bcc library on the waterfront saves paper

The TorchTHE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF BERGEN COMMUNITY COLLEGE

VOLUME - 14 ISSUE - 2FEBRUARY 2009 WWW.BERGEN.EDU/THETORCH

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Winner of the General Excellence Award for the New Jersey Press Foundation 2007-2008 Better College Newspaper Contest

Student needs for printing, as in any institution of learning, have always been diverse and plenty. As it should be, the great majority of students respect the privilege of printing and copying their reports, homework, and other school documents.

However, there are those who have abused the system to wasteful implications, and have thus printed out many unnecessary

“junk” documents that result in an overuse of paper and excessive amount of garbage for the school. There have been many attempts to help curve this trend, sometimes successful, sometimes not. In the latest effort for its efficiency model, BCC has decided to take the initiative and has proceeded to set up a new printing management system that went into effect on January 16, 2009.

Assistant director of BCC Library, Rong Wang, says the new system is intended to monitor and ultimately control the ever-persistent paper waste. The new system requires students to create a username and password every time they need to print. Then, they must go to the appropriate printing release station, click the appropriate document, enter the username and password, and finally retrieve their papers.

Not only is this new printing system more economically friendly, it also aids in privacy protection. Although the school library doesn’t encourage students to print personal things in the library, many students print private documents on a regular basis. These documents, ranging from bank statements to college recommendations, can essentially be left scattered anywhere for anyone to read and gather private information. The new printing management system is efficient in protecting privacy, so that no one but the actual document owner can access it.

It also permits the school to track how much paper each individual is using in the library. It would also track how much, on average, students print using the library printers. Frequently, many documents are printed but are never picked up.

Many might be skeptical of the complexity and the new limits that this printing system imposes, but Rong Wang explains that it is still a free system and relatively simple to use.

“At Bergen, everything we print is for free. But some people do not have patience. There are so many wasted papers everyday.”

Students are allowed to print up to fifty pages in one print session. However, there are no limits to how many pages can be printed throughout the day or even the entire semester. A student can still print as

BCC Library Saves Paper

By: Michelle ha and Michael Bull

-Staff Writer/ad Manager-

On January 15th, Airbus A320 took off from LaGuardia Airport carrying 155 passengers. Flight 1549, heading for Charlotte, North Carolina, was delayed indefinitely. Shortly after takeoff the captain, Chesley Sullenberger, was forced to make a daring emergency landing. Two engines were damaged due to the planes encountering a flock of geese; the midair meeting resulted with at least two of the animals being sucked into the plane’s engines damaging

the turbines. With engines failing, and no time to make it back to the runway, the former U.S. fighter pilot, Sullenberger successfully dodged the surrounding N.Y.C. skyscrapers and guided the plane down into the Hudson river. The large body of water however, could have proved just as fatal as solid ground, as explained by NTSB investigator Greg Feith.

“If he dragged a wing, had one wing down, he could have cart wheeled the airplane and we would be talking about fatalities.”

Upon impact the crew quickly worked on making sure

On the Waterfront

By: charleS a. cartagena

-Staff Writer-

A salvage worker oversees the recovery of the Flight 1549 wreckagePHOTO COURTESY OF FINANCIAL TIMES

“When there is disorder under the heavens, little issues are made big issues, and the big issues are neglected...” said William H. Luers, President of the United Nations Association of the UNA-USA.

Nearly 30 Bergen Community College students attended the UNA-USA Mid Atlantic regional conference in New York City, on February 6th, 2009. Three panels of discussion were: peace and security, human rights, and climate change.

The mission statement of the United Nations affirms, “To save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind; to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights.”

Ambassador Rosemary Dicarlo led the Peace and Security Discussion Panel. Dicarlo firmly believes that “By working through the United Nations, we can build strong partnerships and tackle global challenges.” Global problems addressed included enhancing peace and security, eliminating poverty, promoting sustainable development, peacekeeping operations, and aiding those areas of the world currently experiencing conflict, such as Darfur, Sudan.

Jackie Shapiro led the Human Rights panel of the UN.

This panel delves into the issue of human rights, and how they are increasingly recognized. Shapiro then went into further discussion with the other members of the panel about how the very idea of human rights is under assault, and it must be

The Essence of UniversalityBy: tiffany Martin

-Staff Writer-

One of the sculptures displayed at the UNPHOTO BY TIFFANY MARTIN

See HudSon on page 6

See univerSality on page 14See library on page 14

President Obama’s First Days - pg 4

Top Ten Things You Learn From Video Games - pg10

February 2009The Torch

The Englewood police department towed a large number of vehicles throughout the city during a heavy snowstorm. The vehicles were parked in front of signs which simply read, “No Parking When Road Is Snow Covered.”

The vehicles were ticketed and towed early in the morning. Residents whose vehicles were towed were told that a neighbor had called in and complained about their illegally parked car. However, it was not just a few isolated incidents of cars being towed. Throughout several streets, all cars parked on the street were ticketed and towed at owner’s expense.

One local resident does not remember ever being ticketed

on the Avenue, one of the main streets of the area, despite parking on the street during heavy snowfall. The police, when asked how many vehicles they had towed, only commented “quite a few” and were not interested in looking into their records on the matter.

A resident of Ridgeland Terrace who had two cars towed and one ticketed, reported no memory of ever having trouble parking on the street when roads were snow covered in over twenty-five years of living there. Another resident of Ridgeland Terrace, having lived there for five years, reported the same.

The police, however, firmly deny that they are cracking down on this offence, or even doing any more towing than usual. An officer commented that they have

BCC News

On November 21, 2008, the Bergen Community College Chess Club participated in its first major chess competition. The competition came down to a one game decision. This is a huge step for the BCC chess club, which was once nothing more than a group of rag-tag college students who played chess just for fun in the BCC student center.

Robert Entemann is a freshman at BCC. He is currently being inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa international honors society, as well as being in the process of applying to school like Colombia University and NYU. Aside from schoolwork, one of Entemann’s favorite hobbies is chess.

Entemann wanted to join a chess team upon arriving at BCC, but discovering that BCC had no such club Entemann had no choice but to start one. “When I first started at BCC, the college didn’t really have much of a chess team. It was just a group of amateur students who played for fun in the student center,” he said.

He wanted to establish a college team to play other schools in tournaments. At first, his plan got off to a rough start. “When I first became president, the club was very small. We didn’t really have the resources, and the room that we used wasn’t big enough. We also didn’t have enough members to form a real club so I had to tell people about the club and encourage more people to join.” He also added, “That was

By: DaviD Frank

-StaFF Writer-

Bergen Chess Club:Columbia University

Showdown

“This is a very big thing, when you just throw your hat in the ring and see what happens,” exclaims Bergen art professor Paul Mindell. “You just don’t pass up something like the Smithsonian.”

Mindell, who has been a fulltime member of the Art faculty of Bergen since 1988, was chosen as one of the 100 semifinalists in the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009 held by the Smithsonian Institution. The competition, held once every three years, received entries nationwide from more than 3,300 artists who submitted one entry judged by a panel of seven distinguished members of the art community. The jurors will select between 50 and 60 finalists, whose works will be exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.

The competition’s theme, “Contemporary Portraits of America,” asked artists to “investigate the contemporary art of the portrait,” as explained in the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition website.

The competition called for artists to submit entries ranging from “classical drawing and painting or hyperrealistic sculpture to large-scale photography to prints and new media.” The grand prize winner will receive a $25,000 cash prize in addition to a commission for a portrait of a famous living American which will become a permanent collection in the gallery.

“It’s a wide open, national competition. You have works

from all over the country, and you have no idea what the judges are looking for,” Mindell said.

Mindell’s personal style of taking photographs of certain scenes and arranging the individual prints to create a new work is the foundation of his entry, a photo collage titled, “Align Through Time: The Painted Muse, The Pixilated Views.” The collage features a digital photo of an oil portrait which Mindell completed in the past summer, several Photoshopped portraits, and photos of the Bergen painting room, along with three other art studios each about one hundred years old.

“The idea for the photo collage sprung from the uncanny resemblance of one

of my painting students to Rembrandt’s self portrait at age 20. I liked the idea of the passage of time, and began wondering how I might connect the past to the present,” Mindell says.

Trained as a traditional painter, Mindell explains that the collage incorporates two of his great interests: oil painting and photography. Combining the two mediums exemplify the theme of duality in his collages.

“My painting for the last several years has focused on traditional, realistic portraiture,” he discloses. “Yet as a photo collage artist for more than a decade, working with hard copy photo images as well as in Photoshop, I’ve been exploring a deliberate fragmentation and subsequent reinvention of

portraits and environments, both landscape and interior.”

Working on segments of the entry over a period of months in addition to more than 40 hours in the final week before submission with hardly any breaks for food or sleep, Mindell was more than relieved when he finally sent his entry before the midnight deadline.

“It really got down to the wire, with just a half hour to spare,” Mindell laughed. “I finished everything at 11:30 pm, hit “Send,” and there it went.”

The results of the competition will be announced sometime in late May or early June. The chosen works will be featured at the National Portrait Gallery during an exhibition from October 2009 to August 2010.

To learn more about the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, visit http://www.portraitcompetition.si.edu. To view more of Mindell’s photo collages along with brief histories on each work, visit www.bergen.edu/facultyhome/mindell.asp.

Bergen Professor Selected as Semifinalist for Smithsonian

By: rolliene Mallari

-Copy eDitor-

Smithsonian Semifinalist, Professor Paul MindellPHOTO BY CARLOS ALBERT HICIANO

CARTOON BY BRENDON MIEL

Englewood Police Overstep Boundaries

By: ZaChary rZetelny

-StaFF Writer-

“Trunk Bay Version”, one of Prof. Mindell’s photo collages

PHOTO COURTESY OF BERGEN FACULTY PAGE

See CheSS on page 14

See poliCe on page 14

The TorchFebruary 2009

BCC News

A small, intimate group of people stand up in attention to the small American flag propped on the table at the front of the room. Calm but determined, the group recites the Pledge of Allegiance, loyalty and strength resounding in their voices. Clubs around the school do not usually start in this manner, but the Rotary Club is not just another club.

“Helping others, that’s the key for the whole thing,” Paul Rutiliagno, BCC Rotary Club Adviser, explains. Rutiliagno is an active member of the Cresskill Rotary Club and has served as a District Governor in District 7490. “What can we do to make our community a better community?”

The BCC Rotary Club, the first in the history of Bergen college, is a small club dedicated to providing service to communities. Rotary clubs exist throughout the country and the world, with groups hailing from locations in Spain, Italy, Russia, and Japan, among many others. The BCC Rotary club’s most recent project, the Coat Drive, was held throughout Bergen County. Donation boxes were strategically placed throughout the school campus. A total of 1500 coats were collected during the months of October through December of 2008. The coats were sent to other organizations dedicated to community service, such as Habitat for Humanity.

“The entire campus community, students, faculty, staff, and seniors came together [for this one project] and it was excellent,” said James Miller, Vice President of the Club and Chief Human Resources Officer for BCC.

The coat drive is only one of the many

projects that the club undertakes. Lois Marshall, club adviser and

active member of the Cresskill Rotary Club, claims the “Gift of Life” project as her personal favorite. It is a worldwide program where children with heart problems from other countries, deprived of adequate medical attention are brought to the United States for treatment. Marshall explains that the club actively raises money to help bring the children.

“I remember this one woman, crying at the airport, saying, “They’re going to experiment on my child,” said Lois. “We said, “No, we’re going to save your child. She will be a living human being!”

Through the “Gift of Life,” the Rotary Club was able to help a child from Honduras to come to the US for medical attention. Additionally, they also built a hospital in Honduras to perform necessary operations to the local children.

The club has worked on various projects, including a far-reaching plan to eradicate polio worldwide. These projects drew attention from Microsoft mogul Bill Gates, who volunteered to provide funding to the Rotary Club for the achievement of their goals. Other service projects include feeding the homeless, fixing bicycles for poverty-stricken children nationwide, and “Alliance for Smiles,” which aids in helping families with children born with lip, cleft, or palate deformities.

Currently, the club is raising money for “Gift of Life” by collecting loose change in various locations around the college.

Everyone is welcome to join the club and they are always looking for community members interested in making the society a better place. The club meets Wednesdays at 12:30 pm in the Pitkin Education Center, in L-158.

BCC Rotary Club: Bergen’s Miracle Worker

By: rolliene Mallari

-Copy eDitor-

Remedial Math Phobia on the Cure:Remedial Math Classes are No Longer Pass or Fail

Since the beginning of the Fall 2008 semester the Remedial Math Department that includes MAT 011, 031, 032, 035 has undergone major changes in the hopes of boosting student passing rates. This semester, the results of the changes are in!

Prior to this academic modification, students were graded on a series of objectives prepared by the math department. Now, starting this semester, students who are taking a remedial math course are now taking regular tests, which are planned and coordinated by the professors themselves according to committee member, Prof. Walker (The Chair of Remedial Math) .

Quiz and homework

percentages will now be counted as part of the final class grade.

“Before, merely with the objectives it was solely pass or fail, you [student] would not get credit for doing anything else,” said Walker.

This semester, professors have more academic freedom. Instead of a collective syllabus, the math department drafts a suggested syllabus that a professor can amend and follow. Passing or failing a math course no longer depends sorely on the final, now the final is only worth 25% of the final grade. Professors are utilizing new technology to aid students via online quizzes, tests, homework help and communication needs.

Based on student placement scores, three new programs have been established in order to better help students pass remedial math. The most extreme option is for

those that score from anywhere between 20 and 30 on the test and require the most assistance. These students attend regular lectures two times a week plus a math lab twice a week. This solution provides more individual time with the professors to target specific areas that require greater attention.

With the courses being changed, the Accuplacer test has changed as well. Students are told their score and are given the option of being in the specialty classes. However, the traditional, bi-weekly Mat 011 courses are still offered.

The second program is designed for those students who score higher on the accuplacer test, ranging from 60 to 76.9, yet require further help in a few key areas of math. These students are found to not require the full 15 weeks of classes because they

require particular help in just a few areas. Therefore, these students will be placed in a seven week course that combines both Mat 011 and Algebra A. The students work at their own pace under the direction of their professor.

“They work only where they need to work on, they don’t have to sit through a fifteen weeks of information that they already know,” said Walker. These classes are taught in computer labs, specifically room L-127 which is now the Math Walk In Center. Should the student fail to pass Mat 011, he or she will be removed from the algebra class as well. “So far every student has passed the Mat 011 seven week part of the course,” Walker added. Students taking the combined Mat 011 and Algebra A pay separately for the both of them and they finish two math

development courses in the same semester. Two of these classes were offered the last fall semester.

The final program is designed for those students who score high in all parts of the accuplacer test, yet still quality for remedial math. This option combines Mat 011 and Algebra 035 for those whose scores range from 62 to 72.9 on the test. They complete all math development requirements during the course of one semester.

Because the above programs showed an increase in the passing rate after January, they are now part of the developmental math program and be officially part of the upcoming curriculum. “We are happy with the results we got.” said Walker. “All we need is to spread the news to counselors, so all the students are informed about the changes.”

By: erviSa Bilalaj

-StaFF Writer-


BCC News

Immediately after his momentous inauguration, President Obama’s promises of change are being put to the test throughout his first month in office, as he is striving to campaign for the economic stimulus and a mortgage reform policy to heal the nation’s financial crisis.

Obama has been campaigning in communities across the nation for the $787 billion economic stimulus, which he defined as a “major milestone on our road to recovery.” The stimulus is supposed to significantly raise employment and consumer spending rates.

However, none of the Republicans voted for the bill, and Obama is being accused for not following bipartisanship.

Republican Senator McCain told CNN’s John King, “It was a bad beginning because it wasn’t what we promised the American people — what President Obama promised the American people, that we would sit down together.”

In addition to the opposing viewpoints upon the President’s new way of doing things, Obama’s senior White House advisor, David Axelrod, warned on “Sunday Fox News” that the nation’s economic situation will worsen before the stimulus can even be expected to recover it. As President Obama has said on his inaugural address, sacrifices will have to be made on all sides.

During a campaign visit to a town meeting in southwest Florida, the President said, “I’m not going to tell you that this plan [stimulus] is perfect – it was produced in Washington! I also can’t tell you with 100 percent certainty that everything in this plan will work exactly as we hope, but I can tell you with complete confidence that a failure to act in the face of this crisis will only worsen our problems.”

Asserting that taking action is essential to getting this country out of the financial

disaster, Obama expects to sign the economic stimulus bill on Tuesday, Feb 17th during his campaign visit to Denver, Colorado.

Obama is also planning to stop by Phoenix, Arizona on the 18th and address the collapsing housing market situation. He suggests a mortgage reform policy, which is aimed to help an estimated two million people who have lost or are at risk of losing their homes to refinance their mortgages.

According to his website, Obama has closely observed the declining housing market and “introduced comprehensive legislation over a year ago to fight mortgage fraud and protect consumers against abusive lending practices.”

One of Obama’s measures for mortgage reform is called the Stop Fraud Act, which according to his website,

“provides the first federal definition of mortgage fraud, increases funding for federal and

state law enforcement programs, creates new criminal penalties for mortgage professionals found guilty of fraud, and requires industry insiders to report suspicious activity. Finally, Obama’s bill requires the Government Accountability Office to evaluate and report to Congress on various state lending practices so that state regulations that undermine consumer’s rights can be identified and hopefully eliminated.”

The mortgage rescue proposal is still undergoing through some revisions. The proposal must be passed to improve the housing market and the aid the millions of families who have lost or are at risk of losing their homes.

Hopefully, President Obama’s economic stimulus and mortgage reform policy will replenish this nation’s depleted economy.

Retailers were expecting a Christmas miracle this past 2008, but the fading economy could not gratify their wishes. Unfortunately, it is not just retailers that are stumped in an ominous state. Our financial system still seems to be trapped in a darkening hole.

As incomes remain fixed, the cost of basic necessities continues to rise. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate was 7.6% at the end of January 2009. The numbers keep collecting as the percentage increases week after week. The job market remains in shambles as people continuously find themselves getting laid off. The light towards a brighter economy still seems quite far-flung.

Though the economy started to plummet with the collapse of large financial institutions, it has now swiftly developed into a worldwide calamity. Even with the number of bailouts being passed, the housing market keeps decreasing and homeowners are finding it intolerably hard to sell. Additionally, big and small businesses continue to look gloom. Healthcare and in-state college tuition has risen; stocks remain faltering. The way the economy is failing is vastly alarming. It is killing the masses of investors, producers, and consumers across the world.

The nation’s market appears to be tumbling into what numerous experts consider to be its worst downturn since 1982. At the end of 2008, we saw Christmas sales dive and bankruptcy after bankruptcy was well underway. Circuit City, the second largest U.S. electronics retailer, was one of the many companies that had gone insolvent.

Starbucks, Macy’s, Home Depot, and other big-name businesses showed store closures. Brokerage farms and banks were flopping and the financial meltdown was intensifying. The nation that once held a strong middle class has now turned into a dying middle class as they

seek ways to compensate for an increasing debt.

The U.S. Bureau of Statistics reports that the unemployment rate during the Great Depression was 25%. Bearing in mind that the unemployment rate ending January 2009 was over 7%, the near future for our deteriorating economy seems quite daunting. So the question is: Will America be rivaling with the Great Depression? The pressure is growing and Americans are becoming fearful.

On February 10, 2009, U.S. Senate approved President Obama’s proposals for an $838 billion economic stimulus plan. The stimulus’ intention is to save and create millions of jobs while working as a lifejacket to support the economy out of this dwindling recession. President Obama believes that the colossal economic recovery legislation will amplify consumer spending. With it, essential investments for unwavering development and affluence will be obtainable. The stimulus is merely a starting point on the road to an economic

recovery; there is still a sufficient amount of work needed to turn the economy around. President Obama’s desire for tax cuts and reliefs still seem to be moderately in-check. However, patching up this economic turbulence will not be effortless,

and it will indeed require time. Hopes are rising as rates

drop. “We do have a number of forces that could come together to produce what could be a fairly strong recovery,” says chief economist Nariman Behravesh. He believes that if everything goes well, the nation will be able to jump back out of what is predicted to be a long-lasting recession. Nonetheless, the forecast of the economy still remains uncertain. The sharp thing for people to do as of right now is to cut away the surplus and paste themselves in preservation mode. The nation has no choice but be reliant on hope that things will improve.

Obama’s First DaysBy: Carina teSone

-neWS eDitor-

Official portrait of President ObamaPHOTO COURTESY OF WWW.CHANGE.GOV

S.O.S for the American Economy

By: MiChelle ha

-StaFF Writer-

Broke... simple as thatIMAGE COURTESY OF UWM.EDU

IMAGE COURTESY OF WHITEHOUSE.GOV

The 44thPresident


BCC News

President Obama has ordered that the notorious “secret” prison, known as the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp (“Gitmo” for short), be closed within four months time. The ramifications of such an act are causing shockwaves around America’s homeland security force. Without so much as even closing the detention center, a number of questions have risen regarding the closing process of the camp.

First, obviously, is the question of what to do with the detainees. There are approximately 250 detainees with questionable backgrounds who need to be taken from the Guantanamo Bay Dentention Camp and transferred elsewhere, a task that has proven to be more difficult than originally conceived. Iraq, Portugal, and Switzerland, have offered to take Gitmo’s prisoners after the shutdown of the facility, but the fact remains that some of these detainees are suspected to have bad intentions for the world after their release. The European Union recently held a board meeting to discuss Europe’s role in taking some of the prisoners, but ruled out the possibility of procuring detainees who carry a higher risk of terrorist activity.

No one would doubt the intentions of

President Barack Obama in shutting down the camp that has soiled U.S. foreign relations ever since the unfortunate events on 9/11. Countries around the world will be glad to see the detention center shut its gates. Surely the Arab world will have a favorable reaction to the closing of a center which, amongst other “secret” prison camps, holds a long history of torture and unfair imprisonment. However, the world will not forget the actions of the last president, and few countries are willing to help the U.S. get over its sordid past of human rights violations.

It has been almost a full year since formal charges were brought against Gitmo prisoners, largely due to lack of evidence against the prisoners and inefficiencies within the center’s processing procedure while under the Bush administration.

On February 5th, 2009, Barack Obama ordered that all pending charges stemming from interrogations at Guantanamo Bay be suspended for 120 days, and action that caused charges against alleged Al-Quaeda mastermind, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, be dropped. The action has led to much speculation and criticism, especially from hard right conservatives who supported the policies of the Bush administration in detaining suspected terrorists in the Guantanamo Bay facility.

It remains to be seen what the ultimate

Gitmo ClosingBy: auStin keenan

-StaFF Writer-

Your daily life at Gitmo.COURTESY OF WWW.EDUCATE-YOURSELF.ORG

See gitmo on page 14


BCC News

The recent clash between the territory of Israel and Palestine started on December 27th, 2008 and left 1,314 Palestinians and 23 Israeli dead. Rockets are being fired from both sides as both states fail to reach an agreement for a ceasefire truce.

Israel took military action against Gaza in response to a rocket fired by Hamas, a militant organization that has ruled Gaza by force since June 2007. The initial attack occured after the termination of a six-month

ceasefire truce between Israel and Palestine on December 24th, 2008. Policypointers.org revealed a 37 page U.S. overview of the situation and concluded that the reason for this attack was somewhat to “significantly weaken all aspects of Hamas rule in Gaza.”

The origins of this conflict date back to the end of WWII when Jews and Arabs had a dispute about who should gain control of the Holy Land, Jerusalem. After WWII, the territory was divided between these two groups, causing major conflicts to arise.

Over time, the issue has become more complex with the emergence of the militant group Hamas, who believe that Israel has long denied them economic growth and prosperity. Hamas, who has terrorized the state of Israel for more than a decade, was once a charitable organization. Following the insurgence against Israel in 1987, Hamas moved towards violence by disrupting peace on both states.

The NY Times reported that Hamas considers Israel to be an

“illegitimate state,” while Israel sees Hamas as a terrorist group that must be “dismantled.”

“Yet each needs the other to hold its fire,” according to NY Times reporter, Ethan Bronner.

Professor

Richard Comerford, who teaches Economics and Modern Asian History courses at BCC, traveled to Gaza this January and returned with a personal account of the situation. He described the situation as “terrible.”

Just like there are Palestinians who want the end of Hamas in Gaza, a lot of moderate Israelis also believe in ending the conflict, said Prof. Comerford.

Relating an incident of his Palestinian friend, Ismail, who lost his son during one of the previous conflicts, Prof. Comerford said that his friend wishes to see peace on both sides.

“I want peace, my brother; this solves nothing, my child did not die for this”, said Ismail while talking to Prof. Comerford.

“Young people want the end of this and they want to live peacefully,” he said.

The U.N. aid blockage in Gaza caused the situation to deteriorate further as NY Times reports that “[Gaza’s] stocks of flour are exhausted.” Attacks on several U.N. schools have also raised some very concerning questions about this conflict.

The results of the recent Israeli election can play a great role in the turning point of this conflict, said Prof. Comerford. The situation will either head for the worse or for better depending if the Hamas favors the new government or not.

“Hamas loves to tweak the tail of the tiger. The tragedy of the Hamas is that their tweaking of the tail gets a lot of people hurt,” he said.

Furthermore, Israel acknowledged that one of the soldiers who committed war crimes in Gaza will be given

“state protection from prosecution overseas,” BBC reports.

Negotiations on another ceasefire truce were underway but Israel refused to comply until Hamas frees one of its war prisoners, Gilad Shalit, captured in 2006 conflict by the Hamas.

For now, the conflict is a “now-what” situation. Its future remains unclear and decided at the same time. Unclear because there is no sign of peace anytime soon, decided because further violence and bloodshed awaits the borders, unless Hamas and Israel reach a peaceful negotiation.

Gaza Conflict: Now What?By: huMa Munir

-Co-eDitor-

ALL PHOTOS BY PROFESSOR RICHARD COMERFORD

that their passengers were safe. After evacuating the survivors onto the wings of the plane, they could only wait for rescue crews to arrive.

Survivor Emma Sophina in a recent interview on Sirius Satellite Radio, described “the impact felt like they’d hit a building.” She went on in the interview to reflect on how she “zoned out” during the pre-flight safety instructions only to see the engines catch on fire minutes later.

Cited as a “miracle”, by New York City Mayor Bloomberg, the recent crash is made all the more extraordinary by the pure rarity of its nature. Greatly hailed as the “safest way to travel” by relative comparisons, it is not often that plane crashes make it into the news. As logged by AirDisaster.com’s database in the year 2004, over 22.2 million flights took off in the U.S., of which only 20 ended with a crash landing. It is even less often than that million to one ratio that plane crashes end as happily as Flight 1549 has.

The sparse occurrence of such an event is a contributing factor to the

newfound celebrity-like attention the Captain and his crew have received. Since the crash, the Captain and his crew—aside from being interviewed by every major news organization—have been honored as guests at this year’s Superbowl, the subjects of a 60 Minutes special, in addition to being recipients of the Key to the City of New York. Though the Captain, alone, has received much of the acclaim not only for successfully landing the aircraft—but insisting on numerous sweeps of the plane to make sure no one was left behind; he insists that this sole praise is unwarranted:

“Much of this, since the last three weeks began, have been about one person. And I want to correct the record right now, this was a crew effort”.

As far as Emma is concerned though, when faced with the question of what she thought of Captain Sullenberger she simply said;

“For me, personally, he’s a hero.”

Hudson continued from page 1


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The Torch, a member of the Associated College Press and the College Media Association, is the official student newspaper of Bergen Community College. The purpose of The Torch is to report on the events at BCC and the local community, and to offer the BCC community a forum for expression. The opinions expressed in The Torch are not neccessarily those of The Torch. All the materials submitted to The Torch become property of The Torch.

Section Editors

The cost of one rocket fire is a murder of thousands of innocent people.

The military response of Israel against Gaza and its people has been nothing but brutal. The attacks on several U.N. schools and aid blockage have caused protests all around the world, including the western countries that proclaim their commitment to protect Israel.

The United States has been a supporter of Israel for more than half a century and both countries have strong financial ties. Both countries condemn Hamas and consider it a terrorist group which has been a root cause of the modern conflicts between Israel and Palestine.

The question that the United States and Israel fail to raise is what created Hamas? What created this radical organization which is responsible for spreading much mischief in the state of Israel? The answer is simple: Hamas was not created over night. It emerged through the poverty and hunger faced by generation after generation of Palestinians over the course of more than 50 years.

We all know that the economic situation in Gaza has been deteriorating for quite a long time and prosperity is far from reaching the homes of Palestinians. Living under such confined circumstances, Palestinians have been forced to do what Hamas tells them to do.

On the other hand, I have no problem in admitting that Hamas is a radical organization and its actions have certainly hurt Palestinians. However, I think the greater problem lies with the countries who claim to be the strongest nations on Earth and yet stand beside and do nothing to stop the on-going violence on both sides.

With Hamas on one side and

Israeli military on the other, is there no choice for Palestinian people but to suffer and die in agony?

I think we have played the blame game for too long. But unfortunately, this is the only game we know how to play. Unless the bigger nations such as the United States and other western countries make Israel understand the implications of such violence, what hope is there for Palestine and its people? What hope is there for the children who are frequently exposed to such brutality? These children, my friends, are the Hamas, the condemned terrorists to be.

Israel and Palestine: A DilemmaBy: huMa Munir

-Co-eDitor-

PHOTO COURTESY OF NEWSITEMSTODAY.TODAY.COM

CorrectionsThe Torch strives for the highest journalistic standards and accuracy. Readers are encouraged to contact us if they find any mistakes in any edition of the Torch.

* In the January edition, an article on page five titled “Age of Obama” was misattributed. The author was Ryan Kelly.

With the dreary condition of our economy, the video game industry faced major losses in revenue and saw a frightening number of layoffs. However, a few companies have reported positive earnings, including

Ubisoft, Take-Two and Nintendo. Even though these few

companies report positive earnings, there is a dark side to the story. Acitivision Blizzard, the biggest third-party publisher in the video-gaming world, recorded $2.3 billion in October/December’s net revenue and beat the prediction of Thomson Reuters’ survey of $2.15 billion.

However, the company posted a $72 million loss during the last quarter of 2008 when they launched new entries in its three biggest franchises: Guitar Hero World Tour, Call of Duty: World at War, and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.

Activision Blizzard’s CEO, Bobby Kotick, told Reuters, “We won’t be distracted by layoffs

and restructuring and things that other companies are going to be distracted with.” Activision is planning an ambitious year of releases, with “more products than ever before” set to arrive in 2009.

Despite Kotick’s upbeat tone, the markets reacted swiftly and negatively. In after-hours trading, Activision Blizzard’s stock was

down over 5 percent, trading at $9 as of press time.

Sega Sammy is one of the many publishers that were forced to take action during these grim times, soliciting voluntary retirement from 18% of their workforce, which amounts to 560 jobs.

It’s fairly easy to look at our new commander-in-chief with a sense of hope that the country will be able to turn itself around after the disastrous period of American politics known as George W. Bush’s presidency. That being said, it is important to note that since he was sworn in, more things have gone wrong for the Obama administration, than have actually gone right. When Obama first released the lengthy and comprehensive applications for his administration, it was first believed that he would only be hiring those with the highest of moral standards. However, the nominees for many positions

in the administration have been speckled with controversy, and some have even withdrawn their bids.

The position of Commerce Secretary has proven to be something of a problem in that regard. After losing Bill Richardson’s bid, due to a conflict-of-interest scandal involving large state contracts linked to campaign contributions, the Obama administration, most recently, has seen the position’s second nominee, Republican Senator Judd Gregg, withdraw his bid, citing “irreconcilable differences” in political philosophy, as well has the handling of the current bailout package. Also worth mentioning is Tom Daschle’s tax bungle, which caused him to withdraw

his bid for the Head of the Dept. of Health and Human Services (Secretary of Health) because he failed to pay over $100,000 dollars in taxes on his car and driver services. There are a few others, but these are some of the more significant developments. The fair thing to say would be that it’s not Obama’s fault that people with shady histories are applying for jobs, but these are pretty important cabinet roles (especially Secretary of Health) that play a huge part in Obama’s campaign promises. With such huge blows dealt to the administration this early on, it may be difficult for Obama to recover and deliver on the promises that won him the 2008

Obama: What Next?By: auStin keenan

-StaFF Writer-

Can the Economy’s Downfall Pierce Through the Gaming Industry?

By: alex kang

-FeatureS eDitor-

See What next on page 14

See Video game on page 14

See dilemma on page 14


Opinions and Editorials

The bad blood between the Media and Alex Rodriguez is no secret. Amidst the recent allegations and confirmation from A-rod regarding the use of performance enhancing drugs, the media circus has yet again begun for the Yankee slugger. It seems that every year around this time, there seems to be a report circulating about the Yankee third baseman’s extra- curricular activities, and never about baseball itself. That is, until now when the two have finally, to the media’s delight, coincided.

The unfortunate part for me as a fan is that he played right into their hands. When Jose Conseco first came out with Juiced in 2005, I didn’t take his word for gospel, especially when it came to Alex. However, what I found interesting was the passage in his first book where he goes into detail regarding Alex’s image and how Major League Baseball was intent on creating certain clean cut, savior. Yet, there are too many powers that had a vested interest in seeing that image built and destroyed in order to save the biggest image of all, Major League Baseballs’.

Hailed as America’s favorite past time, Baseball has had a

sanctified image in the way the media portrayed the sport and its famous player staples. Throughout Baseball’s history, legends of iconic role models were created in persona’s such as Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, just to name a few. Regardless of these men’s activities and conduction off the field, they were placed on pedestals impossible to live up to.

Alex Rodriguez threatens records made by all three and that doesn’t sit well with some. Maybe because Alex is Dominican, or maybe because he just rubs some the wrong way; who knows. One thing is for sure: ever since Alex’s transition into a Yankee uniform

he has become public enemy number one.

The guy can’t seem to catch a break, and when he does, there is someone waiting in the shadows to drop a bomb and devastating

his image and baseball legacy. Now, I’m not advocating the use of any performance enhancers, but in the reality of today’s

Having been a vegan for almost a year now, I can say that finding the right alternatives to dairy and meat products has not always been so easy. In fact, it’s been a pretty big challenge from the very beginning, although there are still plenty of resources out there to help anyone. In spite of the difficulty for a vegan who wants to eat in, an even bigger challenge has been trying to find accommodations in restaurants.

In the past, I always had to resort to something that was little more than pasta and vegetables, and often not a very satisfying meal to say in the least. However, what used to be a challenge has proven easier by the discovery of places like Veggie Heaven, which are more than enough to satisfy anyone who practices the ancient credo.

Founded back in September 1996, Veggie Heaven in Teaneck is one of two restaurants of its kind that offer many diverse and completely vegan & delicious Chinese cuisines. I discovered the restaurant this year, and immediately took an immense liking to it.

Upon entering the restaurant, the atmosphere is surprisingly lush and relaxing, full of traditional oriental architecture and artifacts. In the background, the music alternates between meditation and pop music. You’re seated quickly and kindly, which is usually near the front, and are immediately presented with a refreshing vegetable appetizer and jasmine herbal tea. You have plenty of time to decide on what you want to order, which you can trust will arrive in a very

timely matter. Not only do they offer the usual all-vegan food, such as their various kinds of rice (white or brown), vegetable platters (such as Buddha’s Delight, Sautéed Spinach, and Sautéed Baby Cabbage) and soups (such as the Wonton Soup, Mixed Vegetable Soup, and Spinach with Tofu Soup), but they also offer food that didn’t even seem so vegan.

They have foods made with imitation meat, which consists entirely of vegetable derivatives. These include dishes such as the Sesame Chicken, Vegetarian Duck, Paradise Chicken, and Mongolian Beef. They all tasted just like real meat, and it served as a nice reminder that sometimes you can have your cake and eat it too.

Speaking of cake, they have that too! That’s right, they have cake that’s 100% vegan. The cake is not cheap for a small piece, but it’s definitely worth it if you’re a vegan and are never able to eat regular cake with its butter and egg ingredients. At the end of the day, it is a well worthwhile end to a meal anyone (vegetarian, vegan, or otherwise) can enjoy.

Overall, Veggie Heaven is a very relaxing and worthwhile experience for anyone who wish to have a great meal, and one that vegans and vegetarians can join in on too. I have been back to the restaurant many times since May, and it has always been a satisfying visit every time. The price of most of the food is very reasonable, so there is no trade-off between having this delicious specialty food and having to pay more as there is often is at many other restaurants. For all those vegans/ vegetarians in and around Teaneck, Veggie Heaven is not a bad place to go for a vegan dish.

Veggie Heaven: A Vegan’s Delight

By: MiChael Bull

-aD Manager-

IMAGE COURTESY OF VEGGIEHEAVEN.COM

A-Rod vs the MediaBy: natalia arango

-SportS eDitor-

IMAGE COURTESY OF BASEBALL-DAILYSKEW.COM

Roving RepoRteRHow did the economy affect you?

Michele caputo

“My sister got laid off because of how the economy is. A lot of people are losing their jobs.”

Brian Mooney

“I was working full-time for the past three years in Carpenter’s Union in NYC. Since banks and financial companies are down, the company is slow. So, I thought it would be a good opportunity to come back to school full-time, because that company was not reliable.”

lizardo Valenzuela

“I’m a waiter by the Meadowlands Horse Racetrack, and every year, less and less people are not going to the restaurant, because they do not have the luxury to dine out, they want to save up, or they just don’t have the money.”

aMy Macalino

“The gas has affected how people do not spend as much money. Also, prices of produce have gone up. There are store closings all over the U.S.”

See a-Rod on page 14


Features

The first time I heard about the movie, “Slumdog Millionaire” was the same day that I went to see it. As I inquired my friends about what the movie was about, I received a listless, “it’s a love story about this guy who goes on the Indian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” and becomes a millionaire.”

Wow. Sounds cliché enough, but at a total of eight wins out of ten Oscar nominations such as Best Achievement in Cinematography, Best Music, and the prestigious Best Motion Picture of the Year, not to mention 62 other awards and 29 nominations, “Slumdog Millionaire” is not your average, run-of-the-mill, rags-to-riches story.

Dev Patel stars as Jamal Malik, a former street kid who grew up in the slums of Mumbai with his brother Salim, who is played by Maddhur Mital. By luck, Jamal appears

on the Indian edition of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” going by the same name. He manages to make it to the final question, arousing suspicion from the show’s host and the Indian police, who accuse him of cheating. After all, how can an uneducated slum dog know all the answers and be one

question away from winning 20 million rupees, roughly the

The more serious question of the castaways during the first couple of seasons of the hit TV series on ABC Lost was, “Where are we?” Now the castaways that have successfully left the island are told that they must return to the island to help the ones they left behind.

And yet what else has fostered during this season? Deafening beams of flashing light that churn the survivors on the island back and forth in time? Yes, we are officially talking about time travel. Lost is in tune and back for another trippy ride with familiar faces and the obscurity that persistently puts their viewers to the edge of their seats.

Picking up from last season, Ben (played by Michael Emerson) reiterates that Jack and the others must return to the island. Meanwhile, the survivors who remained on the island are experiencing new difficulties. Slowly, but surely, we begin to understand why they must return to the island and how.

The show kicked off its fifth season on January 21,

2009, unraveling itself with action-packed goodness. The show continuously interrogates countless theories, with its rampant plot twists, and turns. After all, what is the smoke monster? Are they all dead? Are they in purgatory? What is the island actually all about?

However, unlike the previous seasons where the audience was left immersed with one-too-many questions, more answers are presumably in store this season. The series returns with retribution and is a bit more linear than previous seasons. It is a whole new ball game for these survivors, as the question no longer remains to where they

are, but when they are. The show has a different angle this time, whereas the objectives of the characters are a bit clearer. It is entirely mind-reeling, as usual.

Needless to say, cliffhangers will evidently be in tact with the show. Millions of viewers tuned in with much awaited eagerness for a show that has blissfully perplexed their viewers for the last four years. Of course, Lost wouldn’t be Lost without new faces, new problems and death, but many new solutions are pending to be offered. Lost shows high hopes on carrying out yet another pivotal season. You can catch Lost every Wednesdays at 9 PM on ABC.

Lost: What’s Past is NowBy: MiChelle ha

-StaFF Writer-

IMAGE COURTESY OF LOST-TV.COMObviously, headaches are some possible side effects of being stranded.

Slumdog Wins Millions in Box Office ReleaseBy: rolliene Mallari

-Copy eDitor-

IMAGE COURTESY OF FLICKR.COM

See Slumdog on page 14


Features

1. Getting shot in the head doesn’t necessarily equal death.

We see it in almost every shooting game out there. Getting shot in the head doesn’t always mean death. For example, in the ever-so popular first person shooter for the PC, Counter-Strike, getting shot in the head will encourage us to be more careful when walking around a corner. So the player named “Rambo” will learn to stop charging into enemy base, change his name to “Jason Bourne” and make every round a stealth mission

2. Plumbers are hopeless romantics

Everyone has seen Mario go to work for his Princess Peach. Don’t tell me he’s not the romantic type. Who goes around busting their heads on bricks and fighting giant turtle dinosaurs just to get a kiss on the cheek?! Who swallows wild mushrooms whole and tames dinosaurs to help traverse the dangerous Mushroom Kingdom? You call it stupidity, I call it love.

3. Your parents were wrong - eating stuff off the floor is good for you.

We see it in almost every game, so it must be true! Mario eats mushrooms off the floor and he grows twice his size in seconds. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles eat whole pizza pies off the floor and it recovers any ailments.

4. When the cops are chasing you, drive fast for a while, and they’ll give up.

In major cities like Liberty City, Vice City and San Andreas, absconding with a stolen vehicle is like taking candy from a baby. First, choose a car you want. Get in and drive. If the police are after you, show them what you’re made of. Drive as fast as you can through some intersections and they will give up.

5. Staying in the shadow will make you invisible.

In stealth games, if you just stay in the shadows, guards will forget about the fact that someone tried to strangle them just seconds ago. Also, if you happen to infiltrate a top-security building and trigger an alarm system putting the entire building into code-red, don’t worry! Desperate times call for desperate measures; hide under a table, or for maximum stealth, hide inside a cardboard box for a minute or two, and everybody will forget about you.

6. The Importance of inventory management

Everybody knows it’s impossible to carry a bazooka and two shotguns at once… NOT true! My mother never taught me that! Video games did!

7. The laws of physics

Video games take the complicated laws of physics and make it easy for anyone to understand. Want to jump off that cliff? Is there at least 2 feet of water down there? If yes, go right ahead! No matter what the height of your fall is, if you land on at least 2 feet of water, rest assured, you will walk away unharmed. 8. You know you’ve won a fight when your opponent is unconscious standing up, waiting for you to FINISH HIM.

Video games have taught us that during a fist fight, if your opponent stands still, unconscious, you’ve won the fight and he is waiting for your finishing move. This is your chance to shine! Make it fancy.

9. Training to become a commercial airline pilot only requires a keyboard and mouse.

Want to fly a Boeing 747 commercial airplane? How about an F-16 fighting falcon jet fighter? All you need is a keyboard and mouse.

10. Everyone speaks English, including Nazis, aliens and the living dead.

Sure there are hundreds of other languages out there, but if there is one thing that countless hours of video gaming has taught me, it’s that everyone speaks English.

By: alex kang

-FeatureS eDitor-

Top Ten Things We Learn From Video Games

IMAGE COURTESY OF GAMESPOT

IMAGE COURTESY OF CYBORG ARMS

IMAGE BY ALEX KANG VIA ZSNES


IMAGE COURTESY OF IGN


IMAGE COURTESY OF GAMEZONE

IMAGE COURTESY OF STRUMPETTE

IMAGE COURTESY OF GAMEPRO

IMAGE COURTESY OF MICROSOFT

The number of Broadway musicals based on movies, cartoons, and other nuisances of pop culture seem to be on the uptrend in recent years. In the ongoing process of many companies to milk their franchises to the fullest extent through ever more far reaching and imaginative ways, it seems to have become the norm for many popular works. The latest of the bunch for 2008 is none other than a musical adaptation of the movie Shrek, simply called, Shrek the Musical, which was scheduled for an official opening on December 14th ,2008. It can safely be said that this adaptation is safe from the many failures that grip most other adaptations of any media to another, and is overall quite a solid musical.

I had gone to see the musical at the Broadway Theatre between 52nd and 53rd street in New York City, as part of an entourage of other BCC students and outside guests. After a brief wait, we settled down in seats that were right in the middle of the aisles, which gave us quite a good view of the stage. Soon the show began, and we were treated to two and a half hours of some of the zany charm, wit, parody, and the underlying messages that surrounded the original film (loosely based on the 1990 German book of the same name). The story primarily concerns an ugly ogre named Shrek (Brian d’Arcy James), who lives alone in a swamp in a fairy tale world and terrorizes anyone who tries to invade his privacy. Life is good for him, until the day that the evil Lord Farquaad (Christopher Sieber) banishes all the “fairy tale trash” of his kingdom into the very same swamp that he lives in. Understandably mused, Shrek then goes to talk to Lord Farquaad to get them all off his land, accompanied by the annoying, but otherwise helpful Donkey (Chester Gregory II). Farquaad is simultaneously plotting to rescue a particular princess named Princess Fiona (Sutton Foster) who lives trapped in a tower so he can officially become the king of his kingdom, whose responsibility eventually falls on Shrek and Donkey in exchange of getting his swamp back. But more than they can bargain for happens on their journey to

rescue the princess, including a shocking complication with Princess Fiona herself…

The plot is pretty much the same as the movie, although there are a few minor changes in regards to how it all plays out. Both constitute an important theme of self reflection and how we view ourselves in comparison to others in the world, all the while permeating the same brand of humor that the original was so famous for. The music is completely different than the soundtrack of the movie, which consists mostly of classic rock material, and the big orchestra. The musical tone feels quite at home to the source material, something of which is not always expected from such adaptations. The main theme, Big Bright Beautiful World, is an especially solid number that seems to epitomize the overall feel and focus of the series. The rest of the musical numbers are also very solid, and there’s hardly a dull moment in any of them. Many seem to be parodies of other Disney musicals, which many might find funny as well. The acting and singing was also very straight-on, and fit in well with all of the musical numbers and spoken word scenes. They are all very good at recreating many scenes from the movie, including some that weren’t in the original, and this is especially evident with the voice work. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself harkened back to the very same scenes in the movie if you are familiar with the source material.

There are times when the effort may seem a little too overambitious, and the ending comes by rather quick, but overall, this is a very solid musical that by no means oversteps its bounds or goes for anything that’s particularly cringe-worthy. It is an above

Shrek the MusicalBy: alex kang

-FeatureS eDitor-

See ShRek on page 14


Bill Bryson’s bestseller is a dazzling and absorbing account of, well, nearly everything! A Short History of Nearly Everything is a play-by-play account of how we came to know what little we know about our universe in a charming, human tone. Bryson’s tongue in cheek comments break up every few sentences to keep your eyes from glazing over. The vocabulary is impressive but not overwhelming. The content is divided into six parts with 30 short chapters that break down an incredible amount of information into easy and comprehensible sections.

Bryson includes facts, statistics and personal information you’ll never hear in a science class. He excels at identifying scientists and other developers that have not received the credit for their achievements, and has given them the proper attributions for their accomplishments. Bryson composed A Short History of Nearly Everything over the course of three years through hundreds of hours of research, interviews, seminars, and just hittin’ the books old school. The end result is more

than you could ever imagine: vast knowledge of our planet, explained in a fast, humorous manner.

I was fond of the book’s segments that point out misconceptions about our solar

system. Bryson gives the example stating that when the solar system is depicted in a standard sized format, we are not seeing anything close to what the solar system would look like on paper when put to scale.

“Such are the distances, in fact, that it isn’t possible, in any practical terms, to draw the solar system to scale…On a diagram of the solar system to scale, with Earth reduced to about the diameter of a pea, Jupiter would be over 1,000 feet away and Pluto would be a mile and a half distant (and about the size of a bacterium, so you wouldn’t be able to see it anyways.)”

More such fun facts can be found within the pages of A Short History of Nearly Everything. It’s not just a science book; it’s a great way to settle some planetary curiosity!

Features

With the conclusion of Super Bowl XLIII and no Monday Night Football, what shall we look forward to on Monday nights? Who can we call to save us from those boring, long and mundane Mondays? Just when you think all hope is lost… back for its fourth season is NBC’s science fiction television drama series, Heroes!

“Heroes” is a science fiction drama series created by Tim Kring which airs every Monday at 9:00 PM on NBC. It is a story about ordinary individuals from all around the world who inexplicably develop extraordinary, superhuman abilities. These chosen few are then inclined to fufill their roles in preventing disasters around the globe. The style of storytelling used by “Heroes” is very different from that of any other series that’s are showcased on average, everyday American stations. Heroes uses a style that is much like reading a comic book; using short, multi-episode story arcs to build upon a more encompassing arc.

The show features an incredible cast. Without giving too much of the show away, here is just a taste of what the show is like: Hayden Panettiere portrays the high-school cheerleader, Claire Bennet who is constantly vying to be a normal teen with the ability to spontaneously regenerate. Santiago Cabrera plays the troubled drug addict, Isaac Mendez who posesses the gift of painting the future. Greg Grunberg plays LAPD officer Matt Parkman who develops mind reading abilities. Milo Ventimiglia portrays the young, caring hospice nurse Peter Petrelli, who later learns that he was meant to do something very special.

The show’s first 23 episodes had an average of

14.3 million viewers in the United States, receiving the highest rating for any NBC drama premiere in five years. “Heroes” has also received a number of awards and nominations, including nominations for eight categories in the 2007 Emmy awards, including Outstanding Drama Series. The show was also nominated for Best Television Series-Drama at the 2007 Golden Globes. The list of accomplishments for the series continues as it won a People’s Choice Award in 2007 as Best New Drama, and named Program of the Year in 2007 by the Television Critics Association, and Best International Program at the 2008 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards.

All these nominations and awards mean zilch when just simply reading it on paper. Understand that the show did not receive these awards by mistake. Simply put, this is an amazing science fiction show!

With a phenomenal cast and amazing storytelling, the show is able to keep audiences at the edge of their seats for the full one hour ride. The show has a knack for keeping its audience asking questions while simultaneously answering those questions that keep them guessing for so long. Unlike other drama series out there, the show doesn’t keep audiences completely in the dark. It keeps you hanging just enough so that one finds themselves yearning for more.

Although the series is already in its fourth season, it is not too late to hop on the Heroes-wagon. Seasons one and two can be purchased on Amazon.com for a relatively low price of $20.00 each, and season three can still be streamed via NBC.com.

So come Monday, don’t just sit around wishing to be saved from the mundane Monday blues syndrome. Pick up that remote, and tune into Heroes on NBC at 9pm and be saved!

Heroes: Here to Save Us From Our Mundane Mondays…

By: alex kang

-FeatureS eDitor-

The cast of HeroesIMAGE COURTESY OF HEROES-PICTURES.COM

Bill Nye the Science Guy for Adults!

By: CaSSanDra veale

-eDitor-in-ChieF-

IMAGE COURTESY OF AMAZON.COM

The BCC Torch took a trip up to C-210 in the Pitkin Education center to visit Bergen’s own restaurant, The Bergen Room. The on-campus, student-run restaurant has been around for 35 years (wow!) and I got a chance to see how the restaurant operates, and, more importantly, how the food tastes.

The Bergen Room is a quiet little cove nestled on the second floor of the main building. A small dining room adjacent to a fully operation kitchen is the extent of the restaurant. The operation is headed by Don Del

Nero, who has been a culinary teacher at Bergen for over 30 years.

“We treat it first as a classroom, and then as a restaurant,” says Del Nero.

Upon entering The Bergen Room, which is marked with a friendly little sign, you’re asked to leave your coat at the door and if you have a reservation. Naturally, I had one, so the hostess saw me to my table. I was then greeted by a bubbly waitress who asked for a drink order. Sorry, guys, no beer or wine here. Beverage choices include: lemonade, tea, coffee, iced tea, and water. The lemonade was well crafted, with no sign of too much sugar or syrup.

The menu itself is not too complicated. There are two appetizers, two entrees, and two desserts to choose from. For my meal I decided on a shrimp cocktail appetizer, chicken francaise, and a brownie sundae for dessert. Other options included soup, swordfish, or a fruit parfait. All meals come with a side salad complete with your choice of dressing.

Without getting completely Gordon Ramsay on you, I will say that The Bergen Room did exceed my expectations in terms of food quality. The shrimp cocktail was cooked perfectly, with cocktail sauce heavy on the horseradish, which is just how I like it. The chicken francaise,

by far, stole the show. Delicious and evenly done chicken with a light lemon sauce was plated with a side of green beans sautéed with toasted almonds and reasonably spiced red skin potatoes that complimented the meal pleasantly. The dessert was a split brownie covered with two large scoops of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce. If the brownie had been the only feature, you might be tempted to say it was a little underbaked, but when accompinied with the vanilla ice cream, it balanced out quite well. Overall, a pretty satisfying meal!

I sat in the restaurant for a moment to reflect on the meal with a cup of coffee. It did

seem quite busy, and in between managing his tables, Del Nero remarked, “Some of these guys have been coming here for a long time, like this table. They’ve been coming every Thursday for 30 years.” As a culinary teacher, I’m sure Don knows that “regulars” are what sets apart a successful eatery from a failure. As a satisfied customer, I’d definitely recommend the experience to those who haven’t tried it. And at only $8.50 per plate, you’ll be glad you did!

The Bergen Room operates on Wednesdays and Thursdays only. Call to make a reservation if you wish to check it out. We

Restaurant Review: The Bergen RoomBy: auStin keenan

-StaFF Writer-

See BeRgen Room on page 14


always towed roughly the same amount of cars every year.

Luckily, towed cars were held at a local lot in Englewood. However, they refused to release the cars to just anyone. One resident, a college student with a valid driver’s license and money to pay the fee, was unable to pick up his car, as it was registered in his mother’s name. The police department required a notarized letter from his mother, who had no time to leave her work to notarize such a letter or pick up the car. The fee increased every day for those whose cars were being held.

There are many streets throughout Englewood that carry the “No Parking” sign, however the signs found give no warning of towing. For now, it seems citizens of Englewood should be wary of parking on the street when it snows, or when there’s forecast of snow the next morning.

A similar incident occurred in Fort Lee on the same day. Certain residents were surprised to find their vehicles towed for parking on snow-covered streets. According to the Fort Lee Police, police regulation attempts to get in contact with car owners before towing the vehicles. If the people are unreachable, the

vehicles will be towed.This is something to be aware of wherever

you park in Bergen County. Englewood and Fort Lee are not the only towns with “No Parking When Road Is Snow Covered” signs, which are easy to neglect. It’s always good to remember not to get too comfortable parking, as surprise crackdowns are always possible.

Features

One of the leading dance companies in the world, The New York City Ballet, employs over 100 performers from around the world, and is the home of over 150 different acts throughout the year, many of which are crafted solely for the venue. Despite this however, the past December (as has nearly every December in the company’s sixty-one year history) belonged solely to George Balanchine’s: The Nutcracker.

Each year during the holiday season the company enlists among its 100 dancers, a total of 32 stage hands, a full orchestra composed of 62 musicians, and 100 handpicked students from the School of American Ballet, in order to present a memorable, thrilling performance.

To create this amazing theatrical event however, four components must all come together in a seamless dissolve, consisting of perfectly executed music, set, choreography, and costume design.

The live music was a pleasure to experience. Being immersed by the perfectly executed notes of 62 parts working as a singular whole is a privilege, and the orchestra did not disappoint. Classic scores composed by Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky decades ago, such as “Waltz of the Snowflakes” and “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies,” hold up in beauty and complexity. Though these titles might seem foreign, the actual notes are familiar to anyone who has ever seen a Christmas film or watched a Tom and Jerry cartoon. Their familiarity and beauty

was made possible by the grand performance of the orchestra.

The set did not play second fiddle to the wonderfully executed music; it was grand, efficient, and beautiful. Designed by Rouben Ter-Arutunian, the sets made dramatic shifts between the world as we know it and the world of the surreal. The best example of transition between the two is the “growing” Christmas tree that rise high above the audience, actors, and stage, growing from 12 to 40 feet. The set transforms from the first act’s real world representation to the vast and magical world of the Sugarplum Ferries in Act II, in an efficient nearly seamless manner. The costume design credited to Barbara Karinska fit the lovely sets well, and her rich use of color transcended up into the balcony, with the spirit and beauty of the Christmas season.

The set, costume, and musical performance were beautiful and well-presented but the choreography left

much to be desired. Many of the chorographical elements were repeated until the point of disinterest. Certain performances could have been shortened and the degree of complexity enhanced. However, the performances were sound, the dancers’ lines were controlled, and body movement was impressive. The child dancers however were dull and seemed amateurish. This might seem cruel but other more commercial renditions of “The Nutcracker” I have seen were able to find more superior child talent.

The pas de deux was the most impressive portion. Ballerina Merrill Ashley made a stand out performance as the Sugar Plum Fairy. Her body movement was stunning and her skill unquestionable. No part of her body moved without direct and practiced order.

All things considered, those who missed out this year should definitely mark their 2009 Calendar, for this heartwarming and beautiful event.

Night at the BalletBy: CharleS a. Cartagena

-StaFF Writer-

The graceful and elegance of ballet captures as all as an audience.PHOTO COURTESY OF VANILLA JOY

Rendered unrecognizable by prosthetics and makeup, actor Brad Pitt must rely on his movie star talent as opposed to his movie star good looks in order to carry audiences through the bulk of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

The film, an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short novel, catalogues the life and exploits of Brad Pitt’s character Benjamin who, in a twist of fate, was born with a rather curious condition: he ages backwards.

The plot of the film’s narrative is conveyed though the heavy use of narration and “flashbacks.” The action starts in what appears to be a modern day New Orleans where the ailing Daisy Fuller (played by Cate Blanchett) is comforted as she listens to her daughter recount the entries of a man’s journal. The passages begin the journey into the past as the narrator shifts from the daughter to the aged raspy voice of Button.

From the opening scene the audience is kept in suspense as

we witness Benjamin’s birth, a supposedly happy occasion. However, the audience is confused by the father’s (played by Jason Flemyng ) bewildered, angered expression at viewing his new born child. The viewer is instantly drawn in as the Flemyng’s character snatches up the child, and runs toward the river in a complete rage. It would seem the child’s story is to end prematurely, but luck would have it the father is confronted by a policeman and flees the edge of the river. He ultimately arrives at a boarding home for the elderly, a rather fitting place given the circumstances. The father abandons the child, and Benjamin begins his life under the care of Queenie (played by Taraji P. Henson), the home’s principle caretaker.

Raised as Queenie’s son, Benjamin is forced to deal with a very odd circumstance. Benjamin is truly peerless, despite the many occupants and visitors of the estate houses. While he looks and sounds like the ancient residents of the boarding home, his mind and sensibility remain that of what he really is: a child.

By: CharleS a. Cartagena

-StaFF Writer-

Brad Pitt plays as Benjamin Button, a man who ages backwards.IMAGE COURTESY OF WWW.IMDB.COM

A Man Apart

See apaRt on page 14

Sega’s results for the first three quarters of its 2009 fiscal year proved to be too much for them to handle. The period, which ran through December 31, 2008, saw a total loss of $119 million USD, reports GamesIndustry.biz. Although the loss was obviously tremendous for Sega, it was actually an improvement from the previous year’s staggering $173 million loss during the same period.

According to Kotaku.com, due to the tremendous loss that Sega has faced during the last two years, they are being forced into selling or closing up to 110 arcades. Sega hopes that this major loss will be enough to get Sega back on track to bring in some profit. Sega said these layoffs are in a voluntary phase, and those who surrender their jobs willingly will be let go during the month of March. As if this wasn’t bad enough, Sega is expecting the full fiscal year’s losses to exceed $235 million!

Sega is not the only one taking a major hit during these tough economic times. Electronic Arts reported in the first week of February that 1100 jobs have been cut, which is equivalent to 11% of its workforce. THQ, another major face in the industry recently announced that they will be letting go of 600 employees, a distressing 24% of its workforce.

These times of economic distress are tough on every one in every industry. We cannot overlook the dire situation that video gaming industries face; some studios have just outright gone out of business. Microsoft had to shut down ACES (known for the flight simulator series). This may just be the wakeup call we need to realize the economic distress we are in today, can affect any industry. Even the once thought-to-be invincible video gaming industry is taking a major hit from the recession, and we can all feel it.

Video Game continued from page 7Police continued from page 2

CARTOON BY ZACHARY RZETELNY

“What’s King Ginkus doing here?” “His car got towed. He parked when the road was snow covered.” “Oh no... let’s hope he doesn’t raise taxes again.”


many pages as they want. The whole process is

essentially very effective. Wang explains that there is a set of instructions at each computer terminal explaining how to print using the system, so there should not be any serious problems with the process.

BCC Library is always looking for better ways to improve and benefit student usage in the library. A possible PC reservation system is said to have been proposed, but nothing is certain yet. The reservation system would require students to reserve a certain time and location to utilize a computer. This would facilitate students to be able to work at their own time without having to wait or look for computers.

“We have been receiving a lot of compliments about the new system from students. There are hardly any complaints,” says Wang.

So far, the short-term results of this new system seem to be positive but whether this trend can stay its course remains to be seen. The benefits of this new system have remained consistent. In the end, it does save money, it does save paper, and it does protect privacy.

Librarycontinued from page 1 respected by all, rather than

ignored and dishonored.The last panel to speak focused

on climate change. Led by Marsha Bristner , who is involved in the Water and Natural Resources Committee. Bristner talked about last year’s human development report titled, “Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World,” and dubbed climate change as the “defining human development issues of our generation.” Ultimately, the UN feels that 2009 is a crucial year for efforts in addressing climate change.

Currently the peace and

security department at the United Nations has many operations in Africa, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific islands. These efforts include financial mechanism, technology improvement in lesser developed countries. They also assist the globe on matters of: education and outreach, emergency response measures, and cooperating with international organizations.

The human rights department has also implemented support in issues such as adequate housing, civil and political rights, communication improvements, economic grants, educational

development, globalization, terrorism and issues of torture.

In the end, what does the United Nations stand for? What does the United Nations and its representatives firmly believe, and overall, what do they embody? There is only one answer to these questions: “The Essence of Universality” is what the United Nations was founded upon. “The Essence of Universality” is what the representatives fight for and believe in, day in and day out. And “The Essence of Universality” is what this entire committee and all of those involved exemplify.

Universality continued from page 1

probably the hardest part.”Entemann, along with the

vice-president Joseph Pitre, arranged for the chess club to take place in a swiss-style tournament at Columbia University. The club itself went through many weeks of practice to prepare for its first tournament. The BCC club played Columbia’s team in 36 kings, until the competition was reduced to a one game decision. The BCC chess team lost by only one game. Although there were no prizes for winning the contest, Entemann says all of the hard work he put in to prepare has paid off. “I think our team did really well for its first tournament,” he said.

“By the end of this semester we should have weekly meetings in place and a solid administration.”

Entemann says that he plans to get more participants to make the Bcc chess club even larger.

“We’d like to be a real team,” he said. “This year we are trying to get even more people to join, as well as have club meetings in a bigger room. I also want to hire tutors to teach newcomers and beginners basic strategy. I don’t think I would have enjoyed college without being involved with something like this.”

Entemann wrapped up the interview with, “I wanted to make a full club associated with the college and I want to make this club as open to people as possible. This is just the beginning for us.”

Chesscontinued from page 2

repercussions will be from closing the prison camp. But one thing can be certain: Barack Obama is determined to have the camp closed, whether it be for humanitarian reasons or merely to improve our nations standing with Arab nations of the world. As this plan becomes more of a reality in the coming months of a new presidency, Americans will see how the president plans to deal with the aftermath of a brutal prison camp, and ultimately how the world will respond to his plea for assistance.

Gitmocontinued from page 5

The time to take action is now. No further delays should be made in attempting to resolve the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Both factions have the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Israel should help the disabled Palestine and build the crutches to help it stand on its own feet until the wounds are healed completely. The economic growth and prosperity is vital to bringing peace to both Israel and Palestine.

As an American, I am always thankful for the gracious nature of my country and its people. The constitution of the United States grants such rights to its citizens that make it possible to co-exist peacefully with other races and faiths. I believe that same kind of harmony should be extended to our

brothers and sisters in Palestine, who have been suffering for far too long.

As a Muslim woman, it is a wonderful feeling to see that people from different faiths are able to interact rationally and freely in this country. This simple fact tells us that we are all the same as human beings and there is no Muslim and Jewish in the word “humanity”. We are only people. Our faiths are our personal matters and our race is a natural phenomenon. It should not have anything to do with the fact that we are created to love one another despite our differences.

Someday, I wish to see the same tolerance and peace flourishing within the state of Israel and Palestine.

election.Now, we can examine the bailout package. Any

which way you cut it, this is the idea that spending more money will get the country out of debt. Where is this money coming from, you say? Let’s see:

First, the government decides how much money it needs to save the economy. This is done by consulting with industry leaders to determine some ball park figure that will get credit available to consumers, and preserve jobs.

The government goes directly to a bank called the Federal Reserve, and borrows the money it thinks it needs. A partially privatized bank, the Fed gets this money back in the form of income taxes.

The money is either distributed to states, to then spend as they deem fit, or the money is given directly to failing industries, as was done in the first $700

billion bailout scare. As almost half of the original plan is unaccounted for, thanks to the privacy terms pushed by banking executives, industry leaders are probably now going to have to suck it up, and wait for consumers to start spending again.

In the end, you cannot knock Obama for his intentions. The man means well, and has the leadership qualities he needs to make this whole thing work. The unfortunate reality is that American politics was never ready for the “change” that Obama was going to bring to Washington. Only now, with the old “business as usual” running into scandals, failed oversight, and American distrust, are real changes starting to be implemented. In my opinion, it is a plan that will work, but it is a plan that may take longer than the American people are willing to wait.

Dilemma continued from page 7

What Now continued from page 7

society, who isn’t guilty of taking something in order to gain that edge?

The American society ruled by the almighty dollar will do almost whatever it takes to make sure that we live up to the hype that surrounds the premise and to persecute athletes with taxpayer dollars for a profit.

I can sense the anger increasing as some will read this column. To some, Alex’s name doesn’t belong alongside their beloved icons, but in reality, his name belongs on top. Steroids may be this era’s edge, but if you believe that baseball was a clean no shortcut sport before, you are fooling yourself.

On many occasions, whenever discussing baseball with some older scouts, the topic of steroids was a laugh. It was what was done by many in order to get signed. That was the truth, no matter how ugly. The truth about the game back then was corked

bats, used even by the sanctified names on the list above, not to mention segregated play. That is the ugly truth.

Yet, that will never be a topic of the MLB media today. Instead they choose to target one man who threatens the aura of their beloved game. It’s not fair to the man or the fans. His admission was to a mistake, not to a crime, and that should suffice.

The man’s talent is evident regardless of what some say or do to create otherwise. The media tried to make an innocent joke between former bullpen catcher, Mike Borzello and Arod into a team wide negative perception, when in reality it was nowhere near that context.

Borzello said it best, “I still think that no matter what anyone wants to think, or some people try to explain… of the fans, this guy’s the best player in the game…His peers say it.”

equivalent of $41,000?The police interrogate Jamal,

allowing him to explain the events of his life that led to his knowing the answers. We follow Jamal in his life journey as he recounts in a series of flashbacks how he separated from his family and fled from some of India’s notorious gangs. He does so only to rescue his one true love Latika, played by Freida Pinto, from the gang leaders who own her.

“Slumdog Millionaire” is a positively poignant movie with a truly touching story. Save for the teeth-clenching, fairly barbaric and inhumane opening scenes of Jamal’s torture while under interrogation. “Slumdog” truly deserves the critical acclaim and recognition it has received from all of its reviews.

As I sat watching the entire “Slumdog” cast dance to the ending song “Jai Ho” before the end credits, an apparent feature typical of Indian-made movies, I can’t help but remember my Indian friends bemoaning how pointless and ridiculous these songs and dance portions are. But for the compelling, unpredictable plot of “Slumdog,” the traditional ending fit wonderfully with the movie’s age-old theme of fated love as “it is written.”

Slumdogcontinued from page 9

Daisy is the only child Benjamin encounters at the Home and despite his appearance, they bond as children. Their friendship however is combated because of his condition. The discrepancy between Benjamin’s body and mind put him between two worlds, neither of which he can enter fully. Though Benjamin has many comical, compelling, and dramatic experiences by films end, it is this conflict, the separation between him and every person he knows, which makes this film so extraordinary and heartbreaking.

Winner at the 81st annual Oscars for art direction, make up and visual effects, this film is a powerhouse of Hollywood Cinema, and is definitely worth making time for.

A-Rod continued from page 8

Apartcontinued from page 9

recommend you do!

The Bergen Room (C-210)Wednesday: Lunch service (12-1pm)Thursday: Dinner service (only one seating at 7pm; reservations advised)

To make reservations, call: 201-447-7200 and leave a message.

average effort at an adaptation of this scale, and a good way to spend the night if you are ever in town. You might even learn something important about yourself or the world. For those who are fans of the original film or of any musical fans in general, Shrek the Musical is definitely worth a gander. If you keep your expectations moderate to good, you most definitely won’t be disappointed.

Shrekcontinued from page 10

Bergen Roomcontinued from page 11


With the football season ending, and baseball not starting its regular season until mid April, the NHL is in full swing. Some of the same teams are on top of their respected division while some surprises have surfaced in 2009. The excitement is intensifying which will make the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs a must see.

If you are looking for the hottest team in the NHL, look no further than the New Jersey Devils with a revamped offense led by young sensation, Maurice Richard and trophy candidate Zach Parise. Parise has surpassed his previous record of 32 goals in a season.

However, this is not the old Devils team led by a dominating defense controlling the puck and matching lines with other teams. The Devils now have the talent and ability to score some goals. The biggest surprise this season is that they found success without their franchise goaltender Martin Brodeur.

Brodeur suffered a torn bicep muscle on November 4th in a game against the Atlanta Thrashers. With his rehab taking several months, people left the Devils out for dead, but the team rallied behind backup goaltenders Scott Clemmensen and Kevin Weekes, placing them in top contention for the playoffs.

Brodeur will also have had plenty of time to get used to game speed after recovering from his bicep injury. This team will definitely be a force come playoff time in May.

Another huge acquisition came just before the all-star break with the signing of 40 year old Brendan Shanahan. Shanahan, a former Devil was a member of the New York Rangers the previous year, but the Rangers failed to resign him. Since his signing Shanahan has made a significant contribution adding depth to the Devils 4th line.

The most underrated factor in the Devils success comes from their defense. The defensive line

isn’t filled with stars like Stevens, Neidemeyer and Daneyko, but players such as Paul Martin, Colin White Johnny Oduya, and Mike Matteau have carried the load for the defense so far. Look

for this Devils team to be serious contenders in the Playoffs.

As for the “Broadway Blues” New York Rangers, the team has had their share of difficulties. In the off-season, the Rangers signed two big free agents, Marcus Naslund and Wade Redden hoping they would add to their depth. They started the year off very hot, scoring goals and getting great goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist.

Unfortunately, that was the highest the team has been. After the all-star break the Blue shirts have played clueless and uninspiring hockey during a five game skid including a 10-2 loss to the Dallas Stars. Some think that Head Coach Tom Renney lost his team, while others think that the team lacks a leader that can give this team some inspirational fire.

Whatever its’ going to take, it had better happen quickly. With the playoffs around the corner, the Rangers need to gel and start playing together as a team if they want to make the postseason.

Outside of the metropolitan area the San Jose Sharks, the Boston Bruins and the Detroit Red Wings seem to be the powerhouses of the NHL. San Jose has always been strong in the regular season, but can they finally translate their regular season success into the post season? The Boston Bruins were the worst team in their division a few years ago and are now one of the best in the Eastern Conference. Can this team led my veteran goaltender Tim Thomas, youngster Marc Savard, and the 6”9 bruiser Zdena Chara carry them to the playoffs? What about the defending champion Detroit Red Wings? They are now showing the same poise that made them the NHL’s best last year. The playoffs start in April, and teams are now battling for those eight playoff spots.

Spring training is officially underway, and the New York Yankees are once again the focus of MLB talk. Regardless of the media buzz surrounding the Bronx bombers, Coach Joe Girardi stands by his team and swears by their unity on and off the field. As a change of pace, Girardi cancelled regular workouts and took the yanks to a nearby billiard hall in order to relieve some of the recent pressures and allow the team to bond away from the diamond.

With spring training exhibition games ready to commence on February 26th, the yanks number one pitcher, CC Sabathia is slated for his first start on March 6th with an expected 5-6 starts throughout spring training.

Youngsters, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, and Joba Chamberlain will precede Sabathia with the first four starts of the grapefruit exhibition games.

The Yankee captain experienced some soreness in his right hamstring, but is not expected to miss any playing time. “It’s no big deal,” said Jeter, “if we had a game today, I would be playing,” reports MLB.com.

Middle relief pitcher, Edwar Ramirez, is expected to miss some time due to mild bursitis in his pitching shoulder. After throwing a pitching session on Sunday, February 22nd, Ramirez complained of some

discomfort. Although Ramirez is still competing for a middle relief role, the team didn’t want to take any chances by pushing it so they ordered Ramirez to be checked out by Dr. Allen Miller in Tampa. It was then decided that Ramirez would sit out for a minimum of three days.

Behind the plate, Catcher Jorge Posada expects to make a full recovery and has since been showing progress. Not yet at full strength, Posada remains un-phased and determined to be ready for the opening day.

As spring training begins, so does the World Baseball Classic which starts on March 5th. Yankee infielders, Derek Jeter (USA), Alex Rodriguez

(Dominican Republic) and Robinson Cano (Dominican Republic) are slated for the WBC rosters. Therefore, Girardi plans to play them more than usual in order to reduce chance of injury in preparation for the WBC games.

On the other side of town, the Mets have managed to fly under the radar, but as the season approaches, their inner rumblings have begun to get louder.

This past week, manager Jerry Manuel announced Daniel Murphy as the Mets full time

Left fielder, taking the job from Ryan Church who will be joining with Fernando Tatis in Right field.

This past weekend, Manuel was reported stating Murphy as a better hitter than Church, accounting for his decision to place Murphy in

Left instead of Church. The Left handed hitter didn’t take too kindly to losing his staple among full time players but understands the decision and vows to prove himself in order to gain more playing time.

Fernando Tatis is also at a cross road, sharing his role with Church and depending on Church’s ability to come through will also be seeing diminished playing time. His only advantage is that he will also be back for the corner outfielders as well as third baseman David Wright and the most likely candidate for a right handed pinch-hitter.

Met’s rival, the Philadelphia Phillies have not yet come down from their world series high. Pitching ace, Cole Hamels, has already begun to throw wood on the fire calling the amazing, “Choke artists.” Not known for his public opinion, Hamels was interviewed on Phillies radio and couldn’t keep from describing the Mets as “chokers” when describing the Mets past failures. Regardless, the Mets laughed off the criticism and viewed it as incentive to prove otherwise.

Around the Diamond in the Northeast

By: natalia arango

-SportS eDitor-

Hockey Is Just Heating Up

By: gerry poWerS

-StaFF Writer-

IMAGE COURTESIES OF SPORTSLOGOS.NET

IMAGE COURTESIES OF SPORTSLOGOS.NET

ANDSTANLEYCUPPLAYOFFS2008.COM

Goalie Martin Brodeur

since we have proved ourselves as a playoff caliber team now, teams will view us as a contender team. No longer will teams use their third or fourth pitchers instead of their first or second.

Q.: Which players should we look out for this season?

Coach: Well the key players on the roster are Steve Caracena (third base) and Jorge Padilla (center fielder). At short-stop is Michael Cassies. Michael in my opinion is the best short stop with talent I’ve have worked with since I’ve been here at BCC. Our main pitchers are Garad Beratta and 1st year pitcher, Tony Campanelli, all of which will cause problems for our opponents.

Q.: What do you have to do to repeat a playoff year?

Coach: We need, of course, to be over .500 in our wins but besides that, last year was our first playoff birth in 20-25 years. Breaking this streak has kept us motivated and this year I believe we will have the morale to repeat.

Q.: How are you looking offensively and defensively?

Coach: Our key players are keeping us strong on both fronts. Luckily, we have about twelve players on our team that were all-county last year, as well as having at least four years experience behind them from their high school years. They will all keep our defense and offense very strong.

Aside from his break away players and his all-county starters, Coach Hernandez also praised

his bench heavily. There are 27 players in the squad, in total.

“All our players are enthusiastic, disciplined, and have fun win or lose,” Coach Hernandez remarks. Our Bergen Bulldogs start their playing season the last week of March, with away games in Maryland and Delaware. When they return, the student body should come out in full force to cheer our team to the playoffs.

Coach Hernandez says his teams’ goals include improving themselves physically and mentally. More importantly, the team is also “aiming to improve school spirit.”

Baseball continued from page 16


Bergen Bulldog’s own Laura Kuiken took stage at this year’s National Girls and Women in Sports Day, held by the Garden State Athletic Conference at Seton Hall University. On February 1, 2009, Kuiken stood and addressed those in attendance as the only student representative of not only Bergen Community College but female athletes across the state.

“Naturally, I was a little nervous, but I feel like I settled in quickly. I was so honored to speak that I wasn’t really thinking about being scared,” Kuiken said, having addressed more than 1000 audiences at the event.

Honored with the “Woman of the Year Award” by the conference, Kuiken was recognized for academic, athletic and social achievements. “I am extremely proud of Laura’s stellar academic performance, work in the community and her accomplishments on the athletic field,” said BCC President Dr. G. Jeremiah Ryan.

Academically Ms. Kuiken has maintained a perfect G.P.A. across three semesters and is an active member of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society of two-year colleges. In

addition to these achievements, she is an Academic All-American, and a beneficiary of Bergen’s cooperation with the NJSTARS program.

“I ended up at Bergen strictly because of NJSTARS,” Kuiken said. “It is such a great program, and I realized that it would be an awesome opportunity to receive four years of education for free; two at Bergen and two at a state college.”

On the athletic front Kuiken has been an integral part of Bergen women’s soccer team. Playing the last line of defense as a sweeper and center midfielder, Kuiken has been in charge of “backing up” her teams.

“Soccer has always been a huge part of my life,” Kuiken explained. “I was very surprised but extremely honored to have been chosen [for this award]. I have always worked hard in everything I do, not for the recognition, but because that is who I am.”

Kuiken’s dedication and spirit can be most quantified by her charitable endeavors. For Kuiken, school is a responsibility and soccer, at the core of all the work and dedication, is a fun pass time. Kuiken is very passionate about her service work, which involved working through her church, Spectrum for Living, and two missionary

trips to Mexico. “I have been doing different

service projects since I was very young. My church and school have always provided great opportunities to serve,” she said. “Through Bergen, Professor Feursich was in touch with the heads of an organization called Spectrum for Living, which works with adults with developmental disorders. I really enjoyed working with the people at Spectrum. They touched my life, and it was amazing to build relationships with them!”

Commenting on her trips to Mexico, Kuiken said, “My trips to Mexico have been amazing!” “The people in Reynosa, the city where the group I went with served, do not have much. However, they treasure what they do have, and they really have the most wonderful outlook on life.”

With such interesting and dedicated people like Laura Kuiken, Bergen students and faculty should be urged to come out and support our various athletic teams. They represent us

with their hard work and deserve to hear us cheer them on.

When asked about the decreasing support of Bergen students towards the athletes, she was quick to respond. “As an athlete, I can say how disappointing it can be to not see too many fans in the stands at games. I hope that everyone will at some point go out and support the athletes that are representing the school.”

(From left) Bergen women’s soccer coach Ralf Embro, Laura Kuiken and Elaine Korinko.

Congratulations are in Order

By: CharleS a. Cartagena

-StaFF Writer-

PHOTO COURTESY OF BCC PRESS RELEASE

The Torch took a trip over to the BCC Athletic Department to have a chat with the department’s director, Prof. Bernard Fuersich, about the spring semester, and what the future may hold for BCC sports programs. There’s lots going on, and we’re going to bring you up to speed on what’s been going on.

Fuersich explained that the BCC sports program has, indeed, been quite busy, and has earned some notoriety, as well. Some student athletes have made certain achievements worth noting, like Laura Kuiken of the Bergen women’s soccer team, who spoke at the National Girls and Women in Sports Day event after winning the “Woman of the Year” award from the Garden State Athletic Conference. Also, Alex Moreno

of the BCC wrestling team has qualified for the National Championships in Minnesota, something that hasn’t been accomplished by a BCC wrestler sinice Milan Fenda qualified for the Nationals in 2006.

Fuersich also mentioned that there’s more to the Athletic Department than just varsity sports. The school has an intramural program, which pits students of BCC against each other in a variety of sports including volleyball, ping pong, basketball, soccer, and tennis. The intramural program runs during club hours on Tuesday and Thursday from 12:30-1:30pm. All students have to do to participate in these in-school competitions is show up at the Athletic Office and request to take part.

As we roll into the spring sports season, many of the BCC teams are gearing up for a

competitive run in their league. Currently, baseball, softball, tennis, golf, and track & field are preparing to go into training. The men’s baseball team is set to go down to Maryland for a double-header after spring training.

Let’s not forget to get in a quick winter sports wrap-up. Currently, the Men’s basketball team won its semifinal against Brookdale CC, 76-56, and as The Torch was going to press, the team was headed for the regional finals against Sussex County College on Feb. 28. The winner of that match goes on to the NCAA division finals in Upstate New York March 12-14. The varsity wrestling team is also heading into the district tournament. More information on those competitions is available at the Athletic Office, or you can check back with the Torch for more coverage.

By: auStin keenan

-StaFF Writer-

BCC Sports Update

Bergen Baseball defeated three ranked teams last year to achieve a playoff berth and our Bulldogs are on track for 2009 playoff contention. Coach Jorge Hernandez, who has led the Bulldogs the past four

seasons, recently sat down with the Torch for a casual interview to discuss this upcoming season.

Q.: So you guys were a sleeper team last year?

Coach: Definitely, but because of that we were able to surprise some teams. However,

Sleeper to Contender: Bulldog Baseball

By: anDreW Merino

-StaFF Writer-

PHOTO BY ANDREW MERINO

See BaSeBall on page 15

bcc library on the waterfront saves paper

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