Bulls give a show worth watching time and time again
With the dismantling of Niagara University in front of over 5,000 fans in Alumni Arena on Saturday, the Bulls can be considered the best collegiate basketball team in Western New York, but the men's basketball team is achieving something much bigger than a convincing win over a formidable local rival.
They're giving fans something to root for season after season.
They're not storming into the season unbelievably protecting a strong undefeated record, but they are continuing to defend their hard-fought reputation of never being counted out. They consistently give their spirited all, and for that they should be commended.
Administration and faculty have grappled with many cases and issues of apathy toward the university and its events throughout the years. Many will say that the university is weighed down by a withering freshman retention rate, a lackluster alumni base and attendance problems at most sports games, but such problems can only be resolved with time.
During the football season, the stadium does not fill up with a massive amount of devoted student fans or with alumni parents taking their kids to experience their old alma mater - like with more established Division I universities - yet while such a fan base described will take many more years of promotion and team development, sparks of such a spirit are emerging as we speak; sparks from our very own basketball team.
Obviously one team in one season cannot turn around the apathy that has been building for years, but the men's basketball team is certainly being an example of the consistency, stability and excitement that is needed to get people interested and to care about our school pride.
After a season with a near-NCAA playoff birth a few years ago, the team has continued to be a threat, and while they are not perfect, they\\ are consistently offering hope for a remarkable breakthrough.
This is a call to rally behind our relatively young and most promising team, because with a little more effort from the fans, they can offer more than just Ws to the record books.
And it can't hurt to see a little more blue and white around campus come game day.
Embrace change
Albright-Knox decision consistent with pioneering tradition
Many may view it as destroying the past, careless casting aside old for new and economics winning over fine art, but the auctioning of old art is a justified means for the Albright-Knox Art Gallery to continue to do what makes its collection so valuable to the culture of Western New York.
The Albright-Knox Art Gallery is world renowned for its commitment to the collection of contemporary art, and in order for it to continue to be that leading pioneer of current works, a cycle of renewal is inevitable.
Just like the City of Buffalo itself, some of the material in the gallery is becoming stale and could benefit greatly from a well-intentioned rejuvenation. Many devoted observers will hate to see some of the older pieces go, but for many the change will be welcomed and will make the art gallery more enticing to see again. An art gallery can only prosper by continually drawing in support and patronage from new and old, and while those devoted to the art will continue to embrace, a new base of supporters can only come from renewed interest.
Many would hate to concede to the fact that art depends on cold hard economics, but the reality is that the gallery's relatively restricted art endowment does not allow a lot of spending breathing room. If the gallery wants to thrive, money and space for new art must come from old art. Its not like they're deciding what is being saved and what is being thrown to the fire pit; the art will continually be experienced in one way or another, wherever it ends up.
In a city with a dwindling outlook on the present and future, how can such a change be seen with such a negative light? The Albright-Knox Art Gallery is an exhibit passionately committed to shedding light on the new and the pioneering, and supporters as well as objectors should embrace the change.
