THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBL ICAT ION OF THE UN IVERS I TY AT BUFFALO , S INCE 1950

FINALS ISSUEFrIdAy, dECEmbEr 11, 2015 VoLUmE 65 No. 41

THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBL ICAT ION OF THE UN IVERS I TY AT BUFFALO , S INCE 1950

An open letter to UB students from President Tripathi

Professors have differing methods for final exams

UB makes interim policy for art projects in public spaces2

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ISSUE

NEWS2Wednesday, July 1, 2015

The SpectrumNEWS2Friday, December 11, 2015

THE SPECTRUM

TOM DINKIEDITOR IN CHIEF

After months of student leaders calling for a university policy regarding artwork in pub-lic spaces and a College of Arts and Sciences committee working to create such a policy, UB has created an interim plan in the meantime.

The policy will require that art projects outside the Center for the Arts have some kind of note or explanation to identify it as a work of art. University policy already stated that art projects in common areas on campus be reviewed by the Environment, Health and Safety Department, which only reviews for physical safety and security is-sues, not content. President Satish Tripa-thi announced the interim policy in an open letter to students Thursday.

Tripathi said with an official policy re-garding art in public spaces, “it is impera-tive that we strike the appropriate balance between academic freedom and inclusivity.”

The announcement comes nearly three months after the controversial “White Only” art project that has caused students and administrators to discuss the boundar-ies of artistic freedom, as well as diversity on campus. Ashley Powell, a graduate fine arts student, posted signs reading “White

Only” and “Black Only” around campus bathrooms, water fountains and benches in September for a class project.

Students, particularly the Black Student Union, have called for Tripathi and UB to cre-ate a policy defining the boundary between art and cultural trauma, as the signs caused fear amongst students who believed they were a hate crime. BSU has held an open forum about the signs, staged a walkout of Tripathi’s annu-al State of the University address and met with UB officials like Tripathi several times.

Tripathi’s letter also highlighted other work being done by UB in the wake of the controversy, such as meeting with student leaders, creating a student of color advisory committee to University Police and adding curriculum concerning race in the new gen-eral education program.

“Together with the collaborative ef-forts of our student leadership, our facul-ty, and university administration, I believe that these conversations, procedures, cur-ricular discussions, and policies are allowing us to balance freedom of expression with the need to foster a welcoming and inclu-sive educational environment that is neces-sary for learning,” Tripathi said in the letter.

email: tom.dinki@ubspectrum.com.

UB makes interim art policyStudent artwork outside CFA must be identified as such

All information according to University Police

12/12 p.m. – A UB student requested assis-

tance with first aid for a student having multiple seizures in Talbert Hall.

3:29 p.m. – A UB employee requested a welfare check of a “disoriented elderly fe-male” wandering around in Sherman Hall. The woman was wearing a leopard jacket and pushing a shopping cart.

5:40 p.m. – A Goodyear Hall director re-quested a welfare check on a student who hasn’t been seen since Oct. 16.

10:43 p.m. – A residential adviser (RA) in Governors Halls requested a welfare check on a student regarding a suicidal text message the student sent to friends.

11:12 p.m. – Two UB students were pe-titioned to Student Wide Judiciary after patrol confiscated marijuana from their Spaulding dorm.

12/211:42 a.m. – A UB student reported his

wallet was missing on a Stampede bus. He reported his debit card had been used.

4:23 p.m. – A receptionist in Squire Hall reported an elderly male fell and hit his head. He was reported conscious and breathing.

12/31:04 p.m. – A UB employee reported

two males in a Park Hall bathroom “tam-pering” with a roll of paper towels.

7:48 p.m. – A UB student reported her MacBook was stolen form Alumni Arena. The MacBook was later found.

10:02 p.m. – A male in Alumni Arena dis-located his shoulder and requested patrol.

12/4 12:00 p.m. – A UB employee reported a sus-

picious black backpack unattended at a table across from Campus Tees in the Student Union.

5:13 p.m. – A UB student reported an unknown male took her picture while in the Oscar A. Silverman Library.

5:20 p.m. – The Richmond Counseling Center requested an ambulance for a pos-sible overdose.

6:48 p.m. – A law school professor report-ed a 20-year-old male unscrewing the lass to a glass case in the foyer of O’Brian Hall.

9:46 p.m. – An RA in Porter Quad re-ported a raccoon in a trash can near the outside entrance. The animal did not ap-pear to be aggressive.

12/51:35 a.m. – A caller reported a person

was pointing a green laser and people on the terrace near Spaulding Quad.

11:58 a.m. – A caller reported she re-ceived a threatening letter under her door. The note said, “Me and my boys are gon-na train you.”

3:14 p.m. – The mother of a UB student called saying her son contacted her and told her his roommates destroyed and stole sev-eral things from his room.

8:17 p.m. – A staff in the Center for the Arts building reported a 40-year-old female fell and struck her head behind the main stage.

12/61:41 a.m. – An RA stated a female may

had been drugged. She was alert and con-scious at the time. Patrol later reported it was alcohol-related and she was not drugged.

2:53 a.m. – A manager at Sizzles report-ed two males kicked a glass door and shat-tered it near the Ellie.

3:21 p.m. – A UB student reported re-ceiving a letter and a book of matches from an ex-boyfriend on her vehicle.

email: news@ubspectrum.com

KAINAN GUO, THE SPECTRUM

Black Student Union members protest President Satish Tripathi’s State of the University Address in October, demanding a university policy on art in public spaces. UB announced an interim policy on Thursday, which states that student artwork outside the Center for the Arts must be labeled as such.

The views expressed – both written and graphic – in the Feedback, Opinion and Perspectives sections of The Spectrum do not necessarily reflect the views of the

editorial board. Submit contributions for these pages to The Spectrum office at Suite

132 Student Union or news@ubspec-trum.com. The Spectrum reserves the right to edit these pieces for style and length. If a letter is not meant for publication, please mark it as such. All submissions

must include the author’s name, daytime phone number, and email address.

For information on adverstising with The Spectrum, visit www.ubspectrum.com/ad-

vertising or call us directly at 716-645-2152

The Spectrum offices are located in 132 Student Union,

UB North Campus, Buffalo, NY 14260-2100

THE SPECTRUM

Editorial BoardEditorial Board

Friday, December 11, 2015Volume 65 Number 41

Circulation 7,000

OPINION 3Wednesday, September 2, 2015The Spectrum3OPINION Friday, December 11, 2015

THE SPECTRUM

EDITOR IN CHIEF Tom Dinki

MANAGING EDITOR

Alyssa McClure

COPY EDITORS

Kayla Menes Renée Staples

NEWS EDITORSGabriela Julia, Senior

Ashley InkumsahMarlee Tuskes

FEATURES EDITORSTori Roseman, Senior

Dani Guglielmo

ARTS EDITORSBrian Windschitl, SeniorKenneth Kashif Thomas

Tomas Olivier, Asst.

SPORTS EDITORSJordan Grossman, Co-seniorQuentin Haynes, Co-senior

PHOTO EDITORSYusong Shi, Co-seniorKainan Guo, Co-senior

Angela Barca .

CARTOONISTS Joshua Bodah

Michael Perlman

CREATIVE DIRECTORSKenneth Cruz

Pierce Strudler, Asst.

Professional Staff

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Helene Polley

ADVERTISING MANAGER

Nicole DominguezLee Stoeckel, Asst.

Zach Hilderbrandt, Asst.

ADVERTISING DESIGNERDerek Hosken

Dear Students:As the semester is quickly com-

ing to a close, I wanted to take a moment to provide our campus community with an update regard-ing activities related to the con-tinuing dialogues, programs, cur-ricular discussions, and policy de-velopment in response to the controversial student art project from earlier this semester.

As I shared earlier, I have been meeting with a group of student leaders, including Student Associ-ation President Minahil Khan and Vice President Sean Kaczmarek, Black Student Union President Mi-cah Oliver, Vice President Deidree Golbourne, and Secretary Tiffa-ny Vera, People of Color Council Coordinator Jessica Calderon, and members of the Caribbean Stu-dent Union, African Student As-sociation, and Puerto Rican Or-ganization for Dignity and Equal Rights (PODER) Latinos Unidos.

To date we have had three meet-ings, and we hope to meet again prior to the end of the semester.

We have had several positive outcomes as a result of these con-versations:

We have convened a students

of color advisory committee to the University Police De-partment that has met month-ly to sustain a dialogue between campus officers and students to help ensure a safe and welcom-ing campus environment for all students.

Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion Teri Miller, in her role as UB’s chief diversity of-ficer, has been engaging in con-tinuing conversations with stu-dents in residence halls across campus and has, to date, had three meetings and dialogues with our students to ensure our UB practices and programs are characterized by the fair, inclu-sive, and equitable treatment of our diverse campus popula-tion. Vice Provost Miller is in the process of convening a stu-dent equity and inclusion advi-sory committee.

Across the university, we con-tinue to explore new curricu-lar approaches to issues of race, ethnicity, and cultural difference as part of the new General Ed-ucation program, as well as the development of new programs and lectures for next semester

and beyond.And we have been having ro-

bust conversations regarding student art projects, operating procedures, and policy develop-ment. Toward that end, I have charged the Dean of the Col-lege of Arts & Sciences to as-semble a committee comprised of members of the university community to develop policy re-garding the installation of stu-dent art projects in university public spaces. With this charge, I have stated that it is imperative that we strike the appropriate balance between academic free-dom and inclusivity.

While the university committee is developing a policy, I have estab-lished an interim operating proce-dure for the installation of student art projects in public spaces on campus. This interim procedure will require that student art proj-ects exhibited outside of the Cen-ter for the Arts must be accompa-nied by a notation or explanatory identifier. Consistent with current university policy, placement of art projects in common areas must be reviewed by the Environment, Health and Safety Department for

physical safety and security issues. It is important to note under this policy, only physical elements and placement of an art project may be reviewed for safety and securi-ty purposes. The content of stu-dent art projects, which is expres-sion that enjoys the protection of the First Amendment, may not be reviewed as part of this process.

Together with the collaborative efforts of our student leadership, our faculty, and university adminis-tration, I believe that these conversa-tions, procedures, curricular discus-sions, and policies are allowing us to balance freedom of expression with the need to foster a welcoming and inclusive educational environment that is necessary for learning.

I want to thank our students, once again, for your leadership and partnership in helping to create meaningful institutional change for the betterment of our university.

And to all of our students, best wishes as you complete your final examinations, and warm wishes for the happiest of holidays.

Sincerely,Satish K. TripathiPresident

An open letter to UB students

Well, my child is going to do it anyway, so I’d rather they do it in front of me.

It’s the mindset some parents have when it comes to their ado-lescent children and drugs like al-cohol and marijuana. The feel-ing is that it’s safer for a child to do drugs in their home and com-pany of their parents, rather than behind their parents’ back without supervision and in an environment they’re unfamiliar with.

It seems like some in New York State have the same mentality – but with addicts and heroin.

In response to the state’s grow-ing heroin crisis, some public health groups are pushing New York lawmakers to create clinics where people can use heroin under the supervision of medical profes-

sionals to prevent overdoses. While such an initiative would

undoubtedly help prevent her-oin overdoses, as medical staff could ensure a user does not take too much and could respond to an overdose in a more timely fashion that police, we fear it could send the wrong message about drug abuse and lead down a slippery slope.

Providing users an opportuni-ty to use heroin with at a low risk may encourage them to contin-ue to use. It’s same argument some make about Narcan, the antidote police – including University Po-lice at UB – use to save those over-dosing on heroin. Some feel police should stop using Narcan to save the lives of addicts, as it encour-ages addicts to continue to use be-cause they know emergency servic-es can save them. Some police de-

partments across the country share stories of saving the same person from an overdose time after time.

While we support the use of Narcan – emergency services can-not let a person die whom they have the ability to save – we feel this recent push takes it too far.

This could lead to allowing ille-gal drug use for all drugs. What’s next? Meth? Would heroin be le-gal to use in these clinics? Where is the line drawn for illegal drugs to actually be illegal?

What kind of message does this send to those considering using heroin for the first time? A teen-ager who would otherwise be too afraid to try heroin may be more inclined to do so if he or she knows they can do it in a room full of medical professionals.

The groups pushing for this ini-tiative should reshape their ap-proach. The clinics should not just provide users a safe place to use heroin, it should be a place for us-ers to slowly wean themselves off the drug will under the watch of professionals. Perhaps that is the groups’ intentions. If so, it hasn’t been specified.

As of now it seems these medi-cal groups’ goal is to simply allow users to use heroin in a safe envi-ronment, like a misguided parent allowing their child to drinks beers or smoke a joint in their home be-cause it’s safer that way.

But it’s not safer in the long run. And it may create more heroin ad-dicts in the process.

email: eic@ubspectrum.com.

Protecting or enabling?

Push for New York to provide medical oversight of heroin users could do more harm than good

ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL PERLMAN

NEWS4Friday, December 11, 2015THE SPECTRUM

EVAN SCHNEIDERSTAFF WRITER

Students spend more than three months studying, reading and practicing material hoping to receive that at times elusive ‘A.’ But often times a single final exam accounts for the majority of their grade.

“There should be more than just a midterm and a final exam administered,” said Olivia DeMian, a senior communication major. “I’m not a great test taker, neither are my friends, it feels unfair when I am pressured with only two to four opportunities to be graded.”

Students often have grievances about how professors decide to calculate their final grade and the dreaded finals week, which runs from Dec. 14 until Dec. 21 this semester, as a whole. Professors across different depart-ments have their own methods for breaking down students’ grades, and some even adjust their class structure to fit student preferences.

Lance Rintamaki, an associate communi-cation professor, has taught communication courses at UB for more than a decade. He is used to students’ constant criticisms of final exams, which is why he leaves the grading structure up to them.

“I use a developmental, rather than puni-tive, grading system,” Rintamaki said. “With a punitive grading style, once a student makes a mistake [like failing a test], they lose points forever from their grade, often with-out a means of recouping them later.”

Instead, Rintamaki has seen much better results by providing students with an op-tional grading system.

Although he still administers four non-cu-mulative exams to assess what a student cur-rently knows, his optional grading system gives students the opportunity to reconsid-er where they went wrong and fix it through

optional essays, projects and a cumulative op-tional final that will replace the average exam score if it’s higher than the previous average.

“If you get an A on the final, you get an A in the class,” he said.

But this method of grading may only work for certain course material.

Many professors believe that grading struc-ture should be reflected by the content in which the class is trying to convey to its students.

Muriel T. Anderson, a clinical associate professor in the School of Management, ad-ministers a midterm and a final exam but also requires the completion of a weekly quiz.

“I require weekly quizzes primarily to help keep students on top of material,” An-derson said. “The nature of accounting is that it is like learning a new language so it is important to keep practicing.”

While this is not a popular grading struc-ture among students, some believe it is

necessary because it actually requires stu-dents to go back and recite things they may have learned the first day of classes.

“I think finals are a good way to [finish] a class because they cover most of the impor-tant information,” said Steve Nesler, a busi-ness administration major. “They are a pain but they force you to know everything.”

But not all professors put as much weight on final exams.

Bina Ramamurthy, an associate profes-sor in the Computer Science and Engineer-ing Department, said student assessment in-volves three components for specific reasons.

Ramamurthy gives students 20-question on-line quizzes that review the course material and prepares students for finals exams. She said this is to provide students with immediate feeback.

She also gives students three written ex-ams that take 50 minutes to complete. This is to be sure students are able to “problem-

solve and communicate.”Lastly, her students are required to com-

plete five labs throughout the semester where they apply skills and concepts learned in class. Through the labs, students have to design and implement software.

Zachary Carr, a PhD communication stu-dent, just completed his first semester teach-ing a 200-level class on research methods. He’s using his knowledge as a former un-dergraduate student to make his classes easi-er while also completely encompassing all the material required.

“I believe that exams and quizzes are not the only means of evaluate what a stu-dent has learned,” Carr said. “The content of research methods requires some extent of memorization and of certain terms and such, thus why I have exams.”

Along with two exams, Carr also admin-isters a project that is completed in four phases across the entire semester as well as two open-note quizzes that are completed a week before each exam.

He believes this helps embed the infor-mation into student’s brains resulting in bet-ter exam scores.

“The research project that I use then al-lows each student to gain real life knowl-edge of how research is carried out,” Carr said. “In my opinion, [the research project] truly evaluates if students understood the content pertaining to research methods.”

One student has an idea to eliminate the stresses final exams come with.

“I think teachers should allow cheat sheets,” said Alex McGannon, a business ma-jor. “In what world are you not allowed to look at information and then have to make assumptions and answer questions about it. It teaches you to apply instead of memorize.”

email: news@ubspectrum.com

How much weight does that final hold?Professors have varying breakdowns for students’ final grades

GABRIELA JULIA, THE SPECTRUM Lance Rintamaki, an associate communication professor, teaches his Communication 492 class. Rintamaki’s structure for his final exams differs from other professors as he leaves the grading structure up to his students.

5FEATURES Friday, December 11, 2015

THE SPECTRUM

31

AUBREY MCLAUGHLINSTAFF WRITER

Finals are serious business.They can make or break your grade in

any given class and it’s your last effort to make an impact before the semester ends. It’s already difficult to study for one exam, but finals week is a true test of your ability to focus.

Here are some tips on how to get in the zone and defeat your finals.

How to stay

2Simple tips to

study your bestTurn off your phone

There is nothing killing your studying faster than a chatty friend informing you how much you’re missing out on a par-ty, TV show or whatever else they’re doing and you’re not.

Remember this: you’re sacrificing those things to get a better grade. If you’re com-mitted to your mission, turning off your phone will be a practical step in the right direction. Don’t just put it away, either. Go the whole nine, leave it at home or bury it in the bottom of your bag.

You’ll forget about it in no time at all. 45

Disconnect from social media

Whatever you do, don’t go on Facebook or any other social media. You aren’t missing anything by logging out for a few hours, especially because most of things people are posting about right now are about being stressed for finals. Don’t trick yourself into thinking you can go on for just a second either – we all know how difficult it is to unplug once you’re on.

Take some initiative and stay away from all platforms from the get-go. You have a whole lifetime to binge on cat videos.

Drink some coffee, tea or water

Keeping a drink handy isn’t only a good way to keep everything right in front of you (see No. 4), it also keeps pesky head-aches away and fills your stomach to drive off hunger. You can’t beat the energy boost if you’ve been chronically dehydrated – as most people are.

Just be ready to head to the bathroom a lot more.

Have everything you need right in front of you

Prepare everything you need to study right from the start to keep yourself fo-cused, even the little things you probably won’t need – like a spare pair of glasses or that $500 textbook you never used.

You’ll be thankful when they’re right in front of you if you need them and if you don’t ever use them, so what? Better safe than sorry. This technique will keep you in your seat where you belong. Just be care-ful to not overdo it and tear your bag with a whole pantry of food or a personal printer.

Take breaks often and outside

Something almost all of us forget to do during finals is relax. You can’t be productive if you’ve been sitting in the same spot for six hours; you’ll simply burn out. Do something simple. Fill up your water bottle, use the bathroom, get all of the

little things done at once so once you’re back you can be productive. Even if the weather is bad, fresh air does wonders coupled with a 20-minute walk around campus. Staying inside might only continue to stifle your brain. No, you aren’t slacking. This tip is for

your piece of mind, which in turn creates the best projects and papers. Work hard, rest hard.

email: featurtes@ubspectrum.com

focused

6 SPORTSWednesday,September 4, 2015The Spectrum

FEATURES6Friday, December 11, 2015THE SPECTRUM

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AUBREY MCLAUGHLINSTAFF WRITER

To study, you only really need notes, moti-vation and space.

Notes should have come from all these months of hard work – or maybe not – and the motivation has got to come from somewhere other than a newspaper article. That being said, The Spectrum can help you find the spaces to cram the night before your final exam.

The last week of the semester has the li-braries packed wall to wall, so where do you go to get some peace of mind from all the obnoxious people blasting their headphones next to you?

Here are some alternatives places to study so you can be the most productive you can be.

Park Hall loungeThe lounge looks very similar to the first

floor lounge in Baldy Hall – there are desks, gray pod seats, a counter encircled by several high chairs and little traffic. You can find it op-posite of the Baldy walkway, across the bridge and down the stairs. There are even some vending machines over there, so there’s no need to trek upstairs for a study-break snack.

O’Brien Hall third floor lounge

This is probably the best location on the list. It has several long tables each outfitted

with a large screen TV compatible with your computer. It’s perfect for any group project because it provides enough space for peo-ple to work alongside one another. You’ll find all the maturity of the law school stu-dents who do finals week work every week, so make sure to keep your voices down and be respectful. Plus, the view is a refreshing change from staring into the dingy hole in the middle of Lockwood.

Baird Hall second floor music student lounge

The room isn’t very big, but you won’t want to be anywhere else after you experi-ence the peace found there.

It’s a pretty remote area of campus, so you’ll seldom encounter an annoying couple flirting. P.S. – if you’re a couple, please, keep it out of the library. Sorry, but nobody cares about you and Jim getting back together.

There are many desks, so there are a lot of options to sit.

Slee Hall auditorium For whatever reason, this place almost

always has its lights on and finding an un-locked door to get in isn’t hard.

Other than the occasional custodian mov-ing around equipment, traffic in the auditori-um is limited. It also has a church-like silence.

There isn’t really any desk surface to use, but the chairs are certainly comfortable. It’s also a perfect spot if you have classes at nearby Clemens Hall, the Center for the Arts and Alumni Arena.

Center for the Arts Theatre balcony

The entire Center for the Arts is a great place to study, but this spot specifically –provided there isn’t a show going on in the doors behind you – has tranquility, a neat upstairs view of the updated building and plenty of natural light. The atmosphere is very calming, which helps you focus on what’s in front of you – not all the other things you’d rather be doing.

email: features@ubspectrum.com

SECRET STUDY SPOTS

A few alternatives to the crowded libraries during finals week

YUSONG SHI, THE SPECTRUM

The Park Lounge is a perfect place to study because it’s quiet and away from

the overcrowded libraries.

7SPORTS Wednesday, September 4, 2015

The Spectrum7ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Friday, December 11, 2015

THE SPECTRUM

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The effect of listening to music while studying has been a topic of debate – does it help or does it hinder information retention?

Regardless of whether it’s beneficial or not, many students claim that listening to some form of music when they are studying actually helps them out distractions and fo-cus on the task at hand.

And they might have the right idea.According to a study done by the Stan-

ford Medical School in 2007, the link be-tween listening to music and the ability to focus may go hand-in-hand.

Jonathan Berger, a Ph.D associate profes-sor of music at Stanford and co-author of the study, found the process of listening to music could be a way that the brain sharpens its abil-ity to anticipate events and sustain attention.

A more recent study, posted on Psychology Today, evaluated the way that music affects memory.

William R. Klemm, a Ph.D memory doc-tor who authored the study, said that music, especially in people who listen to a lot of mu-sic, helped promote the release of dopamine, which in turn, help foster memory and focus.

Cassie Williams, a senior health and hu-man services major, and Afiya Grant, a se-nior English and psychology major, respec-tively, both said that music played a pivotal role in helping them study.

“Music helps me study because I can’t hear anything,” Williams said. “Any outside distractions are cut out.”

Grant said that without music, studying was next to impossible.

“It helps me get into a groove,” Grant said. “Unless it’s completely quiet, I can’t study on campus without music.”

Besides choosing whether or not to listen to music, there is also the question of mu-sic selection.

What music is best for studying?Thomas Coniglio, a freshman business ma-

jor, said that the most important thing for choosing studying music is familiarity. He said having music that makes you comfort-able is essential to keep from getting bored.

“When I used to study I would get real-ly bored,” he said. “But when the music is in the background it keeps me focused on what I’m studying instead.”

Grant also agreed that familiarity was a huge factor in music selection.

“I listen to Tycho or Explosions in the Sky Radio,” she said. “If I know the song well I can listen to it, but if it’s a song I don’t know well, I’ll stop doing work and just listen to it.”

Besides music, there are many other op-

tions – some students like to leave the radio on in the background or maybe leave a TV on – just for some white noise.

Blake Peterson, a sophomore biomedical engineering major, said just the other night he was studying to Jeopardy playing on TV. Al-though, he said, having the TV on was much more distracting than just listening to music.

“I watch TV a lot when I’m studying and it was definitely distracting,” he said. “I was watching Jeopardy and trying to guess the answers instead of focusing. If not TV, I like to listen to classical music. An old teacher of mine said that if you study while listening to classical music and then listen to the music right before the test, it would help you remember. Maybe he was right.”

email: arts@ubspectrum.com

Evaluating the connection between cognition, focus and auditory

&MUSIC MEMORY

PHOTO ILLUSTRATED BY KAINAN GUO, THE SPECTRUM

Putting on music when studying might

be more important than you think. Many

studies have shown a connection between

playing music and increased focus.

DAILY DELIGHTS

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QUENTIN HAYNES SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

During the offseason, the wrestling team head coach John Stutzman was excited to get the team back into action after missing the postseason. Stutzman talked about the returning talent he had and the strengthen-ing of his coaching staff.

But the one area of he was most excited about was his young players, most notably his freshmen talent.

“Those guys are great,” Stutzman said. “They’re going to be the lifeline of the pro-gram for us in the next three, four, five years. Freshman Jake Gunning is nationally ranked for us as a heavyweight. Kyle Akins, Brian Lantry. We got good things going, but the main goal is keeping them working hard and staying healthy. In any Division-I sport, staying healthy is the key.”

With 15 freshmen on the roster, the Bulls were set on getting several of them on the mat, getting their first taste of college wres-tling. So far, six events into the season, Stutzman has been pleased with the perfor-mance of his young talent.

Along with the national acclaim of being ranked in the top 40 among all Division-I

wrestlers, Gunning attended USA Wrestling World Cup Training Camp. In his freshman season, Gunning is off to an 8-2 start to be-gin the 2015-16 season. Although only 10 matches into his career, he already eyes a na-tional championship at Buffalo.

All he needed was time.“During my redshirt year, the most im-

portant thing was improving my strength,” Gunning said. “I entered Buffalo at 220 and now I’m at the 240/245 range … It was a get tough or don’t do it mentality. [Stutzman] really pushed us and does an ex-cellent job of training us.”

The redshirt process has varied among sev-eral freshmen, with some coming in and play-ing right away, while others needed time. When recruiting high school wrestlers to UB, Stutzman said he recruits all players like they’re playing that first year, but evaluates them and projects how they’re adjusting to UB before considering a redshirt season for them.

But a redshirt season isn’t a break, accord-ing to Stutzman. He expects the same regi-men that his active wrestlers endure.

“We want them to work on everything. They wrestle a ton of competition, there’s about 30-40 meets for them in a redshirt year, so they’re competing more than you do as a starter,” Stutzman said. “They get a

ton of training time in, I expect them to be in here more than the other guys because you’re not worried about being tired, you’re worried about getting better.”

One first-year wrestler that isn’t redshirt-ing this season is freshman Addrian Ferre-rie. The 157-pounder has a record of 4-2 to start his Buffalo career and has made the ad-justments from high school wrestling to col-lege wrestling – not an easy task.

One of the adjustments Ferrerie had to make was off the mat. He said scheduling is a tricky variable to master because it varies so much from high school to college. The other area, on the mat, is where he learned how tough and strong college wrestlers are and had to make an adjustment in that area.

“I’m continuing to improve, but at first, the college guys were just so much stronger,” Fer-rerie said, “I was getting manhandled at first and it took a minute to adjust. I had to adjust

to the strength. In high school, you can get away with it because not everyone is experi-enced, but in college, everyone is a strong and tough wrestler. It was different at the start, but I think I’ve adjusted.”

Heading into the rest of the season, Fer-rerie kept it short and simple and said he wanted to “just get better” with every match he goes through. However, Gunning had a larger goal in place.

“I want to win every match from here,” Gunning said, “become a MAC champ, and go after and I can see myself in Madison Square Garden for Nationals. I don’t want this just for myself, but for the entire team because I know how hard we train and we all want it. I believe in coach and I believe in this program, so call it farfetched, but I want to go and win a national championship.”

email: quentin.haynes@ubspectrum.com

10 SPORTSFriday, December 11, 2015THE SPECTRUM

Freshman gains

Freshmen working toward bright future for wrestling team

PHAM DUC HUY, THE SPECTRUM

The wrestling team, headlined by a plethora of underclassmen, is practicing ground grappling during a practice earlier in the season. The Bulls have multiple freshmen on the team this year who are ready to transform the UB wrestling program.

JORDAN GROSSMAN SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

The fall 2015 semester for UB Athletics had many highs and lows.

The program took some steps toward its lofty goal of being “America’s next big-time college athletics brand,” while taking some steps back with departures in the process. These moments helped shape the landscape of the current state of UB Athletics, while progressing toward the future of the program.

The Spectrum ranked the top-10 moments in UB Athletics during the fall 2015 semes-ter. No. 10 – Justin Moss expelled from UB

Justin Moss, a forward on the men’s bas-ketball team and the reigning Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, was expelled from UB right before the fall semester began.

Moss, a would-be senior, was caught steal-ing $650 from a South Lake Village apart-ment of two football players over the sum-mer. Moss was a key piece to the Bulls’ MAC Championship run last season and would have added stability to a rebuilding lineup. No. 9 – Joe Licata sets new UB records

Senior quarterback Joe Licata has been the face of UB football for the better part of three years, and the late-November matchup against Massachusetts would be his last time in a Buffalo uniform.

And even if he couldn’t lead the Bulls to a bowl game in his senior season, he did set records.

Licata is now UB’s all-time passing yards leader, passing Drew Willy during a match-

up against Northern Illinois on Nov. 11. He finished his career with 76 touchdown pass-es and more than 9,000 career-passing yards. He ranks 13th in MAC history in passing yards and ninth in passing touchdowns. No. 8 – Women’s basketball starts 6-0

For the first time since 2000, the women’s basketball team started its season 6-0.

Defense led the way for the first part of the season, knocking off opponents like Clemson and Central Florida earlier in the season.

The team’s RPI was as high as No. 26 in the nation as recent as a couple of weeks ago. Although the team has lost three games in a row, it still stands at a 6-3 record with MAC play rapidly approaching.No. 7 – Danny White leaves for UCF, Allen Greene named new athletic director

After Athletic Director Danny White left for UCF, UB Athletics decided it was in its best interests to promote from within.

As a result, Allen Greene was named the new athletic director less than one week after White was introduced at his new gig. Greene, deputy director of athletics under White, will provide some stability for the department.No. 6 – Men’s soccer reaches MAC Championship game

The men’s soccer team reached the MAC Finals, but lost to overwhelming favorite Akron, 1-0, for the title.

It was an impressive season for a team that had not accumulated a winning record in a few years. With the addition of new re-cruits, scintillating play from sophomore goalkeeper Joseph Kuta and MAC Player of the Year Russell Cicerone, Buffalo finished with a record of 8-7-4, 2-2-1 MAC, its best

record under head coach Stu Riddle. No. 5 – Men’s basketball plays Duke and Iowa State back-to-back

Considered the hardest road trip in the men’s basketball team’s history, the Bulls finished a back-to-back stretch against No. 4 Duke and No. 2 Iowa State this past Satur-day and Monday, respectively.

Buffalo lost to the Blue Devils 82-59 on Saturday, and then lost to the Cyclones 84-63 on Monday night. It was the first time in pro-gram history that Buffalo played two teams ranked in the top-10 in consecutive games.No. 4 – Football, volleyball plays Penn State

Penn State, widely considered a top-tier athletics program, hosted Buffalo in both volleyball and football.

In Blair Brown Lipsitz’s coaching debut for the volleyball team, she returned to her alma mater to face the No. 1 team in the country, but failed to pick up a set during the match.

On Sept. 12, the football team entered Hap-py Valley, but lost 27-14 in front of 90,000 fans. No. 3 – Matt Weiser makes first-team All-MAC

Senior tight end Matt Weiser was Buffa-lo’s only first-team All-MAC selection this season after a dominating performance dur-ing the regular season.

The senior finished his final campaign in Buffalo with 63 receptions for 625 yards and three touchdowns. The receptions and receiving yards are both the most in a single-season for a Buffalo tight end.

He was also named a first-team academic All-American this season, the first award of its kind for Buffalo in its entire Division-I existence.No. 2 – Leipold, Oats kick off

respective eras with victoriesThe Lance Leipold and Nate Oats eras

are now in full swing for the football and men’s basketball teams.

On Sept. 5, Leipold began his Buffalo tenure with a dominating 51-14 victory over Albany. Buffalo accumulated more than 450 yards of total offense to extend Leipold’s winning total to 110 games at the time.

On Nov. 13, the men’s basketball team de-feated Division-III Pittsburgh at Bradford with a 109-49 victory, its first game without former head coach Bobby Hurley and star players Moss and Shannon Evans. No. 1 – Russell Cicerone name MAC Player of the Year

The men’s soccer team would not have gotten as far as it did this season without its star playmaker in Cicerone.

The junior forward/midfielder had a re-cord season for Buffalo, finishing his season with 11 goals, eight assists for 30 points. His goal and point totals were good enough to fin-ish first in the conference, while his assist to-tal was good enough for second in the MAC.

He was the first Bull since 1999 to finish a season with 30 points and the only player in Buffalo history to make it to the All-MAC first-team three different times in a career.

email: sports@ubspectrum.com

#UB top-10: The top-10 UB Athletics moments of the fall

Breaking down and ranking the biggest sports moments of the semester

SPECTRUM FILE PHOTO

Willie Conner (left), Mason Schreck

(center) and the volleyball team (right)

were part of a record-breaking and

monumental semester for UB Athletics.

The Spectrum ranked the top-10

moments from the fall 2015 semester.