last open tract in from the lack of oxygen way up only to the latter through ISIS's November forum and petitions. Fascist Curtainy Things art Manhattan until the developers there. Watch out for the moun- At Rose Hill the Women's Empowerment Committee (WEQ—the exhibit, Mayor Bloomberg is finally get their hands on that tain lions. play's producers—and the Fordham University Knights of Columbus—one trying to sway another group of damned "Central Park" and of the opposing student groups—both contributed to an open dialogue, and " snake-oil salesmen to envelop build Trump Towers II through Canoeing and Whitewater both expressed themselves freely on and before the production. not just the park but the entire XIII. The stadium (tentatively Sports The Knights of Columbus, however, has reportedly crossed the line of city for two weeks. "New York titled White Elephant Field) Slated for Flushing respect that had been previously drawn in their discourse with WEC. Summer Olympics 2012: This will host Super Bowls as well Meadows. The message here: Throwing holy water on patrons and performers? The point is understood, time you will not escape!" as NCAA Final Fours; mean- "We give up; just place this but the actions are inexcusable. Did the members of WEC throw chocolate Backed by an overwhelming ing, of course, that no everyday sport anywhere." At least vaginas (a la ISIS's fundraiser) or condoms over the protesters? It is one thing majority of cab drivers and sports fan will ever afford to set patrons will have direct access to demonstrate unobtrusively to make your point but another thing entirely to hotel operators, if not actual foot in it. to the Meadowlands. forcibly impose religion—i.e. holy water—on passersby. Unsavory. New Yorkers, NYC2012 has Freedom of speech and assembly are our rights; however, it is laid out its grandiose plans for Beach Volleyball New York is facing tough important to remember that with such freedoms comes a degree of the future, hoping to do for New The scantily-clad sport that competition from other striving responsibility and respect. • York what other games have the average schmo is too self- little cities around the world done for Atlanta and Nagarfb; conscious to play is slated to be that just want to make a name t Council raises legit concern namely, to put this tiny burg on held in Williamsburg, for themselves, like London and" the map. Let us take a glimpse Brooklyn, beach volleyballcap- Paris. The vote is scheduled for Sociology students have studied a phenomenon known as group- into the future, courtesy of ital of the world. Afterward, July 5; will those members of think, which is a condition in which a group will polarize itself on NYC2012.com: everybody can cool off in the the IOC not currently under issues to agree with the dominant opinion. A classroom is no differ- O inviting waters of the East indictment choose another ent. It is easy for a student with a dissentingjopinion to either be The "Olympic XS River, which by 2012 should be American city so soon after Salt swayed by the group or, more often than not, be silenced cpmpletely. All venues will be linked by glowing a gentle green color, Lake? Will anti-American feel- In a country that is so divided politically, differing opinions are not ferries jtraversing the scenic soothing to pits of sand, smack ing still pervade, despite Bush only commonplace but expected. At a university—a liberal arts uni- East River, or by an as-yet- dab in the middle of Tiananmen making Chirac an honorary versity no less—things often feel less divided and more one-sided. It unbuilt rail link that will con- Square. Sadly, that is not a joke. cowboy? Actually, it won't is no secret that a majority of Fordham's faculty have liberal politics nect Flushing Meadows, even matter. When the last and that there are more students with a liberal slant than conservative— Queens with the NJ Baseball "clean" athlete is suspended for just look at the results of USG's mock presidential election. Meadowlands, thereby becom-, Scheduled to be played in steroids somewhere around It is no wonder that Council members said that they have been ing the first public project to Yankee Stadium ... in the mid- 2009, this will all seem like approached by students who have been made uncomfortable create direct access from one dle of summer. There's nothing inconsequential nonsense. around obviously liberal- professors. What remains to be seen, swamp to another. Says the Yankees will love more than Though, of course, it already is. though, is whether or not there is a way for professors to invite NYC2012: "Thus, for nearly a month-long road . trip! open discourse in their classrooms without robbing or silencing every sport, Olympians will Obviously, NYC2012 is gam- Steve Lemongello, any student of the desire to speak out freely in discussions. reach their venues swiftly and bling that Steinbrenner will be FCLC '03 Asking anyone, whether they be a professor or a student, to check safely, without traveling on dead or at least senile in seven Former Opinions his or her poetics at the door is as unrealistic as it is unfair. Imagine public streets or highways." years. Which is what just might Editor how dry a history, political science or English class would be if it were entirely devoid of political fervor and dispute. For now, the best we can do is listen to each other with an open mind and respect •
THE OBSERVER 113 West 60di Street Room 408 New York, New York 10023 (212) 6366015 k\l$ SHoZ Ovrr Of Fax:(212)636-7047 Editor in Chief Layout Editor Corinne Iozzio Grace Martinez Managing Editor Online Editor Anthony Hazell RubyGu Business Manager Photo Editors Brian Centrone Emily Dugan Eliza Gager News Editor Ladra Di Orio Copy Editors Lindsey Cross Opinions Editor Headier Liebling Sarah Vaghari Assistant Editors Features Editors Monique Diman (News) Joe DeLessio Heather Liebling Natalie Rodriguez (Opinions) Joel Perez (Sports) Arts & Culture Editors J.P. Mangllndan Faculty Adviser CatharirieMcNelly Anahid Kassabian Literary Editors Faculty Graphics Adviser Enrique Ollero Kala Pierson Sports Editor Layout Staff Jennifer Mammana Jennifer Fowler •: • ^TnsfotHsBfJTORjiA ; 1 Joe Davidson ^mn^ykeBdunfwd be typed and sent to The Observer, Fordham GolUge at Lincoln Center, IU Wdiff The Student Voice of Fordham College at Lincoln Center Strtyt, Room 408, New York, NY 10023, or e-maikd to the editor in chief at [email protected]. Length shoiild- Published on alternate Thursdays during the academic year. nor exceed 500 words. All letters must he signed and include contact mformation for verification. Individuals must Printed by Expedi Printing, Brooklyn, NY include all official titles, including intended year of graduation if applicable. If submitters fail to include titles, the For contact Information visit fclcobserver.com editorial hoard will do so at its own iliscreiion. The Observer lias t)ie TIRIU to withhold any submissions from publi- Public Noticei cation and will not consider more than two letters from the same individual on one topic. The Observer reserves the No part of The Observer may be reprinted or reproduced without right to edit ail letten and submissions for content, clarity, and length. the expressed written consent of The Observer Editorial Board. Opinions 8 THE OBSERVER March 16 2005 College's purpose is to learn and Members of the PCG: caretakers of debate, not to be graded McMahon, superheroes or both? . Why are we in college? It used to be thy for another student. We all have - Anyone who knows Pete Cassar THEF.U. that college was a place of higher educa- varying degrees of how able we are to knows he must be a superhero. Policy Contact Group tion where those who t comprehend and articulate, but if the Dashing, graceful, and were interested in fur- effort is there for one student and anoth- with a personality as instance, suppose that a McMahon Hall thering their education er can do the same work effortlessly, beautiful as 10 Mona suite is. busted for some sort of violation. an d learning more get does that second -student really deserve Lisas, Pete admits to What usually happens is that a disgrun- the chance to. That the same 'A'? wanting to change the ttled student involved in the bust—who is was a pipe dream. What then are grades qualifying? world for the better at odds with either Res. Life policy or the Today, college is what Mastery of the material? Effort? A com- with ideas. When way that the policy was executed—con- high school used to be: bination of both? Are the degrees in the asked what superhero tacts a member of the PCG. The PCG stu- necessary to get a well- scale common for all Fordham profes- he conceives himself dent members, as I understand it, careful- ENRIQUE MIKE paying job. sors? Or even all colleges? Of course to be, he selects ly document the case, strip it of any iden- IARROBINO OLLERO The demand for a col- not. If I can get an 'A' in one class and Professor Xavier, tifying details, and bring it up at a larger lege degree is going up, but for all the barely work at it but get a 'B' in another undoubtedly the coolest X-Man out PCG meeting, trying to answer the ques- wrong reasons. It is no longer about the class that I had to work my ass off to get, there. tion, "What was it that caused the student interest in furthering education and in which instance have I learned more? I And there is good reason to think that to have their negative reaction?" learning more to enrich and enlighten. think I learned more in the class in which Pete might indeed be Professor X, in spite After a careful consideration of the Rather, it is about sitting through and just I worked harder, but that is hot reflected of Ihe fact that he isn't in a wheelchair. facts, the PCG will issue the student a getting through classes in order to earn a in my grades, thus the flaw the grading Pete Cassar, it turns out, is part of prescription for Prozac and be done. Just degree so that we can get a good job and system. something at Fordham that intense inves- kidding, of course. live comfortably. But what ever hap- So what would be the most effective tigation has led me to conclude is better What the PCG really does is consider pened to the desire and fervor for knowl- way to learn? I think it would be better than sliced bread. Not that this is saying the case and conclude either that the pol- edge? for students to have a rapport with their much. Advances in bread technology icy in question is fine and dandy as it is, This is not about core classes, per se. teachers on a more personal level. A have come at a snail's pace since sliced thank-you-very-much, or that it needs It is not specifically about Fordham's much lower student to teacher ratio, bread came out in 1928, but that is no tweaking. The student PCG member then core criteria. The problem is with the 1 from experience, seems more effective. matter. The thing we are talking about goes back to the disgruntled student and idea that we should enter into places of While a large group can encourage a here is pure brilliance at work. explains exactly what was decided and higher education when we don't need greater exchange of ideas, larger groups It is called the "Policy Contact why. to or to attend classes with the sole also tend to intimidate students and less Group," which is pretty darn boring as And there you have it: sliced bread! purpose of obtaining a grade which are willing to contribute. In the smaller monikers go, but, after all, "American Though Pete never mentioned sliced would arbitrarily mark us as either classes I've been in, having a more inti- Revolution" was already taken. The bread to me during our conversation average or above or below that arbi- mate environment sparked' a lot of dis- Group involves six USG representatives about the PCG, I'm pretty sure that it's trary definition, cussion and it didn't seem like there (which is where Pete comes in) as well as got to be in there someplace. The question I'm posing is: if it wasn't were any "quiet" students at all. And, Chris Rodgers, Dean .of Students, Cathy Pete did mention; however, that stu- about grades, if a degree was not neces- with these smaller groups, we can abol- McGlade, Assistant Director of Res. Life, dents wishing to have their cases consid- sary to get a well- paying job, what class- . ish grades. If a teacher thinks that a stu- and Greer Jason, Director of Res. Life. ered by the PCG should contact him and es would you be taking? dent needs to work more' to really I'm pretty much convinced that this other PCG members in the following Interest is a necessary element to understand the material, the rapport group is such a cool, awesome idea that manner: learning. From personal experience, I exists and they can easily and effective- each of the members has a superhero suit (1) Leave a note in the USG mailbox can tell you that I have retained vastly ly communicate and work together and a secret Jesuit superhero identity. on the fourth floor. more about subjects I was interested toward understanding. Pete refused to divulge his secret identity (2) Go to USG office hours; office in than those I was not. I can recall Although Fordham isn't exactly like during our chat. hours are posted on the USG board by the more about the medieval struggles of that, it's much better than the huge lec- But back to the Policy Contact Group, cafeteria. power and the rule of the Roman ture halls filled with hundreds of students or PCG for short. Pete tells me that the (3) E-mail [email protected]. Empire from Medieval History than I like some universities. We are lucky to PCG, in general, deals with the quality of (4) Talk to a member of the PCG could possibly tell you about what I go to a school where the largest class is student life here at Fordham. It grew out (members, in addition to Pete, include: learned in Western Enlightenment. probably Intro to Psych and has about 50 of the successful push last year to enable Guy Tardanico, Diego Tovar, Meghan History is worth studying, but to students in it. We have the ability to commuters to sign themselves in at Teich and Rachel DelRocco). effectively learn something worth- achieve a personal rapport with teachers, McMahon Hall as long as there is a host I would say to go for option number while and long-lasting, there needs to and even though we have a core, the (and a refrigerator full of beer) upstairs. four, since Pete is such a piece of man- be a genuine interest. options we have more than give us the Right now, Pete says, the PCG deals candy, I would also say that all of us And then there are grades. Why are opportunity to study what we have a gen- mostly with judicial affairs—clarifying should go out and get into as much trou- grades so necessary? Every teacher in uine interest in. policies and the like—though in the ble as possible so that we can utilize this every college has their own arbitrary School doesn't have to be about suffer- future Pete hopes that the PCG will deal ingenious group. standard of what satisfactory and unsat- ing through class to get the degree and get with a broader array of policy issues, And, to end this column I will say this: isfactory grades are. Some teachers are it over with. We can achieve that pipe such as the rules governing the use of the kudos to Pete, to the other student mem- so subjective to the point where they dream of learning and pursuing higher Plaza. bers of the PCG, and to the administra- will say that a certain degree of work is education for the sake of learning, not for This might seem quite abstract, but tors. You guys should put out collectible 'A'-worthy for one student but 'C- wor- the sake of that'A.' • there is pragmatic appeal to the PCG. For" superhero cards. •
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I'>-. wi Schnwfc 2I2405MWW HN«ior»f I: March 16. 2005 THE OBSERVER )ninif~tn Q Making 'The Passion' an annual event could prove dangerous I am what is commonly referred to as My reasons for considering this a the long-term effects as negative. With a lapsed Catholic. Like most other self- terrible idea stem from my same rea- six minutes trimmed, Gibson's intention ish people, I am tgo lazy to attend sons for disliking the film in the first is to reach all those who have not yet church and too easily place. As the Chicago Tribune's seen the film for fear of violence. With distracted to spend any Michael Wilmington wrote in one of this kind of widespread viewing, I have length of time debat- the many excellent reviews I've read, no doubt that "The Passion" will seep ing God's existence. "the movie often seems to be preach- into the world's subconscious, gaining Last week I was called. ing to the choir... they'll be better able significance with each passing year and a "fake Catholic" and to fill in the blanks, to supply the spir- eventually becoming an accepted text of the label is not too far it and grace the movie mostly lacks." I Christianity. off the mark. I claim to could not agree more. Standing alone, There's no doubt in my mind that believe in God but I without the knowledge and acceptance Gibson's opus is indeed a passionate also feel free to eat of Jesus Christ, "The Passion" is a cal- piece of filmmaking, but the passion- DADEMO hamburgers on Good lous piece of blood-and-guts cinema ate feelings it inspires are ones of Friday. This is becoming a subject of that misses the most vital part of its anger, guilt, and, at points, revulsion. great anxiety in my life: God may be in subject: his life. Whether one believes At film's end, the viewer is crushed my mind, but the remote control controls Jesus is the Son of God or not is irrel- and worn out, not revitalized and my hand. I can discuss the injustice of evant here. We can all agree that, at enriched. Annette Bening's Oscar loss for hours, the very least, he was a man of elo- Perhaps I was looking for "The but when it comes to religion, let's just quence who existed and brought with Passion" to splve all my religious quan- say it takes a lot to get me incensed. him some charisma and a few radical daries in one fell swoop and now I'm Now that you know I'm not a reli- ideas. What we see on screen is not a hurt by its failure to do so. That's a pos- tion?) gious zealot, I must 'tell you that I person but rather a crash dummy, sub- sibility, too.' After all, what do I knoVv? With a yearly despised "The Passion of the Christ" jected to all kinds of horrendous tor- Mr. Gibson attends church much more Easter release Gibson is with every fiber of my apathetic soul. ture for seemingly no reason at all. than I do and lives strictly by the tenets slowly but surely turning bis "historical Last year, I found myself in the minor- Gibson ignores Jesus' magnetism and of his branch of Catholicism. All I know epic" into a tool of Christianity, helping ity when I pronounced my utter hatred teaching, instead replacing it with is this: if a movie like "The Passion of restore the fire and brimstone along the for the film and this year I seem to be nonstop sadism and guts and expect- the Christ" is released every year as part way. (If this were merely a historical epic, experiencing deja vu. Just in time for ing the audience to "fill in the of an ongoing Easter tradition, it will why trim six minutes of violence? Good Friday, "The Passion" is being blanks." We see plenty of the sacrifice inevitably stand as the most readily Wouldn't that only diminish its accura- re-released in theaters minus six min- but the reasoning behind it goes large- accessible depiction of Jesus. cy?) utes of violent footage that Mel ly unaccounted for. I'm not sure this is the portrayal any If this is the rendering of Jesus (the Gibson has cut himself. This version This may have been Gibson's own religion that incorporates Jesus into its man) we wish to perpetuate, year after has been christened "The Passion: interpretation of Jesus and, if so, "The text —Christianity, Judaism or Islam— year, then so be it. We'll all grab a fist- Recut" and plans are under way to Passion" is a fully realized vision of it. would want to stand behind. (After all, ful of jelly beans, slap on an Easter bon- release the film perennially as an However, if a film such as this is would we praise "Gandhi" so much if it net and head to the multiplex to watch Easter season treat. released every Easter, I can only foresee focused solely on the day of his assassina- Jesus get flogged. • Bring it! Summer Olympics 2012 have a place in New York City
Nov. 15, 2004 was an exciting day for New York City. Not only was the Big Apple busily preparing for the 2004 holiday season, it also sent its bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the 2012 summer Olympic games, qualify- ing the city as an official Olympic candidate. Imagine that, the great- est city in the world now has a chance to host the greatest interna- tional sports and gaming competi- ' tion in the world. MARISA A few months later in Feb., the IOC PALENZONA came to visit the city to see if it has the facilities and space needed to host Olympic events and possibly win the bid. Although the Olympics in NYC sounds exciting, many New Yorkers have mixed feelings. Many who are against the Olympics claim that it will only bring more traffic into the city, cost the city billions of dollars that it can't afford to lose, as well as pose a security risk. I, however, a native New Yorker, am among a minority that believes the Olympics will bring many benefits to the city, not. only during the games, but well into the future. While it is almost guaranteed that the city will experience more traffic if chosen to host the Olympics, the Games will definitely bring an influx of people to the city and lead to higher tourism rates, which will help our city. After the Sept. 11 attacks, many people avoided the city out of fear, causing a If the Olympics come to New York City, we have a lot of work ahead of us. However, some feel that we're up to decrease in tourism and a consequent loss of revenue the challenge. for the tourism industry. The Olympics however will bring people to the city from all over the world. The see an increase in business. They will experience an undercover police personnel. People will realize that the city, therefore, will see an increase in tourism revenue increase in sales as more people are in need of hot city is very safe and feel more comfortable coming here. as people dine in city restaurants, shop, and take part dogs, soda, ice cream and cotton candy. Even cloth- Although the city is known for its various activi- in the nightlife. ing and souvenir vendors will see an increase in sales. ties and endless entertainment possibilities, the city So, there will be traffic. There is always traffic in Everyone is going to want a souvenir to remember the will be even more entertaining if it wins the bid for the city. People will just have to leave earlier to get Olympics as well as New York City. Lots of people the Olympics. People will not only go to the from place to place. As New Yorkers, we deal with will be taking a bite out of the big apple by eating hot movies, take a walk, and go shopping; they will be traffic every day, or when a political figurehead dogs and wearing shirts that say, "I Heart New York." able to see Olympic gaming events in their own comes to town. Yet, we seem to get along just fine. Before you know it, everyone will catch a dose of city backyard. The Olympics will be no different. Traffic is clearly spirit. I support the 2012 Olympics in New York City. I hope not a good excuse in preventing us from hosting the Also, New York City is adept at handling security the city wins the bid and becomes a part of Olympic his- Olympics. for large scale events. There will be more police offi- tory. Our competition is tough, but I am not worried. Just think how the Olympics will affect city ven- cers on patrol, increased security measures in normal- New York City is a heck of a better city than Paris, dors.. With more people in the city, food vendors will ly non-secured or poorly secured areas and more London or even Madrid. • Opinion 10 THE OBSERVER March 16- 2005 Res. Life needs attitude adjustment in order for us to respect policy After four years at Fordham, you'd a relatively pleasant experience—I think nothing could surprise you. found the RAs to be amazing, my Everything you needed to know about unwarranted fines had been kept to a Fordham, you learn in your first three minimum and no one had unjustly months here. Bad searched my apartment (at least so far, cafeteria food? We which I'm sure will change once you know that's not going read this article). But my pleasant expe- to change. Miniature rience changed one sad day not so long library? Eh, could be ago when I was checking my McMahon worse—like the read- Hall voicemail. ing corner from hi a tone of voice that rivals even my kindergarten class. own sassiness, a girl from Res. Life CAROLINE Robots running the called to tell me that if I didn't pick up Office of Student my housing lottery packet, I wouldn't be DEJEAN Affairs who are oddly able to live here next year. Oh really? afraid of the word vagina? I suppose Check your records, crazy. I don't want robots are better than.:.well, nothing. to live here next year, seeing as I'm grad- However, one thing that never ceases to uating and all. Don't you have that writ- surprise me is the Office of Residential ten down some place? And right when I Life (Res. Life). Over and over again, thought the horror was over, there was they dig themselves into a deeper hole of another message, from the same girl, in hatred from residents living in the same tone of voice, for my roommate McMahon Hall. who is also—you guessed it—a senior. Yeah, I know the routine. You will ""This all caused me to reflect on all of the The Res. Life office, the infamous McMahon headquarters and the very heart of defend yourself by saying that since times that Res. Life has screwed up and fine-processing and interrogation tactics. you enforce the rules, everyone natural- increased its unpopularity. other residents, especially when they are with the wrong stoner. If only I could get ly dislikes you. Yes, that's why I dis- For starters, your attitude is just upset about something, and especially my hands on that book... liked you freshman year after you bust- plain awful. I have come into your when it's about you. Some of the things See, Office of Residential Life, the ed my party, therefore preventing me office numerous times and have been that have been communicated recently reasons residents have come to dislike from being able to make out with this made to feel like a complete moron. I include holding drug offenders hostage you have nothing to do with you cute guy in my apartment later that know you hung those signs up around in your office and threatening them until' enforcing rules. It's the way that you night. Sophomore year I disliked you school saying that no matter how big or they tell you who they lit up with. There unjustly enforce them. If I were you, I'd because you, hired someone who never small the problem is that you are here has also been talk about you sitting a get rid of hostage-taking practices and followed that resident handbook you So ' to help. What you failed to mention in drug offender down in your office and burn the drug dealer facebook with the often hide behind. Remember when the' small print at the bottom was that forcing them to flip through a picture illegal candles you've collected from RHA held a student forum in McMahon before we could even tell you that book of residents who you suspected me over the years. Creating a more wel- 109? It was an opportunity,for students something was wrong, you would were selling drugs. Conveniently; nei- coming environment in your office to voice their concerns about McMahon make us feel like we had ruined yojir ther of these tilings are outlined in the would also help. Comment cards with : J Hall without the pressures of the day,'and maybe even your life by walk- t ^bbl smiley faces on them do not count, but 1 administration being'present. You.actu- ing into your office. Or we could just " ' However, in the handbook you do say the people do. Pass happiness on to ally said was a goqdjidea'; RHA video- have our parents call in hopes of elicit- that, "In situations not covered by spe- your employees, and in turn, they Will taped the entire thing and created a ing a more pleasant response, since cific regulations, students are expected pass it on to others. Now would also be report for you about our concerns. And they're paying youf salary and all'.Tm to apply common sense and conduct a good time to round up those "extra" boy, were there concerns! Along with sure you've wondered why parents are themselves as mature, responsible master keys that your staff has left the robots, you conveniently decided to always calling, asking simple questions adults." Well, common sense tells me floating around school lately. Lastly, pretend like it never happened. Junior that we as residents could have just that what you're doing is not right or but most importantly, you should know year I pretty much liked you, except • stopped in and asked. just. Go ahead and deny it. Hence my that little things count the most. Fixing over the summer when you gave me a Your practices that involve those point: we residents communicate, and those easily correctable mistakes might roommate without any notice. I find caught with drugs are also very interest- while no one has gone out of their way get people to consider liking you as that you do this a lot. You should prob- ing to me. You should always keep in to call you out on this, I'm confident that much as they did when they had no idea ably work on that. Senior year had been mind that residents communicate with it will happen one day when you mess who you really were. • iPod integration into our everyday lives means it's not just a fad
The new technological love of my life is a hot long, terrible trek to the Bronx. It makes traveling a lit- pink iPod. I became dependent on my iPod just as tle more comfortable. fast as I (and the rest of the I am also amazed by the battery on my iPod. I do world) became dependent on cell not charge it for days, even weeks and it just keeps phones. Using an old-fashioned going, even on empty. I can' remember many times CD player would be like using a with my stone-age CD player when my batteries pay phone—a part of history I'm would die on the subway or on a long car ride glad to see end. where there was nothing I could do about it. I know Everywhere I go I spot those distinc- these may sound like minor inconveniences, but tive white headphones. Sometimes all sometimes it is the little things that put a smile on your face. MARIANNE of the hype surrounding a new "it" product can get annoying, and I am Naysayers wonder if this iPod craze is just another BONFIGLIO usually the first one to start complain- fad. Are people just buying them to have the latest sta- ing. But in this case I admit it, my name is Marianne, tus symbol? Of course this is a possibility, but accord- and I am addicted to iPods. ing to TheJStreet.com, iPod sales were 4.58 million But what is it about an iPod or any other mp3 player during the 2004 holiday quarter, compared to 733,000 that is so great? sold during the same quarter last year. Also this year's Only cavemen would argue that an mp3 player is holiday quarter sales are more than double the previ- no better than a CD player. Get with the program: ous quarter. times, they are a-changin'. The greatest thing about I have a dream that one day mp3 players will be the my 20 gigabyte iPod is the amount of music it standard for listening to music, just like when we holds, not because I am going to listen to 5,000 crossed over from audio cassettes to CDs. There are songs from beginning,to end, but because any pos- few signals that this has already begun. First car pro- The dark days of the discman are over. We have now sible song I am in the mood to listen to is there. It is ducers including Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Nissan and entered the era of the Pod—so jump on board. all about options. Ferrari, are in negotiations to incorporate iPods into "With a regular old CD player, you either have to lis- their car stereos according to CNN.com. Also iPod staying power. ten to one CD or lug around a bunch of CDs. Plus, most docking stations are available. You can connect your Maybe I am completely overzealous when it comes to mp3 players arc less than half the size and weight of a iPod to a docking station in lieu of your home stereo. my iPod, but clearly I am not the only one. So I will con- CD player, so they really can go anywhere with you. Who knows where they will think of putting an iPod tinue to sing iPods praises until the next great gadget Forget your American Express card, never leave home next? The point is that people arc starting to integrate comes along and captures my attention as well as mil- without your iPod! You can even hook your iPod up to iPods into their everyday lives in new and different lions of other peoples attention for more than the stan- the car stereo. I often do, especially when I am on my ways and to methis is a telltale sign that iPods have dard fifteen minutes. • March T 6,2005 THE OBSERVER Tips for getting that dream Manhattan apartment after college
By STEPHANIE HUSKY TRANSITIONS Contributing Writer Apartment Hunting With the end of the school year lurk- $1400 a month, according to Benjamin ing near, some FCLC students are find- James Associates. They go on to range ing themselves faced with the ultimate from $1600 to $2000 a month in prime challenge: finding that perfect New York neighborhoods such as Gramercy Park, JA. City apartment. Greenwich Village or the Upper East and ClTYREALtY.COM EHABITATS Both seniors about to embark upon the West Sides. One bedroom apartments i ONEWIN cW vv YORr v n Kr\ real world and undergrads ready to ranging in size from 450 to 800 square M-IUMtflJ Lf"-. AT. f*) Uc«m«d Real Esttte Broker escape McMahon Hall may discover that feet tend to start around $1900 per month Uimin the apartment hunting process can be a and increase according to location, door- difficult one. In a city where the cost of men, and other amenities, like fitness real estate is high and vacancy rates are centers. With so many apartment-hunting sites on the market, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. near non-existent, finding the apartment If you are looking at such apartments, The best defense is knowing what to expect. of your dreams may seem impossible. you may want to considef that it is possi- But not to worry, with patience and ble for two roommates to share a large with either a letter from his or her own, there are thousands of listings in preparation, this seemingly tedious and one bedroom. Two-bedroom apartments employer or a recent tax return (W2 newspapers, such as Sunday's overwhelming experience can be suc- range in price from $2400 for walk-up form) to verify total annual income and Residential Real Estate section in The cessfully mastered with as little pain as buildings to $3000-$3800 for locked ele- bank statements and/or investment port- New York Times or The Village Voice, possible. vator buildings. The price of two bed- folio statements to verify assets. Also, and online, such as offcampusnet- Based on information provided by room apartments is often influenced by proof of a good history of rent payment work.com and craigslist.com. Simple Benjamin James Associates, a New the number of bathrooms in the apart- or any type of reference letter verifying word of mouth is also an information York-licensed real estate brokerage firm, ment. Keep in mind that apartments in their financial responsibility is always mainstay. there are a few essentials one must know boroughs outside Manhattan tend to be helpful. Being prepared will ensure that Alia Sarafanova, FCLC '05, found her before starting your New York apartment less expensive. you get the apartment you want before apartment when she mentioned at work search. Before you begin looking for an According to Benjamin James someone else does. that she was looking. "A co-worker of apartment in Manhattan, you must con- Associates, the most important thing to Once you are prepared—your docu- mine overheard me talking about need- sider the conditions of the real estate remember once you start your apartment mentation is ready and available and ing a place to live," said Sarafanova. "It market, which neighborhood suits your search is to act quickly! New York land- you know exactly what you want in an turned out that she was looking for some- particular needs, whether you intend to lords do not wait for prospective tenants apartment—you can conduct your one to lease. It was perfect!" live alone, and your financial limits. The to take their time to make decisions. The search through either a brokerage firm Craigslist.com was recommended by firm also suggested starting your search incredibly high demand for quality, or on your own. The advantage to a Audrey Grace, FCLC '06. "It's easy to four to six weeks in advance of your well-priced apartments makes for an brokerage firm is that they have search and there are always affordable move. extremely competitive market. It is access to nearly every listing, includ- apartment listings," she said. Before beginning to look for anew imperative that you are aggressive and, ing some not advertised to the public, Convenience and economy are always residence, it is important that you even more so, prepared durjng your • and they handle the sometimes con- attributes you should look for when become familiar with what types of search. fusing financial aspects of the process. apartment hunting. In order to up your apartments are within your price range. Preparation is an essential part of the Brokers fees, however, usually cost chances of finding those traits in a nice Studio apartments, usually pnly one or apartment hunting process. Serious abqut 15 percent of the first year's apartment1, however, preparation and two rooms, below 100th Street, start at apartment seekers should be equipped rent. If you choose to search on your investigation are necessary. . • European travel policies could result in unexpected vacation delays
Different airline pro- LETTERS FROM ABROAD tocol in Europe Florence, Italy "I have to ask myself how they can afford to charge only five euros for a flight. What exactly are they cutting back on to make these Ireland, and hopefully. While some of cause student's my classmates opted for a weeklong flights so cheap? " Spring Break travel- whirlwind tour of Europe, I decided to head to Ireland for a week of relaxation ing to be an adven- and quality family time. Over here, the best way to get around about this policy firsthand while travel- comes to mind. Find out what your ture in and of itself is to fly the budget airlines Ryanair or ing from. Italy to Ireland. The flight I host's schedule is like, and then organize EasyJet, which are comparable to missed was at the London Stanstead yours. And bring gifts. Or make din- By BRIDGET DONLON JetBlue: or Southwest Airlines in the Airport, and the next flight to Ireland ner. Or at least be humble and say thank Staff Writer United States. Whenever I look up air- was the next evening. This is where you a whole lot and mean it. There's fares on these companies' Web sites, I knowing people in foreign places comes nothing worse than an inconsiderate have to ask myself how they can afford in. I asked myself those ever-important houseguest. Do you know that phrase that says to charge only five euros for a flight. three questions, and instead of spending • Another piece of advice about travel- something about knowing people in high What exactly are they cutting back on to the night at the airport by myself, I called ing around Europe is to plan as little as places? Well, I'm not really sure how it make these flights so cheap? Fuel? It one of my friends studying in London for possible. I fmd that it is less stressful to goes, but I°will say that it sure is good to turns out that they have just found some the semester and it turned out that yes, show up to the city I am visiting with just know people in foreign places. alternative ways of creating revenue. she could give me a place to stay. After a few ideas about what I want to see. I It's spring break over here in Florence For example, if a passenger has two a brief and unexpected, but pleasant, stay like to ask my hosts what they would rec- and the 400 some odd students enrolled flights, and the first is delayed, causing in London, I was back on track to ommend, and usually they know of inter- in the Syracuse University program are the passenger to miss the second flight, Ireland. esting things that are not necessarily in currently dispersed throughout Europe. it is not the fault of the airline, but of the A word of advice about traveling in the guide books. For many, the itinerary for this week is passenger. If the passenger would like Europe: be flexible, be very flexible. So, if you find yourself traveling determined by the following three ques- to continue on to his or her final desti- You really never know if things are going around Europe anytime soon, keep my tions: Who do I know? Where do they nation, he or she may buy a new ticket, to go as planned. Also, if you are going advice in mind: shamelessly take advan- live? Will they give me a place to stay? and is given no refund for the ticket of to be dependant on relatives, friends, or tage of your friends and family, and For me, the answer to these questions the missed flight. friends of friends for a place to stay, the make up your vacation plans as you go were: My dad's side of the family, As you may have guessed, I learned phrase "beggars can't be choosers" along. Happy trails! • JNCOLN CENTER . ROSE HILL IARYMOUNT. MCMAHON HALL . O'HARE HALL . WALSH HALL .RAMS . OUINN LIBRARY LEON LOWENSTEIN CENTER . t/ALS ILY LIBRARY . DUANE LIBRARY . VINCE LOMBARDI . DENZEL WASHINGTON DYLAN MCDERMOTT . MCNALLY. CENTRAL PARK . FORDHAM ROAD . ALUMNI COURT . MARTYRS' COURT . JACK JOFFEY FIELD . ALVIN AILEY RITA PLAZA . THEBAUD HALL . SAPI- ENTA ET DOCTRINA . UNIVERSpAS QUIZ SHOW . THE EXOR- CSCIST . KINSEYSEYLINgQLt, l CENTER . ROSE HILL . MARYMOUNT . THE RAM VAN . COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATE Features 12 THE OBSERVER March 16. 2005 The end of the so-called winter blues may finally be in sight ing time springs our clocks ahead an Beginning of spring hour, the days get longer. Longer days mean more chances to soak in signals end of winter the sun. blues Claire Gauntner, FCLC '06, said, "I definitely feel a little more depressed By MARY SAUAS during the winter because I'm indoors Staff Writer so much more often and I don't like that." The lyrics to "You Are My Sunshine" Come springtime, Gauntner said are probably familiar to you. "You make she notices a complete turnaround in me happy, when skies are grey," the song her mood. "In the spring I am excited proclaims. because it's so nice to be back outside But what you may not know is that and have the sup shining after so it's actually true. Sunshine really does many months when it hasn't been," make you happy, and that's a medical she said. fact. Gauntner isn't that only student who If your depression comes and'goes feels down in the winter but cheers up with the seasons, you may have Seasonal once the sun comes out. Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD is a con- "When it's cold, I just want to stay dition characterized by episodes of inside and sleep," said Jako de Leon, depression during the fall and winter FCLC '07. "If it's snowy, dark, gloomy months, which subside during the spring [and] it's cold, you feel tired [and] you and summer, according to the National feel drained. Mental Health Association (NMHA). In o "[In the spring, you want to] go out Sights like the bare trees in Central Park during the winter months may contribute to short, SAD is the medical term for the and enjoy the sun because you don't Seasonal Affective Disorder. "winter blues." really get that much of it during the The symptoms of SAD include "sad- school year," he said. ness, decreased energy and libido, anxiety, SAD is more prevalent than SAD. it's more commonly reported by women Maya Taylor, FCLC '06, said, "I'm a increased need for sleep and strong crav- "While five percent of the population of than men. lot happier in the spring because I can ings for carbohydrates," said Joan Roberts, New York may have [SAD], it is estimat- It is unclear what exactly causes get out and enjoy the city more than I • associate professor of chemistry. ed that over 15 percent have sufy-season- SAD, but the amount of sunlight you get would during the winter time." According to Roberts, SAD wears off al [SAD]," she said. has something to do with it. According Taylor also noticed that she isn't the come spring because the increased light "[Sub-seasonal SAD] brings about to Roberts, "[a] lack of sufficient visible only one to benefit when the sun comes "[adds] more dopamine and serotonin to the exhaustion, sleep disturbances and light impinging on the retina relayed to out. "Everyone seems a lot nicer in the brain and therefore decreases depression." increased appetite for carbohydrates in the SCN in the hypothalamus [changes] spring," she said. For some, SAD can be a severely dis- the winter months," she said. Depression the hormonal balance of dopamine and According to Rosie Ponte, FCLC '06, abling condition, interfering with their and anxiety are mild or absent in sub- serotonin." " ~ • spring means an opportunity to enjoy day-to-day lives. However, there is a seasonal SAD, according to the Luckily, the cure for SAD is right the outdoors in a way she simply can't less intensive .form of the illness known SADAssociation (SADA). / around the corner: spring. during the winter. as sub-seasonal SAD, according to SAD or sub-seasonal SAD usually The symptoms of SAD disappear "It's definitely exciting when Roberts. It is mild, causing more dis- begins when you are a young adult. SAD during the spring and summer spring comes and you can go to the comfort than anything. usually begins between the ages ofv$8 months, according to the NMHA. As park and have fun. It livens you up," According to Roberts, sub-seasonal and 30, according to the SADA. Also, spring approaches and daylight sav- she said. • * Fordham professor honored with fifth prestigious Fulbright award By SHAWN TRICGS to understand how Americans feel as well as more about Staff Writer American political culture." DeLuca also hopes to learn more about European The Fulbright Scholar program is one of the most political culture so he can bring this new knowledge prestigious awards an educator can receive, and one back to Fordham and those students who wish to .thrive FCLC professor has just received his fifth. Thomas further in political science. DeLuca, associate professor of political science, start- In order to receive this position, DeLuca had to apply ed his path to success as a student at Brooklyn to become a chair and had to propose an idea to the com- College as a political science major and has never mittee. looked back. Although the Jefferson Chair may be one of the more Throughout the 1980s, DeLuca served as the director prestigious Fulbright Scholar awards, it is not DeLuca's of various public interest organizations dealing with first. DeLuca had a taste of the Fulbright Scholar awards questions'in nuclear arms control, social justice issues in 1999, after applying in 1998 in hopes to do something and environmental issues. different. DeLuca also taught at Marquette University for one The thesis behind his project was to aid in under- year before joining Fordham's teaching faculty in 1991. standing U.S. constitutional law for people in Beijing. In addition to his position in the political science depart- This project was initially scheduled for one semester, ment, he is also the director of Fordham's social science but DeLuca's students were shocked at this brief program. amount of time and asked the university for him to stay The prestigious position that DeLuca recently longer. received, the Thomas Jefferson Distinguished Chair "It was one of the best experiences I've ever had in in American Social Sciences, begins next spring and my life," DeLuca said. "It wasn't always easy, but I entails lecturing at the University of Amsterdam in enjoyed the experience thoroughly." the spring semester. DeLuca will take a leave of Despite not being able to speak the language or absence from Fordham for the semester to serve this understand the culture completely, DeLuca made the position. most of this opportunity. As a result of these experi- "I was proud," DeLuca said, describing his emotions ences, he now heavily supports the study abroad pro- upon receiving the award. "I am humbled to be honored gram here at Fordham. in such a program." DeLuca said he is also looking for- DeLuca is currently working with professors from ward to spending time in Europe. China on a joint conference called DeLuca's main interest has been in democratic theo- "Constitutionalism" that will take place in May, with Thomas DeLuca, associate professor of political sci- ry. 'To have a chair named after one of America's most hopes that it will allow Americans to understand ence, was awarded the Thomas Jefferson known leaders in regard to democracy makes me feel democracy in that country. DeLuca is busy organizing Distinguished Chair in American Social Sciences. very good," he said. this, both with his colleagues from the China The intentions behind his lectures are not to delve University of Political Science and Law and a number he has Fordham to thank for many of his successes, into the reasons behind the United States' activities in of law students. since the university has been very supportive through- Iraq, but rather to create a mutual understanding Teaching at Fordham, which DeLuca described as out his accomplishments. And why wouldn't they between Americans arid Hollanders. DeLuca describes "an important, well-respected university with good stu- be? The Fulbright Scholar Program only grants his lecture's main focus as a way to "help Hollanders dents who demand quality in education," helped him awards to professors with achievements worthy of understand—not to justify what we did—but help them prepare for his future endeavors. DeLuca also says that such praise. • March 16. 2005 THE OBSERVER Features 13 Where you sit in the classroom may determine how well you learn
By MARIA CASTRO than a student who took the exam in Staff Writer another room; encoding specificity does- n't extend to recognition tests, or multi- On the first day in a new class, Sophia ple choice exams. "(This is] because you Boccard, FCLC '07, won't plunk down have all the cues on the test, but need to in any old seat. She likes to scope out the discriminate the correct answer rather available spaces before making her deci- than recall it," said Mattson. sion, which usually involves a position Boccard believes the study has valid- near the front, but to the side. Why the ity based on her own experiences. "I preference? Boccard says it serves to have noticed that when I sit in the same hear the professor better while still being seat I can remember things that the pro- out of the line of scrutinizing sight. fessor said better," acknowledged Furthermore, she finds that the seat she Boccard. "When I move to another, it's stakes out in the beginning "rarely ever different, and I feel like I'm out of moves for the rest of the semester." place." That continuity in seating arrange- While many students may not be ments may actually help Boccard to per- aware of encoding specificity, they can form better on tests. Psychological stud- often act in ways that corroborate the ies in "encoding specificity" show that study's findings. They automatically tend sitting in the same seat may increase a to seat themselves in the same place. student's chances of doing better in the Whether it be the front, which is reserved class. for the alert, the middle, regarded as neu- "Encoding specificity says that mem- tral ground, or the back, which seems ory performance is best when the condi- preferred by those who spend .their late Sitting in the front of the class may just give you an edge when you take the final tions at the time of retrieval match the nights partying.. .er, studying.. .everyone exam. conditions when the information is appears to have a preference. learned (encoded)," said Mark Mattson, The motives behind these habits, [you're sleeping]." retrieval, according to Mattson, it still professor and associate chair of the psy- however, may not have anything to do For Leana Loncarevic, FCLC '07, contains limitations within itself that chology department. with academic stimulation. Jason however, it's all about being able to contribute to its probability of recall. For example, divers who learned a set Chien, FCLC '06, sits in the same seat absorb the most information. Since students will eventually grad- of words under water were able to recall of every class every day, but says he "I don't like sitting in the back, I get uate and use their knowledge in differ- more of the words under water than on does so out of preference to be near his easily distracted," she said. "Sitting in ent rooms and settings, however, shore, Mattson explained. friends. the front, in the eyesight of the professor, Mattson said it is important to focus on Staying put in class, however, doesn't "On the first day of class, I sit with my I learn better than being in the back transfer of training to new environ- necessarily equal an instant 'A' on that friends and this is usually my permanent where it's just a sea of heads." ments. After all, you won't always pop quiz. While a student taking an essay seat," said Chien. "The middle would be While encoding specificity is sug- have your favorite seat to rely on when exam in the same classroom they were the best because you're not directly in gested to work best when it is limited by you need to remember a certain theory taught in might score higher on average the teacher's radar, but in the back the number of factors that can trigger or formula. • I Ve finally decided it's time to reclaim my virginity
By BRIAN CENTRONE gin. "Well, I am," she says to them. Staff Writer "Don't judge me before you know me." "\ can make a promise to myself and announce that I'm saying no I can relate to Madeline. There was a to sex and reclaiming my virginity." By now everyone should know I'm time in my life I shared the same ideal. I not a virgin, per se. That doesn't mean used to believe sex was something you it's something I'm fond of. There are saved until marriage. Somewhere along hot!" Madeline believes that "just away. times I wish I was still pure and innocent.'®:the way I forgot my own beliefs. Though because you're a virgin doesn't mean With all this talk of female virgins, I or I hadn't done certain .things with cer- lately, I'm starting to regain things I once you can't be sexual, A girl can still be ' had to ask about the guys. Both girls said' tain people. But we can't go back and honored. sexy and not have sex." She points out they're prepared for the fact that the men change the pasf; we can only strive for a Stephanie, another modern virgin, that there is no reason that a virgin has to they marry might not be virgins. They better future. shares similar views with Madeline. She look chaste. feel it's harder for guys to remain pure. Two friends of mine are doing just -had two very strong points she wanted to Stephanie feels modern virgins Madeline said she knew a boy who was that, and they just might be onto some- get across: "I don't want to make myself produce a new image of love and purity. saving his virginity for her. He believed thing. They're working hard to rise that emotionally vulnerable to some- "Maybe it's feminism all over he loved her and wanted to wait until above a sex-drenched society and pro- one unless I'm married to them, again," she suggests. "Girls are they could be together, and there are claiming themselves modern virgins. [and] I also don't feel as if making decisions for them- many men in this world that feel the Madeline believes images of sex and I'm ready for all the selves—decisions to stay same way. sleeping around have infiltrated our cul- responsibilities that come pure." As I got older, I started thinking I ture, filling our minds, and, for some, with, having sex, .like I had to wonder how both needed to lose my virginity or I'd be maybe pushing them into having sex too accidental pregnancy and girls' decisions to remain pathetic. Now, I see that my thoughts, soon. STDs." virgins affected their rela- based on an over-sexed culture, were Madeline's advice: "Wait until you Stephanie brings up a tionships. wrong. I don't regret my first time. I are married—until you have found the very good point: sex is Madeline feels she's never truly believe it came at the right time, one." more than giving in to nat- been in a real relationship with the right person. But there's a For Madeline, the idea behind being a ural instincts. because she's never experi- piece of me that wants what I gave modern virgin is steeped in emotion. It comes with tons of messy enced love. When it finally hap- away back then, so I can give that part Raised religious, she claims that part of baggage. I'm beginning to wonder if I pens, she* says, "I'm bringing my virgin- of myself to the love of my life, the her upbringing plays a minute role in her want to put up with the worries, the fears, ity to the table. I'm putting it out from man I'll marry. decision to wait. "It's a manifestation of the what-ifs; I can't help question why the start and letting him know my virgin- However, staying true to your beliefs love," Madeline believes. "Sex is. an anyone would want to live their life with ity is a non-negotiable." can be difficult. Madeline and Stephanie emotion. It's supposed to be emotional. I the uncertainty that their sexual habits Madeline brought up how there are wear promise rings symbolizing want to be able to share that with one could change their life forever. people with lists of everyone they'd like strength, conviction, love and hope, as man, my husband." Some may wonder what the difference to sleep with, but her list will only have well as to remind themselves to stay true Madeline's ideal is that she'll save is between these modern virgins and the one name on it for the rest of her life: her to their beliefs and remain virgins until herself for the right man—the one she "traditional" virgins of the past. husband's. "The V»Card only gets one their wedding nights. marries, has kids with, grows old with, Stephanie believes that the modern vir- punch," she says. If the guy she's seeing As for myself, I'm not going to wear a and will have a greater connection with. gin is more open-minded. She describes can't deal with that, then he's not her promise ring, but I can make that same Madeline confesses at one point she herself as "someone "who doesn't think promise to myself and announce that I, almost lost her virginity to a boy she did- everyone has to be a virgin," Stephanie, on the other hand, has been too, am saying no to sex and reclaiming n't lave, on a couch, fully dressed, with "It's a personal decision everyone has in two serious relationships. She states, my virginity! his parents still upstairs. to make for themselves," she said. "If you're in a serious relationship, you Wish mo luck. I'm going to need it. • Since then she's realized she wanted For Madeline, the concept of the mod- tend to think, 'Why not [have sex] now? her first time to be special. So began her ern virgin isn't only based on how she We're going to be together forever,'" But ideal, thinks, but on how she's viewed and how for Stephanie, that wasn't the case. * Although the events reported are However, Madeline has come across she represents herself. "Virgins are not Neither relationship worked out, and true, the names of individuals involved people who refuse to believe she's a vir- girls who wear chastity belts; they're she's glad she didn't give her virginity have been changed. Features 14 THE OBSERVER March 16. 2005 Is the desire to diagnose oneself the new 'it' thing for Americans? seem to explain the success of she said. "But I think that when thepsychological community to ments. I think it kind of exag- Studies show an "American Idol," but is it really people start using it as excuses increase our ability to diagnose gerates the situation today, so a serious disorder? or to make excuses for certain people," he said, "and to get there's going to be a certain increase in "I think that psychoanalyzing 'unacceptable' behaviors, then I better at coming up with diag- humor to that and I hope people number of peo- every little disor- nostic categories will find the humor in it." der is terrible" that will help us to Cecero also said that the ple diagnosed said Simone Jung, provide appropri- book will hopefully be a FCLC '07. "So ate treatment to point of discussion in the with phobias what if there are match specific dis- mental health community, these different orders." shining a corrective light on By EMILY GENAO types of phobias? Cecero beli- the impulse to overanalyze. Staff Writer They're not con- eved this kind of Furthermore, he hopes it sidered phobias specificity is help- will spark thoughts that Anxiety. Paranoia. until some calls it ful to better meet those in the mental health Depression. These are some of some freakish the needs of community should not be the commonly diagnosed and name. I would patients. "I think apologetic about the speci- treated mental disorders think thafrif people of, for example, ficity of diagnoses, even if it amongst Americans. These seri- read cases of eating does risk becoming carica- ous conditions are not few, [Encyclopedia disorders where turized. however, as more and more Neurotica] and people were, in the "I think we are actually get- people seem to be diagnosed notice some of the past, diagnosed ting control of neuroses by with some form -of mental or phobias or with kind of gen- being able to name them so emotional affliction. manias...it would eral, global specifically," Cecero said. According to a Feb. 3 Reuters just cause panic or impulse control Not everyone feels this article, one in fiveAmerican s suf- something." problems and now way, however. "If you're talk- fer from at least one phobia. Jung feels that a we can differenti- ing about anglolalia, then I Furthermore, brand new ones, book like Jon ate bet-ween think it's a bit of an exaggera- like heterophobia or "the fear of Winokur's anorexia and tion," said Bryan Ramirez, straight people," are regularly Encycl-opedia bulimia and binge- FCLC '07, who is also a psy- being identified. Americans seem Neurotica, which eating disorders," chology major. "It seems like to be overanalyzing themselves analyzes the he said. people are getting really more than ever, signaling a new increase in Amer- Cecero believed scared or attached to nothing." age of anxiety. ican self-analyses, that kind of speci- Ramirez also pointed out that New terms are being intro- can be fun to read ficity is an impor- some fears are natural, while duced into the American lexi- or can set people tant aid in properly others are more culturally con in order to describe some of to diagnosing themselves with don't think it's being used in the treating patients. He disagrees motivated. the newer neuroses that have new phobias. right manner." with the idea that there is over- Serious phobias and neu- been discovered in recent times. Marissa Dacay, FCLC '07, John Cecero, clinical psy- analysis, and believes that more roses can be terrible ailments, Telephilia, according to the arti- who is majoring in psychology, chologist and associate profes- specificity is in the best interest but one must wonder if the cle, was coined by Frank Rich thinks analysis of the self is a sor of psychology, thinks being of the people. need to diagnose oneself with of the New York Times and is positive only to a certain extent. more specific is a step in the As far as Winokur's book is some sort of disorder is an used to describe the "pathologi- "I don't really think people can right direction. "I think with the concerned, Cecero hopes peo- .affliction in itself. • cal longing of Americans, no fully know themselves ... until advent of clinical psychology, ple will find the humor in it. "I matter how talentless, to be on they've sat back and really certainly over the past 20 years think the people who read it will llustration: television." Telephilia would looked at what "they're about," ... there has been an interest in have to make their own judg- Duluth Times Tribune/KRT
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Ttir cifphantts? The whaki? The clean isr we brvuhv? ihpcbojc* isn't IO char. Miyhv yotiM like *vay <<• kcrp cbitn ill. Notr the worlds lt*ding tiwironmenul group) are working t To find, out h w you tin h*lp( \ook for u* *t Esrth Shorn Arts & Culture March 16,2005 • THE OBSERVER Arts Calendar Woody Allen pits comedy versus tragedy in his On-Campus: newest film, 'Melinda and Melinda' By J.P. MANCALINPAN Weds., March 30 Arts & Culture Editor Food and Loathing: A Lament Book Discussion Since 1969, director Woody Allen (SPARC) '.{ has perpetuated an endless stream of 5:00. p.m.in the Student Lounge projects from the titular classics "Annie Hall" and "Crimes and Thurs., March 31 Misdemeanors," to the contemporary, Decafe . •:'<'• like 200 l's "Curse of the Jade £ (SPARC) -} Scorpion." His films traverse the vast = 9:00 p.m. -11:00 p.m.in Student Lounge expanse between comedy and tragedy g Fri., April 1 ' ( £ and singularly, he's an effective auteur $ of both. v | The Fight Guys Workshop (Splinter Group) In his newest film, "Melinda and •% 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. in the White Box Theater ,. Melinda" with RadhV Mitchell, ft Will Ferrell and Chloe Sevigny, f Gay Marriage Panel Discussion Allen eschews choosing between 8 (Rainbow Alliance) - ..,.-. the two motifs, pitting both come- Woody Allen discusses a scene.with actor Radha Mitchell ("Finding 7:00 - 8:00 pjn. in the Student Lounge dy and tragedy against one another Nevehand," "Man on Fire") on the set of his newest film, "Melinda and in a film featuring the same story- Melinda." line told in both humorous and dra- because I need more material." to be the most natural thing in the In Theaters: matic form. They're happy getting the parts world to do. That's because I write it Recently, the 69-year-old director they're involved in and they never and I tend to write for myself. sat down with The Observer to discuss really ask for more. I always feel, the Like Yiddish jokes? March 18 his newest pet project, his favorite less they know, the better. It makes it Ice Princess, Melinda and Melinda, Milk and • No, no! For some reason, I can do comedian, and why he believes (for less complicated. Honey, The Ring Two, Schizo, Steamboy one-line jokes and make them sound him) stand-up comedy is a thing of the Why didn 't you play Will Ferrell's like dialogue rather than just jokes. March24 : • • c-v '- '/•.-, \ past. character in this film. It seems the role Some people can do that, while other Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous', -'.- would have been perfect for you. people have trouble with that. Diane The Observer: With your newest It would have been, but next Keaton always had trouble with that March 25 .:-.,'. •,,; • •«;. ^r,'J • film, "Melinda and Melinda," you 've. December, I'll be' turning 70. I can't As hilarious as she is, she always had The BaJJad of Jack and Rose, Guess.W&Q \ ^ ..trouble when I would write her a joke, to do the joke. But, she's so talented in •. "T1 7,") March 30 a million other ways like Will, that Beauty Shop I never give the actors more than they really need.ft really in the end, are better than just ' - Woody Allen the dialogue jokes. But for me, I : always good at dialogue jokes. I was On The Airwaves: always one of the comics who could interwoven two stories with one do it! But, sure I would love to. He do them. March 15 another. I heard you didn't let your brought things to it that I couldn't do, * With "Melinda," there's this defi- David Bowie — David Live - Marilyn Manson — Nobodies: 2005 Against actors in on the parallel story they but I will say there were some things nite comparison between comedy and AllGodMix . ..-'•-••*= weren 't involved in. he couldn't do that I naturally wrote tragedy. How hard is it to find fresh Allen: That's right. There was no into the script. approaches for you movies? March 22 point to it if you were in one of the Is that frustrating? Well, I don't really think about Ben Folds Five— - ^ ;:.; stories, unless you're Radha Yeah. It's a tradeoff, though. We're them thematically at first. Over the Whatever and Ever Amen. . - _.-> *S % f [Mitchell] of course. Ypu didn't have so physically different and our styles years for example, I had ideas thaf Mariah Carey — Emancipation of Mimi.fi^ to know about the other stories. of comedy are so different. There are occurred to me. I thought, 'Gee, I v • ' • '.>• ••--'' "> Amanda Peet, for example was in one things he does that I would never be could make this into a funny comedy March 29 story. They didn't have to bother with able to do. He's very funny and very and then five minutes later, I think, if American Hi-Fi . ... the other story, they didn't have to vulnerable, more vulnerable in certain I wanted to do this as a serious story, Hearts on Parade < . care about it. It's always my theory. I scenes where I would be more intel- it could be quite moving, or a good never give the actors more than they lectual, appear to be. And, he appears serious story.' Calendar courtesy the. Office, si. really need. And, they never com- to be very vulnerable, very sweet. Comedy Central voted you the Activities, ComingSoo&.net"~''-''.' plain about it, No actors ever say, "I There was dialogue occasionally fourth best comedian of all time. Billboard.com. • ••••-••. can't do this because need, more which I cut he couldn't do that I found see ALLEN, page 16 Ford ham alum Raul Hagan juggles playwrighting and journalism By CORYN BROWN Broadway from the off-Broadway stage, what is like- seems he'd simply like to rule the world."I know Staff Writer ly to propel Fordham Hagen isn't the theatre experi- there are a lot of people who are very purist about In Paul Hagen's 2004 off-Broadway production, ences, but his ever-growing resume—an impressive [theatre] and really are like, 'Theater is my medium "The Only Thing Straight is My Jacket," Micah, the checklist of things to do for a graduate nearly three and that is the only way I can speak to the world and main character, is a troubled gay immortal who, on years out of the Fordham cradle. After earning a bach- it would be a blasphemy for me to do otherwise,'" account of boundless promiscuity, is cursed to hear elor's degree in English, his day jpb sees him as an chirps Hagen. "But why not do everything?" the legendary love songs written for him by editor, writer, and contributing designer at Metro This includes hopes of seeing his career renowned gay composers, sang by heterosexual Source Magazine, a gay publication likened to The move into television, having been inspired by women. It was Hagen's first production for the New Village Voice. But in the sweeping domain of New today's viable screen producers like J.J. York City's annual Fringe festival. Yet, before its York theatre, Hagen is the playwright responsible for Abrams, creator of network shows "Alias" and genesis, Hagen was wary of confronting homosexu- a series of darkly comedic off-Broadway productions, "Lost." He wants to recreate a joy in entertain- ality through script, He reluctantly approached the including "The Rape of the Lock," read by the Judith ment he once felt from the works of comedic subject. Shakespeare Company this past February, "Pardon geniuses like Neil Simon. "I was really against the idea of tackling gay Me, Justin Righteousness!" produced Dec. 21, 2004 But as a small boy from Clifton, NJ, Hagen's issues in the beginning because I felt like I didn't at the Atlantic Theater Company, and "The Only first love was for the stage. His mother was a want to be pigeon-holed, and my life was so little Thing Straight is My Jacket." Hagen is also a found- vocalist in their church choir and his father played about being gay," Hagen gushed. "I mean my life ing member of the company, Unheard Of Productions, French horn for the likes of the New, York, City, was about theatre, I wrote about theatre, I did 'The which recruits actors in and out of Fordham—a cast Ballet and the Philharmonic. Yet performing arts, Rape of the Lock,' which is an adaptation of a clas- he uses to stage his growing collection of off-the-wall for Hagen, could have represented more of an sic [verse play], 1 wrote about family; 1 didn't want vignettes and productions. So at 24 years old, Hagen escape from reality than a natural affection etched to write about homosexuality." states his ultimate goal is to break away from the in his genetic code. Yet as an up-and-coming playwright among cliches of theatre and surprise audiences with a gen- Manhattan's smorgasbord of creative minds racing to uine sense of entertainment. But to onlookers, it see PLAYWRIGHT, page 16 Arts & Culture 16 THE OBSERVER March 16. 2005 'Gonzo'journalist, author Hunter S. Thompson takes his own life „ By TARA WILLIAMS primarily on the Democratic Party and Staff Writer made it very clear that he found the campaign leading to Richard Nixon's Famous author, political commenta- re-election "brutal" and "depraved," tor and journalist Hunter S. Thompson proclaiming "Jesus, where will it end? was found dead Sunday, Feb. 20 in his How low do you have to stoop in this home of an apparent self-inflicted gun- country to become president?" shot wound, according to the Sheriff's Thompson went on to become one of office in Aspen. Thompson, 67, was a Nixon's fiercest critics, famously leading political journalist as well as describing him as a man who "could one of the most important authors of the shake your hand and stab you in the last century. He was known for his back at the same time" after Nixon's japid-fire, first-person style of writing death in 1994. and his work revolutionized journalism Thompson's other works include in the 1960s. "The Great Shark Hunt," a collection of Thompson's use of first-person jour- Watergate-era essays; "Generation. of nalism was associated with the "New Swine," his lament on the youth of the Journalism" movement of the 1960s. 1980s; and his account of Bill Clinton's Thompson's writing blurred the line 1992 presidential win, "Better than between writer and subject, fiction and Sex." Thompson had an exceptionally nonfiction, catapulting him to the status large sense of commitment to his writ- of a counterculture icon. This unique, ing. He demonstrated this by immersing novelistic approach became known as himself deeply into each story he wrote. "gonzo journalism" and was widely Thompson took detail to new heights in imitated, but few could match the Author Hunter S. Thompson's most well-known work was 'Fear and Loathing in Las his writing and changed the face of authenticity found in Thompson's Vegas.'His use of first-person jounralism was associated with the 'NewJournalism' journalism in America. His cutting and work. movement of the 1960s. Thompson was found dead on Feb. 20. explosive style of writing will continue Megan Mintura, FCLC '07, is a huge to influence writers for generations to fan of Thompson's work. "He broke all remain a hero for young writers for In it, Thompson longed for the spirit of come. the rules, but still succeeded," she said. years to come." rebellion against the "Old and Evil" .Thompson married twice, first to "I really admire the way he wrote Thompson's best-known work is that was rampant in the 1960s. Sandra Dawn Thompson Tarlo, with exactly what he wanted to write, and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," his Another of Thompson's books, "Fear whom he had one son, Juan Fitzgerald didn't change his style for anybody. It account of a journalist's trip to Las and Loathing on the Campaign Trail Thompson. He later married his long- makes for better reading sometimes Vegas with his "300-pound Samoan" '72," is one of the best examples of time assistant, Anita Thompson. when the author drops the objective attorney to cover a narcotics officers' "gonzo journalism." Thompson holds Besides his wife and son, survivors pretense and just says what they mean." convention and the "fabulous Mint nothing back in this collection of include a grandson, William, His fami- When she found out that Thompson had 400" motorcycle race. During die trip, Rolling" Stone articles written by ly and friends are currently looking into died,' and the nature of his death, the journalist and his lawyer search for Thompson while he covered the elec- blasting Thompson's ashes from a can- Minturn was "shocked and extremely the American dream, with, the help of tion campaigns of President Richard M. non across his sprawling ranch in sad," however she knows that "Hunter profuse amounts of LSD, ether, Nixon and his unsuccessful opponent, Woody Creek, Colo., as Thompson will live on through his writing and will adrenochrome, reefer and other drugs. Senator George McGovera. He focused requested. . • Fordham alum juggles play- Woody Allen pits comedy versus wrighting and journalism tragedy in newest pet project FROM PAGE 15 FROM PAGE 15 big fan of Chris Rock. I find him to be igniting Hagen's confidence to pursue a a bright and delightful comedian. "The year I was bora, [my father] career as a writer. That's pretty impressive. Do you miss Did you catch him hosting the made maybe "Paul has an incendiary love of lan- doing stand-up comedy? Academy Awards? $3000 that whole year and I had a guage," stated Professor Matthew I miss doing stand-up comedy, but I didn't see it. The Miami/Orlando lot of medical problems when I was Maguire, director of playwrighting at it's too much work in this sense. To game got in the way! [laughs] younger," Hagen recalls. . "I had a FCLC. A mentor of Hagen's, write a film script is a little bit of Anyone else? birth defect. It's called Pierre Robin Maguire attended productions fea- Work, but to write an act, an hour in The Korean woman. The overweight syndrome. [It involves] a problem [I tured both at the Playwright's Festival front of people where you relentless- Korean woman. What's her name? had] with the pressure in my ears...I and in the Fringe Festival. "I love his ly have to keep them laughing is a lot Margaret Cho. [also] had an under developed chin work. He has a wild imagination of work. I mean, you have to come Yeah. I do find her funny. and I had a clef) palette. My life, in laced with erudition, whimsy, and out in the open and say something Since 1969, you 've put out almost a so many ways, has been a sort of revolt,'1 Maguire said. funny and follow up with something movie year. What's the driving force story of miracles before I ever got to Now the future summons Hagen, funny again and again. And you look behind your constant output? theatre, which is what I love and and he responds through, "Banning at your watch and only IS minutes You know, it's funny. When you what sustains me..." the Bible in Twelve Easy Steps," his have gone by! You have to keep going finish a film, this will sound facetious Hagen was intent on becoming latest work, though still in its begin- and the audience has to stay with you. —Neil Simon said the same thing— an actor since the age of nine when ning stages. Slated for a possible They have to laugh and stay enter- you finish a movie, and realistically, he starred in a community theatre summer opening, the play is a biting tained for an hour.'It's so difficult to it's over. You sit around for a few production of "Oliver Twist." But farce that tackles censorship issues put together an act, so I don't think I weeks and what? What do you'do? once he enrolled in FCLC, his through one woman's journey to ban could do it again. You write? It's not any drive or com- focus shifted. the Bible for its lewd, provocative Do you follow this current genera- pulsion, but what am I going to do? I "I realized there were all these content. tion of comedians? have no vocational hobbies. I don't really talented, wonderful actors who "I'm sure it sounds positively I'm forever turning on the televi- want to go off and play golf or go were doing absolute vomit shows," blasphemous ... It's not without its sion and I see comics I don't know. fishing. I'm home, I goof off for days Hagen recounts. "I [couldn't] pic- really sharp criticisms of organized But, they're all funny. When I first or weeks, and then I want to write ture myself dedicating my life to religion, particularly the hypocrisy started seeing these comedians on again because I enjoy it. If I start to that—to waiting around for a good that exists within it ... [but] I think television, I thought to myself, 'Gee, I write and I finish it, I go and make show, having to face rejection over there's a lot about commercial the- was a comic and these guys are noth- the movie. Then I finish it and it goes and over on shows that weren't that atre that's just convention, that's ing.' Then, I saw old some tapes of on and on like that. good, that you really probably given up on trying to experiment or myself and I really saw how terrible I How would Woody Allen like to be wouldn't be in if you had a choice." trying to push the boundaries or try- was and I appreciate how good these remembered 100 years from now? .This prompted Hagen to take a ing to do something new," Hagen guys are, even the no-name ones are You know, the truth of the matter playwriting course as a second semester states. "You see a lot of people who, better now, like the youngest doctors is, once you're gone, you're gone! I freshman. From this class sprouted "The in reaction to the dopey, frivolous- of today are better than the greatest don't really care that much. I'm not Ridiculous Reign of John the ness of popular theatre, write these doctors of five-hundred years ago. one of those people carrying around Grammatically Correct." It was the first things that are so heavy and so bleak Very, very funny. memorabilia or who cares about... of seven plays Hagen produced in that even when they're good, there's Favorite comedian? You know, I don't really think about FCLC's playwrights festival during his no nod to the audience, there's no I hate to say it because I don't want it. I just want everything to go right time as an undeigraduate—the spark joy. Theatre should always, always to offend anyone's feelings, but I am a while I'm beret 4 March 16. 2005 THE OBSERVER Arts & Culture V Mary BIy discusses bestselling pseudonym Eloisa James FROM FRONT PAGE Harvard and post-grad experience at Oxford, she found Shakespeare; In all cases, BIy advocated the virtues of "I actually came to the field by acci- her writing and the validity of the dent," she recalls. "I had planned to go to romance genre as a whole. Oxford University for my masters and The publicity certainly hasn't hurt. Her study Shakespeare only as a background' latest novel "Much Ado About to returning to the United States and writ- You,"released in December 2004, made ing a dissertation on T.S. Eliofs drama (he The Times's Extended and USA Today's was deeply influenced by Shakespeare). bestseller list But I fell in love with the period and The caveat? Increased recognition. BIy returned to the U.S. to take a Renaissance admits she's recognized more and more culture degree and write on early modem often—and not just in the classroom. plays." Whether she likes it or not, she's become &• BIy specialized in Shakespeare, and a bonafide celebrity, a face many liken to taught at Washington University in St. the romance genre, a figure spearheading Louis, Mo., before she joined FCLC's fac- a conscientious movement to correct per- ulty in 1999. Currently tenured, BIy took sisting beliefs associated with the ante- sabbatical last May and plans to resume diluvian view on "bodice-rippers." She teaching after the spring semester. can't even go to the post office without being recognized. Bly's first book, "Potent Pleasures," "[It's] weird," BIy says of her fame." I was moderately successful. The tale.of was walking down the street in New York Lady Charlotte Caverstill's rocky tete-a- one day, with a friend who's a professor at tetes with A^McDonough Foakes was Columbia. She noticed that a bunch of notable for its emphasis on friendship, a people were smiling and pointing at me motif found in all her books. from a restaurant window. I popped my It wasn't until 2002, when "Duchess In head in, and it turned out that they were a Love" hit The New York Times Extended group of librarians, in the city for their bestseller list when her books—and fame annual meeting. I had addressed the —hit new heights. Publisfter's Weekly librarians a year or so ago." lauded her as "the next Amanda Quick," s and People magazine gushed, "Romance BIy grew up in Minnesota, surrounded writing does not get much better than Mary BIy admits she's recognized more and more often - and not just in the class- by the sights and sounds of the farm. As a this" * / . , room. She's become a bonafide celebrity. child, she showed>a predilection for writ- BIy has a growing fan base in the United Works by Mary BIy. ingj craning plays performed by her sib- States and beyond. Her fans' ardent passion Still, BIy is proud of her own accom- lings: her tales of princesses (played, nat- and fervent loyalty continues to surprise plishments in the worlds of academia and (a.k.a. Eloisa James): urally, by her sister)^ far-away lands and even her. fiction. In the coming months, she will o continue touring the United States, making romances seem, in hindsight, to serve as "Last spring, I had a letter from a fen in Talk of the Ton (2005) ;. literary precursors to the novels that Australia tellingme that she had delayed a stops in Baltimore, St. Louis and Reno, would later follow. • brain operation until she could read the signing books and meeting fans as well as Much Ado About You (2005)'. Her passion for romances persisted, last book in my most recent series which speaking at colleges to discuss popular fic- Tlf^brieThat Got Away (2004) despite personal ambivalence. Perhaps hadn't published over there yet," BIy tion. With every stop, this distinguished A Wild Pursuit (2004) much of it stemmed from genetics. BIy is remembers. "She said she didn't want to writer hopes to change people's percep- Your Wicked Ways (2004) .. the product of award-winning writer and die without knowing what happened. I tions of her works' literary merits. r Ldve poet John BIy, author of the pivotal men's screamed p reply, telling her to run into "Is there a more denegrated genre of Fob) f° (2003) movement work "Iron John," and Carol the hospital immediately." literature than romance? "asked BIy. Ducrjess in Love (2002) BIy, a writer of short stories. As an ado- "The truth is that there are tired, formula- Now that she's an unmitigated success, Enchanting Pleasures (2002) lescent, she made a promise to her father: what do her literary-inclined parents ic romances published—but there are also For every romance novel by Barbara think? BIy has said that while her mother silly, boring works of literary fiction. Midnight Pleasures (2001) Cartlands, she read a "serious" work by isn't too keen on her popular fiction forays Writing a good work of fiction takes Potent Pleasures (1999) the likes of Mark Twain. (she hasn't read her novels), her father is a imagination, hard work and a gift for lan- Theni nen, during her undergrad years at huge supporter ofr heher work. guage, no matter what genre you choose Jesuits welcome Zen sitting meditation to Lincoln Center campus Byy PETER PALLOTTPALLOTTA According to Kennedy Roshi's Web site for his Morning Focusing on being present in the moment has 1helped Staff Writer Star Zendo, a Zen meditation center in Manhattan, the Ross find the pleasure in things; it even helped her find meditation periods teach "the practice of stilling the mind her true self. When people think of a Jesuit institution, a class that through wholehearted attentiveness to the breath. This "After about 20 months of practicing Zen meditation, teaches the art of Zen meditation is usually not at the front steady attentiveness, coupled with the stillness of the I began to feel like myself," she said. "And the strange of their mind. But, as part of the Jesuit mission for "inter- body, frees the mind from its ordinary activities of think- thing was that I didn't even realize that I wasn't myself religious dialogue," Fordham University is offering Zen ing, daydreaming, or speculating on the nature of life." before then." meditation sitting classes under the guidance of Jesuit "I didn't realize the difficulty of maintaining perfect Ross said Zen meditation taught her to shed expecta- priest and Zen teacher Robert Kennedy, S.J., Roshi. calm and clarity of mind," said Anthony Ross, FCLC '07, tions and drop what is not important. •"People all over the world, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and who attended one of the classes. "During the meditation Kennedy Roshi acknowledges that Zen meditation India, are doing interfaith work," said Kennedy Roshi. session I learned to focus on the present moment to may not be for everyone. It takes disciple and effort. And "Jesuits have been asked not only to tolerate, but promote achieve an inner peace." because of the many distractions today's world provides, the truth in Christ in other religions." The final sitting period is a short lecture on Zen medi- "it is hard to get rid of delusions." Kennedy Roshi, who became involved in the art of Zen tation by Kennedy Roshi to assist "the sitting" process. "The American lifestyle is not very conducive to med- meditation after being sent to Japan by the Jesuits, The art of Zen meditation is usually reserved for those itation because its emphasis is on rushing, especially in believes that there is no reason a Christian or non- who are looking for a different and more meaningful way New York City," said Anthony Ross. Christian person should refrain from meditation because to pray. But that is exactly why Kennedy Roshi believes people of its Buddhist roots. According to Kennedy Roshi's Web site, "people lean- should embrace Zen meditation. "Although Zen meditation is nurtured by Buddhists, ing toward a deeper fonn of prayer, are often attracted to "Many things will pull back concentration, but eventu- and we are grateful for that, anyone can practice it," said studying Zen. It is not because they wish to become ally you will be able to sit, pay attention, and focus only Kennedy Roshi. "The church itself has urged people to be Buddhists, but because they seek a more contemplative on what is in front of you," Kennedy Roshi said. open to other faiths." prayer life." The classes, which are held in the Lowenstein chapel, The sitting classes, which began during Ignation week Sheila Ross, designer of Public Affairs at FCLC, Room 221, will be offered every Tuesday night at 6:45 on Feb. 1, provide a place for people to learn, as well as began studying Zen mediation with Kennedy Roshi two p.m. throughout the semester. • practice, the art of Zen meditation. For beginners, an and a half years ago, and said she immediately took to his instructor will teach the propef sitting technique, either on teachings: For more information on the Kennedy Roshi and a chair or mat, and pillow placed on the floor. ''I was very interested in the idea of inter-faith medita- the Morning Star Zendo, please visit his Web site The class consists of three sitting periods, 25 minutes tion," said Sheila Ross. "I was not doing the meditation at http://kennedyzen.tripod.com. each, which are broken up by twd. walking meditations. to become Buddhist, or anything clsel was not" « -- Arts & Culture 18 THE OBSERVER March 16, 2005 Pictures are worth a thousand words to professor Joe Lawton As told to COUEEN Cox Contributing Writer and then worked my way back up,- tak- ing pictures that were a little more edu- cated at that point. National Geographic Last fail I had the pleasure of sitting and travel magazines had fallen by the down to chat with Joseph Lawton, a wayside. I still had an interest in that professional photographer and a profes- type of picture* but there was a much sor in the Visual Aits Department here more powerful group being made by at FCLC.What follows was taken direct- people like Lee Friedlander, Gary ly from the transcript of our conversa- Winogrand, Walker Evans, Robert tion. I have removed my questions Frank. They were lyric pictures, epic andcomments; these are Joe's words as pictures, pieces of poetry. They were spoken to me. great. They were their own mysteries. They weren't meant to illustrate stories If you go very far back, I guess what or anything else. It was photography for interested me was taking pictures in photography's sake. It was just good high school. The first group was proba- photography; they were the best defini- bly pretty predictable in sensibility: tion. It wasn't in service of words on a sweet pictures, a la National page. It had mystery to it. I absolutely Geographic. The second group was loved it. I loved doing black and white. made up of the antics of friends at par- I enjoyed the dark room; I liked listen- ties, doing this at this party, or craziness ing to music—the whole thing. That's in places we used to gather. What did how it got started. that body of pictures prove? It probably Post-graduate, the first big job was proved it's better to raise the drinking for the International Foundation for Art age to 21. / Research, and I was sent down to After high school I went to college in / Cuzco, Peru. The task was to record Colorado. I was out west, going to' paintings of their style in silver, because school, skiing and climbing. The influ- the paintings in remote churches were ences there were taking my photogra- either being damaged by lack of care, or phy away from the antics of my peers, at they were being stolen. People were least the drunken antics, into "Here's us paying off the night guard, going into on top of mountains," "Here's climb- the church late at night, and there was ing," "Here's the winter landscape in the suddenly no inventory of this work. It bleak, late light of the evening." I was was a twofold task: one, to record this really interested in the world of outdoor , stuff; two, to train Peruvians to take nature photography. over the job I was doing. That was a fun For Prof. Joe Lawton, the most interesting job, involved a trip with the Contras in That time I started out as a business one. Since then jobs have just gone all Nicaragua w orking for Media International Arrangements. • - major and quickly found out that it over the place. was of little real interest to me. So I The most interesting job in particular exciting. There's an intellectual challenge I've been photographing up in my left school. I hitch-hiked around was when I traveled for almost a month) without being thought as that It's like, hometown of Syracuse—at the New York Europe and North Africa, taking pic- with the Contras in Nicaragua. I worked "Wow, look at that Look at the light strik- State Fair. There's a small catalog that was tures. Sort of a travel kind—"Here's ' for a small company called Media ing this. Look at the way someone's hand a joint edit, and I look forward to moving the exotic." International. Arrangements were made to is tilted back. Their head. The way the that into a bigger thing, a book. That's I then switched over to journalism. meet some of the Mesquito Indians. It was light strikes their face," and so on. It was a something different. It's taken its merry (My degree from the University of like a James Bond adventure: we went to way to observe and give a reason to go out way. You watch it go different directions, Colorado is in journalism.) But I a village, arrangements were made in the and do that. That's it and it's like a novel underway: you don't noticed, when I lived in an apartment, cover of darkness where we boarded a lit- There have been groups of pictures that really know the answer. And when you on one side I had a typewriter and on tle boat and went down about five miles I've liked better than others. Like any- finally bring it together, that's exciting. It's the other side was a small darkroom I out to sea, and then down the coast to one thing else, you have days you do really not clear-cut. It's not defined. It's an had made. I've always believed the of the secret camps. If the Sandinistas well, and days you ... have these exploration ofthe subject, but it's also an expression, "You vote with your feet." found out, they'd kill you, rather quickly moments of doubt. But more often than exploration of one's self. I would walk toward the side with the in fact Boats were getting shot out of the not, you hit it; you have a professional I've done this over 20 years, so it's about darkroom. So, firstly, I was not a water on a regular basis. The contras were skill and work ethic. "What does teenage lust look like when good writer; secondly, I was much made up of the northern, central, and I don't think photographers have you're 22? What does it look like when more interested in creating images. I southern groups. They were these three writer's block because, if nothing else, we you're 40-something? What does old age liked looking. I liked creating things different groups that had rivalries between can fool ourselves. You can put a camera look like when you're 32 and you're not to look at. them, but basically worked (somewhat) around your neck and imagine you're tak- even aware of it? What happens when I sort of wandered into the art com- together to fight the Sandinistas. ing pictures, and instead you're dreaming you're almost SO?" You start to pay atten- plex at the University of Colorado. On different trips down there, I visited about the night before or what you're going tion to it. You bounce back and forth on Everything from the funkiness of the each of their base camps and spent time to do Friday. It's not sitting there by the that stuff. That is what photography can building, the posters, the smell of paint, with each of them. It was a real lesson in typewriter waiting for something to hap- give you: you can take the same damn sub- the casualness of the place ... the place the issues facing a peasant. Both sides are pen. Have there been times when subjects ject, but you can approach it as you could was on fire. There were great filmmak- suspect; how you pick a side is just as have been more engaging? Absolutely. with writing—differently just based on ers teaching there: Bruce Connor, Stan simple as the way you were treated by one Have there been days where I've been • your own experiences. The subject itself Brackage. People like Gary Mets were particular member of one particular somewhat blase about what I might be doesn't even have to change; you just sud- teaching there. Finally, after all these group. Things went wrong, and the next doing either on a job or for myself? Yeah, denly start paying attention to different years of schooling, I found a place that thing you're joining the ranks of the oppo- , I suppose so; but I just go have an espresso things. best suited my own curiosities. It was- sition. This was a great trip. I have a lot and I'm happy again. But in terms of real, I think so much of photography is n't dogmatic. You were always under- ofthe pictures still; they're okay. They're 'Huh, what to photograph?' No. There are bringing your choice of music, your love mining and celebrating the things you not, in the long term, any of my best. But days where you're out and interested in of ballet, whatever it is, to the table, and it were learning. It just seemed so excit- the trip afforded me an opportunity to photographing, but you don't see anything influences the way you look at things. ing. That's the time my photography enter a world that I would know little you particularly like. That's different than You look at and talk to most photogra- really took off. Everything else became about without this opportunity; I learned blocked. I've never heard of anyone with phers, and most of the influence is from secondary. I completed the degree in a lot from it. photographer's block. books, music, outside sources. That's the journalism with less than real interest. I still don't ever use the word 'expres- But you can really say that great work, is part that's great—your place in life. Like They knew it and I knew it; the depart- sion'to describe my work. I'm not even all produced when a talent meets its subject. when you go to buy a pair of shoes, you ment and I didn't get along particularly that interested in other people's opinions, You can see people where their talent start looking at everyone's shoes. You go, well. The fine arts department I did truthfully. As a little kid in school, I was doesn't leave, but whatever excites the tal- "I'm gonna get a haircut," you start look- very well in, and I loved it. the kid looking out the window. I liked ent does. The late career of Robert Frank ing at haircuts. After schobl, I was offered a very being out. I liked looking at things. So is somewhat an example of that. People Have I peaked? God no. Hope not, nice job, but turned it down. I was very photography suddenly became a tool to have peaks. Why they peak and why they I'm not in anyway an intellectual about young, very curious. I had $3000 dol- allow mo to do this, and that was great. If fade... it. I just like taking pictures. I have an lars, or $3500, and said, "That's it, I'm you are just looking around on a vacation, There are some people who are so interest in looking at the world and point- gonna hitch-hike through South eventually you might as well sit on a beach skilled at making a picture that they apply ing a camera, and it amuses me and inter- America, cross over, go to Africa, back or go home. Photography gives you a task their formal smarts to subject matter, and ests me and intrigues me, and I like look- up to Europe, and return." I never did to do: to look and find order in a less than after a while it can become somewhat for- ing at the work of people who do the make it to Africa; I got as far as Brazil ordered world. That's the part that was mulaic. same. That's all. • March 16, 2005 THE OBSERVER Artc Ri Pnltiirp 1Q IN THEATERS HOSTAGE accidentally over boiled in an attempt to utilize every character as a lesson. It was Rated PG-13 stuffed full of striking ideas, ergo, 107 mins. cracking and oozing out a mother's three (DreamWorks year struggle with anger, four beautiful Pictures) daughters at odds with their mother and life, a drunken well intentioned baseball star, and a disappearing act husband. The After opening with dialogue is sharp and comedic. The nifty credits and a voice over is unnecessarily didactic. chilling scene, Joan Allen is perfect. Kevin Costner "Hostage" gets going as a brutal and fits. Nothing short of a pulsing indepen- effective thriller. Bruce Willis gives a dent Desperate Housewives with a con- solid, emotional performance as a former clusion bathed in thought. Despite an hostage negotiator who trys to save a overflow of points-to-be-made, this film family trapped in their home but ends up should be seen. trying to save his own family as well. Grade: B+ Although there are times when the film's — David Graver events become a bit confusing, "Hostage" is at its best when the action THE JACKET I spirals out of control. Director Florent successfully presses you to question Dreamworks's follow-up to "Shrek 2" Siri enhances the action with plenty of Rated R Jack's sanity. As his death is pursued and has a vast void to fill in the ogre' s visually stunning shots in addition to 102 mins. his relationship with thejacket alters, the absence — at least until "Shrek 3" hits keeping it interesting throughout. (Warner movie offers sharp turns, snagged only the scene. The first 40 minutes of this Grade: B Independent by mild over sentimentalism. A detailed rough cut features four urbanite animals — Rafael DeLeon Pictures) psychological exploration, TheJacket ral- in the New York Zoo who wash up (lit- lies the pulse lying behind it's zipper. erally) on the beaches of Madagascar. THE UPSIDE OF ANGER I Come for the premise, leave with the While Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Sporting a visceral entertainment. Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith fash- Rated R style, involving Grade: B ion endearing characters and there are 118 mins. characters, and a jarring pace, TheJacket —David Graver genuine laugh-out-loud moments, por- (New Line leads Adrien Brody's Gulf War vet Jack tions of dialogue either feel strained or Features) Sparks into a claustrophobic box, a hal- falls flat. At ths point, ."Shrek" it is not, lucinatory future, and an even more MADAGASCAR but come May 27, perhaps the final prod- claustrophobic past. The premise of the Not Rated uct will feature the same polishother The Upside of Anger film dangles a dark unknown fpr you to (DreamWorks SKG) recent animated films like "Robots" and is an ornate egg of eriter, but the plot itself often reverts to "The Incredibles" exude. an idea, which was deus ex machina for closure. The movie Advanced Rough Cut: —J.P. Mangalindan ON THE AIRWAVES turn's1 out to be a solid rap alburn. overuse or damn near looped drum- Grade: B ming. Sometimes these gimmicks pay —Rafael De Leon off. The track "At The Back of the JOHN BUTLER TRIO I Shell" uses the aforementioned repeats, only --it coats them with detailed lyri- Sunrise Over Sea cism. The same can be said of "Rodeo (Lava) Town," only it is W's voice that ele- Sounds like: Dave vates the track.. And admittedly, the Matthews Band, opener "No Wow" blows so much Santana, Counting potential in your face, you know you've Crows got to have the album—only when you bum a copy, it's nothing more than a The U.S. debut of this Aussie trio is copy. sure to please fans of singer/songwrit- Grade: C+ ers and might even tug at the ears of —David Graver blues guitar lovers.The melodic sim- plicity of tracks like "Sometimes" and NORMAJEAN the title track "Sunrise Over Sea" O'God the soothe, while jam-style guitar solos on Aftermath "Betterman" and"Company Sin" |O|MAJ|ft| , (Tooth & Nail) harken to guitar master Carlos Santana. r Sounds like: The Overall, the album is infused with a Dillinger Escape I Kasabian The Massacre classic blues rock sensibility with spic- Plan, Unearth \(RCA) si(Aftermath) ing added from Aussie tribal rhythms Sounds like: The (think reggae a la UB40 and Bob Norma Jean's chaotic metalcore sound Music, The Stone Marley). All in all, the release pro- on "O'God, The Aftermath" is relent- Roses, Bloc Party vides solid background music toe-tap- KAbABIAN less and brutal. Vocalist Cory Brandan 1 pers, but as is the case with so many lets his vicious screams reside among Kasabian is a mashing of words, There's no other song on "The jam bands, the show is always better the sound of razor-sharp guitars, only instruments, and fundamentally, Massacre" that can top the irresistible live. occasionally switching over to clean sounds. Surrealist imagery and a call to catchiness of its hit song, "Candy Grade: B+ vocals. The only downside to the ; action are vocally driven to an urban Shop," but several others come close. —Corjnne lozzio band's frenetic style is that aside from back beat and four piece Brit rock Throughout the album, there's a range THE KILLS I the 10 minute track, "Disconnecktie: of emotion that's evident in moments The Faithful Vampire," each song starts band. Kasabian's US debut is almost a No Wow like the accelerated aggression on to sound more like the previous one as concept album of style. It will make (RCA) "Gatman and Robbin," which features the album progresses. Nevertheless, your body move and give you a lot to Sounds like: The Eminem, and the tranquility of "God the energy that's present here and play with, but on full rotation, some of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Gave Me Style." 50 Cent's rhymes standout tracks such as "Bayonctwork: the later back beats feel like retreads. The White Stripes, can be clever at times, and he delivers a Vultures in Vivid Color" and All together, the album is well pro- PJ Harvey duced and inspired. "L.S.F." i.s a stand- lot of them with a certain amount of "Liarscnic: Creating a Universe of out track, lyrically and musically. charisma that makes it hard not to lis- In their sophomore release, guitarist Discourse" should keep fans of heavy Kasabian, as one band, succeeds where ten. Overall, some of the songs feature Hotel and vocalist VV have produced a music satisfied. Jay-Z and Linkin Park fail. stronger beats than others and although lot of repetition and a little rock, be it Grade: B- Grade: B+ it can start to Bound somewhat tedious lifting other artists' musical style, the —Rafael De Leon —David Graver during its second half, "The Massacre" same bland vocal patterns, lyrical Literary THE OBSERVER March 16,2005 Imogene is filled with joy to her hand and folded four of her fingers raised their eyebrows -at each other in By BETSY WALTERS squinted at Sadness. She was startled to into her palm. "You've been in the city anticipation. But then the car sped up and find him staring intently at her. He Staff Writer " too long." passed them by.,, squeezed bis eyes shut just as hers flew "I like the city." She stretched outrher "Well. It was worth a shot." She wide—open. He began to blush but then Part four of four thumb. dropped her hand down to her side. "So, he heard deep shaking laughter start in "You'd have to. To stay there, I mean. what should we do now?" her belly and spread through her entire Imogene turned the ignition one more You'd have to really love it." Sadness yawned and sat down. "It's body. He opened his eyes and they time, but the engine only gurgled sickly Imogene said nothing. She looked getting late-maybe we should just call it laughed together in the middle of the in response. She leaned her head against down the long stretch of empty road, a night." He balled his sweater up like a field. Sadness felt Imogene move closer the steering wheel. "It's no use. We're without a car in sight. After a long pillow and lay down on the dusty road. to him-jUst an inch, but enough to make going to be stuck at Billy Lou's while she turned back to Sadness. Imogene rolled her eyes. "We're not him catch his breath. Their laughter Barbeque for the rest of our lives." She "What do'you think would have hap- sleeping in the ditch." She pulled on his faded and they lay there quietly, staring turned and looked at Sadness with pened if Joy had that gypsy curse arm and yanked him upright. "Come wide-eyed at the brightest moon either of despair. "And this is no place to raise a placed on her in the city?" on..." She led him by the elbow into the them had ever seen. family." "She'd have fallen to her knees on the wide empty field that stretched alongside Sadness spoke, finally, without look- Sadness rolled his eyes. "Scoot. Let sidewalk instead of in a patch of dirt." the road. "We'll find a nice soft spot ing at Imogene. "We've only been on me try." "But if she lived in the city—an awfiil, somewhere out here. We'll have more our mission for half a day. Can you Imogene reluctantly slid from the dri- noisy, cold and lonely city...if she were luck in the morning." believe that?" ver's seat and let Sadness take her place. surrounded by the gray skies, the cold Sadness followed closely behind her, "Why—because every moment with He coaxed the engine, he twisted the concrete, the clatter of construction one band lightly grasping the back of her me feels like an eternity?" ignition, he sweet-talked the transmis- equipment, the honking horns... would shoulder, as they navigated the darkened Sadness snapped his head over to her, sion, but the pick-up only whined weak- she still love indiscriminately?" field. Imogene squinted, concentrating ready to convince her that no, she was ly. "Well." "Maybe not...or maybe she would on her footsteps in the unsteady near- wonderful, and no, he wouldn't trade any "Well what?" have loved even more. Maybe she would blackness of the country night. "Wow. I moment of this day for anything, that he "I don't think we'll be driving any- have loved so much that she would have don't think I've ever seen this much had never been this close to feeling ha- where tonight, Imogene." exploded." darkness." She quickly glanced up to the But then Imogene playfully slapped "Do you have triple A or something?" "That's always a hazard with love." jeweled night sky. "Or this many stars." his arm and that wide smile spread across "That doesn't come in our benefits "You don't have to tell me that..." "You should get out more often." He her lips. He breathed a deep sigh of package, unfortunately." Sadness looked at her from the corner of tripped on a rock and stumbled sharply relief. They fell into silence again. "Right. Of course not." Imogene his eye and tried to smile nonchalantly. forward. As he caught his balance his "What do you do, Imogene?" sucked in her breath. "So what do we do Imogene looked down quickly and hand slipped from Imogene's shoulder Imogene was quiet for several now? laughed nervously. She peered back up at and caught at her waist. He let it linger moments, her forehead furrowed intent- "Do you still want to keep going?" the road. A pair of headlights loomed in there a moment before she turned her ly. "Well, I guess I complain too much." She nodded. the darkness but quickly passed them by. head slightly and looked at him over Sadness smiled but he didn't contra- "Then I hope you're wearing sturdy Imogene sighed and turned to her shoulder. He couldn't see her dict her. "No, I mean for a living." shoes." Sadness. "This is getting us nowhere. expression in the darkness, but he "You don't know already? I thought ' * *• • Maybe you should show a little leg." quickly let his hand drop. She gazed at you had all-knowing powers." Imogene stood by the side of the road, "Okay." Sadness rolled up the legs of him a. moment longer and he stuffed his He shrugged. "Whatever you do, you one arm^raised open-palmed in the air, his baggy trousers. hands into his pockets. must really like doing it. Or else you're the other arm angled on her hip, A dark blue sedan emerged out of the They started walking again. Sadness right—I would know all about it." Sadness shook his head and tried not darkness. Sadness thrust out his p'ale, would have given anything to know She looked at him sideways. "I play to smile. "You can't hitchhike like you're bony leg as Imogene held out her thumb. what she was thinking, but they only the accordion." hailing a cab, Imogene." He reached up The car slowed as it drew near them; they forged their way wordlessly through the "You do not." empty field. "Really. I do-someone has to. And I do Crickets chirped somewhere deep in really love it." She folded her arms Untitled the surrounding woods, breaking through beneath her head and looked up at the By JENNIFER MAMMANA the stony weight of their silence. canopy of stars. "So why isn't that Sports Editor Imogene was the first to speak. "Can I enough? ask you something?" "What do you mean?" •I can't seem to get this printer out of my head. -' , ; Sadness drew up more closely behind "Well, that's something in my life that Whenever I dream of you I tell you how great it is. -,,••) her. "Sure." I love, and there are a lot of people that I never got to show you what it could do and I don't know why I :;, • "You don't just live in the city, do I've loved—so that should be enough, can't let it go. • . you? I grew up out in the suburbs—I right?" I guess I just remember that when we bought it, it was the last day we , know you show your face around there Sadness shrugged and said nothing. went out together. just as much as you do in New York. If Imogene thought his silence was a After that, you were too sick. not more..." challenge. "Well, I thought I'd loved a lot I remember you carrying the printer box and bringing it to the car. "Well, I live in a lot of places. I'm of people, but I'm not even sure any- , I had seen you lift refrigerators and mattresses over one shoulder with kind of like Santa Claus—I can be every- more. I'm beginning to think that loving ease. where at once." was just another, hobby of mine for all I've seen you break concrete with nothing more than a garden shovel. "Santa Claus? Not God?" these years-like skeet-shooting or fly- But the_day you brought the printer it was so heavy for you. Sadness looked around worriedly. fishing. I know you saw the pain in my eyes, but you tried to smile anyway. "Shhh, Imogene. I'm trying not to be "I love fly-fishing; that much I do You pretended it wasn't heavy, but I knew you were in pain. political here." know." You told me everything was going to be ok. "What, you don't want the big guy "And I know that I don't want to You said that you were going to fight the illness. to think you've become too big for depend on love, but I don't want a life I didn't believe you and you didn't believe yourself. your britches?" without it, you know?" I saw the cancer take over. You felt it killing you. "I just want to stay on his good side. I Sadness closed his eyes.. "Not really." You couldn't leave the house, you couldn't leave your bed, you •' think I may be up for a promotion some- He opened one eye again and peered at couldn't stay in my life any longer. time soon." Imogene. "Do you really think loving Your eyes got so big, the thinner you became. "Really?" can't make you happy?" You tried to take in all the life you could, but then your eyes "I don't know. Maybe." "That's what everyone has told me darkened. Imogene stopped walking; they stood lately—I've paid people very well to tell I held your hand, but you couldn't feel mine. in a small clearing before a gently rush- me that. And you saw what happened to I spoke to. you, but you were drifting farther and farther away from me. ing stream that streaked across the mid- Joy." I listened to you breathe. dle of the field. A dozen blocks of wood "But you've lived a life for yourself... I waited. were arranged in a sloping circle around you've lived a life unfettered by sleek And then you were gone. the remnants of a bonfire. "This must desks or long tubes filled with strawber- Now, I hope to dream of you every night, just so I can see you again. have been a campsite—let's sleep here." ry yogurt. Just trust that." I try to hear your voice, and in my dreams, you speak to me. "Okay." "And what about you? Why can't In my dreams I know you are dying, and I know you have to leave. The night air was soft and warm. you just- trust yourself?" She looked You always tell me not to worry. You say that you won't leave me Sadness and Imogene lay together in the over at him out of the corner of her eye. .:.- again. trampled grass, his scratchy sweater "If you want to love, Sadness, go ahead You ask me how my day was, and I always tell you that my printer works stretched across them. At first they both and love." great. pretended to sleep, their eyes squeezed "It's complicated, Imogene... This job .1 don't know why I always tell you that. tightly closed. After a few minutes I have,.." Imogene opened her eyes slightly and see IMOGENE, page 21 March 16, 2005 THE OBSERVER Literarv 21 Sunday in The Observer Office: la fiartie Trois By ENRIQUE OLLERO Literary Editor, LINDSEY CROSS Copy Editor, CORINNE IQZZIO Editor in Chief, HEATHER LIEBLING Ass. Op. Ed. Such a long day. So long. It started with breakfast cake—butter cake. Speak for me, laugh for me, cry for me, die for butter cake—moist. FRO sting. Apologies for statements weak- en the argument so don't do it, but I need more cake now. Sifting through the piles of pictures, stills of life, of. existence boxed in and held captive for the wandering eye. Unsavory smorgasborg delving into the source of error—why can't it all be easy? Improper uses of semicolons break m e as I fall to p several times I have thought about the ie things I don't know and why the words must ce come out so loudly and not stay s within the confines of my own head. You smell wrong. Now the future summons. Why did you take out my box? Give me the run around Puppy chow waits on a table for me and the rest, covered by the shiny barrier of foil which begs me to play with it. My hair is not like that anymore. Do you like the way I look? It looks? It used to look? It has only been three hours and yet I can feel every moment etched into the fabric of my pizza. Sorry Faetra, I didn't think we'd run out of space, but thank you very much. IMOGENE diamond-studded blackness above her in particular. But Sadness himself was stood that he was hopeless, absolutely head and watched the sky until morn- nowjiere to be found. hopeless... he was more of a lost cause, FROM PAGE 20 ing. Finally, just as the sun began to She walked to the last phone in the even, than she was. ' creep up over the hillside, she closed bank and slumped against its scratched She brought the receiver back to her her eyes and slept. acrylic wall. She looked at the change in mouth. "If Wylie calls you asking after "Well, I know depending on love for * * * her hand, a quarter and a dime, and me, tell him I've left him for real this your happiness will inevitably make She woke up late in the morning and rolled them around in her palm. She did- time. And if you see my mother, tell her you unhappy... I do believe that. But he was gone. She sat upright in the mid- n't know whether to call Wylie or Dr. I'll be back soon." She hung up before maybe it does have something, some- dle of the empty fiekfand she looked for Singer, she didn't decide until her fin- he could respond. On the other end of how to do with happiness." She looked Sadness everywhere. She stood and gers were hovering over the buttons and the line, Emmett Singer shook his head. sideways at Sadness. spun in a wide circle. She ran across to the receiver was in her hand. He flipped through his appointment "Maybe." And maybe that's the the border of woods and yelled for him. She took a deep breath and dialed. book for the week and crossed out problem, he thought to himself. "Not She looked across the stream for some Marta answered on the second ring. Imogene's name in four different that I'm the guy to ask." sign, any sign, of his gently slouching "Marta. It's Imogene. Put me through places. Imogene rolled over and propped frame. She sprinted back to the campsite to the doctor—it's an emergency." Imogene began to walk back to the herself up on her elbow. Her sweater along the opposite side of the field, The line clicked once, then silence, road, her veteran thumb already expert- slipped dangerously down her shoulder. searching wildly and calling his name. then Dr. Singer grunting roughly into the ly extended. But just as she reached the "I used to hate love, though. I didn't She stopped in the middle of the clear- phone. "Yes?" dusty red roadside, she noticed a glim- believe in it, not one bit....I realized I ing, earnestly seeking some sign "I've been abandoned." mer of cherry paint shining through the had a heart made of bone china and I of...what? A struggle? Well, he wouldn't "Imogene? Where are you?" bushes by the border of the woods. made sure to put up a solid-steel ribcage have just left her like this, would he? She peered around at the nearly There was Sadness' pick-up truck, brave around it. And I was sure I could live a She caught sight of a scrap of paper, deserted gas station. "I don't know- and gleaming in the late-morning sun. lifetime like that. Just me and my balled up and half buried in a patch of Disney World. New Jersey. It doesn't She walked slowly up to it. He must fiercely protected heart." dirt. She picked it up and held it up to matter." have fixed it somehow; they were sever- "What made you change your mind?" the light. Neatly printed in bright green He spoke in one long sigh; she imag- al miles from the parking lot where "How do you know I've changed my crayon, Sadness had left directions to ined him sitting at his desk and playing they'd left it last night. She slid into the mind?" the nearest gas station. Beneath that computer solitaire as he spoke. "Well, driver's seat and found the keys already Sadness studied her profile intently he'd written that she'd find a payphdne Imogene, this seems like a textbook case in the ignition. and said nothing. there but that she wouldn't find him. of avoidance." A napkin from the gas station was She turned her head to Sadness and And that was best for both of them, he'd "Don't you dare call me textbook." taped to the steering wheel. She peeled looked at him—his wide-open face, added in parentheses. Taped to the back "Avoidance, Imogene. Wherever it off and stepped back onto the road so those leaning-down eyes, that twin of the piece of paper was 35 cents worth you've gone off to, you had us all a little she could read it in the bright daylight. shock of savage eyebrows... of change. Imogene crumpled the note concerned. I know you think you're on The note was written in the same bright "Sometimes what you think keeps you and stuffed it into her jacket pocket. She some meaningful journey, but all you're green crayon, dotted with small wrin- from getting used only ends up using started running and she didn't stop until doing is running from your problems." kled patches .which must have been wet you." she'd reached the run-down gas station "I had a noble goal. And I had a but now had dried. She looked at it Sadness stared at her a moment at the edge of town. brave companion—I had a companion numbly, then read it out loud, over and longer, then turned his head away. Sure enough, a bank of busted pay- of mythic proportions, doc. But now over. "Why are you here with me, phones stood guard about ten yards he's gone." "Imogene, you'll never know. S._" Sadness?" from the road. She looked around for "What do you really think you're She leaned through the window "We're looking for Happiness, Sadness, despite what he'd written on doing out there? What did you really and carefully taped the napkin back remember?" the note. Signs of his work were every- think you'd find?" to the wheel. Imogene turned away from him. where-in the peeling paint on the "I was on a quest, doc," . , ... She looked up at the sky for the first "Why are you really here?" warped boards of the gas station walls, "You've only been gone for a day." time all morning. It was a glittering Sadness was quiet for a long time. in the drooping eyes of the old dog tied She held the receiver two inches from seashell day, even this far inland. The Imogene looked over at him; his eyes to the handle of the screen door, in the her face. She stared at it as though she sky looked so bright and truthful, she were closed and his breath had grown face of the young clerk who sat at the had no idea how it had found its way could have cried. But maybe, for once, deep and even. She looked up at the edge of the porch and stored at npthing into her hand. She stared at it and under- she wouldn't. • Sports22 THE OBSERVER March 16, 2005 Fordham's nautical club set sail for new season this spring By JENNIE NAU Staff Writer FCRH—The mariners of the Fordham sailing team began their spring sea°son on March 12 and 13 by participating in two a of the 11 regattas scheduled for the spring season. The team's fall season culminated with a fourth place finish at the Timme Angsten Regatta, the Midwestern College Championship, held at the Chicago Yacht Club on Lake Michigan over Thanksgiving break. "The Sailing team had a very good fall season," said head coach Joe Sullivan. "At the end of the season, Fordham was ranked 13th for 2005 in our 38 team Middle Atlantic confer- ence." Swift seamen set sail this spring season seeking some sensation- Fordham's sailing team finished off the fall season in 13th place al seas. ou* °f 38 teams in the Middle Atlantic conference. This spring, the mariners hope to conclude their season with a "One of our most important peting in several other regattas trip to the American Trophy fiers will be held at Sullivan also believes that leaders, Katie Murphy, who including the Greater New York Conference Championships on Hobart/William Smith and New the American Trophy is going was nominated for All- Area Dinghy Championships, April 30-May 1 at the United York Maritime in April. to be the team's most difficult American Crew Honors in which Fordham hosts. States Naval Academy in Qualifying for the event is one regatta. "Our finish at this Dec, is studying abroad this Fordham is the defending Annapolis, Maryland. of Sullivan's goals for the event plus our finish at the fall spring" said Sullivan. "She has champion; however, Kings Fordham, part of the Middle spring season. championships will determine been the most dedicated and Point, New York Maritime, and Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing "Goals for the spring season our conference ranking for hardest working sailor, whose Columbia are expected to be Association, must qualify to get include improving the skill 2005. Thus, it is a very com- leadership has been an inspira- very strong competitors. The to the championship. The dis- level of all our sailors, particu- petitive event." Leading the tion to her teammates and her Rams co-ed teams are also com- trict, one of seven, is comprised larly our [freshman and sopho- team on their quest will be coaches. We are looking for- peting at Christopher Newport of 42 schools, which extend mores], qualifying for the skipper Nate Powell* FCRH ward to having her back next University, Ocean County from Canada to Virginia. Of the American Trophy, our confer- '06 and Anne-Marie Martin, fall, when she will be teamed College, Maryland, and 42 teams competing, the Rams ence championship and-hope- FCRH '08, who is taking the up again with her skipper, cur- Maryland-Baltimore County. must finish in the top 18 to fully finishing among the top 10 place of Katie Murphy* FCRH rent junior Nate Powell." • The women's team will com- qualify for the season's final schools at that event," said '06, who is studying abroad On their way to the champi- pete at Georgetown and regatta. The two spring quail- Sullivan. this semester. onship, the Rams will be com- Washington College. • H BSERVER THE 2005-2006 EDITORIAL BOARD HAS THE FOLLOWING POSITIONS OPEN: BUSINESS MANAGER NEWS EDITOR FEATURES EDITOR OPINIONS EDITOR ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR SPORTS EDITOR LITERARY EDITOR COPY EDITOR ASSISTANT EDITOR POSITIONS ALSO AVAILABLE '•> -.'• •" . Applications will be accepted until April 15. PICK UP AN APPLICATION IN THE OFFICE OF STUDENT ACTIVITIES (LL408) TODAY! March 16.3005 THE OBSERVER Snorts Softball heads south to kick off 2005 season By JOSEPHINE KEO ing their way up to attend future '08, received the Atlantic 10 Staff Writer tournaments. Rookie of the Week. Right now, the team is As much as Orchard congrat- ROSE HILL—Tipping off preparing for their upcoming ulates the girls for their awards the season down south, Ram's scheduled games. In the last she also admits to having high soflball is all heated up to take two weeks, Fordham's invita- expectations for them as well. on the Atlantic-10 competition tional tournaments were can- "It's awesome. Sara picked up > this year. celled, as well as the games at from last year [when she won Focusing on strengthening Central Connecticut State last year's Rookie of the Year], the team by working on pitch- ^University. Katie's the same. She is one of ing, hitting and offense, head With each game, Orchard the best hitters on our team. It's coach Bridget Orchard hopes wants her girls to gain more great." for more successful wins and momentum so they can head off For the Rams Softball team to leading more tournament to the Atlantic 10 Conference earn these awards proves their games. games. The coach hopes the performances are efficient and "We're looking forward to outcomes are exciting and that progressive to their competi- the season," said Orchard, who the team plays well. "All the tors. If the girls continue to believes that practice with the ' games are learning experiences work oh their run production softball team is strong and the .... We're hoping to get more and offense, Orchard believes women are ready to better their wins during our tournaments." that will help* them shut oppo- game. "We're doing well. We So far, the sportsmanship of nents down and gain more recently beat Carolina. Their three players in Orchard's soft- game wins for the team in the record has been 18-2, so to win ball team has made her proud future. • that game was good." by receiving awards for their As for the upcoming season, performance. Katie Davis, Rq^fiadthr rs Orchard says, "We're young; FCRH '06, received the Hamed]iothe we have a big freshman lineup, Atlantic 10 Softball player of All-Tournament Team: and they are working hard." the Week; pitcher Sara Kinney, Sara Kinney, With an overall record of 4-6-0, FCRH '07, received . the totaling 10 games thus far, Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week; Krystle Henry, and Allison Twarowski. Pitcher Sara Kinney's impressive arm earned her the Atlantic-10 Orchard and the team are work- and Allison Twarowski, FCRH Pitcher of the Week. SPOTLIGHT ON: Awards:.- /.'•"•<' •. .'' • •'-•• What's your most memo- A-10 Rookie of the Year: rable/proudest moment in Bryant Dunston 2004-2005. your career? A-10 Rookie of the Week . The ABCD camp because that RAMS: 2004-2005 men's (6 times - making it a Fordham .week really helped me build Record) my confidence. basketball scores big 2004-2005 FROM BACK PAGE Gym sell over 30,000 tickets When you're not playing this year. How long have you been basketball what are yon games in their path. In spite of an early exit in playing basketball? doing? Fordham won four games in this year's Atlantic 10 I started when I was in the Computer, sleeping, or playing Jan., all against conference Tournament, the Rams made fourth grade. the latest NBA Live game. opponents. The team began to it further than they ever had. mesh by playing hard-nose They won their first Atlantic Who has been your inspira- Where do you see yourself defense and continuity on the 10 Tournament game, with a tion? after college? • j ' , offensive side. 63-52 victory over Duquesne I've had many, but I believe Somewhere making *& lot of The old adage of there's no on March 9, 2005. With a core that Bryant Dunston Sr. [his money. Where that place is place like home sure applied to of young, dynamic players, father] has been the most con- depends on how my next few this Rams team, as they won 10 the future of Fordham men's sistent one. years turn out. of 14 games at Rose Hill this basketball looks very promis- season. The emergence of this ing and worth a trip to the Who's your favorite player? What's your favorite basket- Rams team helped Rose Hill Bronx. • Kevin Garnett. ball movie? "Above the Rim." What's your favorite part about playing basketball? If you could play for NBA The competition and the team, which would it be? RAM RUMBLES amount of intelligence it takes Miami Heat. Baseball to be so successful. 3/25-vsLaSalleA-10 Pick one: Yankees or Red ' 3/26-vsLaSalle A-10 Vitals: What's the worst part about Sox: 3/29 - vs Stony Brook Birthday: May 28, 1986 playing? Without a doubt Yankees. .l;, • 3/30 - vs Manhattan College Hometown: Queens, NY You have less of a social life. 4/2 - vs Duquesne DH A-10 #42 4/3 - vs Duquesne A-10 Softball 3/25-vsLaSalleDH A-10 MADNESS: 2005 NCAA Tournament 3/26-vs St. Joe's DH A-10 3/30 - vs Marist DH FROM BACK PAGE 4/2-vsU-MassDH A-10 dark horse in this tourna- a trend?), a case could be root for. 4/5 - vs Columbia DH ment, but a legitimate con- made that the Yellow Jackets So of these aforementioned tender nonetheless. They are on the bubble. But when teams, which is going to Men's Tennis may not have the kid named they do get their birth, look reach college-hoop-heaven? 3/18-vsFairfield Carmelo who led them to for last year's runners-up to I haven't the slightest clue. 3/19-vs St. Joe's their last title, but they do begin the tourney both angry Hell, it may not even be one 4/1 - vs LaSalle have one of the best and most and hungry. They waited a of those teams. But alas! We 4/2 - vs Rhode Island versatile big men in the coun- long time to get B.J. Elder et have arrived at the reason 4/3 - vs Holy Cross try, Hakim Warrick. Oh al healthy this year; now they why this tournament repre- 4/6 - vs NYU yeah, and Gerry McNamara just need to regain that sents the annual best three drained six treys in the first champ ions hip-chemistry weeks in American sports. Women's Tennis half of their National from a year ago. Plus there's My suggestion? Get some All - vs Rhode Island c a r-; r m n m r-j c m Championship game two always a seventh to tenth- buddies together, fill out a 4/3 - vs Providence years ago. He was also a seeded team hanging around bracket, throw ten bucks (or 4/6 - vs U-Mass freshman. Explosive? as the tournament progress- marbles) a piece, and then let Georgia Tech: An even es. These guys seem like a the beer and basketball han- darker horse (starting to see pretty decent Cinderella to dle the rest. • Rams grabbed season by the horns March, you may start your madness By JOEL PEREZ One thing about March Madness is . Assistant Sports Editor that there are no flukes. Not when you RIDIN'THE PINE have to win six grueling, do-or-die bas- March Madness Not since the 1993-94 season, has ketball games to reach the college hoops- Fordham inherited a .500 conference promised land. So indeed saved the best for last this year, record, back when the Rams played bas- who's got what it watch out. ketball in the Patriot League. Eleven takes^ Is your squad Kansas: The Jayhawks have hovered years later, the Rams didn't win the con- the real deal, or just on the national radar all season, but they ference, but they played fundamental frontin'? Last Sunday got upset a few too many times (Iowa basketball all year long. In his second 65 teams were invited State, Missouri) for the national media to season at Fordham, Coach Dereck to "The Dance", but in give them their due respect. Lest we for- Wbittenburg guided the Rams to an 8-8 reality only a handful get that Keith Langford and Wayne conference record, and a fourth place fin- have a shot at cutting Simien have each played in three Elite ish in the Atlantic 10 East. MATT down the nets in St. Eights and two Final Fours. Another Last season was horrendous for Ram CHAPRALES Louis. Let's take a look undisputable fact of March Madness: if fans, as they saw their team struggle at a few of those teams: you've been there, it's that much easier to through a long season. Fordham finished North Carolina: The Tar Heels' get back. with a 6-22 record, with three conference national championship hopes rest on the Illinois: Believe it or not, but getting wins. The loss didn't come easy to coach health of guard, Rashad McCants. He shocked against Ohio State was the best Marcus Stout earned a career high 31- Whittenburg, who in 2003 led Wagner to has been bothered by a parasite problem thing that could have happened to the points in the Ram's first A-10 tourna- the NCAA Tournament. It was clear to off and on for the last three weeks, and ment win since enterting the conference Fighting Illini. This team is special, but Whittenburg that winning would be easi- his play has reflected this malady. If he 10-yrs ago. there is no greater burden than carrying er said than done. is able to perform at a high level through- an unblemished record into the trenches The 2004-05 team doubled their win season. Stout will be recognized for the out the tournament, there is no team in of the tourney. Now that the -whole total from last year, capturing victories game-winning shot he made against the country that can stop Carolina. With "refuse to lose" fantasy has ended, over Atlantic 10 giants Xavier and Rhode Island, which led to the 56-54 McCants' backcourt mate Raymond Illinois should be able to regroup and Temple. The monumental win over Fordham victory. Felton running the show, and the "beast make a run at the national championship. Temple ended a 20-game losing streak Early on in the season, the Rams of the year" in the ACC (more common- Arizona: Talk about lack of notoriety. that dated back to 1981. struggled defensively, allowing oppo- ly known as Sean May) piling up boards The Wildcats were bounced early in last The success this season came in large nents to score over 60 in the first seven down low, the Heels have the ultimate year's tournament and have still yet to part to the freshmen class. Bryant games of the season. Fordham concluded inside-outside combo. rebound on the national scene. However, Dunston led the Rams in scoring this sea- the 2004 year at 4-6, coming off a two- Wake Forest: One indisputable fact they have slowly taken care of business son at 14.7 points per game. Dunston's game stop in Florida. about March Madness', superior guard out west this season, and sVioald be career-high 34 points came on-the same The new year began in Bowling play can take over and ultimately domi- primed for another championship push. day he grabbed 18 rebounds en route to a Green, where the Rams hooked up with nate the tournament. There is no team in And hasn't it been like four years since Fordham victory. The Rams have also lit Western Kentucky of the Sun Belt the land with a better backcourt tandem Lute Olsen last coached in the Final up the Scoreboard this season, winning Conference. The team returned east los- than Wake. Chris Paul is a first team Ail- Four? Is that allowed? . seven games by more than 10 points. ing three of four, with the Atlantic 10 American with a knack for hitting buzzer Syracuse: The Orangemen are a Marcus Stout, FCRH '08, is second in beaters. And Justin Gray can light up the scoring, averaging 13.4 per game this see RAMS, 23 court from outside. If these two have see MADNESS, page 23 MARCH MADNESS HITS THE A-10: MEN'S FINAL STANDINGS Compiled by JENNIFER MAMMANA Record.,. W L Pot 14 2 .875 11 5 .688 W-WIWWI Best ofSeason... Beat ofSe«tsott«. The Hawks clinch the first place spor in the east- GWums its first A'io Tournament Htle in em division and earn their gthA-tQ title, after entire history. The Colonials take the victory beating QW?i-s6/ T&67over St. Joe's, Record.** Record.** w L Pet. W L Pol 10 6 .625 11 5 688 Best of Season... Best of Season,., Temple's defeat against LaSaUej$-67,m 3/5 1 Muskuteerscrush LaSaile 83-74cm3/10 with alls earns the Owls it* first Big 5 crown since Hue starting players scoring double figures, advancing 99/00 season and its 23rddty fffte overall. Xavier to the A-io semifinals. Record... Record... W L P«t w L P«t 9 7 .563 10 6 .625 Best of Season.,, Best of Season... Down to a second left in overtime, U-Mass inter- I The Myers are first to break the abnastperfett cepts a pass by GIVand steals Hie shot, beating record of the no. l team, taking down the Hawks the Colonials 76-74 on 1/1$. 58-54.011.1/19. th Record... Rams Htnw first A-so ith Record... 4 W L Pot Towiiamwtt 1VHV piwf W L Pet. 8 8 .500 8 8 .500 Best of Season,.. Best of Season... Tfte Rams break a so-game losing streak to I Richmond's $th straight conference win gives Temple, dominating the court with a $4-47 victory the Spiders the 1st place title in the Western divi- over the Owls, sion after a win over Dayton on s/s, 6i"5B> rth Record... Record*.* W L Pot. W L Pot 5 11 .313 4 12 .250 Best of Season.*. Best of Season*.. Vukcshave their first win over LaSatle since On 2/26, Rl dominates the Hawks, giving St, 1979 leading the entire game for all but 45 Joe's their second and tastqpnference lossfar the seconds. entire season Record.** Record*** W L Pot W L Pot. 1 15 ,063 5 11 .313 Best of Season.., Best of Season.*, Explorers prove to be troopers after beating Tlie honnies have their first and only conference tf-Mass in overtime, 70-64 on 3/g despite losing victory of the season agaisnt M an S/i2,yO-64, their (ending player to an eye swollen shut.