UB Women’s Lacrosse Welcomes New Season and Opportunities

UB Women’s Lacrosse Welcomes New Season and Opportunities

By: Chris Hogan

Managing News Editor

After coming off their first year as a full time NCAA Division II program, the women's lacrosse team is looking to build on a 2011 season that saw the Purple Knights tally a 0-11 overall record. With seven new players and better team chemistry, expectations for the team are high.

One of the most intriguing aspects of this upcoming season for UB is the amount of home games that will be played at Knights Field this spring. In total, nine out of the 13 games will be at home, which the team hopes will provide a boost.

UB women's lacrosse head coach Kate Backman said her team has made great strides so far in practice, which she believes will translate to the playing field.

"I have seen tremendous growth," Backman said. "Offensively we are much better than last year and we struggled by not scoring goals. Our defense worked really hard but we weren't in games because we weren't scoring goals. This year that has turned around and our offense is something we are working hard on. Our defense is coming along right with it."

There are several returning players who will have an immediate impact on this year's team. On the offensive side, junior midfielder/attacker Jennavie Orrell, who led the Purple Knights in scoring with 25 goals and Colleen Pruesse, who recorded four goals lead the way.  Defensively, senior defender Natasha Mitchell and sophomore midfielders Kathlena Rivera (two goals, two assists) and Charity Holt are expected to help anchor the backfield.  Sophomore goalkeeper Victoria Harrison will be the mainstay in net after having several solid fall scrimmages against University of New Haven and Southern New Hampshire University.

Mitchell said that the team's practices during the winter have helped develop a better outlook on the season.

"Our focus is working on offense because last year we were mostly a defensive team," she said. "Now we have actual offensive players who are looking very good and will score goals for us this year."

Of the seven new players, Backman expects them to provide depth and goal scoring. Graduate student midfielder Lindsay Kehoe, who previously played collegiality at Merrimack College in North Andover, MA will add leadership and experience. Freshman midfielder Gabrielle Valela and attackers Katie King and Emily Catalano will all provide offensive punch in a variety of roles.

Valela said that transitioning from high school to collegiate level lacrosse has helped her be better prepared for the upcoming campaign.

"Working with these girls has taught me to be more patient since I came from a very high [ranked] high school lacrosse program and to come here, we are learning the basics but Coach K has been helping us really well," she said. "Everyone has really improved and I am really happy."

The Purple Knights will open the season on March 1, at Post University at 4 p.m. before playing their home opener on March 10 against Southern Connecticut State University at 11 a.m. at Knights Field.

"It [the team] is really starting to gel right now," Backman said. "There is still a lot of growth and things we need to work on but we are definitely gelling. They are very positive and are excited to play and win some games."

New Recycling Program coming to UB next month

New Recycling Program coming to UB next month

By:  Chris Hogan

Managing News Editor

When last fall semester started, the Student Government Association (SGA) outlined some of their top priorities for the entire year and one of them was to improve the recycling process around the campus since it was lacking. Now as March approaches, SGA and UB administration plans to launch its "Campus Wide Recycling Program" to raise awareness on the matter.

In order to make this a possibility, SGA has collaborated with Dean of Students Ken Holmes and Vice President of Facilities George Estrada on how UB could become a greener campus. SGA President Capaci said that starting this program was an important issue for the student body.

"The fact that the campus didn't recycle is something that is so fundamentally wrong that it needed immediate attention," he said. "Recycling is no longer some progressive thing to do; it's a standard and a basic thing that intelligent companies, people and anyone who is educated do."

Estrada has been working with All American Waste Company that will provide UB with basic information and resources on how the recycling program will become a successful one. Each building starting with Wahlstrom library from the garden level to the seventh floor will now have different waste receptacles and large waste bins to differentiate between recyclable items and regular garbage.

Following that, dorms including Barnum, Seeley, Chaffee and Cooper will all institute a single stream recycling system and have recycling containers in all student lounges. There will be a communication system with Residential Life Director Robert Vass, Resident Directors and Advisers and students on the how the program is going. Shortly after that Marina Dining Hall will implement a similar system.

"The benefit of this is obviously the environmental benefit is primary," Estrada said. "We recognize that we should be environmentally sensitive and bring the university towards greening the campus."

The project will save the university about $20,000 a year by not taking the recyclables to the plant where the city of Bridgeport would normally burn the garage and create electricity. Those savings will be made that could help UB in becoming even greener down the road. Between 80 and 85 percent of the waste that will be thrown out will be recyclable and put into a single compactor by Marina.

Juan Fuentes, Director of Facilities Management said that all of his custodians, housekeeping staff and maintenance workers will have an easy transition when operating with this new system.

"The training is minimal," Fuentes said. "Instead of throwing the newspaper, soda can or old paperwork in the trash we now are going to place these items in a recycling container.  Each recycling container will be marked on numerous spots to distinguish it from a trash container.  In addition, there will be postings of what items are recyclable."

Items that will be recyclable consist of newspapers/magazines, pizza boxes, aluminum food and beverage containers and direct mail items among others. Non acceptable pieces include plastic bags, coat hangers, paper towels/tissues and non paper envelopes.

 By late spring/early summer every building around campus will be participating in the new program and by June there will be an evaluation on the overall progress on how the entire project is going.

"The most important benefit of this new program is instead of filling landfills with items that can be recycled; we will be making these items into something we can use again," Fuentes said.  "It is our responsibility to cherish our environment and protect it from unnecessary waste so that we, as well as our future generations, can enjoy it."

Career Service Center launches New UB Jobs Website

By: Chris Hogan

Managing News Editor

For the past 10 months, the UB Career Service Center wanted to find a new and improved way of providing students with the best resources out there in order to make their job search a little easier. Now almost a year later, that process has become a reality thanks to a recent partnership with CSO Research Inc, based out of Austin, TX.

With the collaboration between the two sides, it led to the creation of MyInterfase.com. The new site is powered by CSO and allows UB students to log in and construct a profile and upload their resumes, while looking for jobs and internships not just locally but around the world. Different sections such as career events and interview scheduling are helpful tools for students.

Toni Mahoney, Director of Career Services, said that the new site has a lot of advantages for the students.

"Most of the students that I have talked to and shown it too, have found the interface a little bit easier to use," Mahoney said. "You can set up job agents, which a lot of students don't take advantage of; so you can search for specific criteria it will automatically email you anytime a new job gets listed."

Several online job employment sites have collaborated with myinterfase.com including CareerBuilder, JUJU, CareerRookie and Internships.com. Those sites are easy to access through the site as they will match any jobs or internships you are looking for. Another feature is called the "My Activity" tab which allows you to see any appointment coming up or any previous appointments you had with Career Services. "My Referrals" allocates you to see firsthand the job process in its entirety.

"They [MyInterfase] have a tab called referrals and it kind of gets confusing to students with what that it means," Mahoney said. "What it means is anytime you apply to a job through the system or anytime we from career services send your resume to a company it matches a job [listing] or a company finds your resume in a job search, you will see all of that activity there."

Sophomore Katerina Correa has already seen a modern alteration to the new UBJobs.net page.

"The layout is not much different in finding jobs [but] it has a different layout visually and the transition from the old to new was quite smooth," Correa said.

All of the career events are listed on the new site for this semester. Two info sessions on job searches will take place on February 15 from 3:00-4:00 P.M. and February 16 from Noon to 1:00 P.M. in Carlson Hall room 253. Also two events entitled "Resume 411" on the 22 & 23 from Noon to 1:00 P.M. in the Discovery Pavilion.

The Career Fair will take place on April 4 from Noon to 3:00 P.M. in Wheeler Recreation Center and the Career Service Center is expecting the biggest turnout ever with around 400 participants attending despite only getting 120 students last year with only 20 being undergraduates.

 "My advice to students is come and they [employers] are coming here to see students, Mahoney said. "They are coming here to hire because they want to hire students specifically UB students. Don't be afraid about just checking it out. You aren't going to leave there with a job but with contacts and hopefully a follow up for some interviews."

UB Leading Scorer leads by Support and Compassion

UB Leading Scorer leads by support and compassion

By: Chris Hogan

Managing News Editor

          Some college athletes struggle to find their niche balancing both their personal and athletic life. The case can be made for men’s basketball player Darian David and his journey to be a successful student athlete.

       

          David, who grew up in the Bronx, N.Y, started playing basketball at the age three. He is currently in his first year at UB and has made already made a name for himself leading the Purple Knights in scoring averaging 20 points per game and steals.

            

           Before arriving to UB last fall, his life had been a rough one as he encountered several individual problems both academically while attending four different colleges in almost seven years and personally.

          

          “In early 2009, my mom Kim [Humphries] had two emergency surgeries and my daughter Lauren was born right around that same time period,” David said. “My head wasn’t focused into it [basketball and academics] as it should have been. “

Upon graduating from James Monroe High School in 2005, David planned on playing Division I basketball at St. John’s University but things fell through. So he decided to attend Jamestown Community College near Buffalo, N.Y later that fall, where he averaged 19 points per game for the Jayhawks but said it was a difficult transition for him.

“It was different and it had a lot of snow, David said. “It took some time for me to adjust being away from home.”

After one year at JCC, David transferred to nearby Erie Community College and enjoyed a nice campaign for the Kats leading the nation in scoring with 27 points per game along seven rebounds and seven assists. His team ended up losing in the conference tournament.

As summer 2008 approached, he was looking to play Division I basketball for the first time as schools such as South Alabama, Norfolk State and Hampton were interested in having him play for their programs. David ended up choosing Delaware State University in Dover, DE since he thought that their schedule was going to be a competitive one with games against UConn, Louisville and Ohio State but ended up playing in only a handful of them before a downward spiral occurred.

“I played the first two games and that was it since I felt like I didn’t fit there [as a student and athlete], he said. “I ended up getting on academic probation, wanted to quite basketball and quite everything. Everything was turning downhill and I couldn’t take it.”

          

             His mother Kim and aunt Regina Keith helped him get through this tough time as they encouraged him to return to school, get his education, and play the game he loved while raising Lauren. It wasn’t until last summer where David decided to tour and attend UB. Right off the bat, he noticed a lot of positives about the basketball program.”

          

             “I knew they had a good program but I also knew I had to focus in class, David said. “Being that my grades slipped when I went Division I, I saw that they took their academics very seriously here.”

           

             Men’s Basketball head coach Mike Ruane has nothing but high remarks for David.

“He has been a great kid and I think he really provided scoring and confidence for the team,” Ruane said. “I thought he did terrific academically. He is a solid student and guy in the community.”

David has a lot of goals both on the court and in the classroom.

“This past semester I got a 3.0 and I am working hard in the classroom”, he said. “Personally I just want to stay on top of my grades, grow as a person and go to the NCAA tournament.”

          Photo of Darian David. Photo Courtesy of UBKnights.com

Will post more updates soon.

By: Chris Hogan

It's been awhile since I posted something on my blog. Be very busy lately with academics and the student newspaper at my college. Will try to post more in the coming days.

In the meantime, please follow me on Twitter @ChrisHogan22


Thanks!!

Outlook on the hUB for Spring 2012 semester

Outlook on the hUB for Spring 2012 semester

By: Chris Hogan

Managing News Editor

 As the second week of the semester is almost over with and everyone is settled in, the staff at Sodexo dining services have been hard at work in order to make the spring semester a successful experience for UB students. Many new menu items have been added and several improvements have kept the hUB running fluently.

When the hUB opened its doors last Sept. 22, the idea was for Sodexo to try and get accustomed to having a main area on campus for students to eat and relax in a convenient central location rather than in different locations including Knight's End Cafe, which was located in the Student Center.

Sodexo Resident Dining Supervisor Corey Baker said that the new changes being incorporated will benefit the student body.

"Right now, you can get anything you want in here that you got in Knight's End before," Baker said. "We took the student's advice [on what items they wanted], put it in there and it's here,"

Some of the new menu items that are being offered consist of Jamaican beef patties, chicken tenders, grilled cheese and mozzarella sticks.  Bagged candy has also been another top selling item. The hUB is now offering more weekly specials at Grill 155 with more options such as shrimp and sauteed items .Another possibility is that different sandwiches maybe offered at Star Ginger down the line.

Richard Groves, a Sodexo food service supervisor, said that the hUB will operate on many different levels in order to run smoothly.

"I am going to change up the menu by having more varieties and we are going to think of ways to embrace the commuter students with the way they are going through things economically," Groves said. "As we go along, things will get better for everyone."

 Baker said that he will be available for students to be able to talk to him on Wednesday nights from 9-10 P.M. and voice their concerns or opinions about how they feel about the hUB in general. He mentioned that the grill was the most visited station last semester.

"Our three main cooks at Knight's End Tisha, Bill and Angel have given the student's excellent customer service and I think they should expect more great things with a variety of food this year, Groves said. "Come and eat and enjoy the food."

Brief Update: UB Men's Basketball Defeats STAC

By: Chris Hogan


Recap: After coming off a tough 79-75 overtime loss to N.Y.I.T. last Saturday, the UB men's basketball team saw three starters reach double digit scoring in their 62-55 win over on St. Thomas Aquinas College on Wednesday night. The Purple Knights were led by senior guard William Harrison, who scored a game high 17 points and racked up seven rebounds along the way. Juniors Hakeem Rodriguez and Darian David scored 13 and 12 points respectively. David also had a career and game high seven steals.

Key stats from the game:

Field Goal %
Bridgeport 42.6 % (23-54)
STAC 40 % (18-45)

3 Point Percentage:
Bridgeport 9.1 % (1-9)
STAC 33.3 % (5-15)

Rebounds:
Bridgeport 39
STAC 30

Assists:
Bridgeport 5
STAC 9

Steals:
Bridgeport 17
STAC 6

Looking ahead: With the win, the Purple Knights improve to 11-7 overall and 6-2 in ECC play, while St. Thomas Aquinas falls to 7-10 overall and 3-5 in conference play. Bridgeport will travel to Mercy College and play the Mavericks on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. Earlier this season, the Purple Knights took the first meeting 66-57.