THE Volume 91, Issue 9
Q
UADRANGLE A Student Publication of Manhattan College Since 1924
March 24, 2015
Jaspers Walk The Plank
www.mcquad.org
A Look Back at a Rough Winter Shanell Garcia Staff Writer
MC Falls to Hampton Pirates in “First Four” Game of NCAA Tourney
Kevin Fuhrmann/The Quadrangle
The snow that has plagued the Manhattan College campus is now melting in the beaming sun. However, that isn’t enough to obliterate the treacherous winter from the memories of students and faculty. This semester alone the school has had four closings, including two that were delayed, and two delayed openings. This as a result has been of much inconvenience to many commuting students and faculty members. “We’d like not to cancel classes if we can avoid it because we want there to be school, but if it seems clear that its going to be dangerous then we obviously do cancel,” Manhattan College Provost William Clyde said. “There are definitely schools that you can tell by the way they cancel, they cancel if there’s any threat of snow at all. In fact there are schools that make their decision at 6 p.m. the night before when you couldn’t possibly tell what the weather is going to be like the next day.” The provost makes the ultimate decision on whether the school will be closed due to harsh climate. His decision is made after consulting with various members of the community. He consults with the school’s Physical Plant to determine what the conditions are like on the ground of the college. He then consults with Public Safety, the Vice President of Human Resources to inquire about employees and the Vice President of Student Life to inquire about events that are scheduled on campus. The provost comes to a conclusion based on the facts presented to him by his sources and through his own research. The school has a written policy that serves as a guideline for the closing of the school. The documentation serves as a layout of procedures and contacts. Each year in November the staff comes together to review any changes to that policy before the snow starts to fall again.
Continued on page 3
New Grade Replacement Policy Instituted at MC Sean Sonnemann Editor-In-Chief
Students at Manhattan College who fail to meet the minimum required grade for a class now have the opportunity to improve their grade point average by retaking the course at the college. With a new grade replacement policy effective the 2014-2015 academic year, only the higher of the two grades received will be factored into a student’s cumulative GPA. However, both grades will still be listed on a student’s transcript. “The rationale was to give students the added incentive to retake a course at Manhattan College,” Registrar Luz M. Torres said. The new grade replacement policy is
not unique to Manhattan College, but a standard practice throughout colleges and universities across the country. “It is common. Other schools are definitely doing this,” Torres said. While the specifics of respective policies may vary, most colleges have some way for students to replace a failing or unsatisfactory grade when they retake a course. “Every institution that we Googled had some kind of grade replacement policy,” Carla Fraser, associate registrar, said. After being proposed by faculty members and deans, MC’s policy was approved in November of 2014 by the Educational Affairs Committee. Once specifics regarding qualifications for the program were determined, it was then announced to the college community. Currently, the new policy applies only
to 100 and 200 level courses at the college. Students may petition their respective academic deans to have a grade replaced for a 300 or 400 level class. Additionally, the grade replacement policy can only be utilized the first time a course is retaken. It also only applies to classes taken at Manhattan College, not credits transferred in from other institutions. While the policy is available for any eligible student during his or her undergraduate enrollment at the college, the Registrar’s Office cautions students to research potential impacts before having a grade replaced. “Not everyone can do this,” Fraser said. “Financial aid might be affected in some cases.” Students studying under the G.I. Bill or other programs for veterans may affect
their benefits by replacing some grades. Regardless, the new policy was welcome news for students at the college, especially those who are currently retaking a course. Sophomore civil engineering major Alex Sciacchitano is taking a course again this semester after failing to meet the minimum requirement in the fall. “It is a great policy, especially for students who need to maintain a certain GPA for scholarships or athletics,” he said. “There is always a possibility of running into a tough class or professor and you end up having to retake a class,” Sciacchitano said. “It is nice to know that you can get a second chance to redeem yourself and come out relatively unscathed.”
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The
Opinions & editorials
Quadrangle www.mcquad.org
Notes from
The Editor
Vol. 91 Issue 9 March 24, 2015
Sean Sonnemann Editor-in-Chief Michelle DePinho Managing Editor/News Editor Anthony Capote Asst. News Editor Kieran Rock Managing Editor/Features Editor Ally Hutzler Asst. Features Editor Lauren Carr Arts & Entertainment Editor Lindsey Burns Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor Jonathan Reyes Sports Editor Jaclyn Marr Asst. Sports Editor Daniel Ynfante Asst. Sports Editor Sean McIntyre Social Media Editor Victoria Hernández Kristie Killen Asst. Social Media Editors Kevin Fuhrmann Photography Editor Christian Roodal Asst. Photography Editor
March 24, 2015
On behalf of the entire staff of The Quadrangle, I would like to congratulate the men’s basketball team on another successful season. While it would have been great to see the Jaspers go head-to-head with number one seed Kentucky, their back-to-back MAAC Championships and trips to “The Big Dance” are huge accomplishments and worthy of praise. For the second year in a row, the team was able to bring a renewed sense of school spirit to the college and put MC back on the national stage. Additionally, I would like to thank our own staff members who worked tirelessly to cover the team this entire season. Whether at Draddy Gym or an arena as far away as Dayton, Chris Cirillo, Daniel Ynfante and photographer Kevin Fuhrmann covered nearly every game. They continually provided professional level game stories, analysis, social media coverage, photographs and videos all the way from the opening tipoff to the final press conference of the season. Their hard work and dedication included many late nights and long bus rides. I thank them for their outstanding enthusiasm and creativity, as well as the Office of Student Activities for helping to make those trips possible. While by no means an attempt to diminish the success of our men’s basketball team, it is also a good time to remind the college community that our school boasts a total of 19 Division 1 teams. They may not all get the same level of attention, but each is worthy of our support and encouragement in both victory and defeat. Once again, congratulations to the Jaspers on a wonderful season. We look forward to covering your attempt at a three-peat next year.
Sean Sonnemann Editor-in-Chief
Kelly Burns Luke Hartman Natalie Heinitz Production Editors Daniel Molina Distribution Manager Tom Callahan Faculty Adviser A tradition since 1924, The Quadrangle is a news organization run by the students of Manhattan College. We strive to cover news around campus and the greater community, publishing weekly in print and daily online. Our goal is always accuracy, relevancy and professionalism. The staff of The Quadrangle meets every Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. in room 412 of the Student Commons. Contact The Quadrangle at thequad@manhattan.edu The opinions expressed in The Quadrangle are those of the individual writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board, the College or the student body.
John Abbatangelo/The Quadrangle
news
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A Look Back at a Rough Winter Shanell Garcia Staff Writer
Continued from page 1 “Given that 70 percent of our students are on campus already, and a lot of them live nearby in apartments and stuff it seems like we should be trying to have class if we possibly can,” Clyde said. “So yes, it’s a balance. We absolutely don’t want to cancel unless we really have to.” All decisions about school closings or delayed openings are made by 5 a.m., before classes begin. This is to avoid the cancellation of classes that don’t need to be canceled. “If they [Physical Plant] tell me that it’s all messy and icy and, they can’t have it ready until like 9:30 a.m., then we do a delayed opening until 10 a.m. so that people aren’t walking around on steps that are all icy,” Clyde said. “And that we try to get it under control. Likewise if the snow is starting in the afternoon and it’s supposed to get worse and worse and, it looks like it’s really there…then we’ll cancel the evening classes. Or we’ll do an early cancellation because it’s forecasted to get worse and it really seems like its doing that.” It is not only the conditions of the campus that are taken into consideration, despite the overwhelming amount of students who dorm. “The community, which is a big issue, the commuters, is taken into consideration and their situation of getting here,” Robert De Rosa, associate director of public safety and risk management, said. “We are then led also by the NYC Office of Emergency Management, who will say whether or not the streets are opened or closed. So it’s a combination of information.” Despite the closings of the school however, there are some places on campus that do not close down despite harsh weather conditions. The library, the Office of Public Safety and the Locke’s Loft dining hall are always open despite school closings. These employees are expected to show up regardless of any climate conditions. “For commuters, it sucks,” Library Assistant Andre Santiago said. “For people that live on campus it’s great. You just go outside by Jasper and you make a snowman. It’s fun if you’re on campus and it’s snowing and you don’t have to go to class. You come out in your pajamas and you start a snowball fight.” Valerie Jimenez, also a library assistant and Manhattan College graduate, can recall the times when the school used to notify everyone of closings by 5 a.m. This year, she said things were different. Her brother works for Physical Plant and is in charge of cleaning up snow on campus. Her mother is also a Manhattan College employee who works for the telecommunications office in charge of notifying students of closings. “This year it was kind of ridiculous because of the timing,” Jimenez said. “Like when they [the college] opened at 11 a.m. and then they closed at three. I felt bad for commuters because you’ve got commuters coming from Westchester, some coming from Brooklyn, Queens and Ocean Park. It’s not fair because sometimes by the time they get here the school is closed.” “My brother was dead tired during the last storm,” Jimenez said. “He worked during the last storm from 7 a.m. to almost 8 o’clock because he was shoveling. He pretty much lives across the street so he’s the first one that they call because they call
Victoria Hernández & Kevin Fuhrmann/The Quadrangle whoever lives the closest.” Robert Coleman, coordinator of media technology of communication and broadcasting professor, has one of the longer commutes to campus. He lives in Warwick, a small town in Orange County, N.Y. His morning drive is typically an hour and a half, through two mountains and over several bridges. “Thursday we closed school at 12, so I drove to work and of course it took me two hours to get to work because of the bad weather,” Coleman said. “I had a three hour class at 11 p.m. So I drove for two hours, talked for an hour, and then drove two hours back home.” He said the weather has impacted the classes he teaches. “Now I have two classes, one on Tuesdays and one on Thursdays,” Coleman said. “Now they’re not in sync because one Tuesday we had no class totally, so that got me a little off. So it made my classes out of sync because of the inequality of the times that we were meeting.” One storm this winter was so severe that it took Coleman four hours to get home. “I think everybody that’s part of the
college community needs to understand that the emphasis is on the safety of the people that are involved here at the campus,” Andrew Ryan, vice president for facilities management, said. “Can we get them to the campus and home from the campus safely? And can they move around the campus safely?” The administration puts an emphasis on clearing the pathway to Thomas Hall first, so that students are able to make their way to the campus dining hall for food. “Nobody here on this campus, that I know of, dictates the weather,” Ryan said. “So you know we just have to deal with what the repercussions are. There’s a lot of effort that goes into the thought process of whether or not we can get things done safely because it’s never anybody’s intent to put anybody out there in a dangerous situation. And sometimes we’re right on the money and sometimes we’re off by a few hours. The college closed preemptively the day of [winter storm] Juno. But that was in reaction to what every single weather forecaster said was going to be an absolute disaster.” The snow days haven’t completely
been an unfortunate event for everyone on campus. Assistant professor of Spanish, Antonio Cordoba, has seen it has a positive experience. “It hasn’t really affected me at all,” Cordoba said. “It’s been more like the pleasure of getting snow days. I’m not like other professors who come from Brooklyn. It hasn’t affected me at all.” Cordoba says he usually has classes in between canceled classes and hasn’t had to cancel much because of his afternoon scheduling. “My commute is so easy. It’s only 45 minutes on the 1 train,” Cordoba said. “There has never been an issue. It’s business as usual. I found myself with a whole week of paid vacation because nothing happened to us on the Upper West Side, so snow days for me aren’t a problem. The snow doesn’t bother me either because I don’t drive and the train has been working so well.”
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Features
March 24, 2015
Brother Raymond Meagher Shanell Garcia Staff Writer
In a festive room, chatting with students from behind a cluttered desk, sits Brother Raymond Meagher. No one appears distracted by the hanging butterflies, the random beach balls, the lobster on the wall or the huge rainbow hula-hoops lying upon boxes of files everywhere. The blue Hawaiian printed bucket lying on his desk filed with candy, the elephant and teddy bear hanging from the wall, the inspirational quotes found on every inch of the room and the sculpture of an ear on his desk are no exception. “I’m a big one for demonstrations, I’m a big one for visual aids,” Meagher said. “All of these things that you see here on the walls, they all have some story behind them.” The small tubes of wedding bubbles on his desk therefore are not used in vain. Meagher uses those to demonstrate the importance of sharing ideas and reactions in the classroom. “I have the students blow bubbles and we sit down and I ask ‘what happened to the bubbles,’” Meagher said. “They popped. So if we don’t share them with each other they’re gone forever. That’s why it’s important that you participate and get involved in the classroom.” Born on Oct. 21st in Hunts Point Hospital, Meagher and all three of his brothers were raised by his parents in the East Bronx. “It’s funny because my two older brothers and my younger brother were all born in Westchester Square Hospital,” Meagher said. “And later I found out I wasn’t born there because our family doctor had been brought up on charges that he was doing abortions.” Meagher’s father was an NYPD police officer and his mother was a stay-at-home mom; taking care of the four children until they grew up and she was able to land a job down by the Brooklyn Bridge. Relying on one income, the family was brought up struggling. “The cops those days didn’t get good pay,” Meagher said. “Not like they get paid today. So we struggled you know? For dinner we’d have maybe a hot dog or a grilled cheese sandwich. You know? We didn’t have any big meals or anything, but we got by.” The family was raised Catholic. As a result the children all attended Catholic elementary school and high schools. Meagher attended St. Raymond’s elementary school in The Bronx from where he was almost expelled. He often got into trouble and struggled academically. “They sent the letter home to my parents telling them that they should seriously consider taking me out of school,” Meagher said. “So my father went over to speak to the pastor of the parish and convinced him that he should give me another chance and he did. And I made it through and graduated.” The Brother went on to be the first and only member of his family to attend college. He first went to the Catholic University of America, class of 1966, where he pursued a degree in biology. The Catholic University of America is located in Washington D.C. This was Meagher’s first time away from home and in the 60s an interesting time to be in the capital. He was there when President John
F. Kennedy was assassinated, he was present during Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights march and was also in Washington at the time of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination. Brother Meagher continued his education at NYU where he received his masters in counseling psychology in 1971. He later attended Columbia University and got his masters in social work. After deciding to dedicate his life to missionary work and becoming a brother, thanks to the influence of brothers he met during his academic career, he began working at St. Raymond’s High School as a social worker in 1981. Eventually, Meagher became the director of education and social services in charge of the girls’ academy, the boys’ high school and their elementary school. There he started the St. Raymond Family Outreach Program and became principal of the boys high school. After the principal of St. Raymond’s elementary school retired, the Brother was appointed principal of the school. He never wanted to become the principal of the school but his vow of obedience as a brother compelled him to. “I said no four times,” Meagher said. “I just wanted to work with kids and their families. I was tired of being in charge. I took it for a year and then it turned into two years and then two years turned into three years, and then three years turned into 10 years.” “So I go back and return and I become the principal of the school that tried to throw me out,” Meagher said. “It was wonderful.” In order to effectively run the school during his tenure, he once again continued his education and attended St. John’s University and received a Ph.D. in educational administration and supervision. Brother Meagher has also worked as the director of a group home at Lincoln Hall in Lincolndale, N.Y. In addition, he taught biology, physical science and math at St. Peter’s High School in Staten Island. “Brother Meagher is like New York City,” Zoe Kritikos, one of his students, said. “He never sleeps.” “I loved all of my assignments,” Meagher said. “I loved everywhere I went. I never wanted to leave. At Manhattan College this is the ultimate. I love living here and I love teaching here. I can’t wait to get in the classroom with them.” Meagher began teaching in the department of education at Manhattan College part-time while he was principal of the boys school. Thirteen years ago he started teaching full-time to both graduates and undergraduates. “It’s a unique experience,” Tom Merse, an education major, said about being in class. “Like Dr. McCarthy says, it’s like taking an elevator down to your soul because you learn a lot about yourself, things you don’t expect to learn about.” His main priority is to develop a sense of community within the classroom; to make a safe environment for the transfer of opinions and ideas. “I told this story in class,” Meagher said. “In third grade I would never raise my hand for anything. And the teacher asked a question on history. So I said ‘oh I know that’ so I raised my hand and she saw my hand like she never saw it before. So she called on me and I gave her the answer. And what I said I thought was right, was wrong. The class laughed but that didn’t hurt. But you know what hurt? She laughed.”
Features/Arts & Entertainment 5
Max Whitwell
The Tale of a Student-Writer Ally Hutzler Assistant Editor
“It affected me socially and academically. So I never raised my hand again for the rest of my grammar school life. Even in high school. It wasn’t until I went to college that I said ‘What am I doing here, I have the answer.’ We’re a community here. My job is to make them the most effective educators in their career.” At the college Meagher has been the counselor of Kappa Delta Pi, an international honors society for educators, for 10 years. The society hosts events at the college such as its safe Halloween and, its Winter Wonderland just before Christmas. They invite hundreds of students from schools in the surrounding area to create a safe and academic environment. Activities and books are also provided to all children who attend. The honors society also travels abroad to countries in Africa, Palestine, Israel, Turkey, and Spain and will be traveling to Italy this summer. There, they team up with Lasallians to help families and children in need. “In Rome we’re working with the developmentally disabled children,” Meagher said. “Then we’re hoping to spend a night and two days in Naples because we have brothers down there who are working with drug addicts and dropouts.” “He has been our mentor for a long time,” Caitlin Anina, president of Kappa Delta Pi said. “He points out things about people that you’re just like ‘Wow yeah, I never thought about it that way.’ He picked me out as a leader from day one and I had never thought of myself as a leader or to be in charge of something. And I did it and I actually took his advice and I saw that, wow, I can really actually do this. If he hadn’t said it to me I don’t think I would have really gone out and done it. It’s that kind of insight that he has. It makes you feel good about yourself.”
Manhattan College/Courtesy Senior, Rachel Tomashosky has also experienced Meagher’s community. “One thing I will always remember about Brother Ray is the beauty prayer,” Tomashosky said. “He would take our class outside in a circle and shout the beauty prayer. ‘There is beauty in front of you, there is beauty behind me, there is beauty to my left, there is beauty to my right, there is beauty above me, there is beauty below me, there is beauty all around, there is beauty within me, forever’ I was fortunate enough to go on a service trip to Barcelona, Spain with Brother Ray and my fondest memory was shouting the beauty prayer outside.” “Brother Raymond truly embodies all of the qualities of a Lasallian Brother,” Lisa Rizopoulos, chair of the department of education said. “He exemplifies excellence in teaching and has devoted his life to celebrating his students’ accomplishments. He touches the hearts and minds of his students.” Brother Meagher plans to continue his service by helping the NYPD with their families through counseling, as an ode to his father. He also plans to spread his teachings at several other universities in The Bronx such as Lehman College and Fordham University. “You know you make a decision and you become a brother or a priest or a lawyer or whatever, but you know, you give up a lot too,” Meagher said. “It’s a different kind of life. I also thought that maybe I made a mistake. There are times where I’ve said to myself maybe this is not the route I should’ve taken. Then there are days where I know I made the right decision. There are days you wish you had a family and stuff. But most of the time I’m very happy with what I’m doing.”
An adventurer, a troll and a few drinks are just some of the aspects in Max Whitwell’s short story, “Tavern Tales,” to be featured in Manhattan Magazine this spring. Whitwell, currently a freshman at Manhattan College, is no stranger to putting pen to paper with several comic strips, short stories and screenplays in the works. But Whitwell does not like to consider himself a writer. “As soon as you start quantifying it like this I become no better than the jerk in Starbucks taking up four seats and two outlets, only drinking one cheap coffee despite using their Wi-Fi for four hours, and making a point to have everybody in the store aware that he is a ‘writer,’” Whitwell said. “I just like to write things.” The interest was sparked back in kindergarten, when Whitwell discovered that he not only liked writing, but he was also good at it. “Granted, I liked math for a while too,” Whitwell said, “but then I took calculus. Writing it was.” Inspired by author Neil Gaiman and mused by good stories, Whitwell began writing anywhere and at any time of the day. Unlike most people of our generation, he enjoys writing longhand with pencil and loose leaf. While Whitwell likes to read any genre, he prefers to write high fantasy. “Anything too realistic is boring,” he said. Good science fiction, explains Whitwell, also has to follow the rules of proven science, which is not an easy task. Another challenging aspect of writing is coming up with names. “They’re a bitch and a half,” he said. Enticed by the thought of being in New York City, Whitwell first visited the school as a senior in high school. Impressed by what he saw, he decided to come to Manhattan College to be an English major. His
ideal minor would be creative writing, but it is not being offered at this time. The English department offers three courses centered upon creative writing, but is not currently staffed to support a creative writing minor Dr. Dominika Wrozynski explained. Wrozynski is currently an assistant professor of English and teaches the introduction to creative writing course. Not having an established minor, however, does not mean that students will not study writers’ craft and how to create one themselves. “Though we might not have as many creative writing courses as we do literature courses, the faculty feel that the study and mastery of a variety of specializations within the broad study of English is necessary for someone to be a well-rounded Liberal Arts student—not just a well-rounded English Major,” Wrozynski said. For other areas of creative opportunity, Wrozynski points students towards the Major Authors Reading Series (MARS) and Manhattan Magazine. MARS allows students to hear professional writers in a uniquely warm and approachable setting. Bringing in at least three acclaimed writers to campus each semester, MARS has delivered talent such as Junot Díaz, Jennifer Egan and Erica Dawson to an eager community of students and professors. For more hands-on experience, students can submit their own pieces to the college’s student-run literary journal Manhattan Magazine. With an issue coming out every spring, this year will mark the 25th edition of the magazine. The magazine is headed by an executive board, which has two submission editors that select works they feel represent the best achievements of each genre. Alexandra Revans, the current editorin-chief of the magazine, explains that even though pieces are rejected, submission editors also have the responsibility of critiqu-
ing works and helping submitters perfect their pieces. The goal of the magazine is not to intimidate writers, but to guide them and give them an outlet to showcase their talents. But are these outlets enough to curb the creative craving of student writers? During her time leading the magazine, Revans would love to see Manhattan Magazine published twice a year: once in the fall and once in the spring. “I’m a huge advocate for the arts and creative people in general, and I definitely feel like there could be more creative outlets on campus,” she added. Whitwell is another advocate for more
Ally Hutzler/The Quadrangle publications on campus catered for writers and poets, who wishes that there were more fiction publications available for students. Whitwell, whose work will be published in the edition coming out on May 1st, wants readers to have the same reaction he does when he encounters great pieces of writing. “It’s sort of a ‘I want to make that’ reaction,” he explained. When asked about where he plans to take his writing in the future, Whitwell simply responded “to the people that will pay me for it.”
The Book Nook
Title: “Three Weeks With My Brother,” Authors: Nicholas & Micah Sparks, Genre: Memoir
Madeleine Schwartz Staff Writer
“I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day.” Nicholas Sparks makes the reader yearn for this kind love in “The Notebook” as well as the rest of his 17 novels. However, in Sparks’s memoir “Three Weeks with My Brother,” the romance is left aside and the truth about this writer’s life is nothing like what he writes so well about. Written in 2004, the memoir starts with the premise of Nicholas Sparks and his brother Micah Sparks going on a three week trip around the world together. They visit places like Easter Island, Ethiopia and Guatemala which are new adventures for both of them. A combination of being in a foreign country and doing so with your best friend brings memories from their childhood to the surface. While traveling in Cambodia, Sparks talks about his mother. Described as being born to be a mother and full of unconditional love, it is obvious that they had a strong bond. Unfortunately, she died suddenly in
a horseback riding accident when Sparks was in his twenties. She is the inspiration of his book “Message in a Bottle.” In Norway, Sparks remembers his sister. Just one year younger than him, she was his partner in crime when they were growing up. It was a shock when in 1992, three years after the death of their mother, Dana was diagnosed with a brain tumor. An eight year battle that ended his sister’s life at a young 33 years old, inspired his novel “A Walk to Remember.” The brothers also visited Ethiopia which brought up the story of Nicholas’s son Ryan. Out of his five children, Ryan was by far the quietest when he was younger. This was explained when Ryan was diagnosed with autism at two. He talks about the hours spent with him trying to make progress. To recognize words and then be able to repeat them took months. This ongoing and emotional journey inspired his book “The Rescue.” I originally picked up this book because I, like many other girls my age, am addicted to Nicholas Sparks’ novels. I fell in love with his writing and wanted this to be another romantic fairy tale, but
it wasn’t. Instead, I was surprised to read about his troubled childhood and horrific tragedies that have inspired some of my favorite books. “Three Weeks with My Brother” is filled with raw emotion and real experiences that Nicholas Sparks went through in his life. Although no one can truly relate to what he was feeling at these times, we can all find times of hardship in our own
Madeleine Schwartz/The Quadrangle life. We can remember a time of sadness or hopelessness and connect to what Sparks went through. This memoir is an example of how to turn something negative into something beautiful. Instead of dwelling on these painful moments, Sparks used them to create happiness. To be able to make lemonade when life gives you the most sour lemons is an enviable skill.
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Sports
Lucky Number 13
March 24, 2015
Lindsey Burns Assistant Editor
Emmy Andujar likes to prove people wrong. He does it on the court and he does it in his everyday life. He has made a habit out of it. “Coming from where I’m from, there’s always a lot of doubters and people saying that people can’t go to school and people can’t do this and people can’t do that,” Andujar says. “So I felt like I just wanted to prove someone wrong. Sometimes I felt like I wasn’t even doing it for myself, I was just doing it to prove people wrong.” This is why he plays basketball. The raw talent is there, the physique is there, but most importantly, the passion and desire are there. Hailing from the opposite side of the Bronx, right next to Yankee Stadium and approximately 20 minutes away from Manhattan College, Andujar didn’t have it easy growing up. But it was where his love for basketball first developed. “With all of the friends I had all around me, we always used to play basketball outside,” Andujar says. “It didn’t matter what type of weather we had. It could have been snowing and we’d just shovel and start playing.” He did not officially start playing on a team until the summer of sixth grade. From there, his basketball career took off. He entered Rice High School in Harlem, N.Y., as a freshman and was instantly impacted by the basketball legacy there. The high school is known for its greatness in basketball having had some pretty notable alumni, including some who have gone on to the NBA. “It was interesting,” Andujar says about going to Rice. “I never thought I would go to an all-boys high school and be playing at a high level at that high school. It was really a shocker to me, but I was blessed to be able to go to that school and play basketball.” As a freshman in high school, Andujar was ready to jumpstart his career. At the time, Charlotte Hornets guard Kemba Walker was a senior on Rice’s basketball team and preparing to pursue a proball career. For Andujar, this relationship has proven to be invaluable. “We still keep in contact,” Andujar says. “He gives me advice here and there, and it’s just a great thing, especially since he’s in the NBA.” In Andujar’s senior year at Rice, he led it to the 2011 CHSAA Class AA Championship game. Among the many honors and awards Andujar received for his final year at Rice, he was named to the “New York Daily News” All-Manhattan Second Team and was recruited by Manhattan head coach Steve Masiello. “It was a little shocking,” Andujar says about Masiello actively pursuing him, “because I figured he would go for high major players because he was coming from a great program from Louisville.” Andujar’s humbleness was one of the many traits he possessed that attracted him to Masiello. “Hunger. He had great passion and he had great hunger,” Masiello says. “He had a big chip on his shoulder and obviously the skillset and talent. He came from
Emmy Andujar, 13, drives forward in the Jaspers’ recent game against Hampton. Kevin Fuhrmann/The Quadrangle a great high school, and anytime you have someone who is as humble as he is and a great passion for what he does, it is very appealing.” Manhattan was an appealing choice for Andujar as well. “I figured it would be the best choice. Stay close to home and my family could come see me play,” Andujar says. “That’s the reason I really chose Manhattan.” In his freshman season at Manhattan, Andujar was selected to the MAAC AllRookie Team and led the team in rebounds (189) and assists (105). In his sophomore season, Andujar led the team once again in assists (72) after appearing in every game of the regular season. His junior season, he helped lead the team to a MAAC championship win -- 12 points and five rebounds in the victory against Iona -- and a bid to the 2014 NCAA Division I tournament. As a senior, he became only the 36th player in Manhattan history to gather his 1,000th career point on Jan. 7 against Saint Peter’s, named to the First All-MAAC
Team for the first time in his career and led Manhattan to a second straight MAAC title. Besides all of his on court accomplishments, Andujar has matured and grown as both a player and a person, says Masiello. “He’s a father to his younger brother. He’s a husband to his mom. He is everything to everyone,” Masiello says. “That’s a lot. He’s my sanity. He kind of calms me down. He’s the big brother to the young guys. He’s a very special young man.” Andujar’s teammates and coaches have supported him during the most trying times for him and his family. His family is currently involved in the trial of three men charged with murdering his older brother, Jose, in April of 2012, according to the “New York Daily News.” “He appreciates every minute now because of every tragedy and everything he has seen,” Masiello says. “He has had it rough and he has overcome more things than most 45-year-old adults have, and has handled it like a professional gentleman. He’s made people better around him and I’m proud of him.”
Andujar has been juggling this and has still come out on top. He ends his career in the top 10 in points, rebounds, assists and steals in Manhattan history. But for once, Andujar is focusing completely on himself. With graduation looming, it is easy to get wrapped up in the future, but Andujar is staying focused on the present, on what he can control. “I’m just staying focused on what I have to do here and everything else will take care of itself,” Andujar says. “I just came here and had that mindset of working hard. I didn’t want to let the coach down. I promised him I would work hard as soon as I stepped on campus and I just wanted to keep my word to him.” For his Masiello, losing Andujar is something he does not want to think about. “I think the thing I am going to miss the most about him is just, today it is hard to count on people,” Masiello says. “Emmy is a guy who, day in and day out, is going to be there for you and give you everything he has. That is just very rare in today’s society.”
7 sports Another Season of Early Weather Setbacks has MC Eager to Return to MAAC Championship Jonathan Reyes Editor
Manhattan (8-6) didn’t know when its season opener was going to be for two weeks. It’s first five games were either postponed (2) or cancelled (3) thanks to snow and rain and has adjusted its schedule twice. This team is no stranger to this type of setback. Last year, Manhattan’s first 11 games were also affected by inclement weather. “You just kind of have to go back to where you came from,” infielder Stephanie Reinhardt said about how the beginnings of the last two seasons have been wiped off the schedule due to poor weather. “In high school you’re inside for a long time before you get outside, and you have to be able to trust yourself to be able to know you can play the game and that once you get outside it’s still the same game.” Postponements and cancellations have held Manhattan back from playing under its slogan for this season: “Unfinished Business.” It’s a phrase meant as a motivational reminder of its 8-0 loss to Iona (211) in the MAAC championship last year. Through 11 games so far, Manhattan is being led to its hopeful return to the title game by MAAC Preseason Player of the Year Elena Bowman who has not disappointed. She has a .513 batting average, 14 walks, two strikeouts, .655 on-base, 1.205 slugging and has been perfect in the field
Infielder Rachael Mumma, left, and MAAC Preseason Player of the Year Elena Bowman, right, practice in Draddy Gym. Vanessa Sanchez/The Quadrangle (.1000). “We were so close and we had a chance,” Reinhardt said when asked about how she felt after the loss to Iona. “Kind of put a target on our back and also puts a fire
under our butts to just really, really know that this season people aren’t going to pin us as the underdogs.” “The name of this game is pitching,” Manhattan coach Tom Pardalis said. “Last
year in that championship series, our pitchers took us a long way, so we’re expecting to do the same thing again this year.”
Women’s Spring Break Recap While in different parts of the world, Manhattan continued its spring seasons over break. Women’s tennis traveled to Puerto Rico, softball to California and lacrosse stayed in the area, but each team had important matchups this week.
Softball Goes 6-3 • Softball began spring break on a high note with a doubleheader win on March 15 against Mount St. Mary’s. • In game one, Elena Bowman and Mickayla Romero led the way with a combined three home runs, five runs scored and 12 RBIs. Amy Bright earned the win for Manhattan with seven strikeouts and tossing for a five-inning complete game. • In game two, Bowman recorded her third home run of the day and Briana Matazinsky earned her first collegiate win, a shutout, 13 straight strikeouts and surrendered only three hits. • On the following day, Manhattan completed a doubleheader sweep of Morgan State. Game one it won by a score of 6-1 and game two was a 14-7 final. Bowman hit another home run, which recorded the 30th of her career -- a new Manhattan all-time record. • Manhattan then traveled to California to participate in the Santa Clara Round Robin. • It lost to Mount St. Mary’s 6-5 in game one and Brown 3-1 in game two. • In the final game of the Round Robin, Manhattan beat Santa Clara, 2-0, in a pitcher’s duel. Bright went eight innings with six strikeouts and only allowed five hits.
Tennis Loses Lone Match • Tennis returned to action for the first time in a month on March 20. • It wasn’t able to get past Niagara in a MAAC matchup, falling 6-1. Gabriella Leon earned Manhattan’s victory in No. 1 singles while Caitlin Bricketto came up short in the No. 2 spot.
Lacrosse Loses Both Matches • Lacrosse dropped a 5-3 game to Central Connecticut on March 18. Goalkeeper Christina Fiorinelli led Manhattan with five ground balls and Samantha Cunningham was close behind with four. • Manhattan had their MAAC opener against Fairfield on March 21, but came up short 12-3. They move to 2-6 on the season so far. Fiorinelli had 10 saves on the game. Co-captain Megan Yarusso and Carly Cummings led the defense with two caused turnovers each.
Compiled by Jaclyn Marr, Assistant Sports Editor
sports
Inside the Numbers:
8
What Went Wrong Against Hampton
The Jaspers played uncharacteristically all game long, turning the ball over and letting their offense dictate their defense. Kevin Fuhrmann/The Quadrangle
Daniel Ynfante Assistant Editor
Murphy’s Law was in full effect for Manhattan in its First Four game against the Hampton Pirates. Manhattan just could not catch a break. A loose ball, a foul call, a rebound, you name it, seemed to all go in favor of Hampton. Added to that were some alarming numbers on the box score and it was the perfect recipe for how to lose a game. In all, there were just too many things that went wrong for Manhattan to pinpoint one, so here are a few.
49
Hampton shot 49.1 percent from the field on Manhattan, a number way above its 40.6 mark on the season. It was the highest an opponent shot against Manhattan since Fairfield shot 50 percent on Feb. 15. Going into the game, Manhattan had to take away Hampton’s 3-point attempts for two reasons. One, Hampton had caught fire from the 3-point line during the MEAC Tournament -- 24 threes in just four games. Two, taking away its 3-point looks would force its under-sized team to drive to the basket, where Manhattan would have a height advantage. The plan seemed brilliant on paper, but the problem was that Manhattan ran into a Hampton team with crafty guards and a major-conference caliber player in Quinton Chievous. From the onset of the game, it was apparent Manhattan was going to have a handful with Hampton’s guards, particularly Reginald Johnson, who scored seven of Hampton’s first 10 points. Johnson played nothing like a 6-foot-2 guard, showing his fearlessness in taking it to the rim and finishing among the bigs.
His tenaciousness was on full display when he went right at Ashton Pankey’s chest and finished through contact for the first two baskets of the game. As if Johnson was not enough to handle, Manhattan also had to contend with Chievous, who proved he should have been playing in a tougher conference this season. Chievous was physical all night long and like Johnson, was relentless in driving to the basket. His night was capitalized with a highlight, posterizing dunk on Zane Waterman that, if it had not been proven before, Hampton could get whatever it wanted inside. On the night, Hampton outscored Manhattan 36-24 in the paint, which helped boost its field goal percentage.
35
Emmy Andujar and Pankey were Manhattan’s best players all season long. As they went, so did Manhattan. Against Hampton, they went cold. Combined, Andujar and Pankey shot 35 percent from the floor and scored just 20 points. Their performance was another example of how everything that could have went wrong did. They both picked up two fouls in the first half and were each forced to sit out for the majority of the half. Surprisingly, Manhattan was only down seven despite being without its two best players for a long stretch. But having to sit out for such a long period of time just threw Andujar and Pankey off their rhythm. Neither could get into a consistent flow on offense in the second half, and ultimately, that cost Manhattan heavily. Seeing shot after shot not go in the basket affected Manhattan’s defense as well, as it was not able to consistently set up its full-court press. More importantly, as Steve Masiello admitted, it messed psychologi-
cally with the players. “Just an off night for us,” Masiello said. “I thought we came out and let our offense dictate our defense a little bit. We didn’t really play typical Manhattan basketball.”
24
To compound Andujar and Pankey’s struggles on offense, Manhattan’s major supporting cast players struggled as well, especially from the 3-point line, where the team shot a woeful 24 percent. Four of the six 3-pointers came from Shane Richards, who himself did not have his most efficient game, making just four of his 14 attempts. But the biggest surprise was not Richards missing 10 threes, but RaShawn Stores going 0-5 from downtown. Stores, perhaps more than Richards, had been Manhattan’s most lethal 3-point shooter all season, with a 42 percent mark. But it was more than just about numbers when it came to Stores. He was the one player on the team that could be trusted to take and make a big shot. Countless times in the season, Stores bailed out Manhattan with a big 3-pointer when a play broke down or with a clutch three that served as a dagger. But again, what could go wrong, went wrong. Stores had open looks all game. He just did not make them. On defense, he picked up three steals and forced several turnovers either on the inbounds or by taking charges. But on a night where Manhattan needed his offense more than anything else, Stores could not deliver.
17
Manhattan’s strength all season long was its ability to force opponents to turn
the ball over. The Jaspers did just that against Hampton, forcing it to turn the ball over 14 times. But it was negated by the 17 turnovers from the Jaspers. Playing on a big stage, in front of a full arena and with millions watching on television, the Jaspers seemed rattled from the start. “I was,” Masiello said in response to if he was surprised by how rattled his team looked. “It just wasn’t our brand. It just wasn’t us.” The leader in Manhattan turnovers was Andujar, who had six, including two with the Jaspers down five and with less than three minutes to play. Hampton did have something to do with some of the turnovers Manhattan had. It doubled Pankey on numerous occasions and took away Andujar’s right hand, which forced him left into a clogged paint. On one occasion, Andujar turned it over by throwing it over Donovan Kates’ head on an inbounds play. On another, there was a bit of miscommunication between Stores and Andujar. Then, Stores threw the ball out of bounds expecting Andujar to come off a screen and float to the corner. Then came Andujar’s two crucial turnovers. One of them was an offensive foul. The other was when Andujar had the choice to pass it to an open Richards who was on Andujar’s left on a fast break. Instead, Andujar chose to dribble into a sea of three defenders and was pick-pocketed by Johnson. He then threw it ahead to Emmanuel Okoroba for a 3-point play that stretched the lead to seven. The shots were not falling for the Jaspers all game long, but the outcome might have been different if they had limited their turnovers and given themselves at least a few more shot attempts.