Once graduating seniors walk through those double doors of Alumni Arena, what greets them is the challenge of finding a job. And then there's the debt – the heaping amount of student loans that they accumulated while being consumed by the stresses of college.
Title: Aliens vs. Predator
Nothing has been able to slow down the men's basketball team lately. Entering Wednesday's showdown at Kent State, Buffalo had won four-straight games and seven of eight contests overall.
Recycling one ton of paper can save 17 mature trees, 7,000 gallons of water and conserve the amount of electricity needed to power an average household for five months. But that's obvious, right?
Football head coach Jeff Quinn announced Thursday afternoon that sophomore quarterback Zach Maynard has left the Buffalo football program.
Every radio I've owned for the past 10 years has been broken; they all play the same songs over and over again. I bring each radio to every repair shop I know and ask why every FM radio I own has broken-record syndrome. The repairmen always ignore me and go back to listening to their iPods.
As my roommates and I lounged around watching television and enjoying our Monday off, my channel surfing landed us on highlights of the Cowboys/Vikings divisional playoff game. While my roommates voiced their disinterest in my choice to watch football, I argued that as a sports writer, I needed to be up to date on the latest NFL news.
After a nice relaxing Christmas with my family, I returned to Buffalo full of anticipation to finally play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with my friends online.
The Spectrum is looking for next year's editor in chief. Are you interested?
For my first column of the semester, I wanted to write about something that I feel extremely passionately about. I wanted to write about a story that means more to me than a distant major headline, such as the Tiger Woods scandal or Brett Farve's return to the postseason spotlight. Rather than discussing a bowl game that my school didn't compete in, or detailing the upset of the No. 1 nationally-ranked college basketball team, I felt obliged to tell about something that hit closer to home; something important in my life. Of course, under these pretenses, you can easily imagine how I would be tempted to write about the season finale of The Jersey Shore. But then I realized that this was a sports column. Next best topic: The New York Knicks. Yes, I concede that the Knicks remain a team struggling for wins in a crumbling conference filled with second-tier teams. By the numbers, they don't exactly impress, standing at 17-24, the same exact record they held just one year ago. But I argue that there is more to this team than the records, stats, and stigmas imply. By the beginning of December, the blue and orange had dug themselves a deep hole, getting off to a dismal 3-14 start. Yes, they lost a few overtime bouts, including a crushing defeat to Boston capped by a Kevin Garnett buzzer-beater, but their play was lackluster and inexcusable. In the past nine seasons, the Knicks have missed the postseason seven times and lost in the first round to subpar teams twice (Toronto in 2000-01 and New Jersey in 2003-04). In all of those years, the Knicks finished above .500 just once. My Knicks had done what I feared most; they had become a team synonymous with pity and loss. After a dreadful decade, they began being mentioned in the same breath as (gasp) the Mets and the Jets. (Yes, I know the latter team is in the AFC Championship, but this entire season has been a fluke and the Giants remain the superior New York football team, always. That does include the Bills, sorry.) Just imagine this typical NBA conversation involving a New York fan: RANDOM NBA FAN: I'm so glad that the NBA season finally tipped off. Kobe and crew look eager to repeat and the East actually has some strong contenders. Say, what team do you root for? KNICKS FAN: (Notice the awkward preface to explain their loyalty) We'll, I'm from New York, so I'm a die-hard Knicks fan. RANDOM NBA FAN: (Cringes and hides an embarrassed smile) Oh, I see. I'm sorry to hear that. (Scrambles through brain to find something positive to say.) Maybe you'll get LeBron in 2010. It was as if saying 'I'm a Knicks fan' had become a stigma that immediately transmitted a sexual disease to anyone who heard the words muttered. Well, I'm from New York, and I'm a damn proud Knicks fan, especially this season. (And with that statement, I hope I've inflicted countless New England area sports fans with horrible rashes and chronic discomfort.) I've watched nearly every Knicks game this season, and in short, I've been nothing but impressed with the team's talent, effort, and results. Center David Lee is an outstanding star that has thrived playing a position he isn't naturally suited for. His outside jump shot has improved, he can finish with both hands, grabs 11.2 rebounds per game (sixth best in the NBA) and should be voted into the All-Star Game. Coach Mike D'Antoni has done an excellent job inspiring players and has gotten the most out of average guys such as Jared Jeffries and Wilson Chandler. Al Harrington is one of the most dominant six-men in the league (18.2 points per game) and Danilo Gallinari has proved he can both shoot and slash. And they're winning games. With $60 million clearing from cap space at the end of the season and a huge free agent market, it hasn't felt this good to be a Knicks fan in a while. My boys may currently be on the outskirts of the playoffs, but their chemistry is on point and they will make a run this postseason. Any superstar in this league who has watched the Knicks move the ball and hustle back on defense this year would love to play in D'Antoni's run-and-gun system. New York seems fit for a king. E-mail: andrew.wiktor@ubspectrum.com
Nobody enjoys Tuesdays – they're the ultimate 'Jan Brady' day. To make it worse, New Yorkers got a gift from Governor David Paterson when he announced yet another plan to fight New York's pressing deficit issue. Honestly, residents statewide are just tired of hearing about the problems with the budget. Yes, it's bad, but the situation has been talked to death. Try doing something that will actually work for once. New York is looking at a deficit of 7.4 billion dollars for the next fiscal year, so the governor has taken out the treasure map and begun searching for new revenue streams. Here's what the 'geniuses' in Albany have come up with: legalize Ultimate Fighting, allow the sale of wine in grocery stores and tax cigarette sales on Indian Reservations. It would be even worse if it came from the income taxes of the hardworking citizens of New York, because the earlier plans involving utility taxes were just uncalled for. But there is a part of this budget that'll come as a bit of a shock. Paterson is going after school aid. Yes, that's right – school aid. The plan calls for a cut of 5 percent in a state that spends the most on funding education. New York ranks 6th in overall spending and 3rd in elementary and secondary spending. Under the plan, wealthier school districts would bear the larger portion of the cuts – a strategy that has long been fought by the state Senate, especially by senators from Long Island. Now, before the state gets up in arms over this, there needs to be more examination of this. For example, Eric Hanushek, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford with a Ph.D. from MIT in economics and an expert in educational policy, has found that there's no correlation between students doing better on standardized tests and increased funding for schools. So maybe, just maybe, the governor isn't mortgaging the children's futures with the tax plan. No one actually condones cutting education expenses, but if the debt crisis is that bad for New York, then the residents need to give it a shot. The plan in its entirety banks on the premise that a strapping economic recovery will take place in the state tax revenues and that a host of other proposals that haven't passed before will pass, such as a soda tax which charges $1.28 per gallon of bottled soft drinks. There are some cuts planned, such as slowing the growth of spending on Medicaid, reducing $1 billion from spending on state agencies and eliminating $300 million in annual aid to New York City. The governor's budget would also introduce fees to a state program that provides early intervention services for about 74,000 special-needs children. Families would be charged on a moveable scale, with fees starting at $180 a year for those with a household income of at least $55,126 and topping out at $2,160 a year for those earning at least $198,451 annually. At least 11 other states already charge such fees, including New Jersey and Connecticut. The exact numbers and where the money is coming from are almost irrelevant at this point. New York lacks a governor and legislature that can actually deal with problems in a swift, concise manner. If the plan is logical and effective, it shouldn't have come this late.
The women's basketball team entered Saturday's Mid-American Conference matchup with Ohio in search of its first MAC victory. Strong shooting proved to be the surge that Buffalo needed to crack into the in-conference win column. The Bulls (5-12, 1-3 MAC) put on a show from 3-point range to end the losing streak and dispose of the Bobcats (4-13, 0-4 MAC), 76-62. Buffalo went 9-for-14 for 3-point range, their best shooting performance from the perimeter since the 2007-08 season. 'We sure hit some 3-point shots in the first half,' said Bulls head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. 'I think that was creating a dilemma for Ohio because they wanted to jam on our inside game. Knocking down some threes really opened up [the floor for us]. [Ohio] had to spread out and then we were able to penetrate. I thought we penetrated the gaps really, really well today.' Using a 7-0 run to start the game, the Bulls immediately put the Ohio on their heels. The Bobcats got off to a rough start, as shot after shot bounced off the glass and rim. The Bobcats finally made their first layup and cut the Bulls' lead down to five with 17:40 remaining in the first half. This was the closest Ohio came in the contest. Less than a minute later, a trey by junior forward Jessica Fortman and a jumper by freshman guard Chrissy Cooper increased the Bulls' lead to ten. Ohio gained some momentum after making two consecutive buckets to pull within six, but a trey from Cooper put an end to that run. Sophomore guard Brittany Hedderson sank the next three buckets for the Bulls, including a 3-point shot, putting the Bulls up 22-10 with just over 10 minutes left in the opening half. The efforts of Cooper, Hedderson, and junior forward Kourtney Brown allowed the Bulls to dominate the Bobcats for the next five minutes. Freshman guard Abby Dowd knocked down a 3-pointer to cap off a 17-6 run. This gave the Bulls a 23-point lead, the largest of the half, at 39-16. Buffalo ended the first half with 47 points to tie a season-high record set in the opening half of the Youngstown State game. Overall, the Bulls shot 56.3 percent from the field, 63.6 percent from the 3-point range, and were perfect from the free-throw line. The team continued to build on its lead and went on a 20-8 run in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Buffalo held a 67-37 lead, its largest of the game, with 9:44 left on the clock. But the Bulls relaxed as the Bobcats tried to claw their way out of a rut. Though Ohio finished the game on a 23-8 run, it was not enough to overcome Buffalo's substantial lead. Buffalo finished the game with four players in double digits for the first time this season. Hedderson led the team, going 7-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-4 from 3-point range for 17 points in just 21 minutes. Hedderson, who is still fairly fresh off of a stress fracture that put her out of action for nearly six weeks, was glad to be back on the court. 'It was hard being out for that long,' Hedderson said. 'But it just made me try to fight through every day and have even more of a fire now that I'm back.' Brown added 16 points, 15 rebounds, and four blocks. She earned her seventh-straight double-double of the season. Before the game, Brown was honored, as she became the newest member of the 1,000-point club at Buffalo. Fortman put up 13 points, six rebounds, two assists, and a steal. She went 6-for-6 from the foul line. Dowd recorded 11 points, three boards, three assists, two steals and a block. Cooper and freshman forward Nytor Longar rounded out the team with 8 points apiece. Hill-MacDonald said that it was nice to get a MAC win. 'I think a game like today helps build confidence and restore confidence,' Hill-MacDonald said. 'We have a tough one coming up… so we've got to be able to carry the emotion from this game down to Kent.' The Bulls travel to Kent State to face the Golden Flashes on Tuesday night. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. at M.A.C. Center. Email: sports@ubspectrum.com
It feels like ages since the United States saw 2 million people fight the bitter cold and witness the swearing in of America's 44th President. Abroad, Barack Obama is still loved. But at home, his star is tarnished. His approval rating has fallen from almost 70 percent at the time of his inauguration a year ago to 50 percent currently, according to the latest NBC polls. The proportion of Americans who disapprove of the job he is doing has quadrupled, from 12 percent to 44 percent. More than half of voters think the country is on the wrong track. Americans are evenly divided as to which of the two political parties would do a better job of correcting that. The president promised to do a lot during his campaign, such as ending the war in Iraq, giving health insurance to all Americans, curtailing global warming and cleaning America's stained reputation by closing the prison at Guantánamo Bay. There have been some speed bumps in the road. None of this should be surprising. Governing is hard at the best of times, but it is even more difficult during an economic crisis. The American political system is loaded with checks and balances: a president cannot simply tell Congress what to do. Everything takes time and requires ugly compromises. Nonetheless, many of Obama's fans feel let down and some have even jumped ship. Sorry, but did America miss something? If anything, Obama has run a very disciplined and competent administration that is extremely centered on the political spectrum. Have there been some missteps? Of course. This isn't an easy job – does anyone remember how bad things were when he took office? The public only sees the steps he has taken, but how about the roads not taken? The president resisted the lure of the populists in the Democratic Party to saddle Wall Street with regulations that would strangle it in order to allow for an economic recovery. He sidestepped a tax on entrepreneurs who help jump-start the economy. He put into motion a very large job creation bill, from which a majority of the funds will begin to be dispersed this year. None of these problems are quick fixes; this isn't second grade math. Let's be really honest for a minute here. The responsibility of fixing a lot of the problems that face America doesn't lie on the president – it's the Republicans and Democrats in the United States Congress that are holding things up. The country is even more divided then ever. Neither side will cross the line and actually find common ground anymore. If there is any criticism of the president, it is certainly that Obama has to get tougher. He often refrained from throwing his hat into the tussle and, in acts to gain favor, was too ready to do the popular thing now and leave the awkward stuff for later. The health care fight is a prime example. The language of his inaugural speech promised a fierce fighter. He hasn't lived up to that promise yet. The dip in poll numbers doesn't suggest that Americans have fallen in love with the Republicans, who seem much keener to obstruct the president than offer a coherent alternative plan. In fact, Americans seem to be fed up with the whole lot in government and because Obama is the president, he gets the blame. Americans have spent the last year worrying about two wars, the possibility of losing their jobs, and how to pay for health care. If the president makes good choices, things can and will turn around. After all, 12 months is too short to say the man has failed. It's more realistic to say 'to be determined.'
Fred Sachs, Ph.D, distinguished professor of physiology and biophysics, has decided to take things into his own hands to revolutionize the world of medicine. Sachs and his colleagues have teamed up to start their own pharmaceutical company, Rose Pharmaceutical, to advance the clinical testing of a certain protein that they believe has the potential to treat a slew of diseases. Sachs discovered a protein in the venom of a tarantula known as GsMTx4, a place he admits would seem unlikely to find such a therapeutic substance. The mechanism by which the protein works is completely unheard of in the realm of drug therapies. Where most medical drugs act on various chemical receptors found on the different cells of the body, GsMTx4 acts on a type of sensor on cell membranes sensitive to mechanical stress. The researchers at Sachs's lab were the first to discover, accidently about 20 years ago, that such structures even existed on cells. According to Sachs, these sensors are still at such an early stage of being researched that their actual function is still the subject of much debate. 'Exactly what they do for a living remains to be determined,' Sachs said. 'The current model we have is that you could look at them as pain receptors at a cellular level. What they're looking for is weak spots on the reinforcement to the membrane.' Sachs's lab discovered – through an act of serendipity – that GsMTx4 acted on these stress-sensitive structures to produce a number of extremely positive effects in the bodies of test mice. These included an increase in muscle strength, pain inhibition and a correction of cardiac arrhythmia. Sachs was quick to try to market the protein. With the experimental research to prove it, Sachs attempted to advance the protein as a treatment for muscular dystrophy, sickle-cell anemia, cardiac arrhythmia, and peripheral neuropathic pain. Sachs gave seminars to all the large pharmaceutical companies. Unfortunately, they were uninterested or not capable of accepting the discovery he had made. Sachs said the companies' hesitation to advance the drug was due almost entirely to its complete novelty and the unconventional way in which it functioned. 'Big pharmaceutical companies didn't pick up on this,' Sachs said. 'I tried. I gave them a lot of seminars and stuff, but the idea of working with biomechanics and drugs was so [unorthodox] that no one wanted anything to do with it.' According to Sachs, he gave up completely and decided to do the science and let someone else pick up on his research in the future. The next step found him. A local stockbroker with a 2-year-old grandson diagnosed with muscular dystrophy found Sachs' work on the Internet, and the two discussed his work over lunch. This encounter and their subsequent correspondence eventually led to the formation of Rose Pharmaceuticals this past July. The company is affectionately named after the lab's pet tarantula, 'Rose.' Although they are hopeful about the progress they will make, the company is still in its infancy and facing one major problem. 'Like all start-ups we don't have the money,' Sachs said. 'We have the idea, but we don't have the money, so we'll keep working on it.' The next step is to get FDA approval. 'There's no obvious reason this wouldn't work at this point,' Sachs said. 'So we're going after four of these diseases because we have data that it can be active on these four diseases, and anything you learn from any one of them can be applied to the other. So there is really only one set of toxicity tests that need to be done with this.' E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
Solutions by The State News
