The Hofstra Chronicle: February 24, 2015 Issue

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HEMPSTEAD, NY VOL. 80

Issue 14

The Hofstra

Chronicle

Tuesday February 24, 2014

KEEPING THE HOFSTRA COMMUNITY INFORMED SINCE 1935

Hofstra wins first place at ICCA tournament By Ehlayna Napolitano news editor

Sigma’capella, an a cappella group at Hofstra, took the top prize at the International Championship for Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) held in the John Cranford Adams Playhouse on Feb. 14. The competition hosted eight groups from several schools from the New York area. The competition hosted a cappella groups from Stonybrook University, Columbia University and Queens College, as well as two groups from Fordham University and New York University. The NYU N’Harmonics and the NYU Mixtones placed second and third, respectively. The Hofstra Dutchmen hosted the competition. Groups were judged on 10 to 15 different categories. These can include soloists and choreography judgments, all of which factor into the groups’ overall scores. These scores then determine the rankings of the groups at the close of the competition. Sigma was established 15 years ago, making it the oldest Hofstra a cappella group. They performed

last, after the order was decided in a meeting in the early afternoon on Saturday, according to Sigma president Hanna Knuuttunen, a senior TV production major. Sigma practiced more than four hours a week in preparation for the competition. They had to work on vocals and choreography in order to perform a full set, which ran about 10 minutes, according to Sarah Herron, the music director and senior music education major. “We had so many rehearsals and dedicated members of the group, so we spend long hours slaving over a long music set,” said Deanna Giulietti, public relations chair and senior drama major. The 10-minute set was a medley entitled, “Voices in My Head.” Sigma was the only group in the competition to perform solely a medley. The group thinks that the uniqueness of their set was part of what made them stand out. “Every song followed a very specific theme and I think that’s

Jesse Saunders/The Chronicle Sigma’capella won first place at the quarterfinals for the International Championship for Collegiate A Cappella tournament that was held at Hofstra on Saturday. They will compete in the semifinals in Boston in March.

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Babeland teaches Hofstra students safer sex By Nico Machlitt STAFF WRITER

Drawings of the vagina and penis covered the classroom whiteboard while various sex toys were displayed on the front table. As students yelled words like “vagina” and “a**hole,” it was sure to be an unusual night in Brower Hall. This was all part of an event cosponsored by Campus Feminist Collective, Hofstra’s Organization of Latin Americans (HOLA), The Pride Network, Student Advocates of Safe Sex and Babeland, a femi-

nist sex toy boutique. The event was created to educate students on safe ways to have sex. This talk gave no mention of the birds or the bees, but instead talked more in depth about sexual intercourse and the importance of pleasure, safety and communication. Sex-educated sales associate at Babeland, Mehron Abdollmohammadi, led the workshop about having safer sex sexily. The workshop addressed many common myths about intercourse and sex toys as well as healthy ways to have sex that can

be pleasurable and safe. President of the Campus Feminist Collective, Che Sullivan spoke about why it was important to bring Babeland to campus. “I felt it was important to depart from the basic sex education people get in high school,” Sullivan said. “That’s just the bare minimum and it doesn’t talk about things can be fun or be pleasurable, but people are thinking about that anyway, so it’s important to address it.” Students listened to the lecture on everything from the female anatomy to anal sex. Many people don’t know how to communicate

during sex or don’t feel educated enough to have conversations about it. This workshop helped teach students about how the body works and how to have fun sex while being safe. Safety is something that is really important to many people while sexually active and was part of the reason for the turnout. “I came to the event tonight because safe sex is something that I pride myself on knowing, so I know that [people] can come to me and ask me and I want to know the best information to give them,” said Emily Stafford, freshman theater

production and English double major. Many conversations about sex have become taboo or uncomfortable and associated with shame. Abdollmohammadi and Babeland are working together to change the typical conversations about sex by making them more inclusive. “Our mission statement is providing sexual education and promoting sexual vitality for a more healthy, positive world,”

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