Issue 10, Fall 2014 - The Quadrangle

THE Vol.90 Issue 10

Q

UADRANGLE A Student Publication of Manhattan College Since 1924

Oct. 28, 2014

www.mcquad.org

Manhattan College Basketball Athletes to Receive Additional Benefits in 2016 Chris Cirillo Sports Editor

Ashley Sanchez/The Quadrangle

Manhattan College is preparing to grant full cost of attendance for its men and women’s basketball athletes in accordance with a new NCAA ruling.

Ending Assault

Manhattan College will allow its men and women basketball student-athletes to receive the full cost of attendance starting in 2016. The decision, enabled by a federal lawsuit ruling against the NCAA, is estimated to be a 3 percent increase on basketball funding.

Ed O’Bannon, a former UCLA men’s basketball player, sued the NCAA in an antitrust class-action lawsuit for using his name, image and likeness in broadcasts and video games without his consent or payment. The court ruled in favor of O’Bannon, which will significantly increase the amount of funding Manhattan College and other Division I schools can pay for its basketball and football teams.

One outcome of the court’s ruling will give Division I schools the option to pay for the full cost of attendance, opposed to the full grant-in-aid, for its basketball and football athletes. The additional cost covers an athlete’s tuition, fees, travel, supplies and other educational expenses. The estimated cost is about an extra $3,500 per Manhattan College athlete annually, Athletic Director Noah LeFevre said at the Manhattan College Senate Meeting on Oct. 21.

The school is preparing to grant the full cost of attendance for its 28 men and women’s basketball scholarship athletes, LeFevre said. The total cost will be approximately $98,000 a year, starting in September 2016.

“We’re going to do what’s reasonable because these sports have been important Continued on page 3

MC Pushes New Policies, Programming to Stop Sexual Assault in its Tracks Michelle DePinho & Luke Hartman News Editor/Managing Editor & Staff Writer Contributor: John Abbatangelo As sexual assault, harassment and dating violence become the topics of a national conversation, Manhattan College is finding ways to tackle the issue and end assault on its own campus.

In fact, colleges are epicenters for this type of gender-based misconduct because of situations they can facilitate.

“Women in college are especially at risk because of the environment. They are in more situations and places that make assault possible, especially date rape,” Kimberly Fairchild, Ph.D. and associate professor of psychology at the college, wrote in an email. “Drinking and drug use muddle the situation and can leave women in a vul-

nerable position. These are more frequent features of the college environment that put college girls at higher risk than women in other groups.”

Fairchild’s areas of research are sexual harassment, street harassment and sexual assault and said that this national discussion may help the cause of ending genderbased misconduct, but that there are many issues left to resolve.

“I think [the national discussion] should keep going and not fade away as something else takes it place. It helpfully exposes a lot of the hateful and negative views out there,” she wrote. “These are very complex issues that may not have a single solution. And what works for one college may not work at others. We need to keep in mind sexual assault affects women, men, straights, gays, transgender.”

As the college searches for this solution, teams of administrators have assembled a college policy on gender-based misconduct centered on what the law requires and what the college felt its policy should

be.

“It’s prevalent. It’s happening,” Director of Residence Life Andrew Weingarten said of gender-based misconduct.

“Every week there is a new article or story about sexual assault or a related topic,” Director of Human Resources Vicki Cowan said. “I think the response we are getting is people making sure they are doing the right thing and receiving the right training. Our job is to make sure that everyone does understand the proper responses and resources available, and we are trying to continue to make it better.”

What the Law Says The sexual assault and harassment policies on campus are mandated and guided by various federal laws on how colleges manage issues related to sexual assault, harassment and gender equity. The first and most prominent law is Title IX, which was passed in 1972. It “requires gender equity for boys and girls in every educational program that receives federal funding,” ac-

cording to Title IX’s official website. This directly includes universities and colleges such as Manhattan College. Numerous amendments have been since passed that expand the scope of the law to sexual harassment, employment, athletics, education for pregnant students and access to higher education for women.

This year Manhattan College has hired a new Title IX coordinator Vicky Cowan.

“Title IX has been around for a long time, but in April 2011, a letter came out of the office of civil rights, really explaining that the act goes so beyond gender equity issues in sports, but also about sexual assault, misconduct, stalking, domestic violence and campuses need to remember that in order to have the right infrastructure in place,” Cowan said.

Looking at the diverse areas that are covered under Title IX, it is clear that this isn’t a one woman effort, especially in determining on how programming and practices needed to be implemented.

Continued on page 2

2

news

Oct. 28, 2014

Manhattan College Basketball Athletes to Receive Additional Benefits in 2016

Continued from page 1 to us for exposure and getting our school’s name out there,” Richard Satterlee, the vice president for student life, said at the meeting.

The other outcome of the court’s ruling will give Division I schools the option to set up a trust fund for its basketball and football student-athletes starting in September 2016. The NCAA will have the option to cap the amount of money an athlete can receive, but the court set a cap minimum for $5,000 per athlete annually.

It is unclear whether the trust fund will be linked to graduation, but Manhattan College will wait to see what other schools in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference do before considering the idea, LeFevre said.

“Generally how these things work out is everybody kind of sits around and watches what everybody else is doing and then at some point, somebody gets up and dances,” LeFevre said at the Manhattan

College Senate meeting on Oct. 21. “Then once one person gets up and on the dance floor, it makes it easier for everybody else.

But our intent will be to sit on our hands until we see what everyone else is doing.”

Manhattan College spent $3.1 million on its basketball program and $7.8 million on the whole athletic program in the 20122013 academic year, according to the most recent reports filed with the U.S. Department of Education. The additional $98,000 will be about a 1 percent increase on the total athletic budget.

The $1.7 million Manhattan College spent on its men’s basketball program in the 2012-2013 academic year was the sixth highest expenditure in the MAAC – which did not include newcomers Quinnipiac and Monmouth – while the $1.3 million spent on the women’s basketball program was the eighth highest expenditure in the MAAC, according to the reports.

“You’re talking about a significant

James O’Connor/The Quadrangle

amount of money when you’re talking about the men and women’s basketball

teams,” LeFevre said.

MC Pushes New Policies, Programming to Stop Sexual Assault in its Tracks

Continued from page 1 “So they came up with a list of how to do it, and a lot of schools are scrambling because the job as coordinator is such a large responsibility,” Cowan said.

MC also appointed deputy coordinators in order to give heads of major offices on campus a background on these issues, in order to handle them properly if they were to arise. “We all went through training, basically on the how-to’s of the job.

We all had a background in investigation, which is helpful because most of the work is concerned around safety in student life,” Cowan said.

Later, in 1990, the Jeanine Cleary Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act was signed into law and required that colleges and universities accepting federal financial aid report crime statistics for crimes that occur on or in the vicinity of their campuses. It also mandates that schools establish procedures for handling sexual assault, violence and stalking cases. These regulations have been clarified numerous times to reinforce the responsibilities of the institution and the victim in these proceedings with different amendments.

One of these amendments came in the form of the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act, also known as the SaVE Act. Its provisions include increased transparency on the part of colleges and universities, clearer information on the rights of victims and resources schools can access to implement sexual assault and harassment programming on their campuses. Schools must now report stalking, domestic violence and dating violence incidents in their annual crime statistics.

“We made a good faith effort” to provide that information, Director of Public Safety Juan Cerezo said.

They also must publish information for victims such as to how they can access orders of protection, their confidentiality rights, how they can access mental health or legal resources and what options are available to the victim during and after the proceedings of the case. Educational programs are also required by SaVE and are to emphasize bystander intervention and informing the campus on how to recognize and report sexual violence.

What Manhattan College Policy Says In an effort to comply with these feder-

al mandates, Manhattan College published a Title IX and Non-Discrimination Notice listing its policy on gender-based misconduct, harassment, sexual assault, domestic and dating violence and stalking. The document also defines the college’s position on alcohol and drug use, safe bystander intervention and retaliation.

The policy also outlines the procedure for reporting gender-based misconduct or violence, although the specifics of the procedures are vary mostly on a case-by-case basis.

“The college will promptly and equitably respond to all issues involving genderbased misconduct. It may be necessary to adjust on a case-by-case basis, the procedures and timeframes,” reads the policy.

It states first that alleged misconduct should be reported to a point of contact as soon as possible and that this complaint will be transferred to Cowan as well the Office of Public Safety and Dean of Students Michael Carey.

However, in most cases, the victim will reach out to friends who will then involve residence life and resident assistants.

“The truth is that it’s often a friend or a roommate,” Weingarten said.

This will kick off an official investigation by the school if “the college determines that a violation of college policy may have occurred” according to the initial facts of the case. Evidence and information will be gathered and depending on how the investigation goes, the proceedings may involve interim measures like changing the victim’s class schedule, mediation, contacting the NYPD or moving to a formal hearing.

It “starts out as a preliminary investigation,” Cerezo said, which “has to be followed up by the dean’s office, residence life and public safety.” He recommended that the first step is getting medical attention for the student for their own welfare and in some cases, to gather evidence.

“The sooner the better,” he said. “At least here’s evidence that’s been collected.”

The policy also states that “appropriate disciplinary penalties will be determined according to the parties involved and the severity and/or duration of the conduct; an individual’s prior record can be taken into consideration in determining a penalty,” which can include expulsion.

During the entire process, administrators said that they work together to handle

the case.

“It’s a team approach,” Associate Director of Public Safety Rob Derosa. Public Safety gathers the facts, which are forward to Carey who handles the rest of the case alongside Weingarten and Cowan.

In the meantime, the school offers counseling and other support services for the victim.

“They’re often traumatized,” Carey said. He said the school offers same-sex support staff to assist the victim in the investigation.

This policy and the school’s investigation extend to all students, even if they are attending an off-campus function or are studying abroad. When the perpetrator is not a student, however, the school’s reach and influence is limited, Carey said.

“We still provide the same support,” for the victim, DeRosa said.

After the investigation concludes and a decision is reached, both the victim and the alleged abuser “have the right to appeal a hearing officer’s decision or penalty in certain limited circumstances” and these appeals will be processed through an appellate officer assigned to the specific case “based on the circumstances and the parties involved,” the policy reads.

Educating the Campus Students may have noticed an increased push on campus regarding sexual assault and harassment and Title IX. Administrators say that’s no accident.

“We have been working on this all along to implement training programs in place and for them to be campus wide,” Cowan said.

Faculty are just as affected by this issue as students, seeing that sexual misconduct is a threat to a healthy work environment and also that students may come to professors or other faculty members with concerns or questions. ”A lot of the programming we are involved with and we have an active plan.

While student life has to think about the student aspect of this, my office and I have to think about the faculty aspect and how to address this issue with them,” Cowan said This programming includes online Workplace Answers training, mandatory incoming freshman class training conducted by Carey and a lecture on sexual assault

by Katie Koestner who came to campus to

talk to students about her own experience of date rape in college. The mandatory training was attended by approximately 700 students in the student commons.

Koestner is the leader of the Take Back the Night foundation dedicated to ending sexual assault and dating violence. She appeared on the cover of Time Magazine when she took her story of her own date rape story public, which eventually became the subject of a feature film.

Her lecture focused on her own experiences and of dating violence in general, which many students found to be powerful.

“Not only is Katie brave for sharing her story, but her insight on the matter was incredibly beneficial to our student body,” John Tudisco, senior student body president, said. “[Koestner] knew what she was talking about and was very informative,” junior Anthony Liccese said.

Other showed support for the awareness her lecture brought, but expressed concerns with how her message dealt with gender.

“I felt like she [Koestner] could’ve not victimized women at all. Portraying women as weak is not the right way to have gone about the talk,” junior Dennis Murcia said.

“It was directed more towards the women but not the men. In a way, it made it seem like [Koestner] was saying women had to be protected and that men had to be the protectors,” student Jeremy Cervantes said.

Some students did not feel like the mandatory training was necessary. “[It] was unexpectedly touching,” junior Kevin Byrne said. “I feel that [sexual assault awareness, however] is incredibly excessive on campus…If people go [attend] out of their own free will, the impact would be stronger.”

Vicki Cowan said that students can expect more of this mandatory training.

“It is ongoing, and yes we are trying to follow the laws, but most importantly we are trying to do the right thing. We are mission based on Lasallian principles, so even if the law didn’t say that this is a requirement, we would want to make sure that people feel like this is a safe place to be and live,” Cowan said.

“We have a moral imperative to take care of each other,” Carey said.

news

New Library Policy Catches MC Students by Surprise Anthony Capote Staff Writer

Senior David Wintiel received an alarming email last Saturday on the subway, notifying him of a $55 fee for failing to renew his study room reservation.

“Originally I went to the library to use a study room on Friday and received an email the next day that I owed $55 for not returning a key,” Wintiel said, who—like most Manhattan College students—uses the library as his primary study location.

He returned to the O’Malley Library, claiming that he had returned the key when he was done studying. After the librarian found the key, which was on the rack, she still tried to charge Wintiel the $55.

Despite what the email had said, the librarian cited Wintiel’s failure to renew his study room reservation after the first three hours of use, not the alleged loss of the key.

This is part of a new policy in the O’Malley Library stating that any student who uses a study room longer than the allotted three hours will be charged $55. “[The policy] was really put in place to make sure everyone got dibs on a room,” Amy Handfield, the daytime circulation desk manager in the library, said.

Handfield said that last spring, students were supposed to be notified of the change in checkout systems for study rooms.

Wintiel was not informed of that policy until he after he had been charged.

“Eventually [the librarian] did not charge me but warned that if I stayed in a room longer than three hours again, I would be charged,” Wintiel said after pleading his case.

Later that night, after another long study session, Wintiel was almost fined for a second time. He said that even if the per-

Staff Writer

It was easy to miss, but last Monday administration released in an MC announcements email an updated list of eight merchants that accept Jasper dollars, the off-campus dining dollars that are a part of the campus meal plan.

The full list is comprised of Dunkin Donuts, Planet Wings, Jasper Deli, Goodfellas Pizza, New Riverdale Gourmet Deli, Generico's Pizzeria & Café, Lee's 2 Chinese Kitchen and Short Stop Restaurant and newcomer Best Deli.

Appearing on the list are a lot of the old favorites like Dunkin Donuts and Jasper Deli. As The Quadrangle previously reported, Broadway Joe’s Pizza no longer accepts Jasper dollars, however there were new additions to the list of participating restaurants including Planet Wings and a promise that Best Deli would be joining the Jasper dollars program soon.

After turning down several students hoping to use their Jasper dollars at the establishment, employee Joe Saleh said that they finally looked into trying to get Best Deli a card machine of their own. As of last Thursday, Best Deli is officially accepting Jasper dollars.

“It took about two or three months to get it,” said Saleh. “It’s helping our business.”

Best Deli reached out to the school in hopes of joining the program, which

Quadrangle www.mcquad.org

Vol. 90 Issue 10 Oct. 28, 2014

Natalie E. Sullivan Editor-in-Chief Michelle DePinho Managing Editor/News Editor Michael Peyko Asst. News Editor Claire Leaden Managing Editor/Features Editor Kieran Rock Asst. Features Editor Christian Roodal/The Quadrangle

Students will be charged $55 for using a study room for longer than 3 hours. son at the circulation desk waives the fee, a study room for up to six hours,” sophoit may still appear on a student’s account as more Elizabeth O’Connor said. “I know money owed. when I’m in the zone, I don’t look at the Students should be made aware, how- clock and it’s not going to help me if after ever, that this policy has only recently been three hours I have to go renew a reservaimplemented and Handfield said, “this is tion.” not a witch hunt, we aren’t going back and “I think if it’s such an issue, the people fining people who used a room over the al- at the circulation desk should go down and lotted time two months ago.” remind students when their time is up,” li“This really just a warning to make brary student-worker Krista Nugent said. sure that more late keys don’t keep going “It’s really not that bad,” Handfield out,” Handfield said, whose goal is to make said. “If you know you have three hours, sure that every student gets an opportunity you just have to come back upstairs.” to use a study room.

Some students feel that the fee is exces“There are a lot of popular tools [in sive. the library] but everyone seems to love the “I just think they are trying to find new study rooms,” she said. She said all students ways to charge you,” Nugent said. deserve a fair chance to use the space.

“I can’t afford $55 on top of my tuition.

Some students are bothered by the new I’m a broke college kid and I’m going to policy and argue that three hours is not remain that—even more so—if I continue enough. to get fined,” O’Connor said.

“When I’m writing a paper, I can be in

More Vendors Join Jasper Dollars Plan Daniel Wallace

The

3

represents the most common way that the Business Office recruits merchants to accept Jasper dollars. However, merchants are also contacted as a result of student recommendations and input from the Office of Student Life, according to Business Director Kenneth Waldhof.

Another popular Broadway joint, Burrito Shop, did the same thing last year. The shop, which has enjoyed steady business from Manhattan College since opening last year, also responded to requests from students by contacting the school about Jasper dollars, according to manager Jose Severino.

Since the owner of the shop was on vacation in Mexico last year, signing up for the program was put on hold but never really picked up again. Severino, however, expressed the shops’ continued interest in getting on the bandwagon after a slow summer for the shop without the business from campus.

“I definitely want to,” Severino said in reference to accepting Jasper dollars. “It would increase sales. If they don’t have cash they can use the Jasper dollars.”

Although the Business Office filters most of the requests from businesses, students and departments on campus, the logistics and technology upgrades required to get a restaurant onto the Jasper dollars plan is handled by a third-party IT contractor.

In an email, Waldhof confirmed that a referral to contact the Burrito Shop about the Jasper dollars system was sent to the

new provider.

The new provider, DishOut , was contracted by the school after the previous provider went out of business, leaving the administration scrambling for a new provider.

DishOut provides the campus card payment systems for 125 colleges and universities, according to the company’s website.

It was this transition that led to students and staff not being able to use Jasper dollars until October 2.

With this year’s change in card administrator, also came a change in how Jasper dollars and dining dollars are distributed to students. While students received $50 of Jasper dollars per semester last year, they now receive $25, but in exchange they get more dining dollars which can be used at any on-campus store.

According to Waldhof, however, students will be given more flexibility in their Jasper dollar balances in the very near future.

“We’re finalizing a process where you or family members at home can log into your account and put money onto your card,” Waldhof said.

The online option, which has involved collaboration between the Bursar’s office, Information Technology Services and the Business Office, will streamline the existing process of adding money to your card which involves a visit to the ID office, to the bursar, and back again.

Waldhof anticipates the announcement for the online feature to be announced this week or in the very near future.

Natalie Heinitz Op/Ed Editor/Production Editor Maya Astabie Asst. Op/Ed Editor Lauren Carr Arts & Entertainment Editor Kelly Burns Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor/ Production Editor Chris Cirillo Sports Editor Jonathan Reyes Asst. Sports Editor Jaclyn Marr Asst. Sports Editor Sean McIntyre Social Media Editor James O’Connor Photography Editor Sean Sonnemann Web Editor John Abbatangelo Sam Martin Editorial Cartoonists Daniel Molina Distribution Manager Joe Cutbirth, Ph.D. Faculty Adviser The Quadrangle is a news organization run by the students of Manhattan College.

The staff of The Quadrangle meets every Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in room 412 of the Student Commons.

Contact The Quadrangle at thequad@manhattan.edu The opinions expressed in The Quadrangle are those of the individual writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board, the College or the student body.

opinions & editorials

4

Oct. 28, 2014

Hispanic Heritage Month Overlooked at MC Anthony Capote Staff Writer

Ivan Bohoroquez called the Fuerza Latina meeting into order at exactly noon on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the group’s participation in Hispanic Heritage Month.

The founder and president of Manhattan College’s Latino American pride and community service group detailed the different events they would partake in over the next month including a bilingual mass in the Chapel De La Salle, Los Dias de los Muertos and an overnight food packaging project for needy families this Thanksgiving. While these events are interesting and fun, it seems as though there is so much more that the club, whose goal is to promote diversity on campus, could be doing.

“We haven’t gotten involved in some of the other events because the other clubs and organizations [on campus] haven’t really reached out to us to come help out,” said Bohoroquez.

Wait? What? Why wouldn’t the other student organizations on campus want to get involved with Fuerza Latina?

“I think that the big problem on campus is that no one really wants to commit and plan big projects on campus,” continued Bohoroquez, who transferred to MC from SUNY Albany, from which he drew the idea for Fuerza Latina.

It seems that students are either scared or don’t have the will to get involved in Hispanic Heritage Month. Bohoroquez cites the belief “that they won’t get any support,” as the root of this fear.

I lean more on the side of apathy.

October is the most grueling month.

Between the NFL dawning pink uniforms for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the slew of Domestic Abuse Awareness Month posters on campus and the endless Tumblr posts about Suicide Prevention, students can go so overwhelmed, too busy to care about Hispanic Heritage Month.

Honestly, how are they supposed to care that Sonia Sotamayor is the first Latina woman ever on the US Supreme Court, or that Jose Marti’s poetry and journalism played a key role in America’s involvement in the Spanish American War? Students are bombarded with midterms, sexual abuse presentations and so much more; how can you blame us for getting tired of caring?

It should be noted, though, that this year, Emanuel “Sonny” Ago, the Assistant to the Director of Student Life, reports a higher attendance rate to the HHM events than in previous years, “which is certainly

Christian Roodal/The Quadrangle

Manhattan College’s Latino American pride and community service group, Fuerza Latina. a good sign.”

“I think the administration is putting in the effort to diversify in a very respectful way and start a conversation about current cultural issues,” said Marcelo Lopez, a student who came to Manhattan College from the Dominican Republic.

He feels as though students have just never been taught to broaden their horizons.

That somehow, the Irish and Italian Americans who make up the majority of Manhattan College’s population have been taught that they shouldn’t partake in these discussions.

“A lot of kids are raised in a suburban

background where there isn’t a lot of diversity and I find that they think it’s offensive to ask me about my background,” said Lopez, who used to commute from an apartment in the Bronx and is now an RA in Lee Hall.

Maybe he’s right. Maybe this isn’t about apathy but fear.

Let us make a plea: Manhattan College students, we beg you to interact with the wide array of different cultures present on campus. Don’t just get involved in Hispanic Heritage Month; go visit the Muslim Student Association or the Gay Straight Alliance.

Lopez continued, “I want you to ask questions about my culture and I want to ask you about yours.”

Fuerza Latina has grown from five members to about 60 since its formation in May but Bohoroquez says “the goal is to eventually get everyone on campus involved in spreading diversity.”

Maybe October doesn’t have to be so tiring. Maybe a month that throws this many cultural issues at you is as good a reason as any to make an honest effort to widen your cultural scope and understanding of the microcosm that exists on 242nd Street and Broadway.

Ebola: Do You Have It? (Probably Not) Samantha Berardi Staff Writer

Ebola. That’s the term that we’ve been hearing around lately. It has everyone across America worried and in a state of panic, but what actually is it, and is it really as big as the media are portraying it?

Ebola is a virus that causes a fatal disease in humans and some animals. It is spread by directly touching an infected person’s broken skin, blood or bodily fluids. The virus can survive on surfaces for a short amount of time. Touching objects like needles or bed sheets that contain the infected fluids can result in a person obtaining the virus.

In September, the first case in the Unit-

ed States was found in Texas, when a patient brought Ebola back from West Africa, where the outbreak continues to occur.

With all of the hype that the media are making about Ebola, one would have thought that there was a huge outbreak in our country as well. As college students, we are not always in the healthiest state due to stress, lack of sleep, or poor eating habits, and with this new disease, the students at Manhattan College have been worrying that they may contract it.

When asked what she thought about Ebola in this country, based on the news, a freshman, Erin Mumby said, “I understand that Ebola is a very serious threat, but I think the media definitely sensationalizes how Ebola will spread in the US.” As of October 21 there were only eight cases of Ebola in the United States, and only

one of those people died. The other seven either recovered or are currently recovering.

As of October 23, the ninth case came to New York City. With our school being situated in the city, this is something to be cautious of, but nothing to freak out about. I think that the media present Ebola in such a way that makes it seem like since Ebola has come to New York City, we are all going to get it. This is not the case.

The doctor, who has tested positive for the virus in New York City, came in contact with the fluids of an infected person in Guinea. The only way that we can possibly contract it is if we come in contact with his infected fluids, which is very unlikely.

I think that as a school community

we need to stay calm and not let the media corrupt our minds. If you think about it, the media are what foster our fears, because they make a big deal out of even the smallest current events. There are millions of small diseases that are spread everyday, and the only way we ever know about the extent to which how bad they are is through the media.

“I think that Ebola is a very big deal, but the chances of catching it are very rare because only one person is infected, and he is isolated in the hospital from the rest of us,” a freshman, Kaelin McHale, said.

On October 24, the Manhattan College community received a public safety email advising us all not to worry. Hopefully this will help ease our fears about Ebola that the media have instilled in us.

opinions & editorials

The Epidemic of Sexual Assault Jenna Bloomer Staff Writer

As college students suffering through our daily problems, we rarely think about what is going on around us. Sexual assault is an issue that we always hear about but most of us ignore. Manhattan College is basically wallpapered with flyers, barraging us with information on sexual assault in today’s society, and realizing that there is a need for a change in the perception of rape.

Women do not need advice on how to not get raped—that is not where the issue lies. As a whole, society needs to change its perception on this issue. As members of society (especially in which sexual assault is so common), the change begins with us.

When one first learns of a rape victim, one automatically hears how she was drinking or that she was dressed provocatively.

But it is not her fault. Why do we think, even as women, that it is okay to sexually assault someone if they drank too much or didn’t dress to some societal standard?

It is never okay and will never be okay.

The official definition of rape is, according Oxford Dictionary, “The crime, typically committed by a man, of forcing another person to have sexual intercourse with the offender against their will.” If the whole idea of rape is that it is forced upon a victim, why is the victim blamed?

This has caused society to take sexual assault as a common occurrence, making the number of sexual assaults skyrocket.

In an article in Time Magazine, it is said that “The number of sex crimes reported on U.S. college campuses soared by 50% over the course of a decade.”

This is a widespread issue that it is causing women to feel unsafe even walking around college campuses. In a perfect world, we would not have to feel threatened by men by just walking around. Because of

the impact it is having on students, it was crucial for Manhattan College to take action.

In the dorm buildings there are posters portraying the idea that it is just as much a man’s responsibly as it is a woman's. These posters say things like “Real men can take no for an answer” and enforces the idea that consent is necessary.

After realizing that most sexual assault information is directed to women, which creates the idea that the responsibility is on them to change, the posters were made to show students the truth of sexual assault. One in five women are sexually assaulted on college campuses, yet students still don't realize its gravity.

Students are constantly making jokes over them, showing the seriousness of the issue at hand. Freshman Abby Adams said, “Even walking down the hall you hear people laughing at them.”

Because no one is taking actual responsibility for what is happening, rape has become a joke, something that people dread having to learn about. This will only cause sexual assaults to increase more in our society, perpetuating the idea that something that is 100 percent not okay, is normal.

There are stories of sexual assault flooding the news today. Someone needs to stand up for these women who society is blaming. However, the media are beginning to positively affect the perception of women. Recently, The New York Daily News covered a story on Emma Sulkowicz, a student at Columbia University who is taking a stand against her school, her rapist, and sexual assault as a whole.

After her school refused to take disciplinary actions against her rapist, Sulkowicz lugged around a mattress throughout her school day to express the hardship she is going through. The newly viral “Mattress Girl” movement has caught fire and is leading other people to stand up for the massive issue of sexual assault.

Hopefully, our Manhattan College

5

Natalie Heinitz/The Quadrangle

Dorm halls have been decorated with new awareness posters, shown above. community will jump on this bandwagon and stand up for women, and realize sexual assault is a serious issue that needs to change. It is time to move on from an age

where sexism is still prevalent and move towards our future, where anything an happen.

John Abbatangelo/The Quadrangle

6

arts & Entertainment

Oct. 28, 2014

Discovering a New Beat Lauren Carr & Sean McIntyre A&E and Social Media Editors

Members of The Quadrangle were invited by Red Bull to attend the Red Bull Sound Select Concert series. Red Bull provided guests concert tickets, transportation, and meals. Red Bull did not influence the opinions made by the writers in this article.

It seemed like the New York skyline followed us all the way to Brooklyn. Sitting in the back seat of the car, we were drawn to the lights emitted from the Upper East Side. It was luminous. Approaching Exit 34 on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, the car departed from the highway and entered the streets of Williamsburg.

Circling Shelter to find a drop off spot, we kept glancing to the left hand side at the skyline. The lights reflected off the East River into 7th Street. Finally, the car stopped and we entered to what seemed to be an old warehouse.

Covered with metal sheet walls and a dim light red sign promoting “Shelter,” we followed our host into the restaurant. Faded leather couches, antler chandeliers, flickering candles, taxidermy and exposed wood beams furnished the restaurant. It exuded a rustic lodge atmosphere.

In between greeting student media members from the Columbia Daily Spectator, Washington Square News, The Telegram, and more, we found our assigned seats with customized “Red Bull Sound Select” crafted name tags and menus.

Our waiter, proudly showcasing his handlebar mustache and hair tied in a bun, took our drink orders and introduced us to the newest flavors of Red Bull.

Chatting for hours, eating artisan inspired appetizers and pizza, the band Denitia and Sene entered the restaurant.

As the band became comfortable by removing their leather fringe jackets, they explained they only have a few moments before returning to The Warsaw to prep for the show. Prior coming to Shelter they finished sound checks and tuning their equipment.

With a few handshakes and exchanging

smiles, we all in unison got up and exited the restaurant. Accompanied with a photo opportunity with the band and the students, we found our car and were off to The Warsaw.

Driving about a mile down Driggs Avenue, we entered a residential area of Greenpoint. On the corner of Eckford Street and Driggs Avenue was The Warsaw.

The streetlight revealed its faded brick exterior and maroon painted trim.

The Suffers, described by their website as “a ten piece band that intertwined elements of classic American soul with rock & roll,” was on stage. The crowd was dancing to the belting voice of Kam Franklin singing “Gwan.”

Listening to the band for a moment, we were lead through the ballroom, into the attached dive bar, up a narrow staircase and into the Green Room. Chairs were being arranged for a small press conference.

Enter Denitia and Sene.

Pens and cell phones were removed from bags and displayed in the open. As the duo took a seat, students bent forward to catch every word spoken.

A hand rose from the audience and questioned the influence behind their music.

“I have to have chemistry with the beats.

Sene and I clicked together and decided ‘if you like the music, then it’s good,’” Denitia said. “You have to approach it with a natural and innate feeling.”

She continues to explain that the mission behind their music is for the listener to interpret the music.

“You have to hear the song and let it flow through you. Then you will be able to interpret it yourself,” Denitia said.

The word icon began to circulate amongst the crowd to describe Denitia’s talent. This caused a friendly disagreement between the duo.

“Icon is a strong word to use, I would instead use iconic and honored,” Denitia said. “I don’t have a personal agenda for my music. I approach my music with my personal values. My grandma offered the advice that ‘if you have to tell someone you’re something, than you’re probably not that.’”

Sene disagreed with Denitia’s self-de-

Sean McIntyre/The Quadrangle

The Red Bull Concert was held in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. scription, but for the better.

“I think she is an icon. After being in a three year working relationship, Denitia has carried herself respectfully unlike other people,” Sene said. “She works fast and she knows her music.”

A smile was exchanged between the two. They both agreed that more music should be written between the idea of shame and confidence. Artists should focus on how to handle events differently and to be in the moment within their lyrics.

By developing the foundation for their music, they explained their dream collaborations.

“I would want to collaborate with Mickalene Thomas. She is a Brooklyn based artist that captures time through her multi-sensory visuals,” said Denitia.

“I would want my music to be narrated

by Nelson George,” said Sene. “As a writer he narrates culture, and I would want to provide music to his narrations.”

After the small press conference thank yous were exchanged and we were guided back down the narrow staircase into the bar.

Catching Marian Hill’s song “Whisky,” we reentered the crowd in the ballroom.

Applause erupted and the band exited the stage. While the stage crew prepared for

Denitia and Sene, we danced to the tunes from the DJ as lights glowing with #SoundSelect covered the room.

The lights dimmed, and Denitia and Sene’s profiles are seen on stage. The crowd draws near the edge of the stage and the speakers blast “Because We Are Fools.”

Their website captures the essence of their music, a “chilled-out, futuristic soul vibes of the Brooklyn electro pop duo.”

The artists themselves seemed to be hypnotized by their synthesized melodies.

After performing five songs filled with hypnotic rhythms, the band took a bow and thanked the crowd.

Analyzing the crowd we realized that all walks of life were present. Hipsters, fashionistas, artists, students and people of all ages joined together in applauding the artists. Soon, artist Liam Bailey took the stage with his band.

His English accent paired with his blues and soulful music made him memorable.

His advanced guitar skills were showcased in his song “On My Mind.” Heads bobbing in the crowd, we were all drawn to his powerful voice.

The entire event was perfect for people who love to listen to indie bands and it was also an ideal event for artists looking for more exposure.

arts & Entertainment

A New Way To Work Out Daniel Molina Staff Writer

Editor’s Note: Luke Hartman instructs Zumba classes and is a member of The Quadrangle staff.

Pouring rain falls outside the window of Alumni Hall and rhythmic music pulsates through the walls of the mini gym.

Students, dressed head to toe in athletic wear, are dancing to the beat of the music and watching the instructor and fellow student, Luke Hartman.

Sweat moves through the assistants’ foreheads as they jump and squat.

“It’s just a fun way to exercise. You don’t think about the actual exercise, you just… do it,” said Ksenya Lukin, a junior student attending the class.

The Zumba class, held each Tuesday and Wednesday at 9:30 p.m., invites students and faculty from Manhattan College to exercise through in an original way.

After two years of teaching it, Hartman and Michelle Beltrán have improved the choreographies and changed the songs each week, so the class is always fresh.

Rhythmic music and aerobic movements make this course a perfect kind of workout for any age, whether you’re a man or a woman.

This activity helps students to escape a little bit from their routines and connect with other peers that go for the same purpose.

“Everybody is welcome to come,” said Beltrán. “Teachers and students can come.

Once I talked to my teachers and they showed up.”

Although it seems like movements are repeated, each one of them has a purpose to exercise a specific part of the body. One song is for arms, another one for legs, belly, back, achieving a full movement along the whole body.

“A lot of people had noticed that I’m loosing weight because of this class,” Luken says.

Three or sometimes even more water breaks are needed per class because of the amount of workout demanded by the instructors.

“What makes me happy about this course as a instructor is going to the next class and seeing more people than the last session,” Beltrán says. “Also that, when people see me on campus, they’re like; ‘we’re going to Zumba tonight! I’m so excited about it.’”

She also told us her major difficulties about the class. “[The hardest part is] probably trying to balance between being RA and homework. Sometimes I’m so tired from all the classes I’ve had in the day and I just want to sleep, but since I love it so much I just go [to Zumba].”

An organic happy vibe is felt throughout the course, and a sense of informality makes the ambience cozy and inviting for anyone that wants to join.

“I thought I was going to come here one time and it was going to be a one time thing, but it actually really helps me and I have a lot of fun,” Luken said.

7

ZUMBA

Daniel Molina/The Quadrangle

Zumba classes are held every Tuesday and Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. in the mini

New York Botanical Garden Halloween Exhibit Madeline Schwartz Staff Writer

The New York Botanical Garden is putting out all the stops for Halloween this year with its Haunted Pumpkin Garden Exhibit. This family friendly event is filled with fall spirit and spooky adventures that even college students will enjoy.

According to the NYBG, “The Haunted Pumpkin Garden returns to its roots with a massive display of pumpkins and gourds from North America, ranging from the unusual to the gargantuan.”

There pumpkins of all shapes and sizes and are all carved into different faces and characters. Designs that are much too difficult for the average Joe to do at home can be seen on display here. The Garden has been created into a walkable exhibit where visitors can enjoy a stroll as Halloween magic happens along the path.

As you walk through the exhibit there are different activities that catch your eye.

There is a maze made out of hedges that you can weave through as well as many sculptures that are made completely from objects found in nature. One in particular is designed to look like a man by using several pumpkins as the body and branches as the feet and arms. This technique also gives life to smaller creations to make pumpkins look like they’re walking and sitting. Creativity is the name of the game for this exhibit.

Not only is a trip to the Haunted Pumpkin Garden fun, but it is educational too.

There are facts about pumpkins and Halloween scattered around the path. Many visitors learned for the first time that, if you can believe it, a pumpkin is actually a fruit.

For the younger visitors, the garden also has a puppet show, complete with animal hand puppets, as well as craft stations where they can make trick-or-treat bags. Children are also encouraged to come in their costumes which adds even more fun to the exhibit. If you haven’t seen the Disney movie

Madeline Schwartz/The Quadrangle

Frozen, do it before Halloween; every girl is either Elsa or Anna.

Although this exhibit caters to a younger demographic, there are some parts that have been specifically created for college aged students and above. The section that appeals to the older visitors the most is the giant pumpkin carving.

Ray Villafane, a master carver, has been a finalist on Halloween Wars and holds a spot at the annual Haunted Halloween Garden. His creation this year is a skeleton crawling out of the inside of a destroyed

Check out the New York Botanical Garden’s Hunted Pumpkin Garden until Oct. 31 pumpkin. The details of his work are inthat say “#hauntednybg” which encourage credible and some can easily be missed by people to tweet about their visit. Furthera first glance. more, once people post something on Twit It is fascinating to watch Villafane creter about the exhibit, there’s a good chance ate a masterpiece out of an ordinary object. that the Botanical Garden will retweet or Crowds surround his work station and stare favorite it. as he carves out the excess seeds and flesh The Haunted Pumpkin Garden is on of the inside of his pumpkin. display at the NYBG in the Everett ChilOur college aged demographic also dren’s Adventure Garden until Oct. 31. If connects to the social media that the New you are looking to get into the Halloween York Botanical Garden has interwoven spirit, it is the perfect place to go. throughout their exhibit. As the viewer travels through the show, there are signs

8

arts & entertainment

Oct. 28, 2014

Grab Your Steins, It’s Beer Time James O’Connor and Lake Wolosker Photography Editor & Staff Writer

Fall is the season when the side walk café starts to lose its appeal and more and more New Yorkers escape inside to indulge in alcoholic treats. Across New York in all the boroughs, there are beer gardens, alehouses and locations that sport a wide variety of drinks from the tap that can quench the thirst of any drinker no matter what the preference is.

Miller’s Ale House Location(s) Multiple in New York and Tri-State Area Price: Medium Sporting four locations in and around New York City, along with multiple locations in the tri-state area, Miller’s is a sports bar by every definition of the word.

With all locations featuring wall to wall televisions showing all there is to see in the world of sports at any one time.

Miller’s also has on tap anywhere from 25 to 35 beers. Along with the beers that would be considered a staple at any bar, the beers that you can get anywhere, Miller’s has some harder to find beers that other places might not have. Beers like the Dogfish Head Ale 90 Minute IPA. This brew is not a particularly difficult one to come by, however it is odd to see it on tap at an alehouse.

Miller’s also proudly shows off local craft beers in the form of the Coney Island Pilsner and the Brooklyn Blast from the famous New York-based Brooklyn Brewery.

Miller’s is not only about drinking.

Everything on the menu would fall under the category of bar food, but bar food done with some flare. Everything from the appetizers to the deserts is done in true go big or go home fashion. From the starters, the best would have to be the appetizer sampler featuring potato skins, mozzarella sticks, fried mushrooms and spinach artichoke dip. Entrees at this establishment have something for every taste, from fried shrimp or fish sandwich to a flank steak.

Lastly, when it comes to desert, the only way to go is the Miller’s original Capt’n Jack’s Buried Treasure. A combination of homemade ice cream, Oreo cookie crust,

fudge, caramel and Heath bar.

Overall, Miller’s is the place you go hungry and leave content. The beauty of Miller’s is that since there are multiple locations, you get the best of the eclectic beer choice and the consistency and choice of a chain.

Bronx Ale House Location 216 W. 238th St, New York, NY 10463 Price: Medium to High The Bronx Ale House is a unique oneshot location, no franchise or anything, just a place to get good food and good beer.

The Bronx Ale House has does not have an extensive menu, but what they do have on the menu they excel at. Featuring traditional American fare with zesty twists on old favorites, this is a delight for the taste buds and the eyes.

A majority of the food at the Ale House is shareable and pair great with any of the beers. A great shareable finger food that is also wallet friendly are the Smokehouse Nachos. Featuring nacho chips stacked high with pulled pork, rich and savory BBQ sauce, red onions and crumbled cheese. If you aren’t in the mood of paying for food, ask for popcorn and its complimentary.

The beauty of this spot is also its downfall, the Ale House features a wide variety of beer to choose from and often rotates the selection sometimes on even a week to week basis. This allows for someone to try multiple brews from all over the world over the course of just a few weeks. This is also a downside, because in this case of this writer and the Zombie Killer Cider, it was there one night and gone he next weekend, so it is recommended that you go to the Bronx Ale House only if you enjoy trying new beers.

One major perk of the Ale House is the Beer Club. A combination of discounts on beer and being able to try new beers is some of the perks of joining the club. Admission is free.

The addition of the digital pour displays in the bar allows drinkers to see how much is left in the keg, what kind of glass it will come in, the price, color, type of beer and even the alcohol by volume. All of this information is can come in handy when a discerning beer drinker wants to try something exotic for the evening.

Overall, the Bronx Ale House is the kind of place you go when you want to be able to sit down and just have a beer no

check us out...

Quad 2.0 mcquad.org

James O’Connor/The Quadrangle

Many of the beers houses in NYC offer craft beers on tap. questions asked. Keep in mind, some of the beers that are more unique are pricier.

If you are going to go here, keep your wallet full and handy.

The Biergarten The Standard-848 Washington St, New York Price: Medium to High The Biergarten at The Standard has a cheerful staff that are excited to get you a large mug of beer the second you walk in.

The ambiance is great, reminiscent of a European bar/grille restaurant, with ping pong tables and long benches to sit and drink on.

As with any classic, good biergarten, the crowd getting a little rowdy is something expected. It is an outside bar, which allows for smoking, something some people dislike. Still, this is necessary for a proper biergarten. Sometimes they even have German bands play live music. The Standard Hotel’s biergarten is definitely worth going

to if your interested in a good time. Getting there is easy too. Simply hop on the 1 train and get off at 14th street. Walk the high line for a nice view and arrive at the standard.

The rest is up to you.

The Yardhouse 237 Market St, Yonkers, NY Price: Medium Yonkers new mall establishment, Ridge Hill, offers another great bar/grille for Oktoberfest, The Yardhouse. Yardhouse, as it is known to locals, is a great bar that has over 100 different beers on tap, and full scale restaurant with great food.

Labeling themselves as an “upscale eatery” prospective drinkers may be enticed to have a beer in half yard and even yard sized glasses. Dim lighting and booth and high rise style tables offers a venue that is pleasing to both families and groups of friends.

Conveniently located 15-20 minutes away from college, going to Yardhouse at least once is a necessity.

features

Ben Marcus at MARS: Addicted to Literature

Daniel Molina Staff Writer

“It’s just too dangerous now to take a lot of drugs. I got a job, I got kids… I’m just too busy. I can’t take those amazing drugs because I know I have to teach tomorrow,” Marcus said. “But I was thinking about how these stories actually change you biologically; they can make you scare, they can make you delighted, they can confuse you…all the things we look to in drug use.”

Ben Marcus stepped onto the podium and started the second Major Authors Reading Series by reading “The Loyalty Protocol,” extracted from his last book “Leaving the Sea.” A full Hayden Hall auditorium was his audience from start to end.

“The phone call said to come alone, but he couldn’t just leave them,” was the first line of a story set in a neighborhood that is carrying out a drill for a disaster.

The main character, Edward, receives the order of leaving his parents at home, unleashing a series of distinct reactions among the family and emotions felt by the main character regarding a girl he has never talked to.

This plot presents a perfect example of the satiric style Marcus uses in oftencomplicated relations between relatively simple and real people within his stories.

“I think about the reader all the time and wonder how to reach people, but in the end, if I think it is not interesting or funny or entertaining to me, I don’t know how else to [reach people],” he said. “So I try to write for myself and then I hope that there are a bunch of other freaks like me.”

Strong vocabulary and tragedies are part of his writing style, which submerges a fictional plot in a real world.

Asst. Sports Editor

As both a Catholic and Lasallian college for 161 years to date, Manhattan College expanded its scope on religion in 1996 when it put into place the Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith Education Center.

The center is a small room, no bigger than a school janitor’s closet, located on the third floor of O’Malley Library in room 315 lined from wall to wall with art, books and films all about history and religion.

With the center’s implementation, Manhattan hoped it would become a place where students could go to learn about the historical horrors of the holocaust, genocide and to raise awareness of what could happen if one was uneducated about religions and beliefs outside their own.

“Our mission, in terms of being Lasallian, is about human dignity and respect for all,” Dr. Mehnaz M. Afridi said. Afridi is the current director of the center and an assistant professor of religious studies. She explained that in today’s political and religious climate acceptance and tolerance have expanded beyond Christianity and Judaism.

“And because we are a religious institution, we also want to tap into other religious institutions, especially here in Riverdale,” she said, “and a lot of them are Jews, and now we have a lot of Muslims on campus.”

In her time at the helm of the center,

The Freshman Files Halloween Ally Hutzler Staff Writer

Daniel Molina/The Quadrangle

Ben Marcus talks about his last book, “Leaving the Sea,” to students at the MARS reading.

“I never really read a collection that had straight forward ‘real’ and fiction too, and I realized I like both,” Marcus said.

“I like the idea that you’re not sure what this place really is, but I don’t like the idea of saying, ‘set in the imaginary planet Zargon.’ That is clearly imaginary and the reader can actually stop caring about it.”

This subtlety and precision of knowing the exact point where fiction is too imaginary and reality is too crude makes reading Marcus a delight and, unfortunately reflects society’s cruelness and unconsciousness.

To finish the session, Marcus answered some questions from student body and faculty members with topics such as inspiration, favorite authors and writing advice. Interesting points of view were discussed, the main one being how these

days education has a positive or negative impact in youth, and the way new writers can help this transition process.

The initial quote shows the freedom and freshness these types of authors, especially Marcus, bring to literature, discarding the myth of that unreachable and wise author. He, as the past Major Author Reading Series reader Jen McClanaghan, unmasks how ordinary people are able to express their feelings through any form of literature: poetry, novels or short stories.

“Literature actually creates pretty lasting feelings in me,” Marcus said.

“Like this certain drug effect in eight minutes, and then is followed by this horrible, horrible regret and shame and disgust; like a hangover that I take for life.”

MC Education Center: Above and Beyond Jonathan Reyes

9

Afridi has brought together Christians, Jews and Muslims for campus events such as religious discussions that are easy to support no matter what background someone is from.

A fellow professor of religious studies, Dr. Andrew Skotnicki, said what Afridi and the center have managed to do is encourage Christians on campus “to understand the need for us as Christians to love, care for our world and to love and care for everybody within our world.”

“There’s always the danger not to take your religion seriously,” he said. “Essentially just to use the label, or to use your religion as a justification to say ‘well, I’m not interested in what happens in the Middle East, I’m not interested in what happens to men and women who are Muslims or Jews’ for that matter or any other religion.’”

Manhattan President Brennan O’Donnell said the college noticed how much the center has improved and how as a Lasallian Catholic institution it could no longer ignore having “a broader dimension of the community into the discussion.”

“The addition of the Muslim voice is really just a recognition of the growing importance and presence in our society of that voice,” O’Donnell said. “It just didn’t make sense to exclude that voice and it’s really part of our overall institutional commitment to say to our students in the community that religion is an important part of a human life and it’s important for people who have found a very powerful system of belief to have a place where they can talk

about serious issues that are important to all of them.”

Skotnicki dubbed the center as an activist organization. And a religious studies minor student who’s involved with Afridi and the center, Jande Moscot, didn’t argue with that label because she said what it wants to do is tackle the most controversial of issues.

An example she gave was of the upcoming campus event “Challenging Extremism Today.”

“I feel that religion touches everyone’s life, whether you’re an atheist or belong to some sect,” she said. “Religion touches everyone and in order to understand the world, the people in it and the way that they think we should first understand their theology, it makes getting to know people a lot easier. And it also takes away that otherness, with a capital ‘O,’ when we learn about other religions.”

On the side of Christianity, it’s not enough for Christians to go church on Sundays and think their requirement and responsibility is taken care of. The center helps remind them, “that as Jesus told us every person is an image of God and needs our care and we have a responsibility for what happens to the Arab,” Skotnicki said.

“It shakes us a little bit out of our apathy and reminds us that, whether we like it or not, we share the world with six billion other people,” he said, “and that there are major threats to world security, peace and human dignity. And we have to take a stand on those issues.”

Right about now we are all experiencing a bit of a mid-semester funk.

Maybe it’s the fact that your midterm grades are out and they’re not so good.

Maybe your 8 a.m. class is starting to get to you and your beauty sleep. Or maybe your fantasy football team is zero and eight on the season.

Whatever the reason may be, one thing is sure to lift us out of our slump: Halloween.

They say the first step to recovery is acceptance, so let’s just admit it: we are too old for trick-or-treating. While we are not running around our neighborhoods in pursuit of the next full-sized candy bar, we are still trying to chase our inner 7-year-old.

“College is about being an adult, and Halloween allows us to be kids for a little while longer,” freshman Madaya Murphy said.

Yes, the nostalgia hits us hard, which is clearly evident by the amount of time and effort we put into finding the perfect costume…or two…or three.

“Seriously, get dressed up. Wear a funny costume, scary costume or outlandish costume - be creative,” freshman Ronald Pelletier said. “My friend and I are being a cop and robber.

Trust me, you don’t want to be that guy who’s not in an outfit.”

Still, don’t break the bank on these one-and-done outfits.

“Work with what you’ve got. We’re in college, we don’t have a lot of money,” freshman Drew Rivera said.

With a new location, new friends and new rules, our traditions for the holiday are bound to change.

“People are really getting into Halloween this year, more than people in my high school did. I think it’s because here at MC almost everyone lives together, so we get collectively excited about the holiday,” Rivera added.

“It will be different because we won’t have our parents telling us what we can and can’t do, or when to be home, or how much candy to eat. The rules are less restrictive and there is a lot more freedom,” Pelletier said.

But you know what they say, with greater freedom comes with greater responsibility, especially in the greatest city in the world.

“I am a little worried about safety in NYC on this night because it’s a big city with an enormous amount of people in it,” Murphy said. “I can see some things getting out of control.”

“I feel like Halloween in NYC is less safe than it is in my hometown. But I am not too concerned, we have good protection and I feel safe on campus. Just don’t stray from the group or be alone,” Pelletier said.

Halloween is undoubtedly one of the most exciting things to happen during October and one of the highlights of our social life in the fall semester. As college students we don’t get too many opportunities to spend holidays away from home, but Halloween allows us to make new memories with new people and create new traditions.

Plus, who doesn’t love a good costume contest?

sports

10

Women’s Soccer Eliminated From Postseason Contention

New Jasper Home Plays Host to 2015 MAAC Championship Jonathan Reyes

Jaclyn Marr

Asst. Sports Editor

Go Jaspers/Courtesy A 3-0 loss to Canisius on the afternoon of Oct. 25 ended the playoff hopes of the Manhattan College women’s soccer team (2-5-2 MAAC, 7-8-2). Canisius (5-5 MAAC, 6-13) clinched the sixth spot for the playoffs.

Canisius scored with 28 minutes left in the first half. Their second goal came just about five minutes later. They went on to score their third and final goal of the game in a total scoring span that lasted just under 10 minutes. The second half of the game was mostly silent for both teams until Manhattan sophomore Lizzy Carlson notched a pair of shots on goal. McIlvenny had her second shot of the game with just about eight minutes left. Manhattan fell slightly behind the Golden Griffins in shots with a 7-5 deficit on goal and 13-11 total.

Manhattan was coming off of a 1-0 win over Quinnipiac on Oct. 22 when the Jaspers honored their four seniors in their last game at Gaelic Park. The lone goal of the game was early in the second half from Manhattan senior Aislinn McIlvenny. She leads the league with her fifth game-winning goal of the season.

After a pretty even first half, the Jaspers came out strong with McIlvenny’s goal and then outshot the Bobcats 9-2.

Junior goalkeeper Kristen Skonieczny recorded her fourth shutout of the season and had two saves in the game. The Jaspers’ offense was strong with six shots on goal and a 4-0 lead in corners.

McIlvenny has had a standout season in her final year as a Jasper. She has been nominated for the Senior CLASS Award, one of 10 finalists in NCAA women’s soccer. These 10 finalists were chosen from a total of 30 student athletes. This award stands for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School. It encourages student athletes to use their athletics to make a positive impact and help lead their communities. It recognizes student athletes’ success in four categories: classroom, character, competition and community. McIlvenny has helped lead the Jaspers this season with her team-high nine goals. In 2013, she was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team and has been a member of the MAAC AllAcademic team twice.

The Jaspers were in the midst of a downfall on the season. Before their win on senior night, they suffered a five game losing streak. They were able to come out of one game earning a tie against Siena on Oct. 11. Two more losses would come for Manhattan, despite their strong efforts, before their seventh win of the season against Quinnipiac. The team looks to finish the season on a positive note on Oct. 29 in their final game versus Saint Peter’s.

Oct. 28, 2014

Asst. Sports Editor

Three months ago, it was announced that the Manhattan Jaspers baseball program would no longer be calling Van Cortlandt Park home.

Van Cortlandt Park was in constant need of fieldwork done by the Jaspers. It often had uneven dirt in the infield and on the pitcher’s mound, pocketed grass in the outfield and an aging scoreboard. The field also had just one set of bleachers.

This is the same park that housed the 2012 Jasper team to post an 18-0 undefeated home record. From its cons to its pros, they’re exchanging Van Cortlandt for Dutchess Stadium, a 4,494 seat AstroTurf minor league stadium home to the Tampa Bay Rays class-A affiliate the Hudson Valley Renegades, in Wappingers Fall, N.Y. It sounds like a sweet deal on paper, but what’s the trade off? Field work before practices and games in exchange for an hour and 15 minute ride to every home game, even though it’s not really home.

The move from Van Cortlandt to Dutchess in the opinion of Joe McClennan, a senior infielder, is well worth it despite having to always be on the road.

“The drive in itself is one thing, but when you look at it, it’s a minor-league stadium,” he said. “It’s not even close to what

we’ve been playing on for the past four years. Van Cortlandt Park has been great to us for the past couple of years that I’ve been here, but stepping up to this kind of facility is bar none. The drive it is what it is, but we know we’re going to enjoy playing out there.”

McClennan, who was a freshman on that 18-0 Jasper team, said he hopes Dutchess Stadium provides the same advantage Van Cortlandt provided.

“A home for us was basically an automatic win,” he said, “but now going up to Duchess, I don’t know if you can call it a home game really because the fans, students aren’t going to come up an hour away and watch the games. But it is our home field now so I would like to think that being that it is our new home field, hopefully it’ll give us some home field advantage.”

Another positive Jim Duffy, Jaspers head coach, has taken away from the move is no longer needing to worry about whether or not they can play if it rains the night before a game because of how fast water dries on turf as opposed to grass. He said even though he is a baseball traditionalist who likes playing on a grass field, he has gotten to the point where he wants to play.

All in all the move from Van Cortlandt to Dutchess is an upgrade for the Manhattan baseball program, Joey Rocchietti, a sophomore pitcher, said.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “It’s a big step

up for our program. It makes us look more professional. Better chance of a good performance from our players I feel like.”

New Home Equals Hosting of MAAC Championship Dutchess already has its perks over Van Cortlandt because it’s set to play host to the 2015 MAAC Championship. It will mark the first time Manhattan baseball hosts the event in its 112 year history, circa 1902 when records became available.

Duffy said hosting doesn’t change his Jaspers’ mindset toward qualifying and winning the tournament come May 20-24, 2015.

“We don’t need that as the motivation to be in or win the tournament,” he said.

“But it certainly will make it a little more exciting. And we may even have a little advantage there because we will have played there 18 times already.”

Head coach of the reigning MAAC champion Siena Saints, Tony Rossi, said it’d be great and a plus if his team could return to the title game against the Jaspers, but that there are no guarantees because there’s an even level playing field this year from team to team.

“I’m hoping we make it,” he said. “I’d like to be one of the first clubs to be in there when they host it. No matter who’s in, it’s going to be really a top tournament because there’s a lot of equity in this conference this year.”

This Week In Sports On Oct. 22, men’s soccer tied on the road with Quinnipiac, 1-1, and volleyball defeated Saint Peter’s at home in three sets. Women’s soccer also shutout Quinnipiac at home, 1-0.

On Oct 25, women’s soccer lost on the road at Canisius, 0-3, volleyball lost at Canisius, 1-3, and men’s soccer lost at home to Canisius, 0-1.

As of Oct. 26 at noon, volleyball (7-4 MAAC, 10-13) is third in the MAAC as the season winds down. Men’s soccer (0-6-1 MAAC, 1-10-2) is last in the MAAC standings. Women’s soccer (2-5-2 MAAC, 7-8-2) is eighth in the MAAC and eliminated from postseason play.

of the Week Aislinn McIlvenny: She scored the a MAAC-high fifth game-winning goal in the win against Quinnipiac.

Claire Van Dyk: She notched a double-double with 17 kills and 10 digs in the win against St. Peter’s.

Malia McGuinness: She also notched a double-double with 10 kills and 17 digs.

sports

11

Volleyball Trio Lead Team as Season Winds Down Daniel Ynfante Staff Writer

As Manhattan’s volleyball season enters its home stretch, the contributions it gets from its players become that much more important.

The Jaspers are fighting for the No.2 seed in the MAAC and one slip up can prove costly.

But in the month of October, three Jaspers, Jade Gray, Claire Van Dyk and Malia McGuinness, have gone on career stretches, putting up numbers that have translated into Manhattan victories.

Before the calendar turned to October, the Jaspers were losers of five of their last seven matches. The team lost its first two contests of the month, but then went on a six-match winning streak that clinched a winning month no matter the results of the remaining matches in October.

At the center of the Jasper’s success in October has been McGuinness.

The senior outside hitter has registered eight double-doubles in nine matches, has had two 20-20 performances and has reached the 20 kill mark four times.

She has made a case to be considered for MAAC Player of the Year, leading the conference in kills per set with 3.57 and placing ninth in digs per set with 3.73.

“She [McGuinness] is definitely a leader on the team,” head coach Mark Jones said in an interview with the Quadrangle last week. “We need her to show up, we need her to get the points for us. We are expecting that, and I know she expects that from herself as well.”

McGuinness has done just that and has received much recognition in the meantime.

For her stellar performance on the week of Oct. 6, McGuinness was named MAAC Player of the Week and ECAC Player of the Week as well.

Adding to the list of her accomplishments was on Oct. 4 when McGuinness became the fifth player in Manhattan history to reach the 1,000 kill-1,000 dig club.

But McGuinness hasn’t been the lone Jasper collecting double-digit kills and digs match after match. Van Dyk has been right behind her all month with five

Go Jaspers/Courtesy Van Dyk’s performance this season has helped her team get to third place in the MAAC. double-doubles in nine matches.

In the match against Canisius on Oct. 25, Van Dyk had her highest scoring total in a Manhattan uniform with 17 kills and two service aces.

In the win against Iona on Oct. 18, the first road win against Iona since 2006, Van Dyk played a crucial part in the match with a career high 19 digs.

During the Jaspers’ recent six-match winning streak, Van Dyk registered double-digit digs and kills in five of the six matches.

“I definitely worked on my approach, bringing it in a little,” Van Dyk believes is the reason why she has played so well lately. “I’m just being more consistent and limiting the errors, and it’s something I’ve still got to focus on.”

But McGuinness and Van Dyk’s play has been made much simpler thanks to the playmaking ability of setter Jade Gray.

Gray, who was forced to fill in for an injured Teodora Peric on Oct. 11 has risen

her level of play to an unforeseen level.

In her first match filling in for Peric, Gray missed a triple-double by one kill. As if that wasn’t enough, Gray dished out a career-high 54 assists in the following match.

In her five matches as a starter, Gray is averaging 11.65 assists per set. To get a sense of the magnitude of this number, consider that the assist per set leader in the MAAC, Marist’s Amanda Schlegel, averages 10.38 assists per set.

To go along with her superb playmaking ability, Gray has recorded double-digit digs in four of her five matches as a starter.

But with the return of Peric from injury, Jones faces a lineup conundrum.

Does he start Peric, who was the regular starter before she got hurt? Or does he ride out Gray’s hot streak?

“I don’t know, I think Tea [Peric] does great at it, and I think we’re both very different players,” Gray said about the possibility of becoming a regular

starter following her near triple-double performance on Oct. 11. “We both do great roles, and whoever goes in, we both do a great job. So I think you know, that it’s up to him [Jones].”

And Jones seems to have made his decision as Gray has started the last three matches even though Peric is healthy again.

However, Jones does not want to read into this decision too much and stressed that it can change.

“I think we’ll see what happens,” Jones said about his decision to start the red-hot Gray over Peric. “I think Jade has definitely proven herself and she’s worked hard. She has a lot of respect from her teammates and every day she comes and she gives 100 percent…” “…We’ll just go match by match, but right now, Jade’s our starting setter.”

sports

12

Christian Roodal/The Quadrangle Van Cortlandt Park is home to the Manhattan College Invitational. The famous park attracts hundreds of cross country runners each year.

A Walk In The Park

Van Cortlandt and MC’s Intertwined History Claire Leaden

Managing/Features Editor For those not attuned to the world of athletics, Van Cortlandt Park serves as a nature-escape from city surroundings or a spot to lay out when the weather warms up.

But, for cross-country athletes, or anyone who runs as a pastime, the park represents years of blood, sweat and tears from both amateurs and the greatest runners of all time.

Van Cortlandt Park is the third largest park in New York City. At 1,146 acres it’s bigger than Central Park, which stands at 846 acres, but Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx and the Greenbelt Park on Staten Island beat it out for the first and second place spots.

The park was formed by a melted glacier almost 20,000 years ago, according to the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, and, over the next thousands of years, different tribes of Indians settled there until the Dutch East India Company brought the first Europeans to the Bronx area in 1639. A Dutch man named Adriaen Van Der Donck became the first owner of the property that is now Van Cortlandt Park in 1646.

Van Cortlandt first gained its name when another Dutch man, Jacobus Van Cortlandt, bought the property in 1694 and his son Frederick built the family mansion upon its grounds. It passed through the family for generations until the city of New York acquired it as park land in 1888, but it was not named after its residents until 1913.

The Cross-Country Running Course at the park first opened in 1913 as well, one year after cross-country running was included in the summer Olympics. The course offered five-mile and three-mile loops that are still there today.

“In Van Cortlandt Park, runners have

been running the same course and trails for over 100 years,” said Nick McDonough, Manhattan College men’s and women’s cross-country coach and women’s track coach.

McDonough has only been at MC since the beginning of the school year but has been coaching in the New York area for 22 years.

“It’s got a lot of history to it, which makes it a neat place,” he said. “It’s kind of funky in that there’s not a lot to it.

There’s not a lot of set-up or pomp and circumstance. It’s pretty bare-bones, but it’s more about the idea of running the same trail and the same loops that have been run for 40 or 50 or 60 or 70 years.”

MC cross-country runners agree that the history of Van Cortlandt makes running there all the more rewarding.

“The most significant thing about the park is that it’s the most famous park on the East Coast, if not in the entire nation, for cross-country running,” senior crosscountry runner Anthony Colasurdo said.

“Every time that you run, you compare it to Van Cortlandt,” he said. “I have a lot of pride in knowing that Van Cortlandt is our home course considering the history of it—it’s also one of hardest courses that we run with all of the hills. It’s a love/ hate relationship definitely, because you know the pride behind it, but it’s one of the toughest courses I run.”

Colasurdo ran cross-country in high school, which included meets in the park, and now runs there almost every day as part of the MC cross-country team.

Obviously the close proximity to the park has made it an important part of MC’s history, but many cross-country runners associate MC with the “Manhattan College Invitational,” one of the largest annual cross-country meets in the nation. The meet is held at Van Cortlandt Park every year and draws over 10,000 high school

runners and their families.

“In high school it was a big thing to come here as a 16-year-old for the invite; it felt like this big, overwhelming event so after you ran it, you felt on top of the world,” McDonough said.

Alexandra Cappello, also a senior MC cross-country runner, ran the MC Invitational in high school as well.

“I always thought it was a lot of fun because there were people from all over the country that came for that race,” she said.

“You were in a huge pool of people and if you placed in the top 25, I think it was, you got some type of letter of recognition from Manhattan College from the cross country and track team.”

Cappello also said that besides running there, just spending time in the park with her teammates provided fond memories.

“A nice memory is every time I had a high school meet my team and I would cool down by the rock that overlooks the skyline, and then across the street is the famous carrot cake place so we’d always go to Lloyd’s after,” she said.

The course, as explained by Colasurdo, essentially doubles in distance from when someone runs it in high school to when they run it in college. The first part of the race is on the flats, he said, which is the loop that goes around the park. Next you go into the cow path, which is slightly uphill, and is also named freshman hill. Freshman hill is the only hill high school freshman run, hence its name. Then the rest of the high schoolers go into the back hills, which Colasurdo describes as a bit of a rollercoaster, varying up and down.

“By the time you get out of the back hills you’re exhausted. That can beat you up,” he said.

After that point in high school you finish the race, totaling about 4,000 meters, but in college you go back into what is called “cemetery hill.”

“There are two reasons it’s called cemetery hill,” Colasurdo said. “There’s a cemetery right next to it, and you feel like you’re going to die when you’re running up it.”

Once finished on cemetery hill, the runner goes back out onto the flats to finish up the next few miles, equaling a total of about 8,000 meters.

Each runner with memories of Van Cortlandt part was easily able to list off the many great athletes who ran there, especially ones like Matt Centrowitz, who went to MC for his freshman year, and Steve Prefontaine, who ran in Van Cortlandt when the N.C.A.A. championships were held there in 1969. Both later went on to be great Olympic runners.

Even Ken Rolston, the current coach of the Van Cortlandt Park Track Club, who went to Lehman College, readily knew MC’s cross-country history.

“They were really good then,” he said of MC team in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. “They won the IC4A [Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America] competition. I was a good runner.

I ran for Lehman College, but I would’ve been on their [MC’s] JV team.”

The Van Cortlandt Park Track Club was established in 1977. Rolston has been a member for the past 12 years, returning to running in the park after he got married and had children, though he says there are many members that have been a part of it longer than he has.

“My brothers and I all ran cross-country and I think our greatest memories were of racing across the flats with 300 other kids,” he said. “The memories of, it sounds corny, but the smell of fall and the leaves, all of that is emblazon in my brain as being part of Van Cortlandt. I think it has that sort of nostalgic feeling for many people.”

“It’s really cool to be back at it and have it as part of my life again,” he said.