A new exhibit opening this week at the CFA promises to challenge ideas about what a building can do.  
    Reflexive Architecture Machines, to be presented Feb. 9 until Mar. 20 on the second floor of the UB Art Gallery, will display research conducted by the School of Architecture on how common building materials like wood, plastic and rubber can be adapted to respond to their environment.
    The exhibit centers around the development of “responsive materials,” which change their shape based on certain environmental characteristics.
    Though this is expected to a small extent with most industrialized materials – for instance, when wood warps from water damage – Reflexive Architectural Machines takes advantage of familiar materials' natural responses.
    The gallery will display several prototypes of how this can work.
    This exhibition will include research by Omar Khan, assistant professor of architecture and co-director of the Center for Architecture and Situated Technologies.
    His project called “Open Columns” is a series of non-structural columns made from flexible composite urethane elastomers that rise and fall according to the level of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air.
    These columns respond to an electronic CO2 sensor in the vicinity and change the level of enclosure in a room by altering ceiling height based on the number of people in that room. When CO2 levels are too high, the ceiling is lowered to encourage people to disperse.
    The exhibit will not only show “Open Columns” in action in the UB Art Gallery, but will also offer two video feeds, one live and the other prerecorded, of the columns in different locations. The live feed will be from the Buffalo Arts Studio (BAS) in the downtown Buffalo Tri-Main Center, so that attendants can see the magnitude with which the columns can alter their shape.
    Also presented by Khan is what he calls a “Gravity Screen,” an organized mesh of two different elastomers which stretches based upon the weights attached to the bottom.
    The screen is designed to remain strong while being stretched into an endless number of configurations. In architecture, such screens could be used to alter the acoustic quality of a concert hall, for example.
    “Warped,” an experimental plywood partition by Matthew Hume, adjunct professor of architecture at UB, is another exhibit that will be included at Reflexive Architecture Machines.
    It is a series of walls, columns and arches made from plywood shingles that are manufactured so that they warp in a particular way when exposed to moisture. Water vapor twists and bends the wood, opening up gaps for ventilation.  The plywood shingles must be riveted together in a specific way to maintain integrity during warping.
    These experimental configurations of relatively common materials threaten the understanding that buildings are nothing more than static containers by demonstrating an ability to sense human presence and respond to it.
    More information about Reflexive Architecture Machines can be found at the UB Art Gallery website www.ubartgalleries.org.

E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com [read more]

    The UB 2020 Flexibility and Economic Growth Act came under a lot of fire after being passed by the State Senate over the summer.
    The Act was halted by the State Assembly because of the autonomy UB would have in the state’s higher education system. The New York State Senate passed the bill two days after a new chancellor was elected, but the bill did not make it through the State Assembly who felt the bill was too focused on UB and not the rest of the state or SUNY.
    Now, instead of the bill just affecting UB, it will affect SUNY schools statewide.
    Unlike the previous bill, Ryan McPherson, associate vice president for government and community relations, said this one has created a broader coalition with more political power made up mainly of other research universities, like Binghamton and Stony Brook.
    "The 2020 bill is expanded in scope and impact," McPherson said.
    It is a strategy to gain SUNY's board of trustees' support.
    The state is already in support of the new bill; Governor Paterson included the bill in the executive budget for the state.
    "This allows us to put forward proposals tied to the budget process," McPherson said.
    The 2020 bill creates a rational tuition system, according to McPherson. It gives both differentials and prediction. Students will know their tuition in full for not only the semester, but the following years as well. Tuition will increase a certain amount every year because of rising costs.
    Student Association President Ernesto Alvarado believes the gradual increase in tuition is better than increase spikes.
    "A $5,000 spike is difficult [financially]. It catches people by surprise and hits them harder," Alvarado said.
    Two weeks before winter break, UB's tuition spiked 14 percent, leaving many students in the lurch.
    "Obviously, I wish it wouldn't increase at all," Alvarado said.
    But financially, it is better to increase the tuition incrementally, according to Alvarado. It will help not only current college students plan their finances, but students in high school as well.
    Alvarado also believes that the amount of people coming to UB will decrease if tuition continues to rise.
    "They'll look at other ways to continue higher education," Alvarado said. "UB is the biggest SUNY school, so people will continue going here. We'll still see a flow from the New York City area, but a gradual decrease of lower income and out of state [students]. My tuition has gone up a lot higher and I feel the brunt."
    But McPherson claims differential tuition is nothing new. Only four states do not allow this type of tuition, and New York State is one of them.
    "We are the minority in terms of our state micromanaging," McPherson said.
    McPherson does not think that the new tuition will stop students from applying and attending UB or other SUNY schools. The SUNY system is less expensive than any other state. McPherson went on to say that SUNY is competitive in price but not in overall quality, and the bill hopes to change that. Financial aid, however, will be “high impact, no cost.”
    With tuition costs in the hands of SUNY rather than the state, financial aid will not affect taxpayers. According to McPherson, the tuition prices will not strike out the most needy students. Twenty-five percent of tuition will be put back into need-based aid.
    But now that the bill has been expanded to all SUNY schools, it allows the freedom to do more things. In UB's case, this will allow for more expansion into the city of Buffalo, rather than just the suburbs.
    "Coming from an outsiders perspective, Amherst is a lot more affected than the city itself," McPherson said.
    If UB continues with downtown development, it can reconnect the city with Amherst and reinvigorate the downtown area, which will make Buffalo more of a college town.
    McPherson said that UB is not the only school that would benefit; the new bill will be applied to all SUNY campuses, such as Buffalo State and Fredonia.
    This sounds great, but it still leaves Alvarado slightly skeptical.
    "They're doing a great job pushing [UB 2020], but how successful will they be?” Alvarado said.

E-mail: news @ubspectrum.com [read more]

    Dr. Stefan Roberts, a professor in the Department of Biology at UB, has played a part in possibly advancing cancer treatment.  By linking an enzyme to the breakdown of a specific protein in cancerous cells, it may be possible to lower the necessary amount of chemotherapy needed to treat cancerous tumors. 
    The protein known as WT1 is found in many cancerous tumors.  WT1 stands for “Wilms’ Tumor 1,” which is a gene that codes for the protein critically involved in the normal development of the urogenital system.  A childhood kidney cancer called “Wilms’ Tumor,” or nephroblastoma, is associated with a mutation in the genes for the WT1 protein, hence the name. In this cancer and also in childhood leukemia, the WT1 acts as a tumor suppressor.
    “WT1 is kind of a bit of a Janus – it has two heads to it, one of them is not very nice, and one of them is nice.  And it depends what tumor you’re looking at,” Roberts said when referring to the fact that the WT1 protein can sometimes act as a tumor suppressor and at other times act as an oncogene, a gene that stimulates cancer proliferation.
    By using cultures of human cancer cell lines that express WT1, Roberts and his colleagues were able to discover what happens when cancer cells are treated with HtrA2, an enzyme that breaks down proteins.  By linking WT1 with this enzyme, they have discovered that it has the capability of degrading WT1. 
    In some cancers, WT1 needs to be degraded in order for cells to die on time, undergoing a process called apoptosis.  It appears that in many adult cancers, WT1 helps the cancer continue to reproduce, but in some childhood cancers the WT1 acts as a tumor suppressor.  Therefore, the elimination of WT1 in many adult tumors would slow the growth of the cancer.  This means that the rate at which cancer cells die would increase because of the addition of HtrA2.
    This finding has implications for patients regarding chemotherapy.  The cytotoxic drug administered during treatment “damages DNA, inhibits cell division, and generally targets dividing cells,” according to Roberts.
    This includes cancerous cells, of course, but it also includes the digestive lining, hair cells and skin cells, which is why people undergoing chemotherapy often lose their hair and have skin and digestive system complications.
    “If we eliminated the WT1 from the cells [of certain cancers], you need to take less drugs to kill them.  So the idea … is that if you can target things that stack the odds towards the cell undergoing apoptosis, then that can only be a good thing,” Roberts said.
    This would reduce the amount of chemotherapy needed to treat an individual’s cancer, meaning that there would be fewer side effects. Fewer side effects are imperative in childhood cancer because chemotherapy makes children so sick for such a long time. Being so ill often disturbs kids’ progress in school, among other things. 
    A problem with chemotherapy is that most times, it ends up causing DNA damage in healthy cells along the way, which can cause secondary cancers years later that result from the original treatment of chemotherapy. The less chemotherapy children undergo, the better chance they have at leading a longer, healthier and cancer-free life.
    “This is not a cure for cancer by any means, but it is something you really want to go check out now because these agents are basically degrading a protein that in one cancer is a good thing, but in another tumor might not be a good thing and make the treatment less effective,” Roberts said.
    This gives hope to the eventual use of this enzyme on real patients in order to reduce the amount of chemotherapy for certain types of cancers.

E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
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    Now that the Super Bowl is over, it’s time to shift our focus.
    March Madness and the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship tournament are right around the corner. Many think that the 65-team, three-week tournament is the greatest event in all of sports.
    But it’s in danger of being ruined.
    There has been a lot of talk about expanding the tournament field from 65 teams to either 96 or 128 teams. On the scale of bad ideas, this one is right up there alongside the “Let’s hire Chan Gailey” move. The tournament is perfect exactly the way it is. Why change it?
    For those unfamiliar with March Madness, here’s how the 65-team field is decided:
    At the end of the regular season, every conference (except for the Ivy League) holds a championship tournament. The winner of each conference tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Ivy League simply sends its regular season champion. There are 31 conferences in Division I, so 31 teams receive one of these automatic bids.
    That’s the easy part.
    The 34 remaining spots in the tournament are assigned by a selection committee, which carefully reviews the credentials of each team in the nation and decides whether the team is worthy of an invitation to “The Big Dance.” Most of the decisions are easy to make, but every year, there is controversy surrounding the teams “on the bubble,” or in other words, the teams that barely make it in and those that just miss being included.
    Sure, maybe St. Mary’s should have gotten in instead of Wisconsin last year. But was St. Mary’s going to beat North Carolina, who made winning the championship look easy? Not likely.
    Though teams on the outside looking in may have legitimate complaints, they also have to deal with the fact that a few more regular season wins would have taken away the committee’s ability to snub them.
    A main argument for expanding the field is that schools that normally don’t make it into the tournament would get to experience the opportunity of a lifetime, one that many student-athletes miss out on.
    Isn’t it an opportunity of a lifetime precisely because it’s difficult to get in? Expanding the field lessens the sense of accomplishment, waters down the competition, and renders the regular season meaningless.
    If making it into the current field is like getting a table at The Chophouse on a Saturday night without a reservation, then changing it into an expanded field would be like reserving a table at Applebee’s for Tuesday at noon.
    The real motive behind the potential expansion is money, just like it always is with the NCAA. More teams means more games, and more games mean more revenue from television deals and sponsors.
    The same organization that won’t allow its athletes to make a penny off of their talent can’t seem to stop trying to exploit the athletes to make more money for itself.
    The NCAA’s greed has already ruined college football’s championship system. It would be very sad if it ruined college basketball’s as well.

E-mail: luke.hammill@ubspectrum.com [read more]

    The women’s basketball team closed out the Michigan portion of its schedule on Saturday afternoon with its best defensive performance of the season.
    The Bulls (7-16, 3-7 Mid-American Conference), in their second of two conference home games this week, slipped past the Central Michigan Chippewas (8-14, 5-5, MAC) at Alumni Arena, 60-52.
    The Bulls scored first and, with a strong defensive effort, never trailed once. Although the Bulls struggled hanging onto the ball, committing 21 turnovers, their defense held the Chippewas to a measly 26.8 percent shooting from the field on their way to victory. 
    “[I was] extremely pleased with the defensive effort,” said Bulls head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. “I don’t know that we’ve held anybody to 26 percent from the floor all year, and it was a great team effort defensively and I was really proud that we were able to do that for 40 minutes.”
    Despite committing twice as many turnovers as CMU in the first half, the Bulls forced their opponents into difficult shot attempts and took a 37-25 lead into the break.
    With 10:39 left in the second half, sophomore guard Brittany Hedderson hit a 3-pointer to put the Bulls up by 14, 48-34.
    The Chippewas then used full court pressure to force the Bulls into committing turnovers and eventually cut the lead down to six points with 6:14 to go. With a little under six minutes to go in the game, junior guard Ashley Zuber hit a jumper to end the team’s scoring drought and put the Bulls up eight.
    After two free throws and a layup from junior forward Kourtney Brown, the Bulls went up 12 with 3:23 to go and never looked back from there.
    Zuber was able to break the Central Michigan press with ease and found a way to get her teammates the ball in position to score. Zuber led the team and matched a career high, with nine assists while committing only two turnovers.
    When asked how she handled the CMU press, Zuber attributed her success to maintaining her focus.
    “[I] just stay focused and found my teammates open,” Zuber said. “ [I] handled the ball, took care of it, and I knew that when I drew two people, [somebody] would always be open.”
    Brown notched another double-double and led the team in points and rebounding with 19 and 14, respectively.
    “A lot of the points came from my teammates finding me open. They’re getting a lot of assists,” Brown said “And rebounding is kind of my job. [I’ve] really just been working on it and getting good position on people so I can get those rebounds.”
    With 19 points on Saturday, Brown passed Mari McClure for seventh all-time in points scored at UB with 1,163 for her career.
    Another key to victory for the Bulls was shutting down the Chippewas’ leading scorer, junior guard Shonda Long. Long was held to 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting, and went 2-for-8 from downtown.
    “For the majority of the game we were extended out on [Long], not giving her an opportunity to get a look from 3-points,” Hill-MacDonald said.
    The Bulls were pleased with their performance against the teams from Michigan.
    “We love beating teams from Michigan,” Hill-MacDonald said. “Any success at all, we will certainly feel good about it and try to build on it. We were hoping to go 3-0 against the Michigan schools. We went 2-1, [but] we’ll take it.”
    On Wednesday, the Bulls look to start a two-game winning streak for only the second time this season, when they battle the Ball State Cardinals (9-14, 3-7, MAC) in Muncie, Indiana. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.

E-mail: sports@ubspectrum.com [read more]

    Greatness can be marked by a team’s ability to respond to adversity.
    On Wednesday night, the wrestling team rallied from a disappointing loss in its first Mid-American Conference contest to defeat the Eastern Michigan Eagles (10-9-1, 0-2 MAC), 28-12.
    Senior Dan Bishop got the ball rolling for the Bulls (8-5-1, 1-1 MAC) as he pinned the Eagles' Greg Ebert in the 125-pound weight class for his 15th victory of the season.
    “It's very important to get off to a good start in conference play,” Beichner said. “I love that I have guys who want to go out there, set the tone and get us off to a good start.”
    Sophomore Kevin Smith, who is ranked 19th in the nation in the 133-pound weight class, earned a decision win over Eastern Michigan’s Chris Jenkins. Smith currently has a record of 23-8 this season and is off to a 2-0 start in MAC contests.
    After a defeat in the 184-pound weight class, the reigning MAC Wrestler of the Week, junior Jimmy Hamel, earned the last victory of the evening for the Bulls by collecting a dominant decision over the Eagles' Travis Stanback in the 197-pound weight class. The win was Hamel’s 23rd of the season.
    In his MAC debut, junior Brian Sheehan pinned Eastern Michigan’s Nick Hendrick for his first MAC victory in the 174-pound weight class. Senior Andrew Stella and freshman Andrew Schutt also picked up decision wins, while 19th ranked John-Martin Cannon won a decision for his 19th win of the year.
    Several Bulls added to their impressive records and solidified their national rankings. Hamel earned MAC Wrestler of the Week honors to join Cannon, who won it last week, and sophomore Desi Green, who won the award for the week of Jan. 12.
    Beichner attributed the team’s good fortune to the success of his athletes and their national rankings.
    “To be ranked, you've got to beat opponents who are ranked,” Beichner said. “Our guys have put in the hard work and have taken advantage of their opportunities.”
    Buffalo’s win was overshadowed by a serious setback that could impair the team’s MAC Championship aspirations. Green, who is ranked 16th nationally in the 149 weight class and has an overall record of 26-6, went down with a knee injury in his match against Eastern Michigan’s David Pienaar. The status of Buffalo’s top wrestler remains unknown, but Beichner did not seem optimistic that his star athlete would return this year.
    “Desi has to go in and have the knee looked at,” Beichner said. “Hopefully we can have him back by the MAC championships, but it's possible that we've lost him for the entire season.”
    The Bulls have some stiff competition in their upcoming matches including No. 20 Kent State and No. 7 Central Michigan.
    “The key for us will be to remain healthy,” Beichner said. “If we can stay healthy, then we will be just fine.”
    The Bulls will be competing in their final home match of the season against Central Michigan on Feb. 14. Start time is set for 1 p.m.

E-mail: sports@ubspectrum.com [read more]

Penn State tops Bulls in final dual meet

    The men’s swimming and diving team concluded their dual meet schedule Friday afternoon with a loss at Penn State, 132-102.
    Buffalo swimmers held their own for much of the meet against the Big Ten powerhouse.
    Sophomore Jared Heine took second place in the 50-meter freestyle after clocking in at a season-best time of 21.47. Other second place finishers for Buffalo included senior Zach Ruske in the 200 IM (1:55.43), freshman Matt Hogan in the 100-meter freestyle (46.80) and freshman Matt Schwippert in the 200-meter backstroke (1:50.82).
    Buffalo divers were also successful in preparation for the MAC Championships.
    Junior Kenny Rhoades and sophomore Colin Patrican each took first place in their respective events. Patrician won the one-meter diving event with a score of 286.20, while Rhoades took the three-meter event after recording a season-high score of 346.45.
    The Mid-American Conference Championships are set to begin Thursday, March 4, and will run through Saturday, March 6.

Buffalo comes up short at Penn State

    Record-breaking performances were not enough to propel the Bulls to victory this weekend.
    For the second consecutive weekend, the men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams traveled to Penn State to compete in the Sykes-Sabocks Challenge Cup. Despite breaking three school records during the two-day event, the women’s team finished fifth out of 14 teams while the men took seventh out of 12 teams.
    The men’s team won the distance medley relay, setting a school record by more than five seconds. The relay team also lowered the Bulls IC4A qualification mark with the record time of 9:54.65.
    The men’s team wasn’t the only team breaking records over the weekend.
    Sophomore Kristy Woods won both the shot put and weight throw competitions. Woods remained undefeated in the shot put this season, and broke the record she set on Jan. 23 with a throw of 53-0.25 (16.16m). Woods won the weight throw for the second time this season, with her toss of 58-10.25 (17.94).
    Both the men and women’s teams are set to travel to the Akron Invitational, which begins on Friday at 5:00 p.m.

Toledo spoils senior day celebrations

    Ten seniors were honored on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena as the women’s swimming and diving team closed out its dual meet portion of their schedule.     Unfortunately the celebration didn’t last long as Toledo knocked off the Bulls, 159-135, to put a halt to Buffalo’s seven meet winning streak.
    Though the Rockets came out on top in the first six events, Buffalo battled back behind a strong swim in the 50-yard freestyle. Freshman Caroline Simmons finished in first place with a time of 23.64 and junior Jessie Koltz took second with a personal-best 23.85.
    Simmons also took first place in the 100-yard freestyle (51.60), and anchored the 200-yard relay freestyle team to a win with Koltz and freshman swimmers Karly Moore and Sam Palma. Koltz added a first place finish in the 100-yard fly with a time of 57.12.
    Senior diver Meili Carpenter finished off her career in Buffalo by capping off an undefeated season. For the third consecutive meet, Carpenter set a new personal record in the three-meter event with a score of 347.48. She also took first place on the one-meter dive after scoring 324.59.
    In addition to Carpenter, other graduating seniors include Jessica Ballard, Kim Dale, Emily Day, Sam Eckert, Ursula Jeske, Sam Palma, Laura Powalski, Caitlin Reilly and Ashley Schaffert.
    Buffalo will have a few weeks off before the MAC Championship meet begins at Miami University on Feb. 24. [read more]

By CHRISTY SUHR and CHRIS LAW
Asst. Sports Editor and Staff Reporter

    After losing their first game in February, the men’s basketball team was looking to bounce back in hopes of having a successful final month before March Madness. Though the Bulls had a rough start, they saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
    Thursday night, the Bulls (12-9, 5-5 Mid-American Conference) ran into foul trouble at the Rose Center as they faced the Central Michigan Chippewas (11-10, 6-3 MAC) in a game that saw a total of 50 personal fouls. Buffalo committed a season-high 27 fouls with three of their players fouling out, which led to the loss of 88-82.
    Head coach Reggie Witherspoon was displeased with all of the fouls that were called.
    “We obviously put them on the line a lot. I think they scored 16 of their final 20 points in the first half at the free-throw line,” Witherspoon said. “I mean when that happens, you’re [going to] have a hard time having any success, and we certainly had a hard time here.”
    With 6:55 left in the first half, the Chippewas made a rally mostly from the free throw line, scoring their next 11 points from the charity stripe. Central Michigan went ahead of the Bulls by seven with just over two minutes to play. The Bulls then cut the lead to four and the Chippewas took a 41-37 lead going into the locker room.
    CMU gave the Bulls their fair share of open looks in the first half, but they stepped it up defensively in the second half and never returned the lead to the Bulls.
    Buffalo was able to pull within two points with 16 minutes left in the game and a score of 51-49, but the next two minutes belonged to Central Michigan. They went on an 8-0 run and never looked back. From then on, the Bulls found themselves stuck in foul trouble and Witherspoon saw things falling apart.
    “Once you get too many guys in foul trouble, then you’re playing guys that don’t normally play in those situations and they’re trying not to foul,” Witherspoon said. “So they essentially get out of the way, and you can’t play good defense if you’re getting out of the way.”
    Senior guard Rodney Pierce scored 22 points and had a career-high seven assists. Senior forward Calvin Betts followed with 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Both players, along with senior forward Max Boudreau, fouled out in the final minute of the game.
    Justin Bitzer led the Chippewas with 22 points and eight boards.
    After dropping their first two games in February, the Bulls traveled to Toledo to try to pick up the team’s first ever win at Savage Arena. Buffalo would soon find out that there is a first time for everything.
    On Saturday, Buffalo bested the Rockets (3-22, 0-11 MAC) by ending the game on a 6-0 run to win 65-59, adding to Toledo’s 14 game losing streak.
    The win for the Bulls was far overdue, although the first half looked like the game would go down to the final buzzer. Toledo played Buffalo very tough for the game’s first 20 minutes. The Rockets managed to control the paint throughout the first half, scoring 24 of their 38 points in the key. Toledo shot 61.5% from the field, but only managed to build a one-point lead, 38-37 at halftime.
    Toledo looked poised to pull off their first MAC win of the season as the Bulls came out in the second half relatively flat. Buffalo turned the ball over numerous times in the beginning of the second period allowing Toledo to hang around in a tight game.
    And the game remained tight until Pierce stepped up big in a clutch spot for Buffalo. With 3:05 left in the game, Pierce drove to the basket, pulled up just outside the key and drilled a jumper to break the 59-59 deadlock. Buffalo followed up with a stop on the defensive end. Boudreau and senior guard Sean Smiley added four free throws respectively to seal the Bulls’ win, 65-59.
    Sloppy play in the first half plagued Buffalo, almost leading them to their third loss in four games but the Bulls was able to show resiliency on the defensive end in the second half that helped propel them to their first ever victory at Toledo.
    “I was upset with the first 25 to 28 minutes,” said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. “To start, we were in a hurry offensively and scored some points but then we opened the second half in a worried state of mind. In the final 12 to 15 minutes, we were back to a determined style of defense, which we are accustomed to.”
    Buffalo was led by their captain Pierce who scored 16 points and recorded four assists, while making clutch plays that were essential to the Bulls’ win. Betts added 11 points and Boudreau, whom added a big presence in the key defensively for Buffalo, scored 11 points and recorded four rebounds.
    Toledo was led by a duo of freshmen. Center Jordan Dressler led the Rockets with a career-high 19 points, shooting 9-13 from the field while adding five rebounds. Standout freshmen guard Jake Barnett poured in 14 points with two 3-pointers. Junior forward Justin Anyijong scored 10 points as well while adding four rebounds.
    The Bulls return home from their two-game road trip when they face Eastern Michigan (12-11, 4-6 MAC) on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 7p.m.

Email: sports@ubspectrum.com [read more]

    Alumni Arena opened its doors for the Harlem Globetrotters Friday night, and families from throughout the Buffalo-Niagara region flooded its gates. They piled into the stands to watch the zany, often theatrical and always-hilarious athletes put on an unforgettable show.
    The audience knew it was in for a treat from the start. Before the players even set foot on the floor, an emcee got the crowd involved in a shouting match. One side of the stands screamed, “Globe” while the other section replied with “Trotters.”
    By the time the two teams – The Harlem Globetrotters and the Washington Generals – were ready for warm-ups, Alumni Arena had reached full capacity with over 6,000 fans in attendance. It was a lively crowd consisting of mostly families from around the area.
    Many parents had seen the Globetrotters when they were younger and wanted to share the show with their children. Troy Mezzio, a 39-year-old father from Cheektowaga, decided to bring his family after seeing an advertisement.
    “We heard about the event through a television advertisement,” Mezzio said. “I grew up with the Globetrotters when I was a kid. We used to watch them on television all of the time, and seeing them live for the first time was great.”
    His children loved the show, too. His daughter Michelle, 11, loved all of the slam-dunks and his son Daniel, 7, enjoyed all of the props that they used.
    Whether the Generals’ head coach was hypnotizing one of the Globetrotters with his spiraled umbrella, the players were giving the ref an eye exam where he read the letters “I-M-A-F-O-O-L,” or the athletes were chasing each other around with buckets of water and splashing fans in the front row, the entire night was action packed and full of laughs.
    Before the game, the Globetrotters honored Bulls great Jim Horn (1951-55), who is the second leading all-time scorer here at Buffalo. After his college days, Horn joined the Harlem Globetrotters and played with them for a number of years.
    Playing for the Washington Generals was another former Bull, Brian Addison. Addison came in as a transfer from Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY and played at Buffalo for two seasons.
    The Harlem Globetrotters had an 83-game winning streak on the line and were trailing late in the third quarter. Thanks to some fantastic dunks and lackluster defense by the Generals, the Trotters battled back and came away with a 75-72 victory.
    After the game, the players stuck around to sign autographs, further pleasing the fans that already had an exciting night.
    “I remember going when I was a kid,” said Sandy Stock, 36, of Clarence. “I figured that my daughters would really enjoy it so I got some tickets and [the Globetrotters] didn’t disappoint. I enjoyed all of it and my kids thought it was a really fun show.”
    Other parents had also seen the Globetrotters when they were younger and wanted to share the experience with their family.
    “I saw [the Globetrotters] when I was a little girl,” said Dawn Watson, 40, of Niagara Falls. “I don’t remember where I saw them, but it was somewhere in Buffalo and it was definitely a lot of fun.”
    Chances are that Watson and Stock saw the Globetrotters at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, or as most used to refer to it, The Aud. The arena was knocked down in 1996, but it held a maximum capacity of 18,000 people and sported many major league events.
    The parents weren’t the only ones who had a good time.
    “[The performance] was amazing,” said Spencer Watson, 14, of Niagara Falls ON. “I’ve never seen anything like it before and I had a great time. Their ball handling was incredible, especially Scooter’s.”
    Many fans came down from Canada to see the show and, according to Dawn Watson, it took more time to find a parking space than to get across the border.
    “Getting into America was the easy part,” Watson said. “It was the parking that was horrible.  We were looking for a half-an-hour to find a parking spot.”
    There weren’t too many college students at the event, most likely because it is more of a family outing. Despite the traffic getting onto campus, the fans were all smiles by the end of the night.
    The Globetrotters grabbed the audience’s attention early, and kept fans entertained throughout the night. Whether they were running their infamous three-man weave, dancing to Michael Jackson, or playing football on the basketball court, there was never a dull moment.

E-mail: andrew.wiktor@ubspectrum.com [read more]

Grade: B

    John Travolta, who has developed a reputation for playing either cops or criminals over the past ten years, totally breaks out as a wild and reckless FBI agent in his latest movie, From Paris with Love.
    Travolta (Old Dogs) hasn’t played a character more cynically appealing since the 1994 cult classic Pulp Fiction. His character, Charlie Wax, is an energetic, belligerent, cocaine-driven counterterrorism agent who squeezes this otherwise formulaic movie for everything it’s worth. Never mind the stupid comic book-like name – Wax makes the thriller surprisingly thrilling.
    Although the film’s plot is simple, it serves its purpose to push the action forward. Rookie spy James Reece (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Shelter) who is living in Paris grows tired of the tedious, boring missions he is assigned. He gets his wish for something grander when his boss calls him to pick up one of their agents from the airport.  Reece, though, doesn’t know what he’s in for and becomes partners with the out-of-control Charlie Wax.
    Reece must follow Wax around in order to get the promotion he’s after. The duo hit the streets of Paris with high-speed car chases, explosions, and more bullets than can be counted. Thrown into the mix are Chinese drug dealers, Parisian thugs, and enough coordinated carnage to give Mel Gibson a run for his money.
    French filmmaking duo Pierre Morel and Luc Besson team up once again and bring yet another stylistic action romp. Director Morel and co-writer Besson always find some unique spin in a genre that is home to nothing but clichés.
    From Paris with Love has a whimsical, almost satirical view on counterterrorism, Americans and violence in general, which stands out strongly with the character of Wax. Travolta’s character is an odd mix of Anton Chigurh meets James Bond, frighteningly unstoppable with quick wit and a good sense of humor. It is this tone that salvages the film.
    Of course, shooting people at breakneck speed isn’t enough to make a movie entertaining. What makes this movie work is its love and devotion to Wax. Although Reece might technically be the main character, it is Wax that dominates the show. Travolta plays the character as if he was on a Red Bull rampage and steals the scene every time he appears.
    He jumps, shoots and fights with maniacal force as if that’s the only thing he knows how to do. His amusing dialogue, to the credit of Besson and co-screenwriter Adi Hasak, adds a jovial spirit to his character that makes the film worth seeing.
    That’s not to say that Meyers didn’t do a good job playing the competent but reluctant Reece. Meyers plays the straight man to Travolta’s ax and it is definitely entertaining to see the uptight Meyers react to Travolta’s spy mischief. Meyers, though, gets lost in Wax’s shadow and he is not able to keep up with Travolta’s grandiose performance.
    It’s a good thing Travolta plays Wax this way, otherwise the movie would have nothing to rely on. The plot is predictable, with twists that can be seen miles away. At times, the film can’t decide whether it wants to be a serious action-thriller or straight-up quirky action fun.
    However, the movie is an enjoyable guilty pleasure for even those that are sick of action. The pacing is fast and the film clocks in at a lean 90 minutes, leaving few moments of boredom. In other words, there’s nothing wrong with a little fun.
    While From Paris With Love might just be a slightly above average action film, it does have its charming quirks that separate it from the crowd. Travolta gives an entertaining, over-the-top performance that makes this a must-see for action junkies.

E-mail: arts@ubspectrum.com [read more]

    This week’s episode of House will be switching gears.  Instead of focusing on everyone’s favorite egotistical and insensitive doctor, fans will get a glimpse at an underdeveloped character.
    The episode “5 to 9” will give a look into the personal life of Dr. Lisa Cuddy, played by Lisa Edelstein. The episode will explore the head of Princeton Plainsboro Hospital both in and out of the workplace.
    Prior to this episode, Edelstein’s character had been mostly undeveloped. As she balances her time between being a mother and a hospital administrator, Cuddy is also often seen in an authoritarian light, asserting her dominance over her colleagues and often challenging House.
    “Cuddy is a much more controlled, serious Wonder Woman. She just cannot be as playful [as me],” said Edelstein discussing parallels between her and her character.
    As for her personal life, outside of light flirtations and sexual tension between her and House, it is largely left unmentioned, which has not gone unnoticed by fans of the show.
    The relationship between House and Cuddy is one that has seen many ups and downs and has yet to define itself in any concrete sense. If Cuddy and House do get involved, the question of whether or not the show could remain popular without the pessimistic attitude that has become one of House’s trademark assets still remains. Edelstein, however, doesn’t think the show’s main character would change.
    “I don’t think that because people are in a relationship that they are happy. I don’t think that relationships necessarily make people happy. You just are happy or you’re not happy. So, I think that if they were ever to get together, there would be no loss in the misery level,” said Edelstein.
    House’s poor attitude stems from many problems, although most are everyday issues people deal with. Still, in the beginning of this season he found himself under psychiatric care due to a drug addiction, an issue that led to more tension and emotional conflict between House and Cuddy.
    Fans often grumble when the focus of the show is not the main character, but this episode is sure to be a satisfying respite from the usual formula of the show. Given the tumultuous, albeit engaging, relationship that Cuddy and House have had for the duration of the show, it is due time for Cuddy to have an episode of her own.
    Up to this point, her current boyfriend, Lucas, a private investigator whom House originally hired in season five, has seemed like little more than a live-in nanny. There have been momentary signs of attraction between Lucas and Cuddy, but nothing to convince viewers that they are in an intimate and serious relationship.
     Whether or not Lucas and Cuddy’s relationship is serious, he is still an interesting character on the show as he is one of the rare few that is able to keep up with House on an intellectual level, at least as far as deviance is concerned.
    It is hard to speculate where the relationship between Cuddy and Lucas will find itself as the season progresses. The appeal of House’s character is obvious to many, but Cuddy and Lucas’s relationship may be missed by many viewers.
    “I think he shows up, he helps her with her life, he’s uncomplicated, he’s very loyal, and he has sex with her … I think that those things mean a lot to somebody who has got a world like hers, which can be very overwhelming,” said Edelstein.
This may be a hint toward what is to come in the episode. It is sure to be an enlightening view into the world of Lisa Cuddy, and it will determine whether Lucas is just an obstacle in the seemingly inevitable romance between House and Cuddy, or a real contender.

E-mail: arts@ubspectrum.com [read more]

    Whether it’s sinking balls or chugging from notorious red cups, it was only a matter of time before someone was innovative enough to turn the game into a competitive sport.
    Five years ago, Sam Pines, chief executive officer, commissioner and founder of the World Beer Pong Tour, created a league with his college roommates in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
    After graduating, Pines saw the potential in a larger beer pong tournament, and in 2006 he started the New York Beer Pong Tour.
    Traveling across six cities in October of that year, Pines brought with him six tables and the ambition to turn beer pong into a recognized sport.
    Hosting over 50 events in the N.Y. area with an immense fan base, it was decided that the N.Y. Tour would be expanded, but under a new name – the World Beer Pong Tour.
    As if things couldn’t sound any better, the WBPT will be coming to Buffalo on Saturday at Bottom’s Up on West Chippewa Street and Pines has created a special promotion code for University at Buffalo students. By entering SPECTRUM while registering online, students will receive $5 off all entry fees.
    Entry will be $20 a player, to include one draft beer and exclusive beer specials all night. The fee will be increased to $25 at the door the night of the event, so it is recommended that teams register online to save and gain a place in the tournament.
    Registration and practice time for the event will begin at 4 p.m., and the tournament will start at 5 p.m.
    First place will win a three-night hotel stay and a chance to compete in the Atlantic City Championship, second place will receive a $50 gift certificate to Bottom’s Up, and third and fourth place winners will receive $25 gift certificates.
    “I ran a beer pong league in college that was very successful and after I graduated I wanted to continue producing beer pong events ... our company now has a presence in two countries, 18 states and over 100 cities around the world,” Pines said.
    Since its creation, the WBPT has awarded over $500,000 in cash and other prizes to participants. With over 75 events held along the east coast each year, the tour continues to grow throughout the United States and Canada.
    “To date, we have held over 400 tournaments, including two national tournaments, one in Montreal, Canada and one in Acapulco, Mexico,” Pines said. “[We had] our inaugural Atlantic City championship last June, where over 170 teams competed for the grand prize of $25,000 cash. This year, we’re doubling the prize money to $50,000.”
    However, Pines admits that not everyone is a fan of the WBPT and criticize the company’s goal to turn beer pong from a game intended to get participants intoxicated, to a true competitive sport.
    “Everyone should realize that drinking is just supplemental to the game, and isn’t really part of it at all. This game is a hit without alcohol being involved…There will always be resistance and controversy over the game - that is why we started a movement which focuses the game to more of a sport that doesn’t require the consumption of alcohol” Pines said.
    In an effort to further legitimize the sport of beer pong, Pines and his staff have created rules to ensure an equal opportunity for all participants to play.
    “All of our tournaments are double elimination, 10-rack, no bounce, blow, finger beer pong. [It’s] similar to frat style, except there is no elbow rule. We do, however, use 8-foot tables instead of your typical 6-footer in a frat house,” Pines said.
    For additional rules and regulations, Pines encourages participants to visit WBPT’s Web site, www.worldpongtour.com.
    Qualifying events will be held throughout the tour for the chance to compete in the 2010 Atlantic City Championship held at the Resorts Casino and Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J. on June 13 to 15.
    At each qualifying event, players will need to be 21 to participate and drink. However, when it comes time for the big event in June, participants ages 18 and up may play.
    Keeping in mind safety concerns, Pines has trained each of his staff members to recognize when a player is over their limit, and urges participants to use the taxi service WBPT provides when leaving the event.
    “We want to promote the game as a fun activity that anyone can play regardless of height, weight [or] gender,” Pines said. “Anyone can be a champion - that is the beauty of the game.”

E-mail: features@ubspectrum.com [read more]

    Living in Western New York is synonymous with a love for the Bills, chicken wings and the National Hockey League. However, along with these perks come cloudy skies, snow and harsh winds. Most residents are lucky enough to have shelter from these blistering elements, but that is not the case for all who inhabit the region.
    Many Western New York animals are either seriously overpopulated or endangered, struggling for food and shelter and ultimately facing extinction.
    An excess of animals is dangerous to an ecosystem because it alters plant populations.
    “Overpopulation, especially in Buffalo and its suburbs, is of white-tailed deer,” said Chuck Rosenburg, senior wildlife biologist for the Department of Environment Conservation. “If there are too many deer and they eat too many plants, they could actually wipe out an entire plant species.”
    Rosenburg works for the Region 9 program of the DEC, which takes care of the Allegany, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Erie, Niagara and Wyoming counties in Western New York.
    According to Rosenburg, not only will the extinction of a plant species be detrimental to other plants in the forest, but it will also harm the balance of the animals that eat them, such as deer, birds and squirrels.
    In addition to losing a food source, a lack of plant life is destructive to animals that may not have homes.
    That said, there is a way that students can help those who are struggling to help themselves. A press release sent out by the Humane Society stated that students can help animals, especially in the winter.
    According to the press release, “with below-normal temperatures and water drying up or icing over in many regions of the country, winter can be a harsh time for our wild neighbors.”
    The release suggested making food for animals, such as bird feeders and pinecones filled with peanut butter, or making a safe and warm place for small animals to hide from the brutal weather.
    Although many students may be willing to help wild animals that are sick or injured, helping them may put both the animal and the student in peril.
    “More direct interventions are often counterproductive and individuals attempting to care for seemingly sickly or hurt wildlife may, in fact, be putting the animals or themselves at risk,” said Howard Lasker, director of the Graduate Program in Evolution, Ecology and Behavior and a professor in the Department of Geology at UB.
    Rosenburg warns students that many animals have strict temperature and dietary needs, so it would be better to call a DEC representative rather than care for an injured animal by himself or herself.
    “If you see a young animal, it may not be abandoned; you might just not see the parent right away,” Rosenburg said. “We can send a wildlife rehabilitator specific to the animal to help it. If you care, you’ll leave it there.”
    In addition to finding ways for students to take care of animals, the DEC also offers internships for UB students to give them a chance to understand the dangers that animals face and the dangers that the earth will face if it loses them.
    “Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot that [the DEC] can do about the overpopulation of animals, especially deer,” Rosenburg said. “Other organizations have deer-shooting stations where they try to help the excess deer problem.”
    Instead, the DEC is more active in the Endangered Species Program, which studies traits, eating habits and other characteristics of diminishing animal populations.
    Rosenburg is currently heading a team that is trapping and radio transmitting short-eared owls to find out what they need to survive while they nest here in the winter.
    While the studies to help animals are mainly research, many advances are being made to make sure that these furry friends are here to stay. Studying animals and their habits will enable organizations such as the DEC to save them.

E-mail: features@ubspectrum.com [read more]

    It’s been said you can never really know your neighbors.
    This past Monday morning, Eric Ocasio, 27, of Buffalo, a sheet metal worker apparently going through a divorce, took a gun and barricaded his Trinity place house.
    At 10:45 a.m., police were called. SWAT teams and hostage negotiators arrived soon after.
Both access points to Trinity were sealed off during the situation as well as the surrounding West Tupper, Edward and Virginia streets, and both Delaware and South Elmwood Avenues.
    During the ensuing four-hour standoff, several dozen shots were fired. The situation ended with Ocasio dead and Detective John Garcia of the Buffalo Police Department injured. Garcia suffered pellet wounds to his face and chest and was rushed to Erie County Medical Center.
    Then on Friday, the day of his funeral, Eric’s brother Jason showed up at the Buffalo Police Station at Franklin and Church Streets with a gun. After pulling it on an officer, he fled the scene, which culminated in a car chase that ended at the same place on Trinity where his brother died. He is now incarcerated.
    This turn of events would be shocking to anyone.
    It’s a bit more disconcerting when you live across from the scene of the crime.
    I moved onto Trinity Place this past August. My friend was graduating and needed someone to take her room. I needed roommates and had a desire to get out of University Heights, so I packed my books and loaded up my car. Three or four trips later, I was settled downtown.
    From the beginning I loved the neighborhood, the arts scene, and the new face of Buffalo that I was seeing. Taking the train to school was the only visible setback.
    From all outside points of view and reputation, Trinity is a quiet residential street, far enough away from the constant bustling of Elmwood and the debauchery of Allen to provide peace and quiet, but not too far to travel to for entertainment.
    And now, in the span of a week, two dozen fired shots have turned that around. 
    This Monday I was feeling exceptionally lazy and wanted to skip class and sleep in. Due to reasons I can no longer remember, I dragged myself out of bed and was out of the house by 9 a.m., a little later than usual.
    You can imagine my surprise when I was told the news of the shooting later that day.
    It really is something to come home from school and see that police officers are monitoring the house across from you. I could see the fluorescent crime scene tape across the front of the house from my bedroom window.
    This is not the first time I’ve been associated with scenes of violence in proximity to my living quarters. The night I moved into Trinity last fall was the same night UB alumnus Javon Jackson was shot and killed outside of my University Heights apartment.
    I had hoped to escape from some of that this year. The drama of the Ocasio family would seem to have reached a boiling point just as the minutiae of my average middle class life was reaching equilibrium.
    The question: where do we go from here?
    I learned a long time ago how ridiculous it is to live your life in fear. Fear is one of the most crippling, irrationally unsettling emotions of the human psyche. It’s like a pimple on the normally fresh face of a bride – small, but with the right amount of hysteria, it can reach epic proportions.
    That being said, I will continue to live across the street from the proverbial scene of the crime. I will pray for the soul of Eric and for Jason Ocasio to get the help he needs. I will keep good thoughts for their family in my heart.
    And as for Buffalo, I’m not going to let our final months together leave me as a quivering, fearfully complacent victim – far too many trials before this one have tried to do that. You’ll still find me carousing at the various locales of Elmwood and Allen. It’s all we can really do.
    Graduation and the future is looming, as is the end of my lease. Let’s make these last few months count.          

E-mail: shane.fallon@ubspectrum.com   
 
     
[read more]

    With the halfway point of the semester looming, students across campus start settling into their courses and begin preparation for exams and mid-terms.
    As I prepare for my first exam in Italian 101 in about a week, I can’t seem to relinquish this feeling of anger in regards to the college system as a whole. I mean, I am a communication major with a focus on journalism and I have to waste my time learning how to conjugate verbs that I will never again use, or even think about, in a language I don’t have any experience in.
    These frustrations constantly lead me to the ultimate question of what college is all about. This should be a time where we zero in on our goals and strengthen every area of expertise we will need for “the real world,” but we are sidetracked by all of these general requirements that are, more often than not, forgotten 10 minutes after taking the final exam.
    This article is in no way meant as a blow to people in foreign language fields, because I have the utmost respect for my teacher and the people who choose to study these languages. But I feel as though my time would be better spent in a class that will further my English writing skills and help me get more experience in the field that I am going into.
    There is just way too much emphasis put on well-rounded students in today’s society. Maybe if people spent more time entrenched in their field of study when attending college, we wouldn’t have to deal with so much incompetency in the work force.
    With all this said, I am not naïve enough to think money has nothing to do with this scam. Every college wants to get every last cent out of every last student and the more general education classes they can cram into a major, the better.
    What really gets me is that an argument can be made for history, science and mathematics to a certain extent, but how can requiring a second language be so important?
    People rarely stick with these languages long enough to have a solid base for speaking it or even understanding the language. I bet if you polled a random group of 100 college graduates, 90 percent of them wouldn’t be able to speak a sentence of the foreign language they studied in college.
    At least I can validate the reasoning behind some courses. Some of the time, courses may offer a new outlook on a subject that a person may have never thought of adding to his or her education. However, the only time I will ever need to speak another language is if I go on vacation, and even then it will only be for a week.
    I just think foreign languages should be optional to students instead of forcing it down our throats. But then again, who am I kidding? Anything that deals with common sense isn’t a crowd favorite when it comes to higher education – especially when it cuts into the bottom line.
   
E-mail: matt.parrino@ubspectrum.com [read more]

To the editor,

    Interesting, isn’t it, that, while President Obama’s recent State of the Union address undergoes constant scrutiny, his arithmetically incorrect mention of “the new decade” goes unnoticed?

    Said error recalls a January 15th letter in the Buffalo News whose author shares the president’s notion that Dec. 31, 2009 concluded the 21st century’s first decade.

    For the sake of argument, let’s say that the writer, who happens to be a University at Buffalo professor, is correct in arguing, in effect, that counting A.D. time (or anything else) starts with “0” instead of “1”. These and other absurdities would follow.

    A firstborn or only child would be branded the family’s “zero offspring.” America’s founding president and her first bi-racial president wouldn’t be first at all. They’d be zeros. The Messiah’s resurrection would have occurred not on the biblical week’s first day, but on “Day Zero.” Or if you’re counting the shopping days ‘til Christmas, today counts for nothing.

    Finally, an invitation to the errant scholar. Please telephone me next New Year’s Eve (2010). To my piano accompaniment, we’ll bid farewell to the 201st decade to the strains of Auld Lang Syne.

Joseph A. Carnevale
Buffalo, NY [read more]

   Gotham City is no longer the stage for prosecuting suspected terrorists. The Obama administration has recently decided to rethink its plan to prosecute in federal courts, instead moving the trials to military tribunals.
    But caving because of the current political headwind is the wrong move.
    New York is where the attack occurred. It is the correct place for the trial and New Yorkers would be proud to have justice served there.
    Many opponents of the civilian trials have claimed that federal courts don’t have a proven track record in trying such cases. In fact, New York’s federal court has a 100 percent conviction rate on terrorism trials.
    These trials even took place before 9/11, when New York courts tried and convicted the “Blind Sheikh” Omar Abdel Rahman and the al Qaeda bombers who attacked embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
    Trying these alleged murderers in a criminal court is not being soft on terrorism. To have these trials on a military base, away from the public eye, allows for a shroud of secrecy to follow these proceeding.
    The trial will take months and certainly would have congested the streets and avenues of New York City.  But New York City is big enough to have the trial in any of the five boroughs of New York.
    The objections are very sound: the financial cost to the city, the fear that the trial would inspire a lone bomber or planned attack, and perhaps even providing a platform for the alleged terrorists to preach their own beliefs.
    However, to assume that New York isn’t the prime target already for another attack is downright naive. Having the trial there doesn’t make it any bigger of a threat.
    It has been that way since 1993 and the first World Trade Center attacks and other plots, such as blowing up the Holland Tunnel. Since the 9/11 attacks, there have been planned attacks to blow up the Herald Square subway station or bomb fuel tanks at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
    There is a tremendous amount of good that can come from these civilian trials. Such public trials could help the healing process of 9/11 victims’ families. Allowing the families to see these men on trial may help close a painful chapter in Americans history.
    The underlying problem is that too many Americans still believe that America is unsafe and that another attack is seconds away. Many politicians actually supported the open civilian trials for Zacarias Moussaoui and Richard Reid, the “shoe bomber.”
    Now these same politicians claim that open civilian trials endanger Americans. Some have even proposed legislation to defund these trials.
    America has become ever more willing to suspend basic protections and turn aside American traditions of justice. The failed terrorist attacks and their political aftermath have revealed that terrorists have changed very little in the decade since the World Trade Center fell.
    What is slowly eroding is Americans’ belief that as a nation, this country isn’t safe enough and has lost faith in its rule of law. [read more]

    The mutually beneficial relationship between China and the United States has taken a rocky detour.  The main reason for this recent tension is the sale of military weapons from the United States to Taiwan.
    China in turn had denounced the action, saying the United States had interfered with internal affairs. As a result, China would cut military ties with the United States and impose sanctions on American firms involved with the sale.
    The strength of China’s rhetoric over Taiwan suggests that relations are changing in what could prove a worrisome way. In recent months, China’s leaders have become more bristly in their dealings with the outside world.
    None of this looks good for this incredibly important relationship. From global warming to the global economy to ending nuclear proliferation in North Korea and Iran, cooperation between the established superpower and the rising one is vital to world stability.
    Why should either want to endanger this relationship?
    One theory could be that, given China’s impressive economic power, it can be more standoffish when sovereignty over Taiwan or Tibet is at stake. The other would be that the current administration wanted to punish the Chinese.
    Remember, China was not very aggressive in tackling the global warming issue during the Copenhagen summit and wasn’t quick to support new United Nations sanctions against Iran.
    It is possible that bits of each theory are, in fact, true. However, this “incident” has more going on between the lines.
    America is duty-bound to provide Taiwan arms for its self-defense under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979. Both countries knew that China’s recent denouncement was only a matter of time.
    So if the announcement was expected, then the United States knew what the Chinese response was going to be. The harsh words and threat of ending military relations is not a different reaction from previous incidents such as these.
    The new element, which could be troubling, is the threat of sanctions against American companies involved with the deal. Many of these companies do little to no business in China, but it is unlikely that the Chinese would follow through on this threat.
     When the dust settles from this scuffle, the current administration will say it has developed a “mature” relationship with China during President Obama’s first year in office. But many tests lie ahead.
    Some are mainly emblematic, such as a forthcoming meeting between the president and Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. The meeting was supposed to occur last year, but it was delayed due to the president’s impending trip to China.
    Others are more substantial, such as China’s reluctance to impose new sanctions on Iran or to respond to America’s petition to revalue the yuan. A fall-out between China and America is always possible.
    But it probably won’t come over the Taiwan arms package.
[read more]