The Chronicle- February 25, 2014

The Chronicle The weekly student newspaper of The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York www.strosechronicle.com - @strosechronicle

February 25th, 2014

Volume LXXXII Issue 23

Premiere of Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Brings Campus Together See Page A4 for Story

KELLY PFEISTER

Energy was high in Lally as students watched Jimmy Fallon’s first show as host of The Tonight Show.

New Dining Option: Food Trucks Congressman Tonko Visits Saint Rose

By JACKSON WANg Executive Editor

For years at Saint Rose, students have had their food options limited to either the dining hall or the Camelot Room. Last year, the College added the POD with the

opening of Centennial Hall. But students will have another food option next month.

According to Student Association Director of Communications Courtney Carr, the College will be bringing food trucks on to campus in a few weeks. Carr

News & Features

said they will be looking to do this about once or twice a month through the semester.

“It’s basically to give students another opportunity to eat something different as opposed to the Continued on Page A5

Arts & Opinion

By ASIA EWART Staff Writer The College of Saint Rose played host to democratic Congressman Paul Tonko on Thurs-

day, when he visited our campus to hold his long-standing lecture series, “Coffee with Your Congressman.”

Sports

Photos: The Tonight Show premiere party.

See page A5

New improv group on campus.

See page B10

NBA trade deadline failure.

See page D19

Profile: Caitlyn Askew.

See page A8

Jordan Davis case.

See page C17

Profile: Kelsey Kraft.

See page D20

Continued on Page A6

News Cutting Cancer Loose: Breaking A Record?

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The Chronicle

By CHRISTOPHER SURPRENANT Managing Editor The role of service has been an integral part of education and campus life at The College of Saint Rose, and it always plays a large role in the activities and events attended by students. At this year’s Relay For Life, the folks at Saint Rose’s chapter of Colleges Against Cancer (CAC) will not only put on one of the school’s largest fundraisers, but will attempt to break a world record in the process.

Originally set into motion by former Saint Rose student Olivia Deck, those involved with this year’s Relay will attempt to break the previous Guinness World Record for most hair donated in 24 hours to charity. In support of the Pantene Beautiful Lengths campaign, current record holders donated their hair in Clinton, Mississippi in 2007, collecting 107.4 lbs. of hair. Eight hundred and eighty one people donated their locks so that the hair would be made into wigs for women who lost their hair during the course of their cancer treatments.

As part of such a worthy cause, members of CAC wanted to get in on the action, and pos-

February 25th, 2014

sibly set a record in the process.

Daniela Cunsolo, advocacy chair for CAC, is currently in charge of organizing the event with her committee. It’s going to be a large-scale event, too. In order to break the record, it is estimated that about 900 participants will need to donate their ponytails of at least 8 inches.

“I’m so excited to make this happen. It’s going to be so amazing getting the whole Capital District together,” Cunsolo said.

“I joined CAC because I wanted to be a part of a club that is so dedicated in what they want to accomplish—to end the battle of cancer and spread awareness— it’s a pretty awesome thing.”

Officially, the name of the event is the Capital District Cuts Off Cancer. It is the hope of Cunsolo and those involved that other local colleges will be drawn to Relay to be part of such a good cause. Cunsolo said that she and her committee members are also in the process of reaching out to local cosmetology students to donate their time so that hair might be styled after ponytails are snipped. It’s going to be a huge community effort that will hopefully pay off in the form of beauty and confidence.

“Eight inches of hair can give a woman strength to fight on. It’s important to me because I feel that every woman deserves to feel confident and beautiful,” said Mathew Vincent, one of Relay’s co-chairs.

Vincent added that, as a symbolic gesture, the Relay committee is hoping to have cancer survivors cut the ponytails that will be donated.

The breaking of the world record is only one part of many events planned for Relay this year, as well as a lofty goal of raising $31,000.

“It makes me so nervous because it’s such a big number, but I know we can do it,” Vincent said.

Shannon Wortmann, Vincent’s co-chair, is also feeling just as confident about the success of the event. Like many involved in CAC, the fight against cancer is personal. “Relay For Life is important to me because it helps us celebrate, remember, and fight back for all of our loved ones who we have lost and that are still with us today.”

Wortmann and Vincent are planning a variety of contests, challenges, and activities to keep the energy going at Relay all through the night. However,

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COURTESY MATHEW VINCENT

Relay For Life co-chairs Mathew Vincent and Shannon Wortmann. the main focus will be on raising awareness. “I got involved in Relay because I wanted to make a difference and lower the chances of people in the future hearing the painful words from their doctors that they have cancer,” Wortmann said.

Relay For Life will be held Saturday, April 25. The opening ceremony will begin at 5:30 p.m. and end the following Sunday at 5:30 a.m. For more information or to lend a hand, attend a CAC meeting on Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. in Albertus 210.

Capital District Cuts Off Cancer: Fast Facts

COURTESY RELAY FOR LIFE OF THE COLLEGE OF SAINT ROSE FACEBOOK PAGE

Participants walked at Relay for Life in 2012.

• Participants must have a minimum of 8 inches of hair to donate • Hair must not have been permanently dyed • Hair must not have been treated with chemicals • Potential participants must have 5% or less gray hair • Relay For Life is on April 25 and hair cutting starts at 6 p.m. on the quad • Tweet #CutsOffCancer to get involved • See BeautifulLengths.com for more information about growing out your hair

February 25th, 2014

Volume 82 Issue 23

In Brief

News

Frequency North Presents Renowned Poets Dougherty and Gill O’Neil Poets Sean Thomas Dougherty and January Gill O’Neil will read from their most recent works at The College of Saint Rose as part of the Frequency North Writers Series. Dougherty is a high school dropout and former factory worker. He has written five books and won the 200 Pinyon Press Poetry Prize awarded from Mesa State College. He was also nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

He has appeared at various art and music festivals over the course of his career.

Gill O’Neil has authored two poetry collections. She is an assistant professor of English at Salem

State University. Her poetry has been published in several publications such as North American Review and Seattle Review. She won the Paterson Poetry Prize in 2010. Gill O’Neil was featured as a debut poet in Poet’s & Writers magazine. In addition to outside publications, she also runs the blog “Poet Mom.” Dougherty and Gill O’Neill will speak on Thursday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. in Standish Rooms A and B. Their most recent works will be available for purchase.

The event is free and open to the public.

COURTESY OF SAINT ROSE

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Calendar of Events Tuesday, February 25th 11 a.m. PROJECT 70 Summer Internship Program EAC 4 p.m. MAPS ALB 109 7 p.m. G4G (Girls For God) Sanctuary 7 p.m. Spectrum St. Joseph’s Hall 8 p.m. Outside the [Box] Albertus 216 8 p.m. Yoga Sanctuary Wednesday, February 26th 2:40 p.m. Natural Science Association Science Center Room 352 3 p.m. Men’s Lacrosse vs. Mercy Plumeri 4 p.m. Hearst Lecture on Innovation in Communications Lally 4:30 p.m. Student Association Meeting Standish 5 p.m. Mid-Week Mass Sanctuary 7:30 p.m. BASIC Sanctuary 8 p.m. Colleges Against Cancer Meeting Albertus Room 210 10 p.m. Karate Club Practice EAC Room 110

COURTESY OF SAINT ROSE

Sean Thomas Dougherty

Bach’s 300th Birthday to be Celebrated The Empire Baroque, the Capital Region’s period instrument ensemble, will be visiting The College of Saint Rose to celebrate the 300th birthday of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, J.S. Bach’s second oldest son. Yvonne Hansbrough will be performing with flute, Hillary Walther Cumming on violin, Andre Laurent O’Neil on cello and viola da gamba, and William Carragan on the harpsichord.

Selections include: “Trio Sonata in B Minor,” “Sonata for

The Chronicle

Solo Flute in A Minor,” “Duet in G Major for Flute and Violin,” “Sonata in C Major for Viola da Gamba,” and “Trio Sonata in C Major.” Like his father, Bach was an influential composer. His style has been described as both personal and emotionally touching, and appealed to both professional and amateur musicians.

The performance will be held on Saturday, March 15 at 7:30 p.m. in the Massry Center for the Arts. The event is free and open to the public.

Thursday, February 27st 11 a.m. Peter Young Housing Industries and Treatment EAC 4:15 p.m. Adventure Club Lima Basement 5:30 p.m. SEB Meeting St. Joseph’s Hall 7:30 p.m. Identity Main Lounge 8 p.m. Wind Ensembles Massry Friday, February 28nd Last Day of Classes Before Spring Break Saturday, March 1st Sunday, March 2nd Monday, March 3rd No Classes—Spring Break If you have an upcoming event you would like to see in our weekly Calendar of Events, please e-mail chronicle@strose.edu.

Notice to Readers We will not be publishing an issue on Tuesday, March 4th since the College will be on spring break. We will have an issue on Tuesday, March 11th, the first Tuesday back from spring break.

Yvonne Hansbrough

The Chronicle

Executive Editor Jackson Wang ‘14 wangj847@strose.edu

Features Editor Conor Shea ‘15 sheac613@strose.edu

Business Manager Shawn Dixon dixons@strose.edu

Managing Editor Opinion Editor Chris Surprenant ‘14 Zachary Olsavicky surprenantc572@strose.edu olsavickyz977@strose.edu

Advertising Manager Shawn Dixon dixons@strose.edu

News Editor Searching For Applicant

Arts Editor Andy Gilchrist ‘14 gilchrista788@strose.edu

Web Editor Christopher Lovell ‘15 lovellc083@strose.edu

Layout Editor Jennifer O’Connor ‘16 oconnorj984@strose.edu

Sports Editor Joshua Natoli ‘14 natolij477@strose.edu

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Assistant Layout Editor Searching For Applicant

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Faculty Adviser Cailin Brown

Staff Writers Tori Addison Katherine Bakaitis Asia Ewart Kevin Jacob Tariq Kendall Katie Klimacek Vanessa Langdon Nicholas Negron Alex Pecha Lauren Sears M. William Smith Brendan Tenan

Staff Photographers Chris Alvarado Anthony Chapin

ANY student can join The Saint Rose Chronicle The Chronicle is published weekly on Tuesdays during the academic year and once during the summer months. The Chronicle is published at the facilities of New England Newspapers in Pittsfield, M.A.

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News A4 A Golden Start to Fallon’s Tonight Show Premiere The Chronicle

By CONOR SHEA Features Editor Last Monday evening was a momentous occasion in late-night television, and an especially relevant one for the students of The College of Saint Rose. This past Monday, Feb. 17, NBC aired its first episode of The Tonight Show starring Saint Rose graduate Jimmy Fallon as host.

Fallon, who graduated in 2009, led the opening night to the highest ratings The Tonight Show has seen in 20 years, a feat some credit to the younger audience that Fallon attracts.

This same young audience took time to watch the show’s premier e at The College of Saint Rose, as the Student Association Board orchestrated a premiere party with free food for all students.

The party was held in the Touhey Forum, with seating arranged on all three floors for students to view this historic changeover. While the Facebook invitations to the event listed the starting time as 11:30 p.m., a number of students arrived as early as 11:00.

Among those who arrived early was Saint Rose sophomore Everett Hart, who says he made sure to get to the event as early as possible so as not to miss out on the food.

Everett went on to say that he enjoyed the show, but was slightly disappointed that Fallon didn’t

February 25th, 2014

mention Saint Rose at all. This was a disappointment apparently shared by many, as some cries of annoyance and protest were made when Fallon mentioned his upbringing in New York, and graduation from high school, but not his pursuits of higher education.

Pivotal in the planning of the event was junior communications major Courtney Carr, who serves as the director of communications for the SA. Just prior to the airing of The Tonight Show, local NBC affiliates sent field reporters to cover the premiere party, a report which Carr was interviewed for regarding her participation in planning the viewing party.

When asked what it was like to speak with the reporter, Carr joked that it was “Horrifying.”

Kidding, though she may have been, no one would blame her, as the moment the studio cut to Carr and the reporter, all of Touhey Forum erupted in cheers and applause, drowning out any and all noise.

“It was pretty amazing,” Carr elaborated. “I honestly wasn’t expecting to be interviewed so much. I think this was my fourth of the day. It was really cool to see that other people were really interested [in our premiere party],” she said.

On the turnout of students to the event, she said, “This event greatly surpassed anything that I thought was going to happen.

Kelly Pfeister

The line for chicken nuggets, x-tasy fries, and mac and chees bites from Chicken Joe’s wrapped all the way around the Touhey forum.

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Kelly Pfeister

Student Courtney Carr, Student Association’s director of communications, planned the event.

Normally for any Saint Rose event, you’re lucky if you get a hundred people, but I think tonight we’re probably pushing 250, if not 300.”

This number range was corroborated by SA President Justin Whittaker, who gave a final approximated attendance of 370 Saint Rose students.

Among those students was Saint Rose junior Emily Rancourt, who thoroughly enjoyed herself despite the massive crowd.

"The show was hysterical, incredibly entertaining. I was never one to watch a lot of Jimmy Fallon, but now on my late nights I might have to turn his show on,” said Rancourt.

“I'm really glad I went because there was so much excitement coming from all of us students," she went on.

The event was primarily catered by the local Albany eatery Chicken Joe’s, a popular destination among hungry students.

Initially an order of 500 chicken nuggets was placed, along with one tray of fries, one tray of “xtasy fries” (the Chicken Joe’s patented order of french fries topped with ranch, bacon, and cheese), and an assortment of store-bought

cookies.

“We burned through 600 dollars’ worth of Chicken Joe’s,” Carr said on the food provided for the event.

Carr further went on to correct the above statement, saying that later in the night they had ordered more Chicken Joe’s and pizza, so the total came closer to $700.

When the show finally got underway, the crowd applauded and cheered with excitement, as some sat down and settled in while others waited in line to get their food. Arguably “waiting in a line” is quite the understatement, considering the queue of students waiting for food wrapped twice around Touhey Forum at the busiest times of the night.

It’s notable to mention that SA President Justin Whittaker had more of a connection to Fallon than just his attendance at Saint Rose. Both he and Fallon come from Saugerties, New York, a small town not exactly known for producing celebrities.

“It just shows that anything is possible. Saugerties has a population around 20,000 and to know that someone of this caliber is from the area is a great accomplishment and something to be proud of,” said Whittaker on the

coincidence.

In regards to the turnout for the party, Whittaker mentioned that he understood that a portion of the increased attendance had a little something to do with the free fast food.

“The free Chicken Joe’s was the deal breaker, but I think just bringing the community together to support an alumnus was another reason for some students,” he explained.

On the prospects of future Jimmy Fallon-themed events, he said there are some considerations, although nothing final has been put into play.

“At this time, we do not have any events planned, or in the works. We are entertaining the idea of going to a taping of The Tonight Show within time.”

Altogether the event was a success, as was Fallon’s debut.

Students can only hope that the Saint Rose alumnus will continue to thrive in the new hosting position, and that a repeat of the Jay Leno/Conan O’Brien dispute won’t occur. Regardless, judging by the turnout of the premiere party, the Saint Rose community will continue to support Fallon, and always treat him as a“Rose Bud.”

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News

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Tonight Show Premiere Party Photos by Kelly Pfeister

Students and faculty were treated to free food and drinks.

Each floor of Lally was packed on Monday.

Above: Proud professors, like Ann Neilson, went to see the alum’s first Tonight Show in Lally.

Left: Reporters got students’ perspectives on the viewing party.

Below: Student Courtney Carr, Student Association’s director of communications, planned the event.

Energy was high in Lally as students watched Fallon’s first show.

Newschannel 13 broadcasted live from Saint Rose.

Viewers were captivated by Fallon’s new show.

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News

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Volume 82 Issue 23

Food Trucks on Campus

Continued From Front Page dining hall,” Carr said.

She said their target date on the first food truck arriving on campus is March 12. A couple of businesses are in the talks with Student Association, but the

“Judging on how the food trucks do, we’ll see if we want to invite them back or if we want to invite a different food truck.”

Courtney Carr only one that has agreed to come to Saint Rose so far is Capital Q Smokehouse, a barbeque restaurant located on Ontario Street in the Pine Hills neighborhood. “[The students] are super ex-

cited about it because everyone loves Capital Q,” Carr said.

The food trucks will be on campus once a week on Wednesdays from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Carr believes that time frame will work out well because the dining is closed from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

“People will still be able to eat something else that’s not the POD or Camelot,” Carr said.

She stumbled upon this idea while working in the Saint Rose public relations office. A company tweeted at the College, asking if food trucks come on campus, and if not, did Saint Rose want to start doing it. Carr then approached Student Association President Justin Whittaker with the idea, which he approved immediately.

The Student Association then met with dining services and financial services, which both agreed to the idea. Carr said it wasn’t too difficult to get it approved and there were no push backs from anyone.

For years, Carr said Student Association has been hearing complaints from students about

being bored with the dining options and wanting something new.

“So we’re trying to give them that,” Carr said.

Dennis McDonald, vice president of Student Affairs, thinks the food truck is a great idea for Saint Rose. He said everyone is

“[The students] are super excited about it because everyone loves Capital Q.” Courtney Carr onboard with it.

“I’ll probably go out. I love Capital Q,” McDonald said. “It’s another option for students.”

Rich Meigel, director of food services at Saint Rose, said he didn’t see any issue with bringing

KELLY PFEISTER

Capital Q Smokehouse will be serving food on campus next month.

FLICKR

Patrons enjoying food trucks in Oakland, Calif. during lunch hour.

food trucks on campus. He said it wasn’t his call on whether food trucks can come or not.

Meigel also said he doesn’t believe it would cause any issues with Aramark, which is the food provider for Saint Rose. His only concern is whether the College would be responsible if a student got sick from eating at one of the food trucks.

But while Capital Q Smokehouse is the only one signed up so far to come on campus, Cocoa Dots, Slidin’ Dirty, and a charcoal food truck are other businesses that could service at Saint Rose.

“Judging on how the food trucks do, we’ll see if we want to invite them back or if we want to invite a different food truck,”

Carr said.

Students will have to pay with their own money at these food trucks. Dining Hall swipes and Golden Knights Kash will not be accepted by the food providers.

Carr said there is still some paperwork to be submitted before the food trucks can arrive on campus on March 12. Just in case everything isn’t ready by that date, the first date food trucks arrive at Saint Rose would be March 26.

“I’m hoping it’ll get people excited, especially in the warmer months when people are already out in the quad,” Carr said. “I feel like having a food truck there and giving people a different option is something they’ll be into.”

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Congressman Paul Tonko Continued From Front Page

Invited by Interim President Maggie Kirwin, Director of Community Service Ken Scott, and the Saint Rose Environmental Club, Congressman Tonko, along with the citizen-based environmental advocacy organization Environmental New York, brought the current issues regarding the environment and sustainability in the Capital Region to a large audience in the Carondelet Symposium, located in the Thelma P. Lally School of Education.

Heather Leibowitz, the director of Environment New York, gave some background of the organization’s purpose, stating, “We work on a variety of issues in New York, from protecting New York’s clean water, promoting clean energy, and conserving our natural heritage.” She then began the lecture by discussing both the organization’s accomplishments

and their current projects and goals.

“Recently, we helped guard our families’ health by rallying for regulations limiting the amount of carbon pollution emitted from new power plants…we’ve also worked to keep gas drilling from impacting New York’s drinking water supply,” Leibowitz said.

These efforts proved fruitful when not only a rule against the actions of these power plants gained some steam last fall, but Joe Martens, commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, stated last month that he has no plans to issue fracking permits during the 2014-2015 year.

Environment New York continued to shed some light on the government’s part in the continually declining condition of the environment, and overall, the planet —including the House of Representatives voting over a hundred times to block efforts to stop global warming and improve air quality— before turning the floor over to Congressman Tonko.

The Congressman from Amsterdam proved to be one of a few beacons of light advocating for the environment currently in the U.S. government.

His passion for bettering the environment by working closely with organizations like Environment New York, SEEC (Sustainable Energy & En-

KELLY PFEISTER

Democratic Congressman Paul Tonko spoke at Saint Rose on Thursday. vironment Coalition), of which he is a co-chair, and the people of New York state was very noticeable.

New York’s 20th congressional district representative’s lecture spanned a variety of topics, from the jobs working with sustainability will create, to his current place in the movement to switch from an oil-based economy to a water-based economy, to five specific issues and their effect on the district: hydraulic fracturing, toxic chemicals, energy, climate change, and the safe transportation of oil via freight rail.

He discussed working with

environmental leaders in towns across the state and in New York City, as well as in California and Pennsylvania, on standards of safety and the significance of the Clean Air Act now more than ever.

He also discussed the importance in the public knowing their facts and how much environmental issues are affecting the world today.

“We need to hear about progress and facts,” Tonko said. “The cost of fossil fuels are too high.

Water is being damaged when it needs to be relied on in the future.

We need to expand on the use of renewable energy.”

Following a rousing question

and answer session, of which questions about the effects of carbon emission and methane will have on the environment in the future, Canada’s tar sands, and on whether pressure on the government will cause more environmental action to be brought up, Congressman Tonko ended the event with inspiring words.

“There is much work to be done, but I’m not discouraged,” Tonko said. “I’m not aggravated.

I feel challenged. As long as partner groups like Environment New York and SEEC work together, progress can be made.”

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News

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Volume 82 Issue 23

Caitlyn Askew: College Student by Chance, Hard Worker by Choice

By Paige DeSorbo Contributing Writer

A college student is no longer only a student, and 21-year-old Caitlyn Askew is living proof of that. Askew, a senior at The College of Saint Rose majoring in sociology, somehow manages to balance school and working a 30-hour work week. Askew currently is on track to graduate in May and continue her education by applying to graduate school for the following fall semester.

Her ideal job after finishing her education would be something involving social work, helping children and families from broken homes.

Askew feels particularly drawn to this type of work. Coming from divorced parents, she feels that she could make an impact on young children going through the same thing she went through.

Askew grew up in Delmar and attended The Academy of the Holy Names for high school. Her first job was as the receptionist for her

older sister’s hair salon in Albany.

She was 15 at the time. Askew thought that after high school, she would continue working there and eventually go to cosmetology school.

She hadn’t planned on going to college. That is, until her mother forced her to apply to The College of Saint Rose, sending in the application for her. After receiving an acceptance letter, Askew quickly changed her mind about the prospects of higher education.

On filling out her graduate school applications, Askew laughed, saying, “I never thought I would ever even go to college and didn’t have the motivation to go.” Yet here she is four years later, planning for her future after -graduation day.

Despite a rigorous class schedule, Askew still finds time for friends, family, and working two different jobs. During the week, Askew is a receptionist at Best Fitness on Central Avenue in the Westgate Plaza, and on the weekends she works as a waitress at

the Washington Tavern in the Pine Hills area.

She enjoys both jobs but prefers working at Best Fitness because she especially enjoys her co-workers there. Sean Pecukonis, a fellow employee at Best Fitness, had nothing but nice things to say when asked about Caitlyn.

“She is definitely a joy to work with. She always has stories, and brightens everyones’ day with her smile,” said Pecukonis. Her job as a receptionist for Best Fitness can be deceptive in the sense that it’s not as easy as it might sound.

Askew is in charge of everyone who walks through the front doors. She swipes membership cards, cashes people out for water and protein bars, makes announcements over the PA, restocks paper towels and cleaning spray, sets the tanning bed times, and answers the phones. She said she is always busy doing something for work, making the title of receptionist do little justice to the amount of effort she puts into

Paige DeSorbo

Caitlyn Askew, on duty as the receptionist for Best Fitness. the job.

Over at the Washington Tavern, where Askew works as a waitress, she is responsible for all the assigned tables in a given section, setting up for the day, and making drinks.

One of her most memorable stories from working at the Washington Tavern was that a man only tipped her 27 cents on a $90 bill. It was her first week as a waitress and she cried, thinking she had done a bad job. Askew’s paychecks typically go to her new car payment, groceries, weekend fun, and clothes she wants to buy.

With all the work and school combined, Askew finds herself

missing out on all sorts of plans, something she regrets and wishes wasn’t the case. As a further result of the busy schedule, she finds herself calling out of work more than she would like due to homework and tests that need to be prepared for.

Askew realizes that school is her first priority, and although work is stressful, she really does enjoy both of her jobs. “Work is fun for me at times because I work with my friends, but it’s still work.” Askew plans on continuing working at both jobs and can’t wait to graduate in only three months.

We’re hiring!

The Chronicle is currently seeking individuals to fill an open position for the 2013-14 academic year.

Individuals interested in the position of News Editor are encouraged to apply.

If interested, send an e-mail with your resume and two writing or design samples attached (or linked) to Executive Editor Jackson Wang at chronicle@strose.edu.

Paige DeSorbo

Caitlyn Askew, serving a customer at Washington Tavern, where she works as a waitress.

If you would like more information about what the responsibilities of the position entail, send an e-mail to chronicle@strose.edu.

All positions are stipended. Interviews will be scheduled upon receipt of application.

February 25th, 2014

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News

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Music Around Massry Photos by Kelly Pfeister

The Jazz Ensemble played “Aha!” by Bob Mintzer on Friday night.

On tenor sax, Dan Denette performed a solo during the Jazz Ensemble concert.

The Symphony Orchestra held their concert on Saturday night.

Gabriel Pellino played his cello during a solo in “Walderuhe” (Silent Woods) by Antonin Dvorak

Jacob Mortensen soloed with the orchestra Saturday.

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Arts B10 Crate of Apes: St. Rose’s New Improv Comedy Club The Chronicle

By KATIE KLIMACEK Staff Writer The last thing we as young adults want to hear is rules—what we can and can’t do.

Now that we are in college, the expectation to follow those boring, bland, old rules is always being enforced. It would be great, though, to have a place to go, after all of the rules of ordinary classrooms and structured essays, and not have to worry about the rules, not one bit.

The week of March 10 will be the week that this mythological place of no rules will exist. Crate of Apes will be St. Rose’s new improv comedy club, started by graduate student Mike Eisenstein.

The acting form of improv is like no other. It is the one and only form that requires no script, no costumes or sets, and no lighting— just the spontaneity of the actors and audience participation.

Improv, short for improvisation, is 100 percent made up on the spot.

The actors don’t know what they are going to say, what suggestions the audience is going to give, or how exactly their co-stars will respond. The first rule of improv is there are no rules. It is, like I said, that one thing where you can do anything, say anything, and be anything you want.

Kat Koppett, a cast member and co-director of the popular improv group Mop & Bucket Company in Schenectady, has been doing improv for the past 25 years. “You don’t have to be the right person for the character,” said Koppett. “You could be an 80-year-old man or a little girl.”

What makes improv so different from traditional acting is that as an actor, you don’t have to be held back by your height, size, or looks. You get to go up on stage and be just about anyone, taking on his or her personality and mannerisms.

One of the most liberating things about doing improv is that it doesn’t have to be you. You go up on stage and become whoever

and do what they would do. That is one of the reasons why Mike Eisenstein wanted to start Crate of Apes.

“I think that there are a lot of people who just wish that they could do stupid and fun things but are afraid that people will judge them for pretending and making things up, and a club of people such as ours will allow people to act out and not be embarrassed by what they are doing,” Eisenstein said.

Eisenstein has been doing improv since his freshman year of college at SUNY Brockport in 2008. While studying abroad in London, he was a part of a wellknown improv club called The Comedy Store. Improv, and the laughing it entails, has helped Eisenstein with stress, and hopes that by starting the club it will give fellow students an outlet to come to, relax, and laugh with friends and fellow improv-ers.

Improv is a way for even the shyest of kids to break out into a shining star. You never know

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what you are capable of on stage, until you try it out. Eisenstein is familiar with what it was like to be the shy kid. “I was an incredibly shy person… I loved improv ever since I was a kid and I grew up watching Who’s Line is it Anyway? I remember thinking as a kid that I would never be able to do something like that, but loving every minute of watching it,” he said.

When you perform with an improv company, you really get a chance to see within yourself.

You get that time to reflect on what you are capable of, and when you see yourself reach that monument, it is truly one of satisfaction. Crate of Apes is not just a club to witness self-growth, but also a club to meet new people that you would not have been able to meet before.

Just like any other club or intramural activity, you get to meet people that share the same interests as you do— a fun and relaxed environment where everyone is always welcome.

“I loved when the new members do their first show with us and having strangers and nonclub members laughing and clapping at their jokes and scenes.

The fact that with improv you can let those things that you can’t do in ‘real life’ come out and be an incredible scene,” said Eisenstein, when asked about his favorite part about improv.

The thought of getting up in front of an audience that you don’t know can be daunting, but the pay out at the end is so rewarding. “Just do it. Improv is life. You have to be willing to fail in order to do well as an improviser,” said Koppett.

Crate of Apes will hold its first interest meeting the week of March 10. While final dates and schedules are being worked out, please stay in touch on Twitter: @ StRoseComedy or on Facebook: St. Rose Crate of Apes. If you have any questions about Crate of Apes, you can contact Mike Eisenstein at eisensteinm235@ strose.edu

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Thriving During Premiere Week

By ALYSSA HADDAD Staff Writer Saint Rose graduate Jimmy Fallon hit it out of the park in his first week as the new host of The Tonight Show. Fallon’s goofy brand of humor and charisma brought NBC their highest weeklong ratings for The Tonight Show since 1993. Overall, Fallon averaged 8.49 million viewers and a 2.8 rating for the week.

The high ratings are justifiable to any television fan. Fallon’s sincerity and attentiveness to his guests make for the best interviews in the current era of latenight talk shows.

His visible interest in the interview gives the viewers at home

the feeling that they are eavesdropping on a conversation between friends, versus hosts such as David Letterman, who make the audience feel like they’re watching a work email come to life. Fallon radiates an inviting atmosphere by genuinely laughing at the amusing anecdotes his guests share, and focusing on the banter rather than on plugging whatever project a celebrity is advertising—reasons that made his years on Late Night and his first week on The Tonight Show such a success.

The warmth and charm that he extends to each guest seem to be universally appreciated traits throughout Hollywood, and were mentioned by his first guest, Will

Smith, who expressed to Jimmy that “I was watching all of the people that came to support you tonight. People are coming for you. The Tonight Show is big and historic, but people are coming because of your heart.”

Fallon’s smooth transition to an earlier time slot demonstrated to viewers that his intentions were to stick with what earned him the gig in the first place, and remain true to his comedic roots.

The first week was stuffed with classic bits like Thank You Notes, and Superlatives of the Olympic athletes, from his 5-year run on Late Night. The lovable host made it clear that he would continue to participate in games with his guests when he played Cha-

rades with Tim McGraw, Bradley Cooper, and Emma Thompson on Wednesday night.

Fans were thrilled that recurring sketches such as “Ew!,” where Jimmy and his guests discuss various topics that typical teenage girls would normally be interested in, made its way into the fourth show, this time with the help of Will Ferrell and First Lady Michelle Obama.

To close out the week, Fallon and soon-to-be frequent guest, Justin Timberlake, gave loyal fans the fifth installment of their History of Rap series, another Late Night favorite.

Mostly, however, Jimmy Fallon’s first week hosting The Tonight Show proved that late night

talk shows are not just for your grandpa to fall asleep to— they are a medium for people to end their day on a light and happy note.

Fallon’s approach brings a much needed shot of energy to an otherwise relatively stale late-night lineup. His leadership brings the main emphasis back to entertaining the audience, instead of primarily to promote the guest’s projects.

If the first week is indicative of what viewers can expect, then I think that Jimmy Fallon fans can all look forward to many more years of him hosting The Tonight Show, which you can catch weeknights at 11:35 on NBC.

February 25th, 2014

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The Other Guys at the ICCAs

Ryan Leddick’s solo in ‘Stay With You’ by John Legend wowed the crowd.

The talent of The Other Guys kept the audience enthralled throughout their set.

This past weekend, Saint Rose’s all-male A Capella group, The Other Guys, traveled to their first International Competition of Collegiate A Capella (ICCA), held at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

John Cahill performed a solo during The Other Guys’ ICCA set.

Kieferray Chung performed a solo during The Other Guys’ ICCA set .

Photos by Chris Lovell

The Other Guys closed out their set with a somber, yet powerful moment.

The Other Guys showcased their voices-only instrumental talent in their opening piece.

Arts B12 Indie Spotlight: A Joe Swanberg Double Feature The Chronicle

By ANDY GILCHRIST Arts Editor There’s never enough coverage of the independent film world. Unless it’s a publication or website devoted solely to indie productions, the attention of movie news and reviews focuses on the big name films and actors, the big-budget blockbusters that everyone is already talking about.

Even we here at The Chronicle are guilty of this, emphasizing wide release films rather than smaller, often more introspective independent works. Now, we attempt to rectify that.

This week, we bring attention to two films by Joe Swanberg, a legend in the world of independent film. Having worked in the indie world for nearly a decade, Swanberg regularly puts out multiple films every year, all of which he writes, directs, and edits himself. This nearly superhuman output is augmented by the fact that he pays for so many projects by acting in other peoples’ lowbudget productions, meaning that the total number of films he’s involved in during a given year usually adds up to more than half a dozen.

His films often clock in between 70 to 80 minutes, with an outlier or two on either side, focusing more on characters than story. Subsequently, most of his films, made up mainly of improvised dialogue, don’t have much of a story at all—they follow characters through their daily lives rather than a storyline. While this may alienate many viewers, others will be fascinated by Swanberg’s style of characterization over plot development—of truly exploring a character rather than moving a story forward.

Swanberg made ripples into the mainstream last year with the release of his underrated comedy film Drinking Buddies, a movie that starred well-known actors (Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, and Ron Livingston) and got a much wider release than any of his previous

works. For his two latest productions, however, Swanberg returned to his shoestring budget indie roots. The results, the erotic thriller 24 Exposures and the drama All the Light in the Sky, are a mixed bag, with one never living up to its premise, while the other ascends due to its strong lead performance.

24 Exposures Billy (Adam Wingard) is a fetish photographer, taking pictures of women made up to look like murder victims. His girlfriend, Alex (Caroline White), sets up his gigs and hires the models, many of whom the couple engage in threesomes with. But their normal, if unusual, existence is interrupted when one of their former models is murdered.

Enter Detective Michael Bamfeaux (Simon Barrett), the classic cop on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Having recently been dumped by his longtime girlfriend, Michael struggles to balance his personal and professional lives. As Michael investigates the murder and Billy takes too much of a liking to one of his models, the body count starts to rise, putting all three main characters into situations that none will leave unscathed.

24 Exposures is an ambitious film with a fascinating premise, but it just doesn’t add up to a satisfying movie. A film about the killing of a model who was photographed as a corpse days earlier suggests a psychological crime thriller that constantly blurs the line between fiction and reality.

While Swanberg does make the audience question what is real, regularly showing an image of a bloody woman on the floor without revealing if it’s one of Billy’s photos or a CSI’s, he rarely goes back to give the answer. By the end of the movie, it’s easy to question just how many murder victims there actually were.

Similarly, the film only reveals in the final minutes that the first murder was unrelated to the rest,

February 25th, 2014

which were committed by an onscreen character. Furthermore, that first murder is never solved, a fact the surviving characters realize and laugh about just before the credits. When you’re watching a murder mystery film and the murderer is never identified, something has clearly gone wrong.

But the film’s biggest problem is its acting. While the main female roles are well cast and acted, the two male leads are the opposite. Wingard and Barrett, the director and writer of last summer’s great horror film You’re Next, respectively, are not professional actors and usually relegate themselves to cameo roles if they ever appear on screen. Here, we see why.

As a fetish photographer who regularly charms women into bed, Billy needs to be both quirky and charismatic, but Wingard just comes off as a creeper. There’s nothing alluring or compelling about his performance, so the audience fails to make a connection or sympathize with him.

Barrett, meanwhile, does an adequate job as the dangerously depressed detective, but does nothing new with the character.

The disinterested glances and mopey stares get old quickly, but Barrett has nothing else to work with. While this may be a problem in script or direction, one would think that the actor might be able to bring something to the table. But not here, apparently.

Ultimately, 24 Exposures squanders its great premise with a lack of focus on the plot and poor lead performances. It serves as a cautionary tale of what can happen when the emphasis is placed on characters over story and those

characters are not well acted.

All the Light in the Sky Marie (Jane Adams) is a 45year-old actress living in Malibu who finds that roles are much harder to get than they were in her younger years. Regardless, she finds peace in her simple existence, paddleboarding every day before either chasing or researching the roles she does get.

But when her niece Faye (Sophia Takal), an aspiring actress herself, comes to visit, Marie slowly realizes that her existence is actually much sadder and lonelier than she thought, inspiring her to do more with her life.

While 24 Exposures fails because of its lead performances, All the Light in the Sky thrives because of them. Adams, who cowrote the screenplay with Swanberg, is actually going through the struggles Marie faces in the film, giving her performance a strong sense of authenticity. She delivers beautiful monologues about her nearly 25-year career, one that never panned out like she’d hoped. There’s a sad nostalgia in each glance she takes in conversations with her niece that truly sells the performance, proving to the audience that this is a person who has actually had these experiences. The film rests entirely on Adams’ shoulders, and she rises to the occasion.

Takal, meanwhile, accepts her smaller role and does good work with it. While it might be expected that her younger actress character would get roles immediately, making Marie even more depressed, the film never actually shows Faye working.

The few scenes she has without

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Marie show her hanging out with her new acting friends and Skyping with her boyfriend back on the east coast. These scenes help show that Faye might not actually know what she wants with her life, a parallel with Marie wondering if she made the right decision at the beginning of her career. If the film has one big problem, it’s that Takal does not get enough screentime.

Having almost exactly the same runtime as 24 Exposures, this film has even less of a plot than its predecessor. But because of this, it’s not tied down to a premise and is able to float freely between Marie’s daily activities as easily as she does on her paddleboard. If there must be a criticism of the film, it’s that Swanberg barely gives his thin plot even the minimal attention it needs, instead focusing mainly on Marie’s life. This is a good film, but there’s just not enough there to push it forward into becoming a great one.

Overall though, this is both a great examination of a mid-life crisis and an intimate, thoughtprovoking character study.

Hopefully, you now have an introduction to the films of Joe Swanberg. 24 Exposures and All the Light in the Sky are just the two latest works in a filmography that includes nearly two dozen short and feature-length directorial efforts, so there’s plenty out there to explore. As we speak, he’s probably putting the finishing touches on his newest film and planning his next two. We look forward to seeing them and the presumably dozens more he’ll make in the years to come.

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February 25th, 2014

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Brendan’s Bold Predictions (That Are Sure to Go Wrong):

The 86th Annual Academy Awards

By BRENDAN TENAN Staff Writer It seems hard to believe, but in less than one week, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will once again be honoring the year’s best films at the 86th Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars. This year features a particularly strong field of nominees, and there seems to be far less outrage over snubs and undeserving nominations than we’ve seen in the last few years (*cough* Ben Affleck for Best Director *cough*).

Like many moviegoers tend to do during awards season, I try to see as many of the Oscar nominees as I can before the big night.

While I’m not usually successful in this endeavor, this year I have actually been able to see all but one of the Best Picture nominees as of press time (the one nominee I have not seen yet is the Spike Jonze film Her). Since I was able to see the vast majority of the films that are up for Oscar gold next Sunday, I felt I could make some better than educated guesses about who will walk away with the film industry’s biggest prizes.

I realize that at least one of these picks will likely be wrong (hence the title of the article), and there is almost always one winner that is a genuine surprise (see Ang Lee beating Steven Spielberg for Best Director last year, or Crash winning Best Picture over Brokeback Mountain in 2006). With all that in mind, the following are my predictions of the winners of this year’s major Oscar categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.

Best Supporting Actress: While all of the nominated actresses are certainly deserving in their own right, this category seems to have become essentially

a two-person race between Jennifer Lawrence for American Hustle and Lupita Nyong’o for 12 Years a Slave. Lawrence certainly has the popularity among her peers in Hollywood and moviegoers in America, as she’s already landed her second consecutive Oscar nomination (and third overall) before turning 25. While Lawrence stole many of the scenes she was in and delivered a very entertaining performance, I still am struck and moved by the devastating and emotional performance Nyong’o gave as Patsey, a slave who finds herself the object of her master’s desires. Additionally, I believe that Jennifer Lawrence winning Best Actress last year for Silver Linings Playbook will hurt her chances with Oscar voters, who may look to give the award to a newer, lesser-known name. With those thoughts in mind, I am predicting Lupita Nyong’o will win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. However, don’t be too surprised to see a proverbial dark horse like Sally Hawkins win the award for Blue Jasmine.

Best Supporting Actor: This is what I like to refer to as the “scene stealer” category. What I mean by this is that often, the Oscars will give the Best Actor in a Supporting Role award to an actor who may not have been the central focus of the film, but delivered a performance that left a more lasting, indelible impression on the viewer than the lead actor or actress did. Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight and Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds are two recent examples of supporting actors who delivered the best performance in their film, yet managed to not upstage anyone in the process. Rather, they complemented and strengthened the film as a whole.

Following this criteria, it seems like either Barkhad Abdi or Michael Fassbender would be

locks for their work in Captain Phillips and 12 Years a Slave, respectively. However, there’s one other thing Oscar voters seem to love even more than a scenestealing performance, and that’s when an actor makes a physical transformation. For that reason, I’m inclined to believe that the Academy will award Jared Leto for his performance as the AIDSstricken transgender woman Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club. Personally, I would be more inclined to vote for Fassbender or Abdi if I had an official Oscar ballot. Having said that, I completely understand why voters would give the award to Leto, and he is definitely deserving of it.

Best Actress: While some categories this year seem to have two or three legitimate contenders, the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role has practically been a lock since the nominees were first announced in January. While Sandra Bullock, Judi Dench, Meryl Streep, and Amy Adams all gave performances ranging from solid (Streep in August: Osage County) to terrific (Bullock in Gravity), this year’s best Actress Oscar is Cate Blanchett’s to lose. Her manic performance as a woman suffering from a mental breakdown after losing her place in society in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine has had critics and audiences talking for over six months. Many people have already noted the similarities between Jasmine and the character of Blanche DuBois from the Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire. With Allen’s script, which is also up for an Oscar, and Blanchett’s amazing performance, Blue Jasmine is a more than suitable 21st century homage to Williams’ classic.

Come Sunday, I will be very surprised if anyone other than Cate Blanchett wins Best Actress.

Best Actor: This is another category that already seems to have been decided. However, unlike Cate Blanchett’s all but guaranteed win for Best Actress, I am not as much in agreement with the apparent lock Matthew McConaughey has to win Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in Dallas Buyers Club.

This is not to say that McConaughey isn’t deserving of his nomination. He gave a terrific performance as Ron Woodroof, a homophobic Texas cowboy who becomes infected with HIV in the early 1980s and finds a way to supply alternative treatments to those who are infected. Furthermore, McConaughey should be commended for his commitment to his craft by losing more than forty pounds for the role. Having said that, this year’s nominees for Best Actor features a particularly strong field, and it’s a shame that these other performances are being so quickly overlooked.

While many fans have lately been making it clear that they want to see Leonardo DiCaprio finally win for his electric, unhinged performance in The Wolf of Wall Street, I personally would like to see the award go to either Bruce Dern for Nebraska or Chiwetel Ejiofor for his portrayal of Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave. Both men gave performances that were captivating, emotional, and heartbreaking, albeit for much different reasons.

It seems very unlikely that Dern will win the Oscar. However, if he did, it wouldn’t be the first time the Academy decided to recognize a veteran’s great career with an Oscar late in life (see Christopher Plummer’s 2012 Best Supporting Actor win for Beginners as an example). As much as I personally am hoping to see Dern or Ejiofor win, it seems a foregone conclusion at this point that Matthew McConaughey will be walking away with Oscar gold

come Sunday night.

Best Director: Of all the major categories, Best Director seems to be the one that is the most wide open, with at least three legitimate contenders for the prestigious award. Each awards show seems to recognize a different director for his or her great work in the last year.

While he has largely left awards shows empty handed this year, Martin Scorsese is always a contender. The Wolf of Wall Street, his tale of corruption and excess among stock brokers, is a timely film that should be seen by people in the wake of the latest recession. Steve McQueen brought a powerful, harrowing true story to the screen with 12 Years a Slave. However, I believe that the award will go to Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity. The film features a great story and is a visual masterpiece, and Cuaron deserves to be recognized by the Academy for his work. When you consider that he’s already won similar awards at the Golden Globes and the Directors Guild Awards, which features many of the same voters who cast ballots for the Oscars, it seems logical to conclude that Cuaron will soon have to make room for another trophy on his shelf.

Best Picture: At last, the moment we’ve all been waiting for.

Who’s going to win the biggest prize the American film industry has to offer? In my humble opinion, all of these nominees are worthy. Based on some earlier awards, it looks like the top contenders for Best Picture are 12 Years a Slave, Gravity, and American Hustle. This is the one category that I honestly do not have an objective pick for. So, in lieu of logic and analysis, I’m going to go with my gut and pick 12 Years a Slave.

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February 25th, 2014

Kanye West’s The Yeezus Tour

By NICHOLAS NEGRON Staff Writer

Last Wednesday, Kanye West performed at the Times Union Center. The tour is in support of his sixth solo album, Yeezus.

Anticipation built for weeks amongst the group of friends I shared this amazing experience with. The clothing, weather, and seating all had to be absolutely perfect. Three weeks before the concert, our tickets were upgraded to a better view of the stage.

On the day of the concert, nerves and anxiety were at their peak.

Snow fell for half the day, but tapered off and left a “warm” 38 degrees for the evening’s festivities.

The bus ride to the concert was filled with fellow Kanye fans.

Everyone was equally excited for the show.

After our bags and tickets were checked, we frantically made our way to our seats. There was a covered structure with a tilted oval screen above it. Jutting out from the structure was a runway, which connected to the center stage. At around 7:45, background music with an intense base filled the stadium, leaving the crowd with chills. After another hour of strenuous waiting, the lights went out. At this point, the audience erupted into deafening screams of eagerness.

The world seemed to fade away as disciples in nude-colored jumpsuits and white robes walked onto the runway with their face covered. Holy music drew them to center stage as a white beam gleamed down. Appearing last was the star of the show, Kanye West, in a mask. The crowd ignited with roars of happiness as the structure was unveiled. It was a mountain, climbed on multiple times during show. The screen showed various clouds in storm.

The show was divided into five sections: fighting, rising, falling, searching, and finding.

The tour was originally from October to December of last year.

Kendrick Lamar and A Tribe

Called Quest were the opening acts for most dates. Drake, Travi$ Scott, Pusha T, and Busta Rhymes also appeared at certain shows. Pusha T is the opening act for the Australian leg of the tour, scheduled for May of this year.

Due to the success of the 2013 shows, more dates were added in the United States and Canada for February 2014. For these shows, West did not have an opening act, thus extending his set list.

Yeezus has sold one million copies as of January 2014, making it certified platinum. Songs from the critically-acclaimed album were featured widely throughout the night. At one point, West said something to the effect of taking it back to the beginning. Songs from his other five studio albums, The College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation, 808s & Heartbreak, and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy were also featured. He also performed his verses of various collaborations on his record label, Good Music’s album Cruel Summer. He also performed a song from his collaboration album with Jay-Z, Watch the Throne.

The show was filled with equally “turnt” and touching moments.

There was a spectacle of fire and fireworks, specifically during the performance of “Blood on the Leaves.” This was a personal favorite of mine. Throughout the show, what looked like a wolf with beaming red eyes climbed onto the mountain. There was a rather intense argument amongst my group of friends on who Kanye specifically looked at most during the show. As for me, I am almost certain the wolf-like creature was glaring at me for most of the night.

Providing background vocals at the show was West’s cousin, Tony Williams. Williams is also an accomplished singer and record producer, having written and contributed vocals for multiple songs throughout West’s career.

He performed while being lifted up by the female disciples. At one

point, the stage began to rise as West laid down on his back and sang “Coldest Winter,” a song dedicated to his mother, who passed away in late 2007.

West spoke boastfully about being one of the top five rappers, dead or alive. He also acknowledged the many people that are responsible for his success. He thanked his fans for supporting him against the naysayers.

His performances of “Flashing Lights” and “All of the Lights” shined with the phones of the audience. He rounded out the night on a happier note with pink clouds and blue skies on the screen above the mountain as he performed “Bound 2.” He even handed the microphone to the crowd to rap and sing along.

As a former critic of Kanye West’s music and antics, I can firmly say that I am now truly a fan. After months of arguing with friends over his persona, I finally gave his music a chance.

I was mesmerized by the production and attention put into making such amazing material. Lyrically, he speaks from his past experiences. “Through the Wire,” West’s debut single, is about a near-fatal car crash. On October 23, 2002, West left a music studio in California. He was cut off by a car and drove head on into traffic, colliding with another car.

He was taken to the same hospital where the late Biggie Smalls died. He was put on life support and his jaw was wired shut.

Thankfully, he was released from the hospital after two weeks. He then went on to record the song with his jaw still wired. While listening to the song you can almost hear the pain and anguish in his voice due to his jaw. “‘Through The Wire’ is the

worst thing that could’ve possibly happened to me, and now it’s the best thing. Look how it exploded!,” said the then 26-year-old West to Yahoo! Music.

West’s relationship with reality star Kim Kardashian has been a tabloid’s dream, and the couple is photographed nonstop. The relationship, mostly from Kim’s perspective, is covered on her family’s reality show, Keeping Up with the Kardashians on the E! Network. Being associated with the Kardashians has only added to the swarming paparazzi constantly surrounding him.

Aside from this, West has also gained attention as a fashion designer. He has collaborated with Nike, Louis Vuitton, and Giuseppe Zanotti. Recently, West designed Nike’s Air Yeezy 2 “Red October” sneakers, which sold out within minutes.

Many are under the false impression that he is angry at the world. There are various reports and interviews accusing and confronting West on his less-thanperfect behavior. He physically defended his fiancé after a teenager in Beverly Hills yelled racial slurs at her. Any type of altercation can be interpreted as a battery investigation.

However, wouldn’t any decent man stand up for his girlfriend in a situation such as this? Not to condone confrontation, but West is commendable for protecting the mother of his child, North West.

The Yeezus Tour was fully worth the $99 spent. I highly recommend anyone to attend a Kanye West concert in the future.

Speaking as a former “hater,” I was completely captivated by the night and the distinctive deepness of his music.

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Volume 82 Issue 23

Oscar Predictions Continued from page B13 Six of this year’s nine Best Picture nominees are based on true stories: American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave, and The Wolf of Wall Street. Out of all of these great stories that deserved to be told, 12 Years a Slave is by far the most historically important and the one I would most urge people to see. Director Steve McQueen and a terrific ensemble cast, featuring the aforementioned Ejiofor, Fassbender, and Nyong’o, along with Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, Sarah Paulson, and Brad Pitt, told the horrifying tale of slavery and human trafficking in America in a way that had never been done before. There have been films that have featured slavery as a major plot point, but many of them either shy away from the horror and brutality, or, if they do show it, it’s overly stylized and loses some of its impact (last year’s Django Unchained would be the most recent example). The violence, brutality, and horror seen in 12 Years a Slave isn’t stylized in any way. It’s simply there, right in front of the audience, and it’s relentless and uncompromising in its portrayal.

By not flinching or relenting once in his depiction of slavery, McQueen has made what I consider this generation’s Schindler’s List— a great movie that is based on a true story, is directed excellently, and features terrific acting performances. However, because of its harrowing story and depiction, most audiences will be very uncomfortable and won’t want to see it again for some time. Even if that is the case, 12 Years a Slave needs to be seen at least once by as many people as possible, and the Academy should recognize what it has achieved by awarding the film its most prestigious award.

February 25th, 2014

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Titanfall: First Impressions About Last Night

By ALEX PECHA Staff Writer

It is a new console generation.

The Wii U, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 have all been released to their own forms of fanfare, or lack thereof, and are now in that crucial space where they need that exclusive to be the killer game for their console. For the Xbox, it was Halo, the PlayStation 3 had the Uncharted series, and for the Wii, it was Mario. Fans eagerly await this gaming generation to see what killer apps will become the face of each console.

By how badly they’re shoving it down our throats, I think Xbox One really wants their killer app to be Titanfall, the new first person shooter/robot thing from Respawn Entertainment.

Recently, Respawn had an open beta for their new robot shooter and I took it for a spin.

While I won’t review a game that isn’t even technically released, I can say how the game plays so far in beta.

Titanfall takes place during some sort of rebellion at some nebulous point in the future where giant robots called Titans have effectively replaced tanks. That’s about all the background I could glean from the beta itself— the game doesn’t really bother to set itself up beyond “these are good guys, these are bad guys, here are some robots, now go shoot each other.” This is fine for a multiplayer shooter to a degree, but I feel that either I’m simply missing the single-player mode that will exist at release, or they really have no plans to flesh out the story more, which would just be a shame, as the game is dripping with atmosphere.

By dripping with atmosphere, I mean that the game really makes you feel like you’re in the middle of a large war, and it pushes the themes of war and loss. This is best explained with an example I ran into while playing the game.

Unlike normal multi-player shooters, there are actually “minions” on each team, or non-playable teammates that are simple

soldiers compared to the players who are basically elite soldiers.

In one match, I ran into a house to find one minion dragging the already dead or dying body of another minion and screaming that they were both going to go home.

That simple moment has oddly stuck with me as a great example of atmospheric story telling that managed to tug my heart strings without any overpaid voice actors or large script. You can find other examples of this type of storytelling throughout the game, including when minions will bunch together in a building and have their own personal fire fight against the other team’s minions, or when you find minions checking the other team’s minion’s dead bodies or even simply when your minions cheer for your arrival in a firefight.

Despite some interesting background story telling, the real appeal of Titanfall is the gameplay itself. The gameplay is split up into two major sections: running across the battlefield as a pilot, and actually getting to use the Titan.

Running around as the pilot is actually extremely fast and fluid, as you’re given parkour equipment that allows you to bounce off of walls and scale buildings to get an advantage over the enemy pilots and minions. The parkour is actually one of my favorite parts, and while it’s easy to learn, it’s extremely hard to master to your advantage. Until you do master it, you’ll probably be getting smashed by other pilots who actually understand the parkour system.

The weapons for when you’re a pilot are actually a very small pool, consisting of an assault rifle, an SMG, a shotgun, a sniper rifle, and a “smart pistol,” which locks onto a target gradually and has bullets that seek their targets.

You also have weapons designed specifically to hurt Titans and basic pistols for secondary weapons. While these weapons do the job, they don’t really have much pop, and you’ll quickly grow bored of them.

The second part of gameplay is my personal favorite: piloting a Titan. Titans, as previously stated, are big robots that function like futuristic tanks. As a Titan, you have the choice between a giant machine gun, a giant grenade launcher, and a giant missile launcher, as well as various subsystems and weapons like bullet catching shields, shoulder rocket launchers, and so on. Being a Titan is amazing— you get to have yours delivered to the battlefield by killing enemy players and minions and then choose where it will be dropped. The first time my Titan was “Titan Dropped” to the field made me giddy, and as I entered the monolithic machine and started trading blows with the enemy Titans, it got even better.

Titan combat is quick, but has a sense of heaviness you would expect from a 20-foot robot. The combat flows great and is a ton of fun.

If I had to level a complaint against the Titans, it’s that there isn’t much variety in the actual types of Titans you can have.

Supposedly in the launch of the game, you will have the choice between a heavy, light, and medium Titan for your liking, but currently, only the medium is in the game. As a direct result, you tend to get rather bored of your Titan choices and desire more.

There are also not many game modes, with there only being your standard death match, a “Last Titan standing,” and a zone control mode available at the moment. Whether there will be more modes at launch is yet to be seen, but I feel the game will not have much longevity with only three game modes.

All in all, Titanfall as it stands right now is an absolute blast.

Wall jumping and killing other players is a riot, which is made only better when you get a 20foot death machine delivered right to you. As long as Titanfall has the extra Titans and game modes it’s promised at launch, I could very easily see Titanfall becoming the next big shooter and the Xbox One’s killer app.

By ASIA EWART Staff Writer It is more than obvious that Kevin Hart is everywhere in the media these days. He’s already a successful and well-known comedian, with years of stand up and comedy specials under his belt, and an actor that has dabbled in both TV and movies. Among them are Soul Plane (2004), Think Like a Man (2012), and Real Husbands of Hollywood (2013). But since 2014 began, Hart’s face has been on more billboards, on more posters, and in more commercials than ever before. His latest effort, right on the heels on January’s Ride Along, is About Last Night, a remake of the 1984 movie of the same name. Featuring an impressive cast of Michael Ealy (Barbershop, TV’s Almost Human), Regina Hall (the Scary Movie series, The Best Man), and Joy Bryant (TV’s Parenthood), About Last Night surprised me by being funnier and more heartfelt than the trailers depicted it to be.

The movie opens with Bernie (Hart) and Danny (Ealy) awaiting the arrival of Bernie’s latest fling, Joan (Hall) and her roommate Debbie (Bryant), at a bar.

The camera cuts back and forth between the men and women as Bernie and Joan tell their friends “about last night.” At the bar, when Bernie and Joan leave their friends to fool around, the more reserved Danny and Debbie get to talking about their own lives and past relationships. The two soon leave and begin to flirt outside, which leads to a hook up of their own. This hook up soon leads to constant, but casual, sex between the two, which soon leads to a relationship, all of which happens too fast for actual human comfort.

While Debbie and Danny begin

to fall in love, Bernie and Joan’s “relationship” begins to fall apart because of commitment issues, resulting in hilarious dialogue and run-ins between the two. The speed of Danny and Debbie’s relationship, as well as clashing personality traits, soon take a toll on the two, and sure enough, no one is having fun anymore.

Hart and Hall are the comedic backbone of this movie, and Ealy and Bryant’s relationship provide the “aww” factor. However, as humorous, sweet, and occasionally deep as this movie was, the way relationships were depicted and dealt with left me extremely frustrated. Ealy’s character was written to be the source of the problems in his relationship, but Bryant’s character held her own share of demands, if not more.

I grew to dislike Debbie as the movie progressed, and flat out hated her by the end. She was far from innocent and needed to be called out on her actions, but never was.

Hart had me pleasantly surprised as Bernie. His movie roles, while good for a laugh, are always over the top and tend to mesh together. While Bernie was most definitely a funny man, there were choice moments with real sincerity and I loved them all.

Michael Ealy’s career is also on a high note right now. With this role, his TV show Almost Human on Fox, and the sequel Think Like a Man Too out this June, he deserves every bit of praise for his entertaining work.

About Last Night proved more than just a romantic comedy, with the inclusion of the serious relationship drama storyline.

It wasn’t too heavy, but it was thought provoking. Perfect for a laugh overall, this movie gets 4 out of 5 stars.

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C16 Opinion Inconvenient Truth: Ukrainians are Left Alone in Their Struggle Against Ruthless President The Chronicle

By OLENA SADOVNIK Contributing Writer I woke up to another nightmare: more than 80 killed and over a thousand wounded in my home country Ukraine in Eastern Europe. I have found it unbearable to continue my daily routine here in Albany, when on the capital’s streets in Kyiv, where I used to live, riot police attacking peaceful demonstrators with live ammunition, when the roofs of the historic buildings occupied with snipers, when armored vehicles driving into the people, when former criminals paid by the government to loot, beat and kill pedestrians. All this is happening in the 21st century in the center of Europe. Ukraine hasn’t seen such violence since World War II. The protests broke out on November 21st when Ukraine’s president halted signature of the long-planned Association Agreement with the European Union after the threat of trade sanctions from Russia. This treaty was supposed to bring Ukraine closer on its path to European integration.

Since Viktor Yanukovych became a president in 2010, Ukrainians have witnessed exacerbation of economic decline, rampant corruption in all spheres, police lawlessness, and deterioration of media freedoms and human rights. More than 24 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, according to the United Nations Development Program.

Ukrainians looked to the European Union in the a hope for improvement in their living standards and basic rights: better investment climate, better healthcare, better education, better qualities of services and better environment. As the news of the president’s dramatic U-turn, crowds poured into Independence Square in central Kyiv to tell the president that he was

wrong about kowtowing to Russia and changing the country’s foreign policy vector. The Square became known as Euromaidan, because Ukrainians stood up for European values of rule of law and freedom.

However, Yanukovych was not listening. He turned deaf and blind to the genuine concerns of his fellow citizens. Then in the early morning hours of November 30, he answered. Not with offer for talks and dialog, but by sending the riot police with excessively brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators in early morning hours as they slept.

Hitherto unseen shocking violence led to massive peaceful protests across the country, demanding the president to resign.

Protesters flocked to Euromaidan despite negative temperatures.

They created self-defense units, organized canteen, first aid help centers, and even a library and open-air university lectures. The atmosphere despite the brutality remained positive.

The riot police periodically attempted to clear the square from protesters. In weeks of protests, Yanukovych made no move to meet the demonstrators. In fact, he further aggravated the situation by agreeing a Russian bailout worth 15 billion dollars. And then on January 16, the cynicism of the pro-presidential Party of Regions reached its apogee when it passed draconian laws, which threw the country back in times of Stalin’s repressions.

This week after a period of relative calm, the start of the winter Olympics (usually a time when countries agree on Olympic truce), after Yanukovych met with Putin in Sochi for the six time in two months, the order was given to undertake an “antiterrorist” nationwide operation, using deadly force against demonstrators on 18 February.

The images flooding our news-

papers, television, and social media to tell their own stories. Fundamental principle of journalism is to report the truth, and world media attempted to by giving voice to the protesters, opposition leaders, and the government. The statements of the latter proved to be nothing, but total disinformation a-la-Cold War-Putin style propaganda. The truth is simple: Ukrainian people from all over the country came on the streets in November to stand for their rights, for better life, for their freedom.

As it always happens, the truth is not convenient for many players. It is not for the corrupt president Victor Yanukovych, whose son Oleksandr being a dentist turned into a billionaire over the course a year. It is not for the oligarchs (wealthy tycoons the backbone of the regime) with their property and business in the European Union countries. It’s neither convenient for the European leaders who are uncomfortable about a thought of the explanation to their tax payers that their money is about to be spend on democratic and economic reforms in Ukraine’s. It’s not con-

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venient for the President Obama, whose foreign policy has been a complete failure in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s even not convenient for the UN Secretary-Genral Ban-Ki-Moon, who was one of a few international leaders at the Olympics opening ceremony, probably trying to talk Putin into any kind of solution for the protracted horrible war in Syria.

Ukraine is a member of numerous international organizations and human rights conventions, but all of them failed to prevent bloodshed in the country. Since November, Ukrainians all over the world were pledging international community to impose targeted sanctions on Yanukovych and his supporters. But all they heard back was endless “deep concerns” and “worrying statements.” If world leaders addressed the issue before it escalated, we wouldn’t count dead bodies of the blossom of the nation now.

The history tends to repeat itself. Ukrainians were refused their right for state after WWI the League of Nations. Ukraine had to bear the yoke of horror and repression of the Soviet Union for

70 years. It relatively easy gained its independence in 1991, but now it is again on a brink of crumbling under the pressure from Kremlin.

Yanukovych has been taken out of power in Ukraine, a technical government shall be created before the early presidential and technical elections. UN and its financial agencies have to offer a comprehensive plan for Ukraine’s troubled economy.

It is already too late for returning the lost lives. The world community has its last chance to prove its reliability – to hold Yanukovych, the Party of Regions and his government accountable for the crimes against humanity at the Hague Tribunal. These are my thoughts as I go to bed tonight with another hope for a better tomorrow in Ukraine.

Although a deal has been reached since the article was drafter, I still worry about my home country. The early presidential election has been scheduled for the fall. “You either sign this agreement,” said Polish Foreign Minister Radislaw Sikorski, “or you will have marshal law, military troops and will be all dead.”

MUSTAFA NAYYEM

A man in a wheelchair is digging out pavement stones, used for defense against riot police deadly attacks.

February 25th, 2014

Volume 82 Issue 23

Opinion

The Chronicle

C17

Jordan Davis: The Next Trayvon Martin?

By KAYLYNN DAY Contributing Writer

On the fateful night of November 23, 2012, 17 year-old Floridian teenager Jordan Davis was shot and killed by a man named Michael Dunn. Dunn had pulled into a gas station around the same time Davis and the SUV full of his friends.

Loud music was playing from the car Davis was in, which was parked next to Dunn's vehicle.

According to Michael Dunn, he politely asked the teens to turn

How many more young, innocent teens have to have their lives taken away by the hands of an irresponsible person. their music down. Respectfully they did, but seconds later they began to blast it again. At this moment was when the incident began to take a deadly turn.

Words were exchanged between Dunn and Davis over the volume of the music once again,

turning into a heated verbal altercation. What was said between the two has been told differently from both the prosecution and defense, each claiming the other's argument is far from what actually happened. Dunn claimed Davis threatened to kill him, and that he began to exit his vehicle.

Dunn then alleged that while Davis was making these "threats" against his life, that he saw him pull out what he believed in the moment to be a gun or a lead pipe.

Michael Dunn then fired three shots into the vehicle, all hitting Davis directly. Even as the SUV began to drive away, Dunn continued to fire four more shots into the car.

After the shooting, Dunn managed to leave the scene as if nothing had happened. He and his girlfriend drove 40 miles into the next town and stayed in a hotel for the night where they ordered food and movies. It wasn't until he had heard that a teenage boy had been killed at a gas station the night before that he turned himself in.

This is the first indication that should raise red flags that Dunn was not in the least bit remorseful for what he had done the night Jordan Davis was killed.

In a sensible person’s mind, you would think that Dunn would’ve

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Million Hoodies Union Square protest against Trayvon Martin’s shooting death in Sanford, Florida.

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Trayvon Martin’s father, Tracy Martin, and his mother, Sabrina Fulton, at the Union Square protest against Trayvon’s shooting death. stayed at the scene to make sure he hadn’t injured anyone and to get his claim of “self-defense” known to law enforcement. The fact that he left the gas station without doing any of this raises the question as to whether he really did shoot in self-defense. If he was trying to protect himself, then why would he not stay and make that clear?

It seems to me that Dunn knew he was wrong and walked away from the situation in hopes thought he would maybe be able to fly under the radar of suspicion, being able to skate away unharmed.

Investigators searching the scene made it clear that the teens were unarmed, shattering Dunn’s “self-defense” claims and raising suspicion that Jordan Davis was killed in cold blood. Dunn was then taken to trial and found guilty of three counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of firing into an occupied vehicle.

Dunn was also charged with first-degree murder, but was

found not guilty and it was ruled a mistrial due to the jury’s inability to come to a unanimous decision.

Although Dunn has been cleared of the first degree murder charge, the Florida State attorney’s office is making plans to take it back to court for retrial.

In the wake of Dunn’s conviction, I am beginning to see a pattern in the Florida justice system.

This is the second time in the past year that they have not given, in my eyes, justice to the people that deserved it.

This case to me is a repeat of the Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman trial. Justice was not served when all the signs pointed to it. The Florida justice system is using the idea of self-defense and their “stand-your-ground” law as a crutch to avoid putting guilty people in jail.

The reason behind it is unclear to me, but the fact that they are trying to protect the wrong people is as clear as day. If it was a black man who killed an innocent white teenager, the case would’ve gotten more attention and the

murderer would’ve gotten a much harsher sentence. Race is a contributing factor in this case, whether people choose to see it or not.

Cases like this as well as the Trayvon Martin case show that racism is alive and well in our country, especially in our justice system.

So, what is next? How many more young, innocent teens have to have their life taken away by the hands of an irresponsible person before a change is made?

How many more mothers and fathers must lose their children before justice is served?

Our entire justice system, as well as our gun laws, needs to be revamped in order to stop senseless killings like this from happening. But when all is said and done, these families deserve justice, and in order for that to happen, a change needs to be made.

It is up to us as American citizens to get our voices heard in order to see that change. If cases like this don’t spark up the fire needed to do so, then I’m not sure what will.

C18

The Chronicle

Opinion

February 25th, 2014

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Volume 82 Issue 23

Sports D19 NBA Trade Deadline Fails to Impress...Again February 25th, 2014

By JOSHUA NATOLI Sports Editor My father once taught me to never get my hopes up for anything. It does sound like a bad parenting tactic, but I never get let down about anything.

Sadly, I’ve applied this advice to the NBA Trade Deadline—the overhyped, overplayed, underachieving portion of the NBA season in which teams look to revamp their rosters for a playoff push, or dump some high-salary role players to clear some cap space for upcoming free agents.

It seems like a great time to be an NBA fan, but the deadline hardly ever lives up to the hype.

It’s like the lottery in a way— the fun part of thinking about what you’ll do with all that money. The fun part of the Trade Deadline is thinking of all the possible trades that will transpire while ESPN rams empty rumors down your throat.

After experiencing so many lifeless deadlines pass with high

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media expectations, the entertainment value for me lies in the various “interest” stories heard throughout the sports world. To me, it’s almost as if some of these “experts” had some conversations with each other that started with the phrase, “Wouldn’t it be cool if…?” and decided to broadcast the results on the next round of SportsCenter. Some of the dumbest stories I’ve heard on television came during this year’s deadline, my favorite one being that the Houston Rockets had interest in Rajon Rondo. Who doesn’t?! I’m sure every team had interest in LeBron James at the deadline, regardless of whether he was available or not. That doesn’t make it newsworthy. They didn’t even have a potential deal to pitch, just the fact that the Rockets allegedly weren’t willing to part with Chandler Parsons. That was it.

What a joke.

The Kevin Love rumors were golden, too. The Lakers were supposedly looking to make a big splash in trading for Love,

Evan Turner was involved in the only noteworthy trade at the deadline.

Not every deadline sees a Carmelo-like deal.

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even though the entire team lacks any sort of trade value. To finally put the icing on the cake, ESPN reported that Kevin Love said he believes his current Timberwolves team is in a better place than the Lakers, pretty much putting to bed any trade rumors.

So what notable trades did we end up with? One. That’s it. Just one. And it came to light after the 3 p.m. deadline Thursday.

The Indiana Pacers agreed to trade longtime poster boy Danny Granger to the Philadelphia 76ers for the second overall pick in the 2010 draft Evan Turner, and role-playing forward Lavoy Allen. This was a big deal because Granger had been with the Pacers for nine whole years— he was even drafted by them. He made an All-Star team in 2009 and en-

couraged the Pacers to draft Paul George. Although the departure was heartbreaking for Granger, it was the necessary move. Granger hasn’t been able to stay healthy the past few seasons and is currently on the books for $13 million while coming off the bench.

Evan Turner gives the Pacers’ second unit a much needed boost.

Turner could not thrive with the Sixers as the number one option, so I think he’ll do well as the Pacers’ sixth man.

Other than the Turner-Granger deal, there really were no remarkable deals. One deal did manage to piss Kobe Bryant off, however. The Lakers moved Bryant’s longtime teammate Steve Blake to the Golden State Warriors for MarShon Brooks and Kent Bazemore. To the typical fan this

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doesn’t seem like much of a deal at all, especially considering the no-namers involved. But, the Warriors now have a solid backup point guard that can take some of the distributing duties away from Stephen Curry and open up more looks on the perimeter.

It also helps the Lakers by shedding some depth at the point and gives Kendall Marshall a chance to prove himself.

The Trade Deadline will likely never live up to the hype given to it by the media. We’ll still get to see some moves that intrigue us a little bit, but not every year will give us a Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks’ deadline move.

My advice to NBA fans would be to never get your hopes up at the season’s midway point, but you still have your imagination, right?

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Sports

February 25th, 2014

Volume 82 Issue 23

Turning Heads and Making Waves

By TORI ADDISON Staff Writer

Kelsey Kraft knows a thing or two about what it’s like to dive head first into a pool full of opponents and swim vigorously until reaching the finish line.

“I started competitive swimming when I was about 12, but I’ve always been a swimmer ever since I can remember,” Kraft said.

As most beginners, she started her career by joining a summer league in her hometown in California. The sport became more competitive as she grew older, but she never gave up on her dreams to compete as a swimmer.

As you can imagine, choosing a college so far away from home was difficult, but Kraft knew Saint Rose was the perfect fit for both her educational and athletic needs. Even after visiting several schools in Southern California, she was still hooked on becoming a Golden Knight. “Saint Rose allowed me to be at a small school, but still swim competitively,” said Kraft. “It's also known for its strong teacher education program, so that attracted me to the school as well.”

Although she admits that initial adjustment to the level of competition and intense commitment that came along with the transition from high school to collegiate athletics was difficult at first, things became easier as she settled in. “Doing sports in college takes more time than people think and it becomes an integral part of your life,” she said. The biggest difference between competing at a high school level compared to that of college, she said, is the length of the season and the constant training that goes along with it. Yet, her decision to attend college at Saint Rose never failed to disappoint, as she has not only been a major contributor to the swim team, but was also named to the NE-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll for both semesters of her sophomore and junior years

and is also a Dean’s List student.

While her senior season has reached its end, Kraft concluded her career on a high note by claiming the school record in the 100-meter Butterfly event. She said, “It was a goal I had set for myself when I first came to Saint Rose, and to finish my collegiate swimming career with a personal record was the icing on the cake. I worked hard all season and made a lot of sacrifices, and it paid off.

It's a moment that I'll never forget.” After graduation she will be taking a year off, but will continue to work toward her masters degree soon after that. “I would like to work in a pre-k or kindergarten classroom,” says Kraft. “I'm not sure if I'll move back to California for good. I guess we will have to wait and see,” she said.

Kraft’s athletic career as a swimmer at Saint Rose has been extremely impressive to say the least. Her expertise in the butterfly has landed her countless firstplace recognitions throughout her collegiate career, and she notes the support from her mother for her continual success. Through the thick and thin that comes with juggling school and athletics, Kraft said, “She’s been my biggest fan and number one supporter of not only my swimming, but everything I do. She's a strong role model, is always pushing me to do my best, and encouraging me every step of the way.

I wouldn't be anywhere close to where I am now if it wasn't for her.”

By proving that hard work and perseverance pays off in both the classroom and the pool, Kraft will be graduating from Saint Rose knowing that she left her mark here at the college.

As she perfectly put it, “Always think of the big picture.

Sometimes it can be hard to stay focused on your goals, but the hard work that you put into your training day after day, will show at the end of your season. It's the little things you do each day that add up.”

Kelsey Kraft just finished up her senior season in the water.

COURTESY OF SAINT ROSE ATHLETICS.