The official student newspaper of Quinnipiac University since 1929. Proud Recipient of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors’ Award for 2015-2016 College Newspaper of the Year
SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
QUCHRONICLE.COM
VOLUME 88, ISSUE 2
ARTS & LIFE: QUADRUPLETS MOVE IN P. 8
OPINION: BLEEDING BLUE P. 7
By MATT GRAHN Staff Writer
The town of Hamden has been contemplating expanding its smoking ban from fall 2016. According to the New Haven Register, the ban will now go beyond places like schools and public parks, and will include town properties designated by the mayor or a designee. The town government last discussed this matter in early August. The bill was not passed because the language needed work, specifically on who can be a designee, according to The Register. David Garretson, the mayor’s chief of staff, said that the potential expansion of the ban won’t be brought up again until October. Hamden resident Hayden Zebyrd, who is a smoker, thinks that it might be difficult for the town to enforce the ban. “I say have at it,” Zebyrd said. “Give it a shot… but just like when they tried to make Rocky Top [Road] a one- way road. People just took down the signs. You can try all you
want, but I don’t think it’s going to stop too many people.” Junior Josie Gonzales likes the idea of the expansion. She doesn’t think people would want their kids to be exposed to secondhand smoke. However, like Zebyrd, she thinks that keeping up the ban may be a challenge. “Banning it completely is a little [odd], because smoking is pretty common,” Gonzales said. Senior Christian Woodford is supportive of the ban due to the health reasons, even though he would like to learn more about the policy. “I think that immediately outside of public buildings, it’s within reason to ban smoking,” Woodford said. “I think designated areas, within a fair enough distance from the entrance and exits from buildings, is reasonable.” Jeff Burness, who is a vape juice maker at Silver City Vapors, is supportive of the ban, but he thinks that any sort of restriction on tobacco usage may also end up entangling vaping. “Nobody really wants to be out in public,
SPORTS: RUGBY ROLLS PAST ARMY P. 16
breathing in other people’s vapor smoke and stuff,” Burness said. “So I kinda understand why they do it for both, but I kinda wish they’d separate the two and treat it as two different things.” Burness, who used to smoke before he began vaping, said that many people who use e-cigs and other products are trying to transition away from smoking and may eventually quit vaping also. However, he does note that some customers still smoke, including one man who “has to have his cigarette with his coffee every morning,”. Zebyrd doesn’t personally care about vaping, and said, “If you want to smoke something, get a real smoke,” For him, he’ll continue smoking, regardless of what the town does. “It’s not going to stop me from coming out here and smoking my cigarettes, and I don’t think it’s going to stop too many others either,” he said.
When October comes around, BurLUKASBIERI/PIXABAY ness, who argues DESIGN BY CHRISTINA POPIK that vapes are less harmful than tobacco, hopes that people are well informed when the decision is made. “[Instead of] trying to save people from themselves, it’d be better to properly inform people on the benefits and dangers and whatever of each, and be honest about what people are getting themselves into,” he said.
Hurricane Harvey hits home
Thousands of miles away, Quinnipiac students are reeling from the storm’s effects
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As Hurricane Harvey crossed over the coastline of Texas on Friday, Aug. 25, Quinnipiac students were settling into their dorms, chatting with new roommates and looking forward to the academic year ahead. For most of the student body, Hurricane Harvey was the last thing on their minds. However, this was not the case for student Jacqueline Schmedel or sociology Professor Keith Kerr. Their heads were back home in Texas. Schmedel is a junior political science major from Fort Worth, Texas. She was playing bingo in the dining hall with her orientation freshmen at 10 p.m. on Friday night, when the storm landed and began its path of destruction. Although she is four hours north of the coast and the heavily-affected areas, Schmedel’s mind was racing with concern for her friends and family in the area. “I know many of (my friends) evacuated, but also many of them stayed to help those who are in worse areas,” Schmedel said. “I think the most shocking text I got was from a friend in Beaumont who said that not only did they run out of fresh water, but there are about 300 crocodiles loose around the city.” On Monday morning, Professor Keith Kerr walked into his sociological theories class, but he had other things on his mind. Before he began rollcall, he held his cell
phone up and explained that his parents, sister and aunt live in the Greater Houston area and he was receiving text updates about the storm and his family’s safety. He would be checking his phone throughout the class. Kerr grew up in Brazoport, an area right on the coast and about 20 miles south of Galveston, a 45-minute drive southeast of Houston. “It is actually a relief to be at work,” Kerr said. “While people in that area are adept at dealing with these situations, the media has made it clear that this is on a scale that I cannot comprehend. This is nothing like we have seen before. Coming to work gives me a break from the images that have been looping non-stop on TV.” Kerr has been busy trying to keep up with where people have evacuated to, checking river and creek levels, getting updates from friends on specific neighborhoods, and trying to plan ahead to find out when and how to get into the area once the waters recede. “My parents are now elderly. I said if the creek next to their home were to flood, I would need to help with the clean-up efforts,” Kerr said.“I remember my grandfather once telling me that the hand you give today, may be the hand you are stretching out for help tomorrow. Though I have no doubt that help will come, and is coming from this region of the country. Many here have lived through natural and manmade disasters and so know firsthand, how much help is need-
Staff Meetings on Tuesdays at 9:15 p.m. in SB123
PHOTO COURTESY OF FBI.GOV
Members of the Texas National Guard helped Houston residents affected by the hurricane on Aug. 27. ed, and will be needed in Texas.” Vincent Contrucci, director of the Office of Community Service at Quinnipiac University, offered some legitimate organizations that students can donate to in support of fellow students and professors, like Schmedel, Kerr and many others who are devastated by the storm.
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He said that students should text ‘Harvey’ to 90999 to donate 10$ to the American Red Cross, Houston Food Bank, Houston Humane Society, Catholic charities, and Austin Pets Alive, just to name a few. “The people in Texas are our neighbors, our fellow citizens and what impacts them, See HURRICANE Page 4
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INDEX
Content Director
CONNECT
By HANNAH FEAKES
Interactive: 5 Opinion: 6 Arts and Life: 8 Sports: 13