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April 11, 2019 VOLUME XXXVI, ISSUE 6
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Alum Guilty in Cyberstalking Case By SOPHIE PARTRIDGE-HICKS Asst. News Editor
Fordham alumnus Kristian James O’Hara, Fordham College at Rose Hill ’16, is facing up to five years in federal prison after a cyberstalking crusade targeting a woman he met during his time at the university. On April 3, United States Attorney David C. Weiss announced that O’Hara would plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit cyberstalking. According to prosecutors, O’Hara first began harassing the victim in late May 2016, when he was a senior at Fordham. He worked as a sportscaster for WFUV, Fordham’s radio station; she played on Fordham’s softball team. O’Hara was a part of the victim’s online social network where he was able to access information about her and her pictures. O’Hara initially started using the victim’s phone number to have unsolicited late-night food orders delivered to her and make prank phone calls. He also left voicemails to the victim’s family home in Delaware, in which he lied and accused her of giving him a sexually transmitted disease. After the victim rejected O’Hara’s romantic advances, his aggressions escalated. see CYBERSTALKER page 3
New USG Executives Plan on the Future
ZOEY LIU/THE OBSERVER
Tina Thermadam (left) and Robert Stryczek (right) are the faces of 2019-20 United Student Government. By REBECCA THOMPSON Staff Writer
The president-elect and vice president-elect of United Student Government (USG) can breathe a little more easily than they could last week. What was a contentious election cycle is over, as the focus shifts back to their responsibilities of the offices. “I really feel like the president is the brains and the vice president is the soul,” said Robert Stryczek, Gabelli School of Business (GSB) ’21 and vice president-elect of USG, about working alongside Tina Thermadam, Fordham College at Lincoln Center ’20 and president-elect. The two will serve USG for the upcoming school year. Thermadam believes her conversations with the Fordham student body were fundamental in encouraging students to vote. “I want to be as connected as possible to as many people see PLANS page 5
Transgender Housing Still Not Secure at Fordham By SOPHIE PARTRIDGE-HICKS Asst. News Editor
COLIN SHEELEY/THE OBSERVER
President Demetrios Stratis, FCLC ’19, said the reason for withholding vote count was to avoid public reaction.
USG Releases Election Numbers Committee reveals data hours after they said they would withhold it By JORDAN MELTZER, SOPHIE PARTRIDGE-HICKS, GABE SAMANDI and COLIN SHEELEY News Editor, Asst. News Editors and Editor-in-Chief
For the first time in four years, Fordham Lincoln Center’s United Student Government (USG) has decided to release the tallies for election results. According to USG President Demetrios Stratis, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’19, “We spoke, we revised our opinion and there it is for everyone to see. This is for the sake of the student body for the public and also to establish that the results speak for themselves.” The decision comes after a highly contested race between Tina Thermadam, FCLC ’20, who emerged victorious as President over Austin Tong, Gabelli School of Business (GSB) ’21, and Robert Stryczek, GSB ’21, who defeated Ellen Song, FCLC ’21 for the Vice President Position. The figures from USG state that Thermadam received 331 votes and Tong received 53. In the vice presidential race, Stry-
czek received 258 votes and Song received 108. Five students declined to vote for a president, while 21 declined for vice president. Originally, members of USG had claimed that they withheld the results to avoid a public reaction. “Basically, we want the USG to go on with its business,” Stratis said. “And we’re trying not to make a public thing out of it.” He warned that the numbers could embarrass certain candidates. “Trust me, if you saw the numbers,” he trailed off. USG has released statistics on voter turnout in the past, including in 2015 when Leighton Magoon, FCLC ’17, won his first of what would be two terms as USG president. The Observer reported on the low turnout and broke down the numbers by both class year and college. More than twice as many students voted this year than they did in 2015. Magoon, who is now a patron services representative at Rochester Broadway Theater League, was surprised to learn that the tallies were not publicized. “I’m very shocked that they wouldn’t be available somehow,” he said,
speculating they might be accessible through the Office of Student Involvement. None of the USG members were able to provide a reason for why numbers stopped being reported. Dr. Dorothy Wenzel, senior director of Student Involvement and advisor to USG, had originally explained that Student Involvement couldn’t release the numbers. “That has to be a USG decision,” she said. Wenzel is also the advisor to The Observer. Before the numbers were released, Thermadam stated she believed that “USG must have come to this conclusion bearing strong reasoning.” She explained the need for careful review among the entire USG body. “If the senate feels like the change was made for the right reasons we will uphold it. However, if we find out that this decision was made for the wrong reasons, I do believe that it is not a transparent choice,” she added. Vice President Katina Smith, FCLC ’19, said in an interview before the release that it is see ELECTIONS page 5
On Oct. 31, 2018, protesters from the student-organized transgender rights rally marched to the second floor of the Lincoln Center Lowenstein Building and slid an open letter to administration under the door of the vice president’s office. It demanded the university support for the LGBTQ community. One month later, Jeffrey Gray, vice president of student affairs, wrote in an email to a handful of club leaders and faculty that while university administrators “unequivocally condemn” hateful actions and speech against transgender individuals, further measures would “take more time and discussion.” Nearly five months later, neither Gray nor any other administrators have offered an update. One demand of the open letter was to address policies in the Office of Residential Life that discriminate against transgender individuals. Students have accused the office of creating a transphobic rooming environment by forcing students to live with roommates based on their sex assigned at birth, not their gender identity. Fi Whalen, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’19 and co-president of The Positive, a student group that celebrates and supports gender nonconforming students, said the policy promotes the concept that gender is binary. “These rules get at the absurdity of institutionally mandated sex and gender segregation,” they said. At the transgender rights rally, Jay Sheldon, FCLC ’20 and a transgender person, said that being treated as a man and being forced to live with other men was instrumental in aggravating their gender dysmorphia and consequently took a toll on their mental health. Jenifer Campbell, senior director of residential life, explained that the office works with students like Sheldon on a case-by-case basis in relation to their gender identity. On Nov. 13, 2018, two weeks after receiving the letter, Gray wrote that the university see RIGHTS page 3
CENTERFOLD
ARTS & CULTURE
FEATURES
SPORTS & HEALTH
Tips and tricks for tidying up and cooking
Alternative news sources bring fresh perspectives
Fordham’s final Mainstage travels into the future
A look at Fordham’s series against St. Joe’s
Dorm Recipes PAGE 10
Student Publications PAGE 12
‘Mr. Burns’ PAGE 19
THE STUDENT VOICE OF FORDHAM LINCOLN CENTER
Baseball Sweeps PAGE 20