TAXI: 'Every day I drive people who are out of their minds...I feel like someday my brain will get broke'

NEW YORK, May 26, 2009 —New York City cabbie Mohammed Abudakar spends his day dodging traffic cops, listening to irate passengers and knotted in rush hour traffic that often begins right after lunch.

“It’s very difficult,” Abudakar said. “There’s a lot of pressure. 90 percent of the cab drivers, they have high blood-pressure. I’m one of them too.”

In Manhattan, a town known for its symbolic yellow hacks, driving a taxi has become much more difficult. And inside America's largest city, where there are more than 13,000 taxicabs, the crush of a financial slowdown, skyrocketing ticket costs and a surplus of cabs is making it harder and harder for drivers to earn a living. And that doesn’t account for the big Apple’s legendary traffic.

“The second most stressful job in America is driving a taxi,” said Bill Lindauer, New York Taxi Worker’s Alliance Campaigns Coordinator. “What’s the first most stressful job? Being president of the United States. So we’re only the second most stressful job. That’s why we make the big bucks.”

A trip in a Manhattan cab can be a short hop from Broadway to the Port Authority Bus Terminal or a long lift to one of the three airports, LaGuardia, JFK or Newark. And with each passing day, cab drivers report that passengers are getting more ornery.

“Every day I drive people who are out of their minds,” driver Hector Sadiq said. “They blame me for everything…And if somebody shows me a finger or is using bad words it hurts me…I feel like someday I will get a heart attack, or my brain will get broke.”

Many cabbies are fed up with what they call doormat treatment.

“Why should we be scabs for the city?” Lindauer asked. “The city never does anything good for us.”

And to make matters worse, some cab drivers believe they are being targeted for tickets.

“I hope that’s not true. I really hope so,” said Vincent Sapone, League of Mutual Taxi Owners managing director said. “But when you see our tickets you begin to wonder.”

Police deny the accusation, saying they are simply trying to keep the roads safe.

“Na, na, no. (The police) are just doing their routine job. They just doing their job,” Public Safety Officer Derick Everett said while directing taxis by the Madison Square Garden. “Most (taxis), they like to violate and skip and get between other cars and all that. So they know they’re supposed to follow the rules, but drivers here don’t usually follow the rules. So that’s why they always get pulled over and get a ticket.”

“See everybody has their different opinions, but from what I see, that’s what I see, I’m just here to follow rules and regulations, just like everybody else,” he added. “If they can’t comply with that, my best (advice) is just, ‘Take it to the mayor. Take it to the mayor.’”

Not all cabbies are claiming innocence. Most are asking for equality.

“The police sometimes excuse regular motorists, but they’ll pick up cab drivers,” Lindauer said. “And instead of giving them one ticket, we’ll give them three or four tickets at the same time. It’s a shame.”

Tickets have grown so common for some cab drivers they have become “part of the job” says Mohammad Hatta, a three-year cabbie. Taxis drivers lose their license after six points, so fighting tickets in court is more about erasing the points than getting the money back.

“We don’t mind to pay the fee – you know what I mean? – because we will lose anyway,” Hatta said. “You’re not going to fight the law. I mean, they always have to find a law to nail you. But at least we get out from the points. Sometimes paying them is part of the job.”

The drooping economy and constant tickets are causing some cab drivers to reexamine their careers.

“(A ticket) can mean most of a day’s income, or even more than one day’s income,” Lindauer said. “Does it pay for him to get out of bed? I think not.”

Still, many cab drivers are staring through the windshield, hoping for a better future.

“It’s just that I wish there was a way where somehow the cab driver could have a better life and something to look forward to, ok, in the future,” Sapone said. “Today it’s a stepping stone job to go get a hotdog stand or something. I mean, there’s no future. It’s terrible. And I feel for cab drivers. I got cab drivers in my blood.”

Cornerstone University Weary of Economic Bailout. Professor Stamm Gives Thumbs Up.

President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan is supposed to boost a U.S. economy that’s in the global dog house, but a closer look at the package leaves the Cornerstone campus conflicted.

Joe Steggs, student body president-elect, is strictly opposed to the plan.

“I’m a laissez-faire – hands off – person,” Steggs said. “I’m completely against 90 percent of social programs. Our competitive market has gotten America’s economy to where it’s at today and social programs are just bringing it back down.”

Conservatives argue the estimated $819 billion stimulus package is full of political agendas, including $248 million for furniture for the department of homeland security, $25 million for FBI salary increases and $75 million for a smoking cessation program.

The package also includes $125 billion for education, but while many people approve of that part of the stimulus package, CU junior Ron Kincer wants to make sure every penny is accounted for.

“It’s not as much the money that’s going to make improvements as having good people use the money wisely,” he said. “You can give a school down the street a ton of money; if they don’t use it for the right things it’s just a waste.”

But while some criticize the spending, Brad Stamm, professor of business at Cornerstone and an economic expert, said it is necessary to recharge the economy and avoid a greater fall.

“What’s the likelihood they’re going to spend even a tax cut?” Stamm asked. “That’s why the government is going to spend, because it would mean a direct infusion into the economy. If the government spends directly that’s money right into the economy that’s earned. It’s spent money. It will have a direct and immediate impact.”

Some conservatives have pointed to the economic recession of 1982 and said the economy was worse back then before recovering. Statistically, unemployment rates, mortgage rates, prime rates and tax rates were higher compared to 2008, but Stamm said it’s not that easy.

“There’s no economist who wouldn’t say that this is worse than 1982, because it goes way beyond unemployment,” Stamm said. “Very legitimate economists would say this is much worse than 1982. Early in every decade we had some kind of recession, but this is certainly not your typical one.”

“In today’s economy the unemployment is coming from different areas,” he added. “Now it’s reality. Now it’s financial. Even the health industry. Now we’re losing jobs in other sections beyond manufacturing. That’s what you don’t want. It’s broader. It’s a much broader base than what it was 26 years ago. This is different. This is broader and longer and deeper.

“So you got to be carefully looking at numbers. You don’t want to look at just one page and say it’s worse or better. It’s now hitting the service industries which you don’t want to see. It’s what kind of jobs were lost, what kind of industry, how many discouraged workers there are.”

One thing most people agree on is that the economy is struggling, particularly in Michigan where soon-to-be college graduates are nervous about finding jobs. But Kincer said he isn’t worrying about that right now.

“That’s a concern, but being a Christian I’m just relying on faith at that point,” he said. “If I can’t do anything at all I can have faith that everything’s going to work out.”

Kincer believes both parties can come to an effective compromise by letting the nation vote on what should and should not be included in the package.

“I think they should do a nationwide poll where they list all the options that they want to put in the package and have the nation vote on it, because it’s important,” he said. “What’s wrong with allowing us to vote on it?”

That sentiment echoes the unrest of many Cornerstone students and politicians alike, who believe the U.S. needs a change, but can’t agree on how to do it.

Plewes named All-American

BY TIM DEVANEY
Your Sports editor

After leading the Golden Eagles to a 27-8 record and the NAIA Sweet Sixteen, Jenna Plewes was named First Team All-American.

“I couldn’t be any more proud of Jenna, and I’m just so pleased that she is getting recognized in this way,” head coach Carla Fles said.

Plewes willed Cornerstone to win several games late in the season, hitting go-ahead baskets with the game on the line against Davenport in the WHAC Tournament Championship and against Aquinas during the final game of the regular season.

“She plays so hard,” Davenport coach Mark Young said. “I probably don’t have any more respect for any player that I’ve ever coached against than her. She brings it every single night.”

“She’s not a great shooter, and she’s not the fastest, but she plays so hard,” he added. “For someone to be as successful as she’s been it all comes down to her work ethic.”

Plewes averaged 17.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game during the conference season, but Fles said it was her hustle plays that made the difference for the team.

“She’s a gamer,” Fles said, comparing her to North Carolina star Tyler Hansbrough. “Sometimes we called her the one-man-full-court-press because she’d just stay back there all by herself, she’d pick someone off and score a layup.”

“She’s probably the hardest worker that I’ve coached here,” Fles added. “She just really loves to run and she works on her game all the time. She always puts her whole heart into every game and she hustles, and it’s great to see someone who works so hard get that recognition.”

Fles said she saw the All-American list when it was released on Tuesday night, and she was hoping Plewes, who received an honorable mention the previous two seasons, would make the second or third team. So she was “overjoyed” to learn Plewes was named to the first team.

“I just couldn’t wait to tell her,” Fles said. “When I told her she was really surprised.”

But Plewes, being the team player that she is, said she would trade her All-American status for a national championship in a split-second.

“For sure. Without a doubt. I just wish we could have went further,” Plewes said. “That would have been way more important than individual honors. I would’ve rather made a bigger run at the tournament.”

No one understands her devotion more than her teammates, who saw her hustle day-in-and-day-out.

“Jenna is a one-of-a-kind player,” teammate Krista Vink said. “She is constantly pushing and encouraging you. She led by example. I think she is a great player and person. She deserves the All-American nomination because she gives 110 percent all the time, and you can always count on her.”

Plewes praised her team, saying she wouldn’t have done it any other way.

“I can’t describe how much this team has meant to me,” Plewes said. “Everyone knows I love Cornerstone so much. The biggest thing is playing for God, and playing with teammates and coaches who just care about you, love you and represent God. That’s about the best feeling ever. I’ve absolutely loved it.”

Plewes was named to the All-American Team along with nine other NAIA Division II athletes around the nation, including Davenport’s Kallie Benike, who was the WHAC Player of the Year. Benike averaged 14.85 points and 7.38 rebounds per game.

The other All-Americans include Morningside’s Dani Gass, who was the NAIA Player of the Year, and Autumn Bartel, Ozarks’ Kayli Combs, Northwestern’s Becca Hurley, Concordia’s Whitney Stichka, Hastings’ Lindsay Ducey, Shawnee State’s Becky Babione and Dickinson State’s Kia Herbel.

Madonna’s Kim Olech and Aquinas’ Josyln Narber were named Third Team All-Americans. Davenport’s Kristi Boehm, Indiana Tech’s Hannah Thieke and Aquinas’ Carrie Abdo were named honorable mention.

Young hopes having two All-Americans in the conference will start to turn eyes toward the WHAC.

“It’s great for the present of our conference, and it’s great for the future,” he said. “People are starting to understand. We’ve got a legitimate claim…We’re becoming a legitimate No. 2 conference. It was great to see.”

This article was published in The Herald during the spring of 2009.

Women Seize WHAC Title

BY TIM DEVANEY
Your Sports editor

Cornerstone held on to an early lead despite a furious run by Davenport late in the game Monday, winning the WHAC Tournament Championship 73-69, and earning an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament.

With 41.6 seconds remaining, Jenna Plewes muscled in a baseline layup over a swarm of Davenport defenders for the game-winning basket.

“Kara just found me [by the hoop],” Plewes said. “I’m like, ‘I’m going to go up strong with this and see what happens. I’m not going to let our team lose right here.’ I got kind of emotional at the end.”

The Golden Eagles closed the game with a 10-2 run during the last four minutes to pull out the win, led by senior captains Kara Overbeek and Plewes, who scored Cornerstone’s last 10 points.

“In the second half the seniors really pulled it through,” head coach Carla Fles said. “We just had to dig in on defense and pull it out.”

Cornerstone jumped out to an early 13-point lead at one point in the first half and led 41-30 at halftime.

“The last time we played them here we were down 26-6 [in the first half],” Riemersma said. “It’s hard to come back and win games like that when you’ve expended so much energy just to get back into the game, and we didn’t want to let that happen. I felt like the girls were more focused, and it showed early on.”

Cornerstone kept fighting after Davenport took several seemingly decisive leads in the second half, including a 67-63 lead with 4:17 to play.

“We felt if we were in a close game with them, we were going to win because of the experience that we’ve had in those types of games,” Riemersma said.

“There was no panic, and it was just one possession at a time,” he said. “I felt that was very important for us. I think that we have learned to become a team that does not panic, and that is something special.”

Kara Overbeek kept her composure down the stretch to lead Cornerstone.

“Every time they made it, I wouldn’t let myself get frazzled,” she said.

This season, No. 7 Cornerstone has a 2-1 record against divisional-rival Davenport, which is the No. 4 team in NAIA Division II."

“It’s just the excitement of the game,” Overbeek said. “Beating Davenport is always a big game. I just knew it was my last chance, so I was going to give it all I had. I’m glad we won.”

Cornerstone is the only team to beat Davenport this season, both wins coming at Davenport.

“Our team is kind of different,” Riemersma said. “It’s kind of funny. We almost play better on the road. They have a sense of urgency more when they’re on the road. It’s an interesting dynamic to have. But one that can be very beneficial come tournament time.”

This article was published in The Herald in the spring of 2009.

Nationals: Watch out!

BY TIM DEVANEY
Your Sports editor

The women’s basketball team (26-7) is headed to the NAIA National Tournament in Sioux City, Iowa, following its WHAC Tournament Championship victory over Davenport on Monday.

But the Golden Eagles still have their eye on one more tournament championship trophy.

“We’ve beaten Davenport who (was) the No. 3 team in the county,” head coach Carla Fles said. “If we can beat them twice, I don’t see why we can’t beat (No. 2) Shawnee State or (No. 1) Morningside.”

No. 7 Cornerstone, a No. 2 seed in the national tournament, will face Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) in the first round on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.

The last time Cornerstone and Cardinal Stritch met up was earlier this season on Dec. 6 at Cornerstone when the Golden Eagles won 78-57.

“They always are a good program,” Fles said. “We got a lot of fastbreak opportunities [last time]. We just played very well against them to get the win. We can go on a little bit of confidence that we beat them the first time too. I thought that our experience outplayed them, but now it’s two months later and I’m sure they’ve improved. Having to beat a team for the second time around isn’t easy either.”

Cardinal Stritch (20-10) won the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament, beating Trinity International 80-71.

Until this season, Cornerstone had not beaten Cardinal Stritch since Nov. 13, 2004. Last season Cornerstone lost at Cardinal Stritch, 68-63.

Cornerstone is 2-1 against Davenport this season, and after Monday’s conference championship victory, assistant coach Mike Riemersma is confident the Golden Eagles can stack up with any team in the nation.

“Any time you play that caliber of competition, it’s going to make you better,” he said. “So I feel that playing teams like that will help us.”

“The question is which team is going to put the best five games together in a row to make that run, and we want to be that team,” Riemersma said. “In the tournament one team gets hot, and that’s all it can take sometimes.”

Heading into the tournament, Cornerstone has won five games in a row and is 16-2 since January. And Fles thinks the Golden Eagles may still have room to improve.

“I’m not sure if we were peaking yet going into the WHAC Tournament,” she said. “I’m still not 100 percent sure if we’re playing our best basketball. I think we kind of saw that against Davenport. I think we’re about there now.”

Late in the season, Cornerstone racked up an impressive resume of wins that came down to the final moments of each game, including a game-winning runner in the lane by Jenna Plewes against Aquinas recently.

“We’ve had close games down the stretch,” Riemersma said. “Those are games earlier in the year that we were losing that now we are winning, and I feel that our preparation in being in those games early in the season has prepared us that now we know how to win those close games. That’s very important particularly when you get into any tournament situation.”

Riemersma said he believes Cornerstone’s 66-54 loss at Aquinas on Jan. 28 was the turning point.

“Sometimes when it goes bad, it just goes really bad, and out of that, you can turn it around,” he said. “That was probably the worst that we played all year, and I think that it woke us up a little bit and gave us a sense of urgency.”

Cornerstone’s three senior captains – Jenna Plewes, Kara Overbeek and Tami Thelen – have been the driving force behind the team all season long.

“The seniors are not just satisfied with getting to the tournament, and they won’t let the team be satisfied with getting to the tournament,” Riemersma said. “They want to make a deep run.”

The coaching staff expressed its complete confidence in these three players.

“I think there comes a point when you’ve played in enough games and you’ve been in situations at this level that you know what you need to do,” Riemersma said, “and they know what they need to do.”

“They want the ball in their hands at crunch time, and they’ve come through,” he said. “That’s what you expect seniors to do, and I think that type of attitude is going to carry over to the tournament because they’re hungry, and this is their last shot.”

Fles said she is confident her team can compete well against any style of basketball, including up-tempo teams like Davenport and half-court-grind-it-out teams like Aquinas.

“We’ve played a wide variety of teams and have done well against the majority of them,” she said.

Furthermore, Riemersma said Fles is the best in the business at preparing her team for its next opponent on a game-by-game basis.

“The girls will be ready,” he said. “I think that her track record proves that.”

Riemersma indicated the team will take it one step at a time.

“All we need to do is win five, and you do that by winning the first one and you just play game-by-game, one game at a time,” he said.

This article was published in The Herald in the spring of 2009.

Missing pieces hurt fan support at games

BY TIM DEVANEY AND AMENA ANDERSON
Your Sports editor and Assistant managing editor

If you've attended men’s or women's basketball games at Cornerstone recently, you would find it hard to believe there once was a time when teams hated to play here, when Cornerstone was a "pit" where noise and frenzied activity gave the Golden Eagles a built-in advantage.

Ten years ago Cornerstone's men won a national championship, but the spirit and support wasn't tied into that single memorable season.

For years, in the old Fieldhouse and the new Mol Arena, teams dreaded coming here, because they knew the noise level would make for an especially long night and difficult game.

In the early years of the new Mol Arena, the Golden Eagles have benefited from home-court advantage. Over a five year span from the 2002-03 season until last season the men’s basketball team had only lost six home games.

A basketball game at Cornerstone was the same as the basketball games played everywhere else in the country. Frenzied students, spirited cheerleaders, supportive alumni, committed faculty and a wild, creative pep band stirred the pot with loud background music.

“It would be packed from the first row to the top row,” former Athletic Director Bob Fortosis said. “Students would come with their faces painted. Four or five of them would dress up and run up-and-down the stands and get the crowd going.”

But it hasn’t been like that in a while. Only a handful of students show up regularly. The cheerleaders have disappeared. Parents attend, but few graduates. And when was the last time you saw anybody in the faculty section?

But most of all, the absence of a pep band is telling, because it raises the noise level, starts the support and fills in the dead spots. Cornerstone is one of only three schools in the WHAC that doesn't have either a pep band, dance team or cheerleaders perform at games.

Until next season, maybe.

“By next fall we are confident we will be able to have a quality pep band,” said Donna Bohn, associate professor of music.

Unfortunately, this season fans will have to entertain themselves. Bohn explained the music department is not prepared for a pep band currently due to a lack of leadership. Previously, it was student-led, and without staff involvement the quality was poor and reflected negatively on the music department, so it was cut before the 2007-08 season.

“They go, ‘Wow, that music department must not be very good,’” Bohn said about visitors who witness a poor performance. “That is a poor and inaccurate reflection of the quality of the rest of the [music] department.”

Some fans disagree.

“Give me a break! The primary purpose of a pep band is not there to be good musicians. It’s about team spirit,” said Don Irving, whose son attends CU. “Whether you’re a good musician or not doesn’t reflect.”

Bohn said there are currently students interested in starting a pep band, and Athletic Director Dave Grube said "we would absolutely love to see that happen," but a faculty or staff member would need to oversee it.

Richard Zeck may be that person. The adjunct business professor in the PGS division recognizes the need for a pep band and said he would consider overseeing it to help start one this season.
Former CU Athletic Director Bob Fortosis said it took “very little” effort to run in the past, and the reward was a thriving student section.

“Student involvement in basketball was such that we had concerns about overzealous fans,” Fortosis said.

Now Cornerstone is at the opposite end of the spectrum with under zealous fans. According to Grube and Fortosis, the student section has dropped from 300 fans to 75 over the last decade. The loss of the pep band and cheerleaders has hurt school spirit.

While Cornerstone students shouldn’t expect to see either this season, Grube is planning to install a Spirit Squad, which will lead chants and interact with the student section during timeouts and halftime.

Grube plans to initiate the squad by Jan. 17, 2009, when Cornerstone hosts Indiana Tech during homecoming.

“School spirit is huge in terms of a great college experience,” CU President Joe Stowell said. “A wild and wonderful student spirit section at home basketball games would have my two thumbs up vote. Anything I could do to help make that happen is high on my list!”

Men’s basketball coach Kim Elders experienced firsthand how much the student section contributed when he lead the Golden Eagles to the 1999 national championship, and he can only hope Stowell’s wish will come true.

“To me, mascots, pep bands and cheerleaders are a very important part of a college basketball game,” he said. “It adds so much more excitement, plus it brings in more fans.”

It’s widely speculated the atmosphere at basketball games will improve. The question is when. Next season or this season?

This article was published in The Herald during the fall of 2008.

Labor council head berates Bush's policy

BY TIM DEVANEY
OF THE NEWS STAFF

Brewer — Jack McKay, president of the Eastern Maine Labor Council, wants to see President Bush in black-and-white stripes and standing behind bars.

“[Bush] should be put in jail for what he’s done to the American middle class,” McKay said after a press conference Monday morning in Brewer, “and for the policies that he’s made.”
Lois Bloomer, the Penobscot County chair for the Republican Party, was shocked by McKay’s statement.

“Good grief. That’s ridiculous,” she said. “How can people blame the current situation entirely on the president? Many people and all of Congress [are responsible]. [The blame] should be equally shared.

“I don’t really believe that at this point people are having to choose between food and medicine and housing, and if they are it’s because they made poor choices with their mortgages. You can’t blame that on the president,” she said.

McKay complained about Maine’s economy and the current status of the middle class in America.

“Look at all the families in our region and the thousands [of people] that have lost their jobs,” he said. “Many have lost their homes and been forced to choose between food and medicine. It’s an outrageous situation, which directly results from George Bush’s policies, which have devastated working families. He should be held accountable for that.”

“I don’t believe people are devastated,” Bloomer said. “I believe in Yankee ingenuity and people helping people and neighbors helping neighbors.”

According to the Web site of the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov, in January 2001, when Bush took office, Maine’s unemployment rate was 3 percent. Seven years later, in January 2008, Maine’s unemployment rate had risen to 4.9 percent. The nation’s unemployment rate dropped from 4.7 percent in 2001 to 4.6 percent in 2007.

“I don’t see what’s wrong with the unemployment rate,” Bloomer said. “It’s not that bad. I think the unemployment rate is mostly for people who don’t want to [or can’t] work anyways.”

McKay, the featured speaker at an EMLC press conference Monday at the Solidarity Center in Brewer, was on hand to announce the EMLC’s July Fourth Solidarity Celebration. During an interview after the press conference he was asked about the Bush Legacy Bus, which is designed to remind citizens of Bush’s policy decisions, according to McKay. He then said that the president’s policy decisions were bad enough to send him to prison.

“It’s important to remember what Bush and the far-right agenda has done to this country,” McKay said. “He’s run us right into the ground in every way. [America has a] troubled image abroad. [Bush has] done a number on the middle class, uprooted civil liberties and squandered the nation’s treasury on an unending war in Iraq. It’s very important to help people remember what he actually did.

“We may be witnessing – especially for Main citizens – the greatest drop in living standards since the Great Depression. It’s time to turn America around.”

McKay called the EMLC’s efforts to help local families a “Band-Aid.”

“Band-Aids are good,” he said, “but what we really need are different policies. They make a difference and it’s possible in the richest country in the world.”

The Employee Free Choice Act is one policy in particular McKay wants enacted.

“Employers are steadily gaining more and more power over employees in the workplace,” McKay said. “And EFCA is a policy to help balance power and wealth in America by making it easier for workers to organize a union.

“Current law favors employers in a number of areas. It’s weak, unwieldy and perverted by anti-union [people], which has made it more difficult for American workers to organize unions for themselves.”

This article was published in the Bangor Daily News during the summer of 2008.