THE BG NEWS
IN THEIR ELEM3NT
The hip-hop dance team, Elem3nt, performs around campus and has an upcoming performance next month in Olscamp Hall. Find out more about the dance group in THE PULSE on PAGE 3.
ESTABLISHED 1920 | An independent student press serving the campus and surrounding community
Friday, February 8, 2013
VOLUME 92, ISSUE 65
WWW.BGNEWS.COM
RecycleMania to continue through March
THE PULSE | LOL WITH UAO
By Molly McNamara Reporter
MOLLY MCFADDIN | THE BG NEWS
BO BURNHAM parades around the stage acting as a dinosaur druing his opening act. Burnham performed at the Stroh Center on Thursday night as part of the University Activities Organization’s annual LOL with UAO comedy event. The show was free for students.
BO STROH AT THE
Comedian Bo Burnham performs for third annual LOL with UAO By Abby Welsh Pulse Editor
Y
ouTube star Bo Burnham performed his comedic songs and told jokes in front of 4,000 students and fans at the Stroh Center on Thursday night. As one of the youngest musical comedian stars, Burnham performed satirical and politically edgy songs and jokes on issues such as race, gender and sexuality. “When I first started, I was like a little awkward, pubescent 15-year-old kid saying really dirty and offensive things,” Burnham said in an exclusive interview with The BG News. “I wasn’t sure who was going to watch my videos, but apparently people like them.” Burnham is a strong believer that the Internet had a lot to do with his success. That, and his decision to go on tour following high school instead of heading to college. “I don’t know if I would have been discovered, I just have no idea,” Burnham said. “I do think the whole [college process] would have made me a different comic.” Burnham had originally planned on attending a college in New York the fall after his graduation, hoping to “perform open mics in bars for drunk college students,” but ended up taking a different route to a fast-track career, he said. “I was pretty bitter at first not having the college experience, but I have no regrets with how everything turned out,” Burnham said. Burnham performs a different kind of comedy that he believes is more attractive for audiences. He has previously recorded a Comedy Central special, the youngest ever to do so, and released three comedy albums. “I was really into theater and I always wanted to make a show that was like a production, really exciting and big,” Burnham said. “I just did what I thought was funny.” His appearance on campus was theatrical, with Burnham interacting with the audi-
See BO | Page 2
SORORITY SOCIAL
MOLLY MCFADDIN | THE BG NEWS
ACTING like a dinosaur during his show at the Stroh Center, Bo Burnham made a crowd full of students laugh several times throughout the evening.
KATIE LOGSDON | THE BG NEWS
GAMMA PHI BETTA members Rachel Stepowoy, Charlaine Tenorio, Alyson Bricker, Lauren Goudy and Caroline Wittland talk and eat sweets at the sorority’s open house Thursday night. The sorority will be having another open house Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Falcons defeated the Buffalo Bulls by grabbing them by the horns Thursday. A pair of late free throws iced the Bulls and tied the Falcons for first time in the MAC East . | PAGE 5
See RECYCLE | Page 2
Faculty Association marches on McFall, plans next move By Max Filby Editor-in-Chief
BUFFALO BEATDOWN
The University began its annual participation in an international recycling competition Monday, but this year the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been. RecycleMania, a contest that began more than 10 years ago in Ohio, challenges over 600 universities across the nation and even a few in Canada to reduce campuswide waste and increase their percentage of recycling over an eight week period. Nick While the University was one Hennessy of the first schools to begin parUniversity ticipating, it previously only comSustainability peted in the residence halls diviCoordinator sion of the contest, said Nicholas Hennessy, campus sustainability coordinator. “This is the first year that we’ll be entering into the campus-wide competition as opposed to just our residence halls,” Hennessy said. “It’s the same national competition, it’s just that this time we’re in the big leagues rather than just a friendly competition.” Entering into RecycleMania’s campus-wide competition division pins the University up against many around the nation, some significantly smaller but others much larger. This new division means waste and recyclables from every building on campus, not just residence halls, will be measured weekly and converted into weight for submission. Recycling is only part of the competition, as students, faculty and staff will try to reduce their total waste throughout the contest. “Throughout the duration of the contest, you may not be producing a million cans and bottles, but that’s not really the purpose,” Hennessy said. “It’s more important to cut your waste as much as possible.” Waste Management Inc., a third-party supplier, is responsible for emptying dumpsters throughout campus and will be able to give Hennessy the weight of the waste they collect on a weekly basis. In order to measure recyclables, the custodial staff in residence halls will report what they collect in volume, which Hennessy’s office can then calculate using a volume to weight conversion. For the other buildings on campus, student staff and the recycling grounds crew will be responsible for collecting and reporting volumes. Competing in the campus-wide division will be much more challenging because of the amount of waste and trying to get more people involved. The Office of Campus Sustainability is trying to encourage campus-wide participation. “One of the things we’re doing is the ‘Caught Green Handed’ raffle,” said Campus Sustainability intern Jacob Clolinger. “Our volunteers will be going around campus looking for people recycling
With the March on McFall complete, members of the Faculty Association aren’t simply waiting for a response from the administration — they’re already planning their next move. The association’s next demonstration will take place on President’s Day, when prospective students and their families will be visiting campus. “It’s a good day to do something and one way to inform [prospective students] of the status of the number of faculty here,” said David Jackson, president of
CORPORATE COLLEGE
This week columnist James Pfundstein recounts his participation in the March on McFall and says that if the University is trying to conduct business like a corporation, it’s doing a poor job of it. | PAGE 4
the Faculty Association. “There’s always stuff going on.” In moving on to plan the President’s Day event, the Faculty Association wants something more than a response from the administration, Jackson said. “We’re demanding a change of behavior in that they decide to not have 100 fewer faculty,” Jackson said. Although the University sent out a press release approximately three hours MOLLY MCFADDIN | THE BG NEWS after the March on McFall, the release did not recog- HOLDING the petition signed by close to 5,100 people is University President Mary Ellen Mazey. The Faculty See F ACULTY | Page 2 Association delivered the petition to Mazey on Wednesday.
WHAT CAUSE DO YOU FEEL PASSIONATE ENOUGH TO PROTEST ON CAMPUS FOR? WHY? “If they continue to raise tuition.” Isaiah Harris Sophomore, Communications