2 0 0 6 • V O L U M E X L • N O . 1

Published by Students in the Journalism Department at Morrisville State College • Volume XLII • No. 4 • December 2008

In this issue

Holiday TV Morrisville History Wrestling Auto Club

page 2 December 2008 - The Chimeseditorials

Dawn McGarrigle, Editor in Chief

Kasey Brooks -------------------------------------------Managing EditorKendra Spenard -----------------------------------Editorial Page EditorKayla Santoro -------------------------------------Campus News EditorMeghan Dewinde ----------------------------------------Lifestyle EditorHeather Foster ---------------------------------------------- Sports EditorJames Trask ----------------------------------------------Photo Co-EditorJeff Witherow -------------------------------------------Photo Co-EditorDawn McGarrigle ------------------------------------------- Copy EditorSarah Delap -------------------------------------------------Layout Editor

Edward J. Conzola .......................Photography AdvisorBrian L. McDowell .........Editorial and Layout Advisor

The CHIMES is a publication of students in the JournalismDepartment at Morrisville State College. The CHIMES offi ce is located at Charlton 101, or by phone at (315) 684-6247. Letters and columns appearing on the editorial page refl ect the opinions of their authors. Let-ters to the editor are subject to editing for length, clarity, and standards of decency. Letters to the editor and other communications can be sent to chimes@morrisville.edu.

Melissa Lopez ‘11Staff Reporter

The words “social security” can mean a variety of things. They can bring up emotions such as uncertainty and fear, or security and hope; cause relief in the money it brings in, or devastation in the money it doesn’t. According to the Social Security Administration, over 45 million people currently benefit from Social Security. With the country in financial hardship, where does the youth of

Baby Boomer retirement endangers Soc. Sec. fundtoday stand tomorrow? Where do we non-boomers stand when it comes to social security?

The Social Security program started in 1935 with President Roosevelt in an effort to help people affected by the depression. According to “How Stuff Works,” a site presented by Discovery Communications, Social Security was a program that started without money to support those that needed it. People currently working would pay taxes on the money they earned, and that money went to those not working. The pro-gram worked well, taking in, at the time more than it was paying out.

C. Bishop of Syracuse, 69, feels strongly about the benefits of Social Security. While they are not enough to support her and her husband, she feels that without this money they would have nowhere to go. She collects Social Security payments while her husband collects both Social Security and dis-ability payments. Bishop says that she could collect disability but that would prevent her from working and getting a paycheck. The paycheck pays better even though she really shouldn’t be working. “Bills still have to be paid,”

she said. She also said that as desperate as things are now, they wouldn’t make it without Social Security. Bishop feels that if in the future Social Security runs out, that the government should bail it out. “People should be able to get the money they paid in,” she said. Bishop said that they should not privatize the funds, because, “look at the stock mar-ket now, what would have happened if it had already been privatized?”

Steve Ellis, 21, Morrisville State College student, said “I’m not happy about not getting the benefits that I pay in. It’s ridiculous!” He also said that he doesn’t have enough information about finances to form an opinion on how they should fix the situation.

Dawn Jones, 67, employee at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino, said that she has gone back to work despite receiving Social Security and a pension from her former job. “It’s not enough to live on,” she said. She makes just over $2,000 a month between the two and after rent and amenities, Medicare, AARP and all her other bills, and she barely scrapes by. “I work to have spending money,” she said, “because my Social Security just doesn’t go far

enough.” Her daughter, Dale Jones, 42, was awarded Social Security disability in 2005 after an eight-year fight. She broke her back in 1997 and filed for disability but was initially denied. They told her that she could still work.

According to the Cato Institute, in 1950 there were 16 workers paying in for every retiree taking out. Now it is three-to-one, and by the time the baby boomers retire there it will be two-to-one. People are also paying a much higher tax rate. At the beginning an em-ployee only paid one percent of their in-come and their employer matched that. By 1960 it was three percent and now it is just over six percent of our wages (also matched by employers). We have to pay more and more to cover those that are retiring. The government has struggled with what to do about this: raise taxes or privatize the funds.

We have a big problem and the so-lution is not going to be easy. The way things are going, it doesn’t look like there will be much left for me when I retire if we don’t fix it. It would seem simple, you pay money in and you get money back, but it feels like life in these United States is never simple.

Re: Former white supremacist now supports ObamaCHIMES Editorial Staff

In our last issue, we ran an article concerning a former white supremacist and his drastic transition from hatred to support for a black candidate, Barack Obama. (If you have not read this im-portant column, you can still do so at

h t t p : / / t h e ch i m e s. m o r r i s v i l l e .edu/200809/nov25/whitesupremacy.htm.)

In response, Tim Van Camp received several e-mails from current white su-premacists. While the CHIMES edito-rial staff does not support the opinions below, we feel it is important to call our

readers’ attention to a small number of potentially dangerous individuals whose uninformed opinions could derail the social and political changes that are possible as a new administration takes control of the White House.

While these emails (which we are running uncorrected and unedited) are clearly not representative of a major-ity opinion in American culture, they should concern us all.

The following is not intended for young readers.

From: [yousuck1988@hotmail.com]Sent: Thu 12/4/2008 11:09 PMTo: Van Camp, Timothy Da Cc: Subject: Niger loverAttachments:

Can you say NIGER-LOVER. Nice article ass wipe, people like you is why this country is in the shitter. You should be strung up on a tree right next to the Niger you voted for.

-------------------------------------From: Mike M. [cazstudent@hot-mail.com]Sent: Wed 12/3/2008 8:32 PMTo: Van Camp, Timothy Da Cc: Subject: Caz college studentAttachments:

Hi, I go to Caz college. I was in Morrisville the other day and picked up the paper from the gas station. Excellent article, I wish their many more people like you in this world. Grate JobMike M.

-------------------------------------From: J.J. [moville@live.com]Sent: Wed 12/3/2008 1:16 PMTo: Van Camp, Timothy DaCc: Subject: Nice, good job dick headAttachments:

You’re a real DICKHEAD. Why would you waste your vote on a dumb nigger. I go to Mo’Ville and I am a proud raciest. their are 3 or 4 of us on campus. I wish we could start our own Neo Nazis organization. In a col-lege like this we could step out into our dorm hall and get our blood-laces. Your are a trader to your own kind. First this country frees them now they become President. What the fuck. We are now the minorities. Spades aren’t worth shit, I don’t get why they even bother going to col-lege. I am pretty sure you don’t need a degree to get welfare and section-8. First I almost chocked where I read you left the supremacy, than I al-

- continued on page 6-

EditorialDecember 2008 - The ChimEs page 3

Will Conroy, ‘11Staff Reporter

For many, this past 2008 presidential election was any-thing but satisfactory, leaving some feeling deprived of the rich topical debate and discus-sion over the issues which, de-spite what some may believe, are what interest Americans most.

Instead, the election’s dis-cussions and debates seemed limited and eclipsed by parti-san attacks, “he said she said,” character assassinations and generalizations.

Attacks and generaliza-tions that, at times, were vi-cious and even childish, for issues which required and deserved much more in depth and elaborate debate.

Attacks that both main parties are guilty of dictating into discussion to both the media and to the delegates in Washington.

Why can’t we have elec-tions where we’re able to vote for someone because of their views and opinions on specific issues rather than

having to first register with a party? Elections where people start to look more into the issues rather than hopping on “the two-party bandwagon.” Things aren’t always in black and white, especially in politics.

Many have become discon-tent with the increasingly script-ed debates and discussions.

There was no candidate from either of the two main parties representing a popular stance or opinion of a foreign policy from an anti-war position. The lack of bailout solutions and analysis taken into account in Washington also was upset-ting for many.

Dr. Thomas Hogle, a social science professor at Morrisville, felt strongly about the two-party system. He made it clear he was a strong supporter of the Democratic party while at the same time expressing his disap-proval of the “partisan attacks” that people get hung up on.

He also mentioned how hav-ing multiple parties enriches the selection of ideas.

He said the party system has never been outlined strictly in law or in the constitution; it

just developed as a “custom” and wove itself into the politics of Washington. This is just one of the many reasons we see the lack of restraint by and on the two parties.

The Democratic and Re-publican parties are elements of our government that have, over time, developed into influential and powerful parts of our gov-ernment.

They developed as a way to classify views and stances on specific basic issues. These views they encompass have evolved, becoming more broad or general, and sometimes even vague.

Slowly, the parties began to encompass broader, more general traits and views, merging and acquiring more views and opinions, acting in a way like that of a monopoly.

Similar to the resulting ef-fects of monopolies in business, on production and on the mar-ket in general, in government at times even the best interests and popular views and opinions don’t always get the representa-tion and recognition they’re due. This is because of the lack of

competition. Ron Paul, former Republi-

can presidential candidate and congressman from Texas, is one of many who fell victim to the pressures that the two-party system puts on delegates and candidates, when he wasn’t allowed in many debates for the Republican presidential nomination.

Paul was not allowed to take part in many of the Republican nominee debates because his views clashed with those of the leaders of the Republican party and some of the television networks.

People outside the two main parties within the government have more difficulty trying to express their views and doing their job.

In fact, having the strong grip that these two parties have in government directly deters representation, requiring repre-sentatives to submit to the will of the party rather than to the will of the people whom they represent.

When the monopolistic grip of the two parties strengthens and wraps around American

politics, it is then able to squeeze and expel the views that the par-ty deems should get represented instead of what the people deem should. Our government is meant to operate on the basis of representing the people.

If our country’s original intent was to have an efficient form of government that was at the same time fair and just to the people, it’s evident that the monopoly these two parties have over views and opinions often seems to inhibit govern-ment efficiency more than it does bolster it.

Many countries have no difficulty getting things accom-plished with multiple parties contributing, and at times argu-ably even seem to accomplish things more efficiently than with two parties running the show.

Having multiple parties par-ticipate in government doesn’t make it socialist, communist or parliamentary.

If anything, it contributes to a fairer representative de-mocracy while encouraging competition of ideas, competi-tion which in turn improves the quality of representation.

The two-party system monopolizes American politics, clears the way for partisan attacks

Dawn McGarrigle, ‘10Editor-in-Chief

Looks like they’re raising tuition prices again.

The idea of paying for college keeps me up nights. I have taken out loans for thou-sands of dollars that I don’t have. That I’m not making. That I won’t be making until I get into the real world and (hopefully) get one of the jobs that have been subtly prom-ised in all the brochures.

It seems as though no amount of partying, the past-

time of so many college stu-dents, can blur the image of loansharks seizing the few posessions I have aquired in my short 23 years.

No matter how hard I con-centrate on the ethics paper I have due in a week, or remind myself that the end of the se-mester is near, dollar signs are in the back of my mind.

Then I get an e-mail that tuition prices are being raised 14 percent, 21 percent for non-residents.

And the future gets a little dimmer as I see myself living

in a cardboard box, rain pouring onto my employed-but poor- person.

Not quite the version “em-ployed” all the smiling young faces on the brochures depict.

And so we become a genera-tion of very educated, very poor adults, and it can only get worse.

As the years go on, it seems almost necessary to go to col-lege. “Good” jobs seem to only be given to those with a college degree, while those who opted for saving thousands and entering the real world quicker are doomed to forever exist in low- income households.

But the joke’s on us. Either way we’ll all be looking at the world from the other side of the poorhouse window.

However, it doesn’t have to be that way. By investing only 10 percent of one’s income, beginning at the age of 23, a person can retire a millionaire.

As a 23-year-old myself, this statistic gives me hope. While I am spending thousands of dollars on my education, it will pay off later.

Being smart about money in an economic recession is the only way this generation will avoid debt.

And while the light at the end of the tunnel is barely in sight, I

Tuition skyrockets; even SUNY students suffer

Being smart about money

in an economic recession is the only way this

generation will avoid debt.

will grit my teeth and continue. It usually takes ten years to

pay off all college loans. With a degree and a level head, we can overcome the anxiety of paying for college.

CampusPage 4 December 2008 -The Chimes

CampusPage 4 December 2008 -The Chimes

Katie CollinsStaff Reporter, ‘09

Established 100 years ago as an agricultural col-lege, Morrisville State Col-lege is no longer just about agriculture.

Well-known for its tech-nological progress, MSC was the first in the country to replace landline dorm phones with cell phones.

However, not all of the technological advancements

seem to impress or please some of the college’s resi-dents.

Every student living on campus at Morrisville re-ceives a Nextel cell phone.

The walkie-talkie type phone allows students to talk to other students, make free local calls, and receive incom-ing calls.

Joe Virkler, a senior MSC resident living in the Com-mons, said, “Physically, yes, I have a Nextel. I don’t actually use it.”

Joe is one of many stu-dents who don’t need to use their Nextel phone.

Franklyn Mella, a senior Individual Studies major said he lost his Nextel phone last semester.

Mella decided not to re-place his Nextel because, “it’s not worth $50,” he said.

Commuter student, Adam Vanderhoof said the Nextel phones are the only thing he

does not like about MSC.“[The phones] are the

most annoying disturbance, they always go off in class,” VanDerhoof said.

Melissa James, a nursing student, said she used her Nextel phone a lot when her Blackberry phone broke. James said now she only uses it off and on.

Other students, like Ryne Francis and Anthony Brown use their Nextels on a regular basis.

Both Francis and Brown said they use their phones to “chirp” people.

Debbie Farrow, the man-ger of the technology center said MSC decided to go wire-less because cell phones make it easier for students to stay connected with their family.

With just under 2,000 residents on MSC’s campus, Farrow said there’s probably 1500 Nextel phones issued now.

Regardless of whether or not a resident chooses to have a Nextel, the coverage fee is included in the dorm services fee.

The Director of Busi-ness Operations/Human Resources for the Morris-ville Auxiliary Corporation, Shannon Richard, said hav-ing the Nextels cost more money than having landline phones.

Besides the initial cost included in the dorm ser-vices fee there is an additional charge if the resident decides to have a long distance plan.

Farrow said the least ex-pensive phone plan includes 200 minutes with free nights and weekends for $19.99. Taxes and fees are also added to the price.

With 500 Nextel phones not in use, residents who choose not to use a Nextel are still paying for a service that they are not using.

Athena LazoStaff Reporter, ‘11

Looking for the inspira-tion the Morrisville Auto Club needs to flourish, a dedicated auto student con-tacted the Specialty Equip-ment Market Association in hopes of receiving an invitation for the club to attend a trade event next year in Las Vegas.

Charlie Woznack , ex-pected to graduate from the A.A.S program in 2009, is an active member in the auto program. He was trea-surer last academic year and Student Government Rep-

resentative this year. During this time Woznack has been in contact with Jason Tolle-son, the director of SEMA.

The SEMA Show is a premier automotive specialty products trade event. It pro-vides attendees with profes-sional educational seminars, demonstrations, networking opportunities and over 2,000 new parts and tools. All at-tendees must have an invita-tion to attend.

Woznack said by the tone of Tolleson’s voice an invita-tion to the SEMA show next fall seemed promising. Tolle-son has shown an interest in the club and is spotlighting a story written by Woznack about the auto club in his national newsletter.

Woznack said an invita-tion for next year’s show sounded positive. It’s time to “step out of the box and see something completely differ-ent than what we learn here,” Woznack said.

A d v i s o r R a y m o n d Grabowski ag rees with Woznack. “We are inter-ested in seeing the latest and

Auto club hopes to attend Las Vegas showgreatest,” he said. He wants to get students out of the classroom and into real the world. But, he said they have

to “crawl before they can walk or run.”

Woznack said he respects all of the teachers that step up and take control of the club. “It’s not their job,” he said. “They are not getting paid extra.”

Woznack said the club is always growing and always different. He said what gets

done is based on the clubs’ interests and it’s been ever-changing since its start in 1946. SEMA is just another

possibility to provide motiva-tion and learning outside of the classroom.

Woznack and the Auto Club President Joe Wilson will have graduated before the next SEMA show in the fall, but they both hope that the club will attend the event and bring back inspiration and new views.

Wilson said this year’s club is one of the largest he has seen since his freshman year. There are 35 to 40 stu-dents currently involved.

The club meets every Thursday at 1 p.m. in room 102 of the auto building and is open to all MSC students. The club held a Cruise- In during Mustang Weekend and raised over $600. Wilson said they raised over $90 with soda and t-shirt sales at their open-house.

Last Saturday the club held a benefit for automo-tive professor Ryan Tabolt who recently suffered from a stroke.

The benefit was held at The Fort from 5 to 9 at night. There was a $20 entrance fee that included a live band and dinner. Eighty-four people were in attendance and the club raised over $1000. All of the proceeds will be directly forwarded to the Tabolt family.

Individuals or clubs in-terested in donating to the Tabolt family please contact Charlie Woznack.

Morrisville State College Auto Club 2008-09

Whether students are aware of the added price or not, Director of Residence Life Armanda King said that during orientation, “we try to communicate [the price of the phones] to them, as much as possible.”

It is stated in the student handbook that the costs of the cell phone, local phone plan, and cell phone services are incorporated in the dorm service fee.

“Morrisville is in a unique position to be able to is-sue cell phones,” King said. “Many students will come to Morrisville already with a cell phone: that’s the cell phone they’ll use, except some of them don’t get service here.

So by having the Nextel towers on campus, we were able to capture that service for them.”

Nextel phones: convenient to some, useless to many

LifestyleDecember 2008 - The Chimes page 5

Morrsiville State College through its first centuryTim Van Camp, ‘10Staff Reporter

This is the continuation of the history of Morrisville.

Up until now Morrisville had been a main tourist at-traction, but as times change Morrisville fell into quiet years until the founding of Morrisville State College.

T he o r i g ina l county courthouse was thrown to-

gether in 1817 and looked quite decrepit. In 1849 it was rebuilt into a elegant court-house.

On Oct. 12, 1864 some one had set fire to the court house in the middle of the night, that was thought to hold indictments against the Loomis boys.

The bucket brigade was normally the first response who ran water from the foun-

tain in front of the court-house to the fire. Meanwhile the pumper was hand-pulled from the engine house across the street over to the court-house. It wasn’t until hoses were run from the fountain that it was realized someone had pre-cut the hoses.

It was believed that some one broke in through the back window of the engine house in the middle of the night, cut the hoses than went over and set fire to the county court house.

It just so happened that one of the Loomis boys, George Washington Loomis Jr., known as “Wash”, was in the crowd at 3 a.m. and of-fered his assistance in fighting the fire.

There was a $1000 dollar reward for information lead-ing to the arrest of whom was responsible for the fire, it was believed “Wash” was the guilty party however it has never been proven.

The county courthouse burned to the ground and all was lost. But with ignorance comes stupidity, for the in-dictment against the Loomis boys had been moved from

the courthouse to the county clerk’s office next door.

If they had indeed set fire to the courthouse to destroy the indictment, then their ef-forts were in vain. In 1865 a new county courthouse was built and still stands today.

Eventually the county seat was moved to Wampsville in 1907. Morrisville had lost the county seat and with it the people who would come from all over for court cases.

John A. Stewart worked with Albany and decided Morrisville needed a college. Cornell and Colgate wanted

the land, however, Stewart persuaded Albany to pass the bill.

In 1908 an agricultural college was established, the first class of a dozen students would come through the doors in 1910 and graduate in 1913.

The histor y of “Mor-ris Flats” stays preserved in thanks to Morrisville town historian and Morrisville State College liberian Sue Green-hagen, who makes sure the original Morrisville town, will not fade away and be forgotten.

Gamers’ Guild plays God in Spore fashion showKyle Wilson, ‘10Senior Editor

On Thursday, Nov. 20, the Morrisville Gaming Guild hosted a fashion show in the STUAC auditorium. How-ever, this was not an ordinary fashion show. No, in place of dresses and glitter were horns and wings.

This fashion show was born from the creative minds of those playing the computer game Spore, and it was a show-case of no less than the limits of each player’s imagination.

Nathan Wood began by demonstrating the game. He created a creature that started out as something resembling a blue summer squash with a duck bill. As Nathan continued to tinker it eventually morphed into a bipedal beast.

I watched as he tried out various combinations of body parts, with horns on his crea-ture’s belly placed then plucked

out, skin color turning from an aquamarine to a sunset yellow, the creature seemingly fasci-nated with his ever-changing appearance. He even started giggling with glee at one point, terribly amused with the whole ordeal.

As the player finished and I saw his creature, lovingly named Jawby, gallop around, howling at the moon, dancing the Robot and doing the Moonwalk before being chased by a hoard of bees it became evident that this wasn’t just a simple showcase of the player’s artistic talents. They were literally making individual creatures to strut the virtual catwalk.

At around 8:20 the actual show began. The judges, Profes-sor Frederick Paine, Professor Ken Patterson and keyboard specialist Sharry Woodcock graded the individual creatures based on several factors, such as the creativity of the design, charm, use of color and poise.

The judges were also quite lively and jovial with the con-testants, with one judge eliciting laughs from all in the audito-rium by shouting to a female contestant, “Was this, like, a boyfriend?”

By the end of the evening the judges had tallied up their points and a winner was chosen out of the sixteen contestants. Sandy Vroman and her entry Remorsa was chosen as the winner of the Spore fashion show, with Jason Nordman and his reptilian crea-ture Drago taking second and her spidery Wendy Vair with Helga McLegs for third. “I think it had a lot of charm,” said Pat-terson, who then joked, “I wish people would put 10 percent of this effort into their work!” Paine commented, “These were all very well done.”

As the event wound to a close student and Gamers Guild member Ben Drew, who also helped plan the event, said he’d like to do something like this again.

Right: An early picture inside Madison Hall as the old county courthouse. Above: View from across route 20 showing students in front of Madi-son Hall, about 1915.

Photo from the Morrisville State College archives

The winning creature, Remorsa, was created by Sandy Vroman. Vro-man’s entry beat out 15 other contestants for first prize at the Spore Fashion Show on Thursday night.

page 6 March 2009 - THE CHIMESLifestyleWatchmen: well deserving of its R ratingKyle Wilson ‘09Senior Editor

Watchmen goes where few other super hero epics have been in the cinema: hard R territory. This movie is an ut-ter deconstruction of what we would consider to be a super hero. Through a lens covered in the blood of the guilty, we see super heroes at their most vulnerable, their most violent, their most tragic, and we...

Okay, you know what? I see you snickering over there. So okay, if you want to be juvenile, let’s just get it out in the open.

Yes, there is a giant blue glowing man who goes around naked. He has no clothes. You see his glowing blue genitalia often in the film. So I’ll give you all a moment to giggle about this before we move on to more serious fare.

Okay? Are we good? Alright then.

As I said before, Watch-men is a breakdown of what it means to be a super hero and is a startling and realistic...well, as realistic as one can be when

discussing the subject--look at the psychology of a person who dresses up in a fancy costume to go out into the night and bust heads.

The film takes place in an alternate 1985, where super heroes are common and out-lawed and third term president Richard Nixon is governing over an America that is about five seconds away from total nuclear war with the Russians. However, America has so far kept those damn Commies at bay through their living weapon of mass destruction, Doctor Manhat-tan, a nuclear physicist who was atomized and pieced himself back together, coming back as a glowing blue demigod.

The story in proper kicks off when a retired hero known as The Comedian gets thrown through his window and be-comes street pizza. The psy-chotic Rorschach becomes convinced that there is a super hero serial killer gunning for the remaining heroes.

Thus we are led through a disturbing conspiracy eventu-ally leading to an ending which

makes one question exactly what it takes to be a hero.

What separates this movie from other super hero fare is how cerebral it is. It takes us deep into the mysterious and oftentimes disturbing psyche of a costumed hero. We see why a man replaces his face with that of an ever-moving ink blot and tortures criminals.

We see how a retired hero can’t...er, let’s call it light the Batsignal, if you get my drift...unless he is dressed up like an owl man. We see how putting a mask on makes one lose their moral restrictions, lets them commit heinous acts as long as they believe it is for the greater good. It is all utterly fascinating, and something that you will never find from a more main-stream comic book movie.

For the record, let me state again that this movie is not for kids. This is a hard R. This has blood. Lots and lots of blood. This has a very long and some-what uncomfortable sex scene between two super heroes. And yes, this has glowing blue dong.

This is not X-Men or Fan-tastic Four. Please do not take ten-year-olds to see this movie. I saw several during the opening weekend and I could not tell you how livid that made me.

Please parents, look at the ratings for the movies you are taking your kids to. Watchmen deserves a look from anyone

mature enough to handle the subject matter.

From the brilliant open-ing credits set to Bob Dylan’s “Times They Are A-Changin’” to the morally questionable ending, Watchmen sets itself apart from other comic book movies.

The existence of pants is a highly overrated phenomenon.Photo courtesy of rowthree.com

Morrisville students look forward to the return of Ceann next year Ben Drew ‘11Staff Reporter

Morrisville welcomed an inde-pendent Irish rock band Wednes-day, March 4, to celebrate an early St. Patrick’s Day, and earned them a number of fans in the process.

Ceann (pronounced kee-ann), has toured the eastern US for three years since the band’s birth in 2006. They have switched their focus from Irish rock to traditional acoustic Irish, and now they find themselves somewhere in between the genre barriers. The band has contained anywhere between three and seven members at one time, constantly fluctuating as musicians join and leave again and again.

The current lineup contains lead singer and guitarist Patrick Halloran, bass guitarist and Pat-rick’s brother Brian Halloran, drummer Scott Taylor, and guitar/mandolin/harmonica performer Jeffrey A. Hoag.

As far as independent witty Irish rock goes, they have enjoyed a good amount of success across the east coast. They maintain daily contact with their fans via MySpace and their personal web page, as well as setting up a Smug-Mug account for fans to upload

their own photos of concerts. The band has released a total of three albums over their career: Almost Irish (2006), Rave, Rant, Lose Pants

(2007), and Making Friends (2008). Almost Irish and Rave, Rant, Lose Pants both contain completely origi-nal content, while Making Friends is

a collection of various live perfor-mances that the band felt should be chronicled. They sold these albums at the show for $5 each (their college special), as well as $15 t-shirts.

The event took place at Mus-tang Alley in the Student Activities Center from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. The band was paid for by the student activities fee that funds any and all activities that the Campus Activities Board (CAB) plans out.

As for the night’s set, the first half contained a number of humor-infused pieces like Pretty on the Inside, singing of the profits and perils of dating unsightly women with hearts of gold, and Blame the Viking, a tragic story of an apolo-getic sea-faring mercenary who can’t catch a break. In between songs singer Halloran could often be seen dancing a jig in front of the mic while appraising whatever happened to be on the television directly in front of him or heckling the audi-ence. “Judge away,” yelled Halloran, “we’re judging you too.”

The second half played out exceptionally well as more people started to filter into the dining room. They began to play their song Boom, an audience participa-tion piece that mocks the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Every time the word “Boom!” came up in the song,

the audience echoed the cry.But it wasn’t until the even-

paced The Worst Pirate Song that the band truly brought forth the peals of laughter they had been seeking all night. Equine Science students Kim Knapp and Rebecca Osterhout were called up on stage to help along with a little dance number the band had devised. The young women happily followed the band’s lead blindly until a single line caused them to stop dead in their tracks and laugh out loud: “You’re the worst pirate, worst pirate in the world, ‘cause you’re a girl.” They re-ceived CDs for their participation.

The band ended the night with a strange compilation of music from the 80’s, including the Youngbloodz’ Mind on My Money, Whitesnake’s Here I Go Again, and Twisted Sis-ter’s We’re Not Gonna Take It. Pat-rick Halloran called Morrisville the “best college ever” after the song finished, and thanked the audience for “eating dinner and accidentally seeing us.”

Afterword, both the band and several audience members including Knapp and Osterhout were excited at the possibility of Ceann coming back to Morrisville next year. “For more money though,” Brian Hal-loran mused.

Patrick Halloran, guitarist for the Irish rock band Ceann, plays the electric mandolin during a performance in Mustang Alley Wednesday, March 4. The performance let Morrisville students enjoy a taste of the Emerald Isle on campus, since they were on break for St. Patrick’s Day. Photo by Danny Moreno Gonzalez, ‘10

LifestyleMarch 2009 - The ChiMes page 7

MSC welcomes blues band in celebration of Mardi Gras weekLecia Ductan ‘09Staff Reporter

Over a dozen students danced, sang and enjoyed the smooth New Orleans sound of Seth Rochford with Syracuse Blues All-Stars & Johnny Shoes.

To celebrate Mardi Gras, the Campus Activities Board of Mor-risville State college sponsored the group of blues players coming to the College to share their style of music on Tuesday night, Feb. 24. The band played in the dining area of the Student Activities Building (STUAC).

Assistant librarian John Schus-ter introduced the band and guest-starred along with them. The band began to play with an upbeat sound of swing music to get the

crowd cheering. Many students were enthusiastic about the band playing for the night.

Student Charlie Woznack said he wasn’t sure what he liked about the music, but knew there was something about it that kept drawing him to it.

“Just hearing it, listening to it, man it’s something unique,” Woznack said laughing while watching the guitarist of the band play furiously on his instrument.

“I got the blues, and I love the blues. Look at that guy who plays the drums,” Wonznack said pointing to the drummer of the group. “He’s pissed! That’s what I like about this band. They play with the feeling. You know they’re hurting just through the sound of their music.”

The band didn’t only play angry blues and swing music to keep the crowd of students in the lobby cheering on, they also played slower blues and cha-cha music. The blues was described by guitarist Seth Rochford as emo-tions that could only be expressed through music, and the cha-cha music was the American version of soca music.

The group of men playing together was not a band, but was just a group of men who loved playing music and got together to do it.

Rochford has played the gui-tar professionally for 20 years, and plays numerous other instru-ments.

“The first instrument I ever played was the piano, but as I got

older and listened more to rock ‘n’ roll I had became more passionate about playing the guitar. All the cool guys were playing either the drums or the guitar; not a tuba or piano,” Rochford said laughing.

Rochford has played for MSC previously with his own band, Bearnie Clarke & the Rhythm Sharks, but since band player Bearnie Clarke was out of town, Rochford decided to get others together to perform instead.

“I liked the music; it was something different for a change. It made a difference for a typical day in Mo’ville. It was something similar to last years, but it was still great in my opinion. I appreciate them coming out to play in this bad weather,” Morrisville College student Deja Murray said.

Atsiaktonkie creates a mental picture with his carefully crafted lyrics Shomari Smith ‘11Staff Reporter Tim Van Camp ‘11Staff Reporter

Singer-songwriter Atsiak-tonkie has been making music for over 10 years, notably with the Native Alternative folk-rock band December Wind. He left the band in 2006 to work working on his solo project, Four Wolves Prophecy.

The new CD is a 14-track rep-resentation of his longevity in the music industry. With the use of different musical elements such as folk, rock, country and Americana as well as carefully crafted lyrics, Atsiaktonkie paints a picture of his experience of being American

Indian in this country. His vocal styling has the ability

to hit the listeners in the heart. He has been compared to Neil Young and to Michael Stipe of REM for his ability to touch people.

The album starts out with songs like “NDN Man,” which is about the various songs that American Indians would have to sing to get by and survive, and “Born On a Rezervation,” which talks about what it is like to live on an American Indian reservation.

In these tracks the songwrit-ing is simple, but complex in visual integrity as the lyrics make it easy to see what it is like to be a American Indian. Another song on the album that speaks to the struggles of life is “I Don’t Know

How Far I Can Go?,” where he talks about being tired of depres-sion and doing the same things day to day (symbolized by a long walk on the same road). But when he doesn’t feel like he can go on, there is another day that comes.

The song “Hey Yo!” sounds like a cry for listeners’ attention

at first, but then describes his encounter with a great spirit he saw in the sunlight by the name of Wanka Tanka. Other stand-out tracks include “Inside This Broken Heart” and “Last Tribal Nation,” found toward the end of the album.

Four Wolves Prophecy is a

well-put-together record. The production fits the lyrics and the songwriting is good, if at times a bit too simple. Still, the songs help produce a mental picture of the way of life of Atsiaktonkie and his people. This album is a good mix of different genres of music that make a sound all his own.

John Schuster plays in Mustang Alley on Feb. 24 with the Syracuse Blues All-Stars & Johnny Shoes. In celebration of Mardi Gras week, the band played swing and blues music. Photo by Sharina Parker-Culton ‘10

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ATHLETIC NEWS

Hockey gets first win after rough start

Kristin Clark, ‘11Staff Reporter

On Nov. 21 and 22, the Mustangs played in a tip-off tournament, competing against two teams that reached the NCAA tournament last year.

Morrisville came out strong against Kings College, a team that reached the second round of last year’s NCAA tourna-ment.

Morrisville then played Penn College in the second round, only shooting 28 percent from the floor, causing the Mustangs to fall just short of a win once again, 62-56.

“As the guys grow as a team on the court it is just as important that they bond off the court. Starting at an away tip-off tour-nament gives us that chance,” said head coach Brian Murphy.

Captain Joe McCants said, “I feel we stayed together when things were not going our way in the game and we just kept fighting back no matter how much of a deep hole we put ourselves into.”

Not all was lost on the tour-nament, though: junior Dashawn Coleman was named to the All-Tournament team, scoring 14 points in each game, also

contributing seven rebounds, three assists, and four steals to the team’s weekend total.

Aside from the tournament, SUNYAC game play started on Dec. 2, and as always, the competition is tough.

This tough competition re-sulted in a loss for the men to SUNY New Paltz, 83-53.

In the first of nine consecu-tive road games, the Mustangs lost to SUNY Cortland on Dec. 5, 68-39. They came closer at Oswego State the next day but fell, 76-61.

In their last game, they dropped one to Wells College, 69-43. Their overall record stands at 0-7.

“If the guys continue to work hard and gel as a team on and off the court, we should start to win some games soon,” said Murphy.

Men’s basketball plays tough early road schedule

Morrisville freshman Kenneth Jamison moves the ball around New Paltz player Oppong Agyemang at their game on Dec. 2. The game resulted in Morrisville’s fourth loss.

Photo by Sharina Parker-Culton

The team travels to Hamil-ton College Dec. 12 and Mount St. Vincent College Dec. 19 be-fore starting the winter break.

The Mustangs play their next home game on Jan. 20 against SUNY Oneonta at 8 p.m.

Gretchen Cramer, ‘11Staff Reporter

The 2008 men’s ice hockey team has faced a number of opponents, earning a record of 1-10-1 so far this season. The sole victory of the season thus far was against Franklin Pierce, with the final score of 9-1.

“We did a great job Friday night, but then we came out Saturday night with less inten-sity,” fan Roseanne Manco said. “We should have known they would come out on the ice with something to prove, and played at that level.”

That Saturday, Dec. 6, the Mustangs lost to Franklin Pierce, 3-2. The crowd and teams were both rowdy and as the players took the ice.

“It was a tough game and when we went through the line, fights were breaking out,” said Tom Longland, a freshman defenseman.

The team is led by head coach Brian Grady, who is back for his second season at Mor-risville. Assisting Grady this year is Kevin Krogol, who is entering his first year of coaching.

The head captain of this year’s team is junior Andrew Alarie. Assistant captains are juniors Dana Calderone and Evan Kernohan.

This seasons’ roster has four seniors and eight juniors listed on the team; a high amount of upper classmen for any Mor-risville sport, numbering even higher than football.

Two of the team’s 12 games have gone into overtime; one resulting in a loss, and the other, a tie. “We are a great team,” said Manco, “but we need to keep up the intensity the entire game.”

“We haven’t been getting any luck this whole year from pucks bouncing over our sticks or getting the right call from the refs,” said Kernohan, “but I believe we’ll bounce back in

the second half [of the season]. The guys on the team know what they have to do to win it all depends if we show up or not.”

The team still has 13 games to play, with a chance to better their overall record.

“We are a much faster, skilled team than we were at this point in the year last year, and we have more depth,” said Grady.

“We are still very young as a team,” added Grady, “so the next 2-3 years of matu-rity, combined with the influx

of some quality recruits, should make for an ex-tremely exciting time for Mustang hockey.”

The next three games are away, the first being played on Dec. 13 against Hamilton College.

Rob Sgarbossa (16) takes his shot past Franklin-Pierce defender Steve Della-Calce on their Friday night home game. Morrisville won 9-1 but lost Saturday, 3-2. Their next game is on Dec. 13 against Hamilton College. Photo by Jim Trask, ‘11

“If the guys continue to work hard and gel as a

team on and off the court, we should start to win some

games soon.” - Coach Brian Murphy