March 2019

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REPORTER EDITOR IN CHIEF Frankie Albin PRINT MANAGING EDITOR Cayla Keiser ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR Victoria Sebastian COPY EDITOR Ramya Shankar NEWS EDITOR Kasey Mathews TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Karina Le LEISURE EDITOR Anika Griffiths FEATURES EDITOR Morgan LaMere WELLNESS EDITOR Tyler English VIEWS EDITOR Taylor Synclair Goethe WRITERS Cayla Keiser, Taylor Synclair Goethe, Abby Bratton, Anika Griffiths, Kasey Mathews, Kristin Grant, Karina Le, Tyler English

ART ART DIRECTOR Alyssa Minko ONLINE ART DIRECTOR Monica Nguyen-Vo SENIOR DESIGNER Lily Garnaat DESIGNERS Elin Smith, Kendra Murphy,

EDITOR’S NOTE Recently, we have all become aware of how necessary it is for us as a community to raise our voice and speak up for what we believe in and deserve. I’m sure you can immediately think of a few recent instances — from class cancellations to healthcare.

It is our mission at Reporter to aid in that necessity as the student voice on campus. But you — the students, faculty and staff of RIT — must speak up to us as well.

Hold us accountable if we aren’t talking about something we should be, or if we aren’t doing something right. Utilize us as the student press. We are here to support all of you — that’s our job.

We are living in a time when people trust the media less and less. That’s why it is incredibly important to have a dialogue with the media. It is important, so that you can trust that media, and make sure it is held responsible to the people it serves.

I encourage all of you to talk with us — email us, reach out over social media, stop by our office in the Campus Center or email and submit a letter to the editor.

Act in whichever way you deem is best to build and strengthen that dialogue.

Don’t just see us as that organization that makes magazines. We are here to support the voice of the students and the greater RIT community — your voice.

Come say hi.

Lauren Perttula, Dhensel Dorji, Lily Garnaat, Kevin Zampieron, Nancy Perez, Cassy Smithies ILLUSTRATORS Aria Dines, Asher Bozman, Maggie Dybas, Juho Choi, Unique Fair, Angie Krieg, Maliheh Rahrovan

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Reporter Magazine is published monthly during the academic year by a staff comprised of students at Rochester Institute of Technology. Business, Editorial and Design facilities are located in Room A-730, in the lower level of the Campus Center. Our phone number is 1.585.475.2212. The Advertising Department can be reached at 1.585.475.2213. “I’m gonna see cats today, I have lube in my hair, today is a good day.” -S.W. The opinions expressed in Reporter do not necessarily reflect those of the Institute.

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March 3

TA B L E O F cover and TOC illustration by Asher Bozman

NE WS 6

EXPLORING ENTREPRENEURIAL ENDEAVORS Learn about some of RIT’s entrepreneurial resources

T E CH 10

BIGOTRY ENCODED: RACIAL BIAS IN TECHNOLOGY

LEISURE 12

Is technology complicit in discrimination?

14

16

@reportermag 4 March

GUIDE TO DIVERSE EATING IN ROCHESTER Tired of boring campus food? These restaurants are guaranteed to take your taste buds on an adventure

CRAFTING FENCES, BUILDING BRIDGES A backstage glance at the upcoming NTID Performing Arts production of “Fences”

AYL: IN SEARCH OF MISSING SPRING Can you find the lost spring?

CONTENTS FE AT URES 18

22

THE HASSLE OF HOUSING Housing options on campus are limited and ever-changing, and students aren’t always able to benefit

ROCHESTER LIBRARIES: STEWARDS OF COMMUNITY

WELLNESS 24

STRESS IN HEART, STRESS IN BODY

VIEWS 26

How do your emotions directly affect your physical state?

HIV AND AIDS AWARENESS: A SHIFTING EPIDEMIC The HIV crisis is seeing a resurgence

28

How have libraries evolved in the 21st century?

30

WORD ON THE STREET What is the biggest lie about sex you were told?

RINGS Text or call (585)-672-4840, RIT’s Digital Confessional

reporter.rit.edu March 5

Exploring Entrepreneurial Endeavors

by Cayla Keiser | photography by Catherine Rafferty & Tony Wen | design by Elin Smith

S

tarting a business isn’t easy — you either fail or succeed. It requires dedication, patience and a willingness to take risks.

Determining where to begin can be a tricky aspect, even when you already have an idea brewing. RIT provides multiple resources for students to get started, from full-time programs to competitions.

MAGIC Co-Up

Established four years ago, the MAGIC CoUp program was designed for students who want to work on anything in the digital media realm — including video games, graphic novels and online services. Jennifer Hinton, the assistant director of the MAGIC Center, said that every semester students can apply to the Co-Up program, a term that combines coop with startup. Typically, Hinton said, they’ll accept up to five teams.

Co-Up is open to any student. Once accepted, students can then utilize the program and get paid hourly — like a parttime job — while still taking classes. Co-Up can also fulfill co-op requirements.

“We will serve as the co-op supervisor and do the work report and all of that, but in order for students to earn co-op credit, it has to be approved in advance by their academic department,” Hinton said.

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Right: Third year Game Design and Development students Matthew Barry, John Blau, Barrington Campbell and Kally Mihova work on their game, Elderberry Trails, in MAGIC Lab in Henrietta, N.Y. on Feb. 1, 2019. The team is able to create the game through MAGIC’s Co-Up program, which allows students to earn co-op credit working on a digital media interactive projects in a “start-up” environment.

Left: (left to right) Matthew Barry, third year Game Design and Development major, discusses the design of Elderberry Trails, a game he is creating with his team members Kally Mihova, third year Game Design and Development, and Barrington Campbell, also third year Game Design and Development, through MAGIC’s new Co-Up program at MAGIC Lab in Henrietta, N.Y. on Feb. 1, 2019. Barry is serving as the game’s programmer.

If you want to make something for yourself, you need to have a passion for it, you need to have a vision for it and you need to work on it … even when you may not want to.

Fourth year Game Design and Development major Noah Ratcliff and his team used the MAGIC Co-Up in Fall 2018 to work on their Rochester-themed game, Crazy Platez.

“Co-Up provides so much equipment that normal student teams wouldn’t have access to.

If you’re working on a [Virtual Reality] game, we have a whole lab dedicated to it ... that’s the kind of thing a student can’t get unless they go through the Co-Up,” Ratcliff said.

Co-Up teams have access to the MAGIC Center 24/7 and work with mentors to advance their projects. The Co-Up works with students near the beta stage of production so that they near publication by the end of Co-Up, Hinton said.

“I describe MAGIC [Co-Up] as an opt-in experience ... If you want to make something for yourself, you need to have a passion for it,

you need to have a vision for it and you need to work on it ... even when you may not want to because that is what you committed to doing,” Hinton said.

Simone Center

The MAGIC Co-Up may not be for everyone.

Some students might have projects better suited for another entrepreneurial program on campus. The Simone Center, for example, is home to programs, competitions and great minds to help get you started.

“The goal of the Simone Center is to support and educate students about the processes of starting a business and being an entrepreneur and creating innovations,” Dana W. Wolcott, the lead innovation coach at the Simone Center, said.

Some of the notable opportunities include their Applied Entrepreneurship/Applied Venture Creations course and the Saunders Student Accelerator.

Applied Entrepreneurship/Applied Venture Creations is open to all students — undergraduate or graduate — to begin their entrepreneurial adventures. At the start of the class, students go through a teaming process to determine who will work together for the rest of the semester.

Kally Mihova, third year Game Design and Development major, draws assets for Elderberry Trails — the game she is creating — through MAGIC’s Co-up program at the MAGIC Lab in Henrietta, N.Y. on Feb. 1, 2019. Mihova is a full-time Co-Up student and serving as the environment artist for the game.

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Teams are partnered with a coach, and focus heavily on customer discovery at the start. The course instruction is unique — instructors with area-specific expertise take over every few weeks, so teams gain applicable knowledge at a quick pace.

“Some students are just getting started and maybe don’t even have an idea. Other students are already up and running and selling stuff,” Wolcott said. “We can help anybody progress on their business.”

The Applied Entrepreneurship course is required for eligibility into the Saunders Student Accelerator. While in the Accelerator, students are expected to work full time on their project, but are paid and given co-op credit.

The goal is to help budding entrepreneurs build their businesses and seek funds from investors, their website states.

Programs are open to all majors — so long as the students are dedicated.

Venture Creations

After working with the Simone Center, students can opt for a spot with Venture Creations. It works similarly to the Simone Center; however, it has more of an economic development objective. They pull in those with viable business ideas and remote connections to RIT — from faculty and

8 News

alumni to “friends of RIT” — who are past the proof of concept stage, as explained by Rich Notargiacomo, director of Venture Creations.

“We like people to have at least advanced the technology — the product — to the point where maybe they made one [prototype],” he said. “The key is we don’t work with companies who still require invention.

We want people to be past that.”

Venture Creations primarily supports technology-related businesses, as they take companies whose entrepreneurial goals align with those of the university.

“If someone comes in with a blockbuster pharmaceutical, we’d help refer them to somebody else; but, if someone comes in with a new photon detector, we’re there,” Notargiacomo said.

Once a business is accepted, Venture Creations looks at their entire business model to determine where to focus. Like the Simone Center, Venture Creations provides each business with coaches and mentors to further this focus.

“We believe that the coaching is the core of our service and to our success,” Notargiacomo noted. Overall, the program has been helpful to many aspiring businesses.

With four more due in March, Venture Creations has graduated a total of 38

Stefan Nortz (left) and Taylor Thum (right) discusse some potential changes that they should make on their prototype at the Simone Center in Student Innovation Hall in Henrietta, N.Y. on Feb. 7, 2019. The two are currently developing an immersive VR technology with more haptics (physical feedback) and no headset for their startup company.

Coaching is the core of our service and to our success.

companies. Both the Simone Center and Venture Creations use effectively the same process — they simply see the same type of work at different levels.

“What we’re doing is very, very actively working with Simone Center to ensure that we get a good look at the student efforts, and that we are there for students who want to transition from a part-time endeavor to a full-time endeavor when they graduate,” Notargiacomo said. “... Our general rule is: Get your degree, we’ll figure out how to do the business later.”

Additional Resources

For those simply wanting to dip their toes in the entrepreneurial waters rather than diving all the way in, there are competitions and weekend events.

The Simone Center hosts Tiger Tank, a competition for those with early-stage business ideas. IdeaLab is a weekend event for student teams to brainstorm and propose solutions to local community problems. Open to deaf and hard-of-hearing students to create a service, product, business or technology, The Next Big Idea is designed for students to propose solutions to existing challenges and problems.

No matter what your major or passions might be, there are entrepreneurial resources there to help.

Sean Bashaw (Right) and Cole Innis (Left) discuss the design of the user interface for their software at the Simone Center in Student Innovation Hall in Henrietta, N.Y. Feb. 7, 2019.

The two are working with Andrew Cho and Eva Skovli, the founders of VeeTV, to create a one-stop video streaming service dedicated to the signing community to preserve and promote Deaf culture and sign language.

Jeffrey D. Arywitz (left), a Venture Coach, and Jason Bacock (right), the Founder & CEO of Positive Science, LLC, discuss the direction of Jason’s company at Venture Creations in Henrietta, N.Y. on Feb. 5, 2019.

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BIGOTRY ENCODED:

RACIAL BIAS IN TECHNOLOGY

by Taylor Synclair Goethe | illustration by Aria Dines | design by Kendra Murphy

“I

s this soap dispenser racist?” was the question that became an internet sensation. In a video at a Marriott hotel, an automatic soap dispenser is shown unable to detect a black customer’s hand.

The dispenser used near-infrared technology to detect hand motions, an article on Mic read. The invisible light is reflected back from the skin which triggers the sensor.

Darker skin tones absorb more light, thus enough light isn’t reflected back to the sensor to activate the soap dispenser. Which means that dark-skinned restroom users will have to skip washing their hands with this not-sosensitive soap dispenser.

This epic design flaw may seem hilarious on the internet, but demonstrates a major issue with many technology-based companies: diversity. The soap dispenser was created by a company called Technical Concepts, which unintentionally made a discriminatory soap dispenser because no one at the company thought to test their product on dark skin.

According to Alec Harris, a fourth year Manufacturing Engineering Technology major and the Pre-Collegiate Initiative Chair for National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) chapter, this is an endemic problem within the tech industry.

“If you have an office full of white people, whatever products that come out of that office are more likely to be geared more towards white people. The less diversity there is in a workplace environment, the more likely major design flaws will be present that only affect people of color,” Harris said.

RACIAL BIAS IN TECH Silicon Valley, located in northern San Francisco, is a global epicenter for innovation and prestige in technology. It is also infamous for its stark lack of diversity which has been nicknamed its “Achilles’ heel,” according to CNBC. The issue extends throughout many facets of technology.

Specifically, facial recognition software has consistently shown racial bias when identifying faces.

From iPhone’s face unlock not being able to differentiate between two colleagues in China to Google Photos mistakenly tagging two black friends in a selfie as gorillas, algorithms still fail at recognizing and distinguishing people of color. I’m a black woman and I’ve been locked out of my Surface because Windows Hello couldn’t detect my face. Yet the

10 Technology

ramifications run much deeper than shoddy cell phones now that facial recognition software is being introduced into policing.

“Facial-recognition systems are more likely either to misidentify or fail to identify African Americans than other races, errors that could result in innocent citizens being marked as suspects in crimes,” according to the Atlantic.

As technology becomes more advanced, so does the scope and harm of these blunders.

An essay titled the State of Black America 2018 noted how the digital revolution is increasingly leaving their black consumers behind. Especially on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram where black people are a quarter of the users, but only represent less than five percent of their employees.

The consequences are clear: technology is becoming a white people’s brand. Caitlin Pope is a third year student of Applied Arts and Sciences and noted how tech companies run the risk of alienating their diverse users.

“If there was more diversity in the tech industry, then not only would there be more products that suit people of every skin tone, but it will develop each company as a brand to unify themselves instead of having consumers say, ‘That’s a white brand,’” Pope said.

THE FUEL FOR HATRED

Can technology be racist? Absolutely, if we allow it to be. A dangerous assumption is that technology is neutral, however, behind every software is a programmer who has informed their own perspective and biases. Something as innocent as Google search not only reflects algorithms’ racial bias, but also increases its own users’ bigotry. Due to a former Google search bug, it was detected that when a person typed in “Jews are” the autocomplete search suggestion would be “evil.” Or, if it was “Blacks are” the suggestion would be “not oppressed.” Or, “Hitler was” would suggest “my hero.” Technology runs the risk of adding to the growing wave of online bigotry.

“The technology industry can be looked at as focused around solving problems, and if only the problems of one group of people are being considered, there are countless other problems and potential solutions not being looked into,” Harris said.

Online radicalization is a growing problem.

Dylann Roof, the mass shooter who killed nine black churchgoers in a racist hate crime, radicalized himself online. This is because many online companies were ill-prepared for the extremist content such as fake news and bots that flood the internet. Unfortunately, many algorithms are set up to automatically promote content without screening it, such as with the Youtube autoplay scandal which recommended pro-Nazi videos on unaffiliated searches.

Companies like Microsoft have tried to combat online divisions with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. However, this has backfired spectacularly. Enter “Tay,” an innocent AI bot that was programmed to engage different audiences in fun, friendly conversation on Twitter. In less than a day, Tay went from claiming “Humans are cool” to “Hitler was right I hate the Jews.”

“I think RIT should shed light on the marginalization of students in tech to show support of people of color in that industry or people who want to pursue that industry,” Pope said.

Harris agrees and suggests that RIT can do this by supporting initiatives like NSBE

“

that fund more resources, mentorship and scholarships for students. On campus, there’s already several diverse tech organizations like NSBE that help balance the odds for more people of color to succeed in STEM. With more community building and support, maybe one day we all can keep our hands clean.

The LESS DIVERSITY there is in a WORKPLACE ENVIRONMENT, the more likely MAJOR DESIGN FLAWS will be present that only affect PEOPLE OF COLOR.

A HUMAN SOLUTION

Microsoft’s strategy, and others like it, often receive backlash. The issue isn’t necessarily with the technology itself, but the makers’ inability to predict social consequences from their designs. According to Medium, the main issue with the tech industry is the lack of emotional intelligence and apathy towards their effect on the community. “Smarter” tech won’t solve what is, essentially, a human solution.

This is why Apple’s diverse emojis still have the wrong palm skin colors and why algorithms suspend people of colors’ social media more than they do Nazis’, as reported

by ProPublica — because no one was there to tell those tech companies that something was wrong.

Medium continues that the easiest way to solve the tech industry’s woes is to just hire more people of color in STEM and provide a more nurturing environment to grow emotional intelligence. It’s not just the companies hiring — RIT also has a responsibility to its students of color in STEM fields.

Technology 11

Han Noodle Bar photography by Tess Roberts

Mamma G’s

D’Mangu

photography by Tess Roberts

photography by Natalie Whitton

Guide to Diverse Eating in Rochester

by Taylor Synclair Goethe | photography by Tess Roberts and Natalie Whitton | design by Lauren Perttula 12 Leisure

Han Noodle Bar Culture Chinese Price $ Restaurant size Small Distance 16 minutes from campus Bonus Inexpensive food and fast service!

I love Chinese food (the real stuff, not the Americanized version) and boy, does Han Noodle Bar deliver on a college student’s budget! Do it for the dumplings and the pork buns! Do it for the fried squid and shrimp!

Just do it! I’ve been here multiple times since I started school and I can’t wait to return.

Abyssinia

Culture Ethiopian Price $ Restaurant size Medium Distance 9 minutes from campus Bonus Perfect when trying to feed large

groups, plus there’s lots of vegan options.

Ah, the spices! Eating campus food can make a girl really miss her seasoning.

Fortunately, Abyssinia delivers all the flavors and cooks their meat until it falls off the bone perfectly. True to Ethiopian culture, this restaurant was made for group sharing. If you order one of the traditional group platters — which I highly recommend — you dip the injera (rolls of bread) into a large dish of sauces, vegetables and meat.

If food-heaven is a place on earth, it’s here.

If foodheaven is a place on earth, it’s here Abyssinia photography by Tess Roberts

D’Mangu photography by Natalie Whitton

D’Mangu

Mamma G’s

Culture Dominican Price $$ Restaurant size Large Distance 6 minutes from campus Bonus Great for parties!

Culture Italian Price $$ Restaurant size Medium Distance 7 minutes from campus Bonus Great for a more relaxed date that’s

Their offerings on campus don’t do it justice. The menu on campus may be simple, but the restaurant sure isn’t. The hardest part is figuring out what to order. But whatever you decide, your meal is guaranteed to be plated beautifully and taste amazing. You can enjoy the upbeat music and lively atmosphere while you wait. If you’re old enough to drink, check out their beachthemed bar. I didn’t because I’m underage, but the older ladies across from us looked like they were having a great time.

still romantic.

You might be thinking, “Why go to an Italian place when I can make pasta at home?” Wrong! This isn’t dry, store-bought pasta and tomato sauce. Mamma G is a real Italian grandma who moved here straight from Italy four years ago to build this restaurant. All the pasta, sauce and desserts are homemade. Just make sure you pack an extra stomach. The portions are large, so you might get full after the appetizer. You probably won’t finish your meal, but don’t worry — pasta tastes great as leftovers.

Leisure 13

Crafting Fences, BuildinG Bridges

by Abby Bratton| photography by Jesse Wolfe| design by Dhensel Dorji

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n April 11, 2019, the curtains will open in the Robert F. Panara Theatre for the NTID Performing Arts production of “Fences.” In the meantime, a lot of work is being done behind those curtains by the cast and crew alike. From translating lines to tackling diversity discussions, show prep is in full swing.

Adapting for Accessibility “We are unique, and we are an incredible contributor to Deaf cultural history. Many of the programs, many of the productions that we do here are the first time that the script has been translated into American Sign Language and performed by Deaf performers, as opposed to just interpreted,” Dr. Luane Davis Haggerty, the director of the upcoming NTID Performing Arts show, explained.

Scripts for NTID productions are formatted to accommodate both deaf and hearing cast members. Each page bears columns

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containing line numbers, character names, the English script and what Haggerty referred to as an “ASL gloss.”

“It’s not a translation,” Haggerty said. “It’s structural — it shows some of the structural features of ASL and gives suggestions for the beginning of a translation ... It’s a shortcut.”

Other script translations into ASL employ alternate methods, like including videos of each line being signed. According to Haggerty, writing the gloss saves time by allowing her to incorporate subtext matching her onstage directions and character blocking.

Productions begin with script translations, but a lot more effort goes into making them accessible even before actors are taken into account. Backstage at the Panara Theatre, the headsets usually worn by stage technicians are nowhere to be found during NTID shows.

Instead, they make use of TV monitors, allowing the stage manager to oversee and communicate with different rooms.

“And if you’ve ever been backstage in a Deaf

production, I know the first response a lot of hearing people have is ‘why don’t we all learn sign?’ It’s so much easier. You can scream at each other across stage and no one sees it, no one hears you. So it’s actually more efficient than headsets,” Haggerty said.

Fences and Identity Experiences When it comes to adapting productions, some changes are specific to the show being performed. NTID’s adaptation of August Wilson’s “Fences” is set in 1950s Pittsburgh and follows former baseball player Troy Maxson and his family.

In the typical NTID fashion, the deaf and hearing actors will sign and speak lines simultaneously. Voice actors will be positioned on the sides of the set while the deaf actors perform on center stage. Although most of the English script is identical to the official published version, one scene involving a phone call has

Cross-Cultural Collaborations

been reworked so that a neighbor takes the call rather than a main character.

The play will also be NTID’s first show on the Panara stage to feature an entirely Black cast.

Fourth year Applied Computer Science major Marquawn Holmes and second year Business Technology major Tonique Hunter, who play Troy and Rose Maxson, expressed excitement about the opportunities “Fences” provides.

“We haven’t [had] very many shows that really feature people of color, and to have people of color who are deaf performing? This is a huge opportunity for us, for people of color to come and see and support and relate to what’s going on onstage. This is not a standard play — this is a very deep play,” Holmes signed.

“From my perspective, what I can see, people out of the people of color community — the POC community — they start to feel like, ‘I don’t know if I should go and participate, I don’t know if I should be a part of this, I don’t want to confront them, are they going to look at me?’” Hunter signed. “But here, this is a nice opportunity to show you can do it. You can. Step out. Skin color isn’t that important.

Come. If you feel awkward, you’ll never know if you’ll succeed or not. You need to be able to break free, you have to try and then you’ll know from there on.”

Haggerty also spoke about the concerns that surround directing a production that deals so heavily with race, especially on a college campus.

“It’s not just the artistic experience; it’s a political experience, it’s an identity experience. It’s an experience where [college audiences] are not just watching the play and having a catharsis and learning from it. In some way they’re also judging these people and these characters and this situation,” she said.

“It’s not just the artistic experience; it’s a political experience, it’s an identity experience.”

She readily acknowledged her biases and boundaries as a white director and has encouraged both informal conversations and professional discourse about her involvement in the production.

“I think the best way that I can approach it is strongly collaborative with an awareness that I have limitations, so I’m going to need other people to contribute to be sure that this is the best production possible,” she concluded.

Among those collaborators are a number of RIT staff and faculty members in the Black and Deaf communities. She has also spoken with August Wilson’s wife.

“As a director I’m not the perfect messenger, so how do we make this story be the perfect messenger? I’m going to provide a platform, I’m going to provide structure, because that’s my skill set. But these guys are going to fill in everything else,” Haggerty said.

This theme of collaboration was expanded on by Troy Chapman, an RIT ‘00 alum, who plays Jim Bono.

“How voice [actors] work with deaf actors, how a deaf actor works with hearing/voice [actors], how to build a bridge, a better relationship ...

That’s a big thing,” Chapman said.

Haggerty agreed. “The bridge between cultures — Deaf, hearing, Black, White — it’s like a physical representation of how we may be able to connect. Art’s very strong for that.”

Community bridges, like theatrical productions, don’t come together overnight.

But as rehearsals move forward, NTID’s Performing Arts program is working to build both a little more each day.

“The bridge between cultures — Deaf, hearing, Black, White — it’s like a physical representation of how we may be able to connect.”

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AT YOUR LEISURE

In Search of Missing Spring

by Anika Griffiths | illustration by Asher Bozman | design by Lily Garnaat

S P C V R L P H O Y A U A M U T U L I P S E C M G T O K W K V L C H Q K S S E S N G I J I P G S E S S E R

L Y C D A

T K E F U

X R F N G

S D X R V R O O P Z A M O I L S R G N H S B E B E I S L Z H

W Q U E T

A N D A L

D O E E N I H S N U S S Y K S E U L B N B I M X D M B R H T M R A W W V Blossoms Tulips Daffodils Sunshine

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Blue sky Warmth Sandals Dresses

Grass Chirping Shorts

THE HASSLE OF HOUSING by

by Kasey Mathews | illustration by Maggie Dybas | design by Kevin Zampieron

C

ollege life is about more than just academics.

We, as students, don’t simply exist to learn, graduate and feed into RIT’s placement statistics. We are human and require the most basic of needs: food, water and shelter. Many of us live our day-to-day lives within the facilities offered by the university. As such, these facilities need to be accessible, affordable and amenable to the needs of those students within them.

Housing Horrors Students’ first encounters with housing typically occurs during their first year. As all first year students are required to live in the residence halls unless they are within commuting distance, the vast majority have lived in RIT housing at some point in their academic careers.

18 Features

While this requirement is in many ways positive — it ensures students have a guaranteed housing plan in place to start off their college lives — there are burdens that come with it.

One such burden is the price tag. For the 2018–2019 academic year, the rate for a multiple-occupancy room was $7,598 in total per person with a nine-month lease.

According to RENTCafé, the average renting price for an off-campus home in Henrietta, N.Y., was $1,164 per month. Accounting for a 12-month lease divided by two people, this totals to an average yearly cost of $6,984, making residence halls — with their shared living space, small floor plans and frequent fire alarms — seem an unnecessary and unwanted expense to many.

Another potential burden upon students living in residence halls is the matter of atmosphere. Residence halls are a great place to meet new people and make friends; however, this assumes that the student is looking for that. Residence halls can be noisy, tight spaces with little privacy. Students share recreation areas, lounge areas and in most cases bathrooms, leaving little space for “me time.” This complete lack of privacy could have a heavy negative impact on students’ psyches, especially those who tend to be more introverted or who live with mental conditions that may be further exhausting.

After students’ first year, further options do open up. RIT directly manages multiple housing options, including Perkins Green, Riverknoll, University Commons, Global Village and, up until recently, Colony Manor. Nearby off-campus housing with close partnerships to RIT include the RIT Inn and Conference Center, The Hill, Park Point, Province and The Lodge.

These options aren’t always the best or most affordable, either, however.

“I got placed in Riverknoll [after my first year] and I couldn’t afford ... to take out more loans at that point in my life so I went off campus,” said Ashley Kosak, a fifth year Mechanical Engineering student.

The transition, however, isn’t always a smooth one.

“My second year, when I went off campus, was the year that I essentially went homeless for a little bit,” Kosak said.

While the reasons for her homelessness weren’t directly related to her college life, it still posed a serious problem. After finding housing off campus, she then had to ensure transportation to and from campus. A shuttle

that had gone from campus to off-campus apartments such as Bennington Hills and Rustic Village was promised as a viable option; however, upon the start of the semester, this shuttle was taken offline.

Following a year that largely consisted of “bumming rides,” as Kosak described, she decided it was best to look, again, for on-campus housing. Unable to safely afford most housing options, she took a position as a Residence Advisor (RA). RAs, after all, receive significantly discounted housing in the residence halls, as well as a food plan. However, she noted that this, too, was unsecured.

“From an RA perspective, it’s tough to see students who go into ResLife (Residence Life) because that’s all they can afford to do,” she said. “ResLife expects 24/7 perfection from you; they expect you to be a life coach to their residents and they expect you to help them set goals and all that stuff.”

Those who don’t live up to ResLife’s standards may lose their job and, as a result, their housing and food. This can then cause a snowball effect

of further problems. For students who signed up for the position due to food and housing insecurities, for example, the loss of this could mean an inability to afford to continue their academic careers at RIT effective immediately.

Not Alone Nathaniel Thomas, a fifth year double major in the International and Global Studies program and Computer Engineering and Public Policy through the School of Individualized Study, has also had his fair share of experiences with housing insecurity.

“There seems to be a lot of financial snowballs,” Thomas said.

Similarly to Kosak, Thomas had lived in the residence halls his first year at RIT. He explained that he opted to continue living in the residence halls for the first half of the summer, paying a weekly summer rate.

Working at Information and Technology Services (ITS) on campus, he was looking to earn money while minimizing expenditures.

Eventually, though, living in the residence halls no longer made sense. With nowhere else to go, Thomas began staying with friends, couch-surfing and finding temporary solutions. His belongings were stored in a staff member’s office in the Student Alumni Union and he proceeded to rely on his friends for as long as he needed.

He had thought of looking for an off-campus apartment; however, he was unsure of how to best go about this process, leaving him with few resources readily available.

“Finding housing off campus isn’t that simple — especially if you don’t have parents to figure that out with you,” he said.

To further add to his stress, Thomas also had a financial hold on his account, preventing him from registering for classes. He had to organize a payment plan for tuition before he could even think about his housing situation.

Eventually, though, RIT caught on. After growing suspicious, a faculty member asked Thomas about his living situation. Faced with a decision to either protect himself and lie or to be honest, he opted for honesty. RIT then referred Thomas to the Center for Youth in Rochester, providing a communal living environment.

Features 19

“Finding housing off campus isn’t that simple ... ” The Center for Youth, while a fantastic organization whose help Thomas was thankful for, was an inconvenient distance from campus. He biked to and from campus most days. Other days, he would have to utilize public transportation, taking one bus from the Center to downtown, only to switch and take another from downtown to campus.

This forced him into a strict schedule as these buses arrived and left at designated times, meaning Thomas had to follow suit.

Eventually, Thomas saved enough money to return to campus, moving into Perkins Green the summer between his second and third year.

Now, Thomas is helping others navigate similar situations, though he was hesitant to reveal specifics in fear of jeopardizing these individuals’ independence and self-determination.

University Assistance RIT Housing can seem unaffordable to some and inconvenient to others. However, efforts are still being made by Public Safety and Housing Operations to ensure students are provided safe and secure housing, said Carla Dilella, executive director of Housing Operations.

Housing’s primary contact for those students who are dealing with homelessness or similar circumstances is Megan Jaros, manager of case management in the Wellness Department of Student Affairs. Jaros works with a number of partners both within the university and off campus, Housing Operations being included as one such partner.

While the name may seem counter-intuitive, the student conduct team also deals heavily with students in unsafe situations, such as those who find themselves to be homeless — a fact pointed out by both Thomas and Gary Moxley, director of Public Safety.

Moxley sits on the team, along with others from various aspects of campus life. While specific actions are taken on a case-by-case basis, their goal in these situations remains constant; to determine the best contact person for that struggling student going forward, and how best

20 Features

to connect them with further resources to help.

Moxley acknowledged that not every student may necessarily want a “handout.” Likewise, not every student feels they are in a dangerous situation, as staying with friends may seem like a viable solution. Rather than take away the student’s self-determination, Moxley and the student conduct team aim to provide resources for the student to help themselves.

“We found that sometimes what we may think is a need, once you dig a little bit deeper with the student, it could be something totally different,” Moxley said.

As such, the power very much remains in the hands of the student in need. Through this approach, Moxley hopes that as many students as possible can receive help and be connected to the resources that best serve them.

Additionally, Moxley stated, “You can always call [Public Safety].” They have resources and contacts as well.

Housing Actions Housing has seen a lot of changes in the last several years, as RIT works to adapt to these student needs. Global Village, in the eyes of staff, is still a relatively new development resulting from feedback gathered from a student survey.

Riverknoll has also been officially accepted as a permanent complex, with announcements that

it will be updated and renovated, rather than torn down. Perkins is being furnished in the upcoming summers, as well. Further, RIT has opted to sell both Racquet Club (now The Hill) and Colony Manor, reducing the number of housing options through RIT Housing.

Several years ago, a survey was sent to students to gauge the types of amenities the student body desired in housing.

Overwhelmingly, the feedback reflected a want for upscale housing options, according to Dilella.

Therefore, a project that would later become Global Village was started. Currently, Global Village is still expanding, with the most recent building having opened only two years ago.

Dilella also recognizes, however, that there is a significant segment of the student body that looks for the most affordable housing options.

As such, it has been decided that Riverknoll will remain a housing option for the foreseeable future. Additionally, renovations are being planned for the apartments.

Jeremy Babcock, executive director of Housing Facilities, is working with his team this summer to renovate one building in Riverknoll as a pilot for the entire complex. Through this pilot — involving apartments 516–536 — the housing facilities team will be able to better assess the total cost of renovating the entirety of Riverknoll. These renovations will include a modernized outside appearance and updated interior. The current plan is to phase these renovations in within the next several summers.

“There’s a lot of value to Riverknoll,” Babcock said. “Students love living in Riverknoll, but it’s also time to update it ... Renovating it, we don’t want to also have students incur that cost.”

In line with this cognizance of affordability, Perkins Green will be furnished in the coming two summers. While half of all Perkins Green

“Students love living in Riverknoll, but it’s also time to update it.” apartments will be furnished this summer, the other half will be furnished the summer following. For those who don’t wish to see their apartments furnished, Dilella is actively working to make accommodations, holding off on furnishing specific apartments until after the current residents either leave or state otherwise.

All of these projects are being funded mostly through the decision to sell Colony Manor and Racquet Club. Selling these properties eliminates a large number of maintenance costs for RIT and provides a sizeable upfront financial boon for the university to reinvest into existing housing infrastructure.

For those who were living in Colony Manor,

Housing Operations has offered them an exclusive housing sign-up. These students have been guaranteed one of their top three choices of on-campus housing, as well as a 40 percent discount on their rent for the 2019–2020 academic year. For some, this may counterbalance the inconveniences that come with the sale of Colony Manor; for others, perhaps not.

For those who are having trouble affording RIT housing options, Dilella suggested living at the RIT Inn and Conference Center, which has discounted their 2019–2020 rates by 40 percent, or working with her office to compare off-campus rates.

“We want to do what’s best for our students,” Babcock said. “We’re investing a

lot into our housing.”

If you’re having trouble finding housing, Dilella recommends talking with her office.

“I would highly recommend that they [students] come in and see me or one of our assignment staff,” Dilella said.

Despite this, students will still likely face hardships of varying degrees. If you take Kosak’s advice, it would be to “find four other friends and find an apartment off campus” if you’re in a pinch searching for affordable housing.

Kosak explained, “Even the most affordable housing on campus is still more expensive than if you lived off campus with a group of friends.”

Features 21

by Kristin Grant | photography by Debmalya Ray Choudhuri | design by Nancy Perez

A

Rochester Libraries:

Stewards of Community “People are using libraries differently ... they’re using the library for deeper information.”

22 Features

ccording to the Pew Research Center, a quarter of American adults did not read a single book last year.

The LA Times grimly reports that U.S. readership levels lag far behind its global peers. The Atlantic writes that with all the information in the world right at our fingertips, our information retention has suffered a dramatic decline.

So what does this all mean for public libraries — the bastions of books and literacy?

Between the rise of the internet and growing income inequality, it would seem that critical reading and research skills are on the decline.

“Boy, when the internet came along ... it took people away from libraries because it was so easy to get the information,” Sally Snow, assistant director for the Monroe County Library System, said. “But it was also a big help to librarians.”

As a 24-year library veteran, Snow has seen a lot of changes to the traditional library model.

In order to stay current, libraries have needed to evolve to suit the needs of their community.

“People are using libraries differently ... they’re using the library for deeper information.

Business questions are huge. Tax questions are huge. The library has become a community space, a meeting space,” she said.

Community Participants Both the Henrietta Public Library and the Rochester Central Library have been striving to become more active participants in their communities as well. In order to build their outreach programs, both institutions have had to critically evaluate what their neighborhoods’ need.

“In the city libraries, in particular, there is a large need for social programs,” Snow said. “We have a mobile dental unit outside the library for people who can’t afford to go to the dentist, we have visiting nurses, we have legal assistance ... There’s a lot of social work that has to happen in the libraries now — because the people who need that help are here already.”

The Central Library has also created several programs to aid typically underserved populations when it comes to literacy.

“We also have an outreach department that works with incarcerated populations. They go out and do book clubs with them,” Snow said. “They even have been involved in the Monroe County Correction System Juvenile Detention Center by having authors come out to the detention center and talk to the kids about books.”

Rochester Central Library in downtown Rochester, N.Y. on Feb. 9, 2019. City libraries in Rochester not only serve as places to find information, but also act as a community resource, offering social programs such as a mobile dental unit, legal assistance and English language classes.

According to Henrietta Children’s Librarian Cathy Lathrop, her library has noticed that a lot of patrons can’t necessarily make it to the brick-and-mortar location. For that reason, the library is now taking books out into the neighborhood instead.

“We go to different community events — Valentine’s party for the town, Helping Hands Day — we bring free books and information about the library and we give them out to people. We give them information about getting a library card and the services that we offer,” Lathrop said.

“

There’s a whole lot of social work that has to happen in the libraries now — because the people who need that help are already here.

everyone is physically capable of getting through our doors, so it’s really important that we get out to them and meet them within the community,” Ralston said.

And this summer, the Henrietta Library will be able to expand its offerings even more as they move into a brand new facility. While the building doesn’t have a set opening date yet, the plans reflect the changes that have come to the library world.

“It’s going to be a huge change from where we are now. We’ve had a ton of community input ... There’s going to be study rooms, a maker space for crafting and activities, conference rooms, the teens will have their own area with a gaming center ... and we’ll have a quiet room for people who just want to sit and read,” Lathrop said while gesturing to the most up-to-date floor plan.

The Central Library, on the other hand, is gearing up for another technological adjustment. In 2020, the United States Census will be conducted online for the very first time. That being said, there still a significant portion of the United States population that relies on libraries for free WiFi. “It’s a big responsibility that we think is going to fall mostly on libraries. A lot of those hard to count populations are the urban poor and rural people,” Snow said. “We want to make sure we get as accurate of a count as possible because the state loses federal aid and congressional seats as population loss shows through the census.”

RIT Involvement While the libraries may have some different focus areas, both were in agreement about one thing: they would like to see more RIT students walk through their doors.

“After we open our new library, I really do hope to see more partnerships at RIT. The public community would love to know what the students want, and what you are involved in,” she said.

Snow mentioned that the Central Library’s robust business counseling programs could be particularly useful to RIT’s emerging entrepreneurs.

“A lot of people might be coming out with great ideas for a small business, and we’ve got a patent center — the only one in a 50mile radius — we’re one in five in New York state. Our librarians go to the patent office every year to get training,” she said.

In the meantime, Ralston and Lathrop hope that RIT students can view the library as a calming place to take a breather from the stressors of school life.

“I get really excited when I see students from RIT here reading for pleasure. I think, oh, good, you deserve to relax!” Lathrop said.

“Entertainment and reading is part of self-care,” chimed in Ralston. “We would like students to know that they can participate in that self-care here.”

”

Embracing Technology Rather than shun technology, libraries have made steps to integrate it into their core offerings. Hannah Ralston, a 2011 RIT alum and technology librarian at the Henrietta Library, believes that technology has actually benefited libraries in some surprising ways.

“As technology becomes more collaborative and communicative, we are able to gain a better sense of what our community needs. We are able to communicate with people in ways we were never able to do before,” Ralston said.

The Henrietta Library has also been focusing on promoting digital literacy among its patrons. Much like with their pop-up book shop, the librarians have been going out into the community again to deliver this service.

“We do regular technology assistance at the senior center. We’re finding that not Features 23

Stress in Heart, Stress in Body

by Karina Le illustration by Juho Choi design by Cassy Smithies

Health Perspective

The reasons why your health could be physically affected after an emotional outburst depend on the situation. Stressful times are one of the biggest concerns for college students.

24 Wellness

Rebecca Houston, an assistant psychology professor at RIT, explained the damages of long term stress.

“Chronic stress can be detrimental to the immune system,” Houston said. “For acute stress, at least, it would activate your sympathetic nervous system — that fight or flight response. If that is activated for a prolonged period, in a sense [it] could deplete your [energy stores] and have adverse effects.”

Simply put, when the body has to continuously feed energy to any action, it will eventually get tired of sustaining it.

The negative consequences start damaging the body when it reaches this low point, and it’s up to the individual to take care of themselves as a means to fight against such consequences.

“

In terms of the immune system, Houston explained how stress can have detrimental effects down the road in the form of telomeres. Telomeres are located on our DNA and protect each chromosome from deteriorating or merging with another.

“If you’re stressed a lot, your telomeres get shorter, [which] seems to be related to aging effects ... and it takes a toll on your physiological immune system,” Houston said.

With aging effects, an individual’s immune system will decline with the more damage it sustains. It’s this weakness, Houston expressed, that exemplifies how heightened bouts of emotion can directly impact a person’s physical health.

How do people avoid such heavy stressors?

Joyce Chu, a first year Psychology major, personally struggles with this.

“

I

t’s been a long week of tough exams, sleepless nights and stressful moments.

Your boss asked you to cover an extra shift at work — time you needed to work on a really important project. Your friend came to you with a tough dilemma, one you stayed up trying to help them solve.

At the end of the week, you’re overwhelmed and stressed. It only takes one more small, yet strenuous thing before you’re on your bedroom floor bawling your eyes out for what seems like ages. Everything in your face is congested and inflamed by the time the tears stop. Even though you get plenty of sleep that night, you feel sick to your bones in the morning.

How can emotions completely wreck your body like that? The answer is simple when looking at it from a physiological standpoint.

I realized I was only getting sick because I was emotional

Coping

Chu has experienced rather stressful events in life that resulted in a lack of appetite and the inability to sleep.

“I can’t control [when stressors happen].

It’s going to happen anyway,” Chu said with regard to the her stressful experience ...

“But having a support system helps.”

For many people, especially college students, how they handle stress is crucial to maintaining both a healthy mind and body. Though each person may not have the same manner of coping, Chu has found solace in opening up to others and being truthful with herself.

“Just having someone to listen and talk to about it [stressful times] was really nice,” Chu explained when discussing how therapy helped her become more in tune with herself.

However, coping exists in a variety of ways, and in many different forms. Corinthian Spears, a first year Biomedical Science major, would get bouts of nausea and even get sick after particularly rough outbursts triggered by a particularly bad relationship. Now, Spears has learned to take initiative in the moment. “[For me] it’s really about trying to calm down my emotions, because I realized I was only getting sick because I was emotional,” Spears said.

“

It’s better to plan ahead … and to think positively

“

Spears noticed personal improvement after adopting this new mindset. It was in knowing her limitations and understanding what made her sick that she learned to deal with it properly and to avoid hurting herself in an extreme way.

Not every person has found a safe, healthy manner to tend to the stresses in life like Chu and Spears, though.

What to Avoid

Some people may take to more harmful measures to cope with the pitfalls in life.

Some may even turn to drugs and alcohol.

Houston expressed how harmful these mechanisms could be.

“Chronic alcohol usage can have pretty severe effects [on the body],” Houston said.

Binging alcohol sporadically rather than day to day, Houston said, actually showed more negative consequences — though it’s important to note that drinking in and of itself is a harmful activity given any sort of extremity.

“Drinking alcohol signals to your brain to change the neurotransmitter activity, [and] it diminishes a neurotransmitter called glutamate, so when you go several days without drinking it could cause an overabundance,” Houston said.

A Neurohacker Collective article defined glutamate simply as “the most abundant neurotransmitter in our brain and central nervous system ... It is involved in virtually every [action].”

The overabundance of glutamate causes the destruction of brain cells, which could impede an individual’s memory.

It’s with caution that people must find proper, safe coping mechanisms as ways to treat their stress. There are a variety of ways people can better take care of themselves during times of emotional distress, and whatever works best for one person may not work for another.

Ultimately, Houston said, “There’s no magic bullet. There’s no one thing that you’re going to do that would [automatically] make a difference, so it’s better to plan ahead ... and to think positively.”

Wellness 25

HIV and AIDS Awareness:

A Shifting Epidemic

by Tyler English illustration by Unique Fair design by Lily Garnaat

T

he HIV and AIDS epidemic in the U.S. has shifted since the first major outbreak in the 1980s. The epicenters of the outbreak — Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco — are known to be safe spaces for the gay community. Yet, HIV spread quickly through these communities and hundreds of people, primarily young gay men, were being diagnosed with little to no treatment plans.

Thirty years after the crisis for the gay community, HIV and AIDS have a new target of other vulnerable demographics. The poor, women of color and the elderly communities have started to see an increase in HIV cases due to the lack of access to resources and awareness of the disease.

Lack of Access One would think that given the strides in medicine since the 1980s, everyone would be able to seek treatment and the number of new people testing positive for HIV would level off or decrease. However, poor communities, women of color and the elderly lack access to proper resources, increasing the number of cases.

In 2016, 61 percent of women who tested positive for HIV were African American, according to the Center for Disease Control.

Betty Vickery, a nurse practitioner in the Student Health Center, added her insights.

26 Views

45% of Americans living with HIV are over 50.

55% of adults aged 18–24 have never been tested.

1 in 7 black Americans with HIV are unaware they have it.

42% of people who are HIV positive are black.

61% of the women diagnosed with HIV in 2016 were African American.

[1]

[2]

[1]

[1]

[2]

[1] Center for Disease Control and Prevention [2] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

“One thing could be an insurance issue ... some people don’t have proper coverage,” Vickery said.

The world of insurance is complex and tricky; many don’t have the proper amount of coverage they need. The People-to-People Health Foundation found that in 2010, only 17 percent of Americans living with HIV had insurance that covered their treatment.

“

a taboo topic for most people to talk about.

The elderly, for example, are less likely to be tested than younger people as they may confuse HIV symptoms with the aches and pains of aging.

“People don’t feel comfortable searching out healthcare ... they may not have grown up going to the doctors very much,” Vickery said.

For those living in poor communities, going

Vulnerability and honesty with regards to one’s sexual health is a taboo topic for most people to talk about.

Even if a patient has insurance to cover the testing, treatment centers are sometimes lacking in rural, poor and urban communities and areas with small medical centers. Many people find themselves simply with no place to get the testing done.

Luckily, facilities like Trillium Health offer a variety of service and education tools surrounding HIV and AIDS. Trillium has also been in the works of providing more coverage for patients who do not have insurance.

Trusting the Medical System Opening up about one’s sexual health is an uncomfortable experience. Vulnerability and honesty with regards to one’s sexual health is

to the doctors could have put the individual or family in a financial strain resulting in infrequent visits to a physician. Not having the experience as a patient, it may be hard for individuals to feel that they can trust a doctor or physician after meeting with them just once.

Gaps in Inclusion and Education Contributing to the ever-present HIV and AIDS issue is the inadequate amount of education on sexual and reproductive health for those without access to medical facilities.

In schools, students are lectured on the dangers of unsafe sex and talk about the various diseases that can be spread through unprotected sex. This education tends to fade

after high school and individuals can quickly fall behind or get lost in the world of sexually transmitted diseases.

“Some people are not taking precautions,” Vickery said.

The number of HIV cases in the elderly have increased because many elderly couples do not use condoms after the divorce or death of a spouse. They disregard the use of condoms since women can no longer get pregnant, however HIV can still spread.

Precautions are not just limited to unprotected sex. The sharing of needles and the transmission from mother to child should be held to a similar standard. Poor communities can lack the funding to host educational events around HIV and AIDS for the general community to partake in.

Most times when towns talk about reforming public health and bettering the well being of their community, they have a specific population in mind. Unsurprisingly enough, that population is typically the middle class who has access to resources already. Groups such as women of color and the elderly are left as afterthoughts in discussions that should be centered around solving problems plaguing those communities.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the students and do not reflect the views of REPORTER. Views 27

W.O.T.S

WORD ON THE STREET

photography by Tess Roberts | illustration by Angie Kreig| design by Dhensel Dorji

What’s the biggest lie about sex you were told?

“Everyone cums, every time”

“Guys like sex more than girls”

“If you eat pineapple your cum tastes better”

Quan Lu

Chad Pennington

Jacob DiCicco

Third Year, Biology

Second Year, Graphic Design

Second Year, Industrial Design

The opinions expressed are solely those of the students and do not reflect the views of REPORTER.

28 Views

“I always pull out first”

“Size doesn’t matter”

Natalie Esh

Kristina Nguyen

First Year, Media Arts & Technology

Second Year, Diagnostic Medical Sonography

“You can’t get a girl pregnant at night because the Sperm are sleeping”

“You’ll go to hell if you have sex before marriage ”

David Kuehnert

Second Year, Graphic Design

Katy Verzillo

Second Year, Undeclared Engineering

Views 29

compiled by Taylor Synclair Goethe illustration by Maliheh Rahrovan design by Lauren Perttula

I don’t dance, I white girl wiggle.

Jan 22, 2019, 8:35 p.m.

You have to put Shrek in it Jan 20, 2019, 7:56 p.m.

My children, how lovely and crispy they have become.

Jan 19, 2019, 11:04 p.m.

My bladder is very subjective to persuasions Jan 18, 2019, 10:50 a.m.

Do you think straight people sleep with socks on?

Jan 17, 2019, 9:54 p.m.

Excuse me sir can I lick your wall?

Jan 15, 2019, 10:12 p.m.

January can suck a dick Jan 13, 2019, 10:04 p.m.

Text or call RINGS, RIT’s digital confessional

585 672-4840

The opinions expressed are solely those of the students and do not reflect the views of REPORTER. 30 Views

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