Issue 7

Observer the

DECEMBER 7, 2017 VOLUME XXXVIII, ISSUE 14

www.fordhamobserver.com

By STEPHAN KOZUB AND COLIN SHEELEY News Editors

Like the climate-conscious polar bear, the university budget is making careful preparations for an uncertain spring. At that point, the finance team will report their proposal for the annual budget to the Board of Trustees, synthesizing months of research and ideas into one final presentation.

That is still a ways off. The team is now engaged with what Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Martha K. Hirst, describes as the season of adjustment—a time when long-term financial blueprints are redrawn, tuition is tabulated and budget gaps are evaluated. Several areas are factored into these negotiations, such as sources of revenue like tuition and fundraising, and expenses such as faculty salaries and financial aid.

At times, the university may consider cutting or readjusting certain expenses in order to ensure the institution’s financial health.

“These are not draconian measures,” Hirst said in a press conference with The Observer on Dec. 4 regarding adjustments being considered. She said that the university is looking at all different areas of the university’s finances in order to diversify sources of revenue and ensure that the university has ample amounts of funds to comfortably handle its expenses.

This year, however, Fordham’s finances are under additional strain.

They teeter on the brink of considerable harm as a consequence of the impending Republican tax bill and its many provisions which threaten to upend the steady budget that the university has maintained so far.

Having passed in the House and the Senate, the two variations of the bill are being hastily marshalled to the negotiating table, where lawmakers will stitch together the sections of both plans that they can agree on.

Meanwhile, a storm is brewing at university campuses across the country. Upon the tax plan’s completion, endowments will be sapped, graduate students will be hit with massive tax increases and thousands of students could find themselves struggling even more to afford higher education.

Though Fordham is unlikely to qualify for the 1.4 percent excise tax on private college endowments (the requisite endowment ratio of $250,000 or $500,000 per student towers over its approximate $47,600), the university’s future un-

McShane Will Discuss Rose’s Degree

By STEPHAN KOZUB News Editor

GOP Tax Plan Threatens Fordham COLIN SHEELEY/THE OBSERVER

Fordham Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, Martha K. Hirst, is in charge of coordinating the university’s finances.

der the tax plan is anything but certain at the moment. The plan’s effects have the potential to be myriad and far reaching, according to Fordham business professor, Stanley Veliotis.

Listed below are some of possible provisions that stand to undermine the university’s finances:

Tuition-Unfriendly Provisions

One of the benefits that Fordham grants to its professors and their families is allowing their children to attend the university tuition-free.

While it comes at little to no expense for the institution itself, the discount can be an extremely valuable perk of the job for faculty members with undergraduate children, especially because those benefits are excluded from their taxable income.

That all stands to disappear with the ushering in of the new bill. Currently, the Senate’s version does not repeal the exemption, but the House plan opts for taxing the free-tuition benefit.

“This was giving me a heart attack,” Veliotis said of what it might cost him. “All of a sudden, I’m look-

ing at a $20,000 tax bill.”

Along the same lines, the House bill is threatening to eliminate a section of the existing tax code that allows graduate students to receive tuition waivers from their universities without being taxed as income.

Consequently, the estimated 145,000 students who receive this kind of aid will see their tax bill swell by approximately 400 percent according to a report by CNBC. The combination of these provisions spell the future of college becoming less and less affordable for students, who will take out fewer loans and subsequently force universities to lower tuition. Fordham, who depends upon the $647 million it receives in graduate and undergraduate tuition every year could suffer greatly at the hands of this bill.

Disincentivizing Donors

Fordham’s

Despite the fact that Fordham and institutions like it cover most of their yearly expenses with student tuition, the university also draws

on a percentage of their endowment to cover the costs. Their ability to maintain endowment spending stems from their ability to accumulate donations, which taxpayers can deduct from their final bill.

“The more you tax something, the less you get of it,” Veliotis said.

When governments tax things they find to be undesirable, such as cigarettes, they discourage whatever industry produces them. Charitable contributions have the opposite effect. If the government offers larger tax deductions for donating more to charity, people are more likely to contribute larger volumes of money.

Some of Fordham’s top individual donors are also the same taxpayers that would see their taxes decrease in a cut to the marginal tax rates under the new plan. Consequently, the value of pursuing deductions from taxable income could wane, and with less of an incentive to seek out larger deductions, donors could potentially scale back their contributions to the university or scrap

Following multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, broadcast journalist Charlie Rose was fired from CBS, PBS and Bloomberg.

Now, Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham University, is set to discuss the future of Rose’s honorary doctorate with the Board of Trustees.

Fordham awarded Rose an honorary doctorate in humane letters in 2008, when he was the university’s commencement speaker.

McShane intends to discuss Rose and his honorary degree with the Board of Trustees at their Dec. 14 meeting, according to Bob Howe, assistant vice president for communications and special adviser to the president.

Accusations against Rose went public on Nov. 20 when eight women came forward in the Washington Post. In their accounts, they said Rose had made “unwanted sexual advances toward them, including lewd phone calls, walking around naked in their presence, or groping their breasts, buttocks or genital areas.”

“It is essential that these women know I hear them and that I deeply apologize for my inappropriate behavior,” Rose said in a statement to the Washington Post. “I am greatly embarrassed. I have behaved insensitively at times, and I accept responsibility for that, though I do not believe that all of these allegations are accurate. I always felt that I was pursuing shared feelings, even though I now realize I was mistaken.”

“I have learned a great deal as a result of these events, and I hope others will too,” his statement continues. “All of us, including me, are coming to a newer and deeper recognition of the pain caused by conduct in the past, and have come to a profound new respect for women and their lives.”

see TAXES pg. 2

see ROSE pg. 2

Inside

FEATURES

Socks in the City Student starts her own charity.

PAGE 20

OPINIONS

ARTS

Literary

NEWS

A better look at a bad bill.

Asian-American students fight for visibility.

The newest collection of creative student works.

University team looks into the causes of student departure.

GOP Tax Plan PAGE 5

Equality in Theatre PAGE 15

The Comma PAGES 7-14

THE STUDENT VOICE OF FORDHAM COLLEGE AT LINCOLN CENTER

Retention Task Force PAGE 3

2

News

December 7, 2017 THE OBSERVER

www.fordhamobserver.com

How The Tax Plan Hurts TAXES FROM PAGE 1

them entirely. This could only be magnified by the suppression of the estate tax that is proposed in both chambers, who seek to remove the deductible motivation behind the charge, or even the tax itself. These reductions would result in a dearth of income from charitable donations that Fordham greatly needs.

Smaller donations are likely to be affected as well, given the current bill’s structure. Similar provisions from both House and Senate versions increase the standard deduction for individuals and joint filers.

Assuming the smaller of the two passes, standard deductions grow from $6,350 to $12,000 for individuals and double that number for joint filers. Subject to this law, less wealthy donors who hardly itemize their deductions at this moment would see no tax benefit from donating, and could stop contributions altogether.

Repeal of State and Local Tax Deductions

COURTESY OF KYRA CONROY

CARS-V E-board Member Ginny Bush tabled in the indoor plaza during the club’s Week of Action.

CARS-V Pushes Sexual Assault Education

By ELIZA PUTNAM Contributing Writer

Diamantis Kefalas, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’20 and president of the Coalition Against Relationship and Sexual Violence (CARS-V) is fighting for fewer survivors of sexual assault at Fordham, “not because they’re choosing not to come here, but because there are actually fewer assaults.” To accomplish this, they and CARS-V are working with students and faculty members to coordinate educational events in an attempt to make Fordham a more accepting space for survivors and a safer space for everyone. Kefalas hopes CARS-V will help the university as a whole become a community where sexual assault education is taught and understood.

In the fall of 2016, Fordham alum Lexi McMenamin, FCLC ’17, in collaboration with Monica Sobrin, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’17, established the coalition’s predecessor, It’s on Us, as a United Student Government (USG) sub-committee. Her intent was to “create a candid and vulnerable space for survivors of rape, sexual and relationship violence on campus,” because she found that her own experiences “could not be adequately addressed using the current systems in place, such as Title IX.” Over the summer, the CARS-V e-board decided to become an independent club, and USG voted to grant the coalition official club status on Thursday, Nov. 30.

Although CARS-V was unable to operate as a club this semester, they organized a Week of Action through Feminist Alliance. Students tabled on the indoor plaza, inviting their peers and other community members to engage with questions like, “why is ending sexual assault important?” E-board Member Ginny Bush, FCLC ’19, said the highlight of the week was the number of people that came to the table to ask questions. To her, it demonstrated that their work “is something that Fordham students and faculty want and everyone

needs.”

With Maya Tatikola, FCLC ’20, Bush co-facilitated a “Consent Workshop” on Wednesday, Nov. 15, that invited students to learn about consent in sexual and romantic contexts. Bush revised the workshop, which was originally developed by a Rose Hill USG task force, to make it “more user-friendly” with “more room for reflection and discussion.”

Several student groups have also collaborated with CARS-V in their programming. Stove’s Comedy Club, in conjunction with Feminist Alliance, hosted an event examining art as a therapeutic outlet during this fall’s Week of Action.

Stove’s president Chandler Dean, FCLC ’18, emphasized that with the “avalanche of revelations about abusers in entertainment, it felt extremely appropriate to utilize whatever influence Stove’s may have” to uplift “respectful creative environments rooted in consent.” He was grateful that the event “emphasized good practices and lauded nonabusive creators in a moment when, speaking for myself, it was easy to be very cynical about the prospects for a better comedy industry and world.” Dean concluded that “The empathy that it takes to make someone laugh is the same empathy that it takes to be a respectful human being; consent education develops both.”

Anthropology and sociology professor Jeanne Flavin invited CARS-V to facilitate a consent workshop in two of her classes for the spring semester. She is planning to incorporate the workshop into her syllabus. Bush said that Flavin’s efforts are “incredibly validating” to her and to the organization’s mission. Access to consent education is essential, she added, and ought to be facilitated by club leaders and professors as much as possible.

CARS-V is looking forward to continuing their work, from hosting Yoga for Survivors and bringing the consent workshop to Gabelli undergraduates, to welcoming more students into their community and fighting to eradicate sexual assault, one semester at a time.

Under the tax plan, state and local tax deductions are also threatened.

A repeal of these deductions for federal taxes would harm the incomes of professors. Currently, Fordham professors receive a competitive salary according to the American Association of University Professors. The elimination of these tax deductions could be greatly harmful to Fordham because of living costs

in New York City and the only recently solidified questions around salary and benefits. These negative effects could manifest themselves in harming professors’ abilities to afford living near Fordham, possibly jeopardized their ability to continue working at the university.

The repeal of these tax deductions could also reignite and add fuel to already contentious discussions between faculty and administration over salary. If the tax plan is implemented as is, the faculty could conceivably demand a pay raise to help them pay taxes on missing deductions for state and local taxes.

Otherwise, Fordham could lose faculty to more affordable states or the private sector.

Isolated Taxing of Fordham’s Unrelated Businesses For Fordham, income taxes are not a major factor, but income that the university makes through their unrelated businesses which do not further its expressed mission. The university operates these investments at both gains and losses. Currently, Fordham can subtract the losses from the gains as a way of paying less income tax on unrelated investments.

The Senate tax plan prevents this mixing of different aspects of unrelated business. Losses will be separated from income. As a result, Fordham will have to pay full taxes

on them, further eroding Fordham’s income.

Taxing Interest on Advance Refunding Bonds

As is normal for everyone, income from standard investments is subject to tax. In some cases, the government incentivizes investments in order to draw financing to certain sectors by marking them tax free. One of these sectors is municipal bonds. At the present moment, the government allows charities like Fordham to piggyback on the special treatment these bonds receive like in the case of advanced refunding bonds, which can be used to pay off an outstanding bond in the hope of collecting lower interest on the newly issued bond.

Both the Senate and House bills call for the discontinuation of these tax free treatment. The new plan would tax the interest on any further issued advance refunding bond, limiting the potential return to buyers of Fordham’s bonds, driving the university to pay a higher interest to these investors.

Though none of these provisions are guaranteed, Republicans have expressed little to no opposition to their inclusion within the final bill.

And with each additional tax, deduction rollback and incentive cut, the cinch around Fordham’s purse tightens, and the task ahead of the university’s finance team grows more and more complicated.

COURTESY OF RUBENSTEIN

McShane plans to address the status of Rose’s award during a Dec. 14 meeting with the Board of Trustees.

Rose’s Award Questioned

ROSE FROM PAGE 1

If the Board votes to rescind Rose’s honorary degree, it would be only the second time in the university’s history that Fordham has done so, both instances due to sexual misconduct allegations.

In September 2015, the Board voted unanimously to withdraw the honorary doctorate of fine arts that the university had awarded Bill Cosby in 2001, when he was the commencement speaker.

“Fordham has never before rescinded an honorary degree,” a university statement issued at the time reads. “A recipient’s actions would have to be both unambiguously dishonorable and have a deep impact.

By his own admission, Mr. Cosby’s sexual exploitation of women was premeditated and ongoing. Equally appalling is his longtime strategy of denigrating the reputations of women who accused him of such actions.”

“As a Jesuit university, Fordham could no longer stand behind the degree it had bestowed upon Mr. Cosby, hence this unprecedented action,” the statement concludes.

At the time, Fordham was joined

in rescinding Cosby’s honorary degrees by Brown University and Marquette University, which is also a Jesuit institution.

So far, SUNY Oswego has initiated the process to revoke the honorary degree they gave Rose, and Montclair State University and North Carolina State University are engaged in discussions on the topic.

Arizona State University, the University of Kansas, and Duke University have rescinded journalism awards given to Rose. Arizona State University’s journalism school rescinded the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism it gave to Rose in 2015, while the University of Kansas rescinded the William Allen White National Citation it had bestowed on Rose earlier this year. Duke University rescinded the Futrell Award for exemplary journalism that it gave to Rose in 2000.

WFUV, Fordham’s radio station, awarded Rose with the Charles Osgood Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism in 2015.

WFUV has not indicated the future of this award and did not respond to a request for comment from The Observer.

Cosby and Rose are not the only people around which conversations of rescinding honorary degrees has surfaced. In May 2015, the Board of Trustees rejected a petition to revoke the honorary degree it had awarded CIA Director John Brennan in 2011 when he was the university’s commencement speaker.

A group of faculty members pushed for Brennan’s degree to be rescinded due to the CIA’s use of torture and extrajudicial punishment during his tenure. He was named the Distinguished Fellow for Global Security for Fordham Law School’s Center on National Security at the beginning of this semester.

While the future of Rose’s honorary degree from Fordham remains uncertain for the time being, a look back at his commencement remarks offers a bit of advice that seems even more salient now.

“You must define and connect with your values,” Rose said at the time. “Know what you stand for the rock-hard-place beyond which you don’t go because it will destroy you.

Without a personal honor code, you will be without a rudder. With it, you will have an anchor no matter what the temptation.”

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THE OBSERVER December 7, 2017

News

3

Task Force Investigates Student Retention

By ANDREW DONCHAK Staff Writer

Earlier this year, president Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J. released a statement addressed to all members of the Fordham community on the university’s slight dip from 60th to 61st in the US News and World Report’s 2018 rankings of American universities. Among the factors he addressed as being a reason for the university’s drop was its retention rate (a figure that accounts for a significant 22.5 percent of the overall rank given to a university), a figure McShane claimed had “gone up [in the past year], but not by enough.”

University-released statistics from last December support the notion that this has been a growing trend for Fordham’s retention rate, where graduation numbers have remained in the ballpark of 79-80 percent for the freshman classes of ’08-’12. This stagnation motivated the president to find out what exactly has kept rates at these levels.

To evaluate where Fordham stands, McShane assembled a Task Force on Undergraduate Retention last April chaired by Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) Assistant Dean for Freshmen and Director of Academic Advising Joseph Desciak. The group includes 11 other members of the Fordham community, with backgrounds ranging from Desciak’s own, to faculty at Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH), FCLC, both campuses of the Gabelli School of Business, representatives of Enrollment Services as well as Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students at Lincoln Center Keith Eldredge.

Desciak, without revealing the exact numbers the group had found in their research, explained that he and the rest of the commit-

tee do not believe that Fordham’s present retention rate is particularly troubling when considering factors such as medical leave and dismissals, things that may not necessarily reflect a failing on the part of the university. There are also certain unavoidable factors that naturally hurt Fordham’s retention. “Fordham is expensive. Fordham is in New York City,” Desciak said. “From what we’ve seen, most of the time, it’s a financial issue.”

In addition, Desciak noted that, from his experience, “Pretty much all of the withdrawing students are transferring to another school, and not dropping out entirely.”

The full report on Fordham’s student retention is due to be released this coming January and will contain data on the reflections of students who chose not to continue their education at Fordham. The task force has also sought to acquire information from a sampling of former members of the Fordham community on the conditions of their departure from the school. Dean Desciak indicated that this process was an important one, as the current university-wide withdrawal form “contains just one single line asking for the students’ reason for withdrawal,” a frustrating limitation the group has had to work around.

While this makes finding proper information more challenging, it will not keep the committee from unveiling their report of nine recommended action items, which Desciak explained as covering “everything from big dreams to small practical issues.” The exact details will have to wait until January, but among them is an action plan revolving around proposals to change the facilitation of academic advising, which Desciak himself directs here at Lincoln Center.

JON BJORNSON/THE OBSERVER

Assistant Dean for Freshmen and Director of Academic Advising Joseph Desciak is spearheading the crosscampus student retention task force.

These initiatives would accompany a physical redesign of the academic dean’s office on the 8th floor of the Lowenstein building, coming this Spring semester, as well as including a controlled test run for a new version of of the platform used for advising all students: the Student Success Collaborative (SSC). This would impact the way advising appointments are scheduled, work to congregate information from Banner into a format more easily accessible to the deans, allow for easier

access to student’s email addresses and, most importantly, comes with a brand new career placement prediction system, which works to identify what courses and career paths are likely to be better or worse fits for a student based on their past coursework. This change to the SSC is something the Task Force is “very committed to moving forward, ” and after a test run next semester will be up for adoption university-wide, according to Desciak.

Often, he finds the issue to be

that students are simply never aware of the opportunities Fordham provides until it is too late in the withdrawal process. “A student at Rose Hill transferred to pursue a minor in fashion studies,” he said, “not knowing that it’s offered here at Lincoln Center.” With a better portal to identify these sorts of career ambitions, the Fordham administration is hoping to prove that it is devoted to maintaining more students through completed academic careers here at Fordham.

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Opinions

Opinions Editor Alex Seyad- aseyad@fordham.edu

STAFF EDITORIAL

ASIAN-AMERICANS DESERVE VISIBILITY

F

ordham’s theatre department recently decided to tackle the idea of what it means to “be an American.” While the two productions this semester— ”Magnolia” and “The Way West”—were well-executed and received high praise, many Asian-American theatre students felt excluded from the process; “Magnolia” heavily centered around tensions between white and black families, and “The Way West” featured an all-white cast.

While Theatre Department Director Matthew Maguire’s vision for the Fordham theatre program’s mainstage productions was to portray the aforementioned patriotic theme, the Observer believes it has fallen short in practice and fails to present an array of American experiences. The rather limited racial diversity of the semester’s two productions is troubling because the “America” portrayed does not seem to include the history or involvement of countless other ethnicities and races that encompass the Fordham community. This amalgamation of backgrounds is vital to Americana, and it is disappointing that Fordham theatre has decided not to include more than two races.

Choosing a play that lent itself to casing an all-white en-

semble was a missed opportunity for the theatre department to tell more diverse stories about Americans, including— but not limited to—AsianAmericans. This rings especially true when one considers that the last Asian-centric play at Fordham was “The Orphan of Zhao” in 2015, which received backlash for having been whitewashed.

To prevent further whitewashing and be more inclusive towards the Asian-American theatre students, the theatre department must seek out plays with an appropriate Asian-American cast size.

Some examples of plays that apply to these limitations include “Soft Power,” “Allegiance,” “Yohen,” “Office Hour” and more. These plays call for Asian-American leads and depict the intricacies of living as an Asian-American, but each plot is creative, unique and relevant to today’s issues.

In light of current political discourse, there is much debate over what defines a “true American”. While much of the United States history taught in schools highlights white and black tensions, which are incredibly important stories to tell and acknowledge, America’s past, present and future can be defined by various

stories with authors of various backgrounds. Asian-Americans feeling uncomfortable, invisible or that their stories are mis- or underrepresented is unacceptable, especially here at Fordham, which prides itself on its diversity.

Equality and visibility also go further than race; they apply to all types of identities.

Students of all ethnicities, races, religions, genders and sexualities should feel safe and accepted at Fordham.

Hearing that any group of students feels uncomfortable and underrepresented in its own school is troubling, especially when the neglect is occurring within the students’ own program.

It is promising, however, that Maguire has taken steps to open the dialogue between the department and the theatre students. By increasing season planning forums, Maguire is giving theatre students and faculty more opportunities to voice their concerns. We hope and expect that these conversations move forward and that Maguire continues to prove his department’s dedication to inclusion and diversity. Change does not occur overnight, but the Observer is looking forward to more inclusivity and progress in the spring season and beyond.

PHOTOGRAPHER’S CHOICE

December 7, 2017 THE OBSERVER

Observer the

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What is our image of beauty? What is taught in this nation as beautiful? It is confusing, twisted, and destructive to be taught that there is a definitive, singualar beauty, and that this image is different from who you are. (Are we not all beautiful?)

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THE OBSERVER December 7, 2017

Opinions

5

Understanding the GOP Tax Plan JOE GORMAN Contributing Writer

Taxes get a lot more interesting when you look at them as a window into the government’s priorities.

Put simply, you tax things you want less of and subsidize things you want more of.

For example, under Obamacare’s individual mandate, the government taxed people who chose not to have health care coverage and subsidized health care premiums for the poor. It did this because it wanted to have fewer uninsured people. On the other hand, the government has a long-standing goal of reducing smoking and taxes tobacco products at the federal, state and, often, local levels.

Under that framework, the tax plan put forward by House GOP leaders has its priorities in the wrong places.

First and foremost, the whole plan exists primarily as a way to deliver a tax cut to the very wealthy, who are already taxed at historically low rates. But that’s not all—it rewards those who are both very rich and very lazy by lowering the tax rate on “passive income” (income from investments, not salary) to 25 percent. Passive income is currently it is taxed at the personal income tax rate, which is 39.6 percent for those earning over $418,700. Seventy percent of such “passive income” goes to the top one percent of earners, according to a 2015 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

To pay for this tax cut, the plan would remove a number of important deductions which benefit many more people: it changes the way graduate tuition waivers are taxed, eliminates the deductibility of state and local taxes and cuts the mortgage interest deduction.

GAGE SKIDMORE VIA FLICKR

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has spearheaded the Republican effort to pass a new tax plan.

All three deductions exist in order to promote upward mobility in American society. Removing these in favor of tax breaks for “passive income” incentivizes activities that are bad for the American public.

The tax bill would also drastically increase taxes on those pursuing post-graduate education, discouraging further education and dealing irreparable long-term damage to the U.S. educational system and economy. The American education system has been one of the foundations of American competitiveness for decades, as well as a reliable means of upward mobility for many

Americans. A strong educational system is valuable for a multitude of reasons from producing well-rounded citizens to building a dynamic and adaptable workforce.

Many universities—particularly lower-cost state schools—provide funding to post-grad students through tuition waivers, often offered in return for teaching or research hours and usually designed to cover the cost of living during their studies. Currently, these waivers are not taxable, which makes a good deal of sense (you can’t buy groceries or pay rent with a tuition waiver).

Since they are spending their time studying, teaching and researching to earn their waiver, most grad students do not have much cash income in addition to having very low tax bills. The new tax plan would count the waivers as taxable income, requiring grad students to pay thousands of dollars more a year in taxes and putting a graduate education out of reach for many students.

The state and local tax deduction is a common-sense deduction that would also fall prey to the new tax plan. For example, if you pay $100 in taxes to your state or city

(including both income and property tax), you don’t have that money available to pay taxes to the federal government, and you should not be taxed twice on it. This is the way it has worked for decades, but under the new tax plan, you would wind up paying taxes on that income twice.

Switching this would put pressure on states and cities to cut services—likely, services that are more closely tailored to the groups who use them. It would hit low- and middle-income people in high costof-living areas (like New York City) especially hard, as they pay higher property taxes and often have higher state taxes.

For decades, the government has tried its best to encourage more Americans to be homeowners with varying effectiveness and unintended consequences. One significant part of this policy has been the mortgage interest deduction, which makes it easier for people who borrow to buy a home to pay back their mortgage.

Homeownership helps people develop ties in a community and build equity over time, which can fund emergency expenses or help pay for tuition. Cutting the mortgage interest deduction would discourage homeownership and encourage renting, which has less stability than homeownership.

These are just three examples of how the proposed tax bill makes clear the priorities of those who wrote it: they are willing to make it harder to attain upward mobility— with fewer highly-educated workers and homeowners, and fewer local services—in order to have a larger tax break on passive investment income for the very wealthy. This path will make life harder for the majority of people in the United States and undermine the economy in the long run, and it is not a path we should go down.

Make the Democrats Win Again bers of the party in hot water by being blasted as “out of touch” by Staff Writer their Republican opponents. It is of utmost importance that Democrats put a strong emphasis on decency and cordiality in politics to show After a bruising defeat in the themselves as a refreshing contrast 2016 presidential election to the to the scorched-earth politics of most unpopular presidential Trump’s Republican Party. They candidate potentially ever, the must follow the quote from former Democratic Party is now faced with First Lady Michelle Obama speakthe arduous task of rebranding and ing in 2016: “When they go low, we rebuilding itself from the bottom go high.” up. While the AmeriIn many can left as a whole is ways, Ralph It is imperative that Democrats at least atunified by opposition to President Trump, a tempt to sell themselves on being able to work Northam’s victory in tense civil war within the Democratic Party across the aisle to deliver effective public policy the Virginia gubernatorial between supporters of race this year for all Americans.

Hillary Clinton and shows Demosupporters of Bernie crats a roadSanders in the party’s map forward.

2016 primary has country in the midst of a time of Northam ran as a mild-mannered, only strengthened. Divisions in the extreme political polarization. relatively moderate Democrat who party have deepened, rather than They will have to accept that many was clearly a great fit for this swing beginning to heal. In order for the Americans may not agree with state. Being from rural Virginia party to begin to win back seats, it their views, but it is imperative and proposing policy plans that needs to focus on pragmatism over that they at least attempt to sell specifically spoke to rural Virginideological dogma and work to help themselves on being able to work ians, he was able to reach out to unify the country. across the aisle to deliver effective at least parts of a group that felt A recent debate in the Demopublic policy for all Americans. It completely left out from Hillary cratic Party has arisen over the is very important that Democrats Clinton’s 2016 presidential camneed (or lack of need) for “litmus voice opposition to the (many) poli- paign. He also ran ads in northern tests” that would demand Democratic candidates’ ideological purity cies coming out of the White House Virginia and Richmond emphasizwith which they do not agree. ing his support among leaders of on an issue or issues. It is imperaHowever, a message to voters simthe African-American community, tive to realize that in more conserply of “resistance” combined with which greatly assisted in motivatvative or even moderate regions of internet graphics of clenched fists ing voters of color. Northam ran a the country, demanding ideological fails to show that they will be able calm campaign minded in decency purity will be a detriment to the to effectively work on their own, and real solutions for all Virginians appeal of Democrats in those areas. across lines of difference. AdditionIf the only way a Democrat can win much less across the aisle. After all, a surface level of bipartisanship is ally, the Democrats picked up over in a socially conservative state is to necessary for most major legislaa dozen seats in Virginia’s House run on a platform declaring themtion to be stable. of Delegates. One Democratic selves as “pro-life” then they should Such tones coming out of the candidate who won one of these do so. While such a viewpoint goes Democratic Party as a whole reseats was Danica Roem, the first against the Democratic Party’s cently can land individual memtransgender woman to be elected platform, the candidate would PATRICK RIZZI

agree with the Democratic Party on the vast majority of other issues, thus making them a clear asset to the party overall. There is no cookie-cutter shape for Democrats that can win them in every nook and cranny of the country, so by allowing at least some diversity of opinion in more conservative areas, they can break new ground in rural America.

The second thing that Democrats need to do is help unify the

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE VIA WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Phil Murphy (D-NJ) won the gubernatorial election this past November.

to Virginia’s state legislature. The Democratic Party could look to her campaign as a successful blueprint for how to win swing (and red) states across the country. If they

do this and utilize such a victory to their advantage, they will have great success in 2018 and beyond.

They might even win so much that they might get tired of winning.

6

Opinions

December 7, 2017 THE OBSERVER

www.fordhamobserver.com

Trump Would Do Anything to Undercut a Democrat JORDAN MELTZER Asst. Opinions Editor

Donald Trump, whom I have the misfortune of calling my president, keeps getting worse and worse with every tweet he sends. Now, he has endorsed serial pedophelia over liberalism.

In the special election for the Alabama Senate seat, candidate Roy Moore has been accused by eight women of sexual harassment and assault, including allegations from a woman who was 14 at the time.

He also happens to be a Republican.

Meanwhile, candidate Doug Jones is a fairly liberal Democrat with no allegations of sexual misconduct.

And yet, somehow, using his own twisted logic, the 45th president of the United States said this of the open Senate seat: “We don’t need a liberal person in there, a Democrat.”

There are so many problems with the liar-in-chief ’s repudiation of Jones and defense of Moore, several of them based on facets of basic human decency that I assumed everyone knew. I’ll start at square one: believe survivors. When expressing support for Moore, Trump blatantly dismissed all accusations against him, saying, “Look, he denies it.”

I was nauseous reading this, but not surprised. Trump did—and is doing—the exact same thing with the 14 accusations against him. He calls them all liars and expects us just to move on. At least one other member of his administration is also guilty of this: Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. She recently changed a law about sexual assault on college campuses, effectively removing the legal support system for survivors. It is a Trumpian pattern to dismiss victims of sexual assault, but this needs to change.

Let me be perfectly clear on this vital philosophy Trump must learn: believe survivors.

Secondly—and again, what I thought was obvious but apparently is not—Republicans and Democrats have to tolerate each other sometimes. Trump endorsed Moore and overtly disavowed Jones.

An accused sexual predator over a Democrat…because the Democrat is a Democrat. May I remind you that he initially refused to disavow David Duke, the former “Grand Wizard” of the Ku Klux Klan, and the Klan itself? Why is he so quick to write off a liberal for being a liberal but has to think twice about a man that denies that the Holocaust happened or a group that employs terrorism to prove how much it hates anyone who isn’t a white Christian? It is because he is a self-absorbed narcissist who only supports people who share his extremist conservative ideologies.

He often turns on Republicans who publicly criticize one thing he says; forget Democrats.

I feel like I say this a lot, but Trump has reached a moral breaking point this time. He has shown that he would rather make a fool of himself in front of the entire world than agree with a leftist. He would rather tolerate a potential child molester than a liberal in a position of power in his country. He is willing to sacrifice the well-being of a child as long as his guy gets the Senate seat in Alabama. What happened to compromise? What happened to respectful, bipartisan politics in the White House? And will it return before 2020 rolls around?

COURTESY OF PEXELS

Microtransactions, a hotly debated topic among gamers lately, could mean the difference between paying a few dollars and paying a few hundred dollars for a game.

The Rise and Fall of Microtransactions KEVIN CHRISTOPHER ROBLES Contributing Writer

Video games are expensive to create. To put that reality into perspective, let’s take two games from recent memory: Activision’s “Destiny” cost upwards of $150 million for pure developmental expenditures, not counting the additional millions they sunk into marketing; Rockstar Games’ “Grand Theft Auto V” cost an astounding $265 million, making it the most expensive game ever made. Let me repeat: video games are very expensive, and they are only going to get more so.

Despite the ever-increasing cost of making these pieces of media, the base retail price of a video game has not actually increased within the last 15 years. That means that every new video game costs at most $60, not counting various special editions and whatnot. If you adjust for inflation, the market value of the average big-budget game has actually gone down over time. Add on to this the various slices of that $60 that retailers and console manufacturers take, then publishers will be hard-pressed to see more than a $15 return on their investment in any individual purchase. Plus, increasing the price above $60 would be a

hard sell to any consumer. It should be obvious that this combination of factors leads to a significant falloff in terms of profits, making it that much harder for new games to break even. How, then, are we to reconcile the gaming industry’s growing budgetary issues and the dwindling value of the games’ suggested retail price?

A growing number of publishers are using microtransactions, relatively cheap purchases used to attain in-game bonuses, to combat this issue. These microtransactions have normally been the purview of mobile games like “Candy Crush” and “Clash of Clans,” which are free to play but require the purchase of “premium currency” in order to progress at a reasonable rate. There have been numerous news reports about disgruntled parents whose children have eaten up thousands of dollars on these games, usually because the parents were not careful enough with where they placed their credit cards. What is troubling, however, is that traditional publishers are beginning to use this system in big-budget $60 titles.

Consider “Star Wars Battlefront II,” one of Electronic Arts’ main releases of the year. The game uses a popular system called “lootboxes” that are bought with real money. Everything you get in the box is totally

random, which means that it might take multiple purchases before you get anything you actually want. The real kicker is that lootboxes are the only way that one can progress in the game: for example, if you buy a lootbox, you will inherently have certain advantages (better guns, stronger abilities, more health, etc.) over other players. In other words, the entire balance of this multiplayer shooter is based around outspending your opponent. It does not take much knowledge of video games to realize that a system like this would destroy any semblance of fairness or competition in a game where that sort of thing is vital to maintaining a high number of consistent players.

Companies are trying to turn games into a “service.” However, what they are doing with them hardly counts as a service. It hardly even counts as a “game” at all. It used to be that if you paid a base price for a game, you got everything in the box. This is no longer true. Now, everything in the box is divided into tiny chunks, and you only pay for access to the box. The companies have stopped selling you video games: they are selling you a menu where they can sell you individual items. And if you do not buy more stuff, good luck having fun while other people routinely beat you just because they spent more money on

lootboxes.

However, there are ethical ways to use microtransactions. Blizzard Entertainment’s “Overwatch” is a similar multiplayer shooter to “Battlefront II,” broadly speaking, and also has a lootbox system. The reason why “Overwatch” works is because they create entirely free content updates consisting of new characters, weapons and locations— all of which are accessible after the initial purchase. Their lootbox system provides only cosmetic bonuses such as alternate costumes and voice lines, meaning they have zero effect on the game’s actual balance. “Overwatch” is easily the most successful shooter in recent memory, yet despite its success, big publishers insist on using systems which destroy game balance and fracture player bases in order to turn more profit.

Games are expensive, but sacrificing the essential things that made them great in the first place will only drive people away from them.

Video games are a type of media unlike any other, unique in their ability to engage the audience in a more tactile and meaningful way.

Compromising their structure for the sake of profit will only destroy the medium’s integrity. Games should be more than just a return on investment.

Your 2017 Wrapped You read 45,238 words of The Observer Top Genre: Fordham’s Lack of Transparency Top Artist: Dean Eldredge Top Song: “In Defense of the Oxford Comma”

THE COMMA FORDHAM LINCOLN CENTER’S LITERARY MAGAZINE F A L L 2 017

Cartographer CAT REYNOLDS Childhood was a pilgrimage from house to house, city to city, state to state, country to country. As soon as the dust settled on our last path, it was time to kick up more on a new one. I was a malleable object in the outstretched hands of others’ lives. I came, I saw, I adapted. I left. My place became displacement. I became comfortable only in the uncomfortable. I burned one life and built another, ashes from ashes.

You ask me where I’m from. My mother, my father. I am from and I am of the world. I am sprung from a lifetime of strangeness and wandering, and I am from wherever I was the moment before this one, from wherever I will be in the moment after this one. I am from right here. Wherever it may be. You ask me to pinpoint where my home is on a map, and I will instead present you with a globe and say, “Here.” I have replaced a pin with a path. You ask me for the blueprints of my childhood home, and I will give you my footprint. I have made a home of myself, and thus have made a home of the world.

I have made a home of myself, a home I will share with you. Stay awhile, stay forever. Find calm in my heart the way you curl up in front of a fire on a winter’s eve on a living room rug

EMILY DAVANCENS

and let the embers of my spirit warm you from your fingertips to your toes. Claim sanctuary in my smile, when I am my most vulnerable, and let yourself rest in the safety of where I have let my walls down to build them up for you. Arms outstretched, hands to the heavens, come to me the way I have come to myself and let me love you the way I have learned to love myself. I can shapeshift and makeshift, watch me contort my entire being to be for you.

Your home is not where you were born. Your home is not where you live. Your home is not a house. It is where you have been, it is where you are going, it is where you are. Your home is both nothing and everything, transcending space, time, reality. This is our home, whatever this turns out to be.

Ashes to ashes.

I Apologize To My Mother While Talking to the “Princess Diana” Tree at the Botanical Gardens MATTHEW APADULA I was one of those leash kids, you know? “Hyperactive” was not the word of the day. Too diagnostic, clinical. We need a better word for kids who drink in a little too much sun, who haven’t grown large enough yet for all the matter in their small bodies to spring forth. “Hyperactive” can’t get its arms around those kids and neither could my mother. The good children got to walk in step with their mother’s hips, as tall as the sky, but I was the one with the tether, circling her in gleeful orbit and the word of the day was “elastic” as I found the farther I ran from my mother, down the pathways in the gardens, pulling my leash closer and closer to plaques I was not yet old enough to read, the faster I would be pulled back, my laugh making waves in spacetime, the flowers of fall rigor mortis exploding around me as my tiny Keds discovered flight, as the leash tore me back from the edge of my universe back to my mother back to my all-I-know, and what is a mother’s love if not the cable snapping you back from the uncaring maw even as the meat of her hands chafed from tugging me back to her planet.

Even as my sonic boom stole from her what little sleep she’d gotten the night before. Even as I, her little satellite, insisted on breaking my revolution her heart. Even as the frowning green shirts from the front gate, of course, asked her and her errant moon to leave, as they were disturbing the gardens for the nicer, quieter systems.

Diana, I’m just made out of what my mother told me made me when my planet came together. Starstuff, rock, singeing-hot core. But I only feel dust as I rotate out here.

Diana, I don’t remember this story. I was a baby, born-new from the stars my mother let die for me. There’s less light in this corner of the universe, because of me.

PAULA NAJAS

Diana, I guess you know better than I do what it means to feel your everything slip out of reach, to feel an orbit splinter under the weight of another gravity.

8

Aphelion AARON LASCANO Ahead, the dire canyons dry, where soon our piercéd prince shall lie, In Er’bus, maze of twisted ash, where all concede their lives have passed.

Before that end Achilles finds his mentor’s star, his tutor’s eye, It lights the stage on which he asks the beachhead and the river vast To slow, stave off, fell Charon’s pass, the tides resist his ferry fast.

Instead, he prays, “Dear Chiron, haste! Fly down, come see your pupil’s face, ‘Fore he receive death’s dark’ning mask. But grant small peace in moments last!”

As downwards Sagitta’rius raced, a gilded path his stars did trace.

His gaze alights upon the one who on his teachings did rely.

What peace has he, what peace to grant, now knows he where his ward’s been cast?

Great Chiron first amongst his kind, brought low at last, sets free his cry, “My fiercest star, my student last, were you by Paris’ shaft outclassed?

I taught you wrong, I failed you fast, with thoughts my arts were unsurpassed, I was a fool to guide you through your wager with the gods’ ill grace!”

Achilles pleads, “Our time won’t last—But bless me ‘fore my ship’s come past!”

To his lorn side did Chiron race, and on his head a blessing trace.

When Charon came, it then was time to take last lives to canyons dry.

Achilles went, then spoke his last when he had crossed the river vast.

“I witness now my shadow’s life, that’s followed me from my first cry, Ruled by a fate o’er-watched by gods who sought my role be bright and fast, My audience, those tempters great, bequeathed me paths for the contrast One brief of war, the other long and void. The first would I embrace.

Enticed by glory, how could I choose else? By swords was I thus cast.

To heaven now, will Chiron race, and me, no comfort in his place.”

TATIANA GALLARDO

My Mother’s Flower FABIOLA GARCIA-MORALES My mother.

She gave me my breath, my strength, and my life. She built me an empire out of ashes, and experiences that shaped my mind.

I did not come from wealth, but my intelligence’s worth a fortune.

It was my mother and I, a woman guiding her daughter in a world that would be against her.

Here, that is America, where being Latina was the equivalent of being invisible.

Pride was my oppressor’s motive, prejudice was the ghost who haunted my existence.

I persisted, and remembered why my mother brought me here.

To give me the life she did not have.

Untitled PARDO, C. I was born on this stage I didn’t think I would ever want to climb off But when I saw my father charging at me

Thighs shuddering

Mane razing

Snout quivering I turned back to the crowd

Their eyes pinpricks of light stolen from the stage

Down deep in the ravine And I jumped Foolish enough to hope that I would Thump

down to the rusty dirt

of the twin plateau of this giant canyon But knowing still I would be drawn in By my spectators’ greedy eyes

They reached out their hands

Short arms to break a loooooooooong Fall

Into their sweaty grasp.

A pit of naked snakes

Molted and wearing their guts inside out Their gore erupts around my father’s quivering haunches, Crashing in from the heavens

Following, following, following, following And he rears his head, born anew, scattering the blood upon us like rain—

A drop hits my cheek And I am extremely tempted to taste of this audience’s labor and life

A swathe of blood off my cheek

And onto my thumb

To redden my tongue.

To paint my stomach with blood.

My father makes the ground shudder They wilt like dried up weeds and die like mashed up beans beneath his feet; Pounding hooves into the blood-mud.

There was one place I was safe A brightly lit oasis, now floating in the sky— I know why my audience watched me

Because they couldn’t see me But for the shadows that I would cast with my stage lights Giving rest to their greedy eyes from my shining retreat when I would couch their gorge in a few moments of precious darkness Dark, deep, precious darkness

The kind of which that grew from my father’s coat

The kind of which that whinnied from my father’s throat

The kind of which that carried his hooves across the loam

The kind of which that said “Cristina, it’s time to go home.”

The force that comes with hitting a wall, is the one that increases your strength.

That is why we have had doors shut before us.

Sometimes it is good to be in the soil, because you grow, and eventually bloom.

If it wasn’t for the labyrinth my mother set out for me, I would not be here.

I would not be my mother’s flower.

9

The Bad News WILL FLOYD

The Nonsense Ghost ALEXANDRA RICHARDSON My room is full of ghosts. My room is haunted by me.

They are everywhere, in everything, staring at the fluorescent star stickers stuck to the ceiling, floating in the windows, peeking in the mirror, crying in the bed, reading in the corner armchair. Every last one has one little end twisted and tied in a tight knot around the old copy of Alice Through the Looking Glass that’s sitting on my bedside table.

One ghost in particular, the least painful ghost to meet, I think, greets me at the door, in a light blue velvet overall dress and a white turtleneck with a velvet hairbow in long, tangled dark hair. She is seven. She is not scared of me, though she’s scared of the dark and murderers and deep water and judgement and the universe. She speaks in a high, squeaky voice that shakes with strangers and softens around friends she’s frightened to offend. There is a white rabbit with a red waist-coat and a glass eye on a chain, stitched in silvery thread on the dress pocket. She has Alice Through the Looking Glass in her hand because she found it on the bookshelf in her parents’ room and liked the bright scarlet of the cover, the loopy gold script of the title.

She takes my wrist, blue with veins, and leads me, but I don’t need her to. I am my wholest self again, because all the selves that I washed and starched and ironed and folded into drawers, or tucked into corners, or hid under beds and tried to forget about are hung like clean sheets. I can see them as clearly as my own reflection and I can hear their voices in my head. There is a little, tiny, almost invisible gold chain that runs through each of them, linking all the ghosts together, anchoring them to this first space that was mine so that they can never evaporate like exhaled smoke on the wind. They float like balloons, each on her chainlink, bobbing and rising with the updraft.

I pry apart the pages of the books, sifting through the sketched remnants of my own face. The small, pointy font on pale discolored pages reminds me of learning how to write in first grade, agonizing over my letters.

There are whitish spots where my fingers have turned pages, again and again. Whole words and errant letters have faded. The corners are tearing. The spine is creased, like the face of a tired grandfather. The tired pages are spotted with stains: saltwater from tears and mineral water and Diet Coke, and smears of something red-brown that might be blood from where I bit my nails to the quick when I was twelve.

The words rearrange into tickling sentences CABBAGES AND KINGS and CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER and OFF WITH HER HEAD! They are nonsensical and wild, like the little girl likes to be, sometimes.

Sometimes she likes to sleep wrong-way-around on her bed that’s actually just a mattress on top of a box-spring, no bed frame or anything like that, with her feet under the windows, so she can look out at the street lamp and the stars as she sleeps, so she can see her room flipped back to front.

Sometimes she likes to scream into her pillow, where no one will hear.

Here, she is allowed to be everything and nothing.

Lewis Carroll’s sentences are draped like the curtains the little ghost girl used to hold the ends of and wave up and down because the calico fluttering in the sun reminded her of the sea. The colors of Wonderland are painted into the walls. She knows because she has no difficulty drawing at her desk, playing pretend with dolls in party dresses, pacing her room and reciting made-up stories in here. Her corner of the universe is limitless.

She pries the words apart, the ghost girl, and turns the letters around with sticky, inky, clumsy fingers. How did he do it—sketch everything and nothing so crudely and so completely into a hundred-some pages? How was it possible to see the world so clearly and yet portray it such as it was not at all? It wasn’t so scary when encapsulated in those pages, when the big RIGHTS and WRONGS were picked away and the nonsense allowed to run and jump and yell and dance and throw a party.

She haunts that room, the little ghost-girl, but I don’t mind.

I like to believe that she belongs as much to Wonderland as she does to me and that she keeps a little piece of Wonderland, of nonsense, hovering unseen and ever-present in my corner of the universe.

10

The bad news is: I’m leaving and I don’t know when I’ll be back.

The good news is: I’m leaving the sun right where it is, at your favorite height and temperature.

There is still cocaine on the mountaintops if any of you are interested in that.

Otherwise, everything is basically the same as it was before, the prettiest flowers, will continue to grow, and you will still be able to fall in love…don’t worry, I’ve designed it so that you are able to survive without me.

Do not try and contact me during this period.

The winning lotto numbers for the next month, are not arbitrary; they are coordinates, to all your missing aircrafts.

If you knew this already, congratulations, you are the last prophet.

Now get to work, you all have a lot of grieving to do.

Separate/Together ABBY WHEAT I am here.

Sitting in class, fidgeting out of nervousness and boredom, mind racing with thoughts that have nothing to do with the subject material, staring at the clock, making to-do lists in my head.

I am here.

Alone on the couch, watching the microwave as my frozen mac and cheese spins in endless circles, sipping from my third Diet Coke of the day.

I am here.

Watching TV in my bed in solitude, laying still for hours, my brain turned off, my limbs stiff, my hair knotted on the back of my head, doing a whole lot of nothing.

I am here.

In my bed as I start my day, rolling over to hit snooze just one more time, my head heavy on the pillow, my eyes barely open, hours of activities I don’t want to participate in ahead of me.

You are here.

Across from me at a table in the library, focused on the contents of your notebook, you look up and smile at me while I struggle with my chem homework, reaching your hand out to squeeze mine.

You are here.

Cooking the chicken as I boil the pasta, the two of us dancing in the kitchen to some old folk song, you gently grab my shoulders from behind and give me a kiss on the head, both of us feeling full of chicken alfredo and love.

You are here.

Our hands gripping each other as we walk through the park, smiling at every dog who passes by, giggling about inside jokes, telling each other every detail of our hours spent apart, the destination of our journey unspecified.

You are here.

Tucked under the blanket, still resting peacefully, your hair is a messy tangle of brownish curls, your breaths long and deep, your body gracefully rising and falling to the rhythm of your heart.

Rolling over, grey eyes sleepily peering into mine, wrapping your arms around me, pulling me in close.

I am so glad you are here.

Old God JOE GROSS Oh, those vast, calm, measureless mountain days,1 When it rose from view like Starry Night And stood still taller than birds in flight.

Our sikh, who took peyote, said it showed No further face, this god that did not hide.

The wind and water sook its center, Though into its soul could not enter.

They shaved its face and shook its base for ten Thousand years, but the mountain survived, changed.

We’d left that place, yet stood at its foot.

Left that place where men dug and found soot.

In that time, the mountain became the dunes.

A god diminished is still striking, Like us, who never fully die. _________________ Muir, John. Diaries from his “First Summer in the Sierra.”

1

LUCY O’BRIEN

The Garden ASHLEY RIVERA This is where you belong, a deep gentle voice called out to her from the white puffy clouds. She sat in her garden, underneath a blue sky, surrounded by yellow tulips and red roses. She grew up in the garden, smelling the sweet aroma that emanated from each flower; her only concern in life was whether the flowers would remain with her forever—they were her only company. She enjoyed watching them appear from the ground and bloom into colorful spectacles. The clouds took care of both her and the flowers. Every other day, they released rain droplets that kept her clean and the flowers alive. She was happy.

One day, she stumbled upon a small mirror on the ground that was concealed by the green grass. Put that down right now! the clouds yelled, but for the first time in her life, with a thunderous voice. She looked in the mirror and studied her long black hair and snow white face. She immediately plucked one of the red roses and placed it in her hair. Some of the petals fell off, landing in her hair. She looked at herself in the mirror again and a feeling of elation washed over her: this feels better, she thought. She felt happier than ever before.

Stop what you are doing! the clouds roared. She remained seated among the flowers as a gentle wind blew through her hair. The wind caught hold of the rose, causing her to jump to her feet and chase after it. Eventually, the rose disappeared from her sight. She began to cry at the thought of her color withering away.

See! This is the way things are supposed to be, the clouds said, returning to their softer voice—the one she was accustomed to. She wanted to listen to the clouds— they were responsible for her life. She wanted to be obedient. She picked up the mirror and looked into her bloodshot eyes that had become puffy from crying. She placed her hand on her face, her skin felt like bark. She was sad.

With a heart full of despair, she smiled. She dropped down to the ground. Her bare feet now damp from the tears of the flowers—they too shared her feelings. The flowers now understood that her happiness no longer depended on watching them grow day after day; she wanted to plant her own seeds. She wanted green stems and pink rose petals to call her own.

Do you see what you have done? You almost ruined everything. You’ve been a bad person. You must return to the person you used to be immediately, or nothing good will come of you, the clouds said sternly.

She laughed, plucked a yellow tulip, and placed it in her hair. Suddenly, a large gust of wind came through, snatching the tulip, and some of her hair. Her body began to shake in fear. She checked the mirror again and her hair was shortened. Tears began to build up behind her eyes, but this time, she used all of her strength to hold them in; she wouldn’t let the flowers cry again.

Instead, she smiled. You’re just making things worse for yourself. Listen to us, we know what’s best for you! the wind proclaimed. Another gust of wind stirred the entire garden, ripping flowers from their roots. Her future was being torn from the Earth.

She closed her eyes, got up, and yelled, “Do what you want, but you’ll never take me!”

11

10 Minutes MEGAN CRANE “10 minutes.”

Dr. Ericsson stops writing and looks up at me.

“10 minutes?”

“Yeah, 10 minutes.”

Scritch-scratch goes his pen on the clipboard, and I’m instantly nervous.

“Why, is 10 minutes weird?”

“Oh, no,” he assures me. “10 minutes is an average duration for panic attacks. Actually, that’s relatively short.”

“Lucky me.” I feel the sarcasm dribbling from between my lips. 10 minutes does not feel short. And I do not feel lucky.

I’m shivering but I’m not really cold. The door to the office is slightly ajar, and I see a girl through the fiveinch crack, sitting stiffly in one of the waiting room chairs. Her eyes flit away from mine the moment I look at her.

It never feels like 10 minutes.

“What?” Dr. Ericsson asks, and I realize I said my thought out loud.

“The panic attacks,” I say. “They never feel like 10 minutes. More like 10 years.”

Scritch-scratch-scritch. “Tell me more about that?”

I tighten in on myself, legs winding around each other like Kudzu vines, fingers grasping at my shirt, my skin, each other. I do not know how to describe to this stranger—the sudden mental assault of nonexistent sirens and flashing lights. How do you explain how it feels to simultaneously feel everything and absolutely nothing, to tear apart your body from the inside out just to feel something that isn’t fear. How your body aches when adrenaline forces its way into your bloodstream. How does it feel—like swallowing cotton balls, like missing a step on the stairs, like trying to breathe against the wind when the car windows are down, like you’re going to throw something up but you don’t know what, like someone stuck a blender in your skull and whipped your brain into stiff peaks.

“How does it feel?” Dr. Ericsson asks. My mouth opens, and for a second I feel like I’m going to choke or gag or vomit or all of the above all at once and I cannot breathe.

“Like I need a cigarette,” I say.

I sit in the plaza for an hour, trying to remember how to exhale.

TATIANA GALLARDO

Rosy Vinegar ADELE FISK I like to pickle bits of people. Not big, important bits. Bits they won’t miss.

Jamie’s baby incisor is the pride of my collection. The enamel has pickled into a sheet of mother of pearl and the brine glows like bioluminescent algae. The only imperfection that remains is the jagged edge at the end of its tusk-like root. I knocked it out with a rock when we were six years old. While he was searching for the tooth I pinched it out of the dirt and slipped it into my sock. He cried but soon, he forgot. At home, while my mother thought I was washing my face, I scrubbed the bloody mud from the enamel and hid it where the tooth fairy would not steal it.

I never felt guilty. He grew a new tooth.

I keep Jamie’s jars in a row on my windowsill so the sun will shine through them like stained glass. A thin strand of black hair has eroded, diffusing into the brine, turning it a thin green that lights my room like sunshine through oak leaves. A bit of cuticle foams like hydrogen peroxide on a skinned knee. An eyelash has sprouted a web of roots that spread like capillaries, casting dappled shadows on my wall.

His collection is the smallest of mine. I haven’t been able to update it. I have not seen him since we were six years old; on the day I stole his tooth.

By now he has all new teeth, all new hair follicles. But I know his grown up smile does not glint with mother of pearl.

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ABBY WHEAT

A Plea for Manhattan TATIANA GALLARDO Take a second. You’re at an intersection. You’re about to cross the street, you’re about to move on along the same journey to your grey, secluded office void of any family photos, any lucky charms. You’re about to work until 11pm, hoping your boss will notice but knowing he won’t care.

You’re about to walk two blocks east and stop for your medium black coffee at the shop that makes you feel trendy and tip the cute blonde barista because it makes you feel benevolently powerful. You’re going to walk with that damn black coffee spilling on your new leather shoes all the way to the door that brings you doom and misery simply because you graduated college promising to bring home paychecks and bonuses that would satisfy your parents yet all the while, inside you’re drowning in work, in pain, in anger, in missed opportunities and you say, with that toothy grin, Oh, isn’t life wonderful.

Don’t. Don’t keep walking forward when you know there’s something about to happen. Or maybe you don’t know. Maybe you’ll never know.

But if you took off your headphones and stopped listening to your “favorite” podcast that you really only listen to because it makes you a cultured conversationalist at the upcoming holiday party, and if you opened your eyes instead of looking straight ahead except when the girl with the bouncing breasts passes, you’d see.

You’d see you’d see you’d see you’d see that right there, right at that crossing, two lovers meet. She is walking north; he is walking south down Fifth Avenue. They are strangers. They are lovers.

Watch. Watch and feel and watch and see and dammit care about what’s happening. This happens every second, every hour, but everyone like you, like me, like us, like them, is busy moving, reaching destinations we deem goals that are nothing more than sinking voids. Look!

Now! Two people pass on the street. For whatever reason that is beyond us both, they look up. She sees him seeing her. They smile and share space, air, time, life. In that moment of crossing, they loved and you were a witness.

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THE COMMA FALL 2017 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ERIKA ORTIZ EXECUTIVE EDITOR ELODIE HUSTON EDITORIAL COLLECTIVE MEGAN CRANE TATIANA GALLARDO ALEX MERRITT BENNY REGALBUTO CAT REYNOLDS ALEXANDRA RICHARDSON ASHLEY RIVERA ABBY WHEAT COMMA STAFF MARY ALTER AMANDA AREVALO KILEY CAMPBELL DOMINIQUE DOBRANSKY ADELE FISKE ISABELLA FRASSETTI SOPHIE GUIMARES BESSIE RUBENSTEIN CONTRIBUTORS MATTHEW APADULA MAGGIE BALL EMILY DAVANCENS WILL FLOYD FABIOLA GARCIA-MORALES JOE GROSS AARON LASCANO PAULA NAJAS LUCY O’BRIEN CRISTINA PARDO FACULTY ADVISER PROF. ELIZABETH STONE

COVER ART MAGGIE BALL LAYOUT EDITORS TATIANA GALLARDO ABBY WHEAT

Arts & Culture

Maryanna Antoldi- mantoldi@fordham.edu Sam DeAssis- sdeassis@fordham.edu

December 7, 2017 THE OBSERVER

Lack of Asian-American Visibility in Theatre

By LINDSAY JORGENSEN Asst. Arts and Culture Editor

What does it mean to be American? This question was what Matthew Maguire, director of the Theatre Program at Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC), envisioned as the overarching theme for the four mainstage productions the program would put on this 2017-2018 school year. However, the two productions this fall — “Magnolia,” heavily centered about tensions between a black and white family, and “The Way West,” an all-white cast — have left many Asian-American theatre students feeling excluded. “‘American’ is such a broad term and can be applied to many different situations,” Carol Jeong, FCLC ’19, said. “[The mainstage shows] were our opportunity to have some Asian American casting.”

Every year, the FCLC Theatre Program releases four mainstage productions, where the department brings in outside directors, set designers and costume designers to put on each show. These productions are prime opportunities for FCLC’s theatre students to make real-world connections, attain some professional experience and improve their craft. Because “Magnolia” told a story centered on racial tensions between a white and black family in 1960s Atlanta and “The Way West” was a story about white people, Asian-American theatre students felt they were at a disadvantage from making these useful connections.

“We always have in our conscious mind that [these roles] aren’t meant for Asian-Americans and even auditioning for it sometimes feels uncomfortable if there’s already a disconnect,” Jeong said.

“We are encouraged to audition for everything no matter what, but I felt really disrespectful towards the author of the play” Kate He, FCLC ‘20, added. “I think everyone should have a fair chance to audition. The purpose is to get an education out of the experience.”

Dawn Saito, the only Asian American professor in the theatre department, explained that the theatre department chooses plays with the open intention that it can have mixed color casting, even though it may go outside of the original intent of the playwright.

“This purpose is for the students

SARAH TAKASH/THE OBSERVER

Asian American theatre students feel excluded from this year’s theme “What does it mean to be American?”

to feel free to explore characters from diverse backgrounds and to expand themselves as actors and to learn about other cultures. It is also a good

any other type of race and having to audition for a play that is about racial tensions between two races and not Asians, it becomes uncomfortable.

“We always have in our conscious mind that [these roles] aren’t meant for Asian-Americans and so even auditioning for it sometimes feels uncomfortable if there’s already a disconnect.” exercise to think outside of the box,” Saito said.

While the theatre department claims to be open to colorful casting even when the plays they choose specifically call for specific races, the director for “The Way West” did cast an all-white cast.

“Just to know, yes, I have this face, and no, you can’t make it look like

You wonder if you’re supposed to be in this,” said Jeong.

There is, however, an increased dialogue between the students and faculty. Season planning forums, meetings open to all students and faculty, discuss the mainstage productions and any other concerns within the theater program. Instead of meeting one to two times a semes-

ter, like in the past, Maguire has held four season planning meetings this semester, and is holding a fifth one before winter break. The faculty is working further to involve the students more on decision-making and communicating with them about the process that students are not actively involved in, such as the hiring of directors and designers.

While students have a say to an extent about who should be hired, faculty ultimately decides on which directors are going to work on the productions, as these outside professionals have to be interested, have the time and an open schedule. They also must agree on payment. As Asian and Asian-American representation in the performing arts in the real world is limited, these situations make finding Asian or Asian-American professionals even more difficult.

It is challenging for faculty to choose four plays a year that all students will

find acceptable while still including these necessary factors.

“With that transparency comes a safer space,” Natalia Lee, FCLC ’20, said. “We really have made progress – I think it’s just making sure that we keep going.”

There is also a challenge moving forward, as Asian-American students have different goals for their career and the fear of being pigeonholed is definitely a risk. Because of the small demographic of AsianAmerican theater students, a mainstage production that tells an AsianAmerican story would exclude all races except Asian-Americans, or the casting would get white-washed, which would offend many Asian and Asian-American audience members, which was the case with FCLC’s 2015 mainstage production of “The Orphan of Zhao.”

“Asians students are in a different place in the chronology of our civil rights and the marginalization of Asian-American stories, and I think it’s important to tell them to an extent. There’s just not enough facetime,” Kiernan Westrick, FCLC ’21, said.

“We’re not at the place to do that yet,” He responded.

“I do think it is important to do an Asian-American play at some point just because I think our stories are not told very often to begin with, whether it’s inside Fordham or outside in the real world,” added Lee. In the meantime, these AsianAmerican theatre students are pushing for more non-race specific plays, like Shakespeare and Moliere. Jeong believes the theatre department is heading in this direction, as these classic plays are fair for students all races and very open-ended, so the directors send a specific message.

Regardless of the direction the program is taking their mainstage productions, the main goal is to keep the line of communication open.

“It should be a collaboration and discussion on what should happen,” Jeong said.

“A huge reason I came to Fordham was the diversity and the faculty cares. So I think it’s great that Asian students have safe space because it’s so rare,” Westrick, hopeful for the future, said.

For anyone who would like to voice their own concerns, the next forum meeting will be on Dec. 13, from 3:30-5 p.m.

PITS: A Fresh Take on a Classic Story

By ETHAN SHEA Contributing Writer

Everybody fondly remembers the Disney adaptation of Louis Sachar’s novel “Holes.” That being said, the Off-Broadway tribute to the movie deserves equal praise. “PITS: The Unauthorized Holes Musical” is a hilarious take on the classic Sachar story. From enjoyable musical numbers to a hilariously self-aware script, “PITS” is sure to provide a fun and engaging viewing experience to any fan of theatre.

The play begins when the main character of the story, Stanley Yelnats, (yes, his name is a palindrome) is accused of stealing a valuable shoe.

Unfortunately for Stanley, his father is obsessed with finding the cure to smelly feet, so his house is full of sneakers. This makes for a difficult defense and fortifies the claim that Stanley and his family chronically suffer from bad luck. Eventually, this unlucky series of events causes our protagonist to end up in a correctional camp for juveniles. Here, the campers dig…pits.

“PITS” was written, directed and produced by Noah Rauchwerk, a re-

cent graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. The set is fairly minimalist, but this does not reduce the overall quality of the performance. A passionate cast coupled with an engaging script prove to be more than enough to leave a packed theater satisfied.

The motion picture “Holes” may have starred notable actors such as Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight and Sigourney Weaver, but I did not find myself longing for their return during this play. All members of the cast portray their roles flawlessly, and the personalities of many of these characters are hysterically out of place. The play uses adult humor and some occasional crude language, but it is by no means unwelcome. However, keep that in mind before you bring your younger siblings because this musical is drastically different from the movie.

The most notable difference between “PITS” and “Holes” is the relationship between Stanley and his friend Zero. In this play, not only is Zero a girl, but she falls in love with Stanley. Luckily for her, the affection is reciprocated. This entirely changes the dynamic of the original story, but does not make the musical any less entertaining. In fact, I found the

newly established love duo of Stanley and Zero to be a refreshing take on Sachar’s tale. The change is fitting for this adaptation of the piece.

One of the funniest ideas exclusive to the musical is the personification of the infamous Yellow Spotted Lizard. Each and every inhabitant of Stanley’s camp fears this reptile, and justly so. The bite of this poisonous lizard guarantees a painful death.

Although, in the musical, we learn that the lizard is not too different from any other character in the play.

This reptile is comically personified into an intelligent and incredibly well-spoken creature who is simply searching for affection like everyone else.

“PITS: The Unauthorized Holes Musical” can be seen every Tuesday at 8 p.m. at the Peoples Improv Theatre, which is coincidentally known as “The PIT.” This theatre is just a short subway ride away from Fordham’s Lincoln Center Campus, so there is no reason for a student to miss out on this experience. Tickets are $7, which is a steal for such high quality entertainment, so be sure to catch a performance while tickets are still cheap.

ETHAN SHEA/THE OBSERVER

“PITS” is based on the popular novel-turned-movie, Holes.

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Arts & Culture

December 7, 2017 THE OBSERVER

Beanie Feldstein and Saoirse Ronan bring the coming-of-age story of “Lady Bird” to life on the big screen. (Photo by Merie Wallace, Courtesy of A24.

www.fordhamobserver.com

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER December 7, 2017

Who Is Beanie Feldstein?

Arts & Culture

17

Two years ago, Beanie Feldstein was a relatively unknown aspiring performer. The younger sister of Jonah Hill, her standout role was as Nora, the spunky Kappa Nu co-founder in “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising.” Now, the world can’t escape her. The 24-year-old stars in “Lady Bird,” a major motion picture that is already garnering Oscars buzz, and is currently making her Broadway debut (right across the street from her childhood best friend, Ben Platt) as Minnie Fay in “Hello, Dolly!” I got the chance to catch up with Beanie to discuss her road to “Lady Bird,” what it was like working alongside some of her idols and find out which co-star she is “madly in love” with.

By MORGAN STEWARD Editor-in-Chief

MORGAN STEWARD (MS): Let’s start from the very beginning of your “Lady Bird” journey. What drew you to the film?

Why were you interested in pursuing a part in this project?

BEANIE FELDSTEIN (BF): It was less of me pursuing it and more of me hoping that they would want me [laughs].

I hoped that they would want me because I wanted them so badly. The moment I finished reading the screenplay for the first time, I was just completely blessed by this story of this girl that Greta had created. It felt so true to my upbringing even though I grew up in a very different part of California with a very different sensibility. In some ways, I am very like Lady Bird, and, in some ways, I’m very different from her, but still it felt… it really took my heart. It made me laugh, and I had just looked up to Greta for so long.

MS: Was it nerve-wracking at all? Auditioning directly with Greta? What thoughts were going through your head?

BF: Right before I went, I remember thinking this is her story, she knows exactly what it means and what it’s supposed to sound like and feel, so just follow her lead. I remember just being like, “Beanie, if you just take a breath and respond honestly to what she’s given you, you can’t go wrong.” One thing that I very distinctly remember from meeting her was that she brought up how Julie and Lady Bird really sort of have this bubble around them when they talk. It’s sort of like this otherworldly, quiet intimacy. I think specifically of the scene where they are staring at the dream house— they don’t have to look at each other, but they know they’re exactly on the same page. I told Greta, “Oh like pillow talk?” She was just like, “What?” [laughs]. I explained it’s like when I was at college and my roommate and I would be going to sleep and so the lights would be off, but we would be talking, and we didn’t even have to see each other to know that the other person was listening. It was sort of like this intimate friendship moment. Greta was like “Yeah!” and I remember thinking, “You said something right.” I understood what she was saying, and we were pretty much on the same page.

MS: When Greta was at the New York Film Festival, she told the audience that she encouraged each of the actors to come up with secrets about their characters, that not even she would know, to help them develop their characters. Can you reveal any of those secrets that you came up with for Julie to help you relate to this character?

BF: I can’t say my secrets! But I can tell you that there is so much to Julie that doesn’t make it to the screen, but at the same time I feel like it does in the way that she feels full.

That’s the gift that Greta has given every character in this movie— they each feel full. You understand Marion, you understand where she comes from and you have empathy for her. You feel for Larry and for Danny, Kyle and Julie.

So much of that came from working directly with Greta before we started filming to fill out Julie’s world. Something people might not notice is in the scene where Lady Bird

comes to Julie in her apartment, the shirt I’m wearing is this big pajama shirt with Paul McCartney’s face on it. That was something we really thought about— Lady Bird would love John Lennon and Julie would love Paul McCartney. It’s something that really sort of matters to us. In front of Julie at the table are all of these art supplies, so that was another thing…Julie draws. And that’s something that you might not see or wasn’t referenced, but for me was so helpful to fill out her world and think about what she does after school when she’s not with Lady Bird.

MS: Well, I won’t ask you to reveal any more secrets, but one secret that has already been revealed is that Julie and Lady Bird wear the same color nail polish, even when they are not friends in the film…

BF: Yes! This happened because Saoirse and I walk into the first day of rehearsals in LA wearing the exact same color nail polish, on our hands and our toes.

MS: Just totally by chance?

BF: Completely by chance. We hadn’t seen each other…we met once I think in June and this was August. We showed up on the first day of our official rehearsal time with the exact same color on our hands and our toes. We thought, we have to have them wear this color in the film. So they both wear this bright purple. And then purple kind of took on... It’s sort of a thing throughout the film. They both have purple backpacks, and then Julie’s prom dress is purple. It’s their favorite color for sure.

MS: How hard was that for you, after your many many years of training, to revert and get rid of that?

BF: Well, you know I had vocal issues as a kid, so I feel like I, as much as anyone can, understand my voice or rather I keep very close tabs on it. I have a very clear understanding of how I sing and how I shift things so because of all that training. I know, well this is really technical and sort of boring, but for Julie, she wouldn’t have vibrato. There were just certain things that I could sort of still be singing healthy, because for me in my life I always have to sing healthy since I grew up with vocal issues, but I could just strip away those things that I had been able to connect over the years.

MS: Was it hard for you at all to get into the mindset of Julie, or did you feel like you already knew the character since you two shared so much?

BF: That’s a great question actually. The thing that I felt like would be most natural is the theatre stuff, but then when I really sunk my teeth into Julie and when I was prepping, I really thought a lot about how Julie would never have had a voice lesson. She never would have had acting lessons or a place where she could act ever in her life... she wouldn’t have training. The passion for theatre we connect so much on, but

I felt I had to strip away my training. I wanted there to be a distinction between Julie performing and Beanie performing. I’ve done this for years, I feel very comfortable on stage.

But Julie isn’t, you see her at her audition and she’s so nervous. Something I worked on was making her voice sound different from mine in that I was sort of chipping away my training in some ways if that makes sense. I wanted her voice to sound sweet and pure in a way that mine is much more brash.

MS: As a theater fan, what was it like to work on a project with Tony-winners Laurie Metcalf and Tracey Letts?

BF: Insane. Like, absolutely insane. I still to this day distinctly remember seeing “August Osage County” [which was written by Letts] when I was in 9th grade and just being floored by it. It was my favorite play that I’d ever seen—I was knocked off my feet. And Laurie with her work on stage and on “Roseanne” and “Getting On...” I was like, this is insane! There is this moment before Julie meets Mr. Bruno’s wife right after the play where she’s standing with Lady Bird’s family. I remember Greta coming up to us and being like, “So, we’re gonna roll and Beanie’s going to move, but what had just happened is that Marion and Larry will be telling Julie how great she was in the musical.” And I was like, let me get this straight, Laurie Metcalf and Tracey Letts are telling me I was great in a musical? Even though they are not actually saying it and they haven’t even seen the musical, like I am taking this to the grave.

MS: Since we’re nearing the end of our time together, I just want to ask you one final thing. I know you recently brought “Lady Bird” back to Wesleyan, your alma mater.

What was it like to be able to take this project back to school with you?

BF: Ugh, there’s so many layers to it. It was immeasurable in like how emotional I was and happy I was. Wesleyan has such an incredible film series where they play films four nights a week. I had seen so many classics on this screen, everything from “Some Like It Hot” to “Wet Hot American Summer” to “Psycho.” To see myself on that screen was insane and really surreal. I brought two of my best friends with me from school, so to be with them was so emotional.

The film department at Wesleyan is also exceptional and so for those film professors to be there I was like “oh my gosh.”

Then to see the reaction of these kids, some of which are months older than Lady Bird, not even, by the end of the film, was just so moving. I’ll never forget it. It was so great.

And then was Timothée [Chalamet’] stuff. Kyle’s character went over like gangbusters at Wesleyan because that’s, unfortunately, sort of a stereotype of a lot of Wesleyan students—like the cigarette and the sort of brooding worldliness— so that stuff played like crazy. ## You can catch Beanie in “Lady Bird,” now in theaters nationwide, or in “Hello, Dolly!” eight shows a week at the Shubert Theatre.

“Lady Bird”: The Coming-of-Age Story that Soars

By MARYANNA ANTOLDI Arts & Culture Editor

A story is never captivating unless it resonates in your core. The feeling usually begins as a slight tickle of joy, causing you to settle further into your seat. Then, as the film progresses, you find yourself glued to the screen, that tickle growing into a rapid-fire of emotions as you walk in the steps of a character.

Eventually, your feelings hit you like a train, and you don’t quite remember how they grew so strongly in the first place.

This is the sensation that occurs when watching the movie “Lady Bird,” the new movie written and directed by Greta Gerwig. The film is a classic coming-of-age story about a senior in high school, Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, played by

Saoirse Ronan (“Brooklyn”) as she attempts to navigate what is often the most difficult year for a teenager.

But what could have easily turned into a basic high school cliché story ended up being so much more—it is an emotionally potent tale of family, love and self discovery.

And where does the nickname “Lady Bird” originate from? Well, she gave it to herself. Lady Bird is passionate. She is a unique and charming character in that she knows exactly what she wants for herself, even at such a young age. She will go to lengths to make a point she is passionate about. She despises her hometown of Sacramento. She loves spending time with her best friend Julie, often sneaking communion wafers in the back room of their Catholic school’s chapel. She auditions for the school musical in a

costume she made just for the occasion, and will even throw herself out of a moving vehicle just to prove her point.

Ronan herself imbues Lady Bird with the wit that she deserves. Pair her talent with Gerwig’s gift for writing a script, and the end product is a character that instantly resonates with anyone—whose sharp sense of humor, compassion and curiosity towards the world are quick to make an impression that lasts way longer than the movie’s runtime.

However, Lady Bird would be nothing without her mother (played by an excellent Laurie Metcalf).

Their relationship together easily defines the film. The two are instantly relatable, their dynamic together full of the ebbs and flows typical of a mother and daughter. Metcalf delivers an emotionally potent per-

formance, her character stern but always with her daughter’s best intention in mind. You can see the care behind her eyes even in the most tense of scenes, and Lady Bird sums up their chemistry perfectly, defending her by saying “Yeah? Well, she loves me a lot.”

“I want to live through something,” Lady Bird mutters to her mother as they listen (and sob) to an audio recording of “Grapes of Wrath.” What Lady Bird looks for is a revelation moment, where she will one day experience some type of adventure worth waiting for. But what she is quick to learn is that life itself is an adventure. It is the simple things—searching for romance, goofing off with your best friend, arguing and making up with your mother—that define Lady Bird’s life and make it worthwhile. She

looks for a dramatic journey of selfdiscovery, but the answers lie within herself and the people and places that are right in front of her.

But, it is the dispersion of this type of wisdom in between bits of comedy that makes the movie so wonderful. Lady Bird is a tale of life itself through the eyes of a teenage girl. It tells the seemingly simple story of her senior year; however, Gerwig imbues the film with raw and powerful emotion, the type that we all encounter while living. There can be pure joy at one moment and heart wrenching sadness the next. It can be full of confusion and complication, often seeming like the trials will never end, but it all eventually works out. “Lady Bird” is a film that encapsulates all there is to life, and its story will touch you to the core because of it.

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Arts & Culture

December 7, 2017 THE OBSERVER

www.fordhamobserver.com

The Search for the Best NYC Holiday Market

By COURTNEY BROGLE Staff Writer

It’s almost that time of year again, the holiday season, where we are anticipating reuniting with friends and family back home and enjoying a much-needed break.

Yet, worry still lingers: what to gift, what to do with visiting relatives or what to do to combat cabin fever as we cram for finals and desperately need a break? Luckily, some of the best holiday markets are sprawled all throughout Manhattan. I visited three of the most popular markets to see what was worth the hype and whether any leave you out in the cold.

Bank of America Winter Village at Bryant Park (Oct 28, 2017-Jan 2, 2018. 11 a.m-8 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. -8 p.m. on weekends) Easily accessed by a quick ride on the B or D train, Bank of America presents “Midtown Manhattan’s Winter Wonderland.” It touts holiday vendors, pop-up eateries and ice-skating adventures.

This stop had the strongest familial vibe. With a $3 per ride carousel, weekend storytelling hours and free photo-ops with Santa each weekend (and daily beginning Dec 16), the environment was mostly curated for families and the young at heart. They even have free iceskating (with a $20 skate rental fee, however) that continues well into winter. So even if you can’t make it to the fair, you most certainly can make time for The Rink, which closes on March 4, 2018.

The shops host artisans from across New York and offer a wide array of products for all. From Himalayan outerwear to all things traditionally Christmas and natural health and beauty products to unique art-deco pieces, these shops cater to all needs (and impul-

sive desires). The food was tasty, though a bit expensive. I ordered some french fries with a little Parmesan cheese and garlic powder from Crepe Café, and though they were a little pricey, they were the ultimate comfort food on a windy day. Bryant Park’s Winter Village even has a booth with Dō Cookie Dough Confections with no line.

Just be wary about what you order, because the prices can jump quickly if you aren’t careful!

Union Square Holiday Market (Nov 16-Dec 24, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. weekdays, 10a.m.- 8p.m. on Saturdays and 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. on Sundays) Brought to patrons in partnership with Citibank, Fordham students can hop on the N/Q/R train at 57th and 7th and travel to Union Square for another European-style winter market with both local and national vendors and dozens of spots to eat.

The shops bring Etsy to life. With delicate jewelry and handmade knitwear, along with bath products and handcrafted holiday-wear, the environment allows interaction with booths and patrons that is typically difficult to do over an online transaction. I purchased dog socks from Sabyloo, a booth selling exclusively novelty pairs, for my mom, who absolutely loved them. Obviously, because many of the products are made by up-and-coming artisans with enormous talent, some things are a bit pricey, so if you are on a budget, be sure to address how much you are willing to spend to sellers, and hopefully they can help you find what you are looking for.

The food was just as tasty as the options at Bryant Park, and in my findings they were slightly more affordable. I enjoyed a traditional salted pretzel from Sigmund’s, and a free hot chocolate brought to the market by Citi!

Columbus Circle Holiday Market (Nov 28-Dec 24 10 a.m.- 8 p.m.

Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. on Sundays) Just a brisk walk from Fordham’s 60th St. entrance is the Columbus Circle Holiday Market, also in partnership with Citibank.

The market is therefore very similar to what is offered in Union Square, but much closer to home.

I visited one afternoon as I ran errands nearby, and was super excited as construction workers worked quickly and efficiently to prep for opening day. I came back the next day and the fair was in full swing! Because the same group that brought the Union Square Holiday Market to life produced it, it highly resembled that fair on a smaller scale. There were some of the same vendors in addition to the new spots to shops— baby clothes, handbags, dog treats and toys, and even a Strand Bookstore stop.

However, this is definitely the spot with the fewest food booths, so if you are visiting for food experiences you may not necessarily find what you are looking for.

That being said, the food available was probably my personal favorite. I got a hot chocolate with 60 percent french chocolate from The Baking Bean and it was the richest drink I have ever had. I also picked up a chicken and waff le cone from Chick’n’Cone for dinner, and not only was the food amazing, but this booth had the friendliest employees!

So, all in all, each holiday market has pros and cons. Based on the type of experience you and your friends/family are looking for, one of these fairs will certainly have everything you’re looking for!

COURTNEY BROGLE/THE OBSERVER

NYC Celebrates a Diverse Holiday Season

By MAY MOISEEVA Staff Writer

It’s wintertime and with that comes curling up under blankets on cold days, hot chocolate and, of course, a plethora of holidays that lend themselves to holiday songs and events. For those who observe any of the upcoming holidays and for those who don’t, there’s plenty to do in New York City this December.

The Largest Menorah in the World The Largest Menorah is lit every night of Hanukkah and has been repeatedly rated the premier Hanukkah event in New York City. Lighting this world-record menorah is no easy feat, and Rabbi Shimon Hecht of park slope uses a special boom lift to get to the height of 35 feet to complete the ceremony. The lighting is accompanied by live mu-

sic hot latkes each night, as well as a very special concert on the first evening. What makes this event even sweeter is that the lighting celebration and the concert are free of charge. So if you’re ready for lots of holiday fun, get to Grand Army Plaza during Hanukkah and get in on the grand celebrations. Be sure to check the time of menorah lighting on the website, since they change depending on the day.

marketplace will be put up that will showcase local artisans from the African-American community.

The celebration will take place in the museum on Dec. 30, starting at noon. The program itself is free, and you only have to pay for the museum admission and any wonderful goodies you find while exploring the marketplace.

Kwanzaa Celebration

Saks on Fifth Avenue decorate their windows annually, and the displays are always very successful.

This year, the display celebrates the 80th anniversary of Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

Even though the film is not usually considered a holiday classic, it is somewhat symbolically appropriate, featuring “snow” in the title.

The window displays follow the famous story across 14 animated scenes, from the start all the way

Rejoice all because this winter, the American Museum of National History is holding a Kwanzaa celebration. The program will feature live music, spoken word, African dance and traditional crafts. There will also be an overview of seven principles of Kwanzaa, called Nguzo Saba, which promote unity, culture and community development. During the celebration a

Saks Fifth Avenue Window Display

to the happy ending. The display is accompanied by an impressive 10-story theatrical light show that lasts about two minutes and is regularly repeated for everyone to see.

Holiday Train Display For all of you railroad enthusiasts out there, New York Transit Museum is holding its 16th Annual Holiday Train Show.

The show includes vintage Lionel model trains that travel all the way to North Pole through a two-level 34-feet-long scene of New York and countryside. Some pieces from the museum’s collection will also be on display against an amazing landscape designed by Brooklyn-based artist Josh Cochran. The show is free and is displayed at Grand Central Terminal during the daytime until February.

Rockefeller Christmas Tree Like volunteering at a soup kitchen or warming up with hot chocolate, the Christmas Tree just outside Rockefeller Plaza is, perhaps, one of the classic traditions during Christmastime in New York City. This year the Christmas Tree was lit on Nov. 29, with live performances from Gwen Stefani, Pentatonix and The Tenors. The classic holiday selfie backdrop, that is the Christmas Tree, will be illuminated every evening through Jan. 7. So don’t forget to stop by Rockefeller Plaza for a bit of holiday joy.

The wintertime is a joyous time for all, and whether you like to explore the city in the cold or watch Netflix under a thousand blankets, there are wonderful holiday things New York has to offer you. So, before you leave campus for winter break, be sure to check these sites out.

Features

Features Editor Carson Thornton Gonzalez- cthorntongonzalez@fordham.edu December 7, 2017 THE OBSERVER

Faculty Faces: Luisita López Torregrosa Journalist. Traveler. Professor. Torregrosa can do it all.

By KATHRYN KUNKLE Contributing Writer

If you’re looking for inspiration around Fordham, journalism professor Luisita López Torregrosa may be the answer. As a young girl, Torregrosa dreamt of becoming a journalist, and she did everything in her power to make that dream come true. Over the span of her career, Torregrosa has traveled all over the world documenting her experience for publications such as the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Conde Nast Traveler, Vogue and the Washington Post Magazine.

I met with Torregrosa outside the Ram Café on a Tuesday afternoon. Quiet and reserved, the loudness of the café made for a distracting setting for an interview.

We ventured into the lobby of Lowenstein, where we sat in a corner by a large window. Quiet and cozy compared to the chaos of the cafeteria. As we spoke, I noticed that Torregrosa often gazed through the window, watching the people and cars go by. I would later learn of her curiosity about the world around her.

Torregrosa has a deeply-rooted passion for journalism. Growing up in Puerto Rico and Mexico City as the child of a doctor and a lawyer, Torregrosa’s only connection to writers was through her mother’s family. This greatly impacted her career; “journalism was in my blood...it has always been a part of me.” At the age of 12, Torregrosa conducted her first interview for English class.“By then, I already knew I wanted to be a journalist and a writer,” she explained. “There was never any doubt in my mind about that.”

Since she was a young girl, Torregrosa aspired to live in New York City. At 14, she moved to the United States to attend Linden Hall Academy, an all girls prep school outside Philadelphia.

Studying abroad was Torregrosa’s

mother’s idea; she almost attended a boarding school in Switzerland, but it “proved to be too far from Puerto Rico.” Torregrossa remembered her mother showing her the catalog for her new school and “that was it.”

Before she knew it, she was on the plane to America to begin classes.

Before her schooling began, she visited New York and immediately knew she would end up there. She stayed at the Waldorf Astoria and saw “My Fair Lady” on Broadway. “I loved the city, and Park Avenue and the theatre.”

Moving to a new country alone is a huge change for any 14-yearold. “My closest relative was 2,000 miles away,” Torregrosa recalled.

However, she found a way to put a positive spin on this daunting experience. Instead of protesting the move, she made the most of the experience. Looking back, she is grateful for the opportunity she was given. “It was the greatest thing my mother ever did for me,” she said, adding, “it made me the independent person that I am today.”

After Linden Hall, she began college at Winthrop University at just 16 years old. Winthrop University in South Carolina was an all women’s college at the time; she double majored in English and journalism with a minor in philosophy.

At 19, she finished college and “took the train directly from South Carolina to New York City to start looking for a job.” She quickly realized that she couldn’t start her career in New York City, she needed more experience. “Don’t start thinking you have to start at the top, because you will not ... you need experience, to start small and work your way up,” Lusita said. “No career is a straight shot to glory.”

With New York as her end goal, she moved back to South Carolina to work for a newspaper called The State, where she began as a clerk.

Eventually, she was promoted to

the copy desk, where she learned to be an editor. “I started as a copy editor and left 12 years later when I was the assistant managing editor,” Torregrosa explained. “I was one out of maybe three women in all of the United States with that high of a level at a major metropolitan newspaper... I made it on my own.”

However, Torregrosa recognizes the challenges that come with being a writer. “It takes determination and ambition and it also takes being able to live alone. The life of a writer is very, very hard… it’s the hardest work there is, and it’s only for people who really love doing it.”

It is obvious that Torregrosa loves her work. When you write, she said, “you just lose sight of everything around you.”

Traveling also provides a different lens for her writing. Luisita lives a busy life; in this past year alone she has traveled to Spain, Puerto Rico and Mexico, and is “always on a deadline.” Despite all of her traveling, she doesn’t take vacations for fun, except her yearly trip to see her sisters for Christmas.

She loves what she does, but traveling isn’t a vacation for Luisita, it’s her job. “I travel to write, I don’t write to travel,” she said.

When asked about her biggest success, Torregrosa replied, “I’ve always been myself.” She writes about her own passions and interests and states her truthful opinions. She explained that she never had to search for her own voice, as she found it within the page. Regarding her first ever magazine piece, she said, “I wrote that piece, and there’s my voice.”

Torregrosa is never satisfied, she is constantly planning, and deciding what story she wants to write next.“I am who I am, and my failures are my failures but I really see how much else I want to do.

There’s so much more I want to do.” Torregrosa doesn’t spend her time lamenting the past, she thinks about what she wants to achieve in the future. “I have published two books, and I hope to start my third book.”

She said that in her career, “you fail constantly.” She explained that out of every five pieces she proposes, only one is accepted. She spends weeks researching and formulating every pitch, but when a piece is approved, the rest get put “on the way side.” She has learned to redefine failure; as she doesn’t focus on each failure itself, but how “every failure is what gets [her] to [her] success… what gets you to your success is trying.”

Luisita shows us that no matter whether you fail or succeed, it’s more important to focus on what you do have. When you experience failure, look back at what you have already accomplished and, most importantly, decide what comes next.

MERRY

CHRISTMAS

The Observer wishes you a holiday season full of warmth

and joy!

FROM

FORDHAM COLLEGE AT LINCOLN CENTER DEAN’S OFFICE & ACADEMIC ADVISING!

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER December 7, 2017

Features

20

Student Gives Out “Socks in the City” How to Set Up Your Own Donation Box Get​ ​permission​ ​from​ ​the insitution where you would like to place your bin.

By MARIELLE SARMIENTO Staff Writer

Every Saturday morning, Resident Freshman Mentor (RFM) Cat Fernando, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’20, takes a group of her residents and friends to volunteer at the food pantry in the Metro Baptist Church.

It’s a 20-block walk through the streets of Manhattan from Fordham to the church and is often an eventful one.

Walking down 9th Avenue, one sees a variety of people, but most, in true New York fashion, don’t make eye contact and keep walking. However, Fernando does not. Instead, when she sees people living on the streets, she always stops, talks to them and gives them a pair of socks.

Why socks?

Giving out socks to the homeless is part of the efforts for Fernando’s organization, Socks in the City. “Socks are the most-needed but least-donated clothing item for people experiencing homelessness,” Fernando said. She doesn’t just give socks out, she also asks for people’s names and for them to share interesting facts about themselves. The mission of Socks in the City is “to fill the physical need for socks while filling the emotional need of being seen and heard as a unique individual.”

“When I was 11, I started giving out bags of water and sandwiches to people experiencing homelessness in New York whenever I came to visit from Jersey,” Fernando told The Observer. A social work major, Fernando’s past experiences helping New Yorkers in need inspired her to create Socks in the City. “I found out that food and water are really important, but that need is addressed by a lot of people already. It’s never enough, but there are other needs that aren’t addressed at all, like toiletries and socks.”

Fernando started the organization during August of her freshman year. “I realized when I moved to Manhattan that I couldn’t afford to continually give out so many things every day on my own,” she explained. Instead, she created this organization to help expand the donations.

Socks in the City’s efforts can be seen throughout the university community. Last year, the Fordham University

Association sponsored Soul to Soul, an event at which Fernando charged a pack of socks as the admission fee.

During her freshman year, Fernando held a screening of “Sex and the City,” and asked for either a pack of socks or $5 for entry. With the donations and publicity from both of these events, she has received more than 1,200 pairs of socks.

Fernando has installed several donation bins in the laundry room in McKeon Hall, and plans to put more bins in McMahon Hall by the end of this year for both new and used socks. Even single socks are welcome to be donated, as she brings them to the Nutley Family Service Bureau Thrift Shop in New Jersey, which resells them as textiles to fund the organization.

Socks in the City started out at Fordham with just a few donation bins around campus, but has since grown exponentially. This year, Fernando has reached out and expanded to other universities.Now, Socks in the City also has donation bins at The College of New Jersey, Drexel University and Hunter College.

Fernando is in the process of registering Socks in the City as an official nonprofit organization with help from the university. When it is officially registered, she’ll be able to expand and more easily receive donations. She has already reserved the name of the organization and assembled a Board of Directors.

“Watching Socks in the City in action every Saturday is amazing, because you can really see the impact of Cat’s work. One donation can go a really long way,” said Julianne Holmquist, FCLC ’21. Holmquist is one of Fernando’s residents, and joins Fernando at the food pantry.

Fernando wants people to know, “It doesn’t take a lot of effort to get some socks and give some socks, but it does make a huge impact on the people who receive them.

Recognizing the inherent worth of people through simple objects.”

Next time you have too many mismatched, single socks or see a pack on sale at the store, consider stopping by the Socks in the City donation bins in McKeon Hall.

For more information on Socks in the City and how to donate, visit www.socksinthecity.org.

Collect a large cardboard box to use as your donation box.

Log on to socksinthecity.org and print the signs labeled for the donation box.

Place the signs on the box and then place your box in your ideal location.

When the box is full, wash all the used socks and make sure the new socks stay in their original packaging.

Make sure you followed all of the steps. Finally, get ready to mail out your socks!

Mail your socks to​ ​155​ ​W​ ​60th​ ​ Street​ ​Apt.​ ​11-11,​ ​New York,​ ​ NY​​10023 with your contact information!

Poets Out Loud Launches Annual Book Prize Series

By JEFFREY UMBRELL Asst. Features Editor

“A launch is a big deal in poetry,” Heather Dubrow, director of Poets Out Loud (POL), said at the organization’s most recent reading on Nov. 16. POL hosts approximately six readings on campus each year, but this one was of particular significance.

The reading served as the official launch of the POL Book Prize Series, an international competition which receives hundreds of submissions annually. From these submissions, POL selected Gary Keenan and Michael Snediker as this year’s winners. Both Keenan and Snediker read selections from their work.

Dubrow continued that a poetry launch “celebrates the appearance of a book, it celebrates its author and often it’s the first time that there’s been a reading” by the author. And indeed, POL had ample cause for celebration; Keenan’s “Rotary Devotion” and Snediker’s “The New York Editions” were just published through Fordham University Press.

“Poetry books are usually thin,” Dubrow said, “but the list of people who make them possible makes ‘War and Peace’ look a little bit like a tweet.”

She thanked a lengthy list of people who make the Book Prize Series possible, most notably the founder, director and editor of the series, Elisabeth Frost. Frost is currently holding a writing residency in France and consequently could not be in

JEFFREY UMBRELL/THE OBSERVER

Michael Snediker read from “The New York Editions,” published through Fordham University Press.

attendance at the reading, but Dubrow assured the audience that she was there “in spirit.”

Keenan’s “Rotary Devotion” was the culmination of almost 40 years of work. He explained that the earliest poem included was from 1979 and that the poems were slowly compiled and molded into what would ultimately become the present collection.

For Keenan, the writing process is anything but regular. Often, he said, he feels “a sense of surprise … [you’re] surprising yourself as

you write.” Surprise might come to Keenan more easily than to the average poet, as many of the poems from “Rotary Devotion” are in fact linguistic improvisations. We will never know the extent to which each improvisation was later revised, but their rhythm and tone were strikingly different from Keenan’s other work.

The improvisations featured some of Keenan’s most memorable lines: “I think of the soul as nature’s most implausible blossom.”

Keenan lives an artistic double life; he also plays and writes for the

American String Conspiracy, a New York-based Americana group. At the end of his reading, he picked up his guitar from the front of the room and performed two Melville poems which he had put to music. Keenan described Melville as “our nation’s greatest prophet.”

The performance almost brought Keenan to tears. He explained that the violinist for American String Conspiracy, with whom he was working on arrangements for the band’s new album, had tragically passed away the previous Friday.

Despite the visible emotional toll that playing exerted, Keenan was able to complete both pieces.

Snediker took a more literary approach to his work. He based much of “The New York Editions” off of the work of Henry James. Throughout his career, Snediker says he has been “in dialogue with American literature,” and often writes in direct response to prior American authors. Poetry, for him, is a way to “mediate between and abridge worlds,” between the literary past and present. One of Snediker’s earlier works, “Queer Optimism: Lyric Personhood and Other Felicitous Persuasions,” was a finalist for the MLA First Book Prize.

Much of Snediker’s work, like Keenan’s, was quite rhythmic. He scattered his poems with pauses, punctuation and short, one-word lists, as if reading along to some silent music. His language was simple, yet each word was carefully selected as to fit the line perfectly.

Snediker’s speaker, in lamenting a past relationship, confessed, “I vanished twice … the world we want is eclipsed by the world we have.” He pondered, “What I would have given lives on as a rhetorical question.”

Snediker, as he read, became entirely lost in his work. After a gentle reminder from Dubrow that his time was expiring, he ended his reading earlier than he had planned or wanted to. But he concluded on an optimistic note: “I came into this world to be happy. So I will be happy.”