BY LAURA IRWINEditor-in-Chief

A Bucks security officer wasfired after he totaled a securityvehicle in an accident that mayhave been the result of recklessdriving.

In the late evening hours ofSunday, March 1, Safety andSecurity Officer NehkawahGbeintor said he was in the pas-senger’s seat when fellow officerSean Williams was attempting“slides” in the falling snow in CLot. Williams was apparentlyaccelerating and then breaking inorder to slide the vehicle into afishtail.

Gbeintor said Williams lostcontrol of the vehicle andcrashed into a tree. The driver’sand passenger’s airbags weredeployed, and the car was badlydamaged.

Gbeintor said that after follow-ing a suspicious vehicle out ofcampus, Williams fishtailed thesecurity vehicle down LindenLane, toward Lot C, instead ofdropping him off at his ownsecurity vehicle.

“I’m from West Africa and Idon’t know much about snow,”said Gbeintor. “I didn’t reallyknow what he was trying to do.”

Upon entering Lot C, Williamsallegedly accelerated to 50 mphin an attempt to fishtail, but lostcontrol, spun around, missed theemergency call box and slammedthe front and passenger’s side ofthe vehicle into a tree. “He gothis slide,” said Gbeintor, “but itwas more than he bargainedfor.” He added, “It was stupidand reckless.”

Assistant Director of Safetyand Security Mark Moorechecked the scene in C Lotaround 1 a.m. March 2, severalhours after the 11:45 p.m. crash,and found no evidence of tiretracks, as snow continued to fall.

Williams report stated that hewas going 15 mph in C Lot inorder to hit a chip, a checkpointsystem in which officers use ametal key to fit into circular“chips” across campus, when helost control of the car.

When asked how fast the carwas going, Moore said, “I am not

an expert on how to gaugespeed, but it was greater than 15mph.” Pennsylvania law statesthat in a school zone, drivers areto observe a 15 mph speed

limit—the speed limit posted onall three Bucks campuses.

TThehe CCenturionenturionThe week of March 23, 2009 www.bucks-news.com Volume: 44 Issue: 10

INSIDE

WEATHER

All the news--about Bucks--that’s fit to print.

SPORTS

WEATHER COURTESY OF THENATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

Security vehicle totaledA Safety and Security officer allegedlywrecked the vehicle while drivingrecklessly on campus.

THE INCIDENT OCCURRED IN C LOT ON SUNDAY, MARCH 1

PHOTO BY KISHA LOWENTHAL

Car thefts shake Lower BucksBY IAN MCLEANCenturion Staff

Two automobile theftsoccurred at the Lower Buckscampus about a week apart.

The theft of a blue AcuraIntegra occurred on Tuesday,Feb. 17, between 10 and 11 a.m.and a red Honda Civic wasstolen on Wednesday, Feb. 25,between 8 and 9 a.m.

Both cars were 1991 models.Christopher Lloyd, director ofsafety and security said, “Theolder models might be a littleeasier to get in to for somebody,but in both cases there wasabsolutely no sign of forcedentry. The students couldn’tremember if they locked theirvehicles or not.”

According to the office ofSafety and Security these are thefirst reported automobile theftsBucks has had. An investigationis underway and Lloyd said,“The Bristol Township PoliceDepartment is involved in bothinvestigations.”

These particular models of carsare popular for modifying, butthere has been no indication thatthese cars were specially modi-

fied in any way. Bucks County, typically, does

not have a high number inreported automobile theft com-pared to other counties.According to the PennsylvaniaAuto Theft PreventionAuthority, car theft has been onthe decline over the last decade.There is a theft rate of about 150cars for a population of 100,000.

As far as having a lead or asuspect, Lloyd said, “Not fromour end, we don’t have a suspect.We’ve shared the video with [thepolice]. I don’t know if theyhave suspects that they’re fol-lowing up with or not.”

It is still unclear if the theftswere connected.

There are a few things studentscan do to avoid getting their carstolen.

“First thing is to make sureyour windows are up and yourvehicles are locked,” said Lloyd.“Make sure any valuables youhave are out of sight. Make sureto take anything down that couldbe related to an electronic device,like a window mount or a powercord. If it’s night time, park in awell-lit area.”

Currently, the parking lots are

under surveillance, but Lloydadded, “Students should keeptheir eyes open when they’re outthere, and if you see somethingsuspicious, like someone check-ing out other cars or pulling on

multiple door handles, call usimmediately.”

If you have seen anything sus-picious and would like to reportit, call Safety and Security at(215) 968-8395.

COMMUTERS AT LOWER BUCKS SHOULD TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTIONS, ASSURING THEIR VEHICLES ARE

LOCKED TIGHT.

PHOTO BY KISHA LOWENTHAL

Tuesday: Sunny, with a highnear 46.

Wednesday: Sunny, with ahigh near 50.

Thursday: A chance of rain.Mostly cloudy, with a highnear 54.

Friday: Partly sunny, with ahigh near 61.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy,with a low around 40.

Saturday: A chance of rain.Mostly cloudy, with a highnear 57.

Saturday Night: A chance ofrain. Mostly cloudy, with alow around 40.

Sunday: A chance of rain.Mostly cloudy, with a highnear 56.

A look back at the

Men’s Basketball

season and last

game of the EPCC

tournamentBACK PAGE

Gas prices are

back on the riseNEWS PAGE 2

Enter a video

mash-up contestNEWS PAGE 3

Residents unhappy

about hospital

relocationBEYOND BUCKS PAGE 4

Calendar and

some puzzlesTO DO PAGE 5

A Modern

Hypocrisy: AdsOP/ED PAGE 10

An optician

optimistFEATURES PAGE 11

Continued on page 2

The car, estimated at $16,000-$24,000, was leased, and theintention, according to Moore,was to “buyout the car and cycleit down to other departments inthe college that use vehicles.”

But now, Safety and Securityhas only one car for a fewmonths until a new one can bepurchased.

Safety and Security has a dailylog of incidents that occur, butthe crash was not reported.When asked why a security offi-cer totaling a car was left out of

the log, Moore said the inci-dent was not a threat to the cam-pus environment and wouldonly have been reported if it wasduring school hours.

A report was filed via phone tothe Newtown PoliceDepartment, but the townshipdid not send out any officers totake a report.

Will this incident spawn limit-ed use of campus vehicles forprobationary officers?

“We can’t really,” said Moore,“because they are for responsepurposes and need to be avail-able. However, things will be

stemming out of this that

hopefully impacts further behav-ior in the future.”

But this isn’t the first report ofimproper behavior from securityofficers.

Safety and Security staff saidan on-duty officer apparentlydrove a security vehicle to theOxford valley area at night a fewmonths ago. The officer wasallegedly seen getting into aBucks security vehicle in thatarea around 10 p.m.

Moore said that such incidentsare reviewed in monthly trainingmeetings that last three to fourhours. The next meeting takesplace after spring break, in thelast week of March.

Williams has been relieved ofhis duty as an officer, but “offi-

cial paperwork is that hed i d n ’ t

complete his probationary term,”said Moore. Each officer is tocomplete 120 days of probation-ary work to “see if they are agood fit.” Williams was “in part”let go for the crash, but Moorecited other personnel issues thatled to the decision to let him go.

Gbeintor said that Williamshad allegedly been cited for“careless stuff, such as drivingon the grass.”

Gbeintor has yet to return towork since the incident. He saidhe was injured in the crash and is

upset that an ambulance or thepolice did not respond to thecrash. Safety and Security is“awaiting a doctor’s reportreleasing him back into work,”said Moore.

Safety and Security DirectorChris Lloyd has been pushing forthe installation of video camerasthroughout all three Bucks cam-puses.

Director of Student Life MattCipriano says the administrationmay phase in cameras over aperiod of time.

Bucks County Community College’s Student Newspaper

Editor-in-Chief

Laura IrwinManaging Editors

Jen Golding and

Eric NocitoAdvising

Tony Rogers

Senior Staff

Interactive Media/ Web Chris Johnson

Student Life Liz Messina

Sports Colin Gerrity

Photography Kisha Lowenthal

Additional Staff

Joanna Schlicher

Ian McLean

To receive the Centurion’s Email Edition:

Register at www.Bucks-News.com and a .PDF version of the newspaper

will be delivered directly to your email box.

Letter Policy

Letters should be limited to 300 words. They will be edited for spelling and malicious or libelous

statements, and may be edited for space. Letters must be the original work of the writer and

must be signed. For identification purposes, letters must include the writer’s full name, address,

and telephone number, although the address and telephone numbers will not be published.

Send letters to:

Centurion

275 Swamp Rd

Newtown, PA 18940

Centurion@bucks.edu

www.bucks-news.com/Letters to the Editor

215.968.8379

Official Member2008-2009

2 News Monday, March 23, 2009

Centurion Publication ScheduleThe Centurion is published weekly on

Mondays.

Deadline for advertising is noon on the

Wednesday before publication.

Publication dates for the fall 2008 semester are as

follows:

(dates may be subject to change)

3/31

4/7

4/14

4/21

4/28

5/5

With spring comes higher gas prices

Not-so safe and secure behaviorcontinued from page 1

BY TAJ CARRCenturion Staff

Gas prices and routinemaintenance are the factorsthat drive Bucks studentscrazy on a daily basis.

Throughout Bucks’ parkinglots, students act like preda-tor and prey—followingdeparting students to theircars in order to snatch up agood space.

But during these tough eco-nomic times, students whopay for gas on a weekly basisin order to get to school arerunning on empty.

According to the EnergyInformation Administration,as of March 2, the currentaverage price for gas on theeast coast stands at $1.92.

Alicia Volpe, 21, a psychol-ogy major from Levittown

said, “It’s okay where it is,but it could be cheaper.”

Volpe spends about $40 aweek to fill up her 2002Hyundai Accent to accommo-date her lifestyle and five-dayschool schedule.

By many standards, the cur-rent prices are better whencompared to just a fewmonths ago when gas pricesranged between $2.50 and $3a gallon for regular unleaded.

“Prices aren’t so bad, butwhen they get higher my caris kind of a gas hog,” said EricEitelgeorge, 20, a social serv-ice major from Doylestown.

Higher gas prices costEitelgeorge $60 to $70 to fillhis 97 Volkswagen PassatVR6. At the current prices itstill takes roughly $40 to fillhis tank.

Other students pay less

when it comes to filling up atthe gas station.

Mike Ireland, 20, criminaljustice major from Levittown,owns a 1987 Honda Accord.He forks out $20 to $30 for afull tank of gas.

To save on gas, some Bucksstudents have even consid-ered alternatives to physical-ly going to school.

Ashley Wunder, 21, a histo-ry major from Levittown,contemplated taking onlinecourses to save on gas.

Frequency of driving anddistance are not the only fac-tors that affect a car’s gas effi-ciency.

Overall maintenance of acar can greatly determinehow well a car runs, thus sav-ing students on gas.

Eitelgeorge said he “verymeticulously” maintains a

working car. Some of hismethods involve oil changesevery 2,500 miles, gettingnew tires every so often andmaking sure all the fluids areat proper levels.

Properly inflated tires alongwith regular tune-upsimprove a car’s fuel efficien-cy.

According to drivesmarter-challenge.org, “Fixing a carthat is noticeably out of tuneor has failed an emissions testcan improve its gas mileageby an average of 4 percent –saving up to 25 gallons ofgasoline and about $80.”

It is recommended that acar’s oil should be changedevery 3,000 miles because itcontributes to a better run-ning, fuel-efficient car.

Air filters should also bechanged every 12,000 miles.

There are also better meth-ods to driving that make a carmore efficient.

Those who like to speedshould know that going moreslowly will improve fuel effi-ciency.

Along with observingspeed limits, drivers shouldalso use their car’s heating orair conditioning less. The lessit’s used the greater amountof gas money that will besaved.

Drivers on highwaysshould use cruise control tosave on fuel. And, if any ofthese options aren’t appeal-ing, there is always car pool-ing or public transportation.

Bucks offers a ride boardthat lists students interestedin carpooling.

For more information, visitbucks.edu/life/rideboard.

BY KATIE FEILER AND

COLIN GERRITYCenturion Staf

Do you have a strong polit-ical stance? Do you feelstrongly about going green?Do you believe in globalwarming?

Bucks students have theopportunity to create a videomash-up about any issue thataffects our world today, withprizes being awarded to thetop three videos.

A digital mash-up is a dig-ital media file containingtext, graphics, audio, videoand animation drawn frompre-existing sources, to createa new derivative work,according to Wikipedia.

“Our goal as a college isalways to provide the bestlearning experiences possi-ble for our students so thatthey are prepared to thrivein the Information Age,”

said Jim Sell, executivedirector at the Lower Buckscamous. “But in general I seethis contest as a way to cre-ate awareness of the use ofmultimedia as a means ofassessing knowledge.”

A panel of Bucks facultywill judge the entries basedon certain criteria.

The criteria include cre-ative and innovative spiritdrawn from pre-existingsources which are thenmanipulated to create a newpiece of work; the mashup’sability to engage an audi-ence on a global issue; andits ability to effectively con-vey the purpose of the pro-posed theme through the useof a digital medium.

“Equally important, thecontest will provide facultywith a platform with whichto create an assessmentrubric as a tool for evaluat-ing learning and the mastery

of course content throughmultimedia assignments orother related projects,” Sellsaid.

Individuals or teams areencouraged to enter.

The producer who entersthe contest will be the per-son eligible for the contestprizes.

The video entries can be adocumentary, an editorial ora parody of the issue.Creativity is highly encour-aged.

However, any discriminato-ry or lurid content will not beaccepted.

Videos should not exceedfour minutes.

The deadline is May 1. Allvideos should be on a com-patible disk and delivered toLibrary 116.

A printed copy of the onlineapplication confirmationmust accompany the project.Applications can be found at

bucks.edu/lbc/mash_up.htmContest prizes include onefree three-credit course forfirst prize, the choice of a flipvideo camera or iPod for sec-ond prize, and $75 gift certifi-cate to the bookstore for thirdprize.

Students are encouraged totake this as an opportunity toshare their thoughts on globalissues.

“The impact of living in aglobal economy, raising cul-tural awareness, civility andgoing green to conserve ournatural resources are just afew examples that might beseen through these mash-ups,” said Sell.

Students say the contestsounds interesting.

“Film making for docu-mentary purposes as well asleisure has been a hobby ofmine since I was old enoughto hold a camera,” said 18-year-old Eric Wagner, a

graphic design major fromNew Hope.

“I’d like nothing morethan the opportunity to pro-vide for my higher educa-tion by doing what I likemost and maybe winning aprize out of it as well," hesaid.

Students can visit bucks-mashup.blogspot.com toview examples of mash-upsand to see the correct sourceciting format to be used inmash-ups.

Further questions regardingthe contest can be directed toKelly Gredone at (215) 968-8253 or e-mail gre-donek@bucks.edu.

Or talk to MarilynPuchalski at (215) 968-8056 ore-mail her at puchalsk@bucks.edu.

Jim Sell is also available toanswer questions atsellj@bucks.edu, or call him at(267) 685-4801.

3News Monday, March 23, 2009

Tech-savvy students wanted for contest

NASA walks

in space to

clean up trashBy The Associated Press

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Two astronautswho were teaching math and science to middleschool students just five years ago went on aspacewalk together Monday, their path clearedof dangerous orbiting junk that had threatenedthe space station and shuttle.

On Sunday, the linked shuttle-station complexhad to move out of the way of a 4-inch piece ofdebris that had been projected to come perilous-ly close during the spacewalk.

Astronauts Joseph Acaba and Richard ArnoldII had no luck trying to free up a jammed equip-ment storage shelf at the international space sta-tion, one of their main tasks.

Using a hammer, they managed to loosen a pinthat Acaba and another astronaut accidentallyinserted upside down on the platform duringSaturday's spacewalk. But the shelf mechanismwould not extend into the proper position,despite repeated efforts.

"Three, two, one, go," Arnold called out as theytugged with all their might. "Negative."

It's the first time two former schoolteachershave been on a spacewalk together, and is thethird and final spacewalk for shuttle Discovery'smission.

It's also the second time out the hatch for bothAcaba and Arnold. Their previous outings werewith another astronaut, and they took pleasure insharing this one together.

As for space junk, it's becoming a growing con-cern for the 220-mile-high space station. Earlierthis month, space station residents had to seekshelter in their emergency getaway capsulebecause of debris. Last week, the station almosthad to dodge another piece of junk.

Discovery's astronauts said Sunday they don'tthink about space junk when they're outside.They said there are enough things to worryabout, like keeping themselves and their toolstethered and getting the job done. There's alwaysa risk tiny pieces of debris that can't be trackedfrom the ground could come zooming by.

The two crews will part Wednesday, andDiscovery will aim for a touchdown back atNASA's spaceport Saturday.

BY JOANNA SCHLICHERCenturion Staff

Quiet evenings. An openfield here and there. Limitedcongestion on the roads—most of the time.

These are just a few of thecharming attributes LowerMakefield residents havegrown accustomed to and it isthe lure of these qualities thatmakes living in the area soappealing. If residents wantto hear blaring traffic soundsat all hours of the day andnight or see big office com-plexes out their windows,they’d move to the city, right?

Maybe not. If Frankford Hospital’s pro-

posal to construct a new loca-tion at the corner of Yardley-Newtown Road is approved,residents just may get all thesights and sounds of urbanliving.

This is the reason citizens ofLower Makefield and the sur-rounding areas have formedResidents AgainstFrankford’s Relocation(RAFR). The group opposesFrankford’s proposal to builda 375,000 square foot hospital,as well as two 40,000 squarefoot buildings on the openland next to Shady BrookFarm.

The land is currently zonedas Office/Research, butFrankford Hospital is

requesting that the LowerMakefield Township ZoningHearing Board make a “spe-cial exemption.”

Many residents say they areopposed to the proposal.

“My main concern is thetraffic,” said Ed Lynch, whohas lived on Stoney Hill Roadfor 11 years.

He has other issues with thenew hospital as well. “I ques-tion the needs assessment fora healthcare facility consider-ing that St. Mary’s and theNew Jersey Hospital are onlya stone’s throw away.”

The New Jersey hospital heis referring to is CapitalHealth System’s new locationpresently going up inHopewell, only a few milesnorth on interstate 95.

Irene Koehler, who lives offLindenhurst Road, isChairwoman of RAFR. Sheled a meeting attended by 18residents on Tuesday, Feb. 17at the Lower MakefieldTownship Library. By goingdoor-to-door and sending outmailers, the grassroots organ-ization hopes to gain manymore members than its cur-rent 500.

“This is going to impact thewhole township and we’retrying to get the word out,”Koehler said. Residentsarrived with coffee in onehand and notepads in theother, determined to stop the

relocation. “This is not going to hap-

pen overnight,” said RonSmith, a Lower MakefieldTownship supervisor. “But itis possible to win this fight;you just have to be in it forthe long haul. RememberRAMP?” he said, referring toResidents Against MatrixProject, a group formed in2003 to oppose commercialbuilding near the OxfordValley Mall.

RAFR has hired a citizen’sattorney and is seeking dona-tions to cover costs. Koehlerexplained to Lynch that traf-

fic would be some of theworst in the area for him,because Frankford plans toclose its current locationacross from the Oxford ValleyMall. “You’ll get all thosepeople coming from FairlessHills and Levittown, rightdown Stoney Hill Road,” shesaid.

Having the hospital meanstaxes will go up for residents.

In addition, LowerMakefield Township PoliceChief Ken Coluzzi pointedout that the township wouldhave to hire five more officersif the hospital is built. Each

officer would cost over$100,000 with salary and ben-efits. “A lot of people don’trealize what this is going totake. Seniors especially seemto want this, but wait till theysee what is does to theirtaxes,” said Smith.

The Lower MakefieldTownship supervisorsoppose the proposal, as wellas the Traffic Commission,and Environmental AdvisoryBoard.

Anyone who wants to getinvolved can e-mailinfo@rafr.org, or visitrafr.org.

4 Beyond Bucks Monday, March 23, 2009

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Residents look to stop Frankford Hospital

FRANKFURT HOSPITAL WANTS TO MOVE ONTO THE CORNER OF YARDLEY-NEWTOWN RD. AND STONEY HILL RD.

PHOTO BY JOANNA SCHLICHER

Actor Robin Williams

recovers after surgeryBy The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Robin Williams was recovering at the Cleveland Clinic after heartsurgery that his doctors deemed successful, his publicists said Monday.

The 57-year-old actor had an operation to replace an aortic valve on March 13,publicists Mara Buxbaum and Chris Kanarick said. He was expected to make a com-plete recovery in the next eight weeks.

"His heart is strong and he will have normal heart function in the coming weekswith no limitations on what he'll be able to do," said Dr. A. Marc Gillinov, a cardio-thoracic surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic. "A couple of hours after surgery, he wasentertaining the medical team and making us all laugh."

Williams was initially treated at the University of Miami Hospital before beingtransferred to Cleveland. He had been in Florida earlier this month when he wasforced to cancel the remainder of his one-man comedy show, "Weapons of Self-Destruction," after experiencing shortness of breath.

Williams, whose sold-out, multi-city tour is expected to resume in the fall, thankedstaff at both hospitals.

"I can't thank them enough for their kindness and dedication while I was in theircare," he said in a statement. "I must also thank all the people who have expressedtheir love and concern for me. I have been deeply touched by their support."

Williams being Williams, he couldn't resist a comic aside."I got some great new material for the tour and can't wait to get back on the road,"

he said. "I'm thinking the next leg of the tour will be 'Weapons of Self-Destructionand Reconstruction'!"

5To Do Monday, March 23, 2009

MARCH

Bucks events and listings In the county, in the city23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

Across

1- Aleutian island5- Up10- ___ Hashanah14- Dispatched15- Tree branch16- Toast topper17- Bluey-green color18- Mammary gland in cows19- Narrate20- Pledge22- Posy24- Turf25- Let ___26- Toward the sunrise30- Tiny particles35- ___-pitch softball36- Wedding page word37- Colorful parrot38- Priest's square cap41- Offensive43- Cave44- Jamaican popular music45- Help46- Rips47- The act of issuing50- Stratum53- Travel on snow

54- Large New Zealand reptile58- As opposed to synthet-ic chemicals?62- Thus63- Writer Calvino66- Niger neighbor67- Mine entrance68- More pleasant69- Lotion ingredient70- Melody71- Composer Bruckner72- Profits

Down

1- Italian wine city2- Abound3- Sack starter4- Finally5- Abounding6- Director Browning7- Partially opened flower8- Representative9- Pulsate10- Routine11- Designer Cassini12- Actress Ward13- Sacred21- Exclamation of surprise23- Joins

25- Chemical ending26- Convocation of witches27- Dress style28- A bit, colloquially29- Actor Stephen31- Tic ___ Dough32- Current location33- Frenzied34- Celsius, for one39- Miscalculate40- Outer coat of a seed41- Authorizes42- Obsolete wind instrument44- Highly respectful wayof addressing a man

48- Luau instrument49- Aviator51- One of Chekhov's"Three Sisters"

52- Kind of kitchen54- Nipple55- Official language ofPakistan

56- Not fer57- Carry59- Bundle60- Tons61- Falsehoods64- Pretend65- Summer sign

"CROSSWORD PUZZLES PROVIDED BY BESTCROSSWORDS.COM (HTTP://WWW.BESTCROSSWORDS.COM). USED WITH PERMISSION."

LSTLNS VAX BS MCVO F PT FZ MFZOSD

MCSZ OCSDS’A ZT HVASHVNN. F’NN OSNN

WTY MCVO F PT. F AOVDS TYO OCS

MFZPTM VZP MVFO KTD ALDFZJ.

-DTJSDA CTDZAHW

6 9 3 8

4 7 1 9

3 6

9 5

8 3 4 2 6 7

6 9

3 6

4 2 7 1

3 1 9 5

CRYPTOGRAM

CROSSWORD CLUES

SUDOKU

Eye Witness to History - Vietnam.11 a.m.-12 p.m. Tyler 142.

14th Annual Bucks County High School Art Exhibition. Through April 4.

Flyer vs. New Jersey. Wachovia Center. 7 p.m.

New Kids On the Block. Bryce Jordan Center. University Park 7:30 p.m.

Eye Witness to History - Civil Rights Movement.11 a.m.-12 p.m. Tyler 142.

Sixers vs. Minnesota.Wachovia Center. 7 p.m.

14th Annual Bucks County High School Art Exhibition. Through April 4.

Don’t you have some homework you should be doing?

Baseball. Bucksvs. Delaware (away). 12 p.m.

Study all day.

"Getting the Most From Talking With College Representatives." Pre-transfer fair workshop. Lower Bucks. 5-6 p.m.

Baseball. Bucks vs. Luzerne. 2 p.m.

Flyers vs. Florida. Wachovia Center. 7 p.m.

Sixers vs. Charlotte. Wachovia Center. 7 p.m.

Cedric the Entertainer. Atlantic City Hilton. Atlantic City, NJ. 8 p.m.

Flyers vs. Boston. Wachovia Center. 7 p.m.

Student Photo Exhibit at Bucks County Visitors Center. Through April 3.

Sixers vs. Atlanta. Wachovia Center. 7 p.m.

6 Student Life Monday, March 23, 2009

7Student Life Monday, March 23, 2009

8 Interactive Media Monday, March 23, 2009

These are some of the events on the Xbox Live calendar forthe next week or so...

• 3/23 Music Monday: Lips• 3/24 Family Game Night: High School Musical 3• 3/25 Ladies Night: Resident Evil 5• 3/26 Fable II• 3/27 Frag Doll Friday: CellFactor: Psychokinetic Wars

Xbox Live community eventsSR2: less serious, more fun

Legal issues dog Brutal LegendBY CHRISTOPHER

JOHNSONInteractive Media Editor

Too often game developerstry to make the next big gamethat will change the world ofgaming. More often than notthey overstretch their abilitiesand make a game that turnsout awful.

San Francisco-based devel-oper Double FineProductions, however, hasdone the opposite and creat-ed a game that will literallyand figuratively rock.

From the mind of TimSchafer, creator the criticallyacclaimed 3rd person adven-ture “Psychonauts,” “BrutalLegend” is an alternate uni-verse filled with heavy metal,monsters and the evil forcesof glam rock.

Hopefully this will be com-ing to the Xbox 360 and PS3consoles sometime in the fall.

The game’s publishing sta-tus as of this moment isunknown as Activision

Blizzard and Electronic Arts,two of the biggest publishersin the world, are fighting overthe rights to the game.

The game looks like a met-ric ton of fun.

You play Eddie Riggs, aroadie for an unnamed metalband, who is transported byhis demonic belt buckle to analternate dimension wheredemons and the forces ofglam rock have enslavedhumanity.

As Eddie, you will battleyour way through the forcesof evil using your battle axe, aGibson Flying V guitar thathas magical abilities in thisalternate dimension, and theDeuce, a hot rod that Eddierebuilds using parts found inthe game.

Along the way you will col-lect a vast array of creaturesand minions to help you bat-tle your way in a resistancemovement against LordDolivicus, and his glam metalminion, General Lionwhyte.

All the allies and creatures

you will face on the way areall metal- and rock-themedlike “Roadies” who carryamps that blast killer feed-back and “Runaways,” girlswho battle with flamethrow-ers while riding on Eddie andthe other characters’ shoul-ders.

As far as the characters go,Eddie himself was designedto be half-Jack Black and half-Glenn Danzig.

And even cooler is the pro-tagonist is voiced by Blackhimself.

Several heavy metal leg-ends have also lent their voic-

es to the game includingMotorhead frontman LemmyKilmister and Rob Halford ofJudas Priest.

Hopefully the game will bereleased soon to the public soheavy metal and game fansalike can go pick up this awe-some game.

BY CHRISTOPHER

JOHNSONInteractive Media Editor

Grand Theft Auto IV was aremarkable achievement inthe game world.

It was praised for its real-ism and its intriguing andgritty storyline.

The sandbox genre ofgames has long been ownedby the GTA franchise.

Well, Saints Row 2 does adrive-by on the genre andcompletely obliterates therealism that GTA worked sohard on creating.

Saints Row 2 is a sandboxgame that takes place in thefictional city of Stillwater.You start as the nameless pro-tagonist who appeared in thefirst Saints Row.

Following the climaticexplosion at the end of thefirst game, you awake inprison after a several-yearcoma.

As you attempt to rebuildyour now broken gang andreclaim the glory that wasyours in the first game, youhave to fight your waythrough several new gangsand a virtually redesignedcity.

The game itself is a littleglitchy; there are some fram-erate problems and occasion-ally characters will disappearinto walls or get stuck infloors, but other than that thegame is great visually.

The story is based on yourcharacter trying to rebuildyour gang’s empire.

A few of the charactersfrom the first game are rein-troduced in this new install-ment, but as it’s stated in thegame, most of them are either

dead or in jail.The gameplay is pretty hec-

tic from beginning to end;explosions and gun fights arearound every corner in thiscity.

Gangs roam the streets withweapons drawn and get in torandom gun fights with thepolice, whom they often over-power. It’s a pretty crazyplace, unlike the calmmetropolis of Liberty Cityfrom GTA.

Another comparison toGTA IV is the fact that there isstill so much to do even if youplay all the way through themain story, from getting carsfor chop shops to runningyour own prostitution ring.

The amount of things youcan do after the main story isnearly endless; it’s almost asthough there’s no need fordownloadable content.

The sounds of the gunfireand the soundtrack of almost150 licensed songs helps addto the realism of the game.

Hearing the screeching of

the tires and the revving ofthe engines helps immerseyou further into the fun expe-rience.

The game is serious but ithas a slight dark-humor edgeto it, which almost makes youlaugh during the bloody cutscenes that more often thannot feature one or more deadbodies.

The story in GTA was sup-posed to make you feel a con-nection to this dark andbrooding character.

In SR2, you just run arounddoing what you please,killing rival gang membersand buying properties toincrease your wealth.

Despite the game’s humor-ous undertones and over-the-top violence, the game is avery well put together pieceof work.

Anyone who enjoys sand-box games and mindlessmayhem should definitely gopick this up, especially sinceyou can probably find a fewused copies for cheap.

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9ArtsMonday, March 23, 2009

BY ASHLEY SIMPSONCenturion Staff

The Bucks Martial ArtsClub is a great club to join forthose interested in the sport.

The club is open to thosewith all martial arts back-grounds and skill levels—from those with a lot of expe-rience to others who havenever taken a formal martialarts class in their life.

Club adviser David Briggsstarted the club in 1986 after anumber of students from hispersonal defense classexpressed interest in joiningsuch a club. Today the clubhas 15 members.

Briggs made it clear that the

Martial Arts Club is justthat—a club, not a class.There are no formal teachingsduring club time.

Instead, the club has a laid-back environment. Memberscan practice on their own orwork with fellow members topractice and learn new tech-niques.

However, new membersmust attend at least three clubmeetings before they areallowed to practice with othermembers. Club members alsohave access to differentequipment to help furthertheir practice.

There are a number of rea-sons to join the Martial ArtsClub besides getting time to

practice various techniques.“There is the physical fit-

ness aspect, of course,” saidBriggs, “as well as a sense ofcamraderie among mem-bers.”

In addition, there is a tacti-cal aspect one learns from dif-ferent martial arts techniques.For every attack, there is amethod to counter or evadeit. “It’s a lot like playingchess,” Briggs explained.

Joining the Martial ArtsClub gives one the opportuni-ty to meet others with similarinterests.

“I have been involved withmartial arts for 10 years buthad nowhere to go to beinvolved with it,” said

Donnie Hinkle, a 20-year-oldliberal arts major, when askedwhy he joined the club. Hehas been a member of theclub for about two years now.

“It’s more personal thanformal classes,” ZhackZinman added, a 20-year-oldpolice administration majorand fellow member of theclub. Zinman has been amember of the club for almosta year and joined because,like Hinkle, he always had afascination with martial arts,but had nowhere to go toenjoy it.

The club’s friendly environ-ment was evident in how themembers casually talked andjoked with each other at a

recent meeting. Members areencouraged to show fellowmembers what they knowand to help others succeed intheir martial arts training.

In addition to their martialarts practice, the membersalso involve themselves incommunity service everyyear by going to Tyler Parkand cleaning up litter.

The Martial Arts Clubmeets every Tuesday andThursday from 12:30-1:30p.m. in Gym C. The club occa-sionally meets at other timesas well.

For more information, con-tact Briggs at briggsd@bucks.edu, or call(215) 968-8444.

Martial Arts club is going strong

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Richardson laid to rest near NY homeBy The Associated Press

LITHGOW, N.Y. — Asomber group of friends andfamily gathered in a smallHudson Valley town Sundayto say a final farewell toTony Award-winning actressNatasha Richardson.

Liam Neeson, in a dark suitand sunglasses, was at thehead of the casket as he andfive other pallbearers carriedhis wife's coffin into St.Peter's Episcopal Church,near the home where the twomarried in 1994.

He and Richardson's moth-er, actress VanessaRedgrave, waved to thedozens of reporters crowded

behind a police barricade onthe dirt road leading to thetiny white clapboard church.

The grieving family —including the couple's twosons, Micheal, 13, andDaniel, 12 — then paused toallow the media to photo-graph them in front ofchurch before the service.

Ralph Fiennes, AlanRickman, Laura Linney, UmaThurman and TimothyDalton were among thefriends who filed into thechurch on the chilly springafternoon.

After a graveside serviceunder a large green tent, the45-year-old actress wasburied in a nearby cemetery,

amid hilly horse farms about80 miles north of New YorkCity.

She was laid to rest nearthe grave of her maternalgrandmother, the actressRachel Kempson, who diedwhile visiting her grand-daughter and Neeson at theirhome in nearby Millbrook in2003.

Neeson and the Redgravefamily, includingRichardson's sister, actressJoely Richardson, visitedKempson's grave after theburial.

Richardson diedWednesday at a Manhattanhospital after falling whileskiing Monday at the Mont

Tremblant resort in theCanadian province ofQuebec. The New York Citymedical examiner's officesaid Richardson sufferedfrom an epidural hematoma,which causes bleedingbetween the skull and thebrain's covering. She wasn'twearing a helmet when shefell.

She costarred with futurehusband Neeson in the 1993revival of Eugene O'Neill's"Anna Christie."

The two married at theirsecluded Millbrook home thenext year.

The famous couple waswell known in this area,which counts many celebri-

ties among its part-time resi-dents.

"She was a lovely lady,"said local resident SteveLyall. "We'll miss her in thecommunity."

The ceremony Sunday capsoff a grim week duringwhich Neeson greeted astream of friends and familyduring a private viewingFriday at the American IrishHistorical Society.

Celebrities paying respectsthis week included DianeSawyer, Ethan Hawke andSarah Jessica Parker.

Theaters on Broadway andLondon's West End dimmedtheir lights this week inhonor of Richardson.

A Modern HypocrisyA weekly column by Centurion Editor-in-Chief Laura Irwin

10 Op/Ed Monday, March 23, 2009

Advertising forthe poor

I told you all that I got basic cable a few months ago, anupgrade from the zero channels I received for almost threeyears.

Not having the 100 HD channels that everyone these daysseems to have means that once midnight rolls around, there ispretty much nothing on to watch. This is when I saw the com-mercial.

This commercial was a cross between an infomercial and aregular “hard sell” commercial, where testimonials of cus-tomers who had to, for example, live with debilitating backpain were at the end of their ropes until (cue mystical music)PainBGon came and saved their lives!

You know the type. “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up,” or “Clapon, clap off.”

The commercial I saw was for a company much like Rent-A-Center, where a customer’s washer breaks and they need torent one until theirs is fixed or they want to have a party for thebig game, but they don’t own a big screen TV. Well, thanks tothis company, you can rent furniture, appliances and even elec-tronics without having to spend the big bucks to own. (Insteadyou are running up a huge bill on interest. You don’t even wantto guess what happens if you miss a payment!)

And then I heard the testimonial of a man that made me stopflicking the remote and literally say aloud to myself, “Youidiot.”

This guy starts talking into the camera about how he hasalways been working class and he always will be workingclass, so he was so happy when he found out about this rentalcompany because now “I can finally live above my means.”

Oh no you didn’t.This is why I can’t watch “Nightline” or “20/20” anymore,

where they feature in-depth analysis of the financial crisis.Because it seems pretty obvious what got everyone into thismess to begin with, and that commercial I saw is an explana-tion on a miniature scale.

You have the customer. They are average and not financiallybright. They see all these people on TV and in the media andout in the world with their big flat-screen TVs and huge homesand they want things too. And they can have it if they just bor-row the money for those things. It’s okay to be in debt becausethey have a job and eventually they will have paid off theirnew car debt and move toward paying off a new house debt. Itdoesn’t matter to them if the financing is doubling the price oftheir purchase, it matters that they have their stuff.

Listen to me: One man is as greedy as all the Wall Street menand CEOs—he just doesn’t have as much pull.

You also have the seller, the CEO, the big-man-on-campus.He’s your average college grad who worked their way up theladder and into a high-enough position that his actions on themarket have repercussions. He wants this guy in Minnesota topurchase a new house even though he really can’t afford itbecause he’s still going to make bank.

What’s he care about that guy? Mr. Wall Street worked hisway so high up the ladder that the distinction between peopleand names on paper is nearly indefinable.

And after enough transactions occur between these very twostupid stereotypes, the bottom fell out. Now, in between com-mercials that tell you in this tough market you should be finan-cially savvy and buy this new car over that new car, you see thenews report on who’s to blame.

My answer is, everyone who let greed take over.We live in a society that says you have to acquire things,

money to be successful. What society isn’t telling you is that it’snot a good idea to let your life be controlled by greed, one ofthe seven deadly sins.

The guy who wanted to live above their means and the guywho wanted to rake in as much cash as possible, you’re theguilty party.

My mother says to me not to worry about being in debt, thatI will be in debt for the rest of my life.

But, I refuse to fall into the comforts of credit cards. I don’tget to have a really cool iphone like my brother because I can’tafford it and although it would be awesome, I’d love to havemore than a handful of TV stations.

But I’m stopping myself from being one of the people toblame. I am stopping myself from being greedy too.

‘JenEric’ FoodManaging Editors Jen Golding and Eric Nocito like to eat

CulinArt specials...maybe a little too much.

LettersToThe

Editor

Got an opinion?

Agree or disagree?

Tell us in a letter to the editor.E-mail Editor-in-Chief Laura Irwin at

centurion@bucks.edu.

Dear John, Dear JaneAn open letter to those people who bother

Editor-in-Chief Laura Irwin somehowDear cab driver that hit my

car,

You jerk.I am not from the city, nor

am I accustomed to driving inthe city.

It appears that city drivingis dangerous and angry anddamages cars, but I have avehicle that I care aboutsomewhat, so your aggres-sive driving and behaviorwas not appreciated.

Here I am all dressed upwith my friend out on thetown when we are blessed bythe parking fairy with a per-fect spot in Old City.

I am preparing to parallelpark—I throw on my blinker,pull up to the car in front ofthe spot I want and throw itin reverse. And just as I amabout to let go of the gas,what do you do, but pull upright behind me.

Not cool, I’m trying to parkin this awesome space.

So when I give you a uni-versal signal (because as Ilater learn, you don’t speakEnglish) to back the hell up

before someone else pulls upbehind you, you ram into theback of my car.

Was that your universalsymbol for I am a total mis-creant?

Then, like the epitome ofnastiness, you pull aroundme, shoving more traffic outof your dented taxi’s way,and start yelling at me in alanguage that I do not speak.

It is not until you are fright-ened off by a meter maid,who called you the name of abodily orifice, when myfriends and I throw youanother universal symbol,and you peel off in search ofsomeone else to bother.

Listen buddy: you’re mess-ing with the wrong chick.

I am thankful that my carwas not damaged, as the last$30 I owe in financing is inthe mail and I await the title.

But, I was wearing a dress,and that doesn’t happen veryoften, and the whole waydown to Philadelphia wekept saying what a greatnight we were going to have,and you go and make sure

that before the great nightcould begin, we needed toremember why it is we hangout in the burbs more often—we dislike the creeps thatinfest our city.

By creeps, I mean the peo-ple who kill, rape, maim, rob,damage or commit any othercrime. And yeah dude,aggressively ramming intothe back of someone’s car asthey are about to park is onlya few ladder rungs downfrom snatching up an oldlady’s purse.

So, you suck. And I hope there is a red

spot on the front of your carand you got in trouble withyour boss. And I hope youdidn’t make any money allnight long and you’re goingto be late on your rent andhave to work overtime andthat no one gets into your cabbecause you’re mean. And Ihad to go find another park-ing spot too!

So get bent.

Thanks,Laura

The Buffalo Chicken WrapThis week, as we were lured into the cafeteria by the arousing odors of a cavalcade of pizza,

Danishes, the salad bar and the fried chicken stand, we had to bypass the specials because theydid not tickle our fancies.

Instead, we made our way to the most beautiful creature in the cafeteria, Diana, the wraplady, who makes a mean buffalo chicken wrap.

As our eyes met Diana’s, she knew what we wanted right away. Fried chicken, bleu cheesedressing, lettuce, tomato, and sharp cheddar cheese all wrapped up in tomato basil heaven. AsDiana’s hands labored at miraculous speed, our eyes were afraid to blink, for we were in aweover the creation of such a perfect entree.

They say the best things in life are free, but today this was not the case, nor was it a problem.We knew what we wanted and we weren’t ready to surrender to any obstacles such as pricethat got in the way of our buffalo chicken on a tomato basil wrap.

We sank our teeth into the floury, larger than average cylinder of pure pleasure. Our tastebuds were stimulated beyond comprehension and we dreaded the moment that would comewhen this euphoria would end.

The wrap was eerily delicious and left us shaking with pleasure, perhaps more so than lastweek’s chicken cordon bleu on a Kaiser. The tangy bleu cheese really put the wrap over the top,causing our bodies to convulse.

Eric, never one for self-control, began speaking in a British accent and inquiring aboutShakespeare’s new play at the Globe Theatre. Jen also got caught up in the excitement andbegan composing a musical symphony entitled “CulinArt harmony no. 9” as she reminiscedabout the collage of flavor between the tangy bleu cheese smeared against the steaming friedchicken.

The aftermath was more stimulating than anything we had ever experienced. Time crawled by so slowly as we anticipated the next time we could again sample such a

unique indulgence. Soon it became unbearable as our bodies went into intense withdrawal,and we became angered that the day would end without another glimpse into the heaven cre-ated by the wrap.

Well, to WRAP this up, let’s just say if you’re looking for a good time, hit up the Bucks cafe-teria and ask for the most savory delicacy on the menu: the buffalo chicken wrap.

Featured photo: ‘Bottom of myglass’

By Eric Nocito

11FeaturesMonday, March 23, 2009

contribute your photos by e-mailing ajpeg or pdf to centurion@bucks.edu

Optician an optimist despite cancer fightBY JOANNA SCHLICHERCenturion Staff

Tucked away in the quietcorner of the Gaslight VillageShopping Center inMorrisville is an unassuminglittle optical retailer calledNormandy. It standsbetween a pizza parlor and anail salon and one could passit by without noticing its exis-tence.

But, people certainly knowit’s there. In fact, the samecustomers have been comingback year after year, largelydue to the owner StephenSchmerling.

Schmerling, 51, has been inthe optometry business for 30years. He began working asan optician with his fatherwhen he was a teenager, andknew it was his calling. “It’sjust in my blood,” he said. Heeven met his wife of 22 years,Barbara, with whom he has ason, in the field. Through theyears, Schmerling has gottento know his customers well.They are like family.“Without a doubt, the mostrewarding part of what I do isthe customers,” he said.

Inside, Normandy Opticalhas the feel of a small, mom-and-pop shop. There’s a littlewaiting area. The selection offrames is not massive and theemphasis is on quality. Thewalls are lined with diamondstudded Gucci, flashyArmani, sleek Kenneth Coleand Kliik, a trendy line fromDenmark.

Behind the front desk sitsSchmerling, working to satis-fy his customer’s needs.There are no strict corporateguidelines Schmerling isforced to follow and it is obvi-

ous his customers appreciatethat. “I need something inex-pensive. The most inexpen-sive frame you have,” saidKaren Dopson, a longtimepatient and Lower Makefieldresident. Schmerling quicklydraws Dopson over to theframe boards. “I have these,which I think you’ll like,” hesaid pointing out a pair ofrimless Mandalay frames.“They are on sale.”

“What I like about Steve,”Dopson said, “is that he is soopen and honest about cost.He tells it like it is. You neverget the feeling he is trying tosell you something. He hon-estly has the customer’s bestinterest at heart.”

With rimless frames inhand, Schmerling marchesover to the desk and efficient-ly punches figures into a cal-culator, trying to determinewhether or not his prices arebetter than her insuranceplan. The total cost of theglasses is $225, whichSchmerling stresses Dopsonshould not worry about. “Paywhat you can now, and therest later.”

Day in and day out, every-thing appears to be businessas usual, and no one wouldknow Schmerling is not ingood health. In 2005, aftergoing in for a colonoscopy, hewas diagnosed with coloncancer. He had his colonremoved. Starting inDecember of 2005, there wasa year of remission. In 2006,he found out the cancer wasback. It had metastasized tohis lungs. “I remember theday I got the call, I sat downon the floor over there,” hesaid, pointing across theroom. “I was shocked it was

back. Cancer doesn’t run inmy family.”

Still, there is no sign of sad-ness or self-pity. AndSchmerling certainly doesn’tlook sick.

He cruises around the officewith the energy of a youngman. He is tall, with dark hairand stylish rectangularframes. He has lost some butnot all of his hair tochemotherapy, and does notlook frail. On the contrary, hecarries a little extra weightaround the middle from a selfprofessed ice cream addic-tion.

He said other than beingoverly tired from time to timehe can’t tell he’s sick. Herarely misses work due totreatments. “Chemo isn’t asbad as people think. It hasgotten much better over theyears. I’m not hanging over a

toilet afterwards or any-thing.” He does however,recall one day being so tiredthat on his way home hecould barely push the gaspedal down in the car.

Schmerling’s nonchalanceabout having cancer does notgo unnoticed. Mike Wojton,the optometrist at Normandy,has worked with Steve for 10years. “He just pushesthrough everything. He has apositive attitude. You willnever hear him complain.”

Through 2007 and 2008,Schmerling underwent threedifferent types of chemother-apy, and none were success-ful. He is currently beingtreated with “experimentalmedicine,” which his doctoris hopeful will work, perhapsafter the third round.

So what does Schmerlingattribute all the positivity to?

For one, his doctor's atti-tude is very upbeat and hope-ful, so that helps. Also helpfulare the e-mails he oftenreceives from customerswishing him well. But themoment reality hit Steve—that Ah-ha moment—came in2007 when Schmerling’sfriend and neighbor PoliceOfficer Chuck Cassidy wasshot in the head when walk-ing into a Dunkin Donutsduring a robbery; Schmerlingrecalls being in chemothera-py when the incident wasreported on the news. “Whata tragedy. Our sons playedtogether. You see, you neverknow when life is gonna end.I could die in a car accidenttonight. I could live with thecancer for 10 more years.”

And hopefully he does. Hisloyal customers hope so aswell.

STEVE SCHMERLING LOOKS TOWARD ONE DAY AT A TIME, AND HELPS HIS CUSTOMERS NO MATTER WHAT.

PHOTO BY JOANNA SCHLICHER

Volcano erupts in AlaskaBy The Associated Press

WILLOW, Alaska—Alaska's Mount Redoubt vol-cano erupted five timesovernight, sending an ashplume more than 9 miles intothe air in the volcano's firstemissions in nearly 20 years.

Residents in the state'slargest city were spared fromfalling ash, though fine graydust was falling Mondaymorning on small communi-ties north of Anchorage. Theash began falling around day-break and continued intomidmorning. They were sup-posed to end by noon.

Ash from Alaska's volcanosis like a rock fragment withjagged edges and has beenused as an industrial abra-sive. It can injure skin, eyesand breathing passages. Theyoung, the elderly and peoplewith respiratory problems areespecially susceptible to ash-related health problems. Ashcan also cause damageengines in planes, cars and

other vehicles.Elmendorf Air Force Base in

Anchorage told only essentialpersonnel to report to work.

The first eruption, in asparsely area across CookInlet from the KenaiPeninsula, occurred at 10:38p.m. Sunday and the fifthhappened at 4:30 a.m.Monday, according to theAlaska Volcano Observatory.

Dave Stricklan, a hydrome-teorogical technician with theNational Weather Service,expected very fine ash.

"Just kind of a light dust-ing," he said. He said the sig-nificant amount of ash proba-bly dropped immediately,right down the side of thevolcano. "The heavier stuffdrops out very quickly, andthen the other stuff filters out.There's going to be a very fineamount of it that's going to besuspended in the atmospherefor quite some time," he said."The finer ash is going totravel farther, and any ashcan affect aviation safety."

The 10,200-foot RedoubtVolcano, roughly 100 milessouthwest of Anchorage, lasterupted during a four-monthperiod from 1989-90.

In its last eruption, Redoubtsent ash 150 miles away intothe path of a KLM jet and itsfour engines flamed out. Thejet dropped more than 2 milesbefore the crew was able torestart all engines and landsafely.

Meanwhile, the volcanobecame restless earlier thisyear.

The observatory hadwarned in late January thatan eruption could occur atany time.

Increased earthquake activ-ity over the past 48 hoursprompted scientists to raisethe alert level for MountRedoubt on Sunday.

On Sunday morning, 40 to50 earthquakes were beingrecorded every hour.

A steam plume rising about1,000 feet above the mountainpeak was observed Saturday.

Monday, March 23, 2009

CCenturionenturion SSportsportsBY COLIN GERRITYSports Editor

The Bucks men’s basketballteam has finished their seasonwith a 9-16 record.

The Centurions’ season offi-cially ended on Feb. 11 inPhiladelphia in the first round ofthe Eastern PennsylvaniaCollegiate Conference playofftournament to the CommunityCollege of Philadelphia.

The Centurions were led thisyear by first-year Head CoachSteve Coyne, who took over theprogram from Coach GaetonCurione. The Centurions lost sixgames last season by a margin ofsix points or less.

Coming into this season Coynehad high expectations, since lastyear’s team was very competi-tive.

“As a coach you always havevery high expectations,” Coynesaid. “We would have liked tohave done significantly betterthan we did. As for my self itbeing my first year and for a lotof the players first year, we didvery well. We had a few gamesthat we let get away. Thosegames certainly would havemade our record significantly

better.”Even though the Centurions

were often times inconsistent intheir play, the season was high-lighted by some big wins.

The Centurions defeatedThaddeus Stevens College ofTechnology on Nov. 19, 44-30 onthe road, and knocked downMontCo on Dec. 6, 85-82 athome.

However, inconsistency andmissed opportunities seemed toplague the Centurions. Coyneemphasized the importance ofconverting your opportunities.“The core of our existence thisyear has been missed easy shots,too many easy shots missedwhen the opportunities werethere,” he said.

Missed opportunities anddefense were the key elementsthat needed to be corrected ifBucks was going to make a lateseason push toward the playoffs.And the Centurions did just that,by winning four of their last sixgames to finish out the season,and earning them the 8th seed inthe EPCC playoff tournament.

Coyne mentioned some adjust-ments that he and his team madetoward the end of the season tohelp spark the late success.

“We made a nice run at the endof the season,” he said. “I believethe players finally understoodwhat it meant to play good hard-nosed defense. In almost anysport, whether it is basketball orfootball, defense always prevails.We increased our defense pres-sure and we started to focus bet-ter. We had better concentrationonce we stepped in between thelines.”

The season will ultimately bejudged by wins and losses. Butteam Co-Captain Chris Shafferthought that the effort and heartwas definitely present in theteam throughout the season.

“It was a good season at mostpoints. We had a lot of freshmencome in, and four returningsophomores. We came in think-ing we might not have as muchtalent as we did last year, but wemade the playoffs. We lost in thefirst round but the fact is wemade a playoff run, and got in. Itwas a good season and a goodoutput by all the players,” hesaid.

Moving forward for next sea-son, Coyne knows that his teamwill need to improve on somekey areas such as defense andrebounding, in order to take the

next step toward the ultimategoal, the EPCC championshipcrown.

“We will be implementing adifferent style of ball next yearand improving on the defensiveside. We were not non-competi-

tive this year. And as I told theteam, I don’t think there is anyteam out there that was thatmuch better than us. We need towork on improving our concen-tration and focus especially onthe defensive end for next year.”

Basketball team strives to improve

COACH COYNE IS READY TO UP THE DEFENSE FOR THE CENTURIONS NEXT YEAR

PHOTO BY COLIN GERRITY

Bad breaks for Bucks

were costly in playoffsBY COLIN GERRITY Sports Editor

In a physical game, the Centurions weredefeated by Community College of Philadelphia86-60, in the first round of the EPCC playofftournament.

During the Feb. 11 game at CCP, Bucks suf-fered three crucial injuries, including one toteam Co-Captain Chris Shaffer. Shaffer, one ofthe Centurions’ main scoring threats, broke hisnose and had to be taken out for the remainderof the game.

“My nose just would not stop bleeding, Iwanted to go back into the game for the team,”he said.

Facing a very athletic and physically strongCCP team, Bucks started out well and held alead in the first 10 minutes of the game.

But CCP started to take control in the secondquarter.

“Philly came out at us strong,” said Shaffer.“We held an early lead for the first five-to-10minutes of the game, but then Philly started tomake shots. At the same time we missed easylay-ups and didn’t capitalize on our three-pointplays. We didn’t get to the foul line enough aswell.”

At halftime Bucks was down by 11. Shaffertalked about how important it was for the teamto come out strong in the second half.

“In the second half we came out all fired upbecause we didn’t want the season to end,” hesaid.

In the second half Philly maintained its leadand never looked back.

CCP Coach Robert Deshields wanted his team

to be prepared defensively. “As a team we had to watch out for their

shooters, we wanted to make sure we defendedthem. It was a tough, physical game. The gamein itself was pretty exciting. We always havetough games against Bucks. They are a formida-ble opponent,” Deshields said.

Bucks Head Coach Steve Coyne was disap-pointed by the result but not by the effort of hisguys.

“We did in fact lose to a very talented Phillyteam. They were very athletic and strong. Forabout the first 10 minutes of the game, we hungin with them and were actually beating them.”

The loss brings an end to the Centurions’ sea-son.

And for Shaffer, the loss marks the end of hisbasketball playing career at Bucks.

“It was upsetting because we didn’t want togo out losing that way to Philly,” said Shaffer.

He added, “But I have to say it was a goodseason. It was a good output by the players andwe made the playoffs. I was happy about that.”

The men’s basketball program will now lookto regroup and prepare in the coming off-sea-son, in an effort to improve its league play andto qualify for the playoffs again.

Coyne knows how important preparation is,especially in the EPCC.

“The EPCC is a very fast and athletic league. Idon’t see that changing much as far as next yeargoes. Our defense has to get better, that’s a bigpoint of emphasis,” said Coyne.

“I would also like to see us be able to take careof the ball a little better. Turnovers have a ten-dency to put our team in a compromising posi-tion,” he added.

Phils fans excited to

start a new seasonBY MICHAEL ELYCenturion Staff

On Oct. 29, 2008, the PhiladelphiaPhillies won the World Series forthe first time in 28 years.

The Phillies players are whatmake the fans come and enjoy eachgame they play. When a particularplayer gets injured, Phillies fansmake sure the player comes back toplay.

“I believe that Chase Utleyinjured his hip and is going to havesurgery. I’m glad we can get thattaken care of and have Utley playas soon as possible,” said KyleWasko, 24, a biology and chemistrymajor from Doylestown.

“I find the offense for the Philliesis solid, however the pitchingseems to need some adjustmentsand players who can deliver,” saidDoug Neff, 19, computer sciencemajor from Morrisville.

“I was really happy the Phillieswent to the World Series, it’s been along time since we had the chanceto experience that excitement,” saidstudent Kirsten Wolfe.

One of the many good thingsabout Philadelphia fans is that theystay loyal to teams in pursuit of thechampionship.

“I know that with a new seasonmany things are possible to happenwithin a period of time, but I think

the Phillies shouldn’t lose sight ofbecoming the World SeriesChampions again,” said Wolfe.

During last year’s World Seriesgame five, the weather stretchedthe game out over a two-day span,and caused the fans’ frustration.

“When I saw that the weathermade it hard for the Phillies to playgame five of the World Series, Iwas rather disappointed that wewere so close yet a couple daysshort of achieving it”, said ValriePagan, 18, a education major fromFairless Hills.

The World Series coming toPhiladelphia showed that youdon’t have to be a longtime fan toenjoy the exciting atmosphere ofwinning a championship.

The Phillies are determined toshow the fans that their success willnot be limited to one season.

“Being a Phillies fan, I would sayI was with them from start to finishand saw them grow as the timewent on. We needed this to hap-pen for the city of Philadelphia tohelp us realize were capable ofbecoming World SeriesChampions,” said WendyStrassler, 20, an early childhoodmajor from Doylestown.

Neff said, “The Phillies winningthe World Series made for a greatstory to share with your friendsand family.”