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

Friday, February 7, 2014 ubspectrum.com Volume 63 No. 46

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8Peel has brought a new mindset to softball team

Student films every day for a year, creates reflective doc

GISELLE LAMStaff Writer

On Feb. 5, CVS Corporation announced in a press release that by Oct. 1, its stores would no longer sell cigarette and to-bacco products. The drug store is the first national pharmacy chain to make such a decision.

Sharlynn Daun-Barnett, the alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention specialist at Wellness Education Services, said she was thrilled about the news and that it “shows [CVS] cares for their customers and for long-term health.” Daun-Barnett believes both the nation and campus will benefit from CVS’ new policy.

“UB students and staff have been trying to get the North Campus CVS to stop selling cig-arettes for more than five years — collecting hundreds of sig-natures through petitions and meetings with store managers,” Daun-Barnett said.

UB has also taken action over recent years to enforce a stron-ger smoke-free-campus policy. Five years ago, cigarette and to-bacco products were removed from the shelves of on-campus shops like the Elli and Campus Tees, and Campus-Cash tobacco purchases were prohibited.

UB cannot restrict The Com-mons from selling tobacco be-

cause these stores are not under the university’s regulation.

Daun-Barnett has worked with UB medical and pharma-cy students who are lobbying for the removal of tobacco prod-ucts from all pharmacies. They believe these items should be disassociated with healthcare and pharmacy centers.

“If you’re getting products that cause cancer, it doesn’t sup-port the health mission,” Daun-Barnett said.

Though many UB students praise CVS for its policy change, some are skeptical whether the change will benefit students or dissuade the smoking popula-tion.

Student Andrew Proefrock, who has never smoked before, congratulates CVS on taking a stand and hopes other compa-nies will follow.

Proefrock believes, however, that “[smokers] will still smoke regardless.” As a freshman bio-medical science major who has played sports all his life, he un-derstands the importance of practicing healthy habits.

Brittany Herbert, a legal stud-ies concentration sophomore, thinks it’s a step in the right di-rection, but one that may back-fire for CVS.

Students question effectiveness of the change

CHAD LEUTHAUSERaSSt. NeWS editor

For students looking to party at popular bar The U this week-end, UB might be providing them with a designated driver.

The university has implement-ed a new stop for Stampede bus-es at the Maple Ridge Center on Maple and Sweet Home Roads. The complex includes an AMC theater, Value City Furniture, OfficeMax, several restaurants and The U. Though some spec-ulate the Stampede’s new stop is only to drive students to the bar, UB insists otherwise.

Assistant Director for UB Parking and Transportation Services Chris Austin and UB Spokesperson John Della Con-trada said there is no official contract between The U and the university, specifically. Del-la Contrada said the contract is between University Life and Ser-vices and Maple Ridge Center.

Three buses will run the route, operating from 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday to 3 a.m. the following day. The route, which includes stops at the Ellicott Complex, Governors Complex, Goodyear Hall and the main cir-cle, added the new stop to AMC Maple Ridge at no extra cost.

“We do not have an agreement with The U but do have permis-sion from the developer of the complex to allow our UB Stam-pede buses to drop off and pick up students,” Austin said.

Jimmy Spezzano, the owner of The U, has expressed his excite-ment about the deal between UB and the Maple Ridge Center.

“The U is working in conjunc-tion with the UB Stampede on this venture, and will be available for comment in the near future,” Spezzano said.

He declined to comment re-garding a specific arrangement between his bar and UB.

Austin said UB chose to add a stop to the center because of

its proximity to campus and the various recreational options it offers to students.

Some students think the sole reason for the bus stop isn’t for the many restaurant options or the furniture or office supplies stores.

“At the end of the day, stu-dents are not going to the mov-ies at 2 a.m.,” said Justin Reis-man, a junior political science major. “The school is not fool-ing anyone by not admitting this bus is intended for kids looking to party on the weekend.”

In the complex, AMC stops selling tickets before midnight; Subway closes at 10 p.m. on Thursday and 11 p.m. on Fri-day and Saturday; Toni Peppero-ni closes at 9 p.m. Thursday, Fri-day and Saturday; Tea Leaf Cafe closes at 11 p.m. Thursday and 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday; Taco Bell closes at 2 a.m. Thursday and 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

The U is open until 4 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Satur-day. On Wednesday, the bar an-nounced on its Facebook page: “We have the buses, we have the new look and now we have 18+ nights all weekend long on Thursday, Friday and Saturday,” regarding this week only. Usual-ly on Fridays, patrons must be 21 or older.

The dates and times of the new bus route correlate with the weekend hours of The U.

“I am not out to encourage underage drinking, but it’s inev-itable and the school might as well provide safe transportation for students who do drink,” said Swaroop Reddy, an electrical en-gineering major.

Austin said the safety of UB students is his No. 1 priority.

“Student safety is always of ut-most importance to the univer-sity,” Austin said. “In regard to this service, just as we have not had safety issues running our Stampede to the Boulevard Mall, Tops and Wegmans supermar-kets, or to WalMart twice each week, we do not foresee this ser-vice as compromising student safety.”

Ian Ryan, a sophomore busi-ness major, is conflicted; he’s not sure whether the new bus stop is a good thing.

“It’s a toss up – it’s like, I am catering you to drink, but also preventing drinking and driv-ing,” Ryan said.

Community members have called the Stampede bus the “drunk bus” on weekends, in which it runs from North to South Campus, where many stu-dents frequent parties and bars.

New bus route gives students ride to local bar, among other destinationsUB adds bus stop to complex that includes The U

CVS ends sale of tobacco products

ANNE MULROONEYaSSt. featureS editor

As a young boy in a London suburb, James Currie sat im-provising on a piano, wearing his mother’s clothing and refer-ring to himself as “Lady Beronia Jackson.”

Today, Currie’s passion for per-formance lives on in UB’s musi-cology department. From child-hood drag queen to bullied high schooler, Currie believes his cur-rent professorial career owes it-self to his persistent love for per-forming arts.

“I was a crazy little kid, a real flamer as a child … like, a mas-sive flamer,” Currie said. “In a certain way, it’s been 43 years of taming down. I found myself quite early.”

Currie arrived in the United States in 1992 and began work-ing toward receiving his Ph.D. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Cambridge and a Ph.D. from Columbia; he is the author of the book Music and the Politics of Negation; and he has a 4.6 rank-ing on ratemyprofessors.com. Now, he is an associate professor

of music and lectures on the his-tory of musicology with a con-sistent stage-orientated mentality.

Although Currie has always been musically and theatrical-ly inclined, his formal training didn’t begin until he was about 10. Soon afterward, he began playing the viola and joining or-chestras, which led to a relatively steady form of socializing during his adolescent years. As a young gay boy with few friends, the per-forming arts became a refuge for Currie during a difficult period.

“You hear these kinds of sto-ries all the time: the effeminate, probably-gonna-be-gay person finds some kind of solace – just space, basically – in either acting some kind of fantasy within the performing arts or just the fact that the arts create space,” Cur-rie said. “In order to sit at the pi-ano and play, or do a still life, or write, you simply have to push a lot of things to the side. Other-wise, you can’t concentrate.”

Much of Currie’s academic work focuses on the phenome-non of creating “the space that is made by the concentration nec-essary to create something we

call art,” he said.Colleagues like Tony Arnold,

an associate professor of mu-sic, and students find the rever-ence and passion Currie has for his work inspiring.

Currie’s lectures have “an un-canny ability to draw together threads from a wide variety of disciplines … and spin them into illuminating narratives about the very nature of music, its intrinsic value and integral position at the

core of our existence,” Arnold said in an email.

She believes his pedagogical strength lies not only in his ex-pansive knowledge of music, but also “his ability to connect on a human level.”

Currie’s humorous attitude has won him glowing reviews within the music department’s commu-nity.

“I’m obviously not afraid to make a fool of myself,” he said.

Currie is frequently dressed for lectures in button-up vests and is never afraid to strike a goofy pose. Ross Aftel, a graduate stu-dent studying historical musicol-ogy and music theory, said class with Currie is far from dull.

“Dr. Currie is very witty, ev-eryone loves his accent and it does not take that much for him to keep the class engaged,” Af-tel said. “He develops fascinat-ing lectures for his students, de-votes time for anyone who needs extra help and he’s very passion-ate about what he does.”

Currie’s passion amplifies his liveliness in the classroom. His theatrical lectures keep everyone engaged and attentive, according to Rachel Wu, a graduate student studying piano in the musicology department.

“He’s very funny; he’s always moving around and acting silly,” Wu said. “He makes fun of him-self, especially when he plays pia-no. He’ll pretend to choke when he messes up, and he’ll stick out his tongue and make a funny noise.”

Lady Beronia JacksonProfessor James Currie’s personality entices students to take his classes

See CURRIE, PaGe 6

See BUS ROUTE, PaGe 6

See CVS, PaGe 6

YUSONG SHI, The SpecTrum

CVS implemented a new policy that will stop all cigarette and tobacco sales by Oct. 1. The company has a location in the Commons at UB.

CHAD COOpER, The SpecTrum

Students now have the option to take the Stampede bus to and from the pop-ular bar and club The U from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Sat-urdays. Though UB denies any official agreement between the university and the bar, the hours of The U correlate with the hours of the new bus service.

JUAN D. pINzON, The SpecTrum

James Currie, a professor in the musicol-ogy department, lectures his students in a theatrical style.

Flappy Bird finds immense popularity at UB

ubspectrum.com2 Friday, February 7, 2014

ubspectrum.com 3Friday, February 7, 2014

oPiNioN

An otherwise practical effort at dealing with the realities of col-lege partying habits has turned into a political football game for the administration.

Through an agreement more secretive than necessary, the UB Stampede will now stop at Maple Ridge plaza on (Thirsty) Thurs-days through Saturdays, 8 p.m. until 3 a.m. College students hun-gry for great deals at Subway and Taco Bell, movies and popcorn at AMC Maple Ridge and brand-name quality furniture at Value City frequent the plaza.

Coincidentally, there also hap-pens to be a club and bar in the plaza, interestingly called The U.

UB’s Parking and Transporta-tion Services has been less than forthcoming with comments to The Spectrum on the matter. “Stu-dent safety is the goal,” said As-sistant Director Chris Austin – an oft said, though vacuous, phrase. Safety from what exact-ly – students gorged on Chal-upas getting behind the wheel? Does the university not want stu-

dents dragging their new particle-board armoires the long mile to the dorms?

Officials wouldn’t tell us, but given that the majority of Maple Ridge’s fine establishments close long before 3 a.m., we can only speculate the buses are meant for – gasp – drunk students return-ing from a night of partying.

Jimmy Spezzano, the owner of The U, told The Spectrum that his bar is “working in conjunction with the UB Stampede on this venture and will be available for comment in the near future.”

This is hardly a matter to criti-cize. The fact is that The U does a far better job preventing un-derage drinking than its former South Campus counterparts. The scourge of drunk driving has plagued the campus long enough. It not only puts those behind the wheel in danger, but also those innocently along for the ride or sharing the road.

The busing plan certain-ly opens the university to criti-cism from utopians on whether

the administration is just provid-ing an avenue for student drink-ing, a pass not only enabling par-tying but encouraging it. Criti-cism from other, less-visited bars may also come with claims of fa-voritism.

But are these attacks warrant-ed? Are they substantiated by anything more than false pre-sumptions and rosy outlooks ir-reconcilable with reality?

No, they are not.Call this what it is – a bus for

students to take between campus and a popular bar, and a plan to reduce the attractiveness of driv-ing drunk after a night of party-ing. This does not enable drink-ing, but allows safety; it does not encourage partying, but discour-ages getting behind the wheel drunk.

The U likely sees this as a pos-itive business move; conceivably, it will increase traffic to the bar. Taco Bell employees likely fear the same – raucous, rabble-rous-ing students tend to be testy over their Gorditas.

This is hardly a reason to disap-prove of the new stop along the route between centers of learn-ing, nor is it a reason to hide be-hind refrains of “no comment.” The university should be promot-ing the new bus stop. A nonsen-sical, opaque policy is what needs to change.

Consistency is necessary, as well. Despite past claims by Den-nis Black, the vice president for University Life and Services, of “not [being] in the protection business” regarding students off campus, this new effort at stem-ming drunk driving implies the university feels differently.

Commendably so – a campus that chooses to ignore the row-dy utopian masses and instead meets realities as they exist on the ground, a campus that takes on the messiness of real life (par-ticularly at “shot o’clock”) is long overdue.

email: editorial@ubspectrum.com

Effort to shuttle for safety shrouded in silenceUB Stampede now ferries students to and from The U – just don’t ask why

Torch obscured by fear, but flame burns on

Following a tumultuous year, rife with political suppres-sion, prejudicial legislation and threats of terrorism, the Olympic Games – intended to unify the world in a joyous cacophony of (almost) sportsmanlike jeering – begin Friday.

They couldn’t come sooner. The world needs an illusion of unity, a job the Olympic Games seem fit for.

Consistent headlines on new dangers facing Sochi, Russia have punctuated front pages in the months preceding what will be a victorious moment for Vladimir Putin. The decision seven years ago by the International Olym-pic Coalition (IOC) to hold the Games in Sochi came with pledg-es and high hopes for the success of the Games, which Putin deliv-ered in person.

Putin’s personal charm was cranked, based on reports of the event, in a way only a shirt-less horseback rider turned post-Soviet force of geopolitical na-ture could muster. Skirting due diligence and better judgment, the IOC voted for the Games to be held in a city only miles away from the politically fraught region of Chechnya, a place

wracked by violence since its sec-ond civil war in the 1990s.

Violence spilled into Volgo-grad, a neighboring city to the north of Sochi, in December when suicide bombings killed over 30 civilians. Since then, Pu-tin’s fist has tightened around the area.

Fears have grown to such an extent that the U.S. State Depart-ment has warned travelers going to the Games, and The New York Times has cited security experts characterizing this as “the most dangerous games ever.”

In response, Russian security forces have formed a dense web around the newly built athletic complexes turned monuments to the postmodern czar. Though se-curity is not the only issue facing Putin’s games.

Security from terrorist threats is just the first, but perhaps most palpable, problem.

With each successive nest-ing doll cracked open, the world is forced to gaze upon anoth-er contorted visage, a disheveled character to be dealt with or ex-plained away by the regime.

Legislation enacted against gay “propaganda” has been wide-ly discussed and enforced. Rus-

sian officials have been cracking down on activists and frighten-ing gay athletes with threatening rhetoric in the past few months.

The disturbing move serves only to remind how suppressive the administration remains, even as it prepares to host the event with global unity and acceptance as its core tenet.

Even as claims of improper-ly prepared facilities, abuse of stray dogs and corruption and overspending surface, the torch’s flame burns on. The hope re-mains that the Games will stand as a glimmering event of broth-erly sport amid a sea of other-wise wholly unbecoming behav-ior.

IOC’s choices of cities to host the Olympics are often portrayed as less than perfect; there is noth-ing unique about that.

But Sochi is a bit different. Terrorism has certain acridity to it, and a thinly veiled oppression of a group based on sexual ori-entation is becoming unthinkable with a rapidity we have scarcely seen before. Putin’s grasp around the Olympics is itself the source for the contention obscuring the torch.

We should not forget these problems leading up to the Games. Sochi’s problems are largely indicative of the issues facing the world today.

Political suppression. Un-checked state overreach. Vio-lence fueled by longstanding feuds sparked frequently by reli-gious fervor. Repressing groups finally moving toward accep-tance. Economic struggles. These are, sadly, universal – more so than we tend to realize.

The Games should stand as a beacon in the thicket of these crises, something to remind us we can rise above as a global community, against what would otherwise shake our confidence in accord and semi-annual har-mony.

We reach what we believe to be the center this Friday evening – the lighting of the torch, the opening ceremony and the good-hearted games. We can only hope nothing more menacing lurks deeper.

email: editorial@ubspectrum.com

Olympics shrouded by terrorism threats, controversial politics

art BY AMBER SLITER, The SpecTrum

Wednesday, February 5, 2014Volume 63 Number 45

Circulation 7,000

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EDITORIAL BOARD

EDITOR IN CHIEFAaron Mansfield

MANAGING EDITORS

Lisa KhourySara DiNatale

OPINION EDITOR

Anthony Hilbert

COPY EDITORSTress Klassen, Chief

Amanda JowseySamaya Abdus-Salaam

NEWS EDITORS

Sam Fernando, SeniorAmanda Low

Madelaine Britt, Asst. Chad Leuthauser, Asst.

FEATURES EDITORS

Keren Baruch, SeniorAnne Mulrooney, Asst.

Sharon Kahn, Asst. Brian Windschitl, Asst.

Emma Janicki, Asst.

ARTS EDITORSJoe Konze Jr., Senior

Jordan OscarMeg Weal, Asst.

SPORTS EDITORS

Ben Tarhan, SeniorOwen O’Brien

Tom Dinki, Asst.

PHOTO EDITORSAline Kobayashi, Senior

Chad CooperJuan David Pinzon, Asst.

Yusong Shi, Asst.

CARTOONISTAmber Sliter

CREATIVE DIRECTORS

Brian KeschingerAndres Santandreu, Asst.

PROFESSIONAL STAFF

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR

Helene Polley

ADVERTISING MANAGEREmma Callinan

Drew Gaczewski, Asst. Chris Mirandi, Asst.

ADVERTISING DESIGNER

Ashlee FosterTyler Harder, Asst.Jenna Bower, Asst.

ubspectrum.com4 Friday, February 7, 2014

Life, artS & eNtertaiNMeNt

*We now accept campus cash!*

KEREN BARUCHSeNior featureS editor

An iPhone 4S and the desire to make something bigger than himself.

Tal Kissos held on to those two things on Dec. 31, 2012, at 11:59 p.m.

From that moment on, Kissos began to film a documentary on his iPhone that he believes has the ability to make an impact on the world. Each day during 2013, he videotaped a few seconds of his life.

Kissos is a senior media study major who has a passion for me-dia and hopes to become a film director or producer. He be-lieves that in order to succeed in the media industry after grad-uation, he must have hands-on film experience outside of the classroom. So in 2013, he shift-ed his focus from coursework to his own film, which is called Year of My Life. He said he hopes it inspires the world to appreci-ate life’s little moments because “time is fleeting before our eyes.”

The project is intended to make students realize how im-portant it is to capture moments.

“When you’re young, your head is always in some other place,” Kissos said. “You’re al-ways thinking about where you have to go and what you have to do and stuff like that. You’re never fully there. And this proj-ect is a way to [remind us] to look back and appreciate what we’ve had and to actually live in a moment.”

The opening to his video takes place at a party with his friends. They are counting down the sec-onds to 2013, a year in which Kissos’ audience has the abili-

ty to see snapshots in the 15:46 film.

“Originally, the idea was to capture a one-second video ev-ery day,” Kissos said. “But then I realized I should make it more dynamic. I wanted to cut and edit it so it would be more interest-ing.”

Reccurring themes appear throughout the documentary: friends, family and work. There’s footage of Kissos working on shows he directed at UB as well as films he is producing. He cap-tured his Israeli family several times throughout the documen-tary and devoted a generous fo-cus to holidays and meal gather-ings.

Kissos said the video kept him constantly on the lookout for “little moments” he wants to “cherish” and keep with him. He

believes videos can better encap-sulate moments than pictures.

“And that’s what I’m all about,” Kissos said. “Capturing moments.”

Kissos had a personal goal with his plan. He wanted to sit down in the beginning of 2014 and appreciate everything he had gone through during the year. But as he continued to create his documentary, he realized oth-ers may enjoy watching moments from his life. He then realized it could have a larger impact.

Kissos hopes to continue mak-ing yearly films.

When he watches his 2014 Year of My Life compilation, he’ll re-member being interviewed for this article in The Spectrum.

Some of his instructors have recommended he submit his video to film festivals, but Kis-

sos is unsure if he wants to. He knows for certain, however, that the experience improved his vid-eo skills. He used Adobe Pre-miere Pro CS6 to edit and put together his video.

Though Kissos does not be-lieve UB courses have helped him succeed as a media student as much as his personal projects have, Josephine Anstey, an as-sociate professor in the media study department, said students aiming to work in the media in-dustry can gain proficiency in film, video production and post-production. She said the basic, intermediate and advanced vid-eo and documentary courses are beneficial.

“The courses are not specif-ically geared for television but the shooting and editing skills certainly apply,” Anstey said.

“Most recently, we are offering course material that focuses on short-video sharing apps, mobile phone image capture and fast/online editing for social networks and the web.”

This spring, the media study department has launched a new lecture series open to the public. It has “cutting-edge media prac-titioners,” according to Anstey.

Rachel Weinberger, Kissos’ mother, is proud of her son for taking initiative with his film-making in addition to his course-work.

“Tal is very passionate about making film and dedicated to it,” Weinberg said. “He has big plans to move out to California to pur-sue his passion and career. I have no doubts that he is going to make it in Hollywood.”

Weinberger said when Kissos was in high school, he was rec-ognized as “the most prominent photographer” and his work is still hung in his school today.

Though she admits she is bi-ased, she loved Year of My Life.

“I think it’s original – a nice and balanced reflection on his life at school, friends and family,” Weinberger said. “On a person-al level, I told him that from now on when he is around, I will al-ways wear makeup … even when I am home with no plans to go out.”

Kissos’ video ends at a party with his friends counting down the seconds until 2014. His iPhone 4S remains in his hand each day as he captures more moments, which he hopes to en-joy in decades to come.

email: features@ubspectrum.com

One year, many ‘little moments’ to cherishUB student films every day for a year and creates self-reflective documentary

KEREN BARUCH, The SpecTrum

Tal Kissos, a senior media study major, de-cided to branch away from the media study department and create his own documen-tary about his life in 2013.

ubspectrum.com 5Friday, February 7, 2014

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BRIAN KESCHINGERCreative direCtor

Game: Flappy BirdPlatform: Android, iOS and Windows Phone (coming soon)Release Date: May 2013Developer: HanoiPublisher: .GEARS StudiosGrade: A-

Anger and bright colors: two things that normally aren’t asso-ciated, unless you’re playing Flap-py Bird.

Flappy Bird is the latest trend-ing smartphone game, but it’s not your traditional popular ca-sual-gaming experience.

The objective is simple: tap the screen to make your bird flap its wings and fly in between pairs of pipes. But it comes with no tu-torial, instructions or guidance – you learn to play by failing, a lot.

The side-scrolling game seems friendly at first with its familiar, Super Mario World-esque graph-ics, vibrant colors and rewarding sound clips.

But there is nothing amiable about this game.

The learning curve is minimal but mastering it is insurmount-able. The course continues to be randomly generated until you fail. You can’t finish or beat Flap-py Bird.

Through your first 20 trials of Flappy Bird, I’d be impressed if you received a score higher than three. The game is unforgiv-ing and punishing, but you can

feel yourself progress and gain an understanding that ultimate-ly reels you back into giving the colorful bird one more flight – and another after that.

After achieving a respectable high score, you develop expec-tations for yourself. So on your next flight when you hit into that first pipe, a fire ignites inside of you, forcing you to frantically tap the area of the screen where the restart button is going to show up.

It’s easy to fail upward of 15 times in just five minutes, mak-ing it a game of repetition. But I achieved some of my best runs the first time I picked it up af-ter not playing for several hours. Sometimes after playing many times back to back, you can lose focus and feel like you’re looking

straight through your phone – it’s time to step away and regroup.

The Android and iOS ver-sions are nearly identical, with just a few subtle differences. For a game with such simplistic func-tionality and very few resources on-screen, the iOS version has a noticeably worse frame rate than its Android counterpart. This doesn’t break the game for iOS users, but when looking at the Android version in comparison, it’s buttery smooth and makes for a small pacing difference. The iOS version also has pause functionality, while the Android version changes the color of the bird and background from run to run.

Although Flappy Bird is dif-ficult and grueling at times, it’s never unfair. The game’s consis-tent hit boxes on pipes and the bird along with the identical ver-tical and horizontal spaces be-tween pipes make this game a true test of concentration, pre-ciseness and skill.

Flappy Bird currently sits at the top of both the iOS and Google Play free app charts, with a Win-dows Phone version currently awaiting approval by Microsoft.

It never holds your hand. Those who think it’s a bad game aren’t good at it. But those who are good at it respect it.

email: arts@ubspectrum.com

Complimentary FailureFlappy Bird finds immense popularity at UB

TOP UB SCORES*1. David Xiong (AND) - 125

2. Ryan Proud (iOS) - 97

3. Rob Paulson (AND) - 85

4. David Brunette (iOS) - 82

5. Mike Hasenauer (iOS) - 76

PhotoS CourteSY of DOTGEAR STUDIO

JORDAN OSCARartS editor

If you’ve wandered around cam-pus lately, you may have noticed people transfixed by their phones and frantically tapping the screen. If you bumped into one of those people and received a scathing glance, it’s probably because you cost the person a high score in Flappy Bird.

The simple task of maneuvering a bird through a series of pipes has captivated people all around cam-pus.

“I’m stuck at six; it’s the hardest game I’ve ever played in my life,” said Brandon Roberts, a junior business major. “This game looks a lot simpler than it really is. You think you’re going to do so well but it never happens. You always do bad in this game.”

As of Thursday, over 25 million have played Flappy Bird on iOS and over 10 million have downloaded it from Android’s Google Play. It’s the No. 1 free app in the App Store and Google Play and it has likely been leaving most players frustrat-ed, struggling to beat their person-al high score.

Pictures of high scores and “epic fails” have flooded social media and roused competitive na-ture throughout some of the stu-dent body. And although the app launched in May 2013, it only re-cently took off, topping charts for free apps on the iOS App Store and Google Play.

Games like Candy Crush and Words with Friends have garnered

similar amounts attention and wide game play. But what makes Flap-py Bird different is how the game hides its challenging nature. Us-ers appreciate its minimalist design and structure, which allows for easy continual play – one attempt after the other.

The game also encourages com-petition among friends – Android users can even use Google+ to compare scores with friends in their “circles.”

“I downloaded it yesterday,” said Juraj Damjanic, a senior psychol-ogy major. “But I’m just trying to beat my friend’s high score … It’s fun and entertaining.”

Hours pass quickly with dozens of runs of Flappy Bird that end in mixed success. One good run on the game can easily be followed by dozens of disappointing ones.

With the game gaining popular-ity, the creator, Dong Nguyen, is cashing in on his creation. It has become so popular that Nguyen told The Verge he is making $50,000 from ad revenue every day, or $18 million each year.

“He’s a genius,” Roberts said. “Look at the makers of Angry Birds; they [marketed around it] and made toys and everything. I don’t think people even play that game anymore and it’s still worth millions.”

One thing is for sure: Flappy Bird’s popularity is growing, one tap at a time.

Joe Konze Jr. contributed reporting to this story.

email: arts@ubspectrum.com

*According to The Spectrum’s survey submissions

ubspectrum.com6 Friday, February 7, 2014

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She said that other stores might follow in CVS’ footsteps, but at the same time they may choose not to because of the potential loss in revenue. In-stead of choosing to smoke less, consumers can choose to pur-chase their products from other stores, Herbert said.

Hnu Thaper, a freshman busi-ness major, thinks CVS’ new policy is a good idea, but that “people are still going to buy to-bacco either way.”

Following the announce-ment, CVS changed its social media icons to no smoking sym-bols. Government officials cel-ebrated the decision on social media sites like Twitter.

The White House tweeted the president’s comments: “Obama: ‘Today’s decision will help ad-vance my Administration’s ef-

forts to reduce tobacco-relat-ed deaths, cancer and heart dis-ease.’ #CVS.”

Former New York City May-or Michael Bloomberg tweet-ed: “CVS’ decision to elimi-nate #tobacoo sales is a major milestone in the effort to reduce tobacco use … #CVSquits.”

Daun-Barnett said next month, Wellness Education Ser-vices is planning to have UB students write thank-you notes to CVS regarding this policy change.

She encourages students to visit CVS’ social media sites in support of this step to create a more expansive smoke-free population.

email: news@ubspectrum.com

On Sept. 30 at a community meeting to discuss problems in the University Heights area surrounding South Cam-pus, Assistant Vice President for Gov-ernment and Community Relations Mi-chael Pietkiewicz said UB’s bus service allows students to go to the library on South Campus, which is open 24 hours a day.

“It is what it is – the ‘drunk bus’ is honestly the best way to get students to and from North and South Campus safely,” Reisman said.

email: news@ubspectrum.com

Wu believes this self-depre-cating humor lightens the mood in an otherwise all-too-serious class. Creating an atmosphere in which everyone feels comfort-able participating and reacting sincerely to the material present-ed “makes everything easier.”

Currie believes his popular-ity among students and facul-ty stems more from his love of performance than his love of teaching.

“My need for a performance base is oddly catered to two or three times a week when I have to stand in front of a fee-paying audience,” Currie said. “I don’t even have to see how much money people put in the jar at the end of the evening – I just get a paycheck. It’s a weird, odd fortuity.”

Although Currie prefers the aspect of performance to the aspect of education in his teach-

ing profession, his relationship with students is one of mutual affection.

“They’re very smart kids,” Currie said. “They don’t have an entitled relationship to what you should know and what you shouldn’t know. There is a feel-ing of excitement that can come with teaching in a place like this, which is very important to me.”

This semester, Currie is teach-ing Music History II and En-lightened Postmodernity.

Currie may no longer play un-der the name “Lady Beronia Jackson,” but he is still happi-ly performing – most often in front of an audience of stu-dents – remembering how much music has served as his nearly life-long salvation.

email: features@ubspectrum.com

Continued from page 1: Bus route

Continued from page 1: CVS

Continued from page 1: Currie

“I feel my formula worked at Hampton, so I was like, ‘let’s move up the ladder and see if it works here,’” Peel said. “I love doubters.”

She immediately changed the attitude among the players at UB during workouts and prac-tices with her competitive flare.

“There is competitiveness in everything,” said senior pitch-er Tori Speckman. “From the lift, conditioning, to practice, they’ve made it where you want to push yourself. You don’t feel the need to have someone tell you.”

Peel is taking over a program that has been unsuccessful since joining the Mid-American Con-ference in 2001 – especially in the last eight seasons. Buffalo has lost more conference games (118) than games won overall (117) in this span.

“I think because there’s been such a losing culture, trying to change our mindset and build confidence and knowing that you deserve to win [are the big-gest challenges],” Peel said.

Senior shortstop Sammi Gal-lardo said Peel hasn’t come in trying to change everything on a technical level. Peel doesn’t try to alter swings for those who’ve had individual success over their career.

Players say she is able to easily relate to them due to her play-ing career and short removal from the game. Peel played pro-fessionally as recently as 2009.

“It gives me a little bit of credibility with saying I’ve been there, I’ve done that, I’m not just a 50-year-old coach who hasn’t played in 30 years,” Peel said.

She’s built a strong relation-ship with her players and has already shown the ability to re-cruit. The Bulls signed junior third baseman/catcher Hay-ley Barrow from the Universi-ty of Central Florida since sign-ing Peel. Barrow said Peel’s win-ning history and edge is what drew her from Florida to West-ern New York.

“She told me she was here to make me the best player I could be, and I struggled with that at my previous school because I kind of got down on myself,” Barrow said. “I didn’t have someone to sit there and tell me that I could be the best player, but she made me believe I could turn into that kind of player.”

And her players love her swag and having the opportunity to develop their own.

“[If] you strike out, it doesn’t mean you have any less con-fidence, less swag per se,” said

sophomore infielder Ryleigh Fitzgerald. “It even lightens the mood a little bit. You are like, ‘You know what, I have some swag,’ and it helps me personal-ly to relax.”

Glenn Moore believes she will have success at Buffalo be-cause, frankly, she doesn’t know anything else.

“I also think her talent and confidence with that talent gave her an expectation to win,” Moore said. “Winners win; it’s that simple. You are either OK with being just OK or you are not. If you are not, you will find a way to win.”

The team’s newest motto is “why not us?” Inspired by the Super Bowl Champion Seat-tle Seahawks, the team believes they are being overlooked in the conference. Peel is trying to in-still in her players that they have the talent to win this season, but they must believe in themselves.

Peel begins her newest chal-lenge this weekend, as the Bulls begin their season on the road Friday at Southern Universi-ty. Buffalo won’t play at home until conference play begins on March 28.

email: sports@ubspectrum.com

Continued from page 8: peel

Continued from page 8: HockeySenior goalie Michael Musi-

alowski has provided the Bulls with excellent goaltending all season, as he has put together an 8-5 record with two shutouts and 381 saves, averaging 2.92 goals allowed per game.

The future of Buffalo hock-ey is bright as freshman goalie Stephen Palmer has been reli-able when called upon. His 6-1

record and team-best 2.57 goals against average has given the team an extra spark.

“These guys have really per-formed and have grown togeth-er as a team since August,” Ker-sten said. “The coaching staff and players just hope we can continue this journey until mid-March.”

The Bulls are on the road this Friday when they play St. Bo-naventure (5-12, 4-8 NECHL) at 8:30 p.m. They will come back home Saturday to hit the ice with Rochester College (13-15) at the Northtown Center at 7:30 p.m.

email: sports@ubspectrum.com

ubspectrum.com 7Friday, February 7, 2014

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1 Winged god of love 5 Foe of Two-Face11 “What ___ to do?”14 Heredity determiner15 Conductor Toscanini16 Uncompromising law17 With too much on one’s plate19 Some spots before your eyes?20 Lay one’s mitts on21 15-Across and others23 Art prop26 Agent of espionage28 Cabbage purchase29 Counteracting agent31 Dancer’s glide33 Water pistol, e.g.34 Look around a prison?36 Not much41 Change with the times ... again42 Quaker bit44 Elevated ground47 Grace period?50 Quarry51 Apiece52 Made waves, in a way53 Oceanfront56 Big-bang material

57 Partners of “ands” and “buts”58 Sensible64 Actress Ruby65 Magazine chief66 Pouty look67 Trauma centers, briefly68 One may be superior69 Long-range weapon

1 It may be inflated or mas-saged 2 Gun, as an engine 3 Latish lunchtime 4 Federov of the NHL 5 Thai currency 6 “So there you ___!” 7 Sum (abbr.) 8 Wrapped movie monster 9 Word with “rest,” “work” or “play”10 Where a leaf joins a stem11 Diminishes12 Bay of Bengal city13 Not outdoors18 Join, as metals22 Puppeteer Lewis23 Consume24 Ever and __25 Eye doctor’s concern

26 Offered one’s seat27 Mark Twain, for one30 Double quartet31 Terra- ___32 “Whadja say?”35 Sot37 Dentistry photos38 Hoop height, in feet39 Film ___ (dark movie genre)40 Clue or Life43 John and Bobby’s brother44 ___-down cake45 Like better46 Rental agreements48 Unattached49 Japanese floor covering51 Shrill-voiced bird54 Footnote word55 Extinct bird56 Pressure unit59 Maximum degree60 Small digit61 Charles S. Dutton title character62 Clunky ship63 Clothes line

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) -- You may have to bear a bur-den you had hoped would not be yours -- but you can rise to the occasion and acquit yourself in style.PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) -- How you talk about yourself and your endeavors will tell your rivals much about what you are really about. Do you want that?ARIES (March 21-April 19) -- You're likely to get some advice that strikes you as odd -- until you realize that you've been misinter-preting a certain situation.TAURUS (April 20-May 20) -- You'll receive assistance today precisely when you need it most, and you'll want to return the fa-vor at the earliest possible oppor-tunity.GEMINI (May 21-June 20) -- You can help someone you know from letting things slip through the cracks. Yes, it means bearing more responsibility than usual.CANCER (June 21-July 22) -- You mustn't ignore the signs that are right in front of you. Once you take them in, several ques-tions will be answered.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) -- What you do unintentionally is like-ly to be more important in the long run than anything you have planned. Let momentum build.VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) -- Your understanding of a key situ-ation will make the difference be-tween taking a step forward or a step back.LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) -- You are eager to see where things are headed, yet you know there are certain dangers to address if you let a situation go unabated.SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) -- How you express yourself makes all the difference. There's noth-ing wrong with letting others know you know what you're talk-ing about!SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) -- You'll benefit in a round-about way from something that a neighbor or casual friend does as a matter of routine.CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) -- Focus on the task at hand and don't let yourself be distract-ed by something that you think will be much more fun.

ubspectrum.com8 Friday, February 7, 2014

SPortS

OWEN O’BRIENSportS Editor

Trena Peel has swagger.The first-year Buffalo head

softball coach has won an SEC Player of the Year award, repre-sented her country in the Junior Olympic games and excelled as a coach largely because of this simple yet often misunderstood trait.

Swagger is a characteristic Peel wants her teams to encom-pass. It’s become the team’s slo-gan and is inscribed in the back of their t-shirts.

“I tell them, ‘I’m ok with be-ing cocky,’ because when you are cocky and you can back it up,” Peel said. “Hey, it is what it is. Beat us if you don’t like it.”

Peel was introduced as Buf-falo’s head coach July 12. She thrived at LSU for four years be-fore playing six seasons profes-sionally. Peel was also a member of the 1999 USA Junior Olym-pic softball team. As a coach, she brought Hampton University to the NCAA Tournament in just her third season.

Now, she is looking to rebuild UB’s program.

Peel is a winner – she won four SEC championships at LSU and a Mid-Eastern Athletic Champi-onship as a head coach last sea-son. When she played for Team USA, however, the team finished in second place to Japan. She didn’t take the loss well.

“That was a tough loss,” Peel said. “You get all the hype and to get the silver medal, you never want to be second place. I don’t even think I kept my silver med-al; I gave it to my mom. I didn’t even want it. That’s just the com-petitor in me. I don’t want silver.

I’m not proud of it.”She represented her country

again and won championships in 2001, 2002 and 2003, but that one loss has always remained with her.

Peel is no stranger to turning around athletic programs. When she went to LSU, the program was only in its third season af-ter a 15-year hiatus. Still – large-ly due to her contributions – LSU won four championships in four years. As a senior, Peel was a semifinalist for the USA Soft-ball Collegiate Player of the Year award.

“She was highly driven to win, and I wanted her in the moment when it mattered most,” said Glenn Moore, Peel’s coach for her first two seasons at LSU and the current Baylor head coach. “I knew her competitiveness would jumpstart her adrenaline. Trena was a risk taker and won most of the time anything significant was on the line. She was shrewd and not interested in useless things or activities that didn’t seem to have a productive purpose.”

Peel graduated from LSU in 2003 with 269 hits, 45 doubles and 27 triples – all of which rank first in school history. She is one of nine All-Americans in the program’s history and played in its first ever Women’s College World Series.

She was heavily scouted and recruited by colleges since ear-ly high school. Peel played trav-el softball in the 18-year-old di-vision since she was 15 and drew interest from “literally ev-ery school out there,” she said. She had no idea where she want-ed to play, though, and therefore entered the recruitment process with an open mind.

The Aurora, Colo., native’s first

three stops were Georgia, Mich-igan State and Colorado State. Her next three were scheduled for LSU, Nebraska and Florida. After visiting LSU, she canceled her next two trips. She knew where she wanted to go. The competitive environment that surrounded LSU reeled her in.

“If I went to any other school, I would have been the No. 1 pitcher, No. 1 shortstop, but LSU was the only program where I had to really compete because

there were people there better than me that I thought would make me better,” Peel said.

Peel had numerous assistant coaching stints and professional league tours before running her own team. When she inherited Hampton’s softball program, she was the first full-time head coach at the school. Peel knew changes were necessary.

The administration gave her complete control over the pro-gram. They allowed her to fly in

recruits and really pitch the val-ues and qualities she wanted in her student-athletes.

“It doesn’t matter how good of a career I had or what I know or how good of a coach I am – if I can’t go out and recruit kids and bring kids to campus, it doesn’t matter,” Peel said.

Peel values discipline over ev-erything else. She kicked a few players off her Hampton team in the first season due to viola-tions of team rules. The team struggled initially, but the struc-ture paid off as Hampton won 25 games in 2012 and 34 games in 2013. Hampton won its first Mid-Eastern Athletic Confer-ence Championship and played in the NCAA Tournament in 2013.

With her success came new opportunities. Michigan State University offered her an assis-tant coaching opportunity after her 2012 season for more mon-ey than her head coaching posi-tion. She looked into it, but ulti-mately decided it wasn’t the right fit. Peel is a firm believer in go-ing with a “gut instinct,” which is how she found herself at UB the following summer.

When UB offered her the head coaching position in 2013, she was told to stay away. All of her colleagues told her the Buffa-lo job was a trap and she could never recruit or win there. Even Buffalo’s previous head coach, Jennifer Teague, told her to re-ject the Buffalo job. She had built a winner in Hampton and many believed she should stay. P e e l didn’t listen.

Athletic Director Danny White sold her on his vision for Buffa-lo athletics and she believed this was a place she could thrive.

On a hundred, thousand, trillionPeel has brought a new mindset to UB softball in her first season

CHAD COOpER, thE SpEctrumTrena Peel is LSU’s all-time leader in hits, doubles and triples, and she represented Team USA in the Junior Olympics. This season, she is looking to bring her winning mentality to UB in her first season as the softball team’s head coach.

Tournament dreams within sight Men’s ice hockey aiming for ACHA tournament

See HOCKEY, PaGe 6

See pEEL, PaGe 6

WEEKEND ROUNDUP: Read more news surrounding the men’s bas-ketball, women’s basketball and softball teams. Also: the football team made several announcements this week, including: the 2014 season oppo-nents; the schedule for its four non-conference games; three performers for the UB Football Tailgate Concert Series; and the 2014 recruiting class.

For the most comprehensive, up-to-the-minute UB sports coverage, follow @ubspecsports and visit ubspectrum.com. On the site today:

GAME STORY: The wom-en’s basketball team had its poorest first half of the sea-son Thursday, but it found a way to win.

SEASON PREVIEW: Be-hind new head coach Trena Peel, the softball team is look-ing for new success after fin-ishing 16-32 last year.

CourteSY of DWAYNE NIEWIEMSKI

Senior goalie Mike Musialowski (33) and the men’s ice hockey team take on St. Bonaventure on the road on Friday night and Rochester College at home on Saturday night as they look to make the ACHA national tournament.

JEFF pLACITOStaff Writer

It doesn’t get much better than

scoring the game-winning goal in double overtime on the last game of the season for the league tour-nament championship. For the men’s ice hockey team, that mo-ment culminated a spectacular 2012-13 season. An unsuccess-ful regular season, however, kept them out of the American Colle-giate Hockey League (ACHL) na-tional tournament.

The Bulls have not forgot-ten that even though they were tournament champions, their ri-val, Niagara, went on to play in the ACHL national tournament while they were left out.

The Bulls are aiming for ven-geance this season as they bat-tle for first place in the North-east Collegiate Hockey League (NECHL). With only three games left in their regular season schedule, the Bulls (21-9, 11-2 NECHL) lead the NECHL with 34 points.

“The season has been great,” said assistant coach Jeremy Ker-sten. “We have done all we can so far and now just need a lit-tle luck and help in the next few weeks.”

The team has played especial-ly well considering nine seniors graduated last season, creating a need for underclassmen to step up. The players and coaches have shown their resiliency all season – bouncing back from not only from the loss of senior leader-

ship, but also a shaky 3-3 start to the season.

It has been a tight race be-tween the top three teams in the NECHL, as reigning regular sea-son champ No. 24 Niagara (15-9, 10-4 NECHL), No. 22 Syracuse (17-5, 10-2 NECHL) and Buf-

falo have gone back and forth in the standings. The Bulls have split meetings with both teams.

Those two losses have been the only blemishes for the Bulls in league play.

With three games left to play, the Bulls must continue their

dominance if they want to ad-vance to the ACHL tournament this year. A team can receive a bid to the tournament by fin-ishing first in its regular season league standings or placing in the top 20 of the computer rankings. This is the first year the ACHL is using computer rankings over the coaches’ poll to determine the at-large bids.

Buffalo is currently ranked No. 20, but the squad will need some help if it is going to get an au-tomatic bid to the ACHL tour-nament. Despite splitting a two-game series with Syracuse last month, the Orange scored one more goal and own the tiebreak-er. Desire alone cannot elevate a team to championship status. A winning squad needs talent-ed players who can work togeth-er as a team, not just individual-ly. The Bulls have both the desire and talent to win.

Junior forwards Brenden Rob-inson and Michael Schalberg have helped the Bulls to their im-pressive record so far this sea-son. Robinson has tallied 55 points with 21 goals and 34 as-sists, while Schalberg has record-ed 54 points with 25 goals and 29 assists.