Issue 7 of The Observer. May 4, 2017

Observer the

MAY 4, 2017 VOLUME XXXVIII, ISSUE 7

www.fordhamobserver.com

Student Protesters Clash with Public Safety

Fourteen Charged After Rose Hill Skirmish

By STEPHAN KOZUB News Editor

The Fordham community’s social media was lit up Thursday afternoon with videos showing physical altercations between members of the Office of Public Safety and two Fordham students during a protest outside the office of University President Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J. Two Public Safety supervisors were later treated for injuries.

In the live stream uploaded by Fordham Students United (FSU), a suited man, identified by FSU as Security Services Investigator William J. McSorley, and a female student who declined to be identified appear to be locked in a physical battle against the wall of the hallway at Cunniffe House at Fordham Rose Hill (FRH) at the start of the video.

“You’re hurting me!” Sorley repeatedly yells. “Ow, my leg, you’re pulling on my leg!”

He appears to be blocking the movement of the student with his body, as she shouts “It’s honestly getting hard to breathe back here.”

“Then get off me,” he replies.

“I’m not on you!” she screams back.

In the original live streamed video that was published to the FSU Facebook page, another student could be seen allegedly shoving a public safety officer and grabbing his collar. The video has since been taken down and replaced with an edited version that omits this part of the altercation.

The person holding the recording phone at one point falls to the ground, and after a few moments is asked to leave the area.

The FSU protest, the latest in what has become a string of rallies in favor of Fordham Faculty United (FFU)’s push to unionize, met on the steps of Walsh Library around 1 p.m. Participants marched to Cunniffe House, where last week they say they were told that McShane “had more important things to do” than respond to their requests for conversation.

According to the University statement, a group of student protesters forced their way into the foyer of the president’s office. Public Safety supervisors blocked the entrance, the statement reads, and “demonstrators vigorously attempted to physically remove a supervisor from in front of the door,” refusing “multiple commands…to leave the entrance.”

Student organizer Sapphira Lurie, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’17, said the supervisor who “pinned” a student against the wall, seen in the video, “ran ahead of” the protesters to block the door. “[The student] was kind of trapped behind him and eventually he started to crush her…Eventually she was allowed to get out but only after protesters were chanting ‘Let her go,’ ‘She can’t breathe,’ because she was saying that she was having difficulty breathing as he was see CLASH pg. 2

GEORGE HORIHAN/THE OBSERVER

Protesters for Fordham Students United were stopped from entering Cunniffe House by Public Safety. until 5 p.m. on April 30 on an InterStudent and veteran Kyle Prütz,

By ELIZABETH LANDRY & im Suspension from Housing and FCRH ’17, who stood near the door COLIN SHEELEY Access Restriction. In some cases, during the physical altercation News Editor Emerita & the letters also barred students from was also confronted by three PubNews Editor Rose Hill campus entirely, and offi- lic Safety officers when he tried to cially warned that another violation leave the area. After other protestAt least 14 students have been of the University Code of Conduct ers questioned why he was being brought under sanctions by Dean and University Regulations may re- physically held and asked to provide of Fordham Rose Hill (FRH) Chris- sult in action “up to and including identification, the officers let him topher Rodgers for last Thursday’s suspension from the University.” go. He said his glasses were broken altercation at Cunniffe House beThe full statement from the uni- in the incident and that he received tween Fordham Students United versity says that after “demonstra- a disciplinary email the next day.

(FSU) protesters and Public Safety tors refused multiple requests from The new university statement officers.

Public Safety supervisors to leave also called protesters’ claims “spuWhen a protest to get Univer- the entrance[,] Public Safety even- rious” and stated “[Several] videos sity President Joseph M. McShane, tually cleared the protesters from have been selectively (and decepS.J. to respond to unionizing efforts the foyer to the porch of Cunniffe tively) edited to give the impression moved into the building’s foyer, House, where they were allowed to that Public Safety supervisors used Public Safety supervisors blocked continue their protest. No protest- undue force against the protesters.” access to the reception area. Vid- ers were injured.” However, the It references the original livestream eo footage posted online by FSU, university maintained that because video which was taken down within The Fordham Observer, the paper of the “seriousness” of the students’ two hours of posting, saying that and The Fordham Ram depicted a actions, the students would not it “shows protesters using physical physical altercation in which a su- be allowed on campus during the force against Public Safety staff to pervisor identified by FSU as Secu- weekend with the exception of aca- gain entrance to Cuniffe House.” rity Services Investigator William demically required activities. In a “In the intervening days, the McSorley appeared to be pressing follow-up statement issued May 2, University reviewed all the video Sarah Lopez, Fordham College at the university announced that the and eyewitness evidence of the proRose Hill (FCRH) ’18, into a wall.

Office of Student Affairs received tests,” the statement reads. “Taken This incident turned into a hos- confirmation that all of those who together, it is clear that the Public tile conflict between Public Safety were evicted “had family or friends Safety staff showed maximum reand a number of protesters attempt- to stay with.” straint in the face of the protesters’ ing to go through the door. A segIn public Facebook posts, FSU physical force....[Some of the proment of the livestream posted by has called the officers’ actions to- testers] could have been charged FSU that was taken down and later ward the students “assault” and with assault had the demonstration edited out showed one student at- “racist brutality.” taken place off campus.” tempting to grab McSorley’s collar, Lopez, who is Latina, said in FSU directly refutes many and a number of students appearing an email that when she tried to get points of the university statement. to attempt to move him away from past the guard, McSorley’s actions In an email sent to Fordham faculty the door before a group of Public caused her to hyperventilate and colleagues on April 30, FSU alleged Safety officers came between them. cry in what seemed like a panic at- that injuries were sustained on both Director of Public Safety at Rose tack as he “wrapped his leg around sides. The letter states that the varyHill Dan Kiely sustained a gash [hers],” causing her to lose her bal- ing punishments imposed on the on his left hand and was treated at ance as she could not release the 14 students were “disturbing” and Montefiore Hospital, while another door handle. “vindictive,” claiming that those Public Safety supervisor received a “I was alone in this room, sur- facing penalties produced no threat cut to his forearm and was treated rounded by public safety, but I nev- to the health or safety of the Fordat the University Health Center, ac- er felt more scared or endangered in ham community and its student cording to the university statement my entire life,” she said. “No matter body. issued on May 2. how much my friends demanded it, They have also alleged on FaceOf the students who received they were shoved aside, even though book that contrary to the univeremails informing them of disciplin- I was so scared I could not move.” sity statement, no students who had ary measures against them on the Eventually Lopez was allowed to their campus privileges revoked afternoon of April 28, at least five return to the protest, which contin- were contacted to ensure a close were Rose Hill residents who were ued on the front steps for about a proximity of family or friends for barred from campus that evening half an hour. lodging. They say that at least one of

THE STUDENT VOICE OF FORDHAM LINCOLN CENTER

those is a member of FSU who was not present at the incident while another only observed the altercation at a distance, “indicat[ing] the broad brush with which Dean Rodgers is painting.”

A petition asking McShane to “immediately reverse” Rodgers’ disciplinary decisions was signed by more than 1,400 members of the Fordham community over the course of a day. Though the petition “takes no position on the truth of the different accusations,” it accuses Rodgers of acting without adherence to the established university judicial process, asserting as FSU did, that “there is no vaguely plausible interpretation under which the students are a threat to the well-being, health, or safety of themselves or the community.”

“It is highly inappropriate to enact sanctions before [a fair process to adjudicate charges] even begins,” it concludes.

The university statement said that the disciplinary measures used are “routine for the level of disciplinary charges the students will likely face, and are part of the University’s long-established policy.”

It states that in the last year 11 students were “temporarily denied access to campus in advance of formal conduct proceedings.” It also says that the “normal conduct proceedings” will take place in the coming week.

Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) Dean of Students Keith Eldredge said, “In a situation like this, because of the laws and regulations that protect student privacy and confidentiality in the student conduct process, we are not able to provide complete details.”

“Peaceful demonstrations are certainly part of the normal discourse the University expects and encourages on campus, but using physical force against any person is counter to Fordham’s academic and Jesuit values,” repeat the University’s statements. “Thursday’s actions by protesters mark a regrettable departure from the civility and care for one another that is a deeply ingrained characteristic of Fordham culture.”

FSU has noted that the university statement did not address the cause behind the protest.

OPINONS

NO CONFIDENCE Standing with the faculty vote.

PAGE 7 ARTS & CULTURE

Virtual Reality New Yorkers at Tribeca Film Fest.

PAGE 17 FEATURES

Seniors of Fordham

Memories from our latest grads.

PAGE 19 SPORTS & HEALTH

Depression

Tips for keeping your head up.

PAGE 23

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MAY 4, 2017 THE OBSERVER

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“Assault” between Public Safety, Students at RH CLASH FROM PAGE 1

crushing her…She’s traumatized.”

In the video, the student can be seen screaming and grimacing.

A statement from FSU called Public Safety’s response “brutal force on multiple students,” and accused the office of using “deception, physical violence, and coercion” “appalling and antithetical to our Jesuit values.” “[Our intention was] to speak to [McShane] about how he’s been ignoring contingent faculty who make up the majority of the faculty here,” said Lurie. “For him to send about 10 Public Safety, top administrators to deal with us rather than to actually speak to us about these issues that matter so much to the faculty and students here is really telling of the way that Fordham pushes people aside when they want the things that they deserve.”

She also said she was pushed and sent “flying through the air.”

The university statement said that the director of Public Safety at FRH sustained a gash on his left hand and was treated at Montefiore Hospital, and that a second Public Safety supervisor received a cut to his forearm which was treated at the University Health Center. The Fordham Ram reported via Twitter that the director’s gash would require stitches.

Lurie said she had seen the gash and thought it might have been “due to friction.”

“The man was very old, I don’t know why he got involved in this, he shouldn’t have been there,” she said. “But he had very thin skin.”

After the group was cleared from the door, the protest was allowed to continue, and although the state-

ELIZABETH LANDRY/THE OBSERVER

The protest began in front of Walsh Library before moving to Cunniffe House to address President McShane.

ment says no protesters were injured, those who were there say it was “intense” on both sides.

Outside, a second altercation took place between three Public Safety officers and Kyle Prütz, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’17, in which his glasses were broken.

Prütz said that this was his first time participating in a protest for the Fordham faculty, and that af-

ter following the movement of the crowd upstairs, he left the hallway when the altercation became an “intense and hostile stalemate.” He said that he held a banner over the building’s balcony while speakers continued the protest on the front steps, but when he descended the stairs he was stopped by the campus director of public safety.

“He immediately grabbed me in a restraining hold, and said that

he wanted to ask me questions and that the dean wanted to speak with me,” Prütz said. After he refused and “forcefully pulled” himself out of the hold, he was allowed to walk out of the building. But past the hedges, he was stopped again by three Public Safety officers.

Prütz says he thought he heard them threaten to suspend his account if he did not comply with their request to speak with the dean and provide his ID. “They were

holding me back and I was trying to get out of it, it was a pretty significant struggle,” he said. “I was definitely intimidated…I definitely didn’t have a sense of will and autonomy in that moment.”

A video provided by Gunar Olsen, FCLC ’17 shows the officers holding Prütz by his shoulders and the two bags he carried. “They didn’t accuse me of anything other than violating school policy, by refusing to show my ID,” Prütz said.

“And they also said I was ‘obstructing an investigation.’”

Lurie called the interaction with Prütz a physical assault. “They grabbed him to try to identify him, which I would say is also a gross violation of their duties as public safety officers,” she said.

In the video, the officers let Prütz go after students begin to loudly question why he was singled out. Now, he says, as a veteran he will need to visit a Veterans’ Administration hospital to get another pair of glasses.

The statement from the university did not directly address specific actions in either altercation, but said, “Peaceful demonstrations are certainly part of the normal discourse the University expects and encourages on campus, but using physical force against any person is counter to Fordham’s academic and Jesuit values. The University condemns the actions of those protesters who used physical force to make their point, and in the process injured two members of the Fordham community. We expect more from our students and are rarely disappointed, but today’s actions by protesters mark a regrettable departure from the civility and care for one another that is a deeply ingrained characteristic of Fordham culture.”

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3

Salary and Benefits Deal Jeopardized

by Alleged Changes

By STEPHAN KOZUB News Editor

A scheduled Faculty Senate vote on an agreed upon salary and benefits plan was jeopardized on May 1 by allegations from both sides that involved parties had proposed undiscussed changes over the weekend.

On Friday April 28, the Faculty Senate Salary and Benefits Committee came to an agreement with the administration on a salary and benefits plan after months of contentious negotiations. April 28 was also the Board of Trustees’ imposed deadline for coming to such an agreement.

At the time, Andrew H. Clark, chair of the Salary and Benefits Committee, said that the deal would be for three years and included salary raises in addition to Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) funds and a hardship fund for those in need for medical costs as well as an arbitration process if any aspect of the signed deal is violated.

The Fordham Observer has reached out to the university for comment.

In a statement to The Fordham Ram, Bob Howe, assistant vice president for communications for the university, said the following: “The University’s offer of Friday, April 28, which Professor Clark endorsed in an email that day, is not only still on the table, but is a very strong package which the Faculty Senate could and should ratify today.

The Salary and Benefits Committee asked for additional concessions over the weekend, without which they said they would not recom-

ERIN O’FLYNN/THE OBSERVER

The tense negotiations come after months of campaigning by the Faculty Senate.

mend the package to the full Senate.”

In a statement sent to The Fordham Observer on May 1, Clark said that “Bob Howe’s statement that Faculty Salary and Benefits Committee made changes over the weekend is

utterly false and we demand that this false statement be retracted.”

His email states that he wrote to faculty on Friday about the deal, which mentioned that the agreement included a $400/800 HRA fund and

a $250,000 roll over hardship fund through Dec. 31, 2020. Clark states in the email that the administration is now contesting these provisions.

Clark also states that he received an email at 10:54 p.m. from the fac-

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ulty’s lawyer on April 30 “that the administration proposed changes that went against the agreement we reached Friday afternoon.”

“We have clear documentation of the negotiation meeting and will prove the record clear,” he said in the email.

The Faculty Senate and the Senate’s Salary and Benefits Committee voted in approval of the deal reached on April 28, but due to the alleged changes, the issue remains unresolved for the time being.

Prior to the April 28 agreement, the Board of Trustees and Clark issued statements regarding the situation, making different claims as to how closely tied the tuition and fees that serve as the main source of revenue for the university are to faculty salary and benefits.

On April 19, the faculty passed a vote of no confidence in University President Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., in conjunction with a “sick-in” protest. That day’s events were preceded by another round of statements from both sides which further deepened the divide between involved parties.

The first major public event to take place this semester regarding the situation was on Feb. 2, when the faculty held a silent protest outside of the Continuous University Strategic Planning (CUSP) meeting in the Fordham Law School.

The situation began in September when the Faculty Senate filed grievances after the administration violated university statutes in salary negotiations.

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May 4, 2017 THE OBSERVER

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Students of SJP File Suit Against Fordham

By ELIZABETH LANDRY News Editor Emerita

With representation by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), Palestine Legal and cooperating counsel civil rights and constitutional lawyer Alan Levine, four Fordham students have sued the university on April 26 over the rejection of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) as an official club.

Ahmad Awad, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’17, Sofia Dadap, FCLC ’18, Sapphira Lurie, FCLC ’17 and Julie Norris, FCLC ’19 have filed the case as a special proceeding under Article 78 of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules. “Students are seeking a judgment compelling Fordham to officially recognize SJP and provide it the same rights enjoyed by all other clubs at Fordham,” the CCR webpage reads.

SJP was denied club status in December 2016 after a year-long application process that included

gaining the support of United Student Government (USG), usually the last step before official approval.

After consulting with other school officials, faculty and students, including Jewish Student Organization (JSO), Dean of Students Keith Eldredge determined that SJP would not be granted club status.

“I cannot support an organization whose sole purpose is advocating political goals of a specific group, and against a specific country, when these goals clearly conflict with and run contrary to the mission and values of the University,” Eldredge said in a Dec. 22 email to the intended SJP members and their faculty advisor, English department Chair Glenn Hendler, Ph. D. He also said that he thought the club’s presence would be “polarizing” for the student body, and that the group’s support of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) would “present a barrier to open dialogue.”

Despite Fordham students’ having provided a requested letter of

non-affiliation from National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) during the club application process, in a Jan. 20 letter to Palestine Legal and CCR, Senior Vice President for Student Affairs Jeffrey L. Gray wrote that the decision “was based on the fact that chapters of this organization have engaged in behavior on other college campuses that would violate this University’s student code of conduct.” He cited disruption of public speaking events, a tactic of SJP chapters described in a 2015 report by the Anti-Defamation League.

In the next months, CCR and Palestine Legal issued letters challenging the school and counseled

Peace took an interest in the controversy. Over 100 Fordham faculty members signed a petition in support of the group and a supporting letter to University President Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J. was sent from a range of Catholic educational leaders. Both this letter and the statements by faculty pointed to Fordham’s Jesuit values as reason for allowing students to organize in support of Palestine.

A Jan. 23 protest in support of SJP, which Eldredge asserted was unsanctioned, led to disciplinary charges for plaintiff Lurie in violation of the Student Code of Conduct. Eldredge specified Lurie would not be allowed to have repELIZABETH LANDRY/THE OBSERVER

Students are suing after a controversial denial of their club application.

the intended SJP members as student rights and civil rights groups like the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and Jewish Voice for

resentation or any other third individual accompany her inside her closed-door hearing, with a white noise machine running. Lurie left in protest, after which she was sanctioned with an official warning. A

March 1 appeal by Palestine Legal and CCR to Gray was categorically rejected.

The April 26 suit could lead to the judgment that the club is to be established, or a dismissal of the case.

According to the CCR case webpage, the university’s actions are part of a pattern of “coordinated nationwide attacks on student organizing.”

“Even if the expression of views seeking justice in Palestine or demanding respect for human rights through BDS is considered polarizing or offensive to some, it is protected speech,” argues CCR Deputy Legal Director Maria LaHood in the April 26 press release. “It is the ideas that challenge us and foster debate that need to be protected most.”

The press release also made reference to 650 incidents CCR says targeted speech supportive of Palestinian rights from 2014 to 2016.

Inside the Three-Year History of Health Care Controversies and would threaten our health, well-being, and finances.”

Faculty currently pays 12.5 percent of the cost of their insurance plan, according to Daleo’s statement. He adds that the plan the administration is proposing is largely modeled on and incorporates “significant aspects/component parts” from the current plan.

“As a result, it will still offer our staff and faculty excellent coverage, but would increase some co-pays and deductibles,” Daleo states. “Under the plan, faculty and staff would also see lower monthly premiums deducted from their pay.”

By STEPHAN KOZUB News Editor

In the heat of the ongoing negotiations between faculty and the administration over health care benefits and salaries, the slew of statements that have been issued can be hard to keep track of.

Just earlier this week on April 24, Robert D. Daleo, Gabelli School of Business ’72 and chair of the Fordham University Board of Trustees, issued a statement to the university community explaining the situation. The same day, Andrew H. Clark, chair of the Faculty Senate Committee on Salary & Benefits, issued a counter-statement rebutting several of the claims Daleo and the Board of Trustees made in their statement.

But what’s really going on here?

In order to help members of the Fordham community break down the myriad and seemingly contradictory statistics and information being provided by both sides, we have compiled a point-by-point analysis of major items in the most recent statements, and what they mean for the university. The deadline for the negotiations wais April 28.

The vote of no confidence Daleo’s letter starts with the faculty’s recent vote of no confidence against University President Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J. Held in conjunction with a “Sick-In” protest on April 19. Electronic voting was open to 611 faculty members who are either tenured or on the tenure track between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. 431 out of 488 respondents voted for “no confidence.”

Following the vote, both McShane and the Board of Trustees issued statements to the Fordham community demonstrating their disappointment in the outcome of the vote.

What this vote will mean in the long run, however, is unclear.

Back in 2013, the faculty of New York University (NYU) voted for no confidence in their university president, John Sexton. Similarly to Fordham’s situation, NYU’s Board of Trustees stood behind Sexton.

In 2005, however, a vote of no confidence in then-Harvard president Lawrence H. Summers resulted in the “removal or eventual resignation of leaders at some universities,” as reported by The New York Times.

The statutes and the benefits The current disputes between faculty and the administration over

ELIZABETH LANDRY/THE OBSERVER

Professor Andrew H. Clark led the faculty “Sick-In” protest on April 19.

salaries and benefits began in September, when the Faculty Senate filed grievances against the university for violating university statutes in imposing a salary increase.

Back in 2014, however, were other contentious negotiations between faculty and admin over health care benefits. In September of that year, the Faculty Senate unanimously censured and voted in no confidence of John Lordan, senior vice president and chief financial officer, who had been employed by the university for 14 years. Three days later, Lordan resigned.

Prior to his departure, Lordan proposed replacing Cigna, the University’s health care plan, with UnitedHealthCare—without the approval of the Faculty Senate. Additionally, he proposed increasing faculty cost-sharing to 15 percent across the board.

At the time, Clark said that the

negotiations had been “rather disgraceful, in terms of the types of negotiations that have taken place.”

He further stipulated that the Faculty Senate’s ad hoc committee had to refer to minutes of past meetings on several occasions because the administration seemed to change its opinion on stipulations from one meeting to the next.

In October 2014, the Faculty Senate came to an agreement with the administration that cost-sharing would still increase to 15 percent across four to seven years and based on yearly salary increases.

Clark mentions these negotiations early on in his recent letter, stating that “the University intends to violate its October 2014 agreement on faculty health benefits and has pushed to have current benefits replaced by a new healthcare plan that would result in significantly increased costs for faculty and staff

The cost of tuition vs. salaries A major point in both Clark’s and Daleo’s letters is the debate over how closely linked faculty salaries and benefits are with tuition costs.

Daleo states that “the Board of Trustees has already directed Father McShane to contain tuition increases,” and that “significant increases are inconsistent with Fordham’s Jesuit mission, and are unsustainable.” According to Daleo, 92 percent of Fordham’s income is from tuition and student fees, with 63 percent of spending going towards salary and benefits, “with health insurance being by far the most expensive benefit we offer.”

He adds that if no action is taken this year, “our best estimate is that the University will see a 66 percent increase in health insurance costs over the next three years.”

Clark said that while “we share the Board’s concern for the fiscal health of the University, we find this fear-mongering to be unhelpful, at best.”

Calling into question these statistics, Clark cites publicly available projections from Mercer, the consulting firm the Board of Trustees hires for information on employee costs. “Employers predict that in 2017 their total health benefit cost per employee will rise by 4.1% on average,” the projections read. “If they made no changes to their current plans, they estimate that cost would rise by an average of 6.3%.”

Clark further stipulates that the average cost per faculty member in 2010-11 was $21,340, and $22,722 in 2016-17, but “when adjusted for inflation, the cost of faculty health insurance has actually dropped.”

When Fordham was evaluated by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the group claimed that the university needed to address financial issues.

“We’ve got to solve the financial

resource problem if we want to do the things we say we want to do, which quite frankly was not a surprise to anybody,” said Rev. Robert R. Grimes , S.J., Ph.D., dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center, in April of 2016. “We’re aware of those things.” At the time, Grimes made a similar statement to Daleo, saying that over 90 percent of Fordham’s income comes from tuition and fees.

If this statistic is correct, that means that the university has possibly become more dependent on that source of income in the past few years. According to Fordham’s 2015 Tax Form 990, the most recent one available, $573,657,196 of the university’s $662,681,679 in annual program service revenue, about 86 percent, came from tuition and fees.

As Clark notes in his letter, however, Fordham’s publicly available tax data also show that “the salaries of the top three administrators at Fordham between 2004 and 2014 have increased by 90% in comparison to a 23.5% increase in the across-the-board salaries of faculty during the same period.” Additionally, “From 2008-15, instructional salaries and benefits decreased as a percentage of the overall salary budget by 2.3%. In that same period, administrative salaries rose 1.5%.”

Daleo states that “Faculty and staff have received a salary increase every year under Father McShane’s tenure, at his insistence.”

Is Fordham buying SAT scores?

One of the points that Clark makes in his statement asserts that Fordham “spent more than $5M to secure enrollment commitments from students with high SATs.” Citing it as a practice employed by some other universities, he states that “the practice of buying SATs scores in an effort to up one’s rankings is one that some members of the faculty question.”

This issue surfaced in April 2016, when a New America study claimed that Fordham employed this practice. At the time, Angela Van Dekker, associate vice president for student financial services, said that the study’s statements about Fordham were “not true.”

“These practices, not the fact of financial aid, or total financial aid allocations, have come under faculty scrutiny as we believe that the pursuit of higher rankings at the expense of the diversity of our student body is one that requires close interrogation,” Clark asserted.

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News

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Student Voices Featured in “Vag Mons”

By COLIN SHEELEY News Editor

Eleven years running, the student production of “The Vagina Monologues” has ushered in a new addition to the ever-changing performance. For the first time, Fordham’s staging, which ran from April 21-23, included a second act comprised of six original pieces written by Fordham students. The directors, Desiree Ewing, Fordham College Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’17, and Alysha Kundanmal, FCLC ’17, believed that the additional monologues expanded the range of the show’s subject matter to be more inclusive across board. The 21 monologues featured in Act I encompass a wide scope of perspectives and stories taken from the interviews of 200 women who gave their accounts of sexual and abusive experiences. Despite this, Ewing and Kundanmal felt there was room for improvement.

“Just the name ‘The Vagina Monologues’ is very cis-centered and sex-centered and we really wanted to expand it to include people of all genders,” Ewing said.

Joining traditional pieces like Hair, Because He Liked to Look at It and I Was There In the Room, the six new monologues, titled Lesser Lesbian, Pretty Takes Away, Unexplored Territory, Mi Tesorito, P Bi and J, and Caramel, incorporated unique perspectives from queer students, as well as students of color that “push the boundaries” of the original set list.

In Caramel, a student remembers “unfortunately, the most positive sexual experience she had in high school,” about a boy who told her that she was pretty, for an Indian. P Bi and J discusses how a student found it easier to identify as bisexual to friends than to come out as queer.

According to Kundanmal, one of the challenges that producing the Monologues at Fordham comes across every year is its overwhelmingly white female cast. In general, the actors in the performance do not resemble the actual authors of the monologues—an issue that is

“ It’s sort of our way

of saying, ‘we demand respect, and we want our voices to be heard.”

DESIREE EWING,

“Vagina Monologues” Co-Director

amplified in pieces written by Fordham students.

“I’m not about to write a story and tell an experience of something I haven’t gone through or don’t have firsthand experience. I don’t feel okay doing that for a work like this,” Kundanmal said.

From the moment it was created by Eve Ensler in 1996, the show has received a considerable amount of criticism, in particular about a monologue in which a thirteenyear-old woman of color describes having a positive sexual experience with a twenty-four-year-old neighbor while under the influence of alcohol. A new script that lists the young woman’s age as 16 has since been published, and is the version that Fordham’s production uses.

Despite this, the Monologues are an unsanctioned event at the University; however, it is clear to Ewing and Kundanmal that “The Vagina

ADRIANA BALSAMO-GALLINA/THE OBSERVER

The Vagina Monologues brings a progressive feminist message with plays about the feminine experience.

Monologues” is a show so authentically courageous and compassionate that people are still catching up to it, 21 years later.

“As lots of people, especially Fordham students, know, Fordham has gone through a lot these last few years with issues of racism and sexism and homophobia and classism pervading college campuses everywhere, but definitely Fordham has seen it, which is so disturbing.

And unfortunately, many students feel that the administration doesn’t address this well enough, and so this is one of the small ways that the women and nonbinary people of Fordham–students of Fordham–are able to sort of fight back against that. By hosting this show at Fordham, knowing that Fordham doesn’t sanction it, it’s sort of our way of saying, ‘we demand respect, and we want our voices to be heard,’” Ewing said.

Both directors agreed that the relationships that students build with each other is central to the production’s importance. During large rehearsals, the days ran much more like team-building seminars.

Ewing and Kundanmal organize a check-in with everyone, going over names, pronouns and students’ highs and lows of the day. Every other week, the sessions involved a workshop that highlighted a particular theme of the Monologues such as sexual health and psychology and sexual abuse.

“This is so much more than just a show. The point of this show, besides conveying all of these important messages to the audience and sharing these stories, is about the community it builds of the people involved with it,” Kundanmal said.

Combined, Acts I and II of “The Vagina Monologues” illuminate what we talk about when we talk about vaginas; they are shells, flowers, black holes, tulips, red leather couches, freeways, obsessions; they are abstract and angry, green, chatty and unvisited; they wear silk kimonos and combat boots; they are oneself–sites of attention and great deliberate ignorance. And it is vastly important we talk about them.

Opinions

Opinions Editor Alex Seyad- aseyad@fordham.edu

STAFF EDITORIAL

the

FORDHAM DESERVES MORE TRANSPARENCY

F

or the past year, the Faculty Senate and the Board of Trustees have discussed the funding and renewing of faculty health coverage. This past semester, the conversation between the two degraded as the Board of Trustees made unilateral decisions regarding salaries and expressed severe reservations about renewing the currently implemented health care plan.

These actions were met with several protests by faculty members and students.

One of the benefits for choosing to teach at Fordham has been a decent health care plan. What made this situation worse was the series of emails sent to students, alumni and parents as a result of the faculty vote of no confidence in Fordham’s President, Father Joseph McShane S.J. The board’s message tried to establish a need to provide money for student financial aid instead of faculty health care, upsetting many individuals in the Fordham community.

While the faculty and the administration came to an agreement that is now being called into question, this dis-

pute is just one of many to occur this past year. The university was cited for free speech issues regarding Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and

“...[The Fordham Observer] believes that health care is a right that should not be altered for fiscal reasons.”

has been criticized for its treatment of adjunct faculty. The clash between the administration and SJP has caused waves through the student body and caused a split between the two parties. The lack of transparency by the Deans has caused the student body to be weary.

The refusal of the university to properly respond to the demands of the adjunct faculty has also damaged the community’s trust.

In order for the Fordham Community to thrive, this trust must be reestablished. A university can only fulfill its

May 4, 2017 THE OBSERVER

purpose as an institution of higher learning when those that constitute its fabric are treated with honesty, fairness, and transparency. While the staff of The Fordham Observer acknowledges the nuances and intricacies that make these dealings and negotiations difficult, we believe that health care is a right that should not be altered for fiscal reasons.

The university may be trying to ensure its financial longevity, something that almost everyone in the community would agree is a good thing, but the way in which this situation has been handled has jeopardized the relationship among higher administrators, staff, faculty, and students. This lack of trust is what has led to the unfortunate circumstances of protests resulting in violence between students and public safety.

The Fordham Community needs stability in order to reach its full potential. We encourage all parties involved to maintain civility and respect for one another as the semester comes to a close so that we may continue to grow as a group, not a conglomeration of factions.

Observer Editor-in-Chief Morgan Steward Managing Editor Reese Ravner Business Manager Michael Veverka Layout Editors Sherry Chow Loic Khodarkovsky News Editors Stephan Kozub Colin Sheeley Asst. News Editor Katherine Smith Opinions Editor Alex Seyad Asst. Opinions Editor Jordan Meltzer Arts & Culture Editors Maryanna Antoldi Sam DeAssis Asst. Arts & Culture Editors Lindsay Jorgensen Bessie Rubinstein Features Editor Carson Thornton Gonzalez Asst. Features Editor Jenna Battaglia Sports & Health Editors Shobair Hussaini Alexander DiMisa Artemis Tsagaris Photo Co-Editors Jon Bjornson Erin O’Flynn Aseah Khan Literary Editor Erika Ortiz Copy Editors Izzi Duprey Erika Ortiz Gianna Smeraglia Social Media Managers Sabrina Jen Katie Mauer Angelika Menendez Andronika Zimmerman

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Opinions

7

SHOULD

By Alex Seyad Opinions Editor

This last academic year has been plagued by a multitude of issues on campus that have made many of us question the integrity of our university. From the clash between Students for Justice in Palestine

We have seen our tuition consistently increase, yet the administration has problems balancing its budget, despite its willingness to increase its own pay.

(SJP) and the administration to the ongoing standoff between the faculty and the Board of Trustees, there has been a large number of controversies that have smeared our university’s name in the public. We have seen our tuition consistently increase, yet the administration has problems balancing its budget, despite its willingness to increase its own pay. We have also seen our university listed as one of the worst for freedom of speech. This all culminates in the latest vote of no confidence by the faculty in Fordham President, Father Joseph McShane S.J. This causes us to ask if we should have our own vote of no confidence in our university and its administrators who have proven this past year that they can’t protect the integrity of this institution or uphold the Jesuit tenants that they have instilled in us.

STUDENTS HAVE A VOTE

OF NO CONFIDENCE

AT FORDHAM?

Putting aside whether or not you agree with the mission and tactics of SJP, we can agree that all voices on campus should be heard and that it is the general consensus of the student body that matters the most.

This past year, SJP was voted to become a club on campus by United Student Government, the collective of students voted to represent the larger student body, only for this to be vetoed by the Dean of Students.

This action was the start of the drama that was to follow as students began to protest the decision of the administration and legal parties entered the fray. The administration has continuously shown that it refuses to acknowledge the views and opinions of the student body and refuse to feel the need to be transparent with students in regards to providing a proper explanation for its decisions. The apex of this disaster was Fordham being featured

on several websites as one of the universities with the worst freedom of speech on campus. This label doesn’t just damage the integrity of the university and its administrators, but it also affects us, the students, who will have to go forth into the job market bearing the name of Fordham as our alma mater.

The largest issue at this moment is the current feud between the faculty and the Board of Trustees headed by Father McShane. The recent vote of no confidence exemplifies the schism between the two parties. The unilateral actions taken by the administration and the board in terms of salaries and cutting benefits can only be viewed as unfair and unjust.

After a recent series of emails from both the board and the chair of the faculty committee, the student body has been flooded with conflicting information. Many of the

claims being made, both officially and unofficially, are blatantly false and ridiculous. One such claim is that there is a priority being placed on student financial aid instead of faculty health coverage. This is clearly the Board of Trustees trying to find a justification for their recent increases in tuition.

The notion that they have used student financial aid and faculty health benefits like simple variables on a piece of paper is outrageous and utterly disturbing. The fact of the matter is that Fordham’s only bargaining chip in recruiting future professors has been a substantial coverage plan. Fordham professors make 30 percent less than professors at Columbia and NYU. This conflict will only cause potential professors to refuse any offers from Fordham and drive away current professors, who are most likely already reaching out to other

schools. The group that has the most to lose, other than professors in need of their medical coverage, are the students of Fordham.

Our university has been marked as a suppressor of free speech and our professors are considering an exodus, even those who stay will be less than thrilled with their employers. Our student body has been left in the dark and is being used as a scapegoat for various decisions by the administration and the Board of Trustees. Our future and the future of incoming Fordham students is in jeopardy and the only people we should hold accountable is the Board of Trustees. Following the precedent set by our faculty, we too should have no confidence in the administration, as it is the actions that jeopardize our future.

Fordham’s students and faculty have joined together to protest the actions taken by the university.

An EPA Adversary Takes a Seat at Its Head

By Matthew Di Vitto Contributing Writer

In the Pacific Islands of Kiribati, President Taneti Mamau faces unprecedented challenges. In the wake of rising sea levels, he and his people may be forced to relocate and become the world’s first climate refugees as their villages are becoming increasingly threatened by flooding. In a desperate attempt to house its potentially stranded citizens, the Kiribati government recently purchased 2,200 hectares of land in Fiji.

Vast amounts of research documenting rising air and oceanic temperatures render the idea of an anthropogenic climate change virtually unavoidable. Denying climate change not only worsens our ability to cope with future issues, but also invalidates the aforementioned people that are already suffering.

In spite of this reality, the United States’ current political administration rejects both the existence of climate change and the importance of environmental conservation.

On Twitter, President Donald Trump famously described climate change as a concept “created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturingnoncompetitive.” This nonchalant imposition of his own opinions will have a direct impact on the future of environmental policy. In the New York Times, Coral Davenport described a hypothetical planet after the imposition of Trump’s anticonservation policies as a place that “may have no way to avoid the most devastating consequences of global warming, including rising sea levels, extreme droughts and food shortages, and more powerful floods and storms.” These catastrophic events

are becoming unavoidable in the eyes of devastated scientists, who have observed Trump’s eagerness to clog his administration with climate skeptics.

One of these skeptics is Scott Pruitt, an outspoken adversary of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s mission and activity, who was, naturally, President Trump’s first choice to become the new head of the agency. Angered by the EPA’s “invasive” regulations, Pruitt has sued the agency on 14 separate occa-

Vast amounts of research documenting rising air and oceanic temperatures render the idea of an anthropogenic climate change virtually unavoidable.

COURTESY OF FLICKR/GAGE SKIDMORE

EPA head Scott Pruitt represents the Trump administration’s adverse stance on climate change.

sions, according to Eric Lipton and Coral Davenport of The New York Times. As the Attorney General of Oklahoma, he defined his career by attacking the government’s clean air and clean energy reforms for the sake of protecting states’ rights.

These lawsuits also served to protect the liberty and profits of the energy companies that perpetrated the air pollution in question. Conveniently, these fossil fuel companies which include Exxon Mobil, Koch Industries, Murray Energy and Southern Company have donated $4.2 million

to public organizations in which Pruitt holds position of authority.

These donations were made in addition to their support of his lawsuits.

In his confirmation hearing, Pruitt admitted that he does not believe climate change is a “hoax created by the Chinese.” However, he did not show an ounce of urgency in his description of what needed to be done to conserve the welfare of the environment. When asked by Senator Sanders about his opinion on climate change, Pruitt merely stated that, “the human ability to measure with precision the extent of that impact is subject to continuing debate and dialogue, as well they

should be.” This lackadaisical and impedimentary attitude makes Scott Pruitt an unconventional choice for such a crucial position in our government.

In a recent interview with CNBC, Pruitt also stated that he does not believe that carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to climate change. This not only contradicts science on its most basic level, but also the key mission of the EPA. Unfortunately, Pruitt’s message is consistent with the opinions of President Trump himself.

To an aspiring environmentalist, watching these processes unfold is demoralizing. I now have

a president who has made me question the future of my career. “For those just entering the climate field or graduating soon, President-elect Donald Trump’s choices on funding and policy will set the tone for their careers,” Brian Kahn, a senior science writer at Climate Central, said in a Nov. 2016 article foScientific American. To an undergraduate student of environmental studies, this is an undoubtedly alarming assertion. However, the desire of our future presidential administration to sweep environmental issues under the carpet only augments the urgency of the movement and boosts my own resolve.

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Opinions

May 4, 2017 THE OBSERVER

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Macron Will Not Save Us

By John McCullough Opinions Editor Emeritus

Emmanuel Macron made history as the first candidate not of a major party of the Fifth French Republic to win the first round of a Presidential election, carrying 24 percent of the vote to continue against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the runoff on May 7.

Europe has once again been faced with the rise of far-right extremism, only this time it managed to push back and weather the storm, for the time being. However, the enthusiasm for Macron and his banners of centrism and liberalism overlooks the inability of those forces to build a lasting opposition to the far-right. Macron is no radical, and his politics are, in practice, almost identical to those of the third-wayers and grand bargainers who marched the world to its current crisis. His success can only temporarily subdue the rising forces of reactionary extremism personified by Marine Le Pen and the Front National.

Macron’s popularity can be difficult to understand on its face.

After all, he ran on a platform consisting of remarkably similar policies to those of the incumbent Hollande administration, currently at an approval rating of four percent. The centrist upstart served as Hollande’s independent Minister of Economy, and currently extols the virtues of “labor market flexibility” (read: deregulation and lower wages) on the campaign trail. Conversely, Benoit Hamon, the candidate of Hollande’s Parti socialiste, resigned from the government in protest of those same unpopular reforms. Despite this, he received only six percent of the

COURTESY OF FLICKR/OFFICIAL LEWEB PHOTOS

Macron’s potential victory in the French presidential election could have severe implications for the future political climate of the country.

vote, largely due to the fact that he was still made to carry Hollande’s baggage. This was a consequence of Macron successfully using his

immense charisma and talent for rhetoric to separate himself effortlessly from the establishment in the electorate’s mind. To under-

Dean Donna Rapaccioli and the faculty, staff, and students

G ABELLI S CHOOL OF BUS INES S

of the Gabelli School of Business congratulate our first two GSB-LC graduates, Patrick Fuery, BS ’17, and Dominic Umbro, BS ’17, and the entire Class of 2017 from the Lincoln Center campus.

FORDHAM DETERMINATION NEW YORK DRIVE

stand the 39-year-old former ineven an option in the internal poll, vestment banker, it is important to and regardless of whether or not he understand the parallels to the rise receives an official endorsement, it of Barack Obama. Both are young, is certain that the majority of the charismatic politicians with the leftist’s supporters will side with kind of talent that only occurs once Macron in the second round. or twice in a generation and who To believe that Mélenchon reare the standard bearers for a reafrains from endorsement to appeal soned, centrist neoliberalism. Like to the far-right is to fail to underObama, Macron will not be capable stand the kind of movement being of creating a movement that can built in “La France insoumise.” carry on without him; it would be That the decision has been left to difficult for any would-be successor the people, “les insoumises” themto garner the same crowds on the selves, is a reflection of the fact same empty platitudes. that any movement with the power One of the lasting reminders of to challenge fascism permanently the 2016 American in Europe and presidential elecAny movement with elsewhere must tion is that, when be democratically faced with the po- the power to challenge accountable to tential of electoral fascism permanently its base. The only disaster resulting force that can deal from its own failin Europe and else- a lasting blow to ure to appeal to the the populist right material conditions where must be demo- is a real working of the working movement of cratically accountable class class, the agents of the left, which also neoliberalism will carries forward the to its base. inevitably place specific concerns all blame on the of working class left. After the upset women, people of victory of Donald color, and queer Trump, legions of folks. The power of hacks penned pasthis kind of movesionate screeds in ment can only be Salon, The Washsustained through ington Post and radical democracy The Daily Beast about how Hillary that prevents people’s power from Clinton lost because of the inability being subverted by the rich, priviof “BernieBros” and far-leftists leged and powerful. to fall in line behind her. Similar On May 7, it is almost cerheadlines have already begun to tain that Emmanuel Macron will appear in those same publications be elected the 25th President of on the situation in France. Much France. Once in office, he will has been made of the decision of undoubtedly introduce neoliberal leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who reforms that will extend the worknarrowly failed to make the run-off ing week, reduce the strength of with 20 percent of the vote, to leave the social safety net, and worsen the question of a Macron endorsethe feelings of powerlessness and ment to a poll of the members of resentment that have led so many his radical political movement. far-right demagogues into the limeThe New York Times originally light. In order to challenge these reported on this in an article with sentiments, the left must spring the misleading title “Marine Le into action. The only way to defeat Pen Gets a Lift from an Unlikely fascism in France is for the leftist Source: The Far-Left.” This line of forces that have rallied around the accusation is only a misrepresentaMélenchon campaign to agitate, tion designed to beat the left into educate and organize to build a submission to neoliberalism. After sizable working class movement. all, Mélenchon has been firm on the If these conditions are met, Le Pen point that a Le Pen endorsement is and French fascism as a movement out of the question; indeed, it is not will be doomed.

THE

COMMA P R E S E NTS

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The Comma

MAY 4, 2017 THE OBSERVER

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HELIOCENTRISM

BY MEGAN CR ANE When I was six I picked at the scabs on my knee. I pretended I was a clementine. My fruit was the raw July rug burns and the late grass stains of June. If I tore my skin deep enough, I could be sweet.

When I was six I fell off my bike on the daily. When I was six I pricked my finger on thickets in the forest and made a blood oath with the pretty oaks and waving leaves: I will always be yours. Soil seeped into me, ladybugs crawled into my cuts, and bees deposited pollen into my bloodstream.

This summer I lay down in the grass. I lay in my backyard at midnight and listened to the owls around my house. They asked the forest questions I was too scared to answer myself.

I was born with a skin tag on the left side of my neck. At age seven I tried to cut it off with a butter knife. At age eighteen, laying in the wet moss, I cut the skin with blades of grass, peeled back my humanity and bled out two caterpillars and a

luna moth. hurt you. like the kid at a party who didn’t The owls cheered and the forest I think I was grown in a garden, drink, I felt like the kid who didn’t fell asleep. tended to with care by an elderly know anyone. I felt like the kid I I stopped identifying with peowoman. She pruned me, fed me, was in high school. I felt human. ple when people became associated watered me, wrapped a trembling I breathed in damp moss while with pain. The forest was a warm weathered finger through my leaves my bones turned into a family of embrace, the bending branches, and passed away holding my hand. snakes and my blood turned into mother’s cradling the water from my arms. I lay down creek outside.

The forest was a warm embrace, the bending The firefly in the grass, an infant in the body brought his friends of an adult. I sunk branches, mother’s cradling arms. I lay down and they danced into the earth and in the grass, an infant in the body of an adult. I by my ears and found memories around my breasts. like buried treaThe snakes had left sunk into the earth and found memories ... sure, old toys and to find drier land. rubber band balls The luna moth was and my first failed fanning its wings homework assignment. Worms My brothers and sisters follow the under the full moon. A spider wove chewed on my nostalgia. I compossun. I follow the sun. We leaned webs between my collar bones. ted the dirt with my past. latitudinally. I leaned with the day When I sneezed dandelion seeds and withered into a human. plumed from my mouth.

A lightning bug crawled out This summer I dug my toes into I watched my eyelashes blink of my right ear and flew onto my the ground and rooted myself with into dusty moths; they smelled like nose. It blinked morse code and the outside, moved with the sun. old memories and beat into the told me: You are here, you are as I pressed my ear against the earth night like loose papers. real as the clouds in the sky and the and listened to the other side of the My capillaries wriggled and leaves in the trees. We will never world drink in the sunshine. I felt pushed out of my skin like little

“

”

sprouts. Silkworms plucked themselves from my goosebumps and threaded me a blanket of moonlight. They painted me the colour of the cosmos, they painted me pure.

I think I regained my virtue that night.

I was baptised by nature.

I left my immortal soul in a clump of wildflowers and thorn bushes. Sometimes late at night, I can still hear the owls above the traffic. Sometimes I exhale little bugs and watch them circle my head.

The moths don’t leave any more, they stay with me at the witching hour when the silkworms wrap me in moonlight and let me glow. The moths rest on my heart. The lightning bugs blink me to sleep; they tell me that they’ve found a light in me that they flock towards.

This is how I learned to lean on myself.

This is how I learned to be my own sun.

NOT-SO-TERRIBLE TWO’S

BY A DR I ANA BA L SAMO - GA LL INA It’s breakfast time.

She’s eating her cheerios, with a spoon now, because she’s a big girl.

The spoon is hers. The cheerios are hers. The chair she is standing on is hers. The terrible two’s are in full effect. My sister comes downstairs.

She gives her daughter a kiss on the cheek and then gives me one, too. At that moment, her daughter slams her spoon down and declares, “That’s MY Zia.” I beam. “That’s right, I’m YOUR Zia,” I say.

She finishes up breakfast and heads to the living room to claim further land. The couch is hers. The teddy bear is hers.

She picks up my copy of The Feminine Mystique that I left on the coffee table. She holds it gently in her two tiny hands a little above her head as she squats to the floor. She lays on her tummy and begins flipping through the pages, staring intently at the pages.

Yes, I think to myself. That’s MY niece.

ALEXANDRA RICHARDSON/THE COMMA

Documenting History, taken at the 9/11 Memorial, in Manhattan, New York.

SOMETHING NEW She looks up at him over her steaming cappuccino. The air outside the tiny coffee shop is cold and biting, but inside, it is warm, almost stifling. Cups are clinking and voices are murmuring all around them, but where they sit, there is a bubble of silence. The silence is so palpable and so thick that it’s almost impossible to get through. But she does.

“I could have written a novel of all the things I wanted to say to you today.” The words are cracked and raw, as if she hasn’t used her voice in days. It feels that way to her. She feels as if she has never really spoken to him before right now. “I have so

BY SABR INA POLKOWSK I

much to say to you, but I can’t remember any of it.”

He chuckles. He looks up at her through his eyelashes, in that way she fell for when she first met him.

“I know,” he says softly.

“I don’t want to think about what happened before this. I want to move on to something new,” she admits carefully, gauging his reaction as she says it. The thought of losing him aches in her heart like the cold aches in her bones.

His eyes are guarded. It’s a moment before he speaks. When he does, his voice is pained. “It wasn’t right. It’s never been right before.”

“But it could be,” she says, thinking, like she knows he is, of all the near misses and botched connections that had plagued them for the last three years. They had been orbiting each other forever, never once meeting up on their paths. They’re headed toward each other now, she can feel it. She can see the point where their paths will intersect, and she doesn’t want to miss it. “We’ve been waiting for this for years, you know that. It’s right. It’s right now, I can feel it, can’t you?”

He looks at her for a long moment. The hesitation and guardedness in his eyes ever so slowly melts

into warmth and affection that takes the breath from her throat. “Something new,” he says with a small smile.

Her face blooms like a sunflower.

She can feel the exact moment that she and him crash together like a collision of meteorites, sending reverberations out into the atmosphere around them. The magnitude of this moment is staggering for the two of them, yet anyone else can only see two people staring at eachother, lovestruck, not saying a single word save for the novels passing between them through the looks in their eyes.

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The Comma

11

ABUELO, CERCA 20 0 2 , FOTO B / N

BY HE ATH HAMP TON

A silhouette, He Rumpled, absolutely still, skin picked with age, He shushed me and again quiet held the long of a knife, He was conspiratorial, “There were vampires in the restroom,” his body creaked out as he stood, He quick blinked and again and his hands were writhing into their composite snakes, they un-bit his knife in a flurry of spit and fire and flung themselves at him, He looked to me and again, Hands clamped to hands and the throb of his vein deep hell where dragons and must gutter into the gush of agony, His mouth squirmed itself into lines and open circles, His words were lost, his feet echoed, He sat, In the fluorescent dank of the kitchen of fly-buzzed fruit, He

ALEXANDRA RICHARDSON/THE COMMA

and trash, and again, there, said unicorns grazing, with sleep grit in their eyes, He could not see, Their manes were matted deep into his gruff voice, “the Keebler’s made us all sandwiches” sloshed and spoken out in this his crystal clear smack of hooves, I struggled to lift my eyes from his suffocating dense of living, and, and, and, said, and held in my hands his sacred shame of bread and disparity, He sat.

Photographers in New York, taken in Manhattan, New York.

There was a fascination in moving my hands from the table, I eat and eat and was loosely chewed into a spittle, like his Tobacco made dissolute in decades of sweat, poverty perhaps, mine, His that reek rose to the puff of chests, cheeks, His eyes shook with a glassy pride, In them the unicorns made black porcelain reflections, his eyes broke into the canted swathes of linoleum, Elves clambered over all his broken things, They trussed and gang-banged a vampire, He covered my eyes, They ripped each other screaming into tree branches and roots he pondered, they made a deep cushy, churning moss, The sky fell into mumbled lyrics, He and Words made nothing of me, He stood and wandered and hid, Glasses whisper-wrung out their own empty

A MISUNDERSTANDING

BY S TEPHEN K IPP “For the rest of my life I’m going to play.”

His plump curls shined in sun under the trees.

His mother smiled down at him, down on one knee.

“Ok, but you’ll need to work one day.”

“I won’t work like daddy, I’m going to play.”

He worked up a pile and jumped in the leaves.

Mother laughed lightly and wiped off his jeans.

“But you’ll have to work before you can play.”

“Each day of my life I’m going to play.”

He took off his shoes, too small for his feet.

She put them back on to keep his socks clean.

“Everyone works, I’m sorry to say.”

“How do you think you can play every day?”

She noticed him losing his front baby teeth.

One hand on the earth and crossed at the knees. “‘Cause I will make working and playing the same.”

PASSERBY

BY ELLE ROSE I didn’t assume anything was wrong when the uptown express D-train suddenly became more cramped than usual in the midst of its journey to Tremont Avenue.

We collectively realize something is wrong when a woman, her belly a swollen crescent moon, falls to the ground. A samaritan keeps her head from colliding with a pile of forgotten fast-food wrappers and soda cans, cradling her as she drifts in and out of consciousness.

“She’s pregnant, someone call an ambulance!” the samaritan calls out, a handful of strangers now kneeling beside the woman.

I pull out my cellphone and make a vain attempt to call anyone for help — the police, my mom, who always seems to have the answer in these kinds of situations, but we’re too far underground to call for help.

As news of the fallen woman travels through the car hands begin to reach

for the Emergency button — firmer hands reaching out and pulling helping hands back.

“Don’t pull that shit, it’ll stop us in the middle of the tunnel and I got places to be,” a gruff man, six feet tall and built like a bull, barks in warning.

A murmur breaks out amongst the crowd of packed passengers.

Whispers of “I gotta go pick up my kids,” “I just wanna get home,” and “I just worked an eight hour day,” come together, becoming one resonating “Don’t you dare stop this train.” The ailing pregnant woman has been reduced to sobs, one hand clutching the upper swell of her stomach, the other clutching her phone, her bloodstained finger-tips painting her rose gold phone case the darkest shade of red.

The pool of blood at her feet grows larger, soaking the soles of my own shoes as I shift nervously, at-

tempting to get close enough to help, but constantly being pushed away by someone more helpful. The knees of those beside her become stained with dust, forgotten gum, and blood.

They try to talk to her, ask her where she’s from, how many months along she is, but all she can do is continue to sob, choosing only to speak the language of the heartbroken.

When the train finally pulls up he Tremont station, a riot begins.

Weary travelers and 9-5ers begin their chant, demanding that the woman be removed from the train before their commute can be further delayed. I remain silent, sheepishly hiding within the crowd. I feel sick, my head spinning and throat tightening, as people berate the woman for holding up their commute as though it was her decision to lose her unborn child that night. The good samaritans delicately take her into their arms, helping her to stand as

they slowly begin their procession off the train, their arms shielding her from the sharp, biting words of the disgruntled passengers.

“Due to an ill passenger, this train is being held at the station. A B-train will be arriving shortly on the opposite side of the platform,” the intercom announces.

The crowd, more disgruntled than ever, begins to stampede off the train and across the platform.

Along the way they nearly trample the woman and her small group of saviors, gathered at the base of the subway staircase, her propped up against the lowest step, sitting in a newly formed pile of blood. The Btrain pulls up to the station and I remain frozen, wondering if I should stay behind with the group. Instead, almost instinctively, I continue across the platform and head on to the new train. The doors close behind me, but I keep my eyes trained

on the woman until we’re surrounded by the darkness of the underground.

The sound of the woman’s sobs echo through my mind as I walk back to my apartment. I wonder if I’ll be able to think about anything else that night. I get home and wash the blood off my shoes. The sinking feeling in my stomach slides away with the blood down the drain. I make dinner, laugh with my roommates over glasses of wine, whisper sweet nothings to my significant other on the phone, coo at a photo of a puppy, and fall asleep that night with ease. I wake up in the morning guilty, realizing that even though I wasn’t cruel to the woman, I wasn’t kind either. At the end of the day, I kept on with my life, forgetting that another life had ended during my commute. I was no better than any of the other passersby that night.

12

The Comma

MAY 4, 2017 THE OBSERVER

www.fordhamobserver.com

CHECK IN / CHECK OUT Check in at The McKittrick Hotel begins promptly at 7:00pm. The guest advisory email which they send to all guests attending “Sleep No More” has graced my inbox 15 times, so I know the drill. Being in the know, I always plan to be in line at the hotel at least half an hour before then, if not earlier. *** When I check into the McKittrick, I always visit to the Macduff suite. Despite its peculiarities—a room filled with headless baby dolls suspended from string, an erratic shrine to the Virgin Mary covering one wall of the living room—it’s downright homey compared to my dorm room. The children’s bedroom is just off of the living room, where the small bed is always perfectly made with a porcelain cat doll propped against the pillow. If I’m able to lose myself completely in the space, I can be found sitting on the bed, gently breathing in the peculiar, musty air, and petting the porcelain cat, never wanting to leave. *** “Once upon a time, there was a little boy. And he was the happiest little boy in the whole world.” The room is dark, and a woman in a red dress has me pinned against the wall as she whispers a dark fairy tale into my ear. “One day, he wandered deep into the forest, even though he knew he shouldn’t, and he never came back.” She grabs my shirt and slams me against the opposite wall. “He became lost and started to cry, choking on his own tears.” As her story and the boy’s life come to an end, I’m pushed through a trapdoor, into an apothecary lined with charmed objects.

This experience, which truly got me hooked on “Sleep No More,” happened with Hecate, the ruler of Macbeth’s three witches. My one-on-one encounter with her happened within minutes of entering the hotel for my second time during the second semester of my freshman year.

Like the little boy in her story, I felt hopelessly lost, unable to find help in the forest I’d gotten myself into. Being in the dark with her, just the two of us, wasn’t exactly comforting, but it was highly resonant. I’m still looking for that ring, trying to maneuver my way out of the forest. I playfully think that Hecate placed a spell on me. It’s fitting that my “Sleep No More” obsession began with a private encounter with the goddess of witchcraft. Regardless, the spell came when I needed it. *** “Sleep No More” is performed on a loop which repeats three times. A creature of habit, I

BY A LE X MERR I T T

loop certain characters more than others.

The Porter is a mashup of Shakespeare’s Porter and the charm and vulnerability of Anthony Perkins. A loner, his most touching moment comes as Glenn Miller’s “Moonlight Becomes You” plays in the lobby, and he presses himself against his reflection in the lobby mirror, gently swaying back and forth, his eyes closed. It’s a scene that, no matter how many times I’ve seen it, makes me misty-eyed. We’ve both fallen back on the solitary company of ourselves too often. At the end of the night, when it has all become a bit too much for him, he hides in the phone booth, his feet poking out from underneath the curtain pulled in front of him. He’s unable to get away from everything, and perhaps certain that the reality behind the curtain is better than the one in front of him. I’m likewise anxious by the end of the evening, sometimes sure that the reality behind the hotel’s doors is better than what awaits me on the other side. *** One of the scenes which I always make sure to see when I visit the McKittrick is Hecate’s lipsync to “Is That All There Is?” The pinnacle moment of the lip-sync is when she says, with bleary eyes and a lopsided grin, “I thought I’d die. But I didn’t. And when I didn’t, I said to myself, ‘Is that all there is?’”

When my friend asked me to respond to the hashtag #freshmanyearinfivewords, I created a truncated version of that verse. It continues to be an honest summation of my college experience, being helplessly unsure if I’ll make it through each day. The McKittrick has allowed me to feel comfortable with not having any answers or to always understand what I’m going through.

I thought I’d die. But I didn’t. *** Once I’ve passed through the doors of the hotel, into the dark corridor leading to the check in desk, I smile at whoever’s behind the counter that night and give them my last name.

“Alex?” they ask.

I respond affirmatively.

“Is this your first time staying with us?”

I laugh and say no.

“Welcome back! Enjoy your stay.”

Let’s break out the booze and have a ball. If that’s all there is.

MY ONL INE YARD L IS T ING

BY ABBY WHE AT Money is tight. I’m having a rough time maintaining my 7-day-a-week burrito schedule, a lifestyle I am accustomed to. Please consider purchasing one of these items. Prices are nonnegotiable.

BIRKENSTOCK SANDALS, SIZE 37, HEAVILY WORN - pair of sandals my grandparents gifted me for my 16th birthday, received nearly constant use for upwards of two years, bottom of the left sandal has watermelon-flavored gum permanently attached, suspicious black goo on the soles, peculiar stench that won’t go away - $54.82 SINGLE FAKE PEARL EARRING, NO PARTNER EARRING, LONELY - found this in my play jewelry box from my youth, the back of the earring is falling off, this thing is pretty much useless, not even a real pearl - $20.00 BOSE WIRELESS HEADPHONES, NEVER USED - these were a gift but I’ve never used them, people look stupid when they wear them, supposedly good sound quality but that doesn’t matter because I only listen to experimental grunge EDM, tried to give them to my mailman but he thought that was too weird - $5.00 HAWAIIAN SHIRT, MYSTERIOUS ORIGINS, SIZE MEN’S M - ugly short-sleeved button up shirt, yellow with surfing men and palm trees in recurring pattern, found in the trunk of my car in May of 2016, bloodstains on sleeves and collar, top two buttons have popped off in what appears to be an effort to fight off an attacker, could probably use a wash - $17.35

ALEXANDRA RICHARDSON/THE COMMA

A Former Brooklyn Dodger, taken in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, New York.

PAIR OF OLD NAVY BRAND EXERCISE LEGGINGS, SIZE XS - pants purchased for my brief track and field career in the winter of 2010, hole in the left knee from when I was unfairly slidetackled during a soccer scrimmage in 9th grade gym class, probably stretched to a size M after years of simultaneous use and weight gain - $27.37 DOLL THAT WATCHES ME AS I SLEEP, MISSING ONE EYE, POTENTIALLY POSSESSED BY A DEMON - please, take her - FREE COMPLETE VHS SET OF THE GILMORE GIRLS SERIES EXCEPT FOR SEASON THREE, USED CONDITION, FILLED WITH GOOD MEMORIES - couldn’t bear to part with season three (the best season), all other tapes are in good condition except for certain parts being taped over with the final scene from “Footloose,” but no important plot points are taped over I promise - $66.77 TRAVEL COFFEE MUG, CERAMIC WITH A BEAUTIFUL MERMAID PATTERN, HOLDS 10OZ OF LIQUID - this thing has been sitting in my car for over a week, there is still some coffee left in it, I am too afraid to open it and wash it out because it may be icky, potential mold - $11.23 Please contact me with any questions or inquiries.

DAMN DOG

BY SAM MI LLER The dog is starving, skinny to the point that his ribs are not only visible but prominent. His ears are too big for his head, which in turn is too big for his body. The car’s headlights are reflected in his eyes, and he is unaware of the brush with death he’s just survived. Around him, drivers blare their horns, barely avoiding accidents as they all skid to a stop to accommodate the woman who couldn’t keep her foot on the gas when she saw the mongrel in the street.

The dog doesn’t move.

The car doesn’t move either, traffic piling up behind it. In the driver’s seat, my mother twists to look at my father sitting next to her. “What do I do? He won’t move.”

My father doesn’t answer, but undoes his seatbelt, opens the door, and walks into the street.

The dog’s tail begins wagging, and by the time my father reaches him, his whole body is shaking in excitement. There’s a collar on his neck, but, as we will later discover, no tags with information about his previous owners. My father takes him by the collar and guides him back towards the car, then picks him up and sits with the fifty pound pooch half on his lap, half on the car’s floor.

My mother’s mouth hangs open, and she glances between my father and the dog several times, before my father tells her, “You can keep going.”

In the backseat, I can’t contain my squeal of excitement. “We’re getting a dog!”

Mom spins around, nearly jerking the car off the road in her haste. “We are not keeping him!”

We keep him.

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INTELLIGENT, AND PROBABLY NEUROTIC

THE OBSERVER MAY 4, 2017

The Comma

13

ALEXANDRA RICHARDSON/THE COMMA

Window Box Flowers, taken in DUMBO, Brooklyn, New York.

BY A SHLEY R I VER A When I go to school, I leave behind a toddler. A toddler who yells at the top of her lungs when she doesn’t get her way. I leave behind the you don’t understand me’s, the I hate it here’s, the temper tantrums, and the fits. I leave behind the irrational 2-year-old trapped inside a woman’s body. She’s irritable, selfish, and sometimes plain mean. She’s frustrating and will make anyone who’s unfortunate enough to cross her path want to pull their hair out; like a printer that runs out of ink five minutes before an essay is due. She believes every word that comes out of her mouth; she’s never wrong. She’ll slam her brown wooden bedroom door, collapse onto her bed, and cry until her eyes are red and puffy. Her throat becomes itchy; her voice squeaks as she utters they don’t care about me to herself, over and over, just because she was scolded for coming home late.

At home, she is alone.

At home, she feels free to be a whiny toddler because she’s mastered her title: daughter.

Outside, she wants to build her own castle, and master her life on her own. She’s her own princess; she’s the only one who’s allowed to control her.

THE WARS OF THE 21ST CENTURY

BY GR ACE THOMPSON Imagine showering in blood letting the warmth wash over your face run down your back soak into your hair Would the stench ever fade?

As she walks out the door on her way to school, she trades in her Regina George-esque persona for one that aspires to be like Athena. She is reasonable, intelligent, and graceful. She is open to intellectual discussion, and even disagreement. She understands that others’ beliefs and opinions are worth consideration. She’s been hurt, stabbed in the back, taken for granted, and abandoned at school many times before, but instead of crying like a toddler, she reasons through all of her experiences and uses them to help her grow as a person. She tries to hide all of her anxieties, obsessive worries, and fears behind a large wall that she constructed with all of the red bricks, born from dishonesty and insincerity, that have been thrown at her; she often suffers in silence, because at school, she doesn’t want to be alone.

For now, she’ll settle for Monica Geller: intelligent, and probably neurotic, until life inevitably throws her a curveball again, forcing her to learn how to hit anything that comes her way out of the ballpark, because in the words of Taylor Swift, life is just a classroom.

Imagine drinking blood when the scorched earth dries up when its veins have run dry Imagine bleeding into that parched earth slicing open your arms draining your life into the ground to feed your own thirsty food.

When the water runs out, we will draw blood instead.

Imagine that blood that you bled being bottled up, shipped off, taken.

Stinking up some supermarket.

Why does the stench fade?

In the hardcopy version of this issue, the text for Alex Merritt’s “Check In/Check Out” was featured twice. The second printing of the text was mistakenly attributed to Ashley Rivera, and her selected piece was omitted.

Above is the correct text for “Intelligent, and Probably Neurotic,” Ashley’s piece that was originally intended for publication.

Our sincerest apologies for the error.

- Erika Ortiz & Elodie Huston, Editor-in-Chief & Executive Editor of The Comma

*“If the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water.”

-Ismail Serageldin

14

The Comma

MAY 4, 2017 THE OBSERVER

www.fordhamobserver.com

A SAT IRE

WHY YOU SHOULD DATE A GIRL WITH AN EATING DISORDER

BY CAT REYNOLDS The perfect woman—a theme through history Does the perfect woman exist? It’s no longer a mystery!

A girl with an eating disorder is the girl for you!

Here’s some reasons why it must be true— Single friend, never again will you see a day Where for an extravagant dinner you’ll have to pay She’ll order a small dish, if anything at all Take a bite, and ask you to finish it off The easiest way, to keep her from getting fat, Just suggest, “Are you really going to finish that?”

She’ll rub your back with her perfectly manicured nails That she keeps in pristine condition as to not scratch her throat when she wails She’s also designed to be perfect protection With collarbones that cut like her razor, you can use her as a weapon You know what they say—crazy girls are better in bed!

And what’s crazier than a girl who keeps herself unfed?

Better yet, starving girls can’t menstruate Which means you can make love no matter the date Derived from her insecurity, her eagerness to please Can help you overcome her crippling fear of intimacy Feed her the knowledge, but nothing excess That the best way to burn calories is by having sex!

Before you know it, going down Will be her new favorite work out.

Tastefully insecure, you can craft her as you please, Take her and shape her, make her into art for the by the world to be seen Tell her to put her feminism up on the shelf That some lipstick and lace will help her feel better about herself More than ideals and confidence ever can Because being smart and individual is no way to attract a man Because witty rarely includes pretty And books seldom come with looks You were told never to judge a book by its cover, But when her pages are crisp, it will be easier to love her You can flip through her pages, admire the arch in her back But don’t read her words or listen to her, oh no, none of that.

Her neurotic obsession with her weight Will fluently and beautifully translate, Into her appearance, and she’ll be Constantly thin, with tremendous upkeep Never mind that her hair will come out in tufts in your fingers That her skin will yellow, and that when you kiss her The stench will be enough to knock you down, The smell of body eating itself inside out You won’t have to struggle to comfort her or relate, Because she won’t have any problems on her plate.

She’ll seem lighter, each time you hold her in your arms She’ll never ask to hold your hand, embarrassed by her sweaty palms Her bones will break, her body will shake, She’ll purge the cake, use her nails as a rake She’ll be an artist, a painter, a perfect Monet She’ll paint on her smile, who cares if it’s fake?

No, not you, because, no—there’s no need.

As long as you remember to never feed The girl who is crumbling with your every touch The girl who has no concept of love It’s true, she’ll never get too attached Because she can’t love you, no, not like that Not with her heart, that fails with each breath That’s slowing, and slowing, until her death When she’s out of lipstick, she’ll use the blood from her wrists And when she’s out of luck, she’ll hide Prozac and Paxil in her fists Because the best part is—no commitment involved!

Don’t want forever? Consider your problem solved Because, truth be told, when it’s all done and said— You don’t have to break up with a girl who’s dead.

ALEXANDRA RICHARDSON/THE COMMA

Windows Inside Out, taken in DUMBO, Brooklyn, New York

KINGS IN THE SNOW

BY BENNY REGA LBUTO A gentle wind wove its way through stands of crops, passing as if it were silk slipping through a lady’s smooth, delicate fingers. As this wind wound its way in the maze of stalks, so too did a lady – although, she was not the kind of lady with hands smooth or delicate enough to allow silk to filter between them. Indeed, she was not the kind of lady to own silk, for she could not afford it, and even if she could, she would have no use for it. She was not even the kind of lady to call herself a lady; she had met ladies, knew she was not one of them, and had no desire to be.

Her name was Plea, and she was looking for her husband, Nathan. Or, rather, she was going to him.

It was a ritual she practiced every night – had practiced every night since the day they wed. She would find him sitting on the cliffside at the edge of their property (called Cliffside, unsurprisingly), his feet dangling over the precipice in their shoddy shoes, which were coming apart at the seams but otherwise no worse for wear. He would hear her approach; his ears would perk up, his shoulders would lift, an invisible but unmistakable aura of love would coil around him – yet he would not turn. Plea would admire the scene for a moment, and then hunker down beside her love, their gazes trained forward as the eternal lovers – the sun and the horizon – shared their long, passionate kiss, which would of course inspire Plea and Nathan to share one of their own to celebrate a hard day’s work. Not a word would be shared until they returned to their little cottage on the other end of Cliffside, not a quarter of a mile away, and even then, they might decide to let silence continue to say everything.

But not that night.

That night, the sacred ritual of Cliffside’s residents was interrupted. That night, as Plea made her way past the last few stalks of tomato, she heard the sound of hooves and clanking armaments. That night, they had company.

She saw from between two stalks that Nathan was not anxiously awaiting her arrival – or he was, but he had no time to enjoy it as the ritual prescribed. He was being surrounded.

Those who surrounded him did not do so menacingly, but their authority pervaded the air as much as it was evident in their garments. They were

the king’s men, no doubt, donning the colors and bearing the standards of the immortal kingdom of Lyneria. The time it had been since they had last been to a property as small and unimportant as Cliffside had been… immeasurable.

Nathan glared at his wife – Stay hidden, turtledove – and Plea glared right back – Not if my life depended on it – which it might. She came forward, beating the surrounding party to their destination, and wrapped a protective arm around Nathan. He did the same, but the other arm moved comfortably towards that which his buckskin sheath concealed: the Gringham family dagger, an old but well kept tool.

The equestrians called for a halt to the beasts they rode, all of which complied with the loyalty of sheepdogs. One man dismounted, taller and more snobbish-looking than the rest. The clank, clank, clank of his glistening armored boots (polished to appear as if he had never stepped in a muddy puddle in his entire life) on the granite echoed and tumbled down the rocks to the lush forest below.

Nathan gripped his wife tighter as the man strolled closer, but he passed without paying them any mind. He planted himself at the cliff’s edge – the spot normally reserved for Nathan and Plea’s nightly ritual – tracking the sun’s slow descent. The light beyond him made him appear a silhouette, a knight’s shadow standing upright.

For moments on end, the man retained this position, and for moments on end, Nathan and Plea waited for him or one of his men to do something.

It was not that they were afraid, but unwilling to make the first move. These men had encroached upon their property; it was clear who was in charge.

Finally, as the sun and the horizon made celestial love like always, the man rotated his head ever so slightly towards the couple, the purple plume atop his silvery helmet bobbing as he did, expectant. When he got nothing, he completed the rotation, proudly displaying Lyneria’s emblem, a great hawk, emblazoned on the surcoat draped over his armor.

“So?” he asked in an accent that unmistakably marked him as a man of the capital city of Eames, high and proper sounding, but not pretentious.

“Are you going to invite me in or what?”

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THE OBSERVER MAY 4, 2017

The Comma

15

DOOR BY MAT THEW APA DUL A The door to my old house

HE’S NEVER BEEN TOLD NO

BY CAT REYNOLDS

When the word slipped my lips As he slipped his hands down my hips, He did not understand.

I never said yes.

the evaporated dew of the summer morning. I spent years sliding my key into the lock and

Since the first “no” slipped my lips Desires have been overwhelming eclipsed, I do not understand.

listening to the tumblers snap their little doo wop as I trudged over my threshold, but

I never said yes.

He’s never been told no.

A single word to rescind an emotional blockade That feels like an assaulting tirade, I do not understand.

I never said yes.

He’s never been told no.

A theoretical concept that is taught, But never practiced is all for naught, And he did not understand.

How can I trust that what has been taught, But never practiced will not be all for naught, I do not understand.

I never said yes.

He’s never been told no,

Yet he read my body demoralized, Already preparing for my virginity to eulogize, I do not understand.

Yet I have been religiously advised, To never go out in hemlines above my thighs, Because he will not understand.

He’s never been told no, Though I wonder if he ever imagines a replay, When I crossed the line between his lover and his prey, How could he understand?

cloudy with fingerprints and when we moved out

He’s never been told no.

A single word erected a language barricade, An erection unfazed by a prudish palisade, He did not understand.

when we moved out was still white, but had chipped and warped with the years. The gold paint on the handle was

I never said yes.

I accepted there was nothing to this predator that I could say, So instead I turned my pleads to God to pray, Why did He not understand?

when we moved out I didn’t give a second thought to the fact that I would never use this door again. Now years have passed since that summer when we moved out and I am furious at myself for not spending hours sitting on my lawn, staring at my door like a kid at a fireworks show and I dimly remember, through the haze of myself I built out of letter blocks and books and spoken truths I forgot the next day the hard feel of the wood under my palm, the whorls and spirals etched in the wood like a fingerprint I’d feel when I came home, barely registering on winter days when the key would stick with cold pressing into my hand when 3 AM curved my shoulders into a drunken hunch flinching from my index when I knew my last fall in this house had already passed I wish more than anything when we moved out that I had touched the door one last time, just to remind myself this was real, at some point.

I don’t like our new door. It’s too smooth, like frozen frowning marble. It seems to laugh as I

TWO SECONDS

BY K AMI LL AH BR ANDE S

touch it, like it tricked me.

The door to the first place I lived on my own was sanded, functional. It didn’t have time for my sentiment. I was next on the assembly line.

I understand now why you only hug me for two seconds Two seconds is not long enough to squeeze my love into you But long enough for me to show you that that was what I was trying to do.

I stopped reaching for doors a while ago.

My fingers are playing across the hillocks on your leg, the ones you keep asking me if I think

Goddammit the elevator doors are closing “Shit, I have to go!”

“NOPE!” And he swings his leg into the space where the doors will close.

they’re ugly and there is not enough time in the universe for me to say no to that. You’re warm

“Oh, I’m going to miss you!”

where my old door was cold, and there is nothing on the other side to dread or be disappointed

And then the tears.

I hugged him for too long

by.

They’re too tall I can’t get out They probably looked like weeping willows The last thing they saw of me was a packing label for a face surrounded by a halo of hair I/You really fucked that one up I/You realize why you like that scene so much The one where he covers her eyes I/You like to think that she always knew that it would end I/You like to believe that in the dark She saw the future hurt And that it mixed together with the present happiness Until it was so tainted She knew it could not last That is why you/I cry all the way back to your/my room Future hurt and present happiness It all fades One Two

More trees and green than I’ve seen in years hurtles past us as you drive.

You’re focusing on the road, but when I move my hand away, you forget your post and jeopardize both our lives just to guide my hand back to you.

I trace familiar whorls, striations, gives and rises under my fingertips. It is not this way to replace something else, it is this way because something was made here, something was raised.

I watch the side of your face glow in the lazing sun, and your mouth ribbons up as you catch me doing it.

The funny thing is, ten years with that door, it never ribboned up the way you do.

THE END Editor-in-Chief Erika Ortiz Executive Editor Elodie Huston

Social Media Editors Annamarie Nistico Alexandra Richardson

Nonfiction Editors Adriana Balsamo-Gallina Ashley Rivera Grace Thompson

Layout Editors Adriana Balsamo-Gallina Elodie Huston Abby Wheat

Fiction Editors Kamillah Brandes Benny Regalbuto

Contributors Matthew Apadula Tatiana Gallardo Heath Hampton Stephen Kipp Sam Miller Sabrina Polkowski Elle Rose

Poetry Editors Megan Crane Cat Reynolds Humor Editors Alex Merritt Abby Wheat Stages & Screens Editors Kamillah Brandes Alex Merritt Arts Editors Annamarie Nistico Cat Reynolds Alexandra Richardson

Faculty Advisor Prof. Elizabeth Stone

COVER PHOTOS BY: K YR A CONROY DESIGNED BY: A DR I ANA BA L SAMO - GA LL INA

Arts & Culture

Arts & Culture Editors Maryanna Antoldi - mantoldi@fordham.edu Sam DeAssis - sdeassis@fordham.edu

May 4, 2017 THE OBSERVER

MARYANNA ANTOLDI/THE OBSERVER The high-tech exhibit at the Tribeca Film Festival allowed festival-goers to experience realities which they could usually only imagine.

Virtual Reality Dominates at Tribeca Film Festival

By MARYANNA ANTOLDI Arts & Culture Editor

While many may associate the annual Tribeca Film Festival with its incredible selection of movies, the two-week long event has also become notable for its appreciation of technological advancements in storytelling—particularly through virtual reality (VR). For the past few years, the festival has hosted a Virtual Arcade featuring groundbreaking developments in storytelling that make the impossible a reality. This year’s display did not disappoint, showing moving stories in the most interesting ways.

The Virtual Arcade was held in the Festival Hub on the 5th floor, a narrow room covered side to side with a plethora of curtained-off partitions showcasing the latest in interactive storytelling. Each activity utilized state-of-the-art technology such as Oculus headsets, subwoofer backpacks and sound-inhibiting headphones to create as immersive of an experience as possible.

From animated tales in dystopian settings to real-life explorations of the world we live in, the experiences in the arcade varied drastically, transporting viewers to worlds never thought possible. One of the notable highlights included “Tree,” an experience where you can see and feel what it is like to become, well, a tree!

Your arms are the branches, your body is the trunk and you are able to watch yourself grow from the tiniest of seedlings into a magnificent being in the rainforest.

The experience molds technology with physical effects—before even putting on the headset and subwoofer backpack, you are required to plant a seed in the soil to symbolize your avatar’s growth. Real fans blow in your face as your virtual tree grows, and the floor shakes as suddenly chainsaws buzz and you fall dramatically from your roots—a victim of deforestation. “Tree” was created by VR experts Milicia Zec and Winslow Porter, who are working hand-inhand with The Rainforest Alliance to spread word about the importance of preserving forestland. When you put on your headset and look around at how magnificent life is as a tree, it is much easier to connect with them on an emotional level and appreciate their role in the world.

Another incredible experience ile, white benches match the walls Yorker’s representation in the experiwith nature was “Under a Cracked and floor, the only different color ence would bring light to their story Sky.” Sponsored by the New York being the metallic gray of the poles in the best way possible.

Times, this cinematic encounter and bars. However, with the Oculus However, “Blackout” is also a takes place in the heart of the Arctic headset on, this model car suddenly unique experience in that it changes sea, where a group of expert divers becomes a platform where average every day. The people you see in one take you below eight inches of ice New Yorkers all meet to tell their experience will not be the same in with them on their explorations. This own life stories to audiences. the next. Throughout the festival, experience allows you to view the Created by the founding team at the Scatter Studio team will be interocean in its true form—a beautiful, Scatter Studios consisting of Alexan- viewing and scanning New Yorkers entrancing world that we often forget der Porter (Director), Yasmin Elayat into the project in real time. exists. The Arctic holds the clearest (Co-Director), James George (Tech“The main idea of this episode is water on Earth, where seals roam nical Director) and Mei-Ling Wong that we are making it here in Tribeca. freely and ice caves linger in the dis- (Producer), “Blackout” introduces We are capturing new people and tance. There are certain worlds that virtual reality technology as a tool to adding them to the train, so what one would never think possible to bring audiences closer to home rath- you see is a work in progress, adding visit, and this magnificent experi- er than to another dimension. The people in throughout the festival,” ence allows you to see the ocean for experience utilizes Scatter Studio’s explained Elayat. “And the main idea the splendid body it is and the mys- own DepthKit technology, which is is that every person’s experience is teries it holds in its depths. a volumetric tool that allows you to different.”

Typically, one would associate physically walk around the space and In a city as diverse as New York, virtual reality with a video game thus interact with each New Yorker the subway is the common meetor movie. However, “Hallelujah,” a on an intimate level. ing point for people of all walks of project honoring the late Leonard Speaking of which, the New life to sit together. And in a world Cohen, welcomed viewers to a pow- Yorkers featured in “Blackout” are where the political climate is becomerful experience ing increasingly through song. threatening, it Placing the Ocis important to The reason we call this project a documentary ulus headset on, look into the you come face to minds of those is that [the New Yorkers] are not actors, they are face with Bobby who feel the people we spent two to three hours interviewing.

Halvorson, a most oppressed Los Angelesin order to spark – ALEXANDER PORTER, Director of “Blackout” a conversation based composer and vocalist, and encourage a who performs change. “Blacka moving acaout” is the type pella rendition of VR experiof Cohen’s most ence that the famous song. world needs—a The experience way to look into is notable for its usage of light—as as real as they get. The creative team the eyes of another and hear their the headset moves, the light around managed to find a hodgepodge of story for what it is in its rawest form.

Halvorson moves as well, making it people of different ethnicities, races It is an ode to the average person, a seem like you are able to observe him and genders all willing to share their way for the ones who feel oppressed in real time. The result of such realis- stories with the world. When plac- or victimized to speak. Each day tic qualities is a breathtakingly mov- ing your headset on, you see them welcomes new voices and encouring experience, one that will leave either sitting or standing in the car, ages more people to stop and simply even the slightest of fans of the song and the longer you approach one, listen. in awe. the more of their story you will hear.

Where “Blackout” thrives in the However, the real stars of the From a native Syrian worrying about present, “The Last Goodbye” takes a Virtual Arcade were the different her family’s turmoil in the nation to look into the past. Created by Gabo Storyscape selections, two stand- an African-American man discuss- Arora and Ari Palitz of Here Be outs being “Blackout” and “The Last ing the gentrification of Harlem, the Dragons, the experience follows HoGoodbye.” subway car merges tales of political, locaust survivor Pinchas Gutter as he “Blackout” is a completely im- social and ethnic identity in an ever- toured the Majdanek Concentration mersive documentary experience changing and tumultuous world.

Camp in July 2016 to cope with the that takes viewers into a replication “The reason we call this project a loss of his family. The documentaryof a NYC Subway train, where they documentary is that [the New York- style piece entails the viewer visiting are able to hear from a group of New ers] are not actors, they are people the camp with Gutter and exploring Yorkers about their daily lives and we spent two to three hours inter- it in ways never seen before, all while struggles. From first glance, all one viewing,” explained Porter in an in- listening to his heart-wrenching stomay see in the installation is a clean terview. More than anything, Por- ry of perseverance and loss. representation of a subway car—ster- ter wanted to be sure that each New It is one thing to read about the

“

”

Holocaust in a textbook, but to be virtually transported to a concentration camp along with a Holocaust survivor produced emotions I never thought could be obtained while wearing a headset. Gutter’s story was remarkable, and to see him return to the camp that brought him and his family so much torment was powerful in and of itself. However, it was the emotion that he expressed throughout the experience that made it so captivating. It was as if he were conversing directly to me—I could see the pain in his eyes as he stood in the same rooms that gave him so many terrible memories, and at times it was his bravery that prompted me to keep my headset on.

His emotions were raw and real, and his messages of peace and harmony should be heard during this unstable time.

Because of the sensitivity of the material, the VR installation was in itself another work of art. Designed by award-winning scenic and production designer David Korins, the installation is a metallic cylinder, its entrance facing the back to mentally prepare viewers for their one-on-one meeting with Gutter. The interior of the cylinder is a soft white box, a soothing area to smooth the transition in and out of reality. However, one of the most interesting and solemn parts of the installation is that, in order to enter, one must remove his shoes just as so many Jews were forced to decades ago. From beginning to end, “The Last Goodbye” was a captivating experience—a permanent record of the Holocaust preserved forever for future generations to embrace.

Overall, Tribeca’s Virtual Arcade was a hodgepodge of different stories, but each experience possessed a common theme of unity. Viewers were connected to different parts of the world never thought possible in order to witness firsthand the tales of people persevering. From a tree standing tall in the rainforest to the haunting lyrics of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” the arcade expressed that we must be willing to connect with nature itself and those who live in it to really create a world worth living in. Virtual Reality is the newest form of storytelling, and Tribeca’s selections all conveyed their tales in a captivatingly realistic way worthy of a standing ovation.

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER MAY 4, 2017

Arts & Culture

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Fordham Celebrates Heritage with Shakespeare

By COURTNEY BROGLE Staff Writer On Saturday, April 22, the Fordham Lincoln Center Theatre Program closed its final presentation of William Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale.” Under the direction of George Drance, SJ, the Theatre Program ended its season celebrating the Dodransbicentennial of the University.

“The Winter’s Tale” follows Leontes, King of Sicilia, who is driven to madness upon seeing his wife interact with his friend, the king of Bohemia. He is convinced of her infidelity despite her late-term pregnancy with his child. What ensues is jealousy, power-mongering and tragedy, which ultimately brings about repentance, joy and forgiveness.

What makes the Theatre Program’s production so unique is that it is set at the time of Fordham’s founding, with the two Italian kingdoms now set in New York City and Long Island. The show, which ran from April 5-7 and April 20-22, concluded Fordham’s season of shows celebrating its monumental anniversary.

Drance is an artist-in-residence teacher within the Theatre Department who specializes in clown and improvisation, acting and collaboration. Inspired by the 175th anniversary of Fordham’s founding, he took the creative initiative on this latest project and set Shakespeare’s “problem play” comedy in 1842 to honor the university-wide celebration.

“The world of Shakespeare’s ‘Winter’s Tale’ is one where age-old troubles echo throughout history,” Drance writes in the playbill. He realized through rigorous research the concordance between the themes in this play and the principles upon which the university was founded: “goodness, reconciliation and new life.” Drance made it his goal to “celebrate the tradition of theatre, to tell

JILLIAN JAYMES/THE OBSERVER Originally set in Italy, Fordham’s production of “The Winter’s Tale” takes place in 1840s New York.

really important stories in every age” as well as impart on the audience “a sense of power of faith and forgiveness.”

Lighting designer and theatre professor Shaun Suchan agreed. “I hope that the audience is able to walk away with a positive outlook, whether that be about Fordham specifically or maybe something more personal to them. It’s important to remember that we all can face adversity, sometimes from our own doing, sometimes not, and that there is always a path out,” Suchan said.

Ashley Everhart, Fordham Col-

lege at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’20 and Theatre Performance major, was featured as a Clown and Ensemble member in this performance. “I had an amazing experience,” she said. “I want people to remember the power of extreme, unbridled joy, even in the face of hardship.”

Suchan noted that the collaborative effort behind the production “is the foundation of what we teach in the theatre program” and that “this production was meant to be a celebration of not only the founding of Fordham, but who we are today.”

The behind-the-scenes effort “added

an extra level of excitement,” according to Suchan. For instance, in order to bring the director’s vision to life, Suchan’s goal as the lighting designer was “to create an environment that parallels the destruction and fragmentation of Leontes’s life,” and as the play goes on, he added, “lighting [that] brings clarity and warmth.”

Indeed, the collaboration within each aspect of design beautifully created a minimalist set with fantastic costumes and an ambiance that captured the feel of a memory. Just as Drance made note of the overarch-

ing themes of “goodness, reconciliation, and new life,” the play was an excellent portrayal of the principles the university was founded on and continues to uphold.

As for next year, Drance said, “I hope to continue to share with Fordham Theatre students the reverence that the Jesuits have always had for ‘ministries of the Word.’” Suchan stated, “Next year’s season is currently in discussion with both students and faculty, and because we have such an open selection process, the productions are often not finalized by this point.”

The Curtain Closes for This Year’s B.F.A. Students

By LINDSAY JORGENSEN Asst. Arts & Culture Editor

On April 27, the seniors of the Fordham/Ailey B.F.A. Dance Program had their final performance as college students. While the Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) community is sad to see them go, the senior dancers make their exit having grown as individuals and as a class.

“We have a great rapport both onstage and off, which is unusual I think, considering how different we all are as dancers,” Kathleen Dahlhoff, FCLC ’17, said. “I think that our choreographers have really enjoyed working with our group because of this.”

The seniors performed pieces choreographed by Stefanie Batten Bland, Carolyn Dorfman, Jae Man Joo and Christopher Huggins at the senior concert. All four choreographers currently have or have had professional dance careers and have choreographed for professional companies. Batten Bland and Dorfman currently run their own companies, Company SBB and Carolyn Dorfman Dance respectively, and Jae Man Joo and Christopher Huggins have choreographed for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Ailey II. “I really enjoyed working with each choreographer, and each gave me a new perspective; a new way to look at movement and grow as an artist,” Julia Horner, FCLC ’17, said.

The rehearsal process with Stephanie Batten Bland impacted Horner the most. “She really allowed us the time to explore the movement and find ourselves within it,” Horner said. “She showed us how to be natural with movement, and

KATARINA MARCHAUSEN/THE OBSERVER The Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. seniors end their four years with a variety of professionally choreographed pieces.

figure out its initiation points rather than making things dramatic, over the top or too physical.”

In addition to running her own company, Batten Bland teaches modern partnering and improvisation classes during the year at the Ailey School. In the piece she choreographed for the seniors, she taught the female students the importance of dancing with other women. “[Learning to dance with other

women] is a really important lesson to learn as female dancers in maledominated spaces,” Horner said. “[Batten Bland] taught us how to partner other women with strength and support, rather than it being surface level or unnatural. She helped me to find what was human about my movement qualities.”

An ongoing issue in the dance world is lack of female choreographers. It is refreshing to have one

of the few choreographing for the dancers at Fordham. “It is also so important to see other women in leadership positions,” Horner said.

“It gives you someone to aspire to, and to support you.”

Aside from learning valuable lessons from choreographers, the seniors were also simply excited to put on an entire show featuring their class as a whole. “I would say a general favorite memory of mine

was just getting to work closely with my classmates,” Dahlhoff said. “A lot of the pieces are group pieces, so we really have bonded as a class, especially since there are so few of us left now.”

During junior year, B.F.A. students have permission to audition for professional dance work so that they have the opportunity to dance professionally during their senior year of college. Some of the class of 2017 spent their senior year performing with Ailey II or the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. Unfortunately, these students were unable to participate in the Senior Concert on Thursday, but did perform professionally-choreographed solos for the Senior Solo Concert on April 25.

For those who are not familiar with the Fordham/Ailey B.F.A. Dance Program, it is a selective program for dancers who wish to continue rigorous dance training while simultaneously pursuing a liberal arts education. During their four years at FCLC, dancers train at the esteemed Ailey School. These students graduate with a B.F.A. in Dance, and many have the opportunity to double-major as well. As the program is extremely selective, the class sizes are relatively small — never exceeding 35 students per year. Many students are often offered professional work coming into their senior year and are therefore unable to participate in the endof-year Senior Concert. However, by the end of the four years, the seniors as a whole appear to be a wellpolished professional company in themselves.

Be sure to congratulate the senior class on their last performance and wish them luck on their future endeavors!

Features

Carson Thornton Gonzalez cthorntongonzalez@fordham.edu

May 4, 2017 THE OBSERVER

SENIORS OF FORDHAM

“My favorite memory from Fordham is definitley doing the Vagina Monologues my sophomore and junior years. It was so out of my comfort zone and it turned out to be an incredible experience that I was happy I pushed myself to do.” - Grace Rafferty

“My favorite moments at Fordham have all been because of the people. Whether it’s other students, faculty, or staff, my time at Fordham has what it is because of all of the great people I’ve met along the way.” - Marissa Folsom

“The majority of my time at Fordham was spent on the Fordham Observer.

When I look back at college, I am definitely going to remember the school paper. My favorite memory was probably the time where we finished production at 11 p.m. Production usually goes until 3 a.m. so we set a record. It was a really satisfying feeling.” - Adriana Balsamo-Gallina

“I think my favorite Fordham memory would be getting Lauren Duca, a freelance writer for Teen Vogue, on [the Rose Hill] campus. I brought her for the Communications Honors Society, so that was a very proud moment for me.”

- Natalie Zisa

“My favorite memory of Fordham would be planning and attending the RHA charity auctions the last four years. There’s so much work that goes into planning the event, but it’s amazing to see it all come together and raise thousands of dollars for worthy causes. Every year it gets better and better.” Katie Ott

“I’m definitely going to miss the F Sharps the most. Being a part of of the acapella group on campus here has been so incredibly rewarding, and getting to lead them has been even more so. Being a part of such a community that just loves to create music together has been so wonderful, and I think really indicative of the larger community at Fordham.” - Emma Copp

“I’d say my favorite memory at Fordham is fall training during my first year as an RA . It was a lot of sitting and listening, but the bonds I made with my fellow staff members will stay with me forever. I was totally new to both the residence halls and the Office of Residential Life, but they always made me feel like family. I don’t know who I’d be now if I’d never met them!”

- Napoleon Canete Jr.

“CAB and orientation have played such a large role in my Fordham experience and transformed it because as soon as I got heavily involved in orientation as a captain and with CAB on the e-board as Treasurer and now President, I got to meet a lot more people, interact with staff, and get involved with events. It made me feel more comfortable on campus and to participate as a leader, a student academically and just as a student attending other events, which has been fun.” - Katrina Bernhardt

“My biggest regret is only getting to use MultiFactor Authentication for six weeks.”

- Hunter Lang

“One of my favorite memories of Fordham was Midnight Breakfast sophomore year. I didn’t go at all freshman year, and I didn’t realize that there were as many people at Fordham Lincoln Center as there actually are until I saw them all at Midnight Breakfast in line for bacon.” - Christina Villar

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ASEAH KHAN, MORGAN STEWARD, COLIN SHEELEY, ERIN O’ FLYNN, BROOKE PARETT, ANGELIKA MENENDEZ DESIGN BY LOIK KHODARKOVSKY

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Features

May 4, 2017 THE OBSERVER

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Ailey Dancer Combines Her Love for Dance With Visual Arts

By ANGELIKA MENENDEZ Social Media Editor

Despite having a busy schedule because of the Ailey dance program, Sarah Takash, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’20, manages to make time to pursue a bachelor of arts in her second passion: photography. While working to become a dancer and join a company, Takash runs her own photography Instagram, @sarahtakashphotography, in the hopes of finding clients through social media. Because of her background and knowledge in dance, she mainly focuses on dance and performing arts photography.

“Photography shapes how I think now and orients my life,” Takash said. She first discovered her love for photography in the 8th grade when her class had no photos in the yearbook. She volunteered to take pictures and was lent a camera by her teacher. Once she began taking photos, she was hooked. She got her first digital camera for graduation that year, a Nikon 5100, which she still uses to this day. “Ever since then I look for pictures in everything. I’m always trying to compose things and figure out what I want to shoot,” she explained.

Takash had no idea she could pursue photography in her education journey. Once she began attending Communications High School, however, she started on the photography track and was guided by her teachers who encouraged her to continue in college. When applying to colleges, Takash looked for schools that would allow her to pursue both of her passions: photography and dance. This inspired her to attend Fordham University as an Ailey dancer and visual arts major with a concentration in photography. Despite the rigor of double majoring, her favorite part is that she is able to photograph dancers, thus tying both

her passions into one.

Takash knew that from the beginning it would be difficult to do both, so she began taking core classes the summer before her freshman year to prepare for the fall semester.

When the fall started, she began her Instagram account by taking photos of her fellow classmates in Ailey.

“My favorite part of my first photoshoot was showing the dancers I had photographed the pictures I had taken and seeing how excited they were,” Takash said.

Not only has Takash been behind the lens, but she has also modeled for several dance photographers, including the well-known Ballet Zaida. The first time she shot with them she reached out, but the second time, the company reached out to her. “It was a super fun experience as a dancer, but I was also able to get tips from him as a photographer which added to my ideas,” she noted.

Takash’s most recent photoshoot involved revealing the gritty side of dancers that isn’t seen as much in photography, mostly because dancers are posed in photos. She decided to focus on the transitional movements, rather than just the poses. “I was intrigued to take pictures you wouldn’t find when you Googled ‘ballerinas’ because it is a style that isn’t very explored and my only inspiration was what was in front of me in the moment,” she explained.

Takash’s favorite part about the visual arts program is that she can spend hours in the dark room developing her photos, while also being a part of Ailey, surrounded by dancers who have the same aspirations as she does. In the future, Takash said she hopes to get signed to a company and continue on with her photography as a side business. Since dance careers don’t last a lifetime, she hopes to have her photography to fall back on and continue to use as an outlet for her passions.

ERIN O’FLYNN/THE OBSERVER

Freshman Sarah Takash expresses her creativity through dance and her passion for photography.

Student Makes Strides at Model United Nations Conference

By KYLE J. KILKENNY Staff Writer

With the recent Presidential election and subsequent inauguration of a new administration in Washington, a great number of college studen ts have become more engaged in the political process. However, some Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) students have begun to look beyond the United States and have debated solutions for issues plaguing our world.

FCLC’s Model United Nations (MUN) team was formed in Spring 2015, and began meeting and competing during the Fall 2015 semester. Since then, Fordham students from New York and California to Spain and Israel have represented the University at six different conferences in cities across the U.S. Led by Club President Narae Kim, FCLC ’17, MUN has quickly become a fixture at Fordham’s Manhattan campus, and by all accounts has had quite the year.

As veteran of my high school’s MUN travel team, I have been fortunate enough to attend three of these conferences where students, simulating countries and committees found in the real United Nations, debate current events and issues plaguing the world. I’ve represented member-states such as Saudi Arabia, North Korea or Benin, debated universal contraceptives, amnesty in war-torn areas, and even cyber terrorism. I’ve also participated in what MUN-ers call “crisis committees,” set in fictional or historical periods and settings, such as my Macbeththemed committee at the University

of Pennsylvania’s November 2016 conference in Philadelphia.

Many other students continue to find success in Fordham’s Model UN program and beyond. FCLC MUN is currently celebrating a massive success for the club: the first award presented to a delegate of FCLC’s team.

The charismatic Olivia LaBarge, FCLC ’19, took home an Honorable Mention for her role as the Minister of Hydrological Services in New York University MUN’s “Futuristic Sudamericano” committee. Having served as the Club’s Secretary for the past three semesters, and as Fordham’s Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Youth Representative to the UN, LaBarge continues to be involved in and outside of the committee room. When asked what this unprecedented accomplishment meant to her, LaBarge replied, “It was really exciting! I’m humbled and honored to represent FCLC MUN in this way.”

LaBarge excitedly described the beginning days of the club just as she arrived to Fordham, and her role in making sure all students had the tools to build confidence and succeed. “As part of the E-Board, Gladys Bendahan [the Club Treasurer, FCLC ’19], Narae Kim, some veteran delegates and I have been working really hard to train our delegates in the skills that they will use in conference, as well as valuable life skills like public speaking, negotiating and creative problem solving.”

With an MUN club at both Fordham’s Lincoln Center and Rose Hill campuses, the Fordham University Impact Initiative’s partnership with UNDPI/NGO, and the newly-

JILLIAN JAYMES/THE OBSERVER

Olivia LaBarge, FCLC ’19, received an Honorable Mention at the Model United Nations Conference.

created Fordham University Model United Nations Conference for high school students, there are more opportunities than ever to learn about international politics and the issues facing the world today at the University. John Luke Venables, FCLC ’19, joined LaBarge and the FCLC MUN team at New York University Model United Nations Conference (NYUMUNC), where he represented the Count of Flanders, Republic

of France in a historical committee. “My experience at NYUMUNC completely reinforced my reason for joining the club,” Venables said.

He continued, “I wanted a community of passionate, globally aware students with whom I could debate global issues and solutions and that’s exactly what I found at MUN.” However, with Kim’s graduation later this month, LaBarge’s upcoming year abroad in France, and a

host of other opportunities to other current E-Board members, FCLC MUN will be led by a completely new group of officers for the coming academic year. A seasoned MUN vet and newly-elected Club President Marianne Alemayehu, FCLC ’19, is optimistic about the club’s future.

When asked what her goals are for Fall 2017, she replied, “I would say training the incoming MUNers and growing as a club in terms of members, speaking and debating skills, and being highly recognized not only by Fordham, but also in national conferences, which will hopefully lead to international conferences in the future!” With Alemayehu’s leadership and LaBarge and her departing team of officers’ guidance, delegates like Venables will have ample opportunities to get their debate on.

When asked what MUN means to them, both Venables and LaBarge had words of hope and encouragement. “These conferences give you the opportunity to work side by side with other students from around the country on complicated geopolitical issues. MUN creates individuals who excel at conflict resolution and compromise, two valuable traits in today’s political climate,” said Venables. LaBarge, now not only a leader in club meetings, but also a role model for future FCLC MUN delegates looking to make their voice heard in the committee rooms, concluded, “We set out to practice with real-world issues, so that the team is well-informed on global current events, and can debate the issues our world is facing today with wellthought out, respectful arguments.”

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THE OBSERVER May 4, 2017

Fordham Reacts to “13 Reasons Why”

By JENNA BATTAGLIA Asst. Features Editor

“13 Reasons Why” hit Netflix on March 31 and has since become a hot topic not just among Fordham students, but international audiences as well. “13 Reasons Why” tells the story of Hannah Baker (Katherine Langford), a girl who commits suicide and leaves behind a set of 13 cassette tapes through which she narrates the events leading up to her death. Each tape is assigned to a different character who has harmed Hannah in some way and is hence labeled as one of the “reasons why” she chose to end her life. One by one, the subjects must listen to Hannah’s tapes and then pass them onto the next subject or else a second set of tapes will be released, publicly exposing everyone involved in the tragedy. The series focuses on Clay Jensen (Dylan Minnette), who was in love with Hannah, and his experience listening to the tapes.

The creators of “13 Reasons Why” aimed to show teenagers and young adults that they are not alone in whatever they may be going through. “I saw the opportunity to explore issues of cyberbullying, sexual assault, depression and what it means to live in a country where women are devalued,” writer Nic Sheff stated in an open letter for Vanity Fair. “And, beyond all that, I recognized the potential for the show to bravely and unflinchingly explore the realities of suicide for teens and young adults.”

While the creators of the show may have had good intentions, there is debate over the outcome of “13 Reasons Why” and the impact it could have on impressionable audiences.

Several Fordham students expressed that they found certain plot

points of “13 Reasons Why” very problematic. “My whole issue with the show is that it blames Hannah’s mental health issues on other people in her life and all these kids she went to school with. It doesn’t talk about her actual struggle with mental illness and depression. It just blames it on people and I think that’s a very unhealthy idea of suicide,” Isabel Mallon, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’18, said.

“Clay is presented as a character who could have potentially acted as a savior to Hannah through his love of her and there’s a few issues with that. Mental illness cannot be cured just through somebody accepting you and somebody loving you. It’s much more complicated than that,” Tori Hey, FCLC ’19, said. “In addition, it plays into this culture that we’ve created in which men must take care of women and women must be dependent on men for their happiness.”

One of the most controversial moments of “13 Reasons Why” occurs in Episode 13 when Hannah’s suicide is shown graphically. This scene goes against the guidelines on reporting suicide created by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). The AFSP’s website clearly states, “Risk of additional suicides increases when the story explicitly describes the suicide method, uses dramatic/graphic headlines or images, and repeated/extensive coverage sensationalizes or glamorizes a death.”

Fordham staff expressed some concerns about the potential dangers of “13 Reasons Why” in reference to this particular scene. “I agree with and support the guidelines set forth by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. For people who

COURTESY OF NETFLIX

are already experiencing suicidal thoughts, being exposed to detailed and explicit depictions of suicide can lower their thresholds for acting out on those thoughts. These kinds of depictions can increase suicide risk for those who are already at risk and vulnerable,” Dr. Jeffrey Ng, director of Counseling and Psychological Services at FCLC, said.

“The research shows that teenagers—the viewers whom the series is aimed at—are inspired to commit

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“13 Reasons Why” has generated heated debate on campus since its release on March 31.

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suicide by knowledge of other suicides, real or fictional,” Dr. Elizabeth Stone, professor of English at FCLC, commented. “To me, as someone who has long written journalistically about mental health issues as well as about the arts, the series is troubling for a number of reasons. The most compelling is that it shows the suicide graphically, but it almost seems like an advertisement for suicide.”

Dr. Stone continued that it was not only the depiction of Hannah’s suicide that was problematic, but also the ways in which the events that occurred after her death were scripted.

She explained that “Moments after Hannah’s death, she gets her parents’ undivided attention, plus her postmortem plan assures that she will get everyone else’s attention as well and become a celebrity. In such a plot, attention is diverted from Hannah’s own depression, framing her suicide as an act of revenge for which others are responsible.”

Despite these issues, some students and alumni have had positive experiences with “13 Reasons Why.” “I’ve heard that people think it glamorizes or romanticizes her suicide or that the tapes were ‘revenge,’ but I think that the focus was supposed to be on the repercussions of other’s actions rather than trying to say suicide is a viable option, which it’s never, or Hannah was wrong for making the tapes,” Mariano Bulfamante, FCLC ’19, said “I hope that it will really open people to the idea that their words and actions towards someone really do make a difference in someone’s life and hopefully can go towards the positive.”

“I found the book very relatable because I went through about 70 percent of what happened to Hannah. I think she is portrayed in a way that she could be anyone. Because everything that happens to her is so small, I thought that it showed that it’s applicable to everyone,” Olivia Miranda, FCLC ’18, stated. “I can see how Hannah’s death is the perfect revenge, but I think the point of it is actually the opposite. Hannah never actually gets justice. Her death, yes it makes these people upset, but nothing is done about it. It shows that she never actually got true retribution from killing herself. Life goes on without her and that’s what we see. Suicide doesn’t lead to self justice, and it’s not justice that Hannah can see.”

“I liked that Hannah wasn’t a ‘perfect victim.’ The show challenges our level of empathy. Does a person have to be a perfect person in order to be worthy of empathy? After all, terrible things were done to her, and it did lead to her committing suicide. Overall, this show made me look at myself

before pointing the finger at the characters, because even though I may not have ever done what they did, I understand the emotions that led them to it because I have felt those things.”

Fordham alum Robert Moore, FCLC ’15, said.

“This doesn’t go for all of the characters, but most,” Moore continued.

“We know when things have been done to us, but we don’t think about the things we do to others as often.

Also, it’s a fine line of holding people accountable for their actions, but forgiving them for the things they could not have possibly known or had no control over. Having bad things done to you is not an excuse for the bad things you do to others. I learned a lot of valuable lessons from the show, but I think what you get from it depends on who you are.”

Regardless of the arguments it has stirred, “13 Reasons Why” has opened up a conversation about mental illness and how to address it in an appropriate way. “Mental illness is still highly stigmatized in our society, but at the same time, there is a move in the wrong direction by some younger people in our country, teenagers specifically, about almost romanticizing mental illness like ‘13 Reasons Why’ does. Mental illness almost becomes something that younger people are striving for because it’s ‘in’ and it’s ‘cool’ and it’s ‘different.’ I think it needs to be less stigmatized by society yet still be recognized as something that is not a positive experience,” Hey said.

Dr. Ng hopes that Hannah’s cautionary tale will not discourage students from seeking help on campus.

“There are so many on and off campus resources for students who are experiencing emotional or mental health concerns. Students have each other, family, faculty, student life staff, public safety, RAs and RDs, campus ministry and, of course, CPS. There’s also a National Suicide Prevention Hotline that’s available 24/7,” Dr. Ng said.“We recognize, however, that there’s sometimes still shame and stigma with acknowledging our struggles and vulnerability, particularly around suicide, and that’s something that I think is important for all of us to continue to address.”

“13 Reasons Why,” starring Fordham Theatre alums Michele Ang, FCLC ’16, and Tommy Dorfman, FCLC ’15, is available to stream on Netflix. For those who have seen the show and would like help discussing it, Dr. Ng has provided a list of “13 Reasons Why Talking Points” to help students interpret the show in a safe and beneficial way. The talking points can be found online at The Observer’s website.

Sports & Health

Sports & Health Editors Shobair Hussaini - mhussaini2@fordham.edu Alexander DiMisa - adimisa@fordham.edu Artemis Tsagaris - atsagaris@fordham.edu

Renovations Coming to the Rose Hill Gym

By ANDREW DONCHAK Staff Writer

Division I basketball’s oldest active facility, the historic Rose Hill Gym, will be undergoing longawaited renovations over the next two summers. The court itself will be renamed the “Frank McLaughlin Family Basketball Court” in honor of former student, athlete, coach and director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation Frank McLaughlin, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’69. The naming comes as the first segment of a fundraising effort aimed at collecting a total of $2.5 million from donors.

As of the beginning of April, the school had already accrued over $1.3 million towards this cause.

Current director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation David Roach explained that the

gym is not exactly being completely overhauled. The school intends to replace the lower-level seating and hardwood floor, as well as introduce a “hospitality suite” in the upper balcony.

Roach noted that “given the fact the gym is used for so many things, there is not enough time to do all we want in one stretch.” As a result, the school has opted to split the renovations across two separate summers.

The old bleachers will be taken out in early June of this year and should be replaced no later than Aug. 1.

The hospitality suite and the new hardwood floor will be added in the summer of 2018.

Roach also pointed out that the intensity of any renovations to the site have to be at least somewhat tempered, as the school is “working in a building that is 90-plus years old, something that’s not easy.”

That said, he expects the changes to make the game-viewing experience at Fordham “a more comfortable one,” which is the aim of increasing the number of chair backs on both sides of the court.

The effort also intends to contribute any surplus money raised above $2.5 million to helping the men’s and women’s basketball teams away from home, in the form of chartered flights to and from their games.

While many students and members of the Fordham community have recently spoken out against the school’s allocation of resources, there is little denying that the 92-year-old facility is overdue for a facelift. Sabrina Sabio, Gabelli School of Business Lincoln Center (GSBLC) ’18, mentioned that “since the donations are being made in the name of the gym, the school has

an obligation to fulfill the wishes of its donors.” Sabio also acknowledged that she’d “like to see a full reconstruction, as it would show recruits that they’re being thought of in a way that a new spectator hospitality suite doesn’t necessarily accomplish. That said, it’s altogether understandable that the money just isn’t there at this time.”

Anthony Piccinich, FCRH ’17, also expressed optimism for the renovations, stating that, “Investing in the basketball program could make more money for the school, which would be a good thing for everyone.” He also pointed at the age of the facility as a reason to embrace the changes. While he considered the implications of the ongoing protest for faculty healthcare, an alternative point was addressed.

This is the fact that the plan most likely predates the eruption of the

EMMA DIMARCO/THE OBSERVER

The Rose Hill Gym will undergo a multi-phase renovation process beginning this summer.

healthcare issue on campus and are not constructing an entirely new facility.

McLaughlin served as the Rams’s athletic director for 27 years, and in 2016 he was inducted into the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Hall of Fame.

The Rose Hill Gym has housed Fordham basketball every season since 1925, save for the span of time it spent as a barracks during World War II. The 3,200-seat gym opened on Jan. 16, 1925, in a game Fordham won against Boston College.

The Rose Hill Gym was also the site of Power Memorial High School, UCLA and NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s last high school game.

New Club Looks to Add Sports On Campus

By SHOBAIR HUSSAINI Sports & Health Editor

“If you want to be successful in life, there is no other alternative than waking up early, working hard and being energetic. All three conditions can be accomplished by engaging in physical activity.”

These are the words of Adam Aly, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’18. Aly is one of the cofounders of B.U.F.F.F., one of the newest undergraduate clubs at the Lincoln Center campus, and currently serves as the president of the student organization.

The club’s title is an acronym which stands for badminton, ultimate frisbee and flag football. The club’s mission is to provide students with an opportunity to relieve stress by taking part in physical activities.

While most clubs meet on Thursdays during the activity block, B.U.F.F.F. meets on Friday afternoons at DeWitt Clinton Park. For Aly, the idea of a new club began, “[When] we wanted to have a way for people to relieve their stress.

We think B.U.F.F.F. consists of easy sports that people can pick up and we can teach relatively quickly. It’s a way for us to socialize and for us to get to know each other.”

The stress relief is paired with an opportunity to network with other like-minded college students. As Chaudhary Harris, FCLC ’18, another co-founder of the club and

PHOTO COURTESY OF B.U.F.F.F.

B.U.F.F.F looks to add a new dimension to the presence of sports on the Lincoln Center campus.

current secretary put it, “Being at Lincoln Center, we have such extensive schedules, we certainly see that people may not socialize as much.

B.U.F.F.F. is an opportunity to be healthier, socialize more and establish new friendships.”

For Harris, the inspiration for such a club increased after reading a novel titled “Anna Karenina”

by Leo Tolstoy. He states, “there’s a character named Count Levin. He owns a lot of land and is an intel-

lectual. It’s rare for someone of his prestige and profession to go onto the field and perform labor with the agricultural workers.” He added, “My thinking is that we’re spending so much time studying in academia, but if we actually play sports and utilize our energy that way, that will refresh our mind and make us even more productive when studying.”

Both Aly and Harris understand the importance of having such a club at the Lincoln Center campus.

Sure, there are other health and fit-

ness clubs students can join. However, B.U.F.F.F. is the only current multi-sport team-oriented health and fitness club at this campus.

According to Aly, B.U.F.F.F allows students to “incorporate aerobic exercises into their regimen.” For Harris, the club is unique because “[we] play sports that encourage a lot of movement.” Certainly, meeting outside is one way of achieving this.

The decision to include specifically these three sports has some

underlying basis and logic. Badminton, ultimate frisbee and flag football are not only well-known, but are also some of the major sports showcased in either the Olympic games or in world tournaments.

Although sports are known for inciting competitiveness and rivalries, this isn’t a value shared by the club’s founders and its members.

The club, instead, provides an opportunity to develop a sense of community and engage its members in exercises which relieve stress.

Though a rather new club on campus, B.U.F.F.F.’s current eboard have bold visions with a new academic year ahead. Establishing an annual field day is in the works for the club. Similar to other annual events on campus such as Spring Fling or Club Day, the field day would provide students with a chance to compete and enjoy the numerous health, social and physical benefits of exercise. Another part of the club’s long-term plan is having weekly practices in an indoor location. This would allow the club to meet each week during the colder months of the semester.

Harris shares a similar mindset.

He said, “Coming to Fordham has helped me realize that regardless of the problems we encounter, we are the ones who have to deal with them. Therefore, we have to work on ourselves. B.U.F.F.F. is just one of the many ways to work on you.”

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER May 4, 2017

Sports & Heatlh

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Beating the Stigma of Depression

JILLIAN GALLAGHER/THE OBSERVER

There are many approaches to combating depression. The first step involves seeking professional help.

By JADE GRIFFIN Staff Writer

A common obstacle for those dealing with depression and mental health disorders is overcoming the stigma surrounding it, making the road to recovery more challenging. “I saw a therapist when I was a senior in high school, but after a few months of therapy, I noticed I couldn’t talk to my friends about

it without being treated like my mental health issues weren’t valid,” explains Katrina Saeed, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’20, with regards to her own experience battling the stigma surrounding mental health.

Mental health stigma stems from many aspects. A lot of it is cultural, as societies tend to marginalize people who are different or stray from the societal norms. With

already existing mental health insecurities, it becomes very difficult for people to face a further challenge of being accepted and understood by their peers. This can also lead to the more serious concerns of denying treatment.

Dr. Natasha Black, Licensed Psychologist at Fordham University Counseling & Psychological Services (CPS), offered her own interpretation for mental health stigma.

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“My guess is part of it has to do with the erroneous association with mental health problems as conveying some sort of weakness or ‘moral failing.’ When someone’s symptom presentation doesn’t directly signify a specific physical health problem, people can feel very uncomfortable with that. I think we find that there is a general fear of thinking you are somehow violating a cultural norm and it’s really hard to fight that.”

Stigma is especially prevalent among young adults in social environments, like high school or college. Developmentally, college is an age of individuation and can be an unsettling transition. Furthermore, students often find themselves trying to adhere to a certain perceived lifestyle in college, like having a friend group or certain social life, which can be very stressful and troubling.

In dealing with depression and the stigma surrounding it, Dr. Black offers some recommendations. “At a basic level, I think one of the most important things for people struggling with depression is to find support,” Dr. Black explained. Part of what makes depression difficult is that people don’t have sufficient support already or they experience difficulty in accessing the support that already exist. Dr. Black suggests, “such support can consist of friends, family and mental health professionals. But also engaging in activities can be helpful, like exercise or even going out to take a walk. I think it is important to bear in mind that it is not a sign of weakness, but rather a strength, to seek out the support that you need.”

Breathing practices have also proved incredibly useful in dealing with difficult emotions and situations, all possibly leading to mental health disorders. A negative outlook on life, and thus many angry or sad feelings, is often an effect of such disorders. “Breathing techniques, such as Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Three Minute Breathing Space, can be helpful in cultivating awareness of how you’re feeling,” notes Dr. Black. “When you’re aware of how you’re feeling in the moment, it allows you to let those feelings pass in a certain way. If you allow yourself to feel things as they are happening, you recognize that they are just feelings and also that they do pass.

This can be a very powerful way to deal with difficulties like depression

and anxiety.”

Breathing techniques prove incredibly useful, but also doing things that are relaxing can help with difficult emotions and feelings.

Relaxing endeavors depend on the person and can include a wide range of things like getting a massage or pedicure, journaling and aromatherapy. Nonetheless, it’s important to make time each day to perform something relaxing; the difference

“ I think it is impor-

tant to bear in mind that it is not a sign of weakness, rather a strength, to seek out the support that you need. ”

DR. NATASHA BLACK , Licensed Psychologist, Fordham Univer-

sity Counseling and Psychological Services

can be pleasantly surprising.

Finally, Dr. Black suggests for anyone struggling emotionally that, “It’s okay to reach out; that’s what CPS is here for. We encourage students to seek out the many supports offered, either on or off campus.”

More specifically, she suggests to students, “If you do know somebody who is struggling, it’s important to be of support to that person because it’s not easy when one is struggling with depression to actively find support on their own.”

Having people in your life who you love and can connect with is fundamental for any human being. Thus, having a stable support system is crucial when dealing with depression.

Katrina sought, and found useful, the resources offered by CPS. “After reaching out to CPS, I knew my struggles with mental health were not all in my head. I saw Dr. Zhuoying Zhu and she helped me understand that there were issues present that I needed to unpack and understand better.”

www.fordhamobserver.com

Sports & Health

THE OBSERVER May 4, 2017

Congratulations to the FCLC Class of 2017

August, 2013 – New Student Orientation

Four years go by so quickly!

May 20, 2017 – University Commencement We thank God for your presence with us, as you go forth into the future.

Fordham College at Lincoln Center Office of the Dean

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