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Sports

Football starts with two wins for first time since 2008

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

After two consecutive seasons in which the Bison football team notched one victory apiece, the first big goal for the 2011 squad was reaching the multiple-win mark. Behind an opportune defense and a balanced offensive attack, the Orange and Blue needed only two games to surpass their win total from 2009 and 2010, with a wire-to-wire victory over the Marist Red Foxes, 28-14.

The Bison scored the first two touchdowns of the contest just four minutes apart. On their second series of the game, receiver Victor Walker ’14 hauled in a 26-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brandon Wesley ’14 with three minutes left in the first quarter.

Only one minute into the second period, Wesley found Frank DeNick ’12 from 18 yards out for a touchdown. The Orange and Blue started the drive with a short field thanks to a 42-yard interception return by Bryce Robertson ’12 all the way to the Marist 43-yard line.

“Winning the turnover margin is critical to our success,” head coach Joe Susan said. “It is something we preach and practice. We are learning how to create turnovers. The ball is the program.”

Trailing by two touchdowns, the Red Foxes turned up the pressure on the Bison, finding the end zone once just before halftime and again midway through the third quarter. Despite the comeback, Tyler Smith ’13 ran a touchdown between the two Marist scores to maintain the lead.

“When you jump out to a 14-0 lead, the best teams will methodically put their opponent away,” Susan said. “We had our chances to do this and wound up being up by only six at one point. It creates a totally different dynamic. We have to learn, as a team, that when an opponent is backed up that we must maintain momentum.”

The Bison regained the momentum quickly after the second Marist touchdown with two crucial defensive stops. On the opening drive of the fourth quarter, the Orange and Blue pushed the Red Foxes back six yards, forcing them to punt the ball away.

After regaining possession, Marist fumbled away another scoring opportunity when Robert De La Rosa ’12 stripped the ball and Samuel Oyekoya ’13 recovered it.

The Bison offense capitalized on the Marist turnover, as Jeremiah Young ’13 rushed for eight of his career-high 70 yards for the clinching touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Playing in front of a crowd of over 3000, the Orange and Blue kept their perfect home season alive, extending their record to 2-0 in Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium.

“We want to thank everyone who came out and supported the team this weekend,” Susan said.

Heading into their first road contest of 2011 tomorrow at 6 p.m., the Orange and Blue face Cornell, a team that has not yet played this season. After two straight wins to open the season, the Bison coaching staff isn’t changing anything.

“Our prep for Cornell will be no different than our other games,” Susan said. “It is their first game, so we must deal with the potential of unknowns. But, if we don’t make a big deal of travel, playing on the road is not much of an issue.”

 

Categories
Sports

Women’s soccer continues streak

By Chris McCree

Sports Editor

Coming off their first win of the season last Sunday, the women’s soccer team kept its streak alive with a 1-0 victory over Cornell on the road this past Saturday. In the victory, Chelsey Garkowski ’14 scored her first goal as a Bison and goalkeeper Sandita McDermott ’13 recorded her first career shutout.

Despite being outshot 19-4 in the game, the Bison were able to capitalize on the few chances they got.  Just 23 minutes into the game, Garkowski connected on a beautiful ball into the box from Liz Dwornik ’14, giving the Bison a 1-0 lead.

“The keys to our success in this particular game were being able to finish one of our few scoring chances and keeping the ball out of our own net,” Dwornik said.

McDermott was unstoppable in goal, saving all seven shots that came her way. In her three years as a member of the team, McDermott had never recorded a shutout prior to Saturday’s game.

With the win, the Bison improve to a season record of 2-3, but recognize that they still have work to do.

“We were very excited to keep our winning streak alive, but we do have things we need to work on such as keeping possession throughout the game and creating more scoring chances, “ Dwornik said. “ Our communication on the field needs to get better as well.”

The Bison women were originally scheduled to play Mount St. Mary’s this Wednesday, but the game was cancelled at the last minute. Now, the Bison look ahead to this week’s three-game homestand when they will face St Francis, Marist and Penn State.

“We definitely want to keep going with this winning streak and will continue to work hard and improve each day,” Dwornik said.

After a week of practice, the Bison will begin their homestand tomorrow at noon against St. Francis.

 

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Sports

Men’s soccer falls short in Indiana

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The Bison men’s soccer team fought valiantly this past weekend in the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament in South Bend, Ind., but fell in two tough contests to ranked opponents Notre Dame and Indiana to drop its record to 2-3-0 on the young season.

On Sunday, Sept. 11, the Orange and Blue could not overcome a sluggish start and fell to No. 17 Notre Dame. Despite outshooting the Fighting Irish 15-12, the Bison did not generate any offense until a late goal by Brendan Burgdorf  ’13 in the 87th minute cut the Notre Dame lead to 2-1. Goalie Tommy Caso ’12 was effective in goal allowing two goals until Marc Hartmann ’12 relieved him for the final 17:33, shutting out Notre Dame during that time.

On Sept. 9, the Bison mounted a furious rally from a two-goal second half deficit before succumbing to No. 10 Indiana, 3-2. The Hoosiers controlled play for much of the first half and scored two goals within three minutes, each coming off the foot of Alec Purdie. Despite finding themselves in a deep hole, the Orange and Blue mounted a furious rally, scoring twice within 8:01 in the second half to tie the score at two apiece. The first came from an own goal by Indiana off a corner kick by the Bison’s C.K. Kumah ’13. Burgdorf scored his first goal of the season off a pass from Mayowa Alli ’14 to bring the Bison even. Indiana scored the game winner just seven minutes later on a goal by Eriq Zavaleta.

Even with the two defeats, the Bison showed they can play with elite competition in the nation. Both Alli and Burgdorf were named to the  All-Tournament Team. The Bison next play tonight against St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia, Pa. at 7 p.m.

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Arts & Life Books Review

High expectations for Peter Hoeg’s “The Quiet Girl” falls flat

By Carolyn Williams

Staff Writer

Peter Høeg’s “The Quiet Girl” is billed as a new thriller to match the success of his 1992 novel “Smilla’s Sense of Snow.” However, where Smilla was a high caliber bestseller, “The Quiet Girl” has been met with a very mixed reception in Denmark, and the English translation by Nadia Christensen has failed to accrue the enthusiasm of its predecessor.

“The Quiet Girl” stars middle-aged clown Kasper Krone as a protagonist of sorts, whom Høeg gifts with the ability to hear peoples’ essences, making Kasper able to learn countless useful snippets of personal information and intrinsic qualities immediately upon “hearing” their unique sound. This interesting bit of magic realism aside, Kasper is also world-renowned for his illustrious circus career and simultaneously dealing with his father’s terminal illness, as well as being up to his neck in debt, a womanizer, and wanted in multiple countries for fraud. He also moonlights as a children’s therapist, capitalizing on his innate ability to hear into the souls of others, which apparently comes even more naturally with children. This is how he first meets the quiet girl of the title, a 10-year-old nymphet of whom Humbert Humbert would be proud, named KlaraMaria.

For some reason, KlaraMaria’s essential sound is quieter than anyone else Kasper has ever encountered. So when, after disappearing from his life for some time, KlaraMaria returns to Kasper in some definitely suspicious circumstances, he recognizes her immediately. And when she slips him a note which leads him to believe she has been kidnapped and abused, Kasper jumps quickly into action to rescue this precocious and obviously special child. Lying with terrifying ease and jetting around Copenhagen so quickly readers may well become nauseous, Kasper tries to follow KlaraMaria’s maddeningly faint trail, while also dodging police and members of the enigmatic “Department H,” which he has been warned to leave alone. Trying to connect the dots between KlaraMaria, his ex-lover Stina, some children with very questionable abilities and avoid incarceration, Kasper attempts to piece together this mystery and see how everything can possibly fit together.

One of the issues with “The Quiet Girl” is the convoluted plot and sporadic storytelling style employed by Høeg. Honestly, parts of the novel seem more like James Joyce than a modern thriller. Following the path of the characters is definitely a challenge, and reading it in translation may be a contributing factor. Christensen has clearly taken on a challenge in working with “The Quiet Girl,” but without knowing Danish or having a solid understanding of Copenhagen’s layout, the book loses much of its entertainment value. Considering its lukewarm reception at home, Høeg might have confused more than just his foreign readers. After virtually disappearing from the literary world for 10 years and producing several lesser novels, Høeg still fails to match his achievement in “Smilla’s Sense of Snow.” “The Quiet Girl,” though possibly misunderstood, is ultimately disappointing.

Categories
Opinion

Music pirating is unethical

By Connor Small

Contributing Writer

A hot topic of discussion lately has been whether downloading music illegally is okay or whether it is detrimental to the music industry. According to a study done by the Pew Research Center in 2005, about 36 million Americans admitted to illegally downloading music from the Internet, and with today’s rapidly developing technology, I suspect that figure to be higher in 2011. But who is to blame here: the people who operate the hosting websites, or the users who download the music? While illegally downloading music may be considered socially acceptable by people of our generation, that does not make it right.

The availability of free music on the Internet is impressive, and there are many options at a user’s disposal: YouTube-MP3 converters, torrent websites such as the Pirate Bay, and P2P (peer-to-peer) databases such as FrostWire; the list goes on. Getting music for free is easy, even for someone who isn’t tech savvy. Think about it: if an individual could download all the music they wanted for free in the comfort of their own home, why would they ever buy music again? The illegal downloading of music seems to be commonplace for people of our generation.

As one University student put it, “It’s no big deal because everybody does it.” That does not matter, however, because it affects peoples’ lives. By downloading the new Jay-Z and Kanye West album illegally, you not only reduce the artists’ pay, but also the engineers, producers and a plethora of other individuals lose a piece of the pie as well.

Other people claim to have justified reasons for downloading music illegally.

“While it may be illegal, for the reasons I use it for, I can’t buy it off iTunes. I make beats and sample, so I can’t do that using iTunes because of copyrights,” one student said.

Even with a legitimate and productive use for the music, is it acceptable to steal music from the Internet?

This trend has drastically affected the music industry. Record sales are down, as are sales of concert tickets. So far, the top-selling album of 2011 (as of July 5), Adele’s “21,” has sold only 2,517,000 units. Compare that to just seven years ago when the number-one record of 2004, Usher’s “Confessions,” sold 7,978,594 copies. In 2010, worldwide concert ticket sales dropped over 12 percent from 2009.

To combat this, labels have come down hard on offenders. Lawsuits have been filed for over $150,000 per song, and there seems to be no restrictions as to who they will go after. In fact, the Recording Industry Association of America recently sued a 12 year-old girl for copying music from the Internet. Although these measures are extreme, this is the only defense mechanism labels have against music copying.

As someone who has worked in the music industry and has written and performed my own music, I understand how these sites affect artists. There is less money to spend on signing new artists and promoting and sustaining tours. We all love music, and it is an essential part of our culture. The music industry provides jobs to millions of people, so next time you decide to click on that torrent, think about the repercussions.
Categories
Opinion

Some first-years are not ready for intense college workload

By Elizabeth Bacharach

Contributing Writer

Despite my fear, I approached the first day of classes positively, reiterating to myself words of encouragement. I thought, “I can do this; I got into this school, didn’t I? That must mean I am prepared for the academics.” Ten a.m. came around and it was time to enter my first class: Spanish. It all seemed simple enough: a guiding syllabus, basic class rules (no cell phone, food, etc.) and finally, my first assignment. I proudly took out my planner, ready to be the best student I can be. The 52 minutes passed rather quickly, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I had made it through my first college class.

Returning to my dorm room, I decided to get a head start on my work. However, the only thing I got was a rude awakening. I found myself puzzled by the syllabus; initially a simple assignment guide, this packet of work took on a new life. I was so accustomed to receiving my course work on a daily basis in high school that I did not even know where to begin. I was lost in a sea of assignments, unsure of how to complete them and what their due date actually was. Apparently, I was not as prepared as I thought I was; thanks a lot, high school.

Four years of monotonous studying and preparation, and you would think I would be equipped for the next level of learning. However, college is a whole new world in which I am finding my rudimentary high school practices inconsequential to the actual studying, reading and writing I have to complete. As the first week progressed, I found myself burdened by a night’s reading of 30 pages. That was not my only assignment. Add to that a workbook full of Spanish grammar and conjugations, a “short” story by Chekov, a poem to write and a blog entry about my beliefs. Hours later (the next morning) I slowly climbed into bed, weak from the night’s work.

That night I was painfully alerted that I do not know how to read properly; high school never truly taught me how to actively read, highlight and take proper notes. Not only that, but as my first paper assignment approached, I did not even know where to begin. Without a simple prompt, I was lost as to what to write, how to write it and completely perplexed by the APA format.

This past week I had my first college exam. It was a nightmare, to put it simply. I spent dawn to dusk Sunday in the library, trying to manage all of the information I learned in the past three weeks. I was trapped by the panicking in my head, worrying about the unknown of what college tests constitute. I reread chapters, took even more notes, copied diagrams and memorized parts of the brain like it was my job. I stumbled out of the library feeling like Jello. There was too much information, and none of it was sticking. At that point, it was obvious that high school did not prepare me for the extensive information I was going to receive, nonetheless teach me the importance of processing it.

 Another story is time management. I am finding the only true way to learn to manage my time correctly is by trial and error. The more I get accustomed to my work load, the easier it is to designate certain times in the day for certain assignments. Conversely, this process is just another added weight to my shoulders as I try to manage my time as well as my school work; so much managing, so little understanding. My mind is a mess, and it is all thanks to high school, or rather the lack of preparation that my high school provided.

Despite my inexperience, I have come to a realization that it will all take time. Yes, it would be far easier to be prepared and to be good at time management. But for now, I just have to feel my way around and accept the trial and error learning experience that is to come. Nonetheless, it is official: high school did not prepare me for college work. So four years later, here I am trying to learn how to be a student, while trying to manage good grades.
Categories
Opinion

Unbiased news sources do exist

By Riley Schwengel

Contributing Writer

As a young adult, one thing that is very important to me is independence.  I like to make my own decisions, participate in the activities that I want to take part in, form my own opinions and choose my own path in life. Many my age interpret this independence as freedom from their parents to do whatever they want. Once they come to college, they relish in the fact that their parents no longer hold the sway that they once did in high school. For example, they can drink and party as much as they want. What many students do not realize is that this newfound freedom applies to other aspects of their lives as well, not just their actions. To me, independence means that I can form my own opinions about all areas of my life, especially regarding politics. Although many news sources are biased, I have found alternatives that make it possible to get just the facts so I can make my own judgments.

I have always been interested in forming my own opinions of current events and political concerns without anyone telling me what to think.  Naturally, I first declared myself independent from my parents, forbidding their political leanings from influencing my personal opinions. Enjoying my newfound freedom, I began to look at news sources, ready to consume facts and produce my own thoughts and ideas. However, as time passed, I realized that many trusted “news” sources had no interest in providing unbiased facts. Instead, they only seemed interested in giving their personal opinions on events and political goings-on.  FOX, CBS, NBC, CNN and CNBC all seem to be content with reporting their personal slants on news stories, assuming that we are able and willing to just take their opinions as our own without questioning them. Whatever happened to unbiased news? Whatever happened to the idea that a news company’s responsibility was just to give us the facts? When did the ability to form opinions get taken away from the citizen and given completely to the news corporation? Discouraged from the large news corporations, I tried to find an unbiased news source.

I was able to find a few methods of getting unbiased reports. News wire services are helpful: this is where the large news corporations like FOX and CNN get their facts. Services like AP News send out short reports that include no opinions by writers or reporters, which gives them a way to get facts and a general, unbiased idea of events. Foreign news is also an option in addition to these services, especially the European news companies. These companies are much less biased than their American counterparts and their opinions on a story are usually saved until the end of a report, leaving the bulk of the story to be an exceptional resource. Finally, a superb method of getting unbiased news is to look and compare all the different sources on a particular event. For example, if CNN and FOX both report a news story, look at both reports. While the opinions will differ between the two sources, the facts should be easily identifiable because they should be the only part of the story that remains constant. By following these rules of obtaining news, the average college student can be free to make his or her own opinions and thoughts without the interference of news corporations or parents.

 

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Arts & Life Review Television

Entourage ending is satisfying

By Ryan Costello

Writer

On Sunday we saw Vince and the gang of the popular HBO series “Entourage” fly off into the sunset for the final time. The series finale tied up some loose ends but also created a few new paths for fans to think about, possibly opening the opportunity for a movie.

For those who have never seen “Entourage,” it is a series about the Hollywood life of A-list actor Vince and his entourage: Vince’s manager Eric, Vince’s half-brother Johnny Drama, and C-list actor Turtle, Vince’s driver and entrepreneur.

The guys all grew up together in Queens and are trying to find their way through Hollywood. The other main part of the show centers around Ari Gold, Vince’s agent and friend, and his rise to the top of his industry.  A main theme throughout the entire series is the friendship between the guys: no matter what happens between them, they always have each other’s backs.  The series takes place in Hollywood and is centered around the lifestyle of an A-list actor, so “Entourage” has featured many big stars in cameo roles as themselves.  Among the best appearances were Matt Damon throwing an uproarious temper tantrum and Turtle’s messing with Tom Brady.

The series finale had Vince getting married, Eric getting back together with his ex-fiancée, and Ari also getting back together with his wife who was about to divorce him. Overall, the series finale was a little rushed–everything happened too quickly and too conveniently. This episode lacked any real closure, but that is consistent with what the series has been. It has been mostly about  guys being guys in Hollywood, who that won’t change no matter where they go. The end implies that they are just going to keep on going, doing what they’ve been doing.

The series as a whole has been an inside look at how celebrities live on a day-to-day basis, and the types of problems they deal with. That is what has kept me tuning in to see the show, even in the last few seasons.  I wanted to see how the friendships between the characters change, even as some of the Hollywood elements have died out. After all, the guys seem just like normal guys thrust into the glamour of Hollywood.

While I did not find this episode to be indicative of the entire series, I’m glad the series ended this way. Entourage has been on the decline the past few seasons. I’m still sad to see Vince and the gang fly off into the sunset, but it was about time.

 

Categories
Opinion

With time, healing from 9/11 is possible

By Amanda Ayers

Opinions Editor

After reading Gabriella’s remarks regarding the healing of our nation now a decade after the events of Sept. 11, 2001, I cannot help but respectfully disagree with some of the points she raises.

First, Gabriella talks of the Bush administration’s focus on revenge and how this motivated and justified U.S. intervention in the Middle East. The act of revenge can be defined as “avenging (oneself) by retaliating in kind or degree; Inflicting injury in return for.” U.S. involvement in the Middle East was not simply for the purpose of “getting back at” Muslim extremists. President Bush’s intent was not to give the Middle East a dose of its own medicine just because we could or to first and foremost heal the American people. Rather, the aim was to ensure the future domestic security of our nation from extremists (never implying all Muslims) that espouse  beliefs that are fundamentally in opposition to the United States and the American way of life. I agree with Gabriella’s observation that revenge is cyclical; however, in this case, I do not think that the United States was acting out of revenge. Intervention in the Middle East had a purpose far greater than getting “rid of a bad guy … and his terrorist group.”

When Gabriella spoke of the night when the “hoards of the most patriotic Americans took to the streets in celebration of Osama’s death,” I could not help but smile and vividly recall partaking in those events myself. The merriment for me, however, came not from a sense of finally “getting what we wanted,” but rather from knowing that we as a nation had taken a step forward in combating everything anti-American that Osama bin Ladin stood for. This was exactly the kind of forward movement that, as Gabriella observed, is necessary for a nation to heal from a collective trauma like the Sept. 11 attacks. Yes, we only killed one man, but he was symbolic of something larger than just himself.

While it would be ignorant of me to suggest that the nation is completely healed from the atrocities that occurred a decade ago, as evidenced by the polemic surrounding the building of the Mosque near Ground Zero, I think that this healing is absolutely possible in the future. What our nation needs is more time. To use Gabriella’s reference to the Christian Crusades, the majority of the population is probably not upset about those simply because they occurred centuries ago. It has nothing to do with the fact that they were carried out by Christians. While I don’t think that it’s necessarily “moral” to associate all Muslims with the extremists that carried out the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, I can sympathize with those who are sensitive to the building of a mosque in such close proximity to Ground Zero.  I don’t think that these people are plagued by “Islamophobia”–they can perfectly well distinguish between an average Islam-practicing American citizen and a fanatic terrorist. The Sept. 11 attacks occurred 10 years ago, which is a relatively small amount of time. The problem is that the terrorists were so overtly and radically Islam that people still, having only had 10 years, automatically associate the beliefs of loyal Islam-practicing American citizens with those of  the far-out terrorists. It’s not that they are being immoral, but rather need more time before they can subconsciously discern between the two. In bringing up this point, I am neither praising nor admonishing their way of thinking; rather, I am saying that it is for this reason that I can understand why they are uncomfortable with the idea of the Mosque.  I do think there will come a day when this will no longer be a reality, made possible by events that move us forward like Osama bin Ladin’s death did. We still need more time, but we’ll get there.

Categories
Opinion

Past decade marked by regression, not healing

By Gabriella Fleming-Shemer

Contributing Writer

With the monumental 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks fast approaching, I was anticipating how this commemoration may look different from those of years past. It’s only the second anniversary since the proposal of a mosque built near Ground Zero and, more importantly, it’s the first anniversary post Osama bin Laden’s death. The events planned for this coming Sunday include the opening of a National 9/11 Memorial in New York City and a Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pa. All around the world, schoolkids will make “peace cranes” and adults will say prayers to those lost. The memorial will feature the largest man-made waterfalls that will drop into two pools, serving as a reflection of where the towers once stood.

Since 2001, Americans have been receiving contradictory messages about how we should be feeling in the wake of the attacks. While former President George Bush emphasized action, revenge and polarization of good (us) versus evil (Muslim extremists), the media has adopted a pathos of peace and healing. But what really is this “healing” we’re all supposedly doing? I don’t believe there’s such a thing when it comes to a nation’s collective trauma. In the first years following the attacks, there was great fervor coming from the White House explaining to Americans that there is a bad guy and that only by getting rid of him and his terrorist group, this country can find peace again. And yet, revenge is cyclical, and doesn’t healing imply forward movement? If anything, these past few years have been marked by regression.

In the middle of the night when hoards of the most patriotic Americans took to the streets in celebration of Osama’s death, the sentiment in the air was “finally, we got what we wanted.” I found the whole event pretty disturbing not only because we were drinking to someone’s murder, but also because of the complete ignorance on most people’s part as to the repercussions. What we missed out on was a good chance to look inward; while one man is dead, a million others are walking the streets of the United States intolerant and Islamophobic. Last May, New York City passed a proposal to build a mosque near Ground Zero that caused a huge controversy bringing up the questions of religious freedom and tolerance. The plan won a 29-1 vote and was moving along until angry Internet activists, bloggers and politicians got wind of it and began the “It’s a Slap in the Face” protest (first stated in a speech by good ol’ Sarah Palin). The anti-mosque protesters rally around a few ideas, focusing mainly on the fact that the building is insensitive. What many people have not bothered to look into or have chosen to ignore is that the mosque isn’t solely a mosque, but a community center that includes a pool, gym, dining area, play area for kids, etc. It is also not at Ground Zero but two blocks away at a complex called Park51 that cannot be seen from the previous site of the World Trade Center.

So what does this say about us as a “healing” people if we cannot tolerate a Muslim center in our midst? It says that we live in a fear-based society poisoned by the demonizing of non-westerners, specifically Arabs. What saddens me the most though is that these Muslim New York citizens who want the complex built are just that, New Yorkers, who were also affected by the Sept. 11 attacks. Since 2001 they have continuously faced fear and discrimination based on their religion. No one is discriminating against the Christians, holding them responsible for the Crusades. Clearly there are a hundred differences between these events but my point is that it is immoral to hold an entire people and their religion responsible for the actions of a few people.

Nevertheless, this Sunday will come and Americans will still be faced with a dilemma: how can we move past this? How can we feel safe again and not haunted by the tragedy that feels so fresh but now is a decade past? I can only hope that relatives of victims and everyone else affected can always find the support they need, whether it be from the words of carefully executed political speeches or a six-year-old’s peace quilt. With enough compassion, I think we’ll get there.