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What the Snow!?
By Siobhan Cassidy
The current accumulation of snow
this winter in Stony Brook is 54 inches.
With parking problems, safety hazards
and less money to cover snow removal,
students and faculty said the colossal
amount of snow has made life at Stony
Brook difficult, to say the least.
On January 31, 10,000 students
were scheduled to move back to campus
to begin the spring semester. With no
Welcome Wagon or resident assistants to
help students move back into their
dorm rooms, students and families
hauled their luggage over snow banks.
“They did a really horrible job,” said
Caryne Litcher, AMS and biology
major. Although major pathways within
the quads were clear of snow and ice,
many students were unaware of that,
and instead hauled their supplies via the
Siobhan Cassidy/The Stony Brook Press
most direct route anyway.
Campus Residences Operations sight. icy galore that crystallized the cam- on campus is not neglect or the budget.
and Campus Operations and Mainte- Business and residence owners with pus—sheets of ice covered quad path- It is simply Mother Nature.
nance are responsible for clearing the fire hydrants located on their property ways and thin black ice covered the It snows; pathways are cleared. The
snow, with the help of an outside con- are advised to clear it of snow within 48 Tabler Steps and academic mall. Snow sun shines the next day; the snow melts.
tract with Terranova Landscaping. hours. The campus priority of clearing and ice tumbled down the roofs of At night, the temperature drops and
Campus Residences is responsible for snow is as follows: main road and path- dorm buildings and the SAC. The stu- puddles freeze. The next day students
clearing the quads and parking lots, ways, building exits, pathways in quads dents were told to walk around areas are sliding their way to class. “It is a lit-
while Campus Operations is responsi- and parking lots, fire hydrants, blue that were blocked off or look up before tle bit of a battle,” Sparano said. “We
ble for the roadways and the academic lights, curb cuts and bus stops. they had stepped outside a doorway to have to salt and shovel and keep going
mall. “It makes things complicated,” avoid falling ice. back.”
Normally, major roadways and Degen said. “When we make a call, and Students have even taken the snow Campus Operations and Campus
pathways are first to be cleared. But there is snow covering the fire hydrants, obstacle into their own hands. When a Residences track snowstorms, predict-
after the January 28 storm, three days we have maps of the locations, but we huge snow mound was piled in front of ing when they will hit. During interses-
before move-in day, the main priorities are only guessing where they are exactly. Tabler Quad, which was blocking the sion, some administration officials,
were clearing the parking lots and We would like them to work on this.” sidewalk, students were walking in the such as Edward Byrne, assistant direc-
major walkways. “Every main route was Sparano said he believed the fire street. One student dug a ten-foot-long tor for campus residences, stayed
plowed,” John Sparano, the director of hydrants and blue light systems were tunnel through the mound, which was overnight to prepare for snow removal.
Campus Residences Operations, said. cleared of snow after every storm dur- about 10 to 15 feet high. Harrigan said For the 2010-2011 operating
“No one should have had to lug their ing winter session. Pictures and student he was unaware of the situation near budget, the university has $50,000 in an
luggage over snow or be walking in the accounts are proof the snow was not Tabler Quad. In Mendelsohn Quad, stu- interchange account to spend on snow
street.” cleared from fire hydrants and blue light dents erected a snow castle with nearby removal. An interchange account is a
Rewind four weeks to intersession systems during intersession. Terence trees whose branches broke apart under sum of money that can be accessed if
when hundreds of students were taking Harrigan, executive director of Campus the weight of the snow. the University needs extra funding for
classes and living on campus: during Operations and Maintenance, had no “It is absolutely unacceptable,” said snow removal. “It’s hard to say how
that time, New York was hit with six explanation for the snow not being Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, an H Quad resi- much we are going to spend on snow
snowstorms. Campus Residences Op- cleared on January 31. Oddly enough, dent who fell on the ice and hit her removal,” Harrigan said.
erations and Campus Operations and the day after Campus Operations and head. Although Fitzpatrick did not re- Since the 54 inches blanketed the
Maintenance both failed to clear fire hy- Maintenance were called for comment port the incident or seek medical atten- campus, a 40 percent increase from the
drants and blue light systems of snow on this issue, the fire hydrants and blue tion, she ended up with bruises and 33 inches Stony Brook experienced last
on the active campus. lights were cleared of snow. scrapes on her face. According to Uni- year, administration officials are still
“The university should set an ex- Chief William Lenihan of Univer- versity Police Department, there have adding up numbers for the amount of
ample in this fire district to more com- sity Police Department said, “Incidents been six reported incidents related to money spent.
mercial needs,” said Paul Degen, when students use the blue light system the snow or ice since January 2. “It’s Harrigan recommended that stu-
Brookhaven task force and fire com- when it is an actual emergency are vir- worth having students pay a little extra dents stay in populated areas. If stu-
missioner. Degen said the Stony Brook tually non-existent.” Students are more in tuition for plowing,” said Fitzpatrick. dents see areas that have not been
Fire Department has had issues with the likely to use cell phones during an ac- “They should be out plowing right away cleared or are icy, they should report it
university not clearing fire hydrants in tual emergency, he explained. when it snows.” to UPD, RSP or Campus Operations at
the past, but would not give further in- Fast forward to February, there was But the problem with the plowing 631-632-6400.
The Stony Brook Press News 3
Managing Editor
Almost There...
Nick Statt
The Student Activities Board’s ac- off publishing the prospective artists for So far, there hasn’t been too much of a
Associate Editor complishment in bringing Aziz Ansari contractual reasons. complaint about which artists SAB
Evan Goldaper and Immortal Technique to Stony Brook “I guess one thing is you can use the brought—they all seem to be high pro-
in the same week highlights what can word artists plurally,” said David Mazza, file, which advertises itself, diverse, both
Business Manager now be called a successful transition USG Vice President of Communications. in genre and style, and generally favored.
Kenny Mahoney from the old SAB to the current one. “That’s an improvement.” But current members of SAB and
As the one-year-anniversary of the The attendance records of last year’s USG are setting a precedent of exclusivity
Production Manager
Carol Moran drastic reformation of SAB approaches, end-of-the-year concert have already in the decision making process that
it’s clear that what the current members been surpassed in much smaller and less brings artists to campus.
News Editors of the Undergraduate Student Govern- funded events, such as the Aziz show that “I think that it’s open in the sense
Amanda Douville ment and SAB are doing is benefiting the attracted more than 1,000 students and that all of our meetings are open,” said
Bobby Holt campus as a whole. the Immortal Technique concert, which Mazza. “It operates in a very similar way
From last semester’s events that in- attracted 800 people, 700 of whom were to the senate. Does anyone really ever
Features Editor cluded comedian Christian Finnegan and students. show up? No not really, unless there’s a
Desiree Keegan indie band Best Coast, to last week’s per- “It’s the small events that bring simi- particular issue.”
formances by Aziz And that mental-
Arts Editor Ansari and Immortal ity, which appears to
Inquire Within
Technique, Stony be in the back of
Photo Editors Brook has thus far everyone’s minds at
Carolina Hidalgo hosted artists in USG and SAB as they
events that could go forth in planning
Copy Editors very easily rival this semester, is ex-
Zach Knowlton those held at other tremely dissatisfying
Alyssa Melillo universities, except and disconcerting.
for SUNY Purchase The idea that $404,000
Social Media Editor (those kids are mad of the student activity
Kenny Mahoney cultured). fee being handled by
Ombudsman But the semester just a few students
Tia Mansouri is far from over and should concern all of
so are the events. us who are looking for
Christopher accountability and for
Staff Hitchens, a promi- great artists to bring
nent and well-re- on campus.
Vincent Barone
Raina Bedford spected author and At some point,
Michelle Bylicky journalist will be this issue needs to be
Lionel Chan
Natalie Crnosija coming to campus addressed, albeit in
Mike Cusanelli
Eric DiGiovanni on March 8. Former the form of a town-
Brett Donnelly presidential candi- hall meeting or some
Lauren Dubinsky
Lauren Dubois date and life-long consumer advocate larity between the people who attend, but student-input structure included in SAB.
Andrew Fraley
David Ginn Ralph Nader will also be coming in mid- that’s not what the student government Having a concert team of roughly 15 stu-
Mark Greek
Colleen Harrington March as part of SAB’s speaker series. ought to be doing,” says Moiz Khan, Stu- dents and additional volunteers is not
Samuel Katz And before the close of the semester, dent Programming Agency Director. enough to accurately represent the entire
Iris Lin
Erica Mengouchian SAB plans to bring a television-comedian “They should be working towards creat- student body.
Carol Moran
Frank Myles and stand-up legend valued at $40,000 to ing events that bring everyone together. If nothing is done, the very recent
Alex H. Nagler campus. This would take place just a In some way you have to do events that success of the large-upscale and well-at-
Howie Newsberkman
Jessica Rybak month before an end-of-the-year concert force people in the same room together tended events that strive to build a larger
Emily Torkel
Matt Willemain that is slated to host artists who per- that are different,” said Khan. This, he and more vibrant campus community
formed in the 2011 Grammy Award thinks, builds community. would be all for naught. You can’t have a
Show. The price of this concert is valued What doesn’t build community how- community of more than 15,000 with less
About Us at more than $100,000 and the show will ever, is a small, selective group of stu- than 1 percent making all the decisions.
be part of a national tour. dents, near 15 or so out of more than Sure it looks like it’s working now,
The Stony Brook Press is published fortnightly
during the academic year and twice during sum- Contracts for the two events are still 15,000 students who are to represent and but at some point, to be truly successful,
mer session by The Stony Brook Press, a student
run non-profit organization funded by the Student pending, and The Press was asked to hold choose which artists to bring to campus. that has to change.
Activity Fee. The opinions expressed in letters, ar-
ticles and viewpoints do not necessarily reflect
those of The Stony Brook Press as a whole. Ad-
vertising policy does not necessarily reflect edi-
torial policy. For more information on advertising
and deadlines call (631)632-6451. Staff meetings
are held Wednesdays at 1:00 pm. First copy free.
For additional copies contact the Business Man-
ager.
The Stony Brook Press
Suites 060 & 061
Student Union
SUNY at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY 11794-3200
(631) 632-6451 Voice
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Email: sbpress@gmail.com
Write for e P!
Meetings Every Wednesday at 1PM, Union Building 060
The Stony Brook Press 5
Hate what you see? E-mail your letters to editors@sbpress.com
A comic by
Vincent Barone
6 Vol. XXXII, Issue 8 | Tuesday, February 15, 2011
news
Women’s Mag Ain’t No Online Rag
In addition to its regular con-
By Alyssa Melillo tent, HCSB also features two cate-
gories called “Campus Cuties” and
“Campus Celebrities” where read-
On February 1, a new online mag- ers can nominate someone they
azine called Her Campus Stony Brook feel “personifies” Stony Brook, or
(HCSB) joined the populous list of stu- they think is a “great catch,” to be
dent-run publications at Stony Brook. featured on the site. Right now
The magazine, geared towards women, they are being picked by Ryan.
features news, blogs, photos and infor- “I have a pretty big network on
mation on upcoming campus events, all campus, so I know a lot of the stu-
written by Stony Brook students. dent leaders and can interview
Founded by three female Harvard them easily,” said Ryan. “We hope
students and launched in September once the site gets more popular
2009, Her Campus is a national online that readers will start nominating
magazine that includes content on style, their own choices.” She and Feng
beauty, love, life and careers written by predict that these will be the mag-
female college journalists. Women can azine’s most popular features.Ryan
create branches for their own schools added that although the magazine
that feature content related to their in- is targeted towards women, men
stitution. According to the magazine, can find it interesting too.
more than one hundred schools have “This magazine, though mar-
Her Campus branches. She also adds content of her own, she book. “We’ve had so much positive keted to women, isn’t just for
“Her Campus is a magazine for said. The business team includes Events feedback, and [I’ve] even had people women,” she said. “There are also great
smart, empowered and globally con- Coordinator Stephanie McCourt; the pull me aside at school to tell me how features for men to enjoy, like our up-
scious college women,” said sophomore Social Media Directors Lillian Hua and much they love the site,” said Ryan. “I coming events tab. It’s always valuable
Rhoda Feng, HC SB’s creator and Cam- Julieana Magriz; and Publicity Director am contacting clubs and organizations to know what’s going on around cam-
pus Coordinator. “The purpose of the Alicia K. Ryan. Because the magazine is to collaborate, and networking with fra- pus.”
Stony Brook branch, and other college still new, Feng said it is working on ternities and sororities to bring in an Feng and Ryan are both confident
branches, is to supplement the national building up an editorial team this se- even bigger constituency. We really that HC SB will be very successful and
content with school-specific content.” mester and finding staff, feature and want our readers to be involved, and gain many readers throughout the se-
Feng, who heard about Her Cam- contributing writers.The magazine wel- [we] plan to hold contests and other fun mester.
pus from a friend at another school, comes all types of writers. “I strive for interactive programs.” “I think HC SB will be a great suc-
thought that having a branch at Stony diversity,” Feng said. “Even those who Besides establishing a strong fan cess on campus because it’s totally
Brook would “provide an important have no journalism experience can con- base, the magazine hopes to inspire unique,” Ryan said. “It’s like reading
outlet for women on campus to express tribute to HC SB … Essentially, I want readers with its articles and content. Cosmo, but with stories that relate per-
themselves.” to include as many different views as “We really just hope to allow college sonally to our students. How can it get
As Campus Coordinator, Feng possible on the site.” students to progressively become moti- any better than that? It can’t!”
oversees the activities of the business To get ready for the launch and to vated through informative articles, For anyone who is interested in
team, edits the articles, updates the site publicize the magazine, Ryan and the which will ultimately lead to a more contributing to Her Campus Stony
at least once a week, communicates with rest of the business team used flyers, successful lifestyle and dedication to Brook, Feng can be reached at
the writers and solicits contributions. mass emails and a fan page on Face- hard work,” Ryan said. rhodafeng@hercampus.com.
Seatbelts, Everyone!
I sat in the rect me. “This is not a mall run,” he said, though there was some anxiety over entire fleet was revamped to run on this
SAC Atrium, wait- “It’s just a drop-off.” Seizing the oppor- driving this new and expensive equip- blend of vegetable oil (presumably
ing. A group of tunity, I smoothly replied, “I’m writing ment, he was getting used to them and waste from the Wendy’s in Roth) and
people moved an article for a newspaper about the preferred them to the old buses. When traditional diesel gas. From the Power-
about clumsily on new buses; do you mind answering a I wondered aloud whether or not any point file of a Town Hall Meeting that
a small ice rink few questions?” other truth-seeking students, such as took place last March, I deduced that
that sounded and “Fine,” he replied, “Just come up myself, had made inquiries about the these buses actually seat 40 people, and
Ginny Mulé looked suspi- and sit down; I have to take the bus back buses, he replied, “I’ve had two people thus my row-counting abilities are
ciously un-ice-like. to the lot.” comment on them, exactly two.” I won- rather rusty. All in all, it turns out that
But that was not I sat down in the first row of shiny dered who these mystery students were. besides the shiny novelty of the new
why I was there. No, I was there for gray plastic seats. Black seatbelts lay Could they be rival reporters from The buses, which will invariably fade as the
something bigger, better, and more ex- strewn across the rows of four, of which Statesman, or another publication on salt and snow continue to wreak havoc
citing. I was about to embark on a won- I counted nine. “Thirty-six people,” I campus? on automobile paint across the North-
drous journey, one that threatened to calculated in my head, “That seems When confronted with the more east, they really aren’t all that different
shake the very foundations of every- fairly economical.” But I was getting dis- technological aspects of the fleet, he was from the fleet they are replacing, at least
thing I thought and felt about Stony tracted, missing my chance to get the apologetic about not knowing whether from a student’s perspective.
Brook University Transit. I was about to real scoop, the big story on these buses! the buses ran on BioDiesel. He said that But what really struck me about my
go for a ride on one of the new buses. I pulled myself back into reality and as far as he could tell, the gas mileage experience with Roberto, perhaps the
Since my return from winter break, started searching for answers from the seemed to be about the same as the old most important lesson I drew from
these red-and-white behemoths had bus driver.
taken up a troubling residence in the I found out that
back of my mind. I found myself not his name is Roberto,
paying attention as my professors intro- and that he had
duced themselves and their curricula, been working for
my mind instead wandering on to more Stony Brook Transit
pressing questions such as “Are the seats for about 6 months
more comfortable?”, “Do they run on now. “Perfect,” I
biodiesel?”, “How do the bus drivers feel thought, “He’s been
about this?”, and, most importantly, here long enough to
“Can I shrink it down and hide it in a have experience
cheese doodle to explore the human di- both types of buses.”
gestive tract?” I knew I’d never be able He drives the bus
to get my homework done until I got part-time on Friday
some answers, so I joined The Stony nights, Saturdays,
Brook Press as a way of getting unre- and Sundays, as well
stricted access to these magnificent ma- as acting as a case
chines. manager for the
Not wanting to look suspicious, I health clinic on
casually moved out to the bus stop campus full-time.
benches. Pop music was blasting He enjoys driving
through the speakers in the SAC Plaza, the buses and told
and I wondered how people could be me, “The people are
worried about such trivial things as air- great,” and the “Stu-
planes in the night sky when an even dents are very po-
more critical transportation incident lite.” This seemed a
was unfolding right before our eyes here little fishy to me,
at Stony Brook. There were new buses! given that my experience with college fleet. He estimated that there were be- those 5 fateful minutes, was the idea
They could be magical! If I could have students in general had taught me that tween 5 and 6 new buses and was un- that maybe it wasn’t about the buses
had a wish right then, it would be for a somewhere between half and all college sure about whether Stony Brook themselves. Sure they were shinier on
bus to arrive so that I could begin my students were obnoxious, entitled, and planned on replacing all of the buses the outside, and the uncomfortable
path to enlightenment. overall, an extreme displeasure to be with the new model in the near future. plastic seats were cleaner and newer, but
Then, possibly because an airplane around. I asked him if students were When we finally arrived at South P, the experience of riding the new bus
had flown by and granted my wish, I ever rude to him. he offered to bring me back to the SAC was actually sort of anticlimactic. We
heard the chug of a diesel engine and “You gotta be patient sometimes, at 2:15, when the next mall run would didn’t turn it into a submarine to dis-
the familiar hiss of the air brakes releas- take your time to explain certain things be leaving. Seizing the balmy 40-degree cover how undersea volcanoes work or
ing. The sign on the front glowed with to them.” As I digested these words of weather, I politely declined, thanked blast off into outer space to learn about
orange letters- “Mall Route,” and the wisdom, I realized that we were getting him for his time, and instead walked the stars. What made the bus ride mag-
snowy white sides provided a sharp closer to our destination, South P Lot. back to Toscanini, taking the time to ical was not a zany elementary school
contrast to the red block lettering, “Go “How about these new buses,” I contemplate the previous few minutes. teacher and her pet lizard, but Roberto,
Seawolves!” As two students stepped off asked, “How do the bus drivers like Through further research, I discov- one of the many unsung heroes of SBU
of the bus, I timidly peeked in at the them?” ered that the buses do indeed run on Transit, whose chipper attitude and pa-
driver and began my ascent up the He explained that they were a lot BioDiesel, which has been a hallmark of tient nature outshines even the shiny
stairs. The bus driver was quick to cor- nicer to drive than the old buses, and al- Stony Brook buses since 2005, when the new hubcaps on our new bus fleet.
8 Vol. XXXII, Issue 8 | Tuesday, February 15, 2011
features
The last place Stony Brook com-
muter Mathew Christoforou would
think he’d be on a Friday night is back
on campus. He usually at home or at a
party, both far away from the Academic
Mall, he says.
Only this Friday evening, he is
The Cost of Fun By Najib Aminy
standing outside the SAC waiting inline
with more than 700 people, eagerly an-
ticipating the night’s main attraction: a
free Immortal Technique concert. This
is a change for Christoforou, a junior
mechanical engineering major, who
says events on campus are non-existent.
“Some schools have a lot of con-
certs during the year. Students at those
schools say it’s awesome,” says Christo-
forou, before addressing the stark con-
trast with his Alma matter to be. “I’ve
come to expect it to not have many
events. It’s Stony Brook.”
But last week that perception
changed for Christoforou and for many
students at Stony Brook, when, courtesy
of the Undergraduate Student Govern-
ment and the programming of the Stu-
dent Activities Board, Stony Brook Carolina Hidalgo/The Stony Brook Press
students were given the opportunity to being heard by USG, and thus removed 117-101 to raise the student activity fee nity atmosphere that’s been ever-so-
see prime-time comedian Aziz Ansari themselves from the planning of the from $94.25 to $100. The USG Supreme lacking at Stony Brook.
and rapper Immortal Technique live in concert. They instead focused their ac- Court ruled against the raise, citing a “We’re working so hard this year to
concert—both free of charge. tivities on the carnival aspect of Brook- claim that the vote was not heavily pub- build community and pride,” says Gra-
And it’s only the beginning of a se- fest. licized, resulting in a lack of votes and ham. “We’ve taken a completely differ-
mester packed with SAB planned events Towards the very end of the spring factual errors in the document. ent philosophy. We want to put on these
that include other prominent figures 2010 semester, USG disbanded the old Khan saw this potential increase in big events that the entire campus talks
like Christopher Hitchens, Ralph SAB and centralized the current struc- activity fees to equate to an extra about, get them hyped.”
Nader, a $40,000-dollar-comedian and ture that exists today. The current struc- $163,000 for USG to allocate, money he Thus far, the events held both in the
an end of the year concert to be priced ture operates with an executive board sought to use for SAB. “Pragmatically, fall and spring have attracted near ca-
at more than $100,000, both soon to be that includes representation from the it’s only $5.75. It will legitimately bene- pacity crowds, including Christian
signed. Residence Hall Association and Com- fit students, either if it’s SAB, which es- Finnegan, Best Coast and Banachek.
It’s what the current administration muter Student Association, as well as a sentially means large events for this This coming March, the likes of sci-
of SAB and USG has been planning for student nominated director, who is in semester, or if it’s put in the general entists, political figures and commenta-
months as it approaches the one-year charge of planning events. fund,” says Khan, who has criticized the tors are scheduled to appear at Stony
anniversary of its tumultuous transfor- *** vote void, arguing that it sets a ques- Brook, breaking the short-term tradi-
mation from “old SAB” to “new SAB.” For the past few years, the SAB re- tionable precedent. tion of attracting only entertainment.
*** ceived a budget of roughly $200,000, But thus far, the SAB budget has Speakers that include Nader, Hitchens
The 2010 spring semester marked a plus $70,000 budgeted for an end-of- paid for many of last fall’s events that in- and a slew of New York City based sci-
rapidly growing rift between the mem- the-year concert, the amount that Moiz clude the bi-weekly RockYoFaceCase entists are meant to diversify the events.
bers of the old SAB the previous mem- Khan allocated for the organization as concerts held in the University Café, the But there’s still planning and fund-
bers of USG. At the time, SAB was the USG Treasurer. Khan then resigned student-run Modern Art by Modern ing for that too. SAB is pursuing a tele-
criticized for largely consisting of mem- and was appointed by USG President Artists show, a mentalist known as Ba- vision-actor and prominent stand-up
bers from African-American and Matt Graham as the Student Program- nachek, the Upright Citizens Brigade comic valued at more than $40,000.
Latino Fraternities and Sororities, ming Agency Director. It is currently Touring Company, as well as the The large end-of-the-year concert,
which in part led to a lack of diversity Khan’s job to plan and coordinate $10,000 bill to bring comedian Chris- which will bill to more than $150,000
and outreach in events, critics would events with the $270,000 allocated from tian Finnegan and the $5,000 tab to including security and booking the ath-
say. funds paid through the student activity have Indie band Best Coast perform. letic complex, will not be named
The breaking point between the fee. But only a quarter of the $404,000 “Brookfest,” breaking a short-term tra-
then independently-operated old SAB Since Khan resigned, SAB has re- reserved for SAB has been spent, leav- dition.
structure and USG occurred at the end ceived an additional $144,000 in it’s ing more than $300,000 left for upcom- Instead, it is likely that it will take
of the last spring semester when there budget, which comes from the closure ing performers and artists. That’s the the name of the national tour of the
was no clear artist planned for the an- of ALIRRT, a $20,000 program that plan, at least. prospective artists that SAB is currently
nual end-of-the-year concert called would provide students discounted “It’s still incredibly difficult to plan pursuing, artists who performed at the
Brookfest. It was then, through a series LIRR tickets, and $80,000 from the a semester of large events with Grammys. Due to contractual issues,
of bills and legislation, that USG, specif- streamlining of the USG accounting of- $300,000,” says Khan. The Press was asked to withhold the
ically through the office of the Vice fice budget. An additional $30,000 came *** names of these artists.
President of Student Life, coordinated from an additional readjustment of By dishing out $51,000 for Aziz “I honestly think it’s for the better
Brookfest. USG operations. Ansari, SAB has cemented its philoso- because we are having these big events
The old members of SAB felt their In another attempt to raise the SAB phy that hosting large, high profile that Stony Brook hasn’t had in a long
voices, opinions and input was not budget late last semester, students voted events will foster a unifying, commu- time,” says Graham.
The Stony Brook Press Features 9
E-mail The Press at
editors@sbpress.com
Getting
Nookie With
E-Books
By Lauren Dubinsky
The long line to buy books at the about 300 titles being sold. plication last year called NOOKstudy to textbooks to digital textbooks because
beginning of each semester at Stony E-readers, such as the Amazon Kin- Stony Brook University and other col- of the lower cost, convenience and mul-
Brook, let alone many universities, is dle, Nook and Sony E-book Reader, are lege campuses that allows students to timedia features. As he moves his fin-
shortening because students are buying changing the way college students view read and study their e-textbooks on ger across his mouse pad, he can
more and more e-books. their textbooks. Instead of students flip- their Macs and PCs. highlight his text in yellow. With a click
As Stony Brook University students ping open a textbook to begin studying “Barnes and Noble has been selling of a button he can add a red textbox on
walk into the University Bookstore at for their exams, they are tapping into e-textbooks since 2003 and sales were the side of his e-textbook for com-
the bottom level of the Melville Library, their Nooks to scroll through the pages extraordinarily low until they recently ments.
they are immediately confronted with of their digital textbooks. It provides experienced a huge increase in sales this And what caught Nicolescu’s atten-
bright green signs saying, “Your Choice: students with unique and modern mul- fall,” said Jade Roth, the vice president tion about the e-textbooks was the
New, Used, Rental, E-textbooks,” scat- timedia tools that have never before of books and digital strategy at Barnes price. Digital textbooks can be 40 per-
tered all around the store. been possible in paper formats and in- and Noble. There are a growing number cent cheaper than the print versions. “I
The e-textbook option was intro- stant access to all of their course mate- of textbooks that are now available in like the print texts, but sometimes they
duced to the university about five years rials and notes in one place. With a click digital format and the NOOKstudy ap- are more expensive,” said Nicolescu.
ago and has become popular after of a mouse they can look up definitions plication allows students to download “Sometimes I can’t afford to buy them.”
roughly 300 were sold last fall semester. and formulas. the e-textbooks and use new features He said that he saved around 400 dol-
Students are beginning to ditch the A study by the educational software and functions. lars by only purchasing e-textbooks this
print textbooks that are stacked on the developer Xplana predicts that the dig- “Every one of our stores including semester.
bookshelves for the digital textbooks on ital textbook market will surpass 18 per- Stony Brook has seen an increase this Aside from saving money, the e-
their laptops and e-readers. cent of combined new textbook sales for fall and we expect that increase to con- textbooks provide a new level of inter-
And the bookstore has taken no- the Higher Education and Career Edu- tinue in January simply because stu- activity and convenience. Students can
tice. The e-textbook titles available in cation markets in the United States by dents are looking for something less read multiple textbooks at the same
the university bookstore rose from 112 2014. The study also said that overall expensive,” said Roth. The e-textbooks time with the use of different tabs that
in Fall 2009 to 430 in Fall 2010. digital textbook sales increased by 100 are cheaper because the publishing the application offers. By typing a word
“Students have become increasingly percent in 2010 and continue to grow at costs are significantly lower than the into the search box, students can find
interested in digital content this fall and rates of 150 percent and 120 percent in cost of publishing print textbooks. that term in any of their books, notes,
the university bookstore has embraced 2011 and 2012. Ioan Alin Tomescu Nicolescu sits in tags or links. “It gets you to the words
that,” said Boon Teo, the university Even some of the larger bookstore the Student Activity Center Lounge as and scrolls it down for you,” said Nico-
bookstore manager. Prior to this fall se- chains are positioning themselves for he studies his e-textbooks on his black lescu. “You don’t have to look with
mester, very few e-textbooks were sold this largely growing trend. Barnes and laptop. Nicolescu, like many other Stony your eyes, you use the program to find
but last fall semester, the sales rose to Noble released a free downloadable ap- Brook students, has switched from print the words.” The application also lets
The Stony Brook Press Features 11
you highlight the text and add notes di- mart. “The growth CourseSmart has ex- cause e-textbook sales to grow more. dollars in 2014 as a result of factors
rectly in your digital textbook. perienced is a clear indicator that the CourseSmart and other e-textbook within the publishing and educational
“We think the technology is catch- digital model is being embraced by stu- companies project that by 2014 the iPad market and technology trends. They
ing up to how people wish to use it,” dents and faculty and will continue in will become the preferred personal also predict that digital textbooks will
said Roth. “Its an entrance to a whole the future,” said Jessica Nelson, the ac- computing device for students. “We be- make up more than 50 percent of the
new world of content.” Barnes and count executive at Kwittken & Com- lieve Apple’s iPad tablet will further entire market by the end of the decade.
Noble does research at Stony Brook pany. Kwittken & Company is a boost demand for digital textbooks as it Although digital textbook sales
University and other college campuses marketing and public relations agency will capture the imagination of the next have increased and will continue to in-
by sending out surveys to general that CourseSmart called on to position group of students who haven’t yet tried crease in the future, many people be-
NOOKstudy users to get feedback. its e-textbooks to college students. A e-textbooks,” said Nelson. She said that lieve that print textbooks will not
“Every time they get feedback, they look become extinct. “The printed textbook
at it as something that they should be will probably not be eliminated by the
building into the product,” said Roth. digital textbook in the foreseeable fu-
Carrying around a 500-page Alge- ture,” said Teo. The digital textbooks
bra textbook can take a toll on a college will become another option for stu-
students. E-textbooks have an advan- dents alongside new and used books,
tage because they weigh next to noth- custom materials, loose-leaf texts and
ing—the only thing that a student course packs.
would have to carry around is their e- E-textbook signs will not replace
reader or laptop. Nicolescu says that the bright green signs in the university
carrying around his physics and chem- bookstore in the foreseeable future. In-
istry textbooks in his backpack is very stead, e-textbooks and print textbooks
heavy but carrying his laptop is sub- will coexist as competitors. More and
stantially less weight. more publishers are partnering with
In the past year, the world has companies that provide digital course
changed because of the introduction of material to give students more options
e-readers and downloadable applica- on how to consume their assigned
tions to view e-textbooks. An Interna- course material. But the companies said
tional Digital Publishing Forum report that they are well aware that although
said that e-book sales in the United digital content is becoming more popu-
States have increased from seven mil- lar, print content will still survive.
lion in 2006 to about 56 million in 2009. “I think there always will be some
CourseSmart is the world’s largest growing number of publishers are part- the browser-based interface that the things that are just better in print but I
provider of digital course material. Its nering with companies such as Cours- iPad provides will be able to run some also think digital is a great opportunity
collection includes over 90 percent of eSmart to give students a number of of the best existing interactive learning to start creating a different learning ex-
the main textbooks that are used in options for how they consume their as- products for computers. perience,” said Roth.
North American Higher Education as signed course materials. The Xplana study predicts that dig-
e-textbooks. There was a 400 percent An Xplana study said that the iPad ital textbook revenue will raise from 54
revenue growth last year at CourseS- and upcoming Android tablets will million dollars in 2010 to 1.1 billion
12 Features Vol. XXXII, Issue 8 | Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Aziz Ansari at Stony Brook (Carolina Hidalgo); Stony Brook Defeats Maine in OT in ESPN BracketBuster
(Vincent Barone)
The Stony Brook Press Photos! 15
RA Union protest delivers Valentines to President Samuel Stanley on Valentine’s Day (Carol Moran);
Immortal Technique performs at Stony Brook (Vincent Barone)
16 Vol. XXXII, Issue 8 | Tuesday, February 15, 2011
arts&entertainment
Jokes In A Flash
By Nick Statt
Clad in what looked like a multi-
thousand dollar grey and black suit, co-
median Aziz Ansari strolled onto the
Staller stage Wednesday night to an ex-
plosive crowd. Even Aziz himself didn’t
quite know how to receive the fervor,
spouting coy and sarcastic stabs like,
“Believe me, I’m only here for the
money.” Unfortunately, Aziz’s demeanor
throughout the remainder of the show,
which granted was absolutely hilarious,
made it pretty clear that that statement
may have actually been somewhat true.
Aziz Ansari, known best for his
lead role on NBC comedy Parks and
Recreations and the outrageous, in-
your-face comic Randy in Judd Apa-
tow’s Funny People, was given a $51,000
check that night for only one hour of
stand-up. He was original contracted Carolina Hidalgo/e Stony Brook Press
for an even 50, but asked for an addi-
tional thousand for additional travel ex- to be there. But then again, it was the ican teenager with a love of bagel bites hand. The whole crowd fell silent for a
penses after the show was pushed back pre-show interview and Aziz, an infa- and B-list sitcoms. Aziz was kind few seconds, and then the murmuring
a week due to the weather. Aziz even re- mous foodie whose frequent tweets enough to read his college essay draft began. No one could tell if it were an en-
quested to be flown onto campus via about restaurants and homemade and the revision he offered Harris, mak- core situation, which honestly makes no
helicopter (the helicopter landing re- dishes decorate his Twitter account, ing for easily the most enjoyable string sense with a comedian, but no one
quired clearing out the entire South P didn’t have his food yet. of jokes that night. seemed to want to believe that Stony
lot, which would have been impossible All things considered, the perform- One of the sour moments of the Brook students actually pissed him off
at that point). ance was amazing. All of his jokes were show, and apparently of Aziz’s sensitiv- enough to make him walk off stage.
This level of sensitivity about his fresh and delivered in Aziz’s trademark ity, trickled in at three separate mo- Turns out we did.
performance, arrival and paycheck gave style, which involves a variety of out- ments. Prior to starting his Aziz came back on and explained
Aziz a heightened image of being high landish voices and loud and ridiculous performance, Aziz gave a small speech that yet another person had emitted a
maintenance, and a bit of an asshole, to deliveries. Sure, there was a lot of dick about hating flash bulbs in his crowds camera flash and that was apparently
those clued in to the pre-show arrange- jokes, maybe too many if you eaves- while he tries to meander around his act enough to disrupt his flow. He delivered
ments. But none of the crowd members dropped on a few of the conversations with a little improvisation here and a few more rushed jokes, but not before
who eagerly lined up outside Staller in drifting outside Staller at the end of the there. It’s understandable, and the resuming his stand-up with a disgrun-
the biting cold were aware of these facts. show. But that’s what makes Aziz a crowd didn’t seem to mind, especially tled, “So what else do you guys want to
They had beat the absurd rush during modern, and highly popular, comedian considering the fact that Aziz posed for talk about?”
the first few days back on campus, and - reviving something as seemingly pro- the camera as if he were telling jokes Aziz was absolutely justified to de-
that meant they were claiming their au- fane and childish as dick jokes and spin- (even one that made it look like he was spise the rudeness of the crowd consid-
ditorium seat without reservation. ning them into a hilarious reoccurring arguing violently with a crowd mem- ering how many times he had to explain
Aziz’s pre-show press interview was theme in your stand-up is both difficult ber). his hatred of cameras, but it felt like a
a clear foreshadowing of his attitude to- and ironic (I highly doubt any crowd It was a funny and smooth way of bit of an overreaction. For $51,000, it
wards college-level performances and a member would say yes if asked before getting a pet peeve out in the open, but doesn’t seem unreasonable that you
discomforting amount of insight into the show if they would laugh at a joke it unfortunately came back to haunt the bend to your audience. After all, as a
the real Aziz Ansari. Like he would at revolving around hippopotamus ejacu- remainder of the show when rude performer, and one now as fast growing
the beginning of his performance on lation). The beauty is that these trade- crowd members didn’t heed his warn- and popular as Aziz Ansari, you have an
the Staller stage, Aziz repeated his line mark Aziz jokes are both absurd on the ing. Twice throughout the first 50 min- obligation to suck it up and at least pre-
about just being here for the money surface and self-critical on a deeper utes of the hour-long act, Aziz had to tend like you want to be there, despite
after campus media reporters thanked level of the comedian and of comedy in stop practically mid-punch line to re- the pitfalls and annoyances. It’s an age-
him for coming through. When asked general. mind people to stop taking pictures. old illusion, but at the same time a
questions, whether tongue-and-cheek The shining moment of the per- The first was with a little jest, and every- word-less contract that entertainers and
ones about upcoming Valentine’s Day or formance was Aziz’s now-famous fam- one was able to shrug it off and con- their audiences sign up for. Aziz may be
serious inquiries about whether or not ily update on his cousin Harris. tinue laughing. The second reminder able to make any dick joke in the world
he takes his ethnicity into account when Whether or not he is that ridiculous in was a shouted outburst of, “Please stop the funniest stand-up bit you’ve ever
writing jokes, Aziz gave straight-for- real life (he does exist, as well as his al- taking pictures!” that startled a great heard, but a look at his personality is
ward two or three line answers while in- most-as-funny older brother Darwish, many attendees. about as disenchanting as a stereotypi-
fusing little to no wit at all. whom a friend of mine actually met at With ten minutes left in his stand- cal Hollywood face can get.
He really didn’t seem like he wanted Northwestern University), Harris is up, Aziz cut himself off, said a thank
painted as a nerdy disillusioned Amer- you and walked off stage with mic in
The Stony Brook Press Arts & Entertainment 17
opinion
core Mode. In this mode, your ammo most part, it’s your standard ‘king of the picking up Dead Space 2. It should
opinion
The Power of the Interweb
Knowledge is most every American youth. mask that it wears over its pornography in Egypt, the Internet played a major
power. It’s not just It has made the world smaller, but and exploitation. role in escalating the conflict in the first
an aphorism to be at the same time, created an entirely Companies like Google and Face- place, and the eventual success in the
hung on the wall digital reality where an unfortunate book have a massive amount of pull on unseating of Dictator Hosni Mubarak.
of an elementary number of humans spend an equally a global scale. The multi-billion dollar An anti-Mubarak Facebook page
school library. We unfortunate amount of time. As clichéd dynamo that is Google can easily write started by a Google Inc. marketing
find examples of as it sounds, the net is basically a conti- off the Peoples Republic of China as po- manager in the Middle East was cred-
Mark Greek its validity every nent all it’s own. Populated by Warlocks, tential customers. Literally a billion ited with helping embolden millions of
day. Our own na- Second-Lifers, Rangers and Op. Forces, prospective clients became instantly ex- Egyptians to take to the streets to de-
tion finds itself at with their own laws and ruling bodies, pendable because of friction between mand that Mubarak step down after
an interesting impasse; the technology frighteningly separate from the juris- the Chinese government and the com- three decades of authoritarian rule. En-
we covet serves its own interests, bring- diction of world powers. Governmental pany, due to their mandatory restric- gineers from Twitter and Google devel-
ing us a frightening preview of the fu- sanctions and security have barely made tions of content they deem detrimental oped a “Speak-to-Tweet” service
ture. That an organization like an embassy in the ubiquitous shell of a to their control over the populace. The (verbally calling in FB statuses and
Wiki-leaks can shake the Tweets) after the Egyptian gov-
foundations of our ethical ernment cut its people off from
makeup, make us question the Internet, intentionally un-
our rights as citizens of a dermining the wishes of the
country that clearly has work regime in the name of free
meant to be done in the dark speech. The simple Facebook
with a simple disbursement of group that lay at the heart of the
diplomatic wires and commu- uprising still sits comfortably at
nications, stands as proof that 90,000 members. A massive
something as ineffectual as weapon that fired on the real
text documents can threaten world, lying dormant, as unas-
the integrity of the strongest suming as it was powerful.
nation the world has ever This isn’t meant to demo-
seen. nize the Internet or its massive
It’s hard to overstate the influence far from it. It must be
power of something as wide- appreciated, but feared at the
spread and universally ac- same time. The idea that an on-
cessed as a network that line company, completely of its
connects almost every com- own volition, can aid and abet
puter in the world, offering members of a foreign country
trillions of trillions of bytes of that it perceives as being op-
information. The Internet has pressed is something to be ad-
been growing intermittently mired and viewed with
since ARPAnet in 1969 into the domi- country without borders, an epic mon- power of an entity that can choose to do skepticism. A similar situation could
nant technological force of the last 50 ster that answers to no one. business that way is a force to be reck- arise in the future and could put Amer-
years. It has consumed and regurgitated If recent cyber attacks on online in- oned with and one that faces little to no ica in hot water diplomatically, receiv-
everything, from entertainment and in- stitutions like eBay and Amazon are any sanctions of its own. Though it is based ing all of the blame of inciting rebellion
formation, to communication and com- indication, there is potential for massive in America, Google sits comfortably in without any of the influence. Google
merce, and there’s no end in sight. resistance and unrest in a future that the aforementioned land without bor- and Facebook are viewed as being in-
Dial-up gave way to high speed, and can only become more reliant on the In- ders, and has no limit on its own juris- herently American; therefore their tres-
now wireless Internet is literally perme- ternet. Stalwarts like those .com’s can be diction, save for the whims of its passes become a problem for the U.S. to
ating us at all times. Wi-Fi is as com- taken out easily by a moderately angry employees. Social networking services deal with. Whether Egypt is better off
mon as oxygen and almost as cheap at group of hackers, a frightening prospect like Facebook and Twitter too, were now in the twilight of it’s old regime is
this point. Social networking is a term for a society whose lives and livelihoods being used to incite rebellion against impossible to tell. One thing is certain
that used to apply only to meet-and- are entirely conducted on the web. Even regimes in countries like Tunisia and however, the U.S. doesn’t need any more
greets and business cards; now it’s the worse than the seedy underbelly of the Syria. problems.
primary form of procrastination for al- Internet however, is its public side: the At the center of the recent uprising
The Stony Brook Press 27
sports
Stony Brook’s Lacrosse Boss:
The First Round Pick
By Vincent Barone
Back home, way out near the west-
ern coast of Canada, in New Westmin-
ister, B.C., Kevin Crowley was fiddling
with some cables, connecting his laptop
to his television. His family was over.
They were about to watch the 2011
Major League Lacrosse Draft on
ESPN3.
Crowley had an inkling as to where
he would place in the draft. Rick Sowell,
his head coach at Stony Brook, told him
that the Hamilton Nationals, who had
the first pick, were interested. As ex-
traordinary as the news was, Crowley
kept taciturn about draft projections.
“I didn’t want to sound like, ‘oh,
here’s where I think I’m going to go’
when people ask, right?” Crowley said.
“Because if that didn’t happen, it would
be pretty embarrassing.”
For premiere athletes, draft day is
the culmination of years of dedication
to a sport, and Crowley’s case is no dif-
ferent. Growing up in Canada, his fam-
ily is steeped in lacrosse, the national
sport. “My grandpa played lacrosse. My
uncle played lacrosse. It’s just something
you do when you grow up in New West- year’s preseason coaches’ poll, Stony all” midfielder. And at 6’4, 200 pounds, “We have the Call Of Duty: Black
minster,” he said. Brook was unanimously picked to win he is certainly a tall glass of water. But Ops going on right now. Pretty much
However, Crowley appears to do it a the America East Conference. with the plaudits, Crowley keeps a gen- everyone has a system in the house,”
little better than most. During his junior Along with the esteem, Stony Brook uine smile and is careful to stay Crowley said. “I live with four other
year at Stony Brook, as a first team All- was featured in the February edition of grounded and focused on the upcom- Canadians [Jordan McBride, Kyle Bel-
American, Crowley notched one of the Lacrosse Magazine, with Crowley, ing season. ton, Robbie Campbell, Greg Miceli] and
best seasons in the history of the Coach Sowell and McBride on the “We want to win the conference,” one guy from Long Island, John Bella.
school’s lacrosse program, nabbing 51 cover, donning Seawolves red. Crowley said. “We’re confident, but It’s just a big gaming house.”
goals and 26 assists during the 17-game “That was cool. They had a profes- we’re not overconfident, and that’s im- Even as the number one pick in the
season. He was just the fourth junior sional photographer come in. It was my portant. Given the success we’ve had draft, the sport alone usually does not
since 1995 to be awarded the 2010 first time doing something like that,” and the media exposure, I feel like some provide enough financial support for
USILA Enners Award, which given to teams will let that go to their heads; but players. Lacrosse is a labor of love for
the nation’s most outstanding Division I we’re a focused group, and we know Crowley—playing and teaching it—and
player. what we want to achieve.” he hopes he can make it his career.
This year, to add to his already clut- Crowley also praises his coach, say- “I want to play both indoor and
tered mantle, Crowley was named a “I didn’t want to ing that “[Coach Sowell] is great for outdoor for the pro league. Hopefully
keeping us levelheaded. He always re- I’ll get endorsed,” Crowley said. “Not
preseason All-American and given the
Division I Preseason Player of the Year sound like, ‘oh, here’s minds us that we have a target on our many people can make a living on
award by Lacrosse Magazine. He is just where I think I’m back this year because teams saw the
success we had last year, and now Stony
lacrosse, but it would be a dream of
mine. I love doing camps and teaching
26 points away from breaking the Sea-
wolves’ career scoring record. And per- going to go’...” Brook is the team that they want to beat. kids how to play. If I could keep on
haps more importantly to Crowley, who And that’s good for us because people doing that, it would be ideal.”
despite all the personal accolades, re- are going to get up to play us, and that On January 21, come the hour of
mains team-conscious, as he was desig- should hopefully lift our game to the the draft, surrounded by family, Crow-
nated a team captain for his upcoming next level.” ley realized that his Internet provider
senior season. Crowley said. “Any time you get put on Crowley and the Seawolves are in didn’t supply ESPN3. In lieu of watch-
Crowley is surrounded by talent at the cover of a magazine it’s awesome. It the final leg of prepping for their opener ing the broadcast on TV, they had to
Stony Brook. Teammates Tom Com- was great that we got the recognition on February 26 against top-ranked Vir- rely on a live blog of the draft to break
pitello, Adam Rand, and Jordan and that they wanted to put us on the ginia. He practices six days per week, the news that the Hamilton Nationals
McBride were all selected in the first front like they did.” but during his downtime, Crowley dab- did indeed select him first overall. It was
round of the MLL draft. The 2011 Sea- Out in the blogosphere, Crowley bles in the other kind of gaming with a little less romantic, but a neat way to
wolves are ranked 8th nationally. In this has been regarded as a “lanky,” “do-it- his housemates. end winter break, nonetheless.