Volume 108 Issue 11

AWA R D-W INNING CENTR A LR ECOR DER .COM Wednesday, November 16, 2011

University To Run Monday Schedule On Reading Day

Central Connecticut State University

Volume 108 No. 11

‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ At CCSU justin MuszynsKi the recorder

justin MuszynsKi

Former Lt. Dan Choi reflects on prejudices in both the military and society.

cHoI | conT. on 6

Gates Acknowledges Poor Decisions jonathan stanKiewicz the recorder

Former United States Defense Secretary and CIA Director, Robert Gates, spoke this past week in Welte Auditorium as part of the Robert C. Vance Distinguished Lecture series while some protested and publicly disagreed with his policies and decisions while he was in public office.

“We don’t get a chance for do overs,” said Gates. “The Iraq War will always be tainted.”

He spoke about his more than 40-years experience in politics dealing with National Security for the U.S. Hours before Gates’ lecture there was an Occupy CCSU protest with about 35 students protesting around campus. The Occupy protest turned into an anti-Gates rally just before Gates spoke in front of Welte Hall with about 25 students and faculty present.

Welte Auditorium, which seats over 1800 people, was a little over half full with a very limited number of students in attendance.

Gates, 69, studied European history at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 1965. While earning a master’s degree from Indiana University in 1966 and, later, in 1974, GATES | conT. on 2

Kenny Barto i the recorder

In an effort to make up for the three Mondays that were missed this semester, CCSU has decided to run the Monday schedule on what was originally intended to be a Friday reading day for students in preparation for exams.

Dr. Carl Lovitt, the Provost and president for Academic Affairs, says it’s important to remember that the University is not actually requiring professors to have their Monday classes on the Friday before exams, but encourages those who can to take advantage of this opportunity.

“What we were trying to do is provide an opportunity for faculty and students who could use this additional time,” said Lovitt.

“The concern was that we lost three Mondays as a result of Labor Day, the hurricane and the freak outage so some faculty were very concerned that they were losing class time.”

According to the University’s website, the senate and AAUP leadership, and the deans and department chairs were all consulted on this decision and overall the consensus was that this was the best option. Dr. Jason Jones, president of the CCSU chapter of the American Association of University Professors, says this may very well be the best option that the University had.

“I believe giving faculty the option was a good idea, since the Monday schedule took a beating this semester,” said Jones who is also an associate professor of English.

Jones also said that classes like math and science, those that are dependent on every class meeting, may very well need to take advantage of this possible extra day.

Laura Tordenti, the vice president of Student Affairs, says that despite some students’ work schedule not allowing them to come to class on Friday, it was still a good decision by the school and that those students who will miss their class should notify their professor as to why they cannot be there.

“I think they just need to negotiate with their professor and let them know they already had plans,” said Tordenti. “I would hope that professors here, and I think they are, would be reasonable and accommodating. I have every confidence that our faculty are going to be flexible.”

“I think it was a good decision that Dr. Lovitt made, it was an extraordinary situation and the students and faculty that have class on Monday really have lost a lot of time.”

According to Lovitt, the University considered other options to make up for the missed classes this semester; one of which would have involved pushing back finals for a week to allow an additional week of normal classes.

“We looked at the possibility of extending the end of the semester because a number of faculty members recommended that,” said Lovitt. “It turns out from a contractual stand point we’re not even allowed to do that. We’re allowed to schedule so many days and we scheduled that many days so we can’t schedule more, so that was the only systemic solution.”

Jones says that overall the reaction he’s gotten from faculty has been positive. He doesn’t see how a professor can be upset by this considering they ultimately have the final say when it comes to their class.

“Because it’s optional, most faculty have been okay with this,” said Jones. “It would be hard to extend the semester and there’s no practical way to schedule weekend classes.

And this gives those who need it some flexibility while keeping the schedule as regular as possible.”

This story was contributed to by Jonathan Stankiewicz.

Kenny Barto i the recorder

the recorder

After surviving what some have called the most dangerous area in the world at one time, Dan Choi said his biggest struggle came not in Iraq in the warzone, but when he returned home only to be outcast by the now notorious policy called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

“I come back home to America after surviving the triangle of death in Baghdad, Iraq, and I have my own enforced philosophy called ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’” said Choi with much emotion in his voice. “People in the gay community would say, ‘you don’t need to profess who you are, better that you stay alive, better that you keep your job, better that you keep your friends, better that you be powerful and maybe come out ten years from now.’”

Choi spoke in Alumni Hall Wednesday to a decent sized crowd where he explained his reasons of why he decided to “come out” after serving for ten years under the policy that saw him discharged because he chose to expose his sexual orientation.

“Many people have asked me throughout my journey, ‘Choi, why did you come out when you did?’” said Choi. “I had been in the military for a long time and I knew that I was gay. I never understood love, though. At 27 years old can you imagine coming back from war and I finally get to experience this idea of trust and growth, maturity, sharing and equality within a relationship?”

Choi, who has been arrested several times for protesting the policy that didn’t allow for gays and lesbians to reveal their true sexual orientation in the army, to this day faces federal charges that came about from him handcuffing himself to the fence outside the White House in protest to this policy.

While he faces charges that could lead to imprisonment, Choi says his biggest struggle in life is not the fear of being locked up, but

Robert Gates spoke while some disagreed with his appearance on campus, staging protest outside the Welte Auditorium.

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NEWS

THE RECORDER Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Students And Faculty #OccupyCCSU

Students at CCSU rally outside of the Student Center on Tuesday, November 8. Word spread around campus with the aid of social media through use of the Twitter Kenny Barto | the recorder hashtag #OccupyCCSU. Faculty also participated in the day’s protests, including the Anti-Gates rally before his lecture that evening.

Vance Lecture Series Brings Gates To Campus

Kenny Barto | the recorder

The crowd in Welte Auditorium awaiting Gates to speak.

GATES| cont. From 1 received a doctorate in Russian and Soviet history from Georgetown University.

Before his retirement in June from his secretary of defense post, Gates was the president of Texas A&M University, and began his professional career in 1966 as an intelligence professional in the CIA. As the nation’s only secretary of defense to serve two presidents of different political parties, Gates was in a post that saw the United States at war every day of his four and a half years in office.

In accepting the Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from President Obama earlier this year, Sec. Gates said, “I will think of my troops till the end of my days. Serving as the secretary of defense has been the honor of my life. For that I will

be eternally grateful.”

Gates, even retired, remains a prominent figure in the world and the complexities of the Middle East. He was able to give an insight to the audience that otherwise isn’t available to them.

On Al-Qaeda, Gates was quite frank that the terror group is just “on their heels now.”

He warned that it isn’t unrealistic that another terrorist attack can happen on United States soil. Gates got serious on the matter when he said that failure in Afghanistan would mean a Taliban takeover. The success of the Taliban would strengthen Al-Qaeda. And on the recent decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq, Gates said that it would have been better to keep a modest U.S. troop presence in Iraq.

Gates tried to hit home that a U.S war with Iran would be a “catastrophe” and said

that Iran’s behavior for the past 30-years has been more than frustrating for us. Gates was honest that the U.S. doesn’t need war.

China was also a strong talking point for Gates, who said that China’s leaders are becoming “more and more aggressive” and that their recent actions, building up their navy, could lead to confrontations with surrounding countries and the U.S., Gates added that he feels China is already a friend of the U.S., but if treated as an enemy China will become one.

Most important to Gates was America’s need for solving problems within our own borders.

The task ahead of our country is to get our own fiscal affairs in order, said Gates.

But that requires our own political class to show leadership and so far we have not seen that taking place, Gates added. We shouldn’t

be hoping that the “changing of the guard” will make a difference, said Gates. Having different parties impose their own agendas in “brute force” makes it much more likely that those policies will be reversed in the next election. In his opinion it would take multiple presidencies and congresses to solve the current problems plaguing America.

To do that, Gates said, is to not repeat our mistakes from the past, whether those mistakes be unreliable information or future endeavors that the U.S. acts upon.

“We have lost the ability to execute even the most basic functions of government, much less solve the most difficult and divisive problems facing this country,” said Gates. “Americans continue to be the masters of our own fate. The rest of the world continues to march on as we focus on ourselves.”

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, November 16, 2011 / NEWS

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Dance Team Awarded Funding From SGA Kassondra Granata the recorder

At last week’s meeting, the SGA allocated $5,000 to the dance team and discussed their role in student involvement for important events.

Senator Alex Kitchener, in favor of the motion moved by Senator Sky Morell, believed that the dance team deserved the money due to the club’s effort in raising money for their trip to Nationals in Florida.

The Senate has been talking about allocating money to the dance team since September. The dance team is planning on participating in Nationals in the spring hosted by Disney World.

“The dance team has worked very hard for this trip,” said Kitchener. “I feel that we should give a little if they are giving a little.”

Kitchner was citing the fact that the dance team has fundraised about $9,000 for the trip.

Senator Jamie Canny believed that the amount was too much and was not comfortable in allocating the money to the club and hoped that the Senate can look at this from a professional standpoint rather than emotionally.

“I believe that this is too much money to give them at this point,” Canny said. “We need to look at this from a business standpoint, not emotionally. I do not feel comfortable giving them money

unless they state that they won’t use it for recreational purposes.”

Treasurer Nick Alaimo agreed with Canny and added that now is not the time to make such a decision for the dance club.

“We do not want to go over our contingency funds, we need to look it over” said Alaimo. “Right now, it just doesn’t look feasible.”

Vice President Liz Braun was very passionate on allocating the dance team the money, believing that they deserved it the most out of the other clubs.

“We have to make a decision now, are we going to give it to the dance club who deserves it or have a lot of money left over?” said Braun.

“I think we need to stop thinking about who we gave money to in the past, this is the club I’ve seen put in the most effort. What other club can make it to nationals?”

Senator Molly McLaughlin then made a proposal to amend the motion that the money would not go towards park hopper passes or registration fees, just strictly airfare, which was passed.

“I think that airfare is one of the most important components of their request,” said McLaughlin.

“Providing them with flight is a significant contribution to give to them.”

Senator Ryan Baldassario was frustrated with the debate and the fairness given to the clubs overall.

“If we are going to give them money, no matter what we give them, we need to decide today,” said Baldassario. He said that the Senate needs to stop disrespecting the dance team and that what the Senate is doing isn’t fair to them.

“This isn’t all of our money, it’s a sizable chunk, but it is needed,” said Baldassario. “I am not willing to give these people nothing.”

The Senate voted on allocating $5,000 to the dance team for airfare and it passed 24-7.

During open floor, a student addressed the Senate on the Gates lecture and the lack of students that attended the meeting.

“I noticed that not a lot of students attended,” said the student.

“This lecture was a big deal.”

The student then questioned what SGA could do in order to increase the student involvement when it comes to big events on campus. The student was dissapointed in the lack of student involvement Senator Canny mentioned that the week off due to the storm was behind lack of students at the lecture and claimed that the lecture was “faculty based.”

Other senators believed that the lecture series was well advertised and students were accurately informed of the event taking place.

Senator Chris Marcelli believed that a decent amount of students

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attended.

“There were definitely a good amount of students there,” said Marcelli. “I know Dr. Gates had small conversations with students beforehand.”

Senator Baldassario agreed with Marcelli on the standpoint of the amount of students that attended.

“I gave out a lot of tickets to this show to a lot of students,” said Baldassario who works at the Student Center information desk.

“A good amount of people knew about it whether they went or not.”

Senator Shelby Dattilo spoke on her viewpoint towards SGA and their ability to promote student involvement.

“It comes down to student awareness on global issues and we can have a hand on changing the views that students have,” said Dattilo.

President Bergenn then addressed the senate and conveys his fascination towards the “Occupy CCSU” event and other political actions.

“If you want to drive campus interest and involvement, you need to have these discussions,” said Bergenn. “We as students can help the drive.”

The senate did not resolve what they can contribute to increase student involvement on campus as a senator motioned to adjourn the meeting.

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Former Lt. Choi Reflects On Hardships cHoI| conT. From 1 when he decided to tell his parents that he was gay.

“I had to tell my parents because they’re the ones who judge me the most,” explained Choi. “I wasn’t fully liberated, I wasn’t fully out and I wasn’t fully proud until I told the people who hold the greatest judgment of me. When you confront the people who gave you life, all of the difficulties that come with that, that’s when you fully understand it.”

Choi was very serious about what he wanted to get across to the audience. However, on several occasions, made light of several situations to loosen the mood.

One of which was the irony in Choi’s lecture coming only one day after Robert Gates appeared at CCSU. When Choi went to sit down he looked under the chair and made a joke to the crowd about the situation.

“I just want to make sure Robert Gates didn’t plant anything here,” kidded Choi.

Choi also said that he had moments himself where he wished he was like other people who were straight, and even went as far as to pray for God to change his sexual orientation.

“Dear God, let me just be straight or just take my life away, just make me disappear so I don’t have to deal with this,” said Choi.

He tried to balance an appearance of seriousness and comedy to keep the crowd engaged. Often Choi gave personal anecdotes into his childhood and young-adult years.

“At one point I said, ‘God, let me just level with you, just make me pop a boner for Michelle Pfeiffer.’”

In 2011 the Government ended their “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that had been in place for 18 years that saw thousands of men and women discharged from the armed forces.

Through all the joking and laughing, Choi did have one thing he wanted everyone in the room to take out of his lecture.

“My message to you if you don’t remember anything, remember this: if you’re gay, God made you gay, so love yourself.”

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, November 16, 2011 / NEWS

jonathan stanKiewicz the recorder

Many knew Dr. Robert Gates came to campus this week, but not many knew what the process was to get him here to CCSU. Neither CCSU, nor the CCSU Foundation Inc., paid the former secretary of defense to come to campus. The Robert C. Vance Foundation, responsible for the Vance Academic Center in 2000 and the Robert C. Vance Endowed Chair in Journalism and Mass Communication in 2003, among others, paid for Dr. Gates to come in for the lecture series.

The Recorder was unable to find out how much Dr. Gates was paid from the Washington Speakers Bureau because the CCSU Foundation was unable to disclose anything due to a confidentiality clause in his contract for the lecture. The Bureau never returned any emails or phone calls.

At the reception and dinner with Dr. Gates, 94 people attended the event provided by the CCSU Foundation in Alumni Hall.

That event, which as $125 per ticket, raised $11,750 and helped pay for the services of the CCSU employees working the event and put money in the endowed chair.

The CCSU Foundation’s purpose is to accept gifts and contributions to the University, and has done so since 1971. CCSU employees work at the CCSU Foundation as staff service since the foundation itself has no actual employees.

The Vance Foundation, also a nonprofit, was created upon the death of Robert C. Vance and is a community oriented foundation, said Nicholas Pettinico, Jr., Associate Vice President, Institutional Advancement.

Some thought that the CCSU Foundation was responsible for bringing Dr. Gates to campus.

Chris Galligan, vice president for Institutional Advancement, put it this way: the CCSU Foundation took a gift from the Vance Foundation and facilitated that gift on CCSU’s campus. Galligan said that both students and faculty visited his office before the lecture and he explained that process to them. Galligan called the lecture series a collaboration between the CCSU Foundation and the Vance Foundtaion.

Pettinico, who also works closely with the Board of Trustees at the Vance Foundation, met with the trustees over the summer to start the process of choosing who would come to campus. Pettinico added that President Jack Miller is “briefed” about speakers.

Many were upset that there wasn’t a woman speaker on campus. Pettinico said that there has been only one woman in the Vance lecture series in its history and that one woman had the potential to come to campus for this year’s lecture. She declined and Dr. Gates was chosen to take her place.

At the last SGA meeting, a student raised a question in open floor about what SGA can do to get more students involved in the lecture series. The student wanted to know what the SGA could do to better inform CCSU students about lectures and speeches on campus. The SGA didn’t know how to answer the question and some senators were unsure of the facts and procedures that took place to get Dr. Gates on campus.

The CCSU Foundation, which currently has an endowment of roughly $38 million, is for CCSU to help student scholarships and academic enrichment, said Galligan.

During the past fiscal year, the Foundation awarded over $577,000 in privately donated scholarships to students and $487,000 in grants to CCSU, up from the $390,000 in privately donated scholarships and $300,000 in grants provided the previous year. That’s a 50 percent increase, said Galligan.

Faculty Make Change, Bergenn Waiting For Student Voice jonathan stanKiewicz the recorder

Faculty Senate was given a report this Monday on changes to grade appeal policy for students.

The changes were voted on and passed, overwhelmingly.

The report, presented by Frederic Latour from the Academic Standards Committee, adds to the grade appeal policy that department chairs not be asked to forward incomplete grade appeal packets to the Deans.

Students will now be informed if the packet that they have handed in is incomplete. Once informed, students will have one week to pick up the incomplete packet and resubmit a complete packet.

“If the student submits a packet to the department chairperson, and the department chairperson deems the packet to be complete, then the student will not have the opportunity to supplement the packet, except to respond to a request from the Grade Appeals Review Board,” adds the new appeal policy.

SGA President Eric Bergenn said to the Faculty Senate that the report was a “fine change” to the current policy and “makes a lot of sense.” Bergenn, who asked the Senate for 11 student voting members almost a month ago, added that students, including the SGA, want to have a bit more student input on Senate decisions. He wants to be able to give students reassurance that their opinions matter and are being considered.

“Many people feel as if they are not getting due process,” said Bergenn, who said he was acting purely as a liaison between faculty and students. He understands that the issue at hand is more of a faculty issue, but the process still deals with students and what they need to do when it comes to grade appeals. Bergenn is still trying to build a strong relationship. He saw this specific report as the “perfect opportunity” to get students involved.

“If [the constitution and by-laws committee] can’t take it up right now,” said

Bergenn, “I’d like to know on the agenda what’s more important right now.” He isn’t mad, he’s confused.

The committee stresses that it is the student’s responsibility to submit a complete packet, said Latour. The Grade Appeals Review board, not the department chairperson, is the final arbiter of whether or not a packet is complete.

When asked by Senate President Candace Barrington what he is looking for, Bergenn said he just wants to share information. An issue may be brought up that may otherwise haven’t because of student input, said Bergenn. He thinks that would allow the Faculty Senate to be more confident that the student government and student body has given it’s support.

Thanks to a freak power outage from the now infamous October snowstorm three weeks ago, Bergenn is still waiting to hear from the Senate’s committee on constitution and by-laws regarding his student member proposal. Bergenn said he would have expected to have heard something by now besides the email he got the day he proposed his idea to the Senate. He is expecting to hear something soon after seeing where the committee is in Senate.

Latour added that the Board reserves the right to ask the student for additional documents. If that does occur, students will have two weeks to submit the needed documents, but if the student fails to do so, the Board has the right to deny the appeal as incomplete.

Other changes include giving students until the third week of classes, in the semester after the grade appeal, to meet with the department chairperson when the instructor cannot be contacted. Previously, students had until the second week of the semester, which limited the amount of time students had to contact the faculty member.

Also, if the dean upholds the instructor’s grade, students are given one week, which was previously two weeks, to tell their dean the student wants to pursue the appeal.

Kenny Barto i the recorder

Who Paid For Robert Gates?

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates speaks to campus.

Veteran’s Day Ceremony Honors Students justin MuszynsKi the recorder

Two CCSU student veterans, Joseph Lancaster and Ricky Lee Kitts, were presented with awards Friday, honoring the years that they served this country, on Veteran’s Day in Alumni Hall.

Kitts, a senior, was presented with the Student Veteran Public Service Award and a Student Veteran Excellence Scholarship for $1000.

Lancaster, a sophomore, received the 2011 Great Elm VFW post 9945 Wethersfield Scholarship.

Kitts, who enlisted in the Navy in 2003, grew up in Tennessee and served until August of 2008. Lee spent eight months in the Persian Gulf as part of operation Iraqi Freedom and operation Enduring Freedom aboard the U.S.S. Essex. He is finishing his bachelor’s degree in geographic information science and is planning to graduate after this semester.

Lancaster was honorably discharged from duty on April 6th 2010 after serving for four years in the Marines. He is working on a bachelor’s degree in construction management and is the treasurer of the Veteran Student Organization.

During the ceremony, President Jack Miller also presented Gilbert Daniels with the 2011 Central Connecticut State University Veteran’s Service Award. Daniels is a veteran who served in World War II and the Korean War. The master of ceremonies, Christopher Galligan expressed his gratitude to those who have served their country.

“Veteran’s Day is a time to thank living veterans for their service, to show appreciation for their contributions to our national security, and to emphasize the fact that all those who served, not just those that died have sacrificed and done their duty,” said Galligan, the vice president for Institutional Advancement.

Eileen Hurst, associate director for the

Center of Public Policy and Social Research at CCSU, also spoke at the ceremony thanking the Veterans and telling everyone about the initiatives that the Veteran’s History Project is working on right now.

“This year we have two really big projects which require the help of the public so I’m hoping that some of you here today can help us out,” said Hurst. “The first initiative that we’re involved with is the National Call for Photos. The Veteran’s History Project here is trying to cooperate with everybody in the state to get all of Connecticut’s 612 men represented. The second initiative, we’re cooperating with the State Department of Veteran’s Affairs Commissioner Schwartz and we are going to give a special welcome home celebration this March 31st 2012 for all Vietnam Vets in the state.”

Galligan also reminded the crowd how many Veterans have served us and how many have given their lives for our freedom.

“America’s Armed Forces have always been prepared to defend our freedom and the freedom of others throughout the world,” said Galligan. “On Veteran’s Day we realize that we owe that privilege of living in a democracy to the many men and women who have defended this nation, many of whom gave their lives to insure our freedoms. More than 1 million American service members died in the service of this country, and more than 1.4 million live with the wounds they suffered while fighting for us.”

Galligan closed by inviting everyone to visit the newly placed wreath in the Student Circle by the Student Veteran Appreciation Group. There were more than two dozen veterans from around the state present.

The ceremony concluded with CCSU students Ryan Vacca and Michael Vita playing “Taps” and the retiring of the colors by members of the Charlie Company First Battalion 102nd Infantry Army National Guard.

OPINION

5 THE RECORDER Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Another Missed Opportunity For Student Body We don’t agree with everything that is seen on TV, heard on the radio and read on the Internet. It’s impossible to agree with it all. Just because we don’t agree with something, no matter what it is, doesn’t mean we can’t give it a shot.

Some may not have liked Dan Choi, a former Army Lieutenant and West Point graduate discharged for revealing his sexual orientation, coming to campus. Some may not have liked former Defense Secretary Robert Gates speaking to the campus about his time in office and views on current affairs.

There are about 2,000 of you on campus, never mind roughly 10,000 of you that commute to this campus. Where were you?

What was more important?

Do we want to turn this into a habit for ourselves? We won’t begin to go into how the lack of student participation for anything on the campus is laughable and, unfortunately, has come to be expected.

The number of students that attended the Gates lecture, courtesy of the Robert C. Vance Foundation, was less than 40.

That’s pathetic. Most of the people in attendance were not students, proven by all the grey and white hair spread around Welte Auditorium. The same goes for the Dan Choi lecture, which should have had better attendance. We ask, ‘Why?’ These lectures are for our benefit.

They should ignite something within us.

If that emotion is anger, great, talk about it. If that emotion is happiness, great, talk about it. These lectures are here for people to start discussions on views they have.

Sparking debates and conversations people normally wouldn’t have is what should have happened.

When we don’t attend these lectures we are missing the point. Stop ignoring these opportunities.

Bringing someone like Dr. Gates to campus, whether you agree with him or

not, is arguably something that may never happen again. The CCSU Foundation did us a favor. We don’t think students understand that.

If you went to see Dr. Gates, which was free and open to the public, you would have gotten insight from a man who served under two different presidents, a man who has a unique view of the world we live in. The enormity of his former positions shouldn’t be overlooked, whether you agree with his decisions or not. If anything, disagreeing with him should give you more of a reason to take the opportunity to hear his thought process on sending our country to war. The article on his lecture, which many of you didn’t attend, reflects on something that we at The Recorder know was special.

With federal charges still over his head from when he handcuffed himself to the fence surrounding the White House in protest, Choi gave an insight to a part of war that we normally wouldn’t hear about.

His lecture, also free and open to the public, was something special.

If we miss events like this now, what will we miss in the future? What are we setting ourselves up for? Shouldn’t we want to understand the other side’s point of view or even care to listen?

The CCSU mission statement states that we should be preparing ourselves to be “thoughtful, responsible and successful citizens,” yet, we fail to do that.

Isn’t that what higher education is all about, experiencing and doing things we wouldn’t normally do? If we don’t think these kinds of things are important then why are any of us in college? We need to think about that. If we don’t find these things important how are we well rounded individuals?

The lack of attendance to these lectures baffled us. So if you chose not to go, please tell us why. Try to convince us that these opportunities are not worth your time.

General Education Proposals Raise Concerns The Recorder

The Thursday before Connecticut got hit with an unusual October snowstorm, a different storm was already brewing in room 231 in Copernicus during a campuswide meeting for the Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Committee for General Education. The whole point of this meeting was to discuss the initial ideas for the revision of general education.

There are four proposed plans thus far. Plan A changes nothing and keeps the current general education curriculum as is. Plan B has minimal changes to current program.

Plan C makes significant changes, including the removal of FYE classes and implementing a first-year critical inquiry seminar, and the need to complete a 112 language course or take a placement test to demonstrate that the student is already at a proficient level.

Plan D would give the current program a complete over-haul and would require students to complete a language 125 course (or place out with testing), would require a first year critical inquiry seminar, a senior

year experience seminar and a course abroad experience, as well as greatly changing what would be required in math, science and other courses across the curriculum.

There were many parts of these revisions that I thought were major improvements, but some I did not agree with.

I do not believe that a university should require all of their students to take a gym or health class. Are we not all adults and in control of our own bodies and minds? If we don’t know by now that we should maintain a healthy lifestyle, practice safe sex and drink responsibly then that is an issue that should be addressed by giving students the option of taking a class like PE 144, not force it upon them.

However, I thought the idea of implementing a critical thinking requirement for every student could in fact benefit everyone and allow for students to have more of a choice in what they are learning.

One of the main issues that is evident about the current curriculum is that many students see classes as a box to check off at the end of each semester, and I personally feel like this every time I do my own degree evaluation.

It would be in the students’ best interest

if the committee designed a curriculum that would allow students to take classes that focus more on their major and helped prepare them more for the professional world.

My greatest concern focuses on what was said during this open forum. I was surprised and disturbed by the amount of faculty that spoke against requiring students to do more rigorous and challenging classes, such as taking more languages or requiring a critical thinking class.

Whether they meant to or not, I got the general vibe that they did not believe that CCSU students could live up to these requirements. And to be honest, I’m sure that a lot of students would turn their noses up at the idea of having to take a semester or two of a language.

Looking at the bigger picture, making these changes to the current program would in fact make CCSU a better school. How would future employers of CCSU graduates feel if they knew they could speak more than one language or use critical thinking skills?

Companies that hire CCSU graduates experience first hand what a CCSU student can bring to the table, and pushing students to work harder for their degree will reflect in their work later on.

Romney Gains While Cain And Perry Flounder jonathan stankiewicz The Recorder

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney may have solidified his place as the GOP frontrunner.

Two debates ago, “Your Money, Your Vote” which came from Oakland University in Rochester, Mich., just goes to prove that anything can happen in these debates.

Sponsored by CNBC, which aired it live, and the Michigan Republican Party, it focused on the candidates’ economic policy.

The actual answers they gave will likely be overshadowed.

Romney came in thinking Texas Governor Rick Perry was his biggest rival, but after last Wednesday he should have nothing to fear. If you haven’t seen Perry’s now famous freeze, while attempting to list the three federal agencies he’d eliminate as president, please YouTube it. It’s like watching a car crash in slow motion.

In Perry’s defense, he remembered the answer, but not until the next question that was asked of him. “By the way, that was the Department of Energy I was reaching for a while ago,” he said. However, by then it was too late and his 43-second gaffe couldn’t be forgotten as the social networks took hold and sealed his fate.

Romney then saw another presidential hopeful, Herman Cain, calling Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as “Princess Nancy,” a comment which didn’t make his current public image look any better.

Cain’s issues, which have been headlining major news outlets for the past two weeks or so, only came up once. When asked about the importance of character in presidential candidates, he didn’t miss a beat.

“The American people deserve better than someone being tried in the court of public opinion based on unfounded accusations,” Cain said. “I value my character and my integrity more than anything else.”

His comment about Pelosi rightly raised questions about his current situation. To his credit, immediately after the debate, Cain spoke with CNBC and said, “That was a statement that I probably should not have made, but I was trying to make a point.” Nice save, man. Romney’s smile meant something different after that, a silent recognition that his place in front now seems concrete. Still, Cain and his team have to be happy about how the debate turned out, as it could have gone much worse and didn’t focus on the public accusations against him.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich had a nice night bashing the media and criticizing the debate format, but didn’t come out as unscathed as he may have liked. Gingrich will be under heavy scrutiny thanks to his answer on why took hundreds of thousands of dollars from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He said he was hired for his “historical knowledge,” something that needs to be questioned moving forward.

Romney wasn’t strong, but he looked much better than his weak competition. He was steady, got the crowd mostly on his side, gave strong answers and, quite frankly, didn’t

mess up as much as the others.

Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman were there too, though they were mostly unnoticed. Nothing against them, but not many people will be talking about their performances. They were completely overshadowed by Perry’s failure and the attention on Cain.

As I wrote last week, this is all fodder for Obama, and he now realizes that too.

“We may just run clips of the Republican debates verbatim,” said Obama, as reported

by Univision today. “We won’t even comment on them, we’ll just run those in a loop on Univision and Telemundo, and people can make up their own minds.”

If you thought Obama had ammunition before, he now has the equivalent of a munitions factory in terms of material to call into question and turn on his opponents in his upcoming media campaigns. He was joking about playing the debates verbatim, but it may not be a bad tactic. His enemy has indeed looked that weak.

From the mess left behind by the other three front-runners, Romney emerged looking like the only candidate ready to carry the Republican Party next year against President Obama.

This debate didn’t disappoint the audiences, as it made for good conversation and analysis, which the networks and the Republicans always want. Unfortunately for the candidates, the critics will be focusing on their missteps rather than the issues at hand and the political platforms they each stand on.

These changes may not affect us directly, but the credibility of what college or university you graduated from can follow you your whole career. Higher education is supposed to be a time in your life where you are pushed academically, and is supposed to be a challenging experience. Perhaps it is time that CCSU starts pushing their students a little harder, and expects more from them.

JOIN THE RECORDER

rachael bentley

6

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, November 16, 2011 / UPGRADE

REVIEWS

‘J. Edgar’ Highlights Eastwood’s Grit

hayley sMith the recorder

Remember this film come Academy Awards season. With an A-list team including Clint Eastwood, Dustin Lance Black and Leonardo DiCaprio, who create a film filled with secrets, blackmail, lies and more secrets, J. Edgar is inevitably generating Oscar buzz.

The biographical motion picture shows the evolution of J. Edgar Hoover (DiCaprio), the first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (19351972), over the course of his life. The film proves that despite controversy, Hoover was extremely influential in solving American crimes, establishing a centralized fingerprint file that would eventually become the most advanced in the world. The film takes on many aspects of Hoover’s life such as his investigation of the 1932 Lindbergh kidnapping, his secret files on Eleanor Roosevelt and the rumors of his sexuality.

In most biopics, the historical accuracy is questionable. In J. Edgar, however, the truth behind the events is especially indefinite.

Very little is known about Hoover—both professionally and personally.

J. Edgar’s Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk) admits in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, “I felt like I knew him less after I read all the books because they told such different stories.”

In an interview with ABC news, Armie Hammer, who gave his most impressive performance to date as Clyde Tolston, Hoover’s “number two man” said, “I had to make decisions, personally, and I had to take creative license, but these

Leonardo Dicaprio stars as J. Edgar Hoover, former Director of the FBI, in ‘J. Edgar’ directed by Clint Eastwood. were two of the most secretive and protective people of the 20th century who thrived on exposing and finding other people’s secrets while simultaneously protecting their own. So, we don’t know. We don’t know anything.”

That said, while the reality behind the facts will never be known, one thing remains true: the

Drake

Take Care

Cash Money November 15

nicK rosa

the recorder

Everyone has been waiting this last year and half wondering if Drake’s sophomore album Take Care would live up to the expectations that it was given. The title was even named Take Care for the sole purpose that he took his time, the time he thought he didn’t take on his debut album, Thank me Later, which went platinum in the first month of its release by the way. The time that he took for this album was worth the wait.

In his first single for the album, ‘Head Lines,’ lyrics from the first verse, “And they sayin’ I’m back, I’d agree with that, I just take my time with all this shit, I still believe in that, I had someone tell me I fell off, ooh I needed that, and they wanna see me pick back up, well where’d I leave it at,” slams a statement showing where he stands as an artist and to all the doubters of his music that he is back, ready to show everyone what he has accomplished.

What makes this album is the incredible production, the right features and relatable

combination of Black, Eastwood, DiCaprio and a remarkable team of make-up artists and costume designers is everything you’d expect, thorough and convincing.

Other familiar faces contribute to the film’s notable cast, such as Josh Hamilton, Naomi Watts and Judi Dench.

With an unexpected twist at

lyrics. For all the Drake fans, you know the majority of his music has these three features. This time around he goes back to a ‘So Far Gone’ sound of sonically synthesized atmospheric melodies. The style of his lyrics show sincerity, regret, doubt and maintaining a balance of fame and wealth. The moods and themes of the tracks bring the listener through heartbreak, loneliness and mistrust. He is able to have conversations with the listeners through his lyrics, which makes his music so appealing to a large fan base. The lyrics can relate with a broken relationship, being alone and, in the best of times, success.

With three features from Wayne, a couple from the new popular artist The-Weeknd, new artist Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Stevie Wonder, the rare Andree 3000 and Rihanna, the album flows great track to track. Rapping and singing mixed in just like the majority of ‘So Far Gone,’ he does rap less in this album but this isn’t a bad thing. Drake still goes in on the rap verses he does have on the album.

He opens the album with a melodic piano entrance and soothing hook from Chantal Kreviazuk, a Canada native, with ‘Over My Dead Body.’ He raps, “Second album, I’m back pavin’ the way,” stating he’s back showing everyone the way of a new style of hip hop.

Other tracks where he uses heavy metaphors and strong confident tone to get his message across are, ‘Underground Kings,’ ‘We’ll Be Fine,’ ‘Lord Knows ft. Rick Ross,’ ‘HYFR ft Lil Wayne (Hell Yeah F*****g Right),’ ‘The Ride,’ ‘Take Care ft. Rihanna’ and ‘The Motto ft. Lil Wayne.’

‘Lord Knows,’ produced by Just Blaze, has a strong gospel choir singing over the beat with heavy drums that help make this one of the best on the album. This track has one of the most real and best verses I’ve heard from Drizzy in a long time. He raps about how the era of rap has changed, and it’s different from 15 years ago, and sends a message to his haters stating, “I’m hearing all of the jokes, I know that they tryna push me, I know that showin’ emotion don’t ever mean I’m a p***y, Know that I don’t make music for n***as who don’t

the end, the film illustrates Black’s perspective of Hoover’s secrecy.

With the help of Eastwood’s meticulous and daring direction, DiCaprio’s performance of the title character was salient and believable.

While there is little to criticize regarding the construction of the film, this is not a movie to sit

get p***y, so those are the ones I count on to diss me or overlook me,” and to be honest, this is the truth.

‘Underground Kings’ has Drake spitting bars of fury over the beat. He starts off by saying, “Got rich off a mixtape, yea, got rich off a mixtape,” referring to So Far Gone, the tape that helped launch his career. Drake’s flow throughout the album is incredibly consistent and is very visible in this track and ‘HYFR.’ In HYFR I’ve never heard Drake rap with a flow like that and so fast. He destroys his verse with very relatable lyrics and it shows his progression as a rapper. ‘We’ll be Fine’ has heart pounding bass and another great example of a sick flow. His confidence has grown to where he has the skills to say this and able to back it up.

But I will say this year’s ‘Find Your Love’ from Thank Me Later will be ‘Take Care ft.

Rihanna.’

The other half the songs are his melodic sounds and singing with a bit of rapping thrown in. ‘Shot For Me,’ ‘Crew Love ft. TheWeeknd,’ ‘Marvins Room/Buried Alive ft.

Kendrick Lamar interlude,’ ‘Cameras/Good Ones Go interlude,’ ‘Doing It Wrong,’ ‘Look What You’ve Done,’ ‘The Real Her ft. Lil Wayne and Andre 3000’ and ‘The Practice,’ show an in-depth look into this era’s hip hop.

How many of you saw your Twitter/Facebook feeds fill with Drake’s lyrics when the album leaked last week? I’ll tell you…there was a lot!

‘The Real Her’ produced by Noah ’40’Shebib is the perfect example of that old Drake sound everyone loves so much. Andre 3000’s verse is what you should be ready for, he never disappoints and I am very glad to see him on this album. ‘Shot For Me’ is the first smooth track on the album that has a rap verse in it where he states, “You and the music were the only ones I commit to,” speaking about the anger a woman has with a new guy instead of being with him, which is a different approach where he usually touches upon the acceptance and understanding of former loved one, in this soft but upbeat production also done by 40.

Photo i warner Bros.

back, relax and watch if you want some lighthearted entertainment.

The film may be boring to some, but it does give a complex and controversial depiction of a greatly influential American innovator. If you are a history buff or can simply appreciate the work that goes into a biopic, this film is definitely worth seeing.

The rest of the tracks you’ll have to hear from the album itself. When you hear the tracks with The-Weeknd you’ll see the uniqueness in the sound that no one else has.

This album is something special, not just saying this because I’m a huge fan of his music, but this is groundbreaking as an overall music artist. The flow, sound, lyricism and talent he possesses is up there with the best rappers and maybe even beyond some.

Even if you have never listened to Drake, this album will make you want to listen to a few more songs…and maybe a couple more after that, it’s that good. He clearly leaves his message and delivers whole heartedly his best stuff since his 2009 mixtape. Clearly a step above Thank Me Later, he provides his fans with great music.

The album is out now in regular and deluxe edition. The deluxe has two bonus tracks: ‘Hate Sleeping Alone’ and ‘The Motto.’ Take your time to digest this album to the fullest, because you will leave reciting some of the lyrics in your head.

I will leave you with his last couple lines of the last song, ‘The Ride.’ “My junior and senior will only get meaner, take care.”

7

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, November 16, 2011 / UPGRADE

Slipknot

Iowa: Special Edition

Roadrunner Records November 1

danny contreras the recorder

Growing up in a Roman Catholic home parallels a gym membership. You never go to the place, but by God’s grace you will shove it down people’s throat. I grew oppressed, fearing the disownment from family if I told them that I did not believe in God. How could I? No mathematical proof existed to prove me otherwise. I saw people who

Angels and Airwaves Love Album Part 2

To The Starsanges November 8

Peter stroczKowsKi the recorder

Love II is both AvA’s fourth album and the final release in the Tom Delonge-led project’s ‘Love trilogy’ including the first Love album

called themselves Catholic doing the exact opposite of what Sunday school taught me.

The paradox consumed me, and I needed to find a way out.

In 2001, a lot of controversy revolved around rock music in Puerto Rico. The Church, especially the Archbishop of the island, considered anything popular the work of the Devil. Unfortunately for me, and my family, I loved rock music. The high tempos of the drums lit up my soul, the lyrics expressed what I couldn’t. And slowly I distanced myself from the Church, my family’s beliefs and the pragmatic thoughts of an island-country in which, because of my music taste, I became a minority.

After Columbine and Marilyn Manson in 1999, my mom banned rock from the house for 2 months. Then in September of 2001 the Twin Towers in New York fell. The country grew paranoid, and so did my family, and Church became a priority for the next four months. Depressed with the oppression I faced I sought a way out and that October of 2001 my best friend at the time introduced me to Slipknot’s second album, Iowa.

I knew of Slipknot before this album, but I did not have internet access at home.

Therefore finding new music became an impossible task. So, I listened again and again to their self-titled album. The band scared me. They wore masks, the fury in their voices obviously signaling anger. Their music, I thought, was a ticking time-bomb rebelling at everything that the culture in which we lived and the 2011 space-narrative film Love. With the release of Blink-182’s newest album just a few months ago, it is definitely a good year to be a Tom Delonge fan.

However, the typically potty-mouthed and nasally Blink guitar player most of us knew and loved is replaced here with an overlyphilosophical, misguided, but equally nasally bastard child of Bono and Jared Leto.

Angels and Airwaves have always struggled with this weakness; although their music is beautifully textured, composed and performed, it is weighed down by contrived lyrics, repetitive and unoriginal vocal melodies and a frontman ultimately more concerned with living up to his own hype than connecting with his listeners.

Opener ‘Saturday Love’ combines an intro worthy of being called the pop-punk genre’s ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’ with Delonge’s uninspired crooning.

To be fair, the chorus is catchy, but the rest of the song bleeds together with the many other forgettable moments on the album.

It is clear with the droning of synthesizers, the endless pitter-patter of lead guitar played through delay pedals and the attempted anthemic vocal arrangements that Delonge and the band want very much to create mood and atmosphere within the songs.

in praised.

Iowa holds a special place in my heart because Slipknot wrote and composed the music in this album with such passion, such candor that my ears melted the very first time I listened to it. ‘515,’ the first track, is just noise. Static and muffled voices grow in the background, but discerning the audible still remains a challenge. The track quickly stops for the first actual song, ‘People = $#!T’, a four-minute piece of hatred, frankness and anger. Finally, everything I thought about the people I lived with, the people I had to share my life with had been written in just three words. The oppression I felt slowly grew less heavy and it gave me hope that I could continue on.

But as soon as the song ended, the reality set in: you can’t avoid living life. ‘Disasterpiece’ and ‘My Plague’ bring you back down from the high of the previous song. The experience pained me. I couldn’t make up my mind about what I thought represented my reality. And though I grew a solipsist after denying the existence of God, the album slowly destroyed my paradigm of life. And it hurt. But I grew a better person.

The whole album is filled with amazing songs. I can write an essay for each song, because they all have important meanings behind them, at least to me. But, the standout songs of the album are “Left Behind” and “Skin Ticket” “Left behind” is about outcasts and their roles in society. It’s creepy and reminiscent

Photo i MysPace.coM/anGelsandairwaVes

The problem is that the songs are almost entirely mood and atmosphere: airy, seethrough and lacking substance. Lead single ‘Anxiety’ sounds nearly identical to the band’s older song, ‘The Adventure’, while ‘Dry Your Eyes’ is a blatant rip-off of older single ‘Everything’s Magic’, which itself was a completely derivative of The Cure’s ‘Close to Me’ and Blink-182’s ‘Anthem Pt. 2’.

This is ultimately what is so frustrating

Netflix It: danny contreras the recorder

Starring Tom Hanks, and directed by Steven Spielberg, The Terminal is my favorite movie of 2004, and should be a must watch in your Netflix queue.

The story centers around Viktor Navorski, a man from the fictitious Krakozhia in Eastern Europe, who comes to JFK on a tourist visit. Rebel troops in his country have begun an armed conflict against the ruling government and officials in the United States prohibit his entrance into the country due to the civil war and lack of sovereignty. Viktor cannot go back to Krakozhia because flights are prohibited from entering a nation in civil war.

Forced to stay at JFK, hilarity ensues when Viktor needs to find food, shelter and money to make his stay in JFK survivable while carrying his luggage and a Planters peanut can. He slowly gains the trust of the workers in the airport, from bag handlers, to workers in a contracted company. He also falls in love with Amelia, a flight attendant in a precarious relationship.

The main antagonist is Frank Dixon, the head of Customs and Border Protection who grows annoyed with Viktor’s presence and devises ways of getting rid of him from the airport. First, he tries to get him to stop getting money from the karts that cost 25 cents. Then he tries to get him to step foot outside the airport so that customs agents can arrest him for being an illegal immigrant. Eventually, through his idiosyncrasies, Viktor begins living comfortably in the airport, begins making more money than Frank Dixon and tries to woo Amelia into falling in love with him.

Inspired by the real story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who lived in Charles De Gaulle International Airport in Paris, the film provides a look into the life of the people who desperately try to live here in the United States, how homelessness affects everyone and the lives of workers in the airports.

Yes, we get an inside view at those people who handle our bags, the ones we grow paranoid of every time we put something valuable

of the intro in Metallica’s “One,” but with the intensity of Slayer’s “Raining Blood”. What I took away is that though we feel disregarded by society, we can grow, become better people and make a difference, whether those who shunned us want to accept the fact or not.

“Skin Ticket” remains the album’s best composed song. It’s a progressive look into the band with an existential, paranoid feel to it. Clocking in at 6:41, it is the second longest song, next to “Iowa”, and contains the lowest tune in the album. The bass is ever clear here, the late Paul Gray truly left his mark here. The song offers an insight into the mind of Corey Taylor, the vocalist. The man is truly troubled, confused and angry. He is looking for an answer to why we’re here. It sounds anxious and bored but it doesn’t stray away from how I felt, ‘Zero and zero is nothing but zero.

Conspire together, running and running, and going forever. Collected and sampled, starving for zero.” Why are we longing for that which does not exists? And is that the ideal that we call happiness? I wondered, he wondered. We’ve yet to find answers.

Shawn Crahan AKA Clown (#6) said to Revolver Magazine, “We’re not a band, we’re a f*cking culture.” It’s true. It’s been ten years since this album hit store shelves.

And it remains their best because they don’t explore politics or economics. They explore the substance of existence. In the end, they don’t provide an answer, but enough fodder to question why should one existence matter more than another.

about AvA’s music: there are plenty of good ideas but rather than hearing these ideas expanded upon, altered, or dissected, the listener is fed either the same thing or practically the same thing over and over again, with Delonge’s strained voice sounding significantly weaker each time. For many fans of AvA’s music, this very well may be a plus.

For everyone else, at least we can hope for another Blink-182 album.

The Terminal

in our luggage. And sometimes, it feels like the movie makes those fears true. But, in the end it shows that they’re just working people, like all of us.

More importantly, we take a look at homelessness and immigration, both issues in this country. That’s the amazing timeliness of The Terminal. Here we’re dealing with immigration, and how typical of an immigrant Viktor is. He’s not a criminal, nor a bad person; he’s a tourist with a goal in mind. He’s just trying to get his goal achieved. He can’t be blamed for what happened at Krakhozia, he’s a victim. It feels as if the story is asking the viewers to reconsider their stance on immigration. In addition to that, we look at homelessness and the extremes people need to face in order to make ends meet. He first works as “luggage” handler, in order to make 25 cents to get some McDonalds. W hen that fails he gets an off-the-book job that pays extremely well. But even that is not enough to make a decent life. So, we need to reconsider our views on homeless people. Because, we never know their circumstances.

The movie remains a favorite of mine because the acting is amazing and Steven Spielberg’s vision is genius.

Photo i dreaMworKs

8

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, November 16, 2011 / UPGRADE

Between The Sheets rachael Bentley the recorder

Sex.

It’s a topic that we are all bound to encounter at some point in our college experience. Girls will giggle about it behind closed dorm doors, guys will talk about it in much less detail over a few beers.

The topics of sex and love seem to be a taboo subject among some people, even though both are such large aspects of the college “experience” and CCSU is no different. It’s time to change that.

Let’s bring those taboo subjects out in the open and take the mystery out of them.

“Between the Sheets” is a student written column that will research and talk about any topics (and we mean any). Jersey chasers, friends with benefits, one-night stands, long term relationships,

cheating, abstinence, noisy neighbors, getting ‘sexiled’ from your own room. You think about it, we will write about it. And don’t worry; all questions/topics submitted will be kept anonymous.

You can submit ideas or questions to Upgrade@centralrecorder.com or follow us on the “Between the Sheets” new twitter account: @ RecorderSexTalk. This column does not represent the University in any way, shape or form. What is written, implied or quoted in these articles are just the opinion of the writer and those interviewed.

Some of the things we talk about may make you uncomfortable. It may make you laugh. It may make you cry (but we hope not), or maybe blush as you’re reading in the Student Center. But the main goal of this column is to get students to talk, laugh and open up with one another. So please don’t be shy and take a look at next week’s issue and see what we can uncover about CCSU’s love lives.

‘Immortals’ Falls Short Of ‘300’

Award-Winning Poet Highlights Work ciara hooKs the recorder

Benjamin Grossberg showcased the variety of his work, and his careful observations of the world, as he spoke at last week’s poetry reading in the Student Center.

Grossberg, a professor at the University of Hartford, and winner of several awards such as the Lambda Literary Award for Poetry also has several published poems that appear in journals like The Paris Review.

A man of Jewish faith, he was raised in biblical tradition, which is why you see religious inspiration featured throughout his work. Adam’s Punishment for example, centers around the idea of what it is like to plant an apple orchard, in reference to Adam’s tending of Eden’s gardens. Grossberg explained how the mythological aspects of biblical stories impact his work.

For the reading Grossberg selected poems from two of his own books including Icarus Considers, Pig Auction, In Memoriam of Ginger, Vial Luminescence, Purgatory and Adam’s Punishment.

One poem I enjoyed was titled Not Children. Taking place a year later,

Grossberg’s Adam is planting apple trees. He describes these tiny trees as if they are people, giving them human-like characteristics. He started with the wet olive colored bark that most resembled human skin, and worked his way down, detangling the hair of roots knotted in a mess.

Grossberg is not what you would call the “rhyming” type of poet, rather more of a narrative poet, using various metaphors, vivid imagery and description. The dash of humor he sprinkles through parts of each piece give the work depth. His work shows his ability to be fun and light-hearted, while capturing the art of human speech, voice and rhythm.

In Memoriam of Ginger, Ms. Ginger is an older woman and a tenant in the narrator’s apartment complex while he lives in Ohio.

He describes her look, personality and voice so well I could picture Ms. Ginger in my head. Her sagging breast that touched her hips and her voice that hurt his ears like nails on a chalk board with an almost drunk-like slur.

Grossberg’s poems gave listeners a better sense of the meaning of his work; they got an idea of what his characters sound like, painting a visual with his voice.

Bookmark It! The Happiness Project

By Gretchen Rubin rachael Bentley the recorder

Photo i uniVersal Pictures

Peter stroczKowsKi the recorder

Theseus (Henry Caville) is having a bad day. His village has just been invaded and his mother brutally killed by the Heraklion army and their ruler, King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke). Hyperion seeks to take control of the world and ensure his bloodline remains immortal by finding the Epirus, a weapon forged by the God of War capable of freeing an army of Titans, who in turn will take revenge on the gods for imprisoning them.

After being jailed and tortured, Theseus is freed with the help of several other prisoners and the beautiful oracle Phaedra (Frieda Pinto), who is haunted by visions of the future in which she sees Theseus being able to turn the tide of the war. He also receives help from a disguised Zeus, who unbeknownst to Theseus, has been mentoring him his whole life. By Zeus’s own law, however, the gods are forbidden to assist humans using their power (this is found out the hard way by one of the Gods down the line). Theseus embraces his destiny and makes a final effort to stop the evil king and save the world.

Director Tarsem Singh (2000’s The Cell, R.E.M.’s ‘Losing My Religion’ Video) excels at combining real sets with CGI landscapes to form absolutely breathtaking scenery. The action scenes (of which there are plenty)are also brought to new levels with added post-production, particularly an extended fight scene involving the Gods and Titans. There is a plethora of violence, a smidgeon of tasteful nudity, as a scene any self-respecting man will find almost too painful to witness (when one of Theseus’ countrymen defects to Hyperion’s army, he is allowed to join but promptly castrated so that he cannot continue his family line.

With a mallet).

The film is heavily entertaining in these

respects and keeps the viewer’s attention as there is little screentime where something interesting and shiny isn’t being displayed blatantly (the landscape, weaponry, special effects, fighting, Theseus’ abs, etc.)

Many of the characters are also extremely likeable, which adds to the enjoyment of the film. Caville is great as the unfortunate protagonist who must accept his destiny and the Gods faith in him, while Mickey Rourke takes the cake as the fantastically hateful Hyperion (Rourke also manages to top his role as bad guy Ivan Vanko in last year’s Iron Man 2), and even the supporting actors manage to bring a mostly positive dynamic to the film. Also, one of the guys from Twilight plays Poseidon. Weird.

However, for all the eye-candy and visual strength the film possesses, the story aspect is, well, a different story. Underwhelming, full of holes and feeling entirely static, the film’s plot is established within the first half-hour and the rest is easily predicted.

Furthermore, through the duration of the film, even with the changes in scene and location, and the grandiose CGI structures, it felt as if all of the film’s events took place within a half-mile from each other, adding an unintentionally stifling and claustrophobic atmosphere in which the pacing of the story seems like it never moves forward.

The viewer will undoubtedly find much of the film’s backtracking totally unecessary (turns out the Epirus bow was hidden in the tomb down the road from Theseus’ house.

Not exactly an epic quest.) The characters, though likeable and entertaining, are mostly disposable (the authors of the script must have felt the same way, because they kill off most of them). Thankfully, for all of its shortcomings, Immortals is easy to follow and any moviegoers who found last year’s Clash of the Titans remake to be too challenging can rest easy: Immortals makes it seem like Inception.

Over the past decade self help books have become something of a craze, with topics ranging from self-realization, relationships, work accomplishments and parenting. I’ll be the first to admit that I have read a couple different books that claim they can help you make the most of your time and enjoy your life. I never finished one.

That was until I stumbled across The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin one day whiles I was perusing around Barnes and Noble. Sitting on top of one of their many tables of New York Times best-sellers was this little blue book that caught my eye. You can usually spot a self help book from a mile away, but in this case, it took me about five-minutes of reading to realize it fit this genre. Also, let’s not forget to mention the title itself is so enticing.

What is a happiness project? I instantly found myself wondering that, and within 10 minutes I left Barnes and Noble with my little paper green and white bag, looking forward to cracking the book open again.

This book is 315 pages long, and I finished it in a little under a week. It was extremely difficult to put this book down, as Rubin is a funny writer and I found it very easy to relate to her.

Rubin takes a very methodical and practical approach to trying to be happier (playing on her own controlling personality) by using a system of goals and spreading the load over a span of a year. Each month she chose an aspect of her life that she wanted improve on such as family, friends, well-being and work. She then would pick things she could do on a daily basis that would help her reach her ultimate goal. For 11 months she struggled but also enjoyed pushing herself to do try new

things, be less critical of her husband and make new friends. For her final month, she combined all of her goals and ultimately decided whether or not her experiment helped make her feel better. Thankfully for her, it did.

She also made up her own 12 commandments to follow to keep her focused such as “Always be Gretchen”, “Lighten up” and “Do it now”.

The thing that I loved the most about her approach was that she understood that everyone’s happiness project would be different, so instead of just talking about what worked for her, she included other peoples happiness projects ideas from her online blog. I have multiple friends who have also read this book, and I have yet to hear one negative opinion about it. The fact that it’s a New York Times best seller may be the only reason you decide to pick it up in the first place, but the message and the great writing will be what keeps you reading it.

THE RECORDER / Wednesday, November 16, 2011

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, November 16, 2011 / SPORTS

COLUMN

SPORTS BEGINS ON BACK PAGE

Kenny Barto i the recorder

The Focus Should Be On Sandusky

Brittany BurKe the recorder

A lot of light has been shed on the Penn State molestation case since the news first broke last week. Joe Paterno was fired for not doing more, for not taking matters into his own hands and ensuring that the boys who were violated by then assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, were given justice and helped.

Much was said about all the parties involved, but mostly Joe Pa. I’ve tried to read about the case as much as I could, and I’ve come to the decision that while I think Paterno should have done more, like he said he should have, I am also inclined to feel sorry for him.

I know being “pro-Paterno” could get me hated, but this isn’t because I’m a Penn State fan. I’m not one of the hundreds of students protesting the firing of Paterno, seemingly forgetting that he does in fact have a hand in this entire scandal.

This also doesn’t mean that I don’t acknowledge that what had happened was disgusting and morally wrong, but I also remember it wasn’t Paterno in the shower with the boys, it was Sandusky.

I think a lot of people are forgetting who the true criminal is in this case, Sandusky. It was Sandusky who allegedly molested 8-year old boys, who were already in a vulnerable position. It was Sandusky who used his own charity foundation, the Second Mile charity, to seemingly find these boys. Not Paterno.

As Paterno is caught in media and public crossfire between those who support him and those calling for his head, Sandusky is getting off easy.

When arrested, Sandusky was given a $500,000 bail and the idea of having to wear an ankle monitor was thrown around, but one district judge put an end to it. Now, not only does Sandusky not have to pay his bail unless he doesn’t appear in court, he also doesn’t have to wear the monitor. Instead, district judge Leslie Dutchcot ruled he only steer clear from children.

My question is, why aren’t we protesting that? People seem to be spending so much time focusing on Paterno that Sandusky slips through the cracks. What the judge ruled is also morally wrong. How does anybody know Sandusky won’t continue what he’s been doing, even amongst this turmoil?

Telling him to avoid contact is a minor slap on the wrist for someone who allegedly molested children over the course of 15-years. Why aren’t we up in arms about that?

I realize this is something that could have been avoided had Paterno gone to the police instead of the athletics director, but he did what he thought was necessary to ensure that what had happened was properly taken care of.

Should he have checked back with the official he told to make sure he was handling it? Yes. Should he have told more than one authoritative person to make sure this wasn’t just brushed to the side? Yes. However, it isn’t him we should be focusing on. Paterno is just one small piece in this huge scandal. I agree that Paterno should have been let go, but he had already announced his retirement for the end of the season.

What I don’t agree with is the fact that he was fired over the phone. Despite everything that has come about, I believe he deserves to be shown more respect than that, but again this isn’t about him.

This scandal is mostly about the eight boys who have been harmed by Sandusky’s negligence, and it is about Sandusky who abused his position of power. Let’s not forget that.

Ryan Stanley had two goals in the weekend’s only game against Northeastern.

Blue Devils Outscore Huskies Brittany BurKe the recorder

One quick goal made by the Northeastern club hockey team 29 seconds into Saturday night’s game didn’t rattle CCSU hockey as the Blue Devils went on to score four of their own, topping the Huskies by one.

With Ross Mocko starting in net, the Huskies took the quick advantage, but it was the first and only time that the Blue Devils would trail in the game.

“It’s not the start we wanted but I think we rebounded pretty well, they didn’t score again until the second or third period whatever it was, so our team responded well. It’s obviously not what you wanted first shift,” said Ryan Stanley.

As the clock wound down the defense stepped up and kept the Huskies off the boards, and with 7:15 left to play in the first, R. Stanley took a glove-side shot past Northeastern’s goalie for the tie. It was R. Stanley who struck again less than three minutes later to edge past the opponent going into intermission.

The first line was most productive in terms of getting points on the board, anchored by R. Stanley, his brother Conor and Jon Knobloch, but the other lines

came out strong, also contributing to the weekend’s win.

Having multiple strong lines is something that Head Coach Ben Adams has been preaching since he took over the position three years ago, and it was apparent in the game against the Huskies.

“I think we finally have four solid lines,” said Ben Adams. “First line helped us out tonight obviously with two big goals and they’re going to help us out all year, but production from the other lines is coming. Siracusa with a goal, he hit a post, a lot of offense from [Evan] Mink, [Adam] Maz[urkiewicz] and [ Jack] Johnson and it’s gonna come, but I think we have at least three solid lines if not four.”

As the second period got underway the Blue Devils quickly took the 3-1 advantage with a goal coming from Matt Siracusa.

CCSU managed to keep up with Northeastern, who had the speed but couldn’t bury the puck past Mocko. With a little under half the time off the clock the Blue Devils’ first line struck again, this time with a goal from C. Stanley, assisted

by R. Stanley.

The Blue Devils managed to go on the four point scoring streak before the Huskies got back on the board with 26 seconds left to play before the final intermission.

The last minute goal gave the Huskies momentum entering the game’s last period, but again the Blue Devils came out with speed and intensity to finish off the match. Neither teams produced a goal as the third wound down, skating back and forth from one end of the ice to the other.

However, with 4:16 left the Huskies cut their deficit to one with plenty of time left to play. As the game clock hit under two minutes Mink was sent to the box, giving Northeastern the man-advantage and sending CCSU into the penalty kill.

Northeastern also chose to pull its goalie for the sixth man on the ice, but the play didn’t work and the Blue Devil penalty killers kept the team alive for the win.

“You’re always on a little of an edge the last five minutes of the game when they have a shot, but we’re rolling six guys out there and we’re not worried about any pairs so we just have to bear down our sticks, and again, if we give one up we know we could score one,” said Adam Goldstein.

Saturday’s game was the only match-up for the Blue Devils this weekend, but the team gets thrown back into back-to-back games next weekend for the CT Governor’s Cup, being held at the Newington Arena Friday and Saturday.

Blue Devils Fall To Bulldogs At CCSU Rookies Impress In Win Over Black Bears, 53-48 Mohegan Sun, 73-69 mEnS BBALL I conT. From 12 shot off after he was fouled and he made the free throw to bring the score to 67-66 with 1:31 left.

With the score at 72-67, CCSU fouled Mangano to send him to the free throw line.

He missed both shots as David Simmons grabbed the rebound and found Vinales on an outlet pass, who laid the ball in easily to bring the score to 72-69.

The Blue Devils forced the ball to Mangano again, who made one of two of his shots to bring the score to 73-69 with five seconds left. CCSU could not make a play, as Adonis Burbage threw the ball out of bounds to end the game.

“The real positive is that our freshman did a good job,” Dickenman said. “We like that, but we also need our veterans to step up.”

Horton, who enters the season with high hopes, shot just one of eight from three point range.

“I think he’ll be fine,” Dickenman said.

“I don’t think he got open shots, but he got some good shots … I thought his shot was flat, which we’ve seen before.”

CCSU will play their first home game against Army on Saturday at 2 p.m., which will be the first of three out of conference home games. The other two will be UMBC on Nov. 22 and Hartford on Nov. 26.

WomEnS BBALL I conT. From 12 needed to get it done so any win’s a good win anyway we can take it,” said Piper.

The final win was secured by fouls. With CCSU’s Lauren Arbogast at the line she went 1-for-2. As soon as her second shot went up Shareka Maner on Maine was fouled and sent to the line for two free throws, which she couldn’t sink.

Daamen and Jaclyn Babe were both sent back to the free throw line inside the 10 second countdown, both going 1-for-2, they put the Blue Devils up 53-48 without enough time for Maine to stage a comeback.

“It was extremely nerve wracking, I knew the whole time [we were gonna win], I just had that feeling, I knew we were going to make those big plays because we have big time players that will step up in those situations,” said Babe. “We didn’t hit every foul shot, but we definitely hit the first ones which really help [the game] out and keep it going.”

Babe lead the team in points, with 16 respectively, matching UMaine’s leading scorer, Ashleigh Roberts. Freshman Kaley Watras lead the team in rebounds, with eight, while her classmates Johnna Fisher and Danielle Davis both had strong first showings.

CCSU outshot Maine at the free throw line, making 52.6 percent of their attempts, while the Black Bears made just shy of 45

percent. However, the team committed 19 turnovers opposed to Maine’s 15.

The young Blue Devils head on the road for the next two games, first at Massachusetts, then closer to home to take on in-state rivals, the University of Hartford. “[UHart is] gonna be fired up and ready to play us,” said Piper. “Last year we played them and had the experienced team and they had the inexperienced team and we played them here. This year is a reversed scenario and we’re playing in their gym and their house, they have good fan support so we need people to come out and support us.”

CCSU returns to home play on Sunday Nov. 27 at 2 p.m.

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, November 16, 2011 / SPORTS

kenny barto I THE RECORDER

Men’s Soccer Eliminated In NEC Semifinal

CCSU goalie Anthony Occhialini watches the final penalty kick by Monmouth go into the net, effectively ending the Blue Devils’ season.

Danny contreras The Recorder

CCSU Men’s Soccer bowed out in the semifinals of the NEC Soccer Tournament to penalty kicks, in part due to the heroics of Monmouth’s keeper, Alex Blackburn, and a misplaced shot from CCSU’s Ben Walsh, putting the Hawks up 4-2.

“I thought they were fortunate to get to the penalty kicks and in the end that’s what made the difference,” said a solemn Coach Green following their semifinal match against the Hawks.

Coming off a resounding 2-0 win over St. Francis University (NY) in a regular season title clinching game, the Blue Devils looked to make quick work of the Monmouth Hawks as Coach Green did not make any schematic changes.

However, as prepared as the Blue Devils appeared the weather and the Monmouth experience played a role in the opening goal.

Monmouth’s Derek Luke took a free ball from the midfield and ran down the left before taking a shot from 15-yards out. Thanks to

the wind, the ball curled more than usual in addition to dipping at the last moment, something CCSU keeper Anthony Occhialini could not prepare himself for as the ball went into the back of net.

The rest of the half, however, was in control of the Blue Devils who averaged a 60 percent possession rate, with a 75 percent pass rate, higher than in their other games.

Monmouth was prepared for the constant onslaught of the CCSU offense, and their defense maintained a high- line to keep strikers Eddy Bogle and Reece Wilson at bay for much of the match.

CCSU had their first true chance of the half when Bogle took the ball from Blackburn, who dove when the striker took his shot. The rebound then fell to Nick Cianci who took a late shot caught by Blackburn.

The Blue Devils offense was not done.

CCSU created the best chance of the half when Alpha Dioubate crossed the ball from the right to Aaron Durr, whose header threatened the goal had it not been for Blackburn who tipped the ball for a corner kick.

The first half ended with Monmouth in

the lead.

The second half started in the same fashion as the first, with CCSU controlling the ball, and going into an overload in the Monmouth final third.

Early in the second, Reece Wilson found himself one-on-one against Blackburn, whose dive to the left tipped the corner kick.

Moments later Steven Bailey broke away down the right to take a shot on goal from 10-yards, which was caught by Blackburn.

Thomas Obasi threatened the Monmouth defense more than anyone, as the playmaker’s fast footwork allowed him to dribble past three opponents at times. One of his runs created the chance and goal for the Blue Devils. Obasi made a run down the right a little too early and two Monmouth defenders marked him. When he crossed the ball, one of them kicked it out for a corner.

The corner, taken by captain Jesse Menzies, met the feet of the other captain, Ognen “Ouggy” Stamenkovic, who drilled it down from the center of the penalty box into the bottom right corner to tie the game at 1-1.

“I thought we played better today than we did the first time around. We possessed the ball well; we passed the ball better around.

We created a lot of chances, it’s just that we couldn’t get a foot in front of those chances, and that happens. They’re a very strong, defensive team, who have only conceded 5 goals in their season, and 3 of those goals have come from us. What we’re lacking is that final touch in front of the box,” explained Coach Green.

The Blue Devils pushed for the rest of the half for the goal but couldn’t find it, the game going into overtime with FDU watching from the background one of their two future opponents.

The overtime play remains the most attacking minded offenses for both sides, with possession splitting down equally at 50 percent for both teams. However, this did not translate well into the score line as neither managed to get the winning goal.

The game went onto penalty kicks, the first shoot-out Occhialini has faced in his career at CCSU. The first kick was smartly taken by both teams as they drilled the ball into the right of the goal almost identically; with both keepers diving too low to keep out 1-1.

The second kicks were both saved by both keepers in similar fashion as both kickers tried to go for a high ball to the center. Occhialini and Blackburn both held on to the ball.

However, both teams’ third went in, matching both teams at 2-2.

Then Ben Walsh stepped up to the spot kick to give the Blue Devils the advantage, but his efforts saw the ball go high of the bar, something which the Hawks capitalized on.

Their fourth attempt went in giving them a 3-2 advantage.

With one more kick deciding the fate of the teams, Monmouth’s Anthony Vasquez scored the final penalty kick to give his team the 4-2 score and win the match for the defending champions.

Monmouth went on to win the Championship and the NCAA tournament berth after defeating FDU in the final two days later.

“From going to bottom to being cochampions, it’s been fantastic,” said Coach Green. “It’s been done through a lot of work from the players and the coaching staff, and I hope the school takes advantage of this, so we can make the jump into the national stage next season when we bring new players.”

The men are official co-champions of the NEC soccer tournament as they finished top of the league with 21 points out of 10 matches.

brittany burke The Recorder

The wind whipped around Arute Field, and for the first time in weeks it wasn’t the football team occupying the turf on a Saturday morning, it was the CCSU men’s lacrosse club.

In the first ever Fall Classic Jamboree, the men’s club team brought together seven teams, including CCSU, to play an entire day of the sport the athletes love.

It included games from New Paltz University, UConn, Quinnipiac, CCSU, Southern Connecticut, the University of Massachusetts and the University of Rhode Island.

“Well we had four games so far this fall, this here is the Fall Classic Jamboree,” said Conrad Meurice. “The biggest point of this tournament for me was to get teams that we’ve never played before to play each other, such as UMass, New Paltz and Connecticut College. We’ve never played them in the history of Central lacrosse and some of the teams here have never played them, so I really just wanted to bring a whole different variety of teams together and get them to play together and get the experience in.”

Games began at 9 a.m. and were played throughout the day until 7 p.m. Each game lasted just one

hour, but each school was able to play a minimum of four games in the single tournament.

Not only was the all-day event for the teams to congregate in one area, but it was also for the team to get its name out there to the rest of the CCSU campus. “[This jamboree is] to get our team recognized as more of a legitimate team. Previous years they definitely weren’t as legit,” said Meurice. “We also wanted to make ourselves known around Central because not too many people know that we have a men’s lacrosse team and we are a good team so I want people to recognize that.”

The day expanded beyond a straight forward tournament. The team was there also selling t-shirts to raise money, had Herb’s Sports Shop from West Hartford there selling their own merchandise and got the CCSU Dance Team involved by performing during the break.

The turnout by CCSU students was minimal, but the tournament did help the team figure out what they needed to work on going into future games.

The team went 2-2 in the fall, defeating two Southern Connecticut teams, while falling to UConn’s club team.

“One team that we played was a bunch of retired pro players

Kenny Barto I THE RECORDER

Lacrosse Club Hosts First Annual ‘Jamboree’

The Lacrosse Jamboree is the first of what the team hopes to become an annual event. and retired [division-I] players, and we lost to them which was understandable, and we also lost to UConn, which is understandable,”

said Meurice. “They’re really good, but we did beat Southern and we beat another men’s league out of Southern Connecticut.”

Saturday’s event was the first for the team, but Meurice hopes to make it an annual event, having it grow more with each season.

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, November 16, 2011 / SPORTS

Rookie Effort Not Enough Against Bulldogs kenny barto

kenny barto I THE RECORDER

The Recorder

Kenny Horton shoots a floater against Yale’s Jesse Prichard in the final game of the Connecticut Six Classic at Mohegan Sun.

Under the bright lights at Mohegan Sun Arena, the final game of the third annual Connecticut Six Classic brought a tough matchup of two even teams, as CCSU fell to Yale 73-69.

The Blue Devils were backed by strong efforts from freshman Kyle Vinales, who had 24 points, and Kenny Horton who had 21 points and nine rebounds. Vinales’ strong performance in his CCSU debut also included him making six of thirteen from the floor, and 10 of 11 from the free throw line.

“It felt good,” Vinales said. “I got some open looks and it was good for me to go out and play like that.”

Blue Devils Head Coach Howie Dickenman was also pleased with Vinales’ performance, but pointed out the freshman wasn’t too careful with the ball. “[Vinales] had some good numbers,” he said. “One of which was seven turnovers, but we can live with that, he’s an aggressive player.”

CCSU got off to a fast start, leading 9-2 through three minutes of play. Their 1-3-1 zone defense put pressure on Yale’s guards, forcing them to adjust.

“I think we got off to a slow start,” said Yale Head Coach James Jones. “Their pressure was all over the place and we made mistakes.

But, we were able to adjust as the game went on.”

The Blue Devils held the lead for the entire first half. Both teams fought against each other, as CCSU’s lead never grew to more than five points. The half ended at 34-30 and for Vinales, seven of his eight first-half points came in the first minute and a half of the game.

However, the second half was an entirely different story for CCSU. The Bulldogs went on a 20-3 run out of the gate while pressuring the Blue Devils to miss their first nine shots of the half.

“We came out flat in the second half and against good teams, you can’t do that,” Horton said.

“They’ll take advantage and that’s what they did. They capitalized on our mistakes.”

Greg Mangano was one of the biggest forces for the Bulldogs.

The 6-foot-10 senior had two big three-pointers and a slam dunk during their run, which lasted over the first seven minutes of the second half. Still, Mangano realized that the Blue Devils were a tough opponent.

“That’s a physical, aggressive, quick team,” he said. “We practiced and prepared for them all week.”

CCSU was able to go on a run of its own, however. Trailing the Bulldogs 67-59, the Blue Devils scored seven straight points including an acrobatic shot by Vinales. He drove into the lane, jumped and took the contact from Mangano. He was able to sink the MENS BBALL | cont. on 10

Women’s Basketball Wins Season Opener The Recorder

While the men’s basketball team travelled to Mohegan to open the 2011 season against Yale in the Connecticut 6, the CCSU women’s team stayed in New Britain to debut their group of fresh talent against the University of Maine Black Bears.

“It was a little rough, we made a lot of mistakes. We’re really young so I think everyone had first game jitters, I know I did really badly,” said Jaclyn Babe. “When it came down to it we made big time plays. We got big time rebounds and I think that’s what won it for us.”

Despite the amount of young talent, the Blue Devils opened home play with a 53-48 out-of-conference win.

Heading into Friday’s season opener, CCSU was on the losing end of a 2-9 record against Maine, but it was the home team who took charge of the game early.

With a 27-18 lead at half time, the Blue Devils fought to get the early lead, and would never lose it. The game changed hands three times, but CCSU never let go of the top spot following half time.

At one point the Blue Devils had the 40-29 lead over the Black Bears, but Maine slowly began to climb back, coming within four points, 46-42 with 2:50 left to play in the game. With 2:36 Maine’s Brittany

Williams went up for two to put her team down by one shot. “[Maine] basically came out in the second half and said we’re gonna get to the rim, we’re gonna attack them and that’s what they did,” said Head Coach Beryl Piper.

“They just kept going to the basket and going to the basket and we really struggled defending, and like I said, we have to get better. We knew what they were doing because they were doing it every single time.”

As time was running out both teams went back and forth to put final points on the board.

Defensively, CCSU was cutting back the chances that the Black Bears had, but the team managed to still get points on the board and cause the Blue Devils to scramble to keep the lead.

A rebound shot made by CCSU’s Kirsten Daamen increased the Blue Devils’ lead back to four, but Williams came back with two matching points with 39 seconds left.

“We did some things early and I think they picked up the intensity and I think we’re so young that you know that we’re gonna make some mistakes … they just haven’t played a real lot and I think down the wire when we needed some big rebounds we got some big rebounds and they were able to get it done when we WOMENS BBALL | cont. on 10

daniel saunders I THE RECORDER

brittany burke

Junior Jaclyn Babe lead the Blue Devils with 16 points in Fridays win against the Black Bears.