Issue 12 Fall 2019

OBSERVER THE

@fordhamobserver www.fordhamobserver.com

October 30, 2019 VOLUME XXXV, ISSUE 12

West Side Welcomes Safer Bike Lanes

Fordham to Offer English Class in Prison

By SOPHIE PARTRIDGE-HICKS News Editor

By JOE KOTTKE Staff Writer

On June 25, after a series of cyclist fatalities, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the Green Wave: A Plan for Cycling in New York City. He told New Yorkers that “no loss of life on our streets are acceptable.” Now, across the street from Fordham’s Lincoln Center (FCLC)’s campus, those initiatives are coming to life.

Cyclists in New York City are dying at an alarming rate; after only 10 deaths in 2018, 23 bikers have already died in 2019. In response to what Mayor de Blasio is calling a citywide “crisis,” the Department of Transportation (DOT) is rolling out its “Green Wave” initiative to try and better protect New Yorkers.

William Brucer, Gabelli School of Business Lincoln Center ’21, uses bike lanes while roller-skating in the city. However, he says that there are not enough lanes around the city and that they are often filled with cars or pedestrians. “The bike lanes are barely any safer than the road itself,” said Brucer.

Lulu Peng, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’20,

In spring 2020, Fordham plans to offer a class collaboration with Marymount Manhattan College (MMC) and the Bedford Hills College Program (BHCP) at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, a maximum security correctional facility for women in Westchester County. For the first time, Fordham students will have the opportunity to learn and take a class alongside prison inmates.

According to Professor Mark Caldwell, the course is yet to be finalized, but he is “very confident that it will go through; we just need the final approval.”

Anne Hoffman will be the first professor to teach a Fordham course at BHCP. The course, called Coming of Age in America, will be overseen by the English department and based on literature, memoirs and social science readings. Students enrolled in the class will be able to receive Fordham credit.

“Education can make a profound difference in the lives of incarcerated people; it can create new possibilities,” said Hoffman.

Hoffman’s first teaching job out of college was teaching at the Bayview Correctional Facility in Manhattan. “That was decades ago, and I will never forget it. I have always wanted to go back,” said Hoffman. “Working with Fordham undergraduates at Bedford Hills is a fabulous opportunity.”

Hoffman is planning to include Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” Maxine Hong Kingston’s “The Woman Warrior” and Alison Bechdel’s “Fun Home” in the course. “My teaching is interdisciplinary, so it’s easy to connect social sciences to coming of age literature,” said Hoffman. “I think it will open up interesting

see BIKE page 5

ANDREW DRESSNER/THE OBSERVER

JAKE CHADWELL/THE OBSERVER

Police investigate a shooting on West End Avenue exactly one month after a shooting on Amsterdam Avenue.

Gunshots Cause Safety Concerns Crime in Lincoln Square sparks questions about campus safety alerts

By ALLIE BEEKMAN Contributing Writer

On Sept. 21, around 2 a.m., a person was shot at Amsterdam Avenue and West 63rd Street.

Early that morning, students living on campus heard loud noises that they thought were gunshots.

Shortly after, many received notifications about the shooting via the Citizen app, a crowdsourced public safety app used to disseminate safety alerts across major U.S. cities. However, students never received a notification from Fordham’s Department of Public Safety, even though the incident happened just a block away from campus.

The silence from Public Safety raised questions among students as to what warrants a Public Safety alert, as well as how the Lincoln Center campus is defined.

Sophia Henderson, Fordham

College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’23, heard the noises on Sept. 21, which were later confirmed as gunshots by the NYPD. During Public Safety’s Freshman Core Programming seminar, she publicly asked why the incident was not reported.

“I asked about the alleged gunshots and he (the presenter) said that they knew about it, but because it didn’t involve any Fordham students, we didn’t need to know about it; it’s only if it has to do with Fordham students or if it’s on campus,” said Henderson.

Lincoln Center Public Safety Director Robert Dineen confirmed that colleges and universities are federally mandated by the Clery Act to report campus crime statistics and security information to students.

According to Dineen, Public Safety is required to send alerts for “crimes occurring on-campus

or in the geography surrounding campus that the associate vice president for Public Safety or his designee are believed to constitute a potential ongoing or continuing threat to the university community.”

Yet because “potential ongoing or continuing” threats rely on the department’s judgment rather than a specific policy, students have expressed confusion as to what exactly Public Safety’s jurisdiction is. Students who have noted Public Safety’s tendency to report off-campus crimes at Rose Hill expressed confusion.

“I don’t know how policy differs, but it seems Lincoln Center won’t notify outside of the campus limits, but at Rose Hill, they will notify for a subway station 15 minutes off campus,” said Jack Bellamy, FCLC ’23.

Rameses Dynasty see SAFETY page 5

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The macabre, strange and hopelessly true tale of Fordham’s live mascots Opinions

Arts & Culture

Sports & Health

Privacy

Twelfth Night

Herpes Stigma

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Fordham’s multi-factor authentication is worth it STEPH LAWLOR/THE OBSERVER

Fordham Theatre infuses punk rock into a Shakespeare classic

THE STUDENT VOICE OF FORDHAM LINCOLN CENTER

Survey data reveals students’ perception of herpes

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Aramark Controversy Reignited NYU ended their contract with Aramark, effective this year. Once again, Fordham asks: Will we?

By MICHELLE AGARON Staff Writer

Aramark, the dining services provider for Fordham University, was not invited to renew its more than 35 year contract with New York University (NYU) this year, reigniting debates about the catering company’s role on Fordham’s own campus. The decision followed an incident in which a racially insensitive menu featuring “watermelon water” was offered during Black History Month and months of student activists protesting Aramark’s connections to private prisons.

Aramark, which has contracts with more than 500 correctional facilities, has run into a number of issues with food safety in prisons in recent years. In July 2014, inmates at a Michigan prison found maggots while peeling potatoes. Another Michigan prison reported that 30 inmates had fallen ill after maggots were found in the dining hall.

In 2017, former Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’21 student Lily Brahms found a dead mouse in one of the salad containers prepared by Aramark workers in the McKeon dining hall. Brahms was trying to make a salad when she said something in the spinach caught her eye; using the tongs to dig through, she realized the worm-like creature was actually a dead mouse and quickly alerted the staff.

“I would’ve taken a picture, but I was so nauseous I had to run up to my room. I didn’t eat anything from the dining hall for a while after that. My mom made a bunch of food for me to bring back to school in tupperware containers,” said Brahms.

Since then, mice have re-

ANDREW DRESSNER/THE OBSERVER

In 2017, a student found a rat in the dining hall salad bar. Two years later, concerns about health and safety persist.

portedly been spotted scurrying across the floor in Fordham’s kitchens. Deming Yaun, Fordham’s Dining Services contract liaison, noted that Aramark changed ingredient providers following the incident and Ar-

amark employees now unload packaged food onto a tray and search the food before sorting it into containers.

The Fordham community continues to express dissatisfaction with Aramark’s services. A cur-

rent junior at FCLC who asked to remain anonymous commented on the lack of halal options in the dining hall, which limits the kinds of foods Muslim students can choose from.

“I wouldn’t be able to eat any-

thing with meat because the meat is not cooked properly.

They use the same grill and utensils for everything, which leads to cross-contamination,” the student said. “You also have no idea where any of the food is coming from or how it was prepared.”

Starting last spring, Yaun began meeting with concerned students and enabling the University to introduce pre-packaged halal food in the Lincoln Center dining hall. However, students contend that the options are costly and that the lack of designated space to cook halal food remains an issue.

“For the last seven years, we’ve introduced new or renovated spaces. We didn’t this year and we may not for the next few years, because funding is going into renovation for the McGinley Center at Rose Hill,” said Yaun.

“What we have there is a clear footprint of where dining will be able to put retail and all-you-caneat offerings for students, and putting a halal location there has great appeal for us.”

Even so, the renovations will only be completed two years from now; Lincoln Center will have to wait even longer for dining changes as there are currently no plans in place. When asked about kosher options for Jewish students and staff, Yaun expressed enthusiasm but said there hasn’t been much of a demand from the Fordham community.

Student complaints about Aramark’s presence on campus frequently resurface from year to year. However, The Ram reported that Yaun claims there are no other alternatives to Aramark that can provide the same resources and experience to Fordham University.

NACAC Changes Future of College Admissions Fordham’s Admissions Office reacts to the removal of regulations that were made to protect students

By ALLIE STOFER Contributing Writer

On Sept. 28, the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) changed its code of ethics, affecting colleges and universities around the country. The changes removed three main regulations — the laws that prohibited colleges from offering incentives to early decision candidates, restrictions on “poaching” students who have committed to another university and preventions on offices to reach out to students from former applicant pools.

Before the NACAC decided to repeal these provisions, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) launched an investigation to determine whether these policies violated federal antitrust laws, which exist to protect fair competition and prohibit monopolies.

The laws were initially created with the intent to protect students, however, the DOJ appeared to be interested in the aspects that limited college action.

According to a letter from the DOJ that was obtained by Insider High Ed, the DOJ’s investigation centered around an agreement “to restrain trade among colleges and universities in the recruitment of students.”

In September 2019, the NACAC learned that the federal government planned to file an antitrust suit against them. In a vote of 2113, the NACAC decided to get rid of the policies in order to reach a settlement with the DOJ. Stefanie Niles, president of

KASEY GELSOMINO/THE OBSERVER

Fordham Admissions Counselor Sydney Gabourel speaks to prospective students about the college application process.

NACAC, also told Inside Higher Ed that these changes occurred due to “a desire to preserve this organization.” Niles also expressed that even though the laws are gone, specific colleges do not have to abandon them.

While Fordham is a member of the NACAC, not all colleges are.

Regardless, the change in provisions allows for an increase in competition among admissions offices nationwide. Now without the first provision, colleges will be able to offer incentives, such as more financial aid, priority registration or housing to early decision candidates.

“Providing incentives for Early Decision (ED) will likely encourage students to apply under the

binding plan,” said Patricia Peek, the dean of undergraduate admissions. “While ED is appropriate for some students, its binding provision is not ideal for all.”

The other three provisions that have been removed affect students post May 1, the national deadline for students to submit their deposits to the college of their choice, as students will be able to continually receive updated offers of admission or financial aid throughout the summer.

As a result, students could be forced to make college decisions in the summer before their college career begins. The change in laws now also allows universities to attempt to recruit from previous year’s applicant pools for transfer

students.

“College deposit amounts will soar to increase the cost of walking away from a commitment,” Jon Boeckenstedt, vice provost of enrollment management at Oregon State University, wrote on his Admission Blog. “If you can’t take it out on your competitors, you can make switching costs for consumers higher.”

Fordham does not intend to implement changes to their admission process immediately. Instead, they plan to observe the changes and see how they impact students.

With the change in the Code of Ethics, Peek is mainly worried about the stress that will be put onto incoming students. Since students may now have to make

decisions late into their summer, Peek worries that those with limited access to college counseling will be faced with college choices right before they go to college, making the process more stressful for them.

Peek has stated that Fordham will continue with the May 1 deadline and that Fordham will not begin to use other incentives or try to attract transfer students, as currently there is already enough interest from transfer and enrolling students.

Instead, Fordham intends to focus on how the changes in laws will affect its applicant pool before making any alterations themselves. Fordham College at Lincoln Center’s retention rate for second-year students has been relatively stable since 2010.

The largest drops tend to be with third-and fourth-year students, but over recent years, that retention rate has increased. According to Peter Feigenbaum, the director of Fordham’s Office of Institutional Research Team, the most common reasons for students to transfer are academic challenges, financial stress, homesickness and emotional issues.

“At Fordham, we don’t anticipate this change having an immediate or substantive impact, but we will need to monitor it closely,” stated Feigenbaum. “Retaining our students and providing them with a high-quality educational experience are paramount, regardless of the shifts in the professional ethics code. This will remain a top priority at Fordham in the years ahead.”

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Dr. Omid Safi Speaks on Justice and Faith

ZOEY LIU/THE OBSERVER

Theology 1001 students attended Omid Safi’s speech on activism and the importance of love when fighting for justice.

By DANIEL HUR Contributing Writer

On Oct. 23, 2019, Dr. Omid Safi, an Asian and Middle Eastern Studies professor at Duke University, spoke to Fordham students about Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy. The event was part of the Fordham Theology 1000 First-Year Experience and required all students currently taking the class to attend. That evening, nearly 200 freshman students filled the McNally Amphitheater at Fordham Lincoln Center to hear Safi speak.

Safi is a specialist in Islamic mysticism and contemporary Islam. He has also authored books about contemporary social jus-

tice issues in Islam, including “Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism.” He was brought in by Fordham’s Theology Department to discuss how theological ideas in King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” connects to society today.

“Where’s the room for love?

What does it mean to speak of love, to speak of mercy, to speak of justice in an age of ours?” Safi asked the audience.

When discussing social injustices, Safi said that “the reason we want justice for our Mexican brothers and sisters or black sisters and brothers is not some Marxist theology, it’s a work of love.”

“If you love somebody, you would want the same you want for your own body, the same you want for your children ... you would want them to live a life of freedom,” said Safi.

“I really enjoyed Omid Safi’s lecture,” said Megan Ferreira, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’23. “I felt that he was personable and really captured the audience’s attention.

He had a great presentation and I found it inspiring and very relatable.”

Safi encouraged the audience to be the activists of today, asking Fordham students where the “Dr. Kings” of today’s society are. He referred specifically to

Black Lives Matter and highlighted inconsistencies and biases in the criminal justice system.

Safi called upon the Fordham students in the audience to stand up against a world plagued with war, poverty and government corruption as well as problems within criminal reform, healthcare and education. Safi still believes that students can build a better world for the future and spoke about the importance of solutions that rely on a foundation of love and justice.

Jack Pappas, a theology professor at FCLC, said he “was thrilled by the extent of the genuine enthusiasm of my students toward the lecture. Dr. Sa-

fi’s lecture gave students a rare opportunity to hear one of this country’s leading scholars of Islam offer commentary on one of the great Christian figures of the last century.”

Pappas continued, “He challenged students to think about the meaning of King’s legacy for meeting the political and moral challenges of our time in a way that provoked and inspired.”

To end his lecture, Safi told Fordham students that “as long as there’s a baby left in the cage, as long as black folk are being shot by the police, as long as corruption is running about ... try to save the soul of America like King did.”

Fordham to Partner With Bedford Hills College Program PRISON from page 1

reflection and create a community in the classroom.”

According to MMC Communications Manager Carly Schneider, the likelihood of recidivism, or when a convicted criminal commits another offense, among released BHCP graduates is virtually zero, compared to the national average of 43.9% for women.

MMC formed their relationship with Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in 1997. Each semester, roughly 200 incarcerated women take MMC courses, and more than 225 have earned a degree through the program so far, according to Schneider.

“It’s safe to say with 22 years of work that we value and believe in access to education and promoting mutual dialogue,” said Schneider. “Thousands of programs like ours developed in the 1990s, but in 1994, the government stopped providing funds,

shutting many of them down,” she said.

MMC is the sole degree-granting institution for BHCP, offering Associate of Arts degrees in Social Sciences and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Sociology, as well as Politics and Human Rights.

Additionally, college preparatory classes are offered in math and writing.

The application process for the class requires students to be approved by the New York City Department of Corrections. According to Caldwell, applicants will also have to take a tuberculosis test, have their fingerprints scanned and attend an orientation.

Peter Thomann, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’20, is an applicant for the class. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to engage in an academic dialogue with an underrepresented community,” said Thomann. “I hope I can gain a new under-

If you are working side by side with an inmate, you realize there is no difference between you and them.

Mark Caldwell, Professor, Fordham University

standing of the problems facing those who are incarcerated.”

Thomann believes that learning at the facility and hearing first hand experiences will be much more worthwhile than studying documentaries and articles.

“My sense from reading the applicants’ statements is that they fully expect to learn from the incarcerated women as much as from classwork,” said Hoffman.

“I think they’re aware of the value of diverse backgrounds in the classroom.”

Caldwell initially proposed a partnership between Fordham and BHCP after teaching Monsters and Outsiders in Literature in the spring of 2017 with MMC. “No one ever, even once, came to class unprepared,” said Caldwell. “Everybody had read every assignment from cover to cover.

The class discussions were among the best I have ever participated in.”

According to Caldwell, up to eight Fordham students will be able to take a course through BHCP at a time. The other half of the class will consist of incarcerated women — with sentences ranging from short-term to life without parole.

“If you are working side by side with an inmate, you realize there is no difference between you and them, except that they got caught,” said Caldwell. “These are people that are almost always from difficult backgrounds — including poverty, abusive families

and failed education systems.

They are disproportionately convicted.”

“BHCP is integral to Fordham’s Jesuit mission,” said English Department Chair, Mary Bly. “Not only do we want students to be men and women for others, but we also want them to go out of their way to make an effort.”

Fordham Lincoln Center students who are accepted into the program will have to take the Ram Van to Rose Hill and then travel an additional 40 minutes to Bedford Hills. Bly confirmed that the Center for Community Engaged Learning donated money for the Ram Vans.

Caldwell said there are tentative plans for a course in the fall. “Fordham could develop an ongoing relationship with the program, in which Fordham professors could teach courses, undergraduate students could take courses, and graduate students can also work in the program.”

Correction: New information regarding faculty pay was released by Fordham Faculty United. The story “Fordham Faculty Fights For Fair Pay” has been updated online at fordhamobserver.com.

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Students Question Safety Alerts

JAKE CHADWELL/THE OBSERVER

SAFETY from page 1

In 2018, Public Safety choose to alert students about the Time Warner Center bomb threat, even though the incident was several blocks away from campus. Dineen stated that Public Safety decided that “the seriousness and gravity of this crime constituted a potential ongoing or continuous threat to the members of our community.”

In other cases, however, students found out about on-campus crime from outside sources like The Villager, a neighborhood publication that reports on local crime. It was not until their report that students learned about the theft of $1,206 worth of textbooks from the Fordham Lincoln Center Bookstore.

“In the case of the stolen textbooks from the bookstore, there was not a requirement to send the public safety alert for this incident,” Dineen said. However, Public Safety notified the NYPD about the incident and assisted in the case.

Dineen said that “the Public Safety website reports there the daily crime logs that details every crime both on and off-campus affecting Fordham.” A record of the textbook theft was posted on this log.

The crimes reported to Public Safety highlight another common question about the department’s official jurisdiction. This year, students at Rose Hill have filed more than twice the number of reports as Lincoln Center students. However, there were many more off-campus incidents reported at Rose Hill than Lincoln Center.

“I would never think to alert Public Safety if something happened to me off-campus,” said Hannah Davies, Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center ’21. “My apartment is 30 minutes away, and even though there are a lot of Fordham students who live in my neighborhood, I would always call the police and not Public Safety,” Davies continued.

Dineen stated that because of the large number of Rose Hill students residing in the Belmont neighborhood in the Bronx, Public Safety issues alerts for that off-campus community.

Additionally, there are several

off-campus Fordham Public Safety kiosks in the area as well as a Public Safety vehicle presence.

“There are approximately 1,000 Rose Hill students that live off-campus in the Belmont community and, in fact, we have several off-campus residence halls in the Belmont community.

This geography, along with our analysis of the facts surrounding a particular incident, may lead to the sending of a public safety alert to the university community,” said Dineen.

“Similarly, if a Lincoln Center student who lived near our campus was involved in an incident that required a Public Safety alert, we certainly would not hesitate to send one to our community,” Dineen said.

Nonetheless, the lack of off-campus student reports from the Lincoln Center campus correlates to fewer Public Safety email alerts about Manhattan crimes.

This academic year, 6 out of 8 Public Safety email alerts were about the Rose Hill campus and surrounding area. One of the emails warned the entire university of a financial scam. The first Public Safety alert for Lincoln Center this year was issued on the evening of Oct. 29 and took place on a sidewalk adjacent to campus.

Even still, John Carroll, associate vice president of Public Safety, maintained that there are no disparities in the severity of crimes reported by Public Safety between the two campuses.

Given students’ impressions of limited communication and a perceived disparity in safety information between the two campuses, many Lincoln Center students have begun relying on third-party resources to get information about crimes.

“With public safety not telling us what goes on outside of the small block that our school exists on and with New York as my campus, it’s nice to be able to know what’s going on outside in the city,” said Bellamy. “It’s helpful and informative and useful to keep me safe.”

However, as a crowdsourced information database, the Citizen app is not without its pitfalls.

Just past midnight on Oct. 27, hundreds of New Yorkers using

the app received an alert for a “collapsed crane” on 55th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. However, no such thing had occurred.

The confusion was caused after a user uploaded a photo of a crane in the area at an angle — it took several minutes before the alert was corrected with information from a verifiable source. Officials on the ground explained that the crane was being purposefully lowered to street level, but this information was only sent out to users after a false alarm.

Keith Eldredge, dean of students at Fordham Lincoln Center, warned that access to information does not always correspond to accuracy. He explained that Public Safety is particularly thorough before sending out an alert. However, apps like Twitter or Citizen have significantly lower standards for reporting, if any at all.

In recent weeks, students have received emails from a new startup called Wildfire, an app similar to Citizen with a focus on expansion to college campuses across the United States rather than entire cities.

According to the Wildfire website, the app was created by recent graduates of the University of California, Berkeley, after one of the co-founders was nearly mugged just off-campus.

He realized the need for a campus-wide communication network, so the app is expanded by requests from university students. To get Wildfire at a school, students must email the founders of the app with the school name and city.

The website mentions that anyone in a user’s Wildfire community can see what they post, stating, “We have a moderation team that works to verify content posted on Wildfire before it (is) sent out as an alert.”

As New York continues to solidify its standing as one of the safest cities in the U.S., questions still remain about both the quality and quantity of safety alerts.

From concerns about the expediency and accuracy of information to the biases of crime reporting, students have no shortage of opinions on how things ought to change. How, or if, they will remains to be seen.

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Junior Leads Local Government Challenge

By KATRINA LAMBERT Contributing Writer

In lieu of Public Safety communication, students use third-party sources to keep up to date about crime in the city.

News

Shauna Fortier, Fordham College at Rose Hill ’21, is working with the Bronx government, the Fordham Political Science Department and the nonprofit Lead for America to launch a case competition called the “GovChallenge” at Fordham University.

The GovChallenge is a project created by Lead for America as a part of its mission to include younger voices in local government. Through her internship with the organization, Fortier worked to implement the GovChallenge on Fordham’s campus.

The challenge will allow students an opportunity to propose their own solutions to a real-world problem currently affecting the Bronx. The winners of the competition will be able to work with the Bronx government to implement their solutions during the spring semester.

“I cannot disclose what the case is just yet,” Fortier commented, as the case will be revealed in later stages of the competition. However, previous GovChallenge cases have tackled more affordable student housing in Boise, Idaho, as well as creating a community development department in Chatham, North Carolina.

Fortier, a marketing major, has been encouraging students to sign up for the competition, even those who don’t envision a career in government but want to positively impact the world in which they live.

“With only 1% of local government officials under the age of 30, local governments are not very representative of the communities they serve,” said Fortier. “This competition is a way for us to have our voices heard directly and for the issues we care about to be addressed.”

City Council Member Andrew Cohen of District 11 expressed

to Fortier his interest in hearing from Fordham students and collaborating with them to implement their solutions in the neighborhoods within his district.

District 11’s boundaries reside just outside the Rose Hill campus’s district, District 16.

“The Bronx has a lot of community members and officials who care about the borough immensely, including Fordham students,” said Fortier.

Although many Fordham clubs are involved in the Bronx community, Fortier acknowledged that few clubs are able to see their original ideas come to life. She hopes that GovChallenge will satisfy Fordham students’ interest in obtaining a hands-on experience while serving their borough.

“So far, I have been correct, as I have been overwhelmed by the support of the Fordham community in launching this competition,” Fortier said.

Fortier has also found support in Fordham’s Political Science Department. The faculty and students in the department assisted her with developing a Bronx-specific case that would be a significant challenge for participants to solve. She credits the department with being instrumental in developing this project. “I do not think this competition would be possible without their support,” she said.

From her past experience working on Sen. Gayle Slossberg’s 2016 state senate campaign and participating in the YMCA Youth and Government program, Fortier said she has seen the impact one person can make on important issues. “It isn’t something that everyone realizes,” she said. However, Fortier hopes that the students who do participate gain an appreciation of local government, as well as an understanding that what they do matters.

City Responds to Surge in Cyclist Deaths BIKE from page 1

also said that although she recognizes how dangerous biking can be, it is an efficient way for her to get around the city.

Recent construction on the northeast corner of 60th Street and Columbus Avenue aims to protect city-goers by introducing a protected shoulder and a pedestrian island. The island ensures that pedestrians who do not stand on the sidewalk corner are not in the bike lane, decreasing the chance of potential collisions.

Peng believes that since “pedestrians always walk without looking, more pedestrian islands would really help with safety.”

Over the summer, new bike lanes were also implemented between 52nd and 72nd Streets on Amsterdam Avenue, which runs on the west side of the Lincoln Center campus. There were 277 traffic-related injuries on those city blocks between 2012-2016 — two of which were fatal. Cyclists were killed on 55th Street and on 72nd Street.

The plan repurposed one travel lane on Amsterdam Avenue into parking spaces, which act as a divider between bikers and moving traffic. An added benefit of this design was the shortening the length of street

crossings for pedestrians, as pedestrian safety is also significant concern for the DOT. “I think that the protected bike lane is going to be the best option for safety,” said Brucer.

He said that while he used to try and only use the protected Hudson path, he now feels more comfortable using the bike lanes around the city.

Not everyone is satisfied with the improvements. On June 9, cyclist activists staged a “diein” in Washington Square Park.

They felt that the city was not doing enough to ensure Vision Zero, a strategy that was implemented five years ago to eliminate all traffic fatalities.

“I would never bike in New York City unless it was properly protected bike lane,” said Corina Fuentes, FCLC ’21. Although she considers herself environmentally conscious and wants options to lower her carbon footprint while commuting, she says that “biking is just so dangerous.”

However, members of the city council are not taking these concerns lightly. The Streets Master Plan bill, which is expected to pass on Oct. 30, will allocate $1.7 billion to build 250 miles of protected bike lanes and other street upgrades.

Opinions Editors Grace Getman - ggetman@fordham.edu Evan Vollbrecht - evollbrecht@fordham.edu

Opinions

October 30, 2019 THE OBSERVER

OBSERVER THE

STAFF EDITORIAL

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SAFETY IN TRANSPARENCY

ordham’s Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses are boroughs apart, but they are both served by Fordham’s Department of Public Safety, which acts to protect the Fordham community and inform them about important events both on- and off-campus. However, its emails to students about certain incidents leave us with more questions than answers.

Public Safety often issues alerts regarding problems within the immediate area outside of Rose Hill, but rarely issues alerts about incidents outside of Lincoln Center.

Oct. 29 saw the first Lincoln Center campus-specific public safety alert since Jan. 30, 2018. In the same time period, between two Public Safety email addresses, at least 17 Rose Hill and two Bronx public safety alerts were emailed to the Fordham community.

It would be naïve to say that no crimes happen in midtown Manhattan and the Lincoln Square area, but in the past two years, the majority of Lincoln Center-related emails have concerned maintenance and the weather.

It is unclear what makes an incident in the Lincoln Center area worth reporting in comparison to its Rose Hill counterpart, especially when these alerts reach the entire student body. Lately, high-profile incidents on and around campus have brought this disparity into the spotlight — when gunshots were reported across the street from McKeon Hall on Sept. 21, Public Safety remained silent.

When it comes to keep-

ing students prepared and aware, Lincoln Center students seem to have less support. As such, students have increasingly turned to community reporting apps like Citizen and Wildfire to fill that gap and stay aware of the events happening right outside their windows. Public Safety has assured the community that it should instead rely on its own emails regarding “matters of importance, crimes or emergencies” that affect it.

We are told to embrace the city and venture into it boldly, but we lack the tools to safely do so.

If Public Safety has reasons for their relative reticence, they are not clear to the wider Fordham Lincoln Center community. The Clery Act requires that a public safety alert be sent if the Associate Vice President of Public Safety determines that a report indicates an ongoing threat to members of the university community. The criteria for this decision are unknown.

Why was the last incident that we got an email about special? Why pick any particular report over similar incidents that occurred on different days? Why report so few of the incidents that occur in or around Lincoln Center?

Admittedly, there are fewer reports filed in the Lincoln Center area — as of the time of publication, there have been 26 listed incidents at Lincoln Center this semester to Rose Hill’s

59 — but Lincoln Center has half the population of Rose Hill.

It’s hard to discount the legacy of stigma towards the borough that Fordham calls home. The Bronx is still seen as dangerous and alien, something to be kept out by the high fences and guarded gates at Rose Hill, while Manhattan is regarded as much more tame — tame enough to open the plaza to the public.

Unlike Rose Hill, we are not a walled fortress, and we have no gates to hide behind. Each time we step outside, we are immersed in a city that is by no means perfectly safe. It is imperative that we be able to rely on our university to protect and inform us, and thankfully, with a 24/7 hotline, a dedicated app and a close relationship with the NYPD, it is more than capable of responding to situations to keep us safe.

This is an issue that directly affects the safety of the students who attend Lincoln Center. We are told to embrace the city and venture into it boldly, but we lack the tools to safely do so.

Public Safety owes it to Lincoln Center to honestly and openly report on crimes happening in Columbus Circle and the surrounding blocks, lest we put students at unnecessary risk because of easily accessible information. After all, New York is our campus. We are part of the city, and as such must stay aware of what goes on in its streets. It should be the duty of Public Safety to aid this goal — or, at least, make it clear why it usually does not.

Editor-in-Chief Owen Roche

Managing Editor Courtney Brogle Business Managers Alexios Avgerinos Teymur Guliyev Kristian Koprivica Online Editor Izzi Duprey Layout Editors Esmé Bleecker-Adams Steph Lawlor Asst. Layout Editors Defne Akiman Lara Foley News Editors Sophie Partridge-Hicks Gabe Samandi Asst. News Editor Gus Dupree Opinions Editors Grace Getman Evan Vollbrecht Asst. Opinions Editor Nicole Perkins Arts & Culture Editor Gillian Russo Asst. Arts & Culture Editor Ethan Coughlin Features Editor Marielle Sarmiento Asst. Features Editor Roxanne Cubero Sports & Health Editors Luke Osborn Lena Weidenbruch Asst. Sports & Health Editors Aiza Bhuiyan Patrick Moquin Photo Editor Andrew Beecher Asst. Photo Editor Lena Rose Fun & Games Editor Esmé Bleecker-Adams Copy Editors Libby Lanza Jill Rice Melanie Riehl Social Media Managers Maca Leon Shamya Zindani Newsletter Editors Gillian Russo Shamya Zindani Multimedia Editor Zoey Liu Asst. Multimedia Editors Defne Akiman Caitlin Bury Retrospect Host Kevin Christopher Robles Retrospect Producer Alyssa Morales IT Manager EJ Ciriaco Visual Advisor Molly Bedford Editorial Advisor Anthony Hazell PUBLIC NOTICE

Costumed Canines Boo! Pups got a chance to join in on the spooky spirit at the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in the East Village.

Read our coverage of the 2019 Halloween Dog Parade at fordhamobserver.com ANDREW BEECHER/THE OBSERVER

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Opinions

October 30, 2019 THE OBSERVER

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The FDA’s Refusal to Allow Gay Men to Donate Blood is Blood-Boiling CATHERINE GALLIFORD Contributing Writer

In 2016, patrons of Pulse, the gay nightclub in Orlando, became the victims of one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history. As local blood banks urged residents to give blood to help the sudden demand for transfusions, some LGBTQ Floridians found themselves unexpectedly turned away, unable to donate.

In 1983, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned any man who has had sex with another man, commonly abbreviated as MSM, from donating blood due to their elevated risk of contracting HIV. The new rule was put into place after several instances of people contracting HIV after receiving a blood transfusion from a person living with HIV or AIDS. In 2015, the FDA revised its rule from a lifetime ban to barring any man who has had sex with another man within a 12-month period. The FDA’s justification for the mandated 12-month period of celibacy is to improve the chances that a blood test can detect any strains of the virus, as all donated blood is screened through a series of rigorous tests that look for a variety of highly transmissible viruses.

However, blood tests today are able to detect HIV with near perfect accuracy within 10 days of infection, and the chance of any infected blood making it past the screening is one in 3.1 billion.

Why, then, must MSM be celibate for 12 months when their blood can be accurately tested within a fortnight?

LEV YAKOVLEV/THE OBSERVER

The New York City AIDS Memorial in Greenwich Village is a testament to the lasting tragedy of the AIDS epidemic.

As blood screening technology and medical treatments for HIV/ AIDS continue to improve, the already shaky scientific foundation supporting the FDA regulation grows increasingly less convincing.

Heterosexual couples who engage in unprotected sex have a higher risk of contracting HIV, yet they are permitted to donate blood. Meanwhile, MSM who use contraception or are in long-term monogamous relationships are shackled to a year of celibacy to perform an act of generosity. If heterosexual couples who pose a higher risk than LGBTQ couples

face no restrictions, then the ban has nothing to do with behavior.

Rather, it has everything to do with the fact that MSM are exactly that — men who have sex with other men.

During the 1980s, the federal government hesitated to grant the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health organizations the necessary funds for research on the causes, transmission and treatment of HIV/AIDS; Ronald Reagan did not acknowledge the crisis out loud until 1985. Some groups referred to the epidemic as the “gay plague,” believing that it

was retribution against immoral groups such as the LGBTQ community as well as intravenous drug users and sex workers, two additional populations at high risk of contracting the virus.

Yet the U.S. cannot afford to turn away healthy and willing donors. According to the Red Cross, only 38% of Americans are eligible to donate blood or platelets and less than 10%, or about 6.8 million, of Americans actually do donate. The shelf life for donated blood is brief, and the U.S. has recently seen an increased need for a steady volunteer blood supply to support the estimated

4.75 million Americans who require blood transfusions each year. It is estimated that there are about 4 million gay or bisexual men in the United States, a number nearly equivalent with those in need of transfusions annually.

It is unreasonable and dangerous to turn away MSM who have a clean bill of health and whose blood undergoes the same screening as other donors. The policy not only prevents healthy blood from reaching the patients who desperately need it, but perpetuates the age-old stigma about the inherent dirtiness or unnaturalness of non-heterosexual relationships — a stigma that jeopardizes the safety of LGBTQ people each day. There’s a simple way to fix this: reduce the required celibacy period to one month. This meets the time demands of blood screening tests and guarantees the safety of those who donate and those whose lives are saved by their donations.

Although LGBT History Month is drawing to a close, LGBTQ Americans will not be able to move past the painful gaps in their history created by the AIDS epidemic come Nov. 1. The FDA’s policy is as clear of a reminder of the crisis as the memorials built downtown. It is unacceptable for a regulation motivated by homophobia to prevent gay or bisexual men from donating blood to the survivors of attacks motivated by homophobia such as at Pulse. It’s time for us to call on the federal government to reverse its policy so that millions more Americans are eligible to donate blood — after all, silence equals death.

For the President and Hopefuls, Age Is More Than Just a Number SHAQUILLE KAMPTA Contributing Writer

A few weeks ago, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders suffered from a heart attack. At 78 years old, Sanders has been endlessly campaigning through the states over the last few months. Now, at such an old age, it’s a miracle that Sanders is able to keep up with the physical trials of the campaign trail.

But how long can sanders withstand the campaign rigor?

Even if he is able to deal with the pressure, can he handle the trials of the presidency?

Being the president requires you to be a quick thinker, especially during times of crisis.

Research has shown that at age 60, the frontal lobe and the hippocampus begin to shrink. Interestingly enough, these are the areas responsible for higher cognitive thinking and the encoding of new memories, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Besides the frontal lobe and the hippocampus, the entire brain also begins to shrink when we age.

Of course, this is detrimental to both Warren and Biden alike as they are both older candidates.

Biden has repeatedly confused his words onstage, leading people to question his mental capabilities.

Sanders might have been a strong presidential candidate when he was younger, but his ability to carry out the duties of the office today is questionable.

The oldest president to date is our current president, Donald Trump, who was 73 years old when he entered office. Sanders will be 79 years old if elected,

GAGE SKIDMORE VIA FLICKR

They say you should never ask a woman her age, but what about a politician?

and if reelected, he will be 83 years old, 10 years older than President Trump.

It might seem a little silly to criticize a candidate based on their age, but in this case, the age affects the future of our country.

Imagine a hypothetical: Sanders is elected president. As president, he will face day to day problems on how to handle issues such as the Middle East, China and Russia. Not to mention, he will also have to fix domestic issues such as healthcare, immigration and unemployment. At 79 years old, Sanders will need to rise to the challenge and solve these issues. However, there is no guarantee that he will react quickly enough, nor is there a

guarantee that he’ll be able to come up with effective solutions.

In terms of domestic policy, Sanders has plans to fix some of the deficiencies already present within our system. His policies, however, are very likely to encounter opposition from the Republicans. Is he capable of holding them back? More importantly, will it be possible for him to adapt to new policy challenges? These are the problems that arise from Sanders’s age.

As voters, we should take into account Sanders’ age when placing our ballot. Disregarding the mental incapacities at his age, his physical health should also be a concern. Even after his heart attack, Sanders is still doing

pretty well in the polls, polling in at the third highest — candidate among the spread of Democratic candidates. A heart attack should be a massive red flag to voters that this candidate is physically unfit to hold office. If ailment were to befall Sanders while he is in office, the country would be in a weakened state.

A president who is not capable of carrying out the duties of the office signals to other countries that the United States is not operating at its full capacity. In terms of international agreements, Sanders could be manipulated by other leaders. Moreover, a president who is ill can send a message to the markets that the U.S. economy is not doing well.

This can lead to an increase in unemployment which obviously has a negative impact on both our economy and the citizens of this country. Even more troubling is our potential to lose economic power in the international market.

A weakened president can also send signals to our enemies, especially China, that the United States’ economy is liable to hit a recession. Besides the economy, an ill president can cause a deadlock in the government as well.

Republicans and even Democrats might try to use Sanders’s deteriorating health against him. Then, all the American people get is a government made up of multiple factions all vying for power.

Instead of actually governing the people, the government will be holding its own election.

Despite all the obvious signs, some people will still stand by Sanders. They’ll even argue that Sanders will not be backed into a corner by his political opponents nor will he be bullied. That’s not a bad theory, given how well he has been doing in the debates.

Fordham students also had some opinions to share about age and the presidency. “I feel that older people tend to not relate to everything going on in our generation, so it might be better to have younger figures in power who can relate to us,” said Hussein Chebli, Gabelli School of Business ’23. Other students share differing opinions on the subject of age. “Age doesn’t matter to me as long as they’re healthy,” said Justin Raclaw Fordham College Lincoln Center ’21. Only time could tell whether Sanders could effectively carry out the duties of the presidency given his current mental and physical state.

WWW.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER October 30, 2019

Opinions

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The Catalan Crisis Was Born in Madrid MARTA GRANADOS Contributing Writer

Last April, I wrote a piece on Spain’s general elections in which I stated that the elections would produce no winners, only losers, as a result of the lack of dialogue and will to reach agreements.

Unfortunately, I was right. Six months after that article was published, Spain is holding a new general election and the Catalan issue is as heated as ever.

On Oct. 14, the Spanish Supreme Court sentenced nine Catalan political and social leaders to between nine and 13 years of prison after being in pre-trial imprisonment for two years. The judges found that the referendum on Catalonia’s political status held in early October 2017, and the protests that took place prior to it, were illegal under Spanish law, and decided to convict the leaders under charges of sedition and embezzlement. The verdicts sparked massive protests in Catalonia, and thousands congregated in Barcelona’s international airport El Prat-Josep Tarradellas to show their condemnation of the sentence. The following days also saw several protests in the streets of Catalonia and a general strike on Oct. 18, followed by 525,000 demonstrators in Barcelona alone.

The ultimate root of these civil uprisings? The leadership vacuum created by the Spanish and Catalan governments, which both refuse to lead the people of Catalan away from this crisis.

Catalan civil society has taken on this leadership role but is managing the situation with no clear

MARIUS MONTON VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The protests and civil unrest in Spain — like the Catalan crisis that sparked them — won’t end any time soon without strong leadership.

purpose. On the other hand, as a result of the unsatisfactory and unclear response of the Spanish government, the police have been left with the responsibility of responding to the protests, often in a disproportional way, which has generated a lot of controversy.

As of mid-October, there is a tense equilibrium between the police and civil society which is often broken by violence at night.

It is clear that in this situation only politicians have the power to reduce tensions through dialogue and negotiation. However, the key to understanding the political unresponsiveness in Catalonia is that Spain is holding general elections

on Nov. 10, which explains the lack of accountability in the face of the Catalan crisis.

What many people seem to forget is that the Catalan crisis was born in Madrid. We are not in front of a Catalan problem. What Catalans demand is no different from what Scotland demanded some years ago, and in their case the UK agreed to hold a referendum. Therefore, the difference lies in the response of London and Madrid to their respective territorial crises. In other words, the problem is not that Catalans want to discuss the political status of their territory. In fact, the principle of self-determination is

embodied in the first article of the UN Charter. The problem is that Spain cannot afford to hold a referendum in Catalonia because it is not politically and socially ready to reform its Constitution.

Unlike other European countries with a recent history of fascism, Spain has not yet come to terms with its past. Many topics like those concerning former fascist dictator Francisco Franco are still taboo, as seen recently when many far-right individuals expressed their discontent after Spanish President Pedro Sánchez announced the tomb of the dictator would be moved from its current memorial location. What this event showed that there still remains a faithful and unconditional support for the fascist dictator in Spanish society. This shameful part of Spanish recent history has never been overcome because fascism actually remained in Spain for 30 more years after World War II, and there has been no forgiveness nor acknowledgment for the abuses and crimes committed during that period.

As a result, the current Spanish Constitution, which dates back to 1978, was heavily influenced by those who had been part of Franco’s regime. Any attempt to reform the Constitution has faced rejection from the most conservative segment of Spanish society.

Thus, when the Catalan pro-independence government asked Madrid for a referendum, the response was that the Constitution did not allow any territorial changes and therefore refused to negotiate. Unfortunately, policymakers in Madrid have not yet realized that what weakens the Spanish Constitution the most is,

in fact, viewing it as a rigid legal document. This immobility has turned the Constitution into a source of illegitimacy and underrepresentation among Catalans, as they feel Spain’s supreme law has no space for their aspirations as citizens. It is hard to think that a mature democracy that really believed in its institutions would refuse to negotiate a Constitutional reform and systematically deny the right of self-determination to a territory.

Every year for the past decade, Madrid has ignored Catalans when they took to the streets asking for a new political status. Sadly, it looks like Spanish politicians do not know Catalan civil society enough, or else they would not have ignored the issue for so long.

Now they have seen that what started as a few thousands of people have become millions, and what is more, they are organized and convinced of their cause.

What we are seeing is a culmination of more than a decade of escalating tensions around Catalonia’s status in the Spanish Constitution, a story that began in 1978.

The last few years have been the consequences of the mismatch between Spain’s political and legal institutions and Catalonia’s political and social realities. And so Spanish institutions remain unable to deliver the policies Catalans need. As a result, it is safe to say this is no longer a Catalan crisis but a Spanish crisis.

Spain finds itself at a turning point. It can welcome the possibility to update its laws and institutions, and finally address past wrongs, or it can remain stuck in a past that no longer exists and deepen its crisis.

Privacy Is Dead. Long Live Privacy.

EVAN VOLLBRECHT Opinions Editor

With Mark Zuckerberg back in front of Congress testifying about data leaks, ever-present ads for VPNs and everyone from Apple to Fordham clamoring about the importance of multi-factor authentication, paranoia about digital privacy seems to be at an all-time high.

In fact, one might say that if you’re not paranoid, you’re not paying attention — but is it really paranoia if you’re right? After all, this isn’t spooky coincidence or the Baader-Meinhof effect. If you have an internet-connected device with a speaker, it is listening to your conversations and gathering data.

The data you produce is being used to build a digital picture of you, and whatever company created your device and software is using that picture to “improve the end-user experience.” Your privacy is an illusion. Your every word is analyzed. Vast computing resources go towards determining how to manipulate you. Mention to a friend that you’re hungry, and your Instagram feed tells you that Seamless has a promo sale right now. The panopticon is here, but damn if it isn’t convenient.

Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google built a house and sold it to you — and in that long, illegible contract you signed without reading, you gave them permission to come in at any time. Not that you could have complained. You needed the house.

Luckily, this sort of thing usually stays behind closed doors.

Those big companies are far more protective of your data than you are — after all, it earns them money. Sure, Zuckerberg might

STEPH LAWLOR/THE OBSERVER

Forget the monster in your closet; Mark Zuckerberg’s in your computer.

be eavesdropping on your 2 a.m. ramblings, but it’s not like anyone else can, right?

I think you see where this is going.

The bottom line is, the internet is inherently unable to be secure.

Given enough time and resources, any system can be hacked, any encryption broken. It’s just a question of how much time it will take. For properly encrypted data, it should be longer than the lifespan of the universe — but in practice, usually the answer is “not long.” The modern world of interconnected electronics is so complex, slapdash and volatile that it is nearly impos-

sible to cover every angle of attack, so most companies don’t bother to try: They simply put in enough security to keep the script kiddies out and leave it at that.

It makes sense: We lock our doors to keep out petty thieves, but we don’t build bunkers for the off chance a burglar will bring a battering ram.

It adds up to a learned helplessness. If someone is determined to get your data, they probably will.

But, it’s still important to know just how helpless we are.

If there’s one thing you take away from this article, let it be this: Any time you are anywhere

in the vicinity of an internet-capable device, your privacy is at risk. Yes, that means everything.

Every single device that can record and transmit information is a potential way to spy on you. Seem paranoid? It is, but it’s also true.

Cars, coffee makers, WiFi outlets, TVs — they’re all potential bugs waiting to be activated, but who cares? Your phone is far more compromising and just as insecure, and as with everything else, you can’t always tell when you’re being recorded. We are living in a world where anyone can be watched, and the only protection you have is the effort and motivation it would take to look at you in particular.

The thing is, there really is nothing we can do about it. This isn’t a problem that can be completely solved with technology or litigation — in both cases, anyone determined enough can circumvent either. And, in all honesty, this is a price we are willing to pay for those Seamless coupons.

Recording and transmitting information over the internet may be inherently vulnerable, but it’s also how we communicate and interact in the modern world. The sheer volume of traffic is both a testament to how essential the system is, and the only defense we have against malicious actors.

We may not be able to put the genie back in the bottle, but with acceptance comes adaptation.

There are a number of easy steps you can take to, if not eliminate, at least mitigate some of the risks of living in the digital age — putting another lock on the door, so to speak.

First, though you’ve probably heard this before, just be cognizant about what you put online. Unless you asked someone to watch your house, you should wait to post vacation photos until your return.

Your finsta is definitely not secure enough for photos that could get you in trouble. And for God’s sake, if you put down “drugs” as reason for payment on Venmo as a joke, delete that before your next interview.

Second, stop using the same 1-3 passwords for everything (I know, I’m guilty of it too). It’s incredibly dangerous, and there is absolutely no reason that you should access your bank account with the same credentials you used for Club Penguin back in 2008. Use a modern, easy-to-remember password scheme like diceware instead.

Now is also a good time to visit haveibeenpwned.com and check if you’ve been affected by the kinds of data breaches that make password reuse so dangerous.

Third, use a secure (that means encrypted end-to-end) service like Signal or Riot to send whatever sensitive messages you may need to. WhatsApp, SMS and especially Messenger are all vulnerable to some degree or another — fine for everyday use, but maybe not for career-jeopardizing content.

Fourth, Fordham IT has the right idea. Multi-factor authentication is good protection from most automated attacks. It may be a pain, but it also may have saved you from dangerous leaks. Also, they have neat little sliding covers that go over your webcam. It’s worth picking one up.

Finally, it’s important to remember this: although so much of the digital environment is out of your control, your physical environment is not. The easiest way to safeguard your privacy is to do things the old-fashioned way.

Face-to-face conversations and handwritten letters will always be the best ways to keep a secret.

Just make sure to turn your phone off.

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Big Apple Circus Wants Me Dead POLINA UZORNIKOVA Staff Writer

It came in the month of October. Almost like the 1917 revolution, but infinitely worse. The Big Apple Circus. The resident of Damrosch Park. My fourth roommate. My obnoxiously loud, infuriatingly blue, pathway-blocking nightmarish fiend roommate who has issues with turning the lights out after it’s past bedtime and has a strange obsession with screaming children.

It was what could have been a beautiful Saturday morning.

The unreasonably hot weather actually kept the tourists away for once, and the sun was rising in the cloudless, cerulean sky.

I, after an eventful Friday, was peacefully asleep, undisturbed by the bright rays shining onto my bed from the window. Then, suddenly, it began.

A grand concerto of drills, hammers, chainsaws, buzzsaws and God-knows-what-else filled the air. I tossed, and turned, and groaned in my sleep, trying my best to keep the sound from penetrating my peaceful slumber.

In the end, I turned a little bit too hard and fell out of bed.

As my face raced to meet the floor with a loud smack, my whole life passed before my eyes.

Unfortunately, I didn’t die. The drills, which were now harmo-

nizing at an especially ear-piercing pitch, still penetrated my head.

Banished from my room by the cacophony, I returned to it late at night, hoping to spend a few hours reading in bed (a grandma-like pastime these days, I know). However, the circus just wouldn’t leave me alone. The erected tent that had the color of a reusable IKEA bag stood proudly in my McKeon backyard and taunted me with its pompous grandeur. Not only was it an eyesore because it spoiled the beige-brown-gray-red Manhattan landscape, but also because it literally shined a bright light in my eye with one of its roof projectors. Why the projectors would ever be positioned there is still a mystery to everyone who fell victim to them. Many still haven’t recovered from the trauma of wanting to observe beautiful cityscape as they fall asleep, but instead having to buy an eye mask, or worse, to physically move their bed.

A week later, I woke up with the throat of a 60-year-old chain smoker. Once more, the circus was to blame. It so happens that my wonderful body is very scared of the wonderful outside (city child problems), and to prevent me from exploring the wide plains of Russia, it had developed a myriad of allergies, including to every single animal that has fur — or doesn’t, since hairless

cats still make my face blow up into a watermelon-sized sphere...

Well, you can probably see where this is going.

The circus had moved in the dogs, ponies and horses a couple of weeks before the shows were to start. The animal dandruff was spreading through the air, into the air conditioning vents, which then circulated it through the room. Despite hating the animals for giving me a permanent red eye, I could nevertheless empathize with them, since I, too, had to move in a week early to go through a strange and elongated process of “Global Transition,” which I was forced to complete as an international student (the only transition it helped me with was my jetlag).

I have managed to fix my throat by overdosing on cetirizine, so the struggle has been turned over to my debit card: a 70-count pack of Zyrtec costs $35, and I’m still recovering after being forced into purchasing an overpriced meal plan (seriously, we could have used all that money to bribe the circus to set up shop somewhere else).

The circus won’t give up. It blasts alarmingly loud music for hours and hours at times when I most need to concentrate. In fact, it is doing so now, as I write this confession of hate. There is a bright side to my story: I’m moving out next semester. But my mind cannot rest, and I can’t

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER

help but worry about the poor souls that will continue their lives under the circus’s reign: It’s here to stay until February, and it’s only going to get worse.

So I suggest that we, McKeon residents, and other Fordham students willing to support our righteous cause, rise up and tear the circus down. Not literally

(unless you know someone who owns a bulldozer), but with the power of our Jesuit souls. Join me in writing a petition to Father McShane, in which we ask him to perform an exorcist rite on the devils in the blue tent! It’s time to free ourselves from the circus’ reign once and for all, before it is too late...

Dinosaur Fossil Discovered Underneath Lincoln Center Campus KEVIN CHRISTOPHER ROBLES Retrospect Host

Students at Fordham Lincoln Center (FLC) were recently treated to a rare look into the world of paleontology when an excavation crew arrived on campus to unearth a secret hidden beneath the dirt: the fossilized skeleton of a long-dead dinosaur.

“Yeah, we didn’t really know what it was at first,” said Karen Hoffa, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’22, a theater major. “We were in rehearsals the whole day for the mainstage and whatever, then suddenly GRRRRRHHH (imitating the sound of a piledriver) and it was like an earthquake. I was like, you know, I’m from LA. I know what an earthquake is like and I thought it was an earthquake. Anyway, we had to stop and one girl screamed and I was totally thrown off balance, like, totally off balance.

They should really schedule this stuff when there aren’t rehearsals.”

The fossil was discovered when Archibald Karphoozi, a paleontologist on his way home from a symposium at Columbia University, stopped to use the bathroom at FLC. Though he was concerned that the security guard might prevent him from entering, Karphoozi was pleasantly surprised to discover that he was simply waved in as the guard scrolled on his phone. Having finished his business, he stumbled onto the plaza where he tripped on what had previously been assumed to be a rock. While on the ground and recovering from his fall, Karphoozi discovered that the rock was not, in fact, a rock, but a small fragment of an ancient beast jutting out from under the grass.

“Yeah, I was really surprised,” Karphoozi said. “Usually, you find these things way out in the middle

of nowhere, but for once I didn’t even have to leave the city. Thank God. My MetroCard only had enough money for one ride.”

Karphoozi returned with a number of fellow researchers to take a look at the fossil. They determined that they needed to return with an excavation crew for further examination. However, they soon ran into trouble with the administration.

“There was some resistance to the idea,” Karphoozi said.

“The idea that there was anything here before Fordham is absolutely absurd,” said Senior Vice President for Student Affairs Jeffrey Grey while desperately trying to shield a Robert Moses plaque from view. “And don’t look over there!” he shouted when a digger encountered a sarcophagus-like box with an engraving that read “School Spirit, 1841-1875.”

However, University President Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., overruled Grey and greenlit the excavation. “Don’t you see?” he said, shoving an Excel spreadsheet full of profit margins in the face of the interviewer. “We can use this in so many different ways: marketing, recruitment, slogans — hey, what do you think about ‘Come to Fordham University, we literally have a dinosaur on campus.’ I mean, yeah, we can workshop the idea a bunch but still!” With a glint in his eye and a sly smile, McShane nudged the interviewer with his elbow. “Plus, we get to say that we’re the first university to have a dinosaur dug up on campus. U.S. News and World Report will love this!”

After the fossil was excavated, researchers determined that it was some sort of quadrupedal, horned dinosaur. “It kinda looks like a ram,” noted one paleontologist. McShane then burst into the room, saying something about merchandising opportunities.

Because of the unique situation involved in digging up a dinosaur

fossil on university grounds, the researchers gave Fordham the opportunity to both name and display the dinosaur.

McShane seized the opportunity, much to Grey’s chagrin, and named the dinosaur Fordhamsaurus Rex. The fossil is now exhibited in the middle of the plaza, displayed proudly where a statue of a ram formerly stood. Upon the display’s installation, it became a source of interest for both the students of FCLC and the general New York populace.

“It’s a pretty cool-looking dinosaur,” said Robert Portman, a garbage man working for the NYC sanitation department. “But I didn’t even know there was a school over here!”

“It’s pretty dope,” said Shayla Macintosh, FCLC ’21, as she took a hit of a vape. “I’m an art history major, so I’m pretty excited about a new installation piece being displayed in the plaza. Good art is so hard to find these days, and I’m just excited that new stuff is being developed by the Fordham community.”

Frank Simio, vice president of Lincoln Center, later noted that the display has garnered more attention for FCLC. “Still,” he said, “it’s going to be tough to beat that time we dug up the exhumed body of Robert Moses when we were building McKeon.”

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY MADDIE SANDHOLM/THE OBSERVER

10

The Rise and Fall XVIII Rameses Dynast

Features

October 30, 2019 THE OBSERVER

WWW.fordhamobserver.com

XIX Causes of Death: Slaughterhouse (2x) Pack of wild dogs Liver cirrhosis Pneumonia

XX

Accidentally twisting his head in the fence surrounding his pen Incurable gangrene Peaceful retirement in Upstate New York

VIII

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE FORDHAM UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

l of the ty The macabre,

THE OBSERVER October 30, 2019

11

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION/STEPH LAWLOR

strange and hopelessly true tale

Features

of Fordham’s live mascots

XVI

By GRACE GETMAN Opinions Editor

The best spooky stories are the true ones. For an example of that, you don’t even have to go beyond Fordham’s gates, but you may have to look a little lower than eye level.

At what? At Fordham’s live mascots.

From 1925 to 1978, Fordham maintained live rams who were trotted out during sporting events to represent our school pride.

These brave rams lived in a hutch constructed for them originally behind Queen’s Court at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus. After the original shed burned down in 1960 due to a mysterious fire, it was renovated into a 1260-cubic-foot “Ram Hall” by the father of Princess Grace of Monaco, an Irish Catholic who ran a bricklaying business.

The rams’ quarters, while not palatial, were fit for royalty, as they were “plated with asbestos” and given a fire extinguisher to ensure safety.

The rams would need all the safety measures they could get.

While many of them lived short lives, each one became a legend.

Fordham’s first ram, appropriately named Rameses I, reigned only briefly. This was not due to the typical concerns of a sovereign, such as a revolt by the people or a coup d’état, but instead a plot most foul.

In 1927, the reign of Rameses I came to an unexpected end when students from a rival university sent him to a slaughterhouse.

This was not the end of Rameses I, however. After his life came to a tragic end, several students retrieved his body and, like the Egyptian emperor from whom he derives his name, his body was preserved for eternity. His taxidermied head was kept in The Fordham Ram office from 1928 to at least 1935. Upon a request for comment, Aislinn Keely, Fordham Col-

lege Rose Hill ’20 and current editor-in-chief of The Fordham Ram, said, “Unfortunately, I don’t know what happened to the mascot, and after asking a few previous editors, no one else had heard of the story either.”

Many of his successors met similar tragic fates: Rameses II was also sent a slaughterhouse, Rameses III succumbed to a pack of wild dogs and Rameses XVIII died of cirrhosis of the liver from alcohol that his caretakers — officially titled “Ramkeepers” — would give him after Fordham’s athletic wins.

During World War II, eight members of the Rameses line visited Fordham servicemen in Europe, with one of those ambassadors, Rameses VIII, becoming a local star after he accompanied models during a fashion show to support the British Relief Society.

At home, the Rameses dynasty was under threat on every front by rival universities. Every athletic rival Fordham ever had (and some it didn’t) took turns ram-napping Fordham’s prized rulers. These schools — which included Georgetown, Iona, NYU, Seton Hall, Manhattan and seemingly every other collegiate school within the tri-state area — made a game of stealing Fordham’s mascots before big football games, only revealing their culpability at the game itself.

In 1933, the New York State Police had to become involved after NYU students absconded with Rameses V for two days, travelling over 300 miles and ending up “somewhere in Connecticut.”

His exact location has been lost to history, but the state police contacted their Connecticut counterparts who retrieved the mascot and raced him to the New York border so that he could make the big Fordham-NYU football game.

Thankfully, there were no injuries save for “several painful bruises inflicted by the bucking Rameses on the police who had been his benefactors.”

Fordham students did not take this contant ram-napping lying down, and would frequently guard the ram’s quarters to prevent Rameses’ being taken hostage and take revenge against those who dared to trample upon their mighty mascot.

In 1948, The Ram solicited “Fordham men with spirit” to guard the ram from NYU students, whom they expected to “declare an open season on all rams in the Bronx,” as “it would be very discouraging to have him show up at the Polo Grounds on November 27 on the wrong side of the field.”

These ram-napping escapades could be brutal. In 1965, The Ram reported that Fordham students had prevented a ram-napping attempt by students from Iona College in New Rochelle, New York, for the second time in two weeks.

They commented: “Last week we weren’t so lucky and Rameses XX had some uncomfortable moments. Tuesday the boys from New Rochelle had a couple of uncomfortable moments.”

Once, these non-stop hostage attempts led to a press stunt which became the stuff of legend when Rameses XIX, called “Thumper,” was kidnapped by students from Manhattan College, dyed bright green (Manhattan’s colors) and left in front of the Madison Square Garden Circus, which claimed him in press releases as an “Irish dog act.”

According to The New York Daily Mirror, which ran a center spread on the event, a couple of Fordham students came and persuaded Rameses XIX with a handful of oats to be “taken away for a bubble bath.”

One of Rameses XIX’s successors, Rameses XXI, while he reigned longer than most, was a helpless victim of kidnapping schemes, and actually ended up spending more time at other uni-

versities in the New York area than he ever did at Fordham.

Some rams, however, managed to hold onto their throne for years or left power of their own volition, especially in the dying days of the empire. Rameses XX, who ruled during the mid-1960s — better known as “Fatty” — peacefully died of pneumonia. Rameses XXIV was forced to abdicate when “he” gave birth to a baby ewe and his subjects realized that Rameses XXIV was not, in fact, a ram. Rameses XXIII grew old enough to retire, and when his beard turned gray, moved to Birch Hill Game Farm in upstate New York.

Despite this string of successes, the Rameses empire went out with a bang, not a whimper.

On Dec. 10, 1975, The Ram reported that Rameses XXVII broke his neck by accidentally twisting his head in the fence surrounding his pen, and that there were no plans by the administration to appoint a successor.

One was found, however, when a student donated a ram from his family farm in exchange for the baby ewe and Rameses XXIV. This very last live mascot, Rameses XXVIII, was put to sleep in 1978 due to incurable gangrene caused by being kicked by a stallion at a stable.

Fordham’s administration, disenchanted from live mascots due to the constant kidnapping, rising health expenses and violent deaths, decided to end the reign of the live mascots following the death of Rameses XXVIII. Ever since, their duties have been assumed by Fordham students in ram costumes, a mere vestige of what once was.

The Rameses dynasty, which featured over 20 heirs, shares a bloody, twisted history, made all the more shocking by its complete accuracy.

So this Halloween, show your respect for the sacrifice that these brave and noble rams made for our university.

Features Editor Marielle Sarmiento - msarmiento3@fordham.edu

Features

October 30, 2019 THE OBSERVER

McMahon Hall Hauntings and Supernatural Suitemates

By MARIELLE SARMIENTO Features Editor

My roommate always says that McMahon Hall is the best place to be haunted because every mysterious noise, disembodied footstep or blood curdling shriek can be always be explained — this building houses hundreds of college students who study and hang out at ungodly hours of the night. However, there are a few supernatural occurrences my roommates and I experienced that can’t be explained by the nocturnal routines of an undergrad.

One night during the first week of the semester, all my roommates sat in our living room when the door to one of our bedrooms slammed shut and all conversation halted. A quick investigation involving our kitchen knives and a frying pan resulted in an open window and air pressure being the culprit for the autonomous door.

However, this led to my new suitemates, Isabella Malfi and Natalie Grammer, both Fordham College

at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’21, casually mentioning that a ghost lived in our apartment, which they had also lived in last year with different suitemates.

Ghost Deck Victory At this exact time last year, Isabella and Natalie sat around their dining table in McMahon with the whole apartment to play Cards Against Humanity. Isabella’s boyfriend, Jack, insisted that they needed a “ghost deck,” a randomly dealt pile that each player takes turns drawing from to throw into the mix. The game began and the dealer chose the funniest, wittiest card for the prompt — a look around the table and no one displayed signs of triumph. The ghost won fair and square since players submit cards anonymously. Except the ghost kept winning — again and again and again.

Ghost: 1, Apartment 15H: spooked, but impressed.

Paranormal Knocks This was a disconcerting tale for my suitemates Julianne Holmquist,

FCLC ’21 and Margot Reid, Gabelli School of Business ’21, and I to hear since we had also just escaped another supernaturally occupied dorm from the previous school year. While Isabella and Natalie were playing card games with a ghoul, Julianne and I spent a year dealing with faint rattling on our front door with no one on the other side. It sounded like someone jiggling their key in the lock, but unable to get the door open. After a few spells of this, we realized the window was open, so the air pressure was likely causing our door to shake and sound like ghostly knocks — problem solved, mystery incorporated.

One afternoon, we heard a jarring RA-knock, like the it’s-quiethours-during-finals-and-you’rethrowing-a-party knock. Except it was a weekday afternoon, and we were quietly doing homework. I got up to answer the door, and no one.

The knocks continued, the door shaking incessantly like someone trying to break in.

“The windows!” Julianne exclaimed. Ah, yes. How could we forget to close the windows?

“Julianne,” I said, after a loop around our apartment. “None of the windows are open.”

Glass-Shattering Ghoul Had the devious ding-dongditcher gotten into our apartment?

Apparently.

Julianne was alone in our apartment. She opened up the kitchen cabinet, and broken shards of glass rained down. One of our drinking glasses had not just cracked or broken, but shattered as if smashed by an external force, and now its tiny shards covered our cabinet. Swallowing even the smallest particle of glass could have meant a deadly puncturing of the esophagus. Good thing glass shards now covered all over dishes.

Scarier than that, we made Julianne do the dishes.

Supernatural Soul Swapping Not all of our unearthly encounters were ominous.

Last semester, everyone was

stressed and in the midst of studying. Isabella was walking out of their shared bedroom and Natalie was rounding the kitchen corner to enter their room.

Isabella describes it as if her soul left her corporeal body, and she saw herself pass through Natalie.

Natalie said it felt like when you’re walking against a strong gust of wind and it goes through your clothes, but it was their bodies that passed through one another.

I’ve made them tell this story over and over again, but I never make it through the end without chills. Living with Natalie and Isabella, there’s definitely something paranormal about that friendship.

They’re the kind of best friends who click so supernaturally that a metaphysical incident like that doesn’t seem so unlikely.

The McMahon bumps in the night never cease, my suitemates swap souls in the kitchen and screams from the vents are a regular occurrence, but at least we don’t live in McKeon.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ESMÉ BLEEKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER

Club Spotlight: CSA Commuter Horror Stories

By HANNAH KANG Contributing Writer

The good, the bad, the unsanitary: commuting students at Fordham Lincoln Center have seen it all. While there are some easy, even charming days during the daily commutes, other days are definitely ... interesting, especially come the Halloween season. The people? Unreal. The MTA? Unreliable. The smells? Unclassifiable. Days like these are just as bizarre and traumatizing as they sound.

Here are a few of the many horror stories of the New York City subway, disclosed by members of the Commuting Students Association (CSA).

F Train, between Jackson Heights (Roosevelt Avenue) and Jamaica-179 Street: “I was on the F and there was a man who just seemed out of it but I didn’t pay him any attention. All of a sudden, from his pocket, there was a distinctive rodent noise. I ripped off my headphones, and I was so sure it was a rat. Wrong.

It was a squirrel. A whole squirrel. The man was petting it and feeding it seeds from his pocket, acting like it was totally normal. I

ANDREW BEECHER/THE OBSERVER

Walking dead? More like commuting cadavers.

get off at the last stop, so I had to sit with the man and squirrel for another 10 stops.”

-Alleyah Ally, FCLC ’23 Q Train: “It was the evening of July 13,

2019. I was on the Q train going downtown to Times Square in hopes of a fun night out with my two closest friends. We were planning to eat dinner together in Hell’s Kitchen, but something got

in the way of that. There I was on the Q, minding my own business and listening to music as usual.

Suddenly, the train stopped between Lexington Avenue-63rd Street and 57th Street-7th Avenue.

“The usual train traffic,” I thought to myself. Boy, was I wrong. Little did I know that I was underground in the midst of a blackout.

I would be stuck alone in that subway car for exactly one hour. With no service on my phone, I had no ability to contact my friends or family. None of us in the subway car would know about what had happened until power was finally restored.”

-Arman Abelian, FCLC ’23 N Train, between 59th and Lexington Avenue and Queensboro Plaza: “Morning rush hour, so the train was crowded. However, a guy wanted space from where he was sitting. He resorted to pushing people away and yelling at a lady who sat next to him. I was standing near him, very annoyed, but had no space to move. Initially he did not say anything, but then started yelling at me and stepping on me to move. I retorted back, but managed to move away for my own comfort. When exiting, my

bag accidentally brushed against him and he snapped his head and spat towards me. I’m not sure if it landed on me, but I made sure to sanitize the entire right side of my body.”

-Melissa Gao, Gabelli School of Business ’23 D train, 59th Street Columbus Circle: “One morning, I was about to get off the train when a lady handed me a brochure for a church and said she wanted me to join. She got off with me and asked me where I lived, what train I took, etc. I gave her vague answers and lied about my name because I knew there was something off.

Then she said to cut my hair because I’d look pretty, and offered her number to take me to a hairstylist. I refused and left because I knew she was trying to sex traffic me. It was so strange.”

-Purnota Hasan, FCLC ’23 While sharing these experiences are a lot more entertaining than living them firsthand, subway stories have and will continue to be a cultural unifier for NYC commuters.

But if you’ve made it this far and nobody has reminded you today, wash your hands. Seriously.

WWW.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER October 30, 2019

Features

13

American Gender Story: Halloween

PHOTOS COURTESY OF REBECCA SLAMAN

Now: Senior Slaman (right), enjoying Halloween and her presentation on her own terms, dressed as Shaggy.

Then: Fifth grade Slaman, deep in the throes of both her Jonas Brothers obsession and her gender presentation woes.

By REBECCA SLAMAN Contributing Writer

For a drag queen, Halloween is just another day. Drag queens loved Halloween so much when they were younger that they made it their life. For many young queers like I once was, Halloween was everything.

My crippling social anxiety made gender presentation a

nightmare. Actually, being perceived in any possible way was a nightmare.

In elementary school, I could be found in baggy basketball shorts and oversized t-shirts.

I did not want my body to be seen, because to be seen is to be judged. I was fine with the garish neon colors if it meant my taller and wider body would not be the object of anyone’s gossip.

Once I moved on to middle school, this was not enough. I needed to fit in, so I observed and copied. Uncomfortable shirts from Aeropostale that clung to my budding breasts offered the concept of fitting in without the practicality. Clothes did not fit me like they did the more petite girls. That, and hand-me-down clothes from my fashionable, cool cousin were my only options.

I could not have been more obviously a lesbian, but that realization would come years later. At the time, clothes were the constant source of my tween anguish, and it never felt like I was doing it right.

But there was one day out of the year where I was free — Halloween. Finally, I did not have to conform to what I thought was expected of me. I could be someone else, which ironically meant I could be more myself. In fifth

grade, I was deep in the throes of my Jonas Brothers obsession.

The Jonas Brothers have a song called “Video Girl,” about a girl who used them for fame and money.

That Halloween, I bought a curly blonde wig, wore pink shorts, decorated a merch shirt with puffy fabric paint and wore pink kitten heels. This was the height of womanhood to me. I was doing girl drag. I would never have the bravery to wear any of these things outside of Halloween. I granted myself the freedom to experiment with what I wore under the guise of costume.

In seventh grade, my gym teacher pointed out that “middle schoolers love to crossdress.” It was true. So many boys dressed up as a girl to be funny to their friends. Sure, their stereotypically high pitched voices and giggles were offensive, but I knew

how fun it was to play pretend — if only my public school had offered a theatre program. I dressed up as Paul McCartney’s Sgt. Pepper. My mom went all out on the details of the blue silky suit she sewed herself.

When I expressed hesitation on putting on the mustache, she assured me that everyone would love it.

For once, I was able to stand at my full height without cowering, because I was in character as a man. I did not have to be attractive to boys, which was the steadily growing goal of many of my classmates at Halloween. I was not embarrassed when someone yelled “James!” thinking I was a boy in my class.

It was working. For one day a year in that middle school horror show, my appearance did not confine me. I could be free of the American gender nightmare.

We love our friendly phantoms... but they don’t write articles.

Don’t ghost us —

Join The Observer

Meetings Mondays at 5:30 p.m. in 140W Room 325

Fun & Games Editor Esmé Bleecker-Adams - ebleeckeradams@fordham.edu

F un & Games Crossword: Holey Spirit 1

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BY ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS

Across

20. removed from power 22. fill-in for a missing teacher: Abbr.

23. tricks 25. Greased Lightning, for one 26. pay increase 28. “born” in France 29. sound of disapproval 31. given recognition 33. rally 34. moves unsteadily 35. the Father’s soul, turned divine rage

1. messy collision sound 6. section of a play 9. well-known Biblical boater 13. oldest Gorgon, in Greek mythology 14. language spoken by Thailand’s neighbor 15. strange or unusual, in Scotland 16. celebratory phantom, turned entertainer 18. religious subgroup 19. Salt Lake City state

October 30, 2019 THE OBSERVER

Ghost Stories

37. Cold Stone 39. heartless material, in “The Wizard of Oz” 40. lunar pull that runs in the wind’s direction 41. maritime branch of the Armed Forces: Abbr.

42. sound whispered to get someone’s attention 45. owner of the “Frozen” trading post 46. goof up 48.

-Roman 50. ISO country code for Freetown’s nation 51. 19th century mathematician Évariste 54. something remarkable, archaically 55. famous volcano Mount 57. spooky gathering place, turned hysteric trial 59. unseemly character Packer on “The Office” 60. guide for protein synthesis: Abbr.

61. a lot (of), informally 62. approximately: 2 wds.

63. response to a successful proposal 64. annoyances

Down

1. sculpture 2. collection of words 3. Underworld river said to induce forgetfulness 4. in event; regardless

5. also, or a take-out instruction 6. scientific name for a river herring 7. singing voice also known as evirato 8. carry 9. Greek letter “N’s” 10. unbalanced 11. plaintiff 12. breeding grounds 13. reject 17. Twain character Finn, for short 21. passing slowly 24. piping hot 27. 18th element 30. moved quickly, or noticed 32. drifts, regarding a smell perhaps 33. chatter 34. short (of) 35. Saturdays and Sundays 36. edge of a habitable zone, for timber 37. near: 2 wds.

38. expert in home economics?

41. acid; byproduct of purine digestion 42. second-to-last syllable 43. sections of 6 Across 44. wrongful acts 47. rosters 49. Rose Hill coffee house, or streets 52. wrong or askew 53. word after pawn or photo 56. fuss, to Shakespeare 58. tool used to break up soil

Ghosting Through the Ages

By MICHELLE LAI, Contributing Writer •The Oxford English Dictionary shows that the word “ghost” is of West Germanic origin and appears in Old English as “gást,” meaning “soul or spirit.”

The first recorded instance of ghosting is from a letter written on a stone tablet in Akkadian, a language related to Sumerian. The writer mentions that the receiver has not responded time and again to his letters.

•In the late 1900s, it was largely associated with ghostwriting when a person wrote for someone else without claiming credit for their own work, essentially acting as a “ghost” by disappearing from the next steps of publication.

•Today, to “ghost” someone is to end all forms of contact with another person after you have established a connection with them, encouraging them to eventually stop contacting you. The first of seven entries on Urban Dictionary defines it as “to avoid someone until they get the picture and stop contacting you.”

Sources: Oxford English Dictionary, Urban Dictionary

Spidoku

By DEIRDRE REED, Staff

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By JILL RICE, Copy Editor SUBMISSION IN RESPONSE TO OUR 10/11 NEWSLETTER REQUEST FOR “GHOST” STORIES:

“I went on a date with someone who had recently moved to the country from Ireland. We talked about many things, including how hard it was for him to meet people his age since he was not currently in college. During the course of the meal, I realized we had some fundamental differences, so we talked about them and then decided we would be just friends. I offered to introduce him to my friends so he would know more people in the area and he came over to my apartment to meet my roommates. After he left, he texted me that he definitely wanted to meet up again soon, and a few days later I invited him over to have dinner with my roommates that Friday. He accepted my invitation, but then texted me the next day asking if I could find out if my roommate would be interested in dating him. She wasn’t and he didn’t answer me after I let him know. My roommates and I had a great time without him at dinner that Friday and I never saw him again. He later liked my roommate on Hinge and tried to follow her Instagram. She has successfully avoided him thus far.”

If the answer is:

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3x(3+3)/3+3

4x4/2 7+2/2-2 2+9/3+(9-6)

By ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS

(7-3)x(8/2+2)/6

Nov. 22 — Dec. 21

Sagittarius, hell hath no fury like a roommate scorned. Better sleep with the lights on this week and keep a heavy textbook under your pillow.

Capricorn

Dec. 22 — Jan. 19

You have no idea what you are capable of, Capricorn. There is no disguising your ruthless desire for catastrophe and destruction this Halloween. Robert Moses could never.

Aquarius

Jan. 20 — Feb. 18

Aquarius, don’t drink the water in the dining hall this week. Don’t step on the sidewalk cracks, don’t do crack, don’t so much as crack an egg. Everything will be okay.

Pisces

Feb. 19 — March 20

Something smells fishy, and it’s coming from behind your closet door.

We all have skeletons in there, but yours are scarier than most. Good luck with that.

March 21 — April 19

Watch out, Aries. Danger lurks around every corner. Look out where your hooves fall, and don’t venture too far from your flock.

April 20 — May 20

Take the bull by the horns Taurus, but make sure not to get gored. October holds much in store for you, but make sure you don’t charge ahead without checking to see what lies there.

Gemini

May 21 — June 20

Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. Gemini, use October to brew your potions carefully.

Use enough eye of newt and toe of frog, and you can have everything you’ve ever wanted.

Cancer

June 21 — July 22

Hard times ahead for you, Cancer. Better pinch yourself because this week will be the stuff of nightmares. You thought your bed-wetting days were behind you?

Leo

July 23 — Aug. 22

Leo, I know you spent a lot of time on your costume, but this Halloween will be all tricks and no treats for you.

Aug. 23 — Sept. 22

How do you keep a Virgo in suspense?

Check back tomorrow.

0(7-2x8+9-2x1+3)

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Mercury will be in retrograde on Halloween.

If you know what that means, get a life. Or take one, but make sure you have a safe place to hide the body.

Virgo

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“I write to you again and again and you pay no attention to me.”

Paint-by-Numbers

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Taurus

•While the noun has been used since A.D. 900, the verb has only been used since 1616, appearing in William Shakespeare’s Antony & Cleopatra: “Julius Caesar/Who at Phillippi the good Brutus ghosted.” The verb here means “to haunt as an apparition.”

•Beginning in the late 1800s, the word came to describe a sailing vessel and its ability to “make relatively good progress when there is very little wind,” which is similar to a ghost that sweeps through a house without help from external forces.

By THE FUN & GAMES STAFF

Aries

c. 1900 to 1600 B.C.

The Evolution of the Word ‘Ghost’

Horrorscopes

2(9/3+1)-5

Libra

Sept. 23 — Oct. 22

Libra, the ghosts of your past are surfacing, and they are hungry for revenge. They’d also like a cheesesteak and fries.

Arts & Culture Editor Gillian Russo - grusso12@fordham.edu

Arts & Culture

October 30, 2019

THE OBSERVER

Six Nights of Punk in a Reimagined ‘Twelfth Night’ Fordham Theatre’s second mainstage production explores gender and sexuality using original punk rock music

By BRIELLE CAYER Staff Writer

When most people consider William Shakespeare, they don’t normally think of rock music. Yet, in Fordham Theatre’s upcoming production of the Bard’s romantic comedy “Twelfth Night,” punk rock compositions initiate and guide the storyline.

Continuing with the theatre program’s trend of its most recent mainstage play, “The Wolves,” this reimagined piece provokes compelling questions about gender and societal norms while integrating themes of sexuality, power and struggle into its modern adaptation.

Despite being a play and not a musical, “Twelfth Night” contains five original music pieces, the first being the ’80s pop-influenced opening number, “My Lady is a Madman.” Cast member Ashley Everhart, Fordham College Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’20, helped write the score as co-composer and music director, as well as playing one half of the Festes duo with co-composer Solomon Margo, FCLC ’22.

A classical musician and singer, Everhart cited bands such as Tears for Fears, Sleater Kinney, the Eurythmics and The Cranberries as inspiration for her and Margo in developing the show’s music.

The integration of pop rock music isn’t the only modern aspect of this production; cast members are also discovering new meaning in the play’s presentation of gender and sexuality. Eliana Rowe, FCLC ’20, plays the countess Olivia, who falls in love with a man she believes to be Cesario but is actually the female character Viola in disguise.

“The show kind of has two different forms that it takes: on the nose what Shakespeare wrote, or the other version which is very, very gay. So, we’re really jumping

LEV YAKOVLEV/THE OBSERVER

The “Twelfth Night” cast confronts questions about societal norms in rehearsals for Shakespeare’s classic play.

into that,” Rowe said. “I think what got me really pumped about the show is when we heard that the vision for the piece was that Olivia and Malvolio were going to be both cast either as female-identified or male-identified to make a point about what we laugh at and why we laugh at different kinds of love.”

Malvolio, the stiff and vain servant of Olivia, is portrayed by Chloe Rice, FCLC ’21. This character, who is normally presented by a male actor, spends the play attempting to seduce and marry the

uninterested Olivia.

“The story changes a little bit because Malvolio is not only cast as a woman, but he is now a female character. So, when you have a character who used to be male attracted to a female and is now an androgynous lesbian woman, you run into differences in what we laugh at,” Everhart elaborated. “I think by changing Malvolio’s sex, we steer this play in a direction that is going to more deliberately comment on gender and sexuality in a way that can be very clear of

our intention, as opposed to just playing at undertones.”

When asked how she might describe the ultimate meaning of the piece, Rowe paused to reflect before answering, “It’s about what it means to use your power and how you use your power. It asks what you do when you can’t get what you want. And then also, what does that mean for how you treat other people so that you feel more powerful? I think that’s interesting because it happens all of the time in the world, so I think this is a great show to have this conversation about in a way that’s not condemning, but eye-opening. It reminds us to be aware of how we use our power.”

For Everhart, the show’s mes-

sage is represented by one of the opening song’s lyrics: “Could I make you care if I just chopped my hair?”

She said, “I really love that as an encapsulating idea for the show - this idea that asks, ‘How much do I have to change surface-level things about me for you to see me as someone you could love?’ I think it allows you to reflect on how we try to change ourselves to be what other people think they can love, instead of saying I am exactly who I am and I’m 100% lovable because of that.”

Everyone can catch Everhart, Rowe and the rest of the cast in the inspired “Twelfth Night” in Pope Auditorium at 8 p.m. from Nov. 6-8 and 14-16.

Student Creatives Lead Studio Shows

By MILEY CAO Staff Writer

The Fordham Theatre studio season has been around (and all over) the Lincoln Center campus since fall 2012. This fall, once again, Fordham Theatre students and avid theatre fans have seen another diverse season go underway. New faces appear in the casts and crews, and new plays have been written and directed, but the excitement (as well as pride and relief for the plays that have been done) seems to be the same and never fade.

Inside the Leon Lowenstein building to the right of the tunnel leading to McKeon appears the black-and-red mysterious room with red letters spelling out “The Veronica Lally Kehoe Studio Theatre.” Many people, especially students, never see its door open at any time of the day other than before and after each studio season performance. The capacity of the venue compared to the large multimedia Pope Auditorium is minimal, but the crews never fail to make use of the small size to be creative with their productions.

The plays performed during the studio season are mostly directed by students. Unlike the mainstage shows, whose cast and crew are limited to theatre students, these plays are written by and cast actors of all majors. This season includes a new set of eight plays: “El desvario,” “Electricity,”

COURTESY OF AMELIA SORENSEN

The recently-performed “God of Carnage” is one of the student-directed shows of this fall’s studio theatre season.

“God of Carnage,” “Up, Up, and Away: A Musical,” “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged),” “Anne of the Thousand Days,” “The Most Massive Woman Wins” and “The Moon and The Wolf: Devising Mythology.”

Multiple shows are in the midst of rehearsal and production, and four of them have already finished their performances. Yet, many still aren’t familiar with them. The Observer spoke with Jennifer Ogasian, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC)

’21 and the playwright of “Electricity,” and Isabel Edwards, FCLC ’20 and the director of “God of Carnage,” to learn about the student-driven production process.

“Electricity,” directed by Parade Stone and choreographed

by Lauren-Frances Wood, is Ogasian’s second studio project.

Her first work was the 2018 musical “Conversations with Stars,” and the follow-up has received much acclaim. It is set in a Catholic school and centers around its fraught relationship with sex and sin.

“It’s been a long process,” said Ogasian. She reflected on the beginning of the project when she started writing the play in the first semester of last year. After seeing her work develop throughout the year, she couldn’t contain her excitement when the cast and crew began rehearsals.

The process itself was hard, “and it’s tiring. I’m not going to lie, it’s very tiring,” she said, adding that “it’s very rewarding.”

It was something she had been working on for such a long time, and she said, “It’s very nice to see

it come to life.”

Ogasian won’t have any more studio work until next year, but she will direct a Fordham Theatre project coming up in the winter.

“God of Carnage,” which also recently finished its run, centers around two couples whose meeting to discuss an incident between their children ends up in angry chaos.

“We all have learned so much,” said Edwards, reflecting on the process of bringing “God of Carnage” from rehearsals to the stage. The play, a product of “Yasmina Reza’s genius brain,” as said by the directing and English double major, was hard for the whole team because no one had much time to prepare and rehearse.

However, Edwards was truly happy with and proud of the whole production.

As the young director continued to share about the process, she mentioned the show’s layers of meanings. “There were many lines with multiple meanings, and there were times we re-read a line and saw something new,” she said.

She also praised the cast.

“Alan looked like he is 45 in the play,” she said of Harry Cooper, FCLC ’23, who played Alan, “but he’s a freshman; he’s just 18!”

Those who missed these students’ work can still see the second half of the season, with plays running through early December.

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October 30, 2019 THE OBSERVER

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With New EP, Bleachbear Grows from Seattle Roots

By PAOLO ESTRELLA Staff Writer

The band was described as “the musical equivalent of a blurry low-exposure Polaroid picture of one of the best nights of your life” by Northwest Music Scene (NMS). This is Bleachbear, who NMS has also praised as “what Seattle sounds like in just one band.” Composed of sisters Tigerlily Cooley, Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center (GSBLC) ’20; Bird Cooley; and their cousin Emiko Gantt, GSBLC ’22, Bleachbear is an indie girl group from Seattle, Washington. They are back with their new fourtrack EP, “Deep Sea Baby,” their latest release since their 2016 Western-inspired album, “Cowboy Movie Star.”

Bleachbear started when Tigerlily Cooley was 14 and Gantt was 12. At the time, Tigerlily Cooley was taking guitar lessons and preparing for a street fair show. To help overcome her stage fright, she rallied together Bird Cooley and Gantt to play drums and to dance, respectively. From that moment, Bleachbear was born. Gantt picked up the bass, and the trio started to play more and more shows together at various local shows and street fairs.

From those humble beginnings in Seattle to now, Bleachbear is more excited than ever to release new music. “Deep Sea Baby” was inspired by a paddleboarding experience Tigerlily Cooley had in Lake Samish in Washington. She says that almost every song is inspired by life in the Pacific Northwest. The EP deals with relationships where things may become toxic, but neither person wants to let go, pulling both deeper and deeper under the water.

Musically, the EP is inspired by artists such as Frank Ocean, Daniel Caesar, Lana Del Rey and BANKS. Since the conception of the group, the members have loved larger-than-life musicians such as Freddie Mercury, Kurt Cobain and Prince. The group says that the wide variety of artists that have inspired them is a testament to how much the group has evolved since it started seven years ago.

Tigerlily Cooley and Gantt’s favorite song on the EP is “Body Full of Sunflowers.” The song pulled inspiration from Marc

COURTESY OF EMIKO GANTT

The Washington-based band, which includes two Fordham students, just released its second EP, “Deep Sea Baby.”

Webb’s “500 Days of Summer,” a boy Tigerlily Cooley dated in high school and Bainbridge Island.

This island, accessible only by ferry, was a destination for Tigerlily Cooley while back home in Seattle. When she took this ferry, she found that the island was plentiful with sunflowers.

Inspired by the trip and the high school boyfriend, “Body Full of Sunflowers” was written. Aesthetically, the band wanted the song to fit with “500 Days of Summer,” almost if the song

could be played during the end credits of the movie.

I asked Tigerlily Cooley and Gantt the differences between the New York City music scene and Seattle, and they gave me stark comparisons. Firstly, Seattle has a more tight-knit music scene compared to New York.

“Everyone is invested in each other and wants the other to succeed,” said Tigerlily Cooley.

Additionally, Tigerlily Cooley said that in Seattle, “Gigs and shows come to artists more organically, while in New York art-

ists need more help because of all the gatekeepers. There is also a need for a booking agent, and then on top of all that you need to compete with the acts and touring bands.”

When asked why the band is so special to them, Tigerlily Cooley and Gantt expressed how much they loved their process of making music, saying, “We love that Bleachbear will always be something we did ourselves. Everything was done so organically and we loved that process. Our coolest memories are opening for

bands we idolized and saw as our mentors.”

So what’s next for Bleachbear? Tigerlily Cooley is currently working on her own solo project, and she plans on going with a completely different style of music than Bleachbear, experimenting with pop and hip hop.

In relation to the band, she said, “Everything we’ve done comes back to Seattle. We’ll always go back to play shows and make music together, and definitely don’t plan on stopping.”

Spooktacular Halloween Events in the City

By KRISTEN SKINNER Staff Writer

The amount of Halloween parties, haunted mansions, parades and shows might be enough to spook you this holiday. It is easy to find events online that are a short walk or subway ride away, but for college students, many aren’t financially feasible or worth the time, considering the busy schedules students at Fordham have at this point in the semester.

Have no fear, Rams — the city is full of free or affordable things to do this Halloween that allow you to complete your Friday assignments and have a spooktacular time.

If you are looking to get into the Halloween spirit, grab some friends and head down to Greenwich Village for the 46th Annual Village Halloween Parade on Halloween night. The parade will last from 7 to 10:30 p.m., though you should plan on arriving at least one hour early to watch it.

This year’s theme is Wild Thing, embracing life over death and the wild parts of the world. If you are

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY NYCKOLE LOPEZ

feeling ambitious, you can even join the march. All you have to do is wear a costume and show up on Sixth Avenue and Canal Street between 6:30 and 9 p.m.

If your Thursday afternoon is open, and you are in the mood for nostalgic festive fall activities, you can begin your Halloween celebrations a bit earlier at Harlem Grown’s Halloween Festival.

Located at 118 W. 134th St., this free festival is for all ages and will include arts and crafts, candied apples and a haunted house. If

you feel too old to participate, you can still volunteer at the event and enjoy seeing all the cute little kids dressed up in costumes. The festival is from 3 to 6 p.m., leaving you plenty of time to take part in other Halloween celebrations or catch up on work the rest of the night.

If you do not have the time or energy to celebrate on Thursday, there are many Halloween-related events that continue after the night itself. Those looking for a fun, spooky-themed outing might

consider a day trip to the Bronx Zoo, as this is the last weekend for “Boo at the Zoo.” At this event, you can watch magic shows, visit the extinct animal graveyard, watch a costume parade, walk through a corn maze and watch pumpkin carving demos, in addition to seeing all the animals. The Bronx Zoo offers complimentary general admission for all college students.

If you bought a pumpkin this year and are ready to dispose of it, or if you want to watch other

people do the same, a Pumpkin Smash will take place on Sunday, Nov. 3 at Corlears Hook Park, located along the shoreline of Manhattan. The purpose of the event is to provide pumpkins for the NYC Compost Project, which will turn them into compost for city parks and green spaces. In addition to pumpkin smashing, there will be refreshments, arts and crafts, and giveaways at the event, making it a smashing good time.

There are many fun, inexpensive and safe Halloween activities taking place in the city this year.

That said, your Halloween only has to be as involved as you want it to be. If you do not feel like attending a specific event, perhaps you could simply take a walk around the Upper West Side to look at all the decked-out houses and adorable trick-or-treaters. Or, maybe you want your Halloween at Fordham to be just that. If so, make or buy yourself a Halloween treat, put on a movie like “Halloweentown” or “Hocus Pocus” and enjoy your night in your dorm.

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THE OBSERVER October 30, 2019

‘The Lighthouse’ Subverts, Scares and Shines

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By KEVIN STOLL Staff Writer

“Never kill a seabird,” is what lighthouse keeper Thomas Wake shouts at Ephraim Winslow, played by Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, in Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse.” A film that perfectly encapsulates the “Hollywood versus independent” agenda by making itself look as non-marketable as possible. A film that completely refuses to hold back, even for the viewers that usually ask for something “lighter.” Then again, what did you expect from the guy who arguably took the Sundance horror scene by storm only three years ago with “The Witch?”

After a previous “incident,” Winslow finds himself a job in the form of working as a “wickie” (or lighthouse keeper) for Wake on a New England island during the late 1800s, deciding to leave his life as a timberman behind in order to start anew. From there, we follow these two over several weeks, as Winslow constantly finds himself under the strict and almost dictatorial command of Wake and, more importantly, in the presence of pestering seagulls that refuse to leave him alone.

But as time continues to pass, their seclusion begins to affect Winslow, as he tries to keep up with every daily task or assignment while trying to keep his own sanity intact. There’s a reason why Wake requested a new wickie to accompany him at the lighthouse. There’s a reason why Winslow decided to accept this job in the first place. And there’s a reason why Wake refuses to allow Winslow to visit the prism of the lighthouse itself.

But then again, a wickie should “never kill a seabird,” no matter what may provoke them to do so.

With the decision to utilize black-and-white cinematography and to keep the aspect ratio at 1.33:1, the presentation makes itself clear: this is a loving send-up to horror films of Hollywood’s Golden Age — only instead of the focus being on one

of the many iconic “Movie Monsters” (Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, etc.), Eggers aims to bring the psychological factor of horror filmmaking to this format.

Yet, he and cinematographer Jarin Blaschke still manage to shoot the film through high-quality extreme close-ups and symmetrical composition, often for the purpose of successfully merging past and present simultaneously, resulting in some of the most breathtaking shots that independent filmmaking has to offer.

Dafoe and especially Pattinson are absolutely riveting in their roles. The former ultimately embodies an authority figure who believes more in the ability of other workers while he just continues to sleep. The latter, however, chooses to stand internally opposed to the tyrannical

power the more he is forced to endure a vicious cycle of daily, and sometimes dangerous, labor — painting the lighthouse itself usually comes to mind.

In other words, Wake is “the boss” while Winslow is “the employee.” While one might argue that these two characters only serve as stereotypes within an otherwise non-stereotypical story (especially Dafoe’s characterization of Wake as cruel, immature and unhygienic), they help to emphasize not necessarily the audience’s attachment to them, but their alienation from the rest of society.

There’s no doubt that Eggers and his co-writer and brother, Max Eggers, are striving to betray mainstream horror cliches.

This is an incredibly discomforting, slow-burn, psychological descent into hallucinatory madness, following a protagonist

who is forced to eventually realize the consequences of what he has created for himself.

Eggers’ film is anything but a jump-scare fest, which as a result, might turn off viewers who are looking for something a little more transparent. Therein lies the problem — not with the film itself, but rather with the audience’s perception of its purposefully ambiguous presentation.

However, the more viewers begin to appreciate these “outside films,” the more they can realize that horror filmmaking is not about repeating what has already been successful. It is about doing something strikingly different, something that constantly builds in each viewer until eventually they are left completely appalled and, more importantly, with their own theories of the events that have unfolded.

Science Department Chair Releases Debut Novel

By GILLIAN RUSSO Arts & Culture Editor “Some of you are probably thinking, ‘I didn’t know scientists wrote books,’” said Natural Sciences Department Chair Jason Morris, Ph.D., to an intimate crowd of 30 students, alumni and faculty from the Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) honors program. “Shouldn’t folks stay in their lane?”

The frequent laughs at his comments, the enthusiastic way they asked questions of the professor and the fact that they came at all proved that this group didn’t think so.

The occasion was a talk titled “Thicker than Mud: A Conversation with Jason Morris,” held in the Lowenstein second floor lounge on Oct. 24. Over falafel, hummus and tabbouleh salad, Morris’ current and former students and colleagues engaged with him as he discussed the process of writing and now releasing his debut novel — a project two decades in the making.

“Morris looked so happy just sitting at the table before the event started,” said Jenny Han, FCLC ’22. “He had the biggest smile I’ve ever seen him have.”

Jalen Glenn, FCLC ’16 and one of the few non-honors affiliates present (along with Morris’ parents), was the first to acknowledge the palpable sense of excitement and community in the room. During his brief introduction to the program, he admitted to jealousy toward the close-knit bond among the members of the program. He provided a brief overview of Morris and honors program director Karina Hogan, Ph.D. — and then, met with copious applause, Morris took the lead.

GILLIAN RUSSO/THE OBSERVER

Following his talk about “Thicker than Mud,” Dr. Jason Morris stayed to sign copies for students.

He began his presentation with prepared remarks about the book’s plot and relevance to his own life, and spent the second half answering students’ questions on the topic. “Thicker Than Mud” follows Adam Drascher, a fictional archaeology professor who loses his grandfather on the same day he finds a tablet referencing an enigmatic biblical group called the Healers. The discovery aids in his research as he is on the brink of tenure, and he uncovers family secrets as he learns more about the ancient coalition.

Morris pointed out that “you can only write what you know,” so “Thicker Than Mud” was drawn

in part from his own experiences. But he was sure to clarify that though the book is relevant to his life, it is not about his life, though it may seem so at first glance.

Drascher is Jewish and works at a Jesuit college in the Bronx, after all. The one semi-autobiographical plot point relates to the death of Drascher’s grandfather; Morris lost his own grandfather in 1998, and the idea for the novel began to manifest soon afterwards.

“I thought about my first emotional response for years afterwards,” Morris said, in reference to his grief and how he found it difficult to share with others. “I felt that I needed to try to tell the

story of someone who couldn’t take that next step — someone we could sympathize with and understand but who couldn’t mourn in community. So that’s how the idea for writing something began percolating.”

In the process, Morris took up research on topics ranging from Judaic archaeology to 1960s jazz music to the logistics of flying out of Israel (it involves a layover in Ukraine, for those curious). Ironically, though, much of his presentation focused on the apparent obstacles to the release of “Thicker Than Mud.” Morris mentioned his slow writing pace (“Please look for my second book in 2049,” he said seriously) and his lack of attachment to his own prose.

When one student asked if he had trouble deleting his work, he said he has a “hair-trigger gag reflex” for his writing.

“I held my pen in my fist,” he said of crossing passages out as he wrote and rewrote the novel. He recalled feeling glad each time that “the world doesn’t have to read that paragraph!”

Among the reasons he cited for the long time between the book’s inception and its publication, a lack of time was not one of them — an unexpected response from a man juggling research, a family, the workings of an entire department and multiple classes’ worth of grading. He found that he could write a lot in short amounts of time: inspiration found him on the train, in the shower and during the night, especially in the novel’s early stages.

“Sometimes you wake up in the middle of the night with a conversation in your head, and you can’t go back to sleep until you write it down,” he said. Such bits of time in between a busy

schedule eventually added up to a first draft originally titled “The Healers” which, yes, he hated.

Morris remembered his wife looking at one draft and saying of some of the more academic sections, “I see you being a professor; I want to get back to the story.”

Fellow professors would look at the same draft and say the opposite, requesting more linguistics discussion. Former Theatre Program Director Matthew Maguire once said the book needed “more tension in Act 2” (to which Morris replied, “I didn’t know there was an Act 2”). Hogan told the audience that she “liked it from the start, but it did get better” as she read each revision.

From all this feedback, Morris concluded that “Thicker Than Mud” would never be perfect for every reader. Perhaps it’s still not perfect for him, either, but his pride in the finished product is undeniable. He expressed his hope that everyone who reads it, how many or how few they may be, gets something out of it.

“If people spend enough hours enjoying reading it as I spent enjoying writing it, it’s not a vanity project anymore,” said Morris.

After the talk, nearly everyone eagerly went to the front of the room to buy a copy of the novel for Morris to sign. He mentioned that he has an idea for a second novel, which will be more “insane” and “messianic” as compared to the more reflective, subdued tone with which he described “Thicker Than Mud.” With this declaration, the event made one thing certain: He has a dedicated audience lying in wait for 2049.

“Thicker Than Mud” is available on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble.

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Taking the Spiritual to the Streets Thousands gathered at St. Paul’s Church to celebrate Señor de los Milagros

ETHAN COUGHLIN/THE OBSERVER

The celebratory sound of horns and the strong smell of incense dominated the Lincoln Center area on Oct. 27 in observation of Señor de los Milagros, a historic Peruvian tradition.

By ETHAN COUGHLIN AND JILL RICE Asst. Arts & Culture Editor and Copy Editor

Whether they heard the music, smelled the incense or saw the mob of people in purple, students were wondering what was going on at St. Paul’s, the Catholic church next door, this past Sunday, Oct. 27.

According to the Rev. Paul Rospond, a member of the Paulist Fathers, thousands came out to celebrate Señor de los Milagros, the “Lord of Miracles.” Señor de los Milagros is a yearly procession originating in Lima, Peru. The Observer spoke to Dr. Cynthia Vich, a professor of Spanish and comparative literature, about the history of the event.

Señor de los Milagros “is a religious celebration that dates from Colonial times,” said Vich, “it is particularly related to the slave trade in Spanish America.” According to tradition, a slave of African descent painted the image of Christ onto the side of a building in Lima, and a group of other slaves called Hermandad del Señor de los Milagros, or “Lord of Miracles Brotherhood,” would gather in front of the painting to hold meetings.

The veneration of the image gained special admiration by many from Lima but gained its “miraculous” status when it survived not one, but two earthquakes in 1685 and 1687. The rest of the city was damaged or destroyed, including the building in which the Lord of Miracles image was housed, but the wall on which it was painted remained fully intact.

Since that second earthquake, the month of October is known as “Mes Morado,” or “Purple month” in Peru, with the most important event of the festival being a pro-

cession held every year on Oct. 28 in Lima. Devotees wear purple and march down the street carrying a replica of the original painting weighing more than a ton.

Although other processions are held on Oct. 18 and 19, none are as important or grand as this one.

Besides the presentation of the image, music is played, incense is burned, prayers are read, hymns are sung and a special pastry called Turron de Doña Pepa is sold and enjoyed along the route.

While the procession around Lincoln Center was hours long and involved hundreds of devotees, the procession in Lima lasts 24 hours and draws hundreds of thousands to the city. “It is a religious celebration very closely tied to the city of Lima and to the mixed-race and cultural identity of ‘limeños,’” said Vich, “although it has been so powerful that it has become a national symbol of Peruvian cultural identity.”

The festivities at St. Paul’s were organized by the Hermandad de Cargadores y Sahumadoras del Señor de los Milagros de New York, an organization founded in 1971. The Observer spoke to Amparo Tavares and Daniella Longmore, parishioners at St. Paul’s, who said the event has been going on for a few years now, and the devotees came from every borough of the city as well as some from New Jersey and Long Island. Tavares said that the police officers at the event were moved by the devotion of the people despite the long hours and poor weather.

With so much always happening around the city, it is easy to ignore something in your own backyard until it’s literally at your front door. Events like this are a good opportunity to learn about different cultures and practices. If you can see through the burning incense, you’ll find a rich history.

Sports & Health Editors Luke Osborn - losborn1@fordham.edu Lena Weidenbruch - lweidenbruch@fordham.edu

Sports & Health

October 30, 2019

THE OBSERVER

How Herpes Affects the Fordham Community An Observer survey of 89 Fordham students reveals participants’ knowledge of, perceptions about and experience with herpes Herpes Facts

Percent of correct responses

1 in 6 American adults have herpes.

42.0%

True

False 59.6%

84.3%

40.4%

50.6%

Herpes can be spread through saliva

r

so me

pe

Io

s.

There are two types of herpes.

or contact with a herpes sore.

83.1%

one

else I kn

h as h ow

er

23.9%

15.7%

False

75.3%

are eop le with herpes

11.2%

False

r di

88.8%

83.1%

False

84.3%

65.2%

ous.

79.8%

pl ew

isc u

False True

ty.

hi nk p

e

84.3%

o pe nk

e. Cold sores on the mouth are caused by herpes.

ti v a ou t g herpes in a ne

I thi

d. There is a cure for herpes.

ab

It

c. There is no way to treat herpes.

91.0%

co nt ext .

e

ar

Percent of correct responses

b. Herpes sores remain on the skin for life.

es rp e bee h n screened for

ve

9.0%

True or False? a. If my sexual partner has herpes, I will definitely get infected.

76.1%

.

ha

I

ble sore or who may not know he or she is infected. The virus can shed on the skin before the outbreak occurs.”

Medications like antivirals can be used to reduce the risk of spreading herpes to others. In particular, they make outbreaks shorter and more infrequent.

However, these drugs merely suppress the virus; they do not eliminate the virus from the body, nor do they completely prevent its transmission.

Though it is possible that herpes transmission can be prevented during sexual contact, it is unlikely to fully prevent infecting a sexual partner. A majority (75.3%) of the Fordham students who responded to the survey recognize that one can still have sex with an individual with herpes and avoid infection. Moreover, these Fordham students understand that herpes sores come and go and that herpes is a disease with treatment options.

While this group of Fordham students only represents a small percentage of the student body, the majority of these students have a good understanding of how herpes is spread and treated. They are also less willing to stigmatize individuals with herpes. In response to the statements, “I think people with herpes are dirty” and “I think people with herpes are sexually promiscuous,” more than 80% of the students deemed these perceptions as false.

One student wrote, “I know someone has herpes because their mom had it. And their mom only ever had one partner, so I don’t consider it a dirty or promiscuous disease.”

Keown said, “I do not agree that herpes is over-stigmatized or over-exaggerated,” and the survey provides evidence that the Fordham community understands that herpes is a complicated infection with major implications for the lives it affects.

Regardless of how a disease is perceived, it’s important to educate oneself to prevent further spread of the infection.

h ly I on

Herpes is one of the most stigmatized sexually transmitted infections (STI’s), yet a recent survey of Fordham students reveals that our community is both well-informed about herpes and resistant to negatively viewing people with herpes.

Planned Parenthood states that there are two types of herpes infection, oral herpes and genital herpes. There are also two types of herpes viruses, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). Either of these viruses can cause genital or oral infections, but HSV-1 is more likely to cause oral herpes, and HSV-2 is usually the culprit in genital herpes.

A little over half of Americans have HSV-1, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that most people contract HSV-1 in childhood.

The Observer gathered survey data about students’ perceptions of herpes, and out of the 89 students who responded, 34.8% did not know cold sores are a form of herpes, but 84.3% were aware that there are two types of herpes.

According to Planned Parenthood, about 1 in 6 Americans have genital herpes. The CDC estimates that around 776,000 people contract genital herpes every year. 45% of those newly infected are adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 24. Moreover, the rate of new herpes cases far surpasses that of syphilis, HIV and hepatitis B combined.

The group of Fordham students who responded to the survey seemed to be relatively aware of herpes’ high prevalence.

Only 69 students answered the question about how common herpes is, and 42% accurately answered that about 1 in 6 American adults have herpes, while another 21.7% thought herpes was as widespread as 1 in 3 American adults.

Herpes infection is the second most

common STI in terms of existing cases.

The CDC reports that 24.1 million people in the United States are living with herpes.

In regards to the Fordham community, The Director of University Health Services (UHS), Maureen Keown, at Fordham said, “I cannot exactly estimate the prevalence of herpes on campus.” Nonetheless, out of the 89 students, 41.1% affirmed that they or someone they know has herpes.

Genital herpes manifests as sores around the genitals, inner thighs and anus. Keown said, “The first outbreak of herpes is usually the worst and the most painful.” These lesions can pop and release fluid, and “People need to be careful not to touch the lesions and spread the lesion to other parts of the body, especially the eyes, which can be very serious. If you do touch the sores or fluids, immediately wash your hands thoroughly to help avoid spreading the infection,” said Keown.

These outbreaks, however, are temporary. The first outbreak lasts about two to four weeks, and it usually occurs two to 20 days after infection, according to Planned Parenthood. Individuals infected with herpes will usually have recurring outbreaks within the first year after infection; outbreaks will eventually become less frequent or stop happening altogether. Nevertheless, Keown said, “Depending on an individual’s immune response, some people may rarely have an issue with recurrence of herpes but other people may have several recurrences and need to be on medication daily to help control outbreaks and make them more manageable.”

Herpes spreads “through direct contact with a herpes lesion, the skin around the lesion and saliva or genital secretions of a partner who has genital or oral herpes,” said Keown. “You can get herpes from a partner who does not have a visi-

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By LUKE OSBORN Sports & Health Editor

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Sports & Health

October 30, 2019 THE OBSERVER

WWW.fordhamobserver.com

Kyle Martin: From A10 Champ to Potential Pro Star

By PATRICK MOQUIN Asst. Sports & Health Editor

No Fordham student had a better summer than Kyle Martin, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’20. In May, while most college students were unwinding from finals, Kyle Martin and Fordham baseball won the Atlantic 10 (A10) Championship against Dayton University in extra innings. In June, as many of his peers began summer jobs and internships, Martin was selected by the Orioles in the 15th round of the 2019 MLB Draft.

The summer began with an incredible stretch of success for the Fordham relief pitcher, starting with a college championship and ending with a minor league contract. However, for all of the success, the end of his college career came in two parts: an incredible save and a devastating home run.

In the second round of the A10 Tournament, Fordham, the 4-seed, played against Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), the 1-seed. Each team scored in the first inning, but Fordham scored again in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. The score remained unchanged going into the eighth inning when Martin took the mound. He was called on for a six-out save, one of the most difficult tasks for a relief pitcher. It required him to throw two scoreless innings instead of the usual one. Even under normal conditions, it is a very difficult feat to accomplish.

After working his way through the eighth without allowing a run, lightning struck and the skies opened up in earnest. A

PHOTO COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Following Fordham’s Atlantic 10 Championship win, Kyle Martin, FCRH ’20, was selected by the Orioles in the MLB Draft.

rain delay postponed the game for nearly an hour and a half with only an inning left to play. Martin stepped off the field in the eighth inning at 3:48 p.m. and would not step back on for the ninth until around 5:30 p.m.

Looking back, Martin admitted, “I was tight. I was stressed out, had to sit down for about an hour and come back out for the ninth. I’d never done it before.”

With a cold arm and a onerun lead, Martin and Fordham were only three outs away from advancing in the tournament.

He allowed a single, but the other three batters he faced had no such luck. Each one struck out swinging, and after nine long

innings and a rain delay, Martin and the Rams finally secured their major upset against the best team in the conference.

Following another win, Fordham advanced to the championship game against Dayton. With a 3-0 lead going into the top of the seventh inning, they found themselves in trouble. Anthony Zimmerman, Gabelli School of Business at Rose Hill (GSBRH) ’19, had allowed an unearned run and walked two batters. With men on first and second, Martin entered the game. Despite allowing another run on a sacrifice fly, Martin largely reduced the damage and preserved Fordham’s lead, 3-2.

Playing with a one-run lead, Fordham entrusted Martin to finish the game. He breezed through the eighth inning and secured the first two outs in the ninth.

“I was one out away from ending it and the kid hit the home run,” Martin remembered ruefully.

With no men on base, Martin was one out away from a championship when long fly ball to left field. Players, coaches and fans watched on as a championship slipped through their fingers.

Martin had given up a game-tying home run with two outs in the ninth inning.

Martin finished the inning with a strikeout, one batter too late, to keep the score tied, 3-3.

At that point, most coaches would pull their pitcher after nearly three innings of work. However, according to Martin, taking him out was never an option. “Now, I had to keep going, but at that point, I just didn’t want to lose.

That desire to win just took over, especially since I felt like it was on me.”

In extra innings, Martin went back out for the 10th and 11th. In the 11th, he faced trouble again with men on first and third base with two outs. He forced his 20th and final batter to ground out and escaped his fifth inning of work without allowing another run.

In the bottom of the 12th inning, Fordham scored on a walk to win the A10 Championship.

While Martin was responsible for a few more innings of play, he was just as integral to their eventual victory.

Martin claimed that the team’s mindset never changed through-

out the season. “We tried to focus on just winning one game at a time, go 1-0 every day, every game, and that mentality just carried us through. It worked every time,” he said.

A few days after Fordham’s championship, Martin traded in his Rams’ maroon and white colors for the orange and black of the Baltimore Orioles. He was selected in the 15th round of the MLB Draft. He is the 37th Fordham baseball player to be drafted in the school’s history.

“It was actually very stressful throughout the year ... When it got to like, a week or two before the draft, that’s when I started getting nervous, trying to amp it up. I had a good idea of who I was going to, but I had never heard from (the Orioles) at all,” Martin said. Despite the initial uncertainty, the Orioles obviously saw something in the Rams’ product.

Following the draft and his contract signing, he began playing with the Orioles’ minor league team, the Aberdeen Ironbirds, in late June and will continue in their farm system next spring.

Despite Martin’s personal success, he gave Fordham and its baseball program the credit for bringing him to the professional level. On Fordham, he said, “I feel like, here, I became more of a man, more of a person. I think it helped me to become a better person overall.” As Fordham baseball continues on in their quest to “go 1-0 every day,” it will never forget the contributions of one of its most prodigious relief pitchers as he moves on from college to the chaotic world of professional baseball.