Monday, March 31, 2014
Volume LVII, Issue 22
sbstatesman.com
SBU relives the 1920s through Great Gatsby
Physicist Michio Kaku captivates student audience By Sandhiya Kannan
By Hunter Frederick and Francesca Campione
Staff Writer
Contributing Writers
On Wednesday, March 26, Dr. Michio Kaku captured the minds of all 1,000+ students who attended his lecture at the Staller Center. Dr. Kaku is a highly renowned theoretical physicist, teacher and promoter of science. He is the co-founder of string field theory. Additionally, Kaku is one of the scientists working closely to complete Einstein’s final unfinished work—the unified field theory. Kaku discussed concepts from his latest book "Physics of the Mind," touching upon the future of areas like telekinesis and telepathy in our daily lives, implementation of brain pacemakers to record memories for Alzheimer’s patients and the overall importance of understanding the inner workings of the brain. His presentation alternated between keeping the audience laughing at his plethora of quips and intrigued as he explained the latest applications found in modern physics. When the lecture was over, students were able to ask questions, which Kaku answered in detail. Hundreds of students waited on line to meet him and ask him to sign tickets or copies of his book. Before the lecture, members of the student media were invited to speak with Kaku to pick his brain about science, his accomplishments and his work. Below is an edited version of the interview. For the full version, visit sbstatesman.com. S: The Statesman I: The Stony Brook Independent P: The Stony Brook Press SBN: Stony Brook News MK: Dr. Michio Kaku I: Why did you decide to come speak at Stony Brook, having taught—still teaching—at the prestigious CUNY? Do you expect to get something different from our audience? MK: I have a strong relationship with the physics department here. But basically, I’ll go where people invite me because I want to try to excite young people to go into science. Science is the engine of prosperity, and we can’t create enough scientists...we have one of the worst science educational systems in science known to science… Our colleges are not bad—they’re top rank—but our high schools are abysmally bad. P: In your words, what is the value of science communicators with a level of celebrity, like yourself, Bill Nye, Neil DeGrasse Tyson? What do you see your role as?
JESUS PICHARDO / THE STATESMAN
Stony Brook students dressed in 1920's attire in spirit of the F. Scott Fitzgerald book "The Great Gatsby" and the popular Hollywood adaptation of the novel. MK: I’ve interviewed a lot of scientists in my time, and I always ask them: how did it start? What got you on this great voyage? And they always say the same thing. You know, when I was around 10, it was a telescope, a microscope, a visit to the planetarium—something got them going...Then, we hit 15, and it’s all over. It’s all over. The greatest destroyer of scientists known to science is junior high school. That’s when we lose young scientists left and right by the millions..Junior high school makes science nothing more than memorization, giving names to things. That’s why we need role models: to tell people that science could be exciting, you can get a job doing science, you can pursue your dreams, and it’s not about memorizing things, it’s about learning concepts. S: You’re known for your role as a theoretical physicist—you’re a popularizer of science, as the title as given, but you’re also a teacher, foremost a lecturer. How would you say your role making science a more popular, more public field interacts with your role of teaching science and making it more open to students? MK: Well, there used to be a conflict—a conflict between trying to popularize science, trying to become a professor, and also trying to do research...But then, several things happened. First, Stephen Hawking became famous, and he’s a research activist scientist. Second, our supercollider got canceled...Why? Well, among other reasons, on the last day of hearings, when Congressmen asked a physicist, ‘Will we find God with your machine? If so, I will vote for it.’ The poor physicist didn’t know what to say, so in front of Congress he said, ‘We will find the Higgs Boson.’...I would have answered it
News
Continued on page 7
Stellar defense leads Stony Brook women's lacrosse in win over UMBC By Andrew Eichenholz Staff Writer
On a dreary day at a nearly empty Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium, the only problem that the Stony Brook Women’s Lacrosse team faced was a delayed start due to the referees being late. In every other department, the Seawolves were firing on all cylinders in their dominant 12-1 victory over UMBC. Getting off to a good start in America East play, Stony Brook left no doubt that they were the favorites in the conference on Saturday afternoon. UMBC did a solid job keeping arguably the two best players on the Seawolves, freshman Dorrien Van Dyke and senior Michelle Rubino out of the action. That didn’t complicate much for the Seawolves, who moved to 8-2 on the season. Leading the way for Stony Brook wasn’t a single player, or their offense in general, rather their energy. From the very first face-off, it looked like nobody would stop coach Joe Spallina’s team. On both sides of the ball, everybody was swarming the Retrievers as if the rain wasn’t coming down. UMBC had a mere six shots on goal, while Stony Brook scored 12 goals. It is hard to lose a game when your defense does not give the other team a chance to even put the ball on the net. When they did, star goalkeeper
Arts & Entertainment
ANUSHA MOOKHERJEE / THE STATESMAN
Freshman Dorien Van Dyke is tied for fourth in the nation in goals scored.
and senior Frankie Caridi did her job, only allowing one goal on the four shots on goal that the Retrievers managed. Amber Kupres and freshman Kristin Yevoli, who are more known for being among the team leaders in ground ball pickups and draw controls, both had three goals in the win. Van Dyke, who is now tied for fourth in the nation in goals scored managed to tally three goals herself, even with the UMBC defense concentrating on shutting her down. Spallina was very happy with the all around effort for the Seawolves in their conference opener, praising the energy that everybody showed. “Our kids came out with a lot of energy," Spallina said. "And with the way we play and the style of lacrosse we play we’re able to bring that. It’s unmatched energy, we’re going to be a tough team to play.” However well the team played, there is always more to work on, as Spallina said, “I’m happy with the way we played but I would never tell them I’m satisfied.” Opinions
“The Great Gatsby” might have hit the big screen last year, but that did not stop Stony Brook students from filling the Student Activities Center Ballroom B Saturday night with the sound of decadence and Roaring Twenties fun. RA Lisette Nuñez of Hand College and Weekend Life Council co-hosted a 1920s themed party, dubbed “What Would Gatbsy Do?” The event featured a photo booth, a DJ, a fashion show and live performances. Ballroom B was transformed in 1920s fashion, featuring gold, black and silver balloons, DJ Enclave, sparkling cider (in lieu of champagne) and electronic swing/jazz music. Nuñez came up with the idea for a Gatsby-like party and reached out to the Weekend Life Council. “We kind of used the movie as inspiration for the theme,” Marielle Rodriguez, a member of the Weekend Life Council who helped plan the event, said. “Then it was a matter of planning, purchasing supplies and setting this whole thing up.” First up was SB Live, the campus’ live performance band, who played a medley of songs. Next, RA Hiba Hashim of Dreiser College and Steve Morel performed an acoustic selection from the soundtrack of The Great Gatsby followed by Justin Sterling joining Hashim on stage for a re-imagining of JayZ’s hit singles “No Church In the Wild” and “Empire State of Mind.” “I thought it was really good,” Samson Woo, a political science and business student who also was a part of the show, said. “The décor and the music and especially the atmosphere were all done so well.” After that Nuñez announced the fashion show, the evening’s final performance, complete with models, and a small vocal performance from her. Jay Mourabet, a senior engineering major, modeled in the fashion show. “I think it was great,” he said. “Everything was good and it had a lot of different, well-run aspects to it.” Two other Weekend Life Council members, Samantha Shetty, a psychology and biology major, and Daniella Gordello, a Spanish major, agreed that the event was a success. “You know, it’s a good night out” Mourabet said. “It’s been a stressful week with exams and this is a good way to relieve stress on campus.” Sports
Education reform remains controversial
Student turns trash into art pieces
Common Core unfairly targets teachers
Baseball defeats NYIT
MORE ON PAGE 3
MORE ON PAGE 10
MORE ON PAGE 15
MORE ON PAGE 20
Education experts disagree with Common Core.
SBU graduate student brings recycled art to library.
New teaching standards in N.Y. pressure teachers.
SBU comes up with a win in two out of three games.
2
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NEWS
Provost Student Advisory Group unavailable to students By Denise De Sousa Contributing Writer
Since the Provost Student Advisory Group sponsored its first lecture event last semester, called “Guns 4 Greatness,” nothing but an unresponsive provost, a neglected Facebook page and five shadowy PSAG members seem to be all that is left of a group lacking public presence. Consisting of five Stony Brook University colleagues, the Provost Student Advisory Group includes Co-Presidents Anna Lubitz and Ryan Heslin—chosen by the Provost because of their many leadership roles on campus—along with three hand-picked members: Chris Priore, Tyler Morrison and Justin Ly. Anna Lubitz was the former Undergraduate Student Government president and Ryan Heslin is the organization’s current associate justice. According to Lubitz and Priore, PSAG was formed to put
Administration in direct contact with students and to get students involved in the various lecture series on campus by combining both social and societal issues. Priore fervently commended all the work and funding that Provost Dennis Assanis put into breaking down the barriers between administration and students. “Dr. Assanis has really been great with trying to get rid of that disconnect, and I know that’s one of his goals to really try to like get the students interests and their desires known to administration,” Priore said. However, when surveyed, only two of 11 departments which report to the Provost claim to have heard of PSAG. Assanis did not respond to requests for comment. Although the group acknowledges that they have no public meetings, no organizational placement on the provost’s official website and no actual gathering area, the five members are considering revising the above
depending on the success of their next lecture event. According to Lubitz, the group does, at times, meet with the provost when possible to discuss any ideas pressing to students. But because PSAG is still in its beginning stages, Heslin said, anything more would be overkill. The members emphasize the importance of students reaching out to talk to them through either social media sites or personal interaction. “We want to hear from students,” Heslin said. “Come meet with us and talk or post on Facebook...we’re all ears.” Though PSAG claims to still be working on the nitty-gritty aspects of their group, which is now in its second semester, Lubitz and Heslin will shortly be free of any further responsibilities come their graduation in May. Soon to be leaving the PSAG in the hands of Chris Priore, the copresidents hope the little they have started will somehow thrive, grow and push on.
EZRA MARGONO / THE STATESMAN
Provost Dennis Assanis speaks to President Stanley. Assanis appointed the Provost Student Advisory Group.
Fewer women graduating Education reform remains controversial with college degrees in CS By Will Welch
Assistant News Editor
NINA LIN / THE STATESMAN
In 1991, women earned 29.1 percent of computer science degrees. In 2010, that number declined to 18.2 percent. By Hanaa’ Tameez Assistant News Editor
When Jennifer Wong first started teaching at Stony Brook in 2006, she caught a male student in her CSE 220 class aiming a laser pointer at her rear. Even though she dismissed the student from the class, she said she did not think it would have happened if she were a male teaching the course. According to a study from the National Science Foundation, the number of women graduating with degrees in computer science has actually decreased compared to data from two decades ago. In 2010, female students earned 18.2 percent of the bachelor’s degrees in computer science. In 1991, that number was 29.1 percent. In a male-dominated field like computer science, Wong said that perhaps students were not used to seeing a woman leading the lecture.
Students had signed her up for random email lists and taken out personal ads in her name, filling up her voicemail box. But with a Bachelor’s, Master’s and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Los Angeles, Wong has done well for herself in her field. Part of the reason for the decline, Wong says, is a lack of proper exposure to computer science. “There are a lot of younger women who think ‘oh you know, computer science means sitting behind a computer all day and programming and making video games,’” Wong said. “And to some of them, that’s not what [they] want to do, kind of like the same notion you get from some of the other STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] disciplines.” But another part of it has to do with a social connotation. Continued on page 7
Most Stony Brook University students did not experience the effects of New York public education reform before they graduated high school, but future graduates of New York public schools will be shaped by it, and for some, that is not a good thing. A panel of education experts and Long Island superintendents condemned the reform agenda of the New York State Board of Regents—the body responsible for supervising state education— at an event held at Stony Brook’s Wang Center on March 13, reflecting widespread criticism of the board’s initiatives. “There’s just so much controversy over what is happening in our schools today,” Charles L. Robbins, the vice provost for undergraduate education at Stony Brook, said. “But at the same time, there is little more that is important than ensuring that every child receive the highest quality education as possible.” Central to the panel’s critique was that Regents Reform Agenda focuses too much on technical measures, like implementing higher testing standards and data analysis, rather than investing in the professional development of teachers. Two of the panel members, Michael Fullan and Andy Hargreaves, co-wrote the book “Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School,” which champions teaching as a technically demanding profession that requires collaboration and insightful decision-making. To many administrators and teachers, this idea runs contrary to recent reforms in New York schools, which required schools to meet Common Core
standards by 2017 and would incorporate those standards into teacher evaluations. The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a set of benchmarks for college and workforce readiness sponsored by the National Governors Association. The standards, developed in 2009, are used in more than 40 states and are more rigorous than most prior standards. However, a New York Senate Education Committee report released last December revealed serious concerns from parents, teachers and administrators that the standards were being implemented too quickly and without the proper preparation. In February, the Regents Board pushed requiring progress on the standards back five years. Though Governor Andrew Cuomo opposed the change, it received widespread support from legislators and educators. Still, many think raising testing standards is a fundamentally
flawed approach. “It seems logical that having rigorous standards would lead to better performance, but there is no evidence to show that,” Carol Burris, principal of South Side High School and a member of the panel that spoke a the Wang Center, said. In 2012, the United States ranked 26th in math, 21st in science and 17th in reading in the Program for International Student Assessment, which compares the test scores of 15-year-old students in 65 countries. The results are complex, and enviromental factors like disparities in socio-economic status play into the rankings. Despite national efforts such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, U.S. performance has remained relatively constant over the past 10 years. No one has a definitive answer to improve U.S. education, but it remains a priority for state and national policy makers.
JESUS PICHARDO / THE STATESMAN
A panel of education experts and administrators speak at an LIASCD event at the Wang Center on March 13.
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Under the microscope: closer to origins of the universe
By Mallory Locklear Staff Writer
Every other week Mallory Locklear, a graduate student at Stony Brook University's Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, will take a look at Stony Brook-related research and science news. In January, “Under the Microscope” reported on the research of professor Neelima Sehgal in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Sehgal and her team were searching for what are known as primordial B-modes with the aim to bring our understanding of the universe within a split second of the Big Bang. Then, on March 17, a team out of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announced they had indeed observed the elusive B-modes. After the major announcement was made, Sehgal said via email, “Yes, very exciting! Still recovering!” To understand the implications of these recent findings, however, let us back up some 13.8 billion years. Scientists who have observed the farthest points of the universe have discovered that all areas of the universe, no matter how far apart, are incredibly similar. For example, all regions of the universe are the same temperature. For that to occur, it was theorized that though the
universe is infinite now, at some point it was a small, dense, finite point where all things contained within the universe were comingling with each other. Then, just after the Big Bang, the universe underwent massive expansion, becoming the infinite universe observed today. This theoretical expansion was dubbed inflation. Scientists believed that this expansion would have left a lasting imprint on the universe and that the oldest light waves in the universe would carry this imprint. The light waves thought to be tagged with this evidence of inflation were named primordial B-modes and researchers like Sehgal have been hunting them ever since. Using an instrument stationed in the South Pole called the Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization 2, or BICEP2, the HarvardSmithsonian team detected and measured waves from the oldest light in the universe and discovered markers of the sought after B-modes. The researchers reported that their findings were significant at the five-sigma level. When scientists report the statistical significance of their findings, whether it be through sigma or p-values, they are not saying how likely it is that their findings are true. What they are actually saying is how likely it is that what they have found is due to random chance or to an actual effect.
PHOTO CREDIT: MCT CAMPUS
A Harvard-Smithsonian team has observed light waves that carry an imprint of the Big Bang. So, for the results reported to be five-sigma, it would mean that if the primordial B-modes turn out to not exist, then there is only a one in 3.5 million chance that the researchers’ data would still be as strong as it is. The higher the sigma, the better. According to Sehgal, “If true, this is the first detection of primordial B-modes. If true, it is a very strong indication that inflation happened.” If true, this would bring our understanding of the universe to within 10-36 seconds of the Big Bang. These findings will potentially help us understand the earliest moments of the
Campus brief ing: SBU American Sign Language Club gains USG recognition
ByArielle Martinez Copy Editor
In the first meeting after the spring break, the Undergraduate Student Government Senate officially recognized the American Sign Language Club in a lastminute agenda item after Vice President of Clubs & Organization Kerri Mahoney forgot to propose the motion for a Senate vote before the open agenda period of the meeting.
Meeting in Brief
•The StandUp Charter’s request for line budget status was approved. •Tae Kwon Do’s request for line budget status was approved. •Martial Arts Association’s Special Service Council budget was passed. •The Christian Student Services Appropriations Act was passed. •The Stony Brook Ringers Appropriations Act was passed. •The American Sign Language Club was officially recognized by USG.
“Unfortunately there is nothing for sign language at Stony Brook with the exception of the limited summer classes that are offered, which not everyone can afford,” sign language club President Janine Mariani said. “So I decided to found the club this past fall semester in order to allow people to have a means to learn the language, learn about deaf culture, and practice if they already know some ASL.” The Stony Brook StandUp Charter and Stony Brook Tae Kwon Do, two organizations funded by the Special Services Council, were approved for line budget status, which gives them accounts for the academic year with money to be spent according to USG law. The StandUp Charter is an organization that raises awareness about the effects of bullying and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ) individuals. The charter co-hosted a Safe Space Foundations course with the Center for Prevention and Outreach on the evening of March 12 to train students in fostering safe environments for LGBTQ people. The charter is planning an event called Many Faces of Bullying to be held on April 23.
Tae Kwon Do, represented by Treasurer James Graf, requested line budget status to fund its participation in off-campus tournaments. Graf also mentioned the possibility of planning an oncampus tournament. The Martial Arts Association was granted SSC funding. Its treasurer, Yun Lin, said the association was seeking to pay its instructors to teach fitness and self-defense and to purchase practice equipment. The Martial Arts Association’s original budget proposal was edited to exclude funding for t-shirts, which is prohibited by SSC bylaws. Additionally, Mahoney requested the association’s equipment be kept in a locker instead of a member’s dormitory, as Lin had previously suggested. The Senate voted to pass two acts which appropriated $670 from unallocated funds to Christian Student Services and another $880 to the Stony Brook Ringers, a handbell and handchime choir. On March 29 and 30, budget hearings were held to process club and organization budget applications. USG Treasurer Brian McIlvain will propose the final USG budget on April 17 for approval—first by the Senate Budget Committee and then by the entire Senate.
universe and to better understand inflation itself. However, the first step is to confirm the HarvardSmithsonian findings. Sehgal believes there is a 50/50 chance that these findings are real. The B-modes were not observed where they were expected to be and were much larger than predicted. Many researchers, including Sehgal, will be working to confirm these findings over the next year or two. Working out of the Atacama Desert in Chile, Sehgal and her collaborators will be working to detect the B-modes with the
Marijuana:
Atacama Cosmology Telescope, or ACT. Proposed upgrades to the telescope will allow the team to observe the B-modes at the 40-sigma level, if they do indeed exist. Regardless of what happens in the next year or two, the results have generated very excited buzz throughout the cosmology world. Andrei Linde, one of the scientists that defined inflation theory in the 1980’s was videotaped when receiving the news of the recent findings. In the video, a flabbergasted Linde compares the news to placing an order saying, “Yeah, I ordered it 30 years ago. Finally it arrived!”
Police Blotter
On Sunday, March 23, one student at Whitman College was referred to the university for marijuana. On Sunday, March 23, four referrals were issued to students at Irving College for marijuana. Theft: Three previous reports of larceny at Administration were reported on Monday, March 17. On Wednesday, March 19, an iPad was reported as lost property from University Hospital. On Wednesday, March 19, there was a report of attempted burglary at O’Neil College. The complainant reported that they heard noises and observed an unknown male attempting to gain entry into the room.
On Sunday, March 23, a camera, sunglasses and other items were reported missing from West Apartments B. Criminal Tampering: On Thursday, March 19, there was criminal tampering with a fire alarm at West Apartments E. Two individuals were referred to the university. Miscellaneous: On Tuesday, March 18, a complainant reported to police that he received calls from “24 Techno Care.” The case is closed. On Wednesday, March 19, there was a pursuit of a dark blue pick up truck with a covered license plate at Roosevelt and Circle Road. On Sunday, March 23, there was an arrest near Hamilton College on Circle Road for menacing.
On Wednesday, March 19, there was a report of a stolen poster from a bulletin board at the Health Science Center.
On Sunday, March 23, a complainant reported that the passenger side door mirror was broken and hanging by the wire.
On Wednesday, March 19, there was a larceny at the University Hospital.
Complied by Ashleigh Sherow
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Michio Kaku answers questions GREs from Indian from student media at lecture students on the rise Continued from page 1
differently. I would have said, ‘God…this machine will take us as close as humanly possible to His greatest creation—Genesis. This is a Genesis machine. It will recreate one of the most glorious incidences in the history of the universe—its birth.’ Instead, we said ‘Higgs Boson’ and our machine was canceled. It helps to understand where people are at, rather than where we want them to be. And that’s where we professors make a lot of mistakes. We always assume that our students are at a certain level because we want them to be at that level. We have to actually take students where they actually are, and then work from there. SBN: You said a little bit earlier that physics in this country was set back a whole generation—did that play a role in your formulation of what the future’s going to be like? Could the time frame have changed? MK: Well, not really, because the way I predict the future is, I cheat. I get a television camera, from BBC, Science Channel, Discovery Channel and interview the people who are
hippocampus...Simply tape record what goes on between these two electrodes, and later the mouse forgets. Then you shoot that same memory back into the hippocampus and first try—it remembers. It was duplicated at MIT, where they actually put a false memory into a mouse. So if one mouse learns something, you can actually put that memory into another mouse and have it learn something that it never experienced....the next short term goal is a brain pacemaker, so that an Alzheimer’s patient would push a button and remember where they live, remember who they are, remember who their children are...long term, is of course to upload a vacation that you never had. There’d be a huge demand for that—I mean, why bother to spend millions of dollars vacationing around the world when you can upload these memories? SBN: So we’ll eventually all be super-geniuses in the future, be able to download everything there is to know? MK: Well I talk about supergeniuses in the book. There are many examples of people with injuries who become super mathematical geniuses. One boy had a bullet that went
Benning in Georgia. Could you talk about what it was like as a young guy, aspiring to one day be Michio Kaku, who could be deployed to Vietnam at any time? MK: I had several turning points in my life. The first was when I was eight years old. Everyone was talking about the fact that a great scientist had died, but could not finish his greatest work...that man was Albert Einstein. That book was unified field theory. And today, we think we can do it. It’s not in its final form, but we think string theory is it. So I was very single-minded to become a physicist. But then, the army wanted me, because there was a war going on. I was very narrow-minded, very focused on trying to complete Einstein’s dream, but people were dying...So I went to Fort Benning in Georgia, to boot camp, and being a physicist I could do a lot of calculations to keep my mind going...Then I began to realize, wait a minute–there was a village on the other end of this mortar that just got blown up...It’s not just me shooting mortars in the sky and calculating how fast it went and how high up it went and things like that. Then, by ’69, ’70, the war was
By Ryan Wolf Staff Writer
Graduate school applications from Indian students are on the rise nationally and at Stony Brook University. According to the New York Times, Graduate Record Examinations in India increased 70 percent in 2013 and applications to American graduate schools increased 22 percent in 2013. Overall, the United States is the most frequent destination for international students. Last year, 310,000 international students attended United States graduate schools, according to the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors Report. Graduate school faculty at Stony Brook have noticed the increase in applications as well. “We have experienced steady, significant growths in the volume of applications over the past several years,” R. Sekar, Department of Computer Science Graduate Admissions Chair, said. “I would say the increases are in the 20 percent range.” Many point to the increased recruitment efforts in India and better job opportunities and more reputable graduate schools in the United States as the cause of these dramatic increases in applications from Indian students. Aashri Shridhar, secretary of the Indian Graduate Student Association and a graduate student in computer engineering, listed “the quality of education, the research
going on here, opportunities to work with great professors, get good opportunities after the completion of graduate course” as reasons many Indian students choose to apply to US schools. President of the Indian Graduate Student Association and graduate student in computer science Adheesh Gokhale added that “there are very few top-class graduate universities in India, and getting admission in them is sometimes tougher than getting an [admittance into] Stanford/ Harvard.” Though a record number of 90,000 Indian students took the GRE this year, schools are unable to increase admissions so dramatically. “The universities can increase their seats by only so much,” Gokhale said. For those students from India admitted to Stony Brook, the most popular field of study is a Master of Science in Computer Science. Shridhar estimates that about 80 percent of Indian students are enrolled in the computer science masters program. Nationally, the Institute of International Education reported that 35.6 percent of Indian students study engineering while only 23.1 percent study computer science. In general, China, India and South Korea sent the most students to American universities, according to the IIE’s Open Doors Report. The top three destinations for these students are New York, California and Texas.
Fewer women in CS Continued from page 3
EFAL SAYED /USG
Dr. Michio Kaku discusses concepts from his book "Physics of the Mind" at Stony Brook. inventing the future. So when they say that in 10 years, this is going to hit the marketplace, this is going to change everything, I know it’s going to happen because I see the prototypes. As a physicist I know who the crackpots are, I also know who the good guys are, and so I make all these predictions based on what I actually see in the laboratory. SBN: I saw you on TV recently, on "The Daily Show," speaking about being able to download a calculus chapter into your brain. Then I found it really interesting that you’re working with Alzheimer’s patients in trying to download memories. And how does that even work? I can understand being able to download data, but how do download a memory, something so personal and individualized? MK: It turns out that it’s easier than we thought. Simple memories, we’ve already done it. If I take a mouse, for example, and I have the mouse trained to sip water, it memorizes that trick. Then I put two electrodes into the
through his head, the left side of his head—temporal lobe—another man bashed his skull into a swimming pool. Both of them became super mathematical geniuses afterwards... Forgetting is a very complicated biochemical process. The brain records, and the brain erases. In these people, the brain does not erase. Their base mechanism is broken. So we too, can have that same ability. SBN: What do you think it is that deciphers what gets erased and what doesn’t get erased? MK: Well we think that emotions have something to do with it. When the amygdala is active, when certain memories take place, we realize that these memories are accentuated. And if you think about it, memories associated with fright, anger, shock, awe—those are the kind of memories that stay with you, not the memories of being bored at a ballet and falling asleep. I: During the Vietnam War, you completed your basic training at Fort
beginning to wind down, and then my doctor found that I had too much sugar in my blood—I said, why didn’t you find that before? So I wrote a letter to my draft board saying that I’m ‘not fit’ to be part of the infantry... I had my life back, all of a sudden I could do what I wanted to do. After that, I realized that we have an obligation, an obligation to society. We have to give back as much, more than we got from society. I began to realize that if I’m just Joe Blow in the street saying that I want social change, who’s going to listen to you? If you have a Ph.D., if you’re a professor, more people will listen to you. And so then I realized that even though at one point, I thought a PhD is kind of useless, society does treasure professors and their thoughts so why don’t I become a professor and determine my own destiny. Rather than allowing my destiny to be determined by unnamed people in Washington, I’ll determine my own destiny.
“There’s that “geeky” stereotype that some people have that ‘oh! I don’t want to be a geek,’” she said. “But I think that most of it is that younger people don’t know what it means to be a computer scientist." Senior physics and computer science double major Hanne Paine came to Stony Brook as a freshman with very few female peers in her studies. When she joined the Stony Brook Computing Society, she was the only one of the four members that was not graduating. “I was elected president unanimously by three people at the end of my first semester freshman year,” Paine said. “I started organizing movie nights, game nights, tech talks, tours of companies and stuff that I thought would get people interested in becoming more involved.” Paine said the scarce number of women in computer science stems from a combination of stereotypes and little confidence. “I think starts really early,” she said. “It seems like there’s a stereotype of women not being able to do as much in science and math that really stays with them through middle school and high school and can make them feel intimidated.” Another part of it is poor marketing
on behalf of event planners. “We’ve been noticing a really low attendance of women at hack-a-thons and some of things people do to advertise jobs and hack-a-thons can be really degrading sounding,” Paine said. “They advertise beer and girls and that’s pretty offensive, as a woman.” Like Wong, Paine also encountered sexism as a computer scientist. In high school, she worked as a programmer at a space camp that she had attended as a child. “As the first female programmer at this space center, I got a lot of condescension from the guys,” she said. “They didn’t really want to teach me so I ended up teaching myself.” Despite receiving little encouragement at the space camp, Paine continued to pursue computer science. “It got me thinking that I should keep trying and set an example for other people,” she said. “There are so few women in the industry and I thought [the space camp] could be a really great place for everybody.” But over her last few years at Stony Brook, Paine’s efforts have paid off. “We’ve now twice taken [50] people on a bus trip to Michigan to one of the biggest hack-a-thons in th e world,” she said. “This semester, we started our first meeting with 85 people, all the way up from four, so it’s pretty exciting for us.”
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Monday, March 31, 2014
The Statesman
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May Commencement CLASS OF 2014 MAIN CEREMONY: FRIDAY, MAY 23, 11 AM • Conferring degrees on those who have completed degree requirements for Fall 2013, Winter 2014, Spring 2014 and Summer 2014. • To register for all ceremonies, candidates are required to complete the Ceremony Registration Form, available on SOLAR, by April 30, 2014. • Once registered, Candidates will have Main Ceremony tickets reserved in their name.
THE CEREMONIES • The main ceremony is scheduled for Friday, May 23, at 11 am in Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium. Tickets are required. • Doctoral Graduation and Hooding Ceremony for all DA, DMA and PhD degrees will be conferred on Thursday, May 22, at 1 pm in Pritchard Gymnasium. • For your Departmental Convocation, please visit our website for times/locations, or contact your department representative.
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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Cadence step team celebrates 10 years at Stony Brook
By Kevin Urgiles Contributing Writer
On March 28, Cadence Step Team held its celebration for its 10th anniversary in the Student Activities Center Auditorium. The stage, decorated with balloons in the team’s colors (turquoise, grey and black), was full of talent that captured the loving community that is a step team. The event began with all the members of the Cadence Step Team coming onto the stage and filling the aisles while performing a dynamic and synchronized step routine to the song Bottom of the River by Delta Rae. The team wore black zipup hoodies and grey cargo pants. This simple attire made the team’s routine seem to flow smoothly, and its routine guaranteed that the audience was in for a treat for the rest of the night. The hosts of the event were Nate the Great and Darien Bernal. Their quick improvisation skills throughout the night made the event seem spontaneous in nature and helped keep the audience interested between dance routines. After giving the Cadence Step Team its rightfully deserved recognition, the hosts introduced the four judges that would be determining the winner of the step competition. The judges included three former Cadence members, Ryann Williams, Rodney Robens and Lade Otulaja, as well as one professional step judge, Shantel Isaacs. The first judged performance of the night was by Elite Step Team from West Haven, Connecticut. This team, from the University of New Haven, was led by their President, Edward Louis-Charles, and put on a step performance that successfully involved the audience without taking the spotlight away from the team members. Regardless, it would have been hard to take away the spotlight from the
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members of Elite due to the continuous shouts incorporated into their routine that demanded the audience’s attention. The members shouted several different things, but the line that sent the audience into a frenzy of approval was, “If you wanna be Elite you gotta use your feet.” The team ended up receiving more applause as the audience also gave them a warm welcome to Stony Brook, which conveyed the real sentiment of the event: celebrating 10 years of Cadence and stepping as a whole. Soon after the Elite Step Team finished their set, Strictly Steppin’ came on stage. This five-piece step team from Hofstra University made good use of the extra space they had on stage to perform a routine that lacked the customary continuous loud stomping, but was intricately executed. Dressed in black and white prisoner outfits to fit the theme of their routine, the members of Strictly Steppin’ intertwined rhythmic stepping and dancing to show that shouting was not needed in a step routine to gain the audience’s respect. As the team stepped off stage along to a Timbaland song it was hard to imagine that the night was far from being over. The intermission of the event resembled a half-time show as Nate the Great kept the energy alive with a friendly dance-off for twenty dollars out of his own pocket. A Cadence member won the competition with his unique twist to the Nay Nay dance, but gave the prize money to a fellow competitor on the Elite Step Team who also put on a unique solo performance. After the dance-off was over and some technical problems were resolved, Christel St. McCarey took the stage. The first song she sang was dedicated to all the couples present at the event and set the mood for what was expected to be a mellow intermission performance.
However, this was not the case as her second song incorporated a much faster tempo with background dancers that helped amplify the energy in St. McCarey's performance. After christel shared her music and words of inspiration, Nate the Great announced that there would be a dance battle like the ones in the movie "Stomp the Yard." In a joking fashion, he chose Elite Step Team as his team, leaving Pernal with Strictly Steppin’. There were three oneminute rounds in which each team had to come up with a different but powerful routine that proved to the audience that they, in fact, deserved to win the night’s event. Although it seemed as if Elite Step Team had won over the crowd with their “Bow Down” performance in round three, Nate the Great gave the victory to Strictly Steppin’ because he “liked the girls.” In the spirit of the event, both teams were just glad to be on stage again and shook hands before leaving to take their seats in the audience. The time was getting late as the event neared its end, but the Cadence Step Team would not end the night before showing its gratitude to the Cadence alumni that made everything they had accomplished so far possible,
in the words of the hosts. The auditorium went dark and the screen reflected a montage that captured the progression of Cadence from 2005 until 2013. After the video ended, Cadence stormed the stage to give the last performance of the night. Members of Cadence were tasked with a routine that required them to stay still in certain positions as the audience members cheered at them to “hold it!” As the routine came to an end the entire auditorium was filled with the chant “C-A-D-EN-C-E,” and there was a slight pause after to allow everyone to take in what had just happened. In an interview, the President of the Cadence Step Team,
Oludayisi Otulaja mentioned how over the past three years she has seen the team progress in many ways and that the montage had truly captured that. In her final words of acknowledgement she wanted to make it clear that “we evolved.” It seemed as if the night was over after this routine. They announced the winners of the dance competition, with Elite Step Team winning first place, and Strictly Steppin’ winning second, yet, both teams came off stage with a look of delight, showing how in a community that focuses on, selfimprovement and teamwork, one can never really lose, they can only evolve.
KEVIN URGiLES / THE STATESMAN
Several universities danced during the celebrations show.
KEVIN URGILES/ THE STATESMAN
The celebration ended with a video highlighting the changes of the club in the past 10 years.
THREE ARTSY EVENTS
1) Bingo for Breast Cancer
The Society of Women Engineers is playing bingo on Tuesday, April 1 at 8:30 p.m. at the LDS Center. Participants will learn about promoting breast cancer awareness.
2) Global Romanticisms
Roger Parker will be speaking as a part of the Humanities Institute Lecture Series: Global Romanticisms on Wednesday, April 2 at 4 p.m. in Humanities 1008. He will delve into the global influences on art and culture during the Romantic era.
3) May I Have This Dance?
The Cardozo RAs are inviting The Ballroom Dance Team on Thursday, April 3 at 8:30 p.m. to the SSO Center to teach Stony Brook students to waltz, tango and foxtrot. The event is a semiformal. Bringing a dance partner is not mandatory.
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Monday, March 31, 2014
Arts & Entertainment
The Statesman
fish tank for actor Neil Patrick Harris in season three. Raymer said the most unusual request to date belongs to a woman who “wanted a tank in the shape of her grandson’s head,” showing that this business is very unique. Brittany Deering, 19, a sophomore majoring in business management at Stony Brook, watches the show frequently and had no idea Raymer is an SBU alumnus. “That makes me really proud,” said Deering. She knows that a lot of the popular alumni from Stony Brook are typically “doctors, physicists, and engineers.” It is refreshing, in her opinion, to hear such a “unique success story” coming out of her university. She occasionally watches the show if nothing else is on. However, now she said she would love to “support a fellow Seawolf,” or patriot as Stony Brook's mascot was back when Raymer attended, by watching the new episodes whenever she can. “Tanked,” which is in its fourth season since the first episode in 2011, airs on Animal Planet every Friday at 10 p.m. ET, or you can watch the first season on Netflix.
Brett Raymer, left, with his brother-in-law Wayde King.
Stony Brook alumnus Brett Raymer, “The fish and famous” By Diane Caruso Intern
The next time you flip through the channels trying to find something good to watch on television, there is a slight chance that you may come across a fellow Stony Brook alumnus. Brett Raymer, 43, is currently the star of Animal Planet's television show “Tanked.” Viewers tune in as Raymer creates an assortment of multimillion dollar tanks for their clients through the family owned and operated business called Acrylic Tank Manufacturing in Las Vegas. However, Raymer is a Sheapshead Bay and Manhattan Beach native and actually spent three years at Stony Brook University (SBU), playing on the football team and majoring in liberal arts from 1988 to 1990. A resident of Kelly Quad for one year, Raymer chose SBU because it was “close to home” and heard that it was a great school. The rumors were true according to Raymer, who describes his college experience as “unforgettable.” His fondest memory while at SBU cannot be summed down to one instance, especially with the
amazing friends with which he shared all those moments with. “We went to Big Barry’s off campus a lot,” said Raymer, who raved about the chicken wings they ate. Unfortunately, the restaurant has been closed and cannot be revisited. So how did his success story of Acrylic Tank Manufacturing (ATM) come to life after graduating SBU with a major in liberal arts? It was not due to the pet fish Raymer had as a kid, but instead his brother-in-law and eventual business partner, Wayde King. The family business, ATM, began 18 years ago and bills itself as the world leader in custom aquarium installations. King explained the family operations as “slowly evolving into what they are today” because everyone always “did anything that needed to be done.” King started the business while Heather, Raymer's sister, runs the books and pays the bills. Raymer’s father, Irwin, also known as "The General," orders products and sets up shipments. Many of the tanks created on the show go through a “rigorous process” of time slots with the production crew and the client, like the Harry Houdini-themed
PHOTO CREDIT: STONYBROOK.EDU
Campus Spotlight: Student turn trash into public art By Jessica Desamero Contributing Writer
Nicole Hixon, a second-year student in Stony Brook’s Master of Fine Arts program, turns useless, recycled trash into meaningful sculpture, installation and public art. Hixon, a native New Yorker, first started her higher education at Nassau Community College and continued her studies at California State, San Francisca. She moved back to Long Island and came to Stony Brook for graduate school. Career-wise she started out as a dancer for the first 15 years of her life but then stopped. It was after taking ceramics and sculpture courses at Nassau Community College that she fell in love with the craft. After two of her former instructors encouraged her, she became an art major and has not looked back ever since. Her work generally focuses on the thoughts of her viewers. “I always like to encourage the viewer to think, regardless of what I’m making. I wanna try to give them an overall experience, and that’s often times why work tends to be on the larger side of the scale, literally, by doing large public works and installation art.” Often she uses recycled materials in her works, and there is a significant reason behind this. “I think that forces the viewer to assess why they’re taking on a new connotation or form, why they’re being put into something that looked very organic when it’s a non-organic material. So it’s really about questioning thought, value, purpose, and reassessment,” Hixon said. Not all of Hixon's work involves
recycled material, but many of her projects. She has found the idea of recycling in this generation to be fascinating and has wondered what happens to the objects after being recycled. This concept has also led her to make connections with today’s population. As Hixon puts it, “We live in such a disposable society where not only
soda cans. Currently, she is working with plastic bottles. From March 13 to March 27, she showcased her most recent work in the Lawrence Alloway Memorial Gallery in Stony Brook’s Melville Library. This exhibition piece was called “All that is solid melts into the air.” It featured 2,000 plastic bottles put together
applies to pretty much everything, ourselves, in these shells, in this vessel, in this body, because when we perish, regardless of how our remains are treated, whether they are buried or cremated, you will recycle and become into something else.” This quote inspired her to think about how she can incorporate
JESSICA DESAMERO / THE STATESMAN
Hixon's gallery was available for students to visit in Melville Library for two weeks. these things are disposable, but sometimes people are looked at that way as well, and I think it’s very unfortunate.” In the past, she had used recycled steel-belted radial tires to create several different pieces. She had also worked with aluminum
to create a womb. She based the title of this work off a quote from Karl Marx in the Communist Manifesto, which she learned about in one of her past philosophy courses. “When I read it, ‘all that is solid melts into the air,’ I thought about how that
the idea into an art piece that fit her practice. She thought about how recycling is a catch-22 in that it can aid the environment, but not at the same time. The objects can be made to be reusable, but in order to do that, heat must be applied, which causes certain
toxic gases to be emitted. She then related this to Marx’s quote. “Going back, thinking about something, let’s say the plastic bottle: if it’s solid at one point, it’s going to melt into the air at some other point even if it is just through the gases that are emitted while trying to put it into a new form, as life then takes on a new form.” Putting these two things together had led her to create a work that represents the creation and movement of life through the simulation of a heartbeat. This life was made to be inorganic, encompassed by a membrane composed of beautiful, translucent plastic. She left it open for interpretation, but one of the meanings she tried to get at with this work involved some sort of post-apocalyptic world. “What happens afterwards to these things, what happens if they’re given life…in whatever way shape or form? Are these big mounds of plastic, of tires, of these other things, are they sparked and given new life from above?” This project took months of preparation and four days to install in the gallery. It was a challenge, but in the end she was very happy with it, and that was what mattered. After completing her master’s, Hixon hopes to teach. She currently teaches an instruction to sculpture class here at Stony Brook, and she really enjoys the atmosphere. Hixon wants to visit different places while making art, but her end goal is to further educate people in the fine arts. “I could be really happy teaching for the rest of my life,” Hixon said.
Arts & Entertainment
The Statesman
Monday, March 31, 2014
11
Aronofsky's "Noah" drowns under its cinematic potential By Brandon Benarba
Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor
When director Darren Aronofsky, a documented atheist, was hired to direct and co-write a big-budget adaptation of the tale of Noah’s Ark, there was a huge backlash. In an open quote, Aronofsky stated that “Noah” would be “the least biblical film ever made,” which is ironic considering it is one of the best to come out in a long time. The film begins with a brief visual review of the story of Adam and Eve, which results in the split of people. After a silence from God, who is continually called “the Creator,” the people’s faith begins to fade, resulting in the rebirth of sin, except for Noah (Russell Crowe), who begins to have visions sent to him by the Creator warning him of the downfall of humanity sparking him into building the ark. This sparks internal and
external controversy about the nature of humanity and who truly is sinful. Noah also uses giant rock golems as unionized construction workers to help him defend and construct the larger-than-life ark. While I do not remember this part of the biblical story, I did miss a lot of Sunday school classes, so I assume this is accurate. The strength of the film really comes from how strange Aronofsky lets the film get. This is not a faithful adaptation of the biblical text, but rather a harrowing character study of a man who believes in religious messaging from a Creator. The result is a disaster film that teases audiences with a psychological view of Noah. In an interesting turn, the film spends a large chuck of time building up the character as the typical hero, all while making us aware of how insane and morally wrong his actions are. It is an interesting idea that the film fails to fully explore. Seeing
Noah’s family unravel leads to some powerful scenes, but the movie teeters on the line, instead of fully delving into the surreal aspects, like Aronofsky’s previous work. For all the strides Aronofsky takes to pull away from the original story, he seems to pull away at the last moment. For every reference to the biblical text, Aronofsky treats us with a huge fantastical set piece or technical achievement. It feels like two separate movies and it ends up focusing on the one you do not want. Speaking from a purely cinema graphic standpoint, the film is a technical marvel. The camera work is used to great effect, showcasing the sheer destruction the flood caused, and Aronofsky knows the perfect angle to highlight the emotional pain conveyed by the strong performances. This is especially true for Crowe and Jennifer Connelly, who plays Noah’s wife, Naameh.
PHOTO CREDIT: MCT CAMPUS
Much of the film's emotion comes from the developing tension within Noah's family.
The other actors are decent in their roles, but they really add nothing to the story. Emma Watson is fine as Noah’s adopted daughter, but her character is thrown into a really unnatural twist at the end. Anthony Hopkins plays Noah’s grandfather Methuselah, who brings some comic relief to the grim tale, but again, is quickly introduced and thrown away. Whether or not you follow the Bible, the story of Noah is a dark one, that essentially is about the extinction of the entire human race, something the film does not shy away from. There are a few scenes in the film that are truly shocking, walking a
delicate line between emotional and harrowing narrative. Still, every time the film seems to be moving into darker territory it backs out with a long-winded anecdote. By the time the film ends, which is about 30 minutes later than it needs to be, the film backs out of really embracing the dark side of the tale of Noah. “Noah” has the essence of a brilliant film, but end up being a bit of a mess with its inconsistent tone. While enjoyable on its own merits, what it teases makes us hope that Aronofsky would have delved completely into the surreal, rather then sticking to the original story.
PHOTO CREDIT: MCT CAMPUS
Russell Crowe gives a strong and scary look for Noah.
Press Start to Continue: Reaper of Souls: a gamer's dream By Dylan Palazzo Staff Writer
Blizzard delivered the finale to Diablo III on March 25. The expansion, Reaper of Souls (RoS), closes out every bit of story that began in Diablo III. Players return to the Pandemonium Fortress of Diablo II to fight the Angel of Death, Malthael, in order to bring an end to the rampant slaughter of man by the newly corrupt archangels. With fantastic storytelling and new skills, equipment, environments, enemies, game modes. and playable classes, RoS succeeds in every facet required of a great expansion. The additional Act V closes out the story of Diablo III and puts veteran gamers in their place with staggering difficulty level. Well geared and informed players will still find themselves frequently lowering the difficulty just to progress past mini-bosses and optional side quests. The goal is not so much to complete the new Act as it is to reach the new level cap of 70, upon which equipment becomes strong, enough to keep our newly-weakened protagonists in top fighting shape. Each class received a new skill, further adding to the variety of gameplay and build types, this allows for significant replay value
through fine-tuning every aspect of a player's avatar. A new nonplayer character is introduced called the Mystic, which allows players to customize the aesthetics of their equipment, as well as alter specific stats on said equipment, adding further depth to the customization of every bit of the game. Every zone in Act V is beautifully rendered. The point of view of the player leaves nothing to the imagination as each newly discovered area has a specific theme. Gamers will find themselves fending off demons from attacking citizens in the main town of Westmarch, as well as diving deep into the dark depths of the Pandemonium Fortress through waves of specters and reapers. The Crusader, which is the newly added class to the game harks back to the days of Diablo II’s Paladin class. What sets this tank-like guardian apart from his fellow protagonists is his ability to wield two-handed weapons in one hand, allowing for massive offensive and defensive capabilities. After completing the campaign, you may wonder what is left to do. Adventure Mode is unlocked upon beating the game, in which players can re-explore the entire over world of the game uninhibited. New
events and endless dungeons await those daring enough to step through the rifts. and unending side quests yield amazing treasure to those who complete every bit of adventure mode. Lastly, the game’s new score for the Act V is infinitely pleasing and immersive, giving
each player a real sense of distress in the world upon starting the expansion up until the dread that follows entering death’s embrace. Overall the expansion brings something new to the table in every aspect possible, and succeeds with each addition spectacularly. There is nearly
infinite replay value, no matter what you are looking to get out of the game. Each class has limitless build options, provides the endless dungeon crawles that we have missed so much from Diablo III. The fight against death is far from over. Will you return to Sanctuary and confront the Fallen Angel?
PHOTO CREDIT: FOEOC KANNILC / CREATIVE COMMONS
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls is slated to launch for other consoles by the end of the year.
OPINIONS
Editorial: cost of accreditation The Statesman informing stony brook university for more than 50 years
Editor-in-Chief ............ Deanna Del Ciello Managing Editor ........... Emily Heller Managing Editor ........... Christine Powell News Editor .......................................................... ..Rebecca Anzel Sports Editor .............................................................. Mike Daniello Arts & Entertainment Editor ......................................Nicole Bansen Opinions Editor ...........................................................Keith Olsen Multimedia Editor ............................................................Nina Lin Copy Chief ................................................................ Maria Plotkina Assistant News Editor.................................................Giselle Barkley Assistant News Editor............................................. Hanaa' Tameez Assistant News Editor...................................................Will Welch Assistant Sports Editor...............................................Cameron Boon Assistant Sports Editor ........................................... Catie Curatolo Assistant Sports Editor..................................................Joe Galotti Assistant Sports Editor..........................................David Vertsberger Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor................... ...Chelsea Katz Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor.................Brandon Benarba Assistant Opinions Editor ..............................Anusha Mookherjee Assistant Opinions Editor .....................................Niveditha Obla Assistant Multimedia Editor...........................................Basil John Assistant Multimedia Editor...................................Heather Khalifa Assistant Multimedia Editor....................................Jesus Pichardo Assistant Copy Chief..............................................Briana Finneran Archivist ................................................................ Marley Solomon Business Manager ............................................ Frank D'Alessandro Advertisement Layout............................................Frank Migliorino
Copy Editors Karina Biacan Bridget Downes Nicole Kohn Arielle Martinez Caroline Smith Iantha Stewart Jessica Tuite
When Stony Brook University prepared for its re-accreditation process, the only indications of the magnitude of the process were once-a-month senate meetings within the faculty and administrative circles. That was two years ago. Within that time, the school’s public relations department worked hard to get the word out. Weekly emails, updates and signs across campus tout the Middle StatesCommission on Higher Education's visits. They urge students to stop by forums, email ideas and tell the team visiting campus how great Stony Brook University is. There is no question how important accreditation is to a up-and-coming university like SBU. Without accreditation, we lose government funding and grants. We lose the name we have built up for ourselves through our athletic programs, scientific advancements and medical breakthroughs. Most importantly, we lose the guarantee that backs each and every diploma we get at the end of those four or five years. But how much is this costing us?
Stanford spent $1 million on their re accreditation. Duke, $1.5 million. With university administration running on overtime to whip the school into shape in the matter of years, how much overtime are we paying them, how much paper files are we printing with our money, and how much are we really spending to overhaul a new core requirement system that, essentially, changes nothing? Never before has the simple matter of reaccreditation snowballed into the giant,
towering circus it is now. So the real question is how much can we, as a school, afford to spend on recreation centers, glass buildings and an overhyped public relations event instead of the basic tenets of college our education. At the end of the day, the bottom line is that Stony Brook’s growth in infrastructure should equally be matched by growing departments and better graduation rates. However, the university still puts a major focus on the growth of sciences, and still has a lot of work to do in bringing up the liberal arts. As a student body that is very diverse in studies, many want equal recognition for the work that they do in Humanities. There are many major accomplishments from other departments that get overlooked. So while the school goes through a week of being judged and thousands of dollars are being spent to prove how strong the university is, we hope that university can take a step back to reevaluate the education that they are providing to students. We need more of a balance among the majors, and the school also needs to find ways to incorporate other departments into its national image. We hope that this week of reaccreditation can be a new start for the public reputation of the university. It seems like a massive goal, but being a young university, Stony Brook still has an advantage to mold itself into a better, more well rounded, institution. SincerelyThe Editorial Board
Contact us: Phone: 631-632-6479 Fax: 631-632-9128 Email: editors@sbstatesman.com Web: www.sbstatesman.com The Statesman is a student-run, student-written incorporated publication at Stony Brook University in New York. The paper was founded as The Sucolian in 1957 at Oyster Bay, the original site of Stony Brook University. In 1975, The Statesman was incorporated as a not-for-profit, student-run organization. Its editorial board, writers and photography staff are all student volunteers. New stories are published online every day Monday through Friday. A print issue is published every Monday during the academic year and is distributed to many on-campus locations, the Stony Brook University Hospital and over 70 off-campus locations. The Statesman and its editors have won several awards for student journalism, and several past editors have gone on to enjoy distinguished careers in the field of journalism. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @sbstatesman. Disclaimer: Views expressed in columns or in the Letters and Opinions section are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Statesman. The Statesman promptly corrects all errors of substance published in the paper. If you have a question or comment about the accuracy or fairness of an article please send an email to editors@sbstatesman.com. First issue free; additional issues cost 50 cents.
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Opinions
Monday, March 31, 2014
15
Common Core initiative fails both students and educators By Matthew Boose Contributing Writer
The United States, despite having a military capable of destroying the Earth 35 times over, is notoriously behind the times on a number of social issues. One of these areas of concern is education. American public school students are simply not being challenged enough. To address this problem, education officials have drafted a number of reforms in the last decade or so—most notably, No Child Left Behind—with the aim of improving education in the country. While most of these reforms have good intentions, many would argue they have created a bureaucratic quagmire that makes an incentive of “teaching to the test.” While I agree with the objective of standardized education reforms, they have definitely had unintended, harmful consequences for students. Surely, there ought to be some kind of standard and some accountability. The alternative, I imagine, is an antiquated schoolhouse-type education where students learn whatever the teacher happens to know and is willing to teach. There is no way of measuring how well America’s students are doing without standardization, but those of us who attended public schools know how lifeless this style of assembly-line pedagogy can be. Indeed, many have commented that standardized education reforms may be, despite their good intentions, jeopardizing the quality of education rather than improving it. But there may be another, oft-overlooked victim of flawed education reform: teachers. The end goal of education is to benefit students, but we must not forget how education reforms affect educators. Recent reforms such as New York State’s teacher evaluations and the poorly implemented Common Core standards are putting teachers in an unnecessarily difficult and unfair position. Yes, they must be held accountable to the tax-paying public. But it seems that teachers
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A student's education goes beyond the classroom and is influenced by the environments that they are placed in. are being treated less and less like human beings and more like pedagogical modules in an education machine. The new teacher evaluation system, Annual Professional Performance Review (APPR), gives teachers a numerical grade on their performance, ranging from “ineffective” to “highly effective.” If a teacher fails to make the cut, he or she gets the boot. Once again, the intention is good enough – holding teachers accountable for their jobs. But at the same time, the approach is coldly impersonal and quite unfair. One of the problems with this system is that 20 to 25 percent of a teacher’s score is based on students’ performance on state exams. This might seem like a reasonable idea at first glance, but in reality, it is highly miscalculated. To begin with, there are a million factors that could affect a student’s score on a state exam – lack of sleep, general apathy, scantron art, nerves – that have nothing at all to do
with a teacher’s effectiveness. There is also the question of whether the exams are even an effective measure of student progress at all. The system simply fails to account for these factors, the most problematic of which, I think, is student effort. As the saying goes, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it study trigonometry.” The reason for why some students do poorly in school usually has something to do with home life. Students who grow up in a stable home with parents that value their education will excel. Students with a troubled home life are less likely to succeed, even if they have the best teacher on the planet. If the government wants to fine-tune their evaluation system, I suggest they draw up parent evaluations as well. Parents gain points for helping children with assignments, communicating with teachers, working with them to improve their child’s performance, etc. They lose points for whining to
teachers about their child’s grades (or threatening to sue teachers over their child’s grades), not making any effort to help their child learn, or contributing to a home environment that is bad for learning. Parents are a key part of the formula for student success, but teacher evaluations fail to account for their contributions or lack thereof. The evaluation system as it stands places an unfair amount of responsibility on the teachers themselves and not enough on students and parents. The Common Core is exacerbating these problems. The reforms have been quite controversial among parents and teachers, but the most agreed-upon fact is that the implementation has been an absolute mess. Last year’s N.Y. state exams were the first standardized tests to be aligned with Common Core. Inexplicably, students’ scores plummeted throughout the state. It is almost as if teachers did not have enough time or resources to
adapt to the curricular changes. In some districts on Long Island, some parents are even encouraging their students to opt-out of the new Common Core aligned state exams. This could hurt a teacher’s score if his or her gifted students decline to take a test. It is not difficult to see how all of these factors can unfairly hurt a teacher’s evaluation. Thankfully, the New York State Assembly has voted to delay the use of Common Core aligned exam scores in teacher evaluations for two years. The primary goal of education reform is to improve the outcome for students. But in seeking these objectives, we must not neglect the fact that teachers are people too, not Olympic robots that can jump through bureaucratic hoops just to keep their jobs. If we really want to improve education in the country, we need a more comprehensive and sensible approach that considers the contributions of parents and student initiative instead of singling out teachers for every bad grade.
The changes in the SAT format represents a major shift in today's society By Rachel Procopio Contributing Writer
Having been a recent victim of the SAT, it was surprising to hear of the change in format to the test. I have made and heard countless complaints in the past about the irrelevance of the SAT and it seems College Board is finally taking the initiative to modify the test. The SAT has reverted back to its 1600-point scale, which is split into two 800-point sections: Evidence-Based Reading and Writing, and Math. The essay has become optional, incorrect answers are no longer penalized, the use of obscure words has been eliminated and problems will now be rooted in real-world contexts. I at least appreciate the College
Board’s step in leveling the playing field for less financially able students. The site will offer math
meant a decline in the standards of American education. I realize that the SAT probably needed a change,
“As a society, we have begun to communicate in a clipped and direct way out of a desire for speed and efficiency.” problems along with videos on how to solve them. This provides an alternative to the expensive SAT books, preparation classes and tutors that teachers and parents always seem to encourage. Initially I was skeptical because I worried changing the SAT’s format
but on a global level, it makes the United States seem like weaker competition compared to other power houses. All of this indicates a veering away from more traditional forms of American education. Our means of communicating have changed
dramatically from even just a few years ago. People are more likely to skim through their Twitter feed than pick up a newspaper. As a society, we have begun to communicate in a clipped and direct way out of a desire for speed and efficiency. A 160-character count has become the new norm. College Board seems to to better fit into that norm. This shift in society is now represented in the SAT. Less value is put in the essay and impressive words, and more is put in math and real-world application. Perhaps the SAT has become easier, but maybe it is because we have dumbed down our standards. I already notice the lack of education on grammar and syntax in our generation and the next
generation. There is no direct correlation between students’ scores and their actual potential in college and university. More and more schools are already allowing applicants to opt out of sending in scores. I think the format change may have been necessary to prevent the SAT from becoming obsolete. Recently, more students take the ACT than the SAT. College Board is, after all, a business, so it is necessary for the SAT to remain competitive with their rival. Altering the test may keep the SAT in the game. I personally believe that there will come a time when schools stop considering scores altogether, even with this recent shift. The debate over what these tests actually measure is another one in itself.
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Sports
Monday, March 31, 2014
Vanderka talks about his recent no-hitter against Great Danes
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2ND 12:30 - 2:30PM SAC BALLROOM A
Last Saturday’s 7-0 win against Albany was a momentous one for the Stony Brook baseball team—not just because it was the Seawolves’ first conference win of the season, but because righty hurler Frankie Vanderka no-hit the Great Danes. This was the third time the senior sociology major has thrown a no-hitter since his freshman season in 2011. Vanderka, who hopes to continue playing baseball after he graduates in May, pitched the first game of what would be a three-game weekend sweep for the Seawolves. He struck out 10, walked two and hit one over the course of nine innings. A dominating force on the mound, Vanderka has a reputation for being a workhorse who has thrown many complete games. The most memorable of these, a threehitter against LSU in 2012, sent his team to the College World Series. His other nohitters came against NJIT on March 18, 2011 and Fordham on March 10, 2013. After Saturday’s game, Vanderka was 2-2 on the season with a 2.48 ERA. He has struck out 31 batters over 32-2/3 innings, with opponents hitting a mere .190 against him. I caught up with the senior before Tuesday’s NJIT game to chat about the Albany game. By Catie Curatolo Assistant Sports Editor
Catie Curatolo: So tell me about Saturday. Frankie Vanderka: What do you want to know? Like I tell everyone else, it wasn’t just me—it’s a whole team effort. They scored seven runs, which automatically defeats a team, and me and Anthony [Italiano, the catcher] are on the same page. They played flawless defense behind me, so I can’t complain about anything they did for me.
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Frankie Vanderka: I always look at the scoreboard, so I kind of knew. Around the seventh inning I realized, I’ve just got to get around the order and then that’s it. it?
Catie Curatolo: How do you keep doing
Frankie Vanderka: [Laughs] I don’t really know, to be honest! I guess it just kind of happens, really. Just staying simple—it’s been working for four years, so I just stick with it. Catie Curatolo: How do you keep your arm healthy? Frankie Vanderka: Coach Marron [the Seawolves’ pitching coach] has us on a real strict day-after program after we start, so I go through that and then, I mean, our trainers are good here you know. I throw every day and it just helps me get back, like, range of motion. Catie Curatolo: What are your goals for the rest of the season? Frankie Vanderka: Basically to win the conference and get to the regional and take it from there. Vanderka and the Seawolves took on NYIT and Hartford this weekend. The Seawolves split the doubleheader with Hartford after defeating NYIT earlier in the week. With the wins, Stony Brook improved to 4-1 in conference play. They take on Hartford Monday after Sunday's rainout.
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Catie Curatolo: Did you know it was happening while it was happening?
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Vanderka's no-hitter against Albany Saturday was the third of his career,
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Sports
The Statesman
Monday, March 31, 2014
19
Stony Brook lets another chance to dance slip away By Joe Galotti
Assistant Sports Editor
For the second straight season, the Stony Brook Men’s Basketball team had their NCAA tournament dreams crushed by Albany. The Great Danes came into a hostile Pritchard Gymnasium on Saturday, March 15th and exited with their second consecutive America East title. The image of Albany's Peter Hooley draining a three from the top of the key while Carson Puriefoy lay helplessly on the ground will likely give Seawolves’ fans' nightmares for years to come. And the disappointment of falling short once again in the big game makes another impressive regular season put together by the program seem like an afterthought. The Seawolves had plenty of opportunities to take control of the game. The biggest chance came with just over seven minutes left in the second half. Stony Brook held a six point advantage and Albany’s Sam Rowley committed his fifth foul, sending him to the bench for the rest of the day. Rowley had been the Great Danes biggest offensive weapon for most of the game, shooting 9-of-11 from the field. But the Seawolves were not able to build on their lead and instead allowed their opponent to go on a 12-2 run, and take a 58-54 lead with
1:43 remaining. Then with 1:04 left the final dagger came when Hooley converted a three to give his team a five point advantage. Hooley had struggled for most of the game, finishing the day shooting just 4-of-15 from the field. He also took a hard shot to the face after running into SBU’s Eric McAlister less than two minutes earlier. But, when it came time to make a big shot, the 6-foot-4-inch Australian guard came through for his team. Albany’s best players all showed up for the title game in a big way. Rowley finished with a game-high 18 points, and point guard DJ Evans had 16 points. Gary Johnson also grabbed a game-high ten boards. The same could not be said for Stony Brook’s best players. The backcourt trio of Puriefoy and seniors Dave Coley and Anthony Jackson all struggled in the Seawolves' biggest game of the year. With America East conference player of the year Jameel Warney drawing lots of defensive pressure down low for most of the contest, Stony Brook was forced to get their offense from the outside. Coley and Jackson were not able to get the job done from the exterior, as they combined to shoot 6-of-22 from the field, and 0-for-7 from three-point range. Coley was able to contribute in other areas of the game, playing
stingy defense and pulling down eight rebounds. However, he only shot 1-of-5 in the game’s final five minutes, when the team was desperate for points. Jackson struggled in almost all assets of his game. He finished with no assists, three turnovers and fought through foul trouble through most of the afternoon. After having a career day in the semifinals against Hartford, in which he led the team with 21 points, Puriefoy was nearly invisible in the first half versus Albany. The sophomore was more of a factor in the second half, but seemed to have trouble controlling his dribble. As result he was unable to attack the basket in the same deadly effective manner he did against the Hawks. This made life much easier for head coach Will Brown’s club. “I was having Puriefoy nightmares last night,” Brown said after the game. “I didn’t know if we’d be able to stop him in transition, and keep him away from the rim.” But the Great Danes were able to slow down the speedy guard and had a chance to particpate in their fourth NCAA tournament next week, while Stony Brook was left to play in the College Basketball Inviational. Coach Steve Pikiell has done a terrific job with the SBU basketball program, taking them from an irrelevant club to a team that contends for a conference title every
really focused and never stopped believing in each other and their ability to win," head coach Chris Garofalo said. "They had swagger this year and were a very confident group." The Seawolves finished first in their league's regular season standings, going on a nine win streak heading into the Eastern States College Hockey League Playoff Conference Playoffs, where they took home the title. The Seawolves squared off against Lebanon Valley College in the ESCHL Playoffs semifinals, coming away with an easy 8-1 victory. Stony Brook moved on to face Delaware in the championship game. A 3-1 edge in the final period gave the Seawolves a 5-2 series and the title. This would be the club's second straight ESCHL Playoffs title. Two members of the team were invited to play for Team USA at the World University Games. Junior forward Ryan Cotcamp - who scored 64 points in 34 games and four goals in three games at the nationals - and junior defender Chris Joseph, who scored 29 points in 33 games and two points at the nationals. Their 25-8-3 record placed them fifth in the entire nation, finishing with a third-overall ranking despite their loss to ASU in the semi-finals. "Overall the season was a huge success and we are proud of the guys, we accomplished a lot of
great things this year and in my 8 years of being here it was the best season we have ever had," assistant coach Colin Brumsted said. Where fans and supporters see an 'L' in the win column, the team sees another strong campaign and a sign of great things to come. "The Seawolves are looking forward to winning it all next year and bringing Stony Brook University its first-ever National Tournament Championship title," Garofalo said. This season marks the 14th invitation to an ACHA national tournament in the past 15 seasons and the 8th conference championship for the Seawolves in the past 11 years. If there's anywhere for Stony Brook to go from here, it's up. The mountain has proven a treacherous challenge that has hindered the team from making it to the top, but soon enough they'll finally reach the summit. One challenge the Seawolves will face this offseason is replacing key senior Wes Hawkins, Dan Cassano, and Nick Deresky. Hawkins had 22 goals, Cassano had 37 assists, and Deresky had 25 points during the 2013-2014 season. Replacing their production will not be an easy task, but SBU features plenty of returning talent. They also have a passionate recuriter in head coach Chris Garofalo who has been able to bring in players from all over the country.
NINA LIN / THE STATESMAN
Dave Coley was one of two seniors to reach the 1,000-point mark this season, but fell short of NCAA's year. But, despite all the regular season accolades Pikiell’s team earns, he will still have to deal with the same old questions until his squad finally wins an America East title. “It’s hard to get to this game, and it’s hard to win it,” Pikiell said after the loss. “We didn’t make the plays when we need to, and therefore we're not
cutting the nets down.” Despite another heartbreaking loss, Pikiell sounded far from a defeated man. “We’ll keep swinging punches, and getting back to this game,” Pikiell said. “One of these days we’re gonna have one of those great games at the right time, and that group will be the ones who get us there.”
By Cameron Boon
Seawolves 1-2 in the event with a 34.70-meter throw. Megan Liu also did well in the field, jumping 4.93 meters, which was enough for a second place finish in the long jump. The men joined the women and they did just as well. Daniel Denis won claimed the top spot in the 3000-meters, and Alex Kramer came in right behind him for a Stony Brook 1-2 in the event. The men’s 4x200 team, containing Vincenzo Battaglia, Winston Longdon, Christian Hadjigeorgiou and Jarrett Button, won with a time of 1:33.63. Alex Lopresti, Robert Taylor, and Bradley Amazan finished third in the 1,500-meters, 300-meters, and 800-meters respectively for the Seawolves. The men did equally as well in the field events as they did in the track events. Chris Hand won the hammer throw and got second in the javelin, and Christopher Drury and Adam Davies both took second in the discus and long jump respectively. Hand's hammer throw was 46.73 meters, and the javelin was thrown 49.68 meters. Drury's discus traveled 29.83 meters, and Davies' jump was 6.10 meters. The men and women both swept the scores, and head to Virginia next weekend for the 49th annual Colonial Relays. The event features 50 college teams from across the United States.
Stony Brook hockey reaches new heights Seawolves shine in track opener By David Vertsberger Assistant Sports Editor
Thin air, frozen temperatures and dangerously unstable surfaces usually prevent mountain climbers from reaching the summit. Unlike those who trek up logic-defying skyscrapers made of ice, snow and dirt the Stony Brook ice hockey team's season was more about the journey than the conclusion. The Seawolves fell short of the ACHA National Championship, losing in the semi-finals to the first-seeded Arizona State University. Stony Brook topped Davenport University and then the United States Naval Academy before being outed by ASU. Stony Brook got off to a rugged start in the Davenport contest, but pulled through as a result of the exceptional goaltending by Brendan Jones, who stopped all 31 of Davenport's shots for the shutout. SBU picked up a 3-0 win in the game. Then in the next game against Navy, the Seawolves scored three goals in the first period, and held on to win 6-2. Five different players contributed with a goal. Stony Brook made their first appearance to the ACHA national semi-finals, but lost 4-3 in an intense back-and-forth bout. Although this was not the result Stony Brook anticipated, they accomplished much on the way. "From day one the guys were
Assistant Sports Editor
University track has been empty for almost a year now and Mother Nature was looking to push the meet back even further. Stony Brook, and their correspondents Providence, Bryant, and Hartford, would not let it happen. The Seawolves and company ran, threw, and jumped through the rain and mud and Stony Brook walked away with 21 topthree finishes at the end of the day. 11 top-three finishes were by the women, 10 of which were courtesy of the men. Elizabeth Caldwell shined in her first outdoor meet as a freshman, running a 4:48.37 in the 1,500-meters. Christina Melian finished first in the 3,000-meter run and fellow Seawolf Olivia Ritchie was right behind her in second. Melian, the reigning junior and ECAC champion, clocked in just over 10-minutes at 10:01.73. As for the shorter distances, Shi-Anne Humes and Cali Peffer, represented the women. Humes ran a 12.49 to win the 100-meters and Peffer clocked a 42.39 to place third in the 300-meters. Allyson Laporte continued to build off her freshman season to lead the women's field team. She took home first in the shot put with a 10.32-meter throw. Brittany Spoto also took home first, but in the javelin with a 35.24-meter toss. Megan Bromley added a
Sports
Stony Brook baseball splits doubleheader, after defeating NYIT By Catie Curatolo and Cameron Boon Assistant Sports Editors
With dominating pitching performances carrying both teams, the Seawolves and Hartford split a doubleheader on Saturday. Only two runs were scored on the day, with the Hawks winning game one and Stony Brook taking game two. In the first game, Hartford starter Sean Newcomb combined with reliever Alex Gouin for a one-hit shutout. Stony Brook starter Frankie Vanderka, who racked up accolades this past week after throwing his third career no-hitter last weekend, went the distance but couldn’t get the win. He allowed just one run on three hits over eight innings, walking three and striking out four for his third complete game of the season. Unfortunately the offense couldn’t back Vanderka up. After the Hawks scored the game’s only run in the fifth— Hartford’s Adam Touhey started the inning with a triple and scored off a sac-fly—the Seawolves had an opportunity to retaliate in the sixth. Stony Brook loaded the bases on three walks, but junior Kevin Krause lined out to shortstop to end the inning. Krause battled back to record the Seawolves’ only hit in the ninth, but Stony Brook didn’t have enough fuel to bring him home—Gouin retired the final two batters to end the game. Game two went much the same way, but this time it was the Seawolves who came out on top. Hartford’s Brian Hunter battled
against freshman starter Ryley MacEachern, who threw his first career complete game shutout. MacEachern retired fourteen of the first fifteen batters, holding the Hawks to just three hits. The Seawolves scored the only run of the game in the fourth inning, after a squeeze bunt from sophomore Johnny Caputo brought senior Kevin Courtney home. Courtney had singled to get on base to start the inning, moving to second off a sac-bunt from junior Cole Peragine and third after a Casey Baker single. MacEachern controlled the game after that, refusing to allow any Hartford runner past second base. He ended the game with three hits, no walks and seven strikeouts. The Seawolves drew six walks and had seven hits on the day, while Hartford had six hits and drew three walks. Krause was the only SBU player to record a hit in both games. Baker went 2-for-3 in game two. Stony Brook catchers Krause and senior Anthony Italiano combined to throw out three potential base steals in the doubleheader. Due to the inclement weather, Sunday’s rubber match was moved to Monday. The Seawolves and Hartford will close the series in Connecticut on May 31. First pitch is at 3:30 p.m. On Tuesday the Seawolves picked up a 3-2 win over NYIT. After a hot start, scoring two runs in the first two innings, the Stony Brook baseball team had to toughen up and grind through the final seven innings en route to the victory "This game was about pitching and defense," said anager Matt
EFAL SAYED/ THE STATESMAN
After sweeping Albany last weekend, the Seawolves improved to 4-1 in America East play. Stony Brook looks to win the conference for the first time since their CWS run Senk, whose team improved to 8-0 at home this season. "Their guy did a very good job," referring to Bears pitcher John Dugan, who went seven innings only allowing the Seawolves four hits. Robert Chavarria singled with one out in the bottom of the first, and then would make his way to third after stealing second and getting the extra base when the ball skidded into center field. Kevin Krause then drove in the game’s first run when he drove a sacrifice fly to center field. The Seawolves quickly doubled their lead in the second when Cole Peragine walked, and three batters later scored on a Dugan wild pitch to give his team a 2-0 lead after two.
It looked like the home team was going to run away and hide, but NYIT quickly answered in the top of the third when Anthony Martelli's RBI double to left scored Frank Sanacore to cut the lead in half. Dugan then settled into a groove, retiring 14 of the next 15 batters he faced. The Bears would tie it in the sixth, though. Stony Brook starter Tim Knesnik walked his first two batters faced in the sixth and would be replaced by Bryan Tatelman. He could not get out of the jam. NYIT scored with Robert Fiato's sacrifice fly to right field, bringing home Josh Canabal.
The Seawolves would answer in the bottom of the sixth, when Kevin Krause hit his second sacrifice fly of the game. This time he scored Joshua Mason for the game-winning run. "We tell our guys that when a team scores you answer right back," Senk said. The next inning the Bears had another threat brewing when Nick Sebastian walked to start the inning. Two pitches later, Louis Mele popped up a bunt to third baseman Johnny Caputo, who then threw a strike to first baseman Kevin Courtney to double off Sebastian for the second out in the inning. Tatelman then retired the last four batters he faced for his first win of the season.
Men's lax falls in overtime to UMBC Softball shut out at Iona
By Joe Galotti
Assistant Sports Editor
The Seawolves road woes continued on Friday night in Maryland, as they dropped an overtime heartbreaker to UMBC. With just 10 seconds left in the extra period, Retrievers sophomore midfielder Pat Young scored the game-winner to give his team a 12-11 victory. The goal came just a little more than two minutes after Young nearly cost his team the game. Both he and Zach Esser took penalties that gave Stony Brook a 30-second two-man advantage, with just 2:14 remaining in overtime. But, the Seawolves were unable to capitalize on the golden opportunity. A high shot from the slot by junior attackman Mike Rooney nearly gave SBU the win, but redshirt freshman goalkeeper Connor Gordon came up with the game-saving stop. The loss came despite the fact that the team got a game-high five goals from sophomore Brody Eastwood. Eastwood continued his consecutive goals streak to 22
games Stony Brook also got two goals apiece from sophomores Chris Hughes and Challen Rogers. Both players helped the Seawolves jump out an early lead in the contest. SBU had four goals on their first seven shots of the game, and held a 4-0 lead after one quarter. UMBC responded by outscoring Stony Brook 4-1 in the second. The second half continued to be a game of runs. First the Retrievers began the half with a 3-0 run, taking a 7-5 lead. Then with 3:51 left in the third Hughes found the back of the net, and sparked a 3-1 run by the Seawolves. UMBC’s Matt Gregoire answered late in the quarter, scoring with just two seconds left to give his team a 9-8 lead. With Stony Brook trailing 11-9 late in the fourth, it was Eastwood who brought his team back with two goals in the final five minutes to force overtime. His final goal of the day came with just 1:10 left in regulation. But, his effort was not enough, as the Seawolves have now lost
three out of their last four games. Their overall record stands at 4-6, and they are now 0-1 in America East conference play. SBU is also now 0-3 on the road. This was the program’s first regular-season conference road loss since April 26, 2008, when they lost 10-7 to Albany. Freshman Kyle Rowe put together a productive day in the loss. He won 14 face-offs, and grabbed a career high 13 groundballs. Rooney had a game-high three assists. He also had seven shots on the night. The Seawolves committed a season-low nine turnovers. They were also 0-of-4 of extra man opportunities. UMBC was 1-of-2. SBU only allowed four goals in the first half. This tied the team's season low for goals allowed in a half. This week, Stony Brook will play two games at LaValle Stadium. On Tuesday night they will host Quinnipiac, before conference opponent Vermont visits on Saturday afternoon.
By Cameron Boon Assistant Sports Editor
One bad inning can kill a team — tell that to the Stony Brook Softball team after Wednesday afternoon in New Rochelle. The Iona Gaels put up eight runs in the second inning and there was no other scoring as the Seawolves were victims of the NCAA's mercy rule, ending the game in five innings. Jane Sallen retired four of her first five batters and was nearly out of the second inning unharmed. There was a runner on second after Kristen Turner hit a groundrule double to open the inning. After two outs were recorded in the inning, the inning went sharply south. Four straight singles, along with a walk, gave the Gaels a 4-0 lead and after another walk, Jane Sallen gave way to Allison Cukrov. Things did not get much better when the reliever came in. Turner drove in a grand slam, clearing the bases and doubling the lead. Stony Brook's best chance to score was in the top of the fifth,
when they loaded the bases with Olivia Mintun, Bria Green and Jessica Zeilman on base with two outs to try to avoid the mercy rule. They were not able to, as Kellie Reynolds grounded out to the first baseman to end the game. The Seawolves have won six of their last eight games. SBU had two games scheduled on Sunday but had both cancelled due to poor weather and field conditions. The Seawolves were set to take on America East conference opponent UMBC in a pair of Sunday games, but will now play a doubleheader on Monday. The games are scheduled for 1 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. Stony Brook began the America East conference portion of their schedule last weekend when they took two out of three from Albany. The Seawolves have an 10-12 overall record, and have begun the road to defending their America East Championship. They also have a record of 0-1 on the road, and 5-10 in games at neutral locations.