the bona venture - volume 83, issue 13

10
w w w . t h e b v . o r g C M Y K Volume 85 • Issue 13 December 10, 2010 Nicholson nets consecutive game winners Page 10 THE B ONA V ENTURE Marie Dirle/The Bona Venture Hannah Chesley/The Bona Venture The BV asks: Vote at www.thebv.org Arts & Life offers tips for enhancing final exam test scores Page 8 What is the biggest win of Mark Schmidt’s career at Bonaventure? Athletic fields take on water BY TYLER DIEDRICH Sports Assignment Editor Last week’s flooding of the McGraw-Jennings Athletic Fields is not expected to have a long-term impact on play- ing conditions. Steve Campbell, associate athletic director for internal operations, said he doesn’t think there is much damage to the fields, but has not had time to assess them since the 12 to 18 inches of water drained because snow blan - keted the fields shortly after. “We really don’t (know) because the water receded late Friday afternoon without real- ly a clear chance to evaluate any of the fields (before it snowed) Friday night and Saturday morning,” Campbell said. “When the time allows, and we can see the fields, obvi- ously we’ll take time to evalu - ate them to determine if there were any long-term effects.” The Allegheny River crested to nearly six feet above flood stage in Olean last Thursday, according to a Dec. 3 article in The Buffalo News, leaving the grass softball, lacrosse/soccer and rugby fields and the artifi- cial-turf baseball field under 12 to 18 inches of water. Campbell said the only con- cern is for the baseball field, which he said has never been underwater during his 23 years at the university. “For the grass fields … I don’t anticipate any damage,” Campbell said. “What we don’t know would be the turf situation; the rubber in the turf, did we lose a lot of that? There may be some sediment that settled in on top of the turf, so the field may need to be cleaned.” Campbell said the severity of damage to the baseball field will not be known until an expert evaluates it when snow clears the field. “Until (people who installed the field) can truly evaluate the field, I don’t think any of us have the expertise,” he said. “Unfortunately, we just didn’t get the window of time where they could get in, evaluate it, give us an idea of what may or may not need to be done, either in March or when the time allows.” Campbell said he is opti- mistic there is little damage because the fields drained very quickly. “As shocked as we were to see (water) reach that (base- ball) field, I was more shocked to see how quickly it left that field,” he said. “It was like somebody opened a drain, and once that water table subsided or receded to a level that the drains could take over … it went quick. Friday at 4:30, the only thing that remained was a couple puddled areas on the field and the warning-track bullpens, which (was) the area that first got water Thursday morning.” He added a little handiwork will be necessary. “You could see, as the water receded, the debris that had moved its way up the bottom of the dikes and kind of attached to the fenc- ing, (as well as) a lot of leaves and grit,” he said.”Aesthetically, there’s going to be a little cleanup, (but) we’ll deal with it.” Softball coach Mike Threehouse said he didn’t notice any damage to the softball field’s fences or grass, and anticipates the field will only need a few simple repairs. “When we first looked at it before it snowed, everything looked OK — but you don’t know until you get down there and walk around on it,” he said. “By sight, there wasn’t anything other than a little bit of dirt. I stood on the hill, (and) it didn’t seem any differ- ent to me.” The university has consid - ered installing artificial-turf soccer, lacrosse and softball fields in the past, but no change will be made until final plans are known for athletic fields at the Castle property. “To be honest with you, we’re kind of waiting to see what transpires across the street with the development over there and the fields that are anticipated to go in on that location,” Campbell said. “Certainly that would make sense, to move our games to those locations, than to put another turf field on a known floodplain.” Threehouse reiterated he doesn’t think the flood will have a long-term impact, based on his past experience. “I’ve been here a long time, (and) it’s the first time — I think since ‘92 — I’ve seen the water up over the softball field,” he said. “If I recall, at that point in time, it didn’t affect anything for the spring. I don’t see it affecting anything. It hasn’t caused any problem in the past, so I don’t see it causing a problem now.” [email protected] BY MIKE VITRON News Editor While most St. Bonaventure students stayed dry in their dorm rooms or townhouse apartments during last week’s flooding, off-campus students were left to hope floodwaters wouldn’t reach their homes. Excessive rain and snow caused the Allegheny River to crest close to six feet above flood stage according to a Dec. 3 article in The Buffalo News, forcing some students who live in off-campus hous - ing on East Union Street and South 7th Street in Allegany to evacuate their homes. Junior Aidan Breheny, who lives at 53 S. 7th St., more commonly known as The U.N., was one of those stu- dents. Police and an electri- cian visited him and his housemates and told them to shut off their electricity and leave the house Thursday. Breheny said the damage to his house, which is broken into two separate residences, was quite severe. “The back apartment got completely flooded, like almost a foot of water,” he said. “Our front apartment, it was dry, but our basement got filled to the top, like four or five feet of water. The stairs floated up and detached in the basement. Our electrical box, and all the heating and stuff like that, is completely destroyed. “That’s what we are waiting on, to move back in right now, because they have to replace all that stuff.” Breheny said he personally did not have any of his posses- sions damaged by the flooding, but some of his roommates were not so lucky. “I still have some electron - ics that I need to move out of there because it’s freezing in there right now,” he said. “But the back (apartment’s resi - dent’s) stuff got destroyed because they had standing water in their living room.” Chris Brown, coordinator for residential education and hous- ing, visited the students on East Union Street and South 7th Street and offered them places to stay on campus. “We’ve actually had one student take us up on the offer to live on campus tem- porarily,” Brown wrote in an e-mail. “His house was dam - aged pretty severely in the floods, and we offered him a room in Francis (Hall) while the repairs are being made.” Breheny said he and his housemates found different places to stay until they are given the green light to move back in. “We all split up, pretty much,” he said. “One of my roommates’ parents got a hotel; the school opened Francis for us; … I’ve just been staying at friends’ hous- es, wandering around.” Junior Cori Bolea, who lives at 46 South 7th Street, or Sick House, said the basement flooded a few inches but nothing more. She and her housemates have taken in some neighbors who weren’t as lucky. “We basically housed the whole (men’s) rugby team,” she said. “They were shower- ing at our house, and we were cooking for them, and a few of them slept on our couches.” Breheny said his landlord said he and his housemates may be able to move in today at the earliest, but the date has bumped back a couple of times. “They have to replace every - thing, and then an inspector has to come in and make sure everything is right.” [email protected] Francis Hall opens doors to evacuees as Red Cross shelter BY RYAN LAZO Assistant News Editor St. Bonaventure University’s administration offered Francis Hall’s San Damiano Center as an emergency Red Cross shel - ter last week to help commu - nity members displaced by flood damage. Heavy rainfall caused the Allegheny River to rise 12 feet in less than 24 hours starting Tuesday, Nov. 30. It crested early last Friday afternoon, Dec. 3. In Olean, the river rose to the height of 15.7 feet, 5.7 feet above the flood stage, according to a Dec. 3 article of The Buffalo News . Vito Czyz, director of Safety and Security, said the sheriff of Portville contacted him and asked for assis - tance once the river reached the flooding stage. “The sheriff asked if we were dry over here, and I told him we would be fine because of the big dike we have along the back (of cam- pus),” he said. “We believe the dike could withstand anywhere from 21 to 22 feet of water.” Czyz said the university was able to provide assistance because it received recent approval to become an American Red Cross shelter. “To be approved as a (shelter), you need to have a facility that meets a lot of different criteria,” he said. “For us, the San Damiano Center in Francis Hall met all of this criteria to allow us to help the community.” However, community mem- bers forced out of their homes due to the flooding didn’t use the San Damiano Center. They either went to the other local emergency shelter, which was set up in Portville, or a family mem - ber’s house, Czyz said. Off-campus students uti - lized Francis Hall as part of a special arrangement. In fact, some off-campus stu- dents went to security on Monday, Dec. 6 to ask for housing arrangements. “Off-campus students showed up (because) their houses are still flooded, and we already had rooms set up in Francis Hall to combat this kind of situation,” he said. “It is still open to off-cam- pus students now because there are houses out there still flooded.” Czyz said even though town evacuees didn’t utilize the San Damiano Center, the flood showed the university is capable of handling this type of natural disaster and helping out the community. “It was a good learning experience, since we had everything set up in such a timely manner,” he said. “We had the perfect location: we were dry, we had parking, we had a building capable of holding up to 100 evacuees. It was a decision the campus made at the last minute, and I think we came through.” [email protected] Sara Regal/The Bona Venture Fred Handler Park was one of the many St. Bonaventure ath- letic facilities affected by the Allegheny River flood last week. Image Courtesy of Megan Sudore The foot of South 7th St. in Allegany flooded last week, caus- ing some off-campus students to look for a place to stay. Washed out Winter weather kicks off with flooding Lauren Sale/The Bona Venture An American Red Cross trailer , filled with essential sup- plies, like food, sits outside Francis Hall for evacuees. Flooding drives some students from off-campus housing

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This is the Dec. 10 issue of "The Bona Venture," St. Bonaventure University's student-run newspaper.

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Page 1: The Bona Venture - Volume 83, Issue 13

www.thebv.org

C M Y K

Volume 85 • Issue 13 December 10, 2010

Nicholson netsconsecutivegame winners

Page 10

THEBONA VENTURE

Marie Dirle/The Bona VentureHannah Chesley/The Bona Venture

The BV asks:

Vote at www.thebv.org

Arts & Lifeoffers tips for

enhancing finalexam test scores

Page 8

What is the biggest win ofMark Schmidt’s career atBonaventure?

Athletic fields take on waterBY TYLERDIEDRICHSports Assignment Editor

Last week’s flooding of theMcGraw-Jennings AthleticFields is not expected to havea long-term impact on play-ing conditions.

Steve Campbell, associateathletic director for internaloperations, said he doesn’tthink there is much damage tothe fields, but has not hadtime to assess them since the12 to 18 inches of waterdrained because snow blan -keted the fields shortly after.

“We really don’t (know)because the water receded lateFriday afternoon without real-ly a clear chance to evaluateany of the fields (before itsnowed) Friday night andSaturday morning,” Campbellsaid. “When the time allows,and we can see the fields, obvi-ously we’ll take time to evalu -ate them to determine if therewere any long-term effects.”

The Allegheny River crestedto nearly six feet above floodstage in Olean last Thursday,according to a Dec. 3 article inThe Buffalo News, leaving thegrass softball, lacrosse/soccerand rugby fields and the artifi-cial-turf baseball field under12 to 18 inches of water.

Campbell said the only con-cern is for the baseball field,which he said has never beenunderwater during his 23years at the university.

“For the grass fields … Idon’t anticipate any damage,”Campbell said. “What wedon’t know would be the turfsituation; the rubber in theturf, did we lose a lot of that?There may be some sedimentthat settled in on top of theturf, so the field may need tobe cleaned.”

Campbell said the severity ofdamage to the baseball fieldwill not be known until anexpert evaluates it when snowclears the field.

“Until (people who installedthe field) can truly evaluatethe field, I don’t think any ofus have the expertise,” he said.“Unfortunately, we just didn’tget the window of time wherethey could get in, evaluate it,give us an idea of what may ormay not need to be done,either in March or when thetime allows.”

Campbell said he is opti-mistic there is little damagebecause the fields drainedvery quickly.

“As shocked as we were tosee (water) reach that (base-ball) field, I was moreshocked to see how quicklyit left that field,” he said. “Itwas like somebody opened adrain, and once that watertable subsided or receded toa level that the drains couldtake over … it went quick.Friday at 4:30, the onlything that remained was acouple puddled areas on thefield and the warning-trackbullpens, which (was) thearea that first got waterThursday morning.”

He added a little handiworkwill be necessary.

“You could see, as thewater receded, the debristhat had moved its way upthe bottom of the dikes andkind of attached to the fenc-ing, (as well as) a lot ofleaves and grit,” hesaid.”Aesthetically, there’sgoing to be a little cleanup,(but) we’ll deal with it.”

Softball coach MikeThreehouse said he didn’tnotice any damage to thesoftball field’s fences or

grass, and anticipates thefield will only need a fewsimple repairs.

“When we first looked at itbefore it snowed, everythinglooked OK — but you don’tknow until you get down thereand walk around on it,” hesaid. “By sight, there wasn’tanything other than a little bitof dirt. I stood on the hill,(and) it didn’t seem any differ-ent to me.”

The university has consid -ered installing artificial-turfsoccer, lacrosse and softballfields in the past, but nochange will be made until finalplans are known for athleticfields at the Castle property.

“To be honest with you,we’re kind of waiting to seewhat transpires across thestreet with the developmentover there and the fields thatare anticipated to go in on

that location,” Campbellsaid. “Certainly that wouldmake sense, to move ourgames to those locations,than to put another turf fieldon a known floodplain.”

Threehouse reiterated hedoesn’t think the flood willhave a long-term impact,based on his past experience.

“I’ve been here a longtime, (and) it’s the first time— I think since ‘92 — I’veseen the water up over thesoftball field,” he said. “If Irecall, at that point in time,it didn’t affect anything forthe spring. I don’t see itaffecting anything. It hasn’tcaused any problem in thepast, so I don’t see it causinga problem now.”

[email protected]

BY MIKE VITRONNews Editor

While most St. Bonaventurestudents stayed dry in theirdorm rooms or townhouseapartments during lastweek’s flooding, off-campusstudents were left to hopefloodwaters wouldn’t reachtheir homes.

Excessive rain and snowcaused the Allegheny River tocrest close to six feet aboveflood stage according to aDec. 3 article in The BuffaloNews, forcing some studentswho live in off-campus hous -ing on East Union Street andSouth 7th Street in Alleganyto evacuate their homes.

Junior Aidan Breheny, wholives at 53 S. 7th St., morecommonly known as TheU.N., was one of those stu-dents. Police and an electri-cian visited him and hishousemates and told them toshut off their electricity andleave the house Thursday.

Breheny said the damage tohis house, which is brokeninto two separate residences,was quite severe.

“The back apartment gotcompletely flooded, likealmost a foot of water,” hesaid. “Our front apartment, itwas dry, but our basementgot filled to the top, like fouror five feet of water. Thestairs floated up anddetached in the basement.Our electrical box, and all theheating and stuff like that, iscompletely destroyed.

“That’s what we are waitingon, to move back in right now,because they have to replace allthat stuff.”

Breheny said he personallydid not have any of his posses-sions damaged by the flooding,but some of his roommateswere not so lucky.

“I still have some electron -ics that I need to move out ofthere because it’s freezing inthere right now,” he said. “But

the back (apartment’s resi -dent’s) stuff got destroyedbecause they had standingwater in their living room.”

Chris Brown, coordinator forresidential education and hous-ing, visited the students on EastUnion Street and South 7thStreet and offered them placesto stay on campus.

“We’ve actually had onestudent take us up on theoffer to live on campus tem-porarily,” Brown wrote in ane-mail. “His house was dam -aged pretty severely in thefloods, and we offered him aroom in Francis (Hall) whilethe repairs are being made.”

Breheny said he and hishousemates found differentplaces to stay until they aregiven the green light to moveback in.

“We all split up, prettymuch,” he said. “One of myroommates’ parents got ahotel; the school openedFrancis for us; … I’ve justbeen staying at friends’ hous-es, wandering around.”

Junior Cori Bolea, who livesat 46 South 7th Street, or SickHouse, said the basementflooded a few inches butnothing more. She and herhousemates have taken insome neighbors who weren’tas lucky.

“We basically housed thewhole (men’s) rugby team,”she said. “They were shower-ing at our house, and we werecooking for them, and a few ofthem slept on our couches.”

Breheny said his landlordsaid he and his housematesmay be able to move in today atthe earliest, but the date hasbumped back a couple of times.

“They have to replace every -thing, and then an inspectorhas to come in and make sureeverything is right.”

[email protected]

Francis Hall opens doors toevacuees as Red Cross shelterBY RYAN LAZOAssistant News Editor

St. Bonaventure University’sadministration offered FrancisHall’s San Damiano Center asan emergency Red Cross shel -ter last week to help commu -nity members displaced byflood damage.

Heavy rainfall caused theAllegheny River to rise 12feet in less than 24 hours

starting Tuesday, Nov. 30. Itcrested early last Fridayafternoon, Dec. 3. In Olean,the river rose to the heightof 15.7 feet, 5.7 feet abovethe flood stage, according toa Dec. 3 article of TheBuffalo News.

Vito Czyz, director ofSafety and Security, said thesheriff of Portville contactedhim and asked for assis -tance once the river reached

the flooding stage.“The sheriff asked if we

were dry over here, and Itold him we would be finebecause of the big dike wehave along the back (of cam-pus),” he said. “We believethe dike could withstandanywhere from 21 to 22 feetof water.”

Czyz said the university wasable to provide assistancebecause it received recentapproval to become anAmerican Red Cross shelter.

“To be approved as a(shelter), you need to have afacility that meets a lot ofdifferent criteria,” he said.“For us, the San DamianoCenter in Francis Hall metall of this criteria to allow usto help the community.”

However, community mem-bers forced out of theirhomes due to the floodingdidn’t use the San DamianoCenter. They either went tothe other local emergencyshelter, which was set up inPortville, or a family mem -ber’s house, Czyz said.

Off-campus students uti -lized Francis Hall as part ofa special arrangement. In

fact, some off-campus stu-dents went to security onMonday, Dec. 6 to ask forhousing arrangements.

“Off-campus students showedup (because) their housesare still flooded, and wealready had rooms set up inFrancis Hall to combat thiskind of situation,” he said.“It is still open to off-cam-pus students now becausethere are houses out therestill flooded.”

Czyz said even though townevacuees didn’t utilize theSan Damiano Center, theflood showed the universityis capable of handling thistype of natural disaster andhelping out the community.

“It was a good learningexperience, since we hadeverything set up in such atimely manner,” he said. “Wehad the perfect location: wewere dry, we had parking, wehad a building capable ofholding up to 100 evacuees.It was a decision the campusmade at the last minute, andI think we came through.”

[email protected]

Sara Regal/The Bona Venture

Fred Handler Park was one of the many St. Bonaventure ath-letic facilities affected by the Allegheny River flood last week.

Image Courtesy of Megan Sudore

The foot of South 7th St. in Allegany flooded last week, caus-ing some off-campus students to look for a place to stay.

Washed out

Winter weather kicks off with flooding

Lauren Sale/The Bona Venture

An American Red Cross trailer , filled with essential sup-plies, like food, sits outside Francis Hall for evacuees.

Flooding drives some studentsfrom off-campus housing

Page 2: The Bona Venture - Volume 83, Issue 13

Bona

Page 2Dec. 10, 2010 • The Bona Venture www.thebv.org

C M Y K

Corrections & Clarifications

The Bona Venture is committed to accuracy. Please contact us at 716-375-2227or e-mail [email protected] to report any errors.

BriefsBonaResponds seeks volunteersBonaResponds will help out local flood victims this weekend andneeds student or faculty volunteers, even if they can only volun-teer for part of the day. Volunteers will meet in DresserAuditorium in Murphy at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. For more informa-tion visit http://BonaResponds.org.

Winter break bus tickets sell outThe NYC/NJ bus sold out, but students can still take the ShortLine Bus, located at 301 S.Union St., Olean, NY. Bus tickets cost$142.80 (cash only) roundtrip for a trip departng Dec. 17 at 9:45a.m. Sign up for a shuttle bus to the Olean Bus Station in RC 208.A return shuttle will be available on Sunday Jan. 16. For moreinformation, call 716-375-2506.

University asks students to complete survey St. Bonaventure's Office of Communications is entering studentsfor a chance to win one of 10 Apple iPad via the Princeton Reviewsurvey. The survey is available at http://survey.review.com/ss/.

University opens study spacesStudy spaces in Murphy 102, De La Roche 118, Plassmann’s firstfloor lounge, The Thomas Merton Center, Café La Verna,Robinson’s computer lab and Francis 122 wll be open 24 hours aday through Dec. 17. Safety and Security officers will check thesespaces freequently to ensure student safety.

By Steve MayerNews Assignment Editor

The City of Olean plan-ning board voting on theproposed new location ofthe Warming House wasdelayed until Monday, aftera public hearing

The university hosted aninformational meeting onMonday and the City ofOlean hosted a public hear-ing Wednesday. St. Bona-venture students, facultyand staff and concerned cit-izens asked questions aboutthe planned location on 164N. Union St.

Monday's meeting tookplace at Olean's FirstBaptist Church, and St.Bonaventure officials field-ed questions from atten-dees. Larry Sorokes, direc-tor of the Center forCommunity Engagement,said the prospective locationfor the Warming Housewill not cause people to loi-ter outside and is idealbecause it will be able toexpand its services.

“One of the things that'sexciting about this space isit gives us considerablemore square feet in orderto provide an office space,a classroom and areas forseminars, workshops andtrainings,” he said. “If any-one is to come in early, itwill only be to take a classor be a part of some sort ofa workshop, not to hangout outside.”

Wednesday's hearing atthe Olean Municipal Buildingallowed concerned commu-nity members, for or againstthe new location, to expresstheir views in front of planningboard members who will even-tually vote on the measure.

L.J. Sweet, president ofCouncil Optometric Centeron Union St., said, “164 N.Union St. is a prime location,and all the businesses on thisblock would like to see it

rented to a retail or compara-ble business that will drawshopping to downtown andenhance the street.”

Nicole Smith, a tenantabove the proposed loca-tion and former Bona-venture student, said nei-ther she nor anyone in thetown would like to liveabove the Warming House.

“My house and everythingin it is now going to smelllike food and grease,” shesaid. “There is a back doorwhich they want to use forthe entrance, which iswhere I park my vehicle. I,as well as the other tenantsliving there, are not OKwith paying to live abovethe Warming House.”

Brent Kelley, a residentof Belfast and an AlfredState College professor,said he has been involvedin the Warming House foryears, and financially privi-leged individuals have aduty to help those in need.

“It's hypocritical to acceptcommunity members onlywhen they have money tospend when they are cus-tomers,” he said. “Excludingthem from downtown is afailed attempt to do justthat - screen out those withcash to spend from thosethat come seeking help, shel-ter and a little bit of comfort.”

Jason Als, a senior at St.Bonaventure and volunteerat the Warming House,said the new location,which would admit guestsin the back through analley to avoid loitering infront of the building, isessential to helping thosein need.

“We are telling peoplewho live in the communityfor 30, 40 and some even50 years that they have toattend this place by goingthrough the back so we canpretend they do not exist,”he said. “It is bad enough,and it's telling them that

they are second-class mem-bers of the community.”

Sister Margaret Carney,O.S.F., university presidentcommended Olean commu-nity members for comingforward and giving theiropinions, no matter whatthey are.

“The worst thing thatcould happen in this com-munity would be for this tobe swept under the rug,”

she said. “However difficultand painful this has beenfor all of us to give and takein this dialogue, I thankpeople for the courage tospeak their truth and to letit be tested in the ongoinglife of this community.”

[email protected]

City board hears concerns

The Buzz sets musicplaylist for AE stores

Hannah Chesley/The Bona Venture

Eric Laine, a community member, feels the WarmingHouse is a neccessary component for Olean and shouldbe placed in the proposed location.

Last week’s “The BV Asks” results:Have you filled out your online course

evaluations?

See breakingnews as ithappens at

www.thebv.org

BY PAIGE WINSTON

Contributing Writer

WSBU-FM 88.3 TheBuzz’s playlist has been cho-sen by Filter Magazine, tobe featured in over 1,000American Eagle stores in theUS and Canada.

The magazine runs anationwide competitionevery year to select the win-ning playlist.

Peter Cauvel received ane-mail from Filter some-time last week in regards tothe opportunity.

“I was really surprisedand excited when I got thee-mail,” Cauvel said. “It'ssuch a huge opportunity tohave songs you chooseplaying in 1,000 stores.”

Adam Kroeger, program-ming director, said he, too,was surprised at being chosento represent American Eagle

“Nothing like this has everhappened before,” he said.”

Kroeger said he and threeother directors are respon-sible for compiling theplaylist for the contest.Sophomores Jessica Rehacand Victoria Detmering aregrouped along with seniorsCauvel and Kroeger tomake a 60- to 80-song list.

“We only send an Excelsheet with the song nameson it, and they take it fromthere,” Kroeger said. “We'll

have songs that are classic,iconic, upbeat and that fitthe college music genre.”

Kroeger and Cauvel's per-sonal contributions willinclude the bands CrystalCastles, The Cure, OfMontreal, The Smiths, TokyoMusic Club and Apple's inStereo. Also making anappearance on the lists arebands that have visited cam-pus this year, such as Paul'sGrandfather and DaleEarnhardt Jr. Jr.

Cauvel makes it known thatthe station could not havemade it here without the out-standing comments made tothe Princeton Review byBonaventure students.

“We've been rated so posi-tively by St. Bonaventurestudents,” Cauvel said. “(Nowthey will) hear WSBU's playlistin American Eagle stores.”

[email protected]

STUDENTS AND PROFESSORS TAKE ICYDIP INTO LAKE ERIE FOR CHARITY

Photo courtesy of Sarah BeichnerFrom left to right, seniors Sarah Beichner and Meghan Perschke prepare to enter the 44-degree waters of Lake Erie at last Saturday's Polar Plunge event at Hamburg Beach, N.Y.,sponsored by Special Olympics New York. Organized by Students in Free Enterprise(SIFE), the Bonaventure team, 18 students in all, participated under the name "The BadIce Bonnies" and raised approximately $2,500 for the Special Olympics New York.Overall, the event drew more than 1,000 participants and raised nearly $150,000, accord-ing to a Dec. 5 The Buffalo News article.

No

Yes, and didnot mind

6 Votes No votes for “Yes,and I hated it”

Community members voice their opinions onthe proposed relocation of the Warming House

Candid quotes from the community“There are many choices in the community to house this opera-

tion. I feel Union Street is not one of them.”—L.J. Sweet, president of Council Optometric Center

“We’re advocates for finding a win-win solution ... and we’reproud of all of (both sides) for caring so deeply about the future

of Olean.”—Meme Yanetsko, chief operating officer of the Chamber of Commerce for Olean.

“I understand very well the fears of business owners, whichmay not be entirely unwarranted, but they represent the cul-

tural attitude that we need as a community to overcome.—Barry Gan, professor of professor of philsophy at St. Bonaventure.

Image courtesy of http://smartcanucks.ca

American Eagle shoppers tohear music picked by the Buzz.

Page 3: The Bona Venture - Volume 83, Issue 13

The City of Olean initiated the move of the WarmingHouse in order to make the student-run soup kitchenmore economically beneficial.

However, some residents harbor concerns aboutunsightly groups of visitors who stand on the sidewalk,who talk on their phones and smoke while waiting forthe Warming House to open,according to a Dec. 3 BonaVenture article. They're con-cerned more homeless people willtake advantage of The Warming House's services,resulting in the sight of more homeless people aroundthe city.

The concern with the outward appearance of theWarming House's guests as they wait outside the build-ing is trivial compared to the benefits the soupkitchen provides.

The Warming House has a positive atmosphere. Itbrings people together for a meal and gives families oneless thing to worry about in terms of putting food on thetable. Why aren't citizens focusing on that rather thanthe aesthetics of the guests?

The holiday season seems like an ironic time to worryover the number of homeless people utilizing theWarming House. For a season that is always associatedwith generosity and giving to others, it's not exactly thetime to move a place that focuses on just that.

The priorities of those fearing an increase of WarmingHouse guests are out of line. The Warming House pro-vides an invaluable service to the community, giving toall at the most important time of the year.

This isn't the end of my “good journey” here at St.Bonaventure University, but it's one big step away fromsomething that made life extraordinary for me.

When I walked in to The Bona Venture newsroom asa freshman with wide eyes and narrow interests — andDenny Wilkins' ominous presence lurking in the corner,— I knew what I wanted with my life. A passion forsports and an interest in writing flung me on a sportswriter's career path since the seventh grade, and sharp-ening my skills in good old-fashioned student journal-ism made sense to me.

In my seven semesters with The BV that's about the onlything that made sense to me.

They may call it a 'deadline,' but anyone near the firstfloor of Robinson Hall Wednesday nights knows there's noatmosphere more alive as press time approaches.

In my first exposure to a BV Wednesday, I saw RyanO'Reilly hurling a waffle ball into Jeff Madigan's invisiblecatcher's mitt to fan an invisible batter. I heard AlexFioravanti yelling … at someone about something. Ismelled the warm, sweet scent of Domino’s pizza sauce.

I was hooked.The atmosphere changed, from week to week, day to

day, hour to hour. The soundtrack changed, from Lil'Wayne to The Lonely Island to Whitney Houston toStarship, all playing above the bass line of newsroom chat-ter and journalists' camaraderie.

That newsroom chatter — with the word 'jamoke'included in journalistic jargon — escalated every timeMJ Stevens and the sports guys debated Dana Mitchell'sdominance in the post versus Andrew Nicholson'sprowess in the paint. Or whenever Jake goaded Bryaninto political debates.

The more I wrote and contributed to The BV, themore I understood a side of journalism I couldn't learnin Denny's “subject, verb, object, verbal phrase” lec-ture or Hanchette's “confusing words” examples. Iunderstood how important people are in the process.

In a practical sense, someone could run a newspaperwithout ever making connections with his or her associ-ates. Communication in the 21st century implies textmessages and e-mails and @Mentions.

But without the face-to-face interactions, without the

jokes and the games and the pranks and the laughs and theoccasional screaming match, the process feels empty.

The sing-alongs to Scott Stapp, the impromptu footballgames, the spontaneous SBU claps and the team effortsin Sporcle turn The BV into something bigger than the11-by-14-inch pages it's printed on.

Behind every byline, there's a story. Behind everyheadshot, there are a thousand memories. Behind everystaff box, there's a group of people, from different placeswith different destinations, who made sacrifices andplaced their efforts into a weekly paper.

I couldn't have had a better group of people to sharea staff box with.

I shared a lot of things with the staff, including a 7 a.m.breakfast at the Hickey last semester, the YouTubevideo of the destructive polar bear, conversations wellinto Thursday morning or Thursday night, and laughsover - well, just about anything at 3 a.m. I may havebeen 'in charge,' but they made me a better editor and astronger person every time we spent in the newsroom.

Sure, there's a price to pay. The time and the energyrequired to write for, contribute to, and eventually run anewspaper sucked a little bit out of my grade-point aver-age. The demands and tie-ups associated with the commit-ment alienated me from my friends and classmates everyWednesday, but through that I developed new friendshipswith people I would never expect to get along with. Theeditor-in-chief's chair called for me to make some unpop-ular decisions and stress out over the little things.

But it was worth it.I learned from the best: Ruthie Harper, as harsh with a

red pen as she is kind with her patience; Charlie Specht,indestructible in body and temperament; Ryan O’Reillywith his contagious energy; and Kristy Kibler and herunwavering composure. They set the example, and I can-not thank them enough for giving me this opportunity.

It's an opportunity I hope I can pass along to next semes-ter's BV leadership. Amanda Klein and Kait Laubscherhave the talent (and sass) to keep The BV sharp, strongand fun next semester, and it will be fun to see the new lev-els they can reach.

After all of this, I still know what I want with my life. Istill have the same passion for sports, the same interest inwriting. But after seven semesters in the newsroom, twowall quotes, scores of articles, a few cartoons and countlessmemories, I realize The BV made the journey good. Andthat I served part of its journey, connecting staff boxes andthe people behind them through some of the best times ofmy college career.

Opinion

C M Y K

Page 3The Bona Venture • Dec. 10, 2010

City of Olean shouldembrace holiday spirit

StaffEditorial

www.thebv.org

TimGross

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Sometimes I wonder if ThomasJefferson left something out of thatfamous second sentence of theDeclaration of Independence. Sure, allmen (or for political correctness’ sake,people) are created equal, and we allhave those big three unalienable rights— life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

But Americans, and I’m sure othernationalities, seem to think there’s afourth big unalienable right in theDeclaration — the right to complain.

The Constitution guarantees freedomof speech, but for the love of whatevergod you pray to, know the differencebetween good complaining and badcomplaining.

The Transportation SecurityAdministration’s (TSA) new safetymeasures provide a perfect example ofbad complaining. Travelers, pundits,doctors and your neighbor’s dog (well,maybe not the dog) have all expressedconcern over the new measures thatinclude using more full-body scannersand more invasive pat downs.

One comment posted in response to aNov. 23 CNN.com article about theTSA’s security policies epitomized theover-analytical, I’m-going-to-com-plain-for-the-sake-of-complainingstance people are beginning to take.The user’s comment used the Constitutionto bash the new procedures saying theFourth Amendment guarantees protec-tion from illegal searches. The com-ment goes on to read, “The governmenthas hijacked the relationship betweenyou and the people you’ve hired to getyou from point A to point B. Justbecause of previous lapses in theirintelligence efforts enabled some peo-ple to do something terrible doesn’t

mean you lose your rights.”True, but this perspective is ignoring

the other side of the situation. If thegovernment didn’t try to bulk up air-port security, the public would freakout, claim our government didn’t careand proclaim the White House wantsthe terrorists to win.

I’ve got news for this delusional CNNreader and other like-minded folks —every government action does notcome down to “the man” trying tosquash your precious individual liber-ties. Every little thing that happens inthis country does not boil down tosome Constitutional Amendment, soplease, stop acting like it does.

And if I see that Ben Franklin quote“Those who would give up essential lib-erty to purchase a little temporary safe-ty deserve neither liberty nor safety”one more time, I’m going to go ballistic.

Individual liberties are important.They’re part of what makes America,well, America. But there are so manyother things to complain about.

According to the World HealthOrganization (WHO), an estimated 1.7billion people still lack access to cleanwater, and 2.3 billion people sufferfrom water-borne diseases each year.

I’m guessing most of those 1.7 billionpeople without clean water aren’t put-ting much thought into their right toprivacy, but they’re probably wonder-ing why they contract cholera whenthey drink from the nearby river.

We need to complain for these peoplebecause they can’t. Complaining forthem embodies all those hallowed lib-erties and rights and morals weAmericans are always talking about.Complaining for them is our chance tohelp our brothers and sisters through-out the world.

And that, that is good complaining.

Complainers should reassess

Bryan Jackson is an associate editorfor The Bona Venture. His e-mail is [email protected].

Editor-in-chief bids The BV farewell

Circulation staff: Jake Sonner, Dan BatesE-mail: [email protected]: Drawer X, St. Bonaventure, N.Y., 14778Advertising phone: (716) 375-2591Editor-in-Chief: (716) 375-2227

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those of the individual writer, not The Bona Venture, its staff or advisers,

or of St. Bonaventure University. The opinions expressed in editorials are

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THE BONA VENTUREEstablished in 1926

BryanJackson

Tim Gross is the editor-in-chief for The BonaVenture. His e-mail is [email protected].

Page 4: The Bona Venture - Volume 83, Issue 13

In 2009, nine states had obese popula-tions of 30 percent or more, according to theCenter for Disease Control (CDC).

That’s three more states than 2008 andsix more than the year before.

The CDC currently estimates America has1.7 million obese adults. But obesity itselfdoes not worry me.

Instead, I fret the culture of obesity. Obesity recurs perennially in the

media. News outlets and interest groupspitch statistics at us daily. Jon Stewarteven satirized the extensive coverage in“America (the Book): A Citizen’s Guide toDemocracy Inaction.”

Anti-obesity legislation circulates inCongress. I found 40 bills for the last twoyears alone when I searched “obesity” atTHOMAS.gov, a site that monitorsCongressional bills.

Some aim to improve school lunches.Others fund physical education. One estab-lishes a National Childhood ObesityAwareness Month.

Obesity affects private industry. A recentstudy by The Federal Trade Commissionestimates Americans spend about $34 bil-lion per year on dieting products — fromsurgeries to video.

Americans also spent $148 million in

obesity-related health care costs for2008, an increase from past years,according to the CDC.

Statistics continue to fly. Legislation con-tinues to pass. The dieting industry grows.Medical spending climbs.

But obesity persists. We must treat the causes of obesity, not

the symptoms. And that requires ourown effort. Statistics and information canhelp. But we must keep our personalhealth in mind.

For example, our schedules often dictateour diets.

I notice a common trend among my fellowtheater folks as opening night nears. Wescarf pizza down our throats without enjoy-ment, clipping our dinners into five-minutegluts as we rush to rehearsal.

With less time, we choose quick, conven-ient — and usually unhealthy — eatingoptions. Most Americans relate. But few of

us take the connection seriously. Instead, we continually take on more

stress and pack our schedules with activity,sacrificing our diet.

Or we attempt diets we can’t maintain.The CDC estimates two-thirds of Americansare dieting at any given time. Only five per-cent have success.

Most of these diets follow fads. Somenutritionists consider these unhealthyand — in some cases — dangerous. Butthey mostly fail because one can’t followthem forever. They get tiring. And onceone drops them, the weight loss stopsand weight gain returns.

Successful dieting begins with respect —not fear, and not force. If we respect our-selves, we should respect our diet. It fuels usand provides our body materials to live.

We shouldn’t make it uncomfortablethrough starvation or push it throughunnatural diets.

This self-respect — which often grows tolove — can be a valuable motive that statis-tics, legislation and dieting books can’t offer.Dieting can be difficult. We need all the helpwe can get.

What’s more narcissisticthan sharing your everythought with the world?

Assuming the world willstop if you shut up.

This precise egomaniacal pre-sumption fueled the “DigitalDeath” movement amongcelebrities hoping to raise fundsfor AIDS research. Big-namestars like Kim Kardashian,Justin Timberlake and AliciaKeys told their fans they wouldstop tweeting until peopledonated $1 million to AIDSresearch, starting on Dec. 1.

Unfortunately — for the stars’egos — fans found self-impor-tant verbal diarrhea less valu-able than money in their pock-ets. I wonder if people were, ina sad turn, less likely to donatein order to avoid the nigh-con-stant assault of informationfrom celebrities.

This is not to say that whenstars like Kim Kardashiantweet, no one listens. Kardashianalone has more than 5.5 millionfollowers. However, her fansdidn’t seem to consider herthoughts indispensable enoughto shell out cash for them.

They may have had goodreason.

A few nuggets fromKardashian’s Twitter beforeshe “died”:

“Gonna twitpic some cutepics of me and my friendstoday! I miss you guys when Iam traveling!” she tweetedNov. 28. She followed that upwith seven tweets, includinglinks to pictures Kardashianand her friends and family sit-ting next to one another.

This stream of photos wasfollowed immediately by “I’mproud of myself today … I ateso healthy!”

The next day, we get a play-by-play of Kardashian’s day,from waking up (“Rise andgrind! Up early 4 a full day ofpress …”) to what she hears onthe radio (“Just heard K Foxxshout us out and KardashianKonfidential on Hot 97! …”) toself-promotion (“Just left theToday Show w Matt Lauer nowon my way to see my goodfriend Greta Van Sustren onFox business!”) to mundanehobbies (“Put super cute pics of(her infant son) Mase on mynew calendar”).

And that’s just within a

couple of hours.Twitter certainly has its

applications. It’s not all unfil-tered brain-to-keys drivel.However, much of it, especiallyfrom celebrities, is. The worldsuffered no great loss whensome chose to stop tweeting.

And that, really, is a shame.AIDS research is without adoubt a worthy cause.

Feeding celebrities’ inflatedsense of self-worth, however,is not. The campaign hadraised around $300,000 bythe evening of Dec. 5, fivedays into the campaign,according to a Dec. 6 LosAngeles Times blog post.

By around noon the next day,Dec. 6, the Keep a Child Alivefund — the recipient of thesetweet-hungry dollars — hadraised $500,000, accordingto a Dec. 7 article onTheMoneyTimes.com.

Hours later, pharmaceuticalsmagnate Stewart Rahr donatedthe remaining $500,000 need-ed to return celebrities toTwitter, according to the Dec. 6Los Angeles Times post.

In the end, everybody won.Keep a Child Alive got $1 mil-lion, and some celebrities got, Ihope, taken down a peg.

As donations trickled inover the first five days of the“Digital Death” campaign, I’dlike to think these celebritieswere able to take a step backand consider just what madetheir tweets less valuable tothe public than they’d origi-nally thought.

What, you may ask, wasKardashian’s first tweet backfrom her harrowing brushwith obscurity?

Well, after a tweet to announceher return to Twitter, shedecided to tell her followersabout how she plans to moveforward with her life afterlearning some valuable lessons:“Decided to model a few piecesfrom my Belle Noel line! (link)I can’t wait to share the wholecollection with you guys!”

On Nov. 18, George W. Bush, 43rdpresident of the United States ofAmerica, watched two of his many publicgaffes replayed on “The Tonight Showwith Jay Leno.”

The first showed the former presidentdancing at a White House ceremony rais-ing awareness for malaria in Africa. Lenocontrasted the clip with current PresidentBarack Obama busting his own move.Leno asked Bush who was a betterdancer, to which the Texas-native replied“President Obama.”

In the second clip, Bush finishedaddressing a crowd in China and tried toexit stage left, only to find the doubledoors locked. He yanked hard on thefirst, tried the second and turned andfaced the audience with that timelesssheepish grin. Before Leno could make aquick-witted quip, Bush suggested, “Nowthere’s a man without an exit strategy.”

Promoting his new biography, “DecisionPoints,” Bush refused Leno’s attempts atdragging him into a political discussion.

He has not, to this date, commented onthe current administration’s policies.

He has not endorsed any Republicancandidate besides his brother JebBush, who will not run for president inthe next elections.

His only comment on suspectedRepublican candidate Sarah Palin was thatshe was a kind and thoughtful woman.

The highs and lows of the Bush presiden-cy are well documented. He hit a presiden-tial-best 90 percent approval in the wake ofthe 9/11 terrorist attacks and a record-low20 percent in November, 2008.

But how will history remember the two-term president?

The criticisms of the War in Iraq are wellfounded. After seven years of fighting in theregion, we have given up hope of ever find-ing the weapons of mass destruction thatsupposedly threatened America’s security.

But Lyndon B. Johnson (Vietnam) andWilliam McKinley (Spanish-AmericanWar) also had debatable causes for war.

War pulled funding away from Bush’ssocial programs and sunk the nation deep-er into an already-cavernous deficit.

All the while, the nation began to view thepresident as a simpleton and a countrybumpkin from Texas.

But there are positives.Bush aggressively responded to

Americans seeking justice for the casual-ties of 9/11 with a swift engagement ofthe Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.Mercifully, America has not known a ter-rorist attack to the extent of 9/11 in thenine years since the planes crashed intothree landmark buildings and aPennsylvania field.

Bush courageously tossed economic ideol-ogy out a White House window and avoidedbecoming the next Herbert Hoover when hebailed out critical economic institutionsbefore they failed entirely.

Hoover, commonly thought of as one ofthe worst presidents, foolishly stood fast by

his trickledown theory, that the large cor-porations would eventually succeed andpull the nation from the Great Depression.

Bush’s tenure will surely be rememberedin terms of the most tragic and uncontrol-lable events in our nation’s history.

Less than a full year into his first term, hewas forced to deal with the most violentattack on American citizens by a foreignentity since the day that will live in infamy.

In August, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hitland in Louisiana, causing nearly $81 bil-lion in damages.

In December, 2007, recession struck, ashousing markets that had been experienc-ing rapid growth collapsed. The result wasan economic slump approaching the severi-ty of the Great Depression.

Bush acknowledges his successes and fail-ures readily. But he told Leno he was atpeace with all his actions, comfortableknowing he took his time to make the mostconfident and informed decisions possible.

Leno thanked Bush for all the material heprovided the comedian over his eight years,and Bush took it in stride saying he wasrarely awake to watch the Late Night Show.

History may look more favorably on Bushthan expected.

Plenty went wrong for the 43rd presidentin his eight years in office, but much of thenegative is centered on inconceivableevents like Katrina and 9/11. The good ofBush’s administration will be easier to seewith the passage of time.

Opinion

C M Y K

www.thebv.org

JakeSonner

Page 4Dec. 10, 2010 • The Bona Venture

Brett Keegan is a staff writer for The BonaVenture. His e-mail [email protected].

CameronDeOrdio

BrettKeegan

Cameron DeOrdio is the copyeditor for The Bona Venture. Hise-mail [email protected]

Jake Sonner is an associate editor for The Bona Venture. His e-mail [email protected]

The Fall 2010Razzberries

The members of the editorial boardof The Bona Venture present ourbiannual awards to members of theuniversity community.

The Without a PaddleAward goes to the AlleghenyRiver for forcing off-campusstudents to evacuate theirhomes. At least MyBar is wetagain.

The No Soup For YouAward goes to Mayor ofOlean, Linda Witte, for tellingthe Warming House patronswhere they can and can’t gettheir soup.

The Green Award goes tothe Hickey Dining Hall for itssteadfast use of styrofoamonly days after sustainabilityweek. There’s nothing likegoing green.

The LeBron James Awardgoes to the Hickey dish-washer for withholding itstalents throughout thesemester.

The Livin’ La Vida LokoAward goes to Four Loko forkeeping our buzz going ... andgoing ... and going ... Guessit’s back to vodka and RedBull. Thanks, FDA.

The Noncomformist Awardgoes to The Buzz for refusing toget their license like main-stream radio stations. At leastwe had Four Loko to keep ourBuzz going.

The Forever Young Awardgoes to St. BonaventureUniversity for still claimingit’s the 150th anniversarythree years later. Take downthe signs, already.

The We Knew It WasGoing In, Eh? Award goesto Andrew Nicholson forstopping the show two gamesin a row.

THE BONA VENTUREis pleased to announce its staff for the Spring 2011 semester:

Editor-in-Chief:Amanda Klein

Managing Editor:Kait Laubscher

News Editor:Ryan LazoNews Assignment Editor:Mark BelcherOpinion Editor:Maria HayesOpinion Assignment Editor:Chris GrahamOpinion Assistant Editor:Mary BestFeatures Editor:Elizabeth GradyFeatures Assignment Editor:Kaitlin LindahlAssistant Features Editor:Alexandra SalernoSports Editor:Tyler DiedrichSports Assignment Editor:Sam WilsonAssistant Sports Editor:Kyle ZamiaraChief Photographer:Sara RegalAssistant Photographer:Marie Dirle

Assistant Photographer:Hannah ChesleyAdvisory Editors:Tim GrossKristy KiblerAssociate Editors:Dan BatesJake SonnerBryan JacksonSamantha HouseJess KumorBecky McKeownRyan PapasergeMike VitronCopy Editor:Cameron DeOrdioPromotions EditorTony LeeEmilee LindnerChief Financial Officer:Tim GrossSGA Representative:Jess KumorAdvertising Manager:Katelyn SchrockFaculty Adviser:John Hanchette

Legislation should focus on symptoms

Bush presidency judged unfairly Tweeting celebs shouldre-evaluate priorities

Page 5: The Bona Venture - Volume 83, Issue 13

Arts and Life Page 5The Bona Venture • Dec. 10, 2010

C M Y K

www.thebv.org

Happy Holidays!‘The Christmas Song’ takes top holiday music spotBY TYLER DIEDRICH

Sports Assignment Editor

It certainly is the most won-derful time of the year, and theappropriate tunes have takenover airwaves worldwide.There isn’t enough room in thiscolumn to list all of the deserv-ing songs, making a list of thebest difficult to narrow down,but we did it anyway. There isvery little separating thesesongs, but enjoy the top 10 andlet the debating begin.

10.) “Christmas (Baby,Please Come Home)”– U2(1987)

Let’s be honest, Bono couldmake the alphabet a chart top-per. It doesn’t take much formodern groups to spawn disas-ter when they put their ownspin on a Christmas classic(have you heard Miley Cyrus’rendition of “Rockin’ Aroundthe Christmas Tree?” If youhave the choice, don’t). Butcombining of one of the great-est modern-rock groups of alltime with a 1963 Darlene Lovehit worked, maintaining U2’slegendary sound while captur-ing the spirit of the season.

9.) “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” – GeneAutry (1949), Burl Ives (1964)

What kid’s favorite holidaytune isn’t the tale of the misfitwho became a Christmas hero?Whether it’s Autry’s original orIves’ version — used for theiconic TV special of the samename — this song serves up aslice of nostalgia, taking listen-ers back to childhoodChristmas dreams.

8.) “The Little DrummerBoy” — Bing Crosby andDavid Bowie (1977), Bob Seger(1987)

The unlikely pairing of leg-endary crooner Crosby and theeccentric Bowie, 43 years apartin age, somehow avoided awk-wardness and worked won-drously in their 1977 duet. Thepair recorded the song, whichincluded Bowie’s counter-point melody, “Peace onEarth,” one month prior toCrosby’s death. Seger’s rendi-tion manages to maintain apleasing Christmas feel amidmodern-rock edge, featuringmethodical drum beat andsome well-placed saxophone.

7.) “It’s the MostWonderful Time of theYear” — Various artists

As if you needed anyreminder, this song reinforcesthe excitement of the season bytaking the audience on aneventful journey through theseason, seemingly a perfect fitfor just about any Christmassocial setting. Andy Williamsbelted out the original — andmost popular, according toiTunes — in 1963, while

Johnny Mathis (1986) andAmy Grant (1992) have alsorecorded memorable versions.

6.) “(There’s No PlaceLike) Home for theHolidays” — Perry Como(1954)

No, there sure isn’t. This songevokes the best feeling in theworld if you hear it while head-ing home from, say, a semesterof college. The pumpkin-pieline of this ballad hits homeevery single time. It’s a fittingsong for Thanksgiving, too.

Bravo, Perry.

5.) “Sleigh Ride” —Various artists, first written byLeroy Anderson (1948)

If you’re not in a Christmassymood, this song — any versionof it — will knock you in to onewith the crack of a whip. Theultimate Christmas orchestrasong features a rapid tempoand an array of percussioninstruments, mostly for horsesound effects. The Boston PopsOrchestra brought the song tofame in 1949, under Arthur

Fiedler’s direction, and hasplayed it regularly ever since.Its success has spawned manyvocal recordings; most notablyby Johnny Mathis (1958), EllaFitzgerald (1960),The Ronettes(1963), The Carpenters (1978),Amy Grant (1983) and DebbieGibson (1992).

4.) “WonderfulChristmastime” — PaulMcCartney (1979)

One’s assessment of this songcorrelates directly to his or heropinion on synthesizers. Welike them. This is a perfectChristmas party song, evokingimages of friends sharing somelaughs and eggnog while wear-ing festive sweaters; feelingsthat only come this time ofyear, as the former Beatle says.

3.) “Deck the Halls” –Mannheim Steamroller (1984)

Again with the synthesizer!Although, there’s really no wayyou can’t like this song. It’s oneof very few Christmas songsthat might actually get youpumped up for a football game.With apologies to The Muppets,Mannheim Steamroller’s strict-ly instrumental version trumps— just as the group does withalmost every song it performs— all sung versions of thissong.

2.) “Do You Hear What IHear?” – Bing Crosby (1963),Andy Williams (1965),Whitney Houston (1987),Vanessa Williams (1996)

Rising from a dramatic entryto a triumphant climax, thisspirited anthem is difficult tobotch. Crosby catapulted thesong to holiday-hit status

before Andy Williams and hisgolden voice unleashed a bril-liant cover two years later.Houston’s stirring renditionand Vanessa Williams’ soulfulversion join the two crooners’recordings as four that standout most among many editionsof this classic.

1.) “The Christmas Song(Chestnuts Roasting on anOpen Fire)” – Nat King Cole(1961), Michael Buble (2003)

It was inevitable. The ‘King’of Christmas music set thescene of the season beautifullywith the original version,which was unmatched untilBuble established himself asthe 21st century’s Christmascrooner with his rendition. Thesong taking the top spot encap-sulates all the warmth andcomfort of Christmastime, andpeacefully mixes it in to athree-to-four-minute frame. Ifthe previous nine songs havefailed to put you in theChristmas spirit, the meremention of this song and itsopening line will.

BY KAITLIN LINDAHL

Assistant Features Editor

Christmas Eve is a mere two weeks away. With thattight deadline, the scramble for gifts is underway. Butif your hands are seeking pockets not for warmth, butfor spare change and the occasional stray dollarinstead, fret no more. With a few simple tips, you cangive excellent, inexpensive gifts without scroungingaround for extra money.

The first tip is to play up your talents. Many timespeople overlook using their talents for potential gift-bearing sources. Are you a skilled musician? If so, youcould record yourself playing a few of your sibling’sfavorite songs. Are you crafty in the kitchen? Make aplethora of Christmas goodies for your roommate.Have a knack for fashion? Make your best friend astylish necklace or bracelet with beads. Want to flexyour artistic muscles? Buy a plain picture frame, dec-orate it with jewels, puff paint, stickers or anythingelse you can think of, and then print out a picture andplace it in the frame.

Homemade, or “do-it-yourself,” gifts are meaning-ful because they’re an extension of you and your tal-ents. People will appreciate the time, energy andthought you put into their gift. And the best part? It’s100 percent personalized.

In addition, many of the supplies for homemadegifts cost less than $10, and can often yield morethan one gift. If you want to make jewelry, you canfind cord for less than $2 and packages of beads foras little as 90 cents. If baking is your forte, you canpurchase brownie mix or cookie dough for less than$3. If you want to try a craft, The Dollar Tree offersa variety of picture frames and various stickers andpaints, and photo prints at Walmart can cost as lowas nine cents.

Tip number two is to use your resources. Chancesare you have access to the Internet. You use the webto find sources for research papers, so why not searchit for inexpensive gift ideas? If you’re shopping for aspecific someone, from a significant other to a co-worker, you can narrow down your search to suityour needs. In addition, you can search for do-it-yourself crafts and projects. If you already have a giftin mind, you may be able to find it for less using web-sites like eBay.com or Amazon.com.

Tip number three is to take advantage of discountstores like Dollar General and Family General. Thesestores are filled with great gift items for low prices. Agreat way to take advantage of them is to make a giftbasket. First, choose a theme, like “Spa Day,” and fillthe basket with bubble bath, a sponge and a couplescented candles. The basket ideas are endless — fromCar Wash (sponges, soap, wax and air fresheners in abucket) to Movie Night (chips, popcorn, candy andsoda) — and you can be as creative as you want.

The holidays can be stressful, especially on a tightbudget, but heeding the tips above can help alleviatesome of the tension. So stop digging between the sofacushions, leave the center console in your car aloneand start gifting thrifty.

A thrifty butnifty Christmas BY ALEXANDRA SALERNO

Staff Writer

Home. It’s something college stu-dents often pine for during thedreadful weeks leadin g up tofinals. During this time, all theyneed are subtle reminders of theseason.

Around the gloomy finals time,what’s needed is something to makepeople anticipate the wonderfulupcoming month-long break. Unfortunately, college studentsaren’t known for unlimited amountsof cash, but Christmas on a budgetdoesn’t have to mean eating ramennoodles while listening to Christmascarols. A cheap version of the holi-days at home would be a comfort tothose who wish they were at home.

Decorating a small space, such asa dorm room can be challenging,especially with the rules and regula-tions that come with it. According tohousing policy, students are notallowed to use candles or Christmaslights. However, the policy is relaxedduring the holidays to allowChristmas lights, though they haveto be taken down before theChristmas break. Although it’sdebatable how many students followthis rule, dorm rooms also cannothave more than 10 percent of wallspace covered. Students may alsonot use extension cords or have anysort of decorating hanging from theceiling pipes.

Theme decorating is an easy andfun way to decorate on a budget. Theoutcome of theme decorating makesfor a wonderful ambiance that con-trasts a normally stark dorm roomand can make even the biggestScrooge of the season get into theChristmas spirit. The most fun partof theme decorating is the ability ofindividuals to take their creativity asfar as possible, stretching the themeto levels of ridiculousness thatwouldn’t normally be acceptable anyother time of year.

A popular theme is winter won-derland. With such a broad-themedroom as winter wonderland, resi-dents can go in a variety of differentdirections, but one of the mostentertaining is as easy as a stack ofwhite printer paper — cut outsnowflakes! Just like back in ele-mentary school, cutting outsnowflakes into beautiful shapes canactually be a great decoration, andfilling up the empty walls of a dormroom will present a Christmas-filledatmosphere in no time.

Realistically, gift giving and get-ting may be considered a large partof the holiday tradition, but as a col-lege student, shopping on a budgetis rather difficult. Olean isn’t exactlythe shopping Mecca of the world. Tospice up gift giving this holiday sea-son while still maintaining a budget,try secret Santa with a twist. DollarStore secret Santa is a fun way togive friends gag presents while stillkeeping the spirit of the season. Fora price limit of whatever everyoneagrees on, whether it be three or fivedollars, participants have to buy asmuch as they can with a set amountat the local dollar store in Olean.

Of course, what wouldChristmastime be withoutChristmas music? If you’re sick ofhearing the same annoying coverof “All I Want For Christmas IsYou” blasting out of dorm roomsacross your floor, why not spice itup with a more original holiday

collection? Target.com is offering14 free eclectic holiday songs fordownload straight off the websitethat can add to even the most tradi-tional holiday music tastes.Alternatively or even additionally,holiday playlists can be made onPandora, the free online radio.

Sometimes reminders of celebra-tions of seasons past are often verysimple — perhaps as simple as bak-ing cookies. Baking cookies is a stan-dard of holiday merriment, and stu-dents can choose to be either tradi-tional or nontraditional. First, stu-dents can go the traditional sugarcookie route, which includes ready-made cookie dough, icing, sprinklesand lots of other decorations.Baking sugar cookies from already-made dough is easy for even themost baking-inept college studentbecause all that needs to be done isfollow the instructions. Cookie cut-ters can make the whole scenario

even more festive with Christmas-shaped cookies, which can bebought at most major supermarkets.

Students who need a kitchen forbaking during the holiday season cangain easy access to either the ThomasMerton Center kitchen or the kitchenin the basement of Shay Hall or thefirst floor of Falconio Hall. TheThomas Merton Center kitchen canbe reserved by contacting DebbyMoony, whose office is in the center,and all that is required is that stu-dents follow the easy rules of thekitchen posted on the refrigerator.

For the more adventurous bakerwho wants to try something a littleless ordinary can try festive cheese-cake cookie bars (see below). Theycan be made with very few ingredi-ents, but for those who like to try dif-ferent holiday baked goods, they area fun treat. All that is needed arechocolate chip cookie dough, creamcheese, sugar and eggs, which meanthat the tasty treats can be made rel-atively cheap.

December brings with it theexcitement of the holidays, butunfortunately for college students italso brings the stresses that comewith the end of the semester. It’seasy to get swept up with all thepressure that is simultaneous withfinals and end of term, but hopefullywith just a few subtle collegeChristmas tricks, the last few schooldays of the year will fly by, and theholidays can be celebrated with fam-ily at home.

10The

most festive songsof the season

Images compiled from various sources

Nat King Cole (above) and Bing Crosby (bottom right)reign as marquee Christmas crooners.

Christmas: College Style

CHEESECAKE COOKIE BARSINGREDIENTS

2 packages (18 ounces each) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened1/2 cup sugar2 eggs

PREPARATION:1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 13x9-inch baking pan. Let bothpackages of dough stand at room temperature about 15 minutes.2. Reserve three-fourths of one package of dough. Press remaining 1-1/4packages of dough evenly onto bottom of prepared pan.3. Combine cream cheese, sugar and eggs in large bowl; beat until wellblended and smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture over dough in pan. Breakreserved dough into small pieces; sprinkle over cream cheese mixture.

Hannah Chesley/The Bona Venture

Students decorate their dorm room for the holidays.

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Page 6: The Bona Venture - Volume 83, Issue 13

Arts and LifePage 6Dec. 10, 2010 • The Bona Venture

C M Y K

www.thebv.org

2010

The Best of 2010Movies

Remember Me — Kait Laubscher

Harry Potter 7 — Jess Kumor

Inception — Cameron DeOrdio,

Bryan Jackson, Tony Lee

Toy Story 3 — Tyler Diedrich

The Social Network — Mike

Vitron, Ryan Papaserge Television shows

Raising Hope - Cameron DeOrdio,

Tim Gross, Becky McKeown

Boardwalk Empire - Mike VitronAlbums

The Black Keys, Brothers — Sam Wilson

Wiz Khalifa, Kush and Orange Juice —

Mike Vitron

Kate Nash, My Best Friend is You —

Emilee Lindner

The Gaslight Anthem, American Slang —

Bryan Jackson

Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark

Twisted Fantasy — Becky McKeown

Ra Ra Riot, The Orchard — Amanda Klein

Video games

Madden NFL ‘11 - Ryan Lazo

NBA Jam for Wii - Sam Wilson

StarCraft II - Tony Lee

BY MADDIE GIONET

Staff Writer

It’s time to put another gold star onBonaventure’s wall of fame. SteveBesecker’s debut novel, “TheSamaritan,” a political thriller, and asJames Rollins, New York Times best-selling author, said,”. . . here is a debutnovel that both thrills and disturbs.”

Besecker, ‘81, had no formal writ-ing background.

“I graduated with a B.S. in market-ing, and I run a marketing companyout in Buffalo,” Besecker said.

Even without much formal experi-ence in creative writing, Beseckeralways had that power to write in him.

“I’ve always been writing short sto-ries, ever since the fourth grade,”Besecker said.

It was his fourth grade teacher whobecame his mentor after assigning ashort story for Besecker and his class-mates to write on anything they wanted.

“I wrote my short story about fol-lowing a creek behind our house,”Besecker said. “There was a storythat years ago, a man had slippedunder a bridge below the creek andwas never found. So I wrote my storyon this creek and the man’s bodystuck up in the rafters of the bridge.When I got my story back, myteacher had written, ‘Really good,keep it up.’ She probably wrote thaton everyone’s papers, but it reallystuck with me.”

Besecker talked about how importanthaving a mentor is and how to stickwith writing, even through criticism.

He also said connections are veryimportant in the book-writing world.

“It’s all about your agent,” Beseckersaid. “If you’ve got a good one, theycan open doors for you. You have tofind people inside the business toreally help you get you going.”

Besecker’s big break came when hemet retired DoubleDay editor BillThompson. Thompson, former edi-tor for Stephen King and JohnGrisham, gave Besecker the oppor-tunity to find a good agent and getstarted in the business.

“After Bill read my first manu-script for “The Samaritan”, he calledme and asked if my ears had beenbleeding the night before,” Beseckersaid. “Bill told me the story wasawful, every page was marked upwith red and he had written justabout 30 pages worth of notes. Iwent back and wrote it again forhim. It finally got to the point wherehe told me I had something, and wewent from there.”

“It’s the story of a Native Americanfrom the Cattaraugus IndianReservation who works for the CIA,”Besecker said. “While dealing withwork and getting used to living in apredominately white society, hiswife is murdered. Easter leaves theCIA and goes home to the reserva-tion to live with his grandfather. Thedeath of his wife and a few othersseems fishy, and Easter, beingunsatisfied, makes it his priority tofind out who is murdering all theseinnocent people.”

Easter, the main character, wasbased on a fellow classmate ofBesecker’s.

In fourth grade, John Geyer joinedBesecker’s class. Geyer was a NativeAmerican who lived with a fosterfamily. Both Besecker and Geyerwere new to the school, so they clungto each other. Besecker said halfwaythrough the year, Geyer came toschool wearing a nice, brightly col-ored Native American jacket his fos-ter parents had bought him on theirvacation. During recess, some of thebigger kids came over and beatGeyer up, ripping his jacket. Geyerdidn’t fight back but came back thenext day, found the biggest kid in thegroup and beat him up.

“I felt badly for not stepping inand helping John,” Besecker said.“Ever since then, I’ve been ready tojump in and help out anyone. Johnplanted the seed for the characterof Easter.”

Besecker’s favorite part of writingis that he never knew how this bookwas going to end.

“Most people have an outline andknow where they want to go. Idon’t,” Besecker said. “I let the char-acters drive the ship. It’s exciting tojust let it go and see what happens.”

Now that Besecker’s book is done,he says he’s feeling relief and fear.

“When the first 50 advanced read-er copies (arc) came to the house, Icouldn’t open up the box, “Beseckersaid. “It was relief to see the finishedproduct, but now I’m feeling fear.Fear of how the book will sell, howpeople will respond.”

So far the feedback has been good,Besecker said.

“Many people who have read the arcalready are surprised to see that I canwrite,” Besecker said. “I’ve been get-ting, ‘You’re a lot smarter than youlook’ Ultimately, it’s the tough lovethat helps keep me going.”

BY CHRIS GRAHAM

Staff Writer

In 2008, T.I. released his sixthstudio album, “Paper Trail,” as heawaited an impending jail sen-tence on federal weaponscharges. Fast forward to 2010,and T.I. is set to release his newalbum, “No Mercy,” and again hefaces a jail sentence. This sen-tence, however, is for drug pos-session as violation of his parole.T.I.’s life is now copying his ownlyrics because “Breaking oldhabits is so hard to do.”

In anticipation of releasing hisnew album, T.I. and his wife, singerTameka “Tiny” Cottle, were arrestedfor drug possession in WestHollywood. According to anMTV.com article, the two werearrested after performing an illegalU-Turn. Upon the traffic stop, thearticle states the odor of marijuanaemerged from the car, leading policeto search the vehicle. During thesearch, authorities seized pillsthat resembled ecstasy andcodeine syrup, simply referred toin rap as “Sizzurp.”

Following the arrest, T.I. wassentenced to 11 months in the sameprison that housed him for his lastarrest, according to Billboard.com.

Once again, T.I. could notfocus on promoting his albumproperly, and this time aroundhis new album would be releasedduring his incarceration.

The album itself shows similari-ties to “Paper Trail,” as several ofthe tracks employ the reoccurringtheme that T.I. has done wrongand he must atone for his mis-takes. But it becomes tougher andtougher for listeners, to reason-

ably believe that message, as hisarrests build up.

The first single from the album,“Get Back Up,” featuring ChrisBrown, shows the message per-fectly. T.I. rhymes, “Ay, what it isworld yeah it’s me again, / backbefore you, at your mercy, onbended knees again, / no runningfrom the truth as much as wepretend.” T.I. continues along inthe song with, “apologies to myfans and my closest friends, / forletting you down, I won’t take youdown this road again/ most ofyou now saying whatever, here wego again.”

T.I.’s latest brush with the lawis also felt by collaborator KanyeWest on the track “Welcome tothe World,” which also featuresKid Cudi. West raps, “Soon asWayne get out, Tip go in.” Westcites that hip-hop seemingly can-not go a couple months withoutone of the top artists spendingtime behind bars.

T.I. continues the point of howhis life has changed and how hisrecent troubles bring him morepain than pleasure on the track“Castle Walls,” which featuresChristina Aguilera. T.I. rhymes,“Observing the estate through thegate from the outside looking inbet you would think I got it made, /better look again.”

This album also shows the softerside of T.I. that fans have seen over

the last few years, and less of drugand gun talking “King of the South”of the mid-2000s.

T.I.’s lyrical content is still asstrong as ever, evident by his bar-for-bar chess match with Eminemon arguably the best track on thealbum, “That’s All She Wrote.”

He also provides fans with thesure-to-be club hit “Poppin’ Bottles,”which features Drake. The song,exploiting all the amenities of thehip-hop game, shows how goodboth T.I. and Drake are living.This song will likely be heard onthe radio plenty once the newyear rolls around.

Ultimately, the album provides thecore T.I. fans with glimpses of theold T.I., and much of the new apolo-getic rapper he’s become. Even withall the remorseful rhyming, T.I. stillremains interesting through the 14-track album to provide listeners withthe hope that when he is released,the best is yet to come.

While T.I. continues to show sor-row in his raps, if his legal issuescontinue T.I. will have to decidewhether to continue as the rapperasking for forgiveness or go back toembracing his street lifestyle thatbrought him to prominence in therap game in the early 2000s.

T.I. still speaks with the bravado ofbeing one of the best rappers in hip-hop proven by this rhyme on “That’sAll She Wrote,” “And on my throne Iremain, / all alone in my lane.” Onething is for sure, T.I. will be all alonefor the next 11 months, but maybe asecond trip to “The Big House” willset him back on the path of justfocusing on music and leaving thearrests in the past.

BY ELIZABETH GRADY

Features Assignment Editor

The “most wonderful time of theyear” can turn into the most hectictime of the year with finals weekquickly approaching. Therefore,students should keep in mind theseimportant factors when beginningtheir studies for finals week.

ThemselvesAccording to Jean Ehman, direc-

tor of the Teaching and LearningCenter, students need to place theiracademic needs ahead of everyoneelse for this week.

Specifically, students shouldavoid any type of drama fromother students.

“Often the least prepared stu-dents become the most dramaticand try to get an audience,” Ehmansaid. “The other students reallydon’t need to be their audience.They need to be attentive to theirown goals and tasks at hand to meetthose goals.”

Make a planHaving a plan in place for finals

can ease the stress that can accu-mulate with disorganization.

Ehman encourages students tolook at several factors when creat-ing their plan. Find out whether thefinal is simply a final test or cumu-lative of the entire course. Also,check with the syllabus to see howmuch the exam is worth towardthe final grade. This comes inhandy when determining howmuch time to devote to a class.Additionally, ask the professor theformat of the exam beforehand,and study accordingly.

According to Ehman, studentsshould already know for the mostpart their grade in a class before thefinal. Therefore, they should studywith these grades in mind.

“If you have four solid classes,work toward maintaining them,

work toward a strategy for the otherone that didn’t work out so well,”Ehman said. “It’d be better not tobe in that position, but play yourbetter cards at this point.”

However, Morgan Mack, a soph-omore English major, prioritizesher classes differently.

“I focus mainly on my majorclasses because I want to get thebest grades in those classes,”Mack said. “After that, it tricklesdown.”

With this plan, it is important toset aside time for breaks andrewards, according to Ehman. Goodideas for breaks include watching asporting event, taking a nap, read-ing a book or going to the gym.

Tackling the night beforeThere are two strategies one can

take the night before an exam: anall nighter or putting the booksaway and getting a good night ofsleep. According to Ehman, the bestoption is getting to bed early.

“To me, the word all nighter is asynonym of unprepared,” Ehmansaid. “When you’re making a planfor final exams, you don’t put an allnighter in there.”

Students like Charles Mitschow, asophomore biology major, try tostay up late with the aid of caffeine.

“I drink more coffee duringfinals, so I can stay up later,”Mitschow said.

However, Ehman warns againstaltering caffeine intake duringfinals, emphasizing that studentsshould maintain their usual routine.

LocationDuring finals, students have the

option to study in several placesincluding the library, the ThomasMerton Center, study lounges intheir residence building, their room,Café La Verna or study roomsopened up in Plassmann Hall.

Being honest with yourself aboutwhere you will get the most work

done is the best way to make adecision on where to study,according to Ehman.

According to a Sept. 6 New YorkTimes article, studies show study-ing in varying locations helpsincrease retention.

Study ModesStudents struggle with finding the

best studying option for them-selves, but Ehman encourages stu-dents to use as many as possible.

“The more avenues the studenttravels to study the same material,the more ways she’ll have to drawupon in an exam,” she said.

Both studying in a group andstudying alone has pros and cons.According to Ehman, it’s up to thestudent to find out what works bestfor them.

“The student has to be his ownjury,” Ehman said. “If they becomegossip sessions, walk away becausetime is precious.”

However, if the study groupappears productive, stick it out,and it may be of some benefit.Ehman suggests having studentsalternate a teaching figure in thegroup may help the material stickin their memory.

Ehman also encourages lookingaround the web for resources. Manyof the textbook companies includeonline material like practice quizzesand flash cards.

Ultimately, don’t focus on the stressor amount of work during finals week.Focus on the bigger picture.

“The hope, when all is said anddone, is that a student didn’t justlearn stuff for that two and a halfhour period but absorbed it so thatshe can use it in life or in a subse-quent class,” Ehman said.

Study tips ensure stress-free finals

Marie Dirle/The Bona Venture

Joe Covely, Rocco Lamparelli, Nicholas Brown and Peter Eller study at the Friedsam Memorial Library.

T.I. displays ‘No Mercy’ from jail

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Bona grad to releasemystery novel

No MercyArtist: T.I.

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Page 7: The Bona Venture - Volume 83, Issue 13

BY EMILEE LINDNERFeatures Editor

The ushers had to turn peo-ple away at the GarretTheater for senior RyanKasperski’s theater capstoneproject, “Mrs. Bob Cratchit’sWild Christmas Binge.”Those lucky enough to get

out of the icy cold and staythe hour and half got a nightof laughter.

The play is a version ofCharles Dickens’ “AChristmas Carol” but moremodern and hilarious. Itstarted with narrator EmilyWest, a sophomore journal-ism student, who played the

parts of the Ghosts ofChristmas Past, Present andFuture. She explained that wecould see her deleted sceneson DVD, but since she was onstage now, we’d just have topay attention. The humor inWest’s lines captivated theaudience right away.

Throughout the show, her

sarcasm kept the full houselaughing and kept the maturethemes light hearted.

Such mature themes mayhave seemed offensive. Rightfrom the beginning,Ebenezer Scrooge’s hatredfor Christmas was diagnosedas Tourette Syndrome.Suicide appeared as a majorreccurring theme. Alcohol-ism and hunger came acrossas more mature as well.However, the actors madelight of these subjects andcombined them into a collec-tive of holiday humor.

When trying to showChristmas Past to Scrooge(Brett Keegan, sophomorejournalism major), the ghostaccidentally took him to theCratchit’s, where their patheticlife could make anyone feelsorry for them — but Scroogedoesn’t. The only thing differ-ent about the story was thatMrs. Cratchit was suicidal, hadno appreciation for her 21 chil-dren (all of which were adopt-ed) and had a severe drinkingproblem. Played by KatieDesautels, a junior early child-hood and special educationmajor, Mrs. Cratchit yelled atthe children, hated life andrefused to make dinner, leavingthe children hungry.

She finally got fed up withthis life, went to the pub and

decided to jump off a bridge. So far in the story, Scrooge had

not learned a lesson. He hadonly developed an appreciationof Mrs. Cratchit’s cynicism.

And the plot continued likethat. The ghost brought backMrs. Cratchit from suicide, andthey continued to visit differentscenes. But the story took aturn when they came acrossClarence, the angel from “It’s aWonderful Life.” What was hedoing there?

Clarence (Cameron DeOrdio,senior journalism and Englishmajor) granted Mrs. Cratchit’swish — she wished she hadnever been born. But somehowhe did the same to Scroogesimultaneously.

They find that without Mrs.Cratchit, Bob Cratchit (SeanO’Shea, senior music major)had a different wife. Theywere still very poor, but theywere much happier. They stillhad many children, but theyweren’t hungry because thenew Mrs. Cratchit didn’t mindcooking the Christmas goose.Without the angry, alcoholicMrs. Cratchit, the family wasmuch better off.

So where was the lesson?Was there even a lesson? Theghost had a hard time findingone too. In the end she decid-ed it was, “Those who arehappy are OK if they don’t

have any money. Those whoare mean better have a lot ofmoney because that’s theonly way they can be happy.”

Not exactly the message I wasexpecting, but it really worked.

The ghost and Clarencelaunched Mrs. Cratchit andScrooge out of 1840s Englandinto 1998 America. They got allthat they wanted and werehappy together as Hilary andBill Clinton. (I don’t know whythey were turned into the for-mer First Family. Perhaps theplay is a little outdated.)

The performances weresuperb. Many actors had amyriad of lines, one afteranother. Yet, Emily West andBrett Keegan were able torecite them without missingeven one.

There were a few awkwardscene changes, in which bigprops like tables and chairs gotin the way. The rotating stage,originally built for “Dracula” amonth ago, eliminated theneed for blackouts.

Although certain actors wereconcerned the play couldn’t bepulled together in a month, Iwas thoroughly entertained. Icouldn’t stop laughing.

The people who didn’t get tothe Garret early enough reallymissed out.

BY EMILEE LINDNERFeatures Editor

Combo Nuvo, a group ofNew York University profes-sors, jazzed up the holidaysby introducing a new soundto the Regina A. Quick Centerfor the Arts Saturday Dec. 4.

Casual jazz listeners areused to the usual arrange-ment of instruments — saxo-phone (either alto or sopra-no), guitar, bass, piano anddrum set. Depending on thestyle, listeners expect differ-ent instruments. When youwant Miles Davis fusion, youexpect trumpet and key-boards. When you want NewOrleans jazz, you expect clar-inet. When you want DukeEllington-style big band, youexpect a brass section.

Combo Nuvo started offwith a traditional arrange-ment — one that you wouldexpect for a holiday jazz con-cert. It played “We ThreeKings” on flute, soprano sax,guitar and piano. But insteadof a standup bass, performerMike Richmond played elec-tric cello.

Richmond, who has playedwith Quincy Jones, DizzyGillespie and Stan Getz, andhas won Grammy Awardswith Miles Davis, had a stick-like cello without wood. Theband members said they weresick of traveling with a regu-lar one on airlines because itwas too large.

John Hadfield, who wasonce a part of Yo Yo Ma’s SilkRoad ensemble, performed

the percussion. For certainLatin-flavored songs, he useda bongo-like drum, which hesat on.

“Greensleeves” began with aslow piano interlude. Guest per-former Billy Drews, who hasplayed with Herbie Hancock,Joe Lovano and Tony Bennett,remained on the soprano, blow-ing cool air through the instru-ment. During trills, the sopra-no sounded oddly like atrumpet, and by the end ofthe song, it seemed as thoughhis air got warmer.

Leader Dave Schroeder brokeout his blues harp for “SoulPacked.” The song featured aBrad Shepik’s solo on guitarwhen he wasn’t harmonizingwith the soprano.

Schroeder, director of theJazz Studies Program at NYU,used a chromatic harmonicato play “The First Noel.” Thisharmonica can change keysand is used to carry a melody.The song was a little scat-tered, but it was intended.Each instrument focused onits own lines.

“Compassionata,” along with“Soul Packed,” was written bypianist Rich Shemaria, whoarranged all the traditionalholiday songs for the group.This one had the Latin feel soHadfield used shakers. Theclarinet and alto took thelead, while the cellist bowedaway in the background.

The group played the Peanuts-inspired “Christmastime isHere,” but instead of a chorus ofchildren, a harmonica took themelody. Hadfield used brushes

on the drum set, while Drewes’clarinet smoothed over the song.

Schroeder found his Eb altoclarinet in a junk store. Heused it for “Holy Night,”which continued the use ofsassy clarinet.

After an intermission, thegroup continued with classicslike “Joy to the World,” “Deckthe Hall” (which has no “s”despite popular belief), “SilentNight” and “It Came Upon aMidnight Clear.” It also playedoriginals “Groovetime” and“Merge with Virg.”

To spice up the traditionalsongs, Combo Nuvo addednon-traditional instruments tothe performance. Schroederadded an Eb curved soprani-no saxophone, which lookslike a cute, baby saxophone.It even squealed like a baby.

The, they showed off thelow end of pitch by bringingout a bass flute, larger thanan alto flute because the bassis wider and longer. Themouthpiece is curved so theplayer can reach the keys. Thelow, airy sound of the basssoothed the audience. Therewould’ve been some snoringif the harsh voice of the har-monica hadn’t come in andwoken everyone up.

For the encore, Combo Nuvoplayed “It’s Christmas,” anoriginal by Shemaria. Thepiece brought the perform-ance to an end with a slowlullaby.

BYMEAGHANO’ROURKEStaff Writer

WSBU-FM 88.3 The Buzzhosted a free concert in theRathskeller last Friday. BandsPaul’s Grandfather and DaleEarnhardt Jr. Jr. impressed anaudience of about 40 that waswaiting and ready at 7 p.m. sharpto see what these bands had.Paul’s Grandfather, hailingfrom western New York, iscomprised of Katie, Karrah,Becca, Bobby and Paul. Bobbyand Paul weren’t there, so justthe girls performed Friday.The band, which played atBonaventure last October forBuzz’d About Pink, is gettingready to release its firstalbum, “Sorry Lovers and theLoving Lake” on Dec. 3.Friday’s performance was oneof their first since summer.

Paul’s Grandfather openedwith something familiar. Theswaying “Gravity,” from their2009 EP, No Home, mighthave been a song the audiencerecognized. Paul’s Grandfatherthen quickly moved into theirnext song, “Susquehannah,”something new but catchy andunfailing in highlighting theband’s melodic vocals. Theirset also included “Snails,”“Ghosthunter,” “Bobby” and“Good Guy.” The last song,“1805,” commenced with gui-

tar acoustics and a quiet maraca,and included an accordion aswell.

“This is a song about a guy whosaid he was going to die, but it’sOK because he was going tocome back as Sufjan Stevens,”Becca said.

The crowd gave the band awell-deserved round of applausefor its soulful performance.

Don’t judge a book by itscover, and definitely don’t judgea band by its name. DaleEarnhardt Jr. Jr., of Detroit,delivered a well-received per-formance. The band, comprisedof Joshua Epstein and DanielZott, took the stage dressed inLysol and Cheerio NASCAR racesuits with a light-up display of“JR JR” set behind it.

The appropriately named“When I Open” was the first songEpstein and Zott played, andthey received a healthy roundof applause after. They fol-lowed it with “Morn Thought”and quickly segued into “UglyPerson” without stopping tohear the audience applause. Theenergy in the crowd was evidentas people swayed to the music.

With the song “Vocal Chords,”the band finally utilized the “JRJR” display as it vibrantly lit upand flashed, adding to the audi-ence’s energy. Dale Earnhardt Jr.Jr. used the crowd’s response tosegue into audience participation

with some Bonaventure triviaand Taco Bell bucks for prizes.The three students who partici-pated correctly answered theirtrivia questions about BobLanier, Nicholas Devereux andThomas Merton.

The band invited the ladies ofPaul’s Grandfather back to thestage to help them out with a newsong “Skeletons,” on its albumcoming out in March. Theyhelped sing the “do wap wap bas”at the end of the song, contribut-ing to evening’s ambience.

The next song required a cos-tume change that included alight-up sports jacket to performan energetic “Corporation.”

Also included in the 13-songset was the catchy “Simple Girl,”the first song the duo ever wrotetogether; “Almost Lost,” a songabout their hometown; theirnew song, “If I Wasn’t;” a coverof “God Only Knows,” withtheir whimsical electronica-touch added.

The crowd was still about 40strong when Dale Earnhardt Jr.Jr. finished with “Nothing But,”and audience members wantedan encore. Out of original songs,the band played a cover of“What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blonds.

The crowd’s cheers were a dis-play of their enjoyment as TheBuzz presented another success-ful and free concert for students.

Arts and Life Page 7The Bona Venture • Dec. 10, 2010

C M Y K

www.thebv.org

Image courtesy ofsteinhardt.nyu.edu

Combo Nuvo brought gifts of holiday jazz to the Quick Art Center on Saturday.

Marie Dirle/The Bona Venture

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. energized the crowd Friday night in The Rathskeller.

Photo courtesy of Ryan Kasperski

Emily West, the lead in ‘Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge,’ stands betweenEbenezer Scrooge and his former self, who shoot jaded, sarcastic comments at each other. [email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

WSBU’s free concert ampsup The Rathskeller

NYU group performs holidayjazz with ‘combo’ of instruments

Reviews

The Garret gets wild with ‘Mrs. Bob Cratchit’Senior theater capstone provides holiday hijinx with twist on Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’

Page 8: The Bona Venture - Volume 83, Issue 13

BY ANTHONY GANNON

Staff Writer

The men’s swimming and div-ing team continued its march tothe Atlantic 10 Championship,placing third overall at Akron’sZippy Invitational last weekend.The Bonnies finished just 34.5points behind second-placeXavier, and 191 points short offirst-place Buffalo.

Friday, the first day of theevent, Bonaventure raced tothree second-place finishes anda third-place result. Sop-homore Ethan Rowan finishedsecond in the 500-yardfreestyle. The 200-yard frees-tyle team of seniors David Kun-dzik, Chris Baker, Jared Robin-son, and freshman JamesMartin also finished second.Kundzik picked up his own sil-ver finish in the 50-yardfreestyle, and the 400-medleyrelay team with Kundzik, soph-omore Peter Koenig, Murphy,and Martin finished third.

Saturday, the Brown andWhite picked up two third-place finishes, as well as a firstplace from Kundzik in the 100-yard butterfly. Rowan finishedthird in the 200-yard freestyle;as did Kundzik, Murphy,Baker, and Koenig in the 200-yard medley relay.

The final day of the invitation-

al started with another second-place finish for Rowand, in the1650-yard freestyle, and fellowsophomore Elias Homerin fin-ished fourth in the same race.Kundzik had another strong day,with a second-place finish in the100-yard freestyle.

Bonaventure made its pres-ence known in the 200-yardbreaststroke when years KevinMurphy, Ilya Nenashev soundslike a supervillain, and juniorMichael Dansa finished second,third, and fourth respectively.

The Bonnies picked up twomore second-place finishes,from junior Yi Liu in the 200-yard butterfly, and the 400-yardmedley relay team of Kundzik,Murphy, Baker, and Martin.

Coach Sean McNamee’ssquad finished with 1,435 totalpoints in its first large meet ofthe season.

“It went as expected for us,”McNamee said. “We did mostlygood, and it showed us whereour focus needs to be to getready for the A-10 tournament.”

The Zippy Invitational wasthe largest meet of the year forthe team, with eight teamscompeting against the Bonnies,until the A-10 championshipsFeb. 23rd.

McNamee said, “It was def-initely a success to go outthere and finish the way we

did. We needed to get some ofour new guys experience inthe water. They have yet tocompete in that kind of com-petition, so it’s always good togo against several schools andbecome adept to the collegeswimming experience.”

The primary focus of theteam now is on the A-10Championship, coming up inFebruary, McNamee said.

“We just need to startembracing events,” he said. “Aswimmer may not think therace we put him in is his bestone, but we need him there tofield the most competitive teampossible. We need to maximizeour effort to score the mostpoints possible.”

The Brown and White haveone more meet, at Canisius, toclose out the first half of theseason Dec. 17. St. Bonaventuredoes not swim again until Jan.21 against Binghamton in theReilly Center.

“Any chance to race is a ben-efit,” McNamee said. “We’regoing to Canisius the day finalexams end, and that should bea great stress reliever for every-body, a good chance to blow offsome steam.”

C M Y K

SportsPage 8Dec. 10, 2010 • The Bona Venture www.thebv.org

Swimmers compete at Zippy Invite

[email protected]

Women’s SwimmingBY KYLE ZAMIARA

Staff Writer

As the semester comes to anend, so does the women’s swim-ming and diving team’s firsthalf of the season. The Bonnieswill face Little Three rivalCanisius next Friday. Last sea-son, Canisius was one of the twodual-meet wins the Bonnies hadand their only home win of theseason. Coach Seth Johnson isexpecting his team to performwell with the break in trainingthey’ll have.

“I expect us to be pretty goodjust because, once we hit finalsnext week, we have a lighterschedule that doesn’t allow us totrain as hard as we normallydo,” coach Seth Johnson said.“They should feel pretty decentgoing into (the meet) becausethey’ll have some natural rest.”

The meet will be held at

Canisius, starting at 5 p.m.This past weekend, the

Bonnies traveled to Akron,Ohio, for the annual ZippyInvitational, their first three-day meet of the season. Theteam finished 10th overall in the12-team competition, with atotal of 331 points after threedays. First place went to Ohiowith 1,562 total points, followedby Akron in second and IllinoisState in third. Johnson stressedhow many teams prepare forthis meet differently.

“It’s frustrating at timesbecause some teams put a lot ofemphasis on this meet, (but) weprefer to hold off until the endof the year,” Johnson said. “Weswam solid. We accomplishedwhat we wanted to, which wasget some experience at a three-day meet and a prelim-final for-mat, and we had some solidswims along the way.”

Freshman Paige Gutowski,who came in fourth place over-all in the 200-yard breaststroke,touched in 2:23.29, leading theBonnies. In the 100-yardfreestyle finals, sophomoreWendy Oleskiw swam to a 15th-place finish, while freshmanJeanette Dietrich placed 22ndoverall. The 400-yard freestylerelay team featuring Dietrich,Gutowski, Oleskiw and juniorLenae Petty placed 12th overall,touching in at 3:36.75.

“I would say across the boardthe majority of our kids swamwell,” Johnson said. “We didhave a relay (disqualified, but)that’s just lack of experience atthese type of meets, so we(need) to tighten up a few thingslike that. But, all in all, we’reright where we need to be.”

Men’s Swimming

Marie Dirle/The Bona Venture

The men’s swimming team finished third at the Zippy Invitational in Akron last weekend.

[email protected]

Marie Dirle/The Bona Venture

The women’s swimming team returns to the pool to host Big Four rival Canisius next Friday.

The men’s basketball team isasking for a defibrillator after apair of heart-stopping finishesagainst Buffalo and St. John’s overthe past week, thanksto a pair of AndrewNicholson game-winning jumpers.

Nicholson should askfor a Hall of Fameplaque if he reaches1,000 career pointsagainst Niagara tomor-row. Now would be thetime to strike while theiron is hot.

The women’s bas-ketball team is ask-ing for a sword to goalong with its shield,after holding op-ponents under 50points in two of thelast three games – while scoring lessthan 50 points themselves threetimes this season.

The men’s soccer team is askingfor experienced players, with justfive combined sophomores and jun-iors returning next season.

The women’s soccer team isasking for a bottle of blonde hairgel, after coach Manoj Khettrydyed his hair prior to their final

home game againstnationally-rankedDayton, propellingthe team to a 1-0upset win Oct. 24.

Both cross-coun-try teams are ask-ing for more talentin the years ahead,after showing im-provement underfirst-year coach BobMacfarlane.

The Robin Hoodflag football teamis asking for a ring,after finishing run-ner-up in the cham-pionship game for

the second season in a row, hopingto avoid the dreaded fate of theBuffalo Bills in the 1990s.

The hockey team is asking formore wins and less competi-tion, after tallying just two wins thusfar in the 2010-11 slate.

BV Sports 2010 Christmas List Hockey visits RIT tonight

Last weekend: Paced by two goals and two assistsfrom junior Josh Piegay, the Bonnies defeated Cortland7-6 Dec. 3. Junior Vinny Judge added one goal andthree assists, while junior Bryan Lembo recorded 54saves in the victory. On Dec. 4, the Brown and Whitedropped an 11-4 decision to Niagara in Lewiston, N.Y.after giving up six first-period goals.

This weekend: The Bonnies travel to the SportsCenter at MCC in Rochester to play RIT tonight at 9:40.The Tigers defeated the Brown and White 4-3 at theWilliam O. Smith Recreation Center Nov. 13.

Looking ahead: The Bonnies return to action Jan. 21against Syracuse in Olean, and travel to St. JohnFisher the following night.

Leading goal-scorers: Piegay and Mike Iulianello(eight goals)

Assist leaders: Piegay and Judge (11 assists)

Here’s what we believe some of St.Bonaventure’s teams and athletes

will be asking for under theChristmas tree this holiday season.

Page 9: The Bona Venture - Volume 83, Issue 13

BY TYLER DIEDRICH

Sports Assignment Editor

Mark Schmidt inherited amen’s basketball team not onlystruggling in the win columnwhen he arrived at St. Bonaven-ture; he also inherited a teamstruggling with its academics.

Now in his fourth year withthe Bonnies, Schmidt hashelped turn the programaround — both on the courtand in the classroom.

According to an Aug. 11FoxSports.com report in writerJason Belzer’s Coaching Aca-demics column, Schmidt ranked13th among the 347 NCAADivision I men’s basketballcoaches in Academic ProgressRate (APR) improvement from2006 to 2009.

Released annually, the APRis a real-time data collectionthat measures retention andeligibility of scholarship stu-dent-athletes on a semester-to-semester basis, according

to Barbara Questa, St.Bonaventure’s senior associ-ate athletic director.

Each player earns up to fourpoints per year (two persemester), one for eitherreturning or graduating, andone for being academicallyeligible each semester. Thetotal points are then dividedby the number of players.Questa said a player who isboth academically ineligibleand not retained is referred toas an ‘0-for-2.’

The 2008-09 rates werereleased in June, with St.Bonaventure scoring 952 outof a possible 1000. In 2006-07,Anthony Solomon’s last year ashead coach, the Bonnies scoredan 826 on the APR. UnderSchmidt, the score improved to900 in 2007-08 before jump-ing 52 more points after hissecond season.

In addition to Schmidt’s .418winning percentage throughthree seasons — greater than the

.231 mark achieved duringSolomon’s four-year tenure —the 126-point APR improvementtops all Atlantic 10 Conferencemembers. Quinnipiac’s TomMoore tops the national list witha 219-point improvement.

Belzer’s ranking is unoffi-cial and based on his own cal-culations, but Questa saidpositive publicity is alwaysgood, and the improvement isa testament to the strides theprogram has taken underSchmidt’s leadership.

“A lot of it starts with acommitment off the court,(like) requiring study hall onthe road,” Questa said. “It’sinstilling in these athletes,‘You may not go pro … so youneed to have that degree.’ Notthat other coaches before himdid not do that, but I think it’sjust a different style thatMark brings. His staff is verycommitted to it; they want tosee (the players) succeed inthe classroom as well as onthe playing court.”

Questa also gave some of thecredit to the student-athletes.

“If you look at our rosternow, and you wouldn’t neces-sarily know this because it’sconfidential information, wehave some very, very brightindividuals on our roster,”she said. “They are commit-ted to their studies, and theywant to be successful.”

Schmidt said he stressesplayers must be students first.

“Most of our guys, once theireligibility is up, they’re going tohave to get a job,” Schmidt said.“With a Bonaventure educationand a degree, they have a betteropportunity to be successful.”

Schmidt added, unlike pre-season polls, the APR isimportant to the team.

“When we got here, (theAPR) was low because a lot oftimes when there’s a coachingchange (players) leave, andthat’s where you get hurt,” hesaid. “It’s something thatwe’ve been working on andimproving. It’s important tous, it’s important to the uni-versity and it’s important tome that kids leave here withtheir degrees. That’s whatthey’re here for.”

Junior guard Michael Dav-enport said Schmidt does agood job of monitoring hisplayers’ academic work andstressing its importance.

“Shoot, without your aca-

demics, you can’t play,”Davenport said. “He doesn’tsit over your shoulder, andhe’s not a dictator, but heexpects you to do what youhave to do (so) you can be onthe floor.”

Aside from the single-yearrates, the NCAA also calcu-lates a multi-year rate, whichis a four-year rate with a cut-off score of 925.

Teams scoring below 925are subject to penalties —such as reduction of scholar-ships, or practice-time limits— for each 0-for-2 player.

Dating back to the 2005-06season, the Bonnies’ multi-year rate is a 906. The score isthe lowest in the A-10, whichhad no teams penalized, butincludes data from Solomon’slast two seasons.

The Bonnies avoided penal-ization when the 2005-2009multi-year rates were re-leased in June because theyhad no 0-for-2 players. Anyschool scoring below 925 mustsubmit an APR ImprovementPlan to the NCAA to show it iscommitted to improving itsscore, according to Questa.

Syracuse was the most nota-ble men’s basketball programpenalized this year. Its 2008-09 APR score of 865 broughtits multi-year total to 912. TheNCAA cut two of Syracuse’s 13possible scholarships becausethe Orange had three 0-for-2s,according to a June 9 SyracusePost-Standard report.

Schmidt said coaches areultimately accountable fortheir team’s academic stand-ing, but it’s not always com-pletely their fault.

“There was a stat that 40percent of kids that come in asfreshmen leave as sopho-mores. That’s not anything todo with academics; that haseverything to do with playingtime,” Schmidt said. “The stu-dent-athlete today is all aboutinstant gratification. That’spart of the culture that we’rein, and as a coach you can’t doanything about it. These kidswant to play, and they thinkthey should play no matter ifthey’re playing behind the bestplayer or not. Some of it’sunfair, and some it is reality.”

The NCAA also records andreleases graduation rates forall of its member schools. TheBonnies’ 2008-09 rate was 69percent, good for eighth out

of 14 A-10 schools. However,graduation-rate statistics aresix years old when they arereleased, meaning the ratereleased this year is indicativeof Solomon’s performancerather than Schmidt’s. Forthis reason, Questa said theAPR is much more importantto the university.

“It’s unfair to turn around andsay … someone’s graduationrates aren’t great, in particularbecause we had a coachingchange in the last six years,”Questa said. “(The APR) is stillan evolving program, but it isreal-time data and that’s what’sgood about it compared to thegraduation rates.”

Questa said the NCAA isfocused on making the APRfair for all universities.

“It’s only about six yearsold, and there’s a lot of stuffthe NCAA is still tweaking,”she said. “It used to be if(somebody) transferred out,

you were penalized (and) lostthat retention point. Nowthey say if you’ve transferredout but you have a certainGPA, they won’t penalize theschools anymore.”

Questa said she expects theBonnies’ score will continue torise, especially once the Solomon-era data leaves the equation.

“Until that rolls out of thedata collection, we’re stillgoing to be stuck with thatlower rate,” Questa said. “Wedefinitely want to get better,and we are. With the leader-ship of Mark and his staff …(and) the commitment fromSteve Watson as (athletic)director, we have an academ-ic support unit that workshard with the team, (and) wehave great faculty.

“It’s a university effort, and itneeds to be a university effort.”

C M Y K

Sports Page 9The Bona Venture • Dec. 10, 2010

The Schmidt code: play hard, study harder www.thebv.org

Sara Regal/The Bona Venture

Schmidt is 13th in the nation in APR improvement since 2006. [email protected]

The Week Ahead

Sara Regal/The Bona Venture

Schmidt has led the Bonnies to a 126-point APR improvement.

Men’s Basketball: vs. Niagara Tomorrow, 4 p.m.

Women’s Basketball: at BuffaloToday, 7 p.m.

Men’s and Women’s Swimming:at Canisius, Dec. 17, 5 p.m.

Christmas Break Basketball Schedule

Men’s Basketball

Dec. 18 Ohio, 2 p.m.Dec. 23 Virginia Tech (at Rochester), 7 p.m.Dec. 28 Siena, 7 p.m.Jan. 2 Marshall, 4 p.m.Jan. 5 at Arkansas-Little Rock, 8 p.m.Jan. 8 Charlotte, 4 p.m.Jan. 12 at Temple, 7:30 p.m.Jan. 16 at Rhode Island, 4 p.m.

Women’s Basketball

Dec. 20 Middle Tennessee (at San Antonio), 5 p.m.Dec. 21 at Texas-San Antonio, 8 p.m.Dec. 28 at Sacred Heart, 2 p.m.Dec. 30 West Virginia, 7 p.m.Jan. 2 Kent State, 1:30 p.m.Jan. 8 at Duquesne, 2 p.m.Jan. 12 La Salle, 7 p.m.

Athletic Department

Basketball Giveaways

Come to tomorrow’s men’s basket-

ball game and have a chance to win:

-Two all-day ski passes to Holiday Valley

-Two-night stay to the Country Inn and Suites

-More than $500 in jewelry and merchandise

from Ask Design Jewelers

Page 10: The Bona Venture - Volume 83, Issue 13

C M Y K

December 10, 2010 • The Bona Venture

Page 10

Face of the Week

AndrewNicholson

Quote of the Week“Shoot, without your academics you

can’t play. He doesn’t sit over yourshoulder... but he expects you to do

what you have to do (so) you can be onthe floor.”

Junior guard Michael Davenport on themen’s basketball team’s academic

improvement under coach Mark Schmidt

The Bottom LineJuniorMen’s Basketball

The Mississauga, Ontario nativehit consecutive game-winningjumpshots Saturday againstBuffalo and Tuesday at St.John’s. The forward sits twopoints away from the 1,000-point career plateau.

Game of the WeekMen’s

Basketball

Tomorrow, 4 p.m.

Men’s basketballshows academic

improvementPage 9

vs. Niagara

PO IN T

EXTRA

SPORTS

BY SAM WILSONAssistant Sports Editor

The men’s basketball team looks toextend its winning streak tomorrowagainst Niagara on Bob Lanier Courtat 4 p.m. after a pair of last-minutewins against Buffalo and St. John’s.

Junior Andrew Nicholson’s nextbasket will give him 1,000 points asa Bonnie as he sits at 999.

The Purple Eagles (2-7) are thefinal Big Four opponent to play theBonnies this year. The Bonnies suf-fered an opening-night 80-70 loss atCanisius Nov. 12, but won 76-74 overthe Bulls last Saturday.

The Brown and White (5-2) lostat Niagara, 77-71, last year. Nic -holson scored 24 points at theGallagher Center.

Two years ago, the Bonnies fell,83-65, at home to the Purple Eagles.

Niagara, lead by 13th-year coachJoe Mihalich, will look to snap a five-game losing streak Saturday afterlosses to Albany, Detroit, Marist,Iona and Buffalo.

The Purple Eagles fell 82-64 atBuffalo Wednesday night, led byjunior forward Kashied Edwards’18 points.

In the Bonnies’ win against Buffalo,senior point guard Ogo Adegboyesunk seven three-pointers, one shortof the Bonaventure single-gamerecord, scored a career-high 24 pointsand dished out 10 assists.

On the Bonnies’ final possession,and the game tied at 74, Adegboyefound Nicholson open for a game-winning jumper with 6.7 seconds leftin the game.

Nicholson scored 16 points andpulled down 10 rebounds in just 20minutes, limited by foul trouble.

The Bonnies held a lead as high as19 points through most of the game,

but Buffalo, powered by senior pointguard Byron Mulkey’s 21 points andseven rebounds, fought back to tiethe game at 74 in the last minute.

Nicholson’s late-game heroics savedthe Bonnies again Tuesday night inQueens, N.Y., with a jumper just insidethe three-point line at the top of thekey to give the Bonnies a 67-66 upsetroad win over Big East foe St. John’s.

Coach Mark Schmidt praisedNicholson’s shot in his post-gamepress conference.

“We want to get Andrew the ball inthe circle if we can because he’s hardto guard,” Schmidt said to gobon-

nies.com. “He just eyed him up, tooka step back and he looked like he’dmade that shot a thousand times.”

The Bonnies fell 10 points behindthe Red Storm with just more than13 minutes left at Carnesecca Arena.The Bonnies rallied to take a 63-62lead on a Nicholson three-point playwith 1:31 remaining, but a turnoveroff an inbound gave St. John’s seniorswingman D.J. Kennedy an openfast-break layup.

Junior forward Da’Quan Cook madea pair of free throws and St. John’s sen-ior forward Dwight Hardy, who scoreda game-high 24 points, made an off-

balance layup before Nicholson’sgame-winner.

Junior guard Michael Davenportscored a career-high 22 points ag -ainst the Red Storm.

“I thought Michael Davenport keptus in the game, especially in the firsthalf hitting two or three threes,”Schmidt said.

The win snapped a five-gameseries losing streak, and was theBrown and White’s first at St. John’s’home court since 1922.

Nicholson nears 1,000th point

I distinctly remembermy first regular seasonmen’s basketball gameas a member of theWolfPack, our belovedstudent section.

Led by a then-rela-tively unknown centerfrom Toronto namedAndrew Nicholson, theBonnies defeated RobertMorris, 72-62, on Nov.14, 2008 at the ReillyCenter. Following the game, fansstormed the court, and message boardssuch as “Bonnies Bandwagon” werefilled with furious posts criticizing thestudents’ actions.

About two weeks prior to my first expe-rience as a true basketball fan, I inter -viewed then-senior Katelyn Murray forthis publication’s yearly basketball sup-plement. As a freshman, I had littleknowledge that Murray was one of themost significant players in Brown andWhite women’s basketball history, even -tually ranking third all-time in three-pointers made (197) and leading theBonnies to the first postseason berth inprogram history.

I didn’t know it at the time, but thatinterview — and the subsequent article —ensured that my decision to join TheBona Venture ’s sports department inSeptember 2008 was a great one.

Over the past five semesters — three ofthem as an editor within the department— I’ve had the privilege of interviewing awide variety of personalities and cover -ing a variety of teams. From battlingtough through women’s tennis towomen’s basketball, each and every storyhas been enjoyable to cover, and I sin -cerely thank all of the coaches and play -ers who have been so cooperative.

I’d also like to thank all of the sports edi-tors I’ve worked with at some point forproviding me with the proper guidancethroughout my tenure with The BonaVenture, as well as my right-hand men —sports assignment editor Tyler Diedrichand assistant sports editor Sam Wilson. Ittakes a lot of work to put this sectiontogether every week, and one man cannotdo it alone.

Without my fellow editors, I wouldn’tbe covering the women’s basketballteam on a regular basis or given theopportunity to follow them to theAtlantic 10 Tournament in UpperMarlboro, Md. last March.

To all St. Bonaventure students, pastand present: thank you for your criticismof my work, good or bad. It’s comfortingto know that someone out there doesread this publication on a weekly basis,and is willing to offer their opinion on it.

In exchange for criticism, I stronglyurge all Bonaventure fans to support allBonaventure sports teams. We’re not justa basketball school anymore — our soc-cer teams have improved by leaps andbounds, earning regional and nationalrecognition. Even the men and women’scross-country teams showed vastimprovement this season under newhead coach Bob Macfarlane.

I’ll distinctly remember my last men’sbasketball game as sports editor, eventhough I didn’t cover the event.

Led by now-nationally known AndrewNicholson, the Bonnies defeated BigFour rival Buffalo, 76-74, Dec. 4.Following the game, fans stormed thecourt, and message boards, such as“Bonnies Bandwagon,” were once againfilled with angered posters questioningthe merit of such an act.

The more things change, the more theystay the same.

Sports editorbids farewell

RyanPapaserge

Ryan Papaserge is the sports editorfor The Bona Venture. His e-mail [email protected].

SBU puts win streak on the line at UBBY RYAN PAPASERGESports Editor

After a 3-3 start, the women’s bas -ketball team enters tonight’s 7 p.m.tip-off on the road against Big Fourrival Buffalo in the midst of a three-game winning streak, after defeatingMetro Atlantic Athletic Conference(MAAC) members Marist and Can -isius during the last week.

The Bulls (4-4) will face their sec -ond consecutive Atlantic 10 oppo-nent after dropping a 67-53 decisionto Duquesne Monday. Forward Cou-

rtney Brown leads the Bulls with 22.1points per game — 11th-best inNCAA Division I -- and ranks third inthe country with 13.0 rebounds pergame. Guard Brittany Hendersonsupports the Bulls’ attack with 13.8points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

The Brown and White defeatedBuffalo at the Reilly Center in the lastmatchup between the two teams, 78-57, on Dec. 9, 2009.

On Dec. 4, the Bonnies claimedvictory in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., overdefending MAAC champion Maristfor the second consecutive season,

45-40. It was the home opener forthe Red Foxes, with a sold-outcrowd.

The Bonnies held Marist to 28.6percent (14-for-49) shooting and out-rebounded the Red Foxes, 45-30, inthe contest.

Sophomore guard Chelsea Bowkerled the Brown and White with 17points in the victory, while junior for -ward Megan Van Tatenhove added 10points and 10 rebounds – her thirdcareer double-double.

Coach Jim Crowley said the victorywas a benchmark for the team.

“To come into this atmosphere,against this high quality of an oppo -nent and knowing how important thisgame was, for us to grind out a victorywas something that really showed alot from our kids,” Crowley said.

The Brown and White returnedhome to defeat Canisius Tuesday,74-41. For the second consecutivegame, the Bonaventure defenseheld a team to below 30 percentshooting (29.4 percent) and out-rebounded its opponent, 47-25.

After scoring a season-high 39points in the first half, the Bonniesoutscored the Golden Griffins 35-17 inthe final 20 minutes, allowing justseven field goals.

Van Tatenhove led the Bonnies with14 points, while redshirt junior guardArmelia Horton and senior guardCara Gustafson each added 11 pointsand six rebounds.

Crowley credited his team’s free-throw shooting and defense for hold -ing Canisius to 28 percent (7-for-25)shooting in the second half, and help -ing to extend the Bonnies’ lead despitea seven-minute field-goal droughtduring the final frame.

“We kept attacking the rim, whichgave us a chance to get to the foulline,” Crowley said regarding histeam shooting 24-for-30 (80 percent)from the free-throw line throughoutthe game.

After tomorrow’s matchup withBuffalo, the Brown and White will notreturn to the hardwood until theUTSA Christmas Classic Dec. 20-21 inSan Antonio. The Bonnies will playMiddle Tennessee on Dec. 20, fol-lowed by a game against Texas-SanAntonio Dec. 21.

Sara Regal/The Bona VentureSophomore guard Chelsea Bowker led the Bonnies with 17 points in Saturday night’s win at Marist.

Men’s Basketball

Women’s Basketball

[email protected]

For full coverage of tomorrow afternoon’s men’s basket-ball game against Niagara, visit www.thebv.org

[email protected]

Tony Lee/The Bona VentureJunior Andrew Nicholson hit game-winning jumpers to defeat Buffalo and St. John’s in the past week.