Issue 3

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2022VOL-

VOLUME 107 | ISSUE 3

SUNY Plattsburgh’s independent student newspaper since 1997

Campus, town united for seven years

BY KENNEDY TAVARES Staff Writer

The Town of Plattsburgh came together with the SUNY Plattsburgh campus for an evening of celebration Friday, Sept. 23, for the 7th annual CommUNITY Night that was hosted at Hawkins Pond.

Entertainment groups Jedi Dance Productions, Spicy Island Tings and the Plattsburgh State Gospel Choir put on performances throughout the event.

Lomeli’s, a popular Mexican restaurant in town, offered food available for purchase from a truck. The ice cream truck Mr. Ding-A-Ling, a staple in the North Country community, was also in attendance to provide desserts.

CommUNITY Night was started nearly a decade ago in the attempt to unify not only SUNY Plattsburgh students, but the town as a whole. This year, the night was hosted by the Student Association and the department of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Travis Gorhan, SUNY Plattsburgh alumnus and, as of this summer, DEI’s multicultural student success coach also lent a helping hand in curating the event. Gorhan’s role as multicultural student success coach is to motivate BIPOC and LGBT members to do their best in school and serves as a mentor, counselor and academic adviser.

“I know when I was an undergrad here, there was always a campus event where you saw community members and

OLIVIA BOUSQUET/Cardinal Points

Students engage with the Gardening Club’s table at CommUNITY Night. Behind them is the food truck by the Mexican restaurant Lomeli’s. community events where you saw a strong campus presence. I don’t believe there’s a lot of that going on now,” Gorhan said. “I want to try to help bring that back and really connect the community on campus with our at large community here in Plattsburgh.”

Strengthening the relationship between students and the larger Plattsburgh community has been a goal set in Plattsburgh Next, the strategic devel-

opment plan that President Alexander Enyedi presented in February.

A year ago, a traffic stop that led to a Black student’s arrest resulted in tension between University Police and some minority students. UP officers attended CommUNITY Night to show their support. Lieutenant Eric Zalinski said members of the UP force came to CommUNITY Night to make amends with students and to show that “they’re

not the bad guys.”

Peculiar Joseph, coordinator of student affairs and diversity for the SA, is another student who helped to plan CommUNITY Night.

“CommUNITY Night brings value to everyone,” Joseph said. “It shows diversity, gives people the chance to express their talent. It makes people feel appreciated in their community. It makes people feel noticed. People appreciate it, especially those who don’t get to be

seen all the time and do so much. I hope that translates to not just community night but every other aspect of the school.”

CommUNITY Night won’t be the last community-centered event of the academic year. Plattsburgh can come to expect more events in the future for both students and town residents.

“The real emphasis on the CommUNITY night is the ‘unity’ part,” Gorhan said. “It’s about unit-

Alumnus returns with stand-up

BY ALEKSANDRA SIDOROVA

News Editor

Comedian Jimmy McCartney, a Plattsburgh native and SUNY Plattsburgh alumnus, performed at the Warren Ballrooms at Angell College Center Tuesday, Sept. 20. The audience was small but highly receptive.

A baseball cap sitting backward atop long, curly brown hair, a print shirt framed with a blue checkered jacket paired with khaki pants and sneakers — McCartney had on what he called a “formal tuxedo in the Adirondacks.”

With jokes about the North Country, Florida, dating failures and embarrassing stories from his past, he entertained a crowd of 18.

McCartney wrapped up his show by singing Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” together with his audience.

Jonah Baker-Flora is an audience member whom McCartney called “an OG.” Baker-Flora said he and McCartney have been “friends for a long time.”

They met when McCartney visited Baker-Flora’s school for a gym class, a

OPINIONS | A3

EXPLORE PLATTS’ HISTORY

theme of one of McCartney’s jokes of the night.

Baker-Flora is a freshman at SUNY Plattsburgh majoring in TV-radio production, and is still friends with McCartney. BakerFlora sat in the front row and volunteered to participate in a skit of a story McCartney was recreating with his audience. At the end, Baker-Flora received a stuffed animal.

Taressa Lacey, a Plattsburgh alumna, came to the show to support McCartney, whom she had recently met downtown and never seen perform comedy before. Lacey graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh with a degree in psychology in 2020.

“My cheeks actually hurt from laughing,” Lacey said.

Some, like Amy Ward, a junior majoring in journalism, have never heard of McCartney prior to the SA announcing the show, and attended expecting “the kind of funny that at least makes you smirk.” She got that and more.

“Oh my God, he’s hilarious,” Ward said after the show.

Ward said McCartney’s comedy connected with her because of his genuine attitude and the lack of transitions between jokes.

“You never know what you’re going to see next,” Ward said.

Coordinator of Activities Marileana Rodriguez of the Student Association said she enjoyed the show as well.

“I feel like his personality and the show itself mingled very well,” Rodriguez said. “It didn’t seem like he was giving a show.

It really just seemed like he was being himself.”

As the crowd enjoyed McCartney, so did he, saying the crowd had “good energy.” Small crowds do not worry him because of his years of experience performing at open mic events and SUNY Plattsburgh’s Coffeehouse. He said crowds for his tour’s shows ranged from 12 to 170 people. Small crowds are part of the process, but he appreciates the fact that people came to the show specifically to see him, McCartney said.

CARDINAL LEGEND DIES AT 28

Email KENNEDY TAVARES cp@cardinalpointsonline.com

SA funds Afrofest, targets safety

BY ALEKSANDRA SIDOROVA

News Editor

After some deliberation, the Student Association Senate decided to allocate $1,465 to the club African Unity and announced the 60th legislation’s finance policy at its meeting Wednesday, Sept. 21. SA President Taiba Azeem also announced working with University Police to improve safety on campus.

The meeting started with the unanimous approval of Yousra Amrhar as a voting member of the Finance Board. Amrhar was absent from the meeting “due to some emergency,” but met all other requirements for the position, SA Treasurer Osamuyimen OmorogbeAkpata said.

BRYN FAWN/Cardinal Points

Jimmy McCartney performing stand-up comedy, dressed COMEDY l A5 in what he called a “formal tuxedo in the Adirondacks.”

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ing everyone. No matter how we look, what our differences are, we are coming together for a common cause, which is getting the most out of life. We hope to do a lot more events where we are bringing the community and our campus community together and strengthen those bonds.”

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ARTS & CULTURE | B5

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News Editor Aleksandra Sidorova

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NEWS

Friday, Sept. 30, 2022

UP holds shooter trainings

BY JESSICA LANDMAN & ALEKSANDRA SIDOROVA

Staff Writer and News Editor

Detective Burghy has nothing to report this week.

Weekly Meme

University Police conducted active shooter exercises for its officers in late August, as well as training for various groups of staff throughout the summer. This week, UP trained SUNY Plattsburgh faculty by offering active shooter training presentations Tuesday, Sept. 20, and Friday, Sept. 23.

According to UP Chief Patrick Rascoe and an email Provost Anne Herzog sent to faculty, the training consisted of situational awareness, space and threat assessment, run/ hide/fight response and emergency casualty care.

“It’s basic stuff. It’s run, hide and fight, but it’s also being aware of your surroundings and assessing your space for what you would do in the event of an active shooter,” Rascoe said. “If it ever did happen here, in this office, what could I do to protect myself?”

If found in a situation where an active shooter is a threat, the first step is to determine if there is a

SENATE Continued from page A1

ALEXA DUMAS/Cardinal Points

Multimedia

CP Corrections In Issue 2, the article “Burghy’s Lounge returns to ACC” states that construction was done

by MNL Construction Group. This is incorrect; all construction was actually done in-house headed by Eric Laessig.

To Laessig’s knowledge, outside contractors installed only the carpet flooring.

The next item on the agenda was African Unity’s request for $1,465 for Afrofest, an event the club planned to host the following weekend, days after the meeting. The senators had many questions about the event.

Hafsah Abdourahamane and Abieyuwa “Abby” Uzamere, the treasurer and president of African Unity, explained to the Senate that the event was intended as a carnival, hence the need to spend $1,000 on inflatables such as bouncy houses. $465 would be spent on Chartwells catering for the event. Usually, Uzamere said, African Unity would host an ice-skating event, but the club wanted to do something different this year. The goal of the event was to build community and showcase small businesses, some student-run.

The types of businesses included clothing, handiwork and beauty services.

Fifty people were expected to attend, and club members have been promoting Afrofest during their meetings and over social media.

When Senator Dineshreddy Channapareddy asked why the funding application was filed mere days away from the event, Uzamere said the club wanted to fully finalize its plans before requesting funding.

When it came time to vote, 13 senators voted in

ROLDNARDY NORELUS/Cardinal Points

safe escape route. It is advised that whoever may be involved in the situation leave their belongings, keep their hands visible, help others escape and call UP or 911 when the threat has been evaded.

In the event that running is not possible or not the safest option, faculty are told to hide. The best places to do so are behind

a locked door and out of view from the shooter. In this event, it is the safest practice to silence all devices and remain as quiet as possible.

The last resort in this situation would be to fight or disrupt the shooter. The faculty have been advised that this course of action should be taken only if running and hiding are

no longer options and life is in imminent danger. In this situation, the best option would be to incapacitate the shooter. The best course of action would be to use large objects around you as a weapon and fight with aggression because it could save lives.

favor of allocating $1,465 to African Unity, one voted against and one abstained due to a conflict of interest.

Upon follow-up, Abdourahamane said Afrofest was a “huge success” thanks to the funding, bringing in 65 attendees.

“Although it was windy and a bit cold, we had an amazing time,” Abdourahamane wrote in an email response. “It was nice to see all the new faces on campus; a lot of the students got to learn about the local small businesses we have on campus, and now they know what African Unity is about.”

file a separate application.

Additionally, the Finance Board can approve funding requests up to $300. Requests for amounts exceeding $300 would have to be presented to the Senate.

Once business was settled, President Taiba Azeem, Vice President Saran Kaba and the senators presented their reports.

Azeem said she had an “interesting” conversation with University Police Chief Patrick Rascoe regarding campus safety.

Azeem said she learned the campus’ emergency blue lights were inspected monthly, but have not been used in 45 years. Azeem also said she will be working with UP to add more street lights to the campus. In a report following Azeem’s, Senator Munashe Chikukwa said he was not worried about how lit the campus is, but was more concerned with the lights’ energy efficiency.

Azeem’s third and largest concern, however, was Title IX. When the campus had a staffed Title IX office, an average of 40 cases of sexual assault would be reported per semester, Azeem said. But without the office in place, UP receives an average of “barely six” reports a semester.

“As student representatives, as students who are looking out for our community, our job is to push, so I think that’s what our legislation should do,” Azeem said. “Push for a Title IX office.”

Other issues addressed

by senators include disruptive fraternity activities and campus dining.

Senator William Donlon said he found, after asking students, that many do not have plans on Friday nights or choose to go to fraternity parties. Donlon also said Plattsburgh civilians have told him that some fraternity parties end in littering.

“It’s surprising that on Friday nights, most people don’t have anything to do: they’re just not doing anything, or they go to frats,” Donlon said. “And I spoke with someone from the community, one of the locals, and he told me that people would, like, throw cans in the middle of the streets, just leave it there and leaving the local community cleaning up the next day in the middle of the streets. That’s not good, so I’m thinking it would be great if we can try to get as many activities from clubs and everyone to do it on Thursday nights, Friday nights, Saturday nights, to try and counteract the frats.”

Senator Pratyush Kapadia stated in his report that he will be looking to expand catering options for club events, which currently are limited to Chartwells by contract. Kapadia will also work to address the food quality at campus dining venues, which, in his words, “has been degrading year by year.”

The final order of business was Treasurer Akpata’s presentation of the 60th legislation’s finance policy. Akpata highlighted key points of the policy.

Club funding for decorations would be capped at $75. Funding for apparel would be limited to $10 and $15 for short- and longsleeved shirts respectively, and the apparel would be available to all club members, not just the executive board. Travel funds are limited to $2,000 per semester not included in the clubs’ funding; instead, club representatives must

TRAINING l A5

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Additionally, the foosball and pool tables were not new, but reused from other parts of campus.

In the article “Queen’s death sparks memes,” the writer mistakenly refers to King Charles III as “George.”

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GOT A NEWS TIP? Contact the news editor at cp@cardinalpointsonline.com.

Provided by Hafsah Abdourahamane

Kaliyah Green showcases her tote bag business called K.Minitotes at Afrofest held at the ACC courtyard.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

Kiwi Farms’ website reign ends

BY BRYN FAWN

Associate Opinions Editor

Warning: This article has mentions of suicide and excerpts from a suicide letter. It may not be suitable for all readers.

Online harassers, bullies and even killers — given the adoring nickname “troll” online — seemingly could enact their hatred without any repercussions. Swatting, doxxing, suicide-baiting, while not legal, are difficult to catch perpetrators, let alone prosecute. Until now.

Clara Sorrenti, better known online by her username Keffals is a transgender political streamer. She was a victim of doxxing and swatting. Doxxing is the process in which private information is somehow obtained and illegally made public online, commonly through social media.

Swatting is the process in which a false anonymous report is made to police that there is an active shooter, and SWAT is sent to a person’s home. Swatting is not just illegal, it can be deadly.

Sorrenti, however, had the final laugh as she took down a notorious message board, Kiwi Farms.

Kiwi Farms is akin to 4chan, a message forum where users can congregate to add messages in a long thread. Kiwi Farms even began as a spin off 4chan, originally named “8chan.” With few guidelines, almost anything goes on the site. Toxicity, or performing vile actions, are encouraged on the site and rewarded.

Kiwi Farms is even accredited to three suicides. The first occurred in 2016. Julie Terryberry committed suicide when she was 19 years old. Terryberry was a victim of incessant harassment from the forum, resulting in her degrading mental health and depressing conclusion to her story. In 2018, Chloe Sagal ended her own life at 31 years old. Sagal was an indie video game developer, harassed by users of Kiwi Farms.

ZOE NGUYEN/Cardinal Points

Finally, most recently, David “Near” Ginder ended their own life in 2021.

“I can’t handle this anymore. I have tried everything.” Ginder wrote on twitter. “I’ve always tried my best to be kind and helpful to everyone. And I didn’t do anything wrong other than be weird online. Maybe a bit too passionate at times. Their horrific claims are entirely baseless.”

Their thread is heartbreaking. Ginder had already decided that their life was over, and wrote a heartfelt and heart wrenching goodbye to the world. Even though it ap-

peared their time was coming to an end, they still gave readers hope. “It’s too late for me, but I pray that someone, at some point, will do something about that website. There’s too many people suffering,” Ginder wrote.

Sorrenti was that hope. Sorrenti was able to end the suffering.

Kiwi Farms was owned by Joshua “Null” Moon. Moon was originally a user of the site 8chan, but created CWCki Forums, and was later renamed Kiwi Farms. The site amassed 16,000 daily logins before it was

shut down. After the suicide of Ginder, Kiwi Farms was dropped by DreamHost, their hosting website. Soon after, under great pressure, CloudFlare also dropped the site, rendering it offline.

Moon made a statement in a Telegram — a message service, similar to a group chat — that with CloudFlare no longer providing services Moon would attempt to find another avenue to resume the site’s activities. The site shifted to Russian hosts, DDoS-Guard, but was also dropped. Moon then issued a statement essentially admitting defeat.

“I would have kept going if Joshua Moon had shown me just the tiniest bit of compassion. But he chose not to,” Ginder wrote in their goodbye thread on Twitter.

Sorrenti was doxxed on the forum. Users had found her home address and swatted her, sending SWAT to her home. In interviews after the events, Sorrenti shared how she had a gun muzzle pointed at her but was given the dignity to put on pajamas.

Sorrenti also shares her fears on the probability of her survival if she was not white.

After the Swatting, Sorrenti and her fiance fled to a hotel for safety. Sorrenti posted a picture of her cat on the hotel bed, letting her followers know she was well and alive.

However, Kiwi Farm members dissected the image and located the hotel Sorrenti was residing in. Pizzas attached to her name were bombarding the hotel, a message to Sorrenti that she had been found again.

Sorrenti continued to run across Canada, fleeing the harassment. Yet, each and every time she was discovered and further harassed. There were more swatting attempts, more threats. It began to pile up. Eventually, Sorrenti fled to Ireland. Sorrenti was lucky to have friends to assist her along the way, especially those that opened their doors to her.

After a while, Sorrenti was tired of hiding.

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‘YikYak’ creates toxic subculture

BY BRYN FAWN

Associate Opinions Editor

North Country portrays beauty

ROLDNARDY NORELUS/Cardinal Points

BY ROCCO GOLDEN Contributor

At a glance, the Town of Plattsburgh may come off to the average person as just another town in Northern New York. Many people don’t really know all too much about the history and the culture of the town. Some may say the history of this region is bland or there’s nothing to it. The truth is that the North Country has a rich history, just as much as other regions around the country.

When it comes to Plattsburgh, what many people don’t know is that this town is a staple of an iconic food in the life of an average American: Michigan. The Michigan, in a nutshell, is a hotdog with a chili sauce on top. Depending on where you are in the region, the food itself can differ quite a lot.

It’s a diverse meal. Many restaurants have their own take on the dish with differing sauces, hot dogs and toppings. The versatility of the Michigan is one the many reasons why it became a staple in the North Country. Being able to have one meal that can be interpreted in several different ways is great conditions for creating an icon of the region, which is exactly what has happened over the decades since its origin.

A Michigan with onions and some cheese is hard to beat, especially on a summer day.

If you aren’t from around the area, it may be hard to understand, but for those who are, they can definitely relate.

“I think Michigans are THE staple of the North Country,” Alex Brienza, an alumnus of SUNY Plattsburgh said.

It’s no doubt the Michigan is one of Plattsburgh’s most iconic foods. Many people here are fond of it. It has, and will continue to be, an iconic food of this region.

One can’t mention the North Country without mentioning Stewart’s Shops. Everyone in this area knows about Stewart’s.

Put simply, it’s one of the best chains of convenience stores. Since its beginnings in the mid-20th century, Stewart’s has opened hundreds of locations, and has been serving the North Country some of the most recognizable delicacies of our time.

Stewart’s has also gotten some much appreciated national recognition. According to an article by New York Upstate, an online news outlet, Stewart’s won big in the recent World Dairy Expo’s 2022 Championship Dairy Product Contest. Stewart’s won four awards, one first place, one second place and two third place awards.

Stewart’s is also known to have the best milk in New York State.

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YikYak is a popular application causing trouble for campuses across the nation. College students are the main demographic; especially those that enjoy causing mischief without reaping the consequences.

Being recently added to Android, YikYak has a larger outreach than ever.

YikYak shares posts made within five miles of your location. YikYak has no “accounts” at all. Users can still sign up for the app and their account will be tied to their phone number. Users never create a username and users can randomize their icon, emoji and a color background, whenever they please. The power of anonymity has created an environment of bigotry on the platform, with users being able to hide behind the phone screen.

“YikYak is where communities are free to be authentic, equal, and empowered to connect with people nearby.” YikYak wrote on their website. “If you see a yak that doesn’t vibe with the Community Guardrails, please immediately downvote and report it. Yaks that reach -5 total vote points are removed from Yik Yak.” YikYak’s terms of service disallows bullying, harassment, exploitation of minors and any other unacceptable behavior that has come to be expected of social media platforms.

BRYN FAWN/Cardinal Points

Upvotes and downvotes are similar to those on Reddit. Users can upvote, or like, a post, or downvote a post, letting it fizzle out of the general feed. However, the system of Yaks — YikYak’s term for posts, requiring five downvotes to be removed isn’t a perfect system. It can be heavily exploited with such a low threshold, and also requires the community itself to moderate their space.

The report system is also valuable, but it delays moderation for obscene posts.

Furthermore, if the main user-base agrees with the infringing post, they can upvote the post to keep it from being deleted. Echo chambers such as these are incredibly dangerous and fuel more bigotry.

Joshua Simmons, a junior on campus, claimed he has used YikYak for two-anda-half years, ever since its

re-debut after the original take down. Simmons said he only uses YikYak about 10% of his day-to-day activities. However, Simmons alleges 45% of the Yaks he sees per day contain some form of bigotry. Simmons describes the app as “a mix of tinder and hatred” and is not a good inclusion for campus life.

Daphne Bosarge, a sophomore on campus, estimated that 25% of her daily YikYak feed is bigotry.

Bosarge also admitted to experiencing bigotry and misogyny herself. Bosarge shared how users placed the blame on her when her at-the-time partner cheated on her.

Bosarge also shared she sees Yaks about sexual assault “every single day, at least five times a day.”

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OPINIONS

Opinions Editor Jessica Johnson

Editorial

Hurricane Ian destroys homes Any Floridian knows that living on the Southwestern coast of the U.S. is a venture, considering how close some live to water in Key West. Many residents are usually avidly prepared for a large storm, typically experiencing one once every three years. They board up their windows, have preinstalled steel window panes and covers that residents only put in during tropical/severe storms, purchase elevated houses for preventive measure and simply keep rain gear in their closets. The last storm to hit Florida was Hurricane Irma in 2017.

However, nothing could have prepared anyone for how quickly the eye of this hurricane grew in the Gulf of Mexico overnight, moving inward to knock houses off their foundations in Florida and staking its claim over the daily lives of many.

Hurricane Ian approached the coast Wednesday, Sept. 28, around 3:05 p.m. At the time, the storm was still classified as a high Category 4, but when it made landfall, it began to develop into a Category 5 by midday. The night before, it was classified a Category 3.

As this is one of the biggest hurricanes in the U.S. within years according to PowerOutage.us, a website that aggregates data from utilities across the United States, “The storm knocked out power to more than a million customers across Florida,” according to the New York Times. These areas include Lee, Sarasota and Collier counties.

Many users on social media over the past few days have posted videos of the 150 mph

winds gusting through homes and palm trees, affecting electricity lines and preventing residents from leaving their homes Sept. 27. At the beginning of Ian’s storm surge, as rain poured down, some residents stayed near the coast and watched as the waves reached high heights, flooding the beaches and surrounding streets. Many began to evacuate in areas such as Tampa where there was an advisory alert or evacuation order, moving to shelters with their most important items to save. As the storm approached so quickly, some areas were being urged to shelter-in at home, waiting out the storm due to issues with traveling safely to a shelter.

The hurricane is set to leave catastrophic damage in its path with damaging winds, rain and flooding. For those hoping to enjoy the sun just like any other day, the Atlantic Ocean’s sky is instead replaced with horrifying deep, dark blues stretched over the distant horizon. Shops are devoid of bottled water, emergency supplies, outdoor industrial straps to tie down items and more. People who have had to flee their flooded homes are trudging under 6.6 inches of rainfall, and through two feet of water in the streets of Monroe County, residents leaning on each other for shelter in other areas. Some cars are stuck among the flood, and trees among house material litter the roads.

Water is approaching the doorsteps of homes, major shopping centers have temporarily closed their doors as the storm has grown hazardous, and residents are bracing for the wind gusts’ damage to hit

DOWNFALL Continued from page A3 She began a vocal campaign to take the site down once and for all. Sorrenti drew attention to their horrendous past, which grappled their site hosters’ attention. Soon, the public began pressuring CloudFlare to drop Kiwi Farms.

Under the constant complaints and evidence piling up, Cloud Flare buckled.

As of publication, it is clear Kiwi Farms is gone. There appears to be no avenue Moon can take to restart the site. While there are other sites similar to Kiwi Farms out there, none had such a grand reach as Kiwi Farms. It is a sign to those out there. That their actions have consequences.

However, some of those consequences do not affect them. The families of Terryberry, Sagal and Ginder will never see their loved

RECREATION Continued from page A3 Peanut Butter Pandemonium won first place for the peanut butter ice cream category. It’s really no surprise. Stewart’s has some of the best ice cream around.

There is a distinguished cast of flavors, suiting anyone’s requests and desires.

One of the best features is the flavors of the week. Each week a few flavors are given discounts, which is great if one of your favorites is featured.

“It’s a good store, I like their ice cream.

I think they’re a benefit to the community of Plattsburgh,” Salvatore D’Aurio, an accounting major said.

Not only is Stewart’s a staple to Plattsburgh, it’s sacred to most, if not all, of the Northeast corner of New York, and many other regions as well.

Another cultural staple in the North Country, and arguably the most important, is Lake Champlain.

Continued from page A3 University Police Chief Patrick Rascoe shared how YikYak has caused quite the trouble for UP. Due to the nature of YikYak, no data is saved on users or their posts. Due to this, police cannot subpoena information when a report is made on any alleged illegal activity on the application.

“Anytime you have an anonymous forum, it makes it difficult to verify validity.” Roscoe said.

Unlike Instagram, Facebook, or even Reddit, there is no data, so unless there is information within the Yak, UP has little to work with. Rascoe recalled an incident where a user faked a school shooting threat on YikYak, which alarmed students. However, UP was unable to do anything as there was nowhere to start their search.

The organization RAINN, Rape Abuse and Incest National Network, reports that out of every 1,000 sexual as-

Editorial Board Editor in Chief Olivia Bousquet

Managing Editor Sydney Hakes

News Editor Aleksandra Sidorova

Opinions Editor Jessica Johnson

Sports Editor Liam Sample

Arts & Culture Editor Sydney Hakes

Graphics Editor Zoe Nguyen

Photo Editor OPEN

Associate Sports Editor Collin Bolebruch

Associate Opinions Editor Bryn Fawn

Web Editor Alexa Dumas Public Relations Chair Melanie Lanzo Faculty Adviser Shawn Murphy

Contact CP: Editorial Board: 518.564.2174 or at cp@cardinalpointsonline.com

PROVIDED BY CAROL O’CONNELL

Flooding outside of Florida resident Carol O’Connell’s home in Naples Sept. 27. their homes. If the rainfall and winds overwhelms wastewater sites, wastewater could spill out into major waterways, including Tampa Bay. Residents may not have safe drinking water if this happens. It’s extremely important we recognize the impact Ian will have. The storm likely will not pass over Florida until the weekend, heading toward southeast Georgia and South Carolina. The true extent of damage in Florida won’t be seen for days.

“As the climate warms Earth’s oceans, more storms are undergoing rapid intensification. The last decade has provided a number of examples, among them Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in 2017, Hurricanes Michael and Florence in 2018 and Hurricane Ida in 2021,” according to NYT. Global climate change is happening, and it’s affecting

us in ways where eventually, it will be hard to keep up and recover from disastrous storms like this. Places such as Puerto Rico, which took massive damage from Hurricane Fiona a week ago, are still recovering from previous natural disasters, and now, we need to be there for residents of Florida and stand in solidarity with those affected. It is important to recognize even though it may not affect some directly, this is a time of uncertainty for communities of people.

This is a scary time for those caught in the storm and the catastrophic results that will be revealed when the sky clears, and the sun shines again. For those who have family and friends living in any areas affected, just know Cardinal Points stands in solidarity. We send hope, love and recovery.

one again. These three victims have been overshadowed in media coverage, and deserve better. Sorrenti has tried her best to keep their names known, and their stories told.

However with Kiwi Farms gone, Sorrenti now wishes to move on with her life. Sorrenti streams again as she used to, and will be returning home soon. It doesn’t stop her, however. Sorrenti continues to advocate for transgender rights and the betterment of the world.

Ginder ends his Twitter thread with: “Thank you all so much for the kind messages. Please take care of yourselves. I love you all very much. Thank you for all your support over the years. It’s been such an honor. I’ll miss you all so much, but at least I can finally be at peace.”

Ginder then links to a song titled “Les Voyages De L’ me”

by Alcest.

118 Ward Hall SUNY Plattsburgh Plattsburgh, NY 12901

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Lake Champlain’s history with regards to the United States goes back hundreds of years.

The Battle of Plattsburgh, a major battle in the War of 1812, was fought on Lake Champlain. Historically, it has been an important route between Canada and New York. It’s also been, and still is, a popular destination for fishing.

People from all over the country come up North for fishing tournaments during the summer. Ice fishing during the winter is also popular, with most parts of the lake freezing over during the cold months.

Nearly everyone in and around Plattsburgh is involved with the lake in some way, whether it be sailing, going to the beach, fishing or hunting. There’s pretty much something for everyone. The lake’s historical and cultural significance is not something to look past.

“I would say that Lake Champlain is significant not only just to Plattsburgh, but for the whole North Country region and to the United States of America. It provides a water route for trade from Canada and

HATRED

Friday, Sept. 30, 2022

from the Hudson river through the Champlain Canal,” said Michael Casey, the SUNY Student Assembly Vice President.

“Lake Champlain is a great place to go.

There’s some good fishing and some good boating opportunities. It’s really important to the North Country, it provides an opportunity for people to go out and have some time for recreation on the Lake.”

Lake Champlain is an amazing place to go to year round. The various parks on the New York side are great places to go to during the summer. Being on the lake during the summer is something everyone should try to do. It’s really quite the experience.

The North County, put simply, is a great place to be. There’s always a plethora of great activities to do, great food to eat and great sights to see. There’s really no other region in the country like it.

The uniqueness is part of why it’s such a substantial area.

Email ROCCO GOLDEN cp@cardinalpointsonline.com

saults, only 310 are reported to police. Of those 310, only 50 lead to arrest, and of those 50 only 25 perpetrators face jail time. The current system as it stands does not help victims of sexual assault or rape, and so it is only understandable that victims use an anonymous platform such as YikYak as an outlet; as it cannot be traced back to them and their assaulter cannot retaliate.

Rascoe implored victims to not use YikYak for legitimate reports and to instead go through the correct channels whether that is UP or Title IX. Any individual who is sexually assaulted may walk into UP to file a report. UP is open 24/7 and can assist in the process of working with Title IX and any disciplinary action. If one witnesses sexual assault, they should call 911 or UP immediately and try to get the victim to safety.

“Truth and information and the lack of truth is the detriment to our existence,” Rascoe said.

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Award Winning

Cardinal Points has received the following awards from the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP): ACP Hall of Fame Inducted in Fall 2010 All American Spring 2018, four Marks of Distinction Spring 2016, five Marks of Distinction Spring 2014, four Marks of Distinction Spring 2012, four Marks of Distinction Spring 2011, four Marks of Distinction Fall 2010, five Marks of Distinction Fall 2009, four Marks of Distinction Spring 2009, four Marks of Distinction Fall 2008, four Marks of Distinction Spring 2005, four Marks of Distinction Spring 2004, four Marks of Distinction Fall 2003, four Marks of Distinction Fall 2002, four Marks of Distinction Fall 2001, four Marks of Distinction Pacemaker Recognition Fall 2010, Honorable Mention 2006-2007, Newspaper Finalist

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News Editor Aleksandra Sidorova

COMEDY Continued from page A1 McCartney said he focuses on making sure whoever attends his shows is having fun. His favorite jokes arise from interactions with the audience.

“Those are the things that you say on the fly, which are typically the funniest, and they get the best responses, even when they’re not the best joke itself, because people know you thought of it on the fly instead of ahead of time,” McCartney said.

On his social media, McCartney describes his style simply as “struggle bus comedy,” meaning most of his jokes are based on unfortunate events that happened to him.

“What I’m really doing is not just telling stories of myself, but I’m trying to tell stories that may not be the same as other people, but people can relate to, of, like, embarrassing, unfortunate things, and feel good

TRAINING Continued from page A2 Important information for authorities to know when reporting an active shooter threat is the location of the shooting, the number of shooters, number of potential victims and types of weapons the shooter may have. When authorities arrive on scene, it is important for all those involved to stay calm, make slow movements towards officers, keep hands visible and follow all the instructions given. It is also instructed

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NEWS

Friday, Sept. 30, 2022

about knowing they’re not the only one that feels like they’re going through it,” McCartney said.

McCartney said it was “pretty cool” to perform a comedy show at his alma mater and “give back” to the community. Rodriguez said the idea for the show came from McCartney himself, and he took on the responsibility of arranging the show. Rodriguez said the SA’s role was to decide whether to host the event, provide space for the event and promote it.

“I thought it was a great idea,” Rodriguez said.

When the SA invited the comedian K-von to perform on campus in April, students wrote them so many critical emails that the show had to be canceled.

Students alleged his jokes were racist and transphobic. The back-and-forth conflict between students and the comedian resulted in K-von releasing the names and one address of the students who he said “bullied” him.

While McCartney said he had heard of the contro-

versy, he said, “I’m just focused on me and my story and doing my own thing.”

Rodriguez said the small crowd was to be expected.

“I feel like not many students like comedy shows, but it’s also that they don’t give it a chance, either,” Rodriguez said.

But the controversy surrounding K-von could also have affected the turnout for McCartney’s show.

“A lot of people didn’t think that the comedy show would work because they didn’t know what kind of comedian we had,” Rodriguez said.

“They were like, ‘Well, last time you brought someone who is super controversial to this campus, so why should we trust in you again to bring someone that isn’t like that?’”

Rodriguez said she hopes to show students that “not every comedian is controversial” by organizing more opportunities for comedians, both among students and outside, to perform on campus. In her view, comedy shows are an opportunity to connect students and

alumni, who “don’t see eye to eye.” She also said comedy shows can help students in their transition to college and adulthood.

“I think that, as a college student, you don’t

really realize that you can shy, like, ‘Oh my god, we listen to inappropriate can say that word? We can jokes,” Rodriguez said, re- hear that word, out loud?’” ferring to some of McCartney’s jokes containing explicit language and sexual Email ALEKSANDRA SIDOROVA cp@cardinalpointsonline.com themes. “You kind of get

never to leave the area until instructed to do so as the authorities may have questions regarding the incident.

Rascoe said it is important for faculty to complete this training to know how to help students in a classroom in the event of an active shooter. The training used to be offered in the past, but not during the pandemic.

Rascoe said he would like to give students active shooter training as well, but noted it would be difficult to train students in-person.

He said he was considering offering the training as an online module.

“It’s hard to give in-

person training to 4,000 students, so I’m actually contemplating what the modality would be,” Rascoe said. “I would guess that it’s going to be an online module that students would be able to watch — doesn’t need to be in-person.”

Rascoe said the training was a “necessary evil” for facing the issue of shootings.

“I think they are very important. I really feel that this process or procedure or even the way you go about thinking of what an active shooter situation is, can be applied to wherever you go and whatever incident,” said Michael Caraballo, SUNY

Plattsburgh’s emergency management director.

An active shooter threat and other emergencies such as fires are not vastly different in their procedures. Caraballo said that in any situation, even just entering a building for work or shopping, knowing your surroundings is important.

He advised to always look for an exit whenever entering a building just in case of emergency.

“I think that being prepared is part of the equation,” Rascoe said. “Prevention is the absolute number one piece of the puzzle that I’m focused on, but that is a piece of the solution — in the slim, slim

chance it happens, knowing what to do.”

Focusing on prevention, Rascoe said he has been meeting with a team consisting of FBI agents, City and State Police officers, the sheriff and mental health service providers every other Wednesday since fall 2019 for “imminent risk assessment.” At the meetings the team discusses “concerning behaviors” and learns the warning signs of likely offenders.

Rascoe also said he wanted to bring back other forms of safety training, such as fire safety, crosswalk safety and rape aggression training. However, so much

BRYN FAWN/Cardinal Points

Jonah Baker-Flora holds up a poster of McCartney’s tour and a stuffed animal that he got from participating in a skit on stage.

time has passed since the last rape aggression training that the officers giving it may need to renew their certifications.

Although it is unlikely that the SUNY Plattsburgh community faces a threat such as an active shooter, it is important to always be prepared. More information about other kinds of emergencies can be found on the Plattsburgh website under campus emergency procedures.

Email JESSICA LANDMAN & ALEKSANDRA SIDOROVA

cp@cardinalpointsonline.com

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NEWS

News Editor Aleksandra Sidorova

Friday, Sept. 30, 2022

This Week in Photos:

Late Night for the Planet Photos By Olivia Bousquet Right: Panelists Steve Peters and Jennifer Perry answer questions from hosts Devan Bushey and McKenna Kaleta.

Left: SUNY Plattsburgh students Zachary Niles and Logan Van Buren perform together as a band called The Gallery.

Below: A captivated audience listens to panelists speak about composting and the Crete Center.

Read more about Late Night for the Planet at B6.

Below: A lively crowd fills Olive Ridley’s.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

Photos provided by Brian Savard

Richardson graduated from Plattsburgh having established an unmatched legacy. In 2016, he became the third player in team history to receive SUNYAC Player of the Year.

Forever a Cardinal, Kyle Richardson

BY COLLIN BOLEBRUCH & LIAM SAMPLE Associate & Sports Editor

Kyle Richardson, alumnus and former Cardinal basketball captain, died last week at the age of 28. The loss weighs heavy over the heads of the SUNY Plattsburgh community and students both current and former.

The 2017 graduate started his collegiate career at Millersville University.

He played two seasons at MU before coming to the North Country. The move was cross-divisional as Millersville is a Division II University.

Richardson’s head coach at Plattsburgh, Tom Curle, explained that he had tried

to recruit Richardson while the prospect attended Baldwin Senior High School in Nassau County. During Richardson’s time at Millersville, he came to the realization that Plattsburgh and Division III may have been the better fit for him.

According to Curle, Plattsburgh was the only school Richardson considered during his transfer. Curle claimed that Richardson’s father wanted him to be a Cardinal all along.

At Richardson’s official campus visit, future teammate Ezra Hodgson sat with him and his family. Hodgson spoke of Richardson’s eager yet reserved nature.

Plattsburgh’s Multicultural Student Success Coach and basketball

alumnus Travis Gorham soon became a friend to Richardson. Throughout his transition to the new school, Gorham offered to be someone that he could reach out to.

“Whenever I would talk to [Richardson], he would be on his way to the gym or coming from the gym and always with an infectious smile on his face,” Gorham said. “That is what I will remember most about Kyle.”

Once Richardson got on the court, his game did the talking for him. Richardson’s coaches and teammates immediately took notice of his abilities.

“I remember thinking that the thing we really had to work with him on is just, ‘you’re not just good, you can be great. You can be

COLLIN BOLEBRUCH/Cardinal Points

Brian Carter holds the disc as Matt Braymer guards to prevent offense advancing.

one of the best. You could be the best in the league,’” Curle said. “When you get to the rim, you have to go with a purpose that nobody is going to stop [you] and once he made that realization, his athleticism really took over.”

In 2014-15, his first year at Plattsburgh, Richardson did not start for the Cardinals and was mainly utilized off the bench. He averaged 19.7 minutes and 5.6 points per game, both career highs.

Richardson brought more than pure basketball ability to the court. His former teammates testify to his leadership and humble attitude. Richardson was someone who truly cared about his teammates’ success in the sport and in life.

During his first year at Plattsburgh, first-year walk-on, and later roommate of Richardson, Majic Grigg, joined the team. Just like Richardson, Grigg was fighting to leave his mark on the team. Regardless of potential competition that could have arisen between the players, Richardson made sure Grigg was taken care of.

“He put a lot into this craft and he showed me a lot about how to work, how to become a better player,” Grigg said. “Mind you, I walked on, so I was definitely looking for leadership and he was able to give it to me.”

Grigg highlighted Richardson’s competitiveness, saying he always wanted

everyone to get better and made sure his teammates were doing the right things in practice.

Another teammate, Owen Mitchell, told a story about Richardson’s leadership off the hardwood. Going into Richardson’s senior year, firstyear Matt Fields joined the team. Fields was having trouble adjusting to the transition and felt down on himself. Richardson sat Fields down and lent a helping hand where it was needed.

Richardson, who didn’t know Fields well at the time, helped to instill the confidence that Fields needed to be a college athlete.

ALUMNUS l B3

RYAN NISTA/Cardinal Points

Junior Avery Durgan (6) and graduate student Allison Seidman (2) lead the team upfield.

PFunk, Platts’ ultimate club Women’s soccer searching for first conference victory

BY COLLIN BOLEBRUCH Associate Sports Editor

College sports are often associated with hard work, dedication and competition. PFunk just wants to have fun.

PFunk is Plattsburgh’s student-operated ultimate club. Unlike other athletics on campus, PFunk doesn’t have multiple games a week or vigorous practices. The club is branded as a place to be yourself and soak in good vibes.

The team is headed by three captains: sophomore Jonah “Moby Flick” Gray, junior Skyler “Carrie” Barker and senior Matthew “Firefighter Matt” Foy. There are no faculty affiliated with the group.

Ultimate, formerly known as ultimate Frisbee, is a fusion of football, rugby and

soccer played with a disc.

Teammates work to pass the disc to each other and up the field toward the end zone. Players can hold the disc for up to 10 seconds, but they must always stop running and set a pivot foot while they hold the disc. A catch in the end zone results in a goal and a point is added to the offense’s score.

The defense is able to cause turnovers both through a mid-air swat called a block or by forcing the offensive player to hold the disc for more than the allotted 10 seconds, called a stall. All players are constantly in motion and are required to make athletic plays.

At a typical PFunk practice, one can master their skills or can let it all loose.

“It’s really laid back, like everyone’s just there for a

good time,” Barker said.

Practice begins with warm-ups, where they can toss around a disc and chat.

Then, the captains will call for everyone to group up.

Instead of stretching or running, they’ll ask and answer a “question of the day” before their drills.

The team welcomes anyone, from experienced players to people who have never picked up a disc. At practice, captains will assist members in picking up the sport and fine-tuning their abilities.

“Not many people come into PFunk knowing how to play. We’ll teach you how to play Frisbee,” Gray said.

Signing up for the group is a one-step process. All one has to do is show up.

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BY LIAM SAMPLE Sports Editor

The Plattsburgh women’s soccer team experienced an agonizing sports phenomenon: outplaying an opponent and losing. In its recent conference game against the Geneseo Knights, the Cardinals fell 1-0 in heartbreaking fashion. A goal at the 82-minute mark from junior Dana Schoeps at the Field House Soccer Complex put the Knights over the top in their first conference game Sept. 24.

“That defines the game of soccer where you could dominate for 89 minutes and that 90th minute could go to the other team,” senior captain and goalkeeper Julia Ennis said.

Geneseo, who was projected to finish first in the SUNYAC in their preseason poll, begins 4-3-1 and extends their win streak to three. Plattsburgh begins the conference season 0-2-1.

The Cardinals’ SUNYAC schedule is front loaded in difficulty, with its first

three opponents all qualifying for the playoffs last season. Junior defender Kayla Myers spoke of how starting by playing the “stronger teams” in the conference showed the Cardinals what it needs to work on. She added that in past years she felt the team peaked early on in the season and with this year’s schedule, it allows the team to improve as it progresses.

Ennis started her second straight start for Plattsburgh after missing last weekend’s game against Cortland. Senior Angel Bennett appeared in net for Geneseo, the senior has appeared in every game this season and has a .77 goals allowed average. The senior was coming off two straight shutouts and needed to stay hot, as the Cardinal did not waste time pressuring the opponent.

Plattsburgh started the game leading possession, after the 20 minute mark, the team registered three shots in less than five minutes.

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Volleyball crushed by conference foes

BY MELANIE LANZO Staff Writer

The Plattsburgh women’s volleyball team went to Oswego State Lakers’ Max Ziel Gymnasium Sept. 23 to compete in its opening SUNYAC game. Oswego has had a winning history, with a past record of 10 wins against Plattsburgh. The Lakers went on to take the match in a 3-0 sweep. Despite the loss, the Cardinals still played a good game carried by aces, kills and blocks.

During the first set, Plattsburgh had the first point with a kill that was caught by graduate student Kaitlyn Bjeiko. The winning streak continued for the Cardinals, as first-year Jeannette Ashong and senior Jenn Braun made the score 5-4 by not only serving kills, but blocking kills coming in from the Lakers.

There were multiple attack errors by Oswego, giving an advantage to Plattsburgh. Halfway through the first set, the score was 8-5.

The streak was soon cut short with bad sets occurring on both teams’ ends.

Play-by-play started to pick up, and the score started to even out.

Oswego began to substitute players, including putting sophomore Emily Zeisler in to play. The score began to sway in the Lakers’ favor, when an attack error by first-year Cardinal Madison Bolinger made the score 9-12.

The Cardinals were stuck

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SPORTS

Sports Editor Liam Sample

with 22 points for an extended period of time, as multiple Lakers kills and Plattsburgh attack errors allowed Oswego to catch up.

The Lakers won the first set with a score of 23-25.

Less than halfway through the second set, the score was 5-4 in favor of Oswego. The Lakers won four points and consistently kept scoring kills and blocking the bad starting sets from the Cardinals. Throughout both sets, graduate student Alica Fisher stepped up in a big way for the Cardinals.

She helped to give the Cardinals a 20-17 edge toward the middle of the third set.

First-year Cardinal Maggie Lyon performed a crucial kill, but back-to-back Oswego scores led the Lakers to the 25-23 win.

“It’s normal for us to feel upset after a loss, but it’s not as bad when we feel as though we played well,” Braun said. “For the next games, I think we can improve on keeping our heads in the game and playing until the sets are over or until the whistle is blown. I think our mental toughness has been stronger this year and if we keep that up and improve it, it will help us a lot throughout the rest of the season.”

The Cardinals lost to the Cortland Red Dragons 0-3 Sept. 24, its second loss of the weekend. The first set was devastating for the Cardinals, as it quickly fell into a 0-7 holes the result of multiple attack er-

rors and Red Dragon kills.

Plattsburgh finally put points on the board when Cortland committed multiple service errors, bringing the score to 4-9.

The Cardinals were stuck with four points, until halfway through the first set, when a lone point made the score 5-19. Plattsburgh took the first-set loss with a final score of 8-25.

The second and third sets were much of the same, with final scores of 14-25 and 1125, respectively. Plattsburgh junior Emma Rivers had six assists and junior Shannon Fizpatrick defended with five digs.

“I genuinely think our defense picked up a decent amount during that game, myself included,” Braun said. “We also, as a team, did not miss a single serve throughout the game against Cortland, which is an amazing accomplishment. Some plays I am proud of is the balls we were able to pick up and keep in play, also being able to hit some of the open court, even when they had huge blocks up against us.”

The Cardinals will play today, Sept. 30, against SUNY Oneonta in Memorial Hall, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Plattsburgh will remain at home tomorrow, Oct. 1, to play the New Paltz Hawks on the Cardinals’ Senior Day.

Friday, Sept. 30, 2022

Scoreboard Schedule/Results Standings Men’s Soccer

Tennis

Men’s Soccer

Volleyball

School Brockport Oneonta New Paltz Plattsburgh Cortland Buffalo State Potsdam Oswego Fredonia Geneseo

9/24 2-0 win @ Geneseo* 9/16 2-7 loss vs. Cortland* 9/28 1-1 tie @ Potsdam* 9/17 9-0 win vs. Oswego * 10/1: vs. Brockport @1 p.m.* 9/30 @ New Paltz @ 4 p.m.* 10/4 @ Union @ 6.p.m.

10/6 vs. Brockport @ 3 p.m.*

Women’s Soccer

9/24 0-1 loss vs. Geneseo* 9/23 0-3 loss @ Oswego* 9/28 1-2 loss vs. Potsdam* 9/24 0-3 loss @ Cortland* 10/1 @ Brockport @ 1 p.m.* 9/30 vs. Oneonta @ 6.p.m.* 10/4 @ St. Lawerence @4 p.m.10/1 vs. New Paltz @ 1 p.m.*

SUNYAC Record 3-0-0 5-1-4 2-0-0 7-0-1 2-1-0 5-3-2 1-1-2 5-2-2 1-0-2 5-3-2 1-2-0 3-4-2 0-1-2 4-2-3 0-2-1 3-5-1 0-2-1 1-5-3 0-1-0 6-3-1

Cross Country

9/24 Men placed 5th of 8 @ St. Lawerence 9/24 Women placed 5th of 7 @ St. Lawerence

Women’s Soccer School New Paltz Cortland Geneseo Brockport Buffalo State Oswego Potsdam Oneonta Plattsburgh Fredonia

10/15 @ Connecticut College Invitational @ 12 p.m.

* = Conference Game

Cardinal Stats Men’s Soccer

Women’s Soccer

Goals

Brian Coughlan 3 Juan Velez 3 T-4 2

Assists

Brian Coughlan John Hayes Dylan Shalvey

Save Percentage Marcial Vasquez Teddy Healy

5 2 2

.900 .806

Goals T-4

Assists

Kirsten Villemaire Avery Durgan T-3

Save Percentage Julia Ennis Lauren Haley

2

Jenn Braun Payton Zophy Jeannette Ashong

Digs

Payton Zophy Shannon Fitzpatrick Madison Bolinger

80 80 47

2 2 1

.818 .789

112 87 74

School SUNYAC Record New Paltz 3-0 3-1 Geneseo 2-0 2-2 Cortland 2-1 3-2 Brockport 2-1 2-4 Oneonta 1-1 3-2 Plattsburgh 1-2 3-3 Oswego 1-3 1-6 Fredonia 0-3 0-6

Volleyball

Singles Overall Hallie Hurwitz Alyana Leandry Sarah Benowitz

Record 7-1-1 6-0-3 5-3-1 3-4-2 5-2-2 6-3-1 5-6-0 2-4-1 4-4-1 2-5-2

Tennis

Volleyball Tennis Kills

SUNYAC 4-0-0 2-0-1 2-0-0 2-1-0 1-1-1 1-1-0 1-3-0 0-1-1 0-3-1 0-3-0

4-1 4-2 3-3

Doubles Overall

N. Svantner & S. Svantner 4-1 Bond & Hurwitz 1-4 Leandry & J. Svanter 1-5

Email MELANIE LANZO cp@cardinalpointsonline.com

School Brockport Cortland Buffalo State New Paltz Oswego Geneseo Fredonia Potsdan Plattsburgh Oneonta

SUNYAC Record 3-0 12-3 3-0 9-3 1-0 7-4 2-1 9-2 2-1 11-6 1-2 6-8 0-1 1-12 0-2 8-4 0-2 4-7 0-3 5-7

Vasquez fuels men’s soccer’s first conference win

BY COLLIN BOLEBRUCH Associate Sports Editor

In its first conference win of the season, the Plattsburgh Cardinals men’s soccer team proved that it can rise to the occasion in the face of adversity.

The Cardinals (5-2-1) visited the Geneseo Knights (6-3) Sept. 24 for its third SUNYAC game this season. Plattsburgh came away with the 2-0 win and a much-needed initial conference victory.

The win came in wake of two big setbacks for the Cards. It lost to the New Paltz Hawks (5-2-2) at home Sept. 21 just four days after a promising tie with the No.17 Cortland Red Dragons (5-3-2).

Plattsburgh failed to score a goal in the 0-1 loss.

The game wasn’t its only loss of the day. Sophomore Teddy Healy, the team’s starting goalkeeper, was involved in a collision toward the end of the match. He finished out the game, but later visited the hospital. The incident left Healy with a bruised sternum.

“I couldn’t really think, I couldn’t really breathe or anything. It was definitely a little scary moment after the game,” Healy said.

Healy was ruled out of Saturday’s contest and he did not travel with the team to Geneseo.

He also sat out of Wednesday’s Potsdam matchup, but hopes to be back soon.

The injury thrust junior Marcial Vasquez into the starting goalkeeper role. The understudy has been with the team for three years yet has not seen any game action.

“I was kind of certain that I was going to be starting next Saturday, and then the next practice, [Head] Coach [Chris Taylor] came up to me, he said that I was going to be probably up for the next two games,” Vasquez said. “[He said], ‘Try not to make it a big deal, like keep your head and be cool’ and everything, and it turned out well, so that’s really good.”

Healy made sure the position was in good hands. Although he couldn’t physically participate at

practice, he made his presence known. Vasquez was ready for the occasion.

“Right before we left for the game, he came up to me and he was like, ‘You know, you’re going to play good. Just play the game and play it how it is,’” Vasquez said. “Him and just everyone on the team had a supportive mentality for me and it was really helping.”

Vasquez was almost immediately tested by Geneseo.

Sophomore Knight Stefen Nikolic aimed a shot at the bottom right of Plattsburgh’s goal just over nine minutes into the game. Vasquez blocked the attempt and recorded the first save of his career.

The first half was dry in the way of scoring as neither team was able to put one in the net.

Five combined shots were put up before the half. Vasquez saved another shot, this time in the top left. “[Assistant] Coach Geoff Spear came up to me and he was like, ‘Just imagine it’s just like another practice,’ and I never really looked at it like that,” Vasquez said. “That really changed how I looked at the game. It made me feel more calm, and I guess I’d say play better.”

The second half was another story. The total number of shots more than tripled and each side got its share. Scoring opened almost immediately. Plattsburgh was on the board, less than two minutes into the half. The hero of the Cortland game, senior Juan Velez, set the tone with a quick goal assisted by graduate student Trey Ekert.

“When we score we usually like to keep the foot on the pedal, but it felt like [the goal] gave us a little ease,” Velez said.

“You know how tough Geneseo can be.”

Both teams made attempts at the net over the course of the next 30 minutes, though Geneseo outshot Plattsburgh 7-2. Vasquez was credited with two saves 1:30 apart. Plattsburgh’s one-point lead seemed precarious.

Brian Coughlan was determined to seal the game with al-

RYAN NISTA/Cardinal Points

Brian Coughlan (14) clears the ball. According to an Instagram post from the team’s account, Coughlan played gaelic football in the offseason most 15 minutes left. He shook a defender, causing the Knight to fall, and raced up the baseline and nailed his third goal of the season, the decider of this match.

“We were struggling a little bit with possession in the first half and the second half. I think [senior] Christian Garner just sent a long ball down and I did a turn, and it was just 1v1 really once I was able to turn the defender,” Coughlan said. “The goal helped us a lot, and I think it gave us a little more energy.”

Vasquez was tasked with holding the lead, and he delivered.

Two more saves by the first-time starter sent the Knights back to the locker room and secured the Cardinals’ first conference win.

The Cards met Vasquez with celebration, and Healy made sure to congratulate him.

“When I came back to the locker room, and I got onto my phone, Ted [Healy] had already texted me and he was like, ‘Great game. You played great,’ and all that. It was good to know that everyone was watching even back home, up here at Plattsburgh,” Vasquez said.

Vasquez didn’t win Plattsburgh the game, but he stepped up and filled the team’s biggest

hole. The team-effort victory is monumental for the future of the Cardinals’ success in the SUNYAC this season.

Vasquez’s six saves led both teams, as Geneseo was credited with one all game. Plattsburgh recorded nine shots as a squad— its lowest in a win this season. The Cards doubled the Knights’ six fouls with 12, as well as registering the games only yellow card.

“It was a tough game, it was a tight game,” Taylor said. “[Vasquez] was unbelievable.

He set the tone with confidence and the team just worked as a unit, the individual defender was really good. He controlled the game with or without the ball. And [Geneseo] had a good team. They were dangerous at times, but we looked like we defended with a lot of composure, and it was really good leadership from a lot of the guys too.”

Plattsburgh currently stands at 1-1-1 in the conference, an improvement on last season’s 0-2-1 start. The Cardinals hope to capitalize on this year’s promising start with more consistent play against SUNYAC teams.

The Cardinals stayed on the

road and played the Potsdam Bears (4-2-3) Sept. 28 in a 1-1 tie.

Both scores came in the second half. Potsdam junior Anderson Velasquez struck first, for his seventh goal of the year. Velez scored the equalizer with 13 minutes left in the game. The two teams shot a total of 35 times, the most of any Cardinals matchup this year.

Plattsburgh comes back home to face the Brockport Golden Eagles (5-1-4) Oct. 1, its fifth SUNYAC game. Plattsburgh has won the last two matchups between the teams, dating back to 2019.

A win on Saturday would be the Cards’ first home conference victory of the season. “[Staying consistent] is just the basics of hard work, being simple. We say to the guys to show how humble you are, humble people work every single day, they don’t pick and choose,” Taylor said. “[The games] are all as valuable as another one. It’s just about the mentality to work day in and day out.”

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B3 ▪

SPORTS

Sports Editor Liam Sample

ALUMNUS Continued from page B1

Mitchell said that Richardson took Fields under his wing and told him, “we all want you here.”

His leadership and desire to get better paid off.

Richardson’s senior year was one of the greatest single seasons in Plattsburgh basketball history.

He averaged 19.9 points and 10.5 rebounds per game while shooting 31.6% from three. Richardson notched a career-high 36 point double-double at Skidmore College.

“He never cheated the game. When you saw him play out there, he never rested. He was never taking a possession off, played really very hard,” former women’s basketball head coach Cheryl Cole said.

“He was a disciplined kid.

He was a kid that did it the right way.”

Richardson’s efforts in his last season were recognized. He was named to the NABC All-American first team, All-SUNYAC first team and SUNYAC AllTournament team, on top of being awarded D3hoops All-East Player of the Year and SUNYAC Player of the Year. That season, Plattsburgh was eliminated in the second round of the SUNYAC Championship as the No.1 seed.

Years later, after graduating from Plattsburgh, Richardson was named to the SUNYAC All-Decade team.

Although the team ducked out in the conference playoffs, it still received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. Plattsburgh was eliminated in the first round. In that game, the Cardinals played Fitchburg State and lost 81-84.

Richardson led the team in points with 26 and in rebounds with 15.

“That was one of the most fun Plattsburgh State basketball teams that I can remember, and he was a big part of it,”

former classmate and Plattsburgh media member Joey LaFranca said.

LaFranca added that it was difficult reporting for the Cardinals at the time because it was hard to stay neutral when Richardson made it easy to root for him and the team.

During this time, Richardson did not let the success and accomplishments get to his head. He maintained the same humility and hard-working attitude as his first-year with the team.

Mitchell was matched up with Richardson in practice all year long. Later in the season, Richardson told him that Mitchell guarded tougher than most did in the conference. Mitchell, who was coming off the bench at the time, said Richardson’s thinking highly of his defense meant a great deal to him.

“Kyle [Richardson] had confidence in his abilities, but never stepped into arrogance,” Mitchell said.

As with most college teams, the men’s basketball players are required to participate in multiple community service events over the course of a season.

“Some of us wake up on Saturday and you’re like, ‘alright, we have to go do this,’” Hodgson said. “[Kyle Richardson] was always excited. He was always excited to go do that, to see the kids, to be a part of these charity organizations and give back.”

Curle echoed Richardson’s commitment to doing good. He talked about the Gerney family, who supported the college program.

A member of the Gerney family, Greg, has Down syndrome. During Curle’s time with the team, Greg Gerney “loved” the team. Richardson and teammate Xavier Thomas “took a lead” with Greg Gerney and “made him a part of the team.”

Richardson’s acts of kindness followed him into the classroom, where he studied as a public relations major. As a part of the program, Richardson participated in

WSOC Continued from page B1 The starting offensive trio of graduate student Allison Seidman, graduate student Kirsten Villemaire, junior Avery Durgan, alongside graduate student midfielder Sam Spear, brought the energy early and finished the game with a combined 10 shots. Villemaire said the team knew what it had to do and played the best that it had all season.

“For the first time this season, we started off strong,” Myers said. “In the locker room, we were talking about a new phrase that we are using: ‘Fight 90.’ Just making sure we fight the full 90 minutes of the game.”

The Cardinals, coming off a suffocating 2-1 loss in New Paltz, were able to deploy new offensive strategies. Due to the abundance of possession, Myers and counterpart junior defender Nora Fitzgerald were able to enter the offensive zone when the team held the ball to add an extra attacker. Myers added that Coach Frary has pushed them to get up more when the team is on offense and feels like making these types of runs will help make more offense going forward.

the year-long Campaigns course. The class immerses students in running their own hands-on campaign for a real-world client.

Richardson was assigned to work with North Country Honor Flight, a branch of a national program that brings war veterans to visit Washington D.C. Instructor of the course, professor Colleen Lemza, noted the relationship between Richardson and North Country Honor Flight Executive Director Barrie Finnegan.

Finnegan, a fan of Cardinal basketball, was thrilled to be working with a player. Lemza noticed a bond that had formed between the two.

“Kyle [Richardson]’s piece [of the project], because of Barrie’s love of basketball and because of [Kyle’s] position on the team, created an Honor Guard veterans salute at a home basketball game,” Lemza said. “Kyle [Richardson] just really got into it. I think it really made a difference in his life that these [older] veterans were at the basketball game and the entire team, the cheerleaders, and the audience and everybody [did] an Honor Guard salute to all of our veterans.”

The team presented a $650 check to North Country Honor Flight at the game. Richardson and Curle physically handed the check to Finnegan during the pre-game ceremony.

Lemza regularly worked with Richardson over the duration of the school year. She remarked that he was a “gentle soul.”

“The kid was always smiling. He was an incredibly gentle, soft spoken person,” Lemza said. “He was never grumpy or mad.”

LaFranca, a member of the same class, shared much of the same sentiment. “[The] genuine nature that he had, it was consistent, it never wavered and that’s what sticks out the most about him,” LaFranca said. “He was just a good person and more so than anything else, he

Plattsburgh left the first half dominating in shots, leading 7-2, but not able to convert any of the chances. Geneseo struggled and despite the messy effort during the half, both teams were scoreless.

Heading into the second half, the game became a tale of back and forth sequences.

Plattsburgh started hot in the first five minutes with two opportunities on shots by Spear and Villemaire. Soon after, Geneseo found their footing, responding in the next stretch with two shots and a corner kick by the 60-minute mark.

On the defensive end, the backline played strongly and made big plays throughout the game. The Cardinals finished allowing eight shots to an opponent that averages 13 per game, letting Ennis see only five of these.

“I think that if we play like that moving forward, it’s going to be really hard for teams to beat us. This Geneseo game, that’s the standard that we’re going to hold ourselves to now,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m very proud of the way we played.”

Ennis said that this defense is “one of the strongest back lines I have ever played with and seen in the conference.”

The teams were equal on possession for the remainder of the game, with Plattsburgh manufacturing a game-altering chance to try to take the lead before the 70-minute mark.

PFUNK Continued from page B1 “[My friend and I] were longboarding down the Saranac [River], we both have played Frisbee before. We saw PFunk in the field, we didn’t know what it was at the time,” Gray said. “We just played right then and there.”

PFunk’s members swear by it. In fact, its positive influence extends beyond practice and the sport. This rings particularly true for former Plattsburgh student, and now Morrisonville Elementary teacher, Lia “GDL” Fishbein.

Fishbein found herself in a difficult situation early on in her Plattsburgh career.

“Freshman year was OK. I was really thinking about transferring because I just didn’t find my group,’” Fishbein said.

Then, she discovered and joined PFunk like most of

Friday, Sept. 30, 2022

Provided by Brian Savard

Kyle Richardson (24) dribbles the ball upcourt in front of a packed Memorial Hall. was somebody that when people interacted with him, his positivity radiated to other people.”

While Richardson appeared to be shy to his professors or classmates, many of his teammates saw another side of him off the court. Grigg described Richardson as a “clown.”

Grigg said that Richardson was known by some teammates as the team barber. Secretly, he cut teammates,’ friends’ and his own hair in his apartment during his time upstate. According to a social media post by Késean Joseph, Richardson kept the operation under the radar because he thought “the line to the apartment will be out the door.”

“He had me with a couple decent cuts and a few bad cuts,” Grigg said. “We called them ‘Kyle’s Cuts’ man. He was cutting hair every day.”

Hodgson told a story of his own, describing a time the team was hanging out and Richardson had spilled a drink on his shorts. Richardson embraced the spill, made no attempt to clean it up and continued to “let it rock.”

“He was a really funny kid and just didn’t take himself seriously,” Hodgson said.

“But he cared a lot.”

For the 2016-17 season,

Richardson stayed on campus but had already used his four years of athletic eligibility. Richardson joined Curle’s coaching staff to remain a member of the team.

He spent one season as a Student Assistant Coach before graduating in 2017.

From the moment he stepped off campus, Richardson was established as a Cardinal legend. Many remembered him for his basketball abilities, but a select few got to know and love the other side of him.

In the years since, Richardson went on to be an Admissions Representative for SUNY Plattsburgh in New York City. According to Michele Carpentier, assistant vice president for enrollment and student success, director of special programs and friend of Richardson, he brought up groups of students to visit the campus.

She said that Richardson “was a great ambassador for Plattsburgh State.”

Richardson later worked toward and was “excited” about getting his real estate license, Hodgson claimed in a social media post.

“I can’t stress how important it is to be present in people’s lives, especially the people you care about,” Hodgson said. “It’s easy to lose touch with people who were once re-

Five minutes after Fitzgerald nearly netted one from a shot outside the penalty arc, Plattsburgh’s deadly offensive trio landed subsequent passes, with Seidman starting the chance off. She sent the ball to Durgan, who made a quick touch pass that led Villemaire to near the sideline deep into Geneseo’s zone.

By acting with speed, her teammates gave Villemaire time to get herself and the ball facing toward the net. She used her left foot to open a lane, where she took a low shot that got past three Knights. The ball bounced past Bennett and off the post towards the goalkeeper, where she quickly dove on it. Durgan was rushing at the net, but could not follow the bounce to stick the goal.

“I saw the lane to shoot, so I shot it far post because in soccer, far post is where the runners are usually. It skipped the defender and kind of skipped by the goalie too,” Villemaire said. “That was a really good chance that we could have idolized on, but we did not and I feel like that’s happened to us a lot this season.”

With eight minutes remaining, the Knights scored the dagger. Schoeps lurked in the Cardinal’s end to put the pressure on to make a clear. Senior Nicole Kingsley made a pass backward that Schoeps took off after the ball. She blocked the clear to create a one on one chance and found the

its members had: by showing up.

“I was living in Harrington [Hall] and we play right on Memorial [Field]. So, I just kept watching every day and I was like, ‘oh, that looks like fun’,” Fishbein said.

Joining PFunk proved to be a positive change for Fishbein. Here, she made friends and inevitably stayed at Plattsburgh. She ascribed her change of heart to PFunk.

“And then one day I just went and it was the reason I stayed at Plattsburgh, it was the reason I’m still literally living in Plattsburgh,” Fishbein said.

The team affectionately accredited her the nickname, “GDL.” The moniker refers to the amount of times her teammates have had to say “god damn it, Lia.’” She is now one of the longest-tenured members of the group, with five years under her belt.

PFunk competes in tournaments at different schools .

Most recently, the team traveled to Clarkson the weekend of Sept. 16. Usually, a tournament weekend will consist of lodging together and playing a slate of games against

ally important to you.”

Grigg invoked a similar message, especially to his former teammates.

“I think as a group, as a collective, we’re starting to understand that as brothers we need to tap into each other more,” Grigg said.

Richardson was a student who knew that doing good would bring good upon him. He pushed himself and his teammates to not just be better players, but better people. Despite his quiet temperament, his actions as a person were, in Grigg’s words, “larger than life.” He understood his status on campus, and he only used it to benefit others in the community. His loss will be felt across the SUNY Plattsburgh family.

“We were on the sideline and we were just talking, I would give him a little bit of advice on how to be a great leader and how he could just take over the SUNYAC,” Gorham said. “I was just telling him, ‘Look man, the sky’s the limit. Don’t be content with the banners on the wall. Be sure to go get your own banner and put it up there.’”

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right corner of the net for her first goal of the season.

“I feel like our team has a very good way of supporting each other when goals happen and making it a team breakdown instead of pointing at an individual.”

Myers said.

Ennis emphasized how this goal does not define the entire game and the consistency by the defense.

Despite fighting in the last minutes of play, Plattsburgh could not find the goal and dropped their second consecutive conference game. It went on to play SUNY Potsdam, where they lost 2-1 in a collapse during the final 15 minutes of the game to make their record 4-3-1 and a disappointing 0-3-1 in conference. The team goes on the road to Brockport to play the Golden Eagles Oct. 1 at 1 p.m.

“From an outside perspective, it could look a bit discouraging,” Ennis said, “We did just face a lot of our competition and probably the top three teams [in the conference] with us. From here on out, it’s going to be taking those lessons we just learned and progressing to hopefully see those teams again in the playoffs.”

Email LIAM SAMPLE cp@cardinalpointsonline.com

other schools. PFunk generally participates in two tournaments a year.

“We’d gather our team, we’d warm up a little bit, and we’ll play,” Foy said. “The rest of the day, we hung out, explored the town a little bit, got some food and then met with a bunch of other teams.”

The club runs year-long and through both semesters.

When weather permits, practices and meetings take place Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings outside on Memorial Field behind Memorial Hall. PFunk maintains its year-long status by moving indoors and adapts to play under a roof.

The club always welcomes new members. There are no try-outs, no roster trimming and no judgements. For more information, contact Barker (sbark004@plattsburgh.edu).

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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

Study hours focus on student success

BY JESSICA GRIGOLAVA Contributor

Almost six weeks into the semester, students may be finding themselves struggling in classes. Focus may be dropping, and procrastination may be rising.

Student Support Services’ study hours and tutors are eager to help students combat that.

The Student Support Service Office located in Macomb 001 has organized a daily study hall for students to efficiently get their work done. The open study hours are every Monday through Wednesday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. All students are welcome and no sign up needed. The study hall is open to attend at any time between the hours offered; you can arrive or leave at your own convenience.

Not only are there other students who are trying to complete their work, but many tutors are offered for a wide variety of subjects. Tutors are available for subjects such as biology and communications on Tuesdays from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tutoring for math is available on Wednesdays, Mondays and Tuesdays depending on the section. Tutors are present during the whole study session. Attending the study hall supports time management accountability, as well as assistance with assignments.

Doing assignments at home makes it more likely to get diverted into doing something else, whether it’s because of completing other tasks to avoid doing the work or disruptive roommates, according to an article by College Raptor. Working in a studious environment doesn’t let you easily switch from reviewing notes to watching Netflix, “being in a public space might help some students refrain from procrastinating as well. It can take some of the stress of studying away, leav- and perform better on tests.” ing you refreshed and ready to Having a daily scheduled time tackle the material. For some- to get work done provides a sense one more relaxed, they’re more of accountability and prevents likely to absorb the material

BRYN FAWN/Cardinal Points

any missed work. Unlike a work space at home, Student Support Services provides faculty members to answer the questions

students may have. Not only is there a guarantee of a crucial element of academic success, but students are also provided with

a better understanding of the content learned in class.

A dorm room may also have limited resources. The study hall provides computers, printers, scanners and other helpful supplies that are easily accessible. Setting a designated time for productivity will ensure that you get your work done and avoid procrastination. Whether working in an apartment, common area or your room, there is a bigger area to lay out notebooks and textbooks, and provide a more beneficial layout to complete tasks. Feeling cramped or disorganized may deter students from doing any work in general, leaving an incomplete assignment that can hinder grades.

This fall semester is also the first time SSS offers a neurodivergent study skills specialist, Marlee Bickford-Bushey, who is there every Tuesday. This is a great opportunity to make it easier to complete tasks whether it’s for school or daily life skills.

If students are unable to make it when she is available during study hours, she also offers her office as a safe space for neurodivergent students, whether it’s an educational question or just having a conversation with someone who understands struggles faced in a college setting.

“A lot of people don’t realize how much effort we need to put into everyday tasks that other people don’t realize are casual actions for them,” BickfordBushey said. If there is a need for help with scheduling, writing, or navigating the university, she is here to help.

A productive atmosphere is important. Take advantage of the opportunity to get work done in a timely manner with assistance from staff and motivation from your surroundings. SSS is providing a chance for academic success for SUNY Plattsburgh students.

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Platts community reads banned books

BY KIYANNA NOEL Staff Writer

Feinberg Library’s Director Elin O’Hara-Gonya hosted the annual Banned Books Read Out Sept. 21 from noon to 2 p.m. Approximately 25 students and faculty gathered in the Reading Room located on the third floor of Feinberg Library to share pieces of literature and why it has been added to the list of banned books.

“We’re facing an unprecedented number of attempts to ban books,” O’HaraGonya said. “The American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom has tracked 729 challenges for libraries, school and university materials and services in 2021. This resulted in more than 1,597 individual book challenges or removals. It should be noted that not all challenges result in a removal.”

“Books Unite Us, censorship divides us” was not only the motto, but the theme for the read-out. O’Hara-Gonya emphasized the importance of reading banned books and how they unite us by allowing us to sympathize with one another as well as how censorship creates a distance between communities and separates them all together.

“It is my personal belief that sharing stories, particularly those important to us as a community, means sharing a part of ourselves,” O’Hara-Gonya said.

“I don’t think anyone can argue against the fact that books reach across boundaries, they build connections, thus building empathy between readers.”

According to O’Hara-Gonya most of

ROLDNARDY NORELUS/Cardinal Points

the targeted books were by or about Black or LGBT persons. Many of the readers read books surrounding problems and struggles within the Black and LGBT communities, such as “Felix Ever After” by Kacen Callender, “The Bluest Eye,” by Toni Morrison and “George” by Alex Gino.

O’Hara-Gonya kicked off the meeting with words from the novel, “It Gets

Better” by Dan Savage and Terry Miller, which is a part of a movement for the LGBT community as a way to bring awareness to the rising suicide rates.

English Literature and English Language Arts student Alexa Dumas expressed she is fascinated by banned books. Dumas read a passage from “The Witches” by Roald Dahl which was added to the banned books list in 1983

because of the description of women. In the book, a young boy’s grandmother warns him about witches and how to identify them.

Associate Librarian Mila Su took part in the read out. Su gave a bit of background and read the children’s book, “The Rabbits’ Wedding” by Garth Williams. This book was published in 1958 and banned in 1959 in Alabama because it promotes interracial marriages. When Su found out the book was banned, she looked to her mother for guidance, who reiterated to her the color of the rabbits getting married.

Assistant Director for Library & Technology Communications Mark Mastrean read from the children’s poetry book “Where the Sidewalk Ends” by Shel Silverstein.

This children’s book was published in 1974 and banned in 1986 because it allegedly draws references to drugs, suicide, and disrespecting authority figures.

The Annual Banned Book read-out was concluded by O’Hara-Gonya’s call to action and reminding the audience of the importance of having banned books be accessible.

“So consider this on behalf of Feinberg Library a call to action for reader’s whether you’re a college student or simply later on in your life a member of your local public library community across the country to push back against censorship attempts in your community,” O’Hara-Gonya said.

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B5 ▪

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ARTS & CULTURE

Arts & Culture Editor Sydney Hakes

OLIVIA BOUSQUET/Cardinal Points

Zach Niles looks to the audience for help in guessing if a book is compostable or not.

PLANET Continued from page B6 The first one of the fall semester, Late Night for the Planet is a monthly event hosted by the Center for Earth & Environmental Sciences department at SUNY Plattsburgh. Future dates can be found on the Late Night for the Planet Facebook page.

Founded by Associate Professor of Environmental Science Curt Gervich in 2018, Late Night is “Plattsburgh’s first and only late night talk show about our community and environment. It is written and hosted by students and features local guests, commentary and games,” according to the late Night for the Planet Facebook page.

September’s guests were Jennifer Perry of Compost for Good and Steve Peters of Adirondack Coast Sports. Perry talked about her company’s involvement in local composting, informing the audience of what composting can look like on a large or small scale. Peters covered a few topics, the most notable being the future of the Crete Memorial Civic Center, a hot topic among Plattsburgh locals.

First on the stage, Perry talked a little about what composting is, the different ways it can be done and the benefits. Compost for Good focuses on communityscale composting, where individuals can bring buckets of food scraps to a composting site.

“As a community, we want healthy soil fertility, for our food, for our water,” Perry said. “Food put into a landfill, piled under trash will become anaerobic, rotting and producing methane gas which then will run-off into fertilizer. The nutrients that could

have been reused are lost.”

A small operation of about three people, Compost for Good has six community-scale composting sites in the North Country. Two spots in the city are behind the North Country Co-op on Bridge Street and at the Saturday farmers market on Green Street.

More information can be found on the Compost for Good Facebook page, or adkaction.org.

After her panel, a game determining what’s trash and what’s compost was played. Audience members were invited to the stage to make their best guesses.

At 8:30 p.m., Peters was welcomed to the stage. He began by giving a background of the Crete Center, with its completion in 1974 by the Crete brothers as an ice rink and event space. A turf was added in 2001 and has been a location for youth and adult sports leagues since then.

Although seen as a community staple with many supporters, money was inconsistently invested into the center. Peters said there were many reasons behind that.

“The city always said there was something else that needed funding first or it was an election year or the budget was too tight,” Peters said. “The center was also not getting enough use. It was too small to be a destination for outside sports events, and too big for local events. On top of that, the economic toll of COVID-19 led to the previous mayor killing recreational programs.”

Not even 50 years old, the Crete Center is falling apart. From the outside, it looks abandoned. The parking lot is filled with weeds peeking through the cracks and the white lettering has stained the dark siding. However, the more serious issues lie within

Friday, Sept. 30, 2022

OLIVIA BOUSQUET/Cardinal Points

Steve Peters talks to Devan Bushey and McKenna Kaleta about the Crete Center.

the walls. There is no insulation, structural issues and sewage issues, among many others.

The question plaguing the community and local government is to short-term renovate to keep the center up for another season or tear down.

Peters, who has been running the recreation department for 10 years, said the future of the center is uncertain. He wants to do what’s best for the kids and community, whatever that may be.

“Regardless of the Crete Civic Center, there should be a focus on building community through sports,” Peters said. “We need to look at world class parks, beaches and centers and think ‘what are those cities doing right?’”

The topic turned to his company, Adirondack Coast Sports, and his passion for providing sports opportunities to youth and adults in the North Country.

The game following his panel was a version of “Family Feud.”

Audience members were pitted against one another, competing to answer questions about the most popular youth sports and top environmental concerns.

This Late Night was a standout from ones in the past. The turnout was double than previous Late Nights, one of the two hosts, Devan Bushey, speculated. She credits that to the band playing before and after the panels.

The Gallery is made up of SUNY Plattsburgh students Billy Gagnon, Zach Niles, Stephen Geiling and Logan Van Buren.

They’ve played Late Night before and seemed to have many friends in the crowd. First-year Athena Pinelli said she came to see the band, but stuck around to watch the panels.

“I’m friends with some people in the band, but I found the event really informational,” Pi-

nelli said. “It was fun to watch the games, and I got to meet some new people.”

Like many younger students who find themselves stuck in the bubble of campus life, Pinelli said this was one of the first times coming to an event downtown.

Late Night hopes to keep connecting the college community with the local community.

“A lot of the time, students don’t know the community, but that doesn’t mean they’re not a part of it,” Bushey said. “The things we talk about here are things we need to talk about. It will affect all of us living in Plattsburgh.”

This was Bushey’s, and her cohost McKenna Kaleta, first time hosting Late Night. Many of the students involved last semester graduated, almost all of the current staff were new.

While Bushey calls Gervich the heart of Late Night, it’s a student run event.

“Curt [Gervich] plants the seeds, we run with it,” Bushey said. “The hosts do the research leading up to the panels, come up with the questions, come up with the games and advertise.”

An environmental science senior, Bushey was nervous about hosting, although that didn’t show when she was on stage, often making jokes, interacting with the audience and facilitating games.

She was nervous about more than just public speaking, but the potential reactions to talking about the Crete Center.

Rightfully so, as an older audience member spoke up during Peters’ time on stage, interrupting him to ask why a grant can’t be written to fix the issues within the center instead of demolishing it. He then turned to Mayor Chris Rosenquest, fitted in a blazer and nursing a beer, who had been standing in

the back among the audience.

Rosenquest has pushed to tear down the center citing it would be cheaper than renovating.

An answer from Rosenquest was put on hold as Bushey gained control of the room again, professionally diverting to another question for Peters.

He even came up and praised her afterward for staying on track in a “crazy moment.”

This was also the first semester that Late Night has received funding from the Lake Champlain Basin Program. From their website, “coordinates and funds efforts that benefit the Lake Champlain Basin’s water quality, fisheries, wetlands, wildlife, recreation and cultural resources, in partnership with government agencies from New York, Vermont and Québec, private organizations, local communities and individuals.”

Bushey said the money will go toward things like new microphones, lights and stipends for the students working on Late Night.

It’s an experiment, wanting to see if the event is making an impact based on numbers of attendees. The funding is not guaranteed past the current semester.

Bifolds with QR codes littered the tables. The hosts made a plea to the audience to fill out the surveys – the information going straight to the Basin Program.

The night closed out with The Gallery playing a few more songs, the audience pushing the tables to the side to crowd the stage, a loud end to a Tuesday night.

While the first Late Night for the Planet was filled with excitement, the rest are sure to be worth attending. Panelists will be announced at future dates.

Email SYDNEY HAKES

cp@cardinalpointsonline.com

BY KIYANNA NOEL Staff Writer

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

March 21 - April 19

April 20 - May 20

May 21 - June 20

June 21 - July 22

The 7 of Worlds card represents having a breakthrough. You may overcome obstacles and mental barriers this week.

The Ace of Worlds card represents success. You may experience an impulsive feeling to get your life together.

The 8 of Cups represents being stagnant and isolated. You may want to self-isolate and take some time to focus on yourself.

The Man of Cups represents being excited and being a thrill-seeker. Remember boundaries aren’t always a bad thing and to keep your emotions under control.

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

July 23 - August 22

August 23 - September 22

September 23 - October 22

October 23 - November 21

The Chariot card represents being triumphant and experiencing success after struggling.

The Sage of Cups represents being rejuvenated and filled with positive energy. You may feel emotionally strong this week.

The 6 of Crystals card represents confusion. Try not to dwell too much on your thoughts and remember to organize your ideas.

The 5 of Cups card represents disappointment. Try not to drown in your sorrows and accept things for what they are.

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

November 22 - December 21

December 22 - January 19

January 20 - February 18

February 19 - March 20

The Emperor card represents getting the fruits of your labor and having control of your situation after being persistent.

The 10 of Cups card means feeling content and happy with a situation.

You may have finally come to peace with something chaotic in your life.

The 5 of Crystals card represents negativity. Try to stand strong in your boundaries and remind yourself of the pros in every situation.

The 7 of Cups card represents fear.

Your fears may be getting comfortable in your subconscious, but remember to take risks and take the time to reflect on them.

B6 ▪

Arts & Culture Editor Sydney Hakes

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ARTS & CULTURE

Friday, Sept. 30, 2022

Late Night for the Planet returns

BY SYDNEY HAKES Managing/Arts & Culture Editor

Music could be heard echoing up the sidewalk before reaching the door of Olive Ridleys Tuesday, Sept. 20. It was local band The Gallery, opening for the main event of the night, Late Night for the Planet.

PLANET l B5

ZOE NGUYEN/Cardinal Points