Issue 7 - 2012/2013

Issue 2March 2013

University of BridgeportBridgeport, CT

The ScribeNEWS

SPORTS

KNIGHT LIFE

inReview

Lady Gaga undergoes hip surgerypg. 1

UBCSSA Chinese Gala was a success pg. 7

Oscars Review p. 13

Continue to cheer our Purple Knights onp. 19-20

Gaga calls hip surgery "bump in the road"

Preparing yourself for cold & flu season naturally pt. 2

DENISE GOTAYEntertainment Editor

Pop superstar Lady Gaga had to undergo hip sur-gery this past week due to a show injury she had dur-ing her Born This Way tour.

On her website, littlemonsters.com, she posted a personal note to her monster fans telling them how she feels inspired from her fan’s stories of when they had to struggle through their problems as well.

“I thought about all of your pain and persever-ance…So I thought to myself, I’m alive, I’m living my dream, and this is just a bump in the road,” wrote Gaga. “You have changed my life. I love you and am proud to be a part of your lives. If you can do it, I can do it too, and if we stick together we can get through anything.”

Because of the surgery, Lady Gaga had to cancel the rest of her concerts. Gaga had been hiding the injury from her staff for quite some time and didn’t want to disappoint her fans.

Attention Prominent

Class of 2013

Yearbook Coming Soon. On sale now!

pg. 5

Photo courtesy of yahoo.com

MICHELLE DRAINSStaff Writer

Indeed Hippocrates couldn’t have said it bet-ter, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” What can be more satisfying than healing us-ing nutritious fare? When you have the cold or flu it is important to treat your body to simple, but easily di-gestible, nourishing foods. Keep it light! Use soups, broths and porridges. When you’re sick the appetite is diminished; this is the body’s natural response…please support it. The energy normally used to pro-cess food is diverted to fighting off the “bug”.

(continued on page 2)

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News

(continued from page 1)

Well it appears grandmother had it right! That time-honored remedy of “Chicken soup” is not just an old wives tale. It boasts many favor-able effects on the immune system. It reduces inflammation, and contains an amino acid called cysteine which helps to thin mucus---relieving congestion. In addition the steam helps to open clogged nasal passages and the broth provides hydration. I like to add a few special herbs: Red pepper flakes help to open your sinuses. A few garlic cloves help boost the immune system, and adding a bit of ginger root gives the soup a strong antimicrobial effect, helps quell nausea, muscle ache and chills.

There is also an excellent traditional Chi-nese food remedy called “Congee”. Congee, also known as “Jook”, is a well-cooked fortified porridge and very therapeutic food that gives strength and energy to the whole body. Con-gee is prepared using herbs that vary accord-ing to the weather, season and health needed to enhance immunity, strengthen digestion and prevent illness. It’s perfect for those sick days when you can’t keep anything down. This par-ticular Congee is perfect for anyone fighting off cold or cough and tastes simply sublime. It is also very simple to cook (and the following recipe is dorm friendly)

“Grounding Ginger and Green Onion Congee”Ingredients: 1 inch piece fresh ginger (peeled and grated) ¼ cup sticky rice 2 1/2 – 3 cups water 3 green onions (sliced into small pieces

Seasoning to taste: savory: rice vinegar, soy sauce, salt or sesame oil Sweet: honey, natural sweetener

1.Mix ginger, rice and water in a medium size pot. Bring to boil then reduce to low & let simmer, covered with the lid slightly open 30-40 min (or until desired consistency). You can add more water if the Congee is drying out, sticks to the bottom or becomes too thick.

2.Turn off heat and add green onion to mix-ture.

3.Season with condiments of choice (I tend to like things on the sweet side) and serve warm.

Now what shouldn’t you eat? It is also im-portant to avoid aggravating foods such as sug-ar, coffee, alcohol, stimulants and dairy. Dairy foods increase mucus production, which makes nasal congestion even worse. And since many people are sensitive to dairy products, your body may be wasting immune cells on the food instead of fighting the virus.

There are also some really nice immune en-hancing herbs and supplements that can help relieve illness (many of which are available at any local health food store), for instance Vita-min C. Viral conditions of all kinds increase your body’s need for this vitamin. If taken in

significant dosages Vitamin C can even shorten the length of a cold. At least 1,000 mg a day in divided dosages with food has been recom-mended.

Drinking hot water with local honey and lemon is a simple yet effective way to soothe a sore throat. The honey coats the throat, while the lemon acts as an astringent shrinking swol-len throat tissue. Honey is also a natural anti-septic. To those of you who are averse to the taste of honey or lemon, Elderberry syrup may be right for you. Elderberry can reduce the du-ration of flu symptoms from six to two or three days! It is also a great for soothing sore throats and can even aid in reducing fevers.

A simple steam inhale using a bowl of hot water and a few drops of essential oils such as eucalyptus or peppermint can help rid a stuffy nose.

And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed my suggestions for getting through the cold and flu season the natural way.

Preparing Yourself for the Cold & Flu Season Naturally Pt. 2

MICHELLE DRAINSStaff Writer

Photo courtesy of natural-homeremedies.org

Photo courtesy of tumblr.com

Photo courtesy of open-sourcefood.comPhoto courtesy of .thechalkboardmag.com

March 2013

3

NEWS

"In the service of Clio" kicks off this semester's Necessary Voices lecture seriesCHRISTINE OWENSStaff Writer

Photo courtesy of probiotixfoods.com

On Thursday, the 21 of February, the Uni-versity of Bridgeport hosted its first lecture in this year’s Necessary Voices lecture series. Each semester, three lectures are put together for UB students to enjoy and listen to a differ-ent speaker each time. At 4:30 pm on this day, the Shelfhaudt Galley in the ABC building filled up with students, faculty and enthusiastic listeners to hear UB Professor Thomas Julius-burger talk about the relevance and importance of history and historians. Each guest arrived at a chair with a small packet. The first page exhibited some letters of the 17th century col-lected by the Society of Genealogists, which intrigued many and made the anticipation grow stronger. A brief introduction revealed the long career Professor Juliusburger has at the Uni-versity of Bridgeport. First coming to UB in 1965, not only was he a professor, but also at one point was the Dean of the History Depart-ment. He also is responsible for UB’s capstone seminar and has always carried a fearless at-titude advocating for academic freedom.

According to Professor Juliusburger, there are two major influences of a historian: they help understand people and society, and they help understand change. To illustrate this further with concrete examples he focused on two great historians and used their careers to depict what he referred to as the “Career of Stages” a historian goes through. The five stages that his lecture progressed on were: entrance, accep-tance, prominence, dissilience and strange de-feat. He spoke with great passion that not only was it relevant in what historians contributed to the comprehension of today’s world, but magnified that the process in which they took to do so is just as, if not more significant. In his closing words he expressed that history is about scholarship and brought back the idea of learning through reading. After a solid round of applause, it was apparent that there were a lot of familiar faces to Professor Juliusburger filled with appreciation. An excellent begin-ning to a new year and new semester, kicked off by inspirational words from a wise and charismatic man.

March 2013

4

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Readers,

I hope things are looking up for you as the semester pushes on and mid-terms approach. To take a break from exam week preparation, The Scribe has compiled this entertaining and thought provoking issue for your enjoyment. Want to get off campus for a bit? Why not take a trip to the theatres to catch a viewing of Snitch or Beautiful Creatures as reviewed by Christina and Jamia respectively? Michelle brings you part two of her steps on how to ward of illness and we present a gallery of photos taken at this year’s Chinese New Year Gala. This issue we’re including some food for thought in our Debate Corner. This issue’s focus is on the current and hotly debated topic of gun control. People involved in the debate have their own varying opinions on the subject. DiaMond and Jamia take on the two sides of the debate: yes, there should be gun control or no there should not be. Also brought to you is information on one of UB’s newest programs, the UB Buddies program. We hope after learning more about this, you’ll want to par-take in this wonderful opportunity to create a friendship and exchange cultures.I wish you luck on your exams and projects and hope you find this issue fun and informative.

Cheyenne OwenEditor in Chief

Op-Ed Disclaimer:The Scribe neither endorses nor is responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any

opinion, advice or statement made. The Scribe will not be liable for any loss, damage or hurt feelings caused by a reader’s reliance on information obtained from the advice column(s). It is the responsibility of the reader to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content available through The Scribe. Please seek the advice of professionals, as appropriate, regarding the evaluation of any specific information, opinion, advice or other content.

Letter from

the Editor Cheyenne Owen

Kaitlin O'Connell

Curtis Moore

Spot Open

Trisha Bartholomew

Denise Gotay

Kevin Matos

Coral Orona-Baez

Asha Hobbs

Jordon Warmington

Michael Lawson

Teresa Wheeler

Spots Open

5

Knight Life

Dear Prominent Class of 2013,

Yearbook DesignerAsha Hobbs

There will be a yearbook for the Graduating Class of 2013. For submissions, ideas, comments, and questions do not hesitate to contact Asha at:[email protected]. Yearbooks are on sale now for $35 online at "www.yearbooksforever.com"If You want to personalize a section in the Yearbook, the price starts at $70 for 1/4 pg. Please continue to spread the word to the rest of the graduating class. Thanks in advance.

Photo courtesy of bluematiccentral.com

6

March 2013KNIGHT LIFE

Imagine leaving the country that you were born and raised in, to go to a country completely unfamiliar to you. As a student, only are you presented with the challenge to adapt to many of the customs and cultures of this foreign place, but you are forced to learn and communicate in a language with vocabulary and grammar very different from your own. Most likely, you would feel afraid and lonely. Newly founded, the UB Buddies program allows for the diversity of the Univer-sity of Bridgeport's campus to integrate. This integration benefits both the international and domestic students involved.

Companionship between international and do-mestic students is something that international students often look forward to when they come to America for education. Exhibiting what you have been taught is a major portion of learn-ing. This program allows international students to use English in real-life casual conversations, increasing their intercultural competence and fluency. In addition, they can help on a more personal level. For example, they can acquire an answer to questions that they may have been reluctant to ask in class. These personal conversations will encourage international stu-dents to become more confident when speak-ing and writing in English.

UB Buddies fosters friendships and cultural exchangeJAMIA SMITHStaff Writer

Domestic students can become enlightened of the culture, traditions and customs of other countries, families and religions. With the establishment of international friendships, do-mestic students would be open to more oppor-tunities, such as travel, work and study abroad. As our society is expanding and globalizing, interactions with international students are important to the communication skills needed for the business world of today's society.If you are interested in becoming a part of the UB Buddies program to be matched with an international student, you can contact Brandon LaFavor of the English Language Institute at [email protected].

Photo courtesy of wordpress.com

7

March 2013 KNIGHT LIFE

On February 15, the fourth annual Chinese New Year Gala was held in Mertens Theater. Hosted by the University of Bridgeport Chi-nese Students & Scholars Association (UBC-SSA), the gala featured many wonderful acts performed by students, professors and outside organizations alike. Below are some photos taken of the many incredible acts that graced the stage, celebrating the beginning of the Year of the Snake.

UBCSSA Chinese Gala

photos courtesy of Brittany Harris

CHEYENNE OWENStaff Writer

8

Fashion

Photo courtesy of keepcalmandposters.com

9

March 2013 FASHION

USPS announces entrance into the Fashion IndustryCHEYENNE OWENEditor-in-Chief

When the weather takes a turn for the extreme, it’s more important to focus on functionality rather than aesthetics, but sometimes both can be combined. This past week, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced that they would be releasing a line of all-weather cloth-ing and matching accessories. Jackets, foot-wear, and headgear are all part of the line that is expected to debut in 2014.

Going by the brand title of “Rain, Heat & Snow”, the USPS decided to create this line in hopes of boosting profit after suffering huge losses in the wake of mail going digital. The USPS was even forced to cancel Saturday mail delivery, which will start later this year, to reduce costs.

The USPS’s new clothing line will be pro-duced by the designer and manufacturing firm Wahconah Group, Inc. with men’s designs and apparel being the primary focus of the line. The men’s designs will be the first released in 2014 with women’s coming later at a yet to be disclosed date.

The functionality of these clothes and accesso-ries is not just in their usefulness in rain, snow, sleet, or hail. Your favorite electronics are rumored to be compatible with this all-weather gear, with jackets that may be compatible with your iPod.

Postmen and women are always ready for what the weather brings and that preparedness may be just what consumers want. This clothing line could very well breathe life into the strug-gling Postal Service.

Photos courtesy of tampabaycurrent.com

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Express Your Scribe

To read more poetry or to submit your own creative works, visit our website at www.TheScribeOnline.com!

My Best Friend

You might not be what I wantedOr what I’ve always asked for,But you’re always there when I need a hand,When I need to be told to cut my crapAnd just enjoy the moment.

You’ve always been there for meAnd I will always be grateful For having you at my side.

These are the reasonsWhy I will always call youMy Best FriendAnd don’t let anyone else tell you any different.

Coral Orona BaezStaff Writer

Am I?

These are not words that have meaningThey are words that are symbolsWords used in place of emotions

Emotions hidden by fearFear created by…

Well that’s it isn’t itI don’t know what to fear

Or what is fearAm I scared?

Trisha BartholomewOpinion Editor

Body of Notes

My heart sings to the beat of a drumPleased by the rhythm bound deep in soundAnd as my heart sings, my lungs do a danceExpanding and contracting conforming to my stanceAs my lungs dance, my stomach limbers and is soothed By the rounded movements of my hips, seductive unable to be cooledAs my stomach soothes, my feet pick up a beatControlling the balance of the roll movement my body must completeNo longer am I here, there’s no more measurement in timeMy body’s sweet music is now the sublimeSo majestic, so great, energy bursts from my coreMy heart is center of all But with the stop of the drums I am no more.

Christina OwensStaff Writer

11

EntertainmentSongs you didn't know were written by other artistsDENISE GOTAYEntertainment Editor

When it comes to the artist and their songs, most of the time fans will automatically as-sume that the artist they listen to always writes their own songs. Of course once in a while, music lovers will be surprised about who also co-wrote the song when they look for the names in the liner notes of the album. The following songs are great examples of music gems within the songwriting aspect of the single. Think you know who else wrote these songs on this list? Then check them out.

Kelly Clarkson’s “Miss Independent” Back when Kelly Clarkson became American Idol’s first winner, the single “Miss Inde-pendent” became a hit in the US. The track, coming from her first album, Thankful, had a couple of writers including Clarkson, Matt Morris, Rhett Lawrence and pop singer Chris-tina Aguilera. That’s right, the woman behind

the songs “Ain’t No Other Man” and “Dirty” co-wrote Clarkson’s hit single. “Miss Indepen-dent” was supposed to be on Aguilera’s second album, Stripped, but it ended up being record-ed for Clarkson.

“This Love” by The Veronicas In the duo’s 2007 release of their second al-bum, Hook Me Up, Australian pop group, The Veronicas had numerous singles including their third one called “This Love”. Written by Toby Gad and Kesha Sebert, the track had a good commercial success in Australia and in New Zealand. To all of the animal fans out there, Kesha Sebert, also known as Ke$ha actually co-wrote the track back when she was an un-known struggling artist.

P!nk’s “Get The Party Started” This song was written by P!nk and former

4 Non Blondes front woman, Linda Perry. Perry was responsible for 4 Non Blondes’ hit “What’s Up” back in 1993. It was Perry’s first dance song she had ever written and according to her, she was going through a “weird phase” when she wrote the hit. “I went through this weird phase where I just wanted to learn how to program drums. So that’s where ‘Get the Party Started’ came from,” said Perry in an on-line interview with ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers).

“Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson Written by Bridget Benenate, Matthew Gerrard and Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson’s “Break-away” became another hit single from Clark-son’s second album Breakaway. Originally the song was intended to be for Lavigne’s first album Let Go but it was scraped since it didn’t fit well for the album.

Photo courtesy of allmusic.com

Photo courtesy of bigpondmusic.com

Photo courtesy of cduniversal.com

Photo courtesy of videokeman.com

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March 2013ENTERTAINMENT

What Grinds My Gears…About Winter Storm Nemo

Peter Griffin from “Family Guy” Photo courtesy of Fox.com

Animania!

DENISE GOTAYEntertainment Editor

KEVIN MATOSStaff Writer

Animania!In this issue of The Scribe, we present you with another two animes to watch until the next issue comes. As always, we choose two types of animes: a light-hearted one, and a more mature one for those who want some-thing more exciting or darker to watch. Thus, we suggest the following:

Doki Doki School HoursDoki Doki School Hours is a 20 episode series about life in high school. This series revolves around the life of Mika Suzuki, a 27-year-old teacher who stands at 4’8”, and her students. Featuring a very diverse cast of students, the series has (among others) a young woman who’s into short girls, a talented artist whose only interest is manga and a smart young man whose only interest is his athletic friend.Despite her age, Mika is quite childish, and often gets caught in troublesome situations simply because of her height. Furthermore, she sometimes tends to cry when things fail to go her way. Watch the interactions of this diverse cast as they all attempt to navigate through high school.

Ergo ProxyThis 23 episode series is set in a futuristic world. Filled with suspense and action, this series follows Real Mayer, a female inspector working for the Citizen Information Board. In this idealistic “utopian” city, the people live with AutoReivs (androids) under a total man-agement system dedicated to preserve their unique way of life. Having to live in isolated, domed cities after a global ecological disaster threatened to wipe out the human race, the citi-zens find themselves facing a new problem.

A series of gruesome murders begins to occur, and Real Mayer is assigned to investigate the cause and put a stop to it. As she investigates further with her AutoReivs partner Iggy, she finds that the government has been experiment-ing with a type of life form called a “Proxy”. Meanwhile, AutoReivs somehow start to become self-aware, learning of their role in this society and start to react against it. The series keeps you on the edge of your seat as it attempts to tell the story of this society and the problems it faces upon trying to become a perfect utopia.

With 30 inches blanketing the sidewalks and streets of Bridgeport, Winter Storm Nemo decided to become everyone’s little incon-venience one way or the other. Even though classes were cancelled for a couple of days, Nemo started grinding everyone’s gears one way or the other. Check out what these stu-dents had to say about this winter storm.“No parking here since the streets in Bridge-port wasn’t plowed,”-Alex Jones, senior

“The fact that I was locked inside my house. I couldn’t go out to do stuff,”-Coral Orona Baez, freshman

“That I was starving half the time during the storm. I wasn’t able to buy a lot of food so when the storm hit, I ended up going almost a full day without eating,” -Daniel, sophomore

“Being stuck at home a lot longer than I want-ed to be. I wanted to be with my friends but when I tried coming back to UB the roads were blocked so I had to drive back,”-Rob Wilson, senior

“Because of that storm, I couldn’t go to work and get paid,” -Anne, junior

“I had a lot to do that weekend and when Nemo came, all of my plans were ruined. Plus, I ended up being stuck in my dorm with my annoying roommate,” -Scott, freshman

Want more of "What Grinds My Gears"?Visit www.TheScribeOnline.com to see the rest of the quotes and leave comments!

Photos courtesy of watchanimeon.com

Doki Doki School Hours Ergo Proxy

13

inReviewMacFarlane brings the sound of music to the Oscars DENISE GOTAYEntertainment Editor

Oscar night was filled with the sound of mu-sic as Seth MacFarlane entertained the crowd with a couple of song numbers and great perfor-mances from some of the biggest stars. As the host of the 85th Academy Awards, MacFarlane greatly delivered the show’s musical aspect of the ceremony.

Singing in the opening and closing acts, MacFarlane graces the stage with his vocals to a couple of show tunes alongside a few actors including Kristin Chenoweth, Daniel Radcliffe and Joseph Gordon – Levitt. MacFarlane’s sing-ing abilities do justice to his jazz filled perfor-mances since he has his very own album under his belt of accomplishments.

During the show’s segment of The Celebra-tion of Musicals of the Last Decade, the per-formance started off with Catherine Zeta Jones singing “All That Jazz” from the hit movie, Chi-cago. Jennifer Hudson came afterwards with the song “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from Dreamgirls. The segment ended with the whole cast of Les Miserables with two of their songs “Suddenly” and “One Day More”.

As the Oscars made a tribute to 50 years of James Bond movies, the awards had pop singer Adele perform her latest hit, “SkyFall” and Dame Shirley Bassey sang “Gold Finger” during The Music of James Bond. Both singers did an impressive job singing their James Bond theme songs.

The Memoriam Segment of the Oscars filled the atmosphere with a sad tone as the music plays while they showed who had passed away during the year. Barbra Streisand came out to-wards the end and sang “The Way We Were” as a tribute to Marvin Hamlisch, composer and conductor to numerous movies including The Spy Who Loved Me and The Informant.

Jazz singer Norah Jones performed “Ev-erybody Needs a Best Friend” which is on the soundtrack to MacFarlane’s latest movie, Ted. Jones, who sometimes uses a piano during her performances decided to simply go solo without her instrument and sung against a music track. Even though it was a short number, Jones did a terrific job with her vocals.

Over all, the Oscars had a lot of interesting performances which kept the crowd going. It seemed like there was a lot of the energy in the air within the show. On top of that, some of the song choices for the performances played a big role introducing the musicals that were nomi-nated for the awards. All in all, the musical as-pect of the Academy Awards was successful.

Photos courtesy of justjared.com

Seth MacFarlanehosting OscarsNorah Jones performing

Adele's performance

Photos courtesy of fresnobee.com

Photos courtesy of screencrush.com

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March 2013inREVIEW

Photos courtesy of glamour.com

Photos courtesy of facebook.com

Photos courtesy of inquistr.com

Photos courtesy of huffingtonpost.com

Photos courtesy of nytimes.com

15

Opinion

How Men and Women Fight, According to the opposite sexBY KEVIN MATOS & CORAL ORONA-BAEZ

HE SAID Growing up, most of us have undoubt-

edly seen people fight, especially so during school. It isn’t anything new that two people will get into a fistfight and cause a crowd to gather around them and watch as they fight. This hap-pens with people of either gender, and person-ally, I have never understood why some people like to watch them. In any case, there are a few complaints I have about them (though I haven’t seen many and know this is a generalization of the way things are).

1-Too much drama: It seems like they bring way too much drama to these fights. Often, you’ll see women not only insulting each other, but also talking about things that are completely unrelated to the initial offense just to try and anger the other person. This includes throwing wild insults that cannot be logically tied into the fight itself.

2-They’re too messy: Too much clawing and scratching with long nails just leave the partici-pants covered in quite a bit of blood. Hair pull-ing also leaves the participants looking terrible, even if they didn’t lose pretty large chunks of hair in the process.

3-People expect too much: Yes, they claw at each other. Yes, clothes may get torn. No, they won’t end up stripping down to their underwear and rolling into a mud wrestling ring with an announcer and a referee that sends them to their corner at the end of each round. Please, be real-istic. Life isn’t a beer commercial.

SHE SAID Ever seen a guy fight? I have and let me tell you: it’s not fun. All of the fights be-tween guys I’ve seen are because of the same reasons: one was hitting on the other’s girl, the girl is sleeping with both of them, the boyfriend is jealous of his girl’s guy friends and so on. They all center on their unnecessary act of re-leasing testosterone through a physical fight with another male. The first fight I saw was between these two guys who a girl was friends with and one did something to the girl the other didn’t like. It must have been an excuse for them to fight. The girl did nothing to stop them-what a friend she was. In the end, they fought (which made them look like gorillas doing some sort of mat-ing ritual) and security broke up the fight a few seconds later. What caught me by surprise later on was the fact that, not even a week later, the two guys that fought were the best of friends. I thought they didn’t like each other? Apparently, I was wrong. It baffled me to see them being so friendly to each other, as if the fight had never happened. I consider it a guy thing to fight and then be friends, like making sure one man is worthy of the other man’s friendship.

I’m lucky to admit that I’ve never seen a guy get stabbed or shot during a fight; most of the fights that I’ve seen are mostly harmless and there is never any serious injury to either party. I have heard of fights where of the guys have been sent to the hospital for serious injuries or because he was stabbed by someone else as the fighting escalated. Others have even lost their lives because of such fights. I know that fights aren’t just because of a girl (like the ones I’ve witnessed). There many other reasons why men would fight: stealing, drugs, past tension for something dumb one did to the other, alcohol and more. Drunken fights are always a bit fun to watch. Neither party knows where the other is standing and it usually leads to them doing some sort of drunken dance before throwing their arms around each other and falling to the ground-falling asleep in the process. It always leads to their so-called friends to take pictures and put them all over Facebook or other social websites, letting the world know just how ridic-ulous their friend is. I still can’t understand this strange friendship men form after a fight, but all I can tell you is that only other men will understand. I still stand by the belief that men need to fight to prove their “manliness” and show others who “is boss” around “here”, wherever “here” is.

16

March 2013OPINION

My Life as a Rainbow: Is Marriage really about Procreation?DENISE GOTAYEntertainment Editor

Chapter Twelve

I just don’t understand people who are against gay marriage. I mean, I know everyone has their right to express their opinion, but it can only go so far until it doesn’t make any sense.

For instance let’s take one of the classic argu-ments that people who don’t believe in gay marriage like to say – marriage is fit for the sole purpose of procreation. Some religious people tend to use this specific scripture as an example to prove their point. Within the bible, in Genesis 1:28 it notes that “And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Since homosexuals cannot procreate, to some religious officials that means that gay mar-riage is unfit, unholy and impure; therefore gay marriage shouldn’t even exist at all. Now let’s look outside of the box for a moment and let me explain why I think the whole “marriage is fit for procreation” is downright silly and outdated thinking.

In the book of Genesis, the reason why God told Adam and Eve to go and procreate is the fact that they were literally the only two living beings on earth at the time. Obviously God would want them to populate the earth as much as they could. Right now, there are about seven billion humans on this Earth. As far as I’m concerned, I think Adam and Eve have done their job on making sure this Earth is filled with people.

Another thing that comes to mind is since some people believe that homosexuals shouldn’t get married because of the lack of ability to produce, what about the heterosexual couples who are infertile? For multiple rea-sons, their bodies are not able to conceive a child so does that mean that they can’t get mar-ried as well?

What about the married couples who decide that they don’t want to have children at all? Is their marriage less than worthy since they’re not using their time to birth children? To say that marriage is fit only for procreation is a bit naïve and insensitive on some parts.

In a time where our society is slowly shifting their views on traditions, it is important for people to understand that some of the things we were taught will end up changing us down the road. In the case of marriage and having the LGBT community fighting for their rights to marry, it is time for some people to realize that we need to think outside of the box and not let out-of-date thinking hold us down.

Photo courtesy of Denise Gotay

17

March 2013 OPINION

Ask Belle Vie: She is all knowing

Dear Belle Vie,I am currently living in Bodine Hall and I know that I am at my boil-ing point. At first everything was okay. The noise level was bearable and something that I could usually ignore. But as time passed it slowly got louder and louder until I find myself retreating to the library to study or to even get a nap. I tried to talk to the residents in my wing trying to ask them to tone down the noise a bit but I was shrugged off. When I talked to my RAs they simply told me that they would talk to everyone but nothing ever changed. I want to keep my roommate though and if I were to switch rooms we would be separated.

Sincerely,Miss. Fed up

Dear Fed up,

Sounds like you are in a tough situation. You want to keep your roommate, but you also want to switch rooms. College gets complicated when you’re in the beginning stages in learning how to dodge and cope with different situations. However, not everyone can cope with the environments they end up in. I’m not sure if your mind is all made up about moving but it seems that may be the smartest decision.

The way I see it is you have two options: you can wait it out in Bodine Hall with your roommate until a room opens up for the both of you or you can move on your own to another room tempo-rarily for the rest of the semester and keep in mind, when it’s time to pay your early deposit for housing make sure you and your roommate are paired.

The reason I believe that moving out with or without your roommate is the best option is because at the end of the day, you are here at the University of Bridgeport to get the best education you can. If you are stuck in a noisy dorm hall, I don’t see that you are benefiting academically. Also, from what you described in your letter, I can tell you do not get much sleep. I am a person that needs sleep in order to function well in class or at work. Imagine the extra work you could be get-ting done with a good night’s rest. With a full eight hours of sleep, you probably won’t feel tired during the day and will be able to get more stuff done.

I have come across many people before who are always worried that their ex roommates will be angry at them if they leave them for another roommate. You may feel guilty about the move but I think if you nicely explained to your roommate the reasons why you are leaving, I’m sure she will be okay with it all and may even try to be your roommate the following semester.

P.S. Be smart in your decision because your academics are at risk Sincerely,Belle Vie

Photo courtesy of a1afforablemovers.com

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March 2013

Gun ControlDIAMOND ARTISStaff Writer

JAMIA SMITHStaff Writer

The concept around the gun control debate is that the American government would not only require a thorough background check before allowing someone to obtain a gun, but also restrict the type of gun distributed to the public. Of course there is opposition to some-thing completely reasonable as implementing thorough and nationally followed gun control laws. There are three basic arguments against gun control and I will examine each and every one of them to show why these arguments are invalid.

The first argument that critics of gun control broach is the age old argument that by imple-menting gun control in America the govern-ment would be tramping on the rights of Amer-icans. The evidence that they point to in order to back up their claim comes from the second amendment of the Bill of Rights which states that Americans have the right to bear arms. I am positive that if the people who drafted the Bill of Rights had predicted something such as the NRA (National Rifle Association) they would have probably added a bit more detail to the right. Anyway, the reason why this argu-ment is null and void is simply because if we

implement gun control then a more thorough background check would be implemented and there would be some restrictions on the type of weapons that citizens would be al-lowed to have. This argument usually leads to a minor argument that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. I will concede to the fact that some people do wield guns just like they wield any other tool, but does that not mean that we shouldn’t limit people’s access to these very deadly tools. We can fix people later, but for right now let’s take the weapon out of the hands of dangerous individuals.

The second main argument is the fact that a gun is crucial in both home and personal security. This counter argument is connected with my earlier statement that gun control laws will not take away guns completely from the American citizens, just simply restrict what type of guns are available to the public. Mainly military style weapons would be banned, but really who needs a weapon that is designed for mass killings when you are only trying to protect yourself? There is such a thing as over kill even when you are only defending your-self against would-be attackers. Or on the flip

side of the coin a lot of people claim that by stopping military style weapons from being released to the public that the sport of hunting would be severely crippled. You would prob-ably need more than one shot, but is it neces-sary to riddle a carcass of an animal with many bullets?

The final argument in the gun control debate is a farfetched scenario that could only come out of the brain of someone who obviously read Fahrenheit 451 and has a problem with para-noia. The argument consists of the theory that once military style weapons are banned that the government would slowly exert more and more control over its citizens until it becomes an unstoppable dictatorship ruled by none other than President Barack Obama. Due to the fact that citizens are not able to pack as much fire power as the government we would not be able to fight off this powerful new rule. This con-spiracy theory might actually be a valid con-cern if it wasn’t for the fact that there was once gun control implemented in the United State in 1994, but it expired in late 2004. If this horrid new world of yours were to happen it probably would have already came in to play.

DEBATING CORNERPRO

A majority of citizens do not misuse guns. Guns are not always used for violence, but for recreational activities. This includes sports like hunting deer, wild birds and other animals or for target shooting. These weapons are also used by gun enthusiasts as collector's items, usually based upon their craftsmanship or rarity.

On the other hand, some people feel safer knowing that they are able to ensure the safety of their families. Criminals would feel more intimidated by someone who they would be-lieve to be armed. Therefore, the criminal may be less likely to be aggressive, as the innocent, weak or undefended are often targeted.

A criminal is a criminal. Criminals will contin-ue to find a way to acquire guns regardless of what the law is. It would be more ideal for the government to keep a record of approximately how many guns are circulating. Lastly, as our second amendment right it should be one’s personal choice whether or not they would like to carry a gun.

CON

Sports

19

UB Men's Basketball team looks to continue winning streakCURTIS MOORESports Editor

Make it 10 straight games as the Purple Knights cruise to a win against Queens Col-lege. It was a dominant performance by the Purple Knights with the final score 85-58. Not losing in over a month, the team is firing on all cylinders overpowering their opponents. The Purple Knights had three players in double figures which led to the blowout win against the College Knights. This streak of 10 games could not have come at a better time as the season is approaching its stretch run. With the wins piling up theirplayoff seeding will improve at season’s end. Senior Darian David provided the spark for the Purple Knights offense registering 15 points and handing out eight assists to lead the way against Queens College. The starters were not the only ones providing offense; the bench for the Purple Knights outscored Queens College by 31 points. Leading the way off the bench was Junior Curtis Loving with 14 points and crashing the boards with seven rebounds. Senior Dion Waiters had a well-rounded per-formance doing everything the team needed with nine points, seven steals and six rebounds. During this 10 game winning streak the Purple Knights have been contributing in many ways. With the season coming to an end the Purple Knights want to carry this momentum heading into the playoffs.

Having won 14 of their last 15 games the Purple Knights are ranked number nine in the East Regional Rankings. Although ranked number nine in the polls, the Purple Knights could make a case for a higher ranking, hav-ing a better all-around record than UMass Lowell and S. New Hampshire. No complaints are coming from the Purple Knights as they are riding high on their season long 10 game winning streak. With only three games remain-ing the Purple Knights wish to move up in the polls with an updated poll coming out Febru-ary 27. Winners of five straight on the road the Purple Knights will look to make it six straight against St. Thomas Aquinas, and 11 straight overall. With a win the Purple Knights will be 10 games over 500. There is nothing the Purple Knights want more than to stretch their streak to 13 straight to end the season. With the play-offs rapidly approaching the Knights do not want to add another loss to their record.

Photo courtesy of topendsports.com

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SPORTS March 2013

2/27-Women’s Basketball: Malloy vs. UB @ 5:00pmMen’s Basketball: Malloy vs. UB @ 7:00pm2/28-Women’s Gymnastics: Southern CT State @ 6:00pm3/2-Baseball: UB vs. Merrimack, Haverhill Sta-dium in Haverhill, MA @ 1:00pmWomen’s Basketball: Dowling vs. UB @ 1:00pmMen’s Basketball: Dowling vs. UB @ 3:00pmBaseball: UB vs. Merrimack, Haverhill Stadium in Haverhill, MA @ 4:00pm3/4- Baseball: Le Moyne vs. UB, Brookhaven, NY, Dowling College @2:00pm3/5-Women’s Lacrosse: UB vs. Post @ 3:30pm3/6-Women’s Swimming: 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship Meet, CrossPlex Center in Birmingham, AL (All Day)Men’s Swimming: 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship Meet, CrossPlex Cen-ter in Birmingham, AL (All Day)Women’s Basketball: UB vs. TBA, ECC Quar-terfinals, Time TBA3/7-Women’s Swimming: 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship Meet, CrossPlex Center in Birmingham, AL (All Day)Men’s Swimming: 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship Meet, CrossPlex Cen-ter in Birmingham, AL (All Day)Men’s Basketball: UB vs. TBA, ECC Semifi-nals, Time TBAWomen’s Lacrosse: Findlay vs. UB @ 4:00pm

3/8-Women’s Swimming: 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship Meet, CrossPlex Center in Birmingham, AL (All Day)Men’s Swimming: 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship Meet, CrossPlex Center in Birmingham, AL (All Day)Women’s Basketball: UB vs. TBA, ECC Semifinals, Time TBASoftball: St. Rose vs. UB, Hancock Park in Clermont, FL @ 1:00pmSoftball: Stonehill vs. UB, Hancock Park in Clermont, FL @ 3:00pm3/9-Women’s Swimming: 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship Meet, CrossPlex Center in Birmingham, AL (All Day)Men’s Swimming: 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship Meet, CrossPlex Center in Birmingham, AL (All Day)Women’s Gymnastics: Ohio State @ 4:00pmMen’s Basketball: UB vs. TBA, ECC Finals, Time TBABaseball: UB vs. Stonehill, Winter Park, FL, Rollins College @ 10:00amBaseball: UB vs. Assumption, Winter Park, FL, Rollins College @ 2:30pmSoftball: Assumption vs. UB, National Training Center in Clermont, FL @ 3:00pmSoftball: UB vs. Assumption, National Training Center in Clermont, FL @ 5:00pm3/10-Women’s Basketball: UB vs. TBA, ECC Finals, Time TBASoftball: St. Michael’s vs. UB, National Training Center in Clermont, FL @ 9:00amSoftball: UB vs. Bentley, National Training Center in Clermont, FL @ 11:00amWomen’s Lacrosse: UB vs. Southern CT State @ 1:00pm3/11-Baseball: UB vs. Bentley, Winter Park, FL, Rollins College @ 12:00pm

3/12-Women’s Gymnastics: Brown w/ Rhode Island College & Springfield @ 5:00pmSoftball: Sioux Fall vs. UB, National Training Center in Clermont, FL @ 9:00amSoftball: Minot St. vs. UB, National Training Center in Clermont, FL @ 11:00amBaseball: UB vs. Bentley, Winter Park, FL, Rollins College @ 2:00pmWomen’s Lacrosse: UB vs. Southern N.H. @ 4:00pmBaseball: UB vs. Rollins @ 6:00pm3/13-Softball: West Liberty vs. UB, Hancock Park in Clermont, FL @ 9:00amSoftball: Bemidji St. vs. UB, Hancock Park in Clermont, FL @ 1:00pm3/14-Baseball: UB vs. Bentley, Winter Park, FL, Rollins College @ 12:00pm3/15-Women’s Gymnastics: Arizona State @ 7:00pm PTSoftball: Alderson-Broaddus vs. UB, National Training Center in Clermont, FL @ 9:00amBaseball: Stonehill vs. UB, Winter Park, FL, Rollins College@ 10:00amSoftball: Bentley vs. UB, National Training Center in Clermont, FL @ 11:00amBaseball: UB vs. Stonehill, Winter Park, FL, Rollins College @ 1:00pmWomen’s Lacrosse: Post vs. UB @ 3:00pm 3/18-Baseball: Concordia (NY) vs. UB @ 3:30pm3/20-Baseball: UB vs. Southern CT State @ 3:30pmWomen’s Lacrosse: Queens (NY) vs. UB @ 6:00pm3/21-Baseball: Dominican (NY) vs. UB @ 3:00pm3/22-Women’s Lacrosse: Lake Erie vs. UB @ 4:00pm3/23-Women’s Gymnastics: 2013 ECAC Division II Championship @ 1:00pmBaseball: Mass. Maritime vs. UB @ 4:00pm3/26-Baseball: Post vs. UB @ 3:00pmSoftball: UB vs. Dowling @ 3:00pmSoftball: UB vs. Dowling @ 5:00pm

University of Bridgeport Athletics Schedule