OPINION
FEATURES
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Administration Hazy on Drugs
A Chinatown Thanksgiving
Containing Nuclear Waste
Read why Will Kaback ’20 thinks a lack of transparency is problematic on page 5
Claire Chang ’20 shares her multicultural Thanksgiving in Los Angeles on page 9
Preview this semester’s last F.I.L.M. screening, featuring Rob Moss, on page 11
The Spectator Reports of CCTV camera mounted around campus cause initial concern by Haley Lynch ’17 Editor-in-chief
On the morning of Monday, Nov. 28—students’ first day back from Thanksgiving break—some confusion spread across campus in reaction to the discovery of several unexplained cameras appearing in academic buildings. Director of Campus Safety Officer Francis Manfredo told The Spectator that the black CCTV cameras were in place for approximately 12 hours in the Sadove Student Center, Root Academic Building, Christian A. Johnson Hall and Emerson Lobby before Campus Safety started receiving concerned calls from community members and decided to remove the suspicious equipment. According to Officer Manfredo, explained that a subsequent investigation revealed that the cameras “were put up by a student conducting research for a senior thesis.” General concerns for the privacy of those who might be unknowingly subjected to surveillance as part of this research circulated campus, but further inquiry revealed that the Institutional Review Board (IRB)—a campus ethics committee dedicated to supervising research involving human subjects—had reviewed and approved the project. Additionally, Officer Manfredo indicated that although he could not confirm the nature of the research being conducted, citing reluctance to affect the students’ research outcomes, he can confirm that “cameras were located pointing downward towards the recycling bins.” These discoveries, Officer Manfredo told The Spectator in an email, helped “ease any concern [he…] had.” Chair of the IRB and Associate Professor of Psychology Jennifer Borton was able to confirm that she had played a part in approving this research, which she says is being conducted by a biology
student. In response to questions about why the campus was not informed ahead of time of the cameras’ impending presence and legitimacy, Professor Borton explained that although she was not directly involved in deciding whether or not to inform the community ahead of time, her assumption is that the student opted away from that course of action because “you can’t tell people about the exact nature of this project because it wrecks the results—it changes peoples’ behavior.” Nonetheless, in the wake of Monday’s blip of excitement, the student conducting the research in question was allowed to remount cameras in the same areas on Wednesday morning, accompanied by a campus-wide email from Officer Manfredo to assuage the community’s concerns. Professor Borton expressed some dismay to discover that the email went so far as to specify that “[t]he cameras are monitoring the recycling bins only,” since she believes that this will make the nature of the research too obvious, rendering the results unusable. Unfortunately, the specific student in question was not able to be reached for comment. Some of the information in the email did acknowledge apparent concerns that the cameras were originally mounted by Campus Safety for surveillance purposes. Officer Manfredo clarified: “Please do not remove them or be concerned you are being monitored by Campus Safety, we have no access to these cameras… If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email or call me.” All in all, what seemed momentarily sinister is much more innocuous upon further inspection. For the purposes of a student’s thesis research, the CCTV cameras will remain in place for two weeks, and will then be removed by that student.
M e n ’s b a s k e t b a l l b o a s t s y o u n g talent ahead of competitive season
PHOTO BY JULIAN PERRICONE ’20
The Men’s basketball team is off to a 4-1 record and looks to maintain this winning record. Read more on page 15.
Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 Volume LVII Number 12
Masterworks Chorale and Symphor!a p re s e n t : B a c h ’s M a s s i n B M i n o r
PHOTO BY EMILY MAGRUDER ’17
M e m b e r s o f t h e c o m m u n i t y, s t u d e n t s a n d f a c u l ty performed together a the concert. Read more on page 11.
Greek organizations engage in various philanthropic efforts by Ilana Schwartz ’17 Managing Editor
Although many Hamilton community members have mixed feelings towards Greek organizations, it is certain that they bring many philanthropic initiatives to the Hill. They plan fun events to raise money for a variety of charities, run food drives, build at Habitat for Humanity sites, volunteer at animal shelters and partake in a variety of other philanthropic activities. These events also help to raise awareness at Hamilton about important issues like hunger in the Utica area. Organizations have put on a wide variety of events, providing Hamilton students with fun activities while raising money to benefit important organizations. This semester, Phi Beta Chi and Delta Chi collaborated on their second annual Halloween Hustle 5K walk/run. Jon Shapiro ’17 said that they came up with the idea to support the V Foundation for Cancer Research because “one of our members had some family issues related to cancer, so we wanted to raise money to support him.” He continued to explain that the organization “distributes grants to medical researchers on the forefront of cancer prevention.” The event is inexpensive, which helps to maximize the amount that can be donated. This fall, the organizations raised nearly $2,300. Additionally, Alpha Delta Phi recently held its first annual food drive to collect canned food and non-perishables for The Country Pantry, which provides food to families and individuals in need, serving the Clinton, Clark Mills and Westmoreland areas. The members are also currently planning a 3v3 basketball tournament on Dec. 3, which will be cohosted with the Intramural Sports Committee. The proceeds of the tournament will go to the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees, which they
chose because “[they] wanted to pick an organization that was close to the Hamilton community. [They] know the importance of refugees to the economy of Utica and wanted to support the refugees and support their integration into the nearby city,” according to Harris Pollack ’17. Many organizations, including Chi Psi, walk in the annual Utica Heart Run and Walk in the spring, raising money for the American Heart Association, which focuses on fighting heart disease and stroke. Last year, Chi Psi raised $2,500 prior to the walk. While Greek organizations plan philanthropy events individually, the Intersociety Council, which “serves as a unifying platform for Greek societies on campus, and as a liaison to the administration,” is currently planning a campuswide event spearheaded by members from all the Greek organizations on campus. The event is called the Intersociety Council Philanthropy Initiative and it will be one big ticket event that will include the whole campus. The participants will be split up into four teams, each of which will pick a charity to represent. There will be a competition between the teams to raise the most money by the date of the event, which is still in the early stages of being planned. At that point, the sum of the money will be split. Half will be donated to the organization picked by the winning team and the other half will be donated to the remaining three. According to ISC Co-Chair Silvia Radulescu ’17, this event will hopefully “bring together the campus community and highlight the value Greek organizations can bring to our campus” by supporting several causes that will be chosen by the students participating. Overall, Greek organizations support a wide variety of charities across the country and world by getting the entire campus involved.