vol105issue13

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder/

Volume 105 No. 13

Blue Devils Take Home Weekend of Wins: Men’s basketball claimed a narrow victory over Mount. St. Mary’s 66-61. The women won with a new sense of enthusiasm and a 25-point lead not seen since 1998. page

The Author of ‘Pearls, Politics and Power’ Addresses CCSU

Academic Misconduct Explained:

Judicial Officer Details the Process Melissa Traynor Editor-in-Chief

Amanda Ciccatelli News Editor

Author and influential politician Madeleine M. Kunin spoke to the Central community on Wednesday about her recently published book “Pearls, Politics and Power” and her journey as a woman politician.

Former Connecticut Secretary of the State Pauline Kezer introduced Kunin, the former Vermont governor, who had spent many years in politics including six in the legislature of Vermont, four as Lieutenant governor and six years as governor.

According to Kezer, Kunin has taught at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University and although most people still recognize her as the governor of Vermont, a lot of people don’t know that she was the U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland. Kunin also spent over three years as the Secretary of Education in the Clinton Cabinet.

“One of my theories of encouraging women to be involved more in politics is that the more you see the more you get; the less of a phenomenon it becomes when women are commonly in the lime light,” she said.

According to Kunin, Connecticut is nationally ranked 16th in the percentage of women in the state legislature. The national average is 23 percent, while Connecticut sits at 26 percent.

“I wrote the book to pass the torch to the next generation,” she explained.

When she was elected governor in 1984, Kunin felt that women were officially accepted and respected in the world of politics.

“I felt that the dam is broken and the flood waters are going to bring in an armada of women running for office behind me. But as I looked around, there are not as many women as you might expect.”

In an excerpt from Kunin’s book she posed the question, why do we need women in politics? She wrote, “We need their voices as grandmothers and mothers, wives and widows, daughters and sisters, to be heard in a political debate about the future of our country. The debate may be a ruckus and the process complex, the rewards not assured, but we cannot stay out of it.”

Every woman has her own experience that can change the country and the personal lives of individuals.

“Politics, as Hilary Clinton said to me more than a year ago, is not for the faint of heart.

Politics is where the decisions are made whether our children will go to war, whether our parents will live in security and whether earth itself will continue as we know it,” Kunin said. “We

Faculty Senate Defers Credit Max Vote Peter Collin Managing Editor

The CCSU Faculty Senate voted on Monday, to refer a proposal to limit students’ ability to enroll in more than 17 credits per semester back to the Academic Standards Committee.

The proposal was designed to address what the Academic Standards Committee referred to as “shoppers” – a term they use to describe students who enroll for 18 credits during registration but later drop the additional credits prior to the start of the academic semester during add/drop week or withdraw from later in the semester.

The proposal itself would not have been a binding motion, as the Faculty Senate lacks the ability to force students to take fewer than 18 credits. The rule change would have required students to get additional approval from either an academic advisor, department chairperson or an academic dean.

Dr. James Mulrooney spoke on behalf of the Academic Standards Committee, which proposed the bill. Mulrooney cited statistics that showed a large drop in the number of students enrolled for 18 credits from the start of a semester to its midpoint.

“No student would be refused. So the idea was that it would force students to talk to someone,” said Mulrooney. “It’s a delicate balance act of we want to serve our students; we don’t want to inhibit students, but also not at the expense of other students as well.”

The goal of the proposal was to prevent students from tying up additional seats in classes that they have no intention of taking through the semester. This would free up spots for students who would need the classes to accelerate their graduation process.

To illustrate the problem, Mulrooney presented statistics of students who registered for 18 credits in a semester. In the fall semester of 2008 over 707 students began the semester enrolled in 18 credits worth of courses. By the midpoint of the semester that number had fallen to 397.

“The body of people who put the proposal forward feels that, what they’re identifying as the shoppers, those students at 18 credits, are taking up valuable seats,” said Mulrooney. “If we can limit the number of students taking 18 credits with only the thought of, ‘I’ll drop one’, that might be potentially 100 seats in different classes.”

Though the Faculty Senate sympathized with the plight of students who were having difSee Faculty Senate Page 3

This Issue

In Sports

In Lifestyles

Campus Security Evaluation:

Hockey Takes Home Win Over Marist

BOT Student Life Committee meeting last Friday looked at CSU security.

Fifth-Ranked Red Foxes Fall to Blue Devils in A Very Physical Game

Page 3

As of the recent plagiarism suit where expelled student Matthew Coster sued a classmate for copying his final paper in and won, questions have been raised about the judicial process for such cases.

Although the incident occurred in 2006, campus Judicial Officer Christopher Dukes explained the process whereby all academic misconduct cases are decided by investigation today and is usually looking for ways to look back on his work.

After a academic misconduct complaint is filed, pre-hearing interviews are conducted.

There is no time limit – sometimes the case may take up to a month to conclude.

“Some can be pretty extensive. Our goal is to determine if there is enough merit to go on with the complaint,” Dukes said.

The meeting between the accused and the other members involved in the case are called administrative conferences. After, a student may learn what he or she is accused of and can accept the sanctions and conditions of being responsible.

Typically, the hearing procedures are informal.

“We have a lot of cases,” Dukes said and he added that his office’s work depends on the number of cases – that could stem from one original complaint – and their severity.

He said that the attention of the Judicial Affairs office can now focus on the student conduct cases with two administrative personnel immediately to any situation.

As of Sept. 12, 2008, Marcia Butland joined the Judicial Affairs team as a program administrator. She previously worked at the office of Resident Life at Western Connecticut State University. Butland is also the program assistant at Judicial Affairs.

Before they had a second staff member to respond immediately to cases, Dukes said that they had to prioritize and decide which one was the “hot case.”

Dukes said that the JA office looks at its own outcomes of cases and compares them depending on the number of student sanctioned versus the number of students who walked away without sanction. He likened the numbers to equal grade distribution in a class: the least amount of student receives As and Fs, but most hover around the middle with Bs, Cs and Ds. The campus judicial officer also said that faculty are not allowed to weight in on any other type of student conduct case, with the exception of academic misconduct where they may file a complaint.

Edward Gaug / The Recorder

See Pearls, Politics Page 2

In News

16

Page 16

Linda Kaupas The woman behind the SA/LD desk revealed.

Page 13

See Academic Misconduct Page 3

In Entertainment

What are 2008’s top 20 albums?

Mainstream and indie face off for the top 20 records of the year.

Page 10

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News

2 THE RECORDER Wednesday, December 10, 2008

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Editor-in-Chief Melissa Traynor

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Managing Editor Peter Collin Art Director Geoffrey Lewis Associate Layout Editor Edward Gaug Copy Editor Aril Grain Entertainment Editor Nick Viccione Lifestyles Editor Jane Natoli News Editor Amanda Ciccatelli Sports Editor Kyle Dorau Opinion Editor Marissa Blaszko Editor-at-Large Karyn Danforth Web Editor John Vignali Illustrator Stefano Delli Carpini

Staff Caroline Dearborn Steve Packnick Misbah Akbar P.J. Decoteau Sean Fenwick Michael Walsh Shauna Simeone Gabrielle Pierce Mike D’Avino Hale Yalincak Kareem Mohamed Joe Zajac

About

The Recorder is a studentproduced publication of Central Connecticut State University and does not necessarily represent, in whole or in part, the views of CCSU’s administrators, faculty or students. The Recorder articles, photographs and graphics are property of The Recorder and may not be reproduced or published without the written permission from the Editor-in-Chief. The purpose of The Recorder is to approach and define issues of importance to the students of Central Connecticut State University.

Meetings for The Recorder are held every Monday night at 7 p.m. in the Blue & White Room in the student center.

Networking Web site Brings Greeks Together

Photo: UMass Amherst

Former Governor of Vermont Madeleine Kunin discussed women’s roles in politics on a national scale.

have been bystanders to history for far too long. We have no more excuses.”

Kunin discussed the low figures that portray women in politics. She said that on November 3, 2008, the percentage of women in the U.S. Congress was 16 percent and on November 4 there were 17 percent.

“It seems it is similar to women in the corporate sector and women in parliaments around the world,” she said. “You might say, ‘the average number of women in parliament is 16 percent so what is the big deal if the U.S. is 16 percent?’ We rank 72nd out of 142 countries. Iraq and Afghanistan do better than we do.”

When Iraq and Afghanistan wrote their new constitutions, the governments demanded that 25 percent be made up of women.

“Those women risked not only their reputation, but risked their lives, by serving in public light,” Kunin said.

What holds women back?

Kunin knows that women have the skills, the knowledge and usually the confidence, but they underestimate themselves as qualified putting extra pressure on themselves.

Kunin discussed an example of this dilemma among women with the comparison between Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin.

“Hilary Clinton was out there for about 18 months saying ‘I want to be President of the United States.’

She proclaimed that she wanted the job,” Kunin said.

Still, Clinton was criticized for her ambition. It is not considered as attractive a quality as in a man, said Kunin, while Palin was basically asked to be Republican Party Vice Presidential candidate by John McCain.

“It was sort of like he asked her out on a date and she just accepted,” said Kunin.

Part of the reason for a woman’s struggle is what Kunin calls the “double-bind”, which occurs only at the top such as the President of the United States or a CEO of a corporation. “You have to have the toughness

factor and you have to feminine and likeable,” she said.

While, Clinton won the toughness factor, she lost femininity and likeability, but she was always considered qualified. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, had the masculinity factor and still maintained her maternal role of being a mother and being attractive, according to Kunin.

Although Kunin understand the role of gender in leadership and politics, she believes it is not the entire role.

“We do see women presidents in other parts of the world,” she said.

The country of Liberia has elected a woman president who her people call the Iron Lady. There is a woman president of Chili and she represents change from dictatorship.

“Women usually represent change, but in this election Hilary was ‘out-changed’ by President-Elect Barack Obama.”

Kunin believes that women bring a change to politics by using their life experiences. Women tend to support education, health care, women’s issues, rape crisis centers.

As Kunin came to the U.S. as a child at the outbreak of WWII, her mother told her anything is possible in America, giving her an optimism and idealism that she used to succeed in politics.

“You also have to have anger and be dissatisfied with the way things are. It has to be a certain level of anger that is manageable,” she said.

Then, Kunin said, a woman can use her imagination, where they envision the world as different and better.

Third, Kunin advises to use anger and imagination and find an optimism that is the basis of motivation for a change even with the risks being taken. “Pessimists are usually right, but optimists change the world,” she said. “Hold on to your optimism.

Hold on to your idealism.”

GreekStrength.com is an online social interactive networking tool that will help fraternity and sorority members be actively involved with Greek life across the country and this site looks to secure their futures after graduation with potential careers starting Dec. 9.

College Senior at Johnson and Whales University Jerry Sneed is the founder and president of GreekStrength.com.

“It is mainly designed to handle every aspect of fraternities and sororities,” he said. “It introduces you to all the Greek life at your college or university and other colleges and universities.”

Networking and socializing are big aspects of getting a job after graduation, according to Sneed, so students should begin networking earlier in college.

There are 370,000 active fraternity members and 5,500 chapters growing at 10 percent each year, while sororities have 300,000 active members and 2,913 chapters on over 630 campuses. With these statistics, Sneed believes Greekstrength.com can benefit these members all over the country while bringing them together.

Sneed began designing Greekstrength.com last May. “I had a dream of the entire idea and woke up the next morning and started working on it,” he said. Sneed wishes he had started doing professional things earlier in life.

“Before you know it is senior year,” he said.

Debuting on Dec. 9, GreekStrength.com offers an array of

features including the user’s active account, which helps organize with calendars and a list of fraternity and sorority events. The site is also free to join and is simply a tool for students to use for networking and career search.

Active members can use the Active Greeks tool to post résumés, search for job opportunities, post news, events and the history of their organizations, according to the site.

Members are also able to share chapter information, use the text-messaging feature and manage a profile page with personal and fraternity and sorority information.

It also enables students to network early on starting freshman year so they can get a good job when they graduate, according to Sneed.

“It is the only social network designed for fraternities and sororities so our goal is to get every fraternity and every sorority in the country on the site,” Sneed said. “The more users, the better because the more users, the more Alumni, the more internships, the more scholarships, the more job offers and advice on the site.”

Johnson and Whales, Uconn, University of Kentucky, Arizona State University, Rutgers and a few others are the colleges and universities who joined Greekstrength.com.

“With some of our marketing ideas will hopefully spread it out to more students,” said Sneed.

“Hopefully we won’t have as big of a problem as we do now with smart people.”

CCSU Police Department’s Adult Arrest/Citation Log 11.21.08 - 12/05.08 Christopher Bjorek, 27, of Bristol, Conn. was arrested on the night of Nov. 24 for possession of narcotics. He is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 11. Timothy Judge, 26, of Newington was also arrested for possession of narcotics and the use and possession of drug paraphernalia. He has a Dec. 11 court date.

Jaime Rhoads, 25, of New Britain, Conn. was charged with operating an unregistered vehicle and driving without a license on Dec. 3. She is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 17.

Joseph Tooley, 22, of Cheshire, Conn. was arrested for burglary in the third degree and larceny in the fifth degree on Dec. 3. He has a Dec. 11 court date.

- CCSU Police Department

3

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, December 10, 2008 / NEWS

CCSU Affirms Campus Security at CSU System Meeting Amanda Ciccatelli News Editor

Edward Edward Gaug Gaug // The The Recorder Recorder

Provost Carl Lovitt brings in differnt sides of the debate whether to lower the course maximum.

Faculty Senate Defers Credit Max Vote Continued from page 1 ficulty registering for classes, many felt that the proposal would not solve the problem and would only lead to a greater amount of paper work for advisors and department chairpersons as well as additional work for students who need to take 18 credits per semester for their degree.

Some felt that the proposal would aid students by freeing up spaces in classes that would otherwise become overloaded with students who registered and then later dropped the class.

“I think the speed bump is a good idea because a lot of the students that register for 18 credits are doing it because they’re too lazy to make a decision,” said Dr. Stephen Cohen. “I really do think making them take that extra step will stop some of those students and won’t stop the ones who should be getting 18 credits.”

The proposal will return to the Academic Standards Committee, which will revise the proposal and take on new ideas to try to enhance the document. It will then be presented to the Faculty Senate again in the Spring semester.

Academic Misconduct Continued from page 1 In cases where one student or professor accuses another student of plagiarism, and that student is sanctioned, an academic integrity workshops is mandated to those students, although the course is available to all. Dukes said they hope to prevent as many cases as possible.

He added that the sanction is proportional to the level of academic misconduct.

“The levels of academic misconduct range from warnings through expulsions. It always depends on the circumstances in that case,” he said, while he could not comment on the specifics of the Matthew Coster v. Christina Duquette case.

He did say that there are different levels of misconduct. For example, students who may be working together on assignments, and are paired up by the professor, may use each other’s work without knowing that they are doing any-

thing wrong. Whereas, a student may take another student’s work with their consent, which is called “unauthorized collaboration.”

Borrowing papers for the same class over the course of different semester falls under this category.

“There may not be any malice involved, but it is still wrong,” Dukes said.

He said that his office does receive a certain number of complaints, which he evaluates and compares, but there is also an unspecified number of cases that are not reported. He says that this part of an academic misconduct complaint is up to the discretion of the professor.

“We encourage them to report cases,” Dukes said, adding that he was not sure of the exact number of academic misconduct cases that occur outside his office.

“I think it would be stifling to folks to see how much activity is on this campus,” he said.

Represntatives from all four universities from the Connecticut State University System met on Friday to discuss the progress of safety and counseling on each campus. The board has received feedback from CSU students for changes in safety, counseling and other concerns.

Central’s Vice President of Student Affairs Laura Tordenti discussed the safety tools already in place at CCSU as well as the number of things Central intends to implement. She explained that Central has an Emergency Response Plan and the Notification System already effectively in place.

“We are lucky at Central that we adequately staff our office of student conduct,” she said.

Tordenti explained that Central’s staff undergoes extensive training, such as attending annual trainings. She stressed that the concern with Central and the other CSU schools is the low number of Counseling and Wellness Center staff.

“One thing that has been helpful is the development of a sophisticated agreement with the General Hospital of New Britain where we have psychiatric services who are available to us and for our students,” said Tordenti.

For Central students in distress, two systems are in place: one being the Student Behavior Review Team, which is used to review situations and watch over students with potential mental health concerns. The other system the Threat Assessment Team which includes a representative group of individuals including Tordenti, the Dean of the Students, The Judicial Officer, the Chief Administrative Officer, Council to the President and the Chief of Police.

“Any one of these individuals at a moment’s notice can call this group together and within a 15 minute period will come to my office if there is a potentially troubling situation that needs immediate attention and it has been very effective,” she said.

Along with Mental Health Education, an online program that is available to faculty and staff, and The Question Persuade Referral Training, Central has an extensive First Year Experience program. These programs demand faculty training to identify distressed students and the ability to refer those students to the necessary services.

“There are on-going efforts and I think Central, as well as the other CSU schools, have redoubled efforts with regard to training of student leaders,” said Tordenti.

“This is going to be an ongoing process for all of us as the world becomes increasingly more complex and as students come to us with greater concerns, and it certainly has an impact for

all students when they are living with and are in class with other students who may be experiencing levels of acting out,” she explained.

Tordenti understands that the CSU schools need to continue a proactive approach towards the safety of students.

According to Central SGA President Alexander Estrom, Central has implemented safety and security systems since Virginia Tech tragedy in 2007.

“Our RAs are on the front line,” he said.

“Many of our student employees are aware of high stress areas.”

Central also has a student organization called The Natural Helpers who work with Student Affairs and the Counseling and Wellness Center. The Natural Helpers work together in assessing threatening situations, and promote healthy life style choices such as cutting down on drinking and eating well.

“They are keeping their eyes out to help fellow students,” said Estrom. “In several different ways the student body is very active on assisting itself,” he said.

Brianna Weller, a junior at Southern Connecticut State University and Vice President of Southern’s SGA was personally impacted by Virginia Tech.

“My brother was a senior about to graduate when the massacre occurred,” she said. “It changed my family’s life completely.”

Weller participated in the Safety Committee at Southern as a student representative where she was able to help Southern become a safer campus for all of the students to live in.

“I feel safe and my brother told me that this whole thing makes him feel so much better knowing that I am safe and that all the right precautions will be taken,” she said. “I feel like it’s worth every penny that we are spending.”

About a year and half ago while running for Central’s SGA President, Estrom was concerned about educating students and building safety awareness while reducing paranoia of possible dangers such as shootings.

“The question becomes,” said Estrom, “where does campus end and when does community begin? Many of us as students believe it’s a double yellow line across Paul Manifort. Once you cross that line Dr. Tordenti can’t touch me. That is not true.

How do we try to protect our students when they are off campus? Should we? Can we?”

As a student leader, Estrom is pleased with the progress and results of the recent security system implementation. He sees an increase in student awareness that is constantly growing.

Estrom, Tordenti and the Central community know there is always more to be done and more safety precautions to be reassessed, but each CSU campus has its own needs.

4 THE RECORDER Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Editorial

Editorial/Opinion

In May 2006, Ronald J. Moss, a Central history professor, reported that a student in his Western-civilization class had plagiarized the work of another, better student. Matthew Coster was soon thrown out of school after an investigation that compared his work to that of Cristina Duquette—the girl who graduated with honors that same year.

The story got relatively little press coverage until Coster took the case to court last year, suing Duquette for $100 for the use of his paper, in addition to the court fees he spent for the suit. Finally, after a year of court, Coster was finally given the copy write fee on his paper after the victory.

The suit was, clearly, not about money.

Coster was not suing for astronomical “emotional distress” after some faux-whiplash; he

was not seeking retribution. The suit was about a de facto restoration of his honor, and the fact that he won the case puts him, for the first time in two years, in the right.

The loss was undoubtedly embarrassing for Duquette who, although she has graduated, is now “that girl” of higher education. But it should be equally embarrassing for Central— who, out of all of the CSU schools, has been in the news by far the most. Between, former president Richard Judd’s New York Times plagiarism, Miller’s close impeachment last semester, The Recorder, a student’s attempted suicide and Central’s blatant diversity problems—this school, clearly, does not need much more negative press.

CCSU’s Public Relations Department denied to comment on the court case, a move

probably as bad as expelling Coster without an adequate reason in the first place. The case has made the front page of the Hartford Courant twice in the past month, but Central has yet to come up with any sort of rebuttal or reasoning that would keep them from looking as guilty as Duquette. More than likely, they are probably trying to either avoid further press or antagonizing Coster.

Coster’s plagiarism stain won’t come out because of a civil suit. In order to steal his future back, Coster would probably need to take CCSU to court in order to overturn the school’s decision. Although the suit would be more costly and bloody than the one against Duquette, Coster has not only had to spend the past two years attending a community college, but will likely find it hard to find a job after getting his

Associate’s. He should, in the Recorder’s opinion, sue not only to be reinstated, but for at least the tuition he would need in order to graduate.

The suit could, of course, go further. The real question in any suit against the school would be, what is the monetary value of a college education? With an economy in recession, there is a clear difference between the values of what his degree would have been verses what it could have been. And, if he chooses not to continue with his education because of the case, there is an even bigger difference in what job he will get and what he could have gotten.

Tacking on a dollar sign to a college diploma is a tough job. But, if Coster has already managed to fight this far, he can—and should— give it a try.

People for the Unethical Learning from the Mistakes of 2008 Treatment of People Marissa Blaszko Opinion Editor

Every omnivore seems to know one. They may take the form of the girl in your Monday morning drawing class that, decked out in hundreds of dollars of clothing, can’t stop bitching about the veal farm down the street from her suburban home.

Or, maybe it’s the kid with the flannel shirt that sits in the middle of the Student Center Mall every spring, strumming his guitar and quietly whining about the evils of wearing fur. But whoever it may be, every person that makes the choice to eat meat seems to know “that vegetarian”.

The place where all evidence suggests that these panda-hugging hippies are being spawned is the non-profit organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA. The extremist animal rights group, for readers who have been living under a rock, has made itself famous by sneaking cameras into cattle or chicken factories and by holding large public protests and boycotts of places like KFC. The intent of these do-gooders is righteous enough. Yes, the rabbit that made your winter gloves was probably skinned alive; and yes, the poultry that we eat never saw the light of day. But lately, news events involving PETA are becoming more sensational than effective.

Several weeks ago, a popparotzo caught a short video of Lindsey Lohan walking onto a French nightclub. As she does every other night of her life. The YouTube video, entitled “Lindsay Lohan owned by PETA” explains the rest and anyone interested in watching the actress get pelted with white powder would do themselves a favor by checking it out.

Earlier this semester, former Recorder Editor-in-Chief Justin Kloczko reported on another equally futile attempt in converting omnivores to vegetarianism. The Hartford Advocate article covered the “event” (or, more aptly, the “spectacle”) where two young women, completely naked, showered together on a Hartford street corner.

Mostly obscured by a shower curtain, the vinyl fabric read “1 lb. of meat = 2,463 gallons of water.” Unfortunately for the girls, there were no reported converts during the course of their shower.

But PETA isn’t all flour bombing and nudity, although the two events were certainly more entertaining than most of the action PETA takes. The activists have also lobbied the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Association in Vermont—a group of insurance companies that cover one-in-three Americans, according to bcbs.com. PETA posted a letter written to the association on their Web site.

“On behalf of PETA and our more than 2 million members and supporters--including thousands in Vermont--I am writing to urge you to offer lower health insurance premiums to vegetarians and to raise the rates of your meat-eating customers.”

According to the Kaiser Commission, 45 million Americans don’t have health insurance.

But instead of rallying for equality for humans, PETA has decided to spend their annual budget of $30 million on fighting against their own species for the sake of cows—an animal that would not exist if it weren’t for human beings in the first place.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals seem to have, in large part, a blatant disregard for the ethical treatment of other people. Children in Darfur have about as much of an ability to defend themselves as PETA’s precious baby pigs. When PETA travels to factories in the rural south, where people are rummaging through animal carcasses for abysmal wages, can the activists see past the headless chicken to the woman holding it?

Making fun of PETA is as easy as it is socially acceptable. But there’s something inherently wrong with choosing to defend the rights of animals over those of people. We may not be a perfect species, but what other animal has created music, whether it’s Bach or Daft Punk?

What other species has evolved the term “shelter” from a cave into a High Gothic Church or the “opulent marble palace” known as Vance?

And it’s now, more than ever that we need to watch out for each other and fight for our collective rights—not those of animals. Chickens running freely through some New England forest will mean very little if Israel wipes out half of the Middle East, or if this recession turns into a depression.

Because no matter what PETA may want us to think, animals aren’t people too.

Marissa Blaszko Opinion Editor

As fall finals loom overhead, students may be too preoccupied with passing their Organic Chem or Art History finals to notice that 2008 is just a few weeks away from drawing to a close.

And it’s about time.

There is plenty to be thankful for, even if it isn’t the weather. The most obvious example is that the Bush Era—which will hopefully be referred to by future historians as the Bush Error—is almost over.

Eight years, several failed constitutional amendments, a gutting of the public school systems, two wars and a recession later, we somehow managed to make it through. Whether an Obama presidency will be any better remains to be seen. But for now, the entire world can sigh in collective relief. We’re almost there.

Equally relieving is the fact that Obama Mania finally seems to have slowed down. Now that Obama is officially “The Man”, it’ll be a refreshing change of pace when New York’s lattedrinking hipsters change their chants from “Yes We Can” to “What The Hell?” Because unfortunately, it seems that although Bush and Dick may finally be out of office, the Iraq War isn’t going anywhere just yet.

On the other side of the coin, one of the plagues that seems to have finally died down is RickRoll. For anyone that didn’t watch Rick Astley both blossom and self-destruct at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, it was an amazing sight.

After completing the largest RickRoll— that is, the unexpected playing of his ‘80s one hit wonder, “Never Gonna Give You Up”— Astley actually made RickRoll passé all over again. Although the video was funny the first few times, anyone that has a Twitter account or gets their news from Digg has probably had their IQ dropped several points by the song.

Soon, thanks to Astley’s daytime cable performance, our parents will probably be trying to “send us the RickRoll” via email, in some attempt to relate to us kids. Hopefully, Rick Astley will disappear back into the hole that he spent the past 20 years in.

One of the things that a new calendar won’t help us heal from will be, unfortunately, Kanye West. No matter how catchy his songs

may be, West needs to join Astley in whatever dusty corner of the world bad ideas go to die.

Claiming “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” at a Hurricane Katrina benefit concert is probably the most intelligent statement the singer has made since riding Jay-Z’s coattails into the spot light.

West then claimed in a 2006 Playboy interview that, “[I’m] definitely in the history books already.” Apparently, after appearing on the Rolling Stones cover dressed as Christ, West feels that he is, in fact, the Second Coming.

Although, to be fair, the fact that the Soulja Boy dance has finally faded makes up for the fact that we’ll probably have to put up with West for a few more years.

Back onto the topic of politics and more importantly—hipsters. The term, a synonym of “tool,” is a type of college kid who probably describes him or herself as “political”, but probably doesn’t know the difference between their Urban Outfitters scarf and a Keffiyeh.

Other sure-tale signs that you, too, may be a hipster, include using the phrases “toi” for “toilet” or “deck” for “cool”, refusing to be seen with a Starbucks or Dunkin Donut coffee cup, listening to Girl Talk or being a fine art photography major. Hopefully, the species won’t survive through the winter.

O.J. Simpson is finally in jail. Starbucks has begun closing stores in order to balance out the fact that the chain breeds like rats. Twitter peaked with the Mumbai terrorist attacks and will probably begin to decline, like MySpace and GeoCities before it. Even with Window’s new “I’m a PC” commercials, Vista’s future looks as bad as the software itself.

Miley Cyrus has finally killed alter-ego Hannah Montana, and one can only hope Miley herself will soon follow.

Let’s hope that Michael Phelps joins Miley since even athletes are sick of hearing about the Olympics Golden Boy. All in all, it’s been a decent year. And who knows—maybe one of these years, Central will finally begin some serious work on the 2020 plan. Because out of all of the things that should probably disappear along with the year 2008: Vance Dorm, Davidson Hall and Copernicus Garage are pretty high up there.

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, December 10, 2008 / OPINION

Domestic Troops Set a Negative Precedent sHAUnA simeone staff Writer

In a 1789 letter to Connecticut legislator David Humphreys, Thomas Jefferson once said, “there are instruments so dangerous to the rights of the nation and which place them so totally at the mercy of their governors… such an instrument is a standing army”.

A standing army is a well-equipped and well-trained military force that does not disband during times of peace. With the recent news that the Pentagon is planning to release 20,000 uniformed troops within the United States by 2011, our country is coming dangerously close to realizing one of our founders’ biggest fears.

The founders knew all too well the risk of allowing government soldiers to patrol throughout the homeland. The British army had troops stationed throughout the Americas and were able to swiftly enforce tyrannical demands onto the colonists. Eventually, the British oppressed the colonists so much that the American Revolution was ignited.

The United States’ plan to dispatch troops into the states is a horrible idea, considering the history involving domestic armies. On December 1, the Washington Post reported that the Pentagon was calling for the build up of “rapid reaction forces” composed of soldiers from all branches of the armed forces to help local officials in the case of a nuclear terrorist attack or other domestic crises.

Many commentators and officials, including political libertarians, are skeptical of this plan and fear that it may be setting a bad precedent of allowing the military to be involved in domestic affairs. Anna Christensen from the ACLU stated that she believed deployment of troops for homeland security could be “just the first example of a series of expansions in presidential and military authority”.

It is true that history has shown that domestic armies are a powerful tool used by tyrannical governments to enforce their power and wishes. For example, the ShutzStaffel, which became a state organization in Nazi Germany, was responsible for many of the war crimes that took place by the Nazis during the Holocaust.

We are far from creating an organization comparable to the SS, but allowing troops to be positioned within the United States would make it very convenient for the government if they ever decided to enforce something very unpopular or oppressive.

This action by the Pentagon has spurred a lot of conversation about the Posse Comitatus Act passed in 1878 in the United States. It was passed after the end of Reconstruction because of the previous military occupation of the Confederate states. The act prohibits federal troops from enforcing laws within the states.

But the recent act by the Pentagon is not in violation of this act. The troops are specifically stationed to help respond in times of emergency, not enforce laws. U.S. troops have been used domestically in the past such as during the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and the Los Angeles riots of 1992.

The mission for the US troops has been explicitly defined. The assignment given by the U.S. army says that the troops can be “called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios.”

The broad language in this definition is troubling and can easily be extrapolated or interpreted to give permission for the troops to get involved in a variety of operations. The main intention of this act is to help protect the homeland from terrorist attacks and other large-scale disasters. But giving consent for Army troops to help with crowd control and civil unrest can be applied to many other circumstances. Hopefully this doesn’t lead to army officials holding us back from moshing at the next Kanye concert.

The United States must be careful when allotting this type of power to a force as strong as the US military. Once troops are stationed in the states it will be very difficult to remove them so we must be sure this decision is in the best interest of preserving freedom for the American people.

5

Potential Wasted on Tests Aimed for Sports Genetics Company Spoils Parents Dreams of Sports Super Stardom seAn FenWiCK staff Writer

As a hypothetical parent, wouldn’t you want to know if your child had the making of an Olympian inside them? Well, now parents in Bolder, Co. can.

The Atlas Sports Genetics Company is offering a test that can tell them if their child has potential to out-throw Tom Brady. This test looks for a certain gene in a child’s DNA that can make them a great football player, long distance runner or just a great athlete.

Imagine the possibilities. With just one test parents can decide their child’s whole future. No longer do parents need to spend thousands of dollars on school – now they can cut right to the chase, slap some shoulder pads on Johnny and sit back as he racks in the cash. The Atlas Sports Genetics Company said the purpose of this test is to show what areas children excel in so that they don’t need to waste their time doing sports that will get them no where.

And we thought all those years of little league where to get us outdoors.

It’s obvious how some parents can easily use this test to destroy the life of their child.

With the test result they can choose to forget about the test or have it determine the type of life they want for their child. Most kids don’t know what they want out of life and as a kid you want to be everything when you grow up. So when mom and dad come to you saying, “how bout you put that crayon down and go play some football?” unless you are really engaged in that coloring book, you are going to go for the football.

What happens to the parents who were expecting their children to be great sports stars and then the results come back negative, what is in store for the kids besides a beating because their genes didn’t add up?

The gene that is responsible for this is called ACTN3, according to the United Press International in one of many articles on the subject. This gene is responsible for how certain muscles use the oxygen they are given. It can go two ways, one involving using the oxygen slowly for more energy production or much faster for more force.

By checking for this gene, The Atlas Sports Genetics Company determines what sport the child will be good at. Sports like football will use the fast oxygen consumption so more force will be behind the muscles as well as strength. As for the slower oxygen consumption, endurance sports will have the better edge due to the larger amounts of energy.

It takes over 200 genes to have athletic skill and some times genes have nothing to do with it. But if there is a will to play a sport and

excel at it, then there is a good chance it will happen with or with out the ACTN3 gene.

What is said about the hundreds of athletes that do not have this gene? Are they a fluke? Are they mutations? Or is it just that genes really do not matter?

Genes matter when it comes to diseases that run in your family, but when it comes to athletic abilities. The Atlas Sports Genetics Company should, ideally, be putting their focus on what matters to a child – not whether or not the kid was going to be the next Derek Jeter.

Sports

6 THE RECORDER Wednesday, December 10, 2008

COVERAGE STARTS ON BACK PAGE

Crowley Finishes Competition at National Meet CCSUBlueDevils.com

Central Connecticut senior Erin Crowley finished her competition at the USA Swimming Short Course National Championships on Saturday.

The Blue Devil captain swam in the 100 freestyle and finished in a time of 52.98. Crowley touched in at 24.45 in the 50 free on Thursday.

Crowley’s lifetime best in the 50 free is 23.85, which won her the event at last season’s NEC Championships.

Her time of 52.98 seconds in the 100 free was .18 off of her best time this year. Crowley finished in 52.80 at the Terrier Invitational earlier this season. The Plainville, Conn. native won the 100 free event at the Northeast Conference Championships last season, touching in at 52.10. Crowley’s lifetime best is 51.76, set in 2008.

On Thursday Crowley timed in at 24.45 in the 50 freestyle, coming .12 seconds off of her top time of the season. Her mark of 24.33 stands as the best time in the conference to date.

The Central swimming and diving team will continue their season after the holidays when they travel to Worcester, Mass. to compete against Holy Cross and Vermont.

The meet is scheduled for Sunday January 11 at 1 p.m photo: ccsubluedevils.com

Kelley Sets School Record, Blue Devils Compete at Northeastern CCSUBlueDevils.com

Freshman Amanda Kelley set a school record in the shot put, while the Central Connecticut women’s track and field team competed at the Northeastern Husky Track and Field Carnival on Saturday.

Kelley recorded a distance of 38 feet, six and one-quarter inches to place eighth in the event. The Blue Devil freshman also placed fourth in the weight throw with a mark of 46 ft.

6.75 in.

Freshman teammate Amy Sanjurjo finished in the top 15 in three events. She placed fourth in the 55-meter dash, recording a time of 7.36 seconds. Sanjurjo was also 10th

in the long jump and 14th in the 200 meters. She jumped to 16 ft. 10.5 in. in the long and crossed the finish line in 26.48 in the 200.

CCSU cross country standouts Katherine Bossardet and Megan Jaswell as well as freshman Amanda Prescott were the other Blue Devils to come away with top 10 finishes at the meet. Bossardet placed eighth in the 5000 meters in a time of 18:41.16, while Jaswell finished five seconds behind her (18:46.11) in 10th.

Prescott was ninth in the triple jump, recording a mark of 33 ft. 3 in.

The Blue Devils will be back in action next month when they compete in the Sorlein Invitational at the University of Rhode Island on January 16 at 1 p.m.

Amanda Kelley Stats Weight Throw 14.19m / 46’ 06.75” Shot Put 11.74m / 38’ 06.25” SCHOOL RECORD

Women’s Basketball Treading in Unfamiliar Waters Peter Collin Managing Editor

It is a rare thing to be there from the start when things finally start to turn around for a program. Right now the CCSU sports community has the privilege of watching a program create something from the ground up.

The CCSU women’s basketball program has few, if any accolades to its name. Since the program made the jump to the Division I format for the 1986-87 season, they have had exactly three winning seasons.

That’s three seasons of a .500 winning percentage or better in 22 seasons. By contrast they have lost at least 20 games 13 times including six of their last seven seasons (they lost 19 in 2004-05).

But it seems that things might be changing for the Blue Devils this season. They have already matched their win total from last season with their fourth victory on Saturday over Mount St. Mary’s and head coach Beryl Piper has done an excellent job at recruiting athletic players to build around.

Even now I’m sure there are a few coaches in the Northeast

Conference who marked their games against CCSU as easy victories. They may have to reconsider that approach.

And that underestimation is what drives a lot of these Blue Devil players. Many of them were here for the dark days when the team was a laughing stock.

Sophomore Kerrianne Dugan probably put it best after the Blue Devil victory over the Mount when she said that teams in the NEC have to be ready for them this year.

This Blue Devil squad is already outperforming last season’s team in every facet of the game. They have lowered their scoring differential by 10 points while improving their percentages across the board in field goals, three-point shots and free throws.

Women’s basketball has had success before at Central but it has always been fleeting. Each winning season has been immediately followed by a losing one and only once have those teams not lost 20 games.

What might make this different for Piper is her status as a local and alumni. Piper is the first alumni to coach the women’s team and she played for the winningest team in the

history of CCSU women’s basketball.

Of course Piper will be the first to say that this team needs to find consistency on the court and that they need to limit their turnovers.

But the fact remains that this team has loads of young talent and Piper’s status as a championship coach at the state high school level will only help her draw in talent from around the state.

Their youth and inexperience will come into play a lot this season.

They will still make a lot of mistakes and they are prone to not showing up from game to game. But the key is there is talent there for the team to succeed and to be successful for seasons to come.

This could be a turning point for this Blue Devil program. They may not contend for a title this season, but Piper has a young core to build around. There are seven underclassmen on the squad, four freshman and three sophomores.

Whether or not they win a championship is inconsequential right now, but for the moment the men’s basketball team is not the only team that will be fun to watch.

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, December 10, 2008 / SPORTS

Pick Your Poison

NFL Predictions Winner

7

Here we are at the end of another season of Pick Your Poison and we have our winner for this semester. Even though our Sports Editor Kyle Dorau built a comfortable lead for the final week, it was close to the very end this year with only four picks separating our top four student contenders. But one managed to step above everyone in this final week. Anthony Gonsalves took the prize by just one pick over Carey Brimmer.

Gonsalves managed to hold off a strong final week charge by Brimmer and by Gary Berman who made a valiant effort with 13 picks in the final week. The decisive pick for Gonsalves came in the form of the Houston Texans, as he was one of only two contestants to put his faith in the 6-7 under achievers.

Finally, we’d like to give a salute to Kevin Petruzielo. Petruzielo was in it until the final week but after a solid but not great performance he slipped back to fourth. Petruzielo never gives up. In fact he’s been making picks with The Recorder since the fall of 2005. That contest seems to have never come to a conclusion but Petruzielo was in the running that year, too.

Well, better luck next year Kevin (I’m sure you’ve heard that before), congratulations Anthony and thanks for everyone’s participation throughout the semester.

This Week’s NFL Prediction Leader Board Rank

Name

Total Points

Current Week

1

Kyle Dorau

135

11

2

Anthony Gonsalves

129

12

3

Carey Brimmer

128

12

4

Gary Berman

126

13

4

Kevin Petruzielo

126

9

6

Nick Viccione

124

10

7

Ed Gaug

121

10

8

Ryan Kennedy

120

12

9

Peter Collin

110

10

10

Marc Chouinard

107

9

11

Edward Homick

102

10

12

Alex Waters

88

8

12

Melissa Traynor

88

9

8

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, December 10, 2008 / SPORTS

Central Conquers The Mount Continued from page 16

Men’s

Central spent most of the game trying to contain Goode, who came into the contest averaging 20 points per game, and back court partner Jean Cajou. Goode managed to put up 19 points but was held scoreless during overtime.

Cajou couldn’t find the basket during regulation, but he found a rhythm during overtime. The sophomore went 3-4 from the field in overtime including a three-pointer to give the Mount the lead with only 1:40 left.

Seymore drove the ball down the lane again at the end of overtime.

This time his first shot rattled out, but sophomore David Simmons tipped the ball to Horton. Horton’s shot came up short but again the ball found Seymore who’s shot hit the front rim and then fell in.

“I felt confident,” said Seymore.

“We feel confident that, yeah it could go one way – the bad side. But we feel confident we could pull it out and we never pack it in. So if we keep fighting; good things will happen if we keep fighting.”

Simmons did a lot of the dirty work for the Blue Devils, playing hard defense and putting up a double-double against a larger Mount St. Mary’s squad. Simmons stepped up his game in the second half, getting 11 of his 13 points down the stretch.

“We always put an emphasis on defense; post defense and rebound-

ing,” said Simmons. “Points are going to come off of our defense so if we play good defense then everything will work out like it did tonight.”

Simmons led all players in rebounds with 12 for the game. His effort helped Central out-rebound their opponents for the sixth consecutive game.

Both teams shot consistently poor from the field in the first half.

The Blue Devils only managed a 38.5 percent from the field while The Mount was equally as bad, putting in only 39.1 percent of their shots.

Horton continued to impress this season, but his effort was somewhat overshadowed by his teammate’s stellar play.

After a solid first half Horton turned it up in the second half. After scoring nine points and grabbing three boards in the first half, Horton put up 13 points and four rebounds while hitting a free throw to bring the Blue Devils within two of the Mountaineers.

Horton led all players with 22 points for the game and he is now the leading scorer in the NEC, averaging 20.6 points per game.

Central will hit the road this week. Their first contest will be against UMBC in Baltimore, Md. on Wednesday at 7 p.m. They will then travel to Kingston, R.I. where they will take on Rhode Island University on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 4 p.m.

Top: Sophomore David Simmons posted his first double-double of the season.

Right: Ken Horton scored a game-high 22 points.

Edward Gaug / The Recorder

Aaron Hall drives through the Mountaineer defense.

Continued from page 16

Women’s

conference schedule tied for last place with a 3-15 record. The team is now playing with a new sense of confidence.

“They’ll have to be ready for us.

It’s not going to be easy,” said Dugan.

“Everyone is contributing. It’s not all on a couple of people. Everybody really helps out. Different people rebound and different people score.”

Simmons led all scorers with 18 points and she also added five assists and five steals showing few jitters in her first career NEC contest. It was also Simmons fifth game this season where she posted a 1-1 assist to turnover ratio.

“A lot of people think that I’m not going to come out and play my game,” said Simmons. “They tell me, ‘just take the ball and play your game’ and usually I dish it and get it to them.

They just get me involved so I don’t feel intimidated at all so I can just do what I do.”

Piper was happy with the overall effort of her squad, but still feels that they need time find more consistency from game to game. Piper also expressed praise for the two stars of the game.

“Shontice did a phenomenal job at the point,” said Piper. “Kerrianne plays the way she plays: consistent.”

Sophomore Justina Udenze had seven blocks for Central and proved to be a force underneath the basket, grabbing eight rebounds for the game. Sophomore Leanne Crockett was also a solid contributor for the Blue Devils, pulling down nine boards and scoring six points.

The Blue Devils will hit the road and play their second NEC game of the season. They will be looking to win consecutive conference games for the first time since February of 2006 when they defeated the St. Right: Junior P.J. Wade heads in for a lay-up.

Bottom: Sophomore Kerriane Dugan pulled down seven rebounds.

Edward Gaug / The Recorder

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, December 10, 2008 / SPORTS

Blue Devils Seek Out and Defeat Foxes

9

Continued from page 16

To find visual evidence of the physicality between the two teams, one just had to look at junior co-captain Joe Dabkowski. Sporting bandages over a pair of fresh cuts on his chin, he spoke about Marist being the kind of tough opponent they would see in the postseason.

“We play up to a team’s level,” said Dabkowski. “In high-level games, we have a tendency to pick our game up and get a lot accomplished.”

Dabkowski assisted on the game-winning goal, executing a two-on-one to perfection with 19 seconds left on the clock in the first period.

Early in the second period, he provided the Blue Devils with more offense, coming off the bench to score a breakaway goal and make it 4-1 in favor of Central.

The credit for the fourth goal largely belonged to a strong penalty kill that led to the Dabkowski opportunity. Ryan Paglinco, who would later score on a third period power play, blocked two shots in succession to help eliminate the man advantage. The penalized Blue Devil came out of the box and hopped onto the bench as Dabkowski was greeted with a breakaway opportunity.

“The penalty kill was the story of the game,” said Mallia. “The Paglinco kill was unbelieveable.”

The CCSU victory not only took a physical toll on the players, but an emotional toll on their coach as well.

“I’m mentally strained from that game,” said Mallia. “I’m real proud of the team. We’ve been through a lot. I knew this team could get and would get to this point.” He would go on to mention the cuts and bruises the team sustained, as well as the referees who let the game get out of hand late. Pushing, shoving, and fullblown hitting after whistles was not uncommon in the final two periods.

Rob DiClemente, Matt Wyld and Brett Holmes also scored for the Blue Devils, who pelted Marist goalie and Wethersfield, Conn. native Tim Fleming with 44 shots. The Red Foxes received goals from Sharif Soliman and Charlie Gotard.

“We did all the little things, and it paid off with a nice 6-2 win,” said Mallia. “We got guys blocking shots, we got blood dripping, and we got all the things that it takes to make that type of run that we made last year.”

Central Hockey travels to Western Connecticut State University on Saturday Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. for their final game of the semester.

They return to action on Friday, Jan. 16 at 8:30 p.m. against William Patterson, ranked first in the Northeast.

Photo: Paul Krish

“We got guys blocking shots, we got blood dripping and we got all the things that it takes to make that type of run that we made last year.”

– CCSU Ice Hockey Coach Jim Mallia

Photo: Paul Krish

10

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, December 10, 2008 / ENTERTAINMENT

Top 20 Albums 1

2

of 2008

Melissa Traynor

Edward Gaug

Editor-in-Chief

3

Associate Layout Editor

4

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

TV on the Radio - Dear Science

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

Girl Talk - Feed the Animals

This is as sweet indie rock is going to get, dripping with a funky lean towards sub-Saharan percussion and the preppy composure of Columbia University. We are completely serious: hands-down the best album of the year.

Dear Science is one of the most solid rock albums to come out in recent years and add in their fantastic live shows, TV on the Radio just barely misses out on this year’s top spot.

Fleet Foxes are pure relaxation in a wooden cottage somewhere off in a snowy mountain range.

The album is an ethereal mix of heavenly vocals and acoustic guitar.

Gregg Gillis a.k.a. Girl Talk is the king of the mash-up and with Feed the Animals he just raised the bar for all the competition. No one can even come close to Girl Talk.

5

6

Hot Chip - Made in the Dark MGMT - Oracular Spectacular Hot Chip don’t fail with their enthusiastic “Ready for the Floor” and mellow title track. It’s a versatile must-have.

9

The Cool Kids - The Bake Sale EP Despite their young age, The Cool Kids have swagger and knowledge of the hip-hop game way beyond their years. With some of the tightest rhymes and throwback feel, The Bake Sale takes the first hip-hop spot on the list.

7

The Dodos - Visiter

8

Ratatat - LP3

Not only is this duo amazing live, they’ve got a morphing, psychedelic sound worth all the praise. Catch them while this album’s personality is still around.

The Dodos came out of nowhere this spring, but have continued to keep a spot in our playlists all year. Despite their spelling error and weird album cover, The Dodos are on their indie-rock game right now.

Here are a bunch of songs twisted from peaceful tropical to Ratatat’s signature electronic dips and heights. You have to give them credit for a beautiful consistency.

Santogold - Santogold

Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line

She’s reggae plus indie-rock plus hip-hop plus all of the crazy things we love about remixes in one album.

This Aussie trio has taken catchy pop music to a new level that is competeing with the likes of list-topper Vampire Weekend. A small lack of memorable tracks keep them from being higher on the list.

We knew what was coming, what with the older EPs, but Ra Ra Riot can’t disappoint, especially when they’ve got a steady bass drum line and a string section. They’re a guilty, pop pleasure we don’t mind owning up to (and, love seeing live).

10

11

12

13 14 15 16 The Walkmen - You & Me

Department of Eagles - In Ear Park Okkervil River - The Stand Ins Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple

This album is what happens when a great heavy band takes a break to produce a lighter and airy collection of songs. You & Me keeps all the flair of The Walkmen, but sings a sorrow you could remember a lover to.

Daniel Rossen takes his melodic brilliance to the Department with all of the strange fury that Grizzly Bear came so close to. Definitely give yourself an afternoon to take this album in.

The Stand Ins’ rollercoaster of pep and gloom is simply contagious. There are too many things to like about this album.

The Black Keys - Attack & Release

Bloc Party - Intimacy

Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III

The Black Keys’ take on folk rock took over prennial favorites My Morning Jacket with solid blues guitar and superior song writing. Good luck next time Jim James.

Despite all the references to Intimacy’s sound being close to that of Radiohead’s, Bloc Party managed to make the Top 20 list over 2007-08 - other than Bloc Party, Ratatat was the only other group able to do this.

This album got more radio play than any other this year. With the some of the most memorable tracks in recent hip-hop history, Weezy grasps on to one of the last spots on The Recorder’s Top 20.

Cee Lo and Danger Mouse followed up the hit record St. Elsewhere with another solid album that mixes Danger Mouse’s producing with Cee Lo’s unmistakable vocals.

17 18 19 20

Sebastian Grainger - Sebastian Grainger and the Mountains

This album is certainly rock, but stripped down to the basics and it feels good to just get lost in the simplicity of Grainger’s debut collection.

THE RECORDER Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Entertainment Filter Remixes for the Damned Pulse Records September 16, 2008

www.officialfilter.com

Being barraged with holiday music in supermarkets, malls and television commercials, people are generally tired of hearing about angels, bells, and jolly ole’ Santa Clause by the first week of December.

Honestly, whoever actually bothers to go purchase a holiday album has to be partially insane: what would I spend my money on, an actual album I’d enjoy, or something like Enya’s And Winter Came?

Enya is some spiritual nut case; her birth name means “The Silver Lady”, and she creates music that belongs in the soundtrack of Titanic.

The Silver Lady also sounds like the name of a cruise ship.

While listening to this album, all I could think of is who on earth would actually listen to this, and this is the best scenario I could think of: picture a successful metrosexual stock broker alone in his 57th story bachelor pad on a snowy late New York City evening, looking out the window, plastered after his 10 th glass of scotch, crying his eyes out listening to Enya’s “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

Other than being the lonely man’s holiday album, this would also work well for a Yoga Christmas Party; what would be better than doing the downward dog to “The Spirit of Christmas Past”? Oh what blissful serenity.

Unforutnately, I cannot recommend Enya’s album this holiday season; most will probably blast Mariah Carey and N*Sync’s Christmas albums anyways, and piss off their apartment neighbors to the point of hearing a few smacks on the ceiling with a broomstick.

Spinning this album at your next gathering wouldn’t be suggested either, chances are beer cans would go flying and you’d probably get stabbed.

Your mom might like it though. Buy it for her for Christmas.

Enya And Winter Came Warner Bros. Records November 10, 2008

Karyn Danforth / Editor-at-Large

Ace Hood Gutta Def Jam Records November 18, 2008

Hunger, drive, motivation, savoirfaire, captivation, versatility are all the elements needed to make a great Hip Hop artist. Lately, this is the formula that is being used by many southern rappers along with their strong alliances to gain their respect in this cold industry. Perhaps this was exactly what DJ Khaled heard from Antoine McColister, better known as Ace Hood, down at that Miami, Florida radio station.

Though the album sales may not reflect his potential, Ace Hood’s Gutta, is nothing short of a great one. With super radio hits such as “Ride” laced with the vocals of young R&B sensation Trey Songz, (not to mention the remix with Juelz Santana and Rick Ross), and MySpace hit “Cash Flow”

11

As a big fan of the industrial rock band Filter and of lead singer Richard Patrick, I was left relatively confused by the band’s fourth album Anthems for the Damned. Anthems, which was released back in May, was a different breed of Filter and it was a breed I was completely unsure about.

The only returning member of the band behind the first three albums was Patrick himself. Patrick, who is still as energetic and angry as he was on the first three albums from the band, is a little older now and this was reflective on the fourth album. Anthems is a lighter side of Filter, musically.

Remixes for the Damned changes things up and is a very good re-imagining of the original album.

What Remixes does best is fix what was wrong with Anthems. The radio-friendly first single off of the original album “Soldiers of Misfortune” has been done over three times on this new release. The same goes for the extremely un-Filter-like song “Kill the Day”. On Remixes both tracks are done better.

As a whole Remixes is more playable. It’s more industrial and more electronic. It might not bring you back to the vintage days of Filter but it will make you forget some of the painful tracks on Anthems.

The only problem I have with Remixes is that not every song was redone. As I said before, two songs were done over three times each.

More variety would have been nice. The other problem is that Remixes somehow manages to bleed Patrick’s anti-Bush sentiments even further as all the songs have reworked titles. These include tracks such as “The Take (Rumsfeld Torture Party)” and “In Dreams (Chase The

White Rabbit Into Pakistan)”. I understand music is the artist’s work but, I preferred when Patrick used his signature screams to be angry about something else. There are ways to send these messages far more subtlety.

Normally I wouldn’t bother touching a remix album, but Filter’s latest effort will make me think twice when I see one in the future. While I prefer a few of the original tracks, Remixes as a whole is a great album and gives me hope for the band’s future. Filter can still put on one of the more energetic shows you’ll see. I simply hope Patrick’s vision shifts back to what made Filter great in the first place.

topped off with the vocals of super producer and R&B singer T-Pain, Ace Hood has some potential. Well, with great tracks like “Get Him” and “ I Don’t Give A Fuck”, Ace Hood fails to disappoint. Ace also gets a little bit of help from southern friends Lloyd, Brisco, and Trick Daddy.

It seems as if today when we listen to hiphop music, all we here is the same thing: “get money” and, well, you know the rest. But when these topics arose in the album, the versatility, skill, and slight deviance could be heard on top of pounding 808s and snare drums. Are you thinking, “No, I don’t really mean that”? Well hop on your laptop, listen to a couple of tracks, then go buy it. You will like it.

The time and distance spent recording Insurgentes has paid off for Steven Wilson. I was two songs into the album when I picked it as my album of the year. After listening to the full album and the bonus disc I realized I hadn’t jumped the gun too soon. Insurgentes is what music is all about. Wilson experimented with all his influences, abilities and styles to create an album he himself would love to listen to.

lines, Ludacris gives us another well-expected success.

With every album dropped by Ludacris, our number ten HipHop Cash King of Forbes always gives us something good; remember “What’s your Fantasy”, “Stand Up”, and everyone’s middle school/high school favorite “Southern Hospitality”? Well Ludacris gives us something similar with radio hits such as “What Them Girls Like”, not featuring, but co-starring R&B and pop superstar Chris Brown and with wellacclaimed song writer Sean Garrett, you cant go wrong. Ludacris also gets some help on his second single from everyone’s favorite vocalist, T-Pain, on the track “One More Drink”, humoring the kinds of girls we go home with after too many drinks at the club.

The idea to name the project Theater of the Mind came from the thought that much of the hip-hop music we listen to nowadays sounds like a movie. DTP camp decided it would be a good idea to make every song its own scene from a movie, thus giving us all eighteen of Ludacris’ different cinematic personalities on the cover.

Collaborating with special co-star voiceovers of Ving Rhames, Floyd Mayweather, Chris Rock and more, the album delivers much of the cinematic substance it was looking for.

Also, we get great edges from guest star appearances from hip hop superstars like Nas, Jay-z, and Lil’ Wayne. Pick this one up.

Michael Walsh / Staff Writer

Cynic Traced in Air Season of Mist Records November 25, 2008 Mike Theodore / Staff Writer

Porcupine Steven Wilson Tree frontman Insurgentes Steven Wilson Kscope Records claimed his new November 26, 2008 solo album is “different from anything I’ve ever done before”, otherwise he wouldn’t have bothered. Insurgentes, Wilson’s first true solo album, is all that and more.

Combining his musical past of progressive rock with drone, noise and post-punk shoegazer music like Joy Division and The Cure, Wilson’s long-coming solo project opens up new doors in the musician’s heralded career.

Wilson has done it all in his ever-growing career. He’s seen as one of the progressive rock masterminds of the modern era. He is to Porcupine Tree as Robert Fripp is to King Crimson. Wilson’s career spans the genres as he’s tackled all types of progressive rock with Porcupine Tree, an ambience-flavored type of drone with Bass Communion and an art-rock collaboration with Israeli rock star Aviv Geffen.

This is why Wilson’s brand new approach to his newest album should come as no surprise to fans.

Insurgentes, as Wilson himself describes the album, is an eclectic mess. It’s the good kind of mess though. It’s the kind of mess that you make, but turns out to be a brilliant discovery.

Except that Wilson made this diverse collection of sounds on purpose. Wilson recorded Insurgentes over a long period in many different countries. The project spanned from December 2007 to August 2008 as Wilson recorded during his busy schedule wherever he could. In fact, title track “Insurgentes” was recorded in a church in Mexico on a church piano.

The album opens with the harmonious Harmony Korine, a title definitely referencing the art house film director of the same name.

This track sets the eternal tone for the album.

It’s a true blend of Porcupine Tree-inspired rock with the shoegazing influence Wilson himself mentioned. The second track on the album, “Abandoner”, introduces the dark, almost horror film soundtrack inspired drone and noise portions of the album. The final minute of the track is a barrage of grinding atonal sounds.

After a decade long hiatus’, Cynic returns in 2008 after a fifteen year

absence with Traced in Air. There really is no easy way for me to explain the way Cynic sounds, but here goes nothing. They have the eclectic style of Between the Buried and Me, the technical precision of Dream Theater, the tasteful tempo changes of Opeth and soft moments that would make Billy Corgan proud. Confused yet?

Let me try again. Traced in Air is a melting pot of jazz-fusion, tech death and progressive rock. Blended together, a melodic plateau is reached and sustained for much of the album’s short running time of 34-minutes.

Naming song highlights is rough because the album flows really well. It’s not one piece of music, but the same aura and energy is preserved throughout.

Although, if I had to give someone one band to check out, it would be “Adam’s Murmur”. It has great lyrics, great lyrical delivery and keyboard solos.

Having two vocalists gives the advantage of having multiple vocal styles to use throughout the album. Clean, growls, robot, underwater and female vocals are used to accent one another. Getting across the messages of rebirth, soul merging and evolution never became so complicated. This also works as a sort of a downer. The vocal styles work together well at some points, but others I’m left feeling that having one type of vocals would suit them better.

Traced in Air features a gorgeous array of layered music. Cynic founders Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert came together with a decade of ideas and formed a great album. They are set to tour this winter and have a new album coming out in 2023. Kidding…maybe not.

Mike d’Avino / Staff Writer

Ludacris Theater of the Mind Def Jam Records November 24, 2008

Theatre of the Mind sounds like an interesting title. But will the content of music match?

Well when it comes down to creative lyricists like Atlanta rapper Ludacris, you know your in for some tough lyrics and a good laugh, all of which you get when you tune in to Luda’s new album Theatre of the Mind.

Moving 214,126 units within its first week and reaching the number five spot on the Billboard Charts with hard punching beats, decent hooks, comedic themes and tough punch

Michael Walsh / Staff Writer

Mike Theodore / Staff Writer

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, December 10, 2008 / ENTERTAINMENT

Tween Audience Should Fall Prey

Director Profile: Lloyd Kaufman

Photo: LloydKaufman.com

Michael Walsh Staff Writer

Photo: Summit Entertainment

Tonya Malinowski

Special to The Recorder

It’s safe to say that anyone who underestimated the buying power of 10-18 year-olds has their foot in their mouth after the film adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s literary phenomenon Twilight grossed over $7 million from the midnight showings alone.

The film doesn’t stray from the plot of Meyer’s best-seller, which follows the story of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) as the “new girl” at a high school in Forks, Washington. She soon encounters the dangerous, but strangely alluring Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and quickly learns the secret of his family’s vampire nature.

Though the burgeoning forbidden romance in the film is extremely well crafted, the movie will probably not impress anyone who does not already own a Hot Topic “Team Edward” shirt. The love story between Bella

and Edward mostly captivates the tween audience because of its real-life impossibility and Pattinson’s dangerous charisma and oh-sodreamy good looks. Stewart’s wet blanket acting does little for the film; a let down after her stellar, though minimal, performance in “Into the Wild”. Catherine Hardwicke’s direction also periodically misses the mark, but is overshadowed by 121 minutes of dialogue that really just plain sucks (no vampire pun intended).

As Bella’s precocious, boring narration details her growing obsession with Edward, we learn that he is struggling to overcome the powerful love he feels for her because of his simultaneous natural desire to kill her. Campy? A little.

The watered-down Gothic plot is extremely predictable, even for those who haven’t read the book, though it does handle the typical high school dilemmas without trivializing them.

The film’s impressive ability to relate to the teenaged makes its not-so-subtle promotion of abstinence even harder to swallow. I couldn’t

have been the only post-pubescent member of the audience mentally screaming “Come on, just do it already!”, but the film holds fast to the notion that pre-martial sex will lead to an immediate, bloody death.

Despite all of this, not to mention the laughable special effects in the scenes showing Edward’s superhuman running ability and sunshine-induced glittering of the skin, the movie is infectious. Maybe I’m a sucker for a starcrossed lover story, but the film did lead me to read the next three books.

Of course the fact that the movie fails to live up to its killer soundtrack will not matter at all to the true “Twilight” cult – the ones who bought fake vampire teeth to wear to the midnight showing. I’m sure these hormone-driven fans would be just as happy with two hours of a shirtless Pattinson glowering erotically at the camera, but I have to admit, I wouldn’t mind that either. After all, I’m only human.

Free UCLA Porn Film Screening Sails Smoothly Despite Protest Rumors

Derek Liu / The Daily Bruin

Alyssa Bricklin The Daily Bruin UCLA

(U-WIRE) - UCLA’s Campus Events Commission held a free screening of “Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge,” a high-budget pornography feature film, in Ackerman Grand Ballroom on Wednesday.

The event attracted more than 850 students, said Alex Jeffries, Campus Events film commissioner.

Rumors of a walkout to be staged by Christian organizations against the film’s showing surfaced prior to the event, but no protesters materialized.

The rumors began after the Campus Events Commission received e-mails from Christian groups with a link to a Facebook event, Jeffries said.

Jeffries said the Facebook event, which had 47 confirmed guests, encouraged people to register for the screening and secure wristbands to the showing so that other students could not.

The Facebook page included a suggested e-mail to be sent to the commission and the chancellor’s office. The page also identified concerned students as members of International Justice Mission, “a Christian organization that fights against human trafficking.”

Danny Soper, a member of Campus Crusade for Christ, an organization that was not listed as a participant on the protest page, said it was pointless to stop students from watching the movie on campus because it would not deter them from going home to watch porn if they really wanted to.

However, Soper also said pornography is a misrepresentation of the purpose of sex.

Yen Pham, a member of International Justice Mission and Campus Crusade, said she was concerned about the morality of the event, not only from a religious perspective, but also from a human rights perspective.

Pham said some students registered for wristbands so they could participate in the Q&A panel session.

Pham asked the panel of guests, which included stars Evan Stone and Sasha Grey, along with the film’s director and the studio’s marketing director, how they felt about pornography’s link to sex trafficking.

Grey answered that she was offended by the association of the two.

She said that although pornography and sex trafficking are both prostitution, one is legal and the other is not.

The Facebook page also argued that pornography degrades women.

Alex Micelli, a third-year art history student who attended the movie, said she does not find pornography offensive to women.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s their choice,” Micelli said. “Not having the choice of what to do with your body would be more degrading.”

Dr. Neil Malamuth, a communication studies professor and co-editor of the book “Pornography and Sexual Aggression”, said that the effects of pornography exposure are complicated and vary largely depending on the individual.

Malamuth said exposure to pornography was a risk factor that could lead to sexual aggression when other risk factors for sexual aggression were present.

In spite of the controversy, the screening attracted a large group of students, who had varying opinions about the screening.

“If they can show people’s heads getting blown off, I don’t see why it should be a problem that they’re showing something so natural,” said Monica Hamblet, a third-year history student who attended.

Within the Campus Events Commission, there was little controversy about the screening, and the committee was generally enthusiastic, Jeffries said.

He added that the Q&A session was the committee’s most successful. Almost all of the students who attended the screening stayed for the Q&A. “The guests did a good job dealing with any awkward questions, but for the most part I thought the questions were good,” Jeffries said.

For a little over a month now I’ve been given space in this newspaper to write about a director I admire and appreciate. The five directors I’ve chosen to write about so far are filmmakers considered to be geniuses and the cream of the crop within their respective genres.

This theme will not change this week.

There’s a phenomenon in film known as the B-movie. That’s capital B for Bad. Although most B-movies fit into the exploitation, horror and science fiction genres, being classified as a B-movie tends to relate to the low budgets used to create the films. These so-bad-they’re-good films typically build up legions of cult followings of diehard fans that allow these low-budget films to be made.

Lloyd Kaufman, an American film director, producer, screenwriter and occasional actor, is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment.

Troma, which is considered the longest-running independent film studio, is one of the leaders of the modern B-movie. Kaufman and Troma are best known for their absurd, schlocky and gorefilled films that intend to purely entertain, humor, disgust and shock.

Troma and Kaufman’s most well known film is “The Toxic Avenger.” In fact, Troma’s current logo features Toxie, the film’s hero.

“The Toxic Avenger”, whose success has spurred three sequels, an animated cartoon and a video game, is about Melvin, a stereotypical scrawny nerd who accidentally falls into a bucket of toxic waste. This in turn causes him to mutate and become the Toxic Avenger, intimately known as Toxie. He, with mop in hand, becomes determined to defeat all crime in Tromaville (the fictitious city Troma is the locale of many films).

While content-wise this might sound a bit absurd, “The Toxic Avenger” was executed with pure grace and charisma by Kaufman.

To achieve extreme appreciation for what Kaufman and the rest of Troma does, one would need to view a couple of their behind-the-scenes documentaries. While extremely entertaining and funny, the docs do justice to painstaking work the team puts in for one of their films.

Nothing seems to ever go right for Kaufman, the actors, the unpaid interns and the rest of the crew hard at work. Even so, the finished products don’t represent the struggles on set. Time after time Kaufman is able to create his newest B-movie masterpiece.

Making a B-movie that is both entertaining and re-watchable is not an easy task. For Troma and Kaufman it has become second nature. They consistently churn out memorable characters, quotable quotes and disgustingly impressive special effects. Take Troma’s newest film Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead for example. Kaufman attempted something different with Poultrygeist. The film blends the classic Troma formula with the musical genre.

The new experiment worked perfectly as critics applauded Poultrygeist and fans like me claimed it to be one of Troma’s best films ever, a bold statement considering their long line of work.

It’s hard to promote Troma films to everyone because they aren’t for everyone. They certainly aren’t films I’d want to watch with my parents. If you’re looking to expand your horizons drastically – and I mean drastically – take a trip to Tromaville. Kaufman and Troma have earned my eternal respect. I’ll take this opportunity to rip a page from the Troma handbook.

Rather than spending your hard-earned cash this holiday season on a piece of junk one of the conglomerates stews together, spend it on one of the little guys. Kaufman and Troma do it for the love of the game, not for all that superficial fame.

Essential viewings: The Toxic Avenger, Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV, Terror Firmer, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, Class of Nuke ‘Em High, Troma’s War, Trome and Juliet, Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.

THE RECORDER Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Lifestyles

13

Old IHOP Gets Spicy Overhaul with the new Bombay Olive

Bombay Olive serves up hot chicken pot sticker.

Daniel Collin

Special to The Recorder

“Somehow the richness of the lamb was able to come through all of that heat.”

Linda Kaupas

Melissa Traynor / The Recorder

The Woman Behind the Desk Karyn Danforth Editor-at-Large

“When my assistant director threw a toy pig out the window and made it fly, that’s when I knew I was in the right place,” laughed Linda Kaupas as she sat at her desk, answering phone calls and speaking to her co-workers.

In a back room of the office, voices are heard tossing around the idea of a trip to RonA-Roll.

“He’s just a John Travolta wannabe,” says one to another.

“It’s generally like this around here the majority of the time,” smiled Kaupas.

Fourteen months ago, she took on the department secretary position of Student Activities/ Leadership Development, located in the Student Center on the second floor.

“The first couple days were stressful; it has always been a challenge,” she admitted.

“There’s always something different – each club has their own nuance.”

Coming in at the crack of dawn every day of the week, Kaupas unlocks the office, turns on the lights, opens the doors, and soon after, people start to trickle in. Being the secretary, she is always expected to be there: no ifs, ands or buts.

Having grown up in the New Britain area her entire life, Kaupas has been forever familiar with Central’s campus. While most of her friends attended college at Central, she opted for an alternative.

“I tried to go to Briarwood College after high school, but it was very elitist,” Kaupas explained, which was very unsettling to her.

“They frowned upon public institutions like Tunxis, and I withdrew from Briarwood and went there instead.”

While Kaupas was more at ease at Tunxis, her hectic schedule didn’t make graduating particularly easy “I graduated a lot later than most because I had three jobs, so I could only take one or two classes a semester,” she said. “It took me about five years to get an associate’s degree.”

After working for Connecticut’s Department of Environmental Protection for a couple years, Kaupas got bored and wanted a new adventure. Tunxis had a faculty secretary position available, and it’s what ignited her interest in helping students.

“One time, a student was skipping classes, always using the excuse that one of his grandparents passed away,” Kaupas recalled. “In one semester, he ‘killed off ’ five grandparents. I told him that losing five grandparents was horrible, but that I’d need him to bring in an obituary.

He said, ‘I’ll be in this afternoon,’ and I said, ‘I thought you would.’”

Switching from faculty secretary to admissions, Kaupas found her new job to be repetitive and routine

“As long as a student had a GED or a high school diploma, they are generally accepted at Tunxis,” Kaupas explained. “After a couple years of working there, it wasn’t challenging anymore; who knows how many times I repeated ‘pay your application fee, fill out your application, give me a copy of your GED or official transcript.’”

While trying out a couple of other jobs, one of them took away Kaupas’ social interaction with the students by establishing an Internet program called e-learning that halted students from entering her office.

“The students weren’t there anymore; I sat there twiddling my thumbs,” said Kaupas.

Ever since she started at Central, Kaupas admits there has never been a typical day. In between sending e-mails to students reminding them about activities and handing out paychecks to student workers and university assistants, Kaupas gets phone calls ranging from normal to unique.

“A woman called up recently asking about a yearbook, and I asked her what year she graduated,” said Kaupas. “1974. I’m still researching it.”

Interacting with 112 clubs and organizations can get interesting for Kaupas; she helps with the creation of clubs, and watches some flourish while a few slowly fade.

“There was a hand-gliding club once,” she said. “That would scare the daylights out of me.”

She was amazed that a marksmen rifle club was approved for next semester, but backed it up positively.

“It won’t just be about shooting, it will be informative as well,” she said.

Kaupas’ favorite part of her position is speaking with the students. When asked if she had any children, she says no, but quickly added, “I have how many here? I have plenty here!

Once I’m done with them, they go back to their parents!”

Once she leaves in the evening, Kaupas is completely family-oriented. Having a big family and many dogs, she recently helped cook a Thanksgiving meal for 14 relatives, and is planning on baking 40-80 dozen Christmas cookies with her sister soon.

“We call it the great cookie bake off,” she laughed.

Kaupas is comfortable and happy with her current job situation. “Being a secretary is what I wanted to be years ago, and still am now.”

When asked about any future endeavors, she hopes to go back to school and get her Arts and Liberal Sciences master at Wesleyan. “I like to know what makes my students tick, it’s a part of the Sociology major in me,” she said. “I like to take care of my students.”

“I could see myself here for another 15 years,” she added. “Or until I hit lotto.”

As I perused the vast menu at Bombay Olive, I searched for something traditionally Indian. I had been anticipating the transformation of this former IHOP on the corner of South Main and New Britain Avenue in West Hartford for months.

Ever since the signs heralding the arrival of an Indian place that much closer to my house went up, I checked weekly for some indication that the place had opened. Now that it was here, I wanted Indian and I wanted spicy. No Greek Salads, no nachos, no Buffalo wings, all of which were on the menu.

I finally settled on lamb vindaloo. The waiter asked me, “mild, medium, or hot?” I always order medium if I’ve never been somewhere before. I’m glad I did, because that thing was super spicy. It was just about the spiciest I would ever want my food before I would consider it inedible. Somehow though the richness of the lamb was able to come through all of that heat.

My wife ordered the open vegetable sandwich, which consisted of a variety of vegetables including broccoli and cauliflower served atop naan bread along with kachauri sauce on the side. This sauce, which I was unfamiliar with, was a very tasty combination of savory and sweet. It reminded me a little of the sauce one gets with chicken tikka masala, a more common offering. I would recommend this dish to anyone hesitant to try Indian food for fear of the intense spices.

The management did a fine job with the décor. I recall the interior of that former IHOP vividly. The elegant dining room housed the

Edward Gaug / The Recorder

many diners comfortably and contained no reminders of the former establishment. The exterior, on the other hand, retained the familiar IHOP silhouette.

On a subsequent take out order from Bombay Olive, I chose the Baingan Bhartha, a zesty eggplant dish that I’ve had numerous times. I’ve never known this dish to be extraordinarily hot, but again I was taken aback by the strength of the spices. I really like spicy food, but next time I’m going to go mild. Take heed.

There are several strange offerings on the menu in the sense that one does not expect to find them at an Indian restaurant. These things do not only include nachos and hot wings but also quesadillas, crab cakes, and a full breakfast menu. There are also Persian and Nepalese dishes. There’s even filet mignon for $26.00 if dad is the mood.

Is Bombay Olive guilty of overreaching, of trying to be too many things to too many people? Perhaps, but it might be a way to get the more finicky members of your family in the door. In any case, I admire their ambition. The quality of the food was quite good, so who I am to argue? I would return for the traditional Indian, not for a steak, but I can see why someone might.

One thing that Bombay Olive does that is completely unique to the resturant is their breakfast service. Owner and Head Chef Bishnu Lama said that they like to serve breakfast because there isn’t another local Indian resturant that does it. While the fare looks traditional American, he says they like to spice it up with Indian ingredients to make for a completely different experience.

Bombay Olive is located at 450 South Main St. West Hartford. Hours and menu can be found at www.bombayolive.com.

Edward Gaug / The Recorder

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, December 10, 2008 / LIFESTYLES

14

New Haven’s Fantasy of Lights wishes happy holidays.

Dinosaurs grace the Fantasy of Lights in New Haven, Conn.

Catch the Lights This Season Jane Natoli

Lifestyles Editor

Maybe you’re too old for Santa, but light displays deserve some respect. Whether you’re 6 or 76, there is something about a massive arrangement of lightbulbs that restores a little holiday spirit and simply, they are cheap, convenient and practically in every town.

Instead of paying expensive ticket prices to see the new holiday movie, you may grab a couple of friends or a significant other and spend the night driving through public light displays with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate. While most towns usually have a tree or perhaps Santa’s

sleigh lit up in their town green, there are a few entire winding ride through the park. Also, places within reasonable driving distance from make sure you pay attention to the road well enough to make the turns and miss the concrete CCSU with more elaborate decorations. barriers along the sides.

If you can combine this trip in with spendFantasy of Lights, Lighthouse Point Park, ing some time in downtown Yale-New Haven, New Haven, Conn. where there is a huge Christmas tree lit up with $10 per car blue lights on the green and a lot of restaurants Sun-Thurs 5-9 p.m.; Fri-Sat 5-10 p.m. and coffee shops to sit in to stir up some real While the price tag on this light display holiday cheer, the lights are worth the drive. may be an immediate turn off, knowing that your money will go to Easter Seals Goodwill Festival of Silver Lights, Hubbard Park, make sit worth it. If you decide to go, check out Meriden, Conn. www.newhavengoodwill.easterseals.com and FREE click on “Events” for information and 24 hours per day directions.

Driving through Meriden on Route 691 When you get off the highway in New Haven, follow the directions from the Web site, toward Waterbury, you can see the Hubbard not the randomly placed “Fantasy of Lights” Park Light display in its entirety from your car. signs that will lead you in circles through a huge, It’s actually quite an enchanting site at about 6 dark neighborhood with no signs to get you back p.m. when it is still light enough for you to see the park and the white lights strung up in the to the main roads.

If you do make it to the lights before its trees begin to shine bright. At the very least, rather early closing time, the colored light dis- make an effort to do that during one of your plays with moving characters and various scenes trips to the Meriden Mall this month.

If you do have extra time and a friend with with elves on jet skis, bears playing catch over the road, boats, planes, huge presents and dino- you, because it is absolutely no fun by yourself, saurs almost keep your attention through the get off exit 4 from 691, take a right and follow the

Jane Natoli / The Recorder

road to Hubbard Park’s entrance road – an extremely sharp left hand turn in the middle of traffic.

Ignore the cars rushing you along or passing you as you pull over for a better view and take your time driving through the park. The nice thing about this display remains that most of the lights are in the shapes of animals – very politically correct for this time of year and people who celebrate holidays other than Christmas can still enjoy these lights. Plus, you are allowed to park your car and walk around the lights. The lions, camels, turtles and horses are a lot more fun to view close up where you can pose for a picture or just figure out how they get these shapes together.

If you don’t get out of the car and enjoy the night from behind the wheel, the park seems rather small as you drive out the exit before you realized the show was over – but you can always drive the loop a second time or make your way back to the mall or to a restaurant in Southington, down the road, to finish off the night.

Decking the Doors of CCSU Student Center Caroline Dearborn Staff Writer

Edward Gaug / The Recorder

University Assiatnt Danielle Amaral - LeBlanc (left) and graphic design major Kristen Brewer decorate a door for IT.

What more than to bring CCSU into the holiday spirit than decorating the doors of the Student Center? Making it a friendly competition among clubs.

Student Alison Blaire Binge observed decorating frenzies this past Wednesday, “I think that there is some stiff competition. There are people downstairs decorating and outside in the hall.”

She walked to the door of CCSU’s Car Club, C3, and jokingly remarked, “Hopefully the Car Club cruises away with first place.”

Ryan Sweeney, has been a C3 member for two years and this is his first door decorating competition.

“I am ecstatic. I am beyond excited,” he said enthusiastically, in regard to entering the club’s door into the competition.

Sweeney helped create diversification on the door by suggesting the use of spark-plugs to light a menorah. “Our door is diverse,” he said.

Nick Ripa, the club’s president figured that it would be a good way to promote the club on campus, which is why he decided to get involved this year.

“All the toy cars on the door will be donated to Toys for Tots on December 13, along with other donations from Car Club,” said member Scott Chiang.

Car Club is not the only participant in the event. Angela Pegolo of the Student Center Information Desk said that there were about 40 groups decorating doors, including the Information Desk itself.

The Information Desk decorated a door that displayed stockings with all of its’ workers

names’ on it. The Card Office decorated a door as well. It’s door featured mock-ID cards of different versions of Santa Claus, such as the Netherlands’ Sinterklaas, France’s Pere Noel, Italy’s Le Befana, and Russia’s Ded Moroza, to name a few.

Even Information Technology participated, putting the slogan: “We all come together during the holidays through technology,” on its door.

The United Caribbean Club has a collage of different Christmas celebrations throughout Caribbean nations, and the Marketing Club has “Market This” on its door, with an arrow pointing to the back pocket of a rear-end that has the club’s meeting times listed on it. Both of these doors will definitely be scoring high for creativity.

In order to participate, clubs had to fill out an entry form in the Student Center by Nov. 25 to be eligible. The clubs were permitted to begin decorating on Dec. 1. The doors did not have to be holiday themed; however, they must be completed by Dec. 9.

Judges are selected throughout the community of the university and will be judging the doors on Dec. 10. There are four categories of prizes to be given: best application of diversity, best theme, most artistic/creative and most resourceful. The winners will receive wall plaques that will be displayed in Student Center glass cases, for everyone to see.

In decorating the doors, there are several stipulations that clubs had to follow, such as no electricity may be used and no nails or tacks were allowed.

The winners will be announced on December 11th at the Student Union Board of Governors’ Holiday Social, which will follow the Festival of Lights.

15

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, December 10, 2008 / LIFESTYLES

The Recorder’s Holiday Gift Guide For Him:

Left 4 Dead $59.99 / Best Buy All my friends are playing this game, so I have no reason not to get it and kill some zombies with them.

Beer Review:

Rogue Ales

Santa’s Private Reserve

For Her:

Envirosax “Organic Series” Tote Bag $24.95 / Reuseablebags.com

OXO Cocktail Shaker $27.99 / Utilitieshome.com

Bose Quiet Comfort 2 Headphones $269.00 / Bose.com Ray Ban Wayfarer $119.95 / SunglassHut.com There is not a more iconic set of sunglasses out there. On top of pure style, they are lightweight and go with everything, from your sweater and jeans to t-shirt and shorts.

Amos Wool Coat $199.99 / French Connection

Boba Fett MimoBot Flash Drive $39.95 / Mimoco.com

Duvel 4-pack with Glass Gift Pack $17.99 / Local Package Store Duvel is one of the best Belgium Wheat beers ever and it is a shame that it isn’t more popular in the States.

Try out a 4-pack and be sure to drink it out of the provided glass, it will taste much better that way.

MimoBot: Golden Panda $24.94 / Mimoco.com The distinctive character-based MimoBot line offers from 1GB to 8GB of flash memory storage and transport for all your finest and most precious music, docs, pics and other personal data bits and bytes.

Edward Gaug

Associate Layout Editor

Floral Foil Hinge Wallet $20.00 / Urban Oufitters

Stuff White People Like A Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions $11.20 / Amazon.com Stemming from one of my favorite blogs to read, Christain Lander has started transcribbing everything white people like, all with a sense of humor of course.

Ranging from organic food to Apple computers to girls with bangs, Lander hits the mark on every single one of his items. Last count I was hit on 71 of the 115 posts on www.stuffwhitepeoplelike. com

Field Notes 3-Pack $9.95 Fieldnotesbrand.com “I’m not writing it down to remember later, I’m writing it down to remember now.”

Nike Dunk SB Dinosaur Jr. Edition Highest Bid / Ebay.com These kicks are super rare if you are looking for legit ones. Be prepared to pay more than 200 bucks for a pair of dead stocks.

Vers 1.5R $219.99 / Versaudio.com Show her you love her (and sustainability) with the Vers 1.5R speaker for her iPod. It is available in Cherry, Natural Walnut, Dark Walnut, Bamboo and White Gloss finishes. Finished by hand, each Vers system takes over a week to build and each one is unique. It sounds as good as it looks; there’s simply no substitute for the rigid, 9 mm thick walls of a Vers cabinet for accurate sound reproduction.

There is nothing better than the beginning of winter when it comes to being a beer snob. Winter brings out tons on new beer styles that work off the cold weather and flavors of holiday meals. For the most part, winter beers are heavy, dark and filling. Winter beers aren’t something to pound on a Thursday night (unless you hate yourself and want to be drunk by 9.) Beers of this quality deserved to be enjoyed on all levels from the dark pour, the thick head and hoppy aroma.

When talking about winter beers, I decided to go straight for the top and picked out a Santa’s Private Reserve from Rogue Ales Brewery in Portland, Or. Rogue makes some of the best beers on the market and all of them are meant to be enjoyed by beer aficionados. The average drinker will find them too dark and way too expensive. At 12 dollars per six-pack, I am inclined to agree with them, but after finishing my first bottle, it is easy to see why people always bring this beer up in conversation.

While it doesn’t fit in with their normal line of Dead Guy (a hop-heavy bock that is available all year long) or their Mocha Porter (a deep brown, almost black porter that drinks and taste like coffee) it does distinguish itself from the pack of “holiday” beers like Harpoon’s Winter Warmer and Sierra Nevada’s Celebration Ale. While the previous two rely heavily on the smell of christmas (a mix of pine trees and cinnamon,) Santa’s Private Reserve smells and tastes much sweeter with hints of caramel and toffee.

To put this beer in perspective, it takes everything you might like out of Killian’s or any other Red Ale and amplifies it in all senses. The taste is smooth, but not too sweet. It isn’t nearly as filling as the stout and porter crowd, but I still cant see myself drinking more than two of these without getting sleepy and full.

Overall, it evokes a sense of holiday spirit and there is nothing else better to drink when putting up with your family on Christmas eve.

Rogue Ales are available at both CT Beverage Mart and Crazy Bruce’s if you need some while you’re at CCSU.

Sports 12.10

THE RECORDER Wednesday, December 10, 2008

http://clubs.ccsu.edu/recorder

Central Conquers The Mount

Edward Gaug / The Recorder

Seymore Ties Game in Regulation, Wins It in Overtime Peter Collin Managing Editor

With just seconds remaining on the clock, sophomore Joe Seymore got a chance to be a hero for the second time. After tying the score to force overtime, Seymore found the ball in his hands and his team trailing by one.

Seymore’s basket with just three seconds left in overtime put the CCSU Blue Devils (4-3, 1-0) over the top as Central knocked off the defending Northeast Conference Champions Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers (3-4, 0-2) 66-65 in overtime.

Seymore had a tough game offensively, shooting a paltry 4-16 from the field, including a 0-5 from three-point range, but he connected on the two most important baskets of the game for the Blue Devils.

Central held a tenuous advantage over the Mountaineers for most of the game but a threepoint basket by junior Kelly Beidler gave the

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Mount a three-point lead with 3:05 left in regulation.

After sophomore Ken Horton hit a free throw to pull the Blue Devils to within two, each team exchanged turnovers before Central ended up with the ball with just 24 seconds on the clock.

Seymore hit a runner in the lane to even the game up. From there the Mountaineers inbounded the ball to their star point guard, Jeremy Goode.

He took the ball all the way up the court before missing a fade away jumper for win.

This was the third game this season that was decided by one point for the Blue Devils. Earlier this season they fell to Colgate University 58-57 and to Albany University 68-67.

“The morale of the game was perseverance and persistence,” said coach Howie Dickenman. “We showed some mental toughness as well as some physical toughness.”

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See Central Conquers Page 8

Simmons, Dugan Lead CCSU to Largest Win in 10 Years Peter Collin Managing Editor

Freshman Shontice Simmons scored 18 points and sophomore Kerrianne Dugan scored 17 as the CCSU women’s basketball team (4-4, 1-0) trounced the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers (3-3, 0-1) 66-41.

It was a historic victory for the Blue Devils, as it was the largest victory for the women’s team since the 1998-99 season, when Central defeated Long Island University 68-38 in Detrick Gymnsium.

Central controlled the game from the start, holding the Mountaineers to only six points over the final 11:44 of the first half. The Mountaineers kept the game close during the first half in spite of only shooting 24 percent from the field.

But when the Blue Devils came out for the second half, they quickly put the game out of reach for the Mount with a 13-4 run that

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gave Central a 17-point advantage and firm control of the game.

“They wanted to win and they wanted to get a Northeast Conference winning streak going. That was their little thing before the game,” said head coach Beryl Piper. “They have the ability to play like that. It’s just we have to have that consistently.”

Piper felt that defense was the key for Central. They had to keep the Mountaineers from getting off good looks from the outside where they had hurt opponents with a 40.8 percent mark from beyond the arc.

“They had two kids shooting 50 percent from three-point range and we held those kids,” said Piper. “That was the best defense we’ve played consistently throughout the whole game.”

For the Blue Devils the season has already been a big turnaround from last season when the team won only four games and finished their

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See Central Conquers Page 8

Blue Devils Seek Out and Defeat Foxes Kyle Dorau Sports Editor

The Blue Devils defeated fifth-ranked Marist Red Foxes.

Photo: Paul Krish

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Talking with the players before the game, CCSU Hockey head coach Jim Mallia stressed that Saturday’s game at Marist was going to be a playoff-style contest.

In a gritty, chippy game that was typical of postseason play, six different Blue Devils scored to lead Central past Marist in a 6-2 victory at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center.

Mike DiClemente’s goal on an odd-man rush in the final minute of the first period was the eventual game-winner. As part of a threegoal first period, it set the tone as the Blue Devils, ranked sixth in the Northeast, took down the fifth-ranked Red Foxes.

“Beating a team that’s ranked above us [at] a Super East game on the road – that really

gets us in a groove,” said Mallia. “It puts us back on the map.”

Craig Height continued his solid play in net, making 23 saves en route to his third win of the season. The Red Foxes continually invaded his crease, but the senior net minder was ready to be just as physical as any of the other skaters on the rink.

“I’m just trying to protect myself, really,” said Height. “Everybody’s just coming into the crease hard and slashing, [I was] just trying to stand up for myself.”

The crease was not the only place where the game became physical. Open ice hits were plentiful, including a thunderous check that knocked Kevin McConnell for a loop in the second period. He sat on the bench the rest of the frame, and watched from the stands in the third for what was termed as “precautionary measures.”

See Blue Devils Seek Page 9