Informer 3.24.11
Content
The Informer
Volume 34, Issue 19
hartfordinformer.com
Empty net By Dan Lifshatz & Jeremy Stanley Staff Writer and Editor-in-chief Hartford men’s head soccer coach Dan Gaspar resigned Monday to pursue a job in international coaching. Gaspar’s resignation comes as a surprise, as Gaspar had improved the Hartford program dramatically since joining the Hawks’ staff in 2005, reaching the America East Tournament for three consecutive years. Hawks midelder Andrew Liapis said, “We had practice on Monday and after practice we had a team meeting in the locker room and … he was emotional and he sat down with us and told us what the situation is.”
The resignation came as a shock “for some of the guys,” Liapis said. “He’s been here ve years. I feel that he gave a lot to the program he was a good coach. It was a good opportunity for him to improve his professional career, even though we don’t know where he’s going.” Since 2005, Gaspar and the Hawks compiled a 36-46-21 record, while reaching three America East Tournaments in a row in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Along the way, Gaspar helped 19 players gain America East All-Conference Honors, six of which were rst team members. Gaspar was also an integral part of the Hawks soccer program as a goalkeeper, playing from 1974-1977. As a goalkeeper, he helped the team
March 24, 2011
Dan Gaspar pursues international coaching job make NCAA Tournament appearances in 1976 and 1977, posting a career goals-against-average of 1.52, according to hartfordhawks.com. Liapis said, “he really gave everything he had to the program, he wanted to improve the level of play here.” Gaspar has also helped Hartford’s fan base increase by a large amount. Hartford ranked 39th in the country in 2008, with an average attendance of 814 per-game, while following up another impressive campaign in 2009, ranking 41st in the nation with an average attendance of 778 fans a game, according to hartfordhawks.com. The future remains unclear for the program—a national search for a new coach is underway—
players could choose to transfer. Liapis said, “He has a great reputation, it could help players [pursue professional careers, because] he’s a good guy to know.” At the same time, players who are upset with Gaspar leaving may opt to transfer, but it’s too early to tell, Liapis said. Patricia Meiser, the athletic director, told hartfordhawks.com, “His leadership and dedication to advancing Hartford men’s soccer will be hard to replace. We wish coach Gaspar the best of luck in his next endeavor.” Gaspar has been rumored to be interested in joining the Iranian national team with his longtime friend Carlos Queiroz, who is being strongly considered to take the Iranian national job.
Above: Hawks goalkeeper from 1974 to 1977, Dan Gaspar has coached the Hawks for six successful seasons. He announced his resignation on Monday. HARTFORD SPORTS INFORMATION
Mixed-gender housing trial extends to RAs
By Jeremy Stanley Editor-in-chief
Resident assistants will have the opportunity to live in mixed-gender housing beginning in the fall. The change marks an expansion of a pilot program introduced this year that allowed students to apply, but housing was limited to the Village Quad No. 3. Under the new plan, any resident assistant could bring in whomever they choose, assistant director for student development Shawn McQuillan said. RAs follow the same process for students wishing to live in mixed-gender housing: a special application is submitted and reviewed by the Ofce of Residential Life, then students must attend a “living together” seminar,
said McQuillan. One of the main differences between non-RAs and RA mixed-gender housing is anchoring privileges. Since RAs can get new assignments each year, all non-RAs in the apartment are not allowed to stay in the apartment from year to year. What’s more, if an RA leaves mid-semester, the apartment will be vacated of all residents, because RAs are allowed to pull in roommates of their choosing. Next fall, mixed-gender housing in the Village Quad No. 3 will continue based on the success of the pilot program implemented this academic year. This is part of a series of initiatives in place by the Ofce of Residential Life to do “what’s best for students,” McQuillan said.
Substance-free housing in Regents Park: page 2
Room selection times
Room selection takes place Saturday April 9. Numbers were sent out to students recently designating what time to arrive at Konover. The full selection list is available on our website at hartfordinformer.com.
Saturday 9-Apr-11
9:00-9:10am 9:10-9:20 9:20-9:30 9:30-9:40 9:40-10:00 10:00-10:15 10:15-10:30 10:30-10:45 10:45-11:00 11:00-11:15 11:15-11:30 11:30-11:45 11:45-12:00 12:00-12:15pm 12:15-12:30 12:30-12:45
10001-10045 10046-10091 10092-10137 10138-10183 10184-10229 10230-10275 10276-10321 10322-10367 10368-10413 10414-10459 10460-10505 10506-10551 BREAK 10552-10592 OFFICE OF RESIDENTIAL LIFE
page 2
the informer
news
march 24, 2011
New option for substance-free housing
UHa faculty recognized in search for Atlantis By Ben Gyurik Staff Writer
COURTESY OF RESIDENTIAL LIFE
A new option for substance-free housing in the East wing of Regents Park will be given for next year. By Kaitlin Schroyer Staff Writer Students now have a new option for housing with the addition of a substance free wing in Regents East rst oor, along with the Special Interest housing, beginning this fall. According to Shawn McQuillan, Assistant Director for Community Development, students can apply as an individual, partial group, or whole groups. After receiving applications on March 30, the Ofce of Residential Life will be reviewing the candidates and notifying students who are selected to participate in this pilot program. Students who are selected will need to sign a Substance Free Living Agreement and participate in a series of meetings and events through the whole year. “We will have an RA on the wing,” McQuillan said, “However, we expect the students to self-monitor their behavior and adhere to the
policies set worth. We also expect that each suite which is designated substance free will self-govern themselves, as each of them will have applied for the substance free program.” Students who violate the living agreement will be subject to being relocated to another residential facility on campus. If the student is under 21 or violates the Code of Student Conduct, they will be also referred to the Ofce of Student Conduct Administration. Students participating in the program will also be expected to participate in a series of meetings and other programmatic events relating to the new type of housing. These meetings and programs will be conducted by the Ofce of Residential Life and the Connections Health Education and Wellness Center. “It’s a way to stay substance free,”
Sam Rowell, a freshman currently interested in the program, said, “It’s cool that they’re offering a place for people who don’t want to deal with substances to not have to deal with it.” However, not all students are convinced about the program. “It’s a travesty that good behavior is rewarded by being placed on a crappy building on campus,” Nick Schuberth, a junior, said, “The practicality of [the program] being advantageous to [those living there] is questionable.” Although an unfortunate spot to live, there is something to say about the program’s benets. “If the program works out, then it outweighs having to live in the not as nice dorm,” Rowell said, “The success of the program rides on having a good number of the participants to holding each other to the social standard.”
Richard Freund, director of the University’s Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies, continues to gain worldwide interest for the work he and a team of archaeologists and scientists have been doing in southern Spain that could potentially be the location of the legendary city of Atlantis. Freund, who’s scheduled appearance on NBC’s Today Show last week was postponed, will still be featured on the show at a date that has yet to be announced. The location of the site is within a marshland of southern Spain, and the team has been surveying for artifacts. Any evidence found is being matched with the philosopher Plato’s explanation of Atlantis’ existence; to solve one of the
world’s biggest mysteries. Freund explained in an interview with Reuters that the cause of the lost city was something not uncommon today; a tsunami. According to him, the search began after the discovery of a series of “memorial cities” in Spain, places residents of Atlantis ed to after it was destroyed. Because of this, Freund and his team expect that Atlantis was buried somewhere along Spain’s southern coast. “We found something that no one else has ever seen before, which gives it a layer of credibility, especially for archeology, that makes a lot more sense,” Freund told Reuters. Freund has already done interviews with various media outlets such as WNPR Radio, NBC Connecticut, the New Haven Register, WTNH Channel 8, Fox CT, BBC Radio, and numerous other outlets.
COURTESY OF ATLANTIPEDIA.IE
Richard Freund of the Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies gained national attention for his work in uncovering the city of Atlantis.
informer staff
Need science credits?
Jeremy Stanley ‘11
Lee Matias ‘12
Editor-in-Chief
Business Manager
Danielle Huppke ‘12
Paige Patunas ‘11
Managing Editor
Copy Chief
Sarah Wilson ‘12
Spencer Allan Brooks ‘12
News Editor
Art Director
Jessica Rutledge ‘11
Alex Janes ‘13
Sports Editor
I.T. Director
Andy Swetz ‘13
Leonardo Sanchez ‘11
Entertainment Editor
Distribution Manager
publication information UVM Summer University offers a variety of science courses in medical, health, biological & physical sciences with credits that can transfer back to your institution. This summer, focus on the requirements that you really need. Post-baccalaureate summer premedical programs available, as well as over 400 general requirement courses. Registration begins February 15. Summer classes start May 23.
Catch Up. Get Ahead. On Campus. Online. uvm.edu/summer/hartford
The Informer accepts articles and Informer mailing address: editorials from students, staff and faculty, The Informer as well as selected letters from outside of GSU Rm.158 the University community. Submissions University of Hartford may be made in person or via intercampus mail (bring or address items to Gengras 200 Bloomeld Avenue Student Union, Room 158), through U.S. West Hartford, CT 06117 mail (see address at right), or by e-mail, without attachments. The deadline for Business: 860-768-4723 article submission is set by each section editor, and is Newsroom: 860-768-5723 used at the editor’s discretion. All submitted articles are Fax: 860-768-4728 subject to further editing. E-mail: [email protected] We welcome signed letters to the editor. Anonymous Online: letters will not be printed! Under certain circumstances, letters will be published with the author’s name withwww.hartfordinformer.com held. For consideration, letters must be received (by any The Informer is produced using method above) before 5 p.m. on Monday of the target Adobe InDesign on Apple Macinissue’s publication week. We reserve the right to edit for space, grammar, clarity and content. We will not publish tosh computers. The Informer uses letters that we feel are in poor taste or constitute libel. The a Nikon digital camera. The paper decision not to publish a piece is made by the editors, who is printed at Turley Publications in are not required to notify the author. Letters do not neces- Palmer, Massachusetts. sarily reect the opinions of the Informer in general or any staff member in particular, nor does the expressed opinion of a staff member necessarily reect that of the entire staff or editor. All advertising is subject to review by the Business Manager and the editors. Any ad that violates the University policy will not be run. The deadline for ads is 5 p.m. on Friday of the week prior to publication. A digital version of our rate card is available on our website, and a hard copy is available upon request. Please note that these rates may change without notice until an insertion order is made and approved. U.S. Mail subscriptions to the Informer are available for $26 per academic year. While single copies of the Informer are distributed locally without charge, quantities greater than one must be purchased at a rate of $1.00 per issue. ©2011 The Informer. No work herein may be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the Editor-in-Chief. The Informer is a member publication of U-Wire and the Associated Collegiate Press.
the informer
news
march 24, 2011
Taste the best, Page 93 page the Best of Hartford
14 Wintonbury Mall Bloomeld, CT 06002 (860) 242-8289 Ginza is only 5 minutes away from campus!
Now accepting Hawk Cash Be sure to check out our weekday specials! half off scorpion bowls and sake bombs
Buy any two entrees, get third free. discount applies to items equal or lesser value. cannot be combined with any other offer.
take 15% off order (just show your college id)
All offers are good with a valid with College ID. Must be 21 and over to consume alcoholic beverages.
“Ancient Traditions... Modern Taste” (860) 549-3364 • 93 Asylum Street • Hartford, CT 06103
Parents visiting? Take them to Feng Asian Bistro for a ne dining experience Late Night Happy Hour 10 p.m.-12 Midnight Half price food & Drink Specials
the informer
page 4
news
march 24, 2011
UHa Habitat for Humanity spends spring break giving back By Sarah Wilson News Editor
college campuses across the country to carry out community service projects. While working in the area, the students were housed by several churches in the surrounding area, and were able to use facilities at Valdosta State University. They spent the days working from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Georgia heat so they could complete the house before the week was up. Giammarino explained that the students were also responsible for caulking and painting the house, and preparing the backyard for grass by tearing out tree roots, vines, cement, bricks and broken glass from the ground, manual labor that she says paid off. “It’s the most rewarding experience at the end of the week to see the smile on a new homeowners’ faces,” said Giammarino.
In Georgia, 25 University of Hartford students spent their spring break not by relaxing poolside in the southern heat, but committing themselves to a week of physical labor. Members of the University’s Habitat for Humanity chapter traveled to Valdosta, Georgia, last week where they spent the time building a house the only way to do it; from the ground up. “The students sided the house, put in door frames, doors, molding, and window sills,” said Marissa Giammarino, Vice President of the organization. The group was participating with the Valdosta-Lowdnes County Habitat for Humanity chapter as part of the Collegiate Challenge, a contest encouraging groups on
For her as well as four other members of the organization, this was the second year in a row they have spent their spring break in a similar location in Georgia, which provided the opportunity to see the house that was originally built last year. “Seeing it made my eyes water, but seeing the person living in the house I helped build made me cry,” said Giammarino of the moving experience she encountered upon return. “It was one of the proudest moments of my life,” she continued. Giammarino, along with other members, got started with Habitat for Humanity during their freshman years here, a decision nobody seems to regret. “Giving up a week to put a roof over somebody’s head means everything,” Giammarino added.
MARISSA GIAMMARINO
The university’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity spent the spring break building a house in Georgia.
International Week brings authentic cuisine, entertainment By Sarah Wilson News Editor
ADAM MANISON
Fresh sushi was being rolled in GSU Tuesday as part of International Week. The celebration will continue throughout the rest of the week.
The end of this week marks the nale of the University’s International Week with a festival comprising foreign entertainment and cuisine. The festival, which will take place on Saturday, March 26, feature three main entertainment acts with authentic dancing and music. The Val Ramos Ensemble features amenco dancing, a Spanish type of dance that is “sophisticated, colorful, and complex” according to the group’s website. MacTalla Mor, is a group specializing in Celtic music, incorporating bagpipes, organs, percussion and Gealic singing. The musical background is combined with Irish step
Start Next Fall with more Credits and more CASH!
Save 50%
or more off University prices. Take transferable courses at Tunxis this summer.
Registration begins April 4
CALL: 860.255.3500 tunxis.commnet.edu ®
facebook.com/tunxis
Tunxis Community College, 271 Scott Swamp Road, Farmington, CT 06032 Facebook is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc.
dancing for a unique experience. The third group, Inca Son, are an eclectic combination of song and dance hailing from the Andes. They are National Peruvian Folkdance Champions, and use traditional Inca instruments and dress to put on a performance enjoyable to all ages. Over the past week the University has been celebrating cultures around the world with cuisine from around the world, lessons in different languages, an international photography competition, as well as dance lessons, among other activities. On Thursday students are invited to learn about potential foreign locations of study at the Study Abroad Fair in Suisman lounge at 11:30 a.m.
On Friday there will be an opportunity for lessons in salsa dancing by an experienced instructor from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. for a student fee of $5. “Taste of the World” can also be found for the remainder of the week in Gengras and Commons where a different food prepared by ARAMARK will be featured each day from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. As an end to the celebrations, the festival will take place in Gengras Student Union at 5 p.m. Admission is $5 for students, and $12 for nonstudents. However, anyone who has obtained stamps from ve events throughout the week will get into the event for free. Tickets can be purchased at the door, or ahead of the time at the International Ofce in GSU 327.
The Informer
Page 5
Opinions hartfordinformer.com/opinions/
March 24, 2011
Don’t read this column, read a book
Imagine campus life at the University of Hartford if coffee, sex and alcohol were replaced with regular attendance and participation in church services. Well that’s the life students of Brigham Young University sign up for as soon as they step onto the sprawling campus in Provo, Utah. Just a few weeks back a scandal erupted when one of BYU’s star basketball players was kicked off of the team for violating a key stipulation in the schools honor code, no premarital sex. Located in the heart of Mormon country, it’s no big surprise that the private university owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints would take extreme offense to Brandon Davies straying from their conservative ways. As the number three seed in the NCAA tournament, the Cougar’s suffered an enormous blow by losing Davies. The 6-foot-9 forward has been regarded as the school’s second best player just behind player of the year candidate Jimmer Fredette. BYU requires all athletes to sign and abide by a behavioral contract to remain on their varsity sports team. This contract enforces that students live a chaste and virtuous life, attend church service regularly, not use vulgar language, abstain from the use of alcohol and tobacco, and last but not least no caffeinated
in the rst place. But for the school to go so far as to possibly remove him from the institution based off of one mistake is absurd. BYU never ofcially disclosed what cardinal rule was broken either, but Davies himself admitted to the public that his chastity belt wasn’t Danielle Huppke • Managing Editor fastened as tightly as it should have [email protected] been. Twitter: @danielle618 The 19-year-old sophomore is said to be extremely remorseful and beverages of any kind. heartbroken, according to the Salt I have to wonder if Brandon Da- Lake Tribune, even going so far as vies had been caught with a double making a public apology. tall iced soy caramel macchiato in his If he’s honestly that remorseful, palm would he have been kicked off shouldn’t he be granted a time for the team as well or would a warning confession and forgiveness? The debe offered? vout religious school should practice Now BYU sets a pretty restricting what they preach and at least extend list of rules to abide by for the aver- that right to an athlete who made age college student however it’s fair an honest mistake. to guess that Davies was well versed For the Cougars, this season was in the lifestyle by the time he arrived shaping up to be the best in BYU’s on the BYU campus. history. After the dismissal of DaAnd there lies the split views on the vies, their hopes of NCAA victory Davies scandal 2011. One side be- seemed to zzle with a crushing loss lieves rules are rules and by breaking to New Mexico the following night. one consequence must immediately According to an interview for the ensue. The other side believes that Salt Lake Tribune teammate Jimmer the university is taking this honor Fredette said Davies apologized to code policy to the extreme. the team, “he told us he was sorry Yes, Davies knew the terms of the and that he let us down. We just honor code he signed along with held our heads high and told him it all of the other students attending was okay, that it’s life, and you make Brigham Young, therefore critics mistakes, and you just got to play could argue that being fully aware of through it.” The Cougars are lookthe rules the basketball star shouldn’t ing to make it to the elite 8 during have participated in the lustful act the next round of the tournament.
In a recent class of mine, the professor opened class by asking what books we were currently reading, aside from assigned schoolwork. A trickle of hesitant responses followed, a few females blurting out Jodi Picoult titles, accompanied with a number of uncondent students racking their brains to recall the last thing they had read for pleasure. Others outwardly admitted, “I don’t read.” This utter lack of interest in literature shouldn’t come as a surprise. In the balance between constant homework assignments and day-to-day internships, students hardly have time to leisurely kick back and stare at words on a page for any signicant period of time. But to not read ever? You’re doing yourself a horrible educational disservice. Maybe this common evasion of literature seen in college students stems from the perpetual requirement that has spanned the majority of a twenty-something’s life. Once something becomes an obligation, most often pleasure is lost somewhere along the lines as well. This, unfortunately, leaves the act of reading with a connotation similar to that of those “two trains are traveling at different speeds …” math problems everyone tried so hard to avoid in high school. A signicant part of the problem, in that case, is that nobody even bothers to give it another go. Since escaping required reading over the summer and a book a week being assigned in that pesky AP English class, they want to run and never look back. The trick is to nd a book that interests you. Somewhere along the shelves of Barnes and Nobel
There are two paragraphs that need scrubbing, or at least modication, in the NCAA’s media policies for sporting events. These paragraphs prohibit media from providing real-time accounts of game action, instead leaving that task to its own website. So when The Informer set out to cover the NCAA women’s rst round game between Hartford and UConn, we set out with the same mission as our coverage of the America East Championships: providing a live blog and recap instantly on the website. Instead, the backwards and just downright silly policy the NCAA has prevented us from doing the rst. I sat court side, doing what we normally do: frequently updating readers on stats and important
fans undoubtedly missed some of the action). About half way through the rst half, a representative from the NCAA came out and asked me to stop doing the live blog. I asked for a reason and was told I could only update once or twice a half. I obliged, but was dumbfounded as to the reasoning. It’s strange to me that, in the era of social media, that The Informer would be prevented from constantly updating its readers on what is going on. This is especially true when thinking about how low viewership and national attention is paid to women’s sports. The publicity helps and it’s not like, by publishing quick updates, the live blog was hurting ESPN’s ratings (I even
mentioned the game could be seen on the channel). Think of it this way: I was reading Twitter Sunday when someone posted about the Duke-Michigan game getting into crunch time. I immediately went to turn on the television and watch the exciting nish. I posted a reply mimicking the NCAA’s policy saying, “realtime accounts and descriptions of the game are prohibited.” Without that real-time account of the game, I would have had no way of knowing the game was going on and I immediately scrambled to see the conclusion. I helped the NCAA make money. By live blogging the women’s game, there would be instant promotion for the sport. What more could the NCAA want?
COURTESY OF THEBULLGATOR.COM
Brandon Davies, forward for the BYU Cougars was kicked off the team for having premarital sex.
BYU honor code too strict for 2011
Sarah Wilson • News Editor [email protected] Twitter: @swyzleh or oating in the cyberspace of the Kindle Store there are books that will mind f*** you even more than the rst time you saw “Inception.” It’s just a matter of nding the right one before you’ll be hooked again. But fact of the matter is the lack of reading is going to do nothing but hurt you in the long run. If people spent more time reading novels rather than status updates, I’m sure putting apostrophes before the “s” in a plural word would happen a whole lot less (That’s a big grammar no-no, people). And come real-world job interview, when the potential employee asks what the last book you read was, a long pause before you can think hard enough to come up with “Harry Potter?” as your response, surely isn’t going to impress. If you can’t seem to nd the time to squeeze a little reading into your hectic collegiate schedule (a problem I often have myself), there’s always breaks. There’s summer. There’s weekends. And here’s the thing: books aren’t like movies. Three hundred pages don’t have to be read in one sitting. And if they are, all the more power to you, you’ve found your book. All in all, if nothing else just take some advice from Lil Jon, because even unlikely outdated rappers see this as an issue. (Just look up his song titled “Read a Book.” Okay?)
Instead, the NCAA would prefer its fans to seek out the dry, boring play-by-play updates on a Flash website without the commentary (or Hartford-centric perspective) on the game. That’s probably because advertising partnerships there help bring them the revenue (that do go mostly towardstudent-athlete scholarships), but if they crack down on a student publication that gets really a meaningless following, why not go after every single person who tweets about the game? What gets me the most, is that if I had stayed home and watched the feed on television, I could have probably live blogged the whole game. If you can’t police it outside the Gampel Pavilion, don’t police it inside. Let us do our job.
NCAA restricts reporters, limits game live blogging Jeremy Stanley • Editor-in-Chief [email protected] Twitter: @JeremyDStanley plays with a little bit of commentary thrown in. The whole reason we do this is to incite and provoke responses from our readers. Plus, it serves as a supplement to those who can see the game (furthermore, viewers outside of Connecticut were also subjected to ESPN2’s “whip-around” coverage of four games at once, meaning
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
Page 6
Entertainment hartfordinformer.com/entertainment/
March 24, 2011
STN2 live sportscast attacked on national front By Andy Swetz Entertainment Editor Live coverage of the America East Tournament by the University’s student news network went viral and came under attack on the Internet and national TV receiving over 75,000 hits on one site alone. Appearing on the popular sports website Deadspin.com, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and the blog of comedian Daniel Tosh, the sportscast was edited down to only highlight the mistakes made by both of the reporters. The live tournament recap, hosted by students Brendan Marshall and Darius Wilmot, experienced its share of technical glitches including a slow teleprompter and bad camera direction. However, the majority of the broadcast went relatively smooth featuring a representative from Stony Brook, a school involved in the tournament. What satiated the appetite on the national front was the careful editing to maximize the mistakes of the STN2 reporters for a quick laugh. Although talk show host Jimmy Kimmel included the fact that the sportscasters lacked experience on his March 15 show, that still didn’t stop him from airing the edited video and landing joke after joke on ABC, just in time for March Madness. Hitting the video relatively harder than Kimmel, Deadspin. com went as far as to humiliate the sportscasters by comparing them to other “media meltdowns” at other schools. STN2 issued a statement saying “STN is an educational organization. The best part of what we do is giving students a chance to try something new for the rst time.
The process involves making mistakes in order to grow from them.” Unfortunately Marshall voiced his distaste with the website and retaliated via Twitter with a few choice words. The tweet, containing vulgar language, had a screen shot taken of it by Deadspin and then posted to their site. Although the Internet has astonishing capabilities to break stories at a fraction of the time it used to take, the ip side of the speedy uploads has left STN2 at the butt of a viral joke. I think both Deadspin and Kimmel are denitely lacking in material as they stoop down to scrap up mistakes made by amateur sportscasters. The fact that a Stony Brook student originally uploaded the video proves that the intentional editing was an attack on Hartford. Since the broadcast hit the web STN2 has successfully fought copyright infringements with YouTube to remove the video. However, the video is still accessible through Comedy Central’s Tosh.0 Blog. The blog, in conjunction with the show that is now on hiatus, titled the video “It’s Time to Change Your Major” and links to the popular video site Today’s Big Thing. Today’s Big Thing titled the video “Amazingly Awkward Sportscasters” and featured the tape as the video of the day for March 14. Despite the video’s brief appearances on national television and a popular sports website, it seems as if the viral video effect has come to a relatively quick halt as most Internet videos do. The live tournament recap was a learning experience for both the sportscasters and STN2 that they will never forget.
COURTESY OF ABC.GO.COM
COURTESY OF ABC.GO.COM
The University’s student run television network was featured on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” as well as Deadspin.com for mistakes they made while broadcasting a live recap of the America East Tournament.
Black scores Internet fame for all the wrong reasons By Kelsey Sterling Staff Writer Rebecca Black’s new YouTube sensation “Friday,” an overnight hit, reached millions of views within a mere few days. The nasally voice, ridiculous lyrics and overall awkwardness all work together to produce one of the worst possible songs ever recorded and posted online. Despite the hate this video has received, it has become a superpopular phenomenon simply for being, well, bad. The question arises: can just anyone become a YouTube sensation by throwing a few thousand dollars into producing a low-quality tune and an even lower-quality video? Black’s mother evidently paid Los Angeles-based record company Ark Music Factory $2,000 to pop out an absurd song and matching video; which may just actually be worth it considering digital sales could reach up to $25,000 while YouTube views may amount to $20,000. Whether or not we like it, Rebecca Black is a star. But a few questions come to mind: why does she feel the need
COURTESY OF ESCAPISTMAGAZINE.COM
Becoming a hit song over night, “Friday” by Rebecca Black has received mixed reviews from critics. to explain every single minute detail of her morning? “Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal …” Okay, cool. Is that even a lyric? Furthermore, why exactly is she waiting at the bus
stop if her thirteen year old friends pull up in their convertible half a second later? Even furthermore, how do thirteen-year-old children legally obtain a driver’s license? And what
is with the dilemma about which seat she should take … there aren’t that many options considering there’s only one seat left and it’s obviously designated for her. Is this supposed to have some sym-
bolic meaning? Fail. Last but not least, I am familiar with the days of the week, Rebecca Black, but thank you kindly for the clarication. The fact that such a terrible tune with lackluster lyrics and an amateur star poses a concern about Internet stardom. Can just anyone become famous overnight through YouTube with a couple thousand bucks and zero skill? Based upon this sensation, it seems to be so. Internet stardom can be a good thing, but only if you have the potential to become a singer or Internet sensation; Justin Bieber status. Unfortunately for this eighth-grade accidental phenomenon, she has become famous for all the wrong reasons. However, she has become famous nonetheless. In addition to the YouTube success the song is being downloaded on iTunes, and Black and her team could make upwards of $1 million. As for press time, “Friday” sat at the number 33 spot on the iTunes chart. Apart from all the chaos Rebecca Black has caused over the past couple of weeks, at least we can thank her for one thing: we will never forget that Friday comes after Thursday.
the informer
entertainment
page 7
march 24, 2011
COURTESY OF POSH24.COM
COURTESY OF CONNECT.IN.COM
MTV’s “Jersey Shore” is preparing to wrap up its latest season that has relocated the rowdy crowd of Italian’s back to where they established their humble beginning.
‘Jersey Shore’ turns up heat for season nale By Brandon Goncalves Special to the Informer With the nale right around the corner, get ready to st pump a farewell to America’s most notorious Guidos as the third season of “Jersey Shore” is near completion. GTL was finally brought back to Seaside Heights, this past season, as Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and the rest of the gang return to where it all began from the spectacle they created for themselves in Miami during season two. Despite that, Snooki and her co-stars certainly have left a mark for themselves as new drama, a new roommate and the ongoing Sam/Ron saga have spiced up televisions all across the country. Seen by over six million viewers, season three’s 12th and latest episode paved the way for what will hopefully be a juicy and entertaining nale, leaving the episode count at 13. As tensions begin to arise between roommates, we nd ourselves captivated by how everything will become resolved in the nale set for March 24. But then again, what can be more entertaining than a house lled with heated Guidos? “Jersey Shore’s” latest episode continues with the awkward relationship shared between our favorite meatball, Snooki, and Vinny Guadagnino. The two appear to harbor untold feelings for each other throughout the season, but Vinny proceeds to “smush” with other girls. He is seen in this episode treating Snooki to dinner, ultimately highlighting their bond, but it is not until after he gets his ears pierced for the rst time that a different side appears. In addition to cracking jokes about Deena’s hideous denim ensemble and participating in a heated rap battle with Sammi Sweetheart, Vinny continues to play with Snooki’s heart following a not-so-successful night at Aztec, one of the group’s many Seaside hot spots. While intoxicated at the Shore house, he attempts to seduce a sober Nicole, whose feelings were not mutual, and fails. Even so, the two remain “Jersey Shore” favorites after always managing to sustain their friendship. The rocky relationship between Sammi Sweetheart and her “juicehead gorilla” boyfriend Ronnie, known for his signature laugh and indiscretion back in Miami during season two, also continues to heat up just in time for the nale (and
not in the good way). Following an intense fall-out that led to Sam’s brief departure from the show, the two attempt to rekindle what’s left of their relationship until
some Guido named Arvin arrives at Karma one night, claiming to have been invited by Sam. Hoping to “help a brother out” and ultimately ruining any hope of Ron and Sam engaging in
a functional relationship, Mike “The Situation” steps in hoping to show Sam’s disloyalty. He calls Arvin on the phone himself who validates Sam’s duplicity and motives to Ron.
With the house divided girls against guys, the episode ends with Ron about to confront Sam once again, producing some great entertainment for the nale.
Calling all students and young professionals!
Temple Street Townhouses Hartford’s Premier Off-Campus Housing NOW RENTING!
Kick back in these furnished 4 & 5 Bedroom, 2-2 1/2 bathroom townhouses with washers and dryers, fully applianced kitchens and garage parking. Heat, hot water, AC, basic cable, high-speed internet and local phone service are ALL included! You can have all of this right here in downtown Hartford! Call 860-768-3500 and schedule a tour today! Visit us at www.templestreettownhouses.com or on facebook! 29 Temple Street, Hartford, CT
page 8
the informer
entertainment
march 24, 2011
Publisher censors N-word in American classic An Alabama publishing company has taken Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and replaced the N-word with the word “slave,” which appears in the novel 219 times. A staple of American literature, the Twain classic has been stirring up controversy ever since its rst publication in 1885. NewSouth Books, a company based in Little Rock, has printed 7,500 copies of the newly censored book in hopes of persuading schools that have banned the book to reconsider dropping it from their curriculum. “If you can have the discussion and you’re comfortable havin’ the discussion, have it. Have it with it in there. But if you’re not comfortable with that, then here’s an alternative for you to use. And I would argue to you that it’s still powerful,” coowner of NewSouth said during a “60 Minutes” interview. With many school districts around the country banning the text, the controversy over one powerful word is brought into question. I can recall high school English when the word was read by my teacher the gasps of students around me lling the air. A word so com-
Andy Swetz Entertainment Editor [email protected] Twitter: @TheKineticKid monly and used and hackneyed in rap songs suddenly becomes verbal pornography in the context of a classroom. But why? It is regarded that Twain’s intention in using the N-word was to capture the language of the times of the novel, dating before the civil war. Whether a teacher decides to say the word or not in a school where the novel is still taught, the subject of race must be brought up to fully understand and discuss the story. To me, any altercation to an author’s work no matter how old it might be for the sake of not offending someone is simply wrong, especially to a book of such magnitude in America. Generally regarded with a negative connotation, the word itself it
not what seems to offend people, rather the images it evokes such as slavery, oppression and the individuals who use it. Yes, the N-word is considered vulgar, but eliminating it from this novel will suppress the emotional and historical weight it carried in accurately depicting the time period. Even today I think people that use the word in everyday conversation forget the weight of what they’re actually saying. That fact that it is socially unacceptable for anyone to use the word other than African Americans also contributes to the way people view the word in the context of the novel. I think taking the word out of the novel would be suppressing the impact of how far America has come in terms of equality. It is the power of the written word, one word at that, which has caused so much controversy. I believe the real issue lies in what the N-word is associated with and not the fact that the word is so offensive. My opinion is to leave Twain alone and use the word to stimulate an intelligent and educational conversation about why it evokes so much tension and anger.
COURTESY OF ANSWERS.COM
Mark Twain’s 125-year-old novel is stirring up controversy yet again.
Adele soars to top of charts with latest release “21” By Danielle Nielsen Staff Writer U.K. Female singer and songwriter Adele had just released her second album in the U.S. titled “21.” This album has put her in the spotlight far more than her debut album that was released in 2008 titled “19.” Within the rst week of her release “21” peaked at number
one on the U.S. Billboard 200. In the U.K. the album is one of the biggest selling albums thus far. Adele started singing at age four and her passion for music was quite evident. While growing up listening to artists such as the Spice Girls, Etta James and Peggy Lee, she was inuenced by many of these female vocalist’s styles. Adele has taken the styles of her musical inuences and
created a unique sound. For most artists the instrumentals compliment their voice, but for Adele her voice compliments the music. With having such a vast vocal range, her voice is so powerful. The instruments used on her tracks are merely faint sounds in comparison to her voice. There is a noticeable growth and maturity in her voice between her rst and
off of the album. Featuring drums and a soulful bluesy sound, it isn’t a wonder why this has been a popular song for radio stations to play. Another great track off of the album happens to be a cover of “Lovesong” originally written and performed by The Cure who happen to be another one of Adele’s musical inuences. Bands such as 311, Anberlin and Jack Off Jill have covered “Lovesong” in the past. Covers can become monotonous especially this one. Adele put her own twist on the song with a soulful ballad feel, which by far surpasses any cover of “Lovesong” done before. Adele is different and is unlike any female artist presently. The industry has been lacking a powerful female voice up until now. “21” has had tremendous success both in the U.S. and U.K. and her popularity will only increase. Adele will have tour dates throughout the U.S. starting in May.
D SFEJUTJOXFFLT 3FBMMZ
second album. “21” was named simply because Adele wanted to differentiate her songs that she has written according to who she is as a person and experiences she is going through. Many of the songs were written and inspired from a recent break up she went through. Her lyrics tell a story and usually revolve around love and personal battles. Adele takes us into her personal life by way of music. The album has a wide range of song types from ballads, blues, gospel-like and R&B. Track to track keeps you listening and not one song sounds the same. Out of the three singles off of the album “Set Fire to the Rain” is my favorite. This piano ballad simply shows off all of Adele’s musical attributes. With a wide vocal range, well written lyrics and a beautiful piano melody in the background of her voice. “Rumour Has It” is one of the most upbeat and catchiest tracks
1BDF6OJWFSTJUZPGGFSTNPSFUIBODPVSTFT UIJTTVNNFSUPIFMQZPVHFUBIFBEBOE¾OJTI ZPVSEFHSFFGBTUFS $IPPTFGSPNDPVSTFTPOCPUIPVS/FX:PSL$JUZ BOE8FTUDIFTUFSDBNQVTFTJOTVDIBSFBTBT "DDPVOUJOH #JPMPHZ 'JOBODF 1IZTJDT
"OBUPNZ "SU $IFNJTUSZ &DPOPNJDT -JUFSBUVSF .BOBHFNFOU 1TZDIPMPHZ
4VNNFS4FTTJPO*CFHJOT 5VFTEBZ .BZ
Q
4VNNFS4FTTJPO**CFHJOT 8FEOFTEBZ +VMZ
Q
(800) 874-PACE Ext. A65
Special summer rate. Learn more at:
www.pace.edu/summer
COURTESY OF LOT956.COM
U.K. singer Adele has expressed maturity with the release of “21.”
the informer classifieds march 24, 2011
Place a classied ad in our all new
hawkslist starting at only 5 bucks!
Call 860.768.4723 Email [email protected]
page 9
- Will students have to pay for towing after the early March flood? - How will Gov. Malloy implement a coupon tax? - A professor talks about his quest to find Atlantis.
Tune in live at 5 every Friday on Channel 2!
Watch the Impact We Make!
Get your Message Read! Help Wanted
Opinion Writers Wanted Interested in current events in politics, world events or current affairs? How about University events or programs? If so then consider writing for the student newspaper! If interested please contact the managing editor: Danielle Huppke managingeditor@ hartfordinformer.com (860) 768-4723
Help Wanted
Entertainment Writers Wanted Love movies, music, television or games? Maybe writing for the Informer would be the perfect match. It is a fantastic way to get involved. The Informer is looking for entertainment writers to cover stories about the latest movies, television shows and music events. No experience is required and training is hosted throughout the year. If interested please contact the Entertainment Editor:
Upcoming Events 3/26 - Battle of the Bands 3pm to 10pm in Konover great room 4/14 -4/16 - Spring Fling 4/30 - Free NYC Trip Leaves Konover at 9:00am Bus Leaves NYC at 10:00pm
Andy Swetz
News Writers Wanted Interested in current events in politics, world events or current affairs? How about University events or programs? If so then consider writing for the student newspaper! It is a fun and exciting experience that allows regular students to get involved. Prior experience is a plus, but not a deciding factor. Training will be sponsored throughout the year for Informer staff writers. If interested please contact the News Editor:
entertainmenteditor@ hartfordinformer.com (860) 768-4723
Sports Writers Wanted Looking to get involved? Want to write for The Informer? The Informer is currently looking for sports writers to cover Hartford Hawks sporting events. No experience required as training will be hosted throughout the year. If interested please contact the Sports Editor:
Sarah Wilson newseditor@ hartfordinformer.com
Jessica Rutledge sportseditor@ hartfordinformer.com
860-768-5723
860-768-5723
Join Our Team! CAT meets First Tuesday of every month 12:00 p.m. GSU 331 Stop by the CAT office in GSU 132
Campus Activities Team Making College Even Better!
the informer
page 10
sports
march 24, 2011
Mental training:
Agile athletes’ brain focus, benecial on & off the eld
ADAM MANISON COURTESY OF ZEROTOBOSTON.COM
Recent studies show an athletes’ mental game is invaluable to life Characterized by exceptional physical dexterity, the edge that athletes have over non-athletes may also extend to mental focus. According to a New York Times article, a recent study performed at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign proved the mental focus ability of student athletes over non-athlete collegians during a virtual trafc-dodging experiment. The results of the experiment illustrated that a higher success rate for student athletes crossing the virtual street was not because the athletes were bigger, better or
Hawks y past Eagles 6-1, 7-0 By Tim Rizzo Staff Writer
Jessica Rutledge • Sports Editor [email protected] Twitter: @InformerSports fast-paced information to successfully cross the street,” Marois said. Immaculate coordination of mental and physical strength is what gives athletes an edge over everyone else, although it is still
“They [athletes] didn’t move faster, but it looks like they thought faster.” -Art Kramer, director of the Beckman Institute faster than the non-athletes. “What they did do was glance along the street a few more times than the non athletes, each time gathering slightly more data and processing it more speedily and accurately than the other students,” according to the New York Times article. “They [athletes] didn’t move faster,” said Art Kramer, the director of the Beckman Institute and a leader in the study of exercise and cognition, who oversaw the research. “But it looks like they thought faster,” he said. Sports emphasize the importance of mental conditioning for athletes in order to yield success on and off the eld. When an athlete is “in the zone,” the synchronization of mind and body allows the individual to excel beyond mental and physical challenges; the results of the revelatory study performed at the Beckman Institute show exciting new evidence that skills conditioned by athletes may impact their mental dexterity and the way they think entirely. Rene Marois, director of the Human Information Processing Laboratory at Vanderbilt commented on the experiment. “To the extent that athletes, in their sport, must routinely make split-second decisions in often very complex environments (e.g., whether to pass or kick the incoming soccer ball), it would make sense to me that they would have superior skill sets in processing the
First doubles’ player Josh Isaacson (above) and partner Aneil Bhalla won 8-3 at CSU.
debated as to how much these traits can be credited to Mother Nature versus practice and hard work. A modern variation of the ageold chicken and egg paradox asks, “Which came rst: the athlete or the athleticism?” The answer to this question is debatable, but I believe the solution to be an imbalanced combination of nature and nurture. In my opinion, athleticism and exceptional mental focus is manifested by a 3:1 ratio of nurture to natural ability. For instance, a person may be born with an IQ of 180, but without an education, practice and nurturing their full potential success may never be achieved. The strategic mental process and consequent success exhibited by athletes in the experiment at the Beckman Institute when crossing the street, could perhaps be applicable when taking a difcult test, facing a job interview or overcoming any challenge in life. “The constant multitasking and information processing demanded by athletics increase both the capacity of the athletes’ mental information processing systems and their speed,” according to the New York Times article. Future research will delve deeper into the subject of athletes and brain focus, but in the meantime, its a no brainer that sports are benecial for the body and mind and can help people keep their cool in everyday situations.
The University of Hartford men’s and women’s tennis teams took out their frustration of having to travel during their spring break on their opponent, unfortunately for the Coppin State Eagles, they were the Hawks competition. With a convincing 6-1 victory for the men’s team and a 7-0 victory for the women’s team, in a series of games where the women didn’t drop a single set, the Hawks received convincing victories for big conference wins against a long time rival. Coppin
State’s, James Jeffreys, started off the match against UHart with a (6-3, 6-0) win against freshman, Joel de los Santos, but after dropping the rst game, the Hawks never backed down from there. Edgardo Ureta won a hard fought (6-3, 7-6 (7-4)) match against Quincy Darko in a clear change of power between the two teams with UHart taking the next four games to complete a 6-1 rout of the Eagles, with the nal four singles matches resulting in UHart only dropping two sets total. On the women’s side of the court there was no dropping of any sets, writing anything in the Coppin State scorecard, and no chance this game
would be close. The University of Hartford women’s team did not drop a single set in all seven matches that counted. California native, Katina Zampas, started off the game with an 8-0 sweep of Coppin State’s Lauretta Mukam and with solid follow up performances by junior Haley Gileau and senior Nicole Haynal, the match couldn’t have ended quickly enough for the Eagles. The University of Hartford women’s team, with the win, puts their record at 3-5 on the season and will resume play March 24 against Quinnipiac, while the men’s team will resume play two days later against St. Francis in New Jersey.
Golf, No. 7 in spring break tourney
COURTESY OF HARTFORDHAWKS.COM
Sophomore Sarah Sideranko nished No. 17 individually, best among her teammates. By Erica White Staff Writer The University of Hartford women’s golf team placed seventh out of nine teams competing in the Homewood Suites Siena Invitational at the Wanamacker Course in Port Lucis, Fla. this past weekend to kick off their 2011 season. Notably, sophomore Sarah Sideranko earned the lowest single round of the tournament with a 74. Sideranko rebounded 13 points from her rst day of the tournament, putting her in rst
for the Hawks. She ultimately took 17th, nishing out the tournament with 161. In second place for Hartford was junior Emily Linn, who tied for 25th with a score of 165 after dropping three strokes her second round of play for an 81 on day two. Freshman Aubrey Ungvarsky had a score of 81 for day one and led the Hawks through the rst half of the tournament. She concluded day two with an 86, bringing her to a total of 167 and tying for a solid 28th place overall. In fourth for the Hawks was junior Marissa Kallaugher with a
175 and a respectable 39th place. Sophomore Kirsten LaPointe nished up in fth for Hartford with a 194 and a 47th place after improving by 16 strokes the second day of competition. The Hartford Hawks had two individual competitors on the green this past weekend. Freshmen Claire Crouch and Elizabeth Creighton came in 46th and 48th respectively. The Hartford Hawks will hit the links next at the Four Streams Golf Course in Beallsville, Md. for the Hoya Invitational, hosted by Georgetown University.
the informer
sports
march 24, 2011
page 11
The Informer
Sports the informer
Volume 34, Issue 19
sports
march 24, 2011
hartfordinformer.com/sports
March 24, 2011
‘Spring’ snow showers can’t stop lax from winning By Hayden Harrower Staff Writer The Hawks didn’t seem to mind the New England spring snow as they laid the Sacred Heart Pioneers to rest, their fth win of the season, and their second-straight against a team from Connecticut. The Hartford Hawks started out hot despite the weather, putting themselves on the board in the rst two minutes of the game they would go on to win 14-8. Freshman Tate Kildonas netted the rst goal, his sixth of the season. The goals would keep coming as junior, Carter Bender ripped in a goal only two minutes after a turnover by Sacred Heart, his rst of four during the Wednesday game. The Pioneers would prevent a rst period shutout by scoring one of their own with two minutes left in the period by Bailey Dodds, to nish out the quarter 4-1. Sacred Heart had gained most of its momentum in the second half of the game, but could not create an advantage by matching Hartford with two goals for the quarter. But the Hawk’s last goal of the half came with only 4.8 seconds left, with a long pass across the eld and an inside shot by Bender for his second goal. By the start of the second half the “spring” weather was in full stride creating the look of an outdoor winter lacrosse game, but the year-round training must have paid off for the Hawks as they continued to build their lead even more so, by outscoring the Pioneers 3-2 and 5-3, in the third and fourth quarters respectively.
ADAM MANISON
Wednesday’s freak snow storm victory brings Hartford’s record to 5-3 overall, with 3 wins and only 1 loss at home in 2011. After Carter Bender’s four, sophomore Rory Nunamacher had three goals of his own, juniors Martin
Bowes, Ryan Compitello and sophomore Jared Franze had two goals for their careers as well.
The Hawks lax team returns for more action in Staten Island against Wagner University March 26, and
returns to West Hartford for in-conference play, April 9 against Stony Brook University.
SPENCER ALLAN BROOKS
NCAA tourney: Last stop for Hawks’ wild season ride By Josh Batelli Staff Writer
ADAM MANISON
Seniors Jackie Smith and Mary Silvia were elated when the Hawks went on to win the conference championship in their nal season at the University of Hartford.
The 2010-2011 season was supposed to be a rebuilding one for the Hartford Hawks women’s basketball team. With a team that featured three seniors, two juniors and seven freshmen and sophomores, the Hawks stumbled to a 1-9 start. Though they were playing one of the toughest out of conference schedules in the nation, things didn’t get better when conference play opened up. Hartford, the class of the America East and losers of just 6 conference games in the previous ve seasons started the conference season at 3-4. Sitting at 6-14 overall and 3-4 in America East play, the post season seemed like an impossibility. The Hawks though, left their best play for the stretch run. After a loss to Boston University on Jan. 23, Hartford won eight out their nal nine regular season games. The late surge lifted the Hawks to fourth in the America East standings.
Playing their best basketball and the conference tournament on their home oor, the Hawks were in comfortable position. Hartford won a rugged 48-43 game over Albany in the America East quarternals.Next, they blew out the regular season champs UMBC 66-48. The Retrievers of UMBC had swept the Hawks during the season. In the conference championship game, the Hawks headed to Boston to take on BU. Unfazed by a hostile crowd, Hartford won 65-53. The tournament win meant an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It was Hartford’s third NCAA appearance in four years. Hartford drew a 16 seed and a matchup against UConn the two time defending national champions, and a team that has gone 110-1 since 2008. The Hawks battled Connecticut, but fell 75-39. Things look bright for the upcoming season, as the Hawks will return nine players who own big game experience and now a conference championship.
Volume 34, Issue 19
hartfordinformer.com
Empty net By Dan Lifshatz & Jeremy Stanley Staff Writer and Editor-in-chief Hartford men’s head soccer coach Dan Gaspar resigned Monday to pursue a job in international coaching. Gaspar’s resignation comes as a surprise, as Gaspar had improved the Hartford program dramatically since joining the Hawks’ staff in 2005, reaching the America East Tournament for three consecutive years. Hawks midelder Andrew Liapis said, “We had practice on Monday and after practice we had a team meeting in the locker room and … he was emotional and he sat down with us and told us what the situation is.”
The resignation came as a shock “for some of the guys,” Liapis said. “He’s been here ve years. I feel that he gave a lot to the program he was a good coach. It was a good opportunity for him to improve his professional career, even though we don’t know where he’s going.” Since 2005, Gaspar and the Hawks compiled a 36-46-21 record, while reaching three America East Tournaments in a row in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Along the way, Gaspar helped 19 players gain America East All-Conference Honors, six of which were rst team members. Gaspar was also an integral part of the Hawks soccer program as a goalkeeper, playing from 1974-1977. As a goalkeeper, he helped the team
March 24, 2011
Dan Gaspar pursues international coaching job make NCAA Tournament appearances in 1976 and 1977, posting a career goals-against-average of 1.52, according to hartfordhawks.com. Liapis said, “he really gave everything he had to the program, he wanted to improve the level of play here.” Gaspar has also helped Hartford’s fan base increase by a large amount. Hartford ranked 39th in the country in 2008, with an average attendance of 814 per-game, while following up another impressive campaign in 2009, ranking 41st in the nation with an average attendance of 778 fans a game, according to hartfordhawks.com. The future remains unclear for the program—a national search for a new coach is underway—
players could choose to transfer. Liapis said, “He has a great reputation, it could help players [pursue professional careers, because] he’s a good guy to know.” At the same time, players who are upset with Gaspar leaving may opt to transfer, but it’s too early to tell, Liapis said. Patricia Meiser, the athletic director, told hartfordhawks.com, “His leadership and dedication to advancing Hartford men’s soccer will be hard to replace. We wish coach Gaspar the best of luck in his next endeavor.” Gaspar has been rumored to be interested in joining the Iranian national team with his longtime friend Carlos Queiroz, who is being strongly considered to take the Iranian national job.
Above: Hawks goalkeeper from 1974 to 1977, Dan Gaspar has coached the Hawks for six successful seasons. He announced his resignation on Monday. HARTFORD SPORTS INFORMATION
Mixed-gender housing trial extends to RAs
By Jeremy Stanley Editor-in-chief
Resident assistants will have the opportunity to live in mixed-gender housing beginning in the fall. The change marks an expansion of a pilot program introduced this year that allowed students to apply, but housing was limited to the Village Quad No. 3. Under the new plan, any resident assistant could bring in whomever they choose, assistant director for student development Shawn McQuillan said. RAs follow the same process for students wishing to live in mixed-gender housing: a special application is submitted and reviewed by the Ofce of Residential Life, then students must attend a “living together” seminar,
said McQuillan. One of the main differences between non-RAs and RA mixed-gender housing is anchoring privileges. Since RAs can get new assignments each year, all non-RAs in the apartment are not allowed to stay in the apartment from year to year. What’s more, if an RA leaves mid-semester, the apartment will be vacated of all residents, because RAs are allowed to pull in roommates of their choosing. Next fall, mixed-gender housing in the Village Quad No. 3 will continue based on the success of the pilot program implemented this academic year. This is part of a series of initiatives in place by the Ofce of Residential Life to do “what’s best for students,” McQuillan said.
Substance-free housing in Regents Park: page 2
Room selection times
Room selection takes place Saturday April 9. Numbers were sent out to students recently designating what time to arrive at Konover. The full selection list is available on our website at hartfordinformer.com.
Saturday 9-Apr-11
9:00-9:10am 9:10-9:20 9:20-9:30 9:30-9:40 9:40-10:00 10:00-10:15 10:15-10:30 10:30-10:45 10:45-11:00 11:00-11:15 11:15-11:30 11:30-11:45 11:45-12:00 12:00-12:15pm 12:15-12:30 12:30-12:45
10001-10045 10046-10091 10092-10137 10138-10183 10184-10229 10230-10275 10276-10321 10322-10367 10368-10413 10414-10459 10460-10505 10506-10551 BREAK 10552-10592 OFFICE OF RESIDENTIAL LIFE
page 2
the informer
news
march 24, 2011
New option for substance-free housing
UHa faculty recognized in search for Atlantis By Ben Gyurik Staff Writer
COURTESY OF RESIDENTIAL LIFE
A new option for substance-free housing in the East wing of Regents Park will be given for next year. By Kaitlin Schroyer Staff Writer Students now have a new option for housing with the addition of a substance free wing in Regents East rst oor, along with the Special Interest housing, beginning this fall. According to Shawn McQuillan, Assistant Director for Community Development, students can apply as an individual, partial group, or whole groups. After receiving applications on March 30, the Ofce of Residential Life will be reviewing the candidates and notifying students who are selected to participate in this pilot program. Students who are selected will need to sign a Substance Free Living Agreement and participate in a series of meetings and events through the whole year. “We will have an RA on the wing,” McQuillan said, “However, we expect the students to self-monitor their behavior and adhere to the
policies set worth. We also expect that each suite which is designated substance free will self-govern themselves, as each of them will have applied for the substance free program.” Students who violate the living agreement will be subject to being relocated to another residential facility on campus. If the student is under 21 or violates the Code of Student Conduct, they will be also referred to the Ofce of Student Conduct Administration. Students participating in the program will also be expected to participate in a series of meetings and other programmatic events relating to the new type of housing. These meetings and programs will be conducted by the Ofce of Residential Life and the Connections Health Education and Wellness Center. “It’s a way to stay substance free,”
Sam Rowell, a freshman currently interested in the program, said, “It’s cool that they’re offering a place for people who don’t want to deal with substances to not have to deal with it.” However, not all students are convinced about the program. “It’s a travesty that good behavior is rewarded by being placed on a crappy building on campus,” Nick Schuberth, a junior, said, “The practicality of [the program] being advantageous to [those living there] is questionable.” Although an unfortunate spot to live, there is something to say about the program’s benets. “If the program works out, then it outweighs having to live in the not as nice dorm,” Rowell said, “The success of the program rides on having a good number of the participants to holding each other to the social standard.”
Richard Freund, director of the University’s Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies, continues to gain worldwide interest for the work he and a team of archaeologists and scientists have been doing in southern Spain that could potentially be the location of the legendary city of Atlantis. Freund, who’s scheduled appearance on NBC’s Today Show last week was postponed, will still be featured on the show at a date that has yet to be announced. The location of the site is within a marshland of southern Spain, and the team has been surveying for artifacts. Any evidence found is being matched with the philosopher Plato’s explanation of Atlantis’ existence; to solve one of the
world’s biggest mysteries. Freund explained in an interview with Reuters that the cause of the lost city was something not uncommon today; a tsunami. According to him, the search began after the discovery of a series of “memorial cities” in Spain, places residents of Atlantis ed to after it was destroyed. Because of this, Freund and his team expect that Atlantis was buried somewhere along Spain’s southern coast. “We found something that no one else has ever seen before, which gives it a layer of credibility, especially for archeology, that makes a lot more sense,” Freund told Reuters. Freund has already done interviews with various media outlets such as WNPR Radio, NBC Connecticut, the New Haven Register, WTNH Channel 8, Fox CT, BBC Radio, and numerous other outlets.
COURTESY OF ATLANTIPEDIA.IE
Richard Freund of the Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies gained national attention for his work in uncovering the city of Atlantis.
informer staff
Need science credits?
Jeremy Stanley ‘11
Lee Matias ‘12
Editor-in-Chief
Business Manager
Danielle Huppke ‘12
Paige Patunas ‘11
Managing Editor
Copy Chief
Sarah Wilson ‘12
Spencer Allan Brooks ‘12
News Editor
Art Director
Jessica Rutledge ‘11
Alex Janes ‘13
Sports Editor
I.T. Director
Andy Swetz ‘13
Leonardo Sanchez ‘11
Entertainment Editor
Distribution Manager
publication information UVM Summer University offers a variety of science courses in medical, health, biological & physical sciences with credits that can transfer back to your institution. This summer, focus on the requirements that you really need. Post-baccalaureate summer premedical programs available, as well as over 400 general requirement courses. Registration begins February 15. Summer classes start May 23.
Catch Up. Get Ahead. On Campus. Online. uvm.edu/summer/hartford
The Informer accepts articles and Informer mailing address: editorials from students, staff and faculty, The Informer as well as selected letters from outside of GSU Rm.158 the University community. Submissions University of Hartford may be made in person or via intercampus mail (bring or address items to Gengras 200 Bloomeld Avenue Student Union, Room 158), through U.S. West Hartford, CT 06117 mail (see address at right), or by e-mail, without attachments. The deadline for Business: 860-768-4723 article submission is set by each section editor, and is Newsroom: 860-768-5723 used at the editor’s discretion. All submitted articles are Fax: 860-768-4728 subject to further editing. E-mail: [email protected] We welcome signed letters to the editor. Anonymous Online: letters will not be printed! Under certain circumstances, letters will be published with the author’s name withwww.hartfordinformer.com held. For consideration, letters must be received (by any The Informer is produced using method above) before 5 p.m. on Monday of the target Adobe InDesign on Apple Macinissue’s publication week. We reserve the right to edit for space, grammar, clarity and content. We will not publish tosh computers. The Informer uses letters that we feel are in poor taste or constitute libel. The a Nikon digital camera. The paper decision not to publish a piece is made by the editors, who is printed at Turley Publications in are not required to notify the author. Letters do not neces- Palmer, Massachusetts. sarily reect the opinions of the Informer in general or any staff member in particular, nor does the expressed opinion of a staff member necessarily reect that of the entire staff or editor. All advertising is subject to review by the Business Manager and the editors. Any ad that violates the University policy will not be run. The deadline for ads is 5 p.m. on Friday of the week prior to publication. A digital version of our rate card is available on our website, and a hard copy is available upon request. Please note that these rates may change without notice until an insertion order is made and approved. U.S. Mail subscriptions to the Informer are available for $26 per academic year. While single copies of the Informer are distributed locally without charge, quantities greater than one must be purchased at a rate of $1.00 per issue. ©2011 The Informer. No work herein may be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the Editor-in-Chief. The Informer is a member publication of U-Wire and the Associated Collegiate Press.
the informer
news
march 24, 2011
Taste the best, Page 93 page the Best of Hartford
14 Wintonbury Mall Bloomeld, CT 06002 (860) 242-8289 Ginza is only 5 minutes away from campus!
Now accepting Hawk Cash Be sure to check out our weekday specials! half off scorpion bowls and sake bombs
Buy any two entrees, get third free. discount applies to items equal or lesser value. cannot be combined with any other offer.
take 15% off order (just show your college id)
All offers are good with a valid with College ID. Must be 21 and over to consume alcoholic beverages.
“Ancient Traditions... Modern Taste” (860) 549-3364 • 93 Asylum Street • Hartford, CT 06103
Parents visiting? Take them to Feng Asian Bistro for a ne dining experience Late Night Happy Hour 10 p.m.-12 Midnight Half price food & Drink Specials
the informer
page 4
news
march 24, 2011
UHa Habitat for Humanity spends spring break giving back By Sarah Wilson News Editor
college campuses across the country to carry out community service projects. While working in the area, the students were housed by several churches in the surrounding area, and were able to use facilities at Valdosta State University. They spent the days working from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Georgia heat so they could complete the house before the week was up. Giammarino explained that the students were also responsible for caulking and painting the house, and preparing the backyard for grass by tearing out tree roots, vines, cement, bricks and broken glass from the ground, manual labor that she says paid off. “It’s the most rewarding experience at the end of the week to see the smile on a new homeowners’ faces,” said Giammarino.
In Georgia, 25 University of Hartford students spent their spring break not by relaxing poolside in the southern heat, but committing themselves to a week of physical labor. Members of the University’s Habitat for Humanity chapter traveled to Valdosta, Georgia, last week where they spent the time building a house the only way to do it; from the ground up. “The students sided the house, put in door frames, doors, molding, and window sills,” said Marissa Giammarino, Vice President of the organization. The group was participating with the Valdosta-Lowdnes County Habitat for Humanity chapter as part of the Collegiate Challenge, a contest encouraging groups on
For her as well as four other members of the organization, this was the second year in a row they have spent their spring break in a similar location in Georgia, which provided the opportunity to see the house that was originally built last year. “Seeing it made my eyes water, but seeing the person living in the house I helped build made me cry,” said Giammarino of the moving experience she encountered upon return. “It was one of the proudest moments of my life,” she continued. Giammarino, along with other members, got started with Habitat for Humanity during their freshman years here, a decision nobody seems to regret. “Giving up a week to put a roof over somebody’s head means everything,” Giammarino added.
MARISSA GIAMMARINO
The university’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity spent the spring break building a house in Georgia.
International Week brings authentic cuisine, entertainment By Sarah Wilson News Editor
ADAM MANISON
Fresh sushi was being rolled in GSU Tuesday as part of International Week. The celebration will continue throughout the rest of the week.
The end of this week marks the nale of the University’s International Week with a festival comprising foreign entertainment and cuisine. The festival, which will take place on Saturday, March 26, feature three main entertainment acts with authentic dancing and music. The Val Ramos Ensemble features amenco dancing, a Spanish type of dance that is “sophisticated, colorful, and complex” according to the group’s website. MacTalla Mor, is a group specializing in Celtic music, incorporating bagpipes, organs, percussion and Gealic singing. The musical background is combined with Irish step
Start Next Fall with more Credits and more CASH!
Save 50%
or more off University prices. Take transferable courses at Tunxis this summer.
Registration begins April 4
CALL: 860.255.3500 tunxis.commnet.edu ®
facebook.com/tunxis
Tunxis Community College, 271 Scott Swamp Road, Farmington, CT 06032 Facebook is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc.
dancing for a unique experience. The third group, Inca Son, are an eclectic combination of song and dance hailing from the Andes. They are National Peruvian Folkdance Champions, and use traditional Inca instruments and dress to put on a performance enjoyable to all ages. Over the past week the University has been celebrating cultures around the world with cuisine from around the world, lessons in different languages, an international photography competition, as well as dance lessons, among other activities. On Thursday students are invited to learn about potential foreign locations of study at the Study Abroad Fair in Suisman lounge at 11:30 a.m.
On Friday there will be an opportunity for lessons in salsa dancing by an experienced instructor from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. for a student fee of $5. “Taste of the World” can also be found for the remainder of the week in Gengras and Commons where a different food prepared by ARAMARK will be featured each day from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. As an end to the celebrations, the festival will take place in Gengras Student Union at 5 p.m. Admission is $5 for students, and $12 for nonstudents. However, anyone who has obtained stamps from ve events throughout the week will get into the event for free. Tickets can be purchased at the door, or ahead of the time at the International Ofce in GSU 327.
The Informer
Page 5
Opinions hartfordinformer.com/opinions/
March 24, 2011
Don’t read this column, read a book
Imagine campus life at the University of Hartford if coffee, sex and alcohol were replaced with regular attendance and participation in church services. Well that’s the life students of Brigham Young University sign up for as soon as they step onto the sprawling campus in Provo, Utah. Just a few weeks back a scandal erupted when one of BYU’s star basketball players was kicked off of the team for violating a key stipulation in the schools honor code, no premarital sex. Located in the heart of Mormon country, it’s no big surprise that the private university owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints would take extreme offense to Brandon Davies straying from their conservative ways. As the number three seed in the NCAA tournament, the Cougar’s suffered an enormous blow by losing Davies. The 6-foot-9 forward has been regarded as the school’s second best player just behind player of the year candidate Jimmer Fredette. BYU requires all athletes to sign and abide by a behavioral contract to remain on their varsity sports team. This contract enforces that students live a chaste and virtuous life, attend church service regularly, not use vulgar language, abstain from the use of alcohol and tobacco, and last but not least no caffeinated
in the rst place. But for the school to go so far as to possibly remove him from the institution based off of one mistake is absurd. BYU never ofcially disclosed what cardinal rule was broken either, but Davies himself admitted to the public that his chastity belt wasn’t Danielle Huppke • Managing Editor fastened as tightly as it should have [email protected] been. Twitter: @danielle618 The 19-year-old sophomore is said to be extremely remorseful and beverages of any kind. heartbroken, according to the Salt I have to wonder if Brandon Da- Lake Tribune, even going so far as vies had been caught with a double making a public apology. tall iced soy caramel macchiato in his If he’s honestly that remorseful, palm would he have been kicked off shouldn’t he be granted a time for the team as well or would a warning confession and forgiveness? The debe offered? vout religious school should practice Now BYU sets a pretty restricting what they preach and at least extend list of rules to abide by for the aver- that right to an athlete who made age college student however it’s fair an honest mistake. to guess that Davies was well versed For the Cougars, this season was in the lifestyle by the time he arrived shaping up to be the best in BYU’s on the BYU campus. history. After the dismissal of DaAnd there lies the split views on the vies, their hopes of NCAA victory Davies scandal 2011. One side be- seemed to zzle with a crushing loss lieves rules are rules and by breaking to New Mexico the following night. one consequence must immediately According to an interview for the ensue. The other side believes that Salt Lake Tribune teammate Jimmer the university is taking this honor Fredette said Davies apologized to code policy to the extreme. the team, “he told us he was sorry Yes, Davies knew the terms of the and that he let us down. We just honor code he signed along with held our heads high and told him it all of the other students attending was okay, that it’s life, and you make Brigham Young, therefore critics mistakes, and you just got to play could argue that being fully aware of through it.” The Cougars are lookthe rules the basketball star shouldn’t ing to make it to the elite 8 during have participated in the lustful act the next round of the tournament.
In a recent class of mine, the professor opened class by asking what books we were currently reading, aside from assigned schoolwork. A trickle of hesitant responses followed, a few females blurting out Jodi Picoult titles, accompanied with a number of uncondent students racking their brains to recall the last thing they had read for pleasure. Others outwardly admitted, “I don’t read.” This utter lack of interest in literature shouldn’t come as a surprise. In the balance between constant homework assignments and day-to-day internships, students hardly have time to leisurely kick back and stare at words on a page for any signicant period of time. But to not read ever? You’re doing yourself a horrible educational disservice. Maybe this common evasion of literature seen in college students stems from the perpetual requirement that has spanned the majority of a twenty-something’s life. Once something becomes an obligation, most often pleasure is lost somewhere along the lines as well. This, unfortunately, leaves the act of reading with a connotation similar to that of those “two trains are traveling at different speeds …” math problems everyone tried so hard to avoid in high school. A signicant part of the problem, in that case, is that nobody even bothers to give it another go. Since escaping required reading over the summer and a book a week being assigned in that pesky AP English class, they want to run and never look back. The trick is to nd a book that interests you. Somewhere along the shelves of Barnes and Nobel
There are two paragraphs that need scrubbing, or at least modication, in the NCAA’s media policies for sporting events. These paragraphs prohibit media from providing real-time accounts of game action, instead leaving that task to its own website. So when The Informer set out to cover the NCAA women’s rst round game between Hartford and UConn, we set out with the same mission as our coverage of the America East Championships: providing a live blog and recap instantly on the website. Instead, the backwards and just downright silly policy the NCAA has prevented us from doing the rst. I sat court side, doing what we normally do: frequently updating readers on stats and important
fans undoubtedly missed some of the action). About half way through the rst half, a representative from the NCAA came out and asked me to stop doing the live blog. I asked for a reason and was told I could only update once or twice a half. I obliged, but was dumbfounded as to the reasoning. It’s strange to me that, in the era of social media, that The Informer would be prevented from constantly updating its readers on what is going on. This is especially true when thinking about how low viewership and national attention is paid to women’s sports. The publicity helps and it’s not like, by publishing quick updates, the live blog was hurting ESPN’s ratings (I even
mentioned the game could be seen on the channel). Think of it this way: I was reading Twitter Sunday when someone posted about the Duke-Michigan game getting into crunch time. I immediately went to turn on the television and watch the exciting nish. I posted a reply mimicking the NCAA’s policy saying, “realtime accounts and descriptions of the game are prohibited.” Without that real-time account of the game, I would have had no way of knowing the game was going on and I immediately scrambled to see the conclusion. I helped the NCAA make money. By live blogging the women’s game, there would be instant promotion for the sport. What more could the NCAA want?
COURTESY OF THEBULLGATOR.COM
Brandon Davies, forward for the BYU Cougars was kicked off the team for having premarital sex.
BYU honor code too strict for 2011
Sarah Wilson • News Editor [email protected] Twitter: @swyzleh or oating in the cyberspace of the Kindle Store there are books that will mind f*** you even more than the rst time you saw “Inception.” It’s just a matter of nding the right one before you’ll be hooked again. But fact of the matter is the lack of reading is going to do nothing but hurt you in the long run. If people spent more time reading novels rather than status updates, I’m sure putting apostrophes before the “s” in a plural word would happen a whole lot less (That’s a big grammar no-no, people). And come real-world job interview, when the potential employee asks what the last book you read was, a long pause before you can think hard enough to come up with “Harry Potter?” as your response, surely isn’t going to impress. If you can’t seem to nd the time to squeeze a little reading into your hectic collegiate schedule (a problem I often have myself), there’s always breaks. There’s summer. There’s weekends. And here’s the thing: books aren’t like movies. Three hundred pages don’t have to be read in one sitting. And if they are, all the more power to you, you’ve found your book. All in all, if nothing else just take some advice from Lil Jon, because even unlikely outdated rappers see this as an issue. (Just look up his song titled “Read a Book.” Okay?)
Instead, the NCAA would prefer its fans to seek out the dry, boring play-by-play updates on a Flash website without the commentary (or Hartford-centric perspective) on the game. That’s probably because advertising partnerships there help bring them the revenue (that do go mostly towardstudent-athlete scholarships), but if they crack down on a student publication that gets really a meaningless following, why not go after every single person who tweets about the game? What gets me the most, is that if I had stayed home and watched the feed on television, I could have probably live blogged the whole game. If you can’t police it outside the Gampel Pavilion, don’t police it inside. Let us do our job.
NCAA restricts reporters, limits game live blogging Jeremy Stanley • Editor-in-Chief [email protected] Twitter: @JeremyDStanley plays with a little bit of commentary thrown in. The whole reason we do this is to incite and provoke responses from our readers. Plus, it serves as a supplement to those who can see the game (furthermore, viewers outside of Connecticut were also subjected to ESPN2’s “whip-around” coverage of four games at once, meaning
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
Page 6
Entertainment hartfordinformer.com/entertainment/
March 24, 2011
STN2 live sportscast attacked on national front By Andy Swetz Entertainment Editor Live coverage of the America East Tournament by the University’s student news network went viral and came under attack on the Internet and national TV receiving over 75,000 hits on one site alone. Appearing on the popular sports website Deadspin.com, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and the blog of comedian Daniel Tosh, the sportscast was edited down to only highlight the mistakes made by both of the reporters. The live tournament recap, hosted by students Brendan Marshall and Darius Wilmot, experienced its share of technical glitches including a slow teleprompter and bad camera direction. However, the majority of the broadcast went relatively smooth featuring a representative from Stony Brook, a school involved in the tournament. What satiated the appetite on the national front was the careful editing to maximize the mistakes of the STN2 reporters for a quick laugh. Although talk show host Jimmy Kimmel included the fact that the sportscasters lacked experience on his March 15 show, that still didn’t stop him from airing the edited video and landing joke after joke on ABC, just in time for March Madness. Hitting the video relatively harder than Kimmel, Deadspin. com went as far as to humiliate the sportscasters by comparing them to other “media meltdowns” at other schools. STN2 issued a statement saying “STN is an educational organization. The best part of what we do is giving students a chance to try something new for the rst time.
The process involves making mistakes in order to grow from them.” Unfortunately Marshall voiced his distaste with the website and retaliated via Twitter with a few choice words. The tweet, containing vulgar language, had a screen shot taken of it by Deadspin and then posted to their site. Although the Internet has astonishing capabilities to break stories at a fraction of the time it used to take, the ip side of the speedy uploads has left STN2 at the butt of a viral joke. I think both Deadspin and Kimmel are denitely lacking in material as they stoop down to scrap up mistakes made by amateur sportscasters. The fact that a Stony Brook student originally uploaded the video proves that the intentional editing was an attack on Hartford. Since the broadcast hit the web STN2 has successfully fought copyright infringements with YouTube to remove the video. However, the video is still accessible through Comedy Central’s Tosh.0 Blog. The blog, in conjunction with the show that is now on hiatus, titled the video “It’s Time to Change Your Major” and links to the popular video site Today’s Big Thing. Today’s Big Thing titled the video “Amazingly Awkward Sportscasters” and featured the tape as the video of the day for March 14. Despite the video’s brief appearances on national television and a popular sports website, it seems as if the viral video effect has come to a relatively quick halt as most Internet videos do. The live tournament recap was a learning experience for both the sportscasters and STN2 that they will never forget.
COURTESY OF ABC.GO.COM
COURTESY OF ABC.GO.COM
The University’s student run television network was featured on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” as well as Deadspin.com for mistakes they made while broadcasting a live recap of the America East Tournament.
Black scores Internet fame for all the wrong reasons By Kelsey Sterling Staff Writer Rebecca Black’s new YouTube sensation “Friday,” an overnight hit, reached millions of views within a mere few days. The nasally voice, ridiculous lyrics and overall awkwardness all work together to produce one of the worst possible songs ever recorded and posted online. Despite the hate this video has received, it has become a superpopular phenomenon simply for being, well, bad. The question arises: can just anyone become a YouTube sensation by throwing a few thousand dollars into producing a low-quality tune and an even lower-quality video? Black’s mother evidently paid Los Angeles-based record company Ark Music Factory $2,000 to pop out an absurd song and matching video; which may just actually be worth it considering digital sales could reach up to $25,000 while YouTube views may amount to $20,000. Whether or not we like it, Rebecca Black is a star. But a few questions come to mind: why does she feel the need
COURTESY OF ESCAPISTMAGAZINE.COM
Becoming a hit song over night, “Friday” by Rebecca Black has received mixed reviews from critics. to explain every single minute detail of her morning? “Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal …” Okay, cool. Is that even a lyric? Furthermore, why exactly is she waiting at the bus
stop if her thirteen year old friends pull up in their convertible half a second later? Even furthermore, how do thirteen-year-old children legally obtain a driver’s license? And what
is with the dilemma about which seat she should take … there aren’t that many options considering there’s only one seat left and it’s obviously designated for her. Is this supposed to have some sym-
bolic meaning? Fail. Last but not least, I am familiar with the days of the week, Rebecca Black, but thank you kindly for the clarication. The fact that such a terrible tune with lackluster lyrics and an amateur star poses a concern about Internet stardom. Can just anyone become famous overnight through YouTube with a couple thousand bucks and zero skill? Based upon this sensation, it seems to be so. Internet stardom can be a good thing, but only if you have the potential to become a singer or Internet sensation; Justin Bieber status. Unfortunately for this eighth-grade accidental phenomenon, she has become famous for all the wrong reasons. However, she has become famous nonetheless. In addition to the YouTube success the song is being downloaded on iTunes, and Black and her team could make upwards of $1 million. As for press time, “Friday” sat at the number 33 spot on the iTunes chart. Apart from all the chaos Rebecca Black has caused over the past couple of weeks, at least we can thank her for one thing: we will never forget that Friday comes after Thursday.
the informer
entertainment
page 7
march 24, 2011
COURTESY OF POSH24.COM
COURTESY OF CONNECT.IN.COM
MTV’s “Jersey Shore” is preparing to wrap up its latest season that has relocated the rowdy crowd of Italian’s back to where they established their humble beginning.
‘Jersey Shore’ turns up heat for season nale By Brandon Goncalves Special to the Informer With the nale right around the corner, get ready to st pump a farewell to America’s most notorious Guidos as the third season of “Jersey Shore” is near completion. GTL was finally brought back to Seaside Heights, this past season, as Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and the rest of the gang return to where it all began from the spectacle they created for themselves in Miami during season two. Despite that, Snooki and her co-stars certainly have left a mark for themselves as new drama, a new roommate and the ongoing Sam/Ron saga have spiced up televisions all across the country. Seen by over six million viewers, season three’s 12th and latest episode paved the way for what will hopefully be a juicy and entertaining nale, leaving the episode count at 13. As tensions begin to arise between roommates, we nd ourselves captivated by how everything will become resolved in the nale set for March 24. But then again, what can be more entertaining than a house lled with heated Guidos? “Jersey Shore’s” latest episode continues with the awkward relationship shared between our favorite meatball, Snooki, and Vinny Guadagnino. The two appear to harbor untold feelings for each other throughout the season, but Vinny proceeds to “smush” with other girls. He is seen in this episode treating Snooki to dinner, ultimately highlighting their bond, but it is not until after he gets his ears pierced for the rst time that a different side appears. In addition to cracking jokes about Deena’s hideous denim ensemble and participating in a heated rap battle with Sammi Sweetheart, Vinny continues to play with Snooki’s heart following a not-so-successful night at Aztec, one of the group’s many Seaside hot spots. While intoxicated at the Shore house, he attempts to seduce a sober Nicole, whose feelings were not mutual, and fails. Even so, the two remain “Jersey Shore” favorites after always managing to sustain their friendship. The rocky relationship between Sammi Sweetheart and her “juicehead gorilla” boyfriend Ronnie, known for his signature laugh and indiscretion back in Miami during season two, also continues to heat up just in time for the nale (and
not in the good way). Following an intense fall-out that led to Sam’s brief departure from the show, the two attempt to rekindle what’s left of their relationship until
some Guido named Arvin arrives at Karma one night, claiming to have been invited by Sam. Hoping to “help a brother out” and ultimately ruining any hope of Ron and Sam engaging in
a functional relationship, Mike “The Situation” steps in hoping to show Sam’s disloyalty. He calls Arvin on the phone himself who validates Sam’s duplicity and motives to Ron.
With the house divided girls against guys, the episode ends with Ron about to confront Sam once again, producing some great entertainment for the nale.
Calling all students and young professionals!
Temple Street Townhouses Hartford’s Premier Off-Campus Housing NOW RENTING!
Kick back in these furnished 4 & 5 Bedroom, 2-2 1/2 bathroom townhouses with washers and dryers, fully applianced kitchens and garage parking. Heat, hot water, AC, basic cable, high-speed internet and local phone service are ALL included! You can have all of this right here in downtown Hartford! Call 860-768-3500 and schedule a tour today! Visit us at www.templestreettownhouses.com or on facebook! 29 Temple Street, Hartford, CT
page 8
the informer
entertainment
march 24, 2011
Publisher censors N-word in American classic An Alabama publishing company has taken Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and replaced the N-word with the word “slave,” which appears in the novel 219 times. A staple of American literature, the Twain classic has been stirring up controversy ever since its rst publication in 1885. NewSouth Books, a company based in Little Rock, has printed 7,500 copies of the newly censored book in hopes of persuading schools that have banned the book to reconsider dropping it from their curriculum. “If you can have the discussion and you’re comfortable havin’ the discussion, have it. Have it with it in there. But if you’re not comfortable with that, then here’s an alternative for you to use. And I would argue to you that it’s still powerful,” coowner of NewSouth said during a “60 Minutes” interview. With many school districts around the country banning the text, the controversy over one powerful word is brought into question. I can recall high school English when the word was read by my teacher the gasps of students around me lling the air. A word so com-
Andy Swetz Entertainment Editor [email protected] Twitter: @TheKineticKid monly and used and hackneyed in rap songs suddenly becomes verbal pornography in the context of a classroom. But why? It is regarded that Twain’s intention in using the N-word was to capture the language of the times of the novel, dating before the civil war. Whether a teacher decides to say the word or not in a school where the novel is still taught, the subject of race must be brought up to fully understand and discuss the story. To me, any altercation to an author’s work no matter how old it might be for the sake of not offending someone is simply wrong, especially to a book of such magnitude in America. Generally regarded with a negative connotation, the word itself it
not what seems to offend people, rather the images it evokes such as slavery, oppression and the individuals who use it. Yes, the N-word is considered vulgar, but eliminating it from this novel will suppress the emotional and historical weight it carried in accurately depicting the time period. Even today I think people that use the word in everyday conversation forget the weight of what they’re actually saying. That fact that it is socially unacceptable for anyone to use the word other than African Americans also contributes to the way people view the word in the context of the novel. I think taking the word out of the novel would be suppressing the impact of how far America has come in terms of equality. It is the power of the written word, one word at that, which has caused so much controversy. I believe the real issue lies in what the N-word is associated with and not the fact that the word is so offensive. My opinion is to leave Twain alone and use the word to stimulate an intelligent and educational conversation about why it evokes so much tension and anger.
COURTESY OF ANSWERS.COM
Mark Twain’s 125-year-old novel is stirring up controversy yet again.
Adele soars to top of charts with latest release “21” By Danielle Nielsen Staff Writer U.K. Female singer and songwriter Adele had just released her second album in the U.S. titled “21.” This album has put her in the spotlight far more than her debut album that was released in 2008 titled “19.” Within the rst week of her release “21” peaked at number
one on the U.S. Billboard 200. In the U.K. the album is one of the biggest selling albums thus far. Adele started singing at age four and her passion for music was quite evident. While growing up listening to artists such as the Spice Girls, Etta James and Peggy Lee, she was inuenced by many of these female vocalist’s styles. Adele has taken the styles of her musical inuences and
created a unique sound. For most artists the instrumentals compliment their voice, but for Adele her voice compliments the music. With having such a vast vocal range, her voice is so powerful. The instruments used on her tracks are merely faint sounds in comparison to her voice. There is a noticeable growth and maturity in her voice between her rst and
off of the album. Featuring drums and a soulful bluesy sound, it isn’t a wonder why this has been a popular song for radio stations to play. Another great track off of the album happens to be a cover of “Lovesong” originally written and performed by The Cure who happen to be another one of Adele’s musical inuences. Bands such as 311, Anberlin and Jack Off Jill have covered “Lovesong” in the past. Covers can become monotonous especially this one. Adele put her own twist on the song with a soulful ballad feel, which by far surpasses any cover of “Lovesong” done before. Adele is different and is unlike any female artist presently. The industry has been lacking a powerful female voice up until now. “21” has had tremendous success both in the U.S. and U.K. and her popularity will only increase. Adele will have tour dates throughout the U.S. starting in May.
D SFEJUTJOXFFLT 3FBMMZ
second album. “21” was named simply because Adele wanted to differentiate her songs that she has written according to who she is as a person and experiences she is going through. Many of the songs were written and inspired from a recent break up she went through. Her lyrics tell a story and usually revolve around love and personal battles. Adele takes us into her personal life by way of music. The album has a wide range of song types from ballads, blues, gospel-like and R&B. Track to track keeps you listening and not one song sounds the same. Out of the three singles off of the album “Set Fire to the Rain” is my favorite. This piano ballad simply shows off all of Adele’s musical attributes. With a wide vocal range, well written lyrics and a beautiful piano melody in the background of her voice. “Rumour Has It” is one of the most upbeat and catchiest tracks
1BDF6OJWFSTJUZPGGFSTNPSFUIBODPVSTFT UIJTTVNNFSUPIFMQZPVHFUBIFBEBOE¾OJTI ZPVSEFHSFFGBTUFS $IPPTFGSPNDPVSTFTPOCPUIPVS/FX:PSL$JUZ BOE8FTUDIFTUFSDBNQVTFTJOTVDIBSFBTBT "DDPVOUJOH #JPMPHZ 'JOBODF 1IZTJDT
"OBUPNZ "SU $IFNJTUSZ &DPOPNJDT -JUFSBUVSF .BOBHFNFOU 1TZDIPMPHZ
4VNNFS4FTTJPO*CFHJOT 5VFTEBZ .BZ
Q
4VNNFS4FTTJPO**CFHJOT 8FEOFTEBZ +VMZ
Q
(800) 874-PACE Ext. A65
Special summer rate. Learn more at:
www.pace.edu/summer
COURTESY OF LOT956.COM
U.K. singer Adele has expressed maturity with the release of “21.”
the informer classifieds march 24, 2011
Place a classied ad in our all new
hawkslist starting at only 5 bucks!
Call 860.768.4723 Email [email protected]
page 9
- Will students have to pay for towing after the early March flood? - How will Gov. Malloy implement a coupon tax? - A professor talks about his quest to find Atlantis.
Tune in live at 5 every Friday on Channel 2!
Watch the Impact We Make!
Get your Message Read! Help Wanted
Opinion Writers Wanted Interested in current events in politics, world events or current affairs? How about University events or programs? If so then consider writing for the student newspaper! If interested please contact the managing editor: Danielle Huppke managingeditor@ hartfordinformer.com (860) 768-4723
Help Wanted
Entertainment Writers Wanted Love movies, music, television or games? Maybe writing for the Informer would be the perfect match. It is a fantastic way to get involved. The Informer is looking for entertainment writers to cover stories about the latest movies, television shows and music events. No experience is required and training is hosted throughout the year. If interested please contact the Entertainment Editor:
Upcoming Events 3/26 - Battle of the Bands 3pm to 10pm in Konover great room 4/14 -4/16 - Spring Fling 4/30 - Free NYC Trip Leaves Konover at 9:00am Bus Leaves NYC at 10:00pm
Andy Swetz
News Writers Wanted Interested in current events in politics, world events or current affairs? How about University events or programs? If so then consider writing for the student newspaper! It is a fun and exciting experience that allows regular students to get involved. Prior experience is a plus, but not a deciding factor. Training will be sponsored throughout the year for Informer staff writers. If interested please contact the News Editor:
entertainmenteditor@ hartfordinformer.com (860) 768-4723
Sports Writers Wanted Looking to get involved? Want to write for The Informer? The Informer is currently looking for sports writers to cover Hartford Hawks sporting events. No experience required as training will be hosted throughout the year. If interested please contact the Sports Editor:
Sarah Wilson newseditor@ hartfordinformer.com
Jessica Rutledge sportseditor@ hartfordinformer.com
860-768-5723
860-768-5723
Join Our Team! CAT meets First Tuesday of every month 12:00 p.m. GSU 331 Stop by the CAT office in GSU 132
Campus Activities Team Making College Even Better!
the informer
page 10
sports
march 24, 2011
Mental training:
Agile athletes’ brain focus, benecial on & off the eld
ADAM MANISON COURTESY OF ZEROTOBOSTON.COM
Recent studies show an athletes’ mental game is invaluable to life Characterized by exceptional physical dexterity, the edge that athletes have over non-athletes may also extend to mental focus. According to a New York Times article, a recent study performed at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign proved the mental focus ability of student athletes over non-athlete collegians during a virtual trafc-dodging experiment. The results of the experiment illustrated that a higher success rate for student athletes crossing the virtual street was not because the athletes were bigger, better or
Hawks y past Eagles 6-1, 7-0 By Tim Rizzo Staff Writer
Jessica Rutledge • Sports Editor [email protected] Twitter: @InformerSports fast-paced information to successfully cross the street,” Marois said. Immaculate coordination of mental and physical strength is what gives athletes an edge over everyone else, although it is still
“They [athletes] didn’t move faster, but it looks like they thought faster.” -Art Kramer, director of the Beckman Institute faster than the non-athletes. “What they did do was glance along the street a few more times than the non athletes, each time gathering slightly more data and processing it more speedily and accurately than the other students,” according to the New York Times article. “They [athletes] didn’t move faster,” said Art Kramer, the director of the Beckman Institute and a leader in the study of exercise and cognition, who oversaw the research. “But it looks like they thought faster,” he said. Sports emphasize the importance of mental conditioning for athletes in order to yield success on and off the eld. When an athlete is “in the zone,” the synchronization of mind and body allows the individual to excel beyond mental and physical challenges; the results of the revelatory study performed at the Beckman Institute show exciting new evidence that skills conditioned by athletes may impact their mental dexterity and the way they think entirely. Rene Marois, director of the Human Information Processing Laboratory at Vanderbilt commented on the experiment. “To the extent that athletes, in their sport, must routinely make split-second decisions in often very complex environments (e.g., whether to pass or kick the incoming soccer ball), it would make sense to me that they would have superior skill sets in processing the
First doubles’ player Josh Isaacson (above) and partner Aneil Bhalla won 8-3 at CSU.
debated as to how much these traits can be credited to Mother Nature versus practice and hard work. A modern variation of the ageold chicken and egg paradox asks, “Which came rst: the athlete or the athleticism?” The answer to this question is debatable, but I believe the solution to be an imbalanced combination of nature and nurture. In my opinion, athleticism and exceptional mental focus is manifested by a 3:1 ratio of nurture to natural ability. For instance, a person may be born with an IQ of 180, but without an education, practice and nurturing their full potential success may never be achieved. The strategic mental process and consequent success exhibited by athletes in the experiment at the Beckman Institute when crossing the street, could perhaps be applicable when taking a difcult test, facing a job interview or overcoming any challenge in life. “The constant multitasking and information processing demanded by athletics increase both the capacity of the athletes’ mental information processing systems and their speed,” according to the New York Times article. Future research will delve deeper into the subject of athletes and brain focus, but in the meantime, its a no brainer that sports are benecial for the body and mind and can help people keep their cool in everyday situations.
The University of Hartford men’s and women’s tennis teams took out their frustration of having to travel during their spring break on their opponent, unfortunately for the Coppin State Eagles, they were the Hawks competition. With a convincing 6-1 victory for the men’s team and a 7-0 victory for the women’s team, in a series of games where the women didn’t drop a single set, the Hawks received convincing victories for big conference wins against a long time rival. Coppin
State’s, James Jeffreys, started off the match against UHart with a (6-3, 6-0) win against freshman, Joel de los Santos, but after dropping the rst game, the Hawks never backed down from there. Edgardo Ureta won a hard fought (6-3, 7-6 (7-4)) match against Quincy Darko in a clear change of power between the two teams with UHart taking the next four games to complete a 6-1 rout of the Eagles, with the nal four singles matches resulting in UHart only dropping two sets total. On the women’s side of the court there was no dropping of any sets, writing anything in the Coppin State scorecard, and no chance this game
would be close. The University of Hartford women’s team did not drop a single set in all seven matches that counted. California native, Katina Zampas, started off the game with an 8-0 sweep of Coppin State’s Lauretta Mukam and with solid follow up performances by junior Haley Gileau and senior Nicole Haynal, the match couldn’t have ended quickly enough for the Eagles. The University of Hartford women’s team, with the win, puts their record at 3-5 on the season and will resume play March 24 against Quinnipiac, while the men’s team will resume play two days later against St. Francis in New Jersey.
Golf, No. 7 in spring break tourney
COURTESY OF HARTFORDHAWKS.COM
Sophomore Sarah Sideranko nished No. 17 individually, best among her teammates. By Erica White Staff Writer The University of Hartford women’s golf team placed seventh out of nine teams competing in the Homewood Suites Siena Invitational at the Wanamacker Course in Port Lucis, Fla. this past weekend to kick off their 2011 season. Notably, sophomore Sarah Sideranko earned the lowest single round of the tournament with a 74. Sideranko rebounded 13 points from her rst day of the tournament, putting her in rst
for the Hawks. She ultimately took 17th, nishing out the tournament with 161. In second place for Hartford was junior Emily Linn, who tied for 25th with a score of 165 after dropping three strokes her second round of play for an 81 on day two. Freshman Aubrey Ungvarsky had a score of 81 for day one and led the Hawks through the rst half of the tournament. She concluded day two with an 86, bringing her to a total of 167 and tying for a solid 28th place overall. In fourth for the Hawks was junior Marissa Kallaugher with a
175 and a respectable 39th place. Sophomore Kirsten LaPointe nished up in fth for Hartford with a 194 and a 47th place after improving by 16 strokes the second day of competition. The Hartford Hawks had two individual competitors on the green this past weekend. Freshmen Claire Crouch and Elizabeth Creighton came in 46th and 48th respectively. The Hartford Hawks will hit the links next at the Four Streams Golf Course in Beallsville, Md. for the Hoya Invitational, hosted by Georgetown University.
the informer
sports
march 24, 2011
page 11
The Informer
Sports the informer
Volume 34, Issue 19
sports
march 24, 2011
hartfordinformer.com/sports
March 24, 2011
‘Spring’ snow showers can’t stop lax from winning By Hayden Harrower Staff Writer The Hawks didn’t seem to mind the New England spring snow as they laid the Sacred Heart Pioneers to rest, their fth win of the season, and their second-straight against a team from Connecticut. The Hartford Hawks started out hot despite the weather, putting themselves on the board in the rst two minutes of the game they would go on to win 14-8. Freshman Tate Kildonas netted the rst goal, his sixth of the season. The goals would keep coming as junior, Carter Bender ripped in a goal only two minutes after a turnover by Sacred Heart, his rst of four during the Wednesday game. The Pioneers would prevent a rst period shutout by scoring one of their own with two minutes left in the period by Bailey Dodds, to nish out the quarter 4-1. Sacred Heart had gained most of its momentum in the second half of the game, but could not create an advantage by matching Hartford with two goals for the quarter. But the Hawk’s last goal of the half came with only 4.8 seconds left, with a long pass across the eld and an inside shot by Bender for his second goal. By the start of the second half the “spring” weather was in full stride creating the look of an outdoor winter lacrosse game, but the year-round training must have paid off for the Hawks as they continued to build their lead even more so, by outscoring the Pioneers 3-2 and 5-3, in the third and fourth quarters respectively.
ADAM MANISON
Wednesday’s freak snow storm victory brings Hartford’s record to 5-3 overall, with 3 wins and only 1 loss at home in 2011. After Carter Bender’s four, sophomore Rory Nunamacher had three goals of his own, juniors Martin
Bowes, Ryan Compitello and sophomore Jared Franze had two goals for their careers as well.
The Hawks lax team returns for more action in Staten Island against Wagner University March 26, and
returns to West Hartford for in-conference play, April 9 against Stony Brook University.
SPENCER ALLAN BROOKS
NCAA tourney: Last stop for Hawks’ wild season ride By Josh Batelli Staff Writer
ADAM MANISON
Seniors Jackie Smith and Mary Silvia were elated when the Hawks went on to win the conference championship in their nal season at the University of Hartford.
The 2010-2011 season was supposed to be a rebuilding one for the Hartford Hawks women’s basketball team. With a team that featured three seniors, two juniors and seven freshmen and sophomores, the Hawks stumbled to a 1-9 start. Though they were playing one of the toughest out of conference schedules in the nation, things didn’t get better when conference play opened up. Hartford, the class of the America East and losers of just 6 conference games in the previous ve seasons started the conference season at 3-4. Sitting at 6-14 overall and 3-4 in America East play, the post season seemed like an impossibility. The Hawks though, left their best play for the stretch run. After a loss to Boston University on Jan. 23, Hartford won eight out their nal nine regular season games. The late surge lifted the Hawks to fourth in the America East standings.
Playing their best basketball and the conference tournament on their home oor, the Hawks were in comfortable position. Hartford won a rugged 48-43 game over Albany in the America East quarternals.Next, they blew out the regular season champs UMBC 66-48. The Retrievers of UMBC had swept the Hawks during the season. In the conference championship game, the Hawks headed to Boston to take on BU. Unfazed by a hostile crowd, Hartford won 65-53. The tournament win meant an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It was Hartford’s third NCAA appearance in four years. Hartford drew a 16 seed and a matchup against UConn the two time defending national champions, and a team that has gone 110-1 since 2008. The Hawks battled Connecticut, but fell 75-39. Things look bright for the upcoming season, as the Hawks will return nine players who own big game experience and now a conference championship.
