The Hofstra Chronicle April 17, 2018

The Hofstra

HEMPSTEAD, NY Volume 83 Issue 18

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Tuesday

April 17, 2018

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Sigma Delta Tau suspended amid pledging concerns

By Katie Krahulik NEW S E D I TO R

The Gamma Gamma chapter of Sigma Delta Tau (SDT) at Hofstra University was temporarily suspended on March 9, 2018, due to allegations brought to Public Safety that sparked an investigation into the sorority.

These allegations were brought to the attention of Public Safety by a former SDT member – who disaffiliated after about 11 months in the organization – in response to the new member education process.

In her statement, the student listed a number of violations that she argued do not uphold SDT’s national policies, Office of Student Leadership and Engagement (OSLE) guidelines or Hofstra’s community standards.

The student alleged a multitude of hazing activities including drug and alcohol violations, physical abuse and psychological scare tactics.

Hofstra defines hazing as “… any action taken or situation created, intentionally, whether on or off fraternity premises, to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment or ridicule.”

The former member provided The Chronicle evidence of activities that she said qualifiy as hazing under Article VIII of the Constitution of the Panhellenic Association of Hofstra University. Before their initiation on March 29, 2017, the former member said the girls

were instructed to endure a “hell night” during which they could not sleep from 1- 8 a.m. She provided documentation of the text messages they were allegedly required to send every hour.

The messages contained greetings to senior and new member educators that included current and past positions, their pledge class and their trees.

Each message was to be unique so as to make sure they could not simply copy and paste the same message each hour, according to the former member.

She provided a screenshot of a message from her fellow pledge member saying, “I mean like the staying up all night shit was just unnecessary.” Listed as a form of hazing under Article VIII is, “… the creation of excessive fatigue.”

“...I could not stop crying.

I just wished so much to leave that house...”

Additionally, before they were initiated, on March 13, 2017, the girls were taken off campus to a house on Maple Avenue where they were allegedly told they’d be watching a TV show together. In her statement that she provided to Public Safety, she explained that unbeknownst to

them, the gathering was intended to be a questioning meeting.

The former member provided

us happy but I could not stop the night was when we heard a crying. I just wished so much doorbell and they told us it was to leave that house, but since it the Pike [Pi Kappa Alpha] new was off campus, members coming. They said, I had to wait un- ‘they knew how much we lovd til my ride was to hang out with boys’ so they leaving.” called them over so we could all The evidence go streaking (run naked) with she provided them outside. We all looked at shows that the them in disbelief when they said new pledge class this and then they said, ‘start was also taken stripping.’” According to her off campus on statement, it wasn’t until one the night of their member began to remove her initiation, March shirt that they stopped her and Photo courtesy of anonymous former member 29. The former “found a manipulative way to member proturn it on her about why she The Chronicle with 124 slides vided messages from members took her clothes off ...” of information about pledges of her pledge class which said, She said that some girls in her that she says they were told to “Tbt on our last night when they pledge class wanted this type memorize. put the shirts over our head in of hazing to continue, supportShe said the girls were lined Lawrence basement I freaked ing her statement with evidence up and questioned about the out.” of a message from a girl in her information they were expected The former member said that class who said, “That’s what to memorize. If they answered the girls were later instructed I mean I want them [the new incorrectly, the former member by the senior sisters to strip. In pledge class] to get hazed so said they were screamed at and their group chat, another memthey bond.” Another message berated, leaving at least four girls in tears including herself.

The former member provided evidence of a message posted by the then-current assistant new member educator, also a sister, in an SDT group chat confirming that the pledges had been at “maple [Avenue] for the bachelor finale.” The assistant new member educator continued, “… when you guys were getting half hazed/ questioned or whatever, i was on the kitchen floor of maple doing snow angels because I was so Photo courtesy of anonymous former member fucked up.”

The former member said the whole sorority sat across the ber recalled the alleged incident, from a different member of the room and laughed at the pledges writing, “at least u didn’t take ur same class said, “if they don’t while they were questioned. She shirt off.” get what we did they’re gonna said in her statement, “After In her report the former mem- think they can just do whatever that, they tried to put on the ber details this incident saying, Continued on A2 Bachelor [sic] finale to make “One of the scariest times of

Inside this issue:

Letters to the Editor regarding last week’s Zarb story A12-13

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A2•April 17, 2018

The Chronicle

Former member details various violations Continued from A1 tf [the fuck] they want … the new pledge class is gonna be ass if they don’t get some bad shit.”

Prior to initiation, the former member said, “Whenever they wanted any food or alcohol, we had to get it for them and deliver it wherever they asked.

This would be paid for with our own personal money and we would not be reimbursed.” She provided evidence of such a request from one of her senior sisters who requested a pizza, a Caesar salad and an order of garlic knots on March 28, the day before initiation. In a screenshot of a message from a group chat with her member class, one girl said, “not extreme hazing just like what we used to do maybe a little less like take out the stuff where we had to buy them alcohol every night and drop it off lol.”

In her statement, the former member said that many members of the sorority, including executive board (e-board) members, do drugs at events such as

formal which is why she doesn’t personally attend. She provided a screenshot of a message sent on Nov. 5, 2017, from an eboard member saying in an SDT group chat, “Do all the cocaine you want to but don’t be stupid

or have your date be stupid and do it infront of everyone lol.”

The former member said that members of SDT drink alcohol on school property at Greek Life functions. She provided photos of members of SDT holding alcoholic drinks in the parking lot behind C.V. Starr.

The former member provided evidence of SDT affiliating with non-recognized organizations which she explained is strictly forbidden by the university. She provided a photo depicting SDT members standing in the house

of Delta Sigma Phi (DSP), an unrecognized organization circa October 2008. Additionally, in a screenshot of a group chat titled “SDT Spring 2018 Events & Info” the former president said, “Mixer tonight with DSP.” Also

been temporarily suspended due to a concern regarding the new member education program. The matter is currently under investigation and we cannot comment during this process.”

An email attributed to the Division of Student Affairs said, “Any time there is a complaint about a student organization we investigate, and during that investigation that organization may be placed on temporary suspension. During an investigation, organization meetings, activities, Photo courtesy of anonymous former member and new member educapictured were members of SDT tion processes are suspended. wearing their letters in front of a We take all concerns brought to wall with Sigma Pi letters. our attention from students very In her statement, the former seriously.” member said SDT has a history All of the comments provided of wanting to push out unwanted by the former SDT member in members based on appearances, this article came from a writand they aired intentions to do ten statement she gave to The so in evidence provided by the Chronicle. former member.

The Chronicle reached out to The Chronicle reached out the Gamma Gamma chapter of to the National Office of SDT SDT, Public Safety and OSLE about the allegations, and SDT’s for comment. The Chronicle was Executive Director Debbie informed that none of the three Snyder said, “We are aware are allowed to comment because that our chapter [at Hofstra] has the investigation is ongoing.

‘Monument Quilt’ honors survivors

By Nicole Boucher STAFF W R I T E R

Hofstra’s chapter of It’s On Us spent last week tabling in the Student Center with blank quilt squares that students could use to write messages of support for survivors of sexual assault.

All the quilt squares will be put together and displayed somewhere visible to the student body, according to Manni Doan, a sophomore mathematical business economics major who helped with tabling.

Any student who wanted to contribute to the quilt could walk up to the table and write a note of support on a little red square. It was then added to an ever-growing pile waiting to be sewn together. The messages on the quilts all had a common theme of encouragement.

Alisha Riggs, a first year psychology major and a member

of It’s On Us, said the messages on the quilt included “Stay positive, be happy [and] stay strong.”

As of Friday, the committee members tabling were not sure

vides a public healing space and also shows the impact of sexual violence in our communities.”

All quilts made as part of The Monument Quilt project have red squares. According to The

Hofstra’s It’s On Us Week of Action. Throughout the month of April, there will be more programming and meetings on campus in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Hofstra’s It’s On Us committee is part of a nationwide movement that is trying to increase awareness of sexual assault and find solutions to end it and help victims.

“It’s On Us has helped to bring proactive educational programming around sexual misconduct and intimate partner violence,” Vernace said.

“A lot of people are sexual assault survivors, but they realize that they don’t have a resource to go to, so this advertises a lot of resources,” Doan said.

“Through this organization, we can connect people to what they need.”

“The quilt provides a public healing space and also shows the impact of sexual violence in our communities.”

just how many squares would be part of the quilt.

“The idea for the quilt squares came about from a project called ‘The Monument Quilt,’ which is a display of quilt squares with stories from survivors of sexual violence,” said Allison Vernace, Hofstra’s Title IX officer for Student Issues. “The quilt pro-

Monument Quilt’s website, “... our stories are displayed in city and town centers to create and demand public space to heal.

The Monument Quilt resists the popular and narrow narrative of how sexual violence occurs by telling many stories, not one.”

Making the quilt was part of

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Editor-in-Chief Joe Fay Managing Editor Laurel O’Keefe Business Manager Erin Kiley News Editors Katie Krahulik Danny Nikander Assistant News Editors Taylor Clarke Jill Leavey A&E Editors Rob Dolen Samantha Storms Assistant A&E Editor Joseph Coffey-Slattery Sports Editors Kevin Carroll PJ Potter Assistant Sports Editors Alexandra Licata Felipe Fontes @Hofstra Editor Allison Eichler Asst. @Hofstra Editors Emily Barnes Rachel Bowman Editorial Editors Gisela Factora Andy Sahadeo Assistant Editorial Editor Daniel Nguyen Copy Chiefs Marie Haaland Erin Hickey Assistant Copy Chief Mia Thompson Multimedia Editors Jesse Saunders Peter Soucy Assistant Multimedia Editors Robert Kinnaird Genesis Ibarra Social Media Manager Brian Sommer The Chronicle is published every Tuesday during the academic year by the students of Hofstra University. The Chronicle is located in Room 203 Student Center, 200 Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y. 11549. Advertising and subscription rates may be obtained by calling (516) 463-6921.

The Chronicle reserves the right to reject any submission, in accordance with our written policies. All advertising which may be considered fraudulent, misleading, libelous or offensive to the University community, The Chronicle or its advertisers may be refused. The products and opinions expressed within advertisement are not endorsed by The Chronicle or its staff.

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april 17, 2018•A3

Public Health Week promotes self-forgiveness

By Kaylee Stebbins STAFF W R I T E R

Hofstra’s School of Health Professions and Human Services encouraged students not to let failure stunt their positivity during the event “Fail-Succeed: Finding Your Path Over, Around and Through Obstacles” as part of National Public Health Week on Thursday, April 12.

Professor of Health Professions Dr. Jessica Holzer and Coordinator of Information Systems Mike Devlin shared personal stories about how failure has impacted their lives.

Holzer explained the pressures she had as a student at Wellesley College. “I was always around people who held themselves to really high standards,” she said, further explaining that seeing her peers making future plans and accepting job offers was discouraging. “The world was my oyster, but I had no idea what I wanted to do.”

Holzer had a friend who claimed to be an employee at Clear Water Action in San Francisco,

California, a well-known company that campaigns to promote environmental protections. She offered Holzer an environmental policy position at the company.

Upon arrival to San Francisco, Holzer was shocked to discover that her friend had betrayed her. “The job did not exist, and my friend had not worked there for many months,” Holzer said. This left her alone in a new city with no way to pay for rent.

Rather than hanging her head in disappointment, Holzer immediately began applying for other jobs. Within one month, she was offered a position at a bio-pharmaceutical company where her main responsibility was to wash glassware. “I had a Wellesley education and I was doing what a trained monkey can do,” Holzer said. “But at the time, it was the golden egg.”

Her experience in the

bio-pharmaceutical industry opened the door to many other opportunities. “Having this experience was looked at positively, which helped me get many other jobs,” Holzer said.

“I decided to come back to New York when Hofstra offered me

Devlin shared the struggles he overcame after losing his job as a regional supervisor for UPS. He was fired from his job at the age of 33 and was forced to live under his parents’ roof.

“I used to party a lot. Drink a lot. I was always up for anything, but I decided to stop,” Devlin said.

“My father made me apply for 40 jobs a day in order to stay in the house,” Devlin said. Although his father was hard on him, he explained that his family was his biggest support system throughout this traumatic event.

“Family means a lot. They’re a great support system. You need someone to pick you up,” Devlin said.

“If it was not for this catastrophic event, I would never have ended up where I am now,” he explained. “I went from being ‘kind of a tech’ to a successful programmer and became the guy

“Self-forgiveness is really important ... just continue to be dedicated to what you want.” a job.”

Ujala Nigam, a sophomore health science major, shared her appreciation for Holzer’s story.

“Listening to her made me feel better about my failures,” Nigam said.

Sophomore health science major Natalie Aksnes agreed. “It was nice to hear that other people go through tough situations and still end up being successful,” Aksnes said.

I always wanted to be.”

Devlin emphasized that catastrophic failures do not stop you from moving on.

“Being fired was absolutely the best thing that has ever happened to me,” Devlin said. He was offered a job at Hofstra 15 years ago and has been working here ever since. “I work here, teach here and take classes here.

I love this place.

Kelly Guidry, a sophomore journalism major, was able to relate to Holzer and Devlin’s experiences. “I was disappointed when I did not get accepted into my high school newspaper staff, but that led to me getting accepted to the yearbook staff.

Being involved in the yearbook allowed me to find my new passion for publications.”

Both Holzer and Devlin closed their stories by emphasizing the importance of moving on after experiencing a catastrophic event. “Self-forgiveness is really important,” Holzer said. “You are all going to face failures.

Just continue to be dedicated to what you want.”

Hillel commemorates Holocaust victims

By Leo Brine STAFF W R I T E R

Hofstra Hillel held a commemorative ceremony outside of Hofstra Hall for Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom HaShoah, on April 11. Those who walked by the event heard the names of over one million children who were murdered during the Holocaust.

“Honestly, I started to tear up toward the end, not ashamed to admit it. It’s a very, very powerful experience. As you’re reading the names, you can kind of feel the pain these children [went] through. I think about how I’m 21 years old, these kids didn’t get to see that age. It’s very impactful,” said AJ Shears, a senior finance major.

Shears has been coming to the event every year that he has been at Hofstra and this was his second time reading from the list of names. Shears believes that it is important that there are events like these to keep society from forgetting and to ensure that it never happens again.

“You need to commemorate

it,” Shears said. “If we forget about it and we don’t share the experience, it’s bound to happen again.”

Hadas Hayun, a junior public relations major, came to read from the list of names in commemoration of her family members that perished in the Holocaust. After reading, Hayun said, “It’s still very hard to see the names. You can see entire families that were murdered, but it’s very important to remember.”

Papers were additionally handed out that had the estimated number of Jewish people killed in each country that Germany invaded between 1933 and 1945.

Hannah Rembrandt, a graduate student studying speech pathology, said, “This is something that affects the Jewish community every day. I think it’s important for people to understand exactly what the effect of the Holocaust was. Most people think this is something that happened and it’s done, but it’s something that still [affects

Photo courtesy of Hofstra University Hofstra Hillel members gather outside of Hofstra Hall on Holocaust Remembrance Day to honor the victims.

us] today.”

The event also highlighted the anti-Semitism that still exists in the world. There has been a resurgence in the states after the election of President Donald Trump. According to the AntiDefamation League (ADL), anti-Semitic hate crimes jumped 57 percent from 2016 to 2017.

Anti-Semitic hate crimes in New York rose 40 percent and onethird of the hate crimes reported took place on Long Island.

The event was a way for students to learn more about the Holocaust and its effects on the world. “Hofstra Hillel’s mission is to enrich our students so they can enrich the world, and one of

the ways we do that is through education,” said Rabbi Dave Siegel, the executive director of Hofstra Hillel. “I’m proud to say that when it comes to ensuring that there is no place for hate, our communities come together and work together to do the best we can to make Hofstra someplace to be proud of.”

A4•April 17, 2018

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What are YOU doing this summer?

Make the most of your summer and stay on track with classes and credits during Summer Sessions 2018: • Session I: May 23 – June 27 • Session II: July 5 – August 10 • Session III: August 13 – 31 • Continue to learn from Hofstra’s dedicated faculty • Create a flexible schedule that works just for you

• Choose from a variety of on-campus and distance learning courses (many that meet distribution requirements) or study abroad programs in Berlin, Florence, France, Ireland, and Japan

Register @ hofstra.edu/summer On-campus housing and job opportunities are also available.

Email summer@hofstra.edu for more information.

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april 17, 2018•A5

Hofstra alumnus addresses data security concerns

By Daniel Nguyen

also create enormous privacy issues and potential for abuse.”

ASSISTA N T E D I TO R I A L E DI TOR Cambridge Analytica, a politiAs part of the Fred DeMatcal data firm that microtargets teis School of Engineering’s voters, was revealed by The New Executive Speakers series, James York Times to have collected Nolan, executive vice president private information from more of InterDigital and Hofstra MBA than 87 million Facebook users, graduate, spoke to students and unbeknownst to the social media faculty on Friday, April 13. The site. central focus of Nolan’s lecture In the subsequent public parawas the state of data security noia, alternative models to ad today following the recent Cammarketing have gained increased bridge Analytica case. favor.

In an interactive talk that worked both as a question and answer session and lecture on InterDigital’s history, Nolan spoke on the “Internet of Things,” the process of data collection, ad agency microtargeting and the weight Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s of personal privacy in an age of chief operating officer, suggested heightened data permeability. opting for a subscription model “Every time you receive a in which users would experiproduct or service for free, ence ad-free services by paying a remember, you are the product,” monthly subscription fee.

Nolan said.

Equalized with the current ad He noted that the widespread targeting model, Nolan points practices of “targeted content, out that these fees would avertargeted advertising and targeted age to around $4 per month for experienced based on unique Google’s hosts of services and individual context have potential half that amount for Facebook’s. for very positive benefits, but Nolan commented on the

inevitability of data collection and microtargeting in the current ubiquity of advertising models.

“I think most people were passive until the last election and until the stuff that came out with Cambridge Analytica,” Nolan said.

“People have gone from being totally passive and clicking through everything to now being up in arms about ‘Why did this happen?’ [and] ‘How did this happen?’”

Faculty and students were interactive during Nolan’s speech, contributing with their own insights and posing questions.

Philip Coniglio, Hofstra’s Director of the DeMatteis School Co-op Program, asked about possible preventative measures for passive data collecting.

“Google knows who you’re getting emails from and who you respond to,” Nolan said, “You can turn off a lot of these things.

The trade-off you’re making is that you’re getting a lot of services for free by letting them take this data. You’d have to be vigilant in terms of every time you download a new app, every

“Will consumers accept the risks to their privacy and security?”

time your app reloaded itself on an update, you’d have to be sure to reset all of the settings.”

Dr. Edward Currie, professor of engineering, voiced concerns about the ethicality of data collection.

“They should provide people Photo Courtesy of the University of Mississippi with the option to opt-out,” he said, and kept happy.”

“It shouldn’t be inevitable.”

This inevitability has, as Nolan Siobhan Stergis, a senior pointed out, succeeded until computer science major, noted recently in passively consuming that social media companies the majority of internet users. cater to an unmistakable human The questions broached by fault: The need to be constantly these considerations of curentertained. “I feel that the senti- rent conditions are critical in ment of inevitability is painful future public discussion on data and shouldn’t be something we security. should succumb to as a group,” “Will consumers accept the Stergis said. risks to their privacy and securi“In essence, one way of anty?” Nolan asked. “Will targeted swering that question is that hu- content, media and advertising mans, in a sense, constantly need simplify our lives, or is it a masto be entertained ... We want to sive intrusion into our lives? Are be moving on to the next thing; we willing to pay for benefits, or we want to see what’s out there. suffer the consequences of free?”

There’s a part of us that needs to be constantly fed and entertained

Public Safety Briefs On April 4 at 7 p.m., PS received a call from an RSR about a male smoking marijuana at the bus stop outside of Colonial Square. PS responded and stopped the male, who was identified as a Hofstra student.

Compiled by Ashanti Davis

The student was issued a referral to OCS and the marijuana was confiscated.

On April 7, a Hofstra student reported that his wallet containing his Hofstra identification card was stolen while off

Jesse Saunders / Hofstra Chronicle

campus in New York City on April 6. A report was filed with Hofstra Card Services. The student denied police assistance at the time of report.

On April 8 at 3:30 a.m., a PS officer assigned to the main entrance booth reported that a white Jeep Cherokee drove past the booth without stopping to show identification. The PS officer radioed for assistance.

The vehicle was stopped and the driver was identified as a Hofstra student. The student was issued a referral to OCS for failing to comply.

On April 9 at 11:10 p.m., PS received a report that the odor of marijuana was emanating from a room in Utrecht House.

PS arrived and upon entering the room found six individuals and all of the windows open.

The individuals were identified

as both students and guests. No marijuana was recovered. The students were issued referrals to OCS for drug abuse violation and guest policy violation.

On April 12 at 9:45 p.m., PS received a report that a male in the Sondra and David S. Mack Student Center was yelling profanities. PS responded and confronted the male. The male was unable to produce any form of identification and stated that he was not a student. PS brought the male to the Hofstra Information Center for further questioning. NCPD was notified and responded to the location. After further investigation, the male was identified as a non-student and was reported NUMC for psychological evaluation. Later, the male was issued a letter banning him from campus.

Key PS – Public Safety OCS – Office of Community Standards NUMC – Nassau University Medical Center NCPD – Nassau County Police RSR – Resident Safety Representative

@Hofstra

A6 • April 17, 2018

Overheard

The Chronicle

@

There are certain people that I need to be drunk to be around.

In the Wellness Center: I got my period this morning and literally felt the blood drip out of me when I got out of bed.

In LH Comm: Vanessa Hudgens went from singing about Troy Bolton to practically inventing Coachella.

In Breslin Hall: I definitely welcome this warm weather, but I do not welcome legshaving season.

In the Student Center:

In Roosevelt Hall:

It’s all because of you ma! That I’m a virgin! I’m 26 years old!

In Enterprise: If she doesn’t like my confidence she can suck it out of my ass.

On the Unispan:

In Gittleson Hall:

In the Netherlands: He’s a weird turtle man and I hate him.

Hofstra

I would accept being ugly if I had other redeeming qualities like being smart and having my shit together.

Is anyone still writing punctuation outside the quotation marks? Please shoot me if you are.

From fame to forensics: The story of Robert Leonard

By Jennifer Goldstein STAFF WRITER

Imagine becoming a part of a hit rock ‘n’ roll band during the Woodstock era and playing alongside some of the most famous artists in rock ‘n’ roll history at just 19 years old. Imagine starting a trend that inspired the famous Broadway musical “Grease” or working with the FBI to solve criminal cases.

Professor Robert Leonard has done it all. In addition to all of these accomplishments, Leonard teaches Swahili, is the director of Hofstra’s graduate program in Linguistics and is one of the world’s leading experts in forensic linguistics.

Leonard’s career began as an undergraduate student at Columbia University, where he and his brother George were members of the school’s a cappella group.

In 1969, the two formed the band Sha Na Na and his brother changed the group’s look to the greaser style.

“My brother said, ‘I have a great idea for a rock group. The a capella group that you lead, why don’t we transform that into a ‘50s oldies group?’ We did. He choreographed us and dressed us in gold outfits and greaser outfits and we were an instant hit,” Leonard said.

Leonard was Sha Na Na’s bass singer, and he sang the lead for the song “Teen Angel” when the band opened for Jimi Hen-

drix at Woodstock.

“We wound up opening for Jimi Hendrix, who really liked us very much, at Woodstock. [We played with] Janis Joplin, Santana, Grateful Dead, everybody in the world,” Leonard said.

With such an eventful past, it can be hard to even remember how many icons he played with.

Sha Na Na even went on to be the dance band in the movie “Grease.”

“We invented the whole concept of “Grease.” It didn’t really exist before us. They would invite us to go to the Broadway show because they were ripping us off completely, with our blessing!” Leonard said. “We got on the [“Grease”] album, which was a quadruple-billion platinum album, and in the movie.”

Despite his hectic schedule as a rock star, Leonard decided that he wanted to learn a new language. That was when he took up Swahili.

“At Columbia, out of 55 languages, guess which one was not taught Monday through Friday?

Swahili,” Leonard said. “The first day I walked into Swahili class, I could not have found Africa on a map. But I fell madly in love with the language and the culture. I wound up applying for and getting a full-ride fellowship to do my doctoral dissertation research in East Africa for one year, and lived there for six years.”

For someone with such great

fame and talent, one would expect Leonard to stay in the music industry. However, though Leonard loved being a musician, he had his reasons for straying from the business.

“I have to pinch myself now to imagine myself hanging out with Jimi Hendrix and performing at these enormous venues.

We played with The Beatles, for gosh sakes! As well as all the ‘50s people like Chuck Berry, Little Richard and B.B. King,” he said. “But I had a choice. I was offered a full fellowship at Columbia to go right through my doctorate, and everybody I knew was dying of drug overdoses. It was a hard decision, but it was a good one.”

Leonard’s profession as a linguist has given him a devoted passion for the world of language.

“Being a linguist is what really made me fall in love with Swahili and many other languages. I’m so interested in language; the way language works, the way people do or don’t communicate through language, the way language creates groups and splits groups,” Leonard said. “Language is the single most important way we communicate.”

His past as a musician ties into his change in profession.

“A lot of linguists are musicians because so much of it is communication. And also, it’s structured communication. I was always a linguist, and I was

always interested in language,” he said.

Leonard’s mentor, Roger Shuy (now a distinguished research professor at Georgetown University), played a key role in guiding him into the field. “[He] really invented forensic linguistics in the United States.

He took sociolinguistics and used it to analyze cases,” Leonard said.

“I was doing cases just every now and then, and after a while, [Shuy] invited me to be his partner because he wanted somebody else to go around and do all of the testifying.”

However, before working with his mentor, Leonard worked alongside the Pennsylvania State Police.

“Before I partnered with Roger Shuy, I got a call from the Pennsylvania State Police out of the blue,” he said. “They asked me to look at two documents: one, a letter that a woman’s husband found on his windshield accusing her of infidelity. Then she was found strangled to death in her car outside a supermarket.

“As the investigation progressed, another letter came from a guy who said he was the one who killed her. So the police wanted to know what intelligence I could extract from these documents that might help them in their investigation.”

His work with the Pennsylvania State Police got Leonard acquainted with the FBI.

“On the basis of this, I got to know the head of the FBI Forensic Linguistics Program at the Behavioral Analysis Unit,” he said.

Leonard was recruited to Quantico by James Fitzgerald, who is now also a Hofstra professor, to help train the Behavioral Analysis Unit agents.

“Here I was, a linguistics professor [at Hofstra], and all of a sudden I’m training the Behavioral Analysis Unit. It’s very similar to what happened to me in show business,” Leonard said.

“One minute I’m in an a cappella group at Columbia, next minute I’m playing with Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.”

Leonard continues to work for the FBI when needed, while also working as a professor.

“It’s so funny, sometimes I get a call in class and I actually have to walk out because I recognize that [the FBI is] calling me for something.”

With a fascinating past, Leonard recounts his most impactful experience.

“You can imagine how much fun it was being a rock star,” he said. “As much fun as that was, I used to say when I was in Kenya, it was more fun being in Africa speaking Swahili, researching Swahili, living in a vast variety of cultures in Africa. That was just so rewarding and interesting, that may be the best.”

@Hofstra

The Chronicle

April 17, 2018 •A7

Robotics competitions fosters ‘coopertition’

By Jordan Laird STAFF WRITER

Fans packed the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex last week for two separate regional competitions, cheering loudly, sporting costumes and holding up large light-up number signs and banners. But they weren’t cheering for a sporting event; they were cheering for a high school robotics competition.

High school teams from Long Island, across the country and even around the world brought their homemade, 100-pound robots to compete in the School-Business Partnership of Long Island’s (SBPLI) 19th annual Long Island Regional FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition (FRC). Their robots didn’t battle each other like BattleBots, but they did compete on alliances against each other in a video game-themed contest.

This year’s challenge from FRC is called Power Up, in which two alliances of three robots and their human operators compete in an arcade-style competition. Robots pick up power cubes and place them to control switches and a scale, pass power cubes out of the ring in exchange for power-ups and ascend to the

top of the scale.

Even though this is a competition, the atmosphere in the “pits” – the areas where each team repairs their robot in between matches – is far from cut-throat.

“All these teams are talking to each other and cooperating so we invented this word ‘coopertition,’” said Bertram Dittmar, the executive director of SBPLI/ FIRST. Perhaps nobody else embodies the FIRST message of ‘coopertition’ more than the three winners of last week’s Regional No. 1: INTEGRA from Istanbul, Turkey; Las Guerillas from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; and Alternating Current from Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.

Olivia Clipperman, a 17-yearold competitor on Alternating Current, felt it was really amazing to ally with INTEGRA. “One of the cool things about FIRST is that you get to meet people who you would never get to meet otherwise, so it’s a unique experience,” Cooperman said. “We traveled to this tournament; we’re from Pennsylvania.

Almost everybody here is someone from at least out of state, and competing with someone out of country is just really cool.”

In the 70 qualifying matches of Regional No. 1, the 35 competing teams were placed

Jordan Laird / Hofstra Chronicle (From left to right) Teams Alternating Current, INTEGRA and Las Guerillas celebrate as their robots perform well during the first 15-second ‘autonomous period’ during the final match on April. 11

onto opposing alliances. After the qualifiers, the top eight-seeded teams, of which INTEGRA was first seed, became alliance captains and selected two teams to join their alliance to compete for all of the playoff matches.

And with that, three groups of teenagers who met the day before came together in mutual hopes of winning and traveling to one of FIRST’s two championships.

When Las Guerillas perform badly in a match, it’s their tradition to do push-ups, and when

Jordan Laird / Hofstra Chronicle Team INTEGRA’s robot places a power cube onto one of the switches during a playoff match at the SBPLI Long Island Regional No. 1 on April 11.

they perform well, it’s their tradition to eat gummy bears. During the playoffs, when Las Guerillas did push-ups, INTEGRA did push-ups. When Las Guerillas ate gummy bears, the entire alliance partook in the reward.

When disaster struck and Alternating Current’s robot broke, Las Guerillas was there with spare parts and a helping hand.

“At this point, all of us want everyone to be fully capable for our matches so we’re doing anything we can to make sure all of us are playing to the best of our abilities,” said Brigetta Greiner, a 17-year-old on Las Guerillas.

“We don’t have all of the normal supplies we usually do because we’re far away from home, but we have the basics, so if they need something we can quickly grab it so we can all play and still fight to win.”

It was no surprise that INTEGRA would lead their alliance to victory. Last year they were finalists for the Chairman’s Award, the most prestigious award at FIRST, which honors teams that represent a model for others to emulate and best embody the FIRST message.

INTEGRA is as outgoing off the field as they are formidable on the field.

Seventeen-year-old Amirhan Yalin said, “This team is not only focusing on robots. It’s much more than robots to us. So

that’s the most important thing to me. Because Turkey’s not that rich and Turkey doesn’t have that much technology. So being on the team makes me have the opportunity to spread the FIRST message and spread science and technology to the whole community of Turkey.”

For example, this past year INTEGRA prepared a STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – curriculum and traveled to the Ministry of National Education in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, to present it.

They took their robot from last season and despite the Ministry not normally allowing children to speak, the Ministry listened and adopted two topics from the curriculum to be implemented nation-wide.

Team INTEGRA has also prepared 25,000 STEM kits and is donating them to underprivileged areas in the world. The team is trying to use its connections to other FIRST teams in different parts of the world to distribute the kits. Their outreach in the community knows no limits; these are just some of their projects.

Seventeen-year-old Eylul Ilgitvatan said, “I’m trying to do community outreach projects and spread science and technology to every corner of the world with my teammates.”

@Hofstra

A8 • April 17, 2018

The Chronicle

Man on the Unispan

How do you feel about the fact that Hofstra does not accept additional credits from community colleges?

B y Robert Kinnai rd

AS S I S TANT M ULTIM EDIA E D I TO R

“I don’t think that’s right. Why wouldn’t they accept credits from community colleges?”

– Constantino Banagos, Sophomore

“I feel like if we’re paying all this money and if we want to do the extra work, we should be able to recieve credit for it.”

“I think it’s elitist, because community college is more affordable for people from lower-income areas.”

– Fiona Smith, Freshman

– Brandon Calfe, Freshman

Robert Kinnaird / Hofstra Chronicle

Sumayyah’s Suggestions: Kinesthetic learning

By Sumayyah Uddin STAFF WRITER

There are five general learning styles that you can be sorted into: Aural, visual, kinesthetic, verbal and logical. You can manipulate any environment by focusing on the key aspects of the learning style that fits best with your personality. There are tests that you can take to find out what learning style you are, but it isn’t necessary.

I have personally benefitted from implementing a mix of all the learning styles into my studying routine, and I found that it helps me comprehend the material from a variety of different directions I might not have thought of previously.

The third learning style is kinesthetic learning. Kinesthetic means you are more drawn to

hands-on activities where you can engage in your learning – learning where you can get physical. Many students wrongfully assume that it is hard to be hands-on in a college class, but it doesn’t have to be.

Trying out kinesthetic learning can be one of the most fun styles you can incorporate into your study schedule, as there are a lot of different things you can do to learn your material through movement and creativity.

First, find ways to engage in your class. If your professor puts slides up on BlackBoard, print them out and write on them in class. If you are fidgety and cannot stand the thought of sitting

still for hours at a time, invest in thinking putty or a fidget cube to curb your restlessness, as long as you are not disturbing anyone and not distracting yourself. Try associating different textures

class. Association can help you with recall during an exam as well – you won’t have a cheat sheet, but you will remember touching furry material while studying a question.

Second, find activities for children (or make your own) that break down how you can act out what you have just learned.

Children’s lesson plans sometimes have insightful ways to engage students in classroom learning.

You can do practice activities, experiments or your own exercises at home during different points in the semester; they will help you absorb the information better than just taking notes.

“We’re unbiased and they can come to us for help on choosing who they feel they best fit without feeling awkwardward.” with different classes so you can engage more specifically. You can try pasting different textures into your notes, using notebooks with certain textures and forms and associating scented markers or colorful pencils with your

Because these lesson plans are simpler and broken into easy-to-comprehend sections, they can help make a normally difficult topic easier to digest.

Finally, have fun. There are a lot of ways that you can learn as a physical learner. You can put on a skit for yourself and record it, engaging completely in props and activities so that you can cement what you learned. You can take an improv class to learn how to better be in tune with your body and mind. You can even utilize empty classrooms – if you find out when your class’s room is empty, you can go in and write all over the whiteboard, practice your speech or simply study using the room as an inspiration.

Next time, speak your learning into existence through verbal learning.

The Chronicle

@Hofstra

April 17, 2018 •A9

Humans of Hofstra

By Robert Kinnaird

ASSI S TA N T M U LT I M E DI A E DI TOR

Most people wouldn’t expect such a soft-spoken guy to have a passion for comedy, but Mark Melchin really comes into his own when you give him the chance to make you laugh. He doesn’t fit the loudmouthed class clown stereotype, but when the opportunity presents itself, he becomes the funniest guy in the room.

Melchin, a freshman English major with a focus in publishing studies, has been doing stand-up for only a couple months now with Ha-Ha Hofstra, the university’s stand-up club, and only recently has he gotten the nerve to get up in front of a crowd and try out his sets.

“I’ve done stand up with the club a couple of times at the Netherlands open mic,” Melchin said. “People always seemed to think I had a funny way of talking, so I figured stand-up was something I could do, but I didn’t think it would be as hard as it is.”

He went on to explain that it’s difficult to “be consistently funny, entertaining and to find punchlines that make people laugh.”

Melchin said that structuring and memorizing his jokes and sets before going up in front of people to perform was the hardest part when he did his first set. It’s one thing to tell a funny story for friends, but it’s another thing when you’re setting up punchlines for strangers in an audience. Melchin wants to continue to do stand-up here at Hofstra and further hone his skills as a comedian.

Melchin also contributes to Nonsense Humor Magazine at Hofstra, as one of the two assistant design directors alongside his friend Sam Riebs. Melchin and Riebs’ roles are to design the layout for many of the magazine’s articles along with current design director Gillian Pitzer.

“You have to design the page in a way that is eye-catching and entertaining to look at without making the text too hard to follow and without confusing the reader. You have to find the balance between the art aspect of the page and the text. Just making it all fit together,” Melchin said.

This position is new to Melchin. His first page of layout is in the most recent issue, “Where in the World is Nonsense Humor?” He’s picking it up fast and learning how to use Adobe InDesign, the program the magazine uses.

“It was really hard at first, but as you work with it more you learn the ins and outs of the program and now I believe I can navigate it pretty well,” he said.

Melchin has also expressed interest in doing more art for the magazine and trying to write articles to accompany his design work. During his first semester, Melchin had not yet joined Ha-Ha, Nonsense or done any kind of stand-up comedy at the open mics; he spent most of his time focusing on his schoolwork. But this semester, he’s become far more active with on-campus life.

“Hofstra’s been way better this semester since I’ve branched out more, joined more clubs and met more people. I feel like I fit in better and now I enjoy the school more,” he said.

Melchin hopes someday to use his education and experience with comedy writing to start a career in publishing, and hopefully someday a career as an author.

Mark Melchin

Robert Kinnaird / Hofstra Chronicle

Robert Kinnaird/ Hofstra Chronicle

Hofstra Concerts Presents: Liberty Live 2018

With Slow Marrow, Maasai, KarmaRĂŠ, and Chris Reilley

Photo Courtesy of Kimberly Chambers

Photo Courtesy of Kimberly Chambers

Photo Courtesy of Robert Kinnaird Robert Kinnaird / Hofstra Chronicle

Robert Kinnaird / Hofstra Chronicle

Robert Kinnaird / Hofstra Chronicle

Spread by Robert Kinnaird and Peter Soucy

Arts and Entertainment Guns, beer and God in Hope County, Montana B2

Hofstra Unispan Records’ second signed artist, KarmaRé, just released her first album, ‘Not Fazed,’ available now on iTunes and Spotify.

VOL 83 ISSUE 18 Courtesy of Kimberly Chambers

The Chronicle A&E Guns, beer and God in Hope County, Montana

B2•April 17, 2018

Seed, the leader of a radical religious cult who dubs himself “The Father.”

He and his family, the leaders of each section of Hope County, have militarized their cultists and cut off the region from Photo cwourtesy of Ubisoft civilization, effectively ‘Far Cry 5’ is the series’s first set in America. creating their own

By Robert Dolen sovereign religious state.

ARTS & E N T E RTA I N M E N T E DI TOR The opening sequence of “Far Cry 5” is impressively bizarre, Opposite from the titular and, following the motif of mantra, “Far Cry 5” doesn’t previous “Far Cry” games, uses stray away from its most a character-driven monologue recent design philosophy in to set the tone for the world’s both positive and negative atmosphere. Among a boisterous ways. The experience feels crowd singing “Amazing incredibly refined gameplayGrace,” The Father belts out a wise but doesn’t make any great great “sermon” about salvation innovative leaps beyond what and a reckoning, while the law the series has already done so enforcement team is surrounded well. by his fanatical followers. His Players become the mute piercing wide-eyes stare into the protagonist role of the sheriff’s heart of the player, claiming that deputy, aptly named Rookie, “God will not let you take me.” as the series introduces its first Greg Bryk’s performance as player-customizable character.

Joseph Seed is convincing in The player, a U.S. Marshal and these first few moments, but as the sheriff head to the fictional the game continues, he never Hope County, Montana, in seems to reach another note. search for local zealot Joseph

Similarly with the other family members and even the plot itself, these performances begin to feel trite and draining as the player is subjected to countless Biblical rants with that trademark twinge of insanity.

Unlike the iconic previous installments, the villains don’t carry that same emotional weight. Aside from the unique and curious premise, it all feels one dimensional. There are likeable characters throughout Hope County, but they’re few and far between. If anything, the player is driven by annoyance rather than revenge to defeat Seed’s family.

What does shine in “Far Cry 5” is the refinement in gameplay.

Gunplay is as satisfying as ever, managing equipment is much easier and you don’t have to climb obnoxious radio towers just to unlock the map anymore.

There’s a lot of aspects from the previous games that are either streamlined or taken out to provide a more seamless player experience.

Perhaps most important is

the way you traverse Hope County in “Far Cry 5,” because as previously mentioned, exploration isn’t stymied by blank maps or story progression.

After the game’s small tutorial section, the player is free to explore any place in Hope County, in any order, regardless of main story progression.

Taking hints from games like “Breath of the Wild” and “The Witcher 3,” “Far Cry 5” doesn’t force you to complete certain tasks in certain areas in order to continue exploring.

The game fosters curiosity by doing away with the mini-map and only giving the player a compass to track their main goal.

Players are given the choice whether they want to look at the map for in-depth topography or just want to explore headfirst.

Unlocking special perks or skills is also a more streamlined and open-ended experience.

Players don’t have specific skill trees that they have to progress through in order to get the abilities they want. Rather perks are setup into categories where

the player can choose exactly what perks they want, provided they have enough points.

Similar to “Far Cry 2,” the buddy system is reintroduced so that players can team up with other non-playable characters that have their own specialties and abilities. Also in that vein, players can team up with friends at any point in the game with seamless co-op.

Worth note is the new “Far Cry Arcade,” featuring the return of the map editor as well as community curated maps and multiplayer modes that players have designed. At the time of this review, the service doesn’t have much high-quality curated content, but it shows potential for later.

“Far Cry 5” doesn’t attempt to innovate anything narratively or gameplay-wise, but it does feel like a complete experience reminiscent of the previous games. Regardless, the game is satisfying to play no matter how similar and uninspired it is.

Cover: KarmaRé

Not-so-quietly becoming the standard for horror

starts the audience at day 89 and quickly jumps to day 472, following our first actual encounter with the monsters that shadow the family’s every move.

The majority of the film takes place as the family prepares for the pregnant mother’s delivery. Their children have adapted to the world they now live in, but they also still genuinely react like real children. Their encounters with the monsters continue to get more extreme Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures as the film approaches the climax, reaching its pinnacle In addition to his lead role, Krasinski was the executive producer and director. in a truly spectacular and make may endanger the family

By Jesse Saunders emotionally-grueling third on screen.

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR act that will bring tears, screams Focused on a family of five, and anxiety to even the most It’s rare that a film can be “A Quiet Place” starts with the advanced horror fan. called genre-defining, and world as the audience knows it While the monsters seem to be even more rare for that film to completely gone. If the empty some strange cross between the be directed by someone who streets and dusty stores do not dinosaurs from “Jurassic Park” is new to that genre, but John key the audience in to how and the aliens from “Signs,” they Krasinski’s “A Quiet Place” does dangerous this world is, the are still genuinely terrifying. just that. The film brings the actors’ terrified faces make it Their lack of sight enables their viewers into the fold, making clear that every movement is a advanced hearing and makes them feel as if any noise they matter of life or death. The film

them unlike any creature on earth.

The film contains stellar performances by Krasinski, who plays the family’s unnamed father; Emily Blunt, his reallife wife who portrays the family’s mother; and Millicent Simmonds as the family’s eldest daughter. All three actors are able to show off their physical acting ability and really show a genuine relationship between a deaf child and hearing parents.

Beyond just another horror flick, this film is at its core a genuinely beautiful exploration of familial relationships.

The film does experience a few strange tonal shifts; one when the father and son interact with a stranger who endangers them and again at the very end.

While these can be jarring, they work within the context of the film. The ending tonal change especially works as a revitalization of the hope that the family had all but lost. It seems too over-the-top compared to the

rest of the film, but it truly shows that perhaps their forced silence is not a permanent scenario.

Krasinski excels as a director.

Every element introduced has a payoff at some point within the film. Whether it is a lighthearted scene explaining how water can block the creatures from hearing you, which later comes up as a way to avoid them, or just the eldest daughter’s hearing aid being a crux of not only her and her father’s relationship but also her survival. In a film as quiet as this one, it could be easy to fall back on jump scares commonly used in other films such as broken glass or a car alarm, but instead Krasinki focuses on noises that would genuinely create concern.

“A Quiet Place” is the horror fan’s dream in a sea of lowbudget, teen-focused horror that presents a new standard for the genre. While it is not a perfect film, it is perfectly enjoyable and would pique the interest of any horror fan.

April 17, 2018•B3 A&E Bringing shoes to life in the heart of Times Square

The Chronicle

By Casey Clark S TAFF W R I T E R

The Al Hirschfeld Theatre, located in the heart of Times Square on 45th Street, is currently home to “Kinky Boots.”

“Kinky Boots” is in the midst of its sixth year on Broadway and has had incredible success within the theater community. The show features 16-hit songs, from the singer of “Girls Just Want To Have Fun,” Cyndi Lauper, and is directed and choreographed by Emmy winner Jerry Mitchell.

The story takes place in Northampton, London, where Charlie Price takes over the family business Price & Son after the death of his father.

Charlie, played by former American Idol winner David Cook, needs to come up with a shoe idea that will be popular enough to keep his company running.

Price breaks up a fight between two drunk men and a woman who happens to be a drag

Photo courtesy of Matthew Murphy ‘Kinky Boots’ has been a staple production on Broadway for the past six years and has won three Tony Awards.

queen named Lola. Played by comedian Wayne Brady, Lola walks around as a drag queen with exquisite outfits and heels that Price notices cannot hold the weight of a man. Price comes up with an idea to create heels that can support a man’s weight and believes that this proposal will be great enough to save his business.

The play includes a wide variety of different songs, from dance tunes to love ballads.

Kristen Maldonado, from the a capella group Pentatonix, played

Lauren in the musical until April 8. She performs one of the most emotional numbers, “The History of Wrong Guys,” when she finds herself falling in love with Price.

Lauren is a worker on the assembly line at the shoe stop and is approached by Price, who asks her to partner with him in managing the company.

Throughout the musical, Lola and the other drag queens show off their energetic and sassy dance moves. Not only can they sing and dance, but they do so on conveyor belts, which appears

difficult to viewers.

During the play, the audience empathizes with Lola because they are made aware of her dad’s intolerance toward her drag career. Lola keeps her head held high and is confident enough with who she is to fight against discrimination and stay true to herself.

The audience learns about a worker at the shoe shop, Don, and his bigotry toward Lola as a drag queen.

Lola challenges Don to accept someone for who they are and

the audience is able to leave the theater sensing that there is love and inclusion between the characters.

The play is full of energetic dance numbers, songs and even jokes that have the audience gasping for air. The costumes used in the show are vibrant and the red boots that are worn at the end by each cast member can be seen from the highest seat in the venue. The play is definitely for those who want to have a good laugh and see some fun dancing.

The storyline is not the most entertaining part of the show, but the other elements of the show make up for it. Tickets to see “Kinky Boots” are relatively pricey, but there is an online lottery in which people can enter to win discounted tickets to the show.

Next time you are in the city, definitely take advantage of the shows Broadway has to offer and get yourself a ticket to “Kinky Boots.”

A bizarre hometown homage to Santa Clarita

By Gisela Factora EDITOR I A L E D I TO R

Anyone who knows me decently well knows that I’m from Los Angeles, California.

Anyone who knows me really well knows that I was born in Los Angeles and raised in Santa Clarita, a sprawling city-suburb hybrid located just outside of the outer reaches of LA. Because of its proximity to the city and generic suburbanity, Santa Clarita has been used as the backdrop for hundreds of your favorite movies, TV shows and music videos. I always used to joke that because of this, Santa Clarita deserved its own show (the closest it’s ever gotten was “Weeds,” whose season one title sequence was filmed right in my own neighborhood).

I never imagined that it would actually get one, much less one starring a zombified Drew Barrymore. Despite that, “Santa Clarita Diet” does indeed exist and recently released an excellent second season on Netflix.

And whose opinion on this show should you possibly trust more

than a native Santa Claritan? of the camp (and the gratuitous seen on television. The relationThe first episode picks up right gore) in a more modern setting. ship between Sheila and Joel in where season one left off: Joel If anything, the story gets even particular is absolutely touching, Hammond (Timothy Olyphant) more ridiculous this season than as we get to watch the devotion is in the psych ward, Abby the last, with a deep dive into the and the lengths he’ll go in order Hammond (Liv Hewson) and lore of Sheila’s disease and the to support his wife. I even found Eric Bemis (Skyler Gisondo) completely unexpected return myself rooting for Abby and are working on finding a cure of a character that would seem Eric and their awkward teenage for Sheila (Drew “will-they-won’t-they” Barrymore) and dance. All of the actors, the aforementioned just as in the previous woman is chained season, deliver flawless up in the basement performances, especially until said cure can Olyphant as Joel. be found. Business The whole crew’s as usual. interactions with their The rest of the suburban neighbors and season continues the struggle to maintain on this same irreva facade of normalcy erent, bizarre note, was also hilarious and moving at a breakrelatable, though for very neck pace until Photo courtesy of Netflix different reasons. That’s you suddenly find Santa Clarita is finally in the spotlight with a show of its own. what I love about this yourself having show: even though the binged the entire second season. impossible. But hey (and this is story is completely ridiculous, The family finds themselves in something I never thought I’d it’s deeply human underneath impossible situations and they say), this is Santa Clarita. Anythe surface of its premise. Even are somehow resolved. None of thing could happen. if you’re not from Santa Clarita, it feels even remotely plausible.

Ironically enough, the charmost everyone can relate to But that’s what makes it so fun. acters and their relationships some aspect of the show – the For fans of cheesy ‘80s horwith each other are some of the jaded teenagers with weird ror, “Santa Clarita Diet” has all most realistic portrayals I’ve parents, the struggle to fit in

with the neighbors when you’re a total outsider, the drive to stay together and support each other no matter what.

But if you are from Santa Clarita, this season proves particularly rewarding. One of my biggest gripes with season one was that it didn’t incorporate the setting into the plot as much as I would have liked. This season though, the audience sees more of Santa Clarita than they ever have before and there’s even the occasional reference to traffic on a particular street, which made me scream because of the accuracy.

Overall, the second season of “Santa Clarita Diet” is a vast improvement upon the faults of the prior season. It’s funnier, raunchier and gorier. It is certainly not for everyone, and perhaps without the star power of Barrymore it would not have survived this far on a mainstream platform such as Netflix. But it looks like it’s here to stay, and television as a whole is better for this daringly original program.

The Chronicle A&E OK K.O.! packs a punch in season finale

B4•April 17, 2018

By Jacob Huller STAFF WRITER

On April 6, the season finale of Cartoon Network’s “OK K.O.!

Let’s Be Heroes” premiered, entitled “You’re In Control.”

The series, created by “Steven Universe” alumnus Ian JonesQuartey, first aired in August 2017 and has arguably become one of the most unique cartoons on television.

The episode, a double-length special, revolves around two things. First, the hero, K.O. (voiced by Courtenay Taylor) learns to control his darker alterego T.K.O., who is brought on by negative emotions and counteracted by positive ones. He is helped by his friends Dendy (Melissa Fahn), a “Kappa” with a knack for science; Rad (JonesQuartey), a slacker alien teen with muscles to spare; and Enid (Ashly Burch), an overall cool teenage girl with a sarcastic attitude.

Second, the evil Lord Boxman (Jim Cummings) unleashes his latest and greatest creation, Boxman Junior, on the denizens of Lakewood Plaza Turbo, the

central setting for the protagonists. Junior doesn’t sit well with Boxman’s other robot creation, Darrell (also voiced by JonesQuartey), who proceeds to get revenge on his father for neglecting him.

“OK K.O.!” treads the line perfectly between being comedic and threatening. For example, toward the end, Lord Boxman is shot out of a cannon straight through the opening credits of the show (a hilarious fourth wall break), and in the same scene he is disturbingly betrayed by his own creation. This example and the episode as a whole encapsulates the tone of the series magnificently.

The animation for the finale is top-notch. When K.O. lets T.K.O. out of his mental cage and he lets loose on Boxman Junior – all but destroying the Boxmore factory – the fight between them is non-stop, fastpaced action. The shot of T.K.O. and Junior flying around a giant version of Darrell is particularly eye-catching, as is the scene where Rad, Enid and Dendy leap up to hug T.K.O. to let him know

that he is loved and appreciated, T.K.O. and K.O. shake hands,

by Boxman Junior and T.K.O., which returns control to K.O. T.K.O. sinisterly tells him “No Darrell calls up Boxman’s board This is a key moment of the take-backs,” hinting that whatev- of investors headed by Cosma episode, and arguably of the ener the negative consequences of (Marina Sirtis), and is appointed tire series. K.O. needs T.K.O.’s their deal are, K.O. will be stuck to head the company after Boxpower to defeat Boxman Junior, with them. man is fired into the sun. but T.K.O. is too dangerous The episode finds its real MVP The episode’s title, “You’re In to be put in charge. So in the in the character of Darrell. Back Control,” has a double meanmind-space, K.O. takes the cage in the first episode, Darrell was ing. It both refers to K.O. being T.K.O. was normally kept in the first villain K.O. fought, and in control of his powers, and to and turns it into a punching bag. since then has become more and Darrell being in control of BoxT.K.O. lets his anger out on the more of a comic-relief character, more. Both developments are punching bag, which allows K.O. being disrespected by his fellow sure to make season two of “OK to use his power out in the real robots and abused by Boxman K.O.!” just as great as season world. K.O. tells him that, “To himself. In this episode, as one, if not more so. get something, you have to give Boxmore is being blown to bits something.” The lesson here is that people shouldn’t bury their negative emotions, but rather use those emotions in a constructive manner.

It is unlikely that this is the end of T.K.O.’s story. The character was first brought forth by the still-mysterious Shadowy Figure (Steven Ogg), who will most likely become a Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. central antagonist come season two. Also, when Ian Jones-Quartey, a rising cartoon artist, is also known for ‘Adventure Time.’

How to make a film without even trying

Photo courtesy of Netflix ‘Game Over, Man!’ received a whopping 9 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

By Joseph Coffey-Slattery ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT ASSISTANT EDITOR

Kyle Newacheck’s “Game Over, Man!” is perhaps one of the most befuddling Netflix releases since Adam Sandler’s dreadful “The Ridiculous 6.”

It has the same lowbrow humor and poor acting but with an egregious interest in being simultane-

ously repulsive and absent of any morality. When I lamented the film’s quality to a friend who had also seen the film, he surmised my feelings accurately: “I’m not exactly sure what I was hoping for going into that movie.” To be sure, there were no expectations – one knew this was going to be a bad comedy, but just how bad was impossible to predict.

The narrative follows three

housekeepers (Adam Devine, Anders Holm and Blake Anderson) in a ritzy Los Angeles hotel who have to stop a team of thugs from holding the hotel and its patrons for ransom.

The film pays obvious homage to “Die Hard” and other such thrillers, though with frequent references to drug use and sexual relations splashed

in.

It bears noting that I found myself laughing at several points during the film, though not from enjoyment. No, I laughed from the sheer embarrassment of what was transpiring on screen. There was a hostage being forced to sexually pleasure another hostage, dismembered genitalia being thrown as one might a football and a Steve-

O cameo in which the “Jackass” native has his head explode. The antics continue beyond this modest list, including an instance in which two male lovers engage in intercourse while the housekeepers attempt to subdue them with lamps.

In the midst of all this absurdity, it became difficult for me to determine just what the film was trying to accomplish. Its backbone is a by-the-numbers ransom film.

The criminals gradually lose control as the ill-equipped heroes defy the insurmountable odds – in this case, while high on salvia.

Despite the brutal killings and excessive gore, the protagonists carry on as if there is no danger at all. They crack jokes, discuss their lukewarm technology aspirations and get even higher.

The film reaches its breaking point with the decision to tackle the single biggest taboo in cinema: killing a dog. A spoiler warning is hardly necessary, as those offended by such a plot device

will most likely want to know beforehand. Yes, they kill a small dog, after making him swim in circles in a fish tank while wearing a suicide bomb belt. “That was a lot of blood,” the villain remarks with a guffaw after this travesty.

The hostages look on with mixed expressions of confusion and anxiety, a testament to the viewer’s own emotions.

When the credits roll, you’ll close Netflix and confirm in the pop-up that you do in fact want to close the application. Then, you’ll grab a glass of wine and stare vacantly into the abyss wondering what you just witnessed.

To say that “Game Over, Man!” is unrecommendable is not true, strictly speaking, for there are certainly grounds on which this movie can be suggested.

Those grounds being, of course, if you hold particular disdain for an individual and would like them to toss away two hours or so of their lives to this convoluted mess.

Editorial

A 12 •April 17, 2018

The Chronicle

“Letter to the Editor from Herman Berliner” can be read online at www.thehofstrachronicle.com/category/editorials

Letter to the Editor from members of the Zarb faculty We agree with Dean Berliner that the article about the Frank G. Zarb School of Business appearing in the April 10, 2018 edition of The Hofstra Chronicle “is very misleading, inaccurate and unfair.” We are also responding because we have direct knowledge of the events cited in the article. However, due to the sensitivity and confidentiality of personnel issues, we are not able to comment in detail.

We would like to first address the cronyism comments. We are very proud of our students and that many of our alumni have excelled to very prestigious positions in business, government and education. We view it as an extraordinary example of mentoring whenever alumni come back to Hofstra to teach, whether it be as a full-time tenure track faculty member or an adjunct. There are many alumni who teach at Hofstra, in our department and across campus, many of whom were teaching assistants and otherwise employed on campus. We are proud of this and view it as the highest compliment as a faculty member; that you’ve made such a significant positive impression that a student wants to come back and do what you do.

We should also note that many senior administrators at Hofstra

are also Hofstra graduates. The negative connotation portrayed in the article is insulting to our alumni and current students and implies that they should not be hired by Hofstra as faculty or administrators. For the record, a national search is always performed for all new faculty openings, including recruiting at national academic conferences, and the best candidate is selected after interviews with an entire committee of faculty members on a personnel committee, as well as administration, even if they happen to be a former Hofstra student. Additionally, all administrator positions are filled after a thorough search and the best candidate is selected based upon the search.

A committee interviews the candidates, and the final candidate needs to be approved at various levels of the University. Also, the fact that some of the faculty and administrators have been at the school for a long time and are friends is a testament to the collegiality that exists in the Zarb School and the Accounting, Taxation, and Legal Studies in Business Department.

Regarding Dr. Tinkelman, he was not forced, asked or pressured to leave the University. Dr. Tinkelman was a tenured faculty member in our

department who left to accept a tenured position at another university. In fact, before joining Hofstra, he was a tenured professor at another university, and left that tenured position for an untenured position at Hofstra.

Many of us sat on his tenure committee and unanimously supported him for tenure. Dr. Tinkelman was asked to take the department chair position after Dr. Venuti, the department chair, accepted the position of senior associate dean. Dr. Tinkelman accepted the position to help the Department. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out; nevertheless, we thanked him for his efforts.

As Dean Berliner mentioned, after Dr. Tinkelman left, he was replaced as Chair by Prof.

Lopez who agreed to serve for one semester and then by Prof.

Weisel who agreed to serve for two semesters. Both Prof. Lopez and Weisel served the Department well and left to return to their primary interests of teaching and research. Dr. Burke has agreed to take the chair position at a very difficult time in the Department’s history.

Dr. Gomaa was a well-respected and well-liked faculty member by both his colleagues and students. He was encouraged by Dean Berliner, Dr. Burke and, as we understand,

even the AAUP Faculty Union, not to attend the Department meeting regarding Dr. Tinkelman’s proposed removal as chair. All untenured faculty members were encouraged not to attend because we did not want them to get in the middle of a very unpleasant situation.

Instead, they were encouraged to either see or write Dean Berliner with any comments they had, which would have been presented at the meeting and kept confidential as to the source. It needs to be stated, according to University policy and procedures, that no voting was to take place at the meeting.

The Dean was simply going to explain the reasons behind his actions and then give Dr. Tinkelman a chance to respond.

No retaliation was ever taken against Dr. Gomaa or anyone else for their comments made during the meeting.

Regarding the other issue relating to Dr. Gomaa’s reappointment, Dr. Burke, who was çhair of the DPC at the time, upon consent of the members, acted on behalf of the Committee. As with all candidates up for reappointment, she presented Dr. Gomaa’s portfolio and led the discussions that the Committee had regarding his reappointment. The purpose

of this procedure is to provide guidance to untenured faculty members as they go through the tenure process and is a very common event. The guidance is given to help the untenured candidates build up their portfolio to increase the chances of being granted tenure. Also, what wasn’t mentioned in the article, is that the Committee unanimously supported Dr. Gomaa for reappointment.

Dr. Tinkelman and Dr. Gomaa both made positive contributions to the University and we are confident they will continue to do so in their current positions. Their departure was sensationalized by the article in The Chronicle, and was based on misleading, incomplete and inaccurate information, which is a disservice to the Hofstra community.

Sincerely, Dr. Anthony Basile Dr. Stuart Bass Dr. Ralph Polimeni Dr. Jacqueline Burke

Letter from the Editors To the Hofstra community: We would like to respectfully respond to two Letters to the Editor that were received in response to last week’s article titled “Tenured Zarb professors driven to resign.”

In the letter from Dean Herman Berliner, he mentions two factual errors in the piece.

He points out that the article labeled Dr. Ralph Polimeni as head of the DPC and also said that Dr. Mohamed Gomaa was

given tenure. These inaccurate statements were brought to the attention of The Chronicle and changed in the online version of the piece prior to receiving Berliner’s letter.

In the letter by the four faculty members, they stated that “… what wasn’t mentioned in the article, is that the Committee unanimously supported Dr. Gomaa for reappointment.”

However, we did originally report that, “After appearing at a DPC meeting regarding these

charges, the accusations were dropped. Berliner and the DPC unanimously recommended his reappointment.”

The four faculty members asserted that the information in our article was “incomplete.”

The Chronicle would like to make clear that Dr. Burke was reached out to for comment and given the opportunity to share her side or feelings on the matters presented in the article.

She chose not to comment and referred all questions to the

dean.

The Chronicle would also like to make clear that our reporter did their best effort to represent all major parties in the article and did not in any way attempt to mislead the Hofstra community. We apologize for the errors in titles and hope that by changing these errors online in a timely fashion we have prevented any further readers from being exposed to these discretions.

The Chronicle holds every piece in our publication to the highest of standards and would not publish an article that we did not believe met them.

We ultimately stand by the publication of the article. Our reporter was acting with the information provided to them by all parties reached, which we still feel was necessary to share with the Hofstra community.

The Hofstra Chronicle Editorial Board

April 17, 2018•A 13 op-ed Letter to the Editor from anonymous Zarb faculty member

The Chronicle

I read with great interest “Tenured Zarb professors driven to resign.” I agree with the major point of the article, which is that there is an untenable atmosphere that has led people to retire or resign prematurely. Herman Berliner was serving as the dean during the period when at least five people resigned, retired or were terminated in one particular department. That is a significant percentage of faculty for this department.

As mentioned in the article, there has been a propensity for people in the department to file grievances and complaints as a means to an end. This pattern continues to this day, so the problems have not actually been resolved. It did not help matters that during 2015-6 and 2016-7, two people in the department were officers in the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) at the same time that they were serving on the department’s Department Personnel Committee (DPC). One of those people was serving as the vice president of Grievances, and at least one of those grievances, as mentioned in the article, was against members of the DPC. The new rule in the 2016

Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) prohibiting untenured faculty from serving on the DPC has only made the power structure worse. Note that this addition to the CBA was made while two of this department’s faculty who were also on the DPC were serving on the Collective Bargaining Team. The ability to serve on both the DPC and as an officer in the AAUP is something that the AAUP broader membership should consider.

The big question, of course, is why all these grievances were being filed. That is a problem that the AAUP and the administration should be addressing.

The article notes that “seven” people departed. As far as I know, most of which can be verified through a Google search, the five people who departed the university in 2016 and 2017 are as follows*: 1. Mohamed Gomaa, who had just been reappointed but was not yet tenured, resigned and is now on faculty at another university.

2. Elizabeth Venuti retired and holds the title associate professor emerita at Hofstra.

3. Linda Schain was a nontenured teaching administrator for many years. In the summer

of 2016, her teaching administrator position was terminated. A new administrative position was created in its place, which Patrick O’Brien now holds.

4. Christine Tan was not tenured. She was in her first year at Hofstra. She resigned and joined the faculty at another college.

5. Daniel Tinkelman was a tenured full professor. He resigned and now holds an endowed professorship at another college. *Note that I cannot account for the ‘seven’ that are referenced in the article. Robert Katz passed away tragically in 2016 and is likely the sixth of seven. Only two of the people on the list were tenured.

In her article, Katie Krahulik explores the reasons so many faculty left. Presumably she had more than one source, but only Tinkelman was willing to speak on the record. I give her credit for looking into an issue that it appears the university and the AAUP have largely ignored or at a minimum have failed to adequately address. External constituents (e.g. employers and alumni) frequently inquire as to the turnover.

There has also been instability in the leadership of this depart-

ment. After Venuti’s promotion to senior associate dean in 2015, there have been four acting or permanent chairs: Daniel Tinkelman, Victor Lopez, Martha Weisel and now Jacqueline Burke. Chairs typically serve for a minimum term of three years.

Turnover of chairs is bad in many ways. It affects students, recruitment, alumni, other faculty and staff in the department, etc.

The turnover is also indicative of problems in the department.

Tinkelman’s resignation is one thing, but the post-Tinkelman period has been no better.

Faculty come and go. This is not to say that new faculty will achieve less than those that left.

In fact, they may be even better.

However, the departures of these particular faculty did create at least a temporary void in the department, which invariably affected students. On the list of faculty who left are people who taught the most upper level classes in the department, who advised student organizations, who connected the student organizations to their professional counterparts, who won teacher of the year awards, who designed new courses, who infused their curriculum with the latest technolo-

gy and data analytics, who wrote textbooks and more. Most of the people on this list are regarded as experts in their field and they were good teachers. The void was briefly filled with adjuncts and temporary faculty lines. New faculty have subsequently been hired so the situation is hopefully on its way to being corrected, but it will take years to replace the cumulative years of impactful service and accomplishments of those who departed.

In my opinion, the faculty departures were a loss to the students and the greater Hofstra community and the faculty turnover has never been broadly addressed to those of us who remain in the Zarb family. The high rate of turnover in this department happened during Berliner’s term as dean. I do believe, if they aren’t doing so already, that the administration (including Berliner) and the AAUP should investigate and take steps to ensure that this does not happen again. Untenured faculty members, in particular, need reassurance.

Anonymous Faculty Member

Letter to the Editor from Daniel Tinkelman I wish to respond to some of the online comments made to Ms. Katie Krahulik’s article in the last issue of The Chronicle. I should also point out that I was not the genesis of the story. She had already begun investigating a story when she first approached me. I was happy to cooperate on the record. As a tenured faculty member in another school I am not worried about retribution.

Had other people been willing to be quoted, the story may have focused less on me.

Two of the online comments suggested that some of the faculty who left were not good teachers. That is flat-out wrong. Dr. Berliner’s letter has noted that personnel matters are normally confidential, so I will just talk about what is publicly verifiable.

Dr. Herman Berliner’s letter stresses the great importance Hofstra places on teaching.

Therefore, it is telling that Dr. Mohamed Gomaa, Professor Linda Schain and I all received

favorable personnel actions in the relevant time frame. This could not have happened without favorable recommendations from Dr. Berliner as well as the Departmental Personnel Committee (DPC). The process always includes review by the DPC, the chair, the dean and the provost of such evidence of teaching as CTRs, peer evaluations of teaching, chair’s evaluations and in some cases surveys of former students. Dr. Berliner’s letter recommending my tenure said, in summary, that I had “become a superior teacher.” You can also assume that the search committees at the schools that hired me, Dr. Gomaa and Dr. Christine Tan reviewed evidence of our teaching and found it satisfactory. I was hired by Brooklyn College to an endowed chair, with tenure. Dr. Elizabeth Venuti won the best teacher award. Twice.

We did not have easy teaching assignments. In our time at Hofstra, the four of us each

taught multiple courses, including day, evening, undergraduate and graduate courses. Dr. Gomaa, who was at Hofstra the shortest time, taught five different courses, Professor Schain taught eight since 2012 and I taught 10 different ones from 2007 to 2016. We almost always taught more than one “preparation” each semester.

I developed two new courses and also created a textbook for use in the MBA introductory accounting class. I took students for two years to the summer study abroad program in Bremen, Germany, and recruited other faculty to participate in it.

As a point of comparison, Dr. Ralph Polimeni, since 2009, has taught only one course, an introductory undergraduate course.

Each semester he teaches two sections of it – daytimes, on Tuesday and Thursday. I understand he does an excellent job teaching that course.

Dr. Venuti, Dr. Gomaa, Professor Schain and I were all

actively involved as advisors or co-advisors of Beta Alpha Psi (BAP). Beta consistently achieved “superior” status while we were involved. The year I was advisor, it was recognized as one of the best 10 chapters in the country.

While many schools recognize the significant time involved in advising this organization by giving the advisors “release time” or extra pay, we all served without any extra compensation. Professor Schain served as advisor to two other student organizations, and was a regional officer for BAP. Dr. Venuti, when she was chair of the accounting curriculum committee, spearheaded the wildly successful transformation of Hofstra’s M.S. in Accounting from a program taken by a few Hofstra undergraduates who chose to remain for a fifth year into one of the largest programs of the business school, drawing not just regionally but internationally.

One of the online comments expressed the opinion that if Dr.

Polimeni and Dr. Berliner “were investigating professors, there must have been a significant reason for it.” It was to fight against precisely this presumption of guilt that I insisted that Dr. Berliner explain his reasons for removing me as chair to an open meeting of my department’s faculty. Indeed, this is why Hofstra procedures require such a meeting. In that meeting, in response to my questions, Dr. Berliner repeatedly admitted that there were no charges against me.

It was only after I was satisfied that my reputation was intact that I offered my resignation as chair.

To remain chair without the support of the dean and facing dissension among the faculty would not have been good for either me or the department.

Daniel Tinkelman, CPA, Ph.D.Marshall G. Kaplan Chair of Municipal Government Accounting, Brooklyn College of City University of New York

Editorial

A 14 •April 17, 2018

The Chronicle

The The views and opinions expressed in the Editorial section are those of the authors of the articles. They are not an endorsement of the views of The Chronicle or its staff. The Chronicle does not discriminate based on the opinions of the authors.

By Laurel O’Keefe

“Hof” Takes with Laurel O’Keefe: Stress is not a competition

M ANAG I N G E D I TO R

There is a lot to prove in college. With the tuition bill upward of $40,000, it is hard not to feel like you must always validate your worth as a student.

However, in recent years this validation has taken an unhealthy turn. Many students look to stress levels or their choice of major to validate their time and money spent on school, or use their stress levels and workload to measure success.

I’m guilty of this myself. In my four years here at Hofstra, I’ve looked to fill my schedule to the brim, taking on two majors, leadership roles, a part time job, five classes and unpaid internships at the same time in an (unsuccessful) quest to graduate early. While I don’t regret taking on those responsibilities, dropping my quest to graduate early has been eye-opening.

Not graduating early was less of a decision than an advising error, yet I feel like it was meant to be. Ultimately, it has left me taking on a lighter workload in my last months here. I feel the best I’ve ever been and have taken time to work on myself and figure out what I want postgraduation and what makes me happy in life.

Yet in all of this happiness, I

feel guilt.

When I have a spare moment to relax, I feel as if I should be doing more, whether it be picking up more hours at work or applying to jobs. If I lie in bed earlier than 11 p.m. and watch Netflix to unwind, I almost feel panicked, like I’m forgetting something that needs to be done. I am constantly checking my planner and making lists of exaggerated things I have to do or obtain before May. I feel guilty as I sit in the library with my friends while they crunch numbers and I write up a short story to fulfill my minor.

I’m not complaining. While I wish it was more conducive toward my future career in public relations, I love my schedule. Sometimes, though, the guilt I feel catches up to me.

I’m caught between a moral and logical ground. I feel as though I’m not stressed enough, but I also know that if I tried to graduate early I would’ve been over-stressed.

This guilt and inner conflict stems from years of what I’d like to call “stress competition.”

My stress competition started in high school, always standing up to proclaim that I too am a stressed and hard-working student, despite my peers being in more AP classes than I. That transferred into my college career, worsening as I sought

to be seen as hard-working and ultimately more stressed as a communications student among friends with majors that are typically seen as more challenging.

This problem is widespread and is hurting students. It is pushing millennials to take on more than they can handle, damaging their mental health and even leading individuals to careers they will not enjoy or succeed in.

In my time at Hofstra, my career choice has been constantly shamed for being less challenging. I’ve been shamed for being less stressed than my peers and I’ve been guilted into feeling as though my stress is less valid because of the field that I’m in.

While life may be a competition, stress is not. We need to stop focusing on who is busiest, who has the most work or who spends the most time studying.

We need to stop shaming those who don’t need to study as much, those who need to study more, those who don’t do the same work that we do or who don’t work the same hours as us.

As a generation it is time to realize that we as individuals have our own path, or as my friend puts it, “our own timeline.” We need to stop using stress to measure our worth or our talent.

Photo by Laurel O’Keefe

In my last few “stress-free” days, I have learned that focusing on yourself, taking time for yourself and using your time or stress for things that you choose is nothing to be ashamed of.

I’ve worked hard for my two degrees, as has everyone else in our class. Do I feel I’ve worked harder? Of course. We are biased toward ourselves. Yet, that does not mean I will diminish anyone’s work or time here.

The way to prove yourself is not to degrade your peers by discrediting their level of activities or stress. The way to prove yourself is to work to the best of your abilities and cross that stage toward your diploma on your own two feet, without having to trample on anyone else’s success or happiness in the process.

Comic of the week

Quick Hits

The U.S., U.K. and France launched airstrikes on Syria in response to an alleged chemical attack.

Two black men in a Philadelphia Starbucks were arrested while waiting to meet up with a friend.

David Buckel, a prominent gay rights lawyer, died after setting himself on fire in Prospect Park to protest the usage of fossil fuels.

Bailey Davis, a former cheerleader for the New Orleans Saints, has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after being fired for posting a photo of herself in a bodysuit.

“Meanwhile, Islanders definitely moving to Belmont”

By Amanda Romeo

House Speaker Paul Ryan is retiring from Congress after this year, with a possible pension of $84,390 a year.

SPORTS

The Chronicle

April 17, 2018•A15

Hofstra’s offense continues to produce in sweep

By Anders Jorstad S TA F F W R I T E R

Cam Keough / The Chronicle Brittany Allocca was 3-3 with two RBIs in Game 2 on Saturday.

The Hofstra Pride softball team continued their dominance in conference with a pair of wins in a doubleheader against Delaware.

Hofstra won the first of a three-game road set by 6-0, and the second by a 13-5 score in six frames.

In the first outing, it was Sarah Cornell who blazed through the Fightin’ Blue Hens’ batting order, allowing just two hits in a shutout performance.

Cornell struck out 10 batters – almost half of the outs she recorded – and walked just one.

It was the sixth time this season the right-hander has struck out 10 or more batters and the second time she’s done so in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play.

Cornell extended her CAA

lead in strikeouts with this performance.

Megan Patierno and Brielle Pietrafesa provided the offense with home runs.

Pietrafesa also swatted a double, collecting four total RBIs on the front end of the double-header.

The second contest was a much more heated affair.

Brittany Allocca started the festivities with a two-run shot, but Delaware quickly tied things up in the bottom half of the first and then tacked on two more runs in the second.

Hofstra’s offense erupted in the third inning, scoring nine runs.

The Pride chased starter Sarah Piening with an array of singles, doubles and stolen bases.

Hofstra would add another pair of runs in garbage time to win 13-5.

Hofstra’s offensive prowess masked Sophie Dandola’s

struggles on the mound. The freshman pitcher allowed five runs in four innings on 11 hits with no strikeouts.

The five runs against her are tied for the most she has ever surrendered in a collegiate game.

Allocca is heating up for the Pride offensively. She’s extended her on-base streak to eight games and has raised her batting average by nearly 50 points over that stretch.

She is just one home run shy of tying a career-high for a season with 14 games left to play.

Pietrafesa also became just the 14th player in Hofstra program history to record a double-digit home run campaign. The senior has set career-highs in nearly every offensive category and currently leads the Pride in the traditional triple-crown stats (batting average, home runs and RBIs).

Hofstra can’t capitalize on opportunities in loss

By Juliana Battaglia S TA F F W R I T E R

Fina l

Delaware

12

Hofstra

8

The Hofstra women’s lacrosse team dropped a home matchup against the University of Delaware on Friday by a final score of 12-8.

With the loss, the Pride drop to 7-6 on the season and 1-2 in Colonial Athletic Association competition, while Delaware improves to 6-8 and 1-2 respectively.

Delaware jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in just four minutes, but the deficit didn’t faze Hofstra’s offense, as freshman Katie Whelan answered shortly

after with the team’s first goal.

Whelan’s goal sparked a 4-0 scoring run for the Pride, with sophomore Alyssa Parrella adding two goals and senior Drew Shapiro scoring her first of the game.

Delaware rallied back with a scoring run of their own, scoring three times with under 10 minutes left in the half.

Sophomore Mary Kate Gerety scored her first of her careerhigh two goals in the contest to tie the game at 5.

Shapiro’s second goal of the game in the second half moved the team to within one with a score of 9-8, but Delaware had the final say as they tallied three more goals to claim the victory.

Turnovers were a key issue in the game, with both teams matching each other in the category with 14 apiece.

Check out our online content:

www.thehofstrachronicle.com/category/sports

Hofstra head coach Shannon Smith attributed the fault to her team’s inability to ward off the opposing pressure. “[The team was] not working hard enough on the offensive side of the field to get open and [they] settled to make bad passes with pressure on us ... we knew we had to expect heavy pressure and unfortunately we just didn’t handle it that well tonight,” Smith said.

Even with Delaware surrendering 14 turnovers of their own, the Pride couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities with effective passes.

Junior Maddie Fields allowed 12 goals despite making eight timely saves, in part due to a lack of support from her defensive line. “[Delaware was] shooting really well and unfortunately we made some bad defensive slides,” Smith said.

Even when the defense succeeded in stopping the ball, the oncoming pressure plagued their opportunities to make the opposition pay, and Delaware was able to pull out in front in the end.

Cam Keough / The Chronicle Alyssa Parrella scored a game-high five points in Friday’s loss.

A16• April 17, 2018

The Chronicle

SPORTS

Offensive struggles continue for Pride in loss

By Jason Siegel S TA F F W R I T E R

Fina l Elon

6

Hofstra

3

The Hofstra baseball team’s offensive struggles continued on Saturday at Elon, as Hofstra dropped their fourth consecutive contest by a score of 6-3.

George Kirby was missing bats from the get-go for Elon (19-16, 6-5 CAA), as he collected three strikeouts in the first inning.

It was a sign of things to come for Kirby. He was dominant over seven innings, scattering five hits and yielding one unearned run. He finished the day with 13 punchouts.

Kirby, a New York native, improved to 6-3 on the season.

He struck out at least 10 batters for the fourth time on Saturday.

Hofstra (14-12, 4-7 CAA) starter Matt Weissheier struggled with his command in the opening inning. After issuing a leadoff walk, backto-back singles by Garrett Stonehouse and Ryne Ogren put Elon ahead 1-0.

The Phoenix tacked on another run in the second frame. Matt Oldham hit a leadoff double, advanced to third on a wild pitch by Matt Weissheier and scored on a sacrifice fly by Hayden Platt.

Elon extended its advantage to 3-0 in the fifth inning on a two-out single by Josh Broughton, who crossed home plate when the next batter, Zach Evers, doubled to left field.

Matt Weissheier was finished

after firing five innings, allowing three runs with three strikeouts and two walks.

The Pride took advantage of an Elon error in the sixth inning to put a run on the board. After a one-out base hit by catcher Vito Friscia, Elon right fielder Liam O’Regan dropped a fly ball off the bat of Teddy Cillis. Friscia advanced to third base and Cillis ended up on second following the miscue.

After Mikey Riesner struck out, Vinnie Costello singled to bring Friscia home safely.

Cillis tried to score behind Friscia, but was thrown out at home to end the scoring chance for the Pride.

The Phoenix responded during the home half of the seventh inning off Hofstra reliever Michael James.

Elon began the inning with a bunt single by Evers and a base hit up the middle from

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics Steven Foster went 3-5 and drove in a run against the Phoenix.

Stonehouse.

Ogren followed up the base knocks with his third home run of the season to put Elon ahead 6-1.

Robbie Welhaf worked around a couple of singles in the ninth inning to pick up his fourth save of the season.

Elon sweeps Hofstra, losing streak reaches five games

By PJ Potter S P O RT S E D I TO R

Fina l

Elon

5

Hofstra

3

Hofstra baseball fell 5-3 to Elon University on Sunday in North Carolina to complete the Phoenix’s sweep over the Pride.

This is Hofstra’s fifth consecutive loss, bringing the team’s overall record to 14-14 and 4-8 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play.

Coming into the final contest of the series, Hofstra was only able to muster 10 combined hits in the opening two matchups.

The bats once more were unable to come alive, totaling six hits. Struggling to create rallies, the Pride had just one inning containing more than one hit.

Owen Lorenz stepped up huge for Elon out of the

bullpen, tossing 3.2 shutout innings with five strikeouts and two hits scattered to earn him the win.

Hofstra’s offense sent the Phoenix starter to the dugout earlier than expected.

However, Ryan Conroy, who stressed 99 pitches in just four frames, walked six Pride hitters with eight strikeouts.

Allowing just one run, Sean Byrnes was the first reliever of Conroy.

After Byrnes pegged Daniel Page and gave up a base hit to Matt Siedem, he handed the ball to Lorenz.

Trailing 4-1 in the sixth inning, Hofstra came roaring back with two straight RBI singles from Kevin O’Connor and Vito Friscia.

Both earned runs were given to Byrnes.

Teddy Cillis toed the rubber for Hofstra, falling to 0-3 this season. Cillis now has gone 15 consecutive appearances ending in a loss when given the decision.

His last win was May 7, 2016 against Northeastern University.

Cillis went six innings Sunday, striking out five with four runs allowed (two earned).

Though winless, the lefthander bolsters a 2.93 earned run average, holding opponents to a .218 average.

Chris Weiss relieved for the Pride, battling for two innings.

He allowed one run with one strikeout, one walk and one hit.

On the offensive end, Steven Foster, following a three-hit performance on Saturday, went 1-4 with one walk.

Leading the team in batting average each of the past three seasons, Foster jumped his clip to .226.

Vinnie Costello added the other run batted in for Hofstra on a bases-loaded walk, his 10th RBI of the year.

Siedem ended the game 2-2 with two walks and two runs scored.

Zach Evers led the way for Elon, going 2-4 with a home run and two runs scored. Evers finished the series with four hits and three RBIs out of the leadoff spot.

Garrett Stonehouse, Matt Oldham and Josh Broughton contributed one hit each.

Oldham crossed home twice and Stonehouse and Broughton scored once each.

Elon moves to third in the CAA with a 7-5 record, while

Hofstra drops to seventh place at 4-8.

Hofstra plays a mid-week game Wednesday at home against St. John’s University before hosting the College of Charleston this weekend in a three-game set.

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics Matt Siedem was 2-2 with two walks and two runs scored at Elon.

SPORTS

The Chronicle

April 17, 2018•A17

Slow start trips up Pride in loss to Delaware

By Chris Detwiler S TA F F W R I T E R

Fina l

Delaware Hofstra

10

9

Despite overcoming a 6-2 first-quarter deficit, the Hofstra men’s lacrosse team ended up dropping their second straight Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) matchup, this time a 10-9 loss to the University of Delaware on Saturday afternoon at James M. Shuart Stadium.

Sophomore Ryan Tierney led the Pride with four goals.

Senior Dylan Alderman scored twice and junior Jimmy Yanes, senior Alex Moeser and senior Brendan Kavanagh each scored once.

The Pride (5-6, 1-2 CAA) were heavily outplayed in the first quarter. In the first 15 minutes, Delaware outshot

Hofstra 11-4, forcing five Pride turnovers and recording zero turnovers themselves.

The Blue Hens had the lead after one, but Hofstra turned it around in the second quarter.

Hofstra cut the deficit to three goals by the end of the first half, recording more shots and turning the ball over less in the second quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Pride tied the game at nine, but ultimately gave up a goal with six minutes remaining in regulation. That goal was ultimately the game-winner for Delaware.

In the last three quarters of play, Hofstra outplayed the Blue Hens. The Pride outshot Delaware 32-15 and outscored them 7-4, but fell just short of coming back from a tough first quarter.

“You can’t lose the first quarter by four goals and expect to just either trade goals or just win quarters by one,” said Hofstra head coach Seth Tierney.

“Everything needs to go

right for you and everything needs to go wrong for them.”

Delaware sophomore Charlie Kitchen led all scorers with five goals in the win.

On the stat sheet, Hofstra dominated the Blue Hens in most categories throughout the game.

Hofstra outshot Delaware 36-26, picked up three more ground balls and won 10 more faceoffs.

“I’d like to have the first couple minutes of the game back,” Seth Tierney said.

“We lost this game in just a couple of minutes.”

With this loss to Delaware, the two remaining regular season games have become even more important for the Pride.

“Tournament play is only five games, so they’re monstrous,” Seth Tierney said.

“Now we’re in a situation where we must win to get to 3-2 and to get into the CAA Tournament. It doesn’t get any more black and white than that.”

Cam Keough/ The Chronicle Ryan Tierney scored four goals in Saturday’s Senior Day loss.

Saturday was senior day for the Pride. Before the game, the 18 graduating seniors were honored in a ceremony.

“To our seniors, I wanted to thank them for their effort; and in the next two weeks we have a lot of lacrosse to play,

and we’re going to need those guys,” Seth Tierney said.

The Pride will next travel down to Philadelphia to take on Drexel University on Saturday, April 21.

HOFSTRA ATHLETIC CALENDAR HOME

T U E SD AY

W EDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATU R D AY

SU N D AY

AWAY

4/17

4/18

4/19

4/20

4 /2 1

4 /2 2

M EN ’ S LACROSSE

DREXEL – 1 P.M.

WO M EN ’ S LACROSSE

SOFTBALL

BASEBALL

JAMES MADISON – 12 P.M.

TOWSON – 6 P.M .

WAGNER – 4 & 6:30 P.M.

LI U BRO O K LY N – 4 P.M.

ST JOHN’S – 3 P.M.

COLLEGE OF CH A RLES TO N – 3 P.M.

D REX EL – 2 & 4:30 P.M.

D REX EL – 12 P.M.

COLLEGE OF C H A R LES TO N – 1 P.M.

COLLEGE OF CH A RLES TO N – 1 P.M.

A18• April 17, 2018

The Chronicle

SPORTS

Pietrafesa looks to wrap up remarkable career with CAA crown

Cam Keough / Hofstra Chronicle Pietrafesa is congratulated by teammates after scoring a run.

By Kevin Carroll S P O RT S E D I TO R

On any team that packs as much pop as this year’s Hofstra softball team, it would typically be hard to single out one player as excelling ahead of the pack. Each member of Hofstra’s lineup could be an opposing pitcher’s nightmare on any given day; if there’s a weakness to be found anywhere in the Pride’s formidable offense, the rest of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) has yet to find it.

Yet, despite the exceptional balance that Hofstra displays at the plate, there’s one name that always seems to find the box scores – one name that seems to stand out time and time again as the Pride continue down the road in what has been a sensational season: Brielle Pietrafesa.

Pietrafesa has been the catalyst in Hofstra’s rapid ascent to the top of the CAA standings, and her all-around approach to the game is one that, above all, will keep the Pride riding this historic hot streak all the way to the conference crown.

Of course, those words would never come from the mouth of Pietrafesa herself.

The senior right fielder is more likely to praise her teammates than to spend a moment on her own remarkable accomplishments over a fantastic fouryear career in the blue and gold.

But numbers speak louder than words, and Pietrafesa’s stats this season speak volumes in support of how pivotal a presence she is in the Hofstra lineup. After a 4-4 day in Hofstra’s 14-4 win over the University of Delaware on Sunday afternoon, Pietrafesa’s batting average increased to .345, tops on the team. Even crazier to think about is the fact that just one month ago, Pietrafesa’s average sat at a lowly .207, 100 points lower than her current number.

“I just put it into perspective that I don’t have any seasons left after this, so I needed to get my stuff together. I did a little extra hitting and it came around,” Pietrafesa said.

Her stellar performance on Sunday included an inside-thepark home run, Pietrafesa’s 11th round tripper of the season, which is also a team-high.

As if that wasn’t enough, Pietrafesa finds herself atop the Pride in a few other categories

as well. Extra-base hits, RBIs and slugging percentage are all currently topped by Pietrafesa, while she ranks second in runs scored and on-base percentage.

She is also tied atop the leaderboard in hits with 40, along with Hofstra leadoff hitter Kristin Hallam. Pietrafesa reached the 40-hit mark with 11 fewer at-bats than Hallam.

The two have combined for what has become the most dangerous top of the order in the conference.

“Having Hallam in front of me as the one batter, she communicates with me so well.

I’m always expecting the best when I go up to bat,” Pietrafesa said.

This standard of performance is nothing new to Pietrafesa, nor is her role in this lineup. Plugged into the order as a freshman, Pietrafesa has started all but three games in her entire career, earning her keep and displaying a remarkable consistency at the dish and in right field, the position she’s called home for the last four years despite coming out of high school as a shortstop.

Her versatility and value was recognized early on by Hofstra head coach Larissa Anderson.

It’s interesting to note that while Pietrafesa was getting in her first few reps at Hofstra as a freshman, Anderson was making her head coaching debut for the Pride after serving as an assistant under former head coach and Hofstra legend Bill Edwards.

The two came into their new roles together, and Anderson helped Pietrafesa grow and flourish in the outfield.

Over her four years at the helm of the Pride, Anderson’s trademark has always been the stellar defense displayed by her teams. There may be no better example of that commitment to defense than Pietrafesa, who has made just three total errors in four years, a total so staggeringly low that it almost reads like a mistake made in the stat sheets.

“I came in and I was a decent outfielder, but [Anderson] made me a great outfielder,” Pietrafesa said.

Of course, it helps that, like

Pietrafesa said herself, she was surrounded from the jump by a remarkable freshman class, including Brittany Allocca, Megan Patierno, Nikki Michalowski and more.

This group will undoubtedly be considered one of Hofstra’s most talented classes in recent memory, and Pietrafesa sits right at the center of it.

This is the class that came in and restored Hofstra to its place at the top of the CAA, winning a conference championship and unseating previous champ James Madison University.

JMU and Hofstra have been the two stalwarts in CAA softball since the conference picked up the sport in 2002 and it’s likely that, come tourney time in May, it’ll be the Pride and the Dukes swinging it out for the crown and a trip to the NCAA regionals.

JMU claimed the trophy the last two years, but this year it feels like the momentum may be swinging in Hofstra’s favor. Part of that has to be the confidence emanating from the Pride and, in particular, Pietrafesa.

“There’s going to be no better feeling than when we take the title from [JMU] at their home field,” Pietrafesa said.

A conference title would bring Pietrafesa’s remarkable career full-circle. It would also validate a year where it seems as though Hofstra is fielding its best squad in years. With the energy and spirit humming around this team, anything less than a CAA championship feels like a bust.

“As long as our pitchers keep rolling, we’re going to have their backs and we’re going to hit bombs,” she said.

Pietrafesa isn’t always the loudest person on the field, and she has admitted to not being too much of a vocal leader.

“I prefer to lead by example,” Pietrafesa said.

But make no mistake: she’s making her mark on the program game after game. The hits keep coming, the runs keep scoring and the wins keep coming, with Hofstra currently riding a 10-game win streak.

Hofstra fans better sit up and pay close attention to No. 14 when she’s digging in, or chasing down a fly ball in right field.

Because there’s only a few games left to watch Pietrafesa – one of the best to patrol Bill Edwards Stadium in recent memory – try to add one more CAA crown to the trophy case.

Cam Keough / Hofstra Chronicle Pietrafesa picked up CAA Player of the Week honors on Monday.

SPORTS

The Chronicle

April 17, 2018•A19

Softball remains undefeated in CAA with blowout win

By Jordan Sawyer STAFF W R I T E R

Fina l (5) Hofstra

14

UDel

4

The Hofstra softball team dominated the University of Delaware in Newark to complete the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) series sweep with a 14-4 victory on Sunday afternoon.

The Pride remain undefeated in CAA play and improved to 12-0 by sweeping its third straight conference series, while also extending a 10game winning streak in the process.

Hofstra matched last season’s win total of 27 with 14 regular season games remaining.

Brielle Pietrafesa led the charge with a 4-4 day at the plate including four runs batted

in. Pietrafesa’s four hits were part of a tie for a season-high 15 hits and 14 runs for the Hofstra offense.

Sarah Cornell picked up her 17th win of the season, while opposing pitcher Jordan Cargile took the loss.

Both teams stranded a runner in the first inning before Hofstra exploded for five runs in the second inning.

Back-to-back walks gave way to a Michaela Transue RBI single to center field, after a fielder’s choice put runners on second and third. Kristin Hallam cleared the bases with a single up the middle in the following at-bat. Pietrafesa touched all four on an insidethe-park home run to score Hofstra a 5-0 lead.

Delaware went in order in the second and Cargile recovered in the third to keep the Blue Hens’ deficit at five runs.

Cornell surrendered two runs in the third on a bases-clearing double off the bat of Mariah

Kondravy to cut the Pride lead to 5-2.

Hofstra got to Cargile again in the fourth inning to plate eight runs on seven hits.

Hallam and Pietrafesa started off the inning with consecutive singles. They came across to score on a Sarah Edwards double to right field to make it 7-2 Hofstra. Kimberly Wert replaced Edwards on second with a pinch-hit RBI double.

Megan Patierno reached on an error and scored on a two-run Nikki Michalowski triple to left. Transue brought her teammate in to score with her second RBI single of the game after a Kaitlyne Musa walk. Pietrafesa picked up her second hit of the inning with an RBI double to center, scoring Musa and Transue and giving the Pride a 13-2 lead.

Delaware added a run of their own in the fourth when Reyna de Jesus doubled to center and scored on a Mattie Nuccio double.

Hofstra added their 14th and

Cam Keough / The Chronicle Sarah Cornell sruck out four and now has a 1.69 ERA this season.

final run in the fifth. After a single of her own, Courtney Scarpato went around to score after a Musa single through the infield.

Cornell allowed her fourth

run in the fifth on a de Jesus double down the line with runners on first and third.

The game ended after five complete innings with Hofstra leading 14-4.

Second half surge leads Hofstra to Senior Day win

By Kevin Carroll S P O RT S E D I TO R

Fina l Hofstra

13

Drexel

11

The Hofstra women’s lacrosse team turned on the jets and pulled off a second-half

comeback for the ages on Sunday afternoon, erasing an early 7-1 deficit with a seven-goal run to cap off a 13-11 win over Drexel University at James M. Shuart Stadium.

“We really showed a lot of heart,” said head coach Shannon Smith. “Drexel came out really impressive in the first half … this shows the heart, the passion and the effort that we have to battle back.”

It was Senior Day at Shuart

Cam Keough / The Chronicle Alexa Mattera scored four goals in Hofstra’s victory on Sunday.

Stadium, and before the game the Pride’s eight seniors were honored. After a rough first half, it appeared as though the afternoon’s festivities were turning somber in a hurry.

The Dragons took control early in the first half, snuffing out a few early Hofstra possessions and striking first with a goal about eight minutes in.

The visitors would strike again and again throughout the half, opening up a 4-0 lead before Alexa Mattera would get Hofstra on the board just about midway through the half.

“After that [first goal] went in, I knew that we had the Mattera that wasn’t going to be stopped,” Smith said.

The Dragons would lead by as many as six goals in the first half, but Hofstra began to show signs of life in the waning minutes and only trailed 8-4 heading into the locker room.

Adjustments needed to be made, and one switch that Smith made was to put Alyssa

Parrella in charge of handling draw controls in place of Mattera.

“Alyssa and I were working really hard on draw controls, and we noticed some little tweaks that we needed to do, and I think it was really successful,” Smith said.

That spark of momentum that had flickered for the Pride at the end of the first half exploded as the second half got underway.

With Parrella and Mattera, two of Hofstra’s most dangerous attackers, leading the way, Hofstra beat Drexel goalie Zoe Bennett for seven unanswered goals in a 12-minute span. In a matter of minutes, a four-goal deficit morphed into a 11-8 Hofstra lead.

Parrella and Mattera each ended the day with four goals, while Drew Shapiro and Katie Whelan added two each and Mary Kate Gerety scored once.

Drexel was able to quell the run with a pair of goals from Maggie Stetson to cut

Hofstra’s lead to just a single goal, but Whelan and Parrella responded with two more goals to essentially ice the game.

The second-half eruption couldn’t have come at a better time for Hofstra, keeping them from falling to 1-3 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).

“This was a must-win. We’re playing for our lives right now,” Smith said.

As it stands, Hofstra sits at .500 with a 2-2 conference mark heading into Friday night’s showdown with Towson University, a nationallyranked program that has yet to lose in the CAA.

Back Cover: Women’s lax comes up big late to win

The Hofstra Chronicle

Sports

April 17, 2018

Dungeoning The Dragons Women’s lacrosse scores seven unanswered goals in the second half to slay Drexel on Senior Day

Cam Keough / The Chronicle