Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, sophomore Bennett Szames always had the dream of running his own company, giving people clothing apparel and hats so they can remember their childhood.

This inspiration started one day when Szames, on a cold, Saturday afternoon came across Professor Snapp’s YouTube page, where he would talk about “thrifting” for hats and clothes and finding these items under two dollars.

According to Szames, “This inspired me to go to my local thrift stores to find unique items both for my personal collection along with items to resell to followers.”

That is when Topnotch Vintage was officially created.

Topnotch Vintage is an online eBay Inc. and Instagram retailer that specializes in hand picking the highest quality of vintage headwear along with sports apparel.

Vintage – or classic/retro – styles are no typically sold on the open market, but they are commonly sold in thrift stores. Once Szames gets the inventory, he fixes them up to put them in better condition.

“After fixing up our new inventory we post the item on Instagram and eBay for more than five times the original price,” said Szames.

While most hats and clothes Szames buys are at a relatively cheap cost, he one time had to pay $140 for a snapback hat.

What was the hat exactly? Well, coincidentally, it was a classic Hartford Whalers hat.

The Hartford Whalers was a former professional hockey team that played at the XL Center. However, they moved in 1997 to North Carolina to become the Carolina Hurricanes.

Szames, who is majoring in entrepreneurship in the Barney School of Business, plans to continue the business even after he graduates.

He went on to explain, “I want to still keep my company in the future because the vintage movement is growing faster and faster everyday.”

Szames continued, “Also people may want a treasure from their childhood and I can make that happen for them.”

For those interested in purchasing hats or clothing apparel from Szames, you can follow his Instagram/Facebook page at @Topnotchvintage or go to Myworld.ebay.com/topnotchtnv.

Four years ago, I started my journey at the University of Hartford with the soul intent that I wanted to be a sports broadcaster.

For the majority of my freshman year, I participated in STN2 where I worked with the sports and news departments and gained valuable experience on-air and behind the camera.

However, I decided also at the time that I wanted to gain experience as a sports writer, therefore I joined The Informer to cover the Hawks along with the news station.

Upon the end of my freshman year, I applied for the position of Copy Chief, but the Entertainment Editor for the 2012–13 year quit, so I was given the position with no experience covering that particular subject.

At the end of the year in which I held the position, I applied my junior year for the position of Managing Editor, which for people who aren’t aware, is pretty much second-in-command to the Editor-in-Chief.

However, the Editor-in-Chief at the time, Charlie Paullin, encouraged me to apply for his position although I was still young. It’s very rare that a junior holds that position, as it is normally given to someone going into his/her senior year with a lot of experience.

Although wary, I applied just to gain experience interviewing for a position that is in high regard.

Well, I ended up getting the position.

For the past two years, I have held this position, working with my E-Board to deliver the University of Hartford news to the community here on campus.

Every semester, we spend 12 Wednesdays out of the year from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. working in the office putting the paper together. To put it in perspective, there are only 15 Wednesdays a semester in which we have class.

Therefore, these past three years of my life, I have spent a total of 72 Wednesdays in The Informer office.

Now most people must be thinking, “It’s only a Wednesday, it’s a school night so why is it such a big deal?”

Well, first off, this doesn’t include the time we spend in the office just working in general before Wednesday.

Second, imagine having an exam on Wednesday, and not being able to study right before because you have a paper to work on. Sure, you have all the days before to study, but most students try to get that extra cram study session in right before the exam. I never had that luxury for the past three years.

And finally, this past semester, the first warm day after our horrible winter was on a Wednesday. Imagine seeing on Snapchat, all your friends outside enjoying the weather and you’re stuck inside, literally all day, working on the newspaper.

With that being said, I wouldn’t trade this experience for a million dollars. This position has taught me how to work with a team, even if certain people grind your gears.

It also has helped me meet and network with upper administration on campus.

I would like to personally thank Marcia Suess, who I’ve worked with the past two years coordinating logistics for The Informer. I would also like to thank Lee Peters and Walter Harrison for taking the time to meet with me when I needed information or advice. Although I can sometimes be a jokester or a “knucklehead,” they put up with me and I can’t be more appreciative.

However, I can personally say that I am glad to be handing over the reins of Editor-in-Chief to Angela Francisco, and I’m sure she will continue to uphold the legacy of The Informer for next year.

As for me, the first thing I have planned in mind is being able to relax next Wednesday for the first time since 2012.

Goodbye, Hartford, it has been a pleasure serving you for the past two years.

Courtesy of UhaWeb

Before I begin, let me first say I am not complaining about the price of parking here.

I know when most people see a headline about parking, they think to themselves how this is just another person complaining about how it costs so much money and all that jazz. But no, this isn’t me complaining as it is more or less giving a suggestion that would be fair to upperclassmen.

The good thing that the school allows is for freshmen to have their cars on campus. Many colleges don’t allow students to bring a car until they are sophomore, sometimes even a junior.

This was actually one of the reasons I wanted to come here just because I could bring my car and indeed I did my freshmen year. However, since freshmen are allowed to bring their cars, there should be a system in place on where people can park.

Currently, I’m a junior and I have an internship three times a week. Since I come back to school in the evenings, most of the time there aren’t any sports available in N-lot.

Therefore I end up parking my car in N-lot Extension. When it is freezing outside, which for the majority of the semester so far has been, the walk back to my apartment can be treacherous.

Although I can’t say for sure, I’m sure other upperclassman who have internships or jobs feel the same way when they have to walk a while to get to their cars.

So my suggestion is rather simple. First off, don’t get rid of the parking for freshmen. It’s a good selling point for the University and it is helpful.

However, their either needs to be assigned parking, or freshmen should not be allowed to park in N lot.

I think the parking system should be similar to housing selection. Students should be able to pick their parking spot based on the number of credits they have.

Since seniors and juniors are the most likely people to have an internship or job, this will give them an ample amount of time to get to their car.

The fact of the matter is that freshmen don’t have internships. If a freshman does have one, it is very rare. There may be some freshmen who have jobs, and if so maybe there can be a system in place where they can prove to public safety they have one, thus allowing them to get a good parking spot.

If that idea isn’t good, then the other simple thing is to not allow freshmen to park in N-lot since that is the most popular parking lot for residential students.

N-lot is right near the village, which is housing for upperclassmen. Upperclassmen shouldn’t have to park in other spots because freshmen take up all of N lot.

I apologize to the freshmen that probably don’t like this idea. I wouldn’t like this idea if I was a freshman, but once you get into your junior and senior year and you have an internship, you will understand where I’m coming from when there are no parking spots available.

So once again, this is just a suggestion that I hope can come to a realization in the coming years, even after I graduate.

Throughout the next year, the University will be making major renovations to certain key parts on campus.

These renovations are part of the University’s rebuilding and strategic planning that takes part over the next few years.

The major change that will happen over the summer is the renovation of Commons. Both the inside and outside will be undergoing the change, making it look more appeasing to students and changing the experience inside.

Currently, plans are to make food stations within the seating area of Commons, instead of how it is currently where there are two separate rooms for the seating area, and where the food stations are. A design of what the inside of Commons will potentially look like when it reopens will be posted in the coming weeks.

Renovations to Commons will start after graduation and be completed before the start of fall semester.

Another major renovation that will take place in the summer is the bookstore. Currently, the bookstore has two levels, with the upstairs being for apparel and other school products while the downstairs is where textbooks for all University classes are. The upper level, which is adjacent to the sidewalk, will be expanding to make it more accessible for students. The downstairs will be changing to a space for the Department of Architecture.

The roof of the Sports Center will be undergoing a full change. A new roof will be implemented over the summer and is expected to be a prominent feature in years to come.

As part of the branding and marketing campaign, the first level of the Bates House will be going under a renovation to look more modern for prospective students. Currently, the inside is old-fashioned and in an effort to become modern, it needs to be more attractive since it is one of the first places potential students go to when coming on campus. University tours begin at the Bates House.

One final change to the University will be the upgrades in the phone system. According to Harrison, the system is aging and a new system will, “improve our efficiency in dealing with the volume of telephonic communication.

In future years, there will be other changes to go with the rebranding and strategic efforts of the University.

Elizabeth Kramer | The Informer

On Nov. 30, actor Paul Walker died in a fatal car accident after crashing into a pole where the car ended up bursting in flames. The driver of the car, Roger Rodas, died in the crash as well.

There is no official report on what caused the crash, however police said speeding might have played a factor.

After it was announced that Walker died, many people sent their prayers and condolences through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. There were many posts where people were saying how sad they were that Walker passed away and how tragic it was.

However, were there any posts about the driver of the car who also died? The answer to that is no, and if there was, there was minimal amount.

In fact, the only posts that I saw that mentioned Rodas was people blaming him for the death of Walker.

This is a problem that has been around for a long time. When someone famous dies, everyone acts like that person was their best friend and get really upset over it.

I’m not trying to say that the death of Paul Walker was not tragic and sad. I’ve watched all the Fast and the Furious movies that he was in and I am indeed a fan of him. However, I’m not going to cry and mourn all day over his death.

I don’t know him personally and he has never done anything to help my life. For all I know, he may have been a bad person. I’m not saying he was one, but I will never know.

How do you think family members of Roger Rodas feel? Rodas had a wife and two children. He also had his own charity in El Salvador that raised money for orphans and widows. His children no longer have a father, yet all everyone cares about is that Paul Walker died. Forget about a family man who ran his own charity, its all about an actor who made millions of dollars to be in movies.

This doesn’t just go for Walker, it goes for any famous person who dies. Do people in this world forget that thousands of people die every day?

I’ve had friends who have had people in their own families die. In fact, a good friend of mine back at home had his mom die recently.

I wonder how he would have felt if someone famous died that same exact day and all people cared about was that person passing away. Imagine now if someone close to you passed away and that scenario took place. How would you feel?

Exactly.

How about soldiers who fight to defend our country? I think I have seen people mourn more over a death of a famous person, rather than an actual hero who defends our country.

I’m not here to try and tell everyone to not be upset over the death of Paul Walker. It was sad and he was a great actor.

However, just remember, thousands of people die every day that goes unrecognized.

Also, remember just how you would feel if someone close to you died and no one cared because someone famous, who no one actually knew personally, passed away.

Elizabeth Kramer | The Informer

It was two years ago that I joined the Informer as a freshman. I started as just a normal sports writer, however the following year I became the Entertainment editor, and now I’m Editor-in-Chief.

I’ve never had the opportunity to give an op-ed on sports because I was never the editor at the time. Sports for a long time was my number one love, and I’ve always wanted to give my opinion on everything that has been bugging me but, I never had the chance. That is until now. After being in the Informer for two years, its time I write a sports column.

The first thing I’d like to talk about is my New York Knicks. What in the world is going on with them right now? Going into today, they have a 1-3 record, two of their losses coming to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Charlotte Bobcats. Yes, let me repeat, the Charlotte Bobcats. This doesn’t surprise me though because the Knicks did nothing over the summer. Don’t tell me how they got Metta World Peace and Andrea Bargnani.

Peace is nothing like he was back in the day, except being older. Bargnani, a former number one draft pick, never lived up to expectations and now he can’t make jump shots, the one thing he was good at.

If the Knicks want any chance to make the playoffs, Carmelo Anthony is going to have to put the team on his back. And no James Dolan, cutting the amount of time the Knicks City Dancers actually dance will not make the team better. But it doesn’t matter because unless Lebron gets hurt, expect the Heat to win a title for third straight year.

Let’s move on to football and all I can say is, how about those Chiefs. The Chiefs come into this week at 9-0, the only undefeated team in the NFL. Who would have ever expected that? They were 2-14 last season and received the first draft pick picking offensive tackle Eric Fisher. They did trade for quarterback

Alex Smith, who played well for the 49ers. He couldn’t even lead them to be undefeated up until this point, and the 49ers were better than the Chiefs when Smith was there. Smith is a good quarterback, don’t get me wrong, his play this year is shocking. I do still believe though that this is the year of Peyton Manning and the Broncos will reign supreme in the NFL at season’s end.

And finally baseball. Well congratulations Boston, that’s is three World Series titles in the past ten years. The Red Sox showed that anything can happen within one year. Last year, they had the worst record in the American League East at 69-93.

The Red Sox showed that if you make a few moves in the offseason, you can go from last to first just like that. They didn’t sign any flashy players, but they signed good, hard-nosed players that worked well together. I expect many teams to follow suit in what the Red Sox did and hopefully we can have one World Series where it doesn’t feature the Cardinals, Giants or the Red Sox.

As much as I’d like to talk about hockey as well, not too many people care enough so I’ll just leave it for another. I will say this though, the new divisions are awful and they should have just stayed with the format from previous years. I mean, the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Metropolitan division? They aren’t even in the metropolitan area.

Well that is all for now. I hope everyone reading this will enjoy my one and only sports column of my Informer career. The final thing I will say is lets go Jimmie Johnson and win your sixth career Nascar Spring Cup Series championship. And yes, I do watch Nascar.

Courtesy of hartford.edu

On Thursday, Oct. 31, Walter Harrison, president of the University, sent a memo to faculty and staff informing them that Joseph Voelker, Dean of the School of Arts & Science, will be stepping down at the end of this year, effective Jan. 5, 2014.

According to Harrison, Voelker was originally supposed to step down at the end of the 2013-13 academic year, however Provost Sharon Vasquez was able to convince him to stay the extra semester to continue working on the planning process of the school, to help with the rebranding initiative.

After serving as English professor and Assistant Dean of the Faculty at Franking & Marshall College, Voelker came to the University of Hartford to take the role of Dean of Arts & Sciences in 2003.

During his tenure, 35 new, full-time faculty members joined the school. He also started first year seminar classes, which are mandatory for all students in the School of Arts & Sciences.

He also led the charge in bringing back the Graduate Institute of Professional Psychology back on campus and installing it in all the different type of psychology programs on campus.

In 2004, Voelker created the Arts & Sciences advisory board. He also served on advisory board for the Presidents’ College, along with teaching Irish literature for the college.

From 2007-08, Voelker served as an interim Provost, where Harrison said in his letter that they worked very close throughout the year.

The College of Arts & Sciences currently over 23 different majors with a total of 1,300 undergraduates enrolled in the school. There is also a total of 115 faculty members in the school.

In the letter, Harrison states that he is grateful of Voelker’s contributions to the school, and that an announcement of an interim Dean will come within the next few weeks.

“I am grateful for Joe’s tremendous dedication to the University of Hartford and I want to express our collective appreciation for his decade of service. His clarity of thought, forthrightness, and humor has made him an essential partner in our strategic planning exercise as well as Foundation of the Future. I have enormous respect for Joe and appreciate his thoughtful concern and advice for crafting a smooth transition in leadership for the College of Arts and Sciences, which will include an announcement of an Interim Dean in the next weeks.”

After taking a leave of abcense, Voelker will return as a tenured member of the English department.

Although it has been about two and a half years since I last stepped in high school, I remember my senior year like it was yesterday.

Throughout high school, all my friends who graduated would tell me how the drama ends once you step into college.

Since I wasn’t in college at the time, I assumed they were telling the truth since they’ve experienced both high school and college life and were able to see the differences between the two.

Well now I’ve been in college for two years exactly, and I can safely say that those people who were telling me drama ends in college were flat out wrong.

It could be possible that in my senior year of high school, that I misinterpreted what they were saying.

Maybe my friends were telling me that only the high school drama ends once I graduate but there is still drama in college.

They also could have been telling me the truth, but they were only implying it to their school. Either way, it most certainly doesn’t relate to what goes on at school here.

Everywhere I turn on campus, there seems to be drama. Whether it be drama between sports teams, social organizations or just any student in general, there is drama everywhere. Maybe it is because we go to a small university that word can spread fast since there aren’t as many student here.

At a state school, where there could be anywhere from 20,000 to 60,000 students, word doesn’t spread fast since there are too many students.

Either way, whether you go to a state school or a small university like Hartford, the drama needs to end.

All of us go to college for the same reason, to eventually get a job in the future upon graduation. It shouldn’t matter what major you are, we all have the same mindset.

The great thing about not only this university, but colleges throughout the country, is that there is great diversity amongst the student population. As adults, we should respect each other’s decision on what we want to do with our lives.

Also, drama between social organizations need to stop. Whether it is between certain clubs or Greek life or any other type of organization, it needs to end.

It shouldn’t matter what fraternity or sorority you are in or what type of club you participate in on campus. Students should be focusing on only themselves, not what other people do.

Finally, at this point in our lives, why should people feel the need to even be gossiping or talking badly about other people. We are too old to be playing child games like that. Drama is for high schoolers, who are just starting to get in their teens who have nothing better to do than to start rumors and lies.

Once you graduate high school, it is time to grow up and act mature. If you continue to start drama in college, what is going to happen once you enter the real world?

In conclusion, just stop with the drama. I’m too old to be dealing with stuff that I shouldn’t have to deal with, and I’m sure a lot of people feel the same way.

Let’s leave the bologna and act like mature adults around here.

On Tuesday Oct. 1, the United States federal government was shutdown due to not coming to an agreement on a budget for the 2014 fiscal year.

The main issue that Congress is arguing over is Obamacare, which would make health insurance affordable to more people and reduce the cost of it for the government and people.

The Senate, which is controlled by the Democratic Party, is in favor of passing the Obamacare bill however the House of Representatives, Republican controlled, refuses to fund the bill thus causing the disagreement on passing the budged thus causing the first government shut down since 1996.

While we may not feel the impact of the shutdown here at the University, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t already or will affect other people more severely.

Estimated numbers have around 800,000 federal workers on an unpaid leave of absence. Since the government is no longer working, the workers can’t do their jobs and get paid.

The total amount of lost wages could go up to $1 billion a week. The government loses millions of dollars a day as it is shutdown, and if the government doesn’t reopen soon, the U.S. could lose billions of dollars.

The major impact the shutdown has is the closure of museums across the country. The Statue of Liberty and the Lincoln Memorial, to name a few, have been closed to the public.

Many Americans might have already visited these historical landmarks, other people haven’t including tourists.

Tourists from different countries travel to America to see the landmarks that have so much history behind them. Since they are now closed, tourists can’t visit these museums and landmarks’, thus causing more money the U.S. loses.

The question though is, whose fault really is this?

Is it President Obama’s fault? Technically it’s his bill that he along with the Democratic Party came up with.

However, he doesn’t have a vote on the budget. The vote on the passing of the budget is between the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Right now Obama can do nothing else but sit back and watch the senators and representatives argue back and forth with each other.

If it isn’t Obama’s fault, is it the people in Congress? Technically, they are only doing what they believe is the best interest for their party and the country.

They were elected into their position to represent their state by the citizens of their state.

Therefore, does the blame go onto the American people?

We were technically the one’s who voted on who would represent our state for the Senate and House of Representatives. However, could anyone have seen the government actually shutting down when they casted their votes? I don’t think so.

But, that doesn’t mean in future elections we can’t pay more closely attention on who we vote for.

For me, this shutdown is going to make me pay more attention to the candidates running to represent my state in Congress.

The American people need to heavily consider their candidates because they will be the ones working for the federal government and voting on budgets and bills to be passed.

The way it is looking right now, an agreement between the Senate and House of Representatives isn’t close and this could drag on for a week, if not more.

Either way, this looks awful on our country right now, and this will only increase the debt this country faces right now.

The University of Hartford Hawks men’s basketball coach, John Gallagher, signed a contract extension through the 2017-18 season, the University announced on Wednesday.

Gallagher has a 37-56 record with the Hawks in his three seasons coaching.

Although his first two years with the Hawks resulted in losing records, the teamed turned around last season with a record of 17-14.

The last time Hartford had 17 wins in a season was when former NBA player, Vin Baker was playing.

The team also had a 10-6 America East record.

The Hawks would go on to lose in the first round of the College Insider Postseason tournament against Rider University.

In a statement released by Pat Meiser, Director of Athletics, “We are extremely confident in the direction of our men’s basketball program and we’re excited to see what Coach Gallagher and his staff can build in the future. The success we had this season along with what we have returning next year is very encouraging. I am pleased with the level of competitiveness and am confident that that will only continue to rise.”

The Hawks come into this season with the majority of last year’s team returning. Mark Nwakamma, junior, who led the team last year in scoring, will be returning along with starters Nate Sikma and Yolonzo Moore II.

Last season, the Hawks were atop the America East in steals with 8.2 per game. They also led in turnover margin (+1.77.)

In response to the contract extension, Gallagher said, “I’d like to thank Walter Harrison for his faith in me. I would also like to thank Pat Meiser for the support she has provided to me and the program throughout the last three years. My family and I are grateful that we have an administration that is behind our growing program and has the same vision and the same mission as the staff here. I’m really exciting about the years to come.”

Gallagher also won an award last year, CollegeInsider.com’s America East Coach of the Year for his accomplishment with the team.

He was also a finalist for the 2013 Skip Prosser Man of the Year award.

The Skip Prosser Man of the Year award is rewarded to those who achieve success on the court, while maintaining integrity off the court as well.

Prior to coming to Hartford, Gallagher played basketball for Saint Joseph’s University in 1999.

Gallagher previously served as an assistant coach for the University of Pennsylvania’s men’s basketball team.  From 2006-08, Gallagher served as an assistant coach for the men’s team. He then returned in 2010 to become the head coach for the Hawks.

Gallagher signed a five-year deal in 2010. The contract extension runs until the 2017-18 season and will replace the current deal’s final two years.