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Friday, February 21, 2014
Continued from page 4: Sackett Years later, Sackett’s love and knowledge of languages and his interest in teaching influenced him to work with PBS making film documentaries, including Elbert Hubbard: An American Original and Glorious Battle: The Siege of Fort Erie. Sackett taught at the English Language Institute in Baldy Hall and as an adjunct at Niagara County Community College. He also serves as chair of the Literacy New York Buffalo-Niagara Board of Directors. Today, as Sugar Wonder Blues, which was filmed locally, approaches its release date, Sackett said he feels it is the responsibility of those stable in their careers to “make opportunities for upand-coming talent.” Megan Erbacher, the film’s director, said that for most of the cast, it was their first feature film project, according to film’s Kickstarter video. “Any questions I had involving the process, I went to Scott,” said Laura Mikolajczyk, one of the film’s leads. “Right from the beginning, we had to talk about what I was and wasn’t comfortable with. The open dialogue was nice.” Sugar Wonder Blues was Mikolajczyk’s first feature-length film role, but she has appeared in numerous stage productions, in-
cluding Cinderella at Artpark. “[Sackett] always knew the perfect time to give feedback and it was encouraging,” Mikolajczyk said. “He’s also a well-rounded individual. You could talk to him about almost anything.” Sugar Wonder Blues is the story of what happens when “Two brothers fight for control of their recently deceased father’s auto repair shop. Relationships break down as secrets are uncovered,” according to the film’s Facebook page. The cast wrapped filming on Dec. 16, according to the Kickstarter page, and now that it has been successfully funded through donations, Erbacher hopes to premiere the film in Western New York this summer as well as online. Sackett advises students interested in the film industry to watch lots of movies and read criticism of film in order to gain a wider breadth of knowledge about the production process. He said it is important to learn how directors work in order to help solve problems on set. An unconventional education helped Sackett find success in the film industry. He recommends students take language courses during college. “I think it’s a big handicap to
complete a college degree without giving serious study to other languages and cultures,” Sackett said. “If one wants to be pragmatic about it, just recognize that most college graduates will follow career paths influenced by global economic forces and that a skill set with two or more languages likely will have greater marketability.” Although Sackett enjoys the “magical moments on set” that come with working with the cast and crew, he most enjoys postproduction work because “that’s where the story comes to life.” He said filming can be challenging because the producer must manage the cast and crew while also creating an atmosphere that allows for and nurtures the spontaneity and experimentation necessary for any creative work. From coordinating opera nights as the president of the Italian club to informing students over WRUB’s airwaves, Sackett accumulated the skills he now draws upon each day on set.
Continued from page 8: Quick Hits Sunday in the Spartan Classic. Friday and Saturday’s start time is set for 11 a.m., and Sunday’s first pitch is 10 a.m. Softball (6-0) The Bulls come off their historic opening weekend and play five games this weekend at the Red and Blue Classic in Mississippi after a week off. Buffalo’s first game is set for 9 a.m. on Friday, and the squad will close its weekend with an 11 a.m. game Sunday against Northern Colorado (0-5). Men’s Tennis (4-1) Buffalo travels to Marist (10) after a 4-3 home victory last Saturday. The Bulls have won two straight. The match time is TBA. Women’s Tennis (4-1) The Bulls travel to West Virginia (1-5) after consecutive 7-0 home victories the past two
weekends. The match is set for 1 p.m. Track & Field The track & field teams will compete in the Cornell Denault in Ithaca this weekend. Senior sprinter Asia Henry won MAC Track Athlete of the Week and senior thrower Jonathan Jones won MAC Field Athlete of the Week based on their performances in the SPIRE Division I Invite last weekend. Wrestling (3-16, 0-7 MAC) Buffalo looks for its first conference win of the season against Northern Illinois (6-11, 1-6 MAC) in the final match before the MAC Championships. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m. at Alumni Arena. email: sports@ubspectrum.com
On the web: Spectrum Sports 360 podcast – Our sports editors talk Khalil Mack, NFL Scouting Combine & upcoming draft.
email: features@ubspectrum.com
Continued from page 3: Prisons rates of re-incarceration by up to 90 percent, according to Cuomo’s statement. Cuomo cited a similar program at Bard College in Dutchess County that offered college degrees to 500 inmates, 250 of whom completed the program. Only 4 percent of participants and 2.5 percent of graduates returned to prison after they were released. “Someone who leaves prison with a college degree has a real shot at a second lease on life,” Cuomo said. “Because their education gives them the opportunity to get a job and avoid falling
back into a cycle of crime.” But Cuomo’s proposed program isn’t cheap and has sparked a lot of controversy and debate since its announcement. Many seem outraged at the prospect of taxpayers’ dollars helping convicts get a college education when some law-abiding citizens can’t afford college and don’t receive financial aid. Others offer a similar sentiment over the state’s deteriorating public school system and budget issues. Meanwhile, college students may be left wondering why they are falling deeper into debt when they could go to jail and get their
education paid for at everyone else’s expense. As a student who is going to graduate over $30,000 in debt, I sympathize with people’s frustration over our nation’s studentdebt crisis. My situation is similar to a lot of the people I’ve met on campus: my parents make too much money for me to qualify for aid, but not enough to help me pay for college. Making college more affordable is an enormous task that needs to be addressed, just like the problems with public education. But that shouldn’t have any bearing on Cuomo’s attempts to
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fix a different issue. It’s easy to condemn Cuomo’s proposal because it isn’t putting money into education reform. But the money going into prison reform wouldn’t automatically go toward financial aid for college students. Both issues are becoming increasingly pressing. Giving convicts a second chance through education will not only reduce crime rates and stimulate our economy, it will stop the destruction mass incarceration is causing in our communities and save millions of tax dollars.
But people don’t think about all of these factors when they rashly condemn Cuomo’s plan. When they see a multifaceted issue and someone comes up with a solution to fix one of those facets, people dismiss it because it doesn’t fix the issue as a whole. I hope Cuomo’s proposal is the first of many similar plans that will fix our broken prison system. His plan is a good start. email: jordan.oscar@ubspectrum.com
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