Volume 108 Issue 07

President Eric Bergenn was among many members of the SGA that were fr ustrated during last Wednesday’s meeting.

Volume 108 No. 07Wednesday, October 12, 2011 Central Connecticut State University

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Kenny Barto | the recorder

TENURE | coNT. oN 2

Jonathan stanKieWiczthe recorder

For the Fall 2010 semester, CCSU had 440 full-time faculty and 526 part-time faculty teaching at CCSU, according to the “Fast Facts” of CCSU. With the new faculty numbers for Fall 2011 coming in November there is a situation that not many know about. Of those 440 full-time faculty, 60 are special appointments, full-time faculty on one to two year contracts.

“Special appointments do lots of things,” said CCSU-AAUP President Jason B. Jones. “Sometimes they are necessary to preserve a position because someone leaves at the last second or retires.” Also, special appointments are useful to bring in expertise that’s hard to get a handle on, added Jones.

In President Jack Miller’s Report Card that he fi nished just before this semester started Miller uses the 440 number of full-time faculty in Objective 6.1: “Increase the number of full-time faculty.” Miller gave this objective an “A-.”

“It’s a defensible position, since they are, aft er all, full-time hires,” said Jones. “Th ey’re positions that

SGA| coNT. oN 3

Kassondra Granatathe recorder

Th ere have been few moments in the SGA this year that visual displeasure and disagreement between senators were prevelant. However, this past Wednesday was one of them.

Discussion of club funding led to debate, frustration and tension between members of the Student Government Association.

Senator Chris Kyle moved to allocate $4,031 to the Communications Club with the stipulation that they need to raise 10% of their funding.

“I believe that it’s within our bylaws to allocate this money for them,” said Kyle. “I want them to get the money to do what they have to do; I want to see what they could do with it.”

Many senators were in opposition towards Kyle’s motion, believing that the amount was too high along with the information presented by the club.

Treasurer Nick Alaimo, in disagreement stated that the club was being penalized because they did not come back for contingency for they didn’t att ach any extra information to their base budget forms.

Senator Jamie Canny believed

Tempers Flair At SGA Over Club Fundingthat the amount that Senator Kyle moved was too costly due to the amount of members to the club.

“It’s just way too much money to give to the club, there aren’t enough members yet.” said Canny. “Even if they got six against the three they defi nitely have, it’s still too much money.”

Senator Shelby Ditello was in favor towards the motion regardless of the fact that they were being penalized for the lack of information with their base budget.

“We should at least be considering it even though they didn’t provide information last time.” says Ditello.

Senator Molly McLaughlin was on the fence towards Kyle’s motion.

“I think that this is a very large amount to be allocating to any club, based on the budget that we have for such a small club working to be built,” said McLaughlin. “I’m not in complete opposition; I just believe that it is too much money.”

Treasurer Nick Alaimo suggested the motion to be put on the table and closed the debate. At that point, Senator Chris Kyle had left the meeting and the motion was put to vote and failed.

Jonathan stanKieWiczthe recorder

We’ve all heard the word, but some of us don’t know what it actually means. It’s been a hot topic lately, so let’s take a look at what is causing such a stir.

Th e purpose of tenure, according to the CCSU-AAUP contract “is the protection of academic freedom. It remains incumbent upon the member to maintain and improve professional competence, professional growth, and the excellence which occasioned the grant of tenure to the member.”

Full-time appointments come in three types of appointments: regular, special and fi nal.

Th e most common being regular appointments, begin with an initial probationary period followed by the opportunity to apply for and receive tenure before the end of the faculty member’s seventh year of service.

“You can apply for tenure at any time,” said Jason Jones, president of the CCSU chapter of the American Association of University Professors. “However, you have to apply by the start of the 6th year of service. It’s most common for people to apply in the 6th year.”

What Tenure Means At CCSU

Full-time faculty members can be hired at and promoted through four ranks: instructor, assistant professor, associate professor and full professor. In general, but not always, these are the diff erences between the four ranks:

Instructors have a master •degree in the appropriate fi eldAssistant professors have •a doctorate (or other terminal degree) in the appropriate fi eld.Associate professors have •a doctorate (or other terminal degree) in the appropriate fi eld, as well as at least 5 years full-time as an assistant professor (or higher rank) at a college or university.Full professors have •a doctorate (or other terminal degree in the appropriate fi eld, as well as at least 5 years full-time as an associate professor (or higher rank) at a college or university.

A Surplus Of Special Appointments

they say will be fi lled with tenure-track appointments at some point. Th at said, it’s also a bit deceptive.”

Rather than replacing people with tenure track positions CCSU hired special appointments and emergency hires instead. CCSU has historically averaged 30 emergency appointments a year.

Th is particular jump to 60 in special appointments comes all in one year because President Miller was concerned about being able to hire people for tenure track positions, said Faculty Senate President Candace Barrington. With money being an issue, CCSU didn’t want to hire potential tenure track faculty just to hire them because they may not have been able to keep them.

“President Miller decided it was more prudent and more humane to fi ll full-time faculty vacancies with short-term emergency appointments,” said Provost and Vice President of Student Aff airs Carl Lovitt .

Lovitt added that, “Because of fi scally conservative decisions at CCSU, President Miller announced at the end of last year that he thought we could safely begin replacing some of our emergency

appointments. He authorized 20 tenure-track hires last spring, which are now underway, and he has since authorized three more.”

Jones wants people to know that schools aren’t saving any money when they hire special appointments.

“You still have to pay them the same amount that you would pay an assistant professor,” said Jones, “because if they did get the tenure track job there would be a huge equity problem because they would have fallen behind.”

From the union’s perspective at CCSU, Jones and his constituents have several concerns about this situation. Th e 60 is a really big number, said Jones. “It’s more than the full-time faculty in the English department plus math,” Jones said.

Th e budget concerns since 2008 have had a tremendous impact on tenure track hiring for CCSU and the whole CSU system.

“Th e problem is it is complicated,” said SCSU-AAUP President Michael Shea. “It’s bett er than having nothing or having part timers.” Shea said that having the positions fi lled with the one to two

APPoINTmENTS | coNT. oN 3

NEWS2THE RECORDERWednesday, October 12, 2011

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Kassondra Granatathe recorder

A conversation on the “future of public higher education in Connecticut” was held in the Marcus White Living Room on Wednesday with moderator Ned Lamont and speakers Michael Meotti, Merle Harris and Bill Cibes.

The Board of Regents, which included the community, technical Colleges, the CSU Universities and Charter Oak State College have faced the following question: How will public higher education be structured, what are its goals and how should it function?

Merle Harris, who once served as president of Charter Oak State College and interim president of CCSU was recently appointed to the Board of Regents and is very optimistic about the potential of the state to make changes.

Harris received her Bachelor’s degree at CCSU and commented on the difference between the amount of students when she went to school than now.

Reflecting on that, a main concern of Harris was the low completion rates and what could be done to prevent it.

“We have too many students dropping out and ending up without a degree and following debt with loans,” says Harris. “One issue to look at is completion rate and how to improve it.”

Harris suggested ways to improve the completion rate of students is to better understand the reasoning behind why some students drop out of school. Harris hopes to obtain better data to see what students are doing.

Completion rate is based on

TENURE| coNT. FRom 1

Future Of Public Higher Education Conference

the percentage of students who graduate within six years.

“We don’t have a good understanding on that process.” says Harris. “What needs to be done is we need to make sure we have a system that brings students in and brings students out with skills to bring them to graduate school.”

“I think Central has done a great job with bringing students through,” finishes Harris. “But there have been many we lost along the way.”

Harris believes that focusing on liberal arts is key to the institution, claiming that one should “never lose sight of a liberal arts foundation in the educational experience.”

Bill Cibes, who has served as chancellor of the CSU System and director of the Office of Policy and Management agreed with Harris’s belief towards the liberal arts.

“Folks are not looking for just tool and dime makers,” comments Cibes. “They are looking for people who can think creatively and we cannot just put that to the side.”

Cibes proposed on focusing to the needs of the state, and believes in the potential of the collaboration of community colleges with CSU saying that “more can be done.”

Meotti, recently named executive vice president of the Board of Regents along with Harris and Cibes, is positive in the belief that change can happen.

“We are at a point in history to see change, new ways of delivering education.” finishes Harris. “The state has a lot of potential to make changes. We have what we need to build a very strong future to meet the needs of our students and states.”

It should be noted that years in rank do not get you promoted. Faculty have to go through the promotion and tenure process.

At CCSU, most full-time faculty with regular appointments are hired as assistant professors and work their way through the ranks, according to Faculty Senate President Candace Barrington.

A candidate who doesn’t meet the standards of the ranks above “may also be appointed or promoted to a rank listed above provided the candidate has credentials and/or experience substantially comparable to the listed standards,” says AAUP contract.

In order to be rehired each year through the probationary period, to receive tenure and to be promoted through the ranks, faculty members are evaluated according to four criteria, weighed in this order:

Load-credit activity, which •is teaching for most CCSU teaching faculty, though it can also include chairing a department or other service to the university that requires release from the usual teaching duties.Creative activity, which •includes scholarship, research, performance or other activities pertinent to the faculty member’s field.Productive service to the •department and university, which includes serving on committees and other formed of shared/faculty governance.Professional activity, which •includes attending and participating in conferences and workshops.

The evaluation of tenure may be considered in any year of the probationary period if the faculty member requests. Where that faculty member will be reviewed by their department, dean and provost. “Denial of tenure prior to the sixth year of service will not prejudice subsequent applications for tenure” and will not be interpreted as a ground for termination, but will be on that faculty member’s permanent record. The Department Evaluation Committee “must evaluate a non-tenured full-time member for tenure in the [faculty] member’s sixth year of credited service.”

It needs to be noted that, “a full-time [faculty] member in the sixth year of employment who does not receive a notice of denial of tenure as specified in this section shall be deemed to have been awarded tenure.” When a faculty member applies for promotion or tenure, however, faculty are reviewed additionally by the University-wide Promotion and Tenure Committee, which involves significantly more documentation, said Jones.

After a faculty member has been tenured they are reviewed every six years, regardless of whether they go up for promotion or not, added Jones.

Breaking Down CCSU Tenure

SGA Senators Jeremy Truex and Jamie Germaine discuss club contingency budgets during last Wednesday’s SGA meeting.Kenny Barto | the recorder

3THE RECORDER / Wednesday, October 12, 2011 / NEWS

Justin MuszynsKithe recorder

CCSU hosted Connecticut’s new Board of Regents’ first meeting last Tuesday which saw its interim president, Robert Kennedy, get his contract approved by the board.

Kennedy, who was named the interim president in September, was approved in a unanimous decision. The board also took some time to do a brief overview of the state’s legislative history and some budgetary concerns

SGA | coNT. FRom 1

Justin MuszynsKithe recorder

The average play that the CCSU theatre department puts on may cost anywhere from $1,000 to $6,000. However, when Lani Johnson, the former chair of the theatre department, started working here in 1968, she needed to do what she could with only about $250 total.

“Today, that might get you one costume, maybe two,” said Johnson who is currently a professor of theatre. “It was hard trying to come up with good work when you really didn’t have a real budget.”

That, to Johnson, is one of the biggest differences she sees in CCSU today. The theatre department is a reflection of the school as a whole, being much better off financially and generally more successful.

Reflecting on what other struggles professors faced in the past, Johnson cites what used to be the theatre department’s scene shop, which she describes as just a

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Although the last meeting has shown great tension and anger between the Senate, President Bergenn has strong optimism in regards to delegation in club funding.

“What seems like tension and frustration is actually the Senate working towards some arduous goals, and it’s a necessary and beneficial process,” said Bergenn in an e-mail.

The senate has had problems in the past and currently when it comes to interpreting bylaws which leaves conflict to those who interpret the bylaws in a specific way.

Bergenn sees conflict as a positive, stating that it will help the Senate grow as a whole.

“I feel strongly that, even though it seems that not much is getting done, getting everyone on the same page is beneficial in the long run, for both the Senate and the clubs in the funding process.”

Acknowledging that, Bergenn hopes that the Senate can look past their differences and work to fix the problem.

“What senators need to understand is that just because someone expresses a view point opposing theirs, it doesn’t make opposing ideas any less valid,” said Bergenn. “This is a problem that exists in all forms and groups, from our SGA Senate to our US Congress. There’s nothing wrong with it, but we need to reach a middle ground so we can begin to move forward and bring about positive change.”

Bergenn hopes that the efforts towards making SGA a stable working group and hopes that this process will produce mutually desirable guidelines for their funding process.

“Funding clubs is the biggest thing our group does, but it’s not the most important. We have to also be able to represent the students in a variety of other ways,” finishes Bergenn. “We need to be a group students can trust to turn to when they need help with student life on campus.”

“I hope people don’t interpret this as a lack of capacity to do that, but only as the arduous process that it is.”

“big wooden building.”“I think it was something left

over from World War II and it was somewhere around where Vance is now,” said Johnson. “We had to share it with the maintenance people who stored paint and all kinds of chemicals and that building burned down. Today, all our scene work is done here [Maloney Hall] so a lot of the change has been for the better.”

Another thing Johnson notices today that she feels is a big step forward for CCSU is its diversity. The University prides itself on its diversity with a firm mission statement that’s goal is to “promote, develop and support a culturally diverse community,” according to its website.

“When I started teaching here there were only two African American professors,” said Johnson. “I have no statistics, but from what I’ve seen it seems like there’s much more diversity in the backgrounds of students and faculty, which I think is very healthy.”

One thing however, that

Johnson notices that may be a step backwards for the University is something the student population controls. She says that there isn’t much political involvement compared to what she calls the “hippie” era.

“I think students back then were much more involved, they were very much against the war in Vietnam,” said Johnson. “So much has changed today with no threat of being drafted. I suspect that students in the 60’s and 70’s might also have reacted similarly to the war in Iraq with protests because as far as I know, that was the first time in history the true face of war was brought into our living room with pictures of slaughtered civilians, drug problems and reality and horror of war.”

On the other hand, while students’ feelings towards the war may not be as strong as they used to be, there are other things on campus that Johnson feels have improved. For one, the school now has an African American studies program.

“I remember a group of

African American students went into the administration building and basically kicked everybody out and demanded an African American studies program,” said Johnson. “Many were arrested but they were able to get a program that would allow them to learn about their heritage. The school gave them a program but wasn’t willing to pay the professors to teach it. So I, and some other professors volunteered and we taught it.”

Overall, Johnson feels that while not all, but many changes that have occurred at CCSU have been for the greater good. She again points to the theatre department as an example of this.

“A lot of the changes were for the better, I think we’re able to give a much better education to our students who are pursuing careers in theatre,” said Johnson. “We’re able to have the best equipment, sound and lighting equipment and more money to spend on things that make it better for the students.”

Theatre Department: A Reflection Of CCSUyear contracts is kind of a semi-solution.

SCSU also sees this problem. For the Fall 2011 semester Southern has 433 full-time faculty, with 57 of those being temporary emergency positions. As of Shea’s interview there had been no word of how many tenure-track searches will be conducted at SCSU for this year.

As of the open forum held last week at CCSU with Miller and Barrington, Miller hadn’t yet said publicly what his plan is to address the 60 special appointments and how he will get CCSU back down to the usual 30 for each year.

“On the one-hand, it looks like we’re making a dent and on the other it’s not clear,” said Barrington. “[Miller] wouldn’t give a straight answer if he would say, ‘This is what I wanted.’”

Barrington added that she isn’t definite if the 23 searches underway this semester will fill the attrition losses that happen every year.

Jones agrees. “I think next semester we are going to have what we have now,” said Jones. “What would be nice if the administration announced a plan to return to something like the status quo. Something like a more typical number of emergency appointments.”

APPoINTmENTS| coNT. FRom 1

News Brief: CSUS Board Of Regentsthat they will have to keep in mind while making any changes to the state school systems.

The board was assembled after Governor Malloy expressed his request for state schools to allow students to graduate in a timely manner.

They are still six members short of what will eventually include 19 board members all together. During the meeting, the board established the importance of their goals to better the education system in the 17 institutions that they have

been assigned to oversee citing a statistic that showed more than 40% of high school graduates that go on to college, attend one of those 17 schools.

Those schools include all of the state’s community colleges, Charter Oak State College, and the four CSU schools. UConn will not be affected by the new board.

The next meeting will be held on November 2 at 10:00 am in the Hartford area. The agenda for that meeting has not been posted on their website yet.

JOIN

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A Conversation With Former Chair, Lani Johnson

4 THE RECORDER / Wednesday, October 12, 2011

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OPINION 5THE RECORDER

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

EDITORIAL We Need To Decide Who We AreTh e student body has grown tired. We’ve

tired of the food we eat, the scheduling confl icts, the new “convenience” fees and the lack of parking. However, if you look at all those things they are necessary evils. As students we might dislike and gaff e at them, but when we stop and really break them down we can understand them.

Th e lack of quality food on campus can be att ributed to the mass amount of students that Sodexo is feeding. Scheduling is an ongoing experiment. Th e fees are just being passed on to us, which the school has normally paid. As the campus and student population grow, accommodating every student with a parking spot is impossible. Th e list of examples can go on, but these things are understandable.

Th e line between the understandable and not is a very tricky one to defi ne, but when one such complaint crosses that line it infuriates those aff ected. Th ere are two types of students on this campus and one type far outnumber the other. Commuters and

residents are not the same students. Stop treating us as if we are.

One of the main campaigns that CCSU is pushing is campus and community involvement. Th ey don’t want to be seen as a ‘suitcase college’. Suitcase college. What does that mean? It’s a nicer way of saying commuter school. Central doesn’t want to be seen as a commuter school. Likewise, students don’t want to go to a commuter school. Th ere are negative connotations to that, aren’t there?

What are the reasons that we’re viewed as a commuter school? Th e fact that the majority of our fellow classmates drive from their homes to go to class isn’t the cause for this feeling, even though it is backed by statistical data showing they are the majority here. 22% of undergraduate students here live on campus. Th at’s about 2,000 people. Have you ever actually seen 2,000 young adults around campus between Friday morning and Sunday evening? No, that’s

almost laughable.Th is campus is lucky to have half of its

residents stay here on a given weekend. Excluding weekends that have concerts, homecoming games and similar events, this holds true. Th e administration has seen this problem and is trying to correct this, but they’re shooting in the dark.

Th e biggest thing that would keep a student here extends beyond a concert or a conference football game. It has nothing to do with how many movies they can play in the Devils’ Den or fi lling the Student Center Circle with giant infl atables. It has everything to do with facilities.

Memorial Hall, our on-campus mess hall is open for a total of 17 hours combined between Saturday and Sunday every week. It closes at 6:30 p.m. on Saturdays, but any student will tell you that you need to get there by 5:30 p.m. to get anything good to eat. Some of us have jobs that don’t get out till several hours aft er then. You’re telling us

we can’t eat, even though we paid for the food in advance? Th e alternative is, for some or unfortunately most students, is to go home.

At home you can get a cooked meal at 7 or 8 p.m. on Saturday. A student can sit in the comfort of their own home and study at 4 p.m., which is 15 minutes past the closing time of the library on Saturday. Th at’s embarrassing. A learning institution that doesn’t have a library open past 3:45 p.m. on a Saturday isn’t a learning institution. It’s a facade.

It’s not all grim for this university, however. Departments like RECentral and the Student Center are gett ing it right. Th eir buildings and programs extend into the ghost hours on campus, but they alone cannot keep people here. It’s going to take a unifi ed front.

Take this time and decide who you want to be, CCSU. Do you want to be a commuter school or a strong respected university? Examining your practices might show you what you’ve already decided.

EDITOR’S COLUMN

nicholas Prochthe recorder

Who wouldn’t want something to be improved? You want a bett er car, life, house and so on. If you want to improve your house, you either buy a new one or fi x up the one you have. An addition. A pool. You get the idea.

Th e construction on campus is inconvenient. Th ere’s no gett ing around that. To get to a class in Maria Sanford from Vance Academic isn’t as easy as it once was. Instead of walking two minutes, students now have to walk all the way around a fence which adds a whopping minute to their trek.

From the way that the student body is reacting, you’d think that they are all of a sudden in need of a sherpa to get them from point A to B. Th is is just one of the many complaints that the construction on campus gets on a given day. Personally, I don’t get it. Who cares if it takes you an extra few minutes to get to class? Will those additional steps mean anything to you later? Probably not. If you’re blaming your tardiness on a full-sized Tonka truck, stop. You were probably going to be late for that class anyways.

Take a step back and think about why you are actually being inconvenienced. We have to walk those extra steps so that we can make this campus bett er. It’s a necessary evil. Th ere has to be some trade-off to make things progress forward. Th at’s how it works. Some will say that it “doesn’t matt er, I’m only here another year, I won’t be able to use that building anyways.” Th at’s just selfi sh.

If those before us had not built half the

buildings on this campus because it was an eye-sore at the time, nothing would be here. You’d be taking class in the woods. For all of you that would like to take class in the woods, go to UConn. How do you know that you’re not going to send your kids to this school or that someone you know might end up going here? You don’t.

Th e real issue lies in the morale and judgement of the student body which is a refl ection of society. We love to bicker and complain about everything. You can’t have social security without some kind of drawback. How can you expect to make national and state programs work without paying additional taxes? Does this money just come out of nowhere? We can print more money, sure, but that’s not the solution.

We can stand in the rain and freezing cold in Manhatt an and complain about the government and what it isn’t doing for us as citizens. We can gripe about banks and how they are raising fees and making it harder for anyone to get ahead. We can do all of these things without looking at ourselves. If we want public services we need to pay for them. Th ese problems aren’t going to go away, but if we learn to bend a litt le we can certainly help them.

Next time you’re walking on campus from the Student Center to Diloreto and you have to pass through the fence area where the bulldozer drives, don’t shoot a nasty look at a construction worker or moan about how there’s dirt on the sidewalk. Instead think about what it is that they are actually doing and be thankful that you belong to an institution that is progressing forward while most of the world is taking a step back.

Taking Th e Good With Th e Bad

Work Is Work, Nothing Else

Garri saGanenKospecial to the recorder

With my makeshift study guide in hand, my eyes strayed from the mishmash of fonts and bolded characters, to the vibrantly colored bulletin board on the second fl oor of Willard Hall. Fitt ingly, my eyes came to rest on the chic advertisement for a master’s degree program in journalism from Georgetown University. While pondering the prospects of my future, I reminded myself of the task at hand and began to review the defi nition of “arduous.” “Involving or requiring strenuous eff ort; diffi cult and tiring.” I yawned in my thoughts and looked up at the bulletin board again. Among the claims for higher academic callings, were two mundane, identical postings advertising for “Online Work”. Th e posting made utopian claims like, “Work can be done at Your Own Pace, In Your Spare Time…” and “No experience or Contact Required.” Both skeptical and hopeful, I ripped off one of the tabs and whipped out my iPod touch to check out www.page131.com, the website on the tab.

I thought the advertisement might be too good to be true as the adage goes, but I was wrong. Th e website took the idealistic claims beyond the realm of reality. Qualifi cations for the job include: “No Resume.”, “No interview.”, “No degree required.”, “No drug test.”,”No background check.” and “No lie detector test.” Even still, the website said it would provide language translation if needed. I stared in astonishment. What was I doing in college?

Why was I wasting my time when there was money to be made? I felt foolish for equating arduous with work. Before me was a real life antonym. Coupled with sophisticated terms and phrases like “PayPal” and “Copyright on fi le with the United States Library of Congress”, I was sold until I read, “ Th ere is a one time fee of $19.95 to set up Your Work Listing Site Access…” I stared in devastation. I felt like a high school student exposed to communism for the fi rst time, left to realize that history class and textbooks would not be free forever.

Was this actually a scam? I got confi rmation of my belief from a quick Google search. Apparently someone encountered the same situation three years ago and sought Yahoo Answers for a solution. My short-lived dream of a job that paid dividends without credentials had ended, but I felt a sense of vindication in that fact. At fi rst I let myself be led astray by my journalistic intuition, only to realize what I had suspiciously thought all along. Work will always be something that is merit-based and requisite to life. Yes, some jobs will be easier than others, some jobs will require more work for less pay, and some jobs will require less work for more pay, but one thing is true, jobs are work. Work requires strenuous eff ort at some point and does not cater to every need. What we learn today are not meaningless fi gures and ideas, but qualifi cations. More oft en than not, qualifi cations are necessary to achieve our goals. With new insight and my makeshift study guide in hand, I put my head down and got back to work.

6 THE RECORDER / Wednesday, October 12, 2011 / UPGR ADE


Transformers meets Ali meets Toy Story. Robots, boxing and a tribute to Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. That’s what Real Steel could have been, but it was not. For that reason alone, this may be worth the price of admission.

Any time that a director can take such a ridiculous idea, such as fighting robots in the year 2020, and make it believable, it’s worth seeing. It’s a testament to both the directing and acting that this film wasn’t completely cheesy.

At times it may have been, but only in a good way. For the most part, it was believable. Set in a time where human boxing has been thrown to the wayside in lieu of robot boxing, where they can rip

Photo i MysPace.coM/MaydayParade

Brittany BurKethe recorder

In Mayday Parade’s third studio album self-titled, Mayday Parade, the pop-punk band from Tallahassee, FL proves that they have staying power.

While their contemporaries are feeding into the pop side of the musical charts, the boys in Mayday have actually gone back to their musical roots and were able to produce tracks much like the ones found on A Lesson in Romantics, the band’s first full-length studio album.

The album’s opening track, and first single “Oh well, oh well,” sets the pace for the rest of the CD. As lead singer Derek Sanders croons through the opening notes the song quickly speeds up, which makes you forget that it is a song about heartbreak.

With songs such as “Call Me Hopeless, Not Romantic,” and the final track, “Happy Endings Are Stories That Haven’t Ended Yet,” it is clear that Mayday Parade has mastered songs of

Mayday ParadeMayday Parade

Mayday ParadeOctober 3

longing, lost loves and shattered hearts.The first four songs on the album

are melancholic with a slower tempo, but the momentum changes with the song “Priceless.” While the track keeps in theme with broken relationships, it is one that you can’t help but want to move to. I find myself subconsciously moving my head with the music, but it is a fine line between sugary-pop and pop-punk.

Jackman Shows He’s The Real Deal

each other into pieces, it feels real.This may be because Dreamworks

took the time to hire the right cast. It may be because the idea was so original that it couldn’t be corny. Or it may be because of the fact that there was an overwhelming amount of money poured into this film that we’re all distracted by the seamless integration of real action and CGI. It may have been all of those things.

Hugh Jackman (The Prestige, X-Men) and Dakota Goyo (Thor) have the audience in their grasp for the majority of the 127 minutes that you are parked in your seat watching them. It’s not common for a 12-year old to have acting skills like this. At times he dominates Jackman, but only when he really needs to. The rest of the time Jackman is experimenting with his newly found heart that he hasn’t shown in many of his previous attempts.

Directed by Shawn Levy (Night At The Museum, Date Night), he’s starting to flex his box office muscles, and this should be no different. Levy shows that he can portray what his characters are thinking better than most. He hangs on facial expressions and slows dialogue in an uncommon way. This enhances the viewing experience.

There are some drawbacks to having great performances by your leads. The supporting cast doesn’t quite live up to what Jackman and Goyo are doing on screen. They seem fake and unimportant, which is the opposite of the co-stars.

Jackman plays Charlie Kenton. He’s a former professional boxer who has fallen on hard times and can only make a living by fighting his robots underground against other machines. You can picture this as an underground cock-fighting ring, but take

away the roosters and drug use and add one-ton robots and whatever it is they take in 2020.

Dakota plays Kenton’s son, who he left at birth. Through a series of circumstances, which become a source of conflict and tension throughout the film, they are stuck together for a summer. During this time you can see their relationship grow and build. It’s more than just a boxing movie, but a reflection of tough times and fatherhood.

If you don’t go into this film with high expectations, you won’t be disappointed. As soon as you start to criticize every action that is done on the screen you will lose interest. If you can take this film for what it is worth and respect the fact that this team of producers has made something unique, you will walk away satisfied.

Luckily Mayday Parade seemingly refuses to cross into the mainstream pop world.

It is ironic that the most upbeat song musically, “A Shot Across the Bow” has Sanders singing a chorus of “I hope you fall into the ocean, and the current leaves you hopeless swimming around, as the waves crash over you until you float away,” but the irony works.

Mayday ends the album as strong

as it started, showcasing Sanders’ vocal range and ability to draw in a listener. His vocals are backed by catchy instrumentals and end the lyrics end the album with a sense of hope.

Some may suggest the band draw inspiration and find other things to write about opposed to 12 tracks on just love and love lost, but why tamper with an equation that works?

Photo | touchstone Pictures

7THE RECORDER / Wednesday, October 12, 2011 / UPGR ADE

Photo | nBc

What To Watch On NBC Thursdays Gunarso nGuyen

the recorder

Kicking off a start to the season with a brazen mockery of Fox’s Glee, Community opened its third year on air with a bizarrely high production musical number that set the tone for the rest of the season.

Chevy Chase returns to his role as the incorrigibly racist Pierce Hawthorne, ostensibly reformed after he took the character to new heights of villainy last season, a return that was in question at the finale of second season. Thick with in-jokes, the first two seasons of Community were a paean to nerds and movie buffs, rife with brazen references to a wide variety of media that is far too extensive to list. The third season is no less full of in-jokes, almost unapologetically so, as the season opener makes two homages, that border on theft were it not for the obvious humor, to Stanley Kubrick in the form of a Space:2001 scene and another, subtler scene where Jeff Winger (played with sleep-deprived insanity by Joe McHale) attacks the community table with a fireaxe, a scene strongly reminiscent of the Kubrick’s The Shining. For the proper nerd, the premiere also opens up Abed’s new favorite show, Inspector Spacetime, a blatant parody of the classic science-fiction show Doctor Who, which he instantly declares as the greatest show he’s ever seen, much to the delight of sci-fi fans. The alacrity with which

“Inspector Spacetime” has reached internet meme status is a testament to Dan Harmon’s (lead writer and creator of Community) ability to keep his finger on the pulse of popular geekery.

The season premiere has the old crew, reunited, facing off against their latest

obstacle in the form Michael K. Williams as the ex-convict biology professor. Once again, Community riffs on pop culture by giving Williams’ character a background as an ex-con as homage to his stint as Omar Little on The Wire. Later episodes this season take jabs (occasionally more like roundhouses)

at Fringe, Whitney, and others, to be certain. Despite all the in-jokes, for the uninitiated, Community manages to be funny and engaging with complex characters who defy one-dimensional analysis, except when it’s funny to do otherwise. Community is on every Thursday at 8:00pm, EST, on NBC.

Community

Gunarso nGuyenthe recorder

The strangely heartwarming shenanigans of Parks and Recreation’s Amy Poehler returned last month with a satire lifted from almost directly from Obama’s birther-conspiracy fiasco. P&R steals directly from modern events the way Law and Order used to, only from political fiascoes instead of criminal ones, filing off the serial numbers for copyright purposes and slander shielding. It does so in a way that is simultaneously both mind-numbingly mundane and starkly surreal, striking some sort of bizarre balancing act, like a drunk bear juggling on a unicycle on a tightrope. P&R could easily fail, and fail hard, but stays afloat on the genius of the awkwardness of the main characters. The brilliance of P&R lies in its ability to satirize government bureaucracy in a microcosm of small town escapades without resorting to caricatures or directly impugning either major political party, and at the same time be

remarkably on point.The fourth season premiere kicks off with

the start of Leslie Knope’s announcement of a political campaign for a seat on the town council, followed by a series of awkward face-palming mishaps that threaten to endanger his career before it even gets started. Amy Poehler, even when pushed to the background a bit as she was in the second episode of the season, Ron and Tammy’s, brings a delightfully bizarre absurdity to the table, manifested in small and subtle acting that hints at a deeper pathos.

It is the third episode of the season, however, that directly mocks the Obama-birther conspiracy fiasco, as it comes to light that Leslie Knope may not have been born in Pawnee, over a completely inconsequential detail that is blown entirely out of proportion. If that doesn’t sound familiar to you, I suggest you pull your head out of your donkey and read a newspaper once before you die, and Parks and Recreation may not be for you. Parks and Recreation is on every Thursday night at 8:30, following Community.

Parks And Recreation


The most popular of the big shows on NBC Thursdays is starting to get lost. It’s lost in its own world of mediocrity. The shows previous strengths have now become weaknesses. The actors seem to lack devotion to their characters. This ship has sailed.

The Office used to play on inter-office relationships and conflicts better than any show of its kind. As a matter of fact, there wasn’t another show of its kind. It was unique, the characters were well-developed and they took every day occurrences and made them in to pure insanity. It was magic watching this show several years ago.

Then came something that the producers didn’t see coming; Steve Carrell didn’t want to be Michael Scott anymore. The show’s biggest source of conflict was suddenly about to walk (or fly) out of the story. How could they replace him? He’s a major player in this show.

The end of last season was spent deciding who would be the newest boss. It included hilarious appearances by Will Ferrell, Jim Carrey, Ray Romano and Warren Buffett. All of these characters helped to bring the story forward. They chose to employ James Spader, who plays Robert California, to be their new

boss.He’s a fantastic actor. So great, that the

other characters don’t interact with him very well. It’s half intended this way and half by accident. The lovability about this show is now gone. The characters that once had a place as supporting cast are now expected to

do too much. There’s too much Stanley, Kevin and Phyllis.

The supporting cast has now become the main cast and that’s unfortunate. This should have been Dwight and Jim’s show to run, but NBC hasn’t gotten that right to this point. Through only a few episodes in this season

you can tell that this show has come off the tracks. Hopefully they can fix that and get back to the place they once were. Otherwise, we’re going to be watching a slow, public and painful death to a once-great show. The Office airs every Thursday at 0:00pm, EST, on NBC, following Parks and Recreation.

The Office

Photo | nBc

Photo | nBc

The cast of Community. Community is on at 8 p.m. Eastern time.

The cast of Parks and Recreaction, which airs at 8:30 p.m.

James Spader joins the cast of The Office this season.

8 THE RECORDER / Wednesday, October 12, 2011 / UPGR ADE

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A Trip To PinkberryTh is weekly segment features ideas of fun things to do that are $20 or less and under 20 miles fr om CCSU.

20 Under 20:

Need Advice?ask Ellie!

Send your questions about love, sex, money, school - anything - to:

[email protected]

sarah BoGuesthe recorder

I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream. Just take out ice cream and insert frozen yogurt, and you got yourself a nice chant to Pinkberry’s delicious frozen yogurt.

This international frozen yogurt chain is located just less than 6 miles from CCSU, in West Hartford’s Blue Back Square across from the Cheesecake Factory. Having just opened last Thursday October 6, Pinkberry proves to be a hit place with its scrumptious flavors of frozen yogurt, over 30 different toppings, smoothies, fruit bowls and fruit parfaits.

As a new face in town, the fro-yo joint has succeeded in having a welcoming atmosphere and friendly workers. The Pinkberry workers offer samples of the different flavors of frozen yogurt to allow customers decide what will be the best frozen yogurt treat. It’s not the pleasant

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atmosphere and service that Pinkberry has such a good reputation for, but the delectable, tangy fro-yo. That sentiment is echoed by the line of hungry and excited customers outside.

With the original flavor as vanilla, there are also several seasonal flavors along with flavors in the flavor vault, which take “vacations” and come and go as they please. The seasonal flavors consists of original, chocolate, coconut, watermelon, pomegranate and mango while the flavor vault consists of blood orange, coffee, green tea, salted caramel, passion fruit and pumpkin. All of these flavors have suggested pairings of toppings to make them more delicious and realistic as their name suggests.

For instance, the current seasonal flavor is “PB&J” which consists of peanut butter frozen yogurt with strawberry jam and toasted breadcrumbs, almost like the real thing Mom makes. Another delicious flavor that reaches out into the fall season

is “pumpkin”, which has pumpkin fro-yo, honey graham crackers, swirly whip, and cinnamon. This flavor will be introduced in a couple weeks around Halloween time. True, all of these flavors can be enjoyed as is with only frozen yogurt, but the many toppings put the treat over the edge.

The toppings consists of fresh fruit (pineapple, strawberries, and much more), dry toppings (cheesecake bites, brownies bites, cookies & cream, and more), luxe toppings (peanut butter crunch, milk chocolate crunch, and swirly whip), and liquid toppings (caramel, honey, and pomegranate juice.)

Even with other competitions in the area such as Robek’s Juice and Ben & Jerry’s, both in West Hartford Center, and Yogurt Madness located on the Berlin Turnpike, Pinkberry has promise for success. Pinkberry takes the original frozen yogurt to a whole new level with a delectable variety of flavors and toppings that appeases the hungry, fro-yo craving stomach.

In terms of prices, a mini frozen yogurt with toppings starts out at $3.45 with $5.45, $6.75, and $8.25 for a small, medium, and large respectively no matter the flavor or amount of toppings. A small and medium original frozen yogurt with toppings are $4.95 and $6.25, different to the respective prices stated above. Yet a mini frozen yogurt without toppings starts out at $2.95 with $4.15, $5.15, and $7.25 for a small, medium, and large respectively. As stated before a small and medium original frozen yogurt without toppings are $3.65 and $4.65, different to the respective prices stated above.

If looking for prices for smoothies, fruit bowls and fruit parfaits, or just wanting to browse more in depth on flavors, one can visit Pinkberry’s website www.pinkberry.com.

So grab the new delectable fro-yo in town, and have a blast enjoying the scrumptious flavors and toppings the way Pinkberry can only offer.

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9THE RECORDER / Wednesday, October 12, 2011 / SPORTS

danny contrerasthe recorder

Jewel Robinson scored at 74 minutes from 19 yards out to give CCSU its first NEC win of four matches. CCSU went into the match with a league record of 0-1-2 after losing to Fairleigh-Dickinson University 2-0 and tying its two previous games.

The match was mainly fought on the


The CCSU women’s soccer team fell to Robert Morris following one goal in the first half and two additional goals from Ayana Davis. While CCSU was able to score late in the second half courtesy of Jillian Cipriano, they still lost 3-1.

“Obviously we’ve backed ourselves into a corner now, and we’ve just dropped too many points,” said Head Coach Mick D’Arcy. “Mathematically we still can get enough points with the games remaining, but we’ve pretty much gotta go perfect from here on out. Based on the last couple performances, it’s gonna take a little bit of work.”

Coming in from a tie on Friday from the Red Flash the Blue Devils looked to bounce back with a win. However, an own goal at 36 minutes gave Robert Morris the lead.

As CCSU gained momentum in the first part of the first half, the game turned foul when RMU’s Holly Sieradzki came in hard on a CCSU player, which resulted in a yellow card for Sieradzki.

As much as CCSU was pressing on, so was RMU who scored at 36 minutes off a throw in. The ball was thrown by Katie Austin from deep behind the lines, making it into the 6-yard box, and bounced off a CCSU player into the goal to give RMU the lead with nine minutes left on the half.

The rest of the half finished with neutral possession as neither team broke away from the midfield.

The second half began in similar fashion to the way the first one had ended, with many battles on the midfield. On 50 minutes Maguire had one of the best chances of the game when a free-kick was given on the 15- yard line. She curled the ball into the top the corner of the goal but

Women’s Soccer Aids RMU’s Victorycould not get it to dip enough to score; the ball hit the post and subsequently got cleared.

Minutes later, Ayana Davis scored to give RMU a two goal cushion. A cross from RMU from the midfield was caught by Deiter who bounced it as soon as she caught it. The momentum of the bounce put the ball out of her reach and into the path of RMU’s Davis, who simply tapped the ball in, making it CCSU 0-2 RMU.

Things went south for CCSU after that goal and impatience grew too strong for them. On 55 minutes Kureczka received a yellow card for holding on to the leg of a RMU midfielder following a collision. A minute later, after some miscommunication between a CCSU defender and Deiter, Davis intercepted the ball from the two and tapped in another goal to earn herself a brace and a three goal lead for RMU on 56 minutes.

At the one hour mark the Blue Devils had the chance to cut down the lead to two, after a free-kick was given from the 15- yard line. Maguire, however, saw her effort go high of the bar, not threatening Olin whatsoever. Moments later, Deiter saw herself substituted for Corey Medrano, a freshman goalkeeper from Danbury.

“We’ve got no one else to blame for ourselves. We had many chances and we just didn’t take them. We gave two very soft goals in the second half,” explained D’Arcy.

The Blue Devils got a consolation goal courtesy of Jillian Cipriano, who masterfully crafted the ball from a difficult angle following a corner kick from Rachel Cerrone. Having cut down the lead in half, CCSU used the momentum to create some of their best chances in the game.

“Today’s performance wasn’t great, we made a couple of big mistakes, we dug a hole, but based upon the chances, I believe we had the best chances in the game, we

just didn’t take them,” said D’Arcy. “It’s a hard one to swallow, after Friday’s game against St. Francis, I thought we had the best chances there, too. We had a couple of chances in overtime but overall we should’ve finished it off in regulation time.”

The half ended shortly thereafter changing CCSU’s NEC record to 0-2-

3, and 3-4-5 overall. They have won 3 points out of a possible 15 in the league. For CCSU to make the playoffs this year, the team would need to win the next five games to mathematically be able to fight for the top prize of the NEC Women’s Soccer League.

The next game is against Wagner at home on Friday Oct. 14 at 3 p.m.

Blue Devils Sent Into Double Overtimemidfield, with neither team breaking into each other’s half. In 5 minutes CCSU’s Julie Lavoie took a shot on goal after running down the left flank from the 50 yard line. The shot sailed wide of the post. The resulting goal-kick landed at Lavoie’s feet for another 50 yard run down the center this time, where she took a shot from the 19-yard into the hands of the Saint Francis goalkeeper, Brianna Butcher. Afterwards, it

was the striker, Beatriz Maros de Carvalho, who at 15 minutes took a shot on goal against Deiter, after being released on the right by Stephanie Boulter. The ball went right into Deiter’s arm as it was no trouble for the Australian. In the 17th minute, Brittany Jackson picked up the ball in the midfield and passed it to Erin Egan down the right, who took a shot on goal but could not get it to dip at the last moment to put

CCSU ahead. At 42 minutes, CCSU holding midfielder Danica Foglio took a shot from about 38 yards out but it didn’t trouble Red Flash goalkeeper. The half ended shortly thereafter.

When the second half started, CCSU resurged with a couple of blitz attacks down the center, but couldn’t break the stubborn Red Flash defense, causing them to commit many fouls in the process. One of these fouls resulted in a freekick just outside the 15-yard to be taken by Rosie Maguire. The kick curled enough to go behind the goal but was kept out at the last second by Butcher. The Red Flash’s best chance came at 54 minutes when a run down the left uncovered the CCSU defense for the first time in the game; the shot came from Tesa McKibben who beat Deiter, but the ball hit the post and rolled out. At 58 minutes Carvalho tried to beat Deiter again but could not place it far enough away.

The best chances for the Blue Devils came at 65-minutes when Maguire and Lavoie both got six chances to put CCSU forward just inside the 6-yard box but couldn’t finish any of them. The Red Flash kept their keeper safe with brilliant defending. However, the CCSU shot tally went up by six as Lavoie and Maguire shared three shots on goal.

CCSU got the lead at 74-minutes, however, when Jewel Robinson took a free ball on the midfield and ran down the center, past two midfielders, and took her shot from the 20 yard line, beating Butcher who was at the opposite end of the goal, and giving CCSU the lead.

It wasn’t over yet and with just a little bit over ten minutes left, at 82-minutes, Tesa McKibben finished a through pass from Eloa Nascimento to tie the game at 1-1 and keep the Red Flash’s undefeated streak intact.

The game went into over time but neither team could break each other and finished in a tie.

The Blue Devils dropped three points again and change their record to 0-1-3 in NEC play and overall 3-3-5 with six games left in the season. The Blue Devils have gained three points of a possible 12 in the

CCSU’s Danica Foglio anticipates a sliding tackle during action against St. Francis (Pa.) on Friday night.

Cara Cavallari makes a pass during the game versus Robert Morris on Sunday.

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THE RECORDER / Wednesday, October 12, 2011 / SPORTS 10


You haven’t really lived until you’ve jumped out of an airplane hovering 13,500 feet above the ground, free falling through the air at 120 miles an hour for about 55 seconds.

I thought I had done my share of living, but as I grasped onto my harness and rested my weight on my tandem instructor att ached to me, I realized I haven’t even come close. Th e thought of willingly falling from an airplane may make some people queasy, but the instant the wind starts to whoosh around you and you feel the parachute tug you upwards you become at peace.

At one point my instructor said to me, “And to think the only thing holding us up is 12 pounds of nylon,” but I didn’t care. Yes, the initial exhilaration of jumping is addicting, in fact I plan to now go again and eventually get my solo license, but the serenity of just fl oating through the air is something that should be experienced, not just writt en about.

My skydiving excursion was a birthday present from my dad when I turned 21 and he got it for me because skydiving happens to be number two on my bucket list. Yes I am 21 and yes I have a bucket list. Some people think it’s strange that I have a list of things that I want to accomplish before I die because I am so young, but if I’ve learned anything this past year it is that you can’t wait to start living.

I don’t look at my bucket list as something morbid, I look at it as something to remind me of what I want to do; things I want to experience. Th e list, which I keep with me at all times, acts almost like a push to not be timid and to go aft er what I want.

If skydiving wasn’t on that list I probably never would have found myself suiting up on a Sunday morning preparing to jump … I would have been too scared. Now because of it, I’m addicted.

Th is past summer multiple hockey players were taken from the world before it was there time. Derek Boogard, team Lokomotiv, Rick Rypien among others still in their prime are now gone before they had a chance to really show the world what they can do.

Most recently, while I’m breaking form because he’s not in the sports world, Steve Jobs passed away as did Al Davis, even though he lived a long life. Th ese men aren’t the only ones and with the NFL still wearing pink for breast cancer, the longing to live my life to the fullest is on my mind now more than ever.

I began my bucket list aft er my dad’s best friend died of cancer at the age 40. He put up a fi ght against pancreatic cancer and had a list of things he wanted to do, but physically couldn’t. When he died I made my list and I’ve only expanded from there.

Th e point I am trying to make is that no one, especially students our age, should take life for granted. It’s a message that we always hear; carpe diem and live our lives, but as papers, homework and the concern for paying for school weigh down on everyday life it may be hard to remember all the time.

In the words of Helen Keller, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all,” and never be afraid to take the fi rst step out of the airplane.

Check One Off Th e Bucket List

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SPORTS BEGINS ON BACK PAGE

nicK rosathe recorder

The Blue Devil’s finished fourteenth out of 43 teams this past weekend at the 2011 New England Championships in Boston, MA., with a score of 383. Senior Sam Alexander was the first Blue Devil to finish earning third overall and All-New England honors.

Alexander finished with a time of 24:39, while only missing the first place finisher, American International College’s Glarious Rop, by 27 seconds. Rop ran a time of 24:12 and also won the Ted Owen Invitational at Central two weeks prior to New England’s.

Junior Craig Hunt finished 13 overall with a time of 25:11. Others to score for CCSU were seniors Anthony Gonsalves and Jeremy Schmid as well as junior John Krell.

Gonsalves finished 89 in a time of 26:26; Krell placed 11 with a time of 26:46, and Schmid followed, placing 160 with a time of 27:16.

Alexander finished 51 seconds faster


Th e fourth seeded soccer team in the women’s NEC soccer league is the Blue Devils. Central’s own team ranked fourth aft er losing in the fi rst round of the playoff s last season. Yet this NEC season has been under expectations. Why? It’s not as if the team has no chemistry, or teammate discord. Th ey’re performing really well in the matches they’ve played. So why haven’t they won an NEC match yet?

It may be a fear of winning. Out of the two soccer teams, the women’s team had the most changes. Th e majority of its squad is new. Many players, while gift ed, hesitate when playing. Of course, one cannot fully att ribute this to fear because a lot of this fear comes from inexperience in league matches.

Th e veterans that have come back from last year season’s understand the pressure that a seeded team has. Th e pressure the school’s

than his previous time two weeks earlier at the Ted Owen Invite, while Gonsalves improved his final time running 52 seconds faster.

Other finishers included sophomore Andrew Hill and freshman Andrew Pullaro. Hill finished 172 in a time of 27:25 and Pullaro finished 186 with a time of 27:36.

University of Connecticut finished first overall with a low score of 149 points, a full 43 points ahead of second place finishers Dartmouth, who ended the meet with 192 points.

The Blue Devils ran well for its New England meet being the first team from the Northeast Conference to cross the finish line. It looks like the amount of “volume” Alexander was talking about two weeks ago is working for the Blue Devils as they head further into championship season.

The men will be back in action again Oct. 21 at 3:30 p.m., at the CCSU Mini Meet at Stanley Quarter Park. This meet will help get the Blue Devils ready for the NEC Championships the following week at Monmouth University on Oct. 29.

Cross Country Finishes Fourteenth in Boston

CCSU Women’s Soccer: Where Do We Go From Here?fans put on them, and the pressure they put on themselves. Th e newcomers don’t understand this. Th ey are used to diff erent styles of play; those who came directly from high school are used to diff erent standards. Women’s soccer teams in the NEC are expected to play to perfection, and this takes the fun away from the game.

While you can understand that winning is important, taking into consideration that this sport is fun should be what drives them forward, not the number next to the name, nor the performances their previous counter-parts put in. Th ese are two diff erent seasons. Th e pressures from previous players should not be passed on to new ones, and they should carry the mind-set from the pre-NEC games into the league games in order to have a chance of winning anything.

As things are at the moment CCSU has gained 3 points of a possible 15 from fi ve matches. Here we have players that have two diff erent mindsets: some look comfortable

and others do not and try to fi t in. But here’s something the newcomers need to realize. You have one of the most experimental coaches on campus. His ability to tactically adapt as games go on is admirable. Coach D’Arcy has amazing vision, and reads the game with precision. But that doesn’t mean that should keep the players from developing their own style. It should complement their own style.

Many players have fi gured out what is needed to get constant playing minutes. But newcomers take a litt le longer to do so. Th is leads to hesitation and lack of drive. Th e women’s team wants to win games, but the lack of that “I WANT THE BALL TO GO IN EVERY MINUTE!” passion is keeping the team from winning matches. Th ey can defend, create and fi nish off everything they can. Th ey demonstrated it during the pre-NEC matches which we won a handful of. Transferring that drive, with Coach D’Arcy’s experimental styles should give them more than enough fi repower to win the next fi ve games.

Occhialini’s presence grew stronger and his in-game heroics kept CCSU in the match. Every now and then the Red Flash would fi nd some pockets in the fi eld behind the defense and creating chances. At 54 minutes Tiller combined with Makala Hairston in the 6-yard box to take three continuous shots on goal, all of which were saved by

mEN’S SoccER | coNT. FRom 12 Occhialini.He was tested again by Tiller and

Kolorac, but they couldn’t put it behind the reach of Occhialini who saved both of them with a catch.

“Th e thing about this team is that they’re the best bunch of players I’ve ever had in terms of personality,” said Green. “Th ey’re just great to be around. You know, they’re humble, no super-stars, no egos. Th ey’ve

got great personality and you can tell in the fi eld, there’s no bitching around, everyone is doing their hard work.”

Tiller got a fi nal chance to put St. Francis back into the game, but wasted the eff ort with a high bar that didn’t threaten CCSU.

Th e Blue Devils return home aft er a short road stint, on Oct. 20 at Willowbrook Park against Long Island at 7 p.m.

CCSU’s Manny Nobre fi ghts for posession during action against St. Francis (Pa.) Kenny Barto i the recorder



As the puck sailed past the University of New Haven goaltender the crowd in the Newington ice rink began to cheer and the entire Central Connecticut State University club hockey team rushed to the ice to celebrate.

Clumped in one group the team cheered and congratulated each other. It was a celebration you would normally see after winning a championship, not the first game of the season, but for the Blue Devils the 3-2 overtime win might as well have been for top spot in the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s national tournament.

“[Overtime] definitely added some adversity to opening night,” said Head Coach Ben Adams. “Guys really had to have a little gut check right off the bat so hopefully that brings them a little closer. I can’t imagine too many other teams opening in this fashion so hopefully it plays to our advantage. The way they jumped onto the ice and celebrated like they just won the cup was good to see that means they’re all focused on the same goal.”

CCSU opened its season at home against the UNH chargers, and were expecting to win, but the game remained closer than anticipated.

With under a minute to play in regulation UNH pulled its goalie to have the extra man on the ice and with 37 seconds left on the clock the play worked. The Chargers managed to net one past CCSU’s Ross Mocko to tie the game at two and eventually force an overtime situation.

At the end of the third, five extra minutes were added and the athletes took their positions on the ice. Much like CCSU had managed to do in most of the game, they dominated UNH offensively, which led to Sean Stoneman’s goal 1:03 into overtime. The quick goal secured the early win for the Blue Devils and gave them the momentum they needed to head into the first half season.

“We knew coming in that we

FooTBALL | coNT. FRom 12by five early in the second quarter.

UMass was able to continually build on its lead through the first half with another field goal and touchdown, to lead the Blue Devils 22-7, but Chris Tolbert jumped into the endzone to cut the deficit to 22-13 with under a minute in the half.

Even with Jespersen’s and Raul DeBeneditis’ third quarter touchdowns to put CCSU within two, the Blue Devils could not pass the Minutemen. A 90-yard kick-off return for seven put UMass ahead even further, eventually ending in the interception return.

“We’re a work in progress,” said McInerney. “I’m very proud and it did look like football. It was much better, but you don’t get moral victories, so we’ve got to carry this on to Duquesne. We’re going to Pittsburgh, we’re getting on a bus next Thursday night to go out there and play a conference game and they’ve got to want it as bad as we just did [today].”

The Blue Devils are on the road next week and will return back to action on Oct. 22 to take on Albany at 12 p.m. in a Northeast Conference matchup.

CCSU Hockey Holds Off Chargers

had a strong chance of winning today, but once the overtime came and I had the Stanley brothers [Ryan and Conor] out there and my partner, Mike Pereira, we just had good chemistry … we knew what we needed to do and the puck bounced our way and good things happen and I shot it to the net,” said Stoneman. “[UNH’s second goal] really gave us a gut check to think that hey, they could come back, so let’s just bury them quick, and we got the job done.”

Despite being forced into overtime by the Chargers, it was the Blue Devils who struck first and remained ahead for the majority of the game.

Matt Siracusa netted the first goal early for the Blue Devils, just 3:16 into the first period. Like typical CCSU fashion, the team managed to score quickly after Siracusa’s for the 2-0 lead with under 16:30 left in the period.

The second goal came 35 seconds after the initial point and was made by Nick Centore from Jon Knobloch.

“We did a great job moving pucks and finding open guys and creating offense for us,” said Adams. “We also did a great job head manning the puck and getting the puck into the various zones, the neutral zone and the offensive zone. I would like to see us toughen up on defense a little bit. Not so much about filling lane and playing our position, which I thought we did well but just winning the one on one battles and eliminating the extra opportunities.”

While the team managed to score multiple times in the first they were shut out for the rest of regulation, although they were getting chances, it’s just a matter of burying the puck. The team is rolling four deep lines due to

the amount of talent they have at forward, which will essentially wear out their opponent, who may not have four strong lines to turn to.

Depth is something CCSU relied on in past seasons, but was missing last year. This year’s team has been able to build up the offense with speed, which is something else that will be used to outwork other teams.

“There seems to be a lack of size this year, but they definitely have a lot of speed on offense,” observed hockey alum Ryan Beaulieu as he sat rink side. “There’s a couple new players that are creating a new spark on the offensive line and I think they have a lot of potential if they control the puck and play the game they have and use their speed to their advantage.”

The speed is a good compensation for lack of size and strong defensive core. Another

thing that should help CCSU is its goaltending talent. With three strong goaltenders in Mocko, Greg Coco and John Palmieri, coincidentally a deep goaltending core is also something the team had the year they took second in the ACHA Nationals.

CCSU didn’t have much lag time between the win against UNH and its road game against William Paterson in New Jersey the next night. The team might have managed a win against the Chargers, but they could not top the William Paterson powerhouse.

The Blue Devils lost 10-3 on the road with goals coming from Conor Stanley, Adam Goldstein and Andrew Mazurkiewicz.

The team finds themselves back in Newington on Friday Oct. 14 at 10 p.m. to play New Hampshire and then again on Saturday at 8:40 p.m. to play New York University.

Matt Siracusa gets denied on one of the Blue Devils’ many breakaways on Friday night.

Lorenzo Baker and D.J. Radich tackle UMass running back Jonathan Hernandez for a loss.Kenny Barto i the recorder


Quarterback Gunnar Jespersen threw for 152 yards and one touchdown, as well as rushing for 93 yards and two touchdowns.


FooTBALL | coNT. oN 11


When Gunnar Jespersen rushed into the end zone for a one-yard touchdown with 5:03 to play in the third quarter to put the Blue Devils behind just one score, it seemed as if the CCSU comeback team from previous seasons was making an appearance against the University of Massachusetts. Despite the close quarter, CCSU let the Minutemen get out ahead and eventually win, 42-26.

The loss at UMass was the third in a row for CCSU, who was predicted to win it all at the beginning of the season. The Blue Devils have gotten into a funk after the back-to-back home conference losses, which continued in Massachusetts Saturday night.

Despite the loss the Blue Devils did start to look like a team again on both sides of the ball. Defensively CCSU held UMass to an initial field goal on its first drive of the game and got to the quarterback four times for a 27-yard net loss.

“We looked like a football team tonight. I was very, very proud of what we did and offensively and defensively,” said Head Coach Jeff McInerney. “We competed extremely, extremely hard. The two points on the safety, the missed extra point, the return for a kickoff, that’s what happens when you play, but you’ve got to give UMass credit.”

Chris Linares led the defense with 10 tackles while Charles Williams, Dominic Giampietro, Patrick Atkinson, Gene Johnson



The CCSU men’s soccer team defeated the St. Francis (PA) Red Flash 2-0, following an amazing display of both possession and defensive soccer.

The goals were scored in the first half courtesy of Steven Bailey’s curler and Aaron Durr’s header. This game also marked the second straight clean shutout for Anthony Occhialini and his third overall.

“I think we’re playing great defense right now, you can’t expect much from the other team when we’re getting shootouts,” said Head Coach Shaun Green. “We allowed one at Monmouth last week, and championships are won on defense. Aaron Durr stepped it up; Bailey stepped it up, too. We saw the first goal, from right-back position. For me the one that stood out was Occhialini, he’s been like that all season. But you know, you can see the benefits of Coach Christian Benjamin, who’s challenged him and gotten him to where he is right now.”

CCSU came into the game following a thrashing of Robert Morris Friday night. With the momentum still going, CCSU played some amazing possession football from the get-go.

At two minutes Thomas Obasi received a corner from the right and dribbled it past two Red Flash defenders to take a shot from a tight angle; the effort went into the hands of the SFPA, Darius Motazed.

A remarkable display of passing between defenders, Mamoudou Obiate and Durr saw them get rid of half the Red Flash team until they moved down the 50- yard line into a space in the right side.

Reece Wilson then took the ball down the middle of the field,


Third Time’s Not A Charm

and Andrew Clements all had hands in getting to Brandon Hill.

The run defense, which is something that has given CCSU issues in the past, managed to

contain UMass’ major runningback, Jonathan Hernandez. Hernandez led the team going into Saturday’s game with 519-rushing yards, while also being ranked eighth in the

nation for rushing yards per game, averaging 130-yards per game.

“He’s a great player,” said McInerney. “I thought our run defense was great, but here’s what

you can’t do, you can’t play nine great ones and get the 70-yard in the first. Unfortunately there are no moral victories. You’ve got to give UMass credit … we competed and our run defense, we did some good stuff, but again it wasn’t good enough.”

The Blue Devils had his number and held Hernandez to 75-yards for 20 attempts, while still allowing him to score twice.

The major trouble for CCSU came with ball security, like it has in previous games. The team kept the fumbles at zero, but two major interceptions helped give the Minutemen the edge they needed to get the victory.

UMass intercepted Jespersen twice for 128-yards, but the major interception came with under two minutes left in the game as CCSU was going in for another touchdown. Darren Thellen ran his interception back 85-yards for the final touchdown with 1:33 of the game left, with no hope of a CCSU comeback.

“We were alive in the locker room and moving around on the sideline,” said Jespersen. “It looked good, it felt good and we came out and we played in the second half, unfortunately I turned the ball over, we turned the ball over too many times, a lot of that starts with me, something I’ve got to clean up and we’ll go from there.”

The Blue Devils took the early 7-3 lead with a 69-yard, drive resulting in a Jespersen touchdown, but the first UMass touchdown and a safety put the Minutemen ahead

Men’s Soccer Blanks Red Flash

following a cross from Thomas Obasi, shooting a driver from the center which went safely into the hands of the SFPA keeper.

“I like how Jesse Menzies is playing. He is very creative on the ball. But also, Thomas Obasi; he didn’t play at his best today but he is very creative on the field,” said Green.

Steven Bailey terrorized the keeper with an amazing right footed effort; the curling of the

ball gave it enough momentum for it to come out of the keeper’s hand and into the goal giving CCSU a 1-0 lead over the Red Flash.

The game was relatively quiet for the next 15 minutes until a seemingly out-of-nowhere goal was scored by Durr. Coming off a free-kick from Menzies, Durr headed the ball from the left side of the goal into the bottom right corner, giving the Blue Devils a 2-0 lead over SFPA.

The rest of the half was controlled by the Blue Devils. At the 42 minute mark, captain Ogmen Stamenkovik came out injured after a harsh tackle from a Red Flash defender left him on the ground writhing in pain.

Minutes later, on 44 minutes, it was Red Flash’s Wayne Tiller who came out with a yellow card after a tackle on a CCSU defender. The first half finished with CCSU leading 2-0.

With a secure two goal cushion, the Blue Devils went into defensive mode and switched to an unconventional, defense minded formation, 4-1-4-1. The formation allowed the CCSU back for some breathing time. The crowded midfield meant that the Red Flash could not create chances but also meant lack of firepower upfront.

As the game wore on,

mEN’S SoccER | coNT. oN 10

CCSU Head Coach Shaun Green celebrates with his players after the Blue Devils first goal on Sunday.

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Volume 108 Issue 07