The Fordham Ram Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918 Volume 96, Issue 12
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USG Fights Amid Student Complaints, Old Campus Assault By KRIS VENEZIA Gym Retired STAFF WRITER By MICHAEL CAVANAUGH ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Students returning to Rose Hill for the fall semester soon found the campus with one less fitness facility. As a result of renovations that began during the Spring 2014 semester, the two-room facility located on the second floor of the Lombardi Center was closed indefinitely. The now-defunct fitness center, formerly a popular fitness hub for a large number of students, was marked for renovation by the administration. The heavily-used equipment was sold to a fitness company in late July. While renovations to aging facilities are typically welcomed, the student body voiced negative feedback upon learning that the old weight room is closed. “It’s a real shame because sometimes the Ram Fit Center gets overcrowded and the upstairs gym was a good escape with a lot of room and free weights,” Martin McCormack, FCRH ’15, said. “Plus that’s where I worked out a lot with my friends.” McCormack’s sentiments are shared by many students, whether they regularly used the Lombardi fitness facilities or preferred the more modern, flashy aesthetics of the Ram Fit Center, which first opened its doors in October 2012. The main concern held in regard to the new fitness center is the inadequate space allotted for free weights, an integral part of many resistance training regimens. Even in off-peak hours, students have difficulty finding open benches, of which the Ram Fit Center only has a handful. Couple this with just two power lifting racks, an angled leg press, a rack for barbells and an obscurelyplaced seated calf raise machine, all placed within a relatively short, narrow hallway, and you have a recipe for a facility that will seem overcrowded with just half a dozen students. SEE GYM, PAGE 2
in this issue
Opinion Page 7 Celebrity Cell Phone Hack a Violation of Privacy
Culture Page 11 Tips and Tricks for Travel on a Student Budget
Sports Page 20 Fordham Football is Dominated in Game Two
USG wants to combat sexual assault with a task force that will bring together student organizations, administrators and, possibly, public officials in New York City. The idea for the group came from Nicholas Sawicki, FCRH ‘16, vice president of United Student Government at Fordham College Rose Hill. “We want to make sure that [sexual assault] isn’t happening at Fordham,” Sawicki said. “And for the cases that are occurring, we want to provide better protection for our students, make sure that the policies laid down by Dean [Christopher] Rodgers are well understood, and we want to hopefully change the culture that leads to this issue occurring.” USG senators tried to establish a sexual assault liaison between the student government and school administrators at the end of last year, but after going through USG’s constitution, SaSEE ASSAULT, PAGE 3
SSeptember b 10, 2014
#ClubLib Lights up the Lawn
SAMUEL JOSEPH/THE RAM
Now in its third year, #ClubLib has begun to attract more juniors and seniors in addition to its usual underclassman crowd.
By KATIE MEYER NEWS EDITOR
On Friday night, the usuallydeserted library lawn got some company in the form of #ClubLib, Fordham's biggest Welcome Week attraction. The quiet, grassy area was completely transformed into an outdoor club, complete with a
DJ, light show and dancing. It is very possible that many Fordham students think that #ClubLib has been around forever, but it is actually a fairly new event. It was started in fall 2012 by the Resident Hall Association president at the time, Mike Meehan, FCRH ’14. This year marks its third annual iteration.
The most notable thing about #ClubLib, though, is not its ability to transform the library, or its growing status as a Fordham tradition. It is the fact that the event is planned and executed through a joint effort by Fordham's largest student organizations. Campus Activies Board, Comuting SEE CLUB LIB, PAGE 5
Street Games Lure Hopeful Students into Danger
SAMUEL JOSEPH/THE RAM
Following a string of scams, local police have cracked down on street games.
By JOSEPH VITALE MANAGING EDITOR
Three-card monte players have crowded city streets since the 15th century. Gathered around a collapsible cardboard box, a loud-mouthed dealer shuffles three cards while another conspirer (known as a “shill”) ropes pedestrians into playing the role of “a mark,” a player who learns quickly that any chances of winning money are out of reach. By the time that happens, though, it is far too late. In the span of three days, a pair of Fordham students were caught off-guard by the scam just a few feet from campus. In Fordham Plaza and on Webster Avenue, the two students — either feeling
lucky or startled by the excitement — were quickly turned into marks, and, within minutes, victims of a scam, according to several public safety alerts. In the isolated incidents — both of which occurred during the day — the female students were forced to hand over more than $1,000, said the alerts. As of Monday, one of the scammers in connection with the incidents had been arrested, according to police documents. The suspect, William Staley, was identified by two students who filed complaints with Public Safety. According to police documents, Staley, 56, has been arrested more than 140 times for a myriad of crimes.
Both students who reported the crimes were able to identify the man in a lineup, who was described in the pair of public safety alerts as “a darkskinned male, 6’1” with a medium build, wearing a dark blue hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses.” The woman in connection with both crimes is also suspected of grand larceny, but has not been apprehended as of Friday. According to police, she was identified by one of the two students who submitted a complaint earlier this week. Both reports indicate the signs emblematic of the sleight of hand scam, but reveal a modern twist on the game: Knowing most urban dwellers carry little in cash, scammers are coercing students to tap into their ATM accounts to withdraw hefty sums. Detailed in the alert regarding last Friday’s incident, Staley allegedly approached a Fordham student around 5 p.m. on Fordham Road and Webster Avenue, whom his accomplice had just lured into a 3-card monte game. Staley grabbed her wrist and “pressed what felt like a knife into her back.” According to the alert, he then took the student away from the three-card monte game and “told her not to run or call the police because ‘we are watching.’” Along with the woman in connection with the incident, he took the student to a Bank of America ATM and instructed her to withdraw $500. In a separate withdrawal minutes after, he told her to withdraw another $300. The alert describing Monday’s incident was similar, though no use of
force was noted. In addition to the alerts sent to the Fordham community on Monday, Associate Vice President of Public Safety John Carroll included a warning about scams in the area. “This is the second incident in three days in which students were drawn into 3-card monte games at Fordham Plaza,” Carroll said in the email. He continued, “There are many kinds of street scams, of which threecard monte is just one. All members of the university community are advised to avoid any street games, and to be wary if approached by strangers off campus.” The game at the root of the two incidents — known as three-card monte — is a scam that is all but unorganized. The game usually goes like this: A person called a “shill” (almost always a woman) pretends she is unable to find the winning card. She approaches a passerby and asks for assistance in defeating the intentionally rude dealer. The shill often cites old age, poor vision or a general lack of skill as an explanation for her bad luck. The passerby — now “the mark” — is then invited to participate in the game. The dealer reveals the three cards are different, and tells the players which card they are looking for, usually a “Lady Card,” shorthand for a queen. All players are expected to place bets at this time. The dealer then slides the cards around on the table and invites the mark to pick the lady card. If the mark chooses the right card, he doubles his bet. If he chooses one SEE MONTE, PAGE 3