Fisher Times Vol.1 Issue 6 by St. John Fisher College

Fisher Fisher Fisher Times Times Times April April 2016 April 20162016

Athletes Athletes Athletes of of of the the the year year year students students students volunteer volunteer volunteer atatColor atColor Color the the the roc roc roc 2015-2016 2015-2016 2015-2016 Volume Volume Volume 1 1 1 Issue Issue Issue 6 66

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One of our media adviser Mari Villa’s favorite jokes is about how sometimes people’s worst days are our best days in journalism. During my second semester of freshman year, Ralph Wilson Jr., the former owner of the Buffalo Bills passed away. He’s given a lot of money to the college, and you can find his name plastered in a few different places around campus. I remember vividly reading the news on my phone while I was laying in my bed on Haffey’s second floor. At that point I had only written a handful of truly awful sports stories for the then Cardinal Courier. But for some reason I felt qualified or entitled to write the story of WIlson’s death and it’s effect on the campus. I remember jumping up out of my bed and quickly grabbing my laptop as if I had a scoop that no one else had yet. I jumped back in bed, opened my laptop and wrote the story. There were factual errors. There was misattributed and even unattributed information. There were no sources and not a single quote. But I still emailed it to Mari, proud of my hard work. At that point I was so new to the Courier I don’t even think Mari knew my name (She still can’t pronounce my last name). But she read it, was impressed and emailed back telling me to come into the office to talk about it. I was so incredibly nervous. But, Mari told me how impressed she was. She saw something in me that day and held a mirror to my eyes so that I could see it in myself, too. That issue I had a shared byline on the front page story.

letter from the editor

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in this field. He has given me great advice and constructive, fair criticism. I’ve surprisingly missed his green pen while he’s been abroad. Many of the other communication professors have as well. Professor Mary Loprocaro was one of the first people to tell me I had potential as a writer. Former adjunct professor Leah Stacy assured me that I am in fact creative, and has motivated me to pursue those instincts. There are too many to name but they have all helped me. Professors outside of the communication department as well. Many of our past staff members are amazing and showed me a lot on my way up. All of my current staff members have showed amazing patience as I figure out what I’m doing. I could not have asked for a better group of people to be around every day. There are many things to be proud of as Editor-in-Chief of Cardinal Media, but I think the thing I’m most proud of is the environment we have as a team. We are diverse, fun, accepting, and even when I am yelling or throwing things, there is a lot of love in the room. I have to thank my friends and family for reading all of my articles and listening to me rant about whatever was going on that day. They account for a big chunk of our readership. My mom still has two copies of every paper. I suppose I will end this piece as I’m ending my time with Cardinal Media, kind of awkwardly and somewhat unwillingly. It is with a severely broken heart that I s a y goodbye.

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You can say what you want about Mari, and she sure knows I have, but I don’t know anyone that has lived a fuller life. She has taught me more about life than she has taught me about journalism-- and she has taught me a lot about journalism. After that day I quickly went on to become assistant sports editor, then sports editor, then managing editor, then Editor-in-Chief and now soon to be graduated. I was always in love with the Courier and wanted to work for it so bad. I always wanted more, too. I wanted more responsibility. I wanted my own desk, and once I got that desk I wanted a different desk in the back office. From the moment I stepped foot into the office I never really wanted to leave. Sometimes in job interviews when people are asked for their biggest weakness they lie and say they are overly passionate. But I think if I had a fatal flaw with the Courier it really was that I was too passionate. I’ve had my battles during the last three years, but they all stem from passion and wanting to be better as an individual and an organization. But through that I have learned a lot of things. I’ve grown up in this office. I walked in as a really scared boy, and now I leave as a kind of young man still just as scared, but scared of different things. And I know that doesn’t seem like growth, but it certainly is. It is a tough and sometimes thankless job, but it is the best one I will ever have. Before this text runs off the page there are people that I would still like to mention. Emily Mein, our former Editor-in-Chief, is the most hard working person that I know and anything good that I do, it is because I learned it from her. Dr. Jack Rosenberry, former chair of the media and communication department, has, whether he knows it or not, had a strong impact on me

Page 3

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Best, Greg Pokriki

Mission stateMent

Cardinal Media was created to provide the St. John Fisher College community with quality news coverage. Not only will this news agency work to seek, investigate and report the news, it will strive to do so with honesty and integrity. Fisher Times will provide the campus with a medium in which to read interesting news articles, thought-provoking editorials and entertaining features. Cardinal Media staff members hope to inform and educate their readers.

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Greg Pokriki Editor-in-ChiEf

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Staff Writers Jake Allen Christian Barns Khari Demos Julia Laude Greg Pokriki Tanner Swan Matt Tristan Online Staff Writers Jake Allen Christian Barnes Diana Russo Sterlin Ruther Myles Thornton-Young Matt Tristan

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Fisher Times is a monthly publication published during the school calendar year at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y. Fisher Times has a distribution of 500 and can be found on newsstands throughout the St. John Fisher College campus and around the Rochester area. Fisher Times reserves the right to reject or edit any and all advertisements. Fisher Times is a Cardinal Media publication. The Cardinal Media office is located near the Cyber Cafe in Basil 014.

Cover photo provided by Jake Allen

Page 4

A t h l e t e s of the Year

Smoking on campus

Red Cross blood drive

Color the roc

Table of Contents

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News News News NEWS

The The high high cost cost of of college college tuition tuition Christian ChristianBarnes Barnes| cmb02636@sjfc.edu | cmb02636@sjfc.edu| | @cmb02536 @cmb02536

When When students students graduate graduate from from high highschool, school,many manyare areboth bothnervous nervous and andexcited excitedabout aboutwhat whatthe thefuture future will willbring. bring. For Forthose thosewho whodecide decidetotoattend attend college, college,their theirfuture futurewill willlikely likelyconconsist sistofofa agreat greateducation, education,a achance chancetoto become becomemore moreindependent independentand andununfortunately, fortunately,a alotlotofofstudent studentdebt. debt. ToToattend attendSt.St.John JohnFisher FisherCollege, College, there thereisisnonoquestion questionthat thatstudents students have havetotopay paya alotlotofofmoney. money. Fisher’s Fisher’stuition tuitioncosts costsare arefarfarhigher higher than thansome someother otherlocal localcolleges. colleges. According Accordingtotothe theFisher Fisherwebsite website the thecost costtotoattend attendasasa afull-time full-timestustu-

dent dentand anda aresident residentisis$46,120 $46,120and andasas a acommuter commuterit itwould wouldcost cost$35,920. $35,920. Meanwhile, Meanwhile,according accordingtotothe theState State University UniversityofofNew NewYork YorkBrockport’s Brockport’s website websitethe theaverage averageannual annualcost costtoto attend attendthere thereasasa aresident residentisis$33,235 $33,235 and andasasa acommuter commuterit itwould wouldcost cost $21,325. $21,325. The The cost cost ofof Fisher Fisher might might dedetertersome somestudents studentsfrom fromattending. attending. However, However,Fisher Fisherhas hasplent plenttotooffer offertoto those thosewho whododoattend. attend. Fisher Fisher senior senior Claire Claire Herrman Herrman wanted wantedtotogogototocollege collegetotopursue pursuea a nursing nursingcareer. career.She Sheexplained explainedthat that the thesmall smallclass classsizes sizesand anditsitsprestipresti-

gious giousWegmans WegmansSchool SchoolofofNursing Nursing were werejust justsome someofofthe thethings thingsthat that originally originallydrew drewher hertotoattend attendFisher. Fisher. AsAsher hertime timeasasFisher Fishercomes comestotoanan end, end,Herrman Herrmanadmits admitsthat thatearly earlyon, on, she shenever neverunderstood understoodtuition tuitioncosts costs ororstudent studentdebt. debt.“I“Ifigured figuredI Iwould would take takeout outloans loansand andbebeinindebt debtjust just like likeeveryone everyoneelse elsemy myage agesosoI might I might asaswell wellgogototoa aschool schoolI liked I likedand andfelt felt comfortable comfortableininregardless regardlessofofcost, cost, ”” said saidHerrman. Herrman. Overall OverallHerrman Herrmanisisglad gladthat thatshe she decided decidedtotoattend attendFisher Fisherbut butwas was quick quicktotopoint pointout outher heropinions opinionsonon whether whetherorornot notFisher’s Fisher’scosts costsare are

College Annual AnnualCost Costto to attend attendFisher Fisher resident: resident:$46,120 $46,120 Commuter: Commuter:$35,920 $35,920 Annual AnnualCost Costto to attend attendBrockport Brockport Resident: Resident:$33,235 $33,235 Commuter: Commuter:$21,325 $21,325 Page Page 6 6

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worth it. “No. Never. No school is worth the cost of tuition realistically. It is drastically inflated and completely unfair to the demographic,” she said. After two years spent at Fisher, Daniel Tedesco decided that it was time to transfer to a cheaper college. He now attends University at Albany. “I attended Fisher because I thought it was a good fit for me academically and personally. I loved my time at Fisher and it was the best two years of college I ever had,” Tedesco said. Tedesco explained that he misses many aspects of Fisher but remains happy about his decision to save money. “Honestly, no school is worth attending if you’re going to have $50,000 in debt,” he said. “It’s just a setback to the rest of your life.” Fisher’s Director of Career Services Matt Cardin fully understands

the difficulties surrounding student debt and tuition costs, but still vouches for Fisher. “If students have a set of goals and they are prepared to use resources like the staff and the alumni, then Fisher is an excellent college to attend,” said Cardin. Fisher’s Director of Financial Aid Angela Monnat also stressed the importance of choosing a college based on multiple factors. She explains, “It is important to look at factors beyond cost such as faculty/student ratios, class sizes, internship, study abroad opportunities and job placement rates.” Monnat also explained that Fisher is working hard to ensure that students understand debt and college finance. “However, we understand that finances play a significant role in the decision making process,” she said. She also explains how they work with students when they attend

Fisher, “A financial wellness curriculum has been incorporated into the freshman seminar and we are also working with SGA to provide programming for graduating seniors related to budgeting, credit card debt and student loan debt.” Fisher may be a relatively expensive college to attend but it is clear that no one is hiding from these costs. Staff and students alike agree that the costs are high but also that Fisher is an excellent college. Fisher provides students with a chance to get their bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and a PhD. which drastically increases the chance of getting a good job after graduation. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that someone with a bachelor’s degree will make an average of $1,137 a week while someone with a high school diploma will make an average of $678 a week.

Co$t$: College Grad Average Weekly pay: $1137 HIgh school grad Average weekly pay: $678 Cardinal Media | CardinalCourierOnline.com | Fisher Times

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News NEWS

Homophobia in society’s veins Julia Laude| jml01974@sjfc.edu @JuliaMaeLaude

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) doesn’t affect only gay men. But the American Red Cross thinks it does, as it doesn’t let sexually active gay men give blood. The Red Cross provides 40 percent of the blood supply in the U.S. to hospitals and transfusion centers. According to the Red Cross’s donation requirements, if a donor is a male who has had sexual contact with another male, even once, since 1977 then they run the risk of having HIV/AIDS and are not eligible to give blood. Only until recently, gay men weren’t allowed to donate blood at all. On Dec. 21, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changed this waiting period to one

year. The change by the FDA will affect blood carriers computers and staff training systems. The External Communications Manager for New York and Pennsylvania at the American Red Cross, Patrizia Corvaia specializes in blood services. “Recent changes to this eligibility will take time for blood centers to implement,” Corvaia said. St. John Fisher College often hosts blood drives with the Red Cross on campus. Recently the Public Relations and Integrated Marketing Agency (PRIMA) group and Students Who Advocate Volunteering (SWAV) have collaborated to create the Race to 100 Program. Alexandra Hristodoulou is the American Red Cross Account Executive for PRIMA and has organized two blood drives this semester. When creating the Race to 100, she wanted incentives to help get

American Red Cross Truck | Photo by Julia Laude Page 8

more students to donate. “100 pints save 300 lives which was something we were really excited about and that seemed like a really good goal to us,” she said. The program was set up as a race. Winning teams who reached 100 pints, would be rewarded with a pizza party. Other incentives included prizes for the 25, 75 and 100 donors.w Marketing Manager for SWAV Claire Sauter, was a liaison between the Red Cross and PRIMA. “We worked very closely with Claire Sau-

ter and we were really able to harness the volunteer power of SWAV and they helped a lot with registration before and during the event,” Hristodoulou said. When LGBTQ+ student Chuck Collins wanted to donate blood, he was denied because of his sexuality. He said that this regulation is prejudice against homosexual men. “I think it would improve a lot of people’s lives. As long as you’re HIV negative, you should have the right to donate,” he said. The FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) is responsible for the regulation of biologically-derived products, including blood intended for transfusion, blood components and oth-

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er therapy products. If new scientific information becomes available, the FDA will reevaluate its blood donor waiting period policies. “The FDA will first monitor the outcome of the change to a 12-month deferral for MSM before considering any further policy revisions,” the CBER said. Since September 1985, the FDA has recommended that blood establishments set a waiting period due to the strong clustering of AIDS illness and the high rates of the HIV infection in the LGBTQ+ population. The Red Cross strongly follows what the FDA has set as a standard. “We must comply with what the FDA says,”

Corvaia said. If a gay man has a clean STD test they must still wait one year before giving blood. Current technology does not permit perfect testing and may include false positive results. “The FDA has examined the possibility of eliminating all deferrals for HIV and simply relying on testing of donated blood or reducing the deferral window; however, scientifically robust data is not available to show that this would not lead to decreased safety of the blood supply,” the CBER said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to report that men having sexual intimacy with other men remains the population most profoundly af-

Donation Participants | Photo by SJFC PRIMA’s Twitter

fected by HIV. “Alternative deferral criteria, such as use of monogamy and individual risk assessment for high-risk sexual behaviors, were carefully considered by the FDA as alternatives to a time-based deferral,” the CBER said. When donating blood, the Red Cross follows the honor system with their donors. “We would hope

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someone is being honest when they are asked the series of questions. It ensures that the blood is safe for a recipient,” Corvaia said. There is still discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community across the U.S. “Even though times have changed, unfortunately there is a stigma especially with homosexual males,” Collins said.

Katie Burakowski | Photo by Julia Laude Page 9

lifestyles LIFESTYLES

Students volunteer for annual Color the ROC Jake Allen| jha04612@sjfc.edu | w Fisher students improved local Rochester City Schools by participating in the 11th annual Color the ROC event. The event was held by a student-run

c o m munity service group, Students Who Advocate Volunteering (SWAV). The program consisted of a twoday service project during the month of March that sent students into three different schools to paint, clean and fix up the grounds. School No. 39, School No. 45 and the Integrated Arts and Technology High School were among the schools that students volunteered at this year. Assistant Principal of School Page 10

@jakehunterrrrr

No. 45, Patricia Brockler, said that she enjoys working with Fisher students because of their enthusiasm to help others. “It’s their level of commitment to the school, they just come with open arms and they’ll pretty much do whatever that we need them to do. They’re excited about it and enthusiast i c when they a r e h e r e ” s a i d Brockler. Students painted hallways, mulched and weeded at the Andrew J. Townson School No. 39. At the Mary McLeod Bethune School No. 45, students painted bathrooms in sports, nature and olympic theme as well as furniture. Inspirational quotes were painted throughout the hallways of the Integrated

Arts and Technology school where students also painted the hallways. Members of the student community service club, SWAV, continue the event as a way to get Fisher students involved in helping better the community and the lives of others. “This is an event put on by college kids and it’s about Fisher kids really understanding that we come from a very nice college so it’s nice to help out people who are less fortunate than us” said Taylor Foster, 2016 Color the ROC coordinator. Foster is currently a junior at Fisher and was also the project leader at School No. 39 at this year’s event. Color the ROC was started in the Spring of 2005 by five students before a community club was even established at Fisher. Those students later formed the SWAV group, formerly known as, Students With A Vision. At the first Color the ROC event 11 years ago, around 1,000 students attended. These public schools are determined by the SWAV E-Board and are specifically chosen because of their lack of funding from the state.

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Art work done by Fisher students at Color the Roc. | Photo by Jake Allen Cardinal Media | CardinalCourierOnline.com | Fisher Times

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lifestyles LIFESTYLES

Color the ROC paitings at School 45. | Photo by Jake Allen

Color the ROC

While at St. John Fisher College, students actively take part in many community service opportunities because of their desire to help those in need. Giving back to the community is part of being a Fisher student. “We are a volunteer club and at the base of us is just going into Rochester mostly and helping out the community at different things. We do the Lollipop Farm event, we do Matt Foundation events, where we work with kids with autism,” said Foster. When students commit to Fisher, they are required to sign the “Fisher Creed” which is a document that states the basic values and aspirations each student should have while attending the college. One of the key aspects of the statement is leadership. Fisher students emulate this through participation in service, especially in the Rochester community. The institution strives Page 12

to provide opportunities for students to create an environment that fosters active engagement in the community. “[Color the ROC] definitely talks about the spirit of Fisher and helping others and not just looking out for ourselves. I think of Fisher as a community. We’re like a little family; Fisher cares,” said Foster. The Fisher Creed consists of eight specific terms used to create a better student and environment, known as the “Fisher Family.” Those terms include, respect, open-mindedness, integrity, diversity, responsibility, education, leadership and growth. Community service projects like Color the ROC bring these words to life by the kindness and dedication of the Fisher community. Because of Color the ROC, the children at each school gain a sense of understanding on how to maintain a respected environment

that is welcoming to all. Looking into the future, Brockler hopes to continue the event with St. John Fisher College and even possibly expanding on the service and implementing more opportunities for both Fisher and the Rochester City school district students. “I think it’s nice for kids to see kids and maybe we move towards doing partnership events where it isn’t just the college coming in and doing work for the school but, the college working hand-in-hand with the students. Because again, we want them to own it and not to think that everyone is going to step in and do it for them. Pay it forward. The college is doing this for us, what can we do for the college. They need to learn that it’s not just about getting, it’s about giving,” said Brockler.

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Igniting the smoke-free debate

Christian Barnes cmb02636@sjfc.edu

St John Fisher College has some of the best health related programs in the Rochester area but continues to allow smoking on campus. Many colleges are shifting to smoke-free campuses. According to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation as of April 2016, “There are now at least 1,483 100% smoke free campuses. Of these, 1,137 are 100% tobacco-free, and 823 prohibit the use of e-cigarettes anywhere on campus.” This begs the question, why smoking is still allowed on campuses including Fisher, especially when we promote health related degrees. On Fisher’s campus, the smoking policy is that anyone can smoke as long as they are 50 feet away from any entrance. Yet there are cigarette receptacles less than 50 feet away from building entrances. Fisher President Gerry Rooney openly admits that other colleges are moving toward smoke-free campuses and that Fisher has yet to make any of these changes. “I believe that any discussion of potential changes to our campus smoking policy should be a dialogue that engages our entire community. I would not want to speculate on what could happen if/when any policy changes are implemented,” Rooney said via email. It’s no news to anyone that smoking is bad for our health, but some people don’t realize how early in life it can start to affect us. Registered Respiratory Therapist at Strong Memorial Hospital Steven Mann says that college and high

school smokers may think it’s fun to smoke, but it will start negatively affecting their health quickly. “To be the best athlete, you want to be able to exchange gases in your lungs easily. If you’re going to impede the body’s ability to carry oxygen to the muscles, you’re going to have a buildup of lactic acid, more fatigue brought in, and more strains,” he said. Senior athlete Sarah Coon feels that smoking should not be allowed on campus. “Fisher should set the example that smoking is unhealthy and not good for you, and should not allow it or have places or areas where it is allowed,” She said. Coon also understands the seriousness of smoking based on her own personal experiences. “I have had two of my immediate family members pass away with lung cancer and it just saddens me to see people smoking and doing harm to themselves,” She explained. Fisher’s Wellness Education Program staff Sarah Shipley explained that she feels students have the

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right to smoke but only in environments that don’t affect other people. “Under new leadership from President Rooney, a smoke-free campus initiative might be something that is considered in the future,” she said. Rooney also accepted that many of Fisher’s programs point toward a healthy campus and that Fisher should work to educate people about the risks of smoking. “This is a topic I would encourage the Student Government Association (SGA) to become involved in. I would also encourage the faculty/ staff wellness committee Healthy U, to work with the SGA on some educational initiatives. Education can always lead to change,” said Rooney. While a campus wide ban on smoking has not yet been put into place, Rooney remains hopeful for the future. “I think we have a real opportunity to work together as a campus community to minimize the problem through education,” he said.

Smoker. | Photo by Julia Laude Page 13

sports SPORTS

Athletes of the Year Kyle Koehler Tanner Swan|trso8849@sjfc.edu @tannerRswan

Kyle Koehler has saved his best year for last as he finishes up the 2016 season where he will undoubtedly be regarded as one of the best track & field throwers in the country. And after being named All-American for the indoor season, Cardinal Media has voted Koehler as the undisputed Male Athlete of the Year. Koehler becomes just the third All-American in Fisher’s history and the first thrower in the five years of the track & field program. When head coach Mike Henchen was told that Koehler had been named Athlete of the Year, he simply responded, “Kyle brought home the bacon.” Koehler reached Nationals for the first time in his career finishing in

seventh place-- the best finish out of the three Cardinals invited. Out of the 16 shot-put throwers invited, he was dealt with throwing in the first group of eight. The other eight throwers were selected as the frontrunners. Henchen described it as very tough to advance to the final round of nine throwers when you have to go in the first group. However, Koehler ultimately advanced to the final round and finished seventh overall, cementing his title as All-American. Koehler credits his achievements to the great support he has received in order to reach this point. “We joke all the time that my parents don’t know anything about sports,” he said. “But the one thing they always do is support me and want me to be the best I can at whatever I do.” Remarkably, Koehler didn’t even start throwing

ner. He initially intended to primarily play football at Fisher, since he was first team All-League his junior and senior years at Pulaski High School. Eventually deciding football was not for him at the college level he fully committed to improving as a field athlete at Fisher. “I knew that I couldn’t be as good as I wanted to in either s p o r t trying to split time,” he admitted. “I don’t think I could’ve achieved the success I’ve had splitting time between two sports.” As for someone with rather limited experien ce in throwing compared to others, even Henchen admitted it is pretty incredible to consider how far Koehler has come.

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until senior year of high school where he made states as basically a begin-

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“I haven’t seen that kind of improvement,” Henchen said. “It was a difficult decision for him to stop playing football. Of course we love the fact that he is with us

full time but we also love the fact that we have dual sport athletes as well.” That improvement, as Koehler and Henchen both agree, can also be attributed to throwing coach Geoffrey Grambo. Grambo is a former All-American thrower and still holds a school record for shot-put at St. Lawrence. Henchen explained that Grambo’s commitment to the weight room, as well as working toward mastering technique with his athletes, h a v e b e e n instrumental for both Koehler and the program. “ T h e cool thing about Kyle is he has been really patient with moving forward with what coach Grambo wants him to do,” Henchen explained. “The technique that coach Grambo has worked on with him has really gotten him to where he is now.” “I think any athlete can relate to a coach that had pushed them and helped shape them in a way that has gotten you to where you are today,” Koehler said. “I

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ALL-AMERICAN THROWER got a lot physically stronger this year and that’s attributed a lot to his programs.” Another aspect that helped with Koehler’s development specifically going into his senior year was focusing primarily on shot-put during the indoor season. As most athletes struggle with some kind of adversity at one time or another, he struggled to reach his full potential junior year due to an injury. “Getting injured is never fun and to move past it, it just takes time to let yourself fully recover and that’s the hard part, is giving yourself enough time so you don’t get injured again.” Torn tendons in the hand kept him out for the entirety of the indoor season and, according to Henchen, ultimately cost him any chance he had at reaching the Outdoor National Championships in 2015. That led to careful strategizing for both Henchen and Grambo of how they would manage Koehler in 2016. That was one of the things [Grambo] and I really focused on with

Kyle,” Henchen insisted. “Rehabbing the hand, only focusing on the shotput in indoor season was really a factor that I think helped him tremendously.” As the spring portion of the season winds down, the Cardinals will get ready to move into the program’s sixth year, now without the senior leader and captain. “Kyle is basically the driving force of the team. Every meet he’s the one getting everyone else pumped up for their events,” said fellow All-American and teammate Mark VanMarter. “We will always look up to him as a leader and an incredible athlete.” As Koehler prepares to graduate, he says he will possibly look to compete in some local events postcollege. With that said, he is focused more on getting to the spring season National Championships at the end of May. “I have spent so much time with athletics, and I wonder what I am going to do with that time when it is over,” he said. “But I still don’t want to think about that yet.” Page 15

sports SPORTS

Athlete of the Year Mary Kate Cusack Khari Demos|ksd05349@sjfc.edu @riri_demos After averaging career numbers of 14.3 points per game with nearly three steals, leading St. John Fisher into two NCAA tournament appearances and an Empire 8 championship, Mary Kate Cusack has been named the 2015-2016 Female Athlete of the Year. During the 20152016 campaign, Cusack was a Second Team All East Region selection and a First Team All-Conference player in the Empire 8. A point guard’s role on a team is more than just scoring, defending and facilitating. They must look to lead a team. Cusack has done so throughout her career, from high school on. St. John Fisher women’s basketball coach Marianne O’Connor Ermi saw this urge to lead from Cusack every day over the last f o u r years. “In pract i c e and in games she had a willingness t o lead everyone, whether we were be-

the women’s basketball team struggled with an 11-15 record. Cusack helped the Cardinals improve over time, doing so by being a part of one of the most

14.9PERPOINTS GAME

accomplished backcourts in Fisher history. With fellow First Team All-Conference selection Portia Velasco, the Cardinals became one of the powerhouses of the Empire 8 conference. “We had really good chemistry on the court, which I think came from us being such good friends,” Cusack said. “I would’ve loved another year to play with her.” After three years of all conference selections an NCAA tournament berth and a conference championship, Velasco would wrap up her career prior to her graduation in 2015. The task of replacing a

4.1 REBOUNDS PER GAME

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hind or ahead,” Ermi said. After winning a sectional championship at Shenendowa high school, Cusack brought this winning trend to the Cardinals. The season prior to Cusack attending Fisher,

1,000 point scorer would be no easy task, but Cusack was prepared to take on this challenge. Throughout the 2015-2016 season, Cusack served as co-team captain while she averaged 14.9 points per game with career highs of 4.1 rebounds and 3.5 steals. Even

more important than what Cusack did on the court, however, was how she looked to motivate and bring her teammates along with her coteam captain of the 2015-2016 St. John Fisher women’s basketball team, Bridget Carney got much enjoy-

ment out of playing alongside a person like Cusack to reach back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances. “She’s really helpful and nice, and she’s goal-driven,” Carney revealed. “So playing alongside someone who works that hard is always motivating me to do the best I can.” With teammates like Carney and Velasco to play with and backing her, it is safe to say that Cusack did not make it to

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this point on her own. Arguably her biggest supporter here at Fisher, however, is someone she has known her entire life: twin sister Elizabeth Cusack. Elizabeth Cusack, a two-time First All-Conference selection in field hockey, has been a successful athlete here in her own right. Yet, she and Mary Kate get more out of seeing each other’s athletic exploits. “I’m so glad it ended up this way,” mentioned Mary Kate. “It’s so

nice to have her at all my games and I’m able to support her at hers.” Now that her career at Fisher has ended, Cusack has been retrospective about the time she spent here. She is aware of the feats that she has accomplished but was focused more on the total package that this school brought for her. “I’d just want people to remember how much I’ve enjoyed my time here at Fisher and especially being a part of an Empire 8 championship team.” Cusack reflected. “It’s personally something I’ll never forget.”

28.3 ACTIVE MINUTES PER GAME

85.3 FREE THROW PERCENTAGE

3.5 STEALS PER GAME

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sports SPORTS

Rowing manages graduation waves Matt Tristan | mjto2354@sjfc.edu @MnTBank17 Although the St.John Fisher rowing team is still young, they are already looking to win competitions. According to men’s head coach Tom Webb, his team was once a recreational sport team when it started in 2011. The team had to start by getting people interested. “The first year or two it was really just trying to get anybody through the door,” Webb stated “We still kind of accept anybody, no matter what their athletic prowess is right now.” The team will take on anyone who is interested in the sport, even though most people on the team have not been on any form of rowing team before since this sport is not usually offered at the high school level. But Webb isn’t necessarily looking for people with a background in rowing. He just prefers people who have any form of athletic background. “I know that not everybody has a rowing team,” said Webb. “In

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fact, most schools don’t. General- graduating at the end of the year. ly what we look for is experienced The most notable and possibly athletes. Usually we tend to go for more personal loss for him would those who have played sports like be senior rower Sean Lowe. with Fisher ID Coaches often like to make conbasketball and soccer. Basically any sport that involves a great deal of nections with the athletes they coach and Webb certainly has a stamina.” Though Webb has many non-ex- deep one with Lowe since he was perienced rowers, he still holds his the first rower that Webb had acexpectations high. “We have a lot tually recruited out of high school. of young brand new riders on both “I recruited him from Pittsford sides, but the women have a small- his senior year of high school. He www.guacamoletaqueria.com er team this year. We lost a decent helped build a lot of the program.” Webb, Lowe and the rest of the number of rowers from last year. It’s the first time that we have had team are continuing to train and to deal with any form of graduation work hard for the upcoming season. There are many goals that the crisis,” Webb said. With a smaller squad than in team plans to accomplish this year. One of Webb’s goals for his men’s years past, Webb is planning to focus more. That area is growth. crew is to be in contention for a His main goal is for them to get third place medallion in the constronger and progressively better ference competition. Fisher’s rowthis season. “As far as being high- ing team competes in the Liberty ly competitive, we will have to see,” League rather than the Empire 8 Webb states. “However, what we conference like most of the other are looking for is a kind of growth sports on campus. While Webb’s goal is quite realisin that respect.” Moving on to the men’s side, tic and a lot more do-able as far as while the team will be solid for this achieving it, it also sounds a little season, Webb is a bit saddened be- lack-luster. Webb explained his reacause of some people that will be soning for it saying, “When you’re looking at the top schools, you’re really looking at a lot of legacy. On the men’s side, you can look at Hobart, who functions more like a Division I program. They follow a different model and they don’t base it on their Division III restrictions because rowing isn’t technically an NCAA sport.” Even though he wants his team to be fast, Webb assured that he has a different vision for Fisher. “We’re trying to have a program here where we’re constantly getting better athletically, but we are also attracting bright students. Students that want to be doctors, lawyers, nurses or have some sort of plan for their future after colMen’s rowing team| Photo by Nancy Pfuntner lege.”

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