Observer Issue 5

Observer the

I N C R O S S WO R D I D E

“The Comma” inside April 5, 2018 VOLUME XXXIV, ISSUE 5

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Photo Gallery: March For Our Lives New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

On Saturday, Mar. 24, thousands of protesters took to the streets in cities around the country to participate in the March For Our Lives, calling on lawmakers to enact common sense gun laws and sever ties with the gun lobby.

For more photos from the marches, visit www.fordhamobserver.com

NEWS

Trading Spaces

PHOTOS BY MORGAN STEWARD, REESE RAVNER AND IZZI DUPREY

OPINIONS

Presidential Race

Fordham’s London Centre moves its Meet the candidates running in campus to Clerkenwell.

USG’s upcoming election.

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PAGE 6

ARTS & CULTURE

FEATURES

SPORTS & HEALTH

Fordham sophomore makes his off-Broadway debut.

Saito presents Shakespeare’s Macbeth with an interesting twist.

Learn more about Fordham’s sports radio station.

Johnny Travers PAGE 16

Macbeth on Mainstage University’s Voice PAGE 17

THE STUDENT VOICE OF FORDHAM COLLEGE AT LINCOLN CENTER

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News

April 5, 2018 THE OBSERVER

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Three USG Candidates, Three USG Visions

By COLIN SHEELEY News Editor

Each as united in their goals as they are different in their strategies, three candidates have announced their bids for the United Student Government (USG) presidency.

The students, André Der-Artinian, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’20, Demetrios Stratis, FCLC ’19, and Samuel Blackwood, FCLC ’19, are all prominent members of the Fordham community, having held positions within USG and the other branches of student government which have individually colored their ideas and dreams of the presidential office.

As a matter of fact, USG only resides within one office: G30, a small square room pressed between the office for graduate interns and the office of the Commuter Student Association (CSA) in the garden level of 140 West building. There is a pair of red plaid boxers from the 2016 Undys award ceremony tacked to the wall, an old string of letters half pinned-up over a collection of Fordham T-shirts and a few chairs tucked in near two computer desks.

There is also a sword and shield– remnants from a King Arthur costume Stratis had worn for Halloween last year.

Swords in particular just so happened to be on Stratis’s mind as the campaign drew nearer. He was set on the story of Damocles. It goes like this: Damocles, a pandering courtier is offered the throne by his king who hangs a sword by a single hair above the man’s head. As time passes, Damocles becomes increasingly frightened by the possibility of the sword falling and begs the king to relinquish him of the power he believed was such a luxury. It’s a parable about duty, and Stratis is concerned with nothing if not duty.

“When you’re in a leadership position, there is an invisible sword that is always hanging over your head,” he said. “It’s a force of nature, and you have to regard your position of power with a lot of responsibility and caution because people expect you to speak for them. They expect you to fulfill certain obligations and duties, and if you find yourself very lacking in the departments or facilities necessary to achieve the things that they want to do then you can you be easily replaced.”

As a CSA senator, USG senator

and finally Vice President of Operations, Stratis said that he knew that force well. Certainly, the other candidates did too.

Der-Artinian, a commuter like Stratis, had also followed a similar trajectory. Now as Treasurer and de jure chair of the Student Activities Budget Committee (SABC), he manages a quarter of a million dollars and the 55 clubs that appeal for it.

“If I mess up, it’s worse than having a president that messes up,” Der-Artinian said. Budgets freeze. Funding is halted. Events get derailed.

Likewise, Blackwood has recently shouldered a considerable amount of the effort to change visitation and guest policies at the university. Elected into the office of RHA Advocacy Coordinator, he and the other club members drafted a proposal that called for the abolition of gender-binary rules, fine reductions and the acknowledgement of LGBTQ students. Currently in negotiation, the document and its outcome carry the interests–supportive or not–of a thousand residents and with them an immense weight of responsibility.

The guest pass policy, however, is only one of the projects Blackwood is tackling. The rest of them, he said, require USG. The first thing on his list is Real Talk, a regularly scheduled program of conferences covering a host of issues (racism, transphobia, homophobia, and sexism to name a few) that students can speak and reflect on. If he were elected, Blackwood said that he would work to incorporate USG into the program. “As much as I would like to think that, I can’t do everything on my own,” he said. “There’s about a thousand things that I want to do.”

Indeed, as Blackwood scrolled through his phone he rattled through a list of initiatives as diverse as they were ambitious: addressing fines and violations issues, implementing cheaper summer housing payments, increasing neighborhood outreach programs, each an unfolding arm–divisions, standing committees, collaborative efforts–under a USG nerve center.

At that center would be Blackwood, but leadership as it were is a much more complicated idea in his book. “I think a leader needs to be both a mentor and somebody who has a bird’s-eye perspective,” he said. “A lot of my experience is on empowerment.” Sitting on RHA,

ANDREW BEECHER/THE OBSERVER

Blackwood, Der-Artinian and Stratis each want a strong and supportive USG.

USG and the Student Advocacy Council, Blackwood believes that his connections to the student body and the administration further his mission in that respect. As a whole, he said that he wants to create “a community that is more understanding, a community that is more engaged and inclusive of everyone.”

Engagement is, as it turns out, Blackwood’s cause of concern.

“We’re here for four years so I think people can become discouraged by what they see as an apathetic administration sometimes,” he said, but added that part of that problem is transparency. A semi-regular newsletter coupled with more consistent club outreach he thinks would be a swift step in the right direction.

Congruently, André Der-Artinian holds transparency in similar importance. In his experience, much of what is accomplished in USG is missed by the majority of students, which only pushes along a perception of the organization’s ineffectiveness. “Our success comes

from our students,” he said. “If we don’t work with each other, if we don’t view each other as our colleagues, USG’s just going to be that club that people are afraid to talk to because they think we do nothing.”

Combatting that image will take more than just a strong social media presence according to Der-Artinian; it requires a reaffirmation of the motto, ‘everyone is a member of USG,’ and perhaps even a reimagining of student participation through online polling. Working perfectly, the polls would allow students to inform representatives of their opinions on certain issues, consequently rebranding an organization that has faced criticism of exclusivity in a more democratic light.

That being said, Der-Artinian noted that he still has several items on his agenda he would like to tick off: providing vegetarian and healthy alternatives in dining halls and vending machines, defanging the potentially daunting process of utilizing Career Services, working with CSA to reorganize events to

be more commuter friendly and establishing designated smoking areas away from high-trafficked pathways are some of the measures at the forefront of his blueprint.

Blueprints, however, are for Demetrios Stratis, the business of architects. In his view, USG is not a firm of policymakers but rather the resources from which policy is made. Ultimately, the presidency “is not about you,” according to him. “You are not to be a gatekeeper. You’re supposed to open the gate. You’re supposed to be a lantern bearer for the rest of the people inside your community.”

For him, rethinking or, for that matter, restructuring the system is not nearly as important as learning the present one. Initially that means filling executive board positions, strengthening communications between USG and the student body and coordinating with other clubs. From there, he said, “we’re going to start attacking.”

“I think by the end of the year, everyone will know who most of the people in USG are, what we’ve done,” Stratis said. “I want ease of access, and I want more equitable things for everyone at the end of the day, and if we have a more involved student body that believes they have a stake in joining USG, then I’ve done my job. I’m proud of what I’ve done.”

True enough, Blackwood, Der-Artinian and Stratis each indicated that ultimately, they want a strong and supportive USG and that whoever can bring about that goal is the candidate most qualified for president. Whether that means fine-tuning or overhauling the organization will be debated Friday, April 6 between the three students in a conversation moderated by the outgoing USG president, Becky Song, FCLC ’18 and her vice president, Andrew Donchak FCLC ’18.

The elections for all open positions of USG will run from April 9 to 11. The fundamentals of each candidate are the same: “I want everyone to feel like we’re listening to them, like something’s being done,” Der-Artinian said. “This is about the greater issues at hand, the campus as a whole, the people as a whole,” Stratis said. “A more close inclusive, understanding, harmonious campus community.

That’s my big thing. That’s what I care about,” Blackwood said.

CPS and RHA Aim to Diversify Mental Health on Campus

By CARMEN BORCA-CARRILLO Staff Writer

Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS) and the Resident Housing Association (RHA) are teaming up to address concerns about mental health services on the Fordham Lincoln Center campus, especially concerning minorities.

The most significant change is the implementation of Real Talk, a series of student-led dialogues that hope to foster widespread conversation about mental health and ultimately bring more diversity to the CPS staff.

The collaboration was spurred in mid-January by an administrative and student consensus on the visible lack of diversity concerning mental health services both on- and off-campus. Samuel Blackwood, RHA Advocacy Coordinator and Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ‘19, launched the initiative after noting that media surrounding mental health was overwhelmingly “white-centric,” including CPS discourse at Fordham.

Though CPS actively informs students about the danger of microaggressions, unintentional verbal or nonverbal cues that communicate

derogatory messages to marginalized groups, its in-person counseling staff lacks any counselors of color.

Jeffrey Ng, director of CPS, said that although minority groups experience agressions and stressors that “can make them more vulnerable to mental health distress and problems,” these same groups “under-utilize mental health services for various reasons,” including a lack of visible diversity in counselors, stigma surrounding mental health and mistrust and misinformation about mental health resources.

In order to combat professional underrepresentation and encourage the inclusion of minority groups in mental health discourse, the RHACPS collaboration is installing a series of student-led discussions concerning minority experiences on campus. The program, called Real Talk, is organized by RHA, CPS and campus club Active Minds, and will be implemented early next year.

Real Talk will focus on one topic a week and invite diverse members of a marginalized group with different identities and different backgrounds to share their experiences in a round-table discussion open to

the public. Lauriann Kormylo, FCLC 18 and Co-Founder/Vice President of Active Minds, said Real Talk is “looking to make a continued space on campus where the conversation about mental health is explicitly inclusive of all student experiences.”

While racial diversity inspired the program, Real Talk will also dedicate sessions to movements such as LGBTQ+ struggles and women’s rights. The program will rally minority clubs on campus, such as Rainbow Alliance or Black Student Alliance, to facilitate these discussions. Active Minds President Alexandra Rebosura, FCLC 18, hopes these talks will “not only connect students with similar experiences, but also provide a space for others to understand experiences unlike their own,” allowing listeners to simultaneously find a community and reflect on their own privilege.

The student-led discussions aim to facilitate dialogue where minority students otherwise felt unsafe seeking help. “Students leading these conversations opens the space up, and makes it feel more like an actual conversation, rather than a class or a therapy session,” said Kormylo. “If a student is strug-

gling with their mental health, but doesn’t know how to talk about it or who to talk about it to, it can be infinitely helpful to see anoth-

“ It can be infinitely

helpful to see another student being open, vulnerable, and honest about their own mental health.”

LAURIANN KORMYLO

er student being open, vulnerable and honest about their own mental health.” The emphasis on student involvement also seeks to incite engagement in Real Talk discussions and encourage student interest in its success.

Real Talk is the first step in a series of reforms that aim to make professional mental health services easily accessible by Fordham’s student population. The RHA-CPS collaboration hopes to establish topical

counselor-led student group discussions as a follow-up to Real Talk sessions. This intermediary step will allow students to benefit from Fordham’s current professionally trained CPS staff while still sharing their personal experiences.

The ultimate goal of the collaboration is to create visible diversity among Fordham Lincoln Center’s mental health services. Ideally, organizers hope Real Talk’s success will incite administration to hire counselors of color and other underrepresented groups. Ng said the community-based approach will “contribute to increasing marginalized students’ sense of trust and safety towards CPS and other mental health resources on campus.”

Members of Active Minds also see Real Talk as way to open doors in off-campus de-stigmatization of mental health. By inviting marginalized students to speak freely about their experiences with mental health, especially in relation to various aspects of their identity, Kormylo and Rebosura hope to normalize its discussion and build networks of support. “Not everyone has a mental illness,” Rebosura said, “but everyone has mental health.”

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THE OBSERVER April 5, 2018

Fordham London Centre Opens New Space in Clerkenwell

News

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By RUBY GARA Asst. News Editor

The year 2018 will be significant for Fordham’s memorabilia.

This August will see the opening of Fordham University London Centre’s new building in Clerkenwell and will be home for multiple study abroad programs, including those offered by the Gabelli School of Business, the London Dramatic Academy and the Liberal Arts college.

Fordham’s original building was located on Kensington Square, but “the move [to Clerkenwell] will put Fordham’s London Centre in a much more active and student-friendly neighborhood,” as stated by senior staff writer Tom Stoelker in his article for the Fordham News. The new renovated space, approximately 17,000 square feet, will allow Fordham University to be an international university as “the new London Centre will place Fordham firmly on the map in both London and Europe.”

The Clerkenwell area and the new Centre will be within walking distance to London’s financial district and the British Museum, whereas the Centre on Kensington Square is a few minutes away from Hyde Park. The students will be exposed to global diversity as studying abroad offers them the opportunity to actively engage with the culture.

The new centre will feature a modern performance floor for the students in the Theatre program, as well as state-of-the-art classrooms for the Business, Liberal

ALVARO TIRADO-POLO/THE OBSERVER

Fordham’s London Centre is a popular location for undergraduate study abroad programs, particularly for Gabelli business students.

Arts and Internship programs. It will also have two separate student and learning centers where students can study individually or work in a collaborative fashion.

The new Fordham London Centre will also have a rooftop terrace that will offer a great view of the neighborhood.

Resham Sansi, Gabelli School

of Business at Lincoln Center (GSBLC) 21, is among the many students planning to study abroad in London in the next academic year.

She thinks that the new Clerkenwell campus is “going to be the perfect learning environment” and is one of the main reasons why she is excited to study abroad in spring 2019. Sansi also stat-

ed that “being immersed in the British financial and tech startup district will definitely give the the Gabelli program a true London business experience.”

The new building in Clerkenwell is set to open to the public in the fall of 2018. Fordham students will be able to interact with a completely different en-

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Opinions

Opinions Editor Jordan Meltzer - jmeltzer3@fordham.edu

D

CAMPUS HOUSING CONFLICT It is hypocritical for Fordham to claim to support its LGBTQ students while the current housing situation remains exclusionary. While we commend the efforts of the administration to uphold the values of diversity and inclusion—and we believe these efforts are genuine—they are for naught if TGNC students

“Fordham students may start to refer to their residence hall as ‘home’; there’s no reason why any portion of the population should be denied this privilege.” do not feel comfortable or even safe in their on-campus living environments.

As the school year goes on, Fordham students may start to refer to their residence hall as “home”; there’s no reason why any portion of the population should be denied this privilege.

Fordham administration must update its housing policy to allow those who

Observer the

STAFF EDITORIAL

espite its reputation as a relatively progressive university, many rules enforced by the Fordham administration are rooted in dated Roman Catholic tradition. This conflict in ideology is embodied by the on-campus housing policy, a system still tainted by archaic perceptions of gender.

Fordham’s current process for selecting and maintaining roommates is exclusionary to transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) students. This process is based on the Catholic view that a person cannot change their gender and that anyone who identifies as TGNC cannot validly marry. But the fact of the matter is that these tenets are outdated and exclusionary. Students who do not identify their gender with their sex assigned at birth and feel uncomfortable living with other members of that sex are unequivocally left out.

In fact, Fordham is outright insulting them by not allowing them to live comfortably on the grounds of their gender identities.

January 25, 2018 THE OBSERVER

identify as transgender and gender non-conforming to room with whom they feel most comfortable. Fordham should allow male-to-female and female-to-male transgender students the right to live with students who also identify with their respective genders. In addition, gender non-conforming students—including those who identify as agender, genderfluid and more—should have the ability to select their roommate and suitemate gender preference. In order to practice the LGBTQ support Fordham frequently preaches, it must put a TGNC-inclusive housing system into place.

Ultimately, reaffirming support for the LGBTQ community in the form of meaningful, tangible actions is more important than Fordham’s unwavering dedication to archaic Catholic law. Changing the housing policy to address the specific needs of TGNC students may contradict Catholic doctrine, but it is necessary to ensure that every member of the Fordham community feels accepted, welcome and at home.

Editor-in-Chief Morgan Steward Managing Editor Reese Ravner Business Manager Michael Veverka Layout Editor Loïc Khodarkovsky Asst. Layout Editor Esmé Bleecker-Adams News Editors Colin Sheeley Katherine Smith Asst. News Editor Ruby Gara Opinions Editor Jordan Meltzer Asst. Opinions Editor Owen Roche Arts & Culture Editor Sam DeAssis Asst. Arts & Culture Editors Kevin Christopher Robles Marielle Sarmiento Features Editor Jeffrey Umbrell Asst. Features Editors Izzi Duprey Lindsay Jorgensen Sports & Health Editor Artemis Tsagaris Asst. Sports & Health Editor Luke Osborn Photo Editor Jon Björnson Asst. Photo Editors Andrew Beecher Lena Rose Comma Coordinators Elodie Huston Erika Ortiz Copy Editors Erika Ortiz Gianna Smeraglia Social Media Managers Angelika Menendez Andronika Zimmerman

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THE OBSERVER April 5, 2018

Hostile Architecture in New York City

Opinions

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An Enforcement of Social and Class Divisions BATOL ABDELHAFEZ Contributing Writer

Having been born and raised in New York City, I have seen a myriad of changes in the city’s infrastructure. It seems as though every time I ride the subway, there is another foundational change that has materialized.

One issue that has piqued my interest over the past 19 years is the progression in change of the city’s MTA system, particularly within its subway stations.

Last year, the MTA implemented its “Enhanced Station Initiative” which renovated stations along the R-line. As someone who rides the R-line regularly, I was optimistic at first about the planned changes. I had hoped that the MTA would make lasting improvements that would benefit everyone’s overall commute, and that maybe, with the temporary shutdown of the stations, more elevators would be installed.

However, this was not the case.

Instead, the newly-renovated stations merely offered surface level beneficences through the construction of brightly colored entrance canopies, countdown clocks and USB charging ports.

One of the most drastic changes was the introduction of “leaning bars”—angled wooden blocks stationed across the subway walls. These are what disturbed me most about this “enhancement” plan, as they have taken the place of some benches in the newly-renovated subway stations.

Although the leaning bars are aesthetically appealing with their sleek outward appearance, they were purposefully designed with discomfort in mind.

Seeing these costly subway renovations reminded me of the other times I have been around the city, excited to enjoy various

public spaces, only to find them uncomfortable, to say the least.

Unfortunately, these updates to the commute only serve the interests of those who use the MTA as a transitory place, stopping during a vacation with their families to stand in awe at the city. Yet, they place the habitual rider, linked to this catacomb by birthright and wage-slavery, disinvested and tired, to be shepherded like animals on their routes between sites of productive and reproductive labor.

Upon further examination, it becomes clear that most, if not all, the benches within urbanized areas—specifically New York City—have been created with the intent to create uncomfortableness; benches were created for patrons to sit, but not get too comfortable. The benches situated throughout New York City have rigidly structured armrests dividing the benches, short backs and hard seats. This is to prevent patrons from sleeping on the benches. This is what is referred to as “hostile architecture”: the moderation of actions by limiting the ways in which infrastructure is used.

Indeed, hostile architecture can certainly prevent loitering and the misuse of public objects, but these public designs represent something more nefarious for New York City’s homeless population. It is designs like these that are seemingly useful, but at others’ expense.

By this same token, there are several examples of hostile architecture that specifically victimize the homeless throughout New York City. Some examples include the infamous “anti-homeless” spikes, barbed wires and sidewalk barricades. In the case of the MTA’s “Enhanced Station Initiative,” removing benches in order to implement sleek leaning bars further strips away the

ANDREW BEECHER/THE OBSERVER

Hostile architecture pervades New York. One of the biggest culprits: the MTA

already limited potential places to sleep for those with nowhere else to go.

Although homelessness is decreasing overall within the United States, the homeless population in New York City is increasing. Emergency homeless shelters are not always viable options for New York City’s homeless. Most homeless shelters do not have the funding to properly address the mental well-being of each individual resident, which only further contributes to the overwhelmingly hostile environment of homeless shelters. Due to the lack of proper supervision and funding, violence and robbery run rampant throughout New York City’s homeless shelters. This results in people being forced to sleep on benches situat-

ed throughout the five boroughs.

As a consequence of hostile architecture, social divisions, therefore, become salient with regards to public infrastructure, making the commute harder for working parents—especially single mothers who have to take their kids with them. As hostile architecture becomes more prominent in New York City, it conversely creates public spaces alienating to the city’s disabled, homeless, working-class and elderly populations. By intentionally limiting access to these benches, the city further marginalizes its vulnerable communities and enforces social and class divisions. Designs such as the leaning bar implicitly beg the question: if public space is not meant to be shared with the homeless, where should New

York City’s homeless go? After all, most would rather risk dying in the streets than be brutalized and abused in underfunded homeless shelters.

The MTA has announced its desire to potentially expand this “Enhanced Station Initiative” into other parts of Brooklyn. While it is discouraging to see public space being taken away from underprivileged New Yorkers, I choose to remain hopeful, as speaking out against these injustices will help bring awareness and hopefully with it, change.

Hostile architecture is a physical manifestation of New York City’s policy towards all who live here.

There are over 63,000 homeless people living in New York; it’s high time they’re made to feel at home.

The Transphobia of Fordham’s Dorm Policies ARIA LOZANO Contributing Writer

Here at the proud Jesuit institution of Fordham University, our administration is under the illusion that they can claim to “care for the whole person” while blatantly ignoring the needs of transgender and queer students. To the non-LGBTQ people reading this, it may feel like the Fordham Lincoln Center (FLC) community is tolerant and open, but that is only the case if you ignore the administration’s outright disregard for the safety and well-being of transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) students. Fordham’s administration refuses to institute changes that are crucial for TGNC people to thrive as members of the community, including gender-inclusive bathroom signage and a preferred name policy.

Furthermore, the administration bolsters its regressive and harmful guest pass policy instead of listening to the large percentage of FLC students who support the revised policy proposal created by the Residence Hall Association (RHA).

But for me, Fordham’s most painful and hateful policy is its discriminatory housing, which ignores individual students’ gender identities and assigns roommates based on the legal

sex on one’s birth certificate.

My first encounter with Fordham’s bigoted policies happened before I even started my first semester here. Roommate selection is an anxious process for many of us, but it was especially scary for me because I was afraid of being placed in a room with males. Since I was

With no other options, I just gave up. When I got to campus, I felt socially isolated and like no one at Fordham cared how difficult it was for me to share a bedroom with a man, and a bathroom with two other men.

While already suffering under the administration’s utter disregard for my emotional

I feel like I do not belong here on campus, and that I must either transfer out or, at the very least, find off-campus housing. still ignorant of the administration’s complete disrespect for trans people, I contacted Residential Life hoping to room with other girls. After some tedious back-and-forth emails, LC Residential Life Director Jenifer Campbell told me over the phone that I could not have a female roommate because Fordham assigns rooms based on legal sex. After the initial shock of discovering that Fordham would not recognize my gender identity, I tried to negotiate. I thought that I wouldn’t have to live with men if I found some female students who wanted to room with me, which I did. But again I was denied for the same reason. I then asked if there were other transgirls who needed a roommate, but Director Campbell said there were none.

well-being, I now had to actually live with a man whom I did not know whatsoever. Since our initial awkward introductions, we have not talked at all. I am so uncomfortable with my living situation that I can’t even come out to him, and for the entire first semester, I felt the need to hide anything that seemed “feminine” out of fear, anxiety and shame. But my social problems obviously extended outside the bedroom as well. Because of this immediate experience of intolerance at Fordham, I was scared to come out of the closet. I went to university hopeful that I could be myself, but now I was afraid and paranoid that my peers, professors and others in the community would also reject and shun me. Feeling that I did

not belong, I isolated myself from my peers, damaging not just my social life but also my mental health, which was already plagued with the anxiety, depression and suicidality that are so prevalent among the TGNC community.

Eventually, as the stress of remaining in the closet kept growing, I pushed myself to awkwardly come out to the people to whom the university had introduced me with my deadname and wrong gender. My peers were generally accepting of me, yet that in no way compensated for the alienation I still had to endure every day in my dorm.

Hoping for change at the university, I discovered The Positive, a student organization here at Fordham fighting for gender inclusivity on campus.

I promptly joined, and immediately lost all hope upon learning the true extent of the institutional transphobia entrenched in the administration.

Fordham staunchly adheres to the Catholic doctrine recognizing only two genders defined solely by sex, which has been reiterated by administrators such as Keith Eldridge, our dean of students. I know that it is important to hold onto some hope that things can change, which will only happen through student unity and direct action; however, having to fight the university’s bigoted policies

while simultaneously enduring those policies has taken a large toll on my mental health.

Because of atrocious policies at Fordham, I feel like I do not belong here on campus, and that I must either transfer out or, at the very least, find off-campus housing.

Regardless of what I end up doing for myself, these policies will continue to harm students unless real change in the administration occurs. Until this happens, more and more transgender and queer students will come to Fordham only to be disregarded and erased from campus. Fordham executives, how hard can it be to change your policies to recognize us, to accommodate for our basic needs or to make any effort to improve the wellbeing of TGNC people at Fordham? Based on your complete apathy towards our experiences, I can tell that, for whatever reason, you would much rather have us feel isolated, ignored and unvalued.

Had I known all of this last year, I would not have even considered attending this university. Fordham may have given me their letter of acceptance, but they only accepted “me” as the 4.0 GPA, the 36 ACT score and the 5s on AP exams. They never accepted the real me, someone whose very existence is somehow incompatible with Fordham’s Jesuit identity: the me named Aria.

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Opinions

April 5, 2018 THE OBSERVER

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Letters From Your USG Presidential Candidates We asked: Why should the students of Fordham Lincoln Center vote for you as USG President?

JON BJORNSON/THE OBSERVER

Demetrios STRATIS

As USG President, I intend to work towards making Fordham University a more diverse and inclusive community. I am running for President to make sure that every student feels welcome and assured that their racial and ethnic heritages will be respected and their cultural traditions will be represented with pride on campus.

My plan is also shaped by making sure that our services, policies, and events are formed with consideration to students of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Every student at this school should feel like this is a place for them, no matter how much money they have or what they look like. To build this kind of inclusive community requires the development of programs that address the needs of all students, especially our most marginalized groups, from students of color to students working through mental health issues, as they are often the most underserved. If we are to develop programs that effectively address the needs of the student body, we need to change how these programs are created and implemented. Programs developed by the administration are created with little student input or none at all. In order to change that we need programs that are developed jointly between students and the administration. As the RHA Advocacy Coordinator, I have worked to make inclusive residence policies and made sure that students are leading the expansion of resources and services for students dealing with mental

JON BJORNSON/THE OBSERVER

André DER-ARTINIAN

My name is Demetrios Stratis (FCLC ’19) and I am running for USG President because I want to reaffirm the purpose of the Student Government and expand it as a strong, unified presence on campus that more students can have a stake in. I am running for USG President because in the two years I have spent in it as a Senator, and then the VP of operations, I have been discouraged by apathy, tempered by experiences and encouraged by the hard work of our student leaders.

The USG has been in a crisis of identity for some time now. It is torn between its role as an administrative institution that is meant to monitor and regulate the everyday interactions, paperwork and status of Fordham clubs and departments, and its potential to act as an advocate for issues on campus.

Many students do not know what the USG is and what our job is, and this general lack of communication has fostered a lack of involvement within the Student Government. We had several open positions in both the Senate and the E-Board this year, which hampered and interfered with our ability to undertake certain operations. That is why this election has more at stake than just the position of President, for in order for the USG to function as both an administrator and an advocate for students, we need dedicated members and club officers that can work together to better fulfill our Constitutional obligations.

We need both representatives and active members of the Fordham community in order to have a good working environment. The Student Government does not exist in a vacuum; it is the nexus of a wide variety of clubs with diverse goals and purposes, and it is meant to act as a

health issues. By having a grassroots student-led effort in the creation and implementation of programs, we increase the effectiveness of the program as well as build engagement from students because student organizations have a vested interest in the program’s success. If students vote Samuel Blackwood for President, I will work to make sure the progressive values of the student body are reflected on our campus, and bring diversity and inclusion to the forefront of our agenda.

In order to implement these changes, the United Student Government (USG) needs an active President, someone who can bring students together and facilitate a working relationship between the students and the administration. In my work, on the behalf of the student body, I have coordinated with the Vice President of Student Affairs, Dean of Students, Chief Diversity Officer, the Director of Counseling and Psychological Services, and student leaders to address a number of issues, ranging from the mental health of students to creating more inclusive policies for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

When people come together and organize around a common goal, we build trust and compassion for each other, creating a more cohesive community. By voting Samuel Blackwood for USG President, the student body will be getting a proven organizer and leader who is capable of effecting a real change in the lives of students.

My stance on inclusivity of Fordham is unmatched. The motto of United Student Government (USG) states that everyone is a member of USG, yet we have a serious lack of input from the student body. As president of USG my goal is to open communications channels and listen to the voiced concerns and work with the proper offices at Fordham to ensure the community needs are addressed. I will act as a liaison between Resident Hall Association (RHA) and Commuter Student Association (CSA) to address the issues affecting our students. The procedure will be simplified making it easier for our voices to be heard, I will be implementing Google forms, and initiating polling at Fordham on Thursdays. Furthermore, This will facilitate transparency allowing for a streamlined process showing USG activity throughout the school year. Students will no longer wonder what gets done, but instead will be able to hear about our implementations as soon as they take effect.

Currently we have students opting out of their vegan diets because the cafeterias do not offer a menu to supplement their diet. I will be working with facilities in order to nurture our community and make sure there are offerings addressing dietary needs of the student body. This sense of community is important to ensure that throughout the operation of our college no one will be left out in decision-making.

Career services seems daunting to many Fordham students, as a result I want to make it more approachable. I intend to work together with career services to promote more workshops and career fairs into the Lincoln Center Campus.

In attending the Rose Hill work fairs and workshops, the experience has enlightened me on that lack of these events offered to our Lincoln Center campus. The focus of the event venue seems to concentrate on Rose Hill and Gabelli.

While the effort is commended, the needs of the university students as a whole must be in the forefront. We must

moderator for them. I do not believe that the USG is the ultimate end to the development of this community, only a strong means. Everyone is a member of USG, but not everyone can attend our USG meetings or participate in our Senate. Not everyone can come to our meetings, but everyone can still contribute and participate in the greater Fordham community.

I want to empower the clubs as well to become focal points for representation within the community. Part of our role is to collaborate and work with other clubs on initiatives and events. I believe that clubs that exist for certain purposes, such as the furtherance of social, political, health and environmental causes, should spearhead their causes with our support and our promotions. I do not want the USG to co-opt or “steal the thunder” from other clubs, merely to provide resources and help to them so that they may better achieve their goals.

The United Student Government has, and will always, stand up for the rights of every student on campus, and I intend on continuing this policy. Through advertisement, events, constitutional reform, and community development, we can restore a sense of spirit within our Fordham community. This includes promoting the representation and visibility of our student groups, and creating more initiatives and outlets for interaction between Fordham students. There is talent, potential and character on this campus, and I want recognition of these traits to become normalized. By the will of the Fordham community and through the moderation of a transparent and active United Student Government, I hope to reaffirm the old truth: Everyone is a member of USG.

ANDREW BEECHER/THE OBSERVER

Samuel BLACKWOOD

be inclusive in our efforts to provide the service to all the student body not merely the business school and Rose Hill.

By expanding the opportunity to connect with potential employers we increase the likelihood of positive results for the individual and the student body as a whole providing an exceptional experience for all involved.

There is a big disconnect between RHA and those who dorm. Working with students, we will act to improve the relationship fostered in the community by setting up a forum to have their opinions and concerns discussed. The commuter students feel a disconnect from campus, because scheduling of most events occurring at Fordham tend to not consider commuter student travel. Working with CSA, my goal is to have friendlier times for commuter events. As a commuter myself I do feel most events take place late, impeding on commute timelines which greatly increases travel time during off hours. The Fordham finals schedule is tentative until a couple of weeks before finals are announced. This constricted window does not allow reasonable timeframe for the international students to book flights at a lower cost to travel home. One possible solution for this issue would be to contact the academic branch of Fordham and ask them to work with us to release the final exam schedule sooner so students have the information necessary facilitating travel bookings in the process aiding in the reduction of cost to students. The next step in the protocol is to implement a buddy system where international students could find a friend or lodgings where volunteers have a student stay over until the day of his or her flight.

The hours for the dining hall and the Ram Café are severely limited after finals when international students are still on campus severely limiting dining opportunities.

Through the cooperation of the facilities, My goal is to enact more dining options such as Ram Café accepting swipes and having grab and go sandwiches.

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Being Patronized Doesn’t Make Me Like You (a haiku)

By OLIVIA LUCAS

Lavishly cruel, you slap down your credit card and pay for our dinner.

Fear(full) Life

By OLIVIA LUCAS

The Passionate Ocean to Her Love

By ERIN KIERNAN

Come live in me and be my love, And you will all the pleasures prove, Of sun-dyed coasts of strawberry And forty ships upon my sea.

And you will swim within my cove As I am sitting in your grove, And I will drink your cup of tea While you are floating warm and free.

As I scale up your highest peak, You’ll graze your hand across my cheek And vow to swim my cove no more And drag your body to my shore.

My feet will bring me to the top, And I will gaze and swear to stop And throw my body to your ground As our hearts fast together pound.

You’ll be empty, cold, and wet, And I’ll be faint but won’t forget The love I felt upon your crown, The pain I felt when crashing down.

I have a fear of shitting and public speaking and shitting in public places where others may hear me.

I have a fear of drowning (a very real fear) in a pool in my homework in other people.

I have a fear of success and failure of not knowing which is which of not being able to control either.

I have a fear of love and sex and sex that comes from love and sex that doesn’t sex that I want and don’t want and have always wanted.

I have a fear of insignificance which is why I moved to a city where I am so insignificant it forces me to try a little a lot never always.

So I will pluck fruit from your grove And take it to your peak with love As you dive deep inside of me And bask and bathe within my sea.

You’ll be in mar and I in shire, But melt we’ll both above our fire.

Since these delights my mind do move, I’ll live in you and be your love.

EMILY DAVANCENS/THE COMMA

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All Right 2005

By PHILLIP ROBBINS

So it’s been a few days. I don’t quite feel sick anymore. But I walk to my room and forget where I’m going half way there. Sometimes I throw up right after I eat.

The doctors all said it was something called a concussion. So now I have to sit on a bunch of other doctors’ couches and tell them how I feel or something. They all seem kind of nice

though. They just let me talk about what video games I play and ask how far I got in them.

They like it when I go into detail about the levels I beat, or when I tell them what happened on Monday Night Raw. Last week Jeff Hardy won the Intercontinental title. It was awesome.

One time one of the doctors told me that wrestlers get these head problems too from time to

time. I could only imagine what having more than one could do to someone.

You could kill your own family and not even know it.

But anyway, I think I’ll be able to go back to school in a few days.

Only problem, my math homework doesn’t seem so easy anymore.

Yes My Son Technically Was Expelled From School For Selling Drugs But That’s How I Know He’ll Make A Great Doctor

By SHANNON CONSTANTINE

What you heard at the bake sale is true; my sweet Thomas was expelled for selling prescription painkillers to classmates. And I wasn’t going to write this, except that my sister-in-law Julia said that she thought it was so admirable that I was “holding my head up high” after Thomas’ disciplinary experiences.

So I’d just like to clarify that I’m not special or brave for being unashamed that my son was caught selling powerful opioids at his school, because I see it as proof that he has a very promising medical career ahead of him.

My Tommy’s practice, before it was so wrongfully disrupted by the tyrannical hand of Pineview County School for the Arts (yes, he goes to an arts school, he’s just that well-rounded!), was located at the prime location of the broom closet by the Spanish classrooms. He worked tirelessly; he accommodated his hours to the needs of his patients, whether they be between 3rd and 4th periods,

between 5th and 6th periods, or the adderall rush hour just before after-school test makeups. And he wasn’t just a general practitioner, either. Thomas took the hippocratic oath quite seriously, too—he didn’t tell anybody what he was doing. But he served an essential purpose.

The students he served desperately need the kind of pharmaceutical goods that they could not find anywhere else, other than any other doctor’s office at any time whatsoever.

I knew my Thomas was a special kid from the moment he was born. And as he grew, I, like any mom, imagined all the wonderful possible careers that he might have. With every cookie he stole from his kindergarten classmates, I heard the best business schools calling his name. When it was reported that he plagiarized the work of his female classmates in middle school, literal explosions went off in my head as I saw my Tommy show promise as a scientific researcher. But today

I know that my days of wondering what the future holds for him are over. Thomas will be an incredible doctor—and now he can deal me drugs to stop the literal explosions still going off in my head.

Of course, putting him through medical school will be difficult. I won’t expect every institution to understand the level of ingenuity that my Tommy shows. I’m sure that then, he’ll still have to face the same backwards reaction to his brilliance that his vice principal had today, with such ignorant comments as “He violated our drug-free zone policy!” and “No I don’t want to get in on the ground floor of his emerging local cartel!” My Tommy is a very special kid, and while it might seem like just an after-school activity now, he’ll need lots of support from influential adults if he wants to eventually prescribe dangerous levels of percocet to hard-working teens just like him.

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Thomas and Francesca

By ERIN KIERNAN

Thomas and his wife sit on a large plot of parched land. In between mouthfuls of chicken he tickles her face with her braids. Thomas loves that his wife has that dark chocolate hair because if she were blonde she would blend right into the landscape. She is the only Italian he knows. His “Bella.” But her name is Francesca.

For two years, Thomas has been trying to learn “Carnival of Venice” on the guitar for his sweet Italian girl, but his fingers are stiff and caked from farming. Francesca reminds him that she has never even been to Italy, but he insists that hearing an Italian folk tune is good for the Italian soul. Thomas scrubs his farming hands nightly and moisturizes the tips of his fingers with sneak butter—the same way he quietly gratifies his sweet tooth with sneak sugar—so he can one day pump the melodies of Italy into his darling wife’s soul.

Thomas’s young eyes are starting to fail him, but if he thinks he sees a yellow dot across the field, he will run to it. Typically, it is a sunbeam, but sometimes, it is a small, yellow flower. If it is a small, yellow flower, he will pluck it. He will bite the stem and present it that way in his mouth to Francesca. It looks electric in her chocolate hair, but he mostly does it to hear her snort at his flowered grin.

Thomas and Francesca suck on their chicken-greased fingers and wipe them on their clothes. They dust off their bottoms and throw their bones away from their house.

Thomas tells Francesca that he has won the bone-throwing competition. As Thomas carries their whiskey back to the house, Francesca runs toward the bones.

“Tom! Lookit! My bone’s the furthest from the house.”

“Naw, ya think ya can beat me? How I know ya ain’t holding up my bone? Lemme have a look at the bone.”

Francesca strides towards Thomas and points her tongue at him. Tom is amused and watches his Bella fall and drive her chin into the ground. For no reason at all. Her tongue pops off and she lies motionless. Tom cannot quite see what is happening, for his eyes are starting to fail him, but he knows his Bella has fallen. He drops his whiskey and darts toward her. He calls out her name with each step and grows more frantic with every unanswered “Francesca.” Standing over her body, he calls out “Francesca” just as loudly as he did when he was a few feet from the house. He collapses and scoops up her little head in his massive hands. He peers in her bloody mouth and realizes her tongue is gone. He lowers her head and spreads his body on the ground, wildly throwing out his hands, kicking up a cloud of dust. He finds a tiny, dusty tongue tip. “I got it! Francesca! Francesca! Your tongue! My…” He swallows her lifeless body with his own and sobs.

Thomas does not know how to cope with death because he has been alone for most of his life. But he decides it is best to deal with the decaying body before allowing himself an extended grieving period. He carries her

inside and drapes her over the bed. It is only three miles to town, so Thomas sets off to find the undertaker on foot. He walks, kicking up dust. A film, a soup made of dust and tears, covers his eyes, and he lets his knees buckle. He gingerly lays his body down and grits his teeth against the ground. He shrieks and shrieks. He finds the drama he has engineered comforting, so he continues to wail until he can no longer endure the pressure in his head.

Lying on the ground, he feels dust on his tongue. It makes him gag, and he thinks of his sweet girl’s body and how she will have to lie in the dirt forever. How she will have to taste dust forever. He thinks of the undertaker, a man he hardly even knows, and imagines him preserving her body, imagines him touching her body, imagines him fondling her body. He can’t allow it. He bites the ground and tears out as much as he can fit in his mouth. Earth falls from his mouth as he rises and shouts, “Satan! I know it was you! Always killin’ for no goddamn reason at all! Why ya wanna steal a little girl like that? Ya sick bastard! Come meet me! Satan, I’m here! Come on! Come on! Sick bastard!”

“ Satan! I know it was you! Always killin’ for no goddamn reason at all! Why ya wanna steal a little girl like that? ” Thomas darts through the landscape, looking for the devil. He resolves that he will fight the devil when he finds him and will demand the reanimation of Francesca if he wins. He knows the devil is powerful, however, so as a last resort, he will make a deal. Satan makes a lot of deals.

The sun sets without any sign of Satan.

Thomas sits beside a tree, periodically calling “Satan!”, biting his nails and tasting blood.

Bodies decay quickly. He can’t wait forever.

It might be as late as three in the morning, and Thomas tears apart his barn until he can feel the sturdy pointed tip of his shovel. He runs to what he determines to be the approximate spot Satan killed Francesca and starts to dig. With an almost supernatural energy, he digs a hole matching his own height by sunrise.

He doesn’t sleep. By noon, his black skin is white with dust, his eyes red with exhaustion and glazed over by film. His hands are cov-

ered with raging sores and blood drips down his shovel, hitting the water he has recently struck like ink drops. Digging through mud is much different than digging through silt, and his progress has been nonexistent for hours.

Still, he persists.

He will reach hell. He will find Satan.

Realizing he has not had a drink in a day’s time, he allows himself to bend over for a sip of the brown water. He collapses. With his face resting just above the water’s surface, his body forbids him to work.

He hears, “Thomas.” He opens his eyes but can’t see anything. At least eight precious hours, gone. He is failing Francesca. He starts to sob.

“Thomas!” repeats the voice.

“Who goes there?”

“It’s Satan.”

“Satan! I’ve been looking for ya for over a day!”

“Almost four days now. You’ve been asleep for over two.”

Thomas stands, tearing stiff muscles, and swings in the dark, enraged by pain and frustration. He darts around in the hole, tripping over the uneven floor, confusing water and blood and tears.

“Come on now. Get out of there.”

“I can’t! Ya bastard!”

“You can.”

Thomas feels himself land on dry earth.

He gets up and continues to punch and grab the air. His mind centers on Francesca once again, and he is disappointed in himself for letting anger cloud his focus. The sky possesses a slight glow now, and he detects the hazy outline of his house. He bounds toward it, not stopping when he hears his muscles pop.

Without bothering to use the handle, he rams through the door and fumbles toward the bed.

He reaches out and touches a body. It can’t be Francesca’s body.

He reaches for a candle and a match. Distressed, he can’t light either.

“Allow me,” says Satan, and he illuminates every candle in the room.

Thomas looks at Francesca’s corpse on the bed, bloated, foaming, green. That can’t be his Bella. That can’t be Francesca. That’s an act of the devil. That’s Satan’s doing.

He rips the body from the bed and slings it over his shoulder. He runs out of the house and tears through the field to the deep hole.

Without stopping, he throws the body inside.

He hears the splash and cracking of bones and fills the hole in with the shovel that Satan retrieved for him.

When there is no longer any hole, Thomas lies down in fatigue. His mind empties. After a few minutes of rest he walks inside the house. As he walks through the door, he calls out for Francesca. He stops when he sees a series of lit candles. His trance ends, and he remembers the events of the past four days.

He remembers his Bella’s mutilated body buried just yards away, no coffin, no headstone.

He should have employed the undertaker.

Satan laughs.

CASEY PUGLISI/THE COMMA

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Spoons

By MADELYNE CASALE

Mama died on Thursday. She wasn’t related to me, but as far as I know, I’m not related to anyone. She liked it when we called her Mama.

Mom was too personal and Mother was too formal. We don’t know what happened, but I overheard whispers that she was found with her face down in a bowl of hot soup. It was a tumor, some said. Others said poison. I didn’t care much either way.

Sometimes I feel like I’m not alone, but then I’m reminded of my pitiful existence. I have to imagine my friends and family. It’s hard to do sometimes, because no one ever taught me how to read or write. None of the other children are educated, either, unless they are New Ones. But the majority of us have been here since we were infants. Mama always said, “Here at the Tenderheart Orphanage, we love and tend to each child like they’re our own.” So I thought that I was loved when Mama or Sister Mary Ann (who was not an actual nun, or even religious in any way) struck me in the face with the back of their hands if I didn’t stand up straight or my stomach betrayed me with the faintest growl to announce my constant gnawing hunger to the world.

It was a huge orphanage with a small staff; we were lucky if we saw the same nurse twice a month. We were expected to take care of ourselves and each other. But every time I got close to one of my fellow orphans, they disappeared.

When families and young, energetic newlyweds visited, they never looked at me, never saw me. I made a game out of it, my fondest childhood memory. For every time someone visited and didn’t look my way, I would sneak a spoon from the kitchen and put it in an old wooden drawer, the only furniture besides a small cot in my cell-like room. The spoons piled up over the years. The stolen objects were the only things that I ever called my own, the only things that never left me.

I had spoons of all sizes and colors. On one day, the big, stainless-steel soup spoon was a “Good Guy”, saving the small, plastic, purple spoon, the “Damsel in Distress.” On another, the prickly spoon made of old rotting wood was “Crotchety Elderly Man,” whose splinters had developed to

keep people away after a long, hard life.

I loved them all.

It took a while for the guilt to kick in. I gulped and pushed it back when I saw a stick-thin, blonde boy attempting to eat his ration of waterered-down Cheerios with his hands. But a week later at dinner, I sat by two little girls with plain, tattered dresses and matted hair attempting to eat their soup with knives.

“It’s impossible,” I said, looking near but not at them.

“All of the spoons are gone,” said one of the girls without looking up from her cracked, plastic bowl.

“You don’t know if it’s impossible until you try,” whispered the other girl meekly, as she

“ ‘All of the spoons are gone,’

said one of the girls without looking up from her cracked, plastic bowl. ”

caught my gaze and stared almost pleadingly into my eyes.

That was the first time I felt guilty about the spoons. I never thought that my actions would have affected anyone else. I wondered, Are the spoons really all gone? I slowly gazed around at the room full of hungry children and a few apathetic nurses. I furrowed my brow as I realized that I couldn’t see any kids using spoons. All because of me. The nurses couldn’t have cared less, but I knew that I had to do something.

I stood abruptly, knocking my chair back as

I ran from the table, up the worn and splintered wooden stairs, up to my room, only earning a few curious but blank-eyed glances along the way. My hands shook as I moved towards the drawer.

“Just like ripping off a Band-Aid,” I muttered to myself, trying to muster the strength to part ways with the spoons I grew to cherish and love. I took a deep, shaky breath before yanking the drawer open and grabbing all of the spoons.

I gathered up the bottom of my shirt to use as a makeshift sack, and after securing all of the spoons, I ran back down to the dining hall. I ran up to each child and carefully handed them a spoon.

“I know that John Spoon Sr. will find a good home with you.”

“Please take good care of Lisa Spoon.”

“I’m trusting you to love and cherish Sir Robert Spoon like I once did.”

It was hard at first, but the looks of complete confusion turning to true joy made everything worth the initial pain. These kids had never received a gift before. Christmases and birthdays were only myths and legends at Tenderheart.

For the first time, they knew how it felt to call something their own. For the first time in our lives, we all smiled.

After I gave a spoon to every child, and even the nurses (because everyone deserves something), I was left with one. I clutched it in my hand as I walked aimlessly through the old corridors, with floors sunken in from the decades of pressure from millions of tiny homeless feet.

I was lost in the pleasant imaginings of the new adventures my spoons would experience, with a wistful smile still lingering on my face.

“You have a beautiful smile, sweetie.”

I was snapped out of my daydreams to see a pretty lady with a young face and dark brown hair tied up neatly in a knot, with her equally young and bright-eyed husband trailing behind.

I looked up to see my own smiling face for the first time in the reflection of her kind, mossy green eyes. My body relaxed, and excitement buzzed so loudly in my ears that I barely noticed the last spoon clatter to the floor at my side.

Sonnet I

An Ode to Joe’s

Revolutions

By JEFFREY UMBRELL

By SAVANAH MANOS

By SAMI JUMPER

A moment in your eye: if that was all, a brief supposing of encounter, then that would be adequate. There is a small potential when I glance up, and again when my eye looks for yours across what seems to be an empty room. One looks around, and takes notice of efforts to redeem any doubts. Still, there is a lot of ground to make up. I’d prepared to avoid it, but not to revert all the way back to amassing thoughts, and often to commit is to realize before starting anew.

If looking past exclusively relied

on introspection, there’s no other side.

Whole Foods doth not compare To thy prices nor sustenance Nor doth others have such flair For thy selection is multitudinous.

Days of calm shopping art erstwhile And thine lines art winding But thy dost give me a smile So mine love need naught reminding.

I. withered vines slither over my psyche and

my flowered heart suffocates.

II.

ipomea alba only bloom under the moon. the beauty of starlight does not diminish the beauty of sunlight.

III.

tear out your roots of old, gnarled browns and grays. the earth needs vacancies to grow.

IV.

leave your fields fallow but only for a season. weeds steal empty space.

V.

remember this— do not give yourself to the night without promising to return with the dawn.

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Hot Commodity

By JENNIE KIM

“hot commodity, filled with probiotics, great for your gut, fermented Korean food it’s spicy and sour all at once.” i’m ill-suited in the kitchen and i’m sure the kitchen hates me as much as i hate it, but there’s this weird attachment i have to kimchi. it’s the hometown kimchi. it’s the stories my mom told me about her childhood kimchi. it’s the i saw my mom work two jobs seven days a week for 7 years kimchi. it’s the, to this day, i watch and help my mom make her kimchi. it’s the neighborhood grandmothers who would spend days making a whole batch to last through the winter kimchi. it’s the going to get groceries and rushing home before the saltwater drains too much kimchi. it’s the acute awareness that i am the only bloodline my parents have in the united states kimchi. it’s the fact that my mom told me the same stories about her mother since i was 7 and i still pay attention kimchi. it’s the for the last thirty years my parents have lived vicariously through old photos and stories that happened months ago kimchi. it’s the i’m still telling myself that i’m okay with being 50% bilingual kimchi. it’s the i have larger than life goals and i dont know how to achieve them kimchi. it’s the my mom cries quietly in the dark kimchi. it’s the her father died and the only thing she can eat was kimchi. it’s the distant look, asking a higher being, how it became like this kimchi. it’s the don’t bow to me for new year’s because i can’t deal with it kimchi. it’s the i hope your grandfather is in nirvana kimchi. it’s the i worry about your grandmother kimchi. it’s the she couldn’t attend the funeral because all the flights were booked kimchi. actually, there were seats but eight grand, you’re kidding me, that’s really when i would be eating kimchi. it’s the she went to korea to help her mother grieve kimchi. but in reality, this might be the last time she might be able to see her face kimchi. it’s the preparation and the bright red containers to make the kimchi. it’s the oh shit we forgot something and now have to go back to the store kimchi. it’s the korea that i will never know kimchi. it’s the stagnation of my parent’s korea kimchi. it’s the collision of their values and ours kimchi. convenience for your dietary needs. i hope you realize that when you eat a piece you think of me.

EMILY DAVANCENS/THE COMMA

The Tooth Fairy

By RYAN KELLY

In the first year that I knew my boyfriend, I pulled out all of his teeth one by one by one as he slept. I kept a pair of pliers under my pillow, rich with the scent of his blood. He was a heavy sleeper. His house had burned down around him as a child. A firefighter carried the sleeping boy out, limp and sweaty like raw meat from the butcher’s block.

The first tooth I took was his top left incisor, which gleamed meanly each night when moonlight slid into the room. It glowed so bright I couldn’t sleep. I became an insomniac, and every night, it seemed that the tooth shone brighter, piercing first through my closed eyelids and then through the pillows I stacked over my face. It started to seem that perhaps the light was not being reflected from the moon, but rather was emanating from the tooth itself, generating more power nightly.

The tooth had to go. I bought the pliers at the Home Depot and watched oral surgery videos on YouTube until he came home from work and I made dinner. We had sex and he went to bed at his normal hour and I straddled my

boyfriend on the bed and pinched the offending tooth between the metal claws of the pliers. His breath was sweet and soft like a baby’s. He never snored. There was a lot of blood and I had to turn him on his side so he wouldn’t choke, like you do with a person having a seizure. The blood was darker than I remembered blood to be, and when it dried on my fingers it was sticky and tasted like sweet red wine. There was a snapping sound and the tooth slid neatly out, looking more like a claw than what I imagined teeth to look like. The ones smiling on the posters at the dentist’s office always have two legs. I later discovered that only the molars are bipedals. Canines and incisors are more like mermaids with long, curved tails.

Like elephant tusks.

I put the tooth in my mouth to clean it. It felt smooth like a pebble, like I had found it nestled among many others in a shallow creek. In my hand it glinted one last time, winking at me, assuring me it would keep our secret.

I buried the tooth in a patch of damp, soft soil in my backyard. When I was young, my mother had told me that

this is what the Tooth Fairy did. The tooth did not grow into a tooth tree, but rather into a baby, which the stork plucked from the supple ground like a root vegetable and dropped on a stoop before going on his smoke break. My mother delivered babies at the hospital, wearing plastic gloves to pull pink wriggling jellybeans from the wombs of strangers. She was the first face many babies looked upon. If people were like ducks, each squalling baby she delivered would have imprinted on my mother and I would have many siblings rather than none at all.

My mother delivered me by herself with no help from anyone, my father working a late shift at the hospital. She died from blood loss but was reincarnated as my nextdoor neighbor’s English bulldog, Sally.

Each following night I extracted another tooth from my sleeping boyfriend, the wine of his blood running through my fingers, the sickly sweet smell of developing cavities. I planted three neat rows of teeth and grew a thick garden of oleander. Sally ate two of the gaudy white flowers and died face-up, looking at the sun.

COMMA

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF erika ortiz / EXECUTIVE EDITOR elodie huston / FACULTY ADVISOR elizabeth stone // EDITORS megan crane / tatiana gallardo / alex merritt / cat reynolds / bessie rubinstein// MEMBERS mary alter / lucia bailey / kiley campbell / sophie guimares / alexandra richardson / ashley rivera / abby wheat

Arts & Culture

Arts & Culture Editor Samantha DeAssis - sdeassis@fordham.edu

April 5, 2018 THE OBSERVER

Wise Words From a Hollywood Producer

By ELISABETH O’NEILL Staff Writer

What do Academy Award nominated films “Carol” (2015), starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, and “Still Alice” (2014), starring Julianne Moore, have in common?

Christine Vachon. On Thursday, March 15, professor James Jennewein moderated a special Q&A with the world-renowned producer sponsored by the Fordham chapter of the New York Film & Television Student Alliance (NYFSTA), an organization allied with the Governor’s Office of Film & Television that aims to bring in professionals “who have years of real-word experience telling stories either in, from, of or behind the camera,” according to Professor Jennewein. In addition to producing Oscar-nominated films, Vachon, along with partner Pamela Koffler, is the co-creator of the Killer Films production company, which has produced over 100 film and television projects. As Jennewein raved, “Christine Vachon is one of the leading indie film producers of our time.”

The Q&A which took place in the Fordham Law School building, began with Vachon talking about her early years in producing.

Growing up in NYC and attending Brown University, she highlighted three different channels that aspiring producers usually take early in their careers: production, distribution and development. Vachon took the production route early in her career, when she was “inter-

ested in the swelling of art [and the] mix of fashion, film and music.” In the 1980s, Vachon became interested in the rise of “personal filmmaking,” or movies that were personal and original but still needed production, from directors such as Spike Lee. She also attributed the start of MTV to opening up a new production market for music videos. Today, she is mostly interested in producing movies that are “arthouse,” movies that follow the filmmakers’ personal and artistic vision, and “character driven.”

When asked what a producer specifically does, Vachon explained that a producer provides “the engine on the train.” The producer also “attaches elements,” “oversees budgeting” and “keeps it alive”–“it” being the project the producer is managing. On many films, there are usually several producers listed in the credits. As Vachon states, this begs the question: What exactly makes the producer? She says that you do not necessarily need to be “the one sitting at the monitor” to be considered one of the producers. As an example, she stated that a line producer, one who manages the daily budget and operations of a movie, is still an integral part of the production team, though they may not be on set for the majority of filming.

Throughout the interview, Professor Jennewein quoted Vachon from a speech she gave when accepting a lifetime achievement award at Sundance Film Festival.

Titled “Tips on Surviving as a Pro-

ducer,” Vachon discusses several essential points when becoming and being a producer. When describing what the job of a producer involves, Vachon relayed what a friend had joked to her: “You send out the invites, book the caterer, manage the guest list. And then, not only are you not invited, you are expected to pay the tab, and then clean up when everyone leaves! Ok, so it’s not all that bad, but there is a kernel of truth there.” Vachon also agreed with Professor Jennewein when he stated that a “successful producer is about endurance.” This was especially prevalent when she described the production of a movie she is working on taking more than two years.

During the Q&A, Vachon provided the audience with an insider’s scoop on the producing industry, one that was especially insightful since she is one of the most successful people in her field. She inspired everyone in the room, including aspiring producers like Isabella Malfi, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’21. Already being familiar with some of Vachon’s work, Malfi shared, “Producing is definitely something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and I didn’t really know how to put a name on it, or like what it is exactly.” When hearing Vachon describe the different channels one can pursue in producing, Malfi also mentioned, “It was so enlightening to know it’s not so cut and dry.”

Christina Vachon, along with her team at Killer Films, are on their way to producing more films

Catch up or get ahead this summer!

• Complete core requirements.

• Begin a second major.

• Set yourself up to graduate early.

Choose from more than 200 available courses!

Register now via my.fordham.edu.

Session I: May 29–June 28 Session II: July 5–August 6

SUMMER SESSION 2018

ELISABETH O’NEILL/THE OBSERVER

Producer Christine Vachon (right) took part in a Q&A panel moderated

by Professor James Jennewein (left).

that achieve cinematic excellence.

Their latest endeavor, “Vox Lux,” starring Natalie Portman and Jude

Law with music by Sia, just finished filming and is currently in post production.

16

Arts

April 5, 2018 THE OBSERVER

“Carousel” in a #MeToo Movement

me,” says Louise to Julie just before it’s spoken.

The current movement of silence-breaking against sexual abusers and assaulters in positions of power, beginning in Hollywood with a New York Times exposé of allegations against film mogul Harvey Weinstein, has yet to make a significant mark on Broadway.

How Jack O’Brien and Scott Rudin treat “Carousel,” how they and their actors choose to render Hammerstein’s script, may very well set the tone for Broadway’s reckoning with the treatment of women in the workplace.

When “Carousel” made its acclaimed (and fourth) revival in 1994, winning five Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical, discussion of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s handling of domestic abuse was absent. In his official New York Times review, David Richard described “What’s The Use of Wond’rin?,” a song that seen

By MICHAEL APPLER Staff Writer

Jessie Mueller is a vocal chameleon. For her 2014 transformation into Carole King in the award-winning Broadway musical “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” Mueller took home a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress; for her metamorphosis into a soaring 1940s jazz singer in “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever,” she received a featured actress nomination. In “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” Mueller transformed once again— this time into an accent-thick Helena Landless—and in her turn as Cinderella in The Public Theater’s 2012 summer production of “Into The Woods,” her voice fluttered with the levity and the thrill of a soon-to-be princess.

But this spring, Jessie Mueller is tasked with a different sort of transformation, one arguably more difficult, even for a seasoned actress. Under the direction of three-time Tony Award-winning director Jack O’Brien and veteran producer Scott Rudin, Mueller must palatalize and reconstruct in some way the role of Julie Jordan, a character who is victimized by an abusive marriage, yet written to excuse at every turn the actions of her victimizer, in a revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic, “Carousel”.

If you’ve seen the movie or sat through a performance, you remember the line: “It is possible, dear—for someone to hit you—to hit you hard—and not hurt at all.”

Julie says this to her young daughter, Louise, soon after she is visited by a specter of her dead father and is struck by him while trying to flee. Delivered by Julie with a smile of remembrance and love toward her late, abusive spouse, the line has presented a daunting challenge for many an actor and director. For audiences, it bears a sobering, puzzling end to Rodgers and Hammerstein’s dark foray into love and abuse.

When the 2018 revival of “Car-

www.fordhamobserver.com

COURTESY OF WORKS & PROCESS VIA FLICKR

Jessie Mueller (left) sits with Lindsay Mendez (right) in rehearsal for the Broadway revival of “Carousel”.

ousel” opens in April, Mueller will deliver the infamous line on a stage set before a nation that has been rattled by the evils of sexual assault and harassment, awakened to its frequency and commonplace.

In the midst of a #MeToo movement, how will the new production navigate these volatile waters?

Set on the coast of Maine in 1945, “Carousel” tells the story of a carnival-worker named Billy Bigelow, whose (some would say coerced) romance with millworker Julie Jordan is stressed by Billy’s violence, domestic abuse and inability to make ends meet for his family. When the show opened in 1945, Rodgers and Hammerstein, who adapted the story from Ferenc Molnár’s 1909 play “Liliom,”

received nearly unanimous high praise. “Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, who can do no wrong, have continued doing no wrong,” wrote a New York Times’ theater critic, Lewis Nichols.

But in 2018, to read and to experience Hammerstein’s script, its characters so heavily imbued with archaic and dangerous notions of domestic abuse, of a woman’s duty to forgive and to forget her husband’s violence, of our duty to turn a cheek to abuse, to look beyond it and to blame those who are assaulted, is excruciating.

When Billy first meets Julie on his carousel, he flirts with her and puts his arm around her waist; when Julie leaves the fair, she is chased by the carousel’s owner,

Mrs. Mullin, and told to never return. “I don’t run my business for a lot o’ chippies,” says Mrs. Mullin.

(In the acclaimed 1956 movie adaptation, “chippies” is revised to “sluts”). In a celebrated song from the show, “If I Loved You,” Julie sings to Billy, “If I loved you/ I’d let my golden chances pass me by,” and in another highly remembered song, “What’s The Use of Wond’rin?,” Julie sings: “What’s the use of wond’rin if he’s good or if he’s bad […] he’s your fella and you love him/ There’s nothing else to say.” And in the end, Julie excuses all that Billy has done by uttering her infamous line. “Honest there was a strange man here and he hit me, hard… but it didn’t hurt, Mother! It was just as if he kissed

“It is possible, dear— for someone to hit you— to hit you hard—and not hurt at all.”

– JULIE JORDAN

through contemporary eyes would appear to be a blatant excusal of abuse, as “Julie’s attempt to explain the unexplainable bond between [her and Billy]” and as “the sweetest surrender to fate ever penned,” Julie described as “attracted to danger” and as suffering domestic abuse with a “helpless fortitude.”

But today Broadway must reckon with the realities of abuse, inside the workplace and out. Today, the nation is spinning toward justice, towards understanding for those who are victims of assault.

Will “Carousel” turn just the same?

Travers Takes on Off-Broadway

By ANGELIKA MENENDEZ Social Media Editor

The classroom was bubbling with excitement as Mrs. Slagel, the third grade teacher of Johnny Travers, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’20, passed out scripts for the class’s showcase, a compilation of scenes written by all the budding artists in the third grade class. Travers was terrified

“ The first thing I

said was ‘oh wow,’ and it was a robotic reaction, because I didn’t even know what to say.” because he “didn’t like the idea of going up in front of people,” but his father encouraged him to audition.

The moment he looked at the script, third grader Travers began to impersonate accents he had heard in the movies he had seen. From then on it was clear to his teacher that he had been bitten by “the acting bug… and never stopped from there.” Years later, Travers has gone from a third-grade superstar

to making his Off-Broadway debut as Yancey in “Matata and Jesse James: An American Tragedy” at the Castillo Theatre.

It all happened rather quickly for Travers. He was shocked into silence when he found out he was going to be opening a show Off-Broadway. “The first thing I said was ‘oh wow,’ and it was a robotic reaction, because I didn’t even know what to say,” Travers said, referring to the phone call he received that led to the good news.

Travers, FCLC ’20, arrived this semester as a new BA theatre performance transfer from Pace University where he was working toward his BA in Acting. He said that he missed acting this semester, since the majority of his classes are core classes, so he signed up for Backstage, a subscription based website where actors can create a profile and self submit to jobs, account to stay in the theatrical loop.

So Travers began to submit to any audition that called for a caucasian male from age 18-35. After submitting to The Castillo Theatre on Backstage, they sent him an email a week later asking Travers to come in for a live audition for “Matata and Jesse James: An American Tragedy”. He went in and they asked him to read one of the sides, a section from the script used for auditions, and then redirected him

based on his reading before dismissing him. “I thought I messed up and thought that was that, but the next day the theatre sent me an email about coming in for a callback to read the roles of Billy and Yancey,” Travers said. After a five hour callback and a conversation with the casting team, Travers got a call a few days later from John Rankin, the associate managing director, who told him he got the job.

“Matata and Jesse James: An American Tragedy” is a story about the American Dream and racial issues in America during the Reconstruction Era. Travers’s character, Yancey, is a part of the James Gang, but is the most compassionate toward the less fortunate, no matter what their race or background, which leads him to face problems with the racist gang. “With prejudice still around in America today, I want people to understand that they should keep an open mind and be courteous, respectful and helpful to those that are in need,” Travers said.

With opening night approaching, Travers said he’s excited, but also very nervous about his Off-Broadway debut. “We’re on a good track, and I have a lot of faith in the cast and crew,” Travers mentioned. As for the whole process, although it may have been hard balancing being a student and

COURTESY OF JOHNNY TRAVERS

Johnny Travers, FCLC ’20, has landed the role of Yancey in the Off-Broadway show “Matata and Jesse James: An American Tragedy.”

delving deep into character for an Off-Broadway show, Travers said it has gone pretty smoothly. “When you have actors who work as an ensemble, it makes for a great overall piece of theatre,” said Travers.

Directed by Allie Woods and

written by Dan Friedman “Matata and Jesse James: An American Tragedy” runs from April 6th to May 6th at the Castillo Theatre on 543 W. 42nd St. The theatre sells $15 student tickets that can be bought online or at the theatre.

Features Faculty Faces: Kathy Crawford

Features Editor Jeffrey Umbrell - jumbrell@fordham.edu

April 5, 2018 THE OBSERVER

Creating Movement in “Macbeth”

JON BJÖRNSON/THE OBSERVER

By SHANNON CONSTANTINE Contributing Writer

Kathy Crawford, associate director at Lincoln Center for the Dorothy Day Center for Service and Justice, is tireless. Most McMahon Hall residents, when walking through the tunnels, don’t realize that in the corner office of the Dorothy Day Center sits one of the Fordham community’s most essential members. This has been Crawford’s final semester at Fordham Lincoln Center (FLC) before she leaves to lead experiential learning programs at the neighboring John Jay College. Crawford has dedicated her time at Fordham to a cause that is so noble, yet often seems utterly unachievable: making Fordham students care.

The Dorothy Day Office specializes in developing programs to help Fordham students be neighborly to its communities in the Bronx and Manhattan, making Crawford the person in charge of all neighborly efforts. With every social justice issue that comes to light on Fordham’s campuses, Crawford leads the students in putting together events to help our school community live and learn together in kinder, healthier ways.

Crawford is the hidden influence behind many of the events on our campus. Every town hall, fundraiser, protest, awareness-raising event and the very community and justice-building tenets upon which several social justice-oriented clubs are built were either partly organized by Crawford or students she trained. If every Fordham student who in some way worked with the Dorothy Day Center is a neuron in the nervous system of its social consciousness, Crawford is the undisputed brain.

But even more than being the brain, Crawford has been the ever-pumping heart of Dorothy Day. Learning from her as a previous member of the now-defunct Social Justice Leader program gave me the lesson that completely shaped how I think about social justice work, that forming a community of joy and support is the foundation upon which all of your organizing is done. It is the joy that Crawford has brought to her work at Fordham that draws students to her and the Dorothy Day Center. There certainly are not any other community leaders I know who transition from discussions of academic texts unpacking white privilege to leading dance-offs to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” with the leadership and poise of Crawford.

For more about this story, visit www.fordhamobserver.com

JON BJÖRNSON/THE OBSERVER

Wayne “Juice” Mackins, FCLC ‘19, and the cast of “Macbeth” take on the task of incorporating movement into the production.

By LINDSAY JORGENSEN Asst. Features Co-Editor

“The Scottish Play” is coming to Fordham to conclude this year’s mainstage season. Professor Dawn Saito, movement and acting professor for theatre students at Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC), is taking on the demanding process of directing one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays: “Macbeth.” Along with the usual challenges directing brings, Saito, who considers herself “a multidisciplinary artist,” has also taken on the extra challenge of incorporating butoh movement into the actors’ blocking.

Created in Japan by Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno, butoh is a form of Japanese avant-garde movement that arose in the post-World War II era, a period of great devastation for the Japanese people. Artists in Japan were questioning traditional art forms, including movement art forms, during this time.

Butoh “expresses the darker side of human condition,” Saito said. “So I thought for Macbeth, it would be really compatible.”

For those who have not seen or read “Macbeth,” the play takes place in a war-torn Scotland. Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, plot to take the Scottish crown after hearing three witches prophesy that Macbeth will be king. Violence, guilt and grief permeate the play, making it fitting for Saito to incorporate dance movement that emerged from a state of grief as well.

Student actors involved in the show are excited about the new ideas Saito has worked into the production. Kiera Prinz, FCLC ’20, who is playing Lady Macbeth, said, “It’s really cool she’s incorporating a lot of [butoh] in Macbeth because there’s war, and really negative, terrible events happening [throughout the play].”

Saito began her rehearsals with a workshop period, experimenting with the butoh movement with her cast. Incorporating her love for movement and collaboration, she

came in with some choreographic ideas, but remained flexible and open to what looked and worked the best for her actors. “[‘Macbeth’] definitely is a different experience coming at it from a movement perspective,” Emma Payne, FCLC ’20, said. Payne, who is playing one of the witches, de-

ography around her actors’ natural abilities. “I want to capitalize on their talents. The actors are contributing so much to the process,” said Saito. She specifically praised her Macbeth, Wayne “Juice” Mackins, FCLC ’19, for his dance talent.

“It’s rewarding, it’s honoring.

I’m excited to go to rehearsal and

“ Creating movement is a full-time job in itself,

and I’m directing so there has to be so much attention to the language. It feels like two heavies that I’m trying to balance and make it cohesive, trying to blend and weave it together.”

– DAWN SAITO, movmement and acting professor at FCLC scribed the rehearsal process as being “a lot more collaborative.

It’s a lot more focused on generating your own work and discovering what the world of the play is as you go along instead of coming in knowing every detail about the circumstances in the world of the play.”

Saito’s version of “Macbeth” thus demands more physicality and stamina from its actors. In preparation for rehearsals, many actors changed their diet, hit the gym or even took ballet classes at the Ailey School. Saito also began rehearsals immediately following winter break, which is an earlier start to rehearsals than most mainstage productions. Actors were asked to come back from winter break with their lines memorized.

Despite the intense preparation for the play, the actors still view their experience with Saito as mostly collaborative and experimental. “[Saito] gave us more creative license in the process and you can see different aspects of each actor in the show where it comes in. She wanted us to come in, bring humanity to these characters and not be bound by some preconceived idea of what a Shakespeare show should be,” Prinz said.

Saito decided to base her chore-

work with Dawn,” Mackins said.

Saito also spent substantial time exploring the characters with her actors. Instead of just portraying Lady Macbeth and the three witches as “evil,” Saito worked with her actors to develop these characters as more three-dimensional and human. Saito also had to keep in mind the Fordham Theatre Department’s theme for the mainstage productions—“What does it mean to be an American?”—when directing “Macbeth.”

“I kind of wanted to make that more timeless and animable, and really focus on the human story.

The human story in being climbing up for power, trying to achieve power and the choices that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth make,” Saito said. “They want to climb up to ladder to achieve power unethically by killing and [using] violent measures.”

Saito directed “Macbeth” keeping in mind how the story is contextualized in America today. She focuses on gender roles in American society by adding more women to the cast. For example, Malcolm, a male character, is played by Kayce Wilson, FCLC ’19, a female.

“So [in the world of ‘Macbeth’], we’ve had a lineage of kings who have been male, so in the end, this woman rises to power and then

there’s a question of is she going to do better. Like what happened in our elections, for example,” Saito said.

Instead of portraying the witches as “evil,” Saito makes them more representative of nature. She uses this depiction to comment on how nature can be destructive and procreative, while also incorporating how humans can influence the negative events in nature.

“When destructive choices are made, there is chaos and imbalance. As in nature, we have global warming, so we’re getting a lot of hurricanes, and we are getting pollution, we’re heating up the planet, glaciers are melting, so how long earth is going to sustain human life,” Saito said. “And in that respect I feel the witches represent the human condition. That ‘Macbeth you’re making these unethical choices, so chaos is being created.’”

“Look at the cast. It’s not homogenous to one specific gender, race,” Mackins said, in reference to how “Macbeth” fits the theme, “What does it mean to be an American?”.

The greatest challenge for Saito is creating the choreography while still developing her world in “Macbeth.”

“Creating movement is a fulltime job in itself, and I’m directing so there has to be so much attention to the language. It feels like two heavies that I’m trying to balance and make it cohesive, trying to blend and weave it together. That’s the big challenge,” Saito said. “So I am so grateful that I have such talented dancers, choreographers, actors that are part of the cast, that are contributing so much. And then I have a great crew. And of course the designers.”

Be sure to see “Macbeth” unfold on April 11-13 and 19-21 at 8 p.m. in Pope Auditorium at FCLC. There is an opening night party immediately following the performance on April 11 and a talk-back after the April 20 performance. You can get your tickets by emailing the box office at fclcboxoffice@gmail. com or calling 212-636-6340.

18

Features

April 5, 2018 THE OBSERVER

Don’t Move, Improve

www.fordhamobserver.com

Self-Gentrification in the South Bronx

By DOMINIC ARENAS Contributing Writer

Two blocks from the Hunts Point Avenue subway and the strip mall on Bruckner Boulevard sits an eccentric oasis in the South Bronx. Walking southeast from the station, across Bruckner Expressway, one will find a commercial awning with an advertisement that reads, “You deserve the BEST. Your local coffee shop.

1 ½ blocks ahead.” That coffee shop is the Boogie Down Grind Cafe.

Unlike the abundance of similar specialty coffee shops that overflood Manhattan, the Boogie Down Grind Cafe is unique. The first locally owned coffee shop in the South Bronx is a small and cozy “third space” where coffee enthusiasts and borough natives can converse over handcrafted beverages. Baristas greet patrons, politely take orders and regularly engage in conversation with customers. The espresso machine is covered with Bronx-inspired stickers; by the door, a bulletin board hangs for local advertisement and promotion. The exposed brick interior is decorated with art and jewelry courtesy of local business owners.

Establishing the Boogie Down Grind Cafe is just one way that Majora Carter is redefining the stereotypes surrounding the Bronx. In addition to co-founding the Boogie Down Grind, Carter is a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant, given in 2005 for her work to revitalize the South Bronx. Her work in the Bronx includes co-founding StartUp Box, which creates job opportunities in the technology economy, and Sustainable South Bronx, a non-profit workforce that addresses economic and environmental issues in the neighborhood. She also brought the first open-waterfront park in 60 years to Hunts Point.

The barista on duty and the handful of regulars in the cafe that know Carter, simultaneously turn their heads, smile, and greet the owner as she walks into her cafe. Majora Carter is the cup of joe the South Bronx needs in the morning.

Her café, as she puts it, “stands in utter opposition of the stigma surrounding the borough.”

Carter says that finding beauty in the Hunts Point community in the South Bronx is essential in preventing outsiders that want to capitalize in the value that natives are led to believe does not exist.

“If you’re a smart kid in a poor community, you’re taught to measure success by how far you get away from those communities,” Carter said. “People come but don’t stay.”

Carter admits that being an innovator in the South Bronx is difficult because of the expectations of quality and nonexistent predecessors.

“It’s strange. You literally see people peering inside and being scared. It’s not a bodega or a McDonalds so people ask themselves, ‘What do I do with it,’” she said. “We [the South Bronx] are still an emerging market, but we’re not just corner stores and pharmacies.”

In a TEDx talk from 2015, she dubbed this way of thinking “brain drain.” In low status communities, she argued, smart children are taught to measure success by how far they move away.

Economic developments in the form of fast food joints and discount stores as well as an abundance of affordable low housing

DOMINIC ARENAS/THE OBSERVER

The Boogie Down Grind Cafe experience is one you cannot get in Manhattan.

units instill pessimism and concentrate poverty. As an urban revitalization strategist, Carter says she combats this sense of hopelessness by showing folks in her community, through her sustainable programs and innovative projects, that there are possibilities and beauty within the South Bronx.

“What we’re interested in doing is developing new opportunities for how you harness the power of gentrification so it betters the people in our communities,” Carter said. “Self-gentrification is development by us [people of color] and for us, it’s not gentrification. It’s for us.”

The effort to develop and harness the power of self-gentrification emerged from surveying the local community. According to her own definition, self-gentrification is a process of economic development in a wide variety of establishments and enabling inhabitants of low income communities to participate in the change of their surroundings. A little over a year ago, Carter and Sul-

ma Arzu-Brown, fellow co-founder, Garifuna author and Startup Box board member, conducted a study that asked locals, “What kind of business is missing from the neighborhood?” Carter and Arzu-Brown saw the frequency of “coffee shop” and responded by opening a space where natives could socialize and talk about matters pertaining to the community. The fruits of their labor became the Boogie Down Grind Cafe.

One thing you can’t get at a Manhattan coffee shop: The Boogie Down Grind Cafe experience.

Named after the birthplace of hip hop and the “grind,” the shop is an emblem of the hustle culture in the South Bronx. Baristas play throwback R&B and hip hop jams, local artists reach out to Carter to display art, customers are encouraged to leave a “speak your peace” note as well as take a book/leave a book on the store’s shelf.

For one of her employees at the Boogie Down Grind, Justin McMillan, Carter doesn’t just preach

self-gentrification and brain drain, she initiates empowerment through building infrastructure that opposes the norm ingrained in her fellow South Bronx natives.

McMillan, one of the participants of Carter and Arzu-Brown’s survey, voted for a coffee shop and previously worked in cafes Manhattan.

As McMillan enters the store, Risa Cruz, manager at the Boogie Down Grind Cafe, calls his name.

Though Cruz has worked at the Boogie Down Grind for almost a year, McMillan is the coffee expert that oversees quality control at the shop. Cruz openly admits that she is “still getting into this [coffee] culture” and points to McMillan on any and all things coffee.

“This is the guy you need to talk to about Manhattan coffee shops,” Cruz said. “He’s perfect.

He knows coffee!”

Also a Bronx native, McMillan says he values the shop as a second home and a safe space. Other than the Boogie Down Grind, McMillan can’t name an estab-

lishment where he can chat for long hours with friends and “just chill.” McMillan compares working at a specialty or chain coffee shop in Manhattan to being a robot.

“The cafes in Manhattan, there’s no substance, no soul, no experience,” said McMillan. “I come in here, my voice is heard, people appreciate what I do, and they’re [customers] the ones that ask me how my day was. It’s a jarring thing. ” Although he says he enjoys working at the Boogie Down Grind, he admits hating the stigma that is attached to the Bronx.

Whenever McMillan told previous coworkers and baristas he was from the Bronx or he worked in Hunts Point, he said it was usually met with apprehension. People would respond with phrases like, “Oh the Bronx, we don’t go there because it’s dangerous,” and “Is it safe up there?” he explained.

“The Bronx is not just pimps, drug dealers and prostitutes.

Everywhere I go people tell me how dangerous it is,” said McMillan. “Having that mall complex doesn’t help. Why does this community need another discount store or another fast food joint.

Is that all we’re good for? There’s such a stigma about the Bronx, but we’re about changing that mindset.”

The notion of gentrification frightens some Bronx natives.

The idea that the Bronx is an unsafe borough filled with crime, affordable low housing, discount stores and stereotyped individuals, petrifies some from even going to the Bronx. According to Carter, folks in the South Bronx community believe in “staying in your lane” when it comes to economic opportunities. Through her own definition of self-gentrification, Carter says that she believes that the South Bronx can strengthen its ability to be more economically sustainable and eliminate any misconceptions of the borough.

There are two murals on the same block as the Boogie Down Grind. The one at the end of street, on the same side as the cafe, depicts a girl who seems to embody the neighborhood. The phrase “Don’t move, improve” is stretched across the painting. Images of trucks leaving through a passage held by a white hand and South Bronx streets in the girl’s lungs stand out.

On the other side of the block, another mural covers top to bottom the side of a housing complex. The image is of a black woman collecting the light that beams from the sun. Across the top is the phrase, “You don’t have to move out of your neighborhood to live in a better one.”

As Carter leaves the shop for her next meeting, a grandmother, mother and daughter walk into the shop.

“It’s Ms. Majora Carter!” the mother shouts. After the two exchanged a hug, Carter peered into the mother’s stroller.

“Is that Maria?” she asked.

“Wow, she’s grown since the last time I saw her. Anyways, I apologize I’m in a rush, I’m off to a project development meeting.”

As the door shuts behind her, Cruz continues with orders at the espresso bar. Once the afternoon wave subsides, she settles with a smile.

“That’s why I love this shop.

That’s why I fell in love with what she [Carter] does. She shows face, she gives love, she loves helping people. She’s an icon,” Cruz said.

“I love the Bronx.”

Fun & Games

March 1, 2018 THE OBSERVER

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DOWN 1. Foal dad 2. South Park’s Parker 3. Roadside help org.

4. USG presidential candidate 5. Smack or junk 6. Language spoken in Central and Southern Africa 7. AMC competitor 8. All my friends ___ dead 9. Mount Olympus resident 10. Old timey “what’s up” 11. Campfire coated 12. City lights 13. Bond gun 17. Hand holder 21. FCC Concern 22. Sputtering 23. Curves 24. Kesha’s TiK ___ 25. Top of the traffic signal

26. Mean Girls writer 27. Florida wetlands 30. Flying mammal 31. Pinocchio’s undoing 32. YouTube money makers 33. Pokemon berry 34. Miami’s county 36. Ramen flavoring 39. Sunscreen rating 40. Darkening 42. Strategy 43. “___ in the Woods” (2011) 44. In pieces 45. Show again 46. Gun show?

47. Comparative suffix 50. Voice of Apple 51. Sixth string, sharp five 52. Six-foot builder 54. Indian stew 55. Mono, scientifically 56. Fleeting daytime slumber

Edited by COLIN SHEELEY and DAN NASTA

ACROSS

1.Haul 6. Boast 10. Dynasty or Solo 13. Hook, for one 14. Dynamics prefix 15. Sugar suffix 16. Agreed upon in advance 18. That which Horton hears 19. Florida island 20. Biggest artery 21. Former Yemeni capital 22. Incentives 25. Intervene 28. Alexis Bledel, when in Star’s Hollow 29. Records for later 30. USG presidential candidate 35. Film scene with no cuts 36. Housekeepers 37. Energy 38. Ticks, for one 40. Archie, Hal or Homer 41. Annual national outputs 42. ___ on: Get plastered 43. West coasters 48. Fordham’s club that celebrates Lunar New Year 49. Build 50. Old Man’s partner 53. Expired 54. USG presidential candidate 57. Indignation 58. Exist next to 59. Stuck with routine 60. Disco noise, when repeated 61. Gambling city and state, abbr.

62. Okja’s titular character

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Sports & Health

April 5, 2018 THE OBSERVER

Sports Radio Rundown

By ARTEMIS TSAGARIS Sports and Health Editor

WFUV, Fordham University’s radio station, had its first broadcast in 1947. Located in the basement of Keating Hall on the Rose Hill campus, WFUV is a professional radio station that students have the opportunity to work at during their time at Fordham.

There are three channels on the station—music, news and sports.

WFUV, which stands for Fordham University’s Voice, is a member of the National Public Radio (NPR)—a non-profit media organization that hosts over 1,000 public radio stations.

Over its 71 years, WFUV has been home to many big names in sports broadcasting, including legends like Vin Scully, Bob Papa, the radio announcer for the New York Giants, Mike Breen, the television announcer for the New York Knicks and Mike Yam, former host of ESPN’s SportsCenter.

One-On-One, a WFUV original program, is New York’s longest running sports call-in show.

Airing every Wednesday night and every Saturday afternoon, the show was conceived 44 years ago by Malcolm Moran, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’75, a former sports writer at Newsday.

Even though Bob Ahrens retired in 2017, he still gives input as the executive producer of the WFUV sports station. For the past 20 years, One-On-One has risen to great heights, and students have been able to attend sporting events such as the Super Bowl and the U.S. Open. WFUV has also

KATARINA MARSCHHAUSEN/THE OBSERVER

WFUV is a professional radio station that students can work at during their time at Fordham. won more than 60 awards during that period.

Ahrens took over this position after the retirement of Marty Glickman, who ran the station from 1988 to 1997. Ahrens joined in 1997 and retired in 2017. As a mentor, he insisted that the students who ran and worked at the station have a professional appearance. Since beat reporters from WFUV are sent out to cover all the New York pro teams in

every sport, having a professional appearance to a reporter looks good for the station and helps get a future reporter’s foot in the door.

Richard Schultz, FCRH ’98, said, We cover every New York team and most major sporting events as professional, credentialed members of the media. This means our students receive real-world, hands-on training and experience, which is exactly the same as what they hope to be doing once

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they graduate. In addition, our vast sports media alumni network remains extremely engaged in the training for our next generation of WFUV professionals. These opportunities, along with the hundreds of sports events, programs, sportscasts, training sessions and guest workshops, gives our students a well-rounded professional experience before they leave Fordham.”

Schultz was one of Ahrens’ first

students. His professional broadcasting career included play-byplay for Army sports and hosting a talk show on an ESPN radio affiliate. When Ahrens announced his retirement, Schultz became the sports director of WFUV. Both Ahrens and Schultz transitioned seamlessly. Schultz said about the program, “WFUV Sports is special because it is a professional radio station, and our students work as professional sports broadcasters while they are here in school.

Our sports students receive training and professional experience working in the New York sports media industry.”

At a typical WFUV One-OnOne show, there are five positions—producer, engineer, updates, A-host and B-host. The producer basically runs the show, taking care of the microphone levels, doing some sound effects (if the segment calls for it), answering the phone for call-ins and ensuring that the show is running smoothly. The engineer helps the producer with any additional tasks and runs the music when the show returns from a break. An updates person takes care of the “10-30-50 updates” which occur every 20 minutes: on the 10, 30 and 50 of the hour.

Updates generally include scores from local college and sometimes national sports, depending on the season and which games are being played. The A-host and B-host work off each other, with the A-host taking the lead and introducing new topics, and the B-host sliding in with statistics.

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