THE Volume 92, Issue 11
Q
UADRANGLE A Student Publication of Manhattan College Since 1924
Nov. 17, 2015
Q UA DSTO C K
S AT U R D AY, N O V E M B E R 2 1 , 1 2 P. M . — 2 P. M . I N S M I T H AU D I TO R I U M
www.mcquad.org
Life as Department Chair Stephen Zubrycky Staff Writer
College faculty and administration have been known to have their differences in priorities – not just at Manhattan College. This creates a particularly tough challenge for department chairpersons, who are caught somewhere between being faculty members and administrators. Balancing this dual role is particularly difficult for department chairs – especially Constantine Theodosiou, Ph.D., acting chair of the biology department, and fulltime dean of the School of Science. Theodosiou said that depending on the institution, chairs can have more administrative or faculty roles. Here at Manhattan College, their role “has been more faculty representatives and less administrators,” Theodosiou said. Despite this, Theodosiou argues that the converse would be more beneficial, saying, “I like more the alternative.” Regardless, much of the workload of a department chair is already in an administrative capacity. “My responsibilities include scheduling courses, so I schedule all of the faculty’s courses for the fall and the spring semesters, and I make sure the students get all the courses they need to graduate and to accomplish their goals,” said Lisa Anne
Continued on page 4
Inside Manhattan College’s Security and Fire Safety Annual Report RikkiLynn Shields Staff Writer
This year’s Security and Fire Safety Annual Report was issued on Sept. 16 of this year by Public Safety and details crime statistics, fire information and related policies. But how does this document come together, and more importantly, what does it mean for students? Each January, the 50th Precinct submits the local crime reports to Manhattan College. Public Safety then takes it into their own hands, adds in campus-specific crime reports, and compiles the Security and Fire Safety Annual Report. New to this year’s report is the breaking out of different sex offenses into specific categories, rather than listing them under the umbrella term of “sex offenses.” This is a direct result of changes to federal legislation. In March 2013, President Barack Obama signed legislation called the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (VAWA), which included new provisions to end sexual assault, stalking, domestic violence and dating violence. Before the reauthorization act, all colleges and universities were expected to make a good faith effort in submitting their annual crime report, but it wasn’t speci-
fied how they would report distinct sex offenses. During that year and previous years, sex offenses were either categorized as “forcible” or “non-forcible.” VAWA finally came out with clarification in 2014, implementing a new way of reporting sex offenses more specifically. It was finalized that sex offenses would be reported much more clearly than in the past. Colleges and universities were required to report if the sex offense was a rape, a fondling, incest, statuary rape or another category. The goal was to make the sex offenses more transparent than in previous years of reporting the incidents. That particular year is when Manhattan College added domestic violence, dating violence and stalking to the crime reports. Colleges and universities were also required to state what preventive programs were being held on campus for incoming students and employees, and any other campaigns that were going to be held during the course of the year for the campus community. Manhattan identifies all of the crime reports and preventative programs on campus in the Security and Fire Safety Report as required. “It’s a team effort now. It’s no longer just a public safety department responsibility. We need the help from residence life, the counseling center, the dean’s office,
athletics and other offices on campus,” Juan Cerezo, the director of public safety at MC, said. “If they have any programs in place that will help prevent sexual assault, public safety needs to be aware of it. Although it was never anyone else’s responsibility but ours, everyone is cooperating.” In the crime report this year, there is also a new category of offenses called “unfounded crimes.” Unfounded crimes aren’t limited to sexual assault. Instead, any crime that Public Safety is required to report to the appropriate authorities is listed under unfounded crimes. If a student files a report with the police department and the crime ends up being baseless, as soon as the detective determines that for a fact and shares the information with public safety, it needs to be listed in the crime report. If the crime is reported only to Manhattan, public safety cannot determine if a crime is unfounded, so the next step is for the law enforcement to take it into their own hands and determine the outcome. Another notable change is in the number of off-campus drug offenses. In previous years, the college’s security report showed 0 drug abuse violations on public property. This year, the NYPD reported that they had made five drug related off-campus arrests this past year. This change could possi-
bly be attributed to better reporting by the NYPD, stricter enforcement, or both. Public safety is also heavily involved in not just implementing federal but also New York State legislation regarding sexual assault on campus. The “Enough is Enough” Legislation was implemented in the state in June 2015. Colleges and universities in New York State were required to be in compliance with most of the new rules by Oct. 5 of this year. The “Enough is Enough” Legislation focuses on three big features: the Student Bill of Rights, drug and alcohol amnesty and affirmative consent. The purpose of a Student Bill of Rights is in place to inform students of their rights in any type of situation that involves witnessing or being a part of any sexual misconduct. This bill is available to students online and on campus. “The bill of rights is all about letting the students know what their rights are,” Cerezo said. The drug and alcohol amnesty serves as a requirement for colleges and institutions to adopt a policy that when students report sexual misconduct or assault, or are a part of an incident, they are not subject drug testing.
Continued on page 3