News

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"When it rains, it's fun"

Grade: B+

Paterson suggests withholding refunds to help deficit

Cynics reign supreme

RecycleManiacs

It's hard to ignore the trench-sized pit of plastic bottles present in the Student Union these last few weeks or the 15-foot signs invading the university entrances to measure its recycling rate. This is all evidence of UB's attempts to triumph in the nationwide RecycleMania competition, which has now reached its halfway point.

Troubled man

Gov. David A. Paterson gave the residents of New York one of the biggest understatements on Friday when he dropped his campaign for reelection due to an incident with his top aide.

From the Drawing Room

Rachel:

Savvy seniors steal a win

Senior guard Rodney Pierce started the game out with a traveling violation, but after 40 minutes of basketball, he walked out of Alumni Arena with the game-winning shot.

Local soldier shares experience in Haiti

Broken records

It's every college athlete's dream to become a conference champion. But for some of the athletes on the women's swimming and diving team, the title of conference champion wasn't the only dream that came true at the 2010 MAC Championship meet in Oxford, Ohio.

Cinematic napalm

Toyota recalls create mixed feelings

Culture shocked

Open source news

We interrupt your usual program of Oh my god, I'm a middle class college student with a test to study for and there's blood in my mucus for something else, something slightly worthwhile.

Passing egregious judgments

To the editor,

Bulls finish fourth at MAC Championships

Expectations were exceeded and Bulls records were broken at the Mid-American Conference championship meet this past weekend. Both the men's and women's indoor track teams placed fourth at the MAC Championships at Central Michigan University, scoring 72 and 46 points, respectively.

Former UB researcher found dead

William Fals-Stewart, a former researcher in the UB Research Institute on Addictions, was found dead in his Eden home on Tuesday. He was 48 years old. Eden Police say Fals-Stewart's wife found him 'unresponsive' in their home. Police responded to her 911 call, and performed CPR, but were unable to revive him. 'We don't know what the cause of death was,' Eden Police Investigator Shawn Bishop said. Fals-Stewart made headlines recently after he was arrested and charged with attempted grand larceny, three counts of perjury, three counts of identity theft, two counts of offering a false instrument and three counts of falsifying a business record on Feb. 16. All charges are felonies. Fals-Stewart was accused of falsifying witnesses in a misconduct hearing. He allegedly hired actors to pose as research subjects, without their knowledge, to testify on his behalf, providing them with detailed scripts. The false testimonies caused Fals-Stewart to be exonerated, according to Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo. He then attempted to sue the state for $4 million for wrongful termination of his job at UB. He was let go from the university for academic misconduct for allegedly fabricating data in federally funded research projects. If convicted Fals-Stewart could have faced up to 15 years in prison. As it was considered an unattended death, an autopsy was performed Wednesday morning by Erie County Medical Examiners. Results have not yet been released. Police say the investigation is ongoing and they're waiting for toxicology results. E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com

"Free software, free society"

Richard Stallman spoke to an eager crowd of UB students Monday night, bringing to them his message about free software and explaining what he feels are the evils of copyright law. Stallman is well known for his position as the founder of the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation. He is a long-term activist for free software and advocates against corporations who, he believes, stretch the copyright laws and software patents. He presented in Norton Hall on Monday about his first passion – free software. Free software, as defined by Stallman, is as equal a right as free speech, and deserves the same attention and advocacy. It is not 'free' as in without cost to the consumer, but as a matter of liberty. The GNU Web site states that 'to understand the concept, you should think of ‘free' as in ‘free speech,' not as in ‘free beer.' Stallman also states that free software has many layers to it and that four key freedoms should be applied to any software worth using. The first freedom, referred to as Freedom 0, is the freedom to run the program for any purpose. Freedom 1 is the freedom to study how the program works and adapt it to the user's needs. Access to the source code is a precondition for this. Freedom 2 is the freedom to redistribute copies so users can help their neighbors. The final freedom, Freedom 3, is the freedom for users to improve the program and release those improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits. Stallman applies these 'freedoms' to software that students use every day and warns those who do not follow these guidelines that they are at risk. 'Windows is extremely malicious software and allows the owners of that corporation to spy on you,' Stallman said. 'Apple is almost just as evil.' He describes these evil features as Digital Restrictions Management and says that these products and corporations infringe on users' freedoms. His solution for this 'infringement' is to just not use the products at all. Justin Kimber, a freshman psychology major, disagrees with this statement. 'I think that is [greatly] over-exaggerated,' Kimber said. 'I understand that there may be a privacy issue, but I think that the consumer should be aware of what they are buying and getting into with the product. I have a Mac and have never had a security issue. I find the features easy.' Stallman told his audience that 'you should never touch any product that is designed to attack your freedom,' including any encrypted item, such as a DVD or CD, and to stay away from e-books and online bookstores such as Amazon. He says these Web sites and e-books have the power to record who accesses which books and to keep a record of personal purchases. This is problematic, according to Stallman, because it infringes on privacy and freedom. He says that he would 'never purchase or accept as a gift an encrypted DVD,' and tries to set an example for those following him. To give an example of companies that he feels are 'evil,' Stallman referred to Disney and its copyright extension on Mickey Mouse. He claims that this is a perfect example of a company bending copyright law to its own needs and ignoring the freedoms of the consumer. Daniel Krysak, a graduate student in planetary geology, has been following Stallman for a while. 'I support him entirely. I've been a free software advocate since I was a kid,' Krysak said. 'I think everyone should be educated on it, and because of the topic, it won't be covered in mainstream media.' 'It gave me a new perspective and his presentation was interesting,' said Alisha Armstrong, a graduate student in media studies and sociology. 'I learned stuff I wasn't aware of.' E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com

The black and White Ribbon

Living in a black-and-white world is a terrible burden, especially for those who know it is black and white. The German film The White Ribbon, winner of the 2009 Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival, is a bleak moral painting set in a provincial German village on the eve of World War I. Filmed in black and white, the movie examines a broad array of characters who harbor suspicions and secrets toward one other. The narrator claims that the story could possibly explain the horrific events in the following 30 years of Germany's history. On a broader level, it shows what happens when repression and fear take over a human heart and what a group of afflicted people can do to each other. The movie follows an unnamed schoolteacher (Christian Friedel) in the small village of Eichwald. He narrates the movie as a much older man, describing, or at least postulating, events in the form of distant memories. The narrator becomes involved in a 15-month courtship with Eva (Leonie Benesch, Beautiful Bitch), a nanny for the local baron. Over the course of their relationship – the only romantic relationship that exists in the movie – strange and violent things happen. First, the local doctor (Rainer Bock, Inglourious Basterds) is injured when he trips over a hidden wire while horseback riding. A farmer's wife dies falling through rotten floorboards. The baron's son is found beaten and a midwife's mentally challenged son is found tortured. The townspeople don't know what to make of this. As panic ensues, the movie exposes some of the dark secrets of prominent citizens. The pastor (Burghart Klaussner, Alter und Schönheit), a stoic puritanical type, administers brutal punishments to his children. The doctor has an affair with the midwife and sexually abuses his daughter. The baron's wife abandons the village and returns months later, absolutely furious. The schoolteacher develops his suspicions, nearly coming to the point of acting on them. The White Ribbon has the mood of an Ingmar Bergman movie: bleak, cold, obsessive and unsmiling. There is not a single shot in the movie that doesn't contain elements of horror. While it is not terribly graphic, it shows events with such honesty that it makes one shudder. According to the esteemed writer and director Michael Haneke (Funny Games), the movie is about 'the origin of every type of terrorism, be it of political or religious nature.' His claim is not overtly obvious – at least to American viewers. Our view of terrorism is that of blown-up buildings, hijacked planes, suicide bombers, and AK-47s. Yet the film displays that there is a more subtle form of terrorism that is not unique to any particular race or nation – the terror of the heart. When the pastor forces two of his children to wear a white ribbon to symbolize the purity they have broken or when the doctor tells his mistress that he wishes her dead, the spirit crumbles and the holocaust of decency and charity begins. It is the children in the movie who suffer the most. All of the strange events either happen to children or directly affect them. Looking at their austere faces is enough to make the viewer understand where they come from, a belligerent drilling of purity in an environment in which sin is hidden or beaten out of them. The schoolteacher, one of the only truly decent people in the town, sympathizes with the children. But he also suspects some of them, especially the pastor's daughter Klara (Maria-Victoria Dragus, Du Bist Nicht Allein), whose behavior is the most brash of them all. Ultimately, though, the movie attempts no explanation of what happened. When the war starts, the denizens forget the crimes and move on. Even the schoolteacher seems more or less detached from what happened, leaving the town for good. The White Ribbon is an excellent examination of moral terror. Many movies try to depict the human condition, but few achieve this movie's vision and narrative scope. Clocking in at two-and-a-half hours, the movie is long and depressing. But then again, so is life. E-mail: arts@ubspectrum.com

Ticket to the dance

With March looming over every college basketball team in the country, the pressure surely must be building in Alumni Arena as Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon prepares his team for another run at the NCAA Tournament. The first test for the Bulls (16-10, 8-6 Mid-American Conference) will be at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, where the team will compete in the annual MAC Tournament. The winner will receive an automatic bid to the big dance. After a crushing loss to rival Akron (21-8, 11-3 MAC) on Wednesday night, Buffalo has to tighten up numerous aspects of its game. I've compiled a list of five keys for the Bulls to make it to the tournament for the first time in school history. 1. The Bulls have to bring maximum intensity to every game they play the rest of the way. As was evident against the Zips, it's very difficult to go down big early and make your way back into the game. This falls on the shoulders of the players, as they ultimately have to find the motivation to go hard from the opening tip and sustain that effort throughout the game. 2. Sophomore forwards Mitchell Watt and Titus Robinson have to be at their best in every game. These two youngsters are so important for the Bulls, because their defense and offensive production helps take so much pressure off the seniors. Watt has shown signs of brilliance as of late and needs to continue to play with a chip on his shoulder. Robinson is so versatile on the offensive end, but he really needs to have more confidence in himself and his abilities. 3. Rodney Pierce has to shine. I've been hot and cold on Pierce since I first saw him play at the start of last season, but I have come around. He is a scoring assassin. In some games this year, he has put the Bulls on his back and led them to victory. He needs to be at his best and not only score the basketball, but get his teammates involved, too. The game against Akron showcased how dangerous Pierce can be. After being absolutely shut down for zero points in the first half, the senior came out in the second and took over. He finished with 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field in the second half. If he can play at this level the rest of the way, the Bulls are going to be a tough team to handle. 4. Defense has to be a priority. This team has gone through its ups and downs this year on the defensive end of the floor. In order to succeed during postseason play, Buffalo has to play together on defense. The Bulls are 3-9 this season when they allow the opponent to score 70 points or more, and are 13-1 when they hold their opponent to 70 or less. 5. Finally, John Boyer and Calvin Betts have to provide senior leadership. Both players have been great this season for the Bulls, but they have to take it to the next level. This team will count on them in close games and Boyer needs to trust himself on offense. He is a dynamic threat for the Bulls and can fill up the stat line in a hurry. Betts needs to continue his hardnosed attack on the glass and on the defensive end of the floor. It's not going to be an easy road to the big dance, but if the Bulls buckle down and focus on these five key points, I'm convinced they'll reach the NCAA Tournament. E-mail: matt.parrino@ubspectrum.com

Lott crimes revealed

Sherrod Lott, a junior defensive back on the football team, was arrested on Feb. 14 at 8:30 p.m. for numerous crimes. Due to the nature of the crimes, details are still unavailable. 'It was a domestic related situation,' said Amherst Assistant Police Chief Timothy Green. 'But we really can't say anything more because of privacy terms.' There were several charges brought against Lott, who made bail and awaits a trial. He was arrested for unlawful imprisonment in the second degree, criminal trespass in the second degree, criminal mischief in the fourth degree, endangering the welfare of a child and harassment in the second degree. The APD confirmed the arrest and disclosed the charges, but would not reveal specifics about the crime. Lott finished the 2009 season with 53 tackles (33 solos), half a sack, four pass breakups and two fumble recoveries. It is unclear what repercussions he will face if and when he returns to the team. Stay with The Spectrum for coverage on the Lott arrest. E-mail: sports@ubspectrum.com