FEBRUARY 7, 2014

CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

VOL. 35, NO. 1

I N S

I D E

F a c ebook – Ca l T imes New spape r Tw i t t e r – @Ca l T imes

CAL TIMES

CALTIMES.ORG

A SNOWY START TO THE SEMESTER Page 7

IN THE

NEWS

OPINION

ENTERTAINMENT

SPORTS

CAL U PRESIDENT ANSWERS STUDENT QUESTIONS

Cal U President Jones will be speaking at the Student Convo-cation on Feb. 13 at 11 a.m. in the Natali Performance Center.

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FACEBOOK ISN’T JUST FOR GAMES:NETWORK THE RIGHT WAY

KOAL HOOKAH OPENS ON THIRD STREET

As the tenth anniversay of facebook appraoches, one stu-dent takes a look at the net-working opporuniteis facebook has to offer and the right and wrong ways to take advantage of them.

Koal Hookah moved into 256 Third Street over the course of the five week winter break, of-fering a fun, safe and modern hookah experience to university students.

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Meet our first athlete of the week, freshman swimmer Braelyn Tracy

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT: BRAELYN TRACY

Left: Members of the Cal U hockey club (left to right) Jordan Lockhart, Joe Scalise, and Zach Powell sell 50/50 raffle tickets and pucks for the chuck a puck event to raise money to go towards the Garrick Lackey Scholarship fund. Right: SABUG Student Advisor, Lindsey Leonard poses with Hockey Club President Brian Proud at the admissions table for the Garrick Lackey Scholarship game last Friday Night at Rostraver Ice Garden

photos: Lindsey Leonard and Daeshawn Ballard

Hockey Club hosts Garrick Lackey scholarship game_______________________by Jose NegroNsports editor

____________________________

Rostraver Ice Garden had never seen more than 310 people in the stands for a California University of Pennsylvania ice hockey game. That was until last Friday night, when a record setting 486 people witnessed the Cal U hockey team defeat the Robert Morris Colonials in the Garrick Lackey Scholarship hockey game, 6-2.

Hockey club President and Speaker of the House of Repre-sentatives Brian Proud brought his idea for the game to the Cal Hockey Board of Directors in their first board meeting of the year and had it approved unanimously.

The scholarship, which is currently in the endowment process, is named after former Cal U Student Government Vice President Garrick Lackey, who passed away in a car accident in November.

In order for the scholarship to be endowed, $10,000 must be raised so that it is constantly funded, while the interest and additional donations are award-ed off to the award winner. To be

a candidate for the scholarship, students must maintain a 3.0 grade point average and major in Political Science, English or Creative Writing.

All of the proceeds from the game, including admission sales, the 50/50 raffle, the chuck a puck event, donations and a package deal that included admission to the game, a Cal U hockey t shirt and a “Do It For Garrick” wristband went to the scholarship fund. $3,460 was raised for the scholarship, moving it one step closer to endowment and catching Proud by surprise.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think that it was going to be that big,” Proud said. “We had a goal of raising five hundred dol-lars and we raised six times that amount and like it was said, that was a record breaking crowd at the Ice Garden and I couldn’t be happier about it.”

The game and scholarship aren’t the only things being done in Lackey’s memory. The Ultimate Frisbee team, which Lackey was a member of, will wear uniforms this semester that are green with his number “6” on the right sleeve. They will also raise money at their home

tournament to help with the scholarship. A “Do it for Gar-rick” Facebook page, which has reached over 400 likes, was also made in honor of him, while green wristbands that were designed by his peers as well as Garrick’s father, have been given out at different Student Activities Board and Student Government meetings and will be handed out at future events, including SAB’s Kali poetry event on Feb. 21. Donations for the bands go towards the schol-arship fund, while the bands themselves are given out for free with a special symbolic message of unity as well.

“I think the wristbands sym-bolize everything Garrick has taught us,” said Lindsey Leon-ard, a close friend of Lackey’s. “To challenge yourself, smile during a rough time, stay up late to finish a paper, run the extra mile, stop and ask someone how they are doing and most of all that life is beautiful. They are for everyone. His teammates, eboard members, friends, fam-ily or anyone that just needs a reminder to smile.”

When it comes to future events in honor of Lackey, Proud thinks the hockey game could be

held annually and has plans at looking at other possibilities to raise the rest of the money to get the scholarship up and running.

“I definitely think we’re go-ing to look into benefit games in the future,” Proud said. “I wouldn’t want to be outdone by the first one, I’d want it to get bigger and bigger as it goes on. I’ve talked to various people in Student Activities and Stu-dent Government and it’s not undoable to raise the rest of the $10,000 before the end of 2014. That is a goal that I have that is not written on paper.”

There are things going on around campus that aren’t just about the scholarship – their purpose is to remember an in-dividual who gave back.

“Garrick always wanted unity and for everyone to work to-gether. He once said to me that he felt like he wasn’t accom-plishing any of his goals in his Vice President position. I know he’s watching over us all and he’s realizing now that he has,” Leonard said. “He was the heart of our organizations and any-thing he started, I can promise you, we will finish.”

PAGE 2 CAL TIMES FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Times sTaff

POLICY: The California TIMES is published in the Monongahela Valley area most Fridays of the academic year, with the exception of holiday breaks • Any member of the university community may submit articles, editorials, cartoons, photographs or drawings for consideration • Deadlines are as follows: All written copy, announcements, e-mail (caltimes@calu.edu), and advertising submissions are due at noon on the Monday before publication. Exceptions to these deadlines must be arranged with the editor. All submissions are the opinions of their creator(s). •The California TIMES reserves the right to edit or refuse submissions as it sees fit, without offering justification for content or advertising sections.

GENE AXTON...........................................................EDITOR IN CHIEFJOSE NEGRON..........................................................SPORTS EDITORJAMIE RIDER...............................................ENTERTAINMENT EDITORTAYLOR BROWN......................................................OPINION EDITORDAN MADER...............................................................STAFF WRITERMATT HAGY.................................................................STAFF WRITERLAUREN GRIFFITH.......................................................STAFF WRITERLAURA ZENO................................................WEBSITE COORDINATOR JEFF HELSEL..........................................DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS

CAL TIMES CONTRIBUTORS:STETSON PROVANCE DEVEN L. BOURQUIN LINDSEY LEONARD DAESHAWN BALLARD MICHELLE COOPER

CALTIMES.ORGCALTIMES@CALU.EDU

724-938-4321

Police BriefsPolice called to Campy’sOn Jan. 24 at 11:34 p.m., police responded to a distur-bance at Campy’s.Domestic ViolenceOn Jan. 26 at 4:40 a.m., police responded to a report of domestic violence at Vulcan Village.On Jan. 28 at 7:30 a.m., an employee reported a Pro-tection from Abuse violation they said occurred while working on campus, The case is still being investi-gated.Drug OffenseOn Jan 26 at 11:50 p.m., a traffic stop for an Act 64 oc-curred in front of the Kara Alumni House.Theft at FlatzTwo separate theft cases were reported at Flatz on Jan. 28. A case involving the theft of a drink is closed, while a report of stolen candy is still being investi-gated.

You Asked, They Answered: Campus Myths Debunked

Q: Why do we have a “withdrawal period”? Why can’t I withdraw at any time?A: Cal U is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), so the University must follow PASSHE policies and procedures. The length of the withdrawal period is set by PASSHE. There also are federal report-ing guidelines and other regulatory standards that require a limited withdrawal period.

Q: In the future, will classes be offered by more than a single professor?A: Classes often are taught by a single professor based on qualifications. Some de-partments rotate professors through classes; others do not. The decision typically is made by the department.

Q: Is it possible to offer a core class as a lecture one semester and online the next? I don’t learn as well in online classes.A: Unless the program is offered through Global Online, core classes are usually offered in a variety of formats from time to time.

Q: Why is it so hard to change a major?A: Actually, it is not difficult to change your major. Simply visit the College office for the major you want, and complete the appropriate paperwork. As long as you meet the entrance requirements for that College, you should be approved for the major change.

Q: Are my evaluations taken seriously?A: Yes, all student evaluations are taken seriously. They are considered carefully and reviewed during the tenure and evaluation processes for faculty members.

Q: Once professors have been here for more than 10 years, do evaluations matter?A: Yes, they do matter. In fact, under the collective bargaining agreement between the University and the faculty union, Cal U is contractually obligated to conduct these evaluations.

Q: What can be done about a weak Wi-Fi signal in my room and other areas on campus?A: If you’re experiencing a weak Wi-Fi signal or having any other technical dif-ficulties, contact the UTech Services Help Desk by calling 724-938-5911 or sending e-mail to UTechRequests@calu.edu. Include as much information as possible, such as the date, time and location of the problem and a detailed description of the situ-ation.

Q: Why are we paying for bare necessities like paper in Noss Hall? Isn’t this covered under the PASSHE Tuition Technology Fee?A: Printing at Noss Hall is free for the first 500 single-sided pages printed each semester. This is approximately $25 worth of print services per semester. Once you exceed this allotment, you may purchase additional print credits.The print management solution was put in place to control printing costs and as a “green” initiative to reduce waste. This is the first phase of a multi-phased project that will be implemented campus-wide over the next two years.

Q: Banner and VIP need urgent upgrades to handle increased traffic, especially during registration. Are there any plans for improvements?A: Changes and upgrades to these very complex systems require proper planning, testing and implementation. Upgrades have been approved, and barring unfore-seen difficulties, some changes should be in place in time for the Fall 2014 registra-tion period.

At the fall semester’s Campus Talk with President Jones, Cal U students submitted questions in person and through Twit-ter. Here are a few answers to students’ questions:

STUDENTS!

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT THE STATE OF OUR UNIVERSITY & OUR FUTURE PLANS?

DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS?

THEN DON’T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY!

STUDENT CONVOCATION with PRESIDENT JONES

FOR ALL STUDENTS!

Thursday, February 13 at 11 a.m.in the Natali Performance Center.

CAL TIMESFEBRUARY 7, 2013 PAGE 3

PAGE 4 FEBRUARY 7, 2014CAL TIMES

Koal Hookah Lounge is burnin’ up_______________________by Lauren Griffithstaff writer

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Koal Hookah Lounge has moved into 246 Third Street, previously home to Sunset Hookah, during the five-week winter break.. Business partners Sal Ali and Azeem Chapta co-own the new lounge.

Hookah is the pipe that fla-vored tobacco, called shisha, is smoked out of. Koal Hookah Lounge offers a wide variety of flavors, and the hookah can

be customized to order. A night visit to the lounge ranges from $10 to $15.

“We thought that California’s students seemed excited about hookah,” said Ali. “It’s unfortu-nate to see Sunset Hookah go, but we are here to offer great flavors and a modern, contem-porary design in a safe environ-ment. Cal U students will see that we are better [than Sunset], if we are not the best hookah lounge in Pittsburgh, as well.”

Koal Hookah Lounge has an existing location near Slippery Rock University’s campus and is hoping to expand to other

campuses as well. They are looking to hire three

to six more local students as em-ployees. Reach them by phone, Facebook or in person to inquire about a position.

“We are really looking to en-gage with students, so any ideas or any requests for the lounge are more than welcome,” said Chapta.

Koal Hookah Lounge’s grand opening is Friday, Jan. 31, from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. There will be free bowl changes for hookah and discounts on all hookah setups and equipment.

courtesy: flickr.com

2014 Printz Awards given at annual ALA Midwinter Meeting _______________________by tayLor browncontributing editor

_______________________

Internet celebrity and accom-plished author John Greene took to Twitter this week to make sure that all of his followers were aware that the American Library Association announced the top books, video and audio books for children and young adults for 2014. This included the Printz award, which Greene referred to as the Oscar of young adult fiction.

The Michael L. Printz award for excellence in literature for young adults was named after a school librarian from Topeka, Ks. who was largely invested in the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the ALA.

The award is sponsored by Booklist, a publication of the ALA, and was first awarded to Walter Dean Myers in 2000 for his work “Monsters.”

The winner for the 2014 Printz award was given to “Midwin-terblood,” written by Marcus Sedgwick. It was first published

in hardcover on Feb. 5 of last year by Roaring Book Press, then in paperback in 2011 by Ingido.

“Midwinterblood” is a story of love and sacrifice (yes, there are vampires. No, it’s not a repeat of Twilight). The novel transports readers to a remote island in the year 2073 where main characters Eric Seven and Merle are ritually slain. The crime leaves their souls to take different forms trying to find their way back to one another.

Four Printz Honor Books were also named. “Elanor & Park” by

Rainbow Rowell is a young love story that follows two children who meet and form a bond over comic books at a bus stop. The bi-racial children are left to face obstacles regarding their race and issues at home as they try to make sense of life and love. “Kingdom of Little Wounds” by Susann Cokal follows a princess named Sophia as she is trying to prepare for her wedding while an unknown disease threatens the people of her kingdom and the heirs to the royal thrown. “Maggot Moon” by Sally Gard-ner is the story of Standish

Treadwell, an outcast who is unable to read or write. Along with his only friend Hector, he ventures to the other side of the wall against the knowledge of the Motherland. “Navigating Early” by Clare Vanderpool tells the story of Jack Baker, an orphan from Kansas, who is sent to a boarding school in Maine after his mothers death. There he meets Early Auden, a bear enthusiast who leads him on an adventure down The Ap-palachian Trail.

Student athletic trainers (from left) Gina Vaira, Tabitha Maurer, Kelsey Pietkiewicz and Seth Campbell were all smiles after delivering gift packages to children at Highlands Hospital in Connellsville, Pa. Cal U’s 60-member Under-graduate Athletic Training Club collected gift items for young patients and visitors at the hospital. The Highlands nursing staff deter-mined which children would receive the col-oring books, stickers, small games, books and other gift items. Pietkiewicz, the club presi-dent, said the goal was simply to brighten the day of any kid in need.

Trainers with heart

PAGE 5FEBRUARY 7, 2014 ENTERTAINMENT

“Submarine”

This movie, despite its title, has nothing to do with actual subma-rines. My sincerest apologies. Originally a book by Joe Dunthorne which was later adapted for the screen by Richard Ayode (“The IT Crowd”), “Submarine” is the story of 15-year-old Oliver Tate. Tate is just trying to figure out how the world and the people around him work while navigating through his relationships with kids at school, the girl he loves and his family. It’s more than your aver-age teen love story though – it’s about discovering that the world is more complicated than anything imaginable. It never tries too hard to be clever or overtly funny. It looks Oliver’s adolescent idealism and the situations this attitude gets him into The morbid and absolutely absurd tone of Oliver’s voice in the opening narra-tion might seem a little strange at first but stick with it. The movie plays out beautifully.

Starring: Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paige, Sally HawkinsGenre: Independent Originally Released: January 2011, Sundance Film Festival

courtesy: wikipedia

Netflix Movie of the Week

BSU hosts Soul Food Dinner for Black History Month______________________by Lauren Griffithstaff writer

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Cold temperatures and more snow may visit California Uni-versity of Pennsylvania’s cam-pus this February, but so will the celebration of Black History Month. While students may be familiar with the first two, students are currently getting acquainted with this year ’s Black History Month festivities.

Black History Month kicked

off with a Soul Food Dinner on Jan. 30 that featured keynote speaker Justin Laing, junior program officer of the Heinz Endowment, along with some of Cal U’s own musical talent. All students, faculty, staff and com-munity members were welcome to attend the event.

The Black Student Union and the Black History Month Com-mittee organized the month-long celebration of African American history on Cal U’s campus. Any student can join the Black History Month Com-mittee or the Black Student Union – meetings are every

Thursday at 5 p.m. in the multi-purpose room of Carter Hall. The committee works with dif-ferent clubs and departments across campus, including the Student Activities Board and the Office of the President.

“Anybody who has any input across campus is welcome to contribute their ideas,” Lamont Coleman, associate dean of the Office for Student Affairs, said. “We will try and get the funding and make this happen.”

Coleman helped to prepare and arrange all of the festivi-ties during the Black History Month celebration. The BHMC

and Coleman came up with a new, creative way to feature a calendar for all of the month’s events – a passport. The pass-port is distributed at all events and features a printed calendar along with a scavenger hunt that stretches across campus. The scavenger hunt consists of 50 of photographer Eunique Jones’s portraits that depict children as prominent African American icons. The first student to turn in their completed passport will receive a $200 prize.

Coleman anticipates that one of the largest events will be the panel discussion on the use of

the N-word. The panel consists of Dr. Blumberg, Dr. Slaven, Dr. Edmonds and Dr. Yamba, and will take place on Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. in Steele Hall. “We are in-viting everyone to come out and give their opinion of it. There are a bunch of different perspectives of it that go beyond race,” Cole-man said.

Cal U’s Black History Month celebration concludes on March 1 with a closing ceremony in the Convocation Center.

courtesy: lauren griffithStudents enjoy the food at the Soul Food Dinner on Jan. 30

New Album Releases by Lauren Griffith

staff writer

Even when we weren’t in school during the months of December and January because of winter break, several hit groups and bands were still producing and releasing new hits.

• Live From Space by Mac Miller on Rostrum Records.

• Wolves Within by After the Burial, the fourth album by the metalcore band.

• EP-2 by Pixies, which makes it the band’s second 4-track EP.

• TransgenderDysphoriaBluesbyAgainstMe!,theirfirstsince leaving Sire Records.

• Beyoncé by Beyoncé, a 14-track album with accompanying short videos.

• Mind over Matter by Young The Giant on Fueled by Ramen.

• High Hopes by Bruce Springsteen, his eleventh No. 1 album, placing him behind only The Beatles and Jay-Z.

• That Girl by Jennifer Nettles, a solo album from part of the country duo, Sugarland.

Mac Miller Against Me! Bruce Springsteen

CAL TIMESPAGE 6 FEBURARY 7, 2014

Photo: Jeff Helsel Since the beginning of the spring semester California University of Pennylvania has cancelled classes twice due to extreme weather conditions.

COMMUNITY COLUMN:IT’S NEVER TOO COLD FOR CLASS by Dr. SwarnDeep Gillfor the Cal Times

Days off are nice. This is especially true if you don’t like school or your job. It’s great to have an extra day to spend home with your family. In general, our society could use more free time, but let’s simply put that aside for a moment and look at school cancel-lations due to weather from an objective point of view. One of the strangest things I have had to get used to since moving here as a Canadian is school cancellations due to cold weather. I have been involved in education as either a student or professor since moving to the United States so I have been able to observe this for some 18-and-a-half years.School cancellations in Canada due to inclement weather are rare. I haven’t lived there recently, but according to the Edmon-ton Public School Board website (Edmonton is the biggest city in Canada that’s located more than two hours from the United States bor-der – about 750,00 people) they have no official policy concerning school cancel-lation in winter weather. I did not have a single day in which school was officially canceled in my entire 13 years of grade school (K-12) or four years of under-graduate. There was one day during which a couple feet of snow fell over 24 hours and my friend’s dad took us in his four-by-four Subaru because the school bus was likely to be late. In university I took pub-lic transit to get to school. There was a snow storm on a morning in which I had to take a mid-term, so knowing that traffic would be slow, I left on a bus an hour and 45 minutes earlier than usual and still ended up getting to my mid-term ten minutes late. I was given no extra time and there were no ex-cuses accepted. In retrospect this might have been a bit unfair, but the philosophy in Canada is that big snow events are well forecasted and you should be prepared.Winter weather can be

to be fewer. It seems to me, however, that given the fre-quency of snowfall in south-west Pa. the response time of road crews is unusually poor. Perhaps this warrants more frequent cancellations from inclement weather.Cal U was shut down for two days this year (and counting) due to cold weather with no associated snowfall. The public school system has had even more days canceled due to cold. One could argue that small children are more likely to be adversely impacted by the cold, but again, this never stopped us in Edmon-ton from going to school. Fighting extreme cold is all about individual prepara-tion, and in my mind there are fewer arguments to sup-port closing down school on cold days with fine roads. While we may have had near record-breaking cold temperatures these past few weeks, the fact is that at this latitude and climate zone, similar temperatures are going to happen a few days a year. School was closed on Jan. 28 as temperatures dropped to minus-15 de-grees but was not closed the following day when the temperature was minus-twelve. Does the difference of three degrees vastly increase the chances of frostbite or

nasty and thoroughly miser-able, but that’s winter. You prepare. You prepare by getting appropriate tires put on your car. You prepare by leaving earlier for your job or school. You prepare by having the necessary clothing. However, when considering preparation, one must also consider not only preparation as an individual but also the preparation of the community or city. There is good reason, in my mind, to shut down a town or a city based on snow accumulation on the road as it does pose a real dan-ger. This is something that requires something beyond individual preparation. We may laugh at Atlanta’s misfortunes when they shut down from only two inches of snow, but any time a weather event is extremely rare in a particular location it’s always going to be more crippling. When I did my Masters at the University of Oklahoma, one inch of snow and a tem-perature of 26 degrees shut down school for the day, but during my time in Laramie, Wyo for my Ph.D., no cold or snow ever shut down the university. One town was prepared for snow and the other was not. Asphalt types differ between warmer and colder climates. This may play a part in the slick-ness of the road. For many cities it comes down to a cost-benefit analysis. Do we spend all this money on salt trucks and snow ploughs for an event that might only happen once every 5 years? That being said, the situa-tion in Atlanta is unforgive-able because of their lack of preparation for an event that was well forecasted. If you have people trapped in their vehicles or forced to abandon them because traf-fic cannot move, then a city needs to spend more money on their preparation for the event no matter the rarity (and of course listen to the National Weather Service). In general, places that get a lot of snow are better pre-pared and cancelations tend

hypothermia? What if the temperature was ten degrees warmer but the wind chill made it feel like minus-15. Should we not cancel then? We did have a day like that and school wasn’t canceled. Isn’t it the socially respon-sible thing for the university to hire extra busses for those who have to bus down to campus instead of canceling school? We are all adults who live in a location that gets winter. We should all have the appropriate cloth-ing in our closet even if we only put it on a few times a year. Curricula for courses are planned out by the professor for the length of the semester. Making up for lost time is difficult and puts extra stress on the professor and the students. Canceling classes on a Tues-day eliminates 1 of only 28 classes in the semester. Canceling an evening class eliminates an entire week of classes for that professor. We already have to prepare to lose some classes in the spring semester due to snow. Should we also plan to lose class time on very cold days with very drivable roads?The logic further fails when we actually consider the danger posed by extreme cold. If one is well prepared with the proper clothing, the danger simply goes away. The danger in extreme con-

ditions mostly applies to the very young or very old and is much less prevalent for a group of young, healthy people between the ages of 18 and 60. Finally, if we are going to say that such cold weather poses a danger, then why do we not cancel school dur-ing an extreme heat event? Extreme heat poses just as much of a threat to human life as extreme cold and, while one can put on more clothes to stay warm, there are only so many clothes one can remove to stay cool and not be arrested for inde-cent exposure. It concerns me somewhat that we are sending the message that unless tem-peratures remain in a nice comfy range our daily lives are somehow not possible, despite having heaters in our cars and furnaces in our buildings. Let’s face it – most people still have to work on these cold days, so why should a university be any different? As a final question to pon-der: Why do people try to show their bravado in the cold by wearing less clothes than they should, but when it’s hot nobody throws on 4 sweaters and says, “hey…look how tough I am?” Food for thought. Stay warm.

PAGE 7FEBRUARY 7, 2014 CAL TIMES

_______________________by Jamie RideR

TayloR bRowncontributing editors

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The weather has been making headlines lately. After a mild start to the winter season last semester the temperatures have dropped even further, leading to class cancelations and com-munity frustration.

How extreme is the weather this year compared to previous years?

While the temperatures from a decade ago look to be almost as cold as what the area has expe-rienced this year, it’s important to remember that temperatures have dipped into the negatives thanks to a higher wind chill.

Clearly it’s time to bundle up and when possible just stay in-side. Use it as an excuse to watch that Netflix series or catch up on reading. When the weather warms up and the semester gets rolling there will be fewer excuses to indulge in comfort-able indoor activities.

The weather doesn’t only put a damper on our moods and social lives; it puts a hold on our academics as well.

Since the start of the spring California University of Penn-sylvania has had to cancel/delay classed three times within the first three weeks, causing professors and students to fall behind schedule before rosters were even finalized.

The first day of class was held on Jan. 21, the same day that this continuation of wintery weather essentially began. While the uni-versity remained opened for the first half the day, classes after 4 p.m. were cancelled.

Only a few days later, when

the temperature dropped into the negatives, the university closed on Jan. 28 due to the frigid temperatures, even after preparing to have “Polar Ex-press” shuttles running to cut the wait time for students who use the bus.

Most recently, classes were canceled this past Monday be-cause of more snow. To some students and faculty, the snow days are a breath of fresh air and a day to stay warm inside and to others are seen as unnecessary. Regardless of which stance you take on the issue, when deciding whether or not to close the uni-versity, many different elements are taken into consideration.

Cal U Director of Commu-nications and Public Relations Christine Kindl says that the university, when deciding whether or not to hold classes, considers many different fac-tors, including temperature and road conditions, but it’s a very long and complicated process.

By using information gath-ered from the National Weather Center, The Pennsylvania De-partment of Transportation and even the Cal U Weather Center, the university strives to make the best decision possible for its students, faculty and staff, she said.

“The weather is not always predictable,” Kindl said. “The needs of the students, faculty and staff are taken into consid-eration and are weighed against what students have to lose, which is a day of education.”

The University is inclined to hold classes whenever possible during the winter months, but continues to keep the well-being of the students a primary part of the decision making process, she said.

Snow days hit Cal U

Students and pedestrians bundle up against the cold on the afternoon of Jan. 23 at California University of Pennsylvania. In the first weeks of 2014, the United States weathered a cold snap of unprecedented propor-tions, as a weather phenomenon known as the “polar vortex” shat-tered temperature records across the country.

PAGE 8 FEBRUARY 7, 2014 OPINION

_______________________by StetSon Provancefor the Cal Times

____________________________

Sunday’s matchup between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks should go down in history as one of the worst Super Bowls ever televised.

The ads as a whole were cliché and boring (kind of like Denver’s offensive play call-ing), and very few people will remember most of them come next Super Bowl (the same can probably be said about the game’s most valuable player, Seattle Seahawks linebacker Malcom Scott).

Luckily, Coca Cola’s annual ad didn’t fall into that category. You know, the one where people of different nationalities sang “America the Beautiful?”

Immediately after the ad aired, people took to social me-dia to voice their opinions. Some found it cute and endearing. Others found it offensive.

Let me start off by saying I understand what Coke was try-ing to do, and their hearts were in the right place. One of the best things about this country is the diversity of its inhabitants and showcasing that quality is admirable. There is a correct

way to do this though, and Coke dropped the ball. Want proof? Just look at the aforementioned debate surrounding the ad.

Predictably, a large portion of those “offended” showed once again that while we have come a long way these past fifty or sixty years in the fight to rid this nation of racism, we still have a long way to go. Subsequently, the case can be made that those who immediately labeled peo-ple who didn’t agree with the way Coke portrayed their mes-sage as racists are just as much to blame for our lack of progress as those who are ignorant.

By making everything about race, people undercut the major principle this nation was built upon. Now more than ever, the United States should be viewed as a melting pot where people of all kindred’s and tongues come together and chase the Ameri-can dream.

We should assimilate, not separate. That’s why I didn’t particularly understand Coke’s ad. They didn’t portray this principle at all.

By showing five or six groups of people speaking different languages, Coke was showing that these people have pride in their culture and their roots. And there is nothing wrong with that.

But that wasn’t the message they meant to send. They want-ed to show a united country made up of diverse parts.

In order for this sort of coun-try to be portrayed, some sort of assimilation needed to be shown and, honestly, there were a bunch of ways this could have been done.

For example, why not set the commercial in a big city like New York or Los Angeles and bring all the people/families of different nationalities together in the city square to sing the song? At least then you are

What happened to the United States’ ‘melting pot’ culture?

Time to graduate your Facebook timeline from freshman year_______________________by taylor browncontributing editor

____________________________

As college students we have bad habits. We go out, make questionable decisions, sleep in, skip class and scroll through social media for hours instead of studying or doing our home-work. Even though it may not be a regular occurrence, I think it’s something that all students can identify with.

I’m not sure about the rest of the student body, but I was told that my college years would be some of the best years of my life. I can’t see into the future but as of right now I have to say I have seen better days – days less burdened with pressure and stress. That stress comes from the constant push to figure out exactly who we are going to be and what we are going to do as we enter into the real world after graduation.

Social media is an outlet for that stress and has recently started to emerge into the world of networking for young profes-sionals – although we might not feel that way yet, that means us. The young and lively stu-dents of California University of Pennsylvania who have our stuff together and yet still live our lives in shambles. Because that’s what college students do.

I’m not trying to give students like us a bad look, but some-

times we don’t do the best job of keeping a professional mindset in the months (or even years) leading up to graduation. I’m not sure if it’s because students do not believe that future em-ployers actually look at social media platforms or that they just don’t care. Holding on to “your final years of fun” as some might see it is reasonable but can’t be done with our future at risk.

While many different social media platforms exist now, even more are being created every day. However, one of the most used social works is approach-ing its tenth anniversary and has successfully adapted to keep up with competition and evolve to suit the needs of its business and personal users. Yes, everyone, I am talking about Facebook.

What was originally started in Oct. 2003 as a ‘hot or not’ web-site for Harvard students called ‘facesmash’ later evolved into a university website call ‘theface-book’ and then finally into the website that we have all come to love and hate simultaneously.

Since its release to the public in Sep. of 2006, Facebook has taken off and is now approach-ing over 1.2 billion active user profiles, which means that this social network superpower is becoming more than just a sim-ple way to connect with friends and family, like pictures of cute baby animals and play addict-ing online games. The site previ-

ously primarily used for fun and recreation is quickly becoming a useful tool for employers when recruiting potential employ-ees and turning itself into a more professional, networking friendly website.

Facebook is no longer just a website for relaxation and expression – it’s not about busi-ness and professionalism too. What does this mean for us as students? It means that we should probably start to recon-sider the pictures we’re upload-ing, the statuses we’re posting and the friend request we’re accepting. It might not sound fair, but the larger that Facebook gets in the professional world the higher restraints are for people who choose to keep their Facebook profiles too personal.

I am all for being able to ex-press yourself online. I think it’s only fair that users are able to like pages that they want to like, say what they want to say and upload pictures of what they want to share, but it not that simple anymore. Now, there are certain things that you do online that you wouldn’t want your mother or sister (or your boss) to see, so it’s important that we as students are making the steps necessary to ensure ourselves the best possible chance of being hired for the job of our choice after graduation. It would be a shame to let Facebook ruin that for us. Let’s not be those people.

Although you could simply

adjust your privacy settings to an already existing account, it may give off the impression that you have something to hide. That’s not really a good impression to give, so here is my suggestion: instead of edit-ing yourself and your profile to fit the bill of what employers expect to see, start over by creat-ing an entirely new professional profile.

By doing this you are able to keep your personal profile, filled with all of your guilty pleasures. You can continue to like pages that someone might judge you for liking if you really want to, you can still share that vine of people twerking with their dogs, yell about your stalker ex-person, complain about poli-tics, sports, the weather, or your shenanigans that happened over the weekend. Do whatever it is that you use social media to do without restraint, but do alter your privacy settings so that when your name is googled, they have access to the profile you want them to have access to; a more professional account that is clean, classy and appealing.

This means is that in you’re new profile, you will have a professional picture. A picture that does not include beer, gar-bage/laundry on the floor and absolutely no bathroom selfies. You don’t have to be dressed in a suit, but it should be something you would feel comfortable hav-ing someone look at and basing

a first impression off of. Having a professional pro-

file also means that the people you friend, the pages you like and the interests, hobbies and personal information that you provide should be the kind of information you would include on a resume. Your name – not a nickname. Contact information, a link to online professional websites, blogs or projects that you have worked on and things that make you look like a desir-able employee.

The way I look at this is sim-ple: we all pay enough money to sit in the classes that we take here. Why spend all of this time, money and energy if you are not willing to promote yourself in the right way? Your potential job could slip right out of your hands if you don’t take every opportunity that is available to market yourself. Even if you do take that opportunity and mar-ket yourself in the wrong light, it’s a waste.

Something as simple as mak-ing a new Facebook profile could make the difference be-tween being a successful and employed college graduate and an unemployed college gradu-ate who wonders why they never got the job. Meanwhile, they continue to post pictures of their most recent adventure to the strip club on their timeline.

It’s not a good look and it’s not a risk worth taking in the grand scheme of things.

showing a sense of community and togetherness.

Coke doing their Super Bowl ad the way they did fed fuel to what is already a dangerous fire.

For whatever reason, people think recommending that im-migrants from foreign countries learn English and adopt English culture is a bad thing to do.

I don’t see it that way at all. Can you imagine what would have happened if those immi-grants who came to this country from Europe a century or two ago hadn’t tried their best to adopt the practices of those

already here?I can, and I don’t think the

results would have been pretty. In fact, I have serious doubts our country would have grown into the strong, united, powerful entity it is today.

Assimilation isn’t a bad thing. Aadopting a country’s culture and being proud of your own heritage aren’t mutually exclu-sive.

At the end of the day the United States of America has been and always will be a melt-ing pot. Coca Cola forgot that.

Coke’s Super Bowl ad sparked a social media debate moments after its airing.courtesy: Youtube

OrganizatiOnsFEBRUARY 7, 2014 PAGE 9

The Internship CornerWelcome to new and returning students

By Deven L. Bourquin

CORNERBS

U By MicheLLe cooper

It’s Black History Month! Thank you to every-one who attended the opening ceremony. Please continue to support our events. You’re bound to learn something new and, even if you don’t, it will still be great to celebrate black history together.

Upcoming events are as follows: Feb. 7 is Na-tional Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. There will be an information table in the union from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be an N-Word panel dis-

cussion at 6 p.m. on Feb. 11 in Steele Hall. Come out and express your feelings about the N-Word. Everyone is welcome to come and share his or her opinions. Please keep in mind that the Black History Month Scavenger Hunt has started. The first person to turn in their passport to Mr. Lamont will receive a $200 visa gift card.

Come to our meetings every Thursday in Carter Hall Multi-purpose Room at 5:15 p.m. to learn more about our events. Have a great week!

“Nothing will work unless you do.” – Maya Angelou

Welcome back returning stu-dents – to new students: wel-come! Many of you probably created a New Year’s resolu-tion list. Did you remember to include something about fur-thering your professional life? Competition for internships in today’s market is heavy, so now is the time to start looking for your summer internships.

Internships provide you with real-life experience so you can put your learning to work. All internships are for credit. One credit is worth 40 hours of ex-perience. So, if you obtain an internship worth 3 credits, you will be required to complete 120 hours of experience over the duration of your internship. In some occasions internships can lead to employment! Further-more, these opportunities can occur within your home city, in another state or in another country.

California University of Penn-sylvania’s Internship Center and Career Services offices are located in Eberly 230. We are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. There are numerous ways to contact

us. To schedule an appointment with Tracie Beck, the Internship Center Director, you may call, email or come in-person to schedule. Our number is 724-938-1578 and our email is In-ternctr@calu.edu. Tracie Beck’s email is Beck_t@calu.edu.

You can view more infor-mation about the Internship Center at www.calu.edu/in-ternships. You can also search “Internship Center” in the search bar at www.calu.edu.

The Internship Center uti-lizes Internlink, Cal U’s online internship database, to help students look for their perfect internship experience. Stu-dents must create a profile on Internlink in order to use its services. The website is www.myinterfase.com/cup/student.

In the following weeks the Internship Corner will discuss Interlink and its numerous resources for creating resumes, searching for internships and creating internship applica-tions.

Once again, it’s fantastic to have you here and good luck with your semester!

California University of Pennsylvania has developed a program where bicycles can now be registered with Campus Police. It is encouraged that anyone that has a bike should consider registering it. This will help the Campus Police identify the bicycles owner should it be necessary for the Police to get in contact with the owner. Visit the Police Department, located in the Pollock Building, any time to register your bicycle.

BICYCLE REGISTRATION AT THE CAL U POLICE DEPARTMENT

Photographer Eunique Jones, creator of a project to teach children and adults about key figures in black history, will visit campus on Feb. 27 as part of Cal U’s celebration of Black History Month.

Jones created the “Because of Them, We Can” project in 2013. The campaign features photo-graphs of children emulating notable figures in history, from Muhammad Ali to Rosa Parks

to Run DMC to Barack and Michelle Obama.

In 2012, she launched an awareness campaign related to the death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.

Jones will share her thoughts and photographs from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the Convocation Center. Admission is free and the public is welcome.

Photographer Eunique Jones to speak at Cal U Feb. 27 as the univer-sity celebrates Black History Month

Tuesday, Feb. 11 – “The N Word,” a moderated discussion at 6 p.m. in Steele Hall.Tuesday, Feb. 18 – Meet-and-greet lunch, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in the Natali Student Center. This networking event

provides a chance to learn more about the diverse faculty and staff at Cal U. To participate, e-mail LaMont Cole-man at coleman_lm@calu.edu.

Thursday, Feb. 20 – “Inequality for All,” film screening, 5 p.m. in Eberly Hall, Room 110. The film is followed at 6:30 p.m. by a live webcast with former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.

Tuesday, Feb. 25 – “Partisanship, Disenfranchisement and Race,” 11 a.m. in Duda Hall, Room 103. Panelists are Dr. Melanie Blumberg, Dr. Michael Slaven and Dr. Kelton Edmonds, all from the Department of History and Political Science, and Dr. Mohamed Yamba, dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

Saturday, March 1 – Joyfest gospel concert, 7 p.m. in Steele Hall. Gospel music producer Trent Phillips leads JoyFest 2014, featuring the Cal U Young and Gifted Gospel Choir and choirs from local churches.

Black History Month at Cal U is sponsored by the Office of Social Equity, the Black Student Union, the Fred-erick Douglass Institute, the office of Multicultural Student Programs, the Young and Gifted Gospel Choir and the Office of Admissions.

Upcoming Black History Month Events at Cal U

CAL TIMES FEBRUARY 7, 2014PAGE 10

Senior Kate Seebohm and the Lady Vulcans basketball team have been red hot as of late, winning four of their last five games.

photo: Jeff HelselJunior forward Alonzo Murphy posted eight points in the Vulcans 64-53 overtime loss to Slippery Rock University on Saturday. Murphy has been a consistent weapon for Cal U this season averaging a little over ten points and six rebounds per game

photo: Jeff Helsel

Cal U falls in OT to Slippery Rock_______________________by Matt Hagystaff writer

____________________________

Despite a furious second half rally, The Cal University of Pennsylvania Vulcans men’s basketball team could not pull off another upset on the road as they lost to Slippery Rock 64-53 in an overtime battle last Satur-day at the Morrow Fieldhouse.

The Vulcans fell behind to the Rock early in an arena Cal U has not won in since Febru-ary 2010. Cal U struggled early with shooting – they were being suffocated by a ferocious Rock defense that ranks as one of the best in the PSAC. After the Rock built a 24-10 lead with 4:33 remaining in the first half, the Vulcans began their comeback by going on a 10-3 run to close out the half. The run was capped off by freshman Drew Cook’s short jumper as time expired. Cal U was sent into the locker room with all the momentum despite being down by as many as 14 in the first half.

The Rock started the second half strong by maintaining a 34-26 lead through the first seven minutes, fueled by a brilliant

alley-oop slam by Rock senior Tabri Perry. The Vulcans’ backs were against the wall and they responded with a 12-0 run to take a 38-34 lead, their first of the game, with 9:35 left to play. The loss of the lead sent a shock-wave through the Slippery Rock faithful.

The game turned into a see-saw affair as both teams traded baskets that eventually lead to a 42-42 tie with 3:14 left in the game. Junior Tynell Fortune gave the Vulcans a 45-42 lead with 2:47 remaining and, with Slippery Rock’s star player Maurice Lewis-Briggs fouling out seconds earlier, it seemed the stars were aligning again for another road upset for the Vul-cans squad. Unfortunately for Cal U, Fortune’s three-pointer were the last points for the Vul-cans in regulation. Rock junior Anthony Butler stormed down the court and converted a three-point play to tie the game with 1:47 remaining.

Both teams had a chance to win the game in the final sec-onds as Slippery Rock missed multiple short lay-up attempts and a long three-point attempt from sophomore Jake Jacubec at the buzzer went wide of the bas-ket. The tie sent the Vulcans to

their first overtime of the season and the Rock’s second straight.

The Rock dominated the Vul-cans in overtime by outscoring them 19-8, due in most part to the outstanding play of Butler. The Slippery Rock junior fin-ished with a team-high 20 points off the bench – that total was enough to lead all scorers on the floor while Butler’s team-mate Tabari Perry completed a double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds.

Cal U played their best defen-sive game to date. Fortune led the Vulcans with 12 points off the bench, most of which came in the final minutes of regula-tion into overtime. Jacubec chipped in with 10 points – all coming in the second half. Drew Cook countered Jacubec with 10 points of his own.

The one glaring stat on the day came from the free throw stripe as the Rock went 21 for 26 from the line (including 4 for 5 in overtime) while the Vulcans only shot 13 for 22 from the char-ity stripe. The Vulcans are back on the road tomorrow as they travel up Interstate 79 to face the Edinboro Fighting Scots. Tip-off at the McComb Fieldhouse is set for 8 p.m.

Women’s basketball team sweeps season series over SRU_______________________by Jose NegroNsports editor

____________________________

To say that the California Uni-versity of Pennsylvania wom-en’s basketball team is playing red hot basketball would be a big understatement. The Cal U women’s team picked up their sixth conference win of the sea-son and twelfth overall in an 85-67 blowout victory against Slippery Rock University on Saturday afternoon. It was Cal U’s fourth win in their last five contests and gave them the season sweep against the Rock.

Junior Emma Mahady led the Vulcans on offense. Ma-hady posted her second career double-double with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Fellow junior Irina Kukolj was also dominant from the floor, posting 21 points and 6 rebounds. Freshmen CeCe Dixon and Miki Glenn scored 11 and 10 points respectively.

Cal U went on a 21-7 run to take commanding lead early in the first half after Slippery Rock

got to a scorching start with two baskets in the first 30 seconds of the game. The Rock would eventually trim the deficit to six points with seven minutes to go in the half. Cal U would then go on a run for themselves and finish the half with a 31-23 lead.

The Vulcans wouldn’t lose a beat to start the second half – Cal U would take a lead of 54-37 with over 15 minutes left. After a back and forth rest of the half that included stretched out runs for both teams, Cal U would sink nine of their last 10 baskets to clinch the win.

Play on the boards and the play of the Cal U bench were key to the Vulcans victory. Their bench outscored Slippery Rock 40-8 and outrebounded them 50-32. The Vulcans were domi-nant when it came to picking up offensive rebounds and took advantage of their free throw opportunities by shooting 82 percent from the charity stripe.

The women’s basketball team will return to action tomorrow when they head to Edinboro University. Tip-off is at 6 p.m.

Remaining Men’s and Women’s regular season basketball games2/8 - @ Edinboro / Women: 6 p.m. Men: 8 p.m.

2/12 - v.s IUP / Women: 5:30 p.m. Men: 7:30

2/15 - @ Clarion / Women: 5:30 p.m. Men: 7:30 p.m.

2/19 - v.s Pitt Johnstown / Women: 5:30 p.m. Men: 7:30 p.m.

2/26 - @ Seton Hill / Women: 5:30 p.m. Men: 7:30 p.m.

SPORTS FEBRUARY 7, 2014PAGE 11

Dave “The Animal” Batista, who recently returned to the WWE after four years away from the business, was the winner of the 2014 Royal Rumble Match. The win insures Batista a match against the WWE World Heavyweight champion at Wrestlemania 30 in New Orleans, La. on April 6.

Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

_______________________by: Dan MaDerstaff writer

____________________________

When professional wrestling fans think of the most exciting match that World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) holds, the Royal Rumble match is dis-cussed. When asked about what wrestling company focuses more on in ring action instead of dramatic storylines, those same fans would probably say Ring of Honor (ROH). Wrestling fans that live in the Pittsburgh area this past weekend were lucky enough to get a taste of both of these popular and exciting events.

The royal weekend began on Saturday, Jan. 25 with Ring of Honor’s Wrestling Finest live event which rook place at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. ROH, which has been in business since 2002, held an event inside the city for the first time in the company’s history. In the past, ROH has had shows in Belle Vernon, Pa., but never in down-town Pittsburgh. The three-hour show featured in-ring action that was taped as the next three ROH television broadcasts. ROH has a weekly television program and has strong ratings in this region. 1,300 fans were in attendance for this event, which us up from the usual 600 that they get in the shows that they run in Belle Vernon.

After the Wrestling’s Fin-est show on Saturday night, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) presented the Royal Rumble. The rumble referred to as the start of the Road to WrestleMania, as the winner of the 30-man Royal Rumble match gets to main event WrestleMania XXX. This was a Pay-Per-View (PPV) event that was seen in 150+ countries worldwide. 15,175 fans sold out the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh to watch the PPV – the first PPV to be held in the building and the first PPV to be in Pittsburgh since the Bragging Rights event in 2009.

Kevin Kelly, the head com-mentator for Ring of Honor, worked in the WWE for almost seven years and says that Pitts-burgh always has something in the air when wrestling comes to town.

“Pittsburgh has always been a fantastic wrestling town with great fans,” Kelly said. “We have tremendously strong television here in the local market so we’re excited about that. Whenever you go to a town that Bruno Sammartino is from, there’s always something special in the air. You always want to make sure that you treat the fans well and with what WWE is presenting, we look at this as an opportunity to treat the fans tonight with something they’re not going to see anywhere else.”

Kelly also believes that ROH will come back to the downtown

Pittsburgh area in the future.“Absolutely. Absolutely we’ll

be back. There are always logis-tical challenges with running events in a city as opposed to running in Belle Vernon, which is always a little bit easier to handle. ROH isn’t the biggest company in the world, so when we have opportunities like this, we take advantage of them and we know that if we’re in Pitts-burgh or Belle Vernon or McK-eesport or anywhere around that there are great wrestling fans and we’re going to make sure that we find them and they find us,” Kelly said.

One of the most popular wres-tlers in Ring of Honor, Kevin Steen, performed in one of the three television main events that were taped at the Pittsburgh show. Steen, who has been in ROH for 7 years, says that he has seen the company grow exponentially in the time he has been there.

“Its [popularity has] always grown since I started. There are companies that go through lulls and ups and downs and while I won’t say it’s been perfect for seven years, but for recogni-tion of the company, I’d say it’s been exponential, especially due to the many channels that Sinclair Broadcasting Group bring. Everyone has been work-ing so hard for so long. It has grown from being kind of an underground, edgy thing to something that has gone main-stream. Seven years ago when I would walk down the street in Philadelphia, North Carolina or Chicago for example, I wouldn’t really get recognized, but now I do,” Steen said.

Steen said that he was pleas-antly surprised when he found out that the ROH show he was

performing in was in downtown Pittsburgh instead of their usual Belle Vernon location.

“I would expect more people to come to the Pittsburgh show instead of Belle Vernon because it’s downtown right? I was pleasantly surprised that the show was in Pittsburgh instead of Belle Vernon. More tickets were sold for the pre-sale than Belle Vernon ever sold. It’s eas-ier access and it’s a nicer build-ing. Not that Belle Vernon was crappy but you’d rather spend your night in a nicer building,” Steen said.

Both Kelly and Steen are fans of professional wrestling in ad-dition to working in the busi-ness for more than 15 years com-bined. They both said that they would watch both shows if they were just a regular fan. Kelly feels that the Royal Rumble is a better event to watch on televi-sion while Steen said he would actually be attending it live.

“I would attend Ring of Hon-or live and I would watch the Royal Rumble at home with friends,” Kelly said. “I think the Royal Rumble is a great televi-sion event. I think it’s tailor-made for being with friends and having a pool and picking who’s going to win or blind drawing a number and saying, ‘Oh! I got number 25! My guy is going to win!’ and then it turns out to be one of the Bushwhackers. I think it’s a great television event, a great group event, a great party event… but I think that there is nothing better than seeing Ring of Honor live. The action is so up close and so personal and so intense that a lot of times televi-sion doesn’t seem to do it justice. That’s how I would spend my money.”

“I’d definitely go to both – I

am going to both actually,” Steen said. “I’m performing on one but I’m going to the Rumble tomorrow because I’ve got a lot of friends there and I’ve never seen one live and it’s always been a cool thing since I was a kid. I was always a WWE fan growing up and they did WrestleMania in Toronto, RAW in Montreal and SmackDown in Ottawa and I went to all three. The fans of Ring of Honor are very passionate so I assume that a lot people that will be here tonight will go to the Rumble as well.”

The weekend of Jan. 25 may be a pro wrestling fan’s perfect scenario. With ROH running its Wrestling’s Finest event that Saturday and selling 1,300 (a best for ROH in the area) and the WWE presenting the Royal Rumble on the following night (a 15,175 sellout), Pittsburgh was a wrestling hub that week-end. Kevin Steen believed that this would bring success for Pittsburgh.

“As far as ROH is concerned, I feel like this is a big opportunity due to a lot of attendance, which the Rumble helps, but fans are in a wrestling mood for the weekend,” Steen said. “There might be a lot of first timers for ROH here. It’s our job to make them come back next time and it’s an opportunity that Ring of Honor rises to the occasion for. I’ve been here for seven years and I’ve never heard someone complaining when they left the show. I think it is the added attraction of the Royal Rumble that helps, but it’s up to us to make fans come back next time and I have no doubt that we’ll be successful of that.”

Royal Wrestling weekend in the Burgh

FEBRUARY 7, 2014PAGE 12 SPORTS

Athlete Spotlight: Braelyn TracyClass rank - Freshman Major - Psychology Age - 18Hometown - Belle Vernon Pa. High School - Elizabeth Forward

Notable achievements - Tracy was a 4 time WPIAL Champion and 4 time PIAA medal-ist while in high school and was a US swimming junior national qualifier in 2013. Tracy recently broke a Hamer Hall pool record in the 1650 freestyle by nearly 20 seconds, with a time of 17 minutes and 49.79 seconds. She has qualified for PSAC Champion-ships in the 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 1000 freestyle, 1650 freestyle and as a member of the 800 freestyle relay. Tracy recently was named Pennsylvania State Athletic Confer-ence women’s swimmer of the week, becoming the first member of the ulcan’s swim team to receive the honor this season