First Place Award Winners from the New York Press Association & American Scholastic Press Association
The Pace Chronicle Volume II, Issue XVI
Inside News.........3,10 Feature...........2,4 Health...........5 Opinion.........6,7 Entertainment.....9,10 Sports...........11,12
News: Page 3
Pope Benedict XVI Resigns
Feature: Page 2
Michael Fridman, Superhero!
Opinion: Page 6
Ride or Die Sports: page 11
Setters Losing Streak Continue
Pace University, Pleasantville/Briarcliff Manor, NY
www.PaceChronicle.com
Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013
Out with the Old in with the New: Spring Fling Concert Cancelled and Changed to Carnival Jonathan Alvarez
Featured Reporter Jonathan.Alvarez@Pace.edu
As the year proceeds, students await the celebration that takes place before finals, the spring fling. With an arsenal of events, the Pace community gets the opportunity to enjoy time with friends and take their minds off of school. The usual spotlight moment is the concert, which in the past had performances from Wale and J Cole. This year, the concert will not take place; but the night sky will still be filled with lights, music, and fun. The Spring Fling is expected to take place April 17 to the 21. However, programming decided to try something new this year. Instead of the annual spring concert, a carnival has been decided to take its place. “Since about 2009, programming decided to hold a concert on the Pleasantville campus,” Caity Kirschbaum, the Coordinator for SDCA said. “Compared to the New York activities, our student activities fees are split up very differently, so what we have in
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Last year’s spring concert had low attendance and received some criticism for being too Hip Hop focused.
our budget doesn’t necessarily match what our students are looking for to listen to, so we usually have a B or C list performer.” Kirchbaum, a Pace alumni, has had time to examine the success of the spring concert.
“We have had three years of concert, and we have had minimal turnout all three years. We assisted VP of programming as best we could with advertisement,” Kirchbaum said. “Three years in a row we started to see
a trend, it’s a majority of the programming budget, and a majority of the students don’t go to it, so it’s not the best utilizations of the Continued on Page 10
“Spring Fling Conert Cancelled and Changed to a Carnival”
Goldstein Fitness Center to Install New Sound System Cecilia Levine
Feature Editor Cecilia.R.Levine@Pace.edu
Each semester white envelopes enclosed with statements to drain bank accounts arrive at the doors of Pace students. The flat rate of tuition is accompanied by other mandatory student dues like transportation, meal plan money and other miscellaneous standard fees. Together the charges amount to an alarming $52,000 per person per year for Westchester students, who compliantly sign the dotted line and pray that the education is worth the investment. “The Ann & Alfred Goldstein Fitness Center is in dire need of a permanent upgraded audio system to replace the current inadequate, outdated one, and to eliminate the need for frequent lease of the same from external vendors,” stated Student Government Association’s Vice President of Administration Harrison Davies in a request to the Oversight Committee for the Student Technology Fee. The Oversight Committee is made up of a representative from each of the five schools at Pace, as well as two student members
Photo from www.pacesettersathletics.com Pace will be installing a new sound system in the gymnasium which leaves students with more money to allocate accordingly. from each of the undergraduate campuses and graduate campus in White Plains. The purpose of the committee is to manage Pace’s Student Technology Fee, which is paid for through student tuition. Most of the funds go to maintaining current systems but what’s leftover is used on new initiatives decided by the committee, such as a sound system. But is the installation of a new sound system in the gym really where Pace should be allotting its
money, rather, our money? To many, the installation, which was approved on Feb. 13, may seem as if it is only going to further drain the students’ monetary funds. In actuality, the investment will allow for better utilization of the student technology fee. “We’re putting our technology fee towards the same rented sound system each year,” said senior political science major and Student Government Association President Melanie Londono. “Buying our own, upgraded audio
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system leaves more room for different expenditures.” Instead of allocating money towards the same costly expenses, Pace is expected to save between $50,000 and $80,000 per year just by purchasing the system alone. Due to mass savings the extra money in the technology account will be put towards the necessities that will best benefit the student body. However, some students still feel that other aspects of campus technology should be prioritized. “I believe that we could use our technology fees for more relevant investments,” said junior information technology major and management minor Gina Pitorre. “It’s an unnecessary investment because the students should be able to benefit directly from our own funds.” Allocation of money is a touchy subject due to costly tuition fees. Those who identify with Pitorre likely wonder why Pace seems to want to meet the needs of the community before the necessities of the students. Continued on Page 4 “Goldstein Fitness Center to Install New Sound System”