Geneseo Class of 2014: Managing editor writes a new future

I didn’t even want to go here. My parents made me apply to at least one SUNY school, so I chose Geneseo since it was familiar, as my older sister graduated from here in 2008.

I wanted to forge my own path, though, and I thought if I attended Geneseo, I couldn’t do that.

But I am here, and I am so glad.

In these four years, I did manage to separate myself from my sister’s college experience. While she spent countless hours in the School of Education and with the numerous dance organizations, I made Geneseo about exploring.

I first explored majors; I entered Geneseo as a communication major, switched to English at orientation, joined the childhood/special education program in my first semester and yes, I switched back to communication as a junior. At least I went back to where I started, right?

I ventured to El Sauce, Nicaragua at the end of my first semester because I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to study abroad. I didn’t want to graduate college without experiencing another culture firsthand. I also tried a year of intercollegiate softball in my first year before choosing to focus on writing.

Among the many things I learned in college is that I love writing and from what I hear, I’m somewhat decent at it.

I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do next year, in five years or for the majority of my lifetime, and I’m glad I’m not alone in that – shout-out to liberal arts majors. I love the craft of writing for many reasons, especially because it will allow me to explore different opportunities.

For instance, I’ve never covered a team from inside its communication department before; I’ve always written for a newspaper. But after recently beginning an internship with the Rochester Red Wings and contributing to the Geneseo Intercollegiate Athletics website, I’m confident that my education, co-curricular activities and professional internships have prepared me for the “real world” that I’m rapidly approaching – but let’s not focus on that.

My progress as a writer hasn’t been all about business. I’ll cherish the two-years’ worth of Wednesdays I spent in The Lamron office. During those Wednesdays – or production nights for you non-Lamron kids who aren’t familiar with our lifestyle – in that tiny office in the College Union Mailroom, I built lifelong friendships and drank too much Starbucks, all while enduring frequent sleep deprivation.

It was all worth it, though, and I’m looking forward to the rest of my life. I’m not one for uncertainty and drastic changes, but I know come May 18 in my first day as a college graduate, I will feel confident moving forward, knowing that I made the right decision to become a Geneseo alumna.

Model UN top SUNY competitor

Once again, Geneseo has proven that it is able to consistently make a name for itself. This time, it’s through Model United Nations. The club brought home numerous awards from the Five College Model United Nations Conference that occurred March 28-30 at Mount Holyoke College.

In addition to winning the entire conference with “Best Delegation,” four of Geneseo’s members earned the first-place title of “Best Delegate.” One individual came in second with “Outstanding,” and another in third with “Honorable Mention.”

The accomplishments made at the recent conference are a testament to Geneseo’s consistent talent. According to Model U.N. Vice President senior Matt Huben, the “core” group from last year’s team was replaced by roughly the same number of freshmen. The new members rose to the occasion, helping Geneseo to win the Five College Conference for the second consecutive year.

Geneseo’s Model U.N. team often appears in top rankings among all colleges, including international ones. According to Treasurer junior Zach Perdek, this places Geneseo amongst the likes of University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, West Point, Yale University and McGill University.

Throughout the year, Geneseo participates in three additional conferences hosted by Yale, UPenn and McGill. The conferences are often saturated with Ivy League schools, with Geneseo being the sole representative of SUNY.

“It’s pretty cool that our Geneseo team – being in the SUNY system – can go compete and win,” Perdek said.

Model U.N. is a longtime tradition at many college campuses, allowing students to simulate and “develop skills, such as public speaking [and] collaboration with other people, who potentially have different views – almost always,” Perdek said. The teams solve situations that can be hypothetical, fantasy or real-life.

Perdek noted that Model U.N. provides opportunities to “gain knowledge in how unique political situations in other parts of the world are,” something especially helpful for political science majors.

Despite misconceptions from students from other majors, Model U.N. isn’t extremely formal. Committees can vary from the National Security Agency, the U.N. Security Council and the French Revolution, to “Game of Thrones,” Harry Potter and World War Z – allowing students such as Huben to draw upon their interests and tackle the situations in imaginative ways.

“I never really approach it from a historical, political or diplomatic [perspective], so I’m always seeing what I can do creatively,” Huben said. “Even though there’s the political tie to it, there also a lot of other opportunities exploring different avenues.”

Max brings home six swimming All-American honors

Junior Abby Max is nearing Geneseo’s best of the best. The swimmer became a 14-time All-American after winning three individual and three relay certificates at the NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships that concluded Saturday March 22 in Indianapolis.

Max joins other talented swimmers on Geneseo’s list of leaders in All-American certificates in all sports. Michelle Rodriguez ‘11 tops the list with 16 total, while Josh Muldner ‘99 follows with 15, both of whom were swimmers.

Since her collegiate debut, Max has proven that she does belong on the college’s All-American leaders list. The New Hartford, N.Y. native earned three certificates her freshman year and tallied another five last year.

Entering this season, Max said she expected to “definitely get to the national meet again.”

“I just kind of take goals while they come, so obviously SUNYACs was first and then once I was there, my goal was to get national cuts and to be top 16 in all my events,” she said.

Max finished in the top 16 in all but one event, the 400 medley relay. Her best performance was 10th in the 500 freestyle with SUNYAC and school records at 4 minutes, 54.32 seconds. Her other All-American certificates came from placing 15th in the 100 freestyle, ninth in the 200 freestyle, 14th in the 200 free relay, 15th in the 800 free relay and 15th in the 400 free relay.

Max credits her success to the support of head coach Paul Dotterweich. Competing in the “very mental” sport, Max relies on the veteran coach to maintain confidence.

“So, him just being confident in me and believing in me really helped pushed me to be as good as I can be,” she said.

Similarly, her relay teammates, she said, have stuck together and remained focused despite obstacles, such as injuries.

“We were all really determined to get there and I think that just carried us there,” she said.

Already looking to next year, Max hopes to finish top eight in all events at nationals. Just missing top eight with a ninth-place finish in the 200 freestyle, Max said it’s a “good goal to keep working toward.”

Men’s hoops heads to NCAA tournament

When the men’s basketball team was eliminated from the SUNYAC championship tournament on Feb. 28 in a semifinal loss to SUNY Plattsburgh, it looked like the end of its season. Instead, Geneseo is headed to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1999, its eighth appearance total and head coach Steve Minton’s first trip to the NCAA tournament in his 14 seasons guiding the Knights.

“I think that it helps them to get over losing on Friday a little bit more quickly knowing that they still have another opportunity to play,” Minton said.

“This will allow us at least some more time together and when we do eventually end the season, it’s hard to have that closure, too, but at least it wasn’t last Friday,” he added.

With an at-large bid, Geneseo joins the 62-team field and faces Dickinson College on Friday March 7 at The College of Wooster (Ohio). The tournament runs from Thursday March 6 to March 22.

Receiving an at-large bid can be difficult, since there are a greater number of conferences – where champions receive automatic qualification – and schools overall in Division III compared to Division I, Minton said.

“It’s a testament to our product of work over the course of the year,” he said.

Minton also said how it is a testament to the SUNYAC, as two additional teams from the conference made the national tournament. SUNY Plattsburgh also earned an at-large bid, while SUNY Brockport was automatically qualified given its recent SUNYAC championship. The Knights have also faced – and defeated – two additional teams headed to the NCAA tournament: Morrisville State College and Hobart College.

The NCAA tournament provides Geneseo with a second opportunity to create the type of legacy that Minton recognized earlier in the season. In addition to the four seniors and junior Gordon Lyons who make up the starting lineup, this year’s players have the chance to “leave their mark,” according to Minton, so that people would recall their success years from now.

“Is it that we got to the NCAA tournament? Is it that we won a game in the NCAA tournament? Is it that we advance to the Elite Eight or Sweet 16? And so this is just the first chapter in writing the rest of that legacy and there will be a couple more if we move forward,” he said.

For now, as Minton said, “the rest of it still remains to be written.”

Lyons reaches major career milestones

Of course he wasn’t counting. Junior forward Gordon Lyons let the game play out instead. Then, his friends and family erupted in cheer after a layup, and he knew. He had joined the club. Lyons became the 24th player in Geneseo history to score 1,000 career points for the men’s basketball team. He joins teammate senior co-captain Connor Fedge, who reached the milestone on Jan. 28 – a rare feat in a single season.

“It’s just an honor to be part of the club… to just be part of that discussion is an honor,” Lyons said.

The Amherst, N.Y. native scored the 1,000th point on Feb. 15 on his second home court, of sorts, at Buffalo State College. Lyons scored 28 points and grabbed 16 boards to record his 14th double-double of the season in an 81-67 victory.

High numbers are something consistent in Lyons’ stats. He became the 10th player in the program’s history to collect over 600 rebounds. He leads the conference in shooting percentage (.641) and rebounds per game (11.2), good for top national rankings, too. Lyons also ranks fifth in the SUNYAC with 18.8 points per game, after the 65-53 loss to SUNY Cortland on Tuesday Feb. 19. For his recent efforts, Lyons was named SUNYAC men’s basketball player of the week.

College ball wasn’t always so easy for Lyons. He recalled freshman year of college, facing an adjustment after high school. Just 17 years old at the time, Lyons felt the intimidation, noting how the players were much quicker, stronger and all-around more skilled in this competitive Division III league.

It wasn’t an easy climb for Lyons, who started his sophomore year with a “kick in the butt,” he said. In a practice before the first game, Lyons and head coach Steve Minton chatted about expectations. That was the point when Minton raised the bar for Lyons.

“In that moment, I don’t know what switched on, but I just started playing better,” Lyons said. “I don’t know what he said or what that did, but that it kind of turned it around and woke me up a little.”

Since then, Lyons’ hard work has paid off – both on and off the court. The accounting major with a 3.76 grade point average was named a 2013-2014 Capital One Academic All-America Division III men’s basketball team honoree by the College Sports Information Directors of America on Tuesday Feb. 18.

Lyons is one of two juniors voted to the team, in addition to 13 seniors, who have earned a minimum 3.3 cumulative GPA while acting as a starter or key reserve on the team.

“I’ve always tried to be a hard-worker and tried to incorporate that in all aspects of life, whether it’s school or sports or any job I’ve been given,” Lyons said. “I really don’t like to let people down so I try to work hard and give my best effort.”

Editor’s Note:

The Knights host their final regular-season games on Friday and Saturday Feb. 21 and 22, respectively.

Minton said he believes that this year’s team “has the opportunity to leave their mark.”

“They are going to have to kind of recognize that and work together to form some kind of legacy if you will,” he said.

Geneseo is guaranteed third seed in the final SUNYAC standings, but no higher than second. Two wins and two losses by SUNY Plattsburgh would allow the Knights to move into second place. Playoffs begin Tuesday Feb. 25.

“You get to a point where you can’t make a mistake now because, as confident as you might be, you lose, you go home,” Minton said.

Cattle queen milks career path out of lifelong passion

More than 30,000 gallons of milk are generated daily at El-Vi Farms, where senior Emma Andrew and her family’s 2,700 cows call home. Andrew’s father is one of five partners at the Newark, N.Y. farm. When Andrew was born, El-Vi kept 500 milk cows, but the farm has expanded since, housing 1,150 milk cows with an additional 1,550 cattle, mostly baby cows and young heifers.

At Geneseo, Andrew is still among cows, and she works at Mikelholm Holsteins Farms outside of Pavilion, N.Y. at least three times a week. Typically Andrew milks the cows, but not by hand. She preps the cows’ udders, cleans them and puts them on the milking unit. She also takes care of the cows’ general health and nutrition as well as baby calves.

Andrew owns 30 of her own head of cattle at El-Vi, but as graduation looms, Andrew may say goodbye to them. Her relationship to her cows is “kind of like a pet with benefits or mixing business with pleasure,” she said.

“I love my cows and I love to show them but I can sell them and pay my tuition at the same time,” she said.

If Andrew does sell, she plans to always co-own or board her animals somewhere.

“I like the aspect of owning animals, being on farms and like breeding my animals and then showing them … just to stay attached like that to the whole dairy-side of things,” she said.

Andrew has lived on El-Vi her entire life, and it was there where she learned to manage the farm and of course, milk the cows. Milking is so easy and mindless for Andrew, but breeding and showing the cows is more enjoyable for her.

She has participated in various regional, state and international shows. Her greatest goal is to show a cow at the World Dairy Expo. The Supreme Champion at the Expo is “is the end all, be all,” in the showing world, she said.

She also served as the 2012-2013 New York State Dairy Princess and was named the New York State Holstein Association Distinguished Junior Member. Andrew joined the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council Food Advocacy Network, a leadership and outreach program for young farmers ages 18-30. She was selected as one of the four delegates to represent New York at the Capitol for agriculture days, which included opportunities to discuss concerns and changes to legislators.

“I get involved somehow,” Andrew said. “People find me. That’s kind of nice though because it’s gotten to the point that I’ve obviously done a lot so people know me, and now people will come to me and ask, ‘Hey, can you come do this for me? Hey, can you do that?’”

Andrew, a communication major, is looking to combine her studies with her lifestyle in her imminent professional career. She is looking into agriculture advertising before moving onto milk marketing and promotion specifically.

While she is unsure if she wants to work for one dairy company, such as Chobani, or go down “the nonbias route” and work for the ADADC to promote agriculture and nutrition, she will continue to share “how I grew up on a farm and what it means to be a farmer, how … being a farmer helps me educate people and that’s my passion and how [children] can find their passion and how they can use it to educate people, too.”

Men's hoops fights for top seed

The Geneseo men’s basketball team had the opportunity to share first place with SUNY Brockport – if only it had won. The Knights fell to the No. 15-ranked Golden Eagles on Tuesday Feb. 11 in a tight 66-62 loss. It was an even battle for much of the game, but when it came down to the wire, Geneseo was unable to secure the lead despite numerous attempts in the final minute.

While the loss dampened the significant win over SUNY Plattsburgh on Saturday Feb. 8, according to guard sophomore Connor Keenan, there’s still time for the Knights.

Five conference games remain in the regular season, providing enough opportunities for the Knights to move out of second place. Geneseo’s final foes include SUNY Fredonia, Buffalo State College, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Oneonta and SUNY New Paltz.

It’s a tight race for the top spots, though, as Plattsburgh is alongside Geneseo with a 10-3 conference record. Although the Knights topped the Cardinals on Saturday Feb. 8 to propel into second place, the two schools remain neck-and-neck as Plattsburgh took an earlier game against Geneseo in the North Country.

The second-place spot could be a game changer for the tied schools when it comes to SUNYAC playoffs. The opening day on Feb. 25 feature two games: The third and sixth seed, as well as the fourth and fifth, face off, while the first two seeds earn byes.

One of those two spots – that could be Geneseo’s fate.

Head coach Steve Minton said, in a press release, that he is confident in the team’s ability to put itself in a “position to win every time.”

Junior Gordon Lyons and co-captain senior Connor Fedge are stepping up to that challenge. Lyons scored 25 points and a career-high 17 boards in Tuesday’s loss to earn his 13th double-double of the season. The Amherst, N.Y. native tallied 12 points against SUNY Potsdam on Feb. 7 and another 17 against Plattsburgh.

Fedge has consistently supported the offense, as well. He has scored double-digit points in all but two games this season.

With just five games left in the season, the Knights are looking to secure, at the very least, a home playoff game.

Geneseo travels to Fredonia on Friday Feb. 14 to take on the Blue Devils (3-11). Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.

Students seek to keep diversity strong at Geneseo

Thirty-plus students will defend their peers’, next year’s class and perhaps their own ability to attend Geneseo at the annual Educational Opportunity Program Advocacy Day.

On Wednesday Feb. 12, a group of Geneseo students, along with Access Opportunity Programs staff, will travel to the State Capitol in Albany to voice its concerns over budget cuts.

As outlined in the State University of New York Executive Budget Summary, ,400 is expected to be cut from EOP for the 2014-2015 academic year. EOP is among the few university-wide programs affected. Other cuts are from the Advanced Technology Training and Information Networking, Marine Animal Lab and Cornell Veterinary College.

The ,400 in funds is divided among SUNY campuses with EOP programs, including Geneseo.

The budget cuts affect Geneseo’s ability to admit students into the EOP program, according to AOP Director Calvin Gantt. Roughly 500 students currently participate in AOP, which houses state-supported EOP and Geneseo-specific Transitional Opportunity Program. Both programs address underrepresented student populations in an attempt to diversify the campus.

“Geneseo is limited to serve two, maybe three percent of the students who are eligible and meet all EOP guidelines,” Gantt said. This isn’t new, however, as the EOP budget has been cut consistently since 1985. Gantt said since that year, EOP hasn’t received full support from the state.

In addition to prospective students, budget cuts can also impact current students’ abilities to remain enrolled, Gantt said.

Since the students are at the ones affected, Geneseo students take the primary role at Advocacy Day. The students will have the opportunity to attend individual meetings with the legislators of the areas where Geneseo students hail.

“I think the students are the ones who really need to be heard,” said TOP counselor Gabriel Iturbides, who has participated in roughly a decade’s worth of Advocacy Days with Geneseo’s AOP staff and St. Bonaventure University as a Higher Education Opportunity Program student. “I’ve been heard before and I’ll probably be there again next year, but for some students, this may be it.”

While students are advocating for EOP, it isn’t exclusive to EOP students. This year, roughly 20 TOP students, as well as a handful of non-AOP students are expected to attend. Gantt points out that it’s important for non-AOP students to attend and explain the importance of diversity on their campus.

“Those types of issues are just as relevant for [the legislators] to hear … When you cut to programs of this nature, you’re cutting a huge part of the diverse population at each campus,” Gantt said.

In years past, the EOP Advocacy Day has helped. According to Iturbides, last year’s EOP budget received a 3 percent increase from the proposed budget.

While the fiscal year ends on June 30, the state budget could pass as early as May 1.

Blue Wave looks to follow up decades of wins

There is a timeless expression in sports, “Winning isn’t everything.” Apparently, the Geneseo Blue Wave men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams haven’t yet gotten that message. The women of the Blue Wave have won six championships and are looking for their seventh title this season. Their success dates back decades as they’ve won an unheard of 15 SUNYAC championships in 17 years. There isn’t a professional team that can even be used as an example against that.

But the achievements don’t end there. The men are just as successful in their own right, as the team has won 12 SUNYAC championships in the past 13 years.

Though Geneseo is only a small public college in western New York, its accomplishments in the sport are well noted across the nation as it has made multiple trips to the illustrious NCAA Tournament, which features the best teams in the country.

The team has thrived because of dedicated and motivated leaders. Head coach Paul Dotterweich acknowledges a few exceptional athletes who have been key to the recent success.

“We have several leaders on the women’s team, hard to pick out a few, although [junior] Abby Max is the defending SUNYAC Swimmer of the Year and an eight-time All-American,” Dotterweich said. “She is clearly a very talented athlete.”

Dotterweich added, “[Senior] Lily Powell has been to NCAAs on relays the last two years and has four All-American certifications as well. [Senior] Emily Wanamaker has been to the regional meet in diving.”

The men also returned swimmers who are used to winning and made it to the finals last year, including sophomore Kristian Tialios, who is continuing his string of victories this season.

Just last season, the Blue Wave women dominated the competition in the SUNYAC championship, winning the 200-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle relay, 400 free relay, 200-yard medley relay and 200-yard breaststroke.

The men, unfortunately, suffered one of their only defeats by falling to SUNY Cortland in the finals. This year, they are looking for a different finale in order to add another trophy to their already overflowing case.

It is through “hard work … [and] being willing to go the extra mile in training and pushing yourself beyond any perceived limits,” Dotterweich said. He added that this exceptional team has thrived and captured 21 SUNYAC titles in its history.

The women and men remain undefeated in SUNYAC meets and are on their way.

“How can there not be pressure [to win SUNYACs],” Dotterweich said. Fortunately, the members of the Blue Wave seem not to notice, as they are too busy winning.

Bama fan's reaction to Iron Bowl

I hate Auburn University with every living fiber of my being. I hate head coach Gus Malzhan, I hate quarterback junior Nick Marshall and I hate everything about that “cow college” – as former head coach for the University of Alabama Paul “Bear” Bryant so eloquently put it many years ago. Needless to say, I am an Alabama fan, even a previous student. Roll tide. That being said, the 2013 Iron Bowl was the greatest football game I have ever seen.

Auburn is coming off a season where it was the laughing stock of the Southeastern Conference. That season ended with a 49-0 loss to Alabama, a game I attended. There were supposed to be dark days ahead for the Tigers.

Then came Malzhan.

Malzhan was the offensive coordinator when quarterback Cam – also known as “Scam” – Newton was at Auburn. In Newton’s only season with the Tigers, they won the Bowl Championship Series National Championship over the University of Oregon. Still, no one was expecting Malzhan to win many big games in 2013.

But then Auburn started winning those big games. The only blemish on the Tigers’ record was a loss at Louisiana State University.

That almost changed against rival University of Georgia – almost.

With just half a minute to go, down 38-37 at home, fourth-and-18 from the team’s own 27-yard line, Marshall threw up a prayer of a pass that deflected off two Georgia defenders – into the outstretched hands of wide receiver sophomore Ricardo Louis. The Tigers won 43-38 in what was dubbed “The Prayer at Jordan-Hare.”

It was a one-in-a-million play.

Still, Auburn was a big home underdog to two-time defending National Champions Alabama. Not only is Alabama the winner of the past two titles, it has won three out of the last four. The year Alabama didn’t win it, the title went to – you guessed it – Auburn.

The Iron Bowl game was a thriller the whole way. The Tigers hung on throughout the game, tying it at 28-28 with just 39 seconds left on the clock.

Alabama was not about to concede into overtime. Running back sophomore T.J. Yeldon put the Tide in a position to attempt a 57-yard field goal to win with just a second left. Head coach Nick Saban sent out redshirt kicker freshman Adam Griffith to attempt the mammoth kick – after three failed attempts earlier in the game by kicker senior Cade Foster.

It fell short.

It fell into senior Chris Davis’ hands nine yards deep in the end zone.

No one touched Davis for 109 yards. He scored. Alabama 28, Auburn 34. Final.

It was a one-in-a-million play. Again.

The win gives Auburn a chance to extend its season even further. The Tigers will play the University of Missouri on Saturday Dec. 7 in the SEC Championship. From there, the winner could go on to play in the BCS National Championship, pending the results of a few other games.

If Auburn wins the National Championship, it would truly be defying odds. If you put $10 on the Tigers to win the championship last January, you would stand to make $2,000.

I hope Auburn loses to Missouri by 50. I hope Marshall’s former teammates at Georgia press charges against him for stealing their money. I tip my cap, however, to a great comeback season. I tip my crimson-and-white cap to the Tigers for grasping victory from the tightly clenched jaws of defeat – twice.

Congrats on the victory, Auburn. The Tide will see you next year.

St. John Fisher hands men's basketball first loss

The Geneseo men’s basketball team took on St. John Fisher College Wednesday Dec. 4 in the first round of the 48th annual Wendy’s College Classic tournament. The fifth-seeded Cardinals, who don’t have a single senior on the roster, entered the game with a 1-1 record. Geneseo, at the fourth seed, looked to build off the win against Medaille College Nov. 25.

In the first half, co-captain senior Connor Fedge had five points in as many minutes off the bench while fellow senior Matt Curry made a much bigger impact, scoring 11 points to put the Knights up 38-33 at the half.

Geneseo came out of the locker room very strong, going on a 13-7 run to start the second half – a run that brought juniors Andy Drescher and Gordon Lyons into double figures and gave the Knights an 11-point lead.

St. John Fisher was able to climb back in it, however, and with just over 10 minutes to play, the Cardinals took the lead 55-54 on a 3-pointer from junior Stefan Bock.

From there, the game went back and forth until sophomore Tyler Hart made a jump shot for St. John Fisher as he was fouled. After completing the three-point play, the Cardinals were up 71-69 with 4:04 left.

After that, St. John Fisher was in control. The team went on a 16-10 run to end the game at a score of 87-79. Guard for St. John Fisher junior Adam Ambielli was the leading scorer for either team with 21, and his Cardinals will play SUNY Brockport in the semifinals on Friday Dec 6.

Despite the loss, the Knights still have games to play in the tournament. Geneseo will head to the Rochester Institute of Technology on Friday Dec. 6 to take on the Tigers. After that game, the team will play either Hobart College or Nazareth College on Saturday Dec. 7.

“From that Friday game to that Saturday game, you have to completely change who you’re scouting,” Fedge said.

Luckily for the Knights, one of their biggest strengths is their depth. Nine out of 14 players on the roster are either juniors or seniors.

Geneseo had four players score in double figures: Curry, Drescher, Lyons and co-captain senior Thomas Decker. Fedge finished with eight.

After the Wendy’s tournament, the Knights will play Alfred State on Monday Dec. 9 and then spend three weeks following without a game.

“[The players] try to get together while we’re still on campus during finals week,” Fedge said, “It’s actually a nice break to study and to get together and work out and shoot and play.”

Winter break will also allow Fedge to heal more from a stress fracture in his foot that sidelined him for the first two games of the season. In January 2014, SUNYAC play starts and games will become even more important.

Immediate impact made by first-year Ice Knights

In any sport, coaches and general managers will always rave about their team’s youth. Youth translates to potential, to growth and to a bright future. In the short-term, however, it rarely translates to wins. For the nationally ranked No. 12 Geneseo Ice Knights, their recent transfers and first-year players are arguably the reason for their 6-2 start to the season, the team’s best in three years.

“The freshmen and transfers have made a dramatic impact for us,” goalie junior Bryan Haude said. “Our defense core is one of the youngest in the SUNYACs, but they’re extremely effective in shutting down the highly skilled forwards in this conference.”

The Ice Knights defense was an area of concern going into the season, losing staples Colin De Jersey ‘13, Blake O’Connor ‘13 and Brandon Angotti ‘13 due to graduation and sophomore Alex Lubczuk, last year’s freshman standout, leaving the program. Instead, this year’s newcomers have solidified the team’s defensive end of the rink and given the Ice Knights depth.

First-year Derek Stahl, last year’s Defensive Player of the Year in the Eastern Junior Hockey League, was expected to step into a similar shutdown for Geneseo this year. He’s been up to the task, playing a significant amount of minutes.

“He makes veteran plays and has adjusted the quickest out of anyone,” head coach Chris Schultz said. “He has a great hockey sense, and the game comes easy to him.”

First-year Cam Hampson has been a revelation on the backend – arguably the Ice Knights’ strongest defenseman through the team’s first eight games.

“He’s been very consistent. He’s very intelligent, he’s been responsible defensively and has a ton of offensive upside,” Schultz said.

Offensive upside was what the Ice Knights were counting on from first-year Matt Solomon, who transferred in from Sacred Heart Unversity. Offense is exactly what he has provided.

Through eight games, Solomon has six points and has provided the heavy shot from the point the Ice Knights lacked on the power plays in the 2012-2013 season. This has freed up scorer senior Zachary Vit as well and given the Ice Knights two strong units. Geneseo is capitalizing on 27 percent of its power plays.

The Ice Knights have been an offensive powerhouse in the SUNYAC thus far, and first-year Stephen Collins is at the center of the conversation.

With 10 points in eight games, Collins is second in team scoring. His impact has been greater than his stats, as he showed with his highlight-reel overtime winner that lifted the Knights over Hobart College. Collins is a spark for the Ice Knights, one who can make something out of nothing.

With less flash, first-year Ryan Stanimir has been a model of consistency with points in six of the Ice Knights’ eight games. First-years Jack Ceglarski and Connor Anthoine have been the team’s best playmakers the past three games and have given Schultz options shuffling the lineup with senior Garry Childerhose out of the lineup until after Christmas due to injury.

“They’ve been a great contribution to our program both as players and teammates,” team captain senior Carson Schell said of the recent additions. “Each new guy has brought a different and unique component to our locker room.”

Yet all these new parts, playing new roles with a new team, have bought into one Geneseo concept: to win now.

And they’re a big reason why Geneseo is winning. Now.

Replacing talent key for indoor track

Despite losing national championship-caliber runners on both the men’s and women’s sides, the theme of this year’s indoor track team will once again be not to rebuild but to reload. “You never replace anybody in this sport. You just simply [say], ‘Next person up,’” head coach for his 10th year Dave Prevosti said. “Fortunately, we have a nice setup because last year we were pretty young, and we all got older and we have an amazing incoming class.”

Arguably the biggest loss from last year’s team on either side is Alyssa Smith ‘12, who won the NCAA Division III outdoor track and field steeplechase event in the spring 2013 semester as a graduate student. In indoor, Smith was a key part of the distance medley relay team that placed third at the NCAA indoor championships. Although Smith, who ran the 1600-meter leg, and Caitlin Kowalewski ‘13, who ran the 800-meter leg, are gone, junior Keira Wood and senior Allison Hoh return to anchor the team and lead the women’s side.

The distance running part of the team will once again feature many cross-country standouts, including senior Lauren McKnight, juniors Jacqueline Huben, Joanna Castrogivanni, Cassie Goodman and Alyssa Knott and freshman Sara Rosenzweig. The Knights’ arsenal of sprinters is boosted by the return of junior Kristen Gottstine from injury and the addition of freshman Erin O’Connor, who starred on the soccer field this fall.

Jumpers will thrive from the experience of senior Carrie Levinn and the talent of freshman Joanna Heath, last year’s New York State Section V long jump champion. Finally, junior Elyssa Slawinski, who is overseas until the spring semester, and senior Danelle Turney will look to improve on last year’s solid throwing campaigns.

On the men’s side, junior Cohen Miles-Rath is the only returning member from last year’s distance medley relay team that also placed third at the national championships. Fresh off of a fifth-place finish in the SUNYAC cross-country meet, Miles-Rath will have many cross-country teammates by his side, including junior Ryan Moynihan, brothers senior Patrick Wortner and sophomore Brendan Wortner and freshman Matt Jorgenson, to form one of the league’s better long-distance groups.

In the field events, juniors Luke Taverne and Phil Longo will again look to dominate competition in the high jump while welcoming freshmen David Pollock and Brendan Macey to the fold in a unit that Prevosti thinks is just as good as the distance runners. Sprinter freshman Austin Donroe should make an immediate impact in a needed area, and lastly, the throwing squad regained senior Zach Markel from injury, who Prevosti says has been the “anchor” of the team for a couple of years.

Both squads will look to assert their talents at the opening meet of the season on Saturday Dec. 7 at the SUNY Brockport’s Early Season Run. The Knights will then be off for break before returning a week before classes begin in January to begin training for the spring semester.

Women in sports journalism limited by double standard

Women have come a long way since fighting their way into sports journalism. Still, the struggle continues and sports networks exploit the obvious commonality among the field of female sports journalists: They’re all conventionally “good looking.” Most notable is former ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews, who left the network for Fox Sports last year. It seems that there are female journalists like Andrews everywhere: Rachel Nichols, Michelle Beadle, Hannah Storm and Samantha Ponder; the list goes on. Unfamiliar with the names? Thankfully, Bleacher Report and Complex magazine offer photo galleries of the hottest and sexiest women that have graced the sports broadcasting world. Because we only know these women by their looks anyway, right?

Somehow women have settled into a niche in sports broadcasting with exactly that: their beauty. Sure, it’s opening doors for female journalists. Forty-one years after Title IX, we can celebrate having women in leadership positions, establishing the Association for Women in Sports Media and bringing in more women into sports as players, journalists and fans.

But we need to keep progressing.

Because, really, male sports broadcasters are not held to the same image standard. Instead of their good looks – and let’s be honest, those are pretty scant – men are actually hired based on their knowledge and sports expertise. ESPN even hires former athletes, and some professional leagues facilitate this by hosting seminars for players interested in pursuing careers in broadcasting.

Women shouldn’t have to think about their attractiveness if they’re interested in becoming sports reporters. It shouldn’t matter. We shouldn’t have to settle and hide our faces behind our words in print newspapers just because we aren’t gorgeous. It’s hard enough to come by a talented woman interested in sports journalism. It’s how we’ve become the minority.

Still, anchors are split between two roles: men as reporters and women as entertainers. As with any broadcast, viewership is key. But it seems that men can only tolerate a female sports broadcaster if she's attractive. That seems to be our only value, since we are supposedly unable to offer any valuable information as it pertains to sports.

While the men get to do the real thing, women are left as the “Sideline Barbie” or “Sideline Princess” as Andrews was dubbed in her early years. But women can do the same thing: We can interview, talk, write, analyze, manage – the whole deal. Given the opportunity, we can prove that we offer something similar, maybe even better.

Moreover, we’ll bring a different perspective on sports and athletes. Like any topic – politics, education and religion – certainly men and women will offer contrasting insight given their own experiences. While women remain the minority in the sports journalism field, we still represent half of the population in the world. Let’s hear from the other half of the human race.

We’ll know when we’ve reached true equality in the sports journalism field: When women aren’t questioned on their knowledge of sports, when we aren’t butting into sports talk because it’s “guy time,” when we aren’t belittled for our lack of athletic participation, when a female can proudly host her own show on ESPN or call a NBA game and is as nonchalantly recognized as Andrews on a NFL sideline.

For AOP race not only factor

Among the Geneseo students who are characterized as multicultural, roughly 500 students participate in the Access Opportunity Programs, addressing one of the common misperceptions about AOP and its students: Not all students of color on campus are accepted through AOP. AOP students are from all backgrounds, making this different from affirmative action, according to AOP Director & Coordinator of Admissions Calvin Gantt.

Gantt described affirmative action as providing fair consideration for the same exact job to individuals. AOP, he said, looks at the big picture: the whole student.

“I'm looking at extenuating circumstances that may have impacted a student’s ability to perform in high school, taking those types of things into consideration,” he said.

Such factors include family obligations, such as taking leaves of absences to interpret for their family members at home and working to provide enough money to support their families. These factors are also considered while attending Geneseo.

Gantt further emphasized that AOP is not affirmative action because students aren’t just given a spot.

All AOP students must successfully complete a month-long program during the summer before they are officially accepted into Geneseo. Both classes and lectures are offered, including mathematics and INTD 105: Writing Seminar.

The summer program helps more than the academic transition, though, adjunct lecturer of mathematics Aimee Rose said. She has taught the past six summers and sees how, similarly to all incoming freshmen, AOP students face the challenge of adjusting to college life.

“They have that four-week period to adjust to campus life, and being independent of their parents and also becoming a little bit more familiar with how to manage their time,” she said.

Aside from the summer program, AOP students must fulfill additional requirements depending on the specific program.

The distinction between EOP and TOP

The department is divided between two programs: the Arthur Eve Educational Opportunity Program and the Transitional Opportunity Program.

EOP was introduced to the State University of New York system in 1968 to provide higher education opportunities to “traditionally by-passed” New York State residents, according to Geneseo’s AOP website.

According to the same website, AOP aims to support “historically, underrepresented minority group students.” At Geneseo, however, 50 percent of EOP students are not students of color.

Since it is a state-supported program, New York State sets the guidelines, Gantt said. Both academic and financial criteria are examined for admissions, such as grade point average, SAT scores, New York State residency status and household income.

But just because of their lower financial status, AOP students do not receive a free ride to Geneseo, as some perceive, Gantt said.

EOP students receive a $1,500 grant from the state each academic year to help with expenses. TOP students, though, must pay an additional $1,250 in fees to cover housing, meals, materials and academic advisement during the summer program.

TOP, on the other hand, is Geneseo-specific. Created in 1985, Associate Vice President for Enrollment William Caren and the late former AOP Director Isom Fearn looked at which students were denied from both AOP and general admissions and found that “there was a relatively large population of underrepresented students that were talented students … [but] they just didn’t meet the entrance requirements for Geneseo,” Gantt said.

As a result, TOP addressed the lack of underrepresented students and attempted to diversify the campus.

The program has expanded since, welcoming other underrepresented students, including new immigrants with less than six years in the United States and adult students 24 years and older. TOP is opening the program to first-generation college students and those from rural school districts next year.

“It’s really a catch-all program to really, I think, have the campus more reflective of the diversity of New York State as it exists,” Gantt said.

A “tough love” family

After AOP students decide to attend Geneseo, one of the main objectives of the department, Gantt said, is to provide a support system away from home.

Academic growth along with personal growth is reinforced through mentor programs and student development initiatives, Men Incorporating Leadership Empowerment and Service, Women’s Leadership Institute, Minority Association of Pre-Health Students and Chi Alpha Epsilon honor society.

Gantt said AOP students are challenged, resulting in “a lot of tough love that happens in this program, but in the end … it [is] a family.

That tough love doesn’t drive AOP students away. For some, including WLI student advisor senior Klarissa Garcia, the department is the “default place to go,” home to some of these students’ most meaningful relationships from college.

“It’s something I am going to take with me and has made me who I am today just because they’re consistent and you always need that in college, to have that one person who’s always there,” she said.

Corrections: The print story as appeared in the Nov. 14 issue misstated the EOP title. Geneseo has the Arthur Eve Educational Opportunity Program, while private schools have the Arthur Eve Higher Educational Opportunity Program. Not all AOP students pay the $1,250 in fees for the summer program. EOP students' fees are covered by New York State.

Additions: Geneseo's TOP program was also facilitated by Associate Vice President for Enrollment William Caren, in addition to the late former AOP Director Isom Fearn.

Despite no postseason, volleyball proud of accomplishments

From beginning to end, the 2013 season wasn’t easy for the Geneseo volleyball team. Being its first season after reinstating the program, head coach Jen Salmon was uncertain if she would fill a roster, let alone of talented student-athletes. And so she began with a squad of 15, who had little to no intercollegiate experience, not yet aware of how enthusiastic, committed and genuine the student-athletes would be.

They’ve come a long way – so much that the Knights appeared to be a completely different team in the final weekend of the 2013 season.

Geneseo earned two wins on Saturday Nov. 2, ending the season on a high note. The team completed the season at 13-19 overall and 2-7 in SUNYAC play.

Regardless of the wins and beyond the numbers, Geneseo’s game play was so different that some coaches approached Salmon and asked, “How did you lose all the matches you lost?”

But what the coaches didn’t know were all the factors that the team faced: losing last season and bringing in a young, inexperienced team.

The Knights approached the Oct. 30 match against Nazareth College with a different mindset that “let them free,” Salmon said. “It gave them the ability to play for the love of the game, to play for fun, so their true colors showed.”

That positive energy continued through Saturday when Geneseo consequently swept Alfred University and claimed a 3-2 victory over St. John Fisher College later that day.

It all clicked that final weekend – the “right time,” Salmon said.

“All of those things we’ve worked on all season, skill wise, combinations and consistency and executing, everything just fell into place,” she said.

“I saw them do things that I haven’t seen them do all season,” she said, exposing their true capability, talent, “who [they] really are.”

But how? Hard work and heart.

And seeing that, Salmon said, is a better ending to the inaugural season than a playoff berth.

Unpaid internships: a different form of compensation

‘Tis the season for internship applications. Year after year, we hear from students about receiving below-minimum-wage-pay and facing exploitation in what should be a “real-world experience.” It’s nothing new, though. Internships are unfair and often illegal. Under the United States Fair Labor Standards Act, employers must pay everyone. It exempts educational positions as long as employers don’t directly benefit from the intern.

But we continue to subject ourselves to this slave labor of sorts because, unfortunately, we don’t have any other choice.

In a column for The New York Times, Tim Kreider urges the younger generation to stand up for ourselves, yet we aren’t in the position to do so. Sure, he’s right; we shouldn’t “give it away,” and no, it isn’t “professionally or socially acceptable.” But what should we do instead?

If we fight for our rights, as two former Condé Nast interns did, it can become a selfish act. The major magazine publication company that produces Vogue, The New Yorker and GQ terminated its internship program on Oct. 23. This reduces the amount of opportunities for next year and ends some students’ dreams to work at specific publications. Worst of all, the already competitive search just became even tighter for aspiring magazine journalists.

I empathize with those students who hoped to intern at a Condé Nast publication, but because of defendants like Lauren Ballinger and Matthew Leib, that opportunity has vanished.

I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to be Ballinger or Leib. Don’t ruin it for everyone.

So, we’re stuck. We can’t stand up for our right to be paid because we need internships more than the companies need us individually. Internships have quickly grown into a high-stakes competition.

If you are morally against unpaid or underpaid internships or simply cannot afford to forgo compensation, someone else will take your spot. But even those lucky students who receive internships can lose sight of the purpose of the program.

Internships are everything for college students; they provide a glance into an industry, company and position. They add some credibility to our resumes to help distinguish ours from those of countless other college students.

After the professional internship, we can say we have the necessary skills from interning at company X. And some students, including fellow communication majors, don’t have many alternatives to internships; it’s an expectation.

And I’ve found that that valuable experience is enough and worth more than any money I could earn. There are additional benefits, too, that are overlooked while everyone focuses on the monetary gain: You can live in a new place knowing that you can return to college or your hometown afterward, meet new friends and network with people in the industry.

Really, the money is just the “icing on the cake,” as former Condé Nast intern Emilyn Teh of Cornell University said. Experience should trump any other gain, including money, which has become the focus in professional internships. The discussion surrounding interns’ pay clouds the true benefits of professional internships.

This article isn’t meant to support the unethical and illegal practices of companies. All interns should receive payment, since, even if they’re not labeled as educational, interns provide some benefit to the company. It’s vital to remain a watchdog on these institutions and criticize as necessary. But take the experience for what it’s worth: a beginning to a career path. And seriously, forget the money.

CAS strategizes to increase composting

Campus Auxiliary Services are bringing black soldier flies to campus as a way to expand their composting efforts. Currently, the not-for-profit collects pre-consumer veggie scraps from Red Jacket Dining Hall’s Culinary Support Center that produces the grab-and-go salads and other to-go items.

Last year alone, CAS brought 11,400 pounds of veggie scraps to the compost pile that is situated between the Vic Raschi softball field and track & field complex.

The vegetables help balance out the more traditional compost pile that mixes green waste with brown waste from yard clippings, CAS Marketing Coordinator Becky Stewart said. Traditional compost piles are typically vegan, though, restricted from meats and oils.

In addition to these challenges, the compost pile is at capacity. The CAS Sustainability Committee has searched for the past two years for additional methods to divert more food waste from the landfill.

After considering eight options, CAS decided on a bioconversion system with black soldier flies, a species native to the area.

The black soldier flies hatch as larvae or grub and eat a lot of food for about 10 days. For every 100 pounds of food waste, they create five pounds of biomass. The resulting biomass can be composted or added directly to the earth as a soil amendment.

The CAS Sustainability Committee found that this is “the best solution” given the additional advantages: Water, electricity and moving parts are not required; flexibility in scale; nonfood items, such as silverware, will not break the biopod and each byproduct – water, soil amendment and grubs – are beneficial to the environment. Both the funding and location are secured for the bioconversion system, but CAS is still waiting to build the biopods and structure.

Distinguished Teaching Professor of Physics Stephen Padalino purchased a household-size biopod on Monday Nov. 4 to use as a demonstration unit in the Integrated Science Center in January 2014. The test will take CAS’ post-consumer food waste to learn how to manage the ecosystem and monitor any pitfalls with a smaller scale before CAS implements the pilot unit, Stewart said.

Other recommendations by the CAS Sustainability Committee included bringing food waste to a local composting facility, partnering with a third party to remove the food waste, managing their own compost pile, composting via Earth Tub, composting via in-vessel units, using a Somat machine that “bakes” the food waste into a soil amendment and converting food waste to ethanol fuel.

But unlike other colleges within New York State, CAS’ options are limited due to Geneseo’s location.

“There are no pre-set solutions out there,” Stewart said. “A lot of the different solutions that do exist are beneficial; however, they aren’t as fully beneficial as we’re looking for as far [as] our ideal situation.”

At the University of Buffalo, composting depends on the dining facility. Students compost differently in dining halls located within residence halls than in the student union. The more controlled dining halls collect pre and post-consumer food waste while the student union has more behind-the-scenes composting, Erin Moscati, sustainability education manager at Buffalo, said in a phone interview.

Similarly, at Cornell University, Mary Schwarz, extension support specialist of the Cornell Waste Management Institute recognizes the challenges of separating post-consumer food waste.

The university includes training during orientation, so all students are aware of the composting system. Dos and don’ts are reiterated through signage in freshmen dorm rooms, Schwarz said in a phone interview.

In the past, Geneseo experimented with separation bins for post-consumer food waste. CAS held waste days in Mary Jemison Dining Hall to help people place their waste in the appropriate bins, but Stewart said, it did not go well.

Cornell has found, Schwarz said, collaboration is key in implementing any new aspect of a composting system.

“Everyone has to buy into it or it doesn’t work,” she said. “It requires a lot of education, a lot of cooperation.”

At Geneseo, there isn’t a formal relationship between students or the Geneseo Environmental Organization and CAS, but as GEO member senior Kristen Balschunat said, “Students know students. [CAS] should ask people who are excited; they would help.”

In the past, GEO has approached CAS with other sustainability ideas, such as replacing the paper sleeves for subs and wraps with stickers. GEO also thought of a Tupperware club for students to reuse a CAS-approved container in dining facilities instead of opting for the disposable dishes.

CAS Executive Director Mark Scott said that CAS does intend on incorporating everyone, such as students, faculty members and New York State’s facilities planning, because all of CAS’ efforts have to be supported by the campus community, he said.

While he recognizes that people will express different interests in composting, Scott said he is excited to see the “learning outcomes for our entire campus community.”