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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MANHATTAN COLLEGE | SINCE 1924
Volume C, Issue 2
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NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 3, 2019
MC Community Rallies Against New Access Control Policy Gabriella DePinho & Joe Liggio
News Editor & Senior Writer
Kris Allen Rocks MC Quad Students sat on the quad to watch American Idol winner Kris Allen’s performance. BRIAN ASARE/ THE QUADRANGLE
Walsh’s Kingsbridge BID Expansion Plan Met With Slow Action Maria Thomas Asst. News Editor
For a year, Rob Walsh, Senior Advisor for Strategic Partnerships at Manhattan College, has been trying to get the Kingsbridge Business Improvement District to expand its borders. Business Improvement Districts, or BIDs, are created by city legislators, and are meant to improve neighborhoods. Businesses within a BID receive services such as sanitation, beautification, public safety and marketing, which often lead to an increase in customers and further business development. Walsh has been pushing members of the board of directors to expand the BID to include West 238th Street and Broadway Avenue as far north as 242nd Street It seems like a no-brainer: BIDs create safer, cleaner neighborhoods which then gain more attraction. Here’s the catch: Businesses within a BID are required to pay fees to city legislators for the services they receive. This might be part of the
IN NEWS:
Staying Safe: MC Talks Gun Safety on p. 5
reason why the process of expanding the Kingsbridge BID is taking so long. “The Board of Directors of the BID must take their time assessing the impact of an expanded BID. They are determining if the increased cost of serving an expanded coverage area is worth the benefits that they will receive, both in increased fees and in an enhanced reputation,” said Richard Ross, a visiting professor in the O’Malley School of Business. “It’s just not easy, because you’re telling [business owners] it’s going to cost them money. And not that it’s huge, but some people will pay a large amount while others will pay very little because they’re so tiny,” said Katherine Broheir, the Kingsbridge BID’s executive director, in an interview with The Riverdale Press. Yet Walsh, who served as the commissioner of the Department of Small Business Services for twelve years under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, says expanding a BID does not need to take this long. “I entered into this conversation a year ago and nothing has been done. This adminis-
IN FEATURES: Meet the new chair of the communication department on p. 9
tration has taken a backseat on it, which is unfortunate. I look at us as an anchor institution, a powerhouse, 4,000 students strong. We spend a lot of money in the neighborhood, that’s called spending power,” said Walsh. This spending power could improve the success of small ‘mom-and-pop shops’, thus improving the area surrounding the college, and has been proven possible by other schools in New York City. “The New School University turned around Union Square. Pratt Institute turned around Myrtle Avenue. We could play that role. That is what I engaged the organization with, and what they decided to do was put their head in the sand,” said Walsh. Even more reason to expand the BID, according to Walsh, is Manhattan College’s current plans for expansion. “We’re making a big investment in the south campus with the extension of our engineering school, the Higgins center, and the __________________________ CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
Throughout syllabus week, one topic of conversation had campus buzzing above all the rest: Access Control. The new residence hall policy revamp that took many by surprise at the start of the semester has been met with a resoundingly negative reaction by students and staff at Manhattan, many of whom are speaking out against what they see as an unfair, restrictive new system that has severely impacted campus morale. Concerns and complaints vary, from worries over the ability to study or work on projects in groups to students feeling like they have had a curfew imposed upon them, and a limit on when and how they can spend time with others who attend the college. According to Director of Residence Life Charles Clency, this policy has been introduced solely as a preventative measure. “It’s not a matter of a situation that occurred, it’s a matter of what’s going on in our society and being a little more safe and conscious about how to provide a better quality of living and a safer environment where our students reside,” said Clency. In addition to being a proactive policy, Clency sees this change as necessary to keep up with other colleges and universities. “Students here may not realize it but the practice of having open residence halls is an outdated system … This is an outdated system from a grander scale. It’s safe to say you’ll rarely find a system that allows students, all the student body, to come and go in the residence halls without having any check-in process or knowledge of who is accessing the building,” said Clency. While Residence Life and Public Safety saw this change as imminent and a priority for the academic year, many at the school was not clued into the
IN A&E:
A recap of Kris Allen’s Quadchella performance on p. 8
policy adjustment. Resident Assistants learned about the policy change a day before the email went out to the student body. “RAs and staff, I actually gave them an opportunity to voice their concerns. They made it clear to me that all of them weren’t entirely on board with it either. It’s a change,” said Clency. Commuter students were never formally contacted regarding the policy update from any member of the Office of Student Life. Director of Commuter Affairs Marilyn Carter could not provide information on Access Control to non-resident students prior to its introduction, as she herself was not fully aware of the policy’s extent or what would actually be going into effect upon the start of the semester “We heard back in late spring that there would be some changes in accessing the dorms. However, at that time I was not privy to all of the changes that we see made today. My office was not involved in any discussions concerning this matter,” said Carter in an e-mail statement to The Quadrangle. According to Clency, he himself does not have the capacity to email the entire student body. “I only have the obligation and responsibility to communicate with the students who live on campus and signed the contract with us. When it goes beyond that, it becomes a student life thing,” said Clency. Beyond the commuting population, Clency acknowledged that student involvement in preliminary discussions and the actual dissemination of the policy ahead of time to all of the MC community could have been better. “I’ll be honest. Could we have gotten more student input and voice prior to sending it out? Probably could have. We could have had a more gallant effort but that’s something we __________________________ CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
IN SPORTS:
Women’s Soccer takes a loss in battle of the Bronx on p. 12