04.13.2012

04.13.12 reportermag.com

INNOCENT BEHIND BARS

INVENTORS AMONG US

GENESIS

FREEING THE WRONGFULLY CONVICTED.

STRONG ARM WINS NATIONAL COMPETITION.

BREAKING IN THE NEW SYSTEM.

SOUNDING OFF EDITOR IN CHIEF Alex Rogala | eic@reportermag.com MANAGING EDITOR Brendan Cahill | managing.editor@reportermag.com COPY EDITOR Nathaniel Mathews | copy.editor@reportermag.com NEWS EDITOR Vasia Ivanov | news@reportermag.com LEISURE EDITOR Evan Williams | leisure@reportermag.com FEATURES EDITOR Brendan Cahill | features@reportermag.com SPORTS EDITOR Jeff McKinzie | sports@reportermag.com VIEWS EDITOR Brett Slabaugh | views@reportermag.com WRITERS Celine Anderson, Brendan Cahill Danielle Delp, Matthew Ferragamo, William Hirsh, Nicole Howley, Nilan Lovelace, Peter LoVerso, Steven Markowitz

ART ART DIRECTOR Lauren Bolger | art.director@reportermag.com SENIOR STAFF DESIGNER Michelle Samuels STAFF DESIGNERS Natalie Talis, Emily Levine PHOTO EDITOR Juan Madrid | photo@reportermag.com CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS William Ingalls, Joshua Barber, Max Hautaniemi, Brett Carlsen, Foster Snell STAFF ILLUSTRATOR Justyn Iannucci CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS Adrian Yablin, Justine Raymond, Amber Gartung, Kayla Tucker CARTOONIST Emily DeVault

BUSINESS

It’s strange being the center of news for once.

If you haven’t heard the story by now, here’s the rundown: For our April Fool’s issue last week, I chose to run a cover which included the phrase “Fuck Cats,” and the administration acted with surprising force to halt its publication.

Everything I could say about the incident itself, as well as the surrounding issues of prior review and prior restraint, has already been said. This past week I’ve received three letters from former editors in chief (see page 4), who have weighed in both on my decision to print the cover and the administration’s request to alter it. They are printed later in this issue.

What’s interesting to me in this particular incident is the internet’s unexpected role as a mediator.

And regardless of the situation, I think that’s wonderful.

In April 2009, when Distorter was last pulled from stands, I remember seeing a Facebook group created by students who had found copies before they were pulled to advertise their possession of the issue. A form of networking, it was a place to advertise one’s possession of a copy. However, there was little specific discussion of the content, and I doubt most members were there to share copies. In my experience, most of the actual content spread directly and interpersonally. For example my floor mates, knowing I was on Reporter staff, approached me to borrow my copy.

Last week, however, information spread like wildfire. Roughly six hours after I visited Student Affairs, there was already an in-depth news story on student news site Infinity Quad, and the incident had already begun to receive serious attention by the RIT community both on Twitter and the RIT subreddit. From that lead, the Democrat and Chronicle ran their own story the next day.

In my past editorials, I’ve encouraged readers to find their own voice. In this particular situation, the RIT subreddit in particular flourished as a hub of discussion. I saw plenty of criticism of my decision to run the cover, which I cannot deny — in hindsight, it was a very poor decision. However, somewhat unexpectedly to me at first, I also saw criticism of the administration’s handling of the incident.

The situation mirrors that of the Streissand effect. After famed singer Barbara Streissand attempted to sue a photographer for posting pictures of her house online in 2003, it only led to the pictures’ wider publication.

The harder you try to censor the information, the more greatly it spreads. Had Reporter went and printed the cover, it would have undoubtedly garnered harsh criticism. However, I doubt the reaction would have yielded nearly as much press time as it did following its censorship.

I’m not trying to defend my content. As the editor in chief of Reporter and as the magazine’s liason to the RIT community, I must approve everything we send to print. And that’s where I made a fatal mistake. “Fuck Cats” was an indefensible joke.

In this, the internet acted as a sort of check and balance — for the administration, and for us. And when freedom of press is at risk, that’s exactly what we need.

PUBLICITY MANAGER Anna Hazelwood AD MANAGER Julia Morrow | ads@reportermag.com BUSINESS MANAGER Lia Hoffmann | business.manager@reportermag.com PRODUCTION MANAGER Nicholas Gawreluk | production.manager@reportermag.com ONLINE PRODUCTION MANAGER Jake DeBoer | webmaster@reportermag.com

Alex Rogala EDITOR IN CHIEF

ADVISOR Rudy Pugliese PRINTING Printing Applications Lab CONTACT 1.800.970.5406

Please Recycle

Reporter Magazine is published weekly during the academic year by a staff comprised of students at Rochester Institute of Technology. Business, Editorial and Design facilities are located in Room A-730, in the lower level of the Campus Center. Our phone number is 1.585.475.2212. The Advertising Department can be reached at 1.585.475.2213. The opinions expressed in Reporter do not necessarily reflect those of the Institute. [censored.] Letters to the Editor may also be sent to reporter@rit.edu. Reporter is not responsible for materials presented in advertising areas. No letters will be printed unless signed. All letters received become the property of Reporter. Reporter takes pride in its membership in the Associated Collegiate Press and American Civil Liberties Union. Copyright © 2011 Reporter Magazine. All rights reserved. No portion of this Magazine may be reproduced without prior written permission.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

04.13.12 | VOLUME 61 | ISSUE 25

The RIT Paintball Team poses after winning first and fourth place in the NPPL Surf City USA Open paintball tournament in Huntington Beach, Calif. March 31. The RIT A-line finished in first while the B-line placed fourth. | photograph by Foster Snell NEWS

4. Letters to the Editor

Former editors voice censorhip concerns.

6. News Desk

Supreme Court upholds strip searches.

8. GeneSIS

Breaking in the new system.

11. AYL

23. RIT SportsZone

12. Team LifeSAVES!

25. Tigers Walk Away Stung

Unlucky 13.

Campaign 4 Life at RIT.

15. Hacking

Unlocking your iDevice.

Rising to the top.

Softtball’s shaky start.

VIEWS

26. Word on the Street

What would your last meal be?

FEATURES

9. Inventors Among Us

Strong Arm wins national competition.

16. Innocent Behind Bars

29. SIStem Shock

Freeing the wrongly convicted.

Are GeneSIS concerns overblown?

LEISURE

SPORTS

10. Reviews

20. RIT Paintball Shoots to Win

30. Rings

Out with “Dig it,” in with stars.

A defining victory.

Cotton and chaos. cover illustration by Justyn Iannucci

3

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Editor’s Note: The original cover of DISTORTER, last week’s April Fool’s edition of REPORTER, bore the phrase “Fuck Cats.”

Worried by the cover’s content, and responding to concern expressed by a customer visiting their facilities, RIT’s Printing Applications Lab sent a pre-release copy of the magazine to Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Heath Boice-Pardee on Tuesday, April 3. While Boice-Pardee is not a member of Reporter’s advisory board, he acted in place of board chair Dr. Mary-Beth Cooper, senior vice president for Student Affairs, who was out of office.

Acting in response to concerns by Student Affairs, Chief Communications Officer Bob Finnerty and the President’s Office,

Boice-Pardee requested the cover be changed. During a phone call at this meeting, PAL Director Bill Garno stated Reporter had approximately an hour to deliver files in order to meet the deadline for a Friday, April 6, release date.

In a later phone call, Boice-Pardee stated that President William Destler had reviewed the magazine and would not allow the issue to be published until the edit was made.

In the wake of this incident, three former editors in chief of REPORTER wrote letters expressing their concerns with the course of events. In the interest of objectivity, REPORTER invited Boice-Pardee to submit a letter sharing his view of the events. At press time, he had not responded.

Dear Reporter, I’m writing to express my concern over what occurred during production of this year’s April 6 issue of Distorter.

I’m disappointed by the staff’s original choice of cover. “Fuck Cats” isn’t satire, pointed commentary, a clever play off of recent events, or even a very good joke. It was stupid, and the editorial staff should know better. However, what really concerns me is the reaction by the administration.

Prior restraint — the restriction of speech prior to publication — is censorship, and it isn’t something to be taken lightly. For any member of the administration to engage in review of the magazine prior to its release wrests editorial control away from the staff of Reporter. It severely limits student expression, and it detracts from the entire educational experience.

As editor in chief of Reporter, I also ran some bad jokes. I also made some stupid decisions. And when the administration and Reporter’s readership called me out on it (as they should have), I took responsibility, and my staff and I learned from those mistakes.

When I hear about President Destler reading through the unpublished magazine and pointing to specific content for Reporter to change, that worries me. I worry that this staff is not being given the same opportunity that I was to learn from their mistakes. I worry about the chilling effect of prior review, and the extent to which the administration feels it is appropriate to control the content of student media. Most of all, I worry about the process (or lack thereof) that was followed during this debacle, and the precedent that this sets.

Prior review and prior restraint should have no place at RIT. Both the administration and the staff of Reporter need to take steps to ensure that this unfortunate episode does not repeat itself.

Laura Mandanas Editor in Chief, 2008-2009

As a former editor in chief of Reporter Magazine, I was greatly disturbed by the series of events that lead to the censorship of the Distorter cover.

I say censorship, because what happened was clearly a case of prior restraint — censorship in no uncertain terms. While I can’t pretend to agree with the decision to print “Fuck Cats” in the first place, I would like to outline the real issue: that there is a mechanism in place to block Reporter from printing something the administration does not find favorable. The administration has set a dangerous precedent with regards to the claim that Reporter enjoys full first amendment rights.

Here is the chain of events, as I understand them to have occurred: The director of the Printing Applications Lab saw something that might be of concern to the administration. He then sent the unpublished copy to Dr. Heath Boice-Pardee (an administrator with no direct oversight of the magazine, as far as I am aware) and others to review. Dr. Boice-Pardee then called in the Reporter’s editor in chief, Alex Rogala, to talk about the cover, where he convinced Mr. Rogala to edit out the copy.

Between PAL leaking unpublished materials to administrators with little connection to the magazine and Dr. Boice-Pardee urging a brand-new editor in chief to alter his magazine, I’m pretty damned disappointed. At least while I was around, we maintained the fiction that Reporter was allowed to print what it saw fit. If we made a mistake, we suffered the consequences after the issue hit the stand. This is a textbook case of prior restraint. And whether or not it was right or wrong to print “Fuck Cats” on the cover is not the point. (side note: Really Bob? Derogatory toward women? You must have gone through several thesaurus entries to reach that conclusion.) The point is that under different circumstances, this same process could be used to block real, damaging journalism from reaching the public. That is what I find reprehensible.

Shut down this back-alley prior review system. It puts both the magazine and the administration in a bad light.

I put my work at Reporter on my résumé because it represents a valuable learning experience. I just hope future magazine staffers regard the experience in the same way and not as a lesson in subversion of free speech.

Sincerely, Andrew M. Rees Editor in Chief, 2009-2010

Dear Reporter, I am writing to express my concern over the events that transpired during the production of last week’s Distorter, which led to the censorship of its cover.

First, I would like to say that I’m extremely disappointed with Reporter’s cover choice. The use of “Fuck Cats” was indefensible.

It was neither satire nor a clever reference to recent events or pop culture. It didn’t even refer to anything contained within the issue. Simply put, it was a stupid phrase that hoped to gain attention through the shock value of obscenity. While I was not offended by the cover, I can’t say that I was amused by it either. With that, I suggest that the Reporter staff review the purpose of their student publication, the role it should play on campus, and its rights and responsibilities. I believe that it was irresponsible for Reporter to release that cover, especially a week after April Fools’ Day. Timing has always been issue for Distorter, and it will continue to be. In the last five years, the Friday nearest to April Fools’ Day has always coincided with an Accepted Student Open House day. It was even used as the primary reason for pulling the 2009 Distorter, which included far more offensive content, from the stands and Reporter Online.

The reason I bring this up isn’t to make the argument that Reporter has gotten away with worse. Rather, I would like to point out that while Reporter has done questionable things in the past, its rights to freedom of press have generally been respected, until now.

When the magazines were pulled off the stands in 2009, it was primarily because Student Affairs had received a few complaints, and administrators were concerned about distributing objectionable content on the same day hundreds of prospective students and their parents were strolling around campus. It wasn’t a question about whether or not Reporter could publish something, and no prior review or prior restraint was exercised.

After the pull, an emergency advisory board meeting was held with representatives from Reporter’s editorial board (myself included), and RIT faculty, staff and administration. During this meeting, we discussed the issue, and Reporter was able to explain some of the reasoning behind the controversial content. Potential solutions discussed included: a wrap or poster warning potential readers about the April Fools’ Day edition and its mature content, and releasing the issue exactly on April 1st so that context would not be lost. Dr. Mary-Beth Cooper, who sits as chair of Reporter’s advisory board, then used this information to give President Destler a recommendation. With her and Student Government’s recommendation, President Destler decided to let Reporter be redistributed from within its office.

The situation I described is the typical process that the administration takes when it comes to problems with Reporter, from staff complaints to cartoon controversies. As you can see, both the magazine and the RIT community were represented during the process. However, no such procedure was followed when Reporter was asked to change the cover of this year’s Distorter.

Instead, the offices and administrators involved made a list of things they wanted changed before Reporter could be reprinted.

In order to get the magazine to the presses in time for April 6 distribution, Editor in Chief Alex Rogala decided to remove the questionable line on the cover to appease administration. There was no real discussion, no assembly of the advisory board, and no alternative solutions presented — just the administration’s request to change something that they didn’t agree with. This decision sets the dangerous precedent that RIT can disrupt production and control what is printed in Reporter. It implies that RIT’s school publication does not enjoy full First Amendment rights.

Reporter’s advisory board and administration has always asked the magazine to consider the message that it sends to the RIT campus, and rightfully so. But I ask them this: What message do they want to send about RIT? Sincerely, Madeleine Villavicencio Editor in Chief, 2010-2011

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author. REPORTER reserves the right to edit submissions based on content, length, grammar, spelling and style. Letters are not guaranteed publication. Submissions may be printed and reprinted in any medium.

REPORTER will not run responses to letters.

BEYOND THE BRICKS >>04.13.12

by Steven Markowitz | illustration by Kayla Tucker

FORMER STUDENT ARRESTED AFTER COLLEGE SHOOTING One Goh, a 43-year-old former Oikos University student, was charged with murder and attempted murder following a Monday, April 2 shooting spree at the Oakland, Calif. college left seven dead and three wounded. The wounded victims were released from the hospital the next day.

Witnesses report that Goh forced a woman from her office and into a classroom at gunpoint, then started shooting; he then took the victim’s keys and fled in her car.

Later, Goh told investigators that he went to the school with a .45-caliber handgun and four fully loaded magazines of ammunition. Goh surrendered to police at a grocery store several miles from the college a short time later.

At this time, there is no known motive for the shootings, although police say Goh had anger management issues. Goh’s friends note that both his brother and mother died within the last year, and he was recently evicted from his apartment in Virginia.

Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan said Goh had gone to the school intending to find an administrator and classmates who had treated him unfairly; however, the administrator was not present.

“The enormity and devastation of these crimes in unprecedented in Alameda County,” said District Attorney Nancy O’Malley.

Oikos University is a small college that caters to the Korean-American Christian community. Due to these circumstances, the city will work to find multi-linguistic counselors for survivors.

INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE BUILDS IN MALI Pressure has been escalating in Mali over the past few weeks, after rebel groups seized power from a democratically elected president, relinquished it and returned Mali to its former state of civilian rule.

In response, the African Union and Economic Community of Western African States have imposed sanctions to cut off trade and transportation to the country, as well as cripple its economy. The coup leaders pledge to begin talks to establish a traditional and peaceful government.

However, the country currently faces supply problems, due to being blocked off from the sea and reliant on the imports it gets from shipping.

Amnesty International has raised concerns for the safety of civilians, following mass reports of violence and looting. The United States has also warned against traveling to the county.

SUPREME COURT ALLOWS STRIP SEARCHES FOR ANY ARREST On Monday, April 2, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that officials may strip search arrested people before admitting them to jail. The ruling applies to any offense, regardless of how major or minor, and it allows searches even when there is no probable cause of the person having contraband.

Despite debate among federal appeals courts, most courts at this level agree that there must be probable cause to conduct strip searches.

6 News | 04.13.12

The Supreme Court ruling does not require searches, and only states that the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizures does not prohibit searches among those admitted to jail.

This ruling contradicts statute in 10 states and federal policy.

According to the American Bar Association, this type of procedure is banned by international human rights treaties.

CRIME WATCH >>04.06.12 compiled by Nilan Lovelace

SUNDAY 4

FRIDAY 9

Carlton Gibson Hall (CGH, 49).

Between 12:05 and 12:20 a.m. Students possessed drug paraphernalia. The investigation continues by the Public Safety Office.

University Commons Suites (UCS, 300-330).

2:31 a.m. While responding to a fire alarm, it was discovered that a student had been smoking a controlled substance. This case was referred to the Office of Student Conduct.

SATURDAY 10

Colony Manor Apartments (CMA, 97).

Between 3 and 11 a.m. A student reported non-consensual sex with a non-member. This investigation continues.

THURSDAY 15

Frances Baker Hall A&B (BHA, 27). 4:18 p.m.

A student reported that another student was filming students in the shower. This case was closed by Judicial Affairs.

FRIDAY 16

Charters Way. 12:30 a.m. A student was urinating on the exterior of a residence hall. This case was turned over to Judicial Affairs.

FORECAST

>>4.13 to 4.19

by Danielle Delp

FRIDAY 13

STUDENT SAFEZONE Kathy Hall Conference Room, Campus Center. 3 — 5 p.m.

The GLBT Center is hosting free SafeZone training and GLBT education for those interested in becoming allies of the GLBT community. Persons of all sexual identities and orientations are welcome. Cost: Free.

SATURDAY 14

BARCAMP ROCHESTER SPRING 2012 Atrium, Golisano Hall. (GOL, 70) 8 a.m. — 6 p.m.

Swing by this festival of knowledge to learn something new, or come prepared with a 30-minute presentation to share something you love. Cost: Free.

SUNDAY 15

THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES Ingle Auditorium, Student Alumni Union. 3 — 9 p.m.

From hilarious to heartbreaking, “The Vagina Monologues” tell the tales of women whose lives were affected by what they have between their legs. Cost: Students: $10, Others: $20.

MONDAY 16

EASTMAN PHILHARMONIC Eastman Theater, 60 Gibbs St. 8 — 10 p.m.

SUNDAY 18

Grace Watson Circle. 1:43 a.m. Two unidentified persons were seen overturning an FMS Club Car. This investigation continues.

Grace Watson Circle. 9:30 p.m. A student and non-member were observed in a lewd act inside a vehicle. The non-member was banned from campus and the case was referred to the Office of Student Conduct.

WEDNESDAY 21

Grace Watson Hall (GWH, 25). Between 11:05 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Unknown person(s) damaged a vehicle.

The case is closed, pending new information or leads.

FRIDAY 23

Nature Trails. 4:34 a.m. Students possessed marijuana. The case was referred to Office of Student Conduct.

SUNDAY 25

Riverknoll Apartments (RKA, 20). 1:36 p.m.

A student reported that the door of his apartment had been kicked in. Nothing appeared to be missing. This case is closed pending new leads or information.

The Eastman Philharmonic will be providing a free concert, featuring pieces from Brahms and Ravel. Cost: Free.

TUESDAY 17

“JERSEY BOYS” Rochester Auditorium Theatre, 885 East Main St. 7:30 — 11 p.m.

A lot more has come out of New Jersey than “Jersey Shore” — this musical celebrates legendary Jersey rock and roll artists the Four Seasons. Cost: $29.50-$74.50.

WEDNESDAY 18

AGING, VISION AND THE REAL WORLD Carlson Auditorium, Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science.

(CAR, 76) 12 — 2 p.m.

As part of the Kern Lecture Series, Allison Sekuler and Patrick Bennett will explore the reality of aging, and how it affects the body in both positive and negative ways. Cost: Free.

THURSDAY 19

LOCAL LANDMARKS OF MODERNISM Memorial Art Gallery, 500 University Ave. 7 — 8 p.m.

Decades-old masterpieces of modern architecture are lurking around Rochester, and this is your chance to hear their stories. Cost: Students: $5, Others: $12.

7

by Steven Markowitz | illustration by Justine Raymond

GeneSIS

Breaking in the New System

The frustration of mashing the refresh button while watching a handle millions of visitors at once. His letter, posted on the RIT subreddit, server crash as all your classes fill up may be ending this quarter. has received support from the Reddit community.

Since upgrading the current registration system to semesters Many of the other new features involve integrated old systems. New would cost millions, and the current system has been in need search functionality will combine the current four or five ways to find of change for many years, RIT will be launching a new student classes and allow students to search by instructor, time, name of class, information service — entitled GeneSIS — for registration next fall. course description and more.

According to Joe Loffredo, assistant vice president for Academic However, students such as Krieger have expressed concern that the Affairs and registrar, the goal of the new system is “integration.” The search feature is hard to navigate through, using unfamiliar Oracle terms system uses Oracle’s PeopleSoft Campus Solutions software, and such as “course attribute” and “course attribute value.” There is no simple with the new company comes new terminology, such as “non-degree search either, only the advanced option, which requires at least two criteria students” replacing “non-matriculated students.” to search.

When the system launches, students will be able to plan for Unmet needs, now called “wait-listing,” will automatically place students registration, now called “enrollment,” with a new tool: the shopping and allow professors and administrators to see the wait-lists for classes in cart. Students will be able to add courses to the cart, and come real time. Later this year, the system will incorporate automatic degree enrollment day, students simply check off the classes they want to auditing. register for and click a button.

As of now, Loffredo addresses that a major complaint has been the user One feature of the new shopping cart is the ability to validate courses. interface — the standard Oracle interface — and in time it will be improved.

It can check whether the student has the appropriate prerequisites, The fact is that if the university wishes to add changes to the system when is the correct year level, has any holds on his or her account or has Oracle upgrades it, the improvements must be removed from the system timing conflicts. before installing the upgrades, then reinstalled and tested. Therefore, the In order to keep servers running during high traffic periods, the school must determine if — financially — the improvements are necessary. new system introduces enrollment appointments. Every half hour, Yet students have already taken action to tweak the unnecessarily enrollment will open up to 150 students, with times ranging from complicated interface. Two students, Dan Fenton and Thomas DeMeo, 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. both fourth year Computer Engineering students, are working on a web A student’s time, which is not limited to the half hour slot but is browser plug-in that makes GeneSIS more user-friendly, which they open for the rest of registration period, will be assigned randomly presented at a Friday, April 30 Student Government (SG) meeting. by year level. According to Loffredo, the registrar’s office considered Fenton and DeMeo’s modification replaces the default blue and green Oracle assigning times by GPAs or credit hours, now referred to as “units.” colors with brown and orange. The software also overlays new terms to explain In the effort of fairness, they have chosen to divide times randomly. the difference, like noting that units are credits. It will also integrate the These times will not be available when the new system launches, but different methods of finding courses, including the four-letter abbreviations students will be able to find out their time on the student center which will not be used until the semester conversion and the current fourwebsite, a service similar to the current student information system. letter codes. Currently, the extension runs on Chrome, Firefox and Safari, but This feature in particular has upset many students, including does not run on Internet Explorer. second year software engineering major Cody Krieger. In an open Depending on how successful this quarter’s enrollment is, there are two letter published on his website, Krieger states that he believes that possible changes for next year: condensing the time range to a few hours the randomized system could lead to students losing access to — if the servers can handle it — and changing the time of registration to courses they need before registration has begun. He also believes later in the day. that a cap on the amount of people able to register at a specific time Though GeneSIS will be in use for fall quarter enrollment later this is not the appropriate solution when many modern websites can month, summer quarter will be the last use of the current system.

8

INVENTORS AMONG US: STUDENTS WIN GRAND PRIZE AT NATIONAL INVENTION COMPETITION

by Peter LoVerso | photograph by Brett Carlsen

Big things are in store for Sean Petterson and Justin Hillery.

The two fourth year students have spent the last year and a half developing the Strong Arm Ergonomic Lifting System. The Strong Arm is a simple product designed to help guide workers to use proper technique when lifting heavy objects. A garment that fits to the body, it uses straps to redistribute weight to the most stable areas of the torso.

This piece of engineering landed the pair first prize at last month’s Open Minds Competition, a San Francisco-based contest for young inventors, netting them a $1,000 prize to be used for future innovation. Hosted by the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, the 16th annual competition hosted the past year’s top 14 young inventor teams, as measured by the amount of funding they had received.

At the competition, the teams gave presentations on their products, and then allowed venture capitalists to sponsor different teams with false money based on the product and presentation. Petterson, an Industrial Design major, and Hillery, a Multidisciplinary Studies major, raised the most capital and won the prize.

Justin Hillery demonstrates the Strong Arm Ergonomic Lifting System, which he co-created with Sean Petterson, Thursday, April 5.

The concept for the Strong Arm has humble beginnings: The two friends were watching bricklayers build a wall while renovating Orange Hall (ORN, 13), and they felt that the workers were lifting bricks incorrectly, in a way that could easily hurt their backs. Having both worked in construction, they knew they could do something to protect the workers’ health. Within a week, they had designed their first prototype.

Both inventors describe themselves as innovative people. “We’re both idea guys, we like to make stuff,” says Petterson. “So any problem that we have or anything where there isn’t currently a solution, we’ll go ahead and make that solution.”

The two saw the need for a solution to preventable back problems; despite 40 years of regulation and known injuries, people still commonly lift things incorrectly, either out of laziness or ignorance. Their product, by redistributing weight to the more stable areas of the body, will protect the more injury-prone parts of the body, such as the hands, shoulders and back.

It has taken over 18 months of planning and hard work, including 16 different working prototypes, for the team to get where they are. The last two prototypes have also been involved in large-scale production for sale to a number of local companies. However, the pair is finalizing their product to meet the needs and goals of large corporations — many of whom are already interested in the product — and are getting ready to join the national market.

While they mostly worked independently, the two got an early boost from the Center for Student Innovation. Boasting a host of tools, materials and mentors, the center helped the pair develop connections to manufacturers and other relevant people in the appropriate industries, and helped provide the means of production for the first few prototypes.

In the future, the pair hopes to see their invention be used to help protect people across a wide number of industries, where it will be applicable to a host of applications, making carrying both easier and safer for workers. As the Strong Arm approaches full-scale production and distribution, these two students are setting the pace for RIT innovation and student success.

9

REVIEWS 2012 "KIDS ON THE STREET" ALL–AMERICAN REJECTS (DELUXE EDITION)

"ROCHETJUICE AND THE MOON" ROCHETJUICE AND THE MOON

Album | Alternative | 43:12

by Celine Anderson

Album | Funk| 52:32

by William Hirsh

Combine front man Tyson Ritter’s sentiments on pain, love and hate with catchy lyrics, and you have the All-American Rejects’ newest album “Kids in The Street”.

“Kids in The Street” is a well-constructed album that brings a new sound to the All-American Rejects. The band as a whole has transformed; this is not the angsty AAR that gave us “Swing Swing,” and “Dirty Little Secret.” Nor is it the band that brought us “Gives You Hell.” Rather, it’s all three mixed together with a new level of maturity and experience.

Opener “Someday’s Gone” sets the tone, with some raw lyrics on confronting a cheating girlfriend. It has a style similar to their old work, but with some new influences. The same can be said for their first official single “Beekeeper’s Daughter.” With cheeky lyrics and a chorus you can’t help but sing along with, it reverts back to their last album, yet surpasses it with the use of trumpets and an impressive guitar solo.

The title song is fun and filled with nostalgia as Ritter reminisces on the simpler times of youth. It makes use of synthesizers, which is completely new for the band but works for them in an unexpected way.

Continuing on with their experimentation with synthesizers, the album takes a turn with “Heartbeat Slowing Down,” a deeply emotional ballad with powerful lyrics backed by a pulsing drumbeat that resembles a heartbeat. While the orchestral ballad “Affection” opens with a soft string progression, making for a sweet and vulnerable sound that when coupled with electric guitar creates a finale that is subliminally raw and in your face.

Overall, “Kids In The Street” is a very satisfying listening experience that is both the music you have grown to love and nothing you have ever heard before.

“Rocketjuice and the Moon” is an unlikely nexus of musical styles.

Formed in 2008 but delayed because of conflicting recording schedules, the supergroup consists of Blur front man Damon Albarn, Red Hot Chili Peppers (RHCP) bassist Flea and Africa ‘70 drummer Tony Allen, along with a multitude of guest artists from around the world. What can casually be described as a funk album is too narrow of a designation. A global village album of sorts, “Rocketjuice and the Moon” is a unique listening experience not just for fans of the artists involved, but any interested in exploring this fresh spin on the funk genre.

Coming off as a highly polished jam session, the album features an array of musical influences. From the blaring big-band trumpets to the toe-tapping bass riffs, its conflicting music sensibilities seem to fall into place fairly well. Blending each band member’s respective backgrounds, every song has a different amount of influence from each artist. Songs like “Night Watch” and “Forward Sweep” tend to draw more from the funk stylings of Flea and Allen, reminiscent of early RHCP with electronic backing courtesy of Albarn. Others, such as “Lolo” and “Follow-Fashion” give more precedence to guest artists like Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara and Ghanaian rapper M.anifest, sounding like typical Gorillaz collaboration songs. “Poison” is where Albarn’s influence is completely in the foreground and is the only song on the album to trade off the funk focus of the album for more Gorillaz-style composition.

While a majority of “Rocketjuice and the Moon” consists of quality tracks, the album would have been better off if the band had cut some songs in order to be more cohesive. Understanding that their debut was more of a one-shot experience, the lengthy 18-track album is still worth several listens.

FOR FANS OF

FOR FANS OF

Panic! At the Disco, All Time Low, Fall Out Boy

The Africa '70, Gorillaz, Red Hot Chili Peppers

10 Leisure | 01.20.12 04.13.12

AYL at YOUR LEISURE

by Evan Williams

Word of the Week RACKRENT n. – An excessive or unreasonably high rent.

The rackrent in New York City kept Pauly from moving to Brooklyn to follow his dream of juggling professionally.

Definition taken from http://merriam-webster.com

Haiku

Talk in theatres Is a sin against mankind.

Show them no mercy.

COMIC

by Emily DeVault

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS

REPORTER RECOMMENDS

The kid next to me in the library is watching some home videos of his sister/girlfriend performing at a dance recital. I don’t think it’s supposed to be as funny as it is.

BELATED HOCKEY RIOTS

Stream of FACTS The earliest English-language reference to Friday the 13th was in Henry Sutherland Edwards’ 1869 biography of Italian composer Gioachino Rossini. “Rossini was surrounded to the last by admiring and affectionate friends; Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky?”

Phobia of this unlucky day is called paraske videkatriaphobia. The word is comprised of the Greek word Paraskevi, meaning Friday and dekatreis, meaning 13.

This fear would first appear in a mainstream source in 1953.

The fear of this day is so paralyzing to some that an estimated $900 million is lost on Friday the 13th because people refuse to fly, travel or conduct daily business. Some won’t even get out of bed. An estimated eight percent of Americans are affected.

Some people see things differently than us Americans. Spanish-speaking countries find Tuesday the 13th unlucky, and in Italy, Friday the 17th is a popular day of misfortune.

The final misfortune befell legendary rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur on Friday the 13th.

Falling into a coma after a Saturday, September 7, 1996 shooting, he was pronounced dead six days later. Thug life.

So, I don’t know how many of you know this, but our Women’s Hockey team just won a Division III National Championship. A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. We never do that. For any sport. Ever. And to our ears, barely a peep was made by our supposedly hockey-crazed student body.

I remember walking through Riverknoll the night Men’s Hockey made the Frozen Four a couple years ago. All was quiet, until a car came streaking into a nearby parking lot, a gang of shrieking pep band kids hopped out and flipped a nearby dumpster. Then off they scrambled into the night with cries of “Frozen Four!” For the rest of the night there was the banging of dumpsters and the shrieking of nerds. And that was just for getting into the tournament!

So the Women win the whole thing and we can’t do as much as an overturned grill?!

C’mon guys. I know it’s a few weeks old, but the weather’s finally getting to perfect rioting temperature. Flip a car, torch a recycling bin, tackle a deer. We’re number one for once: Act like it, goddammit.

QUOTE “Do not pray for an easy life. Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”

– Bruce Lee

11

TEAM LIFE

SAVES

Campaign 4 Life at RIT

by Nicole Howley | illustration by Adrian Yablian

12 Leisure | 04.13.12 14

W

hat if your heart stopped working? Or if another of your vital organs failed? What if you were dying because your organs couldn’t support your body anymore? You would find yourself among the 10,000 people in New York State waiting for an organ donation.

As college students, the chance of this happening to any of us may seem unreal. The possibility of dying when each of us has so much potential and so many goals for the future is absolutely terrifying. How could the universe ever conspire in such a way as to take all that away?

Only 18 percent of adults are registered as organ donors in New York.

This is one of the lowest percentages in the country. Including here at RIT with Team LifeSAVES!, the Campaign 4 Life hopes to change these numbers in order to give more people like a chance at life.

A SURVIVOR’S TALE Aisha O’Mally is now working as a records assistant in the Office of Financial Aid here at RIT. However, when she was just 24, she suffered heart failure.

Although initially her doctors thought that with medication her heart would start working on its own, eventually O’Mally had to be placed on the national transplant list. At that point, she was still able to continue on with her daily life. “I was working. I had just got a new job, I just got my own apartment, and I bought a new car so I was just living,” she explained. “It really didn’t affect me just yet. I don’t think I realized how sick I was. When you’re 24 you’re like, ‘Oh, it’s not a big deal. Things will work out.’”

But as time went on, her health continued to deteriorate, and around the end of that October, she was admitted to the hospital indefinitely where she spent Thanksgiving, Christmas and her 25th birthday.

Then good news came a few weeks after Omally’s 25th birthday, when doctors informed her that they might have a match. After a ninehour surgery, she had a new heart. Her surgeon told her that when he put the heart in, it began beating on its own; he knew it was a perfect match.

By being given another heart, O’Mally received a second chance at life. “Ever since [I received the transplant], I’ve been better,” she said.

“I’m working now. I finished my Master’s degree. I volunteer all the time.” Now she is an inspirational speaker who shares her story in order to raise awareness for the importance of organ donation. She also volunteered to be the leader of Team LifeSAVES!.

FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT Campaign 4 Life is a competition held by the New York Alliance for Donation where teams from all across New York encourage more people to register as organ donors by raising awareness about the importance of organ donation. The competition started at the beginning of March and all through that month, Team LifeSAVES! made conscious efforts to spread the word and recruit donors both on and off campus.

With a team made up of RIT students, O’Mally knew the importance of reaching out to the college community. “When I am doing my inspirational speaking, I like to talk to college students because they get the picture. It clicks for them a lot quicker than for somebody who’s older,” said O’Mally. “They think, ‘You know, what am I going to do with my organs when I’m dead?’ You aren’t going to do anything with them.”

Team LifeSAVES! held a string of events and met with many members of the campus community in order to spread their message.

The group reached out to an RIT communications class, who generously agreed to design posters about the importance of organ donation. The team attended both an RA event and a GLBT meeting and talked to the other attendees about donation. They also set up a booth at the blood drive on campus on Saint Patrick’s Day to raise awareness amongst the students who already are willing to donate a part of themselves to help others.

In addition, Team LifeSAVES! appeared on YNN and the Bob Lonsberry Radio Show in order to reach people in the Rochester community at large.

LOOKING BACK AND MOVING FORWARD This round of the Campaign 4 Life competition ended on March 31, and as by its end, 537 people had registered as organ donors. Although this is a fairly large number of new registered donors, there is still room for more to be added to the registry. An organ donor can save up to eight lives.

O’Mally was not the only team member who received a life saving organ donation; Lauren Aggen, a third year Multidisciplinary Studies student focusing on Deaf Studies, Communication, Psychology and Writing, also received a heart transplant but when she was only 8 days old. The donation came from Austin, Texas just a day before she would be removed from the transplant list for being too sick to receive it. Her heart too began beating on its own the minute she received it. Now she shares a strong passion for organ donation as well. In addition to her volunteer efforts for Team LifeSAVES!, Aggen has delivered many speeches on her story as well as having it published in her book “Austin’s Gift: The Life of a Grateful Organ Recipient.”

These two members of Team Life have very personal reasons to care about organ donation. “I’m very passionate about organ donation. It’s something that I live and breathe every day,” says O’Mally. Through their public speaking and their involvement with Campaign 4 Life, they are trying to get others to feel passionate about it as well and to register more people as organ donors.

Symposium April 29th 10AM - 3PM Building 1

For more info: rit.edu/nalfo ritnalfo@gmail.com facebook.com/nalfo 6 News | 03.23.12

FORMAL ATTIRE REQUIRED

F O S T U O D N A S N I THE G

N I K A E R B L I A J

by Nilan Lovelace

hen the iPhone debuted in the summer of 2007, George Hotz, aka GeoHot, who would be attending RIT that fall, dismantled and unlocked his phone to work on the T-Mobile network. This process, known as jailbreaking, involves removing the limitations imposed by a device’s native software to gain root access to the operating system.

Now, almost five years later, GeoHot’s hack has transformed into the infamous iOS jailbreak. The once two-hour process now only takes a few minutes. The only things you need are an “iDevice,” such as an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch; a USB cable made for iDevices; a computer; and an internet connection.

The first, and most crucial, step is to check your firmware. When GeoHot developed past jailbreaks, which he named purplera1n and blackra1n, firmware for iDevices could be downgraded. But since Apple has finally realized jailbreaking could be easily accomplished that way, the new iOS 5.x firmware updates, prohibits downgrading.

Currently, iOS 5.1 is the latest firmware and currently the only jailbreak available for it will force you to be tethered to your computer whenever the device is turned off. So if you have iOS 5.0, stick with it.

Next, you need the jailbreaking software. There are a few out there that can get the job done, but it is recommended that you use redsn0w, ultrasn0w if you want a carrier unlock that allows your phone to be used with different wireless carriers. It’s best to get the software from the source, the iPhone Dev Team blog (http://blog.iphone-dev. org). The newest updates of redsn0w will recognize which firmware is currently on your iDevice and will apply the correct jailbreaking method for you. Note that with redsn0w, you need a firmware of iOS 3.0 or higher. All iDevices should be able to update to 3.x.x firmwares for free.

Now, the next set of steps will need to be followed carefully (If not, I hope you enjoy losing a bit of information): Backup all your data before you actually run redsn0w! During the process of jailbreaking, you will need to clear the data from your device, so it cannot be stressed enough that you backup everything through iTunes!

The next steps are easy. If you can read and use a mouse, just follow

the directions that show up on screen. When asked, choose to install “Cydia” and uncheck the box for battery percentage — it just drains your battery. When you have to put your device into Device Firmware Upgrade mode (DFU), don’t worry if you can’t keep up with the instructions, nothing should go wrong. The best option is to put the device in DFU mode before you are prompted to. A quick Google search about DFU will tell you what to do.

If everything has gone right, a nice dancing pineapple will appear on your screen followed by the actual coding for the jailbreak. Just let the device finish what it needs to do while plugged into your computer.

When the jailbreak is finished, the lock screen will pop up if a passcode is equipped. If not, it’ll jump directly to the home screen.

Once it is finished, look for an app named “Cydia” on your home screen. If it’s not there, redo everything. From here, you are free to explore “Cydia” and tweak your device as you wish.

Potential hackers beware! Jailbreaking can void your warranty with Apple! But frankly, if anything goes wrong with up the road, simply use iTunes to restore your device and the jailbreak will disappear.

There are, however, easy ways to find that a device was jailbroken.

Jailbreaking is perfectly legal, by the way. According to a July 26, 2010 article by Wired, federal regulators stated that there was “no basis for copyright law to assist Apple in protecting its restrictive business model.”

With a jailbroken iDevice, owners can get free apps, awesome tweaks — including assigning new functions to buttons and complete control of the iDevice’s springboard — and a few other improvements. From there, what you do with a freshly jailbroken device is up to you.

Editor’s Note: REPORTER does not condone or encourage piracy, one often-cited motivation for jailbreaking. All steps included are legally allowable, although they may void your warranty with Apple. REPORTER is not liable for any loss of data, damage to devices or voided warranties.

15

6 News 16 Features | 03.23.12 | 04.13.12

INNOCENT BEHIND BARS

By Danielle Delp | illustrations by Adrian Yablin

ne cold winter morning in 1988, 74-year-old Viola Manville was brutally shot, beaten and left for dead deep in the city of Rochester. The prime suspect in the case was 28-year-old Frank Sterling, who would be convicted a few years later and sentenced to a life in prison. He would ultimately serve 18 years and be freed after re-examination of evidence from the case.

As it turned out, Sterling served those 18 years for a crime he did not actually commit — DNA testing revealed a man named Mark Cristie was the true murderer. On April 28, 2010, Sterling’s nightmare finally came to an end when he was exonerated. Unfortunately for the dozens of others who may be imprisoned due to a wrongful conviction, such a blissful day may never come.

A TRAGIC MISTAKE Wrongful convictions are estimated to occur in about 3 percent of all court rulings and generally happen due to false testimonies and investigation errors. The mistake may go unknown for months, years, decades, or for the length of the victim’s life. It may even lead to the death sentence, as was suspected in the case of Troy Davis. Convicted in the 1989 murder of a Savannah police officer, Davis’ trial and execution sparked a series of protests nationwide late last year.

For those who are lucky enough to be released, life does not always resume its normal course. Brian Shiffrin, Esq., a defense attorney and adjunct professor in RIT’s Department of Criminal Justice, explained that those who are released can face difficulties upon their return to society. Their record of imprisonment does not disappear, so these people may also have difficulty finding jobs, and those who were assured of the newly freed person’s guilt might subject them to harassment.

At least one of three conditions are required to guarantee the innocence of a suspect: absolute proof of the suspect’s innocent, absolute guilt of another person, or sufficient evidence that the “crime” in question never happened or was falsified. These strict standards can prove problematic when attempting to re-open a case, as “absolute” is a difficult thing to prove. The one thing that a person absolutely cannot lie about, however, is their DNA; thus, biological evidence found at a crime scene may be the deciding factor in whether or not a person

walks free. This in and of itself can be a problem, however, as Shiffrin explained: “Only very few crimes — mostly homicides, assaults, and sex crimes have such biological evidence.” Thus, little hope of correcting a mistaken conviction exists for those sentenced for nonphysical crimes.

MAKING THE CASE The horrors of a fate like Sterling’s are exactly why police investigators must do everything in their power to ensure they’ve put the right man under lock and key. According to Gates Police Chief and adjunct professor in RIT’s Department of Criminal Justice David DiCaro, the process of selecting suspects entails a good deal of research. Both the methods and technology used to examine a crime scene have evolved significantly over the past few decades, which has made finding and accurately identifying criminals significantly easier. DNA testing has proved particularly useful, as fingerprints, physical evidence left behind, and suspected connections to the crime were once the only real leads the police had to work with. And even then, says DiCaro, if there wasn’t a decent idea already of who the criminal was, the trail can run cold.

DiCaro teaches a class on crime scene technology at RIT, and considers new innovations to be important additions to the police force’s arsenal. Improving technology to make the best use of it has always been the goal of law enforcement, as they are vehemently opposed to prosecuting the wrong person. After all, being responsible for putting an innocent man in jail weighs fairly heavily on the mind.

Thus, the police consider the DNA sampling just as important as defense attorneys do, as it is the most accurate means of revealing a wrongful conviction.

DiCaro explained, however, that technology alone is a tool — it is only as effective as how it is used. No matter how much technology or evidence is available, it relies upon those charged with the investigation to put the pieces together. “No piece of evidence in and of itself is the smoking gun,” mused DiCaro. This step is the single most important factor in making the case, as it reveals the connections between people and evidence that are involved with the case. If the puzzle is put together perfectly everything will add up and, hopefully, a guilty criminal will go home at the end of the day. If not, it is entirely possible that a wrongful conviction may take place.

BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT Suspecting a wrongful conviction is not enough to overturn a ruling, however, and few courts will consider a request to re-open a case. As Shiffrin explained, “Law enforcement largely has opposed efforts to re-examine old cases, claiming that society is entitled to finality in the criminal process.” In other words, a conviction declared by a jury must be considered absolute. Thus, prosecution offices will generally be unwilling to accept new or contradictory evidence towards a case that has already been settled.

18 Features | 04.13.12

DiCaro, however, explained that new evidence will often be brought forward by defense attorneys simply to sow enough doubt for their client to walk free regardless of their innocence. To members of the prosecution like DiCaro the question becomes, “Are they bringing it in to prove it [the conviction] wrong, or are they just trying to create doubt?” Sorting the genuine from the falsified becomes such a delicate issue that a significant amount of concrete proof becomes required to convince a judge to re-examine the case.

So, does public protesting help a case where wrongful conviction is suspected? Shiffrin says no. Protests may bring media and civilian attention to the trial in question, but it probably won’t sway the mind of a judge or jury in any significant way. Even so, the sense of finality within the justice system means that Sterling and others like him may never have been freed without outside help in the form of money and forced biological testing.

The Innocence Project is one of the main non-profit organizations that exists to provide that help. A professional organization, it actively seeks to identify possible wrongful convictions and obtain orders for biological testing of past evidence. Though they have helped exonerate five people using non-biological findings, their primary targets are cases for which enough untested DNA exists to argue in favor of a re-examination. Their efforts have resulted in several hundred peopled exonerated, many a decade or more after they were imprisoned.

On April 20, the Criminal Defense department will be hosting an educational presentation by the Innocence Project at RIT. DiCaro will be attending, even though the defense attorneys running the Project are technically his opposition; “I want to know what the defense attorneys are talking about. I want to hear their side, and see where my points don’t line up.” He acknowledged the good that has been done by the project’s actions, especially in regards to modifying interrogation methods. He also wants to know more about ideas and innovations that may be in the works, since improvements to increase investigation effectiveness are always welcome. He provided fingerprinting, the predecessor to DNA sampling, as an example. Once, fingerprints were useless unless you had a good idea of the person they came from. The creation of a database, however, made it possible to identify people from a very wide pool of known criminals. DNA sampling has similarly proved helpful, but there isn’t enough information from known criminals to use it to it’s full potential yet, so a similar kind of database is in the works.

DiCaro and Shiffrin play opposite positions in court, but they undeniably share some similar views on the issue of wrongful conviction. The simple reality is that there are people who are “proven” guilty who should not have been, and end up paying a terrible price because of it. DiCaro tries to prevent the wrong person from going to jail in the first place, while Shiffrin tries to examine the cases of those who may have been the wrong one all along. It takes effort from both the prosecution and the defense to ensure that at the end of the day, they made the best decision they could. The process is not perfect. By working together, they are aiming simply for the best result: to minimize the chance of an error and ensure that men and women like Frank Sterling don’t find themselves wasting their lives away in jail.

The New York Criminal Appeals Process compiled by Brendan Cahill

A guilty verdict need not be the end of the line for someone who maintains their innocence. Instead, it only serves as the beginning for the appeals process. A lengthy process, often measured in months if not years, an appeal can still grant freedom to the wrongfully convicted.

Step One

The Notice of Appeal In order to begin an appeal, a defendant must file, through their attorney, a notice of appeal. The notice must be filed within 30 days of the original conviction in order to be valid. If the defendant believes there is any reason to file an appeal, it must be done during this time.

Step Two

The Appeal After the appeal has been filed, it goes to the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court. Winning an appeal can result in one of three actions. If the appeal is granted on the basis of a procedural error, a new trial can be granted, giving the defendant another chance. More rarely, an appeal can be granted on the basis of insufficient evidence. This results in a reversal of judgement, and the case is dismissed and cannot be retried.

Finally, the appeal can fail, at which point the defendant can appeal again.

Step Three

The Court of Appeals A failed appeal can be sent to the New York State Court of Appeals, the highest criminal court in the state. This court chooses which cases it hears, and appeals at this level are only rarely granted. In addition, the Court of Appeals can only grant an appeal on the basis of law; not the basis of fact.

Step Four

The Supreme Court of the United States If the Court of Appeals refuses to hear the case, or if the appeal fails, then the case can be brought to the United States Supreme Court. Like the Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court chooses which cases it hears, and will only involve itself in cases that involve part of the United States Constitution.

In the event that an appeal fails, a defendant may have to begin serving their sentence. However, if new evidence comes to light, they can ask for a new trial. A new trial can only be granted if the evidence was discovered after the trial; if the evidence could not have been discovered by the defendant during the original trial; and if the evidence recognizably increases the defendant’s chance at winning the case. If a judge grants the defendant’s petition, then the entire process can start again.

19

RIT Paintball Shoots to a Win

by William Hirsh | photographs by Foster Snell

Imagine being the last man from your team, standing on the field in a final match of paintball. It’s three against one, and it’s up to you to stay alive. Your team’s still leading 2-1, and there’s a minute on the clock. With the constant flashbacks of past practices and drills going through your mind, imagine finally making it into the winner’s circle. This was the story of Evan Mickel, a fifth year Applied Networking and Systems Administration major and club president of RIT Paintball.

On Saturday, March 31, the RIT Paintball team beat out the competition to place first and fourth in the Surf City USA Open in Huntington, Calif. While in years past the primary team, the A-line, has consistently placed in third, the team was able to make it into the winner’s circle. This recent win in California could solidify the paintball team as a mainstay sport on campus, ending their sometimes-tumultuous history.

Mickel has been a part of the RIT Paintball team for the past five years. Paintball was one of his major reasons for attending RIT. “I first

20 Sports | 04.13.12

heard of the team around 2005. However, I knew it existed in years prior, when I was starting to look for schools to apply to,” said Mickel.

“The team contributed in a major way to my pursuit of RIT as I sought to play paintball on a much larger scale and continue my education in networking.” Unfortunately, Mickel’s first year on the team was an off year, with the team dispersing in January.

To Joseph Lee, a first year New Media Interactive Development major and first year B-line player, paintball is not as mainstream compared to RIT’s other sports like hockey. Referring to paintball as an “outcast

Photo above: Casey Martin fires down the field during a match at the NPPL Surf City USA Open paintball tournament.

11

2

4

3

1

Josh Marten (left), Joseph Lee (center), and Patrick Shuman (back) charge off the break.

3

Mike Caldwell (left) and Brendan Morrissey (right) use the field layout map to strategize before a match.

2

(From left to right) Mike Burns, Casey Martin, Andrew Shuman, Brendan Morrissey, Josh Marten, and Alec Humski watch the RIT B-line play during a match

4

Mike Caldwell (left) and Brendan Morrissey (right) celebrate as the RIT Tigers A-line wins first place in the NPPL Surf City USA Open paintball tournament

sport,” Lee hopes that the team will get the recognition that it deserves and possibly even organize a paintball field in the future. “I think this has been the biggest year for us,” says Lee. “Ever since this win has happened, along with all the online buzz, it’s gotten a lot bigger for us.”

Mickel said that their latest victory was the result of the close camaraderie the team members shared with each other. “Paintball is such a mesh of individual athletic talent, intelligence and most of all teamwork — that all of those elements have to come together in order to achieve even marginal success,” said Mickel. “This year as a line we had a perfect blend of athletes between our hyper-aggressive super stars and level-headed anchor players.”

Lee, like many other members of the team, was proud of the A-line’s success at the California tournament. “They put in a lot of hard work,” said Lee. “This year they felt more determined and confident.”

RIT’s B-line team wasn’t as lucky according to Lee. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get where we wanted,” said Lee. “We hoped for the final matches to be A-line versus B-line, so we could take two trophies

home. But we lost the first and second game.”

Other teammate, second year B-line player, Mike Burns, a third year Computer Science and Computational Math major, was satisfied with the A-line’s performance at the tournament. “We practiced a lot, holding conditioning practices once a week and wet practices [involving the use of paint] 15 times a season” said Burns.

Burns continued by saying that RIT Paintball will be expecting a lineup change, with many of the current members of the A-line graduating. “They’re going to be losing three from A-line and one from the B-line.”

Despite the challenges ahead, Mickel is confident that things are on the rise for RIT Paintball overall. “As a team we want to expand and compete more and more every year and have been pushing for a facility in which to train, said Mickel. “We also truly enjoy interaction with the community in general as well as the paintball community and we have plans to expand our public club to help students from RIT come out and play paintball more often and become more involved.”

21

22 Sports | 04.13.12

Find us on facebook (CABatRIT) and twitter (@ritcab)

RIT SportsZone:

Rising

Top

to the

by Celine Anderson photographs by William Ingalls/ Courtesy of RIT SportsZone

N

ow in its 10th year of production RIT, SportsZone has “Our diversity is possibly our greatest strength,” said Director and become the crowning jewel of both Tiger athletics and the Executive Producer Kevin Roach in an email. “We have students that communication division. The twice monthly, half-hour can enhance their education by working for us. They get a chance to program showcases the university’s athletic programs and related become proficient in their area of interest by working with some of the activities on campus. Currently in collaboration with ESPN and Time best technology in the industry.”

Warner Cable, SportsZone airs weekly in the Rochester television Such a large staff proves to be a crucial part of what makes SportsZone. market on Time Warner Cable Sports Network and ESPN2.

“You get different people from all over RIT who can bring their ideas in.”

Making its debut in 2002, the student-run organization produces a said, Jenna Deutsch, third year Advertising and Public Relations major sports magazine show featuring student athletes, coaches, clubs and and Director of Marketing. events in the RIT community. In 2008, SportsZone took a leap into SportsZone is no stranger to success; since their debut they have the world of live sports broadcasting as a way to create more exposure been honored as one of the best sports programs in the nation. This for RIT’s athletic programs. Equipped with a new state of the art year, they walked away as the winners of best newscast and took production truck, SportsZone LIVE premiered as RIT faced Clarkson home third place honors in the magazine category at the 33rd annual in Men’s Hockey on October 17, 2008. The sports magazine show even College Television Awards. has podcasts which are available through iTunes.

The College Television Awards is a national competition recognizing With a staff of nearly 70, SportsZone consists of photographers, excellence in college student-produced video, digital and film work. editors, graphic designers, producers, directors, reporters, web Hundreds of colleges and universities from across the country submit developers and a marketing team. entries. The winners are honored at a black tie gala in Los Angeles; they receive cash awards, industry recognition and the opportunity to network with top television executives. As with the Primetime Emmy Awards, entries are awarded based on excellence in overall production.

Earning first place was the season premiere episode, which featured a one on one interview with former RIT men’s hockey player and current member of the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks Chris Tanev. Tanev is the first former member of the RIT team to play in the NHL’s Stanley Cup finals. Earning third was episode three, which identified RIT’s future hockey arena as the Gene Polisseni Center.

“It is such an honor to be recognized nationally, especially against huge communication schools like Syracuse,” said forth year Journalism major and Student Executive Producer Shelby Hill. “It was a great honor and an even greater surprise.”

This honor has affected all members of the SportsZone team, including second year International Business major and Director of Sports information, Geoffery Blosat. “It is amazing and it just makes us want to keep going, we can only go up from here.”

23

F A B I U R L !

C April 14th 1PM - 4PM Gordon Field House 24 Sports | 04.13.12

TIGERS WALK AWAY

STUNG

Last Saturday evening ended in disappointment for the ladies of RIT’s Softball team. Four hours of a grueling Liberty League opening doubleheader against the University of Rochester Yellow Jackets left the Tigers with their first two league losses under their belts. The softball team has seen a very hard year of play, and the defeat did nothing to improve the team’s morale. RIT refused to give Rochester its victories easily, however, shutting down the Yellow Jackets’ bats for several innings.

The first game initially looked good for RIT, with an early home run in the second inning and a solo run in the third. The Yellow Jackets were unable to recover at first, but kept up a solid game. The RIT lead went unchallenged for two full innings, until the Yellow Jackets snatched the lead away with five quick runs. Recoiling from the sudden sting, RIT was unable to prevent another four runs by their opponents in the next two innings. Finally, the first game ground to a close with a score of 9-2, in the Yellow Jackets’ favor.

The second game opened slowly for both teams. Minor injuries were sustained by members of both teams in the first inning, but didn’t seem to hamper anyone’s game. This was RIT’s chance for revenge.

Neither side scored a single run until the top of the third inning, when the Yellow Jackets managed to slip in a run. The stalemate continued for several more innings, until the Yellow Jackets scored a home-run and hammered in two more runs. Their very next batter

Tiffany Gundler, second year Biomedical Engineering major, throws a pitch during the second game of an April 7 double header against the University of Rochester.

by Danielle Delp photographed by Max Hautaniemi

stunned everyone by banging out another home-run.

With the score suddenly 4-0 in the Yellow Jackets’ favor, things were looking bad for RIT. Their bats, however, started to come alive in the bottom of the fifth, as they were able to load the bases. Yet the Tigers ultimately failed to bring any of their women home. Finally, the Tigers were able to score two last-minute runs in the sixth inning, though it was not enough to take the game; the Yellow Jackets scored six more runs during their last turn at bat and won once again with a score of 13-2.

These games were yet another defeat in a long string of losses for the softball team this season. They have only won two home games since returning from the Florida 500, in which they won half of their matches. Third year Hospitality major and left field player Brittany Lavoie remarked, “[We’re] a good batting team, but we’ve had a hard year finding our groove together.” They still have time to find that groove, with eight upcoming games in the next week alone. They have two weeks left to prepare for the Liberty League tournament as well.

Lavoie said that it will be harder to make it to the NCAA than in the past, since they are not guaranteed a place via the Liberty League.

With the losses, the Tigers fell to 7-11 overall and 0-2 in the Liberty League. The Tigers have four doubleheader series at home before the Liberty League tournament, which will to be held May 4-6 at a currently undetermined location.

25

What would your last meal be? photographs by Josh Barber

Denise Gun,

First year General Science

Crab cakes and ice cream out the wazoo.

Kaitlin Egan,

Second year Fine Art Photography

Gracie’s Buffett.

Kyle Etter, First year Biomedical Engineering

Eggs; I am allergic to them.

26 Views | 04.13.12

Emilee Linahon,

Third year ASL Interpreting

Lobster with a ton of butter and asparagus, and sea salt and cooked in oil.

John Holleran,

Fifth year Mechanical Engineering:

A gourmet garbage plate with filet mignon, lobster, caviar and truffles.

Elisabeth Polanlco: First year Advertising Photography

[My friend’s] grandmother’s steam buns.

27

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28 Views | 04.13.12

by Matt Ferragamo

It’s 5:59 a.m. The sky is dark – only the glow from your monitor lights the room.

As you hear those final ticks from the clock behind you, you take a deep breath, copy the first course number, and perhaps for the first time, pray. We all remember this, and hopefully, with GeneSIS, we will never have to experience that again.

G

eneSIS is the new system for registration (now called enrollment) and the new portal for student information (much like SIS is now). It is replacing the old system, as SIS is incapable of handling the switch to semesters. However, on top of replacing the old system, GeneSIS includes a set of additional features that include appointment-based registration, course wait lists (which will replace Unmet Needs), automatic class swapping, and shopping cart registration. It is being implemented for fall registration so that there is plenty of time to fix any unpredicted bugs in the system before the semester conversion.

Naturally, people have concerns about the new system.

Most revolve around the new wait list and appointmentbased registration features. The fact of the matter is that it is too early to make these judgements about the system; GeneSIS should be given a chance to show its power before we criticize it.

The transition has put the rumor mill into overdrive.

Many students, for example, believe that due to the new wait list system, advisors will not be able to place them into classes if necessary. While the advisors are being strongly discouraged to do so, they do retain that power for use in extenuating circumstances. A different concern is about wait lists replacing the Unmet Needs system; the various academic departments are not going to be able to see how

many students are trying to get into a specific class, and thus may not know that they should open up another section of a popular course.

However, these concerns tend to be based on rumors.

We don’t know whether or not GeneSIS will actually have these problems. If we don’t really know whether or not the system will have these problems, we are not in a position to judge it. The only way to know for sure is to give the system a chance; we should try GeneSIS out, see what we like and don’t like, and then we can make our criticisms Regardless of making judgments, GeneSIS deserves a chance to shine. RIT has put significant funds and manhours into making this system work. Not giving it a chance would not only be a waste of those resources, but it would be biting the hand that is feeding us by trying to get us a better system. Granted, there is a fair bit of uncertainty, but this is natural for such a large change to a system as important as SIS. I look forward to seeing what it will bring to RIT. If you have any thoughts on the new system, let the GeneSIS team know what you think at http://rit.edu/genesis/forms/ ask-genesis.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of Reporter.

29

RINGS

585.672.4840

All calls subject to editing and truncation. Not all calls will be run.

REPORTER reserves the right to publish all calls in any format. compiled by Brett Slabaugh | illustration by Amber Gartung

Friday, 12:23 p.m. (from text)

Friday, 1:03 p.m. (from text)

Just ran into some kid who was casually texting and carrying some bagpipes… only at RIT.

I love reading the REPORTER, but when will we get to read about RIT Cheerleading??

Friday, 1:17 p.m. (from text)

I want to see if I can get the word

“[Nope]”

onto the RIT Rings page.

Thursday, 3:02 p.m. (from text)

Maybe at a liberal arts college a guy would write me a poem,

but this is RIT so my name got worked into his

coding project.

Tuesday, 2:31 p.m. (from text)

Senior Status: Watching “How to Train Your Dragon” in replacement of required reading for Viking Literature.

It’s the same, I promise.

Wednesday, 5:25 p.m. (from text)

You know you go to Artesano’s too often when the baristas fight over making your cup of coffee.

Friday, 10:14 a.m. (from text)

I just realized Rings is the original Twitter.

Monday, 7:11 p.m. (from text)

A fat guy on a longboard

just wiped out on the quarter mile.

Today is a good day.

Hey Rings, you guys at REPORTER should do like MTV dorm room cribs.

You can take a tour of my tent!

Sunday, 6:50 p.m. (from text)

Just heard a chemistry major measuring in “buckets”.

God help us all.

Thursday 11:20 p.m. (from voicemail)

Hey Rings — listen. I don’t want a night out with you. I don’t want dinner and a movie.

I want a night with you, me and nothing but

a room full of socks.

Got it?

Thursday, 8:52 p.m. (from text)

Monday, 10:10 a.m. (from text)

Hey Rings,

where’s the best place to fall asleep on campus?

CONNECT WITH ENROLLMENT Ask us a question on Facebook

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Winners will be selected on April 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th!

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Visit www.rit.edu/enrollment for: • SIS updates • Links to training videos and sessions • Links to support and help resources 31

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