Informer 10.21.10

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sports: overtime thriller for men’’s soccer

Volume 34, Issue 08

The Informer
hartfordinformer.com

October 21, 2010

Vigil Raises Awareness Of Anti-Gay Bullying
By Jeremy Stanley Editor-in-Chief Over 150 students and faculty attended a candlelight vigil on the Village Lawn intended to raise awareness of anti-gay bullying. In recent months, six gay teens took their lives after being bullied. The event comprised guest speakers and performances of popular songs. Kayleigh Ingraham, a graduate of the University of Hartford currently attending graduate school in Central Connecticut was a guest speaker. Ingraham recounted personal stories of being bullied and harassed because of her sexual orientation. In a speech, Ingraham said, ““Bullying is not something that stops after middle school and high school. It continues in college, graduate school, the workplace, on the street and even occurs in people’’s homes.”” Matt Blocker, director of the Center for Community Service, said, ““My heart is lifted in rough times to see there is a strong community here that really cares for one another and that there is a positive direction that we can head in. ““When we come together as a community and show that hatred and bullying isn’’t accepted, it really pulls the community together. And tonight was an example of the community coming together and it was really powerful.”” Of the vigil Ingraham said, ““I couldn’’t be prouder of this group.”” Special events coordinator for Spectrum Alison Ciulla, a senior, organized the event. ““I was so happy to see how many people we got,”” she said. The vigil was part of a nationwide movement to wear purple on Oct. 20 to help raise awareness. Campaigns like ““It Gets Better”” have been involved in lifting anyone affected by bullying. Of the bullying situation although it’’s getting better, Ingraham said, ““It’’s going to have to improve.””

SPENCER ALLAN BROOKS

JEREMY STANLEY

Top: Kayleigh Ingraham (second from left) speaks about bullying. Bottom: students gather on the Village Lawn.

Midnight Mania Fist-Pumps Up New Basketball Season
By Linnea Donnelly Staff Writer Midnight Mania: The Howie Shore marked the beginning of the men and women’’s 20102011 basketball season. With all the red and white that stormed the Chase Arena, it is clear that school spirit is prominent in the Hartford student body. This year’’s Midnight Mania’’s theme was based upon MTV’’s hit series Jersey Shore. University of Hartford made Howie’’s weekend with an attendance of over 2,000 Snookis and Pauly Ds. Upon attendance, students were each given a strand of Mardi Gras beads and a foam st that came in handy when it came time for extreme st-pumping to Howie’’s jams. Fans were welcomed with an intramural free throwing contest that went over quite well. The free throw contests soon escaladed into intense one-on-one games. After a couple of games, the lights dimmed, the music boomed, and the mood intensied. Out paraded the men’’s basketball team. The cheerleaders welcomed them with open pom-poms. The crowd gave them all a warm welcome that consisted of major st-pumping the form of another massive stampede. At the conclusion to their entrance, the girls started moshing to ““Sandstorm.”” The man of the hour, Howie the Hawk himself, emerged with the dance team to show UHa a couple of their moves to song mash-ups of all of what seem to be Howie’’s favorite songs to grove to. The dance team then graces the court sans the guest appearance of Howie the Hawk but put on a fun show all on their own. Then comes the shoot out from both teams. This is the real chance for the players to show off to their skills to their fellow students. Freshman Shoshannah Sietz says ““my favorite part was the dancing.”” Freshmen Anna Berard agrees with Sietz in the events category. Berard says that there should have BEN BOWERS been more events other than free throws ““It got a little old after a while”” she said. Midnight Mania featured games, dancers and of course, Howie the Hawk. The only common complaint across the board was that the PA system in the Chase and making various loud noises throughout But rather they danced on the court in a Arena needed some work. According to many, the crowd. huddle. The girls then began st-pumping the MC was not able to be heard throughout The women’’s team had a different and to club mixes and tossing out glow sticks the gymnasium. With the successful turnout and enthusiasm unique entrance rather than just the standard and necklaces into the stands. It felt as if the running down the aisle of cheerleaders and Hartford Circus Fire incident was going to from the UHa student body, the Hawks are hearing people scream and cheer for you. wreck havoc all over our school’’s event in on their way to a great season.

News

Opinions

Entertainment

Sports

Professors help uncover the secrets of Sobibor, a concentration camp in Poland. Page 2

Find out why one writer thinks that Glenn Beck is irrelevant. Page 7

““Jackass 3D”” breaks box ofce records in opening weekend. Page 8

Find out what to expect when the basketball season opens in November. Pages 14 and 15

page 2

the informer

Famed Performance Troupe To Hold Show, Film Screening
By Sarah Wilson News Editor The famed performance troupe All The King’’s Men will be performing on campus this Saturday, Oct. 23. The performance group features an all female cast of six (one of which is a Hartford alumnus, Maria Kogan) who astonishingly play between ““30 and 50 gender bending characters per performance,”” according to the group’’s website. Together, they produce a hilarious cabaret-style performance that is satiric of pop-culture and gender boundaries. Based out of Boston, the troupe has gained national attention performing everywhere from Los Angeles to London. A few months ago, there was even a documentary completed about the group. For three years, director Kaitlin Meelia worked on her movie titled ““Play in the Gray”” which featured a close look at members of the troupe

news

october 21, 2010

Rave For Alcohol Awareness
By Sarah Wilson News Editor In spirit of Alcohol Awareness Week, the university will be holding a rave in Hawk’’s Nest on Oct. 21. Though seemingly ironic, the rave is aiming to teach students about the risks of drinking in an entertaining environment. Sponsored by C and D Complex, the Center for Community Service, SCA and Connections Health Education and Wellness Center, the event will feature food, beverages and music courtesy of Sigma Nu. The event will be held from 11 p.m. through 1:30 a.m., and will be open only to University of Hartford students free of admission. Throughout the day on Thursday there will also be additional events held with the intention of educating students about alcohol. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. there will be a Drunk Driving Awareness campaign where students can learn rst hand how dangerous drunk driving can really be. Students will be allowed to enter the ““convincer,”” a drunk driving simulator provided by the Connecticut State Police in which students will feel the impact of a car crash.

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Erica Upshaw will be speaking Thursday night about safe partying. Also on Thursday night, the university will host Erica Upshaw of the organization Keep Friendship Alive. At 7:30 p.m. students are invited to the Konover Campus Center to hear Upshaw’’s inspirational story of how she lost her brother to a party drug called GHB, an occurrence which led to her becoming a professional speaker determined to help others party in a safe way. To learn a little more about having fun in a safe manner, come out to one of these events for a little information presented in a unique way.

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Alumnus Maria Kogan will perform with her renowned troupe Saturday, Oct. 23. in order to give an intimate portrayal of ““identity, sexuality, love and performance art.”” The documentary, which debuted at the Atlanta Film Festival this past April, will also be shown prior to the performance on campus. At 8 p.m. on Oct. 22 students, faculty, and the community are invited to the Konover Campus Center for a screening of ““Play in the Gray,”” as well as a rare opportunity to speak with director Kaitlin Meelia and the cast afterwards. The performance by All The King’’s Men will be held Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Konover. Tickets for admission to both the lm screening and the performance are only $7.50, but University of Hartford students will have free admission.

University Professors Uncover Concentration Camp
By Sarah Wilson News Editor Two professors here at the university are currently undergoing incredible work to uncover the story behind Sobibor, a concentration camp in Poland that was burned and covered by the Nazis. Richard Freund and Avi Patt, both afliated with the Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies, along with a team of several others, have been working on an ongoing project to excavate Sobibor, a concentration camp in Poland that the Nazis buried to hide evidence of a revolt. As the details of that revolt have never been uncovered, now, almost 70 years later, it is increasingly important to nd the truth. ““With each passing day Holocaust survivors are dying off and the question is how will we document in the future this tragic event when there are no more living witnesses?”” said Freund. Freund is the archaeologist for the project, and has been using a special method of excavations to uncover the camp. He, along with the help of WorleyParsons company, (the company that aided in the BP oil spill clean up), have been working on this project for over a decade. ““Instead of spending years dig-

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Left: Richard Freund of the Greenberg Center has been the archaeologist in uncovering a lost concentration camp in Poland. Right: A memorial at the site of Sobibor, the concentration camp that had been buried and hidden by the Nazis. ging with no direction, we can map the subsurface to determine where to dig,”” said Freund in a recent article in Reader’’s Digest. He explained that Nazis often destroyed concentration camps so they wouldn’’t be discovered by allies. In the case of Sobibor, it was burned, buried and a forest was even planted over the surface. Using invasive technology, such as ground penetrating radar, Electrical Resistivity Tomography and Magnetometry, Freund and his teammates were able to ““map the subsurface of a camp and in a noninvasive way provide evidence of what happened there while preserving the dignity of the dead.”” Patt, who is acting as the historian for the project, has an even greater connection to the camp as he told Reader’’s Digest that ““This was the site, in fact, where my greatgrandparents on my mother’’s side had been deported from Vienna in the spring of 1942 to meet their deaths.”” Patt and his teammates now have a greater understanding of what happened during the revolt at Sobibor. Patt explained to Reader’’s Digest that most of the prisoners who tried revolting were killed, and after the act Nazis immediately destroyed the camp in fear of a similar revolt taking place elsewhere. Freund added in that ““Ironically, in their attempt to cover up what happened, the Nazis provided archaeologists with the single best evidence of this unspeakable crime——an untouched site.”” Uncovering this piece of history has gained national attention not only for the information that has been found but for the technology that has aided in nding it. PBS has picked up the story and will soon air a documentary on the work and ndings of the project. ““PBS’’ movie will be a testament to how great a small university like the University of Hartford can be,”” said Freund. The professor is scheduled to give a lecture about the work at Faireld University on Nov. 18, where the trailer for the documentary will rst be aired.

informer staff
Jeremy Stanley ‘‘11
Editor-in-Chief

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Managing Editor

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Informer mailing address: The Informer GSU Rm.158 University of Hartford 200 Bloomeld Avenue West Hartford, CT 06117 Business: 860-768-4723 Newsroom: 860-768-5723 Fax: 860-768-4728 E-mail: [email protected] Online: www.hartfordinformer.com The Informer is produced using Adobe InDesign on Apple Macintosh computers. The Informer uses a Nikon digital camera. The paper is printed at Turley Publications in Palmer, Massachusetts.

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the informer

news

october 21, 2010

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the informer

news

october 21, 2010

Shop to Stop Domestic Violence
By Karen Arakelian Staff Writer This coming week, Jeri Polland of the Center for Community Service, will be setting up ““Shop to Stop,”” an event that she created in the spirit of donating to shelters for women who have been abused. The event will be held at Gengras and will be during domestic violence week, Oct. 25 through Oct. 28. There will be a variety of well known stores in the GSU at this time selling their goods to students and faculty. Each vendor cost the stores $75 and all the money will be going directly to charities that aid people struggling with domestic violence. Some of the stores that will be participating include Game Stop, Origins, Pepperidge Farm, Bow Tie Cinemas, Lia Sophia, Thomas Hooker Brewery and Summer Tan. There will be several rafes including one from Lia Sophia, which will be giving away some jewelry, Bow Tie Cinemas who will be giving away free movie tickets, as well as Origins who will have gift baskets of products. In addition, the vendors will all be providing information on their stores as a way of advertising their products to the students. This is denitely an event that everyone will love, even the less shopping-savvy men because Game Spot will be providing free games all day. Also, Kiss 95.7, the radio show that everyone in Connecticut knows and listens to as they get to work or school, will be coming to the university to play music and sponsor the event. Not only is this event going to be exciting, it is an excellent opportunity for the university to raise awareness about violence against women, and is a subject in desperate need of having more light shed on it. CAPS, the Women’’s center, as well as MARS will all be sponsoring the event. Overall, this event is about helping women and ghting the all too common problem of domestic violence. Most of all, this event was created to increase the awareness about this serious topic, and act as inspiration for anyone who is effected by it to speak out and get help. There will be some students who will be collecting donations for the cause. Vanessa Leveille will be collecting donations of baby items for mothers and children who have gone through domestic violence and are in need. There are other charities that the money earned will be sent to, such as Courtney’’s House in Washington, which was created for women who have gone through sex trafcking and local Hartford shelters. This is an important issue in society today, and having this event at our university is a way that we can all part take in raising awareness to these issues and help the movement toward change. Polland, who set up this whole event from top to bottom says that ““this is a world wide problem and by doing this we are getting our community a step forward.”” She set up an event that is enjoyable, but at the heart is about making a charitable contribution.

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Blackout During Halloween Weekend
By Ben Gyurik Staff Writer This upcoming Halloween Weekend, there will be a ““Blackout”” event held by the 21 Club for all students. ““Blackout”” will be a tent held in the Village Lawn, where there will be a light show, and a huge costume party being held. Jeri Polland is a part of 21 Club and has put a lot of effort in getting the event together. The event is being catered to everyone because it will focus on safety, as no alcohol will be tolerated. The tent will have music and be lighted, and students can even expect to see a laser light show if they attend. ““The event is promotional because we hope we can raise funds for an even bigger event for next semester held by 21 Club, so we are hoping the event will be a success so we can surprise everyone,”” says Polland. The Village Lawn was the only area that was big enough to hold the tent, which will hold and admit 200-250 people. People wearing costumes will receive a discount, paying $1 to get into the event, while people with no costume will have to pay $3. ““We will be selling wristbands, most likely at the Village or at GSU but we will announce when and where we will be selling them prior to the event,”” says Polland. All the funds will be going to the 21 Club Spring 2011 semester event, details of which are still a surprise.““We have an idea of the event for next semester, but I can’’t give the details away,”” says Polland. The Club is leaving the event a surprise, as Polland, who is a senior explains that she wants to leave the 21 club with a big bang. ““I have been working with the 21 Club for a while now, and I think even though this is promotional it will be huge, the tent is so massive the Village Lawn is the only place it could t,”” says Polland. Blackout will be available for all students, even commuters, and it is even for students that are under 21, as the 21 Club usually only admits students who meet the age requirement. ““We did a Halloween event last year that was really successful, and I think this is going to be awesome, as people are already starting to get the word out,”” exclaimed Polland. Polland explains that working on Blackout which is a promotional event has been a lot of work, and hopes it will do well because she wants next semester’’s event to be even bigger.

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the informer

news

october 21, 2010

page 5

Increased Internet Cut-Offs House of Nightmares Due To Illegal Downloads Expected To Frighten
By Sarah Wilson News Editor Recently, there has been an increasing number of students who suddenly nd themselves without internet after having illegally downloaded media. The university’’s policy on illegal downloading has not changed, and still states that ““a student’’s privileges to use the technology system or specic computer labs or stations may be suspended,”” if any copyrighted material is downloaded, according to the source. On a rst offense, a student’’s access to the internet will be cut off for a period of two weeks, and on a second, four weeks. Under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, any network can be sued for the illegal actions of anyone on that network. This allows record companies to contact the university when they nd out about violations, which they often do, and order a cease and desist. ““Sometimes we get as many as 40 cease and desist letters in a week,”” said Lee Peters, Vice President of Student affairs. ““This is a signicant increase over previous years; the record, software, and movie companies have gotten much better at catching students,”” said Dave Kelley of the Information Techonologies Department. It is at this time that, in protection of its students and itself, the university’’s IT and Public Safety staff will determine from which computer the illegal activity is being conducted, and notify the user of the suspension of their network connection. ““The University does not want to By Sarah Wilson News Editor If you’’re looking for something a little spookier than a lack of clothing this Halloween weekend, the second annual ““House of Nightmares”” will be held in the basement of D complex. The event, which will be running Oct. 28 through Oct. 31 from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m., will be a creepier version of the already frightening freshman complex basement corridors. Any University of Hartford student is invited to enter the ““House of Nightmares”” to be led through the hallways while being continually startled by daring actors. Think Six Flags’’ ““Trail of Terror,”” but right here at home (and without the $32 ticket). For those intimidated by the thought of unrecognizable classmates jumping out from the shadows of dark corridors, there will also be a soft opening scheduled for Oct. 28 from 7 to 9 p.m. This involves the same decorations and actors as the actual ““House of Nightmares,”” but the lights will be left on, and actors will refrain from any intentional scaring. This is the second year the Resident Assistant staff of C and D complex are putting on the event. Last year there was an extremely successful turnout, drawing between 300 and 400 students. With such a large turnout last year, the continuation of the event seemed almost inevitable. ““It’’s now going to be a C and D Complex RA staff tradition,”” said Andrea Wojcik, D complex RA. ““D complex should be it’’s permanent

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DAN WENCECK

The increased use of lesharing sites such as Limewire have resulted in the disconnection of many students’’ internet. take this action, but has no choice, because as owners and maintainers of the system, if we do not take action with the offending users, then we are considered also responsible for the offense,”” said Peters in a recent email to students. Filesharing programs such as Limewire are nothing new to college students as many have spent the last few years relying on the free access as their primary means of downloading music. But while most ignore the initial part of the phrase ““illegal downloading,”” they often aren’’t aware of the reasons for these implications. There are many other sources for downloading free music out there, but the problem lies not necessarily in the method used to obtain the les, but rather the fact that the material is copyrighted. Sites like dirpy.com and beemp3.com offer the downloading of music through links that are already out there, giving the allusion that their use is legal. But the reality is, it’’s still illegal if the person or network the le is being taken from doesn’’t have permission from the copyright holder. The same principle goes for downloading les from another country with different laws. If the downloader is in the United States, it is still considered illegal. So for all the music hungry downloaders out there, it’’s important to know the repercussions of these actions, and though you might think you’’ve found a way around it, it’’s not necessarily true.

home now.”” Wojcik, along with RA’’s Mason Munn and Gerry Rodenas, have been planning the event since August, and have been spending the past two weeks decking the basement in frightful décor in the hopes of increasing the turnout to an even larger number, with a goal of 500. The House of Nightmares will obviously be held on an extremely party-heavy weekend for most college campuses. For this reason, the Campus Activities Team, Division of Student Affairs, the Ofce of Multicultural Programs and C and D Complex Hall Council, are all sponsoring the event with the intention of providing an alternative to the common underage binge drinking. So for a little frightening fun to start off your Halloween weekend, head over to D complex to check out a haunted house right underneath your feet.

News Briefs From Around The World

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Left: Citizens have been rioting for the past week in France over a plan for pension reform. Center: President Obama will appear on the Daily Show next Wednesday for the rst time since taking ofce. Right: Starbucks ofcially launched its exclusive, content-based network Wednesday.

‘‘Don’’t Ask, Don’’t Obama To Appear On Saudi Prince Arrested Starbucks Launches French Protest PenFor Murder Of Servant Exclusive Network The Daily Show sion Reform Proposal Tell’’ Ban To Be Lifted
Protesters continued to riot in France this week due to opposition of a planned pension reform. Protests took place throughout the country, causing chaos and disruption of gas stations and transits. While cars were set ablaze and some buildings destroyed, unions blockaded gas stations and roads leading to Charles De Gaul airport. Ofcials were able to peacefully remove three of those blockades. This is all in response to a proposed plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, along with other changes, which the Senate will vote on this coming Thursday. The Obama administration is expected to appeal the decision to end the ““Don’’t Ask, Don’’t Tell”” policy. The administration stated that an abrupt change in the policy ““risks causing signicant immediate harm to the military and its efforts to be prepared to implement an orderly repeal of the statute.”” U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips banned enforcement of the law last month, however a motion was led for the Judge to lift that ban. Phillips denied, which means the 9th Circuit could overturn the ruling relatively soon and ““Don’’t ask, Don’’t tell”” could be reinstated. The ““Daily Show”” will be going on the road to Washington in order to host Obama next Wednesday. This will be the rst time Obama has been on the show since taking ofce in 2009. The appearance will take place just three days before Jon Stewart is scheduled to hold his ““Rally to Restore Sanity”” in Washington, and more importantly, the night before the midterm election. It is predicted that campaigning during the last week before the election will be intensive with Obama making appearances across the country. A Saudi Prince was given a maximum sentence Wednesday for the brutal murder of a servant. He was tried in a British court and sentenced to a minimum of 20 years for the killing of Bandar Abdulaziz. The murder, which ofcials say had a sexual element, occurred after the prince beat Abdulaziz who eventually died from swelling of the brain. The prince admitted to killing Abdulaziz, though he claimed he had not intended to do so. The jury ultimately had to decide if he was or was not guilty of manslaughter. Starbucks ofcially launched its own free Wi- network Wednesday in over 6,800 stores nationwide. The coffee company, which used to charge customers to use it’’s Wi, launched the Starbucks Digital Network (SDN) in hopes of building a sense of community between all customers. SDN will be a content-based network revolving around News, Entertainment, Wellness, Business and Careers, My Neighborhood and the customer-personalized Starbucks channel. It will also offer users content exclusive to the Starbucks customer.

Read more about more about theseot e at CNN.comat c co ead o e Find out these, a d other sto es cnn.com. t ese, and stories stories ,

Page 6

Opinions
hartfordinformer.com/opinions/
I recently read an article in Cosmopolitan magazine stating that the divorce rate has been on a steady decline for over 15 years now. This fact took me by surprise, I would’’ve suspected the opposite, considering the amount of media saturated divorces of the rich and famous that have been bombarding us as of late. The most recent celebrity couple on the brink of a separation is Courtney Cox and David Arquette who have managed to beat the odds of divorce for 11 years. And who can forget the massive Tiger Woods incident that was plastered across tabloids and news billboards everywhere a few months ago. Bradford Wilcox, PhD, director of the University of Virginia’’s National Marriage Project told Cosmopolitan ““You often hear that 1 in 2 marriages doesn’’t work out, but the current rate is closer to 43 percent.”” However, this statistic is also working off of the fact that marriage rates are declining as well. Although fewer couples are looking to tie the knot, the ones who do can have a renewed sense of hope that even they can make it through hard times. In a report by CBS news, couples have been nding a new sense of togetherness due to the failing economic conditions of the country. This is a vast contradiction to the attention hogging celebrity couple trend of getting a divorce as soon as times get tough, but with the stresses of everyday living on the rise, the average American couple is looking to keep stability in an otherwise rocky time. During the ‘‘70s and ‘‘80s the negative stigma placed around divorce lessened, which was great for people stuck in unhappy marriages that were beyond xable,

The Informer

October 21, 2010

Recent Study Shows Marriage Isn’’t Doomed
Danielle Huppke •• Managing Editor [email protected] Twitter: @danielle618 but not so ideal for couples that actually did have xable marriage problems, because they were too quick to jump on the divorce bandwagon and then later realized the painful repercussions of a long drawn out divorce. Not too long ago parents were forcing their children to get married at far too young an age and this lead to unsatisfying partnerships. In today’’s society we have the luxury of taking our time and guring out exactly what’’s right for us as individuals. Marriage isn’’t on the forefront of our minds. We’’re more consumed with nding good jobs and earning money, we’’ll worry about marriage when the time comes. This has lead to the decrease of unhappy marriages and the increase of happy couples guring out what the right next step is for them. Another great thing about marriage today as apposed to a few decades ago is that there are so many resources available to help couples get through rough times. So for all those out there who were worried that the tradition of marriage was doomed and that in the future getting married would put you into an outcast group of society, no fear. If you play your cards right, divorce won’’t be in your future. You’’re happily ever after dream can be attainable, as long as you’’re willing to work for it.

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With the rise of computer mediated technologies, tangible books are being pushed to the back of the shelf while Amazon’s Kindle and the Nook are becoming increasingly popular.

E-Readers Spark Death Of Books
If there’’s one thing I’’ve truly enjoyed since my rst brush with the English language, it’’s books. I love meandering through the library and being able to rent whatever my literature-loving heart desires at no cost. I love the bookcases my grandfather built that are lled to the brim with browning pages of ctitious anecdotes. And I love the whiff of must that bellows from the opening of an old book you’’ve just sat down to read again. Needless to say, I’’m avoiding purchasing a Kindle at all costs. But as tech lovers are being swept off their feet by the suave features of e-book readers and iPads, it seems that the digital age we live in is pushing the physical book to the outskirts. In an interview on CNN, One Laptop Per Child founder Nicholas Negroponte stated with an air of certainty that ““the physical book will be gone in ve years.”” Judging by how quickly technology has evolved over the past ve years, it’’s no stretch to say a lot can happen in that amount of time. However, especially in our generation, there is a fair amount of resistance to this upcoming technology. This puts college-aged students in an unusual position. Generation Y grew up simultaneously with the

Sarah Wilson •• News Editor [email protected] Twitter: @swyzleh growth of technology. Cell phones and computers became more complex just as we did. One constant, however, was books. The development of things such as Kindles, Nooks and iPads are really the rst technologies our generation has seen that completely transforms the way we have done things for 20 years. So while Generation X-ers eager to get their hands on the latest and greatest technologies jump on the e-book bandwagon, those of us who are younger wind up somewhere in the middle. In all my fantasies of a future home, a common motif was the desire for walls of built-in bookcases stretching from ceiling to oor, of course lled with books I had read. I don’’t want to discard that vision, but with the inherent death of tangible literature, I don’’t want to be left behind in

O’’Donnell Proves Palin Isn’’t Alone In Ignorance
Jeremy Stanley •• Editor-in-Chief [email protected] Twitter: @JeremyDStanley Coons pointed out to her, the Constitution does say, ““Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”” She asked repeatedly if it was true that the Constitution actually said it, skeptically. And campaign manager Matt Moran ““claried”” that the gaffe wasn’’t a gaffe at all. ““She simply made the point that the phrase appears nowhere in the Constitution,”” he said. Still though, this exchange seems suspicious, considering as Anderson Cooper on his CNN program said Tuesday that O’’Donnell has repeatedly brought up her credentials as someone who studied and will follow the Constitution if elected. To pour salt in the wound, she was also asked about other amendments to which she needed clarication on. I’’ll be honest, I had no idea what was included in the amendments, but at the same time I’’m not a Senate candidate who is running partly on her Constitutional background and promising any law that I vote on will stick to the rights the Constitution provides citizens. If I said I was an expert in Libel law but also said it was okay to print lies about people, you might want to question my leadership. This stunning display of what can really only be described, as incompetency on the campaign trail is hugely reminiscent of the 2008 campaign. Katie Couric’’s interview with the then-Vice Presidential candidate Palin jumps to mind as the moment public opinion started to sway away from John McCain. Many argue that Palin is what in part made the Presidential election more so a formality, as Obama was ahead in the polls in many ways. The same is true for O’’Donnell, according to Nate Silver’’s political blog Five Thirty Eight on NYTimes.com.

technology’’s dust, either. This lands people like me at somewhat of a crossroads. Most of us use all the social media outlets; Twitter, Facebook, even getting news online have become second nature. But by upholding this notion of sticking it to the man and continuing to physically turn the page, we’’re only prolonging the same inevitability older generations faced with cell phones and email; eventually, we may have to give in. So no, I don’’t disagree that books are on their way out. According to mashable.com, sales of e-books are up an astounding 192.9 percent. In contrast, the sale of adult hardcovers experienced a 24.4 percent drop two months ago. I do, however, think it’’s going to take much more than ve years for a total eclipse of the book. Despite the steep decline of hardcovers two months ago, sales increased again by 5.2 percent last month. So for now it seems that there’’s no telling what’’s going to happen with this story until we reach the next chapter, but in the meantime, I’’ll comfortably continue to read my books one page at a time.

It’’s clear 2010 has its Sarah Palin in the form of another Tea Party candidate, Christine O’’Donnell. The only difference is that O’’Donnell doesn’’t threaten to hold one of the most powerful ofces behind the presidency. Most recently she has displayed ignorance of the Constitution while running for Senate in Delaware. At the Widener Law School Tuesday in a debate with Democrat Chris Coons, she asked ““Where in the Constitution is separation of Church and State?”” and what followed was laughter from the audience. In some ways, O’’Donnell is right; the phrase ““separation of Church and State”” does not appear in the Constitution. Point goes to O’’Donnell. But as

In a projection run this week, Coons has a zero percent chance of losing to O’’Donnell through a simulated vote. It’’s unfortunate that a lot of national media attention has been following just this contested race, when one considers that there are so many other races this season and there is nearly no national coverage. Even the senatorial race in Connecticut between Richard Blumenthal and Linda McMahon has seen little more than a blip on the national news radar. The biggest story out of that campaign was the questions about Blumenthal’’s service in the military during Vietnam. There have to be other candidates in other races saying crazier things than O’’Donnell is saying, right?

While the Informer stands by its columnists and supports their right to free speech, please note that the columnists’ opinions are in no way representative of the opinions of the Informer or of the University of Hartford.

the informer

opinions

october 21, 2010

page 7

Why Is Conservative Glenn Beck Still Relevant?

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American conservative radio and television host, Glenn Beck, has built his career around his incendiary rhetoric in order to stir up controversy and gain ratings. By Uri Weiss Special to the Informer I don’’t know how many people listen to, watch, or ingest——in any other way——Glenn Beck’’s commentary, but Beck is about as deserving of attention as Keith Richards is of a donor kidney. Watching Glenn Beck is like watching a messy, messy breakup. Everything is taken personally. There’’s a lot of emotion, a lot of name-calling, the majority of what is said doesn’’t make sense, and there’’s way too much crying. I’’ve watched it a number of times and quite honestly, I thought that it was more mental masturbation than news. Or opinion. Or whatever he claims his program to be. He’’s admitted numerous times that he’’s a showman and a ratingshunter. So why do people still pay him any mind? Not only is he terribly uninformed, he’’s dangerous. Not only does he think that he speaks the Gospel truth, he sells people on emotions rather than facts. Every issue is polarized; the middle ground has disappeared from this man’’s mind completely. You’’re either Mother Theresa or you’’re a baby-killing Nazi. It’’s been said that if you were to play all the slow-mo parts of ““300”” at regular speed, the movie would be a half-hour shorter. Well if you were to take an average Glenn Beck TV spot and remove the Nazi references (Swastikas, propaganda, Berlin Olympics, yellow stars of David…… etc.) I think that you’’d have a few disparate words. Maybe a noun? A verb? He’’s tried linking Social Studies (you know, the kind from grade school?) with Karl Marx. Because in Glenn Beck’’s messed up head (on the inside and out. The man has a massive cranium) we’’re experiencing a third Red Scare! And anything that can be linked to Russia is inherently evil and has absolutely no place in America. And the covers of his books are so damned annoying. Is he aware that the cute and funny face he’’s trying to make in every photo is really just idiotic? This is a man with the nerve and the hubris not only to have a rally on the same day as Martin Luther King’’s March on Washington, but to then explain to King’’s relatives that it’’s okay! Because he’’ll be standing ““several steps below”” where Martin Luther King spoke, as if that makes it any less insulting. That Beck thinks that anything he does is of any historical signicance is not the bigger problem here; it’’s that he thinks that he could lead a rally and look intelligent while doing it. At the Alamo Tea Party rally he introduced Ted Nugent, who played his version of Jimi Hendrix’’s version of The Star-Spangled Banner and then bemoaned big government. We’’re as good as the company we keep. And Beck’’s company includes Ted Nugent. On top of that, he’’s a complete hypocrite. When Obama’’s annual check-up was made available to the public there was a mountain made out of the part about how the President needs to cut back on the alcohol consumption. And, as one could expect, Beck saddles up his steed (which, in a perfect world would be himself, because he’’s that much of a narcissist) and goes on his tirade about Obama’’s alcohol consumption. But……Glenn Beck is a recovering alcoholic, according to CNN.com. I suppose the issue here is standards. Glenn beck holds Obama and everyone around him to this golden standard——this all-American, blah blah blah, on display all day for all the foreign heathens of the world to see and be jealous of. I’’d love for Glenn Beck to be held to the same standard. That time is long passed. Passed to the point where the blame lies with Americans. The blame lies with all of us. Is this how we’’re going to have the rest of the world perceiving us? We’’re a country that is so divided between super-liberal pushovers who take public correctness to a damning, unparalleled height, and right-wingers who are so blinded by an unfurled, perpetually windblown American ag that they probably wouldn’’t even be able to locate Iraq, Afghanistan, or even the United States on a map. Jon Stewart put it best when he said of Glenn Beck, ““nally, a guy who says what people who aren’’t thinking are thinking.””

Halloween Costume With A Message And Purpose
By Danielle Huppke Managing Editor Are you looking to make a big statement this Halloween? Well Fun World has the perfect costume to help you make a splash no matter what party you’’re planning on attending. The costume I’’m talking about is not the typical naughty sailor outt but one with a little more politically saturated substance. Fun World just released the BP oil spill costume for the 2010 Halloween season and let’’s just say, it’’s a bit horrifying. Not in the usual sense of the word but it’’s more of a statement piece to bring awareness to the issue and put a little salt in the wounds of those responsible. This green jumpsuit complete with the BP logo, which is meant to stand for ““bad planning,”” has been doused in buckets of faux-oil to give a similar appearance of a person who just came out of the mess in the Gulf. Alan Geller, vice president at Fun World explained to the New York Times, ““What’’s unique is that it combines the horror of Halloween with the topicality of the disaster…… we’’re like ‘‘Saturday Night Live’’ in

“What’s unique is that it combines the horror of Halloween with the topicality of the disaster… we’re like ‘Saturday Night Live’ in a costume.”
-Alan Geller, New York Times Interview They changed the jumpsuits from blue to green and changed the bloodstains to stains of oil. If you’’re looking to complete the ensemble just carry around a large dead sh, and voila, the most horric costume to go along with the biggest disaster in the United States this year. a costume.”” Fun World has plans to produce more than 10,000 jumpsuits, with several dollars from every sale going to the families affected by the spill. Although the $40 price tag might keep it from outselling other popular adult costumes it’’s surely going to

be a better choice than the Zombie Sarah Palin or a mask of Barack Obama. This is a great way to go against the normal trend of the typical slutty Halloween costumes and stay true to a cause near and dear to your heart. Let’’s face it, aren’’t the school girl, cat woman and bumble bee costumes getting a little tired anyway. In all honesty I would be 100 percent shocked if I actually were to see someone sporting one of these BP jumpsuit costumes on campus during the upcoming Halloween weekend, although it would be pretty impressive if that were the case. I can remember a time when Halloween was a holiday for children across the nation to dress up as their favorite action hero or Disney

princess. Now it’’s a chance for teens and young adults to put on their most exposing outt and call it a costume. Maybe girls should try dressing like legitimate nurses instead of adding a little bit of slut to every career they might attempt to pull off as a costume. Rule number one for Halloween costumes; if you’’re trying to retain some of your dignity, keep the lingerie-like ones strictly for the bedroom. Or at least try and conceal your identity if your only option is uberrevealing, maybe a lovely Hilary Clinton mask would do the trick. If you want to support a good cause and bring awareness and fright to a very relevant issue, the BP jumpsuit is probably your best option.

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Halloween costumes for 2010 may range from political masks to ones with politically charged messages.

See something you don’t agree with? Send in a signed response to [email protected] and your response may be published in the next issue. Or visit our website, www.hartfordinformer.com and post a comment on any article you see in the paper!

Page 8

Entertainment
hartfordinformer.com/entertainment/

The Informer

October 21, 2010

‘‘Jackass 3D’’ Tops Box Ofce, Features Same Antics
By Lisa Schwartz- Neubauer Staff Writer Johnny Knoxville and the gang are back in the third edition of ““Jackass”” featuring new outrageous stunts entirely in 3D. The Jackass franchise, which originally began on MTV back in 2000, released their latest lm Friday and follows a group of guys who participate in a wide variety of practical jokes, and deliberately beat themselves up for our enjoyment. With ultimately no plot it is hard to believe how people nd so much amusement in guys torturing themselves physically and mentally, but the show caught on quick and has captured audience’’s attention for ten years. Although there are two previous movies and three seasons of a show, you really do not need to know much about the cast before walking into the movie. Knoxville and his crew make it pretty easy to catch on quick and enjoy their pranks. However, for all the ““Jackass”” fans that are out there, there are denitely recognizable characters who have returned. Bam Margera, Steve O, Wee Man and others who have been working together since the show began do their stunt is called. There are some scenes shot in the winter and some in the summer and a lot of scenes concerning their genitals resulting in wincing, puking and a lot of laughing from not only the cast members but from the crew members as well. But after all these years the cast is still going strong and for the most there are a few times in the movie where a few tears are shed, and Bam Margera at one point mentions that he is glad to be leaving the set early that day. Some of the scenes of ““Jackass”” are repetitive but for the most part they are surprisingly amusing. From jet skiing off a ramp into a bush, to ying up into the air in a bowel lled portable toilet, to running through a gauntlet of taser guns, the cast really has it cut out for them this time. It is no wonder they have about ten guys alternating between each stunt. The 3D is not a necessity, but it very much works. If you like this type of humor ““Jackass 3D”” is denitely worth seeing. And even if you don’’t, you may not want to knock it off your list right away as you may be surprised about how much you nd yourself laughing.

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““Jackass 3D”” broke the record for highest grossing Fall movie debut making over $50 Million. more than enough this time around. Steve O does his usual gag scenes, while Bam brings his parents into the movie like he has done in the past. It is truly hard to believe that they still have what it takes after all these years. ““Jackass 3D”” begins with a slow motion scene with each character walking in dressed in different costumes previewing slightly what they have in store. The pranks start quickly after and they range from 30 seconds to a few minutes long. Just like in the show, whoever is doing the stunt begins the stunt with their name, a brief description of what they will be doing, and what

Visit Bowtiecinemas.com for features, showtimes and online ticket sales. Bow Tie Cinemas offers student discounts with valid college ID.
FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY

Facebook Ex- The popular social networking site now prevents pictures of an ex from appearing in user’’s ““Photo Memory”” boxes. It turns out some machines are programmed to feel emotion. Unhappy Days- Star of the show ““Happy Days,”” Tom Bosley, died aged 83 this week. America’’s favorite ‘‘50s dad will be missed. Starbucks Digital Network- Starbucks launched their SDN media application this week, which is accessible through their free in store Wi-Fi. America may run on Dunkin but its laptops are powered by Starbucks. Tea Party Ignorance - The NAACP revealed in a study that many Tea Party leaders are birthers that believe that President Obama is not a U.S. citizen. Perhaps the party is too extreme to know that the ““right”” is not a direction and Hawaii is part of the country. What the ‘‘Chuck’’? –– NBC’’s series ““Chuck”” received a full-season pick-up this week in hopes of gaining new fans. The news is just as bad as the full season order of ““Outsourced.”” T.I. Back To Prison- Rapper T.I. has been sentenced to 11 months in jail for drug possession charges. Violating his probation from his 10-month prison sentence just last year, apparently the rapper misses the taste of prison food.
ANDY SWETZ

Stewart Hosts Comedy Central Autism Benet

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Comedy Central’’s annual benet ““Night Of Too Many Stars”” will air Oct. 26 at 9:00 p.m. By Andy Swetz Entertainment Editor Comedy Central’’s annual ““Night Of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Concert For Autism Benet,”” airing Oct. 26 at 9:00 p.m., brings celebrities together to use comedy to help those with disabilities. Hosted by Jon Stewart, the night features names such as Lewis Black, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais, Joel McHale, John Oliver, Chris Rock and Sarah Silverman. The night will base around prerecorded auctions and taped segments from the Beacon Theater and have live segments from Los Angeles with a celebrity phone bank open for caller donations. Since beginning the benet event in 2005, the concert has raised just under $7 million for autism education and family service programs including adult autism education. Featured on comedycentral.com, one preview from the night’’s events include Steve Carell auctioning off a chance for a bidder to hold his hand while saying their name and faking an orgasm. In the same spirit of raising money a ridiculous way, Chris Rock auctions off the opportunity for a bidder to have their ex cussed out on stage via speakerphone. Available for bid on the site are multiple items including a Stephen Colbert autographed copy of the Declaration of Independence, a Tina Fey autographed copy of Sarah Palin’’s ““Going Rogue”” and a pregnancy test kit signed by Sarah Silverman. All in all aiming to continue the tradition of doing well with comedy, the ““Night Of Too Many Stars”” promises to offer up laughs and raise money for a great cause.

the informer

entertainment

october 21, 2010

page 9

Art School Senior Fuses Practicality, Passion
By Andrew Walsh Special to the Informer The reality of stepping out into the ““real world”” can be daunting, especially for an Art School graduate. Everyone wants to make a name for themselves. For an artist, this means they need to have great work, or know the right people. Your work becomes synonymous with your name. The goal of many artists is to be able to live off their work, rather then work for others. This may be very idealistic, and unfortunately not as realistic as some may like to believe. Obtaining a college degree these days doesn’’t always guarantee a job right out of college. As a senior visual communication design student (VCD), Jackie Cimino is required to complete a senior project. The Hartford Art School gives a lot of leeway with allowing their students to use their creativity to formulate project ideas. These projects can be seen as a cumulative creative process from which a student can put their talents into something that could propel them into a certain career path. For her project Cimino decided on creating a tea company from scratch, to be called Ardor Tea Company. She contacted a company near Wingdale, NY, where she lives to discuss the processes that go into this style of company. Cimino has since ran with the idea, and is beginning to create and design every aspect of her company. She has had her hands in every aspect, from the tins to the packaging, the perspective market, and essentially everything except for the actual tea. This project is a hypothetical company, but theoretically could be made into a real company once she graduates. It is a great example of a senior project because it embodies realworld applications. It has been a way of expressing her ideas in such a way that encompasses everything Hartford Art School has instilled in her. Designing packaging for olive oil products in the past as part of an assigned project is what inspired her to pursue this senior project. College is meant to set a person up with the skills to follow their passion, and ideally for a job once nished. The beauty of senior projects is that they can be a vehicle for such a project, where the student’’s passion is able to be channeled creatively and academically into a career. As a VCD student Cimino has worked with many forms of media, including web-based design and graphic design. The deadlines associated with each project help as well, because in the real world a person in the design eld revolves around deadlines. Her portfolio is put to great scrutiny, and a certain level of work is expected to be met. This pressure is worth it though Cimino says, because her work hopefully will be displayed as part of her department’’s week to exhibit at the Slipe Gallery on campus.

ANDREW WALSH

Art School student Jackie Cimino mixes creativity and real world applications in her senior project. Professionals, students, faculty and many more attend these exhibitions in the spring, and Cimino hopes to get her name out there. Life after college has many unknowns, and graduating with a degree ideally sets one up for a career. For art students the unknowns are even more, where their creativity and passion fuel what they produce. Senior projects can be seen as the Hartford Art School’’s equivalent of a senior thesis. The specialization has allowed Cimino to create a project that could be taken out into the world once she has graduated.

Apple Launches Mac App Store, New Air Design
By Jeremy Stanley Editor-In-Chief Apple, Inc. has vertically integrated just about everything in its business. At a Wednesday media event in Cupertino, Steve Jobs unveiled the future of the Mac business and it’’s beginning to look a lot like the iPad and iPod business. The Mac App Store will launch in the next 90 days, where developers will be available to sell or give away applications approved by the company. Developers will get 70 percent of the revenue from sales and Apple will take a 30 percent cut of the sales. With the Mac App Store, the company now controls the hardware, the software that comes with it and a majority of the software that will run on the Mac. The store will be available to download for all Macs running Mac OS X Snow Leopard. The company also previewed OS X Lion, the next operating system version for Mac computers. The system will integrate a bunch of new user interface touches, including full screen application views for many of the applications preinstalled in the system and downloaded from the App Store (another similarity to the iPod and iPad ecosystem). Apple also put its foot into the netbook business in a big way, refreshing the design of the MacBook Air laptop. With two different size displays——13-inch and 11-inch—— the devices are lightweight and compact. Steve Jobs highlighted that the MacBook Air is informed by a lot of the design decisions that users loved about the iPad, particularly in battery life and how quickly the device wakes up from sleep. Jobs said that the MacBook Air solves both of these problems——the smaller has a battery life of ve hours and the larger has seven hours when connected to wireless networks. This announcement comes in a week where Apple released its quarterly earnings reports where, for the rst time, iPads have outsold Mac computers. In an earnings call on Tuesday Jobs surprised analysts by joining in on the call and talking about the success Apple has had and took competitors to task. Among the companies Jobs lambasted were RIM and Android. He talked about how RIM could only compete in the software business and that he doesn’’t see them as competition long-term. He called Google’’s framing of Android as an ““open”” alternative to the ““closed”” system of Apple incorrect and called the phones that run the software problematic. Not only that, he called the slate of tablets expected to be released in late 2010 and early 2011 dead on arrival, because the 7-inch displays on the device aren’’t large enough to give the user a good experience. Apple’’s stock price closed at 310.53 on Wednesday on the heels of the announcement.

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Steve Jobs unveiled the new MacBook Air, OS X Snow Leopard and the Mac App Store on Wednesday, a day after the company’’s quarterly earnings report.

page 10

the informer

entertainment

october 21, 2010

‘‘SoulPancake’’ Offers Uncensored Creative Thinking
With the steady decline of college students reading for pleasure recently, one unique book, ““SoulPancake,”” may just spark renewed interest among the collegiate population. Scheduled to hit store shelves Oct. 26, ““The Ofce”” star Rainn Wilson’’s goal of compacting the ideas from his website into a book will be achieved. An intellectual feast, the purpose behind ““SoulPancake”” is to simply stimulate the mind with life’’s big questions and brainteasers. Aimed to channel individual creativity, the websites hardcopy will consist of over 200 pages of food for thought. Some of the questions posed by the book include ““Is poetry dead in the U.S.?”” and ““What do you really know about religion?”” Although not claiming to have any right or wrong answers to the questions posed by Wilson or users, the site offers people a chance to voice their opinion and read what others have to say on a variety of subjects with no limitations. In the same fashion as the website, the book’’s purpose is to get a reader to think creativity and challenge their mind to new heights. Included in the book are 180 of Andy Swetz Entertainment Editor [email protected] Twitter: @TheKineticKid ““Life’’s big questions,”” visual masterpieces from over 90 artists and insight from multiple musicians and poets. ““SoulPancake is about creative expression as a form of ‘‘worship’’ –– a way to connect with the world and with the rest of the people on the planet,”” Wilson told Worldofpopculture.com. A melting pot that diminished cultural boundaries and discrimination, the true essence of what Wilson wants to achieve is to discover what it means to be human and provoke a thoughtful answer embodying experiences and beliefs. The website challenges a visitor to indulge in the unknown and express themselves through thought and creativity.““Life’’s Big Questions tackle those topics that we all think about but rarely talk about——you know, the ones that gnaw at your innards but by bringing them up you’’re risking conversation suicide. We are going to go there (and wherever ‘‘there’’ is may not always be pretty) so dive in and speak your mind,”” is what appears on the sites frequently asked question responses. I nd the idea to be an extremely compelling and brilliant step, especially when experts project books to be extinct in as little as ve years and society leaning toward technology. The thought alone is a devastating thing to imagine as technology evolves everyday. Wilson and co-creators Joshua Homnick and Devon Gundry formed the rst interactive website of its kind and its paperback translation, in my opinion, will spark a keen interest in what actually goes on at ““SoulPancake.”” Also an innovative creation of ““SoulPancake”” is ““Life’’s Little Lists”” that are geared toward helping an individual nd out what is important in their own life. An overall collective approach that simply provokes people to challenge and question different aspects of life, ““SoulPancake,”” both the book and interactive website, offer unique and new ways to stimulate the mind. As an avid book reader I’’m anticipating the release and looking forward to expanding my knowledge about myself through creative techniques and challenges featured in the book.

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““SoulPancake”” provokes readers to discover life’’s big stories.

Actor Rainn Wilson is one of the co-creators of ““SoulPancake.””

Kings Slow Progression Clear With New Album
By Danielle Nielsen Staff Writer After a huge mainstream success from their 2008 release ““Only By the Night,”” fans were eager to see what the Tennessee rock band Kings Of Leon had in store for the release of their brand new album ““Come Around Sundown.”” Kings of Leon formed back in 1999 in Franklin, Tennessee. Kings of Leon is made up of the Followill brothers Caleb, Nathan, Jared and cousin Matthew. These southern boys kept their musical inuences close to home, with hints of southern rock and blues fused with alternative rock in their work. The Followill brothers spent their childhood a bit differently since they traveled around the south with their father Leon who is a preacher. The boys started showing interest in music when they would occasionally provide music to their father’’s church services. After a bitter divorce between their parents they relocated to Nashville, the heart of the country music industry of The United States. It was there that the boys really became infatuated with rock music. Overall the band has been successful with their three previous albums, but they have always been in the shadows never receiving much recognition for their work. It wasn’’t until 2008 that their album ““Only By the Night”” would have a viral effect on the radio with their singles ““Sex on Fire”” and ““Use Somebody.”” With their excessive airtime on the radio, their popularity spread like wildre. A lot of listeners including myself grew sick of The Kings of Leon with the same song over played on the radio. Prior to listening to ““Come Around Sundown”” I was never a true fan of the band. Although their music took a different route of a more laid back sound, all 13 tracks are vocally unappealing. Their rst single off the album titled ““Radioactive”” is an improvement from ““Use Somebody,”” providing a very clean melodic sound, but the vocals were just like every other song they have produced. ““Come Around Sundown”” was released Oct. 19, and I expect fans to have a mixed reaction when it comes to the vocals and melodies on the new material by Kings Of Leon.

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Rock quartet Kings Of Leon released their latest album ““Come Around Sundown”” this week and are recieving mixed reactions from fans and critics.

the informer

entertainment

october 21, 2010

page 11

Nine-Year-Old Smith Makes Splash With Single
By Danielle Huppke Managing Editor Jaden Smith, star of the recent remake ““The Next Karate Kid”” isn’’t the only child prodigy of Hollywood power couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. In fact, their daughter Willow has created quite the name for herself in the past month with the emergence of her rst single ““Whip My Hair.”” Willow Smith, at the mere age of nine-years-old, signed with Jay-Z’’s Roc Nation label last month. JayZ joined Smith for an interview on Ryan Seacrest’’s radio show on KISS FM where Jay-Z told Seacrest that he believes she is like the young Michael Jackson. With this kind of buzz, the Rihanna inspired singer is bound to be making her mark on the world of hip-hop. ““Whip My Hair”” has already hit No. 17 on the Billboard R&B and Hip-Hop charts, and if it hits No. 1, Willow will be the youngest person since Stevie Wonder to reach that mark. The music video to ““Whip My Hair”” was released late Monday night with a plethora of anticipation and pleasant reviews. The video opens in a classroom painted all white, lled with bored looking children obviously hating their lackluster school life. Soon enters Willow who is colorfully dressed with one of the many hairstyles she sports throughout the video, long braids. She dips the ends of the mile long braids in colorful paint and begins to whip her hair around, paint spraying everywhere. The rest of the video provides lots of hair whipping action from Willow, the teacher, the rest of the students and even an appearance of a cute toddler. Throughout the video we get a chance to see Smith’’s unique style that she told Seacrest is courtesy of her mother, although she does like to add her own sparkle to whatever outt she wears. It may appear that at such a young age the spotlight could take a hurtful toll on the singer but her parents have been quick to say that they aren’’t out to sexualize their daughter in any way. The only inuence that Willow will be having over the tweens is their choice of hairstyles. However it’’s safe to assume that she’’s been thrust into the spotlight a few years too soon, even earlier than former tween idols Britney

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At nine-years-old Willow Smith has reached the number 17 spot on the Billboard Hip-Hop Charts. Spears and Lindsay Lohan, and look where they ended up. Willow Smith seems to speak well beyond her years explaining to Seacrest that ““You can’’t be afraid to be yourself,”” and this song exemplies that message. Her father began his career as a musical talent, and later settled into what is obviously his stronger suit of acting. For Willow, she’’s already had a taste of both arenas, having made an appearance in ““Madagascar”” and ““I Am Legend,”” yet with the unbelievable amount of attention that this song has already attracted it’’s fair to assume that she’’s going to be sticking to singing for some time to come. Smith is set to perform ““Whip My Hair”” live Nov. 2 on the ““Ellen DeGeneres Show”” and plans to show what she is made of.

Alexi Murdoch: Insight To An Introverted Artist

Obama To Appear On ‘‘MythBusters’’

By Andy Swetz Entertainment Editor Discovery Channel’’s ““Mythbusters,”” the show that challenges and puts myths to the test using a scientic approach, will host special guest President Barack Obama on Dec. 8. The show’’s hosts, Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, special effects gurus, are notorious for putting user submitted myths to the test using good old-fashioned science. Putting the myth of Greek scientist Archimedes to the test, the duo will test the validity that a magnifying glass can be used with the sun’’s reection on mirrors to set re to Roman eets, with the help of President Obama. ““I can announce today that I taped a special guest appearance

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for their show, although I didn’’t get to blow anything up. I was a little frustrated about that,”” President Obama shared with EOnline news. An odd appearance for the President to make, the commander in chief is aiming to boost interest in and promote young Americans to get involved in science. A clever way to appeal to viewers, the myth would be even more exciting if it was not the third time the television show took a stab at it. Despite the myth’’s multiple reboots, President Obama’’s involvement with Hollywood has been steadily increasing over his presidency. With his appearance on ““The View”” in July and his annual March Madness picks featured on ESPN, President Obama is definitely making himself known through entertainment means.

Alexi Murdoch’’s music has been featured in multiple shows and movies in the past four years. By Andy Swetz Entertainment Editor If ever there were an artist who could stretch the lengths of a vast musical ability and compact it into one album, Alexi Murdoch would t the criteria perfectly. Only claiming one album to dene his career so far, 2006’’s ““Time Without Consequence,”” the introverted Englishman has achieved a musical masterpiece still being praised four years later. Vaguely reecting the silhouette of musician Nick Drake, Murdoch’’s acoustic guitar style serves as the foundation for his lyrically rich songs. As a cautious artist from his beginnings, Murdoch has been resistant to the spotlight and always resorted to independent approaches to releasing his music. Also under Murdoch’’s belt is his CD Baby released EP titled ““Four Songs.””Releasing his only full length album on his independently owned label, Zero Summer, Murdoch’’s slow folk like music reects his reserve personality. Perhaps Murdoch’’s most notable mainstream achievements exist in his music making its way to the soundtracks of television shows such as ““Prison Break,”” ““House,”” ““The O.C.”” and ““Ugly Betty”” and serving as the principle music for the 2009 Focus Feature ““Away We Go.”” An ominous presence in media today while between New York City and the coast of Scotland, Murdoch spends his days crafting small sailboats and writing new material. According to the musician’’s ofcial website, ““In 2011, Murdoch will release his third recording ‘‘Towards The Sun.’’”” While he prefers to cater to a crowd of one hundred in small clubs he stumbles upon, Murdoch’’s true musical purpose thrives on sticking to his roots and not forcing anything. A real musical pioneer, Murdoch’’s shy and quiet nature helps amplify his stage performance and musicianship. Intricately weaving through the strings of his guitar, Murdoch transforms an audience and sooths them with his distinct heavy voice. Although slow moving on the media front, I nd Murdoch’’s decision to stagger his presence as a mainstream artist to be a respectable trait. A low-key musician staying true to his beliefs and music, Murdoch represents an elite musicianship craft that I cannot deny as great quality work. Alexi Murdoch embodies pure rich acoustic sounds that help slow life down and accompany relaxation.

COURTESY OF OPPOSINGVIEWS.COM

““Mythbusters”” will feature Barack Obama as a guest on Dec. 8.

page 12
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Alumni Gives Back As CEO Of Newman’’s Own
By Jessica Rutledge and Dan Melrose Sports Editor and Special to the Informer Last Thursday, the America East Tip-Off Event previewed more than just the men and women’’s basketball teams within the conference, the event also illustrated the philanthropic focus of tournament sponsor, Newman’’s Own. Robert Forrester, longtime friend of Paul Newman, assumed the role of CEO and President of Newman’’s Own after Paul’’s death. Since 1982, Newman’’s Own has donated 100 percent of its prots to charitable organizations, totaling more than $300 million to date. Forrester is determined to continue the seless and generous legacy of founder Paul Newman, in part through the company’’s two-year partnership with the America East Conference. Forrester and Newman’’s Own announced the launch of its’’ secondannual Campus Community Service Challenge last Thursday, where one student group from each American East conference university will be chosen to participate for a top grant of $25,000. The Newman’’s Own foundation has already pledged to donate $150,000 to charitable organizations within the nine America East schools this year. Last year, the University of Hartford’’s non-prot organization, Best Buddies, earned a $15,000 grant from Newman’’s Own, representing the University of Hartford with a third-place nish in the Community Service Challenge. Forrester’’s generous contributions to the America East conference hits close to home, as the CEO of Newman’’s Own was a student at the University of Hartford in 1960. In an interview last Thursday, Forrester reminisced about his time at the University of Hartford, he was a member of the rst class to ever move on campus only three years after the university was founded in 1957. As an undergrad, Forrester played on the men’’s soccer team and mentioned that ““Al-Marzook,”” eld was named after his dear friend and classmate. Forrester added, ““You know, Barney, Gengras, I knew all those guys when they were alive.”” After graduation, Forrester joined the armed forces and fought overseas in Vietnam, afterwards he returned to work on his graduate studies at the university. ““ I think it’’s just been a wonderful place,”” Forrester said of the University of Hartford last Thursday. ““I’’ve seen it grow in many ways, I’’m proud of it, and I think you’’ve got the best president of any university in America,”” Last Thursday, America East Commissioner Patrick Nero and Newman’’s Own CEO Forrester emphasized the importance of keeping the America East Conference connected with Newman’’s Own philanthropic initiatives. Having been the former Athletic Director at the University of Maine, Nero knows what it takes to produce winners on the court and in the classroom. So it was no question that his drive to establish ties between all the schools in the conference to the Newman’’s Own Foundation was in an effort to raise awareness about the ongoing needs of charitable organizations, and the incredible impact student-athletes can make on the lives of those they help.

the informer

sports

october 21, 2010

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JESSICA RUTLEDGE

Newman’’s Own CEO Forrester & Conference Commissioner Nero renew their partnership for 2010-11. CEO of Newman’’s Own, Forrester made it clear that his primary goal is, ““to keep this great Foundation working with the schools in the conference. But there’’s always room for improvement.”” Newman’’s Own hopes that the second-annual Community Service Challenge will have a greater turnout than last year, and continue to ourish going forward. Forrester is con dent that the grants awarded to student charity organizations will help plant the seeds for a brighter future, and promote the establishment of new nonprots to America East campuses every year. Listening to Forrester speak, one couldn’’t help but smile, his jovial demeanor and incredible generosity are a testament to the legacy of Newman’’s Own, and his dedication to philanthropy is admirable –– don’’t be surprised if you catch Forrester watching the Hawks’’ from the bleachers this season, ““Oh yes we will be attending games,”” he said, ““we’’re season ticket holders!””

Colonials Fall Prey To Nighthawks America’’s Pastime
The love of baseball has endured over generations in our country, but the steady decline in MLB postseason television ratings indicate that baseball may also be on the decline as America’’s pastime. For many lifelong baseball fans, choosing their favorite team was never really a matter of choice, it was fated by birth. But when the executives at MLB postseason networks, TBS and FOX were sizing up their top picks for the postseason race this year, their favorite teams were contingent on brand power and market size. Some of the most powerful MLB franchises are also the most popular, such as the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Cubs –– these teams are prime real estate to hike postseason. To the dismay of TV stations and baseball fans across the country, the Yankees stood alone as the only big money team to be featured on the postseason schedule this year. But even the New York Yankees’’ franchise could not escape the steady decline of baseball TV ratings today. According to USA Today, Monday’’s ALCS playoff game between the Yankees and the Rangers recorded a 6.5 overnight rating for TBS. While 6.5 percent of households tuned in to watch the MLB playoffs, ESPN broadcast a small market NFL matchup between Titans-Jaguars during the same time slot Monday night, shockingly, ESPN earned a 7.2 overnight rating. It seems ridiculous that a smallbeans NFL regular season blowout would attract more viewers than the thrilling MLB postseason race to the World Series, but the changing lifestyles of Americans are reected in the type of media they consume. Lawrence Ritter may have said it the best with, ““the strongest thing that baseball has going for

Fades To Yesterday
Jessica Rutledge •• Sports Editor [email protected] Twitter: @InformerSports it today are its yesterdays.”” Baseball is slow moving, tedious, and can last for hours with minimal excitement –– but this was once a factor that made baseball so great. Baseball is the perfect conversation piece, the ultimate destination for a lazy summer afternoon, and the perfect backdrop for nurturing family traditions, deepening father-son bonds, or cementing business deals. But in 2010, America is still recovering from a nancial crisis that rocked the country into recession, wars are being fought in the Middle East, and technology has made life quicker, more demanding, and disinterested in watching a baseball game that lasts four hours. Americans simply don’’t have the extra time, money, nor the interest to tune in to baseball today as they once did. For many serious fans, baseball goes far beyond a game to win or lose, but instead, ““it is an allegorical play about America, a poetic, complex, and subtle play of courage, fear, good luck, mistakes, patience about fate, and sober self-esteem.”” The words of Saul Steinberg, Romanian immigrant to America, and illustrator for ““The New Yorker,”” speak volumes to a nation of diverse people more than 50 years later. Baseball reflects the power within every man that is capable of conquering insurmountable odds, although baseball ratings may be on the decline, the spirit of the game endures to resonate within every American today.

ADAM MANISON

Dixon struggles to hold onto the ball, and the Colonials’’ lead. By Hayden Harrower Staff Writer The Hartford Colonials were unable to avenge their heartbreaking 26-27 loss when they hosted the Omaha Nighthawks for a rematch on Saturday. This time, the Colonials lost by a score of 19-14 at Rentschler Field. At kickoff time, the Colonials blasted onto the eld with such momentum, seemingly never to be bested again. To start off, the Colonials successfully held the Nighthawks to a three-and-out while moving the ball swiftly for a touchdown on their rst drive. The drive culminated by a near sack and scramble by Josh McCown to receiver Taurus Johnson for an 18-yard pass. The Colonials went on to give up a touchdown and scoring another one for themselves in the rst two quarters and looked fairly dominant throughout. Unfortunately that would be the last time the Colonials would score for the rest of the game. The tides began to turn at the start of the second half when McCown threw an interception, his second of the game. Although Omaha did not score on the ensuing drive they did pin the Colonials back against their own goal line, forcing a three-and-out and receiving a punt into the wind on Hartford’’s 34-yard line. The Colonials kept themselves in the game by holding that drive and another in the fourth quarter to a eld goal despite being in the redzone. It seemed their efforts were futile when Josh McCown threw his third interception, and the Nighthawks scored a touchdown as a consequence of the turnover. When the Colonials received the kickoff, they had to make up for a now, ve point decit. They moved the ball through the running game to the opponent’’s 30-yard line when a missed snap shot over McCown’’s head and was recovered by the Nighthawks to ultimately diminish any event of a comeback. Coach Palmer reiterated the shortcomings of his team after the game, ““It was another hard fought game decided by seven points or less,”” he said. ““Omaha had 63 plays, we had 63 plays, what it comes down to is turnovers.”” The Colonials look to recover against the rst-place Las Vegas Locomotives Saturday, Oct. 23.

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the informer

sports

october 21, 2010

House Rizzotti Built Expands, Excels In 2010-11
By Jessica Rutledge Sports Editor U.S. Representative John Larson shamelessly articulated his favoritism towards the Lady Hawks at the America East Media Conference last Thursday. Larson started off his conference remarks by alluding to the house that Jennifer Rizzotti built, concluding his speech with a hearty, Go Hawks! Larson’’s admiration of the University of Hartford basketball team, may have been biased, but his praise for Coach Rizzotti and the women’’s basketball team was not unwarranted. The Lady Hawks ended last season with a solid record of 27-5 overall. Even more incredible was the fact that Hartford made school history, ending last season undefeated at 16-0 within the America East Conference. Last Thursday, the America East Tip-Off Event revealed the results of the annual preseason poll, wherein, head coaches from the nine America East teams each vote to rank teams within the conference. The University of Hartford was ranked at No. 2, while the University of Boston Terriers topped the preseason poll at No. 1 for both the men and women’’s basketball teams. This second-best rank is no surprise to coach Jennifer RizSmith averages 6.5 points-pergame, and topped her teammates with 3.2 assists per game. Smith was recognized for her talent last Thursday when she was selected by America East coaches to join the All-Conference Team for this year. Besides Smith, Ruthanne Doherty is the only other starting player that will return to the court for the Hartford Hawks this season. The 2010All-Rookie pick nished her freshman season averaging 6.0 ppg, netting nearly fty-percent of her shots, and 4.8 rebounds-pergame. Last season was historical for the women’’s basketball team, individual achievements contributed to the overall success of the Hawks, as they became the rst nationally ranked team, No. 19 according to the ESPN coaches Poll, in the history of the program. The Hawks also nabbed the rst ever at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament to conclude their season last year. With solid veteran players, talented young rookies, and the leadership of Coach Rizzotti, the University of Hartford women’’s team has an exciting season ahead. Staff writers Hayden Harrower and Charlie Paullin contributed to this report.

HARTFORD SPORTS INFORMATION

The women’’s team hopes to pick up where they left off, blazing the path to a red-hot season. zotti, who anticipated that the team would have to face challenges after losing two Erica Beverly, from the Hawks’’ roster. ““I do think that our young post players, who maybe don’’t have a lot of experience, will surprise a lot of people,”” Rizzotti said last Thursday. ““Nikkia Smith is a young sophomore who has really given the upperclassmen guards a real comfort and presence [in the post position],”” she said. Senior Jackie Smith is an all-star veteran returning to play this season,

ADAM MANISON

The talented UHa women’’s basketball team roster struck a pose during a preseason green-screen photo shoot on campus last week.

NO. 1 2 3 10 14 20 21 22 23 24 33 44

NAME Jackie Smith Daphne Elliott Taylor Clark Alex Hall Amanda Weaver Keyokah Mars-Garrick Ilicia Mathis Mary Silvia Alyssa Englert Ruthanne Doherty Milana Gilbert Nikkia Smith

POS G G F G G/F F G G G F F F

HT 5-9 5-6 6-0 5-7 6-1 6-1 5-9 5-11 5-9 5-11 6-0 6-1

Yr Sr. So. Fr. So. Sr. Jr. Jr. Sr. Fr. So. Fr. So.

REB 1.7 2.2 1.7 1.7 0.8 2.7 2.1 4.8 1.7

AST 102 39 4.4 8 2 29 23 24 5

PPG 6.5 6.0 5.0 1.4 0.4 5.5 5.7 6.0 2.3

AMERICA EAST PRESEASON POLL No. 1 Boston University Terriers No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5 No. 6 No. 7 No. 8 No. 9 University of Hartford Binghamton University Stony Brook University UMBC University of Vermont University at Albany University of Maine New Hampshire

the informer

sports

october 21, 2010

page 15

Gallagher, Blue Eager To Lead Hawks To Victory
By Jessica Rutledge Sports Editor The University of Hartford men’’s basketball team looks to capitalize on the experience of ve returning starts, six senior players, with the expertise of new head coach, John Gallagher, leading the way to victory in 2011. Last Thursday, the America East Tip-Off Event revealed that the Hartford men were ranked at No. 6 out of nine total teams, based on the votes of conference head coaches. Last season, the Hawks ended with a 6-10 conference record, and were seeded at No. 5 in the America East Championship, dropping the quarternal match to Boston University. Boston University was unanimously chosen as the No. 1 pick within the conference for this year. Instead of falling in the ranks, the men’’s team looks to climb them this season. Coach John Gallagher didn’’t seem fazed by the No. 6 rank of his team. When asked about how he is preparing for the season Gallagher said, ““You’’ve got to try and leave everyday better than you found it.”” He said, ““And you have to not worry about what this guy says, or that guy says, just worry about what you’’re doing as a group.”” With the fresh eyes and ideas
COURTESY OF ESPN.COM

John Gallagher, head coach. of head coach John Gallagher and most recently, assistant coach Matt Blue, the men’’s team looks forward with condence and determination this season. Matt Blue is the newest addition to the Hawks’’ talented coaching repertoire for 2010-11, Blue played a part in Lafayatte’’s successful season last year where he served as an assistant coach under Fran O’’Hanlon. In an interview with Hartford Sports Information, Gallagher raved about

HARTFORD SPORTS INFORMATION

Matt Blue, assistant coach.

the new assistant coach, ““He brings a lot of energy and obviously his stature as a New England basketball guy is going to help us in the area with recruiting,”” he said. ““More importantly, his experience at Lafayette with Fran O’’Hanlon’’s style will help us even more as we build our program here,”” Gallagher said. Assistant coach Blue was selected after Jason Ivey went home to Alabama for personal reasons. According to hartfordhawks.com, Gallager said, ““Ivey will forever be a part of the Hartford family, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.”” The men’’s senior-roster adds four freshmen in 2011 with Oren Faulk, Mustafaa Jones, Joe Nardi and Ben O’’Neill. Having competed in Australia during the off-season, these rookie players are eager to win and establish themselves among their teammates in the roster. The UHa men’’s basketball team is scheduled to open their 2010-11 season at the second annual Connecticut Six Classic. The tournament will be held at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, and the Hawks will tip-off at 6 p.m. against CCSU on Nov. 13. Staff writers Hayden Harrower and Charlie Paullin contributed to this report.

HARTFORD SPORTS INFORMATION

Hawks hope to make 2010-11 season a slam dunk, best last year.

Basketball ‘‘Mania’’
By Tim Rizzo Special to the Informer Midnight Mania featured ‘‘GTL’’ and basketball down the ‘‘Howie Shore’’ last Friday, where the University of Hartford community was pumped up in anticipation for the 2010-2011 men and women’’s basketball season. Hartford students, athletes and faculty packed into the sports center for the Hawks’’ preseason pep-rally, three-point shooting contest, and season outlook on behalf of the celebration of the upcoming basketball season. The University of Hartford men’’s basketball team looks to improve their 8-22 season record from last year with the help of a familiar face. Having served as the Hawks’’ Associate head coach from 2006-2008, John Gallagher is back on the court as the team’’s head coach for 2010 after spending the last two seasons at the University of Pennsylvania. Gallagher led the Hawks to their highest win total in Hartford’’s history back in the 2007-2008 season (18), and also carried them to their first American East Conference championship game. Gallagher’’s high-tempo perimeter game will hopefully translate into some strong wins this year, as the Hawks compete in a schedule similar to last season. The Hartford men’’s roster is dominated by upperclassmen, thus strong chemistry on the court is to be expected. The Hawks will be led by returning top-scorer, senior guard Joe Zeglinski, averaging 16.5 pointsper-game, and by senior big man Morgan Sabia who pulled down a solid six boards per game in previous seasons. In order to return to those glory days, the Hawks must improve their 3-13 road record, losing 11 of their rst 12 road games last year. The men must also win crucial conference matchups against Maine, Vermont, Boston University and Stony Brook to make 2011 their best season to date.

ADAM MANISON

Hawks basketball rocked the ‘‘Howie Shore’’ as teams previewed their 2010-11 season outlook.

NO. 1 2 3 4 10 11 13 14 21 23 24 25 31 32 44

NAME Milton Burton Charles White Ross Erickson Ben O’’Neill Mustafaa Jones Andres Torres Ryan Baker Joe Nardi Genesis Maciel Morgan Sabia Joe Zeglinski Anthony Minor Kevin Estes Clayton Brothers Oren Faulk

POS G/F G G/F G G G G G F/C F G F F G F

HT 6-5 6-1 6-6 6-4 6-1 5-10 6-5 6-1 6-9 6-8 6-0 6-6 6-7 6-1 6-7

Yr Sr. So. So. Fr. Fr. Sr. So. Fr. Jr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Jr. Fr.

REB 3.3 2.2 0.7 2.4 0.3 1.5 6.1 5.1 2.5 1.0 1.4 -

AST 65 32 11 79 1 0 30 48 20 5 22 -

PPG 9.6 4.6 1.0 6.7 1.0 0 11.7 16.5 3.2 2.7 2.5 -

AMERICA EAST PRESEASON POLL No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 No. 4 No. 5 No. 6 No. 7 No. 8 No. 9 Boston University Terriers Stony Brook University University of Maine New Hampshire University of Vermont University of Hartford Binghamton University University at Albany UMBC

Volume 34, Issue 08

Sports
the informer

The Informer

sports

october 21, 2010

Takes More Than Army To Halt Hawks, Win in OT
By Jessica Rutledge Sports Editor

hartfordinformer.com/sports

October 21, 2010

On Wednesday night, the men’’s soccer team hosted Army in their nal non-conference match of the season and the Hawks went out with a bang, winning the match 2-1 in double overtime. The Army Black Knights and Hartford Hawks battled for the rst time in the history of the two soccer programs on Wednesday at Alumni Stadium. The University of Hartford also honored the men and women of the United States armed forces on Wednesday night, Military Appreciation and Park and Recreation Night at home, offering free admission to the game for all active and retired servicemen. The rst half kicked off at 7 p. m., Hartford was the rst to shoot the ball, but Army’’s Jakob Szabo red back minutes later, halted by Hartford goalie, Luke Citriniti. The scoreless, back and forth battle nally ended when the Hawks’’ Liam Williams assisted Tomas Boyle who

STEVE MCLAUGHLIN

The Hawks last non-conference match was a thrilling 2-1 double-overtime win on Wednesday. headed the ball past the Army keeper, netting a 1-0 lead at 25:05 for the University of Hartford. Boyle’’s goal was not only the rst of the game, but it was the rst-ever goal for the Ireland native’’s freshman soccer career. The Hawks fought to hold onto their lead until Black Knight Jef-

frey Pickett, assisted by Michael Kim, leveled the match to 1-1 with a corner kick that ew over the head of Hartford keeper Citriniti. The Hawks blasted three shots on goal during the second-half, while Army kicked only one shot. With neither team able to break the 1-1 tie, the Hawks and Black Knights played to declare a winner in double-overtime. At 92:44, the Hawks emerged triumphant when James Stamopoulos, assisted by Sam Groves, blasted a powerful shot past the Black Knights goalie to end the game 2-1. Stamopoulos and the aggressive offensive efforts of the Hawks prove that it truly takes more than an Army to halt the team’’s momentum at home. Wednesday night’’s win at Alumni Stadium lifts the Hawks’’ home game stand to 5-1-0 for the season, sitting at 5-7-0 overall. The men’’s next match is 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 23 hosted by UMBC.

Hawks Soar, 3-2 Upset Snaps Losing Streak
By Josh Batelli Special to the Informer The Hartford Hawks shook up the America East volleyball landscape on Oct. 17 when they defeated the University at Albany with a thrilling 3-2 win. The Hawks and Great Danes battled in an exhilarating rst set which see-sawed back and forth until set-up extraordinaire, Lindsay Ford, surprised the Danes with a soft touch over the net to win the opening set for Hartford 26-10. Any momentum of the exciting rst set win soon evaporated for Hartford as the Danes jumped out to take a commanding 18-1 lead. But the Hawks refueled and outscored Albany 13 to 7 down the stretch. Unfortunately, the Danes’’ original lead proved to be insurmountable, as the Danes claimed the second set 25-14. The Danes scored four of the rst ve points, but the Hawks dominated play from there, winning the third set by a score of 25-21. During the fourth set, Hartford played from behind most of the way. Junior outside hitter Sydney Scott’’s kill closed the Hawks to within four at 14-10, but that’’s as close as they’’d get as the Danes pulled away to win the set 25-14. Tied 2-2, a fth and nal set was needed to determine the winner. Back to back kills blasted by Kami Nethersole and Sydney Scott opened the ““winner-takes-all”” set. Kills by junior Michelle Cordell and freshman Dionna Kirton upped the ante to 13-9 as the Hawks and the crowd anticipated the upset. The Hawks surrendered two quick points, but when Michelle Cordell added another kill, she brought the game to match point. With the score 14-11, an Albany kill attempt went long and the set was won by Hartford 15-11. The Hawks thrilled and played their heart out, nabbing the upset in a 3-2 victory over Albany who had won 10 out of 11 total games. The win also snapped a seven game slump for Hartford volleyball, and it was also the Lady Hawks’’ rst conference win of the year. Volleyball faces Stony Brook for their next match on Oct. 22.

SIMON PRESLEY

Broadway Bomb Race features longboarders, speeding through the city streets to the nish.

UHa Students Film Documentary, Skate In ‘‘Broadway Bomb Race’’
By Hayden Harrower Staff Writer The city streets of Manhattan were lled with hundreds of longboarders, including University of Hartford students, all vying to nish rst in the annual ““Broadway Bomb Race”” last weekend. The Broadway Bomb does not occur on the same day every year, there is no registration, there are no sponsors, there are no rules, many think the participants are crazy, and even though this event is increasing in popularity every year, many people still have never heard of it. The Broadway Bomb is an underground longboard race from 116th and Riverside to the Financial District in New York City spanning eight and half miles long. Due to the fact that the event is not ofcially recognized or sponsored, there are no blockades, and as a consequence riders are often forced to dodge trafc or even get hit by moving vehicles. The notion for the Broadway Bomb began back in 2001, when three friends made a bet as to who could make it through a section of Broadway in Manhattan the fastest. The Broadway Bomb has seen rapid growth in the last few years, as last weekend marked the ninth anniversary of the event with more than 400 skaters in attendance. University of Hartford junior Dave Tucker blended in with the fourhundred longboarders, with the exception of the video camera in his hand, documenting the thrilling race down Broadway last weekend. Junior Simon Presley also attended the Broadway Bomb this past weekend, along with Bob Bunker, Kristophe Machado-Mirasola and several other Hartford students, capturing hours of footage to build a documentary on the event. In an interview, Presley said, ““I feel that the event was a perfect representation of the current longboarding community,”” he said, ““I hope that this will lm help the community to grow even more.”” The Broadway Bomb is lmed every year, but this year the University of Hartford is building the documentary, which Presley hopes to make available on campus once it is nished.

HARTFORD SPORTS INFORMATION

Nethersole helped Hawks win their rst conference game.

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