September 5, 2012

CLOSING TIME

High costs force local bookstore to shut down TORCH PHOTO/Kristen Farmer

WHAT’S INSIDE News.......................1-6 Lifestyle..............15-18 Comics.......................7 Sports.................20-24 Opinion..................8-10

TV

Jersey Shore After their sixth season, the Jersey Shore will no longer air on TV. Lifestyle Pg. 17

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

TV Fall TV preview The Torch previews the anticipated returns for the Fall TV season.

Lifestyle Pg. 15

Features $1.25 Slices Local business increases prices due to rising energy costs.

Lifestyle Pg. 18

Sports Winging It Men’s soccer brings home the Gamecock Classic crown.

Sports Pg. 20

Illustrator’s Corner

opinion pg. 8

Correction: Last week’s issue incorrectly idenified Daryl Homer as the youngest member of the United States Olympic team and that Dagmara Wozniak beat Sophia Velikaia, whom she lost to. We regret the error.

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/diana colapietro

Students were given a free taste of Chartwells Dining at an event that took place in the D’Angelo Center Sept. 4

Think Outside...

News

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Closing the book on Ed’s

High taxes lead St. John’s institution to close its doors

Christopher Brito Contributing Writer In the midst of tough economic times, Ed’s Book Store and Law Center on Union Turnpike — a University institution – closed the page on its 40-year-old business leaving students with one fewer option on where to buy their textbooks.

In an interview with The Torch, Edward Pries, former owner of Ed’s Book Store, cited high real estate taxes and fuel surcharges as the reason for the business’ closing.

“Every month we’d get this bill with an enormous fuel surcharge and it was an unpredictable cost,” he said. “Everything that comes in is through FedEx or UPS and there’s a fuel surcharge on all of that.”

Pries explained that because of the unpredictable costs, he decided last spring not to extend the lease on the lot.

“Our lease was up in September and we just couldn’t predict what the costs were going to be for the semester,” he said.

“Mayor Bloomberg also keeps increasing the real estate taxes around here and it was starting to get to be unbearable.”

Pries’ bookstore, which he said has been around since the early 1970s, has often been lauded by University students and faculty for its friendly customer service.

Dr. Stephen Sicari, chair of the english department, was one of the professors who used Ed’s Book Store as an alternative to the University’s.

“I always valued Ed’s because the staff was very friendly,” he said. “They got

orders right, they called me immediately if there was a problem, they took care of desk copies promptly and without issue.”

However, Sicari believes that the University book store will have no problem in helping students get their books.

“The campus store is well run and should be able to do the job,” he said. “The University posts book orders on the web so students can shop around and save money if they can”.

Denise Servido, manager of the campus book store, said Pries contacted her prior to the closing.

“Ed actually called me and told me he wasn’t going to continue,” she said. “He told me the rent doubled and couldn’t run the store anymore…I feel bad for the guy

but it’s the business of the book store.”

Andrew Pacura, an administrative studies major, said he bought a couple of philosophy books his freshman year from Ed’s as opposed to the campus store because it was cheaper.

“I feel the books there [at St. John’s Bookstore] are overpriced and even though they need to make a profit as a business, they should lower the prices for the students and make it easier,” he said.

“The only reason I buy it there now is because I can buy it all in one shot and make sure that I have the right book at the time.”

Henry Piper, a philosophy professor, also posted his books at Ed’s and said he feels sorry over the store’s closing because

of a “big business.”

“I’m sorry it did close but Ed’s been a casualty of being shut out of a big business,” he said.

Pries however said the closing of the bookstore has less to do with the book business and more to do with the economy.

“If you look up and down Union there’s empty stores all over the place,” he said.

“It’s a sad situation.”

Junior Brittany Villegas said that she is currently looking for alternatives to the University bookstore, now that Ed’s has closed.

“Definitely, I will look for alternatives online such as Amazon or eBay because our bookstore is definitely charging a lot on our textbooks and even though Ed’s was a couple of cents [or] dollars cheaper it was still expensive,” she said.

Junior Masuda Raman also used to buy from the little bookstore across the street from the university and will consider going online.

“I used to buy biology and anthropology books from there, it sucks because it was cheaper and the books were available there,” she said.

Pries said that while he does have a few accounts still open, he does not think he will relocate for the time being because it would be too hard for him to find an affordable location.

Additional reporting by Anthony O’Reilly, News Editor

Torch photo/Kristen farmer

After close to 40 years in business Ed’s Book Store & Law Center is now closed.

Luau unites frats and sororities on Great Lawn Alyssa Nielson Contributing Writer

The annual Greek Luau was held on the Great Lawn on Sept. 1, where dozens of fraternities and sororities had the chance to promote their organizations to interested students, particularly to the freshman class.

The Interfraternity Council, the Panhellenic Council and the African and Latino Fraternal/Sororal Alliance sponsored the event.

Each organization had its own table or booth, each with flyers, photos, information and sign up sheets to try to have as many students as possible sign up for a chance to join.

Any interested student could walk up and look around at all the different sororities and fraternities they might be interested in joining and sign up to be contacted in regards to the events and recruitment activities of each organization.

Students could also speak to current members of the organizations that they might be interested in to get a better idea of what the fraternity/sorority has to offer.

Will Chen, a member of Sigma Chi Beta, said he felt the luau was an essential part of the University Greek Life.

“The luau is a great asset to Greek life at St. John’s University,” he said. “It’s just one way of showing who we are as a fraternity.”

Joan Moore, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. also said that the luau was an important part of looking for new members and promoting her organization.

“The luau gave us the opportunity to talk to the St. John’s community about what our cultural organization does and how we give back to the community,” she said.

“At the fair I got to come together with all of my sorority sisters and represent our organization. It was a great time.”

In addition to trying to recruit students, current Greek members were given the opportunity to intermingle with those interested through a variety of activities on the Great Lawn. Chen said he enjoyed getting the opportunity to interact with a few of the interested students. “[The luau] gives us the opportunity to interact with them by playing games like canjam and volleyball,” he said.

Freshman Taylor Allen felt the event was successful in making her more likely to join a Greek organization in the future.

“It’s really nice to see all of what my school has to offer,” she said.

“It’s nice to be here and get to expand myself and pick which organizations I feel most comfortable joining in the future.”

Torch photo/Shannon luibrand

Greek fraternities and sororities gathered together to recruit new members.

Student engagement up 4

Study shows event attendace has risen 300%

Anthony O’Reilly News Editor

The number of students attending events on campus has increased more than 300% in the past four years, according to officials in student engagement.

Documents from the Office of Student Engagement show that much of the success has to do with the MVP student reward program, which gives students points for attending different events on campus and allows them to claim prizes at the end of every semester based on how many points they’ve accumulated.

“Since being implemented in September of 2009, the MVP Rewards Program has been credited as increasing overall student engagement in the areas of Athletics and Evening & Weekend Programming,” the document said.

Vice-president of Student Government, Inc., Oscar Diaz, who oversees the 10 standing committees on student engagement, including the school spirit committee and RedZone, said that while he thinks the MVP program was an essential factor in the jump in numbers; he also thought that an increase in school spirit was also a driving factor.

“The MVP program is a good incentive,” he said. “I think a lot of what it is, is an improved sense of pride in the school. People want to participate more and not just come to classes for the whole four years.”

During the program’s first year, 200910, close to two thousand unique students participated. In the previous school year, the total number of unique students who participated doubled.

In 2011, 99 percent of the freshman class participated in at least one event that offered MVP points.

During the 2010-11 school year, the second year of the MVP program, event attendance during the weekend increased 170%.

Since his freshman year, Diaz has worked on multiple aspects of student

Torch file photo/ Terence m. Cullen

Events such as viewing parties have seen a drastic increase in the amount of students who have attended. engagement, starting with being a volunteer on the school spirit committee, and eventually becoming the chair of the committee last year. Diaz has also worked with RedZone in organizing free giveaways at home games as well as away trips.

Diaz said his new role would allow him to try and continue the upward trend.

“As Vice President, I’m now overseeing the 10 standing committees, as opposed to just being the chair on just one,” he said.

“I’ll have a wider sense on what’s going on.”

Diaz, now a junior, said he has personally seen the number of students attending these events slowly increasing throughout the past two years.

“It’s been a very progressive number,” he said.

Diaz said seeing an increase in school

Torch File photo

Athletics and weekend events have also seen increased attendance.

spirit in the collective student body also helped to make him feel a deeper sense of pride in his school.

“I love seeing St. John’s pride increase,” he said. “It makes me more proud to be a Johnnie.”

Diaz showed excitement in the jump in numbers, and said that he hoped that the trend would continue in the next two years.

“I love the direction that we’re moving in.”

Water leaves moviegoers ‘hungry’

Jarrod Jenkins Staff Writer

There was no rain during the Monday showing of The Hunger Games on the Great Lawn, but students still experienced a shower.

According to operations staff more than 250 students attended the screening, however a majority of the crowd dismissed once the Great Lawn sprinklers turned on, interrupting the quiet mood that students were enjoying during the movie and sending dozens into a frenzy.

“Everything was chill and calming until the sprinklers began cycling,” sophomore Julian Reefer said. “I like The Hunger Games but not enough to get rained on for it.”

Reefer said he was disappointed that the University didn’t foresee this happening when scheduling the event.

“I feel like this could’ve been avoided if someone from the operation contacted the university facilities department and told them to not turn on the sprinklers for one night,” he said.

William Bernor, director of grounds, however said that he was aware that the movie had been planned on the Great Lawn, and had intentionally shut off the time-cycle operated sprinklers through a kill switch the day before the showing.

Bernor said that someone who did not know that the Great Lawn would be hosting an event must have come back and turned the sprinklers back on to their regular cycle.

The event was hosted by the department of student engagement as one

of the events during the University spirit week sponsored by RedZone.

Showing movies on the Great Lawn is an annual event, but it has been cancelled in recent years due to bad weather.

Alysha Velez, graduate assistant of student engagement, discussed that the motivation for hosting the event was to bring students together within the first month of the semester and give students a sense of school spirit.

“I just wanted to change things up,” she said. “It’s supposed to get the St. Johns spirit up and get kids to stay on campus,” she said.

Velez added that the student body was excited when the movie title was released via Twitter.

“We got a lot of good feedback from the students of St. John’s when we tweeted The Hunger Games were going to be playing,” she said.

Nate Lewis, operations administer, said how playing The Hunger Games gave an opportunity for new students and incoming freshman to have something to do on campus.

“I felt it was a good event given it was a holiday weekend. It gave people who may not be from New York something to do on a Monday night,” he said.

Sophomore Mike DeBenedetto said that he felt the movie was a great event and was successful bringing together students of all years in one location.

“It was a great thing to see a lot of people come out on campus to watch a great movie on campus,” he said.

“It was a great experience with community bonding, everyone seemed excited to be there and we should definitely do it again.”

Additional reporting by Anthony O’Reilly, News Editor

photo courtesy of hungergamesmovie.com

An unexpected shower interrupted a screening of The Hunger Games

Chappell Players alumni reunite Alexa Vagelatos Contributing Writer

The University Chappell Players classes of 1972-1979 held its very first alumni reunion in the Little Theater on Sept. 1.

The Chappell Players is the University theater group, that has been performing on campus since the 1930s, according to its official Facebook page.

Chappell Players alumni Catherine M. Pino of the class of 1978 and James Harrington of the class of 1976 both helped organize this event, which originally began as a Facebook group, according to Harrington. The University Office of Alumni Relations also organized the event.

Harrington said that the organization of the event was spontaneous and unexpected. “It just happened”, he said.

“A friend found me on Facebook three months ago, we got in touch with another friend, and it grew from there.”

Harrington said he was able to connect with close to 40 people on the social networking site, and before he knew it was able to have enough people to fill the Little Theater on the day of the reunion.

“I am thrilled to see my friends again,” he stated.

During his time as a part of the group, Harrington took part in, and helped produce, many of the productions on campus. Chief among these was the 1975 production of Jesus Christ Superstar, one of the first non-professional groups to perform the show, Harrington claimed.

One of the first friends Harrington connected with was Ray Abruzzo, a 1975

photo courtesy of institutional advancement

Chappell Players from years past were reunited at the Little Theater, the location of many of their productions during their years as students. graduate. Abruzzo’s first production as a part of the group was Indian Wants the Bronx.

Abruzzo said that he was a part of every production during his time with the group and spent the majority of his time at the University in the Little Theater. “I was in this theatre every single day including summers, for four years,” Abruzzo said.

“We made this our home.”

Abruzzo has since gone on to work on shows such as L.A. Law, Dynasty, Law and Order and most notably as “Little” Carmine on The Soprano’s.

As the night went on, Chappell Players from these classes shared their excitement and discussed how the group went on to change their lives.

Mike Muskopf of the class of ’74 said that being in the group opened his eyes to production and helped him branch out.

He said that he enjoyed the

togetherness of the program, and how there was no one telling you that you couldn’t do something. “That’s what it was all about,” he said. After graduating, Muskopf has since gone on to work at bigtime TV studios such as ABC news, PBS Channel 21 and for the past thirty-one years has been a part of the production team for CBS Channel 2 News.

Carol Baker also stated how being a Chappell Player was a life-changing experience. Baker was a part of the group between the years of 1973-1975, and played in shows such as Jesus Christ Superstar and One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Before being a Chappell Player, she said that she had a very different personality.

“I was very shy, isolated…Chappell Players changed my life,” she said. “Being in a warm environment felt great.”

Torch

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Briefs Compiled by Anthony O’Reilly News Editor

Pharmacy school gets official name change

As announced in a press release sent out by the University, the College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions has officially changed its name to the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. According to the press release, the name change focuses on “the College’s dual focus on research and career preparation.” Interim provost, and former dean of the college, Dr. Robert Mangione said “The new name reflects that reality and is also fitting as we plan new programs of study in the future.” According to the release, the University announced the change to the internal community in May, and updated its information in time for the Fall 2012 semester.

Calling all actors and actresses

Auditions will be held in the Little Theater for the Chappell Player’s production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Auditions will be held on Wed. Sept. 5 at 6 and 8 p.m. and on Thur. Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. Anyone looking for any further information can email sjucptg@ gmail.com

Federal judge to visit law school

As part of the law school’s “Visiting Jurist” series, federal judge Margo K. Brodie will visit the school for an informal conversation with students and faculty on Sept. 6 starting at 5:30 p.m. Brodie is the first Afro-Carribean born federal judge to serve in the United States. She currently serves on the Brooklyn Federal Court bench, overseeing the Eastern District of New York, which includes Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island.

University to screen summer blockbuster

The Little Theater will screen The Avengers starting on Sept. 9. Students can view the movie for free by swiping their StormCard. All who attend will also receive two MVP points.

Can’t get enough Torch news? Visit our Web site for online exclusives. torchonline.com

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Think Outside...

Politics

First Lady energizes first night of DNC Ann Romney reminisced about tuna salads and pasta dinners with her husband in trying to humanize Republican nominee, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, at last week’s Republican National Convention.

As the keynote speaker for the first night of the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, First Lady Michelle Obama, a “character witness” for her husband, reminisced about driving in President Barack Obama’s rusted out car and dealing with student loan debts larger than their mortgage payments.

“He was the guy whose proudest possession was a coffee table he’d found in a dumpster, and whose only pair of decent shoes was half a size too small,” she said about her courtship with President Obama.

“But when Barack started telling me about his family — that’s when I knew I had found a kindred spirit, someone whose values and upbringing were so much like mine.”

The speech, written by the First Lady herself according to CBS, appealed to middle class voters and attempted to portray the President as one of them, in contrast to Romney, who Democrats portrayed as outof-touch.

“He believes that when you’ve worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you,” Michelle Obama said. ““You reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.”

Her speech mostly lacked the antiRommey fervor that the rest of the convention had — especially on women’s rights issues. A clip of a debate with the late Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and Romney in 1994 was played, in which Kennedy poked fun at Romney’s reputation as a flip-flopper.

“I’m pro-choice,” he said in the clip.

“My opponent is multiple choice.”

Romney was for abortion rights then,

Rasmussen Polls Barack Obama: 47% Mitt Romney: 47%

Gallup Polls Mitt Romney: 46% Barack Obama;; 47%

CNN/ORC International Barack Obama: 48% Mitt Romney: 48%

Real Clear Politics Average Mitt Romney: 46.7 % Photo Courtesy of davemanuel.com

The Democratic National Convention will last until Thursday, Sept. 6 and is he against them now. Seizing on this GOP’s perceived weakness among women, Democrats sent NARAL Pro-Choice America president Nancy Keenan to the stage as well as Lilly Ledbetter, who fought for equal pay for equal work for women.

San Antonio mayor Julián Castro, a rising star in the Democratic party, also took to the floor, castigating Gov. Romney’s economic plans as a failed theory. ““The middle class paid the price,” he said. “Your family paid the price. Mitt Romney just doesn’t get it.”

But the night belonged to Mrs. Obama, who energized the Charlotte crowd, who serenaded her with chants of “Four more years,” — to which she replied, “With your help.”

“We must work like never before, and we must once again come together and stand together for the man we can trust to keep moving this great country forward, my husband, our president, Barack Obama,” she said.

Know the Vote: Labor rights The celebration of Labor Day brought to light the issue of labor rights in the presidential campaign. Vice President Joe Biden spoke to a group of union auto workers in Detroit on Monday, blasting Republicans for not supporting organized labor, while Republicans didn’t exactly shy away from the claim.“Today, we celebrate those who have taken a risk, worked hard, built a business and earned their own success,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Republican from Virginia, said in a statement. The Department of Labor, on the other hand, says on its Web site that Labor Day “is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers.”

by not allowing businesses to mandate union membership as a condition of employment REPUBLICANS BELIEVE: The GOP portrays its opposition to many labor rights in a section of its platform called “Freedom in the Workplace.”

Republicans support “right-to-work laws,” and call for a national right-to-work law.

Most Republicans also oppose collective bargaining rights for public workers,

which led to a standoff in Wisconsin when Republican governor Scott Walker signed a bill limiting the labor rights of public workers, including teachers and police officers. Walker was recalled by petition, but won the recall election easily.

(Torch staff) 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.

Barack Obama:46.8 %

New York Senate Race Siena Kristen Gillibrand: 65 % Wendy Long: 22 %

Quinnipac Kristen Gillibrand: 57% Wendy Long: 24%

DNC Convention September 5 Speakers: Elizabeth Warren President Bill Clinton September 6 Speakers: Vice President Joe Biden President Barack Obama

DEMOCRATS BELIEVE: The Democrats are supported by most major labor unions, including the AFLCIO, and their 2012 party platform reflects that. “We know that when unions are allowed to do their job of making sure that workers get their fair share, they pull people out of poverty and create a stronger middle class,” it reads in a section entitled “Good Jobs with Good Pay.” Democrats strongly support the rights of federal workers to collectively bargain and strongly oppose so-called “right-to-work laws,” which seek to limit the power of unions

Latest Polls

Starting in next week’s issue of The Torch, members from the University College Democrats and College Republicans will be answering questions about campaign issues. Each group will present their perspective in the Opinion section of each issue leading up to Election Day on Nov. 6.

Anti-Union Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker

Photo Courtesy of walker.wi.gov

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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

Remembering the true meaning of Labor Day

We just celebrated Labor Day, a holiday that to most signals the end of summer, beginning of school and one last cookout.

On the list of important holidays, it’s low on many people’s lists. But in light of what’s going on in the political arena, it’s important to take a look at the role of labor in our history, and the threat it falls under.

The 1950s were the heyday of American labor unions, when more than a third of American workers belonged to one, according to an Associated Press report. Today, depending on what study one looks at, the number is closer to 10 percent. It is no coincidence that the standard of living for the working class has declined dramatically in that time.

Republicans demonize unions — especially public sector unions — and anti-labor laws are being proposed and passed all over the country, meaning that fewer and fewer people are enjoying the benefits of collective bargaining.

It’s important to remember what unions do. They represent the worker, give the average employee a voice and are an important check against the power of big corporations. In short, they speak for the little guy.

In this day and age, we need the little guy’s voice to be as loud as possible.

Can’t get enough Torch opinion? Visit our Web site for online archives. torchonline.com

Cheers to a job well done

The news that student engagement has risen 300 percent in the past three years is nothing less than astounding, and reflects greatly on the efforts of all involved — the Office of Student Engagement as well as Student Government, Inc. The University is in the constant “tweener” role — not quite a commuter school and not quite a residential campus. That, coupled with its location in Queens, understandably means that St. John’s doesn’t have the same student involvement as other schools — especially large state schools that the University is negatively compared to by its students.

Any increase in student involvement with those hurdles is a job well done — a 300 percent increase gets you an editorial in the Torch.

Of course, the increase can be attributed largely to one thing — the MVP rewards program. The program, which awards points to students based on campus events they attend, with prizes involved, has motivated many a freshman to take in the odd volleyball game, or enjoy an evening at “Java Johnnies,” — sometimes finding new hobbies, interests and friends in the process.

It is a classic, and encouraging, example of school administrators seeing a problem and fixing it. Nobody would have faulted Student Engagement or SGI for shrugging its shoulders at student apathy — after all, it’s hard to keep students on campus when Manhattan is just a short subway ride away. But, thanks to some creative thinking, campus no longer resembles a ghost town when class isn’t in session.

We hope that other offices on campus take heed of the work the Office of Student Engagement has done, and apply it to fixing problems in their departments.

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-

TORCH ILLUSTRATION/ STEPHEN SALIBA

STUDENTSPARKS: WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE TO EAT ON CAMPUS?

Chloe Longchamp Senior

Diandra Durand Sophomore

“The DAC. I like the variety of food. I like the area.

It looks more clean.”

“Subway and the salad place. $5 for a foot-long – that’s helpful when you’re a commuter.”

Raed Salam Sophomore

Suli Alam Sophomore

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.

“Not Monty’s. I like Plate

By Plate.”

“Taco bell. It’s cheap. $1.50 for a bean burrito, you can’t go wrong.”

9

Why aren’t we better off, Mr. Romney?

Green eggs and no ham — all week!

KIERAN LYNCH Features Editor

Last Thursday night, I sat down to watch Mitt Romney’s Republican nomination acceptance speech. I expected to be bombarded with more inaccuracies than I ended up receiving. One thing, however, stuck out in its ridiculousness.

It was a statement, but in reality was being posed as a question.

“Are we better off than we were four years ago?”

Quite simply, the answer is yes, but that’s not what needs to be discussed right now. That question will be rehashed from now until Election Day on Nov. 6.

The real issue at hand here is that the Republican presidential candidate got up on stage, spent exactly 37 minutes and 19 seconds speaking (don’t worry, I counted) and failed to give any sort of reasoning for why America isn’t better off than it was four years ago or what a Romney presidency could do to change that.

When Ronald Reagan made his statement of “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” at the end of his debate with President Carter during the 1980 Presidential race, he was making a statement toward the then President’s handling of current issues as well as towards the overall direction the country was heading in during the preceding decade. This is not the case in 2012.

Is every aspect of the United States in a better place than it was when George W. Bush was leaving the White House?

Absolutely not, but to place the blame on a President who inherited a giant financial mess is irresponsible to both the American people as well as the accurate preservation of history.

The situation Obama is currently dealing with is largely beyond his control and that right there is where the similarities with the Carter presidency end. Obama inherited a situation that was formed largely due to policies under the Bush administration including two military conflicts and tax cuts for the wealthiest of Americans.

The President found himself needing to rescue an auto industry that was falling fast, which he did the tune of $80 billion.

He went after the dire need for health care reform and was forced to compromise with a party that refused to offer better solutions — and then refused to vote with him anyway When you look at the track record of the Republican party, they took a budget surplus at the turn of the century, destroyed it, ran up trillions of dollars of debt and then turned around and tried to blame the man who had half the time to fix a mess that took two terms to create.

Did I mention that Barack Obama has increased spending less than any president since Eisenhower?

Whether the country is truly better off now than it was four years ago, the only sure fire thing that should be avoided is a return to the same policies that resulted in this mess in the first place. The politicians who say otherwise are lying straight to the faces of the American people.

If Mr. Romney wants to hold the highest office in United States of America, he better be ready to admit his party’s failures and offer an actual solution to fix them. For now, it doesn’t seem like there’s too much space for that on his agenda.

He won’t even answer his own questions.

On July 4th, my boyfriend explained to me the benefits of reducing, or eliminating, the meat in my diet. He explained that he would like to try it for a week at some point this summer.

It was a Friday night at the outlet mall when we decided that we needed to make a change in our eating habits. You’d think the smell of pretzels and cheap Chinese food and burgers would entice us to make unhealthy choices, but we agreed that we needed to make a major change in our diets.

What better way to start that but by cutting out our entire meat intake for a week?

Probably any other way would’ve been better.

On the drive home we hatched our wild plans. We would cut meat out of our diet starting tomorrow! We wouldn’t eat any pizza! Only two pasta dishes – one red sauce, one anything else! No easy ways out – we’d try to cook as much as possible!

What could possibly go wrong?

This went about as well as could be expected from two people with the worst follow-throughs known to mankind. He cheated by the second day, and again on the fifth. By the last day, he had given up completely and had his dinner at Qdoba (which made me, a burrito aficionado, incredibly jealous).

Throughout the week, I refused to cheat. This was incredibly difficult for me, especially because everywhere I looked, every menu I saw was filled with delicious

foods, all containing some sort of juicy meat. I couldn’t walk down the street without drooling at a restaurant window.

I would sit with my roommates as they ate their meals just to fantasize about also getting to enjoy the teriyaki chicken or sliced steak.

When I couldn’t find something on the menu, I wouldn’t eat. I tried zero new foods while I was a vegetarian. Not even this helped me lose any weight because as soon as I did see something I might like, I ate as much as possible – hoping it would make up for the missing meal earlier in the day.

The quality of food I was ordering also diminished greatly. I was eating mac and cheese and cheese quesadillas left and right. My excitement for veggies and fruits were gone after the third day. My supply of sliced produce was gone by then and

without wanting to put any more effort into my diet, I decided already prepared foods were a better bet.

The last day I was a vegetarian, I couldn’t do anything; I was exhausted. I had two slices of pizza (breaking one rule) for lunch and ramen noodles (arguably another rule) and nachos for dinner. It was the perfect end to a particularly horrible culinary week for me I woke up with a skip in my step on Saturday morning. I celebrated with lunch at Outback Steakhouse and Five Guys’ burgers and fries for dinner. Never has a burger tasted so good.

Nicole Valente is a senior marketing major who is definitely a carnivore.

She can be reached at: torch.managing@gmail.com

TORCH ILLUSTRATION/ DIAMOND WATTS-WALKER

Embracing uncertainty profession for which I’ve geared the lion’s share of my preparation over the last threeplus years is the one I want a career in. It doesn’t help that, even if it is, it’s the one that everybody thinks (correctly) is dying.

And it doesn’t help that, even if I get past the aforementioned issues, the starting pay for most journalists is similar to what I would make working at a grocery store.

I’m a first semester senior, and a journalism major. I’ve written for the Torch for the past three years, served as the Sports Editor last year and rose to Editor-in-Chief at the end of March.

I interned at a free New York City daily newspaper from January to May, then freelanced there throughout the summer.

I’m about to start another internship with a national cable news show.

In related news, I have no idea what I want to do after I graduate.

Several of my friends already have their ducks lined up. Finance internships led to offers for finance jobs, and now senioritis can set in for them before the year even gets going. But for the rest of us who don’t work in the field that generates 40 percent of corporate profits, the future is a lot murkier.

A very, very, very (very) large part of me is terrified by this. After this year ends, I’ll no longer have the security blanket of school to go back to. There will be no such thing as the concept of a “summer job.” And an internship, no matter at how prestigious a company, better be paid if I want a roof over my head.

It doesn’t help that I don’t know if the

“

Nobody will be able to stop me from chasing my dream.

In the meantime, I just have to figure out what my dream is.

”

(It is here that I should mention that I have a brand-new interest in attending law school, and am the proud owner of a $160 deduction from my checking account in exchange for an LSAT admission ticket.

Draw your own conclusions.)

That part of me never wants this school year to end. That part of me wants to keep going to KevLev shows at Parsons or karaoke nights at the Sly Fox forever.

That part of me is not looking forward to hearing a speech from President Bamitt

Obamney at our Class of 2013 graduation ceremony (we are inviting the president to speak, right?).

But there’s another part of me that can’t wait for this year to fly by — that can’t wait to rid itself of the shackles of 15 credits and late night layout issues at the Torch. In short, a small part of me craves the unpredictability of the real world.

After I walk across the stage in May, I can do whatever I want. There are obviously qualifiers to that statement (there always are), but for the first, and perhaps only, time of my life, I am beholden to nobody — not my parents and not my scholarship that requires me to maintain a 3.0 GPA. I could move to Houston and try to become Jeremy Lin’s bodyguard. I could decide that I’m the next Will Ferrell and move out to Hollywood. Or I can move overseas and try to be a soccer (I mean football) pundit for Sky Sports.

It’ll be the only time that I have both the maturity to stake my own path, without the responsibilities of being somebody’s boss, or father or husband.

In eight months, nobody will be able to stop me from doing that. Nobody will be able to stop me from chasing my dream.

In the meantime, I just have to figure out what my dream is.

Michael E. Cunniff is a senior journalism major who doesn’t want to talk about what’s going on in North London for a couple weeks, okay? He can be reached at: torcheic@gmail.com

10

The first fight: getting through it alive and well JACK

Special to the Torch Fights. They happen in every relationship. But how they are resolved is different for everybody, and can shed light on how happy we’ll be together.

First off — fighting shouldn’t be common in a relationship. Every once in a while, a disagreement will become so intractable that it can’t really be resolved through anything but the passage of time and a whole lot of pride swallowing. But for the most part, in a healthy relationship, this should be the absolute exception.

Occasional fighting is healthy for a relationship — it proves that both parties care, and that the relationship is literally worth fighting for. That’s not to say that not fighting is bad for a relationship — sometimes two people are just so compatible that they can work everything out amicably.

“

Blowing up in a jealous rage doesn’t tell me “you’re afraid of losing me,” it tells me “you’re an insecure psycho who’s too immature for a real relationship.”

”

Secondly, even though neither of us are really ourselves in a fight, that doesn’t mean your behavior (or mine, for that matter) gets a pass because I cooked your steak too much or you changed the station when “Call Me Maybe” was on (seriously,

don’t do that). In fact, red flags pop up during heated disagreements all the time that would never emerge otherwise. Write them off at your own peril.

One example: making a huge deal out of nothing. I can’t help it if an ex texts me that a line from a chick flick released circa 2009 made her think of me and oh how am I, am I still writing that anonymous column in the school newspaper? (My response: That’s great haha! I’ve been good, and yeah I still am - it’s pretty cool.”) Blowing up in a jealous rage doesn’t tell me “you’re afraid of losing me,” it tells me “you’re an insecure psycho who’s too immature for a real relationship.”

The first fight is the most unusual one — it marks the official “honeymoon” period of a new relationship, and sends a couple into uncharted waters. How each party reacts will say a lot about how successful the relationship will be going forward. Can we agree to put it behind us? Is there lingering resentment? Will either of us be humble enough to apologize?

A few things happen after the first fight. One or both of us comes crawling back to the other, too scared that it’ll lead to a breakup to care about being right. Option two is one or both of us never admit to being wrong, never agree to disagree and generally never let the bad taste of the fight out of our mouth. Option three is that one person caves and the other doesn’t, setting a dangerous precedent for the rest of the relationship in which one partner is constantly submissive (not in the 50 Shades of Gray way, get your mind out of the gutter) around the other. That generally doesn’t make for a bright future.

If the first scenario happens to us after you make me meet you at your roommate’s field hockey game and then don’t show up, then it’s safe to say that there’s something special between us. If not, the first fight could be the sign of many more to come.

JILL

Special to the Torch “Fighting strengthens the bond.” “Every couple fights.” “So-and-so’s parents fight every day and they’ve been together 54 years now.” “If you don’t fight, you don’t really love each other.”

No matter what my/your friends tell me/you, our first fight is going to be the hardest. It’s the test to see if you’re willing to put in the necessary effort into our relationship or if you’re going to go running for Trads as soon as someone cries “boo!”

We’re not in high school anymore.

We’re going to see each other outside of the general 9-5 business day. We don’t have parents to be accountable to for our actions. We can do what we want and this freedom will generally lead you into trouble.

Here’s the thing, I will probably be the one to “start” this. And because of that, 99.9 percent of the time I’m going to be right. Just prepare yourself now. No matter how long you drag this out, I’m going to win.

You invited your friends to our date night. You didn’t put the toilet seat down in my apartment. You picked your best-girlfriend-who-you-also-had-a-brief-drunkenfling-with-that-one-time-freshman-year over me. You didn’t tell your parents about me. You weren’t supportive enough as I told you about my worst day ever and how everyone was so awful.

There’s a million little and big things that it could’ve been but at the end of the day, you hurt me. And that is why I will win this battle.

Not that it’s all about who wins and who loses (who am I kidding, of course it is), but it’s also about how we deal with this “adversity.” Are you going to stop talking to me until I approach you? Are you going

to throw around half-felt apologies trying to fix what you don’t even understand is broken?

I don’t want to be mad at you. I don’t like to fight. I’m not the kind of girl that is so starved for attention that I need to start fights for you to pay me some mind.

“

99.9 percent of the time I’m going to be right.

Just prepare yourself now.

”

But I am the kind of girl who needs to speak her mind. When I’m not getting something out of this relationship that I deserve, I will be letting you know. I expect you to do this as well – we should be a team. A team that holds each other accountable. And unfortunately, that can end in arguments.

When we finally get down to it and discuss what’s really bothering us, it won’t be fun. There will probably be some raised voices, maybe some tears (hopefully not on your part…) but eventually we’ll figure out how to work everything out and end up together. Or we won’t. But hopefully we will.

All is not lost though. Through all the fighting and the arguments and the frustrations, we should’ve also remembered what brought us together in the first place. With that knowledge and the fact that we’ve now had the first fight, we can get started on our first “make up”…

Jack and Jill is a staff column describing different perspectives on relationships in college. Any suggestions for future topics can be submitted to torchopinion@gmail.com.

Think Outside...

Lifestyle

15

Fall TV: The Office, Community, New Girl

SYEDA ALI

Contributing Writer This fall season in television will once again feature the twists and turns that every TV fanatic has come to expect when the leaves change colors. Some shows enter critical seasons in which major plots and characters develop while others will look to end their shows on a high note.

Even though there is a strong possibility that neither the former nor the latter will be successfully fulfilled, fans should still be optimistic about what autumn has to offer.

The Office (NBC, Thursdays at 9 p.m.) has gone through a rough patch ever since losing Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell, in season seven. Furthermore, it has been speculated that Mindy Kaling, who plays Kelly Kapoor, will be leaving the show but will still be making appearances alongside Ryan Howard (B.J Novak) for a few episodes this season. During her time off, Kaling will be focusing on her own show, The Mindy Project. Novak will also no longer be a fulltime cast member and writer for the show.

This season will run for 22 episodes and is expected to answer some important questions. Particularly, the identities of the documentary crew that has been filming the characters for the past nine seasons and the Scranton Strangler. A wedding and the appearance of an old character is expected as well. Either way, it will without a doubt be an interesting end to a

show that has already been called by critics as one of the best shows in the history of NBC. Community fans have hoped for so long for the prospect of “six seasons and a movie.” However, with Dan Harmon no longer as the showrunner, that wish now seems to be a pipe dream. The biggest question and concern now is will the show continue to be one of the best shows on television as it has been for the past three seasons?

Community (NBC, Fridays at 8:30 p.m.) was offered 13 episodes by NBC for this fall season but more could be added.

Major plot developments will be expected this season including news about Jeff Winger’s (Joel McHale) father. Additionally, two great actors, Malcolm McDowell and Matt Lucas, will be added to an already star studded cast.

As for New Girl a lot of information about the show’s second season has not been released. The show will return on Sept. 25 despite delayed filming due to budget cuts. The only certainties are that Jessica Day, played by Zooey Deschanel, will undergo a lot of drastic changes, concerning her life and possibly her career.

Last season’s finale of Grey’s Anatomy (ABC Thursdays at 9:00 p.m.) left fans off with an unexpected plane crash and the death of Lexie Grey, portrayed

by Chyler Leigh, so a big question coming into series’ final season is will anymore characters be killed off? Creator and head-writer Shonda Rhimes refuses to release any details about the final season of this dramatic series but she

PETER LONG

Entertainment Editor

PHOTO COURTESY OF NBC.COM

The Office will return for its seventh and final season this fall on NBC, but won’t be joined on Thursdays by Community, which will air on Fridays. promises that this will be the most dramatic season yet.

These new seasons have a lot to offer and they have a lot at stake.

Will The Office and Grey’s Anatomy conclude their final seasons properly? Will Community be the same without Dan Harmon? Will the star power of Zooey De-

schanel continue to drive New Girl? These are the questions, but only time and fans have the answers.

Can’t get enough of the Torch?

Visit our Web site for online exclusives. torchonline.com

International student: Worlds away feels like home HARRY SAUNDERS Contributing Writer

When considering the intentions of international students who choose to study abroad, there are undoubtedly few institutions that are as perpetually over-subscribed as the colleges that grace New York City.

The centrality of New York to popular culture means that an exploitation of its global brand is widely encouraged by the city’s top universities, and with good reason, New York is very much an archetype of the cosmopolitan city; boasting worldrenowned sporting franchises, a bustling music scene, and a cultural heritage to rival anywhere else in the world. Really, why would anyone want to study anywhere else? At least, that’s what I think as I embark upon a year on exchange at St John’s University from my home university in the United Kingdom.

The international program at St John’s is vast, and, as was reported exclusively by The Torch, still growing. Students from all corners of the globe flock to St John’s; Brazilians, Chinese, Swedes, Indians and South Koreans are just some of the nationalities that make up St John’s rapidly diversifying student body. The cultural appeal of being at a university only half an hour from the bright lights of Manhattan is obvious, but what else brings students from all over the world to this university?

According to Benjamin Roberts, from Wales in the United Kingdom, the professionalism of St John’s staff that was evident from as early as the application stage

TORCH PHOTO/HARRY SAUNDERS

International students spend time together in a St. John’s dormitory. was a big factor.

“The enthusiasm that those running the international program had for St John’s shone through right from the beginning, and that really put a positive face on the college in comparison to the other institutions I was considering,” said Roberts.

This is a sentiment echoed by many, and one that was confirmed immediately

upon arrival. Offices such as ‘Global Studies’ and ‘International Student Services’ have been a great help not simply in an administrative sense, but also in regards to orientation and guidance on a personal level. While it is, of course, an incredibly exciting experience, studying abroad can be a daunting prospect, and St John’s goes out of its way to ensure a smooth and stress-

free transition into the new environment.

Away from the formal side of things, St John’s has exhibited a friendly and welcoming atmosphere, and huge credit for that must go to those who have put on the Week of Welcome and Spirit Week events.

BBQs, activities fairs and sporting events have delivered a crash course in St John’s student life, and, for international students, has ensured rapid assimilation into the St John’s community. Jitarth Jadeja, an exchange student from ACU in Sydney, Australia, has been extremely grateful for the numerous welcome events available to international students.

“The passion and zeal that the St John’s student body has for their college is really infectious,” said Jadeja. “I am already proud to call St John’s my home for the next semester.”

The only way in which one can truly characterize St John’s though, is in its diversity and eclectic nature; there really is something for everyone. Whether you want to cheer on the Red Storm at Belson Stadium or Carnesecca Arena, hang out in the sun on the Great Lawn, or hop on the subway and explore New York City, you can bet that there will be a group of newly made friends to accompany you. We international students may be thousands of miles away from our friends and families, but at St John’s, we already feel at home.

Harry Saunders is an international student from London, England.

16

E-textbook takeover at STJ Students begin to turn to technology to ease load GILLIAN VINCENT Contributing Writer

In today’s modern world of social media, Kindles, and iPads, information has never been more readily available. With the mere push of a button, your average Joe can find the nearest Thai restaurant, place a reservation, and use a navigator to find the quickest directions.

With all of these technological advances occurring within the past decade, the simple and traditional view of even what the idea of a “textbook” refers to, is being redefined. Many students are now finding themselves assigned e-textbooks, textbooks that are purchased and accessible online, and more teachers seem to be embracing these modern study tools.

But how does an e-textbook work exactly? A few years ago, several schools had begun to offer textbooks on CD-ROMs, an option that is now growing more archaic. Today at St. John’s, students are sometimes able to buy and use their books online at Cafescribe. com. This website, the brainchild of the Follett Higher Education Group, provides a plethora of online textbooks for students to choose from.

Books are purchased online, either for the semester or permanently. This method is typically less expensive than purchasing a physical textbook at the school bookstore.

Once the reading has been bought and then downloaded, students are then

able to use a username and password to open their book online.

According to Dr. Greh, Director of

Communication Arts at St. John’s Staten Island Campus, e-books have “tremendous possibilities” and stand to grow in

popularity. Through CafeScribe, the days of hauling brick-like books across campus could, in theory, be coming to an end.

While the benefits of virtual reading are noteworthy, from their cheaper price tag to their environmentally friendly nature, not everyone is a fan.Teachers have begun to move more toward online materials, yet the majority of classes at St. John’s still require actual books.

“A lot of the time it’s easier to have the book in your hand and to just be able to write and annotate rather than having your laptop,” said sophomore Ndeye Thioubou. “And a lot of the time I got sidetracked because you have access to everything that’s on the Internet.”

As easy as an e-textbook is intended to be, electronic studying is not without its setbacks. “[When you opened the book] it didn’t go back to your original page,” explained sophomore Tonia Roundtree. “It would start the book all over again.”

The online book trend has raised similar issues regarding practicality and usage.Annotations and bookmarks are much more difficult without a tangible book available, and many users feel that the lack of concrete resources makes retaining information more difficult.

At this point, it appears that online textbooks are now a matter of preference rather than a staple of college life.

However, as sales in e-books continue to rise and technology continues to grow, the virtual trend may soon find itself in the classroom to stay.

T.I.’s Trouble Man release date pushed back

Trouble Man was set to be released yesterday, Sept. 4, but T.I Staff Writer has decided to push it back to a later date this year. He told MTV You would think News he wrote 124 songs, for the serving two jail sentences within album and has now cut it down to a span of four years would slow a 86.

“I have to continue to make rapper down in a music industry that is dog-eat-dog but it didn't it better,” said the Atlanta MC. “I’m not trying to paint stunt T.I's growth.

After being released from myself into a corner with a date. prison in Sept. 2011, the I’m trying to make sure that the self-proclaimed 'King Of project is the absolute best it could be, and I’m trying The South' has to get it down been moving by the end of the non-stop. In the past year he has I’m trying to year."

If T.I.'s lookwritten a novel sure that ing for perfecentitled Pow- make judging er & Beauty: the project is the tion, from the tracks A Lost Stobest it that's on the ry, starred in absolute his own real- could be, and I’m album so far, he's on the right ity television series on trying to get it track. Last year released VH1 called down by the end of he three promo"T.I and Tiny: tional singles The Family the year. that have the Hustle", signed -T.I. bar high:set“We big names Don’t Get Down such as Trae Like Y'all” The Truth, Chipmunk and Iggy Azalea to his label featuring hip-hop/R&B superstar Grand Hustle and even released B.O.B, "I'm Flexin" featuring a mixtape in the process. His Big K.R.I.T and "Hear Ye Hear latest venture is his eighth studio Ye" featuring rapper/producer album Trouble Man which was Pharell.

The lead single for Trouble inspired by the classic 1972 Marvin Gaye single of the Man, "Love This Life," was released on April 3, 2012. same name.

DARNYCYA SMITH

“

”

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIZNATION.COM

Trouble Man, the latest release from Atlanta MC T.I., will drop later this year.

"Love This Life" is a smooth track with T.I. singing lead on the hook while serenading a woman in the verses by rapping about the good life that he provides for her.

The hip-hop community and critics alike embraced the single with open arms helping it break the Top 40 on the Billboard R&B/ Hip-Hop chart.

Trouble Man is rumored

to feature a lot of big name artists including Chris Brown, Jay-Z, Kanye West and St. John’s University alumnus J.Cole just to name a few. But so far Lil' Wayne, Cee Lo Green, Andre 3000, and A$AP Rocky are the only artists who have been confirmed.

Because most of the tracks haven't been released to the public, the ones that have

been have had the hip-hop industry buzzing. It looks as if T.I is going to let the world know that despite his setbacks, he hasn't fallen off the mountaintop of hip-hop.

Can’t get enough of the Torch?

Visit our Web site for online exclusives. torchonline.com

17

IFC looks to foster togetherness SHANNON LUIBRAND Contirubting Writer

With the Greek Week rivalries still fresh in many St. John’s students’ memories, a unified Greek community on the Queens campus can seem almost comical.

Yet, if you talk to many of the fraternity members at St. John’s right now, they will tell you the Greek life community on campus is making positive changes and great strides when it comes to becoming more unified.

The Inter-Fraternity Council, also known as the IFC, is the governing body at St. John’s University that oversees all of the fraternities on campus. The executive board works together with a common goal of trying to make sure that Greek life continues to be a positive force at St. John’s.

Overseen by advisor Maggie Bach, this year’s President Vashu Patel of Iota Nu

“

My brothers are the same men that are going to be standing next to me on my wedding day...

-Christopher Porcelli

”

Delta, works with the rest of his e-board comprising of Vice President Christopher Porcelli of Tau Kappa Epsilon, along with brothers from Sigma Chi Beta, Alpha Phi Delta and Phi Delta Chi. Each year the IFC comes up with a set of goals. This year, according to Porcelli, their list consists of; fostering unity among all fraternity men, informing St. John’s about what the IFC does and increasing membership in each fraternity on campus.

As many students are aware, in years past, a rivalry among fraternities has en-

gulfed the Greek life community at St. John’s. This year though, Porcelli says, the IFC’s mission is to put aside “petty rivalries” and become one unified community.

Kappa Sigma President, Christopher Callino, agrees the importance of Greek unity is crucial now more than ever.

“As a Greek community we have suffered greatly these past two years,” Callino said. “We have seen three fraternities have their letters taken away from them and just as many suspensions. The pressure is on the remaining Greek organizations to show this campus that Greek life serves as a benefit to academic and social achievement, not the opposite.”

The IFC takes pride in various events they put on throughout the year. One major event the IFC hosts is the alumni event in November. Each fraternity on campus will welcome 3-5 alumni to meet with brothers from all of the fraternities on campus, Porcelli explains. This event helps IFC members network and get words of advice from older brothers that have been in their shoes.

When asked why a St. John’s student should join a fraternity, Porcelli said it was the best decision he ever made.

“My brothers are the same men that are going to be standing next to me on my wedding day and the same guys I can call in the middle of the night when my car breaks down to come pick me up,” he said. “My bond with my brothers is like no other.

Callino agrees with Porcelli statements and furthered them.

“Going Greek is the best decision of my life,” he said. “I am sure you can ask any Greek on campus and they would certainly say the same. This year we all want to break the mold, to stop fighting and thinking we are all on different sides. We are all Greek brothers and sisters, just different letters.”

Several events on campus over the next few weeks will be put on by the IFC so potential new members can get to know each and every fraternity. This upcoming

Wednesday night, September 5th, the IFC is hosting an NFL night located in the Org Lounge beginning at 7pm. Other events, such as a football tournament in late October, invites rushes and current IFC members to hang out and get to know brothers from various fraternities. The IFC e-board encourages potential new members to keep an eye out for future events.

With recruitment season in full swing the IFC looks to take on their latest endeavor of fostering a Greek community that is not only welcoming, but also com-

pletely unified.

“You wont know if being apart of a fraternity is for you, if you never give it a chance,” Porcelli said. “Each fraternity has something different to offer and the IFC is here to make sure potential new members find their best fit.”

For more information on the IFC and how to get involved in Greek Life at St. John’s follow @IFCStj and @ STJGreekLife on twitter or email StjohnsIFC@gmail.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS PORCELLI

Fraternity members celebrate camraderie with trophies in hand.

The party is over: Jersey Shore gets the axe KORI WILLIAMS Staff Writer

PHOTO COURTESY OF THEHOLLYWOODGOSSIP.COM

Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and her fiance Jionni LaValle recently welcomed their first child.

After five seasons, the hit MTV series Jersey Shore has been cancelled. The show, which continues to be MTV’s highest rated program, will conclude with its sixth season which premieres Oct. 4.

On August 30th MTV reported news of the show’s end. Before the big goodbye, MTV will be airing a one hour Jersey Shore farewell special entitled “Gym, Tan, Look Back”. Airing right before the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept.

6, the special will feature past the highlights of the show and will give viewers a look into the final season.

There will be some big changes in the upcoming season. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, MTV’s Executive Vice President of Programming Chris Linn stated that in this last season of Jersey Shore, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi will move out of the house.

“She moved into a place right next door but she still spent the bulk of her time in the main house,” said Linn. “But the cast also came over to her place so it gave us another place to go to. She’s very much

present in this season.”

Many have pointed to the huge change in the life of one Jersey Shore cast members was at the center of this decision. Polizzi, and her fiancé Jionni LaValle, welcomed their first child, Lorenzo LaValle, only four days before MTV reported the show’s cancellation.

However, in the same interview with Entertainment Weekly, Linn stated that it seemed like the right time to end the show not only because of Snooki’s pregnancy, but because of “the relationships” of the seven other cast members that were developing over the last five seasons.

With all these changes, some have expected that this season of Jersey Shore may feature the same debauchery that fans have come to love. But MTV ensures that there is still enough, tanning, partying, and catfights to satisfy everyone.

Even with the show ending, the Jersey Shore cast members will either be busy in television or go back to their ordinary lives.

Jersey Shore spinoff Snooki & J-Woww was recently renewed for another season but it is unclear how the show will work out with baby Lorenzo. Questions about LaValle’s role in the show have also

been brought up.

Paul DelVecchio, better known as DJ Pauly D, will continue with his own spinoff show entitled The Pauly D Project while the show’s infamous couple Sammi and Ronnie have decided to move-in together.

Jersey Shore by the numbers

6

seasons the Jersey Shore aired for

1

the highest rated show on MTV , still

89

, the number of times Ronnie yells “I’m done, Sam” between seasons one and three

18

Vincenzo’s raises price for ‘dollar slices’

KIERAN LYNCH Features Editor

The famed $1.00 slice at Vincenzo’s Pizzeria on Union Turnpike saw its price get bumped up to $1.25 on Sept.

1 due to the rise in everything from energy costs to cheese costs, according to workers at the restaurant.

“It’s Con-Ed, the water bill, the gas bill,” said Alberto, who wished to only be identified by his first name. “Everything’s going up.”

Vincenzo’s became a popular spot for cheap food near campus when they started selling “dollar slices” as the food item has been named, during the 2010-2011 school year.

The question becomes, will a .25-cent difference be enough to drive away business?

“What’s the point of raising it to $1.25?” junior Joe Giordano said after appearing shocked to hear the news. “It’s not like they don’t make a lot of profits already from the dollar slices.”

A customer, who would only identify himself as Eddy, had a different point of view on the matter.

“I pay attention to cheese prices and all that stuff,” he

said. “These guys barely make pennies off of every slice.”

While the cost of the cheapest form of pizza at Vincenzo’s is going up, workers assured The Torch that all other prices will remain the same.

“I think it’s unfortunate because it’s a tradition here at St. John’s,” senior Emily Trefry said. “You can’t just go over there with a dollar anymore. Now you need to have at least another quarter.”

While the rise in prices may be enough to give some a shock, others say that at the end of the day, there’s no better slice in the area.

“We’re all broke college kids,” junior Patricia Holliday said. “But $1.25 is still cheaper than $2.25 or even $3.25, so I’ll keep paying.”

While Vincenzo’s has the cheaper sticker price on a slice, it isn’t the only discount around. Regina’s Pizzeria, which is at the corner of Union and Utopia Parkway, offers a 10% discount to all students with a stormcard. They also offer two regular slices and a soda for $5.

Can’t get enough of the Torch?

Visit our Web site for online exclusives. torchonline.com

TORCH PHOTO/KRISTEN FARMER

Vincenzo’s displays a sign announcing the price change.

First Listen: Matchbox Twenty returns ANTHONY O’REILLY News Editor MATCHBOX TWENTY North

OUT OF 5 STARS

In the time since Matchbox Twenty’s last album, More Than You Think You Are, was released in 2002, the members of the band have focused on solo careers. Lead singer Rob Thomas found the most success putting out two albums that both reached the Top 5 on the Billboard album charts.

Now, after a ten-year hiatus, Matchbox Twenty has finally come out with their fourth studio album entitled North.

“Parade,” North’s first track, brings back the vintage feel of earlier hits by the band, such as “Push” and “3 a.m.” Immediately following is the first single from the album, “She’s So Mean.” The song has already found success on the radio due to its catchy tune and lyrics.

The second single “Overjoyed” follows and it doesn’t really add much as it slows down the pace of the album. This is one of the faults of North. The album offers many vintage MB20 songs along with many catchy and upbeat songs that offer more of a pop-rock sound. The constant change throws off the flow and makes the listening experience a little less enjoyable.

“Put Your Hands Up” and “Our Song” are another part of the album’s downfall. The band experiments with a dance style beat and voice distortion effects, but that’s not the problem. The lack of any meaningful lyrics, which can be found in some of their more upbeat songs, brings the overall quality of them south (“Singing oh-oh-oh-oh” repeated seven times or “This can be our song,” repeated eight times for example). This is also seen in a few of the later tracks including “Radio” and “Like Sugar.”

The tracks will no doubt find success on the radio due to their catchiness, but they would’ve been better off if they had not been put in with the rest of the albums better tracks.

The album again returns to a slow pace with “I Will.” This song is one of the standouts of the album, simply because of the fact that it is not overdone or overproduced. The following track “English Town” seems to follow suit, however it unexpectedly yet gracefully picks up during the chorus and midway through the song.

“The Way,” sung by lead guitarist Kyle Cook, is another one of the standout tracks on the album. Cook has previously sang for the band before, providing the back-up vocals and the chorus for the song “Hang” (from the album Yourself or Someone Like You) The album closes out with “Sleeping At The Wheel” which stays with the vintage MB20 feel.

Although it’s important to note that sometimes a band’s musical style changes overtime, it’s hard to argue that MB20 has become a pop-rock band when so many of the tracks on this album show that they still have the simply produced sound that made them so successful in the first

place. North is essentially two albums combined into one and although a few of the pop tracks are enjoyable to listen to, they would’ve done much better if they had stuck with one style throughout the entire album.

Recent Releases • Animal CollectiveCentipede Hz (Domino) • Bob Mould-Silverage (Merge) • The Fresh & Onlys-Long Slow Dance (Souterrain Transmissions) • Sondre Lerche- Bootlegs (Mona) • Two Door Cinema Club- Beacon (Kitsune) • Melissa Etheridge4th Street Feeling (Island)

This week in showbiz • Pearl Jam wrapped up Jay-Z’s inaugural Made in America Festival in Philadelphia on Sunday night with a setlist that was both filled with hits (“Even Flow,” “Daughter,” “Jeremy”) and fan favorites (“Corduroy,” “Given to Fly,” “Do the Evolution”). The Seattle grunge veterans were even joined

by Hova during their encore set to perform the Brooklyn MC’s 2004 classic “99 Problems.” Odd Future, Skrillex and Drake also performed over the weekend in the City of Brotherly Love.

• TMZ reported on Friday that Fox is “99% done” with a deal that would bring hip-hop phenom Nicki Minaj to fill the vacant “American Idol” judging seat of Randy Jackson. Jackson had served as a judge on “American Idol” since its inception in 2002. Pop legend Mariah Carey is already set to judge for the new season in 2013.

• CBS is currently in talks to bring Robin Williams back to television, Entertainment Weekly reports.

The series, which was the brain-child of Emmy-winning writer/producer David E. Kelley, would be a single-camera comedy following the lives of a daughter and her father who works in advertising. Williams, who hasn’t worked in television since the hit 1970’s series “Mork and Mindy”, won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1997 for Good Will Hunting and was nominated for his roles in movies such as Dead Poets Society and Good Morning Vietnam.

• Vanity Fair recently compiled a list of “The Sports World’s Most Fashionable Men.” Appearing on the list are the Miami Heat’s “Big Three” of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. The only nonAmericans on the list are soccer’s David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo. The lone representative of the National Hockey League was former New York Rangers bad boy Sean Avery.

• According to the Associated Press, the body of “The Jeffersons” actor Sherman Hemsley has yet to be buried. A dispute over the late actor’s will is the cause of his improper burial, a Philadelphia man who claims to be Hemsley’s brother believes that the will was not signed by Hemsley and that it heavily favors Hemsley’s manager. The Jefferson’s ran for 10 seasons and was considered, even at the time, to be one of the most groundbreaking and successful sitcoms in television history.

• The Rolling Stones will return in November with two dates at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and two gigs at London’s O2 Arena, according to Billboard. The Stones had been hinting all year that they would come out of a hiatus to play some shows in conjunction with their 50th anniversary, but now numerous sources have come out and said that these shows are official and that the band is being paid $25 million to perform.

• Actor Michael Clarke Duncan, who’s known for his Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated role in The Green Mile, passed away on Monday at the age of 54. Clarke also appeared in films such as Armageddon, Talladega Nights and Daredevil.

Compiled by Peter Long, Entertainment Editor

20

Gamecock Classic victors Men’s soccer notches 2 wins to bring home crown MITCHELL PETIT-FRERE

Sports Editor The St. John’s men’s soccer team had a successful weekend at the Gamecock Classic, winning both of their games at the South Carolina University-hosted event.

The Red Storm bounced back from a 1-1 draw with Colgate University last week and defeated South Carolina 2-0 on Friday night before edging past Kentucky 2-1 on Sunday afternoon. The two victories lifted the Johnnies to a 3-0-1 record going into their two-game home stand this week St. John’s 2, South Carolina 0 The then No. 15/18 St. John’s men’s soccer team earned an impressive early season victory, beating South Carolina 2-0 in their first game of the Gamecock Classic in Columbia, South Carolina.

Goals from junior midfielder Nick Matthews and senior forward Andres Vargas lifted the Red Storm (2-0-1) to their second victory win in three games.

On what was their first road trip of the regular season, the Johnnies showed improvement from their match with Colgate University five days earlier.

The first 45 minutes saw few goal scoring opportunities, as both teams needed time to find their offensive rhythm. South Carolina’s (1-1-0) most dangerous attempt on goal came in the 30th minute when a scuffle in the box gave two different Gamecock players a chance to open the scoring only for sophomore defender Jordan Rouse to make a last ditch tackle.

As the second half began, St. John’s found a firmer footing in the match, forcing their hosts to defend patiently with their crisp passing game.

“We had more consistency on the at-

tacking side,” said St. John’s head coach Dave Masur. “We were more active and had the advantage on shots.”

Senior winger Jack Bennett led an impressive Johnnies attack as he recorded five shots and exhibited his attacking keenness as he displayed no fear while taking on defenders in one-on-one situations.

After freshman Jelani Williams was subbed on in the 76th minute, he displayed the same savvy offensive mindset as Bennett. Despite receiving a yellow card after just two minutes on the pitch, Williams set up the Red Storm’s opening goal after he raced past a fullback before firing a shot off the post that Nick Matthews tapped in.

“Jelani has a feel for it [taking people one] and had a good shot on goal; and Nicky was there for a great goal,” said Masur.

The Johnnies added their second goal came seven minutes later after Andres Vargas headed home a well-struck free kick from Bennett. The goal was Vargas’ second goal of the season.

St. John’s 2, Kentucky 1 First half goals from senior midfielder Juan Aguiar and senior winger Jack Bennett led the St. John’s men’s soccer team to a 2-1 victory over Kentucky Sunday afternoon to clinch the Gamecock Classic title.

“I thought we exhibited another total team effort today and had a lot of guys contribute to this result,” said head coach Dr. Dave Masur in a press release.

“We did a good job of maintaining possession and controlling the game and we are happy to come home with a pair of wins on our first road trip.”

The Red Storm (3-0-1) opened the scoring just nine minutes after kick-off when Juan Aguiar and Nick Matthews displayed a tidy sequence of one-touch passing that culminated with Aguiar slotting the ball into the corner of the net for his

TORCH FILE PHOTO/KRISTEN FARMER

Senior Andres Vargas scored in the men’s soccer team’s 2-0 win over USC. first career goal.

Kentucky (0-3-0) struck back three minutes later when St. John’s junior goalkeeper Rafael Diaz couldn’t handle Tyler Riggs’ 25-yard strike.

However, the Johnnies canceled out Riggs’ equalizer in the 20th minute when Bennett fired home from the penalty spot after a foul in the box. Bennett’s goal, along with his assist in the South Carolina game and seven total shots at the Game-

cock Classic, earned him the Offensive MVP award and an inclusion in the AllTournament team.

Other Red Storm players that were included in the Best XI were sophomore defender Tim Parker, junior midfielder Jamie Thomas, and junior goalkeeper Rafael Diaz.

The Johnnies look to win their third straight game when they host Princeton Wednesday at Belson Stadium.

Cross country set for season BRIAN GOINS

Contributing Writer

PHOTO COURTESY OF ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Senior Alexis Bean will lead the Cross Country into the 2012 season.

After finishing thirteenth at last year’s Big East Championship and fourteenth at ECAC Championships, this season’s crosscountry squad will look towards several key returnees and a promising freshman class to emerge on top of a competitive Big East Conference.

A foursome of upperclassmen consisting of seniors Michelle Duffy, Alexis Bean, Marisela Acevedo and junior Chelsea Trant take over the roles of last year’s trio cast of seniors: Samantha Meyerhoff, Nicolle Cocozza and Aryon Trujillo.

Incoming freshmen Kerri Butler, Ashlin Conroy and twin sisters Michelle and Stephanie Van Pelt will be relied on to bolster the upperclassmen.

“We’re definitely going to be missing them. But I have hope that some of the juniors and seniors will step it up and that some of the freshmen will come in and contribute, as well,” said Coach Jim Hurt.

“Staying healthy as the year goes on so that we have all our runners ready for the

championships will be the key to a successful year.”

Duffy, a redshirt senior, has been recovering from a knee injury, while Chelsea, a metropolitan 10k champion as a freshman, has battled through illnesses during her sophomore year and is on her way back to form.

Rounding out the upperclassmen foursome, Bean comes off a seventh place finish in the 4x800m relay in last spring’s ECAC championship and Acevedo, a second-year transfer from Sullivan Community College, has steadily improved and will add to the team’s depth.

Also adding to the depth are the Van Pelt twins along with fellow teammates Butler and Conray, all successful high school runners.

“Talent-wise, this year’s squad is just as good or better based off talent alone,” said Coach Hurt. “We have a strong core and hopefully we can build off that.”

The team will travel to Bethpage State Park for the Hofstra Invitational to begin the new season.

21

U.S. soccer education lacking European model takes bigger risks, reaps bigger rewards

When Moe Harkless climbed the stairs to the Prudential Center stage and shook hands with David Stern at the NBA Draft this past June, he became the first St. John’s basketball player since the formally known Ron Artest to be drafted into “The Association.”

With that being said, one would be hard pressed to deny that Harkless now plays at the absolute highest level of basketball.

However, the new Orlando Magic small forward is not the only former Johnnie that is currently testing the ranks of professional sports. Connor Lade, a former St. John’s soccer standout, has been a member of the MLS’s New York Red Bulls since Dec. 2011.

Nevertheless, unlike Harkless, soccer pundits across the world will all agree that Lade is not playing at the highest level possible. Sure, the MLS is the premier tier of

professional soccer in the United States, but there is a universal perception that the MLS cannot compare to the most prominent teams of Europe and South America.

Many Americans ask why the latter is true. Why doesn’t soccer in America compare with soccer overseas? The answer to that question is quite simple: the United States does not produce the same caliber of players that Europeans and South Americans do.

Now, to ask yet another question, why can’t we, one of the most athletically dominant countries in the world, produce top caliber soccer players.

Once again, the answer is oh-so-simple. In Europe, South America, and sometimes even Asia, promising players sign contracts with youth teams of professional clubs at an early age. These kids, who are in some cases forced to leave home before they finish grammar school, are sent to academies where they eat, sleep and breath soccer; with a tad bit of private schooling in between.

Take the famed FC Barcelona academy, La Masia, for example. The likes of Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique and Lionel Messi have all graduated from the renowned soccer school. Keep in mind that all of the listed individuals are considered some of the best soccer players to ever touch a ball.

However, it is also vital to remember that each one of them bypassed a traditional education to find sporting success.

That precise fact is the foremost reason why the United States cannot truly compete with traditional soccer powerhouses. We, as a society, will scoff at the idea of allowing children as young as nine leave school and pursue a career as a professional athlete; it’s just too big a risk.

It should also be noted that for every success story, there are a thousand tales of failure. Take Spanish soccer player Jorge Troiteiro, for example. He, alongside Andres Iniesta, was a standout at La Masia in the late nineties. Unfortunately for Troiteiro, though, his exceptional talent did not help him achieve the feats that Iniesta has achieved. A slight lack of focus and a bit of bad luck has seen him earn a meager paycheck at third division Spanish side, Burgos Club de Futbol, while Iniesta was recently awarded the UEFA Player of the Year Award; quite a disparity, most will say.

Moving forward, unlike young Spanish players, most up-and-coming American soccer players balance both school and sports.

Obviously, there’s absolutely no shame in that, but soccer is a game where repeti-

tion is imperative. While foreigners practice nearly everyday during their teenage years, most high-level teenage American players only practice, at most, three to four times a week.

All of that practice adds up. Why do you think the aforementioned Barcelona players pass and posses the ball with such unrivaled expertise? The answer, of course, is repetition.

Soccer is a game where time must be dedicated to find success; there’s no way around that fact.

With that said, as long as education takes a front seat to the dream of becoming a professional athlete for promising young children, the United States will never become top dog when it comes to soccer.

In a country where big risks sometimes reap tremendous rewards, soccer continues to be a risk that few are willing to take.

Mitchell Petit-Frere is a junior journalism and English major who thinks that you should watch the highlights of RVP’s hat trick from this past weekend. He can be reached at torchsports@gmail.

NCAA men’s and women’s soccer Top 25 rankings NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Women’s Rankings

NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Men’s Rankings

Team

Team

Overall

Last Week

Overall

Last Week

1. Florida State (32) 2. UCLA (1) 3. Oklahoma State 4. Duke 5. Stanford 6. Boston College 7. Penn State 8. Central Florida 9. Virginia 10. Pepperdine 11. Virginia Tech 12. Marquette 13. Missouri 14. Texas A&M

4-0-0 4-0-0 6-0-0 4-1-0 2-1-1 4-0-1 5-1-0 5-1-0 5-1-0 4-1-0 5-0-0 3-0-0 5-0-0 4-1-0

1 2 3 6 4 7 8 9 10 5 13 12 18 17

1. North Carolina (23) 2. South Florida 3. Creighton 4. Connecticut 5. Maryland 6. Akron 7. Charlotte 8. New Mexico 9. UC Santa Barbara 10. Indiana 11. UC Irvine 12. St. John’s 13. Georgetown 14. UCLA

3-0-0 3-0-0 2-0-1 2-0-0 2-0-1 2-0-1 2-0-1 2-1-0 2-0-1 3-0-1 3-0-0 3-0-1 4-0-0 1-1-1

1 4 2 5 6 7 8 3 9 10 12 15 21 11

16. Long Beach State

4-1-0

11

16. Wake Forest

3-0-0

23

15. Wisconsin

17. Wake Forest

18. North Carolina 19. Portland

20. San Diego State 21. Rutgers

22. Tennessee

23. Georgetown 24. Florida 25. Louisville

4-1-0 4-1-1 2-1-1 4-1-0 5-0

5-1-0 5-0

5-0 2-2-1 6-0-0

14 15 19 20 25 16 21

RV 22 RV

15. Old Dominon 17. Notre Dame 18. Louisville

19. Coastal Carolina 20. Marquette

21. Washington 22. Brown

23. North Carolina State 24. Boston College 25. UAB

2-0-0

3-0-0 1-1-0

2-1-1 4-0-0

3-0-1

1-0-0

4-0-0 1-1-0 2-1-1

19

RV 14 16

RV

RV 24

NR 13 17

22

Vball’s hot start continues

Improves to 7-1 after storming through CCSU Invitational TAYLOR BRISCO Staff Writer The volleyball team stormed through its weekend slate, dropping only one set in three games en route to being crowned champions at the 2012 CCSU Invitational in New Britain, Conn.

Sophomore outside hitter Aleksandra Wachowicz was named tournament MVP as she led the Red Storm in kills in all three matches. She set a new career-high with 21 kills in the Johnnies’ first match against Central Connecticut State.

“It was one of her best weekends,” said St. John’s head coach Joanne Persico.

“She worked hard in the weight room with Coach Basil. She’s studied the game and had a good rhythm out there.”

Senior setter Sabina Piegza and freshman outside hitter Karin Palgutova also received All-Tournament honors. Piegza had a season high 41 assists against Central Connecticut State in the match on Friday while Palgutova added 34 kills on a team best .469 attacking percentage.

With a 7-1 record, the Red Storm are off to a much better start than last year; a season which saw the Johnnies post an unimpressive 10-21 record.

“The core players coming back gave a lot of experience and the recruiting class filled areas we [were] focused on — serving, receiving, and attacking the ball more consistently. I think it’s been really good so far,” said head coach Joanne Persico.

St. John’s 3, Holy Cross 0 Saturday concluded the three-match tournament with the Red Storm sweeping

Holy Cross, 3-0 (25-19, 25-7, 25-22).

There were seven tied scores and four lead changes in the first set. The team had a .300 attacking percentage, keeping Holy Cross to only a .060 attacking percentage (25-19).

The Red Storm began the second set with a 6-0 lead and continued to dominate, closing the frame out in just eight minutes.

Wachowicz picked up her team-leading 13 kills and senior Gabriela Petkova had a team-high 18 digs.

St. John’s 3, Brown 0

In the first match on Saturday, the Red Storm swept Brown 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 2522). helped by 38 assists from Piegza.

After running out to a seven-point lead in the first set, Persico was forced to call a timeout after four straight Brown points cut the lead to 17-14. The Johnnies responded with an 8-4 run to close out the set.

In the final set of the match, there were nine ties and five lead changes, but the Red Storm overcame a 17-13 deficit and ended the set with a 6-2 run to take the frame, 2520.

Both Petkova and freshman ShawnaLei Santos picked up double-digit digs, Petkova with 12 and Santos with 11. Santos also had a season-high four service aces.

Wachowicz had a team-high 18 kills while her teammates senior Milica Krstojevic and Palgutova had 10 kills each.

St. John’s 3, CCSU 1 Petkova moved into fourth place in St. John’s all-time libero assists list in the first match of the tournament, a 3-1 win (25-19, 25-8, 21-25, 25-20) over hosts CCSU 3-1.

TORCH FILE PHOTO

The St. John’s volleyball team is off to a flying start this season.

Losing skid continues ROBERT DELUCIA Staff Writer

The women’s soccer team is still struggling to protect its house.

BROWN ST. JOHN’S

TORCH PHOTO/KRISTEN FARMER

Junior Molly Ritter oversees the field in the match against Brown.

3 0

The Red Storm suffered their second straight 3-0 defeat at Belson Stadium, this time to Brown on Friday to continue a rough start to the season.

While the Red Storm (2-3-0) have had a rough start to the season, their season goals have not changed.

“For the season, our goal is to continue to see development. We have all the pieces in place now for a highly successful season; it’s just a question of putting it all together,” said St. John’s head coach Ian Stone.

The Johnnies recorded a season-high eight shots — one of which came in the 20th minute when junior Morgan Ritter banged a shot off the crossbar on a breakaway.

Things only got worse for the Red Storm after Ritter’s miss when Louisa Pitney opened the scoring for Brown (2-0) in the 23rd minute after a turnover by the St. John’s defense. Just two minutes later, Chole Cross would net another goal for the Bears to put them ahead 2-0 going into

halftime.

The beginning of the second half saw senior goalkeeper Meredith Kenyon come on to replace freshman Ellen Conway.

Despite the keeper change, the Johnnies were not able to change their luck on offense. They came out firing as they had the first four shots of the half, but much like the first half, the Brown goalkeeping was stellar.

With the game clock dwindling down and the Red Storm still trailing by two goals, the Johnnies began send more players forward, leaving them susceptible in the back. But with so much focus on offense, St. John’s conceded another goal in the 87th minute, making it 3-0 Brown.

While the results lately have been far from enjoyable lately, Stone remains confident in his team.

“As a team, we are getting together really well. There has been a lot of learning and a lot of growth over the past two years and I am ready to reap the benefits of it.”

Things will only get easier for Stone as he welcomed back two injury plagued midfielders in Amy Marron and Deanna Murino. Also, All-Big East Selection junior Jamie Marron was able to play the full 90 minutes in her return from injury, while also recording four shots.

The Johnnies next chance to break their losing streak comes when they travel to the Bronx to play Fordham on Friday.

New man in charge Tartamella all set to take reigns of program

MITCHELL PETIT-FRERE Sports Editor

Joe Tartamella: It has been easier than it initially would have been due to the fact that I’m familiar with the landscape of St. John’s. Probably the biggest challenge was dealing with the other things that come up with moving into the head-coaching seat such as putting a staff together, as well as being the person that people go to for the final decision. So, it’s a different mentality when you change [coaching] seats.

T: How do you think your coaching philosophy differs from Kim Barnes Arico’s?

JT: The biggest highlight was probably the press conference and becoming the head coach and just seeing the reaction of our players and the support from the St. John’s community.

Their presence, appreciation and support throughout the whole process was the biggest highlight. Those are the things you remember.

T: Do you feel any pressure from the support you’ve been receiving because you want to prove that the correct decision was

Storm

Cast

Men’s basketball set to hire Martin: source

Torch: How has the transition been from associate head coach to head coach?

T: This will almost certainly change once the season begins, but what has been your highlight thus far as the head coach of the St. John’s women’s basketball team?

Torch Sports

Leavin’ their Mark

Joe Tartamella was named the head coach of the St. John’s women’s basketball team on April 27. He has been a part of the women’s basketball program since 2002 when he was first hired as a graduate assistant. Since then, the native New Yorker has worked his way up the ranks and is set to lead the program after Kim Barnes Arico’s move to the University of Mighigan.

JT: I think every coach has their own philosophy. I don’t think I would ever try and compare [myself] to any coach. However, obviously, there are certain things that we have built this program on over the last nine years and I’m going to try and continue to do things in a similar fashion; specifically the type of players that we’re going to recruit and our style of play. I think those things have been a cornerstone of what we’ve been as a program.

23

PHOTO COURTESY OF ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Joe Tartamella has been a member of the Red Storm staff since 2002 made in appointing you as head coach?

JT: I think with any job, you want to prove yourself. Innately, there’s always pressure. But I feel very comfortable with St. John’s University and comfortable about where we are as a program. It’s exciting to be a part of something at a place that has let me grow as an individual. I started at St. John’s University as a graduate assistant in 2002 and now becoming the head coach is something that I take a lot of pride in. I try and preach that to my players: St. John’s is a place that will allow you to grow not only as a basketball player, but also as a person.

T: How well do you think your early season games will prepare you for Big East conference play?

JT: I think it’s going to prepare us pretty quickly because we’ve got one of our toughest non-conference schedules since I’ve been at St. John’s. We play Texas in our first game of the year, we play Duke in the Maggie Dixon Classic, we have an opportunity to possibly

play UCLA and also Delaware. So, we’ve got some pretty competitive opponents early which will give us a benchmark to let us know where we are. With a veteran team and the core group of seniors that we have, they’ll be prepared, but it’s a way for us to make sure we stay focused early in the year.”

T: Is there a particular game that you, personally, are looking forward to?

JT: I’m looking forward to the first game. It will be an interesting task to see where we are because it’s going to be someone [Texas] that will be a strong opponent, and it’s a tournament format so we’re playing two games quickly out of the gate.

T: Do you think you’ll have any nerves heading into that first game?

JT: As a head coach, if anyone told you that they didn’t have any nerves, they wouldn’t be telling you the truth. But, it’s more excitement; excitement about going out there and leading a program. It’s not a time for being nervous, we’ll make sure that we stay focused on the task at hand, which is winning games.”

T: At the end of the season, when everything is all-said-and-done, what will determine whether or not the 2012/13 season was a success?

PHOTO COURTESY OF ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Guard Nadirah McKenith will be a key member of the Red Storm this year

JT: As long as we’ve worked as hard as we possibly can and stick to the plan of how we’ve prepared all year, we can look back and call it successful. But, obviously, we want to get to the postseason. We want to be in the top half of the Big East conference and do well in our conference tournament.

We want to be able to bring an NCAA Tournament game to St. John’s University this year and have our fans and our families be able watch our program and team compete. For our seniors that are going out, I want them to have a successful year, and this is their chance to go out on a high note.”

The men’s basketball team’s assistant coaching search is coming to a close.

A person familiar with the situation told the Torch that the appointment of former UCLA point guard Darrick Martin to the post vacated by Mike Dunlap is “looking close to done,” and that a formal announcement could come as early as later this week.

Martin, who played for UCLA in the early 1990s, while Lavin was an assistant to Jim Harrick, played professionally for more than a decade in both the NBA and CBA. Lavin, who turned 48 on Wednesday, tweet a picture of himself at dinner with Martin and three others, fueling speculation that Martin was headed to Queens.

Others considered in the search included Saint Louis associate head coach Jim Whitesell and current St. John’s special assistant/advisor Gene Keady.

Blowin’ in the Wind “I just wanna say I love everyone before I die today....

This conditioning they About to have us do is real... Lol” -St. John’s men’s basketball player Amir Garrett on Twitter Tuesday

”

Headin’ this Way Red Storm home games

Men’s Soccer:

September 5 Princeton

8 p.m.

September 8 William & Mary 8 p.m.

Women’s Soccer:

September 13 Providence

Volleyball:

September 7 Bryant

7 p.m.

2:30 p.m.

SPORTS 5 September 2012 | VOLUME 90, ISSUE 5 | TORCHONLINE.COM

WINGING IT

BENNETT NAMED MVP AS MEN’S SOCCER TAKES GAMECOCK CLASSIC

TORCH PHOTO/ KRISTEN FARMER

The women’s soccer team dropped its second straight game, falling to Brown 3-0 at Belson Stadium.

New women’s basketball coach Joe Tartamella sits down with the Torch to talk about his first season in charge.

Pg. 22

Pg. 23