Cardinal Points

Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: FUSE

While much of our generation's youth is out playing baseball, watching TV or slaving over video games, Joe Tahan and Stephen Lott are right there with them.

But these Plattsburgh State sophomores don't stop at standard activities.

They cube.

Roommates Tahan Lott are known to be some of PSUC's finest Rubik's cube solvers.

Not only can they solve it, but have timed themselves and both have averaged under a minute.

"It's just something to do I guess," Tahan said. "After you solve it you just want to get better."

Tahan's best time is 12.91 seconds, but usually averages around 20 seconds.

While 3-D obsessed Hungarian inventor, Erno Rubik, created the Rubik's cube in 1974, it debuted in the states around 1979 and was the toy of the decade in the '80s, celebrating its 25th birthday in 2006.

This discovery has made the cube the focus of many puzzle masters around the world.

Tahan was introduced to the cube during his senior year of high school while his twin brother was in the hospital.

As a way to cope with the boredom, Tahan's brother found a how-to video on YouTube, explaining how to solve the Rubik's cube.

"Once he solved it, I wanted to give it a try and we worked on our times together," Tahan said. "Its a lot easier than people think."

After transferring to PSUC in the spring, Tahan wowed passersby with his skills on the cube.

"People are really surprised at first because I can solve it so fast. Once they get to know me though, they just get used to it," he said.

Besides solving it for himself, Tahan has taught others how to best the cube, one of those students being his roommate, self-proclaimed "cube fanatic" Lott.

"I saw this kid and I was like 'whoa,' it made me want to try it," Lott said.

Since March, Lott has been solving the cube, getting his time to average around 40 seconds.

The guys focus on beating their own times because they say there are not many people they have found to challenge.

"I don't think there is anyone else in Plattsburgh who cubes as much as we do - at least we haven't met them," Lott said.

The guys said they are so used to the cube, they can do it while watching TV as something just to keep their hands busy, Tahan said.

Assistant Professor of Historical Jessamyn Nuehaus, who specializes in U.S. pop culture, said she believes students live in an environment characterized by multitasking.

"Students are growing up in a media-saturated environment and are used to not doing one thing at a time," Nuehaus said.

When it comes to the Rubik's cube, she said she believes the retro value of the cube could provide some explanation for its use today. Just as leg warmers are coming back, this '80s fad is emerging again. She calls it "pop culture recycling."

"There's nothing really new that has been coming out, all the old fads just go through the cycle," she said.

As for the boys, they just like to cube.

Their room is filled with different types of Rubik's cubes. They have mastered the 3 by 3 cube, which is the standard cube.

But Tahan said there is also the 2 by 2 cube, and even ones as large as 7 by 7, meaning there are seven rows of colors on every side of the cube.

The guys have a total of 13 cubes in their room, including a Siamese cube consisting of two cubes attached to each other, which Tahan made himself.

Tahan and Lott say that they would like to go to a competition, hopefully this summer.

The guys agree that they never get bored of the cube.

"There's always something new coming out and so much to learn," Lott said. "It's impossible to get bored."

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