Student Association Senate considers reorganization
BY GRANT TERWILLIGER News Editor
The Student Association senate approved funds for the Newman Association, Dance Corps and Club Caribbean as well as discussed the future of the Student Association’s structure at its Oct. 15 meeting.
FUND APPROVALS
The Newman Association asked for $400 in allocations for 10 people to go to Camp Guggenheim for their retreat. The Newman Association is a catholic christian club where students are able to express their faith and find community at SUNY Plattsburgh.
The senate approved $400 in funds for the Newman Associations weekend retreat.
Dance Corps asked for up to $620 for their upcoming invitational on Oct. 25. Dance Corps is a dance club on Plattsburgh’s campus that holds local recitals and focuses on variety in dance as well as techniques in dance. Senior Dance Corps president Isabella Lambert expressed her excitement with bringing dance teams on campus and around the state for a competition.
“We really wanted to strengthen the dance community here and really have a good name for the school and our team. So we invited all of the dance teams on our cam-
pus to bring all of us together and collaborate on something. We also have five prospective teams,” Lambert said. “We have a really good array of judges coming. It’s a really great opportunity for dancers.”
They have invited the dance teams Vis Viva from RIT, Union College and others. The Student Association senate approved Dance Corps $620 in funds for their invitational event in a unanimous vote.
Club Caribbean asked the Senate for $1,367.10 for their Carnival of Crowns event.
The Carnival of Crowns is Club Caribbean’s first pageant on campus and will include SUNY Oneonta’s dance team and many costumes with wings and feathered head wraps. The event will feature games and other interactive activities for attendees alongside the main pageant.
Treasurer Jamal Bynum said that he feels that Caribbean culture should be celebrated more which is one of the main reasons why they wanted to hold the pageant.
“We feel that Caribbean appreciation is something that could be worked on on this campus, and even outside of Caribbean appreciation the appreciation of minorities in general,” Bynum said.
The student association approved $1,367.10 in funds for Club Caribbean’s pageant that will take place on Nov. 8.
FUTURE OF THE SA In the Student Associations Executive meeting they discussed combining many internal operations and positions, reducing the senate while maintaining the same amount of executive positions. Vice President Jack Sweet said that reorganizing some positions internally could allow the SA to become more efficient.
“We are all working on ways to maximize the potential of everyone in the SA and make sure everyone reflects the SA,” Sweet said. “We have noticed things that have been working and things that haven’t been, and that’s the beauty of SA and how it can evolve.”
Cardinal Creative: Virginia Lucchetti
BY ADAM BLANCHARD Staff Writer
Plattsburgh Senior Virginia “Ginny” Lucchetti grew up surrounded by art.
Raised in Syracuse, the soonto-be art school graduate was inspired by a world of comic panels and paintings. Lucchetti attributed much of her artistic inspiration to her father, who kept the walls of her childhood home covered in art.
“A lot of it does derive from my dad because my dad’s fixations kind of projectile vomited onto me,” Lucchetti said.
As she moved into the academic world, Ginny was attracted to the arts. An important step in her path as an artist was when she took AP art in senior year of high school. Lucchetti spent the majority of her free time in the art room, despite only the class being her only art class that year.
“Math didn’t make sense to me, nor science, but for some reason art was just something that always clicked for me,” Lucchetti said.
Now so close to graduating, Ginny is navigating the world of professional art.
In August, Lucchetti had a partnership with video editing app Video Star, where she was
hired to create an animation for the company.
In Plattsburgh, Ginny has been featured in the Studio Select Exhibit in the John Myers Fine Arts Building and assisted in creating a film with fellow Cardinal Tessy Huntley, which was featured at the Strand Center for the Arts. The unexpected collaboration was a high point for Ginny.
“I never thought that would happen, like, ever, so it was a good feeling,” Lucchetti said.
“It was really well received.”
Lucchetti is experienced with many mediums, ranging from digital media, to ceramics to soft pastels. When it comes to personal preferences, Lucchetti said she has a soft sport for oil pastels and paints.
Lucchetti has an expansive
portfolio on her website virginialucchetti.com. Her artist’s statement explains that through her work, Lucchetti aims to explore themes of strength, vulnerability and growth through the inspirations of design elements found in the magical girl genre of media that inspired her. She credits the genre’s focus on coming-of-age stories centered on transitioning from girlhood
to womanhood as themes that “resonated deeply” with her.
In the future, Lucchetti plans to go to graduate school for illustration focusing on painting and drawing. After grad school, Lucchetti’s dream is to land a job for an indie studio as an animator or storyboard artist while also maintaining work as a freelancer.
“I hate how short life is because I just want to do so many different things,” Lucchetti said. “I want to work on a movie as a storyboard artist, or a concept artist or something like that.”
Lucchetti often finds herself reflecting on what will become of art in the future. She feels the importance of art is misunderstood and overlooked, but can be found even in the simplest things.
“Even when people are like, ‘Oh, a circle isn’t art,’ it’s like, yeah it is. It’s making you feel something. It’s making you feel enraged, that’s art,” Lucchetti said. “It kind of pains me that not everyone can see it that way, but I think it’s really beautiful.”
ADAM BLANCHARD/Cardinal Points
Ginny Lucchetti stands next to one of her displayed oil paintings in Myers.
No Kings reaches Plattsburgh
HIRAM COWHEY/Cardinal Points
Protesters gather along the side of State route 3 outside of Consumer Square.
KIMORA DECUTEAU/Cardinal Points
A simple sign showing the standard no kings symbol.
HIRAM COWHEY/Cardinal Points
No King protesters interacting with counter-protesters at the rally Oct. 18.
HIRAM COWHEY/Cardinal Points
Several signs indicated a stance against fascism and Nazism.
HIRAM COWHEY/Cardinal Points
Protesters lined up along the roadside appealing to traffic.
HIRAM COWHEY/Cardinal Points The event was a peaceful, nonviolent mass organization.
HIRAM COWHEY/Cardinal Points The rally was organized by Indivisible Plattsburgh.
HIRAM COWHEY/Cardinal Points A protester shares their thoughts on I.C.E.
The upside-down American
indicate
A sea of protesters. Cardinal Points was unable to get an estimated
HIRAM COWHEY/Cardinal Points
flag is iconography used to
distress, according to the Free Speech Center.
KIMORA DECUTEAU/Cardinal Points
headcount.
HIRAM COWHEY/Cardinal Points
A protester shares their thoughts on political inactivity.
HIRAM COWHEY/Cardinal Points
Two astronauts supporting democracy outside of Mirabito, about .2 miles down the road from the line of protesters’ starting point.
HIRAM COWHEY/Cardinal Points
A protester keeping their energy up by snacking during the protest.
HIRAM COWHEY/Cardinal Points
A protester’s sign depicts President Trump in a fools hat.
HIRAM COWHEY/Cardinal Points
A protester dressed as notable New Yorker and superhero Spider-Man.
HIRAM COWHEY/Cardinal Points
A sign calls to flush Trump.
HIRAM COWHEY/Cardinal Points
A vet holds an American flag while draped in a Ukrainian flag and wearing a shirt denouncing Nazism.
Cardinals dominate in shut out
BY KAMIKO CHAMBLE Sports Editor
The Plattsburgh state men’s soccer team brought home a 3-0 win against Oswego Saturday.
The Cardinals headed into the fight with momentum and a four win streak, the team was ready to fight hard against the conference rival.
Plattsburgh set the tone right away. Senior midfielder Santiago Vargas made a superbly timed through-ball behind the Lakers’ back line first-year forward Rocco Ruscitto to open the scoring in the twenty-first minute.
As the first half went on, junior midfielder Jake McGowan’s astute wing play gave the Cardinals a two goal lead in the 33rd minute.
For Plattsburgh, the second half felt at ease. Oswego made an effort to rally, but their slowness due to being down a man because of an Oswego red card allowed the Cardinals to carefully control play.
First-year forward Robbie Kapovic scored the third goal in the 70th minute after breaking free from traffic in the attacking third and finishing one-on-one against the goalie.
It wasn’t all blistering attack, though. The back line stepped up. Sophomore goalkeeper Matthew
D’Ippolito made three key saves and kept the shutout. Plattsburgh fought strong all game and got to celebrate an amazing victory.
Junior forward Tristian Laundree, junior forward Xavier Kamba, sophomore defense Jack Murphy, first year forward Rocco Ruscitto, junior midfielder Dvais Lopez, senior defense Justin Siegel, and first year midfielder Nicholas Espitia all recorded one shot throughout the game.
Senior midfielder Santiago Vargas and first year midfielder Cris Arias notched two, while first-year forward Robbie Kapovic put up
leaving no doubts on the outcome.
With a sharp start, solid fundamentals and a fearless attitude, they showed what they’re capable of.
# S. Vargas, M X.
Cardinals suffer conference loss
Hawks 3-0 Cardinals in back-and-forth match
BY KAMIKO CHAMBLE Sports Editor
The Plattsburgh women’s volleyball team battled valiantly against New Paltz, but ultimately fell short in a 3-0 match on Saturday, 18.
The Cardinals held their own against pressure from the first serve to the last point, despite meeting a brick wall at the finish. The final scores 25–22, 25–13, and 25–12 don’t adequately reflect the battle the Cardinals put up, particularly early.
Liya Girma, a first-year outside hitter for Plattsburgh, jumped off the block for the opening kill of the game. Shortly after, she made another powerful swing, putting Plattsburgh ahead 3-1.
With deft hands, senior setter Emily O’Brien led the attack, threading the ball to Girma and to sophomore middle blocker Sanaia Estime who hammered a kill down the line to make it 6-4. The connection was palpable to the audience at that point, and the Cardinals seemed poised to attack.
Four straight errors by Plattsburgh including two service errors, one blocked tip and one errant pass allowed New Paltz to flip the scoreboard to 8-6. Undeterred, Plattsburgh responded when junior right- side hitter Iris Mulvey ripped a kill, followed by a back-row ace from sophomore libero Bridget Ryan that drew a roar from the visiting bench and drew the Cardinals even at 11-11.
The first set turned into a roller coaster of runs. The Cardinals surged ahead 17-14 after Girma stuffed a kill and O’Brien drilled a setter dump to stun New Paltz, but ultimately fell 25-22.
The Cardinals led 21-18 and looked poised to take control. In the second set, the Cardinals energy remained high. The team jumped off 3-1 as O’Brien made a quick kill with first-year middle Anabella Almeida. As Plattsburgh appeared to lose their flow, New Paltz picked up speed and hammered down eight points in a row.
Estime stuffed a block and Mulvey swung hard for two kills in an attempt to steady the ship, but the gap grew to 14-7. The Cardinals led 15–11 on to two straight kills from senior opposite Kyleigh Ganz, but unforced mistakes began to creep in the form of mis-tracked digs, setter-net violations and service mis-fires. At 20-11, the mistakes added up, Girma hammered a kill, Mulvey served and pulled up an ace, but the set finished 25–13 in New Paltz’ favor.
The Cardinals displayed tenacity throughout the third set. In the back row, Ryan went on a seven
point defensive rampage, gathering rebounds and sustaining rallies. Girma went in for a kill and a dump by O’Brien to cut the margin to 5-3, O’Brien orchestrated a 3-point run.
However, New Paltz once again replied with power and accuracy through precise sets, on-target serves and taking advantage of weak passes. As the Hawks jumped up to 12-4 and then 20 -7, Plattsburgh’s hitting percentage declined.
This loss puts the Cardinals tied for last place in the SUNYAC leaving their conference record at 1-4 and their overall record 8-12. The Cards will attempt to improve from this loss and bring bigger and better energy to their next game against Buffalo State University on Friday.
three. The Cardinals arrived, executed and left
Email KAMIKO CHAMBLE
Provided by EMMA DEO
Cardinal forward Tristan Laundree attacks a lakers defender Oct. 18.
Provided by EMMA DEO
Junior outside hitter Liya Girma spikes the ball Sept. 27.
Jewel theives enter public eye
Louvre heist sparks worldwide interest, theories
BY SOPHIE ALBERTIE Opinions Editor
“Heists are so back,” said a random girl dissecting the events of last weekend on a TikTok video.
The Louvre was heisted in seven minutes at 9:30 am this past Sunday. Eight items of jewelry were taken as the team of four thieves conspired to rob the Apollo gallery using a basket lift perched outside one of the upstairs windows. All eight items were jewelry which added up to a net worth of 102 million.
The missing pieces included necklaces and tiaras worn by 19th century monarchs. The criminals quickly smashed display cases in close proximity to the Mona Lisa, and fled without a trace. Except for one of the scoundrels, who dropped the crown of Napoleon III’s wife.
In the span of only a couple of days, the curious nature of the crime has spread like wildfire across the internet. People worldwide have begun to discuss the possible underlying ethics of this incident. Some say this could constitute as a modern-day robinhood situation. The process of harvesting each jew-
el most likely involved the brutal slaughtering of anyone who wasn’t rich and white, as history suggests.
Others rebuttal with the simple fact that each piece stolen in this story were gifts to loved ones, and the robbers were not doing this because of some strong sense of justice, but rather scheming just to scheme.
The discourse poses a relevant question: why can’t both facts be true? A carefully calculated procedure was successfully accomplished for probably no particular reason. The suspects were able to pull this off simply because of the milquetoast security measures.
Either way, it is fair to say that most commentary is not coming from people at the scene of the crime, but rather curious Americans that either want to see a real life reenactment of Oceans Eleven or to catch the thieves red handed. Because of the traction the heist received on social media, a seemingly outrageous criminal act has turned into lighthearted fascinating fun to read about in between other world events.
French President Emmanuel Macron has been placed in hot water
overnight as Parisians demand the security of the Museum to be greatly increased.
“The theft at the Louvre is an attack on the heritage that is dear to us because it is our history,” Macron wrote in a tweet. He is currently urging for quicker security measures to take place.
Objectively, the theft is harmless. The 60 detectives assigned to this case should instead be focused on how anyone robbed one of the most famous museums in the world during visitation hours. If they don’t find out whodunit, Focus shouldn’t stay on the perpetrators for very long. If they came for one of the paintings it would be easier to coin the escapade as evil, but the simplicity of going for jewels proves that this is about the profit side of things and not anything else.
Duffer Brothers feign relevancy
BY SOPHIE ALBERTIE Opinions Editor
Does anyone even watch Stranger Things anymore?
If you’re wondering how you missed the new updates on the official release date of the final season, along with episode runtimes and a confirmation that Eddie Munson will not be returning for the final season, you’ve proven my point. Everyone did.
Gone are the days of obsessing over the kicky personalities of this ragtag group of kids and their miscellaneous adventures. They hit puberty a long time ago, and the walkie-talkies are no longer cute.
The Duffer brothers cared enough to release an official statement regarding the whereabouts of the supposed fan-favorite metalhead, confirming he was “dead and under the ground.” Thank goodness. I never liked the guy or his fake devil horns. I never liked anyone besides the original cast. Max and Robin are as far as I’ll go.
Before season three was released, we were dealing with one of the few perfect shows to ever be created. It was the perfect combination of potent nostalgia, strong acting and a stellar plot. “Byler or Mileven?” was the most important question since the dress. Season three was good, but it caught the last chopper out of `Nam in terms of being remotely watchable. Call me an elitist, but there are only so many new characters that can be introduced before the integrity of the original cast falls apart at the seams. Bring back being invested in the OG’s, my attention span can’t deal with all of these introductions.
Being a former fan of a show that’s acclimated such a massive cult following, it’s strange seeing updates of something I’ve completely lost interest in. The emotional investment used to be there, but come on. I just can’t take a 24-year-old playing a 15-year-old seriously. Season five will come and go, and I will be seated only halfway through plot updates from TikTok. Twelve year old me who carried around an Eggo box for Halloween is rolling in her grave.
Email SOPHIE ALBERTIE cp@cardinalpointsonline.com
Email SOPHIE ALBERTIE cp@cardinalpointsonline.com
‘Black Phone 2’ leaves audiences wanting
Sequel’s
greatest strength is outperforming it’s bland predecessor
BY SOPHIE ALBERTIE Opinions Editor
When is a sequel ever better than the first movie?
“Black Phone 2” released this weekend, serving as a continuation of the original 2022 release. The second film follows Finney Shaw, now 17, recovering from his terrifying captivity only years prior, which he survived from. Unfortunately, he proves not to be the only one struggling. When his sister begins getting strange unexplainable visions of a man in a mask known as The Grabber, it’s up to the dynamic pair to rid themselves of the curse of the Black Phone.
Sequels usually work whenever there is a noticeable difference between the two films or if the universe is expanded on in all the right ways. This movie is nearly a complete shift from the first world, fully emerging itself in the dreams and visions Finney’s younger sis-
ter, Gwen, keeps having, minus a few key details.
There were hints of Gwen’s psychic abilities in the first movie but they definitely feel more pronounced with this narrative. Unlike the final Conjuring, director Scott Derrickson makes sure to hint at a third installment by showing that the body of the spirit may be dead, but evil never really dies.
“Black Phone 2” proves to be slightly more developed and plotfilled than the original, but the audience should be satiated with the spooky. A third installment would just harp on old dead concepts that arguably should not have been explored at all past the first movie.
Ethan Hawke as The Grabber operates under one tone, treated as a cryptic figure rather than an actual physical evil, and gets boring pretty fast.
The writing isn’t great in either movie, which makes it difficult for the narrative to be compelling. The driving conflict is less psychological and more paranormal, which
makes the franchise a good Halloween selection, if nothing else.
Neither of the movies are great, but when it comes to choosing between visions of a snowy mountain camp or just staying in the basement Finney got kidnapped and brought to, the snowy mountain camp wins every time, for aesthetic purposes.
Black Phone 2 gets two and a half stars, the half coming from being a slight improvement from the first.
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Via Wikimedia Commons
Via Wikimedia Commons
Mason Thames, the actor portraying Finney Shaw in “Black Phone 2” at the film’s Los Angeles premiere Oct. 8.
SOPHIE ALBERTIE
