The Pageant Of The Africans

Mr & Miss Ankobia being crowned winners

The Pageant of the Africans
By Elias Taveras

 African drums and dance movements were present in last Sunday’s Mr. and Miss Ankobia Pageant of the Pan-Africa Student Organization.

More than merely finding a handsome African man and a beautiful African woman. The pageant was looking for more than just a pretty face.

Coumba Sy, a junior health and wellness major, previews miss Ankobia, and entertainment chair of PASO from Harlem, said that it was important for PASO to find two individuals that truly represent the African community.

 “We want to make sure that the students participating in the scene embody their country,” said Sy. “It is important that through their scenes in the pageant they show the beauty, history, and talents of their country without making it a lecture.”

The Pan-African Organization attempted to educate the Buffalo State community about African culture through the Mr. and Miss Ankobia pageant.

 The pageant that was set at Rockwell Hall’s state of the art performing center consisted of four stages of competition.

 There was a creativity scene where contestant had to bring an artifact or object of their country. The object was supposed to represent the culture of the country the contestant was representing. Then fallowed the beauty scene where the competitor had to embody the beauty of their countries.

 The contenders later had a talent portion. In this part of the competition contestants had to come up with a talent that illustrated the talents of the people in that country.

 Finally, the participants had to go through a question and answering segment. In this segment contestants answer questions about the social and economic problems of the African countries.

Before, the four stages of competitions all participants participated in a unity dance.

The pageant had eight participators half females and half males. The winners of the pageant received an African artifact and the opportunity to host a liberty banquet in the upcoming spring semester.

 The winners of the pageant were Beatrice Aidoo a sophomore business major from Brooklyn who represented Ghana and Bangali Doumbia who represented Ivory Coast. Aidoo and Doumbia both had highly applauded creativity scene.

 “I decided to do Ankobia because I am a competitive person, and I enjoy knowing more about my African roots and how to tie it in a pageant,” said Aidoo.

Many of the audience members had favorites from the beginning. They expected Fatima Toure to have become the winner. Fatoumata Binta Barry, a junior communications major from New York, said that she believed that Fatima should have been the winner.

“I think Fatima Toure was the best because she looked gorges while on stage,” said Barry. “I think that the judges did not make the accurate choice in picking the winner”

Spectators of the pageant said that it was very well organized and enjoyable. Zseniiyah Dior, a junior speech pathology major from Queens, said that the pageant was different than the others

“With this pageant I feel like everything was organized as far as time goes,” said Dior. “Every contestant seemed well rehearsed and the show went smoothly.”

After Mr. and Miss Ankobia were crown the crowed was told that there was going to be a banquet provided in Butler 212.

CSO Ecourages Students to Rep Their Flags

CSO Ecourages Students to Rep Their Flags

By Elias Taveras

Students were coming in to Classroom building 112, as Briand Taylor, a theatre major and public relations chair of the Caribbean Student Organization from Buffalo, set up the Caribbean music.

Students making the Panamenian flag on a cookie.

"Any suggestion," Taylor said to the students so that they could have picked favorite songs.

The event called ‘Rep Your Flag,’ was hosted today at 6 pm. It encouraged student from Caribbean backgrounds as well as of any other to learn about meanings of Caribbean flags.

Even though, Taylor is not of Caribbean decent being part of CSO and learning about flags got her interested on the cultures.

“The dance team was what made me join CSO,” said Taylor. “I am American, however their cultures and their dance movements are very ethnic and close to my culture.”

The Caribbean Student Organization created an event aimed to raise awareness of the Caribbean cultures and nations through their flags.

Taylor, later said that reping your flag is importance because it shows people that are not of this country that they are not alone. It also helps people who are not Caribbean to become more familiar with that culture.

Student came in to learn about the cultures of the Caribbean. After, a PowerPoint presentation on Caribbean flags and a “Guest What Flag It Is,” contest, student had the opportunity to decorate cookies.

The cookie was decorated with the color of a flag of the student's choice. They use color bather to decorate the cookies. Students were broken into teams. The team with the best cookies received “caribbucks.”

Students taking photographs of their finished creations.

‘Caribucks,’ are fake money created and provided by CSO thought  the semester to students part of the organization. At the end of the semester the student with the most caribucks will get to meet backstage with the artist brought for their upcoming caribash event.

Ashley Louimarre, a junior exceptional education major and treasure of CSO of Haitian heritage from Long Island, said that to her it is important to show her flag and her culture.

“It is very important to keep the Caribbean cultures alive on campus alive,” said Louimarre. “Many of the students of Buffalo State College are of Caribbean decent and some are not aware of it.”

The event was not only aimed to bring awareness of the flags but also to keep all Caribbean culture together.

“It is definitely important to keep the nations together and that is the basic of our week called divided by water united by culture,” said Taylor.

The event was a moderate success judging by the 21 students who attended. Out of the 21 six of them were males. It also provided students with ways that they can help out with social and economic problems on the Caribbean.

Tiffany Chang, an undeclared freshmen of Jamaican and Chinese decent from Brooklyn, said that the programs provided by CSO helped bring all the different Caribbean cultures united on campus.

“To have pride in your flag and where your from and to be happy with where you are from,” said Chang. “I am a proud Jamaican, Jamaica is the best island in the world and I want others to feel the same way I do.”

Operation Christmas Child

By Elias Taveras

With Christmas just around the corner David Nunez, a junior biology major of Buffalo State College from New York, worries about children around the world who were not given the chance to have a decent Christmas. 

 “I am of Bolivian decent and it breaks my heart when I go back to my ancestor’s country to see that the majority of parents do not have enough money to get toys for their kids,”   said Nunez. “It makes me happy that I have the chance in my own school to help out kids around the world.”

Members of the E-board 

Nunez says that he feel happy to be able to give a kid somewhere around the world a similar Christmas than the one he had. Nunez traveled to Target around the school to buy toys for a boy. He brought three toy cars and and an action figure. These were two of his favorite toys growing up.

Nunez said that he feels happy that InterVarsity facilitated him the opportunity to give kids around the world a normal Christmas.

Operation Christmas child is an annual event that gives students the opportunity to help underprivileged kids around the world.

The event is hosted annually by the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. This year it was hosted on Thursday from 6 pm to 8 pm. This organization is founded by the United Student Government.

Every year InterVarsity’s mission is to pack boxes of toys for children across the world who are not receiving anything, said Julie Brown, the president of InterVarsity and a junior sociology major from Long Island.

“We just want to provide students with the chance to help out kids around the world,” said Brown. “The wonderful thing about our program is that we give students the opportunity to help out in our own Buffalo State College community.”

Before the event InterVarsity encouraged students to go to Dollar Tree and buy the toys that were going to be donated. Students were also told to bring seven dollars to cover international shipping fees.  Finally, all students had to do was attend the event that would serve as a box packing ceremony.

Omar Glaze, a junior criminal justice major from Long Island, said that to him every child should have the same opportunities and privileges.

“Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year and I would like for every child around the world to enjoy it just as much as I did,” said Glaze.

Kathelyne Pena, a senior sociology major from the Bronx said that in her box she would not be putting toys for the kids.

“Instead of toys I wanted to give a child around the world the opportunity to learn by putting in the box school supplies,” said Pena. “Toys only put emphasis on materialistic ideals, with school supplies I am given the children a chance to better itself.”

InterVarsity also gave students the opportunity to personalize their boxes that were going to be sent out to a child around the world.

Buffalo State's Apollo Night

Buffalo State's Apollo Night

By. Elias Taveras

 

Students got to pick the winner of the talent show in the African American Student Organization's Apollo Night.

The event was on Saturday from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm inside Rockwell Hall's state of the art performing art center. Students got to go on stage and show their talents.

Instead of a panel of judges the audience got to decide who was the winner. They also had the power to boo any competitor off the stage.

Constance Boakye, a sophomore public communications major and president of AASO from the Bronx, said that the event had a very different feel to it because for once student got to voice their opinion.

“We did not have a huge crowd, however the event was a success because it had a different mood to it,” said Boakye. “It was amazing to see what the crowd really thought about each performance from the minutes they started.”

Boakye then continued to say that even though the crowd got to boo students off the stage they tried to make a respectful event.

Apollo Night was an $8,000 event that was hosted by actress and comedian Cocoa Brown.

Cocoa Brown, has starred in movies like "All Good Things" and been a series regular on television shows like "For Better or Worst" and "Date Devil."

Her sense of humor kept the show going. After every good performance she would say how hot it was. When a competitors got boo off the stage she would make a funny remark about their performance.

"Aw is okey honey boo boo you better luck next time, if there is a next time," said Brown to a contestant as he exited the stage.

Imani Hall, entertainment chair of AASO and sophomore media production major from Brooklyn, said that Coco Brown made the event a special one.

“Coco Brown is a comedian that made the event funny and worth it for all students” said Hall.

There were 15 contestants participating in the show. Each had different talents ranging from poetry to dance. The event was won by Perry Angor who received a Nook as a consolation prize for his break dancing performance. From the bogging of his act he was already a crow favorite.

Kristie Rodriguez, a junior speech pathology student from New York said that the crowd had too much freedom.

“I feel like some of the crowd members should not be allowed to boo people of the stage,” said Rodriguez. “My boyfriend was a competitor and he got booed and disrespected even though his poetry was amazing.”

The event had a fee of seven dollars that made certain student unhappy.

President of AASO Constance Boakye, said that the reason they charged students was because of USG requirements. USG required organizations to raise the money spent back to the funds.

Homecoming Coronation a Failed Event

Homecoming Coronation a Failed Event

By. Elias Taveras

The Homecoming Coronation pageant ceremony is usually one of the most anticipated events by students but this year’s ceremony failed to impress its crowd.

Chanil Mejia, a sophomore social work major of Buffalo State College from the Bronx, said that she was very excited for this event because this particular campus never has any fun activities.

King and Queen of Homecoming 2012

“Expecting to see a lot of different things because I usually see the same thing out of all the other organizations,” said Mejia. “So today I expect to see something out of the ordinary. We do not have any big events therefore, my expectations are high.”

Sitting close by to me, Mejia later said that the event did not meet her expectations
because she did not see the point. It was too long after the talent competition which was the only thing that was good.

The annual Homecoming Coronation was one event that was part of a chain of events that made up Homecoming week. In this showing, any Buffalo State upper classman was allowed to compete for the honorable title of Homecoming king and queen.

The two winners of the pageant king and queen received $450 of book deferment money in the schools Barnes and Noble. The winners were also given the chance to be featured in the homecoming parade that took place the weekend after their coronation.

The homecoming coronation consisted of three different stages of competition.

Contestants had to past through a talent competition where they had to demonstrate a unique talent. There was a question and answering portions where judges measured the competitor’s public speaking skills. And finally, a jeopardy portion where student’s knowledge of Buffalo State College was tested.

Margarita Castillo, another spectator and junior history major from the Bronx said that the event seemed fun and exciting at first but then it dragged on.

“Do not get me wrong the talent portion of the show was very good, it had some really fun talent,” Castillo said. “For me, where the event went wrong was when they decided to have eight competitors all have individual scenes that made the show super long.”

Romario Gibson, a sophomore Biology major from Queens and contestant said that in other schools like Howard University homecoming king and queen coronation is an anticipated event.

“To tell you the truth I did not really know that Buffalo State had this event until this semester,” said Gibson. “I only joined the pageant to gain experience that I am going to need in making my own pageant for my own organization; The Caribbean Student Organization.”

Gibson then said that the auditorium did not look as full as he thought it was going to look. The performing art center at Rockwell Hall looked almost half empty.  

Andrea Wright, one of the judges of the competition and senior fashion merchandising student from the Bronx, said that she expected the winner to be well rounded.

“I expect them to have good public speaking, I expect them to be enthusiastic, I expect them to have positive attitude, and I expect their talent to be unique,” said Wright. “The winner must be a role model for the Buffalo State College community.”

Wright said that the homecoming Coronation is an event aimed to find someone with enough school spirit to bring the BSC community together. However, according to the student’s replies this segment failed to achieve that.

Fun Learning, Alcohol Awareness Week

Fun Learning, Alcohol Awareness Week

By. Elias Taveras

The United Student Government in honor of Alcohol Awareness Week, manage to create an interactive and educational program about alcohol abuse.

The event called ‘Arrive Alive Tour CarSimulator’ was at the Union Quad in the middle of the student union and E. H. Butler Library. The event was on Thursday between 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

When walking into the event, students found tables set up in lines. At the end of the line rested the main attraction, the car simulator. Every table and the car simulator were set as an individual station. Each provided students with different factual information and interactive activities.

The main attraction of the event was at the end of the tables. The driving under the influence simulator consist of a car that student got in to. It gave them a similar experience to that of drunk driving.

The DUI simulator is connected to the computer. When a person is drunk the signals from the brain to their head are slower. The computer simulates these late reactions as if the person was drunk, said Mitchel Vierhage, a representative of Unite International from Wyoming, Michigan.

“I am hoping that everyone that comes through would think twice before drinking and driving and texting and driving because we are trying to help you guys out. We do not want you to die so young,” said Vierhage.

When students got into the DIU simulator. They put their seat belts on and wore a helmet that covered their eyes. What students saw through the helmet was an obstacle course. Since the computer simulated a drunken person’s late reactions, students were most likely to crash.

Effectively, demonstrating how a person feels when driving under the influence.

The table before that had university police officers. They had special goggles that were called beer goggles. Kenneth Kloss, a UPD officer from Angola, described the goggles to be designed to show an impediment level of alcohol. Kloss said that the goggles mimic how an individual’s vision is when drunk.

“We are not trying to scare anyone we are just trying to let everybody see how is it to be drunk,” said Kloss. “Some people have never drank before so this is our way of telling them how they are going to feel.”

Students tried the goggles on and were told by the officer to walk in a straight line. Their feet had to go one in front of the other as if they were being tested by a real police officer. 

The goggles made it difficult to perform such a task because the vision through them made the person feel dizzy.

Students were able to learn from a spinning wheel at the Weigel Health Promotions table. It had factual, innovating, and miscellaneous information about alcohol abuse.

Dixie Hunter, a senior social work student, from Buffalo and intern at Weigel Health Promotions office said that she found it alarming to see that students do not know what they are consuming.

“Most students do not know how much alcohol they are consuming. They do not know what a shot really is or what a beer can is. They might be taking double shots or triple shots and be unaware of it,” said Hunter.

Many of the organizers of the event said that they wanted students to be careful and aware of what they drink.

“Some of the things that we want people to be aware of is that you can be mindful of what you drink and what other people are putting in your drink,” said Hunter.

The first table on the far right had representatives from the Violence Intervention and Victim Advocacy of Buffalo State College. Lindley Beardsley, a VIVA representative from Buffalo said that they were there to help.

“In a situation of domestic violence due to alcohol abuse, there are resources on campus that you can go to,” said Beardsley. “If not provided on campus there are drug treatment places that you can be referred to, ‘you are not alone is what we are trying to get out’.”

Designated Drivers of Buffalo were also there to inform students that they do not have to drive intoxicated. Ellen Page, a representative of Designated Drivers explained that there is no reason for students to drive when drunk.

“If a person is too drunk to drive or has a medical emergency we would pick them up between the hours of 8 pm and 4 am,” said Page. 

 

There is Support in all Directions

There is Support in all Directions
By. Elias Taveras

Buffalo State College's homosexual and allied students hosted the 'Coming out Week: OUT & ALLY photo project,' in order to acknowledge individuals that have came out and to assured them that they live in a save and accepting campus.

The event was hosted on Friday from 12:30 pm to 6:30 pm, in celebration of the National Coming Out Week.

In the event students and staff alike came in to the first floor of Bulger Communications to sign a pledge card. The voluntary pledge card encouraged people to never word a gay slur to other students on campus.

Then, individuals proceeded to take a photo holding a sign with the words ally or out on it. The pledge cards were going to be posted on the Pride Alliance office and the photos were to be posted on their Facebook page.

The event had hundreds of visitors and was described a success by Shakora Purks, president of Pride Alliance, and a junior theatre arts major from Buffalo.

“The event was a success, celebrating coming out week and acknowledging every individual that has already came out. As well as celebrating the presence of the allies that help people from the LGBT community,” said Purks.

The event also featured coming out stories from members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and  transgender community to encourage and help people that have yet to come out.

“You have to do it sometime,” said Purks, giving advice to individuals that are still in the closet.

Chantel Wells, a junior public relations student, from the Bronx, and part of Pride Alliance, said that with the pledge card and people like her, the campus is safe from gay discrimination.

“Signing the anti-gay slur-card, will help get the word out that ‘you know we are not going to take this anymore,’” Wells said, “If I see someone being call names I will called them out and then I will contact one of the officials at Pride Alliance.”

The vice president of Pride Alliance, Kiya Simmons, a Sophomore psychology student from Buffalo, said that so far she is happy with the support of the allies of the LGBT community.

“Allies are people that are not part of the LGBT community, so they are not gay, lesbians, bisexual, or transgender. However, they support and accept our community,” said Simmons.

Simmons, later said the event showed that members of the LGBT do not only have friends inside their community.