Over a Century of Service to CCNY & the Harlem Community
May 2014
City's Leaders of Tomorrow
CCNY Students Attain National Recognition
$@&#!
For Your Arteries' Sake
Avoiding High Sodium Intake
Baseball & Brotherhood Off-Color Comments in the Classroom
Family Bonding Through Sports
The Case for Optimism
Staying Positive in a Negative World
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Table of Contents 3 NEWS
And the Winner Is… Christian Hernandez
4 NEWS
College Students & the Affordable Care Act Rochelle Sterling
5 NEWS
Under the Sun Natalie Shields
8 FEATURE
Professors Gone Wild Gina Daidone
10 VOICES
What's So Bad About Optimisim? Jasmin Copeland
12 LIFESTYLE
For Your Arteries' Sake Hervey Lamothe & Sofi Biviano
Editorial Team
Editor in Chief Louis Oprisa Managing Editor Rochelle Sterling Opinion & Feature Nikeeyia Howell Sports Jeff Weisinger Lifestyle Natalie Renteria Copy Chief Lucy Lao Copy Editing Esme Cribb & Rachel Finley
Business
Business Manager Ashlee Schuppius
Creative Directors
Roberto Guzmán & Liz Fonseca
6NEWS
Leaders of Tomorrow Michael Sanchez
14 SPORTS
It's a Family Thing
Multimedia
Miguel Medina
Web Manager Rachel Mines Social Media Manager Natalie Renteria Video Editor Kham Induangchanthy
Cover Image
Faculty Advisor
Roberto Guzmán
Summer at City
Professor Linda Villarosa
THREE CREDITS FOUND. NO SUMMER LOST. You don’t have to sacrifice your summer vacation in New York to earn the credits you need. The City College of New York offers three full-credit summer sessions for a fraction of the cost of other schools. And because the sessions are flexible, you can attend the one that best fits your schedule. So speed up your path to graduation or take that elective you want.
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May 3, 2014
FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.ccny.cuny.edu/summer
May 2014
AND THE WINNER IS… CCNY Ushers in New Era of Undergrad Student Government By Christian Hernandez│ Photo: CCNY USG
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he results of CCNY’s Undergraduate Student Government elections are in. Just like every year, not many students voted, and some of those who did complained of feeling confused by the small number of candidates running for the few positions.
Christian Alvarado George Alvarenga Felix DeJesus Andre Desir Kudzai Tunduwani Stephanie Veras
For them, it made the act of voting feel like a meaningless formality. To make things worse, the election was originally scheduled for early April, but was pushed back until after spring break. Apparently, glitches at the voting site added to the problems. Still, despite the trouble, here are the unofficial results:
CLAS Counselor
Carlos Pazmino Ombudsperson
Dalia Nazzal
VP of Public Affairs
College of Liberal Arts and Science Senators
Sharmin Sultana
Hector Velez
Kenny Soto
Mostafa “Moose” Hassan Robin Nag Zeeshan Saroya
Fatjon Kaja
Engineering Senators
Mayra Mahmood Architecture Senator
Rasheda Browne Bio-Med Senator
Moustafa Elshaabiny
VP of Student Affairs
VP of Campus Affairs VP of Academic Affairs
Aziz Almassoudi VP of Finance
Carolina Martinez Executive Vice President
Ramdat Singh USG President
Faculty Student Disciplinary Committee
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News
The Campus
College Students & the Affordable Care Act Open enrollment for Obamacare is over. What now? By Rochelle Sterling
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bamacare has been a buzzword for years now, and fans and critics alike spent the last six months warning qualified Americans not to miss the March 31st deadline, lest they incur a fine at the end of the year. A reported 7.5 million people enrolled in health plans through the Healtcare.gov marketplace between September 2013 and March 31st, including 3 million who signed up for Medicaid programs. The enrollment period was extended until April 15th for applicants who a) began but did not complete their applications; or b) could prove extenuating circumstances preventing them from enrolling in time. If one can prove their failed attempt to enroll, there are extra extended periods of enrollment beyond the original deadlines. Among these “special cases” are: change in marital status, adopting a child or putting one up for adoption/ foster care, change in household status or income level, or a lapse in health coverage due to job loss or “aging out” of a parent’s plan (by turning 26).
As part of the application processes, applicants were required to fill in their financial information to determine for which, if any, government subsidies they might qualify. However, millions of Americans flocked to the Healthcare. gov marketplace only to find that their money was best spent by purchasing private health insurance through brokers or directly from insurance carriers. Did you miss the original deadlines? Unless you fall within the group of people with a “qualifying life event”, unfortunately you have to wait until the next enrollment period opens on November 15th. However, Healthcare. gov remains open for applicants to continue window shopping, to explore their options according to eligibility. Additionally, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment never actually closes. If you believe you were mistakenly denied health coverage, you have the right to appeal that decision. It's important for individuals to follow up with their applications and learn the appellate processes where applicable. n
For college students, there were several options available for health insurance coverage • Extended dependent coverage, which allows young adults to stay on their parent’s insurance plan until age 26. • Expanded Medicaid eligibility for low-income adults without children New York State. • Student health insurance plans (SHIPS) and tax credits to use in the healthcare marketplace, available even to first-time taxpayers. • Catastrophic plans with lower premiums but higher deductibles, available to adults under 30 or those unable to find coverage to costs less than eight percent of their income.
Victimless Crimes Are Nonexistent. Learn your rights at the AD Haus PR’s Human Rights Event on May 7. For more information follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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Under the Sun
May 2014
More Summer Classes–As Long As Students Register for Them By Natalie Shields │ Photo: Sara Louie With the spring semester coming to a close, CCNY bulked up on summer courses for students desiring to continue their studies over the summer break. The classes, ranging from general education courses to major requirements, will span across the months of June and July and are divided among Session One, Session Two and the Extended Session. Students can sign up for their selected classes on the first day after spring break, on April 23rd, using CUNYFirst enrollment system. The courses are open to CCNY students, CUNY students across the city, and students visiting from other campuses. In some cases, if attendance does not fill up by before the start of the summer semester, the course that students registered for can be cancelled and notification would not be received until just before the summer semester begins. Brian Ramos, an upper junior who works at the Registrar's Office, said that can be the case for classes with a low enrollment, but it varies department to department. “Especially if it’s a general education class, they’ll put them in another section,” he said. “Usually the upper level classes have less seats [to fill] anyway.” For a given class, Ramos said if there are one or only two students enrolled in a class with 30 seats, its survival is
not likely but in a class where 15 out of 20 students are enrolled, they are unlikely to eliminate it. One humanities administrator, who asked that her name be withheld, said despite support from the school for providing additional courses, the risk of cancellation creates uncertainty for students and professors alike when planning for the months ahead. “The adjunct I hired is thrilled,” she said. “So if the course doesn't run, she will have given up other opportunities to work or teach for nothing.” Terrell Brown, a junior studying engineering, said he is looking forward to selecting and registering for his summer courses after spring break. Even though this is his first semester at CCNY, he’s used to attending school all year round whether it’s during the winter or summer sessions in order to complete his degree in a lessened time. Upon hearing that his selected classes could possibly be cancelled if the attendance is below a certain number, he said this was news to him and that was not a concern to him while at NYU Polytechnic, his previous school. “I’ve never experienced that,” said Brown. “I hope the classes that I sign up for don’t get cancelled.” More information can be found at the Registrar’s Office, which can be reached at summeratcity@ccny.cuny.edu or 212-650-6894. n
“ I hope the classes that I signed up for don't get cancelled.” – Terrell Brown
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News
The Campus
Leaders of City College Students Get Public Policy Proposals Published; Considered for Government Implementation By Michael Sanchez │ Photo: Sara Louie
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he Roosevelt Institute, a progressive national think tank, has accepted seven City College students' policy proposals for publication in its “10 Ideas Series” competition. The students are members of the Institute’s City College chapter, and their five proposals competed and won against other chapters across the United States. Over 100 chapters participate in the “10 Ideas Series,” hoping to have their works published and ultimately considered for government implementation. The seven student-members include recent graduate Reem Aliessa, senior Merelis Ortiz, junior Kudzai Tundwani, senior Kimberly Downer, senior Melissa Audige, senior and acting President, Angela Choi, and sophomore Suprita Datta. The winners of the competition shared the inspiration and content of their ideas.
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Reem Aliessa, 23 Majored in International Studies and Minored in English
PROPOSAL
“American Children in Danger Abroad: Granting Them a Safe Return Home.” • “My case study was Syria because I have relatives there,” she said. “My young American cousins faced difficulties returning because their Syrian parents were denied visas from the American Embassy in Turkey.” • “My policy urges the State Department to ease visa regulations for the parents of American children,” Aliessa explained. “Especially the ones living in dangerous and life threatening situations.”
Merelis Ortiz, 22 International Studies major
PROPOSAL
“Fostering Life-Long Wellness through Nutrition Education.” • “In public school we were served foods that weren’t healthy or appetizing,” Merelis said. “The health classes weren’t interactive and did not focus on nutrition.” • “My policy has to do with improving the health outcomes of students in grades K-12 through the implementation of nutrition education programs and developing a team with people in the community in order to make this possible,” she said.
May 2014
Tomorrow Kudzai Tunduwani, 19 Mechanical Engineering major and Public Policy minor
PROPOSAL
“Reducing Garbage Collection Costs Through Green Innovation.” • “I came up with the idea by walking around Harlem,” Tunduwani said. “I saw the amount of trash on the streets and compared that to the cleanliness I observed in every part of Times Square.” • “By utilizing proven technology, the issues of garbage collection costs and garbage pileups in Harlem can be resolved,” he explained. “The idea is to use Big Belly trash receptacles to lower collection frequency and to use the savings to fund beautification grants for the Harlem Area.”
Kimberely Downer, Melissa Audige, & Angela Choi, all 21 Downer & Audige major in Biomedical Education. Choi majors in Political Science & minors in Public Policy.
JOINT PROPOSAL
“Closing the Care Gap: Increasing and Retaining Primary Care Physicians in New York.” • “Our policy sought to increase the number of primary care physicians through the creation of a mentorship program for medical students,” Downer said. “It aimed to give these students the opportunity to see primary care in action and the chance to obtain a person that could guide them on their medical endeavors.”
Suprita Datta, 20 International Studies Major
PROPOSAL
“Discovering a Bottom-Up Approach to Health Education in Rural Panama.” • “My proposal deals with health education within indigenous communities in rural Panama and focuses on preventive practices,” she said. “It would create a heath education program that partners government workers with community workers to create a forum for discussing issues relating to health.”
The competition winners also offered advice for any students wanting to follow in their footsteps. President Choi said, “You don’t need to know policy to join Roosevelt. I didn’t know what policy was myself when I first joined!” n
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Feature
The Campus
Professors
Students Discuss Outrageous Comments in the Classroom By Gina Daidone │ Photo: Roberto Guzmán
"Some of these kids come in here acting like they're still in the hood!" This colorful remark had students in an uproar this semester and recently prompted a professor from the Media and Communication Arts department to resign under duress. One witness described the comment as entirely unprovoked, and it bothered students enough that they complained to the administration, accusing their nowformer professor of verbal abuse. The remark, by a white professor to a roomful of mostly students of color, is the kind of off-hand, demeaning comment students say they hear all the time. Sexual innuendos, casual racism, obnoxious gender related jokes and unnecessary socioeconomic references are some of the indiscretions of faculty at City College. Though students may be complaining about it now, CCNY is no stranger to edgy, outspoken educators. Dr. Leonard Jeffries, a professor of Black Studies at City College for 40
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years, regularly included racially insulting rhetoric in his lectures. Students and others objected to anti-Semitic comments as well as his stated grading policy: “A for African, B for Black, C for Colored and D for doofus, darkie and Dominican.” He was removed as chairman of the Black Studies department in the 90s, which led to a drawn-out court battle over his right to free speech and academic freedom. Jeffries is an extreme example. But professors continue to make off-color, sometimes demeaning comments in class. Here is a sampling of recent remarks reported by students: "How old are you? I thought you'd be able to speak in full sentences by now."–Science professor "Emerson and Thoreau don't give a shit about your excuses and neither do I."–English professor responding to a low class average on an exam. "Obviously I'd rather be doing my wife than grading these papers
all night."–Sociology professor No one would argue that remarks like these are at least edgy if not inappropriate. But in the college setting where academic freedom and free speech are prized and protected, when do professors go too far? The Division of Student Affairs takes this question seriously, but puts the burden on students for dealing with faculty remarks. Regarding student-teacher conflict, Student Affairs states: "Responding to comments made by faculty in the classroom depends on the nature of the comments. Generally if a student feels uncomfortable or offended by comments made in the classroom, they should address this directly with the person who made the remarks. If this does not resolve the issue, then the student should address it with the chair of the department, and then the dean if the two previous steps do not resolve the concern.” This system seems like too much
trouble for most students and leaves them feeling disempowered. In fact, of all the students interviewed for the article, none has ever confronted a professor or complained to Student Affairs. Some cited not having the time, others feared repercussions, while most simply felt that it wasn't worth the effort. But the problem can be seriously distressing. After a professor called students “incompetent” and “incapable” as they rehearsed, one theater major recalls feeling “confused and shocked.” The student asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal. Some students think professors should be encouraged to be frank and open—to a point. International Studies major Tahsin Chowdhury was put off when a history professor insisted, that there is no point in women’s rights to vote. “Professors should maintain a respectful, professional boundary with opinions to maintain their intellectual legitimacy in front of students,” Chowdhury says.
Michael Gregorek, a judge who teaches a course on ethics and values, believes students need a thicker skin about such matters. Lightheartedness, he says, can ease academic tensions as long as commentary isn’t directed toward a specific individual. "We cannot expect to connect with students, and they with themselves, if we are always walking on eggshells," he says. Krystal Rivera agrees. A psychology major, she isn’t usually bothered by edgy remarks. She recalls an MCA professor who walked into class on the first day of school and said, “The most important thing in life is hockey, sex and tennis!” Although surprised by the comment, she believes that professors should be candid with their opinions. “The real world outside of class doesn’t have a filter, so why should the professor?” she says. The bottom line? Offhand remarks liven up lectures and debates, and professors have the right to freedom of speech just as much as anyone
else. Still educators should understand the difference between acceptable banter and offensive language and the powerful impact their words may have on young people. Ultimately, our instructors are meant to educate us for the real world and the lesson here is that they are just like the rest of us, imperfect and occasionally irrational. In response to the resigned professor who accused students of “acting like they’re still in the hood,” the MCA department sent out a thoughtful email to all students present at the time of the incident. It acknowledged the "complicated power dynamics" between faculty and students. "A sense of mutual respect is the foundation of a student/teacher relationship regardless of the personality or teaching style of the professor, or the gender, race, ethnicity, sexual preference or cultural background of a student." n
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Voices
The Campus
What's So Bad About Optimism? Why Our Hopes and Dreams Matter By Jasmin Copeland │ Photo: Sara Louie
T
hroughout our lives we are taught the value of optimism. As a young African American growing up in a Baptist household, I was always told by my parents to have extreme hope for myself, the world that I live in, my life, and most importantly my dreams. Hope, I learned, gives us the faith to successfully persevere in hard times. But as I’ve reached my twenties, and the hard times have arrived–in the form of high unemployment, pricey
The author at work.
student debt and exploitation AKA unpaid internships–the message has changed. My generation is being unfairly stereotyped as entitled, lazy, immature for our failing attempts to transition into adulthood. The insult that hurts the most is that we are accused of having “too much unrealistic optimism.” To me, that says that we don’t have the right to dream of having great lives for ourselves. Although, many older people admit that the economy is tough, they often
attribute the lack of our success to "unrealistic optimism." We are told that our life expectations are too high and we don’t deserve good paying careers that would provide us with the comfortable lifestyles that have been synonymous with the American dream. This whole debate has made me ponder the complexities of “hope.” I am not blind; I have seen the plight of college graduates who have spent tens or even hundreds of thousand of dollars on degrees, sometimes more than the cost of a suburban house. However, when these same hard-working scholars graduate from these prestigious schools, they are only offered minimum wage jobs or told that they can work at some kind of unpaid internship. This puts them right back into the childhood bedrooms of their parent’s houses because they can’t afford a place to stay, especially in an expensive city like New York—and then they are accused of being coddled and refusing to grow up. Still, I feel optimistic for myself and my generation. I see the glass as half full, not half empty. This art of literally hoping that the circumstances in our environment will get better, and using that positive motivation to actually improve our “dismal” situations, is a propelling emotion that eventually gets us to prosperity. If everyone thought that being “unrealistically optimistic” was a problem instead of a gift, especially in extremely depressing times, there probably wouldn’t have been a Civil
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May 2014
“ We can't allow our optimism to diminish, because it pushes our society and the people in it to their fullest potential.” Rights movement in the 60s, or a women’s movement in the 20s and the 70s, or even an African-American president in the White House. Moreover, if actors or actresses who started off bussing tables as waiters making minimum wage would have dismissed their overly optimistic dreams, you probably wouldn’t have seen them 10 years later accepting an Oscar or on the red carpet. We can’t allow our optimism to diminish, because it is the motivating factor that pushes our society and the people in it to their fullest potential. So instead of accusing people like me in our twenties of being too hopeful in the midst of severe economic setbacks that we didn’t create, we should be encouraged to go after our dreams. More than not, our generation
is educated, smart, tech savvy and ambitious. Despite college debt, as we graduate we won’t necessarily have the familial, marital or financial obligations that would deter us from actively pursuing our dreams. So this would be the best time to have a “dangerously” optimistic attitude as some older and more established adults would say, because we have absolutely nothing to lose. This is the time to chase our ambitions with veracious optimism in order to achieve our aspirations because the only thing we do have a chance of losing is our youth, and once that is gone, it can't be replaced. Admittedly, the actual process of living a hopeful life has its ups and downs. When you have dreams that are “seemingly unrealistic” or “too big to accomplish,” some people are always
going to doubt you and believe that you are destined to fail. The road to success is going to be difficult and it will take a lot of sacrifices/compromises to attain your achievements. Sometimes you do have to create a “realistic” timeline of how you will obtain your goals. This doesn’t mean that your dreams are too unrealistic to be realized, but that you have to pace yourself because acquiring real success is a gradual process that requires a lot of slow building. Let’s use our twenties to be slow diligent builders. Let’s move at our own pace and not worry about competing with previous generations. Let's disregard people’s negative comments or actions when they don’t have something encouraging to say about our dreams. We have nothing but our own hope to lose. n
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Lifestyle
The Campus
FOR YOUR ART Avoiding Sodium and Embracing its Alternatives
By Hervey Lamothe & Sofi Biviano │ Photo: Natalie Renteria
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odium rich diets have long been known to lead to high blood pressure and eventually to heart disease. However, what college students are actually thinking about heart disease when they are craving a salty snack on an empty stomach during a five-hour study session? While most students don’t generally pay attention to the salt they eat because they think it has no immediate effects, they are mistaken. “Even in relatively healthy young people, we can already see the effect of high [salt] intake, suggesting that high [salt] intake and obesity may act synergistically to accelerate cellular aging," says Dr. Haidong Zhu, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Georgia, in Augusta. “Lowering [salt] intake, especially if you are overweight or obese, may slow down the cellular aging process that plays an important role in the development of heart disease," Zhu said in an American Heart Association (AHA) news release. Many CCNY students are still unaware of the proper amount of daily sodium intake. “When I buy food on my own, I might consider salt,” said Naveed Butt, an Economics major of Dominican descent. “But, I don’t even really know how much salt I am supposed to consume.” The AHA recommends that we consume no more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium daily.
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To put that in perspective, that’s less than a teaspoon each day. Most Americans, even children, exceed that daily. As more health initiatives gain popularity, students are already starting to take an active role in their family cooking. “I don’t eat my mom’s cooking because she uses too much salt, oil and seasoning,” said business major Majeed Jacson from Ghana. Jacson has chosen to prepare his own meals. Another CCNY student from Suriname also cooks his own meals. “I usually eyeball the amount of salt based on taste not measure,” said English major Sergio Narine. Despite being aware of the risks of sodium, Jacson and Narine are not concerned about the health of their family members. “I know I should be aware of salt’s risk, but it’s not really a concern,” said Narine. CCNY students can learn more about the dangers of salt in diets on Tuesday, May 6, at 12:30 pm in the NAC Ballroom. Volt 9, a student advertising/PR workshop group out of CCNY’s Media Communication Arts department, will team up with the AHA to inform students about salt, its risks, and tips to share with our families to keep everyone healthy. With a little bit of education and creativity, anyone can make the proper strides towards curbing sodium intake. We may not be able to see the short-term effects of too much salt, but our bodies will one day thank us. n
May 2014
TERIES' SAKE 10 Salt-Free Cooking Tips 1. When a recipe calls for even a pinch of salt, replace it with another herb or spice. Try rosemary, thyme, ginger, cilantro, pepper, oregano, bay leaf or dill. 2. Treat fresh or powdered garlic as the new salt to put a twist on your traditional ethnic dishes. 3. Make the base of homemade soups with low sodium chicken broth. 4. Use oregano, basil or red pepper flakes instead of salt when boiling water for pasta. 5. Lemon juice and sodium trigger similar taste receptors, so sprinkle lemon juice on anything that needs extra flavor. 6. Rub chicken with curry powder instead of salt before roasting. 7. Mix olive oil and any type of vinegar for a sodium-free dressing. 8. Choose to cook with fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables instead of canned. 9. Use sodium-free baking soda. Yes, it exists. 10. Instead of reaching for premade meat marinades, opt for soaking your meat in some citrus juice and olive oil.
Making a SaltFree Adobo Seasoning Ingredients 1 tablespoon paprika 2 teaspoons ground black pepper 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder 1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon chili powder Directions In a bowl, stir together the paprika, black pepper, onion powder, oregano, cumin, garlic powder, and chili powder. Store in a sealed jar in a cool, dry place.
For more sodium free ideas and recipes, visit ccnycampus.org.
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Sports
The Campus
It's a Family Thing Peña Brothers Join Forces in Manning Beaver Infield By Miguel Medina │ Photo: CCNY Athletic Department CCNY infielders Gabriel and Adrian Peña have burst onto City College in their first season together playing phenomenal baseball.
going to do this, I’m going to get this done.' Even if he’s not doing his best or he’s struggling, he has this faith in himself that takes him to a whole another level.” The Peña brothers started playing baseball at the age of five. Both Gabriel
“I want to be the role model and the leader, not only for him, but for the team as well. He’s my brother and I want to show him not only what it takes, but what I’m capable of and what he potentially could be because he has all the tools as well. Having this college experience with him is amazing. It’s a once in a lifetime experience and it’s really good,” said Gabriel, the older brother, who plays shortstop and third base. “It’s been fun,” said Adrian, second baseman and younger brother to Gabriel. “I’ve been enjoying myself. We have built a bond quicker than I expected.” Adrian says he enjoys playing with his brother and considers him an inspiration in his life. “It’s really fun. It’s not something you think about when he’s three or four years older than you when you’re younger. Now for that to happen it’s inspiring, really cool and calming to my mind when I see him over there on the field playing with me.” When asked about what inspires him the most about his brother, he said, “His confidence. He has this blind confidence that’s just like 'ok, I’m
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Gabriel Peña
and Adrian attended Herbert Lehman High School, and later on Gabriel transferred from Stony Brook to City College. Adrian came to City straight from Lehman.
father. “I owe it up to my father,” Gabriel said. “He taught us the game that he loves and we love it. Adrian
Their love, talent and passion for the game of baseball began with their and I have been playing ball since we were five. I owe it all to him because without him, I wouldn’t be here or have this much success today. The talent definitely does run in our family starting with our father.”
Adrian Peña
Gabriel was recently named CUNYAC Player of the week for the week of March 17th to March 23rd. His hot hitting is one of the reasons why the Beavers became one of the surprising teams in CUNY Baseball. “It’s a great honor,” he said. “It feels really good to get that kind of reward for all the hard work I’ve been putting in.” Heading into the home stretch of the season, Gabriel leads the team in hitting, batting .393 in 18 games with the Beavers with two home runs and nine RBI. Adrian, on the other hand, has hit .241 in 18 games with 11 RBI. Adrian believes that in five years, he could see himself playing professional baseball and working his way to do with what he loves most. “I feel like this is definitely a possibility and see myself working, struggling and being happy.” Note how he said “struggling and being happy.” These sibling infielders have no misconceptions about the reality of being an athlete, and they’re just fine with that. n
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Spring at CCNY
Photo: Sara Louie