the new paltz oracle, volume 84, issue 3

NEW PALTZ ORACLEoracle.newpaltz.eduVolume 84, Issue III Thursday, September 13, 2012

INSIDE THIS WEEK’S ISSUE OF THE NEW PALTZ ORACLE.....

..

THE

Library Renovations Suspended

STORY ON PAGE 6ALL PHOTOS BY ROBIN WEINSTEIN

TURNING THE PAGESTORY ON PAGE 7 STORY ON PAGE 4

NEW PURPOSE? AUDIT ACTIONNew Paltz Discusses Potential Government

Center At Middle School Site

Town Calls Special Meeting After Reports Indicate

Former Mismanagement

Incident: DrugsDate: 9/9/12Location: Joalyn Road / Route 299Male subject arrested for criminal possession of marijuana.

Incident: Petit LarcenyDate: 9/9/12Location: HDH Male subject reported that P/P’s unknown stole his umbrella from an unsecured rack near the main cashier.

University Police BlotterDisclaimer: This is only a partial listing. For all incidents,

please visit the University Police Department.

SUNY New Paltz University Police DepartmentEmergencies: 845-257-2222

About The New Paltz OracleThe New Paltz Oracle

SUNY New Paltz. Our circulation is 2,500. The New Paltz Oracle is sponsored by the Student Association and partially funded by the student activity fee.

The New Paltz Oracle is located in the Student Union (SU) Room 417. Deadline for all submissions is 5 p.m. on Sundays in The New Paltz Oracle oracle@hawkmail.

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by the business manager. Community announcements are published gratuitously, but are subject to restriction due to space limitations.There is no guarantee of publication. Contents of this paper cannot be reproduced without the written permission of the Editor-in-Chief.

The New Paltz Oracle is published weekly throughout the fall and spring semesters on Thursdays. It is available in all residence halls and academic buildings, in the New Paltz community and online at oracle.newpaltz.edu. For more information, call 845-257-3030. The fax line is 845-257-3031.

Volume 84

Issue IIIIndex

Five-Day Forecast

Thursday, Sept. 13Sunny

High: 80 Low: 58

Friday, Sept. 14Partly Cloudy

High: 79 Low: 60

Saturday, Sept. 15Partly Cloudy

High: 78 Low: 65

Sunday, Sept. 16Showers

High: 71 Low: 60

Monday, Sept. 7Partly Cloudy

High: 75 Low: 59

NEW PALTZ ORACLE

THE

NEWS

THE GUNK

EDITORIAL

COLUMNS- CATERINA DE GAETNO & MARIA JAYNE

SPORTS

THE DEEP END

FEATURES PG. 2B A&E PG. 7B SPORTS PG. 13

FOLLOW THE ORACLE

1B-12B

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Andrew Wyrich EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Rachel FreemanMANAGING EDITOR_________________

Maria Jayne NEWS EDITOR

Katherine Speller FEATURES EDITOR

Carolyn Quimby ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Cat Tacopina SPORTS EDITOR

ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR_________________

Samantha Schwartz

Robin Weinstein PHOTOGRAPHY EDITORS

Julie GundersenCARTOONIST

_________________

Suzy Berkowitz

Greg Bruno

Caterina De Gaetano

Elyse Hennes

Molly Hone

Angela Matua

Adi Chun-McHugh

Tanique Williams

COPY EDITORS

Clarissa Moses ASSISTANT COPY EDITOR_________________

Katie TruisiWEB CHIEF

Joe NeggieMULTIMEDIA EDITOR _________________

Kayla WeinsteinBUSINESS MANAGER

Mark Carroll DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

Jaleesa Baulkman,, Nicole Brinkley, Jimmy Corrao, Beth Curran, Kelsey Damrad, Dean Engle, Nick Fodera, Ethan Genter, Roger Gilson, Faith Gimzek, Elexis Goldberg, Maeve Halliday, Ricardo Hernandez,

Zach Higgins, Mathew John, Brian Kearney, Ben Kindlon, Katie Kocijanski, Eileen Liebler, Kaycia Sailsman, Jack Sommer,

Pete Spengeman, Emily Sussell, Ryan Walz, Howard YewSTAFF

In Issue 2 of this semester, an article titled “For The Love of Die Pfaltz” listed Owner of Team Love Nate Krenkel’s last name inncorrectly as “Krenkl.”

WANT TO WRITE FOR THE ORACLE!STOP BY OUR NEXT STORY MEETING ON:

SUNDAY, SEPT. 23 AT 7 P.M. IN STUDENT UNION 403.

The New Paltz Oracle 3oracle.newpaltz.eduNEWS

Thursday, September 13, 2012

The SUNY New Paltz University Police Department (UPD) recently sent an email to all students regarding its lat-est updates.

The UPD launched a new anony-mous telephone tip line in July. Students can use the telephone tip line to alert the UPD about concerns, crime tips, sug-gestions and complaints.

The tip line is a recorded line that students can call at 845-257-2230, or dial 2230 from any campus phone.

Chief of Police David Dugatkin said he hopes the tip line will encourage stu-dents to be more forthcoming with in-formation.

“Sometimes somebody just might be a little more comfortable knowing that no one is going to know who they are and if that’s what it takes to get some

-gatkin said.

Fourth-year psychology major Nat-alie Felsenfeld said she agrees that an anonymous tip line will increase student input for the UPD.

“People will more openly call in with tips and complaints when they know it cannot be connected back to

have social phobias of talking to an ac-tual person, a machine is much easier to

The anonymous telephone tip line is accessible 24/7 and checked every day Dugatkin said. Callers can remain anon-ymous if they wish or can leave contact information if they would like the UPD to reach them for a follow-up or the re-sults of an investigation.

In addition to the anonymous tip line, students can send the UPD anony-mous messages and criminal activity

on the UPD website or emailing them at [email protected].

Considering that so many students rely on social media to gather informa-tion, Dugatkin proposed that the UPD set up a Facebook page.

“It’s very user-friendly, it’s easy,

The UPD Facebook page, at Face-book.com/newpaltzuniversitypolice, will provide updated UPD information, crime prevention tips and information regarding upcoming RAD and other training sessions offered by the UPD.

Dugatkin said the user-friendly Facebook page allows students to view UPD updates on their cell phones while walking down the street, as opposed to

sitting on a laptop. “The students know they can just

simply log on, maybe read an update or give me something that I need to be

-

the main reason of doing this is to help

Although the new Facebook page is an addition the UPD is very proud of, fourth-year Women’s Studies major Kate Montelione expresses a different opinion.

“I don’t understand why the creation of a Facebook

Montelione said. “Making a Facebook page is much less important than put-

names on their website or extending the frequency and convenience of the RAD

The Police hope the new updates will not only help the UPD connect with its student body, but also encourage students to play a larger role in campus safety. Dugatkin said the anonymous tip line has worked a couple of times already and the Facebook page has ac-

than two months.

By Elyse Hennes

Copy Editor | [email protected]

UPD Updates Technology

The SUNY New Paltz University Police Department recently launched a Facebook page.PHOTO COURTESY OF FACEBOOK

SUNY New Paltz is planning to add a mechanical engineering program to the School of Science and Engineering.

Dean of Science and Engineer-ing Daniel Freedman said the curricu-lum will be a pivotal addition to the Hudson Valley.

“Industries in the area are having a -

taking in students from the region and training them here, they’re more inclined

In 2007, the School of Science and Engineering housed 90 undergraduate engineering majors, and this year the program has doubled to 180 students,

Freedman said. -

schools to offer degrees in mechanical en-gineering.

Freedman believes mechanical engi-neering will give SUNY New Paltz an-other asset to attract prospective students.

“This program will raise New Paltz’s

more people to the department, but it will

This expansion will provide under-graduates with new class offerings, more laboratories and increased opportunities for interdisciplinary activities, Freedman said. Associate Professor and Chair of the department of Electrical Computer En-

-

gram will strengthen not only the science and engineering department, but the arts as well.

Izadi said. “In our view, students who have a background in both art and engi-neering will be high in demand by the high tech industry. Future products have to be technologically sound, but designed in such a way that attracts consumers. Students at New Paltz will have the re-

Although plans for the program are already underway, students should not expect to see any changes until fall 2014.

“We’re in the process of expanding Resnick to house lab facilities and fac-

-ize our curriculum, we’ll send it through the SUNY application process. This

time next year, we hope to recruit some

class for the program would be by 2014. Freedman said constructing a new

program is an exciting endeavor.“From the point of view of an admin-

istrator, adding a new program is a lot of -

grams are created by combining existing curriculum, but this is entirely new. Ev-eryone is really excited. The idea has been tossed around for 10 years, but last year

Izadi said he is anxious to see how

“Now more than ever, undergradu-ates will have more options for interdisci-plinary courses and collaborative research

Mechanical Engineering Major Set To Open By 2014By Maria Pianelli

Contributing Writer | [email protected]

The New Paltz Oracle4 oracle.newpaltz.edu NEWS


NEWS BRIEFS WORLD

The death toll from a pair of devas-

Wednesday to 314 people.

A senior Cuban diplomat says her coun-try is prepared to negotiate a solution in the case of a jailed American contractor,

FACTORY FIRE

SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED

near the gate of the temporary home of

one person.

TEAMING UP ON TEHRAN-

lies have persuaded Russia and China

-rael that diplomacy is an alternative to

military force.

ROYAL REMAINS

-

eight years ago.

FLIRTATIONS WITH FARMINGDeep in the North Korean countryside, in remote villages that outsiders seldom

nearly one-third of their harvests to sell

CUBAN CONFINEMENT

Compiled from the AP Newswire

held a special board meeting on Thursday, Aug. 30 to discuss the recent release of a state Comp-

--

According to an Aug. 31 article in the Kingston Daily Freeman -

The article also said one of the issues found

the meeting that she had anticipated the report to be this distressing.

-

-

money that may be out there that she and the -

--

-

the Aug. 31 report in the Kingston Daily Free-man.

-

-in Barry both agreed to start a committee in

-

before that time.

Town Board Addresses Financial WoesBy Cat Tacopina Sports Editor | [email protected]

able to incorporate Apple iPads into their library

to students during the 2012-13 academic year, as long as the students present their ID cards at the

The library has 10 iPads to offer as part of

During the three-hour period that students have the iPads in their possession, they can

-plete assignments.

a large role in setting up the iPad lending pro-gram, said the iPads have more capabilities than

-

said. “The iPad turned out to be a device that can do much more than an e-Reader. There are many apps available on the iPad that can be used productively and creatively for studying and

for students remain to be seen.

-

be more convenient.

-

-vantage of the iPad lending program for assign-

ments that can be easily accessed online. “Basically, most of the assignments are

reading assignments, and [for those assign--

said.

of technology into the renovated library space

technology to support conferencing and virtual

Sojourner Truth Library Offers iPadsBy Danielle VabnerContributing Writer | [email protected]



NEWS BRIEFS NATIONAL

The City Council approved a plan Wednes-

the largest holdout in the U.S. The ordi-

by March 2014.

prophet killed the U.S. ambassador to

attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.

SOMETHING IN THE WATER?

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE

in the poverty rate.

Christian-oriented Hobby Lobby Stores

employers to provide coverage for the morning-after pill.

THE NILE HIGH CLUB

West Nile virus cases are up 40 percent

years of 2002 and 2003, federal health of-

THROWING MONEY AWAY

-ing people into the streets until a pick-up blocked their path and they had to

surrender.

Compiled from the AP Newswire

FINDING A NEW HOBBY

BLOODSHED IN BENGHAZI

The 54th student senate held their second meeting of the semester on Tues-

-ing services, library renovations and facial

--

send people interested in the positions on the Judicial Hearing Board to him.

-

said he spoke to Dave Serino, the assis-tant director of environmental and asbes-

reasons the library construction contract

monitoring samples have been done and

this time.

Jonathan Espinosa said at the last aca-

made to recreate the liberal ad hoc com-

the liberal arts guidelines. Espinosa said he amended the student

elections for academic senate are sched-

-

be held on Monday, Sept. 24 at 7:30 p.m.

Committee, council board members and

the importance of getting charters in by Oct. 12.

Sen. Yaritza Diaz addressed last

Judicial Board candidates. She said there

lack of diversity among the candidates.

the debate. She said the previous candi-

for the position.

Diaz said. “These meetings are open to everybody, these committees are open to a

that through the discussion, not during the

Senate reports included discussion on the concerns regarding Hasbrouck Dining

students their food on the hot line, the goal of putting printers in residence halls

hours.

the meeting about campus dining services.

options available. Deutsch said students

about individual issues.

-cerns Committee, one member to the Uni-

three members into the Constitution and

One seat is available to students for

seats on the Academic Senate, four seats

seats on the Educational Technology

Senate Goes Over Campus ConcernsBy Elyse HennesCopy Editor | [email protected]

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71 Main Street, New Paltz, N.Y. 845-255-5858 Open Daily: 9am - 9pm Except: Tuesday: 7:30am - 9pm; Friday: 8am - 9pm

Major renovations of the Sojourner Truth

The New Paltz Oracle 6 oracle.newpaltz.edu NEWS

By Caterina De Geatano [email protected]

Library Construction Suspended

In a press release on Tuesday, Aug. 28, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the creation of New York’s “Path Through History,” a statewide roadmap detail-ing New York’s most important historic sites, their locations and popular events. Included on the map is New Paltz’s own Historic Huguenot Street.

The map will work to promote tourism and economic development in many of New York’s most enriched his-torical preservations.

“‘The Path Through History’ will highlight the rich history that exists in New York State by showcasing more

-cant sites and historic milestones,” Gov. Cuomo said in the press release.

The tourism plan will include

customized themes for the 200 sites throughout New York State. The themes include arts and culture, canals and transportation, civil rights, colonial his-tory, innovation and commerce, Native Americans, natural history, the revolu-tion, sports history, U.S. Presidents, War of 1812 and women’s rights.

The press release mentioned a grant of $1 million to implement the tourism plans. Funding will be used to add more than 200 new signs to highlight these historic sites on major state roads, such as the New York State Thruway.

“On the thruway [signage] is par-ticularly costly,” Executive Director of Historic Huguenot Street Tracy Doo-little McNally said. “The state is going

signage on the thruway and at exit 18.”Ashley Trainor, an intern at His-

toric Huguenot Street and a third-year

history major, said the “Path Through History” will bring more advertising to the hidden area of town.

“There’s so much history at Histor-ic Huguenot Street and a lot of people don’t know it’s there,” Trainor said. “It’s not a place that’s advertised a lot.”

McNally said she was enthusiastic about Cuomo’s announcement, and she hopes that such a statewide project will continue to bring economic prosperity into New Paltz, especially Main Street.

“Hopefully, more tourists will be getting off the thruway and may want to shop and dine in town,” she said. “Therefore, this project may contribute to the economic welfare of New Paltz.”

Nally said Historic Huguenot Street was selected to be in the top 200 sites under the state’s criteria. In order to be on this list, the historic area must be an authentic site according to historians

connected to the “Path Through His-tory.”

McNally said Historic Huguenot Street was chosen because it has unique buildings that were created in the early 1700s.

Historic Huguenot Street would like to collaborate with the Senate House on joint tours between the two historic sites, which could create an increase of tourism for both, McNally said.

According to Trainor, students and the elderly from the area are for the most part the only individuals that visit the colonial historic area. However, the new statewide project will hopefully increase the site’s popularity as a place like no other, she said.

“It’s truly a magical place, and I’m glad Governor Cuomo thinks so too,” McNally said.


New Paltz Town Council members voted on July 26 to explore the idea of turning the New Paltz Middle School into a government center for both the town and village.

Town Supervisor Susan Zimet said she put this proposal on the meeting agenda because the town and commu-nity have been talking about the idea since her last term on the board.

“In the light of consolidation and the possibility of us having to merge and create one building, the town is starting to look at options and the middle school idea came back on the table,” she said.

Zimet said another reason for the proposal is that the current town and village halls are in terrible condition.

“[The town hall is] incredibly un-healthy and we as a town board have to take action,” she said. “It is going to cost a lot of money to put together a smart-all-needs facility but right now we’re always spending money on emer-gency repairs and we need a new town hall.”

The building would not only lend enough space for both the village and

senior center, a youth center, basketball

courts, a 90 Miles off-Broadway The-ater and many other public uses, Zimet said.

Although she said taxpayers might see this as a costly endeavor, she be-lieves over time, New Paltz will save money by having one government center.

“We want to bring the government and police back to the middle of the vil-lage where they need to be,” she said. “We’re paying $65,000 a year to have the police out of the heart of the village and we’re never going to see that mon-ey again — that’s a 10 to 12 year lease that’s close to a million dollars just to pay for the police.”

At the last Board of Education meet-ing on Sept. 5, School Board President Patrick Rausch invited Zimet to speak about this proposal. However, he said the board has not yet decided to make any changes to their campuses.

“If we’re going to work this, we need to be working the numbers and see if this makes sense before it goes to the public,” Rausch said. “You may work

for the town and village and there may be none for the school — we have to

Town Council Member Kitty Brown said she believes the move would ben-

if it will materialize.

they are still unaware of the school board’s intentions.

“I can think of a lot of great uses for the Middle School if it’s for sale, but if the school board thinks its best use is as a school and they aren’t interested in selling, end of story,” Brown said.

Conversely, Zimet said this propos-

al is the beginning of many conversa-tions and it is a long-term goal that must be decided by the village, town, school district and taxpayers together.

“I have always believed in my long political career that working together is working better and we can’t do things alone and we solve problems better working together,” Zimet said. “I think in these hard economic times we really have no choice anymore, and we need to look long and hard where we need to solve our problems.”

By Maria Jayne

News Editor | [email protected]

Middle School Considered For Government Center

PHOTO BY ROBIN WEINSTEIN


Historic Huguenot Street Highlighted In New York Roadmap

New Paltz town council looks to middle school for prospective government center.PHOTO BY ROBIN WEINSTEIN

By Ricardo A. Hernandez Jr.

Staff Writer | [email protected]

The New Paltz Oracle 8 oracle.newpaltz.edu AD


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The GUNKThe GUNK Thursday, septmeber 13, 2012

PHOTO BY SAMANTHA SCHWARTZ

H. D. Dick’sFresh Cut From Front Street

Story on page 2B

The GUNK

The New Paltz Oracle2B oracle.newpaltz.edu


FEATURES

Who let the dogs out in New Paltz? H.D. Dick’s, located at 15 N. Front St. in New Paltz,

which celebrated its soft-opening on July 27, offers a frank alternative to the town dining experience, owner Jim Garo-falo said.

Garofalo and LuLin Fong, his wife and business part-ner, have been in the hotdog business for about 25 years, Garofalo said. Despite no formal culinary training, the two owned and operated a hot dog truck called “Hot Dig-gity Dogs” for years before leaving to pursue other business ventures.

It wasn’t until a close friend fell ill that Garofalo said they considered returning to work.

“This guy was just the nicest and funniest guy,” Garo-falo said. “When he got sick, he encouraged us, saying he remembered how much fun we had when we did this.”

Their late friend, Richard, known as Dick for short, left such a mark on the couple that they named their new res-taurant in his memory and “Hot Diggity Dick’s” was born.

The restaurant’s name attracts the attention of curious students and townies alike as they stroll down Front Street, employee and third-year sociology major Anna Mazzotta said. Little kids and college students both double-take and

laugh at the name she said, but the owners are always happy to rehash the origin story to their customers, a part of their intimate rapport with their clientele.

“We like to take names when we take orders, that way we can personalize each one,” Fong said.

Fong said it is not uncommon for someone to call out

customer. The owners relish opportunities like this that let them grow closer with the New Paltz community.

“Everyone has been very friendly, some businesses have even offered physical help if we need it,” Garofalo said.

Garofalo said the local culinary top dogs have even em-braced the small restaurant and created a very welcoming atmosphere. He said he doesn’t want the shop to be com-petition to the old favorites, but rather an alternative and creative option.

Garofalo said the restaurant serves an abundance of classic combinations including hotdogs, hamburgers and fresh-cut fries — what he refers to as the “core” of his menu. He hopes to expand on these favorites, introducing addition-al breakfast and dessert options in the coming months.

Fong said she and Garofalo want to reach out to the campus culture, even shaping their menu to include locally-themed delicacies including the “Hawk,” the “‘Mohonk’ Slaw Dog” and the “‘Gunk’ Cliff Hanger.”

“We’ve taken into account that we’re in hawk-country now,” Garofalo said.

Garafalo said that — as their walls riddled with athletic-themed magazine covers hint — they hope to indulge sports fans and eventually offer the space for game-watching once their TV is installed.

Until then, Fong said customers can still stop in to eat and maybe take home a doggy bag.

Though the couple has created a Facebook page for the shop, Garofalo said he is better acquainted with a more hands-on approach to social networking. On certain nights, when students are roaming the streets, Garofalo said he hands out his home-made potato chips, urging them to stop in some time for a bite.

“It’s awesome, this community and warmth,” Garofalo said. “This is what New Paltz is all about.”

Frankly, My Dear, They Give A DogH.D. DICK’S SETTLES IN WITH THE FRONT STREET FAMILY

By Katherine SpellerFeatures Editor | [email protected]

PHOTOS BY SAMANTHA SCHWARTZH.D. Dick’s serves up a creative alternative for town dining.

Scan this QR code with your smart-phone, or visit our award-winning website to see our exclusive video of New Paltz’s newest hotdog joint.

The New Paltz Oracle 3Boracle.newpaltz.eduF!"#$%!&


Most college students only dream of a road trip with bud-

dies, but the 2012 SUNY New Paltz Solar Car Team made it

a reality when they raced through eight states in eight days.

The annual American Solar Challenge pits American and

Canadian collegiate solar car teams in an elite cross-country

race. On July 14, qualifying teams charged up their cars for

the unforgiving course of 1,650 miles from Rochester, N.Y.

Seven SUNY New Paltz students obsessed over the car

-

neering, physics, business and art majors, focusing on their

specialties during the building process, Raymond Williams, a

To optimize performance, Williams said the team de-

voted two years to designing and researching an improved

version of the car and an additional year to build it.

Stover said one of his teammates spent every day in June

-

shop.

Williams said that the team had roughly half the car com-

With a limited budget of $80,000, Stover said the New

Paltz team prided itself on being resourceful. They re-used

the centered seat mold from previous races to create the car’s

shell.

Stover said the team also had to thriftily reuse batter-

ies from the previous year leading to battery problems that

the horn.

SUNY New Paltz completed 96 laps out of the required

106 due to battery problems, but judges granted the team pro-

in Erie, Pa.

had closed.

Since it was early in the race, Williams said the judges

generously lifted their provisional status in light of their un-

fortunate circumstances. Other provisional teams weren’t so

fortunate.

Williams said the team raced daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.,

4 p.m.

Recharging the car via solar array occurred from 6 to 8

p.m., but alumnus Julian de la Rua said the downtime was

you learn sitting in a classroom. You just don’t forget it over-

On the road, three approved drivers switched off after

the racing was fun, it was highly demanding given the limited

the temperature of the car was never below 100 degrees Fahr-

enheit, sometimes reaching 120 degrees.

-

Team advisor Professor Michael Otis said that with a

-

By April CastilloContributing Writer | [email protected]

SOLAR CAR TEAM RACES ACROSS EIGHT STATES IN EIGHT DAYSChasing The Sun

The New Paltz Oracle4B oracle.newpaltz.edu F!"#$%!&


Residents of Rosendale should brush up on the rules for surviving a zombie apocalypse.

SUNY New Paltz graduate, Lara Hope and co-organizer Elena Brandhofer were inspired by Newburgh’s Psychedelic Zombie Fest three years ago and decided to organize their own festival to celebrate the living dead. The third annual Zombie Fest will be at Willow Kiln Park in Rosendale on Sept. 22 at 6 p.m.

A parade is planned for the evening bringing together zombies, zombie hunters and survivors on Main Street. Hope said they will be providing a zombie facepainting booth and a costume contest will also take place.

Hope also said the festival brings together multimedia,

She hopes to bring out an older crowd to the festival this year. The events began at 1 p.m. in previous years but after listening to input from attendees, she decided to push it back.

“Both years people told me that they thought it would be a better festival at night,” Hope said. “I saw the way both the Newburgh and the Saugerties zombie festivals went into the night, and I think it is just easier to get more people out later.”

Apart from organizing the festival, Hope will also be performing with her band Tigeriss. The Arkhams, Pitchfork Militia and Nine Inch Elvis are the other bands slated to play. Actor Zach Zito will also read from Edgar Allen Poe’s

“The Tell-Tale Heart.”“Zachary is a theatre professional who has donated nu-

merous prizes to the festival since it’s start three years ago,” Brandhofer said. “We are ecstatic that he was able to vol-unteer his talents to perform this chilling piece for us this year.”

Lead singer for Pitchfork Militia Peter Head said he

“We have a particular upstate brand of music that we like to call ‘Apocabilly’ and well... zombies and the apoca-lypse seem quite related,” Head said.

Pauline Uchmanowicz, a professor of English at SUNY New Paltz, attended the festival last year and said she likes that the parade is all-inclusive.

“This is the best part of the festival, it’s all ages,” Uch-manowicz said. “It’s just a fun community event.”

Uchmanowicz said she also enjoys watching people pa-rade down Main Street in their homemade costumes and that the costume contest winner is determined by applause.

Vendors will also be selling zombie-related merchan-dise. Hope said she doesn’t know exactly who will be vend-ing at the festival this year, but that last year’s Zombie Fest included zombie jewelery, comics and stickers. A baker also provided zombie brain cupcakes.

To end the night, Hope and Brandhofer will show the movie “Carnival of Souls” at the Rosendale Theatre.

Hope said she has high expectations for this year’s Zombie Fest.

“This one will be bigger, better, scarier, darker and more fun,” Hope said.

By Angela Matua Copy Editor | [email protected]

By Maria Jayne News Editor | [email protected]

Hitting the

BooksKeep up with the latest

faculty writing projects!

Attendees of last year’s Zombie Fest parade down Main Street in Rosendale. PHOTO COURTESY OF LARA HOPE

Calling All Zombies ROSENDALE HOSTS THIRD ANNUAL ZOMBIE FEST

Author: Professor of History Michael A.Vargas

Title:

in the Fourteenth-Century Dominican Convents”

Subject: The book is about a period in the history of a Christian religious order, the Order of Friars, usu-ally called more simply, the Dominicans, after their founder Dominic of Calaruega.

-sion: they wanted to be the most learned men in ur-ban society so that they could teach others how to follow God. That was in the thirteenth century. By the fourteenth century, however, the men inside the order were learning how to take advantage of the re-sources and status that the order — since it was now very powerful — offered them. They would sneak out at night to play gambling games, to hang out with women, etc., they ate meat against the rules of the order, etc.

How long have you been working on this?

The book expanded upon themes raised in my doctoral dissertation. If you go back to my earliest research, then you might say that I worked on this for about 10 years before it was published.

When was it published?

In 2011 by Brill.

How is it unique?

Three things, I’d say. First, I have confronted an older way of looking at religious organizations. That old story of rise and decline is too simplistic. Instead I look at system failures in the organization and the

-tion.

Second, to get to this understanding I drew not only from earlier studies by historians, but also from theories and studies by anthropologists, cognitive sci-entists, institutional and social theorists. So, my work is interdisciplinary in a way that readers have found new and interesting.

Third, part of the book does a lot of counting of the activities of individual friars in a way that has not been done before.

All of that hard work of counting is, from a methodological perspective, something that histo-rians don’t often do. But one of the results of that counting is something really important. I was able to show that what historians used to say about the im-pact of the Black Death is not true.

WORDPRESS.COM

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By Katherine Speller [email protected]

COPY DESK

COOKOFF:

Each week, one of the members of our Copy Desk will share their culinary chops with you. Bon appetit!

“Ramen Noodles“By Tanique [email protected]

BOOK REVIEW

Unfi nished BusinessWallace’s Final Work “The Pale King” Brushes With Boredom

Are you a faculty member interested in having your published work featured in the weekly column “Hitting The Books?”

Contact Maria Jayne at [email protected]

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The Last Good Book I Read: ‘Ten ways to be adored when landing a lord’ by Sarah maclean

PHOTO COURTESY OF BLOGSPOT.COM

Romance novels are typically associated with the idea of being trashy. Picture the dollar books on the shelves at Target with dramatically dressed women clad in ripped bod-

across it, like “Lily Loses Her Love” or something equally terrible.

Sarah MacLean is not an author I would associate with terrible romance novels.

Not because there aren’t ripped bodices or awful titles, but because they’re well plotted with brilliant characters.

Take a look at the second book in her Love by Numbers series, “Ten Ways To Be Adored When Landing A Lord.” Does the title and the cover scream stereotype? Of course. But the plot and the characters do not.

The novel opens with Nicholas St. John’s life turning upside down as he’s published as one of the top bachelors to land in London. In an effort to escape from his newfound stardom, he takes a commission from a friend to hunt down his runaway sister when he meets Isabel Townsend.

Isabel runs a home for girls who have nowhere else to

go, who need to escape arranged marriages or abusive hus-bands or otherwise unhappy homes.

Nicholas’ arrival could ruin everything Isabel has worked hard to build — after all, what she’s doing isn’t ex-actly legal. And the only way Nicholas can bring home his

Both lie to each other about what’s going on, even as both begin to fall in love with each other.

And here’s the thing about the book: it’s not just about Nicholas and Isabel falling in love, though of course that’s a major part of it. It’s about the vulnerability of Isabel’s house and her position as a lady in charge of a runaway home and what could happen. The stakes aren’t just in the hearts of the romantic leads, but the lives of many women who don’t have anywhere else to go.

The plot doesn’t merely rise and fall with the love story. There are character faults the two need to overcome in order

The side characters actually have depth and aren’t just stock

So the next time you see somebody reading a romance novel, stop and think. Is it really a senseless bodice-ripper?

By Nicole Brinkley Staff Writer | [email protected]

1-800-462-1944 | Hamden & North Haven, Connecticut

At Quinnipiac University, our students are our main focus. It’s why we offer 23 graduate degrees in fi elds ranging from business to health sciences. It’s also why Quinnipiac was ranked a top 10 northern regional university offering a full range of masters-level programs by U.S. News & World Report and second in the northern region in U.S. News’ Up-and-Coming Schools category.

To fi nd out how Quinnipiac can help you succeed in your career, call 1-800-462-1944, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.quinnipiac.edu/gradstudies.

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ARTS ENTERTAINMENT&

By Zameena Mejia

The New Paltz Oracle7Boracle.newpaltz.edu

Artwork In BloomTEAM LOVE RAVENHOUSE GALLERY SHOWCASES NEW PALTZ ALUMNA

Artist Jan Harrison will perform her multimedia piece “Animal Tongues,” as part of the Dorsky’s exhibition “Dear Mother Nature: Hudson Valley Artists 2012” on Saturday, Sept. 15, at 2:30 p.m.

Linda Weintraub, guest curator at the Dorsky, said the theme of the exhibi-tion is “the condition of the planet today as interpreted by members of a profes-sion known for sensitivity and original-ity — artists.”

Weintraub said the artists are creat-ing environmental art which ensures the well-being of our planet.

Harrison said that Mother Nature constantly expresses herself in different ways.

“[Mother Nature] expresses things she feels very strongly about — some-times she shows anger at the way the earth and its inhabitants have been treated, and she has a right to, but she also shows joy, and nurturing, as well as strength and vulnerability,” Harrison

said. “She expresses a kind of wisdom that displays both parts of our psyche.”

Harrison’s performance piece “Ani-mal Tongues” originated in a dream she had in 1979. That same year she completed a piece, titled “The Tongue

spoke and sung in “Animal Tongues.” She said “The Tongue Drawing”

inspired “a lifetime body of work, of paintings and sculpture,” including “Animal Tongues.”

as “different animal beings expressing themselves and interacting with other animal beings, as well as with me, and with the audience.”

Weintraub said that Harrison’s exhi-bition works with both verbal and non-verbal language, and her physical “mo-tion helps convey her meaning.”

“Animal Tongues” involves sing-ing, chanting, dancing, sculpture and audience interaction and participation. Harrison said she will ask questions that range from playful to serious, but they will all give the audience a chance to

connect with Mother Nature, one of the primary goals of her piece.

Harrison has been performing the

caress the surface of her pastel paint-ing, “Big Cat — Mountain Lion with Foliage Fur,” and then the animal be-ings come alive, sharing their distinct voice and language with the audience.

She said the sculptures in her per-formance, made from fusing wax and pastel together, portray the limitless-ness of nature.

“Nature knows no boundaries,” Harrison said.

Harrison said the dialect is not a literal representation of animal sounds, although there are animal sounds with-in the “tongues.” She said her piece is not an interpretation of these sounds, but “animal nature speaking and sing-ing” through her voice.

species,” she said. “They come from the dream world, and they speak from the collective animal spirit and soul. They are Mother Nature.”

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By Erin McGuinnessContributing Writer | [email protected]

The Call Of The WildARTIST JAN HARRISON SPEAKS AND SINGS IN “ANIMAL TONGUES”

MUSIC DEPARTMENT HOLDS FACULTY SHOWCASE FOR STUDENTS

Professors extended their appreciation for music beyond their classroom walls at the Fac-ulty Showcase. The performance, sponsored by the music department, was held in McKenna Theatre on Tuesday, Sept. 11.

“We want the students to hear us play,” Carole Cowan, chair of the music department said. “I want students to be inspired to practice and love music as much as we do.”

The evening’s program included a variety

the show playing a three-movement piece by Russian composer Reinhold Gliere on the vio-lin, accompanied by Professor Susan Seligman on the cello.

Adjunct Professor Ruthanne Schempf continued the program by playing another three-movement piece called “African Sketch-es” composed by Assistant Professor Nkeiru Okoye on the piano.

said. “I’m nervous, but as soon as I start play-

playing against each other. One is actually based on a children’s clapping game.”

Adjunct Professor Rachel Grasso per-formed a piece called “Un Seul,” written by Kalmen Opperman, her recently deceased, for-mer clarinet professor. She said the piece was challenging not only because it’s a solo, but also because of the music technique it demands.

Having performed the piece years ago when she was a clarinetist in the U.S. Military

Band, Grasso is familiar with its complicated

memory of her teacher. “The piece shows the tone of the clarinet

and has a beautiful lyrical sound to it,” she said. “I thought it would be a great way to show what the clarinet can sound like when you get to a certain level and I want my students to be able to see what it’s like to see their teacher per-form.”

As the concert continued, the professors varied their sound with a mix of classical and contemporary pieces.

Adjunct Professor Gregory Dinger per-formed two pieces contrasting in genre. The

electronically composed by Adjunct Professor Bob Lukomski, and the second, “True Love,”

a classical guitar piece composed by Dinger himself.

The night ended with jazz standards per-formed by Professor Vinnie Martucci on the piano and Assistant Professor Mark Dziuba on the guitar.

The show’s variety captured the audience, largely made up of students, and demonstrated the importance of being passionate about the subject you teach.

“It’s a great idea for the faculty to dem-onstrate what they sound like,” Grasso said. “They’re not just teachers, they’re also per-formers. A picture’s worth a thousand words. If a teacher knows how to play, it’s a great way to demonstrate to the students that they’re on top of things and that way [the students] can think, ‘I could probably do that.’”

PHOTO COURTESY OF JANHARRISON.NET

By Suzy BerkowitzCopy Editor | [email protected]

“Big Cat — Mountain Lion with Foliage Fur” by Jan Harrison

Performing Professors

A!"# $ E%"&!"'(%)&%"The New Paltz Oracle9Boracle.newpaltz.edu

Ushering In New TalentTHEATER DEPARTMENT HOLDS AUDITIONS FOR FALL SEASON

The SUNY New Paltz theater department is once again opening the curtains to their 2012-13 season. This fall, the Mainstage will feature two dramas and an unexpected Blackbox production — an original musical written by a New Paltz theater major.

The Mainstage productions include “Crimes of the Heart,” the Pulitzer-winning tragic comedy, and the Shakespearean tragedy, “Macbeth.” The Blackbox production, “The Dark I Know Well,” fourth-year the-ater performance major Alex Eisen’s original musical set in 1930s Germany, will run between the two dra-mas.

The theater department held auditions for all three productions on Sunday, Aug. 26, from noon to 6 p.m. in McKenna Theatre. Professor Jack Wade, chair of the theater department, said students have many op-portunities to learn about seasonal auditions, including a student’s own passion.

“We really rely on people’s interest in theater to bring them into the theater,” he said.

Wade said the department sends out a mass email with information to all theater and pre-theater majors

ery semester, he said announcements are printed on the callboard, located in the lower level of McKenna Theatre, for interested students.

While non-theater majors are welcome to audi-tion, Wade said the department’s primary focus is to train theater majors for the industry, because produc-tions are an opportunity to apply classroom theory and practice.

“We really have to make sure that over the course of the four years here, performance majors have the opportunity to work onstage for a live audience,” he said. “We keep the season open to anyone outside the major and quite frequently we do cast outside, but we do tend to use majors more than non-majors.”

Third-year theater performance major Erin Thom-as said some students might be disappointed because

er than two or three weeks in. “If they just talk to people and get on the list, then

they’d know about the next auditions,” Thomas said. “But you’ve kind of got to seek it out.”

Auditions for this season’s productions included two monologues that could not exceed two minutes total, one contemporary and the other Shakespearean.

jor, said although she was nervous for her Shakespeare audition, the department did an adequate job of pre-paring her and other theater majors.

The department held a workshop on Saturday, Aug. 25, where students could present their mono-logues to peers and faculty and receive constructive criticism.

“After performing my pieces in front of everyone, I felt a lot more comfortable and rehearsed so [the workshop] really prepared me for the audition,” Rios said.

By Hannah Nesich

Contributing Writer | [email protected]

Thursday, September 13, 2012PHOTO COURTESY OF YOUTUBE.COM

VISIT “THE ORACLE” ONLINE!

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Tokyo, New York City and the

Two new exhibitions, “Russel

“Shinohara Pops! The Avant-Garde

sky, said the exhibition has been a

She said she hopes the exhibi-

tion will inspire students’ interest in

“One hopes [the exhibition] re-

“Shinohara Pops! The Avant-

exhibition on Ushio Shinohara, was

Shinohara, now a New York-

reer, but also how his innovative ap-

to Shinohara, who she said has been

By Molly Hone


The New Paltz Oracle10B oracle.newpaltz.edu A!"# $ E%"&!"'(%)&%"

Cultural ComplementsDORSKY MUSEUM SHOWCASES TWO ACCOMPLISHED ARTISTS

I think it’s about time Steven Mof-fat and I have a little chat. After watching the most recent episode, “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship,” a bacchanalian orgy of rep-

confused.Before this reads of bitterness and old

fogey yearning for the older days, let me say that I love the increased attention and budgets of the show. It means people care.

But maybe we’re getting a little too excited here. For a show that once made a rolling garbage disposal into a menac-ing genocidal monster, the scrappy inge-nuity that shaped the show’s character has been less and less apparent as plotlines and twists become more grandiose. We’re the street urchin who gorges on a buffet, or that possum who broke into that Australian bak-ery, ate too many pastries and then couldn’t move.

We’ve got so much going on in so lit-tle time that it’s almost as if we have noth-ing to hold on to and carry away. Things are too fantastical in the Whoniverse and,

once more. The episode was lighthearted and

family-friendly with environmentalist un-dertones and featured an interesting “Who-canon” explanation for the disappearance of Queen Nefertiti from Egyptian records. It’s the right sort of romp for the kids to enjoy, but not entirely satisfying as a stand-alone episode.

Because, in the end, despite shiny ef-fects, dinosaurs and Arthur Weasley (guest star Mark Williams), all the razzle-dazzle leaves me wondering where the adorable,

me asking “Moffat, why won’t you look at

KATIE’S “DOCTOR WHO” CONFIDENTIAL

THE DOCTOR IS IN:

By Katherine Speller

| [email protected]


Crawling To The TopANIMAL COLLECTIVE’S NEW ALBUM IS A STEP AHEAD

MUSICIAN(S) OF THE WEEK:MIKE BLANDINO & MATT HUNTER

In an era of independently produced electronic music, few artists attempt to step out of the formula that others

anything legitimately unique in the pop music scene. With the recent release of Centipede Hz, Animal Collective con-tinues to challenge the boundaries of what makes music, music.

Centipede Hz, released Sept. 4, is another testament to the band’s groundbreaking sound. With a diverse selection

refreshing reminder of the band’s capability to create sur-prisingly dynamic sounds while still providing an experi-ence that is distinctly Animal Collective.

Centipede Hz is the perfect introduction to Animal Collective’s famous, but occasionally overwhelming multi-dimensional sound. The album is satisfying to fans, while also delivering a more appealing experience for the mainstream listener. Centipede Hz also doesn’t have any of the shouting found in other songs which makes the album

easier on newcomers’ ears. Centipede Hz uses relatively consistent rhythm and

where songs spontaneously explode with sudden tempo increases and vocal breakdowns. Don’t get me wrong, this album has spontaneous exploding (the song “Today’s Su-pernatural” delivers plenty of that) but nearly all the other songs play with a recognizable rhythm that continues as expected throughout each track. In this album, the group seems to concentrate more on delivering songs that experi-ment with complexity and have slight variations in rhythm instead of throwing out all the traditional aspects of music.

What really sets Centipede Hz apart from the rest is its energy— almost all of the songs are jam songs. Most of the songs are fast and electric, and the ones that aren’t provide the Collective’s typical chill, relaxed vibes. If you can remain seated through “Moonjock,” (the album opener that begins with a distorted voice reminding you, “This is the new”), then this band may not be for you. From the mind-blowing complicated patterns and melodies to the loud, fast songs, you won’t be able to prevent yourself from dancing to this album.

If you are a fan, you will love this album. Centipede Hzlistening through Strawberry Jam (2007). If you have nev-er listened to Animal Collective before, then Centipede Hz is the perfect album to start with. Overall, it’s a fantastic,

Animal Collective discography and keep fans looking to-ward a very bright future.

By Brandon MissigContributing Writer | [email protected]

YEAR(S): Fourth

MAJOR(S): Contemporary Music Studies &

Jazz Guitar Performance

DO WANT TO BE...YOU

Contact Carolyn Quimby at [email protected]

MUSICIAN OF THE WEEK?

CHECK OUT SANDWICH FRIDAY BY SCANNING THIS CODE WITH ANY SMARTPHONE!

WHAT’S YOUR INSTRUMENT OF CHOICE AND WHY?

Mike: Believe it or not, it’s the saxophone. I always go back to it. Matt: natural habitat.

A!"# $ E%"&!"'(%)&%"The New Paltz Oracle11Boracle.newpaltz.edu

WHAT’S YOUR PLAN FOR THE FUTURE?

Both Sandwich Friday and The Queen Latifah Bandits will be releasing albums within the school year.

WHO HAVE YOU BEEN LISTENING TO LATELY?

We’ve been listening to a whole ton of ‘90s Hip Hop. Biggie’s been our summer.

WHAT ARE YOU INVOLVED WITH MUSICALLY?

Mike: I’m the president of Male Call, and Matt is the musical director. I’m also in Absolut A Capella.

We also have a folk-pop comedy duo, Sand-wich Friday, and The Queen Latifah Ban-dits. (Our four man, food themed, Queen Latifah based Rap Troupe.)

ANY ADVICE FOR ASPIRING MUSICIANS?

Remember to eat a Fat Sandwich every day. That’ll help to make good music.

Animal Collective Centipede Hz

PHOTO COURTESY OF BLOGSPOT.COM

Contemporary Music Studies &

Jazz Guitar Performance

Contemporary Music Studies &

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SAMANTHA GILIO CAPTION BY SAMANTHA SCHWARTZ

This Week in

Major: Art History

Minor: Visual Arts

Year: Fourth

“I constantly attempt to force myself to see the

world in a di!erent light. I try to draw inspiration

not only from what I see, but from what I feel.

Creating art allows me to focus on what I care

about most. ‘Art is the elimination of the unnec-

essary’ -Pablo Picasso”

SAMANTHA GILIO

tHe Deep ENDThe New Paltz Oracle12B oracle.newpaltz.edu THE DEEP END

We at The New Paltz Oracle

Editorials represent the views of the major-ity of the editorial board. Columns, op-eds and letters, excluding editorials, are solely those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the views of The New Paltz Oracle, its staff members, the campus and university or the Town or Village of New Paltz.

! e New Paltz Oracle 9 oracle.newpaltz.eduEDITORIAL

CARTOON BY JULIE GUNDERSEN

TOWN TROUBLES ARE OUR TROUBLES


COLUMNSCATERINA DE GAETANO

Copy Editor

[email protected]

COLUMNSCATERINA DE GAETANO

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10 oracle.newpaltz.edu OPINION The New Paltz Oracle

MARIA JAYNE News Editor

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MARIA JAYNE

[email protected]

Up until a few years ago, I wanted to be a doctor. It wasn’t just your typical child’s play, though. A Fisher Price doc-tor kit wasn’t good enough for me. I had a real one. This was serious business!

The kit contained a real doctor’s stethoscope, a blood pressure cuff, two sets of scrubs, a white lab coat and sy-

in the Bronx, courtesy of my aunt, the nurse. I took the kit everywhere, forc-ing my friends and family members to be my patients while I checked their blood pressures and heart beats.

Ironically, I hated English class in school and loved biology. I preferred dissecting a frog to writing an essay on Shakespeare or anything like that. My freshman year of high school, I already decided I would take physics (some-thing I really had to force myself to do) in order to make it into AP Biology

my senior year. And I did it. I was get-ting ready to attend college and study pre-med and possibly move on to med school at Albany Medical. I was pre-pared to a T.

Senior year was at its peak and then something happened. I didn’t want to study medicine anymore.

I visited so many colleges and toyed with so many majors. I thought physician’s assistant, psychology, edu-cation, music and even thought about not going to school at all. Journalism never crossed my mind. In fact, my

I went to, the editor of the Chronicle, the school paper, came to my class and encouraged us to get involved. I actu-ally wrote it off so quickly, I didn’t even think twice about it.

journalism, but it found me.

Chronicle

orchestra. It was good — for a chapter book! I have come a long way since then, and I will never forget my time there. I am afraid I won’t get a job af-ter all is said and done and, sometimes, I think about the alternative. What if I had sucked it up and just followed the plan? Well, I guess I would be studying for my MCATS right about now rather than writing this column for the Oracle.

I don’t know exactly why I left my dream of becoming a doctor, but I found something very special. Journal-ism may not always be glamorous, but it is the coolest job in the world. I get to be a psychologist, politician, athlete, musician, doctor and engineer for a day. I get to experience everything and learn about a variety of topics. Instead of dis-secting cadavers, I get to dissect peo-ple’s minds. Because everyone has a story to tell, and it’s my job to extract it.

Why I Didn’t

Go To Numbers

School

If some of you don’t know, this is my last semester (tipping my hat to Juli-eBird). I believe that I’m supposed to set time aside to acknowledge my achieve-ments and think about all the wonderful lessons I’ve learned, but the only thing I can think of is how I still don’t know what a vector is or how to solve one.

School but for some reason, my teacher

course, that is not a proper excuse, but it was good enough for me. I passed the class and I moved up to pre-calculus and we decided to put these triangles in the past.

Then when I got to college the only class I took was “Statistics and Public Policy.” This course was essentially drawing bar graphs and eating Star-

pink squares in an average bag. I was always good at math because

I never tried to rationalize it. Math was like this illegitimate stepbrother who I didn’t have to pay attention to as long as I made sure he wasn’t getting into trouble. Math sat quietly in his room and played with his imaginary integers while I moved on in my education.

Now that I’m done with math class-es for the foreseeable future, I’d like to say that maybe trigonometry wasn’t all that helpful. So you can take your hy-potenuse and shove it up your quadrilat-eral and call it a day. I will never again

ure out your own shaded area when the ladder is up against the house.

Sorry if this was an unnecessary tangent, but sine and cosine aren’t that useful either.

I Have The Bird Flu

Have Something You Want To Say? Write Us A Letter!

Email [email protected]

Changing Course

“NUMB SKULL” BY RYAN PATRICK HANRAHAN AND JULIE GUNDERSEN

They’re a team that, when com-pared to others, is one Matt Giufre took a quick liking to.

fun teams I’ve coached in recent years,” Giufre, the head coach of SUNY New Paltz’s Women’s Volleyball team, said. “The personalities on the team click ex-tremely well.”

With an 8-1 record and a seven-game winning streak, the Women’s Vol-leyball team has begun to distinguish themselves as a force to be reckoned with during the fall 2012 season. As a

expectations are high for a team that said goodbye to a talented senior class in 2011.

The conclusion of the fall 2011 sea-son saw the team make it to the confer-

Cortland for a second consecutive year. Despite the heartbreak, the Lady Hawks channeled all of that into preparing for this upcoming season.

“We recommitted ourselves to the weight room and becoming an elite team,” Giufre said. “I didn’t know what to expect coming into this season. When you’re split up over the summer, you wonder if the momentum gets lost dur-ing those months. It was clear though once they came back that they were go-ing to follow through on what they’ve been working for.”

The current roster is smaller than in previous years, which is both a strength and weakness for fourth-year player Dana Vosilla.

“There’s only 12 of us, so we re-ally strive for that unity which can take a team to the next level,” Vosilla said. “It’s one team, one heartbeat.”

While the lower numbers bring the team closer, Vosilla said it makes prac-

available and can work together.However, the personalities coming

together so well has helped to diffuse the problem.

“Our team is already so close,” Vosilla said. “We have the talent to do well and we have a mental toughness that’s the strongest I’ve played with while being here.”

Fourth-year Michelle Jacobson said

come in. She said the new players have been able to come in and make a place for themselves on the team.

“They’ve really stepped up for us and proven they can compete and make an impact,” Jacobson said. “They’re go-

ing to really help us when it gets later in the season and everyone starts to get a little bit tired.”

Giufre also said the rookie players will come in and help the Lady Hawks, pointing out Becca Borquist as a player to look out for.

“She’s been great for us already, and our freshmen have bought into the ‘team

sonalities blend extremely well with the veterans. They’re all in it to the end.”

The team will continue play against Johnson and Wales University on Sept. 14, but is focusing on strengthening their cohesiveness as a team even stron-ger, which will help to carry them far.

“They’re more close-knit and self-less than some of the other teams I’ve coached,” Giufre said. “They challenge one another to bring out the best of themselves.”

The New Paltz Oracle 11 oracle.newpaltz.eduSPORTS

The SUNY New Paltz Women’s Volleyball team is 8-1 on the season, and plans to continue their success as the season goes along. PHOTO BY ROBIN WEINSTEIN

THE NEW PALTZ ORACLESPORTS

PERSONALITYPROWESS

By Cat TacopinaSports Editor | [email protected]

The New Paltz Oracle12oracle.newpaltz.edu SPORTS


Cross Country Off To Solid Start

SUNY New Paltz’s Field Hockey team is upping the ante this fall season.

Currently holding a 2-1 record and starting off strong, Head Coach Shanna Vitale has plans to make tangible improve-ments.

intensity throughout practice and the game,” Vitale said.

Vitale plans to implement a game strat-egy focused on “organized defense.” She also said she is teaching her team to be “re-lentless on attack” while striving to “instill good (technically sound) habits for game play.”

Keeping the season’s strategies in mind, Vitale is shooting to “win the big games.” For the past three seasons as head coach of the team, Vitale has 25 victories to her cred-it. With more wins than any other coach in

SUNYAC Coach of the Year award, she said her ambition for this season is to keep mov-ing forward.

One of the “big games” in their sights is the SUNYAC tournament, which they quali-

second year in a row. “This year, we hope to host and win [the

tournament], come November,” Vitale said. Depending on the outcome of the rest

of the season, they also aim to compete in the NCAA tournament.

They are already off to a strong start with a 3-0 win over William Paterson Uni-versity (1-2), which took place on Wednes-day evening at Wightman Stadium in non-conference action.

Third-year forward Alicia Aragosa be-lieves the team is strong and deep.

“We brought in freshmen with a lot of talent this season and the rest of the team has really improved on all the basic skills,” Aragosa said.

Vitale has faith that her players will really step up to the challenge, especially Alyssa Stock, Amy Lee, Madeleine For-rester, Alicia Aragosa, Lauren Link and Toni Pjetri.

“Our freshman class is very good,” Vi-tale said. “They will challenge our return-ers.”

Aragosa has already tallied two goals and four shots on goal this season, some-thing she plans to keep up throughout the season.

“Personally, I want to score as many

goals as it takes to win and not back down,” Aragosa said.

The team believes their determination instilled within the team’s dynamic enables the possibility of a season of great plays and will be a key component for the team’s suc-cess.

“Everyone we play will be our big-gest competitor,” Vitale said. “We cannot look past any team. We have four nationally

ranked teams on our schedule this year, so we do have a challenging schedule.”

Aragosa said that, whatever the chal-lenges may be, the team is ready to face them head on.

“We are going to have to work very hard but we are more than capable of win-ning and everyone on the team knows that and is going to be striving for that,” Aragosa said.

By Adi Chun-McHugh


Field Hockey Sticks To Winning

As the summer months end, the leaves change color, the weather gets colder and SUNY New Paltz’s Cross Country teams heat up.

The Hawks Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams opened their season by taking home their respective titles at the New Paltz Invitational on Aug. 31. The Women’s team took second place honors at the Vassar Invi-tational on Sept. 7, while the Men’s team took third.

At the New Paltz Invitational, second-year

time of 13:33. Fourth-year Nichole Wischoff

competitions were New Paltz runners.

“With every new season, runners get a little bit stronger and more experienced,” Head Coach Mike Trunkes said.

Trunkes said new members and key re-turners are imperative to the men’s team’s suc-cess. Rob Gorski, a third-year transfer from Marist, and Ithaca High School standout and

additions, Trunkes said. Trunkes also said fourth-year Shawn

Gannon’s return to the squad this year after an injury kept him on the sidelines last fall will also make a difference. Despite not running with the team for a year, Trunkes said Gannon is in “great shape.”

The Lady Hawks are returning all of their members from last season’s regional team. Trunkes said runners second-year Bridgette

--

year runners Kelly Mahoney and Rachel Levy

to make an impact on the team. “They’re both very strong and have al-

ready inserted themselves into the top seven,” Trunkes said.

Wischoff said the New Paltz Invitational was important for the team, which is looking to come out strong and stay strong.

is to come this season,” Wischoff said. Wischoff also said the team is at its stron-

gest and she expects them to do well this sea-son.

Wischoff aspires to be in the top 35 at the National Championships and to receive All-American honors. In order to reach these goals, she upped her training regimen from running 70 miles a week to 80 miles a week.

“The higher the volume, the stronger you become. It’s all about building a really strong aerobic base,” Wischoff said.

Ultimately, Wischoff said, a team berth for nationals would be the “coolest thing ever.”

-lete at the New Paltz Invitational. The victory

the races increase in distance in correlation to season. The goals he set for himself before the

even surpass them. Scher’s main mentality, however, is team-

“The only [goal] that I really care about is the team goal, because I know how much it would mean to everyone on the team and to Coach [Trunkes],” Scher said.

Like Wischoff, Scher increased his run-ning workload for the summer as he went from a weekly mileage of 50 miles to 65 to 70 miles.

With a good foot off on the season, Trunkes and Wischoff said if the team remains strong and continues to grow, they will be competitive when championships and region-als roll around.

By Zach Higgins

Staff Writer | [email protected]

With the heart of a lion, Chelsea Weir has risen up to make a name for herself.

teams.

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New Paltz Soccer Welcomes WeirBy Greg Bruno

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Men’s Rugby Team Secures First Win Of Their Season

Groggily pulling myself up from my newly-acquainted friend’s couch, I felt sore and overly-exhausted. Three un-deviating days of snowboarding and a night of drinking in Wanaka, New Zealand had nearly sucked my energy dry. Despite the aches and pains, I felt fantastic. It was mid-se-mester break for Otago University, and I was posted up in a

the world, according to National Geographic’s

coming true. This was the day I was to go to Snow Park NZ. When I managed to pull my eyelids apart, I noticed

Benji was already awake and readying himself. I had met Benji two days prior while snowboarding at Cardrona, one of the mountains surrounding the town of Wanaka. He and I were both invited by a mutual friend, Omri, to couch-surf

I wasn’t surprised when Benji told me that he was an avid surfer hailing from the northeast coast of New Zealand’s North Island. Like most of the Kiwis I’ve encountered, he was an amicable, chummy guy from the minute we met. In

perfection over several years of knowing one another. We loaded our gear and snowboards into Omri’s car,

a beaten-up red suburban smothered with dirt from previ-ous trips to Cardrona. He lent Benji and me the car for the

American dollars) shuttle from Wanaka to the mountain. We rushed to the New World grocery to get the necessities: two loaves of bread, hot pork cold cuts, processed cheese slices, cheap microwaveable meat and cheese pies and, of course, two dollar pizza buns for breakfast. Equipped with enough food and water for the demanding day that lay ahead of us, the two of us charged the mountain in our junky red gas guzzler.

Unlike the roads up to the ski resorts in the States, New Zealand’s ski resort roads are unpaved and exorbitantly bumpy. The drive seems like an unsafe off-roading experi-ence, jumbling on the bumps and skidding around the long winding turns on loose gravel. Almost always it’s required that you carry chains. Guardrails to protect you from tum-bling down the side of the mountain from the ghastly drop off the end of every one of those turns are non-existent. Yet, Benji still thought it amusing to pull “Tokyo Drift”-like ma-neuvers around several of them. In the right-side passenger seat, I nearly self-defecated three times.

Snow Park NZ is considerably smaller than other mountains in the country. However, this “small” mountain packs a big punch. Once arriving at the car park of Snow Park NZ, I felt just like my ancestors must have when Moses led them across the Red Sea to the land of milk and honey. In front of me stood my promised land, the mecca of the Southern Hemisphere’s park riding.

Snow Park NZ holds the title of being the most promi-

nent and highly acclaimed terrain park this half of the globe has to offer, according to Trans World Snowboarding maga-zine. It’s home to Red Bull’s Performance Camp, a week- long summer session hosting professional skiers and riders sponsored by the energy drink company. Stacked with a

foot super-kicker this past August, Snow Park NZ proves itself to be an excellent setting for the progression of skiing and snowboarding.

For those of us who aren’t lunatic enough to hit those features, there’s the option of taking on the “Box Run,” a trail consisting primarily of rail and box features, along with the choice of a two-jump line or a wall-ride leading to ad-ditional box features nearing the bottom of the run. The trail

them set up properly by the laid-back, providing and inno-

vative park crew. I was able to hit at least eight tricks on any given run. From strapping in all the way down to the sole chairlift the mountain operated: features, features, features.

Benji and I were ecstatic for the entirety of the trip, repeatedly exclaiming nearly every chairlift ride how un-believably amazing the park and half pipe were and how happy we were to be there. At the end of each run, I was more than eager to get to the top and do it again and again. As Kiwis would say, it was “sweet as.”

loaded the car. We headed back down the sketchy mountain road, slipping on gravel and slopping around corners.

As we drove by Water Bar, one of the more popular pubs among the youth in Wanaka, we noticed that it was

and readying ourselves for another trip there the next day.

The New Paltz Oracle14 oracle.newpaltz.edu SPORTS

Snow Park WonderlandANALYSIS:

BEN KINDLON

New Zealand Correspondent [email protected] [email protected]

A skiier taking to the skies at Snow Park NZ. PHOTO COURTESY OF FLICKR USER HDEB89

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HYTHM

LUESHIRTS

&

LUESHIRTSLUESHIRTS

Another season’s end is thankfully on the horizon for the Mets.

While us fans who bleed orange and blue are unfortunately accustomed to sea-son endings that feature no semblance of “meaningful games” in September, this season in particular stings.

Mere months ago, the Mets were the cinderella team of baseball. The team was near the top of the NL East standings, Jo-

no-hitter and the ragtag Mets seemed to have the spark and spunk that playoff-bound teams are made of.

Boy, how things have changed. Sure, the team still has some bright

spots — most notably R.A. Dickey’s un-

likely quest for a Cy Young award — but now the Mets’ true colors are showing. Their starting pitching depth was not enough to propel them past the All-Star break, their offense is streaky at best and another late season plummet in the stand-ings has left many empty seats at Citi Field.

For some, this fall from grace was foreseeable. No one — not even me — ex-pected the Mets to contend this season. All of the PR and slanted talk aside, this team was clearly in a state of transition, whether they wanted to use the term “rebuilding” or not.

That being said, it was hard not to be-lieve in them earlier this season. Maybe, just maybe, this team had what it took to perform above their expectedly low expec-

tations. Despite the fact that the Mets are

heading toward yet another losing season, there are reasons to be optimistic about the team’s upcoming seasons.

The team’s starting pitching depth should develop into a strong point over the next few seasons. Matt Harvey, who solid-

earlier this month, has shown the MLB the talent that made the Mets choose him

continue to develop into a front-end start-

breakout season we had all been waiting for.

Other arms such as Jennry Mejia and Collin McHuh give the Mets back-end op-

tions and Zach Wheeler — one of the top prospects in all of baseball — continued to pitch well at AAA Buffalo.

Besides the youth making their way up the farm system, the Mets will also

plans this year — meaning a more com-petitive team is likely on the horizon.

General Manager Sandy Alderson will undoubtedly address some of the team’s most glaring needs — including power hit-

— through free agency or trades. So chin up, Mets fans. This sea-

son might not be the most entertaining to watch or fruitful in terms of wins, but things should be better sooner rather than later.

Reasons To Believe

Rhythm And The BluesThis will be Gary Bettman’s third lock-

out. This will be his second lockout in eight years.

Okay, nothing is set in stone. The Col-lective-Bargaining Agreement [CBA] doesn’t end until Sept. 15. However, just about ev-eryone with any sort of interest in the NHL knows it’s highly unlikely for games to start on Oct. 11 like they’re scheduled to.

It’s more than likely that NHL hockey will be back before the Winter Classic, but an extra three months is a long time to wait. It’s a shame players won’t be able to play for a few months, but the real trouble involves people who work in the arenas these players compete in. People who work there depend on that money for their home, their families’ well-being, school and to simply get by. Shutting down the league is going to place hundreds of people between a rock and a hard place.

The lockout is cause for plenty of anger, grief and frustration among fans, so much so that Rangers columnist Andrew Gross re-cently wrote about it on Northjersey.com and called for NHL fans to put off the league for good.

For the record, I can’t help but agree with just about everything Gross said. Though it’s a small fan base, the NHL fan base is a pas-sionate one. It’s a demographic of people who live and die by their teams. Like Gross

said, the NHL counts on the blind loyalty of its fans;; it’s a blind loyalty that allows us to overlook everything Bettman and his goons have put fans through since 1994.

And I wish I was strong enough to say I could turn away from the league like Gross thinks NHL fans should. But that’s the trouble with this whole thing. I’m not an NHL fan, I’m a New York Rangers fan.

I could never turn away from this team. It’s one of the only things I know.

What can I say? The New York Rangers, as pathetic as it may sound, have been an in-tegral part of mine and my brother’s and my parent’s lives since the day I was born. Some

feature my older brother Joe and I sporting New York Rangers garb. Madison Square Garden is the site of many dates my parents went on before they were married.

of my heart splintering slowly into fragments. It was in Section 336, Row K, seat 12. It was the night Mike Richter suffered his career-ending concussion. I was 10.

Don’t think for a second this is a special story. The NHL fan base is passionate enough as it is, but when you get to teams like the Rangers and the Montreal Canadians and any of the other Original Six teams (I’m an Origi-nal Six elitist. Sue me.), the love for a team is something you’re born with. There are mil-

were in an NHL arena. People who will never forget the heart-

break watching their team lose a Winter Clas-sic or a game seven at home. People who will wish they bottled the feeling of watching their team win in double overtime during a playoff game.

While there is strength in being able to walk away from a league that takes you for granted more times than should be legal, it’s

questionable whether it’s even possible to walk away so easily from something that’s been so constant in a life. At 20 years old, there are four truths I know in this world, and I cling to these four truths as strongly as Samwise Gamgee holds onto Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

The sun rises. The sun sets. The New Paltz Oracle comes out on Thursdays. I am a Ranger.

[email protected]@hawkmail.newpaltz.eduandrew.wyrich63@[email protected]

If the NHL is locked out on Sept. 15, this will be the third of Commissioner Gary Bettman’s career.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FLICKR USER BRIDGETDS

SPORTSTHE NEW PALTZ ORACLE

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL MAKES GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION: PAGE 11

WHAT’S INSIDE HITTING

FIRST

PHOTOS BY ROBIN WEINSTEIN

Field HockeyGears Up For 2012

PAGE 12

Cross CountryGets Ahead

PAGE 12

the new paltz oracle, volume 84, issue 3

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