April 12 2019 by sienapromethean

The

PROMETHEAN Vol. 32 Issue X

The Student Voice of Siena College Since 1938

April 12, 2019 newspaper@siena.edu

An Awesome Women's Brunch

By Alexis Oldfield, Staff Writer Siena started off the spring season with a celebration of women on a brisk Saturday morning. An Awesome Women’s Brunch, hosted by Siena's Sr. Thea Bowman Center for Women, invited truly phenomenal women from all over campus to engage with one another, growing in sisterhood and as individuals. Award-winning columnist Diane Cameron was the star of the show as she shared with the guests how to seek out mentors and self-care on their quests to succeeding. Director of the Sr. Thea Bowman Center for Women, Beth DeAngelis, opened the event with the assurance that a transformative morning was in store. Guests were assigned tables in order to ensure that each group was made up of both students and older mentors. Diane Cameron was introduced to the stage and the group erupted in applause. Cameron has authored three published books, "Looking for Signs: Essays and Columns," "Out of the Woods: A Woman’s Guide to Long-Term Recovery" and, most recently published in 2016, "Never Leave Your Dead: A True Story of War Trauma, Murder, and Madness." Her work focuses on spirituality as well as self-help and utilizing the social perspective. Cameron’s discussion honed in on the ways women can grow into the person they wish to become. She shared her struggles in finding her identity as a writer as it was a career she always secretly wanted but neglected. After hearing a woman proclaim that she was a writer with nothing published, Cameron was blinded by jealousy and anger as she longed for the ability to say she was an author as well. With the help of mentors along her way, Cameron was eventually able to channel her feelings of envy towards her hidden passion. She expressed the importance of finding a mentor in order to inspire one to not only come to terms with their dreams, but to create a plan in achieving them. In addition to finding an effective mentor, Cameron emphasized that boredom is key in a person’s self-improvement process. She elaborated that while a person is bored, they are freeing room in their mind to think creatively. After Cameron received her applause for her words of empowerment and enlightenment, guests comprised a list of 10 pearls of wisdom toward success. Each group talked about topics such as how they manage stress, where they are flawed in their growth, and what their ultimate goals were for improvement. Both the older mentors and students were able to give one another advice on how to manage their successes and failures in a positive manner. They were then welcomed to shared one statement, or pearl, to be recorded in collection with the other groups. In the end, guests left the event with a list of inspiration that embodied their own

voices. The Sr. Thea Bowman Center for Women holds a commitment in “building a world that is more just, peaceable and humane by providing advocacy, programming and service opportunities which promote social justice, gender equity and the development of women” and the Awesome Women’s Brunch promoted just that. The event served as a community atmosphere in which women could reflect on their own developments and journeys while simultaneously helping others in doing the same. Other events hosted by the Women’s center here on campus include Roots Cafe every Wednesday from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Massry Dining Hall. More of their upcoming events can be found on the Sr. Thea Bowman Women's Center at Siena College Facebook page as well as the @ sienawomencenter Instagram account.

Her Campus Clothing Swap Supports Sustainability

By Emily Rhoades, Academic & Social News Editor Her Campus and the Sustainability Steering Committee hosted a clothing swap in the Sarazen Student Union on Sunday April 7, 2019, in support of a more environmentally conscious fashion industry. Students were encouraged to bring clean, gently-used clothes to the event, where they could browse through the donations and take donated clothes, as well as enjoy free snacks and raffle prizes. Any clothing not swapped during the event was later donated. In past years, Siena has hosted a number of pop-up thrift shops and second-hand clothing sales, but this year’s clothing swap, the first of its kind, was popular among Siena

students. Her Campus worked tirelessly to promote the swap by posting on social media and putting up flyers around campus. The previous week, they hosted fashion blogger Hoda Katebi, who spoke on the intersections of fashion, identity and politics, as well as how to shop ethically. Staff writers of Her Campus also wrote a series of sustainability-themed articles for the week preceding the swap, which can be read online at hercampus.com/ school/siena. I spoke with Emma Burkard '19, editorin-chief of Siena’s Her Campus chapter. Burkard holds both personal and career interests in the fashion industry, as she runs a fashioncentric blog at emmaburkard.com and aspires to work as an editor for a fashion magazine. I asked Burkard about the inspirations for the swap. “One of Her Campus’ writers, Khizra Awan, is very passionate about sustainable fashion,” Burkard said. “She pitched the idea to have the clothing swap and have the speaker we just hosted last week, Hoda Katebi, who talked about buying clothing ethically. Khizra has gone to clothing swaps in the past and thought it would be a fun and educational event for Her Campus to hold.” Burkard also commented on the benefits of thrifting clothes rather than buying from retail chains. “Thrifting, swapping and reusing clothes is a great way to make ethical fashion choices for yourself and the environment,” she said. “Often, ‘fast fashion’ brands and retail stores that so many of us shop from are exploiting overseas workers to produce the clothing and severely underpaying them for their labor.” Fast fashion - the quick, cheap production of trendy, fresh-off-the-runway looks - is both ethically and environmentally damaging. Some solutions to reduce the industry’s environmental footprint include practicing sustainability through recycling and donating clothes. “Fast fashion is also horrible for the environment both in the way it is

April 12, 2019

Editorial Board Emily Radigan Editor-in-Chief

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Academic & Social News | 2

Academic & Social News

Samantha Deragon General Assistant Editor Annamaria Walden General Assistant Editor Emily Rhoades Academic & Social News Editor Jaymie Hoelldobler Arts & Entertainment Editor Megan Kelly Opinion Editor Hugo Castro Politics Editor Julianna Sebastian Sports Editor

Editorial Policy The opinions and views expressed in editorial and opinion columns are solely those of their author and do not represent the views of The Promethean staff or of Siena College. Any response to an editorial without intent to publish should be submitted directly to the author of the article. If you wish to send your reaction to The Promethean or its Editor-in-Chief, it falls under the guidelines of Letters to the Editor. Letters must be no longer than 700 words. Submission to the paper does not guarantee publication. Opinion and editorial articles submitted are edited strictly for basic spelling and grammar only. The editorial board reserves the right to make any and all decisions and editorial changes on newspaper content, with the final decisions belonging to the Editor-in-Chief. Any changes besides spelling and grammar will be run by the author before publication. Article Submission Guidelines The Promethean reserves the right to deny publication of any article that is deemed by the Editor-in-Chief to be • Slanderous or libelous • Advocating violence or harm to any person or group of people • Advocating discrimination of any sort • Advocating performance of illegal actions • Improperly researched and cited • Lacking sufficient journalistic integrity References must be formatted in AP style and will not be accepted in any other form. Statements made as fact in letters to the editor and editorials/opinions are the sole responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Promethean, its staff, or Siena College.

Next Issue: April 26, 2019 Article/Advertisement Deadline: April 15, 2019

produced and because so much of the clothing goes to waste,” Burkard explained. “Donating and thrifting clothing helps us minimize waste and also avoid buying from fast fashion brands. Buying clothing that is made locally is also another great way to shop ethically and support your local economy.” This year’s clothing swap was sponsored by Her Campus and the Sustainability Steering Committee. If you are interested in learning more about either of these organizations, check out Her Campus’ Instagram at @hercampussiena or their website at hercampus.com/school/siena. You can learn more about the Sustainability club by visiting their Instagram at @scsustainability.

Service Day is unique because it allows hundreds of students to enter the community and volunteer all at once instead of in smaller groups only visiting one spot. Victoria Fioravanti '19 is one of the program coordinators for the Franciscan Center for Service and Advocacy. When asked what she expected other students would get out of the event, she stated, “We hope the students are able to build relationships within their community, learn about what agencies are doing in the community to help, and how they can continue to give back after the day is over.” Even after four semesters of participating in Community Service Day, she still calls the work humbling and looks forward to learning how the agency makes a difference in the communities they are in. SIENAservice: Community Service Day is a great way to begin learning about volunteerism at Siena. If you go once, you may find yourself eager to come back for By Kaitlyn Winkler, Staff Writer more. Local, national and international service Siena College kicked off the first opportunities are organized by Siena during weekend of April with the biannual the course of each semester so keep a look SIENAserves: Community Service Day. out of any location that seems interesting to Students donated their time and energy on you. Saturday to volunteer at 11 different sites around the Capital Region including Camp Scully, Capital Roots, Schenectady Inner City Ministries and La Salle School. Activities ranged from gardening to painting to helping the site clean and organize their space. Each semester brings new and interesting locations available for the students to volunteer at. About a month and a half By Sophia Henneman, Staff Writer before the event, the agencies that have The annual Ted R. Winnowski '63 relationships with Siena are contacted about Student Conference in Business is an whether they need volunteers on Community opportunity for students from all subjects Service Day. Because their level of needs in business to showcase their research and is always changing, students can expect a learning from the year. The conference different experience each time they take part was divided into four segments: economics in a Service Day. and public administration, marketing The Franciscan Center for Service and management, entrepreneurship and and Advocacy organizes each Community accounting and finance. The event also Service Day as well as many other service showcased a keynote speaker, Director of Tax opportunities throughout the year. Their goal at LVMH Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton, Tricia is to create strong relationships between Carney, a '94 Siena alumna. Students submit Siena and the marginalized populations as to their projects weeks in advance to be selected become “advocates and service-leaders.” As a for the conference, and this event brought Franciscan and Catholic institution, service has them all together to present their hard work. become a fundamental goal of Siena College. Awards are even given at the end for best

Siena College Serves the Community

Ted R. Winnowski ‘63 Student Conference in Business

3| Academic & Social News paper and presentation in each discipline, as well as an investment award to one of the presenters in the entrepreneur track. The event kicked off with introductory remarks by Brother Ed Coughlin, then proceeded with the keynote speaker, Tricia Carney. Carney discussed her career journey from Siena to where she is now, and the steps she took to get there. She explained how she realized her passion for tax, and how she advanced in her career by working hard and pursuing what she was passionate in. It was an engaging and informational talk for all attendees. After the keynote speaker, attendees were invited to split off into separate rooms depending on the presentations they wanted to attend. I stayed in the marketing and management track. The track started with a presentation on how effective Superbowl advertisements are by students Elizabeth Glusko '20 and Paul Liguori '20. It then proceeded with a presentation on an analysis of influencer marketing, featuring students Sarah Dicaprio '19, Danielle DiGiacomo '19, and Kelly Dokmecian '19. As a future marketer, Dokmecian discussed how the research she did is useful for society. “Marketing has grown tremendously in the past decade with the emergence of social media, and has progressed even more past just digital advertisements and into influencers promoting the products,” she explained. “Marketers would be able to use the information we found to better target those they are already trying to.” There were five other student presentations in the marketing and management track following the influencer marketing research. Students can pursue research through CURCA, a class, or independently with a professor. Some students also do it for an honors thesis. Dokemecian described that the work is challenging, but rewarding in the end to learn something new. “It is an amazing opportunity,” she said, “to be able to be creative and research something that interests you, grow and develop skills in the research industry, and work on presenting skills when showing off the research done.”

“Shaping Inclusive Communities and Solidarity in Times of Othering”

By Elizabeth Vinal, Staff Writer The Liberty Conference was hosted by Siena on March 29 to March 31, and was open to the Siena community as well as the community at large. Liberty Con is the Annual Underground Railroad Public History Conference and is in their 18th year, and this year’s theme was “Seeking Sanctuary: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” This conference is intended to further the discussion and celebration of the Underground Railroad and to continue to address how the institutions of slavery and racism still affect the country today. Dr. Eccarius-Kelly, a Political Science Professor, spoke at the conference about the narrative of racial hierarchies and the idea of “othering” in the U.S., then and now. She described “othering” as using names and definitions to groups that create a separation from the speaker’s community with that

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April 12, 2019 important in the Albany area because it is one of the largest populations of detained refugees in the country. The legal and larger communities in the area came together to provide interpretation and legal assistance on a volunteer basis, including our very own Dr. Eccarius-Kelly, who worked as an interpreter last summer. With the parallels to the treatment of African Americans and Latin Americans in this country with regard to “othering,” and the large population that is in the area, this conversation is especially important to have during Liberty Con and throughout our lives.

The 24th Annual Northeast LGBT Conference: Queering Religion: Intersecting

Dr. Eccarius-Kelly delivers the Liberty Con keynote speech community. This can be seen in history when those who supported slavery used pseudoscience to “prove” that African Americans were less intelligent, and therefore should remain enslaved, as they were unable to survive without slaveholders. The supporters of slavery distributed this information as if it was real, scientific fact so they could have support from the citizens, who did not know it was fabricated. Dr. Eccarius-Kelly went on to state that this idea of using misinformation is still used today to advance the political stances of some parties. The prime example of this, she described in her presentation, is how immigrants looking to cross the southern border, especially from Central America, are called “illegals” and describes as “invaders and criminals.” She stated that this terminology is used to place these people on a lower level than “true” Americans, specifically white Americans, and make them seem lesser in every way, so they will be excluded from the country. This is to create social hierarchies, that seem natural, as a way of controlling others. This was a key tool used to keep slaves under control, and Dr. Eccarius-Kelly stated that this is being used again to keep immigrants from Central and South America out of the U.S. today. Dr. Eccarius-Kelly encouraged allies of these communities to reject these natural-seeming hierarchies and work on making sure these communities have a voice. She described political solidarity as bringing together the groups that are affected and working together to formulate responses to the injustices that these communities face. This includes combating the practices of “othering” by spreading information about these communities. Dr. Eccarius-Kelly went on to talk about how allies must remind people that people have the right to come to this country seeking asylum, regardless of ports of entry being closed and the talk of a southern wall becoming very apparent. She ended in a call to the hearts of the people in the audience that these people are coming to the U.S. because they are facing unemployment and violence in their homes, which is not only hurting them, but their children and future generations, as well. Dr. Eccarius-Kelly stated after the event that this discussion is especially

Faith and Identity

By Tianny Ocasio, Staff Writer From March 29 to March 31, the 24th Annual Northeast LGBT Conference was held at Siena College for the first time. For those who don’t know what this is, it is essentially a conference for college-aged members of the LGBTQ+ community that takes place over the course of a weekend. Students who belong to the LGBTQ+ community, and those who are allies, from universities all over the Northeast, register and join together for a weekend full of workshops, keynote speakers and a dance. The conference was started by the University at Albany in 1995 and has been held at a different college every year, hosting campuses in the past including Stony Brook University, Binghamton University and Rutgers University. There is always a theme to each conference as well, ranging from intersectionality to owning your own narrative, and this year the theme for the NELGBTC was “Queering Religion: Intersecting Faith and Identity,” chosen specifically because of Siena’s values and traditions. The process to have this wonderful conference at Siena began in October of last year. The board of the conference sent out emails looking for a school to put in a bid to be the host school, and the e-board of the PRIDE-GSA on campus (including yours truly!) decided to take a risk and put in a bid. A Catholic institution had never hosted the conference before, and we knew how important it would be for that to change. It was accepted in January and then the process to get everything set up and ready before March officially started. After two months of stress, preparations and excitement, the conference kicked off with 150 registrants. People who needed to check in, or register last-minute, did so at the MAC from 3 to 7 p.m.. Brother Edward Coughlin, the 11th President of Siena College, welcomed the registrants to the college around 6:30 p.m. and right after he spoke, a fajita dinner catered by AVI was served. Two of the Siena dance teams, Chaotick and Bhangra, performed and wowed the crowd. Hayden Kristal, a queer deaf Jewish activist who has come to Siena to speak before, then took to the stage to perform a hilarious stand-up routine, and around 9 p.m., registrants left for the day and prepared to come back onto campus in the morning. Saturday was the most packed day

April 12, 2019 of the conference during which there was a keynote speaker in the morning, workshops throughout the day and a dance in the evening. Breakfast was served at 8 a.m., and the keynote speaker was a queer, transgender Hasidic woman named Abby Stein. She spoke about her experiences growing up in a very conservative and religious community as a Hasidic person, and her experience coming out as a transgender woman in that society. She interacted with the crowd, answering questions and making jokes throughout her talk, and was probably one of the best keynote speakers I’ve seen at the NELGBTC. After Abby’s talk, the first workshop session started. There were four sessions total, taking place in Siena Hall, with a break for lunch between the second and third sessions. There were a total of 26 workshops spread out over these sessions, and a good deal of them were based on religion, including a discussion about the Palestine-Israel conflict, how transphobia and anti-Semitism might be more connected than we think, and how sex positivity and religion could intersect. Other workshops were not religion based, including ones about fetishization of the LGBTQ+ community, misogyny in the LGBTQ+ community, and activism through art. These workshops were presented by a combination of students, faculty members, and professionals and were well-attended! My personal favorite workshop discussed the importance of being body positive, especially as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. There was then a session for several caucuses, including caucuses for Transgender/Gender Non-Conforming folks, queer men, and queer women. After this session, there was a break for the attendees to get ready for the 90s Throwback Dance that was held in Massry from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. Needless to say, the dance was phenomenal with bumping throwback jams and with spunky student DJ Elaine Gaynor! Sunday was the shortest day with breakfast starting at 9 a.m., followed by a conference-wide workshop called GaySL facilitated by Hayden Kristal. The workshop focused on accessibility, discussions about disability in the LGBTQ+ community, and they taught us how to do several signs to describe identities in the LGBTQ+ community. Their presentation was followed by a closing speech from Brother Ed and the conference was officially done. My experience at the NELGBTC this year was extraordinary. Even ignoring any bias that I may have had, considering it took place at Siena, it was well-paced, the conversations were fun and insightful, and the people I met were incredible. I’m excited to attend the 25th Annual NELGBTC that will be held at UAlbany next year!

S-I-E-N-A Spelling Bee

By Madison Lemke, Staff Writer The Student Events Board, Siena College Commuter Association and the Siena Student Senate proudly presented the first annual Spelling Bee on April 6, 2019. The eager contestants consisted of 30 Siena students. Competition was rigorous throughout the event. Although there were only three rounds, students tried their hardest to keep the game going, lasting at least an hour and a half. The judges included two students, and two English

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Arts & Entertainment | 4

Juried Art Show in Foy Hall professors, Dr. Spain-Savage and Dr. Dearing. "septuagenarian," and "tourniquet." Students were told no foul language, no Finally, after several rounds of long and cheating and no phones. The consequences painstaking words, Brajlall won with the word would be elimination. Once rules were "rheumatism." presented, it was time to start the spelling. Round one was fairly easy and left many of the competitors remaining by the end. David Jeram Jr. was prompted to spell the word "gerbil." He confidently replied with the correct spelling. Other students were stumped on words like "khaki," "bassoon," and "banzai." Three students were eliminated in the first round and the second round was By Kiera Mitru, Staff Writer From April 4 to April 17 in the Foy Hall in full swing. In this round, the words began to become much more complex. The audience lobby, select Siena students were given the became more invested and cheered on their opportunity to display their artwork in Siena’s 9th friends that were on stage. Judges tested the Annual Juried Art Show. The displayed mediums participants with words like "cornucopia" and ranged from charcoal still life drawings to pastel paintings to reflective self-portraits to landscape "juxtaposition." Yet the second phase became photography, giving all who visited the show a even more difficult. The competitors battled sense of the richness of talent that exists across head to head and one must be eliminated. Siena’s campus. Although every piece illuminated Although at times the competition was the unique expertise of the artists among us, intense, students often joked light-heartedly. one thing every piece had in common was Wearing dark black shades to intimidate his the unadulterated display of talent within the competitors, Matt Bird amused the audience by showcased artists. Some pieces highlighted the beauty of the unbuttoning his top each round he answered capital district, including photographs of Schroon a word correctly. Michael Averill and Matt Bird competed against the word curmudgeon. In Lake and other outdoor scenes. Emily McGuinness the end, Averill won, leaving Bird to take a even highlights spots of beauty around campus through a photo series of the Grotto, whose seat in the audience. Averill was later stumped candles illuminate the Foy Hall lobby, where those on this round when battling against Rida both within and outside of the Siena community Merchant with the word "hieroglyphic." are encouraged to appreciate the artistry present Periodically, the competitors were within those being commended for their work in allowed a break during the raffle. Audience the creative arts department. members were given one free ticket to win Having created a reputation over the nine years it has taken place, students and staff alike a mystery gift that was wrapped. Although the participants were not eligible to win any look forward to visiting the thoughtfully chosen of these prizes, they had the opportunity to artwork every spring semester. Maddie Lemke win Siena Fest tickets and an AppleWatch. The '21 comments on a piece that inspired her as she top five that remained were given free tickets explored the artwork one evening with friends. “I personally like the piece ‘I’ by Ittai Rosales. I feel to the upcoming Fetty Wap concert on April that to me, it symbolizes the different perspectives 12. The lucky recipients were Rida Merchant, that one can have. As a photographer, I find Michael Bove, Nour Mihamou, David Jeram it really interesting that the artist thought to Jr., and Brandon Brajlall. The winner of the capture a picture in the way Ittai Rosales does. It’s spelling bee, Brandon Brajlall, was awarded interesting and unexpected.” an AppleWatch as well as the first ever Siena Juried art shows differ from normal art Spelling Bee trophy. The victory did not come shows, since they must be selected by a panel of easy though. His competition, Mihamou, put judges or curators in order to be displayed in the up a good fight. They went back and forth with given show. Normal art shows typically display 11 different words before Brajlall took home a less specific collection of work collected from the title. The intense round consisted of words one or many artists. For example, this show was juried by Emily Vallee, M.F.A., a Lecturer in Art like "ichthyophagist," "ephemeral," "umlaut," from Skidmore College, who evaluated the work

Spring Has Sprung as the 9th Annual Juried Art Show is Exhibited at Siena

5 | Po l i t i c s of Siena students in the guise of what she believed would appeal to those visiting the art show, and she hit the nail right on the head. The opportunity to appreciate the talent of our classmates exists always but is specifically exhibited once a year during the annual Juried Art Show. Regardless of your creative background or the lack thereof, all who visit the Foy Hall Lobby from April 4 to April 17 are sure to enjoy this year’s selection of pieces in the 9th Annual Juried Art Show.

Working Hard, Living Healthy

By Maria Gigliello, Staff Writer On Wednesday, April 3, 2019, Fitness Club and Student Activities & Leadership Development hosted a “Healthy Living in College” workshop that was held in the Sarazen Student Union. Students were greeted by healthy snacks, juices and leaders from each organization and Sharon Lastique, a Certified Wellness Coach and the Owner of Healthy on Lark. Healthy on Lark is a health food café located on Lark Street in the city of Albany. The café prides itself on nutritious fresh pressed juices, delicious vegetarian and vegan cuisine and mostly organic produce from producers in the Capital Region. Healthy on Lark’s website states that Lastique is “a long time vegetarian and is committed to sustainable practices including composting.” Lastique speaks at colleges all across the country, sharing information with students on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle amid the stressors that come with being a college student. Laid out on a table in the back of SSU 243 were healthy treats that students were welcome to munch and sip on during the workshop. The spread included Up All Night juice, a mixture of green apples, beets, romaine, ginger and lemon, Lark Dill Dip and Buffalo marinated cauliflower. Other menu staples from Healthy on Lark include chickpea burgers, kale avocado salad, breakfast burritos, and a variety of other juices and smoothies. During the workshop, Lastique led students through a guided meditation, talked about balancing fitness and school, how to achieve fitness goals and even prep healthy dorm room meals. Lastique hopes that these types of exercises and practices will help students learn to balance schoolwork and their health, improve energy and mental sharpness, improve self-confidence, reduce stress and learn to make healthy food choices. When asked why Fitness Club wanted to host an event like this, President Kalynne Green ’20, said, “when you think of Fitness Club, you think of working out and exercising but we also want to incorporate all aspects of fitness such as healthy eating and habits.” Fitness Club aims to bring elite fitness to Siena while creating a stronger, faster and healthier. The Healthy Living in College Workshop definitely contributes to this goal of Fitness Club in a new and inspiring way.

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April 12, 2019

Arts & Entertainment Pet Sematary: Sometimes Dead Really is Better

By Jaymie Hoelldobler, Arts & Entertainment Editor Anyone who knows me knows that I am the world's biggest Stephen King fan. I can read his books over and over again without getting bored, and can talk about them for hours on end. That being said, the movies made based off of his books, are, putting it bluntly - not good. "The Shining" is okay, "Cujo" is alright, "Carrie" is... a disaster. "Stand by Me," a classic, is based off of King’s "The Body" and in my opinion is probably the best King book-turned-movie that I’ve come across. In the past few years, multiple remakes have come out of movies released previously based off of the original book. The original "It" movie - also known as the movie who gave me my aggressive fear of all things clown, came out in 1990. The second remake came out in September 2017 and was incredibly well-done and aggressively scary. They chose to split this remake into two parts, the second part set to come out September of this year. Before that much-anticipated movie makes an appearance in theaters, another classic King book was released recently. "Pet Sematary," the movie, was originally released in 1989 and the newer remake came out on April 5. There has been increasing controversy over this new remake. In the original book, the main plot point is the event in which the young son, Gage, dies a violent death (not trying to ruin much - everyone should stop what they are doing right now and go read). So much stems from Gage’s death, what with how the rest of the family deals with it - most importantly how his older sister, Ellie, reacts and accepts the death. A large portion of the novel focuses on Ellie working around understanding the idea of death and what it entails. In the second trailer released for the upcoming movie, fans of the original book and movie were sent into an uproar, as the trailer seems to hint that Ellie is the one that dies in the upcoming movie. I, being one of these fans thrown into an uproar, immediately took to Google to try to understand why this pointless change might have been done. An article from Forbes claims that “a toddler just doesn’t have the same physical threat as an eight year old", and there seem to be fears that the child would be compared to the doll, Chucky, in the movie "Child’s Play," due to the release of that remake coming out soon after "Pet Sematary." Hearing that a big change like this was being done, I didn’t have high expectations for the movie. Turns out, I have a keen eye on guessing how absolutely disastrous a movie will turn out. This was truly one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Never have I witnessed such static main characters, who have so little in terms of personalities and character development. The one redeeming character was Jason Clarke, who played Louis. Amy Seimetz, who plays Louis’ wife, Rachel, had such little personality in the film it was like watching an actual blade of grass attempt to put on a performance -

which probably has to do more with how they were portraying the actual character than any skills the actress has herself. The daughter, Ellie, spoke and acted in a way no normal child would ever speak or behave, making her come off quite cheesy in most of the movie, and the son, Gage, was little more than a prop making an appearance every once in a while. There were a few scenes, like the truck accident scene, which were phenomenal and did succeed in making my heart race a little bit, but these scenes were far and few between. While most movies typically have a slow start while building the characters personalities and filling an audience in on the main plot, this movie had a very quick start and then slowed down to the point where at the final scene of the movie, I was planning out what I was going to do that night rather than watch what was playing out on screen. Not all of the blame for such an astoundingly terrible movie falls on the director or producer or cast and crew. Books - especially Stephen King books, have too much detail, feelings, symbolism and imagery that just seem to fall short when acted out in a movie. That annoying thing readers say, you know, “The book was better than the movie!” is typically true. The messages and emotions within the books rarely come across. Having read a book one or multiple times, the reader comes up with their own idea of what things, characters and scenes look like, in their own heads, and having a producer come up with his own ideas and put it on screen almost ruins the imaginative process of reading the book in the first place. Either way, I’m glad I went to see this movie as it’s always fun to follow along with full knowledge of most of what happens from having read the book. Although now nervous of what will happen when "It" comes to the big screen in September, I look forward to perhaps some more King books turned movies in the future.

"Just a Girl:" Marvel's First Solo Superhero Movie

By Carli Scolforo, Staff Writer Finally, the moment superhero fans have been waiting for since “Iron Man” came out in 2008, and since "The Avengers" premiered in 2012; the Marvel cinematic universe finally gave us a solo superhero movie based around a female hero. “Captain Marvel” entered theaters March 8, and didn’t disappoint in providing an action-packed funny, and emotional masterpiece as Marvel tends to do. For this reviewer, the movie had everything I hoped it would; suspense, great character dynamic, an adorable cat sidekick, and a fight scene to No Doubt’s “Just a Girl” to boot. While Marvel fans had to wait an absurd amount of time to finally see a female superhero star in her own movie--in fact, the world had to basically end first--Brie Larson as Captain Marvel makes it almost worth that 11year wait. While there may be a compulsion to create a female hero possessing traditionally masculine traits (in fact, there’s a pull from the other characters to make Larson’s character

April 12, 2019 conform to this) Carol Danvers thrives with the strengths her feminine qualities give her. She is emotional and compassionate, sharing heartfelt moments with other female characters, and even finds time to discuss fashion and style with her friend's young daughter amid saving the world. All of this takes nothing away from her being arguably one of the most powerful heroes in the universe as we’ve seen it so far. Another great nontraditional quality about Larson as a superhero is how well she plays with others. While this isn’t true for every character in the Marvel Universe, there is a certain masculine and rugged lone-wolf stereotype one might think of when traditionally thinking of strong and “badass” characters. But one of the most charming aspects of this film is Larson’s relationships she builds with fellow female pilots, Nick Fury, and other aliens she interacts with. Larson’s Carol Danvers values every life around her, a key element in a hero that can sometimes get lost in our society's pop culture that loves violence, dystopia and grey moral decisions in its entertainment. Speaking of relationships, one of the best parts of this film? The absolute lack of a romantic plot line. While Carol Danvers has male friends and mentors, never in the film does she become a tool in a romantic plot that takes away from her arc as a woman and a hero overcoming adversity and deception. Nowhere in the story is anyone in a relationship, not even with the single mother raising her daughter. Perhaps films like this will continue to prove to Hollywood that people can, in fact, care about a female lead even when her story does not revolve around her being an object of desire. All in all, Marvel continues to pump out some astonishingly round and compelling characters, and never do they shine more than when they are permitted the screentime of a solo movie. The studio’s ability to create humanity in these fictional characters--even when some aren’t human at all--makes room for major influence on the movie industry when they use this ability to shine a spotlight on underrepresented groups. They showed us this with “Black Panther" in 2018, and they reinforce it now. Assuming that the universe survives after the upcoming “Avengers: Endgame,” I can’t wait to see how they use this superpower next.

Guest Speaker Mary Hassan on Her Life, Gender Equality and International Politics

By Samuel Shulman, Staff Writer

On Monday, April 1, Siena College hosted Mary Hassan, a graduate from Queen’s University Belfast, who held a discussion on her international and political career. Mary Hassan discussed what it was like growing up in Northern Ireland, her own experience attending Queen’s University Belfast, and the fight for equal rights for the LGBT community in Northern Ireland. Mary Hassan’s international and political career includes work in Sierra Leone with the United Nations, speaking at the White House in 2015 on LGBT equality and most importantly, being the first openly gay woman to contest the assembly elections of Northern Ireland in 2016. During the discussion, Mary Hassan showed the audience a video of her talking to the former British Prime Minister David Cameron about LGBT rights in Northern Ireland. The conversation

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Politics

between Hassan and David Cameron was a clear reflection of Hassan’s passion for LGBT rights. This interview was during the assembly elections of 2016, which Hassan was critical of. One point that Hassan made was the importance of genuinely supporting an idea instead of only supporting it because a different political party opposes it. Hassan discussed her own ideas of what justice and equality are and how her fight for equal rights for the LGBT community is difficult, considering the strong presence of both Christian and Protestant religions in Northern Ireland, which, historically, have been critics of the community. During her college education, Hassan studied abroad in both China and Spain and now serves as the Study Abroad Recruitment Officer for Queen’s University Belfast. Hassan credited studying abroad for helping her learn more about herself, and opening doors to new experiences she would never have had if she stayed at Queen’s University Belfast. Not only did she study abroad, but another international experience Mary Hassan discussed was working in Sierra Leone while she worked for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. She outlined her experience in Sierra Leone as an amazing opportunity and one that changed her life. At one point in Sierra Leone, she was the highest ranked person in charge there, and at such a young age, it was hard to be in that leadership position, with such little experience. Hassan was thankful for her experience in Sierra Leone and how it helped her grow as a person. Mary Hassan’s discussion was eye-opening, in terms of her experiences in the political and international realms, as well as how LGBT people are treated in different countries other than the United States. The discussion also illuminated the struggle of the LGBT community around the world. It was interesting to see how difficult it is for the LGBT community in Northern Ireland and how some of their struggles parallel those the communities have in the United States.

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hunted and trapped what they needed to survive. Colonists often hunted and trapped, particularly the beaver, for its pelts which were in high demand back in Europe. In order to better trade with the colonists, Native Americans began to trap beavers at a higher rate than they did in the past. It was interesting to me that Dr. Hall did not refer to the colonists as trespassers when they first arrived in the Americas. Most history classes during grade school and high school would often state that the colonists invaded Native American lands. Dr. Hall refuted that claim by stating that Native Americans often welcomed the colonists. The colonists had something to offer the Native Americans, something they desperately needed at the time: protection. Different various Native American confederacies, or alliances, would often fight with each other over land disputes and resources. The Iroquois and Algonquin would be a local example. During the Revolutionary War, the Iroquois tribes would often support the British, even though they traded with both the British and the colonists. The reason for this was because the British would allow the Iroquois to keep their land in the Americas. At the end of the Revolutionary War, Britain ceded the thirteen colonies over to the colonists. Without the protection of the British, the colonists began to force Native Americans off of their land and moved them onto reservations, which were often less arable lands with fewer resources. Along with losing their land, the Iroquois Confederacy was further divided. Many do not realize the impact that colonial development had on Native Americans. However, many historians will tell you about the substantial impact colonization in the Americas had on the Native Americans.

Colonization in the Americas

By Sean Buff, Staff Writer

This week, I attended a talk on the American Revolution, particularly how the Native Americans were impacted during the Colonial Era. The talk was held by Dr. John Hall, who is currently a Lieutenant General in the U.S. Army and an Associate Professor in Military History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Hall was also a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and received his doctorate at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. We all took a history class, and at one point, learned about the Colonial Era. When learning about this time period, we often learn it from the perspective of a colonist. The colonist settles in a particular area, trades with the Native Americans and other people, lives under British control, and eventually fights for freedom from the British and even taking land from Native Americans. However, many history classes often overlook how the Native Americans viewed, and were impacted by, the Colonial Era. When I took history classes before attending Siena College, I was never taught the values of Native Americans during the Colonial Era. The only facts I remember learning were that they farmed the Three Sisters (corn, beans, squash), traded with colonists, and were often feuding with colonists toward the beginning, and through the end of the Revolutionary War. What is not taught to us, is that colonists changed the values of the Native Americans upon settling in the Americas. For example, Native Americans were subtenant hunters and trappers, meaning that they only

Responses? Comments? Letters to the Editor? Email newspaper@siena.edu

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xoxo, gossip girl

Opinion

The World is Too Dependent on Technology

By Alyssa Guzman, Staff Writer Have you ever noticed how the world is in the palm of your hand in the shape of a cell phone? We constantly depend on our phones to navigate us through our lives, whether that be literally directing us to our next destination, or simply telling us what we like and don’t like and what we should be interested in. Our phones are our go-to comfort objects in a world full of discomfort. Do you have a few extra minutes before you need to be somewhere? Pull out your phone and scroll through social media. Are you waiting for someone to meet up with? Pull out your phone so you don’t look like you’re standing all alone. Our phones rule our lives. I find myself scrolling through Snapchat’s Discovery page instead of reading a homework assignment I’ve been avoiding more often than not. I find myself scrolling through Facebook every time I have a few extra minutes before class. I most commonly find myself listening to music to fill the empty void of silent sounds. Our phones are our constant companions that can almost literally get us through any awkward situation, but phones are not the only technology we depend on. We couldn’t live our lives without some form of computer. Imagine writing a 10-page paper by hand? We rely on our TVs to tell us the news more than we rely on a handy dandy old newspaper. We rely on our computers for Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, etc. Now, I’m not saying technology is a bad thing, but we as humans rely on it too much. Our world is oversaturated with new and existing forms of technology, and what it can provide for us. We feel the need to rely on it to properly live our lives when, in fact, we miss out on a lot while we’re looking at a fiveinch screen. We miss out on precious moments with our friends and family by taking the 30-seconds to Snapchat our food to our stories or quickly

April 12, 2019

answering back a text message at dinner. As much as technology does the world good, it also hurts the world. As a society, we need to take a step back and let the notifications go unnoticed. We need to live in the moment more often than not. But when you’re lost and can’t find your way, let that good old phone do its job and guide you back, but enjoy the moments without the screen lit up. We need to be more conscious of our reliance on technology and try to live in the real world a little more often.

By Megan Kelly, Opinion Editor Gossip Girl here, warning you that the 2007 television drama series portrays a false perception of a teenager’s life. Based in the “city that never sleeps,” sixteen-year-olds are depicted as far older than they appear. The first season begins when the main characters are juniors in high school. Juniors in high school are sixteen or seventeen years old. At that age, the show romanticizes alcohol consumption, drug usage, sexual behavior, cheating, lying, using wealth to get ahead and scandalous relationships. Gossip Girl portrays high school characters going through life dealing with situations that resemble what a real-life person in their late twenties would be going through. I first watched this series when I was a senior in high school, and yes, I got sucked into all of the drama. I have always loved the City, so watching this show allowed me to see some interpretation of the glam of living there. My hometown is the furthest thing from the Upper East Side, but boy did I wake up some mornings dreaming I could be Serena Van Der Woodsen for the day. The show was definitely my guilty pleasure, due to the lack of reality within the whole series, but I think that is what kept me watching. It was a fantasy. However, this fantasy was not all good. As I mentioned before, every single episode promoted bad behavior for teenagers. If the media is showing sixteen year olds hosting parties with alcohol, having an affair with a married person, paying people to take the SATs for them, and stealing designer dresses from rich friends (to name a few examples) what do you think is going to happen? Well, real-life sixteen year olds are going to think it is okay to behave the same way. I cannot give you a good reason as to why I restarted the series this semester, but I did, and I find watching it as a college senior far more appalling than the first time. I am seeing clearly how corruptive this show is and I am genuinely concerned for all of the teenagers watching. It is readily available on Netflix, and is quite popular, so I have no doubt that many are watching this very minute. My high school and my hometown never had any scandals like in the show, nor did anyone dress or act like the characters. Today in NYC however, I am sure that teenagers are acting this very same way and I pray that they do not continue to base their lives off of this show much longer. I think for the good of humanity, we should be cautious. I am not saying do not watch this show, because yes, there are some good parts despite all the bad. I am saying be careful with your actions after turning off the TV. Be your own version of Blair Waldorf, a good one. Don’t let the show alter your vision about what is right for teenagers to be doing. xoxo, gossip girl

April 12, 2019

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Sports

Photo courtesy of Siena Saints with eight saves, bringing her team to an 18-6 victory. Winning this game on the road was an impressive win for the Saints, and it gave them confidence going into their MAAC conference game schedule. The team's first MAAC opponent were the Iona Gaels. The game was By Julianna Sebastian, Sports Editor Only in her second season as Siena hosted by the Saints and brought another women’s lacrosse head coach, Abigail Rehfuss’ stellar performance from the Saints. The has led her team early on in the season to top underclassmen trio of Nicole McNeely, Kerry in the MAAC conference. Since the middle of Gerety, and Dowsett each scored, leading to February till now, the women’s lacrosse team the Saints victory. McNeely scored three goals has taken down opponents one by one to and had five assists while Gerety had four goals and three assists. Dowsett once again scored reach this title. The Saints started their road of five points for the Saints. They took the game victories in their game versus St. Bonaventure. 17-7, and scored over ten goals in four other The team as a whole put up 18 points against games leading up to this. In their game against Canisius, the their contenders with red-shirt freshman Golden Griffs proved to be a tougher opponent Kaitlyn Dowsett scoring a career high of five points. Goalie Sammy Horton started off her for the Saints. The Griffs Jourdan Roemer was strong senior year campaign in this game a major contender for Gerety, shutting her

Women’s Lacrosse at the Top of Their Game

|8 down in draw controls. However, sophomore Hayley Kmack made her team victorious in overtime, where her goal at 19 seconds left brought the Saints to win 17-16. The Manhattan Jaspers brought the Saints to their only MAAC loss of the season thus far at home. Several of the Jaspers outscored the Saints, and held them only to a mere six points for the day. McNeely and Dowsett both scored for the Saints and added on assists for the team. However, the squad’s winning streak was broken with this 8-6 loss to the Jaspers. The next game versus Niagara was senior Sammy Horton’s best of the season, making twelve saves for the Saints. The following week Horton was named the MAAC conference defensive player of the week because of this performance. McNeely had five goals for the Saints while Gerety scored twice bringing the Saints to a 12-8 win over the Purple Eagles. After this game, the Saints moved to 3-1 in the MAAC conference. In the most recent MAAC game for the women’s lacrosse team, the squad took the top spot in the MAAC conference because of their win over the Monmouth Hawks. Sophomore Kerry Gerety scored three goals and had one assist. With this win, the Saints eight wins so far this season is the most for the squad since 2015. Also, the eight victories tie a program record for third most wins in a season. The Saints have not defeated the Monmouth Hawks since 1997, a first in program history. The Saints have yet to play Fairfield University, Quinnipiac and Marist College before the MAAC tournament. However, sitting on top of the conference for now is a great step toward the MAAC tournament in May.