April 10, 2013

INACTION LEADS TO ACTION FACULTY MEMBERS DRAFT OPEN LETTER TO BOARD IN HOPES OF TRANSPARENCY PG. 3

Torch Illustration by Nicole Valente

News

Dr. John King comes to campus The New York State Comissioner of Education gives talk on education reform.

News pg. 5 A look at the salaries of Big East chiefs of staffs, including Robert Wile.

News pg. 4

TORCH PHOTO/ MEDIA RELATIONS

“Think Outside. . .”

Photo of the Week

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Directory

Managing Board XCI

Kieran Lynch, Editor-in-Chief Mitchell Petit-Frere, Managing Editor Jessica Lise, General Manager

Shannon Luibrand Features Editor

Samantha albnse Entertainment Editor

marion gendron

kristen farmer

Co-Chief Copy Editor Photo Editor jim baumbach Natalie Hallak Co-Chief Copy Editor Advisor

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

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

Christopher Brito News Editor Jon Perez Sports Editor diamond watts-walker Special thanks to Richard Art Director Rex Thomas for assisting in the design of the Torch

Music Tyler the Creator

The Torch reviews the rapper’s new album, wolf.

Lifestyle Pg. 15

Features Beloved professor left his mark

Professor Franklin Camerano, passed away, but students recall his positive influence.

Lifestyle Pg. 14

Sports Central Park Zoo

Lions pounds Johnnies 5-3 in Manhattan.

Sports Pg. 22

Illustrator’s Corner

opinion pg. 7

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Spring is finally here – which means baseball is again being played everywhere from Citi Field, to Yankees Stadium, to the Great Lawn.

Think Outside...

News

Faculty circulates petition

Five professors ask for transparency from Board KIERAN LYNCH Editor-in-Chief Five St. John’s faculty members have drafted a letter to the Board of Trustees calling for more transparency pertaining to the fallout from allegations of financial impropriety at the highest levels of the University.

The letter, which was obtained by the Torch, requests a public release of the “recently appointed investigator’s report,” a detailed forensic audit and a “broad-based oversight committee of faculty, alumni and student representatives” to review these materials and make recommendations to the board.

Faculty members told the Torch they are currently in the process of circulating the letter and gathering the signatures of colleagues. They said they intend to forward it to the Board of Trustees this month in hopes of sparking the Board into pulling back the curtain on their investigation.

The faculty members’ letter comes in the wake of the University announcing three weeks ago that the Board had hired attorney Frank Wohl “to review certain issues and provide advice going forward.” That move came in light of published reports by New York magazine detailing questionable expense reports filed by Rev. Donald J. Harrington’s chief of staff Robert Wile as well as a business relationship between Harrington and Wile that was never reported to the board.

“We don’t have any idea really what’s going on,” said Dr. Dolores Augustine, one of the five history professors to start circulating the letter. “We know that something is going on, some kind of investigation, but we don’t know what.

We know a lawyer has been hired, but we don’t know for whom. For all we

know, the lawyer is there to defend Fr. Harrington.”

Harrington, meanwhile, has remained silent during Wohl’s review, canceling several scheduled appearances on campus where students and faculty members would have been able to ask him about the allegations.

In response to a request for comment, a University spokeswoman directed the Torch to the email students received

by Board of Trustees chairman Peter D’Angelo.

Augustine said the letter wasn’t drafted because of one particular incident; instead it was sparked by the absence of public involvement from administrators.

“It was the lack of action that moved us to action,” she said. “We’re afraid silence is, in fact, what could really harm the University.”

Augustine later said that 56 signatures had been acquired out of 457 tenured faculty members. She noted that the overall count of faculty covered all University campuses, while all signers came from the Queens campus.

“A lot of people have taken time and have thought about it,” she said, “and it’s coming slowly and steadily.”

Augustine added that those who drafted the letter concentrated their efforts on St. John’s College, though they’ve gotten signatures from the Pharmacy program and College of Professional Studies as well.

One of the biggest concerns of the faculty members who drafted the petition is the public’s perception of the University in light of the allegations.

Augustine worries that the negative reputation could lead to a decrease in donations, affecting the quality and quantity of students who wish to attend the University.

“The thing is this could really undermine St. John’s University in the eyes of the public,” she said. “We’re

very, very concerned about that.”

Multiple professors contacted by the Torch stressed the need for transparency, citing the lack of communication between the administration and faculty since the published reports first surfaced.

“I think transparency is needed in principle, and also to deal with the common problem of people in office who make it clear that they ‘do not want to know’ about reckless behavior,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kinkley, a professor of history.

The hope among the professors is that this petition to the board could spark a better line of communication between the University’s administration and its faculty.

“I think that they simply have to recognize the authority of the faculty,” Augustine said. “We have the right as faculty to be part of this process.

This is a terrible crisis for St. John’s University and the faculty has to be able to participate.”

Professors are particularly bothered that Harrington cancelled his town hall meetings with students and faculty, saying these meetings signal one of the few opportunities each year he meets with the University community to address the school’s issues.

“That really was very worrisome and Fr. Harrington’s communication was enigmatic and it seems to avoid us in particular,” Augustine said.”

Augustine expected the petition to be sent to the board in mid-April in the hopes that it leads to action before the spring semester ends. “ Our worry is that there will be some kind of internal investigation [and] who knows whether it will be done by some kind of independent body or independent team or who they actually will be serving,” she said. “[But] we’re afraid that nothing will appear before the summer and then in the summer basically it will just be allowed to die.”

Coolidge apartments lease not renewed Mitchell Petit-frere Managing Editor The University is terminating its lease with the Coolidge apartments next semester, according to an e-mail sent out by the Director of Residence Life to resident students last month The news came two weeks after the announcement of the University’s intent to sell the Manhattan campus.

“We have an adequate amount of housing options for all students interested in residing in University Housing on or near the Queens campus,” a University spokeswoman said in a statement.

Resident students were informed of the possible termination of the lease prior to the housing selection process for

the Fall 2013 semester.

The e-mail sent out by the Director of Residence Life, Eric Finkelstein, cited that only 1% of residential beds were accounted for by the Coolidge apartments – a principal reason why the lease was terminated.

Students who were planning to live at Coolidge next semester will have

earned the same amount of resident points needed to apply for housing in the Founder’s Village, Seton, Goethals, or Henley – leaving them with viable living options.

Graduate students affected by the lease’s termination are eligible for off campus properties and the DePaul Houses, according to the e-mail.

photo courtesy of external relations

Inside a Coolidge apartment

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Board breaks silence on Harrington and Wile ANTHONY O’REILLY News Editor, Emeritus The Board of Trustees, in an email to the University community on Tuesday, broke its silence about its ongoing investigation in the wake of published reports detailing the roles of Rev. Donald J. Harrington and his chief of staff Robert Wile in the Cecilia Chang embezzlement scandal.

Without explicitly naming Harrington or Wile with regards to the scandal, Board of Trustees chair Peter D’Angelo said the investigation by outside counsel Frank Wohl is “ongoing” and that the Board “directed that it be thorough and comprehensive.”

D’Angelo did not set a timeline for its report to be completed, saying only that the Board “is committed to resolving this matter as quickly as possible.”

The email comes after the Torch reported on its website that five members of the history department started a petition directed to the Board of Trustees urging for more transparency in the investigation process. At the time the Torch went to print, the petition had 56 faculty signatures. D’Angelo said in the emailed statement that the Board wished to “provide the University community with some information concerning the genesis of this situation and the process that the Board is following in dealing with these serious matters.”

The email chronicled the history of the scandal, stemming from the $1 million embezzlement allegedly committed by deceased dean Cecilia Chang revealed in 2010, detailing the University’s cooperation with authorities in providing “all documents and witnesses requested by the prosecutors, and two University officials, Father Harrington and General Counsel Joseph Oliva, testified as prosecution witnesses at Dr. Chang’s trial.”

Chang committed suicide on Nov. 6 and U.S. District Judge Sterling Johnson declared a mistrial.

A report by New York Magazine alleged that Wile used a Taishin credit card, given to him at the suggestion of Chang, for personal expenses, including a trip to the Caribbean Island Turks and Caicos (accompanied by his then-girlfriend and Father Harrington), designer clothing in Hong Kong and other personal items at restaurants and liquor stores.

D’Angelo pleaded for patience from the University community, saying the investigation would take some time and urged for “the University community to reject any premature judgments about this process and its conclusions.”

In the wake of the published reports detailing Wile’s expenses as well as his business relationship with Harrington that was not reported to the Board, many students and faculty expressed outrage to The Torch last month.

D’Angelo also described Harrington’s 23 years at St. John’s as “distinguished” in Tuesday’s email and said the Board is “proud of St. John’s and its accomplishments under Father Harrington’s leadership.

Wile leads ‘C7’ in salary

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Chief of staff tops list of comparable positions at conference schools Nicole Valente Managing Editor, Emeritus

Robert Wile, in his role as senior Vice President of institutional advancement and chief of staff to the president, was compensated significantly more than administrators in comparable roles in seven other Catholic schools, a Torch investigation found.

In 2010, the last year for which tax statements are publicly available, Wile made $549,368 in total compensation during his fifth year in the position, nearly $190,000 more than Seton Hall’s Joseph Sandman, the next highest earning Vice President of institutional advancement.

The Torch compared Wile’s compensation to comparable positions at the other six Catholic schools in the current Big East. The average total compensation for Wile’s position in those schools, according to tax returns, was $320,222 in 2010 – $229,146 less than Wile’s compensation in that same year.

Elizabeth Reilly, director of media relations, declined to specifically address Wile’s compensation in comparison to other schools.

“Without commenting on any individual’s specific compensation, the University compares salaries to a

broad set of other private doctoral institutions and other national notfor-profits,” she said. “In addition, the University uses an external compensation expert to assist with this benchmarking.”

An enigmatic figure at the University after recent NY Magazine reports detailing a trip to the Caribbean and secret loans from trustees and University contractors, Wile has drawn scrutiny internally for his accelerated climb through the administration since he graduated from St. John’s in 1999. Wile, a former scholarship soccer player, was the highest compensated active nonathletics employee at the University in 2010.

Wile also out-earned his predecessor, David Wegrzyn, currently at Providence College, by $243,969.

Wegrzyn moved to Providence in 2006 after 14 years at St. John’s. Wile was promoted to acting vice president of institutional advancement following his departure; the move was made permanent in 2008.

When compared to the other Vincentian universities in the U.S., DePaul and Niagara, Wile earned more than double the average of their compensations, according to tax returns.

Donald Bielecki, the vice president of institutional advancement at Niagara at the time, earned $153,500 in the 2010 fiscal year – nearly $400,000

less than Wile in that same time frame. Bielecki had been working at the university in this role since 2002, and previously held a similar role at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for 10 years.

The senior Vice President for advancement at DePaul, Mary C. Finger, earned a total compensation of $350,367 in 2010, her fifth year at DePaul, nearly $200,000 less than Wile. She previously worked for nine years in a similar position at Mount St. Mary College in New York.

Cynthia Lawson, vice president for public relations and communications at DePaul, explained their process for establishing salaries via email.

“Salaries are determined using a variety of factors: experience, breadth and scope of job responsibilities, individual salary and benefit negotiations with prospective administrators, and what the marketplace commands for these types of high-level positions here in any given locale (e.g.

Chicago).”

Salaries at schools in metropolitan areas such as New York City, Chicago and Washington D.C. are commonly higher than smaller cities such as Providence and Buffalo, where Niagara is located.

Among the administrators in comparable positions at the Catholic universities the Torch looked at, Wile also is the only one without a graduate

degree.

Seton Hall’s Sandman, the next highest earning Vice President of institutional advancement in 2010, for example, has his doctorate and masters degrees and more than 35 years of experience in Catholic higher education, according to an archived version of his biography on the Seton Hall website.

University officials told the Torch last month that, in addition to comparing salary levels to other schools, the salaries of the highest paid employees are approved through the audit and compensation committee and presented to the board of trustees for a vote.

St. John’s reported the balance of its endowment fund in 2010 at $313,565,230, according to its tax return; that ranks fifth among the seven Catholic schools in the current Big East.

According to his biography on the St. John’s website, Wile “is responsible for the offices of community relations, corporate and foundation relations, government relations, media relations and University events.” In his role as chief of staff, he also “functions as the principal liaison between the president and all constituencies and provides oversight for the Office of the President and the other executive offices of the University.”

This graph depicts the total compensation for the head of institutional advancement, or a comparable position, at each school. The information is from each school’s publicly available 2010 Form 990.

Lighting it up blue for Autism

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Students from different organizations unite to spread autism awareness

Christopher Brito News Editor The University participated in an autism awareness effort with the aim of fundraising and educating students on the disability, as well as giving the campus a little color.

As “Lighting it Up Blue” took over, members in the School of Education, Campus Ministry, Athletics, Division of Student Affairs, College of Professional Studies and Registrar sponsored several events to spread knowledge on autism and raise money for Autism Speaks, the leading autism science and advocacy organization in the U.S. Alyssa Gianelli, the Kappa Delta Pi Historian, organized most of the events along with other members of her society throughout the University’s reduced version of Autism Awareness month.

As of Tuesday, the Light it Up Blue rally earned $1,500 according to Gianelli.

Alyssa admits she always feels a “connection” with children who have the “heartbreaking disorder” that affects their ability to communicate with others.

“It’s so fulfilling to me when I do make a connection with a child who has autism,” Gianelli, who’s majoring in Childhood Education, said.

“I can’t imagine how it feels for these

individuals to live in their own worlds, not knowing how to reach out to the people who care so much about them.”

“I became a part of the Light it Up Blue committee because I care about

promoting autism awareness and I care about making a difference in the lives of those who deal with autism on a daily basis.”

Students in Kappa Delta Pi , School

of Ed, and Jumpstart ventured outside of the school to spread some blue-love last Friday morning. They participated in Heart Share, a program that assists individuals with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities.

They were divided into two groups and each would go to a different preschool, whose majority of students are on the autism spectrum.

“As a future educator it definitely gave me more awareness of autism,” he said. “Aside from a couple things, they are not that much different than generaled kids.”

I enjoyed being able to read to them and participate.”

Krista Prestia, who’s brother Anthony is autistic, is happy that so many people have bought into the cause and overwhelming support she’s received during the Light it Up Blue week.

“I really enjoyed being part of the light it up blue team and we raised a lot of money,” Krista Prestia said.

“It’s been really nice having people support a cause that I’ve supported my entire life and to have other people who have no connection to autism be so supportive and so into this great cause.”

“It’s been a great week to raise awareness on autism.”

Students in front of preschool where they spent time with autistic chidren

NYS Commish of Ed. visits University

Dr. John King gives lecture on education reform to faculty and students Jarrod Jenkins Assistant News Editor

Dr. John B King, the New York State education commissioner, presented a lecture for the following year’s K-12 education reform on the University School of educations annual Carol Gresser Forum April 8.

The Forum was established by the University in 1998. It aims to discuss and amend contemporary methods of education reform with commissioners and Chancellors throughout New York City.

Since the Forum’s convention, it has featured presentations by professionals who have made profound impacts on educational processes on local, national, and international levels.

This year’s speaker, Dr. King, was appointed commissioner in 2011 and is charged in leading education reform across New York.

King administers over seven thousand public schools consisting of over three million students.

Despite the previous years of success in high school graduation growth rates in the state, the focus of the lecture was to address the issues of high school graduates not being able to successfully transition into college coursework upon graduation.

King noted that out of the 74% of students who graduate high school, less

than half contain the skills to enroll in she said. “It may be more work for “Each year 1,500,000 [students] end college. Out of that half, over 50% who the teachers, but education is the best high school without being prepared for enroll in community colleges and around investment for the future economy so it’s college” he said.

80% who enroll in CUNY College, take totally worth it”.

“So every year we delay on remedial courses.

Dr. King concluded by stating the implementing changes and structure King introduced methods of reform importance of implementing the new that will support their success is another to mitigate the lack of skill from students methods of reform for students to receive 150,000 students will be unprepared for for the upcoming year by implementing quality education for upcoming years. what they face in college.” teacher and principal evaluation, improved leverage data in education, but most importantly stressed the implication and adjustment of common core standards.

“Just a new set of standards on the wall is not sufficient” he said.

“We must ensure we execute the common core curriculum for students to conceptually understand the coursework”.

Edition of the core curriculum consisted of shifts in instruction for adolescent students to first begin to understand the meaning of words through experience with an increase in non-fiction readings with content from fields of history and science.

Additionally, the lecture advocated the importance for the increase in the quality for students to understand mathematical concepts opposed to simply solving for an answer.

Gabriella Pombo, an education major said the lecture was very insightful and provocative for an avid educator, despite increase in expectations.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MEDIA RELATIONS “The means he provided for improving the education system in our region made Dr. John King discusses his lecture in front of students and faculty a lot of sense and should have been the method for teaching in previous years”

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Editorial Board XCI KIERAN LYNCH Editor-in-Chief

Illustrator’s Corner

MITCHELL PETIT-FRERE Managing Editor JESSICA LISE General Manager CHRISTOPHER BRITO News Editor

FLAMES OF THE TORCH

One step forward, two steps back

On Tuesday night, we got word from Mark Benavides, vice president elect of Student Government, Inc. and organizations committee chair, that a scaled down version of the previously-cancelled annual town hall meeting, usually featuring Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M., President of the University, would be next Monday, April 15th.

Dr. Kathryn Hutchinson, vice president of student affairs, Dr. Danny Trujillo, associate vice president for student affairs, a person from dining services and possibly other administrators will take the place of Harrington in this new meeting, according to Benavides. It is unclear why Harrington will no longer attend.

For a student body and faculty seeking answers, this lack of accountability is unacceptable.

The second issue is an answer to a question that is most likely on the minds of most people reading this editorial – why wasn’t this story in the news section of the Torch as well? Simply put, it is because by the time the news reached us regarding this rescheduled town hall meeting, it was too late to put a full article together. That’s right – a meeting with the University community in which the students and faculty get to voice their concerns to those who run it still hasn’t been publicly announced. And it’s less than a week away.

Yes, we received the email from Peter D’Angelo, chairman of the Board of Trustees, yesterday afternoon, which broke the silence regarding the Chang/ Harrington/Wile saga. But it added nothing new, and if anything, seemed to signal there was a lot more silence to come.

If University officials truly aim at proving they are handling this situation “in full recognition of its oversight obligations and the best interests of the University and its students, faculty, and staff,” they should have displayed greater attention to detail in announcing the

rescheduled meeting.

By not releasing information concerning the meeting to the entire student body and faculty at an earlier date, University officials are signaling that they are not fully confident in hosting a forum where any issues beyond student organizations and dining hall operations are discussed.

There’s no doubt that the University is acknowledging that there are important issues at hand. However, there’s also no doubt that the manner in which the University is discussing these issues does nothing but help fuel the suspicions of the St. John’s community.

The faculty petition calls for transparency during the investigation and we acknowledge that yesterday’s email to the University community was a step in that direction. However, Harrington owes these forums to the students and the faculty, and by saving him from scrutiny, the University puts its own motives into question yet again.

New board, same commitment The recently departed editorial board faced the tremendous task of regaining the University’s trust in the Torch. It is safe to say they accomplished that.

Now, as we, the new board, take the reigns, we’re tasked with the challenge of continuing the strides taken in the last year. It is now our job to carry on reporting the news of the University with integrity, honesty and intensity.

While we are losing staff members that are integral reasons for why students and faculty alike choose to pick up the Torch, we enter into the era of an editorial board that is fully capable of maintaining the high standard that is now expected of us.

We hope that you continue reading as we continue to report the important issues concering our University as well as the stories that sometimes get lost in the shuffle.

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. Opinions

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

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

All are welcome to contribute to the Torch.

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.

TORCH ILLUSTRATION/ MICHAEL BROADNANSKY

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FLAMES OF THE TORCH: MANAGERIAL BOARD XCI MITCHELL PETIT-FRERE Managing Editor

KIERAN LYNCH Editor-in-Chief

Two years ago, when I was the Sports Editor, Kieran was the first person to express interest in writing sports for the Torch. He’s been taking initiative like that ever since. Since that time, he’s blossomed, first as a sports writer, then doing double duty as the men’s basketball team’s beat writer and the Features Editor. In that time, Kieran has proven to be a top-notch reporter, writer and editor, and has shown a willingness to go above and beyond what’s expected of him. He has everything needed to be a great Editor-in-Chief, and as pressing issues at the University demand serious coverage, I couldn’t be leaving the Torch in safer hands.

-Mike Cunniff Editor-in-Chief, Emeritus

Mitch likes Cristiano Ronaldo. Other than that, he’s been a great Sports Editor the past year. Mitch came in as the biggest question mark, with only half a year of experience as a staff writer and fresh from a semester abroad where he picked up weird fashion trends like scarves in the summer. He quickly answered any questions about whether he was up to the task, improving the sports section in every facet, while adding a unique voice in his columns. Now, as managing editor, I’m sure he’ll bring that same perspective and quality to the paper as a whole.

— Mike Cunniff Editor-in-Chief, Emeritus

CHRISTOPHER BRITO News Editor

JESSICA LISE

General Manager

SHANNON LUIBRAND Features Editor

Since day one, Chris has been willing to sit down and learn the tricks and tools necessary to carry out this job. He has been dedicated, not only to reporting and writing on his own stories, but to the Torch as a whole. He has also not been hesitant to take on any and all responsibilities, something I’m sure he will continue to do throughout the next year. These attributes will help Chris to raise the bar of excellence that has come to be expected of the Torch during his tenure as news editor. .

—Anthony O-Reilly News Editor, Emeritus

Jess is reprising her role as General Manager this year. Over the last year, she has lived up to every expectation we had for her and I have no doubts that will continue into her senior year. She, along with the rest of the senior leadership, will definitely leave their mark on the Torch and I know she will put an emphasis on leaving the paper in a financially sound position for the changing media industry. the year ahead.

Since Shannon first entered the Torch office, she has shown a willingness to take on whatever story was thrown her way. Whether it was news or features, she displayed a tenacity rarely seen among staff writers. Now, she’ll be dedicating herself fully to the relatively new Lifestyle section along with Samantha. If the work Shannon has put out thus far is any indication, I fully expect Lifestyle to be infused with new and bright ideas.

KYLE FITZGERALD Online Editor

SAMANTHA ALBANESE Entertainment Editor

DIAMOND WATTS-WALKER Art Director

MARION GENDRON

Kyle is like a quiet assassin. He doesn’t say much, but he always leaves an indelible mark. As a first semester freshman last fall, Kyle walked bravely into the Torch office and told me that he was interested in writing. Ever since that fateful day, Kyle has been a go-to writer, covering a range of sports from men’s soccer to women’s basketball. While Kyle isn’t a believer in Twitter (weird, right!?) torchonline.com will be kept in pristine condition under his care.

Few have impressed me more in terms of improvement and dedication than Samantha Albanese. The fact that she is assuming the role of entertainment editor as a sophomore is an even more impressive feat. Since the first story that she submitted to us, she has grown to become a great writer and I know that she will take what she has learned both on her own and from myself and apply it to her role on this editorial board. I have complete confidence and have no doubt that Sam will take the section to new heights.

Marion joined the Torch as a copy editor and since then, her commitment to the Torch has been strong. Though she is new, I know that through this experience, she will be confident in the skill and in managing the copy desk with her co-chief copy editor, Natalie. Having worked with her this past semester, she has great and fresh ideas that will improve the copy desk immensely. I’m sure that she will work well with the rest of the Editorial Board to make the newspaper the best it can be.

— Mitchell Petit-Frere Managing Editor

— Peter Long Entertainment Editor, Emeritus

Last year, the outgoing Art Director called Diamond “pure SWAG,” and it’s hard to argue with that. Her consistently impressive comics and illustrations keep the Torch fresh and fun every week. But her artistic talents are just the beginning of what Diamond offers. Her infectious sense of humor has lightened many a grim mood in the office, and her music tastes garnered the approval of everybody who listens (except Peter). It should be more of the same this year, both in the paper and in the office, which will be a benefit to everybody at the Torch.

—Mike Cunniff Editor-in-Chief, Emeritus

— Nicole Valente Managing Editor, Emeritus

—Kieran Lynch Editor-in-Chief

JON PEREZ Sports Editor Torch Sports will be hit with a heavy dose of enthusiasm as Jon takes over as Sports Editor. He’ll be making the transition from radio to print, as he’s been heavily involved with WSJU Radio the past couple of years. His over exuberance for St. John’s athletics will guarantee that no game, press conference or big story goes uncovered. Despite his lack of experience at the Torch, his admirable work ethic and willingness to learn makes him the ideal candidate to take the reigns of Torch Sports.

— Mitchell Petit-Frere Managing Editor

Chief Copy Editor

— Sarah Yu Chief Copy Editor, Emeritus

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Selling is ‘penny-wise, pound foolish’

MICHAEL E. CUNNIFF Editor-in-Chief, Emeritus

Penny-wise, pound foolish – that’s the only way to describe the University’s decision to sell the Manhattan campus.

I used this space last issue to talk about how incredibly shortsighted, not to mention contradictory to the University’s “Catholic, Vincentian, Metropolitan” mission, the sale of the campus was.

Martha Hirst, St. John’s chief operating officer, doesn’t see it that way, obviously. In a letter to the editor, she highlighted the ways money from the sale could be used, from increasing scholarship aid and study abroad opportunity, to strengthening the School of Risk Management. The full letter can be viewed on below this column.

(One other way the money will probably be used for is to pay rent for the new Manhattan campus that the University doesn’t own. She didn’t mention that one though.) “[Improving academics] were, and remain, our sole considerations,” she wrote.

That many people don’t believe the University’s stance speaks to how far the administration’s reputation has fallen since the Harrington-Wile-Chang scandal hit. It’s not Hirst’s fault, of course.

To the Editor: I am writing to reiterate the enormous benefits the University and its students will reap from the potential sale of our building at 101 Murray Street in lower Manhattan and St. John’s firm commitment to maintaining a presence in Manhattan (STJ to sell Man. Campus, March 20, 2013). I was delighted to sit down for an interview with the Torch on the issue, but was disappointed that the Torch did not reflect our conversation, and, in fact, ignored several key points.

After careful evaluation and recommendations by real estate experts, it became clear that the current market is the optimum time to maximize the sale of the Manhattan campus. We expect this sale to produce very substantial revenue for the University, money which will be used to enhance the School of Risk Management, scholarship offerings, study abroad opportunities and academic programming University-wide. The money will help support our endowment, allowing us to increase financial aid for our students.

These were, and remain, our sole considerations.

The School of Risk Management, a division of the Peter J. Tobin College of Business, has been at the heart of the Manhattan Campus and our students have benefited greatly from the Manhattan location. While a new location has yet to be identified, we are confident that we will develop a stateof-the-art facility in a great Manhattan area that is beneficial to our students and faculty.

I do understand the concerns of the students quoted in your article. I want to assure them, and all of our students, that St. John’s University is committed to maintaining a vibrant presence in Manhattan.

Throughout its history, St. John’s

She came to St. John’s after former dean Cecilia Chang had already left, and there’s nothing to suggest her hands are anything but clean in that whole sordid mess.

No, people don’t think she’s corrupt, but as long as Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M., President of the University and his chief of staff Rob Wile have offices in Newman Hall, people will, rightly, assume by default that there is something untoward going on. The University has lost its trust with its students and faculty, and many believe that there is a profit motive in everything the school does.

Hirst also writes that this sale will be completely within the spirit of St. John’s history, citing the many other times the University has switched boroughs and buildings throughout its history. She said, “St. John’s has been a University that has been both literally and figuratively ‘on the move.’”

But what Hirst -- and whoever else was responsible for this decision -- is ignoring by choosing to sell the Manhattan campus is that St. John’s is no longer the local New York City school that it was before Harrington took over. St. John’s is rapidly becoming a national brand, with students coming from all over the country to get a taste of the Big Apple without the price tag or selectivity of NYU or Columbia.

Those students fly out to Queens, Manhattan or Staten Island to visit the

has been a University that has been both literally and figuratively “on the move.” The University traces its roots to Lewis Avenue in Brooklyn, where it was founded in 1870 in a building that still stands today. In the 1930’s, the University envisioned that the growing institution would need expanded facilities and purchased land which was at the time the Hillcrest Golf Course and is now the Queens campus of St. Johns. The “new” campus opened in 1955 and for the next 15 years, St. John’s operated in Queens and Brooklyn. In 1958 the Lewis Avenue campus closed and the University operated at what was known as the Brooklyn Center on Schermerhorn Street. In 1971, St. John’s assumed control of what was at the time Notre Dame College on Staten Island. In 1972, the Brooklyn Center was closed and ultimately sold.

In 1995, St. John’s opened an international campus in Rome, at facilities owned by the Vatican, then relocated to the more central facility we continue to operate today. In 1999, the University purchased property from the De La Salle Christian Brothers and opened what is now the Oakdale campus.

For today’s students, the notion of acquiring and selling real estate and moving a campus might seem unprecedented, but the truth is that these practices are embedded within our history and are key to what keeps St. John’s strong and dynamic now and well into the future.

As we move forward in this process, we will communicate not only with the students, faculty and staff currently in Manhattan, but with the entire University community regarding this exciting opportunity.

Martha Hirst Executive Vice President, COO and Treasurer St. John’s University

campus, take in the place they’ll be living and studying for the next four years.

What happens if a freshman from California matriculates as a Staten Island student – after falling in love with the campus, its location and its proximity to Manhattan – and then somebody makes the University an offer it can’t refuse?

They expect that person to obediently pack his or her bags and move to wherever and whatever they decide to replace the Staten Island campus with?

If St. John’s wants to be a national brand – and everything Harrington has done in his nearly quarter-century tenure at the University has been geared toward doing that – then it needs stability. Incoming students need to know that when they sign a lease after moving cross-country that they are moving to an apartment, a street, a neighborhood they can call home.

The University called its merger with The College of Insurance and its impending takeover of 101 Murray St. “unprecedented” when it happened more than a decade ago. It was, in a good way. It was St. John’s making a definitive move toward being a major player in New York City.

Now, we’re supposedly “on-themove,” couch-surfing around the five boroughs while we wonder why we don’t compare to NYU and Columbia, two schools firmly settled in their locations.

The University will make a lot of money off the sale of the Manhattan campus. But it will also take a hit to its brand, long-term, and severely dent any hopes anybody has about St. John’s ever being on par with the elite New York institutions.

Penny-wise, pound foolish.

Michael Cunniff is a senior journalism major who has recently filled his heart with the Mets to forget his Michigan blues.

He can be reached at michael.cunniff09@gmail.com or @Mike_Cunniff.

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14

Think Outside...

Lifestyle

Beloved professor influenced many

GABRIELLE FONROUGE Staff Writer

Questions flooded the St. John’s campus on March 19. They were texted, tweeted and whispered across crowded lecture halls after students got word that a professor had passed the night before on school grounds.

These questions remained largely unanswered until a few of his students petitioned The Torch to write an article not just about the man that taught them classes on Monday and Thursday mornings, but the man that changed their lives and shaped their careers.

Franklin Camerano died the night of March 18 before leaving the St. John’s University Campus. Ellen Borakove from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said the cause of death was heart disease and natural causes. According to public records, he was 77.

Camerano was an Associate Professor under the Division of Social Sciences within the College of Professional Studies. He was the Director of the Health Services Administration program and the faculty moderator of the St. John’s American College of Healthcare Executive’s chapter. He had been an employee at St. John’s for 16 years.

In his professional life, Camerano has worked as a Chief Operating Officer for Booth Memorial Medical Center, Westchester Medical Center and Mount Vernon Hospital. He had a hospital career that spanned close to 40 years and was a fellow in the ACHE’s national chapter.

However, Prof. Camerano was much more than just a series of two letter abbreviations past his name- he was an advisor,

PHOTO COURTESY OF APRIL MERENDA

Professor Camerano (left) speaking to students on night of his death. a mentor and a confidant. For students like “He was very knowledgeable which Amy Pruim, Camerano is the whole reason meant his lectures came from a lot of his she is a health services major. past experiences. His classes weren’t so “I was a biology major and was much lectures but discussions,” Spence thinking about changing,” Pruim said. said. “It was a very open relationship we “His class was the deal breaker and the all had with him, we could all easily talk reason I changed my mind.” to him.”

Pruim described him as a “legend” He even had breakfast with students in within the health services administration Marillac Café before class. major and said you couldn’t get through Camerano was the only full-time the program without taking one of his health services administration professor at classes. She said he never taught with a St. John’s and, what some describe as, the book and just stood in front of the class “backbone” of the program. But again, and talked. he was much more than that.

Students like junior Kayla Spence For alumnus Katie Todd, Camerano agree. was there for her outside of the classroom,

like when she was looking for apartments in Brooklyn. He even cheered her on during an intramural softball game one Sunday afternoon after accepted student’s day.

“At that moment, I realized it was a relationship that went so much further than just a professor,” Todd said in a phone interview from her Ditmas Park apartment, the safe neighborhood Camerano advised her to move to.

His students were surprised he was not in class the morning of March 19 and even more surprised to hear of his death.

He had actually been at an ACHE panel event on campus the night of his death, hosting career professionals so students within the major could network.

His students will remember his early morning breakfasts at Marillac. They will remember the random St. John’s baseball caps he wore everyday to class and they will remember his jokes.

Most importantly, his students will remember the lessons they learned about healthcare administration and how to have as tenured of a career as he had.

Camerano’s students are having some trouble adjusting without him but are trying to remain optimistic.

“I really hope that maybe some positives can come out of such a negative experience,” Spence said. “It has definitely brought out a larger turnout to club events and meetings and that was really the legacy that Professor Camerano wanted to leave here.”

Through his actions as a professor and faculty member, his legacy and memory will surely live on.

“His last act on earth was doing what he loved,” said April Merenda, Assistant to the Dean and External Affairs.

And that was working for his students.

Queens neighborhood comes to life in prof.’s book ANTHONY O’REILLY News Editor, Emeritus

If the neighborhood of Forest Hills doesn’t sound familiar to you, it’s probably because you haven’t been paying much attention to the history of New York. The small suburban town has seen more than its fair share of history, from President Teddy Roosevelt delivering speeches from the iconic railroad station

to becoming the center of the tennis world with the construction of the West Side Tennis Club.

As difficult as it may seem to chronicle the history of Forest Hills, author and University journalism professor Nick Hirshon, attempts to do just that in his book, Images of America: Forest Hills, which was released on Feb. 18. The 128-page book is heavily driven by images that help to show the evolution of the town from America’s first garden city to the town it is today.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANTHONY O’REILLY

Modern photo taken at Eddie’s Sweet Shop in Forest Hills, Queens.

Each chapter starts off with a short description of an aspect of Forest Hills that has created its identity over the years. This sets the pace for the evolution of the town over the years primarily accomplished through the vast archive of photos acquired

by Hirshon. The photos alone provide the reader with an illustrative timeline Forest Hills’ history, but Hirshon takes the extra step, doing the research in finding the story behind the photos to provide an even clearer image in the reader’s mind.

The foreword, written by actor and Forest Hills native Ray Romano sets the tone for how important the town was in influencing his illustrious acting career.

Although he lives in Hollywood, he yearns for his early memories of life in Forest Hills. Although short in its word count, it helps pack a punch in what the book looks to do for the reader.

If one were to take a field trip to Forest Hills, you could see how the sites have stayed much the same, such as the Eddie’s Sweet Shop or the Forest Hills Gardens, while at the same time adapting to the modern landscape of the 21st century. The photos stop around the 1990s, but the reader is still able to gain a comprehensive understanding of what makes the neighborhood unique.

Hirshon’s journalistic skills shine in his ability to work with numerous sources, such as community boards, the

Queens library and other people throughout the neighborhood in order to tell one story.

Whether you decide to read the book in its entirety or decide to simply flip through its images, it’s more than possible to gain an understanding of Forest Hills in less time than it would take to finish a Discover New York course.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NICK HIRSHON

The cover of the Forest Hills book.

15

Ozanam dodgeball continues to grow

SHANNON LUIBRAND Features Editor

Patrick Maloney stood on the sidelines, his arms folded across his chest and his eyes focused intently on the championship game.

He quietly observed as students pegged balls at each other and the crowd simultaneously roared. Maloney appeared not to be rooting for any team in particular, just watching as his hard work and dedication unfolded right before him.

“We were able to raise a good amount of money for our social justice mission,” Maloney said. “I think we did pretty well.”

Maloney, an Ozanam Scholar and senior, was the lead planner of this year’s Ozanam Scholar Dodgeball Tournament.

Hours of meetings, talking to sponsors, organizing and encouraging people to participate finally culminated on Saturday.

The all day 4th annual event was held in Taffner Field House and hosted by The Ozanam Scholars and primary sponsors, Muscle Milk and Feengo.

“The tournament, itself, is a great amount of fun,” Pablo Sanchez, a member of the winning Dodgeball team and a Senior Ozanam Scholar, said.

“But, all the proceeds being donated to causes of social justice all over the world make it that much more enjoyable and fulfilling.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF EYECONICVISIONS

Contestants last Saturday at the Ozanam Scholars Annual Dodgeball Tournament.

The Ozanam Scholars program at St. John’s is less than 10 years old and consists of about 80 students dedicated to service. Throughout the year, they put on various events to fund their international and domestic projects. This year, entry to the tournament cost $25 per team.

The total amount of money raised is still being calculated.

“We are supposed to bring systematic change so a lot of service we do is long term,” Elizabeth Jaskolski, freshman Ozanam Scholar, said. “A lot of Ozanam’s have set up service sites internationally throughout the world.”

The team, “Beastie Balls,” claimed this year’s winning title; battling right up until the last ball was thrown.

“Since the first tournament, I have entered a team with deep hopes of coming out champions, so winning this year meant a lot to me and my teammates,” Sanchez said. “All but one

of us is a graduating senior and participating in the annual Ozanam Dodgeball Tournament has become a tradition for us since our freshman year.”

Maloney is also graduating this spring, but still has a propelling vision for the future of the tournament. He hopes more of the St. John’s D1 Athletic Teams will participate next year.

“The soccer team actually called us and was like pleading with us to push the tournament back a day,” he said. “Which unfortunately wasn’t possible. But, they were really distraught that they had to miss it.”

Maloney has many other visions and goals for the tournament and is confident his predecessors will be able to fulfill them.

“Specifically, a vision we have is one day we can get it to a point when we have to make it a two day tournament,” he said. “Where we could have the final

four at Carnesecca and make it more of a spectator event.”

Jaskolski agrees and hopes the tournament becomes better known on campus.

“They always say they want it to be as big as Relay for Life one day,” she said. ”Which I could totally see happening.”

Maloney met Muscle Milk when he came across them on campus last year.

They exchanged contact information and began seriously meeting back in October. Sponsorship plays a crucial role in the success of the tournament.

“Having Muscle Milk as a sponsor really helped and we were able to help them get a lot of exposure. Their logo was on St. John’s Central for like, two weeks,” Maloney said. “Feengo.com is awesome. They helped us out a lot. They are definitely the best business people could partner with for an on-campus event.”

According to the event press release, other sponsors for the tournament included local businesses from the St. John’s area such as: Aquista Trattoria, Regina’s, Zucca Buca, Hair Express Barber Shop & Salon, Eyeconic Visions and King of Cleaners.

Maloney and all of the Ozanam’s seem to reiterate a common theme: not only is the tournament fun, but all the money goes to great causes.

“Originally, it was a small little tournament apart of Peace Week with Campus Ministry that we ran and it kept growing every year,” Maloney said. “Hopefully, we can continue that.”

16

Tyler the Creator ‘grows up’ with new album SHANTAVIA THOMAS Staff Writer

Tyler The Creator Wolf

PHOTO COURTESY OF HOLLYWOODREPORTER.COM

Tyler the Creator released his second album earlier this week under Sony Music Ent.

West coast rapper/producer Tyler, The Creator released his third solo album Wolf, a highly anticipated release since his previous album, “Goblin,” in 2011.

Since Goblin’s release, Tyler and his group, Odd Future, have created a unique sound in the alternative hip-hop genre. Tyler has made a very bold appe arance in the hip-hop scene with the vulgar language in his raps, throwing around homophobic slurs, misogynistic ideas, and a lot of other lines for pure shock value.

However, once you get past that and really listen to Tyler’s lyrics, you will see that many of his songs go deeper than you would have expected.

There are many themes played out in this album: insecurity, psychotic breaks, identity crisis, Tyler’s want for his father, love, social awkwardness and death.

When received correctly, the album is a very depressing and personal work that gives a glimpse into the softer side of this very in-your-face rapper.

The first track, “Wolf,” starts the album’s story by introducing Sam, a character Tyler has created for himself.

“Jamba” is the first hype track on the album. It is a collaboration with Odd

Future member Hodgy Beats. The instrumental used for this song is very heavy hitting with a few weird quirks like a sexually moaning female.

Tyler jumps right into rapping about his image in the media, which mainly stems from his infamy for eating a roach in his “Yonkers” video from 2011.

Coincidentally, he also mentions this video in “Colossus,” stating how he hates how he is only known for his work on Goblin work. “Colossus” is Tyler’s version of Eminem’s “Stan” from 2000, with a crazed fan running up to him, glorifying him and Tyler’s reluctance by brushing the kid off, but basically telling him and listeners, “You don’t know me”.

On the track, “Answer,” Tyler goes into depth about his hate for his father while still trying to hide the fact that he misses him. It’s a very slow track with a lot of clunky synths.

He raps about telling his father how he has a show but he won’t get tickets, only to call anyway and hope he answers – a situation many of Tyler’s fans can connect to.

Wolf proves that Tyler has gone through a great deal of musical growth in the last two years. He’s matured technically, making better beats, but not as much lyrically, as his themes have not shown a steep progression.

I give this album four out of five stars purely because the good points are really good more specifically, on “Rusty” and “Trashwang,” but those extra tracks, “Pigs” and “Slater,” could have been left in the lab.

Paramore releases self-titled album KORI WILLIAMS Staff Writer

Paramore Paramore

A lot of artists say that their self-titled albums are their most personal works.

The band Evanescence, for example, who is known for their dark themed lyrics and the lead singers melodic voice, released its self-titled album after releasing two other studio albums and a live one. Lead singer, Amy Lee, said the album is about the band and the journey she took to fall back in love with the band.

Paramore, the pop-punk trio, have done the same. In an interview with Elle Magazine, lead singer, Hayley Williams, said that the title for this album was a “statement.”

“If everything ended tomorrow, I would be completely satisfied that we put out this album before it was all over,” she told the Magazine.

The first track, “Fast In My Car” starts the record off right. With a fun, upbeat vibe, the song talks about

wanting to be free and enjoying what life has to offer in the moment. It is a good indicator for what is to come for the rest of the album. Other songs like the single “Still Into You”, “Now” and “Grow Up,” have the same kind of upbeat nature.

Paramore has enough love songs on it to fill a sea with emotion. Previous albums have not had this many blatant melodies with so much feeling. They are a complete contrast to the more upbeat tracks, but too much that they feel misplaced overall. One of the most embracing songs on the album, “I Hate To See Your Heart Break” may provoke the most feeling. In comparison to “The Only Exception,” which is a track on the band’s previous album Brand New Eyes, “Heart Break” may be it’s predecessor. It has a sentimental touch that jumps out at you in the sweetest of ways.

There are three interludes: “Moving On”, “Holiday” and “I’m Not Angry Anymore” which all use a calm, simple beat, soft vocals and only a few seconds to calm a listener down from all the energy in other tracks. “Daydreaming” and “(One of Those) Crazy Girls,” also have the power to mellow out any kind of hostile mood.

Paramore began streaming the new album on their website over a week before the official release date, which is April 9. This is the band’s first album since the departure of members, Josh and Zac Farro. Paramore does a really good job of coupling different elements of rock music with this calming, peaceful ukulele,

17

PHOTO COURTESY OF IDOLATOR.COM

Paramore performing at the SXSW festival held in Austin, Texas earlier last month.

while holding true to themselves.

The band infuses these styles into their own personal style making everything their own making the album title

more appropriate. It’s clear the band put much thought, effort, and personal feelings in a crashing wave that connects the band with every one of their fans.

This week in showbiz

Halle Berry’s biggest surprise ever, pregnant with her second child Halle Berry and her newest fiancé,

for me. So it’s been a big surprise and

this week. The two lovers are expecting their first-born child! Already 12 weeks along, the star is prepping her 5 year-old daughter to be a big-sister for her soonto-be-born baby brother.

“This has been the biggest surprise of my life to tell you the truth,” Berry told CNN. “I thought I was kind of past the point where this could be a reality

The 46-year-old star stated that all she is concerned with is the health of the baby. In an interview with CNN, the beauty discussed the precautions she has to take and noted that it is important for her to eat well and live a healthy lifestyle. Although the exact due date is not confirmed, she is expected to give birth in Fall 2013.

Olivier Martinez revealed shocking info the most wonderful.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Halle Berry posing on the red carpet at the Golden Globes earlier this year.

What’s up, Amanda?

Ray J bashes Kimye

Is Lindsay Lohan rubbing off on the once sweet and innocent Amanda Bynes? Earlier this week, the falling-out star was kicked out of a gymnastics class when her wig fell off after pacing the room talking to herself and doing a full on cartwheel in the middle of class. The crazed celeb then allegedly threw herself to the floor and began to cry.

Bynes showed up to class in lingerie and was kicked out because of her unusual actions. She was then spotted smoking an unknown, hand rolled cigarette with her blonde tracks practically falling out of her head. What’s next for the starlet?

Rehab with Lindsay?

The ghost-like rapper, Ray J, who infamously recorded a sex tape with Kim Kardashian has come out with a new single, bashing the star and her relationship with Kanye West. The cover of his single entitled, “I Hit It First” shows a pixilated photograph resembling West’s album cover for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. The photograph is of a woman who appears to be Kim in a bikini.

According to The Huffington Post, Ray J tweeted after the single was released “Lol have some fun! It’s not that serious!! #LIVE!!”, but then claimed the song was not about his ex lover.

“It’s a song, it’s not about that, it’s about a concept,” Ray J told Hot 97.

“People going way too deep. They just gotta keep it on the surface. I’m not trying to create no war, it’s all love; we’re doing music.”

Kayne West is not pleased with Ray J’s stunt. Good job Ray J, like the entertainment world needed more beef.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Amanda Bynes steps out in a new look.

PHOTO COURTESY OF TVGUIDE.COM

Photo of Kim on Ray J’s album cover.

18

Think Outside...

Pro Sports

Hot start for Mets Bronx struggles

Mets open season atop NL at 5-1 STEVEN INMAN Staff Writer The Mets opened the season with a strong start (5-3) thanks to their strong pitching. The Mets have enjoyed a powerful one-two punch in Matt Harvey and Jon Niese who are a combined 3-0 with 28 strikeouts.

Despite losing pitchers Shaun Marcum and Johan Santana to injuries before the season, the Mets entire rotation has been strong to start the season with an earned run average of a combined ERA of 1.87.

Catcher John Buck and second basemen Daniel Murphy have supplied the team’s offense with a combined

Lack of depth affecting Yanks MATTHEW WOLFSON Assistant Sports Editor

five homeruns in the team’s first seven games.

Buck has been a blessing for a team that got little production from their catcher tandem last year. Buck’s 12 runs batted in not only lead the National League but are a Mets record through the team’s first seven games.

After struggling to hit homeruns last season, the Mets have hit a homer in all seven games to start the season for the first time since 1987.

The Mets will continue their ten game road trip with one more game in Philadelphia this afternoon before going to Minnesota on Friday and Colorado on Monday. Better wear a jacket.

TORCH PHOTO/KIERAN LYNCH

Photo courtesy of wikimedia commons

Citi Field hosted the Mets’ Opening Day game on April 1 against the Padres.

C.C. Sabathia on the mound.

Knicks a signature road win that validated their streak, convinving the NBA world that they are legitimate contenders.

On March 17, the Knicks lost Carmelo Anthony and streaky sixth 93-80 to the Los Angeles Clippers, man J.R. Smith have led the Knicks leaving them in third place in the during the team’s streak. eastern conference and capping off a Anthony rattled off three consecutive four-game losing 40-point games at streak. one point, scoring Since then, the 50, 41 and 40, in Knicks have rattled games nine, 10 and off 13 straight wins, 11 of the streak. taking back second Smith, on the place in the east other hand, has and giving them started attacking the second longest the rim more, winning streak which has helped of the 2012-2013 him open up his season. mid-range game, The streak is making him a tough the third longest match up for the in franchise history. most experienced Of the wins of defenders. (eight against teams The Knicks .500 or better), none will head into have been more the playoffs impressive than a with a division 125-120 offensive title for the first Photo courtesy of wikimedia commons onslaught against time since 1994, the Oklahoma City The Knicks won again last night. after clinching the Thunder in Oklahoma honor in last night’s 120-99 victory over City. The victory against the defending the Wizards.

Western Conference Champions gave the

KYLE FITZGERALD Online Editor

The Yankees had a rocky first week of the season, as their Opening Day lineup wasted no time in showing its flaws.

Coming into Monday afternoon’s game with the Cleveland Indians, Robinson Cano, Brett Gardner and Ichiro Suzuki were all batting well below .200.

The trio were the few members of the Yanks’ lineup that haven’t been affected by injury.

With Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez all sidelined for at least the first month of the season, the Yankees lack their usual power and veteran leadership they’ve grown accustomed to since clinching the 2009 World Series.

However, it hasn’t been all bad in the Bronx. The Yankees saw throwback performances from both Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera on Thursday to avoid a sweep from the Red Sox. The impressive pitching continued on Sunday, as C.C. Sabathia threw seven scoreless innings, giving the offense no chance to disappoint.

The team has to hope that their imposing pitching staff and reliable bullpen can propel them to wins in the early stages of the season.

For the time being, Yankee fans will have to keep rooting for their best hitter, former Red Sox nemesis, Kevin Youkilis, to add a spark to the team’s offense.

NYK clinch division NHL playoffs loom ANTHONY PARELLI Assistant Sports Editor

With the regular nearing an end, all three New York teams have a chance at reaching the playoffs. The Rangers and Islanders sit at seventh and eight place, respectively, while the Buffalo Sabres are currently in 11, only four points behind the eighth place Islanders.

The Rangers (19-16-4) are currently riding a three game win-streak following a four game winless streak. Left Wing Rick Nash’s 35 points and 17 goals lead the team. Goalkeeper Henrik Lundquist’s dominance in the net has catapulted the Rangers to the fourth fewest goals allowed in the NHL. The Islanders (19-16-4) are the ninth highest scoring team in the NHL, averaging 2.8 per game, in part to John Tavares. The Centre leads his team with 23 goals this season.

The Rangers and Islanders will be fighting for higher seeding on Saturday when they meet at Nassau Coliseum.

The Sabres (16-17-6),have the worst power play percentage in the league. They will rely on Left Wing Thomas Vanek, who leads the team this season with 33 points, 16 goals, and 17 assists. Buffalo look to make headway in the playoff hunt when they travel to Montreal Thursday.

Team

P

W

L

1. Pittsburgh

58

29

10

2. Montreal

55

25

8

3. Washington

42

20

17

4. Boston

54

25

9

5. Toronto

48

22

13

6. Ottawa

44

19

13

7. NY Rangers

42

19

16

8. NY Islanders

42

19

16

9. New Jersey

40

15

14

10. Winnipeg

40

19

19

11. Buffalo

38

16

17

12. Philadelphia

37

17

18

13. Carolina

34

16

20

14. Tampa Bay

34

16

20

15. Florida

32

13

20

21

Amir Garrett announces intent to transfer

JON PEREZ Sports Editor

St. John’s sophomore Amir Garrett announced his intent to transfer from the men’s basketball program over Twitter on April 2.

“After a long thought out process of speaking with my family, I will be leaving St. John’s Basketball Program,” Garrett said. “It was a well thought out decision that didn’t just pop out of nowhere. St. John’s will always have a special place in my heart.”

The 6-foot-6 forward said in a release that he intended to transfer to another program, but that he will “always be a Johnny at heart.”

“We appreciate Amir’s contributions to the St John’s basketball program and wish him well in all of his future endeavors,” head coach Steve Lavin said in a statement. “He played a valuable role in our rebuilding efforts and represented our program well as a student-athlete.”

Garrett averaged 6.4 points per game in 55 games during his two seasons with the Red Storm. He joined the team in December 2011 after being one of three players to be declared academically ineligible at the beginning of the

2011-12 academic year.

This season, Garrett saw his playing time decrease from 26.9 minutes per game to 20.4 as he averaged 5.5 points.

Garrett said over Twitter that he intended to continue to focus on his baseball career. He is currently a top 20 prospect in the Cincinnati Reds organization, with whom he signed a deal with a $1 million signing bonus. He can’t collect that bonus until he decides to stop playing NCAA basketball to preserve eligibility.

He began his minor league career last summer, where he made seven appearances and five starts, according to the St. John’s release. He held the opposition to a .255 average before being promoted from the AZL Reds of the rookie-level Arizona league to the Billings Mustangs of the Billings Mustangs. He made two starts there.

The forward’s transfer opens one scholarship spot on a roster that was at its limit of players before the departure.

St. John’s is currently pursuing point guard Rysheed Jordan, who is ranked No. 22 on ESPN’s top 100 recruits list.

His choices are down to St. John’s, Temple and UCLA and he will make a verbal offer on April 11.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Amir Garrett averaged 20.4 minutes per game this season.

Keady named to collegiate basketball Hall of Fame KYLE FITZGERALD Online Editor

Gene Keady, special advisor to current St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin, was elected into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

“I am very humbled and happy to be inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame,” Keady said in a press release.

“Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to have been surrounded by great student-athletes, outstanding coaches, a supportive family and so many

PHOTO COURTESY OF ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Gene Keady is a six-time recipient of the National Coach of the Year award.

individuals that I would like to thank and share this award with.”

Keady is a six-time recipient of the National Coach of the Year award and seven-time Big Ten Coach of the Year. He spent most of his coaching career at Purdue University, where he led the Boilermakers to six regular season conference titles.

Keady is the second winningest Big Ten coach of all time with 512 wins. He only trails Bob Knight, who recorded 661 victories while at Indiana.

The former Purdue University coach gave Steve Lavin his first opportunity to be a part of the college basketball spectrum when he gave Lavin an assistant coaching position in 1988. Lavin learned from Keady until he eventually moved on to another assistant coaching role at UCLA. In 2010, Lavin teamed up with Keady again as he invited his mentor to take an advisory role at St. John’s. Lavin is just one of several coaches to be a part of the Gene Keady Coaching Tree, along with current Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber and Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings.

“From a personal perspective, Gene Keady gave me my coaching start 25 years ago when he hired me as a graduate assistant at Purdue, and other than my parents he has been the most influential person in my life,” Lavin said in a press release. “Working alongside Coach Keady at both Purdue and now St. John’s has been a true blessing. His induction into the College Basketball Hall Of Fame is a perfect exclamation point on a remarkable career.”

Although his role does not include on-court coaching, Keady brings in over 30 years of collegiate basketball knowledge and assists in developing strategy and analyzing game film.

Keady will be honoured during Saturday evening’s NCAA National Semifinal games and will be officially inducted on Nov. 24 at the Midland Theatre in Kansas City.

Keady will be joined by Tom McMillan, Marcques Johnson, Rollie Massimino, Bob Hopkins, George Raveling, Goerge Killian, and the 1963 Loyala University (Chicago) team.

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Columbia keeps Johnnies at bay St. John’s leaves seven on base and can’t convert as Columbia beats STJ 5-3 MATTHEW WOLFSON Assistant Editor The St. John’s men’s baseball team has hit a rough patch, losing to Columbia yesterday 5-3, turning a couple of bad games into a losing streak.

COLUMBIA

5

ST. JOHN’S

3

The Columbia pitching shut down the Red Storm batters, letting up zero earned runs between the six hurlers. The threerun third inning for St. John’s came after an error by Columbia first baseman Alex Black.

But the 3-1 lead was quickly erased, as Columbia added a run in the bottom of the third, and then put up two more on small ball in the fourth.

Taking advantage of a walk and a hit batsman to load the bases, a wild pitch from Joey Christopher brought in the leading run. Christopher was given the loss.

Six of the seven St. John’s (13-19) hits were singles, as the power was clearly absent for the Red Storm bats.

Although Black committed a the third inning error for Columbia (14-15), he made up for it by going 2-for-3 with an RBI and came in to pitch the ninth inning, earning the save for the Lions.

Zach Tax came in for two innings of relief and got the win for Columbia,

letting up just an unearned run.

After grabbing an unearned insurance run off Christopher in the sixth inning, both teams were done scoring.

The Red Storm threatened again in the eighth, as first baseman Frank Schwindel and right fielder Zach Lauricella hit a pair of singles to left field with one out, brining the tying run to the plate. Designated hitter Danny Bethea ended the inning, hitting into a double play.

Again, the Johnnies fought, sending the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning after pinch hitter Jimmy Brennan kept the game alive with a two-out single.

Despite their fight, St. John’s outfielder Martin Kelly was struck out swinging by Black to end the game.

Before the two losses to Connecticut and this loss to Columbia, St. John’s had won six of their last eight games.

St. John’s will look to turn things around against Hofstra at 3 p.m. on April 10 at Jack Kaiser Stadium.

LOMANGINO GETS NOD FOR BIG EAST WEEKLY HONOR ROLL Red-shirt junior James Lomangino has been selected to this week’s Big East Weekly Honor Roll after earning his first victory against Connecticut on April 5th.

Lomangino hurled seven shut out innings striking out seven batters in the Johnnies’ 3-0 victory over the Huskies.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

The baseball team has now lost three straight after winning four of six.

Cardinal Sin: Softball falls to No. 11 Louisville 8-0 JALEN BISHOP Contributing Writer

Upcoming Schedule

The St. John’s softball team was given no breaks when it faced No.11 Louisville on Saturday afternoon when they fell 8-0 to give the Cardinals a three game series sweep. The Red Storm (9-28-1) recorded three errors and combined for only two hits.

LOUISVILLE

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ST. JOHN’S

0

“We weren’t able to rebound after playing them tough the first game, it was a tough way to go down,” said St. John’s head coach Amy Kvilhaug. “You give a team like Louisville three errors they are going to take advantage every time.”

Louisville (32-6, 5-1) got things going in the second inning when they plated five runs and never looked back.

Junior pitcher Ashley Beza was roughed up and dropped her eighth loss of the season (5-8 overall).

Freshman Tori Free came in for relief. She pitched the game’s final four innings and had three strikeouts. Kvilhaug commented on Free’s bright future for the Johnnies pitching staff.

“She’s great, she has a bright future and is a big part of the program right now,” Kvilhaug said. “She is always poised

4/10 vs LIU Brooklyn 4:00pm 4/11 at Hofstra 4:00pm 4/13 vs Iona 3:00pm 4/17 DH vs FDU 3:00pm 4/20 DH at UCONN 12:00pm 4/21 at UCONN 12:00pm

Last Three Games: PHOTO COURTESY OF ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

The Softball team stays positive during the five game skid. on the mound, we just need to keep her positive.”

St. John’s has two upcoming games against LIU Brooklyn and Hofstra. The Johnnies are looking to improve before entering the second half of Big East play.

“We need to continue to make adjustments, whether its on the field or in the

scouting report, said Kvilhaug. We have this whole week with three good teams that are going to get us ready for the second half of Big East play.”

The Johnnies will stay at home to take on LIU Brooklyn on April 10.

4/6 vs Louiville L, 6-4 (8) 4/6 vs Louisville L, 15-0 (5) 4/7 vs Louisville L,8-0 (5)

Hoya Paranoia: LAX falls 14-13 ANTHONY PARELLI Assistant Sports Editor

The surging St. John’s men’s lacrosse team hit a snag Saturday in Long Island, losing an overtime heartbreaker 14-13 to Georgetown.

GEORGETOWN ST. JOHN’S

14 13

The game took place at Bethpage

history. Unfortunately for the Storm, Lowman exited the game after the first half with concussion-like symptoms.

Another bright spot for the Johnnies was the continued high level play of Kieran McArdle. The junior attacker tallied eight points on the day (five assists and three goals) to pace all scorers and earn game MVP honors. McArdle’s big day gave him 70 points on the season through 10 games.

Ryan Fitzgerald and Kevin Cer-

PHOTO COURTESY OF ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

The Lacrosse Team has won four of their last five games.

High School and was aptly titled “The Battle of Bethpage.”

Highlighting the loss was goalie Jeff Lowman; who’s five first half saves gave him a career total of 587, which put him atop the all time saves list in St. John’s

nuto both tallied three goals apiece, which, combined with McArdle’s three gave St. John’s three players with a hat trick. Cernuto’s was his sixth of the season.

Other goal scorers for St. John’s were

James Bonanno, Brandon Ayers, Keith Switzer and Alex Lagodich.

Lagodich started the scoring a minute and a half in for what would be a nine goal first quarter between the two teams.

The pace never slowed as St. John’s went into halftime clinging to an 8-7 lead and finished the game ahead in shots 45-41.

Stepping in between the pipes for St. John’s was freshman Harrison Burke who, before Saturday, had only totaled four minutes of game action on the season. Burke tallied seven saves in the half and performed valiantly.

St. John’s had the lead heading into the final minute of play but a breakout goal with seven seconds remaining

by Georgetown’s Charles McCormick sent the game into overtime where Dan McKinney found the back of the net on Georgetown’s first extra time possession.

The outcome was a bit of revenge for the Hoya’s who lost to the Red Storm in almost identical fashion a season ago.

St. John’s trailed by two in the final minute but was able to rattle off two quick scores and another on their first overtime possession.

The loss brings the St. John’s to 7-3 on the season.

St. John’s next opponent will be home vs. Villanova on Saturday at 3:00.

Fans should appreciate Lavin

Torch Sports

Storm

Cast

Leavin’ their Mark Jersey Strong Track and Field

St. John’s capped-off a strong Saturday at the Sam Howell Invitational, hosted by Princeton, with a sweep in both of the relay events.

Rikka Lovely, Molly Ellis, LaTasha Collins, and Trudy-Ann McLean finished first among an eleven-team field. The 4X100m team finished with a time of 46.74 seconds, beating out second-place Columbia by .32 seconds.

McLean and Ellis, paired with Claire Mooney and Shayna Presley, won the 4X400m with a time of 3:45.40, beating out 15 other squads.

Ellis continued to perform for the Red Storm, finishing second in the 200m dash with a time of 24.51 seconds. Lovely also represented the Johnnies in the Top 5, finishing fifth with 24.76 seconds.

Presley put in a solid performance in the 400m, completing it in 1:01.98 to finish fifth.

Freshman Veronica Thompson placed eighth in the 800-meter run as she ran a 2:14.21. The Red Storm also performed we LaTreace Johnson finished fifth in the shot-put with a 12.60 meter mark, while Danette Hinton placed fifth in the hammer at 49.32 meter mark.

The Red Storm’s next meet is on Apr. 16 at the Metropolitan Outdoor Championships.

JON PEREZ

Sports Editor In the recent events that occurred at Rutgers University, college basketball fans are left to wonder, how many other coaches are like Mike Rice? How many other coaches in the country bully their players verbally and physically? Is this a common thing? It’s not.

Yes, coaches will ride their star players, egos will clash, however it’s understood that it’s for the greater good of the players and team. What Mike Rice did to his team was unacceptable and Rutgers Athletic Director Tim Pernetti’s handling of the situation was horrifying.

Over the past couple of days I’ve spoken to my fellow media colleagues and for the most part they agree that what Rice did was irrational to say the least, however in talking to one friend who shall remain nameless, he told me, “I don’t have a problem with the language that Rice used, I’m sure other coaches say similar things, it’s not a big deal.” My response: “Ask Joseph and Jane Clementi whether or not it’s a big deal.” They’re son [Tyler Clementi, 18] was supposed to graduate next spring, but instead was bullied because he was a homosexual and jumped off the George Washington bridge.

Pernetti knew what was going on and didn’t fire Rice when he had the chance. To keep a coach on staff that would spew homophobic slurs in the

Blowin’ in the Wind “We appreciate Amir’s contributions to the St. John’s basketball program and wish him well in all of his future endeavors.”

-Steve Lavin

PHOTO COURTESY OF ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Steve Lavin will be entering his fourth season at St. John’s next fall.

same institution in which a student took his life symbolizes the hypocritical attitude that the university displayed.

Rutgers finally stepped up last week and finally fired both Rice and Pernetti.

I’ve covered the St. John’s men’s basketball team for two years now as the play by play voice on WSJU Radio, and I can count the number of times that I’ve questioned Steve Lavin’s philosophy or in-game strategy. Is Lavin a perfect coach? No. However, every time that I would speak to one of his players I’d get the sense that this team was a tight nit group.

In the two years around the team, the coaching staff rarely ever says a negative thing about their team. Heck, I spoke to Lavin after he suspended D’Angelo Harrison and the coach had

nothing but kind words about the situation.

Steve Lavin doesn’t throw basketballs at players’ heads or shout homophobic slurs. At one press conference when asked if there can be more than one leader on this team, Lavin named every second year player; he even named senior Jamal White.

Lavin’s teams will leave you on the edge of your seat. They’ll take you to the highest of highs just as they’ll take you to rock bottom, Lavin has a plan for the future and has a team that appreciates him on and off the court, just like we should.

Jon Perez is a Junior, communications major with his own show on WSJU Radio Friday Mornings from 10:30 to noon and host of Sportswire on WRED-TV.

Headin’ this Way Red Storm home games

Baseball: April 10

Hofstra

3 p.m.

April 17

Princeton

6 p.m.

Villanova

3 p.m.

April 16

Lacrosse: April 13 April 27

Softball: April 10

Albany

Marquette

3 p.m.

1 p.m.

LIU Brooklyn 4 p.m.

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SPORTS 10 APRIL 2013 | VOLUME 91, ISSUE 1 | TORCHONLINE.COM

CENTRAL PARK ZOO LIONS POUNCE JOHNNIES 5-3 IN MANHATTAN PG. 22

PHOTO COURTESY OF ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS

Amir Garrett will not be wearing a St. John’s uniform next semester.

The Softball team drops it’s fifth straight game.

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