Observer Issue 4 Spring 2024

Observer the

March 13, 2024

The Student Voice of Fordham Lincoln Center

VOLUME XLIV, ISSUE 4

Remembering Luke Santos, 20

By MEGAN YERRABELLI AND INSIYA GANDHI Asst. News Editor and News Editor

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Poet Ama Birch Performs Spoken Word at Lipani Gallery

By VALERIE TAURO Contributing Writer

New York-based poet Ama Birch gave a live performance of her spoken word album “Fresh Pond Road” as well as some poems from her collection “Remember the Mespeatches Who Resided at the Bad Water Place” on March 7 in Fordham Lincoln Center’s Lipani Gallery. Birch was accompanied by percussionist Ryan Sawyer and the event was the second installment of the gallery’s “Words & Sounds Series.”.

The poetry collection from Birch’s spoken word album consists of 19 list poems, each of which detail the storefronts and signs decorating Fresh Pond Road: a diagonal road in New York City’s largest borough, Queens, that stretches from Maspeth to Ridgewood.

The album recording of “Fresh Pond Road” has a melodic component and several production effects used on both the instruments and Birch’s voice. Birch mentioned that in past album performances, there have even been saxophone accompaniments which have provided a jazz-influenced backdrop.

For this performance, however, she shared that she wanted to try a “high drum/low drum” dynamic to draw attention to the percussiveness and rhythm of her vocal delivery. Although she was

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aiming to be the higher-pitched drum in this duo, the sound of her voice thumping into the sensitive microphone produced a bass drum sound, transforming her voice into two drums simultaneously.

The duet between Birch and Sawyer was not rehearsed — this performance was their one and only take.

“I’m interested in phenomenology, and I’m interested in the aesthetics of free jazz and improvisation,” Birch said. “And so I don’t plan out where I’m going to inflect my voice as I move through my poetry. I let that happen with feeling, and I don’t expect to perform it the same way every time.”

The event was a small affair in the corner of the gallery with ambient pink, orange and blue lighting.

Birch was seated on a stool front and center and Sawyer was nestled off to the side with nothing but a snare drum, hi-hat and a few auxiliary percussion instruments.

It was a cozy, informal setting that placed the audience on almost the same level as Birch, suggesting a lighthearted, intimate conversation. The setting, however, was in stark contrast to the radical subject material of Birch’s poetry and the frenzied energy of Sawyer’s accompaniment. see POETRY page 13

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Luke Santos, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’26 and an economics student who was remembered for his passion for politics, inquisitiveness and kindness, died on Tuesday Feb. 20 in New York, New York; he was 20 years old.

The cause of death was undisclosed.

The following day on Feb. 21, University President Tania Tetlow sent an email to the Fordham community regarding Santos’ passing.

“We will forever hold Luke’s memory in our hearts,” Tetlow

wrote. “We pray hard for Luke’s family and friends who are grieving right now at this terrible tragedy.”

Born on April 4, 2003, in Newton, Massachusetts to Albertino Santos and Allison Bailey, Santos graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2021. He studied economics at FCRH and was heavily involved in politics at both the local and national levels.

According to an obituary from Keefe Funeral Home, Santos had been interested in politics since the age of 14. see LUKE SANTOS page 4

Graduate Student Workers Enter 18th Month of Contract Negotiations with Fordham

By ALEXA VILLATORO News Editor

The Fordham Graduate Student Workers Union (FGSW) remains in contract negotiations with Fordham University after a year and a half of bargaining sessions since the graduate students first unionized during the spring 2022 semester. FGSW has continued to

demand higher pay and better healthcare benefits, two of the most significant areas of disagreement between both parties.

FGSW represents over 350 student workers at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) during each semester.

FGSW is negotiating its first contract, which will solidify and grant labor protections,

increases in compensation and improvements to work benefits, including healthcare.

Members of the union include PhD candidates, some of whom are required to meet a pedagogy or teaching requirement at Fordham for their degrees.

According to a tweet on Jan. 23 from the union on X, formerly known as Twitter, over 200 of its graduate student instructors teach courses that include more than 10,000 enrolled students per academic year.

In the 18 months since FGSW and the university have been bargaining, tentative agreements have been reached on numerous articles, such as academic freedom, protections for international student workers, and grievance and arbitration processes, among others.

Progression of the Bargaining Sessions

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FGSW has been bargaining with the Fordham administration for 18 months.

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The union’s initial proposition for compensation for graduate student workers was a base pay of $60,000 dispersed over the academic year and has decreased to a starting stipend rate of $47,219 in what the union calls a “willingness to compromise.” Currently, the stipend rate for graduate student workers begins at $27,231. see FGSW page 3

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Ease in Access to Ozempic For Weight Loss Raises Concerns

Fordham students share their opinions regarding the injectable drug and the role of weight loss drugs in society

By STEVIE FUSCO Asst. News Editor

Ozempic, an injectable drug that slows digestion and suppresses appetite, has dominated the diabetes drug market since it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October 2017. In 2023, Ozempic commanded the spotlight for its use to lose weight after numerous celebrities claimed they were using it for aesthetic weight loss — the FDA has yet to approve the drug for this purpose.

Known generically as semaglutide, Ozempic is marketed as an injectable drug to treat adults with type two diabetes. The drug is a weekly injection that lowers blood sugar by helping the pancreas produce more insulin. This imitates the production of the GLP-1 hormone, which causes the movement of food to slow down as it passes through the stomach — this signals to the brain that the body is full, which results in a decreased appetite.

According to Ozempic’s official website, the use of the drug is recommended “along with diet and exercise to improve blood sugar (glucose).”

Trilliant Health, an analytics firm, released a 2023 report which showed that there has been a sharp rise in the demand for GLP-1s and similar functioning drugs to cause weight loss.

According to the report, national spending on semaglutide

exceeded $10.7 billion in 2021, the fourth highest across drug classes. Prescription volumes for GLP-1 medications have increased by 300% between the beginning of 2020 to the end of 2022.

Among the celebrities who have reported using Ozempic or other GLP-1 medications include Elon Musk, Chelsea Handler and Remi Bader, according to Buzzfeed News.

Cara Gilbert, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’24, who is prescribed oral drugs with similar functions as Ozempic, expressed concern with the impact of the newfound celebrity status that diabetes drugs have gained because of the cosmetic desire to lose weight.

“I believe that celebrities glamorizing the use of weight loss drugs, specifically, ones that can and should be used for disorders, such as diabetes, is a problem because those medicines are already difficult to get for people who actually need them,” she said.

Gilbert shared that she is currently prescribed metformin and topiramate to treat polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition that causes prediabetic symptoms. She noted that she could have been prescribed Ozempic, but added that her physician chose not to prescribe the drug due to its extreme side effects — thyroid tumors, pancreatitis, kidney failure and cancer.

An anonymous student, who chose not to disclose their identity in fear of social and familial backlash, shared that they are currently prescribed Ozempic through an online medical prescription website. They noted that obtaining the drug is not difficult and added that they were able to mislead physicians on an undisclosed site that offers prescription drugs virtually, in order to access the drug by falsely filling out a medical questionnaire.

“I lied on the form and I exaggerated how much weight I had and my height,” the student said.“I just clicked whatever I thought was gonna get me the prescription.”

The student was able to get injections of Ozempic shipped to them directly after a healthcare provider approved the prescription. The student claimed to have taken the medication for three months, stating that most of the weight loss occurred in the first month.

Another drug prescription website, Ro.co, advertises Ozempic as a “revolutionary medication” that targets weight loss and helps patients “feel fuller, faster.” Although the site specifies that the drug is not approved by the FDA, it states that it can be prescribed for weight loss should the provider “deems it appropriate.”

According to another drug prescription website, futurhealth.com, approval for

the medication can take as little as a five-min quiz.

The popularity of Ozempic has allegedly led to parties that encourage the use of Ozempic as a part of the night’s festivities. According to a flier used to advertise a party hosted on Dec. 16, 2023 in the Lower East Side, 0.5 mg injections of the drug were promoted to event goers.

New weight loss drugs are pending approval from the FDA.

Novo Nordisk, the company behind Ozempic and Wegovy — a weight loss drug approved by the FDA which works by using a higher dose of the active ingredient semaglutide in Ozempic — is working on releasing a new weight loss supplement in the form of a pill. The new supplement beat Wegovy's weight loss results in a recent trial.

Alexa Villatoro contributed additional reporting to this story.

GRAPHIC BY GIADA EVANGELISTA/THE OBSERVER

Ozempic has become an increasingly popular diabetes medication after its approval in 2017.

Fordham ‘Elevates’ Chief Diversity Officer Role to a Vice President Position

Tetlow announced a committee to search and evaluate candidates for the university’s first vice president for equity and inclusion, which was previously an associate position

By GABRIELLA GUTIERREZ Asst. News Editor

The university has shifted the role of the chief diversity officer from an associate vice president position to a vice president position, assuming the title of vice president for equity and inclusion and becoming a member of the president’s cabinet. The decision was communicated in a university-wide email sent on March 4 which was co-signed by University President Tania Tetlow and Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Dennis C. Jacobs.

The position designates additional responsibilities involving diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) across Fordham’s divisions, schools, colleges and units, while serving as a cabinet advisor to the president.

In the email, Tetlow and Jacobs expressed the necessity of the role following a review of past work that had prioritized DEI. “This decision underscores the importance we place on DEI as fundamental to our Catholic and Jesuit mission and critical to our success as a university,” Tetlow and Jacobs said. “We must ensure that our policies, programs, and practices are equitable and inclusive and that we cultivate an environment where every member of our community can thrive.”

In addition to being an active member of the president’s cabinet, the vice president for equity and inclusion will be tasked with

sitting on the council of deans and the president’s advisory council, thereby assuming a larger role in university-wide decision-making processes reflecting DEI. Added responsibilities to this role will also include supervision over Fordham’s Higher Education Opportunity Program, College Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP), Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP), and Talent Search Program.

According to Jacobs, the position will set strategic initiatives outlining DEI while also embracing Catholic and Jesuit values.

“At this point in Fordham's history, we wanted to position this elevated role as a vital member of Fordham’s senior leadership team — an expert, strategic advisor, and change agent who helps the University achieve its Jesuit ideals,” Jacobs said.

The university has established a search committee, led by Lerzan Aksoy, dean of the Gabelli School of Business, to fill the role of vice president for equity and inclusion, following Fordham’s inaugural Chief Diversity Officer Rafael Zapata stepping down in September 2023 to focus on “an aging family member.”

The committee will conduct a national search to identify and assess incoming candidates by the end of May. They are composed of 12 members, each of which span from various backgrounds and departments such as STEP/CSTEP Programs, the Black Law Student Association (BLSA), Student Affairs for Diversity and Inclusion,

PHOTO COURTESY OF LERZAN AKSOY

Dean of Gabelli School of Business Lerzan Aksoy leads the search committee for the inaugural position.

Center for Community Engaged Learning, and more.

As chair of the search committee, Aksoy is tasked with ensuring members have the necessary information to evaluate the candidates, lead listening sessions, convene interviews and meetings, and ensure feedback and choices of candidates are conveyed fully to the provost and president.

“The president and provost selected committee members to represent the full range of stakeholders across the University, with an eye to committee members who were best positioned to understand how the candidates measure up to the University’s requirements and needs, to ultimately help us deliver upon our mission,” she said.

According to Aksoy, the vice president for equity and inclusion will benefit Fordham’s student body by ensuring a sense of belonging, and allowing the university to make better use of its resources.

Raissa Ebeh, Fordham Law School ’25 and president of the BLSA, shared that she is excited to be a member of the search committee. Ebeh added that she believes the position is a testament to Fordham’s commitment to DEI. “It makes me proud in being a Fordham law student and Black woman to see our university solidifying its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, especially through establishing a cabinet position to our president,” she said.

Ebeh, alongside Aksoy and the committee, encourages students, staff and faculty to assist her through this necessary process, as they will be hosting several listening sessions in March.

An administrator and staff listening session was hosted on March 7 at 4 p.m. and a graduate and undergraduate student listening session was hosted on the following day on March 8 at 1 p.m.. The committee has also hosted the third session of the series, a faculty listening session, on March 12 at 4 p.m..

“We can only bring so much as a committee to the interview process for a vice president, so it will be great to hear from our community rather than reviewing resumes,” Ebeh said.

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March 13, 2024

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FGSW and Fordham Reach Agreements on Some Stances Through the Negotiations

The 18-month long deliberations have made some headway, but compensation and healthcare remain among the strongest areas of disagreement FGSW from page 1

Throughout negotiations, the university has only been willing to increase this stipend rate by $2969 since deliberations began in October of 2022. FGSW is advocating for higher compensation in order to meet New York City living wages, which according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is approximately $69,280 for a single adult.

Student workers are also subject to high healthcare premiums through an optional university-provided policy from Aetna. Students must be insured, regardless of whether they opt into Fordham’s health insurance policy or not. Union members also feel strongly that student workers should not be subject to general, technology, and international student services fees.

“ It’s been almost

two years since we unionized and they are still claiming that there isn’t money to pay their teachers while spending money on things like new executive positions,

”

Hilary Bylund, PhD candidate studying theology in GSA

According to FGSW, graduate student workers making the base stipend rate paid 9.6% of their pre-tax compensation back to the university in fees and healthcare premiums, lowering the actual net income.

The university did not respond to The Observer’s request for comment.

Amal Zaman, an English PhD candidate in GSAS, previously served as a bargaining committee member and was part of the union’s founding organizing committee. Zaman has expressed frustration with the little movement the university has made toward the union’s propositions on compensation and healthcare.

“When I talk to my students, and they express frustrations or nervousness about the job market, or like how they’re going to become adults, and what are they going to do, and how are they going to pay for things, I feel I’m also fighting for them,” Zaman said.

Calls for Healthcare Benefits Healthcare premiums for graduate student workers are $1,427 per semester after a 67% subsidy is applied by the university. FGSW demands that the university be responsible for subsidizing the full cost of healthcare, since the healthcare policy is subject to premium increases and potential changes to the health plan. As of the most recent bargaining session on March 7, the university proposed a 25-50% coverage on a dental plan, though the cost of this is not yet known.

The university has proposed an 8% increase in the subsidy on the health insurance premium, which entails a subsidy of an undisclosed amount. Zaman

OWAMI MASIYANDIMA-MLOTSHWA/THE OBSERVER

Although the two parties have reached tentative agreements in some aspects, FGSW remains steadfast in its pursuit for better compensation and healthcare.

explains that should the university choose to increase the cost of the health insurance, the current contractual agreement for the 67% subsidy could result in a raise of a premium costs anyways.

Hilary Bylund, a PhD candidate studying theology in GSAS, said that she came to Fordham because of its values but has become deeply disappointed and frustrated by what she characterizes as Fordham’s “unwillingness to address the unjust and dire working conditions” of some graduate workers with sufficient urgency.

“ Right now we pay

them as much or more than we would pay a part-time adjunct, who has a lot more experience, because we’re giving our graduate students a chance to learn how to teach, and many of them are brilliant at it,. ”

Tania Tetlow, Fordham University president

“It’s been almost two years since we unionized and they are still claiming that there isn’t money to pay their teachers while spending money on things like new executive positions,” Bylund said.

Communicating with the Administration In a press conference held on March 1, 2023 with The Observer and The Fordham Ram, Rose Hill’s undergraduate publication,

University President Tania Tetlow said that the university is trying to balance “wanting to do right” by those employed by the university and students, who she says pays for full-ride graduate student scholarships and stipends through tuition.

“Right now we pay them as much or more than we would pay a part-time adjunct, who has a lot more experience, because we’re giving our graduate students a chance to learn how to teach, and many of them are brilliant at it,” Tetlow said.

Not all PhD students are actively taking coursework at the university, which is part of the tuition that Tetlow refers to.

Zaman says she is working on her dissertation while teaching and is not enrolled in any classes.

Currently, the cost of her enrollment is approximately $3,000.

According to U.S. News and World Report, many PhD programs are fully funded by their respective institutions.

FGSW claims the university has sufficient funds to cover the cost of increased stipend rates for graduate student workers, and the union often points to administrative expenses that have increased while instruction and research costs have decreased according to 2022 and 2023 financial audit reports.

“Fordham’s upper administration tries to frame our fight as selfish or entitled to divide solidarity on campus by saying our wages will come out of student tuition or our colleagues’ salaries,” Zaman said. “But I want people to ask why this argument only shows up when instructors and workers ask for basic necessities like healthcare and never in regards to the six-figure salaries of upper administrators.”

According to Fordham’s financial audits and tax filings, numerous administrative positions are compensated at a salary higher than half a million dollars. In 2022, Dennis C. Jacobs,

the provost and senior vice president of academic affairs, earned $651,282 in compensation, and Martha Hirst, former senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, earned $613,746.

At the student press conference in March 2023, Tetlow also stated that an increase in graduate student worker pay in the multiples of what another “more experienced instructor” earns is an “ethical issue.”

Under the contract for adjunct faculty members, represented by Fordham Faculty United (FFU), which was ratified in January 2023, part-time instructors with zero to three years of experience at the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) will see an increase in compensation per course from $7,000 to $8,500 over the course of three years. Part-time instructors in the Graduate School of Social Services with a master’s degree and zero to three years of experience will see an increase from $4,900 to $6,900.

Total compensation may range from $27,600 to $34,000 for minimum experience and qualifications by 2026. Adjunct faculty members are capped at teaching two courses per semester, and many teach at other universities simultaneously to optimize earnings.

FFU union members were unable to negotiate a health insurance policy and settled with the university on a flexible savings account. These funds can be used on health expenditures, a portion of which are contributed to the account by the university.

Current State of the Negotiations According to the university’s Communications Workers of America negotiations updates page, GSAS graduate student workers generally receive a full-tuition scholarship in addition to the stipend, and their part-time work is capped at 19

hours per week.

FGSW union members remain persistent to gain wins in compensation and healthcare. In a compilation of data created by FGSW on the cost of living and base stipends for graduate students at universities across the country, the base stipend pay for Fordham graduate student works is 39.3% of the New York City living wage as calculated by MIT. Some universities with lower endowments and a higher or similar count of graduate student workers compensate at 50% or higher of the local living wage.

This includes Temple University in Philadelphia, which pays a base stipend of $24,000 and employs 700 student workers, and DePaul University in Chicago, which provides a base stipend of $25,000 and employs 300 student workers.

Apart from compensation and healthcare concerns, FGSW is determined to ban the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDA) across the university in cases of harassment and discrimination. Zaman says that Fordham proposed a ban on the use of NDA’s in these cases for union members only, but that no tentative agreement has been reached because the union believes the ban should apply to the whole university.

Both the union and university have also agreed on protections for international students should the student be subject to visa and immigration proceedings, which are routine for those renewing their status. In February, Fordham proposed that it reserved the right to replace international students and not reinstate them if they were away for longer than two weeks. According to Zaman, the university and union tentatively agreed to not replace these student workers as of the March 7 bargaining session.

FGSW and Fordham will meet again on March 15 for their next bargaining session.

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‘He’s Such a Light’: Student With a Penchant for Public Service Dies at 20

Santos is remembered for his curiosity, hardworking nature and eagerness to help others LUKE SANTOS from page 1

“His passion for life and service led him into organized politics after an 8th grade field trip to the Massachusetts State House sparked his interest, drawing him to have his own personal business cards printed, don his suit and tie, and venture back to the State House on his own to introduce himself to whomever he could,” the obituary stated.

“ He was always

someone you wanted to have your back, you wanted to have him in your corner, he was just so amazing, ”

Olwyn Voss, FCRH ’24

By the age of 20, Santos had worked on numerous political campaigns and was heavily involved with the Massachusetts Democratic Party. In 2018, Santos assisted in the planning and execution of the Democratic State Convention as well as the statewide coordinated campaign.

Steve Kerrigan, chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, spoke fondly of his experience working with Santos.

“Luke was full of energy, bounding through life with a relentless drive and curiosity,” he said. “Luke brightened the room and the lives of so many during his time not just at MassDems, but also on the campaigns of Senator Elizabeth Warren, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Mayor Marc McGovern, Sam Gebru and so many others.”

Santos’ dedication to public service was especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to an obituary from Cambridge Day, Santos founded the Mask Up project, a volunteer

group of Cambridge High School students who organized the creation of over 800 face masks from recycled fabric. The group distributed them at no cost to local shelters, organizations and residents.

Moving to New York City did not prevent Santos from continuing his work in politics. Upon arrival at Fordham, he immediately began contributing to Christopher Bae and New York City Council Members (NYCC) Julie Won of District 26 and Yusef Salaam of District 9’s NYCC campaigns.

Olwyn Voss, FCRH ’24, said that she first met Santos at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in a women, gender and sexuality studies class, where he was the only man in a class of women.

“He was such a ‘smartie,’ constantly participating, it blew my mind, he had such a knowledge of politics and was so respectful of everyone’s opinions at the same time,” Voss said.

“ I know he is cheering

me on and carrying on all his friends and family,” she said. “I think about that and it brings me a lot of peace and comfort. ”

Olwyn Voss, FCRH ’24

The two re-met in a chance encounter on the Metro-North, where they rekindled their friendship.

Voss also recalled the joy Santos exuded during a ski trip they embarked on alongside her younger sister this past winter break in New Hampshire.

“That’s something I hold on to a lot when I’m remembering him because he just seemed so free

and so happy,” she said.

In reflecting on Santos’ character, Voss described him as “such a light,” as well as a deeply educated individual who was always willing to stand up for people.

“ He was just so caring,

loving, passionate and protective toward his friends,” she said. “He always made everyone feel super comfortable and was always someone you could talk to and rant about random stuff,

”

Sophia Stryjewski, FCRH ’25

She cited a specific experience in which she, Santos and a group of people were discussing a delicate subject, during which a participant had said something insensitive and Santos had stepped in to correct them. Voss explained that this incident followed a pattern of Santos educating people in a non-demeaning manner.

“He was always someone you wanted to have your back, you wanted to have him in your corner, he was just so amazing,” she said.

Voss added that Santos “never had a bad bone in his body,” and effused kindness. She noted that he inspired her to work hard, even during difficult times. Voss also remembered first hearing about his passing and the wave of intense grieving she experienced in the aftermath which she overcame by drawing upon Santos’ reaction to her state, and his desire to see her succeed.

“I know he is cheering me on

Santos was admired for his intelligence and dedication to politics at both the local and national levels.

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Santos’ friends reflect on fond memories they shared.

and carrying on all his friends and family,” she said. “I think about that and it brings me a lot of peace and comfort.”

Sophia Stryjewski, FCRH ’25, said that she considered Santos to be one of her best friends. She shared that the two met through a mutual friend from a math class during her first year at Fordham and recalled his affinity for bursting out into musical numbers specifically, Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.” Stryjewski remembered Santos’ approachable and protective energy toward those he loved.

“He was just so caring, loving, passionate and protective toward his friends,” she said. “He always made everyone feel super comfortable and was always someone you could talk to and rant about random stuff,” she said.

She added that after she would

get off her shift at late hours of the night, or passed dark, Santos would pick her up from campus and walk her home to her apartment safely.

He is survived by his parents; stepfather Joseph Francis Audette; grandparents Rita and Gary Bailey, Alicia Santos; along with many of his aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and mentors.

A memorial service was held at the Fordham Rose Hill campus on Feb. 28. Santos’ wake and funeral service was held on March 1 in Boston, Massachusetts. His family has asked that in lieu of flowers, gifts in Santos’ memory may be made to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell Animal Medical Center.

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New York City Housing Market Continues To Tighten

City data shows rental vacancies at an all-time low, leading Fordham students to weigh-in on the state of the apartment space

By MACKENZIE SAENZ DE VITERI Contributing Writer

At the beginning of February 2024, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced a “multi-decade” low rental vacancy rate of 1.4%, one of the key findings from its 2023 Housing and Vacancy Survey. The survey is used to determine the need for rent control and stabilization.

According to the New York Times, housing experts consider a “healthy” vacancy rate to stand around 5 to 8 percent. The stark drop in the city’s rental vacancy rate brings further concern about the many problems that have plagued the New York City housing market, including high rents and a supply shortage.

Due to the decline in vacancy, there are less affordable housing opportunities available to residents, which are primarily representative of low-income families. The New York Times also reported on Feb. 8 that families who make about $70,000 per year, have to spend more than half of their income on rent.

Only 1% of apartments in New York City cost about $1,650 per month - the citywide median, and 4% cost $2,400 per month.

“The historic low vacancy rate from the 2023 Housing Vacancy Survey illustrates the pressures New Yorkers are facing in the housing market, and underscores the dramatic need for more homes in New York City, especially for lower income New Yorkers,” Maria Torres-Springer, Deputy Mayor for Housing,

Economic Development and Workforce, said in a Feb. 8 press release from the city.

The lack of affordable housing means residents who can no longer afford an apartment are subject to vulnerable conditions, such as homelessness.

This also applies to the influx of asylum seekers that are arriving to New York City — migrants in New York City Health + Hospital shelters are provided 30-day eviction notices for single arrivals and 60-day eviction notices for family arrivals since New York City Mayor Adams’ administration first handed out the notices in October 2023.

For Fordham University students who want to live off-campus, the median rent makes off-campus housing seem unattainable. According to CNN, the median rent in Manhattan fell to $4,000 in November 2023, down 4.6% from October and down 2.3% from a year ago, according to a monthly report from the brokerage firm Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel Real Estate Appraisers and Consultants.

A report conducted by M.N.S Real Estate NYC stated the median rent in the other boroughs is $2,393 in the Bronx, $3,620 in Brooklyn and $2,781 in Queens. The data from the report did not note the median rent in Staten Island.

Students would have to decide between paying for room and board or renting an apartment in the city — room and board ranges from $18,820 to $32,212 depending on the occupancy in rooms per academic year, according to the Fordham

University at Lincoln Center for the 2023-24 academic year, or rent, which can cost about $40,000, based on the current median rent in Manhattan, during the same time period.

Joszef Balatoni, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’27, said he wished he could live off-campus, but the cost of living is why he chose to commute from his home in Ossining, New York.

Balatoni expressed that the only thing holding him back from moving out on his own, either on or off campus, is the cost.

The cost of room and board would double for his family if he moved out, and this was not feasible. Balatoni shared that he would choose to live off campus to experience the sense of maturity and independence that comes with it if he had the opportunity. Overall, he believes the city’s housing shortage could be fixed, but it will continue to linger due to people’s greed.

“There are so many vacant apartments that could house so many people,” Balatoni said. “If they (unhoused people) could have a warm place to be, it could solve so many problems.”

Austin Aragon, Fordham College at Lincoln Center ’27, said he would rather live off-campus, but will stay in McMahon Hall next year due to the cost of rent in New York City. He wishes that the housing market in New York City could be less competitive and more affordable so that he could have a chance to live in an apartment with fewer roommates and more freedom.

Aragon added that although living on campus is convenient,

he believes living off campus would be so much better.

“Living off-campus, I would not have to follow some of the rules about visitors and stuff that I have to follow living on campus. I would also have less roommates, which would be nice,” Aragon said.

Lucas Roca, FCRH ’27, is originally from Manhattan and has chosen to stay on campus because the freedom of having his own space is extremely important to him. He wants to continue to live on campus next year, but in looking to the future, Roca definitely sees an issue with New York City housing that needs to be resolved.

He added that he believes the reasoning behind the extremely

low vacancy rates is that “overeager landlords are profiteering off of the shrinking middle class,” and if this issue is not addressed the cost of living will become unbearable. Roca hopes the issue will be resolved, but believes that it is a “pipe dream.”

On Dec. 23, 2023, Mayor Adams signed into law the “Fair Housing Framework,” a housing law that would allow the creation of 100,000 new homes in all five boroughs through zoning changes. The hope, according to NYCC Speaker Adrienne Adams, is that the housing law will lay a “foundation for building and preserving housing, prioritizing affordability, and improving access to neighborhood investments and resources.”

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY TARA LENTELL/THE OBSERVER

Statistics courtesy of New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey (NYCHVS), 2023.

Sports & Health Editor Chris Murray

Sports & Health

March 13, 2024 THE OBSERVER

Women’s Basketball Fails to Advance in First Round of A10 Fordham lost in the final moments to Loyola University Chicago in a heartbreaking contest following a remarkable end-of-season turnaround

By AURELIEN CLAVAUD Asst. Sports & Health Editor

The Rams were unable to close out the Loyola University Chicago (LUC) Ramblers in the first round of the Atlantic 10 (A10) Championship Tournament, losing 53-52 on Thursday, March 7. The game went right up to the wire, and with bated breath, the crowd in Richmond, Virginia, looked on as the Rams’ hopes of victory slipped away in an instant.

Before this fateful game, the Rams’ season was starting to turn around. With a series of high-profile wins in the late conference schedule, Fordham was on a roll. They secured a ninth seed in the late weeks of the regular season and were thus matched up to Loyola, a team that fared hardly any better in their 2023-24 campaign — just 14-15 in the A10 compared to Fordham’s 13-16 record. Following their harrowing defeat of the Rams, the Ramblers marched to their demise the next day at the hands of the Richmond University Spiders, 70-54.

The morning of March 7 is worth examining if not for its spectacular failures, then for its accurate reflection of the Rams’ underwhelming, but deeply hopeful season. Broadly, Fordham took the first two-thirds of their regular season to figure out how to play together — a symptom of a new team, mostly made up of transfers — and while the last few weeks were exciting to watch, it did not make up for consistent errors and setbacks.

For one, the Rams have been atrocious at the line. For all the shooting acumen on the Fordham roster, the free-throw line has been a nagging issue for the team.

Against Loyola, the Rams hit 3-of-15 from the charity stripe.

The numbers speak for themselves, and just for the irony, the Ramblers managed to snag the

COURTESY OF NICOLE SIMABANA MENDIA VIA FORDHAM ATHLETICS

The Rams struggled in the fourth quarter, making only four of their 16 shots from the field, none of their attempted threes, and none of their seven free throws.

lead in the last thirty seconds off a free throw by Thoranna Hodge-Carr, LUC ’24.

Under new Head Coach Bridgette Mitchell, the Rams have taken their defense up a notch. Against Loyola, Fordham forced 21 turnovers and scored 19 points off of them. The Ramblers forced just 16 turnovers and scored a modest 4 points. If that weren’t enough, Fordham ended with 12 steals and 9 blocks.

In the first half against the Ramblers, the Rams knocked down shots near the rim, scoring 12 paint points in just the first quarter to give them a 9-point advantage in the first few minutes — this was the largest lead of the game for either team.

Despite this promising start, 3-pointers weren’t falling and the Fordham defense failed to

hold Loyola back.

In the last five minutes of the first quarter, the Rams’ lead vanished and any thought of a blowout was thrown aside. Both teams were in it for the long haul, as Fordham’s offense ground to a halt in the second quarter. The Ramblers held a minor lead for most of the quarter, going into the halftime locker room with a fortuitous 1-point advantage.

The second half began with a resounding 3-pointer from Ali Berg, LUC ’24, to set the tempo for the remainder of the game — a high-tempo back and forth.

Donaldson knocked down a 3-pointer just two minutes later.

As the third quarter wore on, neither side got too far ahead.

In the final minute and a half of that period, the Rams held on to a 2-point lead through no effort

of their own: six shots went up between the two sides, and not one went down.

It was a flurry of activity including a block at the buzzer

by Mandy McGurk, GSAS ’24, that brought the third quarter to an end. Despite the unconvincing 44-42 lead by the Rams, they failed to capitalize on the Ramblers’ poor shooting — 3-for-16 from the field in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter saw the Rams drop their shooting performance from a steady 43% in the third to 25% in the fourth, which put them in a difficult position down the stretch. Four minutes passed and Fordham found itself with a shaky 46-42 lead off a wing jumper by Donaldson. Several minutes went by and although the energy steadily ramped up, shots weren’t going

COURTESY OF NICOLE SIMBANA MENDIA VIA FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Fordham fell to Loyola Chicago for the second time this season, with a late three-point play by the Ramblers sending the Rams home this time around.

down.

A slow retort by the Ramblers saw that 6-point lead cut to one, and a jumper by Rose Nelson, FCRH ’26, with two minutes to go brought it back up to three, 50-47. Entering the final, fateful minute, Alyssa Fisher, LUC ’24, drained a huge three to knot the game up at 50.

Aminata Ly, FCRH ’24, looked poised to win the game when she went to the line following an and-one play with just 30 seconds left. In an unfortunate ode to the Rams’ free throw woes, Ly missed, and just five seconds later, Hodge-Carr was fouled while connecting on a shot in the paint to tie the game at 52.

She completed the 3-point play at the free-throw line to take the lead for the Ramblers, 53-52.

It was then a mad dash in the final seconds of the game, as Loyola snatched the ball, only to have it taken back by Donaldson triggering a timeout call by Mitchell. On the ensuing inbound play, Donaldson missed a jumper and a rushed shot by McGurk at the buzzer bounced off the rim.

The Ramblers took home the victory, 53-52, and advanced to the second round of the A10 Championship. They were promptly defeated by the number one seeded University of Richmond the next day. The Richmond Spiders went on to win the A10 Championship.

For now, the Rams’ season is over, but it has been a remarkable year for the fledgling new team.

Despite the 13-17 record, Fordham showed promise at many points. With a strong six-game win streak in the final weeks of conference play, the Rams ignited their season and offered a preview for what the next season under Mitchell may look like.

Mitchell will likely look to recruit more long-term players for the team’s future — Many Fordham players, such as Donaldson and Hayford who have led the team in scoring, are in their final years of eligibility.

While a heartbreaking, last-minute defeat is a sore comfort for the Rams, the team can now look towards the future, with Thursday’s loss being an integral part of its journey.

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER

March 13, 2024

Sports & Health

5

Men’s Basketball Escapes with Victory in Opening Round of A10 Championship

The Rams defeated the Davidson Wildcats, 71-63, following a buzzer-beater to tie the game and a dominant overtime effort to advance to the next round

By CHRIS MURRAY Sports & Health Editor

“I think we can beat anybody,” said Will Richardson, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’26, resolutely following Fordham’s game against Davidson.

The Fordham men’s basketball team began its Atlantic 10 (A10) Championship run with a hardfought victory on Tuesday, March 12 against the Davidson College (DAV) Wildcats, 71-63. Entering the tournament as the 12 seed, the Rams required a second-half push at the Barclays Center to overcome their conference foes and move past the opening round.

Fordham opened the opening round slowly, connecting on only two of their first 15 field goals.

The Rams’ intense defense kept the game close, however, and at the 11-minute mark, the score was knotted at 7-7.

Still, Fordham’s shooting woes hindered the de facto home team.

Davidson maintained a narrow lead throughout most of the first half while the Rams attempted to find their footing on the offensive side of the ball.

Over time, the momentum shifted. Trailing 17-10 with 8:22 to go in the half, the Rams embarked on a 9-2 run to tie the game. The streak was capped by a 3-pointer from Richardson, Fordham’s first of the game.

Neither team seemed to want to pull away. Davidson failed to capitalize on Fordham’s poor shooting throughout the first half by turning the ball over, while the Rams’ floundering offense squandered their hard work on defense.

This dynamic manifested a grueling end to the first half, as the two teams combined for 6 points in the four minutes before halftime.

Three of those points came from free throws and the remaining

points came from a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Bobby Durkin, DAV ’27. Fordham’s final field goal of the half was made with 4:31 remaining, allowing Davidson to close the period on an 8-0 run and claim a 27-19 lead.

With the season on the line, the Rams needed a hero. Richardson emerged as the one who would lead the charge back. The resilient Rams, led by Richardson’s 14 points in the period, hung around for just long enough to remain competitive, despite Davidson holding a lead for much of the second half.

The Rams turned the heat up in the final quarter of the game.

Davidson held a 10-point lead with 10:29 remaining before back-toback layups from Richardson and Joshua Rivera, FCRH ’26, and a 3-pointer from Rivera shrunk the lead to three.

From that point on, every basket made by the Wildcats was matched with a response from Fordham.

Eventually, Fordham’s persistence was rewarded. Rivera banked a short hook shot in to tie the game, 52-52, with 3:34 remaining.

It did not take long for the Wildcats to regain their lead. Davidson’s leading scorer in conference play, Reed Bailey, DAV ’26, added seven points in the final three points, with one of his dunks giving the away team a 60-56 lead at the 1:38 mark.

Richardson drew a shooting foul following a hard drive on Fordham’s ensuing possession, nailing both of his free throws to cut the deficit to two. Now with under a minute remaining, the Rams forced a much-needed turnover — Kyle Rose, FCRH ’24, poked the ball away from Bailey to gain possession once again.

It was then passed down to Abdou Tsimbila, FCRH ’24, in the paint. The reliable Fordham center missed his first layup, but corralled the offensive rebound and was

Struggles Continue for Baseball The Fordham baseball team’s record has sunk to 3-11 to start the season, losing six of its last seven games. The Rams’ only win during that stretch came in its most recent game, a 17-7 trouncing of the College of William & Mary on March 10.

The underwhelming beginning of the season has been marked by poor play all around. The pitching staff now owns a 9.78 ERA (earned run average), with only one pitcher, Declan Lavelle, Fordham College at Rose Hill ’24, having thrown more than 14 innings in the team’s first 14 games. Offensively, the Rams are batting .230 as a team with an OPS (onbase plus slugging) below .700.

All of this adds up to a very slow start for Fordham.

Many of its outings have not even been close. The Rams’ three-game series against Wofford College, for instance, saw Fordham outscored 48 to 8. Over the entire season, the Rams have now been outscored 146 to 68.

Fordham has only 10 games remaining before the beginning of Atlantic 10 (A10) competition. Its next game will be a winnable one against Wagner College, which has won four of its first 15 games, on March 13. The Rams will look to build some positive momentum by embarking on its first winning streak this season.

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

A determined effort from the Rams helped them overcome an 8-point deficit at halftime, pushing Fordham into a second round matchup against VCU on Wednesday.

fouled on his second attempt. At the line, Tsimbila made the first free throw but missed the second, leaving the score at 60-59 with 26 seconds on the clock.

The Rams were forced to foul, sending Bailey to the line. Following Tsimbila’s lead, Bailey made the first attempt and missed the second, giving Fordham a final breath to extend its season. At this point, Head Coach Keith Urgo called a timeout to plot the Rams’ attack.

The play coming out of the timeout fell apart rather quickly, as the Wildcats smothered each of Fordham’s ball handlers. As the Rams grew desperate, the ball made its way to their all-time games played leader, Rose. He bolted toward the rim as the clock approached zero, darting through Davidson defenders before arriving at the hoop with a glimmer of daylight. With the season on the line, he laid the ball

off of the backboard and through the net, tying the game at 61 with two seconds left.

After a bleak first half, the Rams headed to overtime with a chance to grasp a win from the jaws of defeat. The momentum had shifted palpably, and Fordham came out flying for the 5-minute overtime period.

Fordham buried their conference foes from the jump, leaping out to an immediate seven-point lead. On defense, the Rams held the Wildcats to two points in the entire period. Ultimately, the Rams handled their conference foes with ease, emerging with a 71-63 victory.

The road to victory was not easy for Fordham. The team overcame extremely poor shooting statistics with hard-nosed defense and competitive spirit, crawling back into a game that seemed out of reach at many points. The win also came

Women’s Basketball A10 Championship Concludes Without Fordham The Atlantic 10 (A10) Championship wrapped up on Sunday, March 10, despite the Fordham women’s basketball team’s early exit from the tournament late last week. The University of Richmond Spiders emerged on top, punching their ticket to the 2024 NCAA Division 1 Basketball Championship, aka AKA March Madness.

Richmond, the hosts of this year’s A10 Championship, entered as the well-deserved top seed in the conference and coasted to a 14-point victory against the University of Rhode Island in the championship game.

As for the team that knocked Fordham out, Loyola University Chicago was subsequently trounced by Richmond in the quarterfinals, with the Ramblers posing no threat to the Spiders’ date with destiny.

despite lackluster performances from Japhet Medor, FCRH ’24, and Rose, who had powered the Rams coming into the playoffs but combined for only 14 points on 4-23 from the field.

“All you can ask as a coach is to have your guys give it up for each other as much as they can,” Urgo said after the game, reflecting on the effort put forth by the Rams. “I know, at the very least, we’re going to give you every ounce of energy on the defensive end and rebounding.”

While Fordham lives on in the A10 Championship, the path only gets harder from here. Next, the Rams will face the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Rams today, March 13. Once again at the Barclays Center, the fifth-seeded VCU squad will be heavily favored following a 15-point victory against Fordham earlier this season.

Softball Finishes Tiger Invitational with 2-3 Record The Fordham softball team traveled down to Clemson, South Carolina to participate in Clemson University’s Tiger Invitational Tournament this past weekend, competing in five games over the course of three days. The team ultimately won two out of the five games, bringing its overall record this season to 7-13-1.

The tournament began with a hard-fought 3-2 loss to the Longwood University Lancers. A single in the sixth inning off of Devon Miller, Gabelli Graduate School of Business ’24, broke the tie to deliver the decisive third run for the Lancers.

Fordham followed up its loss with a 3-1 victory against Mercer University. Mercer jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth, but the Rams immediately responded with three runs in the top of the fifth, sparked by a two-run homer from Sydney Wells, Fordham College at Rose Hill ’25.

On Saturday, the Rams fell to the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, 4-2. Fordham maintained a lead for much of the game, but in the bottom of the fifth, the Golden Gophers rallied to tally three runs and emerge victorious.

On the final day of competition, Fordham enacted revenge on Longwood with a 7-3 win, but fell to the host of the tournament, Clemson University, 12-0 to end the weekend. Clemson entered the game ranked 10th in the nation by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association/USA Today and 11th in the nation by ESPN.com/USA Softball.

The Rams will face Fairleigh Dickinson University in a doubleheader on Wednesday, March 13, before beginning Atlantic 10 (A10) Conference play the following weekend. Fordham was projected to finish in the middle of the A10, fifth out of 10 teams, in the A10 Preseason Poll.

The Rams will begin their conference campaign against the University of Rhode Island with a three-game series at Bahoshy Field.

Walgreens and CVS To Sell Abortion Pill In-Stores

Mifepristone, a pill used for medically-induced abortions, will be distributed in select pharmacies beginning this month

By ALISON BEINHAUR Staff Writer

Pharmaceutical store chains Walgreens and CVS announced on March 1 that mifepristone, a pill used to help terminate pregnancy, will be available in select locations across various states beginning March 1. These locations include the New York City area, providing members of the Fordham community access to the pill.

“ As a woman of color,

I think my community is worse off without easy access to abortion. ”

Nalini D’Souza, FCLC ’26

Mifepristone is intended to be taken in tandem with misoprostol, a medication meant to prevent stomach ulcers when digested alongside pain relief medications such as aspirin or ibuprofen.

The pill acts as the first of a two-part regimen to induce a medical abortion. Mifepristone blocks progesterone, which is a necessary hormone for the pregnancy to develop.

After 24-48 hours, misopros-

tol is taken to induce cramping and bleeding to empty the uterus.

Fordham students reacted positively to the change in how mifepristone is distributed by CVS and Walgreens, with some noting that they are hopeful this will increase access to non-invasive abortion procedures.

“I think it takes a very grave emotional toll on these women to have to go through these complicated steps and face stigma about their decision,” Nalini D’Souza, Fordham College Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’26, said. “So to have the option to take the pill in their own home is definitely a comforting change.”

D’Souza added that she hopes that pharmacies selling the abortion pill in stores will allow people from all communities to purchase the pill in the backdrop of state policies curbing contraceptive access.

“As a woman of color, I think my community is worse off without easy access to abortion,” D’Souza said. “Especially with our government feeling entitled to dictate what happens to a woman’s body, it’s like a sense of ownership.”

Abortion accessibility

remains a top issue for many women since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in its landmark decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June 2022. This is an especially prevalent conversation in the context of the upcoming 2024 presidential election. Since the decision no longer protects access to abortion at the federal level, several states have gone back and forth regarding the legality of abortions in any form, including pills.

“ If there is limited

access to abortion resources, then more women are going to turn to harmful ways to selfinduce an abortion, ” Mara Vasil, FCLC ’26

So far, 21 states have issued near-total bans on abortions, with others not having available clinics due to threats of violence and legal repercussions. Although New York has not legislated prohibitions on abortion in any form, students still think about the likelihood of acces-

sibility outside of the city.

“I feel like it could be potentially really difficult for me to get an abortion if I needed one,” Mara Vasil, Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center ’26, said.

Fraser Engerman, a spokesperson for Walgreens, told The New York Times that the company anticipates beginning distribution with select pharmacies in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, California and Illinois in the next week before launching in other states to ensure the well-being of patients and their providers.

Although the pill has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration since 2000, it is estimated that it will only be distributed in about half of the states based on their current regulations on abortions.

“If there is limited access to abortion resources, then more women are going to turn to harmful ways to self-induce an abortion,” Vasil said. “Having that option and choice is safer for women.”

Some students felt more efforts could be made to improve accessibility to contraceptives.

Mila Grgas, FCLC ’24 and president of the Feminist Al-

liance at Lincoln Center, said that while the pharmacies selling the drug are important, their efforts still falls short of ensuring contraceptive access to women across different communities and regions.

“There needs to be legal protections in place for people who can become pregnant and women specifically,” she said. “Anything less than that is a ploy to make it seem that we are moving in the right direction when things have only been becoming increasingly more dangerous for women.”

According to the New York Times, CVS announced they will not be distributing the medication through postal service. Walgreens, however, has noted that several of their pharmacies will allow the pill to be delivered via mail courier service. It will be available for both pharmacies with a doctor’s prescription. Both chains will act according to federal and state regulations when determining the proper distribution of mifepristone.

The CVS located at 1 Columbus Plaza, two blocks down from Fordham Lincoln Center’s campus, will be one of the local carriers of mifepristone in the coming weeks.

A Brief Timeline of Reproductive Rights Margaret Sanger opens the first birth control clinic in the United States, this clinic eventually becomes Planned Parenthood

October 16, 1916

The First Oral Contraceptive Pill is Approved by the FDA

May 9, 1960

Landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade states that a woman’s right to abortion is protected under the 14th amendment

January 22, 1973

Abortion Access Across the United States = States where Mifepristone will soon be offered in pharmacies States with expanded access to abortion

= States without protections

= States with protections for abortion access

= States with strict policies

=

for abortion access

toward abortion access

September 2, 1998

abortion bans

Walgreens and CVS announce plans to sell the abortion pill Mifepristone in-stores in states where it is legal

The Supreme Court overturns a woman’s right to abortion affirmed in Roe v.

Wade in the 6-3 Dobbs v.

Jackson decision FDA approval of Preven, known colloquially as the morning after pill

= States with complete

The FDA approves the first over-the-counter birth control pill

June 24, 2022

June 13, 2023

March 1, 2024 Page design by Tara Lentell/The Observer

Opinions Editors Jake Eraca Matthias Lai

Opinions

March 13, 2024 THE OBSERVER

Cursive Writing Must Retake Its Place in Classrooms Nationwide

The longstanding form of aestheticized script should be conserved in all school curricula ANA WINSTON Asst. Opinions Editor

Courses on cursive writing are a contentious topic in the field of children’s education. Although these classes are not mandated across public school curricula, this style of penmanship — which dates back to the eighth century — should be taught nationwide because of its longstanding history as an artful form of writing and its continued relevance in American culture.

The United States Common Core State Standards, a framework developed for U.S. states to standardize general aspects of nationwide public school curricula, do not require instruction in cursive handwriting to be taught in schools. However, 23 out of the 50 states include cursive writing courses in their state curricula. Clearly, cursive is still valued as important enough to teach, though this sense of value in cursive is not unanimous.

Opponents of cursive writing courses argue that they are time-consuming and useless, while proponents appeal to its extensive history and benefit to writers. Both sides of the cursive writing argument ignore what’s really at stake in placing these courses in our curricula: an education where students engage with culture instead of only being robotically prepared for routine standardized testing.

Cursive should be taught to students for cultural reasons rather than practical reasons. The real question is, why

shouldn’t we preserve the formal script that has been present in our country since its inception?

As a cultural form, cursive writing has developed alongside the English language and has been the valued mode for writing in English for centuries. The ability to write in cursive used to be a status symbol, but with its widespread instruction in public schools, it became a democratized skill that reflected engagement with the English language at the aesthetic level. If the emergence of the typewriter didn’t stop people from teaching cursive, why should the emergence of the computer be any different?

Due to the Common Core Standards, the way we as a country think about education is not in its inherent value, but rather in its utility. School curricula focus on fulfilling goalposts provided by the state in order to secure funding and eschew any other topic that might not be required by the state, but is still important. While cursive handwriting will not show up on state standardized tests, it is a regular occurrence in daily life — students will assuredly encounter cursive when studying history or experiencing art. Education should culturally prepare students.

Although I went to elementary school in Westchester County, New York, where the implementation of the Common Core Standards solidified the end of mandatory cursive in 2010, I learned the stylized script as a third grader in 2012 because I attended a private Catholic school that is not obliged to follow the standards. Cursive should

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY HONORAH BROZIO/THE OBSERVER

Cursive handwriting has been used for centuries and is still vital to preserve through contemporary education.

not be a privilege of attending private schools that are relatively free from the claws of the Common Core — universalizing the instruction of cursive writing would ensure that it does not revert to becoming a status symbol again, and that it is taught by public and private schools alike.

There are several arguments often employed in favor of mandating cursive writing, but these arguments are dependent on the utility of cursive writing instead of its cultural history as a formal script.

A common argument among educators and education specialists who promote the use of cursive handwriting is that it’s faster to scribe than print handwriting, making it an optimal way to take notes. Not only has this argument been factually disproven, but it has also been taken at face value — efficiency is not a good enough reason to teach cursive.

Students can write just as quickly in print handwriting. If speed in handwriting is so important, why not just teach students shorthand — a specialized set of symbols created for maximally quick transcriptions of diction?

A slightly more compelling utilitarian argument is that learning cursive is beneficial for brain development — children who learn cursive writing have been proven to have strengthened motor skills, improved memory and a greater understanding of spelling, especially in relation to phonetics. However, print handwriting also builds motor skills and memory when compared to typing, making the argument that handwriting is beneficial to brain development not specific enough to cursive writing to warrant its place in curricula nationwide.

A perspective from historians leads to another justification for learning cursive. The United States’ foundational documents are written in cursive: If cursive isn’t taught, how can students read important primary documents such as the Declaration of Independence?

Students shouldn’t have to depend on printed transcriptions of primary documents, especially as that process is vulnerable to falsification — American citizens should be able to read their own country’s Constitution without the help of an interpreter: Understanding cursive is vital for that.

The argument for reading founding documents only supports the utility of being able to read cursive, however, and not the necessity of knowing how to write in that style of penmanship. Seen from the perspective of most states’ current education systems, the connection is simply not good enough to warrant time dedicated to learning cursive, especially when handwriting is on its way out in favor of typing.

Cursive is culturally relevant because it embodies a personal history. Physical correspondences, captions to old photographs or important documentations from the past are all relics that one can find in their own families and are all likely written in cursive. Cursive plays an important role in connecting individuals and communities with their past — not only should students be able to read cursive, but also write in it as their ancestors did.

Cursive forces writers to think about writing in a more tangible way than pressing keys to make easily-deleted letters appear on a screen, and allows writers to conceptualize writing in a more artful way than simply writing in print would. The controversial form of handwriting should not be debated for its utility, but should instead be considered for its cultural importance. That alone should be reason enough for its implementation in the Common Core.

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March 13, 2024

It’s Not Swipe Culture’s Fault

Opinions

11

The inefficacy of dating apps lies with how we choose to use them, not with the structure of dating applications themselves AVA MIN Staff Writer

According to a 2019 article from Stylight, a fashion-forward company that highlights trending lifestyle discussions, online dating is here to stay. A plethora of applications (apps) to choose from has made it incredibly easy for people to step into the dating pool. However, facilitating dates is not as easy as eliciting results through committed relationships. While the apps may pave the way for quick and dirty meet-ups, they are not the go-to for long-term relationships. This is not the fault of the apps themselves, but rather the way we use them.

According to the Washington Post, dating apps have acquired a reputation for inefficiency, but it may appear that way due to modern attitudes toward dating, rather than by design.

When Tinder was launched in 2012, it quickly gained popularity around the world, causing online dating statistics to soar within the next 10 years of its invention. A year later, Hinge — one of Tinder’s main competitors — was created, boasting itself as the “relationship app” and claiming to divert from the “swipe” culture that hookup-centered dating apps such as Tinder and Hinge have fostered.

Hinge’s features prompt a

more interactive experience by adding endless picture, question and poll prompts for profiles.

Users of the dating app are forced to take a closer look at potential matches, rather than swiping left for disapproval or right for approval at immediate face value.

It is crucial to keep in mind that every profile is reflective of a human being.

While Hinge has supposedly forced its users to think deeper about matches, this begs the question: Do people know couples who are in a serious relationship with someone they met from Hinge?

Finding a significant other through an algorithm seems impossible, and the survey data isn’t very enthusiastic about it, either. “You’re not going to find a gem there, but you’ll find something solid,” an interviewee said to Vox News for an article on online dating. The interactions feel superficial; ghosting — a practice where people disappear from conversations without any context — is all too common. Online dating is not a very accurate representation of what real life is like.

So, what went wrong with Hinge? The interface has been designed to include prompts such as “Let’s break the ice by …” or “I’ll fall for you if …” and lets you view who’s already placed a “like” on your profile free of charge, which cannot be said for most online dating apps. The problem at hand is our mentality surrounding online dating culture, not the apps themselves.

What are users of online dating apps searching for?

Whether that may be casual sex, a few dates or a lifelong partner, new profile features such as the ones on Hinge allow users to directly state their expectations, and yet people find themselves prone to clicking the unmatch button as soon as the conversation hits a pause or a bump.

Online dating can become video-game-esque if you are not careful. Especially in an era where most of our information is collected through internet-adjacent means, creating sincere or lasting connections can be difficult when the Hinge algorithm promises to generate five replacements for every “unmatch.”

It is crucial to keep in mind that every profile is reflective of a human being — a premise that one might think is obvious but, in actuality, is quite easy to forget. Entering the online dating scene must be done with an acceptance of reality. Yes,

GRAPHIC BY HONORAH BROZIO/THE OBSERVER

The ineffectiveness of dating apps might be the fault of the users’ attitudes

this new way of meeting people might not be foolproof, but yes, you should still treat people with care. Our attitudes are what need fixing, not the apps.

Hinge has done everything it can to help us, including a feature where the app surveys if you have met one of your matches in person yet after it notices that you’ve exchanged

phone numbers with someone.

Statistics from a report published by CNN Business show that more people are turning away from the swipe culture of Tinder, but so many promising Hinge matches turn to dust in the wake of ghosting and lack of continued interest. Let’s stop blaming the apps; figure out what you want, lock-in and match.

Coffee Needs To Be Canceled

College students need to reevaluate their normalized coffee addictions to lead a healthier lifestyle EMILY DAVIS Asst. Copy Editor

It’s a sunny Sunday morning in the early 2000s, birds are chirping and your nose is filled with the sweet bitter aroma of coffee. You then ask your mom if you can have a sip from her mug. She obliges as you taste the warm, dark brown liquid and your face twitches and squirms in disgust. “You’ll like it when you’re older,” she said.

Throughout my adolescence, I continued to attempt drinking coffee in its many forms desperate to find one I liked: iced, hot, black, cappuccino, espresso, latte. To no avail, I overall had the same reaction I had as a child. When I envisioned myself as an adult, I always pictured a woman with a cup of coffee in hand just like my mother — now I am almost 20, and I still hate how the brewed beverage tastes.

Drinking coffee reduces vitamin B6 levels, calcium, iron and magnesium.

A study conducted by the National Library of Medicine determined that within the month of the investigation 69% of young adults ingested coffee or espresso, while a whopping 86% reported having caffeine.

Unlike other college students, my distaste for coffee has forced me to not need to rely on

GRAPHIC BY JOSHUA AUSKALNIS/THE OBSERVER

There are a large number of benefits, both physical and mental, to removing coffee from your diet.

a caffeine fix. While my schedule requires staying up late and waking up early the next morning, I reduce the effects of my drowsiness by going on a walk or listening to upbeat music to keep my energy levels sufficient to get me through my busy days.

There are several health benefits to not drinking coffee, according to Newcastle Industrial Benefits, a health insurance company. When it comes to the physical body, although it may seem surprising, removing coffee from your daily routine brings you more balanced energy levels.

Nutritionists have explained that the molecules found in caffeine attach themselves to energy receptors, deceiving your body

into believing it has more energy than it actually does.

Hungry for Change, a nutrition publication, also notes that caffeine addictions often lead the body to have difficulty relying on natural sources of energy. Eliminating the caffeine fix from coffee will ultimately take your body out of this confusing cycle and, in turn, provide stabilized energy levels.

Coffee has also been proven to interfere with and deplete certain vitamins and minerals in your body, according to a review on the effects of caffeine conducted by Tsedeke Wolde, a lecturer of nutrition at Wollega University in Ethiopia. Drinking coffee reduces vitamin B6

levels, calcium, iron and magnesium. These components are essential to our bodily functions and processes — not having them will cause extensive issues in the long run.

In addition to the physiological effects, removing coffee from your diet also improves your mental health. As someone who suffers from anxiety, the coffee jitters and the increased heart rates don’t sound too appealing. In fact, according to the American Medical Association, caffeine is a stimulant that is meant to activate some of the chemicals in your brain which generally speeds up everything, even in moderate amounts. The rapidity that coffee induces

raises anxiety levels.

If none of these benefits are convincing enough to persuade you to remove coffee from your diet, here is one more that I think surpasses the rest: not drinking coffee saves you $2,190 annually if you spend $6 on a cup each day. It’s no surprise that inflation has hiked up the price of the average cup from $3.12 in 2018 to $6 in 2024. Depending on which cafe you frequent and the particular elements of your order — the size of your cup, added flavors, choice of milk, ice, etc.

— spending at least $6 a day on coffee can seriously rack up, even if it doesn’t seem costly at the moment.

All of these harmful effects of drinking coffee make me a proud coffee hater. It would be favorable for all college students, and everyone who chooses to rely on coffee in general, to reevaluate their coffee addiction that has been so normalized within our society.

I used to be quite embarrassed and insecure about my resistance to drinking a good ol’ cup of morning Joe to say the least. I’m no stranger to the “What, how do you not like coffee? That’s so weird!” comments. However, having to awkwardly decline anything to do with coffee has turned me in the direction of other beverages that don’t have such harmful risks.

I’ve learned to embrace my coffee revulsion and have grown to value the benefits that accompany it as well as the drinks that I wouldn’t have tried without it. If you invite me to get coffee with you, there is a 100% chance I will order an iced chai latte instead.

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Will Taylor Swift Ever Escape Criticism?

Despite her ongoing success, the singer-songwriter still faces unwarranted hatred and scrutiny ANDREA RIVAS Staff Writer

In her song “Lavender Haze,” Taylor Swift sings, “Damned if I do give a damn what people say” in response to the persistent criticisms she has faced throughout her career. Despite being torn apart by the media for years, Swift has risen to the top of the music industry with an unparalleled peak in fame.

Nevertheless, Swift continues to be the subject of ongoing criticisms when she should not be publicly scrutinized.

Often, appealing to strong emotions such as hatred is very effective, thus creating the negative environment often found on social media. Swift has been an easy target for these videos, which have been widely circulated on the internet, from Tiktok and Twitter to Instagram and even Snapchat.

If you’re unfamiliar with an artist’s work, you should not attack it.

Knowing what you’re criticizing is essential to forming a fair judgment. For instance, some people judge Swift by saying all her music sounds the same. This argument shows that the critics have not given Swift’s discography adequate time or attention, as she has released multiple albums in various genres such as country, pop and alternative. If you’re unfamiliar with an artist’s

work, you should not attack it.

Swift is well known for her songwriting skills, which are also heavily criticized. The artist is the sole writer for most of her songs, which touch on varying themes such as falling in or out of love, the pain of betrayal, dealing with sadness, the haunting of loneliness and self-doubt.

Her music reflects the human experience and clearly speaks to many of her fans. Swift’s “The Eras Tour” became the first tour to surpass $1 billion in revenue, and its resulting movie became the highest-grossing concert film of all time. Swift has demonstrably formed a strong bond between herself, her art and her fans, as showcased by their unprecedented levels of support for her.

There is a common thread of videos criticizing Swift based on her assumed target audience. Her fans are often labeled as “basic white girls,” on social media, ignoring the diversity of her fanbase and projecting contempt onto a stereotype of the people who find joy in her music. Swift is then criticized on the grounds of her own fanbase, seen through claims that “not even a pebble could relate to” her music.

The 2024 Grammy Awards spurred new critiques against Swift. During her acceptance speech, she revealed the release of her 11th studio album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” which will be released on April 19. Despite the excitement among her fans, Swift was labeled by Tiktokers as classless, self-centered and responsible for creating controversy at the Grammys, which are supposedly

Taylor Swift’s success has been met with an unjustified amount of hate

a platform to celebrate musicians’ achievements.

The very fact that Swift won Album of the Year at the Grammys prompted more hate: One disgruntled TikToker responded to the award by saying “I don’t even listen to Lana Del Rey, and Lana should have won.”

This spiteful comment, hoping a singer you don’t listen to should win because you hate another artist, is conduct that demonstrates pure disregard for Swift as a person.

This level of hatred is baseless, as Swift does nothing but benefit football as a sport.

The burning flames of hatred do not escape her personal life as seen through coverage of her attendance at football games to see her significant other, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. The more games she attends, the more cameras focus on her; because she is a celebrity present at a football game, she naturally draws attention.

Her attendance at these games has angered football fans who claim they are tired of seeing Swift shown on the jumbo screen, according to the magazine “People.” Although people could argue she is a distraction to the game, the actions they have taken are too extreme for an inconvenience: fans of the National Football League began mocking her, burning her posters, tearing up her vinyl records and even yelling at her.

This level of hatred is baseless, as Swift does nothing but benefit football as a sport. The NFL and ESPN began featuring her constantly on their online profiles, generating an additional $331.5 million in brand value for the Chiefs and the NFL. People who claim that “Swift is ruining football” are incorrect, as she made millions of dollars in revenue just by attending games.

These experiences can translate to fans of Taylor Swift as well. When watching the Super Bowl at Fordham University with my friend, I wore Swift’s merchandise from her tour. After the game ended, a stranger mocked us for supporting Swift and claimed that the game was fixed because of her since the Chiefs had won.

Additionally, TikTok users accused the NFL of rigging the game for the Chief’s victory because of Swift since a Chiefs win would increase publicity for the NFL because of Swift’s association— even if the Chiefs had lost, you can be sure that it would have been Swift’s fault, as well.

It is disheartening to see that even after her acts of kindness, Swift is subjected to slander.

Wearing a “Taylor Swift” shirt is equivalent to wearing a football jersey with another man’s name and hoping Swift wins a Grammy is equivalent

to hoping your team wins the Super Bowl. Despite their similar identities, football fans see themselves as inherently better than “Swifties,” the name of Swift’s fan base.

Swift’s philanthropic activities have also come under scrutiny. She recently received backlash after donating $100,000 to assist the family of a victim of the Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting. On TikTok and Instagram comment sections, users claimed this was “too little money” and “too convenient for PR.” Nonetheless, philanthropy is a common practice for Swift.

In 2023, the artist gave $100,000 bonuses to over 50 truck drivers from “The Eras Tour” and donated $1 million to Nashville tornado relief efforts.

It is disheartening to see that even after her acts of kindness, Swift is subjected to slander.

The question arises: Would people have responded differently if the same donation was made by someone else?

Despite holding numerous records and awards as well as making substantial charitable donations, Swift still lacks the respect she deserves as an artist and a human being. If Swift’s discography is not your cup of tea, just don’t listen to it.

Spreading negativity and hatred on social media is utterly unproductive. Even if you don’t relate to someone, you don’t need to waste your life letting anger and the desire for someone’s downfall consume you. It would be wise to simply scroll past topics you don’t care for on social media — rest assured, everything will be alright.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREA RIVAS/THE OBSERVER

Arts & Culture Editor Aditi Praveen Kariyanahalli Avery Loftis

Arts & Culture

March 13, 2024 THE OBSERVER

‘The Medea Thing.’ Reimagines the Sin and Sacrifice of a Woman Scorned

Director Cora Therber’s studio thesis production is a radical twist on an ancient Greek tragedy

By NORA KINNEY Staff Writer

“The Medea Thing.,” the senior thesis play written and directed

by Cora Therber, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’24, came alive in the Kehoe Theatre at Fordham Lincoln Center on March 9. The production reinvents the Greek myth of Medea, an enchantress who exacted ultimate revenge on her ex-lover. It is inspired by ancient dramatist Euripides’ play “Medea” based on the same myth.

The story follows the wildhearted and volatile Medea (Melissa Bautista, FCLC ’24), who spirals into depravity as she loses sight of herself and her future. Set in the jiving 1970s, Medea’s tale is backlit by the social changes of the era, including the shifting status of women in a patriarchal society. The titular character holds her womanhood at arm’s length, where it burns in her gaze as an object of both sanctity and agony.

According to Therber, the play aims to interrogate the idea of social nonconformity that is expressed but not defined.

“I wondered what expressions of queer identity could look like coming from a more visceral place,” they said. “I set the play in a time when the verbiage of today was either nonexistent or difficult to access. What does identity look like without words?”

The other characters in the play are wrenched in and out of Medea’s emotional tempest. Jason

(Jeremiah Onyango, FCLC ’24), her heedless beau-turned-traitorous-ex, is desperate to prove himself a hero and flaunts it in all the wrong ways. Glauce (Lynn Cheng, FCLC ’27), the sheriff’s daughter for whom Jason falls for, enters Medea’s orbit only to splinter upon getting too close.

Three women in town circle the conflicted main trio. Norma (Ryann Murphy, FCLC ’25), Charlotte (Fiona Nealis, FCLC ’27) and Doreen (Sarah Arata, FCLC ’26) seek Medea’s magical remedies for their troubles, but disturbingly end up falling under her spell.

When old crimes Jason and Medea committed threaten to catch up to them, Jason decides the only way to protect Medea is to abandon her and appease the town sheriff by courting Glauce. Medea suffers this terrible shock, in addition to mounting dissonance about her identity as a woman, a lover and a person seemingly too immense to belong anywhere.

Frantic for affirmation and control, Medea embroils herself in a drastic pursuit of agency — to birth and rear children.

The ensuing tragedy leaves the audience guessing whether her actions were ultimately meant to create or to obliterate.

“I was drawn to the question of who children belong to,” Therber said. “In the original Medea, and in Ancient Greek culture in general, children were not considered to be ‘related’ to their mothers. The mothers were

vessels for the father’s children.

In the setting of 1976, I wanted to ask questions about ownership of children and how parental influence shapes an identity.”

The set, which was also designed by Therber, draws viewers into a ramshackle mid20th-century abode. Strewn with analog and retro decor that makes it feel more like a scrapyard than a home, the space reflects the fraught tensions between the characters that move about it. The old-school television, a still fixture amidst otherwise dynamic props, tells a story in moments hauntingly devoid of dialogue.

Oddly enough, “The Medea Thing.” has the makings of a coming-of-age tale — the despised ex, some gender trouble and an instinctual terror of fate. However, Therber’s writing deftly refreshes these hallmarks and brandishes elements that defy all convention — a lesbian wedding officiated by puppet children, an impromptu Bruce Springsteen musical interlude, a low-slung diss on Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar’’ and gay potion!

“The Medea Thing.” teeters on a raw nerve, where vulnerability and fury coalesce. In one scene, the characters cradle tenderness between them. In the next scene, they tear it apart and inflict unimaginable pain on one another in the process.

Bautista, who takes the stage for a final time at Fordham before her graduation, embodies

COURTESY OF CORA THERBER

Wooden furniture, old electronics and other random knick knacks scattered the stage of the Kehoe Theatre.

this turbulence in a transfixing and guttural performance — one certainly not to be missed.

Therber’s adaptation of this infamous Greek mythological figure proves that Medea’s story has universal appeal and application, no matter the era.

“For me, theater is about carving out a space in your chest to let more love in,” Therber said.

“I initially wrote this play for

trans people, neurotic people, and anyone who wants to puke after saying something genuine.

I hope those people felt seen.”

Bitingly inventive and deeply impassioned, “The Medea Thing.” spins an ancient myth into a modern tale of its own might. The studio thesis production at Fordham Theatre will run from March 11-15 in the Kehoe Theatre.

Second Installment of ‘Words & Sounds’ Series Debuts

The delivery of Birch’s latest release takes listeners on a vivid journey through Queens’ Fresh Pond Road POETRY from page 1

The spoken word performance began with a pensive triangle roll heralding Birch’s introduction of the poem. Her deliberate vocal technique and pronunciation were immediately the most noticeable aspect of the recitation. She accented particular words and sounds for each avenue, sometimes in a subtly ironic manner. Having never heard Birch’s album before, I expected the recitation to be like a storytime event with a soft, dreamy voice. Rather, Birch spoke in powerful tones rivaling those of an auctioneer’s.

Some transitions between poems were relatively smooth, whether that was due to a continuous percussive line under the words or the subject material flowing easily. Other transitions came as a total surprise, mirroring that of the New York City landscape.

I could almost picture her pointing at one side of the avenue before shouting to look over at the other side Each seemingly innocent snapshot was somehow interwoven with the effects of urban renewal, resulting in a harsh back-and-forth between the mundane aspects of life in New

York and the systemic violence tightly-knit within its history.

These grave moments were punctuated by a particularly droning, grating voice in juxtaposition to the almost sardonic voice used elsewhere in the performance.

The experience overall felt as if Birch was taking me by the hand and leading me on a walk down Fresh Pond Road as she painted a vivid picture of the signs surrounding us. I could almost picture her pointing at one side of the avenue before shouting to look over at the other side, wrenching my attention back and forth between the overwhelming storefronts. In a perfect compliment to Birch’s feverish recitation, Sawyer’s unrelenting hi-hat propelled me onward down each avenue even as I struggled to make sense of the surroundings that Birch was painting.

Despite the improvisatory nature of the performance, there were several moments of dialogue and imitation between the voice and snare, highlighting the conversational aspect of “Fresh Pond Road” with its musical accompaniment.

There was one particularly magical moment at the beginning of a phrase in which Sawyer hit the snare drum at precisely the same time that Birch spoke, providing the perfect example of Birch’s point to phenomenology and the creative coincidences that can happen in an unplanned setting. The performance concluded with a soft,

ANUM ANSARI/THE OBSERVER

Before the reading, Ama Birch didn’t rehearse with percussionist Ryan Sawyer, whose set-up consisted of just a snare drum, a hi-hat and a few other auxiliary instruments.

ringing note on Sawyer’s triangle, tracing its cyclical arc in an implication that the recitation could start from the beginning all over again.

With his limited assortment of instruments and abounding creativity, Sawyer was able to produce several psychedelic timbres through various experimentative techniques, such as placing a cowbell on the snare drum to change its pitch and even turning the drum upside down to drag the

sticks through the rattling snare wires themselves. His performance was a demonstration that it doesn’t take much to create an expansive textural environment.

However, rather than providing a steady, unobtrusive backdrop, Sawyer’s music acted more in dialogue with Birch’s poetry as the two went back and forth in conversation, one sometimes overtaking the other in volume and urgency.

While the poems are certainly

able to stand on their own, I would argue that “Fresh Pond Road” is not a collection that requires accompaniment. It is one side of a dialogue requiring a partner.

Birch’s poems act as questions and the music is an improvisatory, provocative response representing just one point of view in a much larger conversation.

This event was sponsored by the Visual Arts Department with support from The Center for Community Engaged Learning.

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The Impact of American Girl

A photo essay visualizing the enduring legacy of the iconic store from Gen Z’s childhood

By SHELBY WILLIAMS, MORGAN JOHNSON AND ANA KEVORKIAN Diversity Chair, Podcast Producer and Former Managing Editor

American Girl, a line of American dolls which debuted in 1986 and was created by Pleasant Company, has touched the lives of generations of girls across the country for nearly 40 years. The brand, now owned by American entertainment company Mattel, features 20 historical dolls, each of which were created in settings during various pivotal moments of U.S. history.

From Melody, a Civil Rights Activist, to Molly, an American girl on the “home front” during World War II, these dolls serve as a pathway for young girls to explore history and the world around them.

The toy company has released “Girl of the Year” dolls annually since 2003 as well as “Truly Me” dolls, which are meant to mirror their owners’ self-expression.

These dolls have become ingrained within pop cultural symbols of “girlhood,” portraying young girls ranging from the ages of eight to 14. Wandering around the flagship

Julie tests out her new skateboard

store in Rockefeller Center, it’s clear that the brand’s iconography continues to hold immense weight within the contemporary generation of young girls.

Apart from the dolls and accessories, there are a variety of amenities for visitors to enjoy. The Rockefeller Center store includes a hair salon where girls and dolls alike can have their hair styled, ears pierced, and nails done in bright designs. The iconic American Girl Cafe is located on the basement level, where dolls can accompany their owners to an exciting dining experience. Visitors without their own dolls can rent one for the duration of their meal to ensure they have a mini friend by their side in the notable pink high chairs.

The American Girl Store remains a place of joy and wonder for girls and women alike as the brand inspires them to be their best selves. As the toy landscape for young girls has shifted over the years, American Girl continues to stand the test of time as its cultural impact shines through.

MORGAN JOHNSON/THE OBSERVER

MORGAN JOHNSON/THE OBSERVER

Julie and Julie prepare to share their first course at the American Girl Doll Cafe at Rockefeller Center.

MORGAN JOHNSON/THE OBSERVER

These dolls feature a line-up of traditional clothes made in honor of the various cultural holidays celebrated across the nation.

Visitors are able to bring their dolls to receive eye exams and glasses prescriptions.

ANA KEVORKIAN/THE OBSERVER

MORGAN JOHNSON/THE OBSERVER

The American Girl Store displays of each of the ‘Girl of the Year’ dolls from 2001-23.

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Don’t Pass Up On New York City’s Culture Pass

Use your public library card to gain free entry to numerous cultural institutions across the five boroughs

By TARA LENTELL Creative Director

New York City has 145 museums, 182 movie theaters, 116 National Historic Landmarks and over 120 live music venues. New events are happening every weekend, and many of them are costly. The options are overwhelming and it can feel impossible to discover all the city has to offer while studying for classes and staying on budget — unless you utilize Culture Pass.

The Culture Pass program partners with over 90 institutions in each of the five boroughs to offer free tickets to various iconic sites across New York City. To reserve a ticket to your next cultural excursion, all you need is a library card with the Brooklyn Public Library, Queens Public Library or the New York Public Library.

To qualify for a library card with the public library system, you need to be a resident of New York City or a student enrolled at a school or collegiate institution in any of the five boroughs. From there, you can login to the Culture Pass website with the information on your library card. Every Culture Pass ticket counts for one person and their guest — New York City resident or not.

The program has introduced me to new museums I didn’t previously know about. It has allowed me to go to places I’ve always wanted to visit but never had enough money to spare to buy a ticket for. In the last few weeks, I’ve reserved Culture Pass tickets to the Guggenheim Museum on Manhattan’s iconic Museum Mile and to the Rubin Museum on West 17th Street in Chelsea.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

The exhibit on display at the Guggenheim on an early Friday afternoon in February was “Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility.” Displaying partially concealed art pieces as a metaphor for “the edge of visibility”, the installation remains on display until April 7.

Visitors begin at the ground floor and work their way up the ramp, ultimately viewing the work of 28 artists spread across the six floors of the Guggenheim. While ascending the museum’s skylit rotunda, visitors are confronted with what “the edge of visibility” means in contemporary American society. Artists manipulate form, light, video and sound to encourage reflection on the intersection between visibility and race.

In the three years I’ve been in New York, this was my first time visiting the Guggenheim Museum.

I had tried numerous other times to get tickets on the Culture Pass website — they only offer a limited number of tickets per month — but in February I checked early and was lucky.

The Guggenheim’s architecture makes the building standout in Manhattan’s landscape and has become a symbol for the city itself. The prominent structure was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright to imitate an inverted ziggurat, which is a Babylonian stepped temple design built for religious purposes in Mesopotamian societies.

Ascending the rotunda of the Guggenheim was a museum experience for me like no other. Every artist’s work flowed from one to the next with a degree of ease and intentionality that was possible only because of the museum’s unique structure. This ascension

can be likened to a religious experience through the physical trek required of visitors going up the six levels in conjunction with the deep contemplative thought the museum evokes in its visitors through the work of its exhibiting artists.

I came to the Guggenheim to see the museum’s permanent collection which includes works by Pisarro, Kandinsky, Pollock and more.

Ultimately, though, I walked away more struck by the way the design of the Guggenheim itself worked in conjunction with the exhibit on display, which created a powerful impression on visitors.

The Rubin Museum of Art The Rubin Museum — which will unfortunately be closing its location on Oct. 6 due to lack of funding — displays art of the Himalayan region through interactive and engaging formats. On the second floor of the museum, a traditional layout guides visitors through the museum’s exhibits.

Visitors on the third floor will find the Mandala lab, an interactive exhibit where visitors explore the association they have between smell and emotion. According to the Rubin Museum’s website, the Mandala lab invites visitors to “consider how complex feelings show up in your everyday life and imagine how you might have the power to transform them.”

One activity in the exhibit invites visitors to sit at a table where a scent emits from the small device in front of them. They are instructed to think about how that smell makes them feel, and at the end of the simulation, they see the breakdown of how other visitors felt when exposed to it. At the end of the activity, visitors are invited to write down how their favorite

COURTESY OF RENO LATHIENNE VIA UNSPLASH

For college students from out of the state, Culture Pass is a convenient way to get out and explore New York City.

scent made them feel in a guest book — flipping through, you can read about visitors of all ages’ experiences.

The interactive aspect of the Rubin leaves a powerful impression on museumgoers. I had never heard of the Rubin before getting a ticket through Culture Pass — I randomly picked the museum based on its short description displayed on Culture Pass’ website, which describes how the museum makes connections between modern life and the art of the Himalayas. Now, I definitely plan on returning to the museum prior to its closure.

The museum’s closure of its physical location doesn’t mean it will cease to exist, the museum will now focus on “traveling exhibitions and long term loans.” However, its contributions to the art scene of New York will always be appreciated and remembered.

Seeing how other New Yorkers and tourists responded to the different emotions created

community among those who previously visited the museum. The Rubin taught me about Himalayan art and how to regulate my emotions through the lens of the Mandala lab’s Buddhist teachings. The experiential learning aspect has caused my visit to remain paramount in my mind.

These are just two of the museums I’ve been able to visit with Culture Pass. Some of the other sites include AKC Museum of the Dog, Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra, the Museum of Chinese in America, The Frick Collection and so much more.

Financial barriers should not hold you back from exploring the city where you’ve come to learn.

So next weekend when you’re wondering what to do, grab a friend, get a Culture Pass and learn something new. New tickets on Culture Pass come out at midnight on the first of every month with tickets for the following month.

‘Marisol’ Tells an Apocalyptic Bronx Tale

Fabiola Arias’ senior thesis production explores faith and mortality through surrealism

By CHRISTINA IOANNIDES Staff Writer

Past the hazy red glow at the entrance of Fordham Lincoln Center’s White Box Theatre, there is a run-down corner of the Bronx.

The brick walls are scrawled with graffiti, the space illuminated by blinding LED lights, and the stage cluttered with trash bags and traffic cones. But to Marisol Perez, the titular character, it is home.

Based on an interpretation of the famous “Marisol”, originally written in 1992 by José Rivera.

The show was reimagined and directed by Fabiola Arias, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’24, as her thesis production. “Marisol” depicts a surrealistic future emerged from the ruins of a neglected society. It is an ambitious exploration of religion’s unsteady role in modern society, and a reminder of the urgent need for social change. Arias described the play as “a Rubik’s cube that can never be solved,” but her directing breathes life and passion into every moment.

The titular character, Marisol (Mariana Miranda, FCLC ’27), is a young Puerto Rican woman, who is a New York native and devout Catholic, working as a copywriter for a publishing company. The city she knows intimately is becoming a danger zone and especially as a woman living alone, Marisol risks her life simply by stepping outdoors. On the train to work one day, Marisol is viciously attacked by an unhoused man with a golf club while her trusted guardian angel (Nina Polaris, FCLC ’25) observes

COURTESY OF LIJAH SCHNEL

The White Box Theatre was transformed into a small corner of the Bronx with trash cans and graffiti-sprayed brick walls positioned around the stage.

from above, interfering just in time for Marisol to make her escape.

The attack is the final straw for Marisol. She quickly plans to leave her hometown, in the Bronx, and move into her friend June’s (Evan Cain, FCLC ’26) Brooklyn apartment, despite June’s often violent arguments with her eccentric brother Lenny (Aiden Castillo, FCLC ’26). The entire scene is suddenly thrown into question, however, when Marisol sees her own name in headlines, pronounced dead. It’s never quite clear what truly happened on that subway, but the feeling of Marisol’s despair is visceral as she faces her own mortality.

This is only the beginning of the end. Countless absurdities in an apocalyptic New York City unravel: from the moon disappearing, to

food turning into salt, to credit card debtors being tortured by the government. These events are the result of a celestial war, as the angels fight to replace their ancient and dying God. Polaris’ performance as the guardian angel is ethereal and commanding, drawing the audience into the simultaneous passion and despair of the heavenly conflict. Marisol has always depended on God and her guardian angel for protection, and she is forced to navigate a world where even the angels are in a state of chaos and disorder.

The characters that Marisol meets on her apocalyptic journey challenge her bootstrap mentality and lead her to come to terms with the poverty that many New Yorkers face. She befriends an unhoused man, visits the graves of dead

children and encounters a woman (Kat Fosmoen, FCLC ’26) who, despite her wealthy appearance, is heavily burdened by credit card debt. The play challenges the longheld “American Dream” ideal that hard work always leads to social mobility, and Marisol learns not to judge a book by its cover.

The confusing disarray of the nightmarish, non-linear timeline can be difficult to take in, but it is crucial to exploring the role of a Latina trying to claim a sense of agency in the midst of a socioeconomic environment that constantly weighs marginalized groups down.

Marisol had always found stability in the systems she existed in, even when they oppressed her, and the nonsensical world around her compelled her to seek a higher sense of identity.

Even after Marisol’s tragic fate, the play ends with more left to the story as the war with God continues; the audience is left with hope that the desolate city will see a brighter future.

Regarding her inspiration for the show, Arias said she chose Rivera’s play “because it felt impossible. I read it, and I loved it and it scared me, and then I read it again and I loved it even more and it scared me even more, and then again and again and again until fear and love were the only things that were left inside me.”

Arias’ words encapsulate the duality of a show that is meant to be met with both confusion and awe. “Marisol” is foreboding but not nihilistic; underneath its apocalyptic fantasy is an unmistakably human spirit that urges empathy and connection.

The play lingers on your mind long after the initial experience; it is at its most impactful not in the intensity of the moment but in the quiet contemplation it leaves you with. The plot charges forward at a breakneck pace, and the heavy themes are not for the faint of heart, but the cast of talented actors handle it with both power and grace.

Arias shared that her goal as a director is to make art “that tells stories that are never told, that centers culture and diversity, that makes people feel less alone, and that opens a space for people to feel seen and understood,” and “Marisol” undoubtedly achieved that.

The show had a sold-out, threeday run at the White Box Theatre from March 4-6.

Fun & Games Editor Abby Grunzinger

un & ames

March 13, 2024 THE OBSERVER

Crossword: Jumping to Solutions Complete these five minis to reveal a phrase you might be saying this spring break. Even better, grab a friend and make it a crossword race to see who can finish all five first.

Across

Down

1. Flower trunks?

6. Legal proceeding 7. A bald one is a patriotic symbol 8. Hurt 9. *Permits

1. Take a banana from Target without paying, for example 2. Outline, as in drawing 3. 2015 Western film directed

by Quentin Tarantino: “The Hateful _____” 4. Men 5. Slide down a snowy hill

Across

Down

1. *What you do at a green light 3. It might hold up a swimsuit 6. Poke fun 7. “I’m not hungry, I’ve already _____” 8. First Amendment right: Freedom of the _____

Across

Down

1. Far from the best 6. It has the only state seal designed by a woman 7. Rose to Jack, or Romeo to Juliet 8. Oxygen producers 9. *Common preposition

1. Droop, as a rose 2. Stinky smell 3. Party 4. Single piece of paper 5. The human body, minus the head, neck and limbs

Across

Down

1. *“It’s ___ final countdown … ” 4. Steers or directs, as a ship 7. Country where cricket is extremely popular 8. Opponent 9. The MTA increased theirs by 15 cents in 2023

1. Oxygen, nitrogen and water vapor, for three 2. When one door closes, another one…?

3. One of 12 in a recovery program 4. Sad drop?

5. Give three stars, for example

Across

Down

1. Goods bought on _____ may be returned if not satisfactory (British Abbr.)

6. Sweet smelling plant with pretty purple flowers 7. *Ken’s job, in “Barbie” 8. Complete and total 9. As a group: “en _____”

1. Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” or Paul Simon’s “Graceland,” for example 2. Art piece depicting Mary cradling the body of Jesus 3. Plots of land 4. The Indianapolis 500 and the New York City Marathon, for two 5. Autumn clothing color

MINIS BY ABBY GRUNZINGER

Logic Puzzle

BY DAMIAN GROVE

You have been invited by four different friends to go on an exciting spring break vacation! Since each person gave you several details, you seem to have jumbled up who is going where and what activity each friend is doing. You do remember a few details they gave you, so use those clues to help make a decision on where to go!

Use the clues to deduce the destination of each person’s vacation and what activity they will take part in. The first clue has been put in for you as an example — use “X” to cross out the incorrect placements and“✓” to denote the correct matches. Remember: no two people want to go to the same place or do the same activity. After you have placed every competitor, you can check your answers with the grid in the bottom corner!

Aruba

Cancún

Bermuda

Punta Cana

Water Park

Sailing

Concert

Beach

1. WWII historical fiction novel by Markus Zusak: “The Book _____” 2. Reddish-brown dye, often used for body art 3. In “Harry Potter,” it’s the most powerful wand ever made 5. Tell a story without words 6. “Simon ____: put your heads on your head!”

RamLibs: Road Trip!

BY JASMINE WHITE RAM LIBS GRAPHIC BY CHAISE JONES

Tania, Ramses, and _______________ are about to have a(n) _________ spring celebrity name

adjective

break! They are taking a road trip in Tania’s ______ to ________ for ____ days,

X

Brad

Pearl

X

X X

adjective

beverage

adjective

X X 1. Pearl wants to go to the beach 2. The concert is happening in Cancún 3. Either Sean or Brad wanted to go to Punta Cana 4. Pearl did not want to go to Aruba or Cancún 5. Sean is afraid of slides 6. Sailing is happening in Aruba 7. Julie did not want to do anything involving water Concert

Cancún

Julie

Sailing

Aruba

Beach

Bermuda

Pearl

Water Park

Punta Cana

Brad

Destination

Name

Activity

Beach

so they are filling a cooler with ___________ and bringing Ramses’ _________

their destination, the first activity this _________ trio is doing is ___________

Sean

Concert

number

adverb

Julie

Sailing

city

playlist along to have a nice soundtrack for the trip. Once they ________ reach

Sean

Water Park

car brand

verb ending in -ing

before they crash at the hotel. After that, they’re planning on visiting __________, landmark

relaxing at ____________ beach and shopping for __________ to bring back to plural noun

proper noun

Fordham University as souvenirs!

Ramses is really ___________ to try the local cuisine, but Tania says it can’t be any emotion

worse than the food at _______________. ______________ is mostly just excited Fordham dining hall

Same celebrity name

to be done with midterms; their_______________class taught by ____________ object in your room

professor's name

has been super hard this semester. Despite their differences, the three friends are bound to have an amazing time together on their ______________ road trip and adjective

create memories that last for many____________ to come. Bon voyage, Rams! plural unit of time

GRAPHICS BY GIADA EVANGELSITA