News

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A Textbook Definition

Few imported bands fare well with the American young adult demographic. The recent saturation of radio airwaves with domestic talent is something that the Music could change, perhaps heading up a renaissance British invasion.The Music's latest release, "Welcome to the North," is a collection of catchy mainstream rock that is likely to entice many music lovers looking for authentic flair."Welcome to the North" begins with a mellow title track before picking up the tempo.

The Hipster Subculture

While perusing the shelves of the University Bookstore in search of lighthearted and meaningless entertainment, I came across a self-help guide entitled, "The Hipster Handbook." Intrigued by its cyan color and the silhouetted depiction of fashionable young adults on the cover, I decided to purchase it as a joke (only not really).Inside, the book shed light on the world of Hipsters, a rare and deliberately endangered subculture of trendsetting, Dostoyevsky-toting, postpostpostmodern Chai drinkers who form their identity through obscure music and a pretentious vocabulary.

Icon Rocks On

A city plagued with the inevitable consequences of crime not only turned away crowds but also devastated the Icon, located at 391 Ellicott St.

Kerry Batters Bush in Three Debates

Wednesday night wrapped up the last of three presidential debates in an election that has sparked partisan fervor on both sides.

This Weekend In Buffalo

Simpson Set for Inauguration as 14th President

Delegates from as far away as Latvia and Singapore will join over 1,000 people who will pack the Center for the Arts today for the official investiture of John B.

Squyres Takes Crowd to Infinity and Beyond

What do blueberries, smiles and El Capitan all have in common? According to Steven Squyres, they can all be found on Mars.Squyres, one of the principal investigators on NASA's Mars Explorer Rover project, spoke at Alumni Arena Wednesday night as the second speaker in UB's 18th annual Distinguished Speaker Series.Squyres focused the lecture on his mission's obstacles and successes on the quest to learn if Mars once had water on its surface, the remnants of which include rocks that appear to smile and rust spots that look like blueberries."Tonight there is the debates with Bush versus Kerry, and a Yankee versus the Red Sox game, and all of you came out to see me talk," he opened with a smile.Squyres quickly gained audience attention as he dove into the subject matter with an accompanying video depicting the rover blasting through the Earth's atmosphere and finally bouncing to a halt on the Martian surface protected by airbags.According to Squyres, NASA sent two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, to Mars to discover the geological history of the planet.

Ranting for the Fogies

Mark Knopfler's voice is a strange concoction of the classic melodies of Johnny Cash married with the unharmonious rants of William Shatner.Unfortunately for those who have heard Shatner's latest album, "Has Been," this combo isn't necessarily a good thing.Mark Knopfler, a four-time Grammy winner and the voice and guitarist of Dire Straits, has released his latest album, "Shangri-La.""Shangri-La" is Knopfler's follow-up to "The Ragpickers Dream," a banjo-strumming country album heralded on top ten lists in the UK.Knopfler, diverging from his recent success, jumps ship to a different genre, leaping from country to tunes reminiscent of plain old cold, hard, rock and roll.His atypical vocals add something new to the often hackneyed and sometimes stale pool of the rock genre.

Bearcats Break Men's Tennis

The University at Buffalo's men's tennis team suffered two big setbacks over the weekend.First, they found out that their number one player, Randy Rocchio, would be out for the rest of the season due to an elbow injury.

Embattled Soccer Team Shuts Out Bowling Green

It took just under two minutes of overtime play for Mirnes Biscevic to score the game-winning goal over Bowling Green University on Sunday afternoon.The goal was scored on a magnificently placed cross by Jeff Martinko, with Biscevic finding the back of the net just 1:41 into overtime play.After a great start to the season, the Bulls (7-4-1 overall, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) needed a solid showing.Buffalo had dropped their last four in a row, while being shut out in the last three contests.

Mularkey for President

It's been a tough season for Buffalo Bills fans, but I'm not worried.The Bills are winless so far, and the team keeps making the same mistakes over and over again.

People Have The Power

I am by no means a normal person. I have long abandoned FM radio and, for the most part, mainstream media.

Ben Sargent Cartoon 10.13.04

Scoreboard

BuffaloWomen's CrewSundayVarsity eight A - third of 24Varsity eight B - 19th of 24Varsity four - fifth of 17Lightweight eight - last in a head-to-head

"New Leaders for SA Senate, Assembly"

Two weeks after elections, the Student Association Senate met for the first time this semester and chose junior Mazin Kased as Senate chair.For most undergraduates, the Senate's importance lies in its job to allocate SA funds and finances."The Senate has been monitoring finances and been providing some serious benefits and results," said SA President Anthony Burgio in a State of the Student Association address before the meeting.After his election to the chair position, Kased touched on the allocation issue and emphasized that funds should be properly distributed to clubs, both large and small."Even with the ($10) increase, we are trying to make sure that students get enough money," he said.

Students Take Play to Belgium

The student actors UB has to offer are exceptionally professional, even in rehearsal. Spectrum had the chance to catch rehearsals of Rebecca Gillman's "Spinning Into Butter" before its debut this weekend.The title of the play comes from Helen Bannerman's 1921 book, "The Story of Little Black Sambo." The play is about an African-American student at a university who becomes the recipient of hate mail, which sends the students and faculty into a state of shock.

Players Who Hazed Freshman Will Get Transcript Notation

The UB soccer players charged with hazing will receive a permanent transcript notation of the incident on their student record, according to UB officials.Recently, the SUNY administration put a direct emphasis on how the act of hazing will affect students' transcripts.In a letter sent out to all SUNY schools last April, SUNY Chancellor Robert King recommended that "each campus should develop a 'permanent transcript notation' policy that addressed hazing and other serious violations of the student conduct code, especially conduct which leads to the death or serious physical injury to another person."On June 8, the SUNY advisory central administration sent out an additional letter, stating the same hazing policy recommendation and adding that, "students found responsible for hazing and other serious violations of the student conduct code will receive, as part of their sanction, a permanent transcript notation."According to Dennis Black, vice president for student affairs, the soccer team incident was UB's first try at implementing the permanent transcript notation.

Offensive Strings Attached

Trey Parker and Matt Stone fans are on high alert for this weekend's release of "Team America: World Police." The creators of Comedy Central's hit cartoon "South Park" test the limits of tactlessness in their new comedy, crossing world politics with puppet sex.But Parker and Stone conduct the onscreen magic necessary to make a puppet puke, leaving absolutely nothing to the audience's imagination.The film, directed by Parker, tells the tale of a fictitious group of superhero puppets that call themselves Team America.

New Assembly Speaker Wants To Be 'Great Voice'

The Student Association Assembly elected Hassan Shibly to the position of Assembly Speaker Tuesday afternoon at the group's first meeting of the year.Twelve members of the assembly attended the meeting, run by Vice President Dela Yador.

Sidelines

Athletes of the WeekThe University at Buffalo named their Male and Female Athletes of the Week, with honors going to UB soccer players Mirnes Biscevic and Natalia Crofut.Biscevic, a senior defense/midfielder on the UB men's soccer team scored the winning goal in UB's 2-1 overtime victory over Bowling Green on Sunday.