August 29, 2013

WELCOME

TORCH PHOTO/Nicole Valente

WHAT’S INSIDE News.......................1-6 Lifestyles.............13-15 Opinion..................7-10 Sports.................16-20

Music

Fall Preview The Torch previews the anticipated releases for the Fall of 2012.

Lifestyle Pg. 13

Can’t get enough of the Torch?

Visit our website at: torchonline.com “Think Outside. . .”

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Managing Board XC

Directory

Michael E. Cunniff, Editor-in-Chief Nicole Valente, Managing Editor Jessica Lise, General Manager anthony o’reilly

mitchell petit-frere

kieran lynch

diamond watts-walker

News Editor

Features Editor peter long

Entertainment Editor

Kristen Farmer Photo Editor

Sports Editor Art Director sarah yu

Chief Copy Editor

Jim Baumbach Advisor

Advertising (718)-9906756 Business 990-6756 Editorial Board 990-6444

Features 990-6445 News 990-6444 Opinion 990-6445 Sports 990-6444

Special thanks to Richard Rex Thomas for assisting in the design of The Torch

Music Action Item The Torch talks with the members of the pop rock group Action Item.

Lifestyles Pg. 14

Features Graffiti artist University student focuses on medical career, while keeping a passion for art.

Lifestyles Pg. 15

Sports Stalemate Underdog Colgate hold St. John’s to 1-1 draw.

Sports Pg. 16

Illustrator’s Corner

opinion pg. 7

FOR MAIL SUBSCRIPTIONS: 718-990-6756 The Torch is the official student newspaper of St. John’s University. The Torch is written, edited, designed and produced by students of the University. All contents are the sole responsibility of the editors and the editorial board and do not necessarily represent the views of the administration, faculty or students of St. John’s University unless specifically stated.

To contact The Torch by mail: The Torch, St. John’s University 8000 Utopia Parkway Queens, NY 11439

The Torch is typically published on Wednesdays, approximately 20 issues throughout the academic year. Circulation per issue is 3,500 copies distributed free on campus.

This copy of The Torch is worth $ .75.

Torch Photo/Missy Amato

Freshman Katie Dineen takes a break during Move-In Day on Aug. 23

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Class of 2016 welcomed to STJ SGI, University host events to bring in new year Destiny DeJesus Contributing Writer

Campus Activities and Student Government Inc. hosted the annual Week of Welcome to bring in the freshman Class of 2016 as well as incoming transfer students.

SGI President Christian Williams explained that the reason for hosting

Week of Welcome is to help make new students familiar with the values that the University identifies itself with.

“The purpose of Week of Welcome is to introduce the new freshman at St. John’s University, to the rich tradition and core values that is St. John’s University,” Williams said in an email.

“Week of Welcome is also geared to returning and transfer

Torch photo/ Stephanie Brown

Marco Bourgault a member of the men’s basketball team, takes a free throw shot at StormFest.

students at St. John’s,” he added, “as each year has its own set of exciting and inspirational endeavors.”

Freshman Brett Zanzucchi said that the Week of Welcome helped him become better acclimated to the college atmosphere.

“Orientation was too lengthy,” he said. “This made it easier to adjust to living away from everyone I know.”

The events for Week of Welcome began on August 23, where students were picked up by Gate 6 and driven to a local Target, and had the opportunity to buy items to decorate their dorms.

Freshman Erin Sinkevich attended the event and compared it to shopping during Black Friday. “It was hectic,” she said.

“Everyone was grabbing things.”

On Friday, the Resident Student’s Association hosted the first Java Johnnies, usually held in the Coffeehouse of the D’Angelo Center, but was instead held outside where students were able to receive free Dunkin Donuts and coffee or hot chocolate.

Freshmen were also given their first opportunity to experience the athletic side of the University, when the women’s and men’s soccer team held their home openers at Belson Stadium.

On Saturday night, students roamed the Residence Village which was transformed into the “Twilight Carnival.”Students had the opprotunity to play carnival games and enjoy free carnival food.

Monday, StormFest was held in front of Carnesecca Arena. Students had the opprotunity to meet members of the atheltics teams and Student Government.

Mr. Softee and zeppolis were also avaiable for students who attended the event.

The last event for the Week of Welcome, the Academic Engagement Fair, was held on Tuesday, where students were able to preview some of the extracirricular clubs on campus.

Student representatives from different organizations tried to recruit freshman in the D’Angelo Center.

“Week of Welcome has an educational and social emphasis, of encouraging students to achieve greatness,” Williams said.

“Freshmen are encouraged to exceed not only academically, but also through many sources of extracurricular activities” Kayle Light, Coordinator of Campus Activities said that more than 500 people attended the Week of Welcome events on Saturday alone.

Light said that in looking to improve the events year after year, Campus Activities looks at the feedback given to them from students attending the events.

“Students opinions are always encouraged and I would love to hear more feedback from students as to what they liked and what we can improve on to make it more enjoyable for everyone,” she said.

Additional reporting by Mitchell Kirk, Senior Staff Writer

Dining options increase for students Angy Altamirano Staff Writer

The University dining services has added several new dining options in response to student comments and requests.

Administrators working in Dining Services said that they heavily kept in mind the comments and concerns of the students when making these new choices. Brij Anand, vice president for campus facilities and services, said that dining services evaluated these comments “with the goal of having a best in class dining service program.”

He also added that the success of the program relies heavily on the comments they receive from students “The more we hear from them, the more we can do,” he said. “If we don’t hear from them, it becomes more difficult.”

Scott Lemperle, director of auxiliary services operations, said that dining services tried to increase the quality of the program from the previous academic year.

“We raised the bar this school year and we’re bringing the program to the next level,” he said.

Burger King will now be open at 7:30 am and provide a full-line breakfast menu, after several requests from students were made for more early morning meal options. Nathan’s will also now have “breakfast-at-night” options for those looking for breakfast items during the later hours of the day.

Montgoris dining hall will now feature a rotisserie and fresh carving station, as well as a made-to-order deli in addition with past food favorites, such as the omelet station.

At the D’Angelo Center, the deli station Torch photo/Stephanie Brown will be expanded and the Deli Express will be added to serve the on-the-go student. Students looking for something to eat this year have more options after Chef Yan Can Cook will soon be Dining Services evaluated comments and concerns. replaced with Native Spices and Sushi Do. Native Spices will still serve Asian cuisine including hot chocolate with caffeine, surveys that appear on St. John’s Central.

“We want the feedback,” she along with weekly rotations of Latin, while continuing to serve bubble tea.

Along with the on-campus additions, said. “We want to continue to serve Indian and more international options.

The new “Sushi Do” will Wafels & Dinges, a popular food truck the student body. It’s really the offer students freshly rolled up with several locations around New students striving the improvements.” sushi by a certified sushi chef. York, will be back on select Mondays, Freshens will also be moving from the weather permitting, following its D’Angelo Center and placed in Marillac success on campus last semester.

Can’t get enough Torch Looking to evolve the program each hall. The menu has been expanded to include news? Visit our Web site crepes, salads, smoothies and yogurt. year, Bernadette Grogan Lavin, executive for online exclusives.

The Library Café will now feature director of conference & auxiliary more items than just Seattle’s Best Coffee, services, said that student participation torchonline.com featuring gourmet beverage options is key when it comes down to the

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Meet Robert Mangione Tenured prof is Fr. Harrington’s temporary No. 2

Anthony O’Reilly News Editor

Rev. Donald J. Harrington C.M., President of the University, announced on June 29 that Dr. Robert A. Mangione would assume the role of interim provost until a search committee could find a permanent replacement for the position.

“I trust that the University community will join me in offering Bob our gratitude and support as he assumes this new assignment until a permanent provost is named,” Fr. Harrington said in a press release.

Dr. Julia Upton announced last year that she would be leaving the role of provost at the end of the Spring 2012 semester, to return as a professor of theology, and will hold the title of special assistant to the president.

A nationwide search was then announced to fill the position. A committee, headed by Dr. Michael Simons, dean of the law school, was unable to find a permanent replacement.

Mangione said that Fr. Harrington approached him with the idea of becoming interim provost and said that he had no hesitation at all about accepting the proposal.

“When Father [Harrington] gave me this wonderful opportunity, I was ecstatic, and I’m going to do the best I can to be the best academic leader I can be,” he said.

Dr. Simons said that it was necessary to name an interim provost, so that the day-to-day operations of the University could continue.

“Because the provost role is so important to the University, the seat really can’t be empty,” he said.

“There are specific things in the University governance that get done by the provost, that if there isn’t a provost, those things aren’t going to happen,”

Simons said.

Mangione explained that the fact that although his position as provost is temporary, it would not hinder his drive to perform the duties that his position entails.

“I will do everything I can, with whatever time I have to serve to the best of my ability,” he said. “I don’t think in those terms,” he said about the position being temporary, “I just think that there is work to be done and I’ve been given this privilege to lead the academic sector and I hope to live up to that responsibility.”

According to the position profile drafted by the search committee, the provost is responsible for overseeing all of the University’s academic divisions, the University Libraries and several offices, for the three New York campuses and those abroad.

Mangione has been a part of the University faculty for more than 30 years, as well as having received his B.S. in Pharmacy, M.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences and a P.D. and an Ed.D. in Educational Administration and Supervision, all from the University. He joined the staff in 1979 and was appointed the assistant dean for pharmacy student affairs in 1990, associate dean in 1996 and dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in 1999.

Fr. Harrington has announced that Dr. S. William Zito will be the acting dean of the college of pharmacy and health sciences.

When asked if he would like to return to the role of dean of pharmacy, Dr. Mangione said that is what he would like to do, but would cooperate with any decision made by the University.

“I would hope that I would be permitted to do so,” he said about returning to do dean position. “I would hope that would

be shared if I wasn’t appointed provost.”

In the search for a new provost, Dr. Mangione is one of the candidates who is being considered for the permanent position. He said that it was suggested to him by his colleagues to throw his name in the race for the position back in February, but at the time could not accept due to his wife being seriously ill at the time.

Mangione revealed that since then his wife has recovered and that is why he had no hesitation in accepting the interim provost role.

When discussing his role as provost, Dr. Mangione said that he didn’t want to change the way that Dr. Upton had previously been running the office, at least for the time being.

“I think that being very new in the position it’s premature to try to conclude if certain things should be done different,” he said.

“If in fact we do get to that point, it will only be because the circumstances changed and not that Dr. Upton didn’t do something well. Things constantly change and we have to adapt to them.”

An email was sent out to the general student body during the summer, and the announcement was made on the University’s official Facebook and Twitter page.

When asked if he had any plans to interact with the student body to help introduce himself as the new interim provost, Mangione said that it would have to be something that he would have to teach himself throughout the next few weeks.

“The role that the provost plays in terms interacting with students is one that I’ll continue to learn,” he said.

“As a dean, the highlights of my deanship were interacting with faculty and students, so I have every intention of continuing that.”

Photo Courtesy of Media Relations

Dr. Robert Mangione

The search still continues

While Dr. Robert Mangione works on getting comfortable in his new role, the search committee continues to scour resumes seeking a permanent replacement.

Dr. Michael Simons, dean of the law school, along with an extensive list of University officials, will reconvene and restart the search that began last year.

An internal memo sent Aug. 28 to the University community announced the search was back underway and said the committee is open to suggestions.

In an interview with The Torch, Dr. Simons said that the position profile for the provost role on the University website, while important on paper, was not the only important aspect when evaluating potential candidates for the role.

He explained that after looking at the lengthy resumes and cover letters that applicants send in, it’s vital to see how they seem in person as well.

“It’s just as important to make sure the candidates you’re evaluating are a good fit in person,” he said.

“The chief academic officer…has to be able to relate to the entire University community.”

Along with the search committee, Dr. Simons explained that a professional search firm is assisting the search committee in helping to narrow down possible candidates.

Isaacson Miller is a professional search firm that specializes in academic searches, which Dr. Simons says does much of the leg work in looking for people qualified for the job.

Simons said that the search committee takes a list of the candidates given to them by the search firm, and the committee evaluates them on paper. The committee then starts to eliminate candidates until a group of semifinalists are chosen to be invited to be interviewed on campus by the committee.

Dr. Simons said that the committee had only one candidate that they invited back to campus last semester, but had chosen not to recommend the candidate to Father Harrington.

Simons said that while the search firm is helpful in narrowing the choices,

the diversity of the members on the committee is also vital because of the different perspectives brought to the table at the meetings.

Dr. Simons specifically mentioned Ancy Skaria, who is a student on the search committee. Skaria, a senior in the St. John’s College of liberal arts and sciences, received an email from Dr. Simons asking her to be on the committee.

In an interview, Skaria said she was taken aback at first by the amount of prestigious members on the committee, but was able to quickly become a vital part of the committee.

“At first I was really intimidated, but I’m not a shy person,” she said.

“After I got to know them they were all really nice and they really enjoyed the student perspective.”

Skaria said that being an active student gave her a point of view that she felt had been missing from the search committee.

“The student perspective is kind of lost,” she said. “[They] don’t think about what it’s like to have foreign teachers, and how do you understand their accents?”

Skaria admitted though that being a senior, she did not know what the freshman class wanted in a provost. To fix this, she said that she visited several freshman classes and asked them what they would like in a provost.

She said that many of the freshmen had the same gripes or concerns with the University and brought those up at the committee meetings.

Skaria also said that in going around to several of the freshman classes, she got the feeling that students felt their opinions didn’t count in the search.

“They thought that [the deans] didn’t care what the students thought, when really the students come up first,” she said. “The provost search really is helping the students.”

While optimistic about the search, Simons said that the process of screening candidates, and hopefully finding one to recommend to Father Harrington, would take a few months.

He added that he hoped to have someone in mind by sometime in the Spring semester.

- Anthony O’Reilly, News Editor

Professor to compile University history Cat Silverman Staff Writer In a press release sent out during the summer break, the University announced plans to publish a book on the history of St. John’s. Dr. Frank Brady and his wife Maxine, both long time faculty members, will research material for and write the book.

Rev. Donald J. Harrington C.M., President of the University, commissioned the project and asked the two to write the book.

“I am delighted that Dr. Frank Brady, one of our longtime faculty members and most accomplished authors, along with his wife, Maxine, have agreed to undertake this project,” Fr. Harrington said in the press release.

The planned release date for the book has been set for Dec. 2014, coinciding with the University’s 145 anniversary.

Dr. Brady is the chairman of the university’s mass communications department in the college of professional studies and is a New York Times Bestselling author, most recently haven written Endgame: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Bobby Fischer.

Mrs. Brady has been a member of the university faculty for more than 20 years now as the associate editor of the Tobin College Review of Business.

The authors plan to combine the history of the university with personal stories and historical archives. The couple said that they also plan to tell the story of the University, through personal submissions.

To help with this, the two have set up an e-mail address (stjbiography@ stjohns.edu), where, they say, anyone with relevant information can submit personal

anecdotes, photographs or documents pertaining to the history of the University.

“We want to hear as many stories as we can,” Dr. Brady said. “The more personal memories we have to work with, the better we can accurately tell the story of the university. The school is made up of the people who have been involved in its history, and without their voices, the book will be flat”.

Mrs. Brady said that this is because there are “things you can only learn through stories and memories told by those within the St. John’s community itself.”

The couple said that while they plan to tell the textbook history of the school quite thoroughly, it is more important to them that they accurately compile the memories, experiences, stories, and

achievements of the St. John’s community as a whole.

“We want to tell the story of the university as much as we want to tell the history,” Mrs. Brady said.

The two also said that they want to show how the university has evolved both physically and emotionally through the passing generations- from former students to administrators, cafeteria workers to family members of individuals impacted by the school.

The Brady’s said they believe that the university has a unique and meaningful story beyond just what one might find in a newspaper archive or a list of graduates.

“There are so many things about the university that make it unique and special,” Mrs. Brady said.

Photo Courtesy of Media Relations

Dr. Frank Brady and his wife Maxine will dedicate the next few months to researching material for a history of St. John’s book to come out in 2014.

Carnesecca to attend ‘Dribble’

MICHAEL E. CUNNIFF Editor-in-Chief

Legendary St. John’s men’s basketball coach Lou Carnesecca and former baseball coach Jack Kaiser are expected to headline the St. John’s basketball programs’ second annual “Dribble for the Cure” on Sept. 22, according to a source in the athletic department.

Men’s basketball head coach Steve Lavin and new women’s head coach Joe Tartamella will also be at the event, in addition to the full rosters of both teams.

The event will raise money for pediatric cancer research, and the teams are working in conjunction with the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation. More than 400 people took part in the event last season, raising more than $21,000 in one day, according to an athletic department press release. The release also said that 80 percent of all money raised goes directly to cancer research.

“This is a special day that will raise funds for cancer research and create greater awareness for the importance of developing a cure for pediatric cancer,” Lavin said in a press release.

Participants will dribble through a 30-minute course around the St. John’s campus that both begins and ends at Carnesecca Arena. Students can register at www.dribbleforthecure. com/stjohns.

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Think Outside...

Politics

GOP kicks off national convention Republicans on Tuesday opened their convention in Tampa, Fla., alternating attacks on President Obama with attempts to portray party nominee Mitt Romney as the right man to lead the country forward.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delivered the keynote address for the GOP, while Romney’s wife Ann and former presidential candidate Rick Santorum also delivered speeches after the event was delayed by a day due to Hurricane Isaac.

Christie has been in the news this week after the New York Post reported that he pulled out of consideration to be Romney’s vice presidential nominee because he didn’t think Romney could win. And in his speech, he failed to mention Romney’s name until 16 minutes into his speech.

But he was unsparing in his criticism of Obama, and the Democrats “Our leaders today have decided it is more important to be popular, to do what is easy and say ‘yes,’ rather than to say no when ‘no’ is what’s required,” he said, harping on the Republican idea that the Democrats are the party of government handouts.

Santorum also slammed Obama, repeating an oft-used Romney attack accusing the President, falsely, of gutting President Clintons 1990s welfare reform.

“This summer he showed us once again he believes in government handouts and dependency by waiving the work requirement for welfare,” Santorum said.

The Obama administration has in fact announced that it would consider giving states waivers to find new ways to fulfill the work requirements needed to receive welfare — but only if it would put more people on welfare into jobs.

Ann Romney’s speech, on the other hand, was an attempt to humanize her husband, a man that voters have been slow to warm to because of his perception of being cold and unrelatable.

“I know this good and decent man for what he is — warm and loving and

Mitt Romney: 45% Undecided: 6%

Won’t Vote: 2%

Washington Post/ ABC News Mitt Romney: 47% Barack Obama;; 46%

CNN/ORC International Barack Obama: 49% Mitt Romney: 47% Photo Courtesy of Hlntv.com

Neither: 2%

The Republican National Convention will last until Thursday, Aug. 30

No opinion: 0 %

patient,” she said.

She opened up her speech by saying, “I want to talk to you tonight not about politics and not about party.” Instead, she tailored her speech to “the moms of the nation,” attempting to woo back some women voters turned off by recent comments made

by Republican lawmakers.

“I’m not sure if men really understand this, but I don’t think there’s a woman in America who really expects her life to be easy,” she said.

The speeches came after Romney was officially nominated earlier in the day Tuesday. That process was supposed to be a formality, but a minor controversy emerged as Ron Paul supporters protested new rules that weakened support for the

Fox News Poll

Texas representative and depressed his delegate count.

The new rules, which Paul supporters said would harm grassroots movements like Paul’s, makes delegates follow the result of state primaries and caucuses, rather than state conventions where Paul amassed nearly 200 delegates. This led to 10 of Maine’s 24 delegates being barred from the convention floor, which in turn sparked protests from angry Paul supporters and others sympathetic to the Maine delegates.

The convention continues Wednesday with speeches from several Republican heavyweights, highlighted by Ryan.

Romney will speak on Thursday, the last day of the convention.

(Torch staff)

The DNC’s platform also expressed “support for comprehensive affordable family planning services and age-appropriate sex education.”

REPUBLICANS BELIEVE:

The 2012 Republican National Committe platform, in contrast to the Democrats’ 2008 “Choice” message, expresses their support of those who “choose life” in its section of its platform entitled “The Sanctity and Dignity of Human Life.”

When it comes to abortion, the RNC

Mitt Romney: 45 % Barack Obama:44 %

RNC Convention August 29 Speakers: Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) Senator Rand Paul (Ky.)

platform seeks to limit abortion rights as much as possible, including passing a socalled “personhood” amendment to the Constitution that would give legal rights to unborn fetuses. The RNC also opposes any public funding for abortions, and supports an outright ban of late-term abortions, which it calls “the barbaric practice of partial-birth abortion.” (Torch staff)

Senator John McCain (Ariz.)

In advance of the 2012 Elections, the Torch will be running summaries of the two major parties’ positions on key issues in the presidential campaign.

Fmr. Governor Tim Pawlenty (Minn.)

Governor Bobby Jindal (La.) Senator John Thune (S.D.) Senator Rob Portman (Ohio) Governor Luis Fortuño (P.R.) Fmr. Governor Mike Huckabee (Ark.) Frmr. Sec. of State Condoleezza Rice Governor Susana Martinez (N.M.) Vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan

DEMOCRATS BELIEVE: The vast majority of Democrats — and the official party platform — support a woman’s right to contraception and abortion services. The 2008 Democratic National Committee’s platform — which is unlikely to differ significantly from their 2012 platform — states in a section titled “Choice,” that the party “unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion.”

CBS News Poll Barack Obama: 46%

Know the Vote: Abortion rights One of the most polarizing and divisive issues between Democrats and Republicans is reproductive rights. The 2012 national campaign largely avoided this issue until comments by Missouri Republican Senate nominee Todd Akin thrust topics like abortion back into the national debate.

Speaking to a local television station, Akin responded to a question about whether abortion should be permitted in the case of rape by claiming, wrongly, that a woman who was a victim of “a legitimate rape” would likely not become pregnant.

Akin was immediately chastised by Republicans, who urged him to drop out of the Senate race, and his comments were seized upon by Democrats, who sought to link him to the rest of his party, especially vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, whom he had cosponsored anti-abortion legislation with.

Latest Polls

August 30 Speakers: Craig Romney Presidential nominee Mitt Romney Benediction by Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan Embattled Missouri Rep. Todd Akin.

Photo Courtesy of Akin.house.gov

Speaker Boehner declares convention adjourned

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Editorial Board XC

MICHAEL E. CUNNIFF Editor-in-Chief

Illustrator’s Corner

NICOLE VALENTE Managing Editor JESSICA LISE General Manager ANTHONY O’REILLY News Editor

FLAMES OF THE TORCH

May the odds be ever in your favor

The new St. John’s banners on Union Turnpike can mean only one thing — school is back in session, and the campus is buzzing with the fresh optimism that a new academic year brings.

This year is an especially interesting time to be at St. John’s. The school is continuing its upward trajectory, with cosmetic renovations mirroring the rise in national rankings that St. John’s has made in the last few years. The University was listed at No. 151 in Forbes list of the top schools in the U.S. — its highest ranking ever.

As reported in the Torch, the University is also welcoming what is, as of now, its largest incoming first-year students class, with people from the south side of Jamaica to the southern tip of Texas about to embark on their first semester at St. John’s.

And of course, who can talk about the good things at St. John’s without mention the basketball programs, especially the men’s team. Steve Lavin has brought in his second straight stellar recruiting class, meaning that for the first time in a long time, incoming freshmen can look forward to four years of a competitive and, more importantly, relevant Red Storm looking to take on the titans of the Big East.

It’s also a great time to be a college student in general, with an election right around the corner. We at the Torch — whether we agree or disagree with their views — are looking forward to seeing the voter outreach and informational events that are sure to be held by organizations like College Democrats, College Republicans and Students for Life, among others.

Everything is not all lollipops and sunshine at St. John’s of course (anybody who’s been to Student Financial Services knows that), but it’s safe to say that it’s a better time to be a student here now than it was two or three years ago,

when we, the editorial staff of the Torch, began our college careers. And we can say with a degree of confidence that the University will continue to improve in the next two to three years, and for the foreseeable future after that.

To freshmen and transfer students — welcome. To returning sophomores, juniors and seniors — welcome back. May there always be an ample supply of cake batter ice cream in Montgoris, and may the library printers never run out of ink five minutes before class begins.

People to know on campus: Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M. — the President of the University (if you have a meeting with him, you probably did something good) Jack Flynn — Director of Student Conduct (if you have a meeting with him, you probably did something bad) Steve Lavin — Men’s basketball head coach (if you have a meeting with him, you probably are really tall) Christian Williams – President of Student Goverment, Inc., which spends your activity fee (which is why you should pay attention to them).

Bill Brusca — St. John’s athletics super fan (we think he’s graduated, but we’re not quite sure. We are sure that he’ll be in the stands at almost any sporting event you can think of) John and Liam Kenny — They look nothing alike, but people still can’t tell them apart. Chances are, you’re related to them.

Angela in Montgoris – It’s been awhile since most of us have set foot in the dining hall, but we still haven’t met anybody who makes better omelets.

She’s an angel – be nice to her.

Barack Obama – The 44th President has been known to stop by Taffner Field House to shoot some hoops, when his schedule permits (which isn’t ever).

TORCH ILLUSTRATION/ DIAMOND WATTS-WALKER

Campus Map

(So you can pretend you know where you’re going)

EDITORIAL POLICY

Editorials are the opinions of the Editorial Board of The TORCH. Columns are the opinions of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of The TORCH. Opin-

ions expressed in editorials, columns, letters or cartoons are not necessarily those of the student body, faculty or administrations of St. John’s University.

TO CONTRIBUTE Mail letters to: The TORCH, St. John’s University 8000 Utopia Parkway, Jamaica, NY 11439 Submit letters via e-mail at: torcheic@gmail.com

Please include your full name, year, and college (or department). Letters have a limit of 500 words and may be edited for content, grammar, or space. Unverifiable or anonymous letters will not be published.

All letters are subject to the approval of the Editorial Board of The TORCH.

GRAPHIC COURTESY OF STJOHNS.EDU

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Media must put facts before all else The Newsroom, Aaron Sorkin’s HBO drama that portrays the inner workings of a cable news show, was one of my guilty pleasures over the summer. As a journalism major, I know that most of what happens at the fictional “News Night” show on the fictional cable network ACN is nothing like what happens in real life, and that Sorkin radically simplifies the issues of the day and the difficulties news programs have in deciding what to run.

It’s entertainment, in other words, and it shouldn’t be taken seriously.

But there’s one sequence, in an exchange between “News Night’s” executive producer MacKenzie McHale and anchor Will McAvoy that accurately captures the biggest problem in the mainstream media today.

McHale tells a junior producer that, “The media’s biased towards success, and it’s biased toward fairness.” When pressed by another staffer to

elaborate, Will chimes in with a ridiculous analogy to prove McHale’s point.

“A bias toward fairness,” he says, “means that if the entire congressional Republican caucus were to walk into the House and propose a resolution stating that the earth was flat, The [New York] Times would lead with ‘Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on shape of earth.’”

It’s a quote I often think of when watching coverage of politics today.

Lies, mostly, but not exclusively, from the right pour out of the mouths of pundits, politicians and political ads, yet except for a few watchdog organizations (like Media Matters for America) and fact checkers (like PolitiFact and FactCheck.org), the spin and lies are reported in the same manner as the truth.

The best example of this comes when discussing the federal budget. Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and the rest of the GOP machine always harp on what a spendthrift President Obama is, saying things like he has “accelerated at a pace without precedent in recent history,” as Romney claimed.

That claim is categorically, ludicrously false. As reported by many, including PolitiFact, federal spending under Obama has risen at either the lowest or second-lowest pace in the post-

war period, depending on whether you adjust for inflation.

That’s the fact — but when reporting about the state of the economy, outlets like Fox News say things like “He may have inherited a mess, goes the argument, but he made it worse by turning on a fire hose of deficit spending.” No mention of the snail’s pace that government spending has grown by during the Obama administration.

(An anecdote about how strongly this misconception pervades the national discourse — when I told my dad, who gets the vast majority of his news from conservative outlets like Fox News and the Boston Herald, the facts about federal spending under Obama, he laughed at me, like I couldn’t be so stupid to believe that).

The reason that these distortions circulate is because of most mainstream media outlets’ paranoia about being perceived as having a bias — more specifically, a liberal bias. Media outlets give people who deny reality, like climate change deniers, or birthers like Donald Trump, the same credibility as the people with the facts on their side. It’s maddening, terrible for our country, and the reason that the political discourse has made such a rightward shift in the past 20 years.

And it’s not helping people’s perception

of the media either. A recent Gallup poll shows that Americans trust in television news is at an all-time low.

Is there a solution? Arthur Brisbane, recently departed public editor of The Times, was ridiculed for asking whether reporters should note when a candidate is lying. The response from readers was an unequivocal yes.

It’s easier said than done, of course, but politics would be much better served if the media served as a true watchdog, rather than merely pitting two sides of the issue against each other regardless of the facts involved.

There aren’t two sides to every issue, especially when it comes to politics and policy, and the mainstream media should stop drawing equivalencies when none exist.

Barack Obama was born in the United States. He and his policies are not socialist. Mitt Romney is not responsible for the death of a laid off worker while CEO of Bain Capital.

These are the facts. Facts should be reported as such, not passed off as a difference of opinon.

Michael E. Cunniff is a senior journalism major who is seriously excited to see Moussa Dembele in North London.

He can be reached at: torcheic@gmail.com

STUDENTSPARKS:

WHO IS PAUL RYAN?

Victoria Wales Sophomore

Asia Reszel Freshman

Paul Gallagher Freshman

JC Mendoza Junior

“Guy running for vice president.”

“Mitt Romney’s running mate.”

“Mitt Romney’s running mate.”

“No idea. I know who Matt Ryan is.”

Bryann Dusharm Junior

Luis Depradine Senior

Krista Prestia Sophomore

Michael Grill Junior

“Can I phone a friend?”

“A congressman.”

“A priest here?”

“A politician.”

10

Beginner’s guide to college hookups: Good luck JACK

Special to the Torch

You’ve broken up with your high school sweetheart, you’ve bought a liter of Ketel One from that liquor store that sometimes-but-not-always doesn’t card, you’re out with all of our new college friends, and all of you are on the prowl.

It may sound shallow, but a hookup with a random girl at a party or a bar is practically considered a rite of passage for many. Everybody seems to have that story about the time that they stumbled into an amazing night with an awesome girl that they never had the burden of having to call again.

But actually being in those situations can be a little more nerve-wracking than the stories that your more, uh, experienced friends tell. So here’s a nice little primer the next time you spot Ms. Right Now from across the room.

Rule 1: There are no rules. This is college — normal social rules don’t even remotely apply. You can have a girl swoon-

ing for you, stop to go to the bathroom, and see her leaving with your best friend — or even your own brother — by the time you get out. And that’s totally fine.

Or you can have the hottest girl at the party ready to go home with you, and decide that you’d rather play card games with the people you just met, or argue about who is better, Ronaldo or Messi (correct answer: Messi). That’s fine, too.

If you make the classic mistake on Friday of falling for a 10 at 3 a.m. that turns into a three at 10 a.m., don’t be embarrassed — walk her home, drink some water and hope for a better Saturday! If you see her that night, give her a big smile and wave and politely do your best to stay out of her path.

The beauty of college is that, short of committing felonies, or deciding to never attend class, you don’t have to apologize for or explain anything you do. And that goes for when that magical moment comes when you do manage to snag that stunning brunette from the second floor. Bring her to breakfast the next morning? Fine. Tell her

why you think she’s super duper great, but things could never work between you two? Go ahead, Nick Lachey.

Ask her to marry you?

It’s a long shot, but what do you have to lose?

In short: do whatever the hell makes you happy.

The one thing, as a man, that you shouldn’t do is disrespect the member of the opposite sex that you happen to cavort with, even if it is a one-night thing. Don’t proclaim the hookup from the mountaintops, don’t snap a photo if she’s not willing (or worse, not looking) and don’t make her feel inferior for indulging in her impulses.

Always, but especially in college, men and women should be judged (or better yet, not judged) equally for their number of, shall we say, “conquests.” If you’re proud of your “number,” you shouldn’t expect your female counterpart to be ashamed of hers.

And if you happen to fall for one of your one-nighters? That’s great.

If she doesn’t feel the same way? Whatever. She ain’t better’n you. Next Friday promises a whole new crop, and a whole new set of opportunities.

JILL

Special to the Torch College hookups are probably the hardest thing to define. In general, there are some rules that you should follow when traversing the difficult roads of college parties, dating and committed relationships.

Number 1: Don’t do anything you don’t want to do. 1A: Don’t do anything because you think you should.

This is the number one rule for a reason.

College is about finding and defining yourself. Part of that is doing what you want to do regardless of what someone else may be trying to pressure you to do.

There is no deadline for milestones. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never had your first kiss, don’t feel like you need to catch up to whatever “everyone else is doing,” which leads me to the next rule.

Number 2: Don’t believe everything you hear.

People often exaggerate details of their encounters with the opposite sex, especially to people they just met.

Just because your room-

mate is explaining her steamy hookup from the night before in explicit detail doesn’t mean it is all true. Many people view college as a way to reinvent themselves, including creating a “cool” reputation.

Number 3: Be safe.

These are the standard precautions: use protection, always be aware, don’t go out alone or with people you don’t know, don’t put yourself in dangerous situations, everything in moderation and trust your gut. Having fun doesn’t necessarily mean being reckless.

Number 4: Run it by your friends Your friends will be a great sounding board for anything that does make you a little nervous. They see the things you might be blind to and they, if they’re good friends, will always tell you the truth.

Number 5: Know what you’re getting into. Know what you want.

One of the biggest issues that happen to college relationships is a lack of communication.

Be sure that you’re both on the same page with the relationship and that you’re both comfortable with

what the future may or may not hold. Don’t think that you’re going to be able to change him and don’t think that he’s going to suddenly fall in love with you when the only time you hear from him is after midnight on weekend nights.

Number 6: Be openminded.

Sometimes that weird guy you met at the Honors softball game ends up being the perfect guy for you. Don’t write anyone off because they don’t fit your “ideal partner” that you imagined in your head. The real guys are so much better.

Number 7: You’re only young once.

Now is the time to make mistakes: date the wrong guy, enjoy the single life, go out with friends, learn from your mistakes, try new things, meet tons of people – you never know who you’ll see again later in life Number 8: Enjoy yourself.

College is way shorter than it seems. Before you know it, you’ll be in your senior year thinking of all the memories that led you there. Don’t be afraid to have fun now – the real world is just around the corner.

Different opinions are what’s great about music PETER LONG

Entertainment Editor A few days ago, Linkin Park’s 2000 debut album Hybrid Theory was promoted to diamond status by the Recording Industry Association of American for selling 10 million copies.

My initial thought: 10 million people bought that piece of crap? My proceeding thought: I remember my Linkin Park phase.

I remember actually borrowing my friend’s copy of Hybrid Theory and listening to it on my Sony Walkman. I turned it up as loud as it could and I listened to the song “Crawling” over and over again. The way Chester Bennington screamed during the chorus was as real and raw as anything I had ever heard. It was at that point where I thought that Linkin Park was the coolest band in the world.

As my music tastes grew along with

my age, and as I started to hate that repeated seven second rapping part in “Crawling” that in 10-year-old Peter’s opinion threw off the flow of the song, I started to dislike Linkin Park. In fact, I thought they sucked.

As I look back on that time, nothing has changed, I still think that Linkin Park sucks. But they only suck because it’s my personal preference. With music, it’s hard to label something that’s really good or really bad because there is no chart or meter that tracks awfulness. That’s the beauty of listening, creating and judging music.

Linkin Park could be looked at in this light. They did what Limp Bizkit couldn’t do. They added melody and emotions to the rap-rock and nu metal genres and thus gave the kids of post-Generation X a new, powerful voice.

Linkin Park also managed to pull off a record with Jay-Z called Collision Course, and it was pretty good.

2002’s Collision Course wound

up spawning a movement that called for DJs, and anyone with a computer for that matter, to blend multiple songs into one song. These are now called “mash-ups.” Collision Course was also the first time that rap and rock had blended well together since Run-DMC re-recorded Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” in 1986.

Do I still believe that 10 million people bought a copy of Hybrid Theory? Hell no.

But 20-year-old Peter knows something that 10-year-old Peter didn’t. I now understand that Linkin Park is actually important to popular music and they have made a significant impact.

The same could also be said for the young career of Carly Rae Jepsen. I don’t think she’s very good and I find her music to be quite agitating. This is partially due to the fact that her record company went completely overboard and pressed Jepsen’s single “Call Me Maybe” on every single radio station in the United States.

But there could be some small faction of people that actually thinks that Jepsen is really good. They buy all of her music, they go to her concerts and they buy her merchandise. This is the opposite end of the spectrum from where I stand on Jepsen, but I can understand where they’re coming from only because I like other artists that much, but I still don’t understand her appeal.

Artists such as Linkin Park and Carly Rae Jepsen have this in defense of their art. Music can be judged and criticized, analyzed and categorized, but there will never be any one person to say whether something is good and something is bad. In an era where people can just sit behind a computer and voice their opinion without any base for their argument, the fact that music can’t be touched or have a universal grade is just as relevant as ever. It’s something that 20-year-old Peter understands and it’s something that 10-year-old Peter will just have to live with.

Think Outside...

Lifestyle

13

Freshmen come from near and far NICOLE VALENTE Managing Editor

Walking down the strip towards the softball field, you may get the opportunity to meet an artist whose mural is displayed at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) or an architectural intern from Karachi, Pakistan. You may meet an employee of NASA’s Space Camp or a committee board member for social justice in El Salvador.

These examples provided by the University are just four of the nearly 3,000 new students that will be roaming the three St. John’s NYC campuses this year.

Net deposits (the amount of students who have made their initial tuition payment) have increased by five percent this year, according to Bryan Gross, Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management. This growth is due to a the slight increase in students from St. John’s “primary market” of the five boroughs and Nassau County and a three percent increase in students from the “secondary market” – the rest of the world. In the past two years, St. John’s has seen deposits rise by more than 100 students from outside of the primary market, he said.

Gross said that this increase is a result of greater outreach to large population states such as Texas, California and Florida. St. John’s has also been focused on increasing its international diversity.

Recently, there has been a University presence in South America, China, India, Korea different Caribbean countries.

Take for example, Luis Gustavo Coutinho de Rego, Bruno Augusto Constantino and Luciano de Azevedo Telesca Mota, three Brazilian transfer students majoring in computer science. They were each contacted by St. John’s after receiving

one of the 150,000 Brazil Science without Borders awards given out this year.

“St. John’s found us,” de Rego said, “there are 10 of us [from Brazil] here.”

This increased outreach to the secondary market does not take away from St. John’s responsibility to the primary market.

“St. John’s is still very much focused on the primary market and the Catholic community,” Gross said.

They have established a new Catholic Leader Scholars Program this year, in addition to the preexisting Catholic School Scholarships and Catholic Student Scholarships offered to eligible incoming freshmen. They also have the Hugh L. Carey Community Scholarship Award which is awarded to “full-time and first-time students” commuting from the city.

St. John’s has done much to adhere to its original goal of making education available to all. According to Gross, there is a focus on providing “very high need” students opportunities for higher education.

Advantage Academy is a University and NYC Department of Homeless Services program that provides free education for eligible homeless and previously homeless students to receive their Associate’s degree. Advantage Academy began in the fall of 2009 and has been running ever since. Gross pointed out that St. John’s focuses not only on increasing racial, geographical and religious diversity, but also on economic and situational diversity.

The University, once focused on providing higher education to its immediate community, boasts that it has now transformed itself into a home for everyone, near or far. With students from as far as China and as close as across Union Turnpike, St. John’s has begun providing for its students a level of diversity indicative of the Queens community surrounding it.

TORCH PHOTO/ NICOLE VALENTE

New students return following yesterday’s academic convocation.

Fall music preview: Swift, Brandy, Green Day KORI WILLIAMS Staff Writer

The beginning of fall can be a sign of new happenings in every facet of life, and it’s no different in the music industry. A number of artists from different genres plan on releasing albums this season, giving many music lovers something to look forward to.

Pop/country superstar Taylor Swift has been steadily releasing new albums dating to 2006. Her fourth album, Red, will be released on Oct. 22. When she spoke about her new record with a small group of fans earlier this month on a live YouTube stream, Swift said that this record won’t stray from her usual song topic: relationships.

The first single from the album, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” speaks to that theme wholeheartedly.

The main difference from this album as opposed to her previous releases is the length. In the same YouTube chat, Swift said Red consists of 16 tracks that were taken from an original list of 30-35 songs, already making it her longest album to date.

R&B singer Brandy will be releasing her latest album, Two Eleven, on Oct. 16. The album is a tribute to the late

legendary singing icon Whitney Houston, who died Feb. 11.

The single “Put it Down,” featuring Chris Brown, is different than any other single Brandy has released.

She even raps in the song, which is territory that the singer hasn’t treaded in before. This album will also be the first time Brandy will be working with fellow songstress Monica since 1998’s “The Boy is Mine”. Now, the two will be singing together on the track “It All Belongs to Me”.

Rapper T.I. has released seven albums so far, but will his eighth be the charm? Trouble Man doesn’t have a set release date but it will drop later in the PHOTO COURTESY OF CMT.COM year. The first single off of the album, “Love This Life,” has a softer appeal than Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated album, “Red,” will be released on Oct. 22.

T.I.’s best known songs. As a rapper, he holds true to his “bad boy” persona Day has been around for a while. They of ¡Tré! was not mentioned, it was stated having been sent to prison multiple times, released their debut album 39/ Smooth that one of the songs on the album was but he sounds rather happy on “Love This in 1990 and now the band is doing dedicated to a friend who committed Life.” It differs from another single on the things a little bit differently. Green Day suicide that ties into a track that was album entitled “Go Get It,” which caters is set to release a trio of studio albums, written about the late pop singer Amy more to his aforementioned persona. Even ¡Uno!, ¡Dos! and ¡Tré! which Winehouse on ¡Dos!.

All of these musicians have released without a release date lined up there is still will be released on Sept. 25, much to look forward to. In an interview Nov. 13, and Jan. 15 2013. In an multiple albums before, and each of them with Complex Magazine the rapper stated interview with British newspaper The have a message that is given to the audience that artists including Lil Wayne, Andre Sun, the band stated that the first album, to comprehend and interpret themselves.

3000 and Lady Gaga will be featured on ¡Uno!, features material that sounds like The accessibility of these albums make classic Green Day, ¡Dos! is “Green Day on them essential for any music lover the album.

The punk rock band Green another level” and although an overall view looking to buy this fall.

14

Q&A: Action Item’s Brian Cag speaks with the Torch SARAH YU

Chief Copy Editor Torch: What was your goal when you first started the band?

Brian Cag, vocalist/rhythm guitar, Action Item: I think it's pretty similar to what people really wish to accomplish with anything. I think our number one goal is to be happy and successful. We love what we do musically and I think we helped some people out emotionally and even spiritually. I think making ourselves happy and making sure that we're making really honest music that sticks to us and hopefully sticks to other people is important.

T: What should listeners expect with your new album that’s being released in Oct.?

BC: It's a very positive upbeat record. There's a lot of life cycle of emotions that this album has. I can tell you one thing, there are no super-store ballads so I think it's very upbeat and pretty positive.

T: What are your thoughts on your new single "Last Day of Summer"?

BC: I think it illustrates exactly that kind of summer nostalgia song we all can relate to. I think everyone can correlate with that feeling of the last day of summer so I think that was our aim.

T: What was it like and how did it feel to hear your song on the radio for the first time?

BC: It's pretty crazy. It's something that every band and musician dreams of having having their song on the radio.

We have a lot of other campaigns coming up to get that song more airplay.

T: How did you come up with the band name? What’s the meaning behind it?

BC: We were actually watching a movie called Fight Club. There’s a pretty intense scene in the movie where someone says the word, “Action Item”, and it sounded pretty cool and Dan’s brother, Mark, decided that that would be a pretty cool name for the band and we said, “Yeah, it sounds good.”

T: Your music video is being premiered on MTV’s Buzzworthy Blog.

What does that feel like?

BC: It's going to be premiered on Buzzworthy hopefully sometime this week. It should be great. I think it's everyone’s dream to be incorporated with the MTV brand. It's great, we're so appreciative of them.

T: What went into filming the music video?

BC: We were actually at a bunch of different locations in California. It was great. We had a wonderful director who had a great vision of what the song should portray visually for that summer feeling. I think that was very important to have and I think it'll come across really nicely onscreen and I think the video just enhances the song. So when you watch the video, I think you'll connect with the song even more.

T: Nick Jonas produced the single, "Learn to Fly." What was that experiencelike?

BC: It was pretty crazy. I think at first we were like, “Oh my god, Nick must be this hard kind of guy” and then

we realized that he's just a cool, normal guy and he's super talented for his age.

It was great working with him. I think vocally, it kind of opened a lot of new ideas for me. He's a legend and on top he's a great singer and I think having him critique me and helping out with the song that was a big accomplishment for me. So, I think it was a great opportunity for all of us.

T: What are the band's plans after the release of the second album? Will you ever sign to a major label?

BC: We’ll be going on tour with Owl City which is going to be super fun.

After Owl City, we have a video game coming out for the iPhone and the Droid, which is very exciting. It’s going to be a scrolling kind of action adventure kind of thing. It showcases our hidden talents which can be really funny to see. You might not know from the things that we're capable of doing, but I think the video game will definitely show that. We have a couple of other surprises that I can't really say just yet but it's probably coming up for the New Year.

We're not opposed to signing. It's always an option. I think that's the topic that we really try to keep vague but labels are always an option and if the right thing comes along. But we have a really great team right now that has got us where we are but we will want to get signed soon.

Action Item will be performing with Owl City in New York City on the Sept.

11 at Irving Plaza. For tickets and more info, go to ticketmaster.com

First Listen: Last Day of Summer SARAH YU

Chief Copy Editor Musicians in the present day focus more on their fame and music than on their fans. Brian Cag, Mark Shami, Anthony Li, David Buczkowski and Dan Brozek of the band Action Item are more than just their music and melodies.

They’re down-to-earth guys in their twenties from Bergen County, N.J. who love to interact and keep in touch with their fans. Action Item Band is consisted of five guys who all met while in high school and have only become closer in friendship ever since.

While musicians such as Rihanna have lyrics that only deal with love and sex, Action Item’s lyrics are heartfelt, genuine and relatable.

Fans and listeners have found themselves tearing up to songs such as “Home” or encouraged or inspired by songs such as “Learn to Fly” or “Some Days.”

Action Item released their

debut album, The Stronger the Love, two years ago in August 2010 and they’ve been releasing singles one by one throughout the year for who they call their “Action Item Family” or AI Family, the nickname for their entire fan-base.

Their most recent single is an upbeat, lively, light-hearted and fun song called “Last Day of Summer.” The lyrics in the song, “If we don’t go home the sun won’t set, if we run right now we won’t regret, and we can close our eyes and just pretend that it’s the last day of summer” portrays the bittersweet feelings of people during the last weeks of summer before going back to reality. In an interview with Front Row Live Entertainment, Li, the rhythm guitarist, describes the song as a “nostalgic idea of capturing this feeling of the last day of summer.” The single has gained a lot of airplay on radio stations across the country and band recently announced that the music video for “Last Day of Summer” will be pre-

PHOTO COURTESY OF FACEBOOK.COM/ACTIONITEM

Action Item recently put out their bright, new single “Last Day of Summer.” miering on MTV’s Buzzworthy blog.

On Sept. 11, Action Item will open for chart toppers Owl City at N.Y.’s Irving Plaza. But even though their star has already

started to rise, their devotion to their fans through social media outlets, the band has shown that their audience is more important than fame. And that’s the way they like it.

Can’t get enough of the Torch?

Visit our Web site for online exclusives. torchonline.com

15

From graffiti artist to surgeon KIERAN LYNCH Features Editor

PHOTO COURTESY Of MICHAEL BRODNANSKY

Michael Brodnansky’s work titled “Thinker as Satan”.

Most people use hobbies as ways to pass the time and others figure out ways to turn a hobby into a career. For Michael Brodnansky, it’s a little combination of both.

Brodnansky, a junior biology major from Glen Cove, Long Island, started drawing at such a young age he doesn’t really remember when it began. Now, he’s learning how to combine a lifelong passion with the realities of needing to find a career.

“I always liked creating,” Brodnansky said. “I always played with legos as a little kid and have kind of been moving up since then.”

The artist is primarily working with spray paint, utilizing stencils in his work. The stencil idea came from one of his biggest influences, the British street artist Banksy. His work has led him to begin creating posters and t-shirts for friends, but the work doesn’t stop there.

“I’m actually going to paint the wall of a hookah bar,” he said. “I’m doing a painting of Times Square with little graffiti artists standing next to it.”

While that may seem like a pretty big task, Brodnansky also plans to start painting his car as well as a friend’s motorcycle.

This type of background may lead people to believe that the he is trying to make a career out of this, but in actuality his career plans lead him in an entirely different direction.

“My life view is that I love art, but obviously if you want to be a doctor there’s not a lot of art

that goes into that,” Brodnansky said.

The St. John’s resident assistant is pursuing his goals of attending medical school and becoming a surgeon or medical examiner. He sees the realities of the “starving artist” way of life and wants to continue his hobby without having to rely on it to get by.

The drawing and painting isn’t the only side to Brodnansky’s artistic abilities, however.

Starting in high school, he got himself interested in writing as a way to pass the time.

“I was really bored in class and normally I would doodle, but by that time in my life I was tired of doing it, he said. I had drawn every possible doodle I could think of. So I thought, “Why don’t I write Haikus?”

What started simply as writing Haikus quickly morphed into all sorts of poem writing and even music writing. Now, the creative mind is learning the guitar so that he can put his words into melody.

For now, the biology student is focused on school and waiting to get to the next step in the education process. When he gets to medical school, he is planning on continuing his hobby through tattoo art for which he already has designs he would like to try out.

With already a lifetime of artistic work behind him and much more to come, not even Brodnansky is quite sure what art will take grasp in his life in the future. There may only be one way to accurately sum it up.

“I love creating stuff,” he said.

Recap: the best of summer music GABRIELE DOW

Staff Writer Emeritus The summer came, and the summer went, and somehow it left us without G.O.O.D. Music. What a cruel one it was.

That album (Cruel Summer by G.O.O.D. Music), which was one of the most anticipated of the summer, is now, unfortunately, slated for release on Sept. 18.

But, a lot of great music was still released, with Maroon 5 ushering the summer in with their sixth top 10 hit, “Payphone” (featuring Wiz Khalifa), and their fourth studio album, Overexposed. Usher turned the tables a bit with his seventh album Looking 4 Myself, which featured the hit dance-pop single “Scream” and had a decidedly more pop feel than any of his previous albums. The climax of June for preteens all across world lied in Justin Beiber’s third album, Believe, which has sold over 2 million copies in the U.S. alone, spurred by the Mike Posner-produced hit “Boyfriend.”

As the calendar turned to

July, the hip-hop and R&B genres took over. Chris Brown released his fifth album, Fortune, featuring his Usheresque pop hit “Turn Up the Music.”

Frank Ocean then debuted at the number two slot on the Billboard charts behind the Zac Brown Band’s Uncaged with his highly-anticipated LP Channel Orange. The hype came from not only his gifted artistry but also the fact that a few days before the release he confirmed in an open letter to fans that he was bisexual and many songs on the album referred to his first love, a man.

Nas’ release of Life is Good led by the inspiring single “Daughters, took the spotlight off of Ocean and put it on himself by scoring his third straight number one album. Rick Ross closed the month out with his Jul. 31 release of God Forgives, I Don’t, another successful chapter in the rising career of the selfproclaimed “Boss of Miami.”

August has not seen an album release from a major artist,.

Even 2 Chainz (one of the worst rappers to capture the attention

This week in

entertainment PETER LONG

Entertainment Editor - TV mogul Oprah Winfrey topped Forbes Magazine’s list of Highest Paid Celebrities, according to forbes. com. Winfrey, whose legendary daytime talk program The Oprah Winfrey Show has been off the air for over a year, still managed to earn $165 million from May 2011 to May 2012. Trailing Winfrey is director Michael Bay, who brought in $160 million, and behind him is fellow director Steven Spielberg who generated $130 million.

- An unwashed pair of Elvis Presley’s underwear will be put up for auction this week in Manchester, England and is expected to sell for $15,800, according to the BBC. The undergarments, which were obtained from the estate of Vernon Presley, Elvis’ father, were said to be worn under one of his famous white jumpsuits during a performance in 1977.

- Opening night for the heavily anticipated Motown: The Musical has been announced along with the lead cast, the New York Times reported.

Playing the role of Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. will be Brandon Victor Dixon and Valisia LeKae will be playing The Supremes frontwoman Diana Ross.

- Former Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus will appear in two episodes of the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men, according to Entertainment Weekly. Cyrus, who has been out of the spotlight since the end of her successful Disney Channel sitcom, will play a character named Missi, Walden’s (Ashton Kutcher) old friend and the love interest of Jake (Angus T. Jones).

- John Mayer, My Morning Jacket and Ray LaMontagne will headline the Levon Helm benefit concert on Oct. 3 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J., according to Rolling Stone. Also on the bill will be Eagles’ guitarist Joe Walsh, Mavis Staples and Lucinda Williams. The proceeds from “Love for Levon” will benefit the former Band drummer’s estate to keep his home, barn and private studio.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THEFASHIONFIEND.COM

Odd Future alumnus Frank Ocean’s smooth jams highlighted this summer’s albums with his LP, Channel Orange.

of a mass audience) was able to garner a number one position with the release of his first solo album, Based on a T.R.U. Story and Owl City continued to try and ride the success of “Fireflies” (unsuccessfully), with its fourth album The Midsummer Station.

Alas, there are but a few weeks until music fans re-

ceive the G.O.O.D. music they have been waiting for, not only Kanye’s crew, but Pink, Nelly Furtado, Ne-yo, Bob Dylan and others).

Albums from hip-hop supergroup Slaughterhouse and 90’s Canadian favorite Alanis Morissette will close out the summer and will hold fans over into the fall.

- Neil Armstrong, the first human to walk on the moon, died on Saturday, Aug. 25, at the age of 82.

Armstrong, according to his family, died of complications from heart bypass surgery in Cincinnati.

- Penn State announced on Tuesday that they will ban the Neil Diamond classic sing-a-long “Sweet Caroline” from its gameday playlist.

The Altoona Mirror reported that school officias had concerns over the lyrics following the Jerry Sandusky scandal but those reports were later denied.

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Men’s soccer held to draw

Williams’ late goal salvages single point for Johnnies MITCHELL PETIT-FRERE

Sports Editor The then-No. 13 St. John’s men’s soccer team battled to a 1-1 double overtime draw with Colgate Sunday night at Belson Stadium.

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An 86 minute goal from freshman forward Jelani Williams canceled out Colgate’s 49 minute opener from Mike Reidy, and saved the Red Storm from a big upset just days after defeating Boston University.

Reidy’s goal, a penalty kick that barely snuck past the outstretched arms of junior keeper Rafael Diaz, was converted after Red Storm junior midTORCH PHOTO/KRISTEN FARMER fielder Jamie Thomas brought down Shane Conlin in the penalty box. Freshman Jelani Williams scored his first collegiate goal against Colgate The goal came after a slow-paced first could hold the ball up and give us a little get. half, as both teams seemed hesitant in the bit of a presence in the attacking third,” “Our forwards started making smarter final third. Despite showing confidence on said head coach Dr. Dave Masur. runs behind the defense and it opened up the ball in their respective defensive halves, Freshman forward Daniel Bedoya be- space for our team,” explained freshman there was a lack of positive link-up play in gan the Red Storm’s assault on Colgate’s forward Jelani Williams. and around the 18-yard box. goal in the 60th minute with a moment of However, despite the Johnnies’ domiThe Johnnies responded with extreme individual skill after he slalomed past two nant lead in second half shots, 11-2, they vigor as they grabbed a stranglehold of the defenders before unleashing a shot that were struggling to find the back of the net. match and kept the ball in the Colgate half flew over the crossbar by inches.

Jack Bennett squandered the Red Storm’s of the field for a majority of the second half.

Bedoya’s near miss set a trend as a most noteworthy scoring chance in the “We had a little bit more energy and number of Red Storm players managed to 75th minute when he could only manage made some subs that brought guys on who direct numerous dangerous shots on tar- to aim his headed effort directly into the

hands of Grant Reed even after he was left unmarked at the far post.

As the end of regulation neared, Masur signaled for Tim Parker to push forward into a more attacking role. The coach’s tactical switch almost paid off as Parker rose to head a cross from Bennett only for Reed to record his fourth save of the half.

The goal finally came in the 86th minute, when freshman Jelani Williams and senior forward Andres Vargas completed a slick move that saw the freshman score the crucial goal that sent the match into overtime.

“I just got it [the ball] at the top of the box and split the defenders, played it down to Andres, and I kept making my run. He crossed it back for me and I was just in the right place at the right time.”

As the New Jersey native trotted back to midfield after his goal, there was a palpable confidence to him, as he knew that his first collegiate goal came at the most opportune of times.

“It feels great [to score]. To be at this level and to perform is good because it’s a big step up from high school, to academy, to college. It’s a lot more physical, you’re not the biggest kid anymore.”

Despite failing to score a golden goal, the Johnnies continued to assert their dominance over Colgate as they had a 7-0 shot advantage in overtime. Masur’s men came closest to victory after Jack Bennett’s fizzing strike from thirty yards out thumped off the crossbar.

The Red Storm travel to Columbus, South Carolina on August 31 to face the South Carolina Gamecocks as they begin their participation in the Gamecock’s Classic.

Underclassman lead way for men’s soccer The St. John’s men’s soccer team is entering the 2012 season with just four seniors on the roster, but despite the lack of seniority in the team, the Red Storm received a No. 15 preseason ranking from the NSCAA and were tabbed Red Division favorites in the Big East preseason coaches poll.

As the Johnnies men sulked off the Belson Stadium turf last season after their 1-0 second round NCAA tournament loss to Brown University, head coach Dr. Dave Masur was forced to bid farewell to a senior class that sported current New York Red Bulls standout Connor Lade, the 2011 co-BIG EAST midfielder of the year Pablo Punyed, a consistent left back in Chris Lebo, and a seasoned forward in Walter Hines who notched six goals and an assist in 2011.

Although Masur has six returning start-

ers from last year’s roster that were involved in the Johnnies’ record ninth Big East Tournament title, the underclassmen of the Red Storm have already proven that they are more than capable of carrying on the tradition of excellence that Masur has instilled into the team during his 22 years at the helm.

Sophomore Tim Parker is the consummate example of an underclassman enduring a larger burden of responsibility this season. Coming out of high school and into his freshman season, Parker was thrust out of his comfort zone and forced to play right back rather than the advanced offensive role that saw him score 25 goals during his senior season at Hicksville High School.

This season, Parker has been moved to the center of defense, transforming from an athletically gifted fullback into an experienced and savvy center back that displayed a great deal of leadership in the absence of his defensive partner, senior Bjorn de Hoop in Sunday night’s game against Colgate.

“He’s [Parker] been very good at controlling [the defense] with great speed, composure, and has really been a mainstay with us this week and one of the real rea-

sons why we haven’t been giving too much away,” said Masur.

On the offensive end of the field, two of Masur’s most renowned recruits, freshman forwards Daniel Bedoya and Jelani Williams, made a significant impact during the Colgate match.

In the first half of that game, both players saw limited minutes, but Masur entrusted his two freshmen with more time on the field in the second half, and they repaid his faith by positively influencing the game.

Bedoya’s quick feet and ability to beat his defender saw him come within inches of scoring on two separate occasions while Williams’ sheer strength and deceptive speed greatly troubled the Colgate backline and earned him his first collegiate goal.

“Jelani brings speed and strength up front. He’s still adapting with playing with a lot more organized defenses. He’s playing against teams that are physical and this is another level of execution that is expected and he did really well [against Colgate].

He learns quick, and as he works to get a little fitter and learn to get his body in better condition, he could be a heck of a player,” explained Masur.

Besides the two strikers, freshman mid-

fielder Sean Sepe has made an immediate impact for the Red Storm as he recorded his first career assist in the Johnnies’ season opening 3-0 win over Boston University while freshman defender Gabriel Camara partnered with Tim Parker in the center of defense in the second half and two overtime periods of the Colgate match.

As Masur’s men move forward and prepare for a grueling Big East schedule in the coming months, a number of underclassmen will likely be main catalysts for this no. 15 ranked team that many expect to challenge for major prizes this season.

“We’re a young team, we had a lot of freshman on the field [Sunday], four [or] five,” Williams said. “We need to get our chemistry better and get a bit fitter. We just have to keep fighting and hopefully by the Big East [Tournament] we’re ready to go.”

Mitchell Petit-Frere is a junior journalism and English major who thinks that Robin van Persie will bring the Premier League title back to the red half of Manchester. He can be reached at torchsports@ gmail.com

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The women’s soccer team has set a goal of topping its 9-9-1 record and first-round Big East Tournament exit that it recorded last season.

But to do that, according to head coach Ian Stone, the players are going to have to toughen up — especially in the aftermath of their uncompetitive 3-0 loss to Long Island rival Stony Brook on Sunday.

“I think there’s a lot of talent,” Stone said. “I think they could be a very, very tight team … I think we have a lot of potential, but I also think they have to become a little bit mentally tougher to get through those tough weekends.”

Tough weekends are the norm for the Red Storm. Weekends with games on Friday and Sunday are common — St. John’s already has had two like that, and will have four more as the season progresses, something Stone said his team is going to have to deal with.

“I don’t really like the quick turnaround,” Stone said, “but it’s something that we’ve prepared [for]. We did it last weekend, we did it in preseason, we’re going to have to do it all season. I don’t like it, but it’s the nature of the women’s college game – we play Friday, Sunday and the girls know that.”

Compounding the issues with the schedule, the Johnnies have been without two of their veteran leaders. Junior keeper Lauren Ferris and junior midfielder Amy Marron have both been out with injuries.

In their stead, freshman Ellen Conway has taken charge between the posts, while fellow rookie

The Torch

Editor-in-Chief

Emily Cubbage has taken Marron’s place in the midfield, with surprisingly productive results — Cubbage netted the game-winner in the team’s Friday win over Air Force, while Conway has been lauded for her performance in goal.

“Ellen has done an amazing job in goal,” redshirt senior defender Megan Klement said.

“It’s unbelievable — coming in as a freshman and not expecting to have to play in her first year because of Lauren, or getting just a couple minutes here and there.

She’s come up with some bigtime saves and saved our butts numerous times.”

“Emily has just been working hard in every single game,” Klement added. “She ended up scoring the game-winning goal on Friday, which was a huge confidence builder for her and great for our team — we wouldn’t have won without her.”

Cubbage’s emergence means that Stone will face a selection dilemma in the midfield when Marron, one of the team’s best players in the preseason returns — something that he doesn’t necessarily mind.

“To me, it’s good because you have a healthy competition for places,” Stone said. “So Amy will play somewhere and the rest of them have to compete for other places.”

That competition, the team hopes, will make games like the Stony Brook loss an aberration.

“What you have to understand about the Stony Brook game was that was not a St. John’s women’s soccer typical performace especially on Belson Stadium,” Stone said. “So obviously I’m a bit down right now on the team, but there’s a saying in soccer: ‘You’re only as good as your last game.’”

torchonline.com

MICHAEL E. CUNNIFF

9 Nov. 2011

Toughness key to Johnnies’ success

PHOTO COURTESY OF ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Redshirt senior Megan Klement was sent off in St. John’s 3-0 loss to Stony Brook.

Johnnies take London by ‘Storm’ in Olympics ROBERT DELUCIA

Staff Writer Four members of the Red Storm family took part in this summer’s London Olympic games.

Two current fencers, Daryl Homer and Dagmara Wozniak, and their coach, Yury Gelman, represented the United States. Former track and field star Phobay Kutu-Akoi ran for her home country of Liberia in the 100m.

Gelman made his fourth coaching appearance at the Olympic Games this summer after coaching in the 2000, 2004, and 2008 games. His most noteworthy Olympic accomplishment came in ’08 after the men’s U.S.A fencing team earned a silver medal in team sabre.

Daryl Homer, a Bronx native, had the most successful stint at the Games. In men’s individual sabre, Homer upset the No. 2 ranked fencer in the world, Alexsei Yakimenko of Russia in the round of 16 before bowing out of the competition

in the quarterfinals to Rares Dumitrescu of Romania. At 22 years old, Homer was the youngest member of the United States fencing team. Gelman said that he believes that Homer will be a favorite to take home gold when the Rio Games come around in 2016.

Dagmara Wozniak finished eighth in women’s sabre after defeating the No. 2 ranked fencer in the world, Russian Sophia Velikaia, in the quartefinals.

She thanked her fans after her Games ended with a tweet: “Thank hou so much for everyones support! It means the world to me. Made top 8 at my first olympics def cant wait...”

Phobay Kutu-Akoi ran an 11.52 100meter dash in her lone heat of the Olympic Games, .4 seconds off the pace needed to qualify for the semifinals.

Keep up with the latest St. John’s sports updates by following us on Twitter @TorchSports

Women’s soccer bested by Stony Brook

MICHAEL E. CUNNIFF

Editor-In-Chief Call it a teachable moment.

After the women’s soccer team on ST. JOHN’S

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Sunday was blown out by Stony Brook, 3-0, at home at Belson Stadium, head coach Ian Stone put his team through the ringer at practice Tuesday – putting his team outfield players through sprints throughout the session.

The message? The young Red Storm have to defend their turf better.

“The issue, really, was I didn’t think we put out enough effort on Sunday,” Stone said. “We weren’t physical enough.

We didn’t work hard enough to protect

our house in Belson Stadium, so that was a little bit of an issue for me, and it’s not really acceptable, so that’s the message we tried to get across to the girls today.”

The loss drops the Johnnies to 2-2 on the season, and erases the positive momentum after their dramatic, 2-1 overtime win over Air Force on Friday.

St. John’s fell behind in the 35th minute to a goal from the top of the box by Stony Brook defender Caitlin Pfeiffer.

The Seawolves made it 2-0 just before the stroke of halftime after freshman keeper Ellen Conway, filling in for injured starter Lauryn Ferris, misplayed a ball that bounced past her, leaving Stony Brook substitute Priscilla Wiggins with an open net that she did not miss.

Things only got worse for the Red Storm in the second half, when redshirt senior defender Megan Klement was send off with a straight red for denying a goalscoring opportunity. To add insult to injury, Stony Brook’s Kristen Baker blasted the ensuing free kick into the back of the net to make the score 3-0.

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Lavin talks new season

Healthy and ready, Lavin confident after past struggles

MICHAEL E. CUNNIFF Editor-in-Chief

Steve Lavin’s absence for the vast majority of the 2011/12 men’s basketball season while recuperating from surgery to treat prostate cancer put a twist onto his three-year timetable to restore St. John’s to prominence.

But it wasn’t the kind of twist most people would guess, at least according to Lavin. Instead of hurting the Red Storm’s development, the 49-year-old head coach believes that his absence actually helped the long-term development of the program.

“I think our depth of personnel is probably a year ahead of schedule” Lavin told the Torch in an exclusive interview.

“Ironically we were able to secure as deep a roster as our current one in part because of my being diagnosed with cancer. The unexpected setback on the health front and subsequent necessity to focus primarily on a full recuperation and our recruiting was a major factor in positioning us for landing the 2012 recruiting class.”

That diagnosis, and his comfort in handing over the reins to his assistant coaching staff featuring Gene Keady and longtime right-hand man Rico Hines, as well as associate head coach Mike Dunlap, allowed Lavin to spend his energy on the recruiting trail, to bring in a class to complement the six scholarship players that ended the season with the Johnnies.

His efforts helped him land his main target, re-signing JaKarr Sampson after the 6-foot-8 forward failed to qualify academically last year.

“Once Jakarr committed, it served as

PHOTO COURTESY OF ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Steve Lavin spent his time last season on “recruiting and recuperation.” a catalyst, similar to when we signed Moe Harkless in the 2011 class,” Lavin said.

“There’s a certain momentum that’s created when you sign a high-level player, and other kids see, ‘Okay, St. john’s has it going on.’”

St. John’s also landed coveted big man Chris Obekpa, as well as junior college standout Orlando Sanchez and Texas A&M transfer Jamal Branch in an eight-man re-

cruiting class that was ranked as high as No. 8 in the nation by recruiting services.

Now fully rejuvenated, Lavin has a luxury of being able to field a full team — something that Dunlap never came close to having last season, which started with seven scholarship players and ended with six.

And no longer relegated to a general manager role, as he describes it, because

of his health, he can take the team in the direction he wants — like giving sophomore guard and returning leading scorer D’Angelo Harrison time at the point guard position.

Harrison, who set a St. John’s freshman record with 544 points last season (17 per game) was cited by Lavin as the team’s most improved player in the offseason — especially the mental aspect of his game and his leadership qualities.

“He’s playing at a pace where he’s seeing things with more clarity,” Lavin said.

“His judgment and choices are better for when to take it to the hole and when to stop, and when to dish it.”

Harrison, Branch and incumbent starting point guard Phil Greene will have no shortage of players to pass to. JuCo transfer Marco Borgault will stretch the floor, while Sampson, Obekpa and Christian Jones — whose athletic ability Lavin lauded, will add versatility to a team that often relied on Harrison and Harkless, who is now with the NBA’s Orlando Magic, to carry the scoring load.

The increased depth was on display during team scrimmages in the summer.

“With eight newcomers, the quality of depth is the most notable change from last year,” Lavin said. “Summer workouts were fiercely competitive because our players recognize minutes will have to be earned the old fashion way this season.”

Now, with 13 scholarship players and two experienced walk-ons, St. John’s can call on 15 what Lavin called “legitimate players” — some of whom might not have been on the court had Lavin been healthy.

“You can’t script that.” Lavin said. “But its ironic that the setback on the health front was a springboard for our recruiting.

Candidates narrowed as coaching search continues MICHAEL E. CUNNIFF Editor-in-Chief KIERAN LYNCH Features Editor

TORCH FILE PHOTO/TERENCE M. CULLEN

The departure of former assistant coach Mike Dunlap has left the men’s basketball team with a vacancy in its coaching staff.

Men’s basketball head coach Steve Lavin has identified three likely candidates to fill his vacant assistant coaching spot, two familiar with the situation told The Torch.

Darrick Martin, who crossed paths with Lavin when the former was a point guard at UCLA in the early 1990s, is the frontrunner for the job, while Saint Louis assistant Jim Whitesell is also under consideration.

Promoting Special Assistant/Advisor Gene Keady is also an option for the third-year head coach, who is not necessarily seeking a like-for-like replacement of departed assistant Mike Dunlap, who left St. John’s to take over the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats.

A decision could be reached within the next seven days to ten days. However, with the pressure of bringing in a big recruiting class gone this season, Lavin feels less urgency to hire someone and could leave the position open until as late as Oct. 1, a source said.

Martin, the favorite to land the job, played for UCLA from 1990-1994, overlapping with Lavin’s time as an assistant

coach to Jim Harrick. He played professionally in the NBA and the CBA for more than a decade. Whitesell is currently the associate head coach at Saint Louis, but was recently passed over for the interim head coaching job after current head coach Rick Majerus took a leave of absence last week.

Promoting Keady is seen by the team as an option should no other options pan out. However, if promoted from his parttime position to a full-time assistant, he may not be able to go back to his advisor job because of NCAA rules.

Dunlap acted as the head coach for all but four games during the 2011/12 season first when Lavin underwent surgery to cure him of prostate cancer and later when the coach returned to the sidelines too soon without enough rest. Dunlap went 11-17 while leading the Red Storm.

Following the year of being thrown into the “gladiator pit”, as Lavin likes to call the Big East schedule, Dunlap landed himself a head-coaching job at the NBA level with the Bobcats. With the 54-year-old, who is known as the “tactician” amongst college basketball circles, heading to the professional ranks, St. John’s found itself in need of a new coach to fill a role that will continue to play a big part this year with the further development of a young team.

The full Red Storm squad will be seen in action for the first time on Oct. 12 as they take the court for the annual Red Storm Tip-Off event.

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Leavin’ their Mark Former men’s basketball star Harkless is involved in Blockbuster trade

Former St. John’s swingman Moe Harkless was drafted 15th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2012 NBA Draft. However, after just 42 days as a member of the Sixers organization, Harkless was traded to the Orlando Magic on August 10 in a deal that also saw Olympic gold medalist Andre Iguodala get traded to the Denver Nuggets and 6-time NBA All-Star and 3-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard get dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Harkless will make his NBA debut on November 2 against Iguodala’s Denver Nuggets.

Lade making a name for himself in the MLS PHOTO COURTESY OF ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Volleyball head coach Joanne Persico looks to lead her team out of the Big East basement this season.

Q&A: Persico talks about 19th season TAYLOR BRISCO Staff Writer

Joanne Persico is entering her 19 season as the head coach of the St. John’s women’s volleyball team. Although she has established St. John’s as a nationally recognized program during her 19 years at the helm, including three straight Big East championships from 2006-2008, Persico will face the challenge in the 2012 season of trying to bounce back from three straight losing seasons. The team is currently 3-1 this season after winning the Battle of the Bay in Baltimore, Md. Torch: What do you hope to achieve this season?

Joanne Persico: Our first goal is to continue to produce quality student athletes looking forward to their career at St. John’s and a quality education on and off the court. To have athletes that are healthy and being enriched spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically. Second is to always have a winning season and create a winning culture; produce winning, confident, independent (and) successful people.

T: Looking at the prospects from this past recruiting year, what are some of the main holes you were focused on filling?

Do you think you met those needs with the current recruiting class?

JP: We wanted to have a strong freshmen class that would carry us into the next couple of years. We wanted to have a solid and steady freshmen class, athleticism, and good Volleyball IQ; which we did.

T: How difficult was it for you to replace Darlene Ramdin?

JP: We don’t replace a player like Darlene, but what you try and do is to im-

prove defense and serving. Darlene was a great front row player and now we work to achieve good team synergy and not have a one person or two-person team.

T: Do you think the increased amount of home games will be an advantage for the team this season?

JP: Last year we ran into some injuries and challenges in regards to our scheduling. I am hoping that this year we’ll have more practices, get comfortable at home and have an edge with the home crowd.

T: Team captain Gabriela Petkova will be returning for her final season at St. John’s, how do you think her leadership will set an example for returning players and the freshman recruiting class?

JP: She’s not necessarily team captain, just a team leader along with the other upperclassman. We asked everyone to lead, get into the boat and paddle. We all need to lead and be accountable and that will allow us to be more successful. We look for Gabby to help in any capacity.

T: You have an even amount of newcomers and veterans; how will you use this to your advantage?

JP: The freshmen from last year have gained experience, so we look for them in the core. We look forward to them helping us out on the court. The freshman and sophomores will have years to play together and that’s a plus.

T: How has the new recruiting class of freshmen adjusted to the collegiate level of volleyball?

JP: The collegiate level of volleyball is a faster, more powerful game. The recruits that played in high-level club have good

experience. The ones who didn’t play in club have good athleticism so hopefully that will all work out.

T: You have a range of personalities on the team. Do you think this mix is beneficial?

JP: We represent St. John’s and St. John’s represents New York City. Our team reflects that and it’s my job to mold them and bring them together in a positive and synergic way. We are looking forward to that and the personalities keep it exciting and fun.

T: What is the one aspect of last year you would change?

JP: Of course the winning and loss record, the tight games. Good news is that last year is behind us. We want this year to be good. We have a new attitude and are not thinking about last year. We are focused on this year.

T: The team has a difficult series of away games beginning with the game against DePaul, how do you plan on preparing for this?

JP: We have to stay healthy before that match and make sure we are rested and playing some of our best volleyball before that match happens.

T: What does going into your 19th season as the head volleyball coach mean to you?

JP: It means that I was able to find what I want to do in life and was able to have a great opportunity to pursue my passion. It also means that I work for a University that has supported me and given me a great opportunity to be the coach that I am.

Connor Lade, a four-year starter for the St. John’s men’s soccer team, has been a key contributor for the MLS’s New York Red Bulls this season. Lade has played in 19 games including 16 starts and has contributed three assists thus far in his rookie season. His first career assist created a goal for former Arsenal and Barcelona striker Thierry Henry. Lade has even received praise from Henry and Red Bull head coach Hans Backe in a recent New York Post article. “Every time he comes on or starts games, he really makes a difference. His work ethic, his passing game, he’s been much more composed overall. He’s a clever guy. He will definitely improve,’’ said Backe.

Blowin’ in the Wind

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Enjoyed my short stay in Philly, but excited to get started in Orlando!

-Moe Harkless on Twitter after being traded to the Orlando Magic

”

Headin’ this Way Red Storm home games

Men’s Soccer: Princeton

Women’s Soccer: Brown

8 p.m.

7 p.m.

SPORTS 29 August 2012 | VOLUME 90, ISSUE 4 | TORCHONLINE.COM

STALEMATE MEN’S SOCCER CAN’T TOP COLGATE

TORCH PHOTO/ KRISTEN FARMER

The women’s soccer team was blown out by Stony Brook at Belson Stadium on Sunday.

Men’s head basketball coach Steve Lavin reflects on last season and looks toward the 2012/13 campaign

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