The Hofstra Chronicle, October 10, 2023

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THE HOFSTRA CHRONICLE

Hofstra’s “Swang’n” with Rae Sremmurd

By Jasmine Sellars

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

In a memorable night for Hofstra students, the chart-topping hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd electrified the stage for Hofstra’s annual Fall Fest concert on Saturday, Oct. 1. With hits like “Swang,” “Black Beatles,” “No Type,” “Come Get Her,” “No Flex Zone,” “This Could Be Us” and countless others, brothers Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi delivered a high-energy performance that united hundreds of students and ended in

a monumental firework show.

“We always try to put out positive topics and energy,” Lee said. “We want to make fun music for our fans, so hopefully it can make someone’s day.”

Rae Sremmurd, a palindrome for the phrase “Ear Drummers”, is an American hip-hop duo from Tupelo, Mississippi. The two rose to stardom in 2014 with their first single under Ear Drummer Records, “No Flex Zone,” which gained much notoriety with the Gen Z audience.

“For someone who has never listened to our songs, I would recommend ‘No Type’ because everyone loves bad, beautiful women. I feel like everyone can relate to that,” Lee said.

Through the light rainfall during the hour-long set, the Hofstra crowd was given words of encouragement from Rae Sremmurd, who motivated students to stay in school and never give up on their dreams.

“I like to tell kids, your life can get better or worse at any moment,” Jxmmi said. “You have to stay focused in your darkest times. If you keep your eyes set on your goals, you can get through anything.”

“Seeing Rae Sremmurd perform live was very inspiring, especially as a performer,” said Xavier Bell, a junior music business major and rapper. “Watching them both on stage getting the crowd hype gave me chills. I’ve always been a fan of their music.”

“It felt like I was talking to him,” said Roger Aristizabal, a senior mathematics major with a track in actuarial science. “He gave us a really motivational speech, and I felt really empow-

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Wiktoria Fronc: Leading the charge

By Marisa Dambach STAFF WRITER

Wiktoria Fronc, a sophomore forward from London, England, is off to an outstanding start in her second season with the Hofstra University women’s soccer team.

The Pride are 9-3-1 overall and 6-1-1 in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) with Fronc

and center as she leads

team with four goals and four assists.

“I think we had a lot of momentum, which was really nice,” Fronc said. “Improvement as a team, as a collective, is just nice to reflect upon. We already have more points than last year, and the season hasn’t finished, so where it’s been a loss, it’s also felt like the wins have made it up.”

The team didn’t think they should have ended their unbeaten streak with a 1-0 loss to the College of William & Mary, but it allowed them to prepare for their future games.

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OPINION

Student Health Services drops the ball on COVID-19 tests

Hofstra University drops 20 ranks on U.S. News’

“Best Colleges” 2024 list NEWS

By Annie MacKeigan

Every year, U.S. News and

lists ranking colleges and universities around the country. The 2024 “Best Colleges” listing, released on Sept. 18, showed Hofstra University dropping 20 places from last year’s list. Universities are ranked on “their performance across a set of widely accepted indicators of excellence,” according to U.S. News. Currently ranked at No. 185, many students feel that

the ranking does not properly reflect everything Hofstra has to offer.

“I just kind of wonder why [Hofstra] dropped,” said Dahlia Palacio, a freshman exercise physiology major. Much of the observed drop was due to recent changes in U.S. News’ ranking methodology. Many noticed that the changes that led to a decrease in the ranks of private institutions and a general increase in the ranks of public universities.

In response to the 2024 list,

By Estelle Collette

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

With COVID-19 cases on the rise again, there are new precautions and guidelines to properly prevent the spread. At this point, if you are in contact with someone with the disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that, even “if you do not have symptoms,” you should wait “at least five full days after your exposure” to test. If positive, you should

quarantine for at least five days after your symptoms begin. With the cold season approaching and students missing classes or clubs, taking extra steps not only helps you stay safe but also helps others stay safe. However, while Hofstra’s Student Health Services pushes protocols verbally, they are not following them or taking measures to prevent the spread.

Last week, I decided to get tested for COVID-19 five days after close contact with two people who tested positive. I went to Hofstra Student Health Services believing that I would be quickly tested.

Photo courtesy of John Anari

Photo courtesy of Matteo Bracco/ Hofstra University

Swae Lee joins Hofstra students below the stage as he opens the Rae Sremmurd concert.

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Hofstra Hall, Hofstra’s original school building, is located on the university’s South Campus and is seen by thousands of students and faculty each day.

Photo courtesy of Annie MacKeigan

Hofstra’ health services have been reluctant to test students advocating for their own health.

front

the

Photo courtesy of Alexis Friedman / Hofstra Athlectics Fronc has lodged the most minutes on the pitch with 1,132.

School-to-prison pipeline uncovered and explained by expert panel

By Sophia Guddemi ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

On Thursday, Oct. 5, Hofstra University hosted a panel of experts to discuss the school-toprison pipeline phenomenon as well as the role of the criminal justice system within it. The inaugural event was hosted by the Community Reentry Consortium (CRC) in collaboration with Hofstra’s Cultural Center and criminology program. Students from different departments attended the event to learn how they could be a part of the solution to this issue.

“The topic of school discipline and the criminalization of young people of color is one of the most important problems plaguing our criminal legal system today,” said Liena Gurevich, an associate professor of criminology and sociology at Hofstra and organizer of the event.

She explained that the idea for the event came from two of her fellow members of the CRC, a network of organizations and

individuals on Long Island who focus on developing resources and solutions for the effective integration of returning citizens. The organization is also composed of Hofstra professors and community members.

Marcellus Morris and Demar Tyson are two formerly incarcerated individuals who have been working with Gurevich and Robert Costello, an adjunct professor of sociology, for many years. The school-to-prison pipeline event was “inspired by Mr. Morris’s and Mr. Tyson’s experiences as being young people who were processed through the pipeline,” Gurevich said.

“We are grateful for their partnership because it is them who advocated for things to happen and for this relationship,” Tyson said in regard to the relationship that has been fostered between him, Morris and the Hofstra community. “This is the first time that something like this has been done.”

“Giving back to younger people, it’s a good experience

for me because it’s kind of like redemption,” Morris said. “We have got letters back saying [students] have learned from our speeches. We are reminded that this is what they are going to remember more than the books.”

“It’s my dream. We once laid in cells; those are a lot of long nights, and I was young,” Tyson said. “I became aware that people who went home began to speak at colleges and universities, telling their stories, and I had it in my heart that I wanted to do that as well. I wanted to tell my story to help young minds have an opportunity to hear about the other side.”

He also noted that events have left a long-lasting impact on students’ lives. “If you can reach that one individual or that one class or that one group, then that is a magnificent thing,” Tyson said. “Then I have achieved my life’s goal in an instant. What’s more powerful than saving someone’s life?”

Tyson, who also was the moderator, began Thursday’s

event by addressing the crowd of Hofstra students. “Our future leaders, prosecutors, probation and parole [officers], counselors, the people that we are passing the torch to … they can be the disrupters of the school-to-prison pipeline,” Tyson said.

The expert panel assembled by the CRC included six individuals from different areas of the field to help explain the phenomenon, its causes and possible solutions.

“The school-to-prison pipeline is a systemic and disturbing phenomenon in the American educational system,” said Prince Dennis Mapp, head of community and culture at the app Citizen, who has been incarcerated and affected by the problem himself. “The pipeline represents a set of policies, principles and practices … which disproportionately pushes students, specifically those of color, into marginalized communities and eventually into the criminal

Rae Sremmund rocks Hofstra’s annual Fall Fest

ered. I was jumping, and everyone was having a good time.”

A few hours prior to the concert, Lee also paid a visit to Hofstra’s women’s basketball team after their practice on Saturday.

“It was actually a surprise,” said Sorelle Ineza, a guard for the team. “After practice, our coach told us to stay in the building and everyone was so confused. Then, Swae Lee pulled up and we got so excited.”

“He was very personable and

outgoing. We spoke to him about basketball, and he even asked to play a quick game with us,” Ineza said.

“The idea for him to shout us out on stage came from one of my teammates. Then, he offered to bring us [on stage] instead.

The atmosphere on stage was amazing. It was a once-in-alifetime experience.”

Fall Fest also featured a carnival on the intramural fields.

Activities and rides included rock climbing, a slide, hurricane rides, a mechanical bull ride and several game booths.

“I had an amazing time on all of the carnival rides as my girlfriend and I waited for Rae Sremmurd to arrive,” Aristizabal said.

Several student organizations on campus were also involved

in the annual Pride Expo, where they decorated their own interactive booths and invited students, parents and alumni to participate. The tradition prompted student leaders to show off their creativity with booth games like Twister, ring tosses, snow cone making, a ‘70s themed disco party and more.

“Our booth with Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Phi Sigma Sigma and SMACS [Student Members of the American Chemical Society] was based on the 2000s, and thanks to everyone’s hard work, we were able to make our ideas come to life,” said Tabi Anderson, the secretary of the club De Moda.

“The most challenging aspect was setting up the walls and making sure they didn’t fall apart. On the day of the expo, it was gratifying to see attendees engaging with our booth and reliving the nostalgia of the 2000s,” said Jessica De Ocampo, the president of De Moda. Host and Hofstra alum Dina Massery shared that her experience as a theater performance major gave her the skills and

confidence to emcee for the festival. This year marked Hoftsra’s third festival since the pandemic. Massery noted that she felt more comfortable this time around.

“I come from the world of live, large events,” Massery said. “You get a sense of stage presence, and you understand what it’s like to be in front of people. The difference with hosting is there’s nothing to hide behind. It’s just you and a mic. I just get to be myself on stage, and I think that’s the most fun.”

As the concert ended, Lee and Jxmmi summed up the unforgettable night with a reflection on their journey and growth as rappers, sharing another inspirational message with their supporters.

“Don’t let anything take you off of your path. Stay away from distractions and negative people and push forward. It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Jxmmi said.

“Our story is literally about how we went from nothing to something. It can happen to anybody,” Lee said.

Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi of the musical duo Rae Sremmurd perform on stage.

Photo courtesy of Matteo Bracco / Hofstra University

Students unbothered by Hofstra ranking drop

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the office of marketing and communications on campus shared a statement with Newsday. Their statement read, in part, “Hofstra University prides itself on its academic quality and on providing an environment that supports student learning through personal attention, including small class sizes, a metric that was removed from the rankings this year.”

“U.S. News and World Report made refinements to this year’s rankings formula by dropping five longstanding factors, modifying the weights of several other factors, and introducing a few new ones,” Robert Morse and Eric Brooks of U.S. News wrote.

According to U.S. News, there has been more emphasis on evaluating student success from more socio-economic backgrounds, data that has just recently been made available. In 2023, “class size” was set to make up for 8% of the total ranking, which has fallen to zero percent in the aggregate ranking for 2024. Hofstra has an average 13:1 student-to-faculty ratio,

and the lack of inclusion of this metric could contribute to this year’s radical drop.

This is just one of many important metrics removed from U.S. News’ methodology this year. For some students, small class sizes are the difference between a positive college experience and a negative one. “The professors are really personable; they really want you to succeed,” said Gabby Sultan, a freshman exercise physiology major. “[Hofstra] is one of the few D1 schools that would allow me to do pre-med … I didn’t want to be just a number.”

Sultan plays softball at Hofstra and couldn’t be happier with her athletic experience. Sultan also loves her small class sizes and thinks the drop in Hofstra’s ranking is outrageous.

Hofstra’s office of marketing and communications also mentioned that some schools saw a drop as large as 60 places due to U.S. News’ “logic-defying fluctuations in the quality of national universities from one year to the next.” Many students don’t feel that the updated ranking is at all relevant to Hofstra’s success.

“It is one thing if a school has a bunch of silver medals for research, but if you don’t feel like you can grow into a better person there, is it really worth it?” asked Dallas Jackson, a junior journalism major who is also a Pride guide at Hofstra. “The whole college experience should be more about making sure that you’ll be supported and that you’ll be taken care of.” Showing Hofstra’s support systems is a large part of Jackson’s job of being a Pride guide.

Students find that support in many different places. Cameron Elwell, a sophomore geography major, appreciates Hofstra’s welcoming community over its national ranking. “I value the acceptance of the campus; there’s a massive queer community [here],” Elwell said. “I’m glad to be able to express myself.”

The office of marketing and communications mirrors a similar sentiment. “Hofstra stands by its recent success and will continue to evaluate its progress against the highest standards,” they proclaimed in their statement to Newsday.

Hofstra students voice their outrage about food price inflation

By Madeline Sisk ASSISTANT COPY CHIEF

In response to the alarming increase in food prices and growing concerns from students about the disparity between cost and quality in Hofstra University’s on-campus food, a meeting was held in the Guthart Cultural Center Theater on Friday, Oct. 6. The session aimed to provide context for Hofstra’s food prices and allow students to vocalize their concerns.

The gathering was organized promptly after administrators took note of the rising discontent in student leadership group chats. Tyler Kolecki, an RA for Groningen House in the Netherlands and a junior television/ video production major, has been a big proponent of this meeting and played a crucial role in garnering support from students.

“I have been working for about a week to try and get this news out, try and get people to come here and show support for this because it is an issue that everyone experiences,” Kolecki said.

Initially the meeting was to be held at the Bernon Admission Theater, but the venue was changed at the last minute, and some attendees, such as William Jiggetts, a sophomore psychology major, expressed skepticism

about the sudden shift.

“It felt a little bit disingenuous how quickly they changed venues for this event. Because they originally told us they were changing venues to accommodate for more people, but the Cultural Center Theater isn’t that much larger than the original room they were going to host it in,” Jiggetts said. “And not that many people showed up because of the last-minute change. So, it almost feels as though they did that to reduce the amount of people that came to the event because they knew that there would be some hostility and some backlash and they didn’t want to deal with that.”

The meeting, attended by students, faculty and members of Dining Services, opened with an explanation of Hofstra’s pricing from Joseph Barkwill, the

Information & graphic by Sophia Guddemi

An increase in food prices on campus has caused students to become outraged.

D’Angelo Guevara / The Hofstra Chronicle

Author of the second most banned book in the U.S. visits Hofstra

By Giovanni Salsa

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Hofstra University’s 20th annual Great Writers, Great Readings series hosted George M. Johnson, the author of the second most banned book in the country, “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” on Wednesday, Oct. 4. The United States has witnessed a staggering, nationwide height of the banning of books within schools and libraries over the last few years. Johnson expressed that school boards and politicians have advocated for the banning of books in order for families to have a say over what their children read. However, Johnson stated that there is a correlation between the banning of certain books and a conservative agenda of maintaining a curriculum without diversity.

“All Boys Aren’t Blue” is a memoir manifesto that was

released during the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020.

The book deals with the trials and tribulations of growing up as a Black person also in the queer community. Johnson recounts their life growing up “different” and tells a very personal and brutal story about trying to find their identity in the book. Johnson explained that the motive for them to write this story was in hopes that it would help someone who is going through the same thing that they went through.

help guide them through similar experiences.

Johnson spoke about the influence of their book and the effect it has had on those who needed it the most. Johnson stated that

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vice president for Facilities and Operations.

“Increases are tied into a CPI index, consumer price index. We did this back about 10 years ago even before the 2017 contract [with Compass], because we had no way of assessing price increases that were coming from a vendor,” Barkwill said. “So we decided to tie it into the CPI. And I’m not gonna get too detailed, but CPI is actually inflation.”

The April CPI determined this school year’s annual price increase for food that went into effect July 1. According to the CPI, inflation for “food away from home” (which Hofstra considers itself under) was 8.6% in the past year. In comparison, the April 2021 CPI noted a 3.8% increase in inflation. This discrepancy is largely due to ongoing complications from the COVID-19 pandemic and various supply chain disruptions.

“I needed a way to bring to the table a balance that we [students and administrators] could both agree on would be the increase, and it was CPI,” Barkwill said. “I had a conversation with Compass corporate

people can explore who they are and see that others go through the same struggles they do.

“I thought that the event was very informative and an important conversation to be having,” said Hayley Kastner, a junior television and business major. “Banning books is the silencing of voices and it is unjust.”

Growing up, Johnson did not have an outlet that allowed them to figure out who they were and how to achieve a realization of their identity. Johnson hopes that this book is at the very least a starting point for anyone who may need it to

the book has helped many gain the courage to name their abusers, legally change their names to one they prefer as opposed to ones given at birth, and generally give an outlet in which

“I liked hearing about how they became a writer and why they write what they do, especially how they write, what they think young readers might need to hear and not just what they are comfortable writing about,” said Blake Dunckley, a junior English major.

During the event, Johnson spoke out about why they don’t like to use the word “allyship” when referring to people who

Students rally together over concern of food prices

and said we could not go above 5% a second year in a row, even though CPI said we could and the contract said we could. We negotiated a lower number, and that lower number was 4.98%.”

Students, however, questioned the allocation of additional expenses.

“[Additional expenses beyond the food] should be something that should come at a cost to the school with the tuition dollars we are paying. That should not be something that the students have to pay for in each individual meal,” said junior Alyria Hunter.

Environmental considerations and other student initiatives were also discussed, leading students to consider whether or not these initiatives were being implemented into the cost without their knowledge.

“I also didn’t know that students advocated for environmentally friendly plates and stuff. So, it’s like, is that a cost that was incurred onto us unknowingly because I had thought that was just the norm at Hofstra,” said Jenna Lopez, a senior speech-language-hearing sciences major.

The meeting also addressed concerns about the high prices

of kosher and other dietary restrictions. Jose Rodriguez, the resident district manager at Hofstra University Compass Group, assured students that efforts are being made to bring prices back down to normal.

“We had an issue with Eli’s at one time,” Rodriguez said. “As you all know, anyone that eats kosher, you need a mashgiach for the preparation and make sure that we keep the integrity. We didn’t have a mashgiach, so we had to outsource it because we needed to get food for the students. Unfortunately, when you [outsource], the prices go up, [but] we [recently hired] two mashgichim.”

Amidst the discussions, Jessica Eads, the senior vice president for student enrollment, engagement and success, shared insight into the university’s efforts to provide free food options to students.

“We’re trying to work very hard to make sure that there’s a free option hosted by the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement and my team every single day,” said Eads. She recalled past initiatives such as Food Truck Fridays and free ice cream and pizza days. “We’re constantly trying to add more

want to help the oppressed minority. They said that the word “ally” implies a mutual benefit in which the oppressed don’t have much to give.

“I prefer to use these three terms: advocate, accomplice and assassin,” Johnson said. “You want somebody to be there to speak on your behalf. You want somebody right there by your side. And you also need someone who’s willing to step in and take some blows for you so you can catch your breath and join the fight later.”

George M. Johnson will continue to fight for banned books to be put back on shelves in schools and libraries, saying that students who may be going through what they went through need these outlets in order to know their worth and not feel alone in the world.

of those options, and we change the days of the week to do that.”

The meeting also delved into concerns beyond pricing, including the quality of food and the growing exasperation from students about it being their responsibility to bring these issues to the attention of the school.

Percy Benedick, a junior, questioned the university’s efforts. “Do you think that some damage has already been done to the student body? And also do you think that your prior responses to this topic have been appropriate?” Benedick asked. “Because it seems like you’re putting a lot of responsibility on students to bring these [problems] up when these should not be issues in the first place.”

Benedick also shared a prior experience with campus dining.

“I found a live wasp inside of a prepackaged Au Bon Pain sandwich at Bits and Bytes,” Benedick said. “And I don’t know what that says about, like, how we’re packaging our sandwiches and how we’re pricing them, but I don’t particularly want to pay $12 and then get stung by a wasp.”

Afterward, Benedick’s line of questioning was met with a round of applause from students.

The administration did not have an immediate response. Later, Rodriguez attempted to clear the air.

“We all make mistakes, alright? Sometimes those extra eyes [from students] help us,” Rodriguez said. “I do have a team that [goes] around, and we look at these items, and we’re gonna do a better job of doing that.”

Administrators also considered the possibility of introducing grocery items at Dutch Treats and adjusting meal plan options was discussed.

Jade Cheng, the director of Dining Services, stated that while using meal points off campus was not possible, grocery items at Dutch Treats was definitely an idea she wanted to explore. Lexis Meehan, the marketing manager of Dining Services, confirmed that Hofstra “will be working toward implementing grocery items at our Dutch Treats location.”

As the university takes steps to address the challenges posed by inflation, the hope is that this meeting will mark the beginning of a collaborative effort to enhance the overall dining experience for the Hofstra community.

Photo courtesy of Giovanni Salsa

Author George M. Johnson discusses the growing trend of book banning.

Dismantling misconceptions about the school-toprison pipeline

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justice system.”

“We are talking about a larger systemic issue which starts with bias in the larger system,” said Monique Griffith, an assistant professor in the department of psychology. Griffith stated that the larger issue is that the school system funnels special education students and those who have experienced trauma through punishment into the criminal justice system.

Keith D. Saunders, an educational consultant from the Saunders Omnipresent Network Inspiring Americas Youth Inc. and former educator, provided an equation to represent his definition of the school-to-prison pipeline: “Free labor plus time equals profit.”

“Look at the locations of prisons. They are in predominantly Caucasian areas, where that is the main source of income for that community,” Saunders explained. “So, you need the bodies to produce the labor, the labor to produce the product, the product to be sold, for you to make 50 cents an hour. It is a system of capitalism. It’s all about money.”

sel for adolescent and juvenile justice for the Nassau County Department of Probation. “Everybody wants to stay in their own box and do their own thing, and they focus on the task at hand. And the task at hand may not be in the best interest of the young people that we are trying to serve.”

One of the main causes Reyer identified was zero-tolerance policies in schools. “There shouldn’t be that direct link from school suspension to arrest to court. There should be some intermediary in the way that is a diversion, that is a way to avoid the stigma of the justice system,” Reyer said. She concluded that one of the largest problems is that the voices of the young

again. Let’s communicate with each other again,” Saunders said. “Regardless of race or ethnicity or class or all those other labels put on you, we are human beings. Human beings need love, care, affection, time and energy.”

Students who attended the event said the panel resonated with them because of the relation to their future careers.

“The mention of the word community [made me] feel so honored to be part of an educational program that has the word community in it,” said Katarina Vattes, a second-year doctoral student in the school community psychology program. “I am going to be a school community psychologist, so we have the opportunity to be a change agent.”

Furthermore, Mapp added that the amount an individual makes in prison is dependent on their level of education. General prison labor is 11 cents per hour, individuals with a GED make 25 cents and those with college degrees make 45 cents. According to Saunders, this capitalistic system results in products being sold for maximum profits.

“It is the lack of compassion in our court system. We hold the most marginalized and discriminated individuals to a higher standard of conduct in the criminal justice system,” said Fernando Camacho, the court of claims and acting supreme court justice of Suffolk County, when asked his perspective on the causes of the pipeline.

“[The reason] why it is so important that all of us are here is the lack of collaboration between the educational system and the justice system,” said Arianne Reyer, the special coun-

people go unheard.

When offering solutions, Jonathan Lightfoot, a professor of teaching, learning and technology and the director of the Center for “Race,” Culture and Social Justice at Hofstra, urged the future teachers and lawmakers in the audience “to center the child, center the student.”

“One of the main root causes is setting expectations on young people and then not giving them any supports to reach those goals,” Reyer said. “We can say to a young person in the court system, ‘If you want to comply with your terms of probation, you have to go to school every day.’ But they aren’t going to school every day if we don’t give them the resources and support to make sure that they get there.”

Saunders recommended that the key to resolving this issue is community. “Let’s become a community with one another

Key:

Public Safety Briefs

Compiled by Moriah Sukhlal

PS - Public Safety

CS - Community Standards

UFD - Uniondale Fire Department

HFD - Hempstead Fire Department

fire alarm sounded, and the building was evacuated within nine minutes without incident. PS, Plant and UFD responded to the location. The situation was corrected, and the fire alarm was reset.

Anna Moy, a secondyear doctoral student in the school community psychology program, stated that she valued the diverse backgrounds of the panelists. “From people who were in prison to our professor who does so much work in the community – as a person who is mostly white, I think that acknowledging our privilege and how we can extend that privilege to other people who don’t have that is going to be so important,” Moy said. “We are training to be school psychologists and advocacy is what we do.”

“I was very happy with the turnout. That testifies to a great deal of interest in this subject on behalf of the young people,” Gurevich said. “It is wonderful that young people are concerned about other young people. We should make connections; we should make bonds with people in the community despite our differences. It’s worth reaching out.”

For more information about the Community Reentry Consortium and how to get involved, contact Liena Gurevich at liena. gurevich@hofstra.edu.

On April 8, at 4 a.m., the RSR working in Bill of Rights Hall reported to PS that two HU students and a non-student failed to comply with Hofstra guest policy and verbally harassed the RSR. The non-student was banned from campus, and the two students were issued referrals to CS for their actions.

On Sept. 21 at 3:25 p.m., an HU student reported to PS that they lost their wallet while sitting on a bench outside of CV Starr. Upon review of the cameras, it was discovered that an unknown person picked up the wallet from the bench and walked away with it. Police assistance was declined at the time.

On Sept. 21, at 4:55 p.m., an HU student reported to PS that while entering the bookstore with their service dog, another dog tried to attack their dog. The owner of the dog is currently unknown, and an investigation is being conducted.

On April 8, at 11:14 p.m., the RA in Utrecht House reported to PS that, while conducting rounds, there were loud noises coming from a room. PS responded and discovered open bottles of alc

On Sept. 22, at 1:57 p.m., the fire alarm in Bill of Rights Hall was activated due to a curling iron in a room. The fire alarm sounded, and the building was evacuated within 13 minutes without incident. PS, Plant and UFD responded to the location. The situation was corrected, and the fire alarm was reset.

On April 8, at 4 a.m., the RSR working in Bill of Rights Hall reported to PS that two HU students and a non-student failed to comply with Hofstra guest policy and verbally harassed the RSR. The non-student was banned from campus, and the two students were issued referrals to CS for their actions.

On Sept. 26, at 11:08 p.m., the fire alarm in Dover House was activated due to a grease fire on the kitchen stove in the lounge. The fire alarm sounded, and the building was evacuated within two minutes without incident. PS, Plant and UFD responded to the location. The situation was corrected, and the fire alarm was reset.

On April 8, at 11:14 p.m., the RA in Utrecht House reported to PS that, while conducting rounds, there were loud noises coming from a room. PS responded and discovered open bottles of alcohol. Six students were issued referrals to CS.

On Sept. 27, at 10:09 a.m., a HU student reported to PS that while cooking in the kitchen of Dover House, oil in a pan caught fire. The student reported that they attempted to throw water on the fire, which caused a flash fire. The fire went out on its own, and there were no injuries.

On April 11, at 2:18 p.m., it was reported to PS that an unknown person wrote messages in chalk on the sidewalk on the south side of Hofstra Hall. Photos were taken of the graffiti, and an investigation is being conducted into this matter. The plant department was notified for cleanup.

On Sept. 27, at 4:45 p.m., while pulling out of a parking spot in parking field seven, vehicle one, driven by an HU student, struck vehicle two, driven by a non-student. Vehicle one sustained damage to the front bumper, and vehicle two sustained minor damage to the front bumper on the driver’s side. Police assistance was declined at the time.

On April 12, at 9:50 p.m., the fire alarm in Estabrook Hall was activated due to hair care products. The alarm sounded, and the building was evacuated. PS, the plant department and the Uniondale Fire Department responded to the location. The situation was corrected, and the fire alarm was reset.

On Sept. 28, at 4:52 p.m., an HU bus driver reported to PS that when they went over to the Oak Street Center parking lot to pick up a bus, they observed four unknown men smoking marijuana in the back of the bus. The men fled the scene when they saw the bus driver. An investigation is being conducted.

On Sept. 30, at 2:24 p.m., the fire alarm in Bill of Rights Hall activated due to marijuana smoke in a room. The fire alarm sounded, and the building was evacuated within 10 minutes without incident. PS, Plant and UFD responded to the location. The situation was corrected, and the fire alarm was reset.

On April 14, at 5:25 p.m., the fire alarm in Hampton House was activated due to burnt food in the kitchen. The alarm sounded, and the building was evacuated. PS, the plant department and the Uniondale Fire Department responded to the location. The situation was corrected, and the fire alarm was reset.

On Sept. 30, at 2:30 p.m., while responding to an activated fire alarm at Breukelen House, it was discovered that the cause of the alarm was marijuana smoke in a room. The resident of the room admitted that a non-student guest used a vape cartridge in the bathroom. The Hofstra student was referred to CS for the actions of their guests.

On April 15, at 10:19 a.m., the fire alarm in New York House was activated due to burnt food in the kitchen. The alarm sounded, and the building was evacuated. PS, the plant department and the Uniondale Fire Department responded to the location. The situation was corrected, and the fire alarm was reset.

On April 11, at 10:20 a.m., an HU plant employee reported to PS that he accidentally damaged a vehicle owned by another Hofstra employee on Holland Road while working on the main campus. The owner of the vehicle was notified about the damage and responded to PS.

On Sept. 27, at 1:04 p.m., the fire alarm at Constitution Hall was activated due to an air freshener in a room. The

On Oct. 3, at 3:25 p.m., the fire alarm in the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication activated due to vaping in a room. The fire alarm sounded, and the building was evacuated within one minute without incident. PS personnel, Plant and HFD responded to the location. The situation was corrected, and the fire alarm was reset.

On April 15, at 6:53 p.m., an HU student reported to PS that they lost their wallet containing their driver’s license, Hofstra ID, debit card and cash. The wallet was lost in a location off campus. The NCPD responded and took a report.

Sophia Guddemi / The Hofstra Chronicle Panelist Prince Dennis Mapp (middle) discusses how he was personally affected by the schoolto-prison pipeline.

FEATURES

Grief: A personal essay on questions, regret and sadness

By Frankie DiCalogero SPORTS EDITOR

Grief – the thought of death has always made me feel unwell. Sometimes, the thought itself is worse than watching someone slowly begin to decline in health. Death has always held a tight grip on my body. The fear of being in pain, the fear of loved ones being overwhelmed with sadness and, most importantly, the fear of what happens next. The question of what happens after we die has been playing on a loop in my brain for the past 10 years. I have met death all my life, but the experience I went through when my mother passed away on Dec. 12, 2022, is one that I wish nobody else would ever have to go through.

In April 2022, my mother was diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare type of cancer that occurs in the bones and soft tissues. In 2022, it was estimated that around 17,100 people in the United States had been diagnosed with this illness – talk about unlucky. This was not the first time my mom had cancer, but it was the first time you could visibly see just how much the tumor was taking from her. A tumor the size of a football attacked the way she slept, walked and emotionally grasped this potentially life-changing journey.

As time went on and her prognosis worsened, she went to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, where she received surgery on her leg that completely removed the ever-growing tumor. All our fears and worries basically evaporated after that – until one day in September.

My mom was in rehab and having trouble moving one side of her body. She was transferred to a hospital in New Jersey that was near the rehab center, and my mom, my sister and I were told that the cancer had metastasized to her brain. I still remember my sister’s reaction. Beet red, tears overflowing and my mom trying to calm her down, saying everything was going to be okay. Deep down, my sister and I both

knew that things weren’t “okay.” I believe my mother knew that things may not be on the right track and that she was just trying to stay positive and strong for her children.

As time went on, my mom went through two brain surgeries in the span of one month, one of which caused my mom to lose her memory and sense of self

My mom wasn’t as motivated, doctors weren’t as positive and our family was preparing for the worst.

The day my sister and I found out my mom’s cancer became terminal will go down as the worst day of my life, because at that moment, everything became clear. This was the end. This was the end of me and my mom

with me, in my heart and mind, but it’s not the same and it never will be.

Even now, I feel a sense of jealousy in every conversation where someone’s mother is brought up. “I’m going out to eat with my mom for her birthday.”

I’m texting her happy birthday knowing that she’s not going to answer. “My mom and I are

“‘I love you bigger than the sky.’ That was the last true sentence my mom ever spoke to me. In her final days, when she could barely talk, had trouble breathing and her heart was racing, that sentence stuck with me.”

for a few days due to radiation therapy post-operation. The first surgery was labeled a success, but the cancer came back once again in rehab, this time on the complete other side of her body. And despite the second surgery also being a “success,” things never went back to normal.

telling jokes to each other. This was the end of our trips to the beach. This was the end of her teaching me how to cook. This was the end of watching our favorite shows together and always differing about who our favorites were. This was the end of us as we knew it. Yes, my mom is still

going shopping.” I’m packing up all her clothes in a bin and putting them in the attic because they won’t be worn. “My mom just texted me ‘goodnight, I love you.’” I’m looking at every past text message where I regret acting in a sort of way or regret not being as loving to her.

Every scenario, every situation brought up brings negative thoughts. While I should be thinking about the good times, I can’t help but think about the times when I should’ve been better. I can’t help but think about her not being here when something good or exciting happens in my life. Her death took a huge part of me. That’s the sh*tty thing about grief. You’re still here, but the repercussions of what happened will live with you in the present day and for as long as you live. Then your kids will carry that grief, and so on and so forth. Grief is an endless cycle and unfortunately, it’s unavoidable.

“I love you bigger than the sky.” That was the last true sentence my mom ever spoke to me. In her final days, when she could barely talk, had trouble breathing and her heart was heart racing, that sentence stuck with me. She was told she was supposed to pass away a week prior to Dec. 12. She didn’t. She didn’t go out easily. Because she knew that when she took her final breath, the phrase “I love you bigger than the sky” would have to be true. She would love us bigger than the sky because that’s where she is. She looks down on us, giving us all the love in the world because she knows all the pain left is due to this tragedy.

She didn’t want to let go because she didn’t want her children to be heartbroken. How could she be taken away so soon? I’m not super religious, but throughout this time of grief, I’ve concluded that it’s better to believe that your loved one is in a better place, with no pain and with their family, looking down and being at peace. For me, it’s better than thinking that when you die there is nothing but darkness. And if there is one thing I know about my mom, she deserved more than anyone else to live in the light and not the darkness. The light she shone on the world and myself is ever-lasting and will never be out of sight or out of mind, never running out of life.

Frankie DiCalogero / The Hofstra Chronicle

FEATURES

Chron Critiques: The Witches Brew

By Esmee van Brandenburg and Lisa van Pieterson

SPECIALS TO THE CHRONICLE

After six weeks of being at school, only eating campus food can become boring. Many, especially vegetarian or vegan students, have probably tried almost everything on the menu. However, just a short ten-minute drive from Hofstra’s campus is a charming little coffeehouse that only serves vegan and vegetarian food: The Witches Brew, in West Hempstead, New York.

When entering the darkly lit restaurant, you immediately feel the spooky ambience. The place is styled with nice vintage-looking furniture and is decorated with string lights and Halloween decorations.

You first walk past a display of all the pastries and desserts they have to offer, which all look incredibly delicious. You’re greeted by the host, and at this point, it is easier if you have a

reservation because you’ll probably have to wait until there is a spot available if you don’t.

Once you are seated by the waiter, they bring you the menus. Yes, menus plural: there’s an entire menu dedicated to different kinds of teas, coffees and other beverage options as well as one for food.

Next to dinner, this place is great for going out for tea with a yummy pastry. We shared a teapot for only $5, choosing between what felt like 50 different options. The staff members are nice even when you’re extremely indecisive like us.

After finally deciding on what to eat, the food didn’t take long to arrive. We ordered the quinoa bowl and the fettuccini broccolini. Both were really tasty, and we strongly recommend trying them. The quinoa bowl was packed with different kinds of vegetables and dressed with a nice green tahini sauce. The fettuccini broccolini was incredibly tasty, with tomato sauce, broccolini, garlic,

breadcrumbs, a touch of Calabrian chili flakes and a small loaf of bread on the side.

For a cost of only about $20 per dish, it feels like a good deal. For dessert, we both got cheesecake, with brownie and apple crumble topping. They both tasted amazing and were really filling.

But beware, before paying a visit to the Witches Brew you do need to know some crucial information.

Firstly, due to its popularity, reservations are a must and can be made in advance on their Yelp website or even on-site at the restaurant. Unfortunately, we weren’t aware of this requirement, and as a result, we had to wait for an hour before securing a table.

Secondly, it’s important to note that the Witches Brew operates on a cash-only basis; they do not accept card payments. There is an ATM available inside the restaurant, but it does come with a fee.

Lastly, there’s one more thing you should be prepared for –deciphering the menu. The food menu is straightforward and uses a standard font. However, the beverage menu employs a more intricate hand-written font style that might require some extra time to navigate before deciding what to order.

Overall, the Witches Brew offers a delightful escape from the routine of on-campus dining. With its captivating ambiance,

Chron Cooks ft. Zoe Casselman: Breakfast

Burrito and ‘Breakfast Sauce’

diverse vegetarian and vegan menu, and delectable offerings, it’s an ideal spot for a cafe outing. Just remember to plan, bring cash and take your time deciphering the intriguing menu fonts to fully enjoy this unique dining experience.

We hope that our experience enhances your visit to the Witches Brew and makes it truly unforgettable!

By Zoe Casselman

FEATURES EDITOR

At home, my sister and I are constantly looking for ways to make easy delicious meals in as little time as possible. Through trial and error, we have perfected this recipe of a breakfast burrito paired with a concoction we have affectionately titled “breakfast sauce.” All you need are a few simple ingredients, a pan, a microwave and hopefully a friend to make the cooking process fun like my sister does every time we make this delicious snack.

Ingredients:

Burrito:

1 flour tortilla

2 eggs

3 strips of bacon

A splash of milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional:

A handful of shredded cheddar cheese

Breakfast sauce:

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 teaspoon yellow mustard

A splash of steak sauce (I use A1 brand)

A splash of dill pickle juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Whisk eggs and milk in a small bowl.

2. Turn the stovetop to medium-high heat and scramble the eggs, gradually adding more salt and pepper.

3. Put a layer of paper towels onto a microwave-safe plate, place the strips of bacon evenly apart, cover with another layer of paper towels, then microwave for 3-4 minutes depending on how crispy you want the bacon to be.

4. Microwave the tortilla until warm and malleable.

5. Mix the sauce ingredients in a small sauce dish.

6. Put the eggs on the warm tortilla and place cheese on top to melt if desired. Break apart the bacon into smaller pieces and place on top of the eggs. Drizzle sauce on top as desired.

7. Wrap the tortilla, then enjoy!

Zoe Casselman / The Hofstra Chronicle

Photo courtesy of Esmee van Brandenburg and Lisa van Pieterson

M AN ON THE U NISPAN

If you had to be an animal, which one would you be?

By Zoe Casselman

FEATURES EDITOR

“Definitely a lion because my last name means lion in Spanish.”

- Michelle Leon, freshman

O verheard @ h O fstra

“My mom doesn’t kiss me on the lips!”

“There’s a guy named Rocket Power in my town, and he’s, like, so racist.”

“I’m the most anti-man straight person in the world.”

“A goat because I am one.”

- Paul Jean, freshman

-

“I was too distracted by the amount of meat stuffed in your mouth.”

“I wanna try Chinese water torture.”

“I need him to tuck me in and sing me lullabies.”

“I wish I was born during 9/11 so I could compare it to having pink eye.”

“Omg, I hope I get an ‘xo’ at the end of my presidential alert.”

“Guys. Culture is overrated; acorns are where it’s at.”

“I just wanna go to Applebee’s, get drunk and scream obscenities!”

Spread by Audra Nemirow

“A cat – they live a simple life. Like a nice lazy housecat.”

Samantha Martin, freshman

Zoe Casselman / The Hofstra Chronicle

Chron Cooks ft. Gigi Ortiz: Homemade Reese’s Cups

By Gigi Ortiz SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

This is the easiest and most delicious way to make Reese’s cups at home. You can choose all of your favorite ingredients: favorite chocolate, favorite peanut butter and even vegan options if you like as long as they can melt. Then enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 cups of melting chocolate

1 cup of peanut butter

1 cup of powdered sugar

Cupcake liners

Muffin tray for baking

Piping bag or a plastic bag

The recipe makes about 8-12 peanut butter cups depending on the size of the tray and cupcake liners.

Instructions:

1. Place your peanut butter in a bowl and then slowly fold the powdered sugar into it. Cover with plastic wrap and put to the side.

2. Melt your chocolate. I recommend placing it in the microwave for no more than 60 seconds and then stirring or placing it in a heat safe bowl over boiling water.

3. When the chocolate is melting, line your muffin tray with the cupcake liners.

4. After melting the chocolate, use a spoon to place a small amount of chocolate evenly at the bottom of each cupcake liner, about one centimeter high. Make sure you tap the pan down a bit to make all the chocolate level and evenly spread. This is the base of your peanut butter cup.

5. After all the cups are filled, place your tray in a freezer or fridge to harden the chocolate. This is necessary for placing the peanut butter on top, otherwise it can sink to the bottom.

6. Remove the tray and place your peanut butter mixture into a piping bag. (You can also turn a Ziploc bag inside out, grab the wad of peanut butter with it like a glove and then turn it right side out. With the peanut butter now in the bag, you can squeeze the extra air out, close it and cut a hole at one corner, making a piping bag.)

7. Using the piping bag, place an appropriate amount on each base of chocolate. The peanut butter should be a good amount but right in the center, leaving the perimeter to be filled chocolate.

8. Take more scoops of chocolate and pour them over the peanut butter, letting it pour around the sides and over the top of the peanut butter glob until it is just covered. Repeat with every cup.

9. Finally, the cups can go back into the freezer for hardening. After about 15 minutes, remove the tray. I like to keep the cups inside the liners for storage purposes because they don’t have preservatives that some candy brands use, so they do melt a little easier than other peanut butter cups. I would recommend storing them in the fridge or an air-tight container.

10. Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of Gigi Ortiz

Rae Sremmurd rocks

hofstra fall fest

Hofstra held its annual Fall Festival on Saturday, Sept. 30, as a part of Alumni, Student and Family Weekend. The festival featured family and alumni receptions, the Pride Expo, carnival rides and games, as well as a concert headlined by hip- hop duo Rae Sremmurd.

Spread by Emma Fabilli

Photo courtesy of Annie MacKeigan

Photo courtesy of Annie MacKeigan

Photo courtesy of Annie MacKeigan

Photo courtesy of Annie MacKeigan

Photo courtesy of Alexander Ferreira

Photo courtesy of Alexander Ferreira

Photo courtesy of Alexander Ferreira

Photo courtesy of Alexander Ferreira

Arts And EntErtAinmEnt

Revenge is served with heart and gore in “Saw X”

By Michael Gaborno STAFF WRITER

Nearly 19 years after audiences were brutally introduced to the twisted world of “Saw,” the franchise’s staple character John Kramer (aka Jigsaw) is still one of the most iconic and beloved horror movie villains of all time. What makes his case so different from the rest, however, is how debatable his status as a villain is. Of course, kidnapping people and subjecting them to elaborate torture machines isn’t exactly the work of a traditional “hero,” but as his mythology unfolds during the first seven films, his achingly tragic and at times empathetic character is revealed to be more of an anti-hero than a clear-cut hero or villain.

Jigsaw is a terrifying and understandable symbol of an extreme reaction against the growing moral decay of the 21st century, and his moral complexity and unforgettable methods have allowed him to stay relevant throughout the everchanging landscape of theatrical horror. After two Jigsaw-lite

spin-offs, the freshly released “Saw X” sees Kramer and his wicked sense of justice return in an innovative installment that is as expectedly nauseating as it is startlingly heartfelt.

Chronologically taking place between the first two films, the story follows Kramer (with Tobin Bell returning with his most impressive performance yet) as his desperate search for cancer treatment leads him to a fraudulent medical program in Mexico. His discovery of the scam inspires him to devise a new set of games for those responsible.

Aided by his apprentice, fanfavorite Amanda Young (once again played with irresistible ferocity by Shawnee Smith), he seeks to ignite a “reawakening” in his games’ participants as a way for them to atone for their sins. The traps are appropriately nasty and are some of the most creative and cringe-inducing contraptions in over a decade, with veteran “Saw” director Kevin Greutert wringing out a stomach-churning amount of tension with each excruciating sequence.

The dedication to bringing back the head-spinning and disgustingly raw aesthetic is satisfying in all of its macabre, filthy glory. Greutert provides fans with the wild and memorable marriage of those thrillingly sped-up images, ultra-wicked camera angles, energetic pushins, gratuitous close-ups and the countless other signature visual tricks and treats of the “Saw” franchise.

Alongside all of this effort to lock fans back into the sensory assault that they have been deprived of for much too long is an added dimension that makes this film such a special entry: its profound emotional core. Previous sequels have done a resolute job of exploring Kramer’s backstory and motivations, but this is arguably the first film that wholly depicts him as an anguished protagonist trying to find sense and meaning in his mortality-driven existence.

This newfound poignancy shines through the grime and gore brightly thanks to the powerful performances from Bell and

Young and the smart decision to tell a stand-alone, single-location and straightforward story as opposed to the twisty, soap opera plotting from before. Choosing to focus on these characters first and foremost in what is essentially a grisly chamber piece was an inspired and energizing choice from writers Peter Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg. It puts the franchise back on track after over a decade of rusting away on the fringes of the horror world.

The 10th film in the franchise still packs in all the high-energy depravity and brain-breaking traps, as well as that spinetingling climactic track, “Hello Zepp,” as the final twist unfurls like a demented gift opening itself up to the unsuspecting players. It’s the commitment to showing the blood-stained humanity of these shattered and deceptively terrifying souls in a stripped-down plot and setting that makes this such a rewarding return to the world of “Saw.”

Music Fest to welcome Ski Mask, cupcakKe

By Alexander Ferreira

SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Soon, the sounds of cheers and screams will echo in the distance as Music Fest begins. Hofstra Concerts is celebrated for its profound musical passion, and this year’s Music Fest is an event worth its omnipresent hype. On Friday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m., Music Fest will host a stellar lineup of performances, including Hofstra’s own Official X and the Nice Guys alongside femdot., cupcakKe and headliner Ski Mask The Slump God, at the arena within the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. Of course, many are familiar that this year’s Music Fest had been scheduled for the spring semester of 2023. Between 6 and 7 a.m. on April 29, members of Hofstra Concerts were in immediate communication on what steps should be taken. The weather was only getting worse –

the problem was not so much the rain but instead the heavy gusts of wind that posed safety risks.

To the disappointment of everyone, the unfortunate weather conditions forced the cancellation and rescheduling of the festival to a later date.

“The morning of, I made the executive decision as soon as possible,” said Katie Rogers, the president of Hofstra Concerts.

“If we can reschedule this and do this right, let’s do it immediately and cancel as early as possible. We could give half a performance but nothing to the size or scale they [Hofstra] were going to expect, so I worked with administration, and they said, ‘Yes, we’ll be able to reschedule it.’”

Now, Hofstra Concerts can give the Pride a concert done right. Instead of an outdoor festival, this year’s music festival will take place indoors at the arena for the first time in years. Jason Montes, vice president of Hofstra

Concerts, is most excited about Music Fest’s rescheduled timing three weeks after Fall Fest.

“It’s really cool because you’re kind of going off that high of Fall Fest, and everyone’s in the music mindset where they’re into concerts, so having it right after that is pretty cool,” Montes said. “Being able to have one in the spring, for us as an e-board and club, our name is getting out there, and people are starting to know Hofstra Concerts. But even as a fan, it’s awesome that there are three concerts in one year.”

The concert will allow seating and general admission on the floor inside the arena. Although rides will be missed, the Pride can look forward to receiving free merchandise.

As always, students can attend Music Fest for free, and any senior who graduated in May will be allowed free admission. Students looking to bring up to two visitors have until Friday, Oct. 13, to purchase guest

Quick Hits

tickets. Additionally, Public Safety has announced that bags are prohibited. After 9 p.m., the doors close, and no re-entry will be allowed.

While all their focus has been on this year’s Music Fest, the e-board is already in the works of planning next year’s Music Fest in the spring. Stay updated on their Instagram page, @Hofstraconcerts, for more information and any news leading up to Music Fest.

Doors will open at 6:45 p.m., with Official X and the Nice Guys kicking the night off at 7:45 p.m. Next, femdot. takes the stage at 8:15 p.m., cupcakKe at 9 p.m. and headliner Ski Mask The Slump God at 10 p.m. Spread the word, invite your friends and come together to celebrate the power of music. Don’t miss out on what promises to be an extraordinary night by Hofstra Concerts.

Courtesy of NBC

Courtesy of People

An arrest was made in the death of Tupac Shakur 17 years later.

Bruno Mars cancelled his concert in Tel Aviv after unrest in Israel following the attacks in Hamal.

“The Golden Bachelor” premiered on Sept. 28 to rave reviews.

Drew Barrymore’s show writers will not return following the WGA strike.

Courtesy of Rolling Stone

SNL returns Oct. 14 with Pete Davidson and musical guest Ice Spice.

Courtesy of Vanity Fair

Courtesy of People

Why women suffer in country music

By Abby Gibson ASSISTANT ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Female country music artists have consistently faced a lack of equality in radio – their music is typically played less on the radio compared to their male counterparts. The highest-played male artist on country radio, Kenny Chesney, has earned more than six million spins, while the highestplayed female artist, Carrie Underwood, has only earned a little more than three million spins. At the end of the year, even the male artists with the lowest numbers performed better than their female counterparts.

Data from SongData’s study “Gender Representation On Country Format Radio: A Study of Published Reports from 20002018” found that this disparity has worsened over the years. Another example of these discriminations is from country radio station 98 KCQ in Michigan. In 2020, one of their DJs publicly stated on X, formerly known as Twitter, that

By Kyla Rosen SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

Whether you came to Fall Fest early this year to go to the carnival or get an up-close spot to see Rae Sremmurd, you most likely got a chance to hear the opening band, Hello Brooklyn. Depending on your music tastes, they might have been your favorite performance of the day.

Hello Brooklyn is a cover band that originated in 2011, with only one founding member still playing with the band today. Their schedule consists of a wide variety of gigs, ranging from weddings and private events to clubs. They even have a residency at Ulysses, in Manhattan’s financial district, on Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. Although the band has had rotating members over the years, the five current members seem to be a perfect fit. Not only do they sound great together, but they also just enjoy each other’s

they had an unwritten rule that they could not play songs by female country artists back-to-back. This led to backlash from country artists such as Kelsea Ballerini and Kacey Musgraves.

After this mishap, Country Music Television announced on Jan. 21, 2020, that they “would institute equal airplay for female artists on their two channels.”

Another country radio station in Canada announced that they would split airplay fifty-fifty between female and male artists. However, this did not do much to ease the insult for female artists.

While there are still popular female country artists out there like Kelsea Ballerini, Carrie Underwood and Ashley McBride, they still do not receive the same treatment as men even after years of being in the country music industry. This might have to do with the fact that white men make up the majority demographic of country music listeners; however, this does not resolve the difference in treatment towards female artists. They still deserve to be

given the same opportunities and airtime; who knows what could happen to their level of success if given the same airtime as their

with the Los Angeles Times, Morris talked about how the toxicity of the industry has worsened over the years and how it negatively

male counterparts?

The environment in the country music industry has even led Maren Morris to step away from the genre. Morris is leaving because of the country music environment, not because it’s not the music she wants to make. In an interview

affected her. She has since moved from labels Columbia Nashville to Columbia Records with her new EP “The Bridge,” which details her departure from the country music industry. The first song on the EP, “The Tree,” starts with the soft

Introducing Hello Brooklyn

company both on and off the stage.

Hello Brooklyn isn’t playing in hopes of being rich and famous – they play for their love of music and the friendships they have found with one another. In the coming years, they hope to maintain where they are now – established in the areas they play with, the freedom to make their own schedule and play the music they enjoy.

The band had a perfect mix of rock and pop throughout their two sets at Fall Fest. They also clearly had fun on stage, which made the crowd have fun watching. In a similar fashion to bands like Paramore, they have a pop vibe to their songs but infuse them with a rock or punk sound that can capture any audience’s attention.

Although the whole band was clearly talented, the real showstopper of their perfor-

mance was the vocals of lead singer Liz Regan. With a unique voice that could be compared to Alanis Morisette or Sheryl Crow, Regan could make any passerby want to stop and listen. She has a versatile voice, making her sound fantastic on a huge range of songs throughout multiple

strum of an electric guitar and drum. Through the usage of tree metaphors, she shows how even as country music was growing, the inside was rotting. She sings, “Hope I’m not the only one,” which can be interpreted as her encouraging other female artists to stand with her, if not follow her lead. The second track, “Get The Hell Out Of Here,” is an acoustic song about being burnt out and wanting to please others but ultimately choosing yourself. The song is meant to be inspiring to others and to get them to understand why she is leaving country music.

With Morris leaving the genre, many wonder if she is only the first of many to follow. If there is no equality in country music, how will the industry appeal to incoming female artists? Only time will tell what the future of country music looks like.

genres. From Amy Winehouse to Carrie Underwood to Olivia Rodrigo, there wasn’t a song that didn’t sound good with Regan’s vocals.

For five people who have only known each other for the last few years, Hello Brooklyn got lucky with their chemistry both

on and off the stage. From chatting and bonding to getting in sync before a set to their weekly performances at Ulysses where they can try out new things and just have fun with their music, it is clear they love working together.

Although Hello Brooklyn doesn’t write their own music, Regan and guitarist and vocalist Karl Markgraf have recently released an EP titled “What Jacket Are You Wearing?” with a separate group called Mercy Lurkers that is worth a listen for those interested in pop rock and punk. While Rae Sremmurd may have been the long-awaited event of Fall Fest, Hello Brooklyn couldn’t have been a better performance. If you find yourselves looking to plan a wedding anytime soon, give Hello Brooklyn a call.

Maren Morris released her final country album, “Humble Quest,” in 2022.

Photo courtesy of CNN

The band will perform a public gig on Dec. 31 at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amangassett, New York.

Photo courtesy of hellobrooklyn.com

Make your choice: Four gnarly horror films for ‘Saw’ fans

By Michael Gaborno STAFF WRITER

With over $1 billion in unadjusted worldwide grosses and a massive, devoted following, “Saw” is one of the most successful horror franchises in existence. Starting off with a “Seven”-esque thriller and quickly morphing into a wildly elaborate and excessively gory soap opera, the soon-to-be-tenfilm series has repulsed critics and general audiences alike but has ensnared the hearts and minds of horror fans around the world for nearly two decades. Due to its highly prolific nature, there are bound to be a variety of films aesthetically similar and/ or thematically like-minded to the “Saw” franchise, and many of them are just as twisted, unpredictable and thought-provoking, if not more so.

Note: All the films mentioned in this article contain extreme and disturbing content and themes. Please research each film for potential trigger warnings.

“Hellraiser” (1987) directed by Clive Barker Where to Watch: AMC+, Prime, Pluto TV, Tubi.

A timeless classic that spawned its own sprawling franchise, Clive Barker’s adaptation of his 1986 novella depicts a group of sadomasochistic “explorers” (the Cenobites) from a hellish dimension crossing paths with a broken family. What ensues is a series of imaginatively grotesque set pieces that showcase some of the most unforgettable, finely crafted and

revolting practical FX ever put on celluloid. Barker’s cinematic bravura ensured that the film stood out and that the Cenobites were instantly hailed as horror villain icons.

“The House That Jack Built” (2018) directed by Lars von Trier Where to Watch: AMC+, Hulu, Tubi.

Lars von Trier is nothing short of a controversial figure, and naturally, his work is greeted with the same kind of public polarization that has been attached to his name

since the ‘80s. His most recent film, an ambitious arthouse epic that plunges into the depths of a serial killer’s psyche, is no exception. The film is unabashedly full of itself, but it is also a genuinely unnerving exploration of sociopathy that is exemplified by a jawdropping performance from Matt Dillon and captivating imagery. It is decidedly not for everyone, but for those intrigued by a two-anda-half-hour art drama that will test their limits in more ways than one, it might just do the trick.

“I Saw the Devil” (2010) directed by Kim Jee-woon Where to Watch: Prime It isn’t easy to earn comparisons to the masterful revenge tales of Park Chan-wook, but “I Saw the Devil” does it with an ugly, depraved aplomb. It features a sadistic cat-and-mouse game between a relentless killer and a widowed, vengeful intelligence officer. The film recalls the mystery-focused plot of the first “Saw” and adds thrillingly staged action to the mix. The destructive nature of revenge and violence is on full

A Hollywood strikes primer

By Jason Fields STAFF WRITER

The historic dual strikes that have stopped Hollywood in its tracks for almost half of this year are, seemingly, heading toward their end. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has made a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is seemingly close to one as well. However, the dual strikes, along with many controversies and contradictory information, have caused confusion as to what the strikes are for, who benefits from them and why there is so much tension between all parties involved. This article seeks to dispel myths, quell confusion and explain the myriad of issues that have arisen.

The two parties striking are the WGA and SAG-AFTRA. The

WGA represents the working writers of the film, television and radio industries, and SAG-AFTRA represents the working actors in the film, television, radio and video games industries (that distinction will become quite relevant).

The two guilds are striking against the AMPTP, which represents film and television producers along with streaming companies.

The WGA and SAGAFTRA are striking for similar but ultimately different reasons. The similarities involve protection against artificial intelligence and increased residuals from streaming viewership. The WGA is specifically fighting for the restricted use of artificial intelligence programs like ChatGPT to generate script material, protections for screenwriters who are hired to write more than one draft of a given project and a guaranteed minimum size for writers’

room on television shows.

SAG-AFTRA wants to gain protections from the usage of artificial intelligence to scan actors’ faces and voices to create performances, compensations for self-taped auditions and third-party analysis on

streaming viewership data.

For now, the strikes are heading toward an end, though it is unclear when the entertainment industry will be able to return to full swing.

The WGA’s tentative agreement with the AMPTP – which has yet to be ratified by the union’s

display here, and it has never been more compelling, especially with an ending as hard-hitting as this film’s.

“Martyrs” (2008) directed by Pascal Laugier Where to Watch: Pluto TV, Tubi, Vudu.

Commonly referred to as one of the most disturbing films of all time, this slice of extremity easily lives up to that moniker. Its story about a torture victim seeking revenge against her tormentors is terrifying and violent, but what truly makes it hard to watch is its unrelenting bleakness and nihilism. There is not one shred of hope to be found in its corpse-filled, blood-stained canvas of existential pondering and suffering. It’s profoundly acted and well-produced, and unlike most of the other films on this list, there is no trashy fun to be had here. Its surprisingly philosophical approach enhances its horror rather than detracts from it, and the end result is one of the most beautifully horrific films in recent memory.

membership – allowed writers to return to work on Monday, Oct. 2, with late-night talk shows and television writers’ rooms immediately starting back up. With SAGAFTRA still on strike, production is still on hold, though some projects have been able to receive an interim agreement to continue production.

SAG-AFTRA’s interim agreement is a strategy that allows non-AMPTP-affiliated productions to continue either production or promotion. SAG-AFTRA believes that interim agreements “are a strategic bargaining tool and an essential part of the union’s strategy to strengthen truly independent productions while weakening the resolve of the AMPTP,” according to the union’s news updates. Films like Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” and the Nicholas Cageled “Dream Scenario” have all been allowed to continue produc-

tion and promotion under the agreement.

So why should I care?

This sentiment gets at the heart of most of the confusion with the strike: the conflation between the wealthiest members of the union and everyone else. Not every actor or writer is an A-lister who can command salaries of millions and can make or break a project’s development. Most actors and writers are people just trying to make a living, and the studios and streaming services have made such a proposition nearly impossible.

If the most famous Hollywood talent are barely making money from projects, just imagine what the average day worker in the industry has to contend with. This is why the strike was, and still is, necessary: to ensure a future for the industry.

The “Hellraiser” franchise was rebooted in 2022 on Hulu.

Some writers refuse to return to work out of respect for SAG-AFTRA.

Photo courtesy of NBC News

Photo courtesy of American Cinematheque

OPINION

The views and opinions expressed in the Opinion section are those of the authors. They are not an endorsement of the views of The Chronicle or its staff. The Chronicle does not discriminate based on the opinions of the authors.

Late-night TV has become a desolate nightmare

By Tom Norman

Late-night talk shows have been on a steady decline for years; the once-popular medium doesn’t have the same draw that it used to. The style is becoming outdated and outclassed by more accessible forms of entertainment. Even the showrunners are aware of this – which is probably why they have been exclusively trying to generate clips to put on YouTube and TikTok for the past several years.

So, what happened? Well, for starters, the style is just plain stale. Most nights, these shows follow a certain pattern: the host gives a monologue (and tries their best at being funny), they interview a guest, they do some kind of skit with said guest, they maybe throw in a musical act, and they rinse and repeat until the show is over. These events typically happen

in this order on a nightly basis, and that gets tiring for a viewer. The shows aren’t willing to innovate or change their style.

The nail in the coffin for this lack of originality was James Corden ending his Carpool Karaoke segment and, interestingly, his whole show. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of this segment, at least it was original. It was the only thing breathing life into an otherwise lifeless show, and they axed it. While that is just one example from one show, it’s not like anyone else was trying to change the format either. You can’t convince me that 90% of latenight hosts don’t have a strict fill-in-the-blank script that they just change slightly depending on what guests they have on that night.

Vivvix, an ad revenue tracking company, reported there has been a 41% decrease

in late-night show revenue in only five years. So the public is obviously losing interest as well. The only current host who does anything different than the rest is Eric Andre, but he hardly counts. His show, “The Eric Andre Show,” is basically a comedy set in a late-night show as opposed to being a normal talk show.

You can tell that their guests aren’t going on these talk shows for their enjoyment. The only reason any celebrity goes on is to promote something. It’s never just, “Here’s me hanging out with my good friend Jimmy,” it’s always, “Here’s me hanging out with my good friend Jimmy. While you’re at it, go see my new movie in theaters!” Even the musical guests don’t bother appearing on the show unless they have some sort of project waiting in the wings.

Am I insinuating that celebrities strongly dislike a lot of late-night hosts? No, that would be ridiculous, but I wouldn’t fault you if you didn’t like them. There are so many hosts nowadays that are either bland and unfunny or sometimes just bad people.

Very few people care about any of these hosts. Bill Maher just recently crossed the picket line of the current WGA strike to attempt to resume his show without writers. Now tell me, did you even know that before you read this? Follow up – has your life changed even slightly now that you have this information? Of course not! All he does is complain about young people and yell at clouds! Who cares about him or his show?

With the popularization of podcasts, these shows are losing purpose. Most late-night hosts

do podcasts now, so what is the point of tuning in at a specific time when you can listen to a podcast at any time of the day?

A podcast is much simpler to set up, and you can pump them out more easily. Podcasts also allow their hosts to show more charisma and be themselves.

The sad state of late-night can be boiled down to this: showrunners are more concerned with keeping their income growing because people are still watching, but they can’t keep that up forever. People are already consuming other forms of entertainment and getting more enjoyment elsewhere. They can keep beating the dead horse, but the downfall of the style has become an inevitability.

Tom Norman is a sophomore journalism major. He can be found @_tomnorm on Instagram.

Student Health Services drops the ball on COVID-19 tests

CONTINUED FROM A1

When I arrived, I was immediately told to go home because I did not have a fever or cough. I felt the man I spoke with was rude and was trying to push me out the door. He told me there was no reason to test me despite CDC guidelines. The CDC states that if individuals have COVID-19, they are most contagious during the first five days of having symptoms –meaning that if I had waited until I had symptoms such as a cough or fever, I would be at the most infectious point in the incubation period. He then demanded I pull up the article I read to prove it to him. After reading the article to him, he continued to interrupt me and asked if I

wanted to speak to the nurse practitioner before eventually going to speak with her alone. After a few minutes, he told me she would give me the test, but to my disappointment, this was not the only red flag I encountered.

I was told that students must sign themselves into their appointments using their insurance cards. I was unsure what numbers I needed from the insurance card and had to wait for assistance. In addition, in an environment where potentially contagious students are coming in to be tested, I was shocked to find they did not disinfect the computer and mouse between me and the patient after me. After talking with other students, I found the problem was not only at the front desk.

One student I spoke with stated that after they tested positive, they were told to quarantine for five days, then it was up to the professor to decide if an absence was excused. They told me that despite still feeling sick on the fifth day, a professor tried to force them to come to rehearsal where they would be sitting directly next to other students without a mask while playing an instrument. The student expressed their concern and discomfort with the idea and felt that if they still had symptoms, they should still be quarantined.

Another student expressed frustration with the Student Health Services website itself and was struggling to schedule an appointment at all. This student was not dealing with

COVID-19, but after being unable to schedule online or calling over the phone, they were told there would be a five-day wait before they could be seen. This left the student unsure if they should stay home or continue to go to classes. Another student was also turned away after scheduling a COVID-19 test due to a lack of fever.

Hofstra used to appear concerned about the health of students and faculty. Junior and senior students told me there used to be emails sent randomly to students to be tested for COVID-19 to prevent a spread from asymptomatic students.

While this method had its flaws, Hofstra now is reluctant to even test students despite close contact with multiple

sick people. People are sick and spreading their sickness to others. Those who don’t get tested or are asymptomatic spread it blindly. Those who get sick and stay home, but are told not to test until they are at their most contagious state, spread it unwillingly. Then, those who have no symptoms but want to test for precaution are pushed out the door if they don’t stand up for themselves.

Hofstra Student Health Services needs to do better, and until they do, students and faculty will only continue the spread.

Estelle Collette is a sophomore filmmaking major with a minor in music.

Crossword 10/10

Across

5. The Statue of Liberty’s head was exhibited at the World’s Fair in this city

8. Name shared by the two main characters of "Gilmore Girls"

11. Rapper who discovered Eminem – two words

12. American musician Jimmy __¬

13. Travis Kelce plays on this NFL team

15. Rishi ___, current prime minister of the U.K.

Down

1. Italian sauce made mostly of pine nuts and basil

2. Fifth month of the year

3. Author of "Pride and Prejudice"

4. One of Shakespeare's most well-known plays

6. Informal name of Hofstra's business school

7. If you are jealous, you are ___ with envy

8. Season 2 of this Marvel show just released

9. Who and Jill went up the hill?

10. State known for skiing and Ben and Jerry's ice cream

14. Hebrew name meaning "elevated" or "high"

Graphic by Makenzie Hurt / The Hofstra Chronicle

The views and opinions expressed in the Opinion section are those of the authors. They are not an endorsement of the views of The Chronicle or its staff. The Chronicle does not discriminate based on the opinions of the authors.

By Lee Cusack

Suburbia: The isolation capital of America

The suburbs account for a large portion of American neighborhoods, but while suburbia has an undeniable allure, its effects on its inhabitants’ mentality are detrimental to American society. From its racist foundation, the suburbs have been stripping Americans of community and creating isolated, uncaring people.

The suburbs are a collection of property in a lush area, with expansive yards and usually equally large housing. Suburban neighborhoods are usually organized in a culde-sac format, with long, winding roads, as opposed to the grid-like format most cities follow. This format makes most suburbs not walkable, requiring a different method of transportation, like cars or bicycles, to travel through the area. There is often no public transportation in a suburb, meaning that the transportation etiquette and safety for working or potentially living

By Thomas Saxa

in a city that city-dwellers learn from a young age is lost on people who grow up in these neighborhoods. The lack of public transportation also requires that most people own a car, which is not only expensive but also a large contributor to pollution.

Public parks are not a common thing in both cities and suburbs, but in the suburbs, there aren’t often as many cafes or corner stores that can take the place of a park for children, or anyone, to meet up with one another. Because of this, most suburban towns have a Facebook page or other social media forum for residents to post or complain to the whole town about whatever is on their minds. This page can quickly turn from a page about important information to a page about petty issues, such as kids riding bikes through a street they don’t live on or how people allow their gardens to grow. This kind of online vitriol about meaningless things can easily spread through a town, creating an air of pettiness.

This isolation can be traced to the beginning of the suburbs in the history of redlining. According to NPR, redlining was a phenomenon where the Federal Housing Administration denied mortgage insurance to members of neighborhoods primarily composed of African Americans and other people of color. This was due to their belief that people of color lowered the value of the property in which they invested. This belief, while unsubstantiated and now proven untrue, also led to people of color being barred from buying houses in the suburbs, which were mainly composed of white residents. While redlining is now illegal, its effects continue to live on. Suburban neighborhoods continue to be predominantly white. Property in these neighborhoods tends to be incredibly expensive, and the racial wage gap, as well as other forms of systemic racism, are large hurdles for people of color trying to buy property in the region.

However, a lesser-known contributing factor to the attitude in the suburbs is the idea that because the town is wealthier, schools there have better funding. According to Assurance Financial, one of the main reasons people move is to be in a better school district for their children. This leads to many people moving into the suburbs for their children to have a good education – not necessarily because they want to be there. Not many people who move in for that reason care about bettering the town, instead only caring that their child has a good experience. I am from a suburb myself, and in my suburb, there are no sidewalks and few streetlights. The issue of adding sidewalks or lights to increase safety is a constant debate in my town and is constantly turned down. People will claim sidewalks are too expensive, but when the local high school asks for a large sum of money for any reason, people suddenly have no issue raising taxes. They don’t care about making the town safer or more walkable;

they only care about the school that their children attend getting whatever funding it needs to help their child succeed. Someone wanting their child to succeed is not a bad thing, but when it’s all they care about, they lose the sense of shared responsibility that residents of a town need to feel for one another which makes a town thrive.

Not only are suburban residents physically distanced from one another, but the culture, history and continuation of the suburban ideology have also kept people mentally distanced. However, as someone who grew up in a suburban town, I don’t believe that suburbs are a lost cause. If people took the time to organize more open community events, attended town meetings instead of complaining online and tried to connect with one another, the suburbs could take the first major step toward reformation for the better.

Lee Cusack is a freshman audio/radio prodcution major.

Professional wrestling is far too dangerous

Professional wrestling is currently the most popular form of sports entertainment worldwide. With long-running narratives, bulky men and extremely talented athletes, professional wrestling has embedded itself into the cultural zeitgeist over the last 70 years.

Most people find the worlds of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), All Elite Wrestling and New Japan to be idealistic escapes where their favorite stars can take on hated heels in stories that mirror Western tales of good and evil. And besides, wrestling is fake, so these people can’t be getting hurt – right? That thought is far from true, as these athletes put their bodies through the worst pain imaginable nightly.

When talking about professional wrestling, it’s important to note that it’s not actually “fake” – it’s more choreographed. This means that the matches and outcomes are predetermined, but the bumps and bruises these people take are mostly all real.

Obviously, there are things that they can do to soften the blow, such as having springs in the ring or pulling punches, but the matches hurt almost as much as they look. This is the reason why injuries are so common in the ring.

There are countless examples of wrestlers who sustained real-life injuries during a match. When a wrestler gets badly injured, you’d expect the match to end, but most of the time, management forces the match to continue – like when the

Undertaker had to wrestle for 25 more minutes with a concussion so bad he couldn’t remember his last name. This priority for a match over the safety of their performers is one of the reasons why professional wrestling is so unsafe.

The ring isn’t the only place where people suffer from injuries, as the long-term effects of the squared circle have become apparent. The best example of this is the tragic story of Chris Benoit.

Benoit was a main event level star who was loved by fans and his peers, but over time people noticed erratic and paranoid behavior from him. Eventually, after a long period of absence, he, his wife and their child were discovered dead in their home in what was later found to be a murder-suicide.

This obviously was a tragedy and an unforgivable action, but not many people talk about why he did it.

After a forensic scan of Benoit’s brain, he was discovered to have chronic traumatic encephalopathy akin to an 80-year-old Alzheimer’s patient, according to ABC News. Medical experts have claimed that the reason his brain was in this state was years of repeated brain trauma from wrestling, particularly because of his finishing move of a diving headbutt. This shows how years of abuse on the body can take its toll, and going out almost every night to do it can be disastrous.

With pain and injury being an inevitability, it’s no wonder that so many wrestlers have looked towards opioids to numb the pain.

It’s well known that some athletes combat addiction, and wrestlers are no different. The most famous case is of Eddie Guerrero, a professional wrestler who, after a long battle with drug addiction, suffered acute heart failure and died at age 38.

Professional wrestling now, while successful, is in a state where the talents’ needs are secondary as the industry consistently treats them like products. The wrestlers are their entire brand, after all, but if they’re not given fair treatment, it can lead to further injury, addiction and death.

Tom Saxa is a freshman film studies major who specializes in op-eds and hot takes. You can find him on Instagram @tbonesaxaphone.

By DJ Proctor

First CAA win this year for field hockey

On Friday, Oct. 6, the Hofstra University field hockey team topped the College of William & Mary Tribe 1-0 in a shootout. With this win, the Pride improved their overall record to 5-6 and 1-2 in conference games. William & Mary fell from first place in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) with this result.

The shoot-out was actionpacked, with all four Hofstra players scoring. On the other

side of the pitch, fresh off of winning CAA defensive player of the week, goaltender Pieke Roos kept the Pride in the game with nine saves, bringing her to a three-game total of 32 saves and only five goals allowed. Roos held the Pride in the game long enough to reach the shootout, in which she made three saves in five attempts. The Pride offense came alive, converting on all four attempts led by Cami Valor who scored the gamewinner and her first goal of the season. Valor rushed in and drove the ball past goaltender Maddie George on a clean reverse chip.

The Pride gave W&M a corner under a minute into the game. Hofstra was able to defend the corner and the early press by William & Mary until freshman Jamie Lewis led a chance for the Pride that nearly converted. After the first minute, the first quarter of the game saw the Pride jump out to an early

edge in possession.

Valor was assessed a yellow card, which tilted possession in favor of William & Mary, who were relentlessly aggressive and forced a lot of mistakes out of the Pride’s defense. The Pride’s offense could not get the ball on the net this period, registering zero shots on goal. Roos held strong on three corners, keeping the score tied going into the half.

William & Mary pushed the pace in the second half, collecting six shots in the fourth quarter alone with three by forward Lauren Curran who totaled seven on the evening. Late in regulation, William & Mary nearly scored on a shot attempt by Curran that the Hofstra defenders blocked and cleared out of harm’s way.

For the third time this year, Hofstra got a last-second penalty corner attempt. Unlike their last game against Long Island University, they did not

convert, pushing the game to overtime, then eventually into a shoot-out.

With the win over William & Mary, the Pride improved their record to one game under .500 at 5-6 and scored their first CAA conference win. A week after the Tribe lost to No. 4 Duke University, they lost their first CAA game of the season. Overall, William &

Mary fell 4-6 overall and 3-1 in the conference. This win for the Pride marks their first over William & Mary since 2015.

The Pride are back in action on Sunday, Oct. 8, against the Old Dominion University Monarchs at 12 p.m. in Norfolk, Virginia.

Hofstra scored on all four of their penalty shot attempts.

Photo courtesy of Jim Agnew

By Aaron Diaz STAFF WRITER

Cinel’s 19 kills lead Pride to win over Aggies

Yagmur Cinel’s career-high 19 kills propelled the Hofstra University volleyball team over the North Carolina A&T State University Aggies 3-1 on Saturday, Oct. 7. The Pride now stands at a 14-4 overall record and 4-3 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) matchups. North Carolina A&T continues to struggle in their season. They fall to 4-11 and have lost three straight games.

Clara Bal flourished with 13 kills and Beatriz Alves added 42

assists.

Although the Pride got rolling in a close first-set win, Hofstra stumbled in the second. Hofstra opened the set, dialing three kills from Cinel with help from Alves to make the score 4-1. However, the Pride’s offense could not finish on multiple efforts, resulting in multiple attack errors and letting the Aggies tie the set at four.

Hofstra’s defense could not contain the Aggies’ Kaili Doctor with her 16 kills, six of which came in the second set alone. Cinel put the team on her back with a kill, putting both squads at nine points. Miscues put Hofstra in a hole, letting the Aggies surpass them in the set. A few attack errors on the Aggies’ offense gave Hofstra the break they needed, putting the score in their favor 22-20. Samaya Wesson and Doctor rallied late, stunning the Pride and closing the set 26-24.

Hofstra bounced back with a tight third set. Hofstra

capitalized on their opportunity as seen in their 10-8 lead from Aggies’ service aces and attack errors. Hofstra continued to flow while the Aggies trailed close behind. Late in the match, Sarah Pierre and Alves extended the lead with two kills, 20-17.

Hofstra then overpowered the Aggies with two electric kills from Iyanna Garvin and Bal, closing the set 25-22.

Bal owned the fourth set as

she rained six kills over the net. Hofstra stayed in the same mindset, playing one step ahead of the Aggies. Doctor changed things up when she gave the Aggies a 21-20 lead for the third straight point. Pierre responded with two kills before Cinel fiercely sealed the game with her 19th kill.

The Pride returns to the court on Sunday, Oct. 7, to complete the series in North Carolina.

Goldthorp late goal leads No. 16 Hofstra to victory

By Arcangelo Iurato STAFF WRITER

The No. 16 Hofstra University men’s soccer team defeated the Monmouth University Hawks 1-0 at Hofstra Soccer Stadium in Hempstead, New York, on Saturday, Oct. 7. With the victory, the Pride advanced to 3-0-2 in Coastal Athletic Assosication (CAA) games and jumped to second in the CAA standings. Their overall record improved to 9-1-3 as their unbeaten streak extended to 11 games.

“We beat a very good Monmouth team,” said Hofstra head coach Richard Nuttall. “It was a key game, and they were

very enthusiastic, energetic and talented.”

Midfielder Eliot Goldthorp scored the goal for Hofstra in the 86th minute as he sprinted into the 18-yard area with the ball before striking it past Monmouth goalkeeper Eryk Dymora and finding the back of the net for the sixth time this season. Goldthorp had the most shot attempts of any player that night with six.

“Eventually one’s going to go in with his ability,” Nuttall said. “He kept working and he came inside; they were forcing him inside a lot, they didn’t want him to go outside because he could cross the ball. They forced him, he kept going and he squeezed one in at the end. Big relief for us.”

Goldthorp is third in the CAA in individual points and is now tied for first in-game winners this season. He also has the second-most shot attempts out of any individual player in the conference.

“He’s one of the best players in the country,” Nuttall said. “He’s probably one of the most

talented players at attacking defenders and taking them on with his tricks and his movement. He’s two-footed.”

Goalkeeper Wessel Speel tied his season-high of five saves in one match, four of which came in the second half. Monmouth gained momentum after the restart but failed to hit the scoresheet. Striker Ben Zakowski, who leads the conference in total shot attempts and shots-on-goal, was limited despite playing all 90 minutes. He only had one shot attempt all game and never challenged Speel.

“I don’t think we played well,” Nuttall said. “But we restricted their actual chances to maybe one good one, which I’m pleased about, and we had three or four chances ourselves.”

Nuttall’s starting formation saw five midfielders and a lone striker, but his tactics quickly changed as he brought on forwards Teddy Baker and Miguel Soto Gonzales in the first half. Baker totaled 47 minutes, his second-longest

appearance when starting on the bench this season.

“We decided to go threeand-three and maybe get at them a little bit more,” Nuttall said. “It seemed to work; we had a couple of injuries, so we had to move people around. I’m just pleased with what we did and how we did it; we kept creating our chances, and I thought our overall effort and work ethic were really good.”

It was a pivotal win for Nuttall’s side as they entered the match tied with the Hawks on points, knowing a victory for either side also meant second place behind the Stony

Brook University Seawolves in the CAA standings. Following the win, Hofstra trails Stony Brook by three points with a game in hand.

“This was a key game,” Nuttall said. “To come out with a win, it’s a great relief. We have a chance at competing for the top spot and possibly hosting [the CAA championship]. That’s what our aim is, but there are some good teams and there’s a long way to go.”

The Pride heads to the Bronx to clash with No. 24 Fordham University on Tuesday, Oct. 10.

The win snapped a three-match losing streak for Hofstra.

Photo courtesy of Lee S. Weissman / Hofstra Athletics

Photo courtesy of Lee S. Weissman / Hofstra Athletics Hofstra’s 989 kills are the most by a team in the CAA this season.

Photo courtesy of Matteo Bracco / Hofstra Athletics

Hofstra’s four game-winning goals this season are tied for the most in the CAA.

Rare defensive struggles sink Pride to seventh loss of season

By Andrew Allegrini STAFF WRITER

On Sunday, Oct. 8, the Hofstra University field hockey team surrendered their seventh loss of the season to Old Dominion University 4-1.

The Monarchs dominated the offensive side of the ball with 17 shots on goal compared to Hofstra’s two. Old Dominion’s Marlon de Bruijne had an impressive performance as she ended with eight shots and two goals.

Her first goal of the game came in the first quarter which kicked things off for the Monarchs, giving them an early 1-0 lead. Hofstra once again had a slow start to the game offensively as the team had no shots the entire first half, putting them in a tough place at halftime.

Although the shot discrepancy favored Old Dominion, Hofstra was still very much in this game, as goalie Pieke Roos had another great game in goal amounting to 12 total saves, totalling 58 on the year.

The Pride’s first goal came in midway through the third quarter when forward Silvia Vetter knocked in her fourth goal of the year to tie the game at one apiece with a little over seven minutes left to go in the third.

From that point on, though, it was all Old Dominion, as de Bruijne scored her second goal

Hofstra

By Josh Sager STAFF WRITER

Despite tying the match after losing the first two sets, the Hofstra University volleyball team suffered defeat for the fourth time in 2023 on Saturday, Oct. 8, against the North Carolina A&T State University Aggies. The Pride lost the first two sets 25-23 and 25-21, but they responded by winning the next two 25-19 and 25-20 before falling 13-15.

Hofstra was led by sophomore Izadora Stedile who had her team-leading ninth doubledouble on the season with 17 kills and 12 digs. Alves led the team with 54 assists in this

of the game before the end of the third quarter, to give the Monarchs their 2-1 lead back. Both teams played a clean game with no penalties from either side.

An early goal in the second half by the Monarchs pushed the lead to 3-1 with a goal from Sacha de Gier. De Gier had quite the game, ending with four shots, three of which were on goal. The Pride, however, was completely shut out in the fourth quarter offensively and had just one shot. Old Dominion was also able to gain the advantage of the corners, with eight corners to Hofstra’s two.

The final goal of the game came late in the fourth quarter with just over three minutes to go, as Old Dominion’s Aubrey Mytych pushed the lead to 4-1 and sealed the victory for the Monarchs. Old Dominion moves to 7-5 on the year as the Pride falls to 5-7. The Pride

scoring one goal or less, the Pride are 1-7 this season.

have now lost three out of their last four games as they continue to try and make a push late into the season.

Hofstra will make their next appearance against Towson University on Friday, Oct. 13, at Hofstra Field Hockey Stadium at 3 p.m.

falls in five set near-comeback

match. Nil Kayaalp finished with 20 digs, which gave her the team-best in a match for a sixth time this season.

The Pride falls to 14-5 overall and 4-4 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play. Meanwhile, the Aggies improve to 3-5 in CAA play and 5-12 overall.

The first set was a real game of cat and mouse, as neither team held a lead of more than four points. The Aggies took the set thanks to two attack errors by Hofstra, one from Clara Bal and the other from Iyanna Garvin.

Set two was another backand-forth round. A service error by Kayaalp caused the Pride to lose momentum, and five of the next six points went to the Aggies to make it 2-0 in the match.

Hofstra took back the wheel from that point on. With the score at 4-3, the Pride scored four straight points courtesy of kills by Bal, Stedile and Beatriz Alves. A Stedile attack error and a service ace by Samaya Wesson made it an 8-6 set, but

two straight Aggie attack errors gave the Pride their four-point lead back. With the score tied at 12, two straight attack errors by Naiya Sawtell of the Aggies and kills for Kayaalp and Bal gave the Pride a 16-12 lead. While the Aggies got three of those back, Hofstra won ten of the next 16 points up for grabs.

The Pride took the fourth set to tie up the match. The Aggies tied up the match at 13 after being down as many as six points through the set. They capitalized on attack errors from Yagmur Cinel and Garvin as well as a service error from Kayaalp to tie. After a service ace by Laurel Rogers for the Aggies, a kill by Cinel and an attack error by Chiara Napoli won the set for Hofstra, tying the match.

The fifth set was where the heartbreak came. Hofstra took a 9-4 lead before four straight kills for the Aggies made it a 9-8 match.

Hofstra got itself three more points after a service error, an attack error and a kill by Cinel to make the score 12-8. But the Aggies showed they had fight left in them and scored five straight points on three kills and two attack errors by Cinel. Hofstra tied the set up again thanks to a Cinel kill, but two straight kills by Sawtell gave the Aggies a 15-13 set win, giving

them the match.

The Pride looks to return to winning ways when they host the College of William & Mary Tribe for two matches this weekend. The first match is on Saturday, Oct. 14, at 1 p.m.

Photo courtesy of Keith Lucas / Hofstra Athletics

When

Photo courtesy of Kevin L. Dorsey

After this weekend, Hofstra’s hitting percentage sits at .264.

“We didn’t think we should have lost,” Fronc said. “We should have at least got a draw, but I guess that makes the next part a little bit tougher given how the other teams are, but it’s nothing we can’t do.”

Last season, Fronc played in 21 games, but she only started 13 and led the team with seven assists. She discusses the struggles she faced coming into this new environment as a freshman.

“[The environment is] very different. You have to come in very prepared, and I didn’t think I came with that sort of excellence as well as I could have. I also came in really late, maybe 23 days into preseason,” she said. “It’s also about building yourself up into a team, and I think I’m very grateful to be able to prove myself as well. I guess that’s now helped me for this year, but I’m very excited that I can be contributing to the team, and I’m doing the best I can.”

Fronc has learned from last season and came into this season ready to go.

“I think I’m a bit more confident,” Fronc said. “I think the team is also a little bit more confident because last season, we had a lot of new starters. This year we have a few new starters, but it’s more of a chemistry, I think, that we’ve

Wiktoria Fronc: Leading the charge

built. I feel more comfortable playing as well. I don’t put so much pressure on myself, which is super nice.”

Her confidence shows by way of three goals in three games, two of which were gamewinners. She credits her hard work in the offseason to her success this year.

“I wouldn’t have believed [I scored three goals] because last year I went the whole season with no goals. I think this year, I came in with a different mindset and different mentality.

I think I worked really hard in the offseason, so it’s nice to see that payoff,” Fronc said. “I’ve got great people around me, so the goals also come from great assists. I can only be grateful for having my teammates around

wasn’t good and the midfielder wasn’t sharp. I always think it’s a team effort, that I only get the glory of scoring, but it’s obviously a collective that’s behind the goal.”

Along with becoming a consistent starter this season, Hofstra head coach Simon Riddiough decided to put Fronc in a new position as a striker instead of in the midfield.

“At first, I was hesitant [to change positions] because it was so new. I was a bit stiff with it because I was like, ‘Oh,

I’m a [midfielder]; I love to get the ball, I love to distribute [and] just always be on the ball,” Fronc said. “Whereas being a [striker], you kind of have to calm down,

put two or three players on me to kind of prevent that, but even the goal against Northeastern actually came from a long ball into me on the counterattack.”

Along with the team goal of winning the CAA championship and making it to the NCAA tournament, Fronc has her own personal goal for the season.

“I just kind of went into every game with no expectation, but it’s actually okay to have some sort of goal and strive towards something as long as your happiness doesn’t depend on it.”

me because without them, I wouldn’t have done it, and we wouldn’t have won if the defense

I want to play the 10,’ but this is not a single sport, and I want to do what’s best for the team,”

Fronc said. “I think I’ve adapted a little bit.

I’ve had a dry spell [in terms of scoring], but at the same time, in games I haven’t scored, other people have stepped up.”

Fronc says that there are some key differences between the positions and how she likes to play. She likes the ball at her feet, but that isn’t always the case when you’re put in the position to score the goals.

“I would say that it’s very different as to when

wait for the ball, make a run, and sometimes I might not touch it for a very long time.”

It’s quite the change of pace for the star sophomore.

“When I first started playing the nine, I was like, ‘This is so boring,’” she said jokingly. “On the other side of things, I’m closer to the goal, so it does allow me to score more goals.”

Despite the position change, Fronc knows what her strengths are and is doing her best to stay consistent with them so the team can benefit.

“I’d say one of my biggest strengths would be having the ball at my feet, and there are still positions where I do kind of get onto the ball; a lot of it is during counterattacks,” she said. “I feel like that’s why teams step up and

“My personal goal this year was to have 10 contributions, so depending on how the rest of the season goes, I technically need three. I think it’s always important to set goals because I think last year that’s what I didn’t do,” Fronc said. “I just kind of went into every game with no expectation, but it’s actually okay to have some sort of goal and strive towards something as long as your happiness doesn’t depend on it.”

Fronc said she’s excited for the next few games in the team’s schedule. She knows what they’re capable of, and she’s excited to see where the rest of the season takes them.

“I know that we’re in the right place and super determined. I know what we’re capable of, so I’m so excited to see,” she said.

Fronc leads the team in assists with four so far this season.

Photo courtesy of Alexis Friedman / Hofstra Athletics

Photo courtesy of Alexis Friedman / Hostra Athletics

Fronc has the third most game-winning goals in the CAA at three.

SPORTS

Transfer duo leading men’s soccer to success

By Michelle Rabinovich SPORTS EDITOR

Gabriel Pacheco built a healthy habit of winning while playing for the Bethel University Pilots men’s soccer team. That drive, which earned him the gold in Decatur, Alabama, gave him the courage to enter the transfer portal and leapfrog from NAIA to NCAA Division 1, landing him at Hofstra.

“I don’t think that I was ready [to transfer to Division 1], I just tried,” Pacheco said before chuckling. “Sometimes you never know if you’re [going to] be ready for something if you don’t try to do it, so I just tried.”

Pacheco and Teddy Baker were both picked up in the transfer portal from nonDivision 1 institutions by the Pride this past off season, and the soccer team is reaping the benefits, given their 9-1-3 start to the season. But it’s a unique journey with its own set of challenges.

“[At Bethel,] the coaches were very supportive; they were very good on the mental side of the game, so it helped me a lot. I feel like [here,] it’s more physical and requires a more of your focus,” Pacheco said. “The small details. Sometimes you switch off during the game, and I feel that here, if you switch off, it can cost you the game. It happens to me sometimes.”

“Every game is a really competitive match, even with teams that are lower in your conferences or aren’t expected to do as good, you’re in a game with them for 80, 90% of the time,” Baker said. “It’s a dogfight, and I feel like those levels are the main difference, that kind of intensity.”

With considerable minutes in every game so far this season, both athletes have upped the ante to stay up to par.

“Defensively, you got to be aware of everything that’s going on around you all the time, so if you’re too tired or fatigued and just stop thinking, you misread a situation and open space for [opponents],” Pacheco said. “During the game, I think that

there’s not much of thinking when you’re playing, it’s mostly instinct, so you need to be well trained so you make the right decisions with your instinct.”

Technique and footwork go far, but sometimes it’s a lot simpler than that; for Pacheco, one of the biggest battles for him was in the weight room.

“The conditioning is more serious on the D1 level,” he said. “I was tired the first couple of months, [but] it helped me develop as a player.”

Baker saw most of his development stem from a different arena: the locker room.

In his former school, Lake Erie College, he and his team

relationships as one way he cemented his soccer skills.

“You create relationships on the field as a player, but offthe-field, relationships are just as important to do with your team,” Baker explained. “If you’re friends with someone off the field, you’re definitely getting on the field happier rather than if you hardly talk to the rest of the team.”

In the same breath, it also breeds friendly competition.

“It leaves you with a little bit more desire and motivation; everyone’s fighting for that space,” Baker said. “If you’re not going to work hard enough, then you can’t sit there and

becoming a new and improved version.

“Our locker room is very friendly,” Baker said. “Seeing that, it makes you a lot more

“I felt that I belong here ... Here, the level is higher, but that’s just another incentive. Having good people around you makes you better … Just put yourself in the situation. If it goes well, it goes well; if no, try again.”

had one, but it was out of the way for most of his teammates. It made more sense for everyone to just take their gear straight to the pitch. Now with a locker room across the street from the field he practices on, he has grown on multiple levels.

“You only really get to talk and sit down or have those moments with the people in your house rather than the entire team, so it definitely has impacted me,” Baker said. “[The locker room] definitely gets you closer to a lot more of the team. If we didn’t have the locker room environment, I feel like [I] wouldn’t be as close to other people on the team because [I] would only really see them on the field or on trips. People that haven’t been at that level would take [it] for granted.”

Baker attributed the time and literal space to build

complain about something. You can’t sit there and be upset [at] the other person who’s starting ahead of you; you have to prove yourself.”

Overall, he’s grateful to be here because he knows what else there is and isn’t.

“When [players] come straight to D1, they haven’t seen the other aspects of what college [athletics] can be like, being at a smaller school or a less funded school,” Baker said.

The consensus is that leveling up was another form of ironsharpening-iron,

determined and motivated when you get here to use everything to your advantage.”

In the grand scheme of things, there are similarities between

the respective former and current institutions.

“I feel the winning culture in both programs are very similar,” Pacheco said. “They wanted to win there, they want to win here, and I think that’s great. Everyone’s very ambitious about the future here like they are there, so it’s very similar, actually.”

The hustle doesn’t stop here, though.

“I feel like I belong here,” Baker said. “I worked to get to this stage, but I have to work hard enough so that I can then go to the next level and go to the next level as a person.”

“I felt that I belong here,” Pacheco concurred. “Here, the level is higher, but that’s just another incentive. Having good people around you makes you better … Just put yourself in the situation. If it goes well, it goes well; if no, try again.”

Baker has two goals and two assists so far this season.

Photo courtesy of Evan Bernstein

Pacheco hails from Curtiba, Brazil.

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics

Photo courtesy of Matteo Bracco / Hofstra Athletics