the spectrum vol. 65 no. 20

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBL ICAT ION OF THE UN IVERS I TY AT BUFFALO , S INCE 1950

Friday, OctOber 16, 2015ubspectrum.cOm VOlume 65 NO. 20

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBL ICAT ION OF THE UN IVERS I TY AT BUFFALO , S INCE 1950

GABRIELA JULIASENIOR NEWS EDITOR

Liz Murray watched her parents strap their arms and shoot heroin.

They chose buying drugs over feeding their kids. Murray and her sister often ate ChapStick and toothpaste to curb their hun-ger.

But Murray has always chosen to focus on the “blessings in the path she walked.”

Murray, now a New York Times best-selling author and advocate for homeless youth, spoke in Alumni Arena Wednesday night as part of UB’s Distinguished Speaker Series.

Murray didn’t blame anyone for her situ-ation growing up. She found ways to ben-efit from her lifestyle and knew there were other people who felt like backing down at times. So she put the graphic images, con-versations and memories of her adoles-cence onto blank pages and turned it into a best-selling book titled Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard.

During Murray’s speech, she said to the

audience, “Moving forward, come what may.” Her quote symbolizes her troubled past that would be left behind as she en-tered into an optimistic state of mind.

Murray grew up in a part of the Bronx, New York that “everyone tried to get out

of.” But years later she found her way out of a dark tunnel and ended up in Massa-chusetts and became a Harvard University graduate.

Needless to say, Murray didn’t quite fit in with her peers.

When other students talked about vaca-tions overseas and Christmases in Connect-icut, Murray joked about the only 12 holi-days of the year her family celebrated.

“The first of every month when the wel-fare check came,” she said.

But the money didn’t go toward lavish meals or new shoes. Murray and her older sister, Lisa, often saw her parents buy her-oin and cocaine and then spend $35 on a month’s worth of groceries.

Her parents grew up in the ’70s, also known as the “disco era.” They partied and had fun and Murray and her sister just so happened to come into the picture when the party was ending.

ONLINEVIDEOUB students participate in annual Take Back the Night for sexual violence awareness

UB students’ reactions to Erie County’s proposed 2 a.m. bar closing time

Check out police blotter VIDEO

Advocate for homeless youth Liz Murray speaks as Distinguished Speaker MOVING FORWARD, COME WHAT MAY

ANGELA BARCA, THE SPECTRUM

Liz Murray speaks as part of UB’s Distinguished Speaker Series Wednesday night. Murray is a New York Times best selling author and advocate for homeless youth.

ASHLEY INKUMSAHNEWS EDITOR

UB’s Class of 2016 will be paying back student loan debt in a few months from four years of tuition, but that hasn’t stopped UB from asking them to reach into their pockets for donations.

UB seniors are currently being inundat-ed with a slew of emails and phone calls asking them to donate to the Senior Chal-lenge, which is a an annual donation effort started in 1984 that attempts to solicit do-nations from graduating UB students. If 216 seniors donate any amount of mon-ey, Phil Kadet, UB School of Management Class of 1977 alumni, will donate $10,000.

Seniors are becoming increasingly an-noyed by the phone calls and emails.

“It’s really frustrating because I know a lot of students are worried about get-ting jobs in the future already and other fi-nancial burdens, so being called when we haven’t even graduated yet is kind of ridic-ulous,” said Laura Aguilera, a senior inter-national studies and global gender studies major.

According to Barb Byers, director of constituent communications in the Office of Development and Alumni Communica-tions, the Senior Challenge is more about participation than dollar amount. Byers said Kadet started donating in the effort because he “believes in philanthropy and wanted to teach the next generation to give back.”

Seniors unhappy that UB is asking them for donations

Senior Challenge asks seniors to donate any

amount of money to the university

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

SCHOOL NAMED AFTER DONOR

BUILDING NAMED AFTER DONOR

DO

LL

AR

AM

OU

NT

OF

DO

NA

TIO

N

UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO

Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

Booth School of BusinessUNIVERSITY AT MICHIGAN

Ross School of BusinessUNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine

$50 MILLION

$10 MILLION

UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO

Barbara and Jack Davis Hall

UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAMECorbett Family Hall

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science

and Innovation

ASHLEY INKUMSAHNEWS EDITOR

Getting your name on a school can cost big money.

David Booth’s $300 million donation to the University of Chicago got him a busi-ness school – the Booth School of Busi-ness – in 2008.

Raymond and Ruth Perelman shelled out $225 million to the University of Pennsyl-vania in 2011 and got a medical school.

And in 2004, Stephen Ross gave $100

million to the University of Michigan for the business school that now bears his name.

How, some students, faculty and com-munity members are wondering, did UB alum and billionaire Jeremy Jacobs get off so easily?

Jacobs’ recent $30 million donation bought him naming rights to UB’s new medical school, which will be called the Ja-cobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

This will be the first time UB has named

a school after one individual and Jacobs’ donation is the second-largest donation in UB’s history.

Yet, a $30 million donation to many oth-er schools across the country, both private and public, would not even be enough to gain naming rights to a single building.

“It just seems weird that now we’re the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, I mean I don’t think it’s going to make that much of a significant change, I think people are still gonna call it whatever

While UB gave away medical school name for $30 million, other schools hold out for much more

What’s in a name?

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

DESIGN BY KENNETH CRUZ

NEWS2Friday, October 16, 2015THE SPECTRUM

Master’s Degree Programs• Criminal Justice Administration

(NEW online option available) • Public Administration• MPA: Health Administration

Apply Todaywww.hilbert.edu/apply(716) 926-8948

Enhance your leadership skills and expand your education at Hilbert College with a solid program and proven results.

“But I was loved by my parents and I felt loved,” she said.

Some nights her mother stood at the end of her bed telling Murray that her children are “the best thing that ever happened to her.” Her father, who dropped out of col-lege, took Murray to the library every Sat-urday morning and complied a stock of books in their apartment that were never returned.

They just couldn’t stay away from the drugs.

Murray said that when people are addict-ed, they’re “only brought down,” and that’s what happened to her family.

Her mother was unstable and her father couldn’t pay rent. Murray dressed in rags and kids picked on her for smelling bad. She slept on the desks because she was ex-tremely exhausted and her teachers sympa-thized for her. Then her family was broken apart.

Murray was taken to a group home at the age of 13 while her sister lived with her mother’s boyfriend.

“[Lisa] was a really good student and very determined,” Murray said. “But me, I never went to school so no one really want-ed me.”

Murray later lived with her mother when she got sick. Along with being a drug ad-dict and alcoholic, her mother was schizo-phrenic, legally blind and had AIDS.

The tension in the household became too much to handle. Murray ran away, and with no one to turn to, lived on the streets. She slept on subways, in parks and some-times at a friend’s if they had room.

But Murray’s darkest time hadn’t hit yet.When she was 15 years old, she got a

phone call in a motel saying her mother had died.

Murray knew of her mother’s condition.

She remembers her last conversation with her mother. She begged Murray to go back to school. Murray’s last words to her moth-er were, “I’ll see you later.”

“She was the sweetest, kindest, most generous person and she was so encourag-ing,” she said.

At the time, Murray’s father was in a homeless shelter. She then told herself to take reasons why she shouldn’t change and turn them into reasons why she should.

Murray applied to many schools and people often turned their backs on her. She was 16 years old with an eighth grade edu-cation. That was when she met Perry, her teacher and mentor who later changed her life.

Perry helped her complete high school in two years. She took 10 classes each semes-ter and managed to keep straight As. She graduated top of her class and received a New York Times scholarship that got her a full ride to Harvard.

But Murray thanks the people who helped her get to where is today. She is still close friends with people from high school. That is also where she met her hus-band and father of her two children, James Scanlon.

She remembers seeing him in class and thinking he was cute. Then she decided to make the first move.

“We were in lunch and he sat next to met with a plate of mashed potatoes,” she said. “So I stuffed my hand in his food and said,

‘Looks like I have to buy you dinner now.’”In late 2006, another tragedy struck. Murray was living with her father at the

time. She remembers sitting down with him one night joking and laughing.

“He was a funny guy,” she said. “He was brilliant and lovable, but he was also a drug addict.”

Later that night, her father passed away in his sleep. Murray still remembers the note he left her days before he died that read, “Lizzy, I left my dreams behind a long time ago. But now I know they’re safe with you. Now we’re a family again.”

One thing that Murray can still hold on to is her relationship with her sister Lisa. She said they handled their parents’ addic-tions very differently, but have grown clos-er. Lisa is now a teacher in New York City.

As for Murray, she is currently pursuing a master’s in psychology at Colombia Uni-versity and mentors homeless youth at the Covenant House in New York City. She urges students to express their gratitude and to not treat someone like they’re bro-ken.

Looking back, Murray said that not only being determined changed her life, but the people in her community. Her neighbors who helped her get by. They did everything from baking her brownies to paying her rent. Because of them, she never slept on the streets again.

Murray distinctly remembers one wom-an helping her by taking her dirty clothes to the laundry.

Murray said that as the woman drove off, she stopped and said “I can’t do much, but I can do that.’”

email: [email protected]

Moving forward, come what may


Liz Murray discussed living on the street for two years while completing high school and how her hard work propelled her to Harvard. She now mentors homeless youth in New York City to give back.

“Any senior can give any amount – just the act of giving is important,” Byers said.

Byers said for this reason the university does not keep a specific, detailed record of the amount of money raised.

This is the second year Kadet has offered a $10,000 donation. Last year the challenge met its goal of 200 student donors.

Seniors can choose which department they would like to donate to. The money raised through the project has gone toward various aspects of the university in the past, including the marble tile seal in the Student Union Lobby, a clock on the face of Norton Hall and flags in the Student Union, accord-ing to a 2004 UB news release.

Students can only donate via credit card or UB Card in order to set a protocol for all donations, according to Byers.

“Part of it is the mechanism – we don’t have someone to hand the physical cash over and cash is just not the way the pro-tocol is set,” Byers said. “It’s a way to elimi-nate any improprieties.”

Emily Kicinski, a senior English major, said she finds the phone calls, which are done by students working in the call center, to be “invasive.”

Kicinski recently received a phone call and felt she was “being pressured” by the student fundraiser to make a donation.

“The guy on the phone was asking me if I wanted to donate and I asked to do it online and he said there is a time constraint on do-nations and that it would be easier to get it over with on the phone,” Kicinski said.

The challenge, which started Sept. 28, concludes on Nov. 6.

Kicinski said she did not “appreciate the pushiness” of the student fundraiser. Even the students working at the call center find it a bit unsettling that UB is asking se-niors for contributions.

Kaeyla Kerr, a junior psychology ma-jor and call center worker said asking oth-er students to donate makes her feel “kind of awkward.”

“Paying for tuition is hard enough as it is and here I am asking kids to pour more

money out of their already limited pock-ets,” said. “I actually think it’s pretty in-considerate to be asking seniors who aren’t only worrying about student loans, but also what’s their next step after graduation, to donate but, hey – the money is going to-ward a ‘good cause.’”

Brandan Radford, Senior Challenge chair and a senior pharmacology and toxicology major, has worked at the call center for two years as a student fundraiser prior to being promoted to a supervisor.

Radford said he would sometimes receive “horrific calls” from graduates who would call him “stupid [for not understanding] the word ‘no.’” He said he would also receive death threats from prospects if he contin-ued to call them for solicitations.

But he said a highlight of his time as a student fundraiser were phone calls where he learned about history of the universi-ty through alumni and their first hand ac-counts of what happened when they were they were students. He said he also enjoyed phone calls with distinguished alumni.

Radford said asking for donations is ben-

eficial to the university.“An overall importance for participation

in the schools’ various fundraisers is that U.S. News & World Report bases a portion of its rankings of universities on alumni in-volvement and the easiest way for alum to get involved through the annual fundraiser,” Radford said.

Still, some students are concerned about the prospect of a university asking students to donate money on top of tuition.

“I think the senior challenge is a bit ri-diculous, I’m being bombarded with emails and phone calls when I haven’t even grad-uated yet,” said Jeffrey Talasazan, a senior psychology major. “Give me a chance to go into the working world, make some money and then give back to my past.”

Byers said Kadet chose 216 donors this year because the graduating class will be graduating in 2016. One hundred and six students have contributed to the 216-donor goal as of Thursday, according to the Senior Challenge website.


Seniors unhappy that UB is asking them for donations

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1


The views expressed – both written and graphic – in the Feedback, Opinion and Perspectives sections of The Spectrum do not necessarily reflect the views of the

editorial board. Submit contributions for these pages to The Spectrum office at Suite

132 Student Union or [email protected]. The Spectrum reserves the right to edit these pieces for style and length. If a letter is not meant for publication, please mark it as such. All submissions

must include the author’s name, daytime phone number, and email address.

The Spectrum is represented for national advertising by MediaMate.

For information on adverstising

with The Spectrum, visit www.ubspectrum.com/advertising

or call us directly at (716) 645-2452.

The Spectrum offices are located in 132 Student Union,

UB North Campus, Buffalo, NY 14260-2100

THE SPECTRUM

Editorial BoardEditorial Board

Friday, October 16, 2015Volume 65 Number 20

Circulation 7,000

3OPINION Friday, October 16, 2015

EDITOR IN CHIEF Tom Dinki

MANAGING EDITOR

Alyssa McClure

COPY EDITORS

Kayla Menes Renée Staples

NEWS EDITORSGabriela Julia, Senior

Ashley InkumsahMarlee Tuskes

FEATURES EDITORSTori Roseman, Senior

Dani Guglielmo

ARTS EDITORSBrian Windschitl, SeniorKenneth Kashif Thomas

Tomas Olivier, Asst.

SPORTS EDITORSJordan Grossman, Co-seniorQuentin Haynes, Co-senior

PHOTO EDITORSYusong Shi, Co-seniorKainan Guo, Co-senior

Angela Barca .

CARTOONISTS Joshua Bodah

Michael Perlman

CREATIVE DIRECTORSKenneth Cruz

Pierce Strudler, Asst.

Professional Staff

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Helene Polley

ADVERTISING MANAGER

Nicole DominguezLee Stoeckel, Asst.

Zach Hilderbrandt, Asst.

ADVERTISING DESIGNERDerek Hosken

THE SPECTRUM

GABRIELA ORTIZSTAFF WRITER

Album: Fetty Wap Artist: Fetty Wap Label: RGF/300/ATLANTIC Release Date: Sept. 25 Grade: B-

While it feels like Fetty Wap infected our brains with “Trap Queen” centuries ago, it’s still been less than a year since the New Jer-sey rapper officially released the song. Since then, Fetty Wap hit the rap game and the Billboard charts with an avalanche of hits.

Following “Trap Queen,” Fet-ty Wap topped the charts and cap-tivated the world with not one, not two, but three more massive-ly popular singles – “My Way,” “679” and “Again,” each of which broke the Billboard Top 10. Fetty Wap has pretty much con-cocted a recipe for making hits: his easily recognizable one eye, unique voice, intense trap-style beats and sometimes Monty. His self-titled debut utilizes this recipe to deliv-er a 64-minute, 20-track project. Unlike most artists who often open their albums with intros or skits, Fetty Wap begins with what has become his signature, “Trap Queen”.

Why not, right? The song is his biggest hit –

surely he had to include it. Why hide it somewhere in the album when we all know it’s coming.

With no new features or big name rappers in tow, the album’s flow as what feels like an extended version of “Trap Queen.”

This is not to say whether it’s a good or bad thing; it simply goes to show that Fetty Wap has solid-ified what he wants his sounds to be and it works for him.

However, because there is lit-tle experimentation or exploration into other sounds, Fetty’s longevity becomes questionable.

In an industry where sound is ever changing and artists come and go like fads, Fetty is going to have to take more risks in the future. The potential for new sound is there.

Fetty Wap displays this very lit-tle, but surely in songs like “679” where the sound is reminiscent of a more west coast like bass line and boomy tempo.

The closing song of the album “Rewind” takes on a more R&B, or what some like to call “Trap&B” sound. Paired with a piano and smoother sound, “Rewind” sets itself apart from the rest of the album in tone and format. One of the flaws of Fetty Wap, are the constant use of the ad-libs that make him so distinct.

While they are important to the

identity the rapper has created, one can only take so many “Yeahhhhh baby,” “1738s,” “SKWAAs” and “OoooOoooOoo’s” – let alone on every single one of the 20 tracks.

Secondly, while we love Fet-ty Wap for bringing his “skwaaa” (squad) along for the ride, Monty aka Montaa Buckz was enough for us on “679.”

Lacking the same appeal and charisma that Fetty Wap delivers, Monty’s presence on nine out of the 20 tracks is highly excessive. On the contrary, Fetty Wap has replay value like no other.

Each track can pass a single des-tined for the radio. And, given that the album was not composed for the tracks to follow a specific structure, it is not the kind of al-bum you have to sit down and re-ally listen to.

Given the rappers success with singles, the album acts as 16 more attempts at produc-ing a short-lived, chart top-ping, radio-blasting feature. Fetty Wap’s lack of big name features also leaves room for art-ists like Drake – who blessed “My Way” with a verse earlier this year (why isn’t that on the album?) – to remix the hell out of the album.

The production of the album is

excellent and songs like “Boomin” and “Trap Luv” certainly have the potential to be the next Fetty Wap projects for artists to jump on. While Fetty Wap has shown us he’s claimed his own territory sound wise, it’s hard to say if Fet-ty Wap has painted us a full picture of who he is based on a structure-less album created using such a re-petitive, hit-making blueprint.

It’ll be interesting to see where Fetty Wap goes from here: wheth-er he stays or goes, or whether an-other artist emerges and rises in the ranks as quickly as he did.

The latter seems unlike-ly for now as Fetty Wap has cer-tainly cemented his spot as hip-hop’s go to hook-man. email: [email protected]

Fetty Wap makes good music 60 percent of the time, all the time

Singer and rapper fails to carry over summer success into debut album

UB students already pay an-nually increasing tuition – not to mention board for those living on campus. Now the university is ask-ing them to pay more while calling it philanthropy.

The Senior Challenge is one of UB’s many ways to collect money from students. If UB can get 216 seniors to donate to this year’s Se-nior Challenge, Phil Kadet, a 1977 alum, will donate $10,000.

The idea behind UB’s Senior Challenge may have good inten-tions. But it’s still laughable for a university, already bringing in mil-lions of dollars in tuition mon-ey, to ask its students to pay even more with donations.

With less than a month left for the challenge, 106 students have donated. But most students be-lieve the whole thing is misguided and The Spectrum agrees.

If UB was asking students for money to go toward helping those in need or to some kind of chari-table organization, we would be all for it. But with rising tuition every year and donations through the UB Foundation, we don’t exactly consider UB ‘needy.’

One our concerns is wheth-er or not Kadet will still donate the $10,000 if the 216-donation goal is not met by Nov. 6. No one seems to be completely clear on this. He is clearly a successful man if he has $10,000 up for grabs, so why not donate it anyway?

Kadet is trying to teach students to be philanthropic – but we should all learn to give for the sake of giving.

The early deadline for the challenge is also questionable. At this point, seniors are fo-cused on their class-es and what they’re go-ing to do with the rest of their lives once they leave UB.

If UB is going to focus on cur-rent students donating and not alumni, it would be more effi-cient for UB to ask seniors for a donation closer to the end of the year. At that time seniors are excit-ed about graduation and are start-ing to appreciate their time at UB since so little time is left. The nos-talgia may cause seniors to give a little more.

Students are also turned off at the idea of giving their credit card number over the phone.

Since the number of people who donate determines participa-tion and not the amount of the gift, students are open to donat-ing a few dollars. But they’d much rather hand over the few dollars in their wallet than take the time to read off their card number – especially since giving your card number over the phone has led to things like credit card theft.

It makes you think, is that one

dollar worth it? Barb Byers, director of constit-

uent communications, said they don’t accept cash because it can lead to improprieties.

So, trusting a bunch of students with a list of credit card numbers won’t lead to any “improprieties?”

Byers also noted the challenge “is not about the money, but about the participation.” If that’s the case, why not create some-thing more hands-on for students to “participate” in like fundraisers with games in the Student Union where students can hand over cash?

We don’t see how whispering your credit card number over the phone is considered participation.

Pestering students for donations also puts the student callers in un-comfortable positions. They are well aware that most callers won’t donate. They sometimes receive threats, are called “stupid” and hung up on.

Granted, a simple “no thank you” from students is appropriate, but sometimes you have to make a point.

UB also needs to be more spe-cific about where the money is go-ing. The callers tell students they can choose which department they’d like their donations to go to. Byers said past donations have gone toward a marble tile seal in the Student Union, flags in the flag room and a clock in Norton Hall.

Do students really want to give money to fix up UB when they’re struggling to pay their own rent? Aren’t our tuition dollars paying for things like that?

We have homework, exams, in most cases little money. So con-stant calls pressuring us to put a dent in our bank account can get annoying.


UB’s Senior Challenge is a turn off among seniors Students feel pressured into

donating money for a $10,000 gift to the university

COURTESY OF RGF/300/ATLANTIC

Fetty Wap’s debut album falls flat as most tracks sound similar to his

summer hit “Trap Queen.”

ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL PERLMAN

FEATURES4Friday, October 16, 2015THE SPECTRUM

TY ADAMS STAFF WRITER

American movies, television and music often depict Caribbean culture as dread-locks, Rastafarianism and marijuana.

But Caribbean culture is an umbrella term for the various different cultures among the different Caribbean islands.

“You don’t have to smoke ganja to love reggae and you don’t have to love reggae to smoke ganja,” said Arianne Johnson, a se-nior communication major.

UB’s Caribbean Student Association (CSA) has held its annual Caribbean Aware-ness Week throughout this week, with events to highlight Caribbean culture, edu-cate the UB community and dispel stereo-types.

CSA want more students to be aware of Caribbean culture because of the Caribbean population at UB and the influence the cul-ture has on society.

“The Caribbean culture at UB is not as prevalent as I would love for it to be. I think we all know the major reason for this is the fact that this is a predominantly white in-stitution,” said Yarini Garcia, secretary of CSA and a senior speech and hearing ma-jor. “Definitely, with New York being such a melting pot of different races, cultures, etc., I believe it is only right for UB to bring more Caribbean spirit to its students.”

Forty-eight percent of UB students are white, while 79 percent of faculty is white.

Johnson is of Jamaican decent and said people have a lack of knowledge about Ja-maican culture. She emphasized that not every Caribbean island was the same and

that not everything done in the Caribbean should be considered “Jamaican.”

Hadiyyah Thomas, CSA president and a senior health and human services major, said the first event of the week was a cook-ing class in which CSA showed students how to make things such as jerk shrimp, jerk chicken, morir soñando and pastelitos.

Dishes such as jerk shrimp and jerk chick-en originated in Jamaica, which is the moth-erland for all things “jerk.” Pastelitos, or what some may know as “empanadas,” orig-inated in Cuba but have diffused through-out the Caribbean to places such as Puer-to Rico and the Dominican Republic. Morir soñando is a traditional Dominican drink unknown to most students.

Tuesday members hosted an event en-titled, “Shake, Shake, Shake,” where CSA members and their branch “Crossfyah

Dancers” played cultural music, made smoothies and taught participants dance moves.

Cultural music of the Caribbean consists of reggae, reggaeton, dembow, soca (soul-calypso) and more. Throughout the week, CSA tabled in the Student Union, held in-teractive Jeopardy to spread awareness of Caribbean culture and history and host-ed an arts and crafts workshop entitled “Carib(beads).”

Garcia also emphasized the importance of education and awareness on campus so that people can stop grouping the Caribbe-an all into one bracket and learn to at least distinguish some differences.

“Someone asked me where I was from, and I told them that I am from the Domin-ican Republic. They went on to say, ‘Oh, so you’re Haitian too.’ But I corrected this per-son just because I wanted to make sure that they were aware of the differences between these two Caribbean countries,” Garcia said. “We might share the same island, but our cultures are highly different.”

CSA has made ample efforts to bring Caribbean culture to UB’s campus. It has brought Caribbean celebrities such as “Kra-nium” to perform at its huge annual event “Carifest,” and thrown parties like “Pon Di Floor” and an annual pageant.

“We just try to do our best to stick to Ca-ribbean culture and make the events fun and exciting so that everyone can attend them,” said Brittany Henry, treasurer for CSA and a senior health and human services major.

These members care deeply about their culture and wish to spread awareness of it through Caribbean Awareness Week.

“Being Caribbean means everything to me,” Johnson said. “My morals and values are derived from the culture I acquired from the Caribbean. It means I love and appreci-ate all the hard work and sacrifices my par-ents had to make in order to create a better life for my siblings and [me].”


CSA looks to bring Caribbean culture to UBCaribbean Student Association holds annual Caribbean Awareness Week

JOHN JACOBSSTAFF WRITER

When Judd Rosenblatt attended Yale Uni-versity, he sold over $200,000 worth of a single sandwich to his fellow students.

“It was called a Wenzel sandwich. It’s this Buffalo chicken grinder that we ordered from a restaurant off campus,” Rosenblatt said.

He sold the sandwich through an app he developed called One Button Wenzel. Stu-dents at Yale opened the app, filled in their payment info, pushed a button and had the sandwich delivered to them by drivers who worked for the app.

Crunchbutton, of which Rosenblatt is the CEO, is an expanded version of One But-ton Wenzel. Crunchbutton delivers food from restaurants that don’t usually deliver like Chipotle, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, and Chili’s straight to student’s apartments or dorms for a fee of $3 per order, plus the cost of the food.

And it’s coming to Buffalo. “We focus on colleges because they’re

a great jumping off place to focus on cit-ies and towns,” Rosenblatt said. “Buffalo is a great example of that.”

The application is brought to campus through student representatives. Mitch

Featherstone, a senior business major, took the first step. He was looking for a job last semester and over the summer when he stumbled upon a post online about Crunch-button looking for representatives.

“I thought it would be good to bring to UB because food delivery is a great concept for a college campus,” Featherstone said. “There are a lot of students who don’t have cars who live on campus, and it’s great for students on meal plans who want to switch things up.”

Not only did Featherstone decide then to help launch the app, he got many others in-volved, including Danielle Michaels, a soph-omore media study major.

“It’s a marketing and brand ambassador position,” Michaels said. “It’s cool and free-lance based.”

Rosenblatt said that the app might one day serve places outside of college areas, since the company is expanding at about a rate of 30 percent per month.

The app is brand-new to the area, so most students haven’t heard of it before. Crunch-button’s campus representatives are set to start launching the app on Oct. 15 at 6 p.m. This means that the app will become acti-vated and students can begin ordering from their favorite local places.

But students still have opinions about the concept of Crunchbutton.

Justin Jaracz, a sophomore mechanical en-gineering major, said that he liked the idea behind Crunchbutton and might consider using it – but only for Chipotle.

Jaracz wasn’t the only one open to the idea of having food delivered to him.

“I would use it, I like the idea,” said Katie Perison, a freshman undecided major. “But $3 still seems a little much.”

Perison said that she might use the app despite the price because she likes the res-taurants that it has to offer.

The application was set to launch sooner at UB but had issues with drivers and staff.

“We wanted to wait until we had more drivers and brand representatives so we could spread the word about Crunchbutton more and make sure that the service was de-pendable,” Featherstone said.

Some students were not as open to Crunchbutton as Perison and Jaracz.

“I probably wouldn’t use the app because I have a car and I could just drive there,” said Ben Genco, a senior civil engineering major.

Genco then continued on to say that he would be more likely to use Crunchbut-ton if he didn’t have a car. He also said that it depends on the restaurants that the app has to offer – if the app offers deliver ser-vices from restaurants he really likes, he

might consider using it.Student representatives, like Featherstone,

reached out to local food places and worked with them to create a connection between the restaurants and students through the ap-plication. He also had to make sure students would be interested in using the application.

“During the first couple weeks of the se-mester, I did market research for Crunch-button to gauge the interest level for a de-livery service like this at UB,” Featherstone said.

According to Rosenblatt, the restaurants available to order from at UB are based on the feedback the app gets from students – if students don’t see a restaurant they’d like to see on the app, they can request the restau-rant. The more requests they get for a res-taurant, the more likely it is to be added to Crunchbutton.


Delivery from Chipotle is no longer just a dream

Crunchbutton, a food-delivery app, comes to UB

Crunchbutton, a new food-delivery app, officially launched Thursday,

Oct. 15. The app delivers from local places such as Chipotle and Wen-

dy’s straight to apartments and dorm rooms on campus.


Caribbean Student Association Vice President Shawn Gibson makes a smoothie, which is one event the CSA offered this week in the Student Union. All of the events were intended to encourage students to learn more about Caribbean culture.

5ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Friday, October 16, 2015

THE SPECTRUM

TOMAS OLIVIERASST. ARTS EDITOR

Popularity or sheer talent, there’s no fool-proof way to know who will win at this year’s American Music Awards (AMAs) cer-emony. But the trophies will do all of the talking in the end when some lucky talent walks away with the title.

The 2015 AMAs will take place on Sun-day Nov. 22. The award categories are plen-tiful, ranging from favorite pop/rock album to favorite movie soundtrack, and of course the titles of Artist of the Year & New Artist of the Year will give bragging rights to some talented musical soloist, duo or group.

But what is it that makes people want to watch these musical celebrities accept awards?

“At the end of the day it’s a business,” said Sarah Elder, a media study professor.

Elder said award show spectators seem to forget that these award shows are about more than just celebrating the musical suc-cess of celebrities because commercials play a large role in the viewership.

“A lot of money is made from these shows,” Elder said.

However, the inexhaustible format of these awards shows continues to reel in au-diences who sit and clap from the comfort of their own homes.

Katherine Sierra, a senior social sciences major, said, “I’m excited for the award cere-

mony because it’s happening close to when I’ll finally have some downtime from school and it’ll mean spending time with my fami-ly.”

Fall recess begins Wednesday Nov. 25, so students will have time to relax before re-turning to class.

Andrew Funk, a junior business ma-jor, said, “I don’t normally watch the award shows, but I think T. Swizzle is taking artist of the year again.”

Taylor Swift previously won Artist of the Year in 2009, 2011 and 2013, and recently won Best Music Video of the Year at the Video Music Awards a few months ago.

Swift leads in nominations for this year’s award show in six different categories in-cluding Artist of the Year.

Although Swift is a fan favorite, some people are hoping that someone else gets the title this year.

“I completely get why people are fans of Taylor Swift, she’s talented, but I’m root-ing for Nicki because she’s an underdog and I think it’s about time that she gets a win,” said Kayla Holland, a junior African Amer-ican studies major. “Nicki may have lost to Taylor at the VMAs, but this year Nicki real-ly made a lot of good music on her Pinkprint album,” she said.

For the country categories, Tyler Harden-brook, a senior aerospace engineering major and country music enthusiast, gave his take on the nominees.

“I think Florida Georgia Line (FGL) de-serves the album award and also group award,” Hardenbrook said. “In my opinion, Little Big Town and Sam Hunt have gotten so much praise because they both ranked on the charts for the majority of the year.”

Between the two groups, they had three

songs make it to the top of the charts. The fact that country and pop radio programs were playing these song on replay could be why FGL and Little Big Town are strong nominees.

Sam Hunt had two songs go number one, Little Big Town had one, Hardenbrook said.

“I do know that FGL had singles released off that album in 2014, but as a whole, they’ve created hit after hit,” he said. “They are upbeat, filled with good vibes and even traditional country critics have come to like some of their music.”

It could be these upbeat vibes that win them the award at the end of the night. The competition in the soul/R&B genre is really heating up as well.

When Holland heard the nominations for favorite soul/R&B album and favorite soul/R&B male artist, she said Black Messiah by D’Angelo had her vote for Best Album but she knew that Chris Brown’s X album would get the popular vote.

D’Angelo’s album, she said, was the most underrated of the three. Holland said that not many people would even know who D’Angelo is, which she believes is a shame because he “makes great music.”

Holland’s decision for favorite soul/R&B male artist was even more difficult to guess.

“It’s hard because The Weeknd has been killin’ it,” she said.

But Trey Songz won Holland’s vote for the award because he’s been flourishing in the genre since his debut album in 2005 and hasn’t gotten the recognition he deserves, she said.

Stay tuned to see which of your favorite artists win and to see if there will be anoth-er Nicki/Miley moment like at the VMAs.


GIOVANNI GAGLIANESESTAFF WRITER

For those interested in salsa but are un-familiar with the intricate turns and twists, Buffalo may be the right place to learn.

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Latin Dance Company, Baila Salsa and the Latin American Student As-sociation (LASA) has hosted dance lessons and events until Oct. 15.

As an integral part of Latin cultural ex-pression, dance serves as an interactive art and creative outlet. Even though Buffalo is not a renowned Latin dance community, like New York City or Los Angeles, it still has a quality impact on the area. A Buffalo Lat-in-themed dance attracts a diverse group of people and is a social experience that differs from typical nightlife.

Arianne McAllister, a junior English ma-jor from UK, said the local Latin communi-ty has helped her feel right at home, despite not knowing many people in Buffalo.

“Dancing is an incredible way to connect with people of all ages and nationalities, one that ignores language barriers and age gaps to create a well-rounded global community,” McAllister said. “In my experience, Buffa-lo is a small snapshot of an incredibly wel-coming worldwide community. As a dancer from the UK, I know that I can feel at home wherever I may be, be it my home town, London, Madrid, Mexico, [or] Buffalo.”

Abby LaPlaca, a recent UB grad and for-mer dance liaison for LASA, said she was surprised by how tight-knit the Buffalo community feels.

“I think the dance community in Buffalo is small but dedicated. It’s really like joining a dance family,” LaPlaca said. “All that mat-ters is the music and the connection to it and your partner. People think you have to have all these fancy moves to go out and dance, not true. You have to be open to trying and

open to people.”The LASA has made dance a significant

part of their club. Every Tuesday at 8 p.m. they hold a week-

ly dance lesson and social. Club members often find this a place to meet people, so-cialize and unwind, regardless of back-ground.

On Oct. 24, LASA will be presenting their 11th annual heritage banquet, celebrat-ing the Noche De Los Muertos, or night of the dead, at Acqua Restaurant at 6 p.m. This event is formal and will include a choreo-graphed performance of salsa, tango, bach-ata and dembow.

Rachel Brianna, a senior psychology ma-jor and LASA club member, said dancing is a way for her to escape from the world com-pletely and de-stress.

“It’s such a great form of expression for anyone of any culture, and whether you’re doing salsa, bachata, merengue, or any of the sort, you can tell a story,” Brianna said. “I’ve danced before, but Latin dancing has opened up a door for me that allows me to express more of whom I am, be free and have a lot of fun at the same time.”

The genre of each dance lesson varies weekly from salsa to merengue to bachata, each with its own distinct twist.

Merengue is a dance from the Dominican

Republic, characterized by its high energy and basic 1, 2 steps where the dancer push-es the ball of his feet into the ground. This dance also requires intricate turns and twists informally called pretzels.

Bachata also originates from the Domin-ican Republic and is a very sensual dance. The basic step is an eight-count divided into two separate four counts. The four steps are multi-directional and end with a hip, pop and then repeated.

Salsa is a combination of many music genres, but the dance originates from Cuba. It has a huge Afro-Cuban influence and consists of many styles within the genre of salsa.

“Everyone is happy to share their latest move and just to smile and share a dance,” LaPlaca said. “The best dancers aren’t nec-essarily the ones with the craziest moves. The people I love to dance with are those who you can tell are having fun and really feeling the soul of the music. It’s art in mo-tion.”

Besides LASA, there are many groups in Buffalo that provide ways to get involved with the Latin Dance community.

Baila Salsa offers many opportunities to learn and practice in Buffalo. Founders Fan-ny Olaya and Calvin Rice are professional instructors providing salsa lessons of all lev-els to the Buffalo community.

Every Wednesday evening at Pucho Oliv-enia Center, Baila Salsa gives a one-hour les-son where people learn basic steps and a few moves. The floor then opens for social dancing, so people can practice their steps and have the opportunity to socialize.

Baila Salsa also has a weekly event on Fri-day nights at the Falafel Bar, located at 3047 Sheridan Dr. Dance lessons start at 10 p.m., followed by an open floor for social danc-ing.

Regardless of age, gender, nationality or even skill level, there are a number of op-tions to learn and practice dancing in the city.

“It’s an incredibly enthusiastic communi-ty, with familiar faces popping up at multi-ple venues,” McAllister said. “For me per-sonally, it has had an incredible influence on my life, particularly with regards to my self-confidence and in helping me grow out of the very quiet, shy girl I was two years ago.”


AMAs: Get your popcorn readyWho UB students want to win and why

COURTESY OF FLICKR USER DISNEY | ABC TELEVISION GROUP

Taylor Swift leads the nominations for this year’s American Music

Awards, which air Nov. 22. Tune in to see which of your favorite artists take

home the awards this season.

Latin dance community starts to shine in Buffalo

Buffalo does the salsa

YUSONG SHI, THE SPECTRUM

In honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Latin Dance

Company, Baila Salsa and the Latin American Student Association (LASA) will be hosting dance

lessons and events until Oct. 15.

6

DAILY DELIGHTS

FEATURES6Friday, October 16, 2015THE SPECTRUM

they want,” said Denise Polaski, a first-year medical student. “But maybe 30 million is more significant to us since we’re a state school, but it still seems weird.”

Peter Wang, a first-year medical student, said he worries the donation will just go to-ward construction and not make a differ-ence in the lives of students.

“He donated that much money but yet our tuition is still the same,” Wang said. “The money means nothing to us if it’s not tangible.”

Not all students feel this way. David Di-Palma, a third year dental student said, “It’s not everyday that someone throws $30 mil-lion around – I think he earned it.”

A portion of Jacobs’ donation would go to scholarships and buildings but the amount that will be allocated for this pur-pose is still unclear, said Nancy L. Wells, vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement at UB.

Jacobs, current chairman of the UB Council and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Delaware North – a Buffalo-based food service and hospitality company that has 60,000 employees – graduated from UB in the 1950s. His net worth is estimated to be $3.9 billion, according to Forbes.

“As it pertains to Mr. Jacobs and his gift specifically, the decision to name the school after the family rested largely in UB’s de-sire to recognize Mr. Jacobs and the fam-ily for all that they have done for the uni-versity over an extended period of time and service,” Wells said. “The decision to name the school was not made because he made a $30 million gift. The gift was only one of the considerations.”

According to UB, the Jacobs family has donated more than $50 million over the

years. Universities often offer naming rights as

incentive for donors to give big. This has become particularly true in the past de-cade when cuts in government aid have pushed colleges and universities to become more aggressive about fundraising. Between 2000-13, seven of the 12 buildings at the University of Texas at Austin were named in honor of donors as opposed to universi-ty presidents or faculty members.

And while private schools, like the Uni-versity of Chicago, that don’t have to wor-ry about government cuts will always bring in much larger scale donations, even large public institutions like UB have gotten more than $30 million before renaming. Red McCombs gave the University of Tex-as at Austin $50 million in 2000 to get the business school named after him.

Universities have extra motivation to name their schools as well – especially when it comes to notoriety.

Michael E. Cain, dean of the medical school and vice president of health servic-es, told The Spectrum in September that it’s prestigious for a university to have its med-ical school named after someone. Only 11 of the 62 Association of American Univer-sities, of which UB is a part, carry names.

UB Spokesperson John Della Contrada sent The Spectrum a copy of UB’s naming policy. The policy states that naming is “de-signed to accommodate donor expectations and university needs while keeping the Uni-versity at Buffalo mission and policies par-amount in the making of such decisions.” The policy also states “all facility naming opportunities are valuable university assets, and, as such, naming is usually only appro-priate when a significant gift is received.”

Rare naming exceptions can be made solely at the “discretion of the president upon recommendation from the vice pres-ident for philanthropy and alumni engage-ment,” according to the policy.

The policy also states the vice president for philanthropy and alumni engagement must recommend all naming opportuni-ties that involve gifts of $1 million or more. President Satish Tripathi and the UB Coun-cil then must give approval.

Then, the university alerts the SUNY Chancellor and the SUNY Board of Trust-ees and they must approve it.

Jacobs’ donation has also helped the medical school get closer to its $200 million fundraising goal. The school still needs an-other $40 million to meet that goal.

Still, at some universities, donors who gave roughly the same amount as the Jacobs have received much less from the universities.

For instance, University of Notre Dame alumnus Richard Corbett donated $35 mil-lion to his alma mater earlier this year – with $10 million designated for a football coaching salary. As a thank you, the univer-sity plans to name a building – the Corbett Family Hall – after him. It will contain the Departments of Anthropology and Psy-chology and a digital media center.

University of Maryland received a $31 million donation from Brendan Iribe, co-founder and chief executive of a virtual re-ality technology company Oculus, last year. The university subsequently began con-struction of the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Innovation in his honor.

At UB, the naming rights to a building also costs less than at other comparable schools.

The UB School of Engineering and Ap-plied Sciences named its building Barba-ra and Jack Davis Hall after the couple do-

nated $5 million toward the construction of the facility. Davis, a 1955 graduate of UB’s School of Engineering, said he and his wife would also donate a portion of his estate to the school following his death and the bal-ance when Barbara passes away.

Wells said UB’s policy differentiates be-tween existing buildings and newer build-ings. She said for new buildings, naming is considered when a gift is at least 50 percent of the privately funded portion of the cost.

Some schools have received much larg-er donations than Jacobs,’ without changing the names of their schools.

The Hewlett Foundation donated $400 million to Stanford University in 2001, with $300 million going toward the School of Humanities and Sciences, but the building does not carry the Hewlett name.

Emily Klatt, a graduate student in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxi-cology, said Jacobs’ donation is still “a huge gift either way.”

“I think it’s an appropriate way to honor the family or person that donates that much money,” Klatt said “When families donate money to a school I don’t think they’re do-ing it because they want to have something named after them, I think they’re doing it for research and programs – or at least I hope that’s not the reason. ”

Wells said gifts are typically not made spe-cifically to name something. She said nam-ing is one of many ways universities recog-nize and thank donors for contributions.

“UB follows a naming policy that outlines minimum thresholds for all types of naming opportunities, including buildings,” Wells said.

Wells said the university’s process of rec-ognizing donors is “very donor-centered, regardless of what the gift will fund [such as a] building, school, or scholarship.”


The Edge: The Spectrum ’s scouting report Buffalo juniors defensive tackles Brandon

Crawford and Max are beginning to ease into the position and should contribute on a weekly basis from this point on.

Linebackers: BuffaloThere really is no slowing down the core

that Buffalo put together this season.Juniors Brandon Berry and Okezie Alozie,

along with senior Nick Gilbo began, to heat up at Florida Atlantic and haven’t slowed down.

All three respectively lead the team in tackles and, combined, make up more than half of Buffalo’s tackles for losses. They are the heart and soul of the improving defense

and should be ready to go after a week hia-tus from the field.

Secondary: Central Michigan

In our opinion, junior cornerback Boise Ross will be the best defensive player on the field. But he’s not part of the best unit.

Granted, Buffalo’s secondary attack was the only team to keep Bowling Green’s Matt Johnson to less than 400 yards two weeks ago. But Central Michigan ranks second in the conference in pass defense, as it al-lows only 175.2 passing yards per game. The matchup to watch on Saturday will be Weiser versus the secondary.

Special teams: Buffalo

Senior punter Corbin Grassman and freshman placekicker Adam Mitcheson have been on a tear lately. Mitcheson hasn’t missed a kick in two weeks and is 5-for-5 in that stretch. Grassman has constantly pinned opponents within the 20-yard line and has created a long field for the Buffa-lo opponents.

Central Michigan also has a talented spe-cial teams core, but ultimately, it’s Buffalo’s duo that is more intriguing.

Coaching: Central Michigan

There’s no arguing a 27-year coaching re-sume.

The Chippewas’ new head coach John Bonamego has made strides around the

coaching circuit, including stints in the NFL. I’ve said it before – an experienced coach will always prevail over a newcomer. Buffalo head coach Lance Leipold had ar-guably his worst day as a coach two weeks ago after poor clock management and ques-tionable play calling eventually cost the Bulls the game.

Leipold might play a more reserved game this week, but that can’t be the case. Buffalo is a high-risk, high-reward type of team with explosive playmakers. In order to beat Cen-tral Michigan, it has to be the better team. Playing a reserved game will not be a win-ning recipe.



What’s in a name?CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

TORI ROSEMAN SENIOR FEATURES EDITOR

Think you could meet your next signifi-cant other in three minutes or less?

Students showed up well dressed and ready to finesse for the Fashion Student Association’s (FSA) speed dating event Thursday night. Randomized pairs had three minutes to get to know one another and find a potential connection.

“We wanted to open this up to a bigger audience,” said Anyssa Evelyn, the creative director of the FSA and a freshman oc-cupational therapy major. “We didn’t just want fashion students here. We wanted to show people that not all of our events are fashion shows or have to do with clothes, we do other things too.”

The event took place in the Student Union, where tables were decorated with candles and rose petals to set the mood. Dimmed lights and fun music also helped to relax participants into talking to their partners.

KG Omobomi, a senior business and sociology major, said that though they set up the event in half an hour, it took about a month to plan.

“We had the idea because ‘cuffing sea-son’ is approaching so we thought it would be fun,” Omobomi said. “It took a while to organize but it seemed like a good idea,

we’re hoping a lot of people come.”Many people came looking their best,

wearing dresses or nice hats to show off their style. Others came straight from class, donning backpacks and looking to make more casual conversation.

While some struggled to speak to fel-low attendees, others were just interested in casual conversation and checking out the event.

“One of my friends told me about the event,” said Rosanna Pagan-Aleman, a be-havioral neuroscience graduate student. “I’m not part of the FSA but I figured I’d check it out.”

To help out the dating process, cards with questions were placed at each station. “What’s your favorite season,” “What’s your zodiac sign,” and “Coke or Pepsi” were just a few of the ice-breakers.

Some felt that the three-minute lim-it wasn’t enough time and protested when the e-board members called for everyone to switch.

Also included at each station were call cards, so that no one felt compelled to give out their number. In order to ask for someone’s number, participants had to give up theirs as well.

“I’ve never been to speed dating before, so I wanted to try it,” said Luz Vargas, a chemical engineering graduate student. “I’m not looking for anything really, just here to have fun.”

Once the speed dating was finished, members of the FSA e-board tallied who

received the most phone numbers.Once they had finished, there was a

small social with food and music so partic-ipants could speak to anyone they missed the first time around.

“I’m mostly here to support the FSA,” said Charles D’Onigbinde, a senior chem-istry major. “It was a fun event and I’m happy I came. I spoke to all the girls I was put in front of and it was a nice time.”

Though most students there were just looking to meet new people and have a good time, there’s always a chance that a potential new relationship will blossom.


FSA hosts speed dating for students Rapid romance


The Fashion Student Association held a speed dating event on Thursday in the Student Union. Participants had three minutes to get to know

the other person in an ambiance of candlelight and rose petals.

CLASSIFIEDS Friday, October 16, 20157

DAILY DELIGHTS sponsored by Collegiate Village Apartments

THE SPECTRUM

COLLEGIATE VILLAGEAPARTMENTS

716.833.3700WWW.CVBUFFALO.COM

HELP WANTED

$12-$16/HR. PART-TIME SALES POSITIONS. UB Students welcome! Flexible hours w/ school schedule. Hourly + commission and close to campus. 585-721-7530

PART-TIME POSITIONS AVAILABLE. Lasertron Family Entertainment Center is currently hiring for general customer service. Working at a fast, detail-oriented pace and having excellent customer service skills is a must. Starting at $11/hr, must be available nights and weekends. Stop in and complete an application at Lasertron, 5101 North Bailey Avenue, Amherst. NY

SERVICES

CITYA1DRIVINGSCHOOL.COM Beginners & brush-up driving lessons. 5hr class $30.00 716-875-4662.

HELP WANTED

SERVICES

8 SPORTSFriday, October 16, 2015THE SPECTRUM

OCTOBER 17 & 18 - BUFFALO NIAGARA CONVENTION CENTER

Advance ticketuse EXPRESS LINE

TICKETS ALSOAVAILABLE at

Queen City Book3184 Main St.(Near UB south

campus “7-11”)PH #: 833-6220PH #: 833-6220

Don’t

be left out!

Get your advance

ticketS at e

bsii.

WWW.BUFFALOCOMICON.COM

QUENTIN HAYNES SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

When the football team faced Central Michigan last season, it was coming off a bye week that included the firing of former head coach Jeff Quinn.

The Bulls (2-3, 0-1 Mid-American Conference) will face Central Michigan after their bye week again this season, and while they aren’t in as much turmoil as this time a year ago, they need a win all the same.

“We just need to play and get better,” said head coach Lance Leipold. “I try to look at the positive of when the open week came and I think it was in as good as a spot as it could be.”

On Saturday, the Bulls (2-3, 0-1 MAC) will try to get their first conference win of the Leipold era when they travel to face Central Michigan (2-4, 1-1 MAC) at Kelly/Shorts Stadium in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. It will only be Buffalo’s second time playing at Central Michigan since joining the conference.

Leipold said the team used the time off to get back to the fundamentals of the game and adjusted practices, making them more like the practices the team went through during the spring.

“The bye allowed us some key reps,” Leipold said. “More reps … we wanted to use it in different ways. Offense versus defense a bit more, we wanted to address on points of emphasis a bit more and we had a chance to work with some of younger players, which is something we wanted to do.”

The Bulls started off conference play with a 28-22 loss to Bowling Green (4-2, 2-0 MAC). The Falcons finished with 536 total yards of offense, while Buffalo’s offense matched with 500 yards of their own. But putting the ball into the end zone was a problem all day as Buffalo settled for field goals and gave up untimely turnovers.

Leipold said the team has to turn red zone drives into points, and more often

than not, touchdowns.One of the team’s perceived weakness

may finally be coming together. The offensive line, which was heavily questioned for most of the preseason for losing three of the five starters, has finally begun to gel and is now playing as a cohesive unit. Leipold is impressed with the young talent, especially freshman center James O’Hagan.

“[Coaches] were just talking about [the offensive line] this morning,” Leipold said. “For a redshirt freshman, James O’Hagan has played well, played to what we expected. I poked my head in the offensive line meeting and they were talking about what he’s been doing well, but some things that he could do better.”

Leipold also mentioned he is impressed with sophomore guard Brandon Manosalvas as “a guy who could be moved around,” including an emergency switch to center if needed. Leipold said he was impressed with his physicality and play.

“[The offensive line] has to be able to have that whole group play and sustain themselves for four quarters and play at a high rate,” Leipold said.

The Chippewas are coming off a 41-39 loss to Western Michigan (2-3, 1-0 MAC)

last week. After facing one of the top scoring offenses in the league two weeks ago, the Bulls will face a one of the worst offenses, as Central Michigan ranks 11th in scoring offense and ninth in total offense in the MAC.

But the Chippewas do have one of the better quarterbacks in the MAC in Cooper Rush. The 6-foot-3 junior ranks second in the conference with 1771 passing yards and third in touchdown passes (12). Rush may be impressive, but Leipold didn’t hesitate to mention Buffalo’s impressive quarterback option.

“I think there’s some similarities when you watch [senior quarterback Joe Licata],” Leipold said. “Both are multi-year starters, both work with their arms, rather than their legs, good in the pocket and can pick you apart. We have to get to [Rush] with some pressure on him.”

One player the Bulls will have to stop on the offensive end is Chippewas senior tight end Ben McCord. On the season, the 6-foot-4 tight end totaled 22 catches for 273 yards and four touchdowns so far. And like senior Bulls tight end Matt Weiser, McCord was named to the Mackey Midseason list – a list that honors the best tight ends in Division-I college football.

Last year, the Chippewas defeated Buffalo 20-14. Central Michigan scored on a touchdown pass with 8:08 left to go in the fourth quarter, which put them ahead for good. Leipold said the loss still stung for some of the returning players and that the the extra motivation could help heading into Saturday’s game.

“We have to establish the line of scrimmage and be more consistent,” Leipold said. “I’m sure last year’s game is in the back of the mind of our players and they’re motivated by past performance and a chance for them to redeem themselves.”

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.


Bulls look to avoid 0-2 MAC start Buffalo faces

Central Michigan after bye week

COURTESY OF CMU ATHLETICS

Central Michigan quarterback Cooper Rush is set in the pocket ready to throw with the Ohio pass rush charging. Rush and the Chippewas will take on Buffalo on Saturday.

JORDAN GROSSMAN SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

The Buffalo football team (2-3, 0-1 Mid-American Conference) will make a rare trip to Mt. Pleasant, Michigan on Saturday to continue MAC play against Central Michi-gan (2-4,1-1 MAC). Both teams have weap-ons that can easily make or break the game for each side.

But who will those players be? Who has the edge at each position? The Spectrum breaks it down.

Quarterbacks: Central Michigan

Both Buffalo senior Joe Licata and the Chippewas’ Cooper Rush play a similar game – a high passing volume with a lot of touchdowns. But the edge goes to Rush be-cause of his recent play and ability in the

running game.Licata hasn’t played up to his standards in

the past couple of weeks while Rush just put up a 321-yard passing day with four touch-down passes in a loss last week. Rush also possesses the ability to scramble. He can very well expose the Buffalo ‘D’ and pos-sibly break off a big run at some point, like he did last week with a 26-yard run.

Running backs: BuffaloThere aren’t many rushing attacks in the

MAC that can mimic the duo of senior An-thone Taylor and junior Jordan Johnson and it likely won’t change this week. Taylor ranks third in the conference in rushing yards per game. Johnson has been a more than sol-id No. 2 with 56.4 yards per game and he’s been a key part of Buffalo’s backfield.

The Chippewas didn’t have a runner eclipse 55 yards rushing last week in their backfield-by-committee. It may be Central

Michigan’s weakest spot on offense, and it might show again on Saturday against the Bulls.

Wide receivers and tight ends: Central Michigan

Each team has a clear-cut No. 1 wide re-ceiver and a Mackey Award watch list tight end. However, it’s Central Michigan’s depth at the skill positions that gives them the edge.

Central Michigan’s Jesse Kroll leads the Chippewas with 389 receiving yards. Fol-lowing the leading wide-out, there are four receivers that already eclipsed 200 receiving yards. Leading the way for Central Michi-gan is James McCord, a nationally acclaimed tight end, who already has 373 yards and four touchdowns on the season.

Buffalo senior tight end Matt Weiser, Buf-falo’s Mackey Award contender, has been exceptional as well, but it will not make a

difference in our estimation. The nod goes to the Chippewas.

Offensive line: BuffaloWith none of Central Michigan’s top-3

rushers averaging more than 4 yards per car-ry and with the Chippewas giving up four more sacks than the Bulls this season, we give our edge to Buffalo.

Defensive line: BuffaloThe Bulls’ D-line would have would have

lost to just about any other MAC team’s line.The Chippewa defensive line is one of the

worst units on the team. They rank second-to-last in the conference with five sacks, all of which come from the linebackers and secondary. Central Michigan allows 165 rushing yards per game, but is coming off allowing 215 yards to Western Michigan last week.

The Edge: The Spectrum ’s scouting report

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

the spectrum vol. 65 no. 20

Documents