THE Volume 92, Issue 6
Q
UADRANGLE A Student Publication of Manhattan College Since 1924
Oct. 6, 2015
www.mcquad.org
Family Weekend 2015
See Page 3 One of the weekend’s popular activities was a visiting hypnotist who performed in the Great Room of the Kelly Commons. Kaiyun Chen/The Quadrangle
Faculty and Students Aid Syrian Refugees Kyleigh Panetta Staff Writer
The 5,700 mile distance between New York City and Syria is not stopping members of the Manhattan College community from trying to help Syrian refugees. “Just ask anybody, ‘What if you had to pack up tomorrow and move to Mexico with just $100 in your wallet and not knowing anyone there?’” William Merriman, Ph.D. and the dean of the School of Education and Health, said. Syrian students, families and children fearing for their lives have been fleeing a homeland torn apart by violence and civil
war with the hopes of finding a better place to live. “A lot of people were living in places that were bombed. Their houses, streets, neighborhoods are gone. Even places where people feel relatively safe, they aren’t safe,” Merriman said. As massive numbers of Syrians enter other countries, Merriman said that the governments have to find a way to, “support 200,000 more people and they are afraid that their social service systems might collapse.” This crisis is impacting not only Europe but the United States, as world leaders decide how responsible each country should be for accepting Syrian refugees.
Mehnaz Afridi, Ph.D. and assistant professor of religious studies, said that she feels this international affair is controversial because of the perception of Muslims and the number of refugees that would be taking over jobs in other countries. Afridi said she was one of the people to begin the movement at MC to aid the refugees of Syria. “I was frustrated by watching the thousands of families dying and suffering. I sent out a mass email to my colleagues and they were responsive. It’s hard to just sit and watch people suffer and not do anything,” Afridi said. Lisa Rizopoulos, Ph.D. and professor of education, credits her natural instinct to
help those in need as one of the reasons she and her students felt compelled to respond to Afridi. “I think teachers innately want to help others and it doesn’t matter where anyone comes from. We just want to address students’ needs so that they can be happier,” Rizopoulos said. Rizopoulos and students of the School of Education coordinated a clothing supply drive, which will run until the end of October, that is focusing on collecting mittens, hats and coats that will be sent over to Syrian refugees. After the clothing drive, Rizopoulos plans on holding a school supply drive
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Student Activities Moves Ticket Sales Online Daniel Molina
Distribution Manager No more lines, no more missed classes and no more cash is what Student Activities is trying to achieve through its new online ticket purchasing system. What they called the biggest announcement of the year on their social media accounts has been a longtime effort that, after years of work with the IT department, Student Life and the Controllers Office, has finally become a reality. “We’ve been looking for this since the Internet first came,” John Bennett, director of Student Activities, said. “There [have] been different issues along the way, but we are so happy to finally provide this.” The first event sold through this platform will be the trip to Six Flags, and it will be held right after Columbus Day
weekend. For ticket sales of popular events, it is not uncommon to see a line of dozens of students forming outside of the Office of Student Activities with the hopes of snatching a ticket to a Yankee game or a hit Broadway show. With this system, these lines can be avoided altogether. Tickets will go on sale at night, outside of class hours, giving students an equal chance to get the tickets online. “This makes it better, because you can get tickets even when you’re in class,” said Gabriella Girgis, sophomore student. “It promotes laziness, but in a convenient way.” With a Manhattan College email address, a student can access the ticket website. After being admitted to the site, the student can purchase the ticket with a credit or debit card. A confirmation email will be sent to the purchaser, and this will
guarantee their ticket to the event. Although Bennett has not finalized all the minor details, he is expecting to offer students an opportunity to get tickets for seats near their friends. Instead of selling tickets only from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., now purchases can be made at any time after the tickets are made available online. “It sounds like it would be better to do this sort of things online,” junior Mark Angioli said. “It’s just easier to not have to leave your room, and get into a big line; you jut have to log in and buy it over the Internet.” Student Activities is expecting a rise in the number of tickets sold from their office due to this new convenience. “It’s so much easier. Everybody is at home, on their phones, on their laptops, where it used to be out of the way to come to the office,” Bennett said. “Now we may be flooded with people that want to pur-
chase tickets.” This would not only help students, but also the department, where sometimes a surplus of tickets is bought. Although the transition from a physical to electronic platform promises benefits, Bennett is aware that some logistical obstacles may arise. “I don’t know when the school started doing class registration online, but I’m sure the first time there were countless issues, and I’m sure we are going to have the same,” he said. A number of contingency plans have been thought to prevent and solve the different complications that the process might present. “We will be learning together. We are just believing in the process and knowing that we are doing this to help the students because they asked us to,” Bennett said.